Before the Jews even entered the Promised Land, Moses had rehearsed with them the terms of the covenant, warning them that God would remove them from the land if they refused to obey His voice (Deut. 28:63–68). No sooner did Joshua and that generation of spiritual leaders pass from the scene (Judg. 2:7–15) than the nation turned to idolatry and God had to chasten them. First, He punished them in the land by allowing other nations to invade and take control. Then, when the people cried out for help, He raised up deliverers (vv. 16–23). By the time of Jeremiah, however, the sins of the people were so great that God had to remove them from the land and punish them in distant Babylon.
Two responses are recorded in this chapter: the Lord’s response to Jeremiah’s prayer (Jer. 15:1–9) and Jeremiah’s response to the Lord’s answer (vv. 10–21).
The Lord’s response to Jeremiah’s prayer (vv. 1–9). No matter who sought to intercede for Judah, God’s mind was made up, and He would not relent. At critical times in Jewish history, Moses and Samuel had interceded for the people, and God heard and answered (Ex. 32—34; Num. 14; 1 Sam. 7; 12; Ps. 99:6–8). But God’s heart would go out to the people no longer. Instead, His people would go out into captivity. “Send them away from my presence! Let them go!” (Jer. 15: niv)
The people faced four possible judgments: death from disease, war, starvation, or, if they survived these calamities, exile in Babylon. The bodies of those slain by the Babylonian army would be desecrated and eaten by dogs, birds, or wild beasts; none would have a decent burial. It wasn’t a bright future that God revealed to His people, but it was a future they themselves had chosen by refusing to repent of their sins. You take what you want from life and you pay for it.
God had chosen the Jews to be a blessing to the nations of the world (Gen. 12:1–3), but now they would become “abhorrent to all the kingdoms of the earth” (v. 4 niv; see 24:9; 29:18; 34:17; Deut. 28:25), an object of scorn, “a byword among the nations” (Ps. 44: niv). Not only that, but Jerusalem and the land itself would bear witness to God’s judgment of their sins. “Their land will be laid waste, an object of lasting scorn; all who pass by will be appalled and will shake their heads” (Jer. 18: niv; see 19:8; 25:9, 18; 29:18).
One of the causes for this terrible judgment was King Manasseh, who reigned for fifty-five years (697–642 BC) and was the most wicked king in Judah’s history (2 Kings 21:1–18; 2 Chron. 33:1–10). He was the son of godly Hezekiah and the grandfather of godly Josiah, and yet he himself was an evil man who encouraged Judah in the sins that brought about the downfall of the kingdom. God wasn’t punishing the nation for the sins Manasseh committed but because the nation imitated Manasseh in their sinning.
In fact, the Lord lamented over the suffering that would come to His people because of their disobedience (Jer. 15:5–9). Would anybody pity Jerusalem or even ask about her welfare? Nehemiah did (Neh. 1:1–3), and centuries later, Jesus wept over the city (Matt. 23:37). For God to postpone judgment would have meant encouraging the nation’s sins even more, and this He would not do. He was weary with repenting (Jer. 15:6).
The coming judgment would be like separating wheat from the chaff (v. 7; see 51:2). The wives would become widows, and the mothers would be bereaved of their sons. A woman with seven sons would be considered especially blessed, but if all of them were killed in battle, it would be as though the sun went down at noon, cutting the day short. The light of her life would be gone because the future of the family had been destroyed.
We must not think that God enjoyed sending judgment to His people. If He has no pleasure in the death of the wicked (Ezek. 18:23, 32), He certainly has no pleasure in the death of His own people! God is longsuffering, but when His people resist His gracious call and rebel against His will, He has no alternative but to send chastening.
Jeremiah’s response to the Lord’s message (vv. 10–21). This is the third of Jeremiah’s recorded laments (see 11:18–23). If the mothers of the dead soldiers had reason to weep (Jer. 15:8–9), Jeremiah’s mother had even more reason, for the people treated him as though he were the enemy. The soldiers died as heroes, but Jeremiah lived as if he were a traitor to his own people. Jeremiah wasn’t a creditor, pressuring his borrowers. Nevertheless, everybody hated him. God promised to deliver him (v. 5), and He kept His promise, but God didn’t promise to shield him from persecution. Jeremiah was now running with the horses, and it wasn’t easy (12:5).
In resisting Nebuchadnezzar, Judah was fighting a losing battle, for nothing could break the “northern iron” of Babylon. Judah would lose its treasures and become slaves of the Babylonians. This wasn’t a popular message to proclaim, and Jeremiah knew it would arouse the opposition of the leaders and the people. Therefore, he asked God for the help he needed to keep going. His requests were “Remember me, care for me, and avenge me of my enemies.”
Jeremiah 15:15–18 reveals the turmoil that was in the prophet’s heart and mind. One minute he was affirming the Lord’s longsuffering and his own faithfulness to the Word, and the next minute he was crying out with pain because of the suffering of his people and the difficulty of his work. He even suggested that God had lied to him when He called him and that God was “like a deceptive brook, like a spring that fails” (v. 18 niv; see Job 6:15–20).
Jeremiah was human and had his failings, but at least he honestly admitted them to God. Instead of piously covering up his true feelings, he poured out his heart to the Lord, and the Lord answered him. God’s answer may have shocked the prophet, for the Lord told him he needed to repent! “If you repent, I will restore you that you may serve me; if you utter worthy, not worthless, words, you will be my spokesman” (Jer. 15: niv). Because of his attitude toward God and his calling, Jeremiah was about to forfeit his ministry! In some ways, he was mirroring the words and attitudes of the people of Judah when they questioned God.
The Lord usually balances rebuke with reassurance. He promised once again to make Jeremiah a fortified wall and give him victory over all his enemies (v. 20; see 1:18–19). Jeremiah had to learn to walk by faith, which meant obeying God’s word no matter how he felt, what he saw, or what others might do to him. God never promised Jeremiah an easy job, but He did promise him all that he needed to do his work faithfully.
Is it unusual for chosen servants of God to become discouraged and endanger their own ministries? No, because every servant of God is human and subject to the weaknesses of human nature. Moses became discouraged and wanted to die (Num. 11:10–15); Joshua was ready to quit and leave the Promised Land (Josh. 7:6–11); Elijah even abandoned his place of duty and hoped to die (1 Kings 19); and Jonah became so angry he refused to help the very people he came to save (Jonah 4)! God doesn’t want us to ignore our feelings, because that would make us less than human, but He does want us to trust Him to change our feelings and start walking by faith (see 2 Cor. 1:3–11).