Jeremiah 11-12 “God Has No Favourites”

READ: Jeremiah 11-12  

Verses chosen for meditation: Jeremiah 12:14-17

¹⁴ Thus says the Lord concerning all my evil neighbors who touch the heritage that I have given my people Israel to inherit: “Behold, I will pluck them up from their land, and I will pluck up the house of Judah from among them. ¹⁵ And after I have plucked them up, I will again have compassion on them, and I will bring them again each to his heritage and each to his land. ¹⁶ And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently 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 shall be built up in the midst of my people. ¹⁷ But if any nation will not listen, then I will utterly pluck it up and destroy it, declares the Lord.”

REFLECT

We see Jeremiah’s pain in these chapters as he faces a threat: A conspiracy against him, and of all people, from his own family and home (Jeremiah 11:18-21).

Jeremiah laments to God for allowing such wickedness to continue. He knows God to be righteous and just, so judgement would eventually come on his enemies, but asks why it was not happening fast enough (Jeremiah 12:1-4). The pain of Jeremiah is a window into the grieving heart of God. God acknowledges the hurts of Jeremiah and said it also happened to Him, revealing the betrayals He too faced from his own creation.

In God’s own lament, He showed Jeremiah that his suffering allowed him to identify more closely with the heart of God. However, God also warned: if you think this is bad, there’s more to come! God urged Jeremiah to use his present situation to prepare for greater challenges to come. God proceeded to describe His impending judgement upon the land, using invading nations to bring about desolation (Jeremiah 12:10-13)

Though God used the surrounding evil nations for His judgement, He would also judge them for their brutality against Judah. Remarkably though, we see a twist of compassion here in v14-17, offering restoration to foreign nations, on the same terms as the people of Judah. If these wicked neighbours would turn to God in the wake of judgement, they would be incorporated within the people of God.

RELATE

Imagine you are one of the exiles reading these verses. Your land had just been invaded and your home destroyed by the wicked Babylonians. What would be your reaction? Surely you would long for God’s retribution upon your invaders. Yet v14-17 gives us a peek into His character and ways.

Israel in exile, had to learn first that their identity as God’s covenant people did not give them immunity from the righteous judgement of God. If they behaved like other evil nations, God would treat them like how He would their enemies. God has His covenant people, but He has no favourites. Whether Babylonian, Canaanite, or Israelite, the wicked would be judged.

However, Israel also had to learn the converse lesson. If they longed for God’s restoration and salvation, they must realise that such saving grace would not be reserved for them only. This offer of grace is characteristic of God’s dealings with all people and all nations all the time. He is consistent that way. The principles of judgement and salvation apply to all.

What is the implication of this section of Jeremiah, which starts with condemnation of God’s own people and ends with the offer of compassion to foreigners? It blurs the lines between insiders and outsiders, and should warn us from having a narrow exclusivist tendency that sometimes permeates the church. We emphasise the privilege of being sanctified by God’s grace, set apart to be among God’s covenant people, but may lose sight of the universal missional love that God has for people of all nations.

Many unbelievers who struggled with faith but eventually found God, seek to help others to find this wonderful God. In contrast, many who are “included among God’s people” from the start, may not be as zealous or involved in God’s extension of this grace to the unreached. I don’t think this generalisation is fair, nor have the statistics to back up how true this is. But it does prompt an important question: What is the bigger obstacle to God’s great commission to bring blessing to all nations – the ignorance and idolatry of people yet to know God, or the complacency and idolatry of those who claim they already know God?

REST

In the conspiracy against Jeremiah, he was a “lamb led to the slaughter” (Jeremiah 11:19), like Jesus. But here’s the difference – while Jeremiah asked God to punish his evil attackers (justifiably so), Jesus asked God to forgive them. This love, even for those who crucify him, is consistent with God’s heart for the nations, despite their evil ways. May we rest in this truth, being assured of God's goodness.

Chris Chong