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thorn harvest

Jeremiah 12:5-13 (JDV)

Jeremiah 12:5 If you have raced with runners and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses? If you stumble in a tranquil land, what will you do in the thickets of the Jordan?

Jeremiah 12:6 Even your brothers – your own father’s family – even they were treacherous to you; even they have cried out loudly after you. Do not have confidence in them, even if they speak good things about you.

Jeremiah 12:7 I have abandoned my house; I have deserted my inheritance. I have handed the love of my throat over to her enemies.

Jeremiah 12:8 My inheritance has become like a lion in the forest. She has roared against me with her voice. That is why I hate her.

Jeremiah 12:9 Is my inheritance like a hyena to me? Are birds of prey circling her? Go, gather all the wild animals; bring them to devour her.

Jeremiah 12:10 Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard; they have trampled my plot of land. They have turned my desirable plot into a desolate open country.

Jeremiah 12:11 They have made it a desolation. It mourns, desolate, before me. All the land is desolate, but no one takes it to heart.

Jeremiah 12:12 Over all the barren heights in the wilderness the destroyers have come, because Yahveh has a sword that devours from one end of the land to the other. No one has peace.

Jeremiah 12:13 They have sown wheat but harvested thorns. They have exhausted themselves but have no profit. Be put to shame by your harvests because of Yahveh’s burning anger.

thorn harvest

The Lord expresses his grief over the betrayal he has experienced. His own people cannot be trusted, so he warns Jeremiah not to expect safety and security from his family. The nation expects a good harvest of wheat, but only thorns will be left because judgment is coming. An enemy will attack, and God will not be there to rescue them, because God himself sent the destroyer.

“In the time of Jeremiah, Judah did not follow after God and were carried away into captivity rather than being allowed to live in the land God promised them. If we concentrate on worldly wealth we run the risk of not inheriting the kingdom of God that we have been promised.” [1]

Lord, show us how to plant righteousness, so that we reap your kingdom.

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[1] Randy and Lois Rutan, Berkeley Springs, W.Va. Maranatha Daily Devotional. “Why Do the Wicked Prosper?” Sunday, November 8, 2015.