Jeremiah (1-31) 12:14 Commentary and Bible Study

Here is a great prophecy: ‘Thus saith the LORD against all mine evil neighbours, that touch the inheritance which I have caused my people Israel to inherit; Behold, I will pluck them out of their land.’ These are the nations alongside Judah, who God calls his neighbours, because he had made Israel his people and the land where his Tabernacle was located. They have touched Judah, not just by bordering their land, but by meddling with them. This will be a message to the hostile nations around Judah, and it will be a message of judgment, but tempered with mercy as well. They are called his evil neighbours because of the harm they had done to his people. Their idolatry and paganism had influenced Judah, so God is going to punish them. ‘Behold, I will pluck them out of their land.’ This is said of the nations surrounding Judah, as well of Judah herself. The Chaldean invasion will not only be to Judah; it will also be to the neighbouring countries. Judah will be carried away captive, but other nations will also be affected. In some cases those from Judah who have been taken captive by their neighbours, or have fled there to get away from the Chaldeans (Gill) will be released and return to Judah. Their being taken will free the Israelites that fled for refuge among them.‘And it shall come to pass, after that I have plucked them out I will return, and have compassion on them, and will bring them again, every man to his heritage, and every man to his land.’ We are used to thinking of Judah as being returned to her land after the seventy-year exile in Babylon, but here God promises that their neighbours will also be returned to their lands. How interesting! The pagans, the pagan neighbours of Judah, are going to be punished for having influenced Judah, and drawn them into the web of their idolatry. But having taken them into captivity, says the Lord, I will have compassion on those neighbours, ‘and will bring them again, every man to his heritage, and every man to his land. ¹⁶ And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people’ – so, by implication, the people of God are going to be restored; this is at the end of the captivity; this will not be the end for them – ‘to swear by my name, The LORD liveth; as they taught my people to swear by Baal; then shall they be built in the midst of my people.’ So, many of the neighbouring nations will be converted to the God of Israel, by God's mercy, once Judah is restored. But it is the long-term nature of this prophecy which is interesting. It is the age of the gospel; it is a foretaste of the church age. The pagan nations, the Gentiles: the gospel will go among them, and they shall hear the words that were in the first generation of the church of Christ, preach by converted Jews, and they will be saved. Prophecies like this keep occurring repeatedly throughout the passage.