They will ask the way to Zion and turn their faces toward it. They will come and join themselves to the LORD in an everlasting covenant that will never be forgotten. They will ask the way to ZionThis phrase indicates a desire for spiritual direction and a return to a place of worship and covenant relationship with God. Zion, often synonymous with Jerusalem, represents the spiritual center for the Israelites. Historically, Zion was the location of the Temple, the dwelling place of God among His people. This longing to return to Zion reflects a repentance and a turning away from idolatry and sin. It echoes the call in Isaiah 2:3, where nations are drawn to the mountain of the Lord to learn His ways. and turn their faces toward it.
Turning one's face toward Zion signifies a deliberate and intentional decision to seek God and His ways. This act of turning is symbolic of repentance, a common theme in the prophetic books. It suggests a reorientation of life and priorities, aligning oneself with God's purposes. In the context of the Babylonian exile, this turning back to Zion represents hope and restoration, as seen in Psalm 126:1, where the return from captivity is likened to a dream fulfilled. They will come and join themselves to the LORD
This phrase speaks to a covenantal relationship, where the people commit themselves to God. The idea of joining oneself to the Lord is reminiscent of the covenant language found in Deuteronomy 10:20, where Israel is called to fear, serve, and hold fast to God. It implies a deep, personal commitment and loyalty, akin to the marriage covenant, which is a recurring metaphor for God's relationship with His people (Hosea 2:19-20). in an everlasting covenant
The everlasting covenant refers to the unbreakable promise between God and His people. This covenant is not new but a renewal and fulfillment of the promises made to Abraham, Moses, and David. It points to the New Covenant prophesied in Jeremiah 31:31-34, where God promises to write His law on the hearts of His people. This covenant is ultimately fulfilled in Jesus Christ, whose sacrifice establishes an eternal relationship with God (Hebrews 9:15). that will never be forgotten.
This assurance of a covenant that will never be forgotten highlights God's faithfulness and the permanence of His promises. Unlike human covenants, which can be broken, God's covenant is eternal and unchanging. This phrase reassures the people of God's enduring commitment to them, as seen in Isaiah 54:10, where God promises that His covenant of peace will not be removed. It underscores the hope and security found in God's unchanging nature and His steadfast love. Persons / Places / Events 1. ZionA term often used to refer to Jerusalem, the city of God, and symbolically representing the spiritual center of God's people. 2. The LORDThe covenant name of God, Yahweh, who is the central figure in the covenant relationship with Israel. 3. Everlasting CovenantA perpetual agreement between God and His people, signifying a deep, unbreakable relationship. 4. BabylonThe context of Jeremiah 50 is the prophecy against Babylon, representing the place of exile and oppression for the Israelites. 5. The IsraelitesGod's chosen people who are in exile but are prophesied to return to Zion and renew their covenant with God. Teaching Points Seeking God’s PathJust as the Israelites sought the way to Zion, believers today are called to seek God's path in their lives, turning their faces toward Him. Covenant RelationshipThe everlasting covenant signifies a deep, personal relationship with God that believers are invited to enter and maintain. Hope in RestorationThe prophecy of returning to Zion offers hope for restoration and renewal, applicable to personal spiritual journeys. Commitment to GodJoining oneself to the Lord involves a commitment that is both personal and communal, reflecting a life dedicated to His service. Enduring FaithfulnessThe everlasting nature of the covenant reminds believers of God's unchanging faithfulness and calls them to respond with enduring faith. Bible Study Questions 1. What does it mean to "ask the way to Zion" in the context of your personal spiritual journey? 2. How can the concept of an "everlasting covenant" influence your understanding of your relationship with God? 3. In what ways can you "turn your face" toward God in your daily life, and what practical steps can you take to do so? 4. How does the prophecy of returning to Zion provide hope and encouragement in times of personal exile or difficulty? 5. Reflect on a time when you experienced God's faithfulness. How does this reinforce your commitment to Him in light of His everlasting covenant? Connections to Other Scriptures Isaiah 2:3This verse speaks of nations streaming to the mountain of the Lord, seeking His ways, similar to the Israelites seeking the way to Zion. Hebrews 8:10This New Testament passage speaks of the new covenant God makes with His people, echoing the everlasting covenant mentioned in Jeremiah. Psalm 137:1-6Reflects the longing of the Israelites for Zion during their Babylonian captivity, highlighting their desire to return and worship God. Ezekiel 37:26Discusses God's promise of an everlasting covenant of peace, reinforcing the idea of a perpetual relationship with His people. Revelation 21:2-3Describes the New Jerusalem, symbolizing the ultimate fulfillment of God's covenant with His people. | Israel's Deliverance | A.F. Muir | Jeremiah 50:2-5 | | A Test for True Seekers | | Jeremiah 50:4-5 | | Asking the Way | D. J. Burrell, D. D. | Jeremiah 50:4-5 | | Entering into Covenant with God | N. Hill. | Jeremiah 50:4-5 | | Faces Thitherward | Canon Scott Holland. | Jeremiah 50:4-5 | | God Proper Object of Human Pursuit | W. J. Stuart. | Jeremiah 50:4-5 | | Godly Sorrow | S. Conway | Jeremiah 50:4, 5 | | God's Deliverance of Us from Spiritual Bondage | Thomas Gordon. | Jeremiah 50:4-5 | | Marks of Genuine Repentance | J. W. Cunningham, M. A. | Jeremiah 50:4-5 | | Mourners, Inquirers, Covenanters | | Jeremiah 50:4-5 | | National Covenanting a National Privilege | Original Secession Magazine | Jeremiah 50:4-5 | | Question and Attitude | J. Parker, D. D. | Jeremiah 50:4-5 | | Reunited Israel Seeking Jehovah | D. Young | Jeremiah 50:4, 5 | | Seeking After Finding | H. Melvill, B. D. | Jeremiah 50:4-5 | | The Israelites Returning from Babylon | C. Bradley, M. A. | Jeremiah 50:4-5 | | The Redeemed Sinner Joining Himself in a Covenant with God | C. Bradley, M. A. | Jeremiah 50:4-5 | | The Solemn Engagement | G. Campbell. | Jeremiah 50:4-5 | | The Way to Zion | Dean Vaughan. | Jeremiah 50:4-5 | | The Way to Zion to be Inquired After | W. Arthur's Life of Gideon Ouseley. | Jeremiah 50:4-5 | | To Zion, with Their Faces Thitherward | A.F. Muir | Jeremiah 50:4, 5 | | Travelling Zionward | M. C. Cameron, B. D. | Jeremiah 50:4-5 | | Young Christians Congratulated | Essex Remembrancer | Jeremiah 50:4-5 | | Zionwards | J. J. Ingram. | Jeremiah 50:4-5 |
People Babylonians, Jeremiah, Nebuchadnezzar, NebuchadrezzarPlaces Assyria, Babylon, Bashan, Carmel, Chaldea, Gilead, Gomorrah, Jordan River, Merathaim, Pekod, Sodom, ZionTopics Age-during, Agreement, Bind, Covenant, Direction, Eternal, Everlasting, Faces, Forgotten, Hitherward, Inquire, Join, Joined, Kept, Mind, Ourselves, Perpetual, Questioning, Saying, Themselves, Thitherward, Towards, Turn, Turning, United, Yourselves, ZionDictionary of Bible Themes Jeremiah 50:5 1352 covenant, the new Jeremiah 50:1-10 4215 Babylon Jeremiah 50:4-5 6629 conversion, examples
7923 fellowship, in gospel
9145 Messianic age Library The Kinsman-Redeemer
'Their Redeemer is strong; the Lord of Hosts is His name: He shall thoroughly plead their cause.'--JER. l. 34. Among the remarkable provisions of the Mosaic law there were some very peculiar ones affecting the next-of-kin. The nearest living blood relation to a man had certain obligations and offices to discharge, under certain contingencies, in respect of which he received a special name; which is sometimes translated in the Old Testament 'Redeemer,' and sometimes 'Avenger' of blood. What the etymological …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy ScriptureCovenanting Predicted in Prophecy.
The fact of Covenanting, under the Old Testament dispensations, being approved of God, gives a proof that it was proper then, which is accompanied by the voice of prophecy, affording evidence that even in periods then future it should no less be proper. The argument for the service that is afforded by prophecy is peculiar, and, though corresponding with evidence from other sources, is independent. Because that God willed to make known truth through his servants the prophets, we should receive it …
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting Moses' Prayer to be Blotted Out of God's Book.
"And Moses returned unto the Lord and said. Oh! this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold. Yet now, if thou--wilt, forgive their sin; and if not, blot me, I pray they, out of thy book which than hast written." In the preceding discourse we endeavored to show that the idea of being willing to be damned for the glory of God is not found in the text--that the sentiment is erroneous and absurd--then adduced the constructions which have been put on the text by sundry expositors, …
Andrew Lee et al—Sermons on Various Important Subjects Covenanting Confers Obligation.
As it has been shown that all duty, and that alone, ought to be vowed to God in covenant, it is manifest that what is lawfully engaged to in swearing by the name of God is enjoined in the moral law, and, because of the authority of that law, ought to be performed as a duty. But it is now to be proved that what is promised to God by vow or oath, ought to be performed also because of the act of Covenanting. The performance of that exercise is commanded, and the same law which enjoins that the duties …
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting The Old Testament Canon from Its Beginning to Its Close.
The first important part of the Old Testament put together as a whole was the Pentateuch, or rather, the five books of Moses and Joshua. This was preceded by smaller documents, which one or more redactors embodied in it. The earliest things committed to writing were probably the ten words proceeding from Moses himself, afterwards enlarged into the ten commandments which exist at present in two recensions (Exod. xx., Deut. v.) It is true that we have the oldest form of the decalogue from the Jehovist …
Samuel Davidson—The Canon of the Bible "If So be that the Spirit of God Dwell in You. Now if any Man have not the Spirit of Christ, He is None of His. "
Rom. viii. 9.--"If so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his." "But will God in very deed dwell with men on the earth?" 2 Chron. vi. 18. It was the wonder of one of the wisest of men, and indeed, considering his infinite highness above the height of heavens, his immense and incomprehensible greatness, that the heaven of heavens cannot contain him, and then the baseness, emptiness, and worthlessness of man, it may be a wonder to the …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning 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 Being Made Archbishop of Armagh, He Suffers Many Troubles. Peace Being Made, from Being Archbishop of Armagh He Becomes Bishop of Down.
[Sidenote: 1129] 19. (12). Meanwhile[365] it happened that Archbishop Cellach[366] fell sick: he it was who ordained Malachy deacon, presbyter and bishop: and knowing that he was dying he made a sort of testament[367] to the effect that Malachy ought to succeed him,[368] because none seemed worthier to be bishop of the first see. This he gave in charge to those who were present, this he commanded to the absent, this to the two kings of Munster[369] and to the magnates of the land he specially enjoined …
H. J. Lawlor—St. Bernard of Clairvaux's Life of St. Malachy of Armagh The Godly are in Some Sense Already Blessed
I proceed now to the second aphorism or conclusion, that the godly are in some sense already blessed. The saints are blessed not only when they are apprehended by God, but while they are travellers to glory. They are blessed before they are crowned. This seems a paradox to flesh and blood. What, reproached and maligned, yet blessed! A man that looks upon the children of God with a carnal eye and sees how they are afflicted, and like the ship in the gospel which was covered with waves' (Matthew 8:24), …
Thomas Watson—The Beatitudes: An Exposition of Matthew 5:1-12 Saved by Grace;
OR, A DISCOURSE OF THE GRACE OF GOD: SHOWING-- I. WHAT IT IS TO BE SAVED. II. WHAT IT IS TO BE SAVED BY GRACE. III. WHO THEY AEE THAT ABE SAVED BY GRACE. IV. HOW IT APPEARS THAT THEY ARE SAVED BY GRACE. V. WHAT SHOULD BE THE REASON THAT GOD SHOULD CHOOSE TO SAVE SINNERS BY GRACE RATHER THAN BY ANY OTHER MEANS. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. THIS admirable Treatise upon the most important of all subjects, that of the soul's salvation, was first published in a pocket volume, in the year 1675. This has …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3 Covenanting Performed in Former Ages with Approbation from Above.
That the Lord gave special token of his approbation of the exercise of Covenanting, it belongs to this place to show. His approval of the duty was seen when he unfolded the promises of the Everlasting Covenant to his people, while they endeavoured to perform it; and his approval thereof is continually seen in his fulfilment to them of these promises. The special manifestations of his regard, made to them while attending to the service before him, belonged to one or other, or both, of those exhibitions …
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting 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 50:5 NIVJeremiah 50:5 NLTJeremiah 50:5 ESVJeremiah 50:5 NASBJeremiah 50:5 KJV
Jeremiah 50:5 Commentaries
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