Jeremiah 10:17ff

Introduction

So where were we?

After the introduction to Jeremiah in chapter 1 and the first message on Israel’s unfaithfulness in chapters 2-6, we come to Jeremiah’s temple sermon in chapters 7-10.

In this sermon we have seen that Judah has relied on the temple to save them from God’s wrath (7:1-8:3).

But God tells them in Jeremiah 7:4-7…

Jeremiah 7:4–7 NASB95

4 “Do not trust in deceptive words, saying, ‘This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.’ 5 “For if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly practice justice between a man and his neighbor, 6 if you do not oppress the alien, the orphan, or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place, nor walk after other gods to your own ruin, 7 then I will let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers forever and ever.

We have also seen that Judah has rejected God’s law (8:4-17).

God says in Jeremiah 8:9…

Jeremiah 8:9 NASB95

9 “The wise men are put to shame, They are dismayed and caught; Behold, they have rejected the word of the Lord, And what kind of wisdom do they have?

Judah has also lived deceitfully (8:18-9:9).

Jeremiah 9:3 says...

Jeremiah 9:3 NASB95

3 “They bend their tongue like their bow; Lies and not truth prevail in the land; For they proceed from evil to evil, And they do not know Me,” declares the Lord.

Of course, the rebellion of Judah grieves the heart of God and His prophet Jeremiah (9:10-26).

Jeremiah 9:10 NASB95

10 “For the mountains I will take up a weeping and wailing, And for the pastures of the wilderness a dirge, Because they are laid waste so that no one passes through, And the lowing of the cattle is not heard; Both the birds of the sky and the beasts have fled; they are gone.

But Judah continues to engage in idolatry, worshipping gods they’ve created rather than the God who created them (10:1-16).

In Jeremiah 10:14-15, God says…

Jeremiah 10:14–15 NASB95

14 Every man is stupid, devoid of knowledge; Every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols; For his molten images are deceitful, And there is no breath in them. 15 They are worthless, a work of mockery; In the time of their punishment they will perish.

And that brings us to Jeremiah 10:17-25, the end of Jeremiah’s temple sermon in which the exile of sinful Judah is guaranteed so the people must prepare for it (10:17-18), in which Jeremiah laments the judgment coming on Judah (10:19-22), and Jeremiah prays for Judah as everyone in Judah should (10:23-25).

[TS] Let’s look first at the preparation in vv. 17-18…

Major Ideas

#1: The Preparation: The people of Judah must prepare for exile (10:17-18)

Jeremiah 10:17–18 NASB95

17 Pick up your bundle from the ground, You who dwell under siege! 18 For thus says the Lord, “Behold, I am slinging out the inhabitants of the land At this time, And will cause them distress, That they may be found.”

Q: Anyone’s translation read a lot differently in these verses?

Q: Any particular words or phrases stick out to you? If so, why?

[EXP] Judah, most especially Jerusalem, has been under siege from Babylon, but the city is soon to fall. It’s time for those that remain to grab their belongings and hold on tight because God is going to sling them out of the Promised Land. It will be a time of distress. They will feel it. They will be captured.

Q: How might these verses point us to Jesus?

[APP] In Adam, we’ve all been slung out of a promised land.

Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden, a paradise far more grand than the Promised Land, and yet they were slung out so to speak because of their sin and unrepentance.

In Adam, we all sinned, and as a result we were all slung out of God’s kind presence. But praise God the certain judgment that should have fallen on us feel on Christ Jesus.

In our place condemned He stood.

By His wound we are healed.

Through the sacrifice of Jesus, the wrath of God is satisfied, and we who were slung out in Adam are welcomed back in forevermore in Jesus Christ.

[TS] Let’s look at the lament in vv. 19-22…

#2: The Lamentation: The exile of Judah is tragic and tragically deserved (10:19-22).

Jeremiah 10:19–22 NASB95

19 Woe is me, because of my injury! My wound is incurable. But I said, “Truly this is a sickness, And I must bear it.” 20 My tent is destroyed, And all my ropes are broken; My sons have gone from me and are no more. There is no one to stretch out my tent again Or to set up my curtains. 21 For the shepherds have become stupid And have not sought the Lord; Therefore they have not prospered, And all their flock is scattered. 22 The sound of a report! Behold, it comes— A great commotion out of the land of the north— To make the cities of Judah A desolation, a haunt of jackals.

Q: What part of this passage caught your attention as read through it?

Q: Anyone reading from the KJV? If so, what’s interesting about 10:22? (10:22 says that Judah will become a den of dragons. The word translated ‘dragon’ can mean monster, sea-serpent, or jackal. The KJV translates the same word as jackal in 9:11.)

[EXP] Jeremiah laments as all the inhabitants (especially the leaders) of Judah should have lamented. The judgment of God hit Jeremiah’s heart so hard that it seems broken beyond repair, but Jeremiah knows it is deserved. He must bear it. Judah must bear the punishment for its sins.

In v. 20, Judah is pictured as distressed and deserted like a widow abandoned by her sons—the sons meant to care for her in her old age. Her tent (i.e., her home) is in shambles. The ropes that held it up are broken. The curtains that made up its walls are fallen. Help is nowhere to be found.

This is a heartbreaking picture that evokes sympathy for the imaginary widow, but this imaginary widow represents Judah, and Judah has brought all this on its self.

The leaders have stupidly refused to seek the Lord.

The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”

The stupid refuses to seek Him.

The people are scattered.

The enemy, Babylon, comes from the north to make the land a desolation, a feeding ground for scavengers.

J. A. Thompson, in his commentary on Jeremiah, writes, “As it turns out, following Nebuchadnezzar’s second invasion in 587 B.C. destruction was widespread. Modern archeological investigation has shown an uniform picture. Many towns were destroyed at the beginning of the sixth century B.C. and never again occupied. Others were destroyed at the time and partly reoccupied at some later date. Still others were destroyed and reoccupied only after a long period of abandonment. There is no known case of a town in Judah proper which was continuously occupied through the exilic period.”

[APP] All unrepentant, stubborn sinners will feel the greatest vulnerability, the greatest helplessness before the judgment of God and will be left entirely ruined and without hope.

They will realize as they stand before Him that is everything is exposed to Him—all their actions, thoughts, and feelings. Nothing is hidden from Him to whom we must give an account.

In that moment people may look to a favorite sin for comfort, but they will find no comfort.

In that moment they make look to a friend in sin, but they will find no friends.

In that moment they make look within themselves for some sinful cleverness to outwit the judgment of God, but they will find none.

There is no aid, no help, and no strength before the judgment of God.

Although this is the certain future for all who refuse to turn from sin and trust in Jesus, those who refuse will not lament their future.

Like Jeremiah did for Judah and Jesus did for Jerusalem, we must lament for those who should lament for themselves.

Although God knows, we must let Him know that there are some in this city, in this nation who understand the need to repent for not only individual but also corporate sins.

[TS] Look at Jeremiah’s intercession in vv. 23-25…

#3: The Intercession: Jeremiah’s prays for the nation as the nation should pray for itself (10:23-25)

Jeremiah 10:23–25 NASB95

23 I know, O Lord, that a man’s way is not in himself, Nor is it in a man who walks to direct his steps. 24 Correct me, O Lord, but with justice; Not with Your anger, or You will bring me to nothing. 25 Pour out Your wrath on the nations that do not know You And on the families that do not call Your name; For they have devoured Jacob; They have devoured him and consumed him And have laid waste his habitation.

Q: How would you describe Jeremiah’s prayer in v. 23?

Q: How would you describe it in v. 24?

Q: How would you describe it in v. 25?

[EXP] In v. 23, Jeremiah acknowledges that man isn’t fit to direct his own life. He doesn’t know what’s best for him. God does.

This is an acknowledgment of God’s rule.

Jeremiah follows his acknowledgement that God knows best with a request to be corrected with justice and not anger. Again, Jeremiah prays as all Judah should.

If God corrects with justice, there is some future hope for Judah.

If, however, God corrects by giving full vent to His righteous anger, there is no hope for Judah.

Then Jeremiah requests that God poor out His wrath on the pagan nations that have either sacked Israel and Judah or cheered it on.

God used Assyria and Babylon as tools of His judgment on Israel and Judah, but they didn’t know God. They weren’t in covenant relationship with God.

The people of God were under judgment, but the judgment was meant to break them of their idolatry. But Assyria and Babylon tried to eradicate the people of God.

When Assyria and Babylon falls under God’s judgment, Jeremiah prays that they will know God’s wrath in His anger.

Q: How do these verses help us to pray for ourselves or for our own nation?

[APP] As the people of God through New Covenant in Christ’s blood, we should remember that God corrects us according to His justice. That is, He corrects us to set us right. He doesn’t correct us in His anger, that is, to consume us.

The author of Hebrews tells us this by stringing together some OT quotations.

Hebrews 12:5–6 NASB95

5 and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, Nor faint when you are reproved by Him; 6 For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, And He scourges every son whom He receives.”

But if we will not respond to His just correction, we will meet His angry wrath. In Romans 2:5-11, Paul writes…

Romans 2:5–11 NASB95

5 But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, 6 who will render to each person according to his deeds: 7 to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; 8 but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation. 9 There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek, 10 but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 11 For there is no partiality with God.

Let’s pray that we as individuals respond to the just discipline of God.

Let’s pray that as a nation we would respond to the just discipline of God.

Let’s pray that we would never see His angry wrath.

But let’s pray that we would soon see His angry wrath poured out on all the enemies of His people at the return of Jesus Christ.

[TS] …

Conclusion

[PRAYER]