Jeremiah 12:5-17--The LORD Answers Jeremiah

Jeremiah 12:5-17
English Standard Version

The LORD Answers Jeremiah
5 “If you have raced with men on foot, and they have wearied you,
    how will you compete with horses?
And if in a safe land you are so trusting,
    what will you do in the thicket of the Jordan?
6 For even your brothers and the house of your father,
    even they have dealt treacherously with you;
    they are in full cry after you;
do not believe them,
    though they speak friendly words to you.”

7 “I have forsaken my house;
    I have abandoned my heritage;
I have given the beloved of my soul
    into the hands of her enemies.
8 My heritage has become to me
    like a lion in the forest;
she has lifted up her voice against me;
    therefore I hate her.
9 Is my heritage to me like a hyena's lair?
    Are the birds of prey against her all around?
Go, assemble all the wild beasts;
    bring them to devour.
10 Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard;
    they have trampled down my portion;
they have made my pleasant portion
    a desolate wilderness.
11 They have made it a desolation;
    desolate, it mourns to me.
The whole land is made desolate,
    but no man lays it to heart.
12 Upon all the bare heights in the desert
    destroyers have come,
for the sword of the LORD devours
    from one end of the land to the other;
    no flesh has peace.
13 They have sown wheat and have reaped thorns;
    they have tired themselves out but profit nothing.
They shall be ashamed of their harvests
    because of the fierce anger of the LORD.”

14 Thus says the LORD concerning all my evil neighbors who touch the heritage that I have given my people Israel to inherit: “Behold, I will pluck them up from their land, and I will pluck up the house of Judah from among them. 15 And after I have plucked them up, I will again have compassion on them, and I will bring them again each to his heritage and each to his land. 16 And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name, ‘As the LORD lives,’ even as they taught my people to swear by Baal, then they shall be built up in the midst of my people. 17 But if any nation will not listen, then I will utterly pluck it up and destroy it, declares the LORD.”

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Though the LORD told Jeremiah not to plead and intercede for the people, Jeremiah did so anyway because he had the heart of a priest and a prophet.  The LORD answers his complaint, though He did not have to give an answer.  He asks Jeremiah questions about how he was going to be ready for the invading forces when there is nothing in his life to this point that could prepare him.  If all he had known was peace and tranquility, how would he and the people be ready for the hard times when they came if the LORD didn't warn the people?  What makes him love the ones who are trying to kill him simply for being the LORD's messenger?  The LORD warns him not to trust the people even if they speak kindly to him.  Because they hate the LORD, they will hate Jeremiah and try to kill him.

Then the LORD speaks to Jeremiah about how difficult this is for Him to do.  He has caused His Spirit to leave the Temple that was called His house.  He has abandoned the people called His heritage.  He has turned His beloved over to her enemies.  His people have become like a lion in the woods that is heard but not seen.  It roars to tell others to stay away, and this is what they have done to the LORD.  He does not fear them as a man fears a lion, but as a man hates a lion who is out to try to kill him, so the LORD says that He has come to hate those that were called His people.  They are also described as hyenas and birds of prey (all these descriptions are of unclean animals that eat dead things and are full of disease--the LORD sees "His people" as unclean now).

The wild beasts will destroy the Land.  The so-called "shepherds" of the people (their kings and other leaders) have destroyed the good things of the Land, like the vineyards.  There is nothing left for the people other than wilderness wasteland--the Land that was once called a land flowing with milk and honey is now desolate, fruitless, and overrun with wild animals.  All those who called this land home will be sent away and it will be given to others for a time.  Anyone who is left in the land will not love it.  Destruction is coming and the LORD will not give them a fruitful harvest (for it would simply fall to their enemies, for they will plant and not reap).

The LORD will judge Judah, but at some point after that, He will allow them to return.  The LORD will judge the nations that do violence to the people of Judah and desiccate the Land and destroy the Temple.  While it was part of His plan to allow this to happen, He will not hold those who do it guiltless.  The LORD even promises to bless these Gentile nations if they turn to Him and refuse to worship their idols (look at what He does to Assyria, Babylon and the Medo-Persian Empires).  Egypt and Assyria will be nations that worship the LORD in the end times as we have seen in the book of Isaiah.  They will build altars to the LORD that are like the altar in Jerusalem and they will all live under God's Law and His authority.  The nations that refuse to repent and turn to God will be destroyed.

You may ask how it is fair that Gentile nations are condemned for rejecting a God they may not have ever known about, but the Bible points a different picture.  We all came off of one Ark (Noah and his sons) and everyone knew about the LORD and some people quickly rejected Him--others followed Him for a while and slowly rejected Him.  However, all started off with the same knowledge.  We all have the same general revelation, even to this day, of creation and conscience.  Today, we have the Word of God that is able to be heard and understood by close to 90% of the people of the world.  The remaining 10% of the people speak as many languages as the 90% do (small groups of people, each with their own language).  There is still some work to be done to take the Word of God to every tribe, tongue, and nation, but we are closer today than ever.  Even those who have yet to hear the Word of God in their own language though are without excuse as the LORD uses miraculous circumstances to bring people to missionaries or bring missionaries to people and communicates with people through dreams and visions so that they know the truth that they are seeking.  However, most of the world loves the darkness and does not seek the light.  They are condemned because they did not want to know what the LORD would have gladly made known to them.  He has obligation to send prophets to those whom He knows will not listen.  Yet, He has told us that there will be a remnant from every tribe, tongue and nation.  So, the gospel will go forth to the whole world and people will be saved from every people group, even those that we think are impossible to reach.  What are you doing to help reach the world with the gospel?  Will you go into your neighborhood?  Your marketplace?  Your colleges and universities?  Will you give to missions and to the translation efforts for the remaining languages and to the planting of churches both at home and abroad to disciple those who are going to be saved?  Will you share the gospel with your family and disciple those who are under your care to raise them in the nurture and admonition of the LORD?  If Israel and Judah had this kind of focus to be the light of the world that they were called to be, I think we would have been looking at a very different message from God.  As we see it in the Old Testament, even some of their prophets did not want to go to certain nations because they did not want anyone to be saved from that people group.  The Joshua Project keeps a list of the 100 largest unreached and least-reached people groups here:  Unreached People Groups-100 Largest | Joshua Project.  Consider praying specifically for one of these groups as an individual and as a local congregation.  Watch and see what the LORD will do through our prayers and how He will move the hearts of some people to go for Him as they are praying as He did with the prophet Isaiah.  "Here I am, LORD.  Send me."