Question 1

Why does Jeremiah say he wishes his head were waters and his eyes a fountain of tears?

Accepted Answer

Jeremiah speaks this way to show how deeply he grieves over his people. He sees that many in Judah will be slain because they have turned from God, and normal crying does not seem enough for such loss. He wishes for unending tears so he could mourn day and night for “the slain of the daughter of my people.” This is not self-pity, but sorrow for others. It shows the heart of a true shepherd who feels the pain of judgment that is coming on the nation because of its sins.

Question 2

Why does Jeremiah want a lodging place in the wilderness away from his people?

Accepted Answer

Jeremiah longs for a simple shelter in the wilderness because living among his own people has become painful. He says they are all adulterers and treacherous, which points mainly to spiritual unfaithfulness toward God and a life filled with lies and betrayal. The sin around him wears him down so much that staying among wild places seems safer than staying among his neighbors. Yet he does not actually abandon his calling. His words show the struggle of someone who loves God but lives among people who refuse to listen.

Question 3

What does it mean that they bend their tongues like a bow for lies?

Accepted Answer

The picture of bending the tongue like a bow shows how people have turned their speech into a weapon. Instead of using words for truth, they use them to launch lies like arrows. Lying is not an accident here; it is planned and practiced. The passage says they have taught their tongue to speak lies and are not brave for the truth. They move from evil to evil and do not know the Lord. This shows a whole way of life built on deceit, where words are used to harm rather than to help.

Question 4

Why does God say, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, or the rich man in his riches?

Accepted Answer

God speaks these words to correct false confidence. The people might trust their own cleverness, their strength, or their wealth to escape trouble, but none of these can save them from God’s judgment. Wisdom, power, and riches are not wrong in themselves, but they are empty when they become the main thing a person trusts and brags about. God says the only right boasting is to rejoice that you understand and know Him, the Lord who does lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness. Knowing God’s character is worth more than all human success.

Question 5

What does it mean that Israel is uncircumcised in heart?

Accepted Answer

God says that all the nations mentioned are uncircumcised, and that the house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart. This means that even though Israel has an outward sign that they belong to God, their inner life does not match it. Their hearts are hard and unchanged. They follow Baal and the imaginations of their own hearts instead of God’s law. So they are, in practice, no different from the nations around them. The warning is that outward religion without an inner turning to God does not protect from judgment.

Question 6

What judgment does God promise in this passage, and why?

Accepted Answer

God promises very heavy judgment. He says He will melt and try the people, make Jerusalem heaps and the cities of Judah desolate, and feed them with wormwood and gall. The land will be burned so that even animals flee. He will scatter them among nations they have not known and send a sword after them. The reason is clear: they have forsaken His law, not obeyed His voice, walked after their own hearts, and followed Baal. Their deep deceit, lying tongues, and broken relationships show that they refuse to know Him.

Question 7

Who are the mourning women, and why are they called in this chapter?

Accepted Answer

The mourning women are professional wailers that people would hire to cry at funerals and times of disaster. God tells the people to call them, even to teach their daughters and neighbors to wail. This is both a command and a kind of rebuke. Since the people have not truly mourned their sins, God tells them to get ready for real mourning, because death is coming in through the windows and into the palaces. Children and young men will be cut off. Their feigned tears will turn into true lament when judgment falls.

Question 8

What does this passage teach about God’s character?

Accepted Answer

This passage shows that God is both patient and just. He has watched His people go from evil to evil, lie to each other, and abandon His law. He does not ignore this; He asks, “Shall I not visit them for these things?” At the same time, God reveals what He truly delights in: lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. He wants people to know Him as the Lord who shows mercy, who judges evil, and who acts rightly. His call to boast in knowing Him shows He still invites people to turn back to Him.

Question 9

How can someone today apply the call to glory in understanding and knowing the Lord?

Accepted Answer

The call to glory in knowing the Lord invites us to check what we are proud of and where we rest our hearts. Wisdom, strength, and wealth can all fail, just as they did for the people in this passage. To apply this, a person can seek to know God as He has shown Himself: the Lord who practices lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness. That means trusting His mercy, taking His warnings about sin seriously, and caring about what is right in daily life. Boasting in knowing God means letting His character shape our values and choices.

Jeremiah 9:1

Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!

A Lament over Zion

A Lament over Zion

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Jeremiah 9:1

Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!

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A Lament over Zion

A Lament over Zion

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