Jerusalem, wash your heart from wickedness, that you may be saved. How long will your evil thoughts lodge within you? For a voice declares from Dan, and publishes evil from the hills of Ephraim: “Tell the nations, behold, publish against Jerusalem, ‘Watchers come from a far country, and raise their voice against the cities of Judah. As keepers of a field, they are against her all around, because she has been rebellious against me,’ ” says Yahweh. “Your way and your doings have brought these things to you. This is your wickedness; for it is bitter, for it reaches to your heart.”
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Jeremiah 4:14-18 sits inside this longer paragraph.
Behold, he will come up as clouds, and his chariots will be as the whirlwind. His horses are swifter than eagles. Woe to us! For we are ruined. Jerusalem, wash your heart from wickedness, that you may be saved. How long will your evil thoughts lodge within you? For a voice declares from Dan, and publishes evil from the hills of Ephraim: “Tell the nations, behold, publish against Jerusalem, ‘Watchers come from a far country, and raise their voice against the cities of Judah. As keepers of a field, they are against her all around, because she has been rebellious against me,’ ” says Yahweh. “Your way and your doings have brought these things to you. This is your wickedness; for it is bitter, for it reaches to your heart.”
Parallel Translations
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Jerusalem, wash your heart from wickedness, that you may be saved. How long will your evil thoughts lodge within you?
For a voice declares from Dan, and publishes evil from the hills of Ephraim:
“Tell the nations, behold, publish against Jerusalem, ‘Watchers come from a far country, and raise their voice against the cities of Judah.
As keepers of a field, they are against her all around, because she has been rebellious against me,’ ” says Yahweh.
“Your way and your doings have brought these things to you. This is your wickedness; for it is bitter, for it reaches to your heart.”
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O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?
For a voice declareth from Dan, and publisheth affliction from mount Ephraim.
Make ye mention to the nations; behold, publish against Jerusalem, that watchers come from a far country, and give out their voice against the cities of Judah.
As keepers of a field, are they against her round about; because she hath been rebellious against me, saith the LORD.
Thy way and thy doings have procured these things unto thee; this is thy wickedness, because it is bitter, because it reacheth unto thine heart.
Show all 3 translations
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O Jerusalem, wash thy heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. How long shall thy baleful thoughts lodge within thee?
For hark! one declareth from Dan, and announceth calamity from the hills of Ephraim:
'Make ye mention to the nations: Behold — publish concerning Jerusalem — watchers come from a far country, and give out their voice against the cities of Judah.'
As keepers of a field are they against her round about; because she hath been rebellious against Me, saith the LORD.
Thy way and thy doings have procured these things unto thee; this is thy wickedness; yea, it is bitter, yea, it reacheth unto thy heart.
Cross-references (58)
- James 4:8 (v14) Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners. Purify your hearts, you double-minded.
- Isaiah 55:7 (v14) Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Let him return to Yahweh, and he will have mercy on him, to our God,…
- Jeremiah 2:19 (v18) “Your own wickedness will correct you, and your backsliding will rebuke you. Know therefore and see that it is an evil and bitter thing,…
- Acts 8:22 (v14) Repent therefore of this, your wickedness, and ask God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you.
- Psalms 107:17 (v18) Fools are afflicted because of their disobedience, and because of their iniquities.
Show all 58 cross-references
- Jeremiah 8:16 (v15) The snorting of his horses is heard from Dan. The whole land trembles at the sound of the neighing of his strong ones; for they have come,…
- Luke 11:39 (v14) The Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the platter, but your inward part is full of extortion and…
- Romans 1:21 (v14) Because knowing God, they didn’t glorify him as God, and didn’t give thanks, but became vain in their reasoning, and their senseless heart…
- 1 Corinthians 3:20 (v14) And again, “The Lord knows the reasoning of the wise, that it is worthless.”
- Psalms 66:18 (v14) If I cherished sin in my heart, the Lord wouldn’t have listened.
- Proverbs 1:22 (v14) “How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity? How long will mockers delight themselves in mockery, and fools hate knowledge?
- Proverbs 1:31 (v18) Therefore they will eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own schemes.
- Isaiah 1:16-19 (v14) Wash yourselves. Make yourself clean. Put away the evil of your doings from before my eyes. Cease to do evil. Learn to do well. Seek…
- Isaiah 50:1 (v18) Yahweh says, “Where is the bill of your mother’s divorce, with which I have put her away? Or to which of my creditors have I sold you?…
- Jeremiah 2:17 (v18) “Haven’t you brought this on yourself, in that you have forsaken Yahweh your God, when he led you by the way?
- Jeremiah 5:15 (v16) Behold, I will bring a nation on you from far away, house of Israel,” says Yahweh. “It is a mighty nation. It is an ancient nation, a…
- Jeremiah 5:23 (v17) “But this people has a revolting and a rebellious heart. They have revolted and gone.
- Jeremiah 13:27 (v14) I have seen your abominations, even your adulteries, and your neighing, the lewdness of your prostitution, on the hills in the field. Woe…
- Ezekiel 21:22 (v16) In his right hand was the lot for Jerusalem, to set battering rams, to open the mouth in the slaughter, to lift up the voice with shouting,…
- Matthew 12:33 (v14) “Either make the tree good, and its fruit good, or make the tree corrupt, and its fruit corrupt; for the tree is known by its fruit.
- 2 Kings 25:1-4 (v17) In the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his…
- Psalms 119:113 (v14) I hate double-minded men, but I love your law.
- Isaiah 39:3 (v16) Then Isaiah the prophet came to king Hezekiah, and asked him, “What did these men say? From where did they come to you?” Hezekiah said,…
- Jeremiah 6:19 (v18) Hear, earth! Behold, I will bring evil on this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not listened to my words; and as…
- Ezekiel 18:31 (v14) Cast away from you all your transgressions, in which you have transgressed; and make yourself a new heart and a new spirit: for why will…
- Matthew 15:19-20 (v14) For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual sins, thefts, false testimony, and blasphemies. These are the things…
- Matthew 23:26-27 (v14) You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the platter, that its outside may become clean also. “Woe to you, scribes and…
- Deuteronomy 28:49-52 (v16) Yahweh will bring a nation against you from far, from the end of the earth, as the eagle flies: a nation whose language you will not…
- Joshua 17:15 (v15) Joshua said to them, “If you are a numerous people, go up to the forest, and clear land for yourself there in the land of the Perizzites…
- Joshua 20:7 (v15) They set apart Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath Arba (also called…
- Judges 18:29 (v15) They called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father, who was born to Israel; however the name of the city used to be…
- Judges 20:1 (v15) Then all the children of Israel went out, and the congregation was assembled as one man, from Dan even to Beersheba, with the land of…
- Nehemiah 9:26 (v17) “Nevertheless they were disobedient, and rebelled against you, cast your law behind their back, killed your prophets that testified against…
- Nehemiah 9:30 (v17) Yet many years you put up with them, and testified against them by your Spirit through your prophets. Yet they would not listen. Therefore…
- Job 20:5-16 (v18) that the triumphing of the wicked is short, the joy of the godless but for a moment? Though his height mount up to the heavens, and his…
- Proverbs 5:22 (v18) The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare him. The cords of his sin hold him firmly.
- Isaiah 1:8 (v17) The daughter of Zion is left like a shelter in a vineyard, like a hut in a field of melons, like a besieged city.
- Isaiah 1:20-23 (v17) but if you refuse and rebel, you will be devoured with the sword; for the mouth of Yahweh has spoken it.” How the faithful city has become…
- Isaiah 30:9 (v17) For it is a rebellious people, lying children, children who will not hear Yahweh’s law;
- Isaiah 34:1 (v16) Come near, you nations, to hear! Listen, you peoples. Let the earth and all it contains hear, the world, and everything that comes from it.
- Jeremiah 2:15 (v16) The young lions have roared at him and yelled. They have made his land waste. His cities are burned up, without inhabitant.
- Jeremiah 4:17 (v16) As keepers of a field, they are against her all around, because she has been rebellious against me,’ ” says Yahweh.
- Jeremiah 5:6 (v16) Therefore a lion out of the forest will kill them. A wolf of the evenings will destroy them. A leopard will watch against their cities.…
- Jeremiah 5:19 (v18) It will happen when you say, ‘Why has Yahweh our God done all these things to us?’ Then you shall say to them, ‘Just as you have forsaken…
- Jeremiah 6:1 (v15) “Flee for safety, you children of Benjamin, out of the middle of Jerusalem! Blow the trumpet in Tekoa and raise up a signal on Beth…
- Jeremiah 6:2-3 (v17) I will cut off the beautiful and delicate one, the daughter of Zion. Shepherds with their flocks will come to her. They will pitch their…
- Jeremiah 6:18 (v16) Therefore hear, you nations, and know, congregation, what is among them.
- Jeremiah 16:6 (v16) Both great and small will die in this land. They will not be buried. Men won’t lament for them, cut themselves, or make themselves bald for…
- Jeremiah 26:19 (v18) Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him to death? Didn’t he fear Yahweh, and entreat the favor of Yahweh, and Yahweh relented of…
- Jeremiah 31:10 (v16) “Hear Yahweh’s word, you nations, and declare it in the distant islands. Say, ‘He who scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a…
- Jeremiah 39:1 (v16) In the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army came against Jerusalem,…
- Jeremiah 50:2 (v16) “Declare among the nations and publish, and set up a standard; publish, and don’t conceal: say, ‘Babylon has been taken, Bel is…
- Lamentations 1:8 (v17) Jerusalem has grievously sinned. Therefore she has become unclean. All who honored her despise her, because they have seen her nakedness.…
- Lamentations 1:18 (v17) “Yahweh is righteous; for I have rebelled against his commandment. Please hear all you peoples, and see my sorrow. My virgins and my young…
- Ezekiel 2:3-7 (v17) He said to me, “Son of man, I send you to the children of Israel, to a nation of rebels who have rebelled against me. They and their…
- Daniel 9:7-19 (v17) “Lord, righteousness belongs to you, but to us confusion of face, as it is today; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem,…
- Luke 19:43-44 (v17) For the days will come on you, when your enemies will throw up a barricade against you, surround you, hem you in on every side, and will…
- Luke 21:20-24 (v17) “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is at hand. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the…
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (18 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv14–18 Here now the Prophet expressly and avowedly exhorts the…
Here now the Prophet expressly and avowedly exhorts the people to repent. By bidding Jerusalem to wash from wickedness her heart, that she might be saved, he shews that there was no remedy, except the Jews were reconciled to God; and that this could not be, except they repented of their sins. He had said before, that while God was angry they could not but perish; he now confirms the same thing, — that thou mayest be saved, wash thine heart from wickedness; as though he had said, that there was war between the Jews and God, and that salvation could by no means be hoped for, since God was armed for their destruction, and shewed himself a judge to punish their vices: he at the same time reminds them of the true way of repentance; it was by washing their heart from wickedness. For hypocrites ever seek to appease God by external rites and observances; but the Prophet shows that God cannot be pacified, except they from the heart return to him. He then means that the beginning of true repentance is an inward feeling. We now perceive what the Prophet means.
But they reason foolishly who maintain that repentance is the cause of salvation, because it is said, “That thou mayest be saved, wash thy heart from wickedness:” and the Papists lay hold on such passages to set up free — will; and they hold that sins are abolished and punishment remitted through satisfactions made by us. But this is extremely absurd and frivolous. For the Prophet is not speaking of the cause of salvation; but, as I have said, he simply shows that men are extremely thoughtless when they expect a peaceable condition, while they carry on war with God, and when he is armed to execute vengeance on them. We are not then to inquire here, whether a sinner delivers himself from God’s hand by his repentance: but the Prophet had only this one thing in view — that we cannot be safe and secure, except God be reconciled to us. He further shews, that God will not be propitious to us, except we repent, and that from the heart or from a genuine feeling within.
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He then adds, How long shall remain within thee the thoughts of thy vanity? He here touches on the hypocrisy of his own nation; and he in effect says, that whatever excuses they might make, they were yet proved guilty before God, and that their evasions were frivolous, because God penetrated into the inmost recesses of their hearts. He indeed speaks most suitably, for he had to do with hypocrites who thought that their outward performances pacified God; and they also thought that when they alleged their evasions they ought to be forgiven, as they could not be condemned by earthly judges. The Prophet derides these delusive thoughts, How long shall thoughts of vanity remain within thee? that is, “Though the whole world were to absolve thee, what yet would it avail thee? For vain thoughts remain in the midst of thee, that is, in the recesses of thy heart; and God knows them, for nothing is hid from him. There is then no reason for you to think that ye will gain anything by your outward display or your excuses; for God is the searcher of hearts. Let not these thoughts continue within thee.”
He calls them the thoughts of vanity The word, און, aun, means sometimes substance, but, it also means power, and sometimes grief, and sometimes vanity or trouble. The Prophet means here, I have no doubt, trouble or vanity. But some expound it as signifying lust; but I know not whether it can be so taken. Either of the two foregoing meanings may suit the passage, though vanity seems the best, How long, then, shall thoughts of vanity remain within thee? that is, by which thou deceivest thyself: for when God suspended his vengeance, the Jews thought that they had escaped from his hand. They might, at the same time, have been called the thoughts of trouble or sorrow from the effect; for how could it have been otherwise, but they must have found that they had procured a heavier judgment for themselves, by trifling with the indulgence and forbearance of God? Too strained is the explanation given by some, who render the words, “thoughts of grief, “because the Jews had done many wrongs to their neighbors, and caused them unjust vexations. I therefore doubt not but that the Prophet refers to those deceptive hopes, by which the Jews grew more perverse against God, so as not to fear any punishment.
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 vv15, 17 Which was in the mid-way between Dan and Jerusalem.
Which was in the mid-way between Dan and Jerusalem.
Which was a city in the utmost border of Israel Northward toward Babylon.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv14–18 Jer 4:14 O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness,…
Jer 4:14 O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?
Ver. 14. O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness.] Which defileth it worse than any leprosy, {a} or jakes, doth the body. {Mar 7:19-20; Mar 7:23} Thy hands thou often washest, and other outward parts, placing therein no small religion, thou canst not wash them in innocence; wash them therefore in tears, and when thou hast so done, cry to God with Augustine, Lava lachrymas meas Domine: ipsae enim lachrymae sunt lachrymabiles; Wash my very tears, Lord, for they are lamentable ones. Beg of him to bathe thy soul in the blood of his Son, to wash thee thoroughly from thine iniquity, and to cleanse thee from thy sin. {Psa 51:2}
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That thou mayest be saved,] i.e., Have safety here, and salvation hereafter.
How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?] {b} Heb., In the midst of thee, in the very heart of thee. Creep in they will, but why should they lodge there? why should the devil be at inn with us? be any man’s bedfellow, as he is the angry man’s? {Eph 4:26} David oft "communed with his own heart, and his spirit made diligent search" for such vagrants. {Psa 77:6} Scopabam spiritum meum, {c} so some render it, I swept out my spirit. Carnal hearts are stews of unclean thoughts, slaughter houses of cruel and bloody thoughts, exchanges and shops of vain and vile thoughts, a very forge and mint of false political undermining thoughts, yea, oft a little hell of confused and black imaginations. They had need therefore to be carefully cleansed, and kept with all custody. Grace beginneth at the centre, and from thence goeth to the circumference. God and nature begin at the heart; art begins with the face and outward lineaments; so doth hypocrisy at outward paintings and expressions; it cleanseth the outside of the cup and platter, when the inside is full of ravening and wickedness. {Luk 11:39}
{a} Frustra sunt lavamenta, ubi nulla est innocentia. - Oecol.
{b} Hic mora cogitationis redarguitur et eius adlubescentia. - Oecol.
{c} Vulgate.
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 vv14–18 O Jerusalem, wash thine heart; cleanse your inward parts,…
O Jerusalem, wash thine heart; cleanse your inward parts, O ye men of Jerusalem; not your hands only, as hypocrites do, but your hearts, Jam 4:8. The same exhortation with Jer 4:3,4, only in another metaphor of washing, which seems to be taken from such potions first physicians give to clear away the inward parts from noxious humours. See Isa 1:16,17.
From wickedness; viz. from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, 2Co 7:1; Jam 1:21.
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That thou mayest be saved: this hath reference in this place to temporal salvation; it is prescribed as a means to prevent the judgments that are impending on them, as is plainly expressed, Jer 4:4, yet not exclusive of spiritual salvation, 2Th 2:13; Tit 3:5.
Vain thoughts; wicked thoughts, or rather hopes or expectation from any helps, Jer 2:5,37; pleasing thyself with vain fancies of safety and security, which thoughts of thine will assuredly bring ruin and misery upon thee, which is inevitably coming, as in the next verse.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv14–18 O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness,.... These are…
O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness,.... These are the words of the prophet, or of God by the prophet, showing the cause of all their ruin and destruction, the wickedness of their hearts; and they are expressed in such form and language, as to be accommodated to the case of any unregenerate sinner: every man's heart is wicked, desperately wicked, even wickedness itself; everything in it is wicked; the thoughts, and the imagination of the thoughts of the heart, the mind, the understanding, the will, the conscience, and the affections; and everything that is wicked is in that: it is the womb in which all sin is conceived; the shop and forge in which it is wrought; it is the habitation of every unclean lust; the seeds and principles of all sin are in it; it is the fountain spring and source of all evil; of all evil thoughts, words, and actions; all come out of it, and have their rise in it: and this wickedness is of a defiling nature, and has left a pollution on it; and what comes out of it defiles the man, that he stands in need of washing; which cannot be done to purpose by ceremonial ablutions and sacrifices, by moral acts of righteousness, by humiliation and tears, nor by submission to Gospel ordinances; nor indeed is this to be done by man at all, any other way than by faith dealing with the blood of Christ, by which only the heart is purified: for this is God's work, as appears from his promises to cleanse his people from all sins; from their prayers to him, to create in them clean hearts, to wash them thoroughly from their iniquity, and cleanse them from their sin; from the sanctifying grace of the Spirit, and the washing of regeneration ascribed to him; and from the end and efficacy of the bloodshed of Christ, to cleanse from sin, and purge the conscience from dead works; and the design of such exhortations as these is to convince men of the wickedness and pollution of their hearts, of the necessity of being washed from it, and of their own inability to do it of themselves; and to lead them to the fountain of Christ's blood, to wash in for sin and for uncleanness:
that thou mayest be saved; not only with a temporal salvation, which may be here primarily meant; but with a spiritual and eternal one; for without purification of the heart there is no salvation: this is the meetness for the undefiled inheritance; without the washing of regeneration, there is no seeing nor entering into the kingdom of God; and unless we are washed by Christ, and in his blood, we can have no part nor portion with him in the heavenly glory; none shall ascend the holy hill, or dwell in the holy place, but such who have clean hands, and a pure heart; without this there is no seeing of God, nor having communion with him; this is the way in which he saves men, Tit 3:5,
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how long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee? or, "wilt thou suffer them to lodge within thee?" (z) if the question is of right, the answer is, they ought not to lodge one night, one hour, one moment; but if it is of fact, the answer is, they will have a place in the heart as long as we are in this tabernacle; but the words are spoken by way of complaint and reproof: the thoughts of men's hearts are vain, are taken up about vain and foolish things; and these not only pass to and fro, but have a lodging in the heart; and particularly vain are the thoughts of those who think themselves pure, and that their hearts are good, and trust in them; or that they can wash themselves from their wickedness; and that an outward reformation of life and manners is sufficient; and who think they can be saved without the washing of regeneration, and the blood of Christ. The Targum is,
"cleanse thine heart from doing evil, O Jerusalem, that ye may be saved; how long shall they endure and be stable who do violence, which is in the midst of thee?''
(z) "quousque morari sines", Pagninus, Montanus.
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 vv14–18 Wash - As a means to prevent the judgments…
Wash - As a means to prevent the judgments that are impending. Vain thoughts - Vain fancies of safety.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv14–17 Verse 14. O Jerusalem, wash thine heart] Why do…
Verse 14. O Jerusalem, wash thine heart] Why do ye not put away your wickedness, that ye may be saved from these tremendous judgments? How long shall thy vain thoughts of safety and prosperity lodge within thee? Whilst thou continuest a rebel against God, and provokest him daily by thy abominations!
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 vv14, 16, 18 Jer 4:14-15. O Jerusalem, wash thy heart — O…
Jer 4:14-15. O Jerusalem, wash thy heart — O ye inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, cleanse your inward parts; not your hands only, as hypocrites do, but your hearts, Jas 4:8; from wickedness — Namely, from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, 2Co 7:1. See note on Isa 1:16. That thou mayest be saved — As the means to prevent the judgments that are impending. How long shall vain thoughts lodge within thee? — Hopes of safety by the help of foreign forces, or any other such means, while thou continuest in the practice of thine idolatries and other sins. The reformation of a corrupt state is absolutely necessary in order to its salvation. There is no other way of preventing the divine judgments, or turning them away when we are threatened with them, but putting away the sins by which we have procured them to ourselves. And no reformation is saving, but that which reaches the heart and makes it new. And it is made new by the washing of regeneration, and the renovating power of the Holy Ghost; or, by the exercise of repentance toward God, and that faith in him and his word which is productive of new obedience. For a voice declareth from Dan — For, lo! a sound of devastation comes from Dan; lo! a tumult is heard from the mountains of Ephraim. — Houbigant. As if he had said, It is high time to repent, because reports succeed reports of the enemy’s swift approach toward you. Dan, being the most northern part of Judea, was first invaded by the Chaldean army, which did not march directly through Mesopotamia and Arabia Deserta into Judea, because of the vast sandy deserts which lay in the way, but took a compass, and passed over the Euphrates at Thapsacus, which lay far northward of Judea, and thence marched through Syria: so that, of course, the rumour of the enemy’s approach was first heard from Dan. And the evil tidings still increased as the army marched forward toward Jerusalem, by the way of mount Ephraim.
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 vv14–18 Thy vain thoughts - “Thy” iniquitous “thoughts.” “Aven,” the…
Thy vain thoughts - “Thy” iniquitous “thoughts.” “Aven,” the word used here, is especially applied to the sin of idolatry: thus Bethel is generally called Bethaven by Hosea (Hos 4:15; Hos 5:8, ...), because instead of being the house of God, El, it was the house of an iniquity, Aven, the golden calf.
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 vv15–16 Ephraim. At Bethel and Dan the calves were adored.…
Ephraim. At Bethel and Dan the calves were adored. (Calmet) --- But they were now no more. (Haydock) --- The irruption of Nabuchodonosor is announced. He set himself up for a god.
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 vv14–18 Only one means of deliverance is left to the…
Only one means of deliverance is left to the Jews--a thorough repentance.
vain thoughts--namely, projects for deliverance, such as enlisting the Egyptians on their side. GESENIUS translates, "How long wilt thou harbor vain thoughts?"
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 vv14, 15, 17 14. O Jerusalem, wash thine heart — Again does…
14. O Jerusalem, wash thine heart — Again does the prophet pause, but this time it is not to remonstrate with God, but to plead with man. In the presence of this great calamity, so rapidly and resistlessly moving on, he urges the people to hide themselves in God, and to cast out all evil from their own hearts, for it is only when there is evil within us that there can be evil without us. Sin is the only fuel of the fire which burns to our destruction.
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 vv14–18 14. How long, etc.] Cp. Hos_8:5.
14. How long, etc.] Cp. Hos_8:5.
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 vv14–18 (14) O Jerusalem.—The prophet’s answer to the cry that…
(14) O Jerusalem.—The prophet’s answer to the cry that comes from the city. In that “washing of the heart” which had seemed impossible before (Jer_2:22), but is thought of now as “possible with God,” is the one hope of salvation. (Comp. Isa_1:16.)
Vain thoughts.—The Hebrew has a force which the English does not reproduce, thoughts of vanity, thoughts of aven, i.e., of the word which had been specially applied, as in Beth-aven for Beth-el (the “house of vanity” for the “house of God”) to the idols which Israel and Judah worshipped (Hos_4:15; Hos_10:5; Amo_5:5).
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 vv14–18 Thy vain thoughts. The phrase specially belongs to sins…
Thy vain thoughts. The phrase specially belongs to sins against one"s neighbor such sins as are described in Jer_7:5-9 (Keil). "Vain" should rather be "wicked" (immoral); the root-meaning of the noun is "a breath" (the symbol of material or moral emptiness).
The cleansing of the heart a necessary condition of salvation.
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I SALVATION IS PROMISED ON THE SIMPLEST POSSIBLE CONDITIONS. The very mention of conditions suggests difficulties, delays, barriers. But the only conditions required are in our own power, are simply such as are necessary to make the reception of the salvation of God possible to us, and do not refer to the source of it. We are not to save ourselves, not to purchase nor to merit salvation, but only to be in a right condition to receive it.
II SALVATION IS ONLY POSSIBLE WHERE THERE IS A CLEANSING FROM WICKEDNESS. The soul that clings to sin cannot also grasp the Savior. If it would be right to deliver men from the painful consequences of wickedness while they remained under the power of it, it must have been wrong ever to have permitted those consequences. If it is not unjust to forgive the impenitent, it is unjust to punish them, which is absurd.
III THE CLEANSING FROM WICKEDNESS MUST BE IN THE HEART. There all sin has its origin. Clean hands are vain without a pure heart. Reformation must not simply be moral, it must be spiritual not a change of habits, but a purification of thought, affection, and desire.
IV THE DUTY OF CLEANSING OUR HEARTS FROM WICKEDNESS RESTS UPON OURSELVES The text is not a promise, but an exhortation. True, no one can purify himself by hit own efforts alone. (Jer_2:22) God has provided the fountain for uncleanness, and only they who wash in this are clean. But men must plunge into the purifying flood, must make the effort of repentance, must seek the cleansing which is promised through Christ, must submit to the baptism of the Holy Ghost, must actively apply themselves to the execution of good deeds in the power given by God. Compare the words of Isaiah. (Isa_1:16)
V THERE IS NO REASON TO DELAY THE CLEANSING OF OUR HEARTS. "How long shall thoughts of wickedness lodge within thee?" The longer repentance is postponed, the more difficult does it become; the more numerous are the stains of sin, the nearer is the approach of doom. Since it is for men to seek the cleansing of their souls, any delay must be attributed to their negligence, not to God"s unwillingness to help them.
Vain thoughts.
I THE LIFE OF EVERY MAN IS GOVERENED BY HIS THOUGHTS. "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he". (Pro_23:7) True as it is that the essential moral quality of the man will always determine the order of his thinking, the converse also is equally true. Thought is the formative principle of all personal life kindles feeling, touches the springs of purpose, guides the course of moral action. What are character and conduct but the definite expression of secret thought? That subtle husbandman, That sows its little seed of good or ill In the moist, unsunned surface of the heart. And what it there in secrecy cloth plant, Stands with its ripe fruit at the judgment day.
II EVERY MAN IS RESPONSIBLE FOB THE TENOR OF HIS THOUGHTS. If not, there could be no room in this matter for remonstrance or appeal. The law of the association of ideas may be such that it is as impossible to prevent some particular thought from recurring to the mind as to stay the tide of the ocean; but it is certainly possible for us to regulate our habitual mental conditions. It is given to us by watchful, prayerful self-discipline, especially by occupying the mind with higher and nobler things, to secure that the main drift of our thinking shall be in the right direction. We can choose our own fields of daily contemplation. Those thoughts will lodge" in us which we most encourage and cherish, and for this we are accountable.
III THE CHERISHING OF VAIN THOUGHTS IS NECESSARILY DEGRADING IN ITS EFFECT. "Vain thoughts" are iniquitous thoughts, sinful thoughts. "The thought of foolishness is sin". (Pro_24:9) It is impossible to measure the corrupting power of such thoughts." No evil imagination or purpose can enter the mind, and be allowed for a moment to dwell there, without leaving some moral stain behind it. Accustom yourself to any extent to the play of such influences, your whole being becomes contaminated by them, andThe baseness of their nature Shall have power to drag you down.
Our minds cannot be in frequent contact with mean or groveling objects of contemplation without finding that they poison all the streams of moral life within us. "To be carnally minded is death". (Rom_8:6)
IV THE ONLY CURE FOR THIS EVIL TENDENCY IS THE DIVINE RENEWAL OF OUR SPIRITUAL NATURE. "Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts". (Mat_15:19) Let that be sanctified, and their power over us shall cease. Superficial expedients, mere external restraints and corrections, are of little use. We need something that shall go to the root of the disease. The fountain of life within must be cleansed if the streams that flow from it are to be pure. The temple at Jerusalem was externally beautiful, its roof so bright with burnished gold that nothing less pure than the glorious sunbeams could rest upon it; but that did not prevent it from being internally the haunt of many a form of hollow hypocrisy, and the scene of a base, worldly traffic den of thieves." Let the Spirit of God make our souls his temple, and that holy Presence shall effectually scatter all vain and corrupt imaginations. They cannot" lodge" where the heavenly glory dwells. Every thought of our hearts shall then be "brought into captivity to Christ. W.
"O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved." The loving charge of the Great Searcher of hearts.
The text shows us
I GOD INTENSELY DESIRING MAN"S SALVATION. This is evident from the pleading tone of the text. It is like the pathetic cry of the Savior over the same Jerusalem, when her people rejected him. And this Divine distress over the sinner"s rejection of salvation, or in any wise missing of it, is attested not by any one Scripture alone, but by many, and by a multitude of other witnesses beside. How many Divine utterances there are which breathe the like loving concern to that well-known one which says, "As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live"! (Eze_33:11) And the Divine words of love are confirmed by the supreme deed of love. "God so loved the world." Surely the remembrance of this Divine yearning for our eternal salvation should touch and subdue our hearts. If we knew of one who, when we were prostrate with disease, out of love came despising all risk of contagion, and watched over us night and day, on the alert turn and stage of the dread foe that was threatening our life, who in every way showed himself heedless of his own comfort or safety, so only as he might win us back to health; how in after years should we regard such a one? Would not even the most selfish cherish a warm regard, a grateful recollection? And most men would take care to let it be known what was their estimate of such self-sacrificing love. "But," saith God, "Israel doth not know; my people doth not consider.
II GOD DECLARING THAT MAN MUST DO HIS PART IF THAT SALVATION IS TO BE WON. If the whole matter rested with God, such language as our text, in which man is charged, importuned to bestir himself, would have no meaning, would he what we will not even suggest. And our text but embodies the same truth as to the need of man"s cooperation with God which lies upon the surface of every "Come unto me" uttered by our Lord or by his apostles and ministers in his Name. Our salvation is not a case in which God but speaks and all is done, and commands and all stands fast. The work of grace is not accomplished as one tree is made an oak, the other an elm. We look with delight and wonder at the manifold triumphs of mind over matter which the varied discoveries of science have in this century achieved. But the salvation of a soul has the higher glory of the triumph of mind over mind that in strict harmony with the laws and liberties of mind, and in spite of inherent and inveterate opposition, the love of God shall conquer and subdue, and the "unruly wills of sinful men" shall cheerfully own and yield to the Divine sway. But in such a salvation man must do his part; he is not left out in the scheme, and here, as in so many other Scriptures, he is called upon to be a worker together with God that he "may be saved." How this truth shatters the delusion and the fatal self-deception of those who comfort themselves in their disregard of God by a wresting of the doctrine of the Holy Spirit"s work, as if it were one which absolved them from all endeavor, instead of prompting them thereto and aiding them therein. And some Christian workers need also to be reminded of this same truth; for they are tempted at times to excuse and account for their want of success on the ground of the sovereignty of the Divine working the Spirit, like the wind, blowing where it listeth rather than on the ground of their own laggard following of the Divine leading and their failure to co-operate with God. Man must do his part this is the law writ large over all God"s Word and works and ways.
III GOD SHOWING TO MAN WHAT HIS PART IS. "Wash thine heart," etc. Then:
1. Wickedness is a defiling thing. It is to the soul what the mud and mire of the street, what all material foulness, are to the body. Sometimes this is made manifest" even now. On a man"s face may be read the moral defilement of his soul. But generally men are too cautious for that, and in this world men take care not to let the inward defilement appear. We are formed to love what is fair-looking and pure and wholesome, and we turn away from its opposite. And wicked men know this, and are careful to maintain appearances. But if hereafter, as now, God "gives to every seed its own body," he shall then, as is plainly taught, give to every soul its own body a body that will take its nature, shape, and form from the moral characteristics of the soul. Oh, what transformations there may be then! The character of the soul determining what the body shall be. Some then, who here have had no form nor comeliness, shall be seen then as the angels of God; and others who here have lacked no natural beauty, shall be shunned as were those who in our Lord"s days on earth were possessed with an unclean spirit. Oh for the purged vision, that we might see our souls as God always sees them! Then surely we, seeing how wickedness ever pollutes and defiles, should turn from it with loathing, as now we too seldom do.
2. And the defilement is such as cleats to the soul. "Wash thine heart," etc. The abode from which the evil spirit went forth for a while, but then in his lordly manner declared he would return to it, as he did that abode was only "swept," not washed; that defilement which lay loose and light about the house could be thus got rid of, but that which cleaved to it continued there still. He who would be saved must deal thoroughly with his soul. No light, easy, partial amendment will do. This God teaches us by this earnest word, "Wash thine heart," etc.
3. And this cleansing must be of the heart. The whole chapter is a protest against the mere external purifying which the sinful people were seeking to palm off upon God instead of the tree inward cleansing which he demanded, and with which alone he would or ever will be content.
4. And this must do. Had we been told that the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ can alone do or had we been bidden pray like David, "Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow." "Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity and cleanse me from my sin; such declarations and counsels we could readily have understood, but for us to be told to do ourselves what so many Scriptures repeatedly declare God alone can do how is this? Well, let the story of the blind man whom our Lord bade go and wash in the pool of Siloam, and who because he obeyed won back his sight, let his story answer the question. It was the grace of the Lord Jesus restored him, but yet this much that he could do he had to do. But never, never on the ground of that washing in Siloam would the restored man claim for himself the credit of his own restoration, and so, although we be bidden wash our hearts from wickedness, yet who does not know that there lies behind these words the promise of the cleansing fountain, in which alone we can wash and be clean? And every one who seeks to obey this word will soon find his own utter powerlessness to rid himself of the clinging, cleaving wickedness of his heart, and the necessity he is under to answer back to this word of the Lord"s, "Lead me, then, Lord, to that cleansing stream, where only it is of any avail that I seek to wash my heart from wickedness.
IV GOD ENCOURAGING MAN TO DO HIS PART BY THE PROMISE OF SALVATION. "Wash thine heart... that thou mayest be saved." The promise is contained in the command. We can appeal to experience to verify this implied promise. In the hour when sin would assert its mastery, let the soul turn in instant trust and prayer to the Lord Jesus Christ, and he shall find that he is saved. Sin will slink away, like Satan did at the word of the Lord, and in such experience of Christ"s saving power we have the pledge and earnest of the full salvation which shall be ours when he who has begum the work in us has perfected it according to his word. C.
Fain Thoughts. "how long shall," etc.?
I THEY ARE THE PROLIFIC SOURCE AND CAUSE OF ALL WICKEDNESS. "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." St. Paul, desiring all things lovely and of good report, all that has praise and virtue, to abound in the disciples of Christ, bids them "think on these things" (Philippians 4). Therefore vain thoughts must lead to and produce wickedness. "They are the spawn of the evil heart, from which all other wickedness is produced." They are not to be here understood as merely trifling, foolish, empty thoughts, but thoughts that are evil, impious, sinful, wicked. They are the thoughts which bring forth sin, which in its turn brings forth death. "Keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it," etc .
II THEY RENDER SALVATION IMPOSSIBLE. The cleansing of the heart from them, their dislodgement therefore, is set forth as indispensable to Jerusalem being saved a condition that must be fulfilled. "Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God." The converse of this is true also and equally, "Without holiness," that is, without this pureness of heart, "no man shall see the Lord." How manifestly true this is! What would a man whose heart is full of these thoughts do in the "Father"s house?" It would be hell to him. He would be anywhere rather "than there.
III THEY ARE VOLUNTARILY ENTERTAINED. They have come to the door and have sought and obtained entrance. They have been bidden "come in," and the heart has consented to "lodge" them. The protest that the prophet utters against them, were they not voluntarily admitted and retained, would be unmeaning. There would be occasion for profound pity, but none for blame. But conscience owns the truth that the prophet"s word implies.
IV THEY CAN BE GOTTEN RID OF. Men are called upon to "wash their hearts" from them and to expel them. It is, therefore, plainly within men"s power to do this. The words of these exhortations suggest the method.
1. Turn to Christ, in trust and prayer, especially to him as your crucified Lord. Behold the fountain of his blood. Such turning to Christ for pardon and for purity will "wash thine heart from wickedness.
2. By a vigorous act of the will, like as when our Messed Lord found the evil one lodging wrong thoughts in his mind, he gave him no place, but sternly bade him and his be gone. And this was ever his way. It must be ours.
3. But leave not the heart empty. Bring in at once other thoughts, holy, Christ-like, that demand prompt, vigorous and continuous work for Christ; so shall vain thoughts quit their hold and home in thy heart, and lodge there no more.
V THEY ARE GRIEVOUS IN THE SIGHT OF GOD. Note the pathos and pleading of the appeal, "O Jerusalem... How long?" Men take cognizance only of words and deeds and are content if these be in keeping with the laws society has laid down. But God notes the thoughts of the heart, and grieves when they are "vain." What fervor this fact should lend to our prayers for purity of heart, that its thoughts may be cleansed by the inspiration of God"s Holy Spirit!
VI THEY ARE RUINOUS IN THEIR EFFECTS. (Cf. vers. 15-17) They lead to sin and that to death. Are we conscious that such thoughts have lodged or are lodging within us? Listen to the Divine appeal, and implore his grace that you may respond thereto as he would desire. C.
The unwashed heart and the vain purposes cherished in it.
There are here an exhortation and a question which, taken together, pierce very deep, and suggest once more the true cause of all the terrible calamities which are to befall Israel; for though Jerusalem is addressed, the repentance and remedy for all the evils in question must come from the action of a united people. Jeremiah"s words in ver. 10 are in a measure representative words; they indicate the way in which the nation would conclude that Jehovah had promised one thing; whereas unite another thing had happened, and that evidently by his disposition. And so Jehovah meets Jeremiah with this word, so that he shall not persist in a mistaken attempt to harmonize Jehovah"s predictions. Further, he is to declare the same thing to Jerusalem, that being the great center where kings and princes, priests and prophets are gathered together. Instead of looking outward and ignorantly complaining of God, let them look inward, with practical intent, and see what they can do by way of heart-reformation. These stupendous perils can all be removed, but Jehovah by himself cannot remove them. In one sense, of course, he could do so. The wind might be made to subside, the lion be driven back to his thicket, the destroyer of the Gentiles annihilated. But there would be no permanent putting right in this if Israel remained the same. Israel indeed might think that, if only the enemies vanished, then the sword would indeed be withdrawn from the soul. The hearts of the king and princes did not perish simply because of the hosts that were gathered against them. This was a reason so far; but in another sense no reason at all, seeing it did not go to the root of the matter. But now Jehovah does go to the root of the matter; his Word is indeed a sword reaching deeper than the superficial thoughts of the people.
I THE EXHORTATION.
1. The heart is to be cleansed. The heart. Persistently does God drag these people to look within. Either they were not willing to do so; or not able to do so, or, what is perhaps a more correct way of putting it, they lacked both willingness and ability. They would look anywhere but to the true cause of all their ills and to the true sphere where redemption and security were to be worked out. If they would only attend to their hearts and see in their hearts what God saw in them, all the seeds of peril, corruption, and everlasting shame, then they would get on to the right way, and being delivered from fundamental errors in their thoughts, they would come to the apprehension and practice of fundamental truths. They had already been told of the mockery of a mere outward circumcision, and enjoined to circumcise their hearts. Now the figure is varied, and they are told to cleanse their hearts. It is because the heart of the king and the prince is so polluted that it perishes. If it were a clean heart it would be a strong heart, invincible against panic and despair.
2. The filth that is to be taken out of the heart is wickedness. It takes a long time to work the conviction into the minds of many people that wickedness is as filth. These very people loathe the waifs and strays who think nothing of being constantly begrimed with dirt. To such the impurity of the great unwashed is a loathsome thing; it nauseates them to come within sight or scent of it. But let such recollect that even if, as far as their bodies are concerned, they have daily changes of fine linen, white and clean, that is a mere trifle if the consciousness within be habitually defiled by inhuman and degrading thoughts. There is, of course, a very practical truth in the common saying that "Cleanliness is next to godliness;" but cleanliness of the conscience, removal of every slimy stain of self, is but one of the aspects, of perfect godliness. If only we are laboring to cleanse our hearts from wickedness, all other cleanliness will assuredly follow. In proportion as wickedness is cleansed out, there will follow all outward decencies, courtesy of manner and refinement of tastes. The right inwardly grows to the comely outwardly; but if that inward right be lacked, then all apparent comeliness is but the whited sepulcher.
3. The mode of cleansing. The word chosen to indicate this is a very significant one. The mere general term for cleansing is not sufficient; nor even the more restricted but still general term for cleansing with water. The washing to be done is that sort which in the literal instance is to be done by a vigorous trampling of the feet. The Hebrew word is the same one in which the profoundly penitent David prays that God would wash him from his iniquity, and again to wash him so that he should be whiter than snow. (Ps 51) And so here we have another instance of the unremitting thoroughness which marks this chapter. It is the heart that is to be cleansed, and that by the most vigorous kind of washing. The accumulated filth of years has entered into the very texture of the fabric. The truth is that the only way of carrying out the exhortation is to submit the heart to him in exactly the same spirit as David did. God is the Cleanser, and only when our nature has passed through all his purifying agencies shall we really know what perfect human nature is. We do indeed see that perfection in Jesus, but with such distorted vision that the seeing cannot be called seeing as we ought to see.
II THE QUESTION. The thoughts with respect to which the question is asked are really purposes. This will come out more clearly on considering some of the expressions in which the same Hebrew word is used; e.g. when the woman of Tekcah spoke to David of God devising means to bring back his banished; (2Sa_14:14) so Eliphaz tells Job that God disappoints the devices of the crafty. (Job_5:12) Several of the Proverbs contain the word. The thoughts, i.e. counsels, of the righteous are just. (Pro_12:5) Where there is no deliberation, purposes are disappointed. (Pro_15:22) There are many devices in a man s heart, but the counsel of God shall stand. (Pro_19:21) Purposes are established by counsel, i.e. there must be wisdom in forming them, and prudence in carrying them out. A comparison of these selected passages will amply suffice to show what God means by vain thoughts, and what sort of practical thoughts he would wish us to put in their place. Man is meant to live wish definite ends in view, on which he may expend his strength and faculties. But when these ends are his own self-originated and self-gratifying then they are emphatically vain. They can only continue by deceiving the mind that proposes them and holds to them. The question therefore is as to when our eyes shall be opened to perceive the right purposes of life, the solid and attainable ones, the purposes that are not vain, because they are God"s purposes and because he provides all resources needed for carrying them out. Jerusalem wished these terrible troubles from outside to be at an end, just that it might resume its own projects. On the other hand, God wished it from the very heart to adopt his projects in order that then he might take all obstacles and enemies completely out of the way. Y.
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 v14 Wash thine heart from wickedness.
Jer_4:14
Wash thine heart from wickedness.
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Purity necessary to salvation
I. The natural depravity of the human heart.
1. This doctrine requires definition. Depravity of the heart includes--
(1) The entire absence of the Divine image.
(2) A natural aversion to God and godliness.
(3) A universal propensity or disposition to evil.
2. This doctrine demands evidence.
(1) Divinely revealed.
(2) Practically exemplified.
(3) Deeply lamented.
II. The spiritual purity which the lord requires.
1. The possibility of obtaining purity of heart. This appears from--
(1) The design of redemption (Heb_9:13-14).
(2) The ability of the Saviour (Joh_1:16; 1Co_1:30).
(3) The promises of Scripture (Eze_36:26-27; 1Pe_1:3-4).
(4) The experience of believers (Rom_6:22; 1Jn_1:7).
2. The important duty of seeking purity of heart.
III. The absolute necessity of personal holiness.
1. A necessary property of religion.
2. A necessary meetness for heaven. (Sketches of Four Hundred Sermons.)
The heart to be kept pure
You have seen, said Spurgeon, the great reservoirs provided by our water companies, in which the water to supply thousands of houses is kept. Now the heart is the reservoir of man, and our life is allowed to flow in its proper season. That life may flow through different pipes--the mouth, the hand, the eye; but still all the issues of hand, of eye, of lip derive their source from the great fountain and central reservoir, the heart; and hence there is great necessity for keeping this reservoir in a proper state and condition, since otherwise that which flows through the pipes must be tainted and corrupt. How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?--Vain thoughts:--
I. Characteristics. Those thoughts are vain--
1. From which we do not and cannot reap any good.
2. Which cannot associate in any agreement with useful and valuable ones.
3. Which have to be kept out in order for the mind to attend to any serious or good purpose.
4. Which dwell largely and habitually on trifling things.
5. Which trifle with important things.
6. Which are fickle, not remaining with any continuance on a subject.
7. When the mind has some specially favourite trifle, some cherished, idolised toy.
8. Which continually return to things justly claiming a measure of attention, when the thinking of them can be no advantage.
9. When the mind dwells on fancies of how things might be or might have been, when the reality of how they are is before us.
10. Which men indulge concerning notions and schemings of worldly felicity.
II. Corrective.
1. Have specified subjects of serious interest to turn to when thought reverts to these vanities.
2. Make a sudden charge of guilt on your mind when vain thoughts prevail.
3. Have recourse to the direct act of devotion.
4. Interrupt and stop them by the question, What is just now my most pressing duty?
5. Have recourse to some practical occupation, matter of business, or a visit to some house of mourning.
6. Constrain your habitual thinking to go along with the thoughts of those who have thought the best, by reading the most valuable books.
7. Think to a certain purpose--towards a purposed end.
8. Reflect on how many things we have to do with which vain thoughts interfere; and also, what would have been the result of good thoughts instead of so many vain.
9. Discipline of the thoughts greatly depends on the company a man keeps (Pro_13:20).
10. If the complaint be urged, that this discipline involves much that is hard and difficult, we answer, It is just as hard as to do justice to a rational and immortal spirit placed here a little while by God for its improvement, and then to go where appoints. Hard, but indispensable. (John Foster.)
Bad lodgers, and how to treat them
I. Here are certain bad lodgers.
1. Many thoughts may be called vain because they are proud, conceited thoughts. Thus, whenever a man thinks himself good by nature, we may say of his thoughts, Vanity of vanities: all is vanity. If you are unrenewed, and dream that you are better than others because your parents were godly, it is a vain thought. Every thought of self-righteousness is a vain thought; every idea, moreover, of self-power--that you can do this and do that towards your own salvation, and that at any time when it pleases you you can turn and become a Christian, and so there is no need to be in a hurry, or to seek the help of the Holy Spirit:--that also is a vain thought.
2. Another sort of vain thoughts may be ranged under the head of carnal security. The poet says, All men think all men mortal but themselves, and often as the saying is quoted never was a proverb more generally true.
3. I know another set of thoughts: they are better looking, but they are equally vain, for they promise much and come to nothing: they are vain because they are fruitless. These vain thoughts are like the better order of people in Jerusalem--good people after a sort--that is to say, they really thought that as God threatened them with judgments, they would turn to Him. Certainly they would. They had no intention of being hard hearted. Far from it; they owned the power of the prophets appeal; they felt a degree of awe in the presence of the just God as He threatened them, and of course they meant--they meant to wash their hearts, and they meant to put away all their forbidden practices; not just yet, but by and by. Some men brood so long over their future intentions that they all of them become addled eggs, and nothing whatever is hatched. O man, whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it, do it, do it with thy might.
II. Now, let me show what bad lodgers they are.
1. First, they are deceitful. The man that says, When I have a more convenient season I will send for thee, does not send for Paul any more: he never intended to do so. A man says, Tomorrow; but tomorrow never comes. When that comes which would have been tomorrow it is today; and then he cries, Tomorrow, and so multiplies lies before God.
2. Vain thoughts are bad lodgers, for they pay no rent; they bring in nothing good to those who entertain them. There is the ledger of self-righteousness, for instance: what good does self-righteousness ever do to the man who entertains it? It pretends to pay in brass farthings: it pretends to pay, but the money is counterfeit. What good does it do to any man to harbour in his mind the empty promise of future repentance? It often prevents repentance.
3. The next reason for the ejectment of these lodgers is this: that they are wasting your goods and destroying your property. For instance, every unacted resolution wastes time, and that is more precious than gold. It also wastes thought, for to think of a thing and to leave it undone is a waste of reflection. It is a waste of energy to be energetic about merely promising to be energetic; it is a great waste of strength to be forever resolving to be strong, and yet to remain weak.
4. Worst of all, these vain thoughts are bad lodgers because they bring you under condemnation. There have been times when to entertain certain persons was treason, and many individuals have been put to death for harbouring traitors. Rebels condemned to die have been discovered in a mans house, and he has been condemned for affording them a hiding place. Now, God declares that these vain thoughts of yours are condemned traitors. Are you going to harbour them any longer?
III. Let us see what to do with these bad lodgers.
1. The first thing is to give them notice to quit at once. Let there be no waiting. When a man is converted it is done at once. There is a line, thin as a razors edge, which divides death from life, a point of decision which separates the saved from the lost.
2. Suppose that these vain thoughts will not go just when you bid them begone. I will tell you what to do to get rid of them: starve them out. Lock the door, and let nothing enter upon which they can feed.
3. The best way in all the world that I know of to get rid of vain thoughts out of your house--these bad lodgers that have gone in and that you cannot get out--is to sell the house over their heads. Let the house change owners. When you have dope that, you know, it will be the new owner that will have the trouble of turning them out; and He will do it. I recommend every sinner here that wants to find salvation to give himself up to Christ. Ah, now the stronger than they are has come, and He will bind the strong ones, and He will fling them out of window, and so break them to pieces with their fall that they shall never be able to crawl up the stairs again. He knows how to do it. He can expel them; you cannot. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Vain thoughts
Heart compared to house, to entertain and lodge guests; into which, before conversion, all the light wanton thoughts that post up and down in the world have open access; while they, like unruly gallants, revel day and night, and defile those rooms they lodge in. How long? whilst I, with My Spirit, and Son, and train of graces, stand and knock, and cannot find admittance?
I. What is meant by thoughts?
1. The internal acts of the mind; reasonings, resolutions, consultations, desires, cares, etc.
(1) The thinking, meditating, musing power in man, which enables him to conceive, apprehend, fancy.
(2) Thoughts which the mind frames within itself (Pro_6:14; Jam_1:15; Isa_59:4-7).
(3) Thoughts which the mind in and by itself begets and entertains.
2. What vanity is.
(1) Unprofitableness (Ecc_1:2-3).
(2) Lightness (Psa_62:9).
(3) Folly (Pro_12:11).
(4) Inconstancy (Psa_144:4; Psa_146:4).
(5) Wicked and sinful (2Ch_13:7; Pro_24:9).
II. The particulars wherein this vanity of the thinking, meditating power of man consists.
1. In regard to thinking what is good.
(1) A want of ability to raise and extract holy and useful considerations and thoughts from the occurrences and occasions which surround us.
(2) A loathness to entertain holy thoughts.
(3) The mind will not be long intent on good thoughts.
(4) If the mind think of good things, it does so unseasonably; intrudes on prayer and interrupts it (Pro_16:3).
2. The readiness of the mind to think on evil and vain things.
(1) This vanity shows itself in foolishness (Mar_7:22), which proves itself in the unsettledness and independence of our thoughts.
(2) If any strong lust or passion be up, our thoughts are too fixed and intent.
(3) A restless curiosity concerning things not affecting us.
(4) Taking thought to fulfil the lusts of our flesh.
(5) Acting sins over again in our imagination.
III. Remedies against vain thoughts.
1. Get the heart furnished and enriched with a good stock of sanctified and heavenly knowledge in spiritual truths.
2. Endeavour to preserve and keep up lively, holy, and spiritual affections in the heart.
3. Get the heart possessed with deep and powerful apprehensions of Gods holiness, majesty, omniscience, and omnipresence.
4. In the morning when thou awakest, as did David (Psa_119:18), prevent the vain thoughts the heart naturally engenders by filling it with thoughts of God.
5. Have a watchful eye upon thy heart all day; though vain thoughts crowd in, let them know that they pass not unseen.
6. Please not thy fancy too much with vanities and curious flights (Job_31:1; Pro_4:25).
7. Be diligent in thy calling (2Th_3:11; 1Ti_5:13); only, encumber not the mind too much (Luk_10:41).
8. In thy calling and all thy ways commit thy goings to the Lord (Pro_16:3). (T. Goodwin, B. D.)
Vain thoughts
I. What are vain thoughts?
1. Unprofitable imaginations.
2. Unscriptural opinions.
3. Unholy desires.
4. Unseasonable ideas.
II. The solemn inquiry. How long?
1. Shall it be till some temporal judgment be sent to awaken you out of your carnal security?
2. Till habit rivets these vain thoughts, and makes repentance and conversion harder than ever?
3. Till the grieved Saviour forsakes thee, and the resisted Spirit ceases to strive with thee?
4. Till the sentence goes forth, cut it down, why cumbereth it the ground? (J. Jowett, M. A.)
The vanity of man as a thinker
I. It is the glory of man that he can think.
1. Thought brings the outward universe into mans soul, and thus makes it his own.
2. Thought enables us to subordinate the outward world to our service.
3. By the power of thought we construct new universes.
4. Thought determines our condition.
(1) Even materially, it influences our health, shapes our countenance, tunes our voice.
(2) Spiritually, our condition is almost absolutely governed by thought. By thought we can pierce the heavens, enter into the holy of holies, hold fellowship with the Infinite. By thought we can break forth from our own little earthly sphere--make God our centre, and run a wider and brighter orbit than the stars.
II. It is the curse of man that he thinks wrongly.
1. Vain thoughts find a lodgment in the minds of some. If the thoughts cherished be vain, the life pursued will be vain. In order in some measure to estimate the amount of vain thought cherished by men, let us do three things. Compare the true theory of happiness with the conduct which men pursue in order to obtain it; the true theory of greatness with the efforts which they put forth in order to realise it; and the true theory of religion with their conduct in relation to it.
2. The expulsion of vain thoughts is a matter of urgent importance.
(1) They can be got rid of. By consecration of our energies to true work. By companionship with truthful souls. By realising the constant presence of the heart-inspecting God. By a change in the governing dispositions of the mind.
(2) The urgent necessity of this. They waste the mental life; corrupt the heart; imperil the soul. (Homilist.)
Vain thoughts
I. The evil of permitting vain thoughts to lodge within us. By vain thoughts may be meant all unlawful desires, vile affections, wicked tempers, and mischievous imaginations of every kind. If these, or any other evil thoughts to which we are subject, lodge in our breasts, they must render our persons abominable to God, corrupt all our performances, and produce many bitter fruits.
II. The necessity of washing our hearts from wickedness. As it would be madness in the husbandman to sow his seed upon ground that was covered with thorns, so it is equally foolish to expect the fruit of good living in any person whose heart lies fallow, unbroken, and overspread with the cares of the world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things, which our Saviour calls thorns. (W. Richardson.)
The place of thought in the making of character
Anyone who has visited lime stone caves has noticed the stalactite pillars, sometimes large and massive, by which they are adorned and supported. They are natures masonry of solid rock formed by her own slow, silent, and mysterious process. The little drop of water percolates through the roof of the cavern and deposits its sediment, and another follows it, till the icicle of stone is formed, and finally reaching to the rock beneath, it becomes a solid pillar, a marble monument which can only be rent down by the most powerful forces. But is there not going forward oftentimes in the caverns of the human heart a process as silent and effective, yet infinitely more momentous? There in the darkness that shrouds all from the view of the outward observer, each thought and feeling, as light and inconsiderable perhaps as the little drops of water, sinks downward into the soul, and deposits--yet in a form almost imperceptible--what we may call its sediment. And then another and another follows, till the traces of all combined become more manifest; and if these thoughts and feelings are charged with the sediment of worldliness and worldly passion, then all around the walls of this spiritual cavern stand in massive proportions the pillars of sinful inclination and the props of iniquity, and only a convulsion like that which rends the solid globe can rend them from their place and shake their hold. (American National Preacher.)
Bad lodgers
John Huss, seeking to reclaim a very profane wretch, was told by him that his giving way to wicked, wanton thoughts was the original of all those hideous births of impiety which he was guilty of in his life. Huss answered him, that although he could not keep evil thoughts from courting him, yet he might keep them from making a lodging place in his heart; as, he added, though I cannot prevent the birds from flying over my head, yet I can keep them from building nests in my hair.
Vain thoughts
A true Christian, who, by experience, knows what it is to deal with his own heart, finds it infinitely more difficult to beat down one sinful thought from rising up in him than to keep a thousand sinful thoughts from breaking forth into open act. Here lies his chief labour, to fight against phantasm and any apparitions, such as thoughts are; he sets himself chiefly against these heart sins, because he knows that these are the sins that are most of all contrary to grace, and do most of all weaken and waste grace. Outward sins are but like so many caterpillars that devour the verdure and flourishing of grace; but heart sins are like so many worms that gnaw the very root of grace. (Bp. E. Hopkins.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v16 besiegers are coming
besiegers are coming
Besiegers are soldiers who surround a city in order to keep the people in the city from being able to get supplies of food and water.
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They will be like the watchmen of a cultivated field against her all around
Carefully guarding a city to keep people from going in and out is spoken of as if they are carefully watching a field to keep people from stealing from it. AT: "they will guard Jerusalem carefully like watchmen who carefully guard a cultivated field" (See: Simile)
against her all around
The word "her" refers to Jerusalem. Jerusalem was often spoken of as if it were a woman. (See: Personification)
she has been rebellious against me
The word "she" refers to Jerusalem and represents the people of Jerusalem. The word "me" refers to Yahweh. AT: "the people of Jerusalem have been rebellious against me" (See: Metonymy)
this is Yahweh's declaration
Yahweh speaks of himself by name to express the certainty of what he is declaring. See how you translated this in Jeremiah 1:8. AT: "this is what Yahweh has declared" or "this is what I, Yahweh, have declared" (See: First, Second, or Third Person)
your conduct and your deeds have done these things to you
Here "conduct" and "deeds" are spoken of as if they are people that could do things. These abstract nouns can be expressed with the phrase "what you have done." AT: "These things are happening to you because of what you have done" (See: Personification and Abstract Nouns)
It will strike your very heart
Here "heart" probably refers to the emotions, and "strike your very heart" probably refers to causing them to suffer terribly. AT: "It will be as if it strikes your very heart" or "It will cause you to suffer terrible anguish" (See: Metaphor)
translationWords
nation
rebel
works
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 vv14, 17 4:14-15 Jeremiah still hoped that his people would cleanse…
4:14-15 Jeremiah still hoped that his people would cleanse their heart, get rid of their evil thoughts, and make a clean break with idolatry. Otherwise, they would face God’s judgment (4:1; 6:19; 13:27; 50:17; Prov 1:22; Isa 1:16; Jas 4:8).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.