Again the LORD said to me, “A conspiracy exists among the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
God speaks to Jeremiah again, and what He names is not scattered failure. It is something shared, running through Judah and Jerusalem alike. So what were they plotting, against whom, and why does God call it a conspiracy?
The covenant behind the charge
The chapter opens with the covenant God made with His people. The conspiracy is a plot against that covenant. One writer sets out its terms and its penalty:
Arno Clemens GaebeleinThe Lord had made a covenant with His people. He tells the prophet about it and the responsibility that went with that covenant. They were to obey His voice. Then they would be His people and He would be their God. The covenant itself said, "Cursed be the man who does not hear the words of this covenant." The prophet answered the Lord: "So be it, LORD" (Amen). Then he is told to proclaim this covenant and tell the people that they had broken it. They had followed the evil example of their fathers. They had burned incense to the idol gods.
How the plot grew
The people had gone back to the evil ways of their fathers and burned incense to idols. One commentator traces that slide back to a much smaller first step:
William KellyBut self-will soon goes into rebellion, and this again into idolatry.
A public covenant, a private falsehood
The young king here is Josiah. He gathered the nation and led them in a pledge to keep God's commandments. One writer points to the gap between that ceremony and the heart of the people:
C KnappOn the young king's part this was all real, no doubt. But read the earlier part of Jeremiah's prophecy and you see how hypocritical it was with most of the people. (See Jeremiah 3:10.) They had eagerly entered into covenants with the Lord before. The outcome was always the same — breakdown, and a wider departure from God than ever before.
Why God could not let it pass
Why not overlook it? One writer puts the answer in terms of what God would otherwise be agreeing to:
William KellyIt is impossible that the Lord should be a consenting party to His people's sin and misery, any more than to His own dishonour. Judgment, therefore, should not slumber.
From chastening to curse
They had broken the covenant, so their standing before God changed. The curse written into it long before now fell:
William KellyThe time has now come to carry out the curse. The curse pronounced in the days of Moses fell in the days of Nebuchadnezzar. As a result, the people's relation to the Lord changed completely. Until then they had been under chastening only. Now they came just as clearly under the curse. It was a new thing; they had broken the covenant.
The names God still uses
Even while exposing the plot, God still uses names of love for this nation:
H J VineSo evil should come, and Jeremiah is told not to pray for them. His words about the sinful nation show how deeply all this touched the heart of the Lord. "My Beloved," He calls her; "A green olive tree"; but she rejoiced in evil, and evil should come upon her.
Where the chapter leads
The broken covenant is not the last word. One writer sums up where these chapters go:
William KellyJeremiah 11–13 remind them that their fathers broke the covenant, so praying for them was useless. Yet they also speak of restoring mercy at last. They close with a solemn condemnation of Judah's proud sin.
Summary
- Covenant — God made a covenant with His people: obey My voice, and you will be My people and I will be your God. It carried a curse for the man who will not hear.
- Conspiracy — What God uncovers is a drift shared by the whole nation. Its root is small: self-will turns into rebellion, and rebellion turns into idolatry.
- Cover — Under Josiah the whole nation had stood up for a covenant, so the plot ran under a religious surface. Past pledges had always ended the same way: breakdown, and a wider departure from God.
- Consequence — God will not be a consenting party to His people's sin or to His own dishonour. So their standing changed. What had been chastening became the curse Moses pronounced, and it fell in the days of Nebuchadnezzar.
- Compassion — Even while exposing the conspiracy He calls her "My Beloved" and "A green olive tree." The section that opens with a broken covenant ends with restoring mercy.