Jeremiah 15 Commentary
Sword, Famine, And Pain – No Holding Back
The word of God can change your life. Read it daily…FOR HELP CLICKHERE
KEY THOUGHT: “Even if Moses and Samuel stood before Me, My mind would not be favorable toward this people [Jeremiah 15:1b NKJV]
Kindly read your Bible before going through the commentary!
Jeremiah 15 NKJV
The Lord Will Not Relent
15 Then the Lord said to me, “Even if Moses and Samuel stood before Me, My [a]mind would not be favorable toward this people. Cast them out of My sight, and let them go forth. 2 And it shall be, if they say to you, ‘Where should we go?’ then you shall tell them, ‘Thus says the Lord:
“Such as are for death, to death;
And such as are for the sword, to the sword;
And such as are for the famine, to the famine;
And such as are for the captivity, to the captivity.” ’
3 “And I will appoint over them four forms of destruction,” says the Lord: “the sword to slay, the dogs to drag, the birds of the heavens and the beasts of the earth to devour and destroy. 4 I will hand them over to trouble, to all kingdoms of the earth, because of Manasseh the son of Hezekiah, king of Judah, for what he did in Jerusalem.
5 “For who will have pity on you, O Jerusalem?
Or who will bemoan you?
Or who will turn aside to ask how you are doing?
6 You have forsaken Me,” says the Lord,
“You have gone backward.
Therefore I will stretch out My hand against you and destroy you;
I am [b]weary of relenting!
7 And I will winnow them with a winnowing fan in the gates of the land;
I will bereave them of children;
I will destroy My people,
Since they do not return from their ways.
8 Their widows will be increased to Me more than the sand of the seas;
I will bring against them,
Against the mother of the young men,
A plunderer at noonday;
I will cause anguish and terror to fall on them suddenly.
9 “She languishes who has borne seven;
She has breathed her last;
Her sun has gone down
While it was yet day;
She has been ashamed and confounded.
And the remnant of them I will deliver to the sword
Before their enemies,” says the Lord.
Jeremiah’s Dejection
10 Woe is me, my mother,
That you have borne me,
A man of strife and a man of contention to the whole [c]earth!
I have neither lent for interest,
Nor have men lent to me for interest.
Every one of them curses me.
11 The Lord said:
“Surely it will be well with your remnant;
Surely I will cause the enemy to intercede with you
In the time of adversity and in the time of affliction.
12 Can anyone break iron,
The northern iron and the bronze?
13 Your wealth and your treasures
I will give as plunder without price,
Because of all your sins,
Throughout your territories.
14 And I will [d]make you cross over with your enemies
Into a land which you do not know;
For a fire is kindled in My anger,
Which shall burn upon you.”
15 O Lord, You know;
Remember me and [e]visit me,
And take vengeance for me on my persecutors.
In Your enduring patience, do not take me away.
Know that for Your sake I have suffered rebuke.
16 Your words were found, and I ate them,
And Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart;
For I am called by Your name,
O Lord God of hosts.
17 I did not sit in the assembly of the mockers,
Nor did I rejoice;
I sat alone because of Your hand,
For You have filled me with indignation.
18 Why is my pain perpetual
And my wound incurable,
Which refuses to be healed?
Will You surely be to me like an unreliable stream,
As waters that [f]fail?
The Lord Reassures Jeremiah
19 Therefore thus says the Lord:
“If you return,
Then I will bring you back;
You shall stand before Me;
If you take out the precious from the vile,
You shall be as My mouth.
Let them return to you,
But you must not return to them.
20 And I will make you to this people a fortified bronze wall;
And they will fight against you,
But they shall not prevail against you;
For I am with you to save you
And deliver you,” says the Lord.
21 “I will deliver you from the hand of the wicked,
And I will redeem you from the grip of the terrible.”
Footnotes
a. Jeremiah 15:1 Lit. soul was not toward
b. Jeremiah 15:6 tired
c. Jeremiah 15:10 Or land
d. Jeremiah 15:14 So with MT, Vg.; LXX, Syr., Tg. cause you to serve (cf. 17:4)
e. Jeremiah 15:15 attend to
f. Jeremiah 15:18 Or cannot be trusted
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 15 Commentary
Moses and Samuel parallel the “Law and the Prophets” of Luke 16. They represent the two bodies of revelation we now know as the Scripture. But that is for another day. The context here is the intercessory function of both Moses and Samuel.
The Law, together with its expansion through the body of the Prophets, stood as the means through which men and women could reach the Creator God. The Law was a huge institution that created the Sanctuary worship system, including the priesthood.
The Prophets operated a non-priestly function but still delivered the word, the will, and the purposes of the LORD to the people. They pointed men and women back to the Law.
Jeremiah 15 says that the LORD won’t listen to both institutions. This chapter creates a huge crisis for humanity. Where would mankind be if the LORD distances Himself in this way?
Thus the LORD unleashes His wrath on humanity. Those destined for death, to death; those for the sword, to the sword; those for starvation, to starvation; those for captivity, to captivity.
“Who will have pity on you, Jerusalem? Who will mourn for you? Who will stop to ask how you are? Verse 5. Mediation has failed. Trouble reigns.
Without saying it, this chapter is a pointer to yet another mediator, the man Jesus Christ. “If Jesus were to stand before me, my heart would definitely go out to this people.” This would be the New Testament version of Verse 1.
But let not the saint relax his efforts at the sanctification’s altar. We are here because the LORD is tired of holding back. “How shall we escape if we ignore so great a salvation?” Hebrews 2:3.
Unconfessed sin doesn’t exactly vanish. It remains active, as Verse 4 confirms. The mention of Manasseh’s grave sins against the LORD means the file was still active. Time is a great healer, but let no saint cheat himself this way concerning sin.
You may live long and in success, comparable to Manasseh’s long reign – 55 years, the longest period of service on David’s throne. You may drive out tomorrow in a supercar and have people clap your way out of your mansion, but remember, unconfessed sin remains on your file in heaven.
Each time the word “exile” is repeated, we quickly think of Israel’s punishment. It is so pronounced that it exclusively becomes the punishment.
“Exile” functions like the word “Hell” for today’s reader. They represent the ultimate punishment and often, wrongly, the only punishment.
There was death by sword. Intense famine and possible deaths as a consequence. There was pestilence (Chapter 14). Of course, captivity takes the headlines.
Details are important. Wickedness comes with “exile” or “hell”, but it has an entourage. Lack of peace, emptiness, or fulfillment. There is general pain and suffering. Hopelessness. Nothingness.
The last section of Chapter 15 is interesting. Jeremiah enters the shoes of the LORD – probably the shoes of Christ pre-incarnate. “What is there to be done that I haven’t done?” He is the suffering Servant! The picture of trouble on behalf of the lost!
We can have these suspicions because the words used are those of a man performing a superhuman function – the man Jesus Christ doing His thing in the Old Testament, what the New Testament saw in perfection.
If you repent, I will restore you. Verse 19. He didn’t. The LORD punished Him. He served a full sentence on your behalf. The salvation we know through the LORD Jesus Christ is a mediation effort that was completed at Calvary.
Looking at it from the lens of the New Testament, Chapter 15 drives us to the thoughts of Calvary, and how we all need to treasure what we have received through the sacrifice of the Lamb of God – so ably represented by Jeremiah’s suffering.
- Jeremiah 15 Commentary
- Jeremiah 14 Commentary
- Jeremiah 13 Commentary
- Jeremiah 12 Commentary
- Jeremiah 11 Commentary
- Jeremiah 10b Commentary
- Jeremiah 10 Commentary
- Jeremiah 9 Commentary
- Jeremiah 8 Commentary
- Jeremiah 7 Commentary
- Jeremiah 6 Commentary
- Jeremiah 5 Commentary
- Jeremiah 4 Commentary
- Jeremiah 3 Commentary
- Jeremiah 2 Commentary
- Jeremiah 1 Commentary
- Isaiah 66 Commentary
- Isaiah 65 Commentary
- Isaiah 64 Commentary
- Isaiah 63 Commentary
- Isaiah 62 Commentary
- Isaiah 61 Commentary
- Isaiah 60 Commentary
- Isaiah 59 Commentary
- Isaiah 58 Commentary
- Isaiah 57 Commentary
- Isaiah 56 Commentary
- Isaiah 55 Commentary
- Isaiah 54 Commentary
- Isaiah 53b Commentary
- Isaiah 53a Commentary
- Isaiah 52 Commentary
- Isaiah 51 Commentary
- Isaiah 50 Commentary
- Isaiah 49 Commentary
- Isaiah 48 Commentary
- Isaiah 46 Commentary
- Isaiah 45 Commentary
- Isaiah 44 Commentary
- Isaiah 43 Commentary
- Isaiah 42 Commentary
- Isaiah 41 Commentary
- Isaiah 40 Commentary
- Isaiah 39 Commentary
- Isaiah 38 Commentary
- Isaiah 37 Commentary
- Isaiah 36 Commentary
- Isaiah 35 Commentary
- Isaiah 34 Commentary
- Isaiah 33 Commentary
Loving Scripture….
Leave a Reply