Jeremiah 11

Jeremiah Chapter Eleven Verse 1 11 THE SINAI BROKEN BY ISRAELThis and the next two chapters are thought to have been written about the same time, coming in the early part of the reign of Jehoiachim, during that four or five year period while Israel was still feeling a false sense of security by reason of their friendship for Egypt.[1] This would have been about 620. B.C. The great theme here is the breaking of the Sinaitic covenant by the Chosen People. That sacred covenant made by God with the Children of Israel at the time when he brought them up out of Egypt had been neglected and nearly forgotten for ages, until the copy of the Law of Moses was discovered by Hilkiah during the renovation of the temple during the days of Josiah the king (2 Kings 22-23). Along with Feinberg, we are surprised that, “So much discussion has gone on among expositors as to which' covenant is meant in <a href="/bible/parallel/JER/11/1" class="green-link">Jeremiah 11:1-3</a>, the one made with the nation at Sinai, or the one promulgated by Josiah."[2]There is no doubt whatever that the Sinaitic covenant, all of it, as set forth in the Pentateuch, is the covenant in view here. THE IN VIEW HEREWe are fully aware that the radical critics have exhausted themselves in efforts to prove that the covenant mentioned here was only some small part of the Sinaitic covenant, limited to the Book of Deuteronomy, or even to some very small portion of Deuteronomy. That eighteenth century falsehood of Satan needs to be exploded. God's Word tells us what book was discovered. It was designated by Hilkiah as The Book of the Law (properly capitalized here, as should be the case in every mention of it) (See <a href="/bible/parallel/2KI/22/3" class="green-link">2 Kings 22:3</a>; <a href="/bible/parallel/2KI/22/8" class="green-link">2 Kings 22:8</a>). The king referred to it as The Book of the Covenant (<a href="/bible/parallel/2KI/23/21" class="green-link">2 Kings 23:21</a>), as did also the inspired author of 2Kings, who called it The Book of the Covenant (<a href="/bible/parallel/2KI/23/2" class="green-link">2 Kings 23:2</a>). These references absolutely disprove the falsehood that anything less than the whole Pentateuch constituted that Book of the Law, or Book of the Covenant, which led to the extensive reforms under king Josiah. "Surely 2 Kings 22-23 makes it clear that Josiah was not introducing a new covenant but only calling for a reaffirmation of the old Mosaic Covenant."[3]Absolutely everything connected with the reforms of Josiah indicated the restoration in Israel of the entire Mosaic covenant. The whole Mosaic covenant is structured after the pattern of the old suzerainty treaties; and the invocation of the "list of curses" always attached to such treaties, as Henderson pointed out, "is indicated in the phraseology of <a href="/bible/parallel/JER/11/5" class="green-link">Jer 11:5</a> which is borrowed from <a href="/bible/parallel/DEU/27/26" class="green-link">Deuteronomy 27:26</a>."[4]Furthermore, there is not even any difference between the covenant as it appears in Deuteronomy from the one in Exodus; for it is expressly declared in Deuteronomy that: "When Moses made an end of writing the words of this law in a book ... Moses commanded that it be placed by the ark of the covenant." (<a href="/bible/parallel/DEU/31/24" class="green-link">Deuteronomy 31:24</a>) And upon that same occasion, Moses entrusted that Law to the custodianship of the Levites. More and more scholars of the present era are accepting the proposition that no fragmentary or incomplete document ever invented by evil men can be substituted for that whole Book of the Law written by Moses. Note the following: "This covenant refers to the covenant made at Sinai, as related in Exodus 24, with its strong emphasis upon the moral law.[5] The covenant (<a href="/bible/parallel/JER/11/1" class="green-link">Jeremiah 11:1-8</a>) is a reference to the covenant that Yahweh made at the time of the national deliverance of Israel from Egypt, as the condition of God's continued blessing.[6] It is a reasonable conjecture that this covenant’ refers to the Mosaic covenant of Sinai.[7] The covenant was the historic agreement sealed centuries earlier at Sinai.[8] “The words of this covenant” are, as is clear from the succeeding context, the words of the covenant recorded in the Pentateuch, known from the reading of the Torah.[9]Jeremiah 11:1-5“The word that came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying, Hear ye the words of this covenant, and speak unto the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and say thou unto them, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel: Cursed be the man that heareth not the words of this covenant, which I commanded your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the iron furnace, saying, Obey my voice, and do them, according to all which I command you: so shall ye be my people, and I will be your God; that I may establish the oath which I sware unto your fathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as at this day. Then answered I and said, Amen, O Jehovah.“This paragraph fully corroborates all that we stated above concerning what covenant is here under consideration. Jeremiah at the time indicated here possessed the whole Pentateuch at least, and he probably also had available to him a great many of the prophets, certainly including Isaiah. Nothing is any more unbelievable than the allegation of radical critics that there were no scriptures at that time except, maybe, some fragment of Deuteronomy. How could God have commanded Jeremiah to teach the people “the words of this covenant” if, indeed, he did not have them in his possession? Besides that, it was not the whole people of Israel who had lost the Book of the Law; it was that gang of reprobate priests and scribes in the temple that had lost it! That there was, indeed, at this time, throughout Israel, a residual knowledge of the whole Law of Moses is evident. “The righteous remnant” would indeed have preserved countless portions of it. The proof of this is in 2 Chronicles 34, which reveals that, “The centralization of worship in Jerusalem preceded the discovery of the Book of the Covenant in the temple by Hilkiah."[10]In the light of all these things, how can we understand a remark like that of Cheyne, who substituted for “the words of this covenant” the totally inadequate expression, “the words of this ordinance!?"[11] In the same breath, he admitted that “the words of this covenant” is a correct rendition of the text; but he declared it to be “unsuitable.” Of course, it is “unsuitable” for all of the erroneous allegations the radical critics have thrown at the passages here. The great significance of God’s appeal through Jeremiah to the Israelites at this juncture in their affairs, calling upon them to hear and obey the commandments of the covenant, derived from the fact that, “Whether the promised land would remain in the possession of Israel or not depended upon their observance, or non-observance, of the covenant."[12]“Amen …” (Jeremiah 11:5). “This is the standard response to a covenant; and it is Jeremiah’s pledge to recall Israel to the historic Sinai event when God promised to supply the material and spiritual needs of his people in their infancy as a nation, in return for their undivided worship and obedience."[13]Verse 6 “And Jehovah said unto me, Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, saying, Hear ye the words of the covenant, and do them. For I earnestly protested unto your fathers in the day that I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, even unto this day, rising early and protesting, saying, Obey my voice. Yet they obeyed not, nor inclined their ear, but walked everyone in the stubbornness of their evil heart: therefore I brought upon them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, but they did them not.““Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah …” (Jeremiah 11:6) These words indicate that, for a period of time, at least, Jeremiah went about the various cities of Judah urging the people to renew their love and adherence to the ancient covenant, which also was their charter for remaining in Palestine. The Bible gives us no further information about such a traveling ministry by Jeremiah. It has never been true that obedience to God’s commands in any sense, earns, merits, or deserves the promised rewards; but it is also true that disobedience of God’s commands can most certainly result in the forfeiture of the promised rewards and benefits. This principle was valid in the days of ancient Israel; and it is valid today under the grace of the Gospel of Christ. Just like many today, the ancient Jews did not believe it. Verse 9 “And Jehovah said unto me, A conspiracy is found among the men of Judah, and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem. They are turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers, who refused to hear my words; and they are gone after other gods to serve them: the house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant which I made with their fathers. Therefore thus saith Jehovah, Behold, I will bring evil upon them, which they shall not be able to escape; and they shall cry unto me, but I will not hearken unto them. Then shall the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem go and cry unto the gods unto which they offer incense; but they will not save them at all in the time of their trouble. For according to the number of thy cities are thy gods, O Judah; and according to the number of the streets of Jerusalem have ye set up altars to the shameful thing, even altars to burn incense unto Baal.““Conspiracy … among the men of Judah …” (Jeremiah 11:9). There are two views of when this conspiracy occurred.

Dummelow thought it happened during the reign of Josiah[14] but Henderson placed it in the times of Jehoiachim’s first four years, “When those who were hostile to Josiah’s reforms bound themselves to introduce again all of the idolatrous practices (popularized by Manasseh) which had been abolished by Josiah."[15] A common denominator in both positions is that the whole population (except the righteous remnant) of the Chosen People (Israel and Judah alike) had given themselves completely to idolatry. This is the background of the crucial announcement in the following verse that all Israel had “broken the covenant.” “The house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken the covenant …” (Jeremiah 11:10). Graybill observed that, “God was now in the act of terminating the covenant and bringing the punishment”;[16] but, a better view appears to be that this declaration from God Himself then and there terminated the racial covenant with Abraham finally and irrevocably, except as it should be renewed in the New Israel without any racial overtones whatever. Hosea’s unhappy marriage with Gomer was terminated exactly in the same manner at the time when he bought back his adulterous wife from slavery and returned her to his home, not as his wife, but as his slave. Prior to the terminal action registered here, the whole racial Israel had been judicially hardened (always with the exception of the righteous remnant), as repeatedly mentioned by both Isaiah and Jeremiah. The pressing question that always surfaces in the consideration of such things is “Why did God continue to preserve Israel?” In the case of judicial hardening, except for Israel, it always meant the summary and final end of the person or cities hardened; why then was it to be different in the case of Israel? The answer lies squarely in the truth that the Messiah had not yet been born. Until that glorious event should come to pass, it was absolutely necessary for fleshly Israel to be preserved and continued as an identifiable entity upon the earth, because that only could make the identification of the Son of God absolutely indisputable for all time to come! “According to the number of the cities of Judah; and according to the number of the streets of Jerusalem …” (Jeremiah 11:13) Such a proliferation of altars erected to Baal indicates that the rampant idolatry of the times of Manasseh had indeed come back full force, At this point the “conspiracy” which God revealed to Jeremiah had achieved one of its purposes. However, there was another purpose of it; and that included the destruction of the prophet himself, which would be revealed later in the chapter. Verse 14 “Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them; for I will not hear them in the time that they cry to me because of their trouble. What hath my beloved to do in my house, seeing she hath wrought lewdness with many, and the holy flesh is passed from thee? when thou doest evil, then thou rejoicest. Jehovah called thy name, A green olive tree, fair with goodly fruit: with the noise of a great tumult he hath kindled fire upon it, and the branches of it are broken. For Jehovah of hosts, who planted thee, hath pronounced evil against thee, because of the evil of the house of Israel and of the house of Judah, which they have wrought for themselves in provoking me to anger by offering incense unto Baal.““Pray not for this people …” (Jeremiah 11:14). “There is a climax of guilt which admits of no further intercessory prayer. Our minds should be at one with God in all that he is doing, even in the rejection of the reprobate."[17] That this is really true appears in God’s command to Moses (Exodus 32:10), also in God’s forbidding Samuel to grieve any longer for Saul (1 Samuel 16:1). This is now the second time that God has forbidden Jeremiah to pray any more for the apostate nation (Jeremiah 7:16); and this admonition is still applicable to God’s people as in 1 John 5:16. “A goodly olive-tree, fair and goodly fruit …” (Jeremiah 11:15). This figure of Israel as the olive-tree was adopted by the apostle Paul in Romans 11:17-24. “What hath my beloved to do in my house, seeing she hath wrought lewdness with many? and the holy flesh is passed from thee …” (Jeremiah 11:15) This refers “to the hypocrisy of cloaking their apostasy by offering sacrifices in the temple and passing themselves off as worshippers of God."[18]“The holy flesh is passed from thee …” (Jeremiah 11:15). This is not a reference to the sacrifices and their lack of efficacy, because the sacrifices of hypocrites has no efficacy, or holiness. What is meant is that the lewd and immoral practices of the people have robbed them (the people) of that “holiness, without which no man shall see God.” “The evil of the house of Israel and of the house of Judah …” (Jeremiah 11:10; Jeremiah 11:17). The reason for the double reference repeatedly to both Israel and Judah is to show that the whole Chosen People are meant. In context, Israel means the northern kingdom; and Judah means the southern kingdom, the whole nation. The licentious worship of the Baalim had finally destroyed the whole nation of the Chosen People, morally, nationally, politically, and religiously, the “righteous remnant” alone being excepted. ‘S LAMENT (Jeremiah 11:18 to Jeremiah 12:6) Ash identified the six passages in this prophecy which are classified as personal laments of Jeremiah thus: (1) Jeremiah 11:18 to Jeremiah 12:6; (2) Jeremiah 15:12-21; (3) Jeremiah 17:14-18; (4) Jeremiah 18:18-23; (5) Jeremiah 20:7-13; and (6) Jeremiah 20:14-18. He added that, “This is a form of writing unique to Jeremiah in the prophetic books."[19]Verse 18 “And Jehovah gave me knowledge of it, and I knew it: then thou showedst me their doings.“We have already observed that Jeremiah’s long life was most certainly a miracle. God preserved and protected him in a most unusual manner. The conspiracy (Jeremiah 11:9) recognized that Jeremiah was an obstacle in the way of their purpose completely to restore total idolatry in Israel; and they doubtless could have killed the unsuspecting Jeremiah if God had not warned and protected him. Verse 19 “But I was like a gentle lamb that was led to the slaughter; and I knew not that they had devised devices against me, saying, Let us destroy the tree with the fruit thereof, and let us cut him off from the land of the living, that his name be no more remembered.“Just as Christ was rejected in his home town of Nazareth, Jeremiah’s home town of Anathoth was a party to this plot to kill him, reminding us of what the Lord said, “A prophet is not without honor, save in his own country.” Another similarity in the lives of Jeremiah and of our Lord is seen in this mention of his being like “a lamb led to the slaughter.” It was such similarities that caused some of the people to think that perhaps Christ himself was Jeremiah risen from the dead (Matthew 16:14). Verse 20 “But O Jehovah of hosts, who judgest righteously, who triest the heart and the mind, I shall see thy vengeance on them; for unto thee have I revealed my cause. Therefore thus saith Jehovah concerning the men of Anathoth, that seek thy life, saying, Thou shalt not prophesy in the name of Jehovah, that thou die not by our hand. therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts, Behold, I will punish them; the young men shall die by the sword; their sons and their daughters shall die by famine; and there shall be no remnant unto them: for I will bring evil upon the men of Anathoth, even the year of their visitation.““There shall be no remnant unto them …” (Jeremiah 11:23). In Ezra 2:23, the Scriptures mention among those returning to Jerusalem after the captivity certain “men of Anathoth”; and for that reason we must suppose that the denial of any remnant to be left to Anathoth was evidently limited to the actual conspirators against the life of Jeremiah and did not apply to the whole community. “Thou shalt not prophesy in the name of Jehovah, lest thou die by our hand …” (Jeremiah 11:21). At some point in the conspiracy, but after God had revealed it to Jeremiah, the men of Anathoth attempted to silence the prophecies of Jeremiah by threatening to kill him. Only the providence and protection of God could have preserved the prophet’s life through the dreadful dangers to which he was exposed. The bitter and implacable hatred of Satan and his followers is here revealed in its stark reality.

Jeremiah 11:1

Jeremiah 11:1. The Lord is going to make another revelation to Jeremiah which is to become a part of his book. Not necessarily new subject matter but a special reference to a subject that was delivered from the Lord before this time.

Jeremiah 11:2

Jeremiah 11:2. Hear is addressed to Jeremiah and he is having his attention called to an Important document which the Lord calls a covenant. A few lines later in the chapter it may be seen that the document referred to is the so-called ceremonial law given by Moses. We therefore have the information that the commandments on the tables of stone did not constitute the covenant exclusively. Men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem were the same except as to the extent of territory included. Jerusalem was the capital of the kingdom of Judah.

Jeremiah 11:3

Jeremiah 11:3. The second half of this verse is almost Identical with Deuteronomy 27:26 which is directly connected with the “ceremonial law” and which is called a covenant in the preceding verse in our chapter.

Jeremiah 11:4

Jeremiah 11:4. No written law bad been given the Israelites previous to their release from Egyptian bondage. The day therefore refers to the period in their history when they were able to leave Egypt and receive a law by which they could be governed as a separate people. During the 430 years of their sojourn they were merely a race with no national standing. When the chains of slavery were broken off of them they were in a position to be ruled by whatever law would he placed over them by the One who had given them their freedom. Hence they were told that if they would obey their great Liberator they could become a people which was used in the sense of nation and not a race only.

Jeremiah 11:5

Jeremiah 11:5. The Lord is still speaking to Jeremiah and repeating to him the words he Baid to the Jewish fathers in the day they were led out of Egypt. God told that generation that he had sworn to their fathers (Abraham, Isaac and Jacob) to give unto their descendants a good land for a possession. But that promise was made on condition that they obey the divine law, and it was on that basis that He would bless the people of Jeremiah’ s day. This was the message the prophet was directed to tell his people that they might learn a lesson from the history of their forefathers. Jeremiah now writes in the first person to tell the reader of this communication from God and to let it be known that he favored and accepted it.

He expresses his endorsement by the three words so be it according to the King James translation. It is interesting to know that these words are from the Hebrew’ word ames and Strong defines it, “Sure: abstractly faithfulness: adverbially, truly.” In the King James translation the word has been rendered amen 27 times, truth 2, so be it 1.

Jeremiah 11:6

Jeremiah 11:6. Having received the favorable response from the prophet, the Lord told him to go to the people of Judah (the kingdom) and Jerusalem (the capital) and proclaim the words of the covenant to them. Not only was he to let the people hear them, but he was to exhort them to do them.

Jeremiah 11:7

Verse 7. Through all the history of the nation from its escape from Egypt to the present time, God had never ceased to admonish and insist on obedience to his law. Their corrupt walk, therefore, was not due to any lack of information; it was due to their disregard for it. (See this thought in Isaiah 1:3.)

Jeremiah 11:8

Jeremiah 11:8. The people not only fell short of obeying the law, but they were not even inclined nor willing to show a favorable attitude toward it. Imagination is from a Hebrew word that Strong defines as “obstinacy.” It is the same thought that Is elsewhere expressed by the word “stiff-necked.” Briny upon them the words of this covenant means that part of the covenant that threatened the disobedient ones with severe punishment for their rebellion. (See this part of the covenant in Deuteronomy 27.)

Jeremiah 11:9

Jeremiah 11:9. It is bad enough for one man to commit sin Independently of any others, but it is worse when he forms an alliance with other persons for the purpose of doing wrong. This principle is recognized by the laws of civilized nations and penalties for such misdeeds are severer than for other kinds. Even the daughters of Zelophehad understood it and gained a point with the Lord and Moses on the basis of it. (See Numbers 27; Numbers 3.) The men of Judah had conspired together for wrong and God’ s wrath was kindled against them which is here being threatened through the prophet’ s words.

Jeremiah 11:10

Verse 10. The motive for the conspiracy was to take up the sinful practice of the forefathers. While on the subject the Lord included his charge against his people in general. House of Israel means the 10 tribss and the house of Judah is the 2-tribe kingdom now in authority in Jerusalem at the time Jeremiah wrote. The former has been in exile already for more than a century and the latter is due to be taken very soon.

Jeremiah 11:11

Jeremiah 11:11. The evil which the Lord said he would bring on bis people was the Babylonian captivity and it was only a few years in the future when this was written. Not be able to escape means bis people cannot escape being taken into captivity; not that they never would be released from It, for they were.

Jeremiah 11:12

Jeremiah 11:12. Then is an adverb of time referring to the conditions that will come in Palestine as a result of the captivity. The people having turned away from God and gone to Idols, He will turn away from them and bid them go for help to those dumb things. When that takes place they will realize as never before Just how useless are the false gods.

Jeremiah 11:13

Jeremiah 11:13. Baal was one of the masculine gods in the class of invisible ones that was explained at ch. 10: 2. The people had become so devoted to idolatry that they bad some one of the gods represented in every city. They were not satisfied at having a god In each city, but increased the iniquity by desecrating the capital city of Jerusalem in a special manner. They used every street as a place to erect an altar for the purpose of sacrificing to their god.

Jeremiah 11:14

Jeremiah 11:14. Pray not thou for this people seems t.o be a severe way for them to be treated, but it refers to the nation as a whole, not to every indi vidual in it. (See the note at 2 Ki. £2; 17 in Vol 2 of this Commentary.)

Jeremiah 11:15

Jeremiah 11:15. Lewdness and flesh are literal terms and primarily are involved in fleshly immorality. They are used to apply to spiritual fornication which the people of Judah were committing in going after false gods. The question Is, what business does such a people have in the house of the true God? The people not only practiced this great evil but took satisfaction from eaob instance of the abominable service.

Jeremiah 11:16

Jeremiah 11:16. The olive was one of the most Important trees grown in Palestine, both because of the use made of the wood and for the fruit. The oil extracted from the olive berry was used for medicine, food and light. Hence the Lord likened his people to a green (living) olive tree and would have received their services as the most desirable fruit had they been true to tbeir illustration. But since they were not the Lord caused a tumult (by the Babylonian army) to come against the tree and burn it to the extent that the branches were broken off. Note that the entire tree was not destroyed, which agrees With other predictions that the captivity was not to make ft complete destruction of the nation.

Jeremiah 11:17

Jeremiah 11:17. Although the house of Israel (the 10 tribes) had been in exile many years before Jeremiah’s time, it is frequently mentioned along with the house of Judah. The reason for it is that the Israelite race as a whole became corrupt by the same evil which was idolatry. The significant thought in this verse ia that in committing this evil it was against themselves. When man commits sin he injures himself more than anyone else. He cuts himself off from the Lord and all of the benefits that would come from Him upon faithful service as commanded.

Jeremiah 11:18

Jeremiah 11:18. Every word in the Bible is inspired but the writers sometimes compose their passages in the first- person and at other times they use another Torm. At times it will seem as if God is speaking directly and we almost forget that a prophet is speaking or writing the words ali the time. After the language runs along in that line for a while, the writer will change his form and refer to himself in his relation to God or to the people. We have one of these instances in this verse. The prophet even brings in the Lord under both the second and third persons. First he tells the reader that the Lord had given him knowledge of conditions, then he addresses himself to the Lord and acknowledges that thou showed me their (Israel’ s) doings.

Jeremiah 11:19

Jeremiah 11:19. Jeremiah became the target for the shafts of persecution from the wicked people of the nation. By glancing ahead to verse 21 we can see that the foregoing statement is correct. This came immediately after the statement that God had revealed to him (Jeremiah) a knowledge of the wickedness of the people. That caused them to hale him and to persecute him almost to the extent of death. People have a dread of any man whom they know to have “inside” information about their corrupt practices and they will conspire against him.

But Jeremiah did not know this for a time, hence he went along from day to day not realizing the danger he was in. It is compared to the situation of an ox or a lamb that goes on toward the place of slaughter not realizing the danger ahead. The illustration of the olive tree is now transferred from the nation to the prophet, and the destruction which his enemies would bring on him was more complete than the Lord threatened to impose on the nation as an olive tree. He would break off the branches only while the prophet’ s enemies would destroy both the tree and its fruit. Not only that, but they would wipe out all sign that such a tree had existed so that it would be forgotten.

Jeremiah 11:20

Jeremiah 11:20, In his distress Jeremiah appealed to the Lord because he believed that he could thus receive righteous judgment. There is not much difference between reins and heart, but when used as distinct terms the first means the Intellect and the second means the motives for applying it. Since God makes righteous tests of these matters the prophet longed for him to bring vengence upon these personal enemies.

Jeremiah 11:21

Jeremiah 11:21. Anathoth was a city near Jerusalem and was known as the unofficial headquarters of the priests. The other Citizens of that place did not like the teaching of Jeremiah and even threatened his life. This is the thing referred to In verse 19 but of which the prophet was unaware for a time. But their dangerous attitude toward him finally became so outspoken that he heard of it, and then made the plea to God which we have just read and to which an answer of assurance was given.

Jeremiah 11:22

Jeremiah 11:22. In answer to the prayer of Jeremiah the Lord promised him protection. Not only was he to be shielded from death but his would-be destroyers were to be destroyed. Their men of military age were to die in battle and the remaining members of their families were to die by famine.

Jeremiah 11:23

Jeremiah 11:23. Tire vengeance to be brought upon the men of Anathoth was to be so complete that nothing would be left by which their names would be remembered,