Why will the bones of the kings, officials, priests, prophets, and people be brought out of their tombs?

These last three verses of Jeremiah 7:1–8:3 continue the description of the Lord’s judgment that is coming in the form of the invader from the north. It also continues the theme of Judah’s distorted worship, which is the reason for the coming judgment.

At that time refers to the time when the invaders from the north attack. When the attack comes the invaders would show extreme contempt for the people of Judah and humiliate them by removing the bones from their graves of those who had died and been buried in the past and spreading them all over. In Hebrew thought, the grave was seen as a resting place for the dead. Those who were unburied were considered cursed (1 Kings 16:4). The removal of bones from their graves suggests that even the apparent reward of a decent burial was no guarantee against future punishment.¹ In Jeremiah 7:32–34 the Lord’s judgment meant mass burials, now his judgment means the desecration of the dead. None would escape this humiliation; the political and religious elite are included as well as the ordinary citizens. All are guilty before the Lord. There may also be the additional thought that past generations who had rejected the Lord were included in judgment.²