Jeremiah 8:8-12

B. Unwise Proclamations by National Leaders Jeremiah 8:8-12

TRANSLATION

(8) How can you say, We are wise! The Torah of the LORD is with us. But, behold, the false pen of the scribes has labored falsely. (9) The wise shall be put to shame, they shall be dismayed when they are captured. Behold, they have spurned the word of the LORD and what kind of wisdom do they possess? (10) Therefore I will give their wives to others, their fields to dispossessors; for from least to the greatest everyone of them is out for illicit gain; from the prophet even unto the priest everyone of them practices deceit. (11) They heal up the hurt of the daughter of My people lightly, saying, Peace, Peace; when there is no peace. (12) They shall be put to shame because they have committed abomination; yea they do not at all feel ashamed nor do they know how to blush; therefore they shall fall among those who fall; in the time of their visitation they shall stumble, says the LORD.

COMMENTS

The wise men of Judah felt that they had no need for the preaching of Jeremiah. They had the Torah, the written precepts of the Law, so what use did they have for this agitator from Anathoth. Let Jeremiah keep his advice to himself; for we are wise and we are the divinely appointed teachers of the people. Among the wise men the scribes are singled out for special comment. The scribes in Old Testament times were men who could write. They often served as officials of the royal court (2 Kings 12:10) and sometimes as military officers (Jeremiah 52:2 ff.). The scribes in Jeremiah's day were corrupt like the priests and the prophets. Somehow through their writings the scribes were attempting to nullify the written word of God. Perhaps they were publishing the false teaching of the prophets and priests. Perhaps they were making comments upon the Pentateuch which in effect warped its teaching. Some have proposed that these scribes were even guilty of altering the very text of the word of God. Whatever they were doing, these perverse scribes were distorting, twisting, perverting the truth. The lying pens of scholars through the ages have been directed against the Scriptures. Through false interpretations and insidious criticism these wolves in sheep's clothing have attempted to escape the absolute authority of God's word. Yet in spite of these attacks Scripture still cannot be broken (John 10:35).

When men reject the wisdom that comes from the word of God what kind of wisdom do they possess? The fear of the Lord and the reverent respect for His word is the beginning of all true wisdom (Proverbs 9:10). How utterly humiliated these wise men of Judah will be when calamities one after another fall upon the nation (Jeremiah 8:9). Human wisdom, human logic, human theology had declared Jerusalem to be inviolable. How embarrassed these learned men will be when they are captured and all they possess is given into the hands of the Chaldean conquerors. Because of their greed the prophets and priests had deliberately deceived the people (Jeremiah 8:10). But in the end they will lose all that they had accumulated. Instead of dealing with the spiritual maladies of the nation these religious leaders were merely concealing the impeding disaster by assuring the people of peace (Jeremiah 8:11). In misleading the people these men had committed abominations, yet they show no shame whatsoever. But when the judgment falls on Judah these proud and confident men will stumble and fall before the sword of the enemy (Jeremiah 8:12).