Jeremiah 4:5-10

CHAPTER SIX

SERMONS FROM THE REIGN OF JOSIAH
(Continued)
III. GOD'S WARNING To HIS PEOPLE

Jeremiah 4:5 to Jeremiah 6:26

Following his treatment of repentance Jeremiah takes up at length the subject of divine judgment. Using bold figures of speech he first announces the coming judgment (Jeremiah 4:5-18) and then adds a somewhat detailed description of that judgment (Jeremiah 4:19-31). Chapter 5 in its entirety is devoted to discussion of the causes of the impending disaster. In chapter 6 the prophet sees the judgment approaching ever closer to his country.

A. Announcement of Coming Judgment Jeremiah 4:5-18

Jeremiah builds the announcement of divine judgment around three figures. He compares the armies which will destroy Judah to a lion who ravishes the countryside (Jeremiah 4:5-10), to a tempest which swirls through the land (Jeremiah 4:11-13) and to watchers who station themselves outside the fortifications of Jerusalem and guard against any escape on the part of the inhabitants of the city (Jeremiah 4:14-18).

1. The first figure: the lion (Jeremiah 4:5-10)

TRANSLATION

(5) Declare in Judah and publish in Jerusalem, and say: Blow the trumpet in the land; cry out boldly and say: Gather yourselves and let us go unto the fortified city. (6) Set up a standard toward Zion. Take refuge. Do not hesitate; for I am about to bring calamity from the north and great destruction. (7) A lion has gone up from his thicket, yea, a destroyer of nations has set out; he has gone out of his place to make your land a desolation. Your cities shall fall to ruins, without inhabitant. (8) Because of this gird on sackcloth, mourn and howl for the fierce anger of the LORD has not turned back from us. (9) And it shall come to pass in that day (oracle of the LORD) that the heart of the king shall perish and the heart of the princes as well. The priests shall be astonished and the prophets shall be dumbfounded. (10) And I said, Ah Lord GOD! Surely you have completely deceived this people and Jerusalem saying, you shall have peace, while the sword reaches to the soul.

COMMENTS

Jeremiah 4:5-10 present a picture of impending disaster. Mentally projecting himself into the future, Jeremiah describes the frenzied activity throughout the land of Judah as the foe draws near. The dramatic quality of the passage is enhanced by the use of a series of rhetorical imperatives addressed by God to the prophet, by the prophet to the people, and by the people to one another. Jeremiah urges the people to sound the alarm throughout the land by means of trumpet and word of mouth. He urges them to cry out as loudly[157] as they possibly can in order that the scattered population might rush to safety in the fortified cities of the land (Jeremiah 4:5). Jeremiah urges them to set up a standard, a signal flag or signpost, to guide the fleeing refugees to Zion or Jerusalem. He pleads with fugitives not to hesitate (literally, stand around). They should not linger or tarry in order to have their possessions. It is an urgent hour. The Babylonian forces in the north are sweeping southward to bring calamity and destruction to Judah (Jeremiah 4:6).

[157] The Hebrew says literally, Cry out! Fill! sometimes in Hebrew a verb is used to convey an adverbial idea. Jeremiah is then urging them to cry out with the fullness of their strength.

Jeremiah compares Nebuchadnezzar to a lion which has gone up from its thicket. The lion, being the symbol of irresistible might and royalty, is a fitting figure for the invincible Chaldean conqueror. Unlike the literal lions which might attack individuals, this mighty and ruthless lion attacks and destroys whole nations. So certain is Jeremiah that this enemy from the north will descend on Judah that he can declare that Nebuchadnezzar has gone out of his place (lit., has broken up his camp). His purpose, declares the prophet, is to make the whole land of Judah a desolation (Jeremiah 4:7). In view of this impending disaster Jeremiah urges the people to gird on sackcloth as a sign of extreme distress. They should mourn and howl as in lamentation over the dead. The destruction of the land is inevitable because the fierce anger of the Lord has not turned away from Judah (Jeremiah 4:8) as the people naively believed (Jeremiah 2:35). In that day of disaster the heart of the king and his princes shall perish. The heart in the Old Testament is the center of the intellect, the will and the emotions. Hence the civil rulers who should be a tower of strength in the national emergency will lose their reason and their courage. The spiritual leaders who had so confidently been predicting that God could not and would not destroy Jerusalem will be utterly dumbfounded at the extent of the calamity (Jeremiah 4:9).

In Jeremiah 4:10 Jeremiah reacts to the vivid description of the future judgment which he has just faithfully related to the people. Shocking as it may seem, Jeremiah accuses God of deceiving or beguiling the nation, promising them peace while the sword of divine retribution was about to reach to the very soul or life of the nation. This is not the only passage where Jeremiah charges God with deceit (cf. Jeremiah 20:7). But what is the basis of the accusation against God? Where had God promised peace to the nation? Perhaps Jeremiah has reference to the Messianic promises of Jeremiah 3:14-18. He is not able to reconcile those glorious promises of a golden age to come with his present prophecy of the total destruction of Judah. On the other hand Jeremiah may be alluding to the prophecies of the fake prophets who had been confidently predicting peace for the land (Jeremiah 6:14; Jeremiah 14:13; Jeremiah 23:17). In this case the Lord is held responsible for those predictions of peace because He did not immediately punish the men who delivered the prophecies. In other words God is said to have done what He only permitted to occur. Upon complaining about these other prophets in a later passage (Jeremiah 14:18) Jeremiah is told that they are prophesying lies in the name of God.