Discouraged But Not Forsaken
July 2, 2021
Commentary
The nation’s sin was so much a part of their living that judgment had to come. God told Jeremiah that even the prayers of Moses and Samuel could not stop His judgment (v. 1). Judah had passed the point of no return in her dealings with God. The fate of the people was sealed. Destruction will come to Judah (vv. 2-3). Manasseh was one of Judah’s most wicked kings (v. 4), leading them into all forms of apostasy (2 Kings. 21:1-16). The people simply continued what Manasseh had started.
Jeremiah was forced to step out of his role of intercessor for the time being, look on his people with compassion and lament over the lost that no one seemed to have pity on (v. 5). The only One who had ever cared for them was God, but they had rejected Him (v. 6). Therefore God vowed to destroy them without compassion (v. 7).The widows would become more numerous than the sand of the sea as the men were slaughtered by the Babylonians (vv. 8-10). Even the mothers would not escape as the Lord promises anguish and terror to come upon them as they sit childless and humiliated (v. 9).
All of this brought Jeremiah to one of the lowest points in his prophetic career (v. 10). He was a discouraged and frustrated man, but God had not forsaken him. God assured him that good would eventually come out of the seemingly hopeless situation of ever-present enemies, trials and tribulation (v. 11). God asked Jeremiah a rhetorical question to emphasize the fact that judgment was coming. He asked, can a man break iron or bronze with his bare hands (v. 12)? This was to show the people of Judah that they would be unable to break the power of the Babylonian attack on their nation. Their wealth will be handed over to the enemy (v. 13) and they will be made slaves and deported to a land they do not know (v. 14). God’s righteous anger will consume them.
Application
Many years ago I heard Jerry Falwell preach a message that God does not use a discouraged person. I believe this is generally true and do not want to allow myself to have pity parties.
Jeremiah 15:1– 14 (NET)
1 Then the Lord said to me, “Even if Moses and Samuel stood before me pleading for these people, I would not feel pity for them! Get them away from me! Tell them to go away! 2 If they ask you, ‘Where should we go?’ tell them the Lord says this: “Those who are destined to die of disease will go to death by disease. Those who are destined to die in war will go to death in war. Those who are destined to die of starvation will go to death by starvation. Those who are destined to go into exile will go into exile.
3 “I will punish them in four different ways: I will have war kill them; I will have dogs drag off their dead bodies; I will have birds and wild beasts devour and destroy their corpses. 4 I will make all the people in all the kingdoms of the world horrified at what has happened to them because of what Hezekiah’s son Manasseh, king of Judah, did in Jerusalem.”
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?
6 I, the Lord, say: ‘You people have deserted me; you keep turning your back on me.’ So I have unleashed my power against you and have begun to destroy you. I have grown tired of feeling sorry for you!”
7 The Lord continued, “In every town in the land I will purge them like straw blown away by the wind. I will destroy my people. I will kill off their children. I will do so because they did not change their behavior.
8 Their widows will become in my sight more numerous than the grains of sand on the seashores. At noontime I will bring a destroyer against the mothers of their young men. I will cause anguish and terror to fall suddenly upon them.
9 The mother who had seven children will grow faint. All the breath will go out of her. Her pride and joy will be taken from her in the prime of their life. It will seem as if the sun had set while it was still day. She will suffer shame and humiliation. I will cause any of them who are still left alive to be killed in war by the onslaughts of their enemies,” says the Lord.
10 I said, “Oh, mother, how I regret that you ever gave birth to me! I am always starting arguments and quarrels with the people of this land. I have not lent money to anyone and I have not borrowed from anyone. Yet all these people are treating me with contempt.”
11 The Lord said, “Jerusalem, I will surely send you away for your own good. I will surely bring the enemy upon you in a time of trouble and distress.
12 Can you people who are like iron and bronze break that iron fist from the north?
13 I will give away your wealth and your treasures as plunder. I will give it away free of charge for the sins you have committed throughout your land.
14 I will make you serve your enemies in a land that you know nothing about. For my anger is like a fire that will burn against you.”