When you come to Jeremiah 13-20, you begin to see a shift in the literary characteristics of the text. This begins to happen somewhat in chapter 11, but by chapter 13 it is most evident. Whereas the first twelve chapters consist mainly of speeches of judgment in poetic style, you now find long prose sections that tell us about different events or episodes in Jeremiah’s life. And, where we simply read speech after speech about Judah’s sin and the consequent judgment in the chapters examined last week, in these chapters we find narratives about the way the Lord symbolized Judah’s sin and judgment through different tasks carried out by Jeremiah. In this way, these chapters are similar to Hosea or Ezekiel who often symbolized their message by doing certain things or living certain ways. Finally, whereas the first twelve chapters show us much about God’s heart and thoughts concerning his people, these chapters reveal much about the prophet Jeremiah as well. You can read these chapters and feel Jeremiah’s hurt, frustration, anger, and hope. There are sections that read like a lament psalm or like Job’s complaints in the midst of suffering. Perhaps more than anything, these chapters reveal a man in Jeremiah who is much like us: weak and weary, hopeful and confident, angry, and full of pity – for others and himself. On a personal note, it has been these chapters more than any other that I found myself turning to in some early years of difficult and challenging ministry and found myself ultimately comforted by the God who was guiding and caring for Jeremiah and who was (and is) doing the same for me. Therefore, this morning, I want us to see what it is that we can learn through these chapters that expose to us a bit more of the life and thoughts of this prophet.
Before we dive into those notes that I want to highlight, let me give you a brief summary of these chapters. You could summarize them somewhat sufficiently by saying, “Same song, different tune.” I mean, the literary characteristics are different, but the message is still the same: Judah has sinned grievously and they will be judged. As we saw last week, we see again the Lord describing their sin and coming judgment. This time, however, we see it mainly through object lessons carried out in Jeremiah’s life. In chapter 13 Jeremiah takes a loincloth that was supposed to be worn as a nice garment and wore it around for a while. Then, the Lord had him take it and hide it in a far away place in the cleft of a rock. After a while, the Lord had him go back and get it, and when he did, it was spoiled and good for nothing. So, we read the Lord’s declaration in 13:9-11,
“Even so will I spoil the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem. [10] This evil people, who refuse to hear my words, who stubbornly follow their own heart and have gone after other gods to serve them and worship them, shall be like this loincloth, which is good for nothing. [11] For as the loincloth clings to the waist of a man, so I made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to me, declares the Lord, that they might be for me a people, a name, a praise, and a glory, but they would not listen.”
This picture is particularly painful to hear because you get a glimpse of the Lord’s heart here, don’t you? This is not just the Lord’s response of judgment but seems a somewhat pained response of judgment. Judah was supposed to be like a belt worn by the Lord that would bring honor and glory and praise to him. But they had chosen to profane his name instead. Therefore, later in chapter 13 the Lord has Jeremiah fill jars with wine in order that Judah might know that they will have to drink of the wine of the Lord’s wrath.
In chapter 16, Jeremiah is told not to take a wife or have children so that Judah might know that wives, mothers, and children will all die by the sword or by famine. In chapter 17, Jeremiah is to stand by the People’s Gate, proclaiming that they will be judged for not keeping the sabbath holy, and in chapter 18, he is shown a potter who clay plot wasn’t working right so that he destroyed it and began reworking it. This was so that Jeremiah might know that the Lord can do the same with Judah. Finally, in chapter 19, Jeremiah is commanded to buy a flask and then break it in the sight of the men of Judah, saying that in the same way the Lord will break this people and this city because of the sins of Judah in profaning the name of the Lord. Thus, you can see why these chapters might be labeled in relation to the chapters we looked at last week – same song, different tune – for though we did not see these repeated object lessons in the chapters last week, they are communicating the message that came through then and now loud and clear: Judah has sinned, especially through idolatry, and will face the Lord’s judgment.
But, as I noted, one difference is that these chapters focus on Jeremiah and especially his suffering. Therefore, I think these chapters serve to remind us of a truth that we need to remember well, namely, that obeying God will often mean suffering in our lives but not outside of the Lord’s watchful eye and care.
One thing that made Jeremiah’s life so miserable at times is that he was to proclaim a word that no one wanted to hear and didn’t listen to. And on top of that, you had lying prophets that were telling the people, “You shall not see the sword, nor shall you have famine, but I will give you assured peace in this place” (15:13). So, Jeremiah struggled and complained before God. We read in 15:10,
“Woe is me, my mother, that you bore me, a man of strife and contention to the whole land! I have not lent, nor have I borrowed, yet all of them curse me.”
Then in 15:16-18 the Jeremiah continues his complaint to the Lord, saying,
“Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O LORD, God of hosts. I did not sit in the company of revelers, nor did I rejoice; I sat alone, because your hand was upon me, for you had filled me with indignation. Why is my pain unceasing, my wound incurable, refusing to be healed? Will you be to me like a deceitful brook, like waters that fail?”
Jeremiah is saying, in essence, I obeyed you, and because of it I have become an object of scorn, who sits alone, indignant at the actions of my own countrymen, and it seems like you’ve put me out here to be punished for obeying you. But before going on to more of Jeremiah’s suffering and more lament, note the Lord’s answer to him,
“If you return, I will restore you, and you shall stand before me. If you utter what is precious, and not what is worthless, you shall be as my mouth. They shall turn to you, but you shall not turn to them” (15:19).
It seems the Lord focuses Jeremiah a bit here, doesn’t he? It’s as if he says to Jeremiah that he must keep in mind that the Lord is to be feared more than man. Jeremiah must not turn to the people as if to seek their approval, but obey God and delight in getting to be the Lord’s spokesman. But this doesn’t mean that the Lord is simply sending him out on his own, as a sheep amidst wolves. The Lord continues,
“And I will make you to this people a fortified wall of bronze; they will fight against you, but they shall not prevail over you, for I am with you to save you and deliver you, declares the Lord. I will deliver you out of the hand of the wicked, and redeem you from the grasp of the ruthless” (15:20-21).
And this is what we see throughout these chapters. In 18:18, the people make a plot against Jeremiah, saying,
“Come, let us make plots against Jeremiah, for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, let us strike him with the tongue, and let us not pay attention to any of his words.”
And in chapter 20, Pashur, the priest, beats him and puts him in stocks. Yet in each case, the Lord spares him and delivers him. Jeremiah even notes the Lord’s deliverance in one of his laments before the Lord. We see it in 20:7-13,
“O LORD, you have deceived me, and I was deceived; you are stronger than I, and you have prevailed. I have become a laughingstock all the day; everyone mocks me. Fr whenever I speak, I cry out, I shout, ‘Violence and destruction!’ For the word of the O LORD has become for me a reproach and derision all day long. If I say, ‘I will not mentioned him, or speak any more in his name,’ there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot. For I hear many whispering. Terror is on every side! ‘Denounce him! Let us denounce him!’ say all my close friends, watching for my fall. ‘Perhaps he will be deceived; then we can overcome him and take our revenge on him.’ But the LORD is with me as a dread warrior; therefore my persecutors will stumble; they will not overcome me. They will be greatly shamed, for they will not succeed. Their eternal dishonor will never be forgotten. O LORD of hosts, who tests the righteous, who sees the heart and the mind, let me see your vengeance upon them, for to you have I committed my cause. Sing to the LORD; praise the LORD! For he has delivered the life of the needy from the hand of evildoers.”
Yet, Jeremiah continues to cry out in pain and agony to the Lord,
“Cursed by the day on which I was born! The day when my mother bore me, let it not be blessed! Cursed be the man who brought the news to my father, ‘A son is born to you,’ making him very glad. Let that man be like the cities that the LORD overthrew without pity; let him hear a cry in the morning and an alarm at noon, because he did not kill me in the womb; so my mother would have been my grave, and her womb forever great. Why did I come out from the womb to see toil and sorrow, and spend my days in shame?” (20:14-18)
What do we do in light of such statements? I mean, it was sin to curse your father or mother, so Jeremiah curses the man who brought the news of a successful birth to him father, wishing instead that he had killed him as a baby in the womb. This is disturbing, isn’t it?
Again, I think one of the lessons we learn through this is that obeying Christ means suffering. When Jesus tells us to take up our crosses and follow him, it’s not because we’re following him into a life of ease. The cross symbolized suffering, pain, and death. Speaking the truth to a people who do not want to hear it means we’ll be spoken against, hated, and perhaps even physically harmed or killed. In a world where the message the people want to know is that everyone is okay and if there is a god we can get in good with him a hundred different ways, we come proclaiming that everyone is under God’s wrath and can only be made right with him through faith in the crucified and risen Jesus Christ.
Sometimes we can fall into thinking that if we’re obeying the Lord, all will be well. So, we might say, “This or that worked so smoothly, it was clear that the Lord was working his will.” And, indeed, he sometimes is pleased to do such things. But it seems that Scripture would have us much more often anticipating difficulty in the midst of obeying the Lord. He sends us out as sheep amidst wolves. He calls us to care for helpless people and to take the gospel to those who are in rebellion against God.
So, I want us to have our mindsets firmly established in realizing that ministry means suffering. This is not the exception but the rule. And, when we do encounter suffering, we can take our laments to the Lord, who is able to comfort us and help us. Yet, even then, we will no doubt find ourselves returning to him again and again.
But I also want to remind us something in addition to this truth that we will suffer. I don’t think we’re to learn simply from Jeremiah’s complaints but from the Lord’s answers as well. And he reminds Jeremiah that he is the Lord’s spokesman, that the Lord is with him, that the Lord watches over him, and that he will be ultimately delivered.
That is, one thing we can keep in mind is that we minister because we have been redeemed. We suffer as we proclaim the truth to those who do not want to hear because we have been blessed to be ambassadors for God. We suffer in serving others because we get to serve them as if we were serving the Lord Jesus himself. If you compare Jacob’s life with Esau, anyone would want Esau’s life. His was seemingly quite easy and blessed, while Jacob’s was constantly full of strife. But to choose Esau’s life would be foolish, wouldn’t it? Jacob was loved by God. And so are you if you are God’s child. So remind yourself of this truth, even as we lament before God in our sufferings.
This is a note that doesn’t need to be missed throughout Jeremiah. It is true that this is a book of judgment in large measure. But there are continuous notes that the Lord wants to redeem the people and indeed will redeem people from every nation. Jeremiah wasn’t pleading with the people repent in such a way that he wanted good for them and God wanted evil. Jeremiah was God’s mouthpiece, pleading with them to repent.
For us, love and hate are things we think of that are necessarily exclusive. If you have one for something, you cannot have another. To hate someone means you do not love them, and to love them means you do not hate them. But that is not the case with the Lord. We saw last week the Lord’s hatred, as he declares in 12:8, “My heritage has become to me like a lion in the forest; she has lifted up her voice against me; therefore I hate her.”
And we find that kind of language throughout the Psalter. I believe it is something like fourteen times in the first fifty psalms we read that the Lord hates the sinner. Yet, God also lovingly invites them to repent so that they might know cleansing from their sin and delight in him. So, Jeremiah pleads with the people as a reflection of God’s heart.
We see this in 13:15-16,
“Hear and give ear; be not proud, for the LORD has spoken. Give glory to the LORD your God before he brings darkness, before your feet stumble on the twilight mountains, and while you look for light he turns it into gloom and makes it deep darkness.”
That is, judgment is coming … so, turn! In fact, the Lord wants Judah to know that his coming redemption is going to be so great that he will no longer be referred to as the God who delivered his people from Egypt. That is going to be overshadowed. We read in 16:14-15,
“Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when it shall no longer be said, ‘As the LORD lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt, but ‘As the LORD lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he had driven them.’ For I will bring them back to their own land that I gave to their fathers.”
This truth fuels Jeremiah and encourages him even amidst his suffering. He proclaims in 16:19-20,
“O LORD, my strength and my stronghold, my refuge int eh day of trouble, to you shall the nations come from the ends of the earth and say: ‘Our fathers have inherited nothing but lies, worthless things in which there is no profit. Can man make for himself gods? Such are not gods!”
Interestingly, Jeremiah knows that one day even the pagan nations will realize that the God who called Israel to himself is the true God, and they will repent and come to know him. And this is the Lord’s heart. Finally, we read in 18:7-8 and 11,
“If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, and if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it. . . . Now, therefore, say to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: ‘Thus says the LORD, behold, I am shaping disaster against you and devising a plan against you. Return, every one from his evil way, and amend your ways and your deeds.”
It is the Lord who tells Jeremiah to pronounce judgment, and it is the Lord who tells him to plead with them to repent so that they might be forgiven. This is our God. When we had turned every one to his own way so that we were objects of his wrath, he was the one who initiated our salvation. He was the one who sent his Son to bear the iniquity of us all so that we might be redeemed.
Therefore, strengthen your hearts by knowing that as we go out and proclaim the gospel to men, we are reflecting God’s heart that they might be saved. Yes, God will be honored even in their judgment, but it is he himself who asks them, “Why will you die in your sins?” This is the question that seems to rise from our text this morning.
Why do we even go to people who do not love God, often don’t want to hear the truth, and might even harm and kill us? It is because we are ambassadors for God. Pleading on behalf of Jesus Christ with men to be reconciled to God. That’s who we get to be.
My oldest sister went through a period of rebellion in her life when she started dating a guy that she eventually married. One of the first times I remember meeting Brad, we were standing besides each other at a Christmas musical, where they were singing about the virgin bearing a son, and he said out loud, “What in the world are they talking about, a lady having a son while still being a virgin?” He was in rebellion toward God for most of the time I knew him, consistently hearing a rejecting the gospel until a couple years ago. The other day I spoke with him on the phone and he told me of the Lord’s grace in their lives, that he had been praying for us as we walked through the adoption, and how thankful he was to the Lord for what he’d done in their lives.
That is why we proclaim the truth in enemy-occupied territory. It is because the Lords wants to and will redeem people from every tongue, tribe, and nation.
And yet we see something about the nature of the response demanded by the Lord in this text as well. In chapters 14-15 we see a repeating cycle. There is drought and famine, following by the people claiming repentance and asking for God to deliver them, followed by the Lord’s refusal to do so. We even have Jeremiah’s intercession on their behalf being met with refusal.
In 14:1-6, we read of the drought and famine. In 14:7-9, we hear the people’s confession and prayer. Then, in 14:10-11, we hear the Lord’s refusal. In 14:13, Jeremiah intercedes, and God announces they will be judged. And the cycle repeats itself in 14:17-18, 14:19-22, and 15:1-9.
What are we to make of this? We have Jeremiah faithfully speaking to the people, the people seemingly responding correctly, and the Lord saying, “No.” We know from the NT that all who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. That is, there is no one who turns to the Lord in repentance and faith from whom salvation will be withheld.
So, again, what’s going on here? Well, I think one thing we might say is that the Lord here is dealing with a nation. And there are times when the Lord might say that a nation will face judgment and his determination to do so will not be thwarted. It might be that the LORD decides to withdraw his gracious hand from a nation in such a way that the nation will face his judgment while he cares for individual believers within such a nation. After all, our hope isn’t in our country but in knowing the Lord.
But I think these two chapters (14-15) also remind us that the Lord demands that we turn to him with our lives. D. A. Carson calls this the “repentance of the whole life.” You see, it is true that the people are facing hard times and asking God to forgive them and deliver them, but the Lord also knows what’s in their hearts. Therefore, I think it’s safe to assume that this is a cry that says, “God save us from famine. Save us from drought.” This isn’t a repentance that says we want to turn from our ways and follow you.
And it’s a reminder for us. It’s true that people are justified by faith alone, but if people truly respond in faith, it should show in a life that is oriented toward the Lord. The individual who does not want to acknowledge God in life and yet wants to cry out for deliverance in hard times is not reflective of a heart that has become truly repentant before the Lord.
Therefore, it is fitting for us to examine our own lives and see if the Lord has the whole of our lives. Are we people who have oriented our whole lives toward the Lord, or are we a people who merely cry out to him in difficult times? The Lord demands whole-life repentance.
So, Jeremiah 13-20 teaches us much about the prophet and reminds us of helpful lessons for ourselves. It reminds us that obeying the Lord means suffering, though God will with us, watching over us, and caring for us. It reminds us that as we take the gospel to the nations, we are reflecting the heart and purpose of God. He wants men everywhere to repent and will indeed redeem men from every tongue, tribe, and nation. And, it reminds us that God demands nothing less than our whole lives. This is true of us and should be reflected in the lives of those who respond to the gospel message in faith.
Let’s look at our lives again. Are we suffering? Perhaps it is a sign of blessing, showing us that Christ has counted us worthy to fill up his afflictions in this world. Are we growing weary in proclaiming his truth and interceding for those who do not know him? Let us remind ourselves of God’s heart and pray for continued strength. Are we slow to devote the entirety of our lives to him? Let us repent this morning, and delight in the forgiveness and grace that is ours because of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection for us. Let us be reminded of this truth as we come to the table. Amen.