Jeremiah 6:14
They dress the wound of My people with very little care, saying, 'Peace, peace,' when there is no peace at all.
They have dressed the wound of My people
The phrase "dressed the wound" in Hebrew is "רָפָא" (rapha), which means to heal or to mend. In the context of Jeremiah, this is a metaphorical expression indicating a superficial or inadequate attempt to address a deep-seated problem. The leaders and prophets of Israel were offering false assurances and quick fixes rather than addressing the root causes of the nation's spiritual and moral decay. Historically, this reflects a time when Israel was facing imminent danger from external threats, yet the leaders were not taking the necessary steps to truly protect and guide the people.

with very little care
The Hebrew word for "very little care" is "קַלּוּת" (qallut), which implies a lack of seriousness or depth. This phrase underscores the superficiality of the leaders' efforts. Instead of genuine repentance and reform, they offered shallow solutions. This reflects a broader biblical theme where God desires sincere devotion and integrity rather than empty rituals or half-hearted measures. The historical context shows a nation on the brink of disaster, yet its leaders were more concerned with appearances than with true healing.

saying, ‘Peace, peace,’
The repetition of the word "peace" (שָׁלוֹם, shalom) is significant. In Hebrew, "shalom" encompasses not just the absence of conflict but a state of completeness and well-being. The leaders were proclaiming "peace" as if all was well, despite the looming threat of judgment and destruction. This false assurance is a stark contrast to the true peace that comes from obedience to God. Theologically, this serves as a warning against complacency and the danger of ignoring God's warnings.

when there is no peace
The phrase "when there is no peace" highlights the reality that the proclaimed peace was an illusion. The leaders' declarations were not aligned with the truth of the situation. This serves as a powerful reminder of the importance of discernment and the need to seek God's truth rather than relying on human assurances. In the broader scriptural context, true peace is a gift from God, often associated with righteousness and justice. The historical backdrop of impending Babylonian invasion underscores the urgency and gravity of the situation, making the false proclamations of peace even more tragic.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Jeremiah
A prophet called by God to deliver messages of warning and judgment to the people of Judah. His ministry spanned the reigns of several kings and was marked by his deep emotional connection to the messages he delivered.

2. Judah
The southern kingdom of Israel, which was facing impending judgment due to its persistent sin and rebellion against God. Jeremiah's prophecies were directed primarily at this kingdom.

3. False Prophets
Religious leaders in Judah who misled the people by proclaiming false assurances of peace and security, contrary to the true message of impending judgment that God had given to Jeremiah.

4. God
The sovereign Lord who is deeply concerned with the spiritual state of His people and who communicates His will through His prophets.

5. The Wound of My People
A metaphor for the spiritual and moral decay of Judah, which the false prophets were superficially addressing without confronting the root issues.
Teaching Points
The Danger of Superficial Solutions
Addressing spiritual issues with superficial solutions leads to greater harm. True healing requires confronting and repenting from sin.

Discernment in Leadership
Believers must be discerning about the messages they receive from leaders, ensuring they align with God's truth rather than comforting lies.

The Importance of True Peace
True peace comes from reconciliation with God, not from ignoring or minimizing sin. Seek peace through genuine repentance and obedience.

The Role of Prophets and Leaders
Spiritual leaders are called to faithfully communicate God's truth, even when it is difficult or unpopular, rather than seeking to please people.

The Consequences of Ignoring God's Warnings
Ignoring God's warnings leads to destruction. Heed His call to repentance and transformation to avoid spiritual ruin.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does the message of Jeremiah 6:14 challenge the way we address sin in our own lives and communities?

2. In what ways can we discern between true and false messages of peace in today's world?

3. How can we ensure that our spiritual leaders are providing biblically sound guidance rather than superficial comfort?

4. What steps can we take to experience true peace with God, as opposed to a false sense of security?

5. How do the warnings in Jeremiah 6:14 and related scriptures encourage us to respond to God's call for repentance and transformation?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Ezekiel 13:10-16
This passage parallels Jeremiah 6:14 by describing false prophets who proclaim peace when there is no peace, likening their false assurances to a flimsy wall that will collapse.

1 Thessalonians 5:3
Paul warns that people will be saying "peace and safety" when sudden destruction comes, echoing the false sense of security addressed in Jeremiah.

Matthew 23:27-28
Jesus criticizes the Pharisees for their hypocrisy, similar to the false prophets in Jeremiah's time who appeared righteous but were spiritually corrupt.
A Blast of the Trumpet Against False PeaceJeremiah 6:14
A Blast of the Trumpet Against False PeaceCharles Haddon Spurgeon Jeremiah 6:14
False PeaceG. Fisk, LL. B.Jeremiah 6:14
False PeaceJeremiah 6:14
False SecurityT. Chalmers, D. D.Jeremiah 6:14
False TeachersH. Melvill, B. D.Jeremiah 6:14
Foundation of PeaceC. S. Horne, M. A.Jeremiah 6:14
Healing Our Wounds SlightlyC. Simeon, M. A.Jeremiah 6:14
Healing the Hurt SlightlyD. Young Jeremiah 6:14
Peace, When There is no PeaceR. Leggat.Jeremiah 6:14
The Vampires of the SoulS. Conway Jeremiah 6:14
Useless DoctoringJeremiah 6:14
The Preacher's Bitter CryS. Conway Jeremiah 6:9-17
People
Benjamin, Jeremiah
Places
Beth-haccherem, Jerusalem, Sheba, Tekoa, Zion
Topics
Breach, Brokenness, Daughter, Heal, Healed, Hurt, Lightly, Peace, Saying, Serious, Slightly, Superficially, Though, Wound, Wounds
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Jeremiah 6:14

     5490   refuge
     5810   complacency

Jeremiah 6:13-14

     5943   self-deception
     6616   atonement, in OT
     7774   prophets, false

Jeremiah 6:13-15

     5348   injustice, nature and source
     5890   insecurity
     8776   lies

Library
Stedfastness in the Old Paths.
"Thus saith 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."--Jer. vi. 16. Reverence for the old paths is a chief Christian duty. We look to the future indeed with hope; yet this need not stand in the way of our dwelling on the past days of the Church with affection and deference. This is the feeling of our own Church, as continually expressed in the Prayer Book;--not to slight what has gone before,
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VII

A Blast of the Trumpet against False Peace
The motive with these false prophets is an abominable one. Jeremiah tells us it was an evil covetousness. They preached smooth things because the people would have it so, because they thus brought grist to their own mill, and glory to their own names. Their design was abominable, and without doubt, their end shall be desperate--cast away with the refuse of mankind. These who professed to be the precious sons of God, comparable to fine gold, shall be esteemed as earthen pitchers, the work of the hands
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 6: 1860

Whitefield -- the Method of Grace
George Whitefield, evangelist and leader of Calvinistic Methodists, who has been called the Demosthenes of the pulpit, was born at Gloucester, England, in 1714. He was an impassioned pulpit orator of the popular type, and his power over immense congregations was largely due to his histrionic talent and his exquisitely modulated voice, which has been described as "an organ, a flute, a harp, all in one," and which at times became stentorian. He had a most expressive face, and altho he squinted, in
Grenville Kleiser—The world's great sermons, Volume 3

Reprobation.
In discussing this subject I shall endeavor to show, I. What the true doctrine of reprobation is not. 1. It is not that the ultimate end of God in the creation of any was their damnation. Neither reason nor revelation confirms, but both contradict the assumption, that God has created or can create any being for the purpose of rendering him miserable as an ultimate end. God is love, or he is benevolent, and cannot therefore will the misery of any being as an ultimate end, or for its own sake. It is
Charles Grandison Finney—Systematic Theology

Prefatory Scripture Passages.
To the Law and to the Testimony; if they speak not according to this Word, it is because there is no light in them.-- Isa. viii. 20. Thus saith 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.--Jer. vi. 16. That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive. But
G. H. Gerberding—The Way of Salvation in the Lutheran Church

Jesus Raises the Widow's Son.
(at Nain in Galilee.) ^C Luke VII. 11-17. ^c 11 And it came to pass soon afterwards [many ancient authorities read on the next day], that he went into a city called Nain; and his disciples went with him, and a great multitude. [We find that Jesus had been thronged with multitudes pretty continuously since the choosing of his twelve apostles. Nain lies on the northern slope of the mountain, which the Crusaders called Little Hermon, between twenty and twenty-five miles south of Capernaum, and about
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Backsliding.
"I will heal their backsliding; I will love them freely: for Mine anger is turned away."--Hosea xiv. 4. There are two kinds of backsliders. Some have never been converted: they have gone through the form of joining a Christian community and claim to be backsliders; but they never have, if I may use the expression, "slid forward." They may talk of backsliding; but they have never really been born again. They need to be treated differently from real back-sliders--those who have been born of the incorruptible
Dwight L. Moody—The Way to God and How to Find It

An Obscured vision
(Preached at the opening of the Winona Lake Bible Conference.) TEXT: "Where there is no vision, the people perish."--Proverbs 29:18. It is not altogether an easy matter to secure a text for such an occasion as this; not because the texts are so few in number but rather because they are so many, for one has only to turn over the pages of the Bible in the most casual way to find them facing him at every reading. Feeling the need of advice for such a time as this, I asked a number of my friends who
J. Wilbur Chapman—And Judas Iscariot

Sin Charged Upon the Surety
All we like sheep have gone astray: we have turned every one to his own way, and the LORD hath laid upon Him the iniquity of us all. C omparisons, in the Scripture, are frequently to be understood with great limitation: perhaps, out of many circumstances, only one is justly applicable to the case. Thus, when our Lord says, Behold, I come as a thief (Revelation 16:15) , --common sense will fix the resemblance to a single point, that He will come suddenly, and unexpectedly. So when wandering sinners
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 1

An Address to the Regenerate, Founded on the Preceding Discourses.
James I. 18. James I. 18. Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures. I INTEND the words which I have now been reading, only as an introduction to that address to the sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty, with which I am now to conclude these lectures; and therefore shall not enter into any critical discussion, either of them, or of the context. I hope God has made the series of these discourses, in some measure, useful to those
Philip Doddridge—Practical Discourses on Regeneration

Scriptures Showing the Sin and Danger of Joining with Wicked and Ungodly Men.
Scriptures Showing The Sin And Danger Of Joining With Wicked And Ungodly Men. When the Lord is punishing such a people against whom he hath a controversy, and a notable controversy, every one that is found shall be thrust through: and every one joined with them shall fall, Isa. xiii. 15. They partake in their judgment, not only because in a common calamity all shares, (as in Ezek. xxi. 3.) but chiefly because joined with and partakers with these whom God is pursuing; even as the strangers that join
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

How those who Fear Scourges and those who Contemn them are to be Admonished.
(Admonition 14.) Differently to be admonished are those who fear scourges, and on that account live innocently, and those who have grown so hard in wickedness as not to be corrected even by scourges. For those who fear scourges are to be told by no means to desire temporal goods as being of great account, seeing that bad men also have them, and by no means to shun present evils as intolerable, seeing they are not ignorant how for the most part good men also are touched by them. They are to be admonished
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great

Christian Meekness
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth Matthew 5:5 We are now got to the third step leading in the way to blessedness, Christian meekness. Blessed are the meek'. See how the Spirit of God adorns the hidden man of the heart, with multiplicity of graces! The workmanship of the Holy Ghost is not only curious, but various. It makes the heart meek, pure, peaceable etc. The graces therefore are compared to needlework, which is different and various in its flowers and colours (Psalm 45:14).
Thomas Watson—The Beatitudes: An Exposition of Matthew 5:1-12

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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