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Jeremiah Chapter Forty-three                            

 

Jeremiah 43

Chapter Contents

The leaders carry the people to Egypt. (1-7) Jeremiah foretells the conquest of Egypt. (8-13)

Commentary on Jeremiah 43:1-7

(Read Jeremiah 43:1-7)

Only by pride comes contention, both with God and man. They preferred their own wisdom to the revealed will of God. Men deny the Scriptures to be the word of God, because they are resolved not to conform themselves to Scripture rules. When men will persist in sin, they charge the best actions to bad motives. These Jews deserted their own land, and threw themselves out of God's protection. It is the folly of men, that they often ruin themselves by wrong endeavours to mend their situation.

Commentary on Jeremiah 43:8-13

(Read Jeremiah 43:8-13)

God can find his people wherever they are. The Spirit of prophecy was not confined to the land of Israel. It is foretold that Nebuchadnezzar should destroy and carry into captivity many of the Egyptians. Thus God makes one wicked man, or wicked nation, a scourge and plague to another. He will punish those who deceive his professing people, or tempt them to rebellion.

── Matthew HenryConcise Commentary on Jeremiah

 

Jeremiah 43

Verse 7

[7] So they came into the land of Egypt: for they obeyed not the voice of the LORD: thus came they even to Tahpanhes.

Tahpanhes — It was at this time the place where the king of Egypt made his residence.

Verse 12

[12] And I will kindle a fire in the houses of the gods of Egypt; and he shall burn them, and carry them away captives: and he shall array himself with the land of Egypt, as a shepherd putteth on his garment; and he shall go forth from thence in peace.

Carry them — He shall carry away both the idols, and the inhabitants of Egypt captive.

With the land — With the spoils of the land of Egypt, he shall clothe his army.

Verse 13

[13] He shall break also the images of Bethshemesh, that is in the land of Egypt; and the houses of the gods of the Egyptians shall he burn with fire.

Beth-shemesh — Beth-shemesh is the name of a city, which had its name from a famous temple of the sun.

── John WesleyExplanatory Notes on Jeremiah

 

43 Chapter 43

 

Verses 1-13


Verses 8-13

Jeremiah 43:8-13

Take great stones in thine hand, and hide them in the clay in the brick kiln.

Jeremiah hides the stones in the brick kiln

I. They preached of the historic past.

1. From the soil in which they were found. They were stones of Egypt.

2. The place where they were buried--the brick kiln--must have carried their thoughts back to the hard labour of their ancestors under the lash of the taskmasters (Exodus 9:8).

3. The burial of the stones beneath the ground might have suggested the past condition of Israel in this same land; they were buried under the oppressive tyranny of the heathen monarch and his people, and had been raised, as it were, from a grave of degradation and lifted into a new life as a free people by the mighty hand of God.

II. They prophesied of the future.

1. The only refuge from the displeasure of God is to be found in God Himself.

2. Unbelief in the Divine Word will not prevent the fulfilment of it.

3. The true minister of God will not be deterred by opposition from declaring the judgments, as well as the mercies, of God. (A London Minister.)
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Verses 8-13

Jeremiah 43:8-13

Take great stones in thine hand, and hide them in the clay in the brick kiln.

Jeremiah hides the stones in the brick kiln

I. They preached of the historic past.

1. From the soil in which they were found. They were stones of Egypt.

2. The place where they were buried--the brick kiln--must have carried their thoughts back to the hard labour of their ancestors under the lash of the taskmasters (Exodus 9:8).

3. The burial of the stones beneath the ground might have suggested the past condition of Israel in this same land; they were buried under the oppressive tyranny of the heathen monarch and his people, and had been raised, as it were, from a grave of degradation and lifted into a new life as a free people by the mighty hand of God.

II. They prophesied of the future.

1. The only refuge from the displeasure of God is to be found in God Himself.

2. Unbelief in the Divine Word will not prevent the fulfilment of it.

3. The true minister of God will not be deterred by opposition from declaring the judgments, as well as the mercies, of God. (A London Minister.)

──The Biblical Illustrator