The Fine Print of Reality: Jeremiah 11:1-17
Introduction: Covenantal Amnesia
We live in an age that has forgotten what a promise is. We have reduced solemn vows to sentimental niceties. Marriage vows are treated as temporary mission statements, business contracts are filled with escape clauses, and a man's word is worth about as much as the paper it is not written on. We want all the benefits of commitment with none of the binding obligations. We want the fruit of the covenant without the root of fidelity. And when we approach God, we bring this same flabby, non-committal attitude with us. We want a God of unconditional affirmation, not a God of covenantal sanctions.
But the God of the Bible is a covenant-making and a covenant-keeping God. And a covenant is not a contract between two equal parties. It is a divinely initiated, blood-sealed bond that comes with promises of blessing for obedience and explicit threats of cursing for disobedience. It is not a negotiation; it is an ordination. It defines the very terms of reality. To break covenant with God is not like breaking a business deal; it is like trying to repeal the law of gravity while standing on a cliff edge. It is an act of cosmic treason.
In our text today, the prophet Jeremiah is sent to a people suffering from a terminal case of covenantal amnesia. They were living in the land God had promised, enjoying the inheritance God had provided, all while systematically violating every term of the covenant that secured that inheritance. They wanted the land of milk and honey, but they refused to listen to the God of the land. They were trying to have God's blessings while serving Baal's agenda. And God sends Jeremiah to read them the fine print, to remind them that the clauses about the curses were not just for rhetorical effect.
This passage is a divine lawsuit. God is the plaintiff, Judah is the defendant, and Jeremiah is the process server. The charge is breach of covenant, and the verdict has already been determined. What we are about to read is a terrifying look at what happens when God's patience runs out, and He decides to enforce the terms of His own holy agreement.
The Text
The word which came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying, “Hear the words of this covenant, and you shall speak to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and say to them, ‘Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, “Cursed is the man who does not hear the words of this covenant which I commanded your fathers in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, ‘Listen to My voice, and do according to all which I command you; so you shall be My people, and I will be your God,’ in order to establish the oath which I swore to your fathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as it is this day.” ’ ” Then I answered and said, “Amen, O Yahweh.”
And Yahweh said to me, “Call out all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, saying, ‘Hear the words of this covenant so that you will do them. For I solemnly warned your fathers in the day that I brought them up from the land of Egypt, even to this day, rising up early and warning, saying, “Listen to My voice.” Yet they did not listen or incline their ear, but walked, each one, in the stubbornness of his evil heart; therefore I brought on them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, but they did not.’ ”
Then Yahweh said to me, “A conspiracy has been found among the men of Judah and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem. They have turned back to the iniquities of their ancestors who refused to hear My words, and they have walked after other gods to serve them; the house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken My covenant which I cut with their fathers.” Therefore thus says Yahweh, “Behold, I am bringing calamity on them which they will not be able to get out of; and they will cry to Me, yet I will not listen to them. Then the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem will go and cry to the gods to whom they burn incense, but they surely will not save them in the time of their calamity. For your gods are the number of your cities, O Judah; and the number of the streets of Jerusalem are the altars you have set up to the shameful thing, altars to burn incense to Baal.
“But as for you, do not pray for this people, nor lift up a cry of lamentation or prayer for them; for I will not listen when they call to Me because of their calamity. What possession has My beloved in My house When she has done many schemes of wickedness? Can the flesh, which is set apart as holy, take away from you your calamity, So that you can exult?” Yahweh called your name, “A green olive tree, beautiful in fruit and form”; With the noise of a great tumult He has kindled fire on it, And its foliage has an evil demise. Yahweh of hosts, who planted you, has spoken forth evil against you because of the evil of the house of Israel and of the house of Judah, which they have done to provoke Me to anger by burning incense to Baal.
(Jeremiah 11:1-17 LSB)
The Covenant Re-Stated (vv. 1-5)
God begins by commanding Jeremiah to remind the people of the foundational agreement.
"Hear the words of this covenant... Cursed is the man who does not hear the words of this covenant..." (Jeremiah 11:2-3)
The first thing to notice is that this is a summons. The Hebrew word for "hear," shema, does not mean to simply let sound waves enter your ear canal. It means to hear with the intention of obeying. It is a call to attention and submission. And right out of the gate, God puts the sanction front and center. "Cursed is the man..." This is the language of Deuteronomy 27 and 28. God is not being unkind; He is being clear. The covenant has two sides, blessing and cursing, and He wants them to be under no illusions about which side they are currently on.
God then reminds them of the covenant's origin. This was not some arbitrary set of rules imposed in a vacuum.
"...which I commanded your fathers in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, ‘Listen to My voice... so you shall be My people, and I will be your God...’" (Jeremiah 11:4)
The covenant was given in the context of redemption. He rescued them from the "iron furnace" of Egypt. This was an act of pure grace. The law was not a ladder to earn salvation; it was the family constitution for a people who had already been saved. The terms were profoundly simple and relational: "Listen to My voice." And the result was the covenant formula itself: "you shall be My people, and I will be your God." This is the language of intimate belonging. The purpose of all this was blessing, "to establish the oath... to give them a land flowing with milk and honey" (v. 5). The very ground they were standing on was a testimony to God's covenant faithfulness. Jeremiah, understanding the gravity and righteousness of God's terms, responds with a hearty "Amen, O Yahweh." So be it. He agrees with God.
The Covenant Betrayed (vv. 6-10)
Next, God lays out the history of Judah's infidelity. He has been more than fair.
"For I solemnly warned your fathers... even to this day, rising up early and warning, saying, 'Listen to My voice.' Yet they did not listen or incline their ear, but walked, each one, in the stubbornness of his evil heart..." (Jeremiah 11:7-8)
God's character is one of patient, persistent warning. The phrase "rising up early" paints a picture of an eager, diligent father trying to get through to his wayward children. But their response was not one of ignorance. It was willful rebellion. They did not just fail to listen; they refused to "incline their ear." The problem was not in their hearing but in their hearts. The diagnosis is "the stubbornness of his evil heart." This is the root of all covenant-breaking. Because of this persistent, hard-hearted rebellion, the consequence is simple justice: "therefore I brought on them all the words of this covenant." The curses are not arbitrary punishments; they are the contractually obligated result of their own choices.
This rebellion was not a series of isolated incidents. It was systemic.
"A conspiracy has been found among the men of Judah... They have turned back to the iniquities of their ancestors... the house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken My covenant..." (Jeremiah 11:9-10)
This is organized treason. They have conspired together to reject God's rule. And it is a generational conspiracy. They are deliberately choosing the sins of their fathers, the very sins that got the northern kingdom of Israel destroyed. The charge is laid bare with no ambiguity: they "have broken My covenant." The bond is severed by their own hands.
The Covenant Enforced (vv. 11-17)
Because the covenant has been broken, the sanctions must now be applied. The verdict is in, and the sentence is pronounced.
"Therefore thus says Yahweh, 'Behold, I am bringing calamity on them which they will not be able to get out of; and they will cry to Me, yet I will not listen to them.'" (Jeremiah 11:11)
This is one of the most chilling verses in all of Scripture. The judgment will be inescapable. And worse, the lines of communication will be cut. Just as they refused to listen to God's voice, He will now refuse to listen to theirs. This is the terrible, righteous reciprocity of covenant justice. The time for mercy is past. The time for judgment has come.
God then pours scorn on their pathetic idols. "Then the cities of Judah... will go and cry to the gods to whom they burn incense, but they surely will not save them" (v. 12). This is divine mockery. You chose other gods? You preferred Baal? Go ask him for help. See what your idols of wood and stone can do against the wrath of the living God. The extent of their apostasy was breathtaking; they had more gods than cities, more altars than streets (v. 13). Their sin was public, shameless, and pervasive.
The situation is so finalized that God gives Jeremiah a shocking command.
"But as for you, do not pray for this people... for I will not listen when they call to Me..." (Jeremiah 11:14)
When God tells His prophet to stop praying for the people, you know the die is cast. Intercession is pointless because the sentence is already being executed. The court is no longer in session.
God concludes with two powerful metaphors. First, Judah is an adulterous wife who has no right to be in His house (v. 15). Her religious rituals are meaningless because of her wicked heart. Second, she was a beautiful, fruitful olive tree that God Himself had planted (v. 16). But because of her sin, particularly the sin of Baal worship, God Himself will set the tree on fire. The one who planted is the one who will burn. The judgment is not an accident; it is the direct, personal action of "Yahweh of hosts, who planted you" (v. 17).
The Unbreakable Covenant
This is a hard word. It shows us a God who is jealous for His own glory, who takes His own name seriously, and who will not be mocked. It demonstrates that sin has consequences and that covenant-breaking leads to covenant curses. If this were the only covenant God ever made, we would all be undone. For we, like Judah, have all walked in the stubbornness of our own evil hearts.
But the very failure of this covenant points to the necessity of another. The problem with the Mosaic Covenant was not the law, which was holy and good, but the hearts of the people, which were stubborn and evil. That is why, later in this same book, God promises a New Covenant through this same prophet, Jeremiah.
"Behold, the days are coming, declares Yahweh, when I will cut a new covenant... I will put My law within them, and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people" (Jeremiah 31:31, 33).
This New Covenant solves the heart problem. It is an unbreakable covenant because it does not depend on our faithfulness, but on God's. It was ratified not with the blood of bulls and goats, but with the precious blood of Jesus Christ. On the cross, Jesus Christ, the perfect covenant-keeper, stood in the place of covenant-breakers like us. He absorbed the full, unmitigated curse of the law that we deserved (Galatians 3:13). He faced the calamity we could not escape. He cried out to the Father and was not listened to, so that when we cry out, we might be heard.
Therefore, our hope is not in trying to patch up the old, broken covenant. Our only hope is to abandon all trust in our own righteousness and flee for refuge to Jesus Christ. He has fulfilled all the terms. He has taken all the curses. And He now offers all the blessings to those who come to Him in faith. In Him, the lawsuit is dismissed, the conspiracy of our sin is forgiven, and the God who justly refuses to hear the cries of rebels becomes the loving Father who welcomes us home.