Jeremiah 25:4-7 - Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

And the Lord hath sent unto you all his servants, &c. Nor am I the only prophet whom the Lord hath sent you, and whom you have neglected and despised. God hath sent you many more, and you have despised as many as he hath sent. This contempt of the Lord's messengers is made the proximate cause of God's wrath coming upon this people, till there was no remedy, 2 Chronicles 36:16. They said, Turn ye again now, &c. The substance, both of their and my sermons, hath been to persuade you to abandon those sinful courses, wherein you have lived, and which you might have amended, by virtue of that grace which God did not deny you. We have not differed in our doctrine, to the practice of which you have also been encouraged, both by them and me, with an assurance from God, that, if you obeyed it, you should enjoy this good land which the Lord promised, and gave to you and your fathers, and which you have now possessed for many ages. And go not after other gods Though the Jews were guilty of many other sins, yet their most heinous sin was idolatry, as it was a direct renouncing of God's authority, who had, by so many miracles of mercy, set them apart for himself and his own service, and had bestowed so many signal privileges and blessings upon them. And provoke me not with the works of your hands By worshipping, as gods, the images which your own hands have made, or with any works which are contrary to my law. And I will do you no hurt You shall yet enjoy your own land and prosper. Yet ye have not hearkened unto me Ye heard me, and other the Lord's prophets, thus speaking to you, but you have not obeyed; that ye might provoke me, &c. As if you had disobeyed with a design to incense me against you; to your own hurt For the sinful actions of men do not affect or injure me, but are to the hurt of those who do them.