Jeremiah Chapter 4
Jeremiah 4
The Terror of Coming Judgment
Jeremiah 4:1-2, Blessings to a Returning and Repentant Israel
Jeremiah 4:1-2, “If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the LORD, return unto me: and if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my sight, then shalt thou not remove. And thou shalt swear, The LORD liveth, in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness, and the nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall they glory.”
Jeremiah 4 continues the call to repentance that dominated Jeremiah 3. The LORD had called backsliding Israel to return, and now He explains what true return requires. The call is personal and direct, “return unto me.” God is not merely calling Israel to religious improvement, national reform, or moral adjustment. He is calling them back to Himself. True repentance is not merely turning from consequences. It is turning from sin back to the LORD.
The phrase, “if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my sight,” shows that repentance must include separation from idols. Israel could not claim to return to the LORD while keeping the abominations of pagan worship. In Scripture, abominations often refer to idolatry and the corrupt rituals attached to false gods. To return to God while holding on to idols would be like an unfaithful spouse claiming to return to the marriage while still keeping the adulterous lover.
God promises, “then shalt thou not remove.” Before the Babylonian captivity, this was a real offer of mercy. If Judah had truly repented, the threatened judgment could have been averted. The LORD is just, but He is not eager to destroy. His warnings are not empty threats, but they are also not cruel fatalism. They are gracious calls to repentance before judgment falls.
The second blessing is restored confession, “The LORD liveth.” This is more than a religious slogan. They would swear this “in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness.” True worship must be rooted in truth, governed by righteous judgment, and marked by moral righteousness. A man may say true words with a false heart, but God calls for confession that matches reality.
The result would extend beyond Israel, “the nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall they glory.” Israel’s repentance would have a testimony before the nations. This fits the original purpose of God’s covenant promises, that through Abraham’s seed blessing would come to the nations. Israel’s restoration was never meant to be isolated from God’s larger purpose among the nations.
Jeremiah 4:3-4, Breaking Up the Fallow Ground
Jeremiah 4:3-4, “For thus saith the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns. Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.”
The LORD now speaks specifically to the men of Judah and Jerusalem. The command is agricultural, “Break up your fallow ground.” Fallow ground is land that has been left uncultivated. It may have once been fruitful, but it has become hard, resistant, and unproductive. This is an exact picture of Judah’s spiritual condition. They had covenant history, temple worship, the law, the priesthood, and the memory of God’s works, yet their hearts had become hardened.
Fallow ground implies prior privilege. This was not virgin soil that had never been touched. Judah had been plowed before by the word of God, the ministry of prophets, the reforms of godly kings, and the discipline of the LORD. Yet the heart had become hard again. Spiritual neglect always allows thorns to grow.
“Break up” implies hard work. Repentance is not shallow emotion. It is the painful turning of the heart before God. It means the hardened soil of pride, hypocrisy, lust, idolatry, bitterness, and unbelief must be broken open before the seed of the word can bear fruit.
The command, “sow not among thorns,” warns against wasting religious effort on an unprepared heart. If the heart remains full of thorns, the seed will be choked. The Lord Jesus later used similar imagery in the parable of the sower.
Matthew 13:22, “He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word, and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.”
Jeremiah then changes imagery from agriculture to covenant surgery, “Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of your heart.” Circumcision was the sign of the Abrahamic covenant, but Judah needed more than physical circumcision. They needed heart circumcision. The outward sign meant nothing if the inward heart remained rebellious.
Deuteronomy 10:16, “Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiffnecked.”
Romans 2:28-29, “For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly, neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh, But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter, whose praise is not men, but God.”
The warning is severe, “lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it.” God’s mercy invited them to return, but His holiness warned them against continued rebellion. The cause of judgment is clearly stated, “because of the evil of your doings.” Judah’s coming judgment would not be because God failed them. It would be because they persisted in evil.
Jeremiah 4:5-8, A Description of Coming Judgment
Jeremiah 4:5-8, “Declare ye in Judah, and publish in Jerusalem, and say, Blow ye the trumpet in the land, cry, gather together, and say, Assemble yourselves, and let us go into the defenced cities. Set up the standard toward Zion, retire, stay not, for I will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction. The lion is come up from his thicket, and the destroyer of the Gentiles is on his way, he is gone forth from his place to make thy land desolate, and thy cities shall be laid waste, without an inhabitant. For this gird you with sackcloth, lament and howl, for the fierce anger of the LORD is not turned back from us.”
The tone now shifts from appeal to alarm. The trumpet must be blown in the land. In ancient Israel, the trumpet announced emergency, war, and danger. The people are told to gather, assemble, and flee into the fortified cities. Militarily, this is the normal response to invasion. Spiritually, it shows the urgency of the moment. Judgment is no longer distant theory. It is approaching.
The command, “Set up the standard toward Zion,” pictures a rallying signal or banner directing people toward refuge. Yet the refuge will not ultimately save them because the judgment is from the LORD. God says, “I will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction.” This does not mean moral evil in God. It means calamity, disaster, and judgment brought by God’s righteous hand.
“The lion is come up from his thicket,” describes the invader as a fierce predator. The “destroyer of the Gentiles,” or destroyer of nations, is on his way. Historically, this points most fully to Babylon, which would come from the north and devastate Judah. Though Babylon was east of Judah geographically, armies from that region commonly approached from the north because of desert travel routes.
The purpose is stated plainly, “to make thy land desolate.” Cities would be laid waste without inhabitant. Judah trusted in her land, cities, temple, alliances, and national identity, but none of these could stand against the judgment of God.
The response should be mourning, “gird you with sackcloth, lament and howl.” Sackcloth was the clothing of grief, humiliation, and repentance. But the tragedy is that their mourning would come when judgment was already underway. The fierce anger of the LORD had not turned back because the people had not truly returned.
Jeremiah 4:9, The Effect of Coming Judgment
Jeremiah 4:9, “And it shall come to pass at that day, saith the LORD, that the heart the king shall perish, and the heart the princes, and the priests shall be astonished, and the prophets shall wonder.”
When judgment falls, every level of leadership collapses. “The heart of the king shall perish,” meaning courage, resolve, confidence, and strategy will fail. The princes will also lose heart. Those who appeared strong in ordinary times will be exposed as helpless when God’s judgment arrives.
The priests will be astonished. These were the men who should have led Judah in true worship and repentance, but they had failed. When the disaster comes, their religious office will not give them wisdom. The prophets will wonder because many had promised peace when there was no peace. The false religious establishment will be shocked by the very judgment they denied.
This verse shows that false confidence is deadly. A nation can have political leaders, religious leaders, and prophetic voices, yet still be spiritually blind. If those leaders reject the word of the LORD, they will not know what to do when the truth they denied arrives.
Jeremiah 4:10, Jeremiah Wrestles with the Difficulty of Judgment
Jeremiah 4:10, “Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! surely thou hast greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall have peace, whereas the sword reacheth unto the soul.”
Jeremiah speaks with anguish, “Ah, Lord GOD!” He is struggling with the terrible reality of judgment. It appears as though the people had been told, “Ye shall have peace,” yet the sword reaches to the soul. This is not Jeremiah calmly stating doctrine. This is a prophet grieving under the weight of what he sees coming.
The difficulty is best understood in light of the false prophets. God Himself had not deceived the people. The false prophets claimed to speak for God and promised peace when judgment was near. Jeremiah later exposes this directly.
Jeremiah 23:16-17, “Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Hearken not unto the words the prophets that prophesy unto you, they make you vain, they speak a vision their own heart, and not out of the mouth the LORD. They say still unto them that despise me, The LORD hath said, Ye shall have peace, and they say unto every one that walketh after the imagination his own heart, No evil shall come upon you.”
The sword reaching to the soul means judgment would not merely wound the surface of the nation. It would pierce deeply. Judah would experience military disaster, emotional anguish, spiritual shock, and national collapse. False peace is cruel because it leaves sinners unprepared for reality.
Jeremiah 4:11-12, The Dry Wind of Judgment
Jeremiah 4:11-12, “At that time shall it be said to this people and to Jerusalem, A dry wind the high places in the wilderness toward the daughter my people, not to fan, nor to cleanse, Even a full wind from those places shall come unto me, now also will I give sentence against them.”
Jeremiah now pictures judgment as a dry wind from the wilderness. In that region, such a wind could be scorching, destructive, and unbearable. This is not a gentle breeze sent to fan or cleanse. It is not a helpful wind for separating chaff from grain. It is a full wind, overpowering and ruinous.
God says, “now also will I give sentence against them.” This is courtroom language again. The LORD is not reacting emotionally or irrationally. He is issuing a righteous sentence. Judah is guilty, and judgment is coming.
The image is sobering. Some winds refresh, some winds cleanse, but this wind destroys. When God’s people reject His correcting word, the wind that comes is no longer mild discipline, but consuming judgment.
Jeremiah 4:13, The Speed of the Invading Judgment
Jeremiah 4:13, “Behold, he shall come up as clouds, and his chariots shall be as a whirlwind, his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe unto us! for we are spoiled.”
The invading force is pictured as swift and overwhelming. He comes up as clouds. His chariots are like a whirlwind. His horses are swifter than eagles. The point is speed, force, and inevitability. Judah will not be able to outmaneuver this judgment.
The cry, “Woe unto us! for we are spoiled,” is the voice of a people suddenly realizing the disaster is real. They will be plundered. Their confidence will collapse. Their defenses will fail. What the prophets warned about will become reality.
Jeremiah 4:14-18, An Appeal to Jerusalem
Jeremiah 4:14-18, “O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee? For a voice declareth from Dan, and publisheth affliction from mount Ephraim. Make ye mention to the nations, behold, publish against Jerusalem, that watchers come from a far country, and give out their voice against the cities Judah. As keepers of a field, are they against her round about, because she hath been rebellious against me, saith the LORD. Thy way and thy doings have procured these things unto thee, this is thy wickedness, because it is bitter, because it reacheth unto thine heart.”
Even with judgment at the door, Jeremiah still appeals to Jerusalem, “wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved.” The issue is the heart. Judah had made outward reforms, especially during Josiah’s reign, but God had already said they had not returned with the whole heart. The heart had to be cleansed.
The question, “How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?” identifies the inner life as part of the problem. Sin does not begin only in outward action. Vain thoughts, empty imaginations, wicked plans, and self deceiving reasoning lodge in the heart and mind. The word “lodge” suggests these thoughts had been given room to stay. Judah had allowed sinful thinking to become a resident, not a passing temptation.
A voice declares from Dan and Mount Ephraim. Dan was in the far north, and Mount Ephraim was farther south. The warning is moving through the land. The invader is advancing. The watchers, or besiegers, come from a far country against the cities of Judah.
They are compared to keepers of a field. Just as watchmen or field guards surrounded and watched over crops, the besieging army would surround Judah. The picture is one of encirclement. Jerusalem would be watched, hemmed in, and trapped.
God states the reason, “because she hath been rebellious against me.” The coming disaster is not random tragedy. It is not merely Babylonian ambition. It is covenant rebellion meeting covenant judgment.
“Thy way and thy doings have procured these things unto thee.” Judah brought this upon herself. God is faithful and righteous. The bitterness of judgment reaches the heart because the wickedness came from the heart. Sin is bitter because it offends God, deceives man, and finally destroys what it promised to satisfy.
Jeremiah 4:19-21, The Anguish of the Prophet
Jeremiah 4:19-21, “My bowels, my bowels! I am pained at my very heart, my heart maketh a noise in me, I cannot hold my peace, because thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound the trumpet, the alarm war. Destruction upon destruction is cried, for the whole land is spoiled, suddenly are my tents spoiled, and my curtains in a moment. How long shall I see the standard, and hear the sound the trumpet?”
Jeremiah cries, “My bowels, my bowels!” In Hebrew thought, the inward parts were associated with deep emotion. He is sick with grief. This is not detached preaching. Jeremiah feels the terror of coming judgment in his own soul.
He says, “I am pained at my very heart.” The prophet’s heart makes noise within him. He cannot hold his peace because he has heard the trumpet and the alarm of war. Jeremiah is not preaching judgment coldly. He is burdened. A faithful prophet does not rejoice in the destruction of his people. He grieves because he sees what sin has brought.
“Destruction upon destruction is cried.” The judgment will come wave after wave. The whole land will be spoiled. Tents and curtains, the basic signs of home and dwelling, are suddenly plundered. What people assumed was stable vanishes in a moment.
His question, “How long shall I see the standard, and hear the sound the trumpet?” expresses anguish under prolonged judgment. The banner of war and sound of alarm dominate the prophetic vision. Jeremiah sees no quick escape because Judah’s rebellion has made judgment unavoidable.
Jeremiah 4:22, The LORD Diagnoses His People
Jeremiah 4:22, “For my people is foolish, they have not known me, they are sottish children, and they have none understanding, they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.”
God’s diagnosis is blunt, “my people is foolish.” Yet even in judgment, He still says, “my people.” The covenant relationship remains real, but their conduct is foolish because they have not known Him. The deepest problem in Judah was not political miscalculation, economic weakness, or military vulnerability. Their deepest problem was that they did not truly know the LORD.
They are called “sottish children,” meaning senseless, dull, and without understanding. They likely considered themselves sophisticated, practical, and wise. But God saw them as foolish children with no spiritual understanding.
The phrase, “they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge,” is devastating. They were not stupid in every sense. They were skilled in sin. They knew how to scheme, compromise, manipulate, pursue idols, and justify rebellion. But they did not know how to do good. Their wisdom was perverted.
This is a warning for every generation. A people can become technically skilled, politically shrewd, economically advanced, and culturally sophisticated, while being morally foolish before God. Skill in evil is not wisdom. It is corruption.
Jeremiah 4:23-26, The Devastation of Judgment
Jeremiah 4:23-26, “I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void, and the heavens, and they had no light. I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly. I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds the heavens were fled. I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence the LORD, and by his fierce anger.”
Jeremiah now uses language that echoes Genesis 1. “Without form, and void” recalls the condition of the earth before God formed and filled it. Here, the imagery is reversed. Judgment is described as a kind of uncreation. Order collapses into chaos. Fruitfulness becomes wilderness. Cities are broken down. Light is gone.
This is poetic prophetic language describing the devastation that would come upon Judah. The land that should have reflected covenant blessing would look emptied, shaken, and ruined. The mountains tremble, the hills move, man is absent, birds flee, and the fruitful place becomes wilderness.
The cause is stated, “at the presence the LORD, and by his fierce anger.” Babylon would be the instrument, but the LORD was the ultimate Judge. Judah had offended the living God. The God who created the world can also shake the world. The God who gave the land can make the land desolate.
This imagery also points forward to the larger biblical theme of the Day of the LORD and final judgment, when creation itself is shaken under divine wrath.
2 Peter 3:12-13, “Looking for and hasting unto the coming the day God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.”
Revelation 21:1, “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away, and there was no more sea.”
Judah’s judgment was historical and specific, but it also reminds the reader that the LORD’s wrath is not symbolic language without reality. God judges sin. The only refuge is repentance and the mercy of God.
Jeremiah 4:27-29, The Certainty and Limits of Coming Judgment
Jeremiah 4:27-29, “For thus hath the LORD said, The whole land shall be desolate, yet will I not make a full end. For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black, because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and will not repent, neither will I turn back from it. The whole city shall flee for the noise the horsemen and bowmen, they shall go into thickets, and climb up upon the rocks, every city shall be forsaken, and not a man dwell therein.”
God declares that the whole land will be desolate, but then adds a bright phrase, “yet will I not make a full end.” Judgment will be severe, but not total annihilation. This is grace in the middle of wrath. God will discipline Judah, but He will preserve His covenant purpose. The land will be devastated, but God will not erase His people from His plan.
The earth mourns and the heavens above are black because God has spoken. Creation itself is pictured as responding to the judgment upon God’s people. The seriousness of sin is so great that the land, heavens, cities, and people all bear witness to the weight of divine anger.
The certainty of judgment is absolute, “I have purposed it, and will not repent, neither will I turn back from it.” Once Judah persisted past the point of repentance, the judgment became fixed. God’s patience is great, but it is not endless toward hardened rebellion.
The cities will flee at the sound of horsemen and bowmen. People will hide in thickets and climb rocks. Every city will be forsaken. The defenses they trusted will not hold. The society they knew will be emptied. This is what happens when a people ignore the word of the LORD until warning gives way to sentence.
Jeremiah 4:30-31, The Vanity of Appealing to the Invaders
Jeremiah 4:30-31, “And when thou art spoiled, what wilt thou do? Though thou clothest thyself with crimson, though thou deckest thee with ornaments gold, though thou rentest thy face with painting, in vain shalt thou make thyself fair, thy lovers will despise thee, they will seek thy life. For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail, and the anguish as of her that bringeth forth her first child, the voice the daughter Zion, that bewaileth herself, that spreadeth her hands, saying, Woe is me now! for my soul is wearied because murderers.”
The LORD asks, “when thou art spoiled, what wilt thou do?” Judah may attempt to present herself attractively to the nations, like a woman clothing herself in crimson, wearing gold, and painting her face. But outward beauty will not save her. “In vain shalt thou make thyself fair.”
The “lovers” are the foreign powers and idols Judah pursued. Instead of saving her, they will despise her and seek her life. This is the end of spiritual adultery. The very things Judah loved become instruments of her humiliation. False gods and ungodly alliances always betray those who trust them.
The final image is not of a decorated woman seducing lovers, but of a woman in travail. The daughter of Zion cries in anguish like a woman giving birth for the first time. She spreads her hands and says, “Woe is me now! for my soul is wearied because murderers.” Judgment turns false beauty into agony. The nation that would not wash her heart now finds herself exhausted before murderers.
This conclusion shows the folly of cosmetic religion. Judah tried to decorate herself outwardly while her heart remained wicked. But painted eyes, crimson clothing, gold ornaments, temple confidence, political alliances, and public religion could not save her. Only true repentance could have done that.
Doctrinal and Practical Notes
Jeremiah 4 teaches that true repentance requires returning to the LORD Himself. It is not enough to clean up appearances or make temporary improvements. God said, “return unto me.” Repentance must be Godward.
Jeremiah 4 teaches that idols must be put away. A man cannot return to God while preserving the sin that took him away from God. Repentance that keeps the idol is not repentance.
Jeremiah 4 teaches that the heart must be broken up and circumcised. Hard hearts do not bear spiritual fruit. Thorn filled hearts choke the word. The heart must be cut, humbled, cleansed, and brought under covenant submission to God.
Jeremiah 4 teaches that false peace is deadly. The prophets who promised peace when judgment was coming left the people unprepared. A preacher who comforts rebellion is not loving people. He is helping them walk blind into judgment.
Jeremiah 4 teaches that sin begins in the heart and thoughts. “How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?” Evil thoughts must not be allowed to live comfortably in the soul. They must be evicted by repentance, Scripture, prayer, discipline, and submission to God.
Jeremiah 4 teaches that God’s judgment is righteous and purposeful. Judah’s ways and doings procured these things. The people brought judgment upon themselves through rebellion. God did not betray them. They betrayed Him.
Jeremiah 4 teaches that God preserves a remnant. “Yet will I not make a full end” is a statement of mercy. God’s discipline may be severe, but His covenant purposes stand. Judah would fall, but God would not abandon His promises.
Jeremiah 4 ultimately points to the need for heart cleansing that only God can provide. Judah was commanded to wash the heart, but Scripture later reveals that full cleansing comes through the redemptive work of Christ.
Titus 3:5, “Not by works righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing regeneration, and renewing the Holy Ghost.”
1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Summary
Jeremiah 4 moves from the call to repentance to the terror of coming judgment. Israel and Judah are called to return to the LORD, put away abominations, break up fallow ground, and circumcise the heart. If they return, they will not be moved, and the nations will glory in the LORD. If they refuse, God’s fury will come like unquenchable fire.
The chapter then describes the Babylonian judgment as an invading force from the north, a lion from the thicket, a dry destructive wind, clouds, whirlwind chariots, swift horses, besiegers, trumpet alarms, and destruction upon destruction. Jeremiah grieves deeply over the coming disaster. God diagnoses His people as foolish, skilled in evil, and ignorant of good. The devastation is pictured in creation language, as though the land were being undone. Yet God promises not to make a full end.
The chapter closes by exposing the vanity of outward adornment and political seduction. Judah’s lovers will despise her, and the daughter of Zion will cry out in anguish. The only hope was true repentance, heart cleansing, and return to the LORD.
