Lesson 4 - Jer. 8:13-9:1 - LAMENTED
INTRODUCTION: First of all, we need to keep in mind that Jeremiah's prophetic message was a cumulative process, taking place over a 40-year period. In many instances, he was predicting disasters that would not occur for decades. But we also need to remember the truth that when God issues a prophecy, it becomes a fact in history, even though it hasn't happened yet. Last week, in Jer. 4:11-12, 22-28, we heard the prophet unroll a graphic description of the judgment that the Lord was preparing to unleash on Judah. He said it would come down on them like a scorching, dry wind from the north, and God wasn't sending it just to "winnow and cleanse" certain" groups of people but would inflict it on everyone in Judah. He characterized the Judahite people, from their rulers and priests down to the rank and file masses as fools who behaved like "stupid children" and had no "understanding" because they had utterly failed to apply God's Law to the way they lived. The prophet gave them a shocking vision of what was going to befall them: in effect, a un-creation which would turn their fertile land into a place that was formless and void (Jer. 4:22-23). This did in fact happen about 30 years later when the invading Babylonian armies turned Judah and Jerusalem into a complete wasteland. The main points of application were very straightforward: (1) When people refuse to obey God's Word, they will be judged; and (2) People who refuse to repent after being warned are fools. Does this seem to describe today's post-Christian world? Almost 2,000 years ago, John the Baptist warned people to, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." (Matt. 3:2). Some have heard and responded to this, but most haven't.
This week, in Jer. 8:13-9:1, we'll hear the prophet issue a lament, a type of liturgical poem in which a people or nations grieve over their fate when facing a catastrophe. As we study this Book, We should remember that Jeremiah's prophecy combined writings both in plain prose and in poetic verses or stanzas. Stanzas, like musical lyrics, follow a certain pattern and meter that's easier to remember (provided you speak Hebrew). Our text for today is part of a lengthy poem that actually begins at 8:4 and ends at 10:25. The part of the poem that precedes our lesson text lays the foundation for our understanding of the prophet's main message today. In those verses (vv. 4-12), the Lord God specified the sins for which the people were about receive Judgment: failure to repent and return (v. 4); continual apostasy (v. 5); persistent wickedness (v. 6); failure to know God's Law (v. 7); dishonest scribes (v. 8); lack of wisdom (v.9); greed for gain (v. 10); superficial peace [i.e., bad treaties and alliances] (v. 11); and a lack of shame for their behavior (v. 12).
Note: In our text we'll hear different voices, so that it's sometimes difficult to know who is speaking-the Lord, Jeremiah, or the people, and in many of the verses the speaker could be either God or Jeremiah, but in all of them, we can certain that they rightfully express the feelings of both God and his appointed prophet. The first section, vv. 13-17, can be titled "The Fruitless Nation."
Read Jer. 8:13-17 - FOR THE LORD OUR GOD HAS DOOMED US
13 "I will certainly snatch them away," declares the LORD. "There will be no grapes on the vine And no figs on the fig tree, And the leaf will wither; And what I have given them will pass away."
14 Why are we sitting still? Assemble yourselves, and let's go into the fortified cities And perish there, For the LORD our God has doomed us And given us poisoned water to drink, Because we have sinned against the LORD. 15 We waited for peace, but no good came; For a time of healing, but behold, terror! 16 From Dan there is heard the snorting of his horses; At the sound of the neighing of his stallions The whole land quakes; For they come and devour the land and its fullness, The city and its inhabitants. 17 "For behold, I am sending serpents among you, Vipers for which there is no charm; And they will bite you," declares the LORD.
v. 13a: "I will certainly snatch them away," declares the LORD." - Here, the Lord announces that He would "snatch...away" the Judahites from their homeland-a prediction of exile.
v. 13b: "There will be no grapes on the vine And no figs on the fig tree, And the leaf will wither; And what I have given them will pass away." - God is saying that He has gone among His people to gather those who are righteous but only found trees and vines with withered, dead leaves.
v. 14: "Why are we sitting still? Assemble yourselves, and let's go into the fortified cities And perish there, For the LORD our God has doomed us And given us poisoned water to drink, Because we have sinned against the LORD." -The prophet invited his fellow Judahites to go with him into the walled cities where they might last a little bit longer before the invaders killed them. He viewed the people's sin as a terminal condition, beyond the point of no return; a condition that made death inevitable. He compared their "doom" to being given "poisoned water to drink."
v. 15: "We waited for peace, but no good came; For a time of healing, but behold, terror!" -This is the voice of the people: They had been waiting for the "peace" and "healing" that the false prophets had promised, but it never came. Instead, "terror"-their worst nightmare-would engulf them.
v. 16a: "From Dan there is heard the snorting of his horses; At the sound of the neighing of his stallions The whole land quakes;" -Dan is the northernmost city of ancient Israel. From there, the invaders could be heard approaching them like a human storm, riding toward them on bellowing horses. The numbers and strength of this approaching army is so immense that it causes the ground beneath them to "quake."
v. 16b: "For they come and devour the land and its fullness, The city and its inhabitants." -This army's military objective was to destroy everything in its path, including Judah and Jerusalem.
v. 17: "For behold, I am sending serpents among you, Vipers for which there is no charm; And they will bite you," declares the LORD." - This enemy would descend on them like a swarm of poisonous snakes that no one could "charm" away from them; and their bites would be fatal-certain death.
Read Jer. 8:18-19 - MY SORROW IS BEYOND HEALING
18 My sorrow is beyond healing, My heart is faint within me! 19a Behold, listen! The cry of the daughter of my people from a distant land: b "Is the LORD not in Zion? Is her King not within her?"
c "Why have they provoked Me with their carved images, with foreign idols?"
v. 18: "My sorrow is beyond healing, My heart is faint within me!" - This is the voice of Jeremiah, speaking for God. Both God and Jeremiah have said everything they can possibly say to persuade the people of Judah to turn from their sinful ways and turn back toward God; but the people have ignored their pleas. Both God and the prophet grasp the utter devastation that's about to be visited upon Judah, and it makes them very, very sad; thus, the lament-they are truly heartbroken.
v. 19a: "Behold, listen! The cry of the daughter of my people from a distant land:" - This and the previous verse pictures a heart-broken parent who has watched his child make foolish decisions and will have to pay for it. As parents, we encourage our children to take advantage of the good fruit in life and try hard to steer them away from the bad fruit. We caution them about temptations they can expect to encounter and warn them of the serious consequences if they fail. However, at some point, they begin to set their own course in life. And When they detour into dangerous territory, refuse to listen to advice (like the Judahites in the lesson), and encounter serious problems, we are only saddened by it. There is no joy in seeing loved ones undergo pain, even when it's their own fault. And so it is with the Lord and Jeremiah: The tragedy they've warned them of over and over is about to take place. But neither God nor Jeremiah can find any joy in it-only grief.
v. 19b: "Is the LORD not in Zion? Is her King not within her?" - This the voice of the people. "Zion" is a synonym for Jerusalem-the home of the Temple, the place where God dwells. The people have assumed that because the Lord is present with them in the Temple, all must be well. They can't imagine that the Lord will allow Jerusalem to be devastated and the Temple to be demolished. Despite their backslidden, idol-worshiping sins, they consider their covenant relationship with YHWH to be their ultimate protection plan. Surely, they think, YHWH will not desert His people. But in Chapter 7 (skipped), the Lord laid the people's sins in front of them and even sent Jeremiah to the Temple Gate to plead with them (7:4-8) and warn them that the Lord would "cast them out of His sight if they continued their sins" (7:15). So, they should not assume the Temple will protect them-it will not. They have deceived themselves with a false sense of security.
v. 19c: "Why have they provoked Me with their carved images, with foreign idols?" - This is the voice of the Lord. He informs them that yes, He is, in fact, present. But they should find no comfort from this because He is very, very angry with them. Their failure to repent has pushed Him too far.
Read Jer. 8:20-22 - WE ARE NOT SAVED
20 "Harvest is past, summer is over, And we are not saved." 21 I am broken over the brokenness of the daughter of my people. 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?
v. 20: "Harvest is past, summer is over, And we are not saved." - This appears to be an ancient proverb or figure of speech. It means that someone is in a place where survival is impossible. In that region, when a harvest failed, it could spell starvation for the local population. Here, it describes the voice of the people who are finally becoming aware that they are really in deep, deep trouble.
v. 21: "I am broken over the brokenness of the daughter of my people. I mourn, dismay has taken hold of me." - This is the voice or Jeremiah or the Lord speaking. The "daughter of my people" is metaphor for Jerusalem. The people are on the verge of experiencing punishment for their sins, one that will lead to the complete destruction of Jerusalem, the obliteration of the Temple, and the exile of its survivors to Babylon. However, the prospect gives no pleasure to the Lord or Jeremiah. Both of them are grieving as a parent grieves for a wayward child who is being forced to suffer the consequences of his or her sin.
v. 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?" - This is the voice of the people and the response of the Lord. "Gilead" was a mountainous region on the east side of the Jordan River (see map) that was known for its healing balm made from the resin of one of its trees. The answer to their question is yes there is balm in Gilead and yes, there are physicians there, but the problems of the Judahites are beyond the reach of those traditional human remedies. They need someone who can bring them healing that is more than skin-deep-healing that reaches to the core of their souls. Only the Lord can bring such healing, and He has in fact, tried to heal them over and over, but they have refused.
Read Jer. 9:1 - THAT I MIGHT WEEP DAY AND NIGHT
1 Oh, that my head were waters And my eyes a fountain of tears, That I might weep day and night For those slain of the daughter of my people!
v. 9:1: This appears to be the voice of Jeremiah or the Lord speaking through him. It is from this verse that Jeremiah obtained the title the "weeping prophet." The prophet's grief over what is about to happen to Judah and its people is so overpowering that it literally occupies him both day and night. But there are not enough tears to offset the disaster that awaits them.
APPLICATION-the Consequences of Sin:
1. Unrepentant sinners can't avoid the consequences of their sins by simply going to church. The people in Judah had allowed themselves to believe that the Lord would protect them in spite of their persistent refusal to repent. They ignored God's repeated warnings through Jeremiah and allowed themselves to think that their historical covenant relationship with YHWH and His presence in the Temple would save them from disaster. There are Christians sitting in church pews today with a similar attitude. They think if they go to church, sing the hymns, and even pay their tithes that they can continue sinning. They are living a lie: God can and will punish them if they don't repent.
2. There is no human remedy for the spiritual illness of sin. As Jeremiah told the people of Judah, there were no human remedies-"balm in Gilead" or "physicians" (v. 22)-that could cure the damaging (i.e., potentially fatal) effects of sin in their lives. To receive healing, the people of God need something that is more than skin-deep, something that can reach their soul. Only God can do this. If a sinner is willing to (1) humble himself or herself before Almighty God and seek His face, (2) confess their wrongdoing (admit that they are wrong and God is right), and (3) honesty repent of their sins (a true change in our behavior), then God, in His mercy, will forgive our sins and restore us to fellowship with Him. There are many severely backslidden Christians who are living this lie today. While they won't lose their salvation (if they are truly saved), God can and will punish them with unwanted consequences (e.g., early death, health problems, family conflict, financial reverses, etc.). In other words, they stand to lose everything but their salvation.
3. A sinner's refusal to repent of his or her sins hurts God. You might ask how an all-powerful and invincible God can be hurt by the behavior of mere human beings. But in today's lesson, the peoples' stubborn refusal to repent of their sin (apostasy and false worship) caused God to say, "I am broken over the brokenness of the daughter of my people. I mourn, dismay has taken hold of me" (v. 21). Whether people are sinners or saints, they are all God's children. He loves them and cares for them, and takes no delight in seeing them suffer for their sins. He is sorely grieved and disappointed when the people of God refuse to repent and in doing so, reject Him.
