Jeremiah 12 Study Notes: Why Do the Wicked Prosper
Jeremiah asks God why wicked people thrive, and God answers that harder trials are coming and that even his own family has betrayed him. God hands His beloved people over to enemies, then promises to uproot hostile neighbors, show them compassion, and settle among His people those who learn to swear by His name.
General
According to 12:16, on what condition will the neighboring nations be built up among God’s people?
Answer: If they take up Israel’s faith and swear by the LORD
God says He will uproot the wicked neighboring nations that attacked the land He gave Israel, and He will also pull Judah out from their midst (12:14). After uprooting them, He will have compassion again and bring each nation back to its own land (12:15). If those nations will truly adopt the customs of God’s people and take their oaths in the LORD’s name, as they had earlier trained Israel to make oaths by Baal, a Canaanite god, they will be built up among His people (12:16). But any nation that will not obey He will uproot and destroy (12:17). This uprooting and establishing echoes Jeremiah’s call to uproot and to build over nations (1:10), and God later explains that His announced judgments respond to whether a nation turns (18:7-8). Isaiah also promises a welcome for foreigners who bind themselves to God (Isaiah 56:6-7).
- Jeremiah 12:14-17 (BSB)“This is what the LORD says: “As for all My evil neighbors who attack the inheritance that I bequeathed to My people Israel, I am about to uproot them from their land, and I will uproot the house of Judah from among them. But after I have uprooted them, I will once again have compassion on them and return each one to his inheritance and to his land. And if they will diligently learn the ways of My people and swear by My name, saying, ‘As surely as the LORD lives’—just as they once taught My people to swear by Baal—then they will be established among My people. But if they will not obey, then I will uproot that nation; I will uproot it and destroy it, declares the LORD.””God will uproot the hostile neighbors, restore them with compassion, and establish those who swear by His name.
- Jeremiah 1:10 (BSB)“See, I have appointed you today over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and plant.””Jeremiah was appointed over the nations to uproot and to build.
- Jeremiah 18:7-8 (BSB)“At any time I might announce that a nation or kingdom will be uprooted, torn down, and destroyed. But if that nation I warned turns from its evil, then I will relent of the disaster I had planned to bring.”God’s announced judgment on a nation responds to whether it turns from evil.
- Isaiah 56:6-7 (BSB)“And the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD to minister to Him, to love the name of the LORD, and to be His servants—all who keep the Sabbath without profaning it and who hold fast to My covenant— I will bring them to My holy mountain and make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on My altar, for My house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations.””Foreigners who join themselves to the LORD are welcomed among His people.
Theological
What condition does 12:16 attach to the promise that the hostile neighbors will be given a secure place among God’s people?
Answer: If they take up Israel’s faith and swear by the LORD
The oracle turns to the evil neighbors who encroached on Israel’s inheritance: God will pull them up out of their territory and pull Judah out of their midst (12:14). Then comes compassion, with each nation returned to its own inheritance (12:15), and a conditional promise: if they earnestly learn the customs of God’s people and take oaths in the LORD’s name, as they once trained Israel to make oaths by Baal, they will be given a secure place among His people (12:16); if not, that nation will be uprooted and destroyed (12:17). The language echoes Jeremiah’s commission to uproot and to build (1:10) and anticipates the principle of 18:7-8. The promise that the nations may be included through allegiance to the LORD stands alongside Isaiah 56:6-7.
- Jeremiah 12:14-17 (BSB)“This is what the LORD says: “As for all My evil neighbors who attack the inheritance that I bequeathed to My people Israel, I am about to uproot them from their land, and I will uproot the house of Judah from among them. But after I have uprooted them, I will once again have compassion on them and return each one to his inheritance and to his land. And if they will diligently learn the ways of My people and swear by My name, saying, ‘As surely as the LORD lives’—just as they once taught My people to swear by Baal—then they will be established among My people. But if they will not obey, then I will uproot that nation; I will uproot it and destroy it, declares the LORD.””God will uproot the hostile neighbors, restore them with compassion, and establish those who swear by His name.
- Jeremiah 1:10 (BSB)“See, I have appointed you today over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and plant.””Jeremiah was appointed over the nations to uproot and to build.
- Jeremiah 18:7-8 (BSB)“At any time I might announce that a nation or kingdom will be uprooted, torn down, and destroyed. But if that nation I warned turns from its evil, then I will relent of the disaster I had planned to bring.”God’s announced judgment on a nation responds to whether it turns from evil.
- Isaiah 56:6-7 (BSB)“And the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD to minister to Him, to love the name of the LORD, and to be His servants—all who keep the Sabbath without profaning it and who hold fast to My covenant— I will bring them to My holy mountain and make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on My altar, for My house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations.””Foreigners who join themselves to the LORD are welcomed among His people.
General
Why does the LORD say He has handed His beloved people over to their enemies (12:7-8)?
Answer: She had turned on Him, roaring like a lion
The LORD says He has left His house and handed His own people, whom He loves, over to their enemies (12:7). The reason is that His people have turned on Him like a wild lion in the woods, roaring against Him (12:8). He pictures them as a bird of prey surrounded by other birds attacking it, and calls wild animals to devour her (12:9). Many shepherds have trampled His vineyard and made the pleasant field a wasteland, yet no one cares (12:10-11). The LORD’s sword consumes the land from end to end; they sowed wheat but reaped thorns (12:12-13). Isaiah used the same picture of God letting His vineyard be trampled and overgrown (Isaiah 5:5-6), God had earlier declared that He rejected and forsook the generation under His wrath (7:29), and Moses had warned that sowing would bring little harvest under the covenant curses (Deuteronomy 28:38).
- Jeremiah 12:7-8 (BSB)“I have forsaken My house; I have abandoned My inheritance. I have given the beloved of My soul into the hands of her enemies. My inheritance has become to Me like a lion in the forest. She has roared against Me; therefore I hate her.”The LORD gives His beloved inheritance into her enemies’ hands because she has roared against Him.
- Isaiah 5:5-6 (BSB)“Now I will tell you what I am about to do to My vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it will be consumed; I will tear down its wall, and it will be trampled. I will make it a wasteland, neither pruned nor cultivated, and thorns and briers will grow up. I will command the clouds that rain shall not fall on it.””God declares He will let His vineyard be trampled and laid waste.
- Jeremiah 7:29 (BSB)“Cut off your hair and throw it away. Raise up a lamentation on the barren heights, for the LORD has rejected and forsaken the generation of His wrath.’”The LORD has rejected and forsaken the generation under His wrath.
- Deuteronomy 28:38 (BSB)“You will sow much seed in the field but harvest little, because the locusts will consume it.”The covenant curses included sowing much and harvesting little.
Theological
What reason does the LORD give in 12:7-8 for abandoning His inheritance to her enemies?
Answer: She had turned on Him, roaring like a lion
The LORD announces that He has forsaken His house and surrendered the beloved of His soul to her enemies (12:7), because His inheritance has become like a wild lion in the woods, roaring against Him (12:8). She is like a mottled bird of prey set upon by others, and the beasts are summoned to devour her (12:9). Many shepherds have ravaged His vineyard and made the pleasant field desolate, and no one lays it to heart (12:10-11); the LORD’s sword consumes from end to end, and their sowing yields only thorns (12:12-13). The judgment is God’s own act against His covenant people, as in Isaiah’s vineyard song (Isaiah 5:5-6), and the futile harvest is one of the curses of Deuteronomy 28:38. Even in this judgment the LORD still calls her the one He dearly loves (12:7), and earlier He had declared that He rejected and forsook the generation under His wrath (7:29).
- Jeremiah 12:7-8 (BSB)“I have forsaken My house; I have abandoned My inheritance. I have given the beloved of My soul into the hands of her enemies. My inheritance has become to Me like a lion in the forest. She has roared against Me; therefore I hate her.”The LORD gives His beloved inheritance into her enemies’ hands because she has roared against Him.
- Isaiah 5:5-6 (BSB)“Now I will tell you what I am about to do to My vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it will be consumed; I will tear down its wall, and it will be trampled. I will make it a wasteland, neither pruned nor cultivated, and thorns and briers will grow up. I will command the clouds that rain shall not fall on it.””God declares He will let His vineyard be trampled and laid waste.
- Jeremiah 7:29 (BSB)“Cut off your hair and throw it away. Raise up a lamentation on the barren heights, for the LORD has rejected and forsaken the generation of His wrath.’”The LORD has rejected and forsaken the generation under His wrath.
- Deuteronomy 28:38 (BSB)“You will sow much seed in the field but harvest little, because the locusts will consume it.”The covenant curses included sowing much and harvesting little.
General
True or False: In 12:4 Jeremiah links the loss of the land’s beasts and birds to the wickedness of the people who live there.
Answer: True
This is true. Jeremiah reminds the LORD that He knows him and tests his heart, and he asks that the wicked be hauled off like sheep for slaughter (12:3). He asks how long the land will grieve and its grass dry up, and he traces the loss of its beasts and birds to the wickedness of those who live there, who scoff that he will not see how things end for them, whether they mean God or the prophet himself (12:4). Jeremiah says elsewhere that the land grieves and its pastures dry up under the curse that its evil has brought (23:10), and he weeps that birds and beasts have fled from the scorched countryside (9:10). Hosea also describes the land mourning and its creatures wasting away because of the people’s sin (Hosea 4:1-3).
- Jeremiah 12:3-4 (BSB)“But You know me, O LORD; You see me and test my heart toward You. Drag away the wicked like sheep to the slaughter and set them apart for the day of carnage. How long will the land mourn and the grass of every field be withered? Because of the evil of its residents, the animals and birds have been swept away, for the people have said, “He cannot see what our end will be.””Jeremiah appeals to God who knows his heart and laments a land stripped of its creatures because of its people’s evil.
- Jeremiah 23:10 (BSB)“For the land is full of adulterers—because of the curse, the land mourns and the pastures of the wilderness have dried up—their course is evil and their power is misused.”Because of the curse on the people’s evil, the land mourns and its pastures dry up.
- Jeremiah 9:10 (BSB)“I will take up a weeping and wailing for the mountains, a dirge over the wilderness pasture, for they have been scorched so no one passes through, and the lowing of cattle is not heard. Both the birds of the air and the beasts have fled; they have gone away.”Jeremiah laments a scorched land from which birds and beasts have fled.
- Hosea 4:1-3 (BSB)“Hear the word of the LORD, O children of Israel, for the LORD has a case against the people of the land: “There is no truth, no loving devotion, and no knowledge of God in the land! Cursing and lying, murder and stealing, and adultery are rampant; one act of bloodshed follows another. Therefore the land mourns, and all who dwell in it will waste away with the beasts of the field and the birds of the air; even the fish of the sea disappear.”Hosea links the mourning of the land and the loss of its creatures to the people’s sin.
Theological
True or False: According to 12:4, the disappearance of animals and birds from the land is due to the wickedness of its inhabitants.
Answer: True
This is true. Appealing to the LORD who knows and tests his heart, Jeremiah asks that the wicked be set apart like sheep for the slaughter (12:3). He laments a land in mourning, its pasture withered and its beasts and birds gone on account of its inhabitants’ wickedness; they scoff that he will not see their end, words that may refer either to God or to the prophet (12:4). The same link between human sin and a mourning, withered land appears in 23:10 and in the flight of birds and beasts in 9:10, and Hosea likewise ties the land’s mourning and the loss of its creatures to the people’s sin (Hosea 4:1-3).
- Jeremiah 12:3-4 (BSB)“But You know me, O LORD; You see me and test my heart toward You. Drag away the wicked like sheep to the slaughter and set them apart for the day of carnage. How long will the land mourn and the grass of every field be withered? Because of the evil of its residents, the animals and birds have been swept away, for the people have said, “He cannot see what our end will be.””Jeremiah appeals to God who knows his heart and laments a land stripped of its creatures because of its people’s evil.
- Jeremiah 23:10 (BSB)“For the land is full of adulterers—because of the curse, the land mourns and the pastures of the wilderness have dried up—their course is evil and their power is misused.”Because of the curse on the people’s evil, the land mourns and its pastures dry up.
- Jeremiah 9:10 (BSB)“I will take up a weeping and wailing for the mountains, a dirge over the wilderness pasture, for they have been scorched so no one passes through, and the lowing of cattle is not heard. Both the birds of the air and the beasts have fled; they have gone away.”Jeremiah laments a scorched land from which birds and beasts have fled.
- Hosea 4:1-3 (BSB)“Hear the word of the LORD, O children of Israel, for the LORD has a case against the people of the land: “There is no truth, no loving devotion, and no knowledge of God in the land! Cursing and lying, murder and stealing, and adultery are rampant; one act of bloodshed follows another. Therefore the land mourns, and all who dwell in it will waste away with the beasts of the field and the birds of the air; even the fish of the sea disappear.”Hosea links the mourning of the land and the loss of its creatures to the people’s sin.
General
What is the main point of the LORD’s reply to Jeremiah in 12:5?
Answer: Harder trials lay ahead, so he must endure
God does not explain why the wicked prosper. Instead He tells Jeremiah that if racing against runners has worn him out, he will need more strength to keep up with horses; and if he stumbles where the land is at peace, he will find the Jordan’s thick undergrowth far harder (12:5). In other words, greater trials are coming, and he must be ready to endure. Even Jeremiah’s own brothers and father’s household have betrayed him and shouted against him, so he must not trust them even when they speak kindly (12:6). Micah and Jesus both warn that a person’s enemies can be found within his own family (Micah 7:6; Matthew 10:36), and Hebrews urges believers to consider Christ, who endured hostility, so they do not lose heart (Hebrews 12:3).
- Jeremiah 12:5-6 (BSB)““If you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses? If you stumble in a peaceful land, how will you do in the thickets of the Jordan? Even your brothers—your own father’s household—even they have betrayed you; even they have cried aloud against you. Do not trust them, though they speak well of you.”The LORD answers Jeremiah with a challenge to endure harder trials and warns him of his family’s betrayal.
- Micah 7:6 (BSB)“For a son dishonors his father, a daughter rises against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. A man’s enemies are the members of his own household.”Micah describes enemies arising within a person’s own household.
- Matthew 10:36 (BSB)“A man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’”Jesus warns that a person’s enemies may be members of his own household.
- Hebrews 12:3 (BSB)“Consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”Believers are strengthened to endure by considering Christ, who endured hostility.
Theological
What is the thrust of the LORD’s answer to Jeremiah’s complaint in 12:5?
Answer: Harder trials lay ahead, so he must endure
The LORD’s reply gives no explanation for the success of evildoers. It answers with a challenge: if footmen have exhausted him, how will he contend with horses, and if he falters in a land at peace, how will he fare in the Jordan’s dense jungle (12:5)? Harder trials lie ahead, and he must be strengthened to endure them. The betrayal is already close at hand, for his own brothers and father’s house have turned on him, and he is not to trust their fair words (12:6). Micah 7:6 and Jesus in Matthew 10:36 describe the same household enmity, and Hebrews 12:3 directs the weary to Christ, who bore the opposition of sinful men.
- Jeremiah 12:5-6 (BSB)““If you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses? If you stumble in a peaceful land, how will you do in the thickets of the Jordan? Even your brothers—your own father’s household—even they have betrayed you; even they have cried aloud against you. Do not trust them, though they speak well of you.”The LORD answers Jeremiah with a challenge to endure harder trials and warns him of his family’s betrayal.
- Micah 7:6 (BSB)“For a son dishonors his father, a daughter rises against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. A man’s enemies are the members of his own household.”Micah describes enemies arising within a person’s own household.
- Matthew 10:36 (BSB)“A man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’”Jesus warns that a person’s enemies may be members of his own household.
- Hebrews 12:3 (BSB)“Consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”Believers are strengthened to endure by considering Christ, who endured hostility.
General
What question does Jeremiah bring before the LORD in 12:1?
Answer: Why the faithless thrive and stay secure
Jeremiah begins by declaring that the LORD is righteous, and only then raises his complaint: why do wicked and unfaithful people succeed and live comfortably (12:1)? God planted them, they are rooted and bearing fruit, and they talk about God constantly while inwardly they are distant from Him (12:2). Other believers asked the same hard question, such as the psalmist who envied the success of evildoers (Psalm 73:3) and Habakkuk, who asked why God tolerates the faithless (Habakkuk 1:13). Isaiah also described people who honor God with their lips while their hearts are distant (Isaiah 29:13). Jeremiah’s lament is honest, yet it is spoken within trust in God’s justice.
- Jeremiah 12:1-2 (BSB)“Righteous are You, O LORD, when I plead before You. Yet about Your judgments I wish to contend with You: Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all the faithless live at ease? You planted them, and they have taken root. They have grown and produced fruit. You are ever on their lips, but far from their hearts.”Jeremiah affirms God’s righteousness and asks why the wicked prosper, though their hearts are far from Him.
- Psalm 73:3 (BSB)“For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.”The psalmist was troubled by the prosperity of the wicked.
- Habakkuk 1:13 (BSB)“Your eyes are too pure to look upon evil, and You cannot tolerate wrongdoing. So why do You tolerate the faithless? Why are You silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves?”Habakkuk asks why a holy God tolerates the faithless.
- Isaiah 29:13 (BSB)“Therefore the Lord said: “These people draw near to Me with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. Their worship of Me is but rules taught by men.”Isaiah describes people who honor God with their lips while their hearts are far from Him.
Theological
What complaint does Jeremiah lay before the LORD in 12:1-2?
Answer: Why the faithless thrive and stay secure
Jeremiah frames his lament with a confession of God’s righteousness before pressing his case: why does the path of the wicked succeed and the treacherous enjoy ease (12:1)? He even grants that God Himself planted them and that they flourish, though their piety is only verbal, God near their mouths and remote from their hearts (12:2). The same question troubles Asaph (Psalm 73:3) and Habakkuk (Habakkuk 1:13), and the charge of lip-worship matches Isaiah 29:13. The complaint is lodged within faith, appealing to the very justice it questions.
- Jeremiah 12:1-2 (BSB)“Righteous are You, O LORD, when I plead before You. Yet about Your judgments I wish to contend with You: Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all the faithless live at ease? You planted them, and they have taken root. They have grown and produced fruit. You are ever on their lips, but far from their hearts.”Jeremiah affirms God’s righteousness and asks why the wicked prosper, though their hearts are far from Him.
- Psalm 73:3 (BSB)“For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.”The psalmist was troubled by the prosperity of the wicked.
- Habakkuk 1:13 (BSB)“Your eyes are too pure to look upon evil, and You cannot tolerate wrongdoing. So why do You tolerate the faithless? Why are You silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves?”Habakkuk asks why a holy God tolerates the faithless.
- Isaiah 29:13 (BSB)“Therefore the Lord said: “These people draw near to Me with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. Their worship of Me is but rules taught by men.”Isaiah describes people who honor God with their lips while their hearts are far from Him.