Jeremiah’s Impatience

In chapter 11 we saw the Lord revealed a conspiracy. Some of Jeremiah’s own countrymen were planning to kill him. The Lord promised Jeremiah that He would take care of his enemies. As chapter 12 opens we see Jeremiah is impatient with the Lord. He is ready for his enemies to be destroyed immediately. Let’s not be hard on Jeremiah. If a conspiracy to kill us had been revealed to us, we would be ready for the Lord to deal with it as well. Let’s break down this chapter.

1. Jeremiah Questions God (1-6).

A. The question of the Old Testament (1-2).

The question Jeremiah asks is one we see over and over in the Old Testament. The entire book of Job is dedicated to it. The Psalms are filled with it. The question is sprinkled throughout the history of Israel and the prophets as well.

Let’s notice how Jeremiah begins his prayer to the Lord. He recognizes the character of God. He identifies God as righteous. This is where all suffering must start. If we do not believe that God is righteous then we will have no hope in suffering at all. If we cannot trust God, we cannot trust anyone.

As well, let’s give credit to Jeremiah for going to the Lord. There are many who abandon God when suffering comes. Perhaps they have believed the lie that God is not righteous. Therefore, they don’t seek him. Jeremiah’s understanding of the righteous nature of God encourages him to approach the Lord in prayer.

Look at the questions he asks.

Why does the way of the wicked prosper?

Why do all the treacherous thrive?

In verse 2 Jeremiah explains what he means. He says the Lord plants the wicked in the land. The wicked take root. The wicked grow and produce fruit. The wicked are likened to a crop that is successful. We know that Jeremiah is speaking of his own people and not the Babylonians because he says, “You are near in their mouth and far from their heart.”

Jeremiah probably had in mind the priests and prophets of his day. They claimed to know the Lord. They had large followings of people. It is a temptation of faithful preachers to grow discouraged when they see the prosperity of false teachers. They look at large churches and wonder why they can’t be employed where the work is easier. The faithful preacher should be sure to never seek popularity or to amass a great following. He should be content to be faithful to the Word of God and allow the Lord to take care of any growth that occurs or prosperity he receives.

B. Jeremiah pleads his own case (3).

The Lord had known Jeremiah before he was conceived. The book opened with that truth (1:5). Look at what Jeremiah says concerning himself:

You know me

You see me

You test my heart toward You

Jeremiah was not hidden from the Lord at all. His point is that he has a relationship with God that is sincere. He is obeying the Lord. He believes he should be spared, and his enemies destroyed. They are the hypocrites. He is doing God’s work.

Look at how strong his language is:

“Pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and set them apart for the day of slaughter.”

Jeremiah tells the Lord what these people deserve. Surely if the Lord knew Jeremiah, then He knew these people as well. He could see their wicked hearts. Jeremiah could see how wicked they were, surely the Lord could! Some people say that Jeremiah was wrong. He should not have prayed this way. I’m not sure. We see this type of prayer prayed in heaven. Listen to Revelation 6:9-10:

And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?

Don’t misunderstand me. We should pray for the salvation of our enemies. We should do good to those who do evil to us. At the same time, we should desire the justice of God. We should not desire the Lord’s enemies have their way. Jeremiah rightly sees his enemies as the Lord’s enemies. They are working against God and should pay the price for it. We can hold to both a desire for justice and salvation. There is no contradiction in doing so.

C. Jeremiah is impatient (4).

He moves from “Why?” to “How long?” This is another question we see a lot in the Old Testament.

How long will the land mourn?

How long will the grass wither?

The Lord had sent drought to the land because of these wicked rulers. This was one of the curses promised if the people broke covenant with God (Deut. 28:23-24). Even the animal kingdom was suffering. The entire land was suffering because of the wicked leaders of the nation. They lived as if God could not see them. Look at the end of verse 4 “He will not see our latter end.” Jeremiah was telling the people what would happen if they did not repent. The mindset of the wicked was God did not even know their future.

D. The Lord chastises Jeremiah (5-6).

He actually tells him things are going to get worse. He seems to be saying “You ain’t seen nothing yet!” Look at what the Lord says to him in verse 5:

“If you have raced with men and they have wearied you, how will you compete with horses?”

“If you are having trouble trusting in a safe land what will you do in the thicket of Jordan?”

Racing a horse on foot is easy enough for us to understand. We’re going to lose that race. The second illustration refers to trying to walk in the thick woods that surrounded the Jordan river. God is warning Jeremiah that things are going to get more difficult.

We are often guilty of complaining when things are not as hard as they could or will be. I’ve often wondered what would happen to Christians in America if we actually saw persecution. How many would continue living faithfully under the threat of imprisonment or death? It’s hard enough to get people to come to church or serve the Lord already. Imagine if things do get hard.

Things are going to get very hard for Jeremiah. It’s going to be more than people simply not liking him.

We see a hint of how difficult it would get in verse 6. Jeremiah could not even trust the people who were kind to him. His own family would be turned against him. Jeremiah’s ministry would be a lonely one. Nothing hurts more than when family turns against you. They are normally the last ones standing with us. Jeremiah should prepare himself spiritually for difficult days.

2. God responds to Jeremiah (7-13).

A. God looks into the future (7-8).

Sometimes in prophetic books we see things that have not occurred being describes as if they have already occurred. That’s the case in verses 7-8. God describes what Judah will look like when the Babylonians are finished.

Why does this happen?

God says He has abandoned His house. He has forsaken them. What does this mean? Look at the end of verse 7. God has given His people into the hands of their enemies. God has removed His protection from them. God has withdrawn Himself. He will not fight for them.

There is some very strong language used. Look at the end of verse 8.

“She has lifted up her voice against me; therefore I hate her.”

God’s people in their pride roared at Him as if they were a lion. This shows the arrogance of the people. They have challenged God with their sin. They were openly defiant against the Word of God. This is what led to God delivering them into the hands of the Babylonians.

B. God asks some questions (9).

Is my heritage like a hyena’s lair?

Are the birds of prey against her all around?

The questions are used to show the ridiculousness of the situation the people have put themselves in. We use questions sometimes to show astonishment:

Is this what our nation has become?

Is this my child?

The questions are used to communicate that same sort of thing. God is saying “How could my people come to this?”

I want to interject something about verse 9. The ESV uses hyena where other translations use speckled bird. I think speckled bird is a better translation of the word. It is a hard Hebrew word to translate. Regardless of which word is used the meaning is the same. Speckled birds are often attacked by other birds because they look differently. Scavenging birds will attack a speckled bird or they may hand out at a hyena’s lair to scavenge off the food he drags up. Either way, the point is the same, Judah will have enemies come and devour her.

C. The destruction by the Babylonian army (10-13).

The invaders would be like shepherds destroying a vineyard. They would trample down the crops and desolate the land. The crops they would plant would yield thorns because there would be no one present to take care of them. Notice the little phrase “but no man lays it to heart” in verse 11. Despite the Lord’s warnings and Jeremiah’s [preaching the people would not listen. They would keep doing what they had been doing. I want you to notice another phrase as well. Look at verse 12. “The sword of the Lord” is the Babylonians. He is the weapon God uses to judge Judah.

God sees all this before it happens. But the people don’t believe it will happen. Even though they have been told very clearly that devastation was coming, they chose not to believe it.

3. God’s Grace is Available to All Nations (14-17).

A. A warning to the nations surrounding Judah (14).

The Lord gives a warning to Judah’s evil neighbors. These were nations such as the Philistines who had caused Israel problems through the years. The Lord gave Israel the land of Canaan. Nations that sought to keep them from inheriting it were working against God. God would use the Babylonians to bring judgment against them as well. They would be plucked up from their land too. These nations that bordered Judah could expect troubling times. Many of those people would be scattered and some taken captive. Among these surrounding nations would be people from the house of Judah. God’s people are not only taken from Judah, but they are also taken from surrounding nations such as Philistia, Ammon, Tyre, Sidon, etc.

B. God’s compassion extends to all nations (15-16).

This is an interesting promise. The pagan nations who were conquered by the Babylonians could experience restoration themselves. Let’s look at the conditions:

They would have to renounce Baal worship. Look at verse 16. In the past they had taught the people of God their customs. They had evangelized the Jews. They won many of them to their false faith. They would have to turn away from this if they wanted the blessing of God. God takes it personal when pagans teach His people to do ungodly things. We should consider this when tempting people to sin.

They would have to learn the ways of God. We see that at the beginning of verse 16. This means they would have to submit to the Word of God. They would need to become students of Scripture. This would involve learning a new way to live.

They would have to swear by the name of God. Their allegiance could not be split between other deities. They must worship the God of Israel and Him only.

When we put these two things together, we see they would have top repent and place their faith in the One True God. Repentance of sin and faith is and has always been the way of salvation.

God promises the Gentile nations who repent and believe:

Compassion

Restoration

Inclusion - “Built up in the midst of My people”

God has always saved Gentile nations.

C. A final warning to nations that reject God (17).

Notice in the tone in verse 17. God makes Himself clear. If a nation does not listen that nation will pay the consequences.

What does He mean by listen? He means if they do not repent and place their faith in Him. Such nations will be plucked up and destroyed. In the end their will only be one kingdom. It is important that we are a part of that kingdom. Entrance into that kingdom is through repentance and faith in Christ. The Great Commission has been given. We are told to warn and invite all nations. It’s interesting because the chapter ends with a partial answer to the questions it opened with. Jeremiah wanted to know why God’s enemies had not been consumed. Part of the answer can be found in what we see in verses 14-17. God is calling the nations to Himself. He is more patient than we are.