FRAMEWORKS:
Jeremiah 16: Divine instructions for Jeremiah & warnings for
the people
[Preliminary
Comment: The chapter starts with a warning to avoid various
things:
•
getting married
•
joining in mourning
•
joining in celebrations
but
he is to confront the people with their sin and warn them of the
impending judgement that will result in the people going into
exile.]
v.1,2
The Lord warns Jeremiah not to marry and have a family
v.1
Then the word
of the Lord
came to me:
v.2
‘You
must not marry and have sons or daughters in this place.'
v.3,4
He gives the reason – sword and famine is soon to come to this
land
v.3
For
this is what the Lord
says about
the sons and daughters born in this land and about the women who
are their mothers and the men who are their fathers:
v.4
‘They
will die of deadly diseases. They will not be mourned or buried
but will be like dung lying on the ground. They will perish by
sword and famine, and their
dead bodies will become food for the birds and the wild animals.'
v.5-7
He instructs Jeremiah to avoid places of mourning and shares why
v.5
For
this is what the Lord
says: ‘Do
not enter a house where there is a funeral meal; do not go to
mourn or show sympathy, because I have withdrawn my blessing,
my love and my pity from this people,' declares the Lord
.
v.
6
‘Both
high and low will die in this land. They will not be buried or
mourned, and no one will cut themselves or shave their head for
the dead.
v.7
No
one will offer food to comfort those who mourn for the dead –
not even for a father or a mother – nor will anyone give
them a drink to console them.
v.8,9
Likewise Jeremiah is to avoid celebrations – for they will soon
end
v.8
‘And
do not enter a house where there is feasting and sit down to eat
and drink.
v.9
For
this is what the Lord
Almighty,
the God of Israel, says: Before your eyes and in your days I will
bring an end to the sounds of joy and gladness and to the voices
of bride and bridegroom in this place.
v.10-12
When the people question Jeremiah he is to confront them with
their sin
v.10
‘When
you tell these people all this and they ask you, “Why has the
Lord
decreed such a great disaster against us? What wrong have we done?
What sin have we committed against the Lord
our God?”
v.11
then
say to them, “It is because your ancestors forsook me,” declares
the Lord,
“and followed other gods and served and worshipped them.
They forsook me and did not keep my law.
v.12
But
you have behaved more wickedly than your ancestors. See
how all of you are following the stubbornness of your evil hearts
instead of obeying me.
v.13
For this the Lord will send the nation into exile
v.13
So
I will throw you out of this land into a land neither you nor
your ancestors have known, and there you will serve other gods
day and night, for I will show you no favour.”
v.14,15
The Exodus will be forgotten and the Exile will be remembered
v.14
‘However,
the days are coming,' declares the Lord,
‘when it will no longer be said, “As surely as the Lord
lives, who
brought the Israelites up out of Egypt,”
v.15
but
it will be said, “As surely as the Lord
lives, who
brought the Israelites up out of the land of the north and out
of all the countries where he had banished them.” For I will restore
them to the land I gave to their ancestors.
v.16-18
So now the Lord will send those who will clear the people from
the land
v.16
‘But
now I will send for many fishermen,' declares the Lord,
‘and they will catch them. After that I will send for many hunters,
and they will hunt them down on every mountain and hill and from
the crevices of the rocks.
v.17
My
eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden from me, nor is
their sin concealed from my eyes.
v.18
I
will repay them double for their wickedness and their sin, because
they have defiled my land with the lifeless forms of their vile
images and have filled my inheritance with their detestable idols.'
v.19
Jeremiah acknowledges the Lord's greatness and justice
v.19
Lord ,
my strength and my fortress,
my refuge in time of distress,
to you the nations will come
from the ends of the earth and say,
‘Our ancestors possessed nothing but false gods,
worthless idols that did them no good.
v.20
The people had turned to powerless idols
v.20
Do
people make their own gods?
Yes, but they are not gods!'
v.21
So now the Lord is going to act against them and teach them
v.21
‘Therefore
I will teach them –
this time I will teach them
my power and might.
Then they will know
that my name is the Lord.
Continue
to Chapter 17