Jeremias 32

Jeremias 32

Guzik - So abhorrent was this practice that the Lord by a strong anthropomorphism says that it had never entered His mind that His favored people would stoop so low. (Feinberg) Jeremiah 32:36 "Now therefore thus says the LORD God of Israel concerning this city of which you say, 'It is given into the hand of the king of Babylon by sword, by famine and by pestilence.' KJV And now therefore thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning this city, whereof ye say, It shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence; NET "You and your people are right in saying, 'War, starvation, and disease are sure to make this city fall into the hands of the king of Babylon.' But now I, the LORD God of Israel, have something further to say about this city: ESV "Now therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning this city of which you say, 'It is given into the hand of the king of Babylon by sword, by famine, and by pestilence': NIV "You are saying about this city, 'By the sword, famine and plague it will be handed over to the king of Babylon'; but this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: NLT "Now I want to say something more about this city. You have been saying, 'It will fall to the king of Babylon through war, famine, and disease.' But this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: now (KJV): Jer 16:12-15 Isa 43:24,25 57:17,18 Eze 36:31,32 Ho 2:14 Ro 5:20 Eph 2:3-5 It (KJV): Jer 32:3,24,28 THE BAD NEWS Now therefore (term of conclusion) thus says the LORD God of Israel concerning this city - God reiterates what He had said in Jer 32:28. The "therefore" serves as God's conclusion (giving over of the city) which is based on His lengthy description of their sin in the intervening passages (Jer 32:29-35) Of which you say - Speaking of the prophecy that Jeremiah has uttered concerning the judgment of Jerusalem. It is given prophetic perfect) into the hand of the king of Babylon by sword, by famine and by pestilence - The sword of the Babylonians which led to the siege of they city and its famine and infestation by pestilence. In horse racing we might call Judah's "reward" a divine "Trifecta!" Pestilence (01698)(deber from dabar = to speak) refers to plague. In the first 3 uses in Exodus deber speaks of divinely induced pestilence on Egypt (Ex 5:3, 9:3, 15). In Lev 26:25 as punishment for Israel's sin God promises "I will send pestilence among you, so that you shall be delivered into enemy hands." (Compare Nu 14:12, Dt 28:21) In 2Sa 24:13, 15 we see the pestilence was sent on Israel because of King David's sin and as a result 70,000 men died! King Solomon referred to pestilence as one of the judgments that should stimulate the people to pray asking God to hear their cries (1Ki 8:37, 2Chr 6:28). God delivers from pestilence (Ps 91:3). Pestilence is clearly a key word in the book of Jeremiah (17/48 uses in the OT) which is summed up well in Jeremiah 21:6 where God promises "I will also strike down the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast; they will die of a great pestilence." Pestilence in the English dictionary = a deadly or highly infectious epidemic outbreak usually of an infectious disease but figuratively can be an evil influence. While one cannot state with absolute certainty many authorities feel that deber in many contexts (such as the siege of Jerusalem for 3 years) was in fact the Bubonic plague. It is interesting that the Septuagint (Lxx) translates deber in this passage with the noun apostole which means a sending off (as of a fleet of ships, a man on a mission), a sending away, a dispatching and in the present context would speak of Judah's sending off into exile, their banishment from the promised land! ISBE on deber - Any sudden fatal epidemic is designated by this word, and in its Biblical use it generally indicates that these are divine visitations. The word is most frequently used in the prophetic books, and it occurs 25 times in Jeremiah and Ezekiel, always associated with the sword and famine. In 4 other passages it is combined with noisome or evil beasts, or war. In Amos 4:10 this judgment is compared with the plagues of Egypt, and in Habakkuk 3:5 it is a concomitant of the march of God from the Arabian mountain. There is the same judicial character associated with pestilence in Exodus 5:3; Exodus 9:15; Leviticus 26:25; Numbers 14:12; Deuteronomy 28:21; 2 Samuel 24:21; 1 Chronicles 21:12; Ezekiel 14:19 , Ezekiel 14:21 . In the dedication prayer of Solomon, a special value is besought for such petitions against pestilence as may be presented toward the temple (2 Chronicles 6:28 ). Such a deliverance is promised to those who put their trust in God (Psalm 91:6 ). Here the pestilence is called noisome, a shortened form of "annoysome," used in the sense of "hateful" or that which causes trouble or distress. In modern English it has acquired the sense of loathsome. "Noisome" is used by Tyndale where the King James Version and the Revised Version (British and American) have "hurtful" in 1 Timothy 6:9 . The Latin word pestilentia is connected with pestis , "the plague," but pestilence is used of any visitation and is not the name of any special disease; debher is applied to diseases of cattle and is translated "murrain." Strong and McClintock - deber (Septuagint usually translates deber with thanatos), which originally seems to mean simply destruction, but is regularly applied to that common Oriental epidemic the plague (q.v.). The same term is also used in the Hebrew Scriptures for all epidemic or contagious diseases (Leviticus 26:25). (Pestilence) Deber - 48v translated in NAS as pestilence(38), plague(10), thorns(1). - Ex 5:3; 9:3, 15; Lev 26:25; Num 14:12; Deut 28:21; 2Sa 24:13, 15; 1Kgs 8:37; 1Chr 21:12, 14; 2Chr 6:28; 7:13; 20:9; Ps 78:50; 91:3, 6; Jeremiah 14:12; 21:6-7, 9; 24:10; 27:8, 13; 28:8; 29:17-18; 32:24, 36; 34:17; 38:2; 42:17, 22; 44:13; Ezek 5:12, 17; 6:11f; 7:15; 12:16; 14:19, 21; 28:23; 33:27; 38:22; Hos 13:14; Amos 4:10; Hab 3:5 Related Resources: Pestilence - Holman Bible Dictionary Pestilence - Thompson Chain Reference Pestilence - American Tract Society Bible Dictionary Pestilence - The 1901 Jewish Encyclopedia Pestilence - Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature Pestilence - Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature NET Note - Compare Jer 32:24, 28. In Jer 32:24 this is Jeremiah’s statement just before he expresses his perplexity about the LORD’s command to buy the field of his cousin in spite of the certainty of the city’s demise. In Jer 32:28 it is the LORD’s affirmation that the city will indeed fall. Here, the LORD picks up Jeremiah’s assessment only to add a further prophesy (Jer 32:37–41) of what is just as sure to happen (Jer 32:42). This is the real answer to Jeremiah’s perplexity. Jer 32:28–35 are an assurance that the city will indeed be captured and a reiteration again of the reason for its demise. The structure of the two introductions in Jer 32:28 and v. 36 are parallel and flow out of the statement that the LORD is God of all mankind and nothing is too hard for him (neither destruction nor restoration [cf. 1:10]). It is given (KJV = It shall be delivered) - This is the prophetic perfect which NAS translates as if this future event had taken place so sure is its fulfillment. NET Note - God does not deny that Jeremiah’s assessment is correct; he affirms it but has something further to say in answer to Jeremiah’s prayer. Jeremiah 32:37 "Behold, I will gather them out of all the lands to which I have driven them in My anger, in My wrath and in great indignation; and I will bring them back to this place and make them dwell in safety. KJV Behold, I will gather them out of all countries, whither I have driven them in mine anger, and in my fury, and in great wrath; and I will bring them again unto this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely: NET 'I will certainly regather my people from all the countries where I will have exiled them in my anger, fury, and great wrath. I will bring them back to this place and allow them to live here in safety. ESV Behold, I will gather them from all the countries to which I drove them in my anger and my wrath and in great indignation. I will bring them back to this place, and I will make them dwell in safety. NIV I will surely gather them from all the lands where I banish them in my furious anger and great wrath; I will bring them back to this place and let them live in safety. NLT I will certainly bring my people back again from all the countries where I will scatter them in my fury. I will bring them back to this very city and let them live in peace and safety I will gather (KJV): Jer 23:3,8 29:14 30:18 31:10 33:7 De 30:3-6 Ps 106:47 Isa 11:11-16 Eze 11:17 34:12-14 36:24 37:21-25 39:25-29 Ho 1:11 3:5 Am 9:14,15 Ob 1:17-21 Zep 3:20 I will cause (KJV): Jer 23:6 33:16 Eze 34:25-28 Joe 3:20 Zec 2:4,5 3:10 14:11 THE GOOD NEWS Behold - see note on Jeremiah 32:3. God offers hope in the midst of hopelessness. In wrath He remembers mercy. Ryken observes the abrupt transition from bad news to good news commenting that now "God changed the subject by saying something totally surprising and completely unexpected. Whereas Jer 32:28–35 showed the power of God in the judgment of sin, Jer 32:36-44 go on to show the power of God in the salvation of sinners. God moves from sin to salvation so quickly it is hard to keep up. Gordon McConville goes so far as to say that Jer 32:36 is “unexpected and illogical.” (Jeremiah and Lamentations - From Sorrow to Hope - Preaching the Word- Philip Graham Ryken) I will gather them out of all the lands - Notice Jehovah does not say out of the land of Babylon but out of all the lands which broadens the fulfillment of this prophecy. When the exiles returned from Babylon after their 70 year exile, the 10 northern tribes did not return from their Assyrian exile. So the fulfillment of this prophecy must speak of a future time. This deduction is substantiated by the qualifying statement dwell in safety. (see below) Feinberg agrees that "The mention of “all the lands” presupposes a world-wide dispersion." I will gather them...I have driven them...I will bring them back - In the midst of wrath God remembers mercy on His people Israel (cp His covenant love, His lovingkindness toward Israel - Jer 9:24, 32:18). The same God who promised and fulfilled judgment also promised and would fulfill restoration. One was as sure as the other. In Jer 16:5 Jehovah says "I have withdrawn...My lovingkindness and compassion" but in Jer 31:3 He declares "I have drawn you with lovingkindness!"). It was God Who had driven them ( prophetic perfect) and it is the same loving God Who will gather them (future tense)! And why? Because His lovingkindnesses indeed never cease! (Lam 3:22-23) Perhaps you feel far from God (as if He has driven you away). If so you are no farther away than a cry of forgive my sins Lord God. He specializes in gathering the wandering ones and the lost ones. That is His heart of everlasting lovingkindness! John MacArthur on I will bring them back to this place - God pledged to restore Israelites to the very land of Israel (cf. Jer 32:44). It is natural to expect His fulfillment of this blessing to be just as literal as the reverse—His scattering from the land (cf. Jer 32:42).(See context in The MacArthur Bible Commentary or borrow The MacArthur Study Bible) I have driven them - This is a so-called prophetic perfect tense which pictures the future event as if it had already occurred since the prophecy of that exile was so certain. To this place - What place? If words meaning anything and context counts for anything in interpretation, this is indubitably a reference to Jerusalem, a geographic place on earth. It does not say this place is the New Jerusalem and to interpret that way is to (1) avoid the normal meaning of the words and (2) to jettison the critical role of context in accurate interpretation! In short, the only way to interpret this as other than a literal city of Jerusalem on earth is to spiritualize the passage. While one could posit this is a reference to the returning remnant of Babylonian exiles, as discussed in this section, the return of the Jews after Babylonian exile or their return in May, 1948 after 2000 years of Jewish diaspora does not satisfy or fulfill two specific details in this verse - (1) all the lands to which I have driven them (see above) and (2) their dwelling in safety (see below). TSK on I will gather them - "This promise," says Jerome, "taken in its full extent was not made good to those that returned from captivity; because they were frequently infested with wars, as well by the kings of Syria and Egypt as by the rest of their neighbours; and they were finally subdued and destroyed by the Romans." God's word cannot fail; therefore there remaineth yet a rest for the ancient people of God. Make them dwell in safety - God is in charge of the "safety," the same God of Whom Jeremiah declared there is nothing is too difficult. Yes Jews are back in the Land of Palestine after a 2000 year hiatus, but they are hardly there in safety today (just watch you local news as hardly a week goes by without a bombing or some terrorist activity in Israel!) And yes there is a great obstacle to Israel's dwelling in safety and that is Temple Mount which is controlled by the Muslims as this is their third most holy site. How can Israel be safe with an avowed enemy in her midst? I have some thoughts but they are speculation. What one can say with absolute certainty is that "Nothing is too difficult for Thee!" (Jer 32:17, 27). So when will Israel dwell in safety in the city of Jerusalem? Not until the Messiah, the Prince of peace, returns to bring lasting peace to Jerusalem (cp Ps 122:6). Notice also that they won't dwell in safety because of their own power but because Jehovah will make them safe (NIV and NLT not as accurate for they both have "I will let them"). After the return from exile in Babylon to the land the Jews did not dwell in safety. Even today after a return in May, 1948, Israel does not dwell in safety. Clearly this speaks of a time that is yet to come. When the Messiah returns, then the Jews will dwell in safety as affirmed in an earlier prophecy in Jer 23:6 = "In His days (Time phrases should always prompt at least one question = "When?" Answer = When the Righteous Branch returns - Jer 23:5, cp Jer 23:1-4) Judah will be saved, And Israel will dwell securely; And this is His name by which He will be called, 'The LORD our righteousness.' Jeremiah reiterates this prophecy in the next chapter = 'In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will dwell in safety; and this is the name by which she will be called: the LORD is our righteousness.' (Jeremiah 33:16) And what important detail does Jeremiah add? "Judah will be saved" which parallels Paul's prophecy in Romans 11:26 that "all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, “THE DELIVERER WILL COME FROM ZION, HE WILL REMOVE UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB.”" Ezekiel gives a similar assurance prophesying that Israel "will no longer be a prey to the nations, and the beasts of the earth will not devour them; but they will live securely, and no one will make them afraid." (Ezekiel 34:25) Zechariah reiterates that "People will live in it (Jerusalem), and there will no longer be a curse, for Jerusalem will dwell in security." (Zech 14:11; see also Joel 3:20, Zech 2:4-5, Zech 3:10) It is clear from a simple, normal (literal) reading of the preceding three OT prophets (Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Zechariah) that Jehovah will cause or make the literal nation of Israel dwell in safety, a promise which has not yet been fulfilled and awaits to be fulfilled at some time in the future. Praise God that even the reformer John Calvin recognized that this prophecy "was not fulfilled when the Jews returned to their own country; for they were greatly harassed by their neighbors, and the building of the Temple was at first hindered, and they endured many troubles from all quarters, and at length they were oppressed with tyranny by the Syrian kings, and reduced to such extremities, that exile would not only have been more tolerable, but even pleasanter and more desirable, in comparison with the many miseries with which they were oppressed." While I respect John Piper, it is sad to see him spiritualize this passage as shown by his comments on Jer 32:36-41... "How can we be sure of this triumph of grace? If God is a God of justice who can send Israel into devastating exile where many are lost because of their sin and disobedience, then how can we have confidence that this will not happen to God’s chosen people today—the church, the bride of Christ, the true Israel, you and me, who have been called into the fellowship of his Son?" (Sustained by Sovereign Grace—Forever-June 16, 1996) THOUGHT - IS THE CHURCH REALLY THE TRUE ISRAEL? ABSOLUTELY NOT. EVEN THOSE WITH INCREDIBLE ERUDITION CAN BE SORELY MISTAKEN WHEN THEN BEGIN TO ALLEGORIZE OR SPIRITUALIZE OT TEXTS! SO MANY PASTORS TODAY SHUN PROPHECY LIKE IT IS A Piranha WITH THE RESULT THAT THEY CANNOT ACCURATELY INTERPRET MANY VERY PLAIN OLD TESTAMENT PASSAGES CORRECTLY (AKA LITERALLY!). And so I respectfully disagree with Dr Piper's statement that the church is the "true Israel." See the discussion of the phrase in Galatians 6:16 the Israel of God. I find it fascinating that the name Israel is used 77x in 75 verses in the New Testament and every one of them refers to the nation or people of literal Israel! Sadly many in the modern evangelical church have bought into the false teaching of replacement theology or supersessionism. And of course when highly respected scholars (and I do respect him highly!) like Dr John Piper make these type of dogmatic declarations, many if not most of those who hear him accept this as orthodox doctrine because he is truly one of the bastions of orthodoxy in post-Christian America. Sadly in Dr Piper's message on Jeremiah 32:36-41 for the most part he failed to give a literal interpretation of the text, but used it to launch into a more general teaching on grace. I doubt if many who heard that sermon understood the great import it had to the people of Israel in the future! Ryken's comment is interesting - "He promised the end of the Exile. God’s people Israel were scattered across the globe, but God would gather them together and bring them back home." This begs the question has this occurred? Has Jehovah brought Jews from across the world back to Palestine? In a sense He has when the state of Israel was re-born in May, 1948. But as discussed above, this cannot be the final and full fulfillment of this promise because Israel in our day is not dwelling in safety. Charles Simeon (NOT a dispensationalist!) preached the following sermon excerpt between 1832-63 -- Amongst the numberless manifestations of God’s mercy in the Scriptures, we cannot but be particularly struck with this, that scarcely ever do we find any awful denunciation of God’s wrath against his offending people, but there is some gracious promise annexed to it, as an encouragement to them to repent. In the whole preceding part of the chapter before us (Jeremiah 32), God declared His determination to give up Jerusalem into the hands of the Chaldeans. Yet behold, at that very time does God open to His people the most consolatory prospects of an ultimate restoration to their own land, and of numberless attendant blessings to be poured out upon them.....A restoration from Babylon is doubtless the point here primarily intended: and that was vouchsafed to them at the expiration of seventy years, according to the predictions of the prophet respecting it. But the terms in which this is declared almost necessarily lead our minds to a restoration yet future....they experienced but little of peace and safety after their first restoration: they were grievously harassed, from time to time....Jerusalem, instead of being defended, as formerly, against enemies, by ramparts of man’s construction, “will be inhabited as a town without walls; because the Lord will be a wall of fire round about her, and the glory in the midst of her (Zech 2:4-5)." (See full sermon Jeremiah 32:37–42.The future Conversion of the Jews) Holman Study Bible on Jer 32:37-41 In six remarkable promises, God declared that He will (1) gather His people from all lands (23:3; 29:14; 30:10; 31:8-14; Isa. 11:12; Ezek. 11:17; 36:24); (2) make them dwell safely; (3) restore His close relationship with them; (4) give them spiritual integrity so that they may fear Him forever; (5) make an everlasting covenant with them (Isa. 55:3; 61:8; Ezek. 16:60; 37:26); and (6) rejoice over them and plant them in this land. God pledges to carry this out with His whole heart and soul; God pledges to carry this out with His whole heart and soul. Jeremiah 32:38 "They shall be My people, and I will be their God; Jer 24:7 30:22 Jer 31:1,33 Ge 17:7 De 26:17-19 Ps 144:15 Eze 11:19,20 Eze 36:28 37:27 39:22,28 Zec 13:9 Heb 8:10 11:16 Rev 21:7 Related Passage: Jeremiah 31:33 “But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the LORD, “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. COVENANT ONENESS BETWEEN GOD AND ISRAEL Feinberg observes that "The New Covenant is reiterated (Jer 32:38–40) because the prophets looked forward to more than just a physical return of the people (cf. Jer 31:32). The covenant bond between God and his people will be renewed, and they will walk in righteousness." Lundborn - The repetition of the pronoun “I” puts the emphasis here on Yahweh, as happens also in the formulas of 11:4; 24:7; and 30:22. But in the formulas of 7:23; 31:1, and 33, a repeated “they” puts the emphasis on the people. (Anchor Yale Bible Commentary) They shall be My people, and I will be their God - This is a covenant promise, a promise of future salvation for those Jews who believe in Messiah and enter into the New Covenant in His blood. While this is transpiring in a portion of Jews today (2021), there is a future day when Paul says "all Israel will be saved" (Ro 11:26), not all Israel of all time, but those alive when Messiah returns as the prophet Zechariah explains "I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn.." (Zechariah 12:10+, also see comments on Zechariah 13:8) The blessing is not just a transfer to a place; it is a matter of belonging to the Lord. The question to ask is who are they? To whom is Jeremiah writing? Who are the people who will be God's people? Beloved, this is not rocket science! If words and context mean anything this is unquestionably referring to the Jews. This is not addressed to the church, which is no where to be found in the entire book of Jeremiah, a literal Jewish prophet addressing literal Jewish people who are literally exiled in a literal Babylon. Let me challenge anyone who would seek to argue this passage is directly addressed by Jehovah to the church. Has Jeremiah not been describing God's judgment on a literal people in Judah and a literal city of Jerusalem? Of course He has and thus there is absolutely no warrant for jettisoning this context in this last prophetic section! Frankly, that borders on intellectual dishonesty. But that is what many do because to see these promises as given by Jehovah to literal people of Israel is to totally disrupt their systematic interpretation of prophetic passages. If you disagree with this discussion, then you are probably accusing me of being another wacko dispensationalist. But as I have said before and will continue to say until the day I meet Jesus face to face, I am not a dispensationalist! I will confess to being a simple minded medical doctor, specifically a pathologist, who has been trained to carefully observe details lest he give an errant diagnosis and the patient incurs undue harm! I can assure you that I apply that same diligence to the observation of the Word of Truth, lest I might make a "misdiagnosis" and lead someone astray from God's intended meaning of the text. That thought horrifies in the spiritual realm even more than it did in the physical realm when I daily rendered scores of life changing diagnoses that radically impacted patient's lives! All that to say, after 30 years of studying the Scriptures, I am firmly convinced that the most honest, simple and safe way to interpret the text, is (in dependence on the Holy Spirit) to allow the text to speak for itself. In so doing the statement in Jeremiah 32:38 is clearly a "covenant" statement that is reiterated many times in the Old Testament as documented in the following passages.