ESV Global Study Bible :: Footnotes for Jeremiah 4

Jer. 4:1 True repentance includes removing detestable things (idols) from God’s presence (Gen. 35:1–4) and not wavering in this decision. Israel must not try to serve both God and idols, as Judah is currently doing (Jer. 2:23–37).

Jer. 4:2 Grace leads to changed living. Israel’s full repentance will glorify God. It will lead the nations to bless themselves in him—thus fulfilling God’s promise to Abraham concerning the nations (Gen. 12:3)—and to glory (or “exult”; see Ps. 63:11) in him. God called Jeremiah to be a prophet to the nations (Jer. 1:5–10). Here he fulfills that calling.

Jer. 4:4 Changing the image, God tells the people of Judah to circumcise themselves to the Lord by removing the foreskin of their hearts (Deut. 10:16). The heart symbolizes the totality of one’s will and emotions. Loving God with all one’s heart is the essence of faith (Deut. 6:4–9; Mark 12:28–32). True circumcision is of the heart, not simply the flesh (Gen. 17:10–14).

Jer. 4:5–6 Judah and Jerusalem must prepare for war.

Jer. 4:7 lion. Many ancient nations likened themselves to lions, but here the text refers to Babylon, the chief destroyer of nations in Jeremiah’s times. The land will be a waste . . . without inhabitant, so fleeing (as in vv. 5–6) will be useless.

Jer. 4:9 In that day refers to the day of the Lord, the day God judges, whether in history or at the final judgment that ends history. (See note on Amos 5:18–20 and The Day of the Lord in the Prophets.)

Jer. 4:10 Jeremiah speaks in frustration. He claims God has said that all shall be well when in fact divine wrath is coming. Apparently he quotes the false prophets (6:14; 14:13; 23:16–17). He wonders why God has allowed these prophets to speak at all if they are so wrong. But elsewhere in Scripture, God sometimes sends deceiving spirits into the false prophets (see note on 1 Sam. 16:14). Though God himself never does evil, he sometimes sends evil agents to accomplish his purposes of judgment.

Jer. 4:18 The defeat will be so bitter it will touch Israel’s heart, the very place God has tried to touch with his love.

Jer. 4:22 God says his people lack saving knowledge and a proper understanding of his ways and words (3:15; Hos. 4:1–3). Their only wisdom is in doing evil. Thus, they are foolish and stupid children. This strong language seeks to shock the people into repentance and to show Jeremiah that he shouldn’t be sympathetic toward them.

Jer. 4:23–25 Jeremiah portrays the coming judgment as a reversal of the creation process. The earth is once again without form and void (compare Gen. 1:2), the heavens have no light (compare Gen. 1:3), the mountains and hills quake (compare Gen. 1:9–11), and mankind (Gen. 1:26–31) and birds (Gen. 1:20–23) disappear.

Jer. 4:27 Despite the seeming totality of the destruction, God will not make a full end of the whole land (or “whole earth”). The creation will endure because of God’s mercy (Hos. 11:1–9) and eternal plan (2 Pet. 3:1–13).