17:1God's people continued to sin even though they had the law, the prophets of God, and history replete with God’s miracles. How could they do that? Why do we continue in sin even though we understand the eternal consequences? Jeremiah says the heart is deceitful (17:9), and their sin is “engraved with a diamond point on their stony hearts.” The Hebrews symbolized the various aspects of a person by locating them in certain physica! organs. The heart was the organ of reason, intelligence, and will. So deep is our tendency to sin that only God’s redemption Can deliver us.
Life Application Study BibleJeremiahChapter 17
Jeremiah 17
New Living Translation · Life Application Study Bible · Original pages: 1232, 1233, 1234
A few verse numbers on this page were hard to read in the scan and are marked with a dotted underline — compare with the original page image if in doubt.
17Jeremiah 17
1and on the corners of their altars.
2Even their children go to worshipat their pagan altars and Asherah poles,beneath every green treeand on every high hill.
3So I will hand over my holy mountain—along with all your wealth and treasuresand your pagan shrines—as plunder to your enemies,for sin runs rampant in your land.
4The wonderful possession I have reserved for youwill slip from your hands.I will tell your enemies to take youas captives to a foreign land.For my anger blazes like a firethat will burn forever.”
Wisdom from the LORD
5This is what the LORD says:“Cursed are those who put their trust in mere humans,who rely on human strengthand turn their hearts away from the LORD.
6They are like stunted shrubs in the desert,with no hope for the future.They will live in the barren wilderness,in an uninhabited salty land.
7“But blessed are those who trust in the LORDand have made the LORD their hope and confidence.
8They are like trees planted along a riverbank,with roots that reach deep into the water.Such trees are not bothered by the heator worried by long months of drought.Their leaves stay green,and they never stop producing fruit.
9“The human heart is the most deceitful of all things,and desperately wicked.Who really knows how bad it is?
10But I, the LORD, search all heartsand examine secret motives.I give all people their due rewards,according to what their actions deserve.”
Jeremiah’s Trust in the LORD
1111 Like a partridge that hatches eggs she has not laid,so are those who get their wealth by unjust means.At midlife they will lose their riches;in the end, they will become poor old fools.
12But we worship at your throne—eternal, high, and glorious!
13O LORD, the hope of Israel,all who turn away from you will be disgraced.They will be buried in the dust of the earth,for they have abandoned the LORD, the fountain of living water.
14OQ LORD, if you heal me, I will be truly healed;if you save me, I will be truly saved.My praises are for you alone!
15People scoff at me and say,“What is this ‘message from the LORD’ you talk about?Why don't your predictions come true?”
16LORD, I have not abandoned my jobas a shepherd for your people.
I have not urged you to send disaster.You have heard everything I've said.
17LORD, don’t terrorize me!You alone are my hope in the day of disaster.
18Bring shame and dismay on all who persecute me,but don’t let me experience shame and dismay.Bring a day of terror on them.Yes, bring double destruction upon them!
Observing the Sabbath
1919This is what the LORD said to me: “Go and stand in the gates of Jerusalem, first in the gate where the king goes in and out, and then in each of the other gates. 20Say to all the people, ‘Listen to this message from the LORD, you kings of Judah and all you people of Judah and everyone living in Jerusalem. 21This is what the LORD says: Listen to my warning! Stop carrying on your trade at Jerusalem’s gates on the Sabbath day. 22Do not do your work on the Sabbath, but make it a holy day. I gave this command to your ancestors, 23but they did not listen or obey. They stubbornly refused to pay attention or accept my discipline. 24“'But if you obey me, says the LORD, and do not carry on your trade at the gates or work on the Sabbath day, and if you keep it holy, 25then kings and their officials will go in and out of these gates forever. There will always be a descendant of David sitting on the throne here in Jerusalem. Kings and their officials will always ride in and out among the people of Judah in chariots and on horses, and this city will remain forever. 26And from all around Jerusatem, from the towns of Judah and Benjamin, from the western foothills* and the hill country and the Negev, the people will come with their burnt offerings and sacrifices. They will bring their grain offerings, frankincense, and thanksgiving offerings to the LORD’s Temple. 27“ But if you do not listen to me and refuse to keep the Sabbath holy, and if on the Sabbath day you bring loads of merchandise through the gates of Jerusalem just as on other days, then I will set fire to these gates. The fire will spread to the palaces, and no one will be able to put out the roaring flames.’”
Textual footnotes
- 17:26 Hebrew the Shephelah.
Life Application Notes 5 notes
17:5-8Two kinds of people are contrasted here: those who trust in human beings and those who trust in the LORD. The people of Judah were trusting in false gods and military alliances instead of God, and thus they were barren and unfruitful. In contrast, those who trust in the LORD flourish like trees planted along a riverbank (see Psalm 1). In times of trouble, those who trust in human beings will be impoverished and spiritually weak, so they will have no strength to draw on. But those who trust in the LORD will have abundant strength, not only for their own needs, but even for the needs of others. Are you satisfied with being unfruitfui, or do you, like a well-watered tree, have strength for times of crisis and even some to share as you bear fruit for the LORD?
17:9,10God makes it clear why we sin—it’s a matter of the heart. Our heart is inclined toward sin from the time we are born. It is easy to fall into the routine of forgetting and forsaking God. But we can still choose whether or not to continue in sin. We can yield to a specific temptation, or we can ask God to help us resist temptation when it comes.
17:14There is a right way and a wrong way to do any task. Jeremiah says that the person who becomes rich by unjust means will end up foolish and poor. Whether at work, school, or play, we should strive to be honest in all our dealings. Getting a promotion, passing an exam, or gaining prestige by dishonest means will never bring God's blessing or lasting happiness.
17:19-27The people were working on the Sabbath, their day of rest (Exodus 20:8-11). Instead of entering the gates of the city on their way to worship, they continued the hustle and bustle of business like any other day. They considered making money more important than keeping God's law. If they would repent and put God first in their lives, God promised them honor among the nations. Over a century later, when Nehemiah led the exiles on their return to Jerusalem, one of his most important reforms was to reinstitute Sabbath observance (Nehemiah 13:15-22).