Jeremiah (1-31) 19:14 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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Jeremiah (1-31) 19:14

Comments

Jeremiah returns from Tophet at the Lord’s direction and comes to the outer court of the temple where the common people gathered and all could hear his message. He is told to give the same warning again. The message has not changed. God’s servants have to go on repeating God’s warnings however unwelcome to the unbelieving mind. He himself is against this city and her towns and will watch over his word to ensure his judgments are fulfilled, just as at other times he watches over it to ensure that his promises are fulfilled. It is because they have hardened their necks. The illustration is of somebody who is walking away, and a warning is given from behind them beckoning them to turn back. But instead of turning back they do not even turn their head to hear properly what is being said to them. Their stubbornness shows itself in their unwillingness to even listen properly to what is being said to them. They don’t’ want to hear what God has to say to them, because they are not afraid of his warning and have no intention of doing what he commands.

Application

This intransigence does not develop in a moment. It comes about through prolonged refusal to pay attention to conscience. At first there is some fear about not listening. The consequences seem all too real. But with repetition, the voice of conscience fades, and warning seems less real. There is a fatal state of mind in which a person convinces themselves that warnings they have heard are never going to be delivered. The child, for instance, thinks it knows the parent, and the parent has said these things many times before, but never acted. But there comes a moment when with shock and surprise the child sees that the parent is going to act this time, and there has been a fatal miscalculation. When the punishment comes it is going to take into account all those failures to respond.

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Jeremiah (1-31) 19:14 Commentary and Bible Study