Jer 5:16 | KingComments | STEP | The LORD stands up for His servant. The words of Jeremiah which they deny as words of the LORD and which they say is only wind ( ), will become a fire in Jeremiah’s mouth ( ). Also, He will make the people wood and they will be consumed by the fire from Jeremiah’s mouth. What they consider nothing more than wind will be given the power of fire by God. The LORD will fulfill His words spoken by His prophets. He speaks this as “the God of hosts”. Here we see Him in His exaltedness at the head of all the hosts of heaven and earth. He will bring “against you”, that is the whole people, an enemy ( ). That enemy is a “nation … from afar” ( ), it is “an enduring nation”, “an ancient nation” that exists from ancient times. The four times recurring word “nation” indicates its irresistibility. This refers to the Babylonian people, who were founded by Nimrod ( ). That people speak a language they do not understand. They cannot communicate with that people ( ; ). That people will bring death and destruction upon them ( ; ). Against their arrows nothing will stand. Every arrow that leaves the quiver will hit and return to the quiver as a corpse. The quiver will be filled with corpses like an open grave. “All of them” who shoot the arrows are “mighty men”, thoroughly trained soldiers and not recruited civilians. After this description of the enemy’s power, Jeremiah paints the devastation it will wreak in the land ( ). Four times he uses the word “devour”. It emphasizes the inevitable, terrible fate that awaits Judah. Successively, their “harvest” and their “food”, their children, “sons” and “daughters”, their “flocks” and “herds”, and their fruit, “vines” and “fig trees”, are taken from them (cf. ). Their “fortified cities” on which they rely will be demolished with the sword. The judgment is total; it comes upon everything and everyone. Yet the destruction will not be complete ( ; ; ). The LORD will leave a remnant. That remnant will wonder why the LORD has done this ( ). They will also receive an answer to that question through Jeremiah. They will be told that all this has been brought upon them by the LORD because they have forsaken Him and have gone to serve foreign gods in their land, which He has given them. By doing this they have desecrated the land and dispossessed it, that is, taken it from the LORD. It is a double sin. The punishment is also double. The LORD will see to it that they are also dispossessed and that they will serve strangers. The word “serve” implies utter submission. They will be taken out of their land into exile. In the land of their exile they will have to obey strangers as slaves.

‏ Jeremiah 5:16

Description of Judgment

The LORD stands up for His servant. The words of Jeremiah which they deny as words of the LORD and which they say is only wind (Jer 5:13), will become a fire in Jeremiah’s mouth (Jer 5:14). Also, He will make the people wood and they will be consumed by the fire from Jeremiah’s mouth. What they consider nothing more than wind will be given the power of fire by God. The LORD will fulfill His words spoken by His prophets. He speaks this as “the God of hosts”. Here we see Him in His exaltedness at the head of all the hosts of heaven and earth.

He will bring “against you”, that is the whole people, an enemy (Jer 5:15). That enemy is a “nation … from afar” (Deu 28:49a), it is “an enduring nation”, “an ancient nation” that exists from ancient times. The four times recurring word “nation” indicates its irresistibility. This refers to the Babylonian people, who were founded by Nimrod (Gen 10:10 ; Gen 11:31). That people speak a language they do not understand. They cannot communicate with that people (Deu 28:49b; Isa 28:11).

That people will bring death and destruction upon them (Jer 5:16; Deu 28:50). Against their arrows nothing will stand. Every arrow that leaves the quiver will hit and return to the quiver as a corpse. The quiver will be filled with corpses like an open grave. “All of them” who shoot the arrows are “mighty men”, thoroughly trained soldiers and not recruited civilians.

After this description of the enemy’s power, Jeremiah paints the devastation it will wreak in the land (Jer 5:17). Four times he uses the word “devour”. It emphasizes the inevitable, terrible fate that awaits Judah. Successively, their “harvest” and their “food”, their children, “sons” and “daughters”, their “flocks” and “herds”, and their fruit, “vines” and “fig trees”, are taken from them (cf. Jer 3:24). Their “fortified cities” on which they rely will be demolished with the sword. The judgment is total; it comes upon everything and everyone.

Yet the destruction will not be complete (Jer 5:18; Jer 5:10; Jer 4:27). The LORD will leave a remnant. That remnant will wonder why the LORD has done this (Jer 5:19). They will also receive an answer to that question through Jeremiah. They will be told that all this has been brought upon them by the LORD because they have forsaken Him and have gone to serve foreign gods in their land, which He has given them. By doing this they have desecrated the land and dispossessed it, that is, taken it from the LORD.

It is a double sin. The punishment is also double. The LORD will see to it that they are also dispossessed and that they will serve strangers. The word “serve” implies utter submission. They will be taken out of their land into exile. In the land of their exile they will have to obey strangers as slaves.