Wednesday, March 20, 2024

Jeremiah 12: is the Lord righteous with Jeremiah?

 
In Jeremiah 12, Jeremiah doesn't understand why the Lord is righteous, when he compares how the Lord treats him and the wicked:

1 Righteous are You, Lord, when I plead my case with You;
Nevertheless I would discuss matters of justice with You:
Why has the way of the wicked prospered?
Why are all those who deal in treachery at ease?
2 You have planted them, they have also taken root;
They grow, they have also produced fruit.
You are near [a]to their lips
But far from their [b]mind.
3 But You know me, Lord;
You see me
And examine my heart’s attitude toward You.
Drag them off like sheep for the slaughter,
And set them apart for a day of slaughter!

The Lord answers:

5 “If you have run with infantrymen and they have tired you out,
How can you compete with horses?
If you fall down in a land of peace,
How will you do in the thicket by the Jordan?
6 For even your brothers and the household of your father,
Even they have dealt treacherously with you,
Even they have called aloud after you.
Do not believe them, though they say nice things to you.”

7 “I have forsaken My house,
I have abandoned My inheritance;
I have handed the beloved of My soul
Over to her enemies.
8 My inheritance has become to Me
Like a lion in the forest;
She has [e]roared against Me;
Therefore I have come to hate her.

The Lord is asking Jeremiah to have a stronger vision: he doesn't know what is reserved for the wicked, so he shouldn't envy them. Although Jermiah is alone (even his brothers deal trecheurously with him), the Lord is with him, while the Lord has forsaken others.

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