◄ Jeremiah 10:12 ►
The LORD made the earth by His power; He established the world by His wisdom and stretched out the heavens by His understanding.
Study Bible
He made the earth by His power
This phrase emphasizes the omnipotence of God, the Creator. The Hebrew word for "made" is "עָשָׂה" (asah), which implies not just creation but also the act of fashioning or forming with purpose. The earth, in its complexity and beauty, is a testament to God's power. In a historical context, this stands in contrast to the powerless idols mentioned earlier in Jeremiah 10, which cannot create or sustain life. God's power is not just a force but a personal, intentional act of creation, reflecting His sovereignty over all things.

He established the world by His wisdom
The word "established" comes from the Hebrew "כּוּן" (kun), meaning to set up, prepare, or make firm. This suggests a deliberate and stable creation, not a random or chaotic event. "Wisdom" in Hebrew is "חָכְמָה" (chokmah), which is often associated with skill and insight. God's wisdom is evident in the order and laws of nature, the intricate balance of ecosystems, and the moral laws that govern human life. This wisdom is not just intellectual but deeply practical, guiding the world towards His divine purposes.

and stretched out the heavens by His understanding
The phrase "stretched out" is derived from the Hebrew "נָטָה" (natah), which conveys the idea of extending or spreading out. This imagery is reminiscent of a tent being spread out, a common sight in ancient Near Eastern cultures. The "heavens" refer to the sky and the universe beyond, showcasing the vastness of God's creation. "Understanding" is translated from "תְּבוּנָה" (tevunah), indicating discernment and insight. This suggests that the cosmos is not only vast but also intricately designed, reflecting God's deep understanding of all things. The heavens declare the glory of God, as seen in Psalm 19:1, and serve as a constant reminder of His infinite wisdom and understanding.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Jeremiah
A major prophet in the Old Testament, known for his prophecies concerning the judgment and restoration of Israel. He is the author of the Book of Jeremiah.

2. God (Yahweh)
The central figure in this verse, depicted as the Creator who made the earth, established the world, and stretched out the heavens.

3. The Earth and Heavens
Refers to the physical creation, emphasizing the power, wisdom, and understanding of God in the act of creation.
Teaching Points
God's Sovereignty in Creation
Recognize that God is the ultimate authority and creator of all things. His power is unmatched, and His wisdom is beyond human comprehension.

The Wisdom of God
Reflect on the wisdom of God in the order and complexity of creation. This should lead to a deeper trust in His plans and purposes for our lives.

Understanding God's Creation
Appreciate the beauty and intricacy of the world around us as a testament to God's understanding. This should inspire worship and reverence.

Dependence on God's Power
In times of uncertainty, remember that the same power that created the earth is available to us through faith. Trust in God's ability to sustain and guide us.

Living in Awe of God's Creation
Let the majesty of creation lead us to live in awe and gratitude, recognizing our place within God's grand design.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does understanding God's power in creation affect your view of His ability to handle the challenges in your life?

2. In what ways can you see God's wisdom reflected in the natural world around you?

3. How can acknowledging God's understanding in creation influence your trust in His plans for your life?

4. What are some practical ways you can express gratitude for God's creation in your daily life?

5. How do the themes of power, wisdom, and understanding in Jeremiah 10:12 connect with the creation account in Genesis 1, and how can this connection deepen your faith?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Genesis 1
The creation account in Genesis parallels Jeremiah 10:12, highlighting God's power and wisdom in creating the universe.

Proverbs 3:19-20
These verses also speak of God founding the earth by wisdom and understanding, reinforcing the themes found in Jeremiah 10:12.

Psalm 104
This psalm praises God for His creation, echoing the themes of divine power and wisdom.
Sermons
Wisdom the Source and Sovereign of WorldsDavid Thomas, D. D.Jeremiah 10:12
What Men Fear and What They Ought to FearD. Young Jeremiah 10:1-12
Hearing the Word of the LordW. Stevens.Jeremiah 10:1-16
IdolatryS. Conway Jeremiah 10:1-17
A Christian's Office to Bring Others to the Knowledge of GodJ. Mede, B. D.Jeremiah 10:11-12
Creation, a Proof of DivinityH. Melvill, B. D.Jeremiah 10:11-12
False Gods Shall PerishJ. Mede, B. D.Jeremiah 10:11-12
The Destruction of IdolatryR. Watson.Jeremiah 10:11-12
True Religion and IdolatryJ. Jortin, D. D.Jeremiah 10:11-12
People
Jacob, Jeremiah, Tarshish
Places
Tarshish, Uphaz, Zion
Topics
Design, Discretion, Established, Establisher, Forth, Founded, Heavens, Maker, Power, Stretched, Strong, Understanding, Wisdom, Wise
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Jeremiah 10:12

     1180   God, wisdom of

Jeremiah 10:11-13

     1325   God, the Creator

Jeremiah 10:12-13

     4203   earth, the
     4838   lightning

Library
May 16. "It is not in Man that Walketh to Direct his Steps" (Jer. x. 23).
"It is not in man that walketh to direct his steps" (Jer. x. 23). United to Jesus Christ as your Redeemer, you are accepted in the Beloved. He does not merely take my place as a man and settle my debts. He does that and more. He comes to give a perfect ideal of what a man should be. He is the model man, not for us to copy, for that would only bring discouragement and utter failure; but He will come and copy Himself in us. If Christ lives in me, I am another Christ. I am not like Him, but I have the …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

Possessing and Possessed
'The portion of Jacob is not like them--for He is the former of all things: and Israel is the tribe of His inheritance. The Lord of Hosts is His name.'--JER. x. 16, R.V. Here we have set forth a reciprocal possession. We possess God, He possesses us. We are His inheritance, He is our portion. I am His; He is mine. This mutual ownership is the very living centre of all religion. Without it there is no relation of any depth between God and us. How much profounder such a conception is than the shallow …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

An Instructive Truth
"O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps."--Jeremiah 10:23. This declaration follows after Jeremiah's lamentation over the Lord's ancient people, who were about to be carried captive into Babylon. The prophet speaks of a fact that was well known to him. It is always well, brethren, to know the truth, and to know it so certainly that you are able to remember it just when you most need it. There are some people, who are very much like …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 50: 1904

Dwight -- the Sovereignty of God
Timothy Dwight was born at Northampton, Massachusetts, in 1752. He graduated from Yale in 1769, served as chaplain in the army during the Revolutionary War and was chosen president of his university in 1795. He died, after holding that office for twelve years, in 1817. Lyman Beecher, who attributed his conversion to him, says: "He was of noble form, with a noble head and body, and had one of the sweetest smiles that ever you saw. When I heard him preach on 'the harvest is passed, the summer is ended, …
Grenville Kleiser—The world's great sermons, Volume 3

Of the Exercises of a Religious Man
The life of a Christian ought to be adorned with all virtues, that he may be inwardly what he outwardly appeareth unto men. And verily it should be yet better within than without, for God is a discerner of our heart, Whom we must reverence with all our hearts wheresoever we are, and walk pure in His presence as do the angels. We ought daily to renew our vows, and to kindle our hearts to zeal, as if each day were the first day of our conversion, and to say, "Help me, O God, in my good resolutions, …
Thomas A Kempis—Imitation of Christ

Of Hiding Our Grace under the Guard of Humility
"My Son, it is better and safer for thee to hide the grace of devotion, and not to lift thyself up on high, nor to speak much thereof, nor to value it greatly; but rather to despise thyself, and to fear as though this grace were given to one unworthy thereof. Nor must thou depend too much upon this feeling, for it can very quickly be turned into its opposite. Think when thou art in a state of grace how miserable and poor thou art wont to be without grace. Nor is there advance in spiritual life …
Thomas A Kempis—Imitation of Christ

A Wise Desire
I remember once going to a chapel where this happened to be the text, and the good man who occupied the pulpit was more than a little of an Arminian. Therefore, when he commenced, he said, "This passage refers entirely to our temporal inheritance. It has nothing whatever to do with our everlasting destiny: for," said he, "We do not want Christ to choose for us in the matter of heaven or hell. It is so plain and easy that every man who has a grain of common sense will choose heaven; and any person …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 1: 1855

"And Hereby we do Know that we Know Him, if we Keep his Commandments. "
1 John ii. 3.--"And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments." This age pretends to much knowledge beyond former ages, knowledge, I say, not only in other natural arts and sciences, but especially in religion. Whether there be any great advancement in other knowledge, and improvement of that which was, to a further extent and clearness, I cannot judge, but I believe there is not much of it in this nation, nor do we so much pretend to it. But, we talk of the enlargements of …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

"Hear the Word of the Lord, Ye Rulers of Sodom, Give Ear unto the Law of Our God, Ye People of Gomorrah,"
Isaiah i. 10, 11, &c.--"Hear the word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodom, give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah," &c. It is strange to think what mercy is mixed with the most wrath like strokes and threatenings. There is no prophet whose office and commission is only for judgment, nay, to speak the truth, it is mercy that premises threatenings. The entering of the law, both in the commands and curses, is to make sin abound, that grace may superabound, so that both rods and threatenings …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

How Christ is the Way in General, "I am the Way. "
We come now to speak more particularly to the words; and, first, Of his being a way. Our design being to point at the way of use-making of Christ in all our necessities, straits, and difficulties which are in our way to heaven; and particularly to point out the way how believers should make use of Christ in all their particular exigencies; and so live by faith in him, walk in him, grow up in him, advance and march forward toward glory in him. It will not be amiss to speak of this fulness of Christ …
John Brown (of Wamphray)—Christ The Way, The Truth, and The Life

Meditations for Household Piety.
1. If thou be called to the government of a family, thou must not hold it sufficient to serve God and live uprightly in thy own person, unless thou cause all under thy charge to do the same with thee. For the performance of this duty God was so well pleased with Abraham, that he would not hide from him his counsel: "For," saith God, "I know him that he will command his sons and his household after him that they keep the way of the Lord, to do righteousness and judgment, that the Lord may bring upon …
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety

"For if Ye Live after the Flesh, Ye Shall Die; but if Ye through the Spirit do Mortify the Deeds of the Body, Ye Shall Live.
Rom. viii. s 13, 14.--"For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die; but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." The life and being of many things consists in union,--separate them, and they remain not the same, or they lose their virtue. It is much more thus in Christianity, the power and life of it consists in the union of these things that God hath conjoined, so that if any man pretend to …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

The Creation
Q-7: WHAT ARE THE DECREES OF GOD? A: The decrees of God are his eternal purpose, according to the counsel of his will, whereby, for his own glory, he has foreordained whatsoever shall come to pass. I have already spoken something concerning the decrees of God under the attribute of his immutability. God is unchangeable in his essence, and he-is unchangeable in his decrees; his counsel shall stand. He decrees the issue of all things, and carries them on to their accomplishment by his providence; I …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

God's Sovereignty and Prayer
"If we ask anything according to His will, He heareth us" (1 John 5:14). Throughout this book it has been our chief aim to exalt the Creator and abase the creature. The well-nigh universal tendency now, is to magnify man and dishonour and degrade God. On every hand it will be found that, when spiritual things are under discussion, the human side and element is pressed and stressed, and the Divine side, if not altogether ignored, is relegated to the background. This holds true of very much of the …
Arthur W. Pink—The Sovereignty of God

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

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