Truth and Consequences: A study in the prophecy of Jeremiah
Chapter 12
Lesson Twelve (of 52): Complaining prayer and God’s answer
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INTRODUCTION
Perhaps you watched the Convoy to Canberra last weekend. My friend Phil and his wife are moving to our nation’s capital and they got stuck behind a very long stop-and-go serpentine array of trucks and cars and boats, all the way down. His complaints took the form of “Why couldn’t they drive on their highway and leave this one to me?” We often want things our way, don’t we?
What about others who have troubles for no apparent reason? I remember the story of the golfers on the first tee box waiting, while the foursome in front of them wandered back and forth down the fairway and into the trees. It seemed they were unable to hit the ball straight. The marshal came up to the waiting foursome and asked how they were going. Andrew said, “What’s the deal with that group in front of us? They are all over the place.” The marshal replied, “Those four golfers are all blind.” Immediately Andrew and two of his mates were embarrassed for their impatience. Rabbi Goldberg however turned to the marshal and asked, “What? They couldn’t play at night?”
There is almost no complaint spoken more loudly and often by people in the believing community, or even those who come close to faith, than the complaint of suffering and particularly when the pray-er is complaining that their life is worse-off than that of his neighbour or a seriously rotten person. The Psalms are lined with such complaints. It’s not exactly whinging. It’s serious complaints.
- 1. Jeremiah’s Lament (.1-6)
Today’s lesson begins with Jeremiah’s prayer of complaint. And for those who are new to matters of faith, what’s amazing is that God listens intently and answers him directly when Jeremiah is finished. I love that about our God and Father. He has his ears attuned to our concerns. He isn’t the Deist rep who created the world and then went away leaving the world to our devices. He is intimately concerned with our issues and our behaviours and our life!
Just yesterday a dear friend of mine was seriously asking about the apparent random nature of strokes, deaths, bad circumstances, even hospitalizations. One of our mutual friends had a TIA yesterday and is in hospital. He wondered, “Why do good people suffer these things while some seriously flawed individuals don’t seem to have all those troubles?” It’s a real question. He has an answer to which I listened. It was close to what I would have said, but a bit disparate. He averred that God was unable to fix everything because there are too many of us on the planet, and as such he was busy helping the important people. He and our mutual friend in hospital are less important and we would be left to random natural problems.
Listen how close that is. I’ll get back to that and share what I believe in a few minutes.
Here in our text, we start at verse one: Jeremiah’s prayer
The language takes us into a courtroom. Righteous are you. That could mean “you are the one who always wins in a court of law” or “You are the one who is innocent of wrongdoing?” I think it’s the former. This is legal talk. Remember 11:20 about the righteous lament of Jeremiah last week. God is the One who can make the rules and who determines the victor at the High Court. More legal language: “plead my case.” Mishpatim (judgments) or “matters of justice” This sounds like Job who wants his day in court as well. And like so many in the Canberra convoy last weekend. Think about it, they didn’t drive to the pub or the Cricket ground; they didn’t set up in the Royal National Park. They went to the seat of government to solicit legislation and courtroom activity to make life better for them and the nation. So Jeremiah does as well. He goes to the High Court in heaven.
And it’s very personal for the prophet. He says of himself that he’s getting a bad deal. He’s been maintaining legitimate righteous standards while Judah and Israel were wayward. What’s the deal? Stulman says, “his queries are not philosophic, but existential; they grow out of raw disappointment and pain.” Remember Philip Yancey’s book Disappointment with God where he discusses at length and with typical raw considerations, “Is God unfair? Is he silent? Is he hidden?” Job and Jeremiah could have submitted chapters to Yancey for his manuscript. (see Job 12, 21, Psalm 37, 49, Habakkuk 1, Malachi 2.17, 3.15)
I think timing is the issue and will bother Jeremiah and most of us throughout our days. When you read a book or watch a movie, when you see the television news showcase a wicked man getting away with a slight punishment or totally getting off the proverbial hook, it maddens most of us. You know ‘the system is crooked’ and no good guy wins. Leo Durocher said, “nice guys finish last.” Peter the apostle tells us that God delays his judgment so that there is time for repentance, as Wright says, “ to give space for grace.” (page 150) But look at verse 2 here. God, look, we all see what’s happening. You planted the Jewish people, but listen and see! We all see it; why don’t you? They talk the talk, but they don’t walk the walk. Their hearts are far from you! Come on, Lord.
Verse 3. You know me. You can see my depths of commitment. Come on, this is not that hard. Drag them off to slaughter as a sacrifice. They are worthy of disregard and punishment. Verse 4: their wickedness. They are RA’A. It has affected animals and agriculture. No one has escaped. How has this escaped your notice, God? This is likely drought and it’s affecting the whole of nature. Look at those who work on “Clean up Australia” Day picking up plastic out of our harbour and foreshore. Nature is affected badly by bad people doing bad things. Shouldn’t they get theirs??
God has his turn in the courtroom
- 2. God’s Lament (.7-13)
If you will, this second section might be labelled “God’s Lament”
Craigie says this,
“The description of his withdrawal is not an image of threat or judgment but of pathos. The Lord finds it necessary to abandon his “beloved” people.”
Wright says, “the personal emotion is sustained by continuous emphasis on my: My house, my inheritance, (3 times), my vineyard, my field, my pleasant field.” (page 152) God is intimately involved in Israel, whether the fields, the land, the people, or even the Temple. It aches his heart.
Look at verse 8; who is the attacker, the lion? It’s Israel and Israel is attacking God! God is the victim being torn to pieces. What is the response by everyone, anyone, when a lion attacks? Hate, and self-preservation. You have to treat the lion as an enemy. But then in verse 9, the lion is attacked.
My wife and I were in Africa on a safari. We saw a couple of fallen elephants, dead from something but we didn’t know what. One was in the lake and another was in an open field.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/bobmendo/8200890137
The 2nd one was surrounded by vultures and was actually being attacked and eaten while we stopped to videotape. It was fairly sickening. In this section, the powerful, the lion is attacked by birds of prey and will decimate the Jewish people. And even though it will be the nations surrounding Judah, God’s hand is in it. Look at verse 12: “the sword of the Lord” is going to accomplish all this. And the summary of the experience is the word “desolate.”
That word שָׁמֵם,“Shameym” is utter ruin, devastation, and can mean “to be appalled” and I wonder if that response to the desolation is not also in view. The sadness of God, the lament here, is in direct response to Jeremiah’s lament.
I wonder if you ever feel isolated. Do you ever feel like Jeremiah and think this religion is just a waste of time. God can answer you in two ways. And so can we. 1) He can answer your queries with justifications and biblical answers that may satisfy the academic and 2) He can answer you by being with you. Sitting shiva with you. Sitting with you in your distress, feeling your pain, suffering with you. The word “compassion” means just that. Feeling with. Walking in your shoes. BEING with you in your pain. That’s love!
Psalm 73 is a prayer of Asaph, and
Surely God is good to Israel,
To those who are pure in heart!
2 But as for me, my feet came close to stumbling,
My steps had almost slipped.
3 For I was envious of the arrogant
As I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
4 For there are no pains in their death,
And their body is fat.
5 They are not in trouble as other men,
Nor are they plagued like mankind.
6 Therefore pride is their necklace;
The garment of violence covers them.
7 Their eye bulges from fatness;
The imaginations of their heart run riot.
8 They mock and wickedly speak of oppression;
They speak from on high.
9 They have set their mouth against the heavens,
And their tongue parades through the earth.
Says that the wicked seem to win. What’s the point? That’s Jeremiah’s prayer. That’s Asaph’s prayer. That might be your prayer.
Back to Psalm 73: 12 Behold, these are the wicked;
And always at ease, they have increased in wealth.
We might say, “What’s the point?”
Asaph said “Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure
And washed my hands in innocence;
14 For I have been stricken all day long
And chastened every morning.
The answer to Asaph was in verse 17 Until I came into the sanctuary of God;
Then I perceived their end.
18 Surely You set them in slippery places;
You cast them down to destruction.
Look at Jeremiah 12, verse 14, God says, “I’m about to uproot the wicked neighbours.” Hang in there, Israel, they who are your birds of prey; they who are attacking you, will be attacked themselves. They who bring ruin and judgment on Israel will cop it in the end. Just like Asaph understood 4 centuries earlier.
But wait, God’s judgment is his compassion. Yes, he offers to all people, poor and rich alike, Jew and Gentile, sports hero and sports dud, losers and winner… Assyrians, Babylonians, Barbarians, Scythians, black and white… everyone, everywhere has a chance to be receiving the compassionate mercy of God.
Look at verse 15 to the end. Compassion, rachmones, will come to ALL people, whoever “LISTENS” to the truth of God and now enjoys the consequence, not suffers the consequence. There is an option, for Babylonians and pagans. And for you, o Israel.
May I return to my original question? Actually let’s return to my friend’s question about the incapable God. You and I on this Zoom call and many of you watching on YouTube believe that God, the God of heaven and earth, is not too busy, nor too incompetent to reach us and to help us. The issue of prayer and God’s supply and God’s answer is a big one, and rightly so, and after we read today’s story in chapter 12 of Jeremiah, we learn that God’s TIMING is different to ours. In other sections of the Bible, God’s thoughts are not our thoughts. God’s ways are not our ways. Be honest; we are ever ready to be receiving God’s benefits; he wants to ensure his own purposes will be met, no matter the timing or the tsuris through which we have to go.
My friend’s question was a good one; his conclusion was almost right. No, it’s not that God is too busy to fix things. No, he’s not weary of supplying worth and value to the people of his covenant. Sometimes, our own sins and personal choices leave him no choice but to allow further pain and suffering. Sometimes, the free will of others who can harm us leaves God no choice but to allow them to act out in ways that do not depict his long-ranged plans. And then, as Romans 8 teaches, sometimes natural disasters and natural calamity happen while we wait. Paul wrote this,
“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.” (Romans 8.18-22)
The whole world is longing for restoration. That day is coming. When Yeshua returns to our planet and sets up his eternal kingdom, the pain of childbirth if you will, will be finalized and the Kingdom of God will never end. No more pain, no more tears, no more death.
Isaiah promised this; John the Revelator promised this. Yeshua promises this. We will enjoy the compassion and the mercy of the Creator/ Redeemer in his eternal love. What a day of rejoicing that will be, amen?
CONCLUSION
God is calling each of us to know him and to walk with him, today and throughout our days. Have you received Yeshua as your messiah and Lord? Have you renounced your sin, your idolatry, your forsaking God and given him First Place in your life? If not, please, do so now, just now, as we pray together. Use your own words, if you want, but yield, surrender, to the Lord of life.
PRAYER
Then please write us (admin@jewsforjesus.org.au) to tell us what you have just done, and we will send you literature and encourage you. You are part of our family; we love and appreciate you. And we want you to enjoy the presence of the Lord who calls, who knows, who blesses and builds us up.
We hope to see you again next week as we study chapter 13. Until then, Shabbat shalom!
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Barnes, Albert, Albert Barnes’ Commentary on the Old Testament,
Craigie, Peter; Kelley, Page; Drinkard, Joel. Word Biblical Commentary. Book of Jeremiah. 1991.
Henry, Matthew, Commentary.
Weirsbe, Warren. Be Decisive. David Cook Publishers, Colorado Springs 1991.
Wright, Christopher, The Message of Jeremiah, The Bible Speaks Today, Intervarsity Press, Downers Grove, Illinois, 2014.
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ACTUAL TEXT
Jer. 12:1 Righteous art Thou, O LORD, that I would plead my case with Thee;
Indeed I would discuss matters of justice with Thee:
Why has the way of the wicked prospered?
Why are all those who deal in treachery at ease?
2 Thou hast planted them, they have also taken root;
They grow, they have even produced fruit.
Thou art near to their lips
But far from their mind.
3 But Thou knowest me, O LORD;
Thou seest me;
And Thou dost examine my heart’s attitude toward Thee.
Drag them off like sheep for the slaughter
And set them apart for a day of carnage!
4 How long is the land to mourn
And the vegetation of the countryside to wither?
For the wickedness of those who dwell in it,
Animals and birds have been snatched away,
Because men have said, “He will not see our latter ending.” Jer. 12:5 “If you have run with footmen and they have tired you out,
Then how can you compete with horses?
If you fall down in a land of peace,
How will you do in the thicket of the Jordan?
6 “For even your brothers and the household of your father,
Even they have dealt treacherously with you,
Even they have cried aloud after you.
Do not believe them, although they may say nice things to you.”
Jer. 12:7 “I have forsaken My house,
I have abandoned My inheritance;
I have given the beloved of My soul
Into the hand of her enemies.
8 “My inheritance has become to Me
Like a lion in the forest;
She has roared against Me;
Therefore I have come to hate her.
9 “Is My inheritance like a speckled bird of prey to Me?
Are the birds of prey against her on every side?
Go, gather all the beasts of the field,
Bring them to devour!
10 “Many shepherds have ruined My vineyard,
They have trampled down My field;
They have made My pleasant field
A desolate wilderness.
11 “1It has been made a desolation,
Desolate, it mourns before Me;
The whole land has been made desolate,
Because no man lays it to heart.
12 “On all the bare heights in the wilderness
Destroyers have come,
For a sword of the LORD is devouring
From one end of the land even to the other;
There is no peace for anyone.
13 “They have sown wheat and have reaped thorns,
They have strained themselves to no profit.
But be ashamed of your harvest
Because of the fierce anger of the LORD.”
Jer. 12:14 Thus says the LORD concerning all My wicked neighbours who strike at the inheritance with which I have endowed My people Israel, “Behold I am about to uproot them from their land and will uproot the house of Judah from among them. 15 “And it will come about that after I have uprooted them, I will again have compassion on them; and I will bring them back, each one to his inheritance and each one to his land. 16 “Then it will come about that if they will really learn the ways of My people, to swear by My name, ‘As the LORD lives,’ even as they taught My people to swear by Baal, then they will be built up in the midst of My people. 17 “But if they will not listen, then I will uproot that nation, uproot and destroy it,” declares the LORD.
