Jeremiah 32:35

And they built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin. CAUSE THEIR SONS ... TO PASS THROUGH THE FIRE - by way of purification, they passed through with bare feet (). MOLECH - meaning king; the same as Milcom (). I COMMANDED NOT. This cuts off from the superstitious the plea of a good intention. All "will-worship" exposes to God's wrath (; )....

After having complained of the profanation of his own Temple, God now says that the Jews had sinned through another superstition, even because the valley of the son of Hinnom had become to them a temple instead of the true one. God had forbidden in the Law sacrifices to be offered except where he appointed, “Thou shalt not do so to thy God, but thou shalt come to the place where he has put the memorial of his name.” (Deuteronomy 12:4) As God then had expressly testified that sacrifices are not acceptable to him except in one Temple, and on one altar, he shews here that the lawful worship had been corrupted by the Jews, even because they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire in honor to Molech. And yet in a former passage he calls him Baal. Hence it appears, as we said yesterday, that the word Baal includes all kinds of idols. For the

26-44 God's answer discovers the purposes of his wrath against that generation of the Jews, and the purposes of his grace concerning future generations. It is sin, and nothing else, that ruins them. The restoration of Judah and Jerusalem is promised. This people were now at length brought to despair. But God gives hope of mercy which he had in store for them hereafter. Doubtless the promises are sure to all believers. God will own them for his, and he will prove himself theirs. He will give them a heart to fear him. All true Christians shall have a disposition to mutual love. Though they may have different views about lesser things, they shall all be one in the great things of God; in their views of the evil of sin, and the low estate of fallen man, the way of salvation through the Saviour, the nature of true holiness, the vanity of the world, and the importance of eternal things. Whom...

The answer is divided into two parts; (a) Jeremiah 32:26, the sins of Judah are shown to be the cause of her punishment: (b) Jeremiah 32:36, this punishment was not for Judah’s destruction, but for her amendment. Jeremiah 32:28 I WILL GIVE - Or, I am giving. Jeremiah 32:30 FROM THEIR YOUTH - God’s mighty deeds for Israel began in Egypt J

EXPOSITION Jeremiah was far from wishing to depress his fellow countrymen to the point of disbelieving in the inalienable promises of God to Israel, He fully recognized an element of truth in the preaching of the "false prophets," viz. that Jehovah was still the God of his people Israel, though for wise purposes he chose to hide his face for a time. His own faith was intense, to the pitch of an even Roman heroism (see Livy, Jeremiah 26:11). The opportunity (or rather—see below—the fight) of purchasing a piece of ground at Anathoth was the occasion which called forth the most striking proof of his sublime confidence in God. Not that he understood how it could be God's will that he, in the besieged city, should constitute himself a landed proprietor. He had his difficulties; but instead of brooding over them, he laid them Before Jehovah in prayer. And the Divine revelation

AND THEY BUILT THE HIGH PLACES OF BAAL, WHICH [ARE] IN THE VALLEY OF THE SON OF HINNOM,.... Or "the high places of that Baal k, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom"; to distinguish him from other Baalim; and who seems to be the same with Molech after mentioned; and the signification of their names agree; the one is lord or master; the other king: TO CAUSE THEIR SONS AND THEIR DAUGHTERS TO PASS [THROUGH THE FIRE] UNTO MOLECH: the phrase, "through the fire", is not in the text; but is well enough supplied from other places, where it is. Some think that their infants were not burnt to death with fire, but only were held over the flame by way of lustration; or were made to pass between two fires, and so were purified and dedicated to the idol: WHICH I COMMANDED THEM NOT, NEITHER CAME IT INTO MY MIND THAT THEY SHOULD DO THIS ABOMINATION; Jeremiah 7:31

Jeremiah 32:6. _And Jeremiah, said, The word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Behold, Hanameel the son of Shallum thine uncle shall come unto thee, saying, Buy thee my field that is in Anathoth: for the right of redemption is thine to buy it._ God gave his servant an intimation of what was about to happen, so that he might know how to act. It did seem a very strange thing to come to a poor prophet in prison, and to ask him to buy a piece of land when the Chaldeans were in possession of it, and when there seemed to be no hope that he would ever see it. One said, «I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it;» but Jeremiah could not do this, for be was shut up in prison, and the enemy had possession of the field he was to buy. Still, the thing was of the Lord, and therefore it was right; and there is many an action which in itself might seem absurd, but which,

CHAPTER 32 Jeremiah in Prison _ 1. Shut up in the court of the prison (Jeremiah 32:1) _ 2. The revelation of the Lord concerning Hanameel (Jeremiah 32:6) 3. The prophet's prayer (Jeremiah 32:16) 4. Jehovah's answer (Jeremiah 32:26) Jeremiah 32:1. The siege of Jerusalem began in the ninth year of Zedekiah's reign. It was in the tenth year, a year later (Jeremiah 39:1) that we find Jeremiah in prison.

Yahweh answers the prophet by declaring the issue and cause of the present distress, and by promising (Jeremiah 32:36 ff.) the future restoration of the people to Palestine, where they shall dwell in religious unity and in prosperity. Most or all of this seems later than Jeremiah; _e.g._ Jeremiah 32:31 agrees with Ezekiel (Ezekiel 16), rather than with Jeremiah 32:43 presupposes the exile; Jeremiah 32:27 is irrelevant to the context. Jeremiah 32:29. _Cf._...

TO PASS THROUGH THE FIRE. Reference to Pentateuch (Leviticus 18:21). CAME IT INTO MY MIND. Compare Jeremiah 7:31; Jeremiah 19:5. SIN. Hebrew. _chata'._ App-44....