Jeremiah 16
Jeremiah acts out God’s messages
No wife for Jeremiah
1The LORD told me:2Don’t get married. I don’t want you to bring any children into this place.
3Here’s what he said about parents and the children they bring into this land:
4They’ll die of disease. And there will be no one left to mourn them or bury them. They’ll lay there like a lump of manure by the side of the road. Children and parents will die by swords and famine, too. Their dead bodies will feed the birds and wild animals.
Rich and poor alike will die
5The LORD said:I don’t want you going to anymore funerals. [1] I don’t want you to show any feelings of grief you might have when someone dies. I will no longer let these people live in peace. The days of me showing them love and mercy are done.
6Rich and famous, poor and invisible—it doesn’t matter—they’ll die with no one to mourn them or bury them. [2] No one will cut themselves or shave their heads in deep sorrow. [3]
7No one will bring food and wine to comfort moms and dads grieving over the death of their child. 8So I don’t want you going into the home of a grieving family. I don’t want you consoling them by sitting with them or eating with them. 9I am the LORD of everyone and the God of Israel. You will live to see the day the party dies. I will silence happy chatter, laughter, and the joyful sounds of a wedding.
10Jeremiah, when you deliver this news to the people, here’s what they’ll say: “What? This is terrible. The LORD is our God. Why would he do this to us? How did we sin against him?”
11Tell them this:
I’m going to do this to you because your ancestors turned their backs on me, walked away, and worshiped other gods. They ignored the laws I gave them to govern their lives. 12As for your behavior, it’s worse than your ancestors. Here you are on my land. And you have the nerve to do whatever you want—every last one of you. You stubborn people absolutely refuse to listen to me. 13I’m kicking you off my property. I'm banishing you to a land neither you nor your ancestors have ever been to. There you will worship other gods every day and every night. And don't expect any favors from me.
God promises to bring his people home
14There’s coming a day when you’ll no longer celebrate the fact that the LORD rescued Israel from slavery in Egypt. 15Instead, you’ll celebrate that I saved you from exile. Though I’m about to scatter you to other nations, I will bring you home to the land of your ancestors.Enemies will hunt the people down
16I’m sending an army of invaders to capture you. They’ll hunt you down and fish you out of every hiding place you can imagine. Every mountain. Every hill. Every crack in a cliff.17I can see what you’re doing. You’re not hiding anything from me. I can see you when you sin. 18I am going to give you a double dose of punishment because you not only sinned against me, you polluted my land. You trashed my land with disgusting idols. And you have done detestable things as part of your worship rituals. [4]
Jeremiah’s hopeful prayer
19LORD, you are my power and protector
My safehouse in times of trouble.
One day nations will come to you
From all over the world, saying:
“Our ancestors lied to us.
Their idols are useless.
Handcrafted gods are just handcraft.”
God teaches Judah a lesson
21I'm going to teach these people a lesson they will never forget. I'm going to give them a taste of what divine power looks like. And when this is all over, they will know that I am the LORD.Footnotes
God tells Jeremiah to practice what he preaches, to live out some of God’s messages. Don’t get married, don’t go to funerals, don’t show compassion for the grieving. For the day Jerusalem falls, no one will get married, go to funerals, or be able to show someone else compassion over a loved one who died. For all the people will need comfort, which won’t be available while invaders round up the survivors and decide which to keep and which to kill.
That’s a description of the losing side of a battle. When Jerusalem fell to Babylonian invaders in 586 BC, many survivors in Jerusalem were led away into captivity in what is now Iraq. Those who died, were apparently left for the birds and wild animals to claim.
Two common ways of expressing grief in ancient times, both of which were forbidden by Jewish law (Leviticus 19:27-28). Yet it seems many Israelites practiced these traditions from other religions in the region.
Some religions seemed to include sex as one of the rituals, to implore the gods to answer their prayers. Some even involved human sacrifice. Judah’s kings Ahaz and Manasseh both reportedly sacrificed their own sons (2 Kings 16:3; 2 Kings 21:6-8).
Discussion Questions
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