Jeremiah 14 Commentary
Sword, Famine, And Pestilence
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KEY THOUGHT: We will wait for You, since You have made all these. [Jeremiah 14:22c NKJV]
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Jeremiah 14 NKJV
Sword, Famine, and Pestilence
14 The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah concerning the droughts.
2 “Judah mourns,
And her gates languish;
They mourn for the land,
And the cry of Jerusalem has gone up.
3 Their nobles have sent their lads for water;
They went to the cisterns and found no water.
They returned with their vessels empty;
They were ashamed and confounded
And covered their heads.
4 Because the ground is parched,
For there was no rain in the land,
The plowmen were ashamed;
They covered their heads.
5 Yes, the deer also gave birth in the field,
But [a]left because there was no grass.
6 And the wild donkeys stood in the desolate heights;
They sniffed at the wind like jackals;
Their eyes failed because there was no grass.”
7 O Lord, though our iniquities testify against us,
Do it for Your name’s sake;
For our backslidings are many,
We have sinned against You.
8 O the Hope of Israel, his Savior in time of trouble,
Why should You be like a stranger in the land,
And like a traveler who turns aside to tarry for a night?
9 Why should You be like a man astonished,
Like a mighty one who cannot save?
Yet You, O Lord, are in our midst,
And we are called by Your name;
Do not leave us!
10 Thus says the Lord to this people:
“Thus they have loved to wander;
They have not restrained their feet.
Therefore the Lord does not accept them;
He will remember their iniquity now,
And punish their sins.”
11 Then the Lord said to me, “Do not pray for this people, for their good. 12 When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I will not accept them. But I will consume them by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence.”
13 Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Behold, the prophets say to them, ‘You shall not see the sword, nor shall you have famine, but I will give you [b]assured peace in this place.’ ”
14 And the Lord said to me, “The prophets prophesy lies in My name. I have not sent them, commanded them, nor spoken to them; they prophesy to you a false vision, [c]divination, a worthless thing, and the deceit of their heart. 15 Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the prophets who prophesy in My name, whom I did not send, and who say, ‘Sword and famine shall not be in this land’—‘By sword and famine those prophets shall be consumed! 16 And the people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword; they will have no one to bury them—them nor their wives, their sons nor their daughters—for I will pour their wickedness on them.’
17 “Therefore you shall say this word to them:
‘Let my eyes flow with tears night and day,
And let them not cease;
For the virgin daughter of my people
Has been broken with a mighty stroke, with a very severe blow.
18 If I go out to the field,
Then behold, those slain with the sword!
And if I enter the city,
Then behold, those sick from famine!
Yes, both prophet and priest go about in a land they do not know.’ ”
The People Plead for Mercy
19 Have You utterly rejected Judah?
Has Your soul loathed Zion?
Why have You stricken us so that there is no healing for us?
We looked for peace, but there was no good;
And for the time of healing, and there was trouble.
20 We acknowledge, O Lord, our wickedness
And the iniquity of our fathers,
For we have sinned against You.
21 Do not abhor us, for Your name’s sake;
Do not disgrace the throne of Your glory.
Remember, do not break Your covenant with us.
22 Are there any among the idols of the nations that can cause rain?
Or can the heavens give showers?
Are You not He, O Lord our God?
Therefore we will wait for You,
Since You have made all these.
Footnotes
a. Jeremiah 14:5 abandoned her young
b. Jeremiah 14:13 true
c. Jeremiah 14:14 Telling the future by signs and omens
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 14 Commentary
The LORD, Jeremiah, “them”, and “us” are often the characters in Jeremiah’s biographical discourses.
The LORD gives Jeremiah a word for them, meaning Israel or the men and women of Judah, including the rulers. In this case, the LORD decrees a drought and famine on the land.
This is a very difficult message for the messenger. It burns him. Yet he must carry it. He must deliver the parcel.
Then the prophet quickly sees something else. There is no “them”. It’s all about “us” – me and my brothers and sisters. So he prays: “Do something, LORD, for the sake of Your name.” He confesses.
Of course, we also hear from them; the men and women of Judah. They have no time for confession or repentance. They are happy with the status quo. Other prophets line up and encourage them. It is well, after all!
So Jeremiah goes back to the LORD. What about these good words from the prophets? Are You giving us different messages at the same time?
A prophet isn’t right until the LORD says so. Has the LORD spoken? It is all about the content.
Of course, the LORD hasn’t spoken through these prophets. They will be punished for faking the word of the LORD. We cannot be light about God’s word! There are consequences.
The switch from “them” to “us” is instructive. Saints may want to ponder this scenario and apply it to their interactions. There are times when the LORD pours His wrath on a community and “them” easily becomes “us”.
The poor economy affects us all, not just them. War is a problem for us, not just for them.
The effects of increased wickedness become a problem for us. We, therefore, cannot afford to keep quiet.
Of course, the LORD won’t listen to Jeremiah. He tells him so. He is praying for a people who don’t care.
But Jeremiah is adamant. He keeps knocking at Heaven’s door. Who says you should stop praying?
Even when the LORD seems to say no, keep praying. The last section is yet another petition from the prophet. The LORD remains humanity’s only hope.
The LORD commanded that this statement be recorded for us today. Yes, the LORD remains our only hope.
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