This is what the LORD says: “Cursed are those who put their trust in mere humans, who rely on human strength and turn their hearts away from the LORD. They are like stunted shrubs in the desert, with no hope for the future. They will live in the barren wilderness, in an uninhabited salty land. “But blessed are those who trust in the LORD and have made the LORD their hope and confidence. They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit. “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is? But I, the LORD, search all hearts and examine secret motives. I give all people their due rewards, according to what their actions deserve.” [Jeremiah 17.5-10]
As many teachings and sermons as Christians have heard on Jeremiah 17.9 about how wicked the human heart is, I dare say few have heard many of those teachings or sermons in the full context of the passage in which Jeremiah 17.9 is contained.
Here is why: because the full context of Jeremiah 17.5-10 actually gives the answer to the age-old question, "Why do bad things happen to good people?" And, to be certain, people simply do not genuinely want to know why bad things happen!
But not us, right? So let's explore Jeremiah 17.5-10, shall we?
Jeremiah starts off saying there is a curse on people who put their trust in mere humans. Doing so is, in full effect, turning away from God.
Here is a good to place to remind ourselves of the First Commandment:
You must not have any other god but me. [Exodus 20.3]
The degree to which a person trusts in man is the exact degree to which a person does not trust in God. In fact, Jeremiah goes on to say that people who trust in human strength have zero hope going forward. For this reason, one should cautiously consider what they actually trust in before emphatically demanding "God uses man."
This is not my speculation or opinion. Read what Jeremiah wrote again on behalf of God:
This is what the LORD says: “Cursed are those who put their trust in mere humans, who rely on human strength and turn their hearts away from the LORD.
In contrast, Jeremiah describes the blessings on those who trust in God:
“But blessed are those who trust in the LORD and have made the LORD their hope and confidence. They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit.
Jeremiah is saying very clearly that curses are the indicative result of having trusted in human strength. Likewise he is saying that blessings are the indicative result of having trusted in God. The difference between trusting in human strength or trusting in God is indicated in the outcome! The outcome of trusting in man is likened to a stunted (cursed) shrub without hope. The outcome of trusting in God is likened to a healthy (blessed) tree with every hope and fruitfulness.
Herein is found then the definitive answer to the question, "Why do bad things happen to good people?"
The answer is, "Because bad things do NOT happen to good people!" And to be sure his readers understood the significance of this, Jeremiah went on to address the critical issue of the human heart:
“The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is? But I, the LORD, search all hearts and examine secret motives. I give all people their due rewards, according to what their actions deserve.”
God gives people their DUE REWARD according to their actions! In the full meaning and context of this passage, their actions involve where they place their trust! The subject matter of this discussion is not about the actions of doing good things or bad things. It is entirely about whether people trust in God or in man!
It is NOT the place or duty of man to judge himself innocent, but that is exactly what humans do. If God gives all people their due rewards, according to what their actions deserve, then only a deceived heart would conclude that bad things could even happen to good people. For this reason, Jeremiah makes clear that humans are incapable of self-determining their innocence because of the deceitfulness and wickedness of their own hearts.
To be clear, the wicked heart deceitfully argues that it is trusting God when the actual circumstances say it has been trusting in man.
I know, I know... I don't like the implications of this any more than anyone else reading this. But the only way to dispute Jeremiah's revelation of trusting in God versus trusting in man is to simply rip the pages out of the Bible.
Further proof that Jeremiah is talking about faith and not good or bad deeds is seen in the New Testament accounts of those exercising faith on behalf of those incapable of exercising their own (like children, lame people, etc... who may not yet understand "trust in God"). The deciding factor was not the good or bad actions of the person needing deliverance from a curse. Instead, the deciding factor was the faith applied to the removal of the curse, whether it was the faith of the cursed person or the faith of someone on the cursed person's behalf!
Am I trusting God alone? Or am I trusting in man? Jeremiah (not me) reveals that the answer is found either in the evident presence of curses (stunted shrub - no hope), or in the evident presence of blessings (thriving tree - fruit).
Father, forgive me for my obvious trust in man. Help me to methodically eliminate every trust I place in man and replace it with actionable trust in You.
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