#1061 Jeremiah 12 Know This In Light Of That

 

Righteous are you, O Lord,

when I complain to you;

yet I would plead my case before you.

Why does the way of the wicked prosper?

Why do all who are treacherous thrive?

2 You plant them, and they take root;

they grow and produce fruit;

you are near in their mouth

and far from their heart.

3 But you, O Lord, know me;

you see me, and test my heart toward you.

Pull them out like sheep for the slaughter,

and set them apart for the day of slaughter.

4 How long will the land mourn

and the grass of every field wither?

For the evil of those who dwell in it

the beasts and the birds are swept away,

because they said, “He will not see our latter end.”

The Lord Answers Jeremiah

5 “If you have raced with men on foot, and they have wearied you,

how will you compete with horses?

And if in a safe land you are so trusting,

what will you do in the thicket of the Jordan?

6 For even your brothers and the house of your father,

even they have dealt treacherously with you;

they are in full cry after you;

do not believe them,

though they speak friendly words to you.”

7 “I have forsaken my house;

I have abandoned my heritage;

I have given the beloved of my soul

into the hands of her enemies.

8 My heritage has become to me

like a lion in the forest;

she has lifted up her voice against me;

therefore I hate her.

9 Is my heritage to me like a hyena's lair?

Are the birds of prey against her all around?

Go, assemble all the wild beasts;

bring them to devour.

10 Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard;

they have trampled down my portion;

they have made my pleasant portion

a desolate wilderness.

11 They have made it a desolation;

desolate, it mourns to me.

The whole land is made desolate,

but no man lays it to heart.

12 Upon all the bare heights in the desert

destroyers have come,

for the sword of the Lord devours

from one end of the land to the other;

no flesh has peace.

13 They have sown wheat and have reaped thorns;

they have tired themselves out but profit nothing.

They shall be ashamed of their harvests

because of the fierce anger of the Lord.”

14 Thus says the Lord concerning all my evil neighbors who touch the heritage that I have given my people Israel to inherit: “Behold, I will pluck them up from their land, and I will pluck up the house of Judah from among them. 15 And after I have plucked them up, I will again have compassion on them, and I will bring them again each to his heritage and each to his land. 16 And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently 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 in the midst of my people. 17 But if any nation will not listen, then I will utterly pluck it up and destroy it, declares the Lord.” Jeremiah 12 ESV

Jeremiah 12 Jeremiah's Complaint

He is about to plead with God, not to quarrel with him, or find fault with his proceedings, but to enquire into the meaning of them, that he might more and more see reason to be satisfied in them, and might have wherewith to answer both his own and others’ objections against them. The works of the Lord, and the reasons of them, are sought out even of those that have pleasure therein. Ps. 111:2 . We may not strive with our Maker, but we may reason with him. The prophet lays down a truth of unquestionable certainty, which he resolves to abide by in managing this argument: Righteous art thou, O Lord! when I plead with thee. Thus he arms himself against the temptation wherewith he was assaulted, to envy the prosperity of the wicked, before he entered into a parley with it. Note, When we are most in the dark concerning the meaning of God’s dispensations we must still resolve to keep up right thoughts of God, and must be confident of this, that he never did, nor ever will do, the least wrong to any of his creatures; even when his judgments are unsearchable as a great deep, and altogether unaccountable, yet his righteousness is as conspicuous and immovable as the great mountains, Ps. 36:6 . - Matthew Henry

1-4. Righteous are you, O Lord - An attribute of an Eternal Being, and so infinite as well. God is always righteous, and being this way from eternity, the present discomforts of His prophets or others are by no means a sign of God's backsliding. There is a huge help here to Jeremiah in knowing this about God, first that He is holy and then that He is also just, but He is also sovereign. This is the difficult thing for reformers, for they know the doctrinal truths regarding this and all matters, and it is easily applied to the testing and uncertainty of others in these situations, but do you know so great a help in your own time of distress? When you come to that place where you no longer care to say unfair, but instead, "O God, this is Your hand and no other," then you can ask, and He will give thee understanding. 

Why does the way of the wicked prosper - Usually we ask this because we don't know of our own wickedness. I have seen men and women who I thought were unobtainable to the world, they didn't have a price, or so I thought until I saw them bought. Wickedness is actually a thriving political platform dependent upon the depravity of all human beings. Think about it, I want what someone else has, it's not fair that they have it, find others to agree that this is the case, find enough and take it from them by force, "redistribute the wealth." We are quick to make the mistake of thinking that a way is good because we don't come to meet death immediately, and so many others are advertising for it.

…6He will bring forth your righteousness like the dawn, your justice like the noonday sun. 7Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for Him; do not fret when men prosper in their ways, when they carry out wicked schemes. 8Refrain from anger and abandon wrath; do not fret—it can only bring harm.… Psalm 37: 6-8

…8Beloved, do not let this one thing escape your notice: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise as some understand slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance. 10But the Day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar, the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and its works will be laid bare.… 2 Peter 3: 8-10

5-6. How will you compete with horses - You think the injustices, false and unflattering accusations from your family are bad, but this is only the beginning of trouble. This is the test track, the first set of weights, third string and the lowest rated competition, a scrimmage with "friends". 

He did not consider that this was but the beginning of his sorrow, and that he had sorer trials yet before him; and, whereas he should endeavour by a patient bearing of this trouble to prepare himself for greater, by his uneasiness under this he did but unfit himself for what further lay before him: If thou hast run with the footmen and they have wearied thee, and run thee quite out of breath,then how wilt thou contend with horses? If the injuries done him by the men of Anathoth made such an impression upon him, what would he do when the princes and chief priests at Jerusalem should set upon him with their power, as they did afterwards? - Matthew Henry

…21Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rise against their parents and have them put to death. 22 You will be hated by everyone because of My name, but the one who perseveres to the end will be saved. 23When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next. Truly I tell you, you will not reach all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.… Matthew 10: 21-23

Do not believe them, though they speak friendly words to you - It is much easier to get slapped in the face by your opponent, you know you are in a fight straight away. I have sat across the table from flatterers many times, and many times I have watched their smile fade, the color of their face change, and the tone of their voice slip. The compliments eventually give way to passive aggression, jabs that are followed by, "just kidding." Eventually this gives way to them posturing and then sometimes full on nuclear assault, but before all this they will have planted doubt about you, slandered you, made fun of you to others, so even when they are gone you are pulling knives out of your back for years after. Take care around flatterers. I would rather be injured by the honesty of a friend then applauded to death.

7-13. My heritage has become to me like a lion in the forest - Now Jeremiah is in Jerusalem for much of this ministry, and this is in Judah, which was the lion belonging to God. Jesus will set this aright as the Lion of Judah, the Son of David, for now she is a rebellious thing, roaring at her master, biting at the hand that made her. 

…8Judah, your brothers shall praise you. Your hand shall be on the necks of your enemies; your father’s sons shall bow down to you. 9Judah is a young lion— my son, you return from the prey. Like a lion he crouches and lies down; like a lioness, who dares to rouse him? 10The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the staff from between his feet, until Shiloh comes and the allegiance of the nations is his.… Genesis 49: 8-10

…17I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near. A star will come forth from Jacob, and a scepter will arise from Israel. He will crush the skulls of Moab and strike down all the sons of Sheth. 18Edom will become a possession, as will Seir, his enemy; but Israel will perform with valor. 19A ruler will come from Jacob and destroy the survivors of the city.”… Numbers 24: 17-19

Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard - Their own kings, priests and false prophets fleeced the people, but now the land will fall under one tyrant after another. Babylon, Persia then Rome, none of them understanding the jewel this place was to the Lord. They were the wrath of God, but without His compassion, not sharing His heart break. Over and over again He speaks of it's desolation, "but no man lays it to heart." Their interest in her was short lived, a fling, harvest what they didn't plant, strip the forests, take the gold and silver, blaspheme the God they thought belonged solely to this place. 

14-17. I will again have compassion on them - God is letting the surrounding neighbors, the conquerors throughout the ages, know, He is not done with Israel, and He, not they, shall have the final word. God will bring Israel back to their land, and we see a shadow of this in the return after the Babylonian captivity, and then later after the holocaust. 

Even as they taught my people to swear by Baal - To those conquering nations, those misled shepherds, even though you have strived hard at destroying My people by leading them astray, yet I will extend this to you. If these gentile nations would learn the ways that God's people were taught, and follow them, then, "they shall be built up in the midst of My people." They would be grafted in to the vine, adopted into a family where there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave or free, but one in Christ. 

…24Indeed, all the prophets from Samuel on, as many as have spoken, have proclaimed these days. 25And you are sons of the prophets and of the covenant God made with your fathers when He said to Abraham, ‘ Through your offspring all the families of the earth will be blessed.’ 26When God raised up His Servant, He sent Him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways.”… Acts 3: 24-26

1I ask then, did God reject His people? Certainly not! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God did not reject His people, whom He foreknew. Do you not know what the Scripture says about Elijah, how he appealed to God against Israel: 3“Lord, they have killed Your prophets and torn down Your altars. I am the only one left, and they are seeking my life as well”?… Romans 11: 1-3