Jeremiah 16 Study Notes: Jeremiah's Life as a Sign of Judgment
God forbids Jeremiah to marry, to join funerals, or to attend feasts, making his life a sign that death and silence will soon fill Judah. The LORD explains that exile comes for idolatry, yet promises a return greater than the exodus, and Jeremiah foresees the nations abandoning their idols.
General
True or False: The LORD said that the people could escape His judgment by hiding in the mountains and in cracks in the rocks (Jeremiah 16:16-18).
Answer: False
This is false. Before the promised return, the LORD would send many fishermen to catch the people and then many hunters to track them down across every mountain, every hill, and every crack in the rocks (16:16). No hiding place would work, because the LORD watched every path they took; nothing they did was hidden from Him (16:17). He would first pay them back twice over for their wrongdoing, because they had polluted His land with lifeless idols and filled it with detestable things (16:18). Scripture says the LORD sees in every place (Proverbs 15:3) and that no creature is concealed from Him (Hebrews 4:13). Amos used similar pictures of people who could not hide from God (Amos 9:3).
- Jeremiah 16:16-17 (BSB)“But for 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, even from the clefts of the rocks. For My eyes are on all their ways. They are not hidden from My face, and their guilt is not concealed from My eyes.”The LORD sends fishermen and hunters, for nothing the people do is hidden from Him.
- Jeremiah 16:18 (BSB)“And I will first repay them double their iniquity and their sin, because they have defiled My land with the carcasses of their detestable idols, and they have filled My inheritance with their abominations.””The LORD will repay them for defiling His land with idols.
- Proverbs 15:3 (BSB)“The eyes of the LORD are in every place, observing the evil and the good.”The LORD’s eyes are in every place, seeing evil and good.
- Hebrews 4:13 (BSB)“Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight; everything is uncovered and exposed before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.”Nothing in creation is hidden from God’s sight.
- Amos 9:3 (BSB)“Though they hide themselves atop Carmel, there I will track them and seize them; and though they hide from Me at the bottom of the sea, there I will command the serpent to bite them.”Amos also pictures the LORD finding those who try to hide from Him.
Theological
True or False: Jeremiah 16:16-18 allows that some of the guilty might escape notice by hiding in the hills and rocky crevices.
Answer: False
This is false. The images of fishermen and hunters (16:16) describe a thorough search: no mountain, hill, or crevice will shelter the guilty, because the LORD sees every path they take and their iniquity is not hidden from Him (16:17). Before the restoration He will repay them double for their sin, since they defiled His land and His inheritance with the lifeless forms of their idols and their abominations (16:18). God’s omniscience leaves no refuge from His justice (Proverbs 15:3; Hebrews 4:13), the same point Amos makes about those who try to hide from Him (Amos 9:3).
- Jeremiah 16:16-17 (BSB)“But for 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, even from the clefts of the rocks. For My eyes are on all their ways. They are not hidden from My face, and their guilt is not concealed from My eyes.”The LORD sends fishermen and hunters, for nothing the people do is hidden from Him.
- Jeremiah 16:18 (BSB)“And I will first repay them double their iniquity and their sin, because they have defiled My land with the carcasses of their detestable idols, and they have filled My inheritance with their abominations.””The LORD will repay them for defiling His land with idols.
- Proverbs 15:3 (BSB)“The eyes of the LORD are in every place, observing the evil and the good.”The LORD’s eyes are in every place, seeing evil and good.
- Hebrews 4:13 (BSB)“Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight; everything is uncovered and exposed before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.”Nothing in creation is hidden from God’s sight.
- Amos 9:3 (BSB)“Though they hide themselves atop Carmel, there I will track them and seize them; and though they hide from Me at the bottom of the sea, there I will command the serpent to bite them.”Amos also pictures the LORD finding those who try to hide from Him.
General
In the middle of this chapter of judgment, the LORD promised a change in how His people would swear by Him. What did that change show (Jeremiah 16:14-15)?
Answer: Rescue from Egypt would be eclipsed by a return from the north and other lands
Right after announcing exile, the LORD gave a promise of hope. People had long sworn by the LORD as the One who brought Israel out of Egypt (16:14). A day was coming when they would instead swear by Him as the One who brought Israel back from the northern land and from all the countries where He had driven them (16:15). The return from exile would be such a great act of rescue that it would overshadow even the exodus, and the LORD promised to bring them back to the land He gave their fathers (16:15). The same promise appears again in Jeremiah 23:7-8, and Isaiah tells God’s people not to dwell on the past, because He is doing something new (Isaiah 43:18-19).
- Jeremiah 16:14-15 (BSB)“Yet behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when they will no longer say, ‘As surely as the LORD lives, who brought the Israelites up out of the land of Egypt.’ Instead they will say, ‘As surely as the LORD lives, who brought the Israelites up out of the land of the north and all the other lands to which He had banished them.’ For I will return them to their land that I gave to their forefathers.”The LORD promises a return from the north so great that it will replace the exodus in the people’s oaths.
- Jeremiah 23:7-8 (BSB)“So behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when they will no longer say, ‘As surely as the LORD lives, who brought the Israelites up out of the land of Egypt.’ Instead they will say, ‘As surely as the LORD lives, who brought and led the descendants of the house of Israel up out of the land of the north and all the other lands to which He had banished them.’ Then they will dwell once more in their own land.””Jeremiah later repeats the same promise of a return that outshines the exodus.
- Isaiah 43:18-19 (BSB)““Do not call to mind the former things; pay no attention to the things of old. Behold, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming. Do you not see it? Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness and streams in the desert.”Isaiah also speaks of a new act of God that surpasses the former deliverance.
Theological
What does the altered oath formula of Jeremiah 16:14-15 signify about the LORD’s future dealings with Israel?
Answer: Rescue from Egypt would be eclipsed by a return from the north and other lands
Judgment is not God’s last word. The oath formula that once recalled the exodus from Egypt (16:14) will be replaced by one recalling a deliverance from the northern land and every land of banishment (16:15). The coming restoration is presented as a new exodus that surpasses the first, and the LORD pledges to return them to the land given to their fathers (16:15). The promise is repeated almost word for word in Jeremiah 23:7-8, and Isaiah similarly calls God’s people to look beyond the former things to a new work of rescue (Isaiah 43:18-19).
- Jeremiah 16:14-15 (BSB)“Yet behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when they will no longer say, ‘As surely as the LORD lives, who brought the Israelites up out of the land of Egypt.’ Instead they will say, ‘As surely as the LORD lives, who brought the Israelites up out of the land of the north and all the other lands to which He had banished them.’ For I will return them to their land that I gave to their forefathers.”The LORD promises a return from the north so great that it will replace the exodus in the people’s oaths.
- Jeremiah 23:7-8 (BSB)“So behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when they will no longer say, ‘As surely as the LORD lives, who brought the Israelites up out of the land of Egypt.’ Instead they will say, ‘As surely as the LORD lives, who brought and led the descendants of the house of Israel up out of the land of the north and all the other lands to which He had banished them.’ Then they will dwell once more in their own land.””Jeremiah later repeats the same promise of a return that outshines the exodus.
- Isaiah 43:18-19 (BSB)““Do not call to mind the former things; pay no attention to the things of old. Behold, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming. Do you not see it? Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness and streams in the desert.”Isaiah also speaks of a new act of God that surpasses the former deliverance.
General
In his prayer, Jeremiah said the nations would come to the LORD from the farthest parts of the earth. What did he say they would confess (Jeremiah 16:19-21)?
Answer: They would admit that their ancestors’ idols were worthless lies
Jeremiah turned to prayer, calling the LORD his strength, his fortress, and his refuge in trouble (16:19). He foresaw the nations coming to the LORD from the farthest parts of the earth and admitting that their fathers had inherited only falsehood, empty idols that did no good (16:19). Gods made by human hands are not gods at all (16:20). The LORD answered that He would teach them, making His power and might known so that they would recognize who He is, the LORD (16:21). Elsewhere the LORD calls the whole earth, to its farthest edges, to turn to Him and be saved (Isaiah 45:22). The New Testament shows this happening as Gentiles abandoned idols to worship the true and living God (1 Thessalonians 1:9).
- Jeremiah 16:19-20 (BSB)“O LORD, my strength and my fortress, my refuge in the day of distress, the nations will come to You from the ends of the earth, and they will say, “Our fathers inherited nothing but lies, worthless idols of no benefit at all. Can man make gods for himself? Such are not gods!””Jeremiah foresees the nations confessing that their ancestral idols were lies.
- Jeremiah 16:21 (BSB)““Therefore behold, I will inform them, and this time I will make them know My power and My might; then they will know that My name is the LORD.”The LORD promises to make His power known so that they will know His name.
- Isaiah 45:22 (BSB)“Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other.”The LORD calls all the ends of the earth to turn to Him and be saved.
- 1 Thessalonians 1:9 (BSB)“For they themselves report what kind of welcome you gave us, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God”Paul reports Gentiles who turned from idols to serve the living and true God.
- Acts 14:15 (BSB)““Men, why are you doing this? We too are only men, human like you. We are bringing you good news that you should turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made heaven and earth and sea and everything in them.”Paul and Barnabas call Gentiles to turn from worthless things to the living God.
Theological
In Jeremiah 16:19-21, what confession does the prophet foresee from the nations who come to the LORD?
Answer: They would admit that their ancestors’ idols were worthless lies
In the middle of judgment oracles, Jeremiah’s prayer (16:19) looks beyond Israel: the nations are pictured coming from earth’s farthest reaches confessing that their fathers’ inheritance was falsehood and worthless idols, and that man-made gods are no gods (16:19-20). The LORD’s reply promises that He Himself will teach them His power and might, so that they acknowledge His name (16:21). The knowledge of God among the nations is His own sovereign work of revelation. The theme runs through the prophets (Isaiah 45:22) and the New Testament records Gentiles who abandoned idols for the true and living God (1 Thessalonians 1:9; Acts 14:15).
- Jeremiah 16:19-20 (BSB)“O LORD, my strength and my fortress, my refuge in the day of distress, the nations will come to You from the ends of the earth, and they will say, “Our fathers inherited nothing but lies, worthless idols of no benefit at all. Can man make gods for himself? Such are not gods!””Jeremiah foresees the nations confessing that their ancestral idols were lies.
- Jeremiah 16:21 (BSB)““Therefore behold, I will inform them, and this time I will make them know My power and My might; then they will know that My name is the LORD.”The LORD promises to make His power known so that they will know His name.
- Isaiah 45:22 (BSB)“Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other.”The LORD calls all the ends of the earth to turn to Him and be saved.
- 1 Thessalonians 1:9 (BSB)“For they themselves report what kind of welcome you gave us, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God”Paul reports Gentiles who turned from idols to serve the living and true God.
- Acts 14:15 (BSB)““Men, why are you doing this? We too are only men, human like you. We are bringing you good news that you should turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made heaven and earth and sea and everything in them.”Paul and Barnabas call Gentiles to turn from worthless things to the living God.
General
True or False: The LORD told Jeremiah to stay away both from houses of mourning and from houses of feasting, because He was taking away His peace from the people and would silence all joyful celebration, including weddings (Jeremiah 16:5-9).
Answer: True
This is true. Jeremiah was not to go into a home holding a funeral meal or go to comfort mourners, because the LORD had withdrawn His peace, His loving devotion, and His compassion from this people (16:5). Great and small alike would die, and no one would bury them, mourn them, or offer the customary food and cup of consolation to grieving families (16:6-7). He was also not to sit and eat at a house of feasting (16:8), for the LORD would end every sound of gladness and the songs of bride and groom in Jeremiah’s own lifetime (16:9). The same silencing of celebration is announced elsewhere in the book (Jeremiah 7:34; 25:10).
- Jeremiah 16:5 (BSB)“Indeed, 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, for I have removed from this people My peace, My loving devotion, and My compassion,” declares the LORD.”Jeremiah may not join a funeral meal because God has withdrawn His peace, loving devotion, and compassion.
- Jeremiah 16:8-9 (BSB)“You must not enter a house where there is feasting and sit down with them to eat and drink. For this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: I am going to remove from this place, before your very eyes and in your days, the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of the bride and bridegroom.”Jeremiah may not join a feast because God will end the sounds of joy and weddings in his own days.
- Jeremiah 7:34 (BSB)“I will remove from the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem the sounds of joy and gladness and the voices of the bride and bridegroom, for the land will become a wasteland.””An earlier oracle announces the same end of joy and wedding celebrations in Judah.
- Jeremiah 25:10 (BSB)“Moreover, I will banish from them the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of the bride and bridegroom, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the lamp.”A later oracle repeats the silencing of joy and weddings as part of the coming judgment.
Theological
True or False: In Jeremiah 16:5-9 the prophet is barred from both funeral meals and banquets, signifying that God has withdrawn His peace and will end the celebrations of joy and marriage in the land.
Answer: True
This is true. The prophet’s refusal to share either grief or celebration is itself the message. He may not enter the house of mourning, because the LORD has removed His peace, loving devotion, and compassion from the people (16:5); death will be so widespread that the customary rites of burial, lament, and consolation will cease (16:6-7). Nor may he join a banquet (16:8), for in his own days the LORD will silence joy, gladness, and the wedding songs of bride and groom (16:9). The same silencing of joy and wedding songs is announced as judgment in Jeremiah 7:34 and 25:10.
- Jeremiah 16:5 (BSB)“Indeed, 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, for I have removed from this people My peace, My loving devotion, and My compassion,” declares the LORD.”Jeremiah may not join a funeral meal because God has withdrawn His peace, loving devotion, and compassion.
- Jeremiah 16:8-9 (BSB)“You must not enter a house where there is feasting and sit down with them to eat and drink. For this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: I am going to remove from this place, before your very eyes and in your days, the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of the bride and bridegroom.”Jeremiah may not join a feast because God will end the sounds of joy and weddings in his own days.
- Jeremiah 7:34 (BSB)“I will remove from the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem the sounds of joy and gladness and the voices of the bride and bridegroom, for the land will become a wasteland.””An earlier oracle announces the same end of joy and wedding celebrations in Judah.
- Jeremiah 25:10 (BSB)“Moreover, I will banish from them the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of the bride and bridegroom, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the lamp.”A later oracle repeats the silencing of joy and weddings as part of the coming judgment.
General
The LORD told Jeremiah not to take a wife or have children in that place. What reason did the LORD give (Jeremiah 16:1-4)?
Answer: The children born there would die of disease, sword, and famine
The LORD forbade Jeremiah to marry or to have sons and daughters in that place (16:1-2). The reason concerned the coming judgment: the children born in the land, and the mothers and fathers who brought them into the world, would die of terrible diseases and be cut down by war and hunger (16:3-4). No one would grieve over them or bury them, and their bodies would be left for birds and wild animals (16:4). Jeremiah’s own life became a living sign, a message acted out, that family life in Judah was about to be swept away. Ezekiel was likewise made a sign to the people through his own household (Ezekiel 24:16, 24), and Moses had warned that disobedience would leave bodies unburied, left to birds and wild animals (Deuteronomy 28:26).
- Jeremiah 16:1-2 (BSB)“Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “You must not marry or have sons or daughters in this place.””The LORD forbids Jeremiah to marry or to have children in the land.
- Jeremiah 16:3-4 (BSB)“For this is what the LORD says concerning the sons and daughters born in this place, and the mothers who bore them, and the fathers who fathered them in this land: “They will die from deadly diseases. They will not be mourned or buried, but will lie like dung on the ground. They will be finished off by sword and famine, and their corpses will become food for the birds of the air and beasts of the earth.””The LORD explains that the children and parents of that land will perish unmourned and unburied.
- Ezekiel 24:16 (BSB)““Son of man, behold, I am about to take away the desire of your eyes with a fatal blow. But you must not mourn or weep or let your tears flow.”Ezekiel’s personal loss and forbidden mourning also became a sign to the people.
- Ezekiel 24:24 (BSB)“‘Thus Ezekiel will be a sign for you; you will do everything that he has done. When this happens, you will know that I am the Lord GOD.’”The LORD says outright that His prophet’s life is a sign the people will share.
- Deuteronomy 28:26 (BSB)“Your corpses will be food for all the birds of the air and beasts of the earth, with no one to scare them away.”The covenant warned that unburied bodies would be left to birds and wild animals.
Theological
What rationale does Jeremiah 16:1-4 give for the command that Jeremiah remain unmarried and childless in the land?
Answer: The children born there would die of disease, sword, and famine
The prohibition (16:1-2) is a sign-act rooted in the coming judgment. The children born in the land, together with their parents, would perish of deadly diseases, sword, and famine, unmourned and unburied, their corpses left as food for birds and beasts (16:3-4). The prophet’s unmarried, childless life embodied the message that the ordinary hopes of family life in Judah were ending. Ezekiel’s household was similarly made a sign to Israel (Ezekiel 24:16, 24), and the unburied dead fulfill the covenant curse that corpses would be left to birds and wild animals (Deuteronomy 28:26).
- Jeremiah 16:1-2 (BSB)“Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “You must not marry or have sons or daughters in this place.””The LORD forbids Jeremiah to marry or to have children in the land.
- Jeremiah 16:3-4 (BSB)“For this is what the LORD says concerning the sons and daughters born in this place, and the mothers who bore them, and the fathers who fathered them in this land: “They will die from deadly diseases. They will not be mourned or buried, but will lie like dung on the ground. They will be finished off by sword and famine, and their corpses will become food for the birds of the air and beasts of the earth.””The LORD explains that the children and parents of that land will perish unmourned and unburied.
- Ezekiel 24:16 (BSB)““Son of man, behold, I am about to take away the desire of your eyes with a fatal blow. But you must not mourn or weep or let your tears flow.”Ezekiel’s personal loss and forbidden mourning also became a sign to the people.
- Ezekiel 24:24 (BSB)“‘Thus Ezekiel will be a sign for you; you will do everything that he has done. When this happens, you will know that I am the Lord GOD.’”The LORD says outright that His prophet’s life is a sign the people will share.
- Deuteronomy 28:26 (BSB)“Your corpses will be food for all the birds of the air and beasts of the earth, with no one to scare them away.”The covenant warned that unburied bodies would be left to birds and wild animals.
General
When the people asked what sin had brought this disaster on them, what answer was Jeremiah to give (Jeremiah 16:10-13)?
Answer: Their ancestors had abandoned God for idols, and they had done even worse
The LORD expected the people to ask why such disaster had been announced and what wrong they had done (16:10). Jeremiah was to answer that their fathers had forsaken the LORD, gone after other gods, and not kept His law (16:11). Yet the present generation was worse: each one obstinately followed his own wicked desires instead of listening to God (16:12). So the LORD would throw them out of the land into a country unknown to them, where they would worship other gods continually (16:13). This fulfilled Moses’ warning about exile to an unknown nation (Deuteronomy 28:36) and matches the LORD’s earlier charge that they had sinned even worse than their fathers (Jeremiah 7:26).
- Jeremiah 16:10-11 (BSB)“When you tell these people all these things, they will ask you, ‘Why has the LORD pronounced all this great disaster against us? What is our iniquity? What is the sin that we have committed against the LORD our God?’ Then you are to answer them: ‘It is because your fathers have forsaken Me, declares the LORD, and followed other gods, and served and worshiped them. They abandoned Me and did not keep My instruction.”The people ask what their sin is, and the LORD points to their fathers’ idolatry and disobedience.
- Jeremiah 16:12-13 (BSB)“And you have done more evil than your fathers. See how each of you follows the stubbornness of his evil heart instead of obeying Me. So I will cast you out of this land into a land that neither you nor your fathers have known. There you will serve other gods day and night, for I will show you no favor.’”The present generation has done worse, so the LORD will expel them to an unknown land.
- Deuteronomy 28:36 (BSB)“The LORD will bring you and the king you appoint to a nation neither you nor your fathers have known, and there you will worship other gods—gods of wood and stone.”Moses warned that disobedience would bring exile to an unknown nation and the worship of other gods.
- Jeremiah 7:26 (BSB)“Yet they would not listen to Me or incline their ear, but they stiffened their necks and did more evil than their fathers.”The LORD had already charged this generation with doing more evil than their fathers.
Theological
According to Jeremiah 16:10-13, how does the LORD answer the people’s protest that they do not know what iniquity has brought judgment on them?
Answer: Their ancestors had abandoned God for idols, and they had done even worse
The people’s question (16:10) shows how blind they were to their own guilt. The answer indicts two generations: the fathers forsook the LORD, served other gods, and abandoned His law (16:11), and the present generation exceeded them, each walking in the stubbornness of an evil heart rather than obeying (16:12). The sentence fits the sin: those who loved other gods will be expelled to an unknown land and serve those gods continually, without favor (16:13). Their own guilt, not merely their fathers’, is charged against them. The penalty is the exile Moses foretold (Deuteronomy 28:36), and the charge repeats Jeremiah 7:26.
- Jeremiah 16:10-11 (BSB)“When you tell these people all these things, they will ask you, ‘Why has the LORD pronounced all this great disaster against us? What is our iniquity? What is the sin that we have committed against the LORD our God?’ Then you are to answer them: ‘It is because your fathers have forsaken Me, declares the LORD, and followed other gods, and served and worshiped them. They abandoned Me and did not keep My instruction.”The people ask what their sin is, and the LORD points to their fathers’ idolatry and disobedience.
- Jeremiah 16:12-13 (BSB)“And you have done more evil than your fathers. See how each of you follows the stubbornness of his evil heart instead of obeying Me. So I will cast you out of this land into a land that neither you nor your fathers have known. There you will serve other gods day and night, for I will show you no favor.’”The present generation has done worse, so the LORD will expel them to an unknown land.
- Deuteronomy 28:36 (BSB)“The LORD will bring you and the king you appoint to a nation neither you nor your fathers have known, and there you will worship other gods—gods of wood and stone.”Moses warned that disobedience would bring exile to an unknown nation and the worship of other gods.
- Jeremiah 7:26 (BSB)“Yet they would not listen to Me or incline their ear, but they stiffened their necks and did more evil than their fathers.”The LORD had already charged this generation with doing more evil than their fathers.