Overwhelmed By Sorrow

This is a very interesting chapter. It includes a portrait of Jeremiah at one of his darkest moments. He is so overwhelmed by sorrow that he speaks to the Lord in an irreverent manner. His actions almost cost him his prophetic ministry. Let’s take a look at the chapter.

1. There is no need for anyone to intercede for Judah (1-4).

A. Not even Moses or Samuel could convince the Lord to withhold His judgment.

Moses was known as a great prayer warrior for the people. He pled with the Lord after Israel made the golden calf (Ex. 32:11-14 and after the rebellion in Numbers 14.

Samuel was a well-known intercessor as well (1 Samuel 7:5-9). Both are mentioned together in Psalm 99:6-8 as men who prayed to the Lord and the Lord answered them.

Jeremiah is not to bring the people before the Lord in prayer anymore. The Lord says to send them out of His sight. He says, “Let them go!” God uses the same language He used when telling Pharaoh to let His people go (Exodus 3:10, 6:6, 8:1). Instead of letting the people go to the Promised Land He is letting them go to the captivity. This is a reversal of the exodus.

B. The people will ask where they should go (2).

The Lord’s answer is harsh.

Some will go to death by pestilence.

Some will go to death by the sword.

Some will go to death by famine.

Some will go into captivity.

Those are the only options for the unrepentant nation. We should remember if we reject the Lord our only option is judgment.

C. God gives a vivid description of the future of the nation (3-4).

He mentions four kinds of destroyers:

The sword

The dogs

The birds

The beasts

The first destroyer is the sword. It kills the people. The rest of the destroyers feast on the bodies of those who are slain. When nations see what has happened to Judah they will be horrified. The beginning of the sins of the people is tracxed back to King Manasseh. He was known as the most wicked King of Judah. He built altars to Baal, practiced child sacrifice, worshipped and served the host of heaven, put pagan altars in the Temple, and engaged in witchcraft (2 Kings 21:3-16). While Manasseh did encourage the nation to sin, the people willingly followed him. They were to blame for their own sins, not Manasseh’s. Intercession for the people would be futile. God has made His decision.

2. There would be no one to pity the nation (5-9).

A. God asks the nation some questions (5).

Who will have pity on you?

Who will turn aside to ask about your welfare?

Who will grieve for you?

The answer is no one. God was the One who cared for them but they rejected Him. No nation would come to their deliverance when Babylon invaded. There will be no Good Samaritan who stops and helps her when she is laying by the roadside.

B. Judah rejected their only help (6).

Not only did they reject the Lord but they kept moving further and further away from Him. Notice the language: “You have rejected Me”. The blame is on the people. Their constant rejection of the Lord has wearied Him. Instead of reaching His hand out to help them He is now reaching His hand out to destroy them.

We can take God’s hand or God’s hand can take us. God will be patient with us. However, His patience does have an end. A continual rejection of the Lord is dangerous.

C. God takes credit for their destruction (7-9).

Notice how the Lord takes credit.

I have winnowed them

I have bereaved them

I have destroyed My people

I have made their widows more in number

I have bought a destroyer

I have made anguish and terror fall on them

The winnowing fork symbolizes the scattering of the nation. The Lord says there will be many widows because so many men will die in battle, both young and older men. Look with me at verse 9. “She who has born seven” Seven is a number of completion. It represents joy. The perfect family, filled with joy is now filled with sorrow. In the middle of the day when there should have been light her sun went down. Her children were killed.

“She” probably represents Jerusalem. The city was once strong and filled with joy. When the invaders arrived, the joy would be quickly replaced with shame and disgrace.

3. Jeremiah is heartbroken (10-18).

A. Jeremiah complains (10).

Jeremiah assumes he has no purpose. If judgment is certain then why is he causing himself so much trouble by preaching? He says he is hated by everyone. His life is filled with strife and contention because he is confronting a sinful nation. He says he has not lent nor borrowed because normally the lender and borrower find themselves in positions where they are hated. The lender is hated because he usually charges interest. The borrower is hated because he won’t pay back what he owes. Jeremiah uses a common thing to describe how he feels. Jeremiah says he has neither lent nor borrowed yet he is still hated.

Jeremiah even speaks to his mother. Probably not personally, but in a poetic way. If his mother were alive, she probably suffered by watching her son have such a difficult life. I think the language he uses is equivalent to saying he wished he’d never been born.

B. The Lord interrupts Jeremiah’s complaint (11-14).

He tells Jeremiah all He has done for him.

God has a good purpose for Jeremiah.

God will protect him from his enemies.

Then the Lord continues to remind Jeremiah that it is foolish to think the Babylonian army can be stopped. God says you can’t break iron or bronze in verse 12. This is God’s work, and it cannot be stopped by man. All that Jeremiah has warned the people of will prove to be true.

Judah will forfeit its wealth and treasures. She will be exiled in a land she does not know. The anger of the Lord has been kindled and it will not be extinguished. All of this is the result of the sins of the People. Jeremiah should take heart that he will be validated, and the people will ultimately know he wanted their best. They hated him now, but one day they would see he was only trying to help them.

C. Jeremiah prays an improper prayer (15-18).

It doesn’t start out badly. He says the Lord knows him and asks the Lord to remember him and visit him. He then asks the Lord to take vengeance on his persecutors. These were likely the people who were conspiring to kill him (11:18).

He says, “In your forbearance take me not away”. I think he means that he fears the patience of God on Judah will give his enemies time to kill him. Therefore, God’s patience would lead to him being taken away. He reminds the Lord that it is His fault that people hate him. “For your sake I bear reproach.”

It is the impatience of Jeremiah that leads to the improper prayer.

In verse 16 Jeremiah revisits his call to ministry. He remembers how he received the words of the Lord. He even says they brought him great joy and were a delight to his heart. I read that this is the only place in the book of Jeremiah that he rejoices in his calling. I think that is true. He rejoices that he is called by the name of the Lord of hosts.

Now the prayer makes a turn. He begins to tell the Lord all he has sacrificed for him.

I did not sit in the company of revelers.

I did not rejoice with the sinners.

I sat alone because you caused people to hate me.

Jeremiah is lonely and hated and he blames God for it. He has no joy and he blames God for it.

Next he questions God:

Why is my pain unceasing?

Why is my wound uncurable?

Why do you refuse to heal me?

He wants God to act. He wants God to remove his enemies. Then he says else he should not have said to the Lord.

He asks, “Will you be to me like a deceitful brook, like waters that fail?”

He charges the Lord with deceit. He asks the Lord if He can be trusted. He seems to be equating the Lord with the deceitful people who pretend to be his friends but are conspiring to kill him.

We should remember to say little when we are emotional. Whether that emotion is anger, joy, or sorrow, we should hold our tongues. Emotion often leads us to say things we should not say. That was the case with Jeremiah.

4. The Lord rebukes Jeremiah (19-21).

A. God gives Jeremiah an ultimatum (19).

The Lord did not like what He heard. He tells Jeremiah what he must do if he wants to continue in the prophetic ministry.

If you return, I will restore you.

If you utter what is precious (the Word of God) and not what is worthless (the things Jeremiah just said), you will be as my mouth.

If Jeremiah repents, he can be restored to his position. Notice the end of verse 19. “They shall turn to you but you shall not turn to them.”

Jeremiah was acting like the sinful nation. He was turning to them. If he would repent of his actions, then the relationship between he and the nation would be put back in its proper place. He would tell them to turn to his way, the way of righteousness.

B. God will recommission Jeremiah if he repents (20).

The language in verse 20 is found in Jeremiah’s initial commissioning (1:18-19). As God’s prophet Jeremiah would be protected by the Lord. God would save and deliver Jeremiah from those who conspired to kill him.

This reminds us that a man can disqualify himself from ministry. Moral failure may disqualify a man from serving in particular areas. This is true in both the Old and New Testaments. Giftedness always takes a back seat to morality. If a man cannot live for God, he should not serve in areas of leadership.

The good news for Jeremiah is the Lord has not cast Him away. If Jeremiah repents, he can be restored.

C. God promises to deliver Jeremiah (21).

God promises to protect Jeremiah. There is no reason for him to doubt the Lord. Jeremiah did repent. It doesn’t detail his repentance but the fact that the Lord continued to use Jeremiah proves he did indeed repent.

This chapter should remind us to pray for preachers and missionaries. There is a great sorrow that comes with ministry. Ministry is lonely and hard. Men of God find themselves overtaken with grief and frustrated at times.

Think about Jeremiah.

The Lord is telling him not to pray for the people but only to preach to them. He tells Jeremiah that the people are not going to be saved. Jeremiah has no expectation of any fruit to his preaching. That in itself makes it hard.

On top of that men want to kill him for preaching. Jeremiah is putting himself in physical danger knowing that no one is going to listen to his message anyway.

Add to that he has very few people who care for him. He is preaching a message that isolates him. Yet he knows no one will obey the message. I’m not justifying Jeremiah’s behavior. I simply want us to understand why he was so distraught.

Many preachers can identify with Jeremiah. They are faithful to the Word, but they see little fruit. They could have an easier life and make more money if they chose to do something else. They are often hated by the people they are trying to help.

How can you help?

Encourage preachers. If you enjoyed a message or learned something let them know.

Pray for preachers.

Come to services. Preachers spend hours in the Word to bring a fresh message to the people. It can be discouraging when no one shows up to eat.