◄ Jeremiah 4:3 ►
For this is what the LORD says to the men of Judah and Jerusalem: "Break up your unplowed ground, and do not sow among the thorns.
Study Bible
“For this is what the LORD says”
This phrase establishes the authority and divine origin of the message. The Hebrew word for "LORD" is "YHWH," the sacred and personal name of God, emphasizing His covenant relationship with Israel. This introduction underscores that the message is not from Jeremiah himself but from God, demanding attention and reverence.

“to the men of Judah and Jerusalem”
The specific mention of "Judah and Jerusalem" indicates the primary audience of the prophecy. Historically, Judah was the southern kingdom, and Jerusalem was its capital, the center of religious and political life. This highlights the gravity of the message, as it is directed to the heart of the nation, calling them to heed God's warning.

“Break up your unplowed ground”
The imagery of "unplowed ground" refers to the hardened hearts of the people. In Hebrew, the word for "break up" is "nîr," which means to till or prepare the soil. This metaphor calls for repentance and spiritual renewal, urging the people to prepare their hearts to receive God's word, much like a farmer prepares the soil for planting.

“and do not sow among the thorns.”
"Sow among the thorns" suggests futile efforts and misplaced priorities. Thorns in biblical literature often symbolize sin and obstacles to spiritual growth. The call is to avoid actions that would lead to spiritual barrenness. This phrase warns against superficial repentance and encourages genuine transformation, aligning with Jesus' parable of the sower in the New Testament, where thorns choke the word (Matthew 13:7, 22).

Persons / Places / Events
1. The LORD
The covenant God of Israel, who speaks through the prophet Jeremiah, calling His people to repentance and renewal.

2. Jeremiah
A prophet chosen by God to deliver His messages to the people of Judah and Jerusalem, often warning them of impending judgment due to their unfaithfulness.

3. Judah
The southern kingdom of Israel, consisting of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, which was facing imminent judgment due to its idolatry and disobedience.

4. Jerusalem
The capital city of Judah, a central place of worship and political power, which had become spiritually corrupt and was in need of repentance.
Teaching Points
Spiritual Preparation
Just as farmers prepare the soil for planting, believers must prepare their hearts to receive God's Word. This involves repentance and removing anything that hinders spiritual growth.

Avoiding Spiritual Thorns
Thorns represent distractions, sins, and worldly concerns that can choke out spiritual growth. Believers are called to identify and remove these from their lives.

Repentance as Renewal
True repentance involves a change of heart and action. It is not merely feeling sorry but actively turning away from sin and towards God.

The Importance of Obedience
Obedience to God's commands is crucial for spiritual health and growth. It is through obedience that believers can experience the fullness of God's blessings.

Continuous Cultivation
Spiritual growth requires ongoing effort and attention. Just as a field must be continually tended, so must our spiritual lives be nurtured through prayer, study, and fellowship.
Bible Study Questions
1. What does it mean to "break up your unplowed ground" in the context of your personal spiritual life?

2. How can you identify and remove the "thorns" in your life that hinder your relationship with God?

3. In what ways does the Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13) enhance your understanding of Jeremiah 4:3?

4. How can the call to repentance in Jeremiah 4:3 be applied to the modern church and its members?

5. Reflect on a time when you experienced spiritual renewal. What steps did you take to prepare your heart for God's work?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Hosea 10:12
This verse also uses the metaphor of breaking up fallow ground, emphasizing the need for righteousness and seeking the Lord.

Matthew 13:3-9, 18-23
Jesus' Parable of the Sower, which discusses the different types of soil (hearts) and how they receive the Word of God, relates to the idea of preparing one's heart to receive God's truth.

Isaiah 55:6-7
Encourages seeking the Lord while He may be found and turning from wicked ways, similar to the call for repentance in Jeremiah.

James 1:21
Advises believers to rid themselves of moral filth and humbly accept the Word planted in them, akin to not sowing among thorns.
Sermons
Fallow GroundJ. Waite Jeremiah 4:3
Thoroughness in Spiritual CultureD. Young Jeremiah 4:3
A Fallow FieldJeremiah 4:1-4
On SwearingR. Clerke, D. D.Jeremiah 4:1-4
Ploughing and SowingW. Simpson.Jeremiah 4:1-4
Putting Away of SinT. Meade.Jeremiah 4:1-4
Soul AgricultureHomilistJeremiah 4:1-4
The Duty of Moral CultivationJeremiah 4:1-4
The Duty of Reality in Religious ProfessionA.F. Muir Jeremiah 4:1-4
The Fallow Ground BrokenW. Clayton.Jeremiah 4:1-4
The Life of the Sinner a Foolish AgricultureHomilistJeremiah 4:1-4
The Pleadings of GodJ. Parker, D. D.Jeremiah 4:1-4
The Peril of Profession Without Possession of Real ReligionS. Conway Jeremiah 4:3, 4
People
Dan, Jeremiah
Places
Dan, Jerusalem, Mount Ephraim, Zion
Topics
Break, Fallow, Ground, Inhabitants, Jerusalem, Judah, Ploughed, Says, Seeds, Sow, Thorns, Thus, Till, Tillage, Unplowed, Unworked, Yourselves
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Jeremiah 4:3

     4498   ploughing

Jeremiah 4:1-4

     6027   sin, remedy for

Jeremiah 4:3-4

     4506   seed
     6029   sin, forgiveness

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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