This pericope contains one of Jeremiah's "confessions,"a self-revelation of the prophet's own struggles to cope with God's actions (cf. 10:23-24; 15:10-12, 15-21; 17:9-11, 14-18; 18:18-23; and 20:7-18).219The heart of this one is 12:1-6.
11:18 Jeremiah announced that the Lord had revealed the fate of the Judahites to him and had given him insight into his people's deeds.
11:19 He had preached to the people without realizing that some of them were plotting his death. He was as unaware of their intention as a lamb going to its slaughter (cf. Isa. 53:7; Acts 8:32; 1 Pet. 2:21). They planned to get rid of him, the tree, as well as his messages, the fruit, so all memory of Jeremiah would end. This would be a tragedy since the existence of descendants demonstrated God's blessings on one's life under the Old Covenant.
"It will be recalled that Anathoth was the home of the priestly house of Abiathar, a friend of David. The house was deposed by Solomon, who supplanted it with the house of Zadok. Anathothites resented Jeremiah's favoring the deposition of the sanctuaries other than Jerusalem. This seemed to them like siding with Zadok against their own ancestor Abiathar. Furthermore, being priests, they doubtless hated his castigation of empty priestly ritual."220
11:20 The prophet prayed to Almighty Yahweh, who evaluates people's affections and intents, to judge them for their evil plans (cf. Ps. 17:13-14; 99:8; 149:7; Isa. 34:8; 35:4). He would not take vengeance himself, but he trusted the Lord to take vengeance for him.
11:21 Men from Jeremiah's hometown had warned him to stop prophesying in Yahweh's name or they would kill him.
11:22-23 The Almighty Lord promised to punish those men with disaster. The young men of military age would die violently, and others would die by famine, evidently during the siege of Jerusalem. The Lord would not leave them any descendants, so the memory of them would end. This would be fitting since they purposed to cut off all memory of Jeremiah (cf. v. 19).221
12:1 Jeremiah wanted some answers from righteous Yahweh, and he approached the Lord in prayer as though he were in court. He wanted to know why God allowed the wicked to prosper and the treacherous to live in ease (cf. Job 21:7; Ps. 37; 73:3-5, 12; 94:3; Hab. 1:12-17). It appeared to the prophet that the Lord, as well as Israel, had broken covenant (cf. Ps. 1:3-4).
"The problem of the prosperity of the wicked in the light of God's righteousness is not directly solved here or elsewhere in Scripture. The only final answer is faith in the sovereign wisdom and righteousness of God."222
12:2 The Lord had been responsible for these wicked people coming into existence, growing, and flourishing, like trees. This was a result of His "common grace"(cf. Matt. 5:45; Luke 6:35). They spoke freely about Yahweh, but they did not take Him into consideration.
12:3 The Lord knew that Jeremiah's attitude toward Him was entirely different than those hypocrites. He prayed that the Lord would drag them off to punishment like sheep going to the slaughter (cf. 11:19). He prayed that He would reserve them for particular destruction, as He had set Jeremiah apart for his ministry (1:5).
12:4 The prophet continued to ask the Lord how long the promised judgment on the land would last. He knew it would come because of the people's wickedness in thinking that they could hide their sins from the Lord.
12:5 The Lord replied by asking Jeremiah how he expected to be able to endure the rigors of coming antagonism if the present hostility he was experiencing wore him out (cf. 11:19, 21; 23:21). If he fell in a relatively peaceful environment, how could he get though the turbulence to come, which resembled the violent, overflowing Jordan River in the spring. The Jordan Valley was a sub-tropical jungle inhabited by lions that was hard to penetrate at any season of the year (cf. 49:19; 50:44; 2 Kings 6:2).
12:6 Even Jeremiah's near relatives had been hypocritical with him and had spoken out against him, though they said nice things to his face (cf. Matt. 10:36).
"The plot against him [Jeremiah] and the injustice this represented was tied inextricably to the suffering and sin of the people. He was called to announce judgment upon the people. Being one of them caused him to suffer with them because of the Lord's judgment. As God's messenger, he suffered as a result of his prophetic ministry."223
"The world today needs more Jeremiahs who, in the midst of opposition, are true to the standards of the Bible, patient in the proclamation of the gospel, gentle in the hands of persecutors, committed to the protective care of the Chief Shepherd, and burdened for the souls of lost men and women."224
