Jeremiah 18:17
I will scatter them before the enemy like the east wind. I will show them My back and not My face in the day of their calamity."
Sermons
East WindsH. B. Freeman, M. A.Jeremiah 18:17
The Sinner's DoomHelps for the PulpitJeremiah 18:17














One of the most striking scenes visible from a great distance is Hermon, with its snow and vapors. It is covered with white snow all the year round, and from its summits flow down cold, pent-up streams to the valley beneath. God asks why Israel has forsaken him; whether there was any failure of his grace and power. Has he not been constant and ever ready to help? How is it, then, that he is forsaken? The snow of Lebanon is, like the dew of Hermon, a symbol of the grace of God abiding upon Zion, from which the streams of grace flow forth in inexhaustible supply.

I. THOSE WHO FORSAKE GOD DO SO BECAUSE OF THEIR OWN PERVERSITY AND NOT BECAUSE OF GOD'S NEGLECT. "Is his arm shortened that it cannot save?" is a question we ought to ask ere we make up our minds to leave God. The secret of spiritual disaffection and apostasy is in ourselves and not in God.

II. APOSTASY FROM GOD IS A TRANSCENDENT INSTANCE OF INGRATITUDE.

1. The providences of God have been unceasing, manifold, and overflowing. They have come without effort of man. Yet the sinner has gone away and obstinately continues in his sin.

2. But in the grace of God there are elements that appeal to our deepest affection and trust. It is so rich, undeserved, and free. Why should he have chosen any one? How often has he healed the backslidings of his people! The cross of Christ is the grandest expression of love of which we know. It "passeth knowledge."

III. WHEN SINNERS FORSAKE GOD IT IS TO THEIR OWN INJURY.

1. By their pursuit after sinful gratifications they forfeit the enjoyment of Divine mercy. Providential mercies may not always be withdrawn, but their beneficial effect is destroyed. The fellowship and presence of God are lost. His favor and help cannot be expected.

2. The sources of pleasure they apply themselves to are disappointing and fatal. Sinful pleasures soon pall. There is no enduring rapture in the gratification of sense, but an enduring sting remains. The constitution of the sinner is sapped and undermined by his excesses, and the general, social, and political life of the nation corrupted. There is no sorrow so profound and incurable as that which results from the abuse of religious privileges and the loss of the heavenly birthright; it "worketh death." But, in addition to all this, the anger of God is kindled, and who shall extinguish it? He himself can. With him is forgiveness that he may be feared, and plenteous redemption that he may be sought unto. "His mercy endureth forever." It is only needed that we change in heart and life to recover our lost estate and experience again more than our lost joy. - M.

I win scatter them;... I will shew them the back.
Helps for the Pulpit.
I. THE CAUSE OF THE EVIL THREATENED.

1. Rejecting the Divine government.

2. Guilty of idolatry.

3. Rejecting the mercy of God.

4. Conduct characterised by the greatest folly.

5. A manifestation of basest ingratitude.

II. THE NATURE OF THE EVIL THREATENED.

1. God sometimes shows His back in a way of mercy (Exodus 33:23; Job 25:9).

2. But this threat is expressive of Divine wrath.

3. The wrath of God is retributive.

4. A final departure.

III. THE TIME WHEN THE EVIL SHALL BE INFLICTED.

1. In the time of adversity.

2. In sickness.

3. When deserted by friends.

4. In old age.

5. In hour of death.

6. At last day.

(Helps for the Pulpit.)

The east winds referred to by the prophets appear to be a violent form of sirocco. It was the east wind which brought the plague of locusts upon the Egyptians. It was by an east wind that the ships of Tarshish were broken (Psalm 48:7), and the ships of Tyre (Ezekiel 27:26). Jeremiah takes an east wind as the symbol of Jehovah's punishment of His people, while references to its withering and scorching properties are numerous; from the seven thin ears of wheat of Pharaoh's vision in Egypt to the sultry blast which helped to afflict Jonah outside the walls of Nineveh. The east wind still breaks at times with terrific violence upon the coasts of Palestine, and the records of victims tell of tents that have been blown away by its fury.

(H. B. Freeman, M. A.)

People
Jeremiah
Places
Jerusalem, Lebanon, Sirion
Topics
Attacker, Calamity, Disaster, Downfall, East, Enemies, Enemy, Face, Flight, Neck, Scatter, Shew, Wind
Outline
1. Under the type of a potter is shown God's absolute power in disposing of nations.
11. Judgments threatened to Judah for her strange revolt.
18. Jeremiah prays against his conspirators.

Dictionary of Bible Themes
Jeremiah 18:17

     1255   face of God
     4821   east
     5127   back

Library
The Sins of Communities Noted and Punished.
"Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation." This is predicated of the judgments of God on those who had shed the blood of his saints. The Savior declares that all the righteous blood which had been shed on the earth from that of Abel down to the gospel day, should come on that generation! But is not this unreasonable and contrary to the Scriptures? "Far be wickedness from God and iniquity from the Almighty. For the work of man shall be render unto him, and cause every
Andrew Lee et al—Sermons on Various Important Subjects

The Hebrew Sages and their Proverbs
[Sidenote: Role of the sages in Israel's life] In the days of Jeremiah and Ezekiel (Jer. xviii. 18; Ezek. vii. 26) three distinct classes of religious teachers were recognized by the people: the prophets, the priests, and the wise men or sages. From their lips and pens have come practically all the writings of the Old Testament. Of these three classes the wise men or sages are far less prominent or well known. They wrote no history of Israel, they preached no public sermons, nor do they appear
Charles Foster Kent—The Origin & Permanent Value of the Old Testament

The Sick Person Ought Now to Send for Some Godly and Religious Pastor.
In any wise remember, if conveniently it may be, to send for some godly and religious pastor, not only to pray for thee at thy death--for God in such a case hath promised to hear the prayers of the righteous prophets, and elders of the church (Gen. xx. 7; Jer. xviii. 20; xv. 1; 1 Sam. xii. 19, 23; James v. 14, 15, 16)--but also upon thy unfeigned repentance to declare to thee the absolution of thy sins. For as Christ hath given him a calling to baptize thee unto repentance for the remission of thy
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety

The Hindrances to Mourning
What shall we do to get our heart into this mourning frame? Do two things. Take heed of those things which will stop these channels of mourning; put yourselves upon the use of all means that will help forward holy mourning. Take heed of those things which will stop the current of tears. There are nine hindrances of mourning. 1 The love of sin. The love of sin is like a stone in the pipe which hinders the current of water. The love of sin makes sin taste sweet and this sweetness in sin bewitches the
Thomas Watson—The Beatitudes: An Exposition of Matthew 5:1-12

The Ninth Commandment
Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.' Exod 20: 16. THE tongue which at first was made to be an organ of God's praise, is now become an instrument of unrighteousness. This commandment binds the tongue to its good behaviour. God has set two natural fences to keep in the tongue, the teeth and lips; and this commandment is a third fence set about it, that it should not break forth into evil. It has a prohibitory and a mandatory part: the first is set down in plain words, the other
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments

John Bunyan on the Terms of Communion and Fellowship of Christians at the Table of the Lord;
COMPRISING I. HIS CONFESSION OF FAITH, AND REASON OF HIS PRACTICE; II. DIFFERENCES ABOUT WATER BAPTISM NO BAR TO COMMUNION; AND III. PEACEABLE PRINCIPLES AND TRUE[1] ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. Reader, these are extraordinary productions that will well repay an attentive perusal. It is the confession of faith of a Christian who had suffered nearly twelve years' imprisonment, under persecution for conscience sake. Shut up with his Bible, you have here the result of a prayerful study of those holy
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

Jeremiah, a Lesson for the Disappointed.
"Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord."--Jeremiah i. 8. The Prophets were ever ungratefully treated by the Israelites, they were resisted, their warnings neglected, their good services forgotten. But there was this difference between the earlier and the later Prophets; the earlier lived and died in honour among their people,--in outward honour; though hated and thwarted by the wicked, they were exalted to high places, and ruled in the congregation.
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VIII

Of the Decrees of God.
Eph. i. 11.--"Who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will."--Job xxiii. 13. "He is in one mind, and who can turn him? and what his soul desireth, even that he doeth." Having spoken something before of God, in his nature and being and properties, we come, in the next place, to consider his glorious majesty, as he stands in some nearer relation to his creatures, the work of his hands. For we must conceive the first rise of all things in the world to be in this self-being, the first conception
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Degrees of Sin
Are all transgressions of the law equally heinous? Some sins in themselves, and by reason of several aggravations, are more heinous in the sight of God than others. He that delivered me unto thee, has the greater sin.' John 19: 11. The Stoic philosophers held that all sins were equal; but this Scripture clearly holds forth that there is a gradual difference in sin; some are greater than others; some are mighty sins,' and crying sins.' Amos 5: 12; Gen 18: 21. Every sin has a voice to speak, but some
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments

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

Links
Jeremiah 18:17 NIV
Jeremiah 18:17 NLT
Jeremiah 18:17 ESV
Jeremiah 18:17 NASB
Jeremiah 18:17 KJV

Jeremiah 18:17 Bible Apps
Jeremiah 18:17 Parallel
Jeremiah 18:17 Biblia Paralela
Jeremiah 18:17 Chinese Bible
Jeremiah 18:17 French Bible
Jeremiah 18:17 German Bible

Jeremiah 18:17 Commentaries

Bible Hub
Jeremiah 18:16
Top of Page
Top of Page