Jeremiah 17 Commentary
The Heart Is Wicked… Desperately
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KEY THOUGHT: I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the [e]mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings. [Jeremiah 17:10 NKJV]
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Jeremiah 17 NKJV
Judah’s Sin and Punishment
17 “The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron;
With the point of a diamond it is engraved
On the tablet of their heart,
And on the horns of your altars,
2 While their children remember
Their altars and their wooden[a] images
By the green trees on the high hills.
3 O My mountain in the field,
I will give as plunder your wealth, all your treasures,
And your high places of sin within all your borders.
4 And you, even yourself,
Shall let go of your heritage which I gave you;
And I will cause you to serve your enemies
In the land which you do not know;
For you have kindled a fire in My anger which shall burn forever.”
5 Thus says the Lord:
“Cursed is the man who trusts in man
And makes flesh his [b]strength,
Whose heart departs from the Lord.
6 For he shall be like a shrub in the desert,
And shall not see when good comes,
But shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness,
In a salt land which is not inhabited.
7 “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
And whose hope is the Lord.
8 For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters,
Which spreads out its roots by the river,
And will not [c]fear when heat comes;
But its leaf will be green,
And will not be anxious in the year of drought,
Nor will cease from yielding fruit.
9 “The heart is deceitful above all things,
And [d]desperately wicked;
Who can know it?
10 I, the Lord, search the heart,
I test the [e]mind,
Even to give every man according to his ways,
According to the fruit of his doings.
11 “As a partridge that [f]broods but does not hatch,
So is he who gets riches, but not by right;
It will leave him in the midst of his days,
And at his end he will be a fool.”
12 A glorious high throne from the beginning
Is the place of our sanctuary.
13 O Lord, the hope of Israel,
All who forsake You shall be ashamed.
“Those who depart from Me
Shall be written in the earth,
Because they have forsaken the Lord,
The fountain of living waters.”
Jeremiah Prays for Deliverance
14 Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed;
Save me, and I shall be saved,
For You are my praise.
15 Indeed they say to me,
“Where is the word of the Lord?
Let it come now!”
16 As for me, I have not hurried away from being a shepherd who follows You,
Nor have I desired the woeful day;
You know what came out of my lips;
It was right there before You.
17 Do not be a terror to me;
You are my hope in the day of doom.
18 Let them be ashamed who persecute me,
But do not let me be put to shame;
Let them be dismayed,
But do not let me be dismayed.
Bring on them the day of doom,
And destroy[g] them with double destruction!
Hallow the Sabbath Day
19 Thus the Lord said to me: “Go and stand in the gate of the children of the people, by which the kings of Judah come in and by which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem; 20 and say to them, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, you kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who enter by these gates. 21 Thus says the Lord: “Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the Sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem; 22 nor carry a burden out of your houses on the Sabbath day, nor do any work, but hallow the Sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers. 23 But they did not obey nor incline their ear, but [h]made their neck stiff, that they might not hear nor receive instruction.
24 “And it shall be, if you heed Me carefully,” says the Lord, “to bring no burden through the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, but hallow the Sabbath day, to do no work in it, 25 then shall enter the gates of this city kings and princes sitting on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their princes, accompanied by the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and this city shall remain forever. 26 And they shall come from the cities of Judah and from the places around Jerusalem, from the land of Benjamin and from the [i]lowland, from the mountains and from the [j]South, bringing burnt offerings and sacrifices, grain offerings and incense, bringing sacrifices of praise to the house of the Lord.
27 “But if you will not heed Me to hallow the Sabbath day, such as not carrying a burden when entering the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will kindle a fire in its gates, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched.” ’ ”
Footnotes
a. Jeremiah 17:2 Heb. Asherim, Canaanite deities
b. Jeremiah 17:5 Lit. arm
c. Jeremiah 17:8 Qr., Tg. see
d. Jeremiah 17:9 Or incurably sick
e. Jeremiah 17:10 Most secret parts, lit. kidneys
f. Jeremiah 17:11 Sits on eggs
g. Jeremiah 17:18 Lit. crush
h. Jeremiah 17:23 Were stubborn
i. Jeremiah 17:26 Heb. shephelah
j. Jeremiah 17:26 Heb. Negev
New King James Version (NKJV)
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Jeremiah 17 Commentary
It is all about the heart. The LORD searches the minds and tests the hearts of people. Judah’s sin is great and solidly engraved within people’s hearts. The LORD has seen it and will punish it.
This can be scary! What is the condition of my heart? Yes, even behind supposedly good actions – let alone bad ones. We have an impossible question here. We cannot fully understand our own hearts; only the LORD can. We may not be as righteous as we think.
Jeremiah ponders an important subject that only the New Testament fully unpacks. Sin is in the heart of an individual. That is exactly the reason behind the sin of ‘actionless’ sexual immorality, for example.
We have more murderers than the human population! You have killed more people than you care to count! It is all in the heart, and “sadly”, the LORD cares!
“Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.” Psalm 139:23. The psalmist isn’t stupid. It’s not like he cannot tell wrong from right. Maybe he can’t; neither can we. Only the LORD can.
Jeremiah doesn’t know what to do. Pray that disaster comes? And why not? Won’t the world ridicule the LORD even further for His empty threats? And the justice of the LORD, where would we turn to if the LORD stands down and allows wickedness to continue?
Lawlessness sponsored by Heaven’s inaction! And the prophet himself, another false prophet with false alarms!
And the prophet’s own life is in danger. The fear generated by his messages has become nothing but ‘mockery’, if not wrath against God’s spokesman! An enemy of public peace. Jeremiah prays for help. Let the LORD take the punches. He, Jeremiah, is simply a spokesman. Let him not suffer the punishment of the wicked. “You are the one I praise.”
The last section is yet another instruction for more sermons by the gates of Jerusalem – a sequel to the Temple Gate sermons. It’s about the importance of the Sabbath. It is about rest. The reader is reminded of the words of the LORD Jesus Christ: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
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