Jeremiah 43:8
Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah at Tahpanhes:
Sermons
Hearts Set to Do EvilS. Conway Jeremiah 43:1-13
Building on the SandS. Conway Jeremiah 43:8-13
Jeremiah Hides the Stones in the Brick KilnA London MinisterJeremiah 43:8-13
The Stones of TahpanhesA.F. Muir Jeremiah 43:8-13
The Visitation Upon EgyptD. Young Jeremiah 43:8-13














Great uncertainty as to the fulfilment of this prophetic parable. Are we bound to assume that it was actually carried out? It is possible, according to some critics (but see Exposition on Jeremiah 46:13), that the accomplishment of the prediction, as of many others, was only contingent. It is very vivid and definite, but that is quite consistent with the intermediate occurrence of circumstances in the spiritual state of the Jewish sojourners that enabled God to cancel it. Just as at this time their disposition may have been alarmingly idolatrous and worldly, so at a later stage it may have changed.

I. WHAT THE PARABLE MAY HAVE SUGGESTED.

1. The contingent certainty of Divine judgment. The action may have represented, not only the sequence of events, but that of principles. If, then, the events did not occur, it would still remain true that, in the kingdom of God. such a dependence of principles is eternal; sin is ever nigh to cursing. So much is this the case, that it may be said to contain the elements of its own punishment, like the stones hidden in the clay.

(1) The stones are hidden in the clay with which, although heterogeneous, they stand in a divinely appointed relation.

(2) The interpretation given by the prophet further strengthened this impression in the minds of the spectators. It was the same power, viz. the Chaldean, which had already scourged Judah, that was to follow the remnant into distant Egypt. The continuity of the judgment with those which preceded it is thus forcibly set forth. Nebuchadnezzar, if or when he came, could not be mistaken for other than a divinely ordained instrument of vengeance. The advantage of such an understanding of the prophecy is obvious - it ceases to have a particular and transitory significance, and becomes at once necessary and universal. We need that lesson graven upon our hearts today: "The soul that sinneth it shall die;" "He that soweth to the flesh," etc.

2. That dependence upon any earthly power is utterly vain. Egypt is dreamt of as a refuge from their woes. Its power, typified by the clay of the kiln or brick field, only overlies the power of God, typified by the Stones. They would be in his hands still, although they knew it not. Through the clay of worldly dependence they must needs fall upon the stones of Divine judgment. Man cannot flee from his Maker. There is no earthly security from the consequences of sin. If the remnant of Judah, pursuing its tendency towards worldly mindedness and idolatry to the bitter end, should persist in putting its trust in the Egyptian power, to whose religion and life it was in such imminent danger of assimilating itself, woe to it! Through Pharaoh even will they be confronted with Nebuchadnezzar yet again. God is the only true Helper and Saviour, and in the practice of holiness and the precepts of true religion is security alone to be found. What assurance company can shield the sinner from the consequences of his misdeeds? And if God be for any man, who can he against him?

II. WHAT THE PARABLE MAY HAVE EFFECTED. It has been conjectured (by Naegelsbach and others) that the symbolic action of Jeremiah and its interpretation so forcibly appealed to the imagination and conscience of the Jews as to change their hearts. That some such consequence as this was intended seems very probable. If it resulted as they suppose, then the judgment was averted which depended upon their misconduct and worldliness. "God repented him of the evil." This is one of the great aims of such teaching - so to affect the heart through the imagination as to subdue its evil tendencies and lead it to the pursuit of righteousness and truth. The crowded Jewish colony of Alexandria may then be taken, not as a refutation of the words of Jeremiah, but as a proof that these words produced their legitimate impression, and brought about a deep and lasting reformation. The lesson of all which is that the relation between sin and its punishment, and the futility of earthly securities and screens from Divine vengeance, cannot be too forcibly represented. God will bless the faithful preaching of his Word, and is infinitely more willing to have mercy than to prove his predictions by allowing men to harden their hearts. - M.

Take great stones in thine hand, and hide them in the clay in the brick kiln.
A London Minister.
I. THEY PREACHED OF THE HISTORIC PAST.

1. From the soil in which they were found. They were stones of Egypt.

2. The place where they were buried — the brick kiln — must have carried their thoughts back to the hard labour of their ancestors under the lash of the taskmasters (Exodus 9:8).

3. The burial of the stones beneath the ground might have suggested the past condition of Israel in this same land; they were buried under the oppressive tyranny of the heathen monarch and his people, and had been raised, as it were, from a grave of degradation and lifted into a new life as a free people by the mighty hand of God.

II. THEY PROPHESIED OF THE FUTURE.

1. The only refuge from the displeasure of God is to be found in God Himself.

2. Unbelief in the Divine Word will not prevent the fulfilment of it.

3. The true minister of God will not be deterred by opposition from declaring the judgments, as well as the mercies, of God.

(A London Minister.).

People
Ahikam, Azariah, Babylonians, Baruch, Egyptians, Gedaliah, Hoshaiah, Jeremiah, Johanan, Kareah, Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadrezzar, Nebuzaradan, Neriah, Pharaoh, Shaphan
Places
Babylon, Egypt, Heliopolis, Tahpanhes
Topics
Jeremiah, Saying, Tahpanhes, Tah'panhes
Outline
1. Johanan, discrediting Jeremiah's prophecy, carries him and the rest in Egypt.
8. Jeremiah prophesies by a type the conquest of Egypt by the Babylonians.

Dictionary of Bible Themes
Jeremiah 43:8-9

     7505   Jews, the

Jeremiah 43:8-13

     1431   prophecy, OT methods

Library
Jeremiah
The interest of the book of Jeremiah is unique. On the one hand, it is our most reliable and elaborate source for the long period of history which it covers; on the other, it presents us with prophecy in its most intensely human phase, manifesting itself through a strangely attractive personality that was subject to like doubts and passions with ourselves. At his call, in 626 B.C., he was young and inexperienced, i. 6, so that he cannot have been born earlier than 650. The political and religious
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

Links
Jeremiah 43:8 NIV
Jeremiah 43:8 NLT
Jeremiah 43:8 ESV
Jeremiah 43:8 NASB
Jeremiah 43:8 KJV

Jeremiah 43:8 Bible Apps
Jeremiah 43:8 Parallel
Jeremiah 43:8 Biblia Paralela
Jeremiah 43:8 Chinese Bible
Jeremiah 43:8 French Bible
Jeremiah 43:8 German Bible

Jeremiah 43:8 Commentaries

Bible Hub
Jeremiah 43:7
Top of Page
Top of Page