Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 32:39
And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me forever, for the good of them, and of their children after them:
39. that they may fear me for ever after them ] The words seem suggested by those of Deu 4:10; Deu 6:24.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Jer 32:39
I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear Me for ever.
Whole-hearted religion
In reference to the heart, one of the earliest works of Divine grace is to unite it in one. Strange to say, I should be equally truthful if I said that one of the first works of grace is to break the heart; but so paradoxical is man that when his heart is unbroken it is divided, and when his heart is broken, then, for the first time, it is united; for a broken heart in every fragment of it mourns over sin, and cries out for mercy. Every shattered particle of a contrite spirit is united in one desire to be reconciled to God. There is no union of the heart with itself till it is broken for sin and from sin.
I. Unitedness of the heart.
1. It is naturally divided. Sin is confusion, and at its entrance it created a Babel, or a confusion, within the heart of mare The lusts crave for that which the intellect condemns; the passions demand that which the reason would deny; the will persists in that which the judgment would forego. To many a man it is given to admire things that are excellent, and still to delight in things which are abominable. His conscience bids him rise to a pure and noble life, but his baser passions hold him down to that which is earthly and sensual. Frequently, too, there is a very great division between a mans inward knowledge and his outward conduct. Men are often wise in the head and foolish in the hand: ,they know the right and do the wrong Man is a puzzle, and none can put him together but He that made him at the first. He is a self-contradiction, a house divided against itself, a mystery of iniquity, a maze of folly, a mass of perversity, obstinacy, and contention.
2. If our heart be not whole and entire in following after God we cannot meet with acceptance. God never did and never will receive the homage of a divided heart. Alexander, when Darius proposed that the two great monarchs should divide the world, replied that there was only room for one sun in the heavens. What his ambition affirmed that God declareth from the necessity of the case. Since one God fills all things there is no room for another. It is idle to attempt to serve two such masters as holiness and iniquity. It was once proposed to the Roman senate to set up the image of Christ in the Pantheon among the gods, but when they were informed that He would not agree that any worship should be mingled with His own, the senate straightway refused Him a shrine. In this they acted in a manner consistent with itself; but those are altogether inexcusable who swear by the Lord and swear by Malcham.
3. It must be united for sincerity: a divided heart is a false heart. Declare that thou wilt serve Belial ever so little, and I know that thy service of Christ is but Judas service–mercenary, temporary, traitorous.
4. Our heart must be united, next, for intensity of life. True religion needs the soul to be ever at a fervent heat. None climb the hill whereon the New Jerusalem is built except such as go on hands and knees, and laying aside every weight give themselves wholly to the Divine ascent.
5. The heart must be united to be consecrated. Will God be served with broken cups and cracked flagons, and shall His altars be polluted with torn and mangled sacrifices?
6. We must have our heart united, or else none of the blessings which, are to follow in covenant order can possibly reach us. For, look, I will give them one heart, and then it follows, one way; no man will have a consistent, uniform way while he has a divided heart, Read next, That they shall fear Me for ever; but no man will fear God for ever unless fear has taken possession of his whole heart. The convert may profess to follow the Lord for awhile, but he will soon turn aside; he who does not begin with his whole heart will soon tire of the race.
7. God will give His chosen this unified heart. I will give them one heart. This the Lord does in part by enlightenment through the light of His Holy Spirit. He shows us the worthlessness and deceptiveness of everything that would attract our hearts away from Jesus and from our God; and when we see the evil of the rival, we give our heart entirely to Him whom we worship. The Lord works this also by a process more thorough still; for He weans us from all idolatrous loves.
II. If we have this we may now advance to the second blessing of the covenant here mentioned, which is consistency of walk. I will give them one way.
1. Without this unity there can be no truth in a mans life. If he spins by day, and unravels at night, he is acting out a falsehood.
2. We must have one walk, or else our life will make no progress. He who travels in two opposite directions will find himself no forwarder.
3. We must choose and keep to one way, or we cannot attain to usefulness. If a man speak for God to-day, and so lives to-morrow that he virtually speaks for the devil, what power has he over those around him? How can he lead who has no way of his own?
4. No person can come to any true personal assurance while his life is of a double character. But if I know that I have one heart, and that my heart belongs to my Lord, and that I have one way, a way of obedience to Him, then may I be assured that I am His. A plain way will make our condition plain. This unity of way is a covenant blessing: it comes not of man, neither by man, but God gives it to His own elect as one of the choice favours of His grace. I will give them one heart and one way.
III. Notice the next covenant blessing, steadfastness of principle. That they may fear Me for ever. Get the heart and the way right, and then the spiritual force of the fear of God will abide in us in all days to come. Notice the basis of true religion,–it is the fear of God: it is not said that they shall join a church and make a profession, and speak holy words for ever; but that They may fear Me for ever. When God has given us a true spiritual fear of Him it will abide all tests. Outward religion depends upon the excitement which created it; but the fear of the Lord lives on when all around it is frost-bitten. Persecution comes, Christians are ridiculed in the workshop, they are pointed out in the street, and an opprobrious name is hooted at them; now we shall know who are Gods elect and who are not. Then, perhaps, comes a more serious test, the trial of prosperity. A man grows rich, he rises into another class of society. If he is not a real Christian he will forsake the Lord, but if he be a true-born heir of the kingdom he will fear the Lord for ever, and consecrate his substance to Him. A heart wholly given to God will stand the wear and tear of life in all conditions, whether in honour or in contempt. With some of you old age is creeping on; but I rejoice to know that your grace is not decaying. Oh, what a mercy it is to have within us a fear of God, which is not to last for a period of years, but for ever!
IV. Personal blessedness. For the good of them. Where God gives us one heart and one way, and steadfast principle, it must be for our good in the highest sense. Tell me who are the happiest Christians. They will be found to be whole-hearted Christians. Plunge into the river of life; let body, soul, and spirit be immersed into its floods, and you shall swim in joy unspeakable. Lose sight of the shores of worldliness and you shall see Gods wonders in the deeps. In intense devotion to the Lord, you will find the rare jewel, satisfaction.
V. The last is a relative blessing. And for their children after them. Wholehearted Christians are usually blessed with a posterity of a like kind. Be thorough and true, and your family will respect your faith. The almost inevitable consequence of respect in a child towards his parent is a desire to imitate him. It is not always so, but as a rule it is so: if the parents live unto God in a thorough, hearted way, their sons and daughters aspire to the same thing. They see the beauty of religion at home around the fireside, and their conscience being quickened they are led to pray to God that they may have the like piety, so that when they themselves commence a household they may enjoy the like happiness. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 39. I will give them one heart] And that a clean one.
And one way] And that a holy and safe one: and to have this clean heart, and to walk in this good way, will be for the good of them and their children after them. God’s blessing is a profitable inheritance. They shall have but one object of worship, and one way of salvation; and being saved from sin, idolatry, and destruction, they must necessarily be happy within and happy without.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
I will give them one heart; I will give them union and concord, or a oneness of mind and judgment; as to the things of God, they shall not be some for superstitious and idolatrous worship, and some for my true worship. And one way; they shall all worship me according to the rule I have given them.
That they may fear me for ever; that they may worship me in truth, as a people that have a dread of me upon their hearts.
For the good of them, and of their children after them; this will be for the profit both of them and their posterity many days, even so long as they shall continue so to do.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
39. one heartall seeking theLord with one accord, in contrast to their state when onlyscattered individuals sought Him (Eze 11:19;Eze 11:20; Zep 3:9).
for . . . good of them(Ps 34:12-15).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And I will give them one heart and one way,…. “One” and the same heart; the same heart to one as to another; gracious souls, truly converted persons, be they Jews or Gentiles, have the same experience; they have all, more or less, a sight and sense of sin, and the evil of it; are brought off of their own righteousness; are led to Christ alone for life and salvation; are made partakers of precious promises; and all have their temptations, afflictions, and trials, and can sympathize with one another: and they have the same things put into their hearts; the laws of God are written there; the doctrines of the Gospel have a place there; Christ is formed in them; the graces of the Spirit are implanted, faith, hope, love, fear, humility, and other graces. Their heart, given them at conversion, is a sincere and upright heart, not a double one; they become Israelites indeed; their faith is unfeigned; their hope is devoid of hypocrisy; their love is without dissimulation; their repentance is genuine; and they serve God uprightly with true hearts. It is also single and alone for God; he has the whole of it; their understandings are enlightened with the knowledge of him; their affections and desires are towards him: their wills are subject to him; their eye is single to his glory; their hearts are not divided between him and another object of worship; and they are also one towards another, as the first Christians were of one heart and of one soul, Ac 4:32; and such a heart is a new heart, and the gift of God: “one way” is also promised: one way of salvation, which is Christ; the one and only way of access to God; of acceptance with him; of justification before him; and of forgiveness of sin; the only true way into a Gospel church state, and to eternal glory and happiness; and which is the more excellent way; the good old way; the new and living one: one way of worship may also be intended; one Lord is to be obeyed and worshipped; one doctrine and scheme of faith to be received; one baptism to be administered, in one and the same way, to one and the same subjects, and in one and the same name; one true spiritual manner of worship, all shall come into in the latter day; and there will be no more parties among those that are called Christians; the Jews, when converted, will have no divisions nor different denominations among them; see Eph 4:4
Zec 14:9;
that they may fear me for ever; both internally and externally; the one heart will be given them to fear and reverence him inwardly; and the one way of worship to fear or serve him outwardly, and in which they shall always continue; there will be no apostasy from the true grace of God, and no defection from his worship to superstition and idolatry:
for the good of them, and of their children after them; unity of heart; sincerity and uprightness of soul; a walking in the way of the Lord; having his fear before their eyes, and on their hearts, will issue in their spiritual good here, and in their eternal happiness hereafter; and even their posterity will reap some advantage by their good instructions and example.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
He more clearly explains the last verse; for he mentions the effects of the favor referred to. God indeed includes everything in one word, when he declares that he will be our God, for he thus adopts us as his children. Hence comes the certainty as to our heavenly inheritance, and also as to his mercy, which is better than life. There is then nothing that can be desired beyond this benefit, that is, when God offers himself to us, and deigns to receive and embrace us as his people.
But as I have already said, we do not fully comprehend the benefit of this doctrine; for, first, we are very tardy and dull, we perceive not what God means by this expression, and then we know how much our nature is prone to diffidence, so far is the distance between us and God. Hence this doctrine has need of explanation. Therefore the Prophet, after having pointed out the cause and the beginning of all blessings, now mentions the effects, which more fully confirm what he had said. Hence he says, I willgive to them one heart and one way, that they may fear me for ever: for God does not otherwise own us as his people, nor can he be our Father, except he regenumtes us by his Spirit; for it is of regeneration that the Prophet here speaks. But I must defer the rest until to-morrow.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(39) I will give them one heart, and one way.The previous verse has described the restoration of Israel in the old familiar all-inclusive termsThey shall be my people, and I will be their God (Exo. 6:7; Deu. 14:2; Hos. 2:23). Here a new feature is added. The prophet, in his vision of the future, in place of the discords of the presentsome serving Jehovah, and some Baal and Molech; some urging submission to Babylon, and some intriguing with Egyptsees a unity in faith showing itself in unity of action. The hope of Jeremiah has never yet been realised, but it has appeared as with a transfigured glory in the prayer of the Christ for His people that they all may be one, even as He and the Father are one (Joh. 17:21-23), in the prayer of the Apostle, that all might be joined together in the unity of the faith (Eph. 4:13). And that prayer also waits for its fulfilment, and receives only partial and (to use Bacons phrase) germinant accomplishments. For ever represents the Hebrew all the days.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
39. One heart, and one way Righteousness carries with it inevitably harmony and unity; sin is everywhere and always a note of discord and strife.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
DISCOURSE: 1077
SALVATION IS OF GOD, FROM FIRST TO LAST
Jer 32:39-41. 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 [Note: The preceding Discourse on this text shews its bearing upon the Conversion of the Jews: this its reference to the Christian Church.].
THERE is not any thing more common than for persons, who treated with contempt Gods threatened judgments, to sink under them in the most abject manner, as soon as they begin to feel them. The Jews would not be persuaded for a long season that God would ever deliver them into the hand of the Chaldeans: but when they found that his word was ready to take effect, they were overwhelmed with grief and despondency. To preserve them from running to this extreme, and to shew them that the Divine judgments would be tempered with mercy, the prophet was inspired to foretel their future restoration to that very land from whence they were about to be carried captive. But it is evident that this prophecy has respect to a far greater deliverance, even to the redemption of the world from sin and Satan, and the restoration of sinners to their forfeited inheritance. A near prospect of the punishment which their sins have merited, often brings them, with a very quick transition, from presumption to despair: but, for their encouragement, God teaches them to look to him as an all-sufficient helper, and to rely on him for the carrying on of the good work wherever he has begun it. In this view of the passage we may notice,
I.
The means of our conversion
In our natural state we are afar off from God, going astray like sheep that are lost. In order to recover us,
God puts his fear into our hearts
[While unconverted, we have no fear of God before our eyes: we all walk after the imagination of our own hearts, seeking happiness in various ways, according as we are led by our different inclinations or situations in life. But in conversion, God gives us one heart and one way. By these words we do not so much understand, an unity of affection and pursuit, in opposition to the multiplicity of desires with which every carnal mind is distracted (though doubtless that idea is included in them) as, that oneness of sentiment and action that pervades all who are the subjects of divine grace. As on the day of Pentecost, so, in every age and place, Christians, as far as they are taught of God, are of one heart and mind. The prejudices of education do indeed make a difference between them with respect to some matters of less importance; and an undue stress laid upon these things too often prevents that close union and communion that should subsist between all the members of Christs mystical body: but, with respect to the grand point of fearing God, there is no difference among them: all, without exception, have one heart and one way, in that they desire above all things, and earnestly endeavour, to walk in the fear of God all the day long ]
This is to the unspeakable benefit of ourselves, and of all connected with us
[Too often are men dissuaded from entertaining this fear, lest it should prove injurious to them; but none ever received it into their hearts without looking back upon all their former life with shame and sorrow: yea, they have ever considered the season of their first submission to it as the most blessed era of their lives; and, instead of regretting that they ever yielded to its influence, they invariably wish to have their whole souls subjected to its dominion. And as they find it thus for their own good, inasmuch as it enlivens their hopes, and purifies their hearts, so is it for the good of their children, yea, and of all connected with them. It makes them better in every station and relation of life, whether as parents or children, masters or servants, rulers or subjects: it leads them to fill up their various duties to the honour of God; and to communicate, to the utmost of their power, the same blessed disposition to all around them.]
The same divine agency, that first converted us, proves afterwards,
II.
The source of our perseverance
It is not in man to direct his own steps: our progress in the way of duty depends on,
1.
The engagements of Gods covenant
[God has entered into covenant with his Church and people, and undertaken to preserve them from apostasy. Nor is this covenant liable to be broken, like that which he made with the Israelites in the wilderness [Note: Jer 31:31-32.]: it is and will be everlasting, because God himself engages to do all which is requisite for our support. He will not depart from us to do us good; he may, like a wise parent, sometimes frown, and sometimes chastise; but, while he acts in this manner, he does it for our good, no less than when ho lifts up the light of his countenance upon us. He has said that, if we break his statutes, and keep not his commandments, he will visit our transgression with the rod, and our iniquity with stripes; nevertheless his loving-kindness will he not utterly take from us, nor suffer his faithfulness to fail; his covenant will he not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of his lips [Note: Psa 89:31-34.]. He engages further that we shall not depart from him. Here, doubtless, is the greater danger, seeing we have a heart bent to backslide from him; and, if left by him for one moment, we should relapse into all our former sins. But he knows how to establish the wavering, or restore the fallen; and thus to perfect his own strength in our weakness. He may leave us for a season, as he did Hezekiah, that we may know what is in our hearts: but he assures us, that our steps shall be ordered by him, and that our light shall shine brighter and brighter unto the perfect day: he will so draw us, that we shall run after him; and so keep us from falling, that an entrance may be ministered unto us abundantly into the kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.]
2.
The exertions of his power
[God speaks of himself in language accommodated to our low apprehensions of his nature, and declares that he will exert all his power, and find all his delight, in doing us good. His people, after their dismission from Babylon, laboured under many difficulties in rebuilding their city and temple; yet, through the good providence of God, they surmounted all. Thus shall we meet with many obstructions before we arrive at the Paradise above: but God will regard us as trees of righteousness, and will plant us in that land assuredly with his whole heart and with his whole soul. Who then shall defeat his efforts, or disappoint his aim? If God be for us, who can be against us? In vain shall earth and hell be confederate against us; for hath he said, and will he not do it? hath he spoken, and will he not make it good? He will never cease to work, till he has fulfilled in us all his good pleasure, and perfected that which concerneth us: he will keep us by his own power through faith unto salvation.]
We may observe from hence,
1.
How suitable is the way of salvation!
[Foolish and ignorant men would be better pleased with a gospel that left them to earn, either wholly or in part, their own salvation. But, alas! how ill adapted would such a Gospel be to us, who are insufficient of ourselves even to think a good thought! How much more suitable is the promise in the text, wherein God undertakes to do every thing in us, and for us! Let us then receive thankfully what God offers freely. Let us embrace a covenant that is ordered in all things and sure; and rejoice in serving God, who so rejoices in saving us.]
2.
What effectual care is taken that we should not turn the grace of God into licentiousness!
[There are, it must be acknowledged, some who abuse this doctrine, (for what is there, however excellent, which men will not abuse?) and take occasion from it to rest in n state of worldliness and sloth. But the very promise gives us a sufficient antidote against the poison it is supposed to convey: it tells us indeed, that God will keep us from departing from him; but it tells us also, that he will do this by putting his fear into our hearts. This destroys at once all delusive hopes; inasmuch as it shews us, that, if we be not living habitually in the fear of God, we are actually departed from him, and consequently can have no ground whatever to expect salvation at his hands. Let the carnal and slothful professor of religion well consider this. His abuse of this promise cannot invalidate its truth; but it may deceive his soul to his eternal ruin. Be it ever remembered, that the very same fear which God puts into our hearts in our first conversion, must continue to operate, and that too with increasing activity, to the end of our lives and, that we have no longer any reason to think our past experience to be scriptural, than while we cultivate that fear, and endeavour to walk in it all the day long. We do not mean that every occasional backsliding should subvert our hopes; but, if ever the fear of God cease to be the leading principle in our hearts, or to stimulate us to further attainments in holiness, we may be sure that we have deceived our own souls, and that our religion is vain. May God keep us all from such a fatal delusion for his mercys sake!]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
Jer 32:39 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:
Ver. 39. And I will give them one heart. ] Oneness or singleness of heart in my service, and unanimity among themselves, until they all come unto that oneness of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, &c. Eph 4:13
That they may fear me for ever.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
fear = revere.
for ever = all the days.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
I: 2Ch 30:12, Isa 52:8, Eze 11:19, Eze 11:20, Eze 36:26, Eze 37:22, Joh 17:21, Act 4:32, 2Co 13:11, Phi 2:1, Phi 2:2
one way: Jer 6:16, Isa 35:8, Joh 14:6, Heb 10:20
they may: Jer 32:40, Gen 22:12, Psa 112:1, Pro 14:26, Pro 14:27, Pro 23:17, Act 9:31
for ever: Heb. all days
for the: Gen 17:7, Gen 18:19, Deu 5:29, Deu 11:18-21, Psa 115:13-15, Psa 128:6, Eze 37:25, Act 2:39, Act 3:26, Act 13:33, Rom 11:16, 1Co 7:14
Reciprocal: Gen 17:18 – O that Gen 19:12 – Hast Exo 20:6 – showing Lev 20:5 – against his Deu 6:24 – for our good Deu 10:12 – fear Deu 10:13 – for thy Deu 29:15 – also with him Deu 30:6 – will circumcise Deu 30:8 – General Deu 30:19 – that both thou 1Ki 8:40 – fear thee 1Ch 12:17 – knit 1Ch 29:18 – keep 2Ch 5:13 – as one Job 37:24 – fear Psa 25:13 – his seed Psa 37:26 – his seed Psa 51:10 – clean Psa 86:11 – unite Psa 94:14 – For Psa 112:2 – General Psa 115:14 – you Psa 119:36 – Incline Psa 119:38 – who is devoted Psa 133:1 – how good Psa 138:8 – perfect Pro 11:21 – the seed Pro 16:1 – preparations Pro 20:7 – his children Isa 42:16 – and not Isa 65:23 – for Jer 3:19 – shalt not Jer 24:7 – I will give Jer 30:20 – children Lam 5:21 – Turn Eze 18:31 – make Eze 37:23 – they be Eze 37:24 – they shall Zec 8:8 – they shall be my Zec 10:7 – yea Mal 3:17 – they shall Mat 19:13 – brought Mar 10:14 – Suffer Luk 1:75 – General Luk 18:16 – Suffer Joh 3:10 – and knowest Act 2:1 – they Act 11:14 – all Act 16:31 – and thy Rom 12:16 – of the Rom 15:5 – grant 1Co 1:10 – that ye Eph 2:10 – we are Eph 4:13 – we all Phi 1:27 – in one
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jer 32:39. One heart refers to the unity of mind the Jews were to have when they return from captivity.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
32:39 And I will give them {t} one heart, and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them:
(t) One consent and one religion, as in Eze 11:19; Eze 36:26 .