Introduction
‘Then the word of the LORD came to me: ‘You must not marry and have sons or daughters in this place.’ Jeremiah 16:1-2
DAY OF DISASTER
This chapter is pretty straightforward and in the very beginning of it, God says to Jeremiah, ‘stay unmarried’, Jeremiah 16:1-2. Why is God saying this? Because of the suffering coming to the wives and children. There is going to be heartache but Jeremiah will not suffer that heartache if he stays unmarried. Some believe that this is the reason why Paul said something similar, 1 Corinthians 7:8.
Barnes, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Marriage was obligatory among the Jews and the prohibition of it to Jeremiah was a sign that the impending calamity was so great as to override all ordinary duties.’
This devastation would be so great that God felt that the normal rules and duties of the Jews should be abolished, as in Jeremiah’s case.
‘For this is what the LORD says about the sons and daughters born in this land and about the women who are their mothers and the men who are their fathers: ‘They will die of deadly diseases. They will not be mourned or buried but will be like dung lying on the ground. They will perish by sword and famine, and their dead bodies will become food for the birds and the wild animals.’ Jeremiah 16:3-4
Notice that it was clear that God Himself gave the reasons here, in these two verses, why He forbade Jeremiah to marry. What’s the point in trying to raise a family if they are going to be butchered? Jeremiah 16:3. God says that no one is going to mourn for Judah and there will be no big burial service because they will be like dung lying on the ground, Jeremiah 8:2, and their bodies will become food for the wild life, Jeremiah 16:4 / Jeremiah 7:33.
‘For this is what the LORD says: ‘Do not enter a house where there is a funeral meal; do not go to mourn or show sympathy, because I have withdrawn my blessing, my love and my pity from this people,’ declares the LORD. ‘Both high and low will die in this land. They will not be buried or mourned, and no one will cut themselves or shave their head for the dead. No one will offer food to comfort those who mourn for the dead—not even for a father or a mother—nor will anyone give them a drink to console them. ‘And do not enter a house where there is feasting and sit down to eat and drink. For this is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Before your eyes and in your days, I will bring an end to the sounds of joy and gladness and to the voices of bride and bridegroom in this place. ‘When you tell these people all this and they ask you, ‘Why has the LORD decreed such a great disaster against us? What wrong have we done? What sin have we committed against the LORD our God?’ then say to them, ‘It is because your ancestors forsook me,’ declares the LORD, ‘and followed other gods and served and worshiped them. They forsook me and did not keep my law.’ Jeremiah 16:5-11
Jeremiah is told that he isn’t permitted to enter a house where people are mourning because God’s blessing, live and pity have been withdrawn from them, Jeremiah 16:5. We may feel great pity for the disaster that is to befall God’s people but God won’t. The consequence of this is so many people would die that they couldn’t all be buried or mourned over, Jeremiah 16:6.
Coffman, in his commentary, says the following, concerning cutting themselves or shaving their heads, Jeremiah 16:6.
‘This is a reference to pagan customs which were strictly forbidden in Israel, Leviticus 19:28 / Leviticus 2:5 / Deuteronomy 14:1. However, it appears that such practices were widely prevalent anyway, Jeremiah 41:5 / Jeremiah 47:5 / Ezekiel 7:18 / Amos 8:10 / Micah 1:16. But there would be no time for such behavior in the approaching calamity; and the very numbers of the dead would simply forbid it.’
Notice that ‘No one will offer food to comfort those who mourn,’ Jeremiah 16:7. This is a reference to a custom that is still followed by Christians today, that is, providing food for a funeral. In other words, God is telling the people that there is no comfort or peace coming.
Jeremiah is also told that he can’t enter a house where people are feasting, Jeremiah 16:8. He isn’t permitted to attend any weddings because God is bring people’s joy and gladness to an end, Jeremiah 16:9. The people are being warned that this is going to happen to them in their lifetime, in the very near future, Jeremiah 16:9.
When Jeremiah tells the people they might ask, why is God doing this? What have we done? What sin have we committed? Jeremiah 16:10. Jeremiah is to tell them answer to these questions and the first answer is because their ancestors left God and went after their own gods and they did not keep God’s law but did what they wanted to do, Jeremiah 16:11.
‘But you have behaved more wickedly than your ancestors. See how all of you are following the stubbornness of your evil hearts instead of obeying me. So, I will throw you out of this land into a land neither you nor your ancestors have known, and there you will serve other gods day and night, for I will show you no favour.’ Jeremiah 16:12-13
Jeremiah then tells them the second reason why disaster is coming upon them and that is, their behaviour is even worse than their ancestors, Jeremiah 16:12. They were stubborn, evil hearted and didn’t obey God, Jeremiah 16:12. Their sinful cultures do not get better but worse. They continue to digress further into moral degradation, Genesis 6:5. They were at the point of no moral return and their consciences had been seared, Romans 1:18-21 / 1 Timothy 4:1-2.
As a result of their sinfulness and disobedience, God was going to throw them out of the land and into a land where they will serve false gods continually, Jeremiah 16:13. Notice God says He will show them no favour or grace, Jeremiah 16:13. God has had enough of their sinfulness and disobedience, Romans 6:1-2.
‘However, the days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when it will no longer be said, ‘As surely as the LORD lives, who brought the Israelites up out of Egypt,’ but it will be said, ‘As surely as the LORD lives, who brought the Israelites up out of the land of the north and out of all the countries where he had banished them.’ For I will restore them to the land I gave their ancestors.’ Jeremiah 16:14-15
Some people believe that this section was written much later but there is no reason to believe this. This wonderful promise of restoration belongs just where it is in God’s Word. God will bring them and the day will come when people will not say, God brought us out of Egypt, Jeremiah 16:14, but that, God brought us out of the north, Jeremiah 16:15.
The says are coming when the exodus story will no longer be spoken about but they will speak about a new exodus, the exodus from Babylonian captivity. God promises to restore them to the land that He gave to their forefathers, Jeremiah 16:15.
‘But now I will send for many fishermen,’ declares the LORD, ‘and they will catch them. After that I will send for many hunters, and they will hunt them down on every mountain and hill and from the crevices of the rocks. My eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden from me, nor is their sin concealed from my eyes. I will repay them double for their wickedness and their sin, because they have defiled my land with the lifeless forms of their vile images and have filled my inheritance with their detestable idols.’ Jeremiah 16:16-18
But right now, these people need to be taught a lesson.
Coffman, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The fishermen and the hunters, Jeremiah 16:16, are metaphors used to describe the thoroughness of the destruction by the Babylonians.
All of these wicked people will be flushed out of their hiding places and none of them will escape, Jeremiah 16:16-17. They will be caught because our all-seeing God has seen every one of their sins, Jeremiah 16:17. God is going to repay them double because all their wickedness, sins and idolatry, Jeremiah 16:18. These verses stress the certainty of the punishment to come. It’s going to happen in their lifetime, Jeremiah 16:9.
‘LORD, my strength and my fortress, my refuge in time of distress, to you the nations will come from the ends of the earth and say, ‘Our ancestors possessed nothing but false gods, worthless idols that did them no good. Do people make their own gods? Yes, but they are not gods!’ ‘Therefore, I will teach them—this time I will teach them my power and might. Then they will know that my name is the LORD.’ Jeremiah 16:19-21
Jeremiah seems to be rejoicing over God’s future promises, even rejoicing that the Gentiles nations also have a hope, Jeremiah 16:19. This is a pretty clear prophecy of the Gentiles coming to God.
Clarke, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Even the days shall come when the Gentiles themselves, ashamed of their confidence, shall renounce their idols, and acknowledge that their fathers had believed lies, and worshipped vanities. This may be a prediction of the calling of the Gentiles by the Gospel of Christ; if so, it is a light amidst much darkness. In such dismal accounts there is need of some gracious promise relative to an amended state of the world.’
Also, it tells of their rejection of idolatry, Jeremiah 16:19-20. God says He will teach them to know his power and might so that they will know His name if LORD, Jeremiah 16:20. I think it clearly identifies the coming of the Messiah and the spreading of Christianity, James 4:4-6.