Chapter 14
This chapter begins the 5th message, which runs through 17:18 per MSB outline. So we'll see all this one today. The sixth message, an apparently short one, runs from 17:19-27. So we'll also get all that one today.
The introductory phrase for this 5th message is:
1 The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah concerning the drought: [Jer 14:1 ESV] Still need to see why this makes it a new message...
vss 2-6 describe the effects of the drought. This drought is apparently going to occur before the invasion of Babylon. Among the descriptions are cisterns that are dry - no water to be drawn, doe's abandon their fawns because there is no grass, wild donkeys go blind because there is nothing to eat...it's too dry for anything to grow. Do we ever, ever, ever consider that natural events like droughts and floods could be God trying to get our attention, to turn us back to Him? In this modern day, I don't think even the church ever considers that possibility.
2021 - We should consider what's going on today in the US in light of this prophecy. The grocery stores have plenty of food, but less than they once did. Perhaps this is just the beginning of a trend. The rich productive farmland in California is in danger of catastrophe because of the ongoing drought out there. States are fighting each other over water rights. And then add Covid. This website, https://gisanddata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/dashboards/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6 , today on 12/22/21, says that 810,364 people have died of covid in this country alone. We blame the drought out west on climate change, and we blame climate change on...what? Greedy capitalists who refuse to cut back on CO2? Really? We think we can change the entire climate all by ourselves? How much did the climate change when we pulled out of the last ice age, and what did hunter gatherers have to do with that?
Hmm...If one believes in creation, and a young earth as consequence of that, how do we explain the evidence of large moving ice sheets? When was that? How did that happen? Now that is a needed study. I can't even begin to answer that right now.
Facebook post?
vss 7-9 are an appeal for God to stay with them, though their iniquities are many.
vs 10 is God's reply. It has gone far enough. God will now punish the people's sin:
10 Thus says the LORD concerning this people: "They have loved to wander thus; they have not restrained their feet; therefore the LORD does not accept them; now he will remember their iniquity and punish their sins." [Jer 14:10 ESV]
It has simply gone far enough. There is no time left for repentance. They have crossed the line. The circuit breaker has kicked open, Dad is taking off his belt, the jury says guilty and the judge's sentence cannot be stopped. That is the sense of where Judah is at this time in Jeremiah. Even though their desolation by Babylon is still future, wrath is already being poured out. Things are bad, they are getting worse, they will continue to get worse, right up until the time when the dam breaks - or the bulge in the wall shatters - and it is all over in a night.
In vss 11, 12, God gives Jeremiah some unusual instructions. This is the second (2020 - third time. 1st was 7:16, second was 11:14 which I read yesterday and now this third one today in 14:11) time we've seen this in Jeremiah:
11 The LORD said to me: "Do not pray for the welfare of this people. 12 Though they fast, I will not hear their cry, and though they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I will not accept them. But I will consume them by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence." [Jer 14:11-12 ESV]
God gets to the point where He can send very severe punishment on his people - a sentence to serve - that does not kill them. And when he gets to this point, there is no turning away nor diminishing the punishment. This is another case where God is requiring something from those punished, and will not accept intervention from anyone on their behalf. Sometimes He does, but not here.
2021 - Sword, famine, pestilence. In Jerusalem, the sword came last. Wonder what is next for the US? Will it be internal, or will we finally have our homeland invaded?
2023 - There are several other places where it is famine, sword, pestilence...and wild animals. The animals are missing here. I wonder why? Those other places are Eze 14:21, Lev 26:22, and Rev. 6:8. All have this same tag. But wild beasts are missing here...
In vss 13-16 Jeremiah tells God that there are prophets in the land saying that invasion is NOT coming, and that there won't be famine (though it is upon them? Or maybe it is not there yet?) God answers that He did not give these messages to these prophets. They are liars, diviners, and deceived in their own minds. God says famine and sword will kill them, along with men, their wives, and their children.
2025 - This verse:
14 And the LORD said to me: "The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I did not send them, nor did I command them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a lying vision, worthless divination, and the deceit of their own minds. [Jer 14:14 ESV].
Make no mistake. If it happened back then, to them, it can happen to us, today. This is what we are hearing from so many on TV, blogs, and podcasts. It is not enough to listen to what they say. We must, absolutely must, judge for ourselves against the Word as to whether they are being truthful or just deceiving first themselves in their own minds and then passing it on to us. In their own minds they are not lying. But in truth, they ARE!
Another possible FB post.
Vs 17 starts a specific message Jeremiah is to deliver. He is to tell them that the prophets and the priests they're listening to have no knowledge. To look and see - there are dead people killed with the sword in the countryside, and there is disease caused by famine in the cities. This made Jeremiah no friends among the religious sect I'm sure.
Vss 19-22 are a prayer of repentance, asking God why the famine continues though they have repented and prayed. I would question the sincerity of this repentance, especially in light of the quick return to abomination that followed hard on Josiah's reign. We've already been told in this chapter, however, that the repentance ship has sailed. Punishment is due, and will be dispensed now. To me, this is like a parent to an unruly child. You tell them over and over to behave, but eventually, the spanking comes. And when that child sees that you're really going to punish, then and only then do they cry out, and promise to do better. This is where Jerusalem is, but it is too late for repentance. Punishment must come.