Judah’s Resulting Judgment
11:18 to 12:17

During the reign of Josiah

As a result of Jeremiah’s preaching about Judah’s responsibility in breaking the covenant with ADONAI (to see link click BhThe Covenant is Broken) there was a plot against his life by his own family in Anathoth leading to his second complaint (see BjThe Plot Against Jeremiah). At this point in the story we now get the details of that plot. This came as a shock to Yirmeyahu and led him to his third complaint (see BkWhy Does the Way of the Wicked Prosper?), accompanied with some deep reflection on his own ministry and on the meaning of human existence in general. God’s reply to the prophet’s complaint is unexpected: If Jeremiah thought things were tough now, he hadn’t seen anything yet. . . the worse was yet to come. This is presented in different ways by a series of five metaphors.