Jeremiah continues to warn about impending judgment to Judah, as the people of Judah have refused to follow God and His covenant. Part of this failure is the persistent worship of idols and their lack of concern about justice.
Jeremiah 12:1-2, I would speak to you about justice
You are always righteous, O LORD,
when I bring a case before you.
Yet I would speak with you about your justice:
Why does the way of the wicked prosper?
Why do all the faithless live at ease?
You have planted them,
and they have taken root;
they grow and bear fruit.
You are always on their lips
but far from their hearts.
Jeremiah asks some questions. In his concern about justice, he accuses God of being unjust! He begins with a statement of understanding, that YHWH is righteous. But, he points out, it often does not look that way. Why do the evil prosper and take root? Why does God allow that?
Jeremiah 12:3-4, How long?
Yet you know me, O LORD;
you see me and test my thoughts about you.
Drag them off like sheep to be butchered!
Set them apart for the day of slaughter!
How long will the land lie parched
and the grass in every field be withered?
Because those who live in it are wicked,
the animals and birds have perished.
Moreover, the people are saying,
"He will not see what happens to us."
God seems far away and unconcerned. Indeed, the wicked claim that He cannot see. (There is a Chinese proverb, "Heaven is high and the emperor is far away" and a Russian version, "God is high above and the Tsar is far away", both implying that one could not expect God or king to oversee justice.)
Kidner says that this is the beginning of Jeremiah's "Confessions," of his laments, continuing into the next eight or nine chapters, in which he pours out his pain and questioning.
Jeremiah 12:5, Racing with horses
"If you have raced with men on foot
and they have worn you out,
how can you compete with horses?
If you stumble in safe country,
how will you manage in the thickets by the Jordan?
If one is already defeated, how can they compete with even more arduous tasks? God responds to Jeremiah's complaint by warning him that his ministry will only get harder.
Jeremiah 12:56, Even your own family
Your brothers, your own family--
even they have betrayed you;
they have raised a loud cry against you.
Do not trust them,
though they speak well of you.
Even one's family has turned away. This continues the "if you think this is bad..." motif.
Jeremiah 12:7-9, Family and inheritance forsaken
"I will forsake my house,
abandon my inheritance;
I will give the one I love into the hands of her enemies.
My inheritance has become to me like a lion in the forest.
She roars at me;
therefore I hate her.
Has not my inheritance become to me
like a speckled bird of prey
that other birds of prey surround and attack?
Go and gather all the wild beasts;
bring them to devour.
One's inheritance -- and one's lineage -- will all be forsaken. If this passage represents the voice of God, continuing from verse 5, then God is lamenting the loss of Judah, due to her unfaithfulness.
An old hymn and country western song, The Great Speckled Bird, owes its origin to verse 9.
Jeremiah 12:10-11, Garden trampled
Many shepherds will ruin my vineyard
and trample down my field;
they will turn my pleasant field
into a desolate wasteland.
It will be made a wasteland,
parched and desolate before me;
the whole land will be laid waste
because there is no one who cares.
God continues to describe the coming devastation.
Jeremiah 12:12-13, Sword devours
Over all the barren heights in the desert
destroyers will swarm,
for the sword of the LORD will devour
from one end of the land to the other;
no one will be safe.
They will sow wheat but reap thorns;
they will wear themselves out but gain nothing.
So bear the shame of your harvest
because of the LORD's fierce anger."
The invaders, driven by God's justice, will overrun the land.
Jeremiah 12:14-17, Uprooted
This is what the LORD says: "As for all my wicked neighbors who seize the inheritance I gave my people Israel, I will uproot them from their lands and I will uproot the house of Judah from among them.
But after I uproot them, I will again have compassion and will bring each of them back to his own inheritance and his own country. And if they learn well the ways of my people and swear by my name, saying, `As surely as the LORD lives'--even as they once taught my people to swear by Baal--then they will be established among my people.
But if any nation does not listen, I will completely uproot and destroy it," declares the LORD.
Israel will be uprooted -- but then eventually returned to their lands. A remnant are saved by God's compassion.
First published February 3, 2025 updated February 3, 2028
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