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Expanded Comments | Additional Comments |
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| 1 And Jehovah said unto me, Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, my soul would not turn toward this people. Send them out of my sight, and let them go forth. |
Could not be – Could not be changed. Jeremiah was esteemed a pessimist, and we are now placed in much the same position. R2400:2
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| 2 And it shall come to pass, if they say unto thee, Whither shall we go forth? then thou shalt tell them, Thus saith Jehovah: Such as are for death, to death; and such as are for the sword, to the sword; and such as are for the famine, to the famine; and such as are for captivity, to captivity. |
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| 3 For I will visit them with four kinds of punishments, saith Jehovah: the sword to slay, and dogs to tear, and the fowl of the heavens, and the beasts of the earth, to devour and to destroy. |
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| 4 And I will give them over to be driven hither and thither amongst all the kingdoms of the earth, because of Manasseh the son of Hezekiah, king of Judah, for that which he did in Jerusalem. |
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| 5 For who shall have pity upon thee, Jerusalem? and who shall bemoan thee? and who shall turn aside to ask after thy welfare? |
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| 6 Thou hast cast me off, saith Jehovah, thou art gone backward; and I have stretched out my hand against thee, and will destroy thee: I am become weary of repenting. |
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| 7 And I will fan them with a fan in the gates of the land; I will bereave of children and destroy my people: they have not returned from their ways. |
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| 8 Their widows are increased to me more than the sand of the seas; I have brought upon them, against the mother of the young men, a spoiler at noonday; I have caused anguish and terror to fall upon her suddenly. |
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| 9 She that hath borne seven languisheth, she hath given up the ghost; her sun is gone down while it is yet day; she is put to shame and confounded. And the residue of them will I give up to the sword before their enemies, saith Jehovah. |
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| 10 Woe is me, my mother, that thou hast borne me a man of strife and a man of contention to the whole land! I have not lent on usury, nor have they lent to me on usury; yet every one of them doth curse me. |
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| 11 Jehovah said, Verily I will set thee free for thy good; verily I will cause the enemy to meet thee kindly in the time of evil and in the time of affliction. |
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| 12 Will iron break? iron from the north? and bronze? |
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| 13 Thy substance and thy treasures will I give to the spoil without price, and that for all thy sins, and in all thy borders; |
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| 14 and I will make them to pass with thine enemies into a land that thou knowest not: for a fire is kindled in mine anger; it shall burn upon you. |
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| 15 Jehovah, thou knowest: remember me, and visit me, and avenge me of my persecutors; in thy long-suffering take me not away: know that for thy sake I bear reproach. |
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revenge me of my persecutors – This is the same class as that in Rev. 6:11, i.e., the saints. What they are desireous of is for the Lord to do His part as He promised when He said 'vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord.' These are asking for the seven last plagues to be poured out. |
| 16 Thy words were found, and I did eat them, and thy words were unto me the joy and rejoicing of my heart; for I am called by thy name, O Jehovah, God of hosts. |
Thy words – Those truths which God designed should, during this Gospel age, be the food to sanctify the Body of Christ. R200:4
Were found – Implying first that the Word of the Lord would be lost and need to be searched for; and secondly, when found, it would avail nothing unless appropriated to our needs. R3609:2
Not only obeying the divine will, but seeking to know it more and more so that one can obey it. R5648:4
Not gained by human skill or labor. R1867:5
After he has found it, every child of God has considerable labor in proving and eating his spiritual food. R1867:6
I did eat them – Diligently appropriated them to the building up of my character. R2146:5, R200:4, R1867:5
We must eat the Word of God if we would derive his spirit. E225
There must be a daily laying up of its treasure of wisdom and counsel in the heart and the working out of its principles in the life. R2093:5, R1867:5, R2146:5, R5431:6
Living upon the divine promises. R3087:2
"Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." (Matt. 4:4) R3087:2
Rejoicing of mine heart – The language of the heart must be expressed in daily life. R1274:5
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See Expanded Bible Comments |
| 17 I sat not in the assembly of the mockers, nor exulted: I sat alone because of thy hand; for thou hast filled me with indignation. |
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I sat not in the assembly of the mockers – There is an implication here which is borne out by the language which follows it, namely, that the church in the flesh (pictured by Jeremiah) is shown as being with the assembly of the mockers, i.e., still in Babylon. Yet he is saying that, while physically whith them, he is separate from them as indicated by his remark that he 'sat not' with them. Remember, we 'walk in the light' and 'run for the prize' but they 'sit in darkness'.
There is another possible implication here. The fact that there are mockers could indicate that Present Truth is beginning to be spread, thus giving them something to 'mock' at. The attitude of the church is not to join in with this mocking.
nor rejoiced – The church certainly would not rejoice in this attitude of ridiculing the Truth.
I sat alone – The church in the flesh at this time does 'sit' because they are not sure where to go, but they sit alone, i.e., separate (in their hearts) from the 'mockers' of Babylon.
because of thy right hand – Because of the returned Lord (the 'right hand' of Jehovah). These now are separate in spirit but do not yet know how to respond or where to go. Their attitude is clearly indicated by the next phrase.
for thou – The Lord.
hast filled me with indignation – The church is filled with righteous indignation at the false teachings of Babylon and at this mocking attitude.
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This is the same group that is described in Ezekiel 9:4 as those who (eventually) receive the mark (seal) in the forehead. In Ezekiel they are described as those 'that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.' |
| 18 Why is my pain perpetual, and my wound incurable? It refuseth to be healed. Wilt thou be altogether unto me as a treacherous spring, as waters that fail? |
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This entire verse seems to be taken from the standpoint of the saints who are still, at that time, in Babylon.
Why is my pain perpetual – And thus it must have seemed to the saints still in the nominal system, not yet knowing that there is a way out. They recognized the hypocricy of the system yet did not yet realize that the Lord was calling them to 'come out of her my people.'
my wound incurable – This would is that of being faithful to the spirit of the Truth yet not yet knowing the purity of Present Truth.
which refused to be healed – Because there was 'no balm in Gilead', no cure for what ailed the Babylonian system. The saints desperately desired to be set free but did not yet know of where to go. Remember, these are those who were still under the instruction to 'let both grow together until the harvest.'
thou – God.
altogether as a liar – The saints at that time certainly did NOT think of God as a liar, yet they had to wonder why the corruption of both doctrine and practice in the (nominal) church was so prevalent. From this standpoint it must have appeared as though God was not living up to His promises.
as waters that fail – This is because the waters they were forced to drink were brakish, polluted with the traditions of men. |
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| 19 Therefore thus saith Jehovah: If thou return, then will I bring thee again, thou shalt stand before me; and if thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth. Let them return unto thee; but return not thou unto them. |
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| 20 And I will make thee unto this people a strong brazen wall; and they shall fight against thee, but they shall not prevail against thee: for I am with thee, to save thee and to deliver thee, saith Jehovah; |
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| 21 yea, I will deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem thee out of the hand of the terrible. |
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