What is the meaning of Jeremiah 18:18? Then some said The community around Jeremiah decides to act, revealing hearts already hardened against the prophet’s message. Similar plotting appears in Jeremiah 11:18-19 and 20:10, where conspirators whisper, “Let us destroy the tree with its fruit,” showing that resistance to God’s word quickly moves from quiet disdain to open strategy. Come, let us make plans against Jeremiah • Their “plans” are not defensive but aggressive, an intentional campaign to silence one man who embodies God’s voice (Jeremiah 26:8-11; 36:26). • History repeats itself: Zechariah son of Jehoiada is stoned for confronting Judah (2 Chronicles 24:20-21), and later Sanballat schemes against Nehemiah (Nehemiah 6:2). The servants of God often become targets when truth collides with comfortable sin. for the law will never be lost to the priest • They assume institutional religion guarantees divine favor. Priests still teach, sacrifices still smoke—so, they argue, nothing Jeremiah says can threaten them. • Yet earlier God said, “The priests did not ask, ‘Where is the LORD?’” (Jeremiah 2:8). External ritual without obedience is empty (1 Samuel 15:22; Micah 6:6-8). nor counsel to the wise • They trust respected thinkers to steer the nation, believing human insight sufficient (Isaiah 5:21). • God already warned, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise” (Isaiah 29:14; echoed in 1 Corinthians 1:19). When people prefer cleverness to conviction, they reject the very wisdom they claim to honor. nor an oracle to the prophet • False prophets abounded (Jeremiah 14:13-14; 23:16-17). By citing them, the conspirators imply: “We have plenty of voices; we don’t need Jeremiah.” • This presumes quantity equals authenticity—precisely what God refutes when He distinguishes between true prophets and crowd-pleasers (Deuteronomy 18:20-22). Come, let us denounce him • “Denounce” (BSB: “strike him with our tongues”) describes verbal assault—slander, ridicule, and public shaming (Psalm 31:13). • Such tactics foreshadow later treatment of Christ: “They kept accusing Him” (Luke 23:2), illustrating how hostility toward truth culminates in vilifying the messenger. and pay no heed to any of his words • The final goal is total dismissal. Like the crowd covering their ears at Stephen’s testimony (Acts 7:57) or the last-days hearers who “will turn away from the truth” (2 Timothy 4:3-4), Judah chooses selective deafness. • Refusing to listen does not nullify the message; it merely seals the hearer’s own judgment (2 Kings 17:14-15; Proverbs 28:9). summary Jeremiah 18:18 exposes a people determined to preserve religious appearance while silencing convicting truth. Confident that priests, sages, and preferred prophets will keep religion humming, they plot to discredit the lone voice calling for repentance. Their scheme displays a timeless pattern: institutions cannot save when hearts reject God; human wisdom collapses when it sidelines revelation; and denouncing the messenger never cancels the message. The verse therefore warns every generation to prize God’s unfiltered word above tradition, popularity, or self-made security—and to stand with His faithful servants even when the crowd conspires otherwise. |
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