This passage of story concerning the reviving which king Jehoiachin had
in his bondage we had likewise before (2 Kings xxv. 27-30), only there
it is said to be done on the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month,
here on the twenty-fifth; but in a thing of this nature two days make a
very slight difference in the account. It is probable that the orders
were given for his release on the twenty-fifth day, but that he was not
presented to the king till the twenty-seventh. We may observe in this
story, 1. That new lords make new laws. Nebuchadnezzar had long kept
this unhappy prince in prison; and his son, though well-affected to the
prisoner, could not procure him any favour, not one smile, from his
father, any more than Jonathan could for David from his father; but,
when the old peevish man was dead, his son countenanced Jehoiachin and
made him a favourite. It is common for children to undo what their
fathers have done; it were well if it were always as much for the
better as this was. 2. That the world we live in is a changing world.
Jehoiachin, in his beginning, fell from a throne into a prison, but
here he is advanced again to a throne of state (v. 32), though not to a
throne of power. As, before, the robes were changed into
prison-garments, so now they were converted into robes again. Such
chequer-work is this world; prosperity and adversity are set the one
over-against the other, that we may learn to rejoice as though we
rejoiced not and weep as though we wept not. 3. That, though the night
of affliction be very long, yet we must not despair but that the day
may dawn at last. Jehoiachin was thirty-seven years a prisoner, in
confinement, in contempt, ever since he was eighteen years old, in
which time we may suppose him so inured to captivity that he had
forgotten the sweets of liberty; or, rather, that after so long an
imprisonment it would be doubly welcome to him. Let those whose
afflictions have been lengthened out encourage themselves with this
instance; the vision will at the end speak comfortably, and therefore
wait for it. Dum spiro spero--While there is life there is hope. Non si
male nunc, et olim sic erit--Though now we suffer, we shall not always
suffer. 4. That god can make his people to find favour in the eyes of
those that are their oppressors, and unaccountably turn their hearts to
pity them, according to that word ( Ps. cvi. 46), He made them to be
pitied of all those that carried them captives. He can bring those that
have spoken roughly to speak kindly, and those to feed his people that
have fed upon them. Those therefore that are under oppression will find
that it is not in vain to hope and quietly to wait for the salvation of
the Lord. Therefore our times are in God's hand, because the hearts of
all we deal with are so. 5. And now, upon the whole matter, comparing
the prophecy and the history of this book together, we may learn, in
general, (1.) That it is no new thing for churches and persons highly
dignified to degenerate, and become very corrupt. (2.) That iniquity
tends to the ruin of those that harbour it; and, if it be not repented
of and forsaken, will certainly end in their ruin: (3.) That external
professions and privileges will not only not amount to an excuse for
sin and an exemption from ruin, but will be a very great aggravation of
both. (4.) That no word of God shall fall to the ground, but the event
will fully answer the prediction; and the unbelief of man shall not
make God's threatenings, any more than his promises, of no effect. The
justice and truth of God are here written in bloody characters, for the
conviction or the confusion of all those that make a jest of his
threatenings. Let them not be deceived, God is not mocked.
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