Jeremiah Chapter 19
Jeremiah 19
Tophet
Jeremiah 19:1-2, Preparation for the Message
Jeremiah 19:1-2, “Thus saith the LORD, Go and get a potter's earthen bottle, and take of the ancients of the people, and of the ancients of the priests, And go forth unto the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is by the entry of the east gate, and proclaim there the words that I shall tell thee.”
Jeremiah 19 continues the imagery of the potter from Jeremiah 18, but the lesson now changes. In Jeremiah 18, Jeremiah watched soft clay on the wheel. The vessel was marred, but the potter could still remake it into another vessel. That picture emphasized God’s sovereign right to reshape, judge, and restore. In Jeremiah 19, however, the clay is no longer soft. Jeremiah is commanded to take a potter’s earthen bottle, a hardened vessel that has already been fired. If this vessel is broken, it cannot be reshaped on the wheel. It can only remain broken.
This is an important development. Judah has moved from being marred clay that might still be remade, to being a hardened vessel ripe for breaking. The issue is not that God lacked mercy. The issue is that Judah had hardened itself against repeated warnings, repeated calls, and repeated opportunities to repent.
Jeremiah is told to take some of the elders of the people and some of the elders of the priests. This message is not private. The civil and religious leaders must witness the sign. The elders of the people represented civic authority, and the elders of the priests represented religious authority. Both classes had responsibility for Judah’s corruption, and both needed to see the coming judgment symbolized.
The location is also significant, “the valley of the son of Hinnom.” This valley was south of Jerusalem and had become associated with idolatry, defilement, and child sacrifice. Jeremiah had already condemned the practices connected with this place.
Jeremiah 7:31, “And they have built the high places of Tophet, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I commanded them not, neither came it into my heart.”
The message must be proclaimed at the entry of the east gate, also connected in many discussions with the Potsherd Gate or refuse area. The place itself preached. Jeremiah is not sent to a clean temple courtyard first, but to a valley associated with broken pottery, burning refuse, idolatry, and death. The location fits the message.
Jeremiah 19:3, The Beginning of the Message at the Gate
Jeremiah 19:3, “And say, Hear ye the word of the LORD, O kings of Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, the which whosoever heareth, his ears shall tingle.”
The message begins with the same essential call heard throughout Jeremiah, “Hear ye the word of the LORD.” Judah’s greatest problem was not a lack of religious activity, nor a lack of access to prophetic warning. Their greatest problem was that they would not hear. They had stiffened their necks and closed their ears.
The address is to “kings of Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem.” The plural “kings” likely refers not only to the present king, but to the whole royal line and its responsibility in Judah’s apostasy. Some kings had directly participated in horrific idolatry, including practices connected with child sacrifice.
The LORD identifies Himself as “the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel.” He is the covenant God of Israel and the commander of heavenly armies. The people had multiplied idols, but the living God still ruled over them.
The warning is severe, “I will bring evil upon this place, the which whosoever heareth, his ears shall tingle.” The word “evil” here refers to calamity, disaster, and judgment. The coming catastrophe would be so shocking that merely hearing of it would make the ears tingle. The same kind of language was used when judgment was announced against Eli’s house.
1 Samuel 3:11, “And the LORD said to Samuel, Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of every one that heareth it shall tingle.”
Judah’s judgment would be terrifying enough to become a warning to all who heard of it.
Jeremiah 19:4-5, The Reason for the Catastrophe to Come
Jeremiah 19:4-5, “Because they have forsaken me, and have estranged this place, and have burned incense in it unto other gods, whom neither they nor their fathers have known, nor the kings of Judah, and have filled this place with the blood of innocents, They have built also the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings unto Baal, which I commanded not, nor spake it, neither came it into my mind.”
God gives the reason for the coming catastrophe. Judah had forsaken Him. This is the root sin behind every other sin in the passage. They abandoned the LORD, and once they abandoned Him, the valley became an alien place. It was no longer recognizable as belonging to covenant Israel. It had been spiritually foreignized by pagan worship and innocent blood.
They burned incense to other gods, gods whom neither they, their fathers, nor the kings of Judah had known in covenant truth. These gods were strangers to Israel’s true worship. Judah was not preserving ancient faith. She was importing spiritual corruption and baptizing it into the life of Jerusalem.
The place was filled with “the blood of innocents.” This refers especially to the child sacrifice connected with Tophet and the Valley of Hinnom. Even if such sacrifice was not practiced constantly, any practice of it was monstrous before God. The shedding of innocent blood defiled the land and cried out for judgment.
Psalm 106:37-39, “Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils, And shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan, and the land was polluted with blood. Thus were they defiled with their own works, and went a whoring with their own inventions.”
They built the high places of Baal to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings unto Baal. This is one of the darkest indictments in Jeremiah. False worship had made Judah cruel, unnatural, and murderous. When men forsake the true God, they do not become morally neutral. They become capable of calling evil good and offering their children to demons.
The LORD says, “which I commanded not, nor spake it, neither came it into my mind.” Human sacrifice was utterly foreign to the will and nature of God. The interrupted sacrifice of Isaac made this clear. God stopped Abraham and provided a substitute.
Genesis 22:12-13, “And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him, for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me. And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns, and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.”
The God of Israel did not demand Israel’s children as burnt offerings. He would provide the sacrifice. Ultimately, this points forward to Christ, the true Lamb of God, given by the Father for sinners.
Jeremiah 19:6-9, The Description of the Catastrophe to Come
Jeremiah 19:6-9, “Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that this place shall no more be called Tophet, nor The valley of the son of Hinnom, but The valley of slaughter. And I will make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place, and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hands of them that seek their lives, and their carcases will I give to be meat for the fowls of the heaven, and for the beasts of the earth. And I will make this city desolate, and an hissing, every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished and hiss because of all the plagues thereof. And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and they shall eat every one the flesh of his friend in the siege and straitness, wherewith their enemies, and they that seek their lives, shall straiten them.”
Because Judah filled the valley with idolatry and innocent blood, God says the name of the place will change. It will no longer be called Tophet or the Valley of the son of Hinnom, but “The valley of slaughter.” The name will fit the judgment. The place where they slaughtered innocents will become the place where the guilty are slaughtered.
God says He will make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place. Their plans, strategies, alliances, religious excuses, and political calculations will fail. No counsel can stand against the judgment of God.
Proverbs 21:30, “There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the LORD.”
The people will fall by the sword before their enemies and by the hands of those who seek their lives. Their bodies will be given as food for birds and beasts. This is covenant curse language, showing public disgrace and the horror of unburied corpses.
Deuteronomy 28:25-26, “The LORD shall cause thee to be smitten before thine enemies, thou shalt go out one way against them, and flee seven ways before them, and shalt be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth. And thy carcase shall be meat unto all fowls of the air, and unto the beasts of the earth, and no man shall fray them away.”
Jerusalem itself will become desolate and a hissing. Those who pass by will be astonished and hiss because of her plagues. The city that should have displayed the glory of God will become a spectacle of judgment.
The most horrifying part of the prophecy is that the siege will become so desperate that people will eat the flesh of their sons, daughters, and friends. This had already been warned as part of the covenant curses.
Deuteronomy 28:53, “And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters, which the LORD thy God hath given thee, in the siege, and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee.”
This judgment fits the moral horror of their sin. They had burned their sons and daughters in idolatrous worship. In judgment, the city would be reduced to cannibalistic desperation. The language is awful because the sin was awful.
Jeremiah 19:10-11, The Breaking of the Flask
Jeremiah 19:10-11, “Then shalt thou break the bottle in the sight of the men that go with thee, And shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Even so will I break this people and this city, as one breaketh a potter's vessel, that cannot be made whole again, and they shall bury them in Tophet, till there be no place to bury.”
Jeremiah is commanded to break the bottle before the witnesses. The visual sign is direct and unforgettable. The clay vessel shatters. Once broken, it cannot be made whole again. This is different from the soft clay in the potter’s house. There, the potter could remake the marred vessel. Here, the hardened vessel is broken beyond repair.
God explains the meaning, “Even so will I break this people and this city.” The breaking of the bottle represents the breaking of Judah and Jerusalem. Their hardened rebellion has brought them to the point of shattering judgment.
This does not mean God is unable to restore a remnant in the future. Jeremiah elsewhere promises restoration. But it does mean that this generation, this city in its present hardened state, and this particular judgment would not be avoided. The vessel of Judah’s present order would be broken.
They would bury in Tophet until there was no place to bury. The valley associated with child sacrifice would become a mass burial ground. The place of false worship would become the place of death.
Jeremiah 19:12-13, The Meaning of the Broken Flask
Jeremiah 19:12-13, “Thus will I do unto this place, saith the LORD, and to the inhabitants thereof, and even make this city as Tophet. And the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses of the kings of Judah, shall be defiled as the place of Tophet, because of all the houses upon whose roofs they have burned incense unto all the host of heaven, and have poured out drink offerings unto other gods.”
The LORD says He will make Jerusalem like Tophet. This is a devastating statement. Tophet was associated with defilement, idolatry, fire, death, and shame. Now the whole city will become like that place. The corruption that had gathered in the valley had also spread across Jerusalem.
The houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah would be defiled like Tophet. This included royal houses. Idolatry was not confined to poor people, ignorant people, or isolated families. It reached the houses of kings.
They burned incense on rooftops to the host of heaven and poured out drink offerings to other gods. Rooftop worship of astral deities shows how idolatry had invaded ordinary domestic life. The people did not need to go only to a high place or valley shrine. Their own homes had become places of pagan worship.
2 Kings 23:12, “And the altars that were on the top of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the LORD, did the king beat down, and brake them down from thence, and cast the dust of them into the brook Kidron.”
Idolatry had climbed onto rooftops and entered royal spaces. Therefore judgment would enter the city and the houses of its rulers.
Jeremiah 19:14-15, After the Message of the Broken Flask
Jeremiah 19:14-15, “Then came Jeremiah from Tophet, whither the LORD had sent him to prophesy, and he stood in the court of the LORD'S house, and said to all the people, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Behold, I will bring upon this city and upon all her towns all the evil that I have pronounced against it, because they have hardened their necks, that they might not hear my words.”
After preaching at Tophet and breaking the flask, Jeremiah returns to the court of the LORD’s house. The message is not left in the valley. It is brought back to the temple precincts. Those who would not go to Tophet to hear the warning must hear it in the house of the LORD.
The LORD again identifies Himself as “the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel.” He is the God of covenant and the commander of armies. He declares that He will bring upon Jerusalem and all her towns all the evil He has pronounced against it. The judgment is certain because the rebellion is hardened.
The final reason is one of Jeremiah’s central themes, “because they have hardened their necks, that they might not hear my words.” Their particular sins were many, idolatry, innocent blood, child sacrifice, astral worship, false worship, and corruption. But beneath all of them was stubborn refusal to hear the word of God.
A stiff neck is the image of an animal refusing the yoke. Judah would not bow. They would not receive correction. They would not submit to God’s word. Therefore the hardened bottle would be broken.
Doctrinal and Practical Notes
Jeremiah 19 teaches that there is a difference between marred clay and hardened pottery. In Jeremiah 18, the clay could be reshaped. In Jeremiah 19, the hardened flask could only be broken. Persistent refusal to repent hardens a people toward judgment.
Jeremiah 19 teaches that leaders are accountable to witness and respond to God’s warnings. Jeremiah takes elders of the people and elders of the priests so both civic and religious leadership must face the message.
Jeremiah 19 teaches that places can become defiled by sin. The Valley of Hinnom became an alien place because Judah filled it with idolatry and innocent blood.
Jeremiah 19 teaches that false worship produces moral horror. Judah’s idolatry led to the burning of sons and daughters. When men forsake the living God, they become capable of unnatural cruelty.
Jeremiah 19 teaches that God never commanded human sacrifice. It never came into His mind. The LORD is utterly unlike the demonic gods of the nations.
Jeremiah 19 teaches that judgment often fits the sin. The valley where innocent children were slaughtered would become the Valley of Slaughter. The city that tolerated such horrors would experience horror in the siege.
Jeremiah 19 teaches that no human counsel can stand against God’s decree. Judah’s counsel would be made void because they resisted the LORD.
Jeremiah 19 teaches that idolatry spreads from public shrines into private homes. Rooftop incense and drink offerings show that pagan worship had entered the domestic life of Jerusalem.
Jeremiah 19 teaches that external religious nearness does not protect a stiff neck. Jeremiah preached in the temple court, but the people’s refusal to hear made them guilty.
Jeremiah 19 points forward by contrast to Christ. Judah shed innocent blood and offered children to false gods, but the Father gave His own Son as the true sacrifice for sinners. God does not demand human sacrifice from man, He provides the Lamb Himself.
John 1:29, “The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.”
Summary
Jeremiah 19 continues the potter imagery, but with a sharper warning. Jeremiah is commanded to take a potter’s earthen bottle and bring elders of the people and priests to the Valley of the son of Hinnom by the entry of the gate. There he proclaims that the LORD will bring a catastrophe so severe that the ears of those who hear it will tingle.
The reason is that Judah has forsaken the LORD, estranged the place, burned incense to other gods, filled it with innocent blood, and built high places of Baal to burn sons with fire, something God never commanded, spoke, or imagined. Therefore Tophet and the Valley of Hinnom will become the Valley of Slaughter. Judah’s counsel will be made void, the people will fall by the sword, corpses will be food for birds and beasts, Jerusalem will become desolate and a hissing, and the siege will become so desperate that cannibalism will occur.
Jeremiah then breaks the flask in the sight of the elders, declaring that God will break the people and the city like a potter’s vessel that cannot be made whole again. Tophet will become a burial place until there is no room. Jerusalem itself will become like Tophet because idolatry has spread into the houses and rooftops of the city and the royal houses.
Finally, Jeremiah returns from Tophet to the court of the LORD’s house and announces that God will bring all the doom pronounced against Jerusalem and her towns because the people have hardened their necks and refused to hear His words.
