Jeremiah 17:1-4
THE REASON FOR JUDAH'S REJECTION... [ Continue Reading ]
THE REASON FOR JUDAH'S REJECTION... [ Continue Reading ]
The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, as with a stylus which was used for writing on wax tablets in ancient times, AND WITH THE POINT OF A DIAMOND, which was used for etching words into metal surfaces; IT IS GRAVEN UPON THE TABLE OF THEIR HEART, deep and ineradicable, with a lasting impres... [ Continue Reading ]
whilst their children, the entire nation, REMEMBER THEIR ALTARS AND THEIR GROVES BY THE GREEN TREES UPON THE HIGH HILLS, that is, they were so deeply steeped in idolatry that the mere sight of a green tree and of a high hill awoke in them the remembrance of those terrible altars and of the Asherah i... [ Continue Reading ]
O my mountain in the field, Jerusalem, and especially Zion and the Temple, I WILL GIVE THY SUBSTANCE AND ALL THY TREASURES TO THE SPOIL, into the possession of the enemies, AND THY HIGH PLACES FOR SIN, on account of the wickedness of the people, because they had been used for idolatrous sacrifices,... [ Continue Reading ]
And thou, even thyself, shall discontinue from thine heritage that I gave thee, disowned, cast out of their land; AND I WILL CAUSE THEE TO SERVE THINE ENEMIES IN THE LAND WHICH THOU KNOWEST NOT; FOR YE HAVE KINDLED A FIRE IN MINE ANGER WHICH SHALL BURN FOREVER. Thus the Jews would lose their inherit... [ Continue Reading ]
Thus saith the Lord, in rebuking the tendency of Judah to rely upon various heathen allies, CURSED BE THE MAN THAT TRUSTETH IN MAN, as the Jews did in relying upon Egypt, AND MAKETH FLESH HIS ARM, in depending upon the strength of men, AND WHOSE HEART DEPARTETH FROM THE LORD, this fact explaining th... [ Continue Reading ]
The Depth of the Nation's Corruption... [ Continue Reading ]
For he shall be like the heath in the desert, literally, "like a naked one in the wilderness," one destitute of all means of subsistence, AND SHALL NOT SEE WHEN GOOD COMETH, shall never see good fortune, BUT SHALL INHABIT THE PARCHED PLACES IN THE WILDERNESS, where the lack of water prevents the mat... [ Continue Reading ]
Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, with the confidence of true faith, AND WHOSE HOPE THE LORD ISAIAH Cf Psalms 1:3.... [ Continue Reading ]
For he, utterly unlike the man whose description has just been given, SHALL BE AS A TREE PLANTED BY THE WATERS, where a plentiful supply of moisture insures a luxuriant growth, AND THAT SPREADETH OUT HER ROOTS BY THE RIVER, AND SHALL NOT SEE WHEN HEAT COMETH, being unaffected by its fiery breath, BU... [ Continue Reading ]
The heart is deceitful above all things, full of perfidy and treachery, AND DESPERATELY WICKED, profoundly corrupt; WHO CAN KNOW IT? Who can understand and plumb the depths of its wickedness? This alone is reason enough why no man should place confidence in the ideas of his heart.... [ Continue Reading ]
I, the Lord, search the heart, I try the reins, the seat of the innermost desires and feelings, EVEN TO GIVE EVERY MAN ACCORDING TO HIS WAYS, as his conduct deserves, AND ACCORDING TO THE FRUIT OF HIS DOINGS, in accordance with his deeds, as the expression of his heart's condition.... [ Continue Reading ]
As the partridge sitteth on eggs and hatcheth them not, or, "a partridge hatching eggs which it has not laid," SO HE THAT GETTETH RICHES, AND NOT BY RIGHT, accumulating unjust wealth, ill-gotten gain, SHALL LEAVE THEM IN THE MIDST OF HIS DAYS, AND AT HIS END SHALL BE A TOOL, the foolishness of his a... [ Continue Reading ]
A glorious high throne from the beginning is the place of our Sanctuary, or, in the form of an address directed to the seat of God's majesty, "Thou throne of glory, loftiness from the beginning, place of our Sanctuary!" Zion, where God revealed Himself to His people, where His glory was enthroned ab... [ Continue Reading ]
O Lord, the Hope of Israel! the God of the covenant being the only one in whom the Jews might expect redemption, ALL THAT FORSAKE THEE SHALL BE ASHAMED, AND THEY THAT DEPART FROM ME SHALL BE WRITTEN IN THE EARTH, their names being traced in loose soil or sand, where the writing would soon be obliter... [ Continue Reading ]
Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed, both making him whole in his distress and keeping him so; SAVE ME, AND I SHALL BE SAVED, delivered from the enemies who were seeking his soul; FOR THOU ART MY PRAISE, the object of his confident boasting. Cf Psalms 71:6; Deuteronomy 10:21.... [ Continue Reading ]
Behold, they say unto me, Where is the word of the Lord? How is it that His threats are not fulfilled? LET IT COME NOW! The enemies challenge the prophet to produce proofs of the truth which he declared he was proclaiming in the name of the Lord.... [ Continue Reading ]
As for me, I have not hastened from being a pastor to follow Thee, he had not left his duties as shepherd in his home town, in precipitous haste for the sake of being Jehovah's special minister, or, he had not withdrawn himself hastily from the Lord's service; NEITHER HAVE I DESIRED THE WOEFUL DAY,... [ Continue Reading ]
Be not a terror unto me, causing consternation to strike him; THOU ART MY HOPE IN THE DAY OF EVIL, his Refuge in the time of distress.... [ Continue Reading ]
Let them be confounded that persecute me, so that they will be heaped with disgrace before him, BUT LET NOT ME BE CONFOUNDED, with his simple trust in the Lord; LET THEM BE DISMAYED, BUT LET NOT ME BE DISMAYED. BRING UPON THEM THE DAY OF EVIL, the promised destruction, AND DESTROY THEM WITH DOUBLE D... [ Continue Reading ]
Thus saith the Lord unto me, with reference to the flagrant disregard of one of the chief commandments in the form in which it concerned the Jews, GO AND STAND IN THE GATE OF THE CHILDREN OF THE PEOPLE, probably the main portal of the Temple, WHEREBY THE KINGS OF JUDAH COME IN, AND BY THE WHICH THEY... [ Continue Reading ]
THE HALLOWING OF THE SABBATH... [ Continue Reading ]
and say unto them, Hear ye the word of the Lord, ye kings of Judah, its successive rulers, and all Judah, AND ALL THE INHABITANTS OF JERUSALEM THAT ENTER IN BY THESE GATES:... [ Continue Reading ]
Thus saith the Lord, Take heed to yourselves, literally, "preserve your souls," guard over your souls, namely, on account of the danger which otherwise threatened their lives, AND BEAR NO BURDEN ON THE SABBATH-DAY, NOR BRING IT IN BY THE GATES OF JERUSALEM,... [ Continue Reading ]
neither carry forth a burden out of your houses on the Sabbath-day, neither do ye any work, for all of this was forbidden the Jews under the old dispensation, Exodus 12:16; Exodus 20:10; Deuteronomy 5:14, BUT HALLOW YE THE SABBATH-DAY, AS I COMMANDED YOUR FATHERS, the commandment to keep the Sabbath... [ Continue Reading ]
But they obeyed not, neither inclined their ear, they did not pay the slightest attention to His precepts, BUT MADE THEIR NECK STIFF, in deliberate stubbornness, THAT THEY MIGHT NOT HEAR NOR RECEIVE INSTRUCTION, their whole history being a series of examples in proof of this statement.... [ Continue Reading ]
And it shall come to pass, if ye diligently hearken unto Me, saith the Lord, to bring in no burden through the gates of this city on the Sabbath-day, but hallow the Sabbath-day to do no work therein,... [ Continue Reading ]
then shall there enter into the gates of this city kings and princes sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, the kingdom being restored to its ancient power and splendor, THEY AND THEIR PRINCES, THE MEN OF JUDAH, AND THE INHABITANTS OF JERUSALEM, the entire country partic... [ Continue Reading ]
And they shall come from the cities of Judah, in the neighborhood of the capital, AND FROM THE PLACES ABOUT JERUSALEM, AND FROM THE LAND OF BENJAMIN, the northern district of the kingdom, and from the plain, the lowlands toward the Mediterranean Sea, AND FROM THE MOUNTAINS, the hill section of the k... [ Continue Reading ]
But if ye will not hearken unto Me to hallow the Sabbath-day and not to bear a burden, even entering in at the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath-day, that is, if their deliberate desecration of the Sabbath would continue, THEN WILL I KINDLE A FIRE IN THE GATES THEREOF, as the attack of the enemies w... [ Continue Reading ]