Jeremiah 10:10

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. TRUE GOD - literally, God Yahweh is truth: not merely true, i:e., veracious, but truth in the reality of His essence, as opposed to the "vanity" or emptiness which all idols are (; ; ; contrast "the true God," ; , "This is the true God and eternal life"). LIVING GOD - (, "As the Father hath life in Him...

The Prophet here exults and triumphs in the name of his God, as though he had overcome and put to flight the erroneous notions of the heathens: for he had spoken, as it appears, contemptuously of their gross errors, and shewed that the wise men of the world were extremely sottish, who were so charmed with wood and stone. He now highly extols the glory of God, and says, _But Jehovah is God; _that is, let the nations worship their gods, let them recite fables as to their power, and falsely ascribe to them many miracles; but _Jehovah, _he says, _is God _When all things are faithfully examined, it will appear evident that He is the only true God, and all the gods of the heathens will of themselves vanish into nothing. This then is the meaning of the Prophet, as though he had said, God himself is sumcient to put to flight all the errors of the heathens, when his majesty appears; for so great...

1-16 The prophet shows the glory of Israel's God, and exposes the folly of idolaters. Charms and other attempts to obtain supernatural help, or to pry into futurity, are copied from the wicked customs of the heathen. Let us stand in awe, and not dare provoke God, by giving that glory to another which is due to him alone. He is ready to forgive, and save all who repent and believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ. Faith learns these blessed truths from the word of God; but all knowledge not from that source, leads to doctrines of vanity....

Verse Jeremiah 10:10. _BUT THE LORD_] The original word should be preserved, however we agree to pronounce it: יהוה _Yehovah is the true God_. He is without beginning, and without end. This is _true_ of no being else. _HE_ IS _THE LIVING GOD_] His being is underived; and he gives _life_ to all. He is the very _Fountain_ whence all _life_ is derived. _AND AN EVERLASTING KING_] As he has _made_, so he _governs_, all things. His _sway_ is felt both in the heavens and in the earth. _AT HIS WRATH THE EARTH SHALL TREMBLE_] All storms, tempests, tornadoes, and earthquakes are the effects of his power; and when the _nations_ are destroyed, or turned upside down, it is the effect of his displeasure....

EXPOSITION Whoever wrote the prophecy in Jeremiah 10:1 of this chapter, it was not Jeremiah; but of course, as the passage forms part of a canonical book, its claims to the character of a Scripture remain the same as if it were the work of our prophet. It is obvious at the very outset that it interrupts the connection; verses 17-25 stand in no relation to verses 1-16, but attach themselves most naturally (see below) to the concluding verses of Jeremiah 9:1. The author tolls us himself, as clearly as he can, that the people whom he addresses are free as yet (or at any rate have freed themselves) from the guilt of idolatry, and consequently cannot be the same as those who are so severely chastised for their polytheism in...

BUT THE LORD IS THE TRUE GOD,.... In opposition to all nominal and fictitious deities, which are not by nature God, only by name, and in the foolish imagination of the people: or, "the Lord God is truth" t; that cannot lie, is true to his covenant and promises, and will never deceive those that worship and serve him, and rely upon him: HE IS THE LIVING GOD; that has life in himself, and is the author and giver of life to others; to all men natural life, to some men spiritual and eternal life; whereas the gods of the Gentiles have no life in themselves; are either dead men, or lifeless and inanimate things, stocks and stones, and can give no life to others. The words are in the plural number, "he is the living Gods"; not for the sake of honour and glory, as Kimchi observes; but as denoting a trinity of Persons in the unity of the divine essence: for though the words אלהים חיים, "living G...

Jeremiah 10:1. _Hear ye the word which the Lord speaketh unto you, O house of Israel: 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._ Among the heathen, if certain stars were in conjunction, it was considered unlucky; and certain days of the week were also regarded as unlucky, just as to this day, there are people who think that it is very unfortunate to commence anything on a Friday. There are a great many foolish superstitions floating about this silly world, but you Christian people should never allow such follies to have any influence upon you. Neither the fiends of hell, nor the stars of heaven, can ever injure those who put their trust in God. Jeremiah 10:3. For the customs of the

CHAPTER 10 The Vanity of Idols _ 1. Be not dismayed at the signs of heaven (Jeremiah 10:1) _ 2. The contrast: The vanity of idols and the Lord, the King of Nations (Jeremiah 10:6) 3. The affliction of the prophet and his prayer (Jeremiah 10:19) Jeremiah 10:1. The heathen paid attention to the signs of heaven, such as eclipses, comets, meteoric showers, etc. They were dismayed at these things. All they did, their customs and observances in connection with idol worship, was nothing but vanity. J

THE FOLLY OF IDOLATRY, This passage (like Jeremiah 9:23) interrupts the connexion of Jeremiah 9:22 and Jeremiah 10:17; its denunciation of the idols of the heathen as utterly futile for good or evil relates it to the times of Deutero-Isaiah (_cf._ Isaiah 44:11 ff.), and sharply distinguishes it from the denunciation of Israel's syncretistic worship, and the declaration of its penalty, found in Jeremiah 7-9. Israel is urged to hold aloof from the heathen religion of its environment. The idol is but a human product (Jeremiah 10:3 _mg._)

THE LIVING GOD. Both words in plural, referring to the triune God. EVERLASTING KING. king of the ages, or, of eternity....