-
Jeremiah 8:4-13 open_in_new
YHWH Expresses Amazement At The Unwillingness of His People To Return To Him, And Their Complete Disregard For His Requirements, And Warns Them That As A Consequence They Will Lose Everything (Jeremiah 8:4-13).
YHWH now declares that the behaviour of the people reveals them for what they are. They are so dead set on sin that nothing will turn them aside from it or cause them to stop and think. While birds observe their proper times, His people ignore them and do what they will. And yet they claim to be wise. But their wisdom will revealed to be folly, because they have rejected the word of YHWH. Indeed they have become so sinful that they can no longer blush. That is why they will be utterly consumed and will lose everything.
Why Are His People So Obdurate?
‘Moreover you shall say to them,
“Thus says YHWH,
Will men fall, and not rise up again?
Will one turn away, and not return?”
‘Why then is this people of Jerusalem turned back,
By a perpetual turning back?
They hold fast deceit,
They refuse to return.”
YHWH expresses His surprise that His people are not following the normal pattern pursued by men. When men fall, do they not get up again? When a man takes the wrong road, does he not usually, as soon as he is aware of it, turn back to the right road? Why then is this not true of His people? Why when they slide back do they allow it to be permanent, so that they are guilty of permanent backsliding? And His conclusion is that it is because their choice of the wrong way was blatantly deliberate. It was because they deliberately held fast to the way of deceit and refused to return.
“I listened and heard,
But they did not speak aright,
No man repents himself of his wickedness,
Saying, ‘What have I done?'
Every one turns to his course,
As a horse which rushes headlong in the battle.”
It was not that YHWH did not care, indeed He had been ‘listening in'. He had overheard their conversations and observed their attitudes, hoping to hear something positive only to discover that when they discussed things they had no thought of the fact that they were doing wrong, nor did they show any sign of repentance for their wickedness. They did not allow themselves to be pulled up short, saying, ‘What have I done?' They were in the sad state of being oblivious to sin. Rather they chose their own course and carried on pursuing their own way with the same determination as a horse charging into battle, with the bit firmly gripped in its mouth, looking neither right nor left, and not pausing to think. This is also the state of the world in which we ourselves live.
“Yes, the stork in the heavens knows her appointed times, and the turtle-dove and the swallow, and the crane observe the time of their coming, but my people do not know the judgment (just ways) of YHWH.”
By their behaviour they reveal that they do not take notice of the time that is coming. Storks know their appointed times, turtle-doves, swallows and cranes come precisely on time, but God's people do not recognise when the time of YHWH's judgment has come, (or that it is the time for observing His just ways).
Thinking Themselves To Be Wise They Have Been Deceived.
“How do you say, ‘We are wise, and the instruction (torah, law) of YHWH is with us?' But, behold, the false pen of the scribes has wrought falsely.”
Yet they think that they are wise. They even claim to have the Instruction of YHWH (His Torah). But what they have is a distorted word, produced and deliberately distorted by those who manipulate what is in the ancient texts. This is not speaking of false copying,but of what they wrote down after supposedly considering what they had read.
“The wise men are put to shame,
They are dismayed and taken,
Lo, they have rejected the word of YHWH,
And what manner of wisdom is in them?”
Even the wise men of the kingdom will be caught out (compare Proverbs 25:1), so that when judgment comes they will be taken by surprise and, as they are carried off, will be totally dismayed. Their wisdom will not save them, and it will be because they have rejected the word of YHWH. So what kind of wisdom do they have?
In Consequence They Will Lose Everything Whilst Their Prophets Prophesy Falsely.
“Therefore will I give their wives to others,
And their fields to those who shall possess them,
For every one from the least even to the greatest,
Is given to covetousness,
From the prophet even to the priest,
Every one deals falsely.”
And the consequence for all His people will be that their wives will be snatched from them and given to others, and their fields handed over to the ones who will take possession of them. And this will be because all are involved in their sin, from the least to the greatest, for they are all prone to coveting what belongs to others, and obtaining it by whatever method that they can, while from the prophet to the priest, all their religious ‘guides' deal falsely.
“ And they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.”
These very ‘guides' have pretended that they could heal the hurt of the people, and have sought to do it glibly and smoothly by saying ‘peace, peace' where there was no peace. This may signify peace in terms of freedom from outside interference, or peace in the sense of well-being generally. In other words they have promised the people that they have nothing to fear, and that ‘all is well', when in fact things were far from well. They were like many today who are ready to dismiss the idea that God is so serious about sin that He does not forgive it lightly.
Because They Have Forgotten How To Blush They Will Be Consumed.
“ Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? no, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush, therefore will they fall among those who fall, in the time of their visitation they will be cast down, says YHWH.”
The final evidence of their depravity was that when they had committed abominations they were not ashamed. They did not even blush. And that is why they will ‘fall among those who fall', and in the time when YHWH visits in judgment they will be hurled down. It will be noted that these words are a repetition of Jeremiah 6:15. It was clearly a thought that had struck Jeremiah deeply.
We live in a day when many have ‘forgotten how to blush'. The anonymity of the internet enables people to do what they would never do in daily life, and seemingly get away with it. They should, however, remember that one day all the secrets of the internet will be revealed, for God knows all our nicknames and passwords. ‘That which is secret will be made known' (Matthew 10:26). And meanwhile even in daily life we have become more brazen, and purity and genuine honesty are becoming less and less valued.
“I will utterly consume them, the word of YHWH, there will be no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the fig-tree, and the leaf will fade; and what I have given to them will pass away from them.”
And so YHWH warns them that they will be utterly consumed (‘consuming I will consume'), and that on ‘the word of YHWH'. The result will be that there will be no grapes on the vine, no figs on the fig-tree, even the leaf will fade, and all that YHWH has given them will pass away from them.
This will happen both literally and spiritually. YHWH's Vine would produce no grapes (Jeremiah 2:21; Isaiah 5:1-7), YHWH's fig tree would produce no figs, even their leaves would be withered. Both were elsewhere symbols of Judah (Jeremiah 2:21; Isaiah 5:1-7; Micah 7:1; Jeremiah 24; Matthew 21:19 and parallels). His people would be unfruitful and morally and spiritually dead just as His land would literally be unfruitful and dying. Jesus Christ said that it would be the same with Himself as the true Vine. There would always be professing believers who would produce no fruit and would have to be cut off and burned (John 15:1-6).
-
Jeremiah 8:14-17 open_in_new
Jeremiah Calls On The People To Enter Their Fortified Cities Because The Invaders Are Coming And There Will Be No Peace Terms Accepted Or Healing Of Their Rebellion, For YHWH Is Sending Among Them Serpents Which Cannot Be Charmed, Adders Which Will Bite Them Without Ceasing (Jeremiah 8:14-17). .
In vivid terms Jeremiah calls on the people to barricade themselves inside their fortified cities. But it was not to be in hope of deliverance. Once there they were to be silent, because YHWH had put them to silence by the thought of what was coming on them. They would be given bitter water to drink, because they had sinned against Him. For this time there would be no peace terms and no healing of the rift. The invaders would not be coming in a merciful mood, but in order to obtain vengeance. They were like snakes which could not be charmed, which would bite them without stinting. And this was ‘the infallible word of YHWH'.
“Why do we sit still? Assemble yourselves,
And let us enter into the fortified cities,
And let us be silent there,
For YHWH our God has put us to silence,
And given us water of gall to drink,
Because we have sinned against YHWH.”
Jeremiah now calls the people to action. It is not a time for sitting still but for assembling themselves and entering into their fortified cities because the enemy is almost upon them. But it should not be with the hope of deliverance. Rather, once there, they were to be in silence, knowing that YHWH their God had put them to silence and given them bitter and even poisonous water to drink, And this was because of the grievousness of their sin before Him.
It is tempting to see in the reference to ‘waters of gall' a parallel with the water drunk by a wife accused of adultery, which is called ‘the water of bitterness that brings the curse' (Numbers 5:18; Numbers 5:24), but there is no suggestion that that was waters of gall. Indeed it was holy water mingled with dust from the Tabernacle, and if that was meant why was it not called ‘waters of bitterness'? More likely is a reference to Deuteronomy 32:32-33, ‘For their vine comes from the vine of Sodom and of the fields of Gomorrah, their grapes are grapes of gall, their clusters are bitter, their wine is the poison of dragons, and the cruel gall of asps.' That makes it a mixture of bitterness and poison which will bring about their end because their sins paralleled those of Sodom and Gomorrah.
“We looked for peace,
But no good came,
For a time of healing,
And, behold, dismay!”
Their false prophets had promised peace and healing and well being, but it had not come. Furthermore all efforts at appeasing the enemy would fail. They would look in vain for peace, but no good would come. They would seek a time of healing, but instead they would face dismay, for they had offended both God and men. No peace terms would be offered. No mercy would be available. It was the end of the road.
“The snorting of his horses is heard from Dan,
At the sound of the neighing of his strong ones the whole land trembles,
For they are come, and have devoured the land and all that is in it,
The city and those who dwell in it.”
Prophetically Jeremiah hears the snorting of the invader's horses at Dan, on the borders of God's inheritance. The enemy are coming and even now, as it were, the sound of the snorting of their horses can be heard! It is as near as that. And at that sound of the neighing of the powerful horses of the enemy the whole land will tremble. In his foresight he sees the invading forces coming and devouring the land, and all that is in it. And they will devour the cities, in spite of their fortifications, and all who dwell in them. There will be no escape from the avenging forces of Babylon. It is already happening before his prophetic eyes.
“For, behold, I will send serpents,
Adders, among you,
Which will not be charmed,
And they will bite you,
The word of YHWH.”
For those who are coming are like serpents, like adders come among them. Once again, just as He had previously, God is visiting His people with a judgment of ‘serpents'. In mind here is almost certainly the incident when YHWH previously sent serpents among the people of Israel when they were rebellious, although in that case it had caused the people to repent (compare Numbers 21:6-9). No attempts at charming them will succeed. There will be no intervention by YHWH. The serpents will be deaf to all attempts to win them over (compare Psalms 58:4-5). Instead they will bite all the people of the land. And this is the unfailing ‘word of YHWH'.
The picture of the charmer, at first confident, and then desperately seeking to bring the serpents under control, only in the end to succumb to their bites, is a vivid one. It was an indication that all negotiations with their enemies would fail.