Jeremiah Ten

by Dr. Henry M. Morris

(taken from the Defender's Study Bible)

Jeremiah 10:1 Hear ye the word which the LORD speaketh unto you, O house of Israel:

Jeremiah 10:2 Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.

Jeremiah 10:3 For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe.

Jeremiah 10:4 They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.

Jeremiah 10:5 They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good.

Jeremiah 10:6 Forasmuch as there is none like unto thee, O LORD; thou art great, and thy name is great in might.

Jeremiah 10:7 Who would not fear thee, O King of nations? for to thee doth it appertain: forasmuch as among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, there is none like unto thee.

King of nations. God is not only King of Israel, but King of all nations (i.e., the Gentiles). This unique title is only used here, but the truth appears repeatedly (e.g., Psalm 47:2).

Jeremiah 10:8 But they are altogether brutish and foolish: the stock is a doctrine of vanities.

Jeremiah 10:9 Silver spread into plates is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the workman, and of the hands of the founder: blue and purple is their clothing: they are all the work of cunning men.

Jeremiah 10:10 But the LORD is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting king: at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide his indignation.

Jeremiah 10:11 Thus shall ye say unto them, The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, even they shall perish from the earth, and from under these heavens.

The gods. Unlike all the rest of the book of Jeremiah, this verse was written in Aramaic instead of Hebrew. Addressed, to the pagan nations, the verse climaxes God's indictment against idolatry. The only true and living God is the God who created heaven and earth.

Jeremiah 10:12 He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heavens by his discretion.

stretched out the heavens. The infinite extent of the starry universe has indeed been “stretched out.” Even today, with our giant telescopes, men have not been able to see any end to it.

Jeremiah 10:13 When he uttereth his voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens, and he causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth; he maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures.

waters in the heavens. Jeremiah 10:12-13 is repeated in Jeremiah 51:15-16, and Jeremiah 10:13 is partially repeated in Psalm 135:7. All three indicate a sound scientific concept of the atmospheric phase of the hydrologic cycle, involving the worldwide processes of evaporation, translation aloft by atmospheric circulation, condensation with electrical discharges, and precipitation.

Jeremiah 10:14 Every man is brutish in his knowledge: every founder is confounded by the graven image: for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.

Jeremiah 10:15 They are vanity, and the work of errors: in the time of their visitation they shall perish.

Jeremiah 10:16 The portion of Jacob is not like them: for he is the former of all things; and Israel is the rod of his inheritance: The LORD of hosts is his name.

former of all things. That is, the One who is Jacob's Portion (meaning his inheritance) is the One who has formed all things.

Jeremiah 10:17 Gather up thy wares out of the land, O inhabitant of the fortress.

Jeremiah 10:18 For thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will sling out the inhabitants of the land at this once, and will distress them, that they may find it so.

Jeremiah 10:19 Woe is me for my hurt! my wound is grievous: but I said, Truly this is a grief, and I must bear it.

Jeremiah 10:20 My tabernacle is spoiled, and all my cords are broken: my children are gone forth of me, and they are not: there is none to stretch forth my tent any more, and to set up my curtains.

Jeremiah 10:21 For the pastors are become brutish, and have not sought the LORD: therefore they shall not prosper, and all their flocks shall be scattered.

Jeremiah 10:22 Behold, the noise of the bruit is come, and a great commotion out of the north country, to make the cities of Judah desolate, and a den of dragons.

den of dragons. See on Jeremiah 9:11.

Jeremiah 10:23 O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.

man that walketh. No matter how intelligent, strong, or rich a man may be (note Jeremiah 9:23-24), he cannot control his own destiny, or even make reliable decisions day by day. If his “way” is to point toward the eternal ministry God had planned for him, he must continually seek and follow God's leading. “Man's goings are of the Lord; how can a man then understand his own way?” (Proverbs 20:24). “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and He delighteth in his way” (Psalm 37:23).

Jeremiah 10:24 O LORD, correct me, but with judgment; not in thine anger, lest thou bring me to nothing.

Jeremiah 10:25 Pour out thy fury upon the heathen that know thee not, and upon the families that call not on thy name: for they have eaten up Jacob, and devoured him, and consumed him, and have made his habitation desolate.