# Jeremiah 14 📖: Drought and False Prophets [[📚 Explore the Bible Books]] [[-Jeremiah Overview]] | [[Jeremiah 13]] | [[Jeremiah 15]] > [!info] Table of Contents > [[#📜 Scripture Text (NET)]] > [[#📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary]] > [[#🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights]] > [[#🧠 Chapter Summary]] > [[#✝️ Christ in This Chapter]] > [[#🔎 Key Principles / 🛟 Life Application]] > [[#💬 Discussion Questions]] > [[#✍️ Key Verses to Remember]] > [[#🔗 Related Passages/Cross Reference]] > [[#🙏 Devotional Reflection]] > [[#📂 Internal Notes]] ## 📜 Scripture Text (NET) (The NET Bible: New English Translation. Biblical Studies Press, 2005) ### A Lament over the Ravages of Drought [[#Verse 01.]] This was the Lord’s message to Jeremiah about the drought. [[#Verse 02.]] “The people of Judah are in mourning. The people in her cities are pining away. They lie on the ground expressing their sorrow. Cries of distress come up to me from Jerusalem. [[#Verse 03.]] The leading men of the cities send their servants for water. They go to the cisterns, but they do not find any water there. They return with their containers empty. Disappointed and dismayed, they bury their faces in their hands. [[#Verse 04.]] They are dismayed because the ground is cracked because there has been no rain in the land. The farmers, too, are dismayed and bury their faces in their hands. [[#Verse 05.]] Even the doe abandons her newborn fawn in the field because there is no grass. [[#Verse 06.]] Wild donkeys stand on the hilltops and pant for breath like jackals. Their eyes are strained looking for food, because there is none to be found.” [[#Verse 07.]] Then I said, “O Lord, intervene for the honor of your name even though our sins speak out against us. Indeed, we have turned away from you many times. We have sinned against you. [[#Verse 08.]] You have been the object of Israel’s hopes. You have saved them when they were in trouble. Why have you become like a resident foreigner in the land? Why have you become like a traveler who only stops in to spend the night? [[#Verse 09.]] Why should you be like someone who is helpless, like a champion who cannot save anyone? You are indeed with us, and we belong to you. Do not abandon us!” [[#Verse 10.]] Then the Lord spoke about these people. “They truly love to go astray. They cannot keep from running away from me. So I am not pleased with them. I will now call to mind the wrongs they have done and punish them for their sins.” ### Judgment for Believing the Misleading Lies of the False Prophets [[#Verse 11.]] Then the Lord said to me, “Do not pray for good to come to these people!  [[#Verse 12.]] Even if they fast, I will not hear their cries for help. Even if they offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Instead, I will kill them through wars, famines, and plagues.” [[#Verse 13.]] Then I said, “Oh, Sovereign Lord, look! The prophets are telling them that you said, ‘You will not experience war or suffer famine. I will give you lasting peace and prosperity in this land.’” [[#Verse 14.]] Then the Lord said to me, “Those prophets are prophesying lies while claiming my authority! I did not send them. I did not commission them. I did not speak to them. They are prophesying to these people false visions, worthless predictions, and the delusions of their own mind.  [[#Verse 15.]] I did not send those prophets, though they claim to be prophesying in my name. They may be saying, ‘No war or famine will happen in this land.’ But I, the Lord, say this about them: ‘War and starvation will kill those prophets.’  [[#Verse 16.]] The people to whom they are prophesying will die through war and famine. Their bodies will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem and there will be no one to bury them. This will happen to the men and their wives, their sons, and their daughters. For I will pour out on them the destruction they deserve.” ### Lament over Present Destruction and Threat of More to Come [[#Verse 17.]] “Tell these people this, Jeremiah: ‘My eyes overflow with tears day and night without ceasing. For my people, my dear children, have suffered a crushing blow. They have suffered a serious wound. [[#Verse 18.]] If I go out into the countryside, I see those who have been killed in battle. If I go into the city, I see those who are sick because of starvation. For both prophet and priest— they go peddling in the land but they are not humbled.’” [[#Verse 19.]] Then I said, “Lord, have you completely rejected the nation of Judah? Do you despise the city of Zion? Why have you struck us with such force that we are beyond recovery? We hope for peace, but nothing good has come of it. We hope for a time of relief from our troubles, but experience terror. [[#Verse 20.]] Lord, we confess that we have been wicked. We confess that our ancestors have done wrong. We have indeed sinned against you. [[#Verse 21.]] For the honor of your name, do not treat Jerusalem with contempt. Do not treat with disdain the place where your glorious throne sits. Be mindful of your covenant with us. Do not break it. [[#Verse 22.]] Do any of the worthless idols of the nations cause rain to fall? Do the skies themselves send showers? Is it not you, O Lord our God, who does this? So we put our hopes in you because you alone do all this.” ## 📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary ###### Overall. ###### Verse 01. ###### Verse 02. ###### Verse 03. ###### Verse 04. ###### Verse 05. ###### Verse 06. ###### Verse 07. ###### Verse 08. ###### Verse 09. ###### Verse 10. ###### Verse 11. ###### Verse 12. ###### Verse 13. ###### Verse 14. ###### Verse 15. ###### Verse 16. ###### Verse 17. ###### Verse 18. ###### Verse 19. ###### Verse 20. ###### Verse 21. ###### Verse 22. ## 🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights 1. Drought was one of the covenant warnings for disobedience (Deuteronomy 28:23-24). 2. Servants found the cisterns empty and covered their heads in shame (14:3), a sign of grief and humiliation. 3. A doe abandoning her newborn fawn (14:5) was shocking, since the deer was known for caring for its young. 4. Wild donkeys stood on bare hills panting like jackals (14:6), a picture of extreme thirst. 5. Jeremiah asks why God is like a stranger or a traveler who stays only one night (14:8). 6. This is the third time God tells Jeremiah not to pray for the people's welfare (14:11; see 7:16; 11:14). 7. The trio of sword, famine, and plague (14:12) appears many times in Jeremiah as the shape of covenant judgment. 8. False prophets promised "lasting peace in this place" (14:13), but God said He had not sent them. 9. Canaanites credited Baal with sending rain. Jeremiah insists that only the Lord gives showers (14:22). 10. Jeremiah prays, "Do not despise us... do not dishonor Your glorious throne" (14:21), appealing to God's covenant and reputation. ## 🧠 Chapter Summary > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## ✝️ Christ in This Chapter Christ is the Hope of Israel and its Savior in time of trouble (14:8). God did not remain a stranger passing through, for in Jesus the Word became flesh and lived among us (John 1:14). ## 🔎 Key Principles / 🛟 Life Application > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## 💬 Discussion Questions 1. The drought left people, animals, and land in distress (14:1-6). How can hard seasons expose what we have been trusting in? 2. Jeremiah prays, "Though our sins testify against us, act for the sake of Your name" (14:7). Why is God's name a stronger basis for prayer than our own goodness? 3. The false prophets promised lasting peace that God never spoke (14:13-15). How can we tell the difference between God's Word and wishful thinking? ## ✍️ Key Verses to Remember - 📖 verse 7: Though our sins testify against us, act for the sake of Your name, Lord. - 📖 verse 8: The Lord is the Hope of Israel and its Savior in time of distress. - 📖 verse 22: Can any worthless idol bring rain? You alone, Lord our God, do these things. ## 🔗 Related Passages/Cross Reference - 🔗 [[John 01#Verse 14.|John 1:14]] - The Word became flesh and lived among us. - 🔗 [[Romans 15#Verse 13.|Romans 15:13]] - The God of hope fills you with joy and peace. - 🔗 [[Daniel 09#Verse 18.|Daniel 9:18-19]] - Act for the sake of Your name. - 🔗 [[James 05#Verse 17.|James 5:17-18]] - Elijah prayed, and the heavens gave rain. - 🔗 [[Matthew 07#Verse 15.|Matthew 7:15]] - Watch out for false prophets. ## 🙏 Devotional Reflection 📝 SOAP: [[Jeremiah 14 - SOAP|He Is Among Us]] ## 📂 Internal Notes