• Download Video
• Download Audio
• Print
• Email
• Save As PDF

"My eyes are on all their ways"

Text: Jeremiah 16:17

POWERFUL IMAGERY

Fishing and hunting were familiar professions in the nation of Judah. These are not leisure sport! The fishermen and hunters made a living out of their skills. Fishermen and hunters describe well the Egyptians and Babylonians who would invade the kingdom of Judah. The fishermen were the Egyptians. The hunters were the Babylonians.

“‘Behold, I will send for many fishermen,’ says the LORD,
‘and they shall fish them;
and afterward I will send for many hunters,
and they shall hunt them from every mountain and every hill,
and out of the holes of the rocks.
For My eyes are on all their ways;
they are not hidden from My face, nor is their iniquity hidden from My eyes.
And first I will repay double for their iniquity and their sin,
because they have defiled My land;
they have filled My inheritance with
the carcasses of their detestable and abominable idols.'”
Jeremiah 16:16-18

1. “‘Behold, I will send for many fishermen,’ says the LORD, ‘and they shall fish them'”

a) The Egyptians were famed for their fishing skills.

b) They killed King Josiah in battle (2 Chronicles 35:23-24).

c) Jeremiah lamented Josiah’s death (2 Chronicles 35:25).

d) Judah had to pay a huge tribute to Egypt (2 Chronicles 36:3).

e) Egypt made Eliakim the ruler of Judah. The Egyptians changed his name to Jehoiakim (2 Chronicles 36:4).

f) But Judah learned little from this experience.

2. “And afterward I will send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain and every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks”

a) The Babylonians were famed for their hunting skills.

b) Jehoiakim continued to do evil in his 11-year reign (2 Chronicles 36:5).

c) Nebuchadnezzar invaded Judah and deported Jehoiakim to Babylon in chains (2 Chronicles 36:6).

d) The Babylonians hunted down all the children of Judah mercilessly.

3. “For My eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden from My face, nor is their iniquity hidden from My eyes”

a) God had looked upon Judah.

b) He had examined all their ways.

c) They were full of iniquity.

d) Nothing could be hidden from His eyes.

4. “And first I will repay double for their iniquity and their sin, because they have defiled My land; they have filled My inheritance with the carcasses of their detestable and abominable idols”

a) Punishment was meted out “double” for their iniquity and sin.

b) It could have been worse; it could have been seven times (Leviticus 26:18).

c) Reasons for punishment:

i) They had defiled God’s land.

ii) They had filled the Temple (called “My {God’s} inheritance”) with their abominable idols.

d) Even though Judah was severely afflicted, it was less than what the Law provided for (Leviticus 26:18-39).