Jeremiah · chapter 17 of 52
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Jeremiah 17 contrasts the person who trusts in man, like a shrub in the desert, with the one who trusts in the Lord, like a tree planted by water. It declares that the heart is deceitful and only God searches it, and it ends with a call to keep the Sabbath: if they do, Jerusalem will stand forever; if not, a fire will devour its gates.
Jeremiah 17 gathers short sayings of great force, among them some of the most quoted in the book. The chapter moves between sin engraved on the heart, the contrast of two ways and the concrete call to keep the Sabbath as a sign of covenant obedience. It also includes another personal prayer by Jeremiah, amid the mockery of those who doubt his message.
The chapter opens with an accusation: the sin of Judah is written with an iron pen and with a point of diamond, engraved on the tablet of their heart and on the horns of their altars. So the Lord will give their wealth as plunder, and they will loosen their hand from their heritage.
Verses 5-8 contrast two ways. Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the Lord; he will be like a shrub in the desert and will not see good when it comes. Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord; he will be like a tree planted by water, which sends out its roots by the stream, does not fear when heat comes, whose leaves stay green, and is not anxious in the year of drought nor does it cease to bear fruit.
The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately sick; who can understand it? I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways. After some brief images, the prophet declares that the Lord is the hope of Israel and that those who forsake him will be put to shame. Jeremiah prays: heal me, Lord, and I shall be healed. Some ask where the word of the Lord is and tell it to come. He did not run away from being a shepherd after the Lord, and he asks that his persecutors be put to shame, not himself.
Verses 19-27 take Jeremiah to the Benjamin Gate and the other gates of Jerusalem to tell the people to keep the Sabbath day and carry no burden on it. The Lord recalls that he commanded this of their fathers, but they did not obey. If they keep it, kings and princes will enter the gates and the city will be inhabited forever. If not, the Lord will kindle a fire in its gates that will devour the palaces of Jerusalem.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
Cursed is the one who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, turning his heart from the Lord. Misplaced trust leaves a person dry as a shrub in salt land.
Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, who will be like a tree planted by water with roots toward the stream. It does not say there will be no heat or drought, but that he will not be anxious or stop bearing fruit.
The heart is more deceitful than anything and does not know itself, but the Lord searches it and gives each according to his ways. No one can rely on his own judgment without being examined before God.
Jeremiah begs the Lord to heal him and save him, for the Lord is his praise. The prayer sums up the prophet's attitude: depending wholly on God to be restored.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: It is written with an iron pen and a diamond point on the tablet of their heart and the horns of their altars. — Jeremiah 17:1
Answer: He will be like a shrub in the desert that does not see good when it comes. — Jeremiah 17:5-6
Answer: A tree planted by water, which does not fear heat and does not cease to bear fruit. — Jeremiah 17:7-8
Answer: That it is deceitful above all things and desperately sick. — Jeremiah 17:9
Answer: That the Lord heal him and save him. — Jeremiah 17:14
Answer: They were to keep the Sabbath day and carry no burden through the gates on it. — Jeremiah 17:21-22
The image of the tree by the water invites us to ask where our roots are. We all have seasons of heat and drought; the difference is which source sustains us. A group can talk about concrete habits, such as prayer, the Word and community, that keep us near the stream.
The deceitful heart is a warning against spiritual self-sufficiency. We need God to examine us and fellow believers to help us see what we cannot see. The humility of asking for healing, as Jeremiah does, is the first step.
Jeremiah 17 ends with the warning of a fire in Jerusalem's gates if the people will not keep the Sabbath. Chapter 18 takes the prophet to a potter's house, where he learns a lesson about God's power to remake a people.
It means that inner desires and reasons can lead us to justify what is wrong without our noticing. It is not a claim that every person is equally bad, but a warning that we must not trust ourselves without the light of God.
The Sabbath was the sign of the covenant with Israel. Carrying goods and trading on that day showed the people valued business more than obedience to God. Jeremiah uses it as a concrete test of whether the people were willing to return to the Lord.
Both texts use the image of a tree planted by water to describe the one who trusts in the Lord. Commentators see an influence between them or a shared image from biblical wisdom. Both stress that fruitfulness comes from the roots and not from the circumstances.