15 And I have sent you all my servants the prophets, getting up early and sending them, saying, Come back, now, every man from his evil way, and do better, and go not after other gods to become their servants, and you will go on living in the land which I have given to you and to your fathers: but your ears have not been open, and you have not given attention to me.
Saying, Come back now, everyone from his evil way and from the evil of your doings, and keep your place in the land which the Lord has given to you and to your fathers, from times long past even for ever: Do not go after other gods to be their servants and to give them worship, and do not make me angry with the work of your hands, causing evil to yourselves.
For this cause I will be your judge, O children of Israel, judging every man by his ways, says the Lord. Come back and be turned from all your sins; so that they may not be the cause of your falling into evil. Put away all your evil-doing in which you have done sin; and make for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit: why are you desiring death, O children of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of him on whom death comes, says the Lord: be turned back then, and have life.
And say to them, Give ear to the word of the Lord, you kings of Judah, and all the people of Jerusalem who come in by these doors: This is what the Lord has said: See to yourselves, that you take up no weight on the Sabbath day, or take it in through the doors of Jerusalem; And take no weight out of your houses on the Sabbath day, or do any work, but keep the Sabbath day holy, as I gave orders to your fathers; But they gave no attention and would not give ear, but they made their necks stiff so that they might not give ear and might not get teaching. And it will be, that if with all care you give ear to me, says the Lord, and take no weight through the doorways of this town on the Sabbath day, but keep the Sabbath day holy and do no work in it; Then through the doors of this town there will come kings and princes, seated on the seat of David, going in carriages and on horseback, they and their princes, and the men of Judah and the people of Jerusalem: and this town will keep its place for ever.
And I sent all my servants the prophets to you, getting up early and sending them, saying, Do not do this disgusting thing which is hated by me. But they gave no attention, and their ears were not open so that they might be turned from their evil-doing and from burning perfume to other gods.
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, putting to death the prophets, and stoning those who were sent to her! again and again would I have taken your children to myself, as a bird takes her young ones under her wings, but you would not! Now see, your house is waste, and I say to you, You will not see me again till you say, A blessing on him who comes in the name of the Lord.
And you are to say to them, These are the words of the Lord of armies: Come back to me, says the Lord of armies, and I will come back to you. Be not like your fathers, to whom the voice of the earlier prophets came, saying, Be turned now from your evil ways and from your evil doings: but they did not give ear to me or take note, says the Lord.
Samaria will be made waste, for she has gone against her God: they will be cut down by the sword, their little children will be broken on the rocks, their women who are with child will be cut open. O Israel, come back to the Lord your God; for your evil-doing has been the cause of your fall. Take with you words, and come back to the Lord; say to him, Let there be forgiveness for all wrongdoing, so that we may take what is good, and give in payment the fruit of our lips. Assyria will not be our salvation; we will not go on horses; we will not again say to the work of our hands, You are our gods; for in you there is mercy for the child who has no father.
From the day when your fathers came out of Egypt till this day, I have sent my servants the prophets to you, getting up early every day and sending them: But still they took no note and would not give ear, but they made their necks stiff, doing worse than their fathers.
The Lord of armies, the God of Israel, says, Let your ways and your doings be changed for the better and I will let you go on living in this place. Put no faith in false words, saying, The Temple of the Lord, the Temple of the Lord, the Temple of the Lord, are these. For if your ways and your doings are truly changed for the better; if you truly give right decisions between a man and his neighbour; If you are not cruel to the man from a strange country, and to the child without a father, and to the widow, and do not put the upright to death in this place, or go after other gods, causing damage to yourselves: Then I will let you go on living in this place, in the land which I gave to your fathers in the past and for ever.
Be washed, make yourselves clean; put away the evil of your doings from before my eyes; let there be an end of sinning; Take pleasure in well-doing; let your ways be upright, keep down the cruel, give a right decision for the child who has no father, see to the cause of the widow. Come now, and let us have an argument together, says the Lord: how may your sins which are red like blood be white as snow? how may their dark purple seem like wool? If you will give ear to my word and do it, the good things of the land will be yours;
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Jeremiah 35
Commentary on Jeremiah 35 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 35
A variety of methods is tried, and every stone turned, to awaken the Jews to a sense of their sin and to bring them to repentance and reformation. The scope and tendency of many of the prophet's sermons was to frighten them out of their disobedience, by setting before them what would be the end thereof if they persisted in it. The scope of this sermon, in this chapter, is to shame them out of their disobedience if they had any sense of honour left in them for a discourse of this nature to fasten upon.
Jer 35:1-11
This chapter is of an earlier date than many of those before; for what is contained in it was said and done in the days of Jehoiakim (v. 1); but then it must be in the latter part of his reign, for it was after the king of Babylon with his army came up into the land (v. 11), which seems to refer to the invasion mentioned 2 Ki. 24:2, which was upon occasion of Jehoiakim's rebelling against Nebuchadnezzar. After the judgments of God had broken in upon this rebellious people he continued to deal with them by his prophets to turn them from sin, that his wrath might turn away from the. For this purpose Jeremiah sets before them the example of the Rechabites, a family that kept distinct by themselves and were no more numbered with the families of Israel than they with the nations. They were originally Kenites, as appears 1 Chr. 2:55, These are the Kenites that came out of Hemath, the father of the house of Rechab. The Kenites, at least those of them that gained a settlement in the land of Israel, were of the posterity of Hobab, Moses's father-in-law, Jdg. 1:16. We find them separated from the Amalekites, 1 Sa. 15:6. See Jdg. 4:17. One family of these Kenites had their denomination from Rechab. His son, or a lineal descendant from him, was Jonadab, a man famous in his time for wisdom and piety. he flourished in the days of Jehu, king of Israel, nearly 300 years before this; for there we find him courted by that rising prince, when he affected to appear zealous for God (2 Ki. 10:15, 16), which he thought nothing more likely to confirm people in the opinion of than to have so good a man as Jonadab ride in the chariot with him. Now here we are told,
Jer 35:12-19
The trial of the Rechabites' constancy was intended but for a sign; now here we have the application of it.