25 Withhold thy foot from being unshod, And thy throat from thirst, And thou sayest, `It is incurable, No, for I have loved strangers, and after them I go.'
They make Him zealous with strangers, With abominations they make Him angry.
Only, know thine iniquity, For against Jehovah thy God thou hast transgressed, And thou dost scatter thy ways to strangers, Under every green tree, And to My voice thou hast not hearkened, An affirmation of Jehovah.
And they have said, It is incurable, For after our own devices we do go, And each the stubbornness of his evil heart we do.
Cleaved hath the tongue of a suckling unto his palate with thirst, Infants asked bread, a dealer out they have none.
or the riches of His goodness, and forbearance, and long-suffering, dost thou despise? -- not knowing that the goodness of God doth lead thee to reformation! but, according to thy hardness and impenitent heart, thou dost treasure up to thyself wrath, in a day of wrath and of the revelation of the righteous judgment of God,
and having cried, he said, Father Abraham, deal kindly with me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and may cool my tongue, because I am distressed in this flame.
`And the father said unto his servants, Bring forth the first robe, and clothe him, and give a ring for his hand, and sandals for the feet;
thou hast served thine enemies, whom Jehovah sendeth against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in lack of all things; and he hath put a yoke of iron on thy neck, till He hath destroyed thee.
for we certainly do everything that hath gone out of our mouth, to make perfume to the queen of the heavens, and to pour out to her libations, as we have done, we, and our fathers, our kings, and our heads, in cities of Judah, and in streets of Jerusalem, and -- we are satisfied with bread, and we are well, and evil we have not seen.
And when thou dost say in thy heart, `Wherefore have these met me?' For the abundance of thine iniquity Have thy skirts been uncovered, Have thy heels suffered violence.
In the greatness of thy way thou hast laboured, Thou hast not said, `It is desperate.' The life of thy hand thou hast found, Therefore thou hast not been sick.
at that time spake Jehovah by the hand of Isaiah son of Amoz, saying, `Go, and thou hast loosed the sackcloth from off thy loins, and thy sandal thou dost draw from off thy foot,' and he doth so, going naked and barefoot. And Jehovah saith, `As My servant Isaiah hath gone naked and barefoot three years, a sign and a wonder for Egypt and for Cush, so doth the king of Asshur lead the captivity of Egypt, and the removal of Cush, young and old, naked and barefoot, with seat uncovered -- the nakedness of Egypt;
For Thou hast left Thy people, the house of Jacob. For they have been filled from the east, And `are' sorcerers like the Philistines, And with the children of strangers strike hands.
And in the time of his distress -- he addeth to trespass against Jehovah, (this king Ahaz),
`And it hath been, in his hearing the words of this oath, and he hath blessed himself in his heart, saying, I have peace, though in the stubbornness of my heart I go on, in order to end the fulness with the thirst. Jehovah is not willing to be propitious to him, for then doth the anger of Jehovah smoke, also His zeal, against that man, and lain down on him hath all the oath which is written in this book, and Jehovah hath blotted out his name from under the heavens,
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.