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Expanded Comments | Additional Comments |
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| 1 Then said Yahweh unto me, Though Moses and Samuel should stand, before me, My soul could not, be toward this people,–Send them away from before me, And let them go forth. |
Could not be – Could not be changed. Jeremiah was esteemed a pessimist, and we are now placed in much the same position. R2400:2
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| 2 And it shall come to pass, when they say unto thee, Whither, shall we go? Then shalt thou say unto them, Thus, saith Yahweh–Such as are for death, to death, and, Such as are for the sword, to the sword, and, Such as are for famine, to the famine, and, Such as are for captivity, to captivity. |
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| 3 And I will set in charge over them–four species, Declareth Yahweh, The sword, to slay, and, The dogs, to trail along,–and, The bird of the heavens, and, The beast of the earth, to devour and to destroy. |
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| 4 And I will make them a terror, to all the kingdoms of the earth,–On account of Manasseh, son of Hezekiah, king of Judah, For what he did in Jerusalem. |
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| 5 For who shall have pity upon thee, O Jerusalem? And who shall lament for thee? And who shall turn aside, to ask for thy welfare? |
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| 6 Thou, hast abandoned, me, Declareth Yahweh, Backward, thou wilt go, Therefore have I stretched forth my hand against thee and laid thee waste,–I am weary, of having compassion. |
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| 7 Therefore have I winnowed them with a winnowing shovel, in the gates of the land,–I have bereaved–I have destroyed my people, From their own ways, have they not returned. |
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| 8 Their widows have become multiplied to me, beyond the sand of the seas, I have brought against them–upon the mother of young men–the spoiler, in the broad noon,–I have let fall upon her, suddenly, excitement and terrors. |
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| 9 Languisheth! she who had given birth to seven, She hath breathed out her life, Her sun, hath gone in, while yet it was day, She hath turned pale, and hath turned red,–And, the remnant of them, to the sword, will I deliver before their enemies, Declareth Yahweh. |
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| 10 Woe to me! my mother, That thou didst bear me, A man of litigation and a man of contention to all the land,–I have not lent on interest, Nor have they lent on interest to me, Every one, hath treated me with contempt. |
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| 11 Said Yahweh,–Verily, I will loose thee for good! Verily, I will intercede for thee, In the time of calamity, and, In the time of distress, with the enemy! |
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| 12 Shall, iron, crush, the iron from the North, and the bronze? |
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| 13 Thy substance, and thy treasures–for a prey, will I give, without price,–Even for all thy sins, and in all thy bounds: |
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| 14 Therefore will I make thee pass, with thine enemies, into a land thou knowest not,–For, a fire, hath been kindled in mine anger, Upon you, shall it burn. |
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| 15 Thou, knowest–O Yahweh, Remember me, and visit me, and avenge me upon my persecutors, Do not, of thy longsuffering, take me away,–Know–I have borne, for thy sake, reproach. |
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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, Then became thy words unto me, the joy and gladness of my heart,–For, thy Name, hath been called, upon me, O Yahweh, God of hosts! |
Thy words – Those truths which God designed should, during this Gospel age, be the food to sanctify the Body of Christ. R200:4
Were found – Implying first that the Word of the Lord would be lost and need to be searched for; and secondly, when found, it would avail nothing unless appropriated to our needs. R3609:2
Not only obeying the divine will, but seeking to know it more and more so that one can obey it. R5648:4
Not gained by human skill or labor. R1867:5
After he has found it, every child of God has considerable labor in proving and eating his spiritual food. R1867:6
I did eat them – Diligently appropriated them to the building up of my character. R2146:5, R200:4, R1867:5
We must eat the Word of God if we would derive his spirit. E225
There must be a daily laying up of its treasure of wisdom and counsel in the heart and the working out of its principles in the life. R2093:5, R1867:5, R2146:5, R5431:6
Living upon the divine promises. R3087:2
"Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." (Matt. 4:4) R3087:2
Rejoicing of mine heart – The language of the heart must be expressed in daily life. R1274:5
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See Expanded Bible Comments |
| 17 I sat not in the circle of mockers, Nor became I uproarious,–Because of thy hand, by myself, did I sit, For, with indignation, hadst thou filled me. |
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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 Wherefore, hath my pain become, perpetual? And my wound, incurable? Refuseth to be healed? Wilt thou, indeed be, to me [As a brook] that disappointeth, Waters that cannot be trusted? |
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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. |
| 19 Wherefore, Thus, saith Yahweh–If thou wouldst return, I will cause thee to return, Before me, shalt thou stand, Yea, if thou wilt bring out the precious from among the vile, As mine own mouth, shalt thou be,–Let, them, return unto, thee, But, thou, shalt not return unto, them; |
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| 20 So will I make thee, to this people, a wall of bronze, fortified, When they fight against thee, they shall not prevail against thee,–For, with thee, am, I, to save thee and to deliver thee, Declareth Yahweh; |
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| 21 Thus will I deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked,–And redeem thee out of the grasp of the tyrants. |
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