26 Looking, I saw that the fertile field was a waste, and all its towns were broken down before the Lord and before his burning wrath.
And that all the land is a salt and smoking waste, not planted or giving fruit or clothed with grass, but wasted like Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, on which the Lord sent destruction in the heat of his wrath: Truly all the nations will say, Why has the Lord done so to this land? what is the reason for this great and burning wrath? Then men will say, Because they gave up the agreement of the Lord, the God of their fathers, which he made with them when he took them out of the land of Egypt: And they went after other gods and gave them worship, gods who were strange to them, and whom he had not given them: And so the wrath of the Lord was moved against this land, to send on it all the curse recorded in this book: Rooting them out of their land, in the heat of his wrath and passion, and driving them out into another land, as at this day.
The Lord of armies has said to me secretly, Truly, numbers of great and fair houses will be waste, with no one living in them. For ten fields of vines will only give one measure of wine, and a great amount of seed will only give a small measure of grain.
In that day will the Lord take away the hair of the head and of the feet, as well as the hair of the face, with a blade got for a price from the other side of the River; even with the king of Assyria. And it will be in that day that a man will give food to a young cow and two sheep; And they will give so much milk that he will be able to have butter for his food: for butter and honey will be the food of all who are still living in the land. And it will be in that day that in every place where before there were a thousand vines valued at a thousand shekels of silver, there will be nothing but blackberries and thorns. Men will come there with bows and arrows, because all the land will be full of blackberries and thorns. And they will send out the oxen and the sheep on all the hills which before were worked with the spade, ... fear of blackberries and thorns.
Judah is weeping and its doors are dark with sorrow, and people are seated on the earth clothed in black; and the cry of Jerusalem has gone up. Their great men have sent their servants for water: they come to the holes and there is no water to be seen; they come back with nothing in their vessels; they are overcome with shame and fear, covering their heads. Those who do work on the land are in fear, for there has been no rain on the land, and the farmers are shamed, covering their heads. And the roe, giving birth in the field, lets her young one be uncared for, because there is no grass. And the asses of the field on the open hilltops are opening their mouths wide like jackals to get air; their eyes are hollow because there is no grass.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Jeremiah 4
Commentary on Jeremiah 4 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 4
It should seem that the first two verses of this chapter might better have been joined to the close of the foregoing chapter, for they are directed to Israel, the ten tribes, by way of reply to their compliance with God's call, directing and encouraging them to hold their resolution (v. 1, 2). The rest of the chapter concerns Judah and Jerusalem.
Jer 4:1-2
When God called to backsliding Israel to return (ch. 3:22) they immediately answered, Lord, we return; now God here takes notice of their answer, and, by way of reply to it,
Jer 4:3-4
The prophet here turns his speech, in God's name, to the men of the place where he lived. We have heard what words he proclaimed towards the north (ch. 3:12), for the comfort of those that were now in captivity and were humbled under the hand of God; let us now see what he says to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, who were now in prosperity, for their conviction and awakening. In these two verses he exhorts them to repentance and reformation, as the only way left them to prevent the desolating judgments that were ready to break in upon them. Observe,
Jer 4:5-18
God's usual method is to warn before he wounds. In these verses, accordingly, God gives notice to the Jews of the general desolation that would shortly be brought upon them by a foreign invasion. This must be declared and published in all the cities of Judah and streets of Jerusalem, that all might hear and fear, and by this loud alarm be either brought to repentance or left inexcusable. The prediction of this calamity is here given very largely, and in lively expressions, which one would think should have awakened and affected the most stupid. Observe,
Jer 4:19-31
The prophet is here in an agony, and cries out like one upon the rack of pain with some acute distemper, or as a woman in travail. The expressions are very pathetic and moving, enough to melt a heart of stone into compassion: My bowels! my bowels! I am pained at my very heart; and yet well, and in health himself, and nothing ails him. Note, A good man, in such a bad world as this is, cannot but be a man of sorrows. My heart makes a noise in me, through the tumult of my spirits, and I cannot hold my peace. Note, The grievance and the grief sometimes may be such that the most prudent patient man cannot forbear complaining.
Now, what is the matter? What is it that puts the good man into such agitation? It is not for himself, or any affliction in his family that he grieves thus; but it is purely upon the public account, it is his people's case that he lays to heart thus.