The Sixth Sunday of Easter (OTA)

Jeremiah 12:1-17

1 Righteous are you, O LORD,

      when I complain to you;

      yet I would plead my case before you.

                  Why does the way of the wicked prosper?

      Why do all who are treacherous thrive?

            2       You plant them, and they take root;

      they grow and produce fruit;

                  you are near in their mouth

      and far from their heart.

            3       But you, O LORD, know me;

      you see me, and test my heart toward you.

                  Pull them out like sheep for the slaughter,

      and set them apart for the day of slaughter.

            4       How long will the land mourn

      and the grass of every field wither?

                  For the evil of those who dwell in it

      the beasts and the birds are swept away,

      because they said, “He will not see our latter end.”

            5       “If you have raced with men on foot, and they have wearied you,

      how will you compete with horses?

                  And if in a safe land you are so trusting,

      what will you do in the thicket of the Jordan?

            6       For even your brothers and the house of your father,

      even they have dealt treacherously with you;

      they are in full cry after you;

                  do not believe them,

      though they speak friendly words to you.”

            7       “I have forsaken my house;

      I have abandoned my heritage;

                  I have given the beloved of my soul

      into the hands of her enemies.

            8       My heritage has become to me

      like a lion in the forest;

                  she has lifted up her voice against me;

      therefore I hate her.

            9       Is my heritage to me like a hyena’s lair?

      Are the birds of prey against her all around?

                  Go, assemble all the wild beasts;

      bring them to devour.

            10       Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard;

      they have trampled down my portion;

                  they have made my pleasant portion

      a desolate wilderness.

            11       They have made it a desolation;

      desolate, it mourns to me.

                  The whole land is made desolate,

      but no man lays it to heart.

            12       Upon all the bare heights in the desert

      destroyers have come,

                  for the sword of the LORD devours

      from one end of the land to the other;

      no flesh has peace.

            13       They have sown wheat and have reaped thorns;

      they have tired themselves out but profit nothing.

                  They shall be ashamed of their harvests

      because of the fierce anger of the LORD.”

14 Thus says the LORD concerning all my evil neighbors who touch the heritage that I have given my people Israel to inherit: “Behold, I will pluck them up from their land, and I will pluck up the house of Judah from among them. 15 And after I have plucked them up, I will again have compassion on them, and I will bring them again each to his heritage and each to his land. 16 And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name, ‘As the LORD lives,’ even as they taught my people to swear by Baal, then they shall be built up in the midst of my people. 17 But if any nation will not listen, then I will utterly pluck it up and destroy it, declares the LORD.”

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. 2001 (Je 12:1–17). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.

What is the future for the people of Israel?  The Lord will come and pluck them up because they have followed their evil neighbors.  The people of Israel will be plucked from their house.  Jeremiah even mourns over the fact that their inheritance is lost.  God has allowed evil to grow up amongst his people.  This evil has consumed them.

The Shepherds of Israel have led the people into evil.  The leaders have led the people to follow after Baal.  The people have done these evil things.  Likewise, people today have been corrupted by their leaders.  The Leaders of the Church still at times have false teachings on their lips.

Thus, Jeremiah reminds the people that God will not allow this to continue.  God will come and pluck his people from their land.  God will redeem the Land through their blood.  And if these people are not found wanting in Faith, he will remember his people and deliver them from their sins.  But these people need to listen to God.

The Leaders of Israel need to listen to God.  The Shepherds of the people need to listen to their good Shepherd.  But more importantly it is faith that the people require.  People believe in Jesus Christ the lamb who was led to the slaughter.  Jesus was sacrificed for the forgiveness of Sins.  His sacrifice truly redeems the whole word.  It is this Word of God in which the people will listen to and find themselves delivered into the true promise land of everlasting life.