Clarke, in his commentary, says the following.
‘This and the two following verses are a continuation of the preceding prophecy, and should not have been separated from the foregoing chapter.’
If I were to give a title to this chapter, it would be taken from Jeremiah 8:20. All opportunities for repentance and return to God are gone; the nation is rushing into destruction.
There is shame and despair here, and there is no respect for death, Jeremiah 8:1. Kings may have been buried in honour, but breaking open their tombs is just showing mockery, Jeremiah 8:2. They will be just like refuse lying on the ground, Jeremiah 8:2.
Josephus, in his writings, says the following.
‘Solomon buried David with great wealth, and 1,300 years afterwards, Hyrcanus the high priest, when besieged by Antiochus, opened one of the rooms of David’s sepulchre and took out 3,000 talents of gold with which he bribed Antiochus to lift the siege. Also, Herod the king opened another room and took out a great deal of money. But neither of them came near the coffins of the kings themselves, for their bodies were buried under the earth so artfully that they did not appear even to those entering their monuments.’
There are five points in this verse that show why they worshipped the heavenly hosts.
1. Because they loved them, Jeremiah 8:2.
2. They served them, Jeremiah 8:2.
3. They followed them, Jeremiah 8:2.
4. They consulted them, Jeremiah 8:2.
5. They worshipped them, Jeremiah 8:2.
The false leaders have betrayed the people by leading them into paganism, to worship the sun, the moon, and the stars. Therefore, the bones of these worshippers will be exposed to the sun, the moon, and the stars, which were not able to help them, Jeremiah 8:2. In fact, the sun would only hasten the decay of their bones.
Everyone living at that time will see nothing but hopelessness, and they will prefer death to life, Jeremiah 8:3. In other words, they would rather die than serve foreign nations.
Here we read of rhetorical questions asked by God. There was no repentance because they didn’t turn back to God, Jeremiah 8:4-5. The reason they didn’t turn to God was that they were holding on to lies, Jeremiah 8:5.
Clarke, in his commentary, says the following.
‘It is as possible for sinners to return from their sin to God, for his grace is ever at hand to assist, as it is for God, who is pouring out his judgments, to return to them on their return to him. But these held fast deceit, and refused to return, they would not be undeceived.’
Not only was there no change, but there wasn’t a person to be found who stopped to look at himself and say, What have I done? Jeremiah 8:6. They had no pride in themselves as God’s people, Jeremiah 8:6.
The stork, Jeremiah 8:7, came to Jerusalem in March and left in April. The storks knew when they had to go, but the people didn’t know the requirements of the Lord, Jeremiah 8:7, simply because they were so stupid. ‘My people do not know the Lord,’ Jeremiah 8:7.
Coffman, in his commentary, says the following.
‘This is one of the most important statements in Jeremiah. It wasn’t that the people didn’t have the Law; they had it, but they didn’t know it. They didn’t study it, they didn’t meditate upon it, they didn’t obey it.’
They had no respect for God’s law, so how would they call themselves wise? Jeremiah 8:8. ‘The lying pen of the scribes,’ Jeremiah 8:8. The Law of God is found in the first five books of the Old Testament, known as the Pentateuch.
Some people say that the written law didn’t exist in those days. Any person with intelligence doesn’t need a scholar to explain the meaning of this verse. The lying pen of the scribes has handled the law falsely. The teachers of the law were turning God’s words into lies.
Anyone who rejects God’s word should ask himself, what is wisdom? How can you have wisdom without God? Jeremiah 8:9 / James 3:13-18 / 1 Corinthians 1:21 / 1 Corinthians 2:5-7 / 1 Corinthians 2:13 / 1 Corinthians 3:19. In other words, no one can have any wisdom for life if they don’t know God’s Word and reject His requirements, 2 Peter 3:15-16.
The results of disobeying God are seen in that everyone will become full of greed, Jeremiah 6:13-15. Their wives will be given to other men, Jeremiah 8:10. The fields are not producing produce, Jeremiah 8:10. The prophets and priests are greedy and lie to the people, Jeremiah 8:10.
They put a plaster over people’s wounds, instead of dressing it in accordance to its seriousness, Jeremiah 8:11. They proclaim, peace when there is no peace, Jeremiah 8:11.
They are not ashamed of their sin and they don’t even know how to blush because of their sin, Jeremiah 8:12. They are going to be punished, Jeremiah 8:12. Everything that God has given them is going to be taken away from them by God, Jeremiah 8:13.
Coffman, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The failure of all crops and agricultural benefits was a common metaphor in the Old Testament, used to express God’s judgment upon sinful people. Christ himself took up the figure of the barren fig-tree, which he made a figure of apostate Israel in his cursing of the barren fig-tree, Matthew 21:19.’
It seems that the farming people were more perceptive of the impending danger than those who lived in the city. The people living around Jerusalem decide to flee ‘to the fortified cities’, Jeremiah 8:14, as all hope is lost.
They think they may survive a little longer there, but even there, they expect to ‘perish’, Jeremiah 8:14. They put their trust in fleeing to the fortified cities in times of peril, but there they would face death.
They might hope for better times, but there were no better times to come, Jeremiah 8:15. The enemy of the north was already on its way, Jeremiah 8:16. Jeremiah speaks in verb tense as if it had already happened. Thus, it was too late for repentance.
The time had come for the land to be devoured, Jeremiah 8:16. The enemy was like a serpent that could not be charmed but would eventually bite, Jeremiah 8:17.
Clarke, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Dan lay in the way from Babylon to Jerusalem; and it was by this city, after the battle of Carchemish, that Nebuchadnezzar, in pursuing the Egyptians, entered Palestine.’
You who are my Comforter in sorrow, my heart is faint within me, Jeremiah 8:18. There are two voices crying here.
1. The people, because of slaughter and captivity, Jeremiah 8:19.
This implies that the people were blaming God for all of this, hence the question Is the LORD not in Zion? Is her King no longer there?’ Jeremiah 8:19.
2. God Himself, because of the attitude of the people, Jeremiah 8:19.
Because of distinction and because of everything He saw in His people. Why did it have to be this way?
The harvest has come and gone, and there is nothing to show for it, Jeremiah 8:20 / Galatians 6:7. The winter of God’s judgment is on them.
Clarke, in his commentary, says the following concerning Jeremiah 8:20.
‘The siege of Jerusalem lasted two years, for Nebuchadnezzar came against it in the ninth year of Zedekiah and the city was taken in the eleventh, 2 Kings 25:1-3.’
Jeremiah says I am crushed, I mourn, Jeremiah 8:21. We often refer to Jeremiah as the ‘weeping prophet’, and he was. Some people deny this. They say that we may call him the reluctant prophet, the praying prophet, the suffering prophet or the preaching prophet, but not the weeping prophet, because he never wasted his time weeping when there was work to be done. All of this is true, but Lamentations shows the sorrow that he felt at the Fall of Jerusalem.
Gilead was a centre of medicine, Jeremiah 8:22 / Genesis 37:25, but Judah is not going to be cured. She has a big, open wound, and the physician is trying to cure it with a small piece of sticking plaster! Nobody can help her.
Henry, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Certainly, there is a balm in Gilead, and yes, there is a true physician there. But all of the blame for Israel’s sorrows must rest upon themselves, for not applying the wonderful remedy which God provided for them. And it is of interest that the ‘balm of Gilead’ has come to stand as a metaphor for salvation through Jesus Christ. We sing hymns about this, in particular, ‘There is a balm in Gilead, that heals the sin-sick soul. There is a balm in Gilead that makes the sinner whole.’