Jeremiah 19
Jeremiah 19 is a chapter in which God uses a broken jar to symbolically portray Israel’s sins and the judgment that will come as their result. The chapter unfolds in a structure that delivers God’s clear message to both the prophet and the people. Its content can be divided into two parts: the section in which God commands Jeremiah (verses 1–13), and the section in which Jeremiah proclaims the message again in the temple after delivering God’s words (verses 14–15).
1verseThus said the LORD, “Go, and buy a potter’s earthen container, and take some of the elders of the people and of the elders of the priests;
2verseand go out to the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is by the entry of the gate Harsith, and proclaim there the words that I will tell you.
3verseSay, ‘Hear the LORD’s word, kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: The LORD of Armies, the God of Israel says, “Behold, I will bring evil on this place, which whoever hears, his ears will tingle.
4verseBecause they have forsaken me, and have defiled this place, and have burned incense in it to other gods that they didn’t know—they, their fathers, and the kings of Judah—and have filled this place with the blood of innocents,
5verseand have built the high places of Baal to burn their children in the fire for burnt offerings to Baal, which I didn’t command, nor speak, which didn’t even enter into my mind.
6verseTherefore, behold, the days come,” says the LORD, “that this place will no more be called ‘Topheth’, nor ‘The Valley of the son of Hinnom’, but ‘The valley of Slaughter’.
7verse“‘“I will make the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem void in this place. I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hand of those who seek their life. I will give their dead bodies to be food for the birds of the sky and for the animals of the earth.
8verseI will make this city an astonishment and a hissing. Everyone who passes by it will be astonished and hiss because of all its plagues.
9verseI will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters. They will each eat the flesh of his friend in the siege and in the distress with which their enemies, and those who seek their life, will distress them.”’
10verse“Then you shall break the container in the sight of the men who go with you,
11verseand shall tell them, ‘The LORD of Armies says: “Even so I will break this people and this city as one breaks a potter’s vessel, that can’t be made whole again. They will bury in Topheth until there is no place to bury.
12verseThis is what I will do to this place,” says the LORD, “and to its inhabitants, even making this city as Topheth.
13verseThe houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah, which are defiled, will be as the place of Topheth, even all the houses on whose roofs they have burned incense to all the army of the sky and have poured out drink offerings to other gods.”’”
14verseThen Jeremiah came from Topheth, where the LORD had sent him to prophesy, and he stood in the court of the LORD’s house, and said to all the people:
15verse“The LORD of Armies, the God of Israel says, ‘Behold, I will bring on this city and on all its towns all the evil that I have pronounced against it, because they have made their neck stiff, that they may not hear my words.’”
The Structure and Flow of the Passage
- Verses 1–2: God commands Jeremiah to buy a jar and go with the people’s representatives to the Valley of Hinnom.
- Verses 3–9: Jeremiah declares on the spot that Israel has sinned by committing idolatry and other sins, and that judgment will come as the due penalty. He warns that this place will no longer be called “Topheth,” but will become “the Valley of Death.”
- Verses 10–13: Jeremiah breaks the jar, symbolically showing God’s intention to break this people and this city.
- Verses 14–15: In the courtyard of the temple, Jeremiah again proclaims that judgment will come upon Jerusalem and its towns.
The Overall Meaning and Message
This chapter emphasizes that God’s judgment is not merely a warning, but an irreversible (not able to be undone) event that will truly take place. Jeremiah’s act of breaking the jar symbolizes that there will come a result that cannot be undone—namely, irreparable destruction brought on by repeated sin. However, embedded in this warning of judgment is the thought that the present wrongdoing can be reflected on, and that an opportunity to turn back is being given. God shows that He is the One who, at last, takes decisive action against repeated disobedience, and at the same time He continues to speak constantly through the prophet.
Points for Meditation
- What is the meaning of the symbolism behind the jar-breaking Jeremiah carried out, and what message is God trying to convey through it?
- You can also check whether there is foolishness that keeps recurring in your own life or something you need to turn away from.
Try Applying It to Yourself
- How are you responding to the warning voice God gives in real life?
- If there is something in my daily life or in my community that I need to turn away from, I can practice it specifically.
