Daily Devotions
Jeremiah
"Let your ear receive the word of His mouth"
Text: Jeremiah 9:20
A WORD FROM GOD ABOUT WAILING
How could a nation not mourn its own dead? How could families also not mourn the dead of loved ones? The Lord had to address this problem!
“Yet hear the word of the LORD, O women,
And let your ear receive the word of His mouth;
Teach your daughters wailing,
And everyone her neighbour a lamentation.
For death has come through our windows,
Has entered our palaces,
To kill off the children—no longer to be outside!
And the young men—no longer on the streets!
Speak, ‘Thus says the LORD:
‘Even the carcasses of men shall fall as refuse on the open field,
Like cuttings after the harvester,
And no one shall gather them.””
Jeremiah 9:20-22
1. “Yet hear the word of the LORD, O women, and let your ear receive the word of His mouth”
a) This was a very direct message from God.
b) It was a very specific word.
c) This word was addressed to the women in particular the professional wailing women.
2. “Teach your daughters wailing, and everyone her neighbour a lamentation”
a) Professional mourners do not easily teach their trade secrets.
b) Yet, they are challenged to share their secrets.
i) Their daughters must learn.
(Not all daughters would want to become professional mourners.)
ii) Teaching the neighbours.
All must learn how to weep for their loved ones who die!
How can the eyes be dry in times of great bereavement?
3. “For death has come”
a) Through the open windows of humble homes.
b) In the palaces of the rich and powerful.
c) No home is spared.
i) Children die
ii) The youths die
d) The streets in the city.
i) They are devoid of children.
ii) Death had taken a severe toll!
How could there be no tears?
4. “Speak, ‘Thus says the LORD: ‘Even the carcasses of men shall fall as refuse on the open field, like cuttings after the harvester, and no one shall gather them””
a) Death was compared to harvest time.
b) Lives are like stalks of grain that are cut down.
c) What remains is a scene of devastation.
d) The bodies of the dead are like carcasses of animals left in the open field.
e) No one gathers the dead bodies!
How could the nation not weep?