Jeremiah 9:26
Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab, and all the inhabitants of the desert who clip the hair of their temples. For all these nations are uncircumcised, and the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart."
Sermons
Whereof to GloryS. Conway Jeremiah 9:23-26














Introduction. Cannot understand these prophecies without a knowledge of the history of the times. This is true of all prophecies, and especially of these. Therefore we will glance at such history as we proceed. Note -

I. THE GLORYING THAT IS CONDEMNED.

1. That of the wise man in his wisdom. The statesmen of Jeremiah's days had been thus glorying. They had prided themselves in their political sagacity. For many years they had formed alliances, now with one power and now with another. And they seemed to have managed well, for, for nearly a whole century, Judah had been, though so weak a power and so valuable a prize, left unattacked. Therefore no wonder that the wise men gloried in their wisdom. But now political trouble was beginning again. Egypt had become a great power, and was warring against Assyria. In this war the king Josiah sided with Assyria, and was slain in the battle of Megiddo. Thus they were without their king, and compelled to ally themselves with Egypt and to share in her fortunes, which to the eye of the prophet were the reverse of bright. Great troubles were drawing near, and it is in view of them that Jeremiah says, "Let not the wise man," etc.

2. The strong in their strength. The army of Judah was large, their fortress of Jerusalem was all but impregnable, but Jeremiah saw that all this would not avail. Their utter overthrow was fast hastening on. The great Babylonian power which had absorbed the Assyrian should accomplish this. Hence the word, "Let not the strong man," etc.

3. The rich in their riches. The long continuance of peace had enabled the nation to accumulate vast wealth. But this only made them yet more an object of desire to their approaching invaders. Their wealth was their wee.

4. The children of Abraham in the covenant, of which circumcision was the sign (Vers. 25, 26). From the time of Hezekiah's reformation until the time when Jeremiah wrote, Judah and Jerusalem had professed the ancient faith. The temple service had gone on, the sacrifices offered, etc. There had been a short, sad interval during Manasseh's reign. But so far as profession went they had been worshippers of God. And of late years Josiah's reformation had led to still louder profession. And in this profession we know they trusted very implicitly (cf. Jeremiah 7.). But it had not preserved them from the Divine displeasure in days gone by, nor in the present, nor would it in days to come. For beneath all this profession the moral and spiritual condition of the nation was most evil. Even in Hezekiah's day Isaiah had told the people that, in spite of all their profession, "he whose head was rock," etc. (cf. Isaiah 1.). And that this was so was shown by the readiness with which they followed Manasseh in his idolatries, and joined in the persecution of the faithful servants of God. And when Manasseh repented, and there was again an external profession, it was scarcely any better. But the monstrous conduct of Amon, who "sinned more and more," made the people desire the old ways. Hence, when Josiah came to the throne, they were prepared for his reforms. But again it was only a change of custom, not of character; outward, but not inward. Jeremiah sought to help forward a true reformation, for it was indeed needed (see his description of the moral condition of the people, Vers. 2-8 in this chapter). Hence it was that he told them their circumcision was no better than uncircumcision. Apply all this to our-solves:

(1) As a nation. We have all these several advantages above named: wise statesmen, great strength, vast wealth, universal religious profession; but all these, apart from moral and spiritual worth, will go for nothing. It is "righteousness," and that alone, that "exalteth a nation."

(2) As individuals. We are not to despise any of these things. They are God's good gifts; but they will not save us. We may not glory in them as a sure safeguard.

II. WHEREOF WE MAY AND SHOULD GLORY. (Cf. Ver. 24.) This means that them should be:

1. Intellectual apprehension of the truth in regard to God. His character is shown:

(1) In his exercise of loving-kindness. It is well to be open-eyed to the many and varied proofs of this - in creation, providence, redemption, grace. And it is well to be able to trace these proofs and to show that God is good.

(2) In his exercising judgment. He has given proofs of this also, and that is but a partial and therefore most misleading theology that shuts out of view the sterner aspects of the Divine Father. As in Christ we see most of all how God exercises loving-kindness, so too in him we may see the sure warnings of his judgment. "If they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?" "If the righteous scarcely be saved, where," etc.?

(3) In his exercise of righteousness. How full the proofs of this also! How manifest in Christ, his teachings, life, death, his Spirit's work now, etc.! Now, it is most desirable to understand all this, for the mind to grasp these sure truths. Too much of the religiousness of the day is weak, flaccid, unstable, because there is wanting knowledge and understanding in the truth. We are apt to be satisfied with an emotional religion, with the play of feeling and the outgoing of the affections. But for all this to be reliable we must understand as well as feel.

2. In that he "knoweth" as well as understandeth. This is more than to understand. For "to know" continually means, in Bible language, to approve, to be in sympathy with, to delight in, etc. (cf. "I will not know a wicked person; The Lord knoweth the way of the righteous; This is life eternal, to know thee the only" etc.). And so here to know God is to have moral sympathy, personal experience, inward approval and delight in regard to God. He who thus understandeth and knoweth God hath "whereof to glory." The prophet desired that his people might have this glorying, for this would save them, whilst all the other things in which they gloried but left them to perish. Appeal to all who profess religion and who instruct others, Can you thus glory? Do you understand? Better still, Do you know God in his loving-kindness, judgment, righteousness? ? C.

I am the Lord which exercise loving kindness, Judgment, and righteousness in the earth.
Homilist.
These words teach us —

I. THE EARTH IS THE SCENE OF GOD'S OPERATIONS. There is a Divine intelligence, a Divine goodness, a Divine hand everywhere visible to the truly scientific eye, and deeply felt by the devout consciousness of men. Then —

1. Do not be frivolous. Take your shoes from off your feet: an is "holy ground."

2. Do not be indifferent. His eye is on you.

3. Do not be slothful. Be earnest.

4. Do not be sinful. Do not break His laws in His presence. Do not profane His name, when His ears catch every sound.

II. God's operations on the earth ARE MARKED BY RECTITUDE AND MERCY. Because righteousness is here, sufferings follow crime; because mercy is here, the world itself is kept up: the sun shines, the air breathes, etc.

III. In the exercise of His "righteousness and mercy" on this earth, God HIMSELF HAS DELIGHT. God's happiness is in the exercise of His moral perfections.

1. It is therefore in Himself alone. It is in His own self. activity: happiness is not in quiescence, but in action.

2. Therefore participation in His blessedness is a participation in His perfections.

(Homilist.)

Homilist.
I. GOD IS ACTING ON THIS EARTH.

1. He is working in natural phenomena. He is in all, the force of all forces, the impulse of all motion.

2. He is working in human history. He works with individual men, His constant visitation preserveth their lives; He works with families, communities, churches, nations.

II. God's agency on this earth is CHARACTERISED BY RECTITUDE AND LOVE.

1. Who does not see "loving kindness," or mercy, in the continuation and enjoyments of human life?

2. Who does not see "judgment," or "righteousness," in the miseries that follow sin on this earth?

III. In the exercise of these moral attributes the GREAT GOD IS HAPPY. Justice and mercy are but modifications of love; and love in action is the happiness of God as well of His intelligent creation.

(Homilist.)

I. THE SCENE OF THE DIVINE OPERATIONS. While there are those who, under the name of science, falsely so called, deny that God exercises any direct control over the forces and circumstances of our earth, we who believe in the Divine Word are prepared to accept this fact as settled. But, while we accept this as a theory, many of us practically deny it. We see the workings of nature around us, and observe the constant and rapid changes that take place in our own and others' history, and we speak of laws and of chance, of mechanism and of routine, until we forget God, and so leave Him out of our calculations altogether. We have need, therefore, to remind each other now and again, that there is a Divine intelligence and a Divine hand visible in all the operations that are at work in our world.

1. Let us realise that God is at hand, and that He is working around us and in us, and it would put an end to frivolity, and destroy indifference. We would then feel that earth is holy ground, and that life is great and solemn reality.

2. If we were to realise day by day that God is near, exercising His power, and putting forth His operations around us and in us, we would feel that life is too solemn and too real to spend in any other way than with earnestness of purpose.

3. We could not live profoundly and earnestly without realising a purifying and ennobling influence.

II. THE CHARACTER OF THE DIVINE OPERATIONS. He is here not to frown upon and denounce us, but to "exercise loving kindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth." In all God's dealings with men, love, justice, and fairness of the most perfect kind are blended in the truest harmony. They work one upon the other, so as to maintain the perfect balance of the Divine nature.

1. There is nothing He does, there is nothing He can do, that is not the outcome and result of His love.

2. When He sends sorrow or trial upon us, it is in order to take from us something that He knows will injure us if left in our possession, or to inflict upon us that wholesome chastisement that He sees necessary for our future well-being.

3. Retribution is manifest everywhere, but there is mercy equally, and even more, manifest in supporting the criminal, in mitigating miseries, and in the power of the Gospel to overcome crime itself. Let any one of us here this morning read his own history intelligently, and he will find in every chapter and in every verso loving kindness and judgment blended together and displaying perfect and complete righteousness.

III. THE CAUSE OF THE DIVINE OPERATIONS.

1. God delights in exercising these principles Himself. He is love, He is just, He is righteous. He has not therefore to force Himself to their exercise. The spontaneous outgoing of His nature runs necessarily in these channels, and hence He delights in their display.

2. God delights in the exercise of these principles by man. Were we to gather all the teaching of the New Testament upon practical Christian life together we might fairly reduce it all to these elements of "loving kindness, judgment, and righteousness." This is to be made a partaker of the Divine nature, and to imitate Christ. But we cannot do this by our own strength. We need the inspiration and the power of Christ. On the Cross of Calvary God has shown us this most blessed combination in its fullest and most perfect light.

(W. Le Pla.).

People
Jeremiah
Places
Ammon, Edom, Egypt, Gilead, Jerusalem, Moab, Zion
Topics
Ammon, Beard, Circumcision, Clip, Corner, Corners, Cut, Cutting, Desert, Distant, Dwell, Dwelling, Edom, Egypt, Ends, Hair, Heart, Hearts, Inhabiting, Judah, Moab, Nations, Places, Polled, Really, Sons, Temples, Uncircumcised, Utmost, Waste, Wilderness
Outline
1. Jeremiah laments the people for their manifold sins;
9. and for their judgment.
12. Disobedience is the cause of their bitter calamity.
17. He exhorts to mourn for their destruction;
23. and to trust not in themselves, but in God.
25. He threatens both Jews and Gentiles.

Dictionary of Bible Themes
Jeremiah 9:25-26

     6260   uncircumcised

Library
India's Ills and England's Sorrows
It would seem as if some men had been sent into this world for the very purpose of being the world's weepers. God's great house is thoroughly furnished with everything, everything that can express the thoughts and the emotions of the inhabitant, God hath made. I find in nature, plants to be everlasting weepers. There by the lonely brook, where the maiden cast away her life, the willow weeps for ever; and there in the grave yard where men lie slumbering till the trumpet of the archangel shall awaken
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 3: 1857

"Boast not Thyself of To-Morrow, for Thou Knowest not what a Day May Bring Forth. "
Prov. xxvii. 1.--"Boast not thyself of to-morrow, for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth." There are some peculiar gifts that God hath given to man in his first creation, and endued his nature with, beyond other living creatures, which being rightly ordered and improved towards the right objects, do advance the soul of man to a wonderful height of happiness, that no other sublunary creature is capable of. But by reason of man's fall into sin, these are quite disordered and turned out of
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Characters and Names of Messiah
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. S uch was the triumphant exultation of the Old Testament Church! Their noblest hopes were founded upon the promise of MESSIAH; their most sublime songs were derived from the prospect of His Advent. By faith, which is the substance of things hoped for, they considered the gracious declarations
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 1

How the Simple and the Crafty are to be Admonished.
(Admonition 12.) Differently to be admonished are the simple and the insincere. The simple are to be praised for studying never to say what is false, but to be admonished to know how sometimes to be silent about what is true. For, as falsehood has always harmed him that speaks it, so sometimes the hearing of truth has done harm to some. Wherefore the Lord before His disciples, tempering His speech with silence, says, I have many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now (Joh. xvi. 12).
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great

Original Sin
Q-16: DID ALL MANKIND FALL IN ADAM'S FIRST TRANSGRESSION? A: The covenant being made with Adam, not only for himself, but for his posterity, all mankind descending from him, by ordinary generation, sinned in him, and fell with him in his first transgression. 'By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin,' &c. Rom 5:12. Adam being a representative person, while he stood, we stood; when he fell, we fell, We sinned in Adam; so it is in the text, In whom all have sinned.' Adam was the head
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

A Sermon on Isaiah xxvi. By John Knox.
[In the Prospectus of our Publication it was stated, that one discourse, at least, would be given in each number. A strict adherence to this arrangement, however, it is found, would exclude from our pages some of the most talented discourses of our early Divines; and it is therefore deemed expedient to depart from it as occasion may require. The following Sermon will occupy two numbers, and we hope, that from its intrinsic value, its historical interest, and the illustrious name of its author, it
John Knox—The Pulpit Of The Reformation, Nos. 1, 2 and 3.

Thoughts Upon Worldly-Riches. Sect. Ii.
TIMOTHY after his Conversion to the Christian Faith, being found to be a Man of great Parts, Learning, and Piety, and so every way qualified for the work of the Ministry, St. Paul who had planted a Church at Ephesus the Metropolis or chief City of all Asia, left him to dress and propagate it, after his departure from it, giving him Power to ordain Elders or Priests, and to visit and exercise Jurisdiction over them, to see they did not teach false Doctrines, 1 Tim. i. 3. That they be unblameable in
William Beveridge—Private Thoughts Upon a Christian Life

The Knowledge of God
'The Lord is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed.' I Sam 2:2. Glorious things are spoken of God; he transcends our thoughts, and the praises of angels. God's glory lies chiefly in his attributes, which are the several beams by which the divine nature shines forth. Among other of his orient excellencies, this is not the least, The Lord is a God of knowledge; or as the Hebrew word is, A God of knowledges.' Through the bright mirror of his own essence, he has a full idea and cognisance
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

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 9:26 NIV
Jeremiah 9:26 NLT
Jeremiah 9:26 ESV
Jeremiah 9:26 NASB
Jeremiah 9:26 KJV

Jeremiah 9:26 Bible Apps
Jeremiah 9:26 Parallel
Jeremiah 9:26 Biblia Paralela
Jeremiah 9:26 Chinese Bible
Jeremiah 9:26 French Bible
Jeremiah 9:26 German Bible

Jeremiah 9:26 Commentaries

Bible Hub
Jeremiah 9:25
Top of Page
Top of Page