Jeremiah 35:17

Therefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring upon Judah and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the evil that I have pronounced against them: because I have spoken unto them, but they have not heard; and I have called unto them, but they have not answered. BECAUSE I HAVE SPOKEN UNTO THEM, BUT THEY HAVE NOT HEARD ... I ... CALLED ... BUT THEY HAVE NOT ANSWERED - (; )....

The Prophet, after having shewn that the Jews were so condemned by the example of the Rechabites, that there was no defense for them, now adds, — that as the word of God had been to them useless, it would now be efficacious against them. This is the purport of the verse. _I have spoken to them, _says God; I will now speak to them no more, but I will speak against them, that is, I will command the Chaldeans, and they shall be my ministers and the executioners of my vengeance. We hence see the order which the Prophet has observed: he did not bring forward this final sentence, which is like a thunderbolt, until he had proved the Jews guilty. For this purpose was the comparison he made, when he said that the Rechabites had obeyed their father, and that the Jews had disregarded God’s Law and all the warnings given by the Prophets. _I will bring, _he says, upon Judah, and upon the inhabitants...

12-19 The trial of the Rechabites' constancy was for a sign; it made the disobedience of the Jews to God the more marked. The Rechabites were obedient to one who was but a man like themselves, and Jonadab never did for his seed what God has done for his people. Mercy is promised to the Rechabites. We are not told respecting the performance of this promise; but doubtless it was performed, and travellers say the Rechabites may be found a separate people to this day. Let us follow the counsels of our pious forefathers, and we shall find good in so doing....

Verse Jeremiah 35:17. _I WILL BRING UPON JUDAH AND UPON ALL THE INHABITANTS_ _OF JERUSALEM ALL THE EVIL_] Having, by the conduct of the Rechabites, clearly and fully convicted them of _ingratitude_ and _rebellion_, he now proceeds to pronounce sentence against them....

EXPOSITION The third member of this group of short prophecies. In it, Jeremiah points to the faithful obedience of the Rechabites, as putting to shame the infidelity of Judahites. It belongs obviously to the time before the arrival of Nebuchadnezzar, perhaps to the summer of B.C. 606. (See Dr. Plumptre's poem, "The House of the Rechabites," part 2, in 'Lazarus and other Poems.') JEREMIAH 35:2 THE HOUSE OF THE RECHABITES ("house" equivalent to "family"). From a notice in 1 Chronicles 2:55 it appears that the Rechabites were a subdivision of the Kenites, the nomad tribe so closely connected with the Israelites (Judges 1:16;...

THEREFORE THUS SAITH THE LORD GOD OF HOSTS, THE GOD OF ISRAEL,.... Provoked by such ill usage: BEHOLD, I WILL BRING UPON JUDAH, AND UPON ALL THE INHABITANTS OF JERUSALEM, ALL THE EVIL THAT I HAVE PRONOUNCED AGAINST THEM: which Abarbinel interprets of all the threatenings and curses in the law and the prophets respecting the Jews, until the times of Jeremiah; though it may more especially intend the evil, God by him had pronounced upon them; namely, that the Chaldean army should come into their land, besiege Jerusalem, and take it, and carry captive its inhabitants: BECAUSE I HAVE SPOKEN UNTO THEM, BUT THEY HAVE NOT HEARD; AND I HAVE CALLED UNTO THEM, BUT THEY HAVE NOT ANSWERED; he spoke to them by his prophets, he called to them in his providences, and took every method to warn them of their sin and danger, and bring them to repentance and reformation; but all to no purpose. The Targum...

CHAPTER 35 The Faithful Rechabites and the Unfaithful Jews _ 1. The command concerning the Rechabites (Jeremiah 35:1) _ 2. The lesson for the Jews (Jeremiah 35:12) The Rechabites were Kenites and were numbered with the children of Israel 1 Chronicles 2:55. During the reign of Jehoiakim the incident of this chapter happened. The critics may rave against the “unchronological” construction of Jeremiah jumping from one period into another, but there we see the guiding hand of the Spirit in the arrangement of these events. It is perfectly in order that this should come next to the chapter which relates the broken covenant. A careful reading and study of this chapter will bring

JEREMIAH 35. A LESSON IN OBEDIENCE FROM THE RECHABITES. These were the descendants of that Jonadab who, in 842, aided Jehu to overthrow the house of Ahab and the cult of Baal of Tyre (2 Kings 10:15 *); they were connected with the Kenites (1 Chronicles 2:55), from whom the worship of Yahweh may have passed to Israel (_cf._ Judges 1:16). The incident here described is to be dated _c._ 598 (_cf._ Jeremiah 35:11 with 2 Kings 24:2), _i.e._ after the events of Jeremiah 36....

THEREFORE WILL. BRING UPON JUDAH..... ALL THE EVIL THAT. HAVE PRONOUNCED AGAINST THEM. The threatenings of God, pronounced in Deut. chap. 28, by Isaiah, Jeremiah and other prophets, were all conditional. Blessings were promised for obedience; woes for disobedience. Now the national cup of iniquity was full, and the hour of destruction, long foretold, was at hand. In the hour when the temple should be desecrated by the Gentile and its sacred vessels carried away to Babylon, God bade them remember that these things had come "because he had spoken and they had not heard; called unto them and they had not answered." There is no greater insult than to treat the message of. king or. father as if he had not spoken; to meet it with silent contempt....

THE LORD GOD OF HOSTS, THE GOD OF ISRAEL. Jehovah Elohim Zeba'oth, Elohim of Israel. See App-4. This is the fullest (and therefore the most solemn) use of this Divine title. Occurs in this book only three times (here, Jeremiah 38:17, and Jeremiah 44:7). BEHOLD. Figure of speech _Asterismos_. App-6. Used to emphasize further what follows. EVIL. Hebrew. _ra'a'._ App-44....