Jeremiah 4:23-26

2. Devastating judgment (Jeremiah 4:23-26)

TRANSLATION

(23) I looked at the land, and behold, it was waste and void; and unto the heavens, but there was no light. (24) I looked at the mountains, and behold, they were shaking; and all the hills shook themselves. (25) I looked, and behold, there was no man and all the birds of the heaven had fled. (26) I looked, and behold, Carmel was a wilderness and all his cities were pulled down because of the presence of the LORD and His fierce anger.

COMMENTS

Jeremiah regains his composure after the emotional outburst of Jeremiah 4:19-21. God's explanation of the forthcoming destruction in Jeremiah 4:22 seems to have satisfied the reluctant preacher. He takes up anew the description of the divine judgment by picturing the desolate condition of Judah during the years of the exile. Four times in Jeremiah 4:23-26 he declares that he saw what he describes to his hearers. What he saw was not a pretty picture. He saw waste and void. The same two words are used in combination in the second verse of Genesis to describe the state of primeval matter before the spirit of God molded it into order and form. He sees darkness prevailing over the land as the heavens refuse to give forth light (Jeremiah 4:23). The mountains and hills, despite their massive weight, are shaking (lit., to be light or move lightly), swaying, tossing and heaving (Jeremiah 4:24). Not a man could he see! Not even a bird remained in the land (Jeremiah 4:25). When birds flee a land the desolation is complete. Carmel, the fruitful field, had become a wilderness. All the cities of the land are in ruins. All had been laid waste and destroyed by the wrath of the God of judgment.