CHAPTER 4

(612 B.C.)

GOD CALLED ISRAEL BY HIS PROMISE

¹If you will return, O Israel, says the LORD, return unto Me: and if you will put away your abominations out of My Sight, then shall you not remove.

²And you shall swear, The LORD lives, in Truth, in Judgment, and in Righteousness; and the nations shall bless themselves in Him, and in Him shall they glory. (The Lord Jesus Christ Himself is Salvation. The closing words of this Prophecy could well be paraphrased: If you shall put away your abominations out of My Sight, and will not wander from Me, and will worship Me, the Living God, sincerely, justly, and righteously, then shall the nations bless themselves in Him [the Messiah] and in Him shall they glory.)

³For thus says the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns. (The previous Prophecy has ended; a new one commences. Fallow ground is ground that is unbroken, in a natural state, covered with briars and weeds. It pictures the natural heart of man, which must be broken and contrite before it can receive the good seed of the Kingdom. The call here was to break up their idols. This was a necessary condition of Forgiveness and Deliverance.)

⁴Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of your heart, you men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest My Fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings. (Circumcision of the heart is spoken of three times in the Old Testament, here and in Deut. 10:16 and 30:6. It is frequently met with in the New Testament [Rom. 2:28-29; Phil. 3:3; Col. 2:11]. Such is meant by the Holy Spirit to move the people away from mere religious ceremony to a true heart experience.)

JUDAH THREATENED WITH JUDGMENT

⁵Declare you in Judah, and publish in Jerusalem; and say, Blow you the trumpet in the land: cry, gather together, and say, Assemble yourselves, and let us go into the defenced cities. (The Holy Spirit through Jeremiah looks ahead some 15 years to the coming calamity of Judahs and Jerusalems fall and proclaims what they will do! Along with a portrait, the Holy Spirit cries for Repentance on the part of the people, which would avoid this coming catastrophe! Sadly, it will not be heeded.)

⁶Set up the standard toward Zion: retire, stay not: for I will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction. (Set up the standard toward Zion, referred to a tall pole with a flag, pointing in the direction of Zion, for the guidance of fugitives. They would be running away from the coming Babylonians, hoping to find safety in Jerusalem.

The words, Retire, stay not, refer to the fact that they should not linger, but rather hurry!

The evil from the north refers to the coming invasion by Nebuchadnezzar.

The great destruction was carried out in totality. The streets of Jerusalem ran red with blood, with the Temple being totally destroyed!)

⁷The lion is come up from his thicket, and the destroyer of the Gentiles is on his way; he is gone forth from his place to make your land desolate; and your cities shall be laid waste, without an inhabitant. (The lion was Nebuchadnezzar. His invasion was so certain that the Prophet speaks of him here as already issued from his lair and on his way to destroy Jerusalem.)

⁸For this gird you with sackcloth, lament and howl: for the fierce Anger of the LORD is not turned back from us. (The first phrase of the Scripture refers to that which will take place during the time of the coming judgment; however, the time of Repentance is now, for then it will be too late! As far as personal Salvation is concerned, it is never too late for men to repent; nevertheless, Repentance can be delayed too long for judgment to be stopped, even though personal Salvation is given! Regrettably, with Judah, there was very little Repentance enjoined.)

⁹And it shall come to pass at that day, sa ys the LORD, that the heart of the king shall perish, and the heart of the princes; and the Priests shall be astonished, and the Prophets shall wonder. (The heart in Old Testament language is the center of intellectual as well as of moral life. At that day, refers to the time of the coming invasion by the Babylonians. And the Priests shall be astonished, and the Prophets shall wonder, refers to those who thought that surely, because of their sacred positions as Gods chosen People, Judgment would never come! These Priests and Prophets busily engaged in their constant religious pursuits, paid no heed to Jeremiah, but actually held him in scorn. The idea that they needed Repentance, at least in their thinking, was laughable!)

¹⁰Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! surely You have greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, You shall have peace; whereas the sword reaches unto the soul. (Although somewhat cluttered in the translation, the meaning of this statement concerns the preaching of the false prophets. In contrast to Jeremiahs Prophecies, they were saying to the people, You shall have peace. In this, they greatly deceived the people and Jerusalem.

The meaning is that God permitted these false prophets to greatly deceive the people. This was just Judgment pronounced by the Lord, because the people refused to listen to the truth, and they preferred falsehood. If they preferred such, and they did, God allowed them to have such.)

¹¹At that time shall it be said to this people and to Jerusalem, A dry wind of the high places in the wilderness toward the daughter of My People, not to fan, nor to cleanse (in Verses 11 through 13, the Chaldean army is compared to a hurricane from the wilderness; it would be sanctioned by the Lord as Gods instrument of Wrath),

¹²Even a full wind from those places shall come unto Me: now also will I give sentence against them. (Now also will I give sentence against them, actually says, as they [Judah] have sinned against Me, so will I also now hold a court of justice upon them.)

¹³Behold, he shall come up as clouds, and his chariots shall be as a whirlwind: his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe unto us! for we are spoiled. (This Verse signals the coming invasion by Nebuchadnezzar.)

JUDAH CALLED TO REPENTANCE

¹⁴O Jerusalem, wash your heart from wickedness, that you may be Saved. How long shall your vain thoughts lodge within you? (The vain thoughts concern the idea that their idols would save them, or that the Egyptians would deliver them from the Chaldeans. They were not looking to God, but rather to man. They would find it a poor choice!)

¹⁵For a voice declares from Dan, and publishes affliction from Mount Ephraim. (Verses 15 through 17 describe the messengers from the northern towns reporting the advance of the Chaldeans, and then their invasion of Jerusalem. The Prophet sees this as happening at present, even though it will be some 15 years in the future. The Holy Spirit does it in this fashion hopefully to get the people to repent. But sadly, there was no Repentance!)

¹⁶Make you 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. (Make ye mention to the nations, refers to the surrounding nations that border Judah. They would not escape this carnage either! Behold, publish against Jerusalem, refers to judgment that is determined against this city, even though it is the City of God. It is because of the wickedness of the heart, as listed in Verse 14.

The watchers refer to the Babylonian besiegers, who watched for people to come from besieged Jerusalem, as well as from other cities, in order to kill them.)

¹⁷As keepers of a field, are they against her round about; because she has been rebellious against Me, says the LORD. (As keepers of a field, refers to individuals who guard crops and vineyards. The Babylonian army would lay siege to Jerusalem in the same manner.)

¹⁸Your way and your doings have procured these things unto you; this is your wickedness, because it is bitter, because it reaches unto your heart. (The cause of all this is not God, but your wickedness. The Fourteenth Verse records the cure!)

JEREMIAH LAMENTS OVER JUDAH

¹⁹My bowels, my bowels! I am pained at my very heart; my heart makes a noise in me; I cannot hold my peace, because you have heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war. (My bowels, my bowels! proclaims the intensity with which Jeremiah felt the pain of what he was being told. Because you have heard, O my soul, means that Jeremiah actually saw in his spirit the coming destruction and heard the din of battle and the literal screams of the people. He felt it to the depths of his soul. Such is the true Prophet; such is the true Preacher!)

²⁰Destruction upon destruction is cried; for the whole land is spoiled: suddenly are my tents spoiled, and my curtains in a moment. (Destruction upon destruction is cried, refers to the Prophet seeing such devastation as defies description. Nothing is spared! The words, And my curtains in a moment, refer to the door or flap of the entrance to the tent, meaning that the Babylonian soldiers would even come into the very tents in order to kill the wounded.)

²¹How long shall I see the standard, and hear the sound of the trumpet? (The idea of this Passage is that the Babylonians will not stop until their purpose is carried out, which is the destruction, total destruction, of Judah and Jerusalem.)

²²For My People is foolish, they have not known Me; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge. (The last phrase, They are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge, is striking! They would manufacture many ways to sin, i.e., wise to do evil, but they had no knowledge of God, despite the fact that they were Gods chosen People. Their lack of knowledge was because of their abandonment of the Bible. The knowledge to do good is found in the Bible, and only in the Bible!)

²³I beheld the Earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light. (It is thought by some that Verses 23 through 26 pertain to the chaos of the original Earth after the rebellion of Lucifer. As such, it would apply to the first part of Gen. 1:2. No doubt, this is what the Holy Spirit had in mind, and He would use this as an example of what was going to happen to Judah and Jerusalem!)

²⁴I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly. (As stated, this took place at the rebellion of Lucifer, which involved at least one-third of the angels, who attempted to usurp authority over God [Isa. 14:12-15].)

²⁵I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled. (If, in fact, this does apply to Lucifers rebellion, then this Verse tells us that there were men on the Earth in the original creation, before Lucifers fall, and consequently before Adam and Eve. If that is correct, we then have here the origin of demons, which are the spirits of the race that lived on the Earth before Lucifers rebellion, and their throwing in their lot with him.)

²⁶I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the Presence of the LORD, and by His fierce Anger. (If these Verses 23 through 26 do speak to a pre-Adamic civilization, then not only were there men on the Earth at that time, but also cities, as would be logical. Therefore, if we rightly divide the Word of Truth, we should associate Jer. 4:23-26 with Gen. 1:2 and II Pet. 3:5-6, recognizing that the terminology fits nothing else.)

JUDGMENT COMING BECAUSE OF SIN

²⁷For thus has the LORD said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end. (Whereas the previous four Verses spoke of the pre-Adamic creation and its destruction, this Verse now brings the Bible student back to the problem at hand, the coming judgment upon Judah and Jerusalem.)

²⁸For this shall the Earth mourn, and the heavens above be black: because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and will not repent, neither will I turn back from it. (The statement, I have purposed it, and will not repent, neither will I turn back from it, states, in effect, that short of Repentance on the part of Judah and Jerusalem, nothing will deter this coming judgment!

The statement, For this shall the Earth mourn, and the heavens above be black, refers to the Spiritual Light that was given to the world by Israel, but which will now be stifled! The only nation in the world to point the heathen to God was Israel, and now that light is to be extinguished. Consequently, the Earth will mourn.)

²⁹The whole city shall flee for the noise of the horsemen and bowmen; they shall go into thickets, and climb up upon the rocks: every city shall be forsaken, and not a man dwell therein. (The whole city speaks of Jerusalem.)

³⁰And when you are spoiled, what will you do? Though you clothe yourself with crimson, though you deck yourself with ornaments of gold, though you rent your face with painting, in vain shall you make yourself fair; your lovers will despise you, they will seek your life. (Your lovers, refers to heathen powers courted by Judah and Jerusalem, which did not come to their help, and which now hold Jerusalem in contempt. Jerusalem courted the heathen, but she would not court the Lord. He would have given her life, while these lovers took your life.)

³¹For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail, and the anguish as of her who brings forth her first child, the voice of the daughter of Zion, who bewails herself, who spreads her hands, saying, Woe is me now! for my soul is wearied because of murderers. (Thus, Zions soul fainted before the murderers, i.e., the Babylonians. The woman in travail is Jerusalem, who weeps over her destruction and the slaughter of her inhabitants. The Holy Spirit likens it to birth pains, but, in reality, it will be death pains. Her cry is, Woe is me now! At any time, she could have said, Forgive me now, and the prayer would have been instantly answered, and this catastrophe avoided!)