Jeremiah 14:20Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Lord, reveal to us our transgressions. He turns to the ultimate solution—the awareness of our sins. The wrongdoing of our ancestors, for we have acted against you. Why reference our forebears? Our carelessness regarding our own sins has resulted in the burdens of our ancestors resting upon us, leaving us without hope for salvation; we cannot look to our forefathers for deliverance; only rejection greets us at every turn.

O Lord, we acknowledge our transgressions and the faults of our forefathers, for we have sinned against You. He notes that both we and our ancestors in similar ignorance have disregarded Your commands, and thus the shortcomings of our ancestors have found fulfillment in us, enabling us to cover for all that they neglected; therefore it is stated regarding Judas, ‘Let the iniquity of his father be remembered before the Lord, and let the sin of his mother be blotted out. Let their iniquity be removed from before the Lord, and their remembrance perish from the earth’ (Psalm 108:4).

Refrain from burdening us with misfortunes for the sake of Your name, and turn Your gaze toward Your name, for we are called by it as Your people. You will not dismantle the throne of Your glory, which is known as Jerusalem. In the sacred Gospel, our Lord cautions against taking oaths, saying, ‘Do not swear, “nor by Jerusalem, for” the throne “is the throne of the great King” (Matthew 5:35). There, God revealed His presence. He reminds us of His covenant with our forefathers, indicating that idols offer no aid, but He provides the rainfall that descends from above, for every creation is overseen by a sovereign. This is echoed in (Jer. 14:22) where it states, ‘Will heaven not give its rain? Are You not Lord?’ Therefore, ‘Let us hope in You, for You have created all these things.’