Jer 6:8 | KingComments | STEP | Jerusalem is besieged because the LORD of the enemy’s armies has commanded it ( ). The armies of the enemy are in fact His armies. The command to cut down trees and thereby cast up a siege against Jerusalem comes from Him. It is emphasized to the enemy that this is the city that must be punished. That city is the one he must attack. The reason follows. For in her “midst there is only oppression”. By this is meant the behavior of leaders who oppress the people for their own benefit. We see this great evil today when believers in a local church are oppressed by leaders, when laws are imposed, or when absolute obedience to the leaders is demanded. The wickedness of the city is not merely seen here and there in someone doing evil. It is a wickedness that is produced as an everyday habit by the whole city ( ). Just as a spring gushes forth water incessantly and unstoppably, so from the city an unstoppable stream of “wickedness” rises incessantly. Wherever you listen in the city, you hear nothing but “violence and destruction” everywhere. The depraved source of all this is the heart, which is far from the LORD. The LORD sees the consequences of this. There is continual “sickness and wounds” in the city as a result of the violence and destruction being committed there. In His great patience, the LORD expresses once again that He wants to forgive Jerusalem if her inhabitants allow themselves to be punished, meaning that they accept His discipline ( ). He calls out to them, as it were, that they will allow themselves to be punished after all, that they will see that by punishing them He wants to correct them. If they do not listen, His soul – as it literally says – shall be alienated from them. The word “alienated” does indicate how unwilling the LORD is to give up the connection with His people. This speaks of His intimate connection with the city. But if they do not bow under His discipline and return to Him, He must make them a desolation and a land not inhabited.

‏ Jeremiah 6:8

The Siege of Jerusalem

Jerusalem is besieged because the LORD of the enemy’s armies has commanded it (Jer 6:6). The armies of the enemy are in fact His armies. The command to cut down trees and thereby cast up a siege against Jerusalem comes from Him. It is emphasized to the enemy that this is the city that must be punished. That city is the one he must attack.

The reason follows. For in her “midst there is only oppression”. By this is meant the behavior of leaders who oppress the people for their own benefit. We see this great evil today when believers in a local church are oppressed by leaders, when laws are imposed, or when absolute obedience to the leaders is demanded.

The wickedness of the city is not merely seen here and there in someone doing evil. It is a wickedness that is produced as an everyday habit by the whole city (Jer 6:7). Just as a spring gushes forth water incessantly and unstoppably, so from the city an unstoppable stream of “wickedness” rises incessantly. Wherever you listen in the city, you hear nothing but “violence and destruction” everywhere. The depraved source of all this is the heart, which is far from the LORD. The LORD sees the consequences of this. There is continual “sickness and wounds” in the city as a result of the violence and destruction being committed there.

In His great patience, the LORD expresses once again that He wants to forgive Jerusalem if her inhabitants allow themselves to be punished, meaning that they accept His discipline (Jer 6:8). He calls out to them, as it were, that they will allow themselves to be punished after all, that they will see that by punishing them He wants to correct them. If they do not listen, His soul – as it literally says – shall be alienated from them. The word “alienated” does indicate how unwilling the LORD is to give up the connection with His people. This speaks of His intimate connection with the city. But if they do not bow under His discipline and return to Him, He must make them a desolation and a land not inhabited.