Jeremiah 5:14Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

For this reason, look, I place my words in your mouth as fire. This signifies the swift manner in which all things will be delivered to flames.

The Lord God of Hosts proclaims: As you have uttered this message, watch as I transform my words in your mouth into flames, and this people into kindling, and they will be consumed. You have asserted that the prophets have spoken to the wind, claiming that their warnings will not materialize. Therefore, O prophet, I will empower my words in your mouth like fire, and I will turn this people into fuel, so that through your prophecy, the deniers may be burned away. Thus, God is known as a consuming fire, intended to eradicate within us the wood, hay, and stubble, if we have built upon the foundation of Christ.

But why will men be like wood consumed by fire? Are men to blame if ungodly elders and false prophets lead them astray? Men are not as guilty as their elders and false prophets, but to a certain extent they are also to blame.