A Pen of Iron

In this section God continues to point out the sins of Judah. He also reminds them of the blessing of repentance. What is new in this chapter is the Lord’s encouragement of the people to honor the Sabbath day. We are going to break the chapter into five sections.

1. The sin of the people (1-4).

A. Judah’s sin is deeply embedded within the people (1).

Jeremiah mentions a pen of iron. This was a pen with a special point that enabled a person to engrave something into stone. When something was engraved in sto9ne it was permanent. The sin of Judah was engraved on their heart. Not only was it on their heart it was engraved on the horns of the altar as well. Altars had projections that came out of the tops of the four corners. In Jewish worship the blood of a sacrifice was put on the tips of these horns (Lev. 16:18). The purpose was to remove sin. Judah’s worship was embedded with sin. In other words, even their worship was sinful.

We all sin. We are fallen humans. There is a difference between living in and enjoying sin. The saved person does not live in habitual sin. We are made righteous. We are saved from our sin. When a person is so attached to sin that’s what they are identified by it reveals they are in need of salvation.

B. Their sin had been going on for some time (2-3).

This is seen in two ways:

The sin was widespread. Idolatry was all over the nation. Altars to the fertility goddess Asherah decorated the land. Asherah was honored with poles erected on hills and mountain tops. God specifically forbade this in His Word (Deut. 16:21).

The sin was known by generations of Jewish people. It says their children remember the altars. The next generation desires to worship at the pagan altars.

God says there will be a cost for the widespread idolatry. The nation would lose its wealth and its treasures. There is always a price to pay for sin. Often the price is paid in this world and the next. God warns us of the wages of sin. Sin that is undealt with will multiply and so will the debt it brings. The longer we live in sin the more sin we embrace. The more sin we embrace the greater our debt will be when the bill comes due.

C. Their sin angered God (4).

Look at the end of verse 4. The fire of God’s anger had been kindled. It would not be extinguished. It would burn forever. This reminds us that the wrath of God on sinners never disappears. Heaven is a place where the eternal love of God is revealed. Hell is a place where the eternal wrath of God is revealed. Both His anger and His love will last forever.

The anger of the Lord would be revealed first by Judah losing their inheritance and being taken captive to Babylon. They had served false gods in the promised land. Now they will serve pagans in a foreign land.

God is not mocked. We reap what we sow. God’s patience had given the nation a lot of time to remove their sin. They refused. They become so enveloped with their sin it was if their sins had been engraved on a rock and were eternal. They had no intention of distancing themselves from them.

2. The choice set before the people (5-8).

A. The foolishness of trusting in man (5-6).

God pronounces a curse on those who trust in man. This is probably a reference to the alliances the people of God made with pagan countries. They made these alliances out of fear. They wanted security. Instead of trusting God, they trusted man. The alliances they made with these nations introduced the gods of these nations to the land. Jews began embracing idolatry. This is ultimately what brough the curse of God upon the people.

People who trust in man are like a shrub in the desert. What does a shrub in the desert do? It dries up, dies, and blows away. That’s what is going to happen to the one who trusts in man. They are going to dry up and be blown into a distant land. Notice the phrase “an uninhabited salt land” in verse 6. Salted land was land that had been rendered unfruitful by scattering salt on it. The one who trusts in man will be fruitless. He will not produce the fruit of righteousness.

This is the result of trusting in man, being cursed by God.

B. The blessedness of trusting in God (7-8).

Verses 7-8 remind us of the blessed man in Psalm 1:3. He is like a tree planted by the water. A tree planted by the water develops a good root system. As a result, it can endure harsh weather conditions. Heat nor drought kills it because it has a source of nourishment. It continues to bear fruit.

Jeremiah is an example of one who was trusting in God. He would endure the drought. He would experience the heat of persecution. But he would remain faithful to God and produce righteous fruit because his trust was in God. The coming Babylonian invasion would reveal that the people of Judah had no root system. Their faith was shallow and dead. Their lack of spiritual life would be revealed by the circumstances coming to the nation.

This is a great reminder for us. We can choose to trust man or God. If we trust man when trial comes, we will show ourselves to be weak. If we trust God, we can endure any circumstance. The choice to make is clear. Trust God, not man.

3. The hearts of the people (9-13).

A. God asks a question (9).

Before God asks the question, He reveals the state of the unredeemed heart. We see two things about the heart:

It is deceitful above all things. This word means crooked, corrupt. It describes something untrustworthy. The human heart cannot be trusted. It will lead a person to their own sinful desires. It will justify sin.

It is desperately sick. The word means it is incurable. It has a deadly disease. It only gets sicker with time. As the heart grows sicker the capacity for sin grows greater.

The question concerning the heart is “Who can understand it?” In other words, we don’t have the capacity to understand how wicked our own heart is. If we did, we would not be deceived by it. In our culture we exalt the heart. Even if a person is bad, we say they have a good heart. This is not what the Bible teaches. The bible teaches that at our very core we are desperately wicked and deceived. We need a new heart.

B. God answers the question (10).

God says He searches the heart and tests the mind. This means God knows our thoughts and our intentions. No one understands human nature like God does. Our society is filled with people who devote their lives to understanding the human nature. Psychologists and scientists seek to know why we do what we do. They develop drugs to help curb sinful tendencies and call sin sickness so they can make a living off fallen nature. Man cannot help us when it comes to sin. Only God can. He knows us inside and out.

C. An illustration is given (11).

The Lord uses a common thought in Jeremiah’s day to illustrate the point. It was believed that the partridge would steal the eggs of other birds and place them in their own nests when their eggs were taken. The birds would then hatch and return to their own mother. This was a proverb in that culture. It taught that if you get wealth in an immoral way the wealth will leave you and return where it belongs.

Judah had resorted to acquiring wealth by an unjust means. All they had acquired would now fly away when the invaders from the North came. Their actions would prove they were foolish.

D. The shame of forsaking God (12-13).

The temple was in Jerusalem, and it is describes as the glorious throne of God in verse 12. Jerusalem symbolized the eternal throne of God. God’s throne would never be taken away. It is a permanent fixture existing from eternity past. God has always been here and God will always be here.

Look at what God is called in verse 13.

He is called the Hope of Israel at the beginning of the verse.

He is called the Fountain of living Water at the end of the verse.

They are forsaking their hope and their life.

What will happen to those who forsake the eternal God? They will be put to shame. Jeremiah says their name is written in the dirt. What happens when you write something in the dirt? It doesn’t last long. Soon it disappears.

The hearts of the people had led them to follow after sin. In doing so they forsook God and would now be put to shame.

4. The prayer of Jeremiah (14-18).

A. A prayer for relief (14-15).

Jeremiah wants to be healed from the wounds of his enemies. He wants to be saved from their traps. He knows that only God can save him. He even worships the Lord. He says God is his praise.

In verse 15 we see the cause of Jeremiah’s anxiety. The people mocked him. Jeremiah had been warning them about a coming judgment, but they had yet to see it. They mockingly asked, “Where is the Word of the Lord?” Then they boldly said, “Let it come!”

Jeremiah couldn’t understand why the Lord allowed this. In his mind the Lord should have already swallowed up these people. This reminds us of what Peter warned of in 2 Peter 3:4. We see that Jeremiah continued to deal with the same temptations, much like we do. He returned to god over and over with the same complaint.

B. The faithfulness of Jeremiah (16-17).

Jeremiah mentions three ways he had been faithful to the Lord.

I have not run away from being your shepherd. He was not like Jonah.

I have not desired the day of sickness. In other words, he did not rejoice that the people would be judged. He loved the people.

I have spoken what you told me to speak. He preached the Word.

Because of his faithfulness Jeremiah asks the Lord not to be a terror to him. He asks the Lord to be his refuge in the day of disaster. It seems that Jeremiah was afraid he might die in the invasion. That could be by the hands of his enemies or the Babylonians. We can’t blame Jeremiah for this prayer. We would probably be praying in the same manner. Jeremiah’s point is that he is different from Judah. He has been faithful to God and he asks that God spare him for this reason.

C. A prayer for justice (18).

Instead of putting him to shame he asks the Lord to put his enemies to shame.

Let them be dismayed!

Let them be destroyed!

Bring upon them the day of disaster!

Let them be put to shame!

Jeremiah is only praying what the Lord said He was going to do to his enemies in verse 13. Therefore, this prayer was according to the will of God. Jeremiah loved the people. But he also knew the only way righteousness would be destroyed is if the judgment of the Lord fell upon these people. They were not going to repent so that was the only option.

5. The Sabbath of the Lord (19-27).

A. Jeremiah is told to address the nation (19-20).

The gate mentioned here is believed to be one that entered the Temple. It is said it was a gate not used by priests but by the kings and the people. Not only is he to stand at this general gate of the Temple, he is also to go to the other gates in the city. The point is Jeremiah is to preach where many people are congregated. Jeremiah was in many ways a street preacher. He went to the people and preached. This is not an easy thing to do. However, it was the command of the Lord and Jeremiah obeyed. He was to address everyone. The kings and the common people were his audience.

B. He is to remind them they have broken the Sabbath (21-23).

The Law taught them to rest on the Sabbath. Instead of honoring the Sabbath they were carrying heavy loads. This would have been for the purpose of business. They were making money on the Sabbath. This was forbidden in Scripture (Exodus 20:10; Num. 15:32-36).

The present generation was repeating the sins of their fathers by breaking the Sabbath. The people turned a deaf ear to God. They ignored Him. They ignored His discipline. The breaking of the Sabbath meant that the day of the Lord was no longer a priority for them. Instead or resting and worshipping they were going about with their own business. The people of God need to stop each week and worship the Lord. We are not bound by the Sabbath but we are indebted to Christ to honor the Lord’s day. When the Lord’s Day becomes a burden we will fall away from God.

C. The blessing of obedience (24-26).

God says if the Sabbath was properly restored again then Jerusalem would prosper. The gates would be open. The throne of David would be occupied. This is an interesting point. The people had forgotten God. Their treatment of the Sabbath proved that. Restore the Sabbath and that is symbolic of God being the priority once again. If that happens the nation will be blessed.

This is a point for our culture to consider. If we made the Lord’s Day a priority again we may see a great revival in the land. Following God is simple. Obey him and you will be blessed, and your life will be more fruitful.

D. The cost of disobedience (27).

If they continue with business-as-usual things will be bad. If they keep dishonoring the Sabbath Jerusalem will be destroyed. The city and the temple will be destroyed. It’s almost as if God is saying “If you’re not going to use it properly, I’ll take it away.”

What would we do if our church buildings closed? What would we do if they shut down? Many are. They are shutting down because the Lord’s Day is not being honored. If all who claimed to be a Christina honored the Lord’s Day the churches in this town could not hold them.

The sad thing about this chapter is we know the people are not going to repent. Their sins are written with a pen of iron. What about us? What about our culture? Are our sins so embedded within us that we will not separate from them? I pray not.