12 Who is the wise man that may understand this? And who is he to whom the mouth of the Lord has spoken, that he may declare it? Why is the land ruined, laid waste like a desert, so that no one passes through? 13 The Lord said, “Because they have forsaken My law which I set before them, and have not obeyed My voice nor walked according to it, 14 but have walked after the stubbornness of their heart and after the Baals, as their fathers taught them,” 15 therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “behold, I will feed them, this people, with wormwood and give them poisoned water to drink. 16 I will scatter them among the nations, whom neither they nor their fathers have known; and I will send the sword after them until I have annihilated them.”
17 Thus says the Lord of hosts,
“Consider and call for the mourning women, that they may come;
And send for the [d]wailing women, that they may come!
18 “Let them make haste and take up a wailing for us,
That our eyes may shed tears
And our eyelids flow with water.
19 “For a voice of wailing is heard from Zion,
‘How are we ruined!
We are put to great shame,
For we have left the land,
Because they have cast down our dwellings.’”
20 Now hear the word of the Lord, O you women,
And let your ear receive the word of His mouth;
Teach your daughters wailing,
And everyone her neighbor a dirge.
21 For death has come up through our windows;
It has entered our palaces
To cut off the children from the streets,
The young men from the town squares.
22 Speak, “Thus says the Lord,
‘The corpses of men will fall like dung on the open field,
And like the sheaf after the reaper,
But no one will gather them.’”23 Thus says the Lord, “Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; 24 but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,” declares the Lord.
25 “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord, “that I will punish all who are circumcised and yet uncircumcised— 26 Egypt and Judah, and Edom and the sons of Ammon, and Moab and all those inhabiting the desert who clip the hair on their temples; for all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised of heart.”
As we continue in this chapter, God asks an interesting question, “Who is the wise man that may understand this?” Why is the land ruined, why have the people forsaken God’s law (v. 13)? Why are their hearts so stubborn (v. 14), and why will they be scattered among the nations (v. 16)? We might say, “Well, that’s a silly question, it’s all because they had forsaken God’s law!”
In the middle, there is weeping and wailing, death and destruction, but we come full circle in v. 23. God first asked, “Who is the wise man…” and now says, “Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom…” What are they (and we) supposed to boast in? In v. 24, God clearly tells us, if we are to boast in anything, we are to boast that we understand and know God, and what He delights in: lovingkindness, justice, and righteousness.
For if we really understand and know Him, we will also know that we should not boast in ourselves or in anything we have gained, not in our wisdom, our might, or even riches. Paul said it best when He told the church at Philippi (chapter 3) that all His gain was as rubbish compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing God.
In his letter to the believers at Corinth, Paul even referenced these verses from Jeremiah (1 Cor. 1:31), “Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.” God takes it another step and tells the people that their circumcision is worthless (vv. 25-26), as their hearts are uncircumcised. Before Jesus even began His public ministry, His cousin John told the masses something similar.
They were not to put their confidence in the fact that they were children of Abraham. For if God wanted to, He could raise up children to Abraham from the very rocks (Luke 3:8). Again, if there is anything to boast in, it is God, and His surpassing greatness and glory. When we really get to know God, and His heart, we should find in ourselves no cause for boasting.
Paul also wrote to the Corinthians regarding that love which we find in knowing God, “love does not brag and is not arrogant”. We see this in Jesus himself, who “did not consider equality with God something to be grasped (or clung to), but emptied himself.” (Phil. 2) Jesus Christ, our ultimate example, the very Son of God, emptied himself, became nothing, humbled himself and obeyed the Father all the way to the cross (and back).
Now hopefully God doesn’t call you to die for the cause of Christ (He could), but He does call us to put to death our flesh. We are to put aside our flesh and find not just glory, but our everything in God alone. We don’t have the wisdom, the strength, or the riches to accomplish God’s plan on our own. But God does, so we must rely on Him and delight in that which He delights: justice, righteousness, and lovingkindness.