7 The priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the Lord. 8 And when Jeremiah had finished speaking all that the Lord had commanded him to speak to all the people, then the priests and the prophets and all the people laid hold of him, saying, “You shall die! 9 Why have you prophesied in the name of the Lord, saying, ‘This house shall be like Shiloh, and this city shall be desolate, without inhabitant’?” And all the people gathered around Jeremiah in the house of the Lord. 10 When the officials of Judah heard these things, they came up from the king’s house to the house of the Lord and took their seat in the entry of the New Gate of the house of the Lord. 11 Then the priests and the prophets said to the officials and to all the people, “This man deserves the sentence of death, because he has prophesied against this city, as you have heard with your own ears.” 12 Then Jeremiah spoke to all the officials and all the people, saying, “The Lord sent me to prophesy against this house and this city all the words you have heard. 13 Now therefore mend your ways and your deeds, and obey the voice of the Lord your God, and the Lord will relent of the disaster that he has pronounced against you. 14 But as for me, behold, I am in your hands. Do with me as seems good and right to you. 15 Only know for certain that if you put me to death, you will bring innocent blood upon yourselves and upon this city and its inhabitants, for in truth the Lord sent me to you to speak all these words in your ears.”
Jeremiah 26:1-15
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Mend Your Ways
The human heart wants nothing to do with the Word of the Lord. Our flesh fights against the living God. We are born in open rebellion against God. It takes God himself to come and lay waste the buildings built on our sandy sinful hearts. He lays waste and then builds new. He builds on the rock that is his Son, our Lord, Jesus Christ. God takes the innocent blood of his Son, Jesus and uses it to pay for your release. The sinful flesh does not know what to do with this. It counts it foolishness and a stumbling block. So the message still comes to you and me. Repent of your sins. Amend your sinful ways. Fix your eyes on Jesus and meditate upon his Word alone. The Lord is merciful and mighty. He desires that you put aside your sin and your childish ways and come to him. Rest yourself in the grace of Jesus. He suffered and died for you and rose that you could live with him forever. Thanks be to God.

26 In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came from the Lord: 2 “Thus says the Lord: Stand in the court of the Lord’s house, and speak to all the cities of Judah that come to worship in the house of the Lord all the words that I command you to speak to them; do not hold back a word. 3 It may be they will listen, and every one turn from his evil way, that I may relent of the disaster that I intend to do to them because of their evil deeds. 4 You shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord: If you will not listen to me, to walk in my law that I have set before you, 5 and to listen to the words of my servants the prophets whom I send to you urgently, though you have not listened, 6 then I will make this house like Shiloh, and I will make this city a curse for all the nations of the earth.’”
Jeremiah 26:1-6
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No Holding Back
The Lord sends Jeremiah into the thick of things. Jeremiah has a difficult sermon to preach, but God tells him that the people may repent. If they repent, he will relent. This is the way of the living God. He always shows his mercy and his love. He sends his message of repentance and reconciliation to you and me. His desire is that we all turn from our sins and live. This is the Lord's doing. He sent forth his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, to die that you would have life. He sent Jesus to suffer the cross that you would never be forsaken. His desire is that he relent and not destroy. His delight is to bind up and to restore and make new. He has made you new as his Word is preached in the thick of the things of your life. Difficult sermons are still being preached so that everyone might live. Thanks be to God for  pastors who stands like Jeremiah and preach the Word in season and out of season to all kinds of ears.

33 “And those pierced by the Lord on that day shall extend from one end of the earth to the other. They shall not be lamented, or gathered, or buried; they shall be dung on the surface of the ground.
34 “Wail, you shepherds, and cry out,
and roll in ashes, you lords of the flock,
for the days of your slaughter and dispersion have come,
and you shall fall like a choice vessel.
35 No refuge will remain for the shepherds,
nor escape for the lords of the flock.
36 A voice—the cry of the shepherds,
and the wail of the lords of the flock!
For the Lord is laying waste their pasture,
37 and the peaceful folds are devastated
because of the fierce anger of the Lord.
38 Like a lion he has left his lair,
for their land has become a waste
because of the sword of the oppressor,
and because of his fierce anger.”
Jeremiah 25:33-38
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Like a Lion
There is only one response for sin and rebellion. Our open rebellion and the sin of our fathers causes great wrath. The Lord must punish. The shepherds were charged with keeping the Lord's sheep and they did not. In the face of all the world's enticing words and pleasures, the Lord's servants must remain faithful. The world's gifts are always fleeting. The pleasures of the human heart alway fade. The joy that the world gives breaks under the weight of sorrow and pain. Not so with the peace and joy that Jesus gives. He is faithful even when we are not. He rescues and saves in a most peculiar way. He takes our place under the heat of God's wrath. He takes our punishment and endures the edge of the sword. All this he does so that you would live with him. This is the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep. He picks it back up again and leads you to the best quiet water and the greenest pastures. 

27 “Then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Drink, be drunk and vomit, fall and rise no more, because of the sword that I am sending among you.’
28 “And if they refuse to accept the cup from your hand to drink, then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: You must drink! 29 For behold, I begin to work disaster at the city that is called by my name, and shall you go unpunished? You shall not go unpunished, for I am summoning a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth, declares the Lord of hosts.’
30 “You, therefore, shall prophesy against them all these words, and say to them:
                        “‘The Lord will roar from on high,
and from his holy habitation utter his voice;
                        he will roar mightily against his fold,
and shout, like those who tread grapes,
against all the inhabitants of the earth.
            31          The clamor will resound to the ends of the earth,
for the Lord has an indictment against the nations;
                        he is entering into judgment with all flesh,
and the wicked he will put to the sword,
declares the Lord.’
            32          “Thus says the Lord of hosts:
                        Behold, disaster is going forth
from nation to nation,
                        and a great tempest is stirring
from the farthest parts of the earth!
Jeremiah 25:27-32
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The Storm from the North
Jeremiah’s words are terrifying. The Lord announces judgment upon the nations because of their rebellion and sin. No one escapes by strength, status, or distance. The “storm” sweeping from the north is God’s righteous wrath against evil. This judgment reveals the seriousness of sin before a holy God. Humanity cannot stand on its own before the Lord’s justice. Yet even here, Christians see the shadow of the cross. The cup of wrath that the nations deserved is the cup Christ willingly drank for sinners. On Calvary, Jesus bore the judgment we earned. The storm of God’s wrath fell upon Him so that forgiveness and peace could be given to us. When the world trembles and consciences accuse, we flee not to ourselves but to Christ crucified. In Him, the Judge of all becomes our Savior. Through His cross, the fearful cup of wrath becomes instead the cup of salvation.

15 Thus the Lord, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take from my hand this cup of the wine of wrath, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it. 16 They shall drink and stagger and be crazed because of the sword that I am sending among them.”
17 So I took the cup from the Lord’s hand, and made all the nations to whom the Lord sent me drink it: 18 Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, its kings and officials, to make them a desolation and a waste, a hissing and a curse, as at this day; 19 Pharaoh king of Egypt, his servants, his officials, all his people, 20 and all the mixed tribes among them; all the kings of the land of Uz and all the kings of the land of the Philistines (Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod); 21 Edom, Moab, and the sons of Ammon; 22 all the kings of Tyre, all the kings of Sidon, and the kings of the coastland across the sea; 23 Dedan, Tema, Buz, and all who cut the corners of their hair; 24 all the kings of Arabia and all the kings of the mixed tribes who dwell in the desert; 25 all the kings of Zimri, all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of Media; 26 all the kings of the north, far and near, one after another, and all the kingdoms of the world that are on the face of the earth. And after them the king of Babylon shall drink.
Jeremiah 25:15-26
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The Cup of Wrath and Mercy
Jeremiah’s vision of the cup is terrifying. The Lord hands the nations the wine of His wrath because of their rebellion and idolatry. No kingdom, no ruler, no people could escape His righteous judgment. This judgment showed the certainty of God’s Word: what He declared against sin would surely come to pass. The same remains true today. God does not ignore wickedness, unbelief, or the corruption of the human heart. Yet the cup of wrath in Jeremiah points us forward to another cup. In Gethsemane, Jesus prayed about the cup His Father gave Him to drink. At the cross, Christ drank the full wrath of God against our sin. He bore the judgment we deserved so that forgiveness and mercy might be given to us instead. Because Christ has taken the cup of wrath, we now receive the cup of salvation in Him.

8 “Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: Because you have not obeyed my words, 9 behold, I will send for all the tribes of the north, declares the Lord, and for Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants, and against all these surrounding nations. I will devote them to destruction, and make them a horror, a hissing, and an everlasting desolation. 10 Moreover, I will banish from them the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the grinding of the millstones and the light of the lamp. 11 This whole land shall become a ruin and a waste, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. 12 Then after seventy years are completed, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity, declares the Lord, making the land an everlasting waste. 13 I will bring upon that land all the words that I have uttered against it, everything written in this book, which Jeremiah prophesied against all the nations. 14 For many nations and great kings shall make slaves even of them, and I will recompense them according to their deeds and the work of their hands.”
Jeremiah 25:8-14
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The Lord’s Word Stands Forever
Jeremiah spoke hard words to a stubborn people. Because Judah refused to hear the Lord’s prophets, judgment would come through Babylon. The people trusted in outward appearances and empty religion while despising the very Word that gave them life. Judah’s destruction was not random disaster but the Lord’s righteous judgment against persistent unbelief and idolatry. Yet even here, the Lord set limits to Babylon’s power and promised that evil would not reign forever. God still warns through His Word today. Sin carries consequences, and hearts hardened against repentance invite judgment. Yet the Lord’s purpose is not destruction alone but repentance and faith. At the cross, Christ bore the judgment we deserved. There the wrath of God against sin was poured out upon His own Son so that mercy might be given to sinners. In Christ, the Lord’s final Word to you is not condemnation, but forgiveness, life, and salvation.
 

25 The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah (that was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon), 2 which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the people of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem: 3 “For twenty-three years, from the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, to this day, the word of the Lord has come to me, and I have spoken persistently to you, but you have not listened. 4 You have neither listened nor inclined your ears to hear, although the Lord persistently sent to you all his servants the prophets, 5 saying, ‘Turn now, every one of you, from his evil way and evil deeds, and dwell upon the land that the Lord has given to you and your fathers from of old and forever. 6 Do not go after other gods to serve and worship them, or provoke me to anger with the work of your hands. Then I will do you no harm.’ 7 Yet you have not listened to me, declares the Lord, that you might provoke me to anger with the work of your hands to your own harm.
Jeremiah 25:1-7
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The Lord Who Keeps Sending
Jeremiah preached during a time when Judah had grown comfortable in unbelief. The Lord had sent His prophets again and again, calling His people to repentance, yet they would not listen. They chased after false gods, trusted in themselves, and despised the Word of the Lord. Still, the Lord continued to send His messengers. That persistence reveals both His justice and His mercy. God desires not the destruction of sinners, but their repentance. We are no different by nature. We ignore God’s Word, cling to idols of comfort and pride, and refuse to hear correction. Yet the Lord still sends His Word to us through preaching, Scripture, and the Church. Above all, He sent His Son. Jesus bore the judgment our rebellion deserved when He went to the cross. There the wrath proclaimed by Jeremiah fell upon Christ instead of us. Through His death and resurrection, sinners are forgiven and restored. Today, hear His voice and do not harden your heart.

24 After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken into exile from Jerusalem Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, together with the officials of Judah, the craftsmen, and the metal workers, and had brought them to Babylon, the Lord showed me this vision: behold, two baskets of figs placed before the temple of the Lord. 2 One basket had very good figs, like first-ripe figs, but the other basket had very bad figs, so bad that they could not be eaten. 3 And the Lord said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” I said, “Figs, the good figs very good, and the bad figs very bad, so bad that they cannot be eaten.”
4 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 5 “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Like these good figs, so I will regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I have sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans. 6 I will set my eyes on them for good, and I will bring them back to this land. I will build them up, and not tear them down; I will plant them, and not pluck them up. 7 I will give them a heart to know that I am the Lord, and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart.
8 “But thus says the Lord: Like the bad figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten, so will I treat Zedekiah the king of Judah, his officials, the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those who dwell in the land of Egypt. 9 I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a reproach, a byword, a taunt, and a curse in all the places where I shall drive them. 10 And I will send sword, famine, and pestilence upon them, until they shall be utterly destroyed from the land that I gave to them and their fathers.”
Jeremiah 24:1-10
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Baskets Before the Lord
Jeremiah saw two baskets of figs set before the temple. One basket held good figs; the other, rotten ones. The surprise is that the “good figs” were the exiles carried away to Babylon. Though their suffering was painful, the Lord was working for their good. He promised to watch over them, bring them back, and give them hearts to know Him. The rotten figs were those who trusted in appearances and remained secure in Jerusalem while rejecting the Lord’s Word. God’s discipline was not abandonment but mercy. The exile was a call to repentance and faith. So also the cross often enters our lives in ways we would never choose. Yet God works through suffering to drive us away from pride and into His promises. Christ Himself bore the exile of sin upon the cross. In Him, God gives you a new heart that knows the Lord and rests in His mercy forever.

33 “When one of this people, or a prophet or a priest asks you, ‘What is the burden of the Lord?’ you shall say to them, ‘You are the burden, and I will cast you off, declares the Lord.’ 34 And as for the prophet, priest, or one of the people who says, ‘The burden of the Lord,’ I will punish that man and his household. 35 Thus shall you say, every one to his neighbor and every one to his brother, ‘What has the Lord answered?’ or ‘What has the Lord spoken?’ 36 But ‘the burden of the Lord’ you shall mention no more, for the burden is every man’s own word, and you pervert the words of the living God, the Lord of hosts, our God. 37 Thus you shall say to the prophet, ‘What has the Lord answered you?’ or ‘What has the Lord spoken?’ 38 But if you say, ‘The burden of the Lord,’ thus says the Lord, ‘Because you have said these words, “The burden of the Lord,” when I sent to you, saying, “You shall not say, ‘The burden of the Lord,’ ” 39 therefore, behold, I will surely lift you up and cast you away from my presence, you and the city that I gave to you and your fathers. 40 And I will bring upon you everlasting reproach and perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.’”
Jeremiah 23:33-40
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The Burden Removed
False prophets in Jeremiah’s day treated God’s Word like a joke. They tossed around the phrase “the burden of the LORD” as though His Word were something tiresome, heavy, or optional. But the Lord warns that those who twist His Word for their own purposes bring judgment upon themselves. God’s Word is not a plaything. It is living and active, speaking both Law and Gospel. The Law exposes our sin, especially when we despise or ignore what God has spoken. We, too, are tempted to reshape God’s Word into something easier for our ears. Yet Christ came to bear the true burden we could never carry. He carried the weight of our sin to the cross and endured God’s judgment in our place. Because of Jesus, the Word that convicts us also comforts us. In Christ, God does not cast you away. He forgives, restores, and speaks peace through His holy Word. Hear Him gladly, for His Word gives life.

23 “Am I a God at hand, declares the Lord, and not a God far away? 24 Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the Lord. 25 I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy lies in my name, saying, ‘I have dreamed, I have dreamed!’ 26 How long shall there be lies in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies, and who prophesy the deceit of their own heart, 27 who think to make my people forget my name by their dreams that they tell one another, even as their fathers forgot my name for Baal? 28 Let the prophet who has a dream tell the dream, but let him who has my word speak my word faithfully. What has straw in common with wheat? declares the Lord. 29 Is not my word like fire, declares the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces? 30 Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, declares the Lord, who steal my words from one another. 31 Behold, I am against the prophets, declares the Lord, who use their tongues and declare, ‘declares the Lord.’ 32 Behold, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams, declares the Lord, and who tell them and lead my people astray by their lies and their recklessness, when I did not send them or charge them. So they do not profit this people at all, declares the Lord.
Jeremiah 23:23-32
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The God Who Is Near
False prophets in Jeremiah’s day claimed dreams and visions that did not come from the Lord. They spoke what itching ears wanted to hear instead of the hard truth of repentance and faith. Yet the Lord reminds His people that He is not a distant god who cannot see sin or judge wickedness. He is near. His Word is like fire and a hammer, breaking hardened hearts and exposing lies. We still face false teachers who replace God’s Word with human wisdom, feelings, or empty promises. But Christ does not leave His Church without truth. Through His preached Word, the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin and calls us to repentance. At the cross, the fire of God’s judgment fell upon Jesus for sinners. There the hammer of the Law crushed Him in our place so that forgiveness and life might be given to us. Therefore cling not to human dreams, but to Christ and His sure Word.

9 Concerning the prophets:
My heart is broken within me;
all my bones shake;
I am like a drunken man,
like a man overcome by wine,
because of the Lord
and because of his holy words.
10 For the land is full of adulterers;
because of the curse the land mourns,
and the pastures of the wilderness are dried up.
Their course is evil,
and their might is not right.
11 “Both prophet and priest are ungodly;
even in my house I have found their evil,
declares the Lord.
12 Therefore their way shall be to them
like slippery paths in the darkness,
into which they shall be driven and fall,
for I will bring disaster upon them
in the year of their punishment,
declares the Lord.
13 In the prophets of Samaria
I saw an unsavory thing:
they prophesied by Baal
and led my people Israel astray.
14 But in the prophets of Jerusalem
I have seen a horrible thing:
they commit adultery and walk in lies;
they strengthen the hands of evildoers,
so that no one turns from his evil;
all of them have become like Sodom to me,
and its inhabitants like Gomorrah.”
15 Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts concerning the prophets:
“Behold, I will feed them with bitter food
and give them poisoned water to drink,
for from the prophets of Jerusalem
ungodliness has gone out into all the land.”
Jeremiah 23:9-15
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Slippery Paths
The Lord will not have his prophets and teachers use anything else but his Holy Word to teach and lead his people. He has found that his prophets have departed from his Word. Their way is like a slippery path in the darkness. No good comes from a journey like that. False teaching, for prophets and for pastors, must be accounted for. The Church is his great jewel. He delights in the Christian. No attack upon the Church will go unchecked by the Lord God. "Vengeance is mine," says the Lord. Every pastor must give an account. How is this safeguarded? How is it prevented? The pastor must depend on the Word of God alone. Forsaking all others and any other gods, he must throw his whole self in the Scriptures. He must push away reason and selfishness and meditate and pray on the Bible. And what of you, O Christian? You must insist that your pastor give you Jesus. You must insist that he study and meditate on the Word of God. You must do the same to check his work. These are all gifts to you. The Holy Spirit is the one that calls you by the Gospel and enlightens you with the gifts of heaven. The Holy Spirit sanctifies and keeps you in the true faith with the Word accompanying him everywhere he goes. There, in the Word of God and in his holy Sacraments, Jesus if with us and for us. This is what God provides for you and insists upon. Nothing but Jesus.

23 “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” declares the Lord. 2 Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for my people: “You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the Lord. 3 Then I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. 4 I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the Lord. 5 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 6 In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’ 7 “Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when they shall no longer say, ‘As the Lord lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’ 8 but ‘As the Lord lives who brought up and led the offspring of the house of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he had driven them.’ Then they shall dwell in their own land.”
Jeremiah 23:1-8
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Woe To The Shepherds
The Lord has great concern for his people. He calls you sheep. He knows you need to be kept. You need someone to lead you to water and to green grass. Left to your own devices, you get lost, die of thirst, and starve. You are a master of making trouble for yourselves. You are also a tasty treat for the wolves: the devil, the world, and your own sinful nature. He wants good and reliable and faithful shepherds. Yet, the same enemies are tempting and attacking the shepherds, too. Many a shepherd has failed at his job. Indeed, many a false preacher and teacher has tried to pass as a shepherd in God's flock. They do not have God's will in mind. They have their own earthly gain in mind. God won't have his sheep destroyed and scattered. He sends the Good Shepherd. He sends his own. The hired hands care nothing for the sheep. Jesus cares for the sheep. The righteous Branch has arrived. He has suffered and died for the sheep. He has kept the sheep when no one else would or could. The blood of his cross binds up the wounded and nourishes the weak. He bids his sheep, you, come and be with him forever. So he sends his own undershepherds. They are sent with the Holy Spirit. The Word of God is their only rule and norm. The green pastures and the quiet waters you require are given there by Jesus' hand. 

24 “As I live, declares the Lord, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, were the signet ring on my right hand, yet I would tear you off 25 and give you into the hand of those who seek your life, into the hand of those of whom you are afraid, even into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of the Chaldeans. 26 I will hurl you and the mother who bore you into another country, where you were not born, and there you shall die. 27 But to the land to which they will long to return, there they shall not return.”
28 Is this man Coniah a despised, broken pot,
a vessel no one cares for?
Why are he and his children hurled and cast
into a land that they do not know?
29 O land, land, land,
hear the word of the Lord!
30 Thus says the Lord:
“Write this man down as childless,
a man who shall not succeed in his days,
for none of his offspring shall succeed
in sitting on the throne of David
and ruling again in Judah.”
Jeremiah 22:24-30
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Justice Dealt
Our sin has consequences. The rebellion that we have staged will not overthrow God or his reign. All of God's enemies fall by his hand. This is not an epic battle of equals with evil on one side and good on the other. There is no power that compares to the glory of the Lord God. Our sins must therefore be punished. God sends his people into exile in Babylon. We have pain and sorrow. By the sweat of your brow, you eat the harvest of the land. The debt must be paid. Jesus pays it for you. He pays the whole debt. His righteous blood stills God's wrath and forgives your sins. Only through his blood are we saved. This One sits on the throne of David. He rules forever. Your righteousness must be his. Daily, through contrition and repentance, we drown our rebellion and sinful nature and cling to Christ alone. There a new man comes forth that is pleasing to God. Our sin has been destroyed by Jesus. He is your King.

18 Therefore thus says the Lord concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah:
“They shall not lament for him, saying,
‘Ah, my brother!’ or ‘Ah, sister!’
They shall not lament for him, saying,
‘Ah, lord!’ or ‘Ah, his majesty!’
19 With the burial of a donkey he shall be buried,
dragged and dumped beyond the gates of Jerusalem.”
20 “Go up to Lebanon, and cry out,
and lift up your voice in Bashan;
cry out from Abarim,
for all your lovers are destroyed.
21 I spoke to you in your prosperity,
but you said, ‘I will not listen.’
This has been your way from your youth,
that you have not obeyed my voice.
22 The wind shall shepherd all your shepherds,
and your lovers shall go into captivity;
then you will be ashamed and confounded
because of all your evil.
23 O inhabitant of Lebanon,
nested among the cedars,
how you will be pitied when pangs come upon you,
pain as of a woman in labor!”
Jeremiah 22:18-23
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Bad King Perfect King
There are bad kings and there are good kings. The bad kings rebel and disregard God's Law and lead the people to worship false gods. They will fall and be remembered no longer. Over the course of the history of Israel there were many bad kings and mediocre kings. God had established them to punish wickedness and to maintain righteousness. They failed. They were prideful and selfish. Some of them were selfish and angry. They lead the people of God away from his Word. God will not have it. He punishes the unrighteous. His wrath is kindled against the unbelief of man. It must be made right only by the blood shed of the Good King, the Perfect King: Jesus Christ. Jesus sits on his father David's throne. He leads his people to streams of righteousness and fields of truth. This King is also Priest forever. He has shed his blood so that you would be like him. Your sin has been taken away and your life made new in him. 

11 For thus says the Lord concerning Shallum the son of Josiah, king of Judah, who reigned instead of Josiah his father, and who went away from this place: “He shall return here no more, 12 but in the place where they have carried him captive, there shall he die, and he shall never see this land again.”
13 “Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness,
and his upper rooms by injustice,
who makes his neighbor serve him for nothing
and does not give him his wages,
14 who says, ‘I will build myself a great house
with spacious upper rooms,’
who cuts out windows for it,
paneling it with cedar
and painting it with vermilion.
15 Do you think you are a king
because you compete in cedar?
Did not your father eat and drink
and do justice and righteousness?
Then it was well with him.
16 He judged the cause of the poor and needy;
then it was well.
Is not this to know me?
declares the Lord.
17 But you have eyes and heart
only for your dishonest gain,
for shedding innocent blood,
and for practicing oppression and violence.”
Jeremiah 22:11-17
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God Builds
We push away the Lord and his gifts. God's Word is foolishness to the world and a stumbling block. We do not believe his Word and we do not trust his promises. Our sinful nature sets us up as an enemy of God. We'd have a name for ourselves. We'd build our own palaces and cities. It is the old Tower of Babel sin. The Lord must knock down the towers of our own rebellion. He is the only one that can rescue us from our own demise. This is the God that builds a temple in our hearts. He is the God that establishes righteousness by his own blood. Jesus is the Cornerstone. Unless the Lord builds the house, those who labor, labor in vain. Thus, the Lord comes down and creates a clean and new heart within you. He makes you a living stone and is using you in the construction of a Spiritual House. Together with every member of his Church you are his own building material. It is there that we have life and have it to the full. Thanks be to God that he is the builder.

8 “‘And many nations will pass by this city, and every man will say to his neighbor, “Why has the Lord dealt thus with this great city?” 9 And they will answer, “Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord their God and worshiped other gods and served them.”’”
            10          Weep not for him who is dead,
nor grieve for him,
                        but weep bitterly for him who goes away,
for he shall return no more
to see his native land.
Jeremiah 22:8-10
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Weep for the Exile
Jeremiah’s words confront a misplaced grief. The people mourn the dead king, yet the Lord tells them to weep instead for the one led away into exile. Death, in a fallen world, is grievous, but exile under God’s judgment reveals something deeper: separation caused by sin. The greater tragedy is not merely dying, but being cut off from the Lord’s promised presence. So it is with us. We often lament earthly losses while ignoring the deeper condition of our hearts. Sin exiles us, from God, from life, from peace. Yet the Lord does not leave us there. He sends His Son into our exile. Christ bears our separation on the cross, enduring abandonment so that we would not. In His death, He enters our judgment; in His resurrection, He restores us. Therefore, our weeping turns to repentance, and our repentance to hope. For in Christ, the exile ends, and we are brought home to God.
 

22 Thus says the Lord: “Go down to the house of the king of Judah and speak there this word, 2 and say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, O king of Judah, who sits on the throne of David, you, and your servants, and your people who enter these gates. 3 Thus says the Lord: Do justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed. And do no wrong or violence to the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place. 4 For if you will indeed obey this word, then there shall enter the gates of this house kings who sit on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their servants and their people. 5 But if you will not obey these words, I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that this house shall become a desolation. 6 For thus says the Lord concerning the house of the king of Judah:
                        “‘You are like Gilead to me,
like the summit of Lebanon,
                        yet surely I will make you a desert,
an uninhabited city.
            7           I will prepare destroyers against you,
each with his weapons,
                        and they shall cut down your choicest cedars
and cast them into the fire.
Jeremiah 22:1-7
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A King Under Judgment
The Lord sends His prophet to the king’s house, calling for justice, righteousness, and the defense of the weak. These are not optional virtues but the very fruit of faith in the covenant God. Yet the warning is sharp: refuse, and judgment will come. The palace itself will become a desolation. Here the Law exposes not only kings but all people, for we too fail to love our neighbor as commanded. But the Lord does not abandon His people. The righteous Branch, Christ our King, fulfills what earthly rulers could not. He bears the judgment we deserve upon the cross, and from that cross flows mercy, forgiveness, and a new heart that delights in justice. In Him, we are restored and sent to love as we have been loved. This promise stands even amid ruins, for the Lord keeps His covenant through grace alone, not human merit or power.

11 “And to the house of the king of Judah say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, 12 O house of David! Thus says the Lord:
                        “‘Execute justice in the morning,
and deliver from the hand of the oppressor
him who has been robbed,
                        lest my wrath go forth like fire,
and burn with none to quench it,
because of your evil deeds.’”
            13          “Behold, I am against you, O inhabitant of the valley,
O rock of the plain,
declares the Lord;
                        you who say, ‘Who shall come down against us,
or who shall enter our habitations?’
            14          I will punish you according to the fruit of your deeds,
declares the Lord;
I will kindle a fire in her forest,
and it shall devour all that is around her.”
Jeremiah 21:11-14
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A Word to the House
The Lord speaks directly to the house of David, not with flattery, but with a call to repentance and justice. The king is to judge rightly, to deliver the oppressed, to act according to God’s Word. Yet the warning is clear: persistent injustice invites God’s righteous judgment. This is not merely political failure but spiritual rebellion against the Lord Himself. This Word confronts us as well. We often trust in our own strength, our own “palaces,” imagining ourselves secure while neglecting mercy and truth. The Law exposes this false confidence and calls us to repent. But God’s final Word is not destruction, it is redemption. Where earthly kings failed, Christ the true Son of David reigns in righteousness. He bears the fire of judgment in His own flesh on the cross. In Him, justice and mercy meet. By His wounds, we are forgiven and made new to live under His gracious rule.

8 “And to this people you shall say: ‘Thus says the Lord: Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death. 9 He who stays in this city shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence, but he who goes out and surrenders to the Chaldeans who are besieging you shall live and shall have his life as a prize of war. 10 For I have set my face against this city for harm and not for good, declares the Lord: it shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire.’
Jeremiah 21:8-10
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The Way of Life Through Death
Jeremiah stands before a people who want reassurance, but the Lord gives something far more severe: a choice between life and death. Yet the “way of life” does not look like victory or escape, it looks like surrender. To remain in the city is to die; to yield is to live. This cuts against every instinct. We expect life to come through strength, but God delivers it through what appears to be loss. This is not mere political advice but divine judgment paired with mercy. God’s people must pass through humiliation to receive life. So it is with us. The way of life is not found in resisting God’s judgment, but in submitting to it, repenting, confessing, dying to sin. This is the shape of the cross. Christ Himself took the way of death, bearing judgment in our place. And through His death, He gives true life.

21 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, when King Zedekiah sent to him Pashhur the son of Malchiah and Zephaniah the priest, the son of Maaseiah, saying, 2 “Inquire of the Lord for us, for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon is making war against us. Perhaps the Lord will deal with us according to all his wonderful deeds and will make him withdraw from us.”
3 Then Jeremiah said to them: “Thus you shall say to Zedekiah, 4 ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands and with which you are fighting against the king of Babylon and against the Chaldeans who are besieging you outside the walls. And I will bring them together into the midst of this city. 5 I myself will fight against you with outstretched hand and strong arm, in anger and in fury and in great wrath. 6 And I will strike down the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast. They shall die of a great pestilence. 7 Afterward, declares the Lord, I will give Zedekiah king of Judah and his servants and the people in this city who survive the pestilence, sword, and famine into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of their enemies, into the hand of those who seek their lives. He shall strike them down with the edge of the sword. He shall not pity them or spare them or have compassion.’
Jeremiah 21:1-7
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The Word That Tears Down and Saves
When King Zedekiah seeks a word from the Lord, he hopes for rescue. Instead, he receives judgment. The Lord declares that He Himself fights against Jerusalem. This is no distant punishment, it is God’s active opposition to sin and unbelief. The people trusted in false security, presuming upon God’s presence while rejecting His Word. This is a hard truth: God’s Law tears down every false hope. He exposes our sin and brings judgment against it. Yet even here, this severe word prepares the way for something greater. For the same God who once fought against His people took that judgment upon Himself in Christ. At the cross, the Lord turned His righteous wrath not against us, but against His own Son. There, the battle was waged and won. So we do not cling to false hope, but to Christ crucified, our only refuge when God’s Law has done its work.

13          Sing to the Lord;
praise the Lord!
                        For he has delivered the life of the needy
from the hand of evildoers.
            14          Cursed be the day
on which I was born!
                        The day when my mother bore me,
let it not be blessed!
            15          Cursed be the man who brought the news to my father,
                        “A son is born to you,”
making him very glad.
            16          Let that man be like the cities
that the Lord overthrew without pity;
                        let him hear a cry in the morning
and an alarm at noon,
            17          because he did not kill me in the womb;
so my mother would have been my grave,
and her womb forever great.
            18          Why did I come out from the womb
to see toil and sorrow,
and spend my days in shame?
Jeremiah 20:13-18
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Cursed Yet Carried
Jeremiah’s lament is jarring. In one breath he praises the Lord for deliverance; in the next, he curses the day of his birth. We see the depth of the prophet’s suffering, rejection, shame, and the crushing weight of his calling. This is no shallow faith, but faith pressed through anguish. Here we see the theology of the cross. God’s faithful servant is not spared sorrow but driven into it. Jeremiah’s words echo the deep groaning of a world fractured by sin, and even foreshadow the cry of Christ, who bore our suffering fully. Yet Jeremiah is not abandoned. His lament is spoken to the Lord, not away from Him. So also for you. In Christ, your darkest cries are gathered into His cross, where suffering is not meaningless but redeemed. The One who was cursed for you now carries you, even when your own words falter between praise and despair.

7           O Lord, you have deceived me,
and I was deceived;
                        you are stronger than I,
and you have prevailed.
                        I have become a laughingstock all the day;
everyone mocks me.
            8           For whenever I speak, I cry out,
I shout, “Violence and destruction!”
                        For the word of the Lord has become for me
a reproach and derision all day long.
            9           If I say, “I will not mention him,
or speak any more in his name,”
                        there is in my heart as it were a burning fire
shut up in my bones,
                        and I am weary with holding it in,
and I cannot.
            10          For I hear many whispering.
Terror is on every side!
                        “Denounce him! Let us denounce him!”
say all my close friends,
watching for my fall.
                        “Perhaps he will be deceived;
then we can overcome him
and take our revenge on him.”
            11          But the Lord is with me as a dread warrior;
therefore my persecutors will stumble;
they will not overcome me.
                        They will be greatly shamed,
for they will not succeed.
                        Their eternal dishonor
will never be forgotten.
            12          O Lord of hosts, who tests the righteous,
who sees the heart and the mind,
                        let me see your vengeance upon them,
for to you have I committed my cause.
Jeremiah 20:7-12
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Compelled by the Word
Jeremiah’s lament is raw and unfiltered. He feels overpowered, even mocked, because of the Word placed in his mouth. Jeremiah’s complaint reveals both the cost of prophetic ministry and the inescapable power of God’s Word. He tries to remain silent, yet the Word burns within him, he cannot hold it in. This is the paradox of the Christian life under the cross. The same Word that brings life also brings suffering in a world that resists it. So it was for Jeremiah, and so it was for Christ Himself, who was scorned, rejected, and crucified. Yet through that very cross came salvation. The Lord does not abandon His servants. He stands as a mighty warrior, vindicating His Word in His time. In Christ, your suffering for the truth is not wasted. The cross you bear is joined to His, and His victory is yours.

20 Now Pashhur the priest, the son of Immer, who was chief officer in the house of the Lord, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things. 2 Then Pashhur beat Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that were in the upper Benjamin Gate of the house of the Lord. 3 The next day, when Pashhur released Jeremiah from the stocks, Jeremiah said to him, “The Lord does not call your name Pashhur, but Terror on Every Side. 4 For thus says the Lord: Behold, I will make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends. They shall fall by the sword of their enemies while you look on. And I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon. He shall carry them captive to Babylon, and shall strike them down with the sword. 5 Moreover, I will give all the wealth of the city, all its gains, all its prized belongings, and all the treasures of the kings of Judah into the hand of their enemies, who shall plunder them and seize them and carry them to Babylon. 6 And you, Pashhur, and all who dwell in your house, shall go into captivity. To Babylon you shall go, and there you shall die, and there you shall be buried, you and all your friends, to whom you have prophesied falsely.”
Jeremiah 20:1-6
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Bound Yet Free
Jeremiah is struck, mocked, and bound in the stocks for speaking the Word of the Lord. The name given to his persecutor, “Terror on Every Side,” reveals the deeper truth: those who oppose God’s Word live in fear, even as they try to silence it. Jeremiah suffers not for wrongdoing, but for faithfulness. Such persecution exposes the false security of those who reject the Lord. This suffering prophet foreshadows Christ, who was also struck, mocked, and bound, yet without sin. Jesus bore the terror of judgment on the cross, not for His own rebellion, but for ours. What appeared to be defeat was in fact victory, as He secured forgiveness and life. So too, when the Church suffers for speaking truth, it shares in Christ’s cross. Yet we are not abandoned. The Lord remains faithful. Though bound in the eyes of the world, we are truly free in Him.
 

10 “Then you shall break the flask in the sight of the men who go with you, 11 and shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: So will I break this people and this city, as one breaks a potter’s vessel, so that it can never be mended. Men shall bury in Topheth because there will be no place else to bury. 12 Thus will I do to this place, declares the Lord, and to its inhabitants, making this city like Topheth. 13 The houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah—all the houses on whose roofs offerings have been offered to all the host of heaven, and drink offerings have been poured out to other gods—shall be defiled like the place of Topheth.’”
14 Then Jeremiah came from Topheth, where the Lord had sent him to prophesy, and he stood in the court of the Lord’s house and said to all the people: 15 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, behold, I am bringing upon this city and upon all its towns all the disaster that I have pronounced against it, because they have stiffened their neck, refusing to hear my words.”
Jeremiah 19:10-15
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Shattered Yet Redeemed
Jeremiah’s acted prophecy is jarring: a clay vessel smashed beyond repair, a sign of Judah’s hardened impenitence and the Lord’s righteous judgment. There is a finality being shown; this is not a minor crack but total ruin brought on by persistent idolatry and refusal to hear the Word. The people had stiffened their necks against the Lord; therefore, judgment would not be turned aside. Yet even here, the Lord’s strange work of judgment serves His proper work of mercy. The shattered pot points us forward to another vessel, Christ’s own body, broken under the weight of divine wrath, not for His sin but for ours. At the cross, God’s judgment falls fully, yet not on those who deserve it. In Christ, the unrepairable is restored. Repent, hear His Word, and trust the One who was broken that you might be made whole.

19 Thus says the Lord, “Go, buy a potter’s earthenware flask, and take some of the elders of the people and some of the elders of the priests, 2 and go out to the Valley of the Son of Hinnom at the entry of the Potsherd Gate, and proclaim there the words that I tell you. 3 You shall say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, O kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I am bringing such disaster upon this place that the ears of everyone who hears of it will tingle. 4 Because the people have forsaken me and have profaned this place by making offerings in it to other gods whom neither they nor their fathers nor the kings of Judah have known; and because they have filled this place with the blood of innocents, 5 and have built the high places of Baal to burn their sons in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal, which I did not command or decree, nor did it come into my mind— 6 therefore, behold, days are coming, declares the Lord, when this place shall no more be called Topheth, or the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter. 7 And in this place I will make void the plans of Judah and Jerusalem, and will cause their people to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hand of those who seek their life. I will give their dead bodies for food to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the earth. 8 And I will make this city a horror, a thing to be hissed at. Everyone who passes by it will be horrified and will hiss because of all its wounds. 9 And I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and their daughters, and everyone shall eat the flesh of his neighbor in the siege and in the distress, with which their enemies and those who seek their life afflict them.’
Jeremiah 19:1-9
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Shattered for Our Sake
Jeremiah is sent with a clay jar, fragile, easily broken, to proclaim the coming judgment of God. The people have filled the land with idolatry and bloodshed, rejecting the Lord who formed them. The shattered vessel becomes a visible sermon: what God has made, He can also break in righteous judgment. There is a finality of this image, once broken, the jar cannot be restored. Yet this hard word drives us to see what we deserve. We, too, are vessels marred by sin. But where we merit destruction, Christ steps in. He is the One who is broken, not for His sin, but for ours. At the cross, God’s wrath falls, yet not on us. In Jesus, the Potter does not discard His people but remakes them through mercy. Broken by judgment, restored by grace, this is our hope in Him alone.