The full force of the curse for breaking the covenant was that Israel would be driven out of the land the Lord had given them (Deuteronomy 4:27; Deuteronomy 28:25). That curse is about to become reality for Judah. In Jeremiah 9:14 the people are condemned for following the Baals, as their fathers had taught them.
Covenant failure, and now the pending reality of judgment because of it, have been part of Israel’s experience since the beginning. Now they will be scattered among the nations whom neither they nor their fathers have known
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The Lord will also send the sword after them, until I have consumed them.
The Lord makes use of foreign armies to carry out his judgment. Leviticus 26:33 may also provide the background to this covenant curse. The finality and devastation of the coming judgment is made clear by Jeremiah. Truly the Lord is now going to be true to his word as set out in the covenant. However, the curse of the Mosaic covenant always held out the hope of survivors (see Leviticus 26:36, Leviticus 26:39, Leviticus 26:44; Deuteronomy 4:25–30). There was always the possibility of a faithful remnant who would repent and return to the Lord, even when in exile.2
16 Je les disperserai parmi des nations Que n'ont connues ni eux ni leurs pères, Et j'enverrai derrière eux l'épée, Jusqu'à ce que je les aie exterminés.