The Book of the Prophet Jeremiah
Jeremiah 3
Chapter III · Vol. III, pp. 1232–1233
1 God inviteth Judah to return to him, notwithstanding her vile whoredom. 6 Judah is worse than Israel. 12 The promises of the gospel to the penitent. 20 Israel reproved, and called by God, maketh a solemn confession of their sins.
1 They say,1 If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man's, shalla he return unto her again? shall not that land be bgreatly polluted? but cthou hast played the harlot with many lovers; dyet return again to me, saith the LORD.
2 Lift up thine eyes unto the ehigh places, and see where thou hast not been lien with: gin the ways hast thou sat for them, as the Arabian2 in the wilderness; and thou hast hpolluted the land with thy whoredoms and with thy wickedness.
3 Therefore the ishowers have been withholden, and there hath been no latter rain; and thou hadst a jwhore's forehead,3 thou refusedst to be ashamed.
i De.28.23,24. Le.26.19. ch.9.12; 14.4. Is.5.6. Zep.3.5. Joel 1.17.
j Eze.3.7. ch.6.15; 8.12; 44.16,17; 5.3. Eze.16.24,25,30-34.
3 Hardened as the parched ground: the one hardened because showers have been withheld, the other because the Holy Spirit has been taken away.—C.
4 Wiltk thou not from this time cry unto me, My father, thou art the guide of my youth?
k ver.14,19,22; ch.31.18-20; 2.2,27. Ho.14.1-3; 2.15, with Pr.2.17,19. Mal.2.14.
5 Willl he reserve his anger for ever? will he keep it to the end? Behold, nthou hast spoken and done evil things as thou couldest.4
6 The LORD said also unto me in the days of Josiah the king,5 Hast thou seen that which backsliding6 Israel hath done? she is ogone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and there hath played the harlot.7
* Allusion is here made to the idolatrous sanctuaries established on the tops of mountains and hills, where Baal, the sun-god, was worshipped; and to the shady groves in which the obscene rites of the goddess Astarte were practised. The number of these sanctuaries in Palestine was almost incredible. Many of them remain to this day, and the common people, of all races and sects, regard them with superstitious reverence.—P.
A.M. cir. 3376. B.C. cir. 628.
5 Here begins a distinct prophecy, which continues to the end of ch. vi.—C.
6 Backsliding. A phrase taken from oxen that, instead of advancing in the plough or wain, go backward, to the danger or destruction of themselves, the vehicle, and the driver.—C.
o 1 Ki.14.23. ch.2.20. De.31.16; 32.15-21. Ju.2.12,13,17,19. 2 Ki.17.7-17. Eze.22.28; 16.25,30-34.
7 See note * in first column.
7 Andp I said, after she had done all these things, Turn thou unto me; but she returned not. And qher treacherous sister Judah saw it.
8 And I saw, rwhen for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery, I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her streacherous8 sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also.
r Le.26.15-39. De.28.15-68. 2 Ki.17.6-23. Eze.23.9. Ho.1.6,9; 3.4; 4.15-17; 9.15-17.
s 2 Ki.17.19. 2 Ch.21.6,11; 24.17,18; 28.2,3; 33.2,9. Eze.23.11, &c.
8 Treacherous. In the sense of an unfaithful wife, with love on her lips, smiles in her face, fidelity in her vows, but deceit in her heart.—C.
9 And it came to pass through the 9lightness1 of her whoredom, that tshe defiled the land, and committed adultery with stones and with stocks.
9 Or, fame.
1 Lightness—'grossness'—lightly adopting every new idol—grossly pursuing every licentious and impure rite.—C.
t Is.24.5. ch.2.7,27; 5.7; 7.9,30,31; 11.10,12,13; 16.11; 17.1,2. Eze.16.15-59; xxii. xxiii.
10 And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah uhath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but 2feignedly,3 saith the LORD.
u Ho.7.14. 2 Ch.34.29-34; 35.1-18; 36.12-14. Ps.78.38.
2 Heb. in falsehood.
3 Even after Josiah's great passover, the priests and princes speedily returned to their idols, 2 Ch.35.18; 36.14,16.—C.
11 And the LORD said unto me, The vbacksliding Israel hath xjustified4 herself more than treacherous Judah.
v ch.2.21. 2 Ki.17.7-23. Ho. iv.-xiii. Am. ii.-viii. Mi. i.-iii. vi.; 7.1-6.
x Eze.16.51,52; 23.11.
4 Justified. Defended her apostasies and idolatries by more specious arguments, with more hardened effrontery.—C.
12 Go, and proclaim these words toward the ynorth, and say, zReturn, thou backsliding Israel, saith the LORD, and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you: for I am amerciful, saith the LORD, and I will not keep anger for ever.
13 Onlyb acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the LORD thy God, and chast scattered5 thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the LORD.
14 Turn,d O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am emarried unto you; and gI will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion:
15 And I will give you hpastors according to mine heart, iwhich shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.
h Ep.4.11. ch.23.4. 1 Sa.13.14. Ho.13.11.
i Jn.21.15-17. Ac.20.28. 1 Pe.5.2.
16 And it shall come to pass, when ye be jmultiplied and increased in the land, in those days, saith the LORD, kthey shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of the LORD; neither shall it come to mind,6 neither shall they remember it, neither shall they visit it, neither shall that be done7 any more.
j Is.11.11; 60.22; 61.4. ch.31.8. Eze.36.10,11. Zec.2.4,11; 10.8.
k Ho.3.5. Is.65.17. Jn.4.21-24. Mal.1.11. He.10.8,9.
6 Heb. upon the heart.
7 Or, it be magnified.
17 At that time they shall call lJerusalem the throne of the LORD: and nall the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the LORD, to Jerusalem: neither oshall they walk any more after the imagination8 of their evil heart.
18 In those days the house of Judah pshall walk with9 the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers.1
p ch.30.3; 31.1,8-12; 50.4,20. Is.11.13. Eze.37.16-22. Ho.1.11. Zec.10.6.
9 Or, to.
1 Or, caused your fathers to possess.
19 But I said, qHow shall I put thee among the children, and give thee a pleasant land, a goodly heritage2 of the hosts of nations? and I said, Thou shalt call me, rMy father; and shalt not turn away from3 me.
20 Surely, as a wife treacherously departeth from her husband,4 so shave ye dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, saith the LORD.
21 At voice was heard upon the high places,5 weepingu and supplications of the children of Israel: vfor they have perverted their way, and they have forgotten the LORD their God.
22 Return,x ye backsliding children, and I will heal6 your backslidings. Behold, ywe come unto thee; for zthou art the LORD our God.
23 Truly ain vain is salvation hoped for from the hills,7 and from the multitude of mountains; trulyb in the LORD our God is the salvation of Israel.
24 For cshame hath devoured the labour of our fathers from our youth: their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters.
c Ho.9.10; 2.8. ch.11.13. Eze.16.61,63. Ro.6.21.
25 Wed lie down in our shame, and our confusion covereth us: efor we have sinned against the LORD our God, we and our fathers, from our gyouth even unto this day, and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God.
d ch.6.26. Is.50.11. Ezr.9.6,7,15. Eze.36.3-6,31,32. Ro.6.21.
A.M. cir. 3376. B.C. cir. 628.
e ch.2.17,19. Ps. lxxviii. cvi. De.31.16,17; 32.15-21. Ju.2.11-19. 2 Ki.17.7-23. Am. ii.-viii. Mi. i.-iii. vi. vii. Zep. i.-iii. Is. i.-iii. v. ix. xxii. xxiv. lviii. lix. ch. ii.-xvii. Eze. iii.-xxiii. Da. ix.
g Is.48.8. ch.2.2; 22.21. Ps.106.7,13. Eze. xx.
Notes
As the Jewish nation were espoused to God by special covenant, apostasy and idolatry, or dependence on heathen allies instead of God, are often represented as whoredom, adultery, or fornication, by the prophets. 1-5. Notwithstanding ye have, under the judgments of famine, &c., multiplied your idols and idolatry, and eagerly hunted after companions in it, and opportunities of committing it, in all the corners of your land, and have impudently gone to your very uttermost in speaking and acting the most horrid abominations; yet, without a moment's delay, return unto me as your infinitely gracious Husband and Father. 11. The sins of the ten tribes, who had been long ruined or in a miserable captivity, were far less aggravated than those of Judah, being committed against fewer warnings, mercies, judgments, vows, &c. 12-25. These predictions began to be accomplished in and after the deliverance from Babylon; but will be much more fully accomplished in the future return of the twelve tribes to Canaan, and in the glories of the Christian church; especially in the coming age, when converts shall be numerous, ministers and magistrates faithful, ceremonies laid aside, and peace, harmony, faith, and godly sorrow prevail.
Ver. 3. The showers have been withheld, &c. At no time are men more disposed to repine and murmur against Providence than during the time of drought; God therefore again and again directs men's thoughts above the clouds to him who sits in heaven, as the only giver of 'rain and dew and fruitful seasons.' C.
Ver. 12. Here commences a prophecy looking far into the future. It opens with calling Israel from the north—that is, from Media, Persia, the borders of the Caspian, Poland, Lithuania, and other regions lying northerly from Judea; and closes with a period when by conversion to Jesus, commencing with 'one of a city and two of a family,' ver. 14, they shall be 'multiplied and increased in the land'—they shall neither name, remember, nor visit 'the ark of the covenant of the LORD,' ver. 16; and Judah and Israel shall come together out of the land of the north, and shall no more turn from following after the LORD, ver. 17, 18. C.
Ver. 17. That Jerusalem is a name of the church of Christ cannot be questioned. See Ga. 4. 26; He. 12. 22; Re. 21. 2, 3. But that here it signifies the literal Jerusalem can scarcely be doubted by any who considers the literal reality of the sins charged, the judgments inflicted, and, connected with the repentance of Israel, ver. 14, the promise of restoration to 'the land given for an inheritance to their fathers,' ver. 18. See Ro. 11. 26. C.
Ver. 24. Shame. The noted idol Baal was called 'shame,' ch. 11. 13; Ho. 9. 10, from the shameful nature of his worship; and this and similar idolatrous worship devoured Israel's labour continually. This was effected (1) naturally by the habits of dissipation that idolatry fosters; and (2) by the direct and consuming judgments wherewith it is constantly punished. C.
Reflections.—How base, eager, active, abounding, and impudent in wickedness, apostates from God become! And if we would seriously repent, we must take a particular view of our sins and their aggravations. Unbounded is the mercy of that God of grace with whom we have to do. He is averse to punish with severity; and opens his arms and heart to receive the most enormous transgressors who attempt returning to him by faith. But sad is the case when God's judgments upon our neighbours do not awaken us to detest and avoid their sins; and that, when God bestows reforming magistrates and ministers, many who join in reformation do but dissemble with him. Few backsliders from God are ever recovered. And obstinacy in sin lays bars in the way of our mercies, that nothing less than uncommon stretches of mercy can remove. Earnest are Jehovah's calls to faith and repentance; and strong and moving his gracious encouragements; and it is the assured faith of his special mercy that will most truly produce a true and gracious repentance. Peaceful, harmonious, well governed, conspicuous, and pure is the gospel church when everything in her is according to God's Word. And when his Spirit draws men to himself, deep is their sense of their guilt and folly in departing from and rebelling against him; and cordial their dependence on him, and justification of his judgments.