Jeremiah 12 & 13

 CHAPTER 12

Jeremiah asked God why the wicked always prosper and grow and are always so happy. He asked that God would punish them for testing the Lord. 

Then the Lord assured Jeremiah that He knew what they were doing, and He was dealing with them. Also the Lord will gather them together in Israel again and have compassion on them.

COMMENTARY

Chapter 12 covered the time after King Josiah has been slain, Jeremiah was forced to leave his home, and evil men took over the throne of Jerusalem, which is why Jeremiah asked God why the wicked always prosper and why they treated him so treacherously. Why does God permit evil men to succeed, when the word of the Lord is only on their lips, but not in their hearts; meanwhile, God knows Jeremiah's heart, and yet, he suffers. They are the ones to be judged, not Jeremiah.

God told Jeremiah that He is in control and He knows what He is doing. And things are going to become worse, so have faith and trust in Him. And know that the Lord is going to bring them back into the land. 

CHAPTER 13

The Lord gave Jeremiah instructions to get a linen sash and wear it without washing it; then to take it to the Euphrates and hide it in a hole in the rock. Then he was to dig it up after a few days, which he did. He determined that the sash was "profitable for nothing." The sash was like Judah and Jerusalem, whom God made to cling to Him, but they would not obey. 

God said He would make everyone as good as drunk, vulnerable to destruction. He will not pity or have mercy. 

This is your lot, the portion of your measures from Me, because you have forgotten Me and trusted in falsehood. 

I have seen your adulteries and your lustful neighings, the lewdness of your harlotry, your abomination on the hills in the fields. Woe to you, O Jerusalem! Will you still not be made clean? 

COMMENTARY

The sash that Jeremiah was to wear was like a girdle, worn to bind up flowing garments to prepare for service. If you do not have fellowship with the Lord, you cannot serve Him. Service is fellowship with Christ, for being cleansed and used for His purpose.

The sash was like God's people, being used but unwashed, becoming filthier and filthier. This is why Jeremiah determined that the sash was profitable for nothing. God's message was that they continued to get dirtier to the point where He could not use them and He was going to send them into captivity. Yet, He was still waiting for them to return to Him. (God is so longsuffering!)

A WORD ABOUT JEREMIAH 13:23

Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil. 

McGee explains that it is "impossible for an unsaved person to do good. Until man does his work in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and for His glory and honor, he is simply doing the work for himself for selfish reasons. No genuine goodness can come out of an evil heart." 

Yikes!

 

from Bible Art