Why does the Lord tell Jeremiah to say that the people are the “burden of the Lord” and that he will cast them off?

In this final passage (Jeremiah 23:33–40) in the section on the prophets of Judah (Jeremiah 23:9–40), the Lord spells out the judgment that is coming, not just to the prophets but to the people as well, because they all have rejected his true word.

The key word in this passage is the Hebrew word massa which is translated here as burden.¹ There is a play on this word based on its two possible meanings. The word is used often in the Old Testament to refer to a heavy load that a beast or even a man has to carry for its master (Jeremiah 17:21–27; Exodus 23:5; Numbers 4:27; 2 Samuel 15:33; Psalm 38:4). In other parts of the Old Testament, it refers to an oracle or message from the Lord (Isaiah 15:1; Nahum 1:1; Zechariah 12:1), probably implying the weight of responsibility that the prophet has in speaking the Lord’s word faithfully, or it could refer to the weight that is placed on the people when it is a word of judgment.² Throughout the passage there is an interplay between both meanings of burden: a heavy load and an oracle.

It would seem that the Lord speaks to Jeremiah at the start of this passage and he instructs him on how to respond when asked, What is the burden of the Lord? This question, directed at the Lord’s prophet, is asking what message the Lord has for his people. When asked, Jeremiah is to respond by saying, You are the burden, and I will cast you off, declares the Lord. The interplay between the two meanings of the word burden is seen immediately. The people are asking what burden (oracle) the Lord has for them, and the Lord responds by saying that they are the burden (heavy load) that he is about to get rid of. It is not unusual, and it is even right, that the Lord’s people would ask his prophet what message the Lord has for them. However, at this stage it is clear that the question is not asked because the people are concerned to hear from the Lord. It is even possible that the question is asked in a mocking way as if to say to Jeremiah, What gloomy, burdensome word of judgment do you have for us today?.³ Given the false prophets who have been declaring a message of peace from the Lord, Jeremiah’s message of judgment is rejected and scoffed at. It should be noted here that it is not just the false prophets who are at fault. The Lord includes prophet, priest and people. The whole nation has rejected the Lord’s true prophet and believed the lies of the false prophets.⁴. The end result of this rejection of the Lord’s word is that he will reject his people in judgment by casting them off.