Jeremiah 20:9

I wilt not make mention of him - I will renounce the prophetic office, and return to my house.

As a burning fire shut up in my bones - He felt stings of conscience for the hasty and disobedient resolution he had formed; he felt ashamed of his own weakness, that did not confide in the promise and strength of God; and God's word was in him as a strongly raging fire, and he was obliged to deliver it, in order to get rid of the tortures which he felt from suppressing the solemn message which God had given. It is as dangerous to refuse to go when called, as it is to run without a call. On this subject, see on Jeremiah 1:6 (note).

This proves, that Jeremiah was, even under the full power of the prophetic impulse, a free and conscious agent. If he were a mere passive instrument in the hands of the Spirit, how could he determine no more to prophesy? And how could he carry this purpose into execution, as he actually did for a while? But this inquiry has been settled by the express authority of the apostle Paul. He affirms, in a manner which leaves no room to doubt, that the prophets were conscious agents, and that they had control over their own minds, when he says 1 Corinthians 14:32, "the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets"; and, on the ground of this, he requires those who were under the prophetic inspiration to utter their sentiments in such a manner as not to produce confusion and irregularity in the congregations, 1 Corinthians 14:29-31, 1 Corinthians 14:33, 1 Corinthians 14:40. How could he reprove their disorder and confusion, if they had no control over the operations of their own minds; and if they were not conscious of what they were uttering?

The truth seems to have been that they had the same control over their minds that any man has; that they were urged, or impelled by the Spirit to utter the truth, but that they had power to refuse; and that the exercise of this power was subjected to substantially the same laws as the ordinary operations of their minds. The true idea has been expressed, probably, by Lowth. "Inspiration may be regarded not as suppressing or extinguishing for a time the faculties of the human mind, but of purifying, and strengthening, and elevating them above what they would otherwise reach." Nothing can be more rational than this view; and according to this, there was an essential difference between the effect of true inspiration on the mind, and the wild and frantic ravings of the pagan priests, and the oracles of divination. Everything in the Scriptures is consistent, rational, sober, and in accordance with the laws of the animal economy; everything in the pagan idea of inspiration was wild, frantic, fevered, and absurd.

(c) It may be added, that this is the common view of prophecy which prevailed among the fathers of the church. Thus, Epiphanius says, 'In whatever the prophets have said, they have been accompanied with an intelligent state of mind;' Ad. Haeres. Mont. c. 4. Jerome in his Preface to Isaiah says, 'Nor indeed, as Montanus and insane women dream, did the prophets speak in an ecstasy, so that they did not know what they uttered, and, while they instructed others, did not themselves understand what they said.' Chrysostom says, 'For this is characteristic of the diviners, to be in a state of frenzy, to be impelled by necessity, to be driven by force, to be drawn like a madman. A prophet, on the contrary, is not so; but utters his communication with sober intellegence, and in a sound state of mind, knowing what he says,' Homil. xxix. in Ep. ad Cor., Bib. Repos. ii.

(4) The representation of future scenes was made known to the prophets by visions. This idea may not differ from the two former, except that it intimates that in a dream, and in the state of prophetic ecstasy, events were made known to them not by words, but by causing the scene to pass before their mind or their mental visions, as if they saw it. Thus, the entire series of the prophecies of Isaiah is described as a vision in Isaiah 1:1, and in 2 Chronicles 32:32. It is of importance to have a clear understanding of what is implied by this. The name "vision" is often elsewhere given to the prophecies, Numbers 24:4, Numbers 24:16; 1 Samuel 3:1; 2 Samuel 7:17; Proverbs 29:18; Obadiah 1:1; Isaiah 21; Isaiah 22:1, Isaiah 22:5; Jeremiah 14:14; Lamentations 2:9; Ezekiel 7:13; Daniel 2:19; Daniel 7:2; Daniel 8:1, Daniel 8:13, Daniel 8:16-17, Daniel 8:26; Daniel 9:21, Daniel 9:23-24; Daniel 10:1, Daniel 10:7-8, Daniel 10:14, Daniel 10:16; 2 Chronicles 9:29; Ezekiel 1:1. The prophets are called "Seers" ראים ro'ı̂ym; and חזים chozı̂ym, and their prophecies are designated by words which denote that which is seen, as חזיון chı̂zzâyôn, מחזה machăzeh, מראה mare'eh, חזון châzôn, etc. - all of which are words derived from the verbs rendered "to see," חזה châzâh and ראה râ'âh. It would be unnecessary to quote the numerous passages where the idea of "seeing" is expressed. A few will show their general characters. They may be "classified" according to the following arrangement:

(a) Those which relate to an open vision, a distinct and clear seeing, 1 Samuel 3:1 : 'And the word of the Lord was precious in those days; there was no open vision' - נפרץ חזון châzôn nı̂perâts - no vision spread abroad, common, open, public, usual. It was a rare occurrence, and hence, the divine communications were regarded as especially precious and valuable.

(b) Those which pertain to the prophetic ecstasy, or trance-- probably the more usual, and proper meaning of the word. Numbers 24:3-4 -- "the man whose eyes are open hath said; he hath said which heard the words of God, which saw the vision of the Almighty, falling, but having his eyes open.' Numbers 24:17, 'I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near; there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel." That is, I see, or have a vision of that Star, and of that Sceptre "in the distance," as if looking on a landscape, and contemplating an indistinct object in the remote part of the picture. Thus, Ezekiel 1:1, 'The heavens were opened, and I saw the visions of God;' Ezekiel 8:3; Ezekiel 40:2, 'In visions he brought me to the land of Israel,' compare Luke 1:22.

(c) Instances where it is applied to dreams: Daniel 2:19, Daniel 2:28; Daniel 4:5; Daniel 7:2; Daniel 8:1, Daniel 8:13, Daniel 8:16-17, Daniel 8:26-27; Daniel 9:21, Daniel 9:23-24; Genesis 46:2, 'God spake to Israel in visions of the night,' Job 4:13.

(d) Instances where the prophets represent themselves as standing on a "watch-tower," and looking off on a distant landscape to descry future and distant events:

I will stand upon my watch,

And will set me upon the tower,

And will watch to see what he will say unto me,

And what I shall answer when I am reproved. '

20:9 I said - He did not speak this openly, but in his heart.But - He found in his heart a constraint to go on.