Jer 8:1 “‘At that time, declares the LORD, the bones of the kings and officials of Judah, the bones of the priests and prophets, and the bones of the people of Jerusalem will be removed from their graves.
Jer 8:2 They will be exposed to the sun and the moon and all the stars of the heavens, which they have loved and served and which they have followed and consulted and worshiped. They will not be gathered up or buried, but will be like dung lying on the ground.
Jer 8:3 Wherever I banish them, all the survivors of this evil nation will prefer death to life, declares the LORD Almighty.’
Sin and Treachery
Jer 8:4 “Say to them, ‘This is what the LORD says: “‘When people fall down, do they not get up? When someone turns away, do they not return?
Jer 8:5 Why then have these people turned away? Why does Jerusalem always turn away? They cling to deceit; they refuse to return.
Jer 8:6 I have listened attentively, but they do not say what is right. None of them repent of their wickedness, saying, “What have I done?” Each pursues their own course like a horse charging into battle.
Jer 8:7 Even the stork in the sky knows her appointed seasons, and the dove, the swift and the thrush observe the time of their migration. But my people do not know the requirements of the LORD.
Jer 8:8 “‘How can you say, “We are wise, for we have the law of the LORD,” when actually the lying pen of the scribes has handled it falsely?
Jer 8:9 The wise will be put to shame; they will be dismayed and trapped. Since they have rejected the word of the LORD, what kind of wisdom do they have?
Jer 8:10 Therefore I will give their wives to other men and their fields to new owners. From the least to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; prophets and priests alike, all practice deceit.
Jer 8:11 They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. “Peace, peace,” they say, when there is no peace.
Jer 8:12 Are they ashamed of their detestable conduct? No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush. So they will fall among the fallen; they will be brought down when they are punished, says the LORD.
Jer 8:13 “‘I will take away their harvest, declares the LORD. There will be no grapes on the vine. There will be no figs on the tree, and their leaves will wither. What I have given them will be taken from them.'”
Jer 8:14 Why are we sitting here? Gather together! Let us flee to the fortified cities and perish there! For the LORD our God has doomed us to perish and given us poisoned water to drink, because we have sinned against him.
Jer 8:15 We hoped for peace but no good has come, for a time of healing but there is only terror.
Jer 8:16 The snorting of the enemy’s horses is heard from Dan; at the neighing of their stallions the whole land trembles. They have come to devour the land and everything in it, the city and all who live there.
Jer 8:17 “See, I will send venomous snakes among you, vipers that cannot be charmed, and they will bite you,” declares the LORD.
Jer 8:19 Listen to the cry of my people from a land far away: “Is the LORD not in Zion? Is her King no longer there?” “Why have they aroused my anger with their images, with their worthless foreign idols?”
Jer 8:20 “The harvest is past, the summer has ended, and we are not saved.”
Jer 8:21 Since my people are crushed, I am crushed; I mourn, and horror grips me.
Jer 8:22 Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then is there no healing for the wound of my people?
Jer 8:1 “‘At that time, declares the LORD, the bones of the kings and officials of Judah, the bones of the priests and prophets, and the bones of the people of Jerusalem will be removed from their graves.
That is, the time when the events recorded in ch. 7:32–34 would take place.
Jer 7:32 So beware, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when people will no longer call it Topheth or the Valley of Ben Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter, for they will bury the dead in Topheth until there is no more room.
Removed from their graves. To heap malice and contempt upon the dead. Such a practice is in harmony with the gruesome customs of the Assyrians in dealing with the tombs of kings of conquered lands. The classes mentioned as having their bones so treated are the classes who had led in Judah’s backsliding.
Jer 8:2 They will be exposed to the sun and the moon and all the stars of the heavens, which they have loved and served and which they have followed and consulted and worshiped. They will not be gathered up or buried but will be like dung lying on the ground.
There is irony in this picture. The heavenly bodies mutely witness the desecration of the bones of their worshippers.
Jer 8:3 Wherever I banish them, all the survivors of this evil nation will prefer death to life, declares the LORD Almighty.’
Jer 8:4 “Say to them, ‘This is what the LORD says: “‘When people fall down, do they not get up? When someone turns away, do they not return?
The absurdity of the obstinate persistency of Jerusalem’s inhabitants in perverse ways is shown by a contrast with what men ordinarily do. Does a man who slips and falls prostrate lie where he falls without making any attempt to get up?
Turns away do they not return? Is it not also an instinct for one who has wandered from the right path to return to it?
Jer 8:5 Why then have these people turned away? Why does Jerusalem always turn away? They cling to deceit; they refuse to return.
Jer 8:6 I have listened attentively, but they do not say what is right. None of them repent of their wickedness, saying, “What have I done?” Each pursues their own course like a horse charging into battle.
The eagerness and mad recklessness of the war horse is a figure of the people’s eager and wilful plunge to doom (see on Job 39:19–25).
Jer 8:7 Even the stork in the sky knows her appointed seasons, and the dove, the swift and the thrush observe the time of their migration. But my people do not know the requirements of the LORD.
The prophet draws a sharp contrast between the fidelity of the birds to their migratory instincts and the unfaithfulness of man to the laws that govern his being.
Palestine lies in the migratory path of certain birds going from Africa northward. Both the white and the black stork are known in Palestine. In their migration these birds pass from the Red Sea northward over the Jordan valley. They stop in Palestine to feed on small water animals along the Jordan and the Sea of Galilee. Few birds are more punctual in their migratory habits.
Jer 8:8 “‘How can you say, “We are wise, for we have the law of the LORD,” when actually the lying pen of the scribes has handled it falsely?
The false prophets would have none of Jeremiah’s instructions, since they regarded themselves as wise and divinely appointed teachers of the people. The priests, too, led the people astray by falsifying the teachings of Holy Writ.
Jer 8:9 The wise will be put to shame; they will be dismayed and trapped. Since they have rejected the word of the LORD, what kind of wisdom do they have?
The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom (Prov. 1:7; 9:10). The Word of God is the fountain of all wisdom (see Deut. 4:5, 6; Ps. 19:7; 2 Tim. 3:15). But these false religious leaders had no respect for either.
Jer 8:10 Therefore I will give their wives to other men and their fields to new owners. From the least
Jer 8:11 They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. “Peace, peace,” they say, when there is no peace.
Jer 8:12 Are they ashamed of their detestable conduct? No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush. So they will fall among the fallen; they will be brought down when they are punished, says the LORD.
Were they ashamed? See on ch. 6:15.
Jer 8:13 “‘I will take away their harvest, declares the LORD. There will be no grapes on the vine. There will be no figs on the tree, and their leaves will wither. What I have given them will be taken from them.'”
God’s people had become a degenerate, fruitless vine, a barren fig tree, and a withered branch (see Isa. 5:2; Jer. 2:21; Matt. 21:19; Luke 13:7–9).
Jer 8:14 Why are we sitting here? Gather together! Let us flee to the fortified cities and perish there! For the LORD our God has doomed us to perish and given us poisoned water to drink, because we have sinned against him.
The prophet dramatically utters words that the terror-stricken people would use in addressing one another.
Jer 8:15 We hoped for peace but no good has come, for a time of healing but there is only terror
Jer 8:16 The snorting of the enemy’s horses is heard from Dan; at the neighing of their stallions the whole land trembles. They have come to devour the land and everything in it, the city and all who live there.
In a dramatic way the prophet describes the arrival of the dreaded invader in the north and the resultant terror.
Jer 8:17 “See, I will send venomous snakes among you, vipers that cannot be charmed, and they will bite you,” declares the LORD.
The prophet used the figure of such a serpent to represent the implacable nature of the invader. The fury of the enemy could not be appeased or allayed by any art or method.
Jeremiah Grieves for His People
Jer 8:18 You who are my Comforter in sorrow, my heart is faint within me.
My heart is faint. The heart of the prophet was crushed by the hopeless condition of his people. Chapter 8 closes with an outpouring of Jeremiah’s heart-rending anguish because of the impending national calamities.
Jer 8:19 Listen to the cry of my people from a land far away: “Is the LORD not in Zion? Is her King no longer there?” “Why have they aroused my anger with their images, with their worthless foreign idols?”
Why? God answers by a counterquestion. Why had the people persisted in idolatry? Their distress was not due to any lack of faithfulness on His part, but to their own disloyalty to their King.
The children of Judah had chosen to serve foreign gods; hence Jehovah cast them out into a foreign land.
Jer 8:20 “The harvest is past, the summer has ended, and we are not saved.”
2In Palestine the grain harvest begins about April. The fruit harvest comes about August or September. When the grain crops failed, there was still the hope there would be a yield of grapes, figs, olives, etc. For Judah, however, the fruit-gathering season—the last opportunity—had passed, and there was no deliverance. Her doom was now inevitable.
Soon for the world the last summer will come and the last harvest be reaped. Then from the lips of thousands now living complacently will again ascend this wail of despair (see 7T 16).
Jer 8:21 Since my people are crushed, I am crushed; I mourn, and horror grips me.
The passage reads literally, “For the breaking … I am broken” (see ch. 23:9). Jeremiah was crushed by the sense of the utter ruin in store for his people.
Jer 8:22 Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then is there no healing for the wound of my people?
Was there no balm for Israel’s spiritual wounds and no healer to apply it? The answer implied is, “Yes, there is.” The message borne by the prophets, if heeded, would have provided healing.
There is a cure for the disease of sin. Sin may be great, but the Physician of the soul is greater. Why? The people’s lack of healing was not due to the absence of means to effect a cure, but to the refusal of the nation to come to the Great Physician. Perhaps the people had become insensible to their needs. Perhaps they were too proud to accept the remedy and thought they could cure themselves. Perhaps they had grown to love the disease. At any rate they would not look to the Healer and live.