(This DRAFT study has been done fairly quickly, without the further guide of commentaries. I hope to improve on it later.)
Jeremiah 8:1-3, Bones exposed
"`At that time, declares the LORD, the bones of the kings and officials of Judah, the bones of the priests and prophets, and the bones of the people of Jerusalem will be removed from their graves. They will be exposed to the sun and the moon and all the stars of the heavens, which they have loved and served and which they have followed and consulted and worshiped. They will not be gathered up or buried, but will be like refuse lying on the ground.
Wherever I banish them, all the survivors of this evil nation will prefer death to life, declares the LORD Almighty.'
The bones of those who worshiped the sun and stars will be removed from their graves and exposed to this same sun and stars.
The people prefer death to life, says YHWH.
Jeremiah 8:4-6, Cling to deceit
"Say to them, `This is what the LORD says:
"`When men fall down, do they not get up?
When a man turns away, does he not return?
Why then have these people turned away?
Why does Jerusalem always turn away?
They cling to deceit;
they refuse to return.
I have listened attentively,
but they do not say what is right.
No one repents of his wickedness,
saying, "What have I done?"
Each pursues his own course
like a horse charging into battle.
The people revel in deceit and stubborn ignorance. There is no self-examination but instead an animalistic, ignorant charge into wickedness.
Jeremiah 8:7-8, But my people do not know....
Even the stork in the sky
knows her appointed seasons,
and the dove, the swift and the thrush
observe the time of their migration.
But my people do not know the requirements of the LORD.
"`How can you say, "We are wise, for we have the law of the LORD,"
when actually the lying pen of the scribes has handled it falsely?
The people of Israel, although given the law of God, are still ignorant and unable to follow God. Their ignorance is contrasted with the natural knowledge of wild birds like the stork, dove, swift and thrush.
Jeremiah 8:9-11, Given away
The wise will be put to shame;
they will be dismayed and trapped.
Since they have rejected the word of the LORD,
what kind of wisdom do they have?
Therefore I will give their wives to other men
and their fields to new owners.
From the least to the greatest,
all are greedy for gain;
prophets and priests alike,
all practice deceit.
They dress the wound of my people
as though it were not serious.
"Peace, peace," they say,
when there is no peace.
Even those called wise will be put to shame because of their ignorance of God. They are greedy, whether prophets or priests. They view the wounds of the people as requiring only bandaids. (This last verse also occurs in Jeremiah 6:14.) These greedy leaders will be defeated and even their wives taken from them.
Jeremiah 8:12, Will fall, but not blush
Are they ashamed of their loathsome conduct?
No, they have no shame at all;
they do not even know how to blush.
So they will fall among the fallen;
they will be brought down when they are punished, says the LORD.
The people are so brazen they cannot blush in shame. This verse also appears in Jeremiah 6:15.
Jeremiah 8:13, Harvest taken awaty.
"`I will take away their harvest, declares the LORD.
There will be no grapes on the vine.
There will be no figs on the tree,
and their leaves will wither.
What I have given them will be taken from them.'"
Continuing the idea of verse 10, the people will lose everything. Here their harvests (grapes, figs, etc.) will be taken from them.
Jeremiah 8:14-16, Why stay?
"Why are we sitting here?
Gather together!
Let us flee to the fortified cities and perish there!
For the LORD our God has doomed us to perish
and given us poisoned water to drink,
because we have sinned against him.
We hoped for peace
but no good has come,
for a time of healing
but there was only terror.
The snorting of the enemy's horses is heard from Dan;
at the neighing of their stallions the whole land trembles.
They have come to devour the land
and everything in it,
the city and all who live there."
For the people there is no reason to stay -- the snorting of the enemy's horses can be heard in the north.
Jeremiah 8:17-19, No balm in Gilead
"See, I will send venomous snakes among you,
vipers that cannot be charmed,
and they will bite you," declares the LORD.
O my Comforter in sorrow,
my heart is faint within me.
Listen to the cry of my people
from a land far away:
"Is the LORD not in Zion?
Is her King no longer there?"
"Why have they provoked me to anger
with their images,
with their worthless foreign idols?"
Jeremiah cries out in pain, aware of the coming devastation.
Jeremiah 8:20-22, No balm in Gilead
"The harvest is past,
the summer has ended,
and we are not saved."
Since my people are crushed, I am crushed;
I mourn, and horror grips me.
Is there no balm in Gilead?
Is there no physician there?
Why then is there no healing for the wound of my people?
The wonderful time of summer is over. The people are (or will be?) crushed. No healing is available, no soothing balm to heal the people.
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