Jeremiah 17:1-13--The Sin of Judah

Jeremiah 17:1-13
English Standard Version

The Sin of Judah
17 “The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron; with a point of diamond it is engraved on the tablet of their heart, and on the horns of their altars, 2 while their children remember their altars and their Asherim, beside every green tree and on the high hills, 3 on the mountains in the open country. Your wealth and all your treasures I will give for spoil as the price of your high places for sin throughout all your territory. 4 You shall loosen your hand from your heritage that I gave to you, and I will make you serve your enemies in a land that you do not know, for in my anger a fire is kindled that shall burn forever.”

5 Thus says the LORD:
“Cursed is the man who trusts in man
    and makes flesh his strength,
    whose heart turns away from the LORD.
6 He is like a shrub in the desert,
    and shall not see any good come.
He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness,
    in an uninhabited salt land.

7 “Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,
    whose trust is the LORD.
8 He is like a tree planted by water,
    that sends out its roots by the stream,
and does not fear when heat comes,
    for its leaves remain green,
and is not anxious in the year of drought,
    for it does not cease to bear fruit.”

9 The heart is deceitful above all things,
    and desperately sick;
    who can understand it?
10 “I the LORD search the heart
    and test the mind,
to give every man according to his ways,
    according to the fruit of his deeds.”

11 Like the partridge that gathers a brood that she did not hatch,
    so is he who gets riches but not by justice;
in the midst of his days they will leave him,
    and at his end he will be a fool.

12 A glorious throne set on high from the beginning
    is the place of our sanctuary.
13 O LORD, the hope of Israel,
    all who forsake you shall be put to shame;
those who turn away from you shall be written in the earth,
    for they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living water.

---

Judah cannot claim to be ignorant about idol worship like some of the other nations of the world might.  They knew better because of the Law and the Prophets.  The LORD is not going to let them get away with their rebellion.  Their hearts may have been like stone, but they have written their sins on their hearts with an iron pen with a diamond tip that has permanently etched their hearts and left the mark of their sin.  They are followers of these foreign gods, so they will have their land and wealth taken away and be made to serve the people of other lands.  It seems a high price to pay, but it is the only thing that will get their attention.  The LORD also says that He will always hate their sin, even though He will redeem them once again, He will never stop being angry about the way in which they have cheated on Him.  His jealousy for His people is good and righteous.

The LORD warns his people not to trust in the strength of other men (other nations) to save them from this judgment that He has declared.  No one can save them from it and those they turn to might just take their wealth and then also turn against them, or if they do try to assist, they will surely be defeated.  It will be to their own harm to try to come to Judah's defense this time.

Then the LORD reminds Jeremiah of Psalm 1 and how the blessed man will trust in the LORD and be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water that will bear fruit in its season.  Its leaves will remain green, and the tree will remain fruitful, even though the times of drought.  The heart of man is desperately sick though, beyond all natural understanding.  It is a spiritual sickness that has permeated everything.  It is also desperately wicked--opposed to the things of God.  Such a person with such a heart is juxtaposed in Psalm 1 as being as worthless as the chaff that the wind drives away or is easily consumed in the fire.  The Spirit tells Jeremiah to be discerning about who is who and that the LORD will repay each kind of man according to his visible deeds and his invisible condition of his heart.

There is much injustice that is going on by the rich and powerful who were supposed to be the caretakers of the LORD's people.  Instead, they are oppressing and fleecing the flock of God for their own gain.  They are abusing people, maybe even going to the point of murdering them so that they can take wealth that they have not done any work themselves to gain.  However, a man cannot keep his riches and riches will not save him from the LORD's judgment.  The LORD cannot be bribed by our wealth because He has infinite riches.  We cannot offer Him anything He would desire, for He is self-sufficient.  He already has everything that He needs in Himself.

Therefore, the right response to all this is to see the LORD high and lifted up on His throne and honor and worship Him.  One day all peoples of all nations will bow down in submission to Him, and many will be ashamed when they are forced to do so because they have spent all of their natural lives in rebellion claiming that they are their own god or that some other god is real and the LORD is not the true God or that it doesn't matter which god you worship or that there is no god.  I'm sure you are aware of all these views, but none of these aberrant views will save anyone--there is only one Way to salvation and that is through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the Son of God.  He is the source of all life--both physical and eternal.  Those who seek to live forever must first die to their own flesh and sinful desires here and not.  This is the same as what Jesus taught in His Sermon on the Mount.