Jeremiah 12:7

7 I have abandoned My house;[a] I have deserted My inheritance. I have given the love of My life into the hand of her enemies.

Jeremiah 12:7 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 12:7

I have forsaken my house
The temple, where the Lord took up his residence, and vouchsafed his presence to his people; this was fulfilled in the first temple, when it was destroyed by the Chaldeans; and more fully in the second, when Christ took his leave of it, ( Matthew 23:38 ) and when that voice was heard in it, a little before the destruction of Jerusalem, as Josephus F1 relates,

``let us go hence.''
So the Targum,
``I have forsaken the house of my sanctuary.''
I have left mine heritage:
the people whom he had chosen for his inheritance, whom he prized and valued, took care of, and protected as such; see ( Deuteronomy 32:9 ) . I have given the dearly beloved of my soul;
whom he heartily loved and delighted in, and who were as dear to him as the apple of his eye: into the hands of her enemies;
the Chaldeans. This prophecy represents the thing as if it was already done, because of the certainty of it, and to awaken the Jews out of their lethargy and stupidity; and by the characters which the Lord gives of them it appears what ingratitude they had been guilty of, and that their ruin was owing to themselves and their sins.
FOOTNOTES:

F1 De Bello Jud. l. 6. c. 5. sect. 3.

Jeremiah 12:7 In-Context

5 If you have raced with runners and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses? If you stumble in a peaceful land, what will you do in the thickets of the Jordan?
6 Even your brothers-your own father's household- even they were treacherous to you; even they have cried out loudly after you. Do not have confidence in them, though they speak well of you.
7 I have abandoned My house; I have deserted My inheritance. I have given the love of My life into the hand of her enemies.
8 My inheritance has acted toward Me like a lion in the forest. She has roared against Me. Therefore, I hate her.
9 Is My inheritance like a hyena to Me? Are birds of prey circling her? Go, gather all the wild animals; bring them to devour [her].

Footnotes 1

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