JEREMIAH 12A
Jeremiah questions God’s justice verse 1- 3
Righteous are YOU – O LORD – when I plead with YOU
yet let me talk with YOU of YOUR judgments
Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper?
Wherefore are all they happy that deal very treacherously?
YOU have planted them – yea – they have taken root
they grow – yea – they bring forth fruit
YOU are near in their mouth – and far from their reins
BUT YOU – O LORD – know me – YOU have seen me
and tried mine heart toward YOU
put them out like sheep for the slaughter
and prepare them for the day of slaughter
Jeremiah gives reason for the question verse 4
How long shall the land mourn – and the herbs of every field wither
for the wickedness of them that dwell therein?
the beasts are consumed – and the birds
BECAUSE they said – HE shall not see our last end
LORD warns family can’t be trusted verse 5- 6
If 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 trust – they wearied you
THEN how will you do in the swelling of Jordan?
For even your brethren – and the house of your father
even they have dealt treacherously with you
YEA – they have called a multitude after you
believe them not – though they speak fair words unto you
LORD states that HIS chosen people are forsaken verse 7- 9
I have forsaken MINE house – I have left MINE heritage
I have given the dearly beloved of MY soul into the hands of her enemies
MINE heritage is unto ME as a lion in the forest
it cries out against ME – THEREFORE have I hated it
MINE 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
Chosen people have turned Promised Land into desert verse 10- 13
Many PASTORS have destroyed MY vineyard
they have trodden MY portion under foot
they have made MY pleasant portion a desolate wilderness
They 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 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
They 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
LORD gives future hope to Israel and other nations verse 14- 17
Thus says the LORD against all mine evil neighbors
that touch the inheritance which I have caused MY people Israel to inherit
BEHOLD – I will pluck them out of their land
and I will pluck out the house of Judah from among them
And 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
And 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
BUT if they will not obey I will utterly pluck up and destroy that nation
says the LORD
COMMENTARY:
DAILY SPIRITUAL BREAKFAST: Young Believers
: 3 But You, O LORD, know me; You have seen me, and You have tested my heart toward You. Pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and prepare them for the day of slaughter. The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982).
Devotion: Jeremiah recognized that the Lord was in control of everything including his life. He gave the Lord the respect and honor that was due to him, yet sought permission to speak freely with the Lord. Jeremiah understood that the he was the Lord’s but was perplexed at the theology and work of the Lord. 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.
God did indeed know Jeremiah and was directly at work in his life. In order to bring him to the place God wanted him to be He allowed difficulties to be in his life and prosperity to be in the wicked. This theology was and is difficult for His followers to understand yet it is a principle applied by God in several different places in the O.T. (Job 12; 21; Ps. 37; 49; 73; Hab. 1; Mal. 2:17; 3:15). The French mystic Madame Guyon wrote, “In the commencement of the spiritual life, our hardest task is to bear with our neighbor; in its progress, with ourselves; and in its end, with God.”
Application: Laying hold of God’s promises and believing them in spite of the difficulties we are currently entwined in is never easy. Jeremiah teaches us in this chapter that God’s people do not live by explanations; they live by promises. By laying hold of His promises character and servanthood is developed. Trust in God’s control of your life today not the circumstances swirling around you! (Dr. Brian Miller – board member)
DAILY SPIRITUAL LUNCH: Transitional Believers
: 5 If you have runwith the footmen, and they have wearied you, then how can you contend with horses? And if in the land of peace, wherein you trust, they wearied you, then how will you do in the swelling of Jordan? (7323 “run” [ruwts] means guard, post, dart, hurry, do quickly, or race.
DEVOTION: I have never been a runner. I had a son who was a runner. I enjoyed the sport of tennis. I played against people who looked at my body and thought “he can’t run.” I managed to fool them.
Here we find the LORD giving Jeremiah an answer to his questions that were not really answers but statements about what was going to happen in the future of his ministry.
In this chapter we find that the people of his home town were against him and his message. They were family but still didn’t want to hear his message from the LORD regarding their future if they didn’t repent. He was upset that even his family would not listen.
The LORD gives him an illustration of him being in a race. At the present time he was racing against men. It should be easy for him to win some of these races. The men were people that he grew up with and thought were friends.
The future was going to be different. He was not going to just race against men but against horses which represented the rest of the nation of Judah. He was going to have to battle the whole nation. We will see in the future of this book that the leaders of the nation were also going to plot to kill him. This is the warning the LORD wanted Jeremiah to listen to regarding his future ministry.
The LORD also pointed out that the nation at present was at peace. He was still in the Promised Land that the LORD had promised to the children of Israel. He was on home turf. He wasn’t preaching to a foreign nation like some of the other prophets had to do.
However, the LORD informed him that his home turf was dangerous too. There were lions in the land. When the Jordan River overflowed its banks on occasion it would force all the animals that lived on the banks to move inland. That would mean that people who lived near or traveled near the Jordan were in danger of being attacked by these animals.
In the New Testament the LORD Jesus Christ warned HIS disciples about the religious leaders who were going to attack them just as much as they attacked HIM while HE was on this earth. HE warned that they were out to kill them. Also Paul wrote about our enemy, the devil, who roamed about seeking whom he might devour.
We live in a world that doesn’t want to hear that Jesus Christ is the only way to heaven. They don’t like our exclusive message. They think there should be other methods or ways to inherit heaven. Once we tell them that they are Biblically wrong – they don’t like us. In fact, they want to hurt us any way they can. They will plot against us and our reputation. If they could they would lock us up.
In many countries around the world those of other religions kill, take possession of property, or place Christians in jail where they can be beaten or have other things happen to them. Our world system just doesn’t like our message.
Jeremiah’s relatives didn’t like his message and wanted to kill him for it. Are we prepared to accept whatever happens to us in our service for the King of Kings and LORD of LORDS? We should be.
CHALLENGE: The LORD wants us to strengthen ourselves on a daily basis to face the battle that is before us. If we are stronger, HE will give us greater battles to fight. That should be our desire.)
DAILY SPIRITUAL SUPPER: Mature Believers
: 11 They have made it desolate, and being desolate it mourns unto me; the whole land is made desolate, because no man laysit to heart. (7760 "lays" [siym] means examine, appoint, care, cast in, commit, consider, determine, heap up, impute, preserve, purpose, or rehearse.
DEVOTION: The pastors or leaders of the people are destroying the vineyard of the LORD. The fruit that is being produced is all rotten. They were given a land that was flowing with milk and honey and have turned it into a wilderness. They have ruined everything.
The LORD was stating that the land was crying out to HIM because of their present condition. The first time we hear of the land talking to the LORD was back in Genesis when Cain killed his brother Abel. The blood of Abel was crying out to the LORD. There was a lot of innocent blood being spilled in the Promise Land. It was the blood of the prophets that the LORD was sending to warn the people of coming judgment. The people instead of listening to the prophets, they killed them.
The people of Jeremiah’s day were not living examined lives. They were just living the way they wanted to without regard for the LORD or HIS commands.
And examined life is one that looks at the Word of God and compares their life with the commands of the LORD. If they find that they are not in compliance with HIS rules, they change their living habits. They set out in a new direction. The direction is toward the LORD.
The unexamined life is one where people do whatever they want without regard for what others think or God thinks. They are doing whatever is right in their own eyes. Their hearts are selfish and lazy. They don’t want to change. That would take work and that is a four letter word.
Our world today is full of people who don’t want to examine their lifestyle by the standard of the Word of God. They want to be spiritual in their own way. They don’t need church or the Bible or a preacher to tell them how they should live.
We need to commit our heart to the LORD. I am talking to those who are really followers of the LORD. HE has a mission for us. Our mission is to reach our world with the Word of God. We need to do it in a loving manner that is not disobedient to the Word of God. God is love but HE is also just as holy.
CHALLENGE: Touch people in your world with the message of salvation. The message should include both the love of God and the holiness of God. Change has to happen in our life and in the lives of those we teach.)
DISCIPLINES OF THE FAITH:
BODY
- Chastity (Purity in living)
- Fasting (Time alone with LORD without eating or drinking)
- Sacrifice (Giving up something we want to serve the LORD)
- Submission (Willing to listen to others and LORD)
- Solitude (Going to a quiet place without anyone)
SOUL
- Fellowship (Gathering together around the Word of God)
- Frugality (wise use of resources)
- Journalizing (Writing down what you have learned from the LORD)
- Study and Meditation (Thinking through your study in the Word)
- Secrecy (Doing your good deeds without others knowing but God)
SPIRIT
- Celebration (Gathering around a special occasion to worship LORD)
- Confession (Tell the LORD we are sorry for our sins on a daily basis)
- Prayer (Conversation with God on a personal level)
Plead with God verse 1
- Silence (Letting the LORD deal with some problems and needs)
- Worship (Time to praise the LORD alone or in a group)
DOCTRINES OF THE FAITH:
Scripture (66 inerrant books of the Bible)
God the Father (First person of the Godhead)
Righteous verse 1
LORD – Jehovah (Covenant keeping, Personal) verse 1, 3, 12- 14,
16, 17
Judge verse 1
Sword of the LORD verse 12
Fierce anger of the LORD verse 13
God the Son (Second person of the Godhead –God/man, Messiah)
God the Holy Spirit (Third person of the Godhead – our comforter)
Trinity (Three persons of the Godhead who are co-equal = ONE God)
Angels (Created before the foundation of the world – Good and Evil)
Man (Created on the sixth twenty-four hour period of creation)
Enemies verse 7
Sin (Missing the mark set by God on man and angels)
Wicked verse 1
Prosper verse 1
Deal very treacherously verse 1, 6
Speak of God but don’t believe verse 2
Far from God verse 2
Wickedness verse 4
Speak fair words verse 6
False pastors [leaders] verse 10, 11
Spoilers verse 12
Worship in high places verse 12
False peace verse 12
Evil neighbors verse 14
Swear by Baal verse 16
Not obey verse 17
Salvation (Provided by Christ’s death on the cross for our sins)
Righteous verse 1
Plead with God verse 1
God knows us verse 3
God sees us verse 3
God tries our hearts verse 3
Heritage of the LORD verse 7- 9, 15
Dearly beloved verse 7
Peace verse 12
Inheritance verse 14, 15
Compassion verse 15
Learn verse 16
Obedience verse 17
Israel (Old Testament people of God)
Brethren verse 6
House of your father verse 6
God’s people verse 14, 16
Israel verse 14
House of Judah verse 14
Church (New Testament people of God)
Last Things (Future Events)
Day of slaughter verse 3
QUOTES
For Jeremiah, the “knowing” was in the “going.” Revelation follows obedience. He had to get up and go, and so must all of us who wish for our spiritual lives to mature. We cannot sit and stagnate. We must be obedient to the truth God gives. Why should He give truth that will go unused? (Preacher’s Commentary Series)
Instead, by means of gentle irony, he warned Jeremiah that if he could not cope with difficulties he was then experiencing, he should consider what he would do in a really serious situation. Expressed more colloquially, he was saying: “Cheer up, Jeremiah. The worst is yet to come!”
….
The Lord used two analogies to make his point. If a footrace with men would tire Jeremiah, how could he “compete” (an unusual use of the word hārâ, “to burn”) in a race with horses? If he stumbled in “safe country” (lit. “land of peace”), how could he manage in the jungle-like thickets that grew along the Jordan River?14 The verse contains a well-advised warning to count the cost of serving God (cf. Luke 9:62; 14:28–32). It also suggests that a person who cannot solve his own problems cannot be very helpful to others in their time of trouble. (Huey, F. (2001). Vol. 16: Jeremiah, Lamentations (electronic ed.). Logos Library System; The New American Commentary (140). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.)
His confrontation with the men of his own town has made him realize the magnitude of the task he has undertaken. He cannot turn to his family for help because they were part of his difficulty. God now challenges him to greater courage and faith for greater trials in the future. In spite of his problems up to this point his situation has been like that of a dweller in a peaceful land. (Feinberg, C. L. (1986). Jeremiah. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Volume 6: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel (F. E. Gaebelein, Ed.) (458). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.)
*
horses—that is, horsemen: the argument a fortiori. A proverbial phrase. The injuries done thee by the men of Anathoth (“the footmen”) are small compared with those which the men of Jerusalem (“the horsemen”) are about to inflict on thee. If the former weary thee out, how wilt thou contend with the king, the court, and the priests at Jerusalem? (Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., Fausset, A. R., Brown, D., & Brown, D. (1997). A commentary, critical and explanatory, on the Old and New Testaments (Je 12:5). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.)
One can almost hear God say, “Jeremiah, I understand. You’re bone tired.” Second, He also understood that Jeremiah was hurt. The prophet was not some thick-skinned tough guy. The tender-hearted country boy had been dealt a severe blow. He had been rejected by his heartland. “(Guest, J., & Ogilvie, L. J. (1988). Vol. 19: The Preacher's Commentary Series, Volume 19 : Jeremiah, Lamentations. The Preacher's Commentary series (102–103). Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson Inc.)