Jeremiah and Lamentations E-Book

John Calvin

• Herausgeber: Crossway
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Serie: Crossway Classic Commentaries
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2000

Seitenzahl: 622

Beschreibung

The Crossway Classic Commentaries Original works by godly writers, tailored for the understanding of today's readers For hundreds of years Christendom has been blessed with Bible commentaries written by great men of God who were highly respected for their godly walk and their insight into spiritual truth. The Crossway Classic Commentary Series, carefully adapted for maximum understanding and usefulness, presents the very best work on individual Bible books for today's believers. For forty years Jeremiah warned Judah of God's impending punishment for their flagrant disobedience of His commands. The many messages of judgment, though, were mixed with the words of mercy Judah would experience if only they would repent. The weeping prophet lamented over their obstinancy and the resulting calamities, yet always reminded them of the hope they would find in God's compassion. Writing as if closely acquainted with the prophet, John Calvin explains Jeremiah's emphasis on God's mercy and kindness toward His chosen but erring people. Just as Jeremiah looked forward to the future messianic kingdom, Calvin's enthusiasm never wanes as he applies the prophet's teachings to both the church and individual Christians.

Leseprobe

Jeremiah and Lamentations

Copyright © 2000 by Watermark

Published by Crossway Books

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Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.

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First printing, 2000

Printed in the United States of America

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Calvin, Jean, 1509-1564.

Jeremiah and Lamentations / by John Calvin.

     p. cm. — (Crossway classic commentaries)

ISBN 1-58134-157-1 (alk. paper)

1. Bible. O.T. Jeremiah—Commentaries. 2. Bible. O.T.

Lamentations—Commentaries. I. Title. II. Series.

BS1525.3.C35 2000

99-053548

224’.2077—dc20

CIP

15  14   13  12   11  10   09   08 07  06  05  04 03 02  01 00 15   14    13    12    11   10   9    8   7    6  5    4     3    2    1

First British edition 2000

Production and Printing in the United States of America for

CROSSWAY BOOKS

Norton Street, Nottingham, England NG7 3HR

All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

ISBN 1-85684-196-0

Contents

Series PrefaceviiIntroductionixJeremiahIntroduction to Jeremiah by John Calvin13Chapter 115Chapter 221Chapter 3 31Chapter 4 37Chapter 5 43Chapter 6 49Chapter 7 55Chapter 8 61Chapter 9 65Chapter 10 69Chapter 11 73Chapter 1277Chapter 13 81Chapter 14 85Chapter 15 91Chapter 16 97Chapter 17 101Chapter 18 109Chapter 19 113Chapter 20 117Chapter 21123Chapter 22125Chapter 23131Chapter 24139Chapter 25143Chapter 26151Chapter 27157Chapter 28163Chapter 29167Chapter 30 173Chapter 31 181Chapter 32191Chapter 33 201Chapter 34 207Chapter 35 211Chapter 36 215Chapter 37221Chapter 38 225Chapter 39 229Chapter 40 233Chapter 41 237Chapter 42 241Chapter 43 245Chapter 44 247Chapter 45 251Chapter 46 253Chapter 47 259Chapter 48 261Chapter 49 267Chapter 50 273Chapter 51 279Chapter 52 287LamentationsIntroduction to Lamentations by John Calvin293Chapter 1 295Chapter 2 301Chapter 3 307Chapter 4313Chapter 5 317

Series Preface

The purpose of the Crossway Classic Commentaries is to make some of the most valuable commentaries on the books of the Bible, by some of the greatest Bible teachers and theologians in the last 500 years, available to a new generation. These books will help today’s readers learn truth, wisdom, and devotion from such authors as J. C. Ryle, Martin Luther, John Calvin, J. B. Lightfoot, John Owen, Charles Spurgeon, Charles Hodge, and Matthew Henry.

We do not apologize for the age of some of the items chosen. In the realm of practical exposition promoting godliness, the old is often better than the new. Spiritual vision and authority, based on an accurate handling of the biblical text, are the qualities that have been primarily sought in deciding what to include.

So far as is possible, everything is tailored to the needs and enrichment of thoughtful readers—lay Christians, students, and those in the ministry. The originals, some of which were written at a high technical level, have been abridged as needed, simplified stylistically, and unburdened of foreign words. However, the intention of this series is never to change any thoughts of the original authors, but to faithfully convey them in an understandable fashion.

The publishers are grateful to Dr. Alister McGrath of Wycliffe Hall, Oxford, Dr. J. I. Packer of Regent College, Vancouver, and Watermark of Norfolk, England, for the work of selecting and editing that now brings this project to fruition.

THE PUBLISHERS

Introduction

Calvin on Jeremiah began as 193 hour-long classroom lectures, given near the end of Calvin’s life at the rate of three a week extemporarily in Latin to a mixed bag of senior schoolboys, pastors, and ministerial students from all over Europe in the Geneva Academy. The work as published was corrected but unadorned transcripts of these lectures, which he had created off the cuff with only an unmarked Hebrew Bible in front of him, and which faithful friends in his small audience had been able to take down word for word (Calvin spoke steadily but slowly).

In his dedication in the original edition Calvin apologizes for the lack of literary airs and graces but covers himself by saying, “I would by no means have allowed this book to go forth to the public had I not thought it would be useful and profitable to the church of God.” And he further declares: “If Jeremiah himself were now alive on earth, he would, if I am not mistaken, add his own recommendation; for he would acknowledge that his prophecies have been explained by me not less honestly than reverently; and further, that they have been usefully accommodated to present circumstances.” Latter-day readers, with four more centuries of publication and study of commentaries behind them, can only agree. Calvin is still up with the leaders, and as the 1850 translator stated: “Though the lectures were extemporaneously delivered, there is yet so much order preserved, and such brevity, clearness, and suitableness of diction are found in them, that in these respects they nearly equal the most finished compositions of Calvin.” This is true. Calvin was amazing.

Though the exposition is, as we would say, strictly grammatical and historical, in the way that once led a critic, used to reading Christ into the Old Testament, to speak of Calvinus Judaizans (Calvin acting the Jew), there are plenty of applicatory comments relating sin and grace in Jeremiah to sin and grace in Calvin’s western Europe, and by extension to sin and grace in the modern world. Calvin’s regular prayer at the start of each lecture was: “May the Lord grant that we shall engage in contemplating the mysteries of his heavenly wisdom with truly growing devotion, to his glory and our own edification.” Readers will find that Calvin’s text gives much help in this.

Few, I think, would nominate Jeremiah as their favorite Bible book. His language is vivid, his sense of Judah’s spiritual tragedy is strong, and the poignancy of his prophecies can be soul-shaking. He has the poet’s power to catch the imagination in a way that pierces the heart. But his book is long, and his constant focus on his people’s hardness of heart, and the pain and grief that his ministry of recall from perversity and realism about coming judgment brought him, may seem oppressive. Calvin keeps step with Jeremiah, and his commentary is correspondingly lengthy (five volumes in the 1850 translation, including Lamentations); so the present abridgment renders us good service.

Calvin’s extempore prayers rounding off each lecture were recorded, and that which closed the second of these may well be our own prayer as we turn to his elucidation of the word of the Lord to and through Jeremiah.

Grant, Almighty God, that since you are pleased kindly to invite us to yourself, and have consecrated your word for our salvation, O grant that we may willingly and from the heart obey you, and become so teachable that what you have designed for our salvation may not turn to our perdition; but may that incorruptible seed by which you regenerate us into a hope of the celestial life so drive its roots into our hearts and bring forth fruit that your name may be glorified; and may we be so planted in the courts of your house that we may grow and flourish, and that fruit may appear through the whole course of our life, until we shall at length enjoy that blessed life which is laid up for us in heaven; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

J. I. PACKER

Introduction to Jeremiah

By John Calvin

Jeremiah started his work as a prophet under Josiah, in the thirteenth year of his reign. Josiah was a sincere servant of God, and he reigned during very confused times. The book of the law was unknown, so that everyone indulged in evil forms of worship. It is recorded in sacred history: “In the eighteenth year of Josiah’s reign, to purify the land and the temple, he sent Shaphan son of Azaliah and Maaseiah the ruler of the city, with Joah son of Joahaz, the recorder, to repair the temple of the LORD his God. . .. Hilkiah said to Shaphan the secretary, ‘I have found the Book of the law in the temple of the LORD.’ He gave it to Shaphan” (2 Chronicles 34:8, 15).

The first thing to be observed is the time when Jeremiah began to teach. Religion was then so corrupt, with everyone inventing errors to suit their own ends, that Jeremiah’s work must have been hard and arduous. The end of his work must be noted. He says that he did his work until the deportation; so his work lasted for forty years. We must observe that after the city of Jerusalem was cut off, and its inhabitants were taken as captives into Babylon, Jeremiah continued with his work. He was taken off to Egypt, as we learn from the end of his book (see especially chapter 44). He was taken there by force, while he still pronounced a curse on all the Jews who tried to find hiding places in Egypt.

So, after the destruction of Jerusalem, Jeremiah carried on his work. It may be that he carried on his work for another ten years. It is said that he was stoned to death, and this is not unlikely, for he was just as severe in his criticism of the Jews who had fled into Egypt as he was against the city of Jerusalem while it stood. It is probable that they killed the holy prophet.

I come now to the contents of the book. As Isaiah and the other prophets had spent their labor almost in vain, nothing remained for Jeremiah to do but to briefly announce sentence. In summary, this was: “There is now no pardon; it is the time of extreme vengeance, for they have abused God’s forbearance for too long. He bore with them, was kind to them, exhorted them to repent, and said he would be propitious if they returned to the right way. But God’s kindness has been despised by them.” So Jeremiah had to speak against them as people in a lost and hopeless state of perverseness. The main thing in this teaching was: “The kingdom and the priesthood are finished. The Jews have so often and in so many ways and for so long provoked God’s wrath and rejected the pious warnings of his servants.”

Isaiah, in his day, also uttered warnings, but whenever he spoke severely, he added some hope of pardon, to mitigate what was terrible. But after the ten tribes had been carried into exile, and various calamities had come upon the kingdom, the Jews were still impenitent, hardening themselves more and more under God’s scourges. So he had to deal with them more severely. God had contended with them through Isaiah and the other prophets. He showed that they were guilty and pronounced on them the sentence of condemnation through Jeremiah and Ezekiel.

Also, in order that Jeremiah’s teaching might be complete, God made him the herald of his grace and of the salvation of the promised Christ. However, we must bear in mind that he offered them no hope of mercy until they had suffered the punishment that their sins deserved.

Jeremiah was sent by God to proclaim to the people their last calamity. But he also told them of their future redemption and at the same time reminded them of the intervening seventy years in exile.

Jeremiah Chapter 1

1. The words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah, one of the priests at Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin. It is not for nothing that the start of Jeremiah’s work as a prophet in God’s church is stated. It began when the people were in a very corrupt state, with all their religion vitiated, because the book of the law had been lost. Nowhere else can we find the correct way to worship God. At this time, when impiety had long been the prevailing custom among the Jews, Jeremiah suddenly appeared.

The heaviest of burdens was placed on Jeremiah’s shoulders. Most people were trampling underfoot the pure doctrine of the law, and he was trying to bring them back to it; but many people opposed him.

Son of Hilkiah. Jeremiah does not say that Hilkiah was the high priest. On the contrary, he adds, one of the priests at Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin. We know that Anathoth was an insignificant village, not far from Jerusalem. And Jeremiah says that it was in the territory of Benjamin. Its closeness to Jerusalem may be gathered from the words of Isaiah who says that poor Anathoth was terrified (see Isaiah 10:30ff.).

Jeremiah also says that Hilkiah was one of the priests. Hence Jeremiah was more suited to the prophetic office than many of the other prophets, such as Amos and Isaiah. God took Isaiah from the court (he was a member of the royal family) and made him a prophet. Amos had a different background: he was a shepherd.

2. The word of the LORD came to him in the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah. Jeremiah explains in this second verse that he brought nothing to the people that he had not received from God; he faithfully declared what God had commanded him. The word of the Lord was given to him.

3. And through the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, down to the fifth month of the eleventh year of Zedekiah son of Josiah king of Judah, when the people of Jerusalem went into exile. In my introduction I have shown why Jeremiah says that he had been chosen as a prophet in the thirteenth year of Josiah’s reign and that he continued until the eleventh year of Zedekiah.

4. The word of the LORD came to me, saying . . . Jeremiah introduces God as the speaker in order to lend more weight to what he says.

5. “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” God declares that he knew Jeremiah before he formed him in the womb. This is not said especially of the prophet, as if other people are unknown to God; it refers to the prophetic office. It is like saying, “Before I formed you in the womb, I destined you for this work, so that you may undertake the burden of being a teacher among these people. I formed you in the womb and at the same time appointed you for a special work. And it was not your power that qualified you for this office, for I created not only a man, but a prophet.”

It may seem strange that Jeremiah should be called a prophet to the nations. God designated him to be the minister of his church. He did not go to the Ninevites, as Jonah did (see Jonah 3:3), nor did he travel into other countries but spent all his time working among the tribe of Judah. So why was he called a prophet to the nations? The answer is that although God appointed him especially for his church, his teaching belonged to other nations as well.

6-7. “Ah, Sovereign LORD,” I said, “I do not know how to speak; I am only a child.” But the LORD said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a child.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you.” Here God not only predicts what the prophet was going to do but also declares what he appointed him to do, as if he had said, “It is your duty to obey because I have the right to command. You must, therefore, go wherever I send you, and you must proclaim whatever I tell you.” Through these words God reminds Jeremiah that he was his servant and that there was no reason why a sense of his own weakness should make him afraid. It should have been enough for him to simply obey God’s command.

It is very important that we know this teaching, for we should not do anything without thinking in whose strength we will accomplish the task. So when God asks us to do anything, we should immediately obey his Word, as it were, with closed eyes. When God calls we should not say, “I am only a child.” It is as if God has said, “Although you think you have no talents at all and are fully conscious of your weakness, you should still go wherever I send you.” God requires people to obey his commands, even if they think they lack the necessary qualifications.

8. “Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the LORD. From this verse we learn that Jeremiah was greatly upset when he saw the hard conflicts that faced him. He saw that he had to deal with a people who had almost completely wandered away from God’s law. They had shaken off this yoke for many years, and now it was difficult to bring them back into the paths of obedience. It seems that Jeremiah was so overcome by the difficulty of the work that he did not want to undertake the office of prophet. But God provided a suitable remedy for his fear. What does he say? “Do not be afraid of them.” God, who penetrates into the hearts of people and knows their hidden feelings and motives, heals Jeremiah’s timidity by saying, “Do not be afraid of them.”

The reason God gives for saying that Jeremiah should be bold should also be noted: “For I am with you and will rescue you.” God reminds the prophet through these words that his divine power would be enough to protect him, so that he did not need to dread the anger of his own nation. It was at first a formidable undertaking when Jeremiah saw that he had to fight not against a few people, but against all of the people. But God sets himself against everybody and says, “Do not be afraid of them.”

9-10. Then the LORD reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “Now, I have put my words in your mouth. See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.” Jeremiah speaks again about his calling. He does not want his teaching to be despised, as if it came from a private individual. Therefore he witnesses again that he does not come on his own accord but was sent from above and was invested with the authority of a prophet. This is why he says that God put his words in his mouth.

This passage should be carefully noted, for Jeremiah describes how a true call can be ascertained when one undertakes the office of a teacher in the church. It is discovered in this way: Nothing of one’s own is brought (see 1 Peter 4:11).

A visible symbol was added in order to confirm Jeremiah’s call. But there is no reason to make this a general rule, as if it were necessary that the tongues of all teachers should be touched by God’s hand. There are two things to note here. First, there is the thing itself. All of God’s servants are told they should not bring their own ideas but simply deliver, as from one hand to the next hand, what they have received from God. Second, there was something special for Jeremiah: God, by stretching out his hand, touched his mouth. This was to show in a visible way that his mouth was consecrated to God.

“See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms.” God shows that he wants his Word to be received reverently, even when it is conveyed by frail mortals. We should note the authority that God ascribes to his own Word. God here sets his prophet above the whole world, even above kings. So whoever claims this power must bring forth God’s Word and really prove that he is a prophet.

“To uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.” Here Jeremiah puts ruin and destruction before building and planting. This seems to be inconsistent, but we must always bear in mind the condition of this people. Impiety, perverseness, and hardened sin had prevailed for so long that it was necessary to begin with ruin and eradication. Jeremiah could not have planted or have built God’s temple unless he first destroyed, pulled down, and laid waste.

God says that he gave authority to his servant, not just over Judea, but over the whole world. It was like saying, “You are but a small part of mankind. So do not lift up your horns against my servant, for you will not be able to do this. He will exercise power not only over Judea but also over all nations, and even over kings, for the teaching I have deposited with him is so powerful that it will stand above all mortals and over much more than a single nation.”

11-12. The word of the LORD came to me: “What do you see, Jeremiah?” “I see the branch of an almond tree,” I replied. The LORD said to me, “You have seen correctly, for I am watching to see that my word is fulfilled.” God confirms in this passage what he had just said about the power of his Word. God made his servant see the branch of an almond tree. Why? The answer is supplied: “You have seen correctly, for I am watching to see that my word is fulfilled.” God is extolling his Word here. It is as if he announced that what his servants said would not vanish into the earth—his power would accomplish everything, just as he had said. “As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:10-11).

“Watching to see that my word is fulfilled.” It is as if God said, “As they speak from my mouth, I am present with my prophets to fulfill whatever I command them.” God ascribes nothing to Jeremiah’s power but only to the power of his own Word. It is as if he said, “Provided that you are a faithful minister, I will not frustrate your hope, nor the hope of those who will obey you. For I will fulfill whatever you and they may rightly hope for. Those who resist you will not escape from being punished. For in due time I will bring on them the punishment they deserve.”

13-14. The word of the LORD came to me again: “What do you see?” “I see a boiling pot, tilting away from the north,” I answered. The LORD said to me, “From the north disaster will be poured out on all who live in the land.” Jeremiah now starts to address the people he has been sent to as a prophet. He accommodates his teaching to the people. Hence he says that he had a vision and saw a boiling pot. This means that the Chaldeans would come to overthrow Jerusalem, to take away all the honor and dignity both of the kingdom and of the priesthood. The pot stands for the nation of the Jews. They are likened to a boiling pot because the Lord, as it were, boiled them until they were reduced to almost nothing.

“From the north disaster will be poured out on all who live in the land.” Judea is the land. In these words God declares that the Chaldeans and the Assyrians had already lit the fire by which he would, as it were, boil his people like meat and eventually consume them.

15. This verse explains the previous one. God explains more clearly that evil will come from the north. He says he will send this evil and speaks of it in this way: “I am about to summon all the peoples of the northern kingdoms.” The prediction would not have been so effective had he not added that the Chaldeans would come by God’s authority, for people always ascribe to fortune whatever takes place (see Lamentations 3:37-38). So God rebukes the Jews sharply because they were so blind in this matter and did not acknowledge God’s judgments.

“Their kings will come and set up their thrones in the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem; they will come against all her surrounding walls and against all the towns of Judah.” The power of the Chaldeans would be so great that they would boldly pitch their tents in front of the gates.

16. God now explains why he had resolved to deal so severely with the Jews. They had to be taught two things. First, the Chaldeans would not attack them on their own authority but on God’s, who would arm them; and second, God would not be cruel to them or forget his covenant, though he would be angry because of the extreme wickedness of the Jews. God had to break them down—moderate corrections had no effect.

“I will pronounce my judgments on my people because of their wickedness.” This is like saying, “Until now I have waived my rights and waited for them to return to me. They have not returned and are so depraved that they add evil to evil; so I will take up my office of judge.”

“In forsaking me, in burning incense to other gods and in worshiping what their hands have made.” This is like saying, “They have completely denied me. I do not say that one of them is a thief, another an adulterer, and another a drunkard. For they have all become apostates. They have all broken the covenant. Thus I am wholly forsaken by them, and they are in every way alienated from me.”

17. “Get yourself ready!” (KJV, “Gird up thy loins”). This refers to the clothes Orientals used to wear. When they wanted to start some manual work or go on a journey, they hitched up their long clothes.

“Stand up and say to them whatever I command you.” In short, God says he does not want to go to extreme lengths until he has made sure there is no hope of the people repenting. He knew they were irreclaimable, but he intended to find out more fully their perverseness. He would command Jeremiah, finally, to pronounce the extreme sentence of condemnation.

“Do not be terrified by them, or I will terrify you before them.” This is like saying, “Take heart, do not be afraid of them, for that would mean you are unworthy of being supported by the strength of my Spirit.” From this we learn that God’s servants will not lack strength as long as they derive courage from the conviction that God himself is the author of their calling. God will give them strength so that they will be formidable to the whole world.

18. “Today I have made you a fortified city, an iron pillar and a bronze wall to stand against the whole land—against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests and the people of the land.” Nobody cared about religion or heavenly truth, and Jeremiah was so diffident that he could not shoulder such a heavy burden without God’s supporting hand. So God declares that he will make him like “a fortified city.” It might seem enough to call Jeremiah “a fortified city,” but the Lord also compares him to “an iron pillar and a bronze wall.” This repetition serves to confirm that Jeremiah will be victorious. Even though Satan will attack him, Jeremiah will win the battle, for he is fighting under God’s protection.

“Against the whole land.” God is not speaking about the whole world but about the land of Judah. Jeremiah was chosen to work among the chosen people; so it says he will be a conqueror of the whole of Judea. So it follows that he would be successful “against the kings of Judah.” God encourages this prophet to be firm and to persevere, as though the battle would be long, so that he would not faint from being tired. The prophet would not have to contend with one king only, but as soon as one died, another would rise up and replace him. From this Jeremiah saw there would be no hope of rest until the time that God had appointed arrived.

19. “They will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the LORD. This is like saying, “Be prepared to suffer. If I did not deliver you, you would be finished and defeated a hundred times over. But there is no reason for you to be afraid in the midst of a thousand deaths, since I am with you to deliver you.”

Jeremiah Chapter 2

1-2. The word of the LORD came to me: “Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem . . . God now tells his servant what message he is to deliver to the kings and priests and to all of the people of Jerusalem. In the hearing of Jerusalem refers to all its inhabitants.

“I remember the devotion of your youth, how as a bride you loved me.” By these words the Lord shows that he did not act as the Jews deserved, nor did he see them as in any way worthy of his salvation. He tried to bring them back to the right way through the efforts of his prophet, even though this would be ascribed to God’s previous benefits. It is as if he said, “It is a testimony to you of my paternal care that I send a prophet to give you hope of pardon, if you return to the right way and are reconciled to me. Since you have forgotten me and have completely neglected my law, why do I still show concern for you? It is because I want to continue to extend my favors to you.”

Notice the metaphor used here. God compares himself to a young bridegroom who marries a young bride in the flower of her youth and at her most beautiful. This way of speaking is often used by the prophets. As God had married the people of Israel when he redeemed them and brought them out of Egypt, he now says that he remembers the people because of that love and kindness.

“And followed me through the desert, through a land not sown.” We know that the people did not obey God even after they had been redeemed. So God is not here commending any merits of the people, but rather he is confirming that he could not disown them. He has adopted them and led them through the desert so that they might be separate from the rest of the world.

3. “Israel was holy to the LORD, the firstfruits of his harvest; all who devoured her were held guilty, and disaster overtook them,” declares the LORD.God rebukes the people for their ingratitude. First, he lists his favors through which he had bound the people to himself forever. Second, he shows the dreadful response the people made to the many blessings they had received.

In saying that Israel was“holy,” he does not intend to praise them. It was in itself an eminent testimony of how God had consecrated them to himself that he designated them “the firstfruits of his harvest.” Under the law, God had commanded that the firstfruits should be offered to him and then given to the priests. Here he says that in accordance with that rite, Israel was “the firstfruits of his harvest.”

He then adds, “all who devoured her were held guilty, and disaster overtook them.”This is like saying, “The profane who devour the first-fruits that have to be dedicated to me will not go unpunished.” For if anyone had stolen the firstfruits, God would have punished such sacrilege.

4-5. Jeremiah seeks to gain the attention of the people by saying, Hear the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob, all you clans of the house of Israel. It is as if he said, “I come boldly in the name of God, for I do not fear that you can offer any defense against God’s justly reproving you. I confidently wait to hear what you may say, knowing that you will be silent. I then declare with the voice of the trumpet that I have come to condemn you. You are free to make any reply. But the truth will make you mute, for your guilt is so odious.” In this way he urged them to listen attentively to him.

“What fault did your fathers find in me, that they strayed so far from me? They followed worthless idols and became worthless themselves.”God through Jeremiah accuses the people of two sins: they had departed from the true God, and they had become vain in their behavior. In other words, they had become apostates for no reason. Their sin was made worse because they had no reason to forsake God and to alienate themselves from him.

6-7. “They did not ask, ‘Where is the LORD, who brought us up out of Egypt and led us through the barren wilderness, through a land of deserts and rifts, a land of drought and darkness, a land where no one travels and no one lives?’ I brought you into a fertile land to eat its fruit and rich produce. But you came and defiled my land and made my inheritance detestable.” The prophet continues with the same theme. God accuses his people of no small sin, for they have buried his favors in oblivion. We understand what the prophet means when he says, “They did not ask”; God is sharply reproving the Jews for their stupidity. They did not think they were permanently indebted to God for his great kindness in delivering them so wonderfully from Egypt. By saying, “They did not ask, ‘Where is the LORD . . . ?’” God implies that he was present with them and close to them, but they were blind and had no excuse for their ignorance. If only they had recalled, “Did not God once redeem us?” they would not have lived their vain way of life.

“‘Who brought us up out of Egypt and led us through the barren wilderness, through a land of deserts and rifts.’” He could not have said that about all nations. These words especially applied to the Jews who had clearly witnessed God’s power. The only way they could have sinned was by a deliberate and willful act against God. Here the prophet makes their guilt even worse by citing certain circumstances. He says that the Lord not only brought them out of Egypt but had been their constant guide for forty years. (This time is suggested by the word wilderness. This story was so well known that a mere allusion was sufficient.) By mentioning the wilderness, Jeremiah also extols the glory of God.

“‘A land of drought and darkness, a land where no one travels and no one lives.’” This is like saying that the people had been preserved in the midst of death, indeed in the midst of many deaths. “When,” he asks in effect, “did you receive salvation? In what circumstances did you experience God’s deliverance? Was it not when you were surrounded on all sides by death itself? Since God was able to bring you out of Egypt by his incredible power, then fed you in a supernatural way for forty years, what excuse do you now have for acting in such a mad way that you are deserting God?”

“I brought you into a fertile land to eat its fruit and rich produce.” That is, “I wanted you to enjoy the large and rich produce of the land.” God intimates that the Israelites ought to have served him after receiving such blessings. So God adds, “But you came and defiled my land and made my inheritance detestable.” It is as if he said, “This is how my bounty toward you has been rewarded. I did indeed give you this land, but on this condition, that you serve me faithfully in it. But you have polluted it.” God calls it his own land, as though he is saying that he still remained their landlord, even though he had allowed them to occupy the land.

8. “The priests did not ask, ‘Where is the LORD?’ Those who deal with the law did not know me; the leaders rebelled against me.” God singles out the teachers and rulers in this verse. It often happens that ordinary people fall away, while some integrity remains in the rulers. But he shows here that such was the falling away of the whole community that priests as well as prophets, and all the leaders, had departed from the true worship of God and from all uprightness.

“The prophets prophesied by Baal, following worthless idols.” The name of a prophet is sacred. But Jeremiah here, and in other places, calls people prophets (contrary to the real fact), though they were nothing but impostors. For God had taken from them the light of divine truth. When the prophet says here that the prophets were ministers of Baal, he contrasts this name with the only true God. It is as though he said that the truth was corrupted by them because they had overstepped their limits and did not obey the pure teaching of the law. They corrupted it from many quarters, even through the many gods that heathen nations had invented for themselves.

9. “Therefore I bring charges against you again,” declares the LORD. “And I will bring charges against your children’s children.” This is like saying, “Do not be under the illusion that you have suffered all your punishment, even though I have punished your fathers severely for their wickedness and obstinacy. Since you follow in their footsteps and show no bounds to your sins, I will punish you and your children and all succeeding generations.”

10-11. “Cross over to the coasts of Kittim and look, send to Kedar and observe closely.” God uses a metaphor here to expose the wickedness and ingratitude of his own nation. For he says that all nations that believe in one religion practice it as it is handed down to them from their forebears. So why was the God of Israel rejected and repudiated by his own people?

“See if there has ever been anything like this.” That is, such a monstrous and execrable thing cannot be found anywhere.

“Has a nation ever changed its gods? (Yet they are not gods at all.) But my people have exchanged their Glory for worthless idols.” We should understand these two verses as follows: “Although no nation worships the true God, yet religion remains unchanged among them. Yet you have perfidiously forsaken me, and you have not forsaken a mere phantom, but your ‘Glory.’”

12. “Be appalled at this, O heavens, and shudder with great horror,” declares the LORD. When the prophet saw he had to deal with people who were practically devoid of all reason, he turned to speak to the heavens. This was a way of speaking that was common among the prophets. They address heaven and earth, which have no understanding; only people are endued with reason and knowledge. They did this in hopeless situations when they found that nobody wanted to learn. So the prophet now asks the heavens to “be appalled” and to “shudder with great horror.” It is as if he said, “This is a wonder that almost confounds the whole order of nature. It is as if we were to see heaven and earth mixed together.”

13. “My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.” The Lord through Jeremiah says they had “committed two sins.” The first was that they had forsaken God, and the other, that they had followed false and imaginary gods. To highlight their sin Jeremiah uses a metaphor and says God is a “spring of living water.” He compares idols to broken cisterns that cannot hold water. When one leaves a gushing spring and looks for a cistern, it is evidence of great folly, for cisterns remain dry unless water is poured into them, but springs have their own supplies of water.

14-17. Jeremiah, as if he were astonished by something new and strange, now asks the question, “Is Israel a servant?” Israel was more free than all of the other nations. She was God’s firstborn child. So we have to ask why she was so miserable. He goes on to say that “lions have roared; they have growled at him.” He says that their “towns are burned and deserted.” He says that their land was reduced to desolation. At last he asks, “Have you not brought this on yourselves by forsaking the LORD your God when he led you in the way?” This is again put as a question, but it is doubly affirmative, for it removes all doubt: “Why are you so miserable? For everyone is against you, and you are exposed to all kinds of evil deeds. How can you explain this, except to say that it comes as a result of all your wickedness?” Now we see what the prophet means. It is as if he said, “God did not deceive you when he promised to be bountiful to you. His adoption is not deceptive or in vain. For you would have been happier than all the other nations if your own wickedness had not made you miserable.”

“Lions have roared; they have growled at him [Israel].” Jeremiah declares that Israel had been deprived of God’s protection; otherwise she would not have been exposed to the caprice of her enemies. The prophet seems not simply to compare Israel’s enemies to lions on account of their cruelty, but also because of their contempt. It is as if he said that Israel found that not only people were incensed against them, but also wild beasts. For it is degrading if God allows us to be torn apart by wild animals. It is as if he said that Israel was being treated so miserably that they were not only killed by the hands of their enemies but were also exposed to beasts of prey.

In order to underline this point Jeremiah adds (verse 16), “Also, the men of Memphis and Tahpanhes have shaved the crown of your head.” The Egyptians, although they had a treaty with Israel, would be against them.

In short, Jeremiah teaches us that the cause of all evils lay in the people. It is as if he said, “You have concocted for yourself all this evil. Now you must swallow it and know that you cannot blame God for it. He would have been faithful to you, but your impiety prevented him.”

Jeremiah further underlines their sin by saying, “when he led you in the way.” To “lead in the way” is to govern people so as to make them happy. God says he had “led” them “in the way,” but they preferred to give their allegiance to idols.

18. “Now why go to Egypt to drink water from the Shihor? And why go to Assyria to drink water from the River?” The people could not blame other people for their own sin. “If you look into this matter carefully,” says God, “and ask why you are so miserable, you will not be able to blame me, but only your own sins. So what should you have done? You should have asked for my pardon, and I would have healed you at once. If you had come to me, you would have come to the best doctor. But in fact you turn to people who are unable to help you. You run off to Egypt, you run off to Assyria, but you will gain nothing from them.” Now we understand what the prophet is saying. From this we learn that we are not to search for water from either the Nile or the Euphrates—that is, from the enticing things of the world. Instead, we are to drink from the hidden spring inside us.

19. “Your wickedness will punish you; your backsliding will rebuke you.” It is as if he said, “You have now seen all this evidence proving that your own unfaithfulness has brought evil on your own head. God will pile evil on top of evil, so that you will at last realize, even against your will, that you will receive the just reward for all your evil.”

“Consider then and realize how evil and bitter it is for you when you forsake the LORD your God and have no awe of me.” This shows that the evils that the people suffered did not happen by chance but came as a result of their impiety.

“Have no awe of me.” “You cannot,” Jeremiah says, “object and say that you have been deceived. For it is clear that you have acted shamelessly in forsaking God, for there is no fear of God in you.”

Declares the Lord, the LORD Almighty. Jeremiah adds this to lend authority to his pronouncement.

20. “Long ago you broke off your yoke and tore off your bonds.” The prophet refers to many deliverances here. The people were delivered from Egypt, but when they were oppressed later on, God again rescued them. God had from ancient times, on numerous occasions, shaken off the yoke that lay on the people. This is clear from the book of Judges.

God complains that the people of Israel said, “I will not serve you!” This is like saying, “You were ungrateful—in the first place, when you did not take me as your Redeemer, and in the second place, in that you have not seen that I have been kind to you just so you can be mine.”

“Indeed, on every high hill and under every spreading tree you lay down as a prostitute.” We know that the Israelites, whenever they deserted God, went to some special places, on hills and under trees, as if such places possessed some special holiness. He says in effect, “That is what you have done with your freedom! You have used it to follow your own evil lusts.”

21. “I had planted you like a choice vine of sound and reliable stock. How then did you turn against me into a corrupt, wild vine?” “When I redeemed you from your enemies, I did not give you permission to prostitute yourself without shame or restraint. I planted you like a choice vine. That vine should have been fruitful but has degenerated so much that it produces nothing except wild grapes.”

22. “Although you wash yourself with soda and use an abundance of soap, the stain of your guilt is still before me,” declares the Sovereign LORD. That is, Jeremiah says, “You fool no one when you try to disguise your impiety. Even if you wash yourself, your sin remains in God’s sight.” The prophet speaks in the place of God, to add weight to his denunciations of the Israelites. Soda and soap were used to remove stains from cloth. But, says Jeremiah, “No matter how you attempt to deceive yourself and hide your sins from the world, you achieve nothing. For in my sight the stain of your guilt remains.”

23. “How can you say, ‘I am not defiled; I have not run after the Baals’? See how you behaved in the valley; consider what you have done. You are a swift she-camel running here and there.” The prophet could not fully express the Jews’ furious passions without comparing them to a swift she-camel. She is called swift not just because of her speed but because of her impetuous lust.

24. Jeremiah now compares the untamed madness of the people to “a wild donkey accustomed to the desert, sniffing the wind in her craving—in her heat who can restrain her? Any males that pursue her need not tire themselves; at mating time they will find her.” Nothing can bridle their lusts.

25. “Do not run until your feet are bare and your throat is dry. But you said, ‘It’s no use! I love foreign gods, and I must go after them.’” Jeremiah’s words are concise here and may appear obscure at first sight. He simply means: The people are so insane that they cannot be reformed, no matter how much God tries to check their excesses, through which they were led away into following idols and superstitions. Whenever there was any danger they ran until their feet were bare and their throats were parched, for they went off to Egypt and then to Assyria, as we have already seen.

“But you said, ‘It’s no use!’” This is like saying, “You prophets never stop bombarding our ears, but all your labor is in vain. We have once and for all made up our minds, and nothing will ever make us change.”

“‘I love foreign gods, and I must go after them.’” Jeremiah shows that the people shamelessly resolved to worship idols of their own imagination and to reject the only true God.

26. “As a thief is disgraced when he is caught, so the house of Israel is disgraced—they, their kings and their officials, their priests and their prophets.” Jeremiah is not just speaking about ordinary people. He condemns their kings and their officials, their priests and their prophets. It is as if he said they were corrupt from top to bottom and now showed total contempt for God.

27-28. The prophet continues to emphasize the wickedness of the people: “They say to wood, ‘You are my father,’ and to stone, ‘You gave me birth.’” By these words the prophet shows that idolatry was so rampant among the people that they openly ascribed to their wooden and stone statues the honor that is only due to the true God.

“They have turned their backs to me and not their faces.” God shows that the apostasy of the people could not be hidden.

“When they are in trouble, they say, ‘Come and save us!’” God complains that the Jews have abused his kindness, for they came to him only whenever they were in deep trouble. “What have I to do with you?” he asks in effect; “you are totally devoted to your idols, you call them your father, you ascribe to them the glory of your salvation when things go well with you. But when your idols do not help you in your times of distress, you return to me and say, ‘Come and save us!’ But since idols are your fathers and you expect salvation from them, I will have nothing to do with you. Be content with your idols, and do not trouble me anymore, for I have been forsaken by you.”

“Where then are the gods . . . ?” Here God laughs at the false confidence the Jews placed in these idols and how they deceived themselves. “Where then are the gods you made for yourselves? Let them come if they can save you when you are in trouble!” We now see what the prophet means. For he shows that the people behaved most strangely. They worshiped idols when they were safe and so denied the power of the true God. God shows them that they could expect no help from him, for they had robbed him of his own power when they devised idols for themselves.

God uses sarcasm as he derides them. “Where then are the gods you made for yourselves? Let them come if they can save you when you are in trouble!” That is, “Let them use all their power to help you.” “For you have as many gods as you have towns, O Judah.” As the people were not satisfied with one God, every city chose a patron for itself. “Since, then, innumerable gods are invoked by you, why is it that they do not help you?”

29. “Why do you bring charges against me? You have all rebelled against me,” declares the LORD. Jeremiah says that the Jews would gain nothing by alleging they were innocent. God convicts them of impiety; so none of their excuses holds water.

30. “In vain I punished your people; they did not respond to correction.” God now adds that he had tried many ways to bring his people back to their senses, but it had all been in vain (see Isaiah 1:6).

“Your sword has devoured your prophets like a ravening lion.” When God healed the vices of the people, the true prophets, the ministers of salvation, were cruelly killed by the people. This is the best way to understand the expression, devoured your prophets. God says that they raged against the prophets as if those prophets had gone into a forest full of lions.

31. “You of this generation, consider the word of the LORD.” The prophet shows that however blind they were, they could see with their own eyes what the Lord says. It is as if he said, “The Lord through me expostulates with you. Even though there are no witnesses present, nor any judge or arbiter, you yourselves can understand this matter.”

“Have I been a desert to Israel or a land of great darkness?” He makes the Jews themselves the judges of this matter. Had they experienced God’s bounty? Had God forsaken them?

“Why do my people say, ‘We are free to roam; we will come to you no more’?” This is the language of vain boasting. See 1 Corinthians 4:8. It is like saying, “Your happiness has not come from me. Whatever you have been, and whatever has been given to you, should have been ascribed to me and to my bounty. Without me [God], you are kings, but by what right? What have you as your own?” They were so bloated with pride that they despised God’s favor, as if they did not need anybody’s help.

32. “Does a maiden forget her jewelry, a bride her wedding ornaments? Yet my people have forgotten me, days without number.” “How is it, then,” asks God, “that my people have forgotten me? Can anything be found among the most valuable jewels and the most precious stones that can be compared with me?”

33. “How skilled you are at pursuing love! Even the worst of women can learn from your ways.” The prophet means that the Jews are like lascivious women, who not only despise their husbands at home but ramble here and there in all directions, put makeup on their faces, and seek for themselves all the charms of wantonness.

The prophets often compared the people to lovers, for the Jews, who should have been firmly attached to God (like a chaste woman, who does not turn her eyes here and there), sought safety from the Assyrians and from the Egyptians.

34. “On your clothes men find the lifeblood of the innocent poor, though you did not catch them breaking in. Yet in spite of all this . . .” The prophet repeats that the wickedness of his nation was incorrigible. The Jews were not only obstinate in their vices but also raged furiously against the prophets. The prophets were slaughtered, and the whole land was filled with and polluted by their blood. He seems to say that these slaughters were not hidden, for the blood splashed to the edges of their clothes. It is as if God said, “There is no reason for me to rebuke you severely in this matter, for your filthiness is apparent to all. You have not only rebelled against my teaching, but you have also cruelly murdered my prophets. You may ask, ‘Where is the evidence for such killings?’ But you only have to look on the edges of your clothes, and you will see that your sins are clearly evident.”

35. “You say, ‘I am innocent; he is not angry with me.’ But I will pass judgment on you because you say, ‘I have not sinned.’” Jeremiah says, “How dare you pretend to be innocent since you are proved to be guilty, not by allegations, but by glaring evidence!” In short, the prophet shows that the condition of these people was hopeless.

36. “Why do you go about so much, changing your ways? You will be disappointed by Egypt as you were by Assyria.” Their love was never constant. They went here and there, depending on who allured them. Before Hezekiah’s time the Jews had made a treaty with the Egyptians against the Syrians and the Israelites. Then, after they broke their treaty with the Egyptians, they fought against them and went to the Assyrians for help. Later on they made a peace treaty with Egypt, but this proved as useless as their first pact with Egypt. So the prophet says they would repeat the experience they had previously been through. God had indeed punished their ungodly defection when they went to Assyria. Now, he says, they will fare no better by looking for help from Egypt. We know that the Jews suffered more from the hands of their so-called allies than they did from their avowed enemies. This was the just reward for their impiety and defection. God declares that he would be the avenger of this second defection, just as he had been of the former one.

37. “You will also leave that place with your hands on your head.” To place your hands on your head is a gesture of extreme despair. In effect he is saying, “The treaty that fills the Jews with so much confidence will be of no advantage to them. On the contrary, it will bring them utter ruin and disgrace.” The reason for this is then given by the prophet: “for the LORD has rejected those you trust; you will not be helped by them.” The prophet says why he had spoken so severely. It might have been thought he was using hyperbolic language when he compared them to an abandoned prostitute. But the reason given here should have been enough to dispel all notions like that. They had foolishly trusted in fallacious helps that they knew were condemned by God.