Jeremiah-Chap-6

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Colour coded details of our beloved TaNaKh:

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*The Ketuvim - Includes, Poetical books - Psalms, Proverbs, Job, the Megillot, or Scrolls - Song of Solomon, Ruth, Lamentations of Jeremiah, Ecclesiastes, and Esther, prophecy of Daniel, and history of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Chronicles I & II.

Please Note: Some alterations or (additions) have been made relating to ‘Names’ and ‘Attributes’ of אֱלֹהִים - Elohim, having been corrected like it once was pre the “Masoretic Text”.

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Remember the following truth from our beloved Torah!

“Ye shall NOT ADD TO THE WORD which I command you, NEITHER SHALL YE DIMINISH FROM IT, that ye may keep the commandments of יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם - the LORD your Eloleichem, which I command you”. Davarim - Deuteronomy 4:2. (JPS-1917).

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“Jeremiah Chapter 6”

With Rabbi, Dr. Reuven Ben Avraham-Goossens, PhD.

Introduction:

In Jeremiah Chapter 6, we encounter a prophet deeply pained by the spiritual and moral collapse of his nation. Having moved beyond initial warnings, the Divine message now takes on a sense of terrifying urgency as the “destroyer from the north” draws near. This chapter serves as a profound examination of a society that has lost its ability to feel shame, where even the spiritual leadership has abandoned its post in favour of providing “false peace”. It is a stark call to stop and look for the “ancient paths” the original, unadulterated ways of the Covenant before the opportunity for refining passes into final rejection.

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Let us read Jeremiah Chapter 6, verses 1 to 30: (JPS-1917 version of the Torah). Below this chapter you will find my commentary on same.

1. “Put yourselves under covert, ye children of Benjamin, away from the midst of Jerusalem, and blow the horn in Tekoa, and set up a signal on Beth-cherem; for evil looketh forth from the north, and a great destruction. 2. The comely and delicate one, the daughter of Zion, will I cut off. 3. Shepherds with their flocks come unto her; they pitch their tents against her round about; they feed bare every one what is nigh at hand. 4. ‘Prepare ye war against her; arise, and let us go up at noon!’ ‘Woe unto us! for the day declineth, for the shadows of the evening are stretched out!' 5. 'Arise, and let us go up by night, and let us destroy her palaces’. 6. For thus hath יְהוָה - the LORD of hosts said: hew ye down her trees, and cast up a mound against Jerusalem; this is the city to be punished; everywhere there is oppression in the midst of her. 7. As a cistern welleth with her waters, so she welleth with her wickedness; violence and spoil is heard in her; before Me continually is sickness and wounds. 8. Be thou corrected, O Jerusalem, lest My soul be alienated from thee, lest I make thee desolate, a land not inhabited. 9. Thus saith צְבָאוֹת אֱלֹהִים-יְהוָה the LORD Elohim of Tz’va’ot (Hosts): They shall thoroughly glean as a vine the remnant of Israel; turn again thy hand as a grape-gatherer upon the shoots. 10. To whom shall I speak and give warning, that they may hear? Behold, their ear is dull, and they cannot attend; behold, the word of יְהוָה - the LORD is become unto them a reproach, they have no delight in it. 11. Therefore I am full of the fury of יְהוָה - the LORD, I am weary with holding in: pour it out upon the babes in the street, and upon the assembly of young men together; for even the husband with the wife shall be taken, the aged with him that is full of days. 12. And their houses shall be turned unto others, their fields and their wives together; for I will stretch out My hand upon the inhabitants of the land, saith יְהוָה - the LORD. 13. For from the least of them even unto the greatest of them every one is greedy for gain; and from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely. 14. They have healed also the hurt of My people lightly, saying: ‘Peace, peace’, when there is no peace. 15. They shall be put to shame because they have committed abomination; yea, they are not at all ashamed, neither know they how to blush; therefore they shall fall among them that fall, at the time that I punish them they shall stumble, saith יְהוָה - the LORD. 16. Thus saith יְהוָה - the LORD: ‘stand ye in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls’. But they said: ‘We will not walk therein’. 17. And I set watchmen over you: ‘Attend to the sound of the horn’, but they said: ‘We will not attend’. 18. ‘Therefore hear, ye nations, and know, O congregation, what is against them. 19. Hear, O earth: behold, I will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not attended unto My words, and as for My teaching, they have rejected it. 20. To what purpose is to Me the frankincense that cometh from Sheba, and the sweet cane, from a far country? Your burnt-offerings are not acceptable, nor your sacrifices pleasing unto Me’. 21. Therefore thus saith יְהוָה - the LORD: ‘Behold, I will lay stumblingblocks before this people, and the fathers and the sons together shall stumble against them, the neighbour and his friend, and they shall perish’. 22. Thus saith יְהוָה - the LORD: ‘Behold, a people cometh from the north country, and a great nation shall be roused from the uttermost parts of the earth. 23. They lay hold on bow and spear, they are cruel, and have no compassion; their voice is like the roaring sea, and they ride upon horses; set in array, as a man for war, against thee, O daughter of Zion’. 24. ‘We have heard the fame thereof, our hands wax feeble, anguish hath taken hold of us, and pain, as of a woman in travail’. 25. Go not forth into the field, nor walk by the way; for there is the sword of the enemy, and terror on every side. 26. O daughter of my people, gird thee with sackcloth, and wallow thyself in ashes; make thee mourning, as for an only son, most bitter lamentation; for the spoiler shall suddenly come upon us. 27. I have made thee a tower and a fortress among My people; that thou mayest know and try their way. 28. They are all grievous revolters, going about with slanders; they are brass and iron; they all of them deal corruptly. 29. The bellows blow fiercely, the lead is consumed of the fire; in vain doth the founder refine, for the wicked are not separated. 30. Refuse silver shall men call them, because יְהוָה - the LORD hath rejected them”.

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Let us now look at Chapter 6 commentary:

Verses 1-8: (The Siege of Jerusalem). The chapter opens with a warning to the children of Benjamin to flee Jerusalem, as disaster approaches from the north. Though Jerusalem is compared to a “comely and delicate” woman, she is now surrounded not by protectors, but by “shepherds” who are actually enemy generals pitching their tents to prepare for an attack. The siege is described as a Divine punishment for the “wickedness” and “oppression” that flows from the city like water from a fountain.

Verses 9-15: (The Failure of Leadership and the Loss of Shame). Jeremiah laments that there is no one left to listen; their ears are “uncircumcised”, meaning they are spiritually closed to truth. A scathing indictment is issued against the priests and prophets who “heal the hurt of the people slightly”. By crying “Peace, peace” when there is no peace, they offer superficial comfort instead of the radical repentance required to save the nation. Most tragically, the people have reached a state where they “do not know how to blush”, having lost their moral compass and sense of accountability.

Verses 16-21: (The Ancient Paths vs. False Worship). In a famous exhortation, the people are told to “stand in the ways and see”, and to ask for the “ancient paths”. These paths represent the original commandments and the “good way” that brings rest to the soul. However, the people flatly refuse, choosing instead to continue with empty ritualism. They bring expensive frankincense and sweet cane from distant lands like Sheba, but because their hearts are not aligned with אֱלֹהִים - Elohim’s law, their sacrifices are rejected as “not sweet” and certainly “not acceptable”.

Verses 22-30: (The Coming Destruction and the Failed Refinement). The final section describes the terrifying military force advancing from the north, a cruel, merciless army that causes even the strongest to wax feeble with anguish. Jeremiah is appointed as a “tester of metals” to assay the nation. The imagery of a refinery is used: the fire is hot and the bellows blow fiercely, but the impurities (the “wicked”) cannot be separated from the metal. Because the people refuse to be refined by the prophet’s warnings, they are ultimately dubbed “refuse silver” discarded as worthless because יְהוָה - the LORD has rejected them!

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My Closing Message:

Jeremiah 6 leaves us with a haunting image: the refiner’s fire burning hot, yet finding nothing precious within the dross. It teaches that religious performance can never substitute for ethical integrity and a heart that is “circumcised” will hear the truth. The tragedy of Judah was not just their sin, but their stubborn refusal to acknowledge it. May we have the courage to always seek the “ancient paths” and maintain a conscience soft enough to “blush” ensuring that we are never found to be “refuse silver” in the eyes of our Creator.

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Remember what אֱלֹהִים - Elohim, blessed be He, said the following via several of our prophets...

“Return unto Me, and I will return unto you, saith צְבָאוֹת- יְהוָה- the LORD of hosts” Mal’a’chi - Malachi 3:7. (JPS).

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שָׁלוֹם עֲלֵיכֶם - Shalom Aleichem - Peace be with you!

Rabbi, Dr. Reuven Ben Avraham-Goossens, PhD.

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