Jeremiah 6:24
We have heard the fame thereof: our hands wax feeble: anguish hath taken hold of us, and pain, as of a woman in travail. We have heard the fame thereof: our hands wax feeble: anguish hath taken hold of us, and pain, as of a woman in travail.
Jeremiah 6:24 belongs to the prophecies of Jeremiah 2 to 11 that were dictated to Baruch after Jehoiakim burned the first roll in the fourth year of Jehoiakim. Like the rest of the book, it abounds in striking symbols, signs, and figures of speech.
It is part of a prophecy of enemies coming from the north against Israel, with the north presented as the quarter from which ungodly enemies and oppressors come. It pictures the terror and helplessness of the people on hearing the report of the approaching foe: their strength fails, anguish seizes them, and their pain is like the intense pangs of a woman giving birth.
Its meaning is plain as an awful denunciation of sin, expressing sorrow of heart over transgression and a touching appeal to return to God that meets no response from the mass of the people. The symbolism of northern enemies applies to the forces of evil opposed to God and his redeemed people at the close of the thousand years. Its warnings and appeals carry assurances of the heavenly Father's kindness and everlasting love that apply to the present day.