THIS IS THE word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: 2“Listen to the terms of this covenant and tell them to the people of Judah and to those who live in Jerusalem. 3Tell them that this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Cursed is the man who does not obey the terms of this covenant—4the terms I commanded your forefathers when I brought them out of Egypt, out of the iron-smelting furnace.’ I said, ‘Obey me and do everything I command you, and you will be my people, and I will be your God. 5Then I will fulfill the oath I swore to your forefathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey’—the land you possess today.”
I answered, “Amen, LORD.”
6The LORD said to me, “Proclaim all these words in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: ‘Listen to the terms of this covenant and follow them. 7From the time I brought your forefathers up from Egypt until today, I warned them again and again, saying, “Obey me.” 8But they did not listen or pay attention; instead, they followed the stubbornness of their evil hearts. So I brought on them all the curses of the covenant I had commanded them to follow but that they did not keep.’”
9Then the LORD said to me, “There is a conspiracy among the people of Judah and those who live in Jerusalem. 10They have returned to the sins of their forefathers, who refused to listen to my words. They have followed other gods to serve them. Both the house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken the covenant I made with their forefathers. 11Therefore this is what the LORD says: ‘I will bring on them a disaster they cannot escape. Although they cry out to me, I will not listen to them. 12The towns of Judah and the people of Jerusalem will go and cry out to the gods to whom they burn incense, but they will not help them at all when disaster strikes. 13You have as many gods as you have towns, O Judah; and the altars you have set up to burn incense to that shameful god Baal are as many as the streets of Jerusalem.’
14“Do not pray for this people nor offer any plea or petition for them, because I will not listen when they call to me in the time of their distress.
15“What is my beloved doing in my temple
as she works out her evil schemes with many?
Can consecrated meat avert your punishment?
When you engage in your wickedness,
then you rejoice.”
16The LORD called you a thriving olive tree
with fruit beautiful in form.
But with the roar of a mighty storm
he will set it on fire,
and its branches will be broken.
17The LORD Almighty, who planted you, has decreed disaster for you, because the house of Israel and the house of Judah have done evil and provoked me to anger by burning incense to Baal.
Original Meaning
THIS PASSAGE IS composed essentially in prose and is concerned with the covenant-breaking activities of Judah and Jerusalem. Verses 15–16 are poetry and are included with the prose material as further commentary on the failure of the people. In these two verses a female is addressed in judgment. Most likely it is Jerusalem in her personified role of representing the people. The text offers no specific date in Jeremiah’s ministry for these words from the Lord.
A closer examination of this section indicates that there are subunits within it. Verses 1–5 comprise the initial unit, an address from God to Jeremiah that instructs the prophet about the people’s failures to maintain fidelity to “this covenant” (vv. 2–3; cf. vv. 6, 8, 10). Jeremiah responds with the affirmation “amen” to this initial revelation from the Lord. Perhaps his response is patterned on the list of curses for covenant disobedience in Deuteronomy 27:15–26, where an “amen” (= “indeed” or “so be it”) follows each curse listed.
Verses 6–14 offer a second communication from God given to the prophet, the bulk of which is comprised of two paragraphs (vv. 6–8, 9–13), each one introduced by “the LORD said to me.” These verses still retain the first-person element in the report (“me”), though their content is clearly intended for the people. Jeremiah is the human vessel to deliver them.
The Lord recognizes that much, if not all, of Jeremiah’s report to the people will fall on deaf ears and hard hearts. As a result, the prophet is commanded not to pray for the people (11:14; cf. 7:16). We ought to remember that these somber words are intended as instruction for the people rather than as simply a message for the prophet. Even though one of the callings of a prophet was to intercede with the Lord in prayer, 11:14 assumes that intercession will do no good because the people will remain incorrigible (note esp. v. 17).
Scholars often point out similarities between the prose sections in this address and the words of Moses in Deuteronomy, although they differ on the degree of similarity and its significance. More specifically, scholars are divided over the historical relationship of prose material like this with the poetic oracles in the book of Jeremiah; some attribute the prose addresses to Jeremiah’s editors who produced the book during the latter period of the Babylonian exile, while others see the prose style as part of Jeremiah’s ministry along with the (originally) oral poetry.1 With respect to 11:1–17, the verses appear to be a summary of reflections on the failure of Judah and Jerusalem to keep God’s covenant (below) rather than a report of the prophet’s actual presentation to the people. In written form they communicate to readers the essence of Jeremiah’s message about the consequences of covenant infidelity.
Two conclusions may be stated from this succinct analysis. (1) God’s people have broken “this covenant,” and the prophet’s task is to communicate that message to them. (2) There are consequences for disobedience, in that judgment will fall on the people. For readers of the material in chapters 1–10, there is little new in these two conclusions except the emphasis on the term “covenant” (berit).2
Details in 11:1–17 offer further perspective on the term covenant, but they also leave a number of things assumed on the part of hearers/readers. “This covenant” is something God “commanded” the ancestors of Judah and Jerusalem (11:4, 10), who were slaves in Egypt. Their redemption from such slavery is the presupposition of the covenant. Obedience to what God commanded Israel to do is expected, since he redeemed Israel and they belong to him. “This covenant” also includes as part of its content an “oath” (šebu’a) God swore to the ancestors,3 a promise that the land of Canaan would belong to their descendants. According to 11:4b God asked for obedience to his word and promised, “You will be my people, and I will be your God.” This last phrase states succinctly the essence of the covenant (cf. Ex. 19:3b–6; Lev. 26:12; Jer. 24:7; 31:33; Ezek. 11:20; Zech. 8:8), from which blessings like children and land would emerge.
One may compare the basic marriage formulation (“I will be your husband, and you will be my wife”) with that of the covenant between God and Israel. They are linguistically similar formulations, and both presuppose an exclusive, intimate relationship as the basis on which a broader community is built.4 Thus, the covenant was predicated on God’s gifts of deliverance and instruction, it is extended by him to the people, and it also contained curses for the people’s disobedience to the covenant stipulations (Jer. 11:3, 8, 11).5 Accusations in 11:9–13 that Judah venerates other gods is a violation of the covenant God established with the people (Deut. 5:7–10) and the reason for reminding them of the curses for disobedience.
As the previous comments indicate, the particulars of Jer. 11:1–17 assume a historical and theological context for the first hearers and readers that spans the biblical storyline from the promises to Abraham and descendants, the deliverance of the ancestors from Egypt, covenant-making at Mount Sinai, and guidance to the Promised Land. But there is more to be considered with respect to Jeremiah’s own lifetime. King Josiah had undertaken a movement for covenant renewal (2 Kings 22–23) by calling Judah back to the fundamental principles of the Sinai/Horeb covenant. He read to the assembled people from the newly discovered book of the covenant (probably Deuteronomy), he officiated at a ceremony of covenant-making, and the people responded affirmatively from their side (23:1–3). His reforming efforts coincided with the call of the young Jeremiah.6
Two elements about the role of Josiah’s reforming activity may help in interpreting Jer. 11:1–17. (1) The book of Deuteronomy is essentially a covenant-renewal document, for it reports the last addresses of Moses to the Israelites prior to his death. Moses emphasized that it was time for the younger generation who came out of Egypt to respond affirmatively to the covenant claim that God had on them. He mediated with them a covenant-renewal ceremony on the plains of Moab. This set a pattern that Josiah would follow. Jeremiah, a prophet like Moses for his generation (cf. Deut. 18:18), takes up a similar role of calling the people back to their first love and reminding them of the consequences.
(2) Moses commanded that the words of God’s Torah be read every seven years at the Festival of Booths (Deut. 31:9–13). It is possible that Jeremiah’s “sermon” as summarized in Jeremiah 11 is influenced by the prophet’s support for the covenant reform measures instituted earlier by Josiah (although they seem to have been short-lived) as well as by the opportunity to reflect on God’s covenantal instructions as they were read periodically in Judah.7
Bridging Contexts
COVENANT CONTEXT. This prose address has many links with other material in Jeremiah. Even where there is no reference to a covenant, much of Jeremiah’s criticisms of Israel and Judah are derived from their failure to maintain the covenant responsibilities God granted them when he called them to be his people. And after judgment, when Jeremiah projects a transformed future for Israel and Judah, his prophecy depicts a “new covenant,” when God will grant new privileges to his covenant-breaking but chastened people (Jer. 31:31–34). From one angle of vision, therefore, the address in chapter 11 is a summary statement of Jeremiah’s criticisms of the people and indications that judgment for failure is on the horizon.
From another angle of vision, the repeated references to “this covenant” provide a broader scriptural context in which to interpret the address. For Jeremiah’s audience and the Jewish generations to follow, the term covenant evoked strong associations with God, who had freely bound himself to them through promises. A promise extended is different from a contract mutually agreed to, although both covenant and contract in the ancient world could be sealed by sacrificial ceremony and solemn oaths. The latter are part of the covenant-making tradition in the Old Testament (Gen. 15:1–21; Ex. 24:1–8).
A covenant is somewhat different from a treaty, however, although they were similar in the ancient world. Solomon and Hiram of Tyre, for example, made an agreement between themselves that is called a covenant (berit, see 1 Kings 5:12[26], NIV “treaty”). The arrangement instituted between the two individuals was likely a parity agreement. A covenant extended by God to anyone else is by definition a gift from the greater to the lesser.
The Old Testament never uses the word “covenant” in the plural to refer to the various covenants God granted to Israel8 and sets no specific chronological limits when a covenant is instituted, although a covenant may or may not have specific conditions attached to it for the covenant partner. For example, God’s covenant with creation is a promise that does not have conditions placed on creation, whereas God’s covenant with Israel does have conditions associated with the promises God makes to the people. The people have obligations to meet as part of the covenant graciously granted to them.
The Old Testament frequently calls the Sinai/Horeb (or Mosaic) covenant God’s covenant9; it is never called Israel’s covenant. This contrast has important theological ramifications. The Sinai covenant was a gift from God to Israel. It was conditional in that it could be broken by Israel’s disobedience. A covenant is not something that Israel might extend to God. Within the structure of the covenant granted to Israel were blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience.
In the modern Western world the term covenant is still used in some wedding ceremonies to depict the solemn and sacred relationship of marriage—a usage similar to that in the Old Testament prophecies of Hosea and Jeremiah—but it is not used much any more to describe social relationships. The term evokes a strong sense of commitment to a relationship. As noted above, the formula for marriage and for the covenant God established with Israel were similar. Nevertheless, a modern parity commitment differs from the biblical sense of a covenant; God grants the covenant unilaterally to someone like David or the people of Israel, and it conveys primarily a self-binding promise/oath graciously granted rather than a negotiated relationship.
The judgment Jeremiah announces for covenant disobedience has two key elements. (1) The offended party (God) has the right to judge infidelity. (2) Israel responded to God’s gracious invitation to covenant fellowship with an oath of obedience and an acknowledgment of curses to fall for disobedience. Not only is God just in announcing judgment, but Israel is self-inflicted with the curses of the covenant to which it agreed were proper.
New covenant and Jesus Christ. Finally, another angle of vision sees Jeremiah’s judgment speech in light of his prophecy of a new covenant (31:31–34) to come, a covenant that ultimately Christ initiated through his death and resurrection (Matt. 26:26–29; Mark 14:22–25; Luke 22:17–20; 1 Cor. 11:23–26; Heb. 8:6–13; 10:1–39). What God demanded by way of covenant fidelity (as Heb. 10:26–39 reminds Christian readers) are the very things God has given as gifts through the obedience of his Son. Here is one element of the “bridge” between Jeremiah 11:1–17 and the modern world. Christians have been given the gift of a new covenant in Christ in spite of their failures to live up to the standards God has set. This is the gospel.
Christ is God’s self-binding promise, gaining for his people that which they are incapable of gaining for themselves. Through him come demands for discipleship, what one might call the gracious stipulations of the “new covenant.” In reading Jeremiah 11, it is not the announcement of judgment for covenant disobedience that should cause surprise on the part of readers, old or new; rather, it is the larger biblical claim that God will continue to pursue people such as these and even to offer his own Son as a self-binding gift of new life to them. One can grasp the radical nature of grace and forgiveness only when one recognizes that judgment for failure is what we deserve and should have expected.
Contemporary Significance
EMPHASIZING THE NEGATIVE. As with all biblical texts announcing divine judgment, an interpreter of the Bible who seeks contemporary application must decide whether a similar announcement is called for or whether the text is best applied as positive instruction for the present through negative examples from the history of God’s people. If the decision is the former, then Jeremiah’s accusation of covenant-breaking becomes an example of prophetic preaching where the failure to heed divine instruction results in the temporal judgment of God’s people.
In Christian theology, God’s judgment for failure may fall on those who reject Christ’s call to discipleship and spurn the truth of the gospel; God has established a covenant of peace and eternal salvation through Christ, and to reject that means of salvation is to reject the only means offered. Unrepentant Christians and faithless churches open themselves to temporal judgments (and even beyond) by their rejection of what God has offered them through Christ.
Emphasizing the positive. Jeremiah’s announcement of judgment for covenant infidelity can offer positive instruction to the church through its insistence on the power of promises made. In essence, the covenant began with God’s promise of commitment to his people, and it sought commitment and fidelity in return. The fragile nature of human commitment in modern society is constantly under threat as marriages end, friendships fail, churches turn their back on neighborhood needs, and fidelity to God takes a back seat to many other things clamoring for time and attention. In a mobile society where the pace of life is swift, the place of enduring commitments is easily crowded out. These things are easily illustrated from modern life; the question for reflection is the extent of the damages that such societal forces inflict on (or will eventually lead to) the life of God’s people.
Two current movements in North American society illustrate the significance of human commitment to responsible life. Others could be named, and a way in which the contemporary significance of Jeremiah 11 could be explored comes in naming such movements. Both of these movements emerge from the recognition that modern society (for a variety of reasons) has devalued enduring commitments, debased the significance of personal integrity, and pushed people into the folly of the “blame game,” where it is always someone else’s fault.
The first illustration is the movement led by Louis Farrakhan of the Nation of Islam. This is a powerful force in the African American community, which takes seriously the potential for societal improvement based on responsible commitments of African American men and women. It is not a Christian movement, and its rhetoric against Jews is reprehensible, but it is based on solemn commitments of a theological nature. One need not embrace either Islam or the separatist nationalism of this movement to recognize that it has touched something deep in the African American community, something that guides men in the ways of responsible activity. Its deserved negative connotations should not blind Christians to its emphases on community, discipline, and piety that have made constructive differences in some of the most difficult neighborhoods in America, along with an impressive record of working with convicted felons in prisons to assist them in changing patterns of destructive behavior and in lowering the rates of recidivism.
The second illustration is the avowedly evangelical movement of the Promise Keepers, led by Bill McCartney. It calls men to commit themselves through the power of the Holy Spirit to lives of fidelity to and responsibility before God. Promise Keepers doctrine assumes that God is the primary Promise Keeper and that Christian men are called to respond in kind.
Listening carefully to Jeremiah’s sermon should keep one from concentrating solely on what’s wrong with society, although a critical assessment will have plenty of material with which to work. Jeremiah’s critique is extended to people who should know better but who have taken the easy way out. Such a word goes first to the church, since it ought to know better on a number of fronts.
The need for transformation. It is also a mistake simply to assume that people who try harder will succeed in their commitments. There will be no lasting success apart from a lasting transformation. Such transformation as God in Christ supplies is a process that begins with a gracious acceptance of the claims of the gospel and continues unto and beyond death. The prophet addresses God’s people, and his message is profoundly theological. “Trying harder” in secular terms is a Band-Aid on a mortal wound.
Human beings ultimately learn that true commitment comes from who God is and the ways in which God has revealed himself through his Word and interpreted deed. We face the true depths of human failure, self-deception, and depravity only in light of the gospel, where the light of forgiveness and acceptance most clearly illumines the failures. Jeremiah’s announcement of judgment points to a redemption that only God can provide. We learn too that what God demands by way of fidelity has been fulfilled in Jesus Christ and that the nature of human commitment to God depends on the gifts of the Holy Spirit and new life in Christ. God, the Judge of all the earth, is also the ultimate Promise Keeper. The church and individual Christians, therefore, are called to keep promises made to God and to exercise godly responsibility in their respective spheres of influence.