Bible Commentaries
Jeremiah 4

Verses 1-31

Jehovah immediately promised that if Israel would return, she would be established. Then the prophet declared that judgment was determined on. He appealed to the people to repent, and that not in external manifestation, but actually and in heart. The people are described as panic-stricken because of the imminent peril.

In a parenthesis (verse Jer 4:1 o), the prophet's anguish is revealed as he sees the judgment falling. Nevertheless he continued his message, and described the swift attack of the foe, again earnestly appealing to Jerusalem to turn from wickedness.

After this description his anguish again is manifest in a lament (verses Jer 4:19-26 ). He was pained at his very heart as he saw the destruction coming, and the more so as he recognized that it was the result of their own sin. The picture which spread itself before his vision was of widespread devastation. Notwithstanding his sorrow, he declared that the judgment was inevitable, because the word of the Lord had been uttered, and warned the people of the anguish which must be their portion in the day of visitation.