Famine, Sword, and Pestilence
Jer 14:1 This is the word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah concerning the drought:
Jer 14:2 “Judah mourns, her cities languish; they wail for the land, and a cry goes up from Jerusalem.
Jer 14:3 The nobles send their servants for water; they go to the cisterns but find no water. They return with their jars unfilled; dismayed and despairing, they cover their heads.
Jer 14:4 The ground is cracked because there is no rain in the land; the farmers are dismayed and cover their heads.
Jer 14:5 Even the doe in the field deserts her newborn fawn because there is no grass.
Jer 14:6 Wild donkeys stand on the barren heights and pant like jackals; their eyes fail for lack of food.”
Jer 14:7 Although our sins testify against us, do something, LORD, for the sake of your name. For we have often rebelled; we have sinned against you.
Jer 14:8 You who are the hope of Israel, its Savior in times of distress, why are you like a stranger in the land, like a traveler who stays only a night?
Jer 14:9 Why are you like a man taken by surprise, like a warrior powerless to save? You are among us, LORD, and we bear your name; do not forsake us!
Jer 14:10 This is what the LORD says about this people: “They greatly love to wander; they do not restrain their feet. So the LORD does not accept them; he will now remember their wickedness and punish them for their sins.”
Jer 14:11 Then the LORD said to me, “Do not pray for the well-being of this people.
Jer 14:12 Although they fast, I will not listen to their cry; though they offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Instead, I will destroy them with the sword, famine and plague.”
Lying Prophets
Jer 14:13 But I said, “Alas, Sovereign LORD! The prophets keep telling them, ‘You will not see the sword or suffer famine. Indeed, I will give you lasting peace in this place.'”
Jer 14:14 Then the LORD said to me, “The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I have not sent them or appointed them or spoken to them. They are prophesying to you false visions, divinations, idolatries and the delusions of their own minds.
Jer 14:15 Therefore this is what the LORD says about the prophets who are prophesying in my name: I did not send them, yet they are saying, ‘No sword or famine will touch this land.’ Those same prophets will perish by sword and famine.
Jer 14:16 And the people they are prophesying to will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and sword. There will be no one to bury them, their wives, their sons and their daughters. I will pour out on them the calamity they deserve.
Jer 14:17 “Speak this word to them: “‘Let my eyes overflow with tears night and day without ceasing; for the Virgin Daughter, my people, has suffered a grievous wound, a crushing blow.
Jer 14:18 If I go into the country, I see those slain by the sword; if I go into the city, I see the ravages of famine. Both prophet and priest have gone to a land they know not.'”
Jer 14:19 Have you rejected Judah completely? Do you despise Zion? Why have you afflicted us so that we cannot be healed? We hoped for peace but no good has come, for a time of healing but there is only terror.
Jer 14:20 We acknowledge our wickedness, LORD, and the guilt of our ancestors; we have indeed sinned against you.
Jer 14:21 For the sake of your name do not despise us; do not dishonor your glorious throne. Remember your covenant with us and do not break it.
Jer 14:22 Do any of the worthless idols of the nations bring rain? Do the skies themselves send down showers? No, it is you, LORD our God. Therefore our hope is in you, for you are the one who does all this.
1 The grievous famine 7 causes Jeremiah to pray. 10 The Lord will not be intreated for the people. 13 Lying prophets are no excuse for them. 17 Jeremiah is moved to complain for them.
Famine, Sword, and Pestilence
Jer 14:1 This is the word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah concerning the drought:
This begins a new prophecy, which is considered by some to extend to ch. 17:18. The message of ch. 14 is undated. However, it has been conjectured that Jeremiah delivered it sometime earlier than the latter part of the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim (see ch. 25:1), for nowhere in the chapter is there a hint that the Chaldeans have yet come against Jerusalem.
If the drought described here is to be identified with that mentioned in ch. 3:3, the time of this prophecy would possibly fall in the first decade or so of Jeremiah’s ministry.
Jer 14:2 “Judah mourns, her cities languish; they wail for the land, and a cry goes up from Jerusalem.
The decay of the cities represented the disruption of business and other public functions.
Jer 14:3 The nobles send their servants for water; they go to the cisterns but find no water. They return with their jars unfilled; dismayed and despairing, they cover their heads.
Found no water. Compare 1 Kings 18:5; Amos 4:7, 8.
Covered their heads. An act displaying grief (see 2 Sam. 15:30; 19:4).
Jer 14:4 The ground is cracked because there is no rain in the land; the farmers are dismayed and cover their heads.
Cracked. “To be stricken with terror.” Poetically, words normally ascribed to human beings are sometimes ascribed to inanimate objects.
Jer 14:5 Even the doe in the field deserts her newborn fawn because there is no grass.
Known for her tender feeling toward her young, abandons it in her desperate, futile search for grass.
Jer 14:6 Wild donkeys stand on the barren heights and pant like jackals; their eyes fail for lack of food.”
Jer 14:7 Although our sins testify against us, do something, LORD, for the sake of your name. For we have often rebelled; we have sinned against you.
Because of his love for his people Jeremiah is prompted to pray for their pardon (see on ch. 7:16). In behalf of his people, he willingly confesses their transgressions. The prophet knew that Judah’s apostate spiritual condition had brought the drought upon the people (ch. 3:2, 3).
Jer 14:8 You who are the hope of Israel, its Savior in times of distress, why are you like a stranger in the land, like a traveler who stays only a night?
Hope of Israel. Heb. miqweh Yiśra’el, an expression occurring only here and in ch. 17:13. The prophet emphasizes the fact that there is no “hope” for Israel except in the Lord.
Stranger in the land. The prophet’s graphic way of expressing God’s seeming indifference to Judah in their “time of trouble.”
Jer 14:9 Why are you like a man taken by surprise, like a warrior powerless to save? You are among us, LORD, and we bear your name; do not forsake us!
Jeremiah’s conquering faith assures him that God is not, as v. 8 implies, like a passing “wayfaring man” (see v. 8), but that the Lord ever abides loyally among His people. The prophet confidently knows that though the Lord delays action, He, “as a mighty man,” will save His own.
Jer 14:10 This is what the LORD says about this people: “They greatly love to wander; they do not restrain their feet. So the LORD does not accept them; he will now remember their wickedness and punish them for their sins.”
Because the people of Judah have not turned from their sinfulness but have loved to “wander” in the paths of their own transgressions, God must refuse Jeremiah’s request.
Jer 14:11 Then the LORD said to me, “Do not pray for the well-being of this people.
Jer 14:12 Although they fast, I will not listen to their cry; though they offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Instead, I will destroy them with the sword, famine and plague.”
12. I will not accept. The statement has been understood to mean that these fasts and offerings were merely perfunctory, ceremonial acts, without the sincere spirit of true worship (see Isa. 1:10–15), and so unacceptable to God. However, the passage may mean that their fasts and offerings, though in a measure sincere, came too late to avert the divine punishment.
So constantly has human history demonstrated the sequence of the scourges of war, that sword, famine, and pestilence have become a proverbial evil trinity (see ch. 21:9).
Lying Prophets
Jer 14:13 But I said, “Alas, Sovereign LORD! The prophets keep telling them, ‘You will not see the sword or suffer famine. Indeed, I will give you lasting peace in this place.
The prophets telling them. One of the chief reasons for the Israelites’ spiritual decadence was the potent evil influence of the many false, corrupt, popularity-seeking prophets who deluded the people into expecting peace.
These prophets speciously reasoned that because the Israelites were the people of God’s choice, they were secure from all defeat, and that only good would come to them.
Because the teaching of these false religious leaders was more pleasing to the ears of the people than the messages given by the true servants of God, the false prophets were regarded with much greater favor than God’s appointed spokesmen. The opposition of the false prophets made the tasks of God’s messengers extremely difficult (see Isa. 30:8–10; Jer. 5:31; Eze. 13; Amos 3:5–12).
You will not see the sword.
In characteristic fashion the false prophets sounded the popular note by denying the three scourges pronounced upon the people by God (see v. 12), promising them the blessings of continued prosperity and “lasting peace.”
Jer 14:14 Then the LORD said to me, “The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I have not sent them or appointed them or spoken to them. They are prophesying to you false visions, divinations, idolatries and the delusions of their own minds.
The Lord pronounces upon these deceivers the very disasters they declared would never come.
Jer 14:15 Therefore this is what the LORD says about the prophets who are prophesying in my name: I did not send them, yet they are saying, ‘No sword or famine will touch this land.’ Those same prophets will perish by sword and famine.
Jer 14:16 And the people they are prophesying to, will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and sword. There will be no one to bury them, their wives, their sons and their daughters. I will pour out on them the calamity they deserve.
Not to be buried with proper respect and ceremony was regarded by the Jews as a great dishonour
Jer 14:17 “Speak this word to them: “‘Let my eyes overflow with tears night and day without ceasing; for the Virgin Daughter, my people, has suffered a grievous wound, a crushing blow.
The virgin daughter. A poetic personification for Judah, with reference to its capital city, Jerusalem (see Isa. 37:22; Jer. 8:21; Lam. 1:15; 2:13).
Jer 14:18 If I go into the country, I see those slain by the sword; if I go into the city, I see the ravages of famine. Both prophet and priest have gone to a land they know not.'”
The prophet foresaw the desolate state of the land because of the Babylonian captivity.
Ravage of famine. That is, suffering from the diseases brought by famine, such as malnutritional ailments and other physical weaknesses that spring from the lack of food.
Jer 14:19 Have you rejected Judah completely? Do you despise Zion? Why have you afflicted us so that we cannot be healed? We hoped for peace but no good has come, for a time of healing but there is only terror.
Rejected completely. Here again (see vs. 7–9) love for his country and people causes the prophet to intercede passionately for them. He begins by earnestly expostulating with God as to the reasons for the calamitous conditions.
Jer 14:20 We acknowledge our wickedness, LORD, and the guilt of our ancestors; we have indeed sinned against you.
Jeremiah freely acknowledges the transgressions of his people. Nevertheless, he appeals to the love that God has for His people (see on Ps. 85:10).
Jer 14:21 For the sake of your name do not despise us; do not dishonour your glorious throne. Remember your covenant with us and do not break it.
For the sake of your name. Compare the arguments used by Jeremiah with those advanced by Moses in Israel’s behalf (see Num. 14:15–19).
The throne of God is the symbol of the divine presence. Here the throne seems to denote the city of Jerusalem as the dwelling place of God (see chs. 3:17; 17:12).
Jer 14:22 Do any of the worthless idols of the nations bring rain? Do the skies themselves send down showers? No, it is you, LORD our God. Therefore our hope is in you, for you are the one who does all this. The worthlessness of idols was made increasingly apparent to all during this time of drought (v. 1) by the utter inability of these false gods to cause sorely needed rain (see Isa. 41:29; Jer. 10:3, 8).