11:14
This is the second time (7:16) that Jeremiah has been told not to pray for this people. Nor is he to offer any plea or petition. God is making it quite clear that the door is shut. Nor will He listen to the cry of the people themselves in their time of distress. People sometimes talk of their being a last chance to turn to God when they die. We would be very foolish to listen to such notions. What happened here is a severe warning that there comes a point where someone runs out of chances. There comes a point where a person’s heart is hardened beyond redemption. We need to apply this to ourselves as well. If we detect any hardness of heart developing in us, which we probably all do from time to time, we need to repent quickly rather than slowly. For there may come a point where our hearts have become so hardened that judgement is all we can expect.
11:15
Strangely, at least to our ears, God refers to Israel as “my beloved”. Remember He is speaking about the people that are about to experience a terrible judgement. They were still offering sacrifices, but their deeds were evil. Moreover, they delighted in wickedness. James said faith without works is dead (James 2:14). If we think Christ’s sacrifice (the most purely consecrated sacrifice there has ever been) will save us while we actively pursue evil then we are badly mistaken. This is not a matter of being saved by works, but one of the facts demonstrating that our faith is not real faith.
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