Jeremiah 9
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In verse 13, the Lord answers that the people have available to them all the wisdom they need; it is contained within the law of Moses, which the people have forsaken (verse 13). Because the people have forsaken His law, the Lord will make them eat bitter food and drink poisoned water (verse 15)—figures representing the suffering they are about to endure. He will scatter them among the nations (verse 16), the very punishment that Moses had decreed for those who broke God’s covenant (Leviticus 26:33). And finally the Lord will pursue His disobedient people until they are destroyed—though not completely destroyed, for a remnant will be spared (see Jeremiah 5:18).
17–22 Since the Lord’s judgment on Judah has been determined, there is nothing left for the people to do but lament their fate. The Lord tells Jeremiah to call for the wailing women, professional mourners whose job it was to arouse the bereaved to weep and mourn (verses 17–18). In verse 19, the Lord gives the words the women are to say.45
In verse 20, Jeremiah tells the “wailing women” to teach their daughters how to wail; otherwise there will not be sufficient wailers, given the terrible judgment that is about to fall! In verses 21–22, that judgment is vividly described.
23–24 Here the Lord makes a general statement about what is truly valuable and worthwhile—what is worth “boasting” about. It is not human wisdom, human strength, or earthly riches (verse 23). The only thing worth boasting about is one’s knowledge of the Lord (see Proverbs 1:7; John 17:3; 1 Corinthians 1:26–31).
25–26 External religious rituals cannot be boasted about either. CIRCUMCISION of the flesh is of no value unless it is accompanied by circumcision of the heart (see Jeremiah 4:3–4 and comment). All the nations listed in verse 26 practiced circumcision of the flesh, but not of the heart. Therefore God considered them all to be uncircumcised—including the whole house of Israel—and therefore outside the covenant, the sign of which was circumcision (see Genesis 17:9–13; Romans 2:28–29). There’s no use in a sign without having what the sign signifies!