Jeremiah 11

15–17 God then asks rhetorically what His beloved (Judah) is doing in His temple (verse 15). Judah’s people are there offering sacrifices, but they are doing so in vain; God will not accept the consecrated meat of their sacrifices. Sacrifice without obedience is displeasing to God (see 1 Samuel 15:22; Proverbs 15:8; Jeremiah 6:20). Therefore He will bring about the disaster He has decreed (verse 17), the destruction of Judah by the Babylonians. This destruction came to pass forty years later.

Plot Against Jeremiah (11:18–23)

18–20 In this section, Jeremiah describes how some personal enemies plotted against his life; their plot was motivated by the harsh things Jeremiah had been prophesying. These enemies determined to kill Jeremiah and thereby remove the memory of his name (verse 19); since Jeremiah had no children, there would be no one to carry on his family line. In verse 20, Jeremiah pleads with God to defend his cause. Jeremiah is seeking vindication, not vengeance; he rightly leaves the vengeance up to God (Deuteronomy 32:35; Romans 12:19).

21–23 Here we learn that Jeremiah’s enemies were from his own hometown, Anathoth (Jeremiah 1:1). They had demanded that Jeremiah stop prophesying (verse 21). The Lord reassures Jeremiah by saying He will destroy these enemies completely (verses 22–23).

Surely it distressed Jeremiah to be opposed by people from his own town, but he was not alone in this; Jesus had a similar experience (Luke 4:16,28–30). Jeremiah’s plight may have been in Jesus’ mind when He said that no prophet is accepted in his hometown (Luke 4:24). Jeremiah was experiencing the persecution that commonly comes to those who stand up for God. If Jeremiah and Jesus were persecuted, how can we who follow in their footsteps expect any better treatment? (see John 15:20; 1 Peter 2:21).