Drought, Dreams, & Intercession

Jeremiah 14

The book of Jeremiah is not written in chronological order. It’s important to recognize that when interpreting it. Chapter 14 takes place sometime during the reign of Jehoiakim. The days are drawing close to the Babylonian invasion. Before the invasion there were smaller acts of judgment on Judah such as drought. These judgments should have convinced the nation to get right with God but they did not. In this chapter we will see the heart of Jeremiah as he intercedes for the nation.

1. God strikes the land with a drought (1-6).

A. The drought (1-2).

God speaks to Jeremiah concerning this event. The Lord will often do think s on the earth to draw our attention to the heavens. When disaster comes, we should always look up. God uses natural disasters to get our attention.

In this case an awful drought had come. People were gathered in the gates of the city mourning. This was probably a customary thing. People would gather together at the entrance of the city to discuss what could be done and to mourn corporately. This reminds us that there are things man can not do. They cannot hold enough city council meetings to convince the heavens to release the rain. Mankind is at the mercy of God. Governments can do very little. God could devastate the globe in a very short time by simply withholding rain.

B. The despair (3-4).

The nobles send their servants to get water from the cisterns. But the cisterns have dried up. If there is no rain, there is no water to put in the cisterns. No matter how rich you are, if there is no water to retrieve you cannot get it. The rich and powerful should not think they are immune to what the Lord is doing to the land. Money is worthless if there is nothing to buy. These nobles have servants but there is no water.

In verse 4 we see another class of people. We see the farmers. The farmers cannot grow a crop without rain. They are ashamed because they cannot produce food for their family or for the market. The nobles are ashamed because they come back to the nobles empty handed. The farmers even cover their head in shame because they have no crops.

God can get the attention of the blue collar and the white collar simultaneously. God can break an economy. He can ruin a land. We are a fragile people. The sooner we understand that the better.

C. The extent of the drought (5-6).

Even the animals are affected by the drought. The doe deer must abandon its fawn because there is no grass. If you know much about deer you know that they are good mothers. As a person who has hunted for many years, I can tell you a doe deer is very protective of her young. Sometimes the female deer live together well into adulthood. This animal is used to show how extreme the drought was. Even a faithful doe deer abandons its fawn.

Wild donkeys were a very durable animal. That’s probably the reason they are mentioned. They search everywhere for vegetation to eat but they can find none. They pant like jackals. We are familiar with seeing a dog pant when it is thirsty. The donkeys look like wild dogs. The failing of the eyes probably describes the slow death they die.

From the wilderness to the city the land is affected by the drought.

From the animals to the farmers to the nobles, all are affected by the drought.

2. The people offer up a hypocritical prayer (7-9).

A. The prayer appears to be sincere (7).

They recognize their iniquities are the proof that they have fallen away from God. They say their backslidings are many and that their sin is an offense against God.

There are some who believe this is a legitimate prayer. They believe Jeremiah is interceding for the people here. I don‘t think that’s the case. I think the prayer represents a general idea of how the people were praying during the drought. They were a religiously rooted people. They knew how to pray. They knew what prayer should sound like. Just as there are many people in the South who are unsaved yet know how to pray. Knowing how to pray doesn’t mean you are sincere with God.

They are praying because they want the Lord to act and bring rain to the land.

B. The accusation against Go (8-9).

This is where we see their true heart. They recognize some good things.

God is the hope of Israel

God is the Savior in times of trouble.

Now watch as the accusations fly against God.

Why should you be like a stranger in the land?

Why are you acting like a traveler who is passing through and just stays a night?

Why are you acting like a man confused?

Why are you acting like a mighty warrior who cannot save us?

They’re asking God why He is acting like He doesn’t know who they are. They are asking Him why He is acting like a warrior overtaken by fear and unable to deliver them.

They act as if God has forgotten who they are. They remind the Lord they are called by His name. They end by pleading with Him not to leave them.

There was very little repentance in this prayer and a lot of blame laid on God. They are implying that God doesn’t know who they are and that He is unable to deliver them. When discipline comes, we should examine our prayers. If they are filled with accusations against God we should examine our hearts to see if we have indeed repented. This prayer the people prayed was hypocritical. They were more disappointed with God than they were with themselves.

3. The Lord responds to their prayer (10-12).

A. The Lord will not accept their prayer (10).

Look at what God says about them.

They have loved to wander.

They have not restrained their feet.

They went where they wanted to go. They did what they wanted to do. In context, they traveled to the places of idol worship and participated in the pagan rituals. They continued to do this even as the Lord disciplined them.

Because of this the Lord would not accept their hypocritical prayer of repentance. He will remember their iniquity. He will punish their sins.

B. Jeremiah is told to stop praying for the people (11).

This is the third time he is told to do that (7:16, 11:14). He must have continued doing it. The Lord had to tell him over and over to stop. As I’ve said before, the reason he is not to pry for the people is the people are not going to repent. God has decided to punish them and that is not going to change. Jeremiah’s prayers for the people would go unanswered.

C. Religious action would not deter God’s decision (12).

God lists a few common religious actions that will not help the people.

Though they fast

Though they offer burnt offerings

Though they offer grain offerings

Though they cry (pray)

God says He will not accept them, He will consume them. How will He consume the people? Loo at the end of verse 12:

By sword, by famine, and by pestilence.

God will use armies, famines caused by things like droughts, and diseases that kill crops and people. All of these are awful ways to die. None of them are natural.

4. The Lord will judge the lying prophets (13-16).

A. Jeremiah gives a report on the false prophets (14).

What the Lord shared in verse 12 is contradicted by the prophets in Jeremiah’s day. They were giving a message that was opposite of what the Lord was telling Jeremiah to share. Jeremiah brings this to the Lord’s attention. Look at what he says they are saying:

You will not see a sword!

You will not have a famine!

You will have peace in the land!

The false prophets could not have gotten it any more wrong. This is probably one of the biggest reasons the people continued in their sin. Most of the preachers were telling them things were ok. This didn’t excuse the people. They should have known not to listen to the false prophets. But it does help explain why the people didn’t respond to Jeremiah’s message.

B. The Lord will handle the false prophets Himself (14).

He says they are prophesying lies in His name. Notice what the Lord says about them:

I did not send them.

I did not command them.

I did not speak to them.

Look at how He describes their message:

A lying vision

A worthless divination

The deceit of their own minds

There are people who use the Lord’s name to advance their own agenda. We should be very careful when someone claims to speak for the Lord. If what they say is not found in this book we should not give them our ear.

Look at the end of verse 14. These prophets said the people would not be consumed by famine or sword. God says He will see to it that those prophets who preached that message would be consumed with famine and sword. They would experience the proof that they were false prophets in their own bodies. They were saying “It’ll never happen.” The Lod says “not only will it happen, it will happen to you.”

C. Those who believed the lies of the false prophets would be judged (15-16).

There were many who loved the false prophets. They loved their message, that is. The message of the false prophets enabled them to live how they wanted. But they would pay the price for it.

The people would be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem. No one would be safe. Entire families would experience judgment- wives, sons, and daughters. God would pour out their own evil upon them. In other words, their own sin brought this upon themselves. As the ultimate symbol of shame there would be no proper burial for these people. There is always a price to pay for accepting false teaching.

5. Jeremiah intercedes for the people (17-22).

A. Jeremiah is heartbroken over Judah (17-18).

These two verses show the heart of Jeremiah before the prayer begins in verse 19. Again, we see he weeps for the people. His desire is to constantly weep over the people. Judah is called the “virgin daughter of my people”. She had

at one time been a pure nation. She had been kept from idolatry. Now the Lord has struck a blow against her because of her idolatry. Everywhere Jeremiah goes he sees casualties.

If I go into the field I see those pierced by the sword.

If I enter the city I see people overtaken by disease and famine.

The last phrase in verse 18 has one of two meanings. It refers to the prophet and priest having no knowledge of God yet continuing to practice their trade in the land of Judah. Or it refers to prophet and priest being exiled to a land they do not know. Either way they are of no use to the people of Judah. They are a casualty as well.

This is obviously occurring after Babylon has its way with Judah. Jeremiah is probably speaking prophetically, the Lord has shown him what will happen in the future.

B. Jeremiah prays for Judah (19-21).

Look at all the questions Jeremiah asks God:

Have you utterly rejected Judah?

Does your soul loathe Zion?

Why have you struck us down so that there is no healing for us?

Jeremiah is speaking for the people. In fact, he is speaking what the people should be speaking. They have not adopted Jeremiah’s sincerity. Jeremiah is praying as a priest who was interceding for a people would pray. The prayer will only be beneficial if the people adopt it. Jeremiah is standing in the gap praying the payer that the nation should be praying.

The set of questions he opens with shows how desperate the nation is. It appears they are hated, rejected and without hope of healing.

They looked for peace, but it did not come. They looked for healing but only terror came. In other words, they thought the Lord would intervene and stop Babylon, but He did not.

Now we see what should be included if the people are sincere:

We acknowledge our wickedness.

We acknowledge the iniquities of our fathers. We have repeated their sins.

We have sinned against you.

He appeals to the Lord on the basis of three things:

The name of the Lord

The glorious throne of the Lord

The covenant of the Lord

Jeremiah asks God to save his people for the glory of the name of the Lord, for the glory of the city of God, Jerusalem and for the glory of the covenant God made with the Jewish people. Jeremiah is asking the Lord to glorify Himself by saving Judah.

C. Jeremiah recognizes that only the One True God can save Judah (22).

We see three more questions:

Are there any false gods that can bring rain?

Can the heavens give showers?

Are you not He, O Lord our God?

The false gods are not real. The heavens are inanimate. They don’t have the power to do anything. They rely on God.

This prayer acknowledges that only the God of Israel can help Judah. If they set their hope on him they can be saved. If the people were to adopt this prayer of Jeremiah in sincerity they would be where they needed to be with God. Until then the prayer serves as a model and an intercession for the people of God.

The good news for Christians is we have an intercessor greater than Jeremiah. The prayers of Christ can save us to the uttermost. He is our High Priest. His prayers break our hearts and bring us into a right relationship with God. Just as Jesus prayed for Peter and Peter was restored, He prays for all His people. John 17 is a beautiful intercessory prayer for all who know or will come to know Christ. Jeremiah was a great prophet, but he was not as great as Jesus.