Jeremiah 4:9, commentary and pictures

Jeremiah 2-11 is regarded by some as prophecies written by Baruch after Jehoiakim burned the first roll. The chapter is addressed to Israel and Jerusalem and concerns the destruction of ancient Jerusalem, which is a faint shadow of the greater desolations of the last days. It stands within clear denunciations against sin that show sorrow of heart over the people's transgression and a touching appeal for them to return to God, which the mass of the people met with utter lack of response.

The perishing of the heart of the king and princes means that kings and princes are dismayed and their hearts fail, and the astonishment of the priests and the wonder of the prophets means religious leaders are struck with astonishment and alarm, expressing the dismay of rulers, religious leaders, and good people everywhere. The verse belongs to a message teaching that union of God's church with the world is fornication and spiritual adultery against God, supporting the description of such unfaithfulness in Jeremiah 2-4. Jeremiah 4:7-13 is associated with Babylon, represented by the lion in Daniel's vision of successive world empires.

The verse is applied to the time just before the second coming of Christ and the day of the Lord, when widespread wickedness brings God's personal visitation in fierce anger to destroy evil and to visit all the cities for their destruction. It predicts the great coming war of Armageddon and warns of the time when all the nations of the earth shall be prepared for battle, which carried to the ultimate means the destruction of earthly kingdoms. Present efforts to build a powerful navy as a guarantee of peace are fulfilling this prophecy of preparation for battle. Just before the second coming, evil forces break up the very foundations of stable government, with armies of wicked men and women entrenched in the large cities and corrupt men holding the balance of power because the decent moral element is afraid to come out in the open and fight them lest business be hurt, so the cities become Sodom-like cesspools of corruption in prostitution, crime, and disease; this resistless tide of corruption cannot be stayed by human reform.

The verse also shows the earth just after the second coming of Christ, when the wicked have been slain by the spirit of His mouth and the brightness of His coming, the whole land is desolate with no man left upon it, and Satan and his fallen angels are bound for a thousand years because there is no one on earth for them to tempt while the righteous are in heaven examining the books to determine the punishment due to the wicked and the fallen angels. It describes the awful confusion and trouble that will come upon the earth when people are no longer worthy of God's favor. The book's warnings are applicable to the present day.