Jeremiah 6:21

Therefore thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will lay stumblingblocks before this people, and the fathers and the sons together shall fall upon them; the neighbour and his friend shall perish. STUMBLINGBLOCKS - instruments of the Jews' ruin (cf. , "Whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken;" , "A stone of stumbling, and ... a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel;" ). God Himself in judicial displeasure ("I") lays stumblingblocks before the reprobate, "even as they have not liked to retain God in their knowledge" (; ;...

Here God, in plain words, declares what vengeance he would execute on the people. He says first, that he would _lay for them stumbling blocks _He no doubt compares the judgments which were nigh to nets or traps; for the Jews hoped to escape. He therefore says, that they would be ensnared: “Wherever ye go, “he says, “ye shall meet with those nets by which God will catch you: _Fall, _therefore, shall _both fathers and sons, the neighbor and his friend _” He means by these words, that however they might conspire together, they would yet be exposed to the same punishment. For when sons follow the examples of their fathers, they think themselves innocent; and also when any one has many associates, he thinks himself safe in his licentiousness. As, then, consent or society hardens the ungodly, so that they fear not the wrath of God, the Prophet on this account includes sons with their fathers,...

18-30 God rejects their outward services, as worthless to atone for their sins. Sacrifice and incense were to direct them to a Mediator; but when offered to purchase a license to go on in sin, they provoke God. The sins of God's professing people make them an easy prey to their enemies. They dare not show themselves. Saints may rejoice in hope of God's mercies, though they see them only in the promise: sinners must mourn for fear of God's judgments, though they see them only in the threatenings. They are the worst of revolters, and are all corrupters. Sinners soon become tempters. They are compared to ore supposed to have good metal in it, but which proves all dross. Nothing will prevail to part between them and their sins. Reprobate silver shall they be called, useless and worthless. When warnings, corrections, rebukes, and all means of grace, leave men unrenewed, they will be left, as...

“Behold,” I give unto “this people” causes of stumbling, And they shall stumble against them: Fathers and sons together, “The neighbor and his friend shall perish.” This is the natural consequence of their conduct. Their service of Yahweh was a systematic hypocrisy: how then could they walk uprightly with their fellow-men? When God lays stumblingblocks in men’s way, it is by the general action of His moral law James 1:13, by which willful sin in one point reacts upon the whole moral nature James 2:10....

EXPOSITION A prophecy, in five stanzas or strophes, vividly describing the judgment and its causes, and enforcing the necessity of repentance. JEREMIAH 6:1 Arrival of a hostile army from the north, and summons to flee from the doomed city. JEREMIAH 6:1 O YE CHILDREN OF BENJAMIN. The political rank of Jerusalem, as the capital of the kingdom of Judah, makes it difficult to realize that Jerusalem was not locally a city of Judah at all. It belonged, strictly speaking, to the tribe of Benjamin, a tribe whose insignificance, in comparison with Judah, seems to have led to the adoption of a form of expression not literally accurate (see Psa 128:1-6 :68). The true state of the ease is evident from an examination of the two par

THEREFORE THUS SAITH THE LORD,.... Because of their immorality and hypocrisy, their contempt of his word, and confidence in legal rites and ceremonies: BEHOLD, I WILL LAY STUMBLINGBLOCKS BEFORE THIS PEOPLE; by which may be meant the judgments of God upon them, raising up enemies against them, and suffering them to invade their land; particularly the Assyrians, as the following words show. Moreover, the prophecies of the false prophets, and the doctrines which they were permitted to spread among the people, were snares and stumblingblocks unto them, they being given up to believe their lies, and to be hardened by them; nay, even true doctrines, the doctrines of justification and salvation by Christ, yea, Christ himself, were a rock of offence, and a stumbling stone to these people, Isaiah 8:14 AND THE FATHERS AND THE SONS TOGETHER SHALL FALL UPON THEM; or,

CHAPTER 6 _ 1. The call to the children of Benjamin (Jeremiah 6:1) _ 2. Corruption and the deserved judgment (Jeremiah 6:9) 3. The prophet addressed (Jeremiah 6:27) Jeremiah 6:1. The children of Benjamin are exhorted to flee for safety on account of the evil from the north. There were probably among the Benjamites God-fearing men. Those who heeded the call fled and escaped. It is a warning message which follows: “Be thou instructed, O Jerusalem, let my soul depart from thee; lest I make thee desolate, a land not inhabited.” But they heeded it not....

Jeremiah 6:16. OBEDIENCE MORE THAN SACRIFICE. Yahweh vainly bade the people stand at the parting of the ways (Hebrew, by the ways), and seek the ancient road to prosperity, that they may find repose for themselves. The watchmen-prophets have called in vain. Yahweh's teaching (law, not necessarily written) has been rejected. For these moral faults far-fetched offerings and many sacrifices do not atone; Yahweh will make the people stumble to their ruin. Jeremiah 6:16. saith should be said. This verse must not be taken in the spiritual sense of Matthew 11:29; the good is material well-being, the rest security, and your souls is no more than a reflexive pronoun here....

TOWER. watchtower; or, an assayer. TRY. assay (as an assayer of metals). WAY. Some codices read "heart"....

The third division. See introd. note to the ch....