Jeremiah 22:5, 7, 13, 14 But if you will not hear these words, I swear by myself, said the LORD, that this house shall become a desolation.… The building of a house, be it small or great, is always an interesting and suggestive process. It is a lengthened operation, expensive, and representing a great part of a man's aims and efforts. Various purposes may be sought in it according to the character, circumstances, etc., of the builder - mere shelter, comfort, splendor, protection. As these come into view the object in which they are to be realized becomes representative of the living personality and character with which it is associated. Jehoiakim was a despot, bent upon aggrandizement, and so he sought to build a magnificent palace with forced, unpaid labor. The ambitions of unspiritual men, the exclusive and absorbing projects of earthly life, resemble the palace-building of this Hebrew tyrant in - I. THE UNION OF EXTRAVAGANT DESIRES AND DISHONEST, UNLAWFUL METHODS. Easy for Jehoiakim to "go in" for a splendid palace, as he is not in the habit of paying his employee. Are there not many in modern life who act on the same principle? The desire for self-advancement and aggrandizement overtops every other consideration. 1. Unlawful methods of securing these are employed. Speculation; getting on in business in order to get out of it; adulteration; insufficient wages; prices that do not admit of honest manufacture; clap-trap advertisements, etc. 2. Imagining that others exist for the sake of one's self. This reverses the golden rule and the spirit of Christ's life. II. ITS FUNDAMENTAL SIN. This is selfishness - self-glorification, neglect of God and of human claims. The great principles of the Divine kingdom are contradicted; - justice, mercy, brotherly sympathy, etc. III. ITS RESULTS. 1. The ruin of the building; i.e. the life-project - the unhallowed aim. 2. The ruin of the builder - for time, perhaps for eternity. - M. Parallel Verses KJV: But if ye will not hear these words, I swear by myself, saith the LORD, that this house shall become a desolation. |
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