Jeremiah 4 - ESV - Bible Reading / Study Notes

Jeremiah 4

4:1   “If you return, O Israel,
      declares the LORD,
    to me you should return.
  If you remove your detestable things from my presence,
    and do not waver,
2   and if you swear, ‘As the LORD lives,’
    in truth, in justice, and in righteousness,
  then nations shall bless themselves in him,
    and in him shall they glory.”

3 For thus says the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem:

  “Break up your fallow ground,
    and sow not among thorns.
4   Circumcise yourselves to the LORD;
    remove the foreskin of your hearts,
    O men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem;
  lest my wrath go forth like fire,
    and burn with none to quench it,
    because of the evil of your deeds.”

Disaster from the North

5 Declare in Judah, and proclaim in Jerusalem, and say,

  “Blow the trumpet through the land;
    cry aloud and say,
  ‘Assemble, and let us go
    into the fortified cities!’
6   Raise a standard toward Zion,
    flee for safety, stay not,
  for I bring disaster from the north,
    and great destruction.
7   A lion has gone up from his thicket,
    a destroyer of nations has set out;
    he has gone out from his place
  to make your land a waste;
    your cities will be ruins
    without inhabitant.
8   For this put on sackcloth,
    lament and wail,
  for the fierce anger of the LORD
    has not turned back from us.”

9 “In that day, declares the LORD, courage shall fail both king and officials. The priests shall be appalled and the prophets astounded.” 10 Then I said, “Ah, Lord GOD, surely you have utterly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, ‘It shall be well with you,’ whereas the sword has reached their very life.”

11 At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, “A hot wind from the bare heights in the desert toward the daughter of my people, not to winnow or cleanse, 12 a wind too full for this comes for me. Now it is I who speak in judgment upon them.”

13   Behold, he comes up like clouds;
    his chariots like the whirlwind;
  his horses are swifter than eagles—
    woe to us, for we are ruined!
14   O Jerusalem, wash your heart from evil,
    that you may be saved.
  How long shall your wicked thoughts
    lodge within you?
15   For a voice declares from Dan
    and proclaims trouble from Mount Ephraim.
16   Warn the nations that he is coming;
    announce to Jerusalem,
  “Besiegers come from a distant land;
    they shout against the cities of Judah.
17   Like keepers of a field are they against her all around,
    because she has rebelled against me,
      declares the LORD.
18   Your ways and your deeds
    have brought this upon you.
  This is your doom, and it is bitter;
    it has reached your very heart.”

Anguish over Judah’s Desolation

19   My anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain!
    Oh the walls of my heart!
  My heart is beating wildly;
    I cannot keep silent,
  for I hear the sound of the trumpet,
    the alarm of war.
20   Crash follows hard on crash;
    the whole land is laid waste.
  Suddenly my tents are laid waste,
    my curtains in a moment.
21   How long must I see the standard
    and hear the sound of the trumpet?
22   “For my people are foolish;
    they know me not;
  they are stupid children;
    they have no understanding.
  They are ‘wise’—in doing evil!
    But how to do good they know not.”
23   I looked on the earth, and behold, it was without form and void;
    and to the heavens, and they had no light.
24   I looked on the mountains, and behold, they were quaking,
    and all the hills moved to and fro.
25   I looked, and behold, there was no man,
    and all the birds of the air had fled.
26   I looked, and behold, the fruitful land was a desert,
    and all its cities were laid in ruins
    before the LORD, before his fierce anger.

27 For thus says the LORD, “The whole land shall be a desolation; yet I will not make a full end.

28   “For this the earth shall mourn,
    and the heavens above be dark;
  for I have spoken; I have purposed;
    I have not relented, nor will I turn back.”
29   At the noise of horseman and archer
    every city takes to flight;
  they enter thickets; they climb among rocks;
    all the cities are forsaken,
    and no man dwells in them.
30   And you, O desolate one,
  what do you mean that you dress in scarlet,
    that you adorn yourself with ornaments of gold,
    that you enlarge your eyes with paint?
  In vain you beautify yourself.
    Your lovers despise you;
    they seek your life.
31   For I heard a cry as of a woman in labor,
    anguish as of one giving birth to her first child,
  the cry of the daughter of Zion gasping for breath,
    stretching out her hands,
  “Woe is me! I am fainting before murderers.”

Commentary

v1-2: The Lord's response to the prayer of 3.22-25; testing the people's repentance, "If you will return to me, O Israel, return to me;" their repentance had to be true, thorough, real, sincere. They had to remove their objects of idolatry, which were detestable.

They also had to pursue truth, judgment, righteousness, and acknowledge that God loves these things; compare Zech 8.16-17. Their claims to know God must be genuine and sincere.

Again, there is the promise of blessing beyond the borders of Israel, as the people turn back to God.

v3-4: Prepared hearts; "break up your unploughed (fallow) ground;" their live shad been fruitless and useless. Do not sow among thorns, for good growth needs a suitable environment.

There must be true separation to God, otherwise judgment would fall. A Jewish boy was normally circumcised at 8 days old, as a sign of belonging to the covenant people of God (Gen 17.10). Jeremiah declares that true circumcision is of the heart. This is echoed by Paul in Rom 2.28-29.

v5-6: The coming of Babylon, bringing the fierce anger of the Lord God; the warning to seek protection. The people in unwalled villages must go to the fortified cities.

v7: Babylon is the lion coming from his lair, the destroyed of nations.

v8: Since the coming of Babylon was at the Lord's command, the proper response was in repentance. The response is spiritual rather than military. No human stratagem will be successful.

v9: Terror upon the leaders, as their complacency and hypocrisy is judged.

v10: The claim that the Lord had promised peace; but this was incorrect, see 6.14; 23.16-17. "Peace" was the message of the false prophets. The people had been led into disappointment; and they refused to listen to Jeremiah, thinking that he too had promised God's peace.

v11-12: Responding to v10; judgment would fall on the rebellious nation. The sins of Manasseh meant that judgment was inevitable, see 2 Kings 23.26-27.

v13: A further description of Babylon.

v14-18: The effects of their wickedness. The Lord had warned of an invading army, and the reason for their coming. All this was brought upon themselves. The rumour of Babylon’s coming passes from Dan, in the far north, to Ephraim; and to Jerusalem, the final target of the invader.

v19-21: Jeremiah's sorrow and personal agony; a foretaste of his words in Lamentations. His words and Judah's words are inter-mingled.

v22: The people were ignorant of God, and unused to doing good.

v23-26: Jeremiah's vision of the earth; formless and empty (see Gen 1.2), heavens without light; devastation everywhere. All this as a result of the Lord's fierce anger; not some accident, or chance event.

v27: The Lord's mercy; the judgment would not completely destroy the land, also 5.10-11.

v28-29: Yet the devastation will be widespread.

v30: The spirit of complacency; judgment was imminent, idolatry was widespread, but the people carried on their everyday lives. They beautified themselves, but not for God.

v31: Al last, Zion cried out in desperation. Yet, the question remained whether she would cry out to God for mercy, and seeking Him again.