AUGUST 12
Chapters 1–20 of the Book of Jeremiah contain what is often
called Sermons. Sermon 1 could be called “Sin of the Nation”
(chapters 2:1–3:5); Sermon 2 is known as “Devastation from the
North” (chapters 3:6–6:30); and today we read Sermon 3, “Threat of
Exile” (chapters 7–10). This message, like the two preceding ones,
was a stern rebuke, warning and exhortation, but centered in the
religious conditions in Judah.
It might also be interesting to note here that the very same
year in which Jeremiah was called, immense swarms of Barbarians from
the north struck terror to the nations of southwest Asia. They dealt
a terrific blow to the tottering Assyrian power. On they came, like
a flight of locusts–countless, irresistible, finding the land
before them like a garden, leaving behind them a howling wilderness.
Neither age nor sex would be spared. Inhabitants would be ruthlessly
massacred by the invaders or, at best, forced to become slaves. The
crops would be consumed, herds swept off or destroyed, the villages
or homesteads burned, and the whole country made a scene of
desolation.
Chapter 7 records Jeremiah’s heart-rendering appeals for
repentance, but again we see the people refusing to heed his
warnings. Even though Jeremiah was trying to give the nation the
only remedy for their sin, they rejected and even hated him for his
message.
The first part of chapter 8 contains further warnings of
judgment against the nation of Israel. All classes of God’s people
were corrupted, with the prophets and priests as bad as the rest of
the people. Jeremiah’s heart was broken and, in chapter 9, he is
again weeping over the nation of Israel.