Can you run with the Big Dogs? Jeremiah 12-16

When we observe injustice in the land we often wonder what God is doing. When we see a leader kill his people we ask, "Where is God?" When we see a man kill his family we ask, "Where is God?" When we hear of a child killing other children in their school we ask, "Where is God?" Jeremiah had a similar plight as he observed the world around them and saw the injustice and the unjust profiting (bearing fruit ... 12:2) and flourishing in the land (12:1-4). God gives him a pecurliar answer in 12:5. God wants to answer his question but also needs him to know that iit s far deeper than his mind can comprehend. God uses a metaphor to explain to him the answer to the age old question of injustice in the land when a sovereign God is watching: If you can't run with a man, how will you ever run with horses (12:5). God is saying in this metaphor that if Jeremiah can't understand the simple things, how will he ever understand what God is about to do. Jeremiah was worried about the unjust behavior of the wicked. God takes the next four chapters to explain to him that He is not only going to do something about the injustice of the unjust (unbelievers), He is going to do something about the nation of Israel, living unjusticely. In essence God is telling Jeremiah don't ask the question because if you can't run with the big dogs you might as well stay on the pourch. God is telling Jeremiah He is going to deal with injustice in a major way that will be impossible for Jeremiah, or others to understand. God then unfolds this message over the next chapters. He comes to a conclusion and a direct answer to Jeremiah's questions in 16:17. Jeremiah had asked (on Jeremiah's level) a simply question in 12:1, "Why has the way of the wicked prospered?" Jeremiah wanted to discuss, what he thought, was a simple area of debate. God gives him, however, a complex and deep message and then sums up the entire four chapters with 16:7: "For my eyes are on their ways (all the wicked), they are not hidden from My face, nor is their iniquity concealed from My eyes." God is not silent when it comes to wickedness, but He is patient. Don't mistake His tolerance for His lack of justice (Romans 2:4). God knows that we can't run with the wisest of men ... how can we expect to run with Him in things of truth and widom. Jeremiah couldn't grasp the meaning of God's justice, His tolerance and patience. Nor can we. God is at work and will eventually judge mankind. Until then we should not mistake His tolerance for injustice.