Jeremiah - Lesson 14

• Chapters 1-6 The foundation of this book is established by the LORD’s calling of Jeremiah as a prophet to Judah in the final days of that kingdom. The LORD’s people, Israel and Judah, had rejected their God by worshipping false gods without repentance. The LORD is sending a nation from the North as judgment, but not for the complete destruction of His people.

  • Chapters 7-11 Jeremiah calls out the impending destruction of the temple and the city of Jerusalem. The people have been led into the worship of false gods, signs in the heavens and idols by their spiritual leaders, forsaking the LORD and violating His covenant. The necessity for discipline is not pleasing to the LORD, just as Christ experienced when He declared the destruction that was coming on Jerusalem in His day. Many want to silence the LORD’s prophet.

  • Chapter 12 Jeremiah asks the LORD why it seems that the wicked prosper in this life. The LORD prepared Jeremiah for the path ahead to get worse for the LORD’s people, and yet there will be grace offered to His people and the nations in the future. 

  • Chapter 13 Jeremiah buries a linen garment, again prophesies the LORD’s judgment is coming and c  alls out the leaders of Judah, specifically the king and queen mother.

Jer. 14:1 That which came as the word of the LORD to Jeremiah in regard to the drought:
Jer. 14:2 “Judah mourns
And her gates languish;
They sit on the ground in mourning,
And the cry of Jerusalem has ascended.
Jer. 14:3 “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.
Jer. 14:4 “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.
Jer. 14:5 “For even the doe in the field has given birth only to abandon her young,
Because there is no grass.
Jer. 14:6 “The wild donkeys stand on the bare heights;
They pant for air like jackals,
Their eyes fail
For there is no vegetation.
Jer. 14:7 “Although our iniquities testify against us,
O LORD, act for Your name’s sake!
Truly our apostasies have been many,
We have sinned against You.
Jer. 14:8 “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?
Jer. 14:9 “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!”

• Verse 1 Establishes this is a Word from the LORD given to Jeremiah during a specific time defined as the drought. There is not a specific timeframe given for which drought this is referring to.

  • Drought for the LORD’s people was always judgment on His people.

Lev. 26:19 ‘I will also break down your pride of power; I will also make your sky like iron and your earth like bronze.
Lev. 26:20 ‘Your strength will be spent uselessly, for your land will not yield its produce and the trees of the land will not yield their fruit.

Deut. 28:23 “The heaven which is over your head shall be bronze, and the earth which is under you, iron.
Deut. 28:24 “The LORD will make the rain of your land powder and dust; from heaven it shall come down on you until you are destroyed.

• Jer. 14:2 The description is of despair in Jerusalem, mourning and crying.

  • Verse 3 The nobles send servants for water in the places that at one time held water in reserve and even that is now gone.

    • The servants are unable to do what they are sent to do.

    • The covering of the head was to hide one’s identity; this is a sign of shame.

    • The reason there is shame is because the people knew drought was brought by the LORD.

  • Verse 4 The drought is so severe the farmers have no crops and are humiliated.

    • They are covering their heads like the servants did earlier.

  • Verse 5 The wildlife are abandoning their young to die because there is no vegetation, a demonstration of how severe the drought is throughout the entire land.

  • Verse 6 The wild donkeys are becoming frail and dying from dehydration.

    • The people’s sin has brought far-reaching consequences.

  • Verse 7 The people know it is their iniquities that bring on this type of drought.

    • The people say, “We know we are guilty before you and have sinned”, but they ask the LORD to save them because of who they are, His name’s sake.

  • Verse 8 They acknowledge the LORD is the hope and Savior in time of distress.

    • The question is posed to the LORD, “Why does it seem like you don’t live here any longer, or appear to be only passing through this land as a visitor?”

  • Verse 9 The lack of response from the LORD seems like what a man does when he is dismayed or without the power to save the people.

    • The cry goes out that the LORD is in their midst, and they know they are His people, called by His name.

    • This should be enough for the LORD not to forsake them; however, the LORD knows the heart.

Jer. 14:10 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.”
Jer. 14:11 So the LORD said to me, “Do not pray for the welfare of this people.
Jer. 14:12 “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.”

• Verse 10 The LORD tells the people that even though these things they say are true, about who they are to be to the LORD, they have not changed their ways.

  • They are the ones who loved to wander away from Him. They were to stay diligent to the worship of their LORD, but they chose to walk away to other gods to worship.

  • This wandering means the LORD does not accept them now as His name’s sake.

  • The world would know who the LORD was reflected in His people, and these people did not wholly worship Him as their LORD.

    • It is now time that the LORD holds them accountable for their sins.

  • Verse 11 The LORD says to Jeremiah he is not to pray for the good of the people.

    • For those who hold to a view that the words spoken throughout this chapter are Jeremiah asking the LORD in some way to reconsider His decisions regarding His people, they would be asserting that Jeremiah is going against the LORD’s counsel here when the LORD clearly tells Jeremiah he is not to pray for the welfare of this people.

  • Verse 12 The LORD says when the people fast, He will not listen to them.

    • Fasting invokes the brokenness of a person to bring their requests before the LORD.

    • When fasting is separated from the admittance of the spiritual condition of the person, it will not have the desired effect of calling on the LORD in sincerity.

    • When the people offer their burnt offerings and grain offerings, He will not accept them.

    • The traditions without faith in the LORD will not have any meaning to the LORD.

  • It is time for the LORD to make an end of them with the sword, meaning war, famine brought by drought and the sickness that comes from these events.

Jer. 14:13 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.’”
Jer. 14:14 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.
Jer. 14:15 “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!
Jer. 14:16 “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.
Jer. 14:17 “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.
Jer. 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.’”

• Verse 13 Jeremiah speaks to the LORD informing Him that it is the false prophets who are continuing to tell the people they will not die by sword or famine, but instead they will live in peace in their homes and in this land.

  • This verse clearly identifies Jeremiah is speaking to the LORD.

  • That is not seen in the other verses of this chapter which many want to ascribe to being words of Jeremiah to the LORD.

    • When Jeremiah speaks to the LORD it is clarified.

  • Verse 14 The LORD graciously responds to Jeremiah’s concerns when He declares the truth about these prophets.

    • These prophets speak falsehood in my name.

    • The prophets had not heard from the LORD.

  • The LORD did not send these prophets.

    • These prophets had false visions.

    • They relied on divination.

    • They were completely giving in to their own minds that were deceived.

  • The LORD had given clear direction to His people to test the prophets to determine if they had been sent from the LORD.

Deut. 13:1 “If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder,
Deut. 13:2 and the sign or the wonder comes true, concerning which he spoke to you, saying, ‘Let us go after other gods (whom you have not known) and let us serve them,’
Deut. 13:3 you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams; for the LORD your God is testing you to find out if you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
Deut. 13:4 “You shall follow the LORD your God and fear Him; and you shall keep His commandments, listen to His voice, serve Him, and cling to Him.
Deut. 13:5 “But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has counseled rebellion against the LORD your God who brought you from the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery, to seduce you from the way in which the LORD your God commanded you to walk. So you shall purge the evil from among you.

• Verse 1-2 The LORD first addresses that the outcome of the prediction of a false prophet or dreamer of dreams could come about.

  • The warning is clear if that prophet says they received this revelation from a source other than the LORD, and since what was spoken about comes true, then the door is now open to go and worship and serve those other gods.

• Verse 3 When the prophet gives any credit to other gods and suggests worshipping other gods then the people should cease listening to that prophet. He is a false prophet.

  • The LORD tells His people that their response to this prophet is actually a test the LORD has for them.

  • If the people love the LORD with all their heart and soul, they will not fail this test.

• Verse 4 The LORD says again to His people, you shall follow the LORD your God and fear Him.

  • This means not following any other gods.

  • The people are to keep the LORD’s commandments, in that they listen to His voice.

  • When they listen to His voice, they will serve Him and cling to Him.

  • They will not be enticed away to worship and serve other gods.

• Verse 5 When the people have identified this false prophet or dreamer the outcome would be to put that person to death.

  • The reason for the severe treatment is because the crime is so vile to the LORD’s people.

  • This person is actively causing the LORD’s people to rebel again Him.

  • This evil needs to be purged from the midst of the LORD’s people.

• This same standard is applied to those within the family unit.

Deut. 13:6 “If your brother, your mother’s son, or your son or daughter, or the wife you cherish, or your friend who is as your own soul, entice you secretly, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods’ (whom neither you nor your fathers have known,
Deut. 13:7 of the gods of the peoples who are around you, near you or far from you, from one end of the earth to the other end),
Deut. 13:8 you shall not yield to him or listen to him; and your eye shall not pity him, nor shall you spare or conceal him.
Deut. 13:9 “But you shall surely kill him; your hand shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people.
Deut. 13:10 “So you shall stone him to death because he has sought to seduce you from the LORD your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
Deut. 13:11 “Then all Israel will hear and be afraid, and will never again do such a wicked thing among you.

• V 6-8 identifies the individuals within a family that might commit this sin and reiterates this person shouldn’t be listened to or pitied or hidden.

  • V 9-11 This person should be killed at the hands of their family. This will act as a deterrent from others who may be tempted to commit this sin in Israel.

  • The instructions from the LORD expand to what should happen when the local community and the family will not bring justice from the LORD on this evil person in Deut. 13:12-15

Deut. 13:12 “If you hear in one of your cities, which the LORD your God is giving you to live in, anyone saying that
Deut. 13:13 some worthless men have gone out from among you and have seduced the inhabitants of their city, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods’ (whom you have not known),
Deut. 13:14 then you shall investigate and search out and inquire thoroughly. If it is true and the matter established that this abomination has been done among you,
Deut. 13:15 you shall surely strike the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying it and all that is in it and its cattle with the edge of the sword.

• If word gets out this behavior is being tolerated in a city, then it is incumbent on those outside the city to bring the LORD’s commands to bear on the situation and now the entire complicit city is to be destroyed.

  • In Jeremiah the second thing addressed was for those who relied on divination to be seen as evil.

Deut. 18:9 “When you enter the land which the LORD your God gives you, you shall not learn to imitate the detestable things of those nations.
Deut. 18:10 “There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, one who uses divination, one who practices witchcraft, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer,
Deut. 18:11 or one who casts a spell, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead.
Deut. 18:12 “For whoever does these things is detestable to the LORD; and because of these detestable things the LORD your God will drive them out before you.

• The LORD made it explicitly clear no one was to use divination.

  • The goal of divination was to obtain special revelation or to predict future events outside the counsel of the LORD, seeking counsel through the spirit world.

  • There are a multitude of other things listed but notice divination is called out as part of this group of evil things to be dealt with and in the book of Jeremiah the LORD says this was happening among His people.

  • Those who practiced this were detestable to the LORD, and these men should have been driven out by the leaders; and when that was not done it would have been proper for the people to drive these evil doers out from among them.

• In Jeremiah the third thing addressed was men going into their own minds and they were deceived.

Deut. 18:20 ‘But the prophet who speaks a word presumptuously in My name which I have not commanded him to speak, or which he speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.’
Deut. 18:21 “You may say in your heart, ‘How will we know the word which the LORD has not spoken?’
Deut. 18:22 “When a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing does not come about or come true, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.

• Verse 20 When the prophet speaks presumptuously of the LORD or speaks from another god he shall die.

  • The meaning of ‘presumptuously’ is not just prideful, it is specifically about speaking or doing something without the proper permission or having been given the right to say or do something in the power of the LORD.

  • It is the ultimate form of a usurper.

  • For someone to pretend to be speaking or doing something as if sent by the LORD is a grievous evil.

• Verse 21 The LORD knows the people will want a very specific test to know if they should put someone to death.

  • Verse 22 The LORD clarifies if anyone truly speaks in the name of the LORD, the thing declared is truth and it will come about. If anything spoken as if from the LORD does not happen, then that person has not received his words from the LORD. He is lying and nothing he says should bring fear to the LORD’s people.   

  • It is important to take the time to establish how the LORD had warned His people clearly in His word about what should have been done by the leaders and the people to comprehend why the LORD is taking a ‘no turning back now’ stance with His people during the time of Jeremiah.

• Jer. 14:15 The LORD says of the prophets that were falsely prophesying to His people by declaring there would not be sword or famine in the land, they would all personally be destroyed by these exact things.

  • Verse 16 The people who received the false prophesies will also be thrown out in the streets of Jerusalem by famine and sword. There will be so many deaths so quickly there will be no one to bury them.

  • The wickedness of receiving the false words was deserving of judgment according to the LORD.

• Verse 17 The LORD specifically tells Jeremiah what to communicate to His people.

  • The ‘them’ is defined in the previous verse as, ‘The people also to whom they are prophesying’.

  • The people who received the false prophecies are who the LORD is speaking to.

  • The LORD says His eyes flow with tears night and day for Jerusalem.

    • The virgin daughter of his people is Jerusalem.

    • When a daughter is betrothed to a future husband, she is to be chaste and ready to enter into a permanent marriage covenant with that groom.

    • The Israelites had refused to be chaste to the LORD their God and had instead gone after other gods.

    • They were trying now to set up the city of Jerusalem and the temple of the LORD to follow in their footsteps and the LORD will not stand by and allow this to happen.

  • The LORD instead brings down a mighty blow on the people and Jerusalem to stop this travesty.

• Verse 18 The LORD sees those in the country killed by the sword and those of the cities taken out by disease and famine.

  • This happens because the cities are put under siege.

  • This devastation was spread because of the prophets and priests that brought their false teaching from the cities to the countryside.

  • They have gone roving about in the land that they do not know.

    • This could be the spiritual land of worshipping the false gods.

    • For those who are taken into exile they will be taken outside the Promised land to a land they do not know as well.

Jer. 14:19 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!
Jer. 14:20 We know our wickedness, O LORD,
The iniquity of our fathers, for we have sinned against You.
Jer. 14:21 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.
Jer. 14:22 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.

• Verse 19 The LORD expresses the question the people have for Him, wondering if He is ready to completely reject Judah or even Zion.

  • The people have conveyed the intensity of what is happening to them to be beyond healing.

  • The people waited for the LORD to bring healing but instead received terror.

• Verse 20 The people have admitted their wickedness to the LORD from their ancestors to the present time to include themselves.

  • Verse 21 The people appeal to the LORD in three areas looking for Him to save them.

    • First for His name’s sake, second, for the protection of His throne of glory, and finally they wish to hold the LORD to the covenant He has with them.

• Verse 22 The people now say there are no idols from other nations who can give rain, nor even the heavens themselves decide to rain; it is only granted from the LORD God.

  • The LORD is telling Jeremiah there will be a revelation about who He is to the people, but it will come too late to stop the discipline He has determined for His people.

  • The LORD has revealed to Jeremiah what His people have done both in their sin and in their last efforts to thwart the coming judgment and what His response is to the people and to their requests.

    • The message highlighted in this chapter is that the Word of God contains all that His people need for life.

    • It contains all they need to know the LORD and have fellowship with Him.

    • The LORD described clearly to His people how they were to deal with those who brought lies and false prophecies to them, as reviewed in the Deuteronomy verses highlighted in this lesson.

  • The truths of God are still the same for His people today, in that we have His word, and we are instructed to not vary from the truth of His word.

  • When we try to change the truths of the LORD, we also risk offending the LORD.

  • The LORD alone defines these in His word.

    • Believers need to be strong in any culture they live in throughout history and declare God’s truths defining wickedness and righteousness.

Prov. 17:15 He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous,
Both of them alike are an abomination to the LORD.

• The man who would try to explain away wicked man is an abomination to the LORD

• The man who would condemn the righteous man is also an abomination to the LORD.

Rom. 1:28 And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper,
Rom. 1:29 being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips,
Rom. 1:30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents,
Rom. 1:31 without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful;
Rom. 1:32 and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.

• Verse 32 focuses not only on the doing of these things listed as wickedness, but also condemns those who would give approval of those who practice these things.

  • The word of God says clearly that we are not to give approval of the person who practices such things.

  • The LORD does not love the sinner and only hate the sin, the LORD says those who practice such sin are worthy of death.

    • This can be a shocking thing to bring forward from God’s word, but it would be unloving to avoid telling people the truth.

    • It was what the LORD was addressing with the people in Jeremiah’s day, and it led to great suffering for the LORD’s people.

    • The truth written to the Roman church declares that same truth for believers today.

• Paul continues to challenge the LORD’s people in Ephesians 5:1-12.

Eph. 5:1 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children;
Eph. 5:2 and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.
Eph. 5:3 But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints;
Eph. 5:4 and there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks.
Eph. 5:5 For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.
Eph. 5:6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.
Eph. 5:7 Therefore do not be partakers with them;
Eph. 5:8 for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light
Eph. 5:9 (for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth),
Eph. 5:10 trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord.
Eph. 5:11 Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them;
Eph. 5:12 for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret.

• Verse 1-2 Give a beautiful pattern for the believer, called beloved children, to follow.

  • We are to walk in love: a love lived out by Christ and His sacrifice for us.

• Verse 3-5 Paul gives examples of what should not be part of a believer’s life.

  • Verse 6 The believers are not to be deceived with empty words.

    • These empty words would say these things will not bring God’s wrath on them.

  • This is the same lie of the prophets in Israel and Judah:

    • Surely the LORD will not bring discipline on His people.

    • We just need to do the outward things to satisfy the LORD.

• Verse 7-10 Believers are not to join in these sinful things that they too were once part of.

  • Believers have been made new and are described as children of Light, to bear fruit of goodness and righteousness and truth, trying to learn what is pleasing to the LORD.

• Verse 11 Gives the profound calling of God to not only refuse to participate in these deeds, but to expose those who participate in these things.

  • From the time the LORD called His people out of slavery in Egypt, He gave them His word to live by.

  • The people had ignored the LORD and specifically worshiped other gods.

  • The people had been warned how to identify the false prophets and what they were to do with them, but they did not follow the LORD’s instructions.

    • The LORD warned the people that if they did not heed His word there would be discipline and consequences.

    • The false prophets continually led the people astray.

    • The false prophets basically encouraged the people to question what the LORD had said to them.

    • This is the same lie from the enemy from the beginning.

Gen. 3:1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?”

• Indeed, has God said…..

  • The people of the LORD need to know what God has said.

  • We need to know His word.

  • We need to be warned by His word.

  • We need to be convicted by His word.

  • We need to be comforted by His word.

  • We need to be saved by His word.

  • We need to share His word.

• In God’s Word is the revelation of the Savior, Messiah, Jesus the Christ.

  • This message of salvation is to be brought to the world and the LORD uses His people to bring that message to the world.

  • We are to never turn away from the truths of the Word of God.

  • The people of Israel and Judah turned away from the truth of the LORD’s word and they suffered the consequences. Let us learn from their disobedience and not follow in their footsteps today.