CHAPTER 12

(608 B.C.)

JEREMIAHS PRAYER AND COMPLAINT

¹Righteous are You, O LORD, when I plead with You: yet let me talk with You of Your Judgments: Wherefore does the way of the wicked prosper? wherefore are all they happy who deal very treacherously? (The words, Righteous are You, O LORD, present the answer of Jeremiah, as he hastens to vindicate God, even in the midst of his sorrows and dangers. The Lord judged righteously and was Himself Righteous, yet the Prophet desired to reason with the Lord of His Action in permitting evil, or so it seemed, to prosper.

Such is the question of many!

The questions of Jeremiah are proof that those who are the recipients of special Divine Revelations and who are in close communion with the Lord are not precluded from having doubting thoughts and spiritual distress.)

²You have planted them, yes, they have taken root: they grow, yes, they bring forth fruit: You are near in their mouth, and far from their reins. (You have planted them, refers to 11:17. Jeremiah reasons that if God planted them and, in fact, Israel took root and became a great nation, i.e., brought forth fruit, why did they not glorify Him instead of being doers of evil? Instead they brought forth evil fruit [Mat. 7:17]. The answer is found in that last phrase. The words, You are near in their mouth, and far from their reins, refer to the Priests who mouth the services, but their hearts were bound to their idols and to their sins.)

³But You, O LORD, know me: You have seen me, and tried my heart toward You: pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and prepare them for the day of slaughter. (In this Scripture, we are delving into the innermost chamber of the heart of Jeremiah. For such, the Lord will carefully and patiently rebuke him.)

⁴How long shall the land mourn, and the herbs of every field wither, for the wickedness of them who dwell therein? the beasts are consumed, and the birds; because they said, He shall not see our last end. (He shall not see our last end, refers to the Prophets enemies, who were confident of a successful future for themselves and for Jerusalem, but were determined that Jeremiah should not see their good fortune, nor share in it, for they determined to kill him.

In this Passage, we have the prophetic doctrine that because of the wickedness of them who dwell therein, the land mourns, the crops do not grow as they should, and the beasts and birds suffer! In this one Verse is easily seen the cause of all the problems which plague humanity. It is wickedness.)

GODS ANSWER TO JEREMIAH

⁵If you have run with the footmen, and they have wearied you, then how can you contend with horses? and if in the land of peace, wherein you trusted, they wearied you, then how will you do in the swelling of Jordan? (Jeremiah has been speaking in the first four Verses, with the Lord now speaking in the remainder. Now comes the Lords gentle rebuke to the Prophet. The footmen represent the men of Anathoth; the horsemen, the rulers of Jerusalem, whose hatred and bloodthirst would be far worse than Anathoths. The land of peace, in which he thought himself secure, was his own village; the swelling of Jordan, the wild fury that he would have to face in the capital city.)

⁶For even your brethren, and the house of your father, even they have dealt treacherously with you; yes, they have called a multitude after you: believe them not, though they speak fair words unto you. (Though they speak fair words unto you, seems to imply that the Lord is imparting information to Jeremiah that he has not previously had. He now informs him that in the plot to take his life, his own brethren, and even the house of his father, which would imply his nearest of kin, are involved. His family urges those who are opposed to Jeremiah to murder him, but to his face they spoke fair words. This Divine Revelation to him of the treachery of his relatives must have deeply pained his heart.

Thus, the Prophet was trained to feel how bitter was the pain that hurt the Heart of God when sinful men, in response to the Messiahs love, met Him with hatred and murder.)

⁷I have forsaken My House, I have left My Heritage; I have given the dearly beloved of My Soul into the hand of her enemies. (Now the Lord speaks His Heart, as Jeremiah has spoken his. These Verses, beginning with the Seventh Verse on to the end of the Chapter, apply to Judah and Jerusalem and are, therefore, to be distinguished from those of the previous section, which relate solely to Anathoth.

This Verse even supplies more answers to Verse 1. When God, for reasons satisfactory to Himself, withdraws from active interference in the affairs of men and leaves them to their own Hell-bent desire, the result is oppression of the weak by the strong and the robbery of the poor by the rich. Evil and violent men prosper, and good men suffer.)

⁸My Heritage is unto Me as a lion in the forest; it cries out against Me: therefore have I hated it. (So degraded and hostile had idolatry made Judah that they are compared in Verses 8 and 9 to an angry lion and a fierce vulture. Such is mans moral response to Gods wondrous Love!

The word hated in this Verse means less cared for or less favored. The Hebrew verb is not the same as the verb which means to hate with malice, but signifies to love less. For example, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated, i.e., preferred less.)

⁹My Heritage is unto Me as a speckled bird, the birds round about are against her; come you, assemble all the beasts of the field, come to devour. (My Heritage is unto Me as a speckled bird, refers to a bird of beautiful bright plumage which arouses the animosity of its less brilliant contemporaries, who gather around to pull it to pieces. The prosperity of Judah, no doubt, had long been a source of wonder to the surrounding nations! They witnessed her prosperity, greatness, blessing, and grandeur, knowing there was a difference, and a great difference at that, but not quite understanding what the difference was!)

¹⁰Many pastors have destroyed My Vineyard, they have trodden My Portion under foot, they have made My pleasant Portion a desolate wilderness. (The pastors here are not as we normally think of such, but rather civil rulers, even heathen rulers at that! Actually, the Passage is speaking of Nebuchadnezzar and the leaders under him who would come into Judah and trod My Portion underfoot.)

¹¹They have made it desolate, and being desolate it mourns unto Me; the whole land is made desolate, because no man lays it to heart. (The Holy Spirit, Who has been speaking in the future tense since Verse 7, speaks now as though in the past tense. Through foreknowledge, He knows that despite Jeremiahs continued Prophecies, Judah will not repent; consequently, the awful finality comes through.)

¹²The spoilers are come upon all high places through the wilderness: for the sword of the LORD shall devour from the one end of the land even to the other end of the land: no flesh shall have peace. (The spoilers are definitely the Babylonians, with the sword of the LORD, at least in this case, being Nebuchadnezzar. In other words, Nebuchadnezzar, although unwitting, will be an instrument in Gods Hands to carry out Gods Will.)

¹³They have sown wheat, but shall reap thorns: they have put themselves to pain, but shall not profit: and they shall be ashamed of your revenues because of the fierce anger of the LORD. (The sense of this Verse is: Judah thought surely they were sowing wheat, regarding their man-made religious worship. In their minds, they were appeasing Jehovah, especially by continuing to offer Sacrifices along with the Temple ritual, as well as the other gods by their idol worship. They had also constructed for themselves a fall-back position by looking to Egypt. It was all man-devised and, therefore, God-rejected! Consequently, instead of reaping wheat, they would reap thorns.)

¹⁴Thus sa ys the LORD against all My evil neighbours, who touch the inheritance which I have caused My People Israel to inherit; Behold, I will pluck them out of their land, and pluck out the House of Judah from among them. (These evil neighbors are Egypt, Edom, Philistia, Ammon, Moab, and Syria. Due to these nations seeking to take advantage of Judahs problems, the Lord would bring Judgment upon them. All this makes the unchangeable Love of God and the unbreakable nature of His Faithfulness clear to His ancient People. He has designed Israel as the center of all earthly governments. This national system is now in confusion because of Israels fall, for she is the keystone. Her Restoration will be their [the other nations] recovery. The Lord Jesus Christ, as Man and Messiah, will unite in His Person the headship of man and the dominion of Israel, which will take place in the coming Kingdom Age.)

¹⁵And it shall come to pass, after that I have plucked them out I will return, and have compassion on them, and will bring them again, every man to his heritage, and every man to his land. (As stated, this will take place in the coming Kingdom Age.)

¹⁶And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of My People, to swear by My Name, The LORD lives, as they taught My People to swear by Baal; then shall they be built in the midst of My People. (The ways of My People mean the Divine Way of Salvation revealed and committed to Israel. To swear by My Name, saying Jehovah lives, is to worship God through Jesus Christ; for Jesus is Gods Greatest Name.)

¹⁷But if they will not obey, I will utterly pluck up and destroy that nation, says the LORD. (Some of the nations mentioned in Verse 14 will, in fact, not obey and will be destroyed. Those destroyed were Edom, Philistia, Ammon, and Moab. Three of these areas are now occupied by modern Jordan, with Philistia being occupied by Israel and the Palestinians. Egypt and Syria continue and, in fact, will be greatly blessed by God during the coming Kingdom Age because of their acceptance of the Lord Jesus Christ [Isa. 19:23-25]. The area known as modern Syria, in fact, will be incorporated into Israel in the coming Kingdom Age.)