Jeremiah 52:4, 6, 12 And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month… Note the particularity of the dates given in each of these verses. Not the year only, but the month; and not the month only, but the day; and sometimes not the day only, but the hour, whether morning or evening, during the light or dark. Now - I. THERE ARE SUCH DAYS. In the record of the Flood we have such exactness of date. And in the later history of Jerusalem, the story of its decline and fall under its last kings, we again and again, as in this chapter, meet with such careful giving of exact dates. And in our own experience, looking back over the record of our lives, how vividly some dates stand out! We know the year, the month, the day, and hour, and it seems likely that we shall never forget them nor the events connected with them. II. BUT THESE DAYS ARE NEARLY ALWAYS DAYS OF PAIN AND DISTRESS. It was so in the instances given in these verses. There are anniversaries which we keep, but these are for the most part joyous days, the memory of which we will not willingly let die. But the fact of our keeping them shows that there is probability that such memory would die if we did not carefully keep it up. But the days whose dates are indelible need no anniversaries to remind us of them. We cannot forget them, though, perhaps, we would fain do so. They are burnt in upon our souls so deeply that they are written as on a rock forever. And they are days, not of joy, but of sore distress; as when first the fierce Babylonian forces beleagured the holy city, and as when after weary months of obstinate defence the awful famine at length broke them down; and as when the proud conqueror in his rage burned down the sanctuary of God. Days of judgment were they, never to be forgotten by Israel any more. And there were many such days. We read of the "fasts" of the different months, many of which commemorated these sad events. III. AND THEIR DATES ARE INDELIBLY WRITTEN IN OUR SOULS. 1. Because of the contrast which they offer to well nigh all other days. If any mark stands out conspicuous - like the black marks on a white page, or white on black - it proves that the ground upon which such mark stands out so conspicuously is of an entirely opposite colour, a complete contrast. And so the very blackness of these indelible days proves that the days against which they stand out so conspicuously have been of a far other and happier kind. Our very trials, by the vividness with which we remember them, prove the general goodness of our God, because they are such exception to his rule. 2. Because of their intensity. The mark is not merely dark, but deep. The sword pierces through the soul. It is the intensity of the pain that makes it so memorable. 3. Because of the shadow they cast. All our after life may be darkened -it often is so - by the effect of some awful blow, and the shadow ever starts from and guides our thoughts up to the terrible fact which has caused it. IV, BUT THESE DATES ARE NOT INDELIBLE FOREVER. Cf. our Lord's illustration: "A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow,... but as soon as she is delivered... she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy." So it is oftentimes even in this world. Life would not be bearable were all sorrows indelible. But they are not. The lapse of time, the pressure of necessary work, the awakening of other interests, and, above all, the bestowment of new joys - all tend to scatter the gloom of the soul and to thrust into oblivion memories that could only give pain. And none of them shall follow us into our eternal home. We shall not - it does not appear possible - forget facts that have occurred, but we shall see them in such new lights and irradiated by such love of God that all the pain that belonged to them will depart and be seen no more. "Help, Lord, that we may come To thy saints' happy home. Where a thousand years As one day appears; Nor go Where one day appears As a thousand years For woe!" = - c. Parallel Verses KJV: And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, and pitched against it, and built forts against it round about. |
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