Jeremiah 18

The right response to God’s threats is to repent and turn to Him (verses 7–8); then God can do His reforming work. The wrong response is to continue to do evil; then God will reconsider the good He had intended (verses 9–10). Judah’s people had been making the wrong response for generations; here, through this parable of the potter, God was giving them a final opportunity to repent (see Jonah 3:9–10).

11–12 In verse 11, God gives Judah a final call to repent. However, since God possesses all knowledge—past, present and future—He knows that the people of Judah will not repent (verse 12). They will reply: “It’s no use; it’s no use trying to dissuade us from our own plans” (see Jeremiah 2:25). Therefore, when the people of Judah are judged, they will be judged according to their own choice.

13–17 Here the Lord reflects on the stubborn disobedience of His people. Just as it is unthinkable that Mount Lebanon would be without snow, so it is unthinkable that Judah would have forgotten God and turned from ancient paths (the law of Moses) into dangerous bypaths (verses 14–15). Nature doesn’t change, but Judah certainly had changed; Judah had done the unthinkable, and thereby had sealed its doom.

18 Here we are told once more about Jeremiah’s personal circumstances. His enemies, which included most of Judah’s people, decided to attack him with [their] tongues; they probably planned to accuse him of treason because of his predictions that Judah would soon fall. Furthermore, they said that no one needed Jeremiah anyway; they already had enough teaching and counsel from other priests and prophets.

19–23 Jeremiah expresses his distress to the Lord. He is especially grieved that his enemies have repaid his good with evil (verse 20). He had tried to save the people of Judah from God’s judgment, but now he was being persecuted for seeking their good. They had dug a pit to capture him, as one digs a pit to catch a wild animal (verse 22).

So Jeremiah calls out to God for vindication. His language is strong because his enemies are treating him without justice or mercy; he calls on God to treat them in the same way. This prayer is in accordance with many passages of Scripture: over and over we see God repaying evildoers with the same evil they sought to inflict on others. We too can pray that God will act with justice and vindicate His servants.

As individuals, however, we must remember that seeking personal revenge is always wrong; vengeance must be left up to God (Proverbs 25:21–22; Romans 12:1721). Rather, as individuals, we are to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us (Matthew 5:44). For further discussion on the subject of praying against one’s enemies, see Psalms 3:7; 10:15; 109:6–20 and comments.