Jeremiah 12:1-17
Jeremiah’s
Complaint
“Comparing his own sufferings with the
apparent prosperity of those against whom he was preaching…” is how Halley
describes chapter 12. J. Vernon McGee
goes on to say this, “As we come to chapter 12 we have entered a very evil
period in the life of the nation, and the only light remaining is this man
Jeremiah. Josiah has been slain,
Jeremiah has been forced to leave his hometown, and evil men have come to the
throne. Conditions seem only to get
worse. At this point Jeremiah---and I believe
every honest Christian---has doubts come to his heart. Dark thoughts come into his mind, and he
wonders why God permits certain things. Every pastor who has ever stood for the things of God at times wonders
why God does not move. He looks around and
sees that it is the very best people who are suffering; the most spiritual folk
seem to be having more trouble than anyone else. We all wonder why God permits this. Even David questioned God when he saw “…the
wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree” (Psalm
37:35).” Ibid. p.375 Now let’s consider
the whole book of Jeremiah in the light of J. Vernon McGee’s comment here. The whole book of Jeremiah is a written
record of how God deals with evil in a nation, both the people that make up his
holy nations of Israel and Judah, and the Gentile nations, for God is no
respecter of persons. We see a
pattern. The good suffer for awhile, the
good being represented by Jeremiah. But
the good, ie, Jeremiah is protected through the whole process, even though he
suffers persecution. But as the history
unfolds within the book of Jeremiah, we see that God does indeed deal with the
evil people, in this case, the whole nation. He waits until the whole nation is given over to evil, and then he
punishes the whole nation through defeat in a major war, and then national
captivity takes place. The Book of
Jeremiah is a serious warning to any nation or people who would cast off God
and defy him. Continue to do so at the
peril of your very lives, is what the Book of Jeremiah is saying. Verse 5 contains an interesting question with
a serious warning built into it for all believers in Jesus Christ, who at the
time of this writing was Yahweh. It
states, “If you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out, how can
you compete with horses? If you stumble
in a safe country, how will you manage in the thickets by the Jordan?” i.e. If you’re finding it hard to obey in ‘in
a safe country, how hard will you find obedience under severe persecution, an
unsafe country?’ Verse 10 talks of the
shepherds of the land, God’s supposed pastors, and states “Many shepherds will
ruin my vineyard and trample down my field; they will turn my pleasant field
into a desolate wasteland.” These
prophecies have a prior historic fulfillment in Jeremiah’s time, but also apply
to the here and now. And what do we find
in today’s day and age? Many pastors and
denominations who are preaching lies in the name of the LORD, essentially
destroying parts of God’s spiritual harvest, dead and dying denominations and
luke warm Evangelical pastors who preach lies instead of the truth. Verses 14-17 lays out an interesting proposal
for all the nations which had surrounded first Israel, and then Judah and
taught her false worship of idols and Baal. God says they’re to go into captivity too, and if they repent and learn
God’s ways, they too will be restored to their lands again. We can see God’s judgment of Tyre and Sidon
prophecied in Isaiah 23 because they historically didn’t follow God’s proposal
for them. Comparing Isaiah 23 to their
actual history, we see that the Phoenician maritime empire was defeated and
driven out of their principle city-states of Tyre and Sidon, they then migrated
west relocating in Carthage and Spain, which colonies were then ultimately
defeated by Rome (because they never repented of their Baal worship, even in
those colonies they fled to). Tyre
and Sidon, interestingly enough, were initially defeated and driven out of
“their land” by Nebuchadnezzar just after the fall of Judah, in 573BC. Read the entire section on Kings &
Chronicles to better understand this short prophecy (start at: http://www.unityinchrist.com/kings/1.html and read through the whole series.) This may yet also have a future application after the 2nd coming, where the Jordanians, Syrians, Iraqi’s and Saudi’s are either given
free immigration status and absorbed into the new Millennial nation of Israel,
or are actually given their lands back. My speculative answer leans towards the immigration absorption scenario,
since it fits another Old Testament prophecy about that very thing. Either way, God loves all nations equally,
and gives them equal chances to repent, just like he did for the House of
Israel and the House of Judah.
“Righteous are you, O LORD, when I plead with you; yet let me talk with you about your judgments. Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why are
those happy who deal so treacherously? You have planted them, yes, they have taken root; they grow, yes, they
bear fruit. You are near in their mouth but far from their mind. But you, O LORD, know me; you have seen me, and you have tested my heart
toward you. Pull them out like sheep for
the slaughter, and prepare them for the day of slaughter. How long will the land mourn, and the herbs
of every field wither? The beasts and
birds are consumed, for the wickedness of those who dwell there, because they said, ‘He will not see our final
end.’
The
LORD Answers Jeremiah
‘If you have run with the footmen, and they
have wearied you, how then can you contend with horses? And if in the land of peace, in which you
trusted, they wearied you, then how
will you do in the floodplain of the Jordan? For even your brothers, the house of your father, even they have dealt
treacherously with you; yes, they have called a multitude after you. Do not believe them, even though they speak
smooth words to you. I have forsaken my
house, I have left my heritage; I have given the dearly beloved of my soul into
the hand of her enemies. My heritage is
to me like a lion in the forest; it cries out against me; therefore I have
hated it. My heritage is to me like a speckled vulture; the vultures all around are against her. Come, assemble all the beasts of the field,
bring them to devour! Many shepherds
have destroyed my vineyard, they have trodden my portion underfoot; they have
made my pleasant portion a desolate wilderness. They have made it desolate; desolate, it mourns to me; the whole land is
made desolate, because no one takes it to
heart. The plunderers have come on all
the desolate heights in the wilderness, for the sword of the LORD shall devour from one end of the land to the other end of the land; no flesh shall
have peace. They have sown wheat but
reaped thorns; they have put themselves to pain but do not profit. But be
ashamed of your harvest because of the fierce anger of the LORD.’”
An
interesting proposal for the nations that surrounded Israel and Judah, past and
future application
Verses 14-17, “Thus says the LORD: ‘Against all my
evil neighbors who touch the inheritance which I have caused my people Israel
to inherit---behold, I will pluck them out of their land and pluck out the
house of Judah from among them. Then
it shall be, after I have plucked them out, that I will return and have
compassion on them and bring them back, everyone to his heritage and everyone
to his land. And it shall be, if they [context of “they” is “all my evil
neighbors who touch the inheritance which I have caused my people Israel to
inherit”] will learn carefully the ways
of my people, to swear by my name, ‘As the LORD lives,’ as they taught my people to swear by Baal [which the city-states of the Phoenician Empire, Tyre
& Sidon did], then they shall be
established in the midst of my people. But if they do not obey, I will utterly pluck up and destroy that
nation,’ says the LORD.” The entire record of Kings & Chronicles
show basically that Baal worship came from one source, really, from the
Phoenician Maritime Empire, headquartered in the city-states of Tyre and
Sidon. God prophecied against these two
city-states in Isaiah 23 and Ezekiel 26. In Ezekiel 26:3-6 God essentially
predicted exactly what befell Tyre and her surrounding villages. All the way through verse 18 it describes
first Nebuchadnezzar’s conquest of the mainland portion of the seaport city of
Tyre. Then in verses 19-21 is described
what Alexander the Great did to the island portion of that great seaport
city. It’s destruction came in
successive conquering waves just as verse 3 said it would, Nebuchadnezzar in
573BC and Alexander the Great in the 330’s BC finishing the surviving part of
Tyre off. Most of the Phoenicians fled
west on the open Mediterranean Sea to their far-flung colonies, which were
later gobbled up by Rome. Who are the
Phoenicians now?---they’re a race which, fleeing west intermingled with the
Celts, spreading all over Europe, England and Ireland.
Jeremiah 13:1-27
The
Marred Girdle, A Sober Message About Christian Ministry
Halley says, “Jeremiah made considerable use
of symbols in his preaching (see on 19:1). The girdle was probably richly decorated, a conspicuous part of
Jeremiah’s dress [like a sash], as he walked about the streets of Jerusalem. Later, rotted, ragged and dirty, it served to
attract attention. As curious crowds
gathered around the prophet it gave him occasion to explain that even so Judah,
with whom Jehovah had clothed himself to walk among men, once beautiful and
glorious, would be marred and cast off.” [p. 312, Halley’s Bible Handbook] J. Vernon McGee has this to say about Chapter
13, “The girdle is a sign of service. The Lord Jesus spoke of his servants having their ‘loins…girded about’
(Luke 12:35). That is, they are to be
ready for service. You remember that he
girded himself with a linen cloth and began to wash the disciples’ feet. This had a twofold meaning: He, the great
Servant, was preparing ‘them’ for service by washing their feet so they could
have fellowship with him. For if you
don’t have fellowship with him, you can’t serve. Service is fellowship with Christ. It is not teaching a Sunday school class,
singing a solo, or presenting a sermon. Service is fellowship with Christ. It is being cleansed and used for what he wants to do, God doesn’t use
dirty cups or dirty vessels,” [ibid. p.376] And by extrapolation God doesn’t use dirty girdle’s. The nation of Judah was supposed to be God’s
servant nation. He wasn’t about to use a
dirty servant nation. “God is saying
that because the people of Judah are continually sinking into iniquity they
will reach the place where there is no hope for them. He is going to send them into Babylonian
captivity. The object lesson was
impressive. God uses some very funny things
to teach his people.” The girdle here
was part of the priesthood’s dress, it was a sash. We see the glorified Christ in Revelation 1
‘girt about the chest with a golden girdle’. This was more like a sash, part of our High Priest’s holy uniform, clothing.
“Thus the LORD said to me: ‘Go and
get yourself a linen sash, and put it around your waist, but do not put it in
water.’ So I got a sash according to the
word of the LORD, and put it around my waist. And the word of the LORD came to me the
second time, saying, ‘Take the sash that you acquired, which is around your waist, and arise, go to
the Euphrates, and hide it in a hole in the rock.’ So I went and hid it by the Euphrates, as the
LORD commanded me. Now it came to pass after
many days that the LORD said to me, ‘Arise, go to the Euphrates, and take from
there the sash which I commanded you to hide there.’ Then I went to the Euphrates and dug, and I
took the sash from the place where I had hidden it; and there was the sash,
ruined, it was profitable for nothing. Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD: In this manner I will ruin the pride of Judah
and the great pride of Jerusalem. This
evil people, who refuse to hear my words, who follow the dictates of their
hearts, and walk after other gods to serve them and worship them, shall be just
like this sash which is profitable for nothing. For as the sash clings to the waist of a man, so I have caused the whole
house of Israel and the whole house of Judah to cling to me,’ says the LORD, ‘that they may become my people, for renown, for praise,
and for glory; but they would not hear.’ Therefore you shall speak to them this word: ‘Thus says the LORD God of Israel:
‘Every bottle shall be filled with wine. And they will says to you, Do we not certainly know that every bottle
will be filled with wine? Then you shall
say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD: Behold, I will fill all the inhabitants of this
land---even the kings who sit on David’s throne, the priests, the prophets, and
all the inhabitants of Jerusalem---with drunkenness! And I will dash them one against another,
even the fathers and the sons together.’ Says the LORD. ‘I will not pity
nor spare nor have mercy, but will destroy them.’
Pride Precedes Captivity
Hear and give
ear; do not be proud, for the LORD has spoken. Give
glory to the LORD your God before he causes darkness, and before your feet
stumble on the dark mountains, and while you are looking for light, he turns it
into the shadow of death and makes it dense darkness. But if you will not hear
it, my soul will weep in secret for your pride;
my; my eyes will weep bitterly and run down with tears, because the LORD’s flock has been
taken captive. Say to the king and to
the queen mother, Humble yourselves; sit down, for your rule shall collapse,
the crown of your glory. The cities of
the south shall be shut up, and no one shall open them; Judah shall be carried away captive, all of it; it shall be
wholly carried away captive. Lift up
your eyes and see those who come from the north. Where is the flock that was given to you, your
beautiful sheep? What will you say when
he punishes you? For you have taught
them to be chieftans, to be head over
you. Will not pangs seize you, like a
woman in labor? And if you say in your
heart, Why have these things come upon me? For the greatness of your iniquity your skirts have been uncovered, your
heels made bare. Can the Ethiopian
change his skin or the leopard its spots? Then may you also do
good who are accustomed to do evil [vs. 23]. Therefore I will scatter them like stubble
that passes away by the wind of the wilderness. This is your lot, the portion of your measures from me,’ says the LORD, ‘because you have
forgotten me and trusted in falsehood. Therefore I will uncover your skirts over your face, that your shame may
appear. I have seen your adulteries and
your lustful neighings, the lewdness
of your harlotry, your abominations on the hills in the fields. Woe to you, O Jerusalem! Will you still not be made clean?’”
Jeremiah
14:1-22
Drought, Famine, Sword
Halley says, “A
prolonged drought has stripped the land of food. Jeremiah though hated, ridiculed and mocked,
it made his heart ache to see them suffer. His intercession to God is as near an approach to the spirit of Christ
as is to be found anywhere in the Old Testament…” J. Vernon McGee says “Up to this point
Jeremiah has been prophesying during the reign of Josiah. Now we find him delivering a prophecy during
the reign of Jehoiakim. King Josiah
during the last part of his reign did a very foolish thing. He fought against Necho, a pharaoh of Egypt,
and there at Megiddo Josiah was killed. Jeremiah mourned for him; he had been his friend. After the death of Josiah, the nation began
to drop back into idolatry; in fact, its plunge downward was swift and
terrible, as we shall see in this section. God’s first warning to the nation was drought. The drought was apparently a very severe
one. There had been a drought during the
reign of Ahab [king of Israel, the Northern Kingdom], and at that time Elijah
was the messenger from God. Now there is
a drought in the land of Judah, and Jeremiah is God’s messenger to the southern
kingdom of Judah.” A pattern is
appearing here that fits Leviticus 26, the National Blessings and Cursings
chapter found in the Law of God [Torah]. Punishment for disobedience on a national level follows a distinct
pattern as shown in Leviticus 26, first severe drought, followed of course, by
famine, and then ‘the sword’, national invasion by an outside enemy. It is the specific pattern or template God
follows for punishing a nation, so that nation will have no doubt it’s coming
from the LORD. By all
appearances, we’re headed for such a time in America, if you’re adept at reading
the signs of the times, ‘the handwriting on the wall.’ Leviticus
26:19 states, ‘I will break the pride of your power; I will make your heavens
like iron and your earth like bronze. And your strength shall be spent in vain; for your land shall not yield
its produce, nor shall the trees of the land yield their fruit.’
…Leviticus
26:25, ‘I will bring a sword against you…” See the pattern? Drought, famine,
sword, as spelled out by God, Yahweh, in his Torah Law (cf. Leviticus 26 &
Deuteronomy 28). If you have any doubts
about such times coming upon our nation or the world, thinking this stuff was
merely for Old Testament times, think again. Refer to my commentary on Revelation at http://www.unityinchrist.com/revelation/revelation4-10.html.
“The word of the
LORD that came to Jeremiah concerning the droughts. ‘Judah mourns, and her gates languish; they mourn for the land, and the
cry of Jerusalem has gone up. 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. [Comment: Our “cisterns” for the U.S. are the giant
aquifers, which are being depleted at a record rate. See this article http://www.unityinchrist.com/E-Mails/2010/Coming%20World%20Famine.htm to see how this might apply to us very soon.] Because the ground is parched,
for there was no rain in the land, the plowmen were ashamed; they covered their
heads. Yes, the deer also gave birth in
the field, but left because there was no grass. And the wild donkeys stood in the desolate heights; they sniffed at the
wind like jackals; their eyes failed because there was no grass.’ ‘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. 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? 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!’ Thus says the LORD to his 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.’ Then the LORD said to me, ‘Do not pray for this people, for their good. 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 famine, and by the pestilence.’ 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 assured peace in this place.’ 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, divination, a
worthless thing, and the deceit of their heart. 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! 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.’ Therefore you shall say 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. 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 (Jeremiah probably personifying what
the people would be praying, if they were spiritually with it)
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. We acknowledge, O LORD, our wickedness and the iniquity of our fathers. For we have sinned against you. 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. 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.”
Jeremiah
15:1-21
J. Vernon McGee
explains, “In chapter 15 we see that Jeremiah is a brokenhearted man who wants
to go to God to pray for his people. That was very right and fine. However, God has something interesting to say to him (vs1). The people have gone too far, and judgment
must come upon them. They have gone over
the borderline where there is absolutely no possibility of reprieve. They will not escape captivity. The LORD tells Jeremiah that he shouldn’t think that God is not
hearing his prayers. There is nothing
wrong with Jeremiah’s prayers. God says
that even if “Moses” stood before him, he would not listen. You will remember in Exodus 32 that Moses was
a marvelous intercessor for the people. When God threatened to destroy the people, Moses had stood before him as
their intercessor. God answered his
prayer and spared the people. But now,
even if Moses were acting as the intercessor for the people, it wouldn’t do any
good…”[ibid p. 379] Jeremiah’s job
wasn’t an easy one. King Josiah was his
friend, but not so with king Jehoiakim, who was evil (vs. 10). “During this difficult time, Jeremiah turns
to the Word of God---remember that the law of the LORD had been found in the Temple and was available to him (vs.
16). He found his consolation in it. He ate it and he digested it and it became a
part of him…Jeremiah is in real difficulty. Remember that his hometown rejected him and got rid of him...his life is
actually in danger. God says, ‘You just
stay on the firing line, and I will take care of you (vs. 20-21).” [ibid. p. 380] That’s something all of us in Christian
ministry should remember in the times that are coming upon us. Jeremiah is a type for all of us in Christian
evangelistic ministry. It is he who will
make us ‘unto this people a brazen wall’ and ‘deliver us out of the and of the
wicked.’ Who knows, but Jeremiah’s
message may become a part of our Gospel message to the unsaved world as time
grows short, warning them of the consequences of their actions and willfully
chosen sinful lifestyles. That’s where
having a unified understanding of Biblical end-time prophecy will become very important.
“Then the LORD said to me, ‘Even if Moses and Samuel stood before
me, my mind would not be favorable toward this people. Cast them out of my sight, and let them go forth. And it shall be, if they say to you, ‘Where shall 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. 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. 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. [see http://www.unityinchrist.com/kings/5.html] 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? 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
weary of relenting! 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. 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. 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 is dejected, talks to the LORD
‘Woe is me, my
mother, that you have borne me, a man of strife and a man of contention to the
whole earth! I have neither lent for
interest, nor have men lent to me for interest. Every one of them curses me.’ The
LORD said: ‘Surely it will be well with your remnant [he’s talking about Judah, the remnant of Judah that
survives]; surely I will cause the enemy
to intercede with you in the time of adversity and in the time of
affliction. Can anyone break iron, the
northern iron and the bronze? Your
wealth and your treasures I will give as plunder without price, because of all
your sins, throughout your territories. And I will 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.’ [Jeremiah again, talking
to the LORD] ‘O LORD, you know; remember
me and 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. Your words were
found, 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. 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. 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 fail?’ [The LORD reassures Jeremiah] 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. 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. ‘I will deliver you from the hand of the
wicked, and I will redeem you from the grip of the terrible.’”
Jeremiah
16:1-21
Jeremiah forbidden to marry
From J. Vernon McGee we get (vs. 1-4) “The
days are becoming increasingly difficult. The nation of Judah is coming to the end of it’s rope. As nearly as I can judge, it is within ten
years of the destruction of Jerusalem at this particular time [which would put
this at the beginning of Zedekiah’s reign]. God reveals to Jeremiah the horror that is to come. He tells Jeremiah not to get married and I
think the reason is quite obvious. If
you will turn to Psalm 137, which was written after the Babylonian captivity,
you will see the fate children suffered. In the last two verses it says that Babylon will be destroyed and they
will do to her just ‘as she has done to Judah:’ “O daughter of Babylon, who art
to be destroyed; happy shall he be, that rewardeth thee as thou hast served
us. Happy shall he be, that taketh and
dasheth thy little ones against the stones” (Ps. 137:8-9). When Nebuchadnezzar took the city of
Jerusalem, the conquerors seized little children and dashed their heads against
the stones! God asked Jeremiah not to
get married because he wanted to spare Jeremiah this anguish. Under certain circumstances it is best not to
bring children into this world. I
sometimes wonder about the times in which we live. My heart goes out to the little ones
today. I look at my own grandchildren
and, actually, tears come into my eyes. They may live out their lives through some terrible times, so I pray for
them and ask the Lord to protect them. A
great deal could be said about this. There is a time when it would be better not to have children.” [ibid. pp.380-381] Now verses
14-15, since Israel is being mentioned, could be taken in the Millennial
Kingdom of God sense, as well as the part of Israel made up by Judah being
taken in the historic context of Judah moving back from Babylon. Both interpretations apply, so this text will
be in bold green. (Verses 16-18 describe how
the LORD will inspire their conquerors to hunt anyone down who
escapes, so in the end, no one will escape. (Verses 19- 21) I agree with what J. Vernon
McGee says about these verses, he’s right where I am in applying the Book of
Jeremiah to America, and I’d go further to applying it to all the English
speaking peoples. He says “It is my
personal opinion that God is going to have to teach my country that he is the
Lord. I get the impression that America
doesn’t know God is out there. When he
does make himself known, I am afraid it will be very impressive. Don’t believe that? Check out the commentary on the Book of
Revelation on this website starting at http://www.unityinchrist.com/revelation/revelation1.html. Some very scary times are just around the
corner.
“The word of the
LORD also
came to me, saying, ‘You shall not take a wife, nor shall you have sons or
daughters in this place.’ For thus says
the LORD concerning the sons and daughters who are born in this
place [“this place” being Judah and
Jerusalem], and concerning their mothers
who bore them and their fathers who begot them in this land: They shall die gruesome deaths; they shall
not be lamented nor shall they be buried, but they shall be like refuse on the face of the earth. They shall be consumed by the sword and by
famine, and their corpses shall be meat for the birds of the heaven and for the
beasts of the earth.’ For thus says the
LORD:
‘Do not enter the house of mourning, nor go to lament or bemoan them; for I
have taken away my peace from this people,’ says the LORD, ‘lovingkindness and
mercies. Both the great and the small
shall die in this land. They shall not
be buried; neither shall men lament them, cut themselves, nor make themselves
bald for them. Nor shall men break bread in mourning for them, to comfort them for the dead; nor shall men give them the cup of consolation
to drink for their father or their mother. Also you shall not go into the house of feasting to sit with them, to
eat and drink.’ For thus says the LORD hosts, the God of
Israel: ‘Behold, I will cause to cease from this place, before your eyes and in
your days, the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the
bridegroom and the voice of the bride. And it shall be, when you show this people all these words, and they say
to you, Why has the LORD pronounced all this great disaster against us? Or what is our iniquity? Or what is our sin that we have committed
against the LORD our God? then you
shall say to them, ‘Because your fathers have forsaken me,’ says the LORD; ‘they have walked
after other gods and have served them and worshipped them, and have forsaken me
and not kept my law. And you have done
worse than your fathers, for behold, each one fellows the dictates of his own
evil heart, so that no one listens to me. Therefore I will cast you out of this land into a land that you do not
know, neither you nor your fathers; and there you shall serve other gods day
and night; where I will not show you favor.’
God will restore Israel
‘Therefore
behold, the days are coming,’ says the LORD, ‘that it shall no more be said, The LORD lives who brought up
the children of Israel from the land of Egypt, but The LORD lives who brought up
the children of Israel from the land of the north and from all the lands where
he has driven them. For I will bring
them back into their land which I gave to their fathers. [Verses
14-15 applied to the Jews, and was fulfilled in the time of Ezra and Nehemiah, but in the sense of greater Israel, all the tribes of
Israel (and since it mentions ‘Israelites’ specifically here) it also applies
to the return from a future captivity which has not taken place yet. This was spoken to Jeremiah after the Black
Sea Scythian-Israelites had departed out of the Middle East and gone back to
the Russian steppes, so it doesn’t apply to them. This is about a future regathering that has
not yet taken place.] Behold, I will
send for many fishermen,’ says the LORD, ‘and they shall fish them; and afterward I will send for
many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain and every hill, and
out of the holes of the rocks. For my
eyes are on all their ways; they are
not hidden from my face, nor is their iniquity hidden from my eyes. And first I will repay double for their
iniquity and their sin, because they have defiled my land; they have filled my
inheritance with the carcasses of their detestable and abominable idols.’” (verses 19-21), “O
LORD, my
strength and my fortress, my refuge in the day of affliction, the Gentiles
shall come to you from the ends of the earth and say, ‘Surely our fathers have
inherited lies, worthlessness and unprofitable things.’ Will a man make
gods for himself, which are not
gods? Therefore, behold, I will this
once cause them to know, I will cause them to know my hand and my might;. And
they shall now that my name is the LORD.’”
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