©Laura Haverkamp
Chapter 11:1-11 (ESV) - The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: “Hear the words of this covenant, and speak to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. You shall say to them, Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Cursed be the man who does not hear the words of this covenant that I commanded your fathers when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, Listen to my voice, and do all that I command you. So shall you be my people, and I will be your God, that I may confirm the oath that I swore to your fathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as at this day.” Then I answered, “So be it, LORD.”
And the LORD said to me, “Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: Hear the words of this covenant and do them. For I solemnly warned your fathers when I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, warning them persistently, even to this day, saying, Obey my voice. Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but everyone walked in the stubbornness of his evil heart. Therefore I brought upon them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, but they did not.”
Again the LORD said to me, “A conspiracy exists among the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. They have turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers, who refused to hear my words. They have gone after other gods to serve them. The house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant that I made with their fathers. 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.
Question to consider: Why did the LORD want to make sure all in Jerusalem and Judah had heard the Law?
At the time in which Jeremiah was first called to preach against the false prophets in Judah, king Josiah was in his thirteenth year as ruler and would have been twenty-one years old. According to 2 Kings 22, during his eighteenth year (twenty-six years old), Josiah commanded Hilkiah to go into the treasury and count out money for maintenance of the temple. While completing this task, Hilkiah stumbled upon a copy of the book of the Law and brought it to the king.
The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah that the Law should be read to the people so that He may confirm His oath that He swore to their fathers. Not only should it be read before the king, but Jeremiah was to make sure to proclaim the Law in the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem. Everyone was to know exactly what was said in the Law so that they could obey the voice of God and not the stubbornness of their own evil heart. Now that they knew the Law, they were required to abide by all of it or face the curse of God, for they were now without the excuse of ignorance which could be blamed upon their stupid and foolish shepherds who had not done this sooner.
Instead of returning to the LORD upon hearing His divine word, the men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers and went to serve the gods of the nations. Now they could only expect disaster to come upon them from which they could not escape, and their cries in the midst of the calamity would go unheard because they sought the counsel of other gods.
The word of God does its work. People either hear and seek forgiveness for having fallen short of it, or they harden their hearts against God and receive the consequences of their sin. In these studies, I may expand on traditions or idiomatic expressions of that day. I may point to other scriptures like the 2 Kings passage so that you know the place in which the word of the LORD exists in history, but my main goal has always been to systematically work through the scriptures so that the word of God may do its work and that you can see that all scripture points to Christ and His work in fulfilling this Law which was given to Israel.
Dear heavenly Father, thank You for Your willingness to reveal Yourself to us through Your word. May we take it to heart and let it break through our stubbornness so that we may see the work that Christ has done for us in fulfilling all that You have promised. Amen.