Jeremiah 14

Big Idea

Devastating judgment will fall on false prophets and those who listen to them. God mourns for unrepentant people, who must be judged.

Key Themes

• A terrible drought and famine will be part of the judgment coming on Judah.
• God will not accept shallow religious ritual in place of true worship and obedience.
• God will judge the false prophets who mislead people in his name.
• God holds the people accountable for listening to the false prophets, and both will experience the same severe judgment.
• God suffers and weeps over the terrible destruction that falls on Jerusalem.

v.1

This is the word of the LORD to Jeremiah concerning the drought:

v.2

“Judah mourns, her cities languish; they wail for the land, and a cry goes up from Jerusalem.

v.3

The nobles send their servants for water; they go to the cisterns but find no water. They return with their jars unfilled; dismayed and despairing, they cover their heads.

v.4

The ground is cracked because there is no rain in the land; the farmers are dismayed and cover their heads.

v.5

Even the doe in the field deserts her newborn fawn because there is no grass.

v.6

Wild donkeys stand on the barren heights and pant like jackals; their eyesight fails for lack of pasture.”

v.7

Although our sins testify against us, O LORD, do something for the sake of your name. For our backsliding is great; we have sinned against you.

Jeremiah knows that he is on flimsy legal ground asking God for a reprieve from his judgment, since the covenant is broken. He mentions God’s “name” twice (14:7, 9). Jeremiah seems to be implying that perhaps God’s name or his glory will be diminished if Judah, which bears his name, is destroyed. In 14:10 God responds by saying no, and then in 14:11 he admonishes Jeremiah not to intercede for these people in this way anymore.

JDanielHaysTeachTheText

v.8

O Hope of Israel, its Savior in times of distress, why are you like a stranger in the land, like a traveler who stays only a night?

v.9

Why are you like a man taken by surprise, like a warrior powerless to save? You are among us, O LORD, and we bear your name; do not forsake us!

v.10

This is what the LORD says about this people: “They greatly love to wander; they do not restrain their feet. So the LORD does not accept them; he will now remember their wickedness and punish them for their sins.”

v.11

Then the LORD said to me, “Do not pray for the well-being of this people.

The word translated as “pray” carries strong connotations of “intercessory prayer.” Since the covenant is broken, judgment is inevitable, and God tells Jeremiah to cease interceding for the people, a theme that will carry over into Jeremiah 15. “Well-being” is a translation of the word tob, a word with a wide range of meaning, but basically meaning “good.”… Do not pray for their tob (“good”), God tells Jeremiah in 14:11, because God is going to pour out their own ra‘ah (“bad stuff”; NIV: “calamity”) back upon them. #JDanielHaysTeachTheText

v.12

Although they fast, I will not listen to their cry; though they offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Instead, I will destroy them with the sword, famine and plague.”

One of the themes running throughout Jeremiah is the fact that religious rituals do not cover over serious violations of the covenant such as idolatry and immorality. Rituals are to be the means to enhance the relationship with God. Once the relationship is shattered and the very basis of the relationship is violated, the rituals of the covenant are meaningless.

JDanielHaysTeachTheText

v.13

But I said, “Ah, Sovereign LORD, the prophets keep telling them, ‘You will not see the sword or suffer famine. Indeed, I will give you lasting peace in this place.‘“

v.14

Then the LORD said to me, “The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I have not sent them or appointed them or spoken to them. They are prophesying to you false visions, divinations, idolatries and the delusions of their own minds.

v.15

Therefore, this is what the LORD says about the prophets who are prophesying in my name: I did not send them, yet they are saying, ‘No sword or famine will touch this land.’ Those same prophets will perish by sword and famine.

v.16

And the people they are prophesying to will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and sword. There will be no one to bury them or their wives, their sons or their daughters. I will pour out on them the calamity they deserve.

v.17

“Speak this word to them: “‘Let my eyes overflow with tears night and day without ceasing; for my virgin daughter—my people— has suffered a grievous wound, a crushing blow.

v.18

If I go into the country, I see those slain by the sword; if I go into the city, I see the ravages of famine. Both prophet and priest have gone to a land they know not.‘“

v.19

Have you rejected Judah completely? Do you despise Zion? Why have you afflicted us so that we cannot be healed? We hoped for peace but no good has come, for a time of healing but there is only terror.

v.20

O LORD, we acknowledge our wickedness and the guilt of our fathers; we have indeed sinned against you.

Jeremiah offers a prayer of confession on behalf of the people. The problem is that this confession is only Jeremiah’s. The people never confess their sins and repent. Jeremiah cannot cover their sin with his intercessory prayer.

JDanielHaysTeachTheText

v.21

For the sake of your name do not despise us; do not dishonor your glorious throne. Remember your covenant with us and do not break it.

v.22

Do any of the worthless idols of the nations bring rain? Do the skies themselves send down showers? No, it is you, O LORD our God. Therefore our hope is in you, for you are the one who does all this.