Threatened and Revived: Jeremiah 11-15 (5)

Pray Psalm 102.1-4.
Hear my prayer, O LORD,
And let my cry come to You.
Do not hide Your face from me in the day of my trouble;
Incline Your ear to me;
In the day that I call, answer me speedily.
For my days are consumed like smoke,
And my bones are burned like a hearth.
My heart is stricken and withered like grass,
So that I forget to eat my bread.

Sing Psalm 102.1-4.
(Leominster: Not What My Hands Have Done)
Lord, hear my prayer and cry; hide not Your face from me!
In my distress and tears I sigh – Lord, hear my earnest plea!
My days like smoke blow past; my bones are scorched with sin.
My heart, like wilted, withered grass bends low to earth again.

Read and meditate on Jeremiah 14.1-22..

Prepare.
1. What was happening in Judah at this time to provoke Jeremiah to seek the Lord?

2. How did God respond to the teaching of the false prophets?

Meditate.
The evidence of God’s judgment began to take an unmistakable form: drought. No rain. No water in streams or ponds or anywhere. The reserves in the cisterns were all gone – a dramatic illustration to the people of Jerusalem of the empty promise of false gods (cf. Jer. 2.13). The ground is so parched it cannot be planted. There is no grass anywhere (1.1-6).

We feel Jeremiah’s sorrow over this situation. But he knew this had to happen, that God’s Name might be vindicated (v. 7). He had promised blessings to His people if they obeyed, and curses if they wandered from Him (Deut. 28). The people knew this. God’s Word was ever before them, and He sent prophets to warn them of judgment and call them to repentance. God was thus bound by His own Word to act in judgment against His people.

Still, Jeremiah held out hope that God would save His people (vv. 8, 9). In response, God reminded Jeremiah of the sinfulness of His people, and commanded him not to pray for their deliverance (vv. 10-12). Judgment must come upon the sinful people of God. There’s no use praying against the settled will of God.

But still, Jeremiah pointed out, the prophets were telling the people that everything was going to be all right (v. 13). God promised to bring an especially horrifying judgment against them, as they would see, contrary to their promises, the gruesome destruction of the people they had misled (vv. 14-16). So God instructed Jeremiah to weep for the people and to tell the prophets His message (vv. 17, 18).

Like Daniel in a later generation (Daniel 9), Jeremiah took upon himself the sins of God’s people, admitting their iniquity as though it were his own, and casting Himself on God for mercy and deliverance (vv. 19-22). Here again the prophet foreshadowed the sin-bearing role of the Messiah to come. He also resigned himself to God’s faithfully keeping His covenant. And while, for the moment, that would mean judgment, ultimately, it would bring restoration and redemption, as we shall see.

Reflect.
1. What does it mean that God was judging His people for His Name’s sake?

2. What do we learn from Jeremiah’s conversation with God about how to pray for His people?

3. Jeremiah appealed to God’s eternal covenant in verse 21. What is the significance of this?

Although God is by nature good, yet he is also just, and as the case requires, He knows how to heal but also how to strike...He desires repentance, yet he commands Jeremiah not to intercede for the sinful people, since, he says, even if they fast, I will not hear their prayer. Tertullian (155-250), On Purity 2 

Lord, I set my mind on You for this day, so that I will…

Pray Psalm 102.12-28.
Thank God for His faithfulness to all His Word, and call on Him to bring revival, renewal, and awakening to our world.

Sing Psalm 102.12-28.
Psalm 102.12-28 (Leominster: Not What My Hands Have Done)
But You, O Lord, abide forever in Your place.
Arise and stand on Zion’s side and lavish us with grace!
Revive Your Church, O Lord! Let all her dust and stones
be strengthened by Your mighty Word, and compact be as one.

Then let the nations fear the glory of the Lord!
For He shall in His Church appear to heed our sighing words.
Then let our children learn to praise the Lord above.
He hears their groans and knows they yearn to dwell within His love.

Yet let us tell God’s Name and praise His glorious grace;
let all as one His love proclaim together in this place.
Though now our strength is low; though shortened grow our days,
our God will not forsake us so, but keep us in His ways!

Of old You made the earth and heavens by Your hand.
Though they shall perish You endure; forever shall You stand.
They change, yet You remain the same, without an end.
Our children shall Your favor gain, and theirs shall be Your friend.

T. M. Moore

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. All quotations from Church Fathers from Ancient Christian Commentary Series, General Editor Thomas C. Oden (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2006). All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter (available by clicking here).