The Lord revealed to His servant a twofold conspiracy in the land: a conspiracy of the men of Judah to disobey the covenant and resist the reforms led by King Josiah (11:9–17), and a conspiracy of the people in Jeremiah’s hometown to kill the prophet and silence God’s Word (11:18—12:6). Both led to a third crisis that threatened Jeremiah’s own faith in the Lord.
The conspiracy against the king (vv. 9–17) was actually a hidden rebellion against God’s covenant and the reforms that Josiah was bringing to the land. Unless the Word of God is obeyed and worked out practically in our lives, God can’t bless us as He desires to do. The people, however, preferred to break the covenant and worship false gods.
But what we worship and the way we worship are not incidentals in life; they’re essentials that determine the character of life itself. “A people’s lives are only as good as their worship,” writes Eugene Peterson. “Worship defines life. If worship is corrupt, life will be corrupt.” God gave His people the covenant so He might bless them and keep the good promises He made to them, but His people preferred to trust the gods of their pagan neighbors.
Worship has consequences, either good or bad, and in the case of Judah, the consequences were bad. The people knew that the curses and judgments were written into the covenant, but they thought God wouldn’t send judgment on His own chosen people. Wasn’t God’s temple in Jerusalem? Wasn’t the ark of the covenant there? And didn’t the priests have the law? Would God allow these sacred things to be destroyed? But God always keeps His promises, whether to bless or to chasten, and the greater the privileges we have from Him, the greater the responsibility we have to Him.
Disaster was coming to Judah, and nothing could change it. The people could cry out to their gods, but their gods wouldn’t answer them. Even if the people turned back to Jehovah and begged for His help, He wouldn’t answer them. Therefore, the Lord commanded Jeremiah a second time not to pray for the people (11:14; see 7:16; 14:11). The people worshipped as many gods as there were cities in Judah, and there were as many altars as streets in Jerusalem. Yet none of these things could rescue the nation from the terrible judgment that was coming.
God presented two pictures of His people that reveal how futile their religious faith really was: a worshipper in the temple (11:15) and a tree in the storm (vv. 17–18). God called the nation “my beloved,” reminding them of their marriage contract and how unfaithful they had been to Him. Their worship in the temple should have been an expression of their true love to Him, but instead it was an exercise in futility. Offering sacrifices could never avert God’s judgment; the people were merely engaging in wickedness (v. 15 niv). When worship becomes wickedness, and people rejoice in sinning, then the light has turned into darkness (Matt. 6:22–24), and there is no hope.
In Scripture, trees sometimes symbolize individuals (Jer. 17:8; Ps. 1:3; 52:8; 92:12; Zech. 4:3) and sometimes nations or kingdoms (Isa. 10:33–34; 18:5; Ezek. 17; 31). Israel is compared to an olive tree in Jeremiah 11:16–17, an image Paul used in Romans 11. The olive tree is prized in the Near East because of its fruit and the useful oil made from it. Judah thought of herself as a “thriving olive tree” (Jer. 11: niv) that would never fall, but God saw a storm coming, and the wind would break the branches and the lightning would set the tree on fire. Jerusalem would be broken down and burned like a useless olive tree.
If the greatest sin is the corruption of the highest good, then Judah was guilty of great sin. Their highest good was to know the true God and worship Him, but they perverted that blessing and worshipped idols. They turned His temple into a den of thieves, persecuted His prophets, rejected His covenant, and disgraced His name. “God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you” (Rom. 2: niv; see Ezek. 36:22). God patiently dealt with His people, seeking to woo them back, but they only hardened their hearts and turned a deaf ear to His warnings.
Before we condemn the people of Judah, however, let’s examine our own hearts and churches. Are there idols in our hearts? Do we give wholehearted devotion to the Lord, or is our devotion divided between Christ and another? When unsaved people visit our worship services, are they impressed with the glory and majesty of God (1 Cor. 14:23–25)? Do the worldly lives and questionable activities of professed believers disgrace God’s name? Remember, God’s “last word” to the church isn’t the Great Commission; it’s “Repent, or else!” (Rev. 2—3).
The conspiracy against Jeremiah (11:18–23) grew out of the people’s rejection of God’s Word, for if they had accepted the Word of God, they would have honored His prophet and listened to what he had to say. You would think that the priests in Anathoth would have had more discernment than to listen to the false prophets, but holding a religious office is no guarantee that people possess spiritual wisdom.
The men of Anathoth, Jeremiah’s hometown, plotted to kill him because his message convicted them. Rather than repent, they decided to destroy the messenger. But they had a second reason: as loyal Jews, they felt that his prophecies were harmful to the welfare of the nation. Jeremiah preached impending judgment from Babylon, while the false prophets were declaring messages of peace (Jer. 6:14; 8:11). Jeremiah insisted that the people obey the law and bring their sacrifices to the temple and not to the local shrines (high places), some of which were dedicated to idols, and the priests didn’t like that. Jeremiah was proBabylon, while the rulers were pro-Egypt. In other words, Jeremiah was out of step with his times, and because he was decisive, he had to walk alone and “vote with God.”
Until God warned him about it, Jeremiah knew nothing about the plot against his life, and when he heard the news, he felt like a helpless lamb being led to the slaughter (11:19; see Isa. 53:7). All he could do was commit himself and his enemies to the Lord and trust God to work. This is the first of several occasions in his life when Jeremiah privately poured out his heart to the Lord and asked Him to fight his battles and help him with his depression and fears (Jer. 11:19–20; 12:1–4; 15:10–17; 17:12–18; 18:20–23; 20:7–18). Publicly, Jeremiah was bold before people, but privately he was broken before God. God assured His servant that his enemies would be dealt with when the day of disaster came and the Babylonians captured Jerusalem.
A theological crisis followed (12:1–6). No sooner did God take care of the two conspiracies than Jeremiah found himself struggling with a theological crisis (12:1–6). “In the commencement of the spiritual life,” wrote the French mystic Madame Guyon, “our hardest task is to bear with our neighbor; in its progress, with ourselves; and in its end, with God.” Jeremiah couldn’t understand why a holy God would permit the false prophets and the unfaithful priests to prosper in their ministries while he, a faithful servant of God, was treated like a sacrificial lamb.
“Why does the way of the wicked prosper?” (v. 1 niv) is a question that was asked frequently in Scripture, and it’s being asked today. Job wrestled with it (Job 12; 21); the psalmists tried to understand it (Ps. 37; 49; 73); and other prophets besides Jeremiah grappled with the problem (Hab. 1; Mal. 2:17; 3:15). Jewish theologians, pointing to the covenants, taught that God blesses those who obey and judges those who disobey, but the situation in real life seemed just the opposite! How could a holy God of love allow such a thing to happen?
Jeremiah, however, was seeking more than answers to questions; he was also concerned for the welfare of his people. He saw the land distressed because of the sins of the leaders, with many innocent people suffering. God had sent drought to the nation, which was one of the covenant disciplines (Deut. 28:15–24), and the vegetation was withering and the animal life dying. But the evil leaders who were to blame for the drought were not only surviving but also were prospering from the losses of others.
This didn’t seem fair, and Jeremiah complained to the Lord. “Why do all the faithless live at ease?” (Jer. 12: niv). “How long will the land lie parched?” (v. 4). “Why?” and “How long?” are questions that are easy to ask but difficult to answer.
Jeremiah’s suggested solution was that God judge the wicked and drag them away like cattle to be slaughtered (v. 3). After all, the men of Anathoth were ready to kill him like a sacrificial lamb (11:19). So why shouldn’t they receive from God the same fate they had planned for him?
God’s reply to Jeremiah, however, wasn’t what he expected (12:5–6). God’s focus was not on the wicked; it was on His servant Jeremiah. As most of us do when we’re suffering, Jeremiah was asking, “How can I get out of this?” But he should have been asking, “What can I get out of this?” God’s servants don’t live by explanations; they live by promises. Understanding explanations may satisfy our curiosity and make us smarter people, but laying hold of God’s promises will build our character and make us better servants.
God’s reply revealed three important truths to Jeremiah. First, the life of godly service isn’t easy; it’s like running a race. (Paul used a similar figure in Phil. 3:12–14.) Had he remained a priest, Jeremiah probably would have had a comfortable and secure life, but the life of a prophet was just the opposite. He was like a man running a race and having a hard time keeping up.
Second, the life of service becomes harder, not easier. Jeremiah had been running with the foot soldiers and had kept up with them, but now he’d be racing with the horses. In spite of his trials, he’d been living in a land of peace. Now, however, he’d be tackling the thick jungles of the Jordan River, where the wild beasts prowled. His heart had been broken because of the attacks of outsiders, but now his own family would start opposing him.
The third truth grows out of the other two: the life of service gets better as we grow more mature. Each new challenge (horses, jungles, opposition of relatives) helped Jeremiah develop his faith and grow in his ministry skills. The easy life is ultimately the hard life, because the easy life stifles maturity, but the difficult life challenges us to develop our “spiritual muscles” and accomplish more for the Lord. Phillips Brooks said the purpose of life is the building of character through truth, and you don’t build character by being a spectator. You have to run with endurance the race God sets before you and do it on God’s terms (Heb. 12:1–3).
“It was the answer Jeremiah needed,” said Scottish preacher Hugh Black. “He needed to be braced, not pampered.” One of my relatives, when a boy, deliberately failed third grade so he wouldn’t have to go into fourth grade and write with ink! Today, our grandchildren are learning to use simple computer programs in grade school so they’ll be prepared to use more difficult programs in high school and college. There’s no growth without challenge, and there’s no challenge without change. As they get older, many people resist change, forgetting that without the challenge of change, they’re in danger of deteriorating physically, mentally, and spiritually. God wanted Jeremiah to grow, and He also wants us to grow.
Gilbert K. Chesterton put it this way: “The fatal metaphor of progress, which means leaving things behind us, has utterly obscured the real idea of growth, which means leaving things inside us.” God was concerned about the development within the prophet, not just the difficulties around him. God could handle the problem people in Judah, but God couldn’t force His servant to grow. Only Jeremiah could make that choice by staying in the race, accepting new challenges, and thereby maturing in the Lord.