Jeremiah 19

THus says the LORD, Go and get a potters earthen bottle Criticks dispute the figure and fashion of this bottle, vid. (the English Annotations, and Mr. Pool's Latin Synopsis) but that is not much material, for Gods design was only to show the fragility of this people, how easily he could break them, and how certainly he would break them in pieces., and take of the ancients of the people, and of the ancients of the priests For the more publick notice of this typical action, Ieremy is commanded to take for witnesses, some of the gravest of the people, and of the Priests, whether they were members of the San edrim, (which was made up of those two sorts) or not, the Scripture says not..

And go forth unto the valley of the son of Hinnom We shall hereafter hear why God commanded Ieremiah to go thither, rather then to another place, to break this earthen pot. This valley was a place very near unto Hierusalem, of which one Hinnon was owner in Ioshuah's time, Ios. 15.8. and 18.16. the valley is in Scripture sometimes called Ge-hinnom, from whence came the Greek word Gehenna used by our Saviour for Hell, Matth. 5.22., because of the hellish torments they there put their children to when they Sacrificed them, and of the hellish cryes they made., which is by the entry of the east-gate, and proclaim there the words that I shall tell thee In the Hebrew it is the Sun-gate, supposed to be so called, because the Sun riseth in the East. This valley is said to have lien very near to this gate; thither Ieremy is commanded to go, and there to proclaim the following words..

And say, Hear ye the word of the LORD, O kings of Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem, Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Behold I will bring evil upon this place, the which whosoever heareth, his ears shall tingle That is a very great evil, it is an Hebrew way of expression, which we also find, 1 Sam. 3.11. 2 Kings 21.12. As a very great glaring light affects our eyes, and blindeth them, so a very great sound affecteth the ear, and makes it tingle, and for some time deaf: This God commandeth the Prophet to proclaim, as particularly directed to all, both high and low, as well the Kings of Iudah, as the inhabitant of Ierusalem..

Because they have forsaken me The Lawes, Statutes, and Ordinances which God had given them, to direct them both in their Religious Behavior towards him, and in their civil Conversations., and have estranged this place Either this City, or this Temple, (which stood very nigh to this valley,) or this particular valley, which they had turned to an use quite contrary to the end for which God gave it them;, and have burnt incense in it unto other gods for in it they had paid a religious homage to idols, strange idols which their Fathers knew not,, whom neither they nor their fathers have known, nor the kings of Judah, and have filled this place with the blood of innocents and had filled that place with the bloud of such as had not deserved death, either innocent men, or children, that they had there sacrificed to idols; of which he afterward speaketh more particularly..

They have built also the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt-offerings unto Baal This and the following verse, contain another great sin of this people, with the punishment which God proportioneth to it. The sin in the general was Idolatry, but a most barbarous species of it, mentioned also chap. 7.31. and 32.35. where it is said, they made their Sons and their Daughters, pass through the fire to Molech; The place where they did it is called Tophet, verse 6. of which also mention is made, Isa. 30.33. chap. 7.31.32, 33. For the opening of this Text, as also of those other Texts that mention this Idolatry, we must open what is meant by Baal, Moloch, Tophet, and the valley of the son of Hinnom; There is no doubt but Baal, and Molech, or Moloch signifie the same thing; Baal signifieth a Lord, Molech a King: They ordinarily called their Idols by these names, as also Malcham, Zeph. 1.5. upon which account God would not be called Baal, Hos. 2.16. Though he was called Iehovah, and Elo im, and Adonai, all which signified Lord, as Baal did. Both Baal and Molech seem common names to all Idols. There was more then one Idol in the house of Baal, 2 Kings 10.26. The Ammonites called their principal Idol Milcom and Molech, as appears from 1 Kings 11.5. 2 Kings 23.13. To this Idol they Sacrificed their children. It was a very ancient Idolatry as appeareth by the very early law of God against it, Lev. 20.3.4, 5. Some say it is derived from Saturn, whom they make contemporary with Debora and Barak, who to appease the Gods in an imminent danger sacrificed his Son: Others say it began in the time of Serug the Father of Nahor, of which we read, Gen. 11.20. and that it had its Original from the Devil, speaking out of the Belly of some dead persons, commanding this homage, possibly in imitation of God, who Gen. 22.2. to try Abrahams Obedience commanded him to offer up Isaac upon the Mount Moriah. We must know there were other Sacrifices they offered to Baal, they burnt incense to Baal, 2 Kings 23.5. They offered sacrifices and burnt-offerings of beasts, 1 Kings 18.26. 2 Kings 10.24. only in some extraordinary straits to show their great obedience to the Devil, they offered their children; what creature they Worshipped under this name is not certain, but very probable it was the Sun, from 2 Kings 23.5. or some superiour being, which they owned as their supream Lord and King, which they, some of them, mistook the Sun, Moon and Stars to be; they being glorious beings removed out of mens knowledge, so as they had not sufficient means to understand their Natures, might, considering their motions, and vast influence they had upon all other creatures, mistake them for animate and supream beings, to which as they paid other homages, (such as swearing by them, Zeph. 1.5. burning incense, offering beasts, praying to them,) so in imitation of the heathens, and in a pretence of high devotion, and homage in some special cases and straits, they offered their children. Some think they only made them go through the fire, but did not burn them, and indeed, so most of the Scriptures express this abominable idolatry, but some Scriptures speak it plain enough, that they actually burnt them, the Psalmist Psal. 106.37. says They shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, and the land was polluted with blood, which it could not have been by their childrens merely passing through the fire, and it is laid to their charge, Ezek. 16.20, 21. Thou hast taken thy sons and thy daughters, whom thou hast born unto me, and those hast thou sacrificed to them to be devoured. 21. That thou hast slain my children, and delivered them to cause them to pass through the fire for them. We read of the Idolatry of Ieroboam, who worshipped the true God, but by Calves set up at Dan and Bethel. Ahab exceeded this, bringing in the terminative worship of the creatures, worshipping the Sun, Moon and Stars, under the name of Baal; But the first in Iudah, of whom we read, that he made his Sons to pass through the fire, was Ahaz, the Father of Hezekiah, 2 Kings 10.3. he was followed by his Grandchild Manasseh, 2 Kings 21.6. Iosiah, the good Son of a bad Father, defiled the place where this abominable Idolatry was committed, 2 Kings 23.10. the place where they committed this horrible abomination was the Valley of the son of Hinnom, very near the City, and the particular place was called Tophet. There was an high place built for the Idol, and many think, that the name Tophet ariseth from their use of a Drum or Tabret, with which while the poor children were burning, they made great noises to drown the sound of the childrens yellings, though others think, the word Tophet originally signifies Hell, or the place of the damned, of which this place, both for the torments and roarings in it, was a lively representation; now of this barbarous and horrible Idolatry, God says,, which I commanded not, nor spake it, neither came it into my mind He commanded them not, neither came it into his mind. It was so far from it, that God had most severely forbid it, Lev. 20.2, 3, 4, 5. making it a capital crime for any to do it, and for any to conceal others that they knew did it; so that here is a M iosis, less spoken then was true in the case, but possibly Gods expressing a thing of this nature, being an error in his Worship, under these soft termes, I commanded them not, neither did it come into my mind, giveth no small ground to considerate men to judge, that we must have a command from God, though not for every individual act of our Worship, nor for every circumstance of humane action, which we do in his Worship, yet for every specifical Religious Act, and for any thing whereby we pay an homage to God, it being indeed the most reasonable thing imaginable, that God should have the same priviledge, which every Prince or great man amongst men, claimeth as his right, to prescribe the acts, modes and methods for his own homage..

Therefore behold, the days come, says the LORD, that this place shall no more be called Tophet, nor the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of slaughter For this God by his Prophet threatneth, that this place antiently in Ioshua's time called the valley of the son of Hinnom, and more lately Tophet, from the noise of Drums and Tabrets there, whilst children were burning, should have a new name, and be called the Valley of Slaughter from the multitude of dead bodies, which upon the taking of the City should be slain, and thrown into this Valley. It was expounded chap. 7.32, 33. For they shall bury in Tophet till there be no place; And the carkasses of this people shall be meat for the sowls of the Heaven, and for the beasts of the Earth, and none shall fray them away..

And I will make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place In this place amongst other places, I will make void all the counsels that the men of Iudah, and the inhabitants of Hierusalem, have taken to escape my righteous judgments. I will frustrate all their little arts and designs to avoid the dint. of my judgments. I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies, so as there shall be no way of escape for them., and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hands of them that seek their lives: and their carcasses will I give to be meat for the fowls of the heavens, and for the beasts of the earth.

And I will make this city desolate, and an hissing: every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished and hiss, because of all the plagues thereof This is no more then we met with before, chap. 18.16. and shall again meet with; mens honour and reputation is ordinarily very dear to them, it was especially to the Iewes, who valued themselves much upon the reputation their City and their Temple had, and the security they promised themselves from their right in the Holy City and Land. God tells them, he will make them as much a scorn and reproach, as ever they were for an honour or praise, as great a wonderment for the wrath and vengeance he would execute upon them, as they had been in their flourishing state for the mercies which he bestowed upon them..

And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons, and the flesh of their daughters, and they shall eat every one the flesh of his friend in the siege and straitness, wherewith their enemies, and they that seek their lives, shall straiten them These were the miserable effects or consequents of the Fa mine, with which God had often before threatned them; the just fulfilling of Gods word threatned, Lev. 26.29. Deut. 28.43. and the accomplishment of which our Prophet has recorded, Lam. 4.10..

Then shalt thou break the bottle in the sight of the men that go with thee The earthen bottle, which verse 1. he was commanded to carry with him into the valley of the son of Hinnom (where he now was) in the sight of the ancients of the Priests, and of the people, the men who there were appointed to go with the Prophet. This symbolical, or sacramental teaching by signs, was much in use by the Prophets..

And shalt say unto them, Thus says the LORD of hosts A name ordinarily given to God, here very properly, to let them know that he said nothing with his Lips, but what he had power by his Hand to accomplish, being the Captain General of all the Armies of his Creatures., Even so will I break this people and this city, as one breaketh a potters vessel, that cannot be made whole again God by ordering the Prophet to carry no other Vessel, but one of Earth, had a design upon the breaking of it, not only to show them that he would bruise, wound, or indammage them greatly, but so destroy them, as there should be no present remedy. If a vessel of Brass, Silver, Gold, &c. be broken, it may be mended, but an earthen vessel if broken, cannot be made whole, see the like Isaiah 30.14., and they shall bury them in Tophet, till there be no place to bury He tells them that this Tophet, which they had made a place of barbarous slaughter for the children, kill'd for Idolatrous Sacrifices, should continue for a slaughter-house, but of another nature, even for them that had committed such wickedness in it, who should be slain there in such plenty, that they should want ground to bury dead carcasses in..

Thus will I do unto this place, says the LORD, and to the inhabitants thereof, and even make this city as Tophet That is a place of slaughter and burials, or a base, ignominious place, or where the noise of drums and trumpets, and cryings, and yellings shall be heard, as used to be in Tophet..

And the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses of the kings of Judah shall be defiled as the places of Tophet Under the Judaick Law, persons and places were defiled by touching dead bodies, or any unclean filthy thing; God threatneth in this sense to defile Tophet, as it was said before, it should be filled with dead bodies which should be buried, or lye unburied there. He shows that the aforementioned judgment of filling places with dead bodies, should not be restrained to Tophet in the valley of Hinnom, but reach to the dwelling houses in Hierusalem, both their Kings houses, and the meaner Subjects., because of all the houses upon whose roofs they have burnt incense unto all the host of heaven, and have poured out drink-offerings unto other Gods The provoking cause of which should be their Idolatry, which they had also brought into their dwelling houses, for they having flat roofs, had upon them, though not burnt children in sacrifice to Idols, yet poured out drink offerings to the Sun, Moon and Stars, and to other Idols..

Then came Jeremiah from Tophet, whither the LORD had sent him to prophesie, and he stood in the court of the LORDS house Ieremiah had now dispatched the Errand upon which God had sent him to Tophet, coming back by Gods direction, he stands in the Court, which was common to all people, where the most might hear., and said to all the people.

Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Behold, I will bring upon this city and upon all her towns, all the evil that I have pronounced against it; because they have hardened their necks, that they might not hear my words And assureth the people from God, that he would most certainly justifie all his words, and bring to pass all his threats against that City, and that they must thank themselves for it, for hardening their heart, so as all that he had said made no impression upon them, nor found any place with them..