Jeremiah 11:9

And the LORD said unto me, A conspiracy is found among the men of Judah, and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem. CONSPIRACY - a deliberate combination against God and against Josiah's reformation. Their idolatry is not the result of a hasty impulse (; )....

Here the Prophet joins closer battle with the men of his age, and says, that they were worse than their fathers; for this is the meaning of the word, banding or joining together. For when the Israelites concurred in a body in ungodly superstitions, it was more excusable at the beginning, for they had not yet struck deep roots in true religion; but when God by his prophets had endeavored many times, and in various ways, to restore them to the right way, and when his diligence and assiduous efforts had proved fruitless, it was an evidence of confirmed and hopeless obstinacy. He then says, that this had been discovered; for this is what he means by saying, that it _had been found out _This verb is often used in Scripture in another sense, but it means here the same, as though he had said, that the conspiracy of the people had been discovered or proved, as it is said of thieves when found ou...

1-10 God never promised to bestow blessings on his rational creatures, while they persist in wilful disobedience. Pardon and acceptance are promised freely to all believers; but no man can be saved who does not obey the command of God to repent, to believe in Christ, to separate from sin and the world, to choose self-denial and newness of life. In general, men will hearken to those who speak of doctrines, promises, and privileges; but when duties are mentioned, they will not bend their ear....

Verse Jeremiah 11:9. _A CONSPIRACY IS FOUND_] They were all _fratres conjurati_, sworn brothers, determined to cast off the Divine yoke, and no longer to have God to reign over them....

A CONSPIRACY - The defection from the covenant was as general as if it had been the result of preconcerted arrangement. The decided course taken by Josiah may, however, have led the opposite party to secret combinations against him....

EXPOSITION The superscription in Jeremiah 11:1 evidently belongs to the three chapters 11-13, though Jeremiah 11:1 and Jeremiah 12:1 are more closely connected with each other than with Jeremiah 13:1. To which period the group of prophecies belongs—whether to the reign of Josiah, or of Jehoiakim, or of Jehoiachin, or to various periods, is a matter of dispute. It contains at any rate one passage (Jeremiah 12:7) which was almost certainly put in by a later editor. It is doubtless Jeremiah's work, but seems out of place her

AND THE LORD SAID UNTO ME,.... After he had given him the order to publish and proclaim the words of the covenant, and exhort to obedience to them; he showed the prophet the reason of it, and opened to him a secret he was not acquainted with: A CONSPIRACY IS FOUND AMONG THE MEN OF JUDAH, AND AMONG THE INHABITANTS OF JERUSALEM; not against the king, and against the civil government, but against the King of kings, against God and his covenant, his word and his worship; some designs were forming to cashier these, and introduce a new religion, the idolatry of the Gentiles; and it was not a few only that were in the scheme, the combination was general, city and country were in it; the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the more polite part of the nation, and the country people, that dwelt in the several cities of Judah, were all united in this affair; and this was found out by him who sees and knows...

CHAPTER 11 The Broken Covenant and the Plot Against Jeremiah _ 1. The broken covenant (Jeremiah 11:1) _ 2. The plot revealed and Jehovah's answer (Jeremiah 11:18) Jeremiah 11:1. Jehovah had made a covenant with His people. He tells the prophet about it and the responsibility which was connected with that covenant. They were to obey His voice. Then should they be His people and He their God. And of this covenant it was written, “Cursed be the man that obeyeth not the words of this covenant.” The prophet answered the Lord: “So be it LORD” (Amen). Then he is commanded to proclaim this covenant and tell the people that they had broken the covenant. They had followed the evil exampl

They have silently agreed to apostatize....

A CONSPIRACY IS FOUND, &C.— By a _conspiracy_ is meant a general consent and agreement to forsake the worship of the true God, and to serve other gods. It was also a part of this conspiracy in the citizens of Jerusalem, to take off Jeremiah _by poison,_ which he tells us the Lord discovered to him, Jeremiah 11:18....