Jeremiah 12:7-13
When God’s covenant people persist in rebellion, the blessings of belonging to Him are withdrawn and judgment falls upon both the people and the land.
7 “I have forsaken my house. I have cast off my heritage. I have given the dearly beloved of my soul into the hand of her enemies.
8 My heritage has become to me as a lion in the forest. She has uttered her voice against me. Therefore I have hated her.
9 Is my heritage to me as a speckled bird of prey? Are the birds of prey against her all around? Go, assemble all the animals of the field. Bring them to devour.
10 Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard. They have trodden my portion under foot. They have made my pleasant portion a desolate wilderness.
11 They have made it a desolation. It mourns to me, being desolate. The whole land is made desolate, because no one cares.
12 Destroyers have come on all the bare heights in the wilderness; for the sword of Yahweh devours from the one end of the land even to the other end of the land. No flesh has peace.
13 They have sown wheat, and have reaped thorns. They have exhausted themselves, and profit nothing. You will be ashamed of your fruits, because of Yahweh’s fierce anger.”
When God’s covenant people persist in rebellion, the blessings of belonging to Him are withdrawn and judgment falls upon both the people and the land.
To announce the LORD’s abandonment of His house and inheritance because of Judah’s persistent rebellion, explaining that covenant infidelity has turned the beloved people into objects of judgment.
After challenging Jeremiah to prepare for greater trials in 12:5–6, the LORD now expands the scope of the message to describe the national consequences of Judah’s rebellion.
Jeremiah prophesies during a period when Judah’s rebellion had reached a point where Babylonian invasion would soon devastate the land.
When the Wicked Prosper and the LORD’s Inheritance Is Trampled
The righteous LORD sees the prosperity of the wicked, strengthens his suffering prophet for greater trials, judges his corrupted inheritance, and yet holds out future compassion even for the nations that learn his ways.