Jeremiah 11 & 12 - Consequences of a Broken Covenant

LINK: Jeremiah 11 & 12

BACKGROUND

Jeremiah 11-13 deals with the broken covenant. If you have been with us since the beginning of the Bible Book Club, you are familiar with the covenant that we studied more closely in the posts for  Deuteronomy 27 and Deuteronomy 28-29.

The covenant stipulated that His covenant people would be blessed if they obeyed and cursed if they disobeyed. One of the promises was a land flowing with milk and honey, but they were about to be exiled from that land because they had disobeyed the covenant.

Jeremiah was to run through the streets, "Listen to the terms of the covenant and follow them" (11:6), but they would not listen and returned to the sins of their ancestors by serving false gods that could not save them in the time of disaster.

For the second time, God said "Do not pray for this people or offer any plea or petition" (11:14; see also 7:16; 14:11; 1 John 5:26). This was hard for me to hear, but there comes a time for God to execute His judgment after many warnings, and not even the people getting rid of Jeremiah could stop that from coming to fruition! 

As Shakespeare expressed in Henry V and Antony and Cleopatra, "Don't shoot the messenger" just because you do not like the message! Jeremiah was not the problem, they were!

Beginning in Jeremiah 12, we see the prophet questioning why, if God was going to destroy them because He was angry with their sin, He was allowing the wicked to prosper materially (Job 21:7; Psalms 73:3-5, 12; 94:3; Habakkuk 1; Malachi 2:17; 3:15). Jeremiah was not only asking for himself but for the innocent people that were suffering (due to drought with subsequent vegetation and animals dying). Jeremiah wanted God to vindicate His righteousness and drag the wicked away like they were planning on doing to Jeremiah!

God's reply was surprising and can be summed up like this: "If you think it is bad now, how are you going to survive when the going gets really tough?" 

God's timing of judgment was part of the maturing process for Jeremiah! He would learn endurance through his trials (James 1:2-4). So Jeremiah needed to continue to hold on and trust in God's plan (and timing) for Jeremiah and His wayward people. As my mentors would always say, "God's trains are always on time, and they never miss their connections."

REFLECTION

This speaks perfectly about the issue of God telling Jeremiah to not pray for the people in 11:14:

Moses, the servant of God, and Samuel, the first prophet in Israel. What do these two great men of the Old Testament have in common? The answer may surprise you. God declared that their combined prayers would not be sufficient to avert the disaster soon to come upon rebellious Judah (15:1).

There is a time to pray, to repent, to come to God on your knees. But a day is coming when it will be too late to pray.

Today you have freedom to seek God or to avoid Him, to acknowledge your need or to sidestep the issue. Today many people may be praying for you: your spouse, children, parents, friends, minister. You may choose to scoff at those prayers, but the alternative to getting right with God is getting left -- waking up to a day in which even Moses and Samuel could not move God in prayer on your behalf.

Isaiah 55:6 states, "Seek the LORD while he may be found." And when you obey that command, you'll find a wonderful promise waiting for you in Hebrews 11:6.

"Procrastination is both the thief of time and the grave of opportunity."  (The Daily Walk, August 2008, p. 9)

APPLICATION

Well, the application is obvious: Seek the LORD today, and don't delay! 

 Here is the promise of Hebrews 11:6:

And without faith it is impossible to please Him, 
for he who comes to God must believe that He is 
and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.

PRAYER

Lord, we seek You today. We long for You more than our necessary food. Create in us a thirst for Your righteousness, and help us not to delay! We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.