Jeremiah 12: 1 – 17
What’s the delay?
1 Righteous are You, O LORD, when I plead with You; Yet let me talk with You about Your judgments. Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why are those happy who deal so treacherously? 2 You have planted them, yes, they have taken root; They grow, yes, they bear fruit. You are near in their mouth but far from their mind. 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. 4 How long will the land mourn, and the herbs of every field wither? The beasts and birds are consumed, for the wickedness of those who dwell there, because they said, “He will not see our final end.” 5 “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, in which you trusted, they wearied you, then how will you do in the floodplain of the Jordan? 6 For even your brothers, the house of your father, even they have dealt treacherously with you; Yes, they have called a multitude after you. Do not believe them, even though they speak smooth words to you. 7 “I have forsaken My house, I have left My heritage; I have given the dearly beloved of My soul into the hand of her enemies. 8 My heritage is to Me like a lion in the forest; It cries out against Me; Therefore, I have hated it. 9 My heritage is to Me like a speckled vulture; The vultures all around are against her. Come, assemble all the beasts of the field, bring them to devour! 10 “Many rulers have destroyed My vineyard, they have trodden My portion underfoot; They have made My pleasant portion a desolate wilderness. 11 They have made it desolate; Desolate, it mourns to Me; The whole land is made desolate, because no one takes it to heart. 12 The plunderers have come on all the desolate heights in the wilderness, for the sword of the LORD shall devour from one end of the land to the other end of the land; No flesh shall have peace. 13 They have sown wheat but reaped thorns; They have put themselves to pain but do not profit. But be ashamed of your harvest because of the fierce anger of the LORD.” 14 Thus says the LORD: “Against all My evil neighbors 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. 15 Then it shall be, after I have plucked them out, that I will return and have compassion on them and bring them back, everyone to his heritage and everyone to his land. 16 And it shall be, if they will learn carefully the ways of My people, to swear by My name, ‘As the LORD lives,’ as they taught My people to swear by Baal, then they shall be established in the midst of My people. 17 But if they do not obey, I will utterly pluck up and destroy that nation,” says the LORD.
Have you ever experienced a delay? It is something that is put off to a later date. Now I would say that when you hear this word the first thing that comes into your mind is frustration. Something you wanted to do or receive will have to wait.
Yet there is a good side to delay. So, instead of dwelling on something we dislike let me share a few comments how a ‘delay’ is good for you.
. The ability to discipline yourself to delay gratification in the short term to enjoy greater rewards in the long term, is the indispensable prerequisite for success. (Brian Tracy)
. Be careful not to compromise what you want most for what you want now. (Zig Ziglar)
. Great investing requires a lot of delay ed gratification (Charlie Munger)
. Good things come to those who wait (Jess C Scott)
So, my friends we are going to hear a great teaching from our Master and God Adoni Yahweh. He Is going to point out to Jeremiah and for us as well the importance of His delay in dealing with evil people.
1 Righteous are You, O LORD, when I plead with You; Yet let me talk with You about Your judgments. Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why are those happy who deal so treacherously?
Jeremiah’s response was to accept the justice of YHWH’s decision in the face of his plea, but to demonstrate his dissatisfaction at the delay in the judgment. By this time he had been under constant threat of death, and had endured many trials. He comes before YHWH to ‘reason the cause’ with Him. He is faced with the age-old problem as to why the wicked can continue flourishing. Why is it that those who are most treacherous still find themselves ‘at ease’?
2 You have planted them, yes, they have taken root; They grow, yes, they bear fruit. You are near in their mouth but far from their mind.
He describes their flourishing in the terms used earlier of the flourishing of the olive tree which had represented Israel in their earlier days. They were YHWH’s planting, they took root and grew, they produced fruit, (they looked indeed like a green olive tree still flourishing), but all the while, while they honored YHWH with their lips, their hearts were far from Him. Their worship was not genuine.
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.
In contrast Jeremiah’s heart was firmly towards YHWH. He was confident that YHWH saw his ways and tried his heart, and ‘knew’ him through and through, indeed as His chosen one (he was confident in his calling). And he therefore calls on YHWH to act against his adversaries. Let it not be him who is the pet lamb led to the slaughter (11.19), but let that be true of his adversaries, not as pet lambs, but as sheep dragged out from the flock, and prepared ready for slaughter.
We should note here that this was not a cry for personal vengeance. It was a call on YHWH to act in defense of His prophet who was being sacrilegiously treated by those who should have paid him honour. Thereby they had sinned directly against YHWH and were acting in deliberate rebellion against Him. It was not for Jeremiah to consider forgiving them It was a sin that only God could call to account (and only God could forgive).
4 How long will the land mourn, and the herbs of every field wither? The beasts and birds are consumed, for the wickedness of those who dwell there, because they said, “He will not see our final end.”
He then supports his prayer with the evidence. It is because of these people and their attitudes and activities, in which in their complacency they think that they will be allowed to continue long after Jeremiah has gone (‘he will not see our latter end’), that the land was mourning, and the vegetation was withering. It was because of them that the innocent animals and birds were being consumed by the disaster coming on the land. It was because they were self-confident and yet total hypocrites.
YHWH calls on Jeremiah to recognize that what he has endured up to now is as nothing compared with what lies ahead. Up until now he has only had to face the footmen (the local opposition or the lower level authorities), in the future he will have to face the horses (the higher powers that be, including the king, in Jerusalem). Up to now he has been comparatively at ease, shortly he must enter the jungle with its wild beasts. To serve God is not always a guarantee that life will be easy and prosperous. ‘it is through much tribulation that we must enter under the Kingdom of God’ (Acts 14.22).
5 “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, in which you trusted, they wearied you, then how will you do in the floodplain of the Jordan?
The first picture is of a fugitive being chased down. Up to this point in time Jeremiah has only been ‘chased’ by men on foot, and yet he has clearly found that wearisome. What then is he going to do when he is chased down by horsemen, as in the future he surely will be? In other words, while he has had trouble dealing with those in authority at lower levels, he will shortly be brought to the attention of the court.
The second picture, which illustrates the same idea and confirms it, is of having to leave a part of the land where there was peace and security, and where he would not have to face obstacles, a land which was relatively free from wild beasts, to enter a land where lions, bears and other wild beasts roamed relatively freely, and vegetation was at its thickest. The Pride of Jordan was the name given to the marshy thicket country on the verge of the Jordan in the Arabah (Jordan Gulf), which was a favorite haunt of wild animals, including especially lions.
6 For even your brothers, the house of your father, even they have dealt treacherously with you; Yes, they have called a multitude after you. Do not believe them, even though they speak smooth words to you.
What would be worst of all would be that he would be betrayed by his own family, and possibly already was being. Even his brothers and his father’s house, the one place where he should have been secure and at peace, would have turned against him, leading the chase against him, shouting after him and raising a hue and cry. Thus, he must in the future trust no one, not even his closest family. This need, of course, to be taken in parallel with the fact that the people were at the time totally untrustworthy, even to each other (9.8). It is always necessary to count the cost of serving God.
In 11.15 YHWH had asked what right ‘His beloved’ had in His house when she had done evil deeds. Now He declared that He had forsaken His house and had rejected His heritage and had in effect given the beloved of his soul into the hands of their enemies. As a result, Judah would be invaded by her neighbors and devastated. But then He warned that those very neighbors would also be brought into judgment and would themselves be exiled, only to be restored later and given the opportunity to become worshippers of YHWH.
7 “I have forsaken My house, I have left My heritage; I have given the dearly beloved of My soul into the hand of her enemies.
The idea of Judah being YHWH’s heritage looks back to their deliverance from Egypt. The idea of Judah as the ‘dearly beloved of YHWH’s soul’ indicates just how much Judah’s desertion had cost Him, and how hard it was for Him to hand her over to her enemies. Because of His underlying compassion God’s judgments are not easy for Him to carry out.
This was an assurance, in the face of the warning that He had given Jeremiah that he would be forsaken by his own household, that He too was a loser in the situation. He too was losing His House and His people Whom He loved.
8 My heritage is to Me like a lion in the forest; It cries out against Me; Therefore, I have hated it.
In this startling image Judah are seen as standing like a belligerent lion, roaring at YHWH as though He was their enemy. His heritage had so turned against Him and were so lost to all that was good, that she defied Him to His face. This was why YHWH’s love for her was waning (the word for ‘hated’ regularly means ‘loved less’, as Jacob loved Rachel and loved Leah less. He did not actually hate Leah - Genesis 29.30-31). His case was similar to Jeremiah’s. God never calls on us to face what He has not faced Himself.
9 My heritage is to Me like a speckled vulture; The vultures all around are against her. Come, assemble all the beasts of the field, bring them to devour!
It is a well-known natural phenomenon that when a strange bird which is different in some way from all the others comes among other birds they will pursue it with loud cries and even attack it. The distinction and strangeness of this bird is brought out here by describing it as ‘speckled’. In consequence the other unspeckled birds of prey (warrior nations) are turning on speckled Judah. And to further her mortification the scavengers among the wild beasts (further war-like nations on the lookout for booty) are called in as well to assist in devouring her (Isaiah 56.9). Poor speckled Judah, she is to be the victim of them all.
10 “Many rulers have destroyed My vineyard, they have trodden My portion underfoot; They have made My pleasant portion a desolate wilderness.
The picture now changes from birds of prey to shepherds, representing the kings of the nations, who often described themselves as the shepherds of their people. Many ‘shepherds’ will come in and tread YHWH’s portion, His land, under foot. Indeed, they will make His pleasant portion desolate because His people have brought it on themselves.
11 They have made it desolate; Desolate, it mourns to Me; The whole land is made desolate, because no one takes it to heart.
The total desolation of the land that is coming is brought out by the threefold repetition. It is made desolate, it mourns because it is desolate, the whole land is made desolate. And this happens because no one cares, no one comes to Judah’s aid. All her alliances have collapsed in the face of her behavior.
12 The plunderers have come on all the desolate heights in the wilderness, for the sword of the LORD shall devour from one end of the land to the other end of the land; No flesh shall have peace.
The invasion will be so massive that every square centimeter of land will be covered, even the bare heights of the wilderness which, with their idol sanctuaries, have had their part to play in Judah’s sins. And there the sword of YHWH, wielded by their enemies, will devour the people from one end of the land to the other. No one will have peace and wellbeing. All will be targets.
13 They have sown wheat but reaped thorns; They have put themselves to pain but do not profit. But be ashamed of your harvest because of the fierce anger of the LORD.”
In 4.3 they had been warned not to sow among thorns. But they had not listened and had sown their wheat among the thorns. Now therefore when they went to reap they found themselves reaping thorns. The idea is because they had failed to purify their lives, they are reaping what is both useless and painful. Thus all the efforts that they had put into profiting their lives are now revealed to have produced nothing. All is despoiled. And what is more they will be ashamed of the fruits of their lives, their sin and idolatry, because they are aware that as a result the fierce anger of YHWH is directed against them.
However, it would be just as true physically. Shut up in their besieged cities their fields would become beset by thorns which would choke out the carefully sown grain. All their labors would be in vain, and there would only be shame when the harvest was considered, except that in the end there would be no harvest. For those who survived would be carried away captive when their cities were taken. What happens to us spiritually very often affects our physical lives in the same way.
From this point on it is YHWH Who is speaking. It will be noticeable how often His words mingle with the words of Jeremiah. For the truth is that the two are one, because when Jeremiah speaks he speaks ‘the word of YHWH’.
The stress here is on the fact that it has to be remembered what these invaders have done. They have committed sacrilege. They have attacked YHWH’s heritage (12.7-8)! They have taken possession of His first fruits (2.3)! They have thus given evidence that although physically circumcised they are not circumcised in heart (9.25-26). And as a result, they have dared to ‘touch’ something sacred, the land which YHWH not only gave to Israel/Judah as an inheritance, but ‘caused them to inherit’. It had been YHWH’s will that Israel/Judah should inherit it. It will therefore be necessary for the invaders also to be punished because they have opposed YHWH.
14 Thus says the LORD: “Against all My evil neighbors 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.
Because they have done the things described above, the invading neighbors also will be plucked from their land and carried away into exile, just as Judah is to be plucked up. All will be treated in the same way, Judah because she had destroyed the covenant, the remainder because they had without compunction touched what was sacred, YHWH’s people. It is not said that they would all be exiled to Babylon, only that they would be turned out of their own lands, and there can be little doubt from their histories that this was literally fulfilled.
But as happens so often in the prophets, after the judgment comes mercy. Sometime in the future YHWH will have compassion on these neighboring nations, and on Judah, and will restore them to their lands.
15 Then it shall be, after I have plucked them out, that I will return and have compassion on them and bring them back, everyone to his heritage and everyone to his land.
YHWH’s compassion is not only for His people, it is for all peoples. Thus, after these peoples have been plucked up, they will be returned to the place of their inheritance and to their land. The decrees of Cyrus that allowed the Jews to return to Jerusalem and its surrounding areas also allowed for the return of other peoples to their own lands. And there would be an even greater fulfilment for those who respond to the call of Christ when they inherit their portion in the new Heaven and the new earth and are at peace with God.
16 And it shall be, if they will learn carefully the ways of My people, to swear by My name, ‘As the LORD lives,’ as they taught My people to swear by Baal, then they shall be established in the midst of My people. 17 But if they do not obey, I will utterly pluck up and destroy that nation,” says the LORD.
And once the people have returned to their own land they will once more have before their eyes the witness and testimony of Israel. Then if they will respond to that teaching and will learn to swear by the living God (nations always swore in court by the god whom they saw as most important), in the same way as they had taught Israel to swear by Baal, then they would be built up in the midst of His people.
Such response would depend on the faith of the hearers, and thus those who did not respond would again be plucked up and destroyed. And this was the word of YHWH. It will be noted how what is spoken of here lays the foundation for the preaching of the Gospel, when salvation will depend on responsive faith, and rejection of salvation will ensure judgment. It is promising a fulfilment of all YHWH’s promises of salvation for the Gentiles (Isaiah 42.6; 49.6).
