Bible Commentaries
Jeremiah 11

Verses 1-23

1. Intro:
   1. This Message is similar to others, they have: Rebuke, exhortation, & warning.
      1. Difference? This is based upon an unkept Covenant.
      2. The Palestinian cov.(land issue in vs.5).
      3. The Ownership of the land depended on God’s promise to Abraham. Their Possession & Enjoyment of the land depended on their obedience.”
2. BREAKING GOD’S COVENANT (1-8)
   1. What Covenant?
      1. Palestinian Covenant – Deut.30:3.
      2. Josiah’s Covenant - 2 Kings 23:3 “Then the king stood by a pillar and made a covenant before the LORD, to follow the LORD and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes, with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people took a stand for the covenant.”
   2. The history of the Jews is the record of Covenants… “God made em, they broke em!”
      1. Edenic(tree/cond.); Adamic(fall/curses/uncond.); Noahic(human gov/uncond.); Abrahamic(numerous posterity/great nation/a great blessing to the entire world:uncond.); Mosaic(Law/cond.); Palestinian(land/uncond.); Davidic(royal lineage/uncond.); & TheNew(writing His law upon their hearts/uncond.).
   3. Vs.4 – “Iron Furnace” = a place of suffering. Here Egypt.
   4. “Obey” – Quote Eliz. Elliot
      1. The frontier lay before us. "Therefore have I set my face like a flint" were words from Isaiah which held me steady when I first decided to go to Ecuador, and they held me steady this time as well. Obedience to God was the reason for this journey. It was a good thing for me to remind myself of the reason because, on top of everything, it was really great fun. It was an adventure and held the thrill of adventure, and if I put my mind on the things set before rather than on the things that were behind, I had no sense whatever of gritting my teeth and doing the thing I disliked. It was the thing I was made for and I was full of gladness. (Elizabeth Elliot, The Strange Ashes, (Harper & Row, San Francisco, 1975).)
   5. Vs.5 – “So be it” – Amen, an affirmation of what has been said. Verily, truly, amen.
      1. This is pronounced after curses(see Deut.27), prayers, & hymns.
      2. This statement brands him a traitor.
      3. “So be it” – Is how we should respond to God’s covenants.
      4. “So be it” – Even if we’re walking alone like Jeremiah!
      5. “So be it” – Even if we don’t understand!
      6. “So be it” – Even if we don’t agree, it is best!
3. 2 CONSPIRACY’S! (11:9-12:6)
   1. The Lord reveals to Jeremiah a 2-fold Conspiracy(1 against King Josiah, 1 against himself).
   2. Conspiracy against Josiah (9-17)
   3. This was a Conspiracy of the men of Judah to disobey God’s covenant & resist the reforms led by Josiah.
   4. God gives 2 pictures that reveal their futile faith.
      1. A Wicked Worshiper in the Temple (15)
      2. NIV - "What is my beloved doing in my temple as she works out her evil schemes with many? Can consecrated meat avert your punishment? When you engage in your wickedness, then you rejoice."
      3. Holy Flesh – sacrifices. God’s asking why are you sacrificing?
         1. Sin cancells out sacrificing! Read Hag.2:12-14.
      4. An Olive Tree in the storm (16)
      5. Paul picks up on this in Rom.11.
      6. Judah saw itself as a “Thriving”(green/NIV) Olive Tree that would never fall! {“We have the City, the Ark, the Promise”}
         1. But God saw a Babylonian storm a brewing. The wind would break its branches, the lightening would strike & set fire to her!
      7. Gods last words to the Church wasn’t the “great commission”(as important as that is); but it was “Repent or else”!(Rev.2:16)
         1. 6 times “repent”, to 5 out of 7 churches.
   5. Conspiracy against Jeremiah (18-23)
   6. This was a Conspiracy of the people in Jeremiah’s own hometown to kill the prophet & silence God’s word.
      1. His message convicted!
   7. Vs.19 – He felt like a lamb led to the slaughter. Sounds like? Is.53:7 “He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth.”
   8. Vs.20 – All he could do was commit himself & his enemies to the Lord & trust God to work.
      1. This is the 1^st of several occasions where Jeremiah asked God for his help to fight his battles & help him w/depression & fears.
         1. Publicly – He stood as a rock, bold before his people.
         2. Privately – He was broken before God.
      2. “Testing the mind & hearts” - This is said of Jesus also – Rev.2:23.
   9. Vs.21-23 – God assures him…Got ya covered!”
   10. * These 2 Conspiracies led to a 3^rd crisis that threatened Jeremiah’s own faith in the Lord!(12:1-6)