Jeremiah 43:8-13
8 Then came the word of the LORD unto Jeremiah in Tahpanhes, saying,
9 Take great stones in thine hand, and hide them in the clay in the brickkiln, which is at the entry of Pharaoh's house in Tahpanhes, in the sight of the men of Judah;
10 And say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will send and take Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will set his throne upon these stones that I have hid; and he shall spread his royal pavilion over them.
11 And when he cometh, he shall smite the land of Egypt, and deliver such as are for death to death; and such as are for captivity to captivity; and such as are for the sword to the sword.
12 And I will kindle a fire in the houses of the gods of Egypt; and he shall burn them, and carry them away captives: and he shall array himself with the land of Egypt, as a shepherd putteth on his garment; and he shall go forth from thence in peace.
13 He shall break also the imagesa of Bethshemesh, that is in the land of Egypt; and the houses of the gods of the Egyptians shall he burn with fire.
Take great stones in thine hand, and hide them in the clay in the brick kiln.
Jeremiah hides the stones in the brick kiln
I. They preached of the historic past.
1. From the soil in which they were found. They were stones of Egypt.
2. The place where they were buried--the brick kiln--must have carried their thoughts back to the hard labour of their ancestors under the lash of the taskmasters (Exodus 9:8).
3. The burial of the stones beneath the ground might have suggested the past condition of Israel in this same land; they were buried under the oppressive tyranny of the heathen monarch and his people, and had been raised, as it were, from a grave of degradation and lifted into a new life as a free people by the mighty hand of God.
II. They prophesied of the future.
1. The only refuge from the displeasure of God is to be found in God Himself.
2. Unbelief in the Divine Word will not prevent the fulfilment of it.
3. The true minister of God will not be deterred by opposition from declaring the judgments, as well as the mercies, of God. (A London Minister.).