9:10 The Lord took up a lamentation on behalf of the land that suffered because of His people's sin. The coming invasion would leave the land deserted even by beasts and birds. The rest of this message indicates that the invasion had not yet taken place. Jeremiah was describing a future event as though it was already past.
9:11 The Lord would make Jerusalem a ruin where jackals (or wolves) would prowl freely without fear of human interference (cf. 10:22; 49:33; 51:37). He would also make the other cities of Judah uninhabited desolations. Jeremiah might have wanted to flee from Jerusalem to the wilderness (v. 2), but God would turn the city into a wilderness.
9:12 Yahweh called for some wise person to step forward, someone who could explain the reason for the land's coming desolate condition.
9:13 The Lord Himself provided the answer to His own question. The land would lay desolate because His people had abandoned His covenant with them, had not walked in its commandments, and had not paid attention to His messages to them. The Israelites had promised to do these things at Mount Sinai (Exod. 19:4-8).
9:14 Instead the people had followed their own desires and the Baals just like their ancestors. Stubbornness was one of their chief sins (cf. Deut. 29:18; Ps. 81:13).
"The threat of stubbornness' still exists today. It has been described as atrophy of the will.' When people stubbornly refuse to do right, the time comes when they cannot do right. Judgment then comes in the form of living in the prison you have erected for yourself."199
9:15 Because the people were stubborn the Lord promised to feed them with wormwood (instead of honey) and to give them poisoned water ("gall"AV, instead of milk) to drink (cf. 8:14; 23:15; Deut. 29:18; Matt. 27:34).200
9:16 He would also scatter them among nations that would be unfamiliar to them and their forefathers. Violence would follow them until the Lord had annihilated them. This would be the fate of many ungodly Judahites, not the whole nation (cf. 4:27; 5:18; 30:11).
