JEREMIAH. This is the second of the “greater prophets,” the other two being Ezekiel and Daniel. Jeremiah was of priestly descent, his father being Hilkiah, one of the priests residing in the Levitical town of Anathoth, four miles north-east of Jerusalem. The name Hilkiah was a common enough one among the Jews, so we cannot say that the high priest of that name who found the copy of the law in the Temple was the father of our prophet. Jeremiah was ordained a prophet to the nations before his birth, and was early called to the office (Chapter 1:5-7)—about 130 years after the call of Isaiah—which he occupied for the long period of 42 years, uttering his predictions in and about the metropolis of Judea, then, on the capture of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans, among the remnant spared, who, spite of the faithful remonstrances of the prophet, went down into Egypt, (chaps. 43, 44.) These prophecies in our English Bibles, as also in the Hebrew, are arranged—(by whom we cannot tell, probably by Ezra,) without regard to chronological order. But whoever was the editor of Jeremiah’s weeping prophecies, for almost “every letter is written with a tear, and every word is the sound of a broken heart,” must have been divinely directed; for the moral order and connection of the various prophecies to each other is evidently of God. In the Sept. they are arranged chronologically. The last verse of the 51St Chapter ends with “Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.” The last Chapter of the book is not written by Jeremiah, but is an historical appendix substantially the same as 2 Kings 24:18-20;2518Zedekiah was twenty and one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 19And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that Jehoiakim had done. 20For through the anger of the Lord it came to pass in Jerusalem and Judah, until he had cast them out from his presence, that Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. (2 Kings 24:18‑20)
18And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the door: 19And out of the city he took an officer that was set over the men of war, and five men of them that were in the king's presence, which were found in the city, and the principal scribe of the host, which mustered the people of the land, and threescore men of the people of the land that were found in the city: 20And Nebuzar-adan captain of the guard took these, and brought them to the king of Babylon to Riblah: (2 Kings 25:18‑20) and equally given by inspiration of God, and needful in its place. It is only in this book, so far as we know, that the duration of the Chaldean kingdom is given, as also the duration of Judah’s captivity in Babylon (Chapter 25:9-14; 29:10). Daniel was a devout student of these very prophecies, especially of those portions just referred to (Daniel 9:22In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem. (Daniel 9:2)). We may observe that Chapter 10:1 1 Contains a message to the heathen written in their own language—the Chaldee.
LAMENTATIONS. It is self-evident that this book is from the pen of Jeremiah. The Septuagint has the following passage, “And it came to pass after that Israel was taken captive, and Jerusalem was laid waste, that Jeremiah sat weeping and lamented this lamentation over Jerusalem!’ These strains of anguish uttered over the success of the Chaldean attack upon Jerusalem, and the consequent desolation of city and people, are most touchingly expressed. The book originally constituted one work with the prophecies of Jeremiah. The structure of the book is worth noticing. The first, second, and fourth chapters each contain 22 verses, and are, in the original, arranged alphabetically according to the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The third Chapter of 66 verses is also alphabetic in structure, only there are three verses to each letter. The fifth Chapter consists of 22 verses, but is not arranged as the others. Several of the psalms are of similar structure, proof of God’s tender compassion for the feeble minds and failing memories of His poor people.
EZEKIEL. Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel were contemporary prophets; the two former were priests, while the latter was of the seed royal of Judah. Jeremiah prophesied amongst the poor of the people who were spared and left in the land through the clemency of the Chaldean conqueror, and afterward in Egypt, whither the miserable remnant of the nation fled after the murder of Gedaliah the Babylonian governor of Judea. Ezekiel lifted up his voice, and by sign and word warned the exiled portion of Judea in the land of Mesopotamia as also considerable numbers of the ten tribes transported thither at an earlier period. Daniel interpreted the visions and dreams of the heathen monarch in Babylon itself, and there too were communicated to him those visions and prophecies which most of all concern the European and other Gentiles in relation to the Jews.
The complete subversion of the kingdom of Judah and the deportation of her king, princes, priests, and people were effected by the Chaldeans on three separate occasions. In the year 599 B.C. Jehoiachin,— second last king of Judah,—after a brief reign of but three months was taken captive along with the principal people of the land, including Ezekiel (2 Kings 24) Seven years previously Jehoiakim with Daniel and other members of the royal family had been removed to the proud and haughty court of the Gentile in Babylon. The third captivity 2 Kings 25, eleven years after the second and 18 years after the first, completed the ruin of Judah. Our prophet was located on the banks of the river Chebar a considerable distance from the capital. The most distinguished of the Judah exiles flocked again and again to the prophet’s dwelling at Tel Abib, (chaps. 8:1; 16:1; 21:1; 33), and there the burning and eloquent lips of the exiled seer and priest uttered the word of the Lord. The prophecies contained in the book were proclaimed during a period of 22 years (Chapter 1;2), although the prophet’s forced exile lasted 27 years (Chapter 29:17). Christ, Daniel and Ezekiel are the only persons termed “Son of Man in the Scriptures, the latter about too times. We do not agree with those who consider this book a difficult one to understand; in our judgment it is the reverse. The first 24 chapters contain chronologically arranged prophecies bearing upon the Chaldean invasion of Judea and capture and sack of Jerusalem, 588 B.C. Then you have the destruction of those nations who participated in the attack or rejoiced in the ruin of Judah, (Chapter 25-32). Lastly, Israel herself and her future great enemy Gog or the northern power (Russia) are judged, with particulars of the millennial temple and throne, and details of an interesting kind occupying the closing chapters of the book (chaps. 33-48).
DANIEL. This prophet was taken to Babylon nearly 20 years before the final Chaldean attack upon Jerusalem and sack of the city; and, as he survived the captivity, which was 70 years, even to the third year of the reign of Cyrus, the founder of the Persian Empire (Chapter 10:1), he must have been taken captive when very young, and hence could not have shared the national guilt to any considerable extent; but this very consideration gives weight and solemnity to his confession of national sin (Chapter 9). From the setting aside of Jerusalem and substitution of Babylon as the center of Divine government on the earth, we date “the times of the Gentiles,” that is, until the Jew is again taken up in sovereign grace, the government of the earth has been handed over to the Gentiles. This government exercised through the four successive Gentile monarchies is the great subject of this book. It is an interesting circumstance that that portion of the book from verse 4 of Chapter 2 Till the close of Chapter 7 is in the Syriac or Aramean language, that being the tongue spoken by the Babylonians and the Assyrians—the two powers employed in the captivity of all Israel. In that portion we have divinely sketched the rise, progress and doom of Gentile power. Thus not Hebrew, but Syriac is the selected tongue, so that the Gentiles could read for themselves and were thus without excuse.
The style and character of the four greater prophets present striking contrasts. Isaiah is grand, Jeremiah is tearful, Ezekiel is energetic, Daniel is calm. When the Spirit of God selects any instrument to accomplish His work, the individuality of the chosen vessel is in fullest accord with the Spirit’s inspiration.
(To be continued.)
Ezekiel 31:6; Matthew 13:32
The moral perfectness of Christ displayed in what He was and in what He did. All went up to God as a sweet savor
Leviticus 2:2; Leviticus 2-6
Deuteronomy 4:20; Isaiah 48:10
Matthew 13:42, 50; Revelation 1:15
The kingdoms and powers of the world
Revelation 3:4; 16:16; Exodus 28:40-43
Genesis 19:1; Revelation 21:12, 13
Open gate denotes security
Isaiah 60:11; Revelation 21:25
Prepared and ready for service
Revelation 15:6; Psalms 109:19; Exodus 29:9
Practical preservative from evil
Alexander the Macedonian king
The living wicked at Christ’s return
Historically, the future Russian prince and his land; thus literally to be understood
The wicked on the earth at the close of the millennial reign; thus symbolically to be understood
Divine glory, Divine righteousness, Divine nature of the Lord
Apostates ready for judgment
Numbers 13:33; Isaiah 40:22
Prosperity of a temporary character
James 1:10, 11; Revelation 8:7; Isaiah 40:6, 7; 1 Peter 1:24
Sudden and severe judgment
Isaiah 30:30; Ezekiel 13:13; Joshua 10:11
Subjection. The woman’s glory
1 Corinthians 11:15; Revelation 9:8
Masculine energy and dignity
1 Corinthians 11:14; Numbers 6:18, 19
Christ’s personal place of power and favor
Security. Power and judgment
Psalms 16:8; Exodus 15:6; 21:8
A corrupting religious system or people
Ezekiel 16; Hosea; Revelation 17:5; Jeremiah 3:1-10
Matthew 13:30; Revelation 14:15; Joel 3:13
Matthew 9:37, 38; John 4:35
Seat of moral government, intelligence, and power
Isaiah 7:8, 9; 9:14, 15; Genesis 49:26; Zechariah 6:11; 1 Corinthians 11:3-10
Seat of the feelings, affections, and understanding
Proverbs 6:18; Luke 6:45; Hosea 7:11; Luke 24:25; John 12:40; Colossians 3:16
Scene of authority and light
Matthew 24:29; Revelation 6:13; 8:10
Divine certainty of salvation
Ephesians 6:17; 1 Thessalonians 5:8
The moral judgment of evil according to God
Deuteronomy 33:15; Psalms 125:1, 2