Jeremiah 4:24-28 - The whole land will be ruined

4:24-26

We now get a vivid and dramatic picture of the devastation that was to come. We do need to remember that it is pictorial language, so over literal interpretations are not sensible, but it is describing something that would (and did) happen. It is meant to make us feel what is going to happen. The hills and mountains would sway and quake. Things that seemed so robust and solid would be so no longer. People and nature were absent. The fruitful land had become a desert, and the towns lay in ruins.

4:27,28

Having had the graphic description of what was to happen, we now get the solemn declaration of what will happen. The whole land will be ruined, though not completely destroyed. The judgement is awesome and terrible (for our sin is awesome and terrible), but it is not the last word. There is salvation to come, but not for some time yet. Even so, the judgement is real. God will not relent or draw back. We need to take God’s judgement seriously. Any “understanding” of the gospel, of Jesus, of God, of the Bible is a misunderstanding. At the same time, we need to understand the judgement of God if we are to appreciate the love and mercy of God.