Jeremiah 12

Jeremiah 12:15-23

15. Ibid. xxv. 4 & xxvi. 33. Gen xixii. xx 7 Chap. xxiii. 14. Prov. v. 21.

16. ¶ Because ye have said, The LORD hath raised us up prophets in Babylon: 16. Know that thus saith the LORD, of the king that siteth upon the throne of David, and of all the people that dwelleth in this city, and of your brethren that are not gone forth with you into captivity; 17. Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Behold, I will send upon them, the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like vile s’ figs, that cannot be eaten, they are so evil. 18. And I will persecute them with the sword, with the famine, and with the pestilence, and will deliver them to be removed to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a curse, and an astonishment, and an hissing, and a reproach among all the nations, whither I have driven them: 19. Because they have not hearkened to my words, saith the LORD, which I sent unto them by my servants the prophets, rising up early, and sending them, but ye would not hear, saith the LORD. 20. ¶ I fear ye therefore the word of the LORD, all ye of the captivity, whom I have sent from Jerusalem to Babylon: 21. Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, of Ahab the son of Kolaiah, and of Zedekiah the son of Maafeiah, which prophely a lie unto you in my name, Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he shall stay them before your eyes. 22. ¶ And of them shall be taken up a curse by all the captivity of Judah, which are in Babylon, saying, The LORD make thee like Zedekiah, and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roiled in the fire. 23. Because they have committed villany in Israel, and have committed adultery with their neighbours wives, and have spoken lying words in my name, which I have not commanded them, even I know, and am a witness, saith the LORD.

Though there were some gracious souls among the captives, yet were there many who paid no regard to the words of Jeremiah, but hearkened to the false prophets, and received them as sent from God; and boasted they needed not look to Judea for advice, when they had prophets of their own in Babylon, on whom they might depend. To these therefore the prophet addresses himself,

1. He warns them of the fasthood of the declarations of their prophets. They flattered the people with a speedy return to Judea; when, so far from it, the residue of those who were left in Jerusalem were doomed to the most grievous devastations by famine, pestilence, and the sword; and the few who survived, should be scattered into all kingdoms, and made the objects of derision, scorn, and deterlation in every place, like vile figs unfit to be eaten, and call as refuse on the dreadful; and this because of their impenitence and rejection of the repeated and earnest warnings which God, by his prophets, had vouchshed them, as had been threatened before, they saw. Note, (1.) They who flatter sinners with hopes contrary to God’s word, are infallibly false prophets. (2.) When men make themselves vile by their sins, God, in just judgment, will make them viter in their sufferings.

2. He denounces judgment on two of the false prophets, Ahab and Zedekiah; whose abominable lives, as well as atrocious lies, called for vengeance. They were horrible adulterers, and yet dared to take God’s name in their lips, and pretend he had sent them, when they knew he never commanded them; and under the cloak of profound hypocrisy practised every villany. But though men might not discover their wickedness, God fear, and will recompense them according to their deeds. Detected probably in some seditious practices, the king of Babylon would seize them, and burn them alive before their eyes for a terror to others. A catastrophe so dreadful, that when any would wish the heaviest curse on their enemies, they should not be able to conceive a worse imprecation, than the Lord make thee like Zedekiah, and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roiled in the fire. Note, (1.) They who live in the practice of lewdness and adultery, and the like villany themselves, must needs bely their pretensions to a mission from God, and will have no boldness to exhake the like practices in others. (2.) Secret as men’s sins may be committed, the day is near when no darkness or shadow of death shall hide the workers of iniquity. (3.) Though wicked prophets and wicked men may escape the judgments of God in this life, there is a fire kindled for them where they must burn eternally, and none shall quench it.

15f. On Genesis. 2 Kings xxv. 12.

24. ¶ That shall thou also speak to Shemaiah the Nehelamite, saying, 25. Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, Because thou hast sent letters in thy name unto all the people that are at Jerusalem, and so * Zephaniah the son of Maafeiah the priest,

and to all the priests, saying, 26. The LORD hath made thee priest in the stead of Jehoiada the priest, that ye should be officers in the house of the LORD, for every man that is * mad, and maketh himself a prophet, that thou shouldst * put him in prison and in the thacke. 27. Now therefore why hast thou not reproved Jeremiah of Anathoth, * which maketh himself a prophet to you? 28. For therefore he sent unto us in Babylon, saying, This captivity is long, * build ye houses and dwell in them, and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them. 29. And Zephaniah the priest read this letter in the ears of Jeremiah the prophet. 30. ¶ Then came the word of the LORD unto Jeremiah, saying, 31. Send to all them of the captivity, saying, Thus saith the LORD, concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite, Because that Shemaiah hath prophesied unto you, and I sent him not, and he caused you to trust in a lie: 32. Therefore thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his seed: he shall not have a man to dwell among this people, * neither shall he behold the good that I will do for my people, saith the LORD, because he hath taught I rebellion against the LORD.

Jeremiah 12:24-32

Whatever effect Jeremiah’s letter had upon the people, we are not to wonder if the false prophets, whose sins he so faithfully rebuked, were exasperated. We have here,

1. The endeavours of all by one of them to get Jeremiah severely punished. His name is Shemaiah, the Nehelamite, or the dreamer; one of those lying prophets who deceived the people, and, in revenge for the reproach contained in Jeremiah’s letter, by the return of the messengers probably who had brought in he writes in his own name, without containing his brethren, to the people in general, and to Zephaniah in particular, who seems to have been in some chief Bation in the temple, well knowing that the church rulers bore no good will to the reforming prophets. He suggests to him the necessity of exerting the authority with which he was unveiled. The Lord hath made thee priest, instead of Jehoiada the priest. Either he would infatuate, that he was, in zeal for God’s glory, such another; or rather Jehoiada might be another name of Seriaah the high priest, whose sagan or deputy he might be, or in some other chief office in the temple, see chap. iii. 24. He therefore, with the priests his brethren, should take cognizance of every enthusiastic fellow, who is mad, and maketh himself a prophet. Such ill names do God’s faithful ministers often bear, and to such incident reproaches are they exposed, as if intruders into the sacred service, disturbed in mind, or under diabolical profession. That thou shouldst put him in prison, and in the thacke, both to expose and punish such delinquents, of which number he assures Jeremiah to be, and blames Zephaniah for not proceeding against him as a false prophet, v. 27: the proof of which he supposes would be no longer doubted, when he repeated but one line of Jeremiah’s letter, that This captivity is long, and that instead of hoping for a speedy restoration, the captives should settle themselves peaceably in Babylon, v. 28. Also, (1.) They who will be faithful to men’s souls, must expect often to be treated as deceivers or madness. (2.) Church power hath been often employed in tormenting her best friends. (3.) The accusations generally brought against the ministers of zeal are by their adversaries looked upon to carry evidence uncontrollable of their enthusiasm and delusion; yet when their words and preaching are calmly considered and examined, they contain nothing but the true sayings of God.

2. Shemaiah’s doom is read. Zephaniah read the letter in the ears of Jeremiah; either privately out of kindness, to warn him of his enemies; for when known they are more easily guarded against; or to acquaint him with the charge before he proceeded to judgment upon the case. And God gives Jeremiah an answer, which he is commanded to send to all those of the captivity, that they might be warned against the impostor, and mark his punishment for daring to pretend a divine mission, and teaching rebellion against the Lord, by dissuading the people from paying regard to his prophets. Shemaiah shall not only perish himself, but his family be utterly cut off, his name be buried in oblivion, and none of his race ever see or taste of the goodness God hath still in store for his people. Note, None perish under such aggravated guilt as those false practices, to whose hands God will require the souls they have deceived and flattered to their ruin.