COMMENTARY.
The Long-suffering Justice and Faithfulness of God. He was very patient and long-suffering with Juda. Up to the very moment of its overthrow He held out, through Jeremias, hope of pardon and the averting of punishment, if only the people would be converted. And was not the fate of the kingdom of Israel itself an impressive warning? However, neither king nor people would give heed to this, or to the warnings of the prophets sent by God, but listened rather to false prophets, resisted grace, and persisted in their impenitence. At last the measure of their sins was full, the justice of God manifested itself, and the long-threatened punishment overtook Juda.
The Goodness and Mercy of God. The Lord did not leave His miserable people without comfort, but gave them through Jeremias the assurance that He had not finally rejected them, but would restore them to His favour, and institute a new and higher covenant with them.
The uses of suffering. Their captivity served for the salvation of many of the Jews. They turned to God with their whole hearts, for they felt that all their hopes of liberty rested in Him. At last they abhorred idolatry, and were so completely cured of their inclination towards it, that they never relapsed into it, even after their return to the Promised Land.
The love of Jeremias for his people. Even though he was misunderstood and persecuted by them, he felt no malicious satisfaction when the judgment foretold by him really overtook them. No, he bewailed the hard fate of his people, and gave utterance to the deep grief of his noble soul in the “Lamentations”.
The necessity of grace. This is taught by the words: “Convert us to Thee, O Lord, and we shall be converted.” The sinner cannot be converted without the assistance of grace. — In their captivity the Jews acknowledged themselves to be religiously and politically dead, and had no hope of ending their banishment by their own efforts, or of returning to their country and becoming once more an independent nation: “Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost.” It was only by God’s Spirit that the dead and captive people could be raised to a new political and religious existence; and only by the help of God that they could be freed and restored to their own country. This applies to nations and individuals of all ages. A fallen nation can be restored and renewed only by religion and the Spirit of God. And no individual who has succumbed to the death of sin can raise himself up by his own strength, but only by the help of God, who by His grace can restore a dead soul to life. “I will forgive their iniquity and I will remember their sin no more.”
The tenth promise of the Messias. The New Covenant foretold by Jeremias was instituted by our Lord Jesus Christ. The Old Covenant
