Jeremiah 12:16

16 If with all their hearts they will accept the religion of my people and will swear, "As the Lord lives' - as they once taught my people to swear by Baal - then they will also be a part of my people and will prosper.

Jeremiah 12:16 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 12:16

And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the
ways of my people
Not their evil ways of sin or superstition, they sometimes stray into; but the ways which God has prescribed to them, and has directed them to walk in, and in which they do walk; and which are to be learned of the Lord, by a diligent attendance with his people on his word and ordinances; see ( Isaiah 2:3 ) : to swear by my name, the Lord liveth;
that is, to worship and serve the living God, a self-existent Being, who has life in himself, and of himself, and not another; and is the fountain, author, and giver of natural life to all creatures, and spiritual and eternal life to his true worshippers: swearing is here put for the whole of religious worship, as in ( Deuteronomy 6:13 ) : (as they taught my people to swear by Baal;)
to worship him, and other idols: then shall they be built in the midst of my people;
become part of the spiritual building the church; being laid upon the same foundation of the apostles and prophets, and built up a holy temple; a spiritual house for the Lord to dwell in; partaking of the same privileges and ordinances as the people of God; being fellow heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ by the Gospel, ( Ephesians 2:20 Ephesians 2:21 ) ( 3:6 ) , it denotes the settlement and establishment of the Gentiles with the Jews in a Gospel church state. So the Targum,

``and they shall be established in the midst of my people.''

Jeremiah 12:16 In-Context

14 The Lord says, "I have something to say about Israel's neighbors who have ruined the land I gave to my people Israel. I will take those wicked people away from their countries like an uprooted plant, and I will rescue Judah from them.
15 But after I have taken them away, I will have mercy on them; I will bring each nation back to its own land and to its own country.
16 If with all their hearts they will accept the religion of my people and will swear, "As the Lord lives' - as they once taught my people to swear by Baal - then they will also be a part of my people and will prosper.
17 But if any nation will not obey, then I will completely uproot it and destroy it. I, the Lord, have spoken."
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.