Jeremiah (1-31) 11:9 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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Jeremiah (1-31) 11:9

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‘A conspiracy is found among the men of Judah, and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem.’ They conspired together, in that they formed a plan and encouraged each other in it, and deliberately rebelled against the covenant they had previously made with the Lord. This rebellion could not have been more strongly opposed to the way they should go, for it was a conspiracy to commit idolatry, and to throw off the Lord’s rule over them, so that they could be free to live as they wanted. They chose for themselves gods that would tolerate their sins, and give them what they wanted – so they thought – at a price they were prepared to pay. In doing this, they imitated their fathers who had earlier turned to idols and received the due punishment for doing so, yet Judah now ignored that. Both Israel and Judah had done the same thing, and Judah was fully aware of how God had judged Israel, the ten northern tribes, and sent the Assyrians to overrun the nation and take their land away from them. ‘Therefore thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will bring evil upon them, which they shall not be able to escape; and though they shall cry unto me, I will not hearken unto them.’ There is a calculation that men make, that they can ignore the Lord and neglect his commandments and give themselves licence to sin, and then turn back to him when it suits them. They expect him to immediately respond to their cries. God warns them that he will not be taken advantage of in this way. When they come back to him, not with any genuine desire to obey him, but because they are in trouble, he will not hear them. They cannot conjure up sincerity in a moment when it suits them. They are so dull that they do not recognise that God sees through all such games. They come with outward allegiance, but he sees that their hearts are ready to go back to their idols the moment he gives them what they want. But without genuine hearts we cannot approach God. What should we fear more than that the Lord refuses to hear us? Our great consolation in this world is that we can bring all our needs to him.‘Then shall the cities of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem go, and cry unto the gods unto whom they offer incense: but they shall not save them at all in the time of their trouble.’ Having failed to get the Lord to answer them, they will try their idols. These at least ought to help them, since they have given them the best of all they have! So they imagine. But they are no gods at all, and in their moment of desperation they find this out with renewed clarity. Of all the disappointments that man faces, this is possibly the worst: that his ultimate source of help, the gods that he turns to in his greatest extremity, the gods on which he lavishes so much care and attention, are no gods and cannot come to his aid. Having forsaken the only God who provides real answers to prayer, they are left with fake help.‘For, according to the number of thy cities were thy gods O Judah.’ These were the sources of influence and help they went to, rather than the Scriptures, rather than the Lord their God. They had multiplied their gods to such an extent that it is as if they have put them on every street in Jerusalem. Altars to Baal are everywhere in what should be the holy city, the city dedicated to the worship of the Lord. God will no share his people with another. He hates to see their unfaithfulness, and his response is to hand us over to our idols which he knows are incapable of doing anything real.

Application

‘Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up a cry or prayer for them: for I will not hear them in the time that they cry unto me for their trouble.’ Now that is difficult; that puzzles us. We started off looking at the great sympathy and compassion that Jeremiah had for the people. But there comes a time and a situation where the idolatry is so blatant and so bad that God says to him, ‘Don't actually pray for them.’ There are two explanations for this. One is of course that it is a warning: that if people are absolutely obdurate, and they have been to become determined to promote and cleave to their idols, and they will not listen, then they are under the judgment of God, and you have got to move on to others. This is a principle of ministry. If a community completely rejects the gospel, then you give them so long, and you try and you try, but you have got to move on to other people. The gospel is like a fishing net, trawling the ocean floor constantly. It doesn’t stay in one place; it moves, and if there is a section of the community that has had many opportunities, then we move on to another part of the community. There are thousands of people, millions of people to be reached. It is the same in the Sunday School. If there is a little group of children who will not come, and when they do come they throw over the traces and behave abominably, and there is nothing we can do to change them, then we need to draw that effort to a conclusion and move on to others. Sometimes the hearts of the teachers are very tender and too patient with those children. If that is there confirmed way and we cannot help them, don't go on and on and on. Say goodbye, and get in twice as many children from somewhere else. That is how the gospel net works. It is a great shame to have to do that, and sometimes it breaks our hearts to say, I spent so much time and energy on that person, or that group of people, but we are called to move on. That is the breadth of the ministry to which Jeremiah is called. ‘All right,’ God seems to say to him, ‘if the priestly village of Anathoth is so obdurate, forget them. Move on, don't pray for them, finish with them. They have had their opportunity. There are far more people who need your time and attention.’ We are always trawling and looking for souls.

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Jeremiah (1-31) 11:9 Commentary and Bible Study