Pray Not For This People!

PRAY NOT FOR THIS PEOPLE!

Jeremiah 14:7-10, Jeremiah 14:19-22.

A series of droughts affected Judah during the reign of King Jehoiakim. The watercourses were empty, the ground was chapped, and there was no grass for the livestock. Nobles and their children, ploughmen, and both domestic and wild animals were sorely afflicted (Jeremiah 14:1-6).

As a good intercessor, Jeremiah prayed to the LORD for the people.

JEREMIAH 14:7. “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.”

First, he took his place beside the people as undeserving. But second, he called upon the LORD to “do it” for the sake of His own holy name (cf. Ezekiel 36:21-23).

Third, Jeremiah addressed the LORD as their only hope, and Saviour:

JEREMIAH 14:8. “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?”

The LORD, after all, has always been our help ‘hitherto’ (cf. 1 Samuel 7:12) – so why not now? Why does He seem like “a stranger” in His own land?

JEREMIAH 14:9. “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.”

We know He has the power to save, so why does He seem so distant? Yet He is here, in the midst of us, and we are “called” by His name. If He does not deliver us, surely it reflects badly on His name?

So Jeremiah pleads on behalf of the people: “leave us not.”

JEREMIAH 14:10. “Thus saith the LORD unto this people, Thus have they loved to wander, they have not refrained their feet, therefore the LORD doth not accept them: He will now remember their iniquity, and visit their sins.”

The LORD goes on to instruct Jeremiah, ‘Pray not for this people for their good’ (Jeremiah 14:11).

The weeping prophet laments; the people appear to repent; a plea is made to the honour of the LORD’s glory, and an appeal made to the covenant; and a comparison made acknowledging that it is the LORD alone who can send rain, and that therefore they “will wait upon thee” (JEREMIAH 14:19-22).

But it is all to no avail. It is too late. There does come a point when judgment is inevitable (Jeremiah 15:1-2). So the LORD will appoint destroyers to destroy them (Jeremiah 15:3-4).

The only comfort would be that beyond the exile lay the restoration. The covenant remained intact for future generations. The Christ did at last come, and ushered in an age of grace. ‘How shall WE escape if we neglect SO great salvation?’ (cf. Hebrews 2:3).