Jeremiah 14:19-22 – The dangers of testing God

Jeremiah had pled with God on Judah’s behalf twice already but all to no avail. God  remained unmoved. Yet, persistently, the prophet came for the third time. Described in Jeremiah 14:19-22 was how Jeremiah framed his third petition. He began in verse 19 by asking three questions. His intention was to move God to intervene in the drought they were experiencing. His three questions were: Has God completely rejected Judah? Does he really loathe Zion? And  why would  He deal so severely with the nation till they are beyond healing?

Jeremiah saw the people’s dilemma of listening to false prophets and being baited by false hope. They were expecting peace but only experienced ills. They expected to be healed but had terror instead. On his part, Jeremiah acknowledged the sin of the people of Judah and identified himself with their sin. While he acknowledged that Judah deserved God’s harsh  dealing yet he pled for mercy. Firstly he asked God not to despise His own people  for His own name’s sake.  Secondly, He asked God not to bring disgrace to His own throne. In this, Jeremiah was referring to Jerusalem, God’s dwelling place. Thirdly, he reminded God that they were His covenant people and urged Him not to annul the covenant.  

 

The prophet vehemently acknowledged that God was the only one that could bring them relief from the drought.  He told God so in a series of rhetorical questions arguing that God alone could end the drought. Hence, they were placing their hope in God, trusting that He alone could end their misery.

 

What practical lessons can we learn from these verses? Firstly, we learn never to test God by persisting in our waywardness. While God is patient, He will have to deal with our sins. Don’t test Him beyond His endurance.  Secondly, we need to be careful that we are not wrongly influenced. Be careful who we listen to in life. Persuasive messages are not necessarily good messages. A good and godly message will always direct us to please God and not lead us to act erroneously to disappoint Him. Hence, be careful with the subtle and deviant nuances in a message. Thirdly, we must place our hope in God alone. He alone has the perfect solution to all our ills in life.