Jeremiah 15:1

JEREMIAH 15

JEREMIAH'S SECOND PERSONAL LAMENT

Of course, the first nine verses of this chapter, especially the first four, continue the thought of the last chapter. Henderson suggested the following chapter divisions:[1] Judah had sinned beyond the possibility of God's averting their punishment (Jeremiah 15:1-4); continued prophecy of Judah's destruction (Jeremiah 15:5-9); beginning of Jeremiah's lament (Jeremiah 15:10-11); destruction of Judah inevitable (Jeremiah 15:12-14); Jeremiah's discouragement and denial of his commission (Jeremiah 15:15-18); God's command to Jeremiah with promises contingent upon his obedience (Jeremiah 15:19-21).

Jeremiah 15:1-4

GOD'S NEGATIVE ANSWER TO JUDAH'S PLEA

"Thus said Jehovah unto me, Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my mind would not be toward this people: cast them out of my sight, and let them go forth. And it shall come to pass when they say unto thee, Whither shall we go forth? then thou shalt tell them, thus saith Jehovah: Such as are for death, to death; and such as are for the sword, to the sword; and such as are for the famine, to the famine; and such as are for captivity, to captivity. And I will appoint over them four kinds, saith Jehovah: the sword to slay, and the dogs to tear, and the birds of the heavens, and the beasts of the earth to destroy. And I will cause them to be tossed to and fro among all the kingdoms of the earth, because of Manasseh, the son of Hezekiah, king of Judah, for that which he did in Jerusalem."

"Moses and Samuel ..." (Jeremiah 15:1). These were historical heroes of the Jewish people, who, upon serious occasions of Israel's rebellion against the Lord, had interceded for them, praying for their forgiveness; and there were several examples of this in the Old Testament. (Exodus 32:11-14,30-34; Numbers 24:13-23; Deuteronomy 9:18-20,15-29; 1 Samuel 7:5-9; 12:19-25; and Psalms 99:6-8). However, the sad message here is that even the intercession of such intercessors as Moses and Samuel would be of no avail whatever in the present extremity of Judah's total apostasy and rebellion.

We find no agreement with Thompson who thought that Jeremiah might have mentioned Moses and Samuel here, "because he saw in those two men a pattern of his own ministry; for he was in that succession of prophets `like unto Moses' (Deuteronomy 18:9-33)."[2] However, the Bible has no mention of a succession of "prophets" (plural) like unto Moses, but speaks of "The Prophet Like unto Moses," a reference to Jesus Christ and to no other!

The perversion of this prophecy through Moses mentioned here is a favorite device of critics, but it stands upon no authority whatever.

"Let them go forth ..." (Jeremiah 15:1). The meaning of this was extensive: "Cast them out of my sight, and let them go forth. Do not bring them into my presence by your prayers; let them go forth into captivity."[3] The meaning is further elaborated in the next verse. Feinberg's rendition of Jeremiah 15:2-4 here is excellent:

"Those destined for death, to death;

those for the sword, to the sword;

those for starvation, to starvation;

those for captivity, to captivity.

I will send four kinds of destroyers against them, saith the Lord, The sword to kill, and the dogs to drag away, and the birds of the air and the beasts of the field to devour and destroy."[4]

"Because of Manasseh, the son of Hezekiah, king of Judah ..." (Jeremiah 15:4). "The name of the pious father intensifies the horror at the wickedness of the son."[5]

It might appear from this that the invasion and captivity of Judah were the consequences of Manasseh's wicked reign; but it was not that reign alone that resulted in such disasters. "It was because the people persevered in that wickedness."[6] They resented and disapproved of Josiah's reforms; as soon as Jehoiachim came to the throne, they heartily supported that wicked king's campaign to restore all of the idolatrous trappings of Manasseh's evil reign; and, when Jeremiah's magnificent prophecies appeared to be a hindrance to such a resurgence of paganism, they plotted to kill Jeremiah. It was all of that, plus the deliberate preference of the great majority of Israel for the licentious rites of idolatry far over above the righteous government of the Lord that led to their eventual destruction and the deportation of a remnant.