Jeremiah 18:17Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

I will disperse them before their adversaries like a searing breeze. Just as the intense heat of the day withers delicate vegetation, so will I bring devastation upon the Jewish people.

I will disperse them before their foes like a blazing wind; I will turn my back to them, revealing not my face, in the time of their ruin. The judgment of God remains upon the Jewish people. They are spread across the globe, facing the adversary and demonic forces, and while they fervently invoke the name of God day and night in the synagogues of opposition, God reveals His back to them, not His face, showing them that He is always withdrawing and never approaching. The period of desolation for the Jewish people persists continually from the suffering of the Savior until the end of the age, so that when the fullness of the Gentiles has come in, then all Israel will be redeemed (Rom. 11).

Like a fierce wind, I will disperse them in the presence of their foes, meaning they will receive no compassion from those who reject them, but rather will be detested, just as one turns away from a scorching breeze. ‘I will reveal their strength and not their face at the time of their calamity.’ It is typical of captives and servants to lower their faces to the ground, making it easier to see more of their backs than their faces. However, this can also be understood in another light. We observe not the faces but the strength of those who have turned away; thus, this expression indicates God’s rejection of them.