42:3 That the LORD thy God may show us the way in which we may
walk, and the thing that we may a do.
(a) This declares the nature of hypocrites who would know
of God's word what they should do, but will not follow
it, unless it agrees with that thing which they have
purposed to do.
42:5 Then they said to Jeremiah, b The LORD be a true and
faithful witness between us, if we do not even according to
all things for which the LORD thy God shall send thee to
us.
(b) There are as ready to abuse the Name of God and take it
in vain as the hypocrites who colour their falsehood,
use it without all reverence and make it a means for
them to deceive the simple and the godly.
42:7c And it came to pass after ten days, that the word of
the LORD came to Jeremiah.
(c) Here is declared the vision and the opportunity of it,
of which mention was made, (Jer 40:1).
42:10 If ye will still abide in this land, then will I build
you, and not pull [you] down, and I will plant you, and
not pluck [you] up: for I d repent of the evil that I
have done to you.
(d) )See Geneva "Jer 18:8")
42:11 Be not afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom ye are
afraid; be not afraid of him, saith the LORD: for I [am]
with you to save you, and to deliver you e from his
hand.
(e) Because all king's hearts and ways are in his hands,
he can turn them and dispose them as it pleases him,
and therefore they need not fear man, but only obey
God, (Pr 21:1).
42:16 Then it shall come to pass, [that] the sword, which ye
feared, f shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt,
and the famine, of which ye were afraid, shall follow
close after you there in Egypt; and there ye shall die.
(f) Thus God turns the policy of the wicked to their own
destruction: for they thought themselves sure in
Egypt, and there Nebuchadnezzar destroyed them and the
Egyptians, (Jer 46:25).
42:18 For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; As my
anger and my fury hath been poured forth upon the
inhabitants of Jerusalem; so shall my fury be poured forth
upon you, when ye shall enter into Egypt: and ye shall be
an execration, and an horror, and a g curse, and a
reproach; and ye shall see this place no more.
(g) Read (Jer 26:6) showing that this would come on
them for their infidelity and stubbornness.
42:20 For ye were h hypocrites in your hearts, when ye sent me
to the LORD your God, saying, Pray for us to the LORD our
God; and according to all that the LORD our God shall say,
so declare to us, and we will do [it].
(h) For you were fully intending to go into Egypt,
whatever God spoke to the contrary.
42:22 Now therefore know certainly that ye shall die by the
sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, i in the
place where ye desire to go [and] to sojourn.
