THE ENEMIES OF JEREMIAH
“Then they said,
‘Come and let us devise plans against Jeremiah;
for the law shall not perish from the priest,
nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet.
Come and let us attack him with the tongue,
and let us not give heed to any of his words.'” Jeremiah 18:18
1. “Then they said, ‘Come and let us devise plans against Jeremiah'”
a) The pronoun “they” would indicate a plurality of enemies.
b) They were going to:
i) Devise plans.
ii) With these they would attack Jeremiah.
2. Three lines of argument would be ranged against Jeremiah
a) “The law shall not perish from the priest”
i) This was a defence of the priestly ministry.
ii) The priests would continue indefinitely with teaching the law.
iii) They were rejecting Jeremiah’s prophecy of the destruction of the Temple.
b) “Nor counsel from the wise”
i) They took pride in their circle of wise men.
ii) They offered counsel to the king.
iii) They believed that their counsel would help the king and the nation would not be destroyed as Jeremiah predicted.
c) “Nor the word from the prophet”
i) They did not believe that Jeremiah was the only prophet of God.
ii) There were other “prophets” who preached a different message.
iii) They believed in their prophets, and they had not predicted disaster for Judah and Jerusalem.
3. “Come and let us attack him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words”
a) Attack with the tongue:
i) They would speak against Jeremiah.
ii) They would contradict what he said.
iii) They would give alternatives to all that he might proclaim.
iv) They would try and discredit him with their tongue.
b) No heeding of Jeremiah’s words:
i) They had planned not to give heed.
ii) They were determined to resist him in every way possible.
iii) The priests, the wise men and the “prophets” would work against him.