Jeremiah 8:18-22
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Introduction
Introduction
When Jesus approached Jerusalem, He wept for the people of God who had rejected Him (Luke 19:42).
When Paul said farewell to the Ephesian elders, he reminded them that he had not ceased to admonish each one of them with tears day and night for a period of three years (Acts 20:31).
Jeremiah said…
1 Oh that my head were waters And my eyes a fountain of tears, That I might weep day and night For the slain of the daughter of my people!
Jesus said some hard things. Paul said some hard things. And, as we’ve been reading about Jeremiah, he said some hard things.
But like our Lord, and like the Apostle Paul, Jeremiah was no hard hearted person.
His message was judgment, but the tenderness of his heart brought tears to his eyes.
Jeremiah 8 begins with the stubborn apostasy of Judah. The scribes, wisemen, prophets, and priests are all in on the apostasy, and everyone will be snatched away by the judgment of God.
His judgment makes the land quake.
His judgment devours land and fruit, city and inhabitant.
His judgment won’t be turned back.
That bring us to Jeremiah 8:18…
[READING - Jeremiah 8:18-22]
18 My sorrow is beyond healing, My heart is faint within me! 19 Behold, listen! The cry of the daughter of my people from a distant land: “Is the Lord not in Zion? Is her King not within her?” “Why have they provoked Me with their graven images, with foreign idols?” 20 “Harvest is past, summer is ended, And we are not saved.” 21 For the brokenness of the daughter of my people I am broken; I mourn, dismay has taken hold of me. 22 Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then has not the health of the daughter of my people been restored?
One of the challenging things in understanding a passage like this one is keeping up with who is speaking. The speakers in this passage break down like this:
Jeremiah speaks (vv. 18-19a)
The people speak (v. 19b)
God speaks (v. 19c)
The people speak (v. 20)
Jeremiah speaks (vv. 21-22)
[TS] Let’s talk about each part of this…
Major Ideas
Major Ideas
#1: Jeremiah speaks (v. 18-19a)
#1: Jeremiah speaks (v. 18-19a)
18 My sorrow is beyond healing, My heart is faint within me! 19 Behold, listen! The cry of the daughter of my people from a distant land: “Is the Lord not in Zion? Is her King not within her?” “Why have they provoked Me with their graven images, with foreign idols?”
Q: How does your translation put v. 18?
Q: Why is Jeremiah so upset?
Q: Jeremiah describes Jerusalem as “the daughter of my people.” How does that description reflect the vulnerability of Jerusalem? How does that phrase reflect the tenderness that Jeremiah feels for Jerusalem?
[EXP] Imagine being Jeremiah speaking of the way of salvation only to watch people you love continually choose the way of destruction.
We all know parents who have tried to speak life to their children only to watch those same children choose pain, turmoil, and maybe even death through addiction. I think Jeremiah feels sort of like a father that has to watch a daughter—Jerusalem, the daughter of his people—descend into darkness.
Q: How could this have been avoided? Repent and believe.
Q: What is required for salvation? Repent and believe on Jesus.
Q: What are we saved from?
Q: Do you love anyone who is not saved? Does your heart break for them? Do you have a sorrow that won’t quit because they do not trust Jesus?
[APP] Jeremiah’s boldness to relentlessly declared the judgment of God is a challenge to me as I read through this book. But Jeremiah’s compassion is a greater challenge to me.
If we are not brokenhearted for the lost, let’s ask God to make us more tender.
Q: Why does the cry of the daughter of my people in v. 19 come from a distant land? Foreshadows the exile.
[TS] …
#2: The People Speak (v. 19b)
#2: The People Speak (v. 19b)
19 Behold, listen! The cry of the daughter of my people from a distant land: “Is the Lord not in Zion? Is her King not within her?” “Why have they provoked Me with their graven images, with foreign idols?”
Q: Where is Zion and who is Zion’s King?
Q: What’s the answer to the question the people ask? Ezekiel saw a vision of God’s glory departing. Ezekiel 10:18 , “Then the glory of the Lord departed from the threshold of the temple and stood over the cherubim.”
Q: Why do the people ask this question?
[EXP] The question reflects confusion and maybe even doubt. The people were asking, “Why didn’t God stop this from happening? Isn’t He present? Isn’t He our Almighty King?”
Of course, God could have stopped it the Babylonian invasion and consequent exile.
Of course, God is ever-present.
Of course, God is King of kings.
But God is also holy and demands His people be holy.
He is also just and will not let sin go unpunished.
Q: This is an easy question, but do you think people are quicker to blame God or examine themselves? Blame God.
[APP] It’s impossible to legitimately blame God. He’s perfect and does no wrong. If something has gone wrong between us and God, the cause always lies with us.
[TS] The people of Judah were asking questions about God, but God had a question for them in last part of v. 19.
#3: God Speaks (v. 19c)
#3: God Speaks (v. 19c)
19 Behold, listen! The cry of the daughter of my people from a distant land: “Is the Lord not in Zion? Is her King not within her?” “Why have they provoked Me with their graven images, with foreign idols?”
Q: What does it mean to provoke God? Provoking is eliciting a response. We sometimes call it poking the bear.
Q: Is God easily angered? No. He is actually slow to anger.
Q: If He’s not easily angered, how has Judah provoked Him to anger? Continually turning to graven images and foreign idols.
[EXP] There’s no reason for Judah’s confusion. God (through Jeremiah) has told His people why Babylon was coming to carry them away. They had turned to other gods.
Q: In Gal. 6:7-8, Paul says, “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. 8 For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.”
What does it mean to sow to the flesh?
What does it mean to sow to the Spirit?
Did Judah sow to the flesh or to the Spirit and what happened to Judah as a result?
How goes your sow? Are you sowing to the flesh reaping corruption or to the Spirit reaping eternal life?
[APP] This is not difficult for us to understand. God is not fooled. He will not be mocked.
We can pretend to be pursuing righteousness, but if we are really sowing to the flesh, we will reap corruption.
The way to reap eternal life is to sow to the Spirit. And the only way to sow to the Spirit is to trust in Jesus. As we live for Jesus, we sow to the Spirit, which is proof that we will reap eternal life.
[TS] …
#4: The People Speak (v. 20)
#4: The People Speak (v. 20)
20 “Harvest is past, summer is ended, And we are not saved.”
Q: What do you think the people mean by this statement? This is likely a proverbial saying meaning that all opportunities have passed and no hope of rescue remains. If harvest came and went and not enough food was brought in famine resulted. There wasn’t much hope then because harvest wouldn’t roll around again anytime soon.
[EXP] God is the source of salvation, but having rejected God, the people of God were without hope of salvation.
Q: Is it possible for Christians to find themselves without hope before the judgment of God? No. But there are many who falsely profess faith in Christ who will find themselves without hope before God.
[APP] The author of Hebrews speaks to this. Hebrews 10:26-31…
26 For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries. 28 Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge His people.” 31 It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
Q: What is the author of Hebrews getting at here? Is he saying we have to be perfect? No. We do, however, have to be repentant.
Q: What happens to those who profess Christ but don’t repent of sin? What remains but a fearful expectation of judgment?
[TS] …
#5: Jeremiah Speaks ( v. 21-22)
#5: Jeremiah Speaks ( v. 21-22)
21 For the brokenness of the daughter of my people I am broken; I mourn, dismay has taken hold of me. 22 Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then has not the health of the daughter of my people been restored?
Q: What is balm? It was risen from the balsam tree from Gilead in the north of Moab.
Q: Why is the balm in Gilead special? The area became known for its healing balms. This area was also left those those Israelites who stayed east of the Jordan River when Israel entered the Promised Land.
Q: How do you think we as readers are to answer the three questions asked in v. 22?
Based on the last question, I think they should be answered like so…
“Is there no balm in Gilead?” Yes.
“Is there no physician there?” There is a physician.
“Why then has not the health of the daughter of my people been restored?” Because they did not recognize themselves in need of a physician.
[APP] In Luke 5, Levi (a.k.a. Matthew) hosted a dinner party for his friends—people who were tax collectors and sinners like himself. The Pharisees didn’t like and asked the disciples of Jesus, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”
31 And Jesus answered and said to them, “It is not those who are well who need a physician, but those who are sick. 32 “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”
Q: How do Jesus’ words here in Luke 5 apply to Judah in Jeremiah 8?
Q: How do Jesus’ words apply to us today?
[TS] …
Conclusion
Conclusion
We only become saved saints by recognizing ourselves as sick sinners in need of healing, in need of salvation that only Jesus can give.