THIS IS THE word of the LORD to Jeremiah concerning the drought:
2“Judah mourns,
her cities languish;
they wail for the land,
and a cry goes up from Jerusalem.
3The nobles send their servants for water;
they go to the cisterns
but find no water.
They return with their jars unfilled;
dismayed and despairing,
they cover their heads.
4The ground is cracked
because there is no rain in the land;
the farmers are dismayed
and cover their heads.
5Even the doe in the field
deserts her newborn fawn
because there is no grass.
6Wild donkeys stand on the barren heights
and pant like jackals;
their eyesight fails
for lack of pasture.”
7Although our sins testify against us,
O LORD, do something for the sake of your name.
For our backsliding is great;
we have sinned against you.
8O Hope of Israel,
its Savior in times of distress,
why are you like a stranger in the land,
like a traveler who stays only a night?
9Why are you like a man taken by surprise,
like a warrior powerless to save?
You are among us, O LORD,
and we bear your name;
do not forsake us!
10This is what the LORD says about this people:
“They greatly love to wander;
they do not restrain their feet.
So the LORD does not accept them;
he will now remember their wickedness
and punish them for their sins.”
11Then the LORD said to me, “Do not pray for the well-being of this people. 12Although they fast, I will not listen to their cry; though they offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Instead, I will destroy them with the sword, famine and plague.”
13But I said, “Ah, Sovereign LORD, the prophets keep telling them, ‘You will not see the sword or suffer famine. Indeed, I will give you lasting peace in this place.’”
14Then the LORD said to me, “The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I have not sent them or appointed them or spoken to them. They are prophesying to you false visions, divinations, idolatries and the delusions of their own minds. 15Therefore, this is what the LORD says about the prophets who are prophesying in my name: I did not send them, yet they are saying, ‘No sword or famine will touch this land.’ Those same prophets will perish by sword and famine. 16And the people they are prophesying to will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and sword. There will be no one to bury them or their wives, their sons or their daughters. I will pour out on them the calamity they deserve.
14:17“Speak this word to them:
“‘Let my eyes overflow with tears
night and day without ceasing;
for my virgin daughter—my people—
has suffered a grievous wound,
a crushing blow.
18If I go into the country,
I see those slain by the sword;
if I go into the city,
I see the ravages of famine.
Both prophet and priest
have gone to a land they know not.’”
19Have you rejected Judah completely?
Do you despise Zion?
so that we cannot be healed?
We hoped for peace
but no good has come,
for a time of healing
but there is only terror.
20O LORD, we acknowledge our wickedness
and the guilt of our fathers;
we have indeed sinned against you.
21For the sake of your name do not despise us;
do not dishonor your glorious throne.
Remember your covenant with us
and do not break it.
22Do any of the worthless idols of the nations bring rain?
Do the skies themselves send down showers?
No, it is you, O LORD our God.
Therefore our hope is in you,
for you are the one who does all this.
15:1Then the LORD said to me: “Even if Moses and Samuel were to stand before me, my heart would not go out to this people. Send them away from my presence! Let them go!
2And if they ask you, ‘Where shall we go?’ tell them, ‘This is what the LORD says:
“‘Those destined for death, to death;
those for the sword, to the sword;
those for starvation, to starvation;
those for captivity, to captivity.’
3“I will send four kinds of destroyers against them,” declares the LORD, “the sword to kill and the dogs to drag away and the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth to devour and destroy. 4I will make them abhorrent to all the kingdoms of the earth because of what Manasseh son of Hezekiah king of Judah did in Jerusalem.
5“Who will have pity on you, O Jerusalem?
Who will mourn for you?
Who will stop to ask how you are?
6You have rejected me,” declares the LORD.
“You keep on backsliding.
So I will lay hands on you and destroy you;
I can no longer show compassion.
7will winnow them with a winnowing fork
at the city gates of the land.
I will bring bereavement and destruction on my people,
for they have not changed their ways.
8I will make their widows more numerous
than the sand of the sea.
At midday I will bring a destroyer
against the mothers of their young men;
suddenly I will bring down on them
anguish and terror.
9The mother of seven will grow faint
and breathe her last.
Her sun will set while it is still day;
she will be disgraced and humiliated.
I will put the survivors to the sword
before their enemies,”
declares the LORD.
Original Meaning
CHAPTER 14 (and perhaps the two chapters that follow) is occasioned by the threatening circumstances of drought.1 As is typical in the first half of Jeremiah, we have no idea when the prophet utters these prophecies since no king is mentioned, though the reference to a fast in 14:12 may hint at the historical setting. The only other reference to fasting in Jeremiah is in 36:6, 9, which is set during the reign of Jehoiakim—more specifically, the ninth month of the fifth year of his reign (Nov./Dec., 604 B.C.).2 At this time Nebuchadnezzar’s army was campaigning in the region. This threat may be in the background, though the primary concern of chapter 14 is that of drought. If the context is indeed November or December and the fall rains have not yet come, a fast would be appropriate. In the Mediterranean climate there is no rain during the summer months. But without rain at some point in the fall, drought conditions become severe.
The different speaking voices in 14:1–15:9 comprise a pattern of oracle from the prophet, followed by words from the people. The prophet, speaking for God, has the first and last word:
A. 14:2–6: The prophet speaks of Judah’s mourning.
B. 14:7–9: The people as a whole confess sin and offer a petition.
C. 14:10–16: The Lord speaks to Jeremiah about judgment on the people and other prophets.
D. 14:17–18: At God’s command, Jeremiah delivers a lament over the fate of the people.
E. 14:19–22: The people as a whole confess sin and offer a petition again.
F. 15:1–9: The Lord speaks to Jeremiah about judgment on the people.
It is difficult to know how one should read the two corporate confessions/petitions of the people (14:7–9, 19–22). Nothing appears wrong with the sentiments expressed in them, but after both comes language of divine judgment. These units include confession of sin (14:7, 20). We have at least two options in seeking to make sense of this section in the context of Jeremiah’s ministry. (1) The corporate confessions/petitions of the people, which offer the appropriate words of confession and repentance, are actually insincere. This view accords with the aims of the book as a whole, since one of its primary functions is to explain the culpability of the people in facing defeat and exile. (2) These confessions/petitions are confessions that Jeremiah is offering to the people, if only they would take the confessional content to heart.
14:2–6. Judah and Jerusalem mourn over the devastating effects of a drought. Nothing in these verses links the drought with divine judgment; instead, they rehearse the pitiful circumstances of the people and animals in a common quest for water.
14:7–9. Only here do we see a link between the terrible circumstances of the people and their sinfulness before God. Jeremiah implores God to act because his name is great and because his people bear that name. The people confess that their “backsliding is great,”3 seemingly a frank acknowledgment of sin against God. In confessional terms God is described as Israel’s Hope (miqweh) and Savior (mošia’) in troubled times (v. 8). Verse 9 reflects the tradition of God as a valiant warrior who defends and delivers his people (cf. Ex. 15:3).
Taken as a whole, this section has parallels with the Psalter and other biblical prayers. As noted above, either the people are guilty of rank insincerity in praying this way, or this prayer is Jeremiah’s advice to them on how to pray appropriately in the context of a drought used in judgment against them.
14:10–16. This mostly prose section records the “give and take” between God and the prophet. Verse 10 contains a poetic oracle that God does not accept the people. He will remember their wickedness and punish them. Jeremiah 31:34 is essentially a reversal of this sentiment. When God forgives, he “forgets.”
In verses 11 and 14 come autobiographical introductions: “Then the LORD said to me.” As in other occasions, Jeremiah is bidden not to pray for the people (e.g., 7:16). Prophets who have led the people astray receive sustained attention. God denies having appointed them or sending them. They are obviously making Jeremiah’s life more difficult by speaking in the Lord’s name and contradicting his own prophecies of judgment.
14:17–18. These two verses offer an example of lament in which it is difficult to know who is speaking, Jeremiah or God. Jeremiah, of course, is commanded to speak these words to the people, but in doing so he represents God. “My virgin daughter—my people” (NIV) reflects more naturally on God as speaker than the prophet. The familiar metaphor of daughter applies to Jerusalem or the people as members of God’s household.
14:19–22. The second corporate confession/petition of the people asks plaintively if God has completely rejected Judah and Zion. The sad comment, “We hoped for peace,” is the prayer of all right-thinking people. With the confession of sin also comes the refrain, “for the sake of your name do not despise us” (cf. 14:7, 9), and a plea for God to remember his covenant with them and not to annul it.
15:1–9. As with the first corporate confession/petition in 14:7–9, this second one is also followed by an emphatic rejection of the people. If possible, this second rejection is even stronger than the one in 14:10–16. The text indicates the frightfulness of God’s judgment in more than one way.
The reference to Moses and Samuel as mediators and intercessors (Jer. 15:1) evokes memory of past events in Israel’s history. When God was angry with Israel in the desert, Moses interposed himself between God and the sinful community (Ex. 32:30–35; 34:1–27); moreover, Moses was a prophet who knew God “face to face” (Ex. 33:11; Num. 12:8; Deut. 34:10), mediating God’s laws to his people and guiding two generations of them toward the Promised Land.
In the period before monarchy, when the word of God was rare in the land (1 Sam. 3:1), God raised up Samuel to be prophet, priest, and judge to Israel. It was Samuel who reorganized Israel after the debacle of defeat by the Philistines at Aphek and the subsequent loss of the ark of the covenant (4–6). The people entreated Samuel to cry out to the Lord on their behalf, and eventually the Philistine threat was subdued (7:8–17). Even after the appointment of a king, the people entreated Samuel to pray for them to the Lord (12:19–25; cf. 12:7). In the work of Moses and Samuel, one finds models of intercessory prayers and accounts of the preservation of the people in spite of the divine judgment that had fallen on them.
For God to dismiss the work of Moses and Samuel as efficacious in the present moment of Judah’s sin is, in effect, to say that no prophetic mediator will be accepted and that judgment cannot be averted. Judgment came on Israel during the prophetic ministries of these two leaders, but total destruction had been averted through their mediation. Now, however, it will be different. Judgment to come is announced and described graphically in verse 2. Captivity is explicitly mentioned, as are four kinds of affliction. Jeremiah cites the lingering effects of Manasseh as reasons for the inevitability of judgment. This accusation has parallels in 2 Kings 21:1–18; 23:26; 24:3–4, where the judgment to come on Judah and Jerusalem in Jeremiah’s day derives from the overflowing wickedness of Manasseh’s reign.4
Bridging Contexts
JUDGMENT THROUGH DROUGHT. The common theme of Judah and Jerusalem’s plight before God is given the specific coloring of the devastation of drought. Along with it will come sword, famine, and pestilence (Jer. 14:12). Apart from the emphasis on the drought, the reader encounters a familiar aspect of the book of Jeremiah.
During Jeremiah’s time, lack of water was a persistent experience. The weather pattern in the eastern Mediterranean is such that from late spring through mid-fall, there is no rain. Thus, the later fall and winter rains are necessary for the spring planting. Not only was drought a crippling phenomenon, it was a graphic reminder of how dependent life is on forces outside of human control. Even today, water rights and distribution are major issues in the Middle East. One of the sorest points in the peace agreement between Israel and Jordan has been the distribution of water from the Jordan River to the two countries. Israel is seeking agreements with Turkey for fresh water supplies.
In 2:13 the prophet proclaimed that Judah’s sin was forsaking God (who is living water) in the vain effort to preserve water in broken cisterns (other gods). In chapter 14 the reality of drought is used to chasten and judge Judah. The failure of Judah’s other prophets to interpret God’s judgment is indicated in 2:8, a claim also elaborated in chapter 14.
Amos, one of Jeremiah’s predecessors in the prophetic office, announced drought and famine as God’s judgments on Israel (Amos 4:6–13). God’s word through the prophet’s refrain in Jer. 4:8–11, “yet you have not returned to me,” is similar to God’s word to Jeremiah that he will not respond to Judah’s fast or sacrifices because they have not returned wholeheartedly to him. Amos also spoke forebodingly about the ultimate famine and thirst—the lack of a life-giving word from God (8:11–14). This was a word of judgment, so that when at last people would recognize their needs and seek to assuage them, it would be too late. Such is the intention also behind Jeremiah’s words in Jeremiah 14.
In the New Testament John the seer sees God’s judgments poured out on the land as the seals of the prophetic scroll are broken (Rev. 6). These judgments are depicted as different horsemen, and among them are the sword, famine, and pestilence. John’s vision is very much in the mode of Old Testament prophecy, but it was also intended to instruct the church so that it could see behind the temporal judgments the hand of God moving toward an even larger deliverance. Likewise, Jeremiah’s contemporaries are to see God’s hand moving in judgment, but beyond judgment Jeremiah’s readers should recognize that God moves toward deliverance.
God and the weather. The last line of Jeremiah 14 ends the lament with the confession that the people will “hope … in” (or “wait for”) God, who has done all these things. This confession is both problematic and a key link between Jeremiah’s world and modernity. It is problematic because many people recoil from the belief that God causes things like droughts and famines. Weather forecasters daily explain atmospheric conditions through various media, and the connection between God and weather conditions is not clear for many people.
Perhaps it is best to distinguish between the claims of a particular passage and the continuing interplay of forces in seasonal change. Jeremiah’s claim is not that God sends all droughts to chastise and judge people. Instead, his claim is more particular: God used the specific drought described in chapter 14 as a means to address and chastise his people. It is as perilous to universalize from the specifics of a particular text as it is to ignore the possibility that a moral and sovereign God makes use of climactic forces. Jeremiah 14 is essentially a claim that God so used the circumstances of the prophet’s day to instruct Judah.
It is the same issue with the divine claim in 14:11 that Jeremiah should no longer pray for the people because God will not listen. This is not a universal affirmation about how God treats the prayers of his prophets or his people; rather, 14:11 is a specific instruction about God’s intentions in bringing Judah to judgment. God’s disposition toward prayer and his employment of drought are particular approaches in his approach to Judah. God had most certainly listened to the prayers of Moses and Samuel—they were renowned as intercessors. Modern readers are confronted with the claim that this is God’s prerogative and that it will ultimately serve his broader purpose of (re)forming a people for himself.5
Admittedly, some people will recoil in horror and deny that God will ever refuse to hear the prayer of Judah or send drought on its land. Such a denial, however, is different from the error of universalizing; it is the error of assuming that they know better than God how to achieve his purposes within history. Does the thought that God is indifferent about climactic conditions provide more comfort? It is not likely that those who refuse God the avenue of drought will allow God the freedom to judge at all. It would be no different with a cross and the death of a righteous man. Why, God forbid such a thing!
Contemporary Significance
THE TRUE JUDGE. The confessions/petitions of chapter 14 continue to have significance for God’s people because they remind us that God alone is the true Judge of our deeds and the true Savior of our lives (14:8). Modern people act wisely when they acknowledge that they are neither masters of their destiny nor spiritually self-sufficient. This is a fundamental point for modernity: How can the chastening hand of God be recognized? How might God grasp the attention of people and seek to remove the intellectual and emotional barriers to his approach set up by the modern mindset?
Indeed, the confessions/petitions are uncomfortable reminders that people are ultimately unable to avoid an encounter with the living God. Nevertheless, the One who evoked tears in the prophet is the ultimate Hope of Israel, and it is the larger design of Jeremiah’s book (as it is the larger design of God Almighty) to move the people in the direction of praise and good works.
In the first half of 1996 the author experienced a prolonged drought in central Texas. It was a humbling experience to stand on the bank of the Pedernales River that typically has flowing water and excited people engaged in recreational activities to see only a dry and cracked stream bed. It was frightening to watch things wilt, animals die, and people lose their vitality because of the scarcity of water. It was a powerful illustration of the connectedness of corporate existence. The lack of water was the impetus to a variety of changes in central Texas, both physical and emotional. It is true that people will change their lifestyle and assumptions about reality when circumstances force it! They will usually do so grudgingly, however, and more often than not they will find someone or something else responsible for the debilitating circumstances. Is this dynamic a clue to the harsh reception of the corporate confessions/petitions in 14:7–9, 19–22?
Many prayers for rain are heard frequently during months of drought. Arid conditions are an effective reminder of how easily life can get out of balance and how circumstances of drought can only be ameliorated from above. Nevertheless, when rain finally comes (as it did in August 1996), drought conditions are quickly forgotten. Jeremiah 14 is a salutary reminder of the true source of life and of the One who calls a people into existence for his glory and praise.