Starting in Chapter 2, where God reminds the Israelites of their love for him in the past and so was protected by God as his favourite. We’ve heard how Israel paid God back by being unfaithful in 3:6, immoral in 3:9, faithless in 3:14 and have forgotten the Lord their God in 3:21.
In chapters 4-6, we heard about the ‘disaster from the North’ and how no one was righteous to be saved. Chapters 7-10 God is telling Jeremiah about the problems of false religion and worshipping false gods, something the Israelites were doing and in Chapter 11, God declares the covenant had been broken, the covenant between God and the Israelites he brought out of Egypt. We also heard about the plot against Jeremiah’s life for his part in these messages and in chapter 12, how Jeremiah complained to God about this plot.
In chapter 13, God describes a rather dark theme: the signs of judgement. The belt in vv1-11 signified the ruin of the pride of Judah and of Jerusalem. The wineskins in vv12-14 signify the confusion of the people under judgement and their eventual destruction without pity, mercy or compassion. Then in vv15-27 there are three oracles: the first 15-17 directed to Judah and the threat that God will turn the light to ‘thick darkness and change it to deep gloom’; the second, 18-19 is the removal of the king and his mother from their thrones and the eventual exile of Judah, and; the final oracle, vv20-27, declaring the unfaithfulness of a bride to her bridegroom and Judah being overrun by those nations who they sought to associate with. And finally, in 13:23, God declares ‘Neither can you do good who are accustomed to doing evil. Clearly pointing out these people could not change.
And so, we come to our passage tonight. A conversation about the judgement covered in chapters 2-13. On the one side, we have God telling Jeremiah to tell the Israelites he is about to pass his judgement for their wickedness and unfaithfulness mentioned in previously. On the other side, we have Jeremiah defending the people and calling for God to show mercy. I actually wonder if this is a delaying tactic on Jeremiah’s part, forcing the postponement of God’s judgement we have heard so much about. As we will see, he will remind God of who the people are and who they belong to and then implore him to show mercy, despite God saying he will not show mercy in chapter 13 v14.
We begin with the description of the drought that affected the land. We are not entirely sure when this drought happened, but vv1-6 shows it must have been a terrible plight, affecting all living creatures and humans of all status. The nobles and servants in v3, the farmers in v4, the doe and grass in v5 and the wild donkeys in v6. Each affected by the judgement God had passed as a result of Israel’s sin.
You will agree that water is probably the most important commodity we have. Scientifically, it is two of the most abundant gases in the world chemically joined together to form a colourless liquid that covers up to 71% of the Earth’s surface and amounts to about 65% of a human’s body. 96.5% of the Earth’s water is found in our oceans allowing a tremendous diversity of life in all shapes, sizes and colours ranging from tiny, tiny microscopic plankton to the largest animal on the planet, the mighty Blue Whale. Not only in our oceans does water affect life, but on land and in the air. Liquid water is the reason there are so many different forms of life on Earth, whether animal, plant, bacterial or otherwise. Our planet is 150 million km from the Sun, the perfect distance for water to be a liquid, essential for life. Any closer it would be a gas and any further away, it would be solid ice, neither of which are capable of sustaining life.
Since, therefore, liquid water is so fundamental for life, its supply is a basic covenant blessing, as we see in Deuteronomy 28:12 ‘The Lord will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations and will borrow from none’. But, its withholding is a great curse, as in Deuteronomy 28:24, ‘The Lord will turn the rain of your country into dust and powder; it will come down from the skies until you are destroyed’.
With water shortages becoming more frequent these days, you may be wondering if we are being judged ourselves, a logical thought. However, droughts, in general, are and should be considered as natural disasters and although several civilisations around the globe still believe droughts to be a form of God’s judgement upon them, more often than not, natural disasters just happen. In Jeremiah’s time, however, during Judah’s covenant relationship with God, such a major catastrophe as this drought described in vv1-6, must be seen as his judgement upon them.
Following on from the terrible judgement, Jeremiah pleads Israel’s case, a confession of sin and an appeal to the Lord for help. Jeremiah reminds God that the people bear [his] name (v9) that he is the hope of Israel, its Saviour in times of distress (v8).
But the Lord’s cold-hearted response to this plea is striking in v10 the Lord does not accept them! In v11, he compounds this rejection by calling them this people. He does not care that they practice religious rituals, such as fasting and burnt offerings, to him, these are worthless and mean nothing from these people, they are not born out of repentance. God forbids Jeremiah to pray for the peoples’ survival, therefore, it’s too late. They have gone too far, done too much and forsaken him too often. In this context, prayer will not affect the present drought or future signs of judgement.
Rather, the whole judgement is broadened with the introduction of the sword, famine and plague in v12. This trio of judgement reflects the full range of human misery and has been used in other parts of the Bible, particularly in Deuteronomy 28, but also, points towards future events detailed in Revelation 6:8, “I looked and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth”.
The false prophets and those who listened to them will fall prey to these three signs of judgement in vv14-18. No one will escape the judgement, no one will survive and all will be destroyed.
Jeremiah pleads again on behalf of the people. But this time, it is different. He wonders if there is any hope for Israel (v19), but it falls on deaf ears (so to speak). Chapter 15 begins with God repeating it’s too late for prayer, it’s too late for compassion. He uses Moses and Samuel (v1), prophets known for their prayers for the people, to emphasise the point.
V2-3, God calls the whole of creation into his purpose to cast these faithless people out of the land which had once been given to them the sword to kill and the dogs to drag away and the birds and the wild animals to devour and destroy.
All because Israel had built up their guilt for generations particularly during the reign of King Manasseh of Judah who committed the most atrocious idolatries against the Lord, leading the people to forsake him in 2 Kings 21. It’s too late for compassion, these people have gone too far, done too much and forsaken him too often. They have rejected him, they keep backsliding, v6, they have not changed their ways, v7.
Jeremiah expresses his regret of ever being born, which is derived from the public contention he experiences with his prophecies (v10), to which God responds reassuringly in v11, “Surely I will deliver you for a good purpose; surely I will make your enemies plead with you in times of disaster and times of distress”. And toward the end of Chapter 15, we see Jeremiah beginning to see God’s side of this discussion, v15, “Lord, you understand”. But, he realises that he, too, is under the same judgement and begins a new plea, one for his own life, “You are long-suffering – do not take me away” (v15), “for I bear your name, Lord God Almighty” (v16) and “Why is my pain unending and my wound grievous and incurable?” (v18).
To this, God replies with a simple statement, v19, “If you repent, I will restore you” and in v20-21, “for I am with you to rescue and save you, declares the Lord, I will save you from the hands of the wicked and deliver you from the grasp of the cruel.”
Chapter 16 sees God commanding Jeremiah not to pollute himself with the behaviour of the people. He must not participate in any marriage, mourning or feasting. In v11, he goes on to say to the people, “It is because your ancestors forsook me, declares the Lord, and followed other gods and served and worshipped them. They forsook me and did not keep my law. But you have behaved more wickedly than your ancestors. See how all of you are following the stubbornness of your evil hearts instead of obeying me…I will show you no favour.”
In chapter 17, this idea of the worse state of affairs is repeated and we are told it is deep-rooted in the lives of the Israelites.
These people turn to other gods, but they don’t even remember who these other gods are, they are fickle! Therefore, the blame is entirely their own. This judgement is entirely upon their heads for their wrongdoing.
But friends, how many of us fail and turn away from God? How many of us turn toward gods of today, made of stone, paper and the like? We all have forsaken God by our behaviour, the choices we make, the words we say, the unclean jokes we share or participate in, the gossip we talk and listen to, the unfounded critiques of others. We all have forsaken God, just as the Israelites constantly and consistently did. This judgement is just as much ours as it was the Israelites.
But, there is hope!
God wants to save us.
God wants to save us. Why else would he say in 16:15, “For I will restore them to the land I gave their ancestors?”
God wants to save us! Why else would he give us a get-out clause? (V7)
God wants to save us.
The ESV, in my mind, says v7 better, “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust IS the Lord”
It is that simple! Trust in the Lord!
Another point these four chapters show us, is Jeremiah acts as a kind of mini-Christ. He delivered the message of judgement to God’s people but yet was under the same judgement. Just as Christ was.
Now, our true Messiah, Christ has already come. He has already given us God’s message of judgement, commanded us to repent of our sins. He lived and died under the same curse and judgement we all were under as a result of our sin. But, he did it differently to Jeremiah.
He did it so we would not have to. He did it so we can reap the benefits. He did it so we would not be destroyed by the destroyers in Revelation 6:8 but have life everlasting.
But, our trust in God, must be a true trust, not a make-belief one. We must trust him in the easy, good times and in the most difficult, dark times. Whatever our circumstances are, we must trust in him. Our trust must be whole-hearted, deep-rooted and reflected in all aspects of our lives.
That’s all it takes, my friends, according to today’s passage, trust in the Lord.
Trust in the Lord!
If you struggle, like me, to do that very simple thing, then God, the loving father who wants to save us all because he loves us so very much, has even thought of that too. V19-27, keep the Sabbath holy.
Of course, this is a simple test. Keeping the Sabbath holy spans right back to Genesis 2:1-3, where God rested and made the seventh day holy. But it was not until Exodus 31:12-17 that God made it part of a covenant with him. V12 “Then the Lord said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so that you may know that I am the Lord, who makes you holy.’”
With our human genius for getting things wrong, however, we find the legalists of our Christ’s day missing the point and spirit of this prohibition, in the case of the healed man who was told to pick up his mat and walk, on the Sabbath (John 5:10). However, in Jeremiah’s day, we see the other extreme where it was treated as just another day. Both extremes can ruin the Lord’s day: whether by flooding it with the mundane or by freezing it with the forbidden. Keeping the Sabbath holy should be somewhere in the middle.
Do you see how God, our heavenly father is going out of his way, to spare us from destruction and his judgement? Keeping the Sabbath holy is simple to do. Worship God and God alone. Remain in fellowship with Christ. Pray unceasingly for all people, keep the Sabbath holy. God is pulling all the possible stops for us to see Christ, hear his name, repent and believe. He is absolutely dying to save us. Quite literally!
Sure enough, God hates it when we sin. When we turn our backs on him. When we focus on other gods. His anger was quite explicit in tonight’s passage. Did you notice the 6 times he called the Israelites something other than ‘my people’?
14:11 this people
14:16 The people
15:1This people
15:19 this people
16:5 this people
And 16:10 these people.
God was so angry at the sin of the people of Israel that he was trying to disassociate himself from them. He wanted nothing to do with them any longer. As far as he was concerned, the Israelites had broken the covenant between him and their forefathers.
But you know what, and this is absolutely fantastic. Absolutely wonderful.
Throughout his anger. Throughout his passing of judgement. Despite him disassociating himself from these people. God still loved them.
14:17, he calls them Virgen Daughter, my people
And 15:7, I will bring bereavement and destruction on my people.
Even after everything they had done to him throughout the ages, he still loved them. That is truly amazing to me. It says to me, that even though I sin, and I struggle with sin daily, even though I turn my back on him daily, he still loves me enough to call me his own. That is the power of Christ’s death and resurrection.
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