Jeremiah 14 & 15

Jeremiah 14

Drought and a Prayer for Mercy

Before we do anything, let's pray... 

All right. Chapters 14 and 15 go together, so that’s what we’ll be looking at tonight.

1 That which came as the word of the Lord to Jeremiah in regard to the drought:

The nation of Judah is staring drought in the face, which is a dire situation.   God promised that drought would be the result of disobedience.

2 “Judah mourns And her gates languish; They sit on the ground in mourning, And the cry of Jerusalem has ascended.

Have you ever been so grieved you just felt like you were wasting away? Have you ever been so afraid you lost all strength and felt like you were going to faint.   Have you ever been so depressed you couldn’t get out of bed?

3 “Their nobles have sent their servants for water; They have come to the cisterns and found no water. They have returned with their vessels empty; They have been put to shame and humiliated, And they cover their heads.

The higher-ups send the servants or other translations "lads" to fetch them water.   I feel like this is a little bit of, "shifting the blame".   They failed to bring back water, it's their fault not mine.

4 “Because the ground is cracked, For there has been no rain on the land; The farmers have been put to shame, They have covered their heads.

This "covering of their heads" is a sign of grief or sorrow.   Sadly, it wasn't enough grief and sorrow (or it was too late) to bring about true repentance and a change of behavior.

5 “For even the doe in the field has given birth only to abandon her young, Because there is no grass.

If you're weak or lack conviction, adversity might cause you to abandon your responsibilities.   It might even induce behaviors that are against your nature, like a mom leaving her young.  God's desire is that He would send this trouble into your life so that you would RESPOND and change direction.

6 “The wild donkeys stand on the bare heights; They pant for air like jackals, Their eyes fail For there is no vegetation.

These wild donkeys are pretty drought resistant animals, and even they are affected. I remember, my mother-in-law moved out to a city in California called Moreno Valley in 1988, out east of Los Angeles. Near what used to be the Riverside Raceway.   Very dry desert area, a lot of scrub brush and very little water.   I used to take morning hikes from my mother-in-law's house  and very quickly I'd be in the hills and I used to see these wild donkeys.  Neat creatures with these big old ears.

7 “Although our iniquities testify against us, O Lord, act for Your name’s sake! Truly our apostasies 

[falling away from the truth]   They and we as well should know better.

1 John 2:19 They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us. 

have been many, We have sinned against You.
8 “O Hope of Israel, Its Savior in time of distress, Why are You like a stranger in the land Or like a traveler who has pitched his tent for the night?
9 “Why are You like a man dismayed, Like a mighty man who cannot save? Yet You are in our midst, O Lord, And we are called by Your name; Do not forsake us!”

God seems far away because of their sin. God seems weak and impotent because of their sin.   We alter God’s nature and character in our minds, due to sin.   This is the power of sin against us.   It causes our perception and understanding of God to be warped.   God is neither far away, nor weak, but sin brings this barrier between us and God.

10 Thus says the Lord to this people, “Even so they have loved to wander; they have not kept their feet in check. Therefore the Lord does not accept them; now He will remember their iniquity and call their sins to account.” 11 So the Lord said to me, “Do not pray for the welfare of this people. 12 When they fast, I am not going to listen to their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I am not going to accept them. Rather I am going to make an end of them by the sword, famine and pestilence.”

As we saw in the last chapter, the people's hearts were so hardened, God says don't pray for them.

1 John 5:16 If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask and God will for him give life to those who commit sin not leading to death. There is a sin leading to death; I do not say that he should make request [pray] for this.

God promised curses upon the nation of Israel if they didn’t follow the LORD in Deuteronomy 28.  Let’s look back into Deuteronomy 28 and see those promised curses:

Deut 28:15 “But it shall come about, if you do not obey the Lord your God, to observe to do

it's not good enough to just observe.   We need to “observe to do”.   A true change of heart will result in a change of behavior.   It may not happen all at once, it may be gradual, but there will be change, and there will be obedience.

all His commandments and His statutes with which I charge you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:

…

23 The heaven which is over your head shall be bronze, and the earth which is under you, iron. 24 The Lord will make the rain of your land powder and dust; from heaven it shall come down on you until you are destroyed.

…

45 “So all these curses shall come on you and pursue you and overtake you until you are destroyed, because you would not obey the Lord your God by keeping His commandments and His statutes which He commanded you. 46 They shall become a sign and a wonder on you and your descendants forever.

Jeremiah Comments on False Prophets

13 But, “Ah, Lord God!” I said, “Look, the prophets are telling them, ‘You will not see the sword nor will you have famine, but I will give you lasting peace in this place.’” 14 Then the Lord said to me, “The prophets are prophesying falsehood in My name. I have neither sent them nor commanded them nor spoken to them; they are prophesying to you a false vision, divination, futility and the deception of their own minds.15 Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the prophets who are prophesying in My name, although it was not I who sent them—yet they keep saying, ‘There will be no sword or famine in this land’—by sword and famine those prophets shall meet their end! 16 The people also to whom they are prophesying will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword; and there will be no one to bury them—neither them, nor their wives, nor their sons, nor their daughters—for I will pour out their own wickedness on them.

There is an extra severe curse on those who claim to be speaking for God and yet are misleading many.    I believe a key reason for the extra severity is literally in the fact that the bigger the megaphone someone has the bigger the reach.   Plus, if someone claims to be speaking for God, there is a greater responsibility to accurately represent Him.   This onus also falls on each of us who claim the name of Christ as being a Christian.   People (rightly so) hold us to a higher standard.   They expect truth from us.   They expect right behavior

17 “You will say this word to them,‘Let my eyes flow down with tears night and day,
And let them not cease; For the virgin daughter of my people has been crushed with a mighty blow,
With a sorely infected wound.

Here goes Jeremiah again with the waterworks.   I want to offer a thought for us.   Something to consider, in terms of Jeremiah’s attitude.   Does it hurt your feelings to see someone go astray?   It has happened to me, where a brother was confessing a sin he was bound up in.  He was expressing a struggle he was having and I could feel the pain he was in.   I wept for him, right then and there.  I was grieved that he was carrying this burden.   

Are you kind of calloused towards others; like “that’s your problem”? 

   Or… 

Are you tender towards fellow believers who are battling against sin and temptation?   Are you willing to be someone who would put an arm around a brother or sister and cry with them over their failures?

Part of it is being able to see yourself as weak and vulnerable to sin, and not above or better than our fellow believers.

James 2:13 For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

Matthew 5:7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

Colossians 3:12 Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience,

Luke 6:36 Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.

1 Peter 5:10 And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.

Ephesians 4:32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

Now back to Jeremiah 14…

18 ‘If I go out to the country, Behold, those slain with the sword! Or if I enter the city, Behold, diseases of famine! For both prophet and priest Have gone roving about in the land that they do not know.’”

19 Have You completely rejected Judah? Or have You loathed Zion? Why have You stricken us so that we are beyond healing? We waited for peace, but nothing good came; And for a time of healing, but behold, terror!

It's really bad.   I want us to try to imagine, what if we had (or were being) invaded by force militarily.

what if, we had a drought that caused a famine (heaven forbid we couldn't just go to the grocery store).

20 We know our wickedness, O Lord, The iniquity of our fathers, for we have sinned against You.

Do they really know their wickedness?   Do we really know your wickedness?   Are you really acknowledging your "iniquity" and your sin?   Here's a thought... our sin, though we may lie to each other or steal from each other, our sin is primarily heavenward, toward God Himself. Do we acknowledge that we offend God with our sin?

21 Do not despise us, for Your own name’s sake; Do not disgrace the throne of Your glory; Remember and do not annul Your covenant with us.

They really don't like the effects of their sin.   Can't we just go back to the way things were?   I'm sorry to say, there is a point at which there is no return.

22 Are there any among the idols of the nations who give rain? Or can the heavens grant showers? Is it not You, O Lord our God? Therefore we hope in You, For You are the one who has done all these things.

There seems to be this remembrance; Oh yeah, God is real, and He’s got the power to change our situation. Even in the midst of this judgement there is a glimmer of hope here...

Jeremiah 15

Judgment Must Come

1 Then the Lord said to me, “Even though Moses and Samuel were to stand before Me, My heart would not be with this people; send them away from My presence and let them go! 

To me, this is saying a lot.   The extreme place that Judah was in, the extreme measure of their moral failure was so much, so far had they fallen, that even with Moses or Samuel’s intercession, God’s judgement would not be withheld.

2 And it shall be that when they say to you, ‘Where should we go?’ then you are to tell them, ‘Thus says the Lord:

“Those destined for death, to death;
And those destined for the sword, to the sword;
And those destined for famine, to famine;
And those destined for captivity, to captivity.”’

This little passage of scripture is quoted in Revelation 13:7-9 It was also given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them, and authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation was given to him. 8 All who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain. 9 If anyone has an ear, let him hear. 10If anyone is destined for captivity, to captivity he goes; if anyone kills with the sword, with the sword he must be killed. Here is the perseverance and the faith of the saints.

Here in Jeremiah, it is talking about the fact that judgement is forthcoming.   In Revelation, it’s talking about the fact that persecution of the saints is coming.   In both cases, it is just emphasizing the certainness of that which is to come.

3 I will appoint over them four kinds of doom,” declares the Lord: “the sword to slay, the dogs to drag off, and the birds of the sky and the beasts of the earth to devour and destroy. 4 I will make them an object of horror among all the kingdoms of the earth because of Manasseh, the son of Hezekiah, the king of Judah, for what he did in Jerusalem.

I guess the point I’d like to make here is that faithfulness is not guaranteed by family succession or an inheritance kind of thing.  Even though Hezekiah was a righteous king, his son Manasseh was one of the most wicked.  There can be a fall from righteousness from one generation to the next.   Each individual is responsible for their own faithfulness to God, but as parents, we desire our children to walk with God and serve Him.

5 “Indeed, who will have pity on you, O Jerusalem, Or who will mourn for you, Or who will turn aside to ask about your welfare?

The LORD asked Jerusalem to consider if anyone else cared for them and their coming crisis. There was no other who cared, who would bemoan their tragedy or take interest in their need.

6 “You who have forsaken Me,” declares the Lord, “You keep going backward. So I will stretch out My hand against you and destroy you; I am tired of relenting!

Ironically, Judah rejected and rebelled against the only One who cared for them. Instead of progressing, they had gone backward. God would answer their rejection of Him with His own kind of rejection of them, giving them over to judgment and destruction. Judah was most blind to it, but God had held back His judgment against Judah for a long, long time. They presumed upon God in relenting in His own judgment against them, never considering that one day He would become weary of it and relent no more.

7 “I will winnow them with a winnowing fork At the gates of the land; I will bereave them of children, I will destroy My people; They did not repent of their ways.

When you grow wheat, and then harvest it, you have some more processing to go before you can make bread with it.   First you have to separate the kernel of the wheat from the shell.  The shell is called the chaff.   The chaff is hard and not really good for bread, although, if you have bran cereal, you're eating ground up chaff.   Good fiber.   Anyhow, processing wheat to separate the kernel from the shell is called Winnowing, which uses wind to scatter the chaff, separating it from the valuable grain. God would soon scatter Judah and Jerusalem into exile, as if from a winnowing fan.

8 “Their widows will be more numerous before Me Than the sand of the seas; I will bring against them, against the mother of a young man, A destroyer at noonday; I will suddenly bring down on her Anguish and dismay.

Considering the destruction and judgment that was coming upon Judah, God is telling them of the great number of widows there would be from those killed in battle and exile.

9 “She who bore seven sons pines away; Her breathing is labored. Her sun has set while it was yet day; She has been shamed and humiliated. So I will give over their survivors to the sword Before their enemies,” declares the Lord.

Normally, seven children would be considered a sign of great blessing – something of a perfect family. Now even that woman suffers and perishes

10 Woe to me, my mother, that you have borne me As a man of strife and a man of contention to all the land! I have not lent, nor have men lent money to me, Yet everyone curses me.

Jeremiah personally bears the grief of his people's sin.      As with so much of Jeremiah’s life and ministry, he is foreshadowing Christ’s own life.

Matthew 8:17 This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet: “HE HIMSELF TOOK OUR INFIRMITIES AND CARRIED AWAY OUR DISEASES.”

The Lord promises help and exile.

11 The Lord said, “Surely I will set you free for purposes of good; Surely I will cause the enemy to make supplication to you In a time of disaster and a time of distress.

12 “Can anyone smash iron, Iron from the north, or bronze?
13 “Your wealth and your treasures I will give for booty without cost, Even for all your sins And within all your borders.
14 “Then I will cause your enemies to bring it Into a land you do not know; For a fire has been kindled in My anger, It will burn upon you.”

Sometimes we don’t see how good can come out of harsh circumstances.  But God can and does use even exile, even punishment for good and for correction.

Jeremiah’s Prayer 

15 You who know, O Lord, Remember me, take notice of me, And take vengeance for me on my persecutors. Do not, in view of Your patience, take me away; Know that for Your sake I endure reproach.
16 Your words were found and I ate them, And Your words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart; For I have been called by Your name, O Lord God of hosts.
17 I did not sit in the circle of merrymakers, Nor did I exult. Because of Your hand upon me I sat alone, For You filled me with indignation.
18 Why has my pain been perpetual And my wound incurable, refusing to be healed? Will You indeed be to me like a deceptive stream With water that is unreliable?

Again, I would say Jeremiah’s words here, about himself, really apply and were fulfilled in Jesus.   We want (or at least ought to want) God to see Jesus when He looks at us.   We desire for God to see us through the righteousness of Christ.   In seeing us that way, God can rejoice in us.   As for our part we can be grateful that God doesn’t see us in our sin.   Jesus was mortally wounded for us, and yet God chose for Jesus to have his life restored (i.e. cured or healed) to prove God was satisfied with the righteous life given for us.

God’s Answer

19 Therefore, thus says the Lord, “If you return, then I will restore you— Before Me you will stand;
And if you extract the precious from the worthless, You will become My spokesman. They for their part may turn to you, But as for you, you must not turn to them.
20 “Then I will make you to this people A fortified wall of bronze; And though they fight against you, They will not prevail over you; For I am with you to save you And deliver you,” declares the Lord.
21 “So I will deliver you from the hand of the wicked, And I will redeem you from the grasp of the violent.”

Eventually, ultimately there will be release from captivity and return from exile.

God is stronger than anything that is holding you captive.   You can have freedom from sin and sinful habits.   Cry out to God.  Seek him with all your heart.  Ask for help.   We are all in this together.