Horror & Hope

Chapter 16 has a lot of emotions in it. It’s clear that the Lord is going to bring judgment on the nation. Jeremiah will get no relief for the loneliness he mentioned in chapter 15. The nations itself will suffer as well. The good news is the Lord gives hope in this chapter as well. We see both horror and hope in this chapter.

1. The solitude of Jeremiah (1-9).

A. Jeremiah is commanded not to marry or have children (1-2).

This would be a difficult command for a Jewish man. Jewish men were expected to marry and have children. Procreation was symbolic of the favor of God, and it also ensured that property and possessions would remain in a family. Much like the prophet Hosea, Jeremiah’s entire life was a sermon. We will speak of that more in a moment. First let’s consider how difficult this must have been for Jeremiah. Jeremiah had a difficult calling from God. The message he preached alienated him from society. The command not to marry meant that he had virtually no one to turn to in his sorrow. If he had had a wife and children at least he would have somewhere to find comfort at the end of the day. We should see Jeremiah’s willingness to obey this command as a great sacrifice he made for the Lord. He embraced the calling of the prophet even though it meant a life of solitude for himself.

B. Soon it would be as if the entire nation were like Jeremiah (3-4).

The Lord says that the fathers and mothers in the land would be childless soon. Many children would die when Babylon arrived. So many would die that there would be no one alive to weep for them all. We see that death will be on such a large scale that bodies will not be buried. They will be eaten by scavengers or decompose on the ground. One can only imagine how difficult it would be to have children when this happened. That would certainly add to the sorrow of the invasion. Jeremiah would be childless but soon virtually the entire nation would be as well.

C. Jeremiah is forbidden from attending normal social events (5-7).

He is forbidden from attending funerals (5-6). The purpose of a funeral is to bring peace and comfort to those grieving. God says there will be no peace or comfort for the people. The people attending the funerals will not experience the peace, love, and mercy of God. Jeremiah’s absence at the funerals of the people symbolizes God’s comfort being withheld from the rebellious people.

Eventually there will be so many funerals that there will be no one to attend them. It’s interesting that pagan funeral practices are mentioned in verse 6. The cutting of oneself or the hair was a practice common among pagans at their funerals. These actions were forbidden by God (Lev. 19:28). It seems that men and women of Judah had adopted these pagan customs because of their idolatry. A funeral meal is mentioned in verse 7 as well as a cup of consolation. Food and wine were generally brought to the home of those mourning the death of a loved one. There would be so many deaths that would not be possible.

We would think it would be good for Jeremiah to attend some funeral. He was a prophet. He was a representative of God. This, in Jeremiah’s mind, may have even endeared him to the grieving people. But God would not allow it.

He is forbidden from attending celebrations (8-9). This could be a reference to a wedding. It likely is. Jewish culture placed a high value on marriage and a wedding was a big deal in a community. The reason he cannot attend is given. The Lord is withholding joy from the people. Eventually o one will be able to get married because of the invasion. Jeremiah’s absence at the weddings symbolized that.

I believe these commands came early in Jeremiah’s ministry. Remember, this book is not in chronological order. The limitations on Jeremiah’s life probably came shortly after his call into the prophetic ministry. That’s really the only way this would make sense. This would have made Jeremiah’s life difficult. He would be alone most of his life. He was secluded by his calling. Yet his life, a life with no friends and no family, was a prophetic warning to the people that they too would be like Jeremiah in that they would be without child and without husband/wife. Knowing this helps us understand the loneliness Jeremiah mentions in 15:17.

2. Jeremiah is to answer the questions of the people (10-13).

A. The questions (10).

The people would wonder why Jeremiah acted the way he did. Why did he not attend funerals or weddings? His actions were meant to create a curiosity in the people. Again, this shows that his entire life was a prophetic message. Let’s look at the questions they would ask.

Why has the Lord pronounced all this great evil against us?

What is our iniquity?

What is the sin that we have committed against the Lord our God?

It is sad that Judah could be so blind. Their sin had made them become oblivious to what was obvious. Their list of sins was long, yet they couldn’t see any of them. They had listened to the false prophets who assured them they were ok with God.

B. The answers (11-12).

The idolatry of Judah stretched back over generations. The present generation learned it from the previous one. In engaging in idolatry, they broke the law of God. Notice they are not punished for their fathers’ sins. They are punished for engaging in the same sins as their fathers. In fact, verse 12 says the present generation had committed worse sins than the previous ones. Look at what he says about the present generation:

Every one of you follows his stubborn evil will

Every one of you refuses to listen to God.

The answer to the questions in verses 10 -11 is the people are guilty of idolatry and the Lord is punishing them for it.

C. The consequences (13).

God is going to cast them out of the land into a land that they nor their fathers have known. In this land they will be servants to a people who worship false gods. Since the people loved the false gods so much the Lord would relocate the people to the territory of these false gods. Then they would see what it is like to live in a land that was dependent on these false gods. They would be disappointed.

3. A glimmer of hope (14-15).

A. God would do something in the future that would be well known to the world (14).

Notice the phrase “The days are coming when it shall no longer be said.” The phrase hints at an important event. The Lord will do something great that will have people talking. The Lord references the exodus. There is no more important even documented in the Old Testament than the exodus from Egypt. This event is referenced over and over in the OT. The Jewish people even had an annual event, Passover, to remind them of the event. Other nations heard about what the Lord did to the Egyptians. God’s fame spread abroad when He delivered the people from Egypt.

If something were to happen to greater than the exodus it would have to be very big. The exodus was the event in the life of the Jewish people. The phrase “It shall no longer be said” doesn’t mean the exodus will be forgotten. It means that when choosing the greatest deliverance Israel had known the exodus from Egypt would no longer be at the top of the list.

B. God will deliver the people from Babylon and back to their own land (15).

Notice the phrase “As the Lord lives”. That is a kind of swearing. What is about to be said is as sure as the character of God. The promise is that God will deliver His people from Babylon and the surrounding countries as well.

How will the deliverance be greater? I will suggest a few things:

1) It could be that the circumstances the Jewish people endure in Babylon are greater than their time in Egypt. They wouldn’t be in Babylon as long, but perhaps the conditions were worse.

2) It could be that the hearts of the people were more hardened. The work the Lord does on the people will be greater. For generations they had given themselves to idolatry. Now they must be made new. Their hardened hearts must be broken.

3) It could be that this points to more than the return to Jerusalem under Cyrus. This could be a reference to the kingdom of Christ. Scripture speaks of a return of many Jewish people to God through Christ in the ends days (Romans 11:25-26).

4. The people of Judah will be deported (16-18).

A. The captivity is punishment for the sin of idolatry (18).

There is deliverance coming. But before that the people will have to pay for what they have done. We see this in verse 18. The word “doubly” does not mean God is punishing them more than they should be punished. The language used means the punishment will be full, it will be complete.

The land of Canaan was a land given by God to Israel. They were supposed to rid it of idolatry. Instead, they filled it with idolatry. The idols and the sacrifices they made to these idols were an abomination to God. They polluted the land God gave them. This is why they are being deported to Babylon.

B. Two analogies are used (16).

The invaders will be like fishermen coming into the land and catching the people. The invasion will be like a great net catching all the people.

The invaders will be like hunters (16).

As hunters search for pray the invaders will pursue the people. They will pursue them to the mountains and hills even removing them from holes they hide in.

These analogies are used because they liken the Babylonians to predators and Judah to the prey.

C. Nothing escapes the eyes of the Lord (17).

The people may think they have hidden themselves or their ways from God. Verse 17 says God sees them and sees their sins. God knows what they have done, and God knows where they are. They should not think they can escape from God. The Lord with His perfect knowledge is sending His own fishermen and His own hunters to take the people from Judah to Babylon.

5. Nations will come in repentance to God (19-21).

A. Jeremiah praises God (19).

It’s amazing to see the hope of Jeremiah. So much grief is found in chapter 19. Jeremiah knows the Lord has an end in mind. The end encourages Jeremiah to worship the Lord.

Notice all the things Jeremiah calls God:

His strength and stronghold

His refuge in the day of trouble

Jeremiah will be alive when the invasion comes. But his trust is in the Lord. God will keep him during this time of war and persecution. The day of trouble is coming but Jeremiah is prepared.

Jeremiah says the nations will come to God. They will come from the ends of the earth. This is clearly speaking of more than Israel. These are many nations. These nations will recognize the foolishness of engaging idolatry. They will turn away from the false religion of their fathers and turn to the God of Israel. The end of verse 19 is a powerful statement of faith made by Gentile nations. God promised Abraham this would happen (Genesis 12:3) and this truth moves Jeremiah to worship.

B. All nations will recognize there is only one God (20).

The gods that nations make for themselves are not gods at all. The nations will recognize this as they come to Christ. Scripture teaches that every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord (Phil. 2: 11). The time to recognize that is now. We have the promise of Scripture that people from every nation will come to Christ (Rev. 7:9-10).

C. Salvation is the work of the Lord (21).

Notice all the things the Lord will make happen regarding Judah:

I will make them know My power.

I will make them know My might.

I will make them know My name.

God is using the captivity to make all these things known to Judah. God uses the captivity to break the back of the Jewish people. They were humbled and for some time they learned their lesson. God accomplished His will with the Babylonians. I think the reference here is more than Judah as well. It seems to me the Lord is revealing how He will save all nations. God is directing all of history. He is directing events that will ultimately to the salvation of people from every nation.

God restored the Jewish people.

Through the Jewish people came Christ.

Christ died for the sins of the world.

People from every nation find salvation in the work of Christ.

The salvation of Jew and Gentile is the work of the Lord. The events in Jeremiah are not merely Jewish events. They apply to us as well. Without a Jewish nation there is no Savior. Without a Savior we are all lost. Therefore we should praise God for what He did for the Jewish people.