Jeremiah 25:1

The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, that was the first year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon; FOURTH YEAR OF JEHOIAKIM - called the year in . But probably Jehoiakim was set on the throne by Pharaoh-necho on his return from Carchemish about July, whereas Nebuchadnezzar mounted the throne January 21, 604 BC; so that Nebuchadnezzar's first year was partly the third, partly the fourth of Jehoiakim. Here first Jeremiah gives specific dates. Nebuchadnezzar had previously entered Judea in the reign of his father Nabopolassar....

his prophecy no doubt preceded the vision which we have just explained, and which had just been presented to Jeremiah when Jehoiakim died, and when Zedekiah reigned in the place of Jeconiah; who, being the last king, was substituted for his nephew Jeconiah. But related now is the prophecy which Jeremiah was bidden to proclaim in the fourth year of Jehoiakim; and he reigned, as we shall hereafter see, eleven years. We hence conclude that his book is composed of various addresses, but that the order of time has not always been preserved. Now the sum of the whole is, that when God found that the people could not be amended and restored to a right mind by any warnings, he denounced final ruin both on the Jews and on all the neighboring nations: but why he included the heathens we shall hereafter see. He then says, that this prophecy was committed to him _in the fourth year of Jehoiakim; _and...

1-7 The call to turn from evil ways to the worship and service of God, and for sinners to trust in Christ, and partake of his salvation, concerns all men. God keeps an account how long we possess the means of grace; and the longer we have them, the heavier will our account be if we have not improved them. Rising early, points out the earnest desire that this people should turn and live. Personal and particular reformation must be insisted on as necessary to a national deliverance; and every one must turn from his own evil way. Yet all was to no purpose. They would not take the right and only method to turn away the wrath of God....

CHAPTER XXV _This chapter contains a summary of the judgments denounced by_ _Jeremiah against Judah, Babylon, and many other nations. It_ _begins with reproving the Jews for disobeying the calls of God_ _to repentance_, 1-7; _on which account their captivity, with that of other_ _neighbouring nations, during_ seventy _years, is foretold_, 8-11. _At the expiration of that period, (computing from the invasion_ _of Nebuchadnezzar in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, to the_ _famous edict of the first year of Cyrus,) an end was to be put_...

THE FOURTH YEAR - See Daniel 1:1 note. This invasion of Judaea, in which Daniel was carried captive to Babylon, was according to the date of the years the fourth, but according to the actual time the third, year of the Jewish king. Nebuchadnezzar was not yet fully king, but associated with his father Nabopalassar....

EXPOSITION This chapter may be illustrated by a comparison of it with Jeremiah 46:1. There Jeremiah exults ever the destruction of a nation (Egypt) which was one of the chief enemies of God's people, and on hearing or reading the inspired eloquence of the prophet the heart of a Jew could not but be moved with the liveliest sympathy. But it is another strain which meets us in this chapter, and one which to a Jew would certainly neutralize the favorable feelings which prophecies like that referred to must have awakened. Here Jeremiah announces that the last moment of grace for Judah is past, and the time for judgment come. The long-suffering of Jehovah has been exhausted; the fall of the commonwealth cannot any longer be delayed. Such was the strange destiny of the prophet; he was sent to "pull down" and "to build," but the destructive element (as...

THE WORD THAT CAME TO JEREMIAH CONCERNING ALL THE PEOPLE OF JUDAH,.... Not only in the city of Jerusalem, but in the whole land of Judea. This prophecy concerns them all; their repentance and reformation, to which they are exhorted; or their invasion, desolation, and captivity, with which they are threatened. Before the prophet was sent to the king of Judah only, Jeremiah 22:1; now to all the people: IN THE FOURTH YEAR OF JEHOIAKIM THE SON OF JOSIAH KING OF JUDAH; in the latter part of the third, and beginning of the fourth year of his reign; see Daniel 1:1; THIS [WAS] THE FIRST YEAR OF NEBUCHADREZZAR KING OF BABYLON: in which he began to reign with his father, for he reigned two years with him; who is the Nabopolassar of Ptolemy. This was in the year of the world 3397, an

CHAPTER 25 The Seventy Years' Captivity and the Judgment of the Nations _ 1. The retrospect (Jeremiah 25:1) _ 2. The seventy years' captivity announced (Jeremiah 25:8) 3. The punishment of Babylon and its king (Jeremiah 25:12) 4. The wine-cup of fury for the nations (Jeremiah 25:15) 5. The day of the LORD and wrath of God (Jeremiah 25:30) Jeremiah 25:1. The prophet in the fourth year o

JEREMIAH 25. THE SUPREMACY OF BABYLON OVER JUDAH AND THE NATIONS. Jeremiah 25:1. In the year 604 (after the Babylonian victory over Egypt at Carchemish, 605 B.C., _cf._ Jeremiah 46:2), Jeremiah publicly reviews his ministry (since 626; _cf._ Jeremiah 1:2)_._ which has failed to produce repentance (Jeremiah 25:1). As a result, Yahweh will bring the victorious Babylonians against both Judah and the surrounding peoples to lay them waste, and the supremacy of Babylon shall last seventy years. Jeremiah 25:10. the so

JEREMIAH'S SIXTEENTH PROPHECY (see book comments for Jeremiah). TO. Hebrew "upon". Some codices, with two early printed editions, Septuagint, and Vulgate, read "unto". ALL THE PEOPLE. the People at large. THE FOURTH YEAR OF JEHOIAKIM. An important date, being the first year of Nebuchadnezzar. See App-83 and App-86. THE FIRST YEAR, &C. See App-86. NEBUCHADREZZAR. Compare Jeremiah 21:2. BABYLON. Assyria not mentioned, for it had already fallen....