Jeremiah 12:16

16 Then if they will get serious about living my way and pray to me as well as they taught my people to pray to that god Baal, everything will go well for them.

Jeremiah 12:16 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 12:16

And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the
ways of my people
Not their evil ways of sin or superstition, they sometimes stray into; but the ways which God has prescribed to them, and has directed them to walk in, and in which they do walk; and which are to be learned of the Lord, by a diligent attendance with his people on his word and ordinances; see ( Isaiah 2:3 ) : to swear by my name, the Lord liveth;
that is, to worship and serve the living God, a self-existent Being, who has life in himself, and of himself, and not another; and is the fountain, author, and giver of natural life to all creatures, and spiritual and eternal life to his true worshippers: swearing is here put for the whole of religious worship, as in ( Deuteronomy 6:13 ) : (as they taught my people to swear by Baal;)
to worship him, and other idols: then shall they be built in the midst of my people;
become part of the spiritual building the church; being laid upon the same foundation of the apostles and prophets, and built up a holy temple; a spiritual house for the Lord to dwell in; partaking of the same privileges and ordinances as the people of God; being fellow heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ by the Gospel, ( Ephesians 2:20 Ephesians 2:21 ) ( 3:6 ) , it denotes the settlement and establishment of the Gentiles with the Jews in a Gospel church state. So the Targum,

``and they shall be established in the midst of my people.''

Jeremiah 12:16 In-Context

14 God's Message: "Regarding all the bad neighbors who abused the land I gave to Israel as their inheritance: I'm going to pluck them out of their lands, and then pluck Judah out from among them.
15 Once I've pulled the bad neighbors out, I will relent and take them tenderly to my heart and put them back where they belong, put each of them back in their home country, on their family farms.
16 Then if they will get serious about living my way and pray to me as well as they taught my people to pray to that god Baal, everything will go well for them.
17 But if they won't listen, then I'll pull them out of their land by the roots and cart them off to the dump. Total destruction!" God's Decree.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.