Jeremiah 17

CHAPTER 17

Man’s Deceitful Heart (17:1–18)

1 In this section, the Lord speaks of man’s sinful nature and his inability to see his sin because of the deceitfulness of his heart (verse 9). The Lord says that Judah’s sin is engraved . . . on the tablets of their hearts (verse 1); it is engraved indelibly—as if with an iron tool or a flint point.⁶⁰ Instead of God’s law being written on their hearts (Jeremiah 31:33), sin was written there—not only on their hearts but on their altars as well.⁶¹ The altar was the place where sin was atoned for (see Leviticus 1:1–4 and comment); yet in Judah the altar had become a place where sin was inscribed—displayed—before the Lord.

2–4 Instead of Judah’s children remembering the Lord and His law, they remember their parents’ idolatry, their Asherah poles (verse 2)—symbols of the goddess Asherah (Exodus 34:13)—and their pagan shrines on high hills, shrines which in Scripture are called high places (verse 3). The Lord says to the people of Judah: “Through your own fault you will lose your inheritance (the land of Canaan, the promised land). My mountain (Mount Zion, the temple site) and all your treasures I will give away to your enemies the Babylonians, because of sin throughout your country” (verse 3).

5–8 Man’s basic sin is unbelief—to“ turn away from the Lord” and trust in man instead of in God (verse 5). The person who does not have God at the center of his life inevitably places himself at the center; this is the most basic form of idolatry.⁶² Such a person is “cursed”; he will not prosper (verse 6).

On the other hand, the person who believes—who trusts in the LORD—will be blessed (verse 7). He will be planted by the water, the living water of the Lord, the source of life and strength and righteousness⁶³ (verse 8).

9–10 The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. The word “heart,” as used here, means the very center of a person’s being; it includes mind, emotion and will. All of man’s thoughts and actions arise from the “heart.” If one’s heart is evil, one’s thoughts and actions will be evil; if one’s heart is good, one’s thoughts and actions will be good.

But here Jeremiah says that man’s heart is evil—deceitful—and beyond cure. Man cannot cure his own heart, because his heart deceives him into thinking that nothing needs “curing.” The people of Judah kept asking, “What sin have we committed?” (Jeremiah 16:10). A man’s ways seem right in his own eyes, but in the end they lead to death (Proverbs 12:15; 14:12). We cannot cure our own sin because we do not recognize it. Who can understand the heart? asks Jeremiah (verse 9).

God can. “I . . . search the heart,” says the Lord, in answer to Jeremiah’s question; “and I reward a man according to his conduct” (verse 10). We might have thought that God would reward us “according to our heart,” not our conduct. But the point is that our conduct reflects what is in our hearts; since God knows our hearts, He is able to judge our conduct. We cannot fool God by external appearances; He looks at the heart (1 Samuel 16:7).

But Jeremiah says that the heart is beyond cure; where then is there hope? The answer: our hope is in God. David prayed: Create in me a pure heart, O God (Psalm 51:10). Only God can create in us a pure heart. Our hearts are dead because of our sins; only God can make us alive (Ephesians 2:1,4–5). And He does so by sending us His Holy Spirit; it is the Spirit who gives us a new birth, a new life (John 3:5; 7:37–39). It is His Spirit who renews our heart (see Psalm 51:7–17 and comment). And it is His Spirit who searches our heart and reveals to us the sin that is there, the sin that we can’t see on our own (see Psalm 139:23–24 and comment).

11 Jeremiah gives an example of how man’s deceitful heart leads him astray: when one gains riches by unjust means, those riches will desert him; the gain he thought would be permanent will turn out to be temporary, and he will turn out to have been a fool.

12–13 Jeremiah reflects on the glory of God’s throne—that is, the temple and, in particular, the ark of the Testimony (Exodus 25:21–22). Those who turn away from God will be written in the dust—not in the book of life (Revelation 20:12; 21:27); they will be destined for death.

14–18 Here Jeremiah prays on his own behalf. His ministry of being the Lord’s shepherd has brought him much persecution. His prophecies about the fall of Jerusalem have not yet come true, and so he is being accused of being a false prophet (verse 15). Prophets were proven true only when their prophecies were fulfilled (Deuteronomy 18:21–22). So Jeremiah asks God to bring on the day of disaster, to bring down double (full) destruction upon his persecutors, the people of Judah (verse 18).

Keeping the Sabbath Holy (17:19–27)

19–23 One of the most visible signs that people were keeping God’s covenant was their keeping of the Sabbath (see Exodus 20:8–11; Isaiah 56:2 and comments). Indeed, keeping the Sabbath holy was a sign of the covenant (Exodus 31:12–17). How well the people of Judah kept the Sabbath was a measure of their overall spiritual condition. That is why the Lord tells Jeremiah to remind the people of the importance of keeping the Sabbath and, in particular, the importance of not doing any work on the Sabbath, such as carrying a load⁶⁴ (verses 21–22).

24–27 The Lord promised that if Judah’s people kept the Sabbath holy and thereby demonstrated their obedience to all of His commands, then there would always be a king sitting on David’s throne,⁶⁵ and the city of Jerusalem would be inhabited forever (verses 24–25). Then God’s people from all over Israel would continue to bring their offerings and sacrifices to the Lord’s house, the temple in Jerusalem. But if they failed to keep the Sabbath (and all other commandments), then Jerusalem would be destroyed (verse 27).