Jer 15:1-4 | KingComments | STEP | Here comes the LORD’s answer to the previous ‘why-question’ ( ). It is again a hard answer ( ). The prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much, but in this case intercession by the most influential men of God, men of prayer, will not avail for a people who have deviated so much from the LORD. Moses and Samuel both pleaded with God for the people ( ; ) and He answered their prayers ( ). But with such a people as they are today, He cannot have anything to do. The LORD tells Jeremiah that instead of praying for them that He will accept them, He must send them away from His presence. Instead of bringing them in prayer before God He doesn’t want to see them anymore, they have to go. When God does not want to see someone anymore, it is a terrible judgment. Such a person is given over to death.

‏ Jeremiah 15:1-4

No Prayer for Judah

Here comes the LORD’s answer to the previous ‘why-question’ (Jer 14:19). It is again a hard answer (Jer 15:1). The prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much, but in this case intercession by the most influential men of God, men of prayer, will not avail for a people who have deviated so much from the LORD. Moses and Samuel both pleaded with God for the people (Exo 32:6 ; 11-14; 1Sam 7:9 ; 1Sam 12:23) and He answered their prayers (Psa 99:6-8). But with such a people as they are today, He cannot have anything to do.

The LORD tells Jeremiah that instead of praying for them that He will accept them, He must send them away from His presence. Instead of bringing them in prayer before God He doesn’t want to see them anymore, they have to go. When God does not want to see someone anymore, it is a terrible judgment. Such a person is given over to death.

The Punishment Determined

The LORD is preparing Jeremiah to receive the question from the people as to where they should go (Jer 15:2). That question is closely related to Jer 15:1 where the LORD has said that they cannot go to Him and that He does not want to see them again. The answer Jeremiah has to give is not that they can decide for themselves where they will go, but that they are on their way to their self-chosen destination: to death, by which is possibly meant pestilence, the sword, famine, and prison.

In Jer 15:3 the LORD says what means He will use to punish them. The sword will cause death. The dead will not be given an honorable burial, but the corpses will be dragged away by the dogs, while they tear them up and are devoured by the birds of the sky and the wild beasts. It is the greatest conceivable humiliation for a Jew if his dead body is not buried and then becomes food for the beasts.

This will make them an object of horror among all the kingdoms of the earth. The punishments come because of Manasseh, for what he has done in Jerusalem (Jer 15:4; 2Kgs 21:1-16; 2Chr 33:1-11). Manasseh not only overturned all the reforms of his God-fearing father Hezekiah, but he deliberately introduced idolatry and demon worship to defy the LORD. That Manasseh is emphatically called “the son of Hezekiah” here is because of the contrast between such a God-fearing father and such a wicked son. Manasseh’s actions took place some time ago. However, if a sin has not been properly confessed and removed, the consequences remain. The LORD always points to the origin of sin and judgment.

In Jer 15:5, three questions are asked of Jerusalem. The questions are about who will pity them, who will mourn for them, and who will ask about their welfare. The answer is included in the question. There will be no one who pities on them or mourns for them or asks about their welfare. The comfort that lies in the pity of others will not be there for Jerusalem. No one will bother to deviate from his path for a moment to ask how she is doing.

They have to blame themselves, for they have forsaken the LORD, the One Who has always had compassion on them and cared for them (Jer 15:6). But they did not want His care and they went backwards. Therefore the hand of the LORD is stretched out against them in judgment to bring them down. It is over and done with His repentance for the evil He will do to them. He has delayed it so many times and for so long now, but now it must come. He is “tired of relenting”.

The LORD will judge by a winnowing fork the wicked of His people in the gates of the land where justice is done (Jer 15:7). The winnowing fork is used to separate the chaff from the wheat. The chaff are the wicked. They are blown away by the winnowing fork of judgment (Mt 3:12). By doing so, He will rob His people of children and thereby make the continued existence of the wicked impossible. Once again the reason is given, namely, that they continue in their sinful ways and have not returned from it to Him.

There will also be a great number of widows, which means that many men will die (Jer 15:8; cf. 2Chr 28:6). The LORD brings judgment on “the mother”, that is the people, (not “of”, but) “by a young man”, that is the young power Babylon, “the destroyer at noonday”. At the same time, the LORD says that He Himself will bring judgment on the people. What Babylon is doing is nothing more than carrying out His will. The sudden terror that overtakes the people when the enemy comes is caused by Him.

The childbearing woman who gave birth to seven represents Israel under the LORD’s perfect blessing (Deu 28:4a). Of that childbearing, nothing remains because of their disobedience (Deu 28:18a). The woman, the people, are languishing, withering away, and will breathe their last (Jer 15:9). While the sun is still shining, the sun of God’s mercy, it becomes night for her because of her sins. What is left of people and goods will be taken away by the enemies.