Jeremiah's Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Prophecies
Chapter 11
Jeremiah’s confessions and Judah’s approaching doom (11:1-20:18)
Chapters 11:1-20:18 are not as easy to understand as the previous chapters. This section is referred to as "Confessions of Jeremiah" that include his prayers, meditations, or dialogs with God.
Judah’s violation of the covenant (11:1-17)
Jeremiah reminds the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem of the covenant which the Lord had made with their fathers when He brought them out of the land of Egypt (v. 4a). They were to obey his commands, but they did not obey (v. 8a). Therefore they suffered punishment for breaking God's covenant and has served other gods. They too must suffer punishment (v. 11). Israel, once called a green olive tree, fair with goodly fruit, will be consumed by fire (v. 16), because of her apostasy.
Jeremiah’s confession (11:18-12:6)
This is the first of Jeremiah’s several “confessions.” His own family tried to kill him (12:6). The prophet's reaction to the attempt to murder him is to pray for God’s vengeance upon those involved (v. 20b). This is the first of several of Jeremiah’s imprecations against his personal enemies. Deeply disturbed by the threats on his life, the prophet carries his complaint to God (12:1-4). It seems that God is on the side of the wicked. Imprecation means to ask God to take vengeance on enemies.
Jeremiah receives a reply to his questions quite different from what he expected. God’s reply does not give the prophet a direct answer to his questions, but he receives something better – a call to courage of soul as he is confronted with still more difficult days of ministry.
Through the use of two “picture-images” God challenges his spokesman (12:5). If the prophet is facing defeat now in his race with men, what will be the outcome when he runs against horsemen? If he has fallen down in a safe land (his hometown of Anathoth), what can he expect to do in the lion-infested jungle of the Jordan (his coming trials in Jerusalem)? The import of God’s questions startled the prophet; the worst is yet to come! Nevertheless, he is challenged to heroic action and made to see that there is no place in his ministry for bitter sulking.
Chapter 12
A divine lament (12:7-13)
In his poem Jeremiah interprets the mind of God from his own experience. Not Jeremiah alone but God also is pained by the destruction of Judah. Not only Jeremiah but God also is hostile to Judah’s wickedness. In fact the prophet’s experience in the previous section (12:1-6) may well be the basis for his voicing the Lord’s lament. The prophet knew the pain of rejection by his own family. God also experiences great sorrow when his own reject him and suffer inevitable retribution. This poem is ample evidence of his agony
The divine purpose (12:14-17)
An amazing truth is stated in these verses – amazing for Jeremiah’s day and perhaps even for today. God has a purpose for all peoples – even the enemies of his own. All peoples have a place in God’s redemptive plan. The extent to which they participate is dependent upon their response to him.
Chapter 13
Parables and warnings (13:1-27)
This chapter contains five brief passages related by subject matter even if composed at different times. The theme of a pride soon to be humbled is evident throughout.
Parable of a linen loincloth (13:1-11)
The function of a loincloth was to cling to the loins of its wearer. The waistcloth of the parable was spoiled when it was hidden in a cleft of the rock (v. 4). It was no longer useful; hence it was cast aside. Just so the chief glory and purpose of Judah was to cleave to the Lord. But they refused, choosing rather to cleave to other gods. Therefore, like the loincloth, they are spoiled and have become good for nothing.
Parable of the wine jars (13:12-14)
A second parable of the prophet is also in prose. In it Jeremiah gives the first sketch of his image of the “cup of the wine of wrath of God” which the nations are to drink. Every jar will be filled with wine (12a), the people scornfully reply, “we know that every jar will be filled with wine” (v. 12b). To which the prophet rejoined that just as the jars are destined to be filled with wine, so all the inhabitants of Judah will be filled with drunkenness (judgment) and dashed one against another until destroyed ( vv. 13-14).
A warning against pride (13:15-17)
This brief poem expresses both the prophet’s message and his feelings. It takes up the thought of pride in v. 9 and calls upon Judah to surrender her arrogance and to give glory to God, lest he turn the light to darkness (vv. 15-16). The light of hope for Judah is fast fading. Repentance is possible, but time is short. This is a matter of deep distress for Jeremiah. His soul weeps in secret and his eyes run down with tears at the prospect of captivity for his people.
A lament for the royal family (13:18-19)
This short lament is addressed to the king (Jehoiachin) and the queen mother (Nehushta). Jeremiah calls on the young king and the queen mother to accept their predicted disaster with humble dignity and grace (v. 18).
Jerusalem’s incurable sickness and its punishment (13:20-27)
Jerusalem, personified as a woman, is called to look upon the enemy from the north and to give an account of her stewardship of the flock entrusted to her (v. 20). What will she say and feel when her “friends” become her master (v. 21)? If she should inquire as to why all this has happened to her, inform her that it is due to the magnitude of her iniquity that she is subjected to the shame of a harlot (v. 22, 27a).
The city is so accustomed to doing evil that it is second nature with her. Can the Ethiopian change . . . or the leopard (v. 2.3)? One might as well expect the Ethiopian to change the color of his skin and the leopard his spots as to expect the inhabitants of Jerusalem to exchange their vile and evil habits in their own power. No man can change within himself but only in the power of God.
Chapter 14
Prophecies concerning a drought: God’s rejection of his people’s appeals (14:1-15:4)
The drought is described (14:1-6) as a national disaster. The entire country is desolate. The black robes of mourners are a common sight. All the cisterns are without water. Men and beasts alike are desperate and dying from thirst (vv. 1-6).
The people’s confession and appeal to God (14:7-9)
In this “communal lament” the people confess sins and cry out to God for help ‘in a time of severe need. On the surface at least there is much that is positive about their prayer: confession of sins (v. 7), recognition of God’s lordship, and acknowledging him as their hope and deliverer (v. 8a). But there are negative aspects as well, e.g., the why of vss. 8 and 9 which seem to point an accusing finger at God.
God’s refection of the appeal (14:10-18)
The Lord sees through Judah’s pretended repentance. Their plea is therefore rejected.
A second confession and appeal (14:19-22)
It is instructive to compare this confession and appeal with the first one (vv. 7-9). Here as in the first sins are confessed. In both God is acknowledged as the “hope” of Israel. But the most significant similarity between the two is the strong stress placed on the Lord’s obligations to Judah and the tendency to overlook their own obligations to their covenant God.
Chapter 15
God’s final refusal (15:1-4)
In 14:19a the people had posed the question to God, "Hast thou utterly rejected Judah?" Now (15:1-4) there comes a stern, uncompromising “Yes,” an answer which reinforces that given in 14:10-12. The people are rejected once and for all; not because God is reluctant to forgive and heal, but because they have rejected him. The people have not repented as had Israel in the days of Moses and Samuel. The punishment awaited the nation in the forms of pestilence, the sword, famine, and captivity (v. 2).
Prophecies and prayers in poetry and prose (15:5-17:27)
Here is a miscellaneous collection of prophecies and personal experiences which are loosely connected but which have three things in common with each other.
1. First, they probably originate in the reign of Johoiakim.
2. Second, they emphasize Jeremiah’s increasing isolation and personal suffering.
3. Third, they reiterate the certainty and severity of the coming judgment on Judah because of her sin.
Judah’s winnowing and Jeremiah’s woes (15:5-21)
Judah’s winnowing is outlined in 15:5-9. Winnowing is the process of throwing chaff into the air as a metaphor for God's people going into capitivity. These five verses form a poetic lament. Jeremiah breaks lament and bewaild the fact that no one will have pity on Jerusalem (v. 5). Even more distressing to Jeremiah are God’s threats of judgment on Judah because of her sin.
Jeremiah’s woes are included in verses 15:10-21. This is the second of the prophet’s several “confessions.” Jeremiah is so painfully perplexed by the fact that faithfulness to his calling has exposed him to the hostility of his people, he bemoans his birth (v. 10a).
Starting with verse 15, the prophet’s prayer turns to petition for God to remember him and to take vengeance on his persecutors. He protests that his proclamation of God’s message of judgment has alienated him from others. He has been denied the privilege of fellowship with friends. He has had to sit alone because he was under divine constraint for his special task (v. 17).
Finally, Jeremiah closes his prayer with the desperate cry, “Why?” Now God calls upon the prophet to practice what he has preached. Jeremiah needs then to turn back to God and to renew his trust in him.
One further step is necessary if Jeremiah is to continue as God’s mouthpiece. The prophet must rid himself and his message of all that is unworthy. Jeremiah will sincerely take these two steps to be beneficial in his prophetic ministry (vv. 19c-21).
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