Jeremiah 12

CHAPTER 12

Jeremiah’s Complaint (12:1–4)

1–2 Jeremiah is still thinking about the plot against his life (Jeremiah 11:18–23). The thought of the wicked men seeking to kill him leads Jeremiah to ask God: Why does the way of the wicked prosper? (see Job 21:7–15). Indeed, God seems to help the wicked by giving them the means to prosper (see Matthew 5:45). The Old Testament writers struggled with this apparent injustice, because they didn’t have a clear understanding of the afterlife—the understanding that if the wicked escape judgment in this life they will surely face it in the next⁵⁰ (see Psalm 37:1–6 and comment).

3–4 In verse 2, Jeremiah accuses the wicked of honoring God with their lips but not from their hearts (see Isaiah 29:13). Here Jeremiah says that God knows he is not hypocritical like the wicked (verse 3); therefore he asks God to bring upon his enemies the same fate they were seeking to bring upon him (Jeremiah 11:19). Jeremiah also notes that because of the wickedness of Judah’s people, the land itself has suffered from drought. But instead of repenting, the people merely laugh at Jeremiah’s dire predictions and say they’ll never come to pass (verse 4).

God’s Answer (12:5–17)

5–6 God’s response to Jeremiah is threefold: first, He tells Jeremiah that he will face even more persecution in the future (verse 5); second, He assures Jeremiah that the wicked in Judah will indeed be punished (verses 7–13); and third, He says that the instruments of Judah’s punishment (the Babylonians and their allies) will themselves be punished (verses 14–17). Therefore, let Jeremiah not think that the wicked will go unpunished. In the meantime, Jeremiah needs to have FAITH and courage to face his own trials. He certainly shouldn’t put faith in people—not even in his own brothers, for they too have joined with those plotting to kill him (verse 6).

7–13 In these verses God talks about the coming judgment of Judah. God says: “I will . . . abandon my inheritance” (verse 7). God’s “inheritance”—God’s possession—includes both the land and His people, the whole nation of Israel (see Exodus 34:8–9 and comment). His people have forsaken Him; therefore, in accordance with the covenant, He will forsake them. Like a lion, His people roar at Him; therefore, He has come to hate them (verse 8)—that is, He has withdrawn His love from them and will now treat them as if He hated them.

The Lord says that shepherds (enemy rulers) will trample His vineyard (Judah), and turn it into a desolate wasteland (verse 10). The destroyers (verse 12)—that is, the Babylonians and their allies—will swarm over the land (see 2 Kings 24:1–2); they will wield the sword of the LORD, the “sword” of the Lord’s judgment. The land will produce nothing (verse 13); the farmers will labor in vain and bear the shame of their poor harvest. All this will happen because God’s people have broken His covenant (see Leviticus 26:20,25,33).

14–17 Here God speaks of the wicked neighbors who are about to seize Judah; they too will eventually be uprooted and sent into exile (verse 14). And the exiled of Judah will be “uprooted” from the place where they have been held captive. And then God will have compassion on all these uprooted people, both JEW and GENTILE, and He will restore them to their own land. Those Gentiles who place their faith in Israel’s God—who swear by His name (Jeremiah 4:2)—will be established among God’s people (verse 16). Here Jeremiah is looking ahead not only to the restoration of post-exilic Judah but also to the renewed Judah of the Messianic age (see Isaiah 2:2–3; 56:6–7). However, for those who reject God, there will be complete destruction (verse 17).