Bible Commentaries
Jeremiah 9

Verse 1

Jer 9:1

Jeremiah 9:1

Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!

This verse is a continuation of the unbearable pain of the prophet as expressed in Jeremiah 8:18-22. Jeremiah had already wept over the condition of Israel as much as it was possible for him to weep; and here he expressed a wish for the ability to weep even more. Henry pointed out that in Hebrew the same word signifies "both the eye and a fountain, as if in this land of sorrows our eyes were designed rather for weeping than for seeing. And while we find our hearts such fountains of sin, it is fit that our eyes should be fountains of tears."

Verses 2-9

Jer 9:2-9

Jeremiah 9:2-3

Oh that I had in the wilderness a lodging-place of wayfaring men; that I might leave my people, and go from them! for they are all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men. And they bend their tongue, [as it were] their bow, for falsehood; and they are grown strong in the land, but not for truth: for they proceed from evil to evil, and they know not me, saith Jehovah.

"The blatant sins Jeremiah described here are literal; society was shot through and through with wickedness. The first sin mentioned in this indictment was universal adultery. This is called ’spiritual adultery,’ or the worshipping of idols; but in that worship gross immoralities were practiced."

The speech of the people was loaded with falsehood, slander, and every evil; and Jeremiah here used the metaphor of a bow with arrows to describe it. The bow and arrow, of course, were weapons of warfare in that age. As Keil noted, "It was neither the tongue nor the bow which was lying, but that false speech which they shot with their tongue, as with a bow."

There existed in that society at that time, "An utter want of upright dealing between man and man."

Jeremiah 9:4-6

Take ye heed every one of his neighbor, and trust ye not in any brother; for every brother will utterly supplant, and every neighbor will go about with slanders. And they will deceive every one his neighbor, and will not speak the truth: they have taught their tongue to speak lies; they weary themselves to commit iniquity. Thy habitation is in the midst of deceit; through deceit they refuse to know me, saith Jehovah.

Trust ye not in any brother...

(Jeremiah 9:4). Some have been critical of advice such as this, pointing out such passages as 1 Corinthians 13:7, where the true man of God is represented as one who believeth all things! However, as Haley pointed out, There is no ’command’ here regarding the trust of a brother, but ’advice,’ equivalent to saying, Such is the state of public morals that if you trust any man you shall be deceived and betrayed. The explanation of this advice is given in Jeremiah 9:6, where the whole society is referred to as a habitation in the midst of deceit.

Every brother will utterly supplant...

(Jeremiah 9:4). The Hebrew here is a punning reference to Jacob (Genesis 27:36). God had transformed Jacob into Israel; but his descendants insisted on living the life of the unregenerate. Cheyne did not accept this interpretation, affirming that, There is nothing in the context so suggest an allusion to Genesis 27:36, or to Jacob; but, in our view, the only thing needed to suggest that connection is the word supplanter.

They weary themselves to commit iniquity...

(Jeremiah 9:5). Lying, deceit, treachery, adultery, and idolatry were everyday sins in Judah, and the people had literally worn themselves out with perversions. The gross indulgence of physical passions can and does result in the debilitation and weakening of the body.

Jeremiah 9:7-9

Therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts, Behold, I will melt them, and try them; for how [else] should I do, because of the daughter of my people? Their tongue is a deadly arrow; it speaketh deceit: one speaketh peaceably to his neighbor with his mouth, but in his heart he layeth wait for him. Shall I not visit them for these things? saith Jehovah; shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

Shall I not. shall not my soul .....

(Jeremiah 9:9)? The very raising of such questions, Points up the legal aspects of breach of covenant. ^F10 The Jews of that period were just like the rest of humanity, no better, and no worse. Why, then, was God so outraged and disgusted with Judah? It all hinged upon the privileges of their covenant relationship with God! God had given them the Law of Moses; he had taught them the principles of truth and morality as carefully expounded in that Law; and God had every right to have expected a far better response to the privileges and blessings already conferred upon the nation than the indifference and disobedience which he actually received. It is impossible to understand anything in this prophecy without the perception of the breach of the holy covenant that was accomplished in the behavior of the Chosen People. Without that conception, God’s severe punishment of Israel amounted to no more than a capricious punishment of an unfortunate nation that was no worse than a dozen other peoples living in all directions from Israel!

Back in Jeremiah 9:6, the prophet had revealed that "through deceit, the people refused to know the Lord"; and as Matthew Henry stated it, "Those who would not know the Lord as their lawgiver, would be compelled to know him as their judge!"

Jeremiah does not allow himself to be overcome by his personal feelings regarding the gloomy future of his people. The destruction of Judah is a punishment well deserved. The prevailing corruption (Jeremiah 9:2-8) has brought into prospect the impending destruction (Jeremiah 9:9-21).

Prevailing Corruption Jeremiah 9:2-8

It is always nauseating for a righteous man to continue in daily contact with filthy and corrupt company. Jeremiah longs to leave the city with all its vices and take up residence in one of the desolate and dreary wayside shelters which dotted the major highways of antiquity. All of the people of Judah participate in spiritual and literal adultery at the Canaanite shrines. Even when gathered in their religious assemblies these men are treacherous, hypocritical and untrustworthy. The tender and sensitive Jeremiah would rather live the life of a monastic, sit in an isolated shack and meditate and bemoan the fate of his people. But God had called him to preach to that godless generation, and preach he must!

Jeremiah’s description of the corruption of Judah is truly remarkable. The tongue of the men of Judah is a bow which hurls falsehood and deceit. These mighty warriors do not contend for truth but for its opposite, lawlessness and injustice. Their starting point is evil and their ultimate goal is evil. This deplorable situation has developed because they do not know or have regard for the living God (Jeremiah 9:3). A willful ignorance of God and His word was at the root of their national corruption. No one could be trusted, not even the members of one’s own immediate family. Every brother was “very crooked.” The Hebrew phrase here means literally, to follow at the heel, assail insidiously, trip someone up. Everyone was out to defraud and cheat his brother. Friends went about carrying slanderous tales about friends (Jeremiah 9:4). Self-protection demanded that everyone be viewed with suspicion. These people had “learned” i.e., they had accustomed themselves, to speaking lies and falsehood. They actually weary themselves in sinning (Jeremiah 9:5). The sinner may have his wild fling but in the end he winds up exhausted, a physical, mental and moral wreck. The more abundant life is that of faithful and loving obedience to the divine will.

In Jeremiah 9:6 God addresses Jeremiah. He tells the prophet what he already knows viz., that he should trust no one since he is surrounded by deceit. Hypocritical men have no desire to really know God and so they deliberately, purposely shut the Lord out of their lives (Jeremiah 9:6). Only the knowledge of God will cure them of their hypocrisy; yet they refuse to know God because of their hypocrisy. The only alternative is a judgment which will serve to purify and refine the nation. God is about to purify His people in the fires of judgment even as silver is purified from dross by smelting. He will then test them to see if all the impurities have indeed been removed. How otherwise could God act? He has no other choice. God could not leave His people in their sin for they were intended to be a holy people. On the other hand because they are His people He cannot utterly destroy them. The only solution is to purge them through tribulation such as they had not hitherto experienced (Jeremiah 9:7). Such people who use their tongue as in arrow to smite their neighbors, who speak peace but plot treachery (lit., set an ambush) are the dross which must be removed through the judgment process (Jeremiah 9:8).

Verses 10-22

Jer 9:10-22

Jeremiah 9:10-11

For the mountains will I take up a weeping and wailing, and for the pastures of the wilderness a lamentation, because they are burned up, so that none passeth through; neither can men hear the voice of the cattle; both the birds of the heavens and the beasts are fled, they are gone. And I will make Jerusalem heaps, a dwelling-place of jackals; and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant.

The weeping and the wailing here are because of the forthcoming desolation upon Jerusalem and Judaea. The mountains, which once teemed with life, and the pasture lands (here called ’wilderness’) which once supported numerous herds of sheep and cattle, all of this is to be destroyed; even the Holy City itself shall be without inhabitant, deserted, a den of jackals! The answer as to why it is necessary for God to bring such destruction against the land of his people is in the following verses.

Jeremiah 9:12-16

Who is the wise man, that may understand this? and [who is] he to whom the mouth of Jehovah hath spoken, that he may declare it? wherefore is the land perished and burned up like a wilderness, so that none passeth through? And Jehovah saith, Because they have forsaken my law which I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice, neither walked therein, but have walked after the stubbornness of their own heart, and after the Baalim, which their fathers taught them; therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, Behold, I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink. I will scatter them also among the nations, whom neither they nor their fathers have known; and I will send the sword after them, till I have consumed them.

These verses "are often referred to as the work of Deuteronomic editors"; but this critical fembu is unworthy of any attention. All of the redactors and editors of the radical critics are shadowy creatures of imagination, for whom there exists no dependable evidence whatever. They are the self-made crutches upon which unbelievers lean in their vain efforts to cast doubt upon the Word of God.

The purpose of this paragraph is clearly that of giving God’s reasons that required his severe punitive action against the remainder of Israel. The answer is specific and sufficient: (1) they had revolted against their legitimate sovereign, a great truth that denies the non-existence of the Mosaic Law at that time; (2) they had not only withdrawn their obedience from God, but they had also taken up arms against him; (3) they were worshipping the idols which their own hands had manufactured; (4) they were worshipping the fertility cults of the various Baalim, wallowing in the vulgar, sensuous rites of that orgiastic religion. It was for all of these things that God would destroy the nation and send the remnant of it into captivity, from which the vast majority would never return.

"The King of Kings never made war against his own subjects except when they had treacherously rebelled against him and had made such punishment necessary."

Who is the wise man, that may understand this...

(Jeremiah 9:12)? Keil tells us that this question is given in the negative form, indicating that There is no wise man who was either able or willing to tell them the Word of God; and that the word ’wherefore’ in this same verse makes that the fundamental reason behind God’s punishment of his people.

They have forsaken my law which I set before them...

(Jeremiah 9:13). The law mentioned here is the complete Law of Moses, not some small fragment of it found in the temple. Note also that God had set this law before the people, not Hilkiah who found that copy of it. It was the basic constitution of the nation of Israel; and their rebellion against the Covenant of God which was built into and around that law was the reason for the punishment coming upon them.

Ye have. walked after the Baalim .....

(Jeremiah 9:14). Many of the Ugaritic texts regarded the fertility god Baal as the actual head of the Canaanite pantheon, and so is he regarded in this commentary. There is absolutely nothing in the Holy Bible that supports the notion advocated by some that a certain [~’El] was that head. It was Baal. This is proved by the fact that Baal’s name is linked with dozens of lesser gods, often associated with various local areas as in, Baal-hazor, Baal-peor, Baal-sidon, Baal-lebanon, Baal-haram, Baal-berith; it is clear from the Ugaritic texts that many of the cultic practices associated with the Baal fertility cults were heavily oriented toward sexual immorality. This shameful worship was exceedingly attractive to the Jewish people, beginning with the tragic conduct of the whole nation at Baal-peor (Num. 24--26).

Wormwood... water of gall...

(Jeremiah 9:15). Wormwood is a plant having a very bitter juice, and gall was a poisonous bitter herb. The terms were often used together to indicate bitter afflictions.

I will scatter them also among the nations...

(Jeremiah 9:16). This verse comes from Leviticus 26:33. If, as some critics assert, the Pentateuch as we know it did not then exist, where on earth does one suppose that Jeremiah came up with this? Remember that our chapter here has already stated that God had given Israel his Law (the whole Pentateuch), a fact proved by this verse.

The Dean of Canterbury’s comment on this is, "The captivity of Israel and the scattering of them among the heathen (the nations) was a fulfillment of this passage in Leviticus as the appointed determinate penalty for the violation of God’s covenant; and this is one of the most remarkable facts in proof that prophecy was something more than human foresight."

Jeremiah 9:17-20

Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, Consider ye, and call for the mourning women, that they may come; and send for the skilful women, that they may come: and let them make haste, and take up a wailing for us, that our eyes may run down with tears, and our eyelids gush out with waters. For a voice of wailing is heard out of Zion, How are we ruined! we are greatly confounded, because we have forsaken the land, because they have cast down our dwellings. Yet hear the word of Jehovah, O ye women, and let your ear receive the word of his mouth; and teach your daughters wailing, and every one her neighbor lamentation.

This is a dramatic picture of the horrible destruction coming upon Jerusalem at the hands of the invaders. It is represented to readers of the Holy Bible as a destruction yet future at the time Jeremiah penned this prophecy; and we have no respect at all for the "scholars" who would like to make it a description " after the event." Like many another prophecy, this one carries its own imprimature of truth. The thought here is that the people should enlist the aid of the weeping women, not just any weeping women, but "the skilled women," that is, the women who were experts in providing the type of weeping and wailing which the Jews customarily employed upon the occasion of funerals. This custom prevailed down until the times of Christ, as indicated by the hired mourners who were bewailing the death of the daughter of Jairus (Luke 8:40-56). The thought in this paragraph is (1) that a terrible calamity of death and destruction is approaching for Israel, and (2) that the supply of skilled mourners will be insufficient properly to bewail the tragedy; therefore, enlist the skilled mourners and let everyone teach her neighbor in order to help supply the mourners that would be needed!

Now was this an event that had already happened, or was it something Jeremiah prophesied for the future? Suppose, as some of the critics would have us believe, that he was talking about an event that had already happened. Can any intelligent person believe for a moment that, if it had already happened, God’s prophet would have been crying so vehemently for the people to train mourners to mourn it? To ask that question is to know the answer! We learned in the minor prophets, especially in Micah, that these great predictive prophecies of the Old Testament carry their own built-in proof of authenticity; and this is another example of the same thing.

Green, quoting Skinner, in the Broadman Commentary, identified this passage as, "Perhaps the most brilliant example of a prophetic elegy which the Old Testament contains!"

Jeremiah 9:21-22

For death is come up into our windows, it is entered into our palaces; to cut off the children from without, [and] the young men from the streets. Speak, Thus saith Jehovah, The dead bodies of men shall fall as dung upon the open field, and as the handful after the harvestman; and none shall gather [them].

This is a continuation of the prophetic elegy, the saddest element of it being the wanton destruction of the children. This was the usual thing to be expected in the ancient conquest of a city as indicated in Nahum 3:10; Luke 19:44, etc. There also seems to be an echo here of Eve’s acceptance of Satan’s lie that, "Ye shall not surely die!" Death comes inexorably upon old men, young men, all men, little children, cities, cultures, generations and races of men. Men may bar their doors, but it comes in the windows; none can escape it. What a block-buster of a lie Satan persuaded Eve to believe!

This tragic truth of the ravages of death upon the entire race of Adam seems to have triggered the next paragraph in which the sacred author attempted to turn men’s thoughts to eternal values instead of trusting in the things men generally love to trust.

Impending Destruction Jeremiah 9:9-21

Because of the national corruption, destruction is necessary and imminent. The land will become desolate (Jeremiah 9:9-15) and death will reign supreme throughout the land (Jeremiah 9:16-21).

1. Desolation of the land (Jeremiah 9:9-16)

In view of the terribly corrupt conditions which prevail in Judah God is perfectly justified in taking vengeance upon that land (Jeremiah 9:9). Jeremiah knows what will befall his beloved land. He knows that when the judgment falls he will be weeping and lamenting the desolation which will befall that once proud little country. The pasture lands of the wilderness i.e., the uninhabited region, which once were covered with flocks and herds will become so utterly waste that even the birds depart for lack of food (Jeremiah 9:10). The cities of Judah will not escape the desolation. Their ruins will become the habitation of wild creatures (Jeremiah 9:11). The “I” of Jeremiah 9:11 is no longer Jeremiah, but God.

In Jeremiah 9:12 Jeremiah challenges the wise men of the land and those who claimed to have received divine revelation to explain why the land has become desolate (Jeremiah 9:12). They are unable to explain it and so God himself gives the explanation. God had placed His law before this people at Sinai. He had amplified His law and kept it before the people through the preaching of the prophets. Yet the people forsook the law of God, refused to hearken to His instruction or walk in His way (Jeremiah 9:13). In their stubborn rebellion they followed after the Canaanite deities, the Baalim. This apostasy and idolatry they had learned from their fathers (Jeremiah 9:14). Where fathers go, sons will follow. What an ungodly legacy the fathers had left to their descendants!. The iniquities of fathers are often magnified in the lives of sons and when iniquity is full the punishment is inevitable (cf. Exodus 20:5). The sons must now eat the wormwood and drink the water of gall (Jeremiah 9:15). Wormwood and gall, two bitter and noxious substances, were symbols in the Old Testament for bitter affliction. Judah will become desolate because she will be depopulated. God will scatter the Jews among the far-distant foreign nations. Even in captivity the sword of divine retribution will pursue them until they are consumed (Jeremiah 9:16). Those who would be consumed in captivity are, of course, the unbelieving and unrepentant (cf. Amos 9:9-10). Those who turned to God in sincerity and truth would be restored to their homeland (Jeremiah 16:14-15; Jeremiah 31:9; Jeremiah 31:18-19).

2. Death throughout the land (Jeremiah 9:17-22)

In view of the impending national disaster, Jeremiah calls for professional mourning women to come and bewail the death of the nation. Such women were “wise” or skillful in the ways of leading public lamentation (Jeremiah 9:17). By helping others to weep and thus give vent to their emotions these women rendered a public service. One can find some measure of relief from anguish and sorrow only as he openly and outwardly expresses it. Jeremiah can seem to hear the wailing coming forth from Zion of Jerusalem. The people have been despoiled and humiliated. They have been forced to forsake the land of their birth. Their homes have been cast down by the enemy. They are confounded and confused (Jeremiah 9:19). Jeremiah calls upon the women who had been so zealous in the worship of false gods to give heed to the word of God. The day is soon approaching when the women of the nation would have to teach their daughters how to lament. So great will be the national tragedy that there will not be sufficient professional mourners. All the women will have to become involved (Jeremiah 9:20).

Why this need for universal lamentation? Death will reign supreme in the land in that day. Death creeps through the windows of homes and palaces. The Grim Reaper stalks the streets and broadplaces or market places of the city. Innocent children are cut down, young men in the flower of their youth (Jeremiah 9:21). The figure of death entering through the windows was a common one in the ancient Near East. In the Ugaritic epic of Baal, death is also described as entering by the window. Baal gave orders that no window was to be made in his palace until he had beaten his rival Moth, the god of death. After the victory over Moth, Baal issued a new order to the craftsman to construct a window. Apparently the entrance of death by the windows eventually became a common figure of speech in the Canaanite and Hebrew languages.

The picture of death throughout the land reaches its climax in Jeremiah 9:22. The first phrase, “Speak thus!” is abrupt and forceful and serves to arrest the attention of the hearer and draw his attention to this last dramatic announcement. The carcasses of the men of Judah who fall in battle will be left unburied. The dead bodies will be scattered over the surface of the ground like fertilizer spread by a farmer. A reaper in his haste to glean the harvest leaves many handfuls of grain in the field to rot. So would it be with the bodies of the dead. Those who survive the battles will be too few in number and too fearful to venture forth from the walled cities to give the fallen a decent burial (Jeremiah 9:22).

Verses 23-24

Jer 9:23-24

Jeremiah 9:23-24

Thus saith Jehovah, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches; but let him that glorieth glory in this, that he hath understanding, and knoweth me, that I am Jehovah who exerciseth lovingkindness, justice, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith Jehovah.

The knowledge of God and his way of salvation is greatly to be preferred above all the honors, power, riches, and achievements of mankind.

Loving-kindness, justice, and righteousness...

(Jeremiah 9:24). As Green noted, These are covenant words. As we have repeatedly emphasized, it is impossible to understand God’s punishment of the Jews apart from its relation to the Mosaic covenant which the Jews had possessed for many generations, and which they had so wantonly violated.

The only proper ground for anyone’s glorying is in the right relationship with God; this is the thing that supremely matters.

The brief but beautiful treatment of true glory seems unrelated to either what precedes or what follows in the chapter. Men throughout history have been tempted to magnify the importance of wisdom, strength and wealth and fall down in adoration before this trinity in unholy worship. Wealth and strength are ephemeral and wisdom, if it is not rooted in reverent fear for God, is vain (cf. Psalms 111:10). Destruction and death await the nation or the individual who places undue confidence in the arm of flesh (Jeremiah 9:23). True glory belongs not to the wealthy, the strong, and the wise but to those who understand and know the Lord. To understand God means to have the correct insight into His divine nature; to know Him means to walk in intimate fellowship with Him day by day. Those who understand and know the Lord practice daily those things which are pleasing to Him. They demonstrate lovingkindness to those who are of the household of faith. They strive for justice for the underprivileged and weak. They walk in the paths of righteousness, i.e., right conduct. These are the qualities which make the relationship between God and man and these are the qualities which must characterize the relationship between the man of God and his fellowman (Jeremiah 9:24).

Verses 25-26

Jer 9:25-26

Jeremiah 9:25-26

Behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that I will punish all them that are circumcised in [their] uncircumcision: Egypt, and Judah, and Edom, and the children of Ammon, and Moab, and all that have the corners [of their hair] cut off, that dwell in the wilderness; for all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in heart.

Due to certain ambiguities in the Hebrew text, some have challenged the implication here that all of the nations mentioned actually practiced circumcision. "The KJV asserts that circumcision was not practiced by any of these nations; whereas, all we can affirm is, that, except for a small class (of priests) in Egypt, there is no proof of the general acceptance of circumcision by the list of nations mentioned here." We prefer the KJV rendition, because, generally, the translators who gave us that version of the scriptures believed they were translating the "Word of God," whereas, it is evident that some more recent translators prefer to give us what they believe the prophet meant, or what they think he should have said, instead of what is written. With this view of the text, we agree with Robinson that, "Israel is here degraded to the level of other uncircumcised nations." "The passage also teaches the glory of Israel’s religion, and the futility of physical without spiritual circumcision."

Uncircumcised in heart...

(Jeremiah 9:26). This meant that physical circumcision alone, without the devoted and obedient heart that was supposed to accompany such a sign of the covenant, was worthless.

THE UNCIRCUMCISED HEART Jeremiah 9:25-26

Circumcision was given by divine command to Abraham and his descendants as a sign of the covenant between God and that people. (Genesis 17:10). The men of Jeremiah’s day while outwardly bearing the sign of the covenant had drifted far from God. spiritually they were uncircumcised. Their hearts were closed to the word of God. They were members by birth of the nation Israel; but actually they were no part of the spiritual Israel. Shortly, warns Jeremiah, God will bring His punishment upon all those who though outwardly circumcised were really uncircumcised (Jeremiah 9:25), Other nations of antiquity practiced circumcision as well as did the Jews. Five such peoples are named in Jeremiah 9:26 : Egyptians, Edomites, Ammonites, Moabites and “those who cut the corners of the hair.” This latter phrase refers to the Arabian tribes who shaved the temples at puberty and consecrated them to their deities. Herodotus III. 8. This practice was forbidden to the Israelites. See Leviticus 19:27; Deuteronomy 14:1 The circumcision practiced by these heathen nations was not done in obedience to the command of God and therefore their circumcision was regarded by God as uncircumcision. God’s judgment would fall upon them. But God’s judgment would also fall upon the men of Judah who were in this respect no different from their pagan neighbors. They were physically circumcised but not spiritually so. See Deuteronomy 10:16; Deuteronomy 30:6; Jeremiah 4:4; Romans 2:25-29. Just as the men of Israel were not living up to their circumcision, so many today are not living up to their baptism. Many have had their bodies immersed in water but their minds, hearts and will remain unbaptized.

Sin and Punishment - Jeremiah 8:4 to Jeremiah 9:26

Open It

1. What is one of the more obnoxious boasts you have ever heard?

2. How does it feel to be deceived by a close friend?

Explore It

3. In what ways did Israel’s stubbornness seem "unnatural" to God? (Jeremiah 8:4-7)

4. Who was guilty of greed, deceit, and minimizing Israel’s predicament? (Jeremiah 8:10-11)

5. What attitude did God expect but fail to find in the people of Israel? (Jeremiah 8:12)

6. What did God determine to take away from Israel? (Jeremiah 8:13)

7. What was the cry of the people in the face of God’s judgment? (Jeremiah 8:14-16)

8. To what did God compare His instruments of judgment? (Jeremiah 8:17)

9. What was the cry of Jeremiah’s heart as he contemplated the judgments he was announcing? (Jeremiah 8:18-21)

10. What was God’s answer to Jeremiah’s pleading? (Jeremiah 8:19)

11. What was Jeremiah’s fervent wish for Israel? (Jeremiah 8:22)

12. In spite of his sadness for them, why did Jeremiah want to separate himself from his people? (Jeremiah 9:1-2)

13. What warning did Jeremiah receive from God concerning the people among whom he lived? (Jeremiah 9:4-6)

14. What was it about the words of the people that displeased God? (Jeremiah 9:7-9)

15. What did God reveal to Jeremiah about the desolation of the land? (Jeremiah 9:10-16)

16. What were some of the illustrations of grief and destruction given in Jeremiah’s prophecy? (Jeremiah 9:17-22)

17. What is the only boast that has legitimacy with God? (Jeremiah 9:23-24)

Get It

18. In what ways does the plant and animal world reflect God’s orderliness more than does human society?

19. What should we remember about our possessions when we are tempted to become bitter about what we have lost?

20. What does it mean to you to find healing in God?

21. Why is it important for us to grieve for the suffering of wicked people?

22. Why is it important for our words to match our plans and actions?

23. How have you experienced the contrast between wisdom, strength, and riches and the knowledge of the Lord?

Apply It

24. How can you demonstrate God’s available healing to someone else this coming week?

25. In the coming month, how will you pursue the knowledge of the Lord?

Questions On Jeremiah Chapter Nine

By Brent Kercheville

1 What is the reaction of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 9:1-2)? What do we learn from this?

2 What results from not knowing the Lord (Jeremiah 9:3)?

3 What is the condition of society (Jeremiah 9:4-6)? What do we learn from this reality?

4 What will God do (Jeremiah 9:7-11)?

5 What do the people need to be wise enough to understand (Jeremiah 9:12-16)?

6 What is being pictured as the result of their sins (Jeremiah 9:17-22)?

7 What is God’s important message to the people (Jeremiah 9:23-24)? What do we learn?

TRANSFORMATION:

How does this relationship change your relationship with God? What did you learn about him? What will

you do differently in your life?