CLARITY EDITION · OLD TESTAMENT
Jeremiah 12
Chapter 12 of 52
Chapter Overview
What happens in Jeremiah 12
Jeremiah asks God a difficult question: Why do wicked people prosper? God responds by telling Jeremiah that things will get even harder. God then mourns over the destruction of his land but promises that after judgment, he will have compassion on the surrounding nations if they turn to him.
Scripture
Jeremiah 12
Jeremiah Questions God
Study note
Jeremiah brings a bold complaint before God. He asks why wicked people seem to do well in life. They talk about God, but their hearts are far from him. Meanwhile, the land suffers because of their evil.
1 Lord, you always do what is right whenever I bring a complaint to you. But let me talk to you about fairness for a moment. Why do wicked people get ahead? Why do dishonest people seem to have such easy lives? Righteous art thou, O LORD, when I plead with thee: yet let me talk with thee of thy judgments: Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? wherefore are all they happy that deal very treacherously?
2 You planted them, and they put down roots. They grow tall and produce fruit. Your name is always on their lips, but you are nowhere near their hearts. Thou hast planted them, yea, they have taken root: they grow, yea, they bring forth fruit: thou art near in their mouth, and far from their reins.
3 But you know me, Lord. You see right through me and test every thought I have about you. Drag these people away like sheep headed for slaughter. Set them aside for the day they'll be destroyed. But thou, O LORD, knowest me: thou hast seen me, and tried mine heart toward thee: pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and prepare them for the day of slaughter.
4 How long will the land stay dry and the grass in every field stay dead? The animals and birds are dying off because the people living here are so wicked. Yet those people say, "God can't see what's going to happen to us." How long shall the land mourn, and the herbs of every field wither, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein? the beasts are consumed, and the birds; because they said, He shall not see our last end.
God's Answer: Greater Trials Ahead
Study note
God does not simply answer Jeremiah's question. Instead, he warns that if Jeremiah is already tired from running with foot soldiers, how will he keep up with horses? Even his own family members have turned against him.
5 "If running against regular people has already tired you out, how will you keep up with horses? If you trip in open, safe land, how will you make it through the thick jungle along the Jordan River?" If thou hast run with the footmen, and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses? and if in the land of peace, wherein thou trustedst, they wearied thee, then how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan?
6 "Even your own brothers and your father's family have turned on you. They have spoken out loudly against you behind your back. Don't believe them, even when they say nice things to your face." For even thy brethren, and the house of thy father, even they have dealt treacherously with thee; yea, they have called a multitude after thee: believe them not, though they speak fair words unto thee.
God Mourns for His Land
Study note
God himself speaks with deep grief about his people. He has had to give his beloved nation over to her enemies. The land has been made empty and desolate because the leaders have destroyed it.
7 "I have walked away from my house. I have given up on the people I love. I have handed the nation that is dear to my heart over to her enemies." I have forsaken mine house, I have left mine heritage; I have given the dearly beloved of my soul into the hand of her enemies.
8 "The people I loved have turned on me like a lion roaring from the forest. Because of that, I have turned against them." Mine heritage is unto me as a lion in the forest; it crieth out against me: therefore have I hated it.
9 "My people have become like a brightly colored bird that all the other birds of prey circle around. Go round up every wild animal and bring them to feast on her." Mine heritage is unto me as a speckled bird, the birds round about are against her; come ye, assemble all the beasts of the field, come to devour.
10 "Many foreign leaders have trampled my vineyard. They have stomped all over my beautiful field and turned it into a lifeless wasteland." Many pastors have destroyed my vineyard, they have trodden my portion under foot, they have made my pleasant portion a desolate wilderness.
11 "They've turned it into a wasteland. It lies there empty and dried up before me. The whole land has been stripped bare, and nobody even cares." They have made it desolate, and being desolate it mourneth unto me; the whole land is made desolate, because no man layeth it to heart.
12 "Armies of destroyers have swept across every bare hill in the wilderness. The Lord's sword is devouring the land from one end to the other. Nobody anywhere has peace." The spoilers are come upon all high places through the wilderness: for the sword of the LORD shall devour from the one end of the land even to the other end of the land: no flesh shall have peace.
13 "They planted wheat but got nothing but thorns. They worked themselves to exhaustion but have nothing to show for it. Their harvest will bring them only shame, because the Lord's fierce anger is burning." They have sown wheat, but shall reap thorns: they have put themselves to pain, but shall not profit: and they shall be ashamed of your revenues because of the fierce anger of the LORD.
A Promise to the Nations
Study note
God speaks about the surrounding nations that have attacked his people. He will uproot them from their lands, but afterward, if they learn to follow the Lord, he will show compassion and restore them.
14 The Lord says this about all the hostile neighbors who attack the land he gave to his people Israel: "I will pull them up from their own lands. And I will also pull the people of Judah out from among them." Thus saith the LORD against all mine evil neighbours, that touch the inheritance which I have caused my people Israel to inherit; Behold, I will pluck them out of their land, and pluck out the house of Judah from among them.
15 "But after I have pulled them up, I will feel compassion for them again. I will bring each group back to their own land and their own country." And it shall come to pass, after that I have plucked them out I will return, and have compassion on them, and will bring them again, every man to his heritage, and every man to his land.
16 "And if they truly learn to follow my ways and make their promises in my name, saying, 'As the Lord lives,' then they will be given a place among my people. They once taught my people to swear by Baal. But if they learn my ways, they will belong." And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name, The LORD liveth; as they taught my people to swear by Baal; then shall they be built in the midst of my people.
17 "But if any nation will not listen, I will rip it out by the roots. I will destroy it fully," says the Lord. But if they will not obey, I will utterly pluck up and destroy that nation, saith the LORD.
Key Themes
Themes in Jeremiah 12
Why the wicked prosperGod's grief over His own landGreater trials ahead require greater faithJudgment mixed with future hopeGod's sovereignty over all nations
Apply This Today
Living Jeremiah 12
Asking God why the wicked prosper is an honest and legitimate prayer. God's answer to Jeremiah is sobering: if the easy trials seem hard, the harder ones ahead will require even deeper faith. God does not always explain His timing, but He does promise ultimate justice and restoration.
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