◄ Jeremiah 4:29 ►
Every city flees at the sound of the horseman and archer. They enter the thickets and climb among the rocks. Every city is abandoned; no inhabitant is left.
Study Bible
Every city flees at the sound of the horseman and archer.
This phrase reflects the imminent threat of invasion and destruction. In the ancient Near East, the sound of horsemen and archers was a signal of approaching armies, often leading to panic and flight. The imagery here is consistent with the historical context of Jeremiah's time, when the Babylonian army posed a significant threat to Judah. The horseman and archer symbolize military power and the inevitability of conquest. This also echoes the warnings given by other prophets, such as Isaiah and Ezekiel, about the consequences of Israel's disobedience.

They enter the thickets and climb among the rocks.
The people seek refuge in natural fortifications, such as thickets and rocky areas, which were common hiding places during times of invasion. This reflects the desperation and fear of the inhabitants as they attempt to escape the advancing enemy. The geographical landscape of Judah, with its rugged terrain, provided such hiding spots. This imagery is reminiscent of other biblical accounts where people sought refuge in caves and mountains, such as David hiding from Saul. It underscores the futility of relying on natural defenses instead of trusting in God.

Every city is abandoned; no inhabitant is left.
The complete abandonment of cities signifies total desolation and judgment. This is a fulfillment of the prophetic warnings given by Jeremiah and other prophets about the consequences of Israel's unfaithfulness. The historical context points to the Babylonian exile, where cities were left desolate as the people were taken captive. This desolation is a type of the ultimate judgment that will come upon the world, as seen in the book of Revelation. It also serves as a reminder of the need for repentance and reliance on God, who is the true refuge and strength.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Jeremiah
The prophet who conveyed God's messages to the people of Judah, warning them of impending judgment due to their unfaithfulness.

2. Judah
The southern kingdom of Israel, which was facing imminent invasion and destruction due to its disobedience to God.

3. Horsemen and Archers
Symbolic of the invading armies, likely the Babylonians, who were instruments of God's judgment.

4. Thickets and Rocks
Represent places of refuge where people would flee in desperation to escape the invading forces.

5. Cities of Judah
These were the urban centers that would be abandoned as the people fled from the approaching threat.
Teaching Points
The Reality of Divine Judgment
God's warnings through His prophets are serious and should not be taken lightly. The people of Judah faced real consequences for their disobedience.

The Futility of Earthly Refuge
Seeking refuge in thickets and rocks symbolizes the futility of relying on earthly solutions in the face of divine judgment. True safety is found only in God.

The Call to Repentance
The impending judgment was a call for the people to repent and return to God. This remains a timeless message for all believers.

The Sovereignty of God in History
God uses nations and events to accomplish His purposes. Understanding His sovereignty helps us trust Him even in times of chaos.

The Urgency of Spiritual Preparedness
Just as the people of Judah were caught unprepared, we must be spiritually vigilant and ready for Christ's return.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does the imagery of fleeing to thickets and rocks challenge our understanding of where true security lies?

2. In what ways can we see the sovereignty of God at work in the events of our own lives and the world today?

3. How does the call to repentance in Jeremiah 4:29 resonate with the message of John the Baptist in the New Testament?

4. What are some modern-day "horsemen and archers" that might cause us to flee from God's presence rather than towards it?

5. How can we apply the lessons of Jeremiah 4:29 to ensure we are spiritually prepared for Christ's return?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Jeremiah 6:22-23
This passage also describes the coming invasion from the north, emphasizing the terror and destruction that the invaders would bring.

Isaiah 2:19-21
Similar imagery is used where people hide in caves and rocks from the terror of the Lord and the splendor of His majesty.

Revelation 6:15-17
This New Testament passage echoes the theme of people hiding in caves and rocks during times of divine judgment.
Sermons
The Proclamation of WoeS. Conway Jeremiah 4:5-31
The Fellowship of Christ's SufferingsS. Conway Jeremiah 4:19-30
A Surely Coming Confession Compelling a Present Serious QuestionS. Conway Jeremiah 4:20, 30
People
Dan, Jeremiah
Places
Dan, Jerusalem, Mount Ephraim, Zion
Topics
Archer, Archers, Bow, Bowman, Bowmen, Cities, Cliffs, Climb, Cover, Deserted, Dwell, Dwelleth, Dwelling, Dwells, Enter, Flee, Fleeing, Flees, Fleeth, Flight, Forsaken, Horseman, Horsemen, Noise, Rocks, Shooting, Takes, Therein, Thickets, Town, Towns, Voice, Woodland
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Jeremiah 4:29

     4354   rock
     5143   climbing
     5206   archers

Library
The Wailing of Risca
You all know the story; it scarce needs that I should tell it to you. Last Saturday week some two hundred or more miners descended in health and strength to their usual work in the bowels of the earth. They had not been working long, their wives and their children had risen, and their little ones had gone to their schools, when suddenly there was heard a noise at the mouth of the pit;--it was an explosion,--all knew what it meant. Men's hearts failed them, for well they prophesied the horror which …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 7: 1861

How those are to be Admonished who Sin from Sudden Impulse and those who Sin Deliberately.
(Admonition 33.). Differently to be admonished are those who are overcome by sudden passion and those who are bound in guilt of set purpose. For those whom sudden passion overcomes are to be admonished to regard themselves as daily set in the warfare of the present life, and to protect the heart, which cannot foresee wounds, with the shield of anxious fear; to dread the hidden darts of the ambushed foe, and, in so dark a contest, to guard with continual attention the inward camp of the soul. For, …
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great

Prevailing Prayer.
Text.--The effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.--James v. 16. THE last lecture referred principally to the confession of sin. To-night my remarks will be chiefly confined to the subject of intercession, or prayer. There are two kinds of means requisite to promote a revival; one to influence men, the other to influence God. The truth is employed to influence men, and prayer to move God. When I speak of moving God, I do not mean that God's mind is changed by prayer, or that his …
Charles Grandison Finney—Lectures on Revivals of Religion

How to Make Use of Christ for Cleansing of us from Our Daily Spots.
Having spoken of the way of making use of Christ for removing the guilt of our daily transgressions, we come to speak of the way of making use of Christ, for taking away the guilt that cleaveth to the soul, through daily transgressions; "for every sin defileth the man," Matt. xv. 20; and the best are said to have their spots, and to need washing, which presupposeth filthiness and defilement, Eph. v. 27. John xiii. 8-10. Hence we are so oft called to this duty of washing and making us clean. Isa. …
John Brown (of Wamphray)—Christ The Way, The Truth, and The Life

"For they that are after the Flesh do Mind the Things of the Flesh,",
Rom. viii. 5.--"For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh,", &c. Though sin hath taken up the principal and inmost cabinet of the heart of man--though it hath fixed its imperial throne in the spirit of man, and makes use of all the powers and faculties in the soul to accomplish its accursed desires and fulfil its boundless lusts, yet it is not without good reason expressed in scripture, ordinarily under the name of "flesh," and a "body of death," and men dead in sins, are …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

"Who Walk not after the Flesh, but after the Spirit. For they that are after the Flesh,"
Rom. viii. 4, 5.--"Who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For they that are after the flesh," &c. If there were nothing else to engage our hearts to religion, I think this might do it, that there is so much reason in it. Truly it is the most rational thing in the world, except some revealed mysteries of faith, which are far above reason, but not contrary to it. There is nothing besides in it, but that which is the purest reason. Even that part of it which is most difficult to man, …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

"If So be that the Spirit of God Dwell in You. Now if any Man have not the Spirit of Christ, He is None of His. "
Rom. viii. 9.--"If so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his." "But will God in very deed dwell with men on the earth?" 2 Chron. vi. 18. It was the wonder of one of the wisest of men, and indeed, considering his infinite highness above the height of heavens, his immense and incomprehensible greatness, that the heaven of heavens cannot contain him, and then the baseness, emptiness, and worthlessness of man, it may be a wonder to the …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

The Acceptable Sacrifice;
OR, THE EXCELLENCY OF A BROKEN HEART: SHOWING THE NATURE, SIGNS, AND PROPER EFFECTS OF A CONTRITE SPIRIT. BEING THE LAST WORKS OF THAT EMINENT PREACHER AND FAITHFUL MINISTER OF JESUS CHRIST, MR. JOHN BUNYAN, OF BEDFORD. WITH A PREFACE PREFIXED THEREUNTO BY AN EMINENT MINISTER OF THE GOSPEL IN LONDON. London: Sold by George Larkin, at the Two Swans without Bishopgates, 1692. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. The very excellent preface to this treatise, written by George Cokayn, will inform the reader of …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

Original Sin
Q-16: DID ALL MANKIND FALL IN ADAM'S FIRST TRANSGRESSION? A: The covenant being made with Adam, not only for himself, but for his posterity, all mankind descending from him, by ordinary generation, sinned in him, and fell with him in his first transgression. 'By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin,' &c. Rom 5:12. Adam being a representative person, while he stood, we stood; when he fell, we fell, We sinned in Adam; so it is in the text, In whom all have sinned.' Adam was the head …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

Repentance
Then has God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life.' Acts 11: 18. Repentance seems to be a bitter pill to take, but it is to purge out the bad humour of sin. By some Antinomian spirits it is cried down as a legal doctrine; but Christ himself preached it. From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent,' &c. Matt 4: 17. In his last farewell, when he was ascending to heaven, he commanded that Repentance should be preached in his name.' Luke 24: 47. Repentance is a pure gospel grace. …
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments

Directions to Awakened Sinners.
Acts ix. 6. Acts ix. 6. And he, trembling and astonished, said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do. THESE are the words of Saul, who also is called Paul, (Acts xiii. 9,) when he was stricken to the ground as he was going to Damascus; and any one who had looked upon him in his present circumstances and knew nothing more of him than that view, in comparison with his past life, could have given, would have imagined him one of the most miserable creatures that ever lived upon earth, and would have expected …
Philip Doddridge—Practical Discourses on Regeneration

The Quotation in Matt. Ii. 6.
Several interpreters, Paulus especially, have asserted that the interpretation of Micah which is here given, was that of the Sanhedrim only, and not of the Evangelist, who merely recorded what happened and was said. But this assertion is at once refuted when we consider the object which Matthew has in view in his entire representation of the early life of Jesus. His object in recording the early life of Jesus is not like that of Luke, viz., to communicate historical information to his readers. …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament

Jesus Attends the First Passover of his Ministry.
(Jerusalem, April 9, a.d. 27.) Subdivision B. Jesus Talks with Nicodemus. ^D John III. 1-21. ^d 1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. [Nicodemus is mentioned only by John. His character is marked by a prudence amounting almost to timidity. At John vii. 50-52 he defends Jesus, but without committing himself as in any way interested in him: at John xix. 38, 39 he brought spices for the body of Jesus, but only after Joseph of Arimathæa had secured the body. …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Jeremiah
The interest of the book of Jeremiah is unique. On the one hand, it is our most reliable and elaborate source for the long period of history which it covers; on the other, it presents us with prophecy in its most intensely human phase, manifesting itself through a strangely attractive personality that was subject to like doubts and passions with ourselves. At his call, in 626 B.C., he was young and inexperienced, i. 6, so that he cannot have been born earlier than 650. The political and religious …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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