“And when this people, or the prophet, or a priest, shall ask thee, saying, What is the burden of the LORD? thou shalt then say unto them, What burden? I will even forsake you, saith the LORD.”
My Notes
What Does Jeremiah 23:33 Mean?
"And when this people, or the prophet, or a priest, shall ask thee, saying, What is the burden of the LORD? thou shalt then say unto them, What burden? I will even forsake you, saith the LORD." People approach Jeremiah asking: what's the LORD's latest burden (massa — oracle, prophetic message)? They ask it flippantly, mockingly — "burden" becomes a joke. They've heard so many doom-laden messages that the word itself has become entertainment. "What's God upset about today?" And God's response is devastating: you want to know the burden? YOU are the burden. And I'm about to set you down. Forsake you.
The wordplay is pointed: the people ask about the burden of the LORD (the prophetic message). God answers: you are the burden (the weight he's been carrying). And he's dropping them.
Reflection Questions
- 1.Have you turned God's word into entertainment — consuming it as content rather than receiving it as revelation?
- 2.When has familiarity with prophetic preaching produced immunity rather than response?
- 3.What does God's shift from 'burden' (message) to 'burden' (you are the weight) teach about the consequences of mocking his word?
- 4.Where might God's silence in your life be more alarming than his speaking?
Devotional
What's the burden? They ask it like it's a punchline. Another doom oracle from Jeremiah? What's God angry about this time? The prophetic word has become entertainment. The burden of the LORD has become a catchphrase. And God has had enough.
What burden? I will forsake you. The wordplay is razor-sharp. They ask for the burden — the oracle, the prophetic message. God answers with the burden — the weight. YOU are the burden I've been carrying. And I'm putting you down.
The people have turned prophetic preaching into background noise. When you hear judgment preached often enough, it stops being terrifying and starts being boring. The first time Jeremiah says 'destruction is coming,' people tremble. The twentieth time, they yawn. The fiftieth time, they mock: "What's the burden today?" The frequency of the warning has produced immunity to its content.
God's response isn't another warning. It's withdrawal. I will forsake you. The person who keeps asking 'what's the latest burden?' as a joke eventually becomes the punchline of the joke. You mocked the burden? You ARE the burden. And burdens get dropped.
This is what happens when prophetic speech becomes entertainment. When sermons are rated like performances. When the word of God is consumed as content rather than received as revelation. The prophet speaks. The audience critiques. The burden of the LORD becomes a podcast review. And God says: you treated my word as a joke. Now my word is about you.
The scariest judgment isn't a new oracle. It's the withdrawal of the one who's been speaking. When God stops sending burdens and starts forsaking the people who mocked them — that's the silence that follows the noise. And the silence is worse than any burden.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
And when this people, or a prophet, or a priest, shall ask thee,.... Any of the people, who were grown very profane; or…
Burden - Here a prophecy, either (1) as being something weighty: or (2) a something said aloud. Isaiah brought the word…
The profaneness of the people, with that of the priests and prophets, is here reproved in a particular instance, which…
See introd. summary to section. The original word means either a burden or a prophetic utterance. It would appear that…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture