March 3, 2019

Jeremiah, Chapter 12:  A Meditation

“Righteous are thou, O Lord, when I plead with thee; yet let me talk with thee of thy judgments.  Why doth the way of the wicked prosper?  Why are all they happy that deal very treacherously?

Thou has planted them, yea, they have taken root; they grow, yea, they bring forth fruit; thou art near in their mouth, and far from their heart.

But thou, O lord, knowest me; thou hast seen me, and tested mine heart toward thee.  Pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and prepare them for the day of slaughter.

How long shall the land mourn, and the herbs of every field wither, for the wickedness of those who dwell in it?  The beasts are consumed, and the birds, because they said, He shall not see our last end.” (vv 1-4)

The perennial and eternal question which persons who belong to God have asked themselves and God over the generations of the faithful is this:  “Why does the way of the wicked prosper?  Why are they happy that deal very treacherously?…Thou are near in their mouth, and far from their heart.”  This is, of course, a most important question, as this question goes to the core of the question of redemption and eternal justice.  In other words, why does the righteous and holy God not punish the sins of persons who are so wicked that their very presence pollutes the earth?  Further, not only are they not punished by God for their sins and wickedness, they actually prosper and are happy! (We must be careful here, that we do not become so self-righteous to say that we are not sinners, too!)

I have, of course, wrestled with this question as have so many before me and I have no satisfying answer.  We know that all persons will be called to account at the last day.  We also know that God is ever merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.  We are grateful that God is not in a hurry to judge us, but we wonder how long we must endure such wickedness and evil deeds as we daily witness in our public life!  There seems to be no end to the capacity of the human family to engage in sin, which not only destroys the individual person, but also so many of those of us who are around those doing such evil.  “How long, O Lord, how long?”

In the Revelation, chapter 5, the saints who have been martyred for their faith are given white robes and told to rest a little while, until the number of those who will fill up the completion of their numbers is accomplished.  The Lord God promises that the end will be soon, but not yet.  And so they are told to rest for a little while longer under the throne of their God.  Yet their voice cries out to God continuously for God in Christ to finally avenge their blood on the inhabitants of the earth.

In Jeremiah’s situation, he is talking about those persons alive in his own day, who have either persecuted him or acted treacherously against him, some even from his home town of Anathoth, and some from his own father’s family.  “Do not believe them,” God says, “though they speak fair words unto thee.”(v6)

So the answer God gives to the eternal question of Why do the wicked prosper and are happy?” is this:  The righteous judgment of God is coming, the separation of the tares (‘weeds’) from the wheat at the last day, but for those who trust in his or her God, “the the time of the administration of the justice and the judgment of God is ‘not yet.’

———————————-

“If thou has run with the footman, and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses?  And if in the land of peace, in which thou trustedst, they wearied thee, then how wilt thou do in the swelling of the Jordan? For even thy brethren, and the house of thy father, even they have dealt treacherously with thee; yea, they have called a multitude after thee; believe them not, though they speak fair words unto thee.”(vv5-6)

God is reminding Jeremiah that what he has experienced thus far is nothing compared to what he will experience later, so he is to be prepared for the worst day which is yet to come.  We are reminded there was a day in which Jeremiah was lowered into a pit of mud in an old cistern up to his arm pits.  Dangling there by ropes he was there for several days, only finally to be saved by one of his faithful servants, who is a man of Ethiopia.  Jeremiah was also held captive for a time by the King in Jerusalem, only to be later freed by the Babylonians who overran the whole country.  The king’s eyes were gouged out and he was led into captivity, but Jeremiah was freed to remain in Jerusalem and Judah with his own people, that is, those who were allowed to remain to help till the land and pay tribute to the Babylonians.

——————————–

“I have forsaken mine house, I have left mine heritage, I have given the dearly beloved of my soul into the hand of her enemies.

Mine heritage is unto me like a lion in the forest; it crieth out against me; therefor have I hated it.

Mine heritage is unto me like a speckled bird; the birds round about are against her; come, assemble all the beasts of the field, come to devour.

Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard, they have trampled my portion under foot, they have made my pleasant portion a desolate wilderness.

They have made it desolate and, being desolate, it mourneth unto me; the whole land is made desolate, because no man layeth it to heart.

The spoilers are come upon all high places through the wilderness; for the sword of the Lord shall devour from one end of the land: no flesh shall have peace.

They have sown wheat, but shall reap thorns; they have put themselves to pain, but shall not profit; and they shall be ashamed of your revenues because of the fierce anger of the Lord.”(vv7-13)

The Lord God of Israel, the Covenant-Keeping God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is laying out a case against the people of Israel, who are the remnant of the Israel people remaining after the destruction of the ten tribes of the Northern Kingdom, who have been already carried off into exile by Assyria.  These ten tribes were scattered to the nations and have appropriately be called “the ten lost tribes of the house of Israel.” (as in the Book of Mormon).

Now with only two tribes of the original twelve tribes still remaining, Judah and Benjamin, the Lord God of the house of Israel, is laying down an indictment against the remaining two tribes.  Even the tribes which Isaiah the prophet has characterized as “a remnant” still clinging to God are now being condemned by God as being no longer faithful to the covenant which God gave when he brought the people of Israel out of the Egyptian bondage and captivity and settled them all in the land promised by God to Abraham.  Jeremiah is being charged now with delivering a very unpopular message, telling the people of his day that they too are about to be destroyed and will also be carried off as exiles into Babylon.  The leadership of the nation, including the kind and noble rulers, and other officials, including those charged with caring for the nation as “shepherds” are now being accused by God the Lord of behaving treacherously against the God’s people and of leaving the land devastated from lack of care for God’s people.  The Lord God has made a decision that they too will be trampled underfoot and removed from this good land and taken back as exiles to the lands of their enemies.

We know that in 586BC this is exactly what occurred and the greater portion of the nation of Judah (the Southern Kingdom) was taken into captivity to live for some 70 years as exiles, strangers living as a community in the wilderness of a foreign land.  The temple in Jerusalem, the place felt to be inviolable and untouchable by the enemies of Judah, is destroyed.  The King of Judah, who represents the people collectively as a nation and his officials ‘the shepherds,” are also carried away into captivity in the land of Babylon.  Only the poorest people remain, and they are left along with Jeremiah to occupy the land and to pay tribute to Babylon on an annual basis.  The whole land is reduced to almost nothing, unable any longer to oppose or rebel against the king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar.

Jeremiah eventually is persuaded to go down to Egypt with the remaining group of people who refuse to submit to Babylon’s rule and authority, and these diaspora Jews set up an alternate group of Jewish people living in Egypt, where the Old Testament is eventually translated into the Greek language, in The Septuagint, in Alexandria, Egypt.  Without the centering worship the Jerusalem temple and without the Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies, only the Holy Scriptures remain.  And these scriptures become the foundation for the reformation of the community and its eventual return into the land of promise in Jerusalem. (see the books of Ezra and Nehemiah).

—————————————

“Thus saith the Lord against all mine evil neighbors, that touch the inheritance which I have caused my people, Israel, to inherit, Behold, I will pluck them out of their land, and pluck out the house of Judah from among them.

And it shall come to pass, after I have plucked them out, I will return and have compassion on them, and will bring them again, every man to his heritage, and every man to his land.

And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name, The Lord liveth, as they taught my people to swear by Ba’al, then shall they be built in the midst of my people.

But if they will not obey, I will utterly pluck up and destroy that nation, saith the Lord.” (vv14-17)

On first reading the last verse (v.17) appears to be referring to the nation Israel, who are about to be plucked up and sent to Babylon captivity.  Yet, in fact, this verse is referring to all those “evil neighbors” who taught the people of God to swear by Ba’al, and caused them to turn away from their zealous love of the Living God.

Israel (the tribes of Judah and Benjamin) are to be plucked out by God and taken to Babylon, in an act of compassion and kindness to protect them and so redeem them by cleansing the nation of its sins in the act of the captivity of Babylon.  In so doing, God is reforming Israel (Judah and Benjamin) into a redeemed nation who will return to Jerusalem and so carry on the covenant promises of God made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, out of whom came the one covenant promise of Jesus Christ, the Savior and Redeemer of all the whole world, Jew and Gentile alike.

But if any nation takes advantage of Israel in its absence from this land of Judah and Jerusalem, it is they who will be plucked up by God and destroyed!  This is a remarkable promise and speaks to the power and the goodness of our God.  God preserves his heritage Israel (in the tribes sent into captivity – Judah and Benjamin) and protects the land of Israel’s heritage so it will still be available for them to return to when Cyrus the Persian gives the Jews permission to return, some 70 years after the beginning of their captivity.  O the riches of God’s wisdom and grace, to save his people even when they do not deserve to be saved!  God does this act of redemption not simply for the people who are being redeemed from their enemies, but also for his Own Name’s sake.  In other words, God is capable and willing to keep his covenant promises to God’s people even when the people as a nation are not faithful on their own to keep the covenant promises to Him.  God preserves, cleanses and heals the nation Israel by sending them into captivity in Babylon, so when the cleansing and redemption of the nation is completed, they will be able to return as a new nation into a New Jerusalem in a newly rebuilt city!  The people of God have lost both their beloved temple and their beloved ark of the covenant in the temple, but they have not lost the promises of their covenant keeping God.  They have not lost the promises of God given to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  Nor have they lost the opportunity to be the nation out of whom will be born the Savior of the world, even Jesus Christ our Lord!

This is the God we worship and serve!  How truly great is our God!

Prayer:  “O God our Savior, our Redeemer and our Friend.  Remind us today of your goodness, your faithfulness and your ever-compassionate love!  Help us not to be discouraged in this evil day, nor give up hope for a new beginning in our lives.  Sustain us and heal us by thy grace and by thy power!  Remind us that your goodness is poured out every day of our lives!  Encourage those among us who need to be encouraged.  Sustain those who need to hear a word of goodness, of faith and of peace.  We shall ever spend our lives worshiping and praising you, our Savior and our God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, known to us fully in Jesus Christ our Holy and Ever-Faithful Lord, world without end in the communion of our God.  Amen and Amen!

Let all of God’s people say, “Amen!”

“Amen!  We praise you, Lord Jesus Christ!”

Bill Wilson