YHWH Notifies Judah Of His Intention To Sling Them Out Of His Land And Punish Them, And They Express Their Grief As They Look Prophetically At His Having Done So. The Sound Of The Invaders Is Heard And His People Plead For What They Now See As Their Necessary Chastening And Correction Whilst Hoping That YHWH's Anger Will Be Reserved For Those Who Have Devoured Them (Jeremiah 10:17-25).
Having in Jeremiah 10:1-16 made clear YHWH's superiority to the gods of the nations, and especially the great privilege that He had given to His people in making them His inheritance, He now makes clear that in spite of that fact He intends to sling them out of the land of His inheritance because they have forfeited the right to be there by their sins. This will result in their great grief at what has happened to them, something largely due to the failure of their shepherds. As a consequence the noise of the invasion is heard, and God's people plead that He will not visit them with His anger but will rather chasten them and visit His anger on their destroyers. The passage may be analysed as follows:
· The besieged nation are to gather up their possessions because they are about to be slung out of the land (Jeremiah 10:17-18).
· Prophetically the nation express their grief at what has happened to them (Jeremiah 10:19-20).
· They acknowledge that their situation is due to the fact that they have listened to false shepherds (Jeremiah 10:21).
· The noise of the approaching invaders can be heard whose aim is to devastate Judah (Jeremiah 10:22).
· His people acknowledge that they are incapable of walking rightly and call on YHWH not to finally deal with them in His anger, but rather to chasten them and correct them, and rather pour out His anger on those who have consumed them (Jeremiah 10:23-25).
The Besieged Nation Are To Gather Up Their Possessions Ready To Be Slung Out Of The Land.
‘Gather up your possessions out of the land,
O you who abide in the siege.
For thus says YHWH,
Behold, I will sling out the inhabitants of the land at this time,
And will distress them, that they may find.'
The people are seen as undergoing siege and are not to hope for deliverance, but are rather to gather together such possessions as they can, because it is YHWH's personal assurance that He is about to sling them out of His land, and will punish them severely enough for them to feel it. This time there will be no great deliverance, and the presence of the Temple will not save them (chapter 7).
‘O you who abide in the siege.' Literally ‘O you inhabitant in the fortress' with the word ‘inhabitant' being feminine, representing ‘the daughter of my people'.
‘That they may find.' We are not told what they find, and it is deliberately left open. Possibly it includes their deserts. Possibly it includes finding out the truth about themselves in their innermost hearts. Possibly it even includes the fact that in their need some might find YHWH. Possibly it is all three in the sense that some will find one thing and others another. They are going on a rather unpleasant voyage of discovery.
Prophetically The Nation Express Their Grief At What Has Happened To Them.
‘Woe is me because of my hurt!
My wound is grievous,
But I said, Truly this is my grief,
And I must bear it.'
The people as a whole thus express their grief and hurt at what is happening to them, but recognise that it is something that they must bear, an idea which expresses their acknowledgement that it is what they deserve.
‘My tent is destroyed,
And all my cords are broken,
My children are gone forth from me,
And they are not,
There is none to spread my tent any more,
And to set up my curtains.
In picturesque terms the people seen as a whole then prophetically describe their homes as like a tent that has collapsed with its tent ropes broken, and with the children who usually help with the erection of the tent having gone into exile, and being as though they were no longer in existence. The consequence is that there is no one to re-establish their homes or make life bearable again. The words are seen as on the lips of a fictitious ‘daughter of His people' seen as a parent who has been left helpless and deserted in their homeland, even though most were there no longer. There would, however, always be a few who had taken refuge and therefore had survived and remained in the land.
The idea of the tent might look back to the period in the wilderness when they had served YHWH more truly, something that lies at the heart of Jeremiah's thinking (Jeremiah 2:2-3). Then their tent had enjoyed protection. Now it was destroyed. Or it may be intended to indicate the transitoriness of life. All that we have are little better than a tent which can be easily dismantled. Israel in fact regularly described their houses as ‘their tents'.
They Acknowledge That Their Situation Is Due To Their Having Listened To False Shepherds.
‘For the shepherds are become brutish,
And have not enquired of YHWH,
Therefore they have not prospered (or ‘done wisely'),
And all their flocks are scattered.'
This situation in which they find themselves is described, either by Jeremiah or by YHWH, as being due to the fact that their leaders (shepherds) have become like brute beasts rather than seeking YHWH for guidance as to His will. They have been materially minded rather than spiritually minded, seeking to images of things on earth rather than to YHWH in heaven. That is why they have not prospered (or ‘done wisely') and why the people (their flock) have been exiled and scattered among the nations.
The primary meaning of the word for ‘prospered' is to ‘do wisely', thus resulting in its secondary meaning of prosperity.
They Become Aware Of The Noise Of The Approaching Invasion.
As a direct consequence of their sinfulness they become aware of the sound of approaching invaders.
‘The voice of tidings, behold, it comes,
And a great commotion out of the north country,
To make the cities of Judah a desolation,
A dwelling-place of jackals.'
Sure enough what they have foreseen is about to come upon them. The news of impending invasion is brought to them by their spies, and a great commotion is heard out of the north country, an indication that the invaders are on the way. The “great commotion” is that of an avenging army on the march, accompanied by the clash of weapons and the stamping and neighing of war-horses (compare Jeremiah 6:23; Jeremiah 8:16). Their aim is to make the cities of Judah a desolation, a place only fit for habitation by jackals (which made their dens in ruins).
They Call On YHWH For Correction And Ask For His Anger To Be Turned On Other Nations.
‘O YHWH, I know that the way of man is not in himself,
It is not in man who walks to direct his steps.'
O YHWH, correct me, but in measure (judgment),
Not in your anger, lest you bring me to nothing (make me small).
Acknowledging that there is not in man the capability of properly directing his ways, or living rightly, the people call on YHWH to correct them. But their prayer is that He will not do it out of anger, but out of compassion and in a measured way, using His carefully weighed judgment, and thus by chastening rather than by destruction. They are clinging to the past hints that they yet have a future. Their aim may well be long term, recognising that their chastening may have to be severe, but later their false prophets will suggest that it will not be very long, an impression they will seize on but which Jeremiah will have to correct. Their final fear is lest they be ‘brought to nothing' i.e. be made so small that they are fading out of existence.
There is an important reminder here of man's own incapacity to fulfil YHWH's will, and of our need for correction and chastening. But there must be some doubt as to how genuinely they really felt it at this stage or wanted to be changed, otherwise they could have repented and have found mercy. It is rather expressing a hope for them in the long term.
‘Pour out your wrath on the nations who do not know you,
And on the families which do not call on your name,
For they have devoured Jacob, yes, they have devoured him,
And consumed him, and have laid waste his habitation.
Meanwhile they pray that YHWH's full anger will be reserved for the nations who do not know Him, or call on His Name, because of what they have done to YHWH's people. This ‘doing' is described in a threefold way as ‘devouring' (repeated twice), ‘consuming' and ‘laying waste' their land, bringing out the severity of the coming judgment. The verse is later repeated (slightly watered down) in Psalms 79:6-7 This attitude must possibly be seen as expressing something of their complacency. They are still not convinced that YHWH's judgment will come on them with such severity, whilst very much wanting Him to do it to the nations, and still seeing themselves, in spite of their blatant disobedience, as YHWH's people. In a similar way today many who have little time for God complacently believe that He will look after their interests in the end. They are possibly in for a rude awakening. Alternately it may be seen as indicating the latent faith of the remnant who will return. Jeremiah no doubt meant it to be seen as an indication that YHWH would finally restore His people, but only once they had learned a hard lesson.
111 Commentary on Jeremiah (2).
By Dr Peter Pett BA BD (Hons-London) DD