The Book of the Prophet Jeremiah
Jeremiah 4
Chapter IV · Vol. III, pp. 1233–1235
1 God calleth Israel by his promises. 3 He exhorteth Judah to repentance by fearful judgments. 19 A grievous lamentation for the miseries of Judah.
1 If thou wilt return, O aIsrael, saith the LORD, returnb unto me; and if thou wilt put away thine cabominations out of my sight, then shalt thou not dremove.
2 And ethou shalt swear, The LORD liveth, gin truth, in judgment, and in righteousness; and hthe nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall they glory.
3 For thus saith the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, iBreak up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns.
i Ho.10.12. Mat.13.7,22. Lu.8.14. Ga.6.7,8.
4 Circumcisej yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem; klest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.
j ch.9.24. De.10.16; 30.6. Ro.2.28,29. Col.2.11. Eze.18.31.
k ch.21.12. Am.5.6. Zep.2.2. De.32.22. Is.5.24,26. Eze.20.46,47.
5 Declarel ye in Judah, and publish in Jerusalem; and say, Blow ye the trumpet in the land: cry, gather together, and say, Assemble yourselves, and let us go into the defenced cities.
l Eze.33.2,3. Ho.8.1. ver.16; ch.6.1; 8.14; 35.11.
6 Set up the standard toward Zion: 1retire, stay not; for nI will bring evil from the 2north, and a great destruction.3
1 Or, strengthen.
n ch.1.13-15; 6.22; 19.2,15; 25.9; 21.7.
2 Babylon did not lie towards the north, but east of Judea. But no army could find supplies in marching directly through the deserts of Arabia. The Babylonian invaders would, according to convenience and custom, cross the Euphrates at Zuphiah, and enter Judea from the north by way of Syria and Damascus.—C.
3 Heb. breaking.
7 The olion4 is come up from his thicket, and the destroyer of the Gentiles is on his way; he is gone forth from his place to make thy land desolate: and thy cities shall be laid waste without an inhabitant.
8 For this pgird you with sackcloth, lament and howl; for the fierce anger of the LORD qis not turned back from us.
9 And it shall come to pass at that day, saith the LORD, that rthe heart of the king shall perish, and the heart of the princes; and sthe priests shall be astonished, and the prophets shall wonder.
r Ps.73.26; 102.4. Is.19.11,12; 20.3,4; 22.3,5. 2 Ki.24.1,12; 25.4.
10 Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! surely thou hastt greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, uYe shall have peace; whereas the sword vreacheth unto the soul.
t Is.63.17. 1 Ki.22.21-23. Eze.14.9. ch.5.12; 14.13. 2 Th.2.11,12. Ps.81.12.
u Is.37.35.
11 At that time shall it be said to this people and to Jerusalem, xA dry wind of the high places in the wilderness toward the daughter of my people, ynot to fan, nor to cleanse,5
12 Even a full wind from those6 places shall come unto me:7 now also will I give sentence8 against them.
6 Or, a fuller wind than those.
7 Shall come unto me, saith the Lord, to receive its commission.—C.
8 Heb. utter judgments, ch.1.16. Eze.5.7-17; 6.2-14; 7.2-15.
13 Behold, zhe shall come9 up as clouds, and his chariots shall be as a whirlwind: ahis horses are swifter than eagles. Woe unto us! for we are spoiled.
14 O Jerusalem, bwash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved: how long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?
15 For1 a voice declareth from Dan, and publisheth affliction from mount Ephraim.2
1 ch.8.16; 6.1; ver.6. The Chaldeans come from the north.
2 The line of march of the advancing foe is here indicated. Watchmen are represented as having been set to give notice of their approach. The first was stationed at Dan, the northern border city of Palestine, and he gave the first alarm. The next was on Mount Ephraim, and he proclaimed that the enemy was approaching the confines of Judah.—P.
16 Make ye mention to the nations: behold, publish against Jerusalem, that watchers3 come from a far country, and cgive out their voice against the cities of Judah.
3 Besiegers, De.28.49,52. ch.25.9; 39.1. Is.39.3.
c Eze.21.22. ch.2.15.
17 Asd keepers of a field are they against her round about; because eshe hath been rebellious against me, saith the LORD.
18 Thyg way and thy doings have procured these things unto thee: this is thy wickedness,4 because it is bitter, because it reacheth unto thine heart.
19 Myh bowels, my bowels! I am pained at my very heart;5 my heart maketh a noise in me; I cannot hold my peace, because ithou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.
20 Destructionj upon destruction is cried: for the whole land is spoiled: suddenly are my tentsk spoiled, and my curtains in a moment.
21 Howl long shall I see the standard, and hear the sound of the trumpet?
l 2 Ki.23.29; xxiv. xxv. ver.5,6,15,16; ch.6.1.
22 Forn my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding: othey are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.
23 Ip beheld the earth,6 and, lo, it was without form and void; and the heavens,7 and they had no light.
24 Iq beheld the mountains,8 and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly.
q Is.5.25. Lu.21.25,26. ch.9.10. Eze.38.20. Hab.3.6.
8 The mountains. Emblems of imperial power.—The hills; emblems of inferior and delegated authorities.—C.
25 I beheld, and, lo, rthere was no man, and all the birds9 of the heavens were fled.
r Is.6.11,12; 1.28; 2.10-22; 3.25,26. Zep.1.3.
9 Emblems of those who had no defence but flight. Thus the Christians, warned by the prophecy of our Lord, fled to Pella, and escaped the calamities of the siege.—C.
26 I beheld, and, lo, sthe fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at tthe presence of the LORD, and by his fierce anger.
s ch.7.20; 9.10; 12.4; 14.2. Ho.4.3. Is.5.9,24,25.
28 Forv this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black: because xI have spoken it, I have purposed it, and will not repent, neither will I turn back from it.
29 The ywhole city shall flee for the noise of the horsemen and bowmen; they shall go into thickets, and climb up upon the rocks: every city shall be forsaken, and not a man dwell therein.1
* The prophet here seems to look away down the long vista of the future, and to see in perspective spoiler after spoiler wasting and desolating Palestine, until at length, in the fulness of the prophetic period, the whole country is desolate. The first general ruin was wrought by the armies of Babylon; the final one by the Romans. The language of Jeremiah is now completely fulfilled. Time has converted prophetic declarations into history. The mountains, hills, plains, cities, and villages of Palestine are, as compared with ancient times, 'desolate;' yet there is not 'a full end,' for a remnant has been left.—P.
y ch.6.1. 2 Ki.25.4. Am.9.2,3. 2 Ch.36.16,17; 33.11. ch.25.9-11. La. i.-iii.
1 See note * in first column.
30 And when thou art spoiled, zwhat wilt thou do? though thou clothest thyself with crimson,2 though thou deckest thee with ornaments of gold, though thou rentest thy 3face with painting, ain vain shalt thou make thyself fair: thy lovers will despise thee, they will seek thy life.
2 This passage contains a minute description of an eastern harlot—the degraded emblem of an idolatrous and apostate church.—C.
3 Heb. eyes.
a ch.2.13,18,25,36; 17.5; 22.20-22. La.1.2,19; 4.17. Eze.16.36,37; 23.9,10,22-49. Ho.12.1.
Notes
Ver. 1-4. If you truly return to me by faith and repentance, and reform from your idolatries, and in a candid and upright manner devote yourselves to and serve me, in whom even the Gentile nations shall in a little time be blessed and glory, your captivity may be prevented. Yet not a mere outward reformation, but deep convictions of conscience, and a thorough renovation of your hearts, and purgation from the sinful corruptions thereof, are necessary to the preventing of my approaching and justly deserved judgments.—30, 31. No devices which ye can use shall avail you: the Egyptians and Chaldeans, whose friendship ye have courted, will forsake or murder you, which will occasion terrible anguish and despair all over the country, but especially at Jerusalem.
Ver. 2. Every one who has studied the prophecies of the Old and New Testaments, and carefully noted the history of nations, must have seen how wonderfully the fate of nations is interwoven with the condition of the Jews. Here the repentance of Israel would not only have suspended or superseded their own captivity and exile, but would have expedited and secured the conversion and happiness of the Gentiles. They did not repent—they were scattered—and but a few of the Gentiles have yet 'blessed themselves in him.'—Note, After a man's own personal salvation, few things should more occupy his thoughts than the present and eternal influence his conduct may exercise over others either for good or evil, happiness or misery. 'A word in season' may be instrumental to convert and 'save a soul alive'—a word may poison the heart of the hearer, and be followed by death and misery. C.
Ver. 10. The prophet neither says nor means that God had 'deceived' the people by telling them any flattering untruth—the ordinary meaning of deception—such an imputation would be insulting to the truth and holiness of God, and unworthy of the divine wisdom of the prophet. But the meaning is, 'that while God had promised peace to a penitent people forsaking their idolatry and returning to the Lord,' the Jews, appropriating the promise without realizing the character, have been deceived; and, in this sense only, were deceived by the Lord. In another view God is said to have 'deceived the people;' that is, false prophets prophesied, saying, 'Peace, peace! when there was no peace;' but the people loved and preferred these false prophesyings, and detested the truth, wherefore God 'gave them up to strong delusions,' and is therefore said to have done that which he judicially condemned an unbelieving, impenitent, and self-willed people to underlie. C.
Ver. 15. Dan. The north-eastern extremity of Palestine, at which the Babylonians, coming from Damascus, entered the Holy Land. See ver. 6. C.
Ver. 16. Watchers, besiegers. An army, not of temporary marauders, but fully instructed in all the arts of war and endurance of watchfulness. C.
Ver. 17. Grain fields, early ripe, require, in most countries, protection against birds, which, when affrighted from one part of the field, fly to another, and so require the guards to go 'round about' it. In Arabia the ripening grain requires to be strongly guarded against robbers, and as the fields are unfenced, the guards must surround them on all sides.—See Sir J. Chardin. C.
Ver. 19. Is this the exclamation of Israel, of the prophet, or of the LORD himself? Israel could not say, 'I have heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet!' for this was that sound which they sottishly refused to hear. Neither can it be the prophet; for he speaks of 'my tents' and 'my people' who 'have not known me.' This last phrase unquestionably designates Messiah. And as the speaker, throughout the whole discourse, ver. 19-26, is one, speaking uniformly in the first person, the whole must be understood of Messiah himself speaking prophetically as in 'the days of his flesh,' even as when he came near the city, looked upon it, and wept. C.
Ver. 25. No man. At the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus, no Jew was left in it, unless such as hid themselves in subterraneous passages. The expression 'no man' may, however, be justly interpreted—'no man' was seen who stood up for order and defence. C.
Ver. 26. All the cities. Jerusalem, Acre, and Jaffa alone remain, the mere skeletons of their former glory. All the other cities of Judea have sunk either into mere villages or absolute ruins; so complete is the desolation, that of many the sites cannot be ascertained.—See Wylie's Modern Judea, p. 318-369. C.
Ver. 28. For this shall the earth mourn, &c. This expression alludes to a well-known fact in human nature—that is, that everything, yea, the very sunshine, looks gloomy and dismal to the man whose heart is darkened by hopeless distress—that feels the rod of punishment without the consolations of faith, humiliation, and repentance. C.
Ver. 30. Though thou rendest thy face with painting. 'Though thou distend thine eyes with paint' (Boothroyd). The allusion is to the eastern practice of painting the brows and edges of the eyelids black, which gives the white an enlarged and distended appearance, which custom has converted into an artificial beauty. So vain, so foolish, and so weak is humanity in departing from nature, when forsaking God! C.
Reflections.—Thrice blessed are the fruits of true and gospel repentance! But great accuracy is requisite in turning to the Lord, in dedicating ourselves to him, or swearing by his name. And deep convictions, and an effectual change of heart, is necessary to the extirpation of indwelling lusts. How great is Jehovah's love to Gentile sinners! But dreadful is his wrath; and it is mad to kindle it upon ourselves by our sins! For furious, swift, terrible, and ruinous are the miseries, the effects of his justice upon impenitent sinners! It is vain to flee into defenced cities, or to attempt being courageous, under a sense of guilt. And those prophets who flatter men with vain hopes will most certainly perish along with those whom they have seduced and hardened in wickedness. Our ruin is wholly of ourselves. And it is criminal and absurd to be obstinate in wickedness when God's judgments are just falling on our heads. Hard is the heart which is not affected when destructive calamities befall the nation or church, and all created confidences concur to their ruin. And if such anguish and despair take place in the overthrow of nations, what must take place among the wicked in the last judgment, and in the eternal damnation of hell!