Jeremiah 17 study notes

13:1–24:10 Section

Jeremiah shared God’s judgement messages again and again in many ways. Some he shared through an action of prophecy. This was the case with the linen belt and the clay jar from the potter. It was also the case with how Jeremiah wasn’t to get married or have children.

Other messages Jeremiah spoke as poems or simply when talking with someone. This was the case when he spoke with Pashhur and the officials sent by Zedekiah. God compared his people to many different things in his messages. This gave his people pictures to help them understand what he wanted to say. He compared them to wineskins, clay being shaped by a potter and baskets of figs. He compared them to a prostitute and to a wife who wasn’t faithful to her husband. In that picture, God was the husband. The people and leaders of the southern kingdom were the wife. Worshipping false gods was how they were unfaithful to him.

God compared the leaders to shepherds. In that picture, the people were God’s sheep. The kings, priests and prophets were shepherds who destroyed and scattered them. Sometimes God sent his messages with a sign. This was the case when God didn’t let it rain for a time. False prophets shared messages that weren’t from God. Their messages were lies about peace and good times. This made God very angry.

Jeremiah shared God’s messages faithfully. God had warned Jeremiah that the people and leaders would fight against him. This happened many times. People refused to listen to Jeremiah and they made fun of him. They made evil plans against him, beat him and put him in prison. God had promised to be with Jeremiah. God had promised to save him from those who treated him badly. But Jeremiah was suffering terribly. He felt that God had tricked him when he promised to be with him. Yet Jeremiah remained faithful to God as he suffered. In this way he was like Job.

Jeremiah was honest with God when he prayed. His prayers were like the poems and songs in the book of Psalms. They included cries for help and complaining. Jeremiah also praised God and talked about how he trusted in God. The message of hope in chapter 23 talked about a king from the family line of David. He wouldn’t be like the greedy kings of the southern kingdom. He would follow God’s rules for kings recorded in Deuteronomy 17:14–20. This king was called a godly Branch. Isaiah had prophesied about this Branch as well (Isaiah 11:1–3).

Jews came to understand this message of hope as a prophecy about the messiah. New Testament writers came to understand it as a prophecy about Jesus. Jesus is the Branch who makes people right with God.

17:1

A stone mason used an iron chisel or a diamond point to carve images and texts on stones permanently. Idol worship had so hardened the people's thoughts, emotions, and will that change seemed impossible.
In Old Testament times, the corners of altars had projections called “horns” (for example, Exodus 27:1–2). According to covenant rules, when offering an animal sacrifice, they applied blood to these horns. How Baal worshipers treated them is unknown.

17:1–4

The families of Judah were devoted to Baal worship. The Lord listed their sins to justify their judgment.

17:2

People cut Asherah poles from trees and placed them near altars for Baal, the Canaanite storm god. Asherah was the Canaanite goddess of fertility, representing the moist ground that helped crops grow. People performed ritual sex near these altars to encourage rain, seed sprouting, and plant growth. A tree near an altar could also symbolize this fertility goddess. The people of Judah were so morally corrupt that parents encouraged their children to join these rituals.

17:3

The Lord's holy mountain was the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, where people stored wealth and treasures.

17:4

The wonderful possession, the Promised Land, would be lost by Judah when the people were taken captive to Babylon.

17:5

Trust is a mindset that leads to obedience (see Jeremiah 11:4; Deuteronomy 27:15–26).

17:5–10

This meditation contrasts the foolishness of trusting in humans with the wisdom of trusting in the Lord.

17:6

The people of Judah would be completely helpless during disasters because they trusted human abilities instead of the Lord. They would be like desert shrubs that are stunted due to a lack of water.

17:7–8

Those who trust in the Lord, like trees planted along a riverbank, will have plenty of resources and be ready for life's changes.
Water symbolizes the law of the Lord (compare Psalm 1; Ezekiel 47:1–12; Revelation 2:1–2).

17:9–10

By nature, the human heart can be deceitful and very wicked. Only the Lord truly understands its depth.

17:11

Jeremiah mentioned a general principle (see Psalm 73) that was not always true (Job 21:27–33): People who gain wealth unfairly eventually lose it.

17:11–13

Jeremiah praised the Lord's faithfulness to his people, unlike the fate of those who turned away from the Lord.

17:11–18

Jeremiah said he learned this lesson and truly trusted in the Lord.

17:12

God's loyal followers worship the all-powerful Lord, not money.

17:14

Only the Lord can heal and save, so we should praise him alone.

17:14–18

Jeremiah asked the Lord to rescue him from his enemies because he had been faithful. He also asked for healing, salvation, and justice.

17:15

The people mocked Jeremiah because his predictions had not come true. They might have even called him a false prophet (see Deuteronomy 18:21–22).

17:16

Jeremiah asked the Lord to prove his innocence because he was faithful.

17:17

Jeremiah was naturally afraid of the upcoming national disaster, so he asked the Lord for protection.

17:18

Jeremiah wanted those who persecuted him to feel the shame and dismay he felt (Jeremiah 17:15).

17:19–20

The Lord told Jeremiah to go to each gate where people did business. He was to confront the wrongdoers directly, starting with the king.

17:19–27

Driven by greed, the people of Jerusalem were disrespecting the Sabbath day (see Exodus 20:8–11; Deuteronomy 5:12–15). By observing the Sabbath, they would miss out on trade income. The Lord explained why they should keep the Sabbath holy.

17:21–22

Trading on the Sabbath was wrong and needed to stop. The Sabbath was not for buying and selling. It was established in the Sinai covenant as a holy day (Exodus 29:8–11; 31:12–17). On this day, the people of Israel were to rest and honor the Lord.

17:23

they...would not listen or receive My discipline: The people likely thought observing the Sabbath was too costly, so they ignored or overlooked its rules.

17:24–25

The Lord wanted to give the people a chance to change their behavior. By choosing to obey God, the people could enjoy lasting peace and the continuation of the kingdom and the city of Jerusalem.
The promise of chariots and horses symbolized the Lord’s blessing.

17:26

If the people repented, the Lord’s blessings would reach the towns of Judah and Benjamin.
The western foothills extended north and south between the coastal plain of the Mediterranean Sea and the hill country, where Jerusalem was located.
The Negev was the desert that extended from Beersheba southward to the Gulf of Aqaba. People from all these areas would bring their offerings to worship the Lord in his Temple.

17:27

I will kindle an unquenchable fire in its gates: This happened in 586 BC (2 Kings 25:9).