Jeremiah 12
OGCREVIEW OF CHAPTER NINE
I. Facts to Master
The metaphorical description of Egyptian bondage (Jeremiah 11:4).
The basic stipulation of the Sinai covenant (Jeremiah 11:4; Jeremiah 11:7)
The number of the gods of Judah and Jerusalem (Jeremiah 11:13).
A striking metaphor used to describe the apostate nation (Jeremiah 11:16-17).
The Canaanite deity so popular in Judah (Jeremiah 11:13; Jeremiah 11:17).
Those who were plotting against Jeremiah (Jeremiah 11:18-21; Jeremiah 12:6).
The question which Jeremiah raises before God (Jeremiah 12:1-2).
Others who will taste of the judgment of God (Jeremiah 12:14).
That which Jeremiah is told to purchase and wear (Jeremiah 13:1).
Place to which Jeremiah was to take and hide the girdle (Jeremiah 13:4).
That with which God would fill the inhabitants of the land (Jeremiah 13:13).
Can the Ethiopian change his ____________ or the leopard his ___________ (Jeremiah 13:23)?
II. Question to Ponder
What is the background of Jer 11:1-17? To what covenant does Jeremiah refer?
What is a covenant? What kind of covenants existed in the ancient world?
Does God hear all prayers? See Jeremiah 11:11. Why are prayers sometimes unanswered? What does God think of fire escape religion?
Should we ever stop praying for lost souls? See Jeremiah 11:14
How did Jeremiah come to know of the plot of the men of Anathoth against him? See Jeremiah 11:18
Does the Bible answer the question which Jeremiah raises in Jeremiah 12:1? How does God answer him? Jeremiah 12:5-6
What is meant by the expression he shall not see our latter end? Jeremiah 12:4
Is it right for Jeremiah to pray for the destruction of his enemies? See Jeremiah 12:3 b
In what sense could Judah be referred to as My house i.e., the house of God? Jeremiah 12:7
What is the significance of the speckled bird of prey figure? Jeremiah 12:9
How does Jeremiah 12:13 show the blight of sin in the life of a nation?
Who were some of the evil neighbors against whom Jeremiah uttered prophecies? Jeremiah 12:14 See Chapter s 47-49
How can God use foreign nations to punish Israel and then punish those nations for having attacked His people? See Jeremiah 12:14
What is meant by the phrase sware by My name? What glorious future does Jeremiah see for Gentiles who are converted? Jeremiah 12:15-16
What did the new girdle which Jeremiah wore symbolize? What does the ragged girdle symbolize? Jeremiah 13:1-11
What is the background of the statement made by Jeremiah in Jeremiah 13:12? How does his audience react? How does Jeremiah use this simple truism as a point of departure for a solemn message?
Can a sinner ever drift beyond the limits of God’s compassion and pity? See Jeremiah 13:14
What is the date and background of Jer 13:18-27? Who is the queen-mother mentioned here?
On the basis of Jer 13:23 what would you say about Jeremiah’s doctrine of sin?
Jeremiah 12:1-4
C. The Prophet’s Complaint Jeremiah 12:1-4
TRANSLATION
(1) Righteous are you, O LORD, when I present my case unto You; yet I will speak to You with regard to matters of judgment. Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do those who practice treachery live peacefully? (2) You have planted them, yea they have taken root; they grow, yea they produce fruit. Near are You in their mouth but far from their hearts. (3) And as for You, O LORD, You know me, You see me and You have tested my heart in respect to Yourself. Drag them away as sheep to the slaughter and set them apart for the day of slaying. (4) How long shall the land mourn and the vegetation of the whole field wither? Because of the wickedness of those who dwell in it, the cattle and the birds are snatched away, because they say, He shall not see our end.
COMMENTS
Some time has elapsed since Jeremiah has committed his case confidently to God (Jeremiah 11:20). The verdict had been rendered in favor of the prophet (Jeremiah 11:22-23) but the sentence had been delayed. The enemies of the prophet continue to prosper and live a life of ease while the circumstances of the prophet become ever more difficult. Jeremiah reopens his case in the heavenly courtroom. He admits that God is just and righteous yet he is perplexed and wishes to inquire concerning His judgments, i.e., His dealings with the sons of men. Even those who have received divine revelation and who have experienced the most intimate communion with the Almighty are not immune from moments of doubt and spiritual distress. And so the prophet asks: Why do wicked men like those in Anathoth prosper? Why do men who commit treacherous deeds (lit., treacherous committees of treachery) live in peace? (Jeremiah 12:1). Jeremiah can only conclude that they prosper because God blesses them. God has planted them and they have taken root; they continue to grow (Hebrew imperfect) ever expanding into new areas of influence. They have produced fruit, i.e., their plans and schemes seem to be successful. While it is true that these men are outwardly pious, God is far distant from their hearts (Jeremiah 12:2).
Jeremiah not only disparages his foes as he stands before the bar of divine justice, he also defends himself. God knows his prophet; He observes him continuously (Hebrew imperfect). God knows that Jeremiah is not hypocritical when he speaks for and about God. How then can God allow His faithful servant to continue to be harassed by his adversaries? There is no doubt in the mind of the prophet what he would do if he were the judge: Drag them away as sheep to the slaughter! he cries (Jeremiah 12:3). Is Jeremiah here simply giving vent to the spirit of retaliation and vengeance? Is it crimes committed against Jeremiah personally that produce this imprecation? It should be noted that God has already pronounced sentence against these wicked men (Jeremiah 11:22-23). Jeremiah then is simply asking that the sentence be executed speedily. Nature itselfthe land, the vegetation, the cattle and the birdssuffer because of the wicked inhabitants of the land. The reference here is probably to some disciplinary drought which God has sent upon the land in order to cause the people to realize the folly of sin and turn from it. But if the land suffers, so do the few righteous ones who still live in it. As Jeremiah views the matter this is unjust. Furthermore the more vocal opposition had been taunting God’s messenger by saying he shall not see our end (Jeremiah 12:4). They are confident that they will outlive Jeremiah. The predictions of this prophet of doom are mere delusions. Since Jeremiah was but a mouthpiece for God these ungodly men were in reality mocking the message of the Lord. Such a state of affairs calls for an immediate execution of the sentence of judgment against them. With these words Jeremiah has presented his case once again before God.
Jeremiah 12:5-6
D. The Answer of God Jeremiah 12:5-6
TRANSLATION
(5) If with foot racers You have run and they have made you weary, then how shall you hotly contend (in a race) with horses? And if you are trusting in a peaceful land then what will you do in the pride of Jordan? (6) For even your brothers and the house of your father, even they have dealt treacherously against you; even they have cried aloud after you. Do not trust them when they speak good words to you.
COMMENTS
In Jeremiah 12:5-6 God replies to His prophet but not in the way which Jeremiah anticipated. God does not explain the delay in the execution of the sentence against the ungodly nor does He promise any cessation of hostilities against His servant. The divine reply is designed to correct the impatience of the prophet. If you have become weary running with foot racers how will you be able to compete against horses? God does not deny that Jeremiah has been having a time of it. Things have been bad; but they are going to get worse. If Jeremiah is not able to triumphantly face the relatively minor hostility of the present, how will he endure the severe trials of the future? Jeremiah is currently passing through a land of peace i.e., a land in which one is safe and secure; but shortly he will be forced to fight his way through the tangled brush of the pride of Jordan. The pride of Jordan is that ribbon of lush vegetation which grows on either side of the twisting, winding Jordan river. This area was infested with vicious wild animals and dangerous outlaws. Days are coming in comparison with which the present troubles of the prophet will appear as days of peace. If Jeremiah was counting on, hoping for, confidently expecting to. traverse a peaceful and safe land what would he do when faced with the dangers of the pride of Jordan? As one example of what lay ahead for the prophet, God reveals to him that even the members of his own family cannot be trusted. These relatives have plotted against him. They have cried aloud after Jeremiah as one cries after a criminal who is being hunted down. Even though they speak kind words to the prophet he should not be deceived. Such outward manifestations of cordiality are but a cloak for their nefarious schemes.
Jeremiah 12:7-13
IV. THE PAIN OF GOD Jeremiah 12:7-13
TRANSLATION
(7) I have forsaken My house, I have left My inheritance; I have given the beloved of My soul into the hands of her enemies. (8) My inheritance has become to Me like a lion in the woods; she has raised against Me her voice; therefore I hated her. (9) Has My inheritance become to Me a many-colored bird of prey? Are birds of prey gathered against her? Go, gather all the beasts of the field, bring them to devour. Many shepherds have destroyed My vineyard; they have trodden underfoot My portion. They have made My pleasant portion a desolate wilderness. (11) He has made it a desolation, it mourns before Me being desolate; desolate is all the land, for there were none who took it to heart. (12) Upon all the bare heights in the wilderness the spoilers have come; for the LORD has a sword which devours from one end of the land unto the other: so there is no safety for anyone. (13) They have sown wheat and have reaped thorns; they pained themselves, they have not profited. Be ashamed because of your increases, because of the fierce anger of the LORD.
COMMENTS
Most commentators have failed to note how Jeremiah 12:7-13 is related to its context. The passage is usually wrenched from its connection with the preceding prayer and treated as a separate unit from a much later period of the prophet’s ministry. Cheyne, for example, feels that the passage is descriptive and not predictive and assigns it to the period of the guerrilla warfare against Jerusalem (2 Kings 24:1-2). The present writer believes that Jeremiah 12:7-13 is part of God’s answer to the prayer of Jeremiah and therefore is to be assigned to the early years of Jehoiakim. This, of course, means that the passage is predictive. God is describing the destruction and desolation which will shortly befall His people. The future is known to God and therefore He can describe in the past tense what to man is yet future.
One of the basic ways in which God deals with self-pity in the Scriptures is to place His heaviness of heart in contrast to the sometimes petty and inappropriate depression of His servants. By learning that God suffers because of the sin and consequent destruction of His people, the man of God comes to realize that the persecution and trial which he experiences is really nothing compared to what God must bear. In Jeremiah 12:7-13 one can feel the pain of God as He speaks of the ruination of My house, My inheritance, My pleasant portion, and the beloved of My soul. Jeremiah, wallowing in self-pity because his family and friends were opposing him, needed to learn how much God suffers when His beloved people rise up in open rebellion against Him. Jeremiah, who had called for the hasty execution of divine judgment upon his enemies, needed to realize how much it grieves God to pour out His wrath. Brash young preachers and discouraged old saints would do well to meditate long on this paragraph.
Only with great reluctance did God give His beloved nation over into the hands of their enemies (Jeremiah 12:7). As the lion in the woods challenges those who come near, so Judah has raised up her voice in open defiance against God. God therefore hates Judah, i.e., He treats Judah as though she were an object of His hatred. To interpret hate here in the absolute sense would be to contradict what has just been said, viz., that Judah is the beloved of God (Jeremiah 12:7). I hate her is the strongest possible way of saying that God withdrew His love for Judah when He gave her into the power of her enemies. In astonishment God asks if Judah has become in respect to Him a many-colored bird of prey. Other birds of prey would gather about such a queer looking bird and pluck it to pieces. All the scavenger beasts of the field are bidden to come and join in devouring the strange looking bird (Jeremiah 12:9). In Isaiah 56:9 the wild beasts are symbolic of the heathen powers employed by God to chastise His people (cf. Ezekiel 34:5).
One can sense the pathos as God continues to describe what has and will befall the nation of Judah. Human shepherds, political rulers both foreign and native, have destroyed the vineyard of the Lord, Israel and Judah. By their actions they have made the pleasant portion of God, the land of Judah, a desolate wilderness (Jeremiah 12:10). Because he, i.e., the enemy, has made the land a desolation, the land mourns, unable to produce its fruit. The land mourns before Me, literally, upon me. Freedman suggests that this phrase be rendered to My grief.[195] God is grieved over the condition of His land. Yet none of the leaders of the nation are concerned about the impending disaster for there were none who took it to heart (Jeremiah 12:11). Even in the most remote areas of the land the sword of divine judgment wielded by the enemy will do its deadly work. No one is safe from the spoiler (Jeremiah 12:12). Why will all of this tragedy befall Judah? By use of a common proverb Jeremiah gives the answer: They have sown wheat, but they have reaped thorns. The leaders of Judah have plotted, schemed, planned, worked and invested in formulating what they believed to be an adequate national policy. Unfortunately they had planted their wheat without divine direction and consequently their harvest would be one of thorns, i.e., humiliation, ruin, destruction and death. Of such a harvest they would be ashamed for it clearly indicates that they are under the wrath of God (Jeremiah 12:13).
[195] Freedman, op cit., p. 90.
Jeremiah 12:14-17
V. THE PREDICTION CONCERNING THE NATIONS Jeremiah 12:14-17
TRANSLATION
(14) Thus says the LORD concerning all my wicked neighbors who lay their hands on the inheritance which I caused My people Israel to inherit: Behold, I am about to pluck them up from their land, and the house of Judah I will uproot from their midst. (15) And it shall come to pass after I have plucked them up I shall again have compassion upon them and I shall cause them to return each one to his in heritance and each man to his land. (16) And it shall come to pass if they completely learn the ways of My people to swear by My name, as the Lord lives, even as they taught My people to swear by Baal, then they shall be built up the midst of My people. (17) But if they do not hear, then I will uproot that nation, uprooting and destroying (oracle of the LORD).
COMMENTS
At the time of his call Jeremiah had been appointed a prophet to the nations. He was commissioned through his preaching to pluck up and. to build (Jeremiah 1:10). To Jeremiah God was no respecter of persons, He would bring destruction on Judah as well as on the foreign nations; he would show compassion to the foreign nations as well as to Judah, In the present passage God speaks of the deportation (Jeremiah 12:14) and restoration of the foreign nations (Jeremiah 12:15). He then sets forth the alternative of conversion or condemnation which these nations will face (Jeremiah 12:16-17). The main thrust of this brief paragraph is that one day in the future foreign peoples will have the opportunity of being incorporated into the Covenant people.
What is the relationship of Jer 12:14-17 to its context? Once again most commentators see no connection whatsoever between these words about foreign nations and what precedes. However it would seem that Jeremiah 12:14-17 is in fact a continuation of God’s answer to the prayer of Jeremiah. The prophet had called for God’s wrath to be poured out on the wicked (Jeremiah 12:1-4). God had revealed that He would punish the wicked, but only with much personal sadness and suffering (Jeremiah 12:7-13). In Jeremiah 12:14-17 God goes a step further. Jeremiah was greatly concerned about justice and judgment. God wants him to see the ultimate objective of that judgment. God wants Jeremiah to realize that judgment is not an end in itself but a means to an end. The judgment will cleanse the nation of Judah. They will again be the people of God. Even the heathen, the most wicked, will have an opportunity to become part of the community of faith. Jeremiah wants the wicked destroyed immediately, permanently; God wants them cleansed, restored, redeemed. Thus in response to Jeremiah’s bitter prayer of complaint the prophet came to learn much of God’s judgment, the pain of it and the purpose of it.
God’s neighbors who border on the land of Judah will not escape divine judgment. Judah’s land belongs to God and therefore Judah’s neighbors are God’s neighbors. The various states of Syria-PalestineEdom, Moab, Philistia and the resttime and again had made encroachments upon the territory of God. For this they will be plucked up i.e., deported, carried away into captivity. Judah too shall experience this deportation at the hands of the Babylonian armies (Jeremiah 12:14). But God’s purpose in bringing this judgment upon both Judah and the nations is that they might experience His salvation. After the judgment God will have compassion upon these displaced peoples and will restore them to their native lands. Specific prophecies of the restoration of Moab and Ammon are found in Jeremiah 48:47 and Jeremiah 49:6. When Cyrus the Great conquered Babylon in 539 B.C. it was his policy to allow all the captive peoples to return to their native lands. The Jews were just one of the beneficiaries of his generosity (cf. Ezra 1:2-4). A great deal is said today about the restoration of Israel to the Holy Land. Here neighboring nations are included in a restoration passage.
Not only does the Lord promise the nations restoration, but He also holds out to them the prospects of conversion. If these heathen people completely and thoroughly learn the right ways of God’s people, if they are truly converted to the worship of the living God, they will be recognized and blessed by Him. They will dwell in the midst of My people for by their conversion they actually become part of the people of God. One specific criteria of their conversion is named: They must swear by the name of the Lord. To use the name of a deity in an oath implied recognition of the claims of that deity. These heathen must be as zealous for the claims of the Lord as they once were for their god Baal (Jeremiah 12:16). On the other hand, if these nations refuse to hear, i.e., obey the Lord then God will uproot and continually bring destruction upon them (Jeremiah 12:17).