An Object Lesson from the Making of Pottery. Jeremiah Petitions the Lord to Punish Those Who Attack Him. Jeremiah 18:1-23

1 An Object Lesson from the Making of Pottery Jeremiah Petitions the Lord to Punish Those Who Attack Him Jeremiah 18:1-23

2 An Object Lesson from the Making of Pottery Jeremiah Petitions the Lord to Punish Those Who Attack Him Text: Jeremiah 18:1-23, Jeremiah 18:1-23 1. The Lord said to Jeremiah: 2. Go down at once to the potter s house. I will speak to you further there. 3. So I went down to the potter s house and found him working at his wheel. 4. Now and then there would be something wrong with the pot he was molding from the clay with his hands. So he would rework the clay into another kind of pot as he saw fit. 5. Then the Lord said to me, 6. I, the Lord, say: O nation of Israel, can I not deal with you as this potter deals with the clay? In my hands, you, O nation of Israel, are just like the clay in this potter s hand. 7. There are times, Jeremiah, when I threaten to uproot, tear down, and destroy a nation or kingdom. 8. But if that nation I threatened stops doing wrong, I will cancel the destruction I intended to do to it. 9. And there are times when I promise to build up and establish a nation or kingdom.

3 10. But if that nation does what displeases me and does not obey me, then I will cancel the good I promised to do to it. 11. So now, tell the people of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem this: The Lord says, I am preparing to bring disaster on you! I am making plans to punish you. So, every one of you, stop the evil things you have been doing. Correct the way you have been living and do what is right. 12. But they just keep saying, We do not care what you say! We will do whatever we want to do! We will continue to behave wickedly and stubbornly! 13. Therefore, the Lord says, Ask the people of other nations whether they have heard of anything like this. Israel should have been like a virgin. But she has done something utterly revolting! 14. Does the snow ever completely vanish from the rocky slopes of Lebanon? Do the cool waters from those distant mountains ever cease to flow? 15. Yet my people have forgotten me and offered sacrifices to worthless idols! This makes them stumble along in the way they live and leave the old reliable path of their fathers. They have left them to walk in bypaths, in roads that are not smooth and level. 16. So their land will become an object of horror. People will forever hiss out their scorn over it. All who pass that way will be filled with horror and will shake their heads in derision. 17. I will scatter them before their enemies like dust blowing in front of a burning east wind. I will turn my back on them and not look favorably on them when disaster strikes them.

4 18. Then some people said, Come on! Let us consider how to deal with Jeremiah! There will still be priests to instruct us, wise men to give us advice, and prophets to declare God s word. Come on! Let s bring charges against him and get rid of him! Then we will not need to pay attention to anything he says. 19. Then I said, Lord, pay attention to me. Listen to what my enemies are saying. 20. Should good be paid back with evil? Yet they are virtually digging a pit to kill me. Just remember how I stood before you pleading on their behalf to keep you from venting your anger on them. 21. So let their children die of starvation. Let them be cut down by the sword. Let their wives lose their husbands and children. Let the older men die of disease and the younger men die by the sword in battle. 22. Let cries of terror be heard in their houses when you send bands of raiders unexpectedly to plunder them. For they have virtually dug a pit to capture me and have hidden traps for me to step into. 23. But you, Lord, know all their plots to kill me. Do not pardon their crimes! Do not ignore their sins as though you had erased them! Let them be brought down in defeat before you! Deal with them while you are still angry! (NET) Introduction: I. Jeremiah 18:1-12 and 18:18 are written in prose while 18:13-17 and 18:19-27 are in poetic form. II. Henderson via Coffman outlines Jeremiah 18 as follows:...

5 A. The analogy of the potter and the clay (verses 1-4),... B. Deductions drawn from the analogy (verses 5-10),... C. Judah s place in the analogy revealed and the warning to repent given (verse 11),... D. Judah s obstinate rejection of God s call to repentance (verse 12),... E. The folly of Judah s choice (verses 13-14),... F. The consequences of that choice (verses 15-17),... G. The conspiracy against Jeremiah (verses 18-20),... H. Jeremiah reveals the judgment of God against his enemies (verses 19-23), and... I. These last two divisions (verses 18-23) are also classified as Jeremiah s Fourth Personal Lament (Ash via Coffman). III. The Pulpit Commentary states, This chapter is the introduction of a group of prophecies, extending to chapter 25, of various dates; their sequence has evidently not been determined by chronological considerations. 1. The fulfillment of threatenings and promises alike is conditioned by the moral attitude of the people. (The Pulpit Commentary) a. Ezekiel 33:11, Say to them, As surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure

6 in the death of the wicked, but prefer that the wicked change his behavior and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil deeds! Why should you die, O house of Israel? (NET) 2. There is still time for the people to repent. Unhappily the people misuse its day of grace, and, instead of listening to God s messenger (Jeremiah), seeks to rid itself of him by persecution, The Pulpit Commentary reads. 3. Jeremiah falls again into the tone of bitter complaint, and, so far from interceding for his people, does the very opposite. (The Pulpit Commentary) Commentary: An Object Lesson from the Making of Pottery Jeremiah 18:1, The Lord said to Jeremiah: (NET) I. The Lord said to Jeremiah:... A. The Lord said, literally spoke to Jeremiah. B. Clarke dates this communication from God to Jeremiah to sometime in the reign of Jehoiakim, probably within the first three years. Jeremiah 18:2, Go down at once to the potter s house. I will speak to you further there. (NET) I. Go down at once to the potter s house. I will speak to you further there.

7 A. Coffman observed that many times in Scripture eternal truths are illustrated by ordinary things of everyday life. 1. In these verses, the work of a potter represents the work of God with Judah and Jerusalem. 2. In these verses hope continues that Jerusalem could still be remolded by the Lord. B. Coffman mentioned that many references speak to the subject of potters. 1. 1 Chronicles 4:23, They were the potters who lived in Netaim and Gederah; they lived there and worked for the king. (NET) 2. Isaiah 64:8, Yet, Lord, you are our father. We are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the product of your labor. (NET) 3. Daniel 2:41, In that you were seeing feet and toes partly of wet clay and partly of iron, so this will be a divided kingdom. Some of the strength of iron will be in it, for you saw iron mixed with wet clay. (NET) 4. Zechariah 11:12-14, Then I said to them, If it seems good to you, pay me my wages, but if not, forget it. So they weighed out my payment thirty pieces of silver. The Lord then said to me, Throw to the potter that exorbitant sum at which they valued me! So I took the thirty

8 pieces of silver and threw them to the potter at the temple of the Lord. Then I cut the second staff Binders in two in order to annul the covenant of brotherhood between Judah and Israel. (NET) 5. Matthew 27:7-10, After consulting together they bought the Potter s Field with it, as a burial place for foreigners. For this reason that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day. Then what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: They took the thirty silver coins, the price of the one whose price had been set by the people of Israel, and they gave them for the potter s field, as the Lord commanded me. (NET) 6. Romans 9:20-21, But who indeed are you a mere human being to talk back to God? Does what is molded say to the molder, Why have you made me like this? Has the potter no right to make from the same lump of clay one vessel for special use and another for ordinary use? (NET) 7. Isaiah 29:16, Your thinking is perverse! Should the potter be regarded as clay? Should the thing made say about its maker, He didn t make me? Or should the pottery say about the potter, He doesn t understand? (NET) 8. Isaiah 45:9, One who argues with his Creator is in grave danger, one who is like a mere shard

9 among the other shards on the ground! The clay should not say to the potter, What in the world are you doing? Your work lacks skill! (NET) 9. Isaiah 64:8, Yet, Lord, you are our father. We are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the product of your labor. (NET) C. Notice that Jeremiah was commanded to go at once to the potter s house. 1. God does not command us to obey him someday, but now! Jeremiah 18:3, So I went down to the potter s house and found him working at his wheel. (NET) I. So I went down to the potter s house and found him working at his wheel.* A. *NET Footnote: Hebrew-at the two stones. B. The Potter s house was thought to have been located in a clay field to the south of Jerusalem. (See Coffman) 1. Zechariah 11:13, The Lord then said to me, Throw to the potter that exorbitant sum at which they valued me! So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them to the potter at the temple of the Lord. (NET) 2. Matthew 27:9-10, Then what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: They took

10 the thirty silver coins, the price of the one whose price had been set by the people of Israel, 10 and they gave them for the potter s field, as the Lord commanded me. (NET) C. Ash via Coffman describes ancient potter s wheels as follows: There were two round flat stones, called wheels, set at right angles to a vertical shaft, one placed low under the table where it was propelled by the worker s foot, and the other extending above the table where the worker could use it to fashion the vessels out of clay. The lower stone was heavier to provide momentum. Jeremiah 18:4, Now and then there would be something wrong with the pot he was molding from the clay with his hands. So he would rework the clay into another kind of pot as he saw fit. (NET) I. Now and then there would be something wrong with the pot he was molding from the clay with his hands. A. All mankind is in the hands of the Lord! B. Clarke wrote, In considering this parable we must take heed that in running parallels we do not destroy the free agency of man, nor disgrace the goodness and supremacy of God. II. So he would rework the clay into another kind of pot as he saw fit. A. Smith wrote, The house of Israel was clay in the hands of the divine Potter. He could do as he pleased with the

11 clay. His decisions, however, were based on the conduct of the nation. The point is that all the threats and promises of God are conditional. B. The defective clay pot, while still wet, could be worked back into a lump and remade into another kind of pot. (See Willis.) 1. How many times has the Lord tried to make something more to his liking out of us? 2. Is he making progress? Has he given up on us? Jeremiah 18:5, Then the Lord said to me, (NET) I. Then the Lord said to me,... A. The Lord proceeded to explain to Jeremiah the meaning of what he had seen at the potter s house. B. Judah did not turn out as it should have and the God of second chances tried again to mold them into that which they should have been. Jeremiah 18:6, I, the Lord, say: O nation of Israel, can I not deal with you as this potter deals with the clay? In my hands, you, O nation of Israel, are just like the clay in this potter s hand. (NET) I. I, the Lord, say: O nation of Israel, can I not deal with you as this potter deals with the clay?

12 A. God, the potter, could remake the imperfect pot, Israel, into the pottery they should become. (See Willis.) 1. Isaiah 29:16-17, Your thinking is perverse! Should the potter be regarded as clay? Should the thing made say about its maker, He didn t make me? Or should the pottery say about the potter, He doesn t understand? In just a very short time Lebanon will turn into an orchard, and the orchard will be considered a forest. (NET) 2. Isaiah 41:25, I have stirred up one out of the north and he advances, one from the eastern horizon who prays in my name. He steps on rulers as if they were clay, like a potter treading the clay. (NET) 3. Isaiah 45:9, One who argues with his Creator is in grave danger, one who is like a mere shard among the other shards on the ground! The clay should not say to the potter, What in the world are you doing? Your work lacks skill! (NET) 4. Isaiah 64:8, Yet, Lord, you are our father. We are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the product of your labor. (NET) 5. Romans 8:1, There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. (NET)

13 B. Willis suggests nation of Israel hints at the possibility he is appealing to their sense of obligation as an ancient covenant people. II. In my hands, you, O nation of Israel, are just like the clay in this potter s hand! A. Judah may have believed the covenant guaranteed divine protection, but the covenant also demanded faithfulness to the Lord. (Willis) 1. Amos 3:2, I have chosen you alone from all the clans of the earth. Therefore I will punish you for all your sins. (NET) Jeremiah 18:7, There are times, Jeremiah, when I threaten to uproot, tear down, and destroy a nation or kingdom. (NET) I. There are times, Jeremiah, when I threaten to uproot, tear down, and destroy a nation or kingdom. A. This was such a time in which God was set on Jerusalem s destruction. 1. All of God s promises of blessings and punishments are conditioned on whether or not those addressed obey or disobey God, discharge their responsibilities as required. 2. The forgiven person must continue in faith and obedience to retain his forgiven status before God. (See Trench via Coffman.)

14 Jeremiah 18:8, But if that nation I threatened stops doing wrong, I will cancel the destruction I intended to do to it. (NET) I. But if that nation I threatened stops doing *wrong, I will cancel the destructions I intended to do to it. A. *NET Footnote: Hebrew-turns from its wickedness B. Willis wrote, The Lord deals with all nations according to the same rules. All nations are blessed for being righteous; all are punished for being sinful; all are given the opportunity to repent. C. Some versions speak here and otherwise of God s repentance which, as stated in the NET, simply means God changes his course of action when conditions warrant. (See Coffman.) 1. Man s repentance involving remorse for sin and God s repentance involving warranted changes in direction are very different. (See Coffman.) a. Jonah 3:10, When God saw their actions they turned from their evil way of living! God relented concerning the judgment he had threatened them with and he did not destroy them. (NET) Jeremiah 18:9, And there are times when I promise to build up and establish a nation or kingdom. (NET)

15 I. And there are times when I promise to build up and *establish a nation or kingdom. A. *NET Footnote: Hebrew-plant B. Nation or kingdom as used here refers to any applicable nation. (See Coffman.) 1. Jeremiah was to prophesy to all the nations, not just to Judah. a. Jeremiah 1:5, Before I formed you in your mother s womb I chose you. Before you were born I set you apart. I appointed you to be a prophet to the nations. (NET) Jeremiah 18:10, But if that nation does what displeases me and does not obey me, then I will cancel the good I promised to do to it. (NET) I. But if that nation does what displeases me and does not obey me, then I will cancel the good I promised to do to it. A. God pronounced good to repentant Judah and punishment on unrepentant Judah. 1. When Jeremiah proclaimed destruction for unrepentant Judah and the long suffering Lord gave them more time to repent, it would cause Jeremiah during the interim to appear to be a false prophet. B. Willis referenced the theological dilemma, Since God is omniscient, knows the past, present and future, why would

16 he send Jeremiah to Judah and Jerusalem to urge them to repent when he knew they would not repent? 1. God respects human free will. He provides ample opportunities for repentance although people do not always take advantage of these opportunities. 2. Bear in mind that sentences against evil doers are not always executed speedily. Jeremiah 18:11, So now, tell the people of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem this: The Lord says, I am preparing to bring disaster on you! I am making plans to punish you. So, every one of you, stop the evil things you have been doing. Correct the way you have been living and do what is right. (NET) I. So now, tell the people of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem this:... A. God told Jeremiah what to say and to whom he was to say it. II. The Lord says, I am preparing to bring disaster on you! I am making plans to punish you. A. Judah s horrible, persistent sins with no willingness to repent put them in line to be punished. (See Smith.) III. So, every one of you, stop the evil things you have been doing. Correct the way you have been living and do what is *right.

17 A. *NET Footnote: Or make good your ways and your actions. B. Willis wrote, Whatever the correct solution, the point being made here is that;... 1. people can change, and God will adapt his actions in response to those changes, and... 2. the people of Judah have had plenty of warnings and plenty of opportunities to change their evil ways and avoid disaster from the Lord, but they had refused to return to the Lord. Jeremiah 18:12, But they just keep saying, We do not care what you say! We will do whatever we want to do! We will continue to behave wickedly and stubbornly! (NET) I. But they just keep saying, We do not care what you say! We will do whatever we want to do! We will continue to behave wickedly and stubbornly! A. This was a deliberate, conscious, pre-meditated decision leading to destruction. 1. Jeremiah 2:25, Do not chase after other gods until your shoes wear out and your throats become dry. But you say, It is useless for you to try and stop me because I love those foreign gods and want to pursue them! (NET)

18 2. Ezekiel 33:17, 20, Yet your people say, The behavior of the Lord is not right, when it is their behavior that is not right. Yet you say, The behavior of the Lord is not right. House of Israel, I will judge each of you according to his behavior. (NET) B. The sinful people of Jerusalem thought there was no chance, hope that Jeremiah would be victorious over them. Jeremiah 18:13, Therefore, the Lord says, Ask the people of other nations whether they have heard of anything like this. Israel should have been like a virgin. But she has done something utterly revolting! (NET) I. Therefore, the Lord says,... A. In view of the total rejection of God s way by the people of Judah and Jerusalem, the Lord had an appropriate response. II. Ask the people of other nations whether they have heard of anything like this. A. Feinberg via Coffman wrote, The willfulness of Israel in forsaking Jehovah their God was without parallel in the ancient world. 1. Jeremiah 2:9-13, So, once more I will state my case against you, says the Lord. I will also state it against your children and grandchildren. Go west across the sea to the coasts of Cyprus and see. Send someone east to Kedar and have

19 them look carefully. See if such a thing as this has ever happened: Has a nation ever changed its gods (even though they are not really gods at all)? But my people have exchanged me, their glorious God, for a god that cannot help them at all! Be amazed at this, O heavens! Be shocked and utterly dumbfounded, says the Lord. Do so because my people have committed a double wrong: they have rejected me, the fountain of life-giving water, and they have dug cisterns for themselves, cracked cisterns which cannot even hold water. (NET) 2. Jeremiah 5:20-25, Proclaim this message among the descendants of Jacob. Make it known throughout Judah. Tell them: Hear this, you foolish people who have no understanding, who have eyes but do not discern, who have ears but do not perceive: You should fear me! says the Lord. You should tremble in awe before me! I made the sand to be a boundary for the sea, a permanent barrier that it can never cross. Its waves may roll, but they can never prevail. They may roar, but they can never cross beyond that boundary. But these people have stubborn and rebellious hearts. They have turned aside and gone their own way. They do not say to themselves, Let us revere the Lord our God. It is he who gives us the autumn rains and the spring rains at the proper time. It is he who assures us of the regular weeks of harvest. Your misdeeds have stopped these things from coming. Your sins have deprived you of my bounty. (NET)

20 3. Jeremiah 8:7, Even the stork knows when it is time to move on. The turtledove, swallow, and crane recognize the normal times for their migration. But my people pay no attention to what I, the Lord, require of them. (NET) B. What makes Judah s sinfulness even worse was that Judah began figuratively speaking as a pure virgin. III. Israel should have been like a virgin (Septuagint: Jerusalem). But she has done something utterly revolting! A. Originally and continuing through the years, Israel was intended to have been a virgin bride/wife of the Lord living in purity, but such was definitely not the case. 1. Jeremiah 2:2-3, Go and declare in the hearing of the people of Jerusalem: This is what the Lord says: I have fond memories of you, how devoted you were to me in your early years. I remember how you loved me like a new bride; you followed me through the wilderness, through a land that had never been planted. Israel was set apart to the Lord; they were like the first fruits of a harvest to him. All who tried to devour them were punished; disaster came upon them, says the Lord. (NET)

21 Jeremiah 18:14, Does the snow ever completely vanish from the rocky slopes of Lebanon? Do the cool waters from those distant mountains ever cease to flow? (NET) I. Does the snow ever completely vanish from the rocky slopes of Lebanon? Do the cool waters from those distant mountains ever cease to flow? A. The expected answer to both of these questions is, No. (Hamilton) B. Hamilton identified the highest slopes as Sirion. The peak reaches 9,100 feet above sea level. Melting snows feed perennial springs. 1. The dependability of the snows of Mount Herman and the waters flowing from it are placed in stark contrast with the fickle ways of the Lord s people, Hamilton wrote. 2. The people of Israel and Judah should have been just as dependable, faithful to the Lord. a. Jeremiah 2:10-13, Go west across the sea to the coasts of Cyprus and see. Send someone east to Kedar and have them look carefully. See if such a thing as this has ever happened: Has a nation ever changed its gods (even though they are not really gods at all)? But my people have exchanged me, their glorious God, for a god that cannot help them at all! Be amazed at this, O heavens! Be shocked and utterly

22 dumbfounded, says the Lord. Do so because my people have committed a double wrong: they have rejected me, the fountain of life-giving water, and they have dug cisterns for themselves, cracked cisterns which cannot even hold water. (NET) C. Clarke wrote, Would any man in his senses abandon a farm that was always watered by the melted snows of Lebanon, and take a barren rock in its place? How stupid therefore and absurd are my people, who abandon the everlasting God for the worship of idols! Jeremiah 18:15, Yet my people have forgotten me and offered sacrifices to worthless idols! This makes them stumble along in the way they live and leave the old reliable path of their fathers. They have left them to walk in bypaths, in roads that are not smooth and level. (NET) I. Yet my people have forgotten me and offered sacrifices to worthless idols! A. Coffman wrote that God is here comparing the irrational and almost incredible behavior of Israel to that of a foolish farmer who would desert a farm watered by the melting snows of Lebanon s Mount Herman in favor of an arid, rocky desert farm. 1. Nature s reliability puts to shame Israel s instability. (Feinberg via Coffman)

23 2. The very idea! Swapping Jehovah God for a man made idol. B. The people had forgotten, forsaken God and had turned their devotion to worthless idols. 1. Jeremiah 2:32, Does a young woman forget to put on her jewels? Does a bride forget to put on her bridal attire? But my people have forgotten me for more days than can even be counted. (NET) 2. 2 Chronicles 28:23, He offered sacrifices to the gods of Damascus whom he thought had defeated him. He reasoned, Since the gods of the kings of Damascus helped them, I will sacrifice to them so they will help me. But they caused him and all Israel to stumble. (NET) II. This makes them stumble along in the way they live and leave the old reliable path of their *fathers. A. *NET Footnote: Hebrew-the ancient path B. Judah had departed from the old paths of faithfulness to blaze new trails into idolatry where they stumbled in their ways, Smith wrote. C. The old reliable path was the path of righteousness. (Willis)

24 1. Psalm 23:3, He restores my strength. He leads me down the right paths for the sake of his reputation. (NET) 2. Jeremiah 25:4-15, Over and over again the Lord has sent his servants the prophets to you. But you have not listened or paid attention. He said through them, Each of you must turn from your wicked ways and stop doing the evil things you are doing. If you do, I will allow you to continue to live here in the land that I gave to you and your ancestors as a lasting possession. Do not pay allegiance to other gods and worship and serve them. Do not make me angry by the things that you do. Then I will not cause you any harm. So, now the Lord says, You have not listened to me. But you have made me angry by the things that you have done. Thus you have brought harm on yourselves. Therefore, the Lord who rules over all says, You have not listened to what I said. So I, the Lord, affirm that I will send for all the peoples of the north and my servant, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants and all the nations that surround it. I will utterly destroy this land, its inhabitants, and all the nations that surround it and make them everlasting ruins. I will make them objects of horror and hissing scorn. I will put an end to the sounds of joy and gladness, to the glad celebration of brides and grooms in these lands. I will put an end to the sound of people grinding meal. I will put an end to lamps shining in their

25 houses. This whole area will become a desolate wasteland. These nations will be subject to the king of Babylon for seventy years. But when the seventy years are over, I will punish the king of Babylon and his nation for their sins. I will make the land of Babylon an everlasting ruin. I, the Lord, affirm it! I will bring on that land everything that I said I would. I will bring on it everything that is written in this book. I will bring on it everything that Jeremiah has prophesied against all the nations. For many nations and great kings will make slaves of the king of Babylon and his nation too. I will repay them for all they have done! So the Lord, the God of Israel, spoke to me in a vision. Take this cup from my hand. It is filled with the wine of my wrath. Take it and make the nations to whom I send you drink it. (NET) 3. Jeremiah 7:5-9, You must change the way you have been living and do what is right. You must treat one another fairly. Stop oppressing foreigners who live in your land, children who have lost their fathers, and women who have lost their husbands. Stop killing innocent people in this land. Stop paying allegiance to other gods. That will only bring about your ruin. If you stop doing these things, I will allow you to continue to live in this land which I gave to your ancestors as a lasting possession. But just look at you! You are putting your confidence in a false belief that will not deliver you. You steal. You murder. You commit adultery. You lie when you

26 swear on oath. You sacrifice to the god Baal. You pay allegiance to other gods whom you have not previously known. (NET) 4. James 1:27, Pure and undefiled religion before God the Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their misfortune and to keep oneself unstained by the world. (NET) 5. Jeremiah 6:16, The Lord said to his people: You are standing at the crossroads. So consider your path. Ask where the old, reliable paths are. Ask where the path is that leads to blessing and follow it. If you do, you will find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not follow it! (NET) III. They have left them to walk in by-paths, in roads that are not smooth and level. A. However, they left the reliable path and stumbled along in the rough and un-level roads of Idolatry, sinfulness and human wisdom. 1. Jeremiah 6:15, 21, Are they ashamed because they have done such shameful things? No, they are not at all ashamed. They do not even know how to blush! So they will die, just like others have died. They will be brought to ruin when I punish them, says the Lord. So, this is what the Lord says: I will assuredly make these people stumble to their doom. Parents and children will

27 stumble and fall to their destruction. Friends and neighbors will die. (NET) 2. Hosea 5:5, The arrogance of Israel testifies against it; Israel and Ephraim will be overthrown because of their iniquity. Even Judah will be brought down with them. (NET) 3. Isaiah 40:3-4, A voice cries out, In the wilderness clear a way for the Lord; construct in the desert a road for our God. Every valley must be elevated, and every mountain and hill leveled. The rough terrain will become a level plain, the rugged landscape a wide valley. (NET) Jeremiah 18:16, So their land will become an object of horror. People will forever hiss out their scorn over it. All who pass that way will be filled with horror and will shake their heads in derision. (NET) I. So their land will become an object of horror. People will forever hiss out their scorn over it. A. Judah abandoned the Lord and would suffer the consequences, Smith observed. 1. Their land would become a desolation and an object of derision, Smith wrote. a. Jeremiah 12:11, They will lay it waste. It will lie parched and empty before me. The whole land will be laid waste. But no one living in it will pay any heed. (NET)

28 b. Jeremiah 19:8, I will make this city an object of horror, a thing to be hissed at. All who pass by it will be filled with horror and will hiss out their scorn because of all the disasters that have happened to it. (NET) c. Jeremiah 33:10, I, the Lord, say: You and your people are saying about this place, It lies in ruins. There are no people or animals in it. That is true. The towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem will soon be desolate, uninhabited either by people or by animals. But happy sounds will again be heard in these places. (NET) d. Jeremiah 42:18, For the Lord God of Israel who rules over all says, If you go to Egypt, I will pour out my wrath on you just as I poured out my anger and wrath on the citizens of Jerusalem. You will become an object of horror and ridicule, an example of those who have been cursed and that people use in pronouncing a curse. You will never see this place again. (NET) e. Jeremiah 44:12, I will see to it that all the Judean remnant that was determined to go and live in the land of Egypt will be destroyed. Here in the land of Egypt they will fall in battle or perish from starvation. People of every class will die in war or from starvation. They will become an object of

29 horror and ridicule, an example of those who have been cursed and that people use in pronouncing a curse. (NET) f. Jeremiah 49:17, Edom will become an object of horror. All who pass by it will be filled with horror; they will hiss out their scorn because of all the disasters that have happened to it. (NET) g. Jeremiah 50:13, After I vent my wrath on it Babylon will be uninhabited. It will be totally desolate. All who pass by will be filled with horror and will hiss out their scorn because of all the disasters that have happened to it. (NET) h. Jeremiah 19:2, 8, Go out to the part of the Hinnom Valley which is near the entrance of the Potsherd Gate. Announce there what I tell you. I will make this city an object of horror, a thing to be hissed at. All who pass by it will be filled with horror and will hiss out their scorn because of all the disasters that have happened to it. (NET) i. Jeremiah 25:9, 18, So I, the Lord, affirm that I will send for all the peoples of the north and my servant, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants and all the nations that surround it. I will utterly destroy this land, its inhabitants, and all the nations that

30 surround it and make them everlasting ruins. I will make them objects of horror and hissing scorn. I made Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, its kings and its officials drink it. I did it so Judah would become a ruin. I did it so Judah, its kings, and its officials would become an object of horror and of hissing scorn, an example used in curses. Such is already becoming the case! (NET) j. Jeremiah 29:18, I will chase after them with war, starvation, and disease. I will make all the kingdoms of the earth horrified at what happens to them. I will make them examples of those who are cursed, objects of horror, hissing scorn, and ridicule among all the nations where I exile them. (NET) k. Jeremiah 51:37, Babylon will become a heap of ruins. Jackals will make their home there. It will become an object of horror and of hissing scorn, a place where no one lives. (NET) l. Lamentations 2:15, All who passed by on the road clapped their hands to mock you. They sneered and shook their heads at Daughter Jerusalem. Ha! Is this the city they called The perfection of beauty, the source of joy of the whole earth!? (NET)

31 m. Micah 6:16, You implement the regulations of Omri, and all the practices of Ahab s dynasty; you follow their policies. Therefore I will make you an appalling sight, the city s inhabitants will be taunted derisively, and nations will mock all of you. (NET) n. Zephaniah 2:15, This is how the onceproud city will end up the city that was so secure. She thought to herself, I am unique! No one can compare to me! What a heap of ruins she has become, a place where wild animals live! Everyone who passes by her taunts her and shakes his fist. (NET) B. Forever hiss out their scorn, Clarke noted, was a shrieking, hissing; an expression of contempt. 1. This hissing was not to be brief or temporary. It was to be forever, perpetual. 2. The transgressors had become objects of horror and astonishment to which the people had an expected reaction; that is, one of disgust, ridicule, mockery, detestation! III. All who pass that way will be filled with horror and will shake their heads in derision. A. Related references:

32 1. Jeremiah 15:5, The Lord cried out, Who in the world will have pity on you, Jerusalem? Who will grieve over you? Who will stop long enough to inquire about how you are doing? (NET) 2. Jeremiah 16:5, Moreover I, the Lord, tell you: Do not go into a house where they are having a funeral meal. Do not go there to mourn and express your sorrow for them. For I have stopped showing them my good favor, my love, and my compassion. I, the Lord, so affirm it! (NET) 3. Jeremiah 22:8-10, People from other nations will pass by this city. They will ask one another, Why has the Lord done such a thing to this great city? The answer will come back, It is because they broke their covenant with the Lord their God and worshiped and served other gods. Do not weep for the king who was killed. Do not grieve for him. But weep mournfully for the king who has gone into exile. For he will never return to see his native land again. (NET) 4. 1 Kings 9:8-9, This temple will become a heap of ruins; everyone who passes by it will be shocked and will hiss out their scorn, saying, Why did the Lord do this to this land and this temple? Others will then answer, Because they abandoned the Lord their God, who led their ancestors out of Egypt. They embraced other gods whom they worshiped and served. That is

33 why the Lord has brought all this disaster down on them. (NET) B. Jeremiah, preaching the word as stated in verses 15-17, would certainly arouse fierce and implacable opposition and hatred from the false community leaders, Coffman advised. Jeremiah 18:17, I will scatter them before their enemies like dust blowing in front of a burning east wind. I will turn my back on them and not look favorably on them when disaster strikes them. (NET) I. I will scatter them before their enemies like dust blowing in front of a burning east wind. A. Related references: 1. Jeremiah 9:16, I will scatter them among nations that neither they nor their ancestors have known anything about. I will send people chasing after them with swords until I have destroyed them. (NET) 2. Jeremiah 13:24, The Lord says, That is why I will scatter your people like chaff that is blown away by a desert wind. (NET) 3. Jeremiah 23:2, So the Lord God of Israel has this to say about the leaders who are ruling over his people: You have caused my people to be dispersed and driven into exile. You have not taken care of them. So I will punish you for the

34 evil that you have done. I, the Lord, affirm it! (NET) 4. Jeremiah 30:11, For I, the Lord, affirm that I will be with you and will rescue you. I will completely destroy all the nations where I scattered you. But I will not completely destroy you. I will indeed discipline you, but only in due measure. I will not allow you to go entirely unpunished. (NET) 5. Genesis 11:4-9, Then they said, Come, let s build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens so that we may make a name for ourselves. Otherwise we will be scattered across the face of the entire earth. But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower that the people had started building. And the Lord said, If as one people all sharing a common language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be beyond them. Come, let s go down and confuse their language so they won t be able to understand each other. So the Lord scattered them from there across the face of the entire earth, and they stopped building the city. That is why its name was called Babel because there the Lord confused the language of the entire world, and from there the Lord scattered them across the face of the entire earth. (NET) 6. Deuteronomy 4:27, Then the Lord will scatter you among the peoples and there will be very

35 few of you among the nations where the Lord will drive you. (NET) 7. Deuteronomy 28:64, The Lord will scatter you among all nations, from one end of the earth to the other. There you will worship other gods that neither you nor your ancestors have known, gods of wood and stone. (NET) 8. Deuteronomy 30:3, the Lord your God will reverse your captivity and have pity on you. He will turn and gather you from all the peoples among whom he has scattered you. (NET) 9. Nehemiah 1:8, Please recall the word you commanded your servant Moses: If you act unfaithfully, I will scatter you among the nations. (NET) 10. Ezekiel 34:5-6, They were scattered because they had no shepherd, and they became food for every wild beast. 6 My sheep wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. My sheep were scattered over the entire face of the earth with no one looking or searching for them. (NET) 11. Zechariah 13:7, Awake, sword, against my shepherd, against the man who is my associate, says the Lord who rules over all. Strike the shepherd that the flock may be scattered; I will turn my hand against the insignificant ones. (NET)

36 B. A burning (stormy) east wind reminds us of the hot, scorching, dry desert winds common to that area able to parch, blast, and destroy grain and trees; even cattle and men suffer from it, Clarke added. 1. Psalm 48:7, With an east wind you shatter the large ships. (NET) 2. Job 27:21, The east wind carries him away, and he is gone; it sweeps him out of his place. (NET) 3. Jeremiah 2:27, They say to a wooden idol, You are my father. They say to a stone image, You gave birth to me. Yes, they have turned away from me instead of turning to me. Yet when they are in trouble, they say, Come and save us! (NET) 4. Jeremiah 32:33, They have turned away from me instead of turning to me. I tried over and over again to instruct them, but they did not listen and respond to correction. (NET) II. I will turn my back on them and not look favorably on them when disaster strikes them. A. God would turn his back on the people, now facing disaster, who had turned their back on him. (See Smith.) 1. Exodus 33:21-23, The Lord said, Here is a place by me; you will station yourself on a rock.

37 When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and will cover you with my hand while I pass by. Then I will take away my hand, and you will see my back, but my face must not be seen. (NET) 2. Numbers 6:24-26, The Lord bless you and protect you; The Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you; The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. (NET) B. When disaster struck Jerusalem, God would do nothing to relieve their misery. 1. God was treating them as they had treated him. a. Jeremiah 2:27, They say to a wooden idol, You are my father. They say to a stone image, You gave birth to me. Yes, they have turned away from me instead of turning to me. Yet when they are in trouble, they say, Come and save us! (NET) Jeremiah Petitions the Lord to Punish Those Who Attack Him Jeremiah 18:18, Then some people said, Come on! Let us consider how to deal with Jeremiah! There will still be priests to instruct us, wise men to give us advice, and prophets to declare God s word. Come on! Let s bring charges against him and get rid of him! Then we will not need to pay attention to anything he says. (NET)

38 I. Then some people said, Come on! Let us consider how to deal with Jeremiah! A. Jeremiah s enemies grew more and more active in their opposition to the prophet. 1. They were prepared to kill him to silence his preaching. 2. Jeremiah 11:18-20, The Lord gave me knowledge, that I might have understanding. Then he showed me what the people were doing. Before this I had been like a docile lamb ready to be led to the slaughter. I did not know they were making plans to kill me. I did not know they were saying, Let s destroy the tree along with its fruit! Let s remove Jeremiah from the world of the living so people will not even be reminded of him any more. So I said to the Lord, O Lord who rules over all, you are a just judge! You examine people s hearts and minds. I want to see you pay them back for what they have done because I trust you to vindicate my cause. (NET) B. Jeremiah s enemies formed a conspiracy to devise ways to rid themselves of Jeremiah and his prophecies. II. There will still be priests to instruct us, wise men to give us advice, and prophets to declare God s word.

39 A. The people of Judah thought they had no need of Jeremiah because they had priests, wise men and prophets of their own (See Smith.) who would give them direction and instruction. (The Pulpit Commentary) 1. Ezekiel 7:26, Disaster after disaster will come, and one rumor after another. They will seek a vision from a prophet; priestly instruction will disappear, along with counsel from the elders. (NET) 2. Deuteronomy 33:10, They will teach Jacob your ordinances and Israel your law; they will offer incense as a pleasant odor, and a whole offering on your altar. (NET) 3. Deuteronomy 17:9-11, You will go to the Levitical priests and the judge in office in those days and seek a solution; they will render a verdict. You must then do as they have determined at that place the Lord chooses. Be careful to do just as you are taught. You must do what you are instructed, and the verdict they pronounce to you, without fail. Do not deviate right or left from what they tell you. (NET) B. Evidently these priests, wise men (elders) and prophets were speaking that which was the very opposite of what Jeremiah was preaching and with this corrupt leadership the corrupt people were altogether satisfied. 1. Isaiah 30:10, They say to the visionaries, See no more visions! and to the seers, Don t relate

40 messages to us about what is right! Tell us nice things, relate deceptive messages. (NET) 2. Jeremiah 2:26, Just as a thief has to suffer dishonor when he is caught, so the people of Israel will suffer dishonor for what they have done. So will their kings and officials, their priests and their prophets. (NET) 3. Isaiah 28:7, Even these men stagger because of wine, they stumble around because of beer priests and prophets stagger because of beer, they are confused because of wine, they stumble around because of beer; they stagger while seeing prophetic visions, they totter while making legal decisions. (NET) C. The wise men formed an important order in Jewish society. It was their custom to sit in public places and give advice on questions of moral practice to those who applied for it. (The Pulpit Commentary) 1. There were genuine wise men and then there were others who were pretenders opposed to the right way of the Lord, even opposed to his prophet Jeremiah. 2. Isaiah 29:14, Therefore I will again do an amazing thing for these people an absolutely extraordinary deed. Wise men will have nothing to say, the sages will have no explanations. (NET)

41 III. Come on! Let s bring charges against him and get rid of him! Then we will not need to pay attention to anything he says. A. Jeremiah s enemies had no hesitancy to bring false charges against the prophet. 1. This describes the character of Jeremiah s enemies. B. Let us smite him with the tongue, charge him with anything that will stop his preaching things the wicked people did not like. 1. Clarke mentioned the correct reading is on the tongue rather than with the tongue which may refer to the fact that, Lying and false testimony are punished in the eastern countries by smiting the person on the mouth with a strong piece of leather like the sole of a shoe. Sometimes a bodkin (sharp, slender instrument for making a hole in cloth, a dagger, a stiletto) 2. The Pulpit Commentary explains smite him with the tongue to mean slanderous accusations. a. Jeremiah 9:3, 8, The Lord says, These people are like soldiers who have readied their bows. Their tongues are always ready to shoot out lies. They have become powerful in the land, but they have not done so by honest means. Indeed, they do one evil thing after another and do not pay attention to me. Their tongues are like deadly arrows. They are always telling lies.

42 Friendly words for their neighbors come from their mouths. But their minds are thinking up ways to trap them. (NET) Jeremiah 18:19, Then I said, Lord, pay attention to me. Listen to what my enemies are saying. (NET) I. Then I said, Lord, pay attention to me. Listen to what my enemies are *saying. A. *NET Footnote: Hebrew-to the voice of my adversaries. B. Smith wrote, This new threat caused Jeremiah to plunge for the fourth time into the depths of depression. Jeremiah 18:20, Should good be paid back with evil? Yet they are virtually digging a pit to kill me. Just remember how I stood before you pleading on their behalf to keep you from venting your anger on them. (NET) I. Should good be paid back with evil? A. Jeremiah could not understand why the people to whom he had sought to do only good were so determined to do him evil. (See Smith.) II. Yet they are virtually digging a pit to kill *me. A. *NET Footnote: Or, they are plotting to kill me; Hebrewthey have dug a pit for my soul B. Figuratively speaking, a pit was dug for Jeremiah to entrap and kill him. (See Smith.)

43 1. Jeremiah s enemies were trying to kill him. C. Related references: 1. Psalm 35:1-12, O Lord, fight those who fight with me! Attack those who attack me! Grab your small shield and large shield, and rise up to help me! Use your spear and lance against those who chase me! Assure me with these words: I am your deliverer! May those who seek my life be embarrassed and humiliated! May those who plan to harm me be turned back and ashamed! May they be like wind-driven chaff, as the Lord s angel attacks them! May their path be dark and slippery, as the Lord s angel chases them! I did not harm them, but they hid a net to catch me and dug a pit to trap me. Let destruction take them by surprise! Let the net they hid catch them! Let them fall into destruction! Then I will rejoice in the Lord and be happy because of his deliverance. With all my strength I will say, O Lord, who can compare to you? You rescue the oppressed from those who try to overpower them; the oppressed and needy from those who try to rob them. Violent men perjure themselves, and falsely accuse me. They repay me evil for the good I have done; I am overwhelmed with sorrow. (NET) 2. Jeremiah 23:12, So the paths they follow will be dark and slippery. They will stumble and fall headlong. For I will bring disaster on them. A

44 day of reckoning is coming for them. The Lord affirms it! (NET) 3. Psalm 57:6, They have prepared a net to trap me; I am discouraged. They have dug a pit for me. They will fall into it! (Selah) (NET) III. Just remember how I stood before you pleading on their behalf to keep you from venting your anger on them. A. Jeremiah had previously plead with God to abstain from punishing Judah. 1. Jeremiah 14:7-9, 19-22, Then I said, O Lord, intervene for the honor of your name even though our sins speak out against us. Indeed, we have turned away from you many times. We have sinned against you. You have been the object of Israel s hopes. You have saved them when they were in trouble. Why have you become like a resident foreigner in the land? Why have you become like a traveler who only stops in to spend the night? Why should you be like someone who is helpless, like a champion who cannot save anyone? You are indeed with us, and we belong to you. Do not abandon us! Then I said, Lord, have you completely rejected the nation of Judah? Do you despise the city of Zion? Why have you struck us with such force that we are beyond recovery? We hope for peace, but nothing good has come of it. We hope for a time of relief from our troubles, but experience terror. Lord, we confess that we have