Jeremiah 32:30-40

30 “The people of Israel and Judah have done nothing but evil in my sight from their youth; indeed, the people of Israel have done nothing but arouse my anger with what their hands have made, declares the LORD.
31 From the day it was built until now, this city has so aroused my anger and wrath that I must remove it from my sight.
32 The people of Israel and Judah have provoked me by all the evil they have done—they, their kings and officials, their priests and prophets, the people of Judah and those living in Jerusalem.
33 They turned their backs to me and not their faces; though I taught them again and again, they would not listen or respond to discipline.
34 They set up their vile images in the house that bears my Name and defiled it.
35 They built high places for Baal in the Valley of Ben Hinnom to sacrifice their sons and daughters to Molek, though I never commanded—nor did it enter my mind—that they should do such a detestable thing and so make Judah sin.
36 “You are saying about this city, ‘By the sword, famine and plague it will be given into the hands of the king of Babylon’; but this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says:
37 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.
38 They will be my people, and I will be their God.
39 I will give them singleness of heart and action, so that they will always fear me and that all will then go well for them and for their children after them.
40 I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never stop doing good to them, and I will inspire them to fear me, so that they will never turn away from me.

Jeremiah 32:30-40 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JEREMIAH 32

This chapter contains an account of Jeremiah's imprisonment, and the cause of it; of his buying a field of his uncle's son, and the design of it; of his prayer to God, and of the answer returned to him. The time of his imprisonment, the place where, and the reasons of it, are observed in Jer 32:1-5; that his uncle's son would come and offer the sale of a field to him was told him by the Lord, which he did accordingly, Jer 32:6,7; of whom he bought the field, paid the money, had the purchase confirmed in a legal way, before witnesses, Jer 32:8-12; and the writings of it he committed to Baruch, to put in an earthen vessel, where they were to continue some time as a pledge of houses, fields, and vineyards, being possessed again after the captivity, Jer 32:13-15; then follows a prayer of his to the Lord, in which he addresses him as the Maker of all things; as the Lord God omnipotent; as a God of great grace and mercy, as well as strict justice; as a God of wisdom, counsel, and might, and an omniscient and righteous Being, Jer 32:16-19; and recounts the wonderful things he had done for the people of Israel, Jer 32:20-22; and observes the ingratitude and disobedience of that people, which were the cause of the present siege of the city, which should surely be delivered into the hands of the Chaldeans, Jer 32:23-25; to which prayer an answer is returned, Jer 32:26; in which the Lord describes himself as the God of all flesh, and as able to do what he pleases, Jer 32:27; and confirms the delivery of the city of Jerusalem unto the Chaldeans, Jer 32:28,29; and assigns the causes of it, the backslidings, disobedience, and dreadful idolatry of the people, Jer 32:30-35; and, notwithstanding, promises a restoration of them to their own land again, Jer 32:36,37; when an opportunity is taken to insert the covenant of grace, and the special articles and peculiar promises of it, for the comfort of the spiritual Israel of God, whether Jews or Gentiles, Jer 32:38-40; and the chapter is concluded with a fresh assurance of the return of the captivity, and of the punctual performance of the promise of it; when fields should be bought in every part of the land, in like manner as Jeremiah had bought his, Jer 32:41-44.

Cross References 29

  • 1. S Psalms 25:7; S Jeremiah 22:21
  • 2. Jeremiah 8:19
  • 3. Jeremiah 25:7
  • 4. 1 Kings 11:7-8; 2 Kings 21:4-5; Matthew 23:37
  • 5. S 2 Kings 23:27; 2 Kings 24:3
  • 6. S 1 Kings 14:9
  • 7. Isaiah 1:4-6; Daniel 9:8
  • 8. S Jeremiah 2:26; S Jeremiah 44:9
  • 9. S 1 Kings 14:9; S Psalms 14:3; Jeremiah 2:27; Ezekiel 8:16; Zechariah 7:11
  • 10. S Deuteronomy 4:5; S Isaiah 28:9; S Jeremiah 7:13
  • 11. S Jeremiah 7:28
  • 12. S 2 Kings 21:4; Ezekiel 8:3-16
  • 13. Jeremiah 7:10; Jeremiah 34:15
  • 14. S Jeremiah 7:30
  • 15. Jeremiah 19:2
  • 16. S Leviticus 18:21
  • 17. S Jeremiah 7:31; Jeremiah 19:5
  • 18. S 1 Kings 14:24
  • 19. S Jeremiah 25:7
  • 20. ver 24
  • 21. S Isaiah 11:12; Jeremiah 23:3,6
  • 22. Jeremiah 21:5
  • 23. S Leviticus 25:18; Deuteronomy 30:3; Ezekiel 34:28; Ezekiel 39:26
  • 24. Jeremiah 24:7; 2 Corinthians 6:16*
  • 25. S 2 Chronicles 30:12; S Psalms 86:11; John 17:21; Acts 4:32; Ezekiel 11:19
  • 26. S Deuteronomy 6:24; S Deuteronomy 10:16
  • 27. S Genesis 9:16; S Isaiah 42:6; Isaiah 55:3
  • 28. S Deuteronomy 4:10
  • 29. S Jeremiah 24:7
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