←Jeremiah 4→BSB

In This Chapter 3 people 13 places 33 terms

People

Israel 2 Jacob (Patriarch) Jeshurun (Israel)

Places

    Key Terms

    Swear 5 Be Rebellious 5 Woe (Grief) 4 Save (Help) 4 Detested Thing 3 Bless (Approval) 3 Truth (Faithfulness) 2 To Circumsize (One's Heart) 2 Foreskin 2 Fool 2 Truthfulness Blessing (Act) Bless (Favor) Blessing (Content) Blessed Bless (Request Favor) Peace Salvation Salvation (State) Save (Restore) Salvation (Physical) Salvation (Deliverance) Salvation (Rescuer) Save (Rescue) Salvation (Means) Saving (Means) Mischief Rebel (Act) Rebellion (Offense) Rebel (Against Authority) Rebellion Rebelliousness Perceive

    A Plea to Return

    1“If you will return, O Israel,return to Me,” declares the LORD.“If you will remove your detestable idols from My sightand no longer waver,2and if you can swear, ‘As surely as the LORD lives,’in truth, in justice, and in righteousness,then the nations will be blessed by Him,and in Him they will glory.”
    ⓘ These verses focus on the kingdom of Judah...

    These verses focus on the kingdom of Judah and its capital, Jerusalem, in God's courtroom. The Lord declared he would judge Jerusalem through the Babylonians.

    3For this is what the LORD says to the men of Judah and Jerusalem:

    “Break up your unplowed ground,and do not sow among the thorns.4Circumcise yourselves to the LORD,and remove the foreskins of your hearts,O men of Judah and people of Jerusalem.Otherwise, My wrath will break out like fireand burn with no one to extinguish it,because of your evil deeds.”

    Disaster from the North

    ⓘ God was unleashing a fierce army upon the...

    God was unleashing a fierce army upon the people, like pouring boiling water (see Jeremiah 1:13–14; 8:14; 50:2; Joshua 10:20; Isaiah 62:10).

    5Announce in Judah, proclaim in Jerusalem, and say:

    “Blow the ram’s horn throughout the land.Cry aloud and say,‘Assemble yourselvesand let us flee to the fortified cities.’6Raise a signal flag toward Zion.Seek refuge! Do not delay!For I am bringing disaster from the north,and terrible destruction.7A lion has gone up from his thicket,and a destroyer of nations has set out.He has left his lairto lay waste your land.Your cities will be reduced to ruinsand lie uninhabited.8So put on sackcloth,mourn and wail,for the fierce anger of the LORDhas not turned away from us.”
    9“In that day,” declares the LORD,“the king and officials will lose their courage.The priests will tremble in fear,and the prophets will be astounded.”

    10Then I said, “Ah, Lord GOD, how completely You have deceived this people and Jerusalem by saying, ‘You will have peace,’ while a sword is at our throats.”

    ⓘ The Lord's people would soon experience the intense...

    The Lord's people would soon experience the intense wind and loud force of God's judgment (Jeremiah 13:24; Hosea 13:15).

    11At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, “A searing wind from the barren heights in the desert blows toward the daughter of My people, but not to winnow or to sift; 12a wind too strong for that comes from Me. Now I also pronounce judgments against them.”

    13Behold, he advances like the clouds,his chariots like the whirlwind.His horses are swifter than eagles.Woe to us, for we are ruined!
    ⓘ Jeremiah still hoped his people would purify their...

    Jeremiah still hoped his people would purify their hearts, abandon their evil thoughts, and completely reject idolatry. Otherwise, they would face God's judgment (Jeremiah 4:1; 6:19; 13:27; 50:17; Proverbs 1:22; Isaiah 1:16; James 4:8).
    14Wash the evil from your heart, O Jerusalem,so that you may be saved.How long will you harborwicked thoughts within you?15For a voice resounds from Dan,proclaiming disaster from the hills of Ephraim.16Warn the nations now!Proclaim to Jerusalem:“A besieging army comes from a distant land;they raise their voices against the cities of Judah.
    ⓘ Foreign armies had already surrounded the capital city....

    Foreign armies had already surrounded the capital city. The attack was coming because the people rebelled against the Lord.
    17They surround her like men guarding a field,because she has rebelled against Me,” declares the LORD.18“Your ways and deedshave brought this upon you.This is your punishment; how bitter it is,because it pierces to the heart!”

    Lamentation for Judah

    ⓘ When Jeremiah heard trumpets and the battle cries...

    When Jeremiah heard trumpets and the battle cries of the invaders who brought destruction, he realized that his family and others he knew were being killed or left homeless. Jeremiah could not escape the effects of God's judgment, even though he was faithfully serving the Lord (Jeremiah 9:1, 19; 10:19–20; 20:9; 2 Kings 25:11; 2 Chronicles 36:20; Psalm 42:7; Isaiah 15:5; 16:11; 21:3; 22:4; Ezekiel 7:26).
    19My anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain!Oh, the pain in my chest!My heart pounds within me;I cannot be silent.For I have heard the sound of the horn,the alarm of battle.20Disaster after disaster is proclaimed,for the whole land is laid waste.My tents are destroyed in an instant,my curtains in a moment.21How long must I see the signal flagand hear the sound of the horn?
    22“For My people are fools;they have not known Me.They are foolish children,without understanding.They are skilled in doing evil,but they know not how to do good.”
    ⓘ In Jeremiah's vision, the Lord's intense anger was...

    In Jeremiah's vision, the Lord's intense anger was more important than his creative love (Jeremiah 10:10; 12:4; Isaiah 5:25; 24:19; Ezekiel 38:20; Zephaniah 1:3). He was reversing the order of creation (see Genesis 1:2–3).
    23I looked at the earth,and it was formless and void;I looked to the heavens,and they had no light.24I looked at the mountains,and behold, they were quaking;all the hills were swaying.25I looked, and no man was left;all the birds of the air had fled.26I looked, and the fruitful land was a desert.All its cities were torn downbefore the LORD,before His fierce anger.

    27For this is what the LORD says:

    “The whole land will be desolate,but I will not finish its destruction.28Therefore the earth will mournand the heavens above will grow dark.I have spoken, I have planned,and I will not relent or turn back.”
    29Every city fleesat the sound of the horseman and archer.They enter the thicketsand climb among the rocks.Every city is abandoned;no inhabitant is left.
    30And you, O devastated one, what will you do,though you dress yourself in scarlet,though you adorn yourself with gold jewelry,though you enlarge your eyes with paint?You adorn yourself in vain; your lovers despise you;they want to take your life.31For I hear a cry like a woman in labor,a cry of anguish like one bearing her first child—the cry of the Daughter of Zion gasping for breath,stretching out her hands to say,“Woe is me,for my soul faints before the murderers!”