Jeremiah 16:8

FESTIVAL CELEBRATIONS FORBIDDEN

"And thou shalt not go into the house of feasting, to sit with them, to eat and to drink. For thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will cause to cease out of this place, before your eyes, and in your days, the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride."

The significant thing about these prohibitions is that they removed practically all of the social duties that pertained to Jeremiah, emphatically denying Hyatt's foolish explanation (discussed at the head of this chapter) of Jeremiah's celibacy as being in any manner a result of his being "too busy" to marry and rear a family!

"The voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride ..." (Jeremiah 16:9). The cessation of such joyful sounds as these not only marked God's judgment of the First Israel, as indicated here; but the same thing shall also mark the termination of the day of probation for the Spiritual Israel (See Revelation 18:23).

""Before your eyes and in your days ..." (Jeremiah 16:9). The people were here warned to expect the termination of their nation in the near future, within their own times. As stated earlier, God was weary of repenting!