Jer 18:13-17 | TNotes | STEP | Summary for Jer 18:13-17: 18:13-17 The Lord answered that he would scatter his people who had deserted him. 18:13 Has anyone ever heard of such a thing? In other nations , people did not turn their backs on their national deities (2:11-13 ), but Israel blatantly mocked the one true God.

a18:13-17►

c2:11-13►

d18:14-15►

f18:16-17►

‏ Jeremiah 18:13-17

Summary for Jer 18:13-17: 18:13-17 ^a The Lord answered that he would scatter his people who had deserted him. 18:13 ^b Has anyone ever heard of such a thing? In other nations, people did not turn their backs on their national deities (2:11-13 ^c), but Israel blatantly mocked the one true God.
Summary for Jer 18:14-15: 18:14-15 ^d The answer to these two rhetorical questions was “No.” The snow and the streams of the mountaintops of Lebanon were perennially reliable. By contrast, the Lord’s people were not so reliable.

• The ancient highways represented a life of faithfulness to the covenant (6:16 ^e), while the muddy paths symbolized a life of self-serving paganism.
Summary for Jer 18:16-17: 18:16-17 ^f The Lord pronounced sentence on Judah and Jerusalem.

• their land will become desolate ... I will scatter my people: In 605–586 BC, Judah and Jerusalem were progressively emptied of residents.

• as the east wind scatters dust: During the summer, a strong hot wind from the east can blow sand and dust from the desert into Judah.

• I will turn my back on them: The people would no longer experience a covenant relationship with the Lord.