Righteous art thou, Jehovah, when I plead with thee; yet will I speak with thee of [thy] judgments. Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? [wherefore] are all they at ease that deal very treacherously?
Jeremiah opens chapter 12 by settling one thing he will not dispute: God is righteous. Only then does he bring his hardest question. If treacherous people thrive, what happens to our confidence that God rules the world?
Jeremiah does not accuse. He states God's righteousness first, and then pleads about God's judgments in that spirit.
J. N. DarbyJeremiah pleads with God about these judgments, but in a humble and submissive way. God accepts this, and in accepting it He makes him feel the evil of the people more deeply — a painful necessity. At the same time He sustains the prophet's faith by the personal interest He shows in him.
Two people can raise the same question in very different spirits. Samuel Ridout sets Jeremiah beside Job, who also called God just — but said it with a bitter edge.
Samuel RidoutJob seems to agree with Bildad that God is just. He says, "Of course He is just, for there is no appeal from whatever He does. He has both wisdom and power, and can overwhelm any pointless attempt to reason with Him." This is terrible. It is not someone humbly asking God for a reason, as Jeremiah does in the same kind of trouble (Jer. 12:1-4). It is the hardness of despair — might is right; and God has might on His side.
The offence was not that wicked people did well. It was that they talked about God while their inner life had nothing to do with Him. Verse 2 calls Him near in their mouth and far from their reins — the reins meaning the inner self. Jeremiah preached during a national reform under king Josiah, and he could see through it.
H J VineHe saw the outward revival at that time, in Josiah's reign; but he knew the lack of inward reality. So he saw that they were like fruit that looks fresh and healthy on the outside but is rotten at the core. Corruption had to spread quickly over everything. And so it came to pass: "They grow," he says to the Lord, "yes, they bring forth fruit: You are near in their mouth, and far from their reins" (Jer. 12:2). Outward departure was bound to follow this inward unreality.
Jeremiah takes that grievance straight to God.
William KellyHere the prophet complains to the LORD of the prosperity of the wicked in the land — all the more of a stumbling-block because He was as near in their mouth as He was far from their reins.
Jeremiah is not the first to raise it. Asaph, in Psalm 73, wore himself out on the same puzzle. Only one place gave him the answer.
Georges AndréAsaph had the same experience (Psalm 73): The wicked are prosperous, proud, and arrogant; they are scoffers; they deride God, and yet "They prosper in the world; they heap up riches"! He, Asaph, who has purified his heart, who has washed his hands in innocency, is experiencing daily trials. With painful effort he tries to see into this mystery of the ways of God. He says, "When I thought how to understand this, it was too painful for me — until I went into the sanctuary of God." There the Lord gives an answer to His servant. Asaph now understands the end of the wicked.
Jeremiah gets no tidy solution. He gets a warning instead: the road ahead is rougher than the road behind (v. 5, quoted below in an older translation).
Georges AndréFor Jeremiah the answer is not so comforting. Instead, it is a challenge. "If you have run with the footmen, and they have wearied you, then how can you contend with horses?" In other words, if small trials like those caused by your family are enough to weary you, what will you do when greater trials come? Then you face charging "horses," or the "swelling of the Jordan." We must learn to endure today's trials so that they strengthen us for tomorrow's.
The prayer of these verses is not only Jeremiah's own story. One writer sees a pattern here for godly sufferers still to come.
Arno Clemens GaebeleinIn his outburst of grief, and in deep confusion of mind, Jeremiah states the old question: why does the righteous man suffer? Why does the wicked prosper? And then comes the prayer for His intervention. Such will again be the case with the godly remnant at the end of this present age. They will suffer and be persecuted as godly Jeremiah was, and pray as Jeremiah prayed.
- Start settled. Jeremiah names God as righteous before he asks anything, so the question is a plea and not a charge.
- Ask, don't accuse. Humbly asking God for a reason is not the same as the hardness that says might is right — and God accepts the first.
- See the real problem. Success was not the scandal. God near in the mouth and far from the heart was — and that unreality always spreads outward.
- Go where it is answered. Thinking it through only wore Asaph out. In the sanctuary of God he saw how the wicked end.
- Expect the harder road. God answers with a question: if footmen already tire you, how will you run against horses? Today's trial trains you for tomorrow's.
Thou hast planted them, they also have taken root they advance, yea, they bring forth fruit thou art near in their mouth, but far from their reins.
Jeremiah has just called God righteous, and then brings his complaint anyway. The people God planted are thriving, yet they keep Him on their lips while their inner life has nothing to do with Him.
The ESV reads "far from their heart." Older translations read "reins." That word points to a part of the body used as a picture. A Bible dictionary gives the plain sense:
Morrish Bible DictionaryThe kidneys, used symbolically for the inward thoughts and feelings. Ps. 7:9; Ps. 16:7; Ps. 26:2; Ps. 139:13; Prov. 23:16; Jer. 12:2; Jer. 17:10; Jer. 20:12; Lam. 3:13; Rev. 2:23.
So the charge is precise, not vague. God has a place in their speech, but no place in the thoughts and feelings that drive them. And that inner place is the one God searches:
William KellyIt is a serious thing to deal with a living God who searches the reins and the heart, as the Lord Jesus does. Yet if we come in faith, it is also a blessed thing. When we truly know His grace, it is a joy to welcome His search into the self-love or flippancy we do not see in ourselves.
God Himself is the planter here, which is why this is a complaint against God and not just an observation. One writer ties the picture of fruit to what Jeremiah watched in his own day. King Josiah had led a national religious revival, but it never went deep:
H J VineHe saw the outward revival at that time, in Josiah's reign; but he knew the lack of inward reality. So he saw that decay would soon spread over everything, like fruit that looks fresh and blooming on the outside but is unsound at the core. And so it came to pass, "They grow," he says to the Lord, "yes, they bring forth fruit: You are near in their mouth, and far from their reins" (Jer. 12:2). Outward departure must inevitably follow this inward unreality.
Jeremiah does not just complain that wicked people prosper. His complaint is about wicked people who also talk about God. One writer points to this as the sharper edge of the trouble:
William KellyThe first four verses of Jeremiah 12 carry this on. There the prophet complains to the Lord about the prosperity of the wicked in the land. It was all the more painful a stumbling-block because God was as near in their mouth as He was far from their inward being.
Jeremiah is not the only one who raised this. Asaph, one of Israel's singers, wrote a psalm about the same problem. One writer traces how he came through it:
Georges AndréAsaph had the same experience (Ps. 73). The wicked are prosperous, proud, and arrogant. They are scoffers who mock God, and yet "They prosper in the world; they heap up riches" (Ps. 73:3-12)! Asaph himself has purified his heart and washed his hands in innocence, yet he faces trials every day. He struggles hard in his mind to see into this mystery of God's ways: "When I thought how to understand this, it was too painful for me – until I went into the sanctuary of God." There the Lord gives an answer to His servant. Asaph now understands the end of the wicked.
Commentators differ on how far we should copy Jeremiah here. One writer sees his question kindly, as a man "humbly daring to ask God for a reason" (Samuel Ridout). Another says the reply Jeremiah got turned him away from arguing the case at all.
The chapter does not end with an explanation. It ends with the Lord pointing His servant somewhere else:
H J Vine"Righteous are You, O Lord," exclaims Jeremiah (Jer. 12:1). Yet he pleads with Him about the prosperity of the wicked. "You are near in their mouth and far from their inward being," he says. This describes a state that is sadly common in the Christian world today. The Lord shows His servant that arguing about these things is not wise. Even his own closest relatives had betrayed him. So he must trust in the Lord... The true servant must cling to the righteous Lord (vv. 5-9) — that is his wisdom.
- Near — God had a real place in their speech. The verse does not accuse them of ignoring Him. It accuses them of keeping Him at the level of talk.
- Far — "Reins" means the kidneys, a picture of the inward thoughts and feelings. God had no place there, and that is the place He searches.
- Rooted — They were planted, growing, fruitful. Outward growth proves nothing, since fruit can be fresh on the outside and unsound at the core.
- Grievous — Their prosperity was a stumbling-block to Jeremiah for one reason. It was not just that the wicked did well. It was that people who talked about God did well.
- Answer — Asaph's route through the same puzzle was the sanctuary, where he learned the end of the wicked. Jeremiah's answer was to stop arguing and hold on to the righteous Lord.
But thou, Jehovah, knowest me; thou hast seen me, and proved my heart toward thee. Drag them out like sheep for the slaughter, and set them apart for the day of slaughter.
Jeremiah has just put a hard question to God about the wicked who prosper. Now he turns to himself: the God who sees through their pretence also knows the prophet's own heart, and out of that confidence he asks God to mark these men for killing.
Verse 3 grows out of what Jeremiah has just said about the wicked. Their religion reached their lips and went no further. That is what made their success so hard to bear.
William KellyThis continues in the first four verses of Jeremiah 12. There the prophet complains to the Lord that the wicked prosper in the land. Their prosperity was all the more a grievous stumbling block, because God was as near in their mouth as He was far from their inner thoughts.
Jeremiah's confidence lies in God's knowledge of him, not in his own record. God is far from the hearts of the wicked, yet He has searched the prophet's heart — and the man He knows so well is the one suffering.
Georges AndréJeremiah is perplexed. The way of the wicked is prospering; those who deal very treacherously are at ease; with their mouths they speak of God, but He is far from their hearts. And yet He has planted them, they have taken root, they advance, they bring forth fruit (12:1-2). As for the prophet, God knows his heart. He has followed the Lord faithfully and answered His call. Yet his trials now overtake him, and his family hates him. But why?
The picture behind "sheep for the slaughter" is not random cruelty. Comfort and growth can be the very thing that fattens men for the end that is coming.
F. B. HoleAppearances, however, are deceitful. In reality they were only like brute beasts being fattened for killing. "You have nourished your hearts as in a day of slaughter" is how James puts it. If you read Psalm 73, you find that this is nothing new. Asaph was deeply troubled as he watched the wicked prosper while the people of God met chastening and sorrow. He found no satisfactory answer to the problem until he went into the sanctuary of God.
Some writers gather this verse into a list of passages about the final end of the wicked. One writer answers that it speaks of something nearer and more local.
Frederick W Grant"Set them apart for the day of slaughter" (Jer. 12:3) — this too is judgment in the land… No one can show that a single passage in this list applies to the final judgment of the wicked.
The same cry will rise again. Believing Israelites will pray it in the closing days of this age.
Arno Clemens GaebeleinIn his outburst of grief and in great mental perplexity Jeremiah states the old question: why does the righteous man suffer, why does the wicked prosper? And then comes the prayer for His intervention. Such will be the case again with the godly remnant at the end of this present age. They will suffer and be persecuted as godly Jeremiah was. They will pray as Jeremiah prayed: "Pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and set them apart for the day of slaughter." The psalms that call down judgment carry the same prophetic meaning.
Such prayers are not spiteful. They are judicial — right when the moment for God's judgment has come. That moment is not this one.
William KellySo praying saints do not now ask God for the vengeance on their enemies that we find in the Old Testament… Many dare to think, in ignorant presumption, that these prayers against the wicked are vindictive. They are not. They are solemnly judicial, meant for the time when the instruments are there to pour out God's wrath on all who despise Him. But now it is the day of grace and salvation, the accepted time.
Jeremiah asked God to deal with his enemies. God's reply warned him that the road ahead only grows steeper.
Georges AndréFor Jeremiah the answer is not so comforting. Instead, it is a challenge. "If you have run with the footmen, and they have wearied you, then how can you contend with horses?" (Jer. 12:5). In other words: if small trials like those from your own family are enough to weary you, what will you do when greater trials come? We must learn to endure today's trials so that we grow strong for tomorrow's.
- Puzzle — The wicked speak of God with their mouths, but He is far from their hearts. Still they take root and bear fruit. That mismatch drives the whole prayer.
- Plea — Jeremiah rests his case not on his own record but on the God who knows him, has seen him, and has tested his heart.
- Picture — The wicked look prosperous, but they are only beasts fattened for killing. Asaph found the same answer only when he went into the sanctuary of God.
- Postponed — The slaughter Jeremiah asks for is judgment in the land. The same cry will rise again from the godly remnant at the end of this age.
- Posture — This is the day of grace and salvation, so Christians do not pray for vengeance. The trial God sends now trains them for the harder road ahead.
How long shall the land mourn, and the herbs of all the fields wither? Because of the wickedness of them that dwell therein, the beasts and the birds perish; for they say, He will not see our end.
Jeremiah has just asked God the hardest question a believer can ask. Why do treacherous people do well while faithful people suffer? Verse 4 widens it. The land, its fields, its animals and its birds are wasting away, and he asks how long this will go on.
Verse 4 is the last step in a four-verse protest. The prophet has watched people who name God without knowing Him, and their success is what stings.
William KellyThis is pursued in the first four verses of Jeremiah 12, where the prophet complains to the LORD about the prosperity of the wicked in the land — a stumbling block all the more painful because He was as near in their mouth as He was far from their heart.
The question comes out of grief, and it turns into a prayer that God would step in.
Arno Clemens GaebeleinJeremiah is overwhelmed with grief and deeply perplexed. He states the old question: why does the righteous man suffer, and why does the wicked prosper? And then comes the prayer for His intervention. Such will be again the case with the godly remnant at the end of this present age. They will suffer, and people will persecute them as they persecuted godly Jeremiah. They will pray as Jeremiah prayed: "Pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and set them apart for the day of slaughter."
The verse blames the wickedness of the people for the dying grass and the vanishing animals. The prophet Hosea said the same, and one writer explains what that shows about God.
William Kelly"Therefore the land mourns, and all who dwell in it languish, and also the beasts of the field and the birds of the heavens, and even the fish of the sea are taken away." God marked what He thought of it all by leaving the lower creation desolate. That reached even the creatures that might seem furthest from the control or influence of man. Such was the ruin and misery under God's hand through Israel's sin.
This damage goes back further than Israel, to the first man and his fall.
F. B. HoleThe first reference is to the lower creation. Man's fall has dragged it down. Adam received dominion over all, and by his sin he ruined all. He was, so to speak, the top link of a chain. He was joined to the Creator with understanding, and every other link hung on him. When he fell, all creation fell with him.
Asaph, who wrote Psalm 73, asked the same question. One writer points to where his answer came.
Georges AndréWith painful effort he tries to work out this mystery of God's ways: "When I thought how to understand this, it was too painful for me — until I went into the sanctuary of God." There the Lord gives an answer to His servant. Asaph now understands the end of the wicked... Trials have not ceased — "My flesh and my heart fail." But he knows from experience that God is the rock of his heart and his portion forever.
Grief at the power of evil is right. But something else can mix itself into that grief.
J. N. DarbyIt is right to grieve at the power of evil in the world. But in our minds that grief mixes with a wish to have our own way and our own judgment in setting the evil aside. When our will mixes into our sense that evil is succeeding, we become either irritated or discouraged. So we give up persevering in good... So the path is narrow. Grace must work in the heart to lead us along it: to feel the evil in itself, to feel God's glory cast in the dust by it, and yet to wait for God's time and way, as Christ did when He suffered.
Writers apply Jeremiah's protest beyond his own day, to people who keep God on their lips while their hearts stay far away.
H J Vine"You are righteous, O LORD," exclaims Jeremiah. Yet he pleads with Him about the prosperity of the wicked. "You are near in their mouth and far from their heart," he says. This describes a state that is sadly in evidence in Christendom today... The true servant must cleave to the righteous Lord; that is his wisdom.
- Complaint. Jeremiah does not doubt God's righteousness. His pain is at seeing people prosper who are near God in speech and far from Him in heart.
- Cost. The mourning land, the withered grass and the vanishing animals mark what God thinks of human sin. The damage reaches creatures that had no part in it.
- Cause. This runs back to the fall: man was the top link in the chain, and when he fell, all creation fell with him.
- Cure. Asaph could not bear the riddle until he went into God's sanctuary. The answer waits in God's presence, not in counting who prospers.
- Caution. Grief over evil is right, but self-will slips in with it. The narrow path is to feel the evil and still wait for God's time and way, as Christ did.