Jeremiah 11:9-17

B. Exposure of the Conspiracy Jeremiah 11:9-17

TRANSLATION

(9) And the LORD said unto me: Conspiracy is found among the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. (10) They have returned to the iniquities of their first fathers who refused to listen to My words, and they walked 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 says the LORD: Behold, I am about to bring unto them a calamity which they will not be able to escape; and they will cry unto Me but I will not hearken unto them. (12) And the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem shall go and cry unto the gods to whom they continue to make offerings, but they shall utterly fail to save them in the time of their calamity. (13) For according to the number of your cities are your gods, O Judah, and according to the number of the streets of Jerusalem you have made altars to Shame, altars for making offering to Baal. (14) But as for you, do not pray on behalf of this people and do not raise up a cry and prayer on their behalf; for I will not hear in the time of their calling unto Me, because of their calamity. (15) What business does My beloved have in My house since she commits treachery? Will a multitude (of sacrifices) and holy flesh remove (sin) from you When you do evil then you rejoice. (16) The LORD has given you the name a green olive tree, beautiful, with well-formed fruit. At the noise of great tumult He has kindled a fire against it and its branches are broken. (17) For the LORD of host, who planted you, has spoken evil against you because of the evil of the house of Israel and Judah, which they have committed to their own harm in order to provoke Me by offering to the Baal.

COMMENTS

Sin is treason against the heavenly King! The people of Judah are accused of national conspiracy to renounce their allegiance to the Lord. This is not a cloak and dagger conspiracy carried on in secret but an open and evident revolt against God. The men of Judah were encouraging one another to engage in apostasy and idolatry and this in the eyes of God constituted a conspiracy (Jeremiah 11:9). For awhile under the influence of the godly king Josiah the men of Judah had discontinued the sin of their fathers; but now, says the prophet, they have returned to the sins of their first fathers, the Israelites of the wilderness period and the period of the Judges. Like their forefathers the present generation has walked after other gods to serve them. The house of Judah as well as the house of Israel had violated the terms of the ancient covenant made at Sinai (Jeremiah 11:10). Rebellion against the crown brings inevitable punishment. In that hour of calamity the men of Judah will desperately try to call upon God but He will not be inclined to answer their prayers (Jeremiah 11:11). They shall turn in that time of crisis to the gods they have continued to worship;[193] but these man-made gods shall be powerless to save (Jeremiah 11:12). Every city had its tutelary deity. Altars to Shame, i.e., Baal could be found on every street of Jerusalem (Jeremiah 11:13). Like the men of Athens the population of Jerusalem was very religious. But their religiosity would not save them from the wrath of the God of judgment.

[193] The Hebrew participle suggests that even while they were crying to God they continued to make offerings to their gods.

Because of the apostate condition of the men of Judah it is useless for Jeremiah to continue to pray on their behalf. God will not hem. The Hebrew here uses a participle which implies that God will continue to refrain from hearing no matter how hard or long the people might cry unto Him (Jeremiah 11:14). Because of her adulterous apostasy God's beloved, the nation Judah, no longer has any business in the House of God. As long as the nation continues in this treachery no amount of sacrifices will be able to remove their sin. Sacrifice without repentance and contrition is valueless. Far from feeling any remorse or shame because of their evil the people of Judah actually rejoiced in wrong doing (Jeremiah 11:15). In earlier days God had regarded Israel as beautiful green olive tree because the nation had produced the finest fruit. The olive tree is one of the most hardy and productive trees of Palestine. But that tree is now worthless. The branches are dead and unfruitful. When the tumult of battle is heard in the land the enemy soldiers will break off the branches of that tree and use them for firewood (Jeremiah 11:16). The Lord of hosts, who had planted that olive tree, has the power to also uproot it and that is just what He plans to do. The house of Israel and the house of Judah, the two branches of the olive tree, engaged in evil practices to their own hurt. They have provoked God by offering sacrifices to Baal. The Lord has therefore pronounced evil or calamity against His people. One branch, Israel, had already been destroyed by the Assyrian empire. The second branch, Judah, is about to experience the same fate at the hands of the Chaldeans.