My Redeemer > Bible > Jeremiah > Chapters 14-16
|
|
Jer. 14:1-15:21 GOD Responds to Jeremiah's Prayers
Famine and Sword Are Inevitable (HBH) Jeremiah lamented that a severe drought had swept over the land, confessed the nation's sin, and asked the LORD to restore His favor. In response the LORD pointed to the nation's wickedness, instructed Jeremiah to cease interceding for the people, and announced He would not accept their hypocritical sacrifices. Jeremiah blamed the nation's condition on the false prophets and their promises of peace. These liars would be destroyed with the rest of the nation.
Jer. 14:1-15:21 These prophecies were given in a period of severe drought that affected the life of the city (v.3), the countryside (v.4) and the inhabited areas (verses 5,6), so that no human beings or animals escaped from suffering its effects.
Jer. 14:10-12 GOD's response isn't favorable, because the people refuse to repent, and go after false gods. He tells Jeremiah not to plead for this people (see the note for 6:20.
Jer. 14:12 The triple punishment of the sword, famine and pestilence, appears on 15 occasions in Jeremiah and forms a part of the curses for disobeying GOD (Lev. 26:25,26).
Jer. 14:14-18 GOD denies having commissioned the false prophets, who spread a false vision that will not be fulfilled. They will be punished with the sword and with famine. The people to whom they direct their prophecies will face the same lot; the sword will break those who are found in the country side and famine will consume those who live in the cities.
Jer. 14:14-16 See section 1 of "TRUTH IN ACTION" at the end of Jeremiah.
Jer. 14:19-15:9 Prophetic Intercession is Futile (HBH) Once more Jeremiah interceded for the nation, lamenting its condition, confessing its sin, and asking the LORD to intervene. He acknowledged the the LORD was incomparable to the idol-gods and that He alone was the source of the nation's blessings. The LORD declared that not even Moses or Samuel could effectively intercede for such a wicked people. The sins of King Manasseh had angered Him (compare II Kings 21:1-18), and the people had not changed their ways. GOD decreed that death, famine, and exile would sweep through the land.
Jer. 15:1-9 The LORD doesn't take pity on them and declares that their sin is so great that even the intercession of Moses and Samuel (Exod. 32:1-14,30-34; Num. 14:13-23; I Sam. 7:5-9; 12:19-25; Psa. 99:6-8) would be ineffective.
Jer. 15:3,4 Promised in Deuteronomy 28:25,26.
Jer. 15:4 Manasseh: Considered the worst king in the history of Judah (II Kings 21:1-11,16), his sins are the main cause of Judah's decadence. See II Kings 21:12-15; 23:26,27; 24:3,4.
Jer. 15:6 I will stretch out my hand: See the note for 6:12. Tired of repenting: Anthropomorphic language. From the human point of view, GOD seems to have a change of opinion, but we must remember that many prophetic pronouncements have a conditional character. GOD only punishes the people who don't respond; he offers them a chance to avoid the promised judgment until the last moment.
Jer. 15:7 Winnow (KJV-fan): Process by which the grain is separated from the chaff and the dirt, exposing the cereal that is thrown in the air to the breeze. Then the wind carries away the lighter materials. See the note for Ruth 3:2. The winnowing process is a symbol of judgment in 51:2; Proverbs 20:26; Isaiah 41:16.
Jer. 15:9 A blessed and favored mother is the one who has given birth to seven children.
Jer. 15:10 See 20:14,15; Job 3:3-10.
Jer. 15:10-21 The LORD Vindicates His prophet (HBH) Jeremiah once again lamented the opposition he experienced (compare 12:1-4). Though he was innocent of wrongdoing and had faithfully declared the LORD's word, he suffered reproach. He questioned GOD's dependability and asked the LORD to take up his cause. The LORD assured him of divine protection and vindication before his enemies. However, the prophet had to confess his lack of faith and persevere in his mission.
Jer. 15:11 May it be so, oh Jehovah (KJV-The LORD said, Verily it shall be well): Jeremiah shows his conformity with GOD's plans.
Jer. 15:12 A rhetorical question that can only be answered negatively. Iron: Symbol of strength.
Jer. 15:17 I sat alone: Jeremiah didn't marry. See the note for 16:2.
Jer. 15:18 Two rhetorical questions; one about his own condition, the other related to GOD's trustworthiness. Come unstable waters: Like the creek that is dry for the greater part of the year (see 6:15; but compare 2:13 and 17:3)
Jer. 15:19-21 See section 5 of "TRUTH IN ACTION" at the end of Jeremiah.
Jer. 16:1-17:27 More Warnings and Exhortations
Jeremiah's Restrictions Foreshadow Judgment (HBH) The LORD placed several restrictions on Jeremiah that foreshadowed the effects of the coming judgment. Jeremiah was not to take a wife in order to show the devastating effects of judgment upon the nation's families. Many would be left without children and spouses. The prophet was forbidden to attend a funeral, for after the coming disaster people would not even have the opportunity to mourn the dead. Neither was he to attend a feast, for judgment would bring a cessation of joyous celebrations throughout the land.
Once again the LORD pointed out that the people's idolatry had brought this calamity. Though the LORD would repay them double for their idolatry. They would forfeit their place in the promised land and live as slaves in a distant, foreign place.
Jer. 16:1-13 Special instructions are offered to Jeremiah about how he should live and the message he should preach.
Jer. 16:2 As a sign of the imminent disaster that will come upon Judah, Jeremiah is prohibited from taking a wife or having children.
Jer. 16:5-7 Instructions concerning the dead. See Ezekiel 24:16,17,22,23.
Jer. 16:6 In accordance with the Law, (Lev. 19:27; 21:5; Deut. 14:1), the Israelites were prohibited from ripping out or shaving off the hair, customs prevalent among the neighboring pagan peoples.
Jer. 16:7 Those who were in mourning generally provided food. See Ezekiel 24:17,22; Hosea 9:4.
Jer. 16:8,9 Jeremiah had to avoid such festive celebrations as funerals.
Jer. 16:9 See the note for 7:34.
Jer. 16:14,15 Repeated with minor variation in 23:7,8. Hope and assurance appear in the midst of punishment and destruction, because the return to the house of Israel is promised as a new exodus from the lands where GOD had scattered them.
Jer. 16:16 The fishermen and the hunters are the conquerors.
 LITERARY RICHES |
|---|
| Jer. 16:19 strength; Strong #5797: Power, security. This substantive comes from the verb 'azaz, which means "firm and strong". Here the description that Jeremiah makes of his GOD has poetic quality in the Hebrew: 'Uzi u-Ma'uzi (my fortress and my strength). 'Oz appears approximately 100 times in the Old Testament, often in well-known verses (see Psa. 8:2; 46:1; 63:2; Is. 12:2). David danced joyfully before Jehovah (II Sam. 6:14). In Psalm 105:4, we are wisely counseled to seek "Jehovah and his power". |
Jer. 16:19,20 A ray of hope for the Gentiles who will return to GOD when they discover the falsehood of idols. GOD will instruct them and they will know His name.
Introduction to Jeremiah - Ch. 1 - Ch. 2 - Ch. 3 - Ch. 4 - Ch. 5
- Ch. 6 - Ch. 7 - Ch. 8 - Ch. 9 - Ch. 10 - Ch. 11 - Ch. 12 - Ch. 13 - Ch. 14 - Ch. 15 - Ch. 16 - Ch. 17 - Ch. 18 - Ch. 19 - Ch. 20 - Ch. 21 - Ch. 22 - Ch. 23 - Ch. 24 - Ch. 25 - Ch. 26 - Ch. 27 - Ch. 28 - Ch. 29 - Ch. 30 - Ch. 31 - Ch. 32 - Ch. 33 - Ch. 34 - Ch. 35 - Ch. 36 - Ch. 37 - Ch. 38 - Ch. 39 - Ch. 40 - Ch. 41 - Ch. 42 - Ch. 43 - Ch. 44 - Ch. 45 - Ch. 46 - Ch. 47 - Ch. 48 - Ch. 49 - Ch. 50 - Ch. 51 - Ch. 52TRUTH IN ACTION throughout Jeremiah
Genesis - Exodus - Leviticus - Numbers - Deuteronomy - Joshua - Judges - Ruth - I Samuel - II Samuel - I Kings - II Kings - I Chronicles - II Chronicles - Ezra - Nehemiah - Esther - Job - Psalms - Proverbs - Ecclesiastes - Song of Songs - Isaiah - Jeremiah - Lamentations - Ezekiel - Daniel - Hosea - Joel - Amos - Obadiah - Jonah - Micah - Nahum - Habakkuk - Zephaniah - Haggai - Zechariah - Malachi
Matthew - Mark - Luke - John - Acts - Romans - I Corinthians - II Corinthians - Galatians - Ephesians - Philippians - Colossians - I Thessalonians - II Thessalonians - I Timothy - II Timothy - Titus - Philemon - Hebrews - James - I Peter - II Peter - I John - II John - III John - Jude - Revelation
Jeremiah 14 (John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible)
This chapter contains prophecy of a drought, which produced a famine, Jer. 14:1, and is described by the dismal effects of it; and general distress in the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem, Jer. 14:2, even the nobles were affected with it, whose servants returned without water ashamed, when sent for it, Jer. 14:3, the ploughmen could not use their plough, their ground was so hard, Jer. 14:4 and the very beasts of the field suffered much, because there was no grass, Jer. 14:5, upon this follows a prayer of the prophet to the Lord, that he would give rain for his name's sake; he confesses the sins of the people, that they were many, and against the Lord; and testified against them, that they deserved to be used as they were; and he addresses the Lord as the hope and Saviour of his people in time past, when it was a time of trouble with them; and expostulates with him, why he should be as a stranger and traveler, and like a mighty man astonished, that either had no regard to their land any more than a foreigner and a traveler; or no heart to help them, or exert his power, than a man at his wits' end, though he was among them, and they were called by his name; and therefore he begs he would not leave them, Jer. 14:7, but he is told that it was for the sins of the people that all this was, which the Lord was determined to remember and visit; and therefore he is bid not to pray for them; if he did, it would not be regarded, nor the people's fasting and prayers also; for they should be consumed by the sword, famine, and pestilence, Jer. 14:10, and though the prophet pleads, in excuse of the people, that the false prophets had deceived them; yet not only the vanity and falsehood of their prophecies are exposed, and they are threatened with destruction, but the people also, for hearkening unto them, Jer. 14:13, wherefore the prophet, instead of putting up a prayer for them, has a lamentation dictated to him by the Lord, which he is ordered to express, Jer. 14:17, and yet, notwithstanding this, he goes on to pray for them in a very pathetic manner; he expostulates with God, and pleads for help and healing; confesses the iniquities of the people; entreats the Lord, for the sake of his name, glory, and covenant, that he would not reject them and his petition; and observes, that the thing asked for (rain) was what none of the gods of the Heathens could give, or even the heavens themselves, only the Lord; and therefore determines to wait upon him for it, who made the heavens, the earth, and rain, Jer. 14:19.
Jeremiah 15 (John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible)
This chapter contains the Lord's answer to the prophet's prayers, in which he declares himself inexorable, and had resolved on the ruin of the Jewish nation for their sins; the prophet's complaint of the hardships he endured, notwithstanding his sincerity and integrity; and the Lord's promise of protection and deliverance, in case of his continuance in the faithful discharge of his office. The Lord denies the request of the prophet, by observing, that if even Moses and Samuel had been the intercessors for the people, he would not have regarded them, being determined upon casting them out, and sending them away captive, Jer. 15:1, their punishment is declared, which was resolved on; some for death, or the pestilence; others for the sword; others for famine; and others for captivity; and others to be devoured by dogs, and fowls, and wild beasts, Jer. 15:2, the cause of which were their sins, particularly their idolatry in the times of Manasseh, Jer. 15:4, wherefore they should have no pity from men, nor would the Lord any more repent of the evil threatened, of which he was weary, because of their many backslidings, Jer. 15:5, which destruction, being determined, is illustrated by a description of the instrument of it; by the multitude of widows, and the distress of mothers bereaved of their children, Jer. 15:7 on which the prophet takes up a complaint of his being born for strife and contention, and of his being cursed by the people, though no usurer, Jer. 15:10, when he is comforted with a promise of being used well by the enemy, both he and his remnant, Jer. 15:11, but as for the people of the Jews in general, they would never be able to withstand the northern forces, the army of the Chaldeans; their riches and substance would be delivered into their hands, and their persons also be carried captive into a strange land, and the prophet along with them, because of their sins, and the wrath of God for them, Jer_15:12, upon which the prophet prays to the Lord, who knew him, that he would remember and visit him, and avenge him of his persecutors, and not take him away in his longsuffering; he urges, that he had suffered rebuke and reproach for his sake; that he was called by him to his office, which he had cheerfully entered on; he had his mission, commission, and message, from him, which he received with the greatest pleasure, signified by eating his words with joy; and that he had not associated himself with mockers and scoffers at religion and the word of God; and therefore expostulates why he should be put to so much pain, and be used as he was, Jer. 15:15, wherefore the Lord promises that, upon condition of doing his work faithfully, he should be preserved, protected, and delivered, Jer. 15:19.