Jeremiah 12

to disobedient people is to let them have their own way and reap the sad, painful consequences of their sins.

The word backsliding literally means to “turn away” and describes the nation’s repeated apostasy. The book of Judges records at least seven occasions when Israel turned from the Lord and had to be chastened, and there were numerous other times during erately turned from the Lord. The word backslide is the period of the monarchy when the Israelites delibnot used in the New Testament, but the experience is described in other ways: falling from grace (Gal. 5:4), leaving your first love (Rev. 2:4), loving the world (1 John 2:15–17; 2 Tim. 4:10), and walking in darkness (1 John 1:5–10).

A stubborn animal (v. 20). Jeremiah often used animals to picture the behavior of people, and here he compared the Jews to an unruly animal that won’t wear the yoke. One of his recurring phrases is the stubbornness of their evil hearts (3:17; 7:24; 9:14; 11:8; 13:10; 16:12; 18:12; 23: niv). When people, made in the image of God, refuse to obey God, they become like animals (see Ps. 32:9; Prov. 7:21–23; Hos. 4:16).

A degenerate vine (v. 21). Israel as a vine is a familiar image in the Old Testament (Ps. 80:8–16; Isa. 5:1–7; Ezek. 17:1–10; Hos. 10:1–2). God planted His people in the good land He gave them, but they didn’t produce the harvest of righteousness He desired. “So He expected it to bring forth good grapes, but it brought forth wild grapes” (Isa. 5: nkjv). Because they worshipped false gods, they became like their degenerate neighbors. How could dead idols ever produce living fruit in their nation?

A defiled body (v. 22). No amount of good works or religious ceremonies could wash away their sins, because the heart of the nation’s problem was the problem in their hearts. They had sinful hearts because they had stubborn hearts—hearts that refused to listen to God’s servant and obey God’s Word. Josiah’s reformation was only a cosmetic change in the kingdom of Judah; it never reached the hearts of the people so that they repented and sought forgiveness from the Lord.

Jeremiah is preeminently the prophet of the heart, for he used the word over sixty times. “O Jerusalem, wash the evil from your heart and be saved” (Jer. 4: niv). “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (17:9). Judah needed to return to the Lord with their whole heart, for only then could He bless them.

An animal in the desert (vv. 23–25). Even if the people denied that they were defiled, their actions proved otherwise, for they were like animals: a lost camel looking for an oasis; or a donkey in heat, running here and there looking for a mate. As the Jews pursued the false gods of the pagan nations, their shoes wore out and their throats became dry. How much better had they drunk the refreshing water from the river of God!

But they had given themselves so much to sin that they despaired of being saved. “It’s no use!” (2: niv) was their excuse. “It’s hopeless!” They sounded like confirmed alcoholics or compulsive gamblers who can’t break the habit, or like the invalid at the Pool of Bethesda who had been sick for so long that he’d given up hope (John 5:1–9). Jesus Christ, however, specializes in hopeless cases. “He breaks the power of canceled sin/He sets the prisoner free.”

A disgraced thief (vv. 26–28). A thief caught in the act may protest his or her innocence, but the evidence is there for all to see. Any visitor to the kingdom of Judah could see what God saw: people turning their backs on God and talking to deaf idols, but then turning desperately to Jehovah for help when they found themselves in trouble. They were caught red-handed!

Incorrigible children (vv. 29–35). God chastened them many times for their sins, but they refused to change their ways, and then they even blamed God! He brought charges against them (Jer. 2:9), but instead of confessing and repenting, they complained and brought charges against Him! None of His discipline seemed to do any good. “You struck them, but they felt no pain; you crushed them, but they refused correction” (5: niv; see 7:28; 17:23; 32:33; 35:13).

God reminded the people how richly He had blessed them. Yet they rebelled against Him (2:29), forgot Him (v. 32), and lied to Him (vv. 33–35), claiming to be innocent. One of the major themes of the book of Deuteronomy is that the nation should remember the Lord and what He had done for them. Yet the people took their blessings for granted and gave their allegiance to dumb idols. They were so skilled at their harlotry, worshipping false gods, that even the most wicked prostitute could learn new things from them! They exploited the poor and were stained by their blood, and yet they pleaded innocence (see Amos 2:6–8; 5:10–12).

Because the nation at that time was enjoying a measure of political and economic prosperity, they concluded that God’s blessing was proof of their innocence! They didn’t realize that God can bless the wicked (Ps. 37; 73; Matt. 5:45) and that the goodness of God should instead lead them to repentance (Luke 15:17–18; Rom. 2:4–5).

Prisoners of war (vv. 36–37). In its attempt to keep peace with its neighbors, Judah had flitted between Egypt and Assyria (Jer. 2:14–19), both of whom would ultimately disappoint Judah. The description in verse 37 is that of prisoners of war, their hands tied above their heads, being led away captive. Any decisions we make that are contrary to God’s plan will lead to bondage, because only the truth can set us free (John 8:32). The Babylonian army would eventually overrun the land, take Jerusalem and destroy it, and lead the people away into captivity.

Was there any way Judah could escape the coming wrath? Yes, and that was the theme of the next point in Jeremiah’s message.

Repentance: God Pleads for His People to Return

IWhoso who would be a man must be a nonconformist. R. W. Emerson n his poem “The Need of the Hour,” the American poet Edwin Markham wrote, We need the faith to go a path untrod, The power to be alone and vote with God.

That’s what Jeremiah was doing during the reign of King Josiah—he was walking alone and voting with God. King Josiah was excited when the workmen repairing the temple found the book of the law (2 Kings 22), and this discovery led to a movement that temporarily cleansed the kingdom of idolatry (2 Kings 23). This event is commonly called “Josiah’s revival,” but “reformation” might be a more accurate word. Why? Because the people obeyed the law only outwardly; in their hearts they still held on to their idols.

Because Jeremiah understood this and knew the shallowness of the unrepentant human heart, he wasn’t too vocal during Josiah’s reformation. He knew what the people were doing in secret and that they would return to their sins at the first opportunity. In this section of his prophecy, Jeremiah recorded the sins of the nation and pleaded with the people to return to the Lord while there was yet time.

The Lord revealed to His servant a twofold conspiracy in the land: a conspiracy of the men of Judah to disobey the covenant and resist the reforms led by King Josiah (11:9–17), and a conspiracy of the people in Jeremiah’s hometown to kill the prophet and silence God’s Word (11:18—12:6). Both led to a third crisis that threatened Jeremiah’s own faith in the Lord.

The conspiracy against the king (vv. 9–17) was actually a hidden rebellion against God’s covenant and the reforms that Josiah was bringing to the land. Unless the Word of God is obeyed and worked out practically in our lives, God can’t bless us as He desires to do. The people, however, preferred to break the covenant and worship false gods.

But what we worship and the way we worship are not incidentals in life; they’re essentials that determine the character of life itself. “A people’s lives are only as good as their worship,” writes Eugene Peterson. “Worship defines life. If worship is corrupt, life will be corrupt.” God gave His people the covenant so He might bless them and keep the good promises He made to them, but His people preferred to trust the gods of their pagan neighbors.

Worship has consequences, either good or bad, and in the case of Judah, the consequences were bad. The people knew that the curses and judgments were written into the covenant, but they thought God wouldn’t send judgment on His own chosen people. Wasn’t God’s temple in Jerusalem? Wasn’t the ark of the covenant there? And didn’t the priests have the law? Would God allow these sacred things to be destroyed? But God always keeps His promises, whether to bless or to chasten, and the greater the privileges we have from Him, the greater the responsibility we have to Him.

Disaster was coming to Judah, and nothing could change it. The people could cry out to their gods, but their gods wouldn’t answer them. Even if the people turned back to Jehovah and begged for His help, He wouldn’t answer them. Therefore, the Lord commanded Jeremiah a second time not to pray for the people (11:14; see 7:16; 14:11). The people worshipped as many gods as there were cities in Judah, and there were as many altars as streets in Jerusalem. Yet none of these things could rescue the nation from the terrible judgment that was coming.

God presented two pictures of His people that reveal how futile their religious faith really was: a worshipper in the temple (11:15) and a tree in the storm (vv. 17–18). God called the nation “my beloved,” reminding them of their marriage contract and how unfaithful they had been to Him. Their worship in the temple should have been an expression of their true love to Him, but instead it was an exercise in futility. Offering sacrifices could never avert God’s judgment; the people were merely engaging in wickedness (v. 15 niv). When worship becomes wickedness, and people rejoice in sinning, then the light has turned into darkness (Matt. 6:22–24), and there is no hope.

In Scripture, trees sometimes symbolize individuals (Jer. 17:8; Ps. 1:3; 52:8; 92:12; Zech. 4:3) and sometimes nations or kingdoms (Isa. 10:33–34; 18:5; Ezek. 17; 31). Israel is compared to an olive tree in Jeremiah 11:16–17, an image Paul used in Romans 11. The olive tree is prized in the Near East because of its fruit and the useful oil made from it. Judah thought of herself as a “thriving olive tree” (Jer. 11: niv) that would never fall, but God saw a storm coming, and the wind would break the branches and the lightning would set the tree on fire. Jerusalem would be broken down and burned like a useless olive tree.

If the greatest sin is the corruption of the highest good, then Judah was guilty of great sin. Their highest good was to know the true God and worship Him, but they perverted that blessing and worshipped idols. They turned His temple into a den of thieves, persecuted His prophets, rejected His covenant, and disgraced His name. “God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you” (Rom. 2: niv; see Ezek. 36:22). God patiently dealt with His people, seeking to woo them back, but they only hardened their hearts and turned a deaf ear to His warnings.

Before we condemn the people of Judah, however, let’s examine our own hearts and churches. Are there idols in our hearts? Do we give wholehearted devotion to the Lord, or is our devotion divided between Christ and another? When unsaved people visit our worship services, are they impressed with the glory and majesty of God (1 Cor. 14:23–25)? Do the worldly lives and questionable activities of professed believers disgrace God’s name? Remember, God’s “last word” to the church isn’t the Great Commission; it’s “Repent, or else!” (Rev. 2—3).

The conspiracy against Jeremiah (11:18–23) grew out of the people’s rejection of God’s Word, for if they had accepted the Word of God, they would have honored His prophet and listened to what he had to say. You would think that the priests in Anathoth would have had more discernment than to listen to the false prophets, but holding a religious office is no guarantee that people possess spiritual wisdom.

The men of Anathoth, Jeremiah’s hometown, plotted to kill him because his message convicted them. Rather than repent, they decided to destroy the messenger. But they had a second reason: as loyal Jews, they felt that his prophecies were harmful to the welfare of the nation. Jeremiah preached impending judgment from Babylon, while the false prophets were declaring messages of peace (Jer. 6:14; 8:11). Jeremiah insisted that the people obey the law and bring their sacrifices to the temple and not to the local shrines (high places), some of which were dedicated to idols, and the priests didn’t like that. Jeremiah was proBabylon, while the rulers were pro-Egypt. In other words, Jeremiah was out of step with his times, and because he was decisive, he had to walk alone and “vote with God.”

Until God warned him about it, Jeremiah knew nothing about the plot against his life, and when he heard the news, he felt like a helpless lamb being led to the slaughter (11:19; see Isa. 53:7). All he could do was commit himself and his enemies to the Lord and trust God to work. This is the first of several occasions in his life when Jeremiah privately poured out his heart to the Lord and asked Him to fight his battles and help him with his depression and fears (Jer. 11:19–20; 12:1–4; 15:10–17; 17:12–18; 18:20–23; 20:7–18). Publicly, Jeremiah was bold before people, but privately he was broken before God. God assured His servant that his enemies would be dealt with when the day of disaster came and the Babylonians captured Jerusalem.

A theological crisis followed (12:1–6). No sooner did God take care of the two conspiracies than Jeremiah found himself struggling with a theological crisis (12:1–6). “In the commencement of the spiritual life,” wrote the French mystic Madame Guyon, “our hardest task is to bear with our neighbor; in its progress, with ourselves; and in its end, with God.” Jeremiah couldn’t understand why a holy God would permit the false prophets and the unfaithful priests to prosper in their ministries while he, a faithful servant of God, was treated like a sacrificial lamb.

“Why does the way of the wicked prosper?” (v. 1 niv) is a question that was asked frequently in Scripture, and it’s being asked today. Job wrestled with it (Job 12; 21); the psalmists tried to understand it (Ps. 37; 49; 73); and other prophets besides Jeremiah grappled with the problem (Hab. 1; Mal. 2:17; 3:15). Jewish theologians, pointing to the covenants, taught that God blesses those who obey and judges those who disobey, but the situation in real life seemed just the opposite! How could a holy God of love allow such a thing to happen?

Jeremiah, however, was seeking more than answers to questions; he was also concerned for the welfare of his people. He saw the land distressed because of the sins of the leaders, with many innocent people suffering. God had sent drought to the nation, which was one of the covenant disciplines (Deut. 28:15–24), and the vegetation was withering and the animal life dying. But the evil leaders who were to blame for the drought were not only surviving but also were prospering from the losses of others.

This didn’t seem fair, and Jeremiah complained to the Lord. “Why do all the faithless live at ease?” (Jer. 12: niv). “How long will the land lie parched?” (v. 4). “Why?” and “How long?” are questions that are easy to ask but difficult to answer.

Jeremiah’s suggested solution was that God judge the wicked and drag them away like cattle to be slaughtered (v. 3). After all, the men of Anathoth were ready to kill him like a sacrificial lamb (11:19). So why shouldn’t they receive from God the same fate they had planned for him?

God’s reply to Jeremiah, however, wasn’t what he expected (12:5–6). God’s focus was not on the wicked; it was on His servant Jeremiah. As most of us do when we’re suffering, Jeremiah was asking, “How can I get out of this?” But he should have been asking, “What can I get out of this?” God’s servants don’t live by explanations; they live by promises. Understanding explanations may satisfy our curiosity and make us smarter people, but laying hold of God’s promises will build our character and make us better servants.

God’s reply revealed three important truths to Jeremiah. First, the life of godly service isn’t easy; it’s like running a race. (Paul used a similar figure in Phil. 3:12–14.) Had he remained a priest, Jeremiah probably would have had a comfortable and secure life, but the life of a prophet was just the opposite. He was like a man running a race and having a hard time keeping up.

Second, the life of service becomes harder, not easier. Jeremiah had been running with the foot soldiers and had kept up with them, but now he’d be racing with the horses. In spite of his trials, he’d been living in a land of peace. Now, however, he’d be tackling the thick jungles of the Jordan River, where the wild beasts prowled. His heart had been broken because of the attacks of outsiders, but now his own family would start opposing him.

The third truth grows out of the other two: the life of service gets better as we grow more mature. Each new challenge (horses, jungles, opposition of relatives) helped Jeremiah develop his faith and grow in his ministry skills. The easy life is ultimately the hard life, because the easy life stifles maturity, but the difficult life challenges us to develop our “spiritual muscles” and accomplish more for the Lord. Phillips Brooks said the purpose of life is the building of character through truth, and you don’t build character by being a spectator. You have to run with endurance the race God sets before you and do it on God’s terms (Heb. 12:1–3).

“It was the answer Jeremiah needed,” said Scottish preacher Hugh Black. “He needed to be braced, not pampered.” One of my relatives, when a boy, deliberately failed third grade so he wouldn’t have to go into fourth grade and write with ink! Today, our grandchildren are learning to use simple computer programs in grade school so they’ll be prepared to use more difficult programs in high school and college. There’s no growth without challenge, and there’s no challenge without change. As they get older, many people resist change, forgetting that without the challenge of change, they’re in danger of deteriorating physically, mentally, and spiritually. God wanted Jeremiah to grow, and He also wants us to grow.

Gilbert K. Chesterton put it this way: “The fatal metaphor of progress, which means leaving things behind us, has utterly obscured the real idea of growth, which means leaving things inside us.” God was concerned about the development within the prophet, not just the difficulties around him. God could handle the problem people in Judah, but God couldn’t force His servant to grow. Only Jeremiah could make that choice by staying in the race, accepting new challenges, and thereby maturing in the Lord.

God used what Jeremiah said and did to speak to the people of Judah and warn them of the terrible judgment that was coming. Comfortable in their false confidence and encouraged by the false prophets, the leaders and people of Judah were living in a fool’s paradise, certain that nothing terrible could happen to either the Holy City or the temple. Note the eight vivid images that depict the judgment that was about to fall.

The rejected inheritance (vv. 7–17). The people of Israel were God’s special inheritance (Ex. 19:5–6; Deut. 4:20; 32:9), and the land of Canaan was their inheritance from Him (Ex. 15:17; Ps. 78:55). The land belonged to the Lord and was only loaned to the Jews for them to use (Lev. 25:23). The people were to obey the laws that protected the land from abuse and defilement, but they disobeyed those laws and defiled their inheritance (Lev. 18:25, 27; Deut. 21:23). God disciplined them by taking them out of the Promised Land and deporting them to Babylon. This gave the land of Israel opportunity to be healed (Lev. 26:34–43; 2 Chron. 36:21; Jer. 25:9–12).

You can’t miss the anguish of God’s heart as He spoke concerning His beloved people. Instead of loving Him, they were roaring at Him like an angry lion, and He couldn’t express His love to them as He yearned to do. Judah’s enemies were like birds of prey and wild beasts, just waiting to attack.

The leaders of those nations (“shepherds,” “pastors”) and their armies would turn the beautiful vineyard into a wasteland, and the Jewish people would be uprooted from their inheritance. The people of the neighboring nations—Syria, Moab, and Ammon— who had attacked Judah in the past would also be punished by Babylon, and some of them would also be taken captive. The Lord, however, added a word of hope: “I will return, and have compassion on them, and will bring them again, every man to his heritage, and every man to his land” (Jer. 12:15). The people would be in captivity for seventy years (25:11–12; 29:10) and then be permitted to return to their land and restore their temple and nation. God would invite the people of the other nations to worship Him—the true and living God—and they would no longer teach His people how to worship false gods.

The marred waistcloth (13:1–11). This was one of Jeremiah’s “action sermons.” The waistcloth was a thigh-length undergarment worn next to the skin. God had brought the nation close to Himself, but they had defiled themselves with idols and become “good for nothing.” When the people saw Jeremiah bury his new garment under a rock in the muddy river, they knew it would ruin the garment, but they didn’t realize they were passing judgment on themselves. God would one day take Judah to Babylon, and there He would humble the Judahites and cure them of their idolatry. The city and temple that they were proud of would be ruined, just as the prophet’s garment had been ruined.

But something else was involved in this “action sermon.” For years, the leaders of Judah had turned to Egypt, Assyria, and Babylon for “help,” instead of turning to the Lord, and this help had only defiled them and made them “good for nothing” in God’s sight. Jeremiah was showing them that their flirting with the pagan nations was only alienating them further from the Lord and that it would ultimately end in national ruin.

The staggering drunkards (13:12–14). Jeremiah used a familiar proverb as his text: “Every [wineskin] shall be filled with wine” (13:12). The proverb expresses the assurance that there will be peace and prosperity for the nation, not unlike the American proverb, “A chicken in every pot.” With a broken heart, the prophet saw the leaders getting drunk when they should have been soberly seeking the Lord (see Isa. 28:1–8), and he knew that a cup of wrath was about to be poured out on the land (Jer. 25:15ff.). The leaders and the people of Jerusalem were filling their jars with wine, preparing for a party, but God would fill them with a drunkenness that would lead to shameful defeat and painful destruction. They would crash into one another and destroy one another like clay pots smashed in a siege. Paul used the image of drunkenness to admonish the church to be ready for the Lord’s return (1 Thess. 5:1–11).

The stumbling traveler (13:15–16). When Jeremiah called to the people, “Hear ye and give ear [pay attention]” (Jer. 13:15), he was giving them opportunity to repent and turn to the Lord. He compared them to a traveler on an unfamiliar and dangerous mountain trail, without a map and without light, hoping for the dawn. Instead of the light dawning, however, the darkness only deepens. In centuries past, God had led His people by pillars of cloud and fire. Now He wanted to lead them through the words of His prophet, but the people wouldn’t follow. If we reject God’s light, nothing remains but darkness. The leaders were too proud to admit they were lost, and they wouldn’t ask for directions.

The captive flock (13:17–20). Jeremiah wept as he saw the Lord’s flock being taken captive, defenseless sheep heading for the slaughter. What caused this great tragedy? The shepherds (rulers of Judah) selfishly exploited the sheep and refused to obey the Word of the Lord (23:1ff.). Jeremiah spoke to King Jehoiachin and Nehushta, the queen mother (2 Kings 24:8–20), and admonished them to repent and humble themselves, but they refused to listen. Babylon would swoop down from the north and the nation would be ruined. “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall” (Prov. 16: niv).

The woman in travail (13:21). This is a familiar biblical image of suffering, and it’s usually associated with judgment (Jer. 4:31; 6:24; 22:23; 30:6; 49:24; 50:43; 1 Thess. 5:3). The message of the verse is “The people you sought as allies will come and be your masters. Then what will you say? You’ll be so gripped with pain that you won’t be able to say anything.” Had they looked to Jehovah as their ally, He wouldn’t have failed them; but they trusted Babylon, and Babylon turned out to be their enemy.

The disgraced prostitute (vv. 22–23, 26–27). According to the law of Moses, prostitution was not permitted in the land (Lev. 19:29; 21:7, 14), and public exposure sometimes disgraced the prostitutes. If a prostitute discovers herself stripped, shamed, and abused, why should she be surprised? That’s what she asked for! The people of Judah prostituted themselves to heathen idols and turned to godless nations for help. Now they were asking, “Why have all of these things happened to us?” People may live as though sin has no consequences, but those consequences will come just the same. Just as Ethiopians can’t change the color of their skin or the leopard remove its spots, so the wicked nation can’t naturally do anything good. These people are too accustomed to committing evil. Only God can change the human heart.

The blown chaff (13:24–25). God compared the wicked nation to chaff that will be blown away (Ps. 1:4; see Matt. 3:12). Chaff is the useless by-product of the harvesting process. The workers throw the grain into the air, and the desert wind blows the chaff away. Sin had so cheapened the kingdom of Judah that the people were worthless, fit only to be blown away. They forgot their Lord, believed lies, and would not repent of their sins.

How patient the Lord was with His people, and how patient His servant was to minister to them! Jeremiah was willing to walk alone and “vote with God” so his people might have an opportunity to be saved, but they spurned his message.

God is still “longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). Unlike the people of Judah, let us listen to His Word and obey Him; for only then can we escape His discipline and enjoy His blessings.