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Jeremiah 4:10 NKJV
10 Then I said, “Ah, Lord GOD! Surely You have greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, Saying, ‘You shall have peace,’ Whereas the sword reaches to the heart.”
It's clear throughout the chapter that God is about to unleash great destruction & disaster from the north.
So why does Jeremiah call it deception when it was actual about to take place?
In the above text could Jeremiah be ascribing decept to God?
In the previous chapter, Jeremiah prophesies peace to Israel (Jer. 3:16-18). Immediately after that, doom is prophesied to Israel. This seems to be a contradiction that wrings Jeremiah's heart, bringing forth the accusation of deception.
What Jeremiah does not realize is that Israel must first suffer for their sins and be corrected and turn back to faith in God before there can be any peace. This is true of any person or nation. God's promise of peace shows us that He is confident that His work among the Jews will bring the desired fruit.
Jeremiah is only a young man (Jer. 1:6), so he doesn't grasp these concepts yet; his prophecies don't make sense to him because they are all jumbled. We can look back and see all the prophecies and put them (more or less) in the right context or sequence. The Jews will indeed repent, God will come and save them.
