Commentary - Jeremiah 17:11

Bird's-eye view

Jeremiah 17 is a chapter of sharp contrasts, setting the man who trusts in man against the man who trusts in the Lord. It is a chapter about where you sink your roots. The man who trusts in flesh has roots in the salt flats, a barren waste. The man who trusts in God is a tree planted by water, fruitful and without fear. Our verse comes right on the heels of the famous declaration that the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. God searches that heart, and He repays every man according to his ways. This proverb about the partridge is therefore a specific illustration of this principle of divine reckoning. It is a case study in the folly of a wicked heart that seeks to build a life on a foundation of sand, specifically the sand of ill-gotten gain. The passage shows us that the universe is hardwired by its Creator to ensure that sin, particularly the sin of unjust enrichment, is ultimately a fool's game. It promises a profit, but in the end, it declares bankruptcy in the court of heaven.

Outline

Context In Jeremiah

Jeremiah is prophesying to a nation on the brink of collapse. The covenant has been thoroughly broken, and judgment is at the door in the form of the Babylonian armies. The prophet's task is to show Judah that their political and military problems are, at root, theological problems. They have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of living waters, and have dug for themselves broken cisterns that can hold no water (Jer 2:13). In chapter 17, this contrast is stark. Trust in man is a curse; trust in God is a blessing. The nation's leadership and its people have been operating out of a deceitful heart (v. 9), and God is watching. He intends to render to every man according to his deeds (v. 10). Verse 11, then, is not a standalone piece of rustic wisdom. It is a divine audit of the get-rich-quick schemes of the wicked. It is a warning that the prosperity built on injustice is an illusion, a phantom pregnancy that will leave the schemer with nothing but shame.

Clause-by-Clause Commentary

v. 11a As a partridge that hatches eggs which it has not laid...

The proverb opens with a picture from the natural world. Ancient naturalists, and likely common observers, believed the partridge was known for two things relevant here: either stealing the eggs of other birds to sit on them, or laying eggs that would then roll away, leaving the nest empty. In either case, the central idea is one of illegitimate possession and futile effort. The bird puts in all the work of brooding and sitting, expecting a clutch of chicks, but it is all for nothing. The eggs are not truly hers, and the expected offspring will never be her own. This is a picture of what we might call counterfeit fatherhood. She is investing her life, her warmth, and her time in something that has no future with her. It is a profound image of wasted, illegitimate labor. God has woven this principle into the fabric of the natural world so that men might see it and take heed. Creation itself testifies against certain kinds of folly.

v. 11b So is he who makes a fortune, but unjustly; In the midst of his days it will forsake him...

Here is the application of the metaphor. The man who gets rich by cheating, by oppression, by cutting corners, by fraud, is like this partridge. He gathers to himself a nest egg, but it is not rightly his. The Hebrew is "not by right." He has violated the eighth commandment, and by extension, the tenth. He has built his house by unrighteousness. And what is the result? The fortune itself has a kind of homing instinct. It knows who its true master is, and it isn't the thief. The wealth will leave him. Notice the timing: "In the midst of his days." This is not a retirement problem. This is a prime-of-life catastrophe. The man builds his whole identity and security on his pile of money, and right when he thinks he is at the pinnacle of his success, the whole thing evaporates. The market crashes, the authorities catch up, the partner absconds with the loot. God's providence has a thousand ways of ensuring that stolen goods do not stay in the hands of the thief. The wealth itself is personified; "it will forsake him." The very thing he trusted betrays him. This is the vanity of which the Preacher in Ecclesiastes speaks. It is grasping at the wind.

v. 11c And in the end he will be a wicked fool.

This is the final verdict, the punchline of the proverb and the divine sentence. After the money is gone, what is left? The man himself is revealed for what he has been all along: a fool. In Scripture, a fool is not a man with a low IQ; he is a man with a corrupt moral character. The fool is the one who says in his heart, "There is no God" (Ps 14:1), meaning there is no God who will call me to account. This man's whole life was a functional declaration of atheism. He thought he could outsmart the moral grain of the universe. He thought he could get away with it. But in the end, his folly is exposed for all to see. He is not just a fool, but a "wicked fool." The word for fool here is nabal, the same word used to describe the rich man who scorned David and was struck down by the Lord (1 Sam 25). It denotes a base, senseless, and morally degenerate person. He traded his integrity for a fortune, and then lost the fortune, leaving him with nothing but his wickedness and the public shame of his foolishness. He is left with the consequences of his sin, and the label that God Himself attaches to his life. He played the game, and he lost everything, including his own soul.

Application

The application for us is straightforward, but it cuts deep. We live in an age that worships at the altar of the quick buck. The world constantly whispers to us that the ends justify the means, that a little bit of creative accounting is just smart business, that what matters is the bottom line.

This verse is a divine thunderclap against all such thinking. God is not mocked. A man reaps what he sows, and if he sows injustice, he will reap ruin. The universe has a moral structure, and that structure will always, eventually, assert itself. The wealth that comes from honest, diligent labor under God's blessing is a good thing. But wealth sought through dishonest means is a curse waiting to happen. It is a bird that will fly away, leaving you with an empty nest and a fool's reputation before God and men.

For the Christian, the antidote to this folly is not just a commitment to ethical business practices. The antidote is a heart that trusts in the Lord, not in uncertain riches. It is to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, knowing that all these other things will be added unto you (Matt 6:33). The true treasure is Christ Himself. Unlike the partridge's eggs, He is a treasure that will never leave us or forsake us. He is the fortune that endures to eternal life. To build your life on Him is wisdom; to build it on anything else, especially on that which is unjustly gained, is to prove yourself, in the end, to be a wicked fool.