AUGUST 14
In chapter 12 Jeremiah pleads with God about His judgments.
His pleading is in a humble and submissive manner, which God accepts
by making him feel the evil of the people more deeply. At the same
time, God sustains the prophet’s faith by the personal interest He
shows in him. God helps him understand that He has not forsaken His
inheritance. The state of things was therefore no longer in doubt.
God also revealed His purposes and blessings to His people, and even
to the nations among whom they will be disbursed, if these nations
would learn the ways of the Lord.
In chapter 13 Jeremiah calls the people to repentance
because of the coming judgment. Chapter 14 records Sermon 5,
presented as “The Drought” and the nation’s doom. In this chapter we
read of the terrible calamity (verses 1-6); the empty ritualistic
prayers of the nation (verses 7-9); and their rejection by the Lord
(verses 10-12). The false prophets, who had no divine credentials,
were to blame (verses 14-16) and finally, in the latter part of the
chapter, we see Jeremiah again lamenting for the nation he loved so
well.