3 Israel was holy to the Lord, the first-fruits of his increase: all who made attacks on him were judged as wrongdoers, evil came on them, says the Lord.
Of his purpose he gave us being, by his true word, so that we might be, in a sense, the first-fruits of all the things which he had made.
These are they who have not made themselves unclean with women; for they are virgins. These are they who go after the Lamb wherever he goes. These were taken from among men to be the first fruits to God and to the Lamb.
Truly, all those who are angry with you will be made low and put to shame: those desiring to do you wrong will come to nothing and never again be seen.
For you are a holy people to the Lord your God: marked out by the Lord your God to be his special people out of all the nations on the face of the earth.
If now you will truly give ear to my voice and keep my agreement, you will be my special property out of all the peoples: for all the earth is mine: And you will be a kingdom of priests to me, and a holy nation. These are the words which you are to say to the children of Israel.
This is what the Lord has said against all my evil neighbours, who put their hands on the heritage which I gave my people Israel: See, I will have them uprooted from their land, uprooting the people of Judah from among them.
For you are a holy people to the Lord your God, and the Lord has taken you to be his special people out of all the nations on the face of the earth.
See, I will make Jerusalem a cup of shaking fear to all the peoples round about, when Jerusalem is shut in. And it will come about in that day that I will make Jerusalem a stone of great weight for all the peoples; all those who take it up will be badly wounded; and all the nations of the earth will come together against it. In that day, says the Lord, I will put fear into every horse and make every horseman go off his head: and my eyes will be open on the people of Judah, and I will make every horse of the peoples blind.
But you are a special people, a holy nation, priests and kings, a people given up completely to God, so that you may make clear the virtues of him who took you out of the dark into the light of heaven.
Even as he made selection of us in him from the first, so that we might be holy and free from all evil before him in love:
And if the first-fruit is holy, so is the mass: and if the root is holy, so are the branches.
And he went down on the earth, and a voice said to him, Saul, Saul, why are you attacking me so cruelly? And he said, Who are you, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus, whom you are attacking:
On that day all the bells of the horses will be holy to the Lord, and the pots in the Lord's house will be like the basins before the altar. And every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah will be holy to the Lord of armies: and all those who make offerings will come and take them for boiling their offerings: in that day there will be no more traders in the house of the Lord of armies.
And you are to say to Pharaoh, The Lord says, Israel is the first of my sons: And I said to you, Let my son go, so that he may give me worship; and you did not let him go: so now I will put the first of your sons to death.
Said to him, Go quickly and say to this young man, Jerusalem will be an unwalled town, because of the great number of men and cattle in her.
Sorrow to those who are resting in comfort in Zion, and to those who have no fear of danger in the mountain of Samaria, the noted men of the chief of the nations, to whom the people of Israel come!
By him my vine is made waste and my fig-tree broken: he has taken all its fruit and sent it down to the earth; its branches are made white. Make sounds of grief like a virgin dressed in haircloth for the husband of her early years.
For this cause, all those who take you for their food will themselves become your food; and all your attackers, every one of them, will be taken prisoners; and those who send destruction on you will come to destruction; and all those who take away your goods by force will undergo the same themselves.
I was angry with my people, I put shame on my heritage, and gave them into your hands: you had no mercy on them; you put a cruel yoke on those who were old;
Their hearts were turned to hate against his people, so that they made secret designs against them. He sent Moses, his servant, and Aaron, the man of his selection. He let his signs be seen among the people, and his wonders in the land of Ham. He sent black night and made it dark; and they did not go against his word. At his word their waters were turned to blood, and he sent death on all their fish. Their land was full of frogs, even in the rooms of the king. He gave the word, and there came the dog-fly, and insects over all the land. He gave them ice for rain, and flaming fire in their land. He gave their vines and their fig-trees to destruction, and the trees of their land were broken down. At his word the locusts came, and young locusts more than might be numbered, And put an end to all the plants of their land, taking all the fruit of the earth for food. He put to death the first child of every family in the land, the first-fruits of their strength.
He would not let anyone do them wrong; he even kept back kings because of them, Saying, Put not your hand on those who have been marked with my holy oil, and do my prophets no wrong.
I would quickly overcome their haters: my hand would be turned against those who make war on them. The haters of the Lord would be broken, and their destruction would be eternal.
All the best of the oil and the wine and the grain, the first-fruits of them which they give to the Lord, to you have I given them.
And the feast of the grain-cutting, the first-fruits of your planted fields: and the feast at the start of the year, when you have got in all the fruit from your fields.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Jeremiah 2
Commentary on Jeremiah 2 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 2
It is probable that this chapter was Jeremiah's first sermon after his ordination; and a most lively pathetic sermon it is as any we have is all the books of the prophets. Let him not say, "I cannot speak, for I am a child;' for, God having touched his mouth and put his words into it, none can speak better. The scope of the chapter is to show God's people their transgressions, even the house of Jacob their sins; it is all by way of reproof and conviction, that they might be brought to repent of their sins and so prevent the ruin that was coming upon them. The charge drawn up against them is very high, the aggravations are black, the arguments used for their conviction very close and pressing, and the expostulations very pungent and affecting. The sin which they are most particularly charged with here is idolatry, forsaking the true God, their own God, for other false gods. Now they are told,
Those hearts were hard indeed that were untouched and unhumbled when their sins were thus set in order before them. O that by meditating on this chapter we might be brought to repent of our spiritual idolatries, giving that place in our souls to the world and the flesh which should have been reserved for God only!
Jer 2:1-8
Here is,
Jer 2:9-13
The prophet, having shown their base ingratitude in forsaking God, here shows their unparalleled fickleness and folly (v. 9): I will yet plead with you. Note, Before God punishes sinners he pleads with them, to bring them to repentance. Note, further, When much has been said of the evil of sin, still there is more to be said; when one article of the charge is made good, there is another to be urged; when we have said a great deal, still we have yet to speak on God's behalf, Job 36:2. Those that deal with sinners, for their conviction, must urge a variety of arguments and follow their blow. God had before pleaded with their fathers, and asked why they walked after vanity and became vain, v. 5. Now he pleads with those who persisted in that vain conversation received by tradition from their fathers, and with their children's children, that is, with all that in every age tread in their steps. Let those that forsake God know that he is willing to argue the case fairly with them, that he may be justified when he speaks. He pleads that with us which we should plead with ourselves.
Jer 2:14-19
The prophet, further to evince the folly of their forsaking God, shows them what mischiefs they had already brought upon themselves by so doing; it had already cost them dear, for to this were owing all the calamities their country was now groaning under, which were but an earnest of more and greater if they repented not. See how they smarted for their folly.
Jer 2:20-28
In these verses the prophet goes on with his charge against this backsliding people. Observe here,
Jer 2:29-37
The prophet here goes on in the same strain, aiming to bring a sinful people to repentance, that their destruction might be prevented.