Jeremiah 14:1-22

Monday January 6th 2017

THE DISASTERS WHICH COME FROM GOD

God strikes Israel with natural disasters because of their numerous sins.

1. The dryness makes the people shameful (1-9)

Powerful people send the subordinates to draw water, but they return empty-handed and covered with shame. Ploughmen are ashamed because the earth doesn't give fruits and the animals are exhausted. So all the people of Judah are in mourning. What is the cause ? It's because of the faults and inconstancy of the people (7). The prophet pleads to God that he would save the people because of His name, because God has no reason to become powerless.

2. The judgment of God on his people (10-22)

Jeremiah says that now the Eternal God remembers (pas de "of") their sins and chastises them. He accepts neither their prayers nor their holocaust. The false prophets are particularly bad because without being sent they wrongfully prophesy peace. God will make theim suddently perish and they will have no tomb. The eyes of the prophet dissolve into tears because of the jugment which will fall through the sword, famine and plague (17). Even if the religious walk into the country, they haven't knowledge, which creates a calamity. Before the severity of the judgment, the people confess their sins and those of their fathers (20). All the same, Jeremiah pleads to God that he would bless him, because his glory musn't stay covered because of the malice of his people. Jeremiah, as a spokesperson of his people, says that the people hope in God. This hope has a validity, because God is the Creator of all the things (22).

Prayer: Lord, make me fear you. Glorify your name through me, although I am so fragile and powerless.

Bottom line: the disasters of God