They grasp the bow and spear; they are cruel and merciless. Their voice roars like the sea, and they ride upon horses, lined up like men in formation against you, O Daughter of Zion." They grasp the bow and spearThe imagery of "grasping the bow and spear" signifies readiness for battle and the intent to engage in warfare. In the ancient Near Eastern context, the bow and spear were primary weapons of war, symbolizing both offensive and defensive capabilities. The Hebrew word for "grasp" (תָּפַשׂ, taphas) implies a firm hold, indicating determination and skill. This phrase underscores the impending threat and the preparedness of the invaders, reflecting the seriousness of the judgment coming upon Judah. they are cruel and merciless
The description "cruel and merciless" highlights the nature of the invaders. The Hebrew word for "cruel" (אַכְזָרִי, akhzari) conveys a sense of brutality and harshness, while "merciless" (לֹא יְרַחֵמוּ, lo yerachemu) indicates a lack of compassion or pity. This characterization serves as a warning to the people of Judah about the severity of the coming judgment. It also reflects the consequences of their persistent disobedience and rebellion against God, as divine protection is withdrawn. Their voice roars like the sea
The simile "roars like the sea" evokes the overwhelming and unstoppable nature of the invading forces. The sea, in biblical literature, often symbolizes chaos and power. The Hebrew word for "roars" (שָׁאַג, sha'ag) suggests a loud, fearsome sound, akin to the crashing of waves. This imagery conveys the terror and inevitability of the invasion, emphasizing the futility of resistance against God's ordained judgment. and they ride on horses
The phrase "they ride on horses" indicates the speed and strength of the attackers. Horses were a symbol of military might and swiftness in ancient warfare. The use of cavalry would have been particularly intimidating to the people of Judah, who were more accustomed to infantry-based combat. This detail underscores the advanced and formidable nature of the enemy forces, further highlighting the dire situation facing Jerusalem. lined up like men in battle formation
The description "lined up like men in battle formation" suggests discipline, organization, and strategic planning. The Hebrew word for "lined up" (עָרוּךְ, aruch) implies a deliberate and orderly arrangement, characteristic of a well-prepared army. This imagery contrasts with the disarray and unpreparedness of Judah, serving as a metaphor for the spiritual and moral disarray that has led to their impending downfall. against you, O Daughter of Zion
The term "Daughter of Zion" is a poetic reference to Jerusalem and, by extension, the people of Judah. "Zion" is often used in the Bible to denote the city of Jerusalem, the spiritual heart of the nation. The phrase "against you" personalizes the prophecy, making it clear that the judgment is directed specifically at God's chosen people. This serves as a poignant reminder of the covenant relationship between God and Israel, and the consequences of their failure to uphold their part of the covenant. The use of "Daughter" conveys a sense of endearment and lament, highlighting the tragedy of the situation and God's sorrow over the necessary judgment of His beloved city. Persons / Places / Events 1. JeremiahA prophet called by God to deliver messages of warning and judgment to the people of Judah. His ministry spanned the reigns of several kings and was marked by his lamentations over the people's unfaithfulness. 2. Daughter of ZionA poetic term referring to the city of Jerusalem and its inhabitants. It symbolizes the people of God who are under threat due to their disobedience. 3. The Invading ArmyThis refers to the Babylonian forces that God used as instruments of judgment against Judah. They are described as cruel and merciless, emphasizing the severity of the impending judgment. 4. Bow and SpearThese are weapons of war, symbolizing the military might and preparedness of the invading forces. 5. The SeaThe roaring voice of the invaders is likened to the sea, symbolizing overwhelming power and unstoppable force. Teaching Points God's Sovereignty in JudgmentGod uses nations and events to fulfill His purposes. Understanding His sovereignty helps us trust His plans even when they involve difficult circumstances. The Consequences of DisobedienceThe judgment on Judah serves as a warning about the serious consequences of turning away from God. It calls us to examine our own lives for areas of disobedience. The Power of RepentanceWhile judgment is pronounced, the broader context of Jeremiah includes calls to repentance. This highlights God's desire for His people to return to Him. The Reality of Spiritual WarfareThe imagery of battle reminds us of the spiritual warfare we face. We must be prepared with the armor of God to stand firm against spiritual adversaries. Hope Amidst JudgmentEven in the midst of judgment, God’s ultimate plan is for restoration and redemption. This gives us hope and assurance of His faithfulness. Bible Study Questions 1. How does the description of the invading army in Jeremiah 6:23 reflect the seriousness of God's judgment on sin? 2. In what ways can we see God's sovereignty at work in the events described in Jeremiah 6:23, and how does this apply to our understanding of current world events? 3. How does the imagery of warfare in Jeremiah 6:23 relate to the concept of spiritual warfare in the New Testament? 4. What lessons can we learn from the consequences faced by the "Daughter of Zion" that can be applied to our personal walk with God? 5. How can the hope of restoration found in the broader context of Jeremiah encourage us when we face difficult circumstances or divine discipline? Connections to Other Scriptures Isaiah 5:26-30This passage also describes a foreign nation being summoned by God to execute judgment, using similar imagery of roaring like the sea and swift horses. Habakkuk 1:6-11The Chaldeans (Babylonians) are described as a fierce and impetuous nation, echoing the description in Jeremiah of a cruel and merciless army. Revelation 19:11-16The imagery of a rider on a horse in battle formation can be contrasted with the depiction of Christ as the ultimate righteous warrior. People Benjamin, JeremiahPlaces Beth-haccherem, Jerusalem, Sheba, Tekoa, ZionTopics Array, Attack, Battle, Bow, Cruel, Daughter, Formation, Hold, Horses, Lay, Mercy, O, Ride, Roaring, Roars, Spear, Voice, ZionDictionary of Bible Themes Jeremiah 6:23 4266 sea
5127 back
5236 bow and arrow
5674 daughters
6691 mercy, human
8421 equipping, physical
8728 enemies, of Israel and Judah Jeremiah 6:19-23 8822 self-justification Jeremiah 6:22-23 5545 spear Jeremiah 6:22-26 8795 persecution, nature of Library Stedfastness in the Old Paths.
"Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls."--Jer. vi. 16. Reverence for the old paths is a chief Christian duty. We look to the future indeed with hope; yet this need not stand in the way of our dwelling on the past days of the Church with affection and deference. This is the feeling of our own Church, as continually expressed in the Prayer Book;--not to slight what has gone before, …
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VIIA Blast of the Trumpet against False Peace
The motive with these false prophets is an abominable one. Jeremiah tells us it was an evil covetousness. They preached smooth things because the people would have it so, because they thus brought grist to their own mill, and glory to their own names. Their design was abominable, and without doubt, their end shall be desperate--cast away with the refuse of mankind. These who professed to be the precious sons of God, comparable to fine gold, shall be esteemed as earthen pitchers, the work of the hands …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 6: 1860 Whitefield -- the Method of Grace
George Whitefield, evangelist and leader of Calvinistic Methodists, who has been called the Demosthenes of the pulpit, was born at Gloucester, England, in 1714. He was an impassioned pulpit orator of the popular type, and his power over immense congregations was largely due to his histrionic talent and his exquisitely modulated voice, which has been described as "an organ, a flute, a harp, all in one," and which at times became stentorian. He had a most expressive face, and altho he squinted, in …
Grenville Kleiser—The world's great sermons, Volume 3 Reprobation.
In discussing this subject I shall endeavor to show, I. What the true doctrine of reprobation is not. 1. It is not that the ultimate end of God in the creation of any was their damnation. Neither reason nor revelation confirms, but both contradict the assumption, that God has created or can create any being for the purpose of rendering him miserable as an ultimate end. God is love, or he is benevolent, and cannot therefore will the misery of any being as an ultimate end, or for its own sake. It is …
Charles Grandison Finney—Systematic Theology Prefatory Scripture Passages.
To the Law and to the Testimony; if they speak not according to this Word, it is because there is no light in them.-- Isa. viii. 20. Thus saith the Lord; Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls.--Jer. vi. 16. That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive. But …
G. H. Gerberding—The Way of Salvation in the Lutheran Church Jesus Raises the Widow's Son.
(at Nain in Galilee.) ^C Luke VII. 11-17. ^c 11 And it came to pass soon afterwards [many ancient authorities read on the next day], that he went into a city called Nain; and his disciples went with him, and a great multitude. [We find that Jesus had been thronged with multitudes pretty continuously since the choosing of his twelve apostles. Nain lies on the northern slope of the mountain, which the Crusaders called Little Hermon, between twenty and twenty-five miles south of Capernaum, and about …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel Backsliding.
"I will heal their backsliding; I will love them freely: for Mine anger is turned away."--Hosea xiv. 4. There are two kinds of backsliders. Some have never been converted: they have gone through the form of joining a Christian community and claim to be backsliders; but they never have, if I may use the expression, "slid forward." They may talk of backsliding; but they have never really been born again. They need to be treated differently from real back-sliders--those who have been born of the incorruptible …
Dwight L. Moody—The Way to God and How to Find It An Obscured vision
(Preached at the opening of the Winona Lake Bible Conference.) TEXT: "Where there is no vision, the people perish."--Proverbs 29:18. It is not altogether an easy matter to secure a text for such an occasion as this; not because the texts are so few in number but rather because they are so many, for one has only to turn over the pages of the Bible in the most casual way to find them facing him at every reading. Feeling the need of advice for such a time as this, I asked a number of my friends who …
J. Wilbur Chapman—And Judas Iscariot Sin Charged Upon the Surety
All we like sheep have gone astray: we have turned every one to his own way, and the LORD hath laid upon Him the iniquity of us all. C omparisons, in the Scripture, are frequently to be understood with great limitation: perhaps, out of many circumstances, only one is justly applicable to the case. Thus, when our Lord says, Behold, I come as a thief (Revelation 16:15) , --common sense will fix the resemblance to a single point, that He will come suddenly, and unexpectedly. So when wandering sinners …
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 1 An Address to the Regenerate, Founded on the Preceding Discourses.
James I. 18. James I. 18. Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures. I INTEND the words which I have now been reading, only as an introduction to that address to the sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty, with which I am now to conclude these lectures; and therefore shall not enter into any critical discussion, either of them, or of the context. I hope God has made the series of these discourses, in some measure, useful to those …
Philip Doddridge—Practical Discourses on Regeneration Scriptures Showing the Sin and Danger of Joining with Wicked and Ungodly Men.
Scriptures Showing The Sin And Danger Of Joining With Wicked And Ungodly Men. When the Lord is punishing such a people against whom he hath a controversy, and a notable controversy, every one that is found shall be thrust through: and every one joined with them shall fall, Isa. xiii. 15. They partake in their judgment, not only because in a common calamity all shares, (as in Ezek. xxi. 3.) but chiefly because joined with and partakers with these whom God is pursuing; even as the strangers that join …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning How those who Fear Scourges and those who Contemn them are to be Admonished.
(Admonition 14.) Differently to be admonished are those who fear scourges, and on that account live innocently, and those who have grown so hard in wickedness as not to be corrected even by scourges. For those who fear scourges are to be told by no means to desire temporal goods as being of great account, seeing that bad men also have them, and by no means to shun present evils as intolerable, seeing they are not ignorant how for the most part good men also are touched by them. They are to be admonished …
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great Christian Meekness
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth Matthew 5:5 We are now got to the third step leading in the way to blessedness, Christian meekness. Blessed are the meek'. See how the Spirit of God adorns the hidden man of the heart, with multiplicity of graces! The workmanship of the Holy Ghost is not only curious, but various. It makes the heart meek, pure, peaceable etc. The graces therefore are compared to needlework, which is different and various in its flowers and colours (Psalm 45:14). …
Thomas Watson—The Beatitudes: An Exposition of Matthew 5:1-12 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 6:23 NIVJeremiah 6:23 NLTJeremiah 6:23 ESVJeremiah 6:23 NASBJeremiah 6:23 KJV
Jeremiah 6:23 Commentaries
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