Daily Devotions
Jeremiah
"Why do you cry about your affliction"
Text: Jeremiah 30:15
THE WOES EXPERIENCED
Judah in captivity faced very trying times. There was hardship at every level. Many were aghast and had no answers to fall back on!
“All your lovers have forgotten you;
They do not seek you;
For I have wounded you with the wound of an enemy,
With the chastisement of a cruel one,
For the multitude of your iniquities,
Because your sins have increased.
Why do you cry about your affliction?
Your sorrow is incurable.
Because of the multitude of your iniquities,
Because your sins have increased,
I have done these things to you.”
Jeremiah 30:14-15
1. “All your lovers have forgotten you; they do not seek you”
a) The allies of Judah had forgotten about them.
b) They were not seeking to help them.
c) Judah was all alone in their struggles.
2. “For I have wounded you with the wound of an enemy,
with the chastisement of a cruel one”
a) Wounds suffered
i) They were heavy wounds.
ii) An enemy would inflict the most severe of wounds.
b) Chastisement
i) This is often associated with punishment.
ii) A person who is cruel will inflict most cruelly.
3. “For the multitude of your iniquities, because your sins have increased”
a) Judah had not confessed the multitude of their iniquities (evil deeds).
b) The nation kept increasing their sins:
i) In quantity.
ii) In depth.
4. “Why do you cry about your affliction”
a) The people cried out because of their afflictions:
i) In anger.
ii) In complaints.
iii) In frustration.
b) Did they think they were unjustly treated?
c) The people had not woken up to realise the greatness of their iniquities.
5. “Because of the multitude of your iniquities,
because your sins have increased, I have done these things to you”
a) This was the LORD explaining to them why they were being chastised so severely.
b) Yes! It was the LORD Himself who had caused them to experience such suffering.
c) The problem was stated clearly once again!
i) The nation had committed a multitude of iniquities.
ii) Their sins had actually increased!