“The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.”  (Jeremiah 8-9)

Scripture reading – Jeremiah 8; Jeremiah 9

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* Please note that words and phrases in brackets are the author’s amplification.

Jeremiah’s ministry to a nation facing God’s impending judgment continued in Jeremiah 7. Jeremiah was commanded to deliver a stern and ominous message of judgment at the gate of the Temple. Although our Bibles show a chapter break, Jeremiah 8 continues the same sermon that the prophet began in chapter 7.

Jeremiah 8

Babylon’s Atrocities Foretold (Jeremiah 8:1-3)

Despite Jeremiah’s warnings, the people of Judah continued their wicked ways and refused to repent or turn back to the LORD. Jeremiah predicted that the LORD’s judgment would bring such great destruction and shame to Judah that even the tombs of its kings would be violated, and their bones left scattered (Jeremiah 8:1-2). The account describes the intense suffering and hardships of captivity, and the people would rather face death than exile, as mentioned in Jeremiah 8:3.

Judah’s Wickedness and Disobedience (Jeremiah 8:4-12)

Judah was a backsliding nation, and its people refused to return to the LORD (Jeremiah 8:5). Jeremiah stated that “no man repented of his wickedness” (Jeremiah 8:6). Tragically, the people’s sins were numerous, and “every one from the least even unto the greatest [was] given to covetousness, from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely” (Jeremiah 8:10).

Judah cried out for peace (Jeremiah 8:11, 15); however, the people were so brutish that they could not blush, for innocence was lost and purity was sacrificed (Jeremiah 8:12). 

Jeremiah’s Sorrow (Jeremiah 8:13-22)

Jeremiah’s heart was broken for his nation. He declared, “When I would comfort [cheer] myself against sorrow [grief; affliction], my heart is faint [troubled; sick; distressed] in me” (Jeremiah 8:18). The prophet was exasperated, because the people continued in their wickedness even though God’s judgment was looming.  

Babylon’s army was gathering against the nation (Jeremiah 8:19), and there would be no peace because the people had rejected the God of Peace! Therefore, Jeremiah declared, “The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved” (Jeremiah 8:19-20). Jeremiah’s heart was heavy as he declared, “For the hurt [breaking] of the daughter of my people am I hurt [broken]; I am black [mourning]; astonishment hath taken hold on me” (Jeremiah 8:21).

Jeremiah 9

Jeremiah’s Lament over Jerusalem (Jeremiah 9:1-2)

Overcome with sorrow, Jeremiah described a constant state of tears, saying, “Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, That I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!” (Jeremiah 9:1). He wept day and night and longed for a place of escape, “a lodging place of wayfaring [traveling] men” (Jeremiah 9:2). Jeremiah declared he’d rather be a resident in the wilderness than live among an adulterous nation of treacherous, unfaithful men (Jeremiah 9:2).

The Wickedness and Hypocrisy of Jeremiah’s Day (Jeremiah 9:3-16)

Standing before those who had gathered and pretended to worship in the Temple, Jeremiah did not hold back words about their hypocrisy. We read, “They bend their tongues like their bow for lies: but they are not valiant[strong; mighty; heroic] for the truth upon the earth; for they proceed from evil [sin; wickedness] to evil, and they know [understand; acknowledge] not me, saith the LORD” (Jeremiah 9:3).

Don’t those words describe us today? Preachers bend the truth with their tongues, like the curved arc of a bow (Jeremiah 9:3a). The people neither know nor understand the ways of the LORD (Jeremiah 9:3c). In Jeremiah’s time, no one could be trusted (Jeremiah 9:4a), because everyone deceived his neighbor (Jeremiah 9:4). They did not speak the truth (Jeremiah 9:5a; Ephesians 4:25), and they wore themselves out chasing after sin (Jeremiah 9:6b).

Judah was a nation of liars and hypocrites (Jeremiah 9:6), and nobody was “valiant for the truth” (Jeremiah 9:3b).

Is that not a fundamental sin and flaw of our time? Few “speak the truth” (Jeremiah 9:5) and “earnestly contend for the faith” (Jude 3). Few pastors will “preach the word…reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine” (2 Timothy 4:2). In Jeremiah’s day, as it is in ours, when the clarion call of truth was needed, there were none “valiant for the truth” (Jeremiah 9:3).

Judah was a proud nation of stubborn and incorrigible murderers, thieves, adulterers, and idolaters (Jeremiah 9:3-8). Still, the LORD would have shown them mercy if they repented and turned to Him (Jeremiah 9:10). However, they had taken the LORD’s mercies for granted and continued to follow in their fathers’ sinful footsteps (Jeremiah 9:12-14). 

The time for repentance had passed, and the LORD declared He would feed His people with “wormwood” (bitter herbs), “give them water of gall to drink” (a poisonous mixture, Jeremiah 9:15), and scatter them among the nations (Jeremiah 9:16).

Three Declarations of God’s Judgment (Jeremiah 9:17-24) 

1) Jeremiah was instructed to hire professional mourners to cry over Jerusalem. However, so many people would die that there wouldn’t be enough mourners to mourn for all the dead (Jeremiah 9:17-21). 

2) The prophet predicted the violence of Babylon’s conquest of Jerusalem and said that the bodies of the dead would be left unburied (Jeremiah 9:22).

3) Finally, there would be nothing people could do to save themselves. The wise were warned that their wisdom would not save them. The mighty men were warned that their strength would not help. The rich man’s wealth would perish with him (Jeremiah 9:23).

There was only one thing men could trust and hope in: the knowledge of God’s unchanging character. He declared, “I am the LORD, which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD” (Jeremiah 9:24). 

Closing thoughts –

We have seen how foolish men boast in wealth, but the godly boast in the character and promises of the LORD, who is gracious and merciful (“lovingkindness”), just (for He judges between the righteous and the wicked), and holy (for He is wholly righteous, Jeremiah 9:24).

Friend, does your heart ache with sorrow for your country’s failings and burn with an unrelenting passion for the Truth? Many believers lament the moral decay of society and the sensuality in our homes, churches, and schools. Yet, how many of us contend for the faith and pursue godliness and holiness? (Romans 12:1-2; 1 Peter 1:16).

Tragically, many believers attend churches that focus more on entertainment than on the spiritual growth of the saints toward holiness. As our nation declines due to moral decay, congregations hire preachers who entertain with pleasantries and neglect to proclaim the Word of the Living God.

No matter how dark the hour, let us dedicate our lives to being “valiant for the truth.” (Jeremiah 9:3)