College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
Jeremiah 11:1-8
CHAPTER NINE
CONSPIRACIES AGAINST GOD AND HIS PROPHET
Jeremiah 11:1 to Jeremiah 13:27
It is well nigh impossible to precisely date the discourses and activities contained in chapter 11-20. Naegelsbach feels that a date prior to the battle of Carchemish. should be assigned because of the lack of any reference to the Chaldeans. Most commentators, however, regard Jeremiah 13:18-27 as coming from the time of king Jehoiachin who reigned after the battle of Carchemish. One unit of this section, Jeremiah 14:1 to Jeremiah 17:18, originated during a time of famine which cannot be dated.
These ten Chapter s of the book contain excerpts from sermons, narratives and autobiographical elements. There are two collections of brief oracles, Jeremiah 14:1 to Jeremiah 15:9 and Jeremiah 17:1-18; and two parables, the parable of the linen girdle (Jeremiah 13:1-11) and the parable of the wine jars (Jeremiah 13:12-14). Of most interest, however, are the five confessions of Jeremiah which are contained in this section. These autobiographical glimpses into the inner thought processes of the prophet are unique in prophetic literature.
THE CONFESSIONS OF JEREMIAH
Jeremiah 11:18 to Jeremiah 12:6
The materials in Jeremiah 11:1 to Jeremiah 12:17 are related to two conspiracies. In the view of Jeremiah the people of Judah had conspired to violate the covenant which God had given at Sinai (Jeremiah 11:1-17). The prophet's forthright preaching on this theme aroused hostility especially among the inhabitants of his home town of Anathoth. God reveals to Jeremiah that these acquaintances were conspiring to put him to death. The prophet went to his God in prayer about this matter and laid his case at the bar of divine justice (Jeremiah 11:18-23). Some time passed and the wicked schemers of Anathoth experienced no divine retribution. Jeremiah prayed again, this time calling upon God to pour out his wrath upon the wicked. God answered that prayer, but not in the way Jeremiah expected (Jeremiah 12:1-6). As the prophet wallows in self-pity he comes to realize what true pain God is experiencing because of the impending destruction of Judah, His beloved portion (Jeremiah 12:7-13). Finally, by revealing to Jeremiah the ultimate destiny of the wicked foreign nations God places the whole matter of divine judgment in proper perspective (Jeremiah 12:14-17).
I. THE PREACHING OF THE PROPHET
Jeremiah was no innovator; he was a restorer. He wanted to see the ancient Sinai covenant restored to its rightful place in the life of the people of Judah. He exhorted his people to fulfill with their covenant obligations (Jeremiah 11:1-8). Yet even as he gave forth this exhortation he came to realize that the men of Judah were conspiring to violate that covenant (Jeremiah 11:9-17).
A. Exhortation to Keep the Covenant Jeremiah 11:1-8
TRANSLATION
(1) The word which came unto Jeremiah from the LORD: (2) Hear the words of this covenant and speak unto the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. (3) Then you shall say unto them: Thus says the LORD God of Israel: Cursed is the man who does not hear the words of this covenant (4) which I commanded your fathers in the day I brought them from the land of Egypt, from the furnace of iron and said: Obey My voice and do them, according to all which I have commanded you. Then you will be My people and I will be your God; (5) in order to establish the oath which I sware to your fathers to give to them a land flowing with milk and honey as at this day. And I answered and said, Amen, O LORD. (6) And the LORD said unto me: Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: Hear the words of this covenant and do them. (7) For I earnestly testified to your fathers in the day I brought them up from the land of Egypt even unto this day (rising early and testifying): Obey my voice! (8) But they did not hearken nor did they incline their ear, but went on every man in the stubbornness of their heart. Therefore I brought against you all the words of this covenant which I commanded them to do, but they did not.
COMMENTS
The exhortation to keep the covenant of the Lord is usually dated by commentators just after 621 B.C., that crucial year when the lost law book was discovered in the Temple. Others would assign this material to the early years of king Jehoiakim. The truth of the matter is that either date remains somewhat speculative. However it is most difficult to read this paragraph and not think of the covenant recently renewed by king Josiah.
Six times in Jeremiah 11:1-8 Jeremiah calls upon the people of Judah to hear (i.e., obey) the words of the covenant. The imperative speak in Jeremiah 11:2 is plural. Jeremiah is exhorting the people to submit to the words of the covenant and then go out and convince others to do the same. The prophet is attempting to organize an evangelistic campaign to spread the word of the Lord to every inhabitant of the land. Only when preachers learn to enlist others in the task of proclamation will the Gospel make the impact which God would have it make upon this generation. It is the old covenant of Sinai which had been renewed several times in the history of God's people that Jeremiah would have restored in his day.
Jeremiah's message on the covenant begins on a negative note. Utilizing the language of Deuteronomy (cf. Deuteronomy 27:26) Jeremiah pronounces a curse upon any one who refuses to hear (obey) the words of the covenant (Jeremiah 11:3). The covenant to which Jeremiah alludes is that ancient covenant which God had made with the Israelites when ,He brought them forth from the land of Egypt. That trying and bitter experience of bondage in Egypt is metaphorically called the furnace of iron i.e., a furnace used for smelting iron. As the captivity of the past was a furnace of affliction even so would be the captivity of the future (Isaiah 48:10).
Two kinds of treaties or covenants were known in the ancient Near East. Parity treaties were drawn up between two parties who were equals. Vassal treaties were issued by a superior king to an inferior. The Sinai covenant was of the latter type. Man's part in the treaty of the Great King is, in essence, obedience. Men do not bargain with God, they submit to Him. God commands and men obey. For the prophets, obedience was the fundamental duty of man. God expected Israel to heed His Voice and observe the individual commands which he had given to them. Israel's unique relationship to God would continue only so long as the nation was obedient (Jeremiah 11:4). The land promises made to the Patriarchs were also conditional. They would continue to dwell in that land flowing with milk and honey only if they continued to be faithful to the covenant (cf. Deuteronomy 7:8 ff; Deuteronomy 8:18 ff.).
In Deuteronomy Moses instructed the children of Israel to gather at Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim in Canaan and renew the covenant with God. As the Levites pronounced certain prescribed curses upon those who were covenant breakers all the people were to respond by saying Amen. (Deuteronomy 27:11 ff.). Since God has just pronounced a curse upon those who disobey the covenant Jeremiah responds in the prescribed manner, Amen, O Lord. So be it! (Jeremiah 11:5). Amen is a formula of asseveration indicating that the statement just made is true, faithful and trustworthy. Jeremiah is ready to do what God has commanded.
Jeremiah is to travel the length and breadth of the land in preaching his message of obedience to the covenant. He is to call, cry, proclaim or perhaps read aloud these words of God in the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem. His object is to influence the people to obey the recently discovered law of God (Jeremiah 11:6). The message is nothing new. Over and over again, ever since the day He brought them out of Egypt, God had exhorted the children of Israel through their prophets to obey the divine voice (Jeremiah 11:7). The phrase rising early and testifying, a favorite expression of Jeremiah, means to earnestly and incessantly undertake a task. God had been very zealous in urging His people to be obedient. But the people of God did not hearken to His messengers. They continued in their own stubborn ways each man doing whatever he set his heart to do. As a result, all of the penalties for covenant breaking stipulated in the law of Moses had come upon the people (Jeremiah 11:8).