Jeremiah 12

Jeremiah Chapter Twelve

Verse 1 Jeremiah 12’S There are three divisions in this chapter: (Jeremiah 12:1-6) which register’s Jeremiah’s complaint, (Jeremiah 12:7-13) which recounts God’s judgment upon Judah and her enemies, and (Jeremiah 12:14-17) that promises the return of Israel from captivity and the conversion of Gentiles, both of which events are conditional. Jeremiah 12:1-4“Righteous art thou, O Jehovah, when I contend with thee; yet would I reason the cause with thee: wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? wherefore are they all at ease that deal very treacherously? Thou hast planted them, yea, they have taken root; they grow, yea, they bring forth fruit: thou art near in their mouth, and far from their heart. But thou, O Jehovah, knowest me; thou seest me, and triest my heart toward thee: pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and prepare them for the day of slaughter. How long shall the land mourn, and the herbs of the whole country wither? for the wickedness of them that dwell therein, the beasts are consumed, and the birds; because they said, He shall not see our latter end.““Wherefore… doth the wicked prosper …” (Jeremiah 12:1)? Jeremiah got to the point at once; and the problem here presented before the Lord in faith and humility was indeed an old one. Habakkuk had struggled with it; the patriarch Job (Job 21:7) was perplexed by it; and the Book of Psalms devotes at least two chapters to a discussion of it (Psalms 37 and Psalms 73). Men of every generation, even the most devoted and faithful of Christians, have found this same question to be a perplexing and difficult problem. As Dummelow noted, however, “It was a question that especially exercised men of the pre-Christian dispensations; because they had no clear understanding of the eternal and spiritual rewards promised to Christians, thinking principally of physical and material rewards to be received in the service of God."[1]The Christian religion does indeed give complete and satisfactory answers to this question; and the reason that many in the current era have difficulty with the problem derives from a failure to study the Scriptures. We shall explore the answer a little later; but, first, we shall note the answer that God made available to Jeremiah. “Wherefore are they at ease who deal treacherously …” (Jeremiah 12:1)? Evidently, Jeremiah here had in mind the treacherous plans of his fellow-countrymen to murder him. On the other hand, Jeremiah, as God certainly knew, was an honorable and faithful believer. “Thou hast planted them …” (Jeremiah 12:2). A complicating factor in the problem for Jeremiah was the fact that God’s blessings were evidently being enjoyed by those evil men. They were flourishing and prospering, as the Psalmist put it, “like the green bay tree!” “Pull them out …” (Jeremiah 12:3). Pleading their wickedness and his own faithfulness, as reasons for his request, Jeremiah pleaded with God to “Pull them out …” “The original here is very strong; it is, literally, tear them out.'"[2] Smith paraphrased Jeremiah's words thus, "Lord, drag these fat scoundrels out of the flock and sacrifice them, and make examples of them."[3]The indignation of Jeremiah is evident in his words here. Green has a paraphrase, thus: "Why do the wicked prosper? Why is crookedness a prime prerequisite for success in this world? Lord, you plant these scoundrels, and they grow. Why? They are pious frauds who mouth words of religion but have no real love for you in their hearts."[4]"He shall not see our latter end ..." (<a href="/bible/parallel/JER/12/4" class="green-link">Jeremiah 12:4</a>). This is a disputed text, but we believe it refers to the attitude of wicked men who were flaunting their rebellion against God in the boast that God would have nothing to do with their end, or taunting Jeremiah with the brag that they would last longer than Jeremiah would, or that Jeremiah would die before they did. Verse 5 GOD'S ANSWER TO "If thou hast run with the footmen, and they have wearied thee, how canst thou contend with horses? and though in a land of peace thou art secure, yet how wilt thou do in the pride of the Jordan? For even thy brethren, and the house of thy father, even they have dealt treacherously with thee; even they have cried aloud after thee; believe them not, though they speak fair words unto thee."God's answer to Jeremiah is somewhat shocking. The Lord rebuked him, and we might paraphrase the meaning of this paragraph in this manner: Look, Jeremiah, why should you be bothered about the prosperity of wicked men? If, in your race for me, you have been worn out by men, what are you going to do when you have to run against horses? If you have trouble feeling secure on level ground, what is going to happen to you when you have to pass through the "pride of the Jordan?" You have hardly seen anything at all yet. Buckle your seat belt, the worst is yet to come! This might not be all that God said to Jeremiah, because, in <a href="/bible/parallel/JER/12/4" class="green-link">Jeremiah 12:4</a>, it appears that God also might have mentioned the "latter end" of the wicked. Certainly, in the Old Testament, this was the inspired answer to the problem Jeremiah was having with the prosperity of the wicked. The Psalmist was tempted to stumble on the problem that troubled Jeremiah; but he confessed that the truth appeared to him, "When I went into the sanctuary of God, and considered their latter end." (<a href="/bible/parallel/PSA/73/17" class="green-link">Psalms 73:17</a>). The ultimate fate of the wicked nullifies and cancels out all of the earthly joys and prosperities of evil men; and that sublime truth was surely available to all of God's children living in that dispensation. "The pride of Jordan ..." (<a href="/bible/parallel/JER/12/5" class="green-link">Jeremiah 12:5</a>). "The pride of Jordan’ referred to the rank growth of trees, shrubs and vegetation that grew on both sides of the Jordan river, especially between the Sea of Tiberias and Lake Merom, and which afforded a shelter for wild boars, lions, bears and tigers."[5]These two verses stress the fact that, after all, prosperous wickedness is a very ordinary problem that should not discourage any one. Today, lions are almost never seen west of the Euphrates river, having disappeared from the `pride of Jordan’; but, “The bones of lions have been found in the gravel of the bed of the Jordan."[6] It is always a mistake to understand conditions as they exit now as an indication of what the conditions were thousands of years ago. The critics did when they questioned the account in Acts that relates Paul’s shaking off a poisonous snake into the fire. Of course, the snakes have indeed disappeared from Malta; but they have also disappeared from Manhattan Island, and for exactly the same reason, namely, the vast increase in the population. THE ANSWERWe have already noted that much more satisfactory answers to the problem of the prosperity of evil men which somewhat perplexed Jeremiah are available in the teaching of Christianity in addition to the answers available under the Old Covenant. A. The values focused upon in Christianity are not temporal and physical at all, but eternal. People who suffer persecution, defeat, frustration, hardship, or even physical suffering and death are commanded to remember, “Great is your reward in heaven!” (Matthew 5:12). B. The favor and prosperity enjoyed by wicked men are not marks of God’s approval but an indication of his mercy; for God “Is longsuffering … not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to the knowledge of the truth” (2 Peter 3:9). C. God’s world is an orderly world; and there are certain rewards and penalties that derive from that order. It happens that in many instances wicked men are more skilled in adjusting to God’s order than are righteous persons. Jesus noted that, “The sons of this world are for their own generation wiser than the sons of the light.” (Luke 16:8). No doubt this fact sometimes contributes to the prosperity of evil men. D. The great fact is that the rewards of eternal life are so great, surpassing even the utmost limits of human imagination, that whatever the sufferings, sorrows, and limitations may fall upon our earth-life, all such things shall be canceled and nullified by the glories of eternal life. As Paul put it: “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed” (Romans 8:18). E. It all turns on the difference in time and eternity. When the two are compared, an entire earthly life is less than a fraction of a second compared to a billion years. To win the great prize of Eternal Glory with Christ is more than worth bearing the burdens of whatever disasters our earth-life is capable of bringing upon us. No recipient of such a blessing should be troubled by whatever pleasures and prosperities may be enjoyed by the wicked for the brief season of earthly life. Verse 7 GOD’S OF THE CHOSEN PEOPLE"I have forsaken my house, I have east off my heritage; I have given the dearly beloved of my soul into the hands of her enemies. My heritage is become unto me as a lion in the forest: she hath uttered her voice against me; therefore I have hated her. Is my heritage unto me as a speckled bird of prey? are the birds of prey against her round about? go ye, assemble all the beasts of the field, bring them to devour.““I have forsaken my house …” (Jeremiah 12:7). The word “house” in the Old Testament is almost invariably used of the temple; and we believe that is what it means here. R. Payne Smith declared the meaning here to be, “Not the temple, but Israel and Judah”;[7] and since then, many scholars have followed his lead.

Thompson attempted to justify the interpretation by pointing out that “it is parallel to my heritage' in the next clause";[8] and while it is true enough that adjacent clauses are indeed often parallel in the Bible, they are not always so. "Sharpen the arrows, take up the shields" (<a href="/bible/parallel/JER/51/11" class="green-link">Jeremiah 51:11</a>) is one of many examples; and we believe the parallelism here is another. Matthew Henry agreed with this and gave the meaning of "forsaken my house" as, "A reference to the temple, which had been his palace; but they had polluted it and forced God out of it."[9]It is certainly true that God did indeed forsake the temple; and God gives an account of his doing so in Ezekiel (<a href="/bible/parallel/EZK/10/17" class="green-link">Ezekiel 10:17</a>). Furthermore, God never more returned to any earthly temple; but he did come with the rushing sound of a mighty wind on the day of Pentecost to dwell in his true temple, the Church of our Lord. Thus the two teachings in <a href="/bible/parallel/JER/12/7" class="green-link">Jeremiah 12:7</a> are (1) the Lord removed his presence, or Spirit, from the Jewish temple, and (2) he forsook the apostate nation, the "righteous remnant" alone being excepted. "She hath uttered her voice against me ..." (<a href="/bible/parallel/JER/12/8" class="green-link">Jeremiah 12:8</a>). In context, this means that the Chosen People had roared like a lion against God Himself! "Judah had not merely become disobedient, but had become intractable and fierce like an untamed lion."[10] She had uttered vicious blasphemies against him and had preferred the reprobate worship of the Baalim to the way of the Lord. "Is my heritage unto me as a speckled bird of prey? are the birds of prey against her round about ..." (<a href="/bible/parallel/JER/12/9" class="green-link">Jeremiah 12:9</a>)? "The Hebrew word here rendered bird of prey’ in both places means a carrion bird,' ... probably some kind of vulture is meant."[11] "Birds attack other birds of unfamiliar plumage; so Israel, differing from other nations, is attacked by them."[12] At any rate, the total destruction of the Once Chosen nation is prophetically announced in the figure of the beasts of the field being called in to eat her remains. Verse 10 "Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard, they have trodden my portion under foot, they have made my pleasant portion a desolate wilderness. They have made it a desolation; it mourneth unto me, being desolate, because no man layeth it to heart. Destroyers are come upon all the bare heights in the wilderness; for the sword of Jehovah devoureth from one end of the land even to the other end of the land: no flesh hath peace. They have sown wheat, and have reaped thorns; they have put themselves to pain, and profit nothing: and ye shall be ashamed of your fruits, because of the fierce anger of Jehovah."; "Desolate... desolation... Desolate ..."(<a href="/bible/parallel/JER/12/10" class="green-link">Jeremiah 12:10-11</a>). This is the prophetic picture of the result of God's punishment of his Once Beloved Israel. The destruction is so thorough that the very land itself is depicted as mourning over it. "Because no man layeth it to heart ..." (<a href="/bible/parallel/JER/12/11" class="green-link">Jeremiah 12:11</a>). This actually should be translated, "Because no man laid it to heart’; had the people laid it to heart this sad state of things would have been averted."[13] It was the indifference and unconcern of the Chosen People that led to their ruin. Verse 14 THE RETURN OF ; OF “Thus saith Jehovah against all mine evil neighbors, that touch the inheritance which I have caused my people Israel to inherit: Behold, I will pluck them up from off their land, and will pluck up the house of Judah from among them. And it shall come to pass, after that I have plucked them up, I will return and have compassion on them; and I 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, as Jehovah liveth; even as they taught my people to swear by Baal; then shall they be built up in the midst of my people. But if they will not hear, then will I pluck up that nation, plucking up and destroying it, saith Jehovah.“God’s neighbors mentioned in Jeremiah 12:1 were identified by Dummelow as “The Syrians, Edomites, and Moabites."[14] The promise that upon the condition of their repentance and conversion that they would be built up in the midst of God’s people (Jeremiah 12:16) was, in fact, to be the privilege of all pagan nations under the reign of the Messiah, an event definitely foreshadowed here by this mention of Gentiles becoming God’s children in the midst of his people, which under the New Israel would be composed of people of “every nation and tribe and tongue and people” (Revelation 14:6). The promise of this last paragraph “is Messianic”;[15] but it should be noted that all of the promised blessings of God, whether to the “righteous remnant” destined to return from Babylon, or to the Gentiles who in the future will be “in the midst of” God’s people, are absolutely conditional. “If they will diligently learn the ways of God’s people… then shall they be built up in the midst of my people … if they will not hear … then will I pluck up, etc.” (Jeremiah 12:16-17) Thus it is stated both negatively and positively. There is no such thing, nor has there ever been, nor shall there ever be any such as the blessing of God which does not meet the condition set forth here.

Jeremiah 12:1

Jeremiah 12:1, The prophet does not question the judgment of God in deciding on the prayer he makes, only he desires to discuss the matter with Him, Wherefore means “ why is it” or “how does it come” that the way of the wicked prospers? Jeremiah seems confused that treacherous men are happy whereas they have no right to happiness.

Jeremiah 12:2

Jeremiah 12:2. Thou has planted them means the good things possessed by these treacherous dealers were all received from the Lord, It is on the principle of Impartiality which God maintains toward both good and bad men. (See Matthew 5:15..) Near in their mouth and far from their reins. The last word is from a Hebrew original whose central definition is “ the mind.” The clause means the people would say favorable things about God but their mind or heart would not be in it. Jesus made the same accusation against some pretenders in his day. (See Matthew 15:8.)

Jeremiah 12:3

Jeremiah 12:3. Jeremiah does not class himself with the unrighteous men of his day. He believes bis faith has been tried and that it has stood the test, Pull them out, etc., is a prediction that God would pull them out which means to separate these evil men (chiefly the leaders) from the rest of the flock (the congregation) and reserve them for the day of slaughter which means the captivity.

Jeremiah 12:4

Jeremiah 12:4. Jeremiah laments the sad condition of the land in his day and makes a personal complaint of it to God. Many of the terms used tn the verse are figurative but truly represent the deplorable conditions. To a good man like the prophet it might seem as if matters had come to the limit of confusion and that it could not get any worse. But the Lord will soon show him that it could be worse, which will be the thought in the next verse, figuratively expressed.

Jeremiah 12:5

Jeremiah 12:5, The terms used in this verse are figurative also and are for the sole purpose of comparison. The literal subject under consideration is the condition of distress which Jeremiah’s personal enemies were inflicting upon him. The former is compared to a race with footmen, the latter with running against horses. And then, comparatively speaking, the prophet was living in a land where peace still existed (since no foreign enemy had as yet intruded), while soon the same land will be shaken by the foreign invasion referred to by the swelling of Jordan. That phrase is based on an event in the seasonal history of Palestine. There is an interesting quotation from history on this subject in connection with comments on ch. 4: 7. To save space I shall request the reader to see that place for the history quoted.

Jeremiah 12:6

Jeremiah 12:6. The Lord explains what he had been talking about by referring to the mistreatment that Jeremiah was suffering from his own countrymen.

Jeremiah 12:7

Jeremiah 12:7. This verse through the 13th should he marked as a bracket and labeled “the captivity,” then consider the comments on the several verses in their order. The captivity had not yet taken place but the Lord had actually forsaken his people and abandoned them to the enemy. It only remained for Babylon to carry out the program by coming against Jerusalem, and that great event was about due when this prediction was being written.

Jeremiah 12:8

Jeremiah 12:8. Heritage means possession and the term is applied to the Jewish nation as something that belonged to the Lord. A lion in a forest would be unrestricted and free to exert violence against any creature that, came within his sight. God likened his people to this wild creature because they were wildly reproaching Him for his condemnation of their abominable lives.

Jeremiah 12:9

Jeremiah 12:9. A speckled bird would attract other birds and she would be regarded as a bird of prey. God compared his people to such a creature and predicted such an event would happen to them. The other birds refers to Babylon and her allies who were soon to attack Judah. Come ye. etc,, is a prediction in the form of an invitation for the creatures or beasts of the field (nations allied with Babylon) to come and devour (take possession of) the kingdom of Judah.

Jeremiah 12:10

Jeremiah 12:10. The pastors were the men in Judah whose duty it was to feed the people with knowledge. But they had become corrupt and taken advantage of the people in their greed for gain and in their desire for sinful gratification, This situation was part of the reason for the Lord’s determination to abandon his people to the enemy.

Jeremiah 12:11

Jeremiah 12:11. The spiritual condition at the time Jeremiah was writing was desolate, hut the physical result of the invasion and captivity was the thing to come next and this is a prediction of that. The language is present or past tense in form but it is a prediction in meaning. No man layeth if to heart indicates the indifference which the people in general and the leaders in particular manifested in the matter.

Jeremiah 12:12

Jeremiah 12:12. The spoilers refers to the Babylonians who were coming against the land and capital city of Jerusalem. 2 Kings 24:13 and, 2 Kings 25:11-16 shows the fulfillment of this spoiling. Sword of the Lord means the sword of the Babylonians since that army was performing in this action according to His decree.

Jeremiah 12:13

Jeremiah 12:13. The first clause might seem to contradict Galatians 6:7 which declares that “whatsoever a man sowetb that shall he also reap.’’ But it will not when all the factors in the context are considered. Instead of its being a contradiction, it is similar to the case in Matthew 13:26-27 where tares came up after a man had sowed wheat. Verse 25 tells that another person sowed the bad seed from the one who had sowed the good. It is the same in our passage that the Lord will be the one who will sow the seed for thorns in the place where the people had sowed wheat. But it will be just to prevent the people from reaping a good crop In order to punish them for their unfaithfulness to Him.

He will cause the disappointment by sowfng the thorns consisting of the devastating work of the Babylonian army. Put themselves to pain is as if it said they had taken the pains or trouble to put in a good crop but would not be allowed to reap from It. They shall be ashamed is rendered “ye” in the margin and the connection agrees with It, Logically the people who have engaged in. the unlawful business are the ones who will be ashamed when the anger of the Lord is poured out upon them,

Jeremiah 12:14

Jeremiah 12:14. God has made use of various agencies to accomplish his purposes. He has not always used those whom we would consider righteous persons from a moral or religious standpoint, but they would be such as best served the Lord’s purpose. He used the heathen nations to chastise his people for their idolatry; the Assyrians to punish the 10 tribes and the Babylonians to Chastise the 2 tribes. But, in all of such cases he never tolerated any personal satisfaction the heathen instrument of his plans took from their experience. After the Lord’s people had been dealt with according to plan, then the heathen in turn would have to feel the hand of God.

Such is the meaning of this verse, for it speaks of the heathen as mine evil neighbors, referring to the nations beyond the Euphrales River. I will pluck them is general and applies to all of the tribes in captivity. Pluck out the, house of Judah is specific and doubtless is named because that kingdom was still in control in Jerusalem at this writing but was destined to be overthrown in a few years.

Jeremiah 12:15

Jeremiah 12:15. This verse is a prediction of the return from captivity of the Jews and their reestablishment in the home land. The Biblical account of the fulfillment of this prediction is given in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. The historical account of it was quoted at Isaiah 14:1 in Vol, 3 of this Commentary.

Jeremiah 12:16

Jeremiah 12:16. The promises and conditions stated in this verse were to be in force after the return from captivity. They and my people are named in a way that might lead us to think it has reference to different races. Such is not the case, but they means the individual man (referred to as every man In the preceding verse), while my people means the nation as a whole. However, the conditions on which the individual men might dwell in the land also applied to the nation as a whole. This combined responsibility must be borne in mind as we approach the next verse.

Jeremiah 12:17

Jeremiah 12:17. Idolatry was the chief corruption of the nation and for which it had to go into captivity. It was cured of that evil and never had a “relapse” of it, But there were other matters of conduct required by the law and Israel is warned not to disregard them after their return from captivity. Should the nation again prove unfaith, ful it will not be “ let off” with a “prison term” of captivity, then be restored to its place as a nation. Instead, it will be utterly plucked up and destroyed. This threatening warning might well be regarded as a prophecy, for the nation was indeed overthrown by the Romans in 70 A.D. and has never regained its original place and extent among the nations of the world. There is much that may be said on this subject, both by way of comments and by citation to secular history, both ancient and present day, But this is not the most advisable place to go into it in full; I shall reserve that for comments on several passages in the book of Daniel.