Countdown To Judgment Part 2
Jeremiah 4:19-31
Introduction
Sound The Alarm (vv.5-8)
Warn The Leaders (v.9)
False Prophets Cry Peace (v.10)
Fire And Swift Judgment (vv.11-13)
Pay Attention To God’s Warning (vv.14-18)
The Day Of Anguish And Sorrow For Jeremiah (vv.19-21)
Judgment For Foolish Behavior (v.22)
Cosmic Catastrophe (vv.23-27; and See Matt. 24:29-31)
The Day Of Inescapable Judgment (vv.28-31)
The Day Of Sorrow And Anguish For Jeremiah (vv.19-21)
Jeremiah 4:19 (NKJV)
O my soul, my soul!
I am pained in my very heart!
My heart
makes a noise in me;
I cannot hold my peace,
Because you have heard, O my soul,
The sound of the trumpet,
The alarm of war.
Jeremiah reveals the fact that he hates the message! When he attempts to remain silent the
message burns like a fire in his soul.
What message is that? The message of judgment (vv.5-18). An army will come from the north
like a fierce lion (v.7) and a desert storm (vv.11-13). A dreadful judgment was coming and the
people of Judea and Jerusalem were unprepared! Why were they unprepared? Because the
people believed the deceptive message of peace and prosperity and Jewish exceptionalism! God
told Jeremiah to blow the trumpet (sound the alarm); run to the fortified cities for safety; there
they could repent in sackcloth (v.8); and wash their hearts by confessing their sins (v.14).
The message of judgment is not easy to hear, and it is more difficult to deliver!
Perhaps part of Jeremiah’s anguish rests in the fact that the judgment need not take place.
Now the Lord will explain to His servant why the judgment must come; the people were foolish
and stupid, and they lacked understanding (v.22).
The Hebrew people considered the bowels to be the seat of human emotion. The literal
translation of “I am pained in my very heart” is “Oh, the walls of my heart!” The same word
quiroth is used for city walls and fortifications! In verses 16&17 we have a picture of the
invaders surrounding the city walls of Jerusalem; here Jeremiah places himself in the city with
the people as the walls are being laid waste. My heart is beating wildly (panic attack); my heart
moans, the verb describes animal sounds; the growl of a bear (Isa. 59:11); Jeremiah uses the
same word to describe the crash of waves (5:22); it frequently expresses emotion; “my heart
moans for Moab like a flute” (48:36).
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Countdown To Judgment Part 2
Jeremiah 4:19-31
Jeremiah 4:20 (NKJV)
Destruction upon destruction is cried,
For the whole land is plundered.
Suddenly my tents are plundered,
And my curtains in a moment.
This is Judah’s voice. She sees her tents torn down, the land is pillaged. Unless Judah
experiences a radical change of heart, the prophecy is given as if it has already happened.
Some call this the predicative present. God speaks as if the event has already occurred.
Here “curtains” are tent hangings.
Jeremiah 4:21 (NKJV)
How long will I see the standard,
And hear the sound of the trumpet?
Here Jeremiah asks God the question; the age old question; “How long?” How long till
doomsday (Rev. 6:10)? Notice the change in viewpoint. The previous verse shows the last
stages of the siege; here the invasion is still in progress. But this is a poem, it is meant to
communicate emotion and trauma, the deepest depths of human anguish, it is not meant to
communicate a military strategy.
Most people want to know when judgment will fall. Few people ask how can I avoid judgment
altogether?
Judgment For Foolish Behavior (v.22)
Jeremiah 4:22 (NKJV) For My people are foolish,
silly children,
And they have no understanding.
good they have no knowledge.
They have not known Me.
They are
They are wise to do evil,
But to do
The answer God gives may not be the answer Jeremiah anticipated. Here God reminds Jeremiah
about the role of human responsibility in relationship with God. God’s people have refused to
know Him. The verse is only 15 Hebrew Words; of tragic poetry; that carry an unbelievable
cargo of theological and psychological insight.
God speaks. He answers why the judgment must take place. The main reason; they don’t know
me. The Lord calls them “MY PEOPLE”. There is a note of tenderness and anguish.
In private Jeremiah weeps. In public Jeremiah is bold. The Lord explains in part why the
judgment is inevitable. The people are “foolish” void of the ability to make moral judgments.
They did not know God. They were stupid, they lacked understanding.
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In 2:8 the word translated foolish speaks of the pursuits of not knowing God, pursuing things that
bring no profit, it is folly! The Biblical understanding of folly and fool goes way beyond how
we use it in our language and culture. They have not known Me speaks of personal intimate
relationship (yada). It means the love of a man and woman, experience, discovery, giving
attention, and here giving attention to God. To Jeremiah--Knowing God means familiarity with
Him, His character and attributes, understanding His will, and a willingness to do His will! How
are we to think about the passage? Do we emphasize human stupidity or the fact that we are is
children?
They are wise to do evil. They are reluctant to do good. Knowing God is not some religious
ritualistic exercise or activity that is defined in terms of religious activities. It is not simply
prayer and formal acts of worship. Knowing God is living a life dedicated to Him and His will.
Warren Wiersbe writes; “If they had been as skillful in holy living as they were in sinning, God
would have blessed them instead of judging them”.
Are you skilled in holy living?
Or are you only good at being bad?
The Scriptures speak of seven callings or divine calls from God. (1) There is the call to
salvation (Rom. 8:28-30). (2) There is the call to sanctification (1 Thess. 4:3; 5:23-24). (3)
There is the the call to service (John 15:16; 1 Cor. 1:26; Eph. 2:10). (4) There is the call to
separation (2 Cor. 6:14-18); (5) There is the call to sonship (1 John 3:1); and (6) There is the
call to subjection (Rom. 13: 4-5)--that is to the God appointed authoraties and (7) the call to
suffering (John 16:33; Acts 14:22).
Cosmic Catastrophe (vv.23-27; and See Matt. 24:29-31)
Jeremiah 4:23 (NKJV)
I beheld the earth, and indeed it was without form, and void;
the heavens, they had no light.
And
The destruction that Babylon has on the land reminds Jeremiah of the opening verses in the book
of Genesis. Everywhere you look, utter chaos and ruin, devastation.
Do you remember the images of the shores of Japan, the tornado that tore a path through Joplin
and the devastation along the banks of the Mississippi when Hurricane Katrina ripped through
the south?
The people’s apostasy will bring ruin on the land.
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Matthew 24:29-31 (NKJV) Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be
darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of
the heavens will be shaken.30Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all
the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of
heaven with power and great glory.31And He will send His angels with a great sound of a
trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to
the other.
The cosmic changes mentioned verse 29 precede the coming of Jesus. Matthew 24:27 describes
the coming of Jesus as sudden, like a bolt of lightening! The events that precede Christ’s coming
include the gathering of the nations at Armageddon (Rev. 16:13-16); the eagles flying around
rotting flesh picture the raw carnage that emerges from the battle. We are not told what the sign
of the Son of Man is in heaven--but whatever it is--it seems to be recognizable; Jesus comes in
the air and His people are caught up to meet Him in the air (1 Thes. 4:13-18). The event will
have special meaning to Israel.
Jeremiah 4:24 (NKJV)
moved back and forth.
I beheld the mountains, and indeed they trembled,
And all the hills
“I beheld” or “I looked” the scenes are described in Hebrew poetic parallels; mountains and
hills, man and birds, farms and villages;
Jeremiah saw the judgment in terms of an earthquake. Mountains in the Bible often represent
places of strength and stability. But even they are moved and cannot withstand the coming
judgment.
Jeremiah 4:25 (NKJV)
heavens had fled.
I beheld, and indeed there was no man,
And all the birds of the
The human population has fled the scene. Birds are usually everywhere. They can normally
thrive in the most severe circumstances. But even the birds have left the scene.
Jeremiah 4:26 (NKJV)
I beheld, and indeed the fruitful land was a wilderness,
And all its cities were broken down
At the presence of the Lord,
By His fierce anger.
The Bible often calls God’s land “the fruitful land”.
God’s wrath and judgment is often tempered with mercy.
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Countdown To Judgment Part 2
Jeremiah 4:19-31
But the people had presumed on God’s patience and mercy and long-suffering.
People are by and large fine with God’s love but they are not fine with “His fierce anger”.
Romans 2:5 (NKJV) But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are
treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of
God,
The people of Judah failed to see what we often see; the patience and mercy of God is supposed
to bring us to a place of heart-felt repentance.
Romans 2:4 (NKJV) Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?
What happens to the person who rejects God’s mercy, his goodness, his forbearance and longsuffering? That person becomes the object of God’s wrath.
Romans 9:22 (NKJV) What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known,
endured with much long-suffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction,
In the New Covenant Jesus becomes the object of God’s wrath and therefore is our deliverer
from wrath!
1 Thessalonians 1:10 (NKJV) and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the
dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.
Jeremiah 4:27 (NKJV) For thus says the Lord: The whole land shall be desolate;
not make a full end.
Yet I will
The punishment is severe. The judgment overwhelming. But God still has a plan for His people.
A remnant will survive. This hope was expressed by other prophets as well.
But God’s Word is certain. Whether for promise or blessing or judgment.
God will restore the people to the land and to Jerusalem. A wall will be rebuilt. A Temple will
be rebuilt. The Jews will return to the land. A Messiah will be born in Bethlehem and raised in
Nazareth.
The Day Of Inescapable Judgment (vv.28-31)
Jeremiah 4:28 (NKJV)
For this shall the earth mourn,
And the heavens above be black,
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Countdown To Judgment Part 2
Jeremiah 4:19-31
Because I have spoken.
I have purposed and will not relent,
Nor will I turn back from it.
Jeremiah 4:29 (NKJV)
The whole city shall flee from the noise of the horsemen and bowmen.
They shall go into thickets and climb up on the rocks.
Every city shall be forsaken,
And not a man shall dwell in it.
Do you understand what you are reading? The citizens of Judea run for their lives as they hear
the approaching army! They take refugee in the woods and caves! The Babylonian’s were
skilled archers.
Jeremiah 4:30 (NKJV) And when you are plundered,
What will you do?
Though you
clothe yourself with crimson,
Though you adorn yourself with ornaments of gold,
Though
you enlarge your eyes with paint,
In vain you will make yourself fair;
Your lovers will
despise you;
They will seek your life.
Judah makes herself beautiful for her lovers; but have little idea that this a spiritual fatal
attraction. Her lovers want to kill her. The Lord issues a warning; why make yourself beautiful
for someone who wants to kill you?
Who are Judah’s lovers? The surrounding nations; the political alliances and the cries of help for
her neighbors. Jeremiah describes the surrounding countries like lovers who will not respond to
Judah’s cries for help. Judah trusted political alliances instead of trusting the Lord. But the
prostitutes would become like women who are impregnated by their customers; who are not
giving birth to an unwanted and unwelcome child!
Jeremiah 4:31 (NKJV) For I have heard a voice as of a woman in labor,
The anguish as of her who brings forth her first child,
The voice of the daughter of Zion bewailing herself;
She spreads her hands, saying,
Woe is me now, for my soul is weary
Because of murderers!
The Babylonians would rape and pillage and destroy the land. But equally great and equally
devastating were the people’s stubborn refusal to repent and ask God for help!
The picture Jeremiah paints is a woman who is raped and miscarries the child.
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Countdown To Judgment Part 2
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Conclusion
The prophet Zephaniah called judgment day; “The day of the Lord”; God will shake what can be
shaken so that what remains--remains forever.
Hebrews 12:27 (NKJV) Now this, Yet once more, indicates the removal of those things that are
being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain.
For the Christian Jesus has satisfied our debt.
But does that mean we will escape scrutiny? Will believers have to face Jesus and will there be a
time of examination and explanation?
Romans 14:10-12 (NKJV) But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for
your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.11For it is written: As I
live, says the Lord,
Every knee shall bow to Me,
And every tongue shall confess to God.
12So then each of us shall give account of himself to God.
How we treat one another matters to God (Heb. 6:10; Matt. 10:41-42). How we exercise
authority over others in our God given duties as husbands, wives, pastors, ministry leaders,
officials (Heb. 13:17; James 3:1). Time does not permit me to list everything but I suspect we
will be evaluated on how we used our God-given talents and gifts and abilities, how we used our
money, how we spend our time, how much we suffer for Jesus; how we run the race assigned to
us, how effectively we walk in the spirit instead of the flesh, how many souls we witness and
encourage and win to Christ, how we react to temptation, how in love and on fire we are for
Jesus and how much we long for His appearing--and yes--how faithful we are to the Word of
God and the Bride of Christ!
What is our task? What are we do as a church? We are to love God. We are to glorify God. We
are to display God’s grace and evangelize the world. We are to baptize believers and instruct
believers and edify believers. We are to discipline believers and provide fellowship for the
saints; we are to care for our own in times of need; and we are to provoke Israel to jealousy. We
are to prepare rulers for the milennial kingdom and act as salt and light, preserving and
restraining corruption in this present world. We are to promote what is good and object and
resist everything that is evil (Gal. 6:10).
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