Study notes

Jeremiah 4

Introducing JeremiahWho wrote it, when, why, and what to look for as you read

2:1–12:17 Section

Jeremiah’s judgement messages explained how and why God’s people would be judged. These messages were like the judgement messages that Isaiah shared.

The work of being a prophet was very hard for Jeremiah. He wept and suffered with deep sadness and pain. Inside his own body he felt God’s anger like a burning fire. The people and leaders of the southern kingdom hadn’t been faithful to the Mount Sinai covenant. They didn’t obey the Ten Commandments. They didn’t treat others the way God taught them to in the Law of Moses. They treated needy people badly. They worshipped false gods instead of worshipping only God. They felt no shame about this. They expected God to continue blessing them. This showed that they not only spoke lies but also lived out lies. It showed that they had no sense or wisdom.

They hadn’t learnt from the example of the northern kingdom. They hadn’t learnt from times in the past when God brought judgement against them. Storks and other birds had more wisdom than God’s people did. God’s people didn’t serve him with all their heart. God described this as not being circumcised in their hearts. Their bodies were circumcised. So on the outside of their bodies they had the sign of God’s covenant. But the choices they made showed that they didn’t respect and honour God. This was true for both the people and the leaders of the southern kingdom. The kings, priests and prophets didn’t follow God’s example for rulers. They didn’t know God’s laws and didn’t lead the people in obeying God. They lied by saying that everything was going well and that the nation had peace. As a result of this, God would no longer stop the covenant curses from coming.

God longed to forgive his people. He wanted them to turn away from their sin, repent and follow him. But they refused. So God told Jeremiah to stop praying that God would have mercy on them. God would use the Babylonian army as his tool to judge the southern kingdom. The temple would be destroyed. The people would be thrown out of the land God had given them. God had warned Solomon about this judgement (1 Kings 9:6–9). Yet God promised that he wouldn’t destroy his people completely. He would always allow a few to remain alive. In this way God would remain faithful to his covenant with David.

God also gave Jeremiah messages of hope to share about a time in the future. God would live with his people and rule the world from Jerusalem as King. The northern and southern kingdoms would live together in their land as one kingdom again. God would return all nations to their own lands. Jews would teach other nations that God is the Lord who rules over all. Every nation would be invited to follow the practices God taught his people. Every people group that honoured God would become part of God’s people.

3:11–4:2

The Lord asked Israel to repent, return, and reconcile with him (contrast Jeremiah 2:1–3:10). Israel had sinned and faced punishment. Now, the people of Judah sinned even more openly than their northern relatives, ignoring the lesson the Lord taught Israel (Ezekiel 16:51–52). However, it was still not too late to repent and become the blessing to the nations (Jeremiah 4:1–2) that God intended them to be (Genesis 12:3).

3:21–4:2

The people, held captive in Assyria, claimed they had repented of their sins. However, their words were insincere, and the Lord rejected their plea. God told his people that if they truly wanted to return to him, they had to abandon the hilltop altars where they worshiped idols and remove all traces of idolatry from their religion.

4:1

The Lord noticed that even though the people prayed beautifully, they did not plan to discard their idols or change their way of living (Jeremiah 15:19; Joel 2:12).

4:2

As surely as the Lord lives: When offering a prayer of confession and making oaths, the right attitude shows truth, justice, and righteousness.

Truth means that the thoughts and feelings of those praying match their words.
Justice means living by the Lord's laws, as He will judge the earth.
Righteousness means treating others according to the Lord’s Spirit and His moral standards.

This prayer requires a deep change in people's inner lives and outer behavior (Genesis 22:18; Deuteronomy 10:20; Psalm 72:18; Isaiah 48:1; 1 Corinthians 1:31). If the Israelites returned to the Lord in this way, they would be blessed, and their influence would spread as a blessing to all nations. Their changed lives would lead people worldwide to join in praising God’s name.

4:3

Sinners need to recognize their wrong actions and change by admitting their mistakes and seeking forgiveness (Hosea 10:12; see also Matthew 13:1–9).

4:3–18

These verses focus on the kingdom of Judah and its capital, Jerusalem, in God's courtroom. The Lord declared he would judge Jerusalem through the Babylonians.

4:4

To address their sin, the people needed to give up their pride and power, which were very important to them (Deuteronomy 10:16; 30:6; Amos 5:6; Mark 9:43; Romans 2:28; Colossians 2:11).
Circumcise yourselves: Circumcision was a covenant sign of submission to God.

4:5–6

God was unleashing a fierce army upon the people, like pouring boiling water (see Jeremiah 1:13–14; 8:14; 50:2; Joshua 10:20; Isaiah 62:10).

4:7

The approaching Babylonian army was like a fierce and ruthless lion (see Jeremiah 2:15). With strength and brutality, it would destroy everything, leaving houses empty and in ruins (Jeremiah 25:9, 38; 50:17; 2 Kings 24:1; Isaiah 1:7; 6:11; Ezekiel 26:7–10; Daniel 7:4).

4:8

The Israelites were in trouble with the Lord and needed to make things right with him. Forming an army or organizing guerrilla bands would be useless. Instead, Jeremiah urged the people to repent by mourning and weeping with sincere hearts (Isaiah 22:12). By using the pronoun us, the prophet seems to include himself in the need for repentance (see Jeremiah 10:24).

4:9

The foreign invasion would reveal to Judah's leaders that they were not as invincible as they thought (Jeremiah 48:41; Isaiah 22:3–5).

4:10

Jeremiah felt confused and offended because he and the people believed God had promised peace for Jerusalem. However, these promises were false prophecies (Jeremiah 6:14; 14:13; 23:16–17).

4:11–12

The Lord's people would soon experience the intense wind and loud force of God's judgment (Jeremiah 13:24; Hosea 13:15).

4:13

Like his fellow citizens, Jeremiah felt afraid when he heard that the invasion from the north had started (Deuteronomy 28:49; Isaiah 5:28; Lamentations 4:19; Hosea 8:1; Habakkuk 1:8).

4:14–15

Jeremiah still hoped his people would purify their hearts, abandon their evil thoughts, and completely reject idolatry. Otherwise, they would face God's judgment (Jeremiah 4:1; 6:19; 13:27; 50:17; Proverbs 1:22; Isaiah 1:16; James 4:8).

4:17–18

Foreign armies had already surrounded the capital city. The attack was coming because the people rebelled against the Lord.

4:19–21

When Jeremiah heard trumpets and the battle cries of the invaders who brought destruction, he realized that his family and others he knew were being killed or left homeless. Jeremiah could not escape the effects of God's judgment, even though he was faithfully serving the Lord (Jeremiah 9:1, 19; 10:19–20; 20:9; 2 Kings 25:11; 2 Chronicles 36:20; Psalm 42:7; Isaiah 15:5; 16:11; 21:3; 22:4; Ezekiel 7:26).