Then came the word of the Lord unto Jeremiah To this difficulty of Jeremiah, between what was commanded him, and the prospect of its being, not only useless, but disadvantageous to him, the Lord answered, Behold, I am the God of all flesh Of all men: is any thing too hard for me? The difficulties which thou thinkest are not to be surmounted are not difficulties to me, who can do all things, and have the lives and actions of men wholly at my disposal. Therefore, thus saith the Lord The Lord now proceeds to confirm again the predictions so frequently given, concerning both the destruction and the restoration of Jerusalem; and to explain more fully the reasons of his conduct toward the Jews and Israelites. The Chaldeans, that fight against this city shall burn it Thou judgest right: this city shall be taken, and that by this very army of Chaldeans which now besieges it; who shall destroy it by fire; with the houses, upon whose roofs they have offered incense, &c. As if he had said, In the execution of my vengeance I shall not act by absolute power, but as a just and righteous judge, vindicating the honour of my violated laws. For they have polluted their houses by idolatrous worship upon the roofs of them, openly and publicly, in contempt of my authority, and defiance of my justice. For the children of Israel and Judah have only done evil before me, &c. If they had offended me only by some particular acts of sin, or by omitting their duty in only some few instances, or but for a short time, I might have been thought to act with severity toward them; but from the time they first began to be a nation they have only provoked me to anger with the works of their hands Passing from one course of sin, and from one species of idolatry, to another. For this city hath been a provocation of mine anger, &c. The conduct of its inhabitants has been generally and long provoking: they began betimes, and have continued in the commission of the most daring wickedness from age to age. From the day that they built it Or, that it was built, the verb personal being often used for the impersonal. Solomon completed the building of Jerusalem, having greatly enlarged and beautified it with the temple and other stately buildings, and he afterward greatly defiled it by idolatry, the sin here spoken of. See 1 Kings 11:7, compared with 2 Kings 23:13. And, except in David's time, the worship of God could hardly be said to be preserved pure through the entire reign of any one king. That I should remove it from before my face As if they had pursued these idolatrous practices on purpose to provoke me to destroy the city, and to cast its inhabitants out of it. As nothing can be more easy than for people to keep close to the divine rule, as to external acts of worship, so nothing is more provoking to God than their not doing so. And yet nothing has been more rarely done in any nation; as if men had set themselves to bid defiance to a jealous God. Because of all the evil of the children of Israel Still God makes their destruction to be of themselves, provoking him to that wrath which he executed upon them. They, their kings, their princes, &c. The whole head was sick, the whole heart faint. All orders of men were so corrupted that there was no hope of their reformation or amendment. They have turned unto me the back and not the face They have behaved themselves contemptuously toward me, like men who, when they are admonished or instructed, instead of looking toward those who instruct or admonish them, turn their backs upon them: see note on Jeremiah 2:27. Though I taught them, rising up early. &c. Their sin would not have been so great and heinous if I, by my prophets, had not so continually instructed and reproved them; and they as stubbornly refused to hearken to the instruction, and to be amended by the reproofs. They set their abominations Their idols, which, above all things, the jealous God abhors; in the house which is called by my name That is, in the temple, which was ordinarily called the house of the Lord. This they did under some of the idolatrous kings. And they built the high places of Baal, &c. See the notes on Jeremiah 19:5-6, where all the clauses of this verse are explained.
Jeremiah 32:26-35
26 Then came the word of the LORD unto Jeremiah, saying,
27 Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?
28 Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans, and into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and he shall take it:
29 And the Chaldeans, that fight against this city, shall come and set fire on this city, and burn it with the houses, upon whose roofs they have offered incense unto Baal, and poured out drink offerings unto other gods, to provoke me to anger.
30 For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have only done evil before me from their youth: for the children of Israel have only provoked me to anger with the work of their hands, saith the LORD.
31 For this city hath been to me as a provocation of mine anger and of my fury from the day that they built it even unto this day; that I should remove it from before my face,
32 Because of all the evil of the children of Israel and of the children of Judah, which they have done to provoke me to anger, they, their kings, their princes, their priests, and their prophets, and the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
33 And they have turned unto me the back,e and not the face: though I taught them, rising up early and teaching them, yet they have not hearkened to receive instruction.
34 But they set their abominations in the house, which is called by my name, to defile it.
35 And they built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.