It's not going well if the chapter starts out and the Lord is telling your tribe to "flee for safety."
“Flee for safety, O sons of Benjamin,
From the midst of Jerusalem! Jeremiah 6:1a, NASB95
Yikes. The verse goes on to command them to sound the trumpet alarm and raise the signal because evil is coming from the north...and a great destruction.
“The comely and dainty one, the daughter of Zion, I will cut off. Jeremiah 6:2
This verse caught my attention. What a tender way of describing Judah. It's a good reminder that He is their Father. Angry as He is, His heart is for them. He doesn't want any of this to be happening.
Verse 3 describes shepherds coming in and pitching their tents around her. The Ryrie Study Bible footnote explains that this is Babylon and their soldiers; but to me, it seems like it's saying that Jerusalem will be so abandoned that it will become uninhabited grazing land.
However, starting in verse 4, it does seem like the Babylonians speaking, making the Ryrie interpretation more likely. The Babylonians plan their warfare against Jerusalem, including a siege.
Verse 7 points out that Jerusalem keeps fresh wickedness rolling through her. Violence, destruction, sickness and wounds are constantly found by the Lord.
Verse 8 ends this paragraph with another warning from the Lord that their behaviors could lead to being alienated from Him and desolate.
Verse 9 uses the imagery of Judah being picked clean, even the gleaning, leaving it bare.
Starting in verse 10 Jeremiah laments that there isn't even someone to warn. Their ears are closed. But he is full of the wrath of the Lord and can't hold in these warnings and chastisements. The wrath is going to be poured out on young and old--whole families. The will be losing their houses, fields, and wives to others.
Because:
- everyone is greedy
- even prophets and priests
- every deals falsely
- the brokenness is only healed superficially
- everyone claims, "peace", but there is no peace
- no shame
- not even a blush
The will fall and be cast down. (verse 15)
16 Thus says the Lord,
“Stand by the ways and see and ask for the ancient paths,
Where the good way is, and walk in it;
And you will find rest for your souls.
But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’
17 “And I set watchmen over you, saying,
‘Listen to the sound of the trumpet!’
But they said, ‘We will not listen.’ Jeremiah 6:16-17, emphasis mine
It's so sad to think of God trying so hard to coach us, to teach us, to parent us, and eventually having to correct us. And we are in open rebellion. This isn't a child who didn't know right from wrong, but adults actively choosing the wrong way. Actively ignoring the warnings. And I'm even more ashamed because I have the Holy Spirit. It just reminds me that they main feeling I have when I think about heaven is just the relief of sinning no more.
In verses 18-21 He announces to the congregation and then the whole earth His judgment and why. Apparently Judah offers incense as part of their dishonest worship and He's not accepting it.
Starting in verse 22 we hear more about the people God will use for this destruction.
- from the north
- great nation
- from remote parts of the earth
- bow and spear
- no mercy
- cruel
- on horseback
Life will be horrible.
- anguish
- pain
- fear
- can't even go on the roads or in the fields
- terror on every side
The people are encouraged to put on sackcloth and ashes. To mourn. To lament bitterly.
Verse 27-30 is a conversation between God and Jeremiah in which the lord has assigned Jeremiah as an assayer to test the metal of His people. They are corrupt and no matter how much heat the Lord pours on them to refine them, they will not be separated from their corrupting metals, so the silver is rejected.
This metaphor doesn't need much interpretation. Except to re-emphasize my point from earlier. He loves them and wants them to be pure. He'll keep up the heat and keep working it until it won't go any further. And then, when His long suffering runs out, He's done an will leave them to their suffering.
He will leave a remnant, but only to fulfill His covenant with Abraham and David.