Jeremiah 6 Commentary
Your burnt offerings are not acceptable
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KEY THOUGHT: Your burnt offerings are not acceptable, nor your sacrifices sweet to Me. [Jeremiah 6:20b NKJV]
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Jeremiah 6 NKJV
Impending Destruction from the North
6 “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.
2 I have likened the daughter of Zion
To a lovely and delicate woman.
3 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.”
4 “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.
5 Arise, and let us go by night,
And let us destroy her palaces.”
6 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.
7 As a fountain [a]wells up with water,
So she wells up with her wickedness.
Violence and plundering are heard in her.
Before Me continually are [b]grief and wounds.
8 Be instructed, O Jerusalem,
Lest My soul depart from you;
Lest I make you desolate,
A land not inhabited.”
9 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.”
10 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.
11 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.
12 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.
13 “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.
14 They have also healed the [c]hurt of My people [d]slightly,
Saying, ‘Peace, peace!’
When there is no peace.
15 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.
16 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.’
17 Also, I set watchmen over you, saying,
‘Listen to the sound of the trumpet!’
But they said, ‘We will not listen.’
18 Therefore hear, you nations,
And know, O congregation, what is among them.
19 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.
20 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.”
21 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.”
22 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.
23 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.”
24 We have heard the report of it;
Our hands grow feeble.
Anguish has taken hold of us,
Pain as of a woman in [e]labor.
25 Do not go out into the field,
Nor walk by the way.
Because of the sword of the enemy,
Fear is on every side.
26 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.
27 “I have set you as an assayer and a fortress among My people,
That you may know and test their way.
28 They are all stubborn rebels, walking as slanderers.
They are bronze and iron,
They are all corrupters;
29 The bellows blow fiercely,
The lead is consumed by the fire;
The smelter refines in vain,
For the wicked are not drawn off.
30 People will call them rejected silver,
Because the Lord has rejected them.”
Footnotes
a. Jeremiah 6:7 gushes
b. Jeremiah 6:7 sickness
c. Jeremiah 6:14 Lit. crushing
d. Jeremiah 6:14 Superficially
e. Jeremiah 6:24 childbirth
New King James Version (NKJV)
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Jeremiah 6 Commentary
Nighttime should bring relief to a troubled soul. But not when the LORD has ordered trouble on your life!
The LORD heals the fatigue of the day in the night. But not anymore for Jerusalem.
Intense trouble should speak to the soul. When trouble doesn’t listen to seasons, and when trouble fails to yield to natural healing, then know the LORD is speaking. But who listens?
The priests keep shouting: Peace, peace. We preach the same sermon when we insist on completeness or fulfillment on this side of heaven – the thought that we can have it nice and good here and now, and do so in the name of the LORD!
It could also refer to the world’s concocted peace and security – satan’s version of peace.
Ponder this scenario. The saint is under pressure to live up to this false peace. It becomes a measure of success. And at times, the prosperity gospel aims for this standard. The saint is utterly confused.
Know the times; know the difference.
Yes, there is peace, but who defines it? Equally, there is failure, but who defines it?
Therefore, what the world calls prosperity isn’t prosperity at all! What they call failure isn’t failure at all!
“Ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.” Verse 16. It is like you are reading the New Testament! “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” Matthew 11:28-29.
The ancient paths could be the following: “Before Abraham was, I Am.” The LORD Jesus Christ isn’t an afterthought. He is the way, the truth, and the life. Let Jerusalem walk in it; she will find rest for her soul.
“Stand at the crossroads and look.” Hasn’t the LORD spoken to someone in the valley of decision? From this position of confusion, ask for the ancient paths. Ask where the good way is. Walk in it. Then it shall be well. Then peace comes – not the false peace of the world. Then rest comes – not the false rest we constantly seek.
The scripture is written so that we can look back and see for ourselves the outcome of faithlessness and unfaithfulness. But as the good way remains available, no one should end up at the wrong gate of eternity.
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