Topical Bible: Murmuring: Jeremiah

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Murmuring, a recurrent theme in the Bible, is often associated with discontent, rebellion, and a lack of faith in God's providence. In the context of the prophet Jeremiah, murmuring is particularly significant as it reflects the spiritual and moral state of the people of Judah during a time of impending judgment and exile.

Jeremiah, known as the "weeping prophet," was called by God to deliver messages of warning and hope to the people of Judah. His ministry took place during a tumultuous period in the late 7th and early 6th centuries BC, leading up to the Babylonian exile. The people of Judah, however, frequently responded to Jeremiah's prophecies with murmuring and resistance.

In Jeremiah 11:18-19, the prophet reveals the plots against his life, saying, "The LORD informed me, so I knew. Then You showed me their deeds. For I was like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter. I did not know that they had devised plots against me, saying, 'Let us destroy the tree with its fruit; let us cut him off from the land of the living, that his name may be remembered no more.'" This passage highlights the murmuring and conspiracies of the people against Jeremiah, who faithfully delivered God's message despite their hostility.

The murmuring against Jeremiah was not merely personal but indicative of a broader spiritual rebellion against God. The people of Judah often murmured against God's commands and His chosen messengers, preferring to follow false prophets who promised peace and prosperity without repentance. In Jeremiah 5:31, it is written, "The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own authority. My people love it this way, but what will you do in the end?" This verse underscores the people's preference for comforting lies over the hard truths delivered by Jeremiah, reflecting their murmuring hearts.

Jeremiah 18:18 further illustrates the people's murmuring and rejection of God's word: "Then they said, 'Come, let us devise a plan against Jeremiah, for the law will not be lost to the priest, nor counsel to the wise, nor an oracle to the prophet. Come, let us denounce him and pay no heed to any of his words.'" Here, the people's murmuring manifests in active plans to silence Jeremiah, demonstrating their unwillingness to heed God's warnings.

The murmuring of the people of Judah ultimately led to severe consequences. Their refusal to listen to Jeremiah's warnings and their persistent rebellion against God resulted in the Babylonian exile, a period of great suffering and loss. Jeremiah 25:11-12 prophesies this outcome: "This whole land will become a desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon for seventy years. But when the seventy years are complete, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their guilt, declares the LORD, and I will make it a perpetual desolation."

In summary, the theme of murmuring in the book of Jeremiah serves as a poignant reminder of the dangers of spiritual rebellion and the importance of heeding God's word. The people's murmuring against Jeremiah and their rejection of divine warnings led to their downfall, illustrating the consequences of turning away from God's truth.

Nave's Topical Index

Jeremiah 20:14-18
Cursed be the day wherein I was born: let not the day wherein my mother bore me be blessed.
Nave's Topical Index

Lamentations 3:1
I AM the man that has seen affliction by the rod of his wrath.
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Library

How those who Fear Scourges and those who Contemn them are to be ...
... saying, We have taken care for Babylon, and she is not healed (Jeremiah 51:9 ... who,
when subjected to strokes, breaks out into a sound of murmuring is turned into ...
/.../leo/writings of leo the great/chapter xiii how those who.htm

Honour Your Youthful Bishop.
... [649] In like manner, Jeremiah also received ... For God says to Samuel, "They have not
mocked thee, but Me." [655] And Moses declares, "For their murmuring is not ...
/.../chapter iii honour your youthful bishop.htm

Answer to Objections: He who Prays Prays not Alone
... in the words "If you withdraw your bonds and protests and murmuring utterance,"
for ... second instance is in the Books of the Maccabees where Jeremiah appears in ...
/.../origen/origen on prayer/chapter vi answer to objections .htm

Discourse on Spiritual Food and True Discipleship. Peter's ...
... And I will raise him up in the last day.45 It is written in the prophets [Isaiah
54:13; Jeremiah 31:33, 34; Joel 3:16, 17 ... [Jesus rebukes their murmuring as out ...
/.../mcgarvey/the four-fold gospel/lxiv discourse on spiritual food.htm

"And we all do Fade as a Leaf, and Our Iniquities, Like the Wind ...
... that God cannot go beyond it in punishment; and therefore Jeremiah, when he ... this
wholesome counsel got Job of his friends,"to stay his murmuring and grudging ...
/.../binning/the works of the rev hugh binning/sermon xvii and we all.htm

The Return of the Exiles
... of the years, whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet ... The murmuring
and complaining, and the unfavorable comparisons made, had a depressing ...
/.../white/the story of prophets and kings/chapter 45 the return of.htm

Acts v. 34
... is the like of this recorded of the old saints: for Jeremiah indeed was ... when the
disciples were multiplying"also, it says, "there arose a murmuring." (ch. ...
/.../chrysostom/homilies on acts and romans/homily xiv acts v 34.htm

To the Bishops of Africa.
... is essence, and means nothing else but very being, which Jeremiah calls existence ...
but for that very reason are constantly opposing and murmuring, because it is ...
/.../athanasius/select works and letters or athanasius/to the bishops of africa.htm

Jer. 6:16 the Good Way.
... In every class you will find trouble, care, sorrow, anxiety, murmuring, discontent,
and ... you rest." "Walk in the old paths," says the prophet Jeremiah, "and you ...
/.../ryle/the upper room being a few truths for the times/chapter v jer 6 16 the.htm

The Godly are in Some Sense Already Blessed
... This is clear by comparing two scriptures: I will be their God', (Jeremiah 31:33),
and Happy ... How may this take away murmuring and melancholy from a child of God ...
/.../watson/the beatitudes an exposition of matthew 51-12/3 the godly are in.htm