Bible Commentaries

Jeremiah 14:8 — Yahweh had been Israel’s hope (cf. Jeremiah 17:7; Jeremiah 17:13; Jeremiah 50:7; Psalms 71:5; Joel 3:16; Acts 28:20; Colossians 1:27; 1 Timothy 1:1) and her Savior in times of distress (cf. 2 Samuel 22:3; Psalms 106:21; Isaiah 43:3; Isaiah 43:11; Isaiah 45:15; Isaiah 49:26; Isaiah 60:16; Hosea 13:4). But now He was acting like a stranger or a passing traveler. Such people normally have little real concern for the land through which they travel and the locals around them.

Jeremiah 19:7 — had slaughtered their innocent children. No one would bury their dead bodies, but they would become food for carrion birds (vultures) and wild animals, since they had killed similar animals there to worship the idols (cf. Jeremiah 7:33; Jeremiah 16:4; Jeremiah 34:20; Deuteronomy 28:26).

Jeremiah 24:7 — as Yahweh, He could do that. They would resume the covenant relationship as Chosen People with God, because the people would repent and return to God wholeheartedly. This change in the people only occurred partially during the Exile (cf. Jeremiah 29:4-7; 2 Kings 25:27-30). We believe that final fulfillment is yet future when Jesus Christ returns (cf. Jeremiah 31:31-34; Ezekiel 36:24-32; Matthew 24:29-31). [Note: Feinberg, p. 529; Dyer, "Jeremiah," p. 1160.]

Jeremiah 29:27-28 — Shemaiah also reproved Zephaniah for not rebuking Jeremiah, because Jeremiah had written the exiles encouraging them to settle down in Babylon (Jeremiah 29:4-7). This pericope does not record what the Lord said would happen to Shemaiah as punishment for what he did; Jeremiah 29:25 has no apodosis. We must assume that divine judgment would come on him. The main reason for this pericope is to expose the wicked

Jeremiah 30:23-24 — pardon. The people did not understand this prophecy fully when the prophet first gave it, but they would in the far distant future. Similarly, God told Daniel to seal up his prophecy because it was not time for His people to understand it yet (Daniel 12:4; Daniel 12:9).

Jeremiah 50:4 — Israelites would leave her-both Israelites and Judahites. They would go out, weeping as they left, and seeking Yahweh their God. This weeping probably anticipates Israel’s national repentance at the second coming of Christ (cf. Zechariah 12:10-14). Judah and Israel did not unite as one nation after the Persians took over, and most of the exiles did not return to the Promised Land. "The phrase, In those days (4), is nearly always a pointer to the messianic age to come." [Note: Kidner,

Jeremiah 51:13 — The end of wealthy Babylon, which stood by many waters, had come. A myriad of canals and waterways provided water and irrigation for Mesopotamia. Babylon’s great wealth had come to her largely from the temples and palaces of other nations that she had captured (cf. Jeremiah 52:12-13; Jeremiah 52:17-23; 2 Kings 24:13; 2 Kings 25:13-17; Daniel 5:2-4). Her end would come as when someone cut a piece of cloth from a loom, a common figure for death (cf. Isaiah 38:12).

Lamentations 4:15 — Like lepers, they warned others to stay away from them (cf. Leviticus 13:45-46). They wandered away from their own people, and even the pagans did not want them living among them (cf. Deuteronomy 28:65-66). In Scripture, leprosy often illustrates the ravages of sin and death. "As the false prophets and their followers

Ezekiel 10:3 — his vision the cherubim were positioned on the right or south side of the temple building, looking east. The south side of the temple was closest to the city. A cloud, symbolizing God’s presence (cf. Exodus 33:9-10; 1 Kings 8:10-11; Isaiah 6:1-4), covered the inner courtyard of the temple where the cherubim stood. ". . . the presence of the Lord was as glorious in His departure as it was in His entrance (Exodus 40:34-35; 1 Kings 8:10-11)." [Note: Feinberg, p. 60.]

Ezekiel 22:26 — The priests had also abused the Mosaic Law and had made common what should have been set apart to the Lord. They had treated holy and profane things the same, and they had failed to teach the people the difference between clean and unclean things that the law distinguished. They had made the holy city and the holy land anything but holy. Furthermore they did not observe the Sabbath. In short, they did not hallow the name of the Lord (cf. Hosea 4:6; Malachi 2:6-8).

Ezekiel 32:26-28 — (modern western Turkey, cf. Ezekiel 27:13) along with their neighbors, other uncircumcised peoples, had also perished in war and were now dead powers. They had produced terrifying warriors, like the Nephilim, the ancient legendary warriors of Genesis 6:4, but they were not able to escape their fate, and Egypt would join them. It was customary in some countries to bury honored warriors with their swords and other weapons of war (Ezekiel 32:27; cf. 1 Maccabees 13:29).

Ezekiel 36:10-11 — with Israelites, to enable them to live in their cities and rebuild the places that had become ruins (cf. Ezekiel 6:3; Ezekiel 6:5-7). Earlier the Lord promised to desolate all the land of Edom (Ezekiel 35:15) and to lay waste her cities (Ezekiel 35:4). The mountains of Israel would again become populated with people and animals that would become fruitful and multiply. The Lord would bless them more greatly than ever before. Then His people would know that He is God.

Ezekiel 37:20-22 — The prophet was to hold these sticks, on which he had written what the Lord told him, in the sight of the exiles. He was to explain that Yahweh promised to bring exiles from both kingdoms back into the land. He would make one united kingdom of them again and set up one king over all of them (cf. Genesis 12:1-3; Genesis 12:7; Genesis 16:10; Genesis 17:7-9; Genesis 22:17-18; Genesis 28:4; Genesis 28:13-15). They would no longer be two nations, a divided kingdom.

Ezekiel 41:5-6 — The wall enclosing the vestibule, holy place, and most holy place was six cubits (10 feet) thick. Rooms five cubits (8 feet 4 inches) deep surrounded this wall on all sides except the east. There were three stories of these rooms, 30 rooms on each level, for a total of 90 rooms. There was another wall on the outside of these rooms that bore their weight so the inner wall of

Ezekiel 44:17-18 — The Zadokite priests would need to wear linen, not wool, garments when they served the Lord in the temple sanctuary and the inner gates and court (cf. Exodus 28:42; Leviticus 16:4; Revelation 19:8). This included linen turbans and undergarments. No fabric that caused them to sweat would be acceptable because perspiration would make them wet, and dry skin stays cleaner than sweaty skin. Wool may have been an unacceptable

Ezekiel 46:13-15 — offering. Its purpose is probably to demonstrate the daily rededication of the people to the Lord, the meaning of the daily burnt offering under the Mosaic system. Under the Mosaic Law, there was a daily morning and evening sacrifice (cf. Numbers 28:3-4).

Ezekiel 48:8-12 — descendants of the Zadokite priests who remained faithful to the Lord. This would be a most holy place next to the territory for the other Levitical priests. [Note: See a diagram of this holy allotment within the sacred district above (near my comments on 45:2-4).]

Ezekiel 5:11-12 — The Lord affirmed that He would withdraw His presence from His people because they had defiled His temple with idols (cf. ch. 8; Ezekiel 10:4; Ezekiel 11:22-23). The clause "as I live" expresses a very solemn oath. It appears 14 times in Ezekiel, more often than in any other prophetic book. God would not have pity on them. One third of the residents would die by plague or famine, another third by the sword, and another third would scatter from the land driven by enemy soldiers.

Hosea 7:11 — naiveté (cf. Matthew 10:16). Expediency and human wisdom marked by vacillation had guided Israel’s foreign policy for years rather than the will of God. This was "bird-brained" diplomacy. Emissaries had fluttered off to Egypt (2 Kings 17:3-4) and Assyria (2 Kings 15:29) seeking aid without realizing the danger that these nations posed (cf. Hosea 11:11). Finally, because Israel turned from Assyria to Egypt for help against Assyria, Assyria snared and destroyed the Northern Kingdom.

Joel 1:11-12 — perished. These fruits included wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, dates, and apples: all the fruits of trees. These Israelites would not be able to rejoice in an abundant harvest, which every farmer and viticulturist anticipated (cf. Psalms 4:7). Not only the symbols of divine blessing but also the joy of divine blessing had departed.