Jeremiah 26:4

26:1-6 God's ambassadors must not seek to please men, or to save themselves from harm. See how God waits to be gracious. If they persisted in disobedience, it would ruin their city and temple. Can any thing else be expected? Those who will not be subject to the commands of God, make themselves subject to the curse of God.

And thou shalt say unto them,.... What follows is the substance of the prophecy, and the sum of the sermon or discourse he was sent to deliver, without diminishing a word of it: thus saith the Lord, if ye will not hearken to me, to walk in my law which I have set before you; first by Moses, by whose hands it was given to their fathers; and by the prophets, the interpreters of it to them; before whom it was set as a way for them to walk in, and a rule to walk by; a directory for them in their lives and conversations; and which continues to be so, as it is set before us Christians by our King and Lawgiver Jesus Christ; though not to obtain righteousness and life by the works of it; which should not be sought for, nor are attainable thereby.

Verses 4-6. - The contents of the discourse (see especially on Jeremiah 7:12-15). The priests and the prophets interfere, arrest Jeremiah, and accuse him of a capital crime. It would appear that some at least of the "false prophets" were priests; thus Pashur, we are told, was a priest ( Jeremiah 20:6 ). Jeremiah 26:4

(4, 5) To walk in my law, which I have set before you. —The words present more vividly than in the parallels of Jeremiah 7:25 ; Jeremiah 25:4 the relation of the Law as the groundwork of the teaching of the Prophets, their office being that of preachers and expounders, making men feel that the commandment was “exceeding broad.” The “Law and the Prophets” are already coupled together, as in Matthew 5:17 ; Matthew 22:40 , as making up God’s revelation of His will to Israel.

Jeremiah 26 is a narrative of the danger to which Jeremiah was exposed by reason of the prophecy contained in Jeremiah 7 and should be read in connection with it. Jeremiah 26:4-6 contain a summary of the prediction contained in Jeremiah 7 , and that again is but an outline of what was a long address.

A course of actions in Scripture is ordinarily called a way; in which sense we often read of the way of the Lord, the way of the wicked, the way of the righteous, & c.; and a motion in this course is usually called walking, Psalm 1:1 Ezekiel 18:9 , and applied both to God and men. To walk in God’s laws is expounded by hearkening unto them, or (as in other places) by observing, keeping, and doing them. God is said to have set his laws before them, both in respect of their first promulgation to them at Sinai, and writing them in tables; and the daily expositions and urging of them upon their practice by his servants the prophets, as it followeth.

Accusation and Acquittal of Jeremiah. - Jeremiah 26:1-7 . His prophecy that temple and city would be destroyed gave occasion to the accusation of the prophet. - Jeremiah 26:1 . "In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah king of Judah, came this word from Jahveh, saying: Jeremiah 26:2 . Thus said Jahveh: Stand in the court of the house of Jahveh, and speak to all the cities of Judah which come to worship in Jahveh's house, all the words that I have commanded thee to speak to them; take not a word therefrom. Jeremiah 26:3 . Perchance they will hearken and turn each from his evil way, that I may repent me of the evil which I purpose to do unto them for the evil of their doings. Jeremiah 26:4 . And say unto them: Thus saith Jahveh: If ye hearken not to me, to walk in my law which I have set before you, Jeremiah 26:5 . To hearken to the words of my servants the prophets whom I sent unto you, from early morning on sending, but ye have not hearkened. Jeremiah 26:6 . Then I make this house like Shiloh, and this city a curse to all the peoples of the earth. Jeremiah 26:7 . And the priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of Jahveh." In the discourse of Jeremiah 7, where he was combating the people's false reliance upon the temple, Jeremiah had already threatened that the temple should share the fate of Shiloh, unless the people turned from its evil ways.

Now, since that discourse was also delivered in the temple, and since Jeremiah 26:2-6 of the present chapter manifestly communicate only the substance of what the prophet said, several comm. have held these discourses to be identical, and have taken it for granted that the discourse here referred to, belonging to the beginning of Jehoiakim's reign, was given in full in Jeremiah 7, while the history of it has been given in the present chapter by way of supplement (cf. the introductory remarks to Jeremiah 7). But considering that it is a peculiarity of Jeremiah frequently to repeat certain of the main thoughts of his message, the saying of God, that He will do to the temple as He has done to Shiloh, is not sufficient to warrant this assumption. Jeremiah frequently held discourses in the temple, and more than once foretold the destruction of Jerusalem; so that it need not be surprising if on more than one occasion he threatened the temple with the fate of Shiloh.