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NOTES for Jer 14:21

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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.
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This prayer of the prophet Jeremiah, spoken more than two and a half thousand years ago, is very important for every person. The point is that the stereotypes of our religious psychology are such that we are very inclined to care about having something for which we can be praised. Perhaps this is the result of the failing and excellent grades we received in school... It seems to us that we must try to do something for the sake of which God will not reject us. But, as the Apostle Paul says, "Christ died for us while we were still sinners"...

There is nothing by which we could earn mercy, and therefore it is altogether meaningless to conduct a dialogue with God in terms of merit. Do not reject us for Your name's sake, that is, for Your own sake, the prophet prays. "Not for the sake of our righteousness," as St. Basil the Great put it in one prayer, but for Your own sake. Only in this case does our hope become so firm that, according to the word of Christ, we can go and bear fruit.

Other notes

 
For Jer 14:1-22
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.
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.
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.
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Finding themselves on the brink of destruction, people are forced to rethink their ideas about God...  Read more

Finding himself on the brink of destruction, a person is forced to rethink his ideas about God. Jeremiah stands between two incompatible ways of understanding the situation. On the one hand, the disasters taking place come from God; they are punishment for unbelief, and therefore God will not help or even listen to pleas for help. On the other hand, the prophet cannot relinquish his certainty that “God's name has been called over us,” that despite everything God remains Israel's only hope and salvation. In this paradox, the demanding, just, and punishing God meets the God who forgives and saves. There is only one way to resolve this contradiction: to unite these two opposing images in the single word “YOU.” This is prayer; this is repentance; this is a direct encounter with the reality of God, which cannot be fitted into any neat system of ideas.

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For Jer 14:1-22
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.
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.
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.
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Again, as in the days of Elijah, the people have sunk into pagan wickedness, and again drought has fallen on the land - but now everything is much worse: in Elijah's time, a considerable number of faithful people who had not bowed before pagan deities remained hidden from outside eyes, but now...  Read more

Again, as in the days of Elijah, the people have sunk into pagan wickedness, and again drought has fallen on the land - but now everything is much worse: in Elijah's time, a considerable number of faithful people who had not bowed before pagan deities remained hidden from outside eyes, but now the faithful remnant has grown very thin, and the Lord turns away from the unfaithful people to such a degree that He even asks Jeremiah not to pray for them.

Yet we should note that the prohibition on praying for sinners does not deny the possibility of repentant prayer by the sinners themselves. The Lord had no intention of refusing the people His help, but any good given to an unrepentant people will not benefit them.

An important lesson taught here is the need for careful discernment toward words proclaimed by prophets. Sadly, not every prophecy comes from God; many of them are dreams of one's own heart, mistaken for a voice from above. But the imaginary structures of false prophets will surely collapse, and the false hopes they offer will vanish.

The Lord, however, sternly and impartially warns the people about the disasters they have deserved. But a true prophet, proclaiming His will and not his own wishes, does not lose hope in His mercy. Aware of the full justice of God's anger, such a prophet still does not accept the destruction of the covenant between the Lord and His people, no matter how small the number of the faithful has become.

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