Jeremiah 10:16

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. PORTION - from a Hebrew root, 'to divide' [ cheeleq (H2506), from chaalaq (H2505)]. God is the all-sufficient Good of His people (Numbers 18:20, "The Lord spake unto, Aaron ... I am thy part and thine inheritance;" Psalms 16:5; Lamentations 3:24). NOT LIKE THEM - not like the idols, a vain object of trust ...

We have said before, that superstitions cannot be from the heart and boldly rejected, except the true God be known; for the heathens, even when they disapproved of the opinions of the vulgar, yet reasoned on both sides, and knew nothing certain, and had no sure faith. It is, therefore, necessary that we should have previously a knowledge of the true God. Hence the Prophets, whenever they spoke of idols, spoke also of the true God; for it would have been to little purpose to condemn these follies, except they represented God in his own real dignity. For this reason the Prophet says again, that God, who is the portion of Israel, is not like idols. He calls God the portion of Israel, that he might preserve the people in the pure truth of the law which they had learnt, and with which they had been favored; and thus he draws away the attention of the Israelites from all the inventions of men...

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 10:16. _THE PORTION OF JACOB_ IS _NOT LIKE THEM_] Every nation had its tutelary god; this was its _portion_; in reference to this God says Deuteronomy 4:19, "He has divided the sun, moon, and stars, to all the nations under the heaven." And the Lord had taken the Israelites to be his _portion_; for "the Lord's portion is his people," Deuteronomy 32:9, and David says, "The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance," Psalms 16:5; Psalms 119:57. And hence Isaiah terms the smooth stones of th...

THE PORTION, OF JACOB - i. e., Yahweh. He is not like gods made by a carpenter and goldsmith. OF ALL THINGS - literally, of the all, the universe. THE ROD OF HIS INHERITANCE - See Psalms 74:2; compare Isaiah 63:17. The rod is the scepter, and Israel the people over whom Yahweh especially rules....

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...

THE PORTION OF JACOB IS NOT LIKE THEM,.... Like those idols, vain, and the work of errors, or shall perish; even the true God, who is the portion of his people, of Jacob, whom he has chosen and redeemed; who call themselves by the name of Jacob, and are Israelites indeed, and plain hearted ones; and who have seen the insufficiency of all other portions, and the excellency of this; for there is none like it, none so large, so rich, so satisfying, and so durable; for God is the portion of his, in all the perfections of his nature, which all, some way or other, are for their good and advantage; and in all his persons, and under every character; even all he has is theirs, now and hereafter: FOR HE IS THE FORMER OF ALL THINGS: which idols are not, being the maker of creatures themselves; wherefore the Creator must be a better portion than they; and as he has all things at his dispose, he bes...

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._)