Slices
Prepare
Have there been times when you have slipped into self-pity? What helped you climb out of that particular pit?
Bible passage
Jeremiah’s complaint
12 You are always righteous, Lord,
when I bring a case before you.
Yet I would speak with you about your justice:
why does the way of the wicked prosper?
Why do all the faithless live at ease?
2 You have planted them, and they have taken root;
they grow and bear fruit.
You are always on their lips
but far from their hearts.
3 Yet you know me, Lord;
you see me and test my thoughts about you.
Drag them off like sheep to be butchered!
Set them apart for the day of slaughter!
4 How long will the land lie parched
and the grass in every field be withered?
Because those who live in it are wicked,
the animals and birds have perished.
Moreover, the people are saying,
‘He will not see what happens to us.’
God’s answer
5 ‘If you have raced with men on foot
and they have worn you out,
how can you compete with horses?
If you stumble in safe country,
how will you manage in the thickets by the Jordan?
6 Your relatives, members of your own family –
even they have betrayed you;
they have raised a loud cry against you.
Do not trust them,
though they speak well of you.
7 ‘I will forsake my house,
abandon my inheritance;
I will give the one I love
into the hands of her enemies.
8 My inheritance has become to me
like a lion in the forest.
She roars at me;
therefore I hate her.
9 Has not my inheritance become to me
like a speckled bird of prey
that other birds of prey surround and attack?
Go and gather all the wild beasts;
bring them to devour.
10 Many shepherds will ruin my vineyard
and trample down my field;
they will turn my pleasant field
into a desolate wasteland.
11 It will be made a wasteland,
parched and desolate before me;
the whole land will be laid waste
because there is no one who cares.
12 Over all the barren heights in the desert
destroyers will swarm,
for the sword of the Lord will devour
from one end of the land to the other;
no one will be safe.
13 They will sow wheat but reap thorns;
they will wear themselves out but gain nothing.
They will bear the shame of their harvest
because of the Lord’s fierce anger.’
14 This is what the Lord says: ‘As for all my wicked neighbours who seize the inheritance I gave to my people Israel, I will uproot them from their lands and I will uproot the people of Judah from among them. 15 But after I uproot them, I will again have compassion and will bring each of them back to their own inheritance and their own country. 16 And if they learn well the ways of my people and swear by my name, saying, “As surely as the Lord lives”– even as they once taught my people to swear by Baal – then they will be established among my people. 17 But if any nation does not listen, I will completely uproot and destroy it,’ declares the Lord.
Explore
Jeremiah has had to take a hard message to God’s people. It has not gone down well, to the extent that people from his own town are now plotting against him (11:18). Before pouring out his heart and his complaint to God, he begins with a true statement about God: ‘You are always righteous, Lord’ (12:1).
What a great model to follow! We can be totally honest with God in prayer and tell him everything that is on our mind and what is troubling us – which is exactly what Jeremiah does. But it’s always helpful to begin such a prayer with an acknowledgement of an aspect of God’s character. This begins to get our focus in the right place.
God’s call on Jeremiah’s life was a tough one. He will not allow Jeremiah to wallow in self-pity (v 5) and even reveals that things will get worse as his own family turn against him (v 6). God’s response to Jeremiah’s ‘Why?’ includes the judgement that comes when God’s people reject him. And yet, compassion and restoration are promised when people turn back to God (v 15).
Respond
Jeremiah was called to draw people back to God. It was going to be a long, hard struggle. We are called to introduce people to Jesus. That can be a long, hard struggle too. Are we ready to compete with horses?
Deeper Bible study
Read Psalm 13:1–4. Be honest with God about what you find frustrating and confusing about life today.
Every company has a complaints procedure. When a product doesn’t live up to expectations, then we can complain, with a view to recompense. Jeremiah has a complaint: life’s not fair! It doesn’t add up. God himself is just and true (v 1a) yet unjust and evil people thrive (vs 1b,2). Jeremiah is doing his best (v 3a), so, by implication, why is he under so much attack? He wants his money back! He wants proper punishment to be enacted. At times, looking at the world around me, I feel the same. Why does God not intervene in corruption, injustice and crime? I am confused and frustrated, even a little angry. What is God’s response?
God’s words are enigmatic: ‘So you think things are bad now, Jeremiah? It will get worse. And it will get personal’ (see v 6). ‘Jeremiah, get a grip.’ God then provides some perspective, from his own point of view. He has been rejected by his own chosen people and consequently invaders have wreaked chaos in the perfect land he gave them. Yet even in the desolate ruins, they have not given him a thought (v 11). How does Jeremiah’s complaint compare with that? So, I must admit, my petty frustrations, complaints and confusions pale into insignificance when placed alongside God’s cosmic burden.
Thankfully, we end on a much more uplifting note, with an international dimension. Addressing the invaders, God issues a message of hope, although there are conditions attached. Just as they seduced Israel and Judah into worship of Baal, so God invites them to worship him. Compassionately, in a war-torn world he offers a stable, multinational homeland (v 16). It’s a hint of the commission Jesus gave to his disciples (and therefore to us): ‘go and make disciples of all nations.’1 Let’s never allow that hope to die.
Concentrate on the international dimension of your prayers of intercession. It may require research and persistence, but the effort is what God asks of us.
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: 1 Samuel 23,24; Mark 16
Pray for Scripture Union
Pray for the Development Hub team: for the Content Innovators as they seek to create fresh and exciting resources, for the Content Managers as they work on the detail of the material, for the support staff who hold it all together, and for Gemma Willis as she heads up and inspires the team.
