Jeremiah 4

This chapter is one of the early prophecies collected in the opening section of the book of Jeremiah. It takes up the call to "return" at the end of Jeremiah 3 and urges repentance before turning to a warning of disaster coming from the north.

Outline

• Verses 1–4 God declares that if Israel puts away its abominations and returns, the nations will bless themselves in Him. He commands the people of Judah and Jerusalem to break up their fallow ground and circumcise their hearts.
• Verses 5–9 A trumpet is to be blown, and the people are told to flee to the fortified cities. The destroyer of the nations is coming out of the north like a lion, so the people are to gird themselves with sackcloth and lament. On that day the king and the princes, the priests and the prophets will all be dismayed.
• Verses 10–18 Jeremiah laments that God had said, "Ye shall have peace," whereas "the sword reacheth unto the soul." A hot wind then blows from the wilderness, and the enemy's chariots sweep in like a whirlwind. Jerusalem is urged to wash its heart from wickedness, and news of disaster is proclaimed from Dan and from Mount Ephraim.
• Verses 19–22 Hearing the sound of the trumpet, the speaker cries out in anguish: "My bowels, my bowels! I am pained at my very heart." God laments that His people are wise to do evil but have no knowledge of doing good.
• Verses 23–28 The prophet sees the earth without form and void, the heavens without light, and both people and birds gone. God declares that the whole land will be desolate, yet He will not make a full end.
• Verses 29–31 The people of the cities flee into thickets and climb up upon the rocks. Jerusalem, like a woman adorned with finery, is despised by her lovers, and the daughter of Zion cries out like a woman in labor.

Key Verses

• Jeremiah 4:3 "Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns" — a metaphor for repentance, calling for the hardened heart to be plowed up first.
• Jeremiah 4:4 "Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of your heart" — a verse that demands inward transformation rather than outward ritual.
• Jeremiah 4:23 "I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void" — echoing the language of Genesis 1:2, it portrays judgment as the reversal of creation.

People and Places

• Jeremiah: the prophet who delivers this prophecy. He voices his own lament in verses 10 and 19.
• Jerusalem: the capital of Judah. In verse 31 it is personified as the "daughter of Zion."
• Dan: a city at the northern extremity of the land of Israel.
• Mount Ephraim: the hill country north of Jerusalem. Dan and Mount Ephraim are mentioned in sequence, depicting the news of disaster moving southward from the north.
• The enemy from the north: the text does not name it, but it is commonly understood to be Babylon.

Points for Reflection

• The circumcision of the heart (see circumcision) connects with Deuteronomy 10:16 and Deuteronomy 30:6. Paul likewise states in Romans 2:29 that "circumcision is that of the heart."
• Jeremiah's complaint in verse 10 that God has "greatly deceived" the people is commonly read as a lament that God did not restrain the false prophets' prophecies of peace. Compare Jeremiah 6:14: "Peace, peace; when there is no peace."
• Interpreters differ on whether the speaker in verses 19–21 is Jeremiah himself or the personified people.
• Most commentaries read verses 23–26 as a poetic depiction of coming judgment. However, proponents of the so-called gap theory, which posits a span of time between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2, sometimes cite this passage in support.
• The phrase in verse 27, "yet will I not make a full end," is read in connection with the idea of the remnant.

In the Korean Church

The phrase "break up your fallow ground," together with Hosea 10:12, is frequently cited as a sermon theme encouraging repentance and spiritual renewal.