Jeremiah 12:6 ESV For even your brothers and the house of your father, even they have dealt treacherously with you; they are in full cry after you; do not believe them, though they speak friendly words to you.”
We know that the enemy of our souls and his infernal ambassadors are filled with all deceit, malice, and treachery. It is therefore not surprising that those who are his instruments in this world utilize the same tactics. They “speak friendly words” to us. We must be wise and not be taken in by them.
Here, the Lord reminds Jeremiah that betrayal was at hand even within Jeremiah’s own family. His brothers and others in his family of origin were seeking his destruction. This is a hard lesson, and Jeremiah reminds us of it often, just as the Lord had reminded him:
Jeremiah 9:4 ESV Let everyone beware of his neighbor, and put no trust in any brother, for every brother is a deceiver, and every neighbor goes about as a slanderer.
Jeremiah 11:19 ESV But I was like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter. I did not know it was against me they devised schemes, saying, “Let us destroy the tree with its fruit, let us cut him off from the land of the living, that his name be remembered no more.”
Jeremiah 20:10 ESV For I hear many whispering. Terror is on every side! “Denounce him! Let us denounce him!” say all my close friends, watching for my fall. “Perhaps he will be deceived; then we can overcome him and take our revenge on him.”
If we are going to follow Christ, believe in Him, obey Him, love and serve Him, then our experience is going to be like that of Jeremiah. And following Christ includes being wise about evil and about evildoers. Not being taken in by their deceiving, friendly words. It was the same in the Apostle Paul’s day, and it is the same in ours:
Galatians 4:17 ESV They make much of you, but for no good purpose. They want to shut you out, that you may make much of them.
When your close “friends” and even your mother or father or brother or sister choose to ally with your abuser and oppressor, take heart in knowing that you are not alone. That following Christ often means walking alone with only Him to walk with us. But then, He is enough.
And when the religious state “You only have one friend? Really? “ My comment to the man from the pulpit. I only need One friend. He The (Christ) is all I need.
Rae
I certainly do feel like Jeremiah. Way back in my life when I was in the world, I had so many so called friends. Not anymore. I have one true friend who sticks closer then a brother and who will never leave me nor forsake me. We must be in the last days as I never in a million years would have thought that family would “turn” on me as well. It will all be worth it the end when I hear Jesus tell me “Well done my good and faithful servant”. It is comforting to know that Pastor Crippen understands our pain.
MARANATHA!!!!
Thanks Jeff… prophetic timing of this as I’ve been whining a bit about how God tells us in His word to eagerly pursue the prophetic in I Cor 14, but I was challenging God that He didn’t warn us with a disclaimer about the side effects of pursuing the prophetic… Psalm 55:21 was one warning that I did pick up on… but I have missed these from Jeremiah… I had a general idea that Jeremiah was not appreciated by those around him, especially the leaders, but what Jeremiah experienced are some of the side effects…