Jeremiah–Ezekiel (The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Revised Edition, Volume 7 | REBC)

Top Highlights

“Without a new covenant the same pattern of disobedience, judgment, and transitory repentance followed again by disobedience and judgment would be endlessly repeated. God’s only redemptive recourse, then, was to change the nature of the covenant and thereby change the nature of his people.” (Page 396)

“That God would give Israel ‘statutes that were not good’ (v. 25) means that Israel would choose to live according to the world’s ordinances, which brought misery and death (cf. 11:12; Lev 26; Dt 28:15–29:19; 2 Ki 17:26–41).” (Page 749)

“By observing the weekly Sabbath, Israel was reminded that God graciously set her apart as an instrument of blessing to the world and as a witness against the pagans, who had exchanged the worship of the Creator for the worship of his creation (v. 12; cf. Ne 9:14; Ro 1:25).” (Pages 748–749)

“The poet confesses that in spite of the natural response to such devastating calamities, he chooses to foster a confident expectation in Yahweh. The Hebrew syntax of v. 20 uses the intensifying infinitive plus the cognate finite verb to emphasize that the experience of affliction and uprootedness is unforgettable: literally, ‘I certainly remember.…’ Further, the certain recollection invites depression: ‘My soul is downcast within me.’ Nevertheless, the stanza ends (v. 21) on a note of hope. The poet points to the choice of whether to focus on the calamity itself and be buried in self-pity, or on God’s character and his promise and, once again, on the confident expectation that doing so engenders (cf. v. 18).” (Page 618)