TRV
Study This Verse
Public-domain commentary
Matthew Henry
From his Commentary on the Whole Bible. Henry comments on passages, not single verses — this entry covers Jeremiah 23:9–32. His four-level outline is real structure in the source text, so it is rendered as structure.
Here is a long lesson for the false prophets. As none were more bitter and spiteful against God's true prophets than they, so there were none on whom the true prophets were more severe, and justly. The prophet had complained to God of those false prophets (Jer 14:13), and had often foretold that they should be involved in the common ruin; but here they have woes of their own.
I.He expresses the deep concern that he was under upon this account, and what a trouble it was to him to see men who pretended to a divine commission and inspiration ruining themselves, and the people among whom they dwelt, by their falsehood and treachery (Jer 23:9): My heart within me is broken; I am like a drunken man. His head was in confusion with wonder and astonishment; his heart was under oppression with grief and vexation. Jeremiah was a man that laid things much to heart, and what was any way threatening to his country made a deep impression upon his spirits. He is here in trouble, 1. Because of the prophets and their sin, the false doctrine they preached, the wicked lives they lived; especially it filled him with horror to hear them making use of God's name and pretending to have their instruction from him. Never was the Lord so abused, and the words of his holiness, as by these men. Note, The dishonour done to God's name, and the profanation of his holy word, are the greatest grief imaginable to a gracious soul. 2. "Because of the Lord, and his judgments, which by this means are brought in upon us like a deluge." He trembled to think of the ruin and desolation which were coming from the face of the Lord (so the word is) and from the face of the word of his holiness, which will be inflicted by the power of God's wrath, according to the threatenings of his word, confirmed by his holiness. Note, Even those that have God for them cannot but tremble to think of the misery of those that have God against them.
II.He laments the abounding abominable wickedness of the land and the present tokens of God's displeasure they were under for it (Jer 23:10):
The land is full of adulterers; it is full both of spiritual and corporal whoredom. They go a whoring from God, and, having cast off the fear of him, no marvel that they abandon themselves to all manner of lewdness; and, having dishonoured themselves and their own bodies, they dishonour God and his name by rash and false swearing, because of which the land mourns. Both perjury and common swearing are sins for which a land must mourn in true repentance or it will be made to mourn under the judgments of God. Their land mourned now under the judgment of famine; the pleasant places, or rather the pastures, or (as some read it) the habitations of the wilderness, are dried up for want of rain, and yet we see no signs of repentance. They answer not the end of the correction. The tenour and tendency of men's conversations are sinful, their course continues evil, as bad as ever, and they will not be diverted from it. They have a great deal of resolution, but it is turned the wrong way; they are zealously affected, but not in a good thing: Their force is not right; their heart is fully set in them to do evil, and they are not valiant for the truth, have not courage enough to break off their evil courses, though they see God thus contending with them.
III.He charges it all upon the prophets and priests, especially the prophets.
They are both profane (Jer 23:11); the priests profane the ordinances of God they pretend to administer; the prophets profane the word of God they pretend to deliver; their converse and all their conversation are profane, and then it is not strange that the people are so debauched. They both play the hypocrite (so some read it); under sacred pretensions they carry on the vilest designs; yea, not only in their own houses, and the bad houses they frequent, but in my house have I found their wickedness; in the temple, where the priests ministered, where the prophets prophesied, there were they guilty both of idolatry and immorality. See a woeful instance in Hophni and Phinehas, Sa1 2:22. God searches his house, and what wickedness is there he will find it out; and the nearer it is to him the more offensive it is. Two things are charged upon them: - 1. That they taught people to sin by their examples. He compares them with the prophets of Samaria, the head city of the kingdom of the ten tribes, which had been long since laid waste. It was the folly of the prophets of Samaria that they prophesied in Baal, in Baal's name; so Ahab's prophets did, and so they caused my people Israel to err, to forsake the service of the true God and to worship Baal, Jer 23:13. Now the prophets of Jerusalem did not do so; they prophesied in the name of the true God, and valued themselves upon that, that they were not like the prophets of Samaria, who prophesied in Baal; but what the better, when they debauched the nation as much by their immoralities as the other had done by their idolatries? It is a horrible thing in the prophets of Jerusalem that they make use of the name of the holy God, and yet wallow in all manner of impurity; they make nothing of committing adultery. They make use of the name of the God of truth, and yet walk in lies; they not only prophesy lies, but in their common conversation one cannot believe a word they say. It is all either jest and banter or fraud and design. Thus they encourage sinners to go on in their wicked ways; for every one will say, "Surely we may do as the prophets do; who can expect that we should be better than our teachers?" By this means it is that none returns from his wickedness; but they all say that they shall have peace, though they go on, for their prophets tell them so. By this means Judah and Jerusalem have become as Sodom and Gomorrah, that were wicked, and sinners before the Lord exceedingly; and God looked upon them accordingly as fit for nothing but to be destroyed, as they were, with fire and brimstone. 2. That they encouraged people in sin by their false prophecies. They made themselves believe that there was no harm, no danger in sin, and practiced accordingly; and then no marvel that they made others believe so too (Jer 23:16): They speak a vision of their own heart; it is the product of their own invention, and agrees with their own inclination, but it is not out of the mouth of the Lord; he never dictated it to them, nor did it agree either with the law of Moses or with what God has spoken by other prophets. They tell sinners that it shall be well with them though they persist in their sins, Jer 23:17. See here who those are that they encourage - those that despise God, that slight his authority, and have low and mean thoughts of his institutions, and those that walk after the imagination of their own heart, that are worshippers of idols and slaves to their own lusts; those that are devoted to their pleasures put contempt upon their God. Yet see how these prophets caressed and flattered them: they should have been still saying, There is no peace to those that go on in their evil ways - Those that despise God shall be lightly esteemed - Woe, and a thousand woes, to them; but they still said, You shall have peace; no evil shall come upon you. And, which was worst of all, they told them, God has said so, so making him to patronize sin, and to contradict himself. Note, Those that are resolved to go on in their evil ways will justly be given up to believe the strong delusions of those who tell them that they shall have peace though they go on.
IV.God disowns all that these false prophets said to sooth people up in their sins (Jer 23:21):
I have not sent these prophets; they never had any mission from God. They were not only not sent by him on this errand, but they were never sent by him on any errand; he never had employed them in any service or business for him; and, as to this matter, whereas they pretended to have instructions from him to assure this people of peace, he declares that he never gave them any such instructions. Yet they were very forward - they ran; they were very bold - they prophesied without any of that difficulty with which the true prophets sometimes struggled. They said to sinners, You shall have peace. But (Jer 23:18): "Who hath stood in the counsel of the Lord? Who of you has, that are so confident of this? You deliver this message with a great deal of assurance; but have you consulted God about it? No; you never considered whether it be agreeable to the discoveries God has made of himself, whether it will consist with the honour of his holiness and justice, to let sinners go unpunished. You have not perceived and heard his word, nor marked that; you have not compared this with the scripture; if you had taken notice of that, and of the constant tenour of it, you would never have delivered such a message." The prophets themselves must try the spirits by the touchstone of the law and of the testimony, as well as those to whom they prophesy; but which of those did so that prophesied of peace? That they did not stand in God's counsel nor hear his word is proved afterwards, Jer 23:22. If they had stood in my counsel, as they pretend,
1.They would have made the scriptures their standard: They would have caused my people to hear my words, and would have conscientiously kept closely to them. But, not speaking according to that rule, it is a plain evidence that there is no light in them.
2.They would have made the conversion of souls their business, and would have aimed at that in all their preaching. They would have done all they could to turn people from their evil way in general and from all the particular evil of their doings. They would have encouraged and assisted the reformation of manners, would have made this their scope in all their preaching, to part between men and their sins; but it appeared that this was a thing they never aimed at, but, on the contrary, to encourage sinners in their sins.
3.They would have had some seals of their ministry. This sense our translation gives it: If they had stood in my counsel, and the words they had preached had been my words, then they should have turned them from their evil way; a divine power should have gone along with the word for the conviction of sinners. God will bless his own institutions. Yet this is no certain rule; Jeremiah himself, though God sent him, prevailed with but few to turn from their evil way.
V.God threatens to punish these prophets for their wickedness.
They promised the people peace; and to show them the folly of that God tells them that they should have no peace themselves. They were very unfit to warrant the people, and pass their word to them that no evil shall come upon them, when all evil is coming upon themselves and they are not aware of it, Jer 23:12. Because the prophets and priests are profane, therefore their ways shall be unto them as slippery ways in the darkness. Those that undertake to lead others, because they mislead them, and know they do so, shall themselves have no comfort in their way.
1.They pretend to show others the way, but they shall themselves be in the dark, or in a mist; their light or sight shall fail, so that they shall not be able to look before them, shall have no forecast for themselves.
2.They pretend to give assurances to others, but they themselves shall find no firm footing: Their ways shall be to them as slippery ways, in which they shall not go with any steadiness, safety, or satisfaction.
3.They pretend to make the people easy with their flatteries, but they shall themselves be uneasy: They shall be driven, forced forward as captives, or making their escape as those that are pursued, and they shall fall in the way by which they hoped to escape, and so fall into the enemies' hands.
4.They pretend to prevent the evil that threatens others, but God will bring evil upon them, even the year of their visitation, the time fixed for calling them to an account; such a time is fixed concerning all that do not judge themselves, and it will be an evil time. The year of visitation is the year of recompenses. It is further threatened (Jer 23:15), I will feed them with wormwood, or poison, with that which is not only nauseous, but noxious, and make them drink waters of gall, or (as some read it) juice of hemlock; see Jer 9:15. Justly is the cup of trembling put into their hand first, for from the prophets of Jerusalem, who should have been patterns of piety and every thing that is praiseworthy, even from them has profaneness gone forth into all the lands. Nothing more effectually debauches a nation than the debauchery of ministers.
VI.The people are here warned not to give any credit to these false prophets; for, though they flattered them with hopes of impunity, the judgments of God would certainly break out against them, unless they repented (Jer 23:16): "Take notice of what God says, and hearken not to the words of these prophets; for you will find, in the issue, that God's word shall stand, and not theirs. God's word will make you serious, but they make you vain, feed you with vain hopes, which will fail you at last. They tell you, No evil shall come upon you; but hear what God says (Jer 23:19), Behold, a whirlwind of the Lord has gone forth in fury. They tell you, All shall be calm and serene; but God tells you, There is a storm coming, a whirlwind of the Lord, of his sending, and therefore there is no standing before it. It is a whirlwind raised by divine wrath; it has gone forth in fury, a wind that is brought forth out of the treasuries of divine vengeance; and therefore it is a grievous whirlwind, and shall light heavily, with rain and hail, upon the head of the wicked, which they cannot avoid nor find any shelter from." It shall fall upon the wicked prophets themselves who deceived the people, and the wicked people who suffered themselves to be deceived. A horrible tempest shall be the portion of their cup, Psa 11:6. This sentence is bound on as irreversible (Jer 23:20): The anger of the Lord shall not return, for the decree has gone forth. God will not alter his mind, nor suffer his anger to be turned away, till he have executed the sentence and performed the thoughts of his heart. God's whirlwind, when it comes down from heaven, returns not thither, but accomplishes that for which he sent it, Isa 55:11. This they will not consider now; but in the latter days you shall consider it perfectly, consider it with understanding (so the word is) or with consideration. Note, Those that will not fear the threatenings shall feel the execution of them, and will then perfectly understand what they will not now admit the evidence of, what a fearful thing it is to fall into the hands of a just and jealous God. Those that will not consider in time will be made to consider when it is too late. Son, remember.
VII.Several things are here offered to the consideration of these false prophets for their conviction, that, if possible, they might be brought to recant their error and acknowledge the cheat they had put upon God's people.
1.Let them consider that though they may impose upon men God is too wise to be imposed upon. Men cannot see through their fallacies, but God can and does. Here,
(1.)God asserts his own omnipresence and omniscience in general, Jer 23:23, Jer 23:24. When they told the people that no evil should befall them though they went on in their evil ways they went upon atheistical principles, that the Lord doth not see their sin, that he cannot judge through the dark cloud, that he will not require it; and therefore they must be taught the first principles of their religion, and confronted with the most incontestable self-evident truths.
[1.]That though God's throne is prepared in the heavens, and this earth seems to be at a distance from him, yet he is a God here in this lower world, which seems to be afar off, as well as in the upper world, which seems to be at hand, Jer 23:23. The eye of God is the same on earth that it is in heaven. Here it runs to and fro as well as there (Ch2 16:9); and what is in the minds of men, whose spirits are veiled in flesh, is as clearly seen by him as what is in the mind of angels, those unveiled spirits above that surround his throne. The power of God is the same on earth among its inhabitants that it is in heaven among its armies. With us nearness and distance make a great difference both in our observations and in our operations, but it is not so with God; to him darkness and light, at hand and afar off, are both alike.
[2.]That, how ingenious and industrious soever men are to disguise themselves and their own characters and counsels, they cannot possibly be concealed from God's all-seeing eye (Jer 23:24): "Can any hide himself in the secret places of the earth, that I shall not see him? Can any hide his projects and intentions in the secret places of the heart, that I shall not see them?" No arts of concealment can hide men from the eye of God, nor deceive his judgment of them.
[3.]That he is every where present; he does not only rule heaven and earth, and uphold both by his universal providence, but he fills heaven and earth by his essential presence, Psa 139:7, Psa 139:8, etc. No place can either include him or exclude him.
(2.)He applies this to these prophets, who had a notable art of disguising themselves (Jer 23:25, Jer 23:26): I have heard what the prophets said that prophesy lies in my name. They thought that he was so wholly taken up with the other world that he had no leisure to take cognizance of what passed in this. But God will make them know that he knows all their impostures, all the shams they have put upon the world, under colour of divine revelation. What they intended to humour the people with they pretended to have had from God in a dream, when there was no such thing. This they could not discover. If a man tell me that he dreamed so and so, I cannot contradict him; he knows I cannot. But God discovered the fraud. Perhaps the false prophets whispered what they had to say in the ears of such as were their confidants, saying, So and so I have dreamed; but God overheard them. The heart-searching eye of God traced them in all the methods they took to deceive the people, and he cries out, How long? Shall I always bear with them? Is it in the hearts of those prophets (so some read it) to be ever prophesying lies and prophesying the deceits of their own hearts? Will they never see what an affront they put upon God, what an abuse they put upon the people, and what judgments they are preparing for themselves?
2.Let them consider that their palming upon people counterfeit revelations, and fathering their own fancies upon divine inspiration, was the ready way to bring all religion into contempt and make men turn atheists and infidels; and this was the thing they really intended, though they frequently made mention of the name of God, and prefaced all they said with, Thus saith the Lord. Yet, says God, They think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams. They designed to draw people off from the worship of God, from all regard to God's laws and ordinances and the true prophets, as their fathers forgot God's name for Baal. Note, The great thing Satan aims at is to make people forget God, and all that whereby he has made himself known; and he has many subtle methods to bring them to this. Sometimes he does it by setting up false gods (bring men in love with Baal, and they soon forget the name of God), sometimes by misrepresenting the true God, as if he were altogether such a one as ourselves. Pretenses to new revelation may prove as dangerous to religion as the denying of all revelation; and false prophets in God's name may perhaps do more mischief to the power of godliness than false prophets in Baal's name, as being less guarded against.
3.Let them consider what a vast difference there was between their prophecies and those that were delivered by the true prophets of the Lord (Jer 23:28): The prophet that has a dream, which was the way of inspiration that the false prophets most pretended to, if he has a dream, let him tell it as a dream; so Mr. Gataker reads it. "Let him lay no more stress upon it than men do upon their dreams, nor expect any more regard to be had to it. Let them not say that it is from God, nor call their foolish dreams divine oracles. But let the true prophet, that has my word, speak my word faithfully, speak it as a truth" (so some read it): "let him keep closely to his instructions, and you will soon perceive a vast difference between the dreams that the false prophets tell and the divine dictates which the true prophets deliver. He that pretends to have a message from God, whether by dream or voice, let him declare it, and it will easily appear which is of God and which is not. Those that have spiritual senses exercised will be able to distinguish; for what is the chaff to the wheat? The promises of peace which these prophets make to you are no more to be compared to God's promises than chaff to wheat." Men's fancies are light, and vain, and worthless, as the chaff which the wind drives away. But the word of God has substance in it; it is of value, is food for the soul, the bread of life. Wheat was the staple commodity of Canaan, that valley of vision, Deu 8:8; Eze 27:17. There is as much difference between the vain fancies of men and the pure word of God as between the chaff and the wheat. It follows (Jer 23:29), Is not my word like a fire, saith the Lord? Is their word so? Has it the power and efficacy that the word of God has? No; nothing like it; there is no more comparison than between painted fire and real fire. Theirs is like an ignis fatuus - a deceiving meteor, leading men into by-paths and dangerous precipices. Note, The word of God is like fire. The law was a fiery law (Deu 33:2), and of the gospel Christ says, I have come to send fire on the earth, Luk 12:49. Fire has different effects, according as the matter is on which it works; it hardens clay, but softens wax; it consumes the dross, but purifies the gold. So the word of God is to some a savour of life unto life, to others of death unto death. God appeals here to the consciences of those to whom the word was sent: "Is not my word like fire? Has it not been so to you? Zac 1:6. Speak as you have found." It is compared likewise to a hammer breaking the rock in pieces. The unhumbled heart of man is like a rock; if it will not be melted by the word of God as the fire, it will be broken to pieces by it as the hammer. Whatever opposition is given to the word, it will be borne down and broken to pieces.
4.Let them consider that while they went on in this course God was against them. Three times they are told this, Jer 23:30, Jer 23:31, Jer 23:32. Behold, I am against the prophets. They pretended to be for God, and made use of his name, but were really against him; he looks upon them as they were really, and is against them. How can they be long safe, or at all easy, that have a God of almighty power against them? While these prophets were promising peace to the people God was proclaiming war against them. They stand indicted here,
(1.)For robbery: They steal my word every one from his neighbour. Some understand it of that word of God which the good prophets preached; they stole their sermons, their expressions, and mingled them with their own, as hucksters mingle bad wares with some that are good, to make them vendible. Those that were strangers to the spirit of the true prophets mimicked their language, picked up some good sayings of theirs, and delivered them to the people as if they had been their own, but with an ill grace; they were not of a piece with the rest of their discourses. The legs of the lame are not equal, so is a parable in the mouth of fools, Pro 26:7. Others understand it of the word of God as it was received and entertained by some of the people; they stole it out of their hearts, as the wicked one in the parable is said to steal the good seed of the word, Mat 13:19. By their insinuations they diminished the authority, and so weakened the efficacy, of the word of God upon the minds of those that seemed to be under convictions by it.
(2.)They stand indicted for counterfeiting the broad seal. Therefore God is against them (Jer 23:31), because they use their tongues at their pleasure in their discourses to the people; they say what they themselves think fit, and then father it upon God, pretend they had it from him, and say, He saith it. Some read it, They smooth their tongues; they are very complaisant to the people, and say nothing but what is pleasing and plausible; they never reprove them nor threaten them, but their words are smoother than butter. Thus they ingratiate themselves with them, and get money by them; and they have the impudence and impiety to make God the patron of their lies; they say, "He saith so." What greater indignity can be done to the God of truth than to lay the brats of the father of lies at his door?
(3.)They stand indicted as common cheats (Jer 23:32): I am against them, for they prophesy false dreams, pretending that to be a divine inspiration which is but an invention of their own. This is a horrid fraud; nor will it excuse them to say, Caveat emptor - Let the buyer take care of himself, and Si populus vult decipi, decipiatur - If people will be deceived, let them. No; it is the people's fault that they err, that they take things upon trust, and do not try the spirits; but it is much more the prophets' fault that they cause God's people to err by their lies and by their lightness, by the flatteries of their preaching soothing them up in their sins, and by the looseness and lewdness of their conversation encouraging them to persist in them.
[1.]God disowns their having any commission from him: I sent them not, nor commanded them; they are not God's messengers, nor is what they say his message.
[2.]He therefore justly denies his blessing with them: Therefore they shall not profit this people at all. All the profit they aim at is to make them easy; but they shall not so much as do that, for God's providences will at the same time be making them uneasy. They do not profit this people (so some read it); and more is implied than is expressed; they not only do them no good, but do them a great deal of hurt. Note, Those that corrupt the word of God, while they pretend to preach it, are so far from edifying the church that they do it the greatest mischief imaginable.
Historical interpretation
Three Centuries of Reception
22 surviving comments on this verse. Each one is dated, so this reads as a timeline rather than a list.
Select a marker to jump to its quote. Markers stagger vertically where authors wrote within a few decades of each other.
“I have known all that is hidden and all that is open to view. I was a pupil of Wisdom, who formed them all.” There, in brief, you have the profession of our philosophy. The process of learning about these, if practiced under good supervision, leads upward via Wisdom, who formed the whole universe, to the ruler of the universe, a being hard to catch, hard to track down, who always distances himself in retreat from his pursuer. But this same ruler, distant as he is, has—truth be told!—drawn near. “I am God who is near at hand, declares the Lord.” In his essential being he is distant—how could a creature subject to birth ever draw near to the unborn and the uncreated?—but very close by the exercise of that power that had enfolded all things in its embrace. It is written, “Can anyone act in secret without my seeing him?” Yes, the power of God is always present, touching us with a power that sees, is good and instructs.
Jeremiah the prophet, gifted with consummate wisdom, or rather the Holy Spirit in Jeremiah, exhibits God. "Am I a God at hand," he says, "and not a God afar off? Shall a man do ought in secret, and I not see him? Do I not fill heaven and earth? Saith the Lord." For "the Lord who created the earth by His power," as Jeremiah says, "has raised up the world by His wisdom;" for wisdom, which is His word, raises us up to the truth, who have fallen prostrate before idols, and is itself the first resurrection from our fall.
And how will it be possible to set the text, “Do not I fill heaven and earth? says the Lord,” side by side with the whole world understood as Jesus’ shoe? It is worthwhile, however, to give attention to whether we must understand the words in relation to the fact that the Word and Wisdom have permeated the whole world, and the Father is in the Son, as we presented it, or he who first girded himself with all creation, because the Son was in him, granted to the Savior, since he was second after him and God the Word, to pervade the whole creation.
But let our speech and petition when we pray be under discipline, observing quietness and modesty. Let us consider that we are standing in God’s sight. We must please the divine eyes in our bodily manner and with appropriate restraint of voice. For as it is characteristic of a shameless person to be noisy with his cries, so it is fitting for the modest to pray with moderated petitions. Moreover, in his teaching the Lord has bidden us to pray in secret—in hidden and remote places, in our very bedchambers—which is best suited to faith, that we may know that God is everywhere present, hears and sees all and in the plenitude of his majesty penetrates even into hidden and secret places, as it is written, “I am a God at hand, and not a God afar off. If a person shall hide himself in secret places, shall I not then see him? Do I not fill heaven and earth?”
This is all common sense, surely, but now that we have proved deity incorporeal, we shall take the examination a stage further. The problem is this: is deity located in space or not? If it is not, then your shrewd critic might ask how it can even exist at all. Granted that what does not exist has no spatial location, it may well be the case that what has no spatial location does not exist. But if deity is spatially located there are two possible consequences: either the universe contains it, or it is located above the universe. Taking the first alternative, then, it is either contained in a part of the universe or the whole of it. Supposing deity is contained in a part of the universe, it will be delimited by something smaller; if in the whole, by something larger, quite different in relative scale, I mean, as between deity inside and the surrounding universe, granted the universe is going to be contained by the universe and all spatial location to have its bounding line. These consequences follow the hypotheses that the universe contains God. Again, where was it before the universe was created? This produces a considerable problem, you see. If, on the other hand, deity is located above the universe, what is the dividing line between it and the universe? Where is this higher place? How are higher and lower levels to be recognized; where there is no dividing line between to separate them? There will have, surely, to be something in between, something to bound the universe off from what lies above it. In that case this something in between must have the very spatial location we rejected. I do not now insist on the fact that deity must be delimited if it be mentally comprehended, for comprehension is one form of delimitation.Why have I made this digression, too labored, I dare say, for the general ear but in tune with the prevalent fashion in discussions, a fashion that despises noble simplicity and substitutes tortuous conundrums? I did it to make the tree known by its fruits, to make the darkness that activates dogmas like these, I mean, known by the obscurity of their expression. I did not do it to gain a reputation for startling oratory or extraordinary wisdom as a marvelous Daniel for “showing hard sentences and dissolving doubts.” No, I wanted to make plain the point my sermon began with, which was this: the incomprehensibility of deity to the human mind and its totally unimaginable grandeur. Not that deity resents our knowledge: resentment is a far cry from the divine nature, serene as it is, uniquely and properly “good,” especially resentment of its most prized creation. What can mean more to the Word than thinking beings, since their very existence is an act of supreme goodness? It is not that he treasures his own fullness of glory, keeping his majesty costly by inaccessibility. It would be utterly dishonest, utterly out of character not merely for God but also for an ordinary good person with anything of a proper conscience about him to get himself the senior place by keeping others out.
How, again, can justice be done to the scriptural fact that God pervades and fills the universe (“Do not I fill heaven and earth?’ says the Lord,” and, “The spirit of the Lord fills the world”) if part of it limits him and part of it is limited by him? It cannot, for he must either occupy a complete vacuum and our universe vanish—involving the blasphemy that God has been rendered corporeal and does not possess the universe he made; or his body must be contained by bodies, which is impossible; or he must be knit through them as a contrasted strand, like liquids in mixture, parting some, parted by others—which is a more absurd old wives’ tale than even Epicurus’s atoms. It follows, then, that talk of God’s body has no solid body to it and must collapse. What if we call God “immaterial,” the fifth element envisaged by some, borne along the circular drift? Let us assume that he is some immaterial, fifth body, incorporeal, if they wait for it so to suit their free-drifting, self-constructing argument—I will not quarrel over the point. What place will he have in the moving drift of things—leaving out of account the blasphemy of identifying the creatures’ motion with their creator’s, the mover’s (if they will concede the term) with that of the moved? What moves this fifth element? What moves the whole? What moves that which moves the whole? And so on ad infinitum. Must not this moving fifth element be in space? Suppose that they call it something other than the fifth element, an angelic body, say. What grounds have they for asserting that angels are bodies? What are these bodies? How far will God transcend angels who are his ministers? If supra-angelic, a countless swarm of bodies will be fetched in, an abyss of nonsense with no halting place.So we have proved that God is not a body. No divinely inspired teacher has asserted or accepted that idea; the verdict of our fold is against it. He can only be incorporeal. But the term “incorporeal,” though granted, does not give an all-embracing revelation of God’s essential being. The same is true of “ingenerate,” “unoriginate,” “immutable,” and “immortal,” indeed of all attributes applied or referred to God. For what has the fact of owning no beginning, of freedom from change, from limitation, to do with his real, fundamental nature? No, the full reality is left to be grasped, philosophically treated and scrutinized by a more advanced theorist of God. Just as predicating “is body” or “is begotten” of something or other where these predicates are applicable is not enough clearly to set out the things, but you must also, if an object of knowledge is to be displayed with adequate clarity, give the predicates their subject (people, cows and horses, you see, are “corporeal,” “begotten” and “mortal”), so, in the same way, an inquirer into the nature of a real being cannot stop short at saying what it is not but must add to his denials a positive affirmation (and how much easier it is to take in a single thing than to run the full gamut of particular negations!). The point of this is that comprehension of the object of knowledge should be effected by negation of what the thing is not and by positive assertion of what it is. A person who tells you what God is not but fails to tell you what he is is rather like someone who, asked what twice five is, answers “not two, not three, not four, not five, not twenty, not thirty, no number, in short, under ten or over ten.” He does not deny it is ten, but he is also not settling the questioner’s mind with a firm answer. It is much simpler, much briefer, to indicate all that something is not by indicating what it is, than to reveal what it is by denying what it is not.
Of what creature can it be said that it fills all things, as it written of the Holy Spirit: “I will pour my Spirit on all flesh.” This cannot be said of an angel. Lastly, Gabriel, when sent to Mary, said, “Hail, full of grace,” plainly declaring the grace of the Spirit that was in her, because the Holy Spirit had come on her, and she was about to have her womb full of grace with the heavenly Word. It is the Lord who fills all things, who says, “I fill heaven and earth.” If, then, it is the Lord who fills heaven and earth, who can judge the Holy Spirit to be without a share in the dominion and divine power, seeing that he has filled the world, and what is beyond the whole world, filled Jesus, the Redeemer of the whole world? For it is written, “But Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, departed from the Jordan.” Who, then, except one who possessed the same fullness could fill him who fills all things?
For, if we may presume to speak of ourselves after His image and likeness, as Scripture says, in the same way as He is established in the fulness of His Majesty, and sees all things, heaven, air, earth and sea, embracing the universe and penetrating each part, so that nothing escapes Him, and there is nothing which does not consist in Him and depend on Him, and which is not full of Him, as He Himself says, "I fill heaven and earth, saith the Lord."
God says, “I will dwell in them.” Elsewhere also it stands that God said, “Come, let us go down and confound their language.” God, indeed, never descends from any place, for he says, “I fill heaven and earth.” He seems to descend when the Word of God enters our hearts, as the prophet has said: “Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.” We are to do this, so that, as he himself promised, he may come together with the Father and make his home with us. It is clear, then, how he comes.
(Ver. 23, 24.) Do you think that I am a God nearby, says the Lord, and not a God from afar? If a man hides himself in hiding places, shall I not see him? says the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? says the Lord. LXX: I am a God who approaches, says the Lord, and not a God from afar. If a man hides himself in hiding places, shall I not see him? says the Lord; do I not fill heaven and earth? The Lord says, 'Am I a God who is near, and not a God who is far away?' Aquila and Symmachus likewise interpreted it: 'Am I a God who is near, and not a God who is far away?' But the Septuagint and Theodotion translated it in the opposite sense, saying: 'I am a God who is approaching,' says the Lord, 'and not a God who is far away.' The latter meaning asserts that God not only knows what is near, but also what is far away; and not only sees what is present, but also what is future. Truly, they consider God to be present everywhere, and there is no place where God is not. For God is close to all, especially the saints, as if a garment were adhering to the skin. But sinners who distance themselves from Him will perish. We read this meaning in the Psalms as well: Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there. If I take the wings of the morning and settle at the farthest limits of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me (Psalm 139:7-10). Amos also agrees with these words, saying: If they descend to the grave, from there my hand will bring them out; and if they ascend to heaven, from there I will bring them down. And if they hide themselves on the top of Carmel, I will search for them and take them away. And if they hide from my eyes in the depths of the sea, there I will command the serpent, and it will bite them (Amos 9:2-3); and again in the previous psalm: For darkness will not hide from you; and night will be as bright as day: as its darkness, so its light (Psalm 139:12). But what is frequently said in the Prophets, 'Thus says the Lord,' is always added, so that the words of the Prophets are not despised, but rather, it is constantly reminded that they are the words of God that they speak.
Jesus said, “He that sent me is with me.” He had already said this before, but he is constantly reminding them of this important point. “He sent me,” and “He is with me.” If then, O Lord, he is with you, it is not so much that the One has been sent by the other but rather that you both have come. And yet, while both are together, one was sent, the other was the sender. Incarnation is a sending, and the incarnation itself belongs only to the Son and not to the Father. The Father therefore sent the Son but did not withdraw from the Son. For it was not the case that the Father was absent from the place to which he sent the Son. For where could the Maker of all things not be? Where could he not be who said, “I fill heaven and earth”?
A person’s conscience accuses itself if he doesn’t love someone who loves him, or love in return someone who loves him, expecting nothing from that person but indications of his love. So he mourns if someone dies, experiences the gloom of sorrow, that saturating of the heart in tears. All sweetness turns into bitterness on the loss of the life of the dying, the death of the living. Blessed is the one who loves you and has his friend in you.… For he alone loses none dear to him. All are dear to him who cannot be lost. And who is this but our God, the God who created heaven and earth and fills them, because by filling them he created them? No one loses you but the one who leaves you.
It was by this same divine creative force, which knows not what it is to be made but only how to make, that roundness was given to the eye, to the apple and to other objects that are by nature round and that we see all about, taking on their form with no extrinsic cause but by the intrinsic power of the Creator, who said, “Do I not fill heaven and earth?” and whose wisdom “reaches from end to end mightily and orders all things sweetly.”
The question still remains whether they will see God with their eyes open and by means of these bodily eyes. For, of course, if spiritual eyes in a spiritual body can see no better than our present eyes can see, then it will certainly be impossible for even spiritual eyes to behold God. If the spiritual realm, without material form, circumscribed by no place but everywhere wholly present, is to be visible to the eyes of a spiritual body, then those eyes will most certainly have to have a power altogether unlike the power of any eyes on earth. It is true that we say that God is in heaven and on earth, and he himself through a prophet says, “I fill heaven and earth.” But this does not mean that in heaven we shall say that God has one part there and another part on earth. For he is entirely in heaven, and he is entirely on earth. He is in both simultaneously, not merely successively—which is utterly impossible in the case of any material substance.
Therefore, God is poured forth in all things. He says by the prophet, “I fill heaven and earth,” and, as I quoted a short time before of his wisdom, “He reaches from end to end mightily and orders all things sweetly.” It is likewise written, “the Spirit of the Lord filled the whole world,” and one of the psalms has these words addressed to him: “Where shall I go from your Spirit, or where shall I flee from your face? If I ascend up into heaven, you are there. If I descend into hell, you are there.”Yet God so permeates all things as to be not a quality of the world but the very creative substance of the world, ruling the world without labor, sustaining it without effort. Nevertheless, he is not distributed through space in a physical sense so that half of him should be in half of the world and half in the other half of it. He is wholly present in all of it in such a way as to be wholly in heaven alone and wholly in the earth alone, and wholly in heaven and earth together; not confined in any place, but wholly in himself everywhere.
Listen to him: “Come to me, all you who labor.” You do not put an end to your labor by running away. You prefer to run away from him, do you, not to him? Find somewhere, and run away there. But if you cannot run away from him, for the good reason that he is present everywhere, the next thing to do is to run away to God, who is present right where you are standing. Run away, then. So, you see, you have run away beyond the heavens, he is there. You have gone right down to hell, he is there. Whatever solitary places of the earth you may choose, there he is, the one who said, “I fill heaven and earth.” So if he fills heaven and earth and there is nowhere you can run away to from him, do not go on laboring with all that trouble. Run away to him where he is present right beside you, to avoid experiencing him as he comes to judge you.
Through the indescribable wisdom of God residing in the Word, we understand that all things are with him and the Word himself is all things. Is not the beauty of the field in a manner with him, since he is everywhere and has said, “Heaven and earth I fill”? What is not with him, of whom it is said, “If I shall have ascended into heaven, you are there. If I descended into hell, you are present”? - "Expositions of the Psalms 50.18"
How shall I call on my God—my God and my lord? For when I call on him, I ask him to come into me. And what place is there in me into which my God can come—into which God can come, even he who made heaven and earth? Is there anything in me, O Lord my God, that can contain you? Do indeed the heaven and the earth that you have made and in which you have placed me, contain you? Or, since nothing could exist without you, does whatever exists contain you? Why, then, do I ask you to come into me, since I indeed exist and could not exist if you were not in me? Because I am not yet in hell, though you are even there. For “if I go down into hell, you are there.” I could not exist, O my God, I could not exist at all, unless you were in me. Or should I not rather say that I could not exist unless I were in you, “from whom, through whom and in whom are all things?” It is even so, O Lord, even so. Where do I ask you to be, since I am in you? Or, from where can you come into me? Where may I go beyond heaven and earth, in order that my God may then come into me, he who has said, “I fill heaven and earth.”
So the aspect he chose was the one by which Christ came into the world. He came, after all, insofar as he was man. Because insofar as he was God, he was always here. Is there anywhere God is not, I mean, seeing that he said, “I fill heaven and earth”? Christ is certainly the power of God and the wisdom of God. Of this wisdom it says, “She reaches from end to end mightily and disposes all things sweetly.” So then, “he was in this world, and the world was made through him, and the world did not know him.” He was here, and yet he also came. He was here by divine greatness; he came by human weakness. So because he came by human weakness, that is why Paul declared his coming by saying, “The word is human.” The human race would not have been set free unless the Word of God had agreed to be human. After all, people are said in particular to be human who show some humanity, above all by giving hospitality to human persons. So if human beings are called human because they receive human beings into their homes, how human must that one be who received humanity into himself by becoming human?
If the sun, being corporeal, for it is visible and susceptible to disintegration, cannot be polluted when it passes through corpses, putrid mud and many other evil-smelling substances, much more impervious to such pollution is the maker of the sun, the creator of the universe, the incorporeal one, the invisible, the unchangeable, the one who always remains the same. And that those things are so the following reflection will bear out. We both assert and believe that his nature is infinite, for we have heard him exclaim: “Do I not fill the heavens and the earth? says the Lord.”
Elsewhere we read the words of the prophet: “Do I not fill heaven and earth?” God tells why he fills all things: “because I am with you to save you.” Behold, the Lord shows us not only his rule and its all pervading fullness but also the power and benefits accruing from this very fullness. For the fullness of divinity carries as its reward the salvation of what it fills. Paul, in the Acts of the Apostles, said, “for in him we live and move and are.”
Accordingly, we must consider that one and the same nature of the Trinity fills the whole in such a way that there is no place where it is not. So, it is everywhere complete and in no way contained in a place. It is complete in individual spirits and bodies and complete at the same time in all creatures. Now we are not speaking about grace by which God with a free gift of his mercy offers himself to human beings for their salvation, but about nature by which God both fills and contains all the things which he made; according to this, he says, “Do I not fill heaven and earth?”
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Summary
Jeremiah 23:24 stands as a profound declaration of God's absolute omnipresence and omniscience, presented through two rhetorical questions that powerfully underscore the futility of any human attempt to evade His divine gaze. The LORD emphatically asserts His universal sight and pervasive presence throughout all of creation, from the deepest "secret places" to the boundless expanse of "heaven and earth." This verse serves as an unwavering reminder of divine accountability, particularly directed at the false prophets and deceptive leaders of Judah, affirming that no thought, word, or deed, however concealed, escapes God's all-encompassing awareness and ultimate judgment.
Context
Literary Context
Jeremiah 23:24 is strategically positioned within a scathing denunciation of the false prophets who were actively deceiving the people of Judah during a critical period of their history. Chapters 21-24 primarily focus on prophecies against the corrupt kings and spiritual leaders of Judah, exposing their wickedness and foretelling the impending divine judgment. Specifically, Jeremiah 23 starkly contrasts the authentic word of the LORD with the self-serving, comforting falsehoods propagated by these unfaithful spiritual guides. The preceding verses, such as Jeremiah 23:21-22, explicitly state that these prophets were not genuinely sent by God and had not stood in His divine counsel. Verse 24 directly challenges their arrogant presumption that their hidden motives and deceitful practices could escape God's notice, thereby establishing a foundational theological premise for God's inevitable judgment against them and all who persist in rebellion.
Historical & Cultural Context
The prophet Jeremiah ministered during a tumultuous and morally decaying period in Judah's history, spanning the reigns of the last kings before the devastating Babylonian exile (late 7th to early 6th century BC). This era was characterized by pervasive idolatry, profound moral decline, political instability, and a widespread spiritual blindness among the populace. False prophets thrived in this environment, offering messages of peace and prosperity that directly contradicted God's solemn warnings of impending judgment, thereby lulling the people into a dangerous and false sense of security. Culturally, while the Temple in Jerusalem was revered as God's dwelling place, the powerful declaration of God's omnipresence in this verse directly challenged any localized or limited understanding of His power and reach. It confronted the erroneous notion that one could escape His gaze by simply avoiding sacred spaces or performing acts of wickedness in hidden, private settings, asserting His universal and inescapable presence.
Key Themes
This verse profoundly contributes to several overarching themes prominent in the book of Jeremiah and the broader biblical narrative. Firstly, it unequivocally establishes the Divine Sovereignty and Omnipotence of God, asserting His absolute control, knowledge, and authority over all creation, leaving no room for human evasion, manipulation, or independent action outside His purview. Secondly, it critically underscores the stark distinction between Truth and Deception, revealing that while human beings may attempt to conceal their true intentions or actions, God's perfect and comprehensive knowledge infallibly exposes all falsehood. This theme is particularly poignant given the context of the false prophets who "speak the vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the LORD" (Jeremiah 23:16). Finally, it lays an inescapable groundwork for Divine Accountability, emphasizing that because God sees and knows all, there is an ultimate and unavoidable moral reckoning for all actions, whether performed publicly or in the deepest privacy. This truth serves simultaneously as a solemn warning to the wicked and a profound comfort to the righteous, assuring them that God is fully aware of all injustices and will ultimately bring all things to light.
Exposition and Analysis
Key Word Analysis
This is the sacred covenantal name of God, signifying "the self-Existent or Eternal; Jehovah, Jewish national name of God." Its repeated use in this verse ("saith the LORD") emphasizes that this profound declaration of omnipresence and omniscience originates from the ultimate, unchanging, and sovereign authority, the God who is and always has been. It underscores the absolute truth, reliability, and divine origin of the statement, as it is spoken by the very essence of existence itself.
Meaning "to hide (by covering), literally or figuratively; be absent, keep close, conceal, hide (self)." This word, coupled with "secret places" (H4565, miçtâr'), vividly portrays the human attempt to evade detection, to operate in secrecy, or to escape consequence. The rhetorical question forcefully challenges the very possibility of such an act succeeding against a God who sees all, emphasizing the utter futility of trying to conceal anything from His all-penetrating gaze.
Meaning "full (literally or figuratively) or filling (literally); also (concretely) fulness." This term profoundly conveys God's omnipresence in its most comprehensive sense. It's not merely that God is present in heaven and earth, but that He fills them, indicating an all-pervading, comprehensive, and active presence that leaves no void, no space, and no dimension untouched by His being. This divine fullness is the logical and irrefutable basis for His inescapable sight and knowledge.
Verse Breakdown
"Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD."
This opening rhetorical question immediately engages the audience, challenging the very notion of escaping God's gaze. It implies that no human being, regardless of their cunning, the depth of their concealment, or the privacy of their actions, can ever truly be hidden from the LORD. The phrase "secret places" evokes the most secluded or private settings imaginable, emphasizing that even in the deepest privacy, God's sight penetrates and perceives all. This serves as a direct and powerful rebuke to those who might presume their hidden sins, intentions, or deceitful practices are unknown to the divine.
"Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD."
This second rhetorical question provides the irrefutable theological foundation and logical basis for the first. God's ability to see all is not a mere attribute but a direct and necessary consequence of His very nature: He is omnipresent. The declaration that He "fills heaven and earth" signifies His boundless, pervasive, and active presence throughout the entire cosmos, leaving no corner of creation—from the celestial realms to the terrestrial—outside His immediate awareness, dominion, and active engagement. This statement, again confirmed by "saith the LORD," powerfully reinforces the divine authority and absolute truth of His all-encompassing nature.
Literary Devices
Jeremiah 23:24 masterfully employs several potent literary devices to convey its profound theological truth with maximum impact. The most prominent are Rhetorical Questions. By posing "Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him?" and "Do not I fill heaven and earth?", the prophet directly engages the audience, compelling them to acknowledge the obvious and undeniable truth of God's omnipresence and omniscience. These questions are not seeking information but rather asserting self-evident realities, making the declaration far more impactful and memorable than a simple declarative statement. The verse also utilizes Parallelism, specifically a form of synthetic parallelism where the second question amplifies and provides the logical basis for the first. The idea of God seeing all (omniscience) is directly linked to and explained by His filling all space (omnipresence). Furthermore, there is a subtle yet powerful use of Antithesis between the human attempt to "hide" and God's absolute inability to be unseen. The very concept of "secret places" is rendered utterly meaningless and futile in the face of a God who "fills heaven and earth," creating a stark contrast that powerfully highlights divine power and boundless nature over human limitations and futile attempts at concealment.
Theological and Thematic Connections
Jeremiah 23:24 is a cornerstone verse for understanding two of God's most fundamental and awe-inspiring attributes: His omnipresence and His omniscience. His omnipresence means He is actively present everywhere at all times, not limited by space, location, or physical barriers. His omniscience means He knows everything—past, present, and future, encompassing every thought, intention, and action of humanity, both public and private. These attributes are not merely abstract theological concepts but carry profound and practical implications for human accountability and spiritual comfort. For the unrighteous, particularly the false prophets whom Jeremiah so vehemently condemns, this truth means there is no escaping divine scrutiny or ultimate judgment for their hidden deceit, corruption, and wickedness. Conversely, for the righteous, it offers immense solace and profound assurance, reminding them that God is intimately aware of their struggles, hears their prayers, and sees their faithfulness, even when performed in secret or unnoticed by others. This verse beautifully encapsulates the biblical teaching that God is both transcendent (existing above and beyond all creation) and immanent (actively present within and intimately involved with it).
Reflection and Application
The profound truth declared in Jeremiah 23:24 carries immense weight and transformative power for every believer's life. Knowing that God is omnipresent and omniscient means that our lives are lived in His perpetual, inescapable presence, and every thought, every word, and every deed, whether public or private, is fully known to Him. This reality should cultivate a profound and unwavering sense of integrity within us, encouraging us to live authentically and righteously, not just when observed by others, but also in the deepest, most private recesses of our hearts and minds. There is no possibility of maintaining a "double life" before the all-seeing God. This truth can be both a powerful deterrent to sin and a profound source of comfort. When we feel utterly alone, unheard, or misunderstood, this verse serves as a powerful reminder that God is intimately near, seeing our struggles, hearing our silent prayers, and understanding our deepest longings and hidden pains. It reassures us that no act of faithful service, no hidden sacrifice, no quiet act of devotion, and no tear shed in secret ever goes unnoticed by our attentive, loving, and ever-present Father. Conversely, it serves as a solemn warning against hypocrisy, deceit, and hidden sin, reminding us that ultimately, all will be laid bare before the One who fills heaven and earth and holds all creation in His gaze.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
What does it mean that God "fills heaven and earth"?
When Jeremiah 23:24 states that God "fills heaven and earth," it signifies His omnipresence. This means that God is actively present everywhere, at all times, without being limited by space or confined to a particular location. It is not a physical filling, as if God were a substance that occupies space, but rather a profound theological declaration of His pervasive, active, and conscious presence throughout all of creation. There is no place, no dimension, and no realm where God is absent, and no corner of the cosmos untouched by His being, power, and active engagement. This truth is foundational to His ability to see, know, and govern all things.
How does this verse relate to the false prophets in Jeremiah's time?
This verse serves as a direct and potent confrontation to the false prophets of Jeremiah's era. These prophets were speaking "the vision of their own heart" (Jeremiah 23:16) and actively misleading the people with lies, often operating with hidden agendas or engaging in secret wickedness and immorality. Jeremiah 23:24 shatters any illusion they might have harbored that their deceitful practices or corrupt motives could remain hidden from God. It asserts that God's omnipresence and omniscience mean He sees and knows every secret thought, every deceptive word, and every hidden action, ensuring that their accountability before Him is absolute and inescapable. It underscores that while they might successfully deceive people, they cannot, under any circumstances, deceive the Almighty.
Is God's omnipresence comforting or terrifying?
God's omnipresence, as declared in Jeremiah 23:24, can indeed be both profoundly comforting and deeply terrifying, depending entirely on one's relationship with Him. For the righteous, those who genuinely seek to walk in integrity, obedience, and faithfulness, it is an immense source of comfort and security. It assures them that God is always intimately near, sees their struggles, hears their prayers, and is intimately aware of their every need, faithful act, and hidden sacrifice, even when unseen or unacknowledged by others. There is no true loneliness or abandonment in His presence. However, for the wicked, those who live in rebellion against God or persist in hidden sins and hypocrisy, this truth is terrifying. It means there is no escaping divine scrutiny, no "secret place" where their deeds can be concealed from the all-seeing eyes of God. This inescapable presence implies ultimate accountability and inevitable judgment for all unrighteousness.
Christ-Centered Fulfillment
Jeremiah 23:24, with its powerful declaration of God's omnipresence and omniscience, finds its ultimate and most intimate fulfillment in the person and redemptive work of Jesus Christ. As the incarnate Son of God, Jesus perfectly embodied and demonstrated these divine attributes throughout His earthly ministry. He displayed His omniscience by knowing the secret thoughts and intentions of people (Matthew 9:4), discerning the true character and history of individuals (John 2:24-25 and John 4:17-19), and even knowing future events with absolute accuracy (Matthew 24:3-35). His omnipresence, while veiled in the limitations of His earthly human form, is fully realized in His resurrected and ascended state. He promised His disciples, "I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:20), a promise made possible only by His divine nature and boundless Spirit. Furthermore, through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, who is the Spirit of Christ, God's omnipresence becomes an indwelling and personal reality for every believer (Romans 8:9-11), making the divine presence not just pervasive but intimately personal and transformative. The inescapable truth that God "fills heaven and earth" culminates in Christ, who is "all in all" (Colossians 3:11), and before whom all things—every secret deed and every hidden motive—will ultimately be revealed at the judgment seat (2 Corinthians 5:10). Thus, the Old Testament declaration of God's boundless nature points forward to the boundless and ever-present reality of Christ in the life of every believer and in the ultimate consummation of all things.