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"Then death shall be chosen rather than life"

Text: Jeremiah 8:3

A VERY DIFFERENT SET OF ENEMIES

The children of Judah did not fully understand what the Babylonian invaders were like. They must know that their new enemies were not like the old ones that they had fought against. The Babylonians were not like the Syrians, the Philistines and other traditional enemies!

“‘At that time,’ says the LORD,
‘they shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah,
and the bones of its princes,
and the bones of the priests,
and the bones of the prophets,
and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves.
They shall spread them before the sun and the moon and all the host of heaven,
which they have loved and which they have served and after which they have walked,
which they have sought and which they have worshiped.
They shall not be gathered nor buried;
they shall be like refuse on the face of the earth.
Then death shall be chosen rather than life
by all the residue of those who remain of this evil family,
who remain in all the places where I have driven them,’
says the LORD of hosts.”
Jeremiah 8:1-3

1. They would commit sacrilege.

a) They would desecrate the tombs and the graveyards.

b) They would bring out the bones of the dead:

i) The kings and princes.

ii) The priests and prophets.

iii) The inhabitants of Jerusalem who were buried.

c) This was nothing short of sacrilege!

2. They would insult and mock the dead

a) The bones of the dead would be displayed:

i) Before the sun.

ii) Before the moon.

iii) Before the whole host of heaven (the stars/ planets).

iv) This was unheard of!

b) This was done to insult and mock the children of Judah.

i) The children of Judah who were idolaters.

ii) They had revered all of the above in faithful worship.

c) These bones would not be gathered and given a decent re-burial.

d) They would be as refuse and garbage.

3. “Then death shall be chosen rather than life”

a) This would be such a traumatic shock to the children of Judah.

b) What they see and experience would rob them of any desire to live.

c) They would rather choose death than to live with horrors that would be witnessed.

4. “‘By all the residue of those who remain of this evil family, who remain in all the places where I have driven them,’ says the LORD of hosts”

a) The children of Judah are described as “this evil family”.

b) There would be but a residue who would remain after the Babylonians had invaded the land.

c) The remainder would be driven out of the land of Judah to wherever God would drive them.