Jeremiah 8:18-9:26

8:21-22 | The daughter of My people represented all the people. Balm was a medicine taken from the bark of a tree and was one of the primary exports from Judah.

9:3-6 | God made a case to His people that their treatment of Him would inevitably affect their treatment of each other. Failure to acknowledge God (through deceit they refuse to know Me) leads to a general lowing of all righteous behavior (Hosea 4:1-2).

9:7-9 | God refines or tries His people, first for correction and improvement, second for punishment. Job understood this in the midst of his trials: “But He knows the way that I take; when He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold.”

9:12-16 | God answers the “why are wee suffering” question with five grievances. One consequence of persistent sin is always persistent suffering.

9:17-22 | The coming calamity on the people of Judah would be so great that individuals would be unable to grieve properly. The call should go out for professional mourners (skillful wailing women) who could help in the grieving. Children should be taught to wail as part of their upbringing.

9:23-24 | Two directives God gives as He uses people in His service: (1) that they not glory in themselves or any personal achievement, and (2) that they give the glory to God (Ps. 33:16-18). The apostle Paul references this passage in 1 Corinthians 1:31 to recommend glorying, or boasting, in God. A person who understands and knows God does not stop at accumulating information about God but pursues a personal relationship with Him.

9:26 | Jeremiah announced God’s word that physical circumcision had no value unless it was accompanied by circumcision in the heart (Rom. 2:25-29).