Jeremiah 16:1-9

III. PROPHETIC CONDUCT Jeremiah 16:1-21

Jeremiah came through his personal crisis. He repented and God took him back. Now that the rebellious prophet was humble and contrite, God gives him further instructions concerning his personal conduct (Jeremiah 16:1-9) and his message (Jeremiah 16:10-13). God pulls back the curtain to reveal to His prophet the purpose and reason for the forthcoming judgment (Jeremiah 16:14-18). To all of this the prophet responds with a ringing affirmation of faith and vision (Jeremiah 16:19-21).

A. Directions to the Prophet Jeremiah 16:1-9

TRANSLATION

(1) And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, (2) Do not take a wife for yourself nor shall you have sons and daughters in this place. (3) For thus says the LORD concerning the sons and the daughters who are being born in this place and concerning their mothers who are bearing them and concerning their fathers who are begetting them in this land: Painful deaths they shall die. (4) They shall not be mourned nor shall they be buried. They will be as dung upon the face of the ground. They shall be consumed by the sword and famine; and their corpses shall be food for the birds of the heavens and the beasts of the land. (5) For thus says the LORD: Do not enter the house of mourning nor go to lament or bemoan them; for I have taken away My peace from this people (oracle of the LORD), loving-kindness and compassion. (6) Both great and small shall die in this land; they shall not be buried nor shall lamentation be made for them nor shall one cut himself nor make himself bald for them. (7) Neither shall men break bread for them in mourning to comfort anyone for the dead; neither shall they give them the cup of consolation for one's father and for one's mother. (8) And to the house of feasting do not go to sit with them, to eat and to drink. (9) For thus says the LORD of Hosts the God of Israel: Behold, I am about to cause to cease from this place before your eyes and in your days the sound of joy and gladness, the sound of bridegroom and bride.

COMMENTS

A minister must live a life that is consistent with the message he brings else he will be charged with hypocrisy and insincerity. Jeremiah had for the most part been preaching a message of doom and judgment. His life must reflect the gloomy prospects of the nation. A man preaches by what he does and does not do as well as by his words. There is a great deal of truth in the old adage what you are speaks so loud I cannot hear what you say. In order to bring the life of Jeremiah into harmony with the message he was to deliver, God laid down three prohibitions for His prophet.

In the first prohibition Jeremiah is commanded not to marry and father children (Jeremiah 16:2). Hosea was married as was Isaiah and Ezekiel. Probably most of the prophets had helpmates. But Jeremiah was denied wifely companionship. He had complained of his pain and loneliness and now a greater burden was laid upon him. But it was necessary that he abstain from marriage in order to get across to his contemporaries the message of how terribly desperate were the times. In Old Testament times marriage was regarded as the natural state. To remain unmarried would cause the people to realize how serious the times really were. Jeremiah's non-marriage was a symbolic act with predictive overtones. Shortly the time would come when there would be no more marriage. Furthermore the nation was about to go through a period of brutal warfare. Children as well as their parents would die painful deaths (literally, deaths of sickness), including starvation (Jeremiah 16:3). Those who died of sword and famine would be left as dung upon the ground, their corpses being eaten by bird and beast alike (Jeremiah 16:4). This was no kind of a world in which to rear a child. While, therefore, it may seem harsh to disallow marriage for Jeremiah, the prohibition is fundamentally beneficent. Jeremiah was spared the added agony of seeing wife and little ones destroyed. One thinks immediately of the attitude of the Apostle Paul toward marriage in similar circumstances (1 Corinthians 7:26).

In the second prohibition Jeremiah is forbidden to attend funerals (Jeremiah 16:5). How difficult it must have been for the prophet to abstain from the customary extension of sympathy to the family of those who were near and dear to him. Again Jeremiah's action would have predictive significance. His abstinence from the normal visitation to homes where there had been a death would provide an opportunity for him to describe the great slaughter which would shortly take place in Judah. So many would die in that day of famine, pestilence and warfare that the few survivors would not be able nor inclined to conduct the normal funeral service. Nobles and commoners will die but no one will bury them or take up a lament over them. The pagan rites of showing remorse by cutting oneself or shaving the head would not be performed (Jeremiah 16:6). Both of these latter customs were forbidden in the law of Moses (Deuteronomy 14:1; Leviticus 19:28; Leviticus 21:5). The funeral feast normally conducted in the home of the bereaved after the burial will be dispensed with (Jeremiah 16:7). This meal no doubt was accompanied by lamentation and prayers for comfort (cf. 2 Samuel 3:35; Ezekiel 24:17; Hosea 9:4). These formalities would have to be abandoned. Death would be so common that men could not participate in such observances even if they wanted to do so. All of this will befall Judah because God had withdrawn His peace, loving-kindness and compassion from the nation (Jeremiah 16:5). Judah is forsaken by her God. She is helpless and hopeless. A third prohibition forbade Jeremiah to attend joyous feasts and festivals as, for example, a wedding meal (Jeremiah 16:8). Jeremiah was no recluse. In fact in his previous prayer he complains that he has been excluded from the assemblies of merrymakers (Jeremiah 15:17). Again Jeremiah's abstinence is to have a didactic purpose, it is intended to be an object lesson to the people of that generation. The nation was crumbling to destruction. This was no time for feasting and rejoicing. In the very near future all joyous activities would cease (cf. Jeremiah 7:34). When faced with extermination men would no longer think of feasting and banqueting (Jeremiah 16:9). While the prohibition had a valid and useful objective it nonetheless added to the burden which Jeremiah had to bear.