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Scripture Reading: Jer. 14:1-22; 15:1-9
In this message we will consider Jehovah's punishment of Israel with drought.
Jehovah's punishing Israel with drought was a curse for Israel's breaking of Jehovah's covenant. In Deuteronomy 11:17 Moses warned the people of Israel that if they turned aside from Jehovah and served other gods, the anger of Jehovah would burn against them and He would shut up heaven so that there would be no rain. Deuteronomy 28:23 refers to this curse by saying, "Your heaven, which is above your head, will be brass, and the land, which is under you, iron."
The curse of drought was the ceasing of God's heavenly supply to the earth. Such a thing took place during the time of Elijah (1 Kings 17:1), and it will happen again in the future (Rev. 11:6a; Zech. 14:18).
Deuteronomy 11:14 and 15 say, "I will give rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the late rain, so that you may gather your grain and your new wine and your fresh oil. And I will put grass in your field for your cattle, and you will eat and be satisfied." These verses speak of God's giving rain for the nourishment of His people. It is He who gives "the early rain and the late rain, in its season" and who "preserves the appointed weeks of the harvest" (Jer. 5:24). However, as a curse for Israel's breaking of Jehovah's covenant, "the showers have been withheld, / And there has been no later rain" (3:3). This means that, as a punishment, God's nourishment to His people has been cut off.
In 14:1-6 we have Jehovah's message through Jeremiah the prophet to the punished Israel (actually Judah) concerning their drought. God asked Jeremiah to tell His people that He would be sending a drought upon them, and in these verses we have Jeremiah's description of the suffering of Israel during this time of drought.
According to verse 2, Judah mourns, and her gates languish. In black garments they mourn on the ground, and the cry of Jerusalem goes up.
The nobles, those of the upper class, send their servants for water. The servants come to the cisterns and find no water. They return with their vessels empty; they are ashamed and confounded and cover their heads (v. 3).
There has been no rain on the earth. Because the ground is cracked from the lack of rain, the farmers are ashamed and cover their heads (v. 4).
Even the hind in the field gives birth and abandons its young because there is no grass (v. 5).
The wild asses stand on the bare heights. They pant after the wind like jackals, and their eyes fail, for there is no herbage (v. 6).
In 14:7—15:9 we have Jeremiah the prophet's intercession.
In his intercession Jeremiah confesses that they have sinned against Jehovah. Their iniquities testify against them, and their apostasies have become many. Nevertheless, he prays that Jehovah will act for His name's sake (14:7). Then Jeremiah continues his intercession, saying, "O Hope of Israel, / Its Savior in a time of distress, / Why should You be like a sojourner in the land, / Like a traveler who turns aside to lodge for the night? / Why should You be like an astonished man, / Like a mighty man who is unable to save? / Yet You are in our midst, O Jehovah, / And we are called by Your name; / Do not leave us" (vv. 8-9).
Jeremiah interceded for Israel, but Jehovah refused to listen to the prophet's intercession. Instead of accepting the people, He said that He would remember their iniquity and punish their sins (v. 10). Then Jehovah went on to say to Jeremiah, "Do not pray for the welfare of this people. When they fast, I will not listen to their ringing cry; when they offer up a burnt offering and a meal offering, I will not accept them; but by sword and by famine and by pestilence I will consume them" (vv. 11-12).
In verse 13 the prophet prayed concerning the false prophets, saying, "Ah, Lord Jehovah! Behold, the prophets say to them, You will not see sword, nor will you have famine, for I will give you assured peace in this place." In His answer to Jeremiah's prayer, Jehovah said that the prophets prophesied falsehood in His name, that they prophesied a false vision, that they themselves would be consumed by sword and by famine, and the people to whom they prophesied would be cast out into the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword (vv. 14-16).
Verses 17 and 18 reveal the reaction of the prophet, who was one with the punishing Jehovah.
In verse 17 Jehovah said to the prophet, "You shall speak this word to them, / Let my eyes run down with tears / Night and day, and let them not cease; / For the virgin daughter of my people is broken with great brokenness, / A very grievous wound." Here we see that Jehovah and the prophet were joined as one. The prophet was one with the punishing God to sympathize with the people. On the one hand, God punished them; on the other hand, God was still sympathetic, and the prophet was one with Him in being sympathetic.
In verse 18 we have the word of the prophet. "If I go forth into the field, / Then behold, those slain by the sword; / And if I come into the city, / Then behold, those diseased with famine. / For both the prophet and the priest / Will go about in a land that they do not know." This indicates that the prophet felt that there was no place where he could stay. He did not know where to go.
Verses 19 through 22 record the prophet's further intercession. Verse 21 says, "Do not hold us in contempt, for Your name's sake; / Do not dishonor Your throne of glory; / Remember and do not break Your covenant with us." This word indicates that Jeremiah's intercession was based upon Jehovah's name, His throne of glory, and His covenant. Verse 22 continues, "Are there among the vanities of the nations any that can bring rain, / Or in the heavens any that can give showers? / Are You not He, O Jehovah our God? / Therefore we wait for You, / For You have made all these things." Here we see that Jeremiah's intercession was based also upon Jehovah's power to bless His people. Furthermore, this verse indicates that the prophet's intercession was with the waiting of the people for Him.
Jeremiah 15:1-4 gives Jehovah's answer to the prophet's intercession in begging for mercy. Jehovah said to Jeremiah, "Even though Moses and Samuel were to stand before Me, My soul would not turn toward this people. Send them out of My sight and let them go" (v. 1). God was so disgusted with Israel that He wanted them taken out of His sight. If they asked the prophet where they should go, he was to say, "Thus says Jehovah, / He who is for death to death, / And he who is for the sword to the sword, / And he who is for famine to famine, / And he who is for captivity to captivity" (v. 2). Jehovah went on to say that He would visit them with four kinds of punishment: the sword to slay, the dogs to tear, and the birds of heaven and beasts of the earth to devour and destroy (v. 3). Finally, He said that He would make them a horror among all the kingdoms of the earth because of Manasseh, the son of Hezekiah, king of Judah, for that which he did in Jerusalem (v. 4).
Verses 5 through 9 are a record of the punishing Jehovah's sighing for His punished people. Verse 6 is of particular interest. "You have forsaken Me, / Declares Jehovah. / You keep going backward, / And I have stretched out My hand against you / And have destroyed you; / I have become weary of repenting." Again and again God had determined to punish Israel, but He had repented. Now He told Jeremiah that He was weary of repenting and would repent no more. This shows how evil Israel had become and how patient God had been with them.
