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| 1 The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, the king of Judah (that is, the first year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon), |
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| 2 which Jeremiah the prophet spoke unto all the people of Judah and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying: |
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| 3 From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, the king of Judah, even unto this day, these three and twenty years, the word of Jehovah hath come unto me, and I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking; but ye have not hearkened. |
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| 4 And Jehovah hath sent unto you all his servants the prophets, rising early and sending; but ye have not hearkened, nor inclined your ear to hear, |
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| 5 when they said, Turn again now every one from his evil way, and from the wickedness of your doings, and dwell in the land that Jehovah hath given unto you and to your fathers from of old even for ever. |
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| 6 And go not after other gods, to serve them and to worship them; and provoke me not to anger with the work of your hands; and I will do you no hurt. |
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| 7 But ye have not hearkened unto me, saith Jehovah; that ye might provoke me to anger with the work of your hands, to your own hurt. |
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| 8 Therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Because ye have not listened to my words, |
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| 9 behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith Jehovah, and I will send to Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about; and I will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and a hissing, and perpetual wastes. |
Nebuchadnezzar – Unlike Cyrus, Nebuchadnezzar thought to unify the people by compelling worship of one God. R2509:5
Bring them against – Verses 8 to 38 are a vivid description of the great time of trouble. R5735:4
Utterly destroy – Pointing to total desolation, not captivity. Such was not the case prior to Zedekiah's dethronement. R3437:3
Perpetual – Here the 70 years of desolation are olam, lasting. R3725:5*
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| 10 And I will cause to perish from them the voice of mirth and the voice of joy, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones and the light of the lamp. |
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| 11 And this whole land shall become a waste, an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. |
A desolation – The 70 years desolation of the land. R1372:5, R1976:1
Punishment upon the Israelites; substitute for the whole number of Jubilee years. PD48/59
The seven times of Israel's chastisement began in 606 BC with the foretold desolation and continued until about Sept. 21, 1914. Q356:2
Seventy years – Scripturally declared as a punishment upon the Israelites for not properly keeping their Jubilee years. PD48/59
Nineteen for the Jubilees imperfectly observed (950 years) and 51 additional at 49 years each (2499 years), from the last Jubilee to earth's Great Jubilee, the Times of Restitution, 1874
AD. "Then shall the land enjoy her sabbaths, as long as it lieth desolate." (Lev. 26:34) B191-196; PD48/59
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| 12 And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will visit on the king of Babylon and on that nation, saith Jehovah, their iniquity, and on the land of the Chaldeans, and I will make it perpetual desolations. |
Seventy years – From the destruction of Jerusalem to the time of the return of its inhabitants. (Compare Jer. 29:10 with 2 Chron. 36:22, 23) R4893:1
Punish the king – Through King Cyrus as the divine agent. R2509:4
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| 13 And I will bring upon that land all my words which I have pronounced against it, all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah hath prophesied against all the nations. |
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| 14 For many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of them also; and I will recompense them according to their deeds, and according to the work of their hands. |
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| 15 For thus hath Jehovah the God of Israel said unto me: Take the cup of the wine of this fury at my hand, and cause all the nations to whom I send thee to drink it. |
Cup of this fury – The time of trouble, which is daily increasing in volume and intensity. R1561:6, R5769:4
All the nations – More and more, all the nations are being dragged into it. R5790:3
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| 16 And they shall drink, and reel to and fro, and be mad, because of the sword that I will send among them. |
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| 17 And I took the cup at Jehovah's hand, and made all the nations to drink, to whom Jehovah had sent me: |
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| 18 Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, and the kings thereof, and the princes thereof, to make them a waste, an astonishment, a hissing, and a curse, as it is this day; |
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| 19 Pharaoh king of Egypt, and his servants, and his princes, and all his people; |
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| 20 and all the mingled people, and all the kings of the land of Uz, and all the kings of the land of the Philistines, and Ashkelon, and Gazah, and Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod; |
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| 21 Edom, and Moab, and the children of Ammon; |
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| 22 and all the kings of Tyre, and all the kings of Zidon, and the kings of the isles that are beyond the sea; |
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| 23 Dedan, and Tema, and Buz, and all that have the corners of their beard cut off; |
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| 24 and all the kings of Arabia, and all the kings of the mingled people that dwell in the desert; |
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| 25 and all the kings of Zimri, and all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of the Medes; |
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| 26 and all the kings of the north, far and near, one with another; and all the kingdoms of the world, which are upon the face of the earth; and the king of Sheshach shall drink after them. |
All the kingdoms – No trouble that has ever yet come upon the world answers to the many prophetic descriptions of this one and none has ever yet involved all nations. R1371:5
King of Sheshach – Babylon, Christendom. R2663:3, R1371:6
Drink after them – Be the last to fall in the great time of trouble. R2663:1, R1371:3, R1561:6; HG94:1
Suffering more severely than the heathen nations because she has sinned against greater light. R2663:3
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| 27 And thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Drink, and be drunken, and vomit, and fall, and rise no more, because of the sword that I will send among you. |
And fall – In the time of trouble. R1561:6
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| 28 And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup from thy hand to drink, then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Ye shall certainly drink. |
Certainly drink – Of the cup of wrath, which will mean their utter destruction. R2338:5, R2663:2
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| 29 For behold, I begin to bring evil on the city that is called by my name, and should ye be altogether unpunished? Ye shall not be unpunished; for I call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth, saith Jehovah of hosts. |
Evil on the city – Christendom, Babylon. D527
The evil the Lord creates is the calamities he visits on the ungodly nations. R1299:6*, R2663:2
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| 30 And thou, prophesy unto them all these words, and say unto them, Jehovah will roar from on high, and utter his voice from his holy habitation; he will mightily roar upon his dwelling-place, he will give a shout, as they that tread the vintage, against all the inhabitants of the earth. |
Roar from on high – Call aloud from on high. D527
His holy habitation – Over his nominal habitation, Christendom. D527
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| 31 The noise shall come to the end of the earth: for Jehovah hath a controversy with the nations, he entereth into judgment with all flesh; as for the wicked, he will give them up to the sword, saith Jehovah. |
Controversy – The great time of trouble spoken of by Daniel and our Lord. R1371:3, R438:1; D20
He will plead with – He holdeth judgment over. D527
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| 32 Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great storm shall be raised up from the uttermost parts of the earth. |
Nation to nation – Nations, because of close communication, are dependent upon one another. What affects one affects all. R4750:3
A great whirlwind – Intense and complicated trouble and commotion. D13, D527; R1519:4, R534:6
The great time of anarchy. R5845:6
The result of letting loose "the four winds of heaven." (Rev. 7:1-4) R5058:6, R5470:1
Coasts – The outward parts; society being encroached upon by the lawless element (sea). R4750:3, R2663:1
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| 33 And the slain of Jehovah shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth: they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung upon the face of the ground. |
The slain of the LORD – As the "old world" ended with the almost entire destruction of individual life, so national life is to be destroyed in the end of this world. HG18:2[HG18]
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| 34 Howl, ye shepherds, and cry; and wallow yourselves in the dust, noble ones of the flock: for the days of your slaughter are accomplished, and I will disperse you; and ye shall fall like a precious vessel. |
Howl, ye shepherds – Pastors of nominal Christendom, at the spoilation of their pasture fields. R2663:4
Ye shall fall – And be ruined. R2663:4
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| 35 And refuge shall perish from the shepherds, and escape from the noble ones of the flock. |
No way to flee – Hireling shepherds are ready to flee the trouble and avoid persecution. R2673:4
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| 36 There shall be a voice of the cry of the shepherds, and a howling of the noble ones of the flock: for Jehovah layeth waste their pasture; |
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| 37 and the peaceable enclosures shall be desolated, because of the fierce anger of Jehovah. |
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| 38 He hath forsaken his covert as a young lion; for their land is a desolation because of the fierceness of the oppressor, and because of his fierce anger. |
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