Jeremiah 12
12
Jeremiah’s Complaint
1Yahweh, whenever I complain to you,
you always prove to be right.
Nevertheless, hear my plea that I bring to you.
Why is it that wicked people are successful?
Why do scoundrels live so secure and serene?
2You plant them like trees that take root;
they spread their branches and bear fruit.
They talk like they know you,
but their affections are so far from you. # 12:2 Or “you are so far from their kidneys.” The Hebraic concept of the kidneys was as the place of affections and passions.
3But as for me, Yahweh, you know me fully.
You see me, and you understand me.
You have tested my feelings for you
and found that I am fully devoted to you.
Set them aside like sheep that are going to be killed;
keep them ready for the time of their slaughter.
4How much longer will the land mourn?
How much longer must the birds and animals perish?
Even the grass of every field withers
because of the wickedness of these people!
For the people boast, “God doesn’t see what happens to us.”
God’s Reply
5“So, the footmen have beaten you, have they?
How, then, will you run with the cavalry?
If you stumble in the open country,
how will you do in the thickets of the Jordan? # 12:5 God doesn’t give a full answer to the questions of Jeremiah in this chapter. God is not obligated to justify the wisdom of his providence. At times, answers to our questions solve nothing. What we need most is not answers but for God to be the answer to our needs. God’s answer to Jeremiah was a rebuke of his impatience and a reality check of how much Jeremiah needed God to be his strength to finish his race. God was saying to his prophet, “If the men of your hometown were difficult to endure, how will you be able to stand up against the persecution of the entire nation?”
6For even your brothers and relatives have betrayed you,
and are in full pursuit of you. # 12:6 Or “they are in full cry after you.” As painful as it is, there are times when our own fellow believers may betray us. See Ps. 62:3–4; Prov. 26:25; Matt. 10:36.
Don’t believe them when they speak to you as friends.”
The Sorrow of God
7“I have abandoned my house of Israel # 12:7 Most scholars view “my house” as a reference to not just the temple but also the household (nation) of Israel. God’s people are his “house,” his “people,” and “the beloved” of his soul. The pain of the Father’s heart and his deep affection for his people are obvious in this passage.
and deserted the people I call my own.
I have surrendered
the beloved of my soul
over to her enemies.
8My own inheritance has turned against me
like savage, roaring lions in the jungle;
therefore, I will deal with her as though I hate her. # 12:8 In the Hebraic mindset, love and hate do not express opposites, as in modern language (see Mal. 1:2–3), or as found in the New Testament (see Jesus’ teaching on loving enemies in Matt. 5:43–44). The Targum reads: “Therefore I expelled her.” See Rom. 9:13.
9Are hyenas and birds of prey all trying
to devour the people I chose for myself? # 12:9 Or “Is my heritage to me a speckled bird of prey?” Scholars are divided over which translation is correct. The Hebrew word for “speckled” has a homonym that means “hyena.” The Septuagint reads: “Is not my inheritance to me a hyena’s lair, or a lair round about her?” Israel is pictured as a corpse that hyenas have eaten and that carrion birds have hovered over (or as a bird attacked by other birds of prey). The meaning is that Israel’s enemies are to completely ravage her.
Are birds of prey circling around her?
Go, gather all the wild beasts
and bring them to devour her.
10Many rulers # 12:10 Or “Many shepherds.” Some view the shepherds as foreign kings, yet it is likely that this refers to Judah’s kings, who bore the responsibility of the ruin of the nation. have destroyed my vineyard.
They have trampled my property # 12:10 Or “portion.”
and have made my magnificent fields
into a desolate desert.
11They have left it a wasteland—
wasted, waterless, and empty before me.
The whole land is laid waste,
yet there is no one who seems to care.
12Many destroyers have marched over those barren hills.
Yahweh’s sword has devoured the people throughout the land;
no one is safe.
13The people planted wheat but reaped nothing but weeds.
They wearied themselves for nothing.
They will be disappointed by their small harvest
because of the burning anger of Yahweh.”
Yahweh’s Message to Israel’s Neighbors
14Here is what Yahweh said to me concerning our evil neighboring nations who attacked the land he promised to my people Israel: “I will uproot those nations and throw them off their land. I will also uproot the people of Judah and rescue them from the midst of their enemies. 15Then after a period of exile, # 12:15 Or “after I have uprooted them.” I will again show compassion to each nation and bring each one back to their homelands. 16They once taught my people to worship Baal, but if they acknowledge me as the only true God, # 12:16 Or “if they learn to swear by my name, ‘As Yahweh lives.’ ” and if they learn from my people how to worship me, then I will establish them and prosper them alongside my people. # 12:16 This verse shows us that God loves the nations and forgives nations who turn to him. 17However, if they don’t listen to me, I will uproot them from their lands and completely destroy them. I, Yahweh, have spoken.”
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Jeremiah 12: TPT
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