Geremia 11:19 Commento

In this chapter, I. God by the prophet puts the people in mind of the covenant he had made with their fathers, and how much he had insisted upon it, as the condition of the covenant, that they should be obedient to him (Jer 11:1-7). II. He charges it upon them that they, in succession to their fathers, and in confederacy among themselves, had obstinately refused to obey him (Jer 11:8-10). III. He threatens to punish them with utter ruin for their disobedience, especially for their idolatry (Jer 11:11, Jer 11:13), and tells them that their idols should not save them (Jer 11:12), that their prophets should not pray for them (Jer 11:14); he also justifies his proceedings herein, they having brought all this mischief upon themselves by their own folly and wilfulness (Jer 11:15-17). IV. Here is an account of a conspiracy formed against Jeremiah by his fellow-citizens, the men of Anathoth; God's discovery of it to him (Jer 11:18, Jer 11:19), his prayer against them (Jer 11:20), and a prediction of God's judgments upon them for it (Jer 11:21-23).

INTRODUCTION TO JEREMIAH 11 This chapter gives an account of the covenant God had made with the people of the Jews; their breach of it; and the evils threatened them on that account; and particularly against the men of Anathoth, for their ill treatment of the prophet. It begins with the order to Jeremiah to rehearse the words of the covenant in the ears of the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Jer 11:1, which covenant is described by the sanction of it; a curse in case of disobedience; and a promise of being their God, and bringing them into the good land, in case of obedience; and by the time when it was made, when the Israelites were brought out of Egypt, Jer 10:3, which order, the prophet agreeing to, is repeated, Jer 10:5 declaring the earnest protestation and exhortation of God to obey it, which they not observing, were threatened with the curses of it, Jer 11:7, the present Jews doing as their forefathers had done, breaking the covenant, particularly by their idolatry, are threatened also with punishment they should not escape, Jer 11:9 which is aggravated by a resolution to show no regard to their cries, Jer 11:11, by the impotence of their idols to save them, though so numerous, Jer 11:12, by forbidding the prophet to pray for them, Jer 11:14, by their having no longer a place and protection in the house of God, because of their wickedness, Jer 11:15, by comparing their former and present state together, having been as a beautiful and fruitful olive tree, but now burnt, and its branches broken, Jer 11:16, next follows an account of a design of the men of Anathoth against the prophet, to take away his life, which he was ignorant of, till the Lord gave him knowledge of it, Jer 11:17, when he imprecates vengeance on them, Jer 11:20, and, under a spirit of prophecy from the Lord, foretells their utter ruin and destruction, Jer 11:21.

But, O Lord of hosts, that judgest righteously,.... This is the prophet's appeal to God, as the Judge of the whole earth, who will do right; he found there was no justice to be done him among men; he therefore has recourse to a righteous God, who he knew judged righteous judgment: that triest the reins and the heart; of all men; as of his own, so of his enemies; and which he mentions, not so much on his own account as theirs: let me see thy vengeance on them; which imprecation arose from a pure zeal for God, for his glory, and the honour of his justice; and not from private revenge; and so no ways inconsistent with the character of a good man; though some consider the words as a prediction of what would befall them, and he should live to see accomplished; and render them, "I shall see &c." (q); and so the Targum, "I shall see the vengeance of thy judgment on them:'' for unto thee have I revealed my cause; as a client to his patron; told his whole case, and left it with him, believing he would manage it for him, and do him justice. The Apostle Peter seems to have this passage in view, when speaking of Christ, Pe1 2:23. (q) "videbo", Munster, Schmidt; "visurus sum", Junius & Tremellius.

In Jeremiah, too, he likens himself to a lamb, as thus: "I was as a gentle lamb that is led to the slaughter." These and other similar sayings he applies to himself.

If we examine the declaration about Jesus who is pointed out by John in the words, "This is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world," from the standpoint of the dispensation itself of the bodily sojourn of the Son of God in the life of people, we will assume that the lamb is none other than his humanity. For he was "led as a sheep to the slaughter and was dumb as a lamb before its shearer," saying, "I was as an innocent lamb being led to be sacrificed."

That the Jews would fasten Christ to the cross.… Also in Jeremiah: “Come, let us cast the tree into his bread, and let us blot out his life from the earth.”

Jeremiah, too, said, “Show me, O Lord, and I shall know. Then I saw their plots. And I was carried as a meek lamb to be the victim. They devised counsels against me, saying, ‘Let us put wood on his bread and cut him off from the land of the living, and his name shall be remembered no more.’ ” Now the wood signifies the cross and the bread his body, because he is himself the food and life of all who believe in the flesh that he put on and by which he hung on the cross.

(Verse 19) I, like a gentle lamb being led to the sacrifice, did not know that they were plotting against me. Let us cast wood into his bread, and let us wipe him from the land of the living, so that his name may be remembered no more. He himself, like a lamb led to the slaughter, has not opened his mouth and has not known, sin being implied; according to what is said by the apostle: He who knew no sin, was made sin for us: and they have said: Let us place wood in his bread, namely the cross in the body of the Savior. For it is he who says: I am the bread that came down from heaven; and we will uproot or crush him from the land of the living (John 6:51). For they have conceived this wickedness in their hearts, that they may erase his name forever.

It is the consensus of all the church that these words are spoken by Christ through the person of Jeremiah. For the Father made it known to him how he should speak and revealed to him the zealotry of the Jews—he who was led like a lamb to the slaughter, not opening his mouth and not knowing. But the word sin is implicitly added to this last phrase, in agreement with what was said by the apostle: “When he did not know sin, he was made to be sin on our account.” And they said, “Let us put wood on his bread,” clearly referring to the cross on the body of the Savior, for he is the one who said, “I am the bread that descended from heaven.”They also said “let us destroy (or eradicate) him from the land of the living.” And they conceived the evil in their soul that they would delete his name forever. In response to this, from the sacrament of the assumed body, the Son speaks to the Father and invokes his judgment while praising his justice and acknowledging him as the God who inspects the interior and the heart. He asks that the Father would return to the people what they deserve, saying, “Let me see your vengeance on them,” obviously referring only to those who continue in sin, not to those who repent. Concerning the latter, he said on the cross: “Father forgive them, for they do not realize what they are doing.” He also “disclosed his cause” to the Father, that he was crucified not because he deserved it but for the sins of the people, as he declared: “Behold, the prince of the world came and found nothing against me.” The Jews and our Judaizers believe that all of this was said only by Jeremiah, arguing from prophecy that the people have sustained these evils in their captivity. But I fail to see how they hope to prove that Jeremiah was the one crucified, since such an event is nowhere recorded in Scripture. Perhaps it is just a figment of their imagination.

Listen to Jeremiah and be convinced: “I was as a meek lamb that is carried to be a victim. Did I not know it?” (Read it thus as a question, as I have put it. For he who said, “You know that after two days the Passover shall be here, and the Son of man will be delivered up to be crucified,” did he not know?) “I was a meek lamb that is carried to be a victim. Did I not know it?” (What sort of lamb? Let John the Baptist interpret, when he says, “Behold the lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world!”) “They devised a wicked counsel against me, saying (Was it that he who knew the counsels did not know their result? And what did they say?): “Come, and let us put wood on his bread.” (If the Lord shall count you worthy, hereafter you shall learn that his body, according to the Gospel, bore the figure of bread.) “Come, and let us put wood on his bread, and cut him off from the land of the living (Life is not cut off. Why do you toil to no purpose?) And let his name be remembered no more.”

He was led to the cross, and the life of the whole world hung suspended from its wood. Would you care to have this, too, confirmed by the testimony of prophets? Listen to what Jeremiah has to say about it: “Come, and let us put wood on his bread, and let us cut him off from the land of the living.” Moses again, lamenting over them, remarked, “And your life shall be hanging suspended before your eyes, and you shall fear by day and by night, neither shall you trust your life.”

EPITOME OF THE COVENANT FOUND IN THE TEMPLE IN JOSIAH'S REIGN. JUDAH'S REVOLT FROM IT, AND GOD'S CONSEQUENT WRATH. (Jer. 11:1-23) this covenant--alluding to the book of the law (Deu 31:26) found in the temple by Hilkiah the high priest, five years after Jeremiah's call to the prophetic office (2Ki. 22:8-23:25). Hear ye--Others besides Jeremiah were to promulgate God's will to the people; it was the duty of the priests to read the law to them (Mal 2:7).

lamb--literally, a "pet lamb," such as the Jews often had in their houses, for their children to play with; and the Arabs still have (Sa2 12:3). His own familiar friends had plotted against the prophet. The language is exactly the same as that applied to Messiah (Isa 53:7). Each prophet and patriarch exemplified in his own person some one feature or more in the manifold attributes and sufferings of the Messiah to come; just as the saints have done since His coming (Gal 2:20; Phi 3:10; Col 1:24). This adapted both the more experimentally to testify of Christ. devices-- (Jer 18:18). tree with . . . fruit--literally, "in its fruit" or "food," that is, when it is in fruit. Proverbial, to express the destruction of cause and effect together. The man is the tree; his teaching, the fruit. Let us destroy the prophet and his prophecies; namely, those threatening destruction to the nation, which offended them. Compare Mat 7:17, which also refers to prophets and their doctrines.