16:1 The Lord said to me,
Jeremiah was not giving his personal opinion or his human speculation.
16:2 “Do not get married and do not have children here in this land.
God commanded Jeremiah to remain a bachelor and to remain childless. God asked Hosea to marry a prostitute. Both of these situations would teach Judah some spiritual concepts that she needed to learn.
16:3 For I, the Lord, tell you what will happen to the children who are born here in this land and to the men and women who are their mothers and fathers.
God will tell Jeremiah what will happen to the family unit in Jerusalem.
16:4 They will die of deadly diseases. No one will mourn for them. They will not be buried. Their dead bodies will lie like manure spread on the ground. They will be killed in war or die of starvation. Their corpses will be food for the birds and wild animals.
When Babylon attacks Israel, six things will happen to the family unit in Jerusalem. First, they will die of diseases. Second, no one will mourn their death. Third, their dead bodies will stink up the land, Fourth, they will be killed in war. Fifth, they will die of starvation. Sixth, birds and wild animals will ear their corpses.
16:5 “Moreover I, the Lord, tell you: ‘Do not go into a house where they are having a funeral meal. Do not go there to mourn and express your sorrow for them. For I have stopped showing them my good favor, my love, and my compassion. I, the Lord, so affirm it!
Jeremiah is not to attend any funerals. Judah was living in such a sinful condition, that God was to remove His protection, His love, and His compassion from the nation.
16:6 Rich and poor alike will die in this land. They will not be buried or mourned. People will not cut their bodies or shave off their hair to show their grief for them.
When Babylon attacks, all Jewish social classes will be effected. No one will be buried. No one will be mourned.
It was forbidden by the Mosaic Law to cut one’s body or shave one’s head as an act of mourning. However, the people had lapsed into idolatry, so these pagan customs were practiced. However, they would not perform these pagan acts during the Babylonian invasion.
16:7 No one will take any food to those who mourn for the dead to comfort them. No one will give them any wine to drink to console them for the loss of their father or mother.
It is still a custom in Jewish homes today to bring food to families who are mourning. This tradition will not be practiced when Babylon attacks.
16:8 “ ‘Do not go to a house where people are feasting and sit down to eat and drink with them either.
Jeremiah was not to attend any parties.
16:9 For I, the Lord God of Israel who rules over all, tell you what will happen. I will put an end to the sounds of joy and gladness, to the glad celebration of brides and grooms in this land. You and the rest of the people will live to see this happen.’ ”
God will put an end to joyful music, gladness, celebrations, and weddings. Jeremiah will see these things happen in his own lifetime.
16:10 “When you tell these people about all this, they will undoubtedly ask you, ‘Why has the Lord threatened us with such great disaster? What wrong have we done? What sin have we done to offend the Lord our God?’
The people will be so blinded, that they will not recognize their sin.
16:11 Then tell them that the Lord says, ‘It is because your ancestors rejected me and paid allegiance to other gods. They have served them and worshiped them. But they have rejected me and not obeyed my law.
The people would suffer this punishment from God for several reasons. First, their ancestors rejected God. Second, their ancestors worshiped other gods. Third, they did not follow the Mosaic Law.
16:12 And you have acted even more wickedly than your ancestors! Each one of you has followed the stubborn inclinations of your own wicked heart and not obeyed me.
Fourth, the present generation was also guilty. They were even more wicked than their ancestors, because they had more light. Fifth, they were following the inclination of their own heart (intellect). The heart (intellect) is “desperately wicked.” Sixth, they did not obey Jehovah. Jehovah’s instructions came through the prophets.
16:13 So I will throw you out of this land into a land that neither you nor your ancestors have ever known. There you must worship other gods day and night, for I will show you no mercy.’ ”
For the reasons listed above, God will throw Israel out of the land. Israel will be thrown into a new land which is unfamiliar to them. Israel will be forced to worship idols day and night. God will show them no mercy. God is going to give Israel so much demon worship, that Israel will never want to worship idols again.
16:14 Yet I, the Lord, say: “A new time will certainly come. People now affirm their oaths with ‘I swear as surely as the Lord lives who delivered the people of Israel out of Egypt.’
Even though all of these bad judgments would come upon Israel, there will be a future new time when God will prepare another exodus similar to that of Egypt.
16:15 But in that time they will affirm them with ‘I swear as surely as the Lord lives who delivered the people of Israel from the land of the north and from all the other lands where he had banished them.’ At that time I will bring them back to the land I gave their ancestors.”
God was planning another exodus, but this exodus was not only from the north (Babylon), but it will be global. This exodus will take place at the beginning of the Millennial Kingdom. This will be a greater exodus than that of Moses.
16:16 But for now I, the Lord, say: “I will send many enemies who will catch these people like fishermen. After that I will send others who will hunt them out like hunters from all the mountains, all the hills, and the crevices in the rocks.
During the Great Tribulation, the goat Gentiles will join together under the anti-Semitic campaign of the Antichrist. They will seek out the Jews like hunters seek out their prey. They will fish for the Jews with hooks, just as a fisherman places hooks in the water to catch fish.
16:17 For I see everything they do. Their wicked ways are not hidden from me. Their sin is not hidden away where I cannot see it.
God will sit on His throne in heaven and watch the goat Gentiles persecute the Jews. The Gentiles will not be able to do these sins in secret, because God will be watching them.
16:18 Before I restore them I will punish them in full (מִשְׁנֵ֤ה) for their sins and the wrongs they have done. For they have polluted my land with the lifeless statues of their disgusting idols. They have filled the land I have claimed as my own with their detestable idols.”
During the Great Tribulation, Zechariah recorded that the Jews will fall back into idolatry. Israel will be punished for her involvement in idolatry.
The Hebrew word for “in full” is מִשְׁנֵ֤ה (mishnah), meaning double. Since Israel is the firstborn son of all of the nations, she receives double in blessings and cursings. The double punishment will be the seven seal, trumpet, and bowl judgment of the Great Tribulation.
After the Great Tribulation, then God will restore Israel back into His grace. He will do this, because of the Abrahamic Covenant. He made a promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. In the meantime, Israel has polluted the land by worshiping demons. Therefore, Jehovah must spank His child. He will punish her double for all of her sins.
16:19 Then I said, “Lord, you give me strength and protect me. You are the one I can run to for safety when I am in trouble. Nations from all over the earth will come to you and say, ‘Our ancestors had nothing but false gods— worthless idols that could not help them at all.
Jehovah was the strength and stronghold of Jeremiah. Many people wanted to kill Jeremiah, but God would not allow them to do so.
“Nations from all over the earth” are the sheep Gentiles who will enter into the Millennial Kingdom. The sheep Gentiles will recognize that their idols are useless.
16:20 Can people make their own gods? No, what they make are not gods at all.”
Man is so totally depraved and evil that if left alone, he will create lifeless idols and worship them instead of the one true God. Modern intellectuals do the same thing, but they do it though philosophical constructs of their own devising.
During the Great Tribulation, the Gentile nations will revert back to idolatry. However, by the preaching of the 144,000 Jewish evangelists, the ministry of the two witnesses, and the trumpet, seal, and bowl judgments, then the sheep Gentiles will recognize that idols are not gods at all.
16:21 The Lord said, “So I will now let this wicked people know— I will let them know my mighty power in judgment. Then they will know that my name is the Lord.”
The sheep Gentiles at the end of the Great Tribulation will see the mighty power of God and become converted.