Jeremiah 8:7

8:4-13 What brought this ruin? 1. The people would not attend to reason; they would not act in the affairs of their souls with common prudence. Sin is backsliding; it is going back from the way that leads to life, to that which leads to destruction. 2. They would not attend to the warning of conscience. They did not take the first step towards repentance: true repentance begins in serious inquiry as to what we have done, from conviction that we have done amiss. 3. They would not attend to the ways of providence, nor understand the voice of God in them, ver. 7. They know not how to improve the seasons of grace, which God affords. Many boast of their religious knowledge, yet, unless taught by the Spirit of God, the instinct of brutes is a more sure guide than their supposed wisdom. 4. They would not attend to the written word. Many enjoy abundance of the means of grace, have Bibles and ministers, but they have them in vain. They will soon be ashamed of their devices. The pretenders to wisdom were the priests and the false prophets. They flattered people in sin, and so flattered them into destruction, silencing their fears and complaints with, All is well. Selfish teachers may promise peace when there is no peace; and thus men encourage each other in committing evil; but in the day of visitation they will have no refuge to flee unto.

Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times,.... Of going and returning; for this is a bird of passage, as Pliny (d) and other naturalists observe; which goes away as winter approaches, and returns when that is over. The temperature of the air, as to heat and cold, and the natural propensity of such birds of passage to breed their young, are thought to be the incentives to change their habitation; and wonderful thing it is in nature, that they should know the proper time of their passage, what places to go to, and how to steer their course thither; and, as the above naturalist observes, they go and come in the night: and the turtle, and the crane, and the swallow, observe the time of their coming: for these also are birds of passage; the turtle is absent in the winter, and its coming is a sign of spring, Sol 2:11, the crane, according to Aelianus (e), goes away with the stork, and returns when winter is over; and the same is observable of the swallow; hence the common saying, one swallow does not make spring; so Horace (f) uses "hirundine prima" for the beginning of spring. Where these birds retire to is not known; some think the swallows fly into Egypt and Ethiopia; but Olaus Magnus (g) says they lurk in holes, and even under water, where they hang together, and are sometimes drawn out in clusters, and being brought to the fire, and thawed, will revive and fly about.

But my people know not the judgment of the Lord; meaning not the unsearchable judgments of God, or those providential dispensations of God which are a great deep, and are not clearly discerned and known by the best of men; but either his own judgments, which are inflicted upon wicked men as punishments for sin, which yet are not taken notice of, and duly attended to, as they should be; or rather the law of God, and his revealed word, which is the rule of judgment and justice, and a declaration of righteousness, showing what is just and good, and ought to be done, which they were willingly ignorant of; or else the final and future judgment of God after death, to which all men must come, and into which every thought, word, and work, will be brought, and which day wicked men put far from them; see Isaiah 1:3. (d) Nat. Hist. l. 10. c. 23. (e) De Animal. l. 3. c. 23. (f) Ep. l. 1. Ep. 7. (g) De Ritu Gent. Septent. l. 19. c. 11.

Jeremiah 8:7 . Yea, the stork knoweth her appointed times — Of going and returning; the turtle and the crane, &c., the time of their coming — The proper season for changing their climate. Taught by natural instinct, they change their quarters as the temper of the air alters, removing to a warmer climate when the winter approaches, and returning when the spring comes on; but my people know not the judgment of the Lord — Understand neither their duty nor their happiness; they apprehend not the meaning either of God’s mercies or judgments, nor how to accommodate themselves to either so as to answer God’s intention therein. They know not how to improve the seasons of grace which God affords them when he sends them his prophets; nor how to make use of the rebukes they are under when his voice cries in the city. They discern not the signs of the times, ( Matthew 16:3 ,) nor are aware how God is dealing with them. They know not the law which God has prescribed them, though it be written both in their hearts and in their books.

7 . Instinct renders migratory birds punctual in departure and arrival. How much more should man’s reason and conscience exercise over him an effective control. Cp. Isaiah 1:3 . stork ] There are two species found in Palestine, the white and the black, the former dispersed generally in pairs over the whole country, the latter living in the deserts and in large flocks. in the heaven ] at the time of their migration they fly high. (See HDB. and Tristram, Nat. Hist. of Bible , 205, 219, 246.) turtle ] There are three species of turtle dove in Palestine. swallow ] better, swift , or martin . All three are common in Palestine. The swift has a harsh cry, constantly repeated. crane ] perhaps a species of bird akin to that preceding. It may very possibly be the swallow, but no clear indication can be got from any sense of the root in Hebrew or cognate languages. ordinance ] though it is thus recognised by the lower animals.

Verse 7. - The appeal to the regularity of animal instincts reminds us of Isaiah 1:3 . Yea, the stork, etc. The minatory birds obey their instinct with the most unfailing regularity. Those referred to are: (1) the stork, whose "regular and sudden return is one of the most interesting natural sights of Palestine. The expression 'stork in the heavens' refers to the immense height at which they fly during migration" (Tristram); (2) the turtle, or turtle-dove, whose return is the sure sign of spring ( Song of Solomon 2:11 ); (3 and 4) the crane and the swallow, or rather, "the swift and the crane." These birds are again mentioned together in Isaiah 38:14 (the psalm of Hezekiah), where special reference is made to the penetrating quality of their note. "The whooping or trumpeting of the crane rings through the night air in spring, and the vast flocks which we noticed passing north near Beersheba were a wonderful sight." The introduction of the swallow in the Authorized Version is misleading, as that bird is not a regular migrant in Palestine. The note of the swift is a shrill scream. "No bird is more conspicuous by the suddenness of its return than the swift," is the remark of Canon Tristram, who saw large flocks passing northwards over Jerusalem, on the 12th of February ('Nat. Hist. of Bible,' p. 208). It is an interesting fact that the swift bears the same name ( sus ) in the vernacular Arabic as in the Hebrew of Jeremiah. The judgment ; better, the law (see on Jeremiah 5:4).

Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times; and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming; but my people know not the {e} judgment of the LORD. (e) He accuses them in that they are more ignorant of God's judgments, than these birds are of their appointed seasons to discern the cold and heat.

(7) The stork in the heaven. —The eye of the prophet looked on nature at once with the quick observation of one who is alive to all her changes, and with the profound thought of a poet finding inner meanings in all phenomena. The birds of the air obey their instincts as the law of their nature. Israel, with its fatal gift of freedom, resists that which is its law of life. The stork arrives in Palestine in March, and leaves for the north of Europe in April or May. The Hebrew name, chasideh (literally, the pious bird ) , indicating its care for its young, is suggestive, as also is the phrase “in the heavens,” as applied to its characteristic mode of flight. The turtle-dove appears at the approach of spring (Song Song of Solomon 2:12 ). The crane and the swallow.—In the judgment of Tristram and other modern naturalists, the words should change places, and perhaps “swift” take the place of swallow. The word for “swallow” in Psalm 84:3 is different. The same combination meets us in Isaiah 38:14. Judgment.—Better, perhaps, ordinance, the appointed rule of life which brute creatures obey and man transgresses.

Jeremiah appeals to the obedience which migratory birds render to the law of their natures. The "stork" arrives in Palestine about March 21, and after a six weeks' halt departs for the north of Europe. It takes its flight by day, at a vast height in the air ("in the heaven"). The appearance of the "turtle-dove" is one of the pleasant signs of the approach of spring. The crane and the swallow - Rather, "the swift and the crane."

In the heaven, i.e. in the air, which is often called heaven, where the birds fly, Psalm 8:8 ; compare Jeremiah 7:33 , who possibly observe the fit time by the temperature of the air. Knoweth her appointed times, i.e. observeth the several seasons of her going and coming by some natural instinct, and this is said of the stork: what kind of fowl is here meant is disputable: see English Annotations and Latin Synopsis. Observe the time of their coming; the same thing diversified in these several fowls, that know also their seasons. But my people know not: this notes the great stupidity of his people, seeming not to have as much sense in them as the birds in the air, not knowing their summer of prosperity , to make a good use of God’s favours, nor the winter of adversity, either to prevent or remove that wrath of God that hangs over their heads, Isaiah 5:12 Luke 19:42,44 ; they know not their time for repentance, and making their peace with God, compared also, on the same account, to the beasts of the field, Isaiah 1:3 ; and thus Christ upbraids the Pharisees, Matthew 16:2,3 . The judgment of the Lord; either God’s vengeance in general, or particularly hovering over Jerusalem and Judea; or rather, the manner of God’s dispensations with them. So the word is used 1 Samuel 2:13 8:11 .

7. The instinct of the migratory birds leads them with unfailing regularity to return every spring from their winter abodes in summer climes (So 2:12); but God's people will not return to Him even when the winter of His wrath is past, and He invites them back to the spring of His favor. in the heaven—emphatical. The birds whose very element is the air, in which they are never at rest, yet show a steady sagacity, which God's people do not. times—namely, of migrating, and of returning. my people—This honorable title aggravates the unnatural perversity of the Jews towards their God. know not, &c.—(Jer 5:4, 5; Isa 1:3).