Jeremiah Chapter 6

Jeremiah chapter 6 contains the tail end of a message of God that starts from Jeremiah 3:6. This is a message that was spoken to Jeremiah in the days of Josiah the king. If you recall, Josiah was a good king and did what was right in the sight of the Lord. And therefore, God promised Josiah that he would not see the calamity that God had determined to bring upon Judah.

Josiah’s efforts to restore the worship of God in his kingdom would take time. In 2 Chronicles 34:3, it tells us that Josiah began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places starting from the twelfth year of the reign of Josiah. Josiah broke down the altars of Baals, the carved images and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem.

Jeremiah 3:6 tells us that the word then came to Jeremiah in the days of Josiah, and Jeremiah 1:1 clarifies that these words came to Jeremiah in the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah.

One wonders why God chose to bring this message to the people during the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah. 

Perhaps the hope was that because the people’s hearts were starting to turn back to God at that time, under such circumstances, the words of the prophet Jeremiah would be more well received.

Indeed, when we start to clear up the idols and distractions in our hearts, it is then that we can hear the voice of God speaking to us more clearly, in sermons and in prayer.

When was the last time you felt God speaking to you through His words? Are our hearts clear of distractions and able to hear what He has to say?

Alas based on chapter 6, while God gave His people His words at the most opportune time, their hearts remained hard and unrepentant.

Let’s go into the contents of Jeremiah 6.

In Jeremiah 6, God once again emphasizes that destruction of Judah shall come from the north (6:1). The enemies of Judah shall pitch their tents against her all around, each one shall pasture in his own place (6:3).

The enemies of Judah will be devoted and diligent to make sure of the destruction of Judah. In verses 4 and 5, the enemies decry the fact that the day passes too fast. But they strengthen their resolve to destroy Judah even at night, when the conditions for war are terrible.

Despite these terrible pronouncements, it seems that the people do not seem to take the words of God spoken by Jeremiah seriously. Indeed, God says that the ears of the people are uncircumcised and cannot give heed (verse 10). 

The people were not afraid of the warnings of Jeremiah, because there are false prophets who declare “Peace, Peace” when there is no peace (verse 14). Where did this confidence of the false prophets come from? Perhaps it was because during the time of King Hezekiah, God sent an angel to kill the 185,000 strong army of the Assyrians. This emboldened the people into thinking that Jerusalem would always be defended by God. No matter what they did, God would always come to the rescue and deliver them. They became no longer ashamed when they committed abominations (verse 14).

Have we likewise started to take the mercy, grace and protection of God for granted? Have we become emboldened to commit certain sins because we still experience good things after having committed them? 

Does God still wish for His people to come to their senses and turn back? Very much so. God admonishes His people thus: 

“Stand in the ways and see, And ask for the old paths, where the good way is, and walk in it, then you will find rest for your souls” (6:16)

Bearing in mind these words were said in the 13^th year of the reign of Josiah, we can understand better what God meant by the “old paths”. At that time in the kingdom, the book of the law given by Moses had been lost and the people had not kept the word of God according to the law of Moses for a long time. It was only in the eighteenth year that eventually the book of the law of Moses was found. 

It seems that the words in Jeremiah 6:16 were spoken by God to encourage the people to dig into the past, to seek and learn how the worship of God was conducted in the old days. Because in the 13^th year of Josiah, the book of the law of Moses was still lost.

This reminds us how important the word of God is, and how the practice of our faith must be based on God’s word.

Finally, reading this chapter, I noticed how chapter 6 echoes what we have previously read in Chapter 1. I have listed some of the similarities below for anyone interested. I am not aware of the significance of the similar pattern yet, but it remains nonetheless interesting to me anyways.

Comparison	Chapter 1	Chapter 6
Calamity from the north proclaimed.	14 “Then the Lord said to me: Out of the north calamity shall break forth…”	1 “…For a disaster appears out of the north, and great destruction…”
Enemies shall camp at the gates / around Judah	15 “…All the families of the kingdoms of the north, says the Lord; They shall come and each one set his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem…”	3 “… The shepherds with their flocks shall come to her. They shall pitch their tents against her around. Each one shall pasture in his own place…”
Jeremiah is a fortress to the people	18 “… I have made you this day a fortified city and an iron pillar and bronze walls against the whole land….”	27 “I have set you as an assayer and a fortress among My people, That you may know and test their way…”

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