◄ Jeremiah 4:8 ►
So put on sackcloth, mourn and wail, for the fierce anger of the LORD has not turned away from us."
Study Bible
So put on sackcloth
The phrase "put on sackcloth" is a call to repentance and mourning. In ancient Israel, sackcloth was a coarse material, often made from goat's hair, worn as a sign of humility and penitence. The Hebrew word for sackcloth, "śaq," signifies a garment of mourning. This act was a physical manifestation of inner sorrow and a plea for divine mercy. Historically, sackcloth was worn during times of national crisis or personal grief, symbolizing a turning away from sin and a return to God.

lament and wail
"Lament and wail" are expressions of deep sorrow and distress. The Hebrew words "misped" (lament) and "yalal" (wail) convey a profound emotional response to impending judgment. Lamentation in the biblical context often involves a communal expression of grief, recognizing the gravity of sin and the need for God's intervention. This call to lamentation is not just personal but collective, urging the community to acknowledge their transgressions and seek reconciliation with God.

for the fierce anger of the LORD
The "fierce anger of the LORD" highlights the seriousness of God's response to sin. The Hebrew word "ḥārôn" (fierce anger) reflects a righteous indignation against injustice and unfaithfulness. This phrase underscores the holiness of God and His intolerance of sin. It serves as a warning of the consequences of disobedience, reminding the people of the covenant relationship they have with God and the expectations that come with it.

has not turned away from us
The phrase "has not turned away from us" indicates that the consequences of sin are still present. The Hebrew root "šûb" (turned away) suggests a lack of repentance and the continued presence of divine judgment. This serves as a sobering reminder that without genuine repentance, the people remain under the weight of God's displeasure. It is a call to action, urging the community to seek God's forgiveness and restoration through sincere repentance and a return to covenant faithfulness.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Jeremiah
A prophet called by God to deliver messages of warning and hope to the people of Judah. His ministry was marked by deep personal struggle and a profound sense of duty to convey God's words.

2. Judah
The southern kingdom of Israel, which was facing impending judgment due to its persistent idolatry and disobedience to God.

3. The LORD (Yahweh)
The covenant God of Israel, who is expressing His righteous anger towards Judah's sin and calling them to repentance.

4. Sackcloth
A coarse material worn as a sign of mourning and repentance. It symbolizes humility and a contrite heart before God.

5. The Fierce Anger of the LORD
Represents God's righteous judgment against sin. It is a call to recognize the seriousness of sin and the need for repentance.
Teaching Points
The Seriousness of Sin
Sin provokes the fierce anger of the LORD. We must recognize the gravity of sin in our lives and communities.

Call to Repentance
The act of putting on sackcloth and mourning is a call to genuine repentance. It is not merely an outward act but a reflection of a heart turned back to God.

God's Righteous Judgment
Understanding that God's anger is righteous and just should lead us to a deeper reverence for His holiness and a desire to align our lives with His will.

The Role of the Prophet
Jeremiah's role as a prophet reminds us of the importance of listening to God's messengers and heeding their warnings.

Hope in Repentance
While the verse speaks of God's anger, it also implies hope—repentance can lead to restoration and a turning away of God's wrath.
Bible Study Questions
1. What does the act of wearing sackcloth symbolize in the context of Jeremiah 4:8, and how can we apply this symbolism in our modern-day repentance practices?

2. How does the concept of God's "fierce anger" challenge or affirm your understanding of God's character?

3. In what ways can we, as individuals and as a church community, respond to the call for repentance found in Jeremiah 4:8?

4. How do the themes of mourning and repentance in Jeremiah 4:8 connect with the teachings of Jesus in the New Testament?

5. Reflect on a time when you felt the need to repent. How did acknowledging God's righteous judgment lead you to a deeper relationship with Him?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Joel 1:13
This verse also calls for wearing sackcloth and lamenting, emphasizing the theme of repentance in response to God's judgment.

Isaiah 22:12
Similar to Jeremiah 4:8, this passage calls for weeping and mourning, highlighting the appropriate response to divine judgment.

James 4:9
In the New Testament, believers are called to grieve, mourn, and wail as a sign of repentance, showing the continuity of this theme across both Testaments.
Sermons
The Proclamation of WoeS. Conway Jeremiah 4:5-31
People
Dan, Jeremiah
Places
Dan, Jerusalem, Mount Ephraim, Zion
Topics
Anger, Burning, Crying, Fierce, Gird, Haircloth, Hasn't, Howl, Lament, Loud, Sackcloth, Wail, Weeping, Wrath
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Jeremiah 4:8

     5258   cloth

Jeremiah 4:7-8

     5899   lament

Library
The Wailing of Risca
You all know the story; it scarce needs that I should tell it to you. Last Saturday week some two hundred or more miners descended in health and strength to their usual work in the bowels of the earth. They had not been working long, their wives and their children had risen, and their little ones had gone to their schools, when suddenly there was heard a noise at the mouth of the pit;--it was an explosion,--all knew what it meant. Men's hearts failed them, for well they prophesied the horror which …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 7: 1861

How those are to be Admonished who Sin from Sudden Impulse and those who Sin Deliberately.
(Admonition 33.). Differently to be admonished are those who are overcome by sudden passion and those who are bound in guilt of set purpose. For those whom sudden passion overcomes are to be admonished to regard themselves as daily set in the warfare of the present life, and to protect the heart, which cannot foresee wounds, with the shield of anxious fear; to dread the hidden darts of the ambushed foe, and, in so dark a contest, to guard with continual attention the inward camp of the soul. For, …
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great

Prevailing Prayer.
Text.--The effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.--James v. 16. THE last lecture referred principally to the confession of sin. To-night my remarks will be chiefly confined to the subject of intercession, or prayer. There are two kinds of means requisite to promote a revival; one to influence men, the other to influence God. The truth is employed to influence men, and prayer to move God. When I speak of moving God, I do not mean that God's mind is changed by prayer, or that his …
Charles Grandison Finney—Lectures on Revivals of Religion

How to Make Use of Christ for Cleansing of us from Our Daily Spots.
Having spoken of the way of making use of Christ for removing the guilt of our daily transgressions, we come to speak of the way of making use of Christ, for taking away the guilt that cleaveth to the soul, through daily transgressions; "for every sin defileth the man," Matt. xv. 20; and the best are said to have their spots, and to need washing, which presupposeth filthiness and defilement, Eph. v. 27. John xiii. 8-10. Hence we are so oft called to this duty of washing and making us clean. Isa. …
John Brown (of Wamphray)—Christ The Way, The Truth, and The Life

"For they that are after the Flesh do Mind the Things of the Flesh,",
Rom. viii. 5.--"For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh,", &c. Though sin hath taken up the principal and inmost cabinet of the heart of man--though it hath fixed its imperial throne in the spirit of man, and makes use of all the powers and faculties in the soul to accomplish its accursed desires and fulfil its boundless lusts, yet it is not without good reason expressed in scripture, ordinarily under the name of "flesh," and a "body of death," and men dead in sins, are …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

"Who Walk not after the Flesh, but after the Spirit. For they that are after the Flesh,"
Rom. viii. 4, 5.--"Who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For they that are after the flesh," &c. If there were nothing else to engage our hearts to religion, I think this might do it, that there is so much reason in it. Truly it is the most rational thing in the world, except some revealed mysteries of faith, which are far above reason, but not contrary to it. There is nothing besides in it, but that which is the purest reason. Even that part of it which is most difficult to man, …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

"If So be that the Spirit of God Dwell in You. Now if any Man have not the Spirit of Christ, He is None of His. "
Rom. viii. 9.--"If so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his." "But will God in very deed dwell with men on the earth?" 2 Chron. vi. 18. It was the wonder of one of the wisest of men, and indeed, considering his infinite highness above the height of heavens, his immense and incomprehensible greatness, that the heaven of heavens cannot contain him, and then the baseness, emptiness, and worthlessness of man, it may be a wonder to the …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

The Acceptable Sacrifice;
OR, THE EXCELLENCY OF A BROKEN HEART: SHOWING THE NATURE, SIGNS, AND PROPER EFFECTS OF A CONTRITE SPIRIT. BEING THE LAST WORKS OF THAT EMINENT PREACHER AND FAITHFUL MINISTER OF JESUS CHRIST, MR. JOHN BUNYAN, OF BEDFORD. WITH A PREFACE PREFIXED THEREUNTO BY AN EMINENT MINISTER OF THE GOSPEL IN LONDON. London: Sold by George Larkin, at the Two Swans without Bishopgates, 1692. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. The very excellent preface to this treatise, written by George Cokayn, will inform the reader of …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

Original Sin
Q-16: DID ALL MANKIND FALL IN ADAM'S FIRST TRANSGRESSION? A: The covenant being made with Adam, not only for himself, but for his posterity, all mankind descending from him, by ordinary generation, sinned in him, and fell with him in his first transgression. 'By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin,' &c. Rom 5:12. Adam being a representative person, while he stood, we stood; when he fell, we fell, We sinned in Adam; so it is in the text, In whom all have sinned.' Adam was the head …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

Repentance
Then has God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life.' Acts 11: 18. Repentance seems to be a bitter pill to take, but it is to purge out the bad humour of sin. By some Antinomian spirits it is cried down as a legal doctrine; but Christ himself preached it. From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent,' &c. Matt 4: 17. In his last farewell, when he was ascending to heaven, he commanded that Repentance should be preached in his name.' Luke 24: 47. Repentance is a pure gospel grace. …
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments

Directions to Awakened Sinners.
Acts ix. 6. Acts ix. 6. And he, trembling and astonished, said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do. THESE are the words of Saul, who also is called Paul, (Acts xiii. 9,) when he was stricken to the ground as he was going to Damascus; and any one who had looked upon him in his present circumstances and knew nothing more of him than that view, in comparison with his past life, could have given, would have imagined him one of the most miserable creatures that ever lived upon earth, and would have expected …
Philip Doddridge—Practical Discourses on Regeneration

The Quotation in Matt. Ii. 6.
Several interpreters, Paulus especially, have asserted that the interpretation of Micah which is here given, was that of the Sanhedrim only, and not of the Evangelist, who merely recorded what happened and was said. But this assertion is at once refuted when we consider the object which Matthew has in view in his entire representation of the early life of Jesus. His object in recording the early life of Jesus is not like that of Luke, viz., to communicate historical information to his readers. …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament

Jesus Attends the First Passover of his Ministry.
(Jerusalem, April 9, a.d. 27.) Subdivision B. Jesus Talks with Nicodemus. ^D John III. 1-21. ^d 1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. [Nicodemus is mentioned only by John. His character is marked by a prudence amounting almost to timidity. At John vii. 50-52 he defends Jesus, but without committing himself as in any way interested in him: at John xix. 38, 39 he brought spices for the body of Jesus, but only after Joseph of Arimathæa had secured the body. …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Jeremiah
The interest of the book of Jeremiah is unique. On the one hand, it is our most reliable and elaborate source for the long period of history which it covers; on the other, it presents us with prophecy in its most intensely human phase, manifesting itself through a strangely attractive personality that was subject to like doubts and passions with ourselves. At his call, in 626 B.C., he was young and inexperienced, i. 6, so that he cannot have been born earlier than 650. The political and religious …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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