8:1,2The threat that the graves of Judah’s people would be Opened was horrible to a people who highly honored the dead and believed that it was the highest desecration to open graves. This would be an ironic punishment for idol worshipers—their bones would be laid out before the sun, moon, and stars—the gods they thought could save them.
Life Application Study BibleJeremiahChapter 8
Jeremiah 8
New Living Translation · Life Application Study Bible · Original pages: 1217, 1218, 1219
A few verse numbers on this page were hard to read in the scan and are marked with a dotted underline — compare with the original page image if in doubt.
8Jeremiah 8
1“In that day,” says the LORD, “the enemy will break open the graves of the kings and officials of Judah, and the graves of the priests, prophets, and common people of Jerusalem. 2They will spread out their bones on the ground before the sun, moon, and stars—the gods my people have loved, served, and worshiped. Their bones will not be gathered up again or buried but will be scattered on the ground like manure. 3And the people of this evil nation who survive will wish to die rather than live where I will send them. I, the LORD of Heaven's Armies, have spoken!
Deception by False Prophets
44Jeremiah, say to the people, ‘This is what the LORD says:“When people fall down, don’t they get up again?When they discover they're on the wrong road, don’t they turn back?
5Then why do these people stay on their self-destructive path?Why do the people of Jerusalem refuse to turn back?They cling tightly to their liesand will not turn around.
6I listen to their conversationsand don’t hear a word of truth.Is anyone sorry for doing wrong?Does anyone say, “What a terrible thing I have done”?No! All are running down the path of sinas swiftly as a horse galloping into battle!
7Even the stork that flies across the skyknows the time of her migration,as do the turtledove, the swallow, and the crane.*They all return at the proper time each year.But not my people!They do not know the LORD’s laws.
8“How can you say, “We are wise because we have the word of the LORD,”when your teachers have twisted it by writing lies?
9These wise teachers will fallinto the trap of their own foolishness,for they have rejected the word of the LORD.Are they so wise after all?
10I will give their wives to othersand their farms to strangers.From the least to the greatest,their lives are ruled by greed.Yes, even my prophets and priests are like that.They are all frauds.
11They offer superficial treatmentsfor my people’s mortal wound.They give assurances of peacewhen there is no peace.
12Are they ashamed of these disgusting actions?Not at all—they don’t even know how to blush!Therefore, they will lie among the slaughtered.They will be brought down when I punish them,says the LORD.
13J will surely consume them.- There will be no more harvests of figs and grapes.Their fruit trees will all die.Whatever I gave them will soon be gone.I, the LORD, have spoken!’
14“Then the people will say,‘Why should we wait here to die?Come, let’s go to the fortified towns and die there.For the LORD our God has decreed our destructionand has given us a cup of poison to drinkbecause we sinned against the LORD.
15We hoped for peace, but no peace came.We hoped for a time of healing, but found only terror.’
16“The snorting of the enemies’ warhorses can be heardall the way from the land of Dan in the north!The neighing of their stallions makes the whole land tremble.They are coming to devour the land and everything in it—cities and people alike.
17Twill send these enemy troops among youlike poisonous snakes you cannot charm.They will bite you, and you will die.I, the LORD, have spoken!”
Jeremiah Weeps for Sinful Judah
1818 My grief is beyond healing;my heart is broken.
19Listen to the weeping of my people;it can be heard all across the land.“Has the LORD abandoned Jerusalem?*” the people ask.“Is her King no longer there?”“Oh, why have they provoked my anger with their carved idolsand their worthless foreign gods?” says the LORD.
20“The harvest is finished,and the summer is gone,” the people cry,“yet we are not saved!”
21I hurt with the hurt of my people.I mourn and am overcome with grief.
22Is there no medicine in Gilead?Is there no physician there?Why is there no healingfor the wounds of my people?
9 1*If only my head were a pool of water and my eyes a fountain of tears, I would weep day and night for all my people who have been slaughtered. 2* Oh, that I could go away and forget my people and live in a travelers’ shack in the desert. For they are all adulterers— a pack of treacherous liars.
Textual footnotes
- 8:7 The identification of some of these birds is uncertain.
- 8:19 Hebrew Zion?
Life Application Notes 6 notes
8:4-6When people fall down or realize that they are headed in the wrong direction, it only makes sense for them to get up or change directions. But as God watched the nation, he saw people living sinful lives by choice, deceiving themselves that there would be no consequences. They had lost perspective concerning God's will for their lives and were trying to minimize their sin. Are there some indicators that you have fallen down or are heading the wrong way? What are you doing to get back on the right path?
8:16Dan was the northernmost tribe in!srael.
8:18,19Jeremiah was pleading with God to save his people.
8:20-22These words vividly portray Jeremiah’s emotion as he watched his people reject God. He responded with anguish to a world dying in sin. We watch that same world still dying in sin, still rejecting God. But how often is our heart broken for our fost friends and neighbors, our lost world? Only when we have Jeremiah’s kind of passionate concern will we be moved to help. We must begin by asking God to break our heart for the world he loves.
8:22Gilead was famous for its healing medicine. This is a rhetorical question. The obvious answer is, “Yes—God,” but Israel was not applying the “medicine”: they were not obeying the LORD. Although the people's spiritual sickness was very deep it could be healed. But the people refused the medicine. God could heal their self-inflicted wounds, but he would not force his healing on them.
Charts, profiles & sidebars from the printed pages
Study feature · page 1219
-25 in Hebrew text.
OLD TESTAMENT TESTS FOR FALSE PROPHETS In the Old Testament, various signs or works pointed to a true or false prophet. Many of these can be applied today.
1. Does the prophet use fortune-telling? Divination was expressly forbidden by God (Deuteronomy 18:9-14). No true teacher or prophet would use fortune-telling or have any dealings with spirits of the dead (Jeremiah 14:14; Ezekiel 12:24; Micah 3:7).
2. Have the prophet’s short-term prophecies been fulfilled? Deuteronomy 18:22 used this as a test. Do predictions come to pass?
3. is the prophet marked by a desire to say only what pleases people? Many false prophets told people what they wanted to hear. A true prophet serves God, not people (Jeremiah 8:11; 14:13; 23:17; Ezekiel 13:10; Micah 3:5).
4. Does the prophet draw people away from God? Many teachers draw people to themselves or to the system or organization they have built (Deuteronomy 13:1-3).
5. Does the prophet’s prophecy contirm the Bible's main teaching? if a prophecy is inconsistent with or contradictory to Scripture, it is not to be believed.
6. What is the prophet’s moral character? False prophets were charged with lying (Jeremiah 8:10; 14:14), drunkenness (Isaiah 28:7), and immorality (Jeremiah 23:14).
7. Do other Spirit-led people discern autheniicity in this prophet? Discernment by others who are led of the Spirit is a key test (1 Kings 22:7). The New Testament speaks of this a great deal (John 10:4-15; 1 Corinthians 2:14; 14:29, 32; 1 John 4:1).