In the southern and southwestern sides of Jerusalem is a valley which is mentioned several times in the Old Testament—the valley of the son of Hinnom. About 130 years before Jeremiah's visit to it, of which this chapter tells, a young man named. Ahaz, of the royal line of David, and the son of a God-fearing king, was ruling over the people of Judah. Among many wicked things which this young man did during the sixteen years of his reign—more wicked than any before him he burned incense (or offered burnt offerings) in this valley, and burned his sons in the fire, according to the abominations of the nations which were in the land of Canaan before Israel drove them out (2 Chronicles 28). If he was the first to do this, he was not the last, nor can we assume that his example was not followed by his people.
The grandson of Ahaz, Manasseh, outdid, in evil, his grandfather and the Amorites who possessed the land before Israel (2 Kings 21:1111Because Manasseh king of Judah hath done these abominations, and hath done wickedly above all that the Amorites did, which were before him, and hath made Judah also to sin with his idols: (2 Kings 21:11)); he, too, caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom (2 Chronicles 83:6).
Manasseh's grandson, Josiah, did much to destroy the results of his grandfather's wickedness; it is recorded of him that he defiled Topheth which is in the valley of the sons of Hinnom, that no man might cause his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to Molech (2 Kings 28:10). Nevertheless, though Josiah was unequaled in regard for God and His Word by any king before him, the anger of God against Judah was not turned away. He had declared during Manasseh’s reign, that He would empty Jerusalem and turn over Judah and Benjamin to their enemies (2 Kings 21:10-1510And the Lord spake by his servants the prophets, saying, 11Because Manasseh king of Judah hath done these abominations, and hath done wickedly above all that the Amorites did, which were before him, and hath made Judah also to sin with his idols: 12Therefore thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Behold, I am bringing such evil upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whosoever heareth of it, both his ears shall tingle. 13And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab: and I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipeth a dish, wiping it, and turning it upside down. 14And I will forsake the remnant of mine inheritance, and deliver them into the hand of their enemies; and they shall become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies; 15Because they have done that which was evil in my sight, and have provoked me to anger, since the day their fathers came forth out of Egypt, even unto this day. (2 Kings 21:10‑15)), and, while Scripture is silent about it, it is evident that Josiah's outstanding piety was not shared by his people; it was certainly not imitated by his sons who reigned after hint until the end of the kingdom of Judah.
To the valley of such evil record, Jeremiah. led the elders of the people and the elders of the priests, bearing with him a potter's earthen bottle or flagon (the Hebrew word is translated "cruse" in 1 Kings 11:33And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart. (1 Kings 11:3)), and there he laid before them a fresh message from God concerning the fearful guilt of the nation, and the unexampled judgment about to fall upon them. The valley should be renamed the valley of slaughter, and the city should become an astonishment and a hissing to everyone that passed by because of what was befallen it.
A siege was coming in which the inhabitants of Jerusalem would be reduced, because of the scarcity of food, to eating the flesh of their sons and daughters and friends. This was the siege which resulted in Nebuchadnezzar’s carrying off to Babylon as his prisoners what were left of the Jews, and in his causing the city to be desolated.
Jeremiah's breaking' the flagon in the sight of his hearers was an indication of what God would do with Judah and Jerusalem, as a potter's vessel is broken, that cannot be made whole again. Topheth, in the valley, where idolatrous fires had burned, was to be a burying ground until there was no place to bury there. Jerusalem itself, the city where God had put His name and tokens of His presence, would be as Topheth.
It would he refreshing- to find that even one of those who that day listened to the prophet's words, was touched in his conscience and humbled before God, sought pardon for his sins. It would seem however, that there was no such happy result, rather that all returned to the city more than ever determined to continue as they had been.
Jeremiah took his place in the court of the temple on his return from the valley, and testified in the name of his Master, "Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God Of Israel," (would none heed a word from Him to Whom they owed everything they had?), "Behold, I will bring upon this city and upon all her cities, all the evil that have spoken against it, for they have hardened their necks not to hear My words!" What return did this bring? Chapter 20 tells.