Jer 16:21 | KingComments | STEP | In that situation, the LORD is very personally for Jeremiah “my strength and my fortress, and my refuge” ( ). Each of these three words points to the protection that the LORD is to him. He needs that protection because it is a “day of distress” for him and for every God-fearing person. However, Jeremiah also looks beyond the time of distress in which he lives. He tells the LORD that the nations will come to Him from the ends of the earth. They will come with a confession about the futility of idols. That will happen when Christ rules and they come to Him, Who is the LORD. Those who yield to idols receive falsehood as an inherited possession, a possession that is not a permanent one. Everything that idols give – that is, the demons behind the idols, for idols themselves are dead things – is deception and disappointment. The conclusion, then, is to ask whether a man would make himself gods, with the immediate answer that those are not gods ( ). When the nations, as well as God’s people, acknowledge His hand and His power, they will know Who He is ( ). The outcome of the pressure of God’s hand and the exercise of His power is that they will acknowledge that He has dealt with them, He, Whose Name is LORD. It may be that by “them” whom He causes to acknowledge His hand and His power, the Jews are meant; it may also be that by them the nations are meant. In any case, it applies to both groups ( ).

‏ Jeremiah 16:21

The Nations Blessed

In that situation, the LORD is very personally for Jeremiah “my strength and my fortress, and my refuge” (Jer 16:19). Each of these three words points to the protection that the LORD is to him. He needs that protection because it is a “day of distress” for him and for every God-fearing person.

However, Jeremiah also looks beyond the time of distress in which he lives. He tells the LORD that the nations will come to Him from the ends of the earth. They will come with a confession about the futility of idols. That will happen when Christ rules and they come to Him, Who is the LORD.

Those who yield to idols receive falsehood as an inherited possession, a possession that is not a permanent one. Everything that idols give – that is, the demons behind the idols, for idols themselves are dead things – is deception and disappointment. The conclusion, then, is to ask whether a man would make himself gods, with the immediate answer that those are not gods (Jer 16:20).

When the nations, as well as God’s people, acknowledge His hand and His power, they will know Who He is (Jer 16:21). The outcome of the pressure of God’s hand and the exercise of His power is that they will acknowledge that He has dealt with them, He, Whose Name is LORD. It may be that by “them” whom He causes to acknowledge His hand and His power, the Jews are meant; it may also be that by them the nations are meant. In any case, it applies to both groups (Eze 36:23).