Jeremiah 23:12

12 Therefore, their way will be to them like slippery paths in the gloom.^[a] They will be driven away and fall down there, for I will bring disaster on them, the year of their punishment. [This is] the Lord's declaration.

Jeremiah 23:12 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 23:12

Wherefore their way shall be unto them as slippery [ways] in
the darkness
Their course of life may fitly be compared, and in the issue will prove to be like to a man's walking in a dark night without any lamp or lantern to light him, and in a slippery way, scarce able to stand upon his legs, and cannot see to pick his way, nor where to step next, which is very uncomfortable and dangerous; such are blind leaders of the blind, and both in danger of slipping and falling into a ditch, ( Matthew 15:14 ) ; they shall be driven on, and fall therein;
hurried on by Satan, and their own lusts, in their sinful ways to their ruin; or forced on into captivity and destruction; their enemies and the just judgments of God pursuing them, like a man pursued by others in a dark and slippery way; who cannot stand to feel his way, but is obliged to go on, though he can scarce keep upon his legs, and knows not where to set his foot next; see ( Psalms 35:6 ) ; for I will bring evil upon them:
the evil of punishment, which is from the Lord; as sword, famine, pestilence, or captivity: [even] the year of their visitation, saith the Lord:
the precise and exact time appointed by the Lord to visit them in a way of judgment for their iniquities; which was a set time that would certainly come, and they could not escape; and which may not only respect the time of the Babylonish captivity, but the destruction of the Jews by the Romans, which was the time of their visitation, ( Luke 19:44 ) .

Jeremiah 23:12 In-Context

10 For the land is full of adulterers; the land mourns because of the curse, and the grazing lands in the wilderness have dried up. Their way of life has become evil, and their power is not rightly used

11 because both prophet and priest are ungodly, even in My house I have found their evil. [This is]*The bracketed text has been added for clarity. the Lord's declaration.

12 Therefore, their way will be to them like slippery paths in the gloom. They will be driven away and fall down there, for I will bring disaster on them, the year of their punishment. [This is] the Lord's declaration.

13 Among the prophets of Samaria I saw something disgusting: They prophesied by Baal and led My people Israel astray.

14 Among the prophets of Jerusalem also I saw a horrible thing: They commit adultery and walk in lies. They strengthen the hands of evildoers, and none turns his back on evil. They are all like Sodom to Me; Jerusalem's residents are like Gomorrah.

Footnotes

• [a]. Ps 35:6; 73:18