Tanak Foundations-Concepts in Jeremiah-Chapter 14

Jer 14.1-22 tells us that Jeremiah gives a prophecy about a drought and famine, and a prayer for mercy.

v 1…That which came as the word of the Lord to Jeremiah in regard to the drought (as a result of their sins (Lev 26.19-20; Deut 28.15-68):

v 2…”Judah mourns, and her gates (the courts met there, a public place for business) languish (cease). They sit on the ground in mourning, and the cry of Jerusalem has ascended (in despair, but the drought and famine continued).

v 3…And their nobles have sent their servants for water; they have come to the cisterns and found no water (anymore). They have returned with their vessels empty; they have been put to shame and humiliated, and they cover their heads (the princes and the nobles are in mourning).

v 4…Because the ground is cracked, for there has been no rain on the land; the farmers have been put to shame (could not work), they have covered their heads (in mourning).

v 5…For even the doe in the field has given birth only to abandon their young, because there is no grass.

v 6…And the wild donkeys stand on the bare heights; they pant for air like jackals (sniffing the air for water), their eyes fail for there is no vegetation (gasping for water and for food).

v 7…Although our iniquities testify against us, O Lord, act for thy name’s sake (on account of)! Truly our apostasies have been many, we have sinned against you (now they realize it, but it is too late).

v 8…O hope (mikveh) of Israel, its savior (moshiach) in time of distress (the people realized this too late), why art thou like a stranger in the land or like a traveler who has pitched his tent for the night (as one who has no interest, indifferent)?

v 9…Why art thou like a man dismayed (unconcerned), like a mighty man who cannot save (or won’t exert his power)? Yet thou art in the midst, O Lord (in the Temple), and we are called by thy name (his people-Deut 9.29); do not forsake us (lay us down)!”

v 10…Thus says the Lord to this people, “Even so they have loved to wander (following idols); they have not kept their feet in check (from going to Egypt and Assyria for help or to other temples to worship). Therefore, the Lord (Yehovah) does not accept them; now he will remember their iniquity and call their sins to account (their idolatry, alliances, murder, theft, etc).”

v 11…So the Lord said to me, “Do not pray for the welfare of this people (1 John 5.16).

v 12…When they fast, I am not going to listen to their cry; and when they offer burnt offering (Korban Olah) and grain offering (Korban Minchah), I am not going to accept them. Rather, I am going to make an end of them by the sword (war), famine and pestilence.”

v 13…But, “Ah, Lord God!” I said, “Look, the prophets (false ones) are telling them, ‘You will not see the sword nor will you have famine, but I will give you lasting (true) peace (shalom) in this place (much of the guilt of the people is due to the influence of these false prophets).'”

v 14…Then the Lord said to me, “The prophets are prophesying falsehood in my name. I have neither sent them nor commanded them nor spoken to them; they are prophesying to you a false vision, divination, futility and the deception of their own minds (“lev” or heart in Hebrew-they were ignorant of the word of God).

v 15…Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the prophets who are prophesying in my name, although it was not I who sent them-yet they keep saying, ‘There shall be no sword or famine in the land’-by sword and famine those prophets shall meet their end (be consumed-this is an example of the concept called “midah kneged midah” or “measure for measure”)!

v 16…The people also to whom they are prophesying will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword; and there will be no one to bury them-neither them, nor their wives, nor their sons, nor their daughters-for I shall pour out their own wickedness on them (contrary to their prophecies, God is going to fulfill his word over theirs).

v 17…And you will say this word to them (instead of a prayer for them, Yehovah gives Jeremiah a lamentation), ‘Let my (Jeremiah) eye flow down with tears night and day (9.1), and let them not cease; for the virgin daughter of my people (they have never been under a foreign yoke till now) has been crushed with a mighty blow, with a surely infected wound.

v 18…If I go out to the country (where the enemy camps were), behold (see), those slain with the sword (because they tried to escape or they went out to fight them)! Or if I enter the city (Jerusalem); behold, diseases of famine (those ready to die, no food, many dead lying unburied)! For both prophet and priest have gone up into a land that they do not know (the land has changed so much they do not even recognize it).”

v 19…Hast thou completely rejected Judah (again, Jeremiah pleads with Yehovah)? Or hast thou loathed Zion? Why hast thou stricken us so that we are beyond healing? We waited for peace, but nothing good came; and for a time of healing, but behold, terror (they had neglected Yehovah and the Torah for so long it had influenced them so that they could not even see he had rejected them for good this time)!

v 20…We know our wickedness, O Lord, the iniquity of our fathers, for we have sinned against thee (Jeremiah is doing this on behalf of the faithful few of the people who had realized the extent of their own sin and how they imitated the sins of their fathers).

v 21…Do not despise us, for thine own name’s sake (for the sake of God’s honor not their own); do not disgrace the throne of thy glory (Jerusalem where the Temple was-Jer 3.17); remember and do not annul the covenant with us (Yehovah does not break his covenant, but man does, and it may seem like it is broken, but he will never break it because he is faithful to it).

v 22…Are there any among the idols (vanities) of the nations who give rain (the answer is “No”)? Or can the heavens grant showers (not on their own-Job 38.28)? Is it not thou, O Lord our God? Therefore we hope (are in expectation) in thee (for the rain), for thou art the one who hast done all these things (none of the false gods and idols can do anything to benefit those who worship them. Yehovah is their only hope so they will wait for his favor).

Posted in All Teachings, Articles, Idioms, Phrases and Concepts, Prophecy/Eschatology, The Festivals of the Lord, The Tanak, Tying into the New Testament

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