Jeremiah 14:10
This is what the LORD says about this people: "Truly they love to wander; they have not restrained their feet. So the LORD does not accept them; He will now remember their guilt and call their sins to account."
This is what the LORD says about this people:

Yahweh speaks as Israel’s covenant God and judge. Judah’s rebellion has not escaped His notice, and His verdict carries the full authority of the One who redeemed them and gave them His law.

Jer 13:10 These evil people, who refuse to listen to My words,…
Jer 5:23 But these people have stubborn and rebellious hearts.…
Isa 30:9 These are rebellious people, deceitful children,…

“Truly they love to wander;

Judah has repeatedly turned from the Lord to idols and foreign alliances. Their wandering is not merely weakness or confusion; it reveals settled affection for ways that lead away from God.

Jer 2:23 How can you say, ‘I am not defiled; I have not run after……
Hos 11:7 My people are bent on turning from Me, though they call…
Isa 53:6 We all like sheep have gone astray, each one has turned…

they have not restrained their feet.

The people have willingly continued along paths of disobedience. Though God sent prophets to call them back, they refused to stop pursuing sin and forsaking His commands.

Psa 119:101 I have kept my feet from every evil path,…
Pro 4:27 Do not swerve to the right or to the left;…
Pro 1:16 For their feet run to evil, and they are swift…

So the LORD does not accept them;

Their sacrifices, prayers, and outward religious acts could not restore fellowship while their hearts remained committed to rebellion. God rejects worship offered without repentance and obedience.

Mal 1:10 Oh, that one of you would shut the temple doors…
Jer 6:20 What use to Me is frankincense from Sheba or sweet cane…
Isa 1:15 When you spread out your hands in prayer…

He will now remember their iniquity

God’s remembrance brings their accumulated guilt before His judgment. The sins Judah had treated lightly would no longer be overlooked or delayed.

Hos 8:13 Though they offer sacrifices as gifts to Me…
Hos 7:2 But they fail to consider in their hearts that I remember…
Ezk 21:24 Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says:…

and punish them for their sins.”

The coming judgment would include invasion, famine, and exile through Babylon (meaning “gate of God”). God’s discipline would reveal both His holiness and the seriousness of covenant unfaithfulness, while preserving the hope of future restoration for those who would truly return to Him.

Hos 9:9 They have deeply corrupted themselves as in the days…
Lev 26:28 then I will walk in fury against you, and I, even I…
Jer 16:18 And I will first repay them double their iniquity…

Persons / Places / Events
1. The LORD (Yahweh)
The covenant God of Israel, who is speaking through the prophet Jeremiah.

2. Jeremiah
The prophet chosen by God to deliver His messages to the people of Judah.

3. The People of Judah
The audience of Jeremiah's prophecy, who are being rebuked for their unfaithfulness and idolatry.

4. Wandering
A metaphor for the spiritual unfaithfulness and idolatry of the people.

5. Iniquity and Punishment
The consequences of the people's persistent sin and rebellion against God.
Teaching Points
The Danger of Spiritual Wandering
Just as the people of Judah loved to wander, Christians today must guard against spiritual drift and unfaithfulness.

The Importance of Restraint
The lack of restraint in the people's actions led to their downfall. Believers are called to exercise self-control and discipline in their walk with God.

God's Justice and Mercy
While God is just and will remember iniquity, His desire is for repentance and restoration. Understanding both aspects of God's character is crucial.

The Consequences of Sin
Persistent sin leads to separation from God and eventual judgment. This serves as a warning to live a life of holiness and obedience.

The Call to Repentance
The passage underscores the need for genuine repentance and turning back to God to avoid the consequences of sin.
Bible Study Questions
1. What does the metaphor of "wandering" reveal about the spiritual state of the people of Judah, and how can we apply this understanding to our own spiritual lives?

2. How does the concept of God "not accepting" the people challenge our understanding of His grace and justice?

3. In what ways can we practice restraint in our daily lives to prevent spiritual wandering?

4. How do the consequences described in Jeremiah 14:10 compare to the warnings found in the New Testament, such as in Romans 1:28?

5. What steps can we take to ensure that we are living a life of repentance and obedience, avoiding the pitfalls of the people of Judah?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Isaiah 1:4
This verse also speaks of a rebellious nation, laden with iniquity, similar to the description in Jeremiah 14:10.

Hosea 11:7
Highlights the people's tendency to turn away from God, paralleling the "wandering" mentioned in Jeremiah.

Psalm 81:12
God giving people over to their stubborn hearts, similar to the consequences described in Jeremiah 14:10.

Romans 1:28
Discusses God giving people over to a depraved mind, reflecting the idea of God not accepting those who persist in sin.

Hebrews 3:10
Speaks of a people who go astray in their hearts, echoing the theme of wandering.
The Severities of Jehovah - Sword, Famine, and PestilenceD. Young Jeremiah 14:10-12
Jehovah's Refusal to Allow Intercession to PrevailC. Keil.Jeremiah 14:10-16
People
Jeremiah
Places
Jerusalem, Zion
Topics
Accept, Accepted, Account, Check, Delight, Glad, Greatly, Iniquity, Inspect, Kept, Love, Loved, Mind, Pleasure, Punish, Punishment, Refrained, Remember, Restrain, Restrained, Says, Sin, Sins, Thus, Visit, Wander, Wandering, Wickedness, Wrongdoing
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Jeremiah 14:10

     5933   restlessness
     5934   restraint
     8302   love, abuse of
     8339   self-control

Jeremiah 14:10-12

     5773   abstinence, discipline
     6603   acceptance, divine
     8617   prayer, effective

Library
Triumphant Prayer
'O Lord, though our iniquities testify against us, do Thou it for Thy name's sake: for our backslidings are many; we have sinned against Thee. 8. O the hope of Israel, the saviour thereof in time of trouble, why shouldest Thou be as a stranger in the land, and as a wayfaring man that turneth aside to tarry for a night? 9. Why shouldest Thou be as a man astonied, as a mighty man that cannot save? yet Thou, O Lord, art in the midst of us, and we are called by Thy name; leave us not.'--JER. xiv. 7-9.
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

How Christ is the Way in General, "I am the Way. "
We come now to speak more particularly to the words; and, first, Of his being a way. Our design being to point at the way of use-making of Christ in all our necessities, straits, and difficulties which are in our way to heaven; and particularly to point out the way how believers should make use of Christ in all their particular exigencies; and so live by faith in him, walk in him, grow up in him, advance and march forward toward glory in him. It will not be amiss to speak of this fulness of Christ
John Brown (of Wamphray)—Christ The Way, The Truth, and The Life

The First Commandment
Thou shalt have no other gods before me.' Exod 20: 3. Why is the commandment in the second person singular, Thou? Why does not God say, You shall have no other gods? Because the commandment concerns every one, and God would have each one take it as spoken to him by name. Though we are forward to take privileges to ourselves, yet we are apt to shift off duties from ourselves to others; therefore the commandment is in the second person, Thou and Thou, that every one may know that it is spoken to him,
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments

Question of the Contemplative Life
I. Is the Contemplative Life wholly confined to the Intellect, or does the Will enter into it? S. Thomas, On the Beatific Vision, I., xii. 7 ad 3m II. Do the Moral Virtues pertain to the Contemplative Life? S. Augustine, Of the City of God, xix. 19 III. Does the Contemplative Life comprise many Acts? S. Augustine, Of the Perfection of Human Righteousness, viii. 18 " Ep., cxxx. ad probam IV. Does the Contemplative Life consist solely in the Contemplation of God, or in the Consideration
St. Thomas Aquinas—On Prayer and The Contemplative Life

A Message from the Crowned Christ
(Revelation, Chapters ii and iii) "The glory of love is brightest when the glory of self is dim, And they have the most compelled me who most have pointed to Him. They have held me, stirred me, swayed me,--I have hung on their every word, Till I fain would arise and follow, not them, not them,--but their Lord!"[64] Patmos Spells Patience. Patience is strength at its strongest, using all its strength in holding back from doing something. Patience is love at flood pleading with strength to hold steady
by S. D. Gordon—Quiet Talks on the Crowned Christ of Revelation

Jeremiah
The interest of the book of Jeremiah is unique. On the one hand, it is our most reliable and elaborate source for the long period of history which it covers; on the other, it presents us with prophecy in its most intensely human phase, manifesting itself through a strangely attractive personality that was subject to like doubts and passions with ourselves. At his call, in 626 B.C., he was young and inexperienced, i. 6, so that he cannot have been born earlier than 650. The political and religious
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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