Jeremiah 11:1-23
1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
2 Hear ye the words of this covenant, and speak unto the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem;
3 And say thou unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel; Cursed be the man that obeyeth not the words of this covenant,
4 Which I commanded your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, Obey my voice, and do them, according to all which I command you: so shall ye be my people, and I will be your God:
5 That I may perform the oath which I have sworn unto your fathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as it is this day. Then answered I, and said, So be it, O LORD.
6 Then the LORD said unto me, Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, saying, Hear ye the words of this covenant, and do them.
7 For I earnestly protested unto your fathers in the day that I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, even unto this day, rising early and protesting, saying, Obey my voice.
8 Yet they obeyed not, nor inclined their ear, but walked every one in the imaginationa of their evil heart: therefore I will bring upon them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do; but they did them not.
9 And the LORD said unto me, A conspiracy is found among the men of Judah, and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
10 They are turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers, which refused to hear my words; and they went after other gods to serve them: the house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant which I made with their fathers.
11 Therefore thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will bring evil upon them, which they shall not be able to escape;b and though they shall cry unto me, I will not hearken unto them.
12 Then shall the cities of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem go, and cry unto the gods unto whom they offer incense: but they shall not save them at all in the time of their trouble.c
13 For according to the number of thy cities were thy gods, O Judah; and according to the number of the streets of Jerusalem have ye set up altars to that shameful thing, even altars to burn incense unto Baal.
14 Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up a cry or prayer for them: for I will not hear them in the time that they cry unto me for their trouble.d
15 What hath my beloved to do in mine house, seeing she hath wrought lewdness with many, and the holy flesh is passed from thee? when thou doest evil, then thou rejoicest.
16 The LORD called thy name, A green olive tree, fair, and of goodly fruit: with the noise of a great tumult he hath kindled fire upon it, and the branches of it are broken.
17 For the LORD of hosts, that planted thee, hath pronounced evil against thee, for the evil of the house of Israel and of the house of Judah, which they have done against themselves to provoke me to anger in offering incense unto Baal.
18 And the LORD hath given me knowledge of it, and I know it: then thou shewedst me their doings.
19 But I was like a lamb or an ox that is brought to the slaughter; and I knew not that they had devised devices against me, saying, Let us destroy the treee with the fruit thereof, and let us cut him off from the land of the living, that his name may be no more remembered.
20 But, O LORD of hosts, that judgest righteously, that triest the reins and the heart, let me see thy vengeance on them: for unto thee have I revealed my cause.
21 Therefore thus saith the LORD of the men of Anathoth, that seek thy life, saying, Prophesy not in the name of the LORD, that thou die not by our hand:
22 Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, Behold, I will punishf them: the young men shall die by the sword; their sons and their daughters shall die by famine:
23 And there shall be no remnant of them: for I will bring evil upon the men of Anathoth, even the year of their visitation.
Jeremiah 11:14. Pray not thou for this people. The Chaldaic and the LXX, Deprecate not the scourge of war coming upon them. We find the same sentiments more fully expressed in Ezekiel 14., confirming the doctrine, that there is a point with men and nations, when they sin beyond the power of recovery.
Jeremiah 11:16. A green olive-tree. Israel is often compared to a vine, or a flourishing tree. Psalms 80; Isaiah 5; Isaiah 61:3. But now the lovely tree must wither, the vine must be rooted up. The holy flesh, Jeremiah 11:15, having committed adultery with Ashteroth, has lost its sanctity, and all its ancient glory.
Jeremiah 11:19. Let us destroy the tree with the fruit thereof. This is an obscure text. There are almost as many readings as there are versions. The Chaldaic and the LXX read, Let us send or put wood into his bread; which seems to imply that they would beat him to death with rods, and thus destroy the tree with the fruit, by cutting it down. But the Hebrew word may be read flesh, either of man or beast. Of beasts, Leviticus 3:11; Leviticus 21:8; and of men, Job 6:7. Hence some read, Let us break or put wood in his flesh, by breaking the rods with scourging him. Consequently Jeremiah, viewing himself as a lamb, or as a bullock brought to the slaughter, could not but have a reference in the spirit to the sufferings of the Messiah. The holy prophets most assuredly did every thing with a view to his coming, and could not but associate all their sorrows and all their joys with those of the Saviour.
REFLECTIONS.
A new scene opens here. Jeremiah, going through the streets of Jerusalem and the cities of Judah with the covenant of God in his hand, the covenant to which they themselves had sworn at the great passover of king Josiah, still protests against the crimes of his country, and takes the ground where the feet of former prophets had stood. He accuses them of breaking the covenant by idolatry, to which their fathers had sworn in Horeb. The double apostasy being thus fully proved, he boldly announced the curse. Behold, saith the Lord, I bring evil upon them which they shall not escape; because, as he often said, their gods were more numerous than their cities, and their altars were more than the streets of Jerusalem. Oh to what a crisis did sin and apostasy bring this once glorious nation! Their sun set in the darkest clouds; and all their tide of prosperity was lost in the dregs of misery. Let the christian preacher learn of Jeremiah how to address incorrigible men, who have wickedly departed from the faith of their fathers.
The prophet not only developed sin, but faithfully discharged the more painful task of pronouncing sentence against his country. He averred that the Lord had prohibited prayer for their deliverance; that he was commissioned to pronounce a divorce between the Lord and his beloved, ironically so called; and that the holy flesh of burnt-offerings shall no longer expiate her guilt. This was coming to a full issue with the wicked; this was clinching the nail; and every audacious man who despises grace and justice must eventually expect to hear the same language.
If the human heart when closely pressed by the ministry be not awed by terror, or softened by repentance, it will revolt against the preacher. The men of Anathoth, a city of priests, menaced Jeremiah with massacre, if he did not cease to prophesy in the name of the Lord. Men given up to a reprobate mind cannot bear to be tormented before the time. When the princes of Judah solicited Zedekiah to put the prophet to death, they said, he weakened the hands of the men of war; but here the men of Anathoth had no reason to assign but the malice of their hearts. And these were the very priests whose impure hands had assisted to set up Ashtaroth in the house of the Lord. How lamentable that in every persecution of the saints, the priests have been foremost to move it.
We have lastly the recoil of vengeance on their own heads. The Lord declared that their young men should fall in the field, that their families should die with famine, and no remnant should escape. Hence the punishment on Anathoth was more severe than on Jerusalem. Let clergymen hear and be sanctified. The servant who knows his Lord's will, and does it not, shall be beaten with many stripes.