[Preliminary
Comment: The first part of the chapter is all about the
Lord instructing Jeremiah to put before the people ‘a new covenant'
which in reality was a reminder of the old covenant to simply
obey the Lord. They had again and again broken the old one and
if they reject this latest appeal then all that is left is their
destruction.
In
the second part, a plot to kill Jeremiah is revealed and when
Jeremiah prays, the Lord reassures him that He will deal with
the plotters.]
Part
1: v.1-17: The covenant is broken
v.1,2
The Lord presents Jeremiah with a covenant
v.1
This
is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord:
v.2
‘Listen
to the terms of this covenant and tell them to the people of Judah
and to those who live in Jerusalem.
v.3-5
The Covenant was simply obey me and I will be your God
v.3
Tell
them that this is what the Lord , the God of Israel, says: “Cursed
is the one who does not obey the terms of this covenant –
v.4
the
terms I commanded your ancestors when I brought them out of Egypt,
out of the iron-smelting furnace.” I said, “Obey me and do everything
I command you, and you will be my people, and I will be your God.
v.5
Then
I will fulfil the oath I swore to your ancestors, to give them
a land flowing with milk and honey”– the land you possess today.'
I
answered, ‘Amen, Lord.'
v.6-7
This covenant is to be heard throughout Judah
v.6
The
Lord said to me, ‘Proclaim all these words in the towns of Judah
and in the streets of Jerusalem: “Listen to the terms of this
covenant and follow them.
v.7
From
the time I brought your ancestors up from Egypt until today, I
warned them again and again, saying, ‘Obey me.'
v.8
But
they did not listen or pay attention; instead, they followed the
stubbornness of their evil hearts. So I brought on them all the
curses of the covenant I had commanded them to follow but that
they did not keep.”'
[Comment:
Jeremiah is to present to Judah a new clear and simple
covenant, what is obviously a second chance but also a time when
they need to make choices – either to obey or to disobey, and
if the latter then their guilt will be doubly obvious.]
v.9,10
The people had broken the covenant the Lord originally made with
them
v.9
Then
the Lord said to me, ‘There is a conspiracy among the people of
Judah and those who live in Jerusalem.
v.10
They
have returned to the sins of their ancestors, who refused to listen
to my words. They have followed other gods to serve them. Both
Israel and Judah have broken the covenant I made with their ancestors.
[Comment:
The fact is that the nation had again and again and
again broken the original covenant made on Mount Sinai [Ex 19:5,6
and expanded in the following chapters] and so the new covenant
is simply a call to restate the old one, a second chance to get
it right with God.]
v.11-13
Now the judgment side of that covenant will be applied
v.11
Therefore
this is what the Lord says: “I will bring on them a disaster they
cannot escape. Although they cry out to me, I will not listen
to them.
v.12
The
towns of Judah and the people of Jerusalem will go and cry out
to the gods to whom they burn incense, but they will not help
them at all when disaster strikes.
v.13
You,
Judah, have as many gods as you have towns; and the altars you
have set up to burn incense to that shameful god Baal are as many
as the streets of Jerusalem.”
v.14
He is not to pray for this people
v.14
‘Do
not pray for this people or offer any plea or petition for them,
because I will not listen when they call to me in the time of
their distress.
v.15
Israel, God's beloved now used the temple to worship ‘other gods'
v.15
‘What
is my beloved doing in my temple
as she, with many others, works out her
evil schemes?
Can consecrated meat avert your punishment?
When you engage in your wickedness,
then you rejoice.'
[Comment:
Jeremiah is told that because they broke the old covenant
[and the Lord clearly doesn't believe they will keep this new
simplified reminder covenant] He will no longer listen to this
people and so Jeremiah shouldn't pray for them as they continue
their wickedness in worshipping ‘other gods' in His temple.]
v.16
The Lord has seen Israel as a beautiful, fruitful olive tree –
now to be destroyed
v.16
The
Lord called you a thriving olive tree
with fruit beautiful in form.
But with the roar of a mighty storm
he will set it on fire,
and its branches will be broken.
v.17
This destruction is purely because they rebelled against God with
idolatry
v.17
The
Lord Almighty, who planted you, has decreed disaster for you,
because the people of both Israel and Judah have done evil and
aroused my anger by burning incense to Baal.
[Comment:
The Lord had viewed His people as a beautiful and fruitful
tree but as she had never lived up to that, He would now destroy
her, because they have set their ways to worship Baal,]
Part
2: v.18-23: The Plot against Jeremiah
v.18-20
Jeremiah appeals to the Lord to save him from conspirators
v.18
Because
the Lord revealed their plot to me, I knew it, for at that time
he showed me what they were doing.
v.19
I
had been like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter; I did not realise
that they had plotted against me, saying,
‘Let
us destroy the tree and its fruit;
let us cut him off from the land of the
living,
that his name be remembered no more.'
v.20
But
you, Lord Almighty, who judge righteously
and test the heart and mind,
let me see your vengeance on them,
for to you I have committed my cause.
[Comment:
Some clearly had not liked what Jeremiah was bringing
and so were plotting his destruction [the first reference in the
book to what will arise again later]. When the Lord showed him
their plotting [what we would today call a word of knowledge]
Jeremiah's response is to ask the Lord to deal with them.]
v.21-23
The Lord says he will punish them utterly
v.21
Therefore
this is what the Lord says about the people of Anathoth who are
threatening to kill you, saying, ‘Do not prophesy in the name
of the Lord or you will die by our hands'–
v.22
therefore
this is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘I will punish them. Their
young men will die by the sword, their sons and daughters by famine.
v.23
Not
even a remnant will be left to them, because I will bring disaster
on the people of Anathoth in the year of their punishment.'
[Comment:
Jeremiah is reassured by the Lord that He will destroy
all those who have been plotting against him in Anathoth, a town
some five miles north east of Jerusalem.]
Continue
to Chapter 12