Jeremiah 17 Study Notes: Trust in the LORD and the Deceitful Heart
Judah's sin is deeply engraved in its heart and worship. The LORD contrasts the barren life of one who relies on people with the fruitful life of one who relies on Him and declares the human heart incurably deceitful yet fully known to Him. Jeremiah pleads for rescue, and the LORD calls Jerusalem to honor the Sabbath.
General
True or False: The LORD compared the person who trusts in Him to a tree planted near water, which keeps its green leaves and keeps bearing fruit even in a dry year (Jeremiah 17:7-8).
Answer: True
This is true. In contrast to the desert shrub, the person who relies on the LORD and puts his confidence in Him is blessed (17:7). He resembles a tree set beside water that sends its roots out to the stream. When heat comes it is not afraid, its leaves stay green, and even in a dry year it is not anxious and keeps bearing fruit (17:8). The difference is not that hard times never come, but that this person draws life from the LORD through them. Psalm 1 uses the same picture of a fruitful tree set beside streams for the blessed man it describes (Psalm 1:3), and another psalm calls blessed the one who relies on the LORD (Psalm 40:4).
- Jeremiah 17:7-8 (BSB)“But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in Him. He is like a tree planted by the waters that sends out its roots toward the stream. It does not fear when the heat comes, and its leaves are always green. It does not worry in a year of drought, nor does it cease to produce fruit.”The one who trusts in the LORD is blessed, like a tree by the water that stays fruitful in drought.
- Psalm 1:3 (BSB)“He is like a tree planted by streams of water, yielding its fruit in season, whose leaf does not wither, and who prospers in all he does.”Psalm 1 pictures the righteous as a fruitful tree planted by streams of water.
- Psalm 40:4 (BSB)“Blessed is the man who has made the LORD his trust, who has not turned to the proud, nor to those who lapse into falsehood.”The psalmist calls blessed the one who has made the LORD his trust.
Theological
True or False: Jeremiah 17:7-8 likens the one who relies on the LORD to a well-watered tree that remains green and fruitful even through heat and drought.
Answer: True
This is true. Jeremiah 17:7-8 completes the contrast with 17:5-6. The one whose trust and confidence rest in the LORD is blessed, resembling a tree set beside the waters, rooted toward the stream, unafraid of heat, evergreen, untroubled in drought, and still fruitful. Trials are not removed, but the believer’s life is sustained by its source. The image closely parallels Psalm 1:3, where the blessed man is pictured as a fruitful tree planted beside streams, and the beatitude of Psalm 40:4 on the one who relies on the LORD.
- Jeremiah 17:7-8 (BSB)“But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in Him. He is like a tree planted by the waters that sends out its roots toward the stream. It does not fear when the heat comes, and its leaves are always green. It does not worry in a year of drought, nor does it cease to produce fruit.”The one who trusts in the LORD is blessed, like a tree by the water that stays fruitful in drought.
- Psalm 1:3 (BSB)“He is like a tree planted by streams of water, yielding its fruit in season, whose leaf does not wither, and who prospers in all he does.”Psalm 1 pictures the righteous as a fruitful tree planted by streams of water.
- Psalm 40:4 (BSB)“Blessed is the man who has made the LORD his trust, who has not turned to the proud, nor to those who lapse into falsehood.”The psalmist calls blessed the one who has made the LORD his trust.
General
The LORD pronounced a curse on the person who relies on human strength and whose heart departs from God. What did He compare that person to (Jeremiah 17:5-6)?
Answer: A bush in a dry, salty, empty wasteland
The LORD said a curse rests on the one who puts his trust in human beings, leans on mere human power, and lets his heart drift from the LORD (17:5). Such a person resembles a bush in the wilderness: good times come, but he does not notice them, and he lives in dry, salty ground that no one inhabits (17:6). The problem is not human help as such but trusting it in place of God. Isaiah warned those who ran to Egypt for horses and chariots instead of seeking the LORD (Isaiah 31:1), and the psalmist says not to trust in princes, mere mortals who cannot save (Psalm 146:3).
- Jeremiah 17:5-6 (BSB)“This is what the LORD says: “Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind, who makes mere flesh his strength and turns his heart from the LORD. He will be like a shrub in the desert; he will not see when prosperity comes. He will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives.”The LORD curses the one who trusts in man and compares him to a desert shrub.
- Isaiah 31:1 (BSB)“Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in their abundance of chariots and in their multitude of horsemen. They do not look to the Holy One of Israel; they do not seek the LORD.”Isaiah condemns those who rely on Egypt’s horses rather than seeking the LORD.
- Psalm 146:3 (BSB)“Put not your trust in princes, in mortal man, who cannot save.”The psalmist warns against trusting in mortal princes who cannot save.
- Psalm 118:8 (BSB)“It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man.”Taking refuge in the LORD is better than trusting in man.
Theological
What image does Jeremiah 17:5-6 use for the one who relies on man and whose heart departs from the LORD?
Answer: A bush in a dry, salty, empty wasteland
Jeremiah 17:5-6 pronounces a covenant curse on the one who relies on man, leans on human power, and whose heart departs from the LORD. The image is a desert shrub that does not see prosperity when it comes, living in a parched, salt land without inhabitants (17:6). The opposition is between objects of trust: reliance on the creature in place of the Creator brings barrenness. Isaiah condemns the same misplaced confidence in Egypt’s horses and chariots (Isaiah 31:1), and the psalms echo it (Psalm 146:3; Psalm 118:8).
- Jeremiah 17:5-6 (BSB)“This is what the LORD says: “Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind, who makes mere flesh his strength and turns his heart from the LORD. He will be like a shrub in the desert; he will not see when prosperity comes. He will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives.”The LORD curses the one who trusts in man and compares him to a desert shrub.
- Isaiah 31:1 (BSB)“Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in their abundance of chariots and in their multitude of horsemen. They do not look to the Holy One of Israel; they do not seek the LORD.”Isaiah condemns those who rely on Egypt’s horses rather than seeking the LORD.
- Psalm 146:3 (BSB)“Put not your trust in princes, in mortal man, who cannot save.”The psalmist warns against trusting in mortal princes who cannot save.
- Psalm 118:8 (BSB)“It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man.”Taking refuge in the LORD is better than trusting in man.
General
Jeremiah said those who turn away from the LORD will end in disgrace. What did he call the LORD in explaining their folly (Jeremiah 17:12-13)?
Answer: The source of living water whom they had abandoned
Jeremiah praised the LORD’s majestic throne, lifted high from the start, and addressed the LORD as Israel’s hope (17:12-13). All who forsake Him will be disgraced, and those who turn from Him will have their names written in dust, because they have left the LORD, the source of living water (17:13). Living water means fresh, flowing water rather than stale water in a tank. The same title appears in Jeremiah 2:13, where God’s people traded Him for cracked cisterns that leak. Jesus offered water that becomes a spring that brings eternal life (John 4:14).
- Jeremiah 17:12-13 (BSB)“A glorious throne, exalted from the beginning, is the place of our sanctuary. O LORD, the hope of Israel, all who abandon You will be put to shame. All who turn away will be written in the dust, for they have abandoned the LORD, the fountain of living water.”Those who abandon the LORD, the fountain of living water, will be put to shame.
- Jeremiah 2:13 (BSB)““For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living water, and they have dug their own cisterns—broken cisterns that cannot hold water.”The LORD earlier accused His people of forsaking Him, the fountain of living water.
- John 4:14 (BSB)“But whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a fount of water springing up to eternal life.””Jesus offers water that becomes a spring of eternal life.
- John 7:37-38 (BSB)“On the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood up and called out in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said: ‘Streams of living water will flow from within him.’””Jesus invites the thirsty to come to Him and promises streams of living water.
Theological
In Jeremiah 17:12-13, what title does the prophet give the LORD whom the faithless have forsaken?
Answer: The source of living water whom they had abandoned
Jeremiah 17:12-13 sets the exalted throne of God and His title as Israel’s hope against the shame of those who abandon Him. Their names are inscribed in dust, because they have forsaken the LORD, the source of living water (17:13). The title reprises the indictment of Jeremiah 2:13, where the people exchanged the living fountain for broken cisterns. Jesus presents Himself as the giver of living water, a spring that brings eternal life (John 4:14; John 7:37-38).
- Jeremiah 17:12-13 (BSB)“A glorious throne, exalted from the beginning, is the place of our sanctuary. O LORD, the hope of Israel, all who abandon You will be put to shame. All who turn away will be written in the dust, for they have abandoned the LORD, the fountain of living water.”Those who abandon the LORD, the fountain of living water, will be put to shame.
- Jeremiah 2:13 (BSB)““For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living water, and they have dug their own cisterns—broken cisterns that cannot hold water.”The LORD earlier accused His people of forsaking Him, the fountain of living water.
- John 4:14 (BSB)“But whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a fount of water springing up to eternal life.””Jesus offers water that becomes a spring of eternal life.
- John 7:37-38 (BSB)“On the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood up and called out in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said: ‘Streams of living water will flow from within him.’””Jesus invites the thirsty to come to Him and promises streams of living water.
General
True or False: When people mocked Jeremiah by asking where the LORD’s word was, Jeremiah asked God to remove him from his work as a prophet (Jeremiah 17:14-18).
Answer: False
This is false. Jeremiah asked the LORD to heal him and save him, confident that if God did so he would truly be healed and saved, for the LORD was his praise (17:14). His opponents kept taunting him, asking where the LORD’s word was and daring it to come (17:15). But Jeremiah said he had not fled from serving as a shepherd under God, nor had he wished for the coming calamity (17:16). He asked God not to be a terror to him, called the LORD his refuge, and prayed that his persecutors, not he, would be disgraced and terrified, asking God to bring calamity on them (17:17-18). Like the psalmist, he rested his case with the LORD who redeems His servants (Psalm 34:22), and God had earlier promised to deliver him (Jeremiah 15:19-21).
- Jeremiah 17:14 (BSB)“Heal me, O LORD, and I will be healed; save me, and I will be saved, for You are my praise.”Jeremiah asks the LORD to heal and save him.
- Jeremiah 17:15-16 (BSB)“Behold, they keep saying to me, “Where is the word of the LORD? Let it come now!” But I have not run away from being Your shepherd; I have not desired the day of despair. You know that the utterance of my lips was spoken in Your presence.”Jeremiah’s opponents mock him, but he says he has not run from his calling.
- Jeremiah 15:19-21 (BSB)“Therefore this is what the LORD says: “If you return, I will restore you; you will stand in My presence. And if you speak words that are noble instead of worthless, you will be My spokesman. It is they who must turn to you, but you must not turn to them. Then I will make you a wall to this people, a fortified wall of bronze; they will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you to save and deliver you, declares the LORD. I will deliver you from the hand of the wicked and redeem you from the grasp of the ruthless.””The LORD had promised to make Jeremiah a bronze wall and to deliver him.
- Psalm 34:22 (BSB)“The LORD redeems His servants, and none who take refuge in Him will be condemned.”The LORD redeems His servants who take refuge in Him.
Theological
True or False: In Jeremiah 17:14-18, the prophet answers the taunts of his opponents by asking to be released from his prophetic office.
Answer: False
This is false. Jeremiah’s confession (17:14-18) opens with confidence that healing and salvation from the LORD are real and effective: if God heals and saves, the prophet is healed and saved (17:14). Mocked by those who demand to see the threatened word fulfilled (17:15), he insists he has not fled his calling as shepherd, nor longed for the coming calamity (17:16). He calls the LORD his refuge and asks that shame and terror fall on his persecutors rather than on himself (17:17-18). His prayer leans on the LORD’s earlier pledge to deliver him (Jeremiah 15:19-21), echoing the psalmist’s assurance that the LORD rescues those who serve Him (Psalm 34:22).
- Jeremiah 17:14 (BSB)“Heal me, O LORD, and I will be healed; save me, and I will be saved, for You are my praise.”Jeremiah asks the LORD to heal and save him.
- Jeremiah 17:15-16 (BSB)“Behold, they keep saying to me, “Where is the word of the LORD? Let it come now!” But I have not run away from being Your shepherd; I have not desired the day of despair. You know that the utterance of my lips was spoken in Your presence.”Jeremiah’s opponents mock him, but he says he has not run from his calling.
- Jeremiah 15:19-21 (BSB)“Therefore this is what the LORD says: “If you return, I will restore you; you will stand in My presence. And if you speak words that are noble instead of worthless, you will be My spokesman. It is they who must turn to you, but you must not turn to them. Then I will make you a wall to this people, a fortified wall of bronze; they will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you to save and deliver you, declares the LORD. I will deliver you from the hand of the wicked and redeem you from the grasp of the ruthless.””The LORD had promised to make Jeremiah a bronze wall and to deliver him.
- Psalm 34:22 (BSB)“The LORD redeems His servants, and none who take refuge in Him will be condemned.”The LORD redeems His servants who take refuge in Him.
General
What did the LORD say about the condition of the human heart (Jeremiah 17:9)?
Answer: Deceitful above all else and beyond cure
The LORD said the heart is more deceitful than anything else and beyond cure, so that no one can truly understand it (17:9). Here the heart means the inner person: thoughts, desires, and will. This describes what is sometimes called total depravity, which means sin has affected every part of a person, not that people are as bad as they could possibly be. People cannot fix their own hearts. Genesis says the thoughts of the human heart were bent only on evil, all the time (Genesis 6:5), and Paul says the mind ruled by sinful human nature opposes God and cannot submit to His law (Romans 8:7). The cure must come from God, who promises to give a new heart (Ezekiel 36:26).
- Jeremiah 17:9 (BSB)“The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?”The LORD declares the heart deceitful above all things and beyond cure.
- Genesis 6:5 (BSB)“Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great upon the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was altogether evil all the time.”The LORD saw that every inclination of the human heart was evil all the time.
- Romans 8:7 (BSB)“because the mind of the flesh is hostile to God: It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.”Paul teaches that the fleshly mind is hostile to God and cannot submit to Him.
- Ezekiel 36:26 (BSB)“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”God promises to remove the heart of stone and give a new heart.
Theological
How does Jeremiah 17:9 characterize the natural condition of the human heart?
Answer: Deceitful above all else and beyond cure
Jeremiah 17:9 is one of Scripture’s plainest statements of total depravity: the heart is more deceptive than anything else and incurable, beyond human comprehension. The corruption is radical, reaching the center of the person, so that by nature no one can diagnose or heal it. This matches Genesis 6:5 on the continual evil of the heart’s inclinations and Paul’s teaching that the fleshly mind is at enmity with God and unable to obey His law (Romans 8:7). Because the heart cannot heal itself, renewal is the sovereign gift of God, who replaces the stony heart with a living, responsive one (Ezekiel 36:26).
- Jeremiah 17:9 (BSB)“The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?”The LORD declares the heart deceitful above all things and beyond cure.
- Genesis 6:5 (BSB)“Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great upon the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was altogether evil all the time.”The LORD saw that every inclination of the human heart was evil all the time.
- Romans 8:7 (BSB)“because the mind of the flesh is hostile to God: It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.”Paul teaches that the fleshly mind is hostile to God and cannot submit to Him.
- Ezekiel 36:26 (BSB)“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”God promises to remove the heart of stone and give a new heart.
General
After saying no one can understand the human heart, who did the text say does know it, and what does He do (Jeremiah 17:10)?
Answer: The LORD, who examines hearts and repays each person
Right after asking who can understand the deceitful heart (17:9), the LORD answered: He searches the heart and tests the mind, so that He can give each person what his ways and deeds deserve (17:10). People may fool themselves, but they cannot fool God. The next verse gives an example: the man who gains wealth dishonestly is like a partridge sitting on eggs that are not its own, for his riches leave him in midlife and he ends a fool (17:11). When Samuel was choosing a king, the LORD told him that people judge by what they see but the LORD looks at the heart (1 Samuel 16:7). In the book of Revelation, the risen Jesus speaks in these same terms, saying He examines the inner life of each person and will repay each by what he has done (Revelation 2:23).
- Jeremiah 17:10 (BSB)“I, the LORD, search the heart; I examine the mind to reward a man according to his way, by what his deeds deserve.”The LORD searches the heart and repays each person according to his deeds.
- 1 Samuel 16:7 (BSB)“But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or height, for I have rejected him; the LORD does not see as man does. For man sees the outward appearance, but the LORD sees the heart.””The LORD looks at the heart, not outward appearance.
- Revelation 2:23 (BSB)“Then I will strike her children dead, and all the churches will know that I am the One who searches minds and hearts, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds.”The risen Christ claims to be the One who searches minds and hearts and repays deeds.
- Romans 2:6 (BSB)“God “will repay each one according to his deeds.””Paul affirms that God will repay each person according to his deeds.
Theological
In Jeremiah 17:10, who answers the question of 17:9 about knowing the heart, and to what end?
Answer: The LORD, who examines hearts and repays each person
The rhetorical question of 17:9 receives its answer in 17:10: the LORD searches the heart and tests the mind to give to each according to his ways, as his deeds deserve. Human self-knowledge fails, but divine knowledge is exhaustive and the basis of just judgment, illustrated at once by the man who grows rich unjustly, like a partridge brooding eggs that are not its own, who loses his gain midway through life and is shown a fool (17:11). The LORD’s heart-sight is set against human outward judgment in 1 Samuel 16:7, and the risen Christ claims this same prerogative of searching minds and hearts for Himself (Revelation 2:23). Paul likewise affirms that God will give to each person as his deeds deserve (Romans 2:6).
- Jeremiah 17:10 (BSB)“I, the LORD, search the heart; I examine the mind to reward a man according to his way, by what his deeds deserve.”The LORD searches the heart and repays each person according to his deeds.
- 1 Samuel 16:7 (BSB)“But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or height, for I have rejected him; the LORD does not see as man does. For man sees the outward appearance, but the LORD sees the heart.””The LORD looks at the heart, not outward appearance.
- Revelation 2:23 (BSB)“Then I will strike her children dead, and all the churches will know that I am the One who searches minds and hearts, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds.”The risen Christ claims to be the One who searches minds and hearts and repays deeds.
- Romans 2:6 (BSB)“God “will repay each one according to his deeds.””Paul affirms that God will repay each person according to his deeds.
General
Jeremiah stood at Jerusalem’s gates and warned the people not to carry loads through them on the Sabbath. What did the LORD promise if they obeyed (Jeremiah 17:19-27)?
Answer: Kings of David’s line would keep entering and the city would endure
The LORD sent Jeremiah to stand at the city gates and speak to the kings and people of Judah (17:19-20). The Sabbath was the seventh day, which God had set apart for rest. They were not to carry loads through the gates or do work on that day, but to keep it holy as He had commanded their ancestors, who had refused to listen (17:21-23). If they obeyed, kings and princes on David’s throne would keep entering the gates, Jerusalem would be lived in forever, and people would come from all over Judah bringing offerings to the LORD’s house (17:24-26). If not, the LORD would light a fire in the gates that could not be put out and burn the city’s fortresses (17:27). The command went back to the law given at Sinai (Exodus 20:8), and later Nehemiah reminded Jerusalem that their ancestors’ Sabbath-breaking had brought disaster on the city (Nehemiah 13:18).
- Jeremiah 17:21-22 (BSB)“This is what the LORD says: Take heed for yourselves; do not carry a load or bring it through the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. You must not carry a load out of your houses or do any work on the Sabbath day, but you must keep the Sabbath day holy, just as I commanded your forefathers.”The LORD forbids carrying loads or doing work on the Sabbath and calls for keeping it holy.
- Jeremiah 17:24-25 (BSB)“If, however, you listen carefully to Me, says the LORD, and bring no load through the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, and keep the Sabbath day holy, and do no work on it, then kings and princes will enter through the gates of this city. They will sit on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses with their officials, along with the men of Judah and the residents of Jerusalem, and this city will be inhabited forever.”If they obey, Davidic kings will keep entering the gates and the city will be inhabited forever.
- Jeremiah 17:27 (BSB)“But if you do not listen to Me to keep the Sabbath day holy by not carrying a load while entering the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will kindle an unquenchable fire in its gates to consume the citadels of Jerusalem.’””If they refuse, the LORD will kindle an unquenchable fire in Jerusalem’s gates.
- Exodus 20:8 (BSB)“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.”The law given at Sinai commanded Israel to keep the Sabbath day holy.
- Exodus 31:13 (BSB)““Tell the Israelites, ‘Surely you must keep My Sabbaths, for this will be a sign between Me and you for the generations to come, so that you may know that I am the LORD who sanctifies you.”The Sabbath was a sign of the covenant between the LORD and Israel.
- Nehemiah 13:18 (BSB)“Did not your forefathers do the same things, so that our God brought all this disaster on us and on this city? And now you are rekindling His wrath against Israel by profaning the Sabbath!””Nehemiah links the fathers’ Sabbath-breaking to the disaster that fell on Jerusalem.
Theological
According to Jeremiah 17:19-27, what blessing is attached to keeping the Sabbath holy at Jerusalem’s gates?
Answer: Kings of David’s line would keep entering and the city would endure
Jeremiah is stationed at the gates where the kings come and go (17:19-20) to call Judah to observe the Sabbath as holy: no burdens carried through the gates, no work, as commanded to the fathers, who were stiff-necked and refused correction (17:21-23). Obedience would secure the Davidic kings’ continued entry, Jerusalem’s lasting habitation, and worshipers streaming from every region with offerings (17:24-26). Disobedience would bring an unquenchable fire on the gates and the citadels (17:27). The Sabbath was a covenant sign between the LORD and Israel (Exodus 31:13), and Nehemiah later cites the fathers’ profaning of it as a cause of the city’s disaster (Nehemiah 13:18).
- Jeremiah 17:21-22 (BSB)“This is what the LORD says: Take heed for yourselves; do not carry a load or bring it through the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. You must not carry a load out of your houses or do any work on the Sabbath day, but you must keep the Sabbath day holy, just as I commanded your forefathers.”The LORD forbids carrying loads or doing work on the Sabbath and calls for keeping it holy.
- Jeremiah 17:24-25 (BSB)“If, however, you listen carefully to Me, says the LORD, and bring no load through the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, and keep the Sabbath day holy, and do no work on it, then kings and princes will enter through the gates of this city. They will sit on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses with their officials, along with the men of Judah and the residents of Jerusalem, and this city will be inhabited forever.”If they obey, Davidic kings will keep entering the gates and the city will be inhabited forever.
- Jeremiah 17:27 (BSB)“But if you do not listen to Me to keep the Sabbath day holy by not carrying a load while entering the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will kindle an unquenchable fire in its gates to consume the citadels of Jerusalem.’””If they refuse, the LORD will kindle an unquenchable fire in Jerusalem’s gates.
- Exodus 20:8 (BSB)“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.”The law given at Sinai commanded Israel to keep the Sabbath day holy.
- Exodus 31:13 (BSB)““Tell the Israelites, ‘Surely you must keep My Sabbaths, for this will be a sign between Me and you for the generations to come, so that you may know that I am the LORD who sanctifies you.”The Sabbath was a sign of the covenant between the LORD and Israel.
- Nehemiah 13:18 (BSB)“Did not your forefathers do the same things, so that our God brought all this disaster on us and on this city? And now you are rekindling His wrath against Israel by profaning the Sabbath!””Nehemiah links the fathers’ Sabbath-breaking to the disaster that fell on Jerusalem.
General
The LORD described Judah’s sin as if it had been written down. Where and how was it written (Jeremiah 17:1-4)?
Answer: It was carved deep into their hearts and onto their altars
The LORD said Judah’s sin was inscribed with an iron pen and a diamond point, cut into their hearts, as on tablets, and into the horns (the raised corners) of their altars (17:1). Their sin was not a passing slip; it was carved deep into who they were and into their worship. Even their children remembered the Asherah poles (wooden objects used in the worship of a Canaanite goddess) and altars on the hills (17:2). So the LORD would hand over their treasures as plunder and make them serve enemies in an unknown land (17:3-4). Earlier the LORD said no amount of washing could remove the stain of their guilt (Jeremiah 2:22). Later He promised a new covenant in which He would write His law on their hearts instead (Jeremiah 31:33).
- Jeremiah 17:1 (BSB)““The sin of Judah is written with an iron stylus, engraved with a diamond point on the tablets of their hearts and on the horns of their altars.”The LORD describes Judah’s sin as engraved on their hearts and altars.
- Jeremiah 2:22 (BSB)“Although you wash with lye and use an abundance of soap, the stain of your guilt is still before Me,” declares the Lord GOD.”No washing can remove the stain of Judah’s guilt before God.
- Jeremiah 31:33 (BSB)““But this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD. I will put My law in their minds and inscribe it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they will be My people.”In the new covenant God writes His law on the hearts where sin had been engraved.
- 2 Corinthians 3:3 (BSB)“It is clear that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.”Paul describes the Spirit writing on human hearts rather than stone.
Theological
How does Jeremiah 17:1 picture the permanence of Judah’s sin?
Answer: It was carved deep into their hearts and onto their altars
The image of an iron stylus and a diamond point (17:1) portrays sin engraved indelibly on the heart as on a tablet, and the horns of the altar. Judah’s corruption has penetrated both the inner life and their worship itself, and it has been passed down, for even the children remember their Asherah poles and altars on the hills (17:2). Judgment follows in plunder and exile (17:3-4). No outward washing can remove such a stain (Jeremiah 2:22). The remedy lies only in God’s own sovereign work under the new covenant, when He writes His law on their hearts (Jeremiah 31:33), a work Paul describes as the Spirit writing on human hearts rather than stone (2 Corinthians 3:3).
- Jeremiah 17:1 (BSB)““The sin of Judah is written with an iron stylus, engraved with a diamond point on the tablets of their hearts and on the horns of their altars.”The LORD describes Judah’s sin as engraved on their hearts and altars.
- Jeremiah 2:22 (BSB)“Although you wash with lye and use an abundance of soap, the stain of your guilt is still before Me,” declares the Lord GOD.”No washing can remove the stain of Judah’s guilt before God.
- Jeremiah 31:33 (BSB)““But this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD. I will put My law in their minds and inscribe it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they will be My people.”In the new covenant God writes His law on the hearts where sin had been engraved.
- 2 Corinthians 3:3 (BSB)“It is clear that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.”Paul describes the Spirit writing on human hearts rather than stone.