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NLT

English Standard Version (ESV)

New Living Translation (NLT)

12 LORD, you always give me justice Why are evil people so happy? 2 You have planted them, but you are far from their hearts. 3 But as for me, LORD, you know my heart. Set them aside to be slaughtered! 4 How long must this land mourn? “The LORD doesn’t see what’s ahead for us!” 5 “If racing against mere men makes you tired, what will you do in the thickets near the Jordan? 6 Even your brothers, members of your own family, no matter how pleasantly they speak. 7 “I have abandoned my people, my special possession. I have surrendered my dearest ones to their enemies. 8 My chosen people have roared at me like a lion of the forest, so I have treated them with contempt. 9 My chosen people act like speckled vultures, Bring on the wild animals to pick their corpses clean! 10 “Many rulers have ravaged my vineyard, and turning all its beauty into a barren wilderness. 11 They have made it an empty wasteland; and no one even cares. 12 On all the bare hilltops, No one will escape! 13 My people have planted wheat because of the fierce anger of the LORD.”

A Message for Israel’s Neighbors

14 Now this is what the LORD says: “I will uproot from their land all the evil nations reaching out for the possession I gave my people Israel. And I will uproot Judah from among them. 15 But afterward I will return and have compassion on all of them. I will bring them home to their own lands again, each nation to its own possession. 16 And if these nations truly learn the ways of my people, and if they learn to swear by my name, saying, ‘As surely as the LORD lives’ (just as they taught my people to swear by the name of Baal), then they will be given a place among my people. 17 But any nation who refuses to obey me will be uprooted and destroyed. I, the LORD, have spoken!”

Introduction to Jeremiah

Background of Jeremiah

What Is the Book of Jeremiah About?

Time: 3 Minutes

Have you ever wished you could see into the future? What if you saw disaster coming, and no one would believe you? Imagine trying to save your friends, but instead of listening to you they only laugh. After a while, your “negativity” gets old and your friends abandon you, or worse, they seek to silence you. This was Jeremiah’s story.

Jeremiah was chosen by God before he was born (Jeremiah 1:5) to be a prophet to God’s people in the southern kingdom of Israel called Judah, which included the city of Jerusalem. God called him while he was still young (1:6-7) to warn his friends and neighbors about coming judgment and war. The great and powerful Babylonian army would soon destroy Jerusalem and take its citizens captive because of Judah’s sin against God.

The book of Jeremiah uncovers widespread corruption in society and in the religious institutions. The people had abandoned God for idols, they were imitating other nations, and they were lining their own pockets at the expense of the poor and the weak. God would not let this go on forever.

Jeremiah saw tragedy and reckoning on the horizon. He warned the people, but instead of recognizing truth, they recommitted to lies. Judah’s leaders beat him (20:2), threatened him with death (26:11), banned him from the temple (36:5), imprisoned him (37:15), left him for dead in a storage pit (38:6), and finally took him by force into Egypt (43:6). Through all of this, Jeremiah never stopped obeying God’s call to speak what was true.

Jeremiah has been called the “weeping prophet” because he wept for the fate of Israel (8:18), but he did not lose hope in God’s goodness. He prophesied that although God would punish his people, he would not make a “full end” of them (5:10, 16 ESV).

Through Jeremiah, God declared that one day he would gather his people back to their homeland (29:13-14). He renewed his promise to raise up a good king or a “righteous branch” from the family tree of David (33:15), and he declared that although the people had forgotten him, he would not forget his “everlasting covenant” with them (50:5, 32:40). God would give his people “one heart and one way” so that they would remain faithful to him and enjoy God’s goodness forever (32:39).

In other words, Jeremiah speaks a message of hope. God would punish Judah for their sin and fulfilled his promise to send them into exile, but that does not mean that sin’s consequences have the final word in Judah’s history.

Even today the book of Jeremiah pulls back the curtain to show us what the future holds.

Ironically, to find our future hope, Jeremiah encourages us to look back at what God has done in the past.

Just as God brought justice to Judah, God will not allow evil and suffering among the nations today to continue forever. A day of justice is coming. Jesus Christ will return to judge the living and the dead (2 Timothy 4:1).

Jeremiah warns those who are religious but not truly worshiping God. He still blows the whistle on those who are living for their own pleasure and profit, calling them to repent before that day of justice comes.

Jeremiah also still speaks to anyone looking for hope, who feels discouraged by the rampant unrepentant sin throughout the world, and who feels afraid of coming judgment. Ironically, to find our future hope, Jeremiah encourages us to look back at what God has done in the past, what he promised long ago.

Stand by the roads, and look,
and ask for the ancient paths,
where the good way is; and walk in it,
and find rest for your souls. (Jeremiah 6:16 ESV)

Open Jeremiah and learn to hold tight to the promises and the hand of God in the tears, in the tragedy, and when you feel all alone, so that you can look to the future with hope.

What Is the Background of Jeremiah?

Time: 20 Minutes

The Background of Jeremiah

1

Author and Date

Jeremiah was called to be a prophet c. 627 BC, when he was young (Jeremiah 1:6). He served for more than 40 years (Jeremiah 1:2–3). Jeremiah had a difficult life. His messages of repentance delivered at the temple were not well received (Jeremiah 7:1–8:3; 26:1–11). His hometown plotted against him (Jeremiah 11:18–23), and he endured much persecution (Jeremiah 20:1–6; 37:11–38:13; 43:1–7). At God’s command, he never married (Jeremiah 16:1–4). Although he preached God’s Word faithfully, he apparently had only two converts: Baruch, his scribe (Jeremiah 32:12; 36:1–4; 45:1–5); and Ebed-melech, an Ethiopian eunuch who served the king (Jeremiah 38:7–13; 39:15–18). Though the book does not reveal the time or place of Jeremiah’s death, he probably died in Egypt, where he had been taken by his countrymen against his will after the fall of Jerusalem (Jeremiah 43:1–7). He most likely did not live to see the devastation he mentions in ch. 46–51.

2

Purpose

Jeremiah and Baruch left a record of the difficult times in which they lived, God’s message for those times, and God’s message for the future of Israel and the nations.

3

Key Themes

1. God and Humanity

God alone is a living God. God alone made the world. All other so-called gods are mere idols (Jeremiah 10:1–16). This Creator God called Israel to a special relationship (ch. 2–6), gave her his holy Word, and promised to bless her temple with his name and presence (Jeremiah 7:1–8:3). God rules both the present and the future (Jeremiah 1:4–16; 29:1–10), protects his chosen ones (Jeremiah 1:17–19; 29:11–14; 39:15–18; 45:1–5), and saves those who turn to him (Jeremiah 12:14–17). Because God is absolutely trustworthy and always keeps his promises, his grace triumphs over sin and judgment when people repent and turn to him.

The human heart is sick, and no one except God can cure it (Jeremiah 17:9–10). The nations worship idols instead of their Creator (Jeremiah 10:1–16). Israel, God’s covenant people, went after other gods (ch. 2–6), defiled the temple by their unwillingness to repent (Jeremiah 7:1–8:3; 26:1–11), and oppressed one another (Jeremiah 34:8–16). Since Israel and the nations have sinned against God (Jeremiah 25:1–26), God the Creator is also the Judge of every nation on the earth he created (ch. 46–51).

2. Old Covenant, Messiah, and New Covenant

God made a covenant with Israel, based on his promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Genesis 12–50). As time passed, God’s covenant with Israel included his promise to David of an eternal kingdom (2 Samuel 7; 1 Chronicles 17). God used Jeremiah to deliver the good news that, sometime in the future, God would “make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah” (Jeremiah 31:31). This covenant would be different in one major way. The new covenant partners will not break the covenant, as most of the old partners did even though God was completely faithful (Jeremiah 31:32). Instead, the new covenant partners will have the Word of God so ingrained in their hearts through God’s power that they will know and follow God all their lives (Jeremiah 31:33–34).

Thus, all the new covenant partners will be believers who are forgiven and empowered by God; he will “remember their sin no more” (Jeremiah 31:34). Hebrews 8:8–12 quotes Jeremiah 31:31–34 as evidence that the new covenant has come through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The coming of Jesus the Messiah fulfills God’s promises to Abraham, Moses, David, and the prophets.

4

Outline

I. Introduction (1:1–19)
II. Israel’s Covenantal Adultery (2:1–6:30)
III. False Religion and an Idolatrous People (7:1–10:25)
IV. Jeremiah’s Struggles with God and Judah (11:1–20:18)
V. Jeremiah’s Confrontations (21:1–29:32)
VI. Restoration for Judah and Israel (30:1–33:26)
VII. God Judges Judah (34:1–45:5)
VIII. God’s Judgment on the Nations (46:1–51:64)
IX. Conclusion: The Fall of Jerusalem (52:1–34)

5

Israel and Judah at the Time of Jeremiah

Background to Jeremiah

The Global Message of Jeremiah

1

Jeremiah in Redemptive History

Jeremiah lived and prophesied in the sixth century BC, in the days leading up to the exile of Judah to Babylon, and then in the wake of that tragic event. Jeremiah’s prophecy exposes the rebellious hearts of God’s own people, which has led to their impending exile to a foreign land. This rebelliousness goes all the way back to Eden, where the first human couple likewise rebelled against their Maker and Lord. Adam and Eve were exiled from Eden when they rebelled, and the same fate is falling on God’s corporate people as they are exiled from the Promised Land.

God’s Covenant Promises

The reason this exile is so devastating is that at the heart of God’s covenant promises to Abraham was the promise of the land of Canaan. When God’s people are driven out of this land, it seems as though God’s own promises are coming unraveled. Yet throughout Jeremiah we find that God’s strong statements of judgment are surpassed by his pledge of mercy. He will not abandon his people, no matter how sinful they remain. Indeed, the radical problem of sin requires a radical solution—nothing less than the Lord himself writing his law not on tablets of stone but on the very hearts of his people (Jeremiah 31:33–34; compare 2 Corinthians 3:6). So it is that, at the climax of Jeremiah, we are reassured of God’s determination to restore his people to himself (Jeremiah 30–33).

God’s Final Answer

This restoration includes a promise of causing “a righteous Branch to spring up for David” who “shall execute justice and righteousness in the land” (Jeremiah 33:15). Ultimately, the tension between the people’s stubborn waywardness and God’s unbreakable covenant promises is resolved only in Jesus Christ. In Christ, God’s promise of a permanent Davidic heir is fulfilled (2 Samuel 7:12–16; Jeremiah 33:14–26). Christ is the true and final “righteous Branch” who proves fruitful where Israel proved fruitless (Jeremiah 23:5; 33:15; John 15:1). Only through his atoning work is God able to extend mercy to his people in spite of their sin.

God’s Worldwide Redemption

Jeremiah looks forward not only to the coming of Jesus Christ, the true heir of David, but also to the worldwide extension of grace through Jesus far beyond the national borders of Israel. Through Christ and the fulfillment of God’s promises, God’s promise to Abraham that in him “all the families of the earth shall be blessed” begins to be fulfilled (Genesis 12:3). God will judge the nations for their sin, as he must (Jeremiah 46:1–51:64). Indeed, he will also judge Judah, who has proven to be as wicked as the nations surrounding her (Jeremiah 21:1–29:32). Yet through and despite such judgment God will not be deterred from his ultimate purpose of calling to himself a people from every tribe and language and race and nation (Revelation 5:9; see Jeremiah 3:16–17).

2

Universal Themes in Jeremiah

The Promise-Keeping God

Jeremiah’s prophecy resounds with the theme of God as the great keeper of promises. When God makes a covenant with the nation of Israel, he will not let that relationship be thwarted, even when his people are faithless. The pledge “I will be your God, and you shall be my people” is the constant promise of God to wayward Israel throughout the book of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 7:23; 11:4; 30:22). This is great encouragement to God’s people around the world today, for they have become the heirs of God’s covenant promises to ethnic Israel. No matter how others identify us socially, ethnically, or racially, believers today can know that, through Christ, the God of the Bible will be our God, and we will be his people.

Sin as Hard-Heartedness

Throughout the book of Jeremiah the focus shifts back and forth from God’s own covenant people to the nations. In both cases, however, the same fundamental problem persists. Both are sinful. Both have hard, stubborn hearts (Jeremiah 5:23; 11:8; 18:12). While the nations may be uncircumcised physically, Judah is uncircumcised spiritually (Jeremiah 9:25–26; see also 4:4; 6:10). This hard-heartedness is seen in Jeremiah especially through the hypocrisy of Israel’s leaders—the artificial service and hollow religiosity of the prophets, priests, and other officials (Jeremiah 3:10; 5:2; 7:1–4).

The Inclusion of Gentiles in the People of God

Jeremiah’s prophecy helps to advance God’s promise to Abraham that he would be a blessing, and that all the families of the earth would be blessed through him (Genesis 12:1–3). Jeremiah was to go to the nations both “to destroy and to overthrow” as well as “to build and to plant” (Jeremiah 1:10). Israel will multiply and increase in the land (Jeremiah 3:16; compare God’s original call to Adam and Eve in Genesis 1:28) and “Jerusalem shall be called the throne of the Lord, and all nations shall gather to it, to the presence of the Lord” (Jeremiah 3:17). To God “shall the nations come from the ends of the earth” (Jeremiah 16:19). This inclusion of the nations is one reason God shows mercy to Judah: if they return to the Lord, “then nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall they glory” (Jeremiah 4:2).

3

The Global Message of Jeremiah for Today

Global Justice

The hard-heartedness of God’s people manifests itself not only vertically (toward God) but also horizontally (toward other people). “This people has a stubborn and rebellious heart,” and as a result “they have grown fat and sleek. They know no bounds in deeds of evil; they judge not with justice the cause of the fatherless . . . and they do not defend the rights of the needy” (Jeremiah 5:23, 28). The church can learn from the book of Jeremiah about God’s tender heart toward the oppressed. We also learn of his desire for his own people to be mediators of mercy to those who are marginalized and disadvantaged. Indeed, knowing God includes, by definition, the defense of “the cause of the poor and needy” (Jeremiah 22:16).

New Hearts

As the global church labors on gladly in its great mission to make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:18–20), we must recognize the need for God to do a deep, cleansing work of the heart in creating new people for himself. When people profess faith in Christ, they must be taught as well about the divine cleansing of the heart that is effected through his indwelling Holy Spirit. In the new covenant that has dawned in Christ (Hebrews 8:8–13; 9:15) we find that forgiveness of sins and the writing of God’s law on the heart are closely connected. The gospel saves men and women of all ethnicities by wiping away their sins and by implanting within them new desires for God and holiness. The sinful hard-heartedness of all people cannot be altered in any humanly manufactured way (Jeremiah 13:23). A new internal work on the heart by God is required (Jeremiah 31:31–34). As global Christians speak the good news to those in their own neighborhoods and around the world, we do so in utter dependence on God, knowing that only he can soften hearts—and that he loves to do so.

12:1 Jeremiah affirmed the Lord’s justice when dealing with him in the past. However, since he was obedient, he could not understand why his life was being threatened. By contrast, those who were wicked and evil seemed to be prosperous and happy.

12:1-12:4 Jeremiah wondered why a just God did not immediately punish the wicked. Jeremiah could not stand the continued wickedness, yet he also grieved for the terrible human suffering that he saw coming (10:19-25).

12:2 Jeremiah was irked that the Lord allowed evil people to become established and enjoy prosperity and happiness.

12:3 Although Jeremiah’s words seem self-righteous, he was submissive to the Lord’s personal searching of his heart. Jeremiah was also angry enough to demand that his enemies suffer the fate they had intended for him. He hoped they would be butchered or slaughtered like helpless sheep. Jeremiah did not seem to desire their forgiveness or their return to the Lord.

12:4 Jeremiah expressed feelings of helplessness; the Lord’s decree of desolation for the land seemed excessive. Jeremiah did recognize the evil of the people’s sneering claim that the Lord could not see the future (cp. Isa 46:10).

12:5 Jeremiah’s racing against mere men was the conflict he experienced with his family and friends. It could not be compared to the race against horses that would take place when the foreign army arrived. The coming war would be as severe as finding one’s way through the thickets near the Jordan.

12:5-12:13 The Lord rebuked his messenger and responded to his question with questions of his own.

12:6 Jeremiah’s family was a microcosm of Judah; they would plot . . . against Jeremiah behind his back (11:9) while speaking pleasantly to his face. They wanted to convince him that the Lord would not let the Babylonians harm the people of Judah and Jerusalem, and they hoped to stop him from bringing shame on the family (cp. Mark 3:21).

12:7-12:13 God called the people of Judah his special possession, his dearest ones, his chosen people, and his vineyard. However, they had become hostile to him, so they had to be surrendered to their enemies. Perhaps the most severe justice they could face was for the Lord to step back and let the people suffer the consequences of their evil ways.

12:9 The people of Judah would become prey to huge flocks of speckled vultures. The people would soon be corpses that wild animals would pick . . . clean.

12:10 A vineyard is a frequent metaphor for God’s people (e.g., Isa 5:1-10; Matt 21:33-45; John 15:1-8).

12:10-12:13 The corrupt rulers of Judah had already desolated the land by leading the people into sin (e.g., 2 Kgs 16:8-19; 21:16; 23:33-35); the invading army would simply complete the task.

12:11 Sorrow gripped the Lord as he saw the empty wasteland. He had ordered the invasion according to the terms of the Sinai covenant, but the act gave him no satisfaction. Sadly, no one other than God even cared.

12:12 The invading armies were the sword that the Lord sent to destroy the land.

12:13 The Lord found no joy in seeing his people’s crops eaten by invaders, who left only thorns. However, the apostasy of the people of Judah merited the fierce anger of the Lord (cp. Ezek 16:36-39), resulting in shame.

12:14 No evil nations would receive protection from God’s punishment, not even those nations that God used to punish Judah. He would uproot them. • The Lord would also uproot Judah, but this is a positive reference to deliverance from exile.

12:14-12:17 The Lord explained an important aspect of Jeremiah’s commission (see 1:10).

12:15 I will . . . have compassion on all of them: Even other nations, as wicked as they were, could be restored after experiencing disaster.

12:16 To experience God’s compassion (12:15), the people of other nations needed to convert from idolatry and learn the ways of God’s people. This conversion would require a public submission to the terms of the Sinai covenant that included the words, as surely as the Lord lives. In addition, they would need to reject any oaths made in the name of Baal, by which they had persuaded Israelites to worship foreign idols.

12:17 If these nations refused to obey the Lord, they would be uprooted and destroyed (1:10). • I, the Lord, have spoken: This statement gave God’s declaration the force of a divine decree.

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