CHAPTER 14

The Great Drought, the Sword, the Famine, and the Pestilence

1. The description of the drought (Jeremiah 14:1-6)

2. The prophet’s priestly intercession (Jeremiah 14:7-9)

3. The answer (Jeremiah 14:10-18)

4. The renewed prayer (Jeremiah 14:19-22)

Jeremiah 14:1-6. The vivid description of the great drought is given in these verses. The little ones sent forth for water returned empty handed. It is the picture of distress.

Jeremiah 14:7-9. And now the prophet’s voice as intercessor is heard. Like Daniel (chapter 9), in his great prayer Jeremiah acknowledges the nation’s sin as his own. But he trusts in the Lord and knows that He is “the hope of Israel,” the Saviour. Blessed statements of faith which came from His lips: “Thou, O LORD, art in the midst of us--we are called by Thy Name--leave us not” (Jeremiah 14:9) ! The Saviour and hope of Israel has surely not given up His people, though judgment had to do its work.

Jeremiah 14:10-18. They wandered away from Him, saith the Lord in answering Jeremiah. Their iniquities will be remembered and their sins visited. This is the demand of a righteous God. He is not going to hear their cry; the sword of the famine and the pestilence will consume them. Jeremiah tells the Lord about the message of the false prophets. They had promised peace, just as the false teachers in Christendom do today. But they prophesied lies in His name; He had not sent them, nor commanded them nor had He spoken to them.

Jeremiah 14:19-22. What soul stirring petitions these are. It is not the impenitent nation which speaks, but the prophet is pleading in the place of the people and for them.