Behold, he comes up like clouds; his chariots like the whirlwind; his horses are swifter than eagles— woe to us, for we are ruined!
The Prophet here concludes the prediction which referred to the dreadful vengeance that was coming; and he mentions here several similitudes, such as might rouse the Jews and constrain them to fear. He says, that the chariots of God would come as clouds and as a whirlwind; and then that his horses would be swifter than eagles As to the clouds, the whirlwind, and the...
God's usual method is to warn before he wounds. In these verses, accordingly, God gives notice to the Jews of the general desolation that would shortly be brought upon them by a foreign invasion. This must be declared and published in all the cities of Judah and streets of Jerusalem, that all might hear and fear, and by this loud alarm be either brought to repentance or left inexcusable.
Commenting on Jeremiah 4:5-18
Behold, he shall come up as clouds,.... Meaning the lion, Nebuchadnezzar, Jer 4:7, "the king with his army (as the Targum paraphrases it); he shall come up against them as a cloud that ascendeth and covers the earth.'' "come up against them as a cloud that ascendeth and covers the earth.'' The metaphor denotes the swiftness of his coming, and the multitudes he should come...