Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 32:37
Behold, I will gather them out of all countries, whither I have driven them in mine anger, and in my fury, and in great wrath; and I will bring them again unto this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely:
Verse 37. Behold, I will gather them out of all countries] A promise often repeated. See Jer 29:14, and See Clarke on Jer 31:8, &c.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Though the city shall be taken, and you shall go into captivity; yet you shall not be utterly lost, I will gather you again, and you shall have as quiet a habitation as ever.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
37. (See on Jer16:15). The “all” countries implies a futurerestoration of Israel more universal than that from Babylon.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Behold, I will gather them out of all countries,…. At the end of the seventy years’ captivity; and which will have a greater accomplishment in the latter day, when the Jews shall be converted, and gathered from their present dispersion all over the earth:
whither I have driven them in mine anger, and in my fury, and in great wrath: or “whither I shall drive them”, or “shall have driven them” m; for as yet they were not thus driven and dispersed. A heap of words is made use of to express the greatness of the Lord’s indignation at them for their sins, the cause of their expulsion out of the land:
and I will bring them again unto this place; the city of Jerusalem; as they were at the end of the seventy years’ captivity; and when the promise was fulfilled, that they should purchase and possess fields and vineyards; and as they will likewise at the time of their conversion in the latter day:
and I will cause them to dwell safely; which yet they did not for any continuance after their return from Babylon; being, as Jerom observes, often molested by the Persians, Macedonians, and Egyptians; and at last destroyed by the Romans: their troubles in the times of the Maccabees are very notorious; so that this refers either to the first times of the Gospel, and to the Jews that then believed in Christ; or rather to times yet to come, and which are prophesied of at Jer 32:37.
m “quo dispulero eos”, Schmidt; “quo depulero ipsos”, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
We now understand what the design of the Prophet was, when he spoke of the Jews as saying, that the city was delivered up to the Chaldeans and the Babylonians, even because the promised deliverance could afford them no comfort, inasmuch as they fully believed that their salvation was hopeless. Ye then say, he says, that the city has been delivered up; but I, he adds, will gather them from all the lands to which I shall drive them in my wrath and hot displeasure and great indignation (79)
Here God promises that the exile would only be temporary, because he would at length gather, as it is said in Psa 147:2, the dispersed of Israel. No name is here expressed, but a pronoun; there is however no ambiguity, for it is sufficiently evident that he speaks of the Jews when he says, I will gather them As they had been scattered here and there, the gathering of them might have appeared incredible; for had they been only driven from their own country, and a place of exile had been granted them where they might have lived together, they might have hoped some time to return: but the scattering took away every hope, for they had been driven into different countries, and far distant from each other. In order then to obviate this difficulty, God expressly says that he would restore them from all the lands into which he had driven them And the Prophet no doubt alludes to a passage in Deu 30:4,
“
Though they be scattered to the four quarters of the world, I will thence gather them.”
As then God had through Moses promised, that though they were banished into the farthest parts of the world, yet their restoration would not be difficult to him; so the Prophet applies this declaration of Moses to his own prophecy, even that God would gather from the whole of the East those who had been scattered.
He adds, in my wrath, hot displeasure, and great indignation (80) God does not here speak of his wrath, but in order that the Jews might perceive that they deserved so great a punishment: for we know that as God is the judge of the world, nothing unjust can belong to him. When therefore God’s wrath is said to be great, we may with certainty conclude that the vices of men are great; for he is never angry with us, except when he is offended by the greatness of our sins. We hence perceive the reason why the Prophet mentions here the wrath, the hot displeasure and great indignation of God, even that the faithful might feel assured that God would be propitious to them, though they were worthy of eternal ruin. In short, Jeremiah shews that there would be a place for God’s mercy, though the Jews had merited destruction a hundred times through their obstinacy.
And he adds that his favor would be continued, And I will cause them to dwell safely After having promised to them a return, he promises now a tranquil condition: for it would have been better for the Jews to remain always in exile and in foreign lands, than to return to their own country and to live there in misery. This was the reason why the Prophet expressly added, that there would be a quiet habitation for them.
But we know that this was not fulfilled when the Jews returned to their own country; for they were greatly harassed by their neighbors, and the building of the Temple was at first hindered, and they endured many troubles from all quarters, and at length they were oppressed with tyranny by the Syrian kings, and reduced to such extremities, that exile would not only have been more tolerable, but even pleasanter and more desirable, in comparison with the many miseries with which they were oppressed. But, as it has been said elsewhere, whenever the Prophets prophesied of the return of the people, they extended what they taught to the whole kingdom of Christ. For liberation from exile was no more than the beginning of God’s favor: God began the work of true and real redemption when he restored his people to their own country; but he gave them but a slight taste of his mercy. This prophecy, then, with those which are like it, ought to be extended to the kingdom of Christ. He afterwards adds, —
(79) This promise clearly shews what Calvin says as to their meaning in saying “The city has been delivered up,” etc. that is, irretrievably. No, says God, I will restore it. — Ed.
(80) There is a gradation in the words, — wrath, hot wrath, foaming wrath. Extreme displeasure betokens, as Calvin intimates, extreme wickedness, and inflicts extreme punishment. — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
37. I will gather them This is the supreme utterance of the chapter, and is closely connected with Jer 32:27, all the intervening verses being parenthetical.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Jer 32:37. Behold, I will gather them This and the following verses, to the 41st, respect such a return from the Babylonish captivity, as must and ought to be understood of the preaching of the Gospel, of the manifestation of the Messiah, of the new covenant, of the foundation of the Christian church, and of the final consequences thereof. For example, we cannot be assured that the Jews ever dwelt safely in their place, Jer 32:37. That they had all one heart, and walked in one way, Jer 32:39, &c. (see chap. Jer 31:31, &c.) But in the 43rd verse the return from Babylon is foretold in these words, Fields shall be bought, &c. as Jeremiah had foretold in his own person, when he bought a field by the right of redemption. Nor is there added concerning this return, that God would make an everlasting covenant with the Jews, or that he would plant them with his whole heart and soul; to give the Jews to understand that a different return was meant, and that this from Babylon was only a pledge of another to be expected by the Jews, after they saw that the promises of God were not completed in that first return. See Houbigant.
REFLECTIONS.1st, The fatal hour approached of Jerusalem’s destruction; already the Chaldean army surrounded the walls; the prophesies of Jeremiah, which were before despised, we should have thought would now carry conviction to every heart, and his advice be sought and followed implicitly in the present emergency. How different the case!
1. Behold him a prisoner, shut up by the king’s order in the court of the king’s house; a place where, probably, the state-prisoners were kept. The cause of his confinement was, his declaration that Jerusalem should infallibly be taken; their desperate resistance against the besiegers be fruitless; and Zedekiah himself attempt to escape in vain: he should be seized, delivered up to the victorious king of Babylon, see his indignation, and hear him pronounce judgment upon him; be led into all ignominious captivity, and there abide, till death came as a kind visitant to release him from his miseries. This prophesy, so far from humbling, exasperated them against him; and, lest by his preaching he should discourage the hearts of the people to surrender, they put him under this confinement, though not so rigorous but that he was allowed the air and the company of his friends. Note; (1.) They who will go on God’s messages must not be shocked at a prison. (2.) Nothing will convince hardened sinners: even when God’s judgments begin to operate, they flatter themselves that they shall weather the storm.
2. In the prison he becomes a purchaser. Hanameel, his uncle’s son, had a field to dispose of, and, as nearest of kin, the right of redemption was in Jeremiah. The Lord let him know in the prison, that an offer of selling it would be made to him, as happened, and that it was his will that he should buy the land, which was in the suburbs of Anathoth, a city of the priests, and which one of them might lawfully transfer to another; or some inheritance by the mother’s side, which Hanameel had a right to part with. The bargain is easily made, the money paid; the land conveyed with all the usual formalities; the deeds consigned to the care of Baruch, in the presence of the witnesses who subscribed them, to be set in an earthen vessel, and hid probably in the field: for though the destruction of the city and country by the Chaldeans was certain, and therefore the money might appear lost; yet God, on whose veracity he could depend, assured him that the time would come when every man’s property would be restored, and houses, fields, and vineyards be bought and sold as usual: and it was designed for an encouragement of the faith and hope of the people, when they saw the prophet himself acting in the full assurance of the truth which he declared. Note; When ministers shew themselves influenced by the word that they preach, and fully persuaded of it, its effects will be more powerful on their hearers.
2nd, Having transacted this business, and delivered the writings to Baruch’s care, the prophet directs his prayer to God, grieved for the calamities impending, and in some perplexity how the desolations ready to be accomplished on this people could correspond with those promises of their restoration.
1. He adores the infinite perfections of God: his almighty power, manifested in the amazing works of creation, which nothing can control or resist: his boundless mercy, shewing loving-kindness to thousands, yea, to all that seek him: his inflexible justice, in punishing sin in those who hate him, upon children’s children, that copy after their fathers’ transgressions: his universal sovereignty, the great, the mighty God, the Lord of Hosts, who doeth whatsoever pleaseth him, and whom all the armies of heaven and earth obey: his infinite wisdom; great in counsel, his designs planned with the most consummate knowledge, and carried into execution with the most irresistible energy: omniscient; he beholds all the ways of the sons of men, and knoweth every device of their hearts: the eternal judge; who will in the day of recompense render to every man according to his works.
2. He recounts the wonders that he had wrought for his people of old, evident in the plagues of Egypt, in their deliverance thence, and in all the dispensations of his providence toward them from that day, bringing them into Canaan, according to the promise made to their fathers, as well as in what he did among the nations around them; in all which he acquired to himself great glory, and appeared worthy of their highest praise. Note; The gracious dealings of God toward his people should ever afford matter for our thanks, and encouragement to our faith.
3. He laments their disobedience, as the cause of all the miseries to which they were now exposed. By a long train of rebellions they had brought their present evils upon themselves; and the prophetic word, which they had disregarded, began to receive its terrible accomplishment. Behold, the besiegers compass the city, and raise their mounts and batteries against it; so that their case was desperate; the city is given into the hands of the Chaldeans.
4. He lays the doubts and perplexities of his mind before God. Thou hast said unto me, in this ruinous situation of affairs, Buy thee the field, and take witnesses; and this seemed strange, when the land was devoted to destruction. Note; (1.) God’s providences sometimes appear to contradict his promises. (2.) When we have God’s orders, we have nothing to do but obey, and trust him with the issue. (3.) When we are in the dark concerning God’s dispensations, we may humbly by prayer beg to be taught of him.
3rdly, We have here an immediate answer given to the prophet’s prayer, and his mind fully satisfied. The destruction wrought by the Chaldeans is perfectly consistent with the promise, that the land should be re-inhabited, and fields and vineyards again be bought and sold as before.
1. The desolations of the city and nation are determined by that almighty Jehovah, who is the God of all flesh, who are weak and unable to resist him; corrupt, and therefore provoking his wrath. Nothing is too hard for him to do; he can save or destroy, against all human probabilities. This impregnable fortress, as it seems, must totter, since such is his decree, before the arms of the Chaldean monarch; the city and temple be burnt with fire, with all the houses where incense had been offered to Baal; and this was the just judgment due to their aggravated provocations. From their youth, the time when first they were formed into a people, or from the earliest infancy, corruption being in our nature from the womb, they had transgressed, and by their idolatries provoked God’s anger, seeming as if they studied to offend him by their daring impiety. Ever since the day when Jerusalem was built, either by the Jebusites, or from the days of David, who so greatly beautified and enlarged it, the sins of the inhabitants had been a continual provocation, for which the Lord had long threatened to remove them from before his face into a miserable captivity. All orders and degrees of men were involved in the common guilt, from the lowest to the king on the throne; and even the priests and prophets, who should have been the reprovers of others by their word and example, were chief in the transgression. In vain did God send them warning upon warning; they turned a deaf ear to his faithful prophets, and refused to bend either under the rebukes of his word, or the corrections of his providence. Nay, to such a height of effrontery did they carry their impiety, that even in that temple, built for his honour, they set up their hated idols, and with unnatural cruelty, as well as horrid profaneness, burnt even their children in the fire to Moloch, or caused them to pass between the flames, as a lustration and dedication to the idol’s service. For such sins no wonder that judgment came upon them to the uttermost; and that after the desolating scourges of the sword, the famine, and pestilence had wasted them, the remnant was sent into a miserable captivity.
2. Notwithstanding, God hath mercy still in store. Though the city is given up, and the land desolate, without man or beast, there shall be a door of hope opened; for in the worst of times we should not despair. Many great and precious promises are here delivered.
[1.] They shall return, after seventy years, from all the countries whither in anger God had dispersed them, and dwell in peace, under the divine protection, in their own kind, acknowledged again of God as his people, and professing their fidelity and allegiance to him as their God.
[2.] God will make with them an everlasting covenant, the tenor of which on his part is most amazingly gracious. (1.) He promises to put his fear in their hearts, the principle of all true wisdom and godliness. (2.) He will give them one heart and one way, a single eye to God’s glory; fervent charity among themselves; one path of grace and holiness in which they should walk, and leave their blessing and good examples as the best inheritance to their children’s children. Note; All who have truly given up their hearts to Christ, whatever lesser differences may subsist between them, will ever be united in love, and walk in one way of holiness, as Christ also walked. (3.) He will not turn away from doing them good. Whatever aspect his providences may have, all shall work together for the benefit of those who embrace this covenant, and, through his almighty grace, fulfil their part of it, give him their hearts, and live to his glory.
[3.] His temporal, as his spiritual mercies, shall be great. God will plant them firmly in their own land; his whole heart and soul shall be, as it were, firmly engaged in it, such delight will he take to do them good. And this shall be as surely accomplished as the evil which he had brought upon them.
[4.] Then the whole country should be inhabited, property secure, estates valuable, and no land want a purchaser; so that Jeremiah may be at rest respecting that which he has bought; and it is the earnest of what shall in that day be the case: it will then be found that the money is not laid out unprofitably, when the Lord shall thus cause their captivity to return. Some apply this spiritually to the deliverance from the bondage of corruption, and those purchased possessions provided for the faithful in the heavenly Canaan.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
DISCOURSE: 1076
THE FUTURE CONVERSION OF THE JEWS
Jer 32:37-42. Behold, I will gather them out of all countries, whither I have driven them in mine anger, and in my fury, and in great wrath; and I will bring them again unto this place, and I will cause them to dwell in safety: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: and I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them; and I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me. Yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul. For thus saith the Lord; Like as I have brought all this great evil upon this people, so will I bring upon them all the good that I have promised them [Note: There is a Discourse on this text: but this is inserted, in order to illustrate its bearing on the Conversion of the Jews.].
AMONGST the numberless manifestations of Gods mercy in the Scriptures, we cannot but be particularly struck with this, that scarcely ever do we find any awful denunciation of Gods wrath against his offending people, but there is some gracious promise annexed to it, as an encouragement to them to repent. In the whole preceding part of the chapter before us, God declared his determination to give up Jerusalem into the hands of the Chaldeans. Yet behold, at that very time does God open to his people the most consolatory prospects of an ultimate restoration to their own land, and of numberless attendant blessings to be poured out upon them.
In considering the passage which we have just read, I shall have occasion to shew you,
I.
What blessings God has in reserve for his chosen people
These correspond exactly with the state in which they were at the time when the promise was made. They had grievously departed from God; and, on account of their iniquities, they were doomed to be cast off, and to be sent into captivity in Babylon. But, as God had graciously determined to temper judgment with mercy, he here promises to them,
1.
A restoration to their own land
[A restoration from Babylon is doubtless the point here primarily intended: and that was vouchsafed to them at the expiration of seventy years, according to the predictions of the prophet respecting it. But the terms in which this is declared almost necessarily lead our minds to a restoration yet future; because it was from Babylon alone that the first deliverance was vouchsafed, whereas the promise relates to a deliverance out of all countries, whither they have been driven: and it speaks of their being caused to dwell safely; whereas they experienced but little of peace and safety after their first restoration: they were grievously harassed, from time to time, by the kings of Syria and Egypt, and their other neighbours, till at last they were subdued, and utterly destroyed, by the Romans: but at their restoration from their present dispersion, they will enjoy a state of peace and prosperity far beyond all that they ever experienced in the most favoured periods of their history: Jerusalem, instead of being defended, as formerly, against enemies, by ramparts of mans construction, will be inhabited as a town without walls; because the Lord will be a wall of fire round about her, and the glory in the midst of her [Note: Zec 2:4-5.]. This is repeatedly and distinctly promised: Look upon Zion, the city of our solemnities: thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall nut be taken down; not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed, neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken: but there the glorious Lord will be unto us a place of broad rivers and streams; wherein shall go no galley with oars, neither shall gallant ship pass thereby [Note: Isa 33:20-21.]: that is, she shall be alike inaccessible to enemies of every description, by reason of the effectual protection afforded her by Jehovah. And in this happy state shall they continue, planting vineyards, and drinking of the wine thereof; and making gardens, and eating of the fruit of them; and being so securely planted in their land, as never again to be pulled up, and rooted out of it [Note: Amo 9:14-15.].]
2.
A renewed acknowledgment of their relation to him
[During their captivity in Babylon, and still more in their present dispersion, they are like a repudiated wife, whom her husband will no more acknowledge. To apprise them of Gods determination to put them away, the Prophet Hosea was instructed to call his son Lo-ammi; for, says God, ye are not my people, and I will not be your God [Note: Hos 1:8-9; Hos 2:1-2.]. Their connexion with Jehovah being thus dissolved, their enemies have been able to oppress them, and indeed have grievously oppressed them in every nation where they have been scattered. But the time is coming, when God will again shew himself in their behalf, and renew to them all the wonderful interpositions which he vouchsafed to them in former days. At least ten times is this promise in our text repeated to them by the prophets, that they shall again be Gods people, and he their God; or, as it is very emphatically said, a God unto them [Note: Heb 8:10.]. Nor can any language more fully depict the blessings contained in this promise, than that of the Prophet Isaiah: Whereas thou hast been forsaken and hated, so that no man went through thee, I will make thee an eternal excellency, a joy of many generations. Thou shalt also suck the milk of the Gentiles, and shalt suck the breast of kings: and thou shalt know that I the Lord am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob. The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory, Thy sun shall no more go down; neither shall thy moon withdraw itself: for the Lord shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended [Note: Isa 60:15-16; Isa 60:19-20.].]
3.
A spirit of piety poured out upon them
[One heart and one way have distinguished the Lords people in all ages of the world: nor can either the heart or the way be more justly described, than in those comprehensive words, The fear of God. This disposition belongs not to us by nature, nor is this conduct found in any natural man: it is the gift of God, who by his Spirit convinces us of sin, and reveals a Saviour to us, and inclines us to devote ourselves unreservedly to his service. There are many points, of subordinate moment, in which the children of God may differ: but in these things they all agree: as face answereth to face in a glass, so in these respects doth the heart of man to man. All, without exception, feel themselves to be guilty and undone sinners; all cleave unto the Lord Jesus Christ as their only hope; and all walk before God, in a way of holy, tender, and affectionate obedience. And this marks their character to the latest hour of their lives. They would no more divest themselves of the fear of God, than of love, or joy, or confidence, or any other gracious affection whatsoever. And this holy state of mind will eminently distinguish the Jews in the latter day. It will be given to them for their own good, and for the good of their children after them: for, in truth, this kind of piety; whilst it invariably exalts the person in whom it is found, will always display itself in a diligent attention to the rising generation. At present, the children of the Jews are neglected in a very extraordinary degree: but it will not be so in that day: for, like Abraham of old, the parents will command their children, and their households after them, to fear the Lord; and the whole nation, for many successive generations, will be an holy people unto the Lord.
Here it will be proper to observe, that this diffusion of piety will not precede, but follow, their restoration to their own land: at least, so, I think, the Prophet Ezekiel has plainly intimated; saying, When I have brought them again from the people, and gathered them out of their enemies lands, and am sanctified in them in the sight of many nations; then shall they know that I am the Lord: neither will I hide my face any more from them; for I have poured out my Spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord God [Note: Eze 39:25-29.]. But in that day, I hesitate not to say, they, even the whole nation, will be eminently holy; since then God will sprinkle clean water upon them, and they shall be clean: from all their filthiness, and from all their idols, will he cleanse them: a new heart also will he give unto them, and a new spirit will he put within them: he will even put his Holy Spirit within them, and will cause them to walk in his statutes, and to keep his judgments, and do them: and they shall dwell in the land which ho gave to their fathers; and they shall be his people, and he will be their God [Note: Eze 36:24-28 and Jer 24:6-7.].]
As we speak with confidence respecting their final possession of these blessings, it will be proper to shew,
II.
What security they have for the enjoyment of them
In the behalf of this desolate and outcast people are pledged,
1.
The veracity of God
[God will make a covenant with them; not like the covenant which he made with them in former days, wherein the possession of his blessings was suspended upon their fidelity to God, and which, being violated by them, was utterly dissolved; but he will make one, which, in consequence of Gods undertaking every thing for them, as well as for himself, shall never be broken, but shall endure for ever. This may well be called a Covenant of Grace; for in it God gives all, and man receives all: God engages, not only that ho will not depart from his people to do them good, but that he will put his fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from him. And here I would particularly call your attention to the way in which he undertakes to keep them: it is not through the medium of a bold, presumptuous unhallowed confidence, such as you see in many professors of religion, and such as betrays itself in rash, unscriptural assertions: it is by putting his fear into their hearts, and causing them to walk humbly before him, and to work out their own salvation with fear and trembling. I would that this matter were better understood in the Christian world; and that they who profess to believe with Abraham, would, with Abraham, fall upon their face before God, and walk before him with a perfect heart [Note: Gen 17:1-3.].
That such a covenant shall be made with them in that day, is fully declared in the chapter preceding our text: Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord: but this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people [Note: Jer 31:31-33. with Heb 8:8-10.]. The interest also which their children shall have in this covenant is further declared: They shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their childrens children, for ever: and my servant David shall be their prince for ever. Moreover, I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore. My tabernacle also shall be with them; yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people: and the heathen shall know that I the Lord do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore [Note: Eze 37:25-28.].]
2.
The power of God
[At their first espousal to God, he rejoiced over them to do them good: and since his rejection of them for their unfaithfulness, he has rejoiced over them to bring them to nought [Note: Deu 28:63.]. But at the period we are now speaking of, he will again rejoice over them to do them good; as says the Prophet Zephaniah, The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty: he will save; he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love; he will joy over thee with singing [Note: Zep 3:17.]. It appears, at present, as if the obstacles to the accomplishment of all these promises were absolutely insurmountable: but if God will work, who shall let it? He says, I will plant them in this land assuredly, with my whole heart, and with my whole soul. Shall it then fail of its accomplishment in due season? Is there any thing too hard for the Lord? Has he scattered them according to his word, and preserved them a separate people, notwithstanding their dispersion; and shall he not gather them again, and bring upon them all the good that he has promised them? If all the obstacles that men or devils can ever raise against it were united in one common mass, I would say to them, Who art thou, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain [Note: Zec 4:7.].]
Learn, then, from hence,
1.
What we, if we are the Lords people, may expect for ourselves
[It is not to the Jews, as Jews, that the spiritual promises are made; but with them as believing in the Messiah, and as submitting to the government of David their prince. If this, then, be our character, they are made to us; and we, substituting the heavenly for the earthly Canaan, may take to ourselves all these great and precious promises, expecting assuredly that God will thus exert himself for us, till he has put us into the full possession of all the blessedness of heaven. If we have been brought from our wanderings to Mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem [Note: Heb 12:22.], then are we interested in this covenant, and God will confer upon us its choicest blessings; regarding us as his peculiar treasure, and exerting for us his Almighty power, to keep us from falling, that in due season we may be presented faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy [Note: 1Pe 1:5. Jude, ver. 24.]. Learn, my beloved Brethren, to realize these glorious expectations, and to enjoy in your own persons what you anticipate in behalf of your Jewish brethren.
Fix your eyes steadily on that good land in which God has assuredly determined to plant you; and contemplate him as engaging, with his whole heart, and with his whole soul, to effect his gracious purpose. I say, view this whole work of grace in its commencement, its progress, its consummation; and, if your conscience bears witness that he has given you a heart and a way to fear him, then rely on him to preserve you from ever departing from him, and to complete for you in heaven what he has begun on earth: for faithful is He that hath called you, who also will do it [Note: 1Th 5:24.].]
2.
What encouragement we have to labour for our Jewish brethren
[The object which we have in view is, not their restoration to their own land (that, I conceive, we may well leave in the hands of Providence, without presuming to interfere with it), but their conversion to Christ, and the everlasting salvation of their souls. Compare their present state of degradation and ruin with those periods of their history when God vouchsafed to them the manifestations of his love and favour; and say whether we should not wish to restore them to their former happiness and honour? Yet I conceive that the blessedness that awaits them will as far exceed all that their forefathers ever enjoyed, as that of their forefathers surpassed any thing that was experienced by the heathens around them. Indeed we are told, that the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the lay that the Lord bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound [Note: Isa 30:26.]. Come, then, to the help of the Lord, to the help of the Lord against all the enemies of our God and of his Christ. Had you to attempt the work of their conversion without Divine assistance, I readily grant that you might well be discouraged: but when you see what God has promised them, and to what an extent his veracity and power are pledged to effect it, methinks you should all be animated with a holy ambition to become Gods honoured instruments for their welfare. The indifference which has been shewn in relation to this work for seventeen hundred years may well fill us with astonishment: and even yet the Christian world is not alive to it as they ought to be. A very small measure of zeal in this great cause is regarded as extravagance, But shall Almighty God engage in it with his whole heart and with his whole soul, and shall we be lukewarm? Arise, I say, to your duty. Your God is already gone out before you: there is already a stir among the dry tones; and the time is fast approaching, when we may hope to see them arise a great army. Let zeal for God and love for man have their perfect work among you. Be likeminded with God himself, and in every possible way rejoice over them to do them good so shall the time be hastened forward, and the kingdoms of the whole world, both of Jews and Gentiles, become the kingdom of our God and of his Christ.]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
Jer 32:37 Behold, I will gather them out of all countries, whither I have driven them in mine anger, and in my fury, and in great wrath; and I will bring them again unto this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely:
Ver. 37. Behold, I will gather them. ] See Jer 16:15 ; Jer 23:3 . This was fulfilled especially in that golden age, and perpetual jubilee of the gospel, that began five hundred years after.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
I will gather them out, &c. Reference to Pentateuch (Deu 30:3, the same word).
I will cause them to dwell safely. Hiphil of yashab = to settle down. Reference to Pentateuch (Lev 23:43). App-92. Compare Eze 36:11, Eze 36:33. Hos 11:11. Zec 10:6.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
I will gather: “This promise,” says Jerome, “taken in its full extent was not made good to those that returned from captivity; because they were frequently infested with wars, as well by the kings of Syria and Egypt as by the rest of their neighbours; and they were finally subdued and destroyed by the Romans.” God’s word cannot fail; therefore there remaineth yet a rest for the ancient people of God. Jer 23:3, Jer 23:8, Jer 29:14, Jer 30:18, Jer 31:10, Jer 33:7, Deu 30:3-6, Psa 106:47, Isa 11:11-16, Eze 11:17, Eze 34:12-14, Eze 36:24, Eze 37:21-25, Eze 39:25-29, Hos 1:11, Hos 3:5, Amo 9:14, Amo 9:15, Oba 1:17-21, Zep 3:20
I will cause: Jer 23:6, Jer 33:16, Eze 34:25-28, Joe 3:20, Zec 2:4, Zec 2:5, Zec 3:10, Zec 14:11
Reciprocal: Num 15:41 – General Deu 12:10 – ye dwell 1Ki 8:34 – forgive the sin Neh 1:9 – yet will I Psa 23:3 – restoreth Psa 44:11 – scattered Psa 147:2 – he Isa 14:1 – set Isa 26:15 – thou hadst Jer 8:3 – in all Jer 12:14 – and pluck Jer 16:15 – that brought Jer 24:6 – and I will bring Jer 30:3 – that I Jer 32:15 – Houses Jer 32:44 – for I Jer 46:27 – I will save Jer 50:19 – bring Eze 20:41 – I bring Eze 28:25 – When Eze 34:13 – I will bring Eze 38:8 – into the land Joe 3:7 – I will Mat 18:13 – he rejoiceth Luk 1:71 – we Act 3:19 – when Rom 11:26 – all
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jer 32:37. During the 70-year captivity the civilized world was all practicaliy under the control of Babylon. The various parts of that empire included many lands, here called countries. Naturally, then, the Jews would get dispersed among these regions and the Lord would need to gather them out of all such places.