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| 1 Then said the LORD unto me, Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my mind could not be toward this people: cast them out of my sight, and let them go forth. |
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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 the LORD; 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 the captivity, to the captivity. |
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| 3 And I will appoint over them four kinds, saith the LORD: the sword to slay, and the dogs to tear, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the earth, to devour and destroy. |
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| 4 And I will cause them to be removed into all 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, O Jerusalem? or who shall bemoan thee? or who shall go aside to ask how thou doest? |
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| 6 Thou hast forsaken me, saith the LORD, thou art gone backward: therefore will I stretch out my hand against thee, and destroy thee; I am weary with repenting. |
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| 7 And I will fan them with a fan in the gates of the land; I will bereave them of children, I will destroy my people, since they return not from their ways. |
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| 8 Their widows are increased to me above the sand of the seas: I have brought upon them against the mother of the young men a spoiler at noonday: I have caused him to fall upon it suddenly, and terrors upon the city. |
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| 9 She that hath borne seven languisheth: she hath breathed out her spirit; her sun is gone down while it was yet day: she hath been ashamed and confounded: and the residue of them will I deliver to the sword before their enemies, saith the LORD. |
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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 earth! I have neither lent on usury, nor men have lent to me on usury; yet every one of them doth curse me. |
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| 11 The LORD said, Verily it shall be well with thy remnant; verily I will cause the enemy to entreat thee well in the time of evil and in the time of affliction. |
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| 12 Shall iron break the northern iron and the copper? |
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| 13 Thy substance and thy treasures will I give to the spoil without price, and that for all thy sins, even in all thy borders. |
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| 14 And I will make thee to pass with thine enemies into a land which thou knowest not: for a fire is kindled in mine anger, which shall burn upon you. |
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| 15 O LORD, thou knowest: remember me, and visit me, and revenge me of my persecutors; take me not away in thy longsuffering: know that for thy sake I have suffered rebuke. |
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 word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts.
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See Expanded Bible Comments |
| 17 I sat not in the assembly of the mockers, nor rejoiced; I sat alone because of thy hand: for thou hast filled me with indignation. |
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, which refuseth to be healed? wilt thou be altogether unto me as a liar, and as waters that fail? |
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 the LORD, If thou return, then will I bring thee again, and 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 fenced copper 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 the LORD. |
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| 21 And 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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