What is happening in this passage when Judah is mourning and the ground is cracked?

This passage describes a severe drought in Judah. The cities are weak, people are mourning, and even the nobles cannot find water when they send their servants to the wells. Farmers are ashamed because the ground is cracked and their work has no fruit. Wild animals suffer too, leaving their young and gasping for air because there is no grass. All of this is not just bad weather. It is God’s judgment on a nation that has turned away from Him and refused to listen. The pain in the land matches the people’s sin.

Why does Jeremiah connect the drought with the people’s sins?

Jeremiah understands that this drought is not random. God has already warned His people that if they keep wandering from Him, He will withhold rain and food. So Jeremiah says, “Though our iniquities testify against us,” and “our backslidings are many.” He admits that the nation’s guilt is like a witness speaking against them. By tying the drought to sin, Jeremiah is not being harsh but honest. He shows that the right response is confession and turning back to God, not blaming nature, chance, or other nations’ idols.

What does it mean that God tells Jeremiah not to pray for this people for their good?

God tells Jeremiah, “Pray not for this people for their good,” to show how serious their stubborn sin has become. The people have “loved to wander” and kept up religious actions like fasting and sacrifices, but without real repentance. God says He will not hear those empty cries or accept those offerings. This does not mean God never hears prayer, but that there comes a point when ongoing rebellion brings sure judgment. It shows that prayer cannot be used to cover an unchanged heart and that God cares about truth, not outward show.

Who are the false prophets in this passage and what are they saying?

In this passage, the false prophets are people who claim to speak for the LORD but do not. They tell the people, “You shall not see the sword, neither shall you have famine; but I will give you assured peace in this place.” In other words, they promise safety and peace when God has actually said judgment is coming. God says clearly that He did not send them, command them, or speak to them. Their messages come from their own hearts, not from God. Because they lied in His name, they themselves will fall by the very sword and famine they denied.

What does Jeremiah mean when he calls God the hope of Israel and asks why God seems like a stranger?

Jeremiah calls God “the hope of Israel, his saviour in time of trouble,” because he knows that only God can help them. At the same time, he asks why God seems like a stranger or a traveler who just passes through. It feels to Jeremiah as if God is distant and not acting to save. This honest language shows the tension between faith and experience: Jeremiah knows God is in their midst and that they bear His name, yet the judgment makes it seem as if God is absent. His prayer holds both confession and a plea for God to show His nearness again.

Why does God refuse the people’s fasting and sacrifices in this passage?

God says that when the people fast, He will not hear, and when they bring burnt offerings and grain offerings, He will not accept them. The reason is that their hearts have not changed. They “have loved to wander” and have not restrained their feet from sin. Their worship has become empty habit instead of humble obedience. God is not rejecting true repentance, but pretending. This shows that religious acts by themselves cannot shield anyone from judgment. What God looks for is a broken and honest heart that turns from sin, not mere outward religion.

How does Jeremiah respond emotionally to the coming judgment on Judah?

Jeremiah is deeply moved by what God shows him. He is told to say, “Let mine eyes run down with tears night and day, and let them not cease.” He sees in his mind both the field filled with people killed by the sword and the city filled with people wasting away from famine. He weeps over “the virgin daughter of my people,” broken with a great wound. His grief shows that even when judgment is deserved, it is still heartbreaking. He does not gloat over sinners but mourns for them and pleads with God for mercy.

How does Jeremiah’s final prayer at the end of this passage give hope?

At the end, Jeremiah leads the people in a humble prayer. They admit, “We acknowledge our wickedness, and the iniquity of our fathers,” and they do not try to excuse themselves. They ask God not to reject them for good, but to act “for thy name’s sake” and not to break His covenant. They openly say that idols cannot send rain and that God alone made all things. This gives hope because it shows that even under heavy judgment, there is still a way to cry out to God: honest confession, trust in His name, and waiting on Him as the only true helper.

Jer.14.1

Jeremiah 14:1

Q: What does this passage teach about God’s control over rain and nature?

The passage makes it clear that God is the one who controls rain and drought. The people finally admit that none of the idols of the nations can cause rain and that the heavens themselves cannot send showers on their own. They say to God, “Art not thou he, O LORD our God? therefore we will wait upon thee: for thou hast made all these things.” The drought is described as God withholding His usual gifts. This teaches that nature is not independent from God. When He blesses, there is rain and food; when He judges, He can hold them back.

KJV

The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah concerning the dearth.

Chapter:

Drought, Famine, Sword, and Plague

Drought and a Prayer for Mercy

1 The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah concerning the dearth.

2 Judah mourneth, and the gates thereof languish; they are black unto the ground; and the cry of Jerusalem is gone up.

3 And their nobles have sent their little ones to the waters: they came to the pits, and found no water; they returned with their vessels empty; they were ashamed and confounded, and covered their heads.

4 Because the ground is chapt, for there was no rain in the earth, the plowmen were ashamed, they covered their heads.

5 Yea, the hind also calved in the field, and forsook it, because there was no grass.

6 And the wild asses did stand in the high places, they snuffed up the wind like dragons; their eyes did fail, because there was no grass.

7 ¶ O Lord, though our iniquities testify against us, do thou it for thy name’s sake: for our backslidings are many; we have sinned against thee.

8 O the hope of Israel, the saviour thereof in time of trouble, why shouldest thou be as a stranger in the land, and as a wayfaring man that turneth aside to tarry for a night?

9 Why shouldest thou be as a man astonied, as a mighty man that cannot save? yet thou, O Lord, art in the midst of us, and we are called by thy name; leave us not.

10 ¶ Thus saith the Lord unto this people, Thus have they loved to wander, they have not refrained their feet, therefore the Lord doth not accept them; he will now remember their iniquity, and visit their sins.

11 Then said the Lord unto me, Pray not for this people for their good.

12 When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and an oblation, I will not accept them: but I will consume them by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence.

False Prophets

13 ¶ Then said I, Ah, Lord God! behold, the prophets say unto them, Ye shall not see the sword, neither shall ye have famine; but I will give you assured peace in this place.

14 Then the Lord said unto me, The prophets prophesy lies in my name: I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake unto them: they prophesy unto you a false vision and divination, and a thing of nought, and the deceit of their heart.

15 Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning the prophets that prophesy in my name, and I sent them not, yet they say, Sword and famine shall not be in this land; By sword and famine shall those prophets be consumed.

16 And the people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword; and they shall have none to bury them, them, their wives, nor their sons, nor their daughters: for I will pour their wickedness upon them.

17 ¶ Therefore thou shalt say this word unto them; Let mine eyes run down with tears night and day, and let them not cease: for the virgin daughter of my people is broken with a great breach, with a very grievous blow.

18 If I go forth into the field, then behold the slain with the sword! and if I enter into the city, then behold them that are sick with famine! yea, both the prophet and the priest go about into a land that they know not.

A Prayer for Mercy

19 Hast thou utterly rejected Judah? hath thy soul lothed Zion? why hast thou smitten us, and there is no healing for us? we looked for peace, and there is no good; and for the time of healing, and behold trouble!

20 We acknowledge, O Lord, our wickedness, and the iniquity of our fathers: for we have sinned against thee.

21 Do not abhor us, for thy name’s sake, do not disgrace the throne of thy glory: remember, break not thy covenant with us.

22 Are there any among the vanities of the Gentiles that can cause rain? or can the heavens give showers? art not thou he, O Lord our God? therefore we will wait upon thee: for thou hast made all these things.

Context:

Drought, Famine, Sword, and Plague

Sub Context:

Drought and a Prayer for Mercy

Cross References

No cross references available for this verse.