Jeremiah, chapter 10
interpretation - meaning - commentary - explanation
This chapter can be divided into two parts. Part one (1-15) deals with prayer to idols. Part two (16-25) deals with the dramatic spiritual conditions in Judah.
(1) Hear ye the word which the LORD speaketh unto you, O house of Israel: (2) Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.
God calls on people to come to their senses, they are to stop accepting the beliefs of other nations, faith is to be pure and not defiled. Combining religions into one common one leads to departure from the true faith, God has warned against this many times.
Signs of heaven can also be the Babylonian gods that the Israelites began to believe in, as well as the belief in foolish predictions of the future by fortune tellers, who derived their supposed knowledge from the alignment of the stars, and as we read in the pages of Scripture, there are always demons behind it. A person who goes to a fortune teller to predict his future can be compared to someone who, instead of going to the Creator for advice, goes to ask demons about the future.
(3) For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. (4) They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not. (5) They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good.
Any statues or sculptures that we bow to are merely inanimate objects devoid of meaning. Defenders of religious statues defend against this, recognizing that the text refers to idols, and statues are not.
The stance of Scripture is clear and transparent: kneeling before any statues, sculptures or images is against God's will! Don't be smarter than God and claim to know better, because you sin that way. God is everywhere, you don't need to pray to statues for Him to hear you. Sculptures produced from wood have it that some of the unused raw material is used for firewood, among other things. What's the point of praying to a piece of wood, part of which has been earmarked for firewood? It turns out that one half is sacred to a person and before it he bows, and the other half could be burned, because there was no sacredness in it.
(6) Forasmuch as there is none like unto thee, O LORD; thou art great, and thy name is great in might. (7) Who would not fear thee, O King of nations? for to thee doth it appertain: forasmuch as among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, there is none like unto thee.
God is so powerful that it is foolish to think that nothing is impossible before Him. Why make homemade idols for ourselves when we have an Almighty God to whom we can always come.
Warning against praying to statues
(8) But they are altogether brutish and foolish: the stock is a doctrine of vanities. (9) Silver spread into plates is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the workman, and of the hands of the founder: blue and purple is their clothing: they are all the work of cunning men.
Once again, the Creator declares that worshipping statues, sculptures or images is meaningless, and the one who does so is called a fool.
(10) But the LORD is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting king: at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide his indignation. (11) Thus shall ye say unto them, The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, even they shall perish from the earth, and from under these heavens. (12) He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heavens by his discretion. (13) When he uttereth his voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens, and he causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth; he maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures.
The Most Holy Lord has no equal, only to Him is the glory due and not to the dead so-called saints. God created the earth and sky, not the big bang or the theory of evolution. If you believe in evolution then you undermine the credibility of the Bible.
(14) Every man is brutish in his knowledge: every founder is confounded by the graven image: for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them. (15) They are vanity, and the work of errors: in the time of their visitation they shall perish.
Again, people who believe in the power of man-made objects are called fools. Such objects are also any talismans, medallions or popular miracle medallions, which have no power and are just a piece of sheet metal. Have God in your heart and not in talismans or medallions. People to this day kiss statues of Jesus placed in churches, and they are just pieces of wood.
God's heart bleeds with despair
(16) The portion of Jacob is not like them: for he is the former of all things; and Israel is the rod of his inheritance: The LORD of hosts is his name. (17) Gather up thy wares out of the land, O inhabitant of the fortress. (18) For thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will sling out the inhabitants of the land at this once, and will distress them, that they may find it so.
The Almighty repeatedly through the prophets and events admonished the hardened people of Israel. None of this helped. The last resort remained - to exile them from the inhabited land, so that they would turn their hearts to God during their captivity, for without this they would perish anyway during the Last Judgment, and thus at least some of them would be saved.
(19) Woe is me for my hurt! my wound is grievous; but I said, Truly this is a grief, and I must bear it. (20) My tabernacle is spoiled, and all my cords are broken: my children are gone forth of me, and they are not: there is none to stretch forth my tent any more, and to set up my curtains. (21) For the pastors are become brutish, and have not sought the LORD: therefore they shall not prosper, and all their flocks shall be scattered.
The heart of the Creator bleeds with despair. Let those who think God is insensitive and not guided by love be silent, this text clearly and clearly shows that God loves people, and that the fact that we suffer is only our fault. The Israelites failed because instead of loving their neighbor they were guided by evil in their lives, they came to such a decline that they burned their own sons and daughters to worship pagan gods. God intervened to save at least some of them.
(22) Behold, the noise of the bruit is come, and a great commotion out of the north country, to make the cities of Judah desolate, and a den of dragons.
Prophetic words written before Babylon invaded Judea and took the inhabitants captive. They didn't help! The people rejected Jeremiah's prophecy, just as they reject the prophecies of Scripture today.
(23) O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.
The answer to this question requires the establishment of a separate topic. The general thought is this: these words are about the way, the spiritual life, not the typical physical life. Only through God can you know Him, through His love you can love Him, even when you hate Him He will still try to make you believe in Him. However, He always leaves you free, it is up to you to decide whether you will follow the path of faith or atheism.
If we recognize the way of man in the physical sense it would mean that you don't decide where you are born, what kind of parents you have, when you die (except suicide, although drugs, overeating, etc. shorten life). To return to the Creator in the name of love, He may allow unhappiness in your life, which was directed so that you would be spiritually reborn and not lose eternal life.
Bottom line: you are free to live your own way, but even when you reject God, He loves you and will create situations in your life so that you will believe in Him. Unfortunately, the vast majority of humanity disregards God's call - just as the Judeans once disregarded Jeremiah's message.
(24) O LORD, correct me, but with judgment; not in thine anger, lest thou bring me to nothing. (25) Pour out thy fury upon the heathen that know thee not, and upon the families that call not on thy name: for they have eaten up Jacob, and devoured him, and consumed him, and have made his habitation desolate.
This text is difficult to interpret because of the word "with judgment - due measure" (other translations) occurring here. If God were to judge only justly then the Israelites were due death without giving slavery a chance, and thus a chance for spiritual rebirth, because the penalty for sin is death. God accepts prevailing evil until the Last Judgment, after which evil will be no more. The Israelites did so much evil that they surpassed the surrounding peoples in their debasement. The words "correct me - discipline me" (other translations) indicate that the sinful people would rather submit to the punishment that would come anyway than be delivered to total destruction. We know from history that Judea was conquered and 70 years had to pass before the Babylonian slaves could return to their homeland to rebuild it.
Nations that don't know God are nations that are guided by evil in their lives, they heard about God but didn't accept Him in favor of cruel idols to which human sacrifices were offered, and to top it off, these nations destroyed the land of Israel. Israel was surrounded by tribes that constantly attacked its territories knowing that they had a God who works miracles. A good example is the Philistines, who knew that God was with the Israelites, and yet they attacked them and snatched the Chest of the Covenant, only to then voluntarily send it back with a large ransom in gold. Today we have Israel, and of the countries that surrounded Israel then, only Egypt remains.
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