Bible reading & studying Jeremiah chapter 12-14
by Rev.Katherine Liu Bruce
Christian Arts Ministries : Biblical Precepts & Gospel Music
In
the chapter 12 Jeremiah asked the age-old question, why do the godless prosper?
God’s reply is to warn him of even greater opposition from the people in
Jerusalem (horses, v.5) than he was experiencing
from those in Anathoth (men on foot, v.5). “The thickets by the Jordan.” The
low luxuriant bottom land of the Jordan inhabited by wild animals. (49:19).
“You
are always on their lips but far from their hearts. Yet, you know me, O Lord,
you see me and test my thoughts about you. Drag them off like sheep to be
butchered! How long will the land lie parched and the grass in every field be
withered? Because those who live in it are wicked, the animals and birds have
perished. Moreover, the people are saying, “He will not see what happen to us.”
“If you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out, how can you
compete with horses? If you stumble in safe country, how will you manage in the
thickets by the Jordan?(vv.2-5)
Jeremiah describes the coming devastation as if it had already occurred. “Sword of the Lord” means that the Babylonian armies, which would be used in God’s hand to punish His people. “My wicked neighbors.” Indicates that Syria (Aram), Moab, and Ammon, who, with Judah, would be punished by Babylon.
Your brothers, your own family even they have
betrayed you; they have raised a loud cry against you. Do not trust them,
though they speak well of you. (v.6)
Over all the barren heights in the desert destroyers
will swarm, for the sword of the Lord will
devour from one end of the land to the other, no one will be safe.(v.12)
This is what the Lord says, “As for all my wicked neighbors who seize the inheritance
I gave my people Israel, I will uproot them from their lands and I will uproot
the house of Judah from among them. But after I uproot them, I will again have
compassion and will bring each of them back to his own inheritance and his own
country. And if
they learn well the ways of my people and swear by my name, saying, “ As surely
as the Lord lives- even as they once taught my people to swear by Ball then
they will be established among my people. But if any nation does not listen, I
will completely uproot and destroy it.” declares the Lord. (vv.14-17)
In the Chapter 13 actions speak louder than words, so Jeremiah is told to take a linen belt (a thigh –length undergarment that clung to the body, symbolizing the closeness of Israel to God’s heart, (v11), hide it in a rock, then retrieve it only to discover that, like the nation, it was ruined and useless. To Perath, or to the Euphrates(v.6), may mean the river (at least 350 miles away) or may refer to the town of Perath about three miles from Anathoth (in the expression “to Perath” both names take on an identical form in Hebrew. Though the people complacently looked for prosperity (illustrated by the wineskin filled with wine), in reality they would behave in the coming crisis as though inebriated, unable to distinguish friend from foe. The third warning was against pride and arrogance.
“This is what the Lord said
to me. “ Go and buy a linen belt and put it around your waist, but do not let
it touch water.” So I bought a belt, as the Lord directed, and put it around my
waist. Then the word of the Lord came to me a second time: “take the belt you
bought and are wearing around your waist and go nor to Perath and hide it there
in a crevice in the rocks.” So
I went and hid it at Perath, as the Lord
told me. Many days later the Lord said to me, “Go now to Perath and get the
belt I told you to hide there.” So I went to Perath and dug up the belt and
took it from the place where I had hidden it, but now it was ruined and completely
useless. (vv.1-7)
“Then the Word of the Lord
came to me: “this is what the Lord says, ‘in the same way I will ruin the pride
of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem. These wicked people, who refuse to
listen to my words, who follow the stubbornness of their hearts and go after
other gods to serve and worship them, will be like this belt completely
useless!” (vv.8-10)
For as a belt is bound around
a man’s waist, so I bound the whole house or Israel and the whole house of
Judah to me, ‘declares the Lord, to be my people for my renown and praise and
honor. But they have not listened.’ (v.11)
A
lament over King Jehoiachin (then eighteen years old) and the queen mother
(Nehushta, 2Kings24:8), who were taken captive into Babylon (Jer.29:2)
Hear and pay attention,
do not be arrogant, for the Lord has spoken. Give glory to the Lord your God
before he brings the darkness, before you feet stumble on the darkening hills. Your
hope for light, but he will turn it to thick darkness and change it to deep gloom.
But if you do
not listen, I will weep in secret because of your pride, my eyes will weep
bitterly, overflowing with tears, because the Lord’s flock will be taken
captive. (vv.15-17)
And
if you ask yourself, “why has this happened to me? It is because of your many
sins that your skirts have been torn off and your body mistreated…because you
have forgotten me and trusted in false gods. I will pull up your skirts over
your face that your shame may be seen-your adulteries and lustful neighing,
your shameless prostitution! I have seen your detestable acts on the hills and
in the fields. Woe to you, O Jerusalem! How long will you be unclean? (vv. 22,
25-27)
“You are among us, O Lord, and we
bear your name; do not forsake us!” (v.9)
Then the Lord said to me, “Do not pray for the well-being of this people. Although they fast, I will not listen to their cry; though they offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Instead, I will destroy them with the sword, famine and plague.” (vv.11-12)
“O Lord, we acknowledge our wickedness and the guilt of our fathers; we have indeed sinned against you. For the sake of your name do not despise us; do not dishonor your glorious throne. Remember your covenant with us and do not break it. Do any of the worthless idols of the nations bring rain? Do the skies themselves send down showers? No, it is you, O Lord our God. Therefore our hope is in you, for you are the one who does all this.(vv.20-22)
Bibliography
Ryrie, Charles C. The Ryrie Study Bible
(NIV).Chicago, IL: The Moody Bible Institute, 1986.
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