Jeremiah 17:4
And you yourself will relinquish the inheritance that I gave you. I will enslave you to your enemies in a land that you do not know, for you have kindled My anger; it will burn forever."
And you yourself
This phrase emphasizes personal responsibility and accountability. In the Hebrew text, the word "yourself" (אַתָּה, 'attah) is used to stress that the people of Judah cannot blame others for their predicament. It is a direct address to the nation, highlighting that their actions have led to the consequences they face. This serves as a reminder of the individual and collective responsibility in maintaining faithfulness to God's covenant.

will relinquish
The Hebrew root for "relinquish" (שָׁמַט, shamat) implies a forced release or letting go. This is not a voluntary action but a consequence of disobedience. The inheritance, which is the land given by God, is something that the people are compelled to give up due to their unfaithfulness. This relinquishment is a direct result of their failure to uphold the covenant with God.

the inheritance that I gave you
The "inheritance" refers to the Promised Land, a gift from God to the Israelites. This land was a tangible sign of God's promise and blessing. The use of "I gave you" underscores God's sovereignty and generosity. Historically, the land was central to the identity and faith of the Israelites, representing God's faithfulness to His promises. Losing this inheritance signifies a severe breach in the relationship between God and His people.

I will enslave you to your enemies
The phrase "enslave you" (עָבַד, 'avad) indicates subjugation and servitude. This is a reversal of the freedom that God had granted the Israelites when He delivered them from Egypt. Being enslaved to their enemies is a direct consequence of their disobedience and idolatry. It serves as a fulfillment of the covenant curses outlined in Deuteronomy 28, where disobedience leads to oppression by foreign nations.

in a land you do not know
This phrase highlights the unfamiliarity and alienation that the people will experience. Being taken to a foreign land signifies a loss of identity and security. Historically, this refers to the Babylonian exile, where the people of Judah were taken to a place far from their homeland. The unfamiliar land symbolizes the spiritual and physical distance from God's presence and blessings.

for you have kindled My anger
The imagery of "kindling" (בָּעַר, ba'ar) suggests that the people's actions have ignited God's wrath. This is not a sudden outburst but a response to persistent disobedience and idolatry. The anger of God is portrayed as a righteous and just reaction to the covenant violations. It serves as a warning of the seriousness of turning away from God's commands.

it will burn forever
The phrase "burn forever" (עַד-עוֹלָם, 'ad-olam) is hyperbolic, emphasizing the intensity and seriousness of God's anger. While God's anger is described as eternal, it is important to understand this in the context of the prophetic literature, where such language is used to stress the gravity of the situation. Theologically, it serves as a call to repentance, reminding the people of the enduring consequences of their actions but also of the possibility of restoration through turning back to God.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Jeremiah
A prophet called by God to deliver messages of warning and hope to the people of Judah. His ministry spanned the reigns of several kings and was marked by themes of repentance and judgment.

2. Judah
The southern kingdom of Israel, consisting of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. During Jeremiah's time, Judah was facing imminent judgment due to its persistent idolatry and disobedience to God.

3. Inheritance
Refers to the land and blessings that God had given to the Israelites as part of His covenant with them. This inheritance was both physical (the land of Canaan) and spiritual (a relationship with God).

4. Enemies
The foreign nations, particularly Babylon, that God used as instruments of judgment against Judah. These enemies would conquer and exile the people as a consequence of their sin.

5. God's Anger
Represents God's righteous indignation against sin and idolatry. It is a recurring theme in the prophetic books, emphasizing the seriousness of turning away from God.
Teaching Points
The Consequences of Disobedience
Disobedience to God leads to the loss of blessings and inheritance. Just as Judah faced exile, we too can experience spiritual separation when we turn away from God.

The Seriousness of Idolatry
Idolatry provokes God's anger. We must examine our lives for anything that takes precedence over our relationship with God and remove it.

God's Righteous Judgment
God's judgment is just and serves as a call to repentance. Understanding His righteous anger should lead us to seek His mercy and forgiveness.

The Hope of Restoration
While God's anger is kindled by sin, His ultimate desire is for restoration. Through Christ, we have the hope of reconciliation and the promise of eternal inheritance.

Living in Covenant Faithfulness
We are called to live faithfully in the covenant relationship with God, valuing the spiritual inheritance we have in Christ and walking in obedience to His commands.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does the concept of "inheritance" in Jeremiah 17:4 relate to the spiritual inheritance we have in Christ today?

2. In what ways can idolatry manifest in our modern lives, and how can we guard against it?

3. Reflect on a time when you experienced the consequences of disobedience. How did it affect your relationship with God, and what steps did you take towards restoration?

4. How does understanding God's righteous judgment in the Old Testament enhance our appreciation for His grace and mercy in the New Testament?

5. What practical steps can you take to ensure you are living in covenant faithfulness, valuing your spiritual inheritance, and walking in obedience to God?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Deuteronomy 28
This chapter outlines the blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience, including the loss of inheritance and exile, which directly relate to the consequences described in Jeremiah 17:4.

2 Kings 25
Describes the fall of Jerusalem and the Babylonian exile, fulfilling the prophecy of enslavement to enemies in a foreign land.

Psalm 79
A lament over the destruction of Jerusalem, reflecting the sorrow and consequences of God's anger kindled by the people's sin.

Romans 1
Discusses God's wrath against ungodliness and unrighteousness, drawing a parallel to the consequences faced by Judah for their idolatry.
The Profound Impression of Judah's SinD. Young Jeremiah 17:1-4
People
Benjamin, David, Jeremiah
Places
Jerusalem, Negeb, People's Gate, Shephelah
Topics
Age, Anger, Burn, Burning, Cause, Caused, Discontinue, Enemies, Enslave, Fire, Flame, Forever, Hast, Haters, Heritage, Inheritance, Kindled, Loosen, Lose, Nostril, Servant, Serve, Strange, Thyself, Wrath
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Jeremiah 17:4

     4207   land, divine gift
     5398   loss
     5704   inheritance, material
     6163   faults

Library
Sin's Writing and Its Erasure
'The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, and with the point of a diamond: it is graven upon the table of their heart, and upon the horns of your altars.'--JER. xvii. 1. 'Ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.'-2 COR. iii. 3. 'Blotting out the handwriting that was against us.'---COL .ii. 14. I have put these verses together because they
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

A Soul Gazing on God
'A glorious high throne from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary.'--JER. xvii. 12. I must begin by a word or two of explanation as to the language of this passage. The word 'is' is a supplement, and most probably it ought to be omitted, and the verse treated as being, not a statement, but a series of exclamations. The next verse runs thus, 'O Lord! the hope of Israel, all that forsake Thee shall be ashamed'; and the most natural and forcible understanding of the words of my text is reached
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Two Lists of Names
'They that depart from Me shall be written in the earth'--JER. xvii. 13. 'Rejoice that your names are written in heaven.'--LUKE x. 20. A name written on earth implies that the bearer of the name belongs to earth, and it also secondarily suggests that the inscription lasts but for a little while. Contrariwise, a name written in heaven implies that its bearer belongs to heaven, and that the inscription will abide. We find running throughout Scripture the metaphor of books in which men's names are
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Heath in the Desert and the Tree by the River
'He shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, a salt land and not inhabited...He shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.'--JER. xvii. 6, 8. The prophet here puts before us two highly finished pictures. In the
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

A Nation's Duty in a War for Freedom.
(Preached March 28th, 1813.) TEXT: JEREMIAH xvii. 5-8, AND xviii. 7-10. MY devout hearers! Through an extraordinary occurrence we find the order of our discourses on the suffering Saviour interrupted, and our to-day's meeting devoted to a very different subject. How deeply have we all been moved by the events of the last weeks! We saw march forth from our gates the army of a people nominally allied to us, but our feeling was not that of parting with friends; with thankful joy did we feel at last
Friedrich Schleiermacher—Selected Sermons of Schleiermacher

"The Carnal Mind is Enmity against God for it is not Subject to the Law of God, Neither Indeed Can Be. So Then they that Are
Rom. viii. s 7, 8.--"The carnal mind is enmity against God for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God." It is not the least of man's evils, that he knows not how evil he is, therefore the Searcher of the heart of man gives the most perfect account of it, Jer. xvii. 12. "The heart is deceitful above all things," as well as "desperately wicked," two things superlative and excessive in it, bordering upon an infiniteness, such
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Severinus in Germany.
As the Lord ever sends his angels when there is most need of help, so in the midst of the desolation and destruction which ensued on that irruption of the barbarians by which the Roman empire was broken in pieces after the death of Attila, the great desolator and exterminator, (A. D. 453,) He sent to the aid of the oppressed people of Germany, on the banks of the Danube, in their sore need, a man endowed with an extraordinary energy of love. His whole appearance has in it something enigmatical. As
Augustus Neander—Light in the Dark Places

Trust of the Wicked, and the Righteous Compared. Jer 17:5-8

John Newton—Olney Hymns

But in Order that we Fall not Away from Continence...
10. But in order that we fall not away from Continence, we ought to watch specially against those snares of the suggestions of the devil, that we presume not of our own strength. For, "Cursed is every one that setteth his hope in man." [1838] And who is he, but man? We cannot therefore truly say that he setteth not his hope in man, who setteth it in himself. For this also, to "live after man," what is it but to "live after the flesh?" Whoso therefore is tempted by such a suggestion, let him hear,
St. Augustine—On Continence

Epistle i. To the Roman Citizens.
To the Roman Citizens. Gregory, servant of the servants of God, to his most beloved sons the Roman citizens. It has come to my ears that certain men of perverse spirit have sown among you some things that are wrong and opposed to the holy faith, so as to forbid any work being done on the Sabbath day. What else can I call these but preachers of Antichrist, who, when he comes, will cause the Sabbath day as well as the Lord's day to be kept free from all work. For, because he pretends to die and rise
Saint Gregory the Great—the Epistles of Saint Gregory the Great

"And if any Man Sin, we have an Advocate with the Father,",
1 John ii. 1.--"And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father,", &c. There is here a sad supposition, but too certain, that any man may sin, yea, that all men will sin, even those who have most communion with God, and interest in the blood of Christ. Yet they are not altogether exempted from this fatal lot of mankind. It is incident even to them to sin, and too frequently incident, but yet we have a happy and sweet provision, for indemnity from the hazard of sin,--"we have an advocate
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

"For what the Law could not Do, in that it was Weak through the Flesh, God Sending his Own Son in the Likeness of Sinful Flesh,
Rom. viii. 3.--"For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin condemned sin in the flesh." For what purpose do we meet thus together? I would we knew it,--then it might be to some better purpose. In all other things we are rational, and do nothing of moment without some end and purpose. But, alas! in this matter of greatest moment, our going about divine ordinances, we have scarce any distinct or deliberate
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Appendix xvii. The Ordinances and Law of the Sabbath as Laid Down in the Mishnah and the Jerusalem Talmud.
The terribly exaggerated views of the Rabbis, and their endless, burdensome rules about the Sabbath may best be learned from a brief analysis of the Mishnah, as further explained and enlarged in the Jerusalem Talmud. [6476] For this purpose a brief analysis of what is, confessedly, one of the most difficult tractates may here be given. The Mishnic tractate Sabbath stands at the head of twelve tractates which together from the second of the six sections into which the Mishnah is divided, and which
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

The Fourth Commandment
Remember the Sabbath-day to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath-day and hallowed it. Exod 20: 8-11. This
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments

The First Part
Of the Apocalyptical Commentaries, according to the Rule of the Apocalyptical Key, on the First Prophecy which is contained in the Seals and Trumpets; with an Introduction concerning the Scene of the Apocalypse. As it is my design to investigate the meaning of the Apocalyptical visions, it is requisite for me to treat, in the first place, of that celestial theatre to which John was called, in order to behold them, exhibited as on a stage, and afterwards of the prophecies in succession, examined by
Joseph Mede—A Key to the Apocalypse

Moral Depravity.
In discussing the subject of human depravity, I shall,-- I. Define the term depravity. The word is derived from the Latin de and pravus. Pravus means "crooked." De is intensive. Depravatus literally and primarily means "very crooked," not in the sense of original or constitutional crookedness, but in the sense of having become crooked. The term does not imply original mal-conformation, but lapsed, fallen, departed from right or straight. It always implies deterioration, or fall from a former state
Charles Grandison Finney—Systematic Theology

Inward Witness to the Truth of the Gospel.
"I have more understanding than my teachers, for Thy testimonies are my study; I am wiser than the aged, because I keep Thy commandments."--Psalm cxix. 99, 100. In these words the Psalmist declares, that in consequence of having obeyed God's commandments he had obtained more wisdom and understanding than those who had first enlightened his ignorance, and were once more enlightened than he. As if he said, "When I was a child, I was instructed in religious knowledge by kind and pious friends, who
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VIII

The True Manner of Keeping Holy the Lord's Day.
Now the sanctifying of the Sabbath consists in two things--First, In resting from all servile and common business pertaining to our natural life; Secondly, In consecrating that rest wholly to the service of God, and the use of those holy means which belong to our spiritual life. For the First. 1. The servile and common works from which we are to cease are, generally, all civil works, from the least to the greatest (Exod. xxxi. 12, 13, 15, &c.) More particularly-- First, From all the works of our
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety

But Concerning True Patience, Worthy of the Name of this virtue...
12. But concerning true patience, worthy of the name of this virtue, whence it is to be had, must now be inquired. For there are some [2650] who attribute it to the strength of the human will, not which it hath by Divine assistance, but which it hath of free-will. Now this error is a proud one: for it is the error of them which abound, of whom it is said in the Psalm, "A scornful reproof to them which abound, and a despising to the proud." [2651] It is not therefore that "patience of the poor" which
St. Augustine—On Patience

What the Scriptures Principally Teach: the Ruin and Recovery of Man. Faith and Love Towards Christ.
2 Tim. i. 13.--"Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus." Here is the sum of religion. Here you have a compend of the doctrine of the Scriptures. All divine truths may be reduced to these two heads,--faith and love; what we ought to believe, and what we ought to do. This is all the Scriptures teach, and this is all we have to learn. What have we to know, but what God hath revealed of himself to us? And what have we to do, but what
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Jewish views on Trade, Tradesmen, and Trades' Guilds
We read in the Mishnah (Kidd. iv. 14) as follows: "Rabbi Meir said: Let a man always teach his son a cleanly and a light trade; and let him pray to Him whose are wealth and riches; for there is no trade which has not both poverty and riches, and neither does poverty come from the trade nor yet riches, but everything according to one's deserving (merit). Rabbi Simeon, the son of Eleazer, said: Hast thou all thy life long seen a beast or a bird which has a trade? Still they are nourished, and that
Alfred Edersheim—Sketches of Jewish Social Life

The Secret of Its Greatness
[Illustration: (drop cap G) The Great Pyramid] God always chooses the right kind of people to do His work. Not only so, He always gives to those whom He chooses just the sort of life which will best prepare them for the work He will one day call them to do. That is why God put it into the heart of Pharaoh's daughter to bring up Moses as her own son in the Egyptian palace. The most important part of Moses' training was that his heart should be right with God, and therefore he was allowed to remain
Mildred Duff—The Bible in its Making

Division of Actual Grace
Actual grace may be divided according to: (1) the difference existing between the faculties of the human soul, and (2) in reference to the freedom of the will. Considered in its relation to the different faculties of the soul, actual grace is either of the intellect, or of the will, or of the sensitive faculties. With regard to the free consent of the will, it is either (1) prevenient, also called cooeperating, or (2) efficacious or merely sufficient. 1. THE ILLUMINATING GRACE OF THE INTELLECT.--Actual
Joseph Pohle—Grace, Actual and Habitual

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