Day 276: Sorry for oneself - Jeremiah 14 vs 1 – 16

1-6 This message came to Jeremiah from the Lord, explaining why he was holding back the rain. Judah wilts; commerce at the city gates grinds to a halt. All the people sit on the ground in mourning, and a great cry rises from Jerusalem. The nobles send servants to get water, but all the wells are dry. The servants return with empty pitchers, confused and desperate, covering their heads in grief. The ground is parched and cracked for lack of rain. The farmers are deeply troubled; they, too, cover their heads. Even the doe abandons her new born fawn because there is no grass in the field. The wild donkeys stand on the bare hills panting like thirsty jackals. They strain their eyes looking for grass, but there is none to be found. 7-9 The people say, “Our wickedness has caught up with us, Lord, but help us for the sake of your own reputation. We have turned away from you and sinned against you again and again. O Hope of Israel, our Saviour in times of trouble, why are you like a stranger to us? Why are you like a traveller passing through the land, stopping only for the night? Are you also confused? Is our champion helpless to save us? You are right here among us, Lord. We are known as your people. Please don’t abandon us now!” 10 So this is what the Lord says to his people: “You love to wander far from me and don't restrain yourselves. Therefore, I will no longer accept you as my people. 11-12 Now I will remember all your wickedness and will punish you for your sins.” Then the  Lord said to me, “Do not pray for these people anymore. When they fast, I will pay no attention. When they present their burnt offerings and grain offerings to me, I will not accept them. Instead, I will devour them with war, famine, and disease.”

13 Then I said, “O Sovereign Lord, their prophets are telling them, ‘All is well - no war or famine will come. The Lord will surely send you peace.’” 14-16 Then the Lord said, “These prophets are telling lies in my name. I did not send them or tell them to speak. I did not give them any messages. They prophesy of visions and revelations they have never seen or heard. They speak foolishness made up in their own lying hearts. Therefore, this is what the Lord says: I will punish these lying prophets, for they have spoken in my name even though I never sent them. They say that no war or famine will come, but they themselves will die by war and famine!  As for the people to whom they prophesy - their bodies will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem, victims of famine and war. There will be no one left to bury them. Husbands, wives, sons, and daughters - all will be gone. For I will pour out their own wickedness on them.” Jeremiah 14:1-16 New Living Translation paraphrase (English Standard Version link)

It was a long reading so my comments will be brief. It seems that during Jeremiah's time as a prophet a great drought had fallen on the land. Vs 1-6 describe the despairing situation the people were in. How then did vs 7-9 come across to you? What did the people appear to be doing?

It looked as if the people had come to their senses and realized it was due to their sins that God was holding back the rain. There are other verses in the Bible where we're told that famines and plagues can be one of the ways God brings judgment on a nation. But what was God's surprising answer in vs 10-12?

God rejected their words and told Jeremiah to stop praying for them as there was worse to come! We don't know if this surprised Jeremiah because in vs 13 he tells God how other prophets (perhaps of the idols the people worshipped) were saying that all would be well. But God refutes their messages as delusions and says the false prophets and the people were doomed. So what was going on here? Do you think vs 10 could be the key?

They loved their sins - and it was only the drought that now made them feel sorry. But who were they sorry for? Were they truly sorry for offending God, or just sorry for themselves? The apostle Paul said: “The kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin - and results in salvation. There’s no regret for that kind of sorrow. But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance, results in spiritual death.” (2 Corinthians 7:10) If we look to the cross we can see how much our sins grieved God - and should grieve us too.