38 "For if you say , 'The oracle of the Lord !' surely thus says the Lord , 'Because you said this word , "The oracle of the Lord !" I have also sent to you, saying , "You shall not say , 'The oracle of the Lord !' "
Those are miserable indeed who are forsaken and forgotten of God; and men's jesting at God's judgments will not baffle them. God had taken Israel to be a people near to him, but they shall now be cast out of his presence. It is a mark of great and daring impiety for men to jest with the words of God. Every idle and profane word will add to the sinner's burden in the day of judgment, when everlasting shame will be his portion.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Jeremiah 23:38
Commentary on Jeremiah 23:33-40
(Read Jeremiah 23:33-40)
Those are miserable indeed who are forsaken and forgotten of God; and men's jesting at God's judgments will not baffle them. God had taken Israel to be a people near to him, but they shall now be cast out of his presence. It is a mark of great and daring impiety for men to jest with the words of God. Every idle and profane word will add to the sinner's burden in the day of judgment, when everlasting shame will be his portion.