Today’s reading begins with an intriguing image.

Jer 10:3-4
For the customs of the peoples are worthless; they cut a tree out of the forest, and a craftsman shapes it with his chisel. They adorn it with silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails so it will not totter.
What particular image does that conjure up for you?

An extra-biblical writing The Book of Enoch (father of Methuselah) mentions a similar description to this one in Jeremiah.
Jer 10:13
When he thunders, the waters in the heavens roar; he makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth. He sends lightning with the rain and brings out the wind from his storehouses.
Evidence that God is in control of the weather.

Jer 10:21
The shepherds are senseless and do not inquire of the LORD; so they do not prosper and all their flock is scattered.

And what might happen to the flock without a shepherd? We (Phil and Patti, mostly Patti) read a book entitled They Smell Like Sheep. This book spells out the qualifications for good pastoral leadership. In order for a pastor to be a good shepherd, he must spend some time with the sheep. Here is a quote from the book They Smell Like Sheep, “A shepherd knows each sheep by name; he nurtures the young, bandages the wounded, cares for the weak, and protects them all. A shepherd smells like sheep.” That would be a good shepherd as contrasted with a hired hand.

John 10:12-13
The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.

Then contrast this with Jesus, who is the good shepherd.

John 10:14
"I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me--
He knows us…do we know Him?

Jeremiah has some stinging words in this next verse.

Jeremiah 11:14

 “Do not pray for this people nor offer any plea or petition for them, because I will not listen when they call to me in the time of their distress.
It is very clear from this verse that a time may come when it is too late to pray.
Another thought - could this be a case of misdirected mercy?  Sometimes people need God's discipline in order to learn a lesson.  We may want to spare them the pain but God may want to use that pain for a noble purpose.

In Jeremiah 12 is a description of shepherds who ruin the vineyard. The leaders were causing a spiritual drought. It was a famine of hearing the Word of the Lord. The seeds of truth were not planted and therefore a crop could not grow. Not much has changed now. We are in many ways experiencing a spiritual drought. But, praise God, there are spiritual leaders out there who are scattering seeds of the knowledge of the Word of God and are nourishing and challenging those who come to hear. Again, couldn't help but think of Moshe in Israel with his groups of Messianic Jews.