JEREMIAH 1 – THE CALL OF A

RELUCTANT PROPHET
Among all the prophets of the Hebrew people none was more heroic than Jeremiah. – G.
Campbell Morgan

A. The life and times of the Prophet Jeremiah.

1. (1) Jeremiah and his background.
The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests who were in Anathoth in
the land of Benjamin,
a. The words of Jeremiah: This begins a remarkable collection of writings revealed
through the Prophet Jeremiah. His 40-year ministry was a tremendous display of
faithfulness and courage in the face of great discouragement, opposition, and small
results.
i. Jeremiah: “The precise meaning of the name is unknown, with suggested
interpretations including ‘the Lord founds’, ‘the Lord exalts’ and ‘the Lord throws
down’.” (Harrison)
ii. “The name Jeremiah was common in Judah. It occurs several times in the OT. At
the time of David there were two, and possibly three Jeremiah’s among David’s
mighty men (1 Chronicles 12:4, 10, 13).” (Thompson)
b. Who were in Anathoth: Since Jeremiah was from a priestly family, it made sense
that they lived in Anathoth, which was a small village about three miles from
Jerusalem. It was in the land of Benjamin but given over as a priestly city (Joshua
21:18).
i. “From vantage points in Anathoth one could clearly see the walls of Jerusalem.
Jeremiah grew up not in the great capital but within sight of it.” (Thompson)

2. (2-3) The times of Jeremiah.

To whom the word of the LORD came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of
Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign. It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the
son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son
of Josiah, king of Judah, until the carrying away of Jerusalem captive in the fifth
month.
a. To whom the word of the LORD came: Though this book contains the words of
Jeremiah, it also contains the word of the LORD. This prophecy, like all inspired
Scripture, is both the word of man and the word of God. It is the divinely inspired and
infallible word of God but brought through the personality of man.
i. When God uses a person, He does not erase their personality – He wants
to use that person’s sanctified personality. “God wanted a man with a very gentle and
tender heart for this unrewarding ministry of condemnation. Jeremiah’s subsequent
career shows that he had this quality in full measure.” (Cundall)
b. In the days of Josiah: King Josiah was one of the better kings of Judah, zealous
for reform. According to 2 Chronicles 34:3, it was in the eighth year of Josiah’s reign
that he sought the LORD, and few years later began an aggressive campaign to
purify Israel of idolatry and to return to the LORD.
i. God called these two giants – both Josiah and Jeremiah – to serve Him and His
people at the same time. Each supported the other, and though they did not leave
behind an enduring transformed Judah, they served God faithfully and removed
every excuse Judah might offer for the judgment that eventually came through
Babylon.

c. Josiah… Jehoiakim… Zedekiah: In this line of succession of the Kings of Judah,

some are left out (Jehoahaz in 2 Chronicles 36:1-2 and Jehoiachin in 2 Chronicles
36:8-9).

i. “Jehoahaz and Jehoiachin were probably omitted in this verse because their reigns
were so short, comprising only three months each.” (Harrison)

d. Until the carrying away of Jerusalem captive in the fifth month: In fact, portions
of this book address the period after the captivity (Jeremiah 44). Yet that was only as
a postscript to the catastrophic fall of Jerusalem.

B. The call and preparation of the Prophet Jeremiah.

1. (4-5) God’s call to Jeremiah.
Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying:
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you;
Before you were born I sanctified you;
I ordained you a prophet to the nations.”
a. Then the word of the LORD came to me: Jeremiah had a personal encounter with
the LORD. He was apparently raised in a godly, priestly home – yet he had to have
a personal encounter with God and His word.
i. Because many of his prophecies have echoes and hints of previous prophets of
Israel, it seems that Jeremiah grew up knowing God’s word. “His future life and
thought were moulded to a large extent by an early acquaintance with the utterances
of the eight-century B.C. prophets such as Amos, Hosea, Isaiah and Micah, and
probably also by the lives and sayings of Elijah and Elisha.” (Harrison)
b. Before I formed you in the womb I knew you… I ordained you a prophet to the
nations: Jeremiah was already a young man, but God wanted him to know that his
call went back even further than his youth. Jeremiah existed in the mind and plan of
God before he ever existed in his mother’s womb. God told Jeremiah this so that he
could walk in God’s pre-ordained plan by his own will.

i. This information wasn’t given just to interest Jeremiah or to entertain him. It was
given so that he would know God’s will, be encouraged by that, and therefore align
his will with God’s revealed will.

ii. “St. Paul speaks of his own call to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles in similar
terms (Galatians 1:15-16).” (Clarke)

iii. Ancient Jewish legends say that Jeremiah was so called that he was born
circumcised and that he came out of the womb prophesying. In fact, as the legend
goes, in his out-of-the-womb prophecy he complained of the faithlessness of his
mother. When she protested, he had to explain that he meant “mother” as a symbol
for Jerusalem.
c. A prophet to the nations: Jeremiah’s focus us upon Judah in the last decades
before the Babylonians conquered it. Yet his work as a prophet was not only for
Judah, but also for the nations – and for us today.

i. “In this respect Jeremiah was appointed a prophet for a world-wide ministry. This
refutes the idea that that the work of God’s servants was always provincial. God is
the Lord of the nations.” (Feinberg)

2. (6-10) Jeremiah’s objection and God’s response to the objection.

Then said I:
“Ah, Lord GOD!
Behold, I cannot speak, for I am a youth.”
But the LORD said to me:
“Do not say, ‘I am a youth,’
For you shall go to all to whom I send you,
And whatever I command you, you shall speak.
Do not be afraid of their faces,
For I am with you to deliver you,” says the LORD.
Then the LORD put forth His hand and touched my mouth, and the LORD said to
me:
“Behold, I have put My words in your mouth.
See, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms,
To root out and to pull down,
To destroy and to throw down,
To build and to plant.”
a. Ah, Lord GOD! This translates an expression of deep feeling, though the sense is
hard to relate in English.
b. Behold, I cannot speak, for I am a youth: Jeremiah was probably anywhere from
17 to 20 years old at this time. Apparently, he felt that his youth prevented him from
being a good or authoritative messenger of God’s word.
i. “Unlike Moses, whose protestations of inadequacy rang a little hollow, Jeremiah
really was young, it seems, and inexperienced.” (Kidner)

c. Do not say, “I am a youth”: Though Jeremiah’s protest was true, it was irrelevant –
and God did not want to hear it, nor did He want Jeremiah to say it. God insists on
His right to call young people and to use them if they will listen to His call and answer
it.
i. Do not say, “I am a youth” because God used David when he was a young man.
As a young man David served his father faithfully in the shepherd’s field, killed a lion
and a bear protecting the flock, killed Goliath, served King Saul and was a
commander in the Israeli army.
ii. Do not say, “I am a youth” because God filled John the Baptist with the Holy
Spirit in the womb (Luke 1:15). You aren’t too young to be filled mightily with the Spirit
of God.
iii. Do not say, “I am a youth” because God used Timothy as a young man, and
through the Apostle Paul told him, Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to
the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity. (1 Timothy 4:12)
iv. Do not say, “I am a youth” because God used Hudson Taylor as a young man.
When he was 17 years old he dared to seek God, and totally surrendered himself to
God’s will. Almost immediately he felt a distinct impression that God wanted him to
be a missionary to China, and he began to prepare for the mission field by living the
kind of life by faith he wanted to live on the mission field and living it right there in
England. By the time he was 22 he first arrived in Shanghai.
v. Do not say, “I am a youth” because God used J. Edwin Orr as young man. Born
and raised in Belfast Ireland, at 21 years of age he left a good paying job in the
middle of the Great Depression to tour around Great Britain on his bicycle and tell
any who would listen about revival. He trusted God to provide for both him and his
widowed mother, and God came through gloriously – it was 10,000 miles of miracle
through Great Britain. He wrote a popular book about his adventures in faith – so
popular that some youth groups banned the book – they were afraid that their youth
might take off on their own bikes without really being called by God.
d. For you shall go to all to whom I send you, and whatever I command you, you
shall speak: God spoke with both encouragement and persuasion to Jeremiah. He
protested that he couldn’t go because of his youth but God simply said, “you shall
go.”
i. Later, Jeremiah remembered his initial reluctance: Nor have I desired the woeful day;
You know what came out of my lips; it was right there before You. (Jeremiah 17:16)
ii. Though reluctant, Jeremiah couldn’t hold back: Then I said, “I will not make mention
of Him, nor speak anymore in His name.” But His word was in my heart like a burning fire
shut up in my bones; I was weary of holding it back, and I could not. (Jeremiah 20:9)
e. Do not be afraid of their faces, for I am with you to deliver you: Jeremiah had
two reasons to be afraid. First, he was young. Second, his message was hard to
hear. But the presence of God with him was greater than those two reasons.

i. “His reluctance may have been based on feelings of personal inadequacy when
confronted with the almost hopeless task of recalling apostate Judah to a state of
true repentance. To make matters worse, at an early stage in his ministry he was
forbidden to marry (16:1-4), and the ominous reasons given made more clear than
ever the fact that Judah stood under divine judgment.” (Harrison)

ii. “He shrank from his work again and again; he suffered intensely, not merely from
the persecution of his foes, but in his own soul, in it fellowship with God and with his
nation; he needed very special Divine sustenance.” (Morgan)

iii. I am with you: “I will not only send thee as other kings do their ambassadors, but
I will go with thee.” (Poole)
f. Then the LORD put forth His hand and touched my mouth: In his vision, Jeremiah
saw the LORD touch him in this personal way. As God touched the mouth of Isaiah
at his call to the office of prophet, He also touched the mouth of Jeremiah (though in
a different way).
g. See, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out
and to pull down, to destroy and to throw down, to build and to plant: As a young
man, Jeremiah was an unlikely candidate for such a ministry. Yet God knew that
Jeremiah had the personality and character to fulfill this call as the years went on.

i. “Jeremiah’s commission set the pattern of his calling, with its four verbs of
demolition and it two of renewal.” (Kidner)
ii. “He did comparatively little of this constructive preaching and a great deal of the
destructive kind.” (Thompson)
iii. “As Isaiah speaks of the salvation of the Lord, Ezekiel of the glory of the Lord, and
Daniel of the kingdom of the Lord, so Jeremiah incessantly proclaims the Lord’s
judgment.” (Feinberg)

h. See, I have this day set you: Jeremiah was definitely called, but he did not fulfill his
call in his first year – or his first ten years. His 40-year ministry had several different
phases and taken together they fulfilled God’s call.
i. The first period of Jeremiah’s ministry took place under the protection of the godly
king Josiah, who took advantage of turmoil in the surrounding superpowers (such as
Assyria, Egypt, and Babylon) to reform the nation and turn it back to the Lord. During
this time, Jeremiah went on a preaching tour through the cities of Judah and the
streets of Jerusalem (Jeremiah 11:6). Yet during this time the hearts of the people
did not seem changed. He preached for 23 years but no one seemed to listen
(Jeremiah 25:3). He even faced many threats against his life (Jeremiah
11:19 and 12:6).
ii. After King Josiah died, things got worse. Jeremiah read a scroll of his collected
prophecies to the new king Jehoiakim – and the king took the scroll, cut it in pieces,
and threw it in the fire (Jeremiah 36:22-23). In this general period Jeremiah was
chained and flogged (Jeremiah 20:2), and survived a close brush with death
(Jeremiah 26:10-11).
iii. His most difficult season was under another king, Zedekiah – who was set on the
throne by the Babylonians, but didn’t continue to obey them. Jeremiah brought a
message from God that must have seemed like madness to his generation. The
message was that judgment through the Babylonians was inevitable – and they must
prepare for it and submit to it. He wrote to those already exiled in Babylon, he told
them to prepare for a 70 year exile and to have a peaceable attitude towards
Babylon (Jeremiah 29:7, 10). He was regarded as a traitor and imprisoned (Jeremiah
37:11-16).

3. (11-12) Jeremiah’s first lesson in his training as a prophet.

Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Jeremiah, what do you see?”
And I said, “I see a branch of an almond tree.” Then the LORD said to me, “You
have seen well, for I am ready to perform My word.”
a. Jeremiah, what do you see? Jeremiah would receive a message to speak, but
before he could speak he had to see.

i. “Before you can make an impression upon another person’s heart, you must have
an impression made upon your own soul. You must be able to say, concerning the
truth, ‘I see it,’ before you can speak it so that your hearers also shall see it.”
(Spurgeon)

b. A branch of an almond tree: Jeremiah saw well. He not only understood that it
was a branch but was observant enough to know that it was a branch of an almond
tree.
i. “Anathoth remains to this day a center for almond growing. The modern visitor to
the area in the very early spring is promised the memorable and unforgettable sight
of almond trees in bloom.” (Thompson)
ii. This was young Jeremiah’s first lesson in prophetic observance, and the lesson
was simple. “We might have thought that, as a preparation for his prophetical work,
he would have seen mysterious wheels full of eyes, or flaming seraphs and cherubs,
or the wonderful creatures that were caused to appear in the dreams of Ezekiel and
the revelation to John. Instead of this, Jeremiah simply sees ‘a rod of an almond
tree;’ and, beloved friends, when you look into the Bible, you will see some very
simple things there.” (Spurgeon)

iii. The significance of the branch of an almond tree was important in two ways.
First, the almond was well known as the first tree to bud in the spring. This indicated
that God was ready to quickly fulfill His word, just as the almond tree seems ready to
bud.
iv. Secondly, the Hebrew word for almond tree is close to and derived from the
Hebrew word for watchful, and this word is used in God’s response to Jeremiah.
“These verses contain a play on words that is lost in English but is vital for the force
of the vision. The ‘almond tree’ is saqed and God is ‘watching’ (soqed) over his word
to fulfill it.” (Feinberg)

4. (13-16) Jeremiah’s second lesson in his training as a prophet.

And the word of the LORD came to me the second time, saying, “What do you see?”
And I said, “I see a boiling pot, and it is facing away from the north.” Then
the LORD said to me:
“Out of the north calamity shall break forth
On all the inhabitants of the land.
For behold, I am calling
All the families of the kingdoms of the north,” says the LORD;
“They shall come and each one set his throne
At the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem,
Against all its walls all around,
And against all the cities of Judah.
I will utter My judgments
Against them concerning all their wickedness,
Because they have forsaken Me,
Burned incense to other gods,
And worshiped the works of their own hands.
a. I see a boiling pot, and it is facing away from the north: The idea is of a boiling
cauldron that will tip over with its opening facing south. This is a vivid picture of
destruction and judgment pouring out upon Judah from the north (out of the north
calamity shall break forth on all the inhabitants of the land).

i. The old Puritan commentator John Trapp showed how wrong the allegorical
approach to Scripture can be, describing the interpretation of an ancient writer
named Gregory: “Gregory moraliseth the text thus: Man’s mind is this pot; that which
from the north sets it on fire is the devil, by inflaming it with evil lusts, and then he
sets up his throne therein.”

b. They shall come and each one set his throne at the entrance of the gates of
Jerusalem: Jeremiah prophetically saw foreign kings dominating a subservient
Jerusalem.
i. “As the gates of the cities were the ordinary places where justice was
administered, so the enemies of Jerusalem are here represented as conquering the
whole land, assuming the reigns of government, and laying the whole country under
their own laws; so that they Jews should no longer possess any political power: they
should be wholly subjugated by their enemies.” (Clarke)
c. Because they have forsaken Me, burned incense to other gods, and worshiped
the works of their own hands: The main reason for the coming judgment was
Judah’s chronic idolatry.

5. (17-19) God commands Jeremiah to be steadfast in the face of

coming opposition.
Therefore prepare yourself and arise,
And speak to them all that I command you.
Do not be dismayed before their faces,
Lest I dismay you before them.
For behold, I have made you this day
A fortified city and an iron pillar,
And bronze walls against the whole land—
Against the kings of Judah,
Against its princes,
Against its priests,
And against the people of the land.
They will fight against you,
But they shall not prevail against you.
For I am with you,” says the LORD, “to deliver you.”
a. Therefore prepare yourself and arise: Jeremiah properly saw and understood
the two visions. God felt he was ready to go forth (with additional preparation) and
to speak to them all that I command you.
b. Do not be dismayed before their faces, lest I dismay you before them: God gave
Jeremiah the strength he needed – but he had to walk in it. If he did not – if he
allowed himself to be dismayed before their faces – then God
would dismay Jeremiah before those whom he feared.
c. For behold, I have made you this day a fortified city and an iron pillar: Certainly,
Jeremiah didn’t feel like a fortified city or an iron pillar. But God’s word was true,
and Jeremiah needed to believe it and act upon it.
d. They will fight against you: This promise of God proved true, but so did the other
aspect to the promise. The enemies of Jeremiah did not prevail against him, and he
served God with distinction through great trials for 40 years.
i. “To this thin-skinned young man, his description of terms of battlements and heavy
metal might have seemed a wild exaggeration, but in fact it proved an
understatement. He would hold out against all comers for over forty years, outdoing
any fortress under siege.” (Kidner)
JEREMIAH 2 – BROKEN CISTERNS
A. The astonishing nature of Israel’s sin.
1. (1-3) The good old days.
Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Go and cry in the hearing of
Jerusalem, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD:
“I remember you,
The kindness of your youth,
The love of your betrothal,
When you went after Me in the wilderness,
In a land not sown.
Israel was holiness to the LORD,
The firstfruits of His increase.
All that devour him will offend;
Disaster will come upon them,” says the LORD.’”
a. Go and cry in the hearing of Jerusalem: This reminds us that the core of
Jeremiah’s work as a prophet were messages delivered to the southern kingdom of
Judah, of which Jerusalem was the capital city.
i. God often refers to Judah and Jerusalem as Israel in Jeremiah, though the
northern kingdom of Israel (representing the ten northern tribes) fell to the Assyrians
some 100 years before Jeremiah’s work as a prophet. God refers to Judah and
Jerusalem as representing all of Israel because it did.
ii. Far back in the days of Jeroboam and his original break with the southern kingdom
of Judah, the legitimate priests and Levites who lived in the northern ten tribes did
not like the Jeroboam’s idolatry. They, along with others who set their hearts to seek
the LORD God of Israel, then moved from the northern kingdom of Israel to the
southern kingdom of Judah (2 Chronicles 11:13-16). So actually, the southern
kingdom of Judahcontained Israelites from all of the ten tribes.
b. I remember you, the kindness of your youth: Through Jeremiah, God made a
heartfelt appeal to Jerusalem, drawing upon the memory of their past relationship.
To say, “I remember how our wonderful our relationship once was” is a powerful
appeal.

i. “God recollects those zealous times, those happy seasons, those enthusiastic
hours; and if we have come to an ebb, if we are now cold and almost dead, and have
forgotten the better days, God has not forgotten them.” (Spurgeon)

c. When you went after Me in the wilderness: This has in mind the Exodus, when
God led Israel through the wilderness. They were not perfect in their relationship
with God then, but they had a love for God and a trust in the Lord that was sorely
lacking in Jeremiah’s days.
d. Israel was holiness to the LORD: This is what God commanded of Israel in the
wilderness (Leviticus 11:45), and in some measure Israel fulfilled it. They were
separated unto God as His own people and had little desire for the idols of Egypt or
the Canaanites.
e. All that devour him will offend; disaster will come upon them: In this season of
special relationship with God, the LORD took special care of Israel. Anyone who
attempted to devour Israel, then disaster would come upon them. This was a great
contrast to the judgment at the hand of Israel’s enemies that would eventually come
upon an unfaithful Jerusalem.

2. (4-8) The great ingratitude of rebellious Israel.

Hear the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob and all the families of the house of
Israel. Thus says the LORD:
“What injustice have your fathers found in Me,
That they have gone far from Me,
Have followed idols,
And have become idolaters?
Neither did they say, ‘Where is the LORD,
Who brought us up out of the land of Egypt,
Who led us through the wilderness,
Through a land of deserts and pits,
Through a land of drought and the shadow of death,
Through a land that no one crossed
And where no one dwelt?’
I brought you into a bountiful country,
To eat its fruit and its goodness.
But when you entered, you defiled My land
And made My heritage an abomination.
The priests did not say, ‘Where is the LORD?’
And those who handle the law did not know Me;
The rulers also transgressed against Me;
The prophets prophesied by Baal,
And walked after things that do not profit.
a. What injustice have your fathers found in Me, that they have gone far from Me:
God called the house of Israel to account for their rejection of Him and their pursuit
of idols. He asked to know what fault there was in Himthat caused their idolatry.
i. On have followed idols and have become idolaters: “Various attempts have been
made to render this in English: ‘pursuing empty phantoms and themselves becoming
empty’ (NEB); they ‘went after worthlessness and became worthless’ (RSV).”
(Thompson)
b. I brought you into a bountiful country, to eat its fruit and its goodness: God
reminded Israel of how good and kind He had been to them, giving them
the bountiful country of Canaan.

i. The events of the Exodus had happened some 800 years before Jeremiah’s time.
It’s understandable (though not good) that Israel would come to take the blessing of
the land for granted after some 800 years. There is less explanation for why we take
the good works of God for granted sometimes only weeks later.

c. You defiled My land and made My heritage an abomination: God clearly called
the land of Israel Hislandand Hisheritage. Israel both defiled the land and made
it an abomination through their idolatry.
d. The priests did not say, “Where is the LORD?” and those who handle the law did
not know Me: The religious leaders of Israel did not serve God or the people well.
They did not seek the LORD (asking, “Where is the LORD?”) and they did not teach
the word of God (the law) from a personal relationship with God (did not know Me).
i. Those who handle the law refers to the priests and the Levites, who were to teach,
exposit, interpret, and apply the law for the people. “They that draw out the law; they
whose office it is to explain it, draw out its spiritual meanings, and show to what its
testimonies refer.” (Clarke)
e. The rulers also transgressed against Me; the prophets prophesied by Baal: Civic
and religious leaders did more harm than good for the people of God and towards
the LORD Himself.

3. (9-12) The astonishing nature of Israel’s sin.

“Therefore I will yet bring charges against you,” says the LORD,
“And against your children’s children I will bring charges.
For pass beyond the coasts of Cyprus and see,
Send to Kedar and consider diligently,
And see if there has been such a thing.
Has a nation changed its gods,
Which are not gods?
But My people have changed their Glory
For what does not profit.
Be astonished, O heavens, at this,
And be horribly afraid;
Be very desolate,” says the LORD.
a. Therefore I will yet bring charges against you: God would not allow this great sin
on behalf of the leaders and people of Israel to go unaddressed. In formal fashion,
God brought a legal complaint against Israel for their sin.
b. See if there has been such a thing. Has a nation changed its gods, which are not
gods? Since Israel liked to look to surrounding nations in imitation of their idolatry,
God asked His rebellious people to look to even distant places (beyond the coasts of
Cyprus or Kedar) and to ask: Do they forsake their gods? Strangely, the heathen
around Israel were more faithful to their pagan gods than Israel was to the Living
God.
i. “Cyprus was the western-most point in Judah’s geography, whilst Kedar was a
desert tribe in the east, so the appeal is from west to east, i.e. anywhere.” (Cundall)

ii. “Think, then, of the rebuke which the obstinate adherence of idolators to their idols
gives to the slack hold which so many professing Christians have on their religion.”
(Maclaren)

c. But My people have changed their Glory for what does not profit: The heathen
nations were faithful to their gods even though their gods did nothing for them. Yet
Israel had the God of all Glory who had blessed them in innumerable ways and they
turned from Him.
d. Be astonished…be horribly afraid…be very desolate: First this is
an astonishment, that men can be so foolish, disloyal, and ungrateful. Then it is
something to fear, because a righteous God must answer such outrageous rebellion.
Finally, it is a desolation, because the result of judgment upon such rebellious people
will leave little behind.

B. The emptiness and shame of Israel’s idolatry.

1. (13) Broken cisterns.
“For My people have committed two evils:
They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters,
And hewn themselves cisterns – broken cisterns that can hold no water.”
a. They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters: This was the first of the
evils of God’s people – to forsake God. This is evil not only for it’s disloyalty and
ingratitude, but also because it is foolish; God is the fountain of living waters, the
never-ending supply of the good, pure, essential supplies of life.
i. In the ancient near east a fountain of living waters – an artesian spring – was
something special. It was a constant supply of good, fresh, life-giving water that came
to you! In ancient Israel, water was a lot of work, but a fountain of living
waters brought it right to you.
b. And hewn themselves cisterns – broken cisterns that can hold no water: Having
forsaken God’s fountain of living waters, His people then worked hard (hewn
themselves) for a greatly inferior supply (cisterns). Despite their hard work, all they
ended up with were broken cisterns that can hold no water.
i. “Directly water is stored in cisterns, it ceases to be living; it is stagnant, and the
process of deterioration begins…Moreover, man can never hew cisterns which will
hold. They are all broken. We must live by streams, or we perish.” (Morgan)

ii. “Leaving God, in whom alone man’s thirsty spirit can find satisfaction and thirst-
quenching, he hath set himself, with infinite labour, to hew out cisterns of gold and
silver, cisterns of splendid houses and reputable characters, and lavish alms deeds,
cisterns of wisdom and ancient lore. From any of these the hewer thinks he will
obtain sufficient supplies to last him for life. At the best, however, the water is
brackish, wanting the sparkle of oxygenated life; hot with the heat of the day.”
(Meyer)

2. (14-19) God’s people look to Egypt and Assyria and forsake

the LORD.
“Is Israel a servant?
Is he a homeborn slave?
Why is he plundered?
The young lions roared at him, and growled;
They made his land waste;
His cities are burned, without inhabitant.
Also the people of Noph and Tahpanhes
Have broken the crown of your head.
Have you not brought this on yourself,
In that you have forsaken the LORD your God
When He led you in the way?
And now why take the road to Egypt,
To drink the waters of Sihor?
Or why take the road to Assyria,
To drink the waters of the River?
Your own wickedness will correct you,
And your backslidings will rebuke you.
Know therefore and see that it is an evil and bitter thing
That you have forsaken the LORD your God,
And the fear of Me is not in you,”
Says the Lord GOD of hosts.
a. Is Israel a servant? Is he a homeborn slave? Why is he plundered? Earlier in the
chapter (Jeremiah 2:3) God promised that He would defend an obedient Israel. Now
through Jeremiah, God asked His people to consider the case of the Israel in the
sense of the conquered northern kingdom, to remember why they were now slaves.
b. The people of Noph and Tahpanhes have broken the crown of your
head: Noph and Tahpanhes were both Egyptian cities. Noph is another name for
Memphis, the ancient capital of lower Egypt, near modern Cairo. God here warned
Judah not to trust in Egypt, which would (or perhaps had by that time) have broken
the crown of your head by defeating and killing the good king Josiah in battle (2
Kings 23:29).
c. Have you not brought this on yourself, in that you have forsaken the LORD your
God: The reason was plain; Israel was captive, her people slaves, her cities burned
because they forsook the LORD.
d. Why take the road to Egypt…why take the road to Assyria: God cautioned
Jerusalem from looking to either Egypt (the waters of Sihor, the Nile) or Assyria (the
waters of the River, the Euphrates) for help. The water of their rivers was nothing
compared to the fountains of living water found in the LORD.

i. “No matter how appealing the prospect of alliance with Egypt might be, Judah will
suffer for it if she becomes entangled.” (Harrison)

ii. “Sihor, ‘blackness’, is a sarcastic reference to the river Nile, one of the most highly
venerated of Egyptian gods.” (Harrison)
e. Your own wickedness will correct you, and your backslidings will rebuke you: If
Jerusalem did continue on their destructive course, there would be more than
enough correction and rebuke found in the consequences of their actions. They
would certainly know therefore and see that it is an evil and a bitter thing that you
have forsaken the LORD your God.
f. “The fear of Me is not in you,” says the Lord GOD of hosts: Jerusalem feared
attack from the Babylonians and therefore contemplated alliances with Egypt and
Assyria. Yet the real problem was they did not fear the LORD, and the Lord GOD of
hosts – that is, of heavenly armies. God was more than able to protect them if they
repented and trusted in Him.

3. (20-25) The unrestrained pursuit of false gods.

“For of old I have broken your yoke and burst your bonds;
And you said, ‘I will not transgress,’
When on every high hill and under every green tree
You lay down, playing the harlot.
Yet I had planted you a noble vine, a seed of highest quality.
How then have you turned before Me
Into the degenerate plant of an alien vine?
For though you wash yourself with lye, and use much soap,
Yet your iniquity is marked before Me,” says the Lord GOD.
“How can you say, ‘I am not polluted,
I have not gone after the Baals’?
See your way in the valley;
Know what you have done:
You are a swift dromedary breaking loose in her ways,
A wild donkey used to the wilderness,
That sniffs at the wind in her desire;
In her time of mating, who can turn her away?
All those who seek her will not weary themselves;
In her month they will find her.
Withhold your foot from being unshod, and your throat from thirst.
But you said, ‘There is no hope.
No! For I have loved aliens, and after them I will go.’”
a. You said, “I will not transgress,” when on every high hill and under every green
tree you lay down playing the harlot: God symbolically spoke of the idolatry of the
conquered northern kingdom as prostitution. In going after idols, Israel was like a
wife so unfaithful to her husband that she was a harlot, consorting with idols.
i. This is allegorical speaking, but an allegory connected with reality. Many of the
pagan and Canaanite idols worshipped by the Israelites were essentially sex cults,
honored with ritual prostitution. Their idolatry was often connected with sexual
immorality with the use of male and female prostitutes.

ii. “The many references to abnormal sexual gratification underline one of the most
prominent features of the Canaanite religion, where male and female cult-prostitutes
were connected with the sanctuaries.” (Cundall)

b. Playing the harlot… the degenerate plant of an alien vine… though you wash
yourself with lye: God used three strong images to describe the sin and shame of
Israel. They were like a prostitute, like a weed, and like someone so dirty that
no lye or soap could make them clean.
i. “The noble (AV) or choice (RSV) vine is literally, ‘Sorek vine’, a high-quality red
grape grown in the Wadi al-Sarar, situated between Jerusalem and the
Mediterranean.” (Harrison)
ii. “God has planted his people a thoroughly reliable stock hoping to gather a rich
harvest of choice grapes. But she became a strange wild vine, a foul-smelling thing.”
(Thompson)

iii. Yet your iniquity is marked before Me: “Sin leaveth behind it a deep stain, so
ingrained that it will hardly ever be gotten out, not at all by blanching, extenuating,
excusing, &c., or by any legal purifications, hypocritical lotions.” (Trapp)
iv. “So ingrained is Judah’s foul iniquity that no amount of washing with detergents
can remove it. The supreme merit of Christ’s work on Calvary is that it removes the
dark stain of iniquity (1 John 1:7).” (Harrison)
c. See your way in the valley; know what you have done: This refers to the valley of
Hinnom, the deep gorge that lies to the west and south of Jerusalem. This was a
place of idolatry and hideous deeds.
i. “Here all sorts of heathen rites were practiced, including the worship of Baal and
the worship of Molech (cf. 7:31-32; 2 Kings 23:10).” (Thompson)
ii. See your way in the valley; know what you have done: “How could they claim
innocence when they were carrying on their vile worship of Baal in the Valley of
Hinnom with their child sacrifices?” (Feinberg)
d. A wild donkey used to the wilderness, that sniffs at the wind in her desire: The
next images are of a camel (a swift dromedary) or a wild donkey in heat (in her
time of mating…in her month) with no control over her desire, allowing any and all
to mount her.

i. “Young female camels are altogether unreliable, ungainly, and easily disturbed, so
that they dash about in an apparently disorganized fashion.” (Thompson)

ii. Apparently (according to Ryken and several others), when in heat, the female
donkey goes after the male with abandon. “The female ass in heat is almost violent.
She sniffs the path in front of her trying to pick up the scent of a male (from his
urine). Then she races down the road in search of the male.” (Thompson)
e. Withhold your foot from being unshod, and your throat from thirst: The bare
foot and constant thirst were marks of the exile and slave. This was the fate of the
northern kingdom of Israel and would also be the fate of Judah if they did not turn to
the LORD. Yet they answered God’s heartfelt appeal with a resignation to their
idolatry and fate: There is no hope…I have loved aliens and after them I will go.

4. (26-28) The shame of Israel.

“As the thief is ashamed when he is found out,
So is the house of Israel ashamed;
They and their kings and their princes, and their priests and their prophets,
Saying to a tree, ‘You are my father,’
And to a stone, ‘You gave birth to me.’
For they have turned their back to Me, and not their face.
But in the time of their trouble
They will say, ‘Arise and save us.’
But where are your gods that you have made for yourselves?
Let them arise,
If they can save you in the time of your trouble;
For according to the number of your cities
Are your gods, O Judah.”
a. As the thief is ashamed when he is found out, so is the house of Israel ashamed:
The thief is only ashamed when he is found out. He regrets getting caught and
penalized, not the crime itself. In the same way, Israel under exile was really only
sorry they had been caught and had suffered for their sin.
b. Saying to a tree, “You are my father”: Jeremiah described their foolish idolatry,
worshipping things of wood and stone. The tree was a wooden idol representing
Asherah, the leading female Canaanite deity. The stonerepresented Baal, the
leading male Canaanite deity.

i. “These stone pillars have been found in excavations in Palestine. All that remains
of the wooden poles is a posthole in which the rotted timber has left a different
colored soil. There is enough archaeological evidence for these to indicate a
widespread usage.” (Thompson)

ii. “At each Canaanite shrine there was an asherah, probably a wooden pillar which
was a formal substitute for a sacred tree, representing the female sexual element,
and a mazzebah, or stone pillar, indicating the male element.” (Cundall)
iii. “There is strong satire here, for it is the female symbol [tree] that is
called Father and the male symbol [stone] that is called You who gave me birth. Israel
was confused about what she was worshipping when she ascribed to the gods of
fertility her very existence.” (Thompson)
c. But in the time of their trouble they will say, “Arise and save us”: God knew that
His people would reject useless idolatry when the great crisis came. Yet in that day,
God would be justified to ask: “Where are your gods that you have made for
yourselves?”
d. Let them arise, if they can save you in the time of trouble: The idols Israel and
Judah loved to worship did them no good in the time of crisis. They worshipped
many idols (for according to the number of your cities are your gods, O Judah), but
either collectively or individually they were of no help in the time of trouble.
i. According to the number of your cities are your gods, O Judah: “Among heathen
nations every city had its tutelary deity. Judah, far sunk in idolatry, had adopted this
custom.” (Clarke)

5. (29-32) God will not listen to Israel that has rejected Him.
“Why will you plead with Me?
You all have transgressed against Me,” says the LORD.
“In vain I have chastened your children;
They received no correction.
Your sword has devoured your prophets
Like a destroying lion.
“O generation, see the word of the LORD!
Have I been a wilderness to Israel,
Or a land of darkness?
Why do My people say, ‘We are lords;
We will come no more to You’?
Can a virgin forget her ornaments,
Or a bride her attire?
Yet My people have forgotten Me days without number.”
a. Why will you plead with Me? You have all transgressed against Me: In the
previous lines God spoke of how His people would turn to Him in the time of their
trouble, yet not out of true repentance; instead out of a mere desire to escape
present consequences. Here God tests the repentance of Israel to see if they will
return to Him through difficulty.
b. Your sword has devoured your prophets: God’s people were guilty of rejecting
and murdering the prophets.
c. Why do My people say, “We are lords; we will come no more to You”? God’s
people were guilty of pride, believing they didn’t need to come and humble
themselves before the living God.
d. Can a virgin forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? Yet My people have
forgotten Me days without number: Israel’s rejection of God was unnatural. It is
only natural for a young woman to treasure her ornaments, or for a bride to value
her clothing. When God’s people forget their God – who has done so much for them
– it is an offence against all that is good and right.
i. A bride her attire: Something like a wedding ring, “The bridal attire was a sash or
girdle proclaiming her status as a married woman.” (Harrison)
6. (33-37) Israel will be disappointed in the false gods they have
trusted.
“Why do you beautify your way to seek love?
Therefore you have also taught
The wicked women your ways.
Also on your skirts is found
The blood of the lives of the poor innocents.
I have not found it by secret search,
But plainly on all these things.
Yet you say, ‘Because I am innocent,
Surely His anger shall turn from me.’
Behold, I will plead My case against you,
Because you say, ‘I have not sinned.’
Why do you gad about so much to change your way?
Also you shall be ashamed of Egypt as you were ashamed of Assyria.
Indeed you will go forth from him
With your hands on your head;
For the LORD has rejected your trusted allies,
And you will not prosper by them.”
a. Why do you beautify your way to seek love? Israel felt that the pursuit of love was
self-justifying and any pursuit of love could be considered beautiful. In their thinking,
the love of idols was just as good as the love of Yahweh, their covenant God. The
love expressed in what Yahweh called sexual immorality was just as good as love
expressed in what Yahweh called sexual morality. God did not accept their attempt
to beautifytheirway to seek love.
i. Beautify: “The same word is used of Jezebel’s dressing her head (2 Kings 9:30).
What need this whorish trick and trimming, if all were right with thee?” (Trapp)
b. You have also taught the wicked women your ways: For Israel in Jeremiah’s day,
it wasn’t enough for them to call their sinful pursuit of love beautiful; they also had to
teach it to others.
c. Also on your skirts is found the blood of the lives of the poor innocents: Their
immoral love – which they called beautiful – left them stained with the blood of
the poor innocents.
i. The application of this section of Jeremiah to the modern day is unmistakable.

· Many today justify any pursuit of love as beautiful – such as the supposed pursuit
of love in adultery, premarital sex, homosexuality, and in perversions. God does not
agree with their justifications.
· Many of these also must teach others their ways, advocating them in the general
society, hoping to normalize what was once considered sinful or perverted.
· The poor innocents suffer – unborn children are killed, homes are wrecked,
perversion imposes itself on innocents.
d. I have not found it by secret search, but plainly on all these things: The sin and
perversion popularized in Jeremiah’s day was evident; only willful blindness kept
individuals and society from recognizing it.
e. Yet you say, “Because I am innocent, surely His anger shall turn from me”:
Despite the plain nature of their sin, Israel could still claim innocence. They felt
entitled to Divine mercy.
f. Behold, I will plead My case against you, because you say, “I have not sinned”:
Their claim of innocence did not impress God. He would still bring a case
against them; their claim to innocence made them more guilty, not less.
g. Why do you gad about to change your way? To gad about is to bounce about on
an irregular course. The New Living Translation has this, First here, then there – you
flit from one ally to another asking for help. There was no reason for them to gad
about – they should have gone straight away to trusting the LORD.
i. In his sermon titled Gadding About, Spurgeon drew two ideas from this text.
· Spurgeon focused on the word you: Why do you gad about so much to change
your way? This was Israel, the wife of Yahweh – why should they do this?
· Spurgeon focused on the word why: Why do you gad about so much to change
your way? God requested a reason from Israel to account for their gadding about.
h. Indeed you will go forth from him with your hands on your head: God promised
to bring their trust in Egypt to nothing, and (without national repentance) they would
go forth from Judah as captive slaves, with your hands on your head. God would not
honor their alliances with Egypt or any other foreign power.

JEREMIAH 3 – A WORD TO
BACKSLIDERS
A. The unfaithfulness of God’s people.
1. (1) God says to His unfaithful people, “Return to Me.”
“They say, ‘If a man divorces his wife,
And she goes from him
And becomes another man’s,
May he return to her again?’
Would not that land be greatly polluted?
But you have played the harlot with many lovers;
Yet return to Me,” says the LORD.
a. If a man divorces his wife… may he return to her again? Jeremiah seems to have
in mind the command in Deuteronomy 24:1-4 which says that when a man divorces
his wife and she becomes the wife of another man, she must not return again to her
first husband.
i. This law of Deuteronomy 24:1-4 sounds strange to our modern age where it is not
completely uncommon for a wife to return to her first husband after a second or third
husband. The sense behind it was that it made the ideas of both marriage and
divorce seem of little consequence, as if one might say: “I can divorce her, and
remarry her later if I want to.” God wanted to speak that that thinking and say, “No
you can’t treat divorce and remarriage so casually. I wont allow it.”
ii. “This law, which forbade a divorced couple to reunite, was aimed against what
would amount to virtually lending one’s partner to another…it would degrade not only
her but marriage itself and the society that accepted such a practice.” (Kidner)
iii. “The precise reasons for this ancient law may have been various, among them
being an attempt to preserve the second marriage.” (Thompson)
b. Would not the land be greatly polluted? Deuteronomy 24:4 says, her former
husband who divorced her must not take her back to be his wife after she has been defiled;
for that is an abomination before the LORD, and you shall not bring sin on the land which
the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance. God connected disobedience to this
law regarding remarriage to a defilement of the land, making it greatly polluted.
c. But you have played the harlot with many lovers; yet return to Me: God wanted
His unfaithful people to know that though returning to the first husband might be
wrong on a human level, it was not wrong between God and His people.
i. The line, “Yet return to Me,” says the LORD is a bit of a mystery to translators.
Some (as the NKJV and NLT) translate it as an invitation from God to Israel. Others
(such as the NASB and ESV) translate it as an accusation, God accusing Israel of
wanting to return to Him lightly or wrongly.
· NASB: But you are a harlot with many lovers; yet you turn to Me
· ESV: And would you return to Me?
· NLT: But you have prostituted yourself with many lovers, says the LORD. Yet I am still
calling you to come back to me.
ii. “Scholars are clearly divided on the issue, and the reason is understandable. The
verb ‘return’ (sob) in the last line of v.1 is an infinitive that may allow for more than
one rendering.” (Feinberg)
iii. Since in the rest of the chapter God repeatedly does invite Israel to return to Him,
and the thought of this return is presented in a good sense, it is best to take it as
rendered in the NKJV: as a plea from God to His people for them to return to Him.

2. (2) The depth of their depravity.

“Lift up your eyes to the desolate heights and see:
Where have you not lain with men?
By the road you have sat for them
Like an Arabian in the wilderness;
And you have polluted the land
With your harlotries and your wickedness.”
a. Where have you not lain with men? God asked His people to look up to
the heights – that is, the high places where altars to pagan gods were often built.
According to the picture, upon these desolate heights they committed spiritual
adultery with pagan gods.

i. “This verse alludes to the worship of Baal and Asherah, which included sex with
temple prostitutes at hilltop shrines.” (Ryken)

ii. “The word ‘ravished’ [lain with men] is especially powerful. It is an obscene word
for sexual violence. Although God’s people have been looking for a good time, they
have been getting raped. False gods are always abusive.” (Ryken) (Deuteronomy
28:30, Isaiah 13:16, where the word is translated ravished).
b. By the road you have sat for them: Here God used the picture of a common street
prostitute to illustrate the spiritual adultery of Israel. The idea was that they sought
out these idols and offered themselves to them.
i. Like an Arabian in the wilderness: “Jeremiah likened the national preoccupation
with licentiousness to an Arab freebooter waiting in concealment to plunder a
passing caravan, or to a wayside prostitute soliciting clients.” (Harrison) Sin wasn’t
searching for them; they searched for it.
c. You have polluted the land with your harlotries and your wickedness: Israel
considered their idolatry and sacrifice to pagan gods to be of little consequence.
Many of them probably told themselves that they were not forsaking the LORD, only
adding the worship of these other gods. God saw their sin for what it was and noted
that it polluted the land.
3. (3-5) The penalty of their sin and how they should have repented.
Therefore the showers have been withheld,
And there has been no latter rain.
You have had a harlot’s forehead;
You refuse to be ashamed.
Will you not from this time cry to Me,
‘My Father, You are the guide of my youth?
Will He remain angry forever?
Will He keep it to the end?’
Behold, you have spoken and done evil things,
As you were able.”
a. Therefore the showers have been withheld and there has been no latter rain:
Spiritually, Israel’s idolatry polluted the land – therefore God withheld the rain they
needed for crops and food. This had special irony, because many of the pagan gods
they went after were associated with weather, rain, and fertility (such as Baal and
Ashtoreth).

i. Some of those ancient idol worshippers in ancient Israel went after the idols exactly
for the rain and agricultural abundance they hoped their idolatry would bring. They
were terribly wrong; their pursuit out of God’s will left them less satisfied than before.

b. You have a harlot’s forehead; you refuse to be ashamed: God observed the lack
of shame among Israel for their idol worship. Their conscience was dead to its
proper workings.
c. Will you not from this time cry to Me: God told Israel what they should do.
· They should cry out unto the Lord with urgency and desperation.
· They should look to Him as their Father and their guide.
· They should see themselves as those who need guidance and help, as
a youth needs guidance and help.
· They should hope that God would not remain angry with them.
i. My Father: “The term ‘father’ was sometimes used by a young wife of her
husband.” (Fienberg)
d. Behold, you have spoken and done evil things, as you were able: Instead of
crying out to the Lord and coming with humble repentance, Israel continued in their
evil as they were able – hoping to get away with as much as they could.

B. Backsliders called to return.

1. (6-10) God speaks to Jeremiah about backsliding Israel,
treacherous Judah.
The LORD said also to me in the days of Josiah the king: “Have you seen what
backsliding Israel has done? She has gone up on every high mountain and under
every green tree, and there played the harlot. And I said, after she had done all
these things, ‘Return to Me.’ But she did not return. And her treacherous sister
Judah saw it. Then I saw that for all the causes for which backsliding Israel had
committed adultery, I had put her away and given her a certificate of divorce; yet
her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but went and played the harlot also. So
it came to pass, through her casual harlotry, that she defiled the land and
committed adultery with stones and trees. And yet for all this her treacherous
sister Judah has not turned to Me with her whole heart, but in pretense,” says
the LORD.
a. In the days of Josiah the king: Josiah was one of the better kings of Judah, and in
his reign there was an aggressive campaign to purify Israel of idolatry and to return
to the LORD. God no doubt used these words from Jeremiah as part of this work.
b. Have you seen what backsliding Israel has done? God reminded Jeremiah (and
those who heard this prophecy) that the northern kingdom of Israel was deeply
idolatrous, yet God still called to them saying, “Return to Me.” Sadly, she did not
return and perished as a kingdom some 100 years before Jeremiah began his
prophetic work.
c. Her treacherous sister Judah saw it: The southern kingdom of Judah should have
learned from Israel’s idolatry, refusal to repent, and fall. Instead, her treacherous
sister Judah did not fear, but went and played the harlot also.
i. It’s easy for us to think Judah was crazy and ask how they could have missed such
obvious lessons. Yet we see the modern world repeating the same mistakes and
sins as previous fallen empires and cultures.

ii. Through her casual harlotry: “The Hebrew text reads literally ‘through the
lightness of adultery’; that is, adultery mattered so little to her that she participated in
the same evil practices as her sister Israel and polluted the land.” (Thompson)
d. Yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah has not turned to Me with her
whole heart, but in pretense: It seemed that Judah had learned nothing from the sin
and consequences that came upon the northern kingdom of Israel. Whatever
repentance they did offer was not from the whole heart, but only in pretense.
i. On a human level it is difficult and perhaps dangerous to judge the repentance of
another person. We should be generous in our assessment of someone’s
repentance. Nevertheless, repentance only in pretenseis a real phenomenon,
and God knows when repentance is insincere and only for show.

ii. “True confession, unfortunately, is a harrowing and humiliating experience, and

thus seldom encountered, whether in individuals or nations.” (Harrison)

iii. “In his days there had been great reform outwardly. The king had wrought with a
true passion for righteousness, but as Huldah, the prophetess, had told him, the
reforms, so far as the people were concerned, were unreal, they did not touch the
deepest things in life.” (Morgan)

iv. “He that repenteth with a contradiction, saith Tertullian, God will pardon him with a
contradiction. Thou repentest, and yet continuest in thy sins. God will pardon thee,
and yet send thee to hell: there is a pardon with a contradiction.” (Trapp)

2. (11-13) God tells Jeremiah to invite Israel to return and find mercy.
Then the LORD said to me, “Backsliding Israel has shown herself more righteous
than treacherous Judah. Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say:
‘Return, backsliding Israel,’ says the LORD;
‘I will not cause My anger to fall on you.
For I am merciful,’ says the LORD;
‘I will not remain angry forever.
Only acknowledge your iniquity,
That you have transgressed against the LORD your God,
And have scattered your charms
To alien deities under every green tree,
And you have not obeyed My voice,’ says the LORD.”
a. Backsliding Israel has shown herself more righteous than treacherous Judah:
This is a startling statement, considering how deeply the northern kingdom of Israel
gave themselves to idols. Nevertheless, we can think of several reasons why
Judah’s sin was even worse.
· Judah had the example of Israel to learn from, and advantage that Israel did not
have.
· Judah was closer to the temple and center of true worship.
· Judah had better and more spiritual kings than Israel had.
· Judah’s problem was treachery and the pretense of repentance; Israel was more
honest in their sin.
b. Return, backsliding Israel: God told Jeremiah to invite Israel – though they were
scattered in exile throughout the Assyrian empire – to return to Him. They key to
their return was this: Only acknowledge your iniquity. Thishonesty was what Judah
lacked and was the key to Israel’s restoration to right relationship.
i. Return, backsliding Israel: “The ‘backslider’ (turn away) is invited to ‘come back’
(turn back).” (Thompson) The sense is something like, “Slide back to Me,
backslider.”

ii. Here there is no promise that God would restore the northern kingdom to its land
and realm. Instead the promise seems to be of restored relationship with Yahweh,
their covenant God.

iii. The sense seems to be, “Judah has not repented honestly, only in pretense.
Perhaps Israel will honestly repent if I invite them.”

iv. “‘Alas,’ says one, ‘I do not know whether I am a backslider, or whether I have
been a hypocrite up till now!’ Do not argue that question at all. I am constantly asked
to decide for people whether they ever were true Christians, or were in error about
their condition. It is a difficult enquiry, and of small practical value.” (Spurgeon)

3. (14-15) Return and be restored.

“Return, O backsliding children,” says the Lord; “for I am married to you. I will
take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion. And I
will give you shepherds according to My heart, who will feed you with knowledge
and understanding.”
a. Return, O backsliding children: Here God speaks to both “sisters” (Jeremiah 3:7)
Israel and Judah and invites them to return to Him.
b. For I am married to you: Significantly, God said that He gave Israel a certificate
of divorce (Jeremiah 3:8). Yet here He says to both Israel and Judah, “I am married
to you.” God was willing to ignore the previous divorce if they would only return to
Him.
i. These pleas: “Return, O backsliding children” and “For I am married to you”
have great depth of feeling. This is not a cold, dispassionate God; this is the Lord full
of warmth and compassion, pursing His wayward people.

ii. “Oh! it is grace that he should be married to any of us, but it is grace at its highest
pitch, it is the ocean of grace at its flood- tide, that he should speak thus of
‘backsliding children.’“ (Spurgeon)

c. I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to
Zion: God promised restoration and repatriation for the remnant that would return to
Him.
d. I will give you shepherds according to My heart, who will feed you with
knowledge and understanding: After the blessing of restoration and repatriation,
God promised the blessing of good and godly spiritual leadership, giving an
instructive description of what leaders among God’s people should be.
· They should be given by God (I will give you), not by human ambition or presumed
calling.
· They are given to the people of God (I will give you) for their care and service unto
them.
· They should be shepherds, caring for the flock of God.
· They should be according to God’s heart in the way they serve and lead God’s
people.
· They should feed God’s people with knowledge.
· They should feed God’s people with understanding.
4. (16-17) Return and know the presence of the LORD.
“Then it shall come to pass, when you are multiplied and increased in the land in
those days,” says the LORD, “that they will say no more, ‘The ark of the covenant of
the LORD.’ It shall not come to mind, nor shall they remember it, nor shall they
visit it, nor shall it be made anymore.At that time Jerusalem shall be called The
Throne of the LORD, and all the nations shall be gathered to it, to the name of
the LORD, to Jerusalem. No more shall they follow the dictates of their evil hearts.”
a. When you are multiplied and increased in the land in those days…they will say
no more, “The ark of the covenant of the LORD”: Jeremiah looked forward to
Israel’s ultimate restoration, marked by gathering in the land and by the presence of
the LORD Himself, not merely the representation of God seen in the ark of the
covenant of the LORD.
b. It shall not come to mind, nor shall they remember it, nor shall they visit it:
Jeremiah looked forward to the day when the reality of God’s presence among men
surpassed the symbol of it represented by the ark of the covenant. It would so far
surpass it that when the reality comes, no one would think of the ark of the covenant
any longer.

i. “The ark will not be restored because it will no longer be necessary as a symbol of
God’s presence. The times of ceremonial emphasis will pass away. The actual glory
of God in the presence of his people will be sufficient, and therefore the typical glory
will not be missed.” (Feinberg)

c. At that time Jerusalem shall be called The Throne of the LORD, and all the
nations shall be gathered to it: Jeremiah looked forward to the day when Israel
would be the leading nation of the earth, with the LORD Himself enthroned in
Jerusalem and the nations coming to give Him honour.
d. No more shall they follow the dictates of their evil hearts: Jeremiah looked
forward to the day when the nations would be genuinely transformed as they
recognized the LORD and His work from Jerusalem.
i. Without here calling it the new covenant, Jeremiah speaks of some of the benefits
of the new covenant as will be later developed in Jeremiah 31:31-33.

C. Restoration to the land.

1. (18) A promise of restoration.
“In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they
shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given as an
inheritance to your fathers.”
a. In those days: In the previous lines (Jeremiah 3:16-17) God promised many of the
features that would later be developed in the promise of the new covenant. Here we
learn of more that will happen in those days.
b. The house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel: Long before, the twelve
tribes of Israel split into two competing kingdoms. God here looked forward to the
day when Judah and Israel would be together again, and no longer separated by
their ancient civil conflict.
c. And they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have
given: The promise of return to the land is again promised to both Judah and Israel.
God will gather them to the land again.

2. (19-20) The problem of restoring the treacherous house of Israel.

“But I said:
‘How can I put you among the children
And give you a pleasant land,beautiful heritage of the hosts of nations?’
“And I said:
‘You shall call Me, “My Father,”
And not turn away from Me.’
Surely, as a wife treacherously departs from her husband,
So have you dealt treacherously with Me,
O house of Israel,” says the LORD.
a. How can I put you among the children and give you a pleasant land:
Rhetorically, God asked how backsliding Israel and treacherous Judah could receive
such a blessing as the restoration to the land.
b. You shall call Me, “my Father,” and not turn away from Me: Answering His own
question, God pointed to an inner transformation that would take place among His
people, despite their past treachery. This inner transformation is another feature of
the new covenant.
i. My Father: “The term ‘father’ was sometimes used by a young wife of her
husband.” (Feinberg)

3. (21-22) The weeping of a repentant Israel.

A voice was heard on the desolate heights,
Weeping and supplications of the children of Israel.
For they have perverted their way;
They have forgotten the LORD their God.
“Return, you backsliding children,
And I will heal your backslidings.”
“Indeed we do come to You,
For You are the LORD our God.”
a. Weeping and supplications of the children of Israel: Jeremiah prophetically saw
Israel in true repentance, crying out to God from their desolation. Such deep
repentance was necessary because they had perverted their way and forgotten
the LORD their God.
i. On the desolate heights: “Where they were wont to worship idols, now they weep
for their sins, and pray for pardon.” (Trapp)

ii.“Here is the consciousness of sin in its essential character, and that produces
godly sorrow. The distinction between mere remorse and repentance is here already,
in the ‘weeping and supplication.’“ (Maclaren)

b. Return, you backsliding children… Indeed, we do come to You: Jeremiah spoke

of the day when the children of Israel would respond to God’s call to return and be
healed from their backsliding, recognizing their need and who their God is (for You
are the LORD our God). This was a contrast to how they hade previously forgotten
the LORD their God.
i. “He says, ‘Return, ye backsliding children.’ I notice that he does not say, ‘Return,
ye penitent children.’ He pictures you in your worst colors, yet he says, ‘Return, ye
backsliding children.’ I notice also that he does not say, ‘Heal your wounds first, and
then come back to me;’ but he says, ‘Return, ye backsliding children,’ with all your
backslidings unhealed, – ‘and I will heal your backslidings.’“ (Spurgeon)

ii. The words of Jeremiah 3:21-22 show several things about backsliding.
· Backsliding brings desolation (on the desolate heights).
· Backsliding is worthy of great mourning (weeping and supplication).
· Backsliders may return right from their wayward place (the high places, the
desolate heights).
· Backsliding is shown in a perverted…way.
· Backsliding is shown in forgetting God (they have forgotten the LORD their God).
· Backsliding is something only children of God can do.
· Backsliding is a decision to turn from (return).
· Backsliding is disease to be healed from (I will heal).
· Backsliding is corrected by the recognition of a wrong way (we do come to you).
· Backsliding is corrected by the recognition of having forgotten God (for You are
the LORD our God).

4. (23-25) The lasting shame of idolatry expressed in a statement of

true repentance.
Truly, in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills,
And from the multitude of mountains;
Truly, in the LORD our God
Is the salvation of Israel.
For shame has devoured
The labor of our fathers from our youth—
Their flocks and their herds,
Their sons and their daughters.
We lie down in our shame,
And our reproach covers us.
For we have sinned against the LORD our God,
We and our fathers,
From our youth even to this day,
And have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God.”
a. Truly, in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills: In their idolatry, Israel often
built altars on high places – the tops of hills. God reminded them that these hills,
these high places and the false gods they represented were of no help in their day of
need. Instead, in the LORD our God is the salvation of Israel.
i. “This is followed by the recitation of an ideal confession for the sinning people.
Weeping, they make their supplication. Recognizing the vanity of expecting help
from any source other than Jehovah, they turn to Him with confession of sin.”
(Morgan)

b. For shame has devoured the labor of our fathers from our youth – their flocks
and herds, their sons and daughters: Upon those altars to pagan gods upon
the hills, generations of Israelis sacrificed their flocks and herds and even their
sons and daughters (figuratively and sometimes literally). It was all
a shame that devoured.
i. “The ‘shameful’ thing (v.24, the article is emphatic in the Hebrew) is Baal, the god
of shame. In 11:13 Baal and shame are identified.” (Feinberg)

ii. “That shameful thing, Baal hath done it (chapter 11:13; Hosea 9:10); he hath even
eaten up our cattle and our children, of whom, it any be left, yet there is nothing left
for them.” (Trapp)
c. We lie down in our shame, and our reproach covers us: This shame was
constant and could not be done away with until the children of Israel genuinely
repented and returned to the LORD.
d. We have sinned against the LORD our God, we and our fathers…and have not
obeyed the voice of the LORD our God: This is the appropriate expression of broken
repentance that should mark God’s backsliding children. There is no excuse or
explanation given.

JEREMIAH 4 – THE TERROR OF

COMING JUDGMENT
A. The repentance that brings restoration.
1. (1-2) Blessings to a returning and repentant Israel.
“If you will return, O Israel,” says the LORD,
“Return to Me;
And if you will put away your abominations out of My sight,
Then you shall not be moved.
And you shall swear, ‘The LORD lives,’
In truth, in judgment, and in righteousness;
The nations shall bless themselves in Him,
And in Him they shall glory.”
a. Return to Me: This carries the same theme from Jeremiah 3, where Yahweh pled
with Israel to stop their backsliding ways and to return to Him. The call went out
to Israel, with all tribes and both kingdoms in mind (Jeremiah 3).
b. If you will put away your abominations out of My sight: For Israel, returning to
the LORD meant they had to put away their idols (abominations). They could not
hold on to their idols and still return to Yahweh, even as an adulterous spouse
cannot continue to hold on to their illicit lover and genuinely return to their marriage
partner.
i. “The term abominations was used in Hosea 9:10 and also by both Jeremiah and
Ezekiel of pagan deities and their associated cultic rituals.” (Harrison)
c. Then you shall not be moved. And you shall swear, “The LORD lives”: These
were two rewards that would come to a returning, repentant Israel. First, they would
have security (not be moved). Second, they would be restored to real relationship
with Yahweh, able to swear, “The LORD lives.”
i. Then you shall not be moved: “ This was spoken before the Babylonish captivity;
and here is a promise that if they will return from their idolatry, they shall not be led
into captivity. So, even that positively threatened judgment would have been averted
had they returned to the Lord.” (Clarke)
ii. There are some who at one time claimed to walk with God and experience Him,
and then departed from outward profession. Some of those, in their departure, claim
that their experience with God was all an illusion and go on to deny the reality of God
and His revelation in Jesus Christ. If those would return to the Lord in true
repentance, they would be able to once again swear, “The LORD lives.”
d. In truth, in judgment, and in righteousness; the nations shall bless themselves
in Him, and in Him they shall glory: This is the understanding of the LORD that
belongs to those who return to Him and repent. Once again they see His true, good,
righteous character, and His blessing to the nations.

2. (3-4) Breaking up the fallow ground.

For thus says the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem:
“Break up your fallow ground,
And do not sow among thorns.
Circumcise yourselves to the LORD,
And take away the foreskins of your hearts,
You men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem,
Lest My fury come forth like fire,
And burn so that no one can quench it,
Because of the evil of your doings.”
a. Break up your fallow ground: God invited Judah and Jerusalem to return to Him
from a hardened condition. Fallow ground is uncultivated farmland, especially
ground that was plowed before but has laid dormant for a year or more. It is hard to
plow, but no useful crops can be grown until the fallow ground is broken up.
· Fallow ground implies prior fruitfulness.
· Fallow ground needs some hard work to break.
· Fallow ground implies some resistance.

i. “It would be pointless to sow the seeds of repentance in unsuitable soil.” (Harrison)

b. And do not sow among thorns: This probably has in mind what does grow upon
fallow ground – weeds and thorns. It’s not as if nothing grows upon fallow fields,
simply nothing useful grows there. Spiritually speaking, returning Judah must put
their energy into prepared, repentant hearts.

i. “There must be a deep ploughing, and the eradication of that which hinders growth,
both in the realm of the spirit and in nature, before there can be a bountiful harvest.”
(Cundall)

c. Circumcise yourselves to the LORD: Jeremiah switched images, moving away

from the idea of an unploughed field to the idea of a baby boy’s circumcision, in
obedience to the covenant of Abraham. Instead of taking away the literal foreskin,
Judah had to remove the foreskins of your hearts, cutting away the flesh in
covenant dedication to the LORD.
d. Lest My fury come forth like fire and burn so that no one can quench it: God
drew His people with kind words, but also told them of the consequences of
continued rejection. If they did not return, judgment was waiting.

B. A vision of coming judgment.

1. (5-8) A description of coming judgment.
Declare in Judah and proclaim in Jerusalem and say:
“Blow the trumpet in the land;
Cry, ‘Gather together,’
And say, ‘Assemble yourselves,
And let us go into the fortified cities.’
Set up the standard toward Zion.
Take refuge! Do not delay!
For I will bring disaster from the north,
And great destruction.”
The lion has come up from his thicket,
And the destroyer of nations is on his way.
He has gone forth from his place
To make your land desolate.
Your cities will be laid waste,
Without inhabitant.
For this, clothe yourself with sackcloth,
Lament and wail.
For the fierce anger of the LORD
Has not turned back from us.
a. Blow the trumpet in the land: In his prophecy, Jeremiah saw an army come from
the north to destroy an unrepentant Judah and Jerusalem. They busily prepared a
defense (assemble yourselves…. go into the fortified cities), but it would be of no
help.
i. “The blowing of the horn (sopar) announced a state of emergency (cf. Amos 3:6).
Hearing it citizens would flee for safety behind the walls of their fortified city.”
(Thompson)

ii. “The description is the more vivid because he uses the prophetic present, which
sees the judgment as already in progress, so certain is its fulfillment.” (Cundall)

b. The lion has come up from his thicket, and the destroyer of nations is on his
way: This was prophetically fulfilled when the Babylonians conquered Judah.

i. There is debate as to if the invasion so vividly described came from the Scythians,
the Assyrians, or the Babylonians. The best choice seems to be the Babylonians.
“The fact remains that God’s word through him not only made no mention of the
Scythians, but decisively excluded them at certain points. It was Babylon, a
generation later, which would bring all this to pass.” (Kidner)

ii. “The lion could represent both Assyria and Babylonia here as fierce destroyers of
nations.” (Harrison)
c. Clothe yourself with sackcloth, lament and wail: Jeremiah pictured God’s
people finally repenting, yet when it was too late to prevent the terrible judgment.

2. (9) The effect of the coming judgment.

“And it shall come to pass in that day,” says the LORD,
“That the heart of the king shall perish,
And the heart of the princes;
The priests shall be astonished,
And the prophets shall wonder.”
a. The heart of the king shall perish: When the terrible judgment comes, even the
nobility of Judah will lose their courage and hope.

i. “Even the rumors of impending disaster are a disaster.” (Ryken)

b. The priests shall be astonished, and the prophets shall wonder: When the
terrible judgment comes, the spiritual leaders will not know what to do – because
they did not return to the LORD, break up the fallow ground, and circumcise their
hearts in answer to God’s invitation.

3. (10) In a brief interlude, Jeremiah considers the difficult nature of

judgment.
Then I said, “Ah, Lord GOD!
Surely You have greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem,
Saying, ‘You shall have peace,’
Whereas the sword reaches to the heart.”
a. Surely You have greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem: Jeremiah
wondered if God had not greatly deceived His people when He promised, “You shall
have peace.” Seemingly, God promised peace to His people when an astonishing
judgment would come upon them instead (Jeremiah 4:9).
i. “Here we have an outburst, in which the prophet said what he thought. Many men
thing things like this who never utter them.” (Morgan)
ii. Yet it could be said that it was not the LORD who promised peace, but false
prophets who claimed to speak in His name. Another use of the phrase “You shall
have peace” (in the New King James Bible) is found in Jeremiah 23:16-17, where
they are the words in the mouth of false prophets who prophesied peace to those
who despised the LORD.
iii. It wasn’t the Lord GOD who greatly deceived the people and Jerusalem; it was
the false prophets who promised peace when judgment was coming instead.
b. Whereas the sword reaches to the heart: Instead of peace, judgment would
come to an unrepentant Israel, causing the kingdom to die and many with it.

4. (11-12) The sobering announcement of coming judgment.

At that time it will be said
To this people and to Jerusalem,
“A dry wind of the desolate heights blows in the wilderness
Toward the daughter of My people—
Not to fan or to cleanse—
A wind too strong for these will come for Me;
Now I will also speak judgment against them.”
a. A dry wind of the desolate heights blows in the wilderness toward the daughter
of My people: Jeremiah announced that judgment would come upon His people and
upon Jerusalem, and it would be like a wind that destroys.
b. Not to fan or to cleanse – a wind too strong tor these will come: The judgment
that would come like a wind would be so strong that it would not be like a fan,
cooling the people; nor to cleanse with a gentle wind. It will destroy and
bring judgment, likea wind too strong.
i. “It is the hot breath of divine judgment, consuming good and bad alike.” (Harrison)

5. (13) A vision of the coming judgment.

“Behold, he shall come up like clouds,
And his chariots like a whirlwind.
His horses are swifter than eagles.
Woe to us, for we are plundered!”
a. He shall come up like clouds, and his chariots like a whirlwind: The instruments
of the announced judgment would move quickly. They would come as quickly
as clouds move through the sky, their chariots as fast as whirlwinds, and
their horses faster than eagles.
b. Woe to us, for we are plundered! The speed of the instruments of the Lord’s
judgment indicated that they would be unstoppable. They would succeed in
conquering and plundering God’s people.

C. Appealing to those targeted for judgment.

1. (14-18) An appeal to Jerusalem.
O Jerusalem, wash your heart from wickedness,
That you may be saved.
How long shall your evil thoughts lodge within you?
For a voice declares from Dan
And proclaims affliction from Mount Ephraim:
“Make mention to the nations,
Yes, proclaim against Jerusalem,
That watchers come from a far country
And raise their voice against the cities of Judah.
Like keepers of a field they are against her all around,
Because she has been rebellious against Me,” says the LORD.
“Your ways and your doings
Have procured these things for you.
This is your wickedness,
Because it is bitter,
Because it reaches to your heart.”
a. O Jerusalem, wash your heart from wickedness: Judah had made a show of
repentance, but only in pretense (Jeremiah 3:10). Jeremiah begged the people
to wash their heart from wickedness, not only their outward actions.
i. “Carnal hearts are stews of unclean thoughts, slaughter-houses of cruel and
bloody thoughts, exchanges and shops of vain and vile thoughts, a very forge and
mint of false politic undermining, thoughts, yea, oft a little hell of confused and black
imaginations.” (Trapp)

ii. “The insertion of this call to repentance is quite in keeping with Jeremiah’s pleas in
chapter 3. Even though judgment was at the doors, it would seem that Jeremiah
never thought an appeal to repent was too late.” (Thompson)

b. How long shall your evil thoughts lodge within you? The wickedness in the heart
of the people of Judah brought the threat of God’s judgment, but it wasn’t just
a heart problem; it was also a problem with evil thoughts. They indulged their evil
thoughts and allowed them to lodge within their mind.
i. Charles Spurgeon preached a wonderful sermon on this text, titled Bad Lodgers, and
How to Treat Them. He explained how evil thoughts were like bad renters or lodgers
in a property. “Now, the Lord says, ‘How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within
thee?’ for they are all vain-these delays, these false promises, these self-
deceptions. How long shall it be that they shall throng the avenues of your soul and
curse your spirit?” (Spurgeon)

ii. Spurgeon described why evil thoughts are like bad lodgers:

· Vain thoughts are bad lodgers because they are deceitful.

· Vain thoughts are bad lodgers because they pay no rent; they bring in nothing
good.
· Vain thoughts are bad lodgers because they waste your goods and destroy your
property.
· Vain thoughts are bad lodgers because worse than damaging your house, they
damage you.
· Vain thoughts are bad lodgers because they bring you under condemnation.

iii. Spurgeon then suggested what one should do with these bad lodgers:

· Give them the eviction notice at once.

· If they refuse to leave, then starve them out.
· Sell the house out from under them; put the house under new ownership.
c. Yes, proclaim against Jerusalem, that watchers come from a far country: This is
the reason why there was an urgent, passionate appeal to truly repent – because
judgment was coming in the form of an invading army.
i. “To declare the menace is merely to announce it as an item of news; to proclaim it
is to publish it so forcefully that all must take notice.” (Harrison)
ii. The New King James Version (and the King James Version) uses the
word watchers to describe the invaders. Other translations give a better sense of the
invading army coming against Jerusalem:
· NASB, ESV: besiegers.
· NIV: a besieging army.
· NLT: the enemy.
iii. Like keepers of a field: “Like men guarding their crops in their fields they settle
down to occupy and lay siege to the land. The picture is an apt one since a largely
rural population was very familiar with the small shelters or booths erected by
sheepherders and farmers to protect their flocks and crops (cr. Isaiah 1:8).”
(Thompson)
d. Your ways and your doing have procured these things for you: Before the
judgment came God gave Judah and Jerusalem clear warning that the judgment
would be their fault and not God’s. It would be bitter and reach to their heart, but it
would be because of their wickedness, not God’s unfaithfulness.

2. (19-21) The anguish of soul on the part of those who face judgment.
O my soul, my soul!
I am pained in my very heart!
My heart makes a noise in me;
I cannot hold my peace,
Because you have heard, O my soul,
The sound of the trumpet,
The alarm of war.
Destruction upon destruction is cried,
For the whole land is plundered.
Suddenly my tents are plundered,
And my curtains in a moment.
How long will I see the standard,
And hear the sound of the trumpet?
a. O my soul, my soul! I am pained in my very heart! Jeremiah prophetically spoke
in the voice of the one plundered by the invading army to come. It was not only an
army of material destruction with the loss of landand tents and curtains, but a true
affliction of the soul.
i. The King James version gives a more literal translation of O my soul, my soul: My
bowels, my bowels!
ii. Pained: “Is a word for intestinal discomfort. Literally, Jeremiah was ‘sick to his
stomach’ about what was going to happen to Judah.” (Ryken)
b. How long will I see the standard, and hear the sound of the trumpet? In the
voice of the prophetic future, Jeremiah wondered how long the destruction and
plunder of the invading army would last.
3. (22) The LORD speaks to the condition of His people.
“For My people are foolish,
They have not known Me.
They are silly children,
And they have no understanding.
They are wise to do evil,
But to do good they have no knowledge.”
a. For My people are foolish, they have not known Me: God accurately diagnosed
their problem when He noted that Judah was foolish, and especially so in their lack
to true knowledge of God. Yet Yahweh was generous enough to still call them, “My
people.”
b. They are silly children, and they have no understanding: It is unlikely that the
people of Judah saw themselves as silly children and without understanding. They
probably saw themselves as sophisticated and wise.
c. They are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge: God explained
their pretended wisdom. They were indeed wise, but in the ways of evil. When it
came to doing good, they had no knowledge.
i. “So perverse were they that their only skills lay in doing evil. Of doing right they
knew nothing.” (Thompson)

4. (23-26) With prophetic insight, Jeremiah considers the might and

power of God.
I beheld the earth, and indeed it was without form, and void;
And the heavens, they had no light.
I beheld the mountains, and indeed they trembled,
And all the hills moved back and forth.
I beheld, and indeed there was no man,
And all the birds of the heavens had fled.
I beheld, and indeed the fruitful land was a wilderness,
And all its cities were broken down
At the presence of the LORD,
By His fierce anger.
a. I beheld the earth, and indeed it was without form and void: In turning around
the images from Genesis 1, Jeremiah gives a poetic and powerful picture of the utter
devastation that would come upon Judah in the coming judgment.

i. “It was as if the earth had been ‘uncreated’ and reverted back to its erstwhile
primeval chaos. Order seemed to return to confusion.” (Thompson)

b. The heavens, they had no light…the mountains, and indeed they trembled…all
the hills moved back and forth…indeed there was no man…all its cities were
broken down: The judgment Jeremiah prophetically saw was complete, and it all
happened at the presence of the LORD, by His fierce anger.
i. Similar pictures are used to describe the Day of the LORD, looking forward to the
ultimate passing of this world before the new heavens and the new earth (2 Peter
3:12-13, Revelation 21:1, Isaiah 65:17).
ii. The point for Jerusalem and Judah was plain: the God who could devastate the
entire earth by His presence and fierce anger could easily bring judgment to them
through an invading army. They needed to remember the greatness of the God they
had offended.
iii. Jeremiah rightly used this poetic imagery to describe the horror that would come
upon Judah in the Babylonian invasion. Yet we should consider that the fullness of
God’s judgment – even worse than what Judah experienced – came upon Jesus
Christ, God the Son, as He was crucified and judged as our substitute.

5. (27-29) The certainty and complete nature of the coming judgment.

For thus says the LORD:
“The whole land shall be desolate;
Yet I will not make a full end.
For this shall the earth mourn,
And the heavens above be black,
Because I have spoken.
I have purposed and will not relent,
Nor will I turn back from it.
The whole city shall flee from the noise of the horsemen and bowmen.
They shall go into thickets and climb up on the rocks.
Every city shall be forsaken,
And not a man shall dwell in it.
a. The whole land shall be desolate; yet I will not make a full end: God promised
that judgment would come to Judah and Jerusalem, but the desolation would not be
complete. God would not make a full end of the place of His people in that land.
i. “After this, and after the vision of a deserted landscape in Jeremiah 4:23-26, the
saving clause in verse 27, ‘yet I will not make a full end’, shines very brightly.” (Kidner)
b. For this shall the earth mourn and the heavens above be black: In some way
creation itself suffers with the judgment that comes upon God’s people. We know
that creation groans until the completion of God’s plan (Romans 8:20-22).
Apparently, creation also sympathized with Israel’s humiliation, even as it would
rejoice in her restoration (Isaiah 55:12).
c. Every city shall be forsaken, and not a man shall dwell in it: God promised that
the judgment to come upon Judah was both inevitable (I have purposed and will not
relent) and would be complete, with no cities successfully holding out against the
coming invaders.

6. (30-31) The vanity of hoping to appeal to the invading army of

judgment.
“And when you are plundered,
What will you do?
Though you clothe yourself with crimson,
Though you adorn yourself with ornaments of gold,
Though you enlarge your eyes with paint,
In vain you will make yourself fair;
Your lovers will despise you;
They will seek your life.
“For I have heard a voice as of a woman in labor,
The anguish as of her who brings forth her first child,
The voice of the daughter of Zion bewailing herself;
She spreads her hands, saying,
‘Woe is me now, for my soul is weary
Because of murderers!’
a. When you are plundered, what will you do? Through Jeremiah the Prophet, God
asked Judah this important question. Perhaps they thought they could somehow
appeal to the invaders as a woman might adorn and decorate herself to appeal to a
man. Yet God warned them, “In vain you will make yourself fair.”
b. Your lovers will despise you; they will seek your life: There was no way to
decorate themselves enough to soften the judgment. It was certain. Instead of
outward decoration, true repentance was their only hope.

i. “An enemy army was on the march. Yet God’s people dressed up like prostitutes,
putting on fancy red dresses with spangles and sequins. They took out all their
gaudy jewelry and cosmetics.” (Ryken)

c. I have heard a voice as of a woman in labor: Instead of seductive words from an

adorned woman, Jeremiah prophetically heard a woman crying in pain and fear, as if
she were giving birth. The screaming came from the daughter of Zion, who in the
misery of her judgment finally understood her condition.

JEREMIAH 5 – SEARCHING FOR A

RIGHTEOUS MAN
A. Looking for a righteous man but finding none.
1. (1-2) Looking for someone who seeks truth.
“Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem;
See now and know;
And seek in her open places
If you can find a man,
If there is anyone who executes judgment,
Who seeks the truth,
And I will pardon her.
Though they say, ‘As the LORD lives,’
Surely they swear falsely.”
a. If you can find a man…who seeks the truth, and I will pardon her: Speaking
through Jeremiah, God exposed the corruption of Jerusalem of Jeremiah’s day. It
was as if there was not even one man who did right and sought after truth.
i. We think of Jeremiah as a predecessor to the Greek philosopher Diogenes, who
reportedly carried a lamp through Athens in the daytime, searching for an honest
man. Jeremiah searched for a righteous man (who executes judgment) who
sought the truth. If even one could be found, God would spare His judgment against
Jerusalem.
ii. We might say that this statement was hyperbole, a literary exaggeration to make a
point. After all, we would hope that Jeremiah was such a man, thought he was from
Anathoth, not Jerusalem (Jeremiah 1:1). Nevertheless, it’s possible that this
was literally true as well as being poetically true.
iii. One may also say that God today still searches and looks for one man who
executes judgment and who seeks the truth – and finds only the One Man, Jesus
Christ. He is the One Man who can save any city or individual from judgment.
b. They say, “As the LORD lives,” surely they swear falsely: Jeremiah could find
many religious people in Jerusalem – many who would swear by the LORD and say,
“As the LORD lives.” Yet he could not find anyone who sought the LORD in sincerity.

2. (3) Jeremiah’s prayer.

O LORD, are not Your eyes on the truth?
You have stricken them,
But they have not grieved;
You have consumed them,
But they have refused to receive correction.
They have made their faces harder than rock;
They have refused to return.
a. O LORD, are not Your eyes on the truth? Jeremiah appealed to God who saw and
cared about truth among men. He prayed with a sense of amazement at the
hardness and stubbornness of heart among God’s people.
i. “THE allusion is not to doctrinal truth, or truth in the abstract, but to practical truth
as it should exist in the hearts and lives of men. It might be read ‘Lord, are not thine
eyes upon truthfulness?’ or ‘upon faithfulness?’“ (Spurgeon)
b. You have stricken them, but they have not grieved: Jeremiah mourned over the
lack of repentance and brokenness over sin among the people of Jerusalem. They
were stricken yet not grieved; consumed yet not corrected. Despite all they had and
would endure, they have refused to return.

i. “There is no surer sign of a carnal Israelite, of a profligate professor, than to be

senseless or incorrigible under public judgments.” (Trapp)

3. (4-5) Jeremiah’s plan to appeal to the great men of Jerusalem.

Therefore I said, “Surely these are poor.
They are foolish;
For they do not know the way of the LORD,
The judgment of their God.
I will go to the great men and speak to them,
For they have known the way of the LORD,
The judgment of their God.”
But these have altogether broken the yoke
And burst the bonds.
a. Surely these are poor, they are foolish; for they do not know the way of
the LORD: As he searched for a righteous man, Jeremiah was amazed at the
spiritual and moral foolishness of the people of Jerusalem. Then he considered that
perhaps it was because they were poor and uneducated (foolish). This explained
why they do not know the way of the LORD.
b. I will go to the great men and speak to them: Jeremiah then turned to the great
men, the aristocrats of Jerusalem. With all their education and advantages, surely a
righteous man could be found among them.
c. But these have altogether broken the yoke and burst the bonds: Jeremiah’s
search among the great menof Jerusalem ended in disappointment. They also were
rebels; perhaps educated rebels, but rebels against God nevertheless.

4. (6-9) The penalty that will come to a rebellious city.

Therefore a lion from the forest shall slay them,
A wolf of the deserts shall destroy them;
A leopard will watch over their cities.
Everyone who goes out from there shall be torn in pieces,
Because their transgressions are many;
Their backslidings have increased.
“How shall I pardon you for this?
Your children have forsaken Me
And sworn by those that are not gods.
When I had fed them to the full,
Then they committed adultery
And assembled themselves by troops in the harlots’ houses.
They were like well-fed lusty stallions;
Every one neighed after his neighbor’s wife.
Shall I not punish them for these things?” says the LORD.
“And shall I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this?
a. Therefore a lion from the forest shall slay them: Most see the lion and
the wolf and the leopard described here as pictures of the coming invaders. Yet it is
also possible that Jeremiah pictured Jerusalem and the other cities of Judah
desolate and given over to wild animals. The coming war of judgment would send
Judah back to much more primitive times.

i. “The lion represents strength, the desert wolf ravenousness, and the leopard
swiftness – all traits of the Babylonians.” (Feinberg) “So Nebuchadnezzar is called [a
lion] for his cruelty, a wolf for his voracity, and a leopard for his slyness and
swiftness.” (Trapp)

ii. “Many towns were destroyed at the beginning of the sixth century B.C. and never
again occupied…Others were destroyed and reoccupied after a long period of
abandonment.” (William Albright, cited in Ryken, regarding the archaeological
evidence of the conquest of Judah).
iii. When in more faithful and obedient times Israel came into the Promised Land,
God used nature to fight for them. Deuteronomy 7:20 and Joshua 24:12 speak of
how God sent the hornet to chase away Israel’s enemies. Now in their rebellion, God
sent nature to work against Israel instead of for them.
iv. God promised this to a disobedient Israel in Leviticus 26:22: I will also send wild
beasts among you, which shall rob you of your children, destroy your livestock, and make
you few in number. Jeremiah anticipated the fulfillment of this warning.
b. Your children have forsaken Me… when I had fed them to the full: Judah’s sin
was all the worse when considered as simple ingratitude. God had done so much for
them, yet spiritually speaking they committed adultery.
i. Their spiritual adultery – going after pagan gods – was also connected to sexual
adultery. The so-called worship of pagan gods often involved ritual prostitutes and
sexual immorality. The ideas of spiritual and sexual adultery were connected and
combined.
c. Then they committed adultery and assembled themselves by troops in the
harlots’ houses: Jeremiah not only saw multitudes going to the so-called sacred
prostitutes, but they were organized as if an army (by troops). This was a powerful
and poetic description of how given over the people were to pagan worship and ritual
prostitution.
i. “There was a sexual aspect to religion throughout the Fertile Crescent, although
the goddesses of fertility played a much greater role among the Canaanites than
among any other ancient people. Sacred prostitution was an almost invariable
accompaniment of the cult of the fertility-goddesses in Phoenicia and Syria.”
(Thompson, referring to Albright’s From the Stone Age to Christianity, pages 233, 235)
ii. “They preferred to call the temple prostitute a zona (profane woman) rather than
use the Canaanite term qedesa (holy woman).” (Thompson)
d. Shall I not punish them for these things? As Jeremiah searched Jerusalem he
found no righteous men or men of truth. He did find spiritual rebels and adulterers.
This was a nation due for judgment.

B. Prophets of wind, prophets of fire.

1. (10-13) Destruction without a complete end.
“Go up on her walls and destroy,
But do not make a complete end.
Take away her branches,
For they are not the LORD’s.
For the house of Israel and the house of Judah
Have dealt very treacherously with Me,” says the LORD.
They have lied about the LORD,
And said, “It is not He.
Neither will evil come upon us,
Nor shall we see sword or famine.
And the prophets become wind,
For the word is not in them.
Thus shall it be done to them.”
a. Go up on her walls and destroy, but do not make a complete end: Destroyed
walls usually signaled a complete end; but not with the God of Israel. Here is a
promise to bring restoration and revival – a promise partially fulfilled in the rebuilding
work of Ezra and Nehemiah, and fully fulfilled in the restoration of Israel to their
Messiah, Jesus Christ.
i. Take away her branches: “The branches of the vine have not borne the fruits of
righteousness, and so will be burned up while the stock will be saved. This figure is
reflected very closely by Christ in John 15:1-6.” (Harrison)
b. They have lied about the LORD, and said, “It is not He”: When the false prophets
assured the people of Judah and Jerusalem that their present problems were not
warnings and corrections from the Lord, they lied about the LORD. When they
promised, “Neither will evil come upon us,” they lied about the LORD.
i. Perhaps these false prophets meant well and hoped to encourage Judah and
Jerusalem. Perhaps the false prophets actually believed their own message.
Nevertheless, they lied about the LORD – which is a serious and grievous sin. In our
own day, we say to false prophets, even those who mean well and believe their own
lies: stop lying about the LORD.
c. And the prophets become wind, for the word is not in them: The false prophets
were nothing more than wind – movement without substance. God’s word was
not in them, and their so-called prophetic words were from them, not from the
substance of God’s word.
i. Several commentators believe the phrase the prophets have become windrefers
to how the people regarded the true prophets of God – regarding them only as
windbags.

2. (14-17) The word of the prophet of fire.

Therefore thus says the LORD God of hosts:
“Because you speak this word,
Behold, I will make My words in your mouth fire,
And this people wood,
And it shall devour them.
Behold, I will bring a nation against you from afar,
O house of Israel,” says the LORD.
“It is a mighty nation,
It is an ancient nation,
A nation whose language you do not know,
Nor can you understand what they say.
Their quiver is like an open tomb;
They are all mighty men.
And they shall eat up your harvest and your bread,
Which your sons and daughters should eat.
They shall eat up your flocks and your herds;
They shall eat up your vines and your fig trees;
They shall destroy your fortified cities,
In which you trust, with the sword.
a. I will make My words in your mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall
devour them: In contrast to the prophets of wind mentioned in the previous verse,
God would make Jeremiah a prophet of fire – whose words would announce the
devouring judgment to come. As a true prophet, Jeremiah’s words would have
substance – but unpleasantly so.
b. Behold, I will bring a nation against you from afar: Jeremiah repeated the
promise that God would bring a mighty army of judgment against Judah and
Jerusalem, later fulfilled by the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar.
i. Their quiver is like an open tomb: They would be invincible because their quivers
would be filled with death-dealing arrows, always bringing more destruction. Every
arrow could be depended on to slay someone.” (Feinberg)

3. (18-19) The divine logic behind judgment.

“Nevertheless in those days,” says the LORD, “I will not make a complete end of
you. And it will be when you say, ‘Why does the LORD our God do all
these things to us?’ then you shall answer them, ‘Just as you have forsaken Me and
served foreign gods in your land, so you shall serve aliens in a land that is not
yours.’”
a. I will not make a complete end of you: The gracious promise is again repeated.
Though devastating judgment would come to Judah and Jerusalem, God would not
forsake His covenant people and would bring restoration.
b. Just as you have forsaken Me and served foreign gods in your land, so you shall
serve aliens in a land that is not yours: The explanation for God’s judgment was
basic and sensible. The people of Judah and Jerusalem served foreign gods; now
God will send them to serve the people of the gods they worshipped.

C. A foolish people.
1. (20-25) The foolishness of failing to learn from nature.
“Declare this in the house of Jacob
And proclaim it in Judah, saying,
‘Hear this now, O foolish people,
Without understanding,
Who have eyes and see not,
And who have ears and hear not:
Do you not fear Me?’ says the LORD.
‘Will you not tremble at My presence,
Who have placed the sand as the bound of the sea,
By a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass beyond it?
And though its waves toss to and fro,
Yet they cannot prevail;
Though they roar, yet they cannot pass over it.
But this people has a defiant and rebellious heart;
They have revolted and departed.
They do not say in their heart,
“Let us now fear the LORD our God,
Who gives rain, both the former and the latter, in its season.
He reserves for us the appointed weeks of the harvest.”
Your iniquities have turned these things away,
And your sins have withheld good from you.
a. Hear this now, O foolish people: Through Jeremiah, God spoke to Judah and
Jerusalem, exposing their spiritual and moral foolishness in resisting and rejecting
Him.
b. Though its waves toss to and fro, yet they cannot prevail: Jeremiah used the
illustration of the ocean and the sand. The waters of the sea continually pound upon
the sand, yet the sand remains, and the sea remains within its bounds. The analogy
is clear: if the ocean cannot prevail against the sand, God’s people will never prevail
in their rebellion against Him.

i. “God has chosen to arrest the advance of the mighty billows by a barrier of sand-
grains… There are many illustrations of this in the history of the Church. The pride of
the persecutor has been arrested by the prayers and tears of men, women, and
children, who have had no more strength in themselves that a bank of sand-grains,
but have succeeded in arresting the might of their foes.” (Meyer)

c. But this people has a defiant and rebellious heart: God’s people did not learn the
lesson that nature clearly teaches – that it is foolish to fight against God.
i. “God here contrasts the obedience of the strong, the mighty the untamed sea, with
the rebellious character of his own people. ‘The sea,’ saith he, ‘obeys me; it never
breaks its boundary; it never leapeth from its channel; it obeys me in all its
movements. But man, poor puny man, the little creature whom I could crush as the
moth, will not be obedient to me.’“ (Spurgeon)

d. Your iniquities and turned these things away, and your sins have withheld good
from you: God described the blessings of rain and harvest and then told Judah why
they did not have those blessings in abundance. Their sins had withheld good
from them; it wasn’t God’s fault.
i. Your iniquities, your sins: “The two words used here for Israel’s breaches of
covenant are common in the OT, but may have some special point here. The
first, awon, is related to a root which means ‘to wanted, err,’ and the
second, hattat to a root meaning ‘to miss the mark.’ Israel had both wandered away
from Yahweh and failed to reach the goal set for her.” (Thompson)

2. (26-29) The wickedness of those who do not care for their fellow
man.
‘For among My people are found wicked men;
They lie in wait as one who sets snares;
They set a trap;
They catch men.
As a cage is full of birds,
So their houses are full of deceit.
Therefore they have become great and grown rich.
They have grown fat, they are sleek;
Yes, they surpass the deeds of the wicked;
They do not plead the cause,
The cause of the fatherless;
Yet they prosper,
And the right of the needy they do not defend.
Shall I not punish them for these things?’ says the LORD.
‘Shall I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this?’
a. They lie in wait as one who sets snares; they set a trap; they catch men: In using
the picture of a bird-catcher (a fowler), it is possible that Jeremiah had in mind those
who steal men unto slavery. It is more likely that he had in mind those who use their
positions of power and influence to become great and grow rich, at the expense of
the weak and needy.
i. “The metaphor of the bird-catcher runs through the passage. As the fowler’s basket
is filled with birds, so the houses of these wicked men are filled with treachery or
‘deceit.’“ (Thompson)
b. They do not plead the cause, the cause of the fatherless: Instead of taking
advantage of the weak and needy, these wicked men should have used their
positions of power and influence to do good for them.
c. Yet they prosper: Their prosperity was not from the blessing of God. It was the
result of their own sinful ambition and enterprise – and therefore invited the judgment
of God (Shall I not punish them for these things?).

3. (30-31) The false prophets and the people who love them.
“An astonishing and horrible thing
Has been committed in the land:
The prophets prophesy falsely,
And the priests rule by their own power;
And My people love to have it so.
But what will you do in the end?”
a. An astonishing and horrible thing has been committed in the land: These were
strong words, introducing something that was truly horrible in the eyes of God.
b. The prophets prophesy falsely: The first astonishing and horrible thing was the
false words of the pretended prophets. They claimed to speak in the name of
the LORD, yet they spoke falsely.
i. “Prophets of God are the nations truest servants and friends. False prophets are
the worst enemies of the nation. Their popularity is the last evidence of national
decay.” (Morgan)

c. And the priests rule by their own power: The second astonishing and horrible
thing was that the leaders among by God’s people rule not by the love and
leadership of God, but by their own power. Their authority and leadership was of
man, not of God – like the leadership of the Gentiles later described by Jesus
(Matthew 20:25-26).
d. And My people love to have it so: The third astonishing and horrible thing was
that God’s people were perfectly happy to have false prophets and corrupt leadership. This
reminds us that popularity among God’s people is never to be regarded as a guarantee
that one speaks for the LORD or leads in the godly manner.

i. The people “Are perfectly satisfied with this state of things, because they are
permitted to continue in their sins without reproof or restraint. The prophets and the
priests united to deceive and ruin the people.” (Clarke)

ii. “Prophets, priests, and people were united in their sin, and there was no
alternative other than that of judgment.” (Morgan)

e. But what will you do in the end? Though the false prophets and corrupt leaders
were loved among the people of God, there was no true foundation to their work.
There was no substance, and nothing stable to rest upon in the end. Disaster would
come and the false prophets and corrupt pleaders would be of no help in that day.

i. “Ah, dear young friends, if I could bring some of the living and some of the dead,
and set them to witness here instead of me, they would burn in on you, as my poor
words never can do, the insanity of living without a satisfactory and sufficient reply to
the question of my text, ‘What will ye do in the end?’“ (Maclaren)

JEREMIAH 6 – FULL OF THE FURY

OF THE LORD
A. Warnings of judgment.
1. (1-5) Disaster from the north.
“O you children of Benjamin,
Gather yourselves to flee from the midst of Jerusalem!
Blow the trumpet in Tekoa,
And set up a signal-fire in Beth Haccerem;
For disaster appears out of the north,
And great destruction.
I have likened the daughter of Zion
To a lovely and delicate woman.
The shepherds with their flocks shall come to her.
They shall pitch their tents against her all around.
Each one shall pasture in his own place.”
“Prepare war against her;
Arise, and let us go up at noon.
Woe to us, for the day goes away,
For the shadows of the evening are lengthening.
Arise, and let us go by night,
And let us destroy her palaces.”
a. O you children of Benjamin: The southern kingdom of Judah began when the two
tribes of Judah and Benjamin remained faithful to the line of David in the days of
Rehoboam and Jeroboam (1 Kings 12). Because of the place of the tribe
of Benjamin in the southern kingdom, God sometimes referred to it as Benjamin.
i. “The reason the people of Benjamin are mentioned is that geographically
Jerusalem belonged to the territory of Benjamin…Moreover, Jeremiah was a
Benjaminite and had strong ties with his own tribesmen.” (Feinberg)

b. Gather yourselves to flee from the midst of Jerusalem: The idea was that a siege
army would come to the capital of the southern kingdom, and those wise enough to
see it would flee the city before the siege army surrounded and conquered
Jerusalem.
i. The signal-fire was specifically mentioned in the Lachish Letters, which
documented the eventual Babylonian invasion. “The use of such signals was an
ancient Mesopotamian method of military communication.” (Harrison)
c. I have likened the daughter of Zion to a lovely and delicate woman: Judah liked
to think of themselves as beautiful and refined. Yet a lovely and delicate
woman can’t stand before an invading army. They would be terribly mismatched in
the coming invasion.
i. “To the pasture of Zion the shepherds (for this description of the invaders
see Jeremiah 12:10) drive their flocks of soldiers, eager to feed upon the richness of
the area.” (Harrison)
ii. Prepare war against her: “The Hebrew verb for Prepare (qaddesu) may suggest
the religious rituals preceding a battle in the ancient institution of the holy war.”
(Thompson)
d. Woe to us, for the day goes away, for the shadows of the evening are
lengthening: God reminded Judah that time was running out. Even though this
judgment would not come for many years, the tipping point that made it certain was
much closer than they thought. Soon, the army of Babylon would come to Jerusalem
to destroy her palaces.
e. Arise, and let us go by night: The coming invaders were so urgent they would
attack at night, not even waiting for day.
2. (6-8) A siege against Jerusalem.
For thus has the LORD of hosts said:
“Cut down trees,
And build a mound against Jerusalem.
This is the city to be punished.
She is full of oppression in her midst.
As a fountain wells up with water,
So she wells up with her wickedness.
Violence and plundering are heard in her.
Before Me continually are grief and wounds.
Be instructed, O Jerusalem,
Lest My soul depart from you;
Lest I make you desolate,
A land not inhabited.”
a. For thus has the LORD of hosts said: “Cut down the trees, and build a mound
against Jerusalem”: Jeremiah understood and explained that the coming siege
against Jerusalem was God’s work. Though they were the strange instruments of
God’s work, one could not simply blame it on the Babylonians as if God had nothing
to do it.
b. She is full of oppression in her midst: Jerusalem’s lack of love for God was
demonstrated by a lack of care and concern for their fellow man. Being full of
oppression was a both a horizontal (from man to man) and a vertical (from man to
God) phenomenon.
i. She wells up with her wickedness: “Jerusalem is Sin City. There is always a fresh
supply of evil welling up like poison within her and overflowing into her streets.”
(Ryken)
c. Be instructed, O Jerusalem: Even within the announcement of judgment is the
inherent invitation to receivethe wisdom of God and avoid the threatened calamity. It
was an invitation that Judah would not properly receive.
3. (9-12) The fullness of the fury of the LORD.
Thus says the LORD of hosts:
“They shall thoroughly glean as a vine the remnant of Israel;
As a grape-gatherer, put your hand back into the branches.”
To whom shall I speak and give warning,
That they may hear?
Indeed their ear is uncircumcised,
And they cannot give heed.
Behold, the word of the LORD is a reproach to them;
They have no delight in it.
Therefore I am full of the fury of the LORD.
I am weary of holding it in.
“I will pour it out on the children outside,
And on the assembly of young men together;
For even the husband shall be taken with the wife,
The aged with him who is full of days.
And their houses shall be turned over to others,
Fields and wives together;
For I will stretch out My hand
Against the inhabitants of the land,” says the LORD.
a. They shall thoroughly glean as a vine the remnant of Israel: God warned Judah
that they would be picked clean by the Babylonians, even as those who gleaned the
remaining grapes from a vine took everything they could.
b. To whom shall I speak and give warning, that they may hear? We sense the
frustration of the prophet; he speaks, but no one listens. Their ears are not spiritual,
as if their ears were uncircumcised – and they regard God’s word as a reproach,
something to be ashamed of and avoided.
i. Indeed their ear is uncircumcised: The Old Testament speaks many times of
uncircumcised hearts and lips, but this is the only mention of the uncircumcised ear.
Stephen used this figure of speech in speaking to the Jewish council (Acts 7:51).
ii. The word of the LORD is a reproach to them: “It is an object of derision;
they despise it.” (Clarke)
c. They have no delight in it: Their low regard for the word of the LORD was evident
in this. The word of the LORD was of no delight to them; they took no pleasure in it
or found no sweetness in it. This was an indication that the people of God were ripe for
judgment.
d. Therefore I am full of the fury of the LORD: Because God’s people were full of
oppression and wickedness and would not listen to the word of the Lord, God
was full of fury against them – and was weary of holding it in.
e. For I will stretch out My hand against the inhabitants of the land: The judgment
to come upon Judah would impact everyone. It would affect the children, the young
men, and the aged; both the husband and the wife, and even the fields would feel
it.

4. (13-15) The sins of prophets and priests.

“Because from the least of them even to the greatest of them,
Everyone is given to covetousness;
And from the prophet even to the priest,
Everyone deals falsely.
They have also healed the hurt of My people slightly,
Saying, ‘Peace, peace!’
When there is no peace.
Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination?
No! They were not at all ashamed;
Nor did they know how to blush.
Therefore they shall fall among those who fall;
At the time I punish them,
They shall be cast down,” says the LORD.
a. Everyone is given to covetousness…everyone deals falsely: God looked at the
culture of the Kingdom of Judah and saw how thoroughly greedy and corrupt it was.
Even – or perhaps especially – the prophet and the priest were part of the greed
and corruption.
b. They have also healed the hurt of My people slightly: God not only condemned
the more obvious sins of covetousness and corruption, but also the subtle sins of the
prophets who used smooth words to comfort and calm the people when they should
be alarmed and provoked to repentance.
i. Healed the hurt of my people slightly has the sense, “they dress the wound of my
people as though it were not serious.” (Feinberg) “As men use to cure the slight hurts
of their children by blowing on them only, or stroking them over.” (Trapp)
ii. “In our dealings with God let us…ask that He will not spare us, or give us anything
less than the best. The process may be painful and protracted, but it will be sure.”
(Meyer)

c. Saying, “Peace, peace!” When there is no peace: These were the smooth words of
the false prophets, assuring Judah that everything was fine when in fact it was not.
i. Peace, peace is a wonderful message to bring, and one that most people want to
hear. The problem is that sometimes it isn’t true. Sometimes there is war and conflict
that we must deal with whether we would like to or not. Most significantly, there are
times when God’s word to His people is not peace, but “repent” and “prepare for
judgment.”

ii. “They may be saying peace, peace, when there is no peace, in many ways. They
may do it, by silence, refusing to refer to evil practices. They may do it by speaking
of evil as though it were only the under-side of good, and inevitable thing. They may
even do it in denying that there is any such thing as evil.” (Morgan)

iii. In a sermon titled A Blast of the Trumpet Against False Peace, Charles Spurgeon
suggested a few ways that many people receive a false peace.
· Some have peace because they live for entertainment and excitement, distracting
them from higher things.
· Some have peace because they tell themselves there is no God and therefore no
accountability before Him.
· Some have peace because they ignorant of the things of God and need to be told
the truth of their responsibility.
· Some have peace because they intend to do better later in life and such future
wishes are enough to make them right.
d. They were not at all ashamed: For all of Judah’s many sins, they were not
genuinely ashamed at all; nor did they know how to blush. It was as if the normal
workings of the conscience were damaged or burned over, and they were not
ashamed over what they should be.

i. G. Campbell Morgan considered the work of Jeremiah to be like the work of every
faithful preacher: “His business is to create a sense of shame in the souls of men, so
to place their corruption before them as to compel the hot blush to their faces.”

B. Wisdom available and wisdom rejected.

1. (16-17) The opportunity for wisdom.
Thus says the LORD:
“Stand in the ways and see,
And ask for the old paths, where the good way is,
And walk in it;
Then you will find rest for your souls.
But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’
Also, I set watchmen over you, saying,
‘Listen to the sound of the trumpet!’
But they said, ‘We will not listen.’
a. Stand in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, where the good way is:
Even though they were in such a bad place, there was wisdom available for Judah.
One place they would find wisdom was in the old paths– looking to heir history and
forefathers, to learn from what God had done in and through them before.
i. “The people have been urged to follow the ancient paths of Mosaic tradition, which
will be the best because they are tried and true.” (Harrison)

ii. “The ancient paths and the good way are the same; they are the way of
repentance, reconciliation, fear, and love of God. They were the ways of the Mosaic
tradition.” (Feinberg)

iii. Many despise the old paths. Perhaps they seem old fashioned or terribly un-cool.
Yet there is wisdom – life saving wisdom – in the old paths of God’s word and work
in days gone by.
· To benefit from the old paths, God told them to position themselves (stand in the
ways).
· To benefit from the old paths, God told them to look for them (see).
· To benefit from the old paths, God told them to ask for them, to desire them.
· To benefit from the old paths, God told them to see them as the good way.
· To benefit from the old paths, God told them to walk in it – to
actually obey and follow God as indicated by His word and work in days gone by.
b. Then you will find rest for your souls: This is the rich reward for seeking, seeing,
and walking in the old paths. This is a reward that can’t be matched by anything.
i. “Let us observe the metaphor. A traveller is going to a particular city; he comes to
a place where the road divides into several paths, he is afraid of going astray; he
stops short, endeavours to find out the right path: he cannot fix his choice. At last he
sees another traveller; he inquires of him, gets proper directions-proceeds on his
journey-arrives at the desired place-and reposes after his fatigue.” (Clarke)
ii. Jesus likely quoted Jeremiah 6:16 (rest for your souls) in Matthew 11:29: Take My
yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest
for your souls.
c. But they said, “We will not walk in it”: Despite God’s instruction and invitation,
Judah rejected the wisdom of the old paths. Even though watchmen called attention
to them, as if blowing the sound of the trumpet. Yet they said, “We will not listen.”
i. A phenomenon of the modern age – especially through the internet – there are
many who consider themselves watchmen, feeling they have a word, instruction, or
rebuke for the people of God that can be ignored only at great cost. It may be true
that God sends His people watchmen; yet there is a great difference between those
who are set by God and those who are self-appointed. The difference can often be
seen in the manner and heart of those who consider themselves watchmen.

2. (18-20) God tells the whole world the result of Judah’s rejection of
wisdom.
Therefore hear, you nations,
And know, O congregation, what is among them.
Hear, O earth!
Behold, I will certainly bring calamity on this people—
The fruit of their thoughts,
Because they have not heeded My words
Nor My law, but rejected it.
For what purpose to Me
Comes frankincense from Sheba,
And sweet cane from a far country?
Your burnt offerings are not acceptable,
Nor your sacrifices sweet to Me.”
a. Hear, O earth! God spoke to both the nations, warning them of the calamity to
come upon His people.
i. “Ordinarily edah (‘congregation.’ KJV, RSV) refers in the OT to Israel, but here it
must mean the Gentiles…The Gentiles are being alerted to what is to happen to
Judah.” (Feinberg)
b. I will certainly bring calamity on this people – the fruit of their thoughts,
because they have not heeded My words: This was an important aspect of the guilt
of God’s people. They did not heed the word of God, and therefore became corrupt
in their thinking. The coming calamity was the fruit of their thoughts.
c. Your burnt offerings are not acceptable: The people of God continued bringing
offerings and sacrifices to God, even expensive frankincense from Sheba. Yet
because they did not heed God’s words or accept His law, the sacrifices were not
acceptable. Religious ceremony – even sweet-smelling sacrifices – could not cover
over their basic rejection of God’s word and ways.

C. The judgment to come again described.

1. (21) The stumbling blocks.
Therefore thus says the LORD:
“Behold, I will lay stumbling blocks before this people,
And the fathers and the sons together shall fall on them.
The neighbor and his friend shall perish.”
a. I will lay stumbling blocks before this people: God would deal with His people
directly. The coming judgment was not an accident of the expansion o the
Babylonian Empire or geopolitics between Babylon and Egypt. The LORD set this
stumbling block.
i. The stumbling blocks were the Babylonians, and instruments of God’s judgment
and correction against Judah.
ii. Jeremiah’s context is different, but we naturally connect this with the idea that
Messiah is the cornerstone and those who reject Him stumble over it (1 Peter 2:7).
b. The fathers and sons together shall fall on them: God again tells of the universal
character of this judgment coming against Judah. None would escape it; both
the fathers and sons together, the neighbor and his friends shall perish.

2. (22-26) The terror of the coming judgment.

Thus says the LORD:
“Behold, a people comes from the north country,
And a great nation will be raised from the farthest parts of the earth.
They will lay hold on bow and spear;
They are cruel and have no mercy;
Their voice roars like the sea;
And they ride on horses,
As men of war set in array against you, O daughter of Zion.”
We have heard the report of it;
Our hands grow feeble.
Anguish has taken hold of us,
Pain as of a woman in labor.
Do not go out into the field,
Nor walk by the way.
Because of the sword of the enemy,
Fear is on every side.
O daughter of my people,
Dress in sackcloth
And roll about in ashes!
Make mourning as for an only son, most bitter lamentation;
For the plunderer will suddenly come upon us.
a. A people comes from the north country, and a nation will be raised from the
farthest parts of the earth: God again warned Judah that the Babylonians would
come to be the messengers of God’s judgment against them.
b. They are cruel and have no mercy: The coming Babylonian army would bring
terrible misery, and Judah would react with anguish, pain, fear, and mourning.
i. “Judah was unequal to the encounter as a weak, defenseless woman in the pangs
of childbirth before a powerful, fully equipped soldier.” (Thompson)

3. (27-31) God’s people judged as metals are tested.

“I have set you as an assayer and a fortress among My people,
That you may know and test their way.
They are all stubborn rebels, walking as slanderers.
They are bronze and iron,
They are all corrupters;
The bellows blow fiercely,
The lead is consumed by the fire;
The smelter refines in vain,
For the wicked are not drawn off.
People will call them rejected silver,
Because the LORD has rejected them.”
a. I have set you as an assayer and a fortress among My people, that you may
know and test their way: God sent Jeremiah to assess the spiritual condition of
God’s people and to do it from a position of strength (a fortress). Figuratively, the
prophet was like metal working testing and refining precious metals.
i. Fortress: “The word mibsar (EVV ‘fortress’) presents difficulties, but if vocalized
as mebasser, with RSV, it could be rendered ‘assessor’, thus constituting a gloss
on assayer.” (Harrison)
ii. The picture used at the end of Jeremiah 6 works something like this:

· Judah was like the metal, claiming to be precious (such as gold or silver).
· Like a precious metal, Judah was tested and refined with fire.
· Lead was put in to act as flux, to draw the impurities to itself.
· The Prophet Jeremiah was like the bellows, used to create an intense heat.
· Yet Israel – the supposed precious metal – was so hard and impure that the
refining work was useless.
b. They are bronze and iron, they are all corrupters: The people of God were not
like a soft metal that could be refined and purified (like silver or gold). Instead, they
were hard like bronze and iron.
i. Stubborn rebels: “Hebrew, Revolters of revolters.” (Trapp) “Using a superlative,
Jeremiah evaluates them as the rebellious of the rebellious.” (Feinberg)
c. The bellows blow fiercely, the lead is consumed: The fire was as hot as the
bellows could make it and the refining agent (lead) was consumed – yet the
supposedly precious metal was not refined.
d. The smelter refines in vain, for the wicked are not drawn off: Despite the best
efforts of the smelter – God’s prophets such as Jeremiah – the wicked among God’s
people did not repent and thereby be drawn off in the sense of making a purer
people of God.
i. “Jeremiah felt that his task was similar to that of a silver-refiner (cf. Malachi 3:3),
but it is now clear that his prophetic ‘fire’ has been unable to remove the impurities
from the natural ‘silver’.” (Harrison)

ii. “Using the picture of a refiner of precious metals, He shows that the normal
processes had been completely inefficacious, the dross still remained, contaminating
the whole mass of metal. It was, therefore fit only for the scrap-heap.” (Cundall)

e. People will call them rejected silver, because the LORD has rejected them: At
the end of it all, everyoneknew that Judah was disapproved by God and in the sense
of sparing them from judgment, they the LORD has rejected them.
i. “This picture of the prophet’s words as a refiner’s fire makes its point not only by its
vivid detail but by its tragic outcome. For it emerges that the people of Judah are not,
so to speak, precious metal marred by some impurities, but base metal from which
nothing of worth can be extracted.” (Kidner)

JEREMIAH 7 – PREACHING AT
THE TEMPLE GATE
A. The sermon at the temple gate.
1. (1-4) Superficial trust in the temple and external religion.
The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, “Stand in the gate of
the LORD’s house, and proclaim there this word, and say, ‘Hear the word of
the LORD, all you of Judah who enter in at these gates to worship the LORD!’” Thus
says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: “Amend your ways and your doings, and
I will cause you to dwell in this place. Do not trust in these lying words, saying,
‘The temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD are
these.’
a. Stand in the gate of the LORD’s house: God told Jeremiah to publicly preach this
word from the LORD, and to do it right at the gate of the temple. Jeremiah needed
plenty of courage and boldness to do his work.
i. It’s easy to imagine Jeremiah speaking to the busy crowds of people and priests
coming in and out of the temple area. Perhaps many stopped to listen, but
apparently none truly heard his word from the LORD.
ii. “Since his message was delivered to all the people, it was most likely preached
during one of the great religious festivals, such as Passover or the Feast of
Tabernacles, when the whole nation came to Jerusalem to worship.” (Ryken)

iii. Jeremiah 26 also has Jeremiah preaching at the temple gate in the first year of
the reign of Jehoiakim, in a sermon with many of the same themes. Some think this
is the same sermon as in Jeremiah 26, others think it is an earlier delivery of a
similar sermon, delivered in the same place. Jeremiah 26:8-11 indicates that after
that sermon, Jeremiah was attacked and threatened with death.
b. Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place:
God offered to hold back on promised judgment if Judah would truly repent – not
only in words, but in their ways and doings.
c. Do not trust in these lying words, saying, “The temple of the LORD, the temple
of the LORD”: The crowds at the temple obviously had some trust in the temple and
its service. Jeremiah boldly warned them that their trust was unfounded and
dangerous. External religion and rituals would not help them if they failed
to amend their ways and doings.

i. “For them, therefore, Temple worship was little better than a charm for averting
evil, and they had beguiled the people into trusting in material buildings.” (Harrison)

ii. We can imagine how one of the false prophets of Jeremiah’s day might twist the
Scriptures to “prove” that the temple could never be conquered.
· God promised an everlasting dynasty to David (2 Samuel 7:12-15).
· God chose Zion as His early abode (Psalm 132:13-18).
· Jerusalem and the temple were miraculously saved from destruction from the
Assyrian army more than 100 years before (2 Kings 18:13-19:37). Surely this proved
God would never allow Jerusalem or the temple to be conquered.

All of this reasoning was faulty, even if scriptures could be twisted to support it. The
reasoning forgot that:

· God always holds the inner spiritual reality to be greater than the outward form.
· Any Scriptural reasoning that gives cover for and license to sin and idolatry is
wrong and faulty.
iii. We today don’t say, “The temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD” as they
did in Jeremiah’s day. Today some say, “I go to church, I go to church, I go to
church.” Or, “I’m a conservative, I’m a conservative, I’m a conservative.” Or, “I’m
Calvary Chapel, I’m Calvary Chapel, I’m Calvary Chapel.” None of these things
make one right from God apart from truth faith and true repentance.

iv. “Men may perform the most sacred rites, and yet perpetuate the grossest crimes.”
(Meyer)

2. (5-7) Real repentance and its reward.

“For if you thoroughly amend your ways and your doings, if you thoroughly
execute judgment between a man and his neighbor, if you do not oppress the
stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this
place, or walk after other gods to your hurt, then I will cause you to dwell in this
place, in the land that I gave to your fathers forever and ever.
a. If you thoroughly amend your ways and your doings: Through Jeremiah, God
explained to the people what real repentance looked like.
· If you thoroughly executed judgment between a man and his neighbor: The
courts of ancient Judah had become corrupt and honest judgment could not be
found there.
· If you do not oppress the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow: God cared
about how His people treated the weak and defenseless in society, and noticed
when these weak ones were oppressed instead of helped.
· Do not shed innocent blood: People were murdered, apparently in the name of
religion (in this place). “Nor could Yahweh tolerate the judicial murders which broke
out from time to time in Israel and were evidently perpetrated also during the reign of
Jehoiakim (Jeremiah 26:23).” (Thompson)
· Or walk after other gods to your hurt: Idolatry was always a danger, even for those
who came to do business at the temple. This shared loyalty (to both the LORD and the
idols) was always to their hurt.
i. We notice that of these four aspects of demonstrated repentance, only one of them
deals with a man’s relationship with God; three of the four deal with man’s
relationship to his fellow man. God cares about how we treat one another, and true
repentance will extend into the way we treat each other.
b. Then I will cause you to dwell in this place: The previous promises of an army of
judgment and exile from the land would be set aside if Judah did truly, deeply repent
– not only with words, but with action.
c. In the land that I gave to your fathers forever and ever: Apparently, God
considered the promises of the land given to Abraham and his covenant
descendants to be an enduring gift all through the history of Israel.
i. There are some who mistakenly say that the words of Joshua 21:43, 45 say that
God completely fulfilled the land promise to Israel, and therefore after that point they
had no more claim to the land. Yet a passage like this – written more than 600 years
after God’s word to Joshua – shows that the land promise to Israel continuedforever
and ever.

3. (8-11) Trusting in lying words regarding a temple that is a den of

thieves.
“Behold, you trust in lying words that cannot profit. Will you steal, murder,
commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incense to Baal, and walk after other gods
whom you do not know, and then come and stand before Me in this house which is
called by My name, and say, ‘We are delivered to do all these abominations’? Has
this house, which is called by My name, become a den of thieves in your eyes?
Behold, I, even I, have seen it,” says the LORD.
a. You trust in lying words that cannot profit: This was a bold thing to say to the
crowds at the temple gates. Yet they needed to know that they could not steal,
murder, commit adultery and walk after other gods thinking the customs and
rituals of temple observance could cover it.
b. And then come and stand before Me in this house which is called by My name
and say, “We are delivered to do all these abominations”: Jeremiah had in mind
those who believed that their temple rituals and obligations gave them permission
and cover to sin in these ways.

i. This was not the practice of later Roman Catholic granting of indulgences, but it
was the same spirit of that unbliblical practice.

c. Has this house, which is called by My name, become a den of thieves in your
eyes? Instead of being a place where God was truly sought, where sacrifices were
sincerely offered, and where repentance was true – the temple had become a den (a
gathering and hiding place)of thieves.
i. “The temple is the House of Jehovah in which men may dwell in fellowship with
Him, and so in strength and rest, if their ways are in harmony with His will. But the
temple is not a refuge for men who are living in rebellion against Him. It gives
security and rest to obedience souls. It offers no security to men if they are living in
sin.” (Morgan)

ii. “Robbers and bandits who sally forth for robbery and plunder secure for
themselves a hideout in some secluded area, to which they retire for protection and
safety.” (Thompson)

iii. Jesus quoted this “den of thieves” line from Jeremiah 7 in Matthew 21:13 (also
recorded in Mark 11:17and Luke 19:46) to speak of the corruption of the temple
service in His own day. When the temple should have been a house of prayer for all
nations, it had become a den of thieves.
d. Behold, I, even I, have seen it: Normally a den of thieves operates in secret.
Through Jeremiah, God wanted His people to know that He did see their hidden,
secret sins.

4. (12-15) The example of Shiloh.

“But go now to My place which was in Shiloh, where I set My name at the first, and
see what I did to it because of the wickedness of My people Israel. And now,
because you have done all these works,” says the LORD, “and I spoke to you, rising
up early and speaking, but you did not hear, and I called you, but you did not
answer, therefore I will do to the house which is called by My name, in which you
trust, and to this place which I gave to you and your fathers, as I have done to
Shiloh. And I will cast you out of My sight, as I have cast out all your brethren—the
whole posterity of Ephraim.
a. But go now to My place which was in Shiloh, where I set My name at the first,
and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of My people Israel: Jeremiah
spoke to the crowds at the temple gate and asked them to compare Jerusalem and
the temple grounds to Shiloh.
i. Shiloh was the central city of Israel – the religious center – for almost 400 years. It
was the place where the tabernacle of meeting and the altar of God stayed for this
long period.
ii. Shiloh enjoyed all this glory for hundreds of years, but it came to an end abruptly.
First, when the Philistines in overran Shiloh (1 Samuel 4); finally when the Assyrians
conquered the northern kingdom of Israel many years after that (Psalm 78:58-60).
iii. By Jeremiah’s day Shiloh had been in ruins for a long time, and it showed that
hosting the house of God or the ark of the covenant did not mean that judgment was
impossible. As it came to Shiloh, it could come to an unrepentant Jerusalem.

iv. “The archaeological evidence shows that Shiloh was destroyed twice over – once
by the Philistines and once when the Assyrians carried the northern tribes into
captivity. When Jeremiah told the people to go to Shiloh he was telling them to go to
the place where God is not.” (Ryken)

b. I spoke to you, rising up early and speaking, but you did not hear, and I called
you, but you did not answer: Judah’s greatest sin was ignoring the word of God so
plainly and persistently brought to them. This made them without excuse.
c. Therefore I will do to the house which is called by My name, in which you
trust…as I have done to Shiloh: God promised to bring the same judgment to
Jerusalem that came upon Shiloh.

i. God used Shiloh as a lesson. “Go to Shiloh,” He says. “Look what happened to a
place of spiritual privilege and glory when they forgot about Me. The same will
happen to you if you do not turn again to Me.” Many cities are filled with empty and
decrepit old churches; these are like Shiloh – places where God was once
worshipped and honored, but no more.

ii. The lesson should be sealed in our heart: no matter how much spiritual progress,
or privilege, or glory one might have, it can all be turned to nothing if we stop
listening to God and cultivating our relationship with Him.

B. The price of provoking the LORD God.

1. (16-19) Don’t pray for those who provoke the anger of the LORD.
“Therefore do not pray for this people, nor lift up a cry or prayer for them, nor
make intercession to Me; for I will not hear you. Do you not see what they do in
the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? The children gather wood, the
fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead dough, to make cakes for the queen
of heaven; and they pour out drink offerings to other gods, that they may provoke
Me to anger. Do they provoke Me to anger?” says the LORD. “Do
they not provoke themselves, to the shame of their own faces?”
a. Therefore do not pray for this people: It would seem that the sermon at the
temple gates was finished, and now God spoke to Jeremiah about the hardened
people. They were past prayer; God simply told Jeremiah, for I will not hear you.
i. It is significant that God had to tell Jeremiah not to pray; the assumption is that he
would pray, and that God had to tell him not to. Yet, “Their day of grace is past, their
sins are full, the decree is now gone forth, and it is irreversible, therefore pray not for
this deplored people.” (Trapp)

ii. There is something along these lines in the New Testament, at 1 John 5:14-16,
where John explained that there are some people – at least in theory – who are
beyond prayer, and therefore prayer should not be made for them.

iii. “They have filled up the measure of their iniquity, and they must become
examples of my justice. How terrible must the state of that place be, where God
refuses to pour out the spirit of supplication on his ministers and people in its behalf!”
(Clarke)
b. The children gather wood, the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead
dough, to make cakes for the queen of heaven: The idolatry of Judah and Jerusalem
was a family affair. Each member of the family had their own role to play in honoring
pagan gods such as the queen of heaven.
i. “The ‘queen of heaven’ was the Babylonian Ishtar, identified with the planet Venus,
whose worship, similar to the cults of the Canaanite goddesses, Asherah, Ashtaroth
and Anath, was probably introduced into Judah by the apostate king, Manasseh (2
Kings 21:3ff).” (Cundall)
ii. “The word cakes (kawwanim) is of foreign origin, occurring against only in Jeremiah
44:19, where the same cult is described.” (Harrison) “A female deity is foreign to Old
Testament theology; so the implication is that this cult was of non-Hebraic origin.”
(Feinberg)

iii. “There is goddess worship in the Roman Catholic religion, where Mary is
sometimes given the title ‘The Queen of Heaven.’ This title sets off alarm bells for
anyone who knows the book of Jeremiah.” (Ryken)

iv. “Family worship is a most amiable and becoming thing when performed according
to truth. What a pity that so few families show such zeal for the worship of God as
those apostate Israelites did for that of their idols!” (Clarke)

c. Do they not provoke themselves, to the shame of their own faces? It was true
that the sins of Judah provoked the LORD to anger, but it was also true that their
sins provoked themselves to open shame.

2. (20) God’s answer to the provoking of His anger.

Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, My anger and My fury will be poured
out on this place—on man and on beast, on the trees of the field and on the fruit of
the ground. And it will burn and not be quenched.”
a. Behold, My anger and My fury will be poured out on this place: Judah provoked
the LORD to anger, so it was appropriate that the anger eventually be poured out,
and poured out upon the land as well as upon the people.
b. It will burn and not be quenched: The anger of the LORD would not relent until
its full purpose was accomplished.

3. (21-26) Disobedience and sacrifice.

Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: “Add your burnt offerings to your
sacrifices and eat meat. For I did not speak to your fathers, or command them in
the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or
sacrifices. But this is what I commanded them, saying, ‘Obey My voice, and I will
be your God, and you shall be My people. And walk in all the ways that I have
commanded you, that it may be well with you.’ Yet they did not obey or incline
their ear, but followed the counsels and the dictates of their evil hearts, and went
backward and not forward. Since the day that your fathers came out of the land of
Egypt until this day, I have even sent to you all My servants the prophets, daily
rising up early and sending them. Yet they did not obey Me or incline their ear, but
stiffened their neck. They did worse than their fathers.
a. Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices and eat meat: The burnt
offerings were to be completely burnt before God. Here God said, “You aren’t giving
these burnt offerings to Me anyway, so you might as well just eat them as you do
your other sacrifices.”
i. “The essential feature of the whole burnt offering was that it was entirely consumed
by fire (Leviticus 1:9, 13), unlike the other offerings, where at least a portion was
shared by the priests or the worshippers. God here is virtually saying, ‘What does it
matter to Me; eat the lot!’“ (Cundall)
b. For I did not speak to your fathers, or command them in the day that I brought
them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices: When God
gave Israel the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai, there was nothing about
sacrifice or priesthood. That only came later, once Israel had accepted the covenant
(Exodus 24:1-8). The point is clear: God’s first priority for Israel was obedience, and
sacrifice and the priesthood were secondary.

i. “Jeremiah was really indicating that the order of revelation was indicative of the
relative value of obedience and cultic observances.” (Thompson)

ii. “The Hebrew idiom permits denial of one thing in order to emphasize another (cf.
for a parallel Luke 14:26). The idiom does not intend to deny the statement but only
to set it in a secondary place.” (Feinberg)

iii. “It was not wrong for them to sacrifice, but their sacrifices were in vain because
they were not pursuing holiness.” (Ryken)

c. This is what I commanded them, saying, “Obey My voice”: What God had to say
about sacrifice in the Old Covenant was rather small compared to what He had to
say about simple obedience. It was clear at the temple gates that Judah still loved to
bring sacrifices to the altar, but what God really wanted was their obedience, that
they would walk in all the ways I have commanded you.
i. This is much the same thought as 1 Samuel 15:22: Then Samuel said: “Has
the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, As in obeying the voice of
the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams.
d. Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but followed the counsels and the
dictates of their evil hearts, and went backward and not forward: Sacrifice
continued, but obedience stopped. Instead of following the LORD, they followed the
counsels and the dictates of their evil hearts. The heart of man or woman isn’t
necessarily a good guide to God-pleasing behavior.
i. This “follow your heart” mentality made the people of Judah feel good, but it did not
bring them true blessing and progress. They went backward and not forward. It
made them worse than their fathers. Morally and spiritually they were in a state of
regress, not progress.

4. (27) The frustrating work of Jeremiah the prophet.

“Therefore you shall speak all these words to them, but they will not obey you.
You shall also call to them, but they will not answer you.
a. You shall speak all these words to them: God gave Jeremiah a solemn
commission to speak to the people of Jerusalem and Judah. It wasn’t Jeremiah’s
ambition or even his natural desire.
b. They will not obey you. You shall also call to them, but they will not answer you:
This word to Jeremiah repeats the thought from earlier in the chapter. Jeremiah
7:13 says, I spoke to you, rising up early and speaking, but you did not hear, and I called
you, but you did not answer. God’s word through the prophet was God’s wordand it was
proper to regard it as such.

5. (28-31) The evil of idolatry.

“So you shall say to them, ‘This is a nation that does not obey the voice of
the LORD their God nor receive correction. Truth has perished and has been cut
off from their mouth. Cut off your hair and cast it away, and take up a lamentation
on the desolate heights; for the LORD has rejected and forsaken the generation of
His wrath.’ For the children of Judah have done evil in My sight,” says the LORD.
“They have set their abominations in the house which is called by My name, to
pollute it. 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 did
not command, nor did it come into My heart.
a. So you shall say to them: In light of their hardened rejection of Yahweh and His
words, Jeremiah was to bring the following message to them.
b. The LORD has rejected and forsaken the generation of His wrath: There are
several reasons listed whyGod so radically punished Judah.
· This is a nation that does not obey the voice of the LORD: They continued with
their superficial rituals such as animal sacrifice, but had long abandoned simple
obedience.
· Nor receive correction: Worse than their disobedience was their inability to be
corrected. There was no helping a people who would not receive correction.
· Truth has perished and has been cut off from their mouth: In rejecting the truth of
God, they gave themselves over to lies and falsehood.
c. Cut off your hair and cast it away, and take up a lamentation on the desolate
heights: The command for Judah to cut off your hair was either as an expression of
mourning (as in Job 1:20 and Micah 1:16) or of a Nazirite vow ended by defilement.
i. “The cutting off of the hair was a symbol of grief (Job 1:20; Micah 1:16). The
Hebrew text reads literally ‘Cut off your crown (nezer).’ The hair was looked on as, in
a sense, a diadem. To cut off the hair was to bring down Israel’s pride.” (Thompson)
ii. “The charge stems from the fact that the Nazirite’s hair was the mark of his
separation to God (Numbers 6:5). When he was ceremonially defiled, he had to
shave his head. So Jerusalem because of her corruption must do likewise.”
(Feinberg)
d. They have set their abominations in the house which is called by My name, to
pollute it: The people and priests of Judah were so insensitive to the honor of
Yahweh that they set up idols in the very house of the LORD, the temple.
i. Surely they did not put an idol into the holy place or the most holy place; but in
some side room of the temple complex. Nevertheless, the idols were abominations.
“It would be like setting up a Shinto shrine or opening up an adult book shop in your
church fellowship hall. Even if everything else in the church remained the same –
pews, Bibles, songbooks – the place of worship would still be defiled.” (Ryken)
e. They have built the high places of Tophet, which is in the Valley of the Son of
Hinnom, to burn their sons and daughters in the fire: Worse than the idolatry in the
temple was the actual human sacrifice carried out right in the region of Jerusalem.
i. The high places: “The ‘high places’ of Biblical times were not always very high.
These particular high places, for example, were down in a valley. It was an
inaccessible rocky ravine south and west of the City of Jerusalem. But a ‘high place’
is a shrine, a raised platform built out of stones for the purpose of worship.” (Ryken)
ii. “Topheth probably derives from the Hebrew word for ‘fire-place’ (cf. Isaiah 30:33).”
(Cundall) Kidner also points out that the name Topheth rhymes with bosheth, the
Hebrew word for “shame.”
iii. The Valley of the Son of Hinnom lies south of the temple mount in Jerusalem. It
was used as both a garbage dump (with continually smoldering fires) and a place of
child sacrifice.
iv. Some think that child sacrifice in ancient Canaan and Israel was rare, and
resorted to only in times of great distress. It’s hard to say how common it was, but it
was practiced even by kings. “Ahaz, King of Israel, sacrificed his own son in the fire
(2 Kings 16:3). The same thing happened in Manasseh’s day, when children were
sacrificed to the gods of Canaan (2 Kings 21:6).” (Ryken)
v. The Valley of Hinnom gives us the idea of Gehenna in the New
Testament. Gehenna is a Greek word borrowed from the Hebrew language. In Mark
9:43-44, Jesus spoke of hell (gehenna) referring to this place outside Jerusalem’s
walls desecrated by Molech worship and human sacrifice (2 Chronicles 28:1-
3; Jeremiah 32:35). It was also a garbage dump where rubbish and refuse were
burned. The smoldering fires and festering worms of the Valley of Hinnom made it a
graphic and effective picture of the fate of the damned. This place is also called the
“lake of fire” in Revelation 20:13-15, prepared for the devil and his angels (Matthew
25:41).
f. Which I did not command, nor did it come into My heart: Unlike many of the
Canaanite deities, Yahweh never commanded human sacrifice. God could say that it
never did come into His heart to ask such a thing; it totally went against His nature.
i. “Some scholars point out that the priests of Topheth may have used the Torah to
justify child sacrifice: ‘You must give me the firstborn of your sons…on the eighth
day’ (Exodus 22:29-30). They were taking that verse out of context; it had nothing to
do with child sacrifice.” (Ryken)

ii. The incident of Abraham’s interrupted sacrifice of Isaac (Genesis 22) was an
emphatic way for God to say, “I do not want human sacrifice.”

6. (32-34) The dead in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom.

“Therefore behold, the days are coming,” says the LORD, “when it will no more be
called Tophet, or the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter; for
they will bury in Tophet until there is no room. The corpses of this people will be
food for the birds of the heaven and for the beasts of the earth. And no one will
frighten them away. Then I will cause to cease from the cities of Judah and from
the streets of Jerusalem the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of
the bridegroom and the voice of the bride. For the land shall be desolate.
a. It will no more be called Tophet, or the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, but the
Valley of Slaughter: God would answer the idolatry of Judah and the outrageous
practice of human sacrifice with devastating judgment. There would be a grotesque
slaughter in that valley.
i. The dead corpses in that place would also be disgraced by having no proper burial,
and by being food for scavenger birds with no one to frighten them away.
ii. “For the body to remain unburied, thereby, providing food for carrion birds and
rodents, was a thing of unspeakable horror for the ancient Hebrews. Ironically, their
sanctuary would become their cemetery as the treasured homeland was ravaged.”
(Harrison)
b. For the land shall be desolate: When judgment came upon Judah, it would seem
that all happiness and hope had departed from the land. No more would there be the
voice of mirth and the voice of gladness.

Jeremiah Chapter 8

JEREMIAH 8 – NO CURE FOR

SENSELESS REJECTION OF GOD
A. Those fallen, those exiled.
1. (1-2) The disgraced remains of those fallen in judgment.
“At that time,” says the LORD, “they shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah,
and the bones of its princes, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the
prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves. They
shall spread them before the sun and the moon and all the host of heaven, which
they have loved and which they have served and after which they have walked,
which they have sought and which they have worshiped. They shall not be
gathered nor buried; they shall be like refuse on the face of the earth.
a. At that time: This connects with the severe judgment announced in the closing
verses of Jeremiah 7. The prophet saw the Valley of Hinnom filled with rotting
corpses, food for scavenging birds.
b. They shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah… the bones of the priests,
and the bones of the prophets: Jeremiah prophetically saw a final indignity given in
judgment to these great transgressors. Even the bones of the wicked who died
before the Babylonians came would be disgraced; they would not be gathered nor
buried; they shall be like refuse on the face of the earth.
i. “This custom of raising the bodies of the dead, and scattering their bones about,
seems to have been general. It was the highest expression of hatred and contempt.
[The Greek poet] Horace refers to it.” (Clarke)

ii. “There is a gruesome congruity about the bones of the devotees of the heavenly
host being openly strewn before their impotent objects of worship.” (Cundall)

2. (3) Choosing death rather than life.

Then death shall be chosen rather than life by all the residue of those who remain
of this evil family, who remain in all the places where I have driven them,” says
the LORD of hosts.
a. Then death shall be chosen rather than life by all the residue of those who
remain: The misery of the residue that survived the Babylonian invasion would be
worse than life. Death would look to them like a welcome relief.
b. Who remain in all the places where I have driven them: The survivors of the
Babylonian invasion would be forced refugees, exiled out of the Promised Land into
foreign lands.

B. Judah’s stubborn folly.

1. (4-7) Judah’s stubborn refusal to return.
“Moreover you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD:
“Will they fall and not rise?
Will one turn away and not return?
Why has this people slidden back,
Jerusalem, in a perpetual backsliding?
They hold fast to deceit,
They refuse to return.
I listened and heard,
But they do not speak aright.
No man repented of his wickedness,
Saying, ‘What have I done?’
Everyone turned to his own course,
As the horse rushes into the battle.
“Even the stork in the heavens
Knows her appointed times;
And the turtledove, the swift, and the swallow
Observe the time of their coming.
But My people do not know the judgment of the LORD.”
a. Why has this people slidden back, Jerusalem, in a perpetual backsliding:
Through His prophet Jeremiah, the Lord expressed amazement that Judah would
not return to Him. After all, when one falls they rise again. When one turns away,
they then return. Yet Judah was caught in a perpetual backsliding.
i. Will they fall and not rise? Will one turn away and not return? “If men fall it is
naturally expected that they will return. In the case of Jerusalem this had not been
so, their backsliding had been perpetual. There was no sign of repentance.”
(Morgan)
b. Everyone turned to his own course, as the horse rushes into the battle: Men
were determined to go their own way, as determined and as energetic as the horse
is as it rushes into the battle.
c. Even the stork in the heavens knows her appointed times: It was an amazement
that birds (the stork, the turtledove, the swift, and the swallow) all understand the
seasons of the year and how they must respond to them. Yet the people of God
were ignorant; My people do not know the judgment of the LORD. They were worse
off than birds with small brains.
i. Spurgeon preached a sermon titled, Migratory Birds. He began, “We shall mark
these migratory birds, and set the wisdom of their instinct in contrast with the folly of
mankind.” Spurgeon proceeded to make the following four points:
· The migratory birds know when to come and go.
· The migratory birds know where to go.
· The migratory birds, by some strange instinct, also know the way to go.
· The migratory birds show their wisdom by actually going to the sunny land.
2. (8-9) The folly of rejecting the word of the LORD.
“How can you say, ‘We are wise,
And the law of the LORD is with us’?
Look, the false pen of the scribe certainly works falsehood.
The wise men are ashamed,
They are dismayed and taken.
Behold, they have rejected the word of the LORD;
So what wisdom do they have?
a. We are wise, and the law of the LORD is with us: This is what the people of Judah
said of themselves. They were so self-deceived that they actually believed they
were wise, and that they walked according to the law of the LORD.
b. Look, the false pen of the scribe certainly works falsehood: God reminded Judah
that not all who study and teach the word of God do so honestly. There are some
who use their pen to work falsehood, not truth.
c. They have rejected the word of the LORD; so what wisdom do they
have? Though they claimed to have both wisdom and Biblical truth, they had neither.
In rejecting God’s word, they rejected wisdom. They had none.
i. “When men reject the word of Jehovah, ‘What manner of wisdom is in them?’ The
answer is that the manner of such wisdom is, to quote James, ‘earthly, sensual,
devilish’ (James 3:13).” (Morgan)
3. (10-13) The judgment to come upon those who reject the word of
the LORD.
Therefore I will give their wives to others,
And their fields to those who will inherit them;
Because from the least even to the greatest
Everyone is given to covetousness;
From the prophet even to the priest
Everyone deals falsely.
For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of My people slightly,
Saying, ‘Peace, peace!’
When there is no peace.
Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination?
No! They were not at all ashamed,
Nor did they know how to blush.
Therefore they shall fall among those who fall;
In the time of their punishment
They shall be cast down,” says the LORD.
“I will surely consume them,” says the LORD.
“No grapes shall be on the vine,
Nor figs on the fig tree,
And the leaf shall fade;
And the things I have given them shall pass away from them.”‘”
a. Therefore I will give their wives to others, and their fields to those who will
inherit them: Because they did not hold the word of God dear, God would take what
was dear to the people of Judah and give those things to others.
b. Everyone is given to covetousness; from the prophet even to the priest
everyone deals falsely: Repeating words from Jeremiah 6:13-15, Jeremiah points
out that selfish corruption had become so much a part of life in Judah that it could be
said that everyone deals falsely and yet they were not at all ashamed.
i. The repetition in these verses as compared to Jeremiah 6:13-15 was not
accidently. It was done on purpose, because Judah needed to hear this message,
and delivering it one time was simply not enough.
c. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall…they shall be cast down:
Because the moral and cultural rot was so deep among the people of Judah, God
promised to bring a thorough judgment. Like a grape vine or a fig tree picked clean,
God promised, I will surely consume them.

4. (14) Fleeing to the fortified cities under the judgment of God.

“Why do we sit still?
Assemble yourselves,
And let us enter the fortified cities,
And let us be silent there.
For the LORD our God has put us to silence
And given us water of gall to drink,
Because we have sinned against the LORD.
a. Let us enter the fortified cities, and let us be silent there: The prophet imagined
the people of God fleeing to the fortified cities as the Babylonian invaders entered
the land. They could only do so in silence, because they knew they had ignored
God’s warnings and invitations to repent.
b. For the LORD our God has put us to silence and given us water of gall to drink,
because we have sinned against the LORD: When the invading army came they
would understand the greatness of their sin – but by then it would be too late.

5. (15-17) Looking for peace, finding trouble.

“We looked for peace, but no good came;
And for a time of health, and there was trouble!
The snorting of His horses was heard from Dan.
The whole land trembled at the sound of the neighing of His strong ones;
For they have come and devoured the land and all that is in it,
The city and those who dwell in it.”
“For behold, I will send serpents among you,
Vipers which cannot be charmed,
And they shall bite you,” says the LORD.
a. We looked for peace, but no good came: Those in Judah who heard and believed
the message of the false prophets – the message, Peace, peace! (Jeremiah 8:11) –
these deceived ones looked for peace, but no good came.
b. They have come and devoured the land and all that is in it: Instead of peace, the
Babylonian invaders came with snorting horses and an army so big that the whole
land trembled.
c. I will send serpents among you, vipers which cannot be charmed: The false
prophets and priests had convinced the people of Judah and Jerusalem that they
could find a way to maneuver around the coming judgment. They would find, to their
great sorrow, that God had sent them serpents which cannot be charmed.

C. Judah in exile.
1. (18-19) A vision of Judah in exile.
I would comfort myself in sorrow;
My heart is faint in me.
Listen! The voice,
The cry of the daughter of my people
From a far country:
“Is not the LORD in Zion?
Is not her King in her?”
“Why have they provoked Me to anger
With their carved images—
With foreign idols?”
a. I would comfort myself in sorrow; my heart is faint in me: With desperation,
Jeremiah prophetically saw the tragedy that followed upon the devastating
Babylonian invasion.
b. The cry of the daughter of my people from a far country: This was the cause of
Jeremiah’s desperation. The daughter of his people no longer lived in the land God
promised them. Instead, their cry was heard from a far country.
c. Is not the LORD in Zion? Is not her King in her? In amazement, Jeremiah
wondered how his people ended up in exile. He wondered if God had left His own
land; if He no longer reigned as a King in Zion.
d. Why have they provoked Me to anger with their carved images – with foreign
idols? God answered Jeremiah’s question with questions of His own. The problem
was not that God had abandoned the land of Israel; the problem was Israel had
abandoned God.

2. (20) The despair of conquered Judah.

“The harvest is past,
The summer is ended,
And we are not saved!”
a. The harvest is past, the summer is ended: In a mostly agricultural society,
everyone understood that summer was the season of growing, ending with harvest.
It should be a time of abundance and fulfillment.

i. “ ‘Harvest’ refers to the main cereal harvest, whilst ‘summer’ refers to the vintage
harvest (grapes, etc.) in early autumn. If one failed, it was possible that the other
would see the people through the winter, but if both failed, starvation confronted
them.” (Cundall)

b. And we are not saved! This was the sad lament of conquered Judah, even into
the exile. Season had come that there should be abundance in the land, yet there
was not. They had to face the sad fact: we are not saved!
i. “It was a proverbial saying meaning that people had lost every opportunity given
them by God, and now were entirely without hope.” (Feinberg)

ii. “Jeremiah 8:20’s analogy is that of a double failure, first of the field-crops, then of
the summer fruit, heralding a winter that hardly bears thinking about.” (Kidner)

iii. “We thought that God would help us in the days of harvest; but the harvest is past.
We dreamed that he would chase away our enemies when the summer months had
come; but the summer is ended, and still Chaldea has her foot upon Judea’s neck,
still we drink the wormwood and the gall, and our enemies open their mouths at us.
The harvest is past, and the summer is ended, and we are not saved.” (Spurgeon)

3. (21-22) Jeremiah’s pain-filled question.

For the hurt of the daughter of my people I am hurt.
I am mourning;
Astonishment has taken hold of me.
Is there no balm in Gilead,
Is there no physician there?
Why then is there no recovery
For the health of the daughter of my people?
a. For the hurt of the daughter of my people I am hurt: Prophetically looking into
the future, Jeremiah ached with the hurt of his people. He was in mourning and full
of astonishment.

i. “Jeremiah could mourn over the sufferings of his people because of his sympathy
and love for them; yet his very message spoke doom to them.” (Thompson)

ii. “A preacher whom God sends will often feel more care for the souls of men than
men feel for themselves or their own salvation.” (Spurgeon)

b. Is there no balm in Gilead, is there no physician there? Jeremiah not only saw
the hurt of his people in exile, but he also could see no help for them. There was no
medicine, there was no physician; all was sadness and mourning.

i. “Gilead was the land just east of the Jordan River. It was known for its healing
balsams… Scholars have been unable to determine how the balm of Gilead was
made, but it seems to have been a soothing, aromatic resin made from a tree or a
plant. It might be compared to aloe vera.” (Ryken)