(The previous post covered God's attempt to get the people to honor the Sabbath and the people's refusal. God then showed Jeremiah His thought process through the analogy of the potter.)
Jeremiah 19
1 Thus said Jehovah, Go, and buy a potter's earthen bottle, and take of the elders of the people, and of the elders of the priests;
2 and go forth unto the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is by the entry of the gate Harsith, and proclaim there the words that I shall tell thee;
(God told Jeremiah to buy a clay jar and to take with him elders of the people and the priests to the valley of the son of Hinnom. Hinnom was a valley with steep, rocky sides located southwest of Jerusalem. Here, God would tell Jeremiah the words to proclaim.)
3 and say, Hear ye the word of Jehovah, O kings of Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem: thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, which whosoever heareth, his ears shall tingle.
(God was going to bring evil upon Judah...)
4 Because they have forsaken me, and have estranged this place, and have burned incense in it unto other gods, that they knew not, they and their fathers and the kings of Judah; and have filled this place with the blood of innocents,
(...because they had forsaken God, treated Israel as a strange nation, and worshipped other gods. God brought evil (destruction) in the short term for good (creation) in the long term.)
5 and have built the high places of Baal, to burn their sons in the fire for burnt-offerings unto Baal; which I commanded not, nor spake it, neither came it into my mind:
(They had also built high places to Baal to burn their sons with fire for offerings to Baal. God did not command this and "neither came it into [His] mind." God was surprised by people. This verse proved that God did not know the future down to every minute detail. If God did, that would mean the future had already happened which would mean we did not have a choice. It would mean that this occurrence would have been in God's Mind.)
6 therefore, behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that this place shall no more be called Topheth, nor The valley of the son of Hinnom, but The valley of Slaughter.
7 And I will make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place; and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hand of them that seek their life: and their dead bodies will I give to be food for the birds of the heavens, and for the beasts of the earth.
8 And I will make this city an astonishment, and a hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished and hiss because of all the plagues thereof.
(The judgment on Judah and Jerusalem would be so severe that passersby would be astonished at the destruction.)
9 And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters; and they shall eat every one the flesh of his friend, in the siege and in the distress, wherewith their enemies, and they that seek their life, shall distress them.
10 Then shalt thou break the bottle in the sight of the men that go with thee,
(After Jeremiah proclaimed these words, he was told to break the clay jar that God told him to buy.)
11 and shalt say unto them, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Even so will I break this people and this city, as one breaketh a potter's vessel, that cannot be made whole again; and they shall bury in Topheth, till there be no place to bury.
(Just as the clay jar was broken, so would God break the Jews and Jerusalem.)
12 Thus will I do unto this place, saith Jehovah, and to the inhabitants thereof, even making this city as Topheth:
13 and the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses of the kings of Judah, which are defiled, shall be as the place of Topheth, even all the houses upon whose roofs they have burned incense unto all the host of heaven, and have poured out drink-offerings unto other gods.
14 Then came Jeremiah from Topheth, whither Jehovah had sent him to prophesy; and he stood in the court of Jehovah's house, and said to all the people:
(After Jeremiah returned to Jerusalem from Topheth, he stood in the court of the temple and spoke to the people…)
15 Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, Behold, I will bring upon this city and upon all its towns all the evil that I have pronounced against it; because they have made their neck stiff, that they may not hear my words.
(Jeremiah told the people that God was going to bring evil upon the city and all her towns because of their pride.)
Jeremiah 20
1 Now Pashhur, the son of Immer the priest, who was chief officer in the house of Jehovah, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things.
(Pashhur, the governor in the house of the Lord under Jehoiakim, heard the things Jeremiah prophesied.)
2 Then Pashhur smote Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that were in the upper gate of Benjamin, which was in the house of Jehovah.
(Pashhur struck Jeremiah and put him in the stocks (an instrument of punishment that caused compelling crooked posture or distorting) that were in the high gate of Benjamin near the temple.)
3 And it came to pass on the morrow, that Pashhur brought forth Jeremiah out of the stocks. Then said Jeremiah unto him, Jehovah hath not called thy name Pashhur, but Magor-missabib.
(The next day Pashhur brought Jeremiah out of the stocks and Jeremiah told him that God had not called his name Pashhur (freedom) but Magor-missabib (terror on every side). Here was an example of God changing someone's name to something worse.)
4 For thus saith Jehovah, Behold, I will make thee a terror to thyself, and to all thy friends; and they shall fall by the sword of their enemies, and thine eyes shall behold it; and I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall carry them captive to Babylon, and shall slay them with the sword.
(God called him this because God would bring terror (fear) to himself and his friends. Pashhur's friends would be carried away to Babylon and slain before his eyes.)
5 Moreover I will give all the riches of this city, and all the gains thereof, and all the precious things thereof, yea, all the treasures of the kings of Judah will I give into the hand of their enemies; and they shall make them a prey, and take them, and carry them to Babylon.
(All the treasures of Jerusalem would be carried to Babylon...)
6 And thou, Pashhur, and all that dwell in thy house shall go into captivity; and thou shalt come to Babylon, and there thou shalt die, and there shalt thou be buried, thou, and all thy friends, to whom thou hast prophesied falsely.
(…and Pashhur would go into captivity and die in Babylon.)
7 O Jehovah, thou hast persuaded me, and I was persuaded; thou art stronger than I, and hast prevailed: I am become a laughing-stock all the day, every one mocketh me.
8 For as often as I speak, I cry out; I cry, Violence and destruction! because the word of Jehovah is made a reproach unto me, and a derision, all the day.
9 And if I say, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name, then there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with forbearing, and I cannot contain.
(Jeremiah felt the pressures of his calling. These persecutions that he experienced were effects. No matter how hard it got, Jeremiah still focused on the causes regardless of the effects, which was the Biblical definition of a man. In verse 9, Jeremiah was weary from forbearing (holding in) the Word of God.)
10 For I have heard the defaming of many, terror on every side. Denounce, and we will denounce him, say all my familiar friends, they that watch for my fall; peradventure he will be persuaded, and we shall prevail against him, and we shall take our revenge on him.
11 But Jehovah is with me as a mighty one and a terrible: therefore my persecutors shall stumble, and they shall not prevail; they shall be utterly put to shame, because they have not dealt wisely, even with an everlasting dishonor which shall never be forgotten.
(Jeremiah had the faith that because God was with him, his persecutors would not prevail.)
12 But, O Jehovah of hosts, that triest the righteous, that seest the heart and the mind, let me see thy vengeance on them; for unto thee have I revealed my cause.
(Jeremiah wanted to see Justice being equaled out on his enemies.)
13 Sing unto Jehovah, praise ye Jehovah; for he hath delivered the soul of the needy from the hand of evil-doers.
14 Cursed be the day wherein I was born: let not the day wherein my mother bare me be blessed.
15 Cursed be the man who brought tidings to my father, saying, A man-child is born unto thee; making him very glad.
(Jeremiah felt the burden of his role.)
16 And let that man be as the cities which Jehovah overthrew, and repented not: and let him hear a cry in the morning, and shouting at noontime;
17 because he slew me not from the womb; and so my mother would have been my grave, and her womb always great.
18 Wherefore came I forth out of the womb to see labor and sorrow, that my days should be consumed with shame?
(Jeremiah questioned if the cause of his life was to see all this sorrow so that his days would be filled with shame.)
Jeremiah 21
1 The word which came unto Jeremiah from Jehovah, when king Zedekiah sent unto him Pashhur the son of Malchijah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, saying,
2 Inquire, I pray thee, of Jehovah for us; for Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon maketh war against us: peradventure Jehovah will deal with us according to all his wondrous works, that he may go up from us.
(King Zedekiah sent Pashhur and Zephaniah to Jeremiah to enquire of God for them regarding Nebuchadnezzar.)
3 Then said Jeremiah unto them, Thus shall ye say to Zedekiah:
4 Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands, wherewith ye fight against the king of Babylon, and against the Chaldeans that besiege you, without the walls; and I will gather them into the midst of this city.
(God's response was that He would turn back their weapons of war…)
5 And I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm, even in anger, and in wrath, and in great indignation.
(…and God Himself would fight against them. There was nothing Judah could do to stop the coming judgment.)
6 And I will smite the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast: they shall die of a great pestilence.
7 And afterward, saith Jehovah, I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah, and his servants, and the people, even such as are left in this city from the pestilence, from the sword, and from the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those that seek their life: and he shall smite them with the edge of the sword; he shall not spare them, neither have pity, nor have mercy.
(God would deliver all the remaining people left alive to the hand of Nebuchadnezzar.)
8 And unto this people thou shalt say, Thus saith Jehovah: Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death.
9 He that abideth in this city shall die by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence; but he that goeth out, and passeth over to the Chaldeans that besiege you, he shall live, and his life shall be unto him for a prey.
(God showed them the way to go if they wanted to live: they must submit to the Babylonians who came for them.)
10 For I have set my face upon this city for evil, and not for good, saith Jehovah: it shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire.
(Jerusalem would be destroyed. If the people stayed, they would be destroyed with the city.)
11 And touching the house of the king of Judah, hear ye the word of Jehovah:
12 O house of David, thus saith Jehovah, Execute justice in the morning, and deliver him that is robbed out of the hand of the oppressor, lest my wrath go forth like fire, and burn so that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.
(It seemed as if God was still merciful towards the house of David, if the king would pursue Justice.)
13 Behold, I am against thee, O inhabitant of the valley, and of the rock of the plain, saith Jehovah; you that say, Who shall come down against us? or who shall enter into our habitations?
14 And I will punish you according to the fruit of your doings, saith Jehovah; and I will kindle a fire in her forest, and it shall devour all that is round about her.
(These last four verses referenced Zedekiah, the twentieth king of Judah: 2 Kings 24.)
(This post covered king Zedekiah sending Pashhur and Zephaniah to Jeremiah to enquire of God for them regarding Nebuchadnezzar. Judgment was close...)
Day 230
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