Глава 4

“If you return to Israel, says the Lord, you will return to Me.” God calls the people of Judah to repentance and terrifies them, announcing to the rebellious the great disasters that will befall them when foreign nations enter the land of Judah. “And if you prevent your abominations... from before Me” (Jer. 4:1), that is, you will take away idols and unclean gods - this is the work of your hands, and you will make amends for your sins that make you vile in My eyes. “Do not move,” that is, you will not be displaced from your country, but you will remain and live peacefully in your land. “And in Him all the nations shall be blessed” (Jer. 4:2), that is, in the seed of Abraham, which is Christ; in Him they will be glorified and justified, as it was foretold to Abraham. And this prophecy will be fulfilled when the pagans, having heeded your word, believe in Christ and reject the worship of idols. “This is what the Lord says to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: Light a lamp for yourself” (Jer. 4:3), that is, the law of the Lord. Have him before your eyes, and according to his direction direct your paths. This is similar to what is written in the book of Psalms: “A lamp for my feet and ... Your word” (Ps. 119:105). “And do not sow on thorns” (Jer. 4:3), do not bring gifts to idols that you yourself have made; You expected self-interest from them, and you became poor. “Circumcise the Lord's side, ...circumcise, not your flesh, but the foreskin of your heart. Let not My wrath go out like fire and consume your land” (Jer. 4:4), that is, through the Babylonians, who will come to devastate your fields and cities, and resettle the inhabitants of their homes to Babylon. “Sing with a trumpet to the earth” (Jer. 4:5), so that the inhabitants will hear, gather and enter the fortified cities. “Set up a sign for Zion” (Jer. 4:6), place a sign in the sight of the inhabitants of Zion and Jerusalem, because the time of devastation has come, and they must prepare for battle, or flee and go into resettlement. “Gird yourself in sackcloth” (Jer. 4:8); may be repentance and turn away disaster from yourself. “Sovereign Lord, food has deceived this people... river: will there be peace for you? And behold, the sword will pass even to their souls” (Jer. 4:10), that is, it kills and destroys the soul. The prophet says this, implying that the promise of peace previously given by the Lord to His people will be fulfilled and the people will indeed not perish, although they will not stop their vile deeds. Or the prophet, speaking in this way, does not seem to think that the fulfillment of this promise is delayed until the time when the Messiah comes and fulfills the predictions of the prophets; therefore, this word should not come into fulfillment before the coming of the Perfecter and Fulfiller of prophecies. “At this time it is spoken to this people and to Jerusalem: The spirit that wanders in the paths of the wilderness, the way of the daughters of My people, is not for purification, but for gathering: the spirit of fulfillment from these will come to Me.” Just as a farmer does not desire every wind for himself, but one that is more useful to him, so My people should seek one path of truth. However, he did not do so, but in his paths he became like the wandering wind and wanders in the desert, rushing to and fro like the whirling winds. Therefore, he did not purify his mind, and did not gather his acquisitions together, but they will soon be plundered and perish. “And now I will proclaim My judgments to them” (Jer. 4:11–12), that is, I will show them My judgments, those disasters that, according to the definition of God’s truth, await them for perseverance and resistance. “Behold, like a cloud come up,” that is, like a light cloud, the king of Babylon will fly over the land of Judah and attack, rushing at them with strong aspiration, with furious speed, “and like a whirlwind of his chariot, his horses are swifter than eagles” (Jer. 4:13). “The voice of the one proclaiming from Dan,” that is, from the city lying on the northern borders of Judea. From him will come the king of Babylon, coming out of Babylon, which also lies to the north of the land of Judah. “And the sickness will be heard from Mount Ephraim” (Jer. 4:15), that is, from the inner regions of the land of Judah. When the prophet mentions Mount Ephraim, then he shows that the Chaldeans are already coming from the borders of Dan and are approaching the very heritage of the Jews. This sad news causes grief and great fear among the Jews. “Cry out with your tongue... proclaim in Jerusalem that the strange people have gathered and are coming from a distant land and are sounding their voice against the cities of Judah” (Jer. 4:16). Proclaim, as they say, to Jerusalem and its neighboring tribes, proclaim the coming of the Chaldeans and the evil plan that the Chaldeans have planned against them. “My stomach, my stomach hurts me,” says the prophet, seeing that the Chaldeans are invading the land of Judea. “My belly hurts,” he says, either because the entrails of those who are perishing among his people seemed to move, or by the word entrails he means the fortified cities that defend Jerusalem, or the princes in charge of the city, because they are as necessary for the maintenance of the city as for the body of its entrails. “My heart is tormented and does not cease, because my soul heard the voice of the trumpet, the cry of the army” (Jer. 4:19). My heart trembles, my spirit becomes numb from the sadness and confusion that surrounds me, because I hear the cry of the army, I feel the approach of hordes rushing to battle. The prophet points out the sorrow of his heart and the danger threatening the people in order to awaken the Jews from the sleep in which they are immersed and from the wickedness to which they recklessly indulged; through fear of justice he wants to call the people to repentance. “Destruction (for destruction) is called” (Jer. 4:20), that is, after one messenger comes another, as it was said earlier that the prophet saw messengers who, one after another, gave information about the coming of the Babylonians, about their invasion of the land of Judea. The news they receive torment and crush the hearts of the Jews. Ezekiel also proclaimed the same thing: “there will be woes on mounts, and news will be given to news” (Ezekiel 7:26). “My habitation is desolate, my skin is destroyed” (Jer. 4:20), that is, fortifications and strong cities. “I looked at the earth, and behold, nothingness,” that is, emptiness and insignificance. During the time of peace, the Spirit shows Jeremiah the desolation of the land of Judea, just as Ezekiel, who lived during the desolation, showed the multitude of inhabitants in the land of Canaan, when after the Jews had emigrated from it, it was empty. “And into heaven, and there was no light thereof” (Jer. 4:23). Just as on the day of deliverance the light of the sun was sevenfold (Isa. 30:26), so during the captivity the stars will be darkened. "See, and behold, Carmel is empty". The Prophet calls Jerusalem either Carmel because of the multitude of inhabitants and the height of the mountains on which it is built; or the whole land of Judea, because of its fertility and abundance, likens Carmel, surrounded by fields and hills. “And all the cities were destroyed” (Jer. 4:26), that is, either the cities surrounding Jerusalem, or, as the prophet himself further shows, the cities of all Judea, numerous and populous. “What will you do, you desolate one? If you are clothed in scarlet, and adorned with gold, if you anoint your eyes with stevia (antimony)" (Jer. 4:30), that is, like a harlot who adorns herself in the pursuit of her shameless lust. The Prophet tells the people of Judah that captivity is close and inevitable, and shows that what they bring will not bring benefit to the Jews as a gift to idols, and they will not find help for their souls; their adornment is vain and their labor is in vain, and perhaps they themselves will recognize their foolishness only when the Babylonians come, overthrow them, and drag them into captivity. “The voice of the sick heard the groaning... like... I was giving birth." Points to the sorrow in which the land of Judea will be when its inhabitants leave, and likens this sorrow to the grave illnesses with which a woman in labor suffers when she is delivered from her fruit. "The voice of the daughter Zion, who is melting away, who has lowered her hands and says: Woe is me, for my soul disappears over the slain" ( Jer.4:31) This refers to the great destruction of the Jews by the Babylonians before and after their migration, as Jeremiah describes it at the end of his book. You might be interested in: