Jer 44:4

DO NOT DO THIS DETESTABLE THING THAT I HATE!: The particular sin, of which the prophet was speaking, was that of idolatry. These Jews would make gods in some form or other, and then they would bow down before them, and neglect the worship of the one invisible Yahweh. The Almighty calls their idolatry a detestable, or abominable, thing — and rightly so, for it is detestable ingratitude. That a man should not worship his Maker, that he should refuse obedience to his Creator, that he should say to Him who made the heavens and the earth, and who also made him, and sustains his being, ‘I will not worship you; I refuse to bow down before you. I choose to adore another god — Baal, Ashtaroth, Venus, Bacchus, anything but the one true God — and I will not worship you’… this is the most shameful ingratitude.

It is also an abominable thing, because it is so degrading and debasing. Everybody ought to be able to see that, for a man with intellect and mind to bow himself down before a carved image, is most degrading. That he should worship that which is made of wood, or stone, or metal, is practically to make himself inferior to the dead thing which he worships. There is practically no act in which a man seems to bring himself lower than when he prostrates himself before any material object, and says, ‘This is my god!’ This is indeed loathsome; it is insulting to God, and provoking Him to the last degree.

Jer 44:17

THE QUEEN OF HEAVEN: Semiramis, worshiped as the first “virgin mother” (2Bab 77). Prob related Venus, Ishtar, Asherah.

Jer 44:19

DID NOT OUR HUSBANDS KNOW…?: Their excuse: they had the approval of their husbands.

Jer 45:1

BARUCH: A cousin of Jeremiah (see Lesson, Jeremiah’s family tree). Did he seek the “great thing” (v 5) of High Priestly office, or of prophetic successor to Jeremiah?

Jer 45:5

SHOULD YOU THEN SEEK GREAT THINGS FOR YOURSELF? SEEK THEM NOT: Baruch was a faithful servant of God, but (like us?) he was not above a bit of petty grumbling. His complaint (and remember, every complaint is really a complaint against God!) went like this: “Woe is me now! For the LORD hath added grief to my sorrow; I fainted in my sighing, and I find no rest” (Jer 45:3).

Baruch was very much like most of us. He wanted to have his cake, and eat it too. He wanted to see God’s purpose fulfilled in the earth, but he wanted a good measure of personal comfort in the meanwhile. In short, he wanted God and “mammon”! God’s answer to Baruch was blunt: “Behold, that which I have built will I break down, and that which I have planted I will pluck up” (v 4).

Do you think, God said, that everything in this age should minister to your comfort? I have greater purposes to accomplish, and you are just one small piece of a large operation. Do you expect that I’m going to shake the foundations of your world, and topple all worldly institutions, while you escape unscathed? “And seekest thou great things for thyself? seek them not: for, behold, I will bring evil upon all flesh, saith the LORD: but thy life will I give unto thee for a prey in all places whither thou goest” (v 5).

So it will be for us, brothers and sisters. We live at the end of an age, on the brink of a volcano. A time of testing is coming, to prepare us for Christ’s return, and to teach us that we can place no trust in anything around us, but only in God. Do we seek “great things” for ourselves in this crumbling world? It is already too late. Let us pray God to spare only our lives.

Do we seek comfort now? It is a delusion. Do we somehow have the idea we can recline in our easy chairs and stare at our wide-screen color televisions, until the limousine comes to take us away to the kingdom? It is not to be, and the sooner we are rid of such fantasies the better!

“Do not let us sit down supinely… and wait for God to do what He will never do. He brings things to a certain point and leaves men to do the rest. God works in His own way, and it is for us to find it out. Get into the groove of this, and God will work with us and prosper our endeavours, if it seems good to Him so to do. And an enlightened man will not wait till he can do a great thing. If a man waits till he can do a great thing, he will never do anything. Do the little things faithfully and these may grow to great. Things that are considered great are made up of many littles, and the man who scorns the little will never reach the great” (WP 182,183).

Nothing on Jer 46.

Jer 48:1

Jer 48: “The prophet Jeremiah reviews the neighbouring nations to Judah, and pronounces divine judgment. Jer 48 is against Moab, because they did not wisely benefit from their long period of peace (v 11). They thought they did, by fortifying their cities, establishing their worship, building up their wealth. But these were the very grounds of complaint against the nation (v 7). So the prophet declares that [1] they will be invaded by Babylon: vv 1-5. [2] Therefore they were urged to flee: vv 6-10. [3] Consequently Moab would become desolate: vv 11-25. [4] The reasons for divine judgment are given: vv 26-30. [5] A lamentation for Moab is expressed: vv 31-39. [6] The Babylonian invasion is pronounced: vv 40-46. [7] There is a restoration for Moab: v 47.

Moab and Ammon were closely related to Israel, being born of the incestuous union between Lot and his two daughters (Gen 19:31-38). Moab signifies ‘from a father’, and Ammon ‘son of my people’. In his treatment of Moab, Jeremiah reproduces some of the language of Isaiah 140 years earlier (cp Isa 15;16), and applies them to the Babylonian invasion as Isaiah did to the Assyrian. Though closely related to Israel, even in language, the Moabites showed hostility to them on Israel’s original approach to the Land, and refused them hospitality, on account of which they were denied entrance into the congregation of Yahweh to the tenth generation (Deu 23:4). They hired Balaam against Israel, and used their women to entice Israel from their allegiance (Num 25:1). But a latter-day restoration of Moab is seen in the redemption of natural Israel (Jer 48:47), who have acted as did Moab formerly” (GEM).

Jer 48:28

DWELL AMONG THE ROCKS: “Coneys are creatures of little power, yet they make their home in the crags” (Pro 30:26).

Jer 40:1

Jer 40: “The promise of restoration after seventy years, and the opposition received from the false prophets in exile, led naturally to prophecies of the more glorious and complete return in the latter days (Jer 30; 31), of which that under Zerubbabel was a type. So the word of Jeremiah declared that: [1] A full restoration was promised: vv 1-3. [2] Yet it would be accomplished through trouble: vv 4-9. [3] Assurances of restoration and protection is declared: vv 10-17. [4] The restoration outlined: vv 18-22. [5] The preliminary tempest: vv 23,24.

“The day of Jacob’s tempest (v 7)… out of which, however, ‘Jacob shall be delivered.’ Israel’s hopes will be at the lowest ebb, and unless another Joseph appears as in Egypt, for the salvation of his father’s house, they must perish. But the Eternal Power has provided for them a Deliverer after the type of Joseph, who, at his second interview with the nation, his brethren after the flesh, will reveal himself to them in the day of affliction” (GEM).

Jer 40:5

GEDALIAH: Gedaliah became governor of Judah, appointed by Nebuchadnezzar after the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC (2Ki 25:22-26; Jer 40:6-41:18). Gedaliah was a member of a prominent and powerful family. His grandfather was Shaphan, probably the one who served as state secretary under King Josiah and reported the discovery of the book of the law to the king (2Ki 22:10). Shaphan’s son, Gedaliah’s father, Ahikam, became Jeremiah’s protector after the famous temple proclamation (Jer 26:24).

Gedaliah set up his government at Mizpah, which was about five miles north of Jerusalem. However, before too much time passed, Ishmael, a leader of a fanatic nationalist band and a member of the exiled royal family, murdered Gedaliah while he was a guest in the official residence in Mizpah (Jer 41:2).

The death of Gedaliah seemed to be the loss of the last hope for a peaceful and orderly administration in the defeated Judah, and soon the remnant that remained (including Jeremiah) were on their way to Egypt, to flee the unrest in the land, and the possible reprisals of the Babylonians.

Jer 40:7

Those whom the prophets and priests of Judah had oppressed were now the only ones left in the Land.

Jer 41:1

“The grossest act of base treachery is committed by Ishmael against the trusting Gedaliah. This tragic incident, which sealed the fate of those left in the Land, was commemorated by a fast (Zec 7:3), which was continued until the blessing of Yahweh was experienced in the return of the people to the Land (Zec 8:19), which fast and feasts foreshadow the conversion of the former to the latter at Messiah’s return. The record reveals the sad state of apostasy within the brotherhood: (1) Massacre at Mizpeh: vv 1-3; (2) Slaughter of the pilgrims: vv 4-7; (3) The escape of ten: vv 8-9. (4) Ishmael’s flight: v 10; (5) Jonathan avenges the massacre: vv 11-14; (6) Ishmael’s escape: v 15; (7) Retreat to Bethlehem: vv 16-18” (GEM).

Jer 41:17

GERUTH KIMHAM: Geruth Kimham is literally “the residence of Chimham”. What is the point of this? JJ Blunt, in his book, “Undesigned Scriptural Coincidences”, suggests the following, which connects this incident with one in the days of David and the rebellion of Absalom: “David having won the battle, and recovered his throne, prepares to repass the Jordan, and return once more to his capital. His friends again congregate around him, for the prosperous have many friends. Amongst them, however, were some who had been true to him in the day of his adversity; and the aged Barzillai, a Gileadite, who had provided the king with sustenance whilst he lay at Mahanaim, and when his affairs were critical, presents himself before him. He had won David’s heart. The king now entreats him to accompany him to his court, ‘Come thou over with me, and I will feed thee with me in Jerusalem’ [2Sa 19:23]. But the unambitious Barzillai pleads fourscore years as a bar against beginning the life of a courtier, and chooses rather to die in his own city, and be buried by the grave of his father and of his mother. His son, however, had life before him: ‘Behold thy servant Chimham; let him go over with my lord the king; and do to him what shall seem good unto thee. And the king answered, Chimham shall go over with me, and I will do to him that which shall seem good unto thee’ (2Sa 19:37). So he went with the king. Thus begins, and thus ends, the history of Chimham; he passes away from the scene, and what David did for him, or whether he did anything for him, beyond providing him a place at his table, and recommending him, in common with many others, to Solomon before he died, does not appear. Singular, however, it is, and if ever there was a coincidence which carried with it the stamp of truth, it is this, that in Jer 41, an historical chapter, in which an account is given of the murder of Gedaliah, the officer whom Nebuchadnezzar had left in charge of Judea, as its governor, when he carried away the more wealthy of its inhabitants captive to Babylon, we read that the Jews, fearing for the consequences of this bloody act, and apprehending the vengeance of the Chaldeans, prepared for a flight into Egypt, so ‘they departed,’ the narrative continues, ‘and dwelt in the habitation of Chimham, which is by Bethlehem, to go to enter into Egypt’ (Jer 41:17). It is impossible to imagine anything more incidental than the mention of this estate near Bethlehem, which was the habitation of Chimham — yet how well does it tally with the spirit of David’s speech to Barzillai, some four hundred years before! for what can be more probable, than that David, whose birthplace was this very Bethlehem, and whose patrimony in consequence lay there, having undertaken to provide for Chimham, should have bestowed it in whole, or in part, as the most flattering reward he could confer, a personal, as well as a royal, mark of favour, on the son of the man who had saved his life, and the lives of his followers in the hour of their distress; and that, to that very day, when Jeremiah wrote, it should have remained in the possession of the family of Chimham, and have been a land called after his own name?” (USC).

Jer 42:1

Jer 42: The remnant of Judah posed the question to Jeremiah: “Should we go down into Egypt?” Despite an apparent profession of faith, we may detect in the people’s inquiry of God through Jeremiah the signs of neglect of God and His laws. First of all, we see that they “approached” (v 1) Jeremiah — which suggests a habitual distance from Yahweh. Secondly, they appear to be “buttering up” the prophet, as though this might gain them a better message from Yahweh. Thirdly, they make no confession of sin. (Notice also the revealing phrase: “the Lord YOUR God”: v 2.)

Their subsequent behavior showed also that they were hypocritical in their whole attitude: whatever God might tell them, they had already decided to go to Egypt. They had made up their mind as to what was best for them to do, as their previous flight to this point had already proved. With one foot in Canaan, as it were, and another out of it, they now pretended — at this late date — to inquire of God. This is a very common practice, but it is one which not only robs prayer of its meaning and power, but also brings upon the head of those who are guilty of it a grievous curse. And so it happened again.

Jer 42:6

WHETHER IT IS FAVORABLE OR UNFAVORABLE…: But nothing God does toward us is ultimately evil; all things work together for good (Rom 8:28).

Jer 42:11

They were more afraid of the Babylonians than they were of God.

Jer 43:1

Jer 43: “Jeremiah’s forthright denunciation of the hypocrisy of the ecclesial leaders, and his scathing revelation of the real motives excited the angry rebuke of the people, who retaliate by accusing the prophet of speaking falsely. These accusations were led by a man called Azariah (sig ‘whom Yahweh helps’, but who denied the significance of his name). Perhaps Azariah was presuming on the meaning of his name, forgetting that Yahweh hears and aids those who do His will, but not those who reject His principles. So (1) The captains angrily reject Yahweh’s word: vv. 1-4. (2) Return to Egypt: vv 5-7. Jeremiah is forced to go, so that if he could not protect them by his presence, he should at least share their fate. (3) Jeremiah predicts Nebuchadnezzar’s invasion of Egypt: vv 8-13. Nebuchadnezzar is called ‘the servant’ of Yahweh (v 10) to accomplish the divine will in punishing the wayward nation. He is sent to wage war on the gods of Egypt (vv 12,13). Sadly, the foolish Jews turn from their Strength to these vain idols of the Gentiles (Jer 44). Egypt was to feel the full force of the Babylonian onslaught, as the land of Egypt was affected by the angelic action in the days of Moses. How quickly the influence of worldliness affects those separated from the Egyptian darkness! Israel have constantly sought to return to Egypt, as Lot’s wife hankered after Sodom. The lesson is obvious, as the world’s attractions continue to challenge the spirit of faith” (GEM).

Jer 43:7

Vv 7-11: At last the emigrants arrived at Tahpanhes, ten miles west of where the Suez Canal now stands. There, in response to the word of the Lord, Jeremiah the prophet called the attention of his fellow-Jews to a specific prophecy regarding Nebuchadnezzar, whose wrath they had sought to flee.

Not only would the king of Babylon come into Egypt, but he would even set up his pavilion and throne of administration at the very place where they now were. Egypt would surely feel the weight of his military might. There would be plundering and destruction — and surely these fearful and faithless Jews would not escape him, even in this distant land! In as powerful way as he possibly could, Jeremiah warned them, ‘You may run from the judgments of Yahweh, but you can’t hide!’

Jer 37:1

Jer 37: “The gathering crisis faces Judah as the Babylonian invasion threatens to come closer. [1] The irresolute rule of Zedekiah: vv 1,2. [2] A deputation visits Jeremiah: vv 3,4. On the earlier attack of Nebuchadnezzar, Zedekiah had sought advice of Jeremiah; now with danger more imminent, he pleads for the prayers of the prophet, as Hezekiah did of Isaiah (Isa 37:2). This was probably followed by the covenant referred to in Jer 34, which was promptly forgotten as soon as the danger had passed. [3] Egypt advances, and the Chaldeans retreat: v 5. The news that Egypt was advancing caused Nebuchadnezzar to raise the siege and move quickly south against Egypt. [4] Zedekiah is warned that the city would fall: vv 6-10. [5] Jeremiah flees the city: vv 11-15. He acts as Christ exhorted his followers to do (Mat. 24:14,15). [6] The king seeks an audience with the prophet: vv 16,17. [7] Jeremiah seeks the king’s aid: vv 18-21. The order was later reversed at the instigation of the prophet: Jer 38:9” (GEM).

ZEDEKIAH SON OF JOSIAH WAS MADE KING OF JUDAH BY NEBUCHADNEZZAR: “Zedekiah was a small man on a great stage, a weakling set to face circumstances that would have taxed the strongest. He was a youth at his accession to the throne of a distracted kingdom, and if he had had any political insight he would have seen that his only chance was to adhere firmly to Babylon, and to repress the foolish aristocracy who hankered after alliance with the rival power of Egypt. He was mad enough to form an alliance with the latter, which was constructive rebellion against the former, and was strongly reprobated by Jeremiah. Swift vengeance followed; the country was ravaged; Zedekiah in his fright implored Jeremiah’s prayers and made faint efforts to follow his counsels. The pressure of invasion was lifted, and immediately he forgot his terrors and forsook the prophet. The Babylonian army was back next year, and the final investment [encirclement, siege] of Jerusalem began. The siege lasted sixteen months, and during it, Zedekiah miserably vacillated between listening to the prophet’s counsels of surrender and the truculent nobles’ advice to resist to the last gasp.

“The miseries of the siege live for ever in the Book of Lamentations. Mothers boiled their children, nobles hunted on dunghills for food. Their delicate complexions were burned black, and famine turned them into living skeletons. Then, on a long summer day in July came the end. The king tried to skulk out by a covered way between the walls, his few attendants deserted him in his flight, he was caught at last down by the fords of the Jordan [Jer 39:4,5; 52:8], carried prisoner to Nebuchadnezzar at Riblah away up in the north beyond Baalbec, and there saw his sons slain before his eyes, and, as soon as he had seen that last sight, was blinded, fettered, and carried off to Babylon, where he died [2Ki 25:7; Jer 34:3; 52:9,10]…

“A weak character is sure to become a wicked one. Moral weakness and inability to resist strong pressure was the keynote of Zedekiah’s character. There were good things in him; he had kindly impulses, as was shown in his emancipation of the slaves at a crisis of Jerusalem’s fate. Left to himself, he would at least have treated Jeremiah kindly, and did rescue him from lingering death in the foul dungeon to which the ruffian nobility had consigned him, and he provided for his being at least saved from dying of starvation during the siege.

“He listened to him secretly, and would have accepted his counsel if he had dared. But he yielded to the stronger wills of the nobles, though he sometimes bitterly resented their domination, and complained that ‘the king is not he that can do anything against you.’

“Like most weak men, he found that temptations to do wrong abounded more than visible inducements to do right, and he was afraid to do right, and fancied that he was compelled by the force of circumstances to do wrong. So he drifted and drifted, and at last was smashed to fragments on the rocks, as all men are who do not keep a strong hand on the helm and a steady eye on the compass. The winds are good servants but bad masters. If we do not coerce circumstances to carry us on the course which conscience has pricked out on the chart, they will wreck us” (MacL).

Jer 37:5

THEY WITHDREW FROM JERUSALEM: Thus inspiring high (but false) hopes.

Jer 37:12

“So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation, spoken of through the prophet Daniel– let the reader understand — then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains” (Mat 24:15,16).

Jer 37:13

HANANIAH: The false prophet whose death Jeremiah prophesied (Jer 28:1). This explains his motive.

Jer 37:15

WHICH THEY HAD MADE INTO A PRISON: There had previously been no need for a prison!

Jer 37:17

YOU WILL BE HANDED OVER TO THE KING OF BABYLON: Egypt could not deliver Jerusalem (Eze 17).

Jer 38:1

Jer 38: “The throne of David under the wicked rule of Zedekiah is about to be given into the hand of the Babylonians. The message of salvation is delivered to the nation: ‘Safety lies in flight.’ Though in the court of the prison of the king’s house, evidently Jeremiah was able to continue his message of warning (vv 1-3). He is accused of sedition and flung into the pit of water (vv 4-6). The pit is a symbol of the grave, and thus there is in type the accusations against the Lord Jesus, his trial, and crucifixion. Jeremiah is rescued from the pit by a friend, Ebedmelech, a despised Ethiopian, who demonstrates a more spiritual attitude than revealed by the Jews at that time. But if Jeremiah sank into the pit literally, Zedekiah the king sank into the pit figuratively. He had a final interview with Jeremiah (vv 14-16), was given sound advice to capitulate (vv 17,18), and confesses to weakness (v 19). The final address of the faithful Jeremiah urges the people to obedience (vv 20-23). But his voice is to no avail, as he remained until the day that Jerusalem was taken (vv 24-28). In this the iniquity of his people was laid upon him, and be bore the sins of the many” (GEM).

Jer 38:5

Cp Pilate’s washing of his hands: Mat 27:24.

Jer 38:6

JEREMIAH SANK DOWN INTO THE MUD: “While the performance of our part is necessary, the accomplishment of final results is all of God, who can prosper or frustrate the devices of men or leave them altogether to their own ineffectual ways. Nevertheless, the experience of both Moses and Joshua shows that if God gives men opportunities, He expects them to discern and enterprisingly use them. There is a time to stand still and see the salvation of God, but it is not when He proposes to work by us. All the promises of God presuppose active, diligent, courageous, and caretaking cooperation on the part of those to whom they are made. Where we are in circumstances which makes this exercise on our part impossible (as when Jeremiah was in the pit in the court of the prison, sunk to the armpits in mire) — prayer and waiting is the not unavailing alternative” (WP 333).

Jeremiah sank into mire physically, but was delivered, while Zedekiah was sunk in mire spiritually (cp v 22), with no escape!

Jer 38:8

Ebed-melech spoke to the king, although he was afraid (Jer 39:17).

Jer 38:14

THE THIRD ENTRANCE TO THE TEMPLE: Some inner, secluded part of temple.

Jer 38:19

I AM AFRAID OF THE JEWS: Of whom are we afraid?

Jer 38:28

KJV reads: “So Jeremiah abode in the court of the prison until the day that Jerusalem was taken: and he was there when Jerusalem was taken.” But was he? The last part might be read, as NIV: “This is how Jerusalem was taken”, ie an intro to Jer 39. Or even, poss, “In the day when Jerusalem was captured… this is how…”