Moreover you shall say unto them, Thus says the LORD; Shall they fall, and not rise? shall he turn away, and not return?
All Commentaries on Jeremiah 8:4 Go To Jeremiah 8
John Chrysostom
AD 407
The very thing I said in the beginning, I say now, that both of these cause us to betray our salvation: placing our courage in our goodness and losing our hope to wickedness. This is why Paul, to protect those who remain in goodness, said, “Let any one who thinks that he stand take heed in fear that he fall.” And again: “I am afraid that, after preaching to others, I myself should be disapproved.” In order to lift up those who are found fallen in wickedness and to excite them to greater readiness, he bore testimony to the Corinthians. He wrote to them, “I may have to mourn over many of those who sinned before and have not repented.” In this way, he revealed that the sinners do not deserve equal pity with the unrepentant. And the prophet said to them, “Shall not he that falls arise, or he that turns away, shall he not turn back again?” Hence, as long as the “today” is said let us not despair but have good hope in the Master. Let us recognize the vast sea of his philanthropy.
