Reflections on Jeremiah 12

Jeremiah 12 (Contemporary English Version)
1. Whenever I complain to you, LORD, you are always fair. But now I have questions about your justice. Why is life easy for sinners? Why are they successful?
   
2. You plant them like trees; you let them prosper and produce fruit. Yet even when they praise you, they don't mean it.
   
3. But you know, LORD, how faithful I've always been, even in my thoughts. So drag my enemies away and butcher them like sheep!
   
4. How long will the ground be dry and the pasturelands parched? The birds and animals are dead and gone. And all of this happened because the people are so sinful. They even brag, "God can't see the sins we commit."
   
5. Jeremiah, if you get tired in a race against people, how can you possibly run against horses? If you fall in open fields, what will happen in the forest along the Jordan River?
   
6. Even your own family has turned against you. They act friendly, but don't trust them. They're out to get you, and so is everyone else.
   
7. I loved my people and chose them as my very own. But now I will reject them and hand them over to their enemies.
   
8. My people have turned against me and roar at me like lions. That's why I hate them.
   
9. My people are like a hawk surrounded and attacked by other hawks. Tell the wild animals to come and eat their fill.
   
10. My beautiful land is ruined like a field or a vineyard trampled by shepherds and stripped bare by their flocks.
    
11. Every field I see lies barren, and no one cares.
    
12. A destroying army marches along desert roads and attacks everywhere. They are my deadly sword; no one is safe from them.
    
13. My people, you planted wheat, but because I was furious, I let only weeds grow. You wore yourselves out for nothing!
    
14. The LORD said: I gave this land to my people Israel, but enemies around it have attacked and robbed it. So I will uproot them from their own countries just as I will uproot Judah from its land.
    
15. But later, I will have pity on these nations and bring them back to their own lands.
    
16. They once taught my people to worship Baal. But if they admit I am the only true God, and if they let my people teach them how to worship me, these nations will also become my people.
    
17. However, if they don't listen to me, I will uproot them from their lands and completely destroy them. I, the LORD, have spoken.

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Jeremiah questioned God's justice. It is the flipside of the age-old question of why bad things happen to good people. In this case, Jeremiah asked why good happens to bad people. Specifically, his question is, "Why does the way of the wicked prosper?" (12:1) Jeremiah knew before asking the question that regardless of his case against God, that God is righteous, which further means that He is just. So Jeremiah realized that he could not bring a valid case against God, nevertheless, he didn't understand why God does what He does. He is not alone. None of us fully understand God's ways. Jeremiah conceded that even if he didn't understand, he still knew that God is righteous and just. Many who question God are prideful enough to think that it is God who is wrong. He simply doesn't measure up to their sense of justice.

Our problem is that we cannot see the whole picture. We see our own small piece of the picture and judge the rest by it. Nor do we have a concept of eternity. We are only concerned with now. Therefore, the fact that at some point God will judge the wicked escapes our understanding for we do not want them to prosper at all. It does not fit our sense of justice. That God, in His mercy, might be allowing the wicked an opportunity to turn from their wicked ways does not satisfy us, even though we want God to exercise His mercy on our behalf.  What was God's response to Jeremiah's questioning? In effect, He told Jeremiah he hadn't seen anything yet. "If you have raced with runners and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses?" (12:5) Speaking metaphorically, God told Jeremiah he had only been racing other runners to this point and already he was worn out, thus his questioning. How, then, was he to compete with horses. In other words, things were going to get worse. How was Jeremiah going to handle it?

Then, as if to answer Jeremiah's question concerning His justice, God explained what was about to happen to Judah. He says, "I have given the love of My life into the hand of her enemies." (12:7) With this explanation we are given a glimpse of God's compassion along with His judgment. Yes, Judah had become wicked, and yes, God was going to punish her, but the punishment brought pain to God. It is similar to the parent who is about to disciple his child and tells the child that the punishment will hurt him, the parent, more than it will hurt the child. But it is not only Judah's wickedness that God will address. He will also judge the wickedness of all people. It was not only Judah that would be uprooted from her land, so would the other nations be uprooted because of their wickedness. But the chapter ends on a note of compassion. Any of the nations that will turn to God will be built up and restored.