God preserved and protected him in a most unusual manner. Copyright StatementJames Burton Coffman Commentaries reproduced by permission of Abilene Christian University Press, Abilene, Texas, USA. For I earnestly protested unto your fathers in the day that I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, even unto this day, rising early and protesting, saying, Obey my voice. i. Another similarity in the lives of Jeremiah and of our Lord is seen in this mention of his being like "a lamb led to the slaughter." a. d. To give them “a land flowing with milk and honey”: God fulfilled all His obligations of the covenant, even blessing Israel with an abundant land. "But O Jehovah of hosts, who judgest righteously, who triest the heart and the mind, I shall see thy vengeance on them; for unto thee have I revealed my cause. This chapter seems to be a compilation of several signs and prophetic words given to Jeremiah at different times. 11 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord saying, 2 Hear ye the words of this covenant, and speak unto the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem; 3 And say thou unto them, Thus … This paragraph fully corroborates all that we stated above concerning what covenant is here under consideration. We have been seeking "the rest of God"'the true Sabbath, … He was shocked at the intensity of the plot, because he was innocent (i.e., line 1, cf. Prior to the terminal action registered here, the whole racial Israel had been judicially hardened (always with the exception of the righteous remnant), as repeatedly mentioned by both Isaiah and Jeremiah. He began his prayer addressing God as the LORD of hosts, a title recalling that God is the commander of heavenly armies. Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary 11:11-17 Evil pursues sinners, and entangles them in snares, out of which they cannot free themselves. 1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, 2 Hear ye the words of this covenant, and speak unto the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem; 3 And … God's Word tells us what book was discovered. "Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah ..." (Jeremiah 11:6) These words indicate that, for a period of time, at least, Jeremiah went about the various cities of Judah urging the people to renew their love and adherence to the ancient covenant, which also was their charter for remaining in Palestine. i. Lines 3 and 4 are … These references absolutely disprove the falsehood that anything less than the whole Pentateuch constituted that Book of the Law, or Book of the Covenant, which led to the extensive reforms under king Josiah. What hath my beloved to do in my house, seeing she hath wrought lewdness with many, and the holy flesh is passed from thee? What a remarkable example for us all!” (Meyer), ii. They have turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers who refused to hear My words, and they have gone after other gods to serve them; the house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken My covenant which I made with their fathers.”. The following cookies are also needed - You can choose if you want to allow them: You can read about our cookies and privacy settings in detail on our Privacy Policy Page. It was the children of Israel who did not obey their obligations of the covenant. You who judge righteously, If you do not want that we track your visit to our site you can disable tracking in your browser here: We also use different external services like Google Webfonts, Google Maps, and external Video providers. i. Jeremiah 11:11 Parallel Verses [⇓ See commentary ⇓] Jeremiah 11:11, NIV: "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." Now the LORD gave me knowledge of it, and I know it; for You showed me their doings. And its branches are broken. You will no longer be in exile. And we have the explanation, verses 9-11. The LORD God of Israel would be silent as an expression of His judgment against His people. Thus says the LORD concerning the men of Anathoth who seek your life: The village of Anathoth was Jeremiah’s home (Jeremiah 1:1). … and the holy flesh is passed from thee ...", "The evil of the house of Israel and of the house of Judah ...", "There shall be no remnant unto them ...", "Thou shalt not prophesy in the name of Jehovah, lest thou die by our hand ...", Commentary Critical and Explanatory - Unabridged, Kretzmann's Popular Commentary of the Bible, Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures. By what follows (Jeremiah 11:21), we understand that these enemies were the men of Anathoth, which was Jeremiah’s home village (Jeremiah 1:1, 29:27, 32:7-9). 11–12 seems to belong to an early period of Jeremiah… "There shall be no remnant unto them ..." (Jeremiah 11:23). Click to enable/disable _ga - Google Analytics Cookie. Hilda Bright. For I earnestly exhorted your fathers in the day I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, until this day, rising early and exhorting, saying, “Obey My voice.” Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but everyone followed the dictates of his evil heart; therefore I will bring upon them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, but which they have not done.’”. The conspiracy (Jeremiah 11:9) recognized that Jeremiah was an obstacle in the way of their purpose completely to restore total idolatry in Israel; and they doubtless could have killed the unsuspecting Jeremiah if God had not warned and protected him. This principle was valid in the days of ancient Israel; and it is valid today under the grace of the Gospel of Christ. a. That eighteenth century falsehood of Satan needs to be exploded. That sacred covenant made by God with the Children of Israel at the time when he brought them up out of Egypt had been neglected and nearly forgotten for ages, until the copy of the Law of Moses was discovered by Hilkiah during the renovation of the temple during the days of Josiah the king (2 Kings 22-23). "Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them; for I will not hear them in the time that they cry to me because of their trouble. "There is a climax of guilt which admits of no further intercessory prayer. A conspiracy has been found: God told Jeremiah that the men of Judah and Jerusalem were organized in a conspiracy. "The righteous remnant" would indeed have preserved countless portions of it. How could God have commanded Jeremiah to teach the people "the words of this covenant" if, indeed, he did not have them in his possession? The holy flesh has passed from you: “The sacrifice sanctified by the altar shall be wholly taken away from you, together with the temple.” (Trapp). Click to enable/disable essential site cookies. i. He loved them tenderly and deeply; yet they returned His love with unfaithfulness. Check to enable permanent hiding of message bar and refuse all cookies if you do not opt in. c. Let me see Your vengeance on them, for to You I have revealed my cause: Properly, Jeremiah understood that vengeance belonged to the LORD (as in Deuteronomy 32:35 and Romans 12:19). c. Behold, I will punish them: God promised to bring particular judgment against the men of Anathoth. Jeremiah calls out Hananiah’s lie and then states the promise we read in 29:11. Of all the curses that might come upon a people, surely one of the most terrible is the silence of God in our time of trouble or need. God promises, "I'm going to bring you home. This is now the second time that God has forbidden Jeremiah to pray any more for the apostate nation (Jeremiah 7:16); and this admonition is still applicable to God's people as in 1 John 5:16. The local priests at Anathoth may have resented that their shrine was shut down and may have hated Jeremiah because he supported Josiah. https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/bcc/jeremiah-11.html. 24 ¶ And it shall come to pass, if ye diligently hearken unto me, saith the … Therefore God said, I will bring upon them all the words of this covenant. “The term is a metaphor. The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, “Hear the words of this covenant, and speak to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD God of Israel: “Cursed is the man who does not obey the words of this covenant which I commanded your fathers in the day I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, ‘Obey My voice, and do according to all that I command you; so shall you be My people, and I will be your God,’ that I may establi… "Which I commanded your fathers in the day [that] I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, from … But I was like a docile lamb brought to the slaughter; and I did not know that they had devised schemes against me, saying, “Let us destroy the tree with its fruit, and let us cut him off from the land of the living, that his name may be remembered no more.”. Besides that, it was not the whole people of Israel who had lost the Book of the Law; it was that gang of reprobate priests and scribes in the temple that had lost it! "[17] That this is really true appears in God's command to Moses (Exodus 32:10), also in God's forbidding Samuel to grieve any longer for Saul (1 Samuel 16:1). Note that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience on our websites and the services we are able to offer. Go to, To report dead links, typos, or html errors or suggestions about making these resources more useful use our convenient, "Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah ...", "Conspiracy ... among the men of Judah ...", "The house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken the covenant ...", "According to the number of the cities of Judah; and according to the number of the streets of Jerusalem ...", "A goodly olive-tree, fair and goodly fruit ...", "What hath my beloved to do in my house, seeing she hath wrought lewdness with many? Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: Jeremiah’s assignment was to preach this message of the broken covenant and its consequences in Jerusalem and the other cities of Judah. The people would be destroyed who sought the prophet's life. Click to enable/disable _gid - Google Analytics Cookie. "[15] A common denominator in both positions is that the whole population (except the righteous remnant) of the Chosen People (Israel and Judah alike) had given themselves completely to idolatry. "What hath my beloved to do in my house, seeing she hath wrought lewdness with many? © Copyright - Enduring Word       |      . 27:12-22). Just as Christ was rejected in his home town of Nazareth, Jeremiah's home town of Anathoth was a party to this plot to kill him, reminding us of what the Lord said, "A prophet is not without honor, save in his own country." Only the providence and protection of God could have preserved the prophet's life through the dreadful dangers to which he was exposed. Click to enable/disable _gat_* - Google Analytics Cookie. i. Some think that a part of Israel’s slave labor in Egypt was to work as slaves in literal iron furnaces. i. Jeremiah must have had mixed feelings about this; he was happy that God defended him and would recompense his enemies, but no doubt grieved at the judgment to come upon the men of his own village. In context, Israel means the northern kingdom; and Judah means the southern kingdom, the whole nation. i. c. From the iron furnace: This is the third place in the Scriptures where Israel’s agony in Egypt is described as an iron furnace (also at Deuteronomy 4:20 and 1 Kings 8:51). When you do evil, then you rejoice: This is the description of a sin-sick society. Yet it existed and mattered just the same. "According to the number of the cities of Judah; and according to the number of the streets of Jerusalem ..." (Jeremiah 11:13) Such a proliferation of altars erected to Baal indicates that the rampant idolatry of the times of Manasseh had indeed come back full force, At this point the "conspiracy" which God revealed to Jeremiah had achieved one of its purposes. (Verse 11-17.) These cookies are strictly necessary to provide you with services available through our website and to use some of its features. “As another Lamb of God observed, a man’s foes shall be those of his own household (Matthew 10:36).” (Harrison). Therefore, God appropriately asked why they were still in His house. The answer lies squarely in the truth that the Messiah had not yet been born. Outline of Jeremiah 11 The disobedient Jews reproved. Click to enable/disable Google Analytics tracking. Jeremiah 11:11. "But I was like a gentle lamb that was led to the slaughter; and I knew not that they had devised devices against me, saying, Let us destroy the tree with the fruit thereof, and let us cut him off from the land of the living, that his name be no more remembered.". b. It has never been true that obedience to God's commands in any sense, earns, merits, or deserves the promised rewards; but it is also true that disobedience of God's commands can most certainly result in the forfeiture of the promised rewards and benefits. Jeremiah 29:10-14. i. c. For I will not hear them in the time that they cry out to Me: The false gods would be silent because they were nothing. You who judge righteously, testing the mind and heart: Jeremiah prayed for protection, but not to be shielded as an evildoer. 11:18-12:6), Ash identified the six passages in this prophecy which are classified as personal laments of Jeremiah thus: (1) Jeremiah 11:18-12:6; (2) Jeremiah 15:12-21; (3) Jeremiah 17:14-18; (4) Jeremiah 18:18-23; (5) Jeremiah 20:7-13; and (6) Jeremiah 20:14-18. Though He had planted them, He still pronounced doom against them for their stubborn sin and idolatry. JOHN CALVIN Commentary Book of Jeremiah. Finding the new version too difficult to understand? So do not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer for them; for I will not hear them in the time that they cry out to Me because of their trouble.”. The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, “Hear the words of this covenant, and speak to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD God of Israel: “Cursed is the man who does not obey the words of this covenant which I commanded your fathers in the day I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, ‘Obey My voice, and do according to all that I command you; so shall you be My people, and I will be your God,’ that I may establish the oath which I have sworn to your fathers, to give them ‘a land flowing with milk and honey,’ as it is this day.”‘” And I answered and said, “So be it, LORD.”. The inhabitants of Jerusalem will go and cry out to the gods to whom they offer incense, but they will not save them at all in their time of trouble: One way the people of Judah broke the Mosaic Covenant was by their worship of the false and pagan gods of the surrounding nations. Jeremiah 11 New International Version (NIV) The Covenant Is Broken. All other rights reserved. Therefore thus says the Lord: "Behold, I will surely bring calamity on them which they will not be … I will give you the promised land. Now, in their distress, their many gods and many altars stand … When finally the Babylonians took Jerusalem Jeremiah … And I answered and said, “So be it, LORD”: “When God recapitulated his promises in the heart of Jeremiah, even though they involved a curse on those who neutralized his words, there arose from it a deep response. They are turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers, who refused to hear my words; and they are gone after other gods to serve them: the house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant which I made with their fathers. Changes will take effect once you reload the page. The covenant (Jeremiah 11:1-8) is a reference to the covenant that Yahweh made at the time of the national deliverance of Israel from Egypt, as the condition of God's continued blessing. Rosscup - Calvin is always worth reading, and one will find much insight at times on verses as well as the character of Jeremiah. "Thou shalt not prophesy in the name of Jehovah, lest thou die by our hand ..." (Jeremiah 11:21). Please be aware that this might heavily reduce the functionality and appearance of our site. After that, he goes back to the people again in Jeremiah … 53:7). I It is a reasonable conjecture … This was an example of divine protection over the prophet. Perhaps on a human level they were unaware of the coordination of the conspiracy, and perhaps spiritual forces of wickedness in high places organized it. "The house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken the covenant ..." (Jeremiah 11:10). i. Click on the different category headings to find out more. He added that, "This is a form of writing unique to Jeremiah in the prophetic books. b. God regarded Israel as His beloved; yet they played the part of the unfaithful spouse, being unfaithful to false gods. a. c. Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but everyone followed the dictates of his evil heart: Instead of following God’s instructions and warnings, they went their own way followed their own heart. Jeremiah 11 commentary 1. For according to the number of your cities were your gods, O Judah; and according to the number of the streets of Jerusalem you have set up altars to that shameful thing, altars to burn incense to Baal. d. He has kindled fire on it, and its branches are broken: Though God once held His people in such dear regard, that would not stop His appropriate judgment against them. Our website uses cookies to store user preferences. He revealed his cause to God and would trust Him to deal with it. He wanted their obedience and did all He could to cultivate and encourage it. We need 2 cookies to store this setting. Yet they obeyed not, nor inclined their ear, but walked everyone in the stubbornness of their evil heart: therefore I brought upon them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, but they did them not.". “As if a husband should say to his adulterous wife, What maketh this strumpet in my bed, since she hath so many paramours?” (Trapp), ii. The great significance of God's appeal through Jeremiah to the Israelites at this juncture in their affairs, calling upon them to hear and obey the commandments of the covenant, derived from the fact that, "Whether the promised land would remain in the possession of Israel or not depended upon their observance, or non-observance, of the covenant. For in Jeremiah … Because these cookies are strictly necessary to deliver the website, refuseing them will have impact how our site functions. In the light of all these things, how can we understand a remark like that of Cheyne, who substituted for "the words of this covenant" the totally inadequate expression, "the words of this ordinance!? God’s People do not Obey the *Covenant. "[2] There is no doubt whatever that the Sinaitic covenant, all of it, as set forth in the Pentateuch, is the covenant in view here. Along with Feinberg, we are surprised that, "So much discussion has gone on among expositors as to `which' covenant is meant in Jeremiah 11:1-3, the one made with the nation at Sinai, or the one promulgated by Josiah. But, O LORD of hosts, "The evil of the house of Israel and of the house of Judah ..." (Jeremiah 11:10,17). More and more scholars of the present era are accepting the proposition that no fragmentary or incomplete document ever invented by evil men can be substituted for that whole Book of the Law written by Moses. In Isaiah’s great prophecy of the Suffering Servant, he described the Messiah as a lamb to the slaughter (Isaiah 53:7, Acts 8:32). ii. We may request cookies to be set on your device. "Surely 2 Kings 22-23 makes it clear that Josiah was not introducing a new covenant but only calling for a reaffirmation of the old Mosaic Covenant. "This is the standard response to a covenant; and it is Jeremiah's pledge to recall Israel to the historic Sinai event when God promised to supply the material and spiritual needs of his people in their infancy as a nation, in return for their undivided worship and obedience. Not only do they sin; they openly rejoice in their evil. The Real Meaning of Jeremiah 29:11 Just because you're a Christian, it doesn't mean you'll never experience suffering. Our minds should be at one with God in all that he is doing, even in the rejection of the reprobate. Jeremiah’s faithfulness to God built in him a growing likeness to the Messiah who perfectly represented God (John 1:18, John 14:9). therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts, Behold, I will punish them; the young men shall die by the sword; their sons and their daughters shall die by famine; and there shall be no remnant unto them: for I will bring evil upon the men of Anathoth, even the year of their visitation.". (b.c. But I was like a docile lamb brought to the slaughter: This was Jeremiah’s state before God warned him (I did not know that they had devised schemes against me). Of course, it is "unsuitable" for all of the erroneous allegations the radical critics have thrown at the passages here. "[3], Absolutely everything connected with the reforms of Josiah indicated the restoration in Israel of the entire Mosaic covenant. God by the prophet puts the people in mind of the covenant he had made with their fathers, and how much he had insisted upon it, as the condition of the covenant, … He looked for God’s protection to be given according to His righteousness and perfect wisdom. He does so, … Jeremiah 11:11… [1] This would have been about 620. Bibliography InformationCoffman, James Burton. (Verse 18-23.) We fully respect if you want to refuse cookies but to avoid asking you again and again kindly allow us to store a cookie for that. This familiar passage about “The Potter … He has kindled fire on it, Jeremiah 13 – Two Warning Signs. By proceeding, you consent to our cookie usage. Due to security reasons we are not able to show or modify cookies from other domains. This figure of Israel as the olive-tree was adopted by the apostle Paul in Romans 11:17-24. One thing Josiah did was to shut down the disobedient and unauthorized sacrifices on the high places, outside the altar at the temple in Jerusalem. Kaitlyn Stickley. Tremper Longman — Jeremiah, Lamentations (New International Biblical Commentary, 2008). The people of Israel had been to God as this girdle. Now the LORD gave me knowledge of it, and I know it: God showed Jeremiah the doings of his enemies. 11:19 Jeremiah expresses his surprise at the divine information he received (v. 18). a. Commentary on Jeremiah 13:1-11 (Read Jeremiah 13:1-11) It was usual with the prophets to teach by signs. We are fully aware that the radical critics have exhausted themselves in efforts to prove that the covenant mentioned here was only some small part of the Sinaitic covenant, limited to the Book of Deuteronomy, or even to some very small portion of Deuteronomy. The day might come when God would allow Jeremiah to lay down his life in faithfulness to the LORD; but that day was not yet. The reason for the double reference repeatedly to both Israel and Judah is to show that the whole Chosen People are meant. b. Cursed is the man who does not obey the words of this covenant: When Israel made the covenant with God at Mount Sinai, there were specific curses pronounced against those who violated the covenant (Deuteronomy 27:15-26). If you refuse cookies we will remove all set cookies in our domain. Testing the mind and the heart, Here, God simply promised that He would enforce the terms of the covenant made in the day I brought them out of the land of Egypt. This is not a reference to the sacrifices and their lack of efficacy, because the sacrifices of hypocrites has no efficacy, or holiness. The pressing question that always surfaces in the consideration of such things is "Why did God continue to preserve Israel?" When Jeremiah intended to go to the land of Benjamin he was captured and cast into the dungeon (Jeremiah 37:11-21; Jeremiah 38:1-6). When Yahweh cursed them under the terms of that covenant, they would find no help from those gods. Of this covenant: “It is probable that Jeremiah, when he said thus, held the book in his hand, viz., the book of Deuteronomy.” (Trapp). Is that the correct interpretation? Anyone who reads Jeremiah 18:1-11 and expects that words from God are always words of comfort and reassurance will have to stop and think again. Their utter ruin. I will give you My rest." Until that glorious event should come to pass, it was absolutely necessary for fleshly Israel to be preserved and continued as an identifiable entity upon the earth, because that only could make the identification of the Son of God absolutely indisputable for all time to come! Just like many today, the ancient Jews did not believe it. Since these providers may collect personal data like your IP address we allow you to block them here. Green Olive Tree, Lovely and of Good Fruit. This commentary … In that Sinai (or Mosaic) covenant, “God promised to supply all the material and spiritual needs of the infant nation in return for undivided worship and obedience.” (Harrison). Much of Jeremiah’s work was done during the days of the reforming King Josiah. It was designated by Hilkiah as The Book of the Law (properly capitalized here, as should be the case in every mention of it) (See 2 Kings 22:3,8). Therefore thus says the LORD: “Behold, I will surely bring calamity on them which they will not be able to escape; and though they cry out to Me, I will not listen to them. The whole Mosaic covenant is structured after the pattern of the old suzerainty treaties; and the invocation of the "list of curses" always attached to such treaties, as Henderson pointed out, "is indicated in the phraseology of Jeremiah 11:5 which is borrowed from Deuteronomy 27:26."[4]. The prophet Daniel is taken … “There is a vast difference between the liturgical ‘Amen’ which is merely conventional, and which in the saying means nothing; and the Amen which comes out of the deep inner agreement of mind and heart and will with the purposes and methods of God.” (Morgan), Then the LORD said to me, “Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, saying: ‘Hear the words of this covenant and do them. "Commentary on Jeremiah 11:4". And you don’t have to be a Hebrew scholar to realize that “one” versus “many” is a big difference. JEREMIAH 11 COMMENTARY EDITED BY GLENN PEASE The Covenant Is Broken 1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: BARNES, "The prophecy contained in Jer.