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Jer. 15:1 ¶ Then said the LORD unto me, Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my mind could not be toward this people: cast them out of my sight, and let them go forth.

This verse is actually a tribute from YHWH to Moses and Samuel. He is telling Jeremiah that even if Moses and Samuel were standing before Him interceding for the people of Judah, I would not heed their prayers. This seems to be establishing Moses and Samuel as men of great influence before the LORD and scripture gives evidence to their intercession on behalf of the people and God answering their prayers. The psalmist made note of this truth.

Psalms 99:5–6 “Exalt ye the LORD our God, and worship at his footstool; for he is holy. Moses and Aaron among his priests, and Samuel among them that call upon his name; they called upon the LORD, and he answered them.”

The last part of the verse seems to be a statement emphasizing God’s intent to let their enemies take them captive.

It would seem that Jeremiah is to understand that he is no longer to intercede for his people in prayer as referenced in the previous chapter.

Jer. 15:2 And it shall come to pass, if they say unto thee, Whither shall we go forth? then thou shalt tell them, Thus saith the LORD; Such as are for death, to death; and such as are for the sword, to the sword; and such as are for the famine, to the famine; and such as are for the captivity, to the captivity.

Jer. 15:3 And I will appoint over them four kinds, saith the LORD: the sword to slay, and the dogs to tear, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the earth, to devour and destroy.

Jer. 15:4 And I will cause them to be removed into all kingdoms of the earth, because of Manasseh the son of Hezekiah king of Judah, for that which he did in Jerusalem.

In this section of verses YHWH details the coming judgment and makes specific reference to the actions of King Manasseh, son of Hezekiah, as the cause.  It seems that he represented “the final straw.”  The people would die in judgment by pestilence, sword, or hunger or taken captive by their enemies. He then gets even more graphic by declaring that they would die by the sword and their bodies given to the dogs and carnivorous birds and beasts. This is the ultimate in exposing their shameful position before YHWH.

King Manasseh is singled out for his idolatrous actions before the people who became willing followers of his example.

2 Kings 21:1–9 “Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Hephzibah. And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, after the abominations of the heathen, whom the LORD cast out before the children of Israel. For he built up again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he reared up altars for Baal, and made a grove, as did Ahab king of Israel; and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them. And he built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD said, In Jerusalem will I put my name. And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD. And he made his son pass through the fire, and observed times, and used enchantments, and dealt with familiar spirits and wizards: he wrought much wickedness in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger. And he set a graven image of the grove that he had made in the house, of which the LORD said to David, and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever: Neither will I make the feet of Israel move any more out of the land which I gave their fathers; only if they will observe to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the law that my servant Moses commanded them. But they hearkened not: and Manasseh seduced them to do more evil than did the nations whom the LORD destroyed before the children of Israel.”

I can’t help but be reminded from my study in Isaiah that Manasseh was born after God had granted Hezekiah’s prayer to extend his life. Though God knew what would be the outcome, He did not let it affect His response to Hezekiah’s prayer for healing. Though that goes against my human logic and understanding, I am blessed to know that God is focused on His relationship with individuals just as surely as with nations and that He deals with each individual according to his/her walk of faith and obedience before Him.

I think it is also important to note that Manasseh is singled out because he seduced the people by his actions; he led them into sin. Webster used the phrase “induce to surrender chastity” in defining seduce. He influenced the people by his example to give up their spiritual purity before the LORD; he led them into spiritual adultery and evil activity that God assessed to be worse than the practices of the heathen nations according to the record in 2Kings.

I think King Manasseh is probably one of the greatest examples in scripture of God’s grace, mercy and forgiveness. It is recorded that Manasseh eventually repented of his sin and turned back to God in faith and obedience.

2 Chronicles 33:10–16 “And the LORD spake to Manasseh, and to his people: but they would not hearken.Wherefore the LORD brought upon them the captains of the host of the king of Assyria, which took Manasseh among the thorns, and bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon. And when he was in affliction, he besought the LORD his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, And prayed unto him: and he was intreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD he was God. Now after this he built a wall without the city of David, on the west side of Gihon, in the valley, even to the entering in at the fish gate, and compassed about Ophel, and raised it up a very great height, and put captains of war in all the fenced cities of Judah. And he took away the strange gods, and the idol out of the house of the LORD, and all the altars that he had built in the mount of the house of the LORD, and in Jerusalem, and cast them out of the city. And he repaired the altar of the LORD, and sacrificed thereon peace offerings and thank offerings, and commanded Judah to serve the LORD God of Israel.”

I think it is also important to note that although Manasseh repented of his sins and the LORD forgave him, there were unmitigated consequences of his sin. It was his sin that was singled out as the root cause of God’s judgment against Judah. The people were ready and willing to follow him in sin, but not so ready and willing to follow him in repentance and obedience.  

Jer. 15:5 For who shall have pity upon thee, O Jerusalem? or who shall bemoan thee? or who shall go aside to ask how thou doest?

Jer. 15:6 Thou hast forsaken me, saith the LORD, thou art gone backward: therefore will I stretch out my hand against thee, and destroy thee; I am weary with repenting.

I think the wording of the NLT states the meaning of these verses clearly: “Who will feel sorry for you, Jerusalem? Who will weep for you? Who will even bother to ask how you are? You have forsaken me and turned your back on me,” says the LORD. “Therefore, I will raise my clenched fists to destroy you. I am tired of always giving you another chance.”

Though the LORD is longsuffering, His patience is not without limit.

Jer. 15:7 And I will fan them with a fan in the gates of the land; I will bereave them of children, I will destroy my people, since they return not from their ways.

Jer. 15:8 Their widows are increased to me above the sand of the seas: I have brought upon them against the mother of the young men a spoiler at noonday: I have caused him to fall upon it suddenly, and terrors upon the city.

Jer. 15:9 She that hath borne seven languisheth: she hath given up the ghost; her sun is gone down while it was yet day: she hath been ashamed and confounded: and the residue of them will I deliver to the sword before their enemies, saith the LORD.

The LORD continues-----Judgment is certain because “my people” have refused to repent of their sinful ways. This judgment would be unnecessary if He did not care about His people. Because He cares, He is determined to refine them in the fire of judgment. The number of widows in the land will be too many to number. Mothers will mourn from being left childless and many will die at the point of the sword wielded by their enemies.

Jer. 15:10 ¶ Woe is me, my mother, that thou hast borne me a man of strife and a man of contention to the whole earth! I have neither lent on usury, nor men have lent to me on usury; yet every one of them doth curse me.

It seems that Jeremiah in this verse is bemoaning the fact that he was born because the people of his nation consider him an adversary (from the Hebrew) and one who causes discord and controversy. Evidently, one of the main reasons most men would find themselves at odds with one another was over finances— lending and borrowing. Jeremiah had done neither, yet he was still treated with contempt. Though Jeremiah was a great prophet, he was human; at this point he is feeling sorry for himself.

Those who are used by the LORD to identify the sins of those around him/her should always expect to be treated with contempt and/or persecution.

Jer. 15:11 The LORD said, Verily it shall be well with thy remnant; verily I will cause the enemy to entreat thee well in the time of evil and in the time of affliction.

Jer. 15:12 Shall iron break the northern iron and the steel?

Jer. 15:13 Thy substance and thy treasures will I give to the spoil without price, and that for all thy sins, even in all thy borders.

Jer. 15:14 And I will make thee to pass with thine enemies into a land which thou knowest not: for a fire is kindled in mine anger, which shall burn upon you.

The LORD basically answers Jeremiah with an assurance that He would take care of him. The time would come when Jeremiah’s enemies would seek his help because of the evil confronting them.

I think verse 12 is referencing the enemy coming from the north as strong as a mixture of iron and steel. In other words, there is no possible way that Judah could stand against the advance of these enemies without YHWH’s intervention. Even worse is that YHWH is not going to intervene; He is going to judge His people by giving them into the hands of their enemies.

Not only will they be destroyed and many taken captive, the enemy would also take away their national treasures.

Again the point is made that this judgment is because of their sins against YHWH that have “kindled His anger.” They fueled His anger as a great fire and would now be burned from the fire of their own making.

Jer. 15:15 ¶ O LORD, thou knowest: remember me, and visit me, and revenge me of my persecutors; take me not away in thy longsuffering: know that for thy sake I have suffered rebuke.

Jer. 15:16 Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts.

Jer. 15:17 I sat not in the assembly of the mockers, nor rejoiced; I sat alone because of thy hand: for thou hast filled me with indignation.

Jer. 15:18 Why is my pain perpetual, and my wound incurable, which refuseth to be healed? wilt thou be altogether unto me as a liar, and as waters that fail?

Jeremiah is still very down in the dumps. He is asking the LORD to avenge him of the injustice of those who are persecuting him. Jeremiah does not want to die or be taken captive. He is asking the LORD to spare him that in light of the fact that he has suffered rebuke because of his obedience to Him.

Jeremiah had willingly proclaimed God’s message to the people, a message that he rejoiced in because he was jealous for his LORD’s name, God Almighty. One can’t help but think of Job as Jeremiah pours out his heart in this section. Both have questions as to the why of God’s ways regarding their personal life, but both have faith in the promise of His word.

Job 23:12 “Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.”

Jeremiah has been isolated from his people because of his commitment to the LORD. He has responded with God’s heart toward their sin. He doesn’t understand why faithfulness and obedience to his call has resulted in continual pain and fresh wounds to his spirit. He is beginning to question if he has been deceived in his understanding of God’s call and paints a word picture of going to a stream from which you expect to find water and finding it dry.

This is one of the truths in scripture that really speaks to my heart. I don’t ever want to fail the LORD because of His actions or inaction vs. my expectations. Even God’s chosen prophets found themselves yielding to despair in the circumstances because things didn’t come down how they expected at times. Our life is to be a walk of faith. We tend to think more about the importance of taking a firm stand on the truth of God’s word, and that is very important. One must stand before one can walk. Life, however, involves walking in faith—not standing still.  For one to walk in faith means that he/she will not be deterred in their walk due to circumstances or expectations that we do not understand.

Jer. 15:19 Therefore thus saith the LORD, If thou return, then will I bring thee again, and thou shalt stand before me: and if thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth: let them return unto thee; but return not thou unto them.

Jer. 15:20 And I will make thee unto this people a fenced brasen wall: and they shall fight against thee, but they shall not prevail against thee: for I am with thee to save thee and to deliver thee, saith the LORD.

Jer. 15:21 And I will deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem thee out of the hand of the terrible.

I can almost hear the gentle loving tone in which the Father rebukes His discouraged servant. He tells Jeremiah that if he will repent and make a fresh start, he can count on God’s provision as he serves Him in obedience. If he will choose to speak with the weight of God’s authority and not give in to words that undermine His power and authority, God will continue to speak through him. This is a direct rebuke of the fear and doubt that Jeremiah has revealed in the previous verses. I liked the CJB translation for the last part of verse 19: “It will then be they who turn to you, not you who turn to them.“

The LORD promises to make Jeremiah like a strong bronze wall that they cannot destroy. YHWH will personally deliver him from his enemies. He promises to defend, preserve and rescue (all from the Hebrew for deliver) him from the wicked. He promises to sever, release, preserve and rescue (from the Hebrew for redeem) him from the tyrannical oppressor (from the Hebrew for terrible). The repetition seems to serve as an exclamation point to the promise of deliverance.

Stedman:  “God pours on the pressure sometimes, as you see with Jeremiah, not to destroy us, but to toughen us, to make us ready for what is coming. And I think that this is just such an hour in America today. Trials such as this nation has never faced lie before us…problems we have never known as a people lie ahead of us. And surely nothing is adequate to meet them but the strength of a living God.”

Jer. 16:1 ¶ The word of the LORD came also unto me, saying,

Jer. 16:2 Thou shalt not take thee a wife, neither shalt thou have sons or daughters in this place.

Jer. 16:3 For thus saith the LORD concerning the sons and concerning the daughters that are born in this place, and concerning their mothers that bare them, and concerning their fathers that begat them in this land;

Jer. 16:4 They shall die of grievous deaths; they shall not be lamented; neither shall they be buried; but they shall be as dung upon the face of the earth: and they shall be consumed by the sword, and by famine; and their carcases shall be meat for the fowls of heaven, and for the beasts of the earth.

This chapter begins with YHWH telling Jeremiah that he is not to marry or have  children. The structure of Jewish society was founded upon land allotments that were ensured by one’s progeny. Although it sounds harsh, this instruction is really an act of love and protection for His servant. The LORD has determined that the people of the land (Judah), including children and their parents, will suffer from deadly diseases. The deaths will be so many so quickly that there will be no time for normal periods of mourning or even burials. They will also die at the hands of enemy soldiers and from famine. Their dead bodies will be left in the open to be eaten by the carnivorous birds of the air and beasts of the earth. What’s left will serve as fertilizer for the earth. In that culture, this would be a reason for great shame to the people before the nations.

Courson:  “Maybe the Lord is keeping you single because He’s protecting you from what He sees would bring only sorrow to you.  In Matthew 19:12, Jesus said that some remain single for the sake of the kingdom.  Jesus Himself did this.  Paul, too, was single.  Many of the saints throughout history have been single.  It’s a high and holy calling, a heavy price, but with great reward.”

Jer. 16:5 For thus saith the LORD, Enter not into the house of mourning, neither go to lament nor bemoan them: for I have taken away my peace from this people, saith the LORD, even lovingkindness and mercies.

Jer. 16:6 Both the great and the small shall die in this land: they shall not be buried, neither shall men lament for them, nor cut themselves, nor make themselves bald for them:

Jer. 16:7 Neither shall men tear themselves for them in mourning, to comfort them for the dead; neither shall men give them the cup of consolation to drink for their father or for their mother.

The LORD goes on to forbid Jeremiah from participating in mourning the death of his people. YHWH has purposed to remove His peace from the people. They will no longer be allowed to experience His kindness, favor, compassion or mercy (all from the Hebrew). Death will come to all, from the nobles to the common folk, rich to poor. Again, the point is made that the number of dead will be so many so quickly that proper burials and times of mourning will not be possible. The people will not be able to find comfort even when confronted with the death of father or mother because everyone will be overtaken in his/her own sorrow.

It is to be noted that the instructions in verse 6 were customs adopted from the pagan religions that the people had turned to and were specifically forbidden the people of Israel.

Leviticus 19:27–28 “Ye shall not round the corners of your heads, neither shalt thou mar the corners of thy beard. Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD.”

Deuteronomy 14:1–2 “Ye are the children of the LORD your God: ye shall not cut yourselves, nor make any baldness between your eyes for the dead. For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God, and the LORD hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth.”

Jer. 16:8 Thou shalt not also go into the house of feasting, to sit with them to eat and to drink.

Jer. 16:9 For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will cause to cease out of this place in your eyes, and in your days, the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride.

Neither was Jeremiah to participate in any of the normally “joyous” occasions among the people that included feasting and fellowship. YHWH has determined to take happiness away from His people. The wording is clear that Jeremiah will live to witness this time of judgment.

Jer. 16:10 ¶ And it shall come to pass, when thou shalt shew this people all these words, and they shall say unto thee, Wherefore hath the LORD pronounced all this great evil against us? or what is our iniquity? or what is our sin that we have committed against the LORD our God?

Jer. 16:11 Then shalt thou say unto them, Because your fathers have forsaken me, saith the LORD, and have walked after other gods, and have served them, and have worshipped them, and have forsaken me, and have not kept my law;

Jer. 16:12 And ye have done worse than your fathers; for, behold, ye walk every one after the imagination of his evil heart, that they may not hearken unto me:

Jer. 16:13 Therefore will I cast you out of this land into a land that ye know not, neither ye nor your fathers; and there shall ye serve other gods day and night; where I will not shew you favour.

The LORD anticipates the response of the people as they observe Jeremiah’s lifestyle in obedience to the LORD as he declares God’s message to the people. They are going to pretend not to understand why God is angry with them. They are going to pretend to be ignorant of their sin.

YHWH instructs Jeremiah to boldly declare that judgment is being pronounced because of the sins of their fathers—specifically in turning to the worship of false gods and forsaking their covenant with Him. Then he is to emphasize that they are acting even worse than their fathers did. In spite of the warning of God’s prophet(s), they determined to continue in their sin and in fulfilling the desires of their flesh in rejection of that message. Because of their continued disobedience and lack of repentance, YHWH is determined to cast many of them out of the Promised Land so they can serve the false gods of the Gentile nations and experience firsthand the “pleasures” of living among the heathen and serving their gods. The judgment being declared by YHWH is exactly as warned by Moses before they ever even entered the land to possess it.

Deuteronomy 28:15, 20-26 “But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee…. The LORD shall send upon thee cursing, vexation, and rebuke, in all that thou settest thine hand unto for to do, until thou be destroyed, and until thou perish quickly; because of the wickedness of thy doings, whereby thou hast forsaken me. The LORD shall make the pestilence cleave unto thee, until he have consumed thee from off the land, whither thou goest to possess it. The LORD shall smite thee with a consumption, and with a fever, and with an inflammation, and with an extreme burning, and with the sword, and with blasting, and with mildew; and they shall pursue thee until thou perish. And thy heaven that is over thy head shall be brass, and the earth that is under thee shall be iron. The LORD shall make the rain of thy land powder and dust: from heaven shall it come down upon thee, until thou be destroyed. The LORD shall cause thee to be smitten before thine enemies: thou shalt go out one way against them, and flee seven ways before them: and shalt be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth. And thy carcase shall be meat unto all fowls of the air, and unto the beasts of the earth, and no man shall fray them away.

Jer. 16:14 ¶ Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that it shall no more be said, The LORD liveth, that brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt;

Jer. 16:15 But, The LORD liveth, that brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the lands whither he had driven them: and I will bring them again into their land that I gave unto their fathers.

Up until this time in Israel’s history, the LORD’s powerful, miraculous deliverance of His people from Egypt was the event most recognized by the Jewish people as well as the Gentile nations as declaring YHWH’s greatness and power. The LORD is saying that the time is coming that He is going to once again regather His people from among the nations with a display of greatness and power that will overshadow their deliverance from Egypt. This is an amazing statement as one thinks back over the ten plagues that God used to bend Pharaoh to His will to let the people go followed by His spectacular miracle of deliverance from Pharaoh’s army at the Red Sea.

Because of the comparison being made, I do not believe this is descriptive of the return from exile after the Babylonian captivity or the current regathering of the Jewish people and reestablishment of the nation of Israel in 1948. I believe this prophecy will be fulfilled when the LORD returns in glory to take David’s throne in Jerusalem in establishment of His millennial kingdom.

Though the “children” of Israel have continued in their rebellion against God in general as a nation, God’s covenant with Abraham will be honored. God will ensure that the people reestablish their relationship with Him through a new covenant that God will personally make a part of their being through His indwelling Spirit.

Ezekiel 36:24–28 “For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.”

Jer. 16:16 Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith the LORD, and they shall fish them; and after will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks.

Jer. 16:17 For mine eyes are upon all their ways: they are not hid from my face, neither is their iniquity hid from mine eyes.

Jer. 16:18 And first I will recompense their iniquity and their sin double; because they have defiled my land, they have filled mine inheritance with the  carcases of their detestable and abominable things.

Back to Jeremiah’s present—the time for judgment is near. Fishers and hunters represent the enemy that will be coming to take the people of Judah as their prey. Point is made that the LORD is sending these fishers and hunters to make prey of the people of Judah. Verse 17 is a statement that should cause great fear to God’s people; He is going to make sure they can’t hide from the enemy. They can’t hide from God, and He is going to make sure that they experience the full judgment for their sin. Verse 18 brings up another aspect of how God views their sin. He views it as desecrating “His” land. Not only had they defiled the land through idolatrous sacrifices to their false gods, we learn from the Chronicler that they had neglected to allow the land to “rest” every seven years and every 50th year as the LORD had instructed them.

Leviticus 25:4–5 “But in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest unto the land, a sabbath for the LORD: thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard. That which groweth of its own accord of thy harvest thou shalt not reap, neither gather the grapes of thy vine undressed: for it is a year of rest unto the land.”

Leviticus 25:8–11 “And thou shalt number seven sabbaths of years unto thee, seven times seven years; and the space of the seven sabbaths of years shall be unto thee forty and nine  years. Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the jubile to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month, in the day of atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout all your land. And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubile unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family. A jubile shall that fiftieth year be unto you: ye shall not sow, neither reap that which groweth of itself in it, nor gather the grapes in it of thy vine undressed.”

2 Chronicles 36:20–21 “And them that had escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon; where they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia: To fulfil the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years.”

Jer. 16:19 O LORD, my strength, and my fortress, and my refuge in the day of affliction, the Gentiles shall come unto thee from the ends of the earth, and shall say, Surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and things wherein there is no profit.

Jer. 16:20 Shall a man make gods unto himself, and they are no gods?

Jer. 16:21 Therefore, behold, I will this once cause them to know, I will cause them to know mine hand and my might; and they shall know that my name is The LORD.

This section begins with what appears to be an expression of the heart of Jeremiah to YHWH as he considers the effect these events would have on the Gentile nations. They will understand that the false gods to which the Jewish people had turned were totally impotent in the light of the power of Almighty God. Man cannot create a “god” with true power and authority to act on behalf of the man creating it.

YHWH affirms Jeremiah’s conclusion. He declares that all the nations will come to know that HE is “The LORD,” the self-existent, eternal GOD. I believe this also will be fulfilled at the time the prophecy in verses 14-15 is fulfilled—when the LORD returns to take the throne of David in Jerusalem as He establishes His earthly kingdom.

The prophet Micah spoke of this future kingdom: Micah 4:1–2 “But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it. And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.”

And the prophet Zechariah: Zechariah 8:22–23 “Yea, many people and strong nations shall come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the LORD. Thus saith the LORD of hosts; In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you.”

Stedman:  “Only by the utter collapse of all that men trust in will they ever have their eyes opened to what God has been saying to them. This is why God moves the way he does with individuals -- to bring them to the end of themselves, to let them get into trouble and fall apart, and bankrupt themselves in every degree. It is then that both individuals and nations get their eyes open. Then they see who God is -- see his power and his might and his love.”