Sermon Tone Analysis

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?