Then all the men who knew that their wives were burning incense to other gods, and all the women standing by--a great assembly--along with all the people living in the land of Egypt and in Pathros, said to Jeremiah, Sermons
I. WORLDLY ARGUMENTS FOR A RELIGION. Here they are employed on behalf of a false religion, an idolatry; but they are often made use of in recommending true religion. They are generally of two classes, viz. pertaining: 1. To authority. The idolatry here defended was (1) general and fashionable; (2) ancient; (3) patronized by royalty; (4) practised in the mother city of God's people. 2. To tendency. It was alleged to have promoted prosperity and peace. II. THEIR INCONCLUSIVENESS. 1. Authority is only valuable as it helps to establish truth. Sin in its most flagrant forms, ignorance and inhumanity, have been more and longer prevalent than the greatest religions the world has seen. The most cruel and debasing religions are the most ancient in most countries. The only authority which can be admitted in such a connection is that of the best, i.e. the wisest and purest. 2. The tendency argument is open to similar objections. It is a great deal to say in favour of a religion that it has promoted the welfare and happiness of its supporters; but it is not so easy to prove it. Here the prophet alleges that it was their idolatry which lay at the root of all the misery of the people of Judah. It requires a very wide, varied, and lengthened induction of a people's circumstances ere such a statement is legitimate either way. And even if it were made out to one's satisfaction that a religious system had a beneficial effect upon the material condition of a people, it must still be remembered that man is a spiritual being, and that his moral and spiritual nature will sooner or later enter an imperious claim to attention and satisfaction. Only that which is right and true can meet the wants of the human spirit under all circumstances. And God is the one Being who can satisfy the spiritual aspirations and needs of his creatures. If the best and the holiest of men cannot be content with material advantages and comfort, but are ever yearning for something beyond, it is evident that utilitarianism must be interpreted in a very spiritual sense indeed ere it can pass muster as a tolerable criterion of any religion. It is chiefly because Christianity has revealed a Divine communion and a universal moral basis that it is destined to supplant all other creeds. But at the same time, it is also enforced by the test of utility in its more material aspect. No religion has so advanced the comfort, civilization, and peace of this world. - M.
Take great stones in thine hand, and hide them in the clay in the brick kiln. A London Minister. I. THEY PREACHED OF THE HISTORIC PAST.1. From the soil in which they were found. They were stones of Egypt. 2. The place where they were buried — the brick kiln — must have carried their thoughts back to the hard labour of their ancestors under the lash of the taskmasters (Exodus 9:8). 3. The burial of the stones beneath the ground might have suggested the past condition of Israel in this same land; they were buried under the oppressive tyranny of the heathen monarch and his people, and had been raised, as it were, from a grave of degradation and lifted into a new life as a free people by the mighty hand of God. II. THEY PROPHESIED OF THE FUTURE. 1. The only refuge from the displeasure of God is to be found in God Himself. 2. Unbelief in the Divine Word will not prevent the fulfilment of it. 3. The true minister of God will not be deterred by opposition from declaring the judgments, as well as the mercies, of God. (A London Minister.). People Jeremiah, Nebuchadnezzar, Pharaoh, ZedekiahPlaces Babylon, Egypt, Jerusalem, Memphis, Migdol, Pathros, TahpanhesTopics Along, Answering, Assemblage, Assembly, Aware, Burned, Burning, Dwelling, Dwelt, Egypt, Gods, Incense, Including, Jeremiah, Large, Lower, Making, Meeting, Multitude, Offered, Pathros, Perfume, Perfumes, Present, Remaining, Responded, Sacrifices, Saying, Standing, Stood, Upper, Wives, WomenOutline 1. Jeremiah expresses the desolation of Judah for their idolatry11. He prophesies the destruction of those who commit idolatry in Egypt 15. The obstinacy of the Jews 20. For which Jeremiah threatens them 29. and for a sign prophesies the destruction of Egypt Dictionary of Bible Themes Jeremiah 44:14Library God's Patient Pleadings'I sent unto you all my servants the prophets, rising early and sending them, saying, Oh, do not this abominable thing that I hate.'--JER. xliv. 4. The long death-agony of the Jewish kingdom has come to an end. The frivolous levity, which fed itself on illusions and would not be sobered by facts, has been finally crushed out of the wretched people. The dreary succession of incompetent kings--now a puppet set up by Egypt, now another puppet set up by Babylon, has ended with the weak Zedekiah. The … Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture Man's Misery by the Fall That Whereas the City of Jerusalem had Been Five Times Taken Formerly, this was the Second Time of Its Desolation. A Brief Account of Its History. Man's Inability to Keep the Moral Law The Mercy of God Nature of Covenanting. Original Sin Jeremiah Links Jeremiah 44:15 NIVJeremiah 44:15 NLT Jeremiah 44:15 ESV Jeremiah 44:15 NASB Jeremiah 44:15 KJV Jeremiah 44:15 Bible Apps Jeremiah 44:15 Parallel Jeremiah 44:15 Biblia Paralela Jeremiah 44:15 Chinese Bible Jeremiah 44:15 French Bible Jeremiah 44:15 German Bible Jeremiah 44:15 Commentaries Bible Hub |
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