Jeremiah 14-15

What’s Happening?

God is responding to Judah’s idolatry and injustice by allowing the land itself to dry up. The ground cracks, crops fail, and even wild animals starve (Jeremiah 14:1–6). The drought is not random—it is a covenant sign. Judah has severed its loyalty to the God who gives life, and the land now reflects that rupture. The whole nation mourns as the death and devastation of covenant collapse becomes visible.

In response, Jeremiah prays on Judah’s behalf. He openly confesses their rebellion and asks God to relent—not because Judah deserves relief, but because God’s name and reputation are bound to this people (Jeremiah 14:7). God once called himself the “hope of Israel” and their “savior,” so Jeremiah appeals to God to act consistently with who he has revealed himself to be (Jeremiah 14:8–9).

But God tells Jeremiah the drought is not a misunderstanding—it is a faithful response to Judah’s covenant betrayal. Judah’s idolatry and violence cannot simply be ignored. The consequences of their disloyalty must run their course (Jeremiah 14:10). God announces that the famine will not be lifted, and if it does not fully break Judah’s resistance, foreign armies will complete what the drought has begun (Jeremiah 14:11–18). Jeremiah is even told to stop praying for Judah’s rescue and instead join God in announcing what is coming.

Still, Jeremiah cannot stop interceding. Again, he confesses Judah’s guilt and again appeals to God’s name and covenant faithfulness (Jeremiah 14:19–22). But God responds that even if Moses or Samuel stood before him, the course of Judah’s exile would not be reversed (Jeremiah 15:1–4). The time for reversal has passed; the time for removal and purgation has arrived.

Jeremiah finally joins God in announcing Judah’s coming downfall (Jeremiah 15:5–9). This makes him a target. He is attacked, slandered, and isolated by those in power. Overwhelmed by grief and rejection, Jeremiah curses the day he was born (Jeremiah 15:10). Yet God promises to guard him. Though Jeremiah must speak hard words, God will not abandon him to his enemies (Jeremiah 15:11–14).

Jeremiah protests. He has faithfully spoken God’s words, yet those words have only brought him pain and loneliness (Jeremiah 15:16–17). He asks why God feels like a deceptive stream—promising relief but offering none (Jeremiah 15:18). God responds firmly but gently. Jeremiah must realign himself with God’s purposes, not demand escape from them. If Jeremiah will speak God’s words faithfully—even when they are words of judgment—God will sustain him, protect him, and restore his strength (Jeremiah 15:19–21).

Where is the Gospel?

Jeremiah longs for God to act quickly to remove Judah’s corrupt leadership and relieve the suffering of the land. But God reveals that covenant healing does not come through shortcuts. Judah’s disloyalty has hollowed out its institutions, poisoned its land, and hardened its people. Restoration requires exposure, removal, and exile before renewal can begin.

Jesus stands in this same prophetic line. Like Jeremiah, he announces the coming fall of Jerusalem and its temple (Mark 13:1–2). Like Jeremiah, he faces violent opposition from religious leaders who believe their institutions guarantee God’s favor. And like Jeremiah, Jesus grieves over what must come (Luke 19:41–44).

On the night before his death, Jesus prays as Jeremiah once did. He asks if there is another way forward—another path to restore God’s people and renew the covenant without passing through death and exile (Luke 22:39–44). But there is not. Israel’s long history of covenant collapse must finally be brought to its end.

So Jesus faithfully carries Israel’s story to its climax. As the faithful representative of his people Jesus embodies the consequences of covenant failure, entering fully into their exile. He is cast out of the city, handed over to the nations, and put to death under imperial power—the very fate Jeremiah foretold for Judah.

But exile is not the final word.

Just as God promised to protect Jeremiah beyond judgment, God vindicates Jesus beyond death. The resurrection is God’s declaration that exile has done its work, that covenant faithfulness has been fulfilled, and that restoration has begun. While Moses’ or Samuels’ intercession would not be enough to bring God’s people back into covenant relationship with him, Jesus’ is. God proves himself once again to be the true “hope of Israel” and the faithful giver of life by raising Jesus from the grave (Acts 2:24).

And because Jesus passes through death and emerges renewed, all who belong to him are gathered into that same movement—from judgment to life, from exile to homecoming, from death to resurrection. God’s covenant is not abandoned; it is renewed. His people are not erased; they are restored.

See for Yourself

I pray that the Holy Spirit will open your eyes to see the God who is faithful to his covenant even when his people are not.
And may you see Jesus as the one who carried Israel’s exile, endured its consequences, and opened the way to renewal, resurrection, and life.