18 I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself `thus', Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a calf unaccustomed `to the yoke': turn thou me, and I shall be turned; for thou art Jehovah my God.
Turn us again, O God; And cause thy face to shine, and we shall be saved.
Turn thou us unto thee, O Jehovah, and we shall be turned; Renew our days as of old.
A voice is heard upon the bare heights, the weeping `and' the supplications of the children of Israel; because they have perverted their way, they have forgotten Jehovah their God. Return, ye backsliding children, I will heal your backslidings. Behold, we are come unto thee; for thou art Jehovah our God.
Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: Therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty.
Turn us again, O God of hosts; And cause thy face to shine, and we shall be saved.
Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O Jehovah, And teachest out of thy law;
And he arose, and came to his father. But while he was yet afar off, his father saw him, and was moved with compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.
Unto you first God, having raised up his Servant, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from your iniquities.
For Israel hath behaved himself stubbornly, like a stubborn heifer: now will Jehovah feed them as a lamb in a large place.
Be not deceived, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom can be no variation, neither shadow that is cast by turning. Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
And he shall go before his face in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient `to walk' in the wisdom of the just; to make ready for the Lord a people prepared `for him'.
And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers; lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.
I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely; for mine anger is turned away from him. I will be as the dew unto Israel; he shall blossom as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon. His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive-tree, and his smell as Lebanon. They that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive `as' the grain, and blossom as the vine: the scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon. Ephraim `shall say', What have I to do any more with idols? I have answered, and will regard him: I am like a green fir-tree; from me is thy fruit found.
How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? `how' shall I cast thee off, Israel? how shall I make thee as Admah? `how' shall I set thee as Zeboiim? my heart is turned within me, my compassions are kindled together. I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger, I will not return to destroy Ephraim: for I am God, and not man; the Holy One in the midst of thee; and I will not come in wrath.
Therefore am I unto Ephraim as a moth, and to the house of Judah as rottenness. When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah `saw' his wound, then went Ephraim to Assyria, and sent to king Jareb: but he is not able to heal you, neither will he cure you of your wound.
Yet the people have not turned unto him that smote them, neither have they sought Jehovah of hosts.
Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding; Whose trappings must be bit and bridle to hold them in, `Else' they will not come near unto thee.
Deliver me from all my transgressions: Make me not the reproach of the foolish. I was dumb, I opened not my mouth; Because thou didst it.
For he hath looked down from the height of his sanctuary; From heaven did Jehovah behold the earth; To hear the sighing of the prisoner; To loose those that are appointed to death;
I know, O Jehovah, that thy judgments are righteous, And that in faithfulness thou hast afflicted me.
A whip for the horse, a bridle for the ass, And a rod for the back of fools.
He that being often reproved hardeneth his neck Shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.
Thy sons have fainted, they lie at the head of all the streets, as an antelope in a net; they are full of the wrath of Jehovah, the rebuke of thy God.
He was oppressed, yet when he was afflicted he opened not his mouth; as a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and as a sheep that before its shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth.
For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy: I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite. For I will not contend for ever, neither will I be always wroth; for the spirit would faint before me, and the souls that I have made. For the iniquity of his covetousness was I wroth, and smote him; I hid `my face' and was wroth; and he went on backsliding in the way of his heart. I have seen his ways, and will heal him: I will lead him also, and restore comforts unto him and to his mourners.
For thou art our Father, though Abraham knoweth us not, and Israel doth not acknowledge us: thou, O Jehovah, art our Father; our Redeemer from everlasting is thy name.
In vain have I smitten your children; they received no correction: your own sword hath devoured your prophets, like a destroying lion.
O Jehovah, do not thine eyes look upon truth? thou hast stricken them, but they were not grieved; thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return.
For there shall be a day, that the watchmen upon the hills of Ephraim shall cry, Arise ye, and let us go up to Zion unto Jehovah our God.
In those days, and in that time, saith Jehovah, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together; they shall go on their way weeping, and shall seek Jehovah their God. They shall inquire concerning Zion with their faces thitherward, `saying', Come ye, and join yourselves to Jehovah in an everlasting covenant that shall not be forgotten.
It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. Let him sit alone and keep silence, because he hath laid it upon him. Let him put his mouth in the dust, if so be there may be hope. Let him give his cheek to him that smiteth him; let him be filled full with reproach.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Jeremiah 31
Commentary on Jeremiah 31 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 31
This chapter goes on with the good words and comfortable words which we had in the chapter before, for the encouragement of the captives, assuring them that God would in due time restore them or their children to their own land, and make them a great and happy nation again, especially by sending them the Messiah, in whose kingdom and grace many of these promises were to have their full accomplishment.
These exceedingly great and precious promises were firm foundations of hope and full fountains of joy to the poor captives; and we also may apply them to ourselves and mix faith with them.
Jer 31:1-9
God here assures his people,
Jer 31:10-17
This paragraph is much to the same purport with the last, publishing to the world, as well as to the church, the purposes of God's love concerning his people. This is a word of the Lord which the nations must hear, for it is a prophecy of a work of the Lord which the nations cannot but take notice of. Let them hear the prophecy, that they may the better understand and improve the performance; and let those that hear it themselves declare it to others, declare it in the isles afar off. It will be a piece of news that will spread all the world over. it will look very great in history; let us see how it looks in prophecy.
It is foretold,
Jer 31:18-26
We have here,
Jer 31:27-34
The prophet, having found his sleep sweet, made so by the revelations of divine grace, sets himself to sleep again, in hopes of further discoveries, and is not disappointed; for it is here further promised,
Jer 31:35-40
Glorious things have been spoken in the foregoing verses concerning the gospel church, which that epocha of the Jewish church that was to commence at the return from captivity would at length terminate in, and which all those promises were to have their full accomplishment in. But may we depend upon these promises? Yes, we have here a ratification of them, and the utmost assurance imaginable given of the perpetuity of the blessings contained in them. The great thing here secured to us is that while the world stands God will have a church in it, which, though sometimes it may be brought very low, shall yet be raised again, and its interests re-established; it is built upon a rock, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Now here are two things offered for the confirmation of our faith in this matter-the building of the world and the rebuilding of Jerusalem.