The Deafness of Prosperity Text: Jeremiah 22:20-23
Introduction: The Cushions of Disobedience
We live in an age that has mastered the art of comfortable rebellion. We have insulated our disobedience with layers of affluence, entertainment, and political sophistry. We have convinced ourselves that the rumble of God's approaching judgment is merely the background noise of a complex world, something to be managed with a new policy or a better app, rather than something to be repented of on our faces. We are like a man who, having been warned that the dam is about to break, decides the best course of action is to redecorate his living room.
The prophet Jeremiah was sent to a people just like us. The kingdom of Judah in his day was institutionally corrupt, spiritually adulterous, and yet still convinced of its own special status. They had the Temple, they had the Davidic king, they had the rituals. They had, in short, the form of religion, but they had long since abandoned the power. They had rejected the voice of the God who gave them all these things in the first place. They believed their political alliances and their material prosperity were the real source of their security.
In this passage, God, through Jeremiah, delivers a scathing diagnosis of their terminal condition. It is a diagnosis of covenantal deafness, a deafness brought on by the sweet poison of prosperity. And it is a prognosis of utter desolation. This is not a message designed to make the hearers feel good about themselves. It is a bucket of ice water to the face of a nation sleepwalking into catastrophe. And we must understand, the principles laid out here are as fixed as the law of gravity. What was true for Judah then is true for the West now. God does not change, and the consequences of telling Him to shut up do not change either.
The Text
Go up to Lebanon and cry out, And lift up your voice in Bashan; Cry out also from Abarim, For all your lovers have been broken. I spoke to you in your prosperity, But you said, ‘I will not listen!’ This has been your way from your youth, That you have not listened to My voice. The wind will sweep away all your shepherds, And your lovers will go into captivity; Then you will surely be ashamed and feel dishonor Because of all your evil. You who inhabit Lebanon, Nested in the cedars, How you will groan when pangs come upon you, Pain like a woman in childbirth!
(Jeremiah 22:20-23 LSB)
The Failure of Foreign Lovers (v. 20)
The oracle begins with a command that is dripping with divine sarcasm.
"Go up to Lebanon and cry out, And lift up your voice in Bashan; Cry out also from Abarim, For all your lovers have been broken." (Jeremiah 22:20)
God tells Judah to go to the high places, the places from which they might get a good view, and wail. Lebanon was famous for its mighty cedars, a symbol of strength and a source of building materials for the Temple and palaces. Bashan was known for its strong oaks and fat cattle, a picture of robust health and wealth. Abarim was a mountain range to the east, a vantage point from which to look for help. These were all symbols of the very things Judah trusted in: natural resources, military might, and strategic position.
But more than that, these places represent the foreign powers Judah had courted. God uses the language of spiritual adultery. Israel was the bride of Yahweh, bound to Him in a covenant marriage. But she had prostituted herself, seeking security and satisfaction from other nations, her "lovers." Primarily, this refers to Egypt and the surrounding powers. Judah was constantly playing the geopolitical game, trying to form alliances to protect herself from the Babylonian threat, instead of simply trusting and obeying her covenant Lord.
And now God delivers the punchline: "For all your lovers have been broken." The Hebrew word means shattered, crushed. The political saviors are useless. The foreign alliances are worthless reeds that will break and pierce the hand that leans on them. The message is brutal and clear: the things you have substituted for Me cannot save you. Your political pragmatism is a catastrophic failure. Go ahead, cry out from the high places of your pride. No one is coming to help.
The Stubbornness of a Spoiled Child (v. 21)
In the next verse, God diagnoses the root cause of this spiritual adultery. It is a deep-seated, willful disobedience that thrives in times of ease.
"I spoke to you in your prosperity, But you said, ‘I will not listen!’ This has been your way from your youth, That you have not listened to My voice." (Jeremiah 22:21)
Here is the heart of the matter. God's warnings did not come only in times of crisis. He spoke to them "in your prosperity." The word means security, ease, tranquility. When the storehouses were full, when the borders were secure, when the economy was humming along, that is when the prophetic voice was the clearest. And what was Judah's response? A petulant, defiant, "I will not listen!"
This reveals a fundamental truth about fallen human nature. Prosperity is a greater spiritual test than adversity. It is in times of comfort that our hearts grow fat, our ears grow dull, and our pride swells. We begin to think that our success is our own doing, and we no longer feel our desperate need for God. The blessings of God become the very cushions upon which we lounge in our disobedience to Him.
And this is not a new development. God says, "This has been your way from your youth." From the moment He delivered them from Egypt, this has been their pattern. In the wilderness, they grumbled. Once in the promised land, they turned to idols. Throughout the period of the judges and the kings, it was a constant cycle of blessing, apostasy, judgment, and repentance. This is not a momentary lapse; it is a chronic, generational rebellion. It is the posture of a creature looking his Creator in the eye and saying, "No."
The Coming Storm (v. 22)
Because of this willful deafness, judgment is not just possible; it is inevitable and comprehensive.
"The wind will sweep away all your shepherds, And your lovers will go into captivity; Then you will surely be ashamed and feel dishonor Because of all your evil." (Jeremiah 22:22)
The "wind" is a frequent biblical image for the judgment of God. It is an irresistible, divine force. And who is the first target? "All your shepherds." This refers to the entire leadership structure of the nation: the kings, the princes, the priests, and the false prophets. The judgment will be a clean sweep, starting at the top. The very men who were supposed to guide and protect the flock will be scattered like chaff. When a nation's leadership is corrupt, God's judgment upon that leadership is a certainty.
And what of the foreign allies? "Your lovers will go into captivity." Not only will they fail to save Judah, but they themselves will be caught up in the same judgment. Siding with the world against God is always a losing proposition. The world cannot save itself, let alone those who foolishly trust in it.
The ultimate result for Judah will be shame and dishonor. The sin that was committed in pride will be exposed in public humiliation. All their arrogant boasts, their political maneuvering, and their religious hypocrisy will be laid bare. The consequences of their evil will not be a private matter; it will be a public spectacle of disgrace. Sin promises glory and autonomy; it delivers shame and bondage.
From the Penthouse to the Pit (v. 23)
The final verse returns to the theme of false security, contrasting the people's proud position with their coming agony.
"You who inhabit Lebanon, Nested in the cedars, How you will groan when pangs come upon you, Pain like a woman in childbirth!" (Jeremiah 22:23)
Here, "Lebanon" is used metaphorically for Jerusalem, and specifically for the ruling class who lived in luxurious houses paneled with cedar from Lebanon. They were "nested in the cedars," like a bird high up in a strong tree, safe and secure from predators below. This is a picture of smug self-satisfaction. They believed their wealth, their status, and their fine homes made them untouchable.
But God shatters this illusion with a terrifying image. Their security will vanish in an instant, replaced by groaning and pangs. The pain will be like that of a woman in childbirth: sudden, excruciating, and inescapable. There is no stopping it once it begins. The very cedar palaces they trusted in will become their prisons, their tombs. The comfort they worshiped will be the context of their agony. The judgment of God will turn their high nest into a torture chamber.
Conclusion: The Only Safe Place
The message of Jeremiah is a hard one, but it is a message of grace. The grace is in the warning. God loved Judah enough to tell her the brutal truth before the final blow fell. And He loves us enough to do the same.
The pattern is timeless. Prosperity breeds pride. Pride breeds deafness to God's Word. Deafness leads to trusting in false lovers, whether they be foreign armies or modern political movements. And trust in false lovers always ends in the shame and agony of judgment.
The false shepherds of Judah were swept away by the wind. But God promised a true Shepherd, a king who would reign in righteousness (Jer. 23:5). This is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Good Shepherd who was not swept away by the wind of judgment, but rather stood in the heart of the storm and absorbed it for His people.
The lovers of Judah were broken and went into captivity. But God is the true and faithful Husband to His people. On the cross, Jesus became the ultimate spurned lover, taking upon Himself the shame and dishonor that our spiritual adultery deserved. He took our evil so that we might be clothed in His righteousness.
The pangs of childbirth brought judgment upon Jerusalem. But through the labor pains of Calvary, a new creation was born. The choice before us is the same choice that was before Judah. Will we, in our prosperity, say, "I will not listen"? Will we nest ourselves in the cedars of our 401ks, our political tribe, and our cultural respectability? Or will we listen to the voice of our Shepherd? Will we find our security not in a high nest, but at the foot of a bloody cross? That is the only place of true safety. That is the only Lebanon that will not fall, the only nest that the storm of God's judgment cannot touch.