Jeremiah 22:10

Weep ye not for the dead, neither bemoan him: but weep sore for him that goeth away: for he shall return no more, nor see his native country.

The passage stands among the warnings addressed to the Jews in Jeremiah 12 to 24, and its warning and appeal belong with peculiar force to the present day. In its original setting exile from native country is set forth as a fate worse than death, for the people are bidden not to grieve for the dead but to grieve for the one carried away who shall never return nor see his home again. In the antitype those who receive the mark of the Beast meet a loss worse even than earthly exile, because they leave hope behind.

Sorrow is not to be bound up in the dead, who are to be mourned gently and without despair. Tears for them are permitted, yet grief for them should rest in meek submission because God knows it all and does all things well, since the dead cannot be recalled and their destiny cannot be affected in any way. They lie in deep peace that bridges night to morning in a God-watched tomb, with hearts aching in sleepless nights known only to God, and the righteous in death are like stars fading into morning light.

Bitter, sore weeping belongs to the living world that goes away. It is for precious living souls around us who are perishing in the road that leads to death and for whom Jesus died. For them joy is gone and hope is furled, and they are cold and grim without the peace of God, like lights dying in the night while still breathing, and they remain bound to doom.

Grief for the living must therefore move to labor to break the bands that hold the world. It is to be poured out with inexpressible anguish of heart, in hours of tears and all-night entreating of the Father to spare them a little longer. It calls for daily closet prayer that the Holy Spirit may still strive in their hearts, for a careful daily walk and conversation to recommend the truth, and for willing sacrifice to bring even one soul to Jesus. This weeping applies especially to those who hear the truth proclaimed and go away sorrowful because wealth, position in society, intellectual endowments, or something precious will not be sacrificed for Him who gave His life.

Sorrow should be greater for the living who have gone away and will not return than for the dead, as when grieving for those who have strayed from the fold and do not desire to come back rather than mourning innocent children who have died. The verse furnishes words of comfort to speak at the funeral of one who has died. It furnishes words of comfort for grieving children at the death of a faithful elderly believer after sickness, who remained faithful to the end.

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