The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead the dough, to make cakes to the queen of the sky, and to pour out drink offerings to other gods, that they may provoke me to anger.
Parallel Translations
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The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead the dough, to make cakes to the queen of the sky, and to pour out drink offerings to other gods, that they may provoke me to anger.
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The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me to anger.
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The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead the dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink-offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke Me.
Cross-references (20)
Passages linked to Jeremiah 7:18 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Jeremiah 19:13 The houses of Jerusalem, and the houses of the kings of Judah, which are defiled, will be as the place of Topheth, even all the houses on whose roofs they have burned incense to all the army of the sky and have poured out drink offerings to other gods.” ’ ”
- Jeremiah 44:17-19 But we will certainly perform every word that has gone out of our mouth, to burn incense to the queen of the sky, and to pour out drink offerings to her, as we have done, we and our fathers, our kings and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem; for then had we plenty of food, and were well, and saw no evil. But since we stopped burning incense to the queen of the sky, and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked all things, and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine. “When we burned incense to the queen of the sky, and poured out drink offerings to her, did we make her cakes to worship her, and pour out drink offerings to her, without our husbands?”
- 1 Kings 14:9 but have done evil above all who were before you, and have gone and made for yourself other gods, molten images, to provoke me to anger, and have cast me behind your back;
- 1 Corinthians 10:22 Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he?
- Deuteronomy 4:19 and lest you lift up your eyes to the sky, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, even all the army of the sky, you are drawn away and worship them, and serve them, which Yahweh your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole sky.
- Deuteronomy 32:16 They moved him to jealousy with strange gods. They provoked him to anger with abominations.
- Deuteronomy 32:21 They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God. They have provoked me to anger with their vanities. I will move them to jealousy with those who are not a people. I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.
- Deuteronomy 32:37-38 He will say, “Where are their gods, the rock in which they took refuge; which ate the fat of their sacrifices, and drank the wine of their drink offering? Let them rise up and help you! Let them be your protection.
- 1 Kings 16:2 “Because I exalted you out of the dust, and made you prince over my people Israel, and you have walked in the way of Jeroboam, and have made my people Israel to sin, to provoke me to anger with their sins;
- Jeremiah 11:17 For Yahweh of Armies, who planted you, has pronounced evil against you, because of the evil of the house of Israel and of the house of Judah, which they have done to themselves in provoking me to anger by offering incense to Baal.
- Jeremiah 25:7 “Yet you have not listened to me,” says Yahweh; “that you may provoke me to anger with the work of your hands to your own hurt.”
- Jeremiah 32:29 The Chaldeans, who fight against this city, will come and set this city on fire, and burn it with the houses on whose roofs they have offered incense to Baal, and poured out drink offerings to other gods, to provoke me to anger.
- Job 31:26-28 if I have seen the sun when it shined, or the moon moving in splendor, and my heart has been secretly enticed, and my hand threw a kiss from my mouth, this also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges; for I should have denied the God who is above.
- Psalms 16:4 Their sorrows shall be multiplied who give gifts to another god. Their drink offerings of blood I will not offer, nor take their names on my lips.
- Isaiah 3:8 For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen; because their tongue and their doings are against Yahweh, to provoke the eyes of his glory.
- Isaiah 57:6 Among the smooth stones of the valley is your portion. They, they are your lot. You have even poured a drink offering to them. You have offered an offering. Shall I be appeased for these things?
- Isaiah 65:3 a people who provoke me to my face continually, sacrificing in gardens, and burning incense on bricks;
- Isaiah 65:11 “But you who forsake Yahweh, who forget my holy mountain, who prepare a table for Fortune, and who fill up mixed wine to Destiny;
- Jeremiah 44:25 Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says, ‘You and your wives have both spoken with your mouths, and with your hands have fulfilled it, saying, “We will surely perform our vows that we have vowed, to burn incense to the queen of the sky, and to pour out drink offerings to her.” “ ‘Establish then your vows, and perform your vows.’
- Ezekiel 20:28 For when I had brought them into the land which I swore to give to them, then they saw every high hill, and every thick tree, and they offered there their sacrifices, and there they presented the provocation of their offering. There they also made their pleasant aroma, and there they poured out their drink offerings.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (15 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain The children, he says, gather wood He ascribes the…
The children, he says, gather wood He ascribes the collecting of wood to the young; for it was a more laborious work. As then that age excels in strength, they collected wood; and the fathers kindled the fire: the women, what did they do? They were busy with the meal. Thus no part was neglected. “What then is to be done? and what else can I do, but wholly to cut off a people so wicked?” Then he says, that they may make כונים, cunim, which is translated “cakes, “and this is the most common rendering. Some think that kindling is meant, deriving the word from כוה, cue, which means to kindle. But I prefer the opinion of those who derive the word from כון, cun, which is to prepare, as cakes are things prepared. I do not then doubt, but that cakes are meant here, as it appears also from other places. The second interpretation I regard as too refined.
With regard to the word למלכת, lamelcath, many consider the letter א left out, and think that “works” are intended. In this case מ would be a servile: but others consider it a radical, and render the word, “Queen;” which appears to me probable; though I do not wholly reject what some hold that the workmanship of the heavens is here meant. Some understand the stars, others the sun, and others the moon: let every one enjoy his own opinion. However, I think, that if the workmanship of the heavens be meant, the whole celestial host is to be included, as the Scripture thus calls all the stars. But if “the Queen of the heavens” be adopted, then I am inclined to think that the moon is intended: and we know how much superstition has ever prevailed among most people as to the worship of the moon. Hence I approve of this meaning. Yet I readily admit that all the stars, not one only, may be here designated, and called the work or the workmanship of the heavens. And the Jews, we know, were very much given to this madness: for as the sun was considered by the Orientals as the supreme God, when the Jews became enamoured with this error, they also thought that some high and adorable divinity belonged to the sun: they turned also afterwards to the stars; and this absurdity is often referred to in the Law and also in the Prophets.
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It is then added, That they may pour forth libations to foreign gods, to provoke me to wrath When God complains of being provoked, it is the same as though he had said, that the Jews now openly carried on war with him, — “They sin not through ignorance, nor is it unknown to them how much they offend me by these profanations; but it is as it were their object and design to provoke me and to carry on war with me by these acts of impiety.”
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 That is, they sacrifice to the Sun, Moon and…
That is, they sacrifice to the Sun, Moon and Stars, which they called the queen of heaven, Jer. 44:17; 2 Kings 23:5.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Jer 7:18 The children gather wood, and the fathers…
Jer 7:18 The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead [their] dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me to anger.
Ver 18. The children gather wood.] {a} All sorts, sizes, and sexes are as busy as bees:
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“ Sed turpis labor est ineptiarum. ”
Oh that we were so intent, with united forces, to the worship of the true God of heaven! Vae torpori nostro. Oh take heed of industrious folly! dispirit not yourselves in the pursuit of trifles, &c.
To make cakes.] Popana, {b} cakes stamped with stars.
To the queen of heaven,] i.e., To the heavenly bodies, and, as some will have it, to the moon in special. The Hebrews have a saying, that God is to be praised in the least gnat, to be magnified in the elephant, but to be admired in the sun, moon, and stars. And if the Jews in the text had stayed here, who could have blamed them? but to deify these creatures was gross idolatry, and an inexpiable sin. Epiphanius {c} telleth us of certain heretics called Collyridians, that they baked cakes and offered them to the Virgin Mary, whom they called the queen of heaven. And do not the Papists to this day the very same, saying that hyperdulia {d} is due unto her? not to speak of Bonaventure’s blasphemous Lady psalter; Bernard Baubusius, the Jesuit, hath set forth a book in praise of the Virgin Mary, by changing this one verse -
“ Tot tibi sunt dotes, Virgo, quot sidera caelo, ”
a thousand twenty and two ways, according to the number of the known stars. The Jesuits commonly write at the end of their books, Laus Deo et beatae Virgini, Praise be given to God and to the blessed Virgin; but this is the badge of the beast. Let us say, Soli Deo gloria; Glory only to God, and yet not in the sense of that Persian ambassador, who, whensoever his business lay with Christians, was wont to have Soli Deo gloria very much in his mouth; but by soli he meant the sun, whom he honoured for his god. Why the women here, and Jer 44:19, should be so busy in kneading cakes to the moon, these reasons are given: - (1.) Because the moon was a queen; (2.) Because the women at their labour were most beholden to the moon, who by her great moisture mollifies the pregnant, and makes the passage easy for their delivery. This custom of offering cakes to the moon, saith one, {e} our ancestors may seem not to have been ignorant of; to this day our women make cakes at such times, yea, the child is no sooner born but called cake bread. Add, that the Saxons did adore the moon, to whom they set a day apart, which to this day we call Monday. The same author {f} telleth us, that he who not long since conquered the Indies, persuaded the natives that he had complained of them to their moon, and that such a day the goddess should frown upon them; which was nothing else but an eclipse, which he had found out in the almanac.
{a} Distribuunt inter se munera.
{b} Scilicet et tenui popano corruptus Osiris. - Juven., Sat. vi.
{c} Haeres., 79.
{d} The superior dulia or veneration paid by Roman Catholics to the Virgin Mary.
{e} Greg. Posth., 202.
{f} Ibid., 132.
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 Here God shows how busily they are employed from…
Here God shows how busily they are employed from the youngest to the oldest, and how industrious for their idolatry, Jer 44:1-7; see Mat 24:38; every one in the family doth somewhat towards it.
The children gather wood, or sticks; for the word is plural, and so used Num 15:32,33; an employment, if we understand small sticks, proper for children; if greater wood, suitable to youth, who excel in strength, and may be understood by children and young ones.
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The fathers kindle the fire; they heat the oven, hearth, or stone on which they were baked.
The women knead their dough, to make cakes; prepare all the materials of which to make cakes; probably they were of some particular shape, or had some peculiar impression of some of their gods stamped upon them, like the popish wafers, some say stamped with stars, as being offered up to the host of heaven, or with some peculiar star, Amo 5:26; Act 7:43.
To the queen of heaven; or, frame or workmanship of heaven: this is diversely interpreted; some take it for the sun, which is signified by a word of the feminine gender, Isa 24:23, and of a feminine use, Nah 3:17; some for the moon; as the sun was looked upon as king, so the moon as the queen of heaven, because of the largeness of her body in which she appears, and of the light she gives, but especially by reason of the government she exerciseth over inferior bodies; others, more probably, for the whole host of heaven, Jer 8:2; 19:13, and so the LXX, according to which probably for their sakes they received divers stamps and impressions: they that would see more may consult the English Annotations and the Synopsis.
To pour out drink-offerings, viz. wine and other strong drinks, Exo 29:40,41; Num 28:7. The devil is God’s ape, and taught idolaters to use the same rites and ceremonies that were used in God’s worship; therefore here these idolaters, in pouring their drinkofferings, which might seem to be blood, or at least blood mixed with them, See Poole "Psa 16:4", imitated God’s drink-offerings, as they did his meat-offerings in their cakes, as in Le 2; by these they did furnish the table mentioned Isa 65:11, see there.
That they may provoke me to anger; noting rather the proper effects and consequences of their idolatries, than that they did propound to themselves such an end in doing it; but it seemed to be a kind of bidding open defiance to God, by which it appears they were all mad upon their idolatries; they were set upon it, as David’s heart was set upon the worship of God, Psa 16:8.
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 The children gather wood,.... In the fields, or out…
The children gather wood,.... In the fields, or out of the neighbouring forest; not little children, but young men, who were able to cut down trees, and bear and carry burdens of wood:
and the fathers kindle the fire; take the wood of their children, lay it in order, and put fire to it; which shows that they approved of what their children did, and that what they did was by their direction and order:
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and the women knead their dough; so that every age and sex were employed in idolatrous service, which is here intended; the corruption was universal; and therefore the whole body was ripe for ruin; nor would the Lord be entreated for them: and all this preparation was,
to make cakes for the queen of heaven; the moon, as Abarbinel; which rules by night, as the sun is the king that rules by day; and which was much worshipped by the Heathens, whom the Jews imitated. Some render it,
to the work, or workmanship, of heavens; (q) that is, to the whole host of heaven, sun, moon, and stars, which were worshipped in the cities of Judah, and in the places round about Jerusalem, Kg2 23:5. The Targum renders it,
"to the star of heaven;''
and Jarchi interprets it of some great star in the heaven, called the queen of heaven; and thinks that these cakes had the impress of a star upon them; see Amo 5:26 where mention is made of "Chiun, your image, the star of your god". The word "chiun" is akin to the word here translated cakes, and thought to be explained by a star; see also Act 7:43 but it seems rather to be the moon, which is expressly called by Apuleius (r) the queen of heaven; and often by others Coelestis; and Urania by the Africans, as Tertullian (s) and Herodian (t) affirm; as also Beltis, by Abydenus (u); and Baaltis, by Philo-Byblius, or Sanchoniatho (w); which have the signification of "queen"; and these cakes might have the form of the moon upon them, and be made and offered in imitation of the shewbread:
and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods; not different from the queen of heaven, and the hosts thereof; for to her and them drink offerings were poured out, Jer 44:18 but other gods besides the one, only, living, and true God:
that they may provoke me to anger; not that this was their intention, but so it was eventually.
(q) "operi coelorum", Piscator, Gataker, Cocceius "machinae coelorum", Munster, Tigurine version; so Kimchi and Ben Melech. (r) Metamorph. l. 11. principio. (s) Apologet. c. 24. (t) Hist. l. 5. 1. 15. (u) Apud Euseb. Praepar. Evangel. l. 9. c. 41. p. 456. (w) Apud ib. l. 2. c. 10. p. 38.
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 The children - Here God shews how busily they…
The children - Here God shews how busily they are employed from the youngest to the oldest for their idolatry. The queen - As the sun was looked upon as king, so the moon as the queen of heaven.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 18. The children gather wood] Here is a…
Verse 18. The children gather wood] Here is a description of a whole family gathered together, and acting unitedly in idolatrous worship.
1. The children go and collect wood, and bring it to the place of sacrifice.
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2. The fathers lay it in order, and kindle a fire.
3. The mother and her maids knead dough, make their batch, and out of it form cakes, and bake them for the honour of the queen of heaven; most probably the moon, though perhaps not exclusive of the sun and planets, generally called the host of heaven.
Family worship is a most amiable and becoming thing when performed according to truth. What a pity that so few families show such zeal for the worship of God as those apostate Israelites did for that of their idols!
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Children ... fathers ... women - All members of…
Children ... fathers ... women - All members of the family take part in this idolatry.
Cakes - Probably very similar to those offered at Athens to Artemis.
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To the queen of heaven - A Persian and Assyrian deity, who was supposed to symbolize a quality possessed by moonlight of giving to nature its receptive power, as the sun represented its quickening power. The moon thus became generally the symbol of female productiveness, and was worshipped as such at Babylon. Disgraceful usages to which every woman was obliged once to submit formed part of her worship.
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 Heaven. That is, the moon, which they worshipped under…
Heaven. That is, the moon, which they worshipped under that name. (Challoner) --- Some understand the sun also the stars, chap. xliv. 17., and Isaias lxv. 11. All the family contributes to promote this idolatry.
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 children . . . fathers . . . women--Not…
children . . . fathers . . . women--Not merely isolated individuals practised idolatry; young and old, men and women, and whole families, contributed their joint efforts to promote it. Oh, that there were the same zeal for the worship of God as there is for error (Jer 44:17, Jer 44:19; Jer 19:13)!
cakes . . . queen of heaven--Cakes were made of honey, fine flour, &c., in a round flat shape to resemble the disc of the moon, to which they were offered. Others read as Margin, "the frame of heaven," that is, the planets generally; so the Septuagint here; but elsewhere the Septuagint translates, "queen of heaven." The Phœnicians called the moon Ashtoreth or Astarte: the wife of Baal or Moloch, the king of heaven. The male and female pair of deities symbolized the generative powers of nature; hence arose the introduction of prostitution in the worship. The Babylonians worshipped Ashtoreth as Mylitta, that is, generative. Our Monday, or Moon-day, indicates the former prevalence of moon worship (see on Isa 65:11).
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that they may provoke me--implying design: in worshipping strange gods they seemed as if purposely to provoke Jehovah.
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 THEIR WORSHIP OF JEHOVAH HYPOCRITICAL, BEING JOINED WITH IDOLATRY,…
THEIR WORSHIP OF JEHOVAH HYPOCRITICAL, BEING JOINED WITH IDOLATRY, Jer_7:17-28.
18. Children… fathers… women — All classes unite. The family in its organic unity does the work of irreligion. The very fountains of human life are poisoned, so that even the children are busied in these hellish rites.
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Queen of heaven — An Assyrian goddess representing the productive principle of nature, whose rites were ofttimes most unclean and infamous. (See also Jer_44:7.)
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 18. Both sexes and all ages unite in the…
18. Both sexes and all ages unite in the public dishonouring of God’s name by shameless idolatries.
cakes] The Hebrew word is of Assyrio-Babylonian origin, and occurs elsewhere only in Jer_44:19, where see further. The cakes were either shaped, or stamped, to represent the “queen of heaven,” probably to be identified, not with the moon, but with the planet Venus, the Ishtar of Babylonian worship (Co.). The cult was thence derived, and appears to have been introduced in Manasseh’s reign. “The description points to its prevalence among the poorer classes, who have to collect firewood and do all the work themselves.” Pe. The Mass., by a different vocalisation of the word for “queen,” apparently to avoid this sense, gives work (meaning, however, host, in accordance with the Rabbinic interpretation of “work” in Gen_2:1 f.) of heaven; and so LXX here, whereas in Jer_44:17 etc. they render rightly “queen.”
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 (18) The queen of heaven.—The goddess thus described was…
(18) The queen of heaven.—The goddess thus described was a kind of Assyrian Artemis, identified with the moon, and connected with the symbolic worship of the reproductive powers of Nature. Its ritual probably resembled that of the Babylonian Aphrodite, Mylitta, the mother-goddess, in its impurities (Herod. i. 199; Bar_6:43), and thus provoked the burning indignation of the prophet here and in Jer_44:19; Jer_44:25. The word rendered “cakes,” and found only in connection with this worship, was clearly a technical term, and probably of foreign origin. Cakes of a like kind, made of flour and honey, round like the full moon, and known, therefore, as selence or “moons,” were offered, like the Minchah or meat-offerings in the Mosaic ritual, the Neideh in the Egyptian worship of the goddess Neith, at Athens to Artemis, and in Sicily to Hecate (Theocr., Idylls, ii. 33). The worship of Ashtoreth (Milton speaks of her as “Astarte, Queen of Heaven, with crescent horn “), though of kindred nature, was not identical with that of the Queen of Heaven, that name signifying a star, and being identified with the planet Venus. A various reading gives, as in the margin, “the frame of heaven.”
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 The children... the fathers... the women. All ages were…
The children... the fathers... the women. All ages were represented in this idolatrous act, thus justifying the sweeping character of the judgment as described in Jer_6:11. Cakes. (comp. Jer_44:19) The word is peculiar (kavvanim), and perhaps entered Palestine together with the foreign rite to which the cakes belonged. Various conjectures have been offered as to their nature, but without any demonstrable ground. Sacrificial cakes were not uncommon. Hosea refers to the luscious raisin-cakes used by idolaters. (Hos_3:1) To the queen of heaven. This title of a divinity only occurs in Jeremiah. (here and Jer_44:17-19, Jer_44:25) It reminds us, first, of titles (such as "queen of the gods") of the Babylonic-Assyrian goddesses, Bilat (Beltis) and Istar, who, though divided in later times, were "originally but two forms of the same goddess" (Sayce, Transactions of Society of Biblical Archaeology, 3:169). It is, however, perhaps an objection to the view that Bilat or Istar is intended, that neither here nor in Jeremiah 44. is there any allusion to that characteristic lascivious custom which was connected in Babylonia with the worship of Istar (Herod., 1:199). The phrase has, however, another association. It reminds us, in the second place, of the Egyptian goddess Neith, "the mother of the gods." The first mention of "the queen of heaven" in Jeremiah occurs in the reign of Jehoiakim, who was placed on the throne by Pharaoh-Necho, one of the Saite dynasty (Says was the seat of the worship of Neith). If the "queen of heaven" were a Babylonic-Assyrian goddess, we should have looked for the introduction of her cultus at an earlier period (e.g. under Ahaz). But it was in accordance with the principles of polytheism (and the mass of the Jews had an irresistible tendency to polytheism), to adopt the patron-deity of the suzerain. Subsequently Judah became the subject of Nebuchadnezzar; thus it was equally natural to give up the worship of an Egyptian deity. Jewish colonists in Migdol would as naturally revert to the cultus of the Egyptian "mother of the gods" (see Gratz, "Monatsschrift," Breslau, 1874, pp. 349-351). The form of the word rendered "queen" being very uncommon, another reading, pronounced in the same way, obtained currency. This should be rendered, not "frame," or "workmanship" (as Authorized Version, margin), but "service." The context, however, evidently requires a person.
Idolatrous worship both a warning and a model.
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The text vividly portrays the worship rendered to the heathen goddess, whose sumptuous and licentious worship had so fascinated those to whom the prophet wrote.
I IT IS A WARNING. For it shows the deadly contagion of sin. Now, when the head of the household goes after evil, he speedily draws in and down wife and children, until the whole family is corrupted, and they become a household of wickedness. The text reveals whole families engaged in the worship of idolatry, each member taking an active and eager part. They become so many societies for the propagation of ungodliness. In the sanctity or the sin of the parent the children are sure to share. In the first, by the grace of God; in the second, by the fatal force of a father"s example. A father can lift his children up to heaven or he can drag them down to hell, and some do. See the text.
II BUT IT IS A MODEL ALSO. In what we are here told, the heathen shame the Church. Idolatrous worship may well put to the blush much of the worship of God. For in the worship told of in the text, false and horrible as it was, nevertheless we see much that we might well copy.
1. It was a worship that made all work. What a busy hive of workers each household is seen to be! But where is the counterpart of this in the Church of Christ? A whole family eager and active for Christ the father, the mother, and all the children would be a unique fact. How lazy, how indolent, is the greater part of our religion!
2. The children were interested in it. We are heartbroken that the great masses of our countrymen stand aloof from the worship of God. Did we interest them in it when they were children? We had them all in our hands, as we have their children now. Are our modes of worship, our representations of God"s truth, our methods of instruction, such as shall make them love God"s worship when they grow up? What would we not give to see our children so eager in God"s worship as were the children told of in the text in idol-worship?
3. Both sides of the house were agreed on this great question. Husband and wife were of one mind, and each did what they could to further it. It was the general rule. Is it so now in regard to God and his service? Does the husband never hinder the wife? Does the wife always help the husband on the heavenward road?
4. There was fit work for each, and each did it. The children could gather sticks, the men kindle the fires, and the women, etc. When will there arise in the Church some who will point out some fresh and wise methods of enlisting all in her work? We have now two or three regular plans in operation; but if any be unfit or unwilling for them, as many are, there is nothing else for them. What we need is what these idolaters in their sad worship seem to have found a work for every one, and every one at his work. But meanwhile let each one who is standing in the vineyard idle, not because unwilling to work, but because no one has hired him, no one has pointed him to the work for which he is really fit and there are many such let him take his case to the Lord, and ask, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" and he may rest assured, no matter whether he be little child or grown-up man, an answer will come to him soon. C.
The family joined in idolatry.
I REMEMBER GOD"S IDEAL OF AN ISRAELITE FAMILY. This is not set before us in any particular passage, but we can gather it from different institutions and commandments. Religion not only concerned the individual in his relation to the priest, the altar, and the holy of holies, and in his general relations to his fellow-men; but there was a very special mention of institutions and regulations which made the individual remember his position in the family. These institutions and regulations were as vital bonds, making the family into a true organic unity. There were the dedication of the firstborn, and the institution concerning the meaning of the Passover feast. (Ex 13) There was the command to honor father and mother. So connected with the passage now under consideration, there was the setting apart of the dough. (Nu 15) A continual instruction and training in Divine things was to be provided for. A mother could have no greater honor than that her children should rise up and call her blessed. Thus gathering together many passages that might be cited, we see that God meant the family to be a great agent for the advancement of his people in all that was good; and the same family ideal comes out with equal prominence and beauty in the New Testament. The natural family may, so far as Christ is concerned, count for much, if only each individual in the family will live up to his opportunities. Still, Christ insists upon the natural family being subordinate to the spiritual family. It is one of the illustrations of the great disintegrating and reconstituting power of the gospel of Christ, that it breaks up the family which is held by nothing stronger than natural bonds. The ideal family of the children of God, those who are the spiritual and abiding Israel, must be gained at any cost. The notion of a family gives one of the aspects in which Christians may be perfectly associated together.
II LOOK AT THE DEGRADED POSITION IN WHICH THE ISRAELITE FAMILY ACTUALLY WAS. The parents are confirmed idolaters, and are dragging down their children to their own level. The children are sent out to gather fuel towards an idolatrous offering, when they should be learning of the nature, the will, and the promises of Jehovah. A desecrated temple has been spoken of, turned into a den of robbers; but what is that compared with a desecrated family? How insidiously, how gradually, how irresistibly, these children are drawn into idolatry! Gathering wood might be an interesting, amusing occupation, more like play than work. What idea could the children have of the awful insult to which this gathering would contribute? They would grow up, as by a second nature, to kindle fires and knead dough themselves. And it was so easy to treat the child in its way, to tell it to go out and gather wood; far easier than to bear patiently with its waywardness and inattention, and thus lead it on to some understanding of Israel"s glorious past. For such treatment meant that the parent should be a learner also, he and his children moving onward together into an enjoyment of the fullness of the Divine promises. And yet God had dons much for these parents to make the teaching of his truth as easy as it could be made. He had given things to be set before the children"s eyes at periodic intervals. But here, in this deep and pleasing infection of idolatry, is an influence which seems to work successfully against all that God can do. What could be hoped from rising up early and sending the prophets, when there was all this counter-working in the Israelite home?
III CONSIDER THE POSSIBILITY OF STILL ACHIEVING THE IDEAL. Much may be done towards making even the natural family a holier and more edifying institution than in most cases it is. The humiliating description here shows how much depends upon the parents. How much there is still, even among families nominally Christian, which is just as horrible in this way as this family idolatry among the Israelites of old? Children are sedulously schooled into the worship of Mammon. Selfish and heedless parents are eager to send them to work, when as yet they should know only the home, the school, and the playground. Too often is the maxim reversed that the parents should provide for the children. Christian parents, at all events, should hold themselves bound by the most solemn obligations to do all they can for the training of their children in godliness. There is an ideal of parental duty, and that ideal is seen in action when we look towards the great Father in heaven. Assuredly there would be more God-fearing children if there were more really God-fearing parents. But what cannot be gained by looking up to human guidance and example, can be gained by looking to God. He gathers his children out of many human households, and gives them his own Word to be an impulse and a guide. He puts into their hearts a love of the spiritual brotherhood, which is a deeper feeling than any that nature knows. And the end of it all will be that his children will be perfectly joined together in one mind, in the praise and service of him who alone is worthy to be Braised and served by all. 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 The children gather wood.
Jer_7:18
The children gather wood.
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What can children do for God?
I. God is setting up a kingdom in this world. A very glorious and gracious kingdom.
1. Righteousness. Teaches us to do justice.
2. Peace--to love and pursue it.
3. Joy. God makes all happy who come into His kingdom.
II. God expects us all to work to set up this kingdom. Christ came to set it up; ministers preach and labour for it; missionaries go to heathen; all Gods people aid.
III. Children can do something to set up this kingdom.
1. You can pray; that God would make you willing subjects of this kingdom.
2. You can talk; speak to others about Jesus, pardon, God, heaven.
3. You can work; give to missionary society, etc.
IV. Children are always happy when trying to set up this kingdom. Why? Because make others happy. Angels are happy, because employed making others happy. God is happy, for He blesses every one. And, when we act like God, we ourselves are happy.
V. God will never forget the labours of little children for Him. When children wanted to come to Jesus, He noticed their disposition, and said, Never prevent a child from coming to Me; then took in arms and blessed. When they sang in temple He noticed their song, and said, Hearest thou what these say? God loves,everything done by children, because it is a proof of their obedience and love. (J. Sherman)
Childrens service
Queen of Heaven, i.e., Ashtaroth, or the Moon. The Israelites fell into this idolatry in the time of the Judges. Solomon was carried away by it. Josiah suppressed it. We may learn a useful lesson from these young idolaters.
I. They wished to be useful in religion.
II. They did what they could.
III. What they did was of service. What can you do? For example, in--
1. Money.
2. Word.
3. Effort.
4. Prayer.
IV. God does not despise childrens work. This fact is one which should be seriously pondered by children, parents, teachers. (Lay Preacher.)
Christians contrasted with heathens
It is said that Matthew Wilks, one of the founders of the London Missionary Society, chose this text when he preached the anniversary sermon; and in those days when trite and commonplace remarks from the pulpit were considered orthodox, and anything that was a little fresh and novel was looked upon with suspicion, every eye in the large assembly expressed astonishment at the preachers selection. He had not proceeded far, however, when the feeling of astonishment gave way to pure delight, when all seemed convinced that the text, though uncommon, was by no means inappropriate. I have not seen the sermon; I only know that he dealt with it in the following manner. He said, I will contrast your objects with those of the worshippers of the queen of heaven. I will compare your ardour with theirs. I will muster your agents. And it was this part of the subject, in which he referred to the agents, namely, men, women, and children, which gave rise to the system of auxiliary institutions which now pervade the whole country, and combine in its support young and old, rich and poor. (Eccentric Preachers.)
To make cakes to the queen of heaven.
On making cakes
(A talk with Children):--The people who lived in Jerusalem at this time, alas! worshipped the sun, and called it Baal, also the moon, and called it Ashtoreth,--just as our ancestors did at one time in this country, calling the day upon which they worshipped the sun Sunday, and the day upon which they worshipped the moon Monday. In Jerusalem, at the time referred to in our text, the people used to offer cakes to the moon. These cakes were always made round to resemble the moon. This offering was considered to be a very important one, and all wanted to have a share in making the cakes and presenting them. Now the first thing that had to be done was to get plenty of firewood. You cannot make a cake without fire, and you cannot get fire without fuel. Thus I think I can hear a Jewish mother say, Now, my children, I want you to get some good firewood for tomorrow--wood that will burn brightly; I am going to make some cakes for the queen of heaven, and--who knows?--perhaps there may be a few tit-bits left! Off the children go. Thats just the work they like; they can stoop easily, or jump over the hedge or fence, and tear their clothes without having much scolding, as they are gathering wood for their mother. Little Hannah gathers her apron full, and Dan or Benjamin as much as he can carry in his arms, and they return home full of glee. They have done their part. But the following morning the fire had to be kindled. It required strong arms to kindle a fire by rubbing two pieces of wood vigorously together. The fathers could do that best; for they had muscular arms, and they gladly did their part. Then there was need of clean and gentle hands to knead the dough, and there were none who could do that as well as the mothers, aunts, and the elder sisters. It was their turn now, and the children would look earnestly on and wonder whether the dough would go far enough to make the necessary number of cakes for the queen of heaven, or the moon, and one or two over. They little knew that the mother or sister had put in an extra handful of meal for that purpose. Then there was the baking and the consumption of the odd cake or two by the little wood gatherers. But beyond all this, there was a great pleasure reserved for them all--the privilege of presenting to the moon the cakes in the making of which they had all had a part, and which were as round and as perfect as a womans hand could make them. Children have their part to do still. Often, as in this case, the work begins with children. They cannot do much; they cannot kindle a fire, or make a cake or a loaf; but they can gather wood, supply the fuel, and others will kindle the fire and provide an offering fit for the altar of God. You cannot as yet, at least, go forth to distant lands as missionaries and Zenana workers, and take the bread of life--not as a gift to God, but as a gift from God--to the heathen; but you can enable others who are older than you to do all this. You can contribute your pence to the missionary society, etc. (D. Davies.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.