Chapter 11
MSB outline says this is a new (4th) message. Apparently the key phrase to identify it as new is this:
1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: [Jer 11:1 ESV]
(First message, at 2:1, started like this:
1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: [Jer 11:1 ESV]
Second message at 3:6 like this:
6 The LORD said to me in the days of King Josiah: "Have you seen what she did, that faithless one, Israel, how she went up on every high hill and under every green tree, and there played the whore? [Jer 3:6 ESV]
Third message at 7:1 like this:
1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: [Jer 7:1 ESV]
But there are others...9:7 for instance says this:
7 Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts: "Behold, I will refine them and test them, for what else can I do, because of my people? [Jer 9:7 ESV]
Why is this part of the previous message instead of a new one? That might be worth looking into.)
These words are spoken directly to Jeremiah, telling him to deliver the message to the people. This does not tell him where he should go to speak, just that he needs to tell them.
The message is that they made a bargain with God when He brought them out of Egypt. They committed to a covenant. They were to listen to all God commanded, and He would give them a land flowing with milk and honey. Then the phrase in vs. 5, "...as it is this day."
vs 6 says this was to be preached in the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem. (How did these prophets scare up an audience for such an unpopular message?)
God says what is about to happen was part of the covenant. They are not holding up their end. It is bad to break a covenant with God. The consequences were stated back when they came out of Egypt. This is not something God threw in after the fact.
vss 10b, 11 are God's words for this:
10 ...The house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant that I made with their fathers. 11 Therefore, thus says the LORD, Behold, I am bringing disaster upon them that they cannot escape. Though they cry to me, I will not listen to them. [Jer 11:10-11 ESV]
He goes on to say that even as this disaster unfolds, they will pray to their idols and not to the One God of Israel. They still won't turn. Much like in Revelation when the end comes. They still won't repent.
This verse:
14 "Therefore do not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer on their behalf, for I will not listen when they call to me in the time of their trouble. [Jer 11:14 ESV] This is the second time Jeremiah is told not to pray for Jerusalem because God won't listen anyway. This is not like Abraham praying for Sodom and Gomorrah. Even for those places God was still willing to listen. But not for Jerusalem at this time, because it is worse than they were. Is it because they were favored, believed that God would bless and keep them no matter what? Were they head over heels for "once saved always saved"? Did they believe that based on their "God's favored nation" status that they could do absolutely anything and retain his protection? So in a sense, the blessings God gave them led to their rebellion and that to their destruction? Something is wrong with this...but I need to be able to explain it.
vs 15 compares Israel to a wife who has done vile things. Should she be welcome in his house?
vss 16, 17, God called Israel the good vine. But they offended Him with offering to Baal, and now he is about to torch that vine.
vss 18-23, This section sounds at first like a prophecy of Jesus' rejection by the Pharisees, but MSB does not claim it is that. 18-20 are that part, but then 21-23 explain what it is really about. And interestingly, these verses are God's promise to Jeremiah that those who are trying to silence him, and intending to murder him if necessary to silence him, will be wiped out by God. It implies that the whole city of Anathoth, Jeremiah's home town, will be destroyed.
2021 - This whole book, so far, has been a message of indictment against Israel. It is going on and on about WHY they are about to be overrun, scattered to nations they do not know, refined as metal in a fire. The list of charges is long, and repeated several times. The patience of God to this point is held up as a reminder of how far this has gone. But the bottom line is that time is up. Wrath is coming and no amount of prayer, sack cloth, or fasting is going to avail. The line is crossed, and God must now be God.