Jeremiah (Part 2)

Richard Belcher focuses on themes from the book of Jeremiah as presented in the Bible. He explores the deep and challenging messages conveyed through Jeremiah’s life and prophecies, emphasizing God’s persistent call for repentance amidst the backdrop of Israel’s historical and spiritual circumstances. Belcher discusses how these ancient texts apply to modern Christian life and the importance of heeding God’s word.

The following unedited transcript is provided by Beluga AI.

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This audio lecture is brought to you by RTS on iTunesu at the virtual campus of Reformed Theological Seminary. To listen to other lectures and to access additional resources, please visit us at itunes rts.edu. For additional information on how to take distance education courses for credit towards a fully accredited Master of Arts in Religion degree, please visit our website at virtual rts.edu. After the call of Jeremiah, chapters two through six are an indictment against Judah for their flagrant, inexcusable apostasy.

These are a collection of various kinds of oracles, focusing on the condition of God’s people as a basis for the judgment that is coming. And there still is, at this point, the possibility of repentance. Now, there is some question as to when these oracles originate. In fact, there’s a lot of discussion about whether any of Jeremiah’s prophecies are in support of the reform. What is their connection to the reform of Josiah?

If Jeremiah’s call came in 627 and Josiah’s reforms had begun in 628, and then he had the discovery of the book of the law, how do the Oracles and the material in Jeremiah relate to the reforms of Josiah? That’s a question that’s debated because as you read through chapters two through six, it doesn’t seem like there’s been any reform in terms of the condition of God’s people. So some would argue that chapters two through six come from the early years of Jeremiah, perhaps in response in favor of the reforms.

The problem is Josiah is only mentioned about three times in the book of Jeremiah. He is mentioned early on in chapter three, verse six, then in chapter 25, verse three, and then in 36, verse two. Some argue we don’t know hardly anything about Jeremiah before 609, which is the death of Josiah at the battle of Megiddo.

And so there’s debate about where these prophecies come from, whether, what is their connection to the reforms, whether Jeremiah supported the reforms, or whether these prophecies come after the reforms after 609, when God’s people sort of went back to their wicked ways because of the change of kings. There’s just a lot that we don’t know about the origin of these chapters, except they do focus on Judah’s situation during this time period leading toward the big date. The big date is 587. That’s the big date of the destruction and fall of Jerusalem, destruction of the temple.

Everything’s sort of moving toward that date. And chapters two through six show the horrible condition, spiritually, of God’s people as the basis for the judgment that is coming, coming. Some even argue John Bright is one of them. He has a commentary on Jeremiah, the old Anchor Bible commentary on Jeremiah. One volume that’s been replaced by Ludblum, I think is his name, L U N D or L U D B L O M? I think that’s his name. It’s a three-volume commentary on Jeremiah in the Anchor Bible series.

But Bright argues that Jeremiah is disappointed with the results of the reform. And there’s a passage that we’re going to look at that may support that at least the reforms did not go very deep. But we don’t really know. We don’t really know the real effect of the reforms on Judah, and we don’t specifically know which prophecies of Jeremiah may have been in support of the reforms and what the connection is. So there is some ambiguity here. Chapters two through six clearly, however, show the spiritual condition of God’s people in terms of their apostasy.

Chapter two, Israel is pictured as a young bride devoted to her husband, following him in the wilderness. Israel devoted to Yahweh, following the Lord in the wilderness, which is then contrasted with her current condition of prostitution. Reminds you of Hosea in the way this is presented, in some ways fairly graphically presented.

In chapter two, Israel is depicted as an easy mark, like a donkey in heat. That’s at the end of chapter two. Then in chapter three, Israel, or Judah, is depicted as a faithless wife, again involved in prostitution.

And again, the connection is spiritual adultery, just as it was in Hosea. The marriage relationship should be an exclusive relationship. Judah has pursued other lovers; Judah has pursued other gods. So the first two chapters here, or chapters two and three, remind you of Hosea, and Jeremiah does come from a section of the southern kingdom that is on the north side of the southern kingdom. And there’s some speculation that he may have been familiar, and don’t doubt that he was with some of Hosea’s, with Hosea’s prophecy. And there may be some connection there.

The tragic thing about Judah is that Judah had an example right before her eyes that she didn’t learn a thing from. Who was her example? Israel. In 722, Israel fell to the Assyrians. And this is brought out in chapter three, verses seven and eight.

⁷ And I thought, ‘After she has done all this she will return to me,’ but she did not return, and her treacherous sister Judah saw it. ⁸ She saw that for all the adulteries of that faithless one, Israel, I had sent her away with a decree of divorce. Yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but she too went and played the whore. (Jeremiah 3:7-8, ESV)

This makes Israel more righteous than Judah because Judah at least had an example and did not learn anything from that example. That just reinforces the necessity of God’s judgment. And it’s in verse ten of chapter three where some people argue that the reforms of Josiah were superficial and didn’t go very deep because verse ten says,

¹⁰ Yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah did not return to me with her whole heart, but in pretense, declares the Lord.” (Jeremiah 3:10, ESV)

She did not return to me with her whole heart. She only pretended to return to me. Some people connect that to, to the reforms of Josiah and that the people’s response to those reforms was not a full fledged repentance and returning to the Lord.

Now, maybe this comes after 609 when Josiah is gone, maybe this comes earlier. We don’t really know specifically, but this is a verse that some use to argue for the superficial nature of God’s response, God’s people’s response to the reforms of Josiah. Now, chapters four through six, so chapters two through three, you have the condition of Judah. It’s very similar to Hosea’s prophecy.

Then chapters four through six are full of pictures of the terror of God’s judgment that is going to come against God’s people and the horrible consequences that will come to God’s people because of their sin and apostasy if they don’t repent. Chapter four does begin with a call to repentance. So the possibility of repentance is laid out for God’s people here in chapter four, the first four verses. If you return, O Israel, if you remove your detestable things from my presence, there’s a possibility here of repentance.

There’s also in verse four the threat of judgment if they do not repent. And you have the indication in these verses, chapter four, verses five through six, that there is a disaster coming from the north. Verse six,

⁶ Raise a standard toward Zion, flee for safety, stay not, for I bring disaster from the north, and great destruction. (Jeremiah 4:6, ESV)

That’s the indication of where this judgment is going to come from. Disaster is going to come from the north if God’s people do not repent.

The problem in chapter five, as it’s laid out, is that there’s no one in Judah who really believes Jeremiah’s message. There’s no one in Judah who is really committed to do what the Lord wants done. So at the beginning of chapter five, Jeremiah can’t even find one righteous person. He reminds you of the plea for Sodom, city of Sodom. What? Just ten? And the situation is getting so bad in Judah that the righteous remnant is dwindling. And part of that problem that Jeremiah faces comes toward the end of chapter five, verse 31.

Well, verse 30, chapter 5:30. It says,

³⁰ An appalling and horrible thing has happened in the land: ³¹ the prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule at their direction; my people love to have it so, but what will you do when the end comes? (Jeremiah 5:30-31, ESV)

In other words, the prophets are prophesying words that are not in line with God’s message. We’ll see some of that a little bit later in the book. But you’ve got false prophets preaching to God’s people. you’ve got the priests who are ruling at the direction of the false prophets, not in accordance with the law of God. And then you have, my people love to have it.

So Judah loves to hear these false messages of how everything is going to be okay, because that’s what the false prophets are preaching. Everything is going to be okay. You are God’s people. you’ve got the temple. God won’t destroy this place. The prophets are preaching what the people want to hear. But look at the end of the verse. What will you do when the end comes?

You see, the false prophets and the priests are not preparing God’s people for the reality of what’s coming, which is the reality of God’s judgment, and they will not be prepared to be able to face that judgment. You know, we don’t do people any favors by not pointing out the reality of our sin and trying to avoid things that are offensive to people that are clearly in God’s word by thinking that we’ll bring them in. Because you’re not preparing them to face the reality of God’s judgment that one day they will have to face.

Better they deal with their things that are offensive to God now and find the solution in Christ than stand there on a day of judgment and turn to a pastor or preacher and say, “Why didn’t you tell me?” So, this is a problem that Jeremiah is facing. Be honest with people in light of God’s word, because you don’t do people any favors. Now, they may reject it, they may not like what you say, but then that’s between them and the Lord.

And as we’ll see in Ezekiel, you are then not held responsible because you’ve done your job of being faithful to God’s word. What will you do in the end? Jeremiah was preaching in a way that was preparing God’s people for the judgment that was going to come, and the false prophets were proclaiming things that they wanted to hear. And when that judgment came, they were not prepared. And there’s a good parallel for us today. You might describe the situation like this: Jeremiah and Judah are on a train.

That train is headed for a huge canyon, and the bridge is out. And Jeremiah is telling the people on that train, the bridge is out. The bridge is out. A disaster is coming. And nobody on the train believes him. So the band plays on. They eat their meals like nothing is coming. And Jeremiah keeps trying to tell them, the bridge is out. The bridge is out, disaster is coming, and nobody believes him. That’s sort of a parallel situation. And the train is going to hit that canyon with no bridge in 587.

Ultimately, when the Babylonians come through, a rude awakening will come to God’s people. And that’s what chapter six continues to proclaim, impending disaster. And chapter six, verse 22, mentions again this, people coming from the north. A great nation is stirring from the farthest parts of the earth. They ride on horses against you, O daughter of Zion. So Jeremiah is trying to prepare God’s people for the judgment that is coming, and nobody wants to hear that message. That brings us to the temple sermon. If you have comments or questions, feel free to.

Otherwise, we’ll just keep moving. Chapter seven through chapter eight, verse three is called the Temple sermon. It is connected to chapter 26, which people also believe is the same context of the Temple sermon. Chapter seven doesn’t give us any indication as to when the Temple sermon took place. Chapter 26 does mention in the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah. This word came from the Lord. So this is the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim, son of Josiah, king of Judah. In other words, this comes from 609.

What happened in 609? Josiah dies at the battle of Megiddo, at the hands of the Egyptians. Jehoahaz is proclaimed king. But Egypt, on their way back through Palestine, down on their way back to Egypt, removed Jehoahaz, and Jehoiakim becomes king. And so that is thought to be the context. This would be sometime after the death of Josiah, when Jehoiakim is now king. Jehoiakim reigned from 609 to 597. So that seems to be the context for what’s called the temple sermon.

Now, the temple sermon deals with the false religious practices of the people who are worshiping God. Some of the things that are mentioned in chapter seven, verses 30 through 34, they’re worshiping at high places, and they are offering child sacrifice. That’s specifically mentioned in chapter eight, the first three verses, they are worshiping astral deities. And in chapter seven, verse eight, as we kind of jump around here a little bit, the results. Chapter seven, verses eight and nine in their life, you trust in deceptive words to no avail.

Verse eight,

⁸ “Behold, you trust in deceptive words to no avail. ⁹ Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, make offerings to Baal, and go after other gods that you have not known, (Jeremiah 7:8-9, ESV)

That’s sort of a general description of what is going on among God’s people. All of these, if you will, breaking of the law of God is related to the false worship. And all of this is being done under the false perception that everything is okay.

Chapter seven, verse four.

⁴ Do not trust in these deceptive words: ‘This is the temple of the Lord , the temple of the Lord , the temple of the Lord .’ (Jeremiah 7:4, ESV)

The temple of the Lord. We have the temple of the Lord. We’re safe. God won’t destroy this place. This is his chosen place. So they had a false security because they had the temple, and they didn’t believe that God would destroy the temple. And so Jeremiah preaches this message, trying to take away their false security. Don’t trust in these deceptive words that this is the temple of the Lord. Therefore, God will not destroy it. No. Jeremiah 7:14-15.

Part of Jeremiah’s message: He says,

¹⁴ Therefore I will do to the house that is called by my name, and in which you trust, and to the place that I gave to you and to your fathers, as I did to Shiloh. (Jeremiah 7:14, ESV)

See, that’s… Their trust is misplaced. They’re not trusting in the Lord. They’re trusting in the fact that they’ve got the temple, and they’re doing all these other things that go against the law of God, in which you trust. And to the place that I gave to you and to your fathers, as I did to Shiloh.”

Shiloh, if you remember, was where the ark was for a while with Eli and his sons, and it was destroyed. Shiloh was destroyed by the Philistines. So that’s the warning that goes out. I will cast you out of my sight as I cast out all your kinsmen of the offspring of Ephraim. Again, what happened to the northern kingdom can happen to you. Of course, they might have said, yeah, but the northern kingdom, they had a false system of worship. We’ve got the true system of worship.

The northern kingdom, they divided from the real people of God. So what happened to them won’t happen to us because we’ve got the temple. That’s basically the false sense of security that they had. The situation is so bad that here is the place where Jeremiah is told specifically in verse 16, do not pray for this people, because I won’t listen to your intercessory prayer on their behalf. Now, you see, a prophet. Part of the job of a prophet is the word of God in prayer. Abraham is called a prophet.

Back in Genesis 20, he prays for the king. And so one of the jobs of a prophet was to intercede for God’s people and for the kings. God tells Jeremiah, don’t even pray. Judgment is inevitable. You see, you’re turning the corner here. you’re turning the corner from the possibility of repentance to the fact that judgment is going to be inevitable. And so God tells Jeremiah, you’re interceding for them. It won’t do any good. I won’t hear it because judgment is coming. So this is sort of a turning point in the first part of the book.

Now, the response of the people is, what is the focus of chapter 26. So if chapter seven and chapter 26 both deal with the same temple sermon, what chapter 26 emphasizes is the response. Chapter 26 may contain a summary of the temple sermon. you’ve got much more details related to the temple sermon back in chapter seven. But chapter 26 may contain a summary of the temple sermon with the emphasis on the response of the people.

Chapter 26 also mentions Shiloh, so there’s some overlap in terms of content, but 26 doesn’t focus on the content as much. It’s just a summary. 26 focuses on how the people respond. How do they respond? Verse nine:

⁹ Why have you prophesied in the name of the Lord , saying, ‘This house shall be like Shiloh, and this city shall be desolate, without inhabitant’?” And all the people gathered around Jeremiah in the house of the Lord . (Jeremiah 26:9, ESV)

Verse eleven.

¹¹ Then the priests and the prophets said to the officials and to all the people, “This man deserves the sentence of death, because he has prophesied against this city, as you have heard with your own ears.” (Jeremiah 26:11, ESV)

Jeremiah has prophesied against this special place of God’s presence, the city of Jerusalem, the temple. He deserves to die because he has spoken against God’s special place of presence.” One thing you do see in this chapter is Jeremiah does have some support. Verse 16.

¹⁶ Then the officials and all the people said to the priests and the prophets, “This man does not deserve the sentence of death, for he has spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God.” (Jeremiah 26:16, ESV)

Then you have some elders come forward and say, “Hey, did not Micah, Prophet Micah also preached against Jerusalem.” And there’s a quote from Micah,

¹² Therefore because of you Zion shall be plowed as a field; Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins, and the mountain of the house a wooded height. (Micah 3:12, ESV)

That’s verses 18 and 19.

¹⁸ “Micah of Moresheth prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and said to all the people of Judah: ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “‘Zion shall be plowed as a field; Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins, and the mountain of the house a wooded height.’ ¹⁹ Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him to death? Did he not fear the Lord and entreat the favor of the Lord, and did not the Lord relent of the disaster that he had pronounced against them? But we are about to bring great disaster upon ourselves.” (Jeremiah 26:18-19, ESV)

So Micah the prophet is brought out in support of Jeremiah. Micah the prophet preached against this city, and he was not put to death. And they used that to spare Jeremiah’s life so that Jeremiah was not, at this point, put to death. But how does the chapter end? It shows you the danger of being a prophet because the chapter ends with another prophet, Uriah, the son of Shemaiah. This is verse 20 from Kiriat Jearim. He prophesied against the city and against this land in words like those of Jeremiah.

And it goes on to say that king Jehoiakim pursued this prophet to Egypt and brought him back and had him put to death. These are the times in which Jeremiah lived. Jeremiah proclaimed the message, he was spared. Uriah proclaimed a similar message, he was put to death. The difference, the inscrutable sovereignty of God as to why one prophet lost his life and the other one was spared. And you run into similar situations. Missionaries who go overseas. In fact, some of the early missionaries who went overseas didn’t last very long.

Many of them died as soon as they got overseas. Why do some live longer and some die right away? Well, the inscrutable wisdom and sovereignty of God, we can’t always answer those questions, but this gives you an idea of the situation that Jeremiah is prophesying in. Is there any evidence in this sort of trial that there is some righteous? Are there some righteous priests who are saying you should not be put to death? Well, it’s the elders who are specifically mentioned. It’s probably like one of those situations in Elijah’s day.

There’s more righteous than perhaps you’re aware of. So maybe in chapter five, the beginning of chapter five, it’s more of a rhetorical. I can’t find one righteous individual that may be more rhetorical to emphasize how bad things really are, because the righteous are not prominent. But you do have some elders here backing up Jeremiah. You know, there are times in ministry where you have to stand out there on the limb all by yourself. Sometimes that happens. And if you do that, you have to be willing to pay the price of losing your position.

There are some times when you got to make a stand, and you stand alone. However, if you have the elders with you, it makes a huge difference. In fact, I probably wouldn’t have lasted at the church in Rochester much more than three years if the leadership wasn’t sort of supporting me because we had some, as I mentioned, one of the problems, there were some other issues, but there comes a time when you stand alone and you take the consequences in God’s grace. There are elders that come around Jeremiah.

And when you can get the leadership supporting God’s word, which hopefully means supporting you, then that will help you sustain your ministry a little longer, perhaps in some places, and there are some hills not worth dying on. You always got to make a decision, you know, some things you just have to put up with. But other times, you got to choose your battles. And there may be some time, there may be some hills worth dying on, and you just. you’re out there by yourself.

Jeremiah’s at this point, and he is by himself at times in the book, but at this point, he does have some support. Did you have another question? Would he have been a contemporary of Jeremiah? Yes. Well, he. It’s during King Jehoiakim now. Yes. So, contemporary, yes. Now what? The relationship between the two, how soon he preached this message, very similar to Jeremiah? We don’t know, but yes, contemporary. They lived both during the same period. So there were other true prophets as well. Jeremiah sets forth his message of judgment through symbolic actions.

Part of these symbolic actions may be a way to get the message across to God’s people who don’t want to hear it. And so we have several of those. We’ll look at a couple of them going back to chapter 13, where you have this incident about a Linen Waste Cloth or a Linen sash. The focus of this is the pride of God’s people, which is mentioned in verse nine. This Linen Sash is representative of Judah. Linen is used for priestly garments.

Judah was to be a priestly nation, a nation that mediated the word of God to the other nations. And eleven clearly makes a connection.

¹¹ For as the loincloth clings to the waist of a man, so I made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to me, declares the Lord , that they might be for me a people, a name, a praise, and a glory, but they would not listen. (Jeremiah 13:11, ESV)

You know, God’s purpose was that Judah would cling to the Lord and that the Lord would use Judah and Israel to draw the nations to himself. Just like this linen sash, loincloth waist cloth clung to the waist of a man, so Judah was to cling to the Lord. And so you’ve got these symbolic ideas connected to this linen waist cloth, both related to the fact that Judah should be trusting in the Lord and that God would use Judah as a priestly nation to minister to the other nations.

So Jeremiah is told to take this linen, Sasha. Clean, dry, freshly purchased piece of linen. Then he’s told to take this waste cloth and hide it in Perath, which is what the Hebrew specifically says. Now, there are two ways to take it. There are two ways to take Pirah. Pirath might refer to the Euphrates, and that’s the way the ESV translates it. Verse four:

⁴ “Take the loincloth that you have bought, which is around your waist, and arise, go to the Euphrates and hide it there in a cleft of the rock.” ⁵ So I went and hid it by the Euphrates, as the Lord commanded me. ⁶ And after many days the Lord said to me, “Arise, go to the Euphrates, and take from there the loincloth that I commanded you to hide there.” ⁷ Then I went to the Euphrates, and dug, and I took the loincloth from the place where I had hidden it. And behold, the loincloth was spoiled; it was good for nothing. (Jeremiah 13:4-7, ESV)

It’s possible that Jeremiah went to the Euphrates region, quite a long way from Palestine, but it’s possible that he went up to the Euphrates region and hid the loincloth there in the soil, defiled the loincloth, and then it was defiled by the soil, and then he retrieved it. That’s possible. It’s also possible that Perath could refer to a town, Para, 3 miles northeast of Jeremiah’s hometown, a little closer, 3 miles versus 800, 900 miles.

Whatever it is, the possibility exists that Jeremiah went up to Parah and hid the loin cloth there in the dirt and then retrieved it. Either way, the meaning is the same. Perath, whether it is referring to the city of Perah or to the Euphrates region, the meaning is that God’s people are going to be defiled through Pirah. If it’s the city of Perah, it’s symbolic of the Euphrates region. That’s the connection. You see, Perath is ambiguous. It could mean either one. So if Jeremiah goes up to Euphrates region, then the actions are clear.

You’re going to be defiled by Babylon. If he goes to Perah, the meaning is still the same. It’s just more symbolic. you’re going to be defiled by Pirah by a nation from the area of the Euphrates. So whichever way it is, the meaning doesn’t change. Defilement of Judah through the Babylonians because they have not trusted in the Lord. If they had trusted in the lord and clung to the Lord, like this nice, fresh, clean linen waste cloth, then they would have fulfilled their mission and their ministry, and they would not need to be defiled.

But because they did not cling to the Lord, then defilement is going to come from this area. That’s followed in chapter 13, verses twelve through 14, by a symbolic, well, action, or at least proclamation about wine jars. What do you fill wine jars with? Wine. Not a trick question. In fact, when Jeremiah says, thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, every jar shall be filled with wine. And they will say to you, duh. Do we not indeed know that every jar will be filled with wine? And then you shall say to them, I will fill with drunkenness all the inhabitants of this land.

¹² “You shall speak to them this word: ‘Thus says the Lord , the God of Israel, “Every jar shall be filled with wine.”‘ And they will say to you, ‘Do we not indeed know that every jar will be filled with wine?’ ¹³ Then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord: Behold, I will fill with drunkenness all the inhabitants of this land: the kings who sit on David’s throne, the priests, the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. (Jeremiah 13:12, ESV)

It’s not the wine, it’s the effect of too much wine. And this land will be filled with drunkenness, the effects of too much wine because of the coming judgment and the reeling and the effects that will come to God’s people because of the coming judgment.

And verse 14 then says, I will dash them one against another, fathers and sons together. I will not pity or spare or have compassion.

¹⁴ And I will dash them one against another, fathers and sons together, declares the Lord . I will not pity or spare or have compassion, that I should not destroy them.'” (Jeremiah 13:14, ESV)

And so it’s the effect of judgment that will be like drunkenness that is the focus. Then you have chapter 18. We’ve talked about this chapter briefly in another setting. Chapter 18 is the example of the potter’s jar, where Jeremiah goes to the potter’s house and the potter is making clay. And the clay at this stage is still malleable, because as the potter makes the clay, the pot is marred.

But there is still the possibility of making that pot into another vessel, which fits the message in chapter 18, that if God pronounces judgment against a nation and that nation changes its wicked ways, God will pour out blessing. If God pronounces blessing on a nation and that nation then turns to wickedness, then God will bring judgment. So chapter 18, the clay is malleable. There’s still the possibility of change. Chapter 19 is the symbolic act of the broken jar. Now, in his second visit to the potter, the clay is hardened. There’s not the possibility of change.

And Jeremiah takes this hardened vessel and smashes it. So I think there’s significant malleable clay in chapter 18, clay that is not malleable, because it’s been hardened through the normal process of what you do with pottery. But now it’s hardened. And Jeremiah takes that hardened piece of clay and he smashes it.

Chapter 19:10-11,

¹⁰ “Then you shall break the flask in the sight of the men who go with you, ¹¹ and shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: So will I break this people and this city, as one breaks a potter’s vessel, so that it can never be mended. Men shall bury in Topheth because there will be no place else to bury. (Jeremiah 19:10-11, ESV)

That’s the message. I’m going to break this city. Just as this flask has been broken, this hardened flask, no possibility of change. Judgment is coming, and so the city will be broken. You can imagine having to proclaim that message of judgment.

We’ve seen a little bit of the response to Jeremiah, but some of the opposition to Jeremiah, because of his message of judgment, leads to his confessions. We’ve mentioned already earlier on some of the opposition. And the confessions of Jeremiah occur also in chapters eleven through 20. Some of the symbolic actions occur in these passages as well. But if you go back to chapter eleven and you begin to see the effect on Jeremiah of preaching this message of judgment: the hatred of the people. Chapter 12:6.

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.” (Jeremiah 12:6, ESV)

He couldn’t even trust the people of his own family because of his message of judgment. So, there’s constant opposition to Jeremiah. As you begin to pick that up as you read through the book, this leads to some of his lament-like confessions. Chapter 20. We’re not going to look at chapter 20 in any depth. It’s one of the lowest points of his life.

And his lament in chapter 20 parallels in some ways Job’s lament in chapter three, where both of them cursed the day of their birth and wished they’d never been born. Now, we talk about that in poets. We talk about Job 3. And I argue it’s the parody of a curse. It’s not a true curse. You can’t curse something that’s already taken place. It’s a parody of a curse, but it shows the depth of the spirit, and it shows that both Job and Jeremiah wished they had never been born.

At least there’s a period of Jeremiah’s life where he wished he had never been born. That’s not the whole tenor of his life, but he’s experiencing some difficult things, and there are times when he wished he had never been born, because if he hadn’t been born, he wouldn’t be called to be a prophet. If he hadn’t been called to be a prophet, he wouldn’t be facing this opposition that he’s facing. And so the opposition brings out in Jeremiah some of the complaints.

One of those complaints we’ll look at very briefly is in chapter twelve, where Jeremiah complains. And you can see how this sounds very similar to a lament psalm. Chapter twelve.

¹ Righteous are you, O Lord , when I complain to you; yet I would plead my case before you. Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all who are treacherous thrive? (Jeremiah 12:1, ESV)

You find that in the psalms. Why do the wicked prosper and the righteous suffer? It shouldn’t be that way. You plant them. you’re supposed to plant the righteous. Why are you planting the wicked? You see, that’s what his struggle is. They grow, they produce fruit. You are near in their mouth, but far from their heart.

² You plant them, and they take root; they grow and produce fruit; you are near in their mouth and far from their heart. (Jeremiah 12:2, ESV)

So this is one of Jeremiah’s complaints. Verse four.

⁴ How long will the land mourn and the grass of every field wither? For the evil of those who dwell in it the beasts and the birds are swept away, because they said, “He will not see our latter end.” (Jeremiah 12:4, ESV)

How long is it going to be that this wickedness and this opposition to my message is going to continue? Part of God’s response to Jeremiah at the end of chapter eleven is that he will punish the men of Jeremiah’s hometown because of their opposition. That’s certainly part of what God tells Jeremiah. But look at Jeremiah 12:5. This is God’s response:

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? (Jeremiah 12:5, ESV)

Not too sympathetic. What does that mean? If you have raced with men on foot and they have wearied you, how will you compete with horses? What does that mean by want to take a stab at it? It’s going to get worse, Jeremiah. you’ve been running with men and you’re tired. What are you going to do when you have to run along the side of horses? How are you going to keep up with them? It’s going to get worse. You haven’t seen anything yet, Jeremiah. And then the second part of the verse, I think, is making the same case, although it’s translated differently in your translations.

If in a safe land you are trusting or unsuspecting, what will you do in the thicket of the Jordan? And I think what’s being said here is if in a level place where there is peace and easy travel, you’re having trouble, what are you going to do when the terrain gets hard, the thickets of the Jordan, when you have to sort of walk through jungle brush, if, if you will. So a smooth, level place being compared to a place of difficult terrain.

If you’re having trouble in a smooth place, what are you going to do when you get to the real difficult stuff? Same point, different metaphors: it’s going to get worse. The local opposition that you face, Jeremiah, is nothing compared to what’s going to come when the Babylonians begin to make their ascent on Jerusalem. So yes, things, relatively speaking, are fairly peaceful, although Jeremiah has faced a lot of opposition. But the point is, things are going to get worse. Not the message Jeremiah wanted to hear, probably.

Well, we sort of hit highlights in the book, and we come now more toward the into the book and the days sort of leading toward 587, and we’ll pick up incidents that are significant as we move toward 587. This audio lecture is brought to you by RTS on iTunesU at the virtual campus of Reformed Theological Seminary. To listen to other lectures and to access additional resources, please visit us at itunes.rts.edu.

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