Jeremiah 15:2-3
And when they ask you, ‘Where shall we go?’ you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD: “‘Those who are for pestilence, to pestilence, and those who are for the sword, to the sword; those who are for famine, to famine, and those who are for captivity, to captivity.’ I will appoint over them four kinds of destroyers, declares the LORD: the sword to kill, the dogs to tear, and the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth to devour and destroy.
English Standard Version (ESV)
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This verse isn't just listing punishments; it's a stark declaration of accountability. God isn't simply saying "you'll suffer"; He's pointing out that each person is destined for the specific consequence that matches their particular brand of rebellion, a chilling fulfillment of their own chosen path.
God has just told Jeremiah that even the prayers of intercessors like Moses and Samuel couldn't save this stubborn people. Now, if the people ask Jeremiah where they are supposed to go, since they are being driven out, God's answer is stark: they will face the very judgments they are destined for—pestilence, sword, famine, or captivity. There is no escaping God's wrath; destruction awaits them in whatever form it finds them.
Imagine a world where escape is impossible. What does it mean when God declares judgment is inevitable, no matter who intercedes?
Jeremiah faces a people who have spiraled so deep into sin that even legendary intercessors like Moses and Samuel couldn't change God's mind. God's declaration here isn't a suggestion; it's a final decree. The people ask, "Where shall we go?" and God's answer is chillingly direct: they will meet the very destruction they've courted.
Different Destinies, Same End
God isn't offering choices here; He's detailing the inescapable paths of judgment that await those who refuse to turn from their wickedness.
When God's heart is turned away, what does that reveal about the gravity of persistent sin?
Calvin highlights that God's "mind could not be toward this people." This isn't a fleeting anger; it's a profound turning away, a consequence of "impieties and sins... arrived at the highest pitch." The people's question, "Where shall we go?" isn't a genuine plea for direction but a scornful challenge, indicating they don't believe God's judgment will truly fall.
The Hypocrite's Lament
God anticipates their complaints and their disbelief. For generations, they might have celebrated their status as God's chosen, ignoring their covenant-breaking actions. Now, faced with impending doom, they cry out, but their pleas are empty. They are like chaff, separated from the precious wheat – the true remnant God would preserve. Their sin has reached a point where it closes the door to mercy, not because God lacks the power to forgive, but because their "untamable obstinacy" has made them unreceptive to it.
Understand the original words
deber · Hebrew Noun
A widespread and often fatal disease or infectious plague, frequently used in the Bible as an instrument of divine judgment.
chereb · Hebrew Noun
A weapon of war used for cutting or thrusting; symbolically, it often represents divine judgment, war, and the execution of God's wrath against sin.
ra'ab · Hebrew Noun
Severe scarcity of food, often resulting from drought, war, or divine judgment; it is a profound form of physical suffering and deprivation.
shebi · Hebrew Noun
The state of being held by an enemy or taken away into a foreign land; in the Old Testament, it is frequently the consequence of national apostasy and divine discipline.
The verse lands in the midst of Jerusalem's final siege and destruction. The people, facing unimaginable horror, desperately ask Jeremiah where they can possibly go to escape. His answer isn't a geographic direction but a grim catalog of the fates awaiting them: pestilence, sword, famine, or captivity – the very judgments God had warned of for generations due to their unfaithfulness.
Late 8th century BC
Reign of King Manasseh
King Manasseh's idolatry and wickedness led to widespread corruption, setting the stage for future judgment.
c. 622 BC
Josiah's Reformation
King Josiah institutes a religious reform after the Book of the Law is rediscovered, temporarily restoring true worship.
605 BC
First Deportation to Babylon
Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon conquers Judah and deports a first group of Israelites, including Daniel, to Babylon.
597 BC
Second Deportation to Babylon
Following a rebellion, Babylon deports more Judeans, including King Jehoiachin and the prophet Ezekiel, to Babylon.
This passage also lists devastating judgments—sword, famine, and pestilence—as divine punishment, reinforcing the inevitability of these outcomes for persistent sin.
Deuteronomy 28:25Jeremiah's prophecy echoes Moses' warnings from Deuteronomy, where similar modes of destruction (the sword, pestilence, famine, and captivity) were foretold as consequences of disobedience.
Leviticus 26:25This passage in Leviticus also describes how God would bring 'the sword' upon His people as a form of punishment, aligning with the threats Jeremiah delivers.
Revelation 6:8The rider on the pale horse, named Death, followed by Hades, brings pestilence and the sword, death by wild beasts, and famine, mirroring the specific judgments declared by Jeremiah and highlighting their apocalyptic scope.
calvinJeremiah 15:1-2: "Then said the LORD unto me, Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my mind could not be toward this people: cast them out of my sight, and let them go forth."
And it shall come to pass, if they say unto thee, Whither shall we go forth? then thou shalt tell them, Thus saith the LORD; Such as are for death, to death; and such as are for the sword, to the sword; and such as are for the famine, to the famine; and such as are for the captivity, to the captivity.
Et eri…
cambridgeJeremiah 15:2: "And it shall come to pass, if they say unto thee, Whither shall we go forth? then thou shalt tell them, Thus saith the LORD; Such as are for death, to death; and such as are for the sword, to the sword; and such as are for the famine, to the famine; and such as are for the captivity, to the captivity."
2 . Whither shall we go forth ?] If we are driven unpardoned from the presence of the Lord, to what shall we betake ourselves? The reply is a stern and even ironical one. death ]…
This verse isn't just listing punishments; it's a stark declaration of accountability. God isn't simply saying "you'll suffer"; He's pointing out that each person is destined for the specific consequence that matches their particular brand of rebellion, a chilling fulfillment of their own chosen path.
God has just told Jeremiah that even the prayers of intercessors like Moses and Samuel couldn't save this stubborn people. Now, if the people ask Jeremiah where they are supposed to go, since they are being driven out, God's answer is stark: they will face the very judgments they are destined for—pestilence, sword, famine, or captivity. There is no escaping God's wrath; destruction awaits them in whatever form it finds them.
God has just told Jeremiah that even the prayers of intercessors like Moses and Samuel couldn't save this stubborn people. Now, if the people ask Jeremiah where they are supposed to go, since they are being driven out, God's answer is stark: they will face the very judgments they are destined for—pestilence, sword, famine, or captivity. There is no escaping God's wrath; destruction awaits them in whatever form it finds them.
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586 BC— this verse
Fall of Jerusalem and Temple Destruction
Nebuchadnezzar destroys Jerusalem and its Temple, exiling the majority of the remaining population to Babylon.
c. 586 BC
Jeremiah's Prophecy of Destruction
Jeremiah delivers stark prophecies of impending doom, outlining the various forms of judgment the people will face.
"And when they ask you, ‘Where shall we go?’ you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD:
“‘Those who are for pestilence, to pestilence,
and those who are for the sword, to the sword;
those who are for famine, to famine,…" — This verse isn't just listing punishments; it's a stark declaration of accountability. God isn't simply saying "you'll suffer"; He's pointing out that each person is destined for the *specific* conse…