‘IN PERILS BY MY COUNTRYMEN’
‘This man is worthy to die.… This man is not worthy to die.’
Jeremiah 26:11; Jeremiah 26:16
I. Jeremiah was never so near martyrdom as at the time described in this chapter.—The old hatred of the priest and the false prophet arose against him, and communicated itself to the people. In miniature it was a similar incident to the closing scene of our Saviour’s life. The accusation against our Lord, as against Jeremiah, was that He had anticipated the destruction of the Temple. If any man dare to speak his mind to-day, if it conflicts with the prevailing sentiment, how certainly will he have to pay the price of hatred! Is it for this reason that the Christian Church refrains at the present juncture from insisting on our Lord’s command to love our enemies, and do good to those who are in arms against us?
II. The princes interfered, and their appeal to the people seems to have turned the fickle populace to be as antagonistic to the false priests as they had previously been to the prophet.—Notice specially Jeremiah 26:16. How fickle is the voice of the people. ‘Hosanna,’ to-day; to-morrow, ‘Crucify.’ Let us dare to do right in the sight of God, following out the impulse of His Spirit, and ceasing from man whose breath is in his nostrils.
Illustration
‘The Jews saw no discord between the true God and idols, but worshipped both together. And so people see no discord or contrariety between the Christian belief and a worldly practice, simply because they are accustomed to both. A worldly life justifies itself in their eyes because it is common; they take it and the Gospel together and interpret the Gospel accordingly. The old prophets were witnesses against this slavery of men to what is common and customary; they recalled them to the purity of truth, they reminded them of the holiness of God’s law, and they put before them Almighty God as a jealous God, who disdained to be half-obeyed, and abhorred to be served in common with idols.’