Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 31:35
Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, [and] the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The LORD of hosts [is] his name:
35. stirreth up, etc.] The converse sense stilleth (mg.) although representing a Heb. root identical in consonants with that in the text (found e.g. in Jer 50:34, “give rest”) is here indefensible.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
35 37. Many hold these vv. to be by a writer of later date than Jeremiah, because ( a) the vehemence of their national tone exceeds the prophet’s ordinary form of expression, ( b) they present a good many points of contact with 2 Isaiah (Isa 40:12; Isa 40:26; Isa 42:5; Isa 44:24 ff; Isa 45:7; Isa 45:18; Isa 54:9 f.), ( c) Jer 31:37 at any rate seems to have been a marginal gloss, the LXX placing it before Jer 31:35, ( d) the style is unmetrical, ( e) they can hardly have been spoken by Jeremiah as his climax to the prophecy of the New Covenant. Obviously, however, they might still be a genuine fragment inserted here from another context. On the whole the case remains doubtful.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
35 40. See introd. summary to the section.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Divideth … – Rather, stirreth up the sea so that its waves roar.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Jer 31:35
Thus saith the Lord, which giveth.
., the stars for a light by night.
Stars at midnight
(with Joh 16:32):–Two things, said Kant, fill the mind with ever new and increasing admiration and awe the oftener and the more steadily we reflect on them: the starry heavens above, and the moral law within. Certainly there are few sights more impressive than the starry heavens. But the stars, in addition to the influence they produce upon the mind of the beholder by their number and magnitude and beauty, serve a practical and a useful purpose in the system to which they belong. They help to guide the mariner to steer his course, and the traveller to discern his way. The darkness is never overwhelming so long as the stars are visible. The sailor who has come within sight of the lights which skirt the coast knows that he is not far from hospitable shores. So the stars convey to us the intimation and the assurance that we are not far from home. Between the dark side of nature and the dark side of human life is there not a striking analogy? Are not our lives a succession of days and nights? Do we not spend our existence partly in the sunshine and partly in the gloom? That He who has done so much for the dark side of nature, kindling those soft fires which enlighten the prevalent gloom and shed their benign influences upon the world beneath, should have done nothing to brighten the dark side of human life so as to preclude despair is a suggestion against which all our spiritual instincts rise in quick and emphatic revolt. But our Creator has not, we repeat, left us in unrelieved darkness. So the dark side of human life is never utterly dark, for there are stars shining somewhere in the darkness. It was into the deepening gloom that Christ passed as He drew nearer Calvary. And yet, midnight as it then was with Jesus, there were stars shining overhead. What were the sources of illumination and strength of which Christ availed Himself?
1. The power of communion with God I am alone, and yet not alone, for the Father is with Me. The Father was with the Son in approval of His work and in an identity of purpose. A consciousness of a deep underlying agreement with the Supreme will was a source of never-failing strength to Christ in the sacred task which He had undertaken. And never was Christ more conscious of the Fathers smile than when the world was most emphatically hostile. And so, no matter how dark it is if only we can maintain our communion with God–if only we have continued to us the Divine fellowship. Should the world forsake us, we shall be able to stand alone if the Father is with us.
2. The power of persevering prayer was another source of light and strength to Christ. The stars are always visible from the high vantage-ground of prayer. The heavens are never wholly dark to him who can repeat the hallowed name. And this was partly the secret of the strength which animated Christ as He passed through the thick darkness, that He ofttimes resorted thither. He had accustomed Himself to pray. I have meat to eat, He said, that ye know not of. It is well to learn to pray if it is only that we may learn how to stand alone. The time will come when the things upon which we have leaned will no longer afford us any support; when our health will fail us; when the ties which bind us to friends and loved ones will be severed. But he who has learned to pray has found a companionship in solitude which shall avail him in all the lonely crises of his life. It is not that, having found God, we can afford to part with everything else. But it is that, having found Him, we have found the true basis and guarantee of life. The darkness that overtakes us, be it what it may, is only temporary and precedent to the dawn. We have found the pathway of the stars.
3. The power of faiths great anticipation was another source of light and strength to our Saviour. He anticipated the Cross? Yes. But He anticipated the Crown also. To the eye of sight the Cross was a repulsive object; to the eye of faith it was the tree of life in the midst of the garden. He said to Himself, The Cross will not be the end, but the beginning of My influence and power for good in this world, and through the sacrifice which I am about to make I shall transform the very gates of death into the gates of life! These, then, were the great hopes, the high anticipations, shining like stars in the midnight sky, which sustained Christ in the darkness in which He found Himself. Have faith in God, and that faith, like a great pilot-star, shall light you over the roughest sea and in the darkest night. (T. Sanderson.)
.
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
The word is here ill translated divide, which hath led some interpreters to think that God here hath a respect to his dividing the Red Sea, that the Israelites might pass over, which seemeth not at all here to be intended. The word indeed signifieth to divide, but it also signifieth to quiet and bring to rest, and is so interpreted, Jer 50:34; Isa 34:14, and in this very chapter, Jer 31:2, and doubtless were better here translated, which quieteth the sea when the waves thereof roar. All the acts mentioned are acts speaking the Divine almighty power of him who is the Lord of all the regiments in the hosts of the creation.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
35. divideth . . . sea when . . .waves . . . roar . . . Lord of hosts . . . namequoted from Isa51:15, the genuineness of which passage is thus established onJeremiah’s authority.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Thus saith the Lord, which giveth the sun for a light by day,…. As he did at first, and still continues it; and which is a wonderful gift of nature he bestows on men, unworthy of such a favour, Mt 5:45;
[and] the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night; which have a settled regular order and course, in which they move; and whereby they impart the light they borrow from the sun, to enlighten the world by night; which is another favour to the inhabitants of it; see Ge 1:16;
which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; some refer this, as Kimchi, to the dividing of the Red sea for the Israelites to pass over; but it rather respects an action more frequently done; and should be rendered, which “stilleth”, or “maketh the sea quiet” o; which best agrees with what follows; when it is tumultuous, and threatens the loss of ships and men’s lives, and attempts to pass its bounds, he “rebukes it”; so the Targum; and makes it a calm; he stilleth the noise of the seas, the noise of their waves, Ps 65:7;
the Lord of hosts [is] his name; that has all the armies of heaven and earth at his command, and can do whatever he pleases; he, and he only, can do the above things, and does them; and he that can do them, is able to make good the covenant he has made with the house of Israel, and fulfil the promises of it, of which there is an assurance; as well as he is able to secure an interest and a church for himself unto the end of the world, as the following words show.
o “quiescere cogit mare, etsi fluctus ejus fremuerunt”, Gussetius, p. 778. So some in Gataker; “quo mari interminante sedantur fluctus ejus”, Syr. Interpr.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
| Evangelical Promises; The Rebuilding of Jerusalem. | B. C. 594. |
35 Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The LORD of hosts is his name: 36 If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the LORD, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever. 37 Thus saith the LORD; If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the LORD. 38 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that the city shall be built to the LORD from the tower of Hananeel unto the gate of the corner. 39 And the measuring line shall yet go forth over against it upon the hill Gareb, and shall compass about to Goath. 40 And the whole valley of the dead bodies, and of the ashes, and all the fields unto the brook of Kidron, unto the corner of the horse gate toward the east, shall be holy unto the LORD; it shall not be plucked up, nor thrown down any more for ever.
Glorious things have been spoken in the foregoing verses concerning the gospel church, which that epocha of the Jewish church that was to commence at the return from captivity would at length terminate in, and which all those promises were to have their full accomplishment in. But may we depend upon these promises? Yes, we have here a ratification of them, and the utmost assurance imaginable given of the perpetuity of the blessings contained in them. The great thing here secured to us is that while the world stands God will have a church in it, which, though sometimes it may be brought very low, shall yet be raised again, and its interests re-established; it is built upon a rock, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Now here are two things offered for the confirmation of our faith in this matter–the building of the world and the rebuilding of Jerusalem.
I. The building of the world, and the firmness and lastingness of that building, are evidences of the power and faithfulness of that God who has undertaken the establishment of his church. He that built all things at first is God (Heb. iii. 4), and the same is he that makes all things now. The constancy of the glories of the kingdom of nature may encourage us to depend upon the divine promise for the continuance of the glories of the kingdom of grace, for this is as the waters of Noah, Isa. liv. 9. Let us observe here,
1. The glories of the kingdom of nature, and infer thence how happy those are that have this God, the God of nature, to be their God for ever and ever. Take notice, (1.) Of the steady and regular motion of the heavenly bodies, which God is the first mover and supreme director of: He gives the sun for a light by day (v. 35), not only made it at first to be so, but still gives it to be so; for the light and heat, and all the influences of the sun, continually depend upon its great Creator. He gives the ordinances of the moon and stars for a light by night; their motions are called ordinances both because they are regular and by rule and because they are determined and under rule. See Job xxxviii. 31-33. (2.) Take notice of the government of the sea, and the check that is given to its proud billows: The Lord of hosts divides the sea, or (as some read it) settles the sea, when the waves thereof roar (divide et impera–divide and rule); when it is most tossed God keeps it within compass (Jer. v. 22), and soon quiets it and makes it calm again. The power of God is to be magnified by us, not only in maintaining the regular motions of the heavens, but in controlling the irregular motions of the seas. (3.) Take notice of the vastness of the heavens and the unmeasurable extent of the firmament; he must needs be a great God who manages such a great world as this is; the heavens above cannot be measured (v. 37), and yet God fills them. (4.) Take notice of the mysteriousness even of that part of the creation in which our lot is cast and which we are most conversant with. The foundations of the earth cannot be searched out beneath, for the Creator hangs the earth upon nothing (Job xxvi. 7), and we know not how the foundations thereof are fastened, Job xxxviii. 6. (5.) Take notice of the immovable stedfastness of all these (v. 36): These ordinances cannot depart from before God; he has all the hosts of heaven and earth continually under his eye and all the motions of both; he has established them, and they abide, abide according to his ordinance, for all are his servants,Psa 119:90; Psa 119:91. The heavens are often clouded, and the sun and moon often eclipsed, the earth may quake and the sea be tossed, but they all keep their place, are moved, but not removed. Herein we must acknowledge the power, goodness, and faithfulness of the Creator.
2. The securities of the kingdom of grace inferred hence: we may be confident of this very thing that the seed of Israel shall not cease from being a nation, for the spiritual Israel, the gospel church, shall be a holy nation, a peculiar people, 1 Pet. ii. 9. When Israel according to the flesh is no longer a nation the children of the promise are counted for the seed (Rom. ix. 8) and God will not cast off all the seed of Israel, no, not for all that they have done, though they have done very wickedly, v. 37. He justly might cast them off, but he will not. Though he cast them out from their land, and cast them down for a time, yet he will not cast them off. Some of them he casts off, but not all; to this the apostle seems to refer (Rom. xi. 1), Hath God cast away his people? God forbid that we should think so! For (v. 5) at this time there is a remnant, enough to save the credit of the promise that God will not cast off all the seed of Israel, though many among them throw away themselves by unbelief. Now we may be assisted in the belief of this by considering, (1.) That the God that has undertaken the preservation of the church is a God of almighty power, who upholds all things by his almighty word. Our help stands in his name who made heaven and earth, and therefore can do any thing. (2.) That God would not take all this care of the world but that he designs to have some glory to himself out of it; and how shall he have it but by securing to himself a church in it, a people that shall be to him for a name and a praise? (3.) That if the order of the creation therefore continues firm because it was well-fixed at first, and is not altered because it needs no alteration, the method of grace shall for the same reason continue invariable, as it was a first well settled. (4.) That he who has promised to preserve a church for himself has approved himself faithful to the word which he has spoken concerning the stability of the world. He that is true to his covenant with Noah and his sons, because he established it for an everlasting covenant (Gen 9:9; Gen 9:16), will not, we may be sure, be false to his covenant with Abraham and his seed, his spiritual seed, for that also is an everlasting covenant. Even that which they have done amiss, though they have done much, shall not prevail to defeat the gracious intentions of the covenant. See Ps. lxxxix. 30, c.
II. The rebuilding of Jerusalem which was now in ruins, and the enlargement and establishment of that, shall be an earnest of these great things that God will do for the gospel church, the heavenly Jerusalem, <i>v. 38-40. The days will come, though they may be long in coming, when, 1. Jerusalem shall be entirely built again, as large as ever it was; the dimensions are here exactly described by the places through which the circumference passed, and no doubt the wall which Nehemiah built, and which, the more punctually to fulfil the prophecy, began about the tower of Hananeel, here mentioned (Neh. iii. 1), enclosed as much ground as is here intended, though we cannot certainly determine the places here called the gate of the corner, the hill Gareb, c. 2. When built it shall be consecrated to God and to his service. It shall be built to the Lord (<i>v. 38), and even the suburbs and fields adjacent shall be holy unto the Lord. It shall not be polluted with idols as formerly, but God shall be praised and honoured there; the whole city shall be as it were one temple, one holy place, as the new Jerusalem is, which therefore has no temple, because it is all temple. 3. Being thus built by virtue of the promise of God, it shall not be plucked up, nor thrown down, any more for ever; that is, it shall continue very long, the time of the new city from the return to its last destruction being fully as long as that of the old from David to the captivity. But this promise was to have its full accomplishment in the gospel church, which, as it is the spiritual Israel, and therefore God will not cast it off, so it is the holy city, and therefore all the powers of men shall not pluck it up, nor throw it down. It may lie waste for a time, as Jerusalem did, but shall recover itself, shall weather the storm and gain its point, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Vs. 35-40: RESTORATION TO HOLINESSS
1. Stressing the immutability of His love for Israel, the Lord insists that the prospect of His utterly abandoning her was as unthinkable as that the fixed order of sun, moon and ocean waves should disappear, (vs. 35-36; Jer 33:20-26; Psa 89:36-37; Isa 54:9-10).
2. The permanent rejection of this people is as unlikely as that the universe, with its multiplied millions of galaxies, will be measured, and all the secrets of the foundations of the earth searched out! (vs. 37; Amo 9:8-12; Isa 40:12; Rom 11:2-5; Rom 11:26-27); the very preservation of the Jewish people to this day (though still in unbelief, and away from God) is adequate affirmation of this promise.
3. And Jeremiah foresees an ultimate rebuilding of the City (Jerusalem), in holiness, unto the glory of Jehovah her God – after which it will never again be plucked up nor thrown down, (vs. 38-40; Jer 30:18; Joe 3:17).
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
F. A New Commitment Jer. 31:35-37
TRANSLATION
(35) Thus says the LORD who gave the sun for light by day, and the statutes of moon and stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea so its waves roar; the LORD of hosts is His name: (36) If these statutes shall be removed from before Me (oracle of the LORD), then the seed of Israel shall cease being a nation before Me forever. (37) Thus says the LORD: If heaven above can be measured, or the foundations of the earth below searched out, then I will reject all the seed of Israel because of all that they have done (oracle of the LORD).
COMMENTS
In view of the establishment of the new covenant with the spiritual Israel of God, the church of Christ, God makes an astonishing commitment. The old covenant was broken by Israel and therefore the nation was rejected by the Lord. This will no more take place under the new covenant. Gods faithfulness in keeping His ordinances in the realm of nature are here offered as a pledge that He will similarly keep His covenant commitments. The sun, moon, and stars daily perform their assigned tasks of governing the day and the night. The waves of the sea never cease their constant ebb and flow, roaring, crashing against the beach (Jer. 31:35). As certainly as the laws of nature are inviolable, so certainly shall Israel everlastingly continue as a nation before the Lord (Jer. 31:36). To the end of this world God will always have a special people and that people is Israel. The outward form of Israel has changed through the yearsa patriarchal family, confederation of tribes, monarchy, hierocracy. At times during those centuries since Jacob and his family migrated to Egypt all formal, outward governmental organization ceased to exist. Israel as a nation ceased to exist in 587 B.C. but Israel as a people survived the destruction of their homeland and deportation to a foreign land. Jeremiah is in the present passage looking to a time when the outward form of Israel would change once again. The Israel he envisions would be a pure theocracy ruled from heaven itself. It would be an invisible kingdom, a kingdom not of this world, a kingdom unlike anything this world has ever known.
Jer. 31:37 underscores the same thought as is found in the previous two verses. The heavens above are immeasurable and the earth beneath unsearchable. On the day that man is able to measure the heavens and search out the foundations of the earthon that day and not beforeGod will cast off the new covenant Israel as He had the Israel of old. This is equivalent to saying that God will never cast off His people.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(35, 36) Which giveth the sun for a light by day . . .The leading thought in the lofty language of this passage is that the reign of law which we recognise in Gods creative work has its counterpart in His spiritual kingdom. The stability and permanence of natural order is a pledge and earnest of the fulfilment of His promises to Israel as a people. The new Covenant of pardon and illumination is to be, what the first Covenant was not, eternal in its duration. We have learnt, through the teaching of St. Paul, while not excluding Israel according to the flesh from its share in that fulfilment, to extend its range to the children of the faith of Abraham, the true Israel of God (Rom. 2:28-29; Rom. 4:11-12).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
This Work Of God Within Is Guaranteed For YHWH’s True People, Being As Certain As His Giving Of Light Through Sun, Moon And Stars By Day And Night, And As His Continual Stirring Up Of The Seas ( Jer 31:35-36 ).
YHWH demonstrates the certainty of His actions in regard to His people by comparing His activity on their behalf in terms of the giving of the sun as light during the day, and the giving of the moon and the stars to give light by night, and with His continual stirring up of the sea so that its waves roar. These were phenomena known to all as a regular and common occurrence. They were His ordinances, what He decreed. And it is only if these permanent and sure things fail that ‘the seed of Israel’ will cease to be a nation before Him. It will be certain because He has ordained it, and it will be certain because of His working.
But we should note here the phrase used, ‘the seed of Israel’. The point is not that the nation of Israel will survive in its present form, but that some of their seed will always be a nation before Him. And in the next passage we have a similar emphasis, when He guarantees that He will not cast off ‘all the seed of Israel’ (Jer 31:37). Some will not be cast off (and therefore others will). Jesus Christ made quite clear that this new ‘nation’ would be composed of His Jewish followers and their converts (Mat 21:43). While the true church, composed of all true believers, survives, then that seed of Israel and that new nation will continue (1Pe 2:9), for they ARE the true Israel, the actual physical continuation of Israel as described in God’s terms.
Strangely some take these words as applying to the whole nation of physical Israel, but if they had so applied it could only signify that YHWH had failed in His promises. Nothing is more certain than that the people of Israel as a whole have not through time experienced this activity of YHWH. Otherwise how different history would have been. Some have experienced it, by a true heart response to God, and then to His Messiah, but they have always been in the minority. Nor need we look for a revival in modern Israel which will bring this about. There is no suggestion that He will do so. For such a revival has already taken place in Israel, and it took place in 1st century AD. Those were the ‘coming days’ in which this occurred. So to whom should we see it as applying? The answer can only be, ‘to the seed of Israel’, ‘the remnant of Israel whom He will bring to Himself’, the ‘holy seed’ of Isa 6:13, the ‘seed of Abraham’ (Gal 3:29). And this remnant of Israel, who experienced precisely what is written here, were to be found in the Apostles who followed Jesus, and to those multitude of Jews who followed them to true faith in Christ. The 1st century AD was the time when it really came into fulfilment, and when Jews flocked to their Messiah as never before or since, forming a large Jewish church. They were the ones who responded to the new covenant offered by Jesus in Luk 22:20; 1Co 11:25. And it was in their hearts that He wrought His new work (Act 13:48; 2Co 5:17; Jas 1:18; 1Pe 1:3). They were His new ‘congregation’ of Israel (Mat 16:18), His new nation (Mat 21:43), the true Vine (Joh 15:1-6), His olive tree (Rom 11:17-28, compare Jer 11:16).
They were not initially expecting a huge influx of Gentile converts into their midst, for who could have foreseen it (except, of course, God)? But this was quite in accord with Jewish ideas, and in accordance with the prophets (e.g. Isa 42:6; Isa 49:6; etc.) Indeed it had always been the case that all who truly responded to God, whether homegrown or foreign, could become a part of the covenant. It happened to the foreign servants of Abraham, it happened to the mixed multitude of Exo 12:38 at Sinai, it happened to all who sought to become a part of Israel through the years (Exo 12:48). Thus they all ‘became Israel’, and saw themselves as descendants of Abraham from then on. We too ‘become Israel’ when we respond to Christ and are circumcised with His circumcision made without hands (Col 2:11), and become descendants of Abraham (Gal 3:29). Thus the Israel which God here guaranteed would continue ‘for ever’, is the true Israel of God (Gal 6:16), the ‘Israel within Israel’, the ‘congregation of true believers’.
Jer 31:35
‘Thus says YHWH,
Here we again have an introductory phrase indicating a new idea, and stressing its certainly because it is the word of YHWH.
Jer 31:35
“Who gives the sun for a light by day,
And the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night,
Who stirs up the sea, so that its waves roar,
YHWH of hosts is his name,”
Three things are cited as being given by YHWH which are constant and unchanging to such an extent that they could ‘always’ be relied upon; the giving of the sun for a light by day; the ordinances of the moon and stars by night; and the regular storminess of the seas. No one could ever have imagined their ceasing to occur. They were one of the few certainties of life. And they were all given by the One Whose Name was ‘YHWH of hosts’ (of the hosts of heaven and of the hosts of waves).
It is doubtful if many (or indeed if any) Israelites thought in terms of ‘laws of nature’. Their certainty of their continuation would in their view lay in their confidence in God’s reliability which had always proved unfailing (a view supported by Jesus in Mat 5:45), and in the certain promise of God (Gen 8:22). In fact by the time that these ordinances do fail (and fail they will) it will be unimportant as we will be in the new Heaven and the new earth.
Jer 31:36
“If these ordinances depart from before me,
The word of YHWH,
Then the seed of Israel also will cease from being a nation before me for ever.
And the ceasing of ‘the seed of Israel’ from being a nation before Him was as impossible a thought as the cessation of the ordinances concerning sun, moon, stars and waves. And this was so on the certain and sure prophetic word of YHWH. The phrase ‘the seed of Israel’ carefully avoids suggesting that all Israel as a nation is in mind. It is rather stressing that some of Jacob/Israel’s seed will always be a nation acceptable in His sight (‘before Him). This is, of course, a necessary result of the promises made to the Patriarchs. And as we have seen it was fulfilled, and is still being fulfilled, in the fact that those who believe in Christ, forming His new, elect, holy nation (Mat 21:43; 1Pe 2:9), are either physically of the seed of Jacob/Israel, or spiritually so. This way of looking at things was no different from the inter-testamental Israel, (or indeed the Israel of Sinai) large numbers of whom were not physically related to Jacob. Their ‘descent’ was due to their response to the covenant. And it is seen here to be a part of YHWH’s ongoing purposes, as much so as was the continuation of sun, moon, stars and waves
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Jer 31:35. Which divideth the sea Who vibrates, or stirreth up the sea. Schultens, and Houbigant.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
DISCOURSE: 1075
THE CHURCHS SECURITY
Jer 31:35-37. Thus saith the Lord, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which dirideth the sea when the wares thereof roar; The Lord of Hosts is his name: If those ordinances depart from me, saith the Lord, then the seed of Israel also; hall cease from being a nation before me for ever. Thus saith the Lord; If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also east off all the seed of Israel for all that they hare done, saith the Lord.
THE study of the prophecies is most instructive. We are apt to read them as though they did not concern us: whereas in them we see the purposes of God unfolded to us; and, by a comparison of them with past and passing events, we see God so ordering every thing in heaven and earth, that all should be accomplished in their season. Into futurity, also, we gain au insight. And shall not that, which so interests Jehovah himself, as to be predicted by him in terms the most solemn that can possibly be imagined, interest us? Behold, how the Almighty here describes himself in all his majesty and glory; behold, too, the solemnity of his assertions, equivalent, in fact, to oaths; And to what has all this respect! It has respect to his Church and people, for whom he has the richest mercies in reserve, and to whom he pledges himself that these mercies shall be vouchsafed in due season. Let us contemplate, then,
I.
The promises here made to Gods Church and people
Certainly they refer,
1.
To Gods ancient people, the Jews
[To them he here promises, that, whatever they may suffer, they shall not be lost, as other nations have been, amongst their conquerors; but shall be preserved a distinct people, even to the end; and shall, notwithstanding all that they have done to provoke him utterly to cast them off, be restored once more to his favour, as in the days of old.
The manner in which these promises are made deserves particular attention, Who is it that pledges himself for the accomplishment of these things? It is no other than the Creator and Governor of heaven and earth. And what assurance does he give that they shall be fulfilled? He declares that the heavenly bodies shall sooner be annihilated, than his word be forgotten; and that never, till we had measured the highest heavens, and penetrated to the inmost recesses of the earth, should one jot or tittle of it fail.
And if we look into their history, we find every thing fulfilled hitherto. In their captivity in Babylon, their national character was still preserved; and after it, they were restored to their own land. So at this hour, though for above seventeen centuries they have been scattered over the face of the whole earth, they are still a peculiar people as much as ever: and if we knew for certainty where the ten tribes are, I think they also would be found to have retained so much of their original character, as clearly to distinguish them from all the people amongst whom they sojourn. Nor can we doubt for a moment but that God will again manifest himself to them, as in former days. He has not cast them off for ever: they are still beloved of him for their fathers sakes: and his gifts and calling to them are without repentance [Note: Rom 11:28-29.]. Forsaken as they are at present, it is but for a little moment: for as God, by the rainbow in the heavens, has given a pledge that his oath relative to any future deluge shall be fulfilled; so has he sworn that his kindness shall not ultimately depart from Israel, or his covenant with them ever be dissolved [Note: Isa 54:7-10.].]
2.
To the Christian Church
[To apply the passage exclusively to the Church of Christ is shamefully to pervert it. Yet we must not withhold from her, her share of the blessings which God has promised to her. Throughout all the prophecies, the Church of God, previous to the coming of the Messiah, and subsequent to the establishment of his kingdom upon earth, is considered as one; that which first existed being the foundation, and that which was afterwards erected being the superstructure, of the same heavenly temple: and the promises made to it, so far as they respect it in its former state, will have a literal accomplishment; and, so far as they pertain to it in its latter state, a spiritual or mystical accomplishment. In this latter sense we may properly apply to the Christian Church the prophecy before us. For it has enemies, even as Israel of old; yet shall not the gates of hell ever prevail against it. Notwithstanding it has often been at a very low ebb in the world, yet is it preserved by the power of God: and though, for its degeneracy, Gods wrath might well break forth against it to destroy it, yet is it preserved for good, and shall at a future period be greatly honoured of the Lord; being extended far and wide, and being established over the face of the whole earth. For the accomplishment of this, we have the same security as the Jewish Church has for the fulfilment of the promises made to her, namely, the promise and the oath of Almighty God: and we may be as sure that the honour reserved for her shall be accorded to her in due time, as if we saw it imparted before our eyes. As sure as God himself is true, all the kingdoms of the world shall become the kingdom of the Lord and of his Christ; and the whole earth, both of Jews and Gentiles, shall be one fold under one Shepherd, there being only one Lord, and his name One.]
But to enter fully into these promises, we should consider also,
II.
The use which is to be made of them by individual Believers
They certainly may be applied by believers to themselves, for the comfort of their own souls. The promise that was made, in the first instance, to Israel, relative to the possession of the promised land [Note: Deu 31:6.], is represented by St. Paul as applicable to every believer, throughout all ages: The Lord hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me [Note: Heb 13:5-6.]. And the confirmation of these promises by an oath [Note: See Note b.] was intended by God to administer consolation to us, no less than to those to whom they were immediately delivered; as St. Paul further assures us: God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath; that, by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us [Note: Heb 6:17-18.]. Yet I must confess that they are to be used with caution. We should be careful,
1.
As to the persons to whom they belong
[It is the believer alone who is really interested in the promises of God. What part or lot in them has the unbeliever? None at all. It is in Christ alone that they are made over to us: and we must be in Christ, before they can truly belong to us. Before we take hold, then, on any particular promise as belonging to us, we should ask ourselves, whether we have really come to Christ, and are living by faith upon him? There are many who speak with extreme boldness on this subject, as though every promise in the Bible must be fulfilled to them, whilst yet they have never truly repented of their sins, nor over experienced a thorough change of heart and life. There are in some a surprising hardness, and boldness, and confidence, which, in my estimation, mark them as lying under a very desperate delusion: and the more confident they are, the more I tremble for their state. The promises of Gods blessed word are for the humble, the broken, the contrite: they are entitled to take to themselves every promise in the word of God: but, where these dispositions are wanting, faith is a mere phantom, and confidence a delusion. Let this, then, be well and clearly ascertained. Examine carefully whether ye be in the faith. Prove and try your ownselves, and, when that point is satisfactorily determined, then take to yourselves every promise of the Lord: and look upon all that he has promised, as your inalienable, everlasting inheritance.]
2.
As to the extent to which they are to be applied
[A distinction must be made between that which, in the first instance, was personal or temporal, and that which was intended for the Church at Large. The promises are not to be applied to ourselves, any further than as our circumstances accord with those of the persons to whom they were made: and the accomplishment of them is to be expected chiefly, if not exclusively, in a spiritual view. Take, for instance, the promises made to Moses and to all Israel, under the peculiar difficulties to which they were reduced: it would be perfectly absurd to expect the fulfilment of them to ourselves at this day, any further than a correspondence of circumstances rendered them applicable to our own case, If this rule be not attended to, we shall both raise in ourselves the most unwarrantable expectations, and subject God himself to the imputation of violating his own word.]
3.
As to the use that is to be made of them when so applied
[Doubtless they are intended to comfort and encourage the Lords people, under all their trials. But they are not intended to supersede the exertions of any, or to foster in them any undue security. God will not work, but by means: and he expects us to use the means, as if we were labouring to accomplish every thing by our own unassisted efforts; whilst yet we renounce all confidence in ourselves, and rely only upon him. Take, for instance, the promises in our text. Are we to hope that God will keep us as a peculiar people, unless we come out from the world [Note: 2Co 6:17.], and endeavour to keep ourselves unspotted from it [Note: Jam 1:27.]? Or are we to assure ourselves that God will not cast us off for all that we have done, if we never humble ourselves for our past sins, or endeavour to avoid sin in future? The great use of the promises is, to convey to us those blessings which in ourselves we are unable to attain: and, if we improve them not for these ends, we do but deceive ourselves, and betray to ruin our own souls.]
Lay down, therefore, for yourselves the following rules:
1.
Seek to gain Christ himself, as your portion
[The promise of life, and of every thing pertaining to it, is in Christ Jesus [Note: 2Ti 1:1.]. And if we apprehend him, we become possessed of every thing that is good, in title at least, if not in actual possession; for all things are ours, if we are Christs [Note: 1Co 3:22-23.] In him all the promises of God are Yea, and in him Amen [Note: 2Co 1:20.], sure, irreversible, eternal. Our first object, therefore, must be to obtain an interest in Christ. And I can never too strongly inculcate this: for if, instead of entering into the fold by the door, you climb up some other way, you will only deceive yourselves to your ruiu [Note: Joh 10:1; Joh 10:9.].]
2.
Embrace his promises with humility
[By humility, I do not mean a hesitation whether you shall rely upon them, or a doubting whether you are worthy to embrace them. Those are the actings, not of humility, but of pride and unbelief. For who in the whole universe is worthy? Or what humility is there in questioning the truth of God? It is, as unworthy, that you are to lay hold of them, and to plead them before God in faith and prayer: and, provided only you embrace them as unworthy, and regard them as made to you only in Christ, and for Christs sake, you can never place too strong an affiance in them: the stronger you are in faith, the more will you give glory to God [Note: Rom 4:20.]. But that against which I wish to guard you, is, the hardness of which I before spoke. Truly, there is, amongst some professors of religion, a mode of speaking about their own interest in the promises which is disgusting in the highest degree, and, I really think, impious. Their want of reverence for God shews, that they are deluded by the devil, who has appeared to them under the semblance of an angel of light [Note: 2Co 11:14.]. I wish not to rob you of one atom of joy: but I would have you always to rejoice with trembling [Note: Psa 2:11.] and, however strong your faith may be, I would say, Let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall [Note: 1Co 10:12.]: Be not high-minded, but fear [Note: Rom 11:20.].]
3.
Improve them all with care
[What will be the effect of the promises on the Jews, in the day that they shall be restored to the Divine favour? They will come with weeping; and with supplication will God lead them [Note: ver. 8, 9.]. Nor shall this frame be incompatible with joy: on the contrary, it. shall be a prelude to joy [Note: ver. 12, 13.], even as the seed-time is to the harvest [Note: Psa 126:5-6.]: and it will be followed with holiness as its never-failing attendant [Note: Eze 36:25-28.]. Hear what St. Peter says: God has given to us exceeding great and precious promises, that by them we may be partakers of a divine nature, and escape the corruptions that are in the world through lust [Note: 2Pe 1:4.]. Only improve them to this end, and you can never rely on them too strongly, or plead them too confidently before God. To all of you, then, I would say, having so many and grant promises, Dearly beloved, let us use them to their proper end, even to cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, and to perfect holiness in the fear of God [Note: 2Co 7:1.].]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
I pray the Reader not to overlook the abundant grace of God, in thus appealing to his covenant concerning his providences, made after the flood, and the confirmation of it in Jeremiah’s days, as a token and pledge of his covenant concerning grace. And I pray the Reader not to forget the further confirmation of it, from Jeremiah’s days to the present. See Gen 8:21-22 . See it again Jer 33:25Jer 33:25 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Jer 31:35 Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, [and] the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The LORD of hosts [is] his name:
Ver. 35. Thus saith the Lord, which giveth the sun, &c. ] For their better security and settlement; he borroweth a comparison from the surest things, sun, sea, &c.
Which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Jer 31:35-37
35Thus says the LORD,
Who gives the sun for light by day
And the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night,
Who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar;
The LORD of hosts is His name:
36If this fixed order departs
From before Me, declares the LORD,
Then the offspring of Israel also will cease
From being a nation before Me forever.
37Thus says the LORD,
If the heavens above can be measured
And the foundations of the earth searched out below,
Then I will also cast off all the offspring of Israel
For all that they have done, declares the LORD.
Jer 31:35-37 YHWH’s new covenant is as stable and permanent as the fixed orders (BDB 349) and cycles of creation. Jer 31:37 expresses the positive truth in a negative statement (i.e., conditional expression which cannot be fulfilled).
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
giveth the sun, &c. Reference to Pentateuch (Gen 1:16).
ordinances = statutes. Reference to Pentateuch (Gen 8:22). Compare Jer 33:20, Jer 33:25.
divideth = -stirreth up, or exciteth.
The LORD of Hosts. See note on Jer 6:6, and 1Sa 1:3.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Jer 31:35-37
Jer 31:35-37
Thus saith Jehovah, who giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, who stirreth up the sea, so that the waves thereof roar; Jehovah of hosts is his name: If these ordinances depart from before me, saith Jehovah, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever. Thus saith Jehovah: If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, then will I also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith Jehovah.
The perpetuity of God’s Israel is assured by these verses; but it is most certainly the Spiritual Israel in Christ Jesus which dominates the passage. The racial Israel also is represented in the promise that their “seed,” that is, not “all” of them shall be cut off, implying, of course, that the vast majority of racial Israel shall indeed be cut off because of rebellion against God. As Keil stated it, “That the whole of Israel cannot perish is no bolster for the sin of a single individual.” F17
In this connection, it should always be remembered that it was indeed the racial Israel that provided the nucleus of the Spiritual Israel in the person of the holy apostles and the first great ingathering of Christians. The essential truth in this is that Christ alone is the “True Vine” (Joh 15:1), that is, the True Israel, and that by virtue of their being “in Christ,” in the “true Vine,” in the “true Israel,” the whole company of the redeemed throughout this dispensation are actually the Israel of God (Gal 6:16).
Thus we see the absolute identity of the New Israel (composed of all Christians from every tribe, race and nation) with the old, in this manner achieving the perpetuity of Israel as promised in this chapter. As Paul expressed it in Galatians: “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ did put on Christ. There can be neither Jew nor Greek, there can be no male and female; for ye are all one man in Christ Jesus. And if ye are Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, heirs according to promise” (Gal 3:27-29).
A New Commitment Jer 31:35-37
In view of the establishment of the new covenant with the spiritual Israel of God, the church of Christ, God makes an astonishing commitment. The old covenant was broken by Israel and therefore the nation was rejected by the Lord. This will no more take place under the new covenant. Gods faithfulness in keeping His ordinances in the realm of nature are here offered as a pledge that He will similarly keep His covenant commitments. The sun, moon, and stars daily perform their assigned tasks of governing the day and the night. The waves of the sea never cease their constant ebb and flow, roaring, crashing against the beach (Jer 31:35). As certainly as the laws of nature are inviolable, so certainly shall Israel everlastingly continue as a nation before the Lord (Jer 31:36). To the end of this world God will always have a special people and that people is Israel. The outward form of Israel has changed through the years-a patriarchal family, confederation of tribes, monarchy, hierocracy. At times during those centuries since Jacob and his family migrated to Egypt all formal, outward governmental organization ceased to exist. Israel as a nation ceased to exist in 587 B.C. but Israel as a people survived the destruction of their homeland and deportation to a foreign land. Jeremiah is in the present passage looking to a time when the outward form of Israel would change once again. The Israel he envisions would be a pure theocracy ruled from heaven itself. It would be an invisible kingdom, a kingdom not of this world, a kingdom unlike anything this world has ever known.
Jer 31:37 underscores the same thought as is found in the previous two verses. The heavens above are immeasurable and the earth beneath unsearchable. On the day that man is able to measure the heavens and search out the foundations of the earth-on that day and not before-God will cast off the new covenant Israel as He had the Israel of old. This is equivalent to saying that God will never cast off His people.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
which giveth: Gen 1:14-18, Deu 4:19, Job 38:33, Psa 19:1-6, Psa 72:5, Psa 72:17, Psa 74:16, Psa 89:2, Psa 89:36, Psa 89:37, Psa 119:89, Psa 136:7-9, Mat 5:45
which divideth: Exo 14:21, Exo 14:22, Job 26:12, Psa 74:13, Psa 78:13, Psa 106:9, Psa 114:3-5, Isa 51:15, Isa 63:12
when: Jer 5:22, Job 38:10, Job 38:11, Psa 93:3, Psa 93:4, Psa 107:25-29, Isa 51:15, Mat 8:25, Mat 8:26
The Lord: Jer 10:16, Jer 32:18, Jer 46:18, Jer 50:34, Jer 51:19, Isa 48:2, Isa 54:5
Reciprocal: Gen 1:18 – General Gen 8:22 – day Gen 9:9 – General Psa 104:19 – General Psa 136:8 – The sun Psa 148:6 – He hath also Isa 43:16 – maketh Isa 45:7 – form Isa 54:9 – General Jer 33:20 – General Jer 33:25 – and if Amo 9:8 – saving Mat 24:35 – Heaven
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jer 31:35. The greatness of God as shown in the created universe is the subject of this verse. Ordinances is defined by Strong. An enactment; hence an appointment (of time, quantity, labor or usage).” It means that God made the moon and stars for light (not to be inhabited). Divideth is from a word that means to manage or control and refers to Gods power over the sea.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Jer 31:35-37. Thus saith the Lord, who giveth the sun for a light by day All the acts here mentioned are such as manifest the divine, almighty power of him who is the Lord of all the hosts of the creation. Which divideth, or, who did divide, the sea Namely, as the words are generally interpreted, the Red sea, to give the Israelites passage. The original words, however, , which occur Isa 51:15, where they are translated as here, are by Bishop Lowth rendered, who stilleth the sea, a sense which accords better with the words immediately following, when the waves thereof roar That is, even when the waves are most tumultuous, and roar most dreadfully, he, with infinite ease, quiets them, and produces a perfect calm. In this sense the same word is interpreted Jer 31:2 of this chapter, and also Jer 50:34. If these ordinances Hebrew, , these appointments respecting the heavenly bodies and their motions and uses; depart from before me Be altered or suspended in their operations; then shall the seed of Israel cease from being a nation, &c. Thus God makes the continuance of the laws of nature a pledge of the continuance of Israel as a people. The prediction implies, 1st, That God would preserve a remnant of them in the country to which they were led captive, and would restore them to their own land; 2d, That there should be another remnant of them, at the beginning of the gospel, called , the saved, (Act 2:47,) who, by embracing the faith of Christ, should escape those terrible judgments that should be inflicted upon the main body of that nation; and 3d, That Providence would still preserve them in a body distinct from all other people in the world, in order to their conversion in Gods due time. To this place St. Paul, speaking of the conversion of the Jews in the latter times, seems to refer when he says, The gifts and calling of God [to the Jews] are without repentance, Rom 11:29. If heaven above can be measured, &c. If the height and extent thereof can be ascertained by men, which is impossible, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel, &c. That is, I will never cast them all off a promise which the apostle, (Rom 11:1-2,) proves to have been made good by God, notwithstanding the rejection of the great body of that people.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Jer 31:35-40. Israels national existence shall be as permanent as Yahwehs rule of nature (Jer 31:35 f.); it is as impossible for Israel to be rejected as it is for man to comprehend the created world (Jer 31:37). In the future, Jerusalem shall be rebuilt from the NE. to the NW. corner (Zec 14:10), and (apparently) southwards, and shall include even the Valley of Hinnom (desecrated by human sacrifices to Molech, Jer 7:31) as far as the SE. corner (the horse gate, Neh 3:28).
Jer 31:39. Gareb . . . Goah: not found elsewhere, and not known.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
31:35 Thus saith the LORD, who giveth {m} the sun for a light by day, [and] the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, who divideth the sea when its waves roar; The LORD of hosts [is] his name:
(m) If the sun, moon and stars cannot but glue light according to my ordinance, so long as this world lasts, so shall my church never fail, neither shall anything hinder it: and as sure as I will have a people, so certain is it, that I will leave them my word forever to govern them with.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Permanent restoration 31:35-37
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
The Lord reminded His people that He was the one who controlled the course of nature, not Baal. It operated regularly and within His set limits, as He promised Noah it would (cf. Gen 8:22; Gen 9:8-17). The sun and moon do not vary from their positions, but the sea appears to operate chaotically, yet the Lord controls them all.