Yahweh says, “What unrighteousness have your fathers found in me, that they have gone far from me, and have walked after worthless vanity, and have become worthless?
They didn’t say, ‘Where is Yahweh who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, who led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and of pits, through a land of drought and of the shadow of death, through a land that no one passed through, and where no man lived?’
I brought you into a plentiful land to eat its fruit and its goodness; but when you entered, you defiled my land, and made my heritage an abomination.
The priests didn’t say, ‘Where is Yahweh?’ and those who handle the law didn’t know me. The rulers also transgressed against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal and followed things that do not profit.
“Therefore I will yet contend with you,” says Yahweh, “and I will contend with your children’s children.
For pass over to the islands of Kittim, and see. Send to Kedar, and consider diligently, and see if there has been such a thing.
Has a nation changed its gods, which really are no gods? But my people have changed their glory for that which doesn’t profit.
“Be astonished, you heavens, at this and be horribly afraid. Be very desolate,” says Yahweh.
“For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the spring of living waters, and cut out cisterns for themselves: broken cisterns that can’t hold water.
Is Israel a slave? Is he born into slavery? Why has he become a captive?
The young lions have roared at him and yelled. They have made his land waste. His cities are burned up, without inhabitant.
The children also of Memphis and Tahpanhes have broken the crown of your head.
“Haven’t you brought this on yourself, in that you have forsaken Yahweh your God, when he led you by the way?
Now what do you gain by going to Egypt, to drink the waters of the Shihor? Or why do you to go on the way to Assyria, to drink the waters of the River?
“Your own wickedness will correct you, and your backsliding will rebuke you. Know therefore and see that it is an evil and bitter thing, that you have forsaken Yahweh your God, and that my fear is not in you,” says the Lord, Yahweh of Armies.
“For long ago I broke off your yoke, and burst your bonds. You said, ‘I will not serve;’ for on every high hill and under every green tree you bowed yourself, playing the prostitute.
Yet I had planted you a noble vine, a pure and faithful seed. How then have you turned into the degenerate branches of a foreign vine to me?
For though you wash yourself with lye, and use much soap, yet your iniquity is marked before me,” says the Lord Yahweh.
“How can you say, ‘I am not defiled. I have not gone after the Baals’? See your way in the valley. Know what you have done. You are a swift dromedary traversing her ways,
a wild donkey used to the wilderness, that sniffs the wind in her craving. When she is in heat, who can turn her away? All those who seek her will not weary themselves. In her month, they will find her.
“Keep your feet from being bare, and your throat from thirst. But you said, ‘It is in vain. No, for I have loved strangers, and I will go after them.’
As the thief is ashamed when he is found, so the house of Israel is ashamed: they, their kings, their princes, their priests, and their prophets,
who tell wood, ‘You are my father,’ and a stone, ‘You have given birth to me,’ for they have turned their back to me, and not their face; but in the time of their trouble they will say, ‘Arise, and save us!’
“But where are your gods that you have made for yourselves? Let them arise, if they can save you in the time of your trouble; for you have as many gods as you have towns, O Judah.
“Why will you contend with me? You all have transgressed against me,” says Yahweh.
“I have struck your children in vain. They received no correction. Your own sword has devoured your prophets, like a destroying lion.
Generation, consider Yahweh’s word. Have I been a wilderness to Israel? Or a land of thick darkness? Why do my people say, ‘We have broken loose. We will come to you no more?’
“Can a virgin forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? Yet my people have forgotten me for days without number.
How well you prepare your way to seek love! Therefore you have even taught the wicked women your ways.
Also the blood of the souls of the innocent poor is found in your skirts. You didn’t find them breaking in, but it is because of all these things.
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv5–34 Then follows the charge: What, iniquity have your fathers…
Then follows the charge: What, iniquity have your fathers found in me, that having forsaken me they should walk after vanity and become vain? Here Jeremiah charges the people with two crimes, — that they had departed from the true God, whom they had found to be a deliverer, — and that they had become vain in their devices; or, in other words, that they were become for no reason apostates: for their sin was enhanced, because there had been no occasion given them to forsake God, and to alienate themselves from him. As then God had kindly treated them, and they themselves had shaken off the yoke, and as there was no one whom they could compare with God, they could not have said, “We have been deceived,” — how so? “For ye have, he says, followed vanity; and vanity alone was the reason why ye have departed from me.” I wish I could proceed farther; but I have some business to which I was called even before the lecture.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 33, 34 Altogether given to vanity, and are become blind and…
Altogether given to vanity, and are become blind and insensible as the idols that they serve.
That is, fallen to most vile idolatry.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv5–34 Jer 2:5 Thus saith the LORD, What iniquity have…
Jer 2:5 Thus saith the LORD, What iniquity have your fathers found in me, that they are gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and are become vain?
Ver. 5. What iniquity have your fathers found in me?] How unreasonable was their apostasy! and how senseless is your pleading from their example! Nothing is more irrational than irreligion.
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That they are gone far from me.] Are ye weary of receiving so many benefits by one man? said Themistocles to his ungrateful countrymen.
And have walked after vanity.] An idol is nothing at all, but only in the vain opinion of the idolater.
And are become vain,] scil., " In their imaginations"; {Rom 1:21} as vain as their very idols. {Psa 115:8}
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv5–34 God having, as it were on his own behalf,…
God having, as it were on his own behalf, shown how kind he had been, calls upon them to speak now, if they knew any thing of injury, either in breach of covenant or severity, that they can charge him with, that they have thus apostatized. See Poole "Isa 1:18"; See Poole "Isa 5:3": compare Mic 6:2-4. By this manner of speech his proceeding appears the more justifiable; he both makes their conviction the clearer, and the reproof the sharper.
Walked after vanity, viz. idols, showing their folly in going from God to such vain things as idols are, Deu 32:21; 1Sa 12:20,21; and see on Isa 41:29; the abstract for the concrete, Ecc 1:2.
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Become vain, viz. in following their imaginations; fools,
Rom 1:21,22, as senseless as the stocks and stones that they made their idols of, Psa 115:8; and herein they are said to go far from God, and choose their delusions, Jon 2:8.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On vv9, 14, 20, 29 The prophet, having shown their base ingratitude in forsaking…
The prophet, having shown their base ingratitude in forsaking God, here shows their unparalleled fickleness and folly (Jer 2:9): I will yet plead with you. Note, Before God punishes sinners he pleads with them, to bring them to repentance. Note, further, When much has been said of the evil of sin, still there is more to be said; when one article of the charge is made good, there is another to be urged; when we have said a great deal, still we have yet to speak on God's behalf, Job 36:2. Those that deal with sinners, for their conviction, must urge a variety of arguments and follow their blow. God had before pleaded with their fathers, and asked why they walked after vanity and became vain, Jer 2:5. Now he pleads with those who persisted in that vain conversation received by tradition from their fathers, and with their children's children, that is, with all that in every age tread in their steps. Let those that forsake God know that he is willing to argue the case fairly with them, that he may be justified when he speaks. He pleads that with us which we should plead with ourselves.
I. He shows that they acted contrary to the usage of all nations. Their neighbours were more firm and faithful to their false gods than they were to the true God. They were ambitious of being like the nations, and yet in this they were unlike them. He challenges them to produce an instance of any nation that had changed their gods (Jer 2:10, Jer 2:11) or were apt to change them. Let them survey either the old records or the present state of the isles of Chittim, Greece, and the European islands, the countries that were more polite and learned, and of Kedar, that lay south-east (as the other north-west from them), which were more rude and barbarous; and they should not find an instance of a nation that had changed their gods, though they had never done them any kindness, nor could do, for they were no gods. Such a veneration had they for their gods, so good an opinion of them, and such a respect for the choice their fathers had made, that though they were gods of wood and stone they would not change them for gods of silver and gold, no, not for the living and true God. Shall we praise them for this? We praise them not. But it may well be urged, to the reproach of Israel, that they, who were the only people that had no cause to change their God, were yet the only people that had changed him. Note, Men are with difficulty brought off from that religion which they have been brought up in, though ever so absurd and grossly false. The zeal and constancy of idolaters should shame Christians out of their coldness and inconstancy.
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II. He shows that they acted contrary to the dictates of common sense, in that they not only changed (it may sometimes be our duty and wisdom to do so), but that they changed for the worse, and made a bad bargain for themselves. 1. They parted from a God who was their glory, who made them truly glorious and every way put honour upon them, one whom they might with a humble confidence glory in as theirs, who is himself a glorious God and the glory of those whose God he is; he was particularly the glory of his people Israel, for his glory had often appeared on their tabernacle. 2. They closed with gods that could do them no good, gods that do not profit their worshippers. Idolaters change God's glory into shame (Rom 1:23) and so they do their own; in dishonouring him, they disgrace and disparage themselves, and are enemies to their own interest. Note, Whatever those turn to who forsake God, it will never do them any good; it will flatter them and please them, but it cannot profit them. Heaven itself is here called upon to stand amazed at the sin and folly of these apostates from God (Jer 2:12, Jer 2:13): Be astonished, O you heavens! at this. The earth is so universally corrupt that it will take no notice of it; but let the heavens and heavenly bodies be astonished at it. Let the sun blush to see such ingratitude and be afraid to shine upon such ungrateful wretches. Those that forsook God worshipped the host of heaven, the sun, moon, and stars; but these, instead of being pleased with the adorations that were paid to them, were astonished and horribly afraid; and would rather have been very desolate, utterly exhausted (as the word is) and deprived of their light, than that it should have given occasion to any to worship them. Some refer it to the angels of heaven; if they rejoice at the return of souls to God, we may suppose that they are astonished and horribly afraid at the revolt of souls from him. The meaning is that the conduct of this people towards God was, (1.) Such as we may well be astonished and wonder at, that ever men, who pretend to reason, should do a thing so very absurd. (2.) Such as we ought to have a holy indignation at as impious, and a high affront to our Maker, whose honour every good man is jealous for. (3.) Such as we may tremble to think of the consequences of. What will be in the end hereof? Be horribly afraid to think of the wrath and curse which will be the portion of those who thus throw themselves out of God's grace and favour. Now what is it that is to be thought of with all this horror? It is this: "My people, whom I have taught and should have ruled, have committed two great evils, ingratitude and folly; they have acted contrary both to their duty and to their interest." [1.] They have affronted their God, by turning their back upon him, as if he were not worthy their notice: "They have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, in whom they have an abundant and constant supply of all the comfort and relief they stand in need of, and have it freely." God is their fountain of life, Psa 36:9. There is in him an all-sufficiency of grace and strength; all our springs are in him and our streams from him; to forsake him is, in effect, to deny this. He has been to us a bountiful benefactor, a fountain of living waters, over-flowing, ever-flowing, in the gifts of his favour; to forsake him is to refuse to acknowledge his kindness and to withhold that tribute of love and praise which his kindness calls for. [2.] They have cheated themselves, they forsook their own mercies, but it was for lying vanities. They took a great deal of pains to hew themselves out cisterns, to dig pits or pools in the earth or rock which they would carry water to, or which should receive the rain; but they proved broken cisterns, false at the bottom, so that they could hold no water. When they came to quench their thirst there they found nothing but mud and mire, and the filthy sediments of a standing lake. Such idols were to their worshippers, and such a change did those experience who turned from God to them. If we make an idol of any creature-wealth, or pleasure, or honour, - if we place our happiness in it, and promise ourselves the comfort and satisfaction in it which are to be had in God only, - if we make it our joy and love, our hope and confidence, we shall find it a cistern, which we take a great deal of pains to hew out and fill, and at the best it will hold but a little water, and that dead and flat, and soon corrupting and becoming nauseous. Nay, it is a broken cistern, that cracks and cleaves in hot weather, so that the water is lost when we have most need of it, Job 6:15. Let us therefore with purpose of heart cleave to the Lord only, for whither else shall we go? He has the words of eternal life.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv5–34 Neither said they, where is the Lord?.... They did…
Neither said they, where is the Lord?.... They did not ask after him, nor seek his face and favour, nor worship him, nor took any notice of the blessings he bestowed upon them:
that brought us up out of the land of Egypt? by means of Moses the deliverer, with a mighty hand, and outstretched arm; for, though Moses was the instrument, God was the efficient cause of the deliverance; the favour was his, and the glory of it ought to have been given to him:
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that led us through the wilderness; of "Shur", or of "Sin", the desert of Arabia, Exo 15:22 and a dreadful and terrible one it was:
through a land of deserts and of pits, through a land of drought, and of the shadow of death; where were scorpions, fiery serpents, drought, and no water, and so very dangerous as well as uncomfortable travelling; and yet through all this they were led, and wonderfully supplied and preserved;
through a land that no man passed through, and where no man dwelt; there was no passenger in it, nor inhabitants on it, so that there were none to relieve them; whence it appears, that all their supply, support, and preservation, were from the Lord. The Jews (y) interpret this of the first man Adam, after this manner,
"all land, concerning which the first man decreed that it should be inhabited, it is inhabited; and all land, concerning which he did not decree it should be inhabited, it is not inhabited; and such they suggest was this wilderness;''
see Deu 8:15.
(y) T. Bab. Beracot, fol. 31. 1. & Sota, fol. 46. 2.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34 Vanity - Idols. Vain - Fools; senseless as the…
Vanity - Idols. Vain - Fools; senseless as the stocks and stones that they made their idols of.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 31, 32, 33, 34 Verse 5. What iniquity have your fathers found in…
Verse 5. What iniquity have your fathers found in me] Have they ever discovered any thing cruel, unjust, oppressive in my laws? Any thing unkind or tyrannical in my government? Why then have they become idolaters?
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv7, 9, 10, 12, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20, 22, 23, 25, 26, 29, 31, 33 Jer 2:7-8. And I brought you into a plentiful…
Jer 2:7-8. And I brought you into a plentiful country — Hebrew, into the land of Carmel. Carmel was so fertile a part of Judea, that the word from thence came to be used to express a fruitful place in general. Canaan was as one great, fruitful field, Deu 8:7. When ye entered, ye defiled my land — By your sins, especially by your idolatries, Psa 106:38; that sin being greatly aggravated by this circumstance, that the people thereby renounced God’s authority in that very land into which he had brought them, by a train of unparalleled wonders, and the propriety of which he had reserved to himself, though he had graciously bestowed upon them the use of it: see Lev 25:23. The priests said not, Where is the Lord? — That race of men, whom I exalted to the honourable office of ministering to me in holy things, neither inquired after me, nor cultivated any acquaintance or intercourse with me. And they that handle the law knew me not — They, whom I appointed to the important office of instructing others in the knowledge of me and their duty, (see Mal 2:6-7,) were ignorant or regardless of it themselves. And this was the principal cause of that degeneracy of manners which prevailed among the people. The pastors also transgressed against me — By pastors here, distinguished from the priests and prophets, are meant the kings, princes, and chiefs of the nation; for the word pastor is used in the prophets for a magistrate, as well as for a teacher of the people, and ecclesiastical governor. And the prophets prophesied by Baal — Gave forth prophecies in the name of Baal, with a view to recommend him as a god. Or, they that should have taught the people the true worship of God, were themselves worshippers of, and advocates for, Baal, and drew others from God to the worship of that idol; and walked after things that do not profit — Namely, after idols; things that could not possibly do them any service, but were sure to bring ruin upon them. It appears from hence, that all orders and degrees of men in authority had contributed to that general corruption of manners, whereof Jeremiah complains.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 27, 28, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34 Modern researches have shown that this description applies only…
Modern researches have shown that this description applies only to limited portions of the route of the Israelites through the Sinaitic peninsula.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 28, 30, 31, 33, 34 Vanity; idols, whom he will not mention, to spare…
Vanity; idols, whom he will not mention, to spare their shame. (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv5–34 iniquity--wrong done to them (Isa 5:4; Mic 6:3; compare…
iniquity--wrong done to them (Isa 5:4; Mic 6:3; compare Deu 32:4).
walked after vanity--contrasted with "walkest after me in the wilderness" (Jer 2:2): then I was their guide in the barren desert; now they take idols as their guides.
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vanity . . . vain--An idol is not only vain (impotent and empty), but vanity itself. Its worshippers acquire its character, becoming vain as it is (Deu 7:26; Psa 115:8). A people's character never rises above that of its gods, which are its "better nature" [BACON] (Kg2 17:15; Jon 2:8).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 25, 27, 28, 30, 31, 32, 34 5. Have walked after vanity — The original of…
5. Have walked after vanity — The original of “vanity” is, in the historical books, used in the sense of idols or false gods, as in Deu_32:21; 1Ki_16:13; 1Ki_16:26, etc.; but in Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and some of the Psalms, it is used in a more general or abstract sense. In this book it is used in its earlier import, and this is one of many indications of the affinity of this book in thought and language with the formative period of Hebrew life. The precise words of this text occur in 2Ki_17:15, where they are applied to the ten tribes. They involve the universally recognised law that the worshipper will be as the worshipped. The deity enshrined in the soul will, of necessity, be the dominant force in the life and character. God will be first of all — Creator in his own realm.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv5–34 5. Has Israel had any excuse for their disloyalty…
5. Has Israel had any excuse for their disloyalty to Me? None.
have walked after vanity] ‘vanity’ (lit. a breath) is here used in the same sense as in 1Ki_16:13. Jehovah and His prophets regarded idols simply as unsubstantial, unreal things. Hence ‘vanity’ (i.e. idols) expresses their view. So in 1Co_8:4. Cp. Jer_2:8; Jer_2:11, Jer_16:19; 1Sa_12:21; Isa_44:9 f. Ch. Jer_10:10 contrasts God as “the true God,” “the living God”; while the notions of that which is unreal and that which is positively injurious are combined in Jer_16:19.
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and are become vain] have their characters assimilated to the objects which they serve. Cp. Rom_1:21 f., they “became vain in their reasonings … they became fools.”
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv5–34 (5) Vanity.—In the special sense, as a synonym for…
(5) Vanity.—In the special sense, as a synonym for idol-worship (Deu_32:21; 1Ki_16:13). As in the character of a husband wronged by his wife’s desertion Jehovah pleads with His people, and asks whether He has failed in anything.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv5–34 What iniquity, etc.; rather, what unrighteousness, etc. (comp. Deu_32:4,…
What iniquity, etc.; rather, what unrighteousness, etc. (comp. Deu_32:4, "a God of faithfulness, and without unrighteousness," alluding to the "covenant" between Jehovah and Israel) God"s condescending grace (his anavah, Psa_18:36). As if he were under an obligation to Israel. (comp. Mic_6:3, etc.; Isa_5:3) Vanity; i.e. the idols; literally, a breath. (so Jer_10:15 Jer_14:22 Jer_16:19) Are become vain. The whole being of man is affected by the want of solid basis to his religion; (comp. Jer_23:16 Psa_115:8) and the evident allusion to our passage in Rom_1:21 (St. Paul has emataiwyhsan , as Septuagint here). The clause is verbally repeated in 2Ki_17:15, with reference to the ten tribes.
Vers. 5-7. The ingratitude of sin.
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Of the many aspects under which sin may be viewed none is more sad than that of ingratitude to God. Every act of sin is a distinct act of ingratitude; for every such act is an offence against him who has shown to us nothing but love, and from whom we are taking innumerable favors in the very moment of our transgression.
I THE INGRATITUDE OF SIN IS SEEN IN THE FORGETFULNESS OF GOD"S SAVING MERCY. So the Israelites forget the glorious deliverance from Egypt, and preservation amidst the horrors of the wilderness (ver. 6). God is resorted to in distress only to be ignored, forsaken, insulted, directly rebelled against, when he has effected a deliverance.
II THE INGRATITUDE OF SIN IS SEEN IN THE IGNORING OF THE PRESENT GOODNESS OF GOD. (Ver. 7) The Israelites were eating the fruit of the good land which God had given to them while they were rebelling against him. This is even worse than ingratitude for past blessings. Such ingratitude might attempt to plead the excuse of failure of memory; but ingratitude for present mercies can only arise from gross spiritual blindness or willful disregard of all claims of justice and affection.
III THE INGRATITUDE OF SIN IS SEEN IN THE FALSE CHARACTER WHICH IS ASCRIBED TO GOD. God asks, "What unrighteousness have your fathers found in me?" The conduct of the Jews was a direct indictment of the character of God. They deliberately insulted him, and rejected him for heathen deities. Such conduct could only be justified by the discovery that he was not what he claimed to be. After God has revealed himself to men in myriad fold evidences of goodness, there are some who hold, if they do not confess to, such evil conceptions of his character as amount to the basest calumnies of heartless ingratitude.
IV THE INGRATITUDE OF SIN IS SEEN IN THE CHARACTER OF THE GODS WHO ARE PREFERRED TO JEHOVAH. These are "false" gods. Jews who knew that converted religious worship into an unreality, and thus became themselves hollow and unreal. For this miserable result did they forsake the God of heaven and earth, their Savior and constant Benefactor! If they had found a rival with some pretensions to worth the insult would have been less. Herein is the grossness of the insult to God seen in all sin. What do men prefer to him? Transient pleasures, earthly dross. The pearl of great price is flung away, not for a smaller pearl, but for dust and ashes.
V THE INGRATITUDE OF SIN IS SEEN IN THE ABUSE AND CORRUPTION OF GOD"S GIFTS. God gave the Israelites "gardenland," and they defiled it; they made Gods heritage an abomination. When we sin we do so by employing the very powers which God has bestowed upon us. We insult him by turning his own gifts into weapons of rebellion. We blaspheme him with the tongue which he has made.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv9, 13, 14, 15, 18, 19, 21, 22, 23, 31, 32 Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet…
Jer_2:9-13
Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods?
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Christian controversy
The text may be put into other words, thus: Go over to the islands of the Chittim, the isles and coast lands of the far west; then go to Kedar, away in the eastern desert,--go from east to west,--and ask if any heathen land has given up its idols, and you will find that no such thing has ever taken place; but whilst the heathen have kept to their gods as if they bad strong love for them, My people, for whom I have done so much, whose names are on the palms of My hands, have turned away from Me, and have given up their living and loving God for that which can do them no good. There must be some way of accounting for conduct so clearly unreasonable and ungrateful. We may perhaps find our way to the secret step by step, if we notice one or two things that we ourselves are in the habit of doing. We all know how much easier it is to keep up the form of religion than to be true to its spirit. Say that religion is a number of things to be done, some at this hour and some at that, and you bring it, so to speak, within range of the hand, and make it manageable; but instead of doing this, show that religion means spiritual worship, a sanctified conscience, and a daily, sacrifice of the will, and you at once invoke the severest resistance to its supremacy. Or say that religion simply means a passive acceptance of certain dogmas that can be fully expressed in words, which make no demand upon inquiry or sympathy, and you will awaken the least possible opposition; but make it a spiritual authority, a rigorous and incessant discipline imposed upon the whole life, and you will send a sword upon the earth, and enkindle a great fire. Earnest religious controversy seems to be but the higher aspect of another controversy which has vexed man through all time. The study of God is the higher side of the study of man. It is a singular thing that man has never been able to make himself quite out, though he has been zealously mindful of the doctrine that the proper study of mankind is man. He wants to know exactly whence he came and what he is; but the voice which answers him is sometimes mocking, and nearly always doubtful. Is it wonderful that man, who has had so much difficulty with himself, should have had proportionately greater difficulty with such a God as is revealed in the Bible? On the contrary, it will be found that the two studies--the study of man and the study of God--always go together, and that the ardour of the one determines the intensity of the other. In this view the text might read thus: Pass over the isles of the Chittim, and see; and send unto Kedar, and consider diligently, and see whether the inhabitants thereof have studied the physiology and chemistry of their own bodies; but the philosophers of Christendom have built themselves upon protoplasm. Kedar cared nothing about humanity, and therefore it cared nothing about divinity. When man is not deeply interested in himself it is not likely that he will be deeply interested in God. In the doctrine that the very greatness of God is itself the occasion of religious controversy, and even of religious doubt and defective constancy, we find the best answer to a difficulty created by the words of the text. That difficulty may be put thus: If the people of Chittim and of Kedar are faithful to their gods, does it not prove that those gods have power to inspire and retain confidence? and if the people of Israel are always turning away from their God, does it not show that their God is unable to keep His hold upon their occasional love? Such a putting of the case would be valid if inquiry be limited to the letter. But if we go below the surface we must instantly strip it of all worth as a plea on behalf of idolatry. Clearly so; for, not to go further, if it proves anything it proves too much; thus--the marble statue which you prize so highly has never given you a moments pain; your child has occasioned you days and nights of anxiety; therefore a marble statue has more moral power (power to retain your admiration) than has a child. Your clock you understand thoroughly; you can unmake and make it again, and explain its entire mechanism down to the finest point of its action; but that child of yours is a mystery which seems to increase day by day: therefore you have more satisfaction in the clock than in the child. So the argument in favour of Kedar proves nothing, because it not only proves too much, but lands the reasoner in a practical absurdity. The foundation of this argument is, that of all subjects that engage the human mind, religion (whether true or false) is the most exciting; that in proportion as it enlarges its claims, will it be likely to occasion controversy; and that, as the religion of the Bible enlarges its claims beyond all other religions, assailing the intellect, the conscience, the will, and bringing every thought and every imagination of the heart into subjection, and demanding the corroboration of spiritual faith by works that rise to the point of self-crucifixion, the probability is that there will not only be a controversy between man and man as to its authority and beneficence, but also a controversy between man and God as to its acceptance; and that out of this latter controversy will come the very defection complained of in the text, and will come also the vexatious human controversies which may really be but so many excuses for resisting the moral discipline of the Gospel. This is the whole argument. Specially is to be noted that the principal controversy is not between man and man, but between man and God; our hearts are not loyal to our Maker; His commandments are grievous to souls that love their ease. The God of grace, rich in all comfort and promise, we do not cast off. We want such a God. But the God of law, of purity, of judgment, terrible in wrath and not to be deceived by lies, our hearts can only receive with broken loyalty, loving Him today, and grieving Him tomorrow. It is in this sad fact that we find the only satisfactory explanation of the slowness of the spread of the Christian kingdom. Evil hates goodness, hates light, hates God; and as truth cannot fight with carnal weapons, or force, itself upon the world by physical means, it can only stand at the door and knock, and mourn the slowness which it cannot accelerate. It is Gods will that the rock grow slowly, and that the forest hasten not its maturity; but it is surely not the will of the Lord that His children should grieve Him long, and provoke Him to wrath through many generations. We have been speaking of the controversy respecting the Unseen and Invisible God. There is a distinct effort made in our day to turn the controversy out of historical channels, and to fasten it upon abstract speculation. We must resist this effort, for we, at all events, believe that the discussion concerning essential Deity was started from a new centre when Jesus Christ came into the world. No name given under heaven amongst men has occasioned, and is now occasioning, so much controversy as the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Men do not know what to make of Christ. You cannot get rid of Christ: you exclude Him from your schools by Act of Parliament, but He, passing through the midst of you, says, Suffer Me and the children to meet; let the flowers see the sun; you find Him in statute books, in philanthropic institutions, in literature; you find Him now just as His disciples found Him, in out-of-the-way places, doing out-of-the-way things;--they marvelled that He spake with the woman,--the eternal marvel, the eternal hope! This leads us to remark that how strong soever Christianity may be in force and dignity of pure argument--and in that direction it has proved itself victorious on all fields--its mightiest force for good is in its vital and inexhaustible sympathy. Christianity as a sympathetic religion, tender, hopeful, patient, with morning light forever falling on its uplifted eyes, leaning with all its trust upon the Cross of the atoning Son of God, calling men from sin, ignorance, and death, is a figure the world will not willingly spare in its day of anguish and sore distress. It will be interesting to observe how God Himself meets the controversy which He deplores, for in doing so, we may learn a method of reply. When God answers, His reply must be the best. Look at the Divine challenge: What iniquity have your fathers found in Me, that they are gone far from Me? This sublime challenge you cannot find in all the sayings of heathen gods. And this is the invincible defence of the Christian religion in all ages and in all lands,--you have purity at the centre, you have holiness on the throne! Those who have read Augustines immortal work, The City of God, will remember with what fierce eloquence he scourges the gods of pagan Rome. How biting his tone, how keen his retorts, how broad his sarcasm! Why, he sternly demands, did the gods publish no laws which might have guided their devotees to a virtuous life? And again, Did ever the walls of any of their temples echo to any such warning voice? I myself, he continues, when I was a young man, used sometimes to go to sacrilegious entertainments and spectacles; I saw the priests raving in religious excitement, and before the couch of the mother of the gods there were sung productions so obscene and filthy for the ear that not even the mother of the foul-mouthed players themselves could have formed one of the audience. History, as you know, is full of such instances. Remembering these things, you may see the force of the inquiry, What iniquity have your fathers found in Me? This is the invincible defence of the Christian religion today. Observe how Jesus Christ repeats the very challenge we find in the text,--Which of you convinceth Me of sin? And, later on, If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil. They had accused Him often, but had convicted Him never! We apply this doctrine with timidity, for who would wilfully slay himself, or bring judgment upon a thousand men? Yet the application is this: When the Church is holy, the Christian controversy is ended in universal and immortal triumph! (J. Parker, D. D.)
Changing gods
The records of all ages exhibit the strange obstinacy with which the heathen usually cling to their superstitions. If we except the triumphs obtained over paganism by the Gospel of Christ from the apostolic age up to the present, some of which even in our own day have been most signal, the idolatrous nations of the world still perpetuate the absurd and unholy practices transmitted to them by their fathers. Most urgent then is it upon all Christians to feel pity for their fellow creatures sunk in the darkness and guilt of heathenism, and by Christian teachers to rescue them from their fearful condition. But there is also another practical consideration connected with a survey of the obstinate blindness and superstition of the heathen, and their devotion to their idolatrous worship, namely, the contrast which it affords to the conduct of too many who consider themselves worshippers of the one true God, and of Jesus Christ whom He hath sent. May it not too truly be said, Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? but My people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit.
I. We have set before us evil conduct of the people.
1. The first step in the career of evil is forsaking God. This is the fountain and root of all other sins. While the prodigal son remained contented under his parents roof he knew nothing of the want, the hunger, which he afterwards experienced. His first sin, and that which led to all the evils which overtook him, was his neglect towards his parent, his indifference to his approbation, his wish to cast off the duties he owed to him. If then we would guard against evil, we must watch over our hearts, and beware of forsaking God. The more gross violations of His law are readily discovered, while perhaps we think little or nothing of that great sin which is the foundation of all others.
2. But this sin leads to another; for we are not content when we forsake God, that our hearts should continue a mere blank; we seek to fill up the void which His absence has made, and to find our satisfaction in other objects, which can never afford us true repose. Having forsaken God, we choose to ourselves idols. In the words of the Almighty in the chapter before us, they are gone far from Me, and have walked after vanity, and become vain; they even refuse His offers of peace and reconciliation.
II. Such is the universal offence of mankind against God: we proceed now to show the sinfulness, the ingratitude, and the folly, which are involved in it.
1. Its extreme sinfulness. Persons are apt to speak and to think of these subjects with the most careless indifference. They do not consider themselves as virtually addressed in such words as those in the chapter which precedes our text, where Jehovah says by His prophet, I will utter My judgments against them, touching all their wickedness, who have forsaken Me, and have burned incense unto other gods. They do not open their eyes to the aggravation of their crime, as pointed out even by our natural sense of obligation to our Creator, of which the very heathen are examples; for, says the Almighty, hath any nation changed their gods, which are yet no god? The light of natural reason taught them that they ought to obey their Creator, their preserver, and their benefactor. But the proof of our sinfulness in forsaking God, and in placing our trust and happiness in the things of this present life, does not depend upon the mere light of natural conscience; for we have in our possession a revelation from Himself, in which He plainly declares to us His own unerring decision upon the subject. Ye shall walk after the Lord your God, and fear Him, and keep His commandments, and obey His voice; and ye shall serve Him, and cleave unto Him.
2. But the sinfulness of forsaking God, and preferring other things to His service, is greatly aggravated by the ingratitude involved in the offence. The Almighty reminds His rebellious people of the miracles of mercy which He had performed on their behalf; how He had brought them out of the land of Egypt, etc. He gave them His law to guide them, and pastors to teach them; and He challenges them, as it were, to point out any instance in which He had acted unjustly or unkindly towards them: what iniquity have your fathers found in Me?
3. But there is still another consideration dwelt upon by the prophet in reference to this sinful and ungrateful course of conduct, namely, its unparalleled folly. The very heathen would not give up their vain hope of benefit from the supposed protection of their images of wood and stone; yet the professed worshippers of the one living and true God are too often willing to sacrifice the inestimable blessings of His favour for the most trifling gratifications of a frail and sinful life. My people have changed their glory, for that which doth not profit. No! it is the height of folly thus to choose the worldly mammon before the true riches; to forsake God for the creature; and to prefer earth to heaven, and time to eternity. Are we not conscious that we have seen guilty of the sin of forsaking God? (Christian Observer.)
Hath a nation changed their gods?
Xenophon said it was an oracle of Apollo, that these gods are rightly worshipped which were delivered them by their ancestors; and this he greatly applaudeth. Cicero also saith, that no reason shall ever prevail with him to relinquish the religion of his forefathers. The monarch of Morocco told an English ambassador that he had lately read St. Paul, and that he disliked nothing in him but this, that he had changed his religion, (John Trapp.)
Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this.
Seven wonders
Parents of olden time were wont to tell their eager children of seven wonders:
(1) The Pyramids.
(2) The Temple of the great Diana of the Ephesians.
(3) The Statue of Jupiter at Olympia.
(4) The Tomb of Mausolus. What a satire on immortality! Who was Mausolus? We know not, but the mausoleum is with us. He gave his name and glory to his tomb.
(5) The Colossus at Rhodes.
(6) The Pharos at Alexandria.
(7) The Hanging Gardens of Babylon.
We have to do, however, at this moment with marvels in the province of the spiritual life. There are some things here touching our relations with the spiritual world whereat heaven must wonder. A thoughtful man will find it impossible to explain them.
I. An unclaimed crown. God made man in His likeness, with a splendid birthright and glorious possibilities before him. He was of the line royal, the blood of the King of kings flowing in his veins. Where is the man to whom God extends this crown? See him yonder chasing butterflies, pursuing thistle down. He calls this pleasure. See him toiling with a muck rake, his eyes downcast, plucking coins out of the garbage and loading himself with them. He calls this wealth. See him climbing laboriously the rocky side of yonder cliff that he may carve his initials upon its face--and fall. And this is fame! All the while the windows of heaven are open above him and the glory of the celestial realms is unveiled before him. He gives no heed.
II. A secret sin. Here we touch the lowest part of our nature. A dog with a bone sneaks off to a corner of the garden and buries it, watching meanwhile out of the corners of his eyes that none may know his secret. So we bury our darling sins; so we flatter ourselves that none shall ever find us out. An Egyptian princess died four thousand years ago, and her body was committed to a company of priests for embalming. They said, Let us save ourselves the trouble; it will never be known. So they dipped the body of a common Egyptian into bitumen and placed it in the princess casket. It was a clever trick; but a few years ago, before a company of scientists at Tremont Temple, gathered together to witness the unswathing of the royal mummy, the bands of byssus were unwound, and the fraud perpetrated by those priests, now forty centuries dead and turned to dust, was detected. There is, indeed, nothing hidden that shall not be brought to light, and that which is done in a corner shall be proclaimed on the housetop.
III. A reprobates laugh. Not long ago I heard the merry laughter of a girl and looked that way. A carriage was passing by. Through the open window I saw two women, the one old, haggard, bedizened--it was easy to discern her vocation--the other a sweet-faced girl late from some country home, going garlanded to death. God help her! How dare they laugh who are hurrying on unprepared to the judgment bar? Yet they are making merry everywhere. O men and women, let us De safe and then be merry.
IV. A Christians groan. We profess to believe that the past is forgiven, all gone like a nightmare, and that heaven is open before us and that Christ walks with us, an ever-present and helpful friend. If a man believes these things, how can he ever hang his head like a bulrush? Surely something is wrong. One night in Newgate prison a man sang cheerily and swung like a boy on the post of his bed. Fine shining shall we have tomorrow! Who is this, and what shining shall there be? This is John Bradford, and tomorrow he is to die at the stake. But what matter, if the day after tomorrow he shall be in the midst of the merry making of heaven? Why, shall he not with gladsome heart be praising God?
V. A tattered livery. Our Lord tells of a marriage feast whereat a certain one was found who had not on the wedding gown. His host remonstrated with him, Friend, how earnest thou in hither in this garb? And the man was silent. We are going to the marriage supper of the Lamb. Our heavenly Host has provided for us fine linen, clean and white, which is the righteousness of the saints. To appear in that heavenly presence clad in our own righteousness is to be found arrayed in rags and tatters, for all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.
VI. An averted face. A few days ago, at a hanging in a neighbouring State, it is said that twenty thousand people left town and tramped four miles along a country road to see a poor wretch swung from the gallows tree. There is, indeed, something brutal in our human nature. When our Lord was dying on the accursed tree it is written, The people stood beholding. Is it strange that men should look on anguish with a calm delight? Was it strange that men could look at Jesus dying and feel no responsive thrill of sympathy? Ah! a thousand times stranger is it that some of us should refuse to look upon Him! We hide, as it were, our faces from Him; He is despised and we esteem Him not.
VII. A waiting God. Behold, I stand at the door, etc. Wonderful patience! Love that passeth knowledge! His arms are loaded with the dainties of the kingdom, apples and pomegranates from the Kings gardens, and bread of life. Oh, let us draw the bolts that He may come in and sup with us! (D. J. Burrell, D. D.)
Sin unnatural
There is something unaccountable and unnatural about sin, which, if we were not the victims of its power every day, would startle and make us horribly afraid. If we merely heard of it as existing in some other of Gods worlds, we should doubt whether the report could be true. We should demand more than the usual amount of testimony before believing so unnatural a story, and when it was proved, should not cease to wonder, and to ask what cause beyond our experience had brought to pass a thing so marvellous.
I. It prevents men from pursuing what they own to be the highest good. There is a passage of Ovid where a person in a conflict between reason and desire is made to say, Video meliora proboque, deteriora sequor; and in a like strain we hear Paul, or rather the man made aware of the bondage of sin saying through him, That which I do, I allow not: for what I would, that do I not, but what I hate, that I do. So true to human nature such words are, that no one ever thought of them as being misrepresentations of the real state of man. Everywhere we see examples of this sacrifice of a higher good to a lower, of acknowledged greater happiness to less, of the improvement of the mind to the enjoyments of the body, of future hopes to present pleasure, of an object of desire felt to be praiseworthy and exalted to one which is base and low and sure to be followed by remorse. We find this cleaving to the best of men and to the wisest: the influences of the Gospel may weaken but never remove this tendency. It belongs to mankind. Is there not, now, something very strange in this fatal proclivity toward the low, in this constant, wide-spread, unalterable folly of choosing wrong within the moral sphere of action. Suppose we found the same obliquity of judgment and choice elsewhere--that, for instance, a scholar, aware what was the right meaning of a passage according to the laws of thought and language, deliberately chose a wrong meaning; or a merchant, acquainted with the laws of trade, undertook an adventure with his eyes open, from which only ruin was to be expected; or a general, patriotic and discerning, adopted a plan of battle which all his experience had condemned as sure to end in his defeat: should we not regard such a person as a kind of moral prodigy, as fit to be put away in a museum of morbid psychology among the deranged men who have believed themselves to he two persons, or that their souls had gone from their bodies?
II. It is not dependent on a weak capacity, but the very highest intellects are often employed in its service. It is indeed true, that sagacity and folly will differ in their ways of sinning and of escaping detection. An absurd, or ill-contrived, crime will be committed by a boy or a half-witted person, and not by a man of shrewdness. Whence it may happen that the criminals in a penitentiary may be, in the average, below the ordinary range of intellect. In other words, the vigour of mind will show itself, either by abstaining from certain crimes, or by committing them in such a way that they will not be brought to light. But we do not find that the highest abilities keep men from sinning, from a life of pleasure, from deadly selfishness, from feelings which carry with them their own sting. Great minds lie like wrecks all along the course of life; either they disbelieve against evidence, or give themselves up to monstrous pleasures, or destroy the welfare of society by their self-will, or gnaw upon themselves with a deadly hatred of others.
III. Its existence involves the contradiction of the freedom and the slavery of the will. This is but another aspect of the truth which we have already considered--that the soul steadily chooses in some strange way an inferior good before a superior; but it is too important a view of our nature not to be noticed by itself. Mankind, in choosing the evil, have been an enigma to themselves and to the philosophers who have studied human nature. We see our nature exercise its freedom in various ways,--choosing now a higher good in preference to a lower, and now a lower before a higher,--doing this over and over within the sphere of earthly things, yet when it looks the supreme good full in the face unable to choose Him, unable to love Him, until, in some great crisis which we call conversion, and which is as marvellous as sin is, we find the soul acting with recovered power, acting out itself, and soaring in love to the fountain and life of its being. It is as if a balance should tell every small weight with minutest accuracy, and when a large weight was put on, should refuse to move at all. It is as if the planets should feel each others attraction hut be insensible to the force of the central sun. Is not sin then as unaccountable as it is deep seated and spreading in our nature?
IV. It has a power of resisting all known motives to a better life. This, again, is only another form of the remark, that we are kept by sin from pursuing our highest good; but under this last head we view man as opposing Gods plan for his salvation, while the other is more general. Here we see how causeless and unreasonable are the movements of sin, even when its bitterness has been experienced, and the way of recovery been made known. The way in which the Gospel comes to us is the most inviting possible--through a person who lived a life like ours on earth, and came into tender sympathy with us; through a concrete exhibition of everything true and good, not through doctrine and abstract statement. It has been the religion of our fathers, and of the holy in all time. It is venerable in our eyes. It is Gods voice to us. Where else can so many motives, such power of persuasion be found; and yet where else, in what other sphere where motives operate, is there so little success? Even Christians who have given themselves to the Gospel confess that all these weighty considerations often fail to move them; that they stand still or turn backwards a great part of their lives rather than make progress. So marvellous is the power of sin to deaden the force of motives to virtue, even in the minds of the best persons the world contains.
V. It can blind the mind to truth and evidence. Of this we see numberless examples in daily life. We see men who have been accustomed to judge of evidence within the same sphere in which religion moves, that of moral and historical proof, rejecting the Gospel and afterwards acknowledging that they were wilfully prejudiced, that their objections ought to have had no weight with a candid mind. We see prejudice against the Gospel lurking under some plausible but false plea, which the man has never taken the pains to examine, although immense personal interests are involved. We see men rejecting the Gospel unthinkingly, repeating some stale argument scarcely worth refutation, as if a great matter like the welfare of the soul might be trifled with, and made light of. It is strange, too, how quick the change is, when for some reason the moral or religious sensibilities are awakened after long slumber, how quick, I say, the change is from scepticism, or denial of the Gospel, or even hostility, to a state of belief. Multitudes of intelligent men have passed through such a conversion, and have felt ever afterwards that truth and evidence were sufficient, but that their souls were in a dishonest state. Now, how is this? Is this a new prejudice which has seized upon them, at their conversion, and has their candid scepticism given way to dishonest faith; or did sin,--that which in a thousand ways, through hope and fear, through indolence, through malignity, through love of pleasure, blinds and stupefies, did sin destroy their power of being candid before?
VI. The inconsistency of sin is marvellous in this respect that we allow and excuse in ourselves what we condemn in others. Men seem sometimes to have no moral sense, so open are their violations of morality, and so false their justifications of their conduct. And yet, when they come to pass censure upon others, they show such a quickness to discern little faults, such an acquaintance with the rule of duty, such an unwillingness to make allowances, that you would think a new faculty had been imparted to their minds. These severe critics of others are all the while laying up decisions and precedents against themselves, yet when their cases come on, the judges reverse their own judgments. They condemn men unsparingly for sins to which they are not tempted, although the radical principle in their own and in others sins is confessedly the same. Marvellous inconsistency! Strange that the same mind balances between two standards of conduct so long. Why does not the man, whose own rules condemn himself, begin to sentence himself, or to excuse and pardon others? Is not this an unnatural state of mind; impossible, save on the supposition that it is effected by some strange perversion of its judgments? (T. D. Woolsey.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain On vv9, 11, 13, 19
Jeremiah
GOD’S LAWSUIT
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Jer 2:9.
Point out that ‘plead’ is a forensic term. There is a great lawsuit in which God is plaintiff and men defendants. The word is frequent in Isaiah.
I. The reason for God’s pleading.
The cause-’wherefore.’ Our transgression does not make Him turn away from us. It does profoundly modify the whole relation between us. It does give an aspect of antagonism to His dealings.
II. The manner.
The whole history of the world and of each individual. All outward providences. All the voice of Conscience. Christ. Spirit, who convinces the world of Sin.
III. The purpose.
Wholly our being drawn from our evil. The purely reformatory character of all punishment here. The sole object to win us back to Himself. He conquers in this lawsuit when we come to love Him.
IV. The patience.
That merciful pleading-’I will yet’-runs on through all sin, and is only made more earnest by deepening hostility. After rejections still lingers. Extends over a thousand generations. Is exercised even where He foresees failure.
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On vv14, 20, 29 Israel’s Punishment and its Cause
Israel’s Punishment and its Cause
v. 14. Is Israel a servant? Is he a home-born slave? Why is he spoiled? The question, whether asked by the prophet or directly by God, expresses surprise that the nation which was once God’s favorite should now be left at the mercy of the enemy like a worthless slave. Whence this change in fortunes? Whence this unhappy condition?
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v. 15. The young lions roared upon him and yelled, raising their voices in a roar of triumph, and they made his land waste; his cities are burned without inhabitant. This is the condition of Israel which the prophet sees in spirit, the picture of the devastation wrought by beasts of prey being particularly fitting to describe the desolation of the land of Israel after the overthrow by the Chaldeans.
v. 16. Also the children of Noph, of Memphis, the capital of Lower Egypt at that time, and Tahapanes, of Daphne, a city on the frontier of Egypt toward Palestine, have broken the crown of thy head. The Egyptians also took the opportunity of spoiling Judah when the nation had become weak under the reign of Jehoiakim; for the taking away of the natural covering of the hair, to which reference is here made, was symbolic of an entire sweeping away of the people.
v. 17. Hast thou not procured this unto thyself, the Israelites having brought this calamity upon themselves, in that thou hast forsaken the Lord, thy God, when He led thee by the way? on the good path of His will, on the road of righteousness.
v. 18. And now, what hast thou to do in the way of Egypt to drink the waters of Sihor? For Israel had sent to Egypt for help against Assyria and Babylon. Or what hast thou to do in the way of Assyria to drink the waters of the river, Euphrates? in endeavoring, at times, to enter into a league with this heathen nation. This reliance upon the power of men was a mark of decay, of a lack of trust in God, of a denial of Jehovah.
v. 19. Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, their sin bearing with it its own punishment, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee, for the very allies whose help they sought became the instruments of Israel’s destruction. Know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter that thou hast forsaken the Lord, thy God, this they were to find out to their cost, and that My fear, the reverence which the nation as such should have had toward Jehovah, is not in thee, saith the Lord God of hosts. Wherever the fear of God does not guide and direct the conduct of men, they are bound to pay for their defection and apostasy sooner or later.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv7, 9, 12, 14, 18, 20, 23, 26, 29, 32 you defiled my land, you made my inheritance an…
you defiled my land, you made my inheritance an abomination!
These two phrases mean the same thing. AT: "you sinned and made the land I gave you disgusting to me!" (See: Parallelism)
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you defiled my land
Here "defiled" represents making the land unacceptable to God. They did this by sinning against him there when they worshiped idols. AT: "by sinning, you made my land no good" (See: Metaphor)
you made my inheritance an abomination
"you made my inheritance disgusting by your sin" or "by sinning, you made my inheritance repulsive"
my inheritance
Possible meanings are 1) God is speaking of his land as if he had inherited it. AT: "my land" or 2) God is speaking of the land he gave to Israel as if he had given it to them as an inheritance. AT: "the land I gave you" or "the land I gave you as an inheritance" (See: Metaphor)
Where is Yahweh?
This question would have shown that they wanted to obey Yahweh. AT: "We need to obey Yahweh!" (See: Rhetorical Question)
did not care about me
"were not committed to me" or "rejected me"
The shepherds transgressed against me
The leaders are spoken of as if they were shepherds and the people who followed them were sheep. AT: "Their leaders sinned against me" (See: Metaphor)
walked after unprofitable things
Here "walked after" represents obeying or worshiping. AT: "obeyed unprofitable things" or "worshiped unprofitable things" (See: Metaphor)
unprofitable things
Unprofitable things are things that cannot help a person. Here it refers to idols.
translationWords
Carmel
fruit
defile
inherit
abomination
priest
scribe
law
shepherd
transgress
prophet
Baal
walk
profit
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 22, 23, 25, 26, 27, 28, 30, 31, 32, 33 2:5 The Israelites worshiped worthless idols, so their lives…
2:5 The Israelites worshiped worthless idols, so their lives were ruled by delusions.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.