Jeremiah 12:13 They have sown wheat, but shall reap thorns: they have put themselves to pain, but shall not profit… It is true that "whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." It is also true that "men cannot gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles." And at the same time it is emphatically true that men may sow wheat and yet reap thorns. The contradiction is only on the surface; it suggests inquiry, and the further the inquiry is continued, the more it is seen what serious truth is contained in the prophet's statement. Consider, then, the statement in two aspects. I. AS SHOWING THAT MEN DO NOT REAP WHAT THEY HAVE SOWN. They sow wheat. It is surely not to a mere semblance of wheat-sowing that the prophet here refers. It is true that men sow unconsciously the seeds of misery, of a bitter and shameful harvest, the gathering of which they cannot escape. It is true that the men who con-suit present pleasure and the present appearances of things are every day sowing evil seed, without having the least suspicion that they are sowing at all. It is even true that men may be so led away by errors of education, or habits received by mere tradition, as to go on all life through in what they suppose to be right, but which nevertheless is utterly wrong. All this, however, is rather to be classed under the sowing of tares which are like wheat. The prophet is here dealing with the sowing of something really good, and something capable of truly satisfactory results. The truth he would indicate is more fully set forth in our Lord's parable of the four different kinds of seed. The seed which the sower went forth to sow was all good seed. The seed which fell in the good ground was not one whir better than what fell by the wayside. We see, therefore, that a large part of good seed is not reaped. Just according to the area comprised by the terms trodden ground, stony ground, and thorny ground, is there force in the statement that wheat has been sown, and yet wheat not reaped. The prophet's reference is to the great, unquestionable, and peculiar privileges of Israel. The Lord had not dealt with any nation as he had dealt with Israel. Other nations had found rising up amongst them men of genius and worldly wisdom and originating power; but no other nation of antiquity shows in its history any man like a Moses, a Samuel, or a David, or even the very least of the prophets. We look upon Israel, therefore, as representative of all who have enjoyed abundance of religious privileges, of those whose early days have been in the midst of religious instructions and associations. Yet out of this very class the worldliest of the worldly have come. For all the truth that has been bountifully sown not one stalk of result is to be seen. Mark that what is to be first noticed is the negation of good results. Is it not a sad thing that one should have to read first of all of so much Divine truth coming down from heaven, so many glorious revelations, so many angelic visits, so many inspired prophets and witnesses, and then, on the other hand of so little manifest result in regenerated and purified human lives? II. AS SHOWING THAT MEN REAP WHAT THEY HAVE NOT SOWN. Thorns, of course, could not be reaped unless thorns were planted, but no one would deliberately plant thorns. That would be to say, at the very beginning of one's possibilities of choice, "Evil, be thou my good." But the heart of man, rich, deep, inexhaustible ground as it is, has come under a curse of which Genesis 3:18 is but a shadowy suggestion. The vicious willingness of the ground to bring forth thorns and thistles every husbandman knows full well. Jeremiah 4:3 needs to be borne in mind: "Sow not among thorns." Men shrink from the toil and suffering needful to uproot the false and the injurious, and still more difficult do they find the watchfulness and determination which would prevent thorns from getting hold at all; and yet it is perfectly certain that thorns, allowed to continue, wilt in time destroy anything like abiding fruit from the good seed. Note the important difference between the tares and the thorns. The wheat and the tares grow together till the harvest; then the tares are easily separated and burnt. The perfected wheat is as easily separated and garnered. But the thorns choke the wheat, and there is never any real gathering at all. Wheat that does not reach maturity is worth nothing as wheat. It cannot be put into the garner. Hence the keeping down of the thorns is every whir as important as the pushing forward of the wheat. If the negative conditions are neglected, the positive conditions are nullified. Israel was now, as we see, sunk in the filthiest abominations of idolatry. But it had come to this through a long neglect of the most earnest warnings. Note in particular Numbers 33:55, "If ye will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you; then it shall come to pass, that those which ye let remain of them shall be pricks in your eyes, and thorns in your sides." The idolatry of Israel was a far worse thing than the idolatry of the heathen; just as a neglected garden overrun with weeds and briars is worse than a weedy and briery corner of the wilderness (Leviticus 26:16; Deuteronomy 28:38-40; Micah 6:15; Haggai 1:6). - Y. Parallel Verses KJV: They have sown wheat, but shall reap thorns: they have put themselves to pain, but shall not profit: and they shall be ashamed of your revenues because of the fierce anger of the LORD. |
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