Category: Jeremiah

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2 Kings Jeremiah

Grace

Grace

And with one fell swoop, we finish two books, which happen to end with the same story. 

We started 2 Kings way back in June of 2012. Now many major and minor prophets later, we finally come to a close here with an epilogue which talks about the end of Jehoiachin’s life. 

As you may remember he was the second to last king of Judah, but he only lasted three months on the throne before being taken into exile by King Nebuchadnezzar.

I personally find it a curious story to place here.  Why did God see fit to put this story in his Word? 

One thing we don’t see is why Jehoiachin was suddenly treated with such favor.  The Bible is silent on this point.

Jewish tradition holds, however, that Jehoiachin, upon being imprisoned in Babylon, ultimately repented, and as a result, God caused him to find favor in the eyes of the Babylonian king Evil-Merodach (Nebuchadnezzar’s son).

Whatever happened, I do believe God put this passage here as a picture of his grace.  And it reminds me in many ways of what God has done for us.

Jehoiachin had done nothing for Evil-Merodach that he might set him free.

But Evil-Merodach not only set him free, he spoke kindly to him, gave him new clothes, let him feast at his table, and gave him a seat of honor.

That’s exactly what God did for us. 

Though we had done nothing for God that he might save us, yet by his grace and mercy, he did so.

He forgave us our sins, setting us free from the chains of sin and death. Not only that, he speaks kindly to us, clothing us with Christ, and one day we’ll feast at his table, crowned with glory and honor.

That’s grace.

Do NOT take this seriously because this is not good Biblical interpretation, but I found it very interesting that the day Jehoiachin was officially pardoned was the 25th day of the 12th month. (He was probably actually set free 2 days later as stated in 2 Kings).

Who knows?  Maybe God knew about the change in the calendar and that Jesus’ birth would be celebrated on December 25th. Perhaps, he wanted Jehoiachin’s pardon to be a picture of our own. 

Merry Christmas Jehoiachin!

Then again, maybe not.  🙂

All kidding aside, the thing to remember is that all that we are, and all that we have is by God’s grace, and his grace alone.

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Jeremiah

Sliding back

Jeremiah

For those of you who have been following this blog through Jeremiah, you know that we’ve done quite a bit of jumping around the book just to stay roughly chronological. 

That said, it may come as a bit of a surprise (it did to me) that chapters 43-44 are essentially the end of Jeremiah. 

The last 8 chapters all happened prior to the events recorded here.  The only thing remaining after this is passage is a little footnote concerning King Jehoiachin which we’ll get to in a future blog.

What also surprised me was that Jeremiah probably died right there in Egypt. 

We see in chapter 43 that he was dragged there against his will by the leaders of the Jewish remnant that was trying to flee from Nebuchadnezzar.  And no where in scripture do we see that he ever returns to Judah. 

Doing a little digging (the internet is such a useful thing), Jewish tradition holds that he did indeed die in Egypt, probably stoned to death by his own people. 

Chapter 44 may provide some explanation for this.  (Although admittedly, it may have no connection with it at all.  There are times we just have to say, “I don’t know.”)

Having been dragged to Egypt, Jeremiah probably was shocked by what he saw when he got there. 

Despite all the horrors that had happened to the Israelites in Jerusalem with the siege and its ultimate fall, the Jews living in Egypt, far from repenting from their sin, were continuing in it.

Namely, they continued worshiping their false gods, specifically the “Queen of Heaven.”  (This is probably referring to Ashtoreth, a fertility goddess).

At this, God gave Jeremiah a message to pass on to the people. 

Basically he said this:

“You saw all that happened to Jerusalem because the people had turned their backs on me and started worshiping all these false gods.  They did all kinds of detestable things and despite my warnings, they continued in their sin.  That’s why all my wrath was poured out on them. 

“Why then are you continuing in the sins that destroyed your family and friends in Jerusalem?  Because of what you are doing, judgment will come upon you right here in Egypt.”  (Jeremiah 44:1-14)

How did the Israelites respond?

“What are you talking about?  When we made offers to the Queen of Heaven, everything went well with us.  It was when we stopped that this disaster happened.  That’s why we’re making these offerings once again.”  (Jeremiah 44:15-19)

It seems that the Jews here had some selective memory. 

This is just a guess, but it’s possible that their stopping of offerings happened during the revival under Josiah.  During that time, God’s blessing fell upon the nation. 

But after his death, the last three kings fell back under idol worship, and so did the nation.  It was at that point, after years of warning from the prophets, that Jerusalem fell.

Jeremiah also points out here that their prosperity during their time of idol worship was due not to their idol worship, but due to God’s mercy. 

God had given them an extended time to repent, but when they refused to, his patience finally ran out and judgment fell.  (Jeremiah 44:20-23)

And now, because they were continuing their sin, judgment would follow them there in Egypt as well.

What can we learn from this?  Sometimes we look back at our old life before we became Christians and we start to remember “the good times.” 

We think of our life of sin, and think, “Those were the good days.  My life was so happy then.  Maybe I should go back to my old way of life.”

But we forget two things. 

Number one, for most of us, those good times were not so good. 

We were often hurting our relationships with our family and the people around us by our attitudes and actions.  On top of that, we were hurting ourselves by the bad decisions that we made.

But number two, and even more important, we were a people standing under judgment.  And if we had continued on that path, we would have been condemned for all eternity. 

Even if we were enjoying our lives, the day would have come when we would have paid for all of our sins.

The Israelites forgot this and slid back into their old sins, and it eventually cost them their lives. 

If we slide back into our sins, they will destroy us too.

So let us not slide back to our old life and our old ways.  Let us embrace the new life God has given us. 

Only in doing so will we truly find a life worth living.

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Jeremiah

Whether favorable or unfavorable

Jeremiah

Let’s face it.  Sometimes God’s will is not convenient for us. 

There are times we’d much rather do something other than what God has asked us to do.  And it’s so easy to focus on what we want or what we think is right that we push God’s will to the side. 

That’s what happened to the remnant of Jews in these chapters.

After Gedaliah’s assassination, two leaders of the remnant, Johanan and Jezaniah went up to attack his assassin Ishmael and his band.

Ishmael and his people were going, along with their captives, to the land of the Ammonites who had hired them for the assassination.

Johanan and Jezaniah were successful in recovering the captives, but Ishmael and eight of his men escaped.

At that point, Johanan and Jezaniah had to decide what to do. 

They were frightened that Nebuchadnezzar would hold them responsible for Gedaliah’s death, and were contemplating running to Egypt. 

Before doing so, however, they consulted Jeremiah, saying,

Pray that the Lord your God will tell us where we should go and what we should do….

Whether it is favorable or unfavorable, we will obey the Lord our God, to whom we are sending you, so that it will go well with us, for we will obey the Lord our God. (Jeremiah 42:3,6)

One gets the impression, however, that more than asking God’s will, they were hoping for God’s blessing on their plans. 

They probably started making their plans for Egypt, fully expecting Jeremiah to say, “Yes, God wants you to go to Egypt.  Go in peace.”

But Jeremiah told them just the opposite. 

First he told them that God was grieved at having to bring judgment upon Judah, and that if they stayed in Judah, God would plant them there and they would be fruitful. 

He also told them that they would have nothing to fear from Nebuchadnezzar.

After saying this, however, he warned them against going to Egypt saying that if they did, what they feared would come to them:  they would die in Egypt and never see Judah again.

Then Jeremiah said,

You made a fatal mistake when you sent me to the Lord your God and said, ‘Pray to the Lord our God for us; tell us everything he says and we will do it.’  

I have told you today, but you still have not obeyed the Lord your God in all he sent me to tell you.  (Jeremiah 42:21-22)

I like the King James and New King James translations here.  The King James says,

For ye dissembled in your hearts, when ye sent me unto the LORD your God. (21)

The New King James puts it,

You were hypocrites in your hearts when you sent me to the Lord your God. (21)

Despite their promise to do whatever God said, favorable or not, the people disobeyed God, going to Egypt anyway.

What about you?  When you come to God, do you do so hypocritically? 

Do you dissemble in your heart saying, “Lord, I’ll do whatever you ask,” when you really mean, “I’ll do whatever you ask if it fits with what I want to do?”

Sometimes it seems favorable us to do things God’s way.  It’s easy to obey God then. 

But how about when it seems unfavorable?  What will you do? 

If, for example, it means leaving a comfortable life, or if it means leaving behind your job or your girlfriend or boyfriend, will you do it?

God does desire what’s best for us.  If only we could recognize that and trust him enough to obey him.

Do you?

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2 Kings Jeremiah

Failing to heed the warning signs

Kings & Jeremiah

After the fall of Jerusalem, a man named Gedaliah was named governor of the area by Nebuchadnezzar. 

Gedaliah appears to be a good man, and he attempted to calm the fears of the remaining Jews and was successful.  In fact, many of the Jews that had scattered among the nations, returned under Gedaliah.

But Gedaliah was naive.  He was warned that a man named Ishmael, of the house of David, was plotting to kill him.  Despite this, Gedaliah refused to believe ill of Ishamel, and did nothing to protect himself.

The result was that Gedaliah paid for it with his life.  Not only that, the good he had done came apart as the people who had returned to Israel under him fled to Egypt.

What can we learn from this?  We can have the best of intentions, and indeed do much good in our lives.  But if we fail to heed the warning signs around us, all the good we do can come undone.

My pastor has in past Sunday messages shared about his own life and how his own family almost came undone at one point. 

He was an assistant pastor at another church at the time, but he had spent so much time at the church doing ministry, it was causing harm to his family. 

His wife had come down with ulcers because of the stress, his son had started to develop a nervous tic in his face as well.  But all the while, he ignored all of this because he was doing “good” in his ministry. 

Had he continued on that path, he could’ve lost both his family and his ministry.

Finally he realized he wasn’t living within God’s will.  He took some time off to seek God, and during that time, he realized that he was out of God’s will and that he needed to change. 

God has since blessed both his family and ministry in great ways and we are so blessed to have him as our pastor.

You may be doing good things, but are there warning signs in your life that you’re missing?  With your personal life?  With your family?  With your finances?  With your ministry?  If you fail to heed the warning signs, you can lose everything.

Let us not be like Gedaliah, but rather heed the warning signs.

And by following God’s leading and direction, let us walk the path he has laid out for us.

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Jeremiah

Because you trust in me

Jeremiah

One of the nice things of trying to do things chronologically in this blog is that it gives me a better perspective of Biblical events and where everyone fits in history.  It also causes me to speculate a bit more than I have in the past.

For example, it’s very interesting to me that Nebuchadnezzar ordered that Jeremiah be treated well. 

From chapter 40, it’s made clear that he did so because he knew of Jeremiah’s prophesies that God was handing Judah over to Nebuchadnezzar because of Judah’s sins.  The question that pops up then is, “How did Nebuchadnezzar know?”

The easy answer is that with all the exiles that had been taken to Babylon earlier when Jehoiachin was dethroned, Nebuchadnezzar had gained access to these prophesies. 

But the question still remains, “Who told Nebuchadnezzar, and why did he believe the prophesies?”

This is pure speculation, but I have to wonder if it wasn’t Daniel. 

He certainly had the respect of Nebuchadnezzar.  He was considered the chief of the magicians and served in Nebuchadnezzar’s court. (Daniel 4:9)

And from Daniel chapter 9, we know that Daniel knew about the prophesies of Jeremiah.

I wonder if Daniel, when hearing that Jerusalem was about to fall, didn’t tell Nebuchadnezzar, “Hey there’s a guy named Jeremiah living there.  He’s a prophet of the God I serve.  He has even predicted Jerusalem’s fall to you because of their sin.  Please make sure no harm comes to him.”

Like I said, this is pure speculation, but thinking about it now, it’s also purely possible.

At any rate, however Nebuchadnezzar heard about Jeremiah, he ordered his men to look after Jeremiah.  And so they did.

Jeremiah had suffered through a lot through the reigns of the kings following Josiah.  But because he had trusted in God, when Judah fell and all of its leaders were killed or exiled, his life was spared.

The same can be said of a man named Ebed-Melech. 

When Jeremiah had been thrust into a cistern to die, Ebed-Melech was the man who had had the courage to approach Zedekiah to plead on Jeremiah’s behalf.  As a result, Jeremiah was set free. 

And so God told Ebed-Melech,

This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says:  I am about to fulfill my words against this city through disaster, not prosperity.  At that time they will be fulfilled before your eyes. 

But I will rescue you on that day, declares the Lord; you will not be handed over to those you fear.  I will save you; you will not fall by the sword but will escape with your life, because you trust in me, declares the Lord.’  (Jeremiah 39:16-18)

God was as good as his word and spared Ebed-Melech when the walls were broken through and Jerusalem was captured.

“Because you trust in me.”  

Those words resonate with me.  God promises that if we will trust in him, while others will suffer his judgment, we will escape with our lives.  We will receive his mercy and grace.

This is not to say that we won’t ever suffer for trusting and following God.  Jeremiah certainly didn’t escape it for much of his life.  Many others throughout history have not only suffered, but died for their faith.

But in death, they found rest and reward. 

That’s what faith is about.  We don’t always see deliverance in our lifetime.  We may go through many struggles because we follow Jesus. 

But ultimately, faith says, “Even though I can’t see it now, I believe that in the end, all will be made right.” 

That’s the faith Jeremiah had.  That’s the faith that Ebed-Melech had. 

That’s the kind of faith we need too.

As the writer of Hebrews said,

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.  (Hebrews 11:6)

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2 Chronicles 2 Kings Jeremiah

Reasons for the fall

Kings,Chronicles, and Jeremiah

This is one of the few times in scripture that the same event is talked about in four different places. 

Jeremiah 52 appears to be a historical appendix, however, and seems to have been added by someone other than Jeremiah.  It’s an almost word for word repetition of the Kings’ account.

Basically Zedekiah had rebelled against Babylon, despite taking an oath in God’s name to be a vassal under him, so Nebuchadnezzar put Jerusalem under siege for 2 years. 

As a result, there was famine in the city, and at last, the walls were broken through. 

Though Zedekiah fled, he was eventually captured.  His sons were put to death, after which he was blinded and taken into captivity until he died. 

Nebuchadnezzar killed the officials of Judah, and also the chief priest and the next in rank. 

Everything of value in the temple was taken away, and then the temple itself, the palace, and the houses of the land were all burned down.

Why?  2 Chronicles makes the reasons crystal clear.

[Zedekiah] did evil in the eyes of the Lord his God and did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke the word of the Lord…He became stiff-necked and hardened his heart and would not turn to the Lord, the God of Israel.

Furthermore, all the leaders of the priests and the people became more and more unfaithful, following all the detestable practices of the nations and defiling the temple of the Lord, which he had consecrated in Jerusalem.

The Lord, the God of their fathers, sent word to them through his messengers again and again, because he had pity on his people and on his dwelling place. 

But they mocked God’s messengers, despised his words and scoffed at his prophets until the wrath of the Lord was aroused against his people and there was no remedy.  (2 Chronicles 36:12-16)

What can we learn from this?  Why did Jerusalem fall?

First, they did what was evil in God’s sight.  It goes without saying that when we do evil, we bring evil upon ourselves.

Second, when they heard God’s words of rebuke, they didn’t humble themselves and repent.  Rather, they hardened their hearts, not only continuing their evil deeds, but becoming even more unfaithful to God.

Third, they followed the religious practices of the nations around them, and in doing so defiled the temple of God.

Finally, they continually mocked the words of God and scoffed at his messengers until finally there was no remedy for the evil in their hearts.  It is possible to so harden ourselves that we make it impossible for ourselves to return.

How about you?  What path are you going down? 

Are you unrepentedly doing what God has called evil?  When you hear God’s words of rebuke in his Word or through messages at church, do you just close your eyes and ears?

Are you following the religious practices and beliefs of the people around you, and in so doing defiling the temple of the Holy Spirit within you? 

I’m not just talking about following other religions.  I’m talking about following the gods of money, sex, and materialism as well.  These things will defile your lives.

Worst of all, have you become so hardened to God’s word, that you actually scoff at it and anyone who would preach it?

These are what caused Israel to fall into destruction.  And it will cause you to fall to destruction too. 

I’m not saying that you’ll lose your salvation.  But you will eventually destroy all the good things in your life.  And you’ll wreck all the good plans God intended for your life. 

Instead of having a life worth living, you’ll be left with a wasted life full of regret.

Let us not be like the Israelites who lost everything.  Let us keep hearts that are soft and humble before God.  For only in doing that can we find the way of life. 

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Jeremiah

Great and unsearchable things

Jeremiah

I love verse 3 in this chapter.

Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know. (Jeremiah 33:3)

Honestly, I need to do a lot more seeking of God in my life.  It seems like I say that a lot lately. 

Somehow, however, I find myself getting wrapped up in my life, and not just the important things.  (I’m wondering if I should say “important” rather than important).

I think of Jesus and his lifestyle.  Every morning he spent time with his Father. 

How much power and insight did he receive from those times?  How much more power and insight would I have if I did the same. 

I do spend time in the Word, but I do need to spend a lot more time in prayer, and in simply listening to him.  And the thing is, God promises that if we seek him, we will find him, and he will speak.

Of course, we all need insight into our lives and for our future.  But there is one great and unsearchable thing that I think we would all do well to remember:  God’s grace.

And that’s what this chapter is about.  It starts, though, with the judgment of God.  That because of Israel’s sin, judgment was coming.  Not exactly a great and unsearchable thing anyone wants to hear.

But then, he says,

Nevertheless, I will bring health and healing to it; I will heal my people and will let them enjoy abundant peace and security…

I will cleanse them from all the sin they have committed against me and will forgive all their sins of rebellion against me. 

Then this city will bring me renown, joy, praise and honor before all nations on earth… (Jeremiah 33:6,8-9)

While speaking to the Israelites, much of this applies to us. 

Though we have been broken by sin, God brings spiritual health and healing to us.  He cleanses us from our sins and forgives our rebellion against him. 

He gives us abundant peace and security.  And we will be a people for his renown, joy, and praise, and honor among the nations.

How much would our lives be different if we would reflect on these things each day.  How grateful would we be to him?  And having received God’s grace, how would it shape our attitudes towards others and our lives?

But there’s one more great and unsearchable thing to remember:  The day is coming when Jesus will return. 

In verse 14-16, Jeremiah writes,

The days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will fulfill the gracious promise I made to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah. 

“‘In those days and at that time I will make a righteous Branch (that is, Jesus) sprout from David’s line; he will do what is just and right in the land. 

In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety.  This is the name by which it will be called: The Lord Our Righteousness.’”

So often we focus on things that are temporary.  But if we would reflect on the fact that Jesus is coming soon, do we really have time to waste on things that are temporary? 

How much would our priorities change if we would remember that?

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Jeremiah

For our good

Jeremiah

In this passage, Jerusalem is still under siege, and for that matter, Jeremiah is still in prison. 

Still, God told him, “When your cousin comes here to tell you about an opportunity to buy land from him, buy it.”

Under normal circumstances, it might seem like a good thing to do. 

But with the land under siege and no guarantee that Jeremiah would actually be able to keep the land for any length of time, it seemed like a foolish purchase.  Yet God told him to buy it, saying,

Houses, fields and vineyards will again be bought in this land.  (Jeremiah 32:15)

In other words, Jeremiah’s purchase was to be a sign to the people of Israel’s future restoration.

It’s hard to tell whether Jeremiah’s response to God in verses 16-25 were a prayer of a faith or one of questioning whether God would really restore Israel or not.  Maybe it was both. 

How often are we like the man who came to Jesus asking him to heal his son, and who, when Jesus challenged his faith, said, “I believe…Lord help my unbelief.”  (Mark 9:24)

That’s what Jeremiah seems to be doing here. 

“Lord, all things are possible with you.  Nothing is impossible for you.  Look!  You said that the Babylonians would come and lay siege to this city, and here they are.  It’s just as you said.  I believe!

“But now you’re saying that I should buy land because Jerusalem will be restored.  Really?  Is this really a wise investment?  Will it really be restored?”

Perhaps Jeremiah was not questioning God’s power to do so as much as he was questioning the people’s willingness to repent and turn back to him. 

They certainly had shown no such willingness when hearing Jeremiah’s warnings.

God answered by basically repeating back to Jeremiah what he had prayed.  But after proclaiming judgment on the people, he added,

I will surely gather them from all the lands where I banish them in my furious anger and great wrath; I will bring them back to this place and let them live in safety.  They will be my people, and I will be their God.

I will give them singleness of heart and action, so that they will always fear me for their own good and the good of their children after them. 

I will make an everlasting covenant with them:  I will never stop doing good to them, and I will inspire them to fear me, so that they will never turn away from me. 

I will rejoice in doing them good and will assuredly plant them in this land with all my heart and soul.  (Jeremiah 32:37-41)

In short, God once again promised to bring the people back. 

But just as he promised in chapter 31, the restoration of the people’s hearts would be by his work, not their own.  He would be the one that would turn their hearts back to him.  And as they did, he promised blessing in their lives.

What can we get from all of this?

First, remember in our times of doubt, that God is looking out for our good. 

He wants to do good in our lives.  He rejoices in doing good in our lives.  If only we could remember that and believe that, it would be so much easier to trust him and obey him.

Second, God is constantly working within us to change us and make us the people he wants us to be.  A people he can bless. 

All we have to do is cooperate with him.  To say yes to him.  And as we do, we’ll find blessing.

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Jeremiah

A futile hope

Jeremiah

Zedekiah is kind of a difficult guy to figure out.  Here is the son of the last good king of Judah, Josiah.  So he had an example of what a good king was. 

He also saw how two of his brothers (Jehoahaz and Jehoiakim) and his nephew (Jehoiachin) had failed miserably by going their own way. 

Yet, he insisted on following in their footsteps, rather than his father’s.

To some degree he seemed to have some respect for Jeremiah.  He certainly consulted him often enough. 

Yet when his officials got tired of Jeremiah’s prophesies against Jerusalem, Zedekiah allowed them to falsely accuse him of deserting to the Babylonians, to beat him, and throw him into prison. 

Later they convinced Zedekiah to put Jeremiah into  a cistern to die. 

Only by the actions of one brave man confronting Zedekiah about this was Jeremiah rescued from the cistern, and returned to the courtyard of the guard where he was held prisoner.

But the question was, why consult Jeremiah at all?  He never listened to anything Jeremiah said. 

As Jeremiah 37:2 says,

Neither [Zedekiah] nor his attendants nor the people of the land paid any attention to the words the Lord had spoken through Jeremiah the prophet.

The only thing I can think of is that he was vainly hoping that somehow God would change his mind.  That even if he continued living his own way, God would save him anyway, and just let him live his own life in peace.

But it was a futile hope. 

God does indeed sometimes change his mind concerning judgment.  But as Jeremiah 18 says, it’s predicated on one thing:  repentance.  And that’s something that Zedekiah never did.

Instead, he made excuses for why he wouldn’t obey.  When Jeremiah urged him to surrender to the Babylonians, he replied,

I am afraid of the Jews who have gone over to the Babylonians, for the Babylonians may hand me over to them and they will mistreat me.  (Jeremiah 38:19)

And when Jeremiah tried to convince him that was not so, Zedekiah refused to listen.

How about you?  Are you clinging to your sins, hoping that things will somehow turn out for the good? 

Are you insistent on living your own way, just hoping that God will show mercy and not bring judgment for it?

That’s a futile hope.  If we hold on to our sins, if we insist living our own way, judgment will eventually come.  God will not change his mind if we don’t repent.

If however we repent, God will forgive and he will restore us. 

I’m not saying that there will not be any consequences here on this earth for our actions.  We do reap what we sow. 

But when we repent, God will forgive us.  And by repenting, we allow God to start turning our lives around for the good.

What will you do?  Will you hold on to a futile hope?  Or will you seek the hope that comes from repentance?

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Jeremiah

Temporary repentance

Jeremiah

And so we continue jumping through Jeremiah to somewhat keep our chronological order. 

It’s a bit unclear when these events happened, but it appears to be before Jeremiah was put in prison. (Chapters 32-33)

Jeremiah first warns Zedekiah that Nebuchadnezzar would triumph over Jerusalem, although Zedekiah would not be put to death by the sword.

While it’s not clear, it appears this caused at least some repentance on the part of Zedekiah and Judah. 

For years, they had broken God’s law against the Israelites keeping their own brother Israelites as slaves. 

According to the law, every seven years they were to release any Israelite serving them.  (Most of these people were forced into labor because of debt problems.) 

But instead of doing this, the Israelites forced their brothers to keep serving them as slaves.

With the Babylonians threatening to overrun them, however, and with all of Jeremiah’s warnings of what was to come, Zedekiah convinced the people of Israel to make a covenant with God in which they promised to release all the slaves. 

And they did.  But only for a short time. 

While the timing is not clearly stated, it appears that sometime after they had done this, Nebuchadnezzar withdrew his army from Jerusalem’s walls to fight against the Egyptians. (Jeremiah 34:21)

With the threat of Nebuchadnezzar now gone, the people had gone back on their promise to God and forced their brothers back into slavery. 

As a result, God pronounced judgment on them, telling them that Nebuchadnezzar would be back and would lay waste to Jerusalem.

What can we learn from this?  Sometimes people go through troubles in their lives and as a result turn to God.  God works in their lives and forgives them, bringing restoration to them. 

But when things go well, they forget the goodness of God in their lives, and start living their own way again.  As a result, they fall right back into a life of turmoil and destruction.

I’m not saying they will lose their salvation, but I am saying they will reap the consequences of their sin here on earth.

How about you?  Having been forgiven and restored, are you now turning back to your old way of life?

May our repentance from sin not be temporary.  Rather, let us always turn our face to God, fleeing from sin. 

Only in doing so will we find blessing.

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Jeremiah

A new covenant

Jeremiah

This is another one of my favorite passages.  As with Ezekiel, Jeremiah quotes a proverb that had become quite common among the Israelites,

The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.  (Jeremiah 31:29)

The idea again being that “We poor Israelites really didn’t do anything wrong.  We’re just suffering for our fathers’ sins.” 

But God makes clear that people wouldn’t suffer for their parents’ sins, but for their own. 

Yet the purpose of this passage is not so much to bring judgment, but to show God’s mercy.  He told the people,

“The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will plant the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the offspring of men and of animals. 

Just as I watched over them to uproot and tear down, and to overthrow, destroy and bring disaster, so I will watch over them to build and to plant,” declares the Lord.  (Jeremiah 31:27-28)

Then God talked about a new covenant he would establish with the people.  He said,

“The time is coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. 

It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord.

“This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. 

“I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts.  I will be their God, and they will be my people.  No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the Lord. 

“For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” (Jeremiah 31:31-34)

This covenant was of course fulfilled in Christ. 

What was the difference between the old and new covenant?  The main difference between the two was that the first was a bilateral agreement, and the second a unilateral one.

In the first, God promised blessings if the people would obey him, and curses if they disobeyed him. 

Unfortunately, the people broke his covenant time and again, ultimately incurring the curses of the law.

But the second covenant’s purely a unilateral agreement.  There were no conditions the people had to follow.  Rather it was God that would do the work. 

Instead of relying on people to change their own hearts, God promised to change them from the inside-out.  That he would put his laws in their hearts and minds and that they would desire to obey him.

Another big difference was the access people would have to God. 

No longer would the people need priests or mediators to communicate to God for them, exhorting them to know the Lord.  Rather, everyone would have direct access to God. 

All of their sins would be paid for, and thus forgiven and forgotten.

That’s the new covenant.  More than that, it’s the good news that we proclaim. 

We don’t have to work to earn God’s favor anymore.  Rather, we have received his favor by his grace.  Now we can relax in our relationship with him, knowing he has already accepted us. 

Let us never take that for granted, however.  Rather, every day, let us show our love and gratitude for this great gift.

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Jeremiah

The heart of a Father

Jeremiah

This passage has one of my all-time favorite verses in it.  I like it because it really shows the heart of our Father.

The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying:  “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.  (Jeremiah 31:3)

In this chapter, Jeremiah continues to talk about Israel’s future restoration, and you see God’s heart toward his people throughout it. 

In verses 8-9, God promises to bring his people back.  Some would be weeping perhaps in mourning for their past sins, while others would be weeping at the mercy God was showing his people in restoring them. 

And God said that as they prayed,

I will lead them beside streams of water on a level path where they will not stumble, because I am Israel’s father, and Ephraim is my firstborn son.  (9)

Time and again, you see this heart, that despite his children’s rebellion, God continued to love them with an everlasting love.

“I have surely heard Ephraim’s moaning:

‘You disciplined me like an unruly calf, and I have been disciplined.  Restore me, and I will return, because you are the Lord my God.  After I strayed, I repented; after I came to understand, I beat my breast.  I was ashamed and humiliated because I bore the disgrace of my youth.’

Is not Ephraim my dear son, the child in whom I delight?  Though I often speak against him, I still remember him. 

Therefore my heart yearns for him; I have great compassion for him,” declares the Lord.  (18-20)

Then God said to his people,

Return, O Virgin Israel, return to your towns. 

How long will you wander, O unfaithful daughter?  (21-22)

What can we get from all of this?  The heart of the Father is such that he never stops loving us.  And even if we walk away from him, he never stops waiting for our return.

There’s an old song that I love that expresses that sentiment so beautifully.

Almighty God.
The great I AM.
Immovable rock.
Omnipotent, powerful, awesome Lord.
Victorious warrior.
Commanding King of kings.
Mighty conqueror.

And the only time, the only time I ever saw him run

Was when he ran to me, took me in his arms,
Held my head to His chest,
Said “My son’s come home again!”

Lifted my face,
Wiped the tears from my eyes,
With forgiveness in His voice He said
“Son, do you know I still love You?”

He caught me by surprise,
When God ran…

Lord, I thank you that though I fall, though I fail, though I sometimes run from you, you’re always waiting for me to return.  I thank you that your love for me never stops.  That it’s an everlasting love. 

Thank you that you not only wait for me to return, but you run to greet me when I come.  I love you Lord.  In Jesus’ name, amen.

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Jeremiah

One who would dare approach the Father

Jeremiah

In the midst of all the prophesies of Jerusalem’s fall, Jeremiah does not leave the people without hope. 

God assures his people here that though he will discipline them, and not let them go entirely unpunished, yet he would not completely destroy them.  (Jeremiah 30:10-11)

Still, Jeremiah doesn’t sugarcoat their situation, saying,

Your wound is incurable, your injury beyond healing.  There is no one to plead your cause, no remedy for your sore, no healing for you….

Because of your great guilt and many sins I have done these things to you.. (Jeremiah 30:12-13, 15)

But then he promises to send someone to save them.

Their leader will be one of their own; their ruler will arise from among them.  I will bring him near and he will come close to me, for who is he who will devote himself to be close to me?’ declares the Lord. 

“‘So you will be my people, and I will be your God.’ ”

See, the storm of the Lord will burst out in wrath, a driving wind swirling down on the heads of the wicked.  The fierce anger of the Lord will not turn back until he fully accomplishes the purposes of his heart. 

In days to come you will understand this. (21-24)

This passage is of course talking about Jesus.  I like verse 21 where God says, “For who is he who will devote himself to be close to me?” 

In the NASB, it says, “Who would dare to risk his life to approach Me?”

In Jeremiah’s time, there was no one who could approach the Father.  Only the high priest might dare to do so, and he could do so only once a year. 

But by this time, the priesthood was compromised, and the ones who were supposed to be serving God, were serving false gods.

But as God’s own Son, Jesus could approach the Father and intercede for us.  He stood in the gap for us, and in doing so, he took upon himself the fierce wrath of the Father, dying on the cross for our sins.  And because of that, God’s anger has been turned back.

Now, those of us who believe in him can also approach the Father, without fear. 

So as the writer of Hebrews said,

Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 

Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.  (Hebrews 10:19-23)

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Jeremiah

No genie

genie lamp

We now shift scenes from Babylon, where Ezekiel was, back to Jerusalem, where Nebuchadnezzar had started his siege against Jerusalem.

When he came, Zedekiah panicked and immediately sent messengers to Jeremiah, asking him to pray for them.  This, after years of ignoring Jeremiah’s warnings of judgment.  His messengers said,

Inquire now of the Lord for us because Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon is attacking us. 

Perhaps the Lord will perform wonders for us as in times past so that he will withdraw from us (Jeremiah 21:2).

Reading this, I very much get the impression that Zedekiah treated God like a genie. 

You stick him in a bottle, stashed away somewhere you can ignore him.  Then when trouble comes, you pull out the bottle, pop the cork, and expect that the genie will rescue you.

But God is no genie.  And basically, he told Zedekiah, “Forget it.  I myself am fighting against you.  I’m giving you into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, and he will show you no mercy, pity, or compassion.” (3-7)

Still, God did offer them one last chance.  He told them that they could not escape judgment, but they could escape death.  All they had to do was one thing.  Trust him.  And obey him.

He said,

“Furthermore, tell the people, ‘This is what the Lord says:  See, I am setting before you the way of life and the way of death. 

Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword, famine or plague.  But whoever goes out and surrenders to the Babylonians who are besieging you will live; he will escape with his life. 

I have determined to do this city harm and not good, declares the Lord.  It will be given into the hands of the king of Babylon, and he will destroy it with fire.’” (8-10)

In other words, “For once in your lives, believe me.  Believe me when I say judgment is inescapable.  And trust me.  I know it’s scary giving yourselves up and surrendering to your enemies.  But if you do, you will be saved.”

He went on to tell king Zedekiah, “Bring justice to your people as you’re supposed to.  And put away your pride.  It is these things that are bringing judgment upon you.”

But as we will see later, Zedekiah refused to do so.  When God refused to be his genie, Zedekiah walked away.  As a result, everything came crashing down around him.

How about you?  How do you regard God?  Do you regard him as your genie, expecting him to perform at the snap of your fingers? 

Or is he your God?  Do you trust him?  Do you put your faith in him to the point that you actually obey him?

So many people think that happiness comes from having your own way.  They think they’d be happy if only God would do what they wanted. 

But the truth is we’ll only be happy if we make him our God, trusting him and following him no matter what.

As the old song goes,

Trust and obey

For there’s no other way,
To be happy in Jesus,
Than to trust and obey.

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Jeremiah

Run

Jeremiah

In this passage God turns from pronouncing judgment on the conquered nations to pronouncing judgment on their conqueror Babylon. 

Here, God tells them that their reign will come to a crashing end by nations from the North, that is, the Medes and the Persians.

But in the midst of this judgment, God gives a command to his people:  Run!

Time and again, we see him saying things like

Flee out of Babylon; leave the land of the Babylonians  (Jeremiah 50:8),

and,

Flee from Babylon! Run for your lives!  (Jeremiah 51:6)

and again,

Come out of her, my people!  Run for your lives!  Run from the fierce anger of the Lord.  (Jeremiah 51:45)

This is in sharp contrast to chapter 29 where he told the Jews to make their home in Babylon, to multiply there, and seek the peace and prosperity of the cities they were living in.

Why the contrast?  Because when the Medes and Persians came, Babylon’s own time of judgment would come.  And so God commanded the people to leave so that they would not get caught in Babylon’s doom.

In the same way, it would be well for us to remember not to get too comfortable as we live in this world.  To keep our hearts softened to God.  To remember that he is our true pasture and our hope in this world. (Jeremiah 50:7) 

To remember he is our creator, the one who made everything by his power and wisdom. (51:15-16)

And to remember that there will be a day of reckoning for all who live on this earth.  (51:6, 56)

So let us leave our life of sin, and not linger in the evil that others do. 

Instead, let us “remember the Lord in a distant land, and think on Jerusalem.”  (51:50)

Or as Paul said,

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 

Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.  For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.  

When Christ, who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.  (Colossians 3:1-4) 

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Jeremiah Obadiah

Reasons for judgment

Obadiah

I know. At first glance, it seems a bit strange to combine Jeremiah and Obadiah. But there is some method to my madness.

If you look at Obadiah, it actually has a lot in common with Jeremiah 49:7–22.

A lot of the imagery and wording is so similar, you have to believe that Obadiah had some access to Jeremiah or vice versa.

It is not unusual for biblical authors to quote other biblical authors. And it’s possible that God told Obadiah, “Remember what Jeremiah said here. Repeat what he said.” Or vice versa.

Or it’s possible that God independently gave each of them the same words to speak. That too is not entirely unusual.

At any rate, God here is passing judgment on the nations surrounding Judah. At a guess, it would seem that these prophecies happened at the same time as the events of Jeremiah 27–29.

In those passages, as you recall, Jeremiah was warning many of these same nations to submit to Nebuchadnezzar.

Also in the prophecy against Elam, Jeremiah timestamps it as being early in the reign of Zedekiah.

Why did God pass judgment on these nations? He doesn’t always give reasons, but there are several repeated themes.

First, the worship of false gods.

For Moab, it was the god Chemosh. For Ammon, it was the god Molech. These are the gods mentioned in these passages, but each nation had their own gods that they worshiped, turning their backs on the one true God.

Second, pride. God said of Moab,

“Since you trust in your deeds and riches, you too will be taken captive…

We have heard of Moab’s pride—her overweening pride and conceit, her pride and arrogance and the haughtiness of her heart.

I know her insolence but it is futile,” declares the Lord, “and her boasts accomplish nothing.” (Jeremiah 48:7, 29–30)

Of Ammon, he said,

“Why do you boast of your valleys, so fruitful? O unfaithful daughter, you trust in your riches and say, ‘Who will attack me?’” (Jeremiah 49:4)

To Edom, he said,

“The terror you inspire and the pride of your heart have deceived you… I will bring you down.” (Jeremiah 49:16)

And of Kedar and Hazor, he said,

“Arise and attack a nation at ease, which lives in confidence,” declares the Lord. (Jeremiah 49:31)

Finally, you see a lack of mercy and compassion on the part of these nations.

Moab ridiculed Israel when it fell (Jeremiah 48:27).

When Assyria had taken the northern kingdom of Israel captive, Ammon callously took over the land that had been left abandoned (Jeremiah 49:1).

As for Edom, despite the fact that they were descendants of Esau and the Israelites were descendants of his brother Jacob, Edom “stood aloof” when Israel was attacked and rejoiced over its destruction (Obadiah 12–13).

Idolatry. Pride. A lack of mercy and compassion. Do these things reign in your life?

You may not worship Buddha or other “gods,” but how about money? How about possessions? Whatever is most important in your life is your god.

What about pride? Who do you put your trust in? Yourself? Or God?

C.S. Lewis called pride “the great sin.” Because it is pride more than any other sin that separates us from God.

It is pride that causes us to think that we don’t need him. It is pride that causes us to walk away from him.

A lack of mercy and compassion.

This is what Jesus criticized the Pharisees and teachers of the law for. “I desire mercy, not sacrifice,” he said.

But though they claimed to love God, they certainly didn’t care about people.

How about you? Do you actually care about the people around you? Or do you not give a rip, thinking only of yourself?

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Jeremiah

While we’re still here

Jeremiah

I’ve been thinking a lot of about life and death recently. 

One of the pillars of my church here in Japan, a woman named Kathleen Benton, passed away last week due to cancer. 

She wasn’t a pastor, but she touched many lives and made a difference in every life that she touched.

Maybe some people wouldn’t call her a pillar, but I think she was.

As I look at this passage, it really speaks to me as a person who is still here on earth. 

God was talking to the exiles in Babylon.  They had been taken from their homes and forced to live in a land that was not theirs.  It was a land filled with idolatry and godlessness. 

But God said to them,

Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce.  Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. 

Increase in number there; do not decrease. 

Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile.  Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.  (Jeremiah 29:5-7)

It seems to me that God says the same thing to us. 

Like the Jews, we are in a world filled with idolatry and godlessness.  And it would be easy to just say, “I just want to go to heaven already!  I don’t want to deal with this world and its problems.”

But God says, “While you’re here on earth, enjoy the life I’ve given you.  Settle down.  Marry.  Have children.  Be productive.”

More than that, he said, “Seek the peace and prosperity of the place that you’re in.  Pray for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.”

Sometimes Christians just isolate themselves from the world.  They live in fear, making the church their fortress, and just praying that God would keep them safe there. 

But God doesn’t want us to do that.  He tells us to be active in our community.  To make a difference in it.  To be involved politically.  To touch the lives around us.  And most of all to pray for our community and our nation.

And instead of living in fear of the future, he wants us to know that there is a future and a hope for us, even here on earth.  He told the Jews and he tells us today,

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 

Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.  You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.  I will be found by you… (Jeremiah 29:11-14).

So while we’re still here, let us seek the Lord.  Let us pray to him.

Let us not live in fear of the future or of what we see in our community today.  Rather let us go out and enjoy this life he has given us.  Let us be productive, using the gifts he has given us. 

And let us touch the world around us, making a difference in people’s lives.

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Jeremiah

Testing the prophets

Jeremiah

With Zedekiah, the final king of Judah, now on the throne, Judah was on its last legs. 

And Jeremiah had a very unpopular message to give them and the surrounding nations:  Submit to Babylon.  If you will submit to Babylon, you will live.  If you don’t, you will die.

There were a lot of prophets in Judah and in the other nations telling their kings, “Don’t worry about Babylon.  You won’t serve them.” 

But Jeremiah said of them,

They prophesy lies to you that will only serve to remove you far from your lands; I will banish you and you will perish.  (Jeremiah 27:10)

A false prophet named Hananiah arose at that time, speaking against all that Jeremiah said. 

When he did, Jeremiah answered,

Amen!  May the Lord do so!  May the Lord fulfill the words you have prophesied by bringing the articles of the Lord’s house and all the exiles back to this place from Babylon.  

Nevertheless, listen to what I have to say in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people:  From early times the prophets who preceded you and me have prophesied war, disaster and plague against many countries and great kingdoms. 

But the prophet who prophesies peace will be recognized as one truly sent by the Lord only if his prediction comes true.  (Jeremiah 28:6-9)

What was he saying? 

Basically he was saying that we should beware the prophets that speak only words of peace.  That say, “Oh yes, God is pleased with your worship.  He’s pleased with your lives,” and speak nothing of the need for repentance in our lives.

Another man named Shemaiah told the priests to reprimand Jeremiah for all his words of “doom and gloom.”  (Jeremiah 29:24-32) 

But in both cases, the Lord rebuked these would be prophets, and they both died for it.

I think sometimes people claim to speak for the Lord, when really they are only speaking from their own emotions. 

Emotions are great, but they don’t mean the Lord is speaking.  God will use prophets to encourage us, that’s true.  But he will not use prophets to say that he will bless us when we’re living in sin. 

Instead he uses true prophets to admonish us to put away our sin and follow him.  That’s what Jeremiah did.

Do you test those that claim to be speaking for the Lord.  Just because a person claims to be speaking for the Lord doesn’t make it true.

Don’t get me wrong.  I’m not saying to just outright dismiss anyone claiming to speak for God.  As Paul said,

Do not put out the Spirit’s fire;  do not treat prophecies with contempt.  (1 Thessalonians 5:19-20).

But also remember what Paul said right after that,

Test everything. Hold on to the good.  (1 Thessalonians 5:21)

How about you?  Do you test what you hear?

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2 Chronicles 2 Kings Jeremiah

God’s choice, our choice

Kings,Chronicles, and Jeremiah

The sovereignty of God and the free will of man is one of those things that has been a long-standing debate in the Christian world. 

We see this tension in this passage, so we’ll discuss it a bit here, but I won’t claim to have any new answers on the subject.

At this point in history, Jehoiakim was deposed by the king of Babylon after Jehoiakim rebelled. 

His son Jehoiachin took over, but his reign lasted only three months before Nebuchadnezzar came again and took him prisoner too, along with a bunch of other people.

The king’s mother, his wives, his officials and leading men, the entire army, as well as a thousand craftsmen and artisans were all taken as well. 

In Jehoiachin’s stead, Nebuchadnezzar made his uncle Zedekiah king.

It was during this time that God gave Jeremiah a vision of two baskets of figs, one of very good figs, and one of very bad figs. 

God told Jeremiah that he considered the people that were taken into exile the good figs and the people that remained in Jerusalem the bad figs. 

And while he would ultimately destroy those remaining in Jerusalem, God promised to restore the exiles to their land and bless them.

The question is why would God spare one group and destroy the other?  God said, of the exiles,

My eyes will watch over them for their good, and I will bring them back to this land. 

I will build them up and not tear them down; I will plant them and not uproot them. 

I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord. 

They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart (Jeremiah 24:6-7).

Certainly some of the people taken into exile were innocents, so to speak.  Daniel and Ezekiel were two examples of this. 

But there were many others who were not so innocent.  Why would God spare them?  I don’t know, other than to say it was due to God’s mercy.

Some people would say, “Well, it’s because of God’s foreknowledge.  He knew they would return to him eventually, and so that’s why he spared them.”

But that ignores the passage where God says that the reason they would return to him is that he would give them a heart to know him.  He was the one that would change their hearts. 

Why didn’t he do the same for Zedekiah and the people remaining in Jerusalem?

I don’t know.

What can I say for sure?

First, people are condemned directly by their own choices.  Had Zedekiah and the other people chosen to follow God, he would have blessed them.  But they chose not to.

Second, nobody would come to God unless he started to work in their lives and gave them a heart to know him.  This is true of the exiles.  It is true of us. 

As someone once put it, “He fixed our broken antenna so that we might hear him.”

Third, God is never arbitrary in his choices.  God always has his reasons. 

The problem we have is that he never gives us those reasons in his word.  We have a lack of data because God has chosen not to reveal it to us.  And so there we have to stop.

The question we ultimately have to ask ourselves is this:  What will we choose? 

Nobody can ever come to God and say, “It’s not my fault I didn’t follow you.” 

We are responsible for our own choices.  And so God will hold us responsible for the choices that we make.

We can choose to follow him or choose not to.  What will you choose?

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Jeremiah

Judgment and discipline

Jeremiah

It was at this time in history that Nebuchadnezzar was really rattling the cages of the nations around.  He had already rattled the cage of Judah, and now he was rattling the cage of Egypt.

In these two passages, we see the judgment God was bringing on two nations, Egypt and the Philistia.  God would use Egypt to crush Philistia, while he would use Babylon to crush Egypt. 

It’s the pattern God has used throughout history.

But sandwiched in between these two proclamations of judgment, God speaks to Judah, saying,

“Do not fear, O Jacob my servant; do not be dismayed, O Israel.  I will surely save you out of a distant place, your descendants from the land of their exile. 

Jacob will again have peace and security, and no one will make him afraid.  

Do not fear, O Jacob my servant, for I am with you,” declares the Lord. 

“Though I completely destroy all the nations among which I scatter you, I will not completely destroy you.  I will discipline you but only with justice; I will not let you go entirely unpunished.”  (Jeremiah 46:27-28)

It strikes me that God makes a distinction between those who are his and those who are not. 

To those who are not his, to those who have utterly rebelled against him, judgment is coming, and it is certain. 

But to those who are his, while he may discipline us, and that discipline may indeed be harsh, he will not simply dispose of us.  Rather, he is constantly working to restore us. 

And no matter how badly we may fall, he promises that he will always be with us.

You may feel that because of your sin, God is punishing you, and more than that, that he has given up on you. 

But if you have received Jesus as Lord in your life and received his gift of eternal life, you are God’s child.  And as such, he says to you,

I will never leave you; I will never forget you.  (Hebrews 13:5).

So,

Do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.”…

Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. 

No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful.  Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.  (Hebrews 12:5-6; 10-11)

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Jeremiah

Who to listen to

Jeremiah

None of us like to feel uncomfortable, especially when we’re listening to messages at church. 

But a good pastor will not only give messages of comfort and encouragement, but will also give messages that challenge us to grow.  And for most of us, messages that challenge also tend to make us feel uncomfortable.

That’s exactly what the priests, prophets, and other leaders of Judah were not doing. 

Jeremiah starts this chapter by criticizing the leaders for not leading and caring for the people. 

In a political sense, they cared little if at all for justice and the physical needs of the people.  But in a spiritual sense, they had led the people into idolatry and spiritual adultery. 

In so doing, not only did they fail to do anything to stop the spread of evil among the people, they even promoted it.  And when they spoke, they only said things that made the people feel good.

God said of them,

The prophets˼ follow an evil course and use their power unjustly.  Both prophet and priest are godless; even in my temple I find their wickedness…

They prophesied by Baal and led my people Israel astray.

And among the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen something horrible:  They commit adultery and live a lie. 

They strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that no one turns from his wickedness…

Do not listen to what the prophets are prophesying to you; they fill you with false hopes.  They speak visions from their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord. 

They keep saying to those who despise me, ‘The Lord says: You will have peace.’ 

And to all who follow the stubbornness of their hearts they say, ‘No harm will come to you.’…

“I am against the prophets who wag their own tongues and yet declare, ‘The Lord declares.’   

Indeed, I am against those who prophesy false dreams,” declares the Lord. 

“They tell them and lead my people astray with their reckless lies, yet I did not send or appoint them.  They do not benefit these people in the least,” declares the Lord. (Jeremiah 23:10-11, 13-14, 16-17, 30-32)

The same can be said in many churches today.  In many “Christian churches,” they actively promote as good what God has said is evil. 

They fill people with false hopes saying “You will have peace” when judgment is looming over them.

But God says to those who would be his representatives,

“Let the prophet who has a dream tell his dream, but let the one who has my word speak it faithfully.  For what has straw to do with grain?” declares the Lord. 

“Is not my word like fire,” declares the Lord, “and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?” (28-29)

What kind of church are you going to?  Is the word of God burning like a fire there, getting rid of the chaff in your life? 

Is it like a hammer that breaks the hardened places in your hearts and makes it soft soil where the fruit of God’s Spirit can thrive? 

If not, it may be time for you to leave and find somewhere where you can grow into the person God’s called you to be.

The day will come when Jesus will return, “a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land.  (5)”

But until that day comes, let us commit ourselves to following him and going to churches that are committed to the same.

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Jeremiah

Seeking what’s temporary. Seeking what’s eternal

Jeremiah

Baruch, Jeremiah’s scribe, was throwing a pity party for himself. 

He had delivered Jeremiah’s words to King Jehoiakim, but Jehoiakim merely took the scroll, cut it into pieces, and burned it.

As a result, Baruch was totally discouraged, saying,

Woe to me!  The Lord has added sorrow to my pain; I am worn out with groaning and find no rest.  (Jeremiah 45:3)

In short, “Why am I doing this?  What profit am I getting from serving Jeremiah and the Lord.  I do what they say, and all that ever happens is that I get into trouble. 

“I could be doing other things.  I could be out there in the world earning money, and becoming rich.  I could be doing something that actually amounts to something.  Why do I have to subject myself to all this?”

But God responded to him, saying,

This is what the Lord says:  I will overthrow what I have built and uproot what I have planted, throughout the land. 

Should you then seek great things for yourself?  Seek them not. 

For I will bring disaster on all people, declares the Lord, but wherever you go I will let you escape with your life.  (4-5)

What was God saying?  Basically he was telling him that this world is temporary.  All that we see will ultimately be destroyed. 

So don’t seek the things of this world which are here today and gone tomorrow.  But seek God and his kingdom. 

And while all those who serve themselves will ultimately perish, you will find true life.

Do you get discouraged sometimes about doing what’s right?  Do you ever feel like you’re wasting your time serving God?  Do you think you’d be better off seeking the things of the world? 

Don’t waste your time seeking what’s temporary.  Seek what’s eternal.  For only in doing so will you ever find true life and true reward. 

As Paul wrote,

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.  (Galatians 6:9)

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Jeremiah

The blessing that comes from obedience

Jeremiah

So many times we know what God says, but don’t obey him. 

One reason is that we feel like we’ll “miss out on all the fun.”  Or that we’ll find more happiness if we do things our way instead of God’s. 

That’s how the people of Judah were.  But here God shows them and us the blessing that comes from obedience.

God told Jeremiah to invite a family to the temple.  They were all descendants of a man named Recab. 

They must have been looked upon by their neighbors as a bit strange.  They still lived in tents when everyone else had built their own homes, and they refused to drink wine like everyone else.

When this family came, they went to the one of the rooms in the temple where the sons of a man named Hanan lived.

Jeremiah then offered them wine to drink, but they replied,

We do not drink wine, because our forefather Jonadab son of Recab gave us this command:  ‘Neither you nor your descendants must ever drink wine. 

Also you must never build houses, sow seed or plant vineyards; you must never have any of these things, but must always live in tents.  Then you will live a long time in the land where you are nomads.’ 

We have obeyed everything our forefather Jonadab son of Recab commanded us.  Neither we nor our wives nor our sons and daughters have ever drunk wine or built houses to live in or had vineyards, fields or crops. 

We have lived in tents and have fully obeyed everything our forefather Jonadab commanded us.  (Jeremiah 35:6-10)

Even when Nebuchadnezzar came against Judah, and they were forced to flee from their land to Jerusalem, they continued to keep the command of Jonodab.

God then spoke to Jeremiah, saying,

This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says:  Go and tell the men of Judah and the people of Jerusalem, ‘Will you not learn a lesson and obey my words?’ declares the Lord. 

‘Jonadab son of Recab ordered his sons not to drink wine and this command has been kept.  To this day they do not drink wine, because they obey their forefather’s command. 

But I have spoken to you again and again, yet you have not obeyed me.  (13-14)

In other words, “These men obeyed their forefather Jonadab, even though he was a mere man.  But here I am your God, and you don’t obey me.  Why not?”

But then he said of the Recabites,

This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says:  ‘You have obeyed the command of your forefather Jonadab and have followed all his instructions and have done everything he ordered.’ 

Therefore, this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says:  ‘Jonadab son of Recab will never fail to have a man to serve me.’　(18-19)

Because the Recabites were faithful to their forefather, and to God, they found blessing in their lives at a time when judgment was falling on the land they were living in.

What about you?  Do you truly believe that if you follow God and do things his way that you’ll find blessing? 

This is not to say that your life will be easy.  But you will find joy and contentment in your life as you follow him, no matter your circumstances.

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Jeremiah

Responding to hard words

Jeremiah

Nobody likes discipline.  Nobody likes hearing hard words.  But how we respond to them can shape our lives for the good or the bad.

Jeremiah had many hard words for the people of Judah, namely words of judgment for their sin. 

It was always a two-fold message:  Judgment is coming.  But you can avoid it if you will just turn from your sin. 

In chapter 25, he warned the people that they would go into exile into Babylon for 70 years unless they repented. 

Not only did he warn Judah, but he warned the surrounding nations as well. 

How did they respond?  Many didn’t respond well at all.

When many of people, priests, and prophets heard Jeremiah’s words, they seized him, saying, “You must die!  Why are you saying these things?”  (Jeremiah 26:8-9). 

They considered it almost treason to preach that Judah would be destroyed for their sins.  Jeremiah was only saved when the elders of the land stood up for him. 

They pointed out that when the prophet Micah prophesied during the time of Hezekiah, Hezekiah responded by fearing the Lord and repenting, causing God to relent on passing judgment. 

On hearing this, the people released Jeremiah, but we see no signs that they actually turned from their sins.

Their king Jehoiakim was no better.  When another prophet named Uriah preached against Judah as Jeremiah did, Jehoiakim had him pursued all the way to Egypt, and when they brought him back, he had Uriah killed.  (Jeremiah 26:20-23)

At another time, Jeremiah had his scribe Baruch go to the temple and and read out the words Jeremiah had been given by God. 

When he did, the palace officials had Baruch hand them the scroll, and they took it and read it to Jehoiakim. 

Jehoiakim’s response?  He cut them up and burned them.  Then he tried to have Jeremiah put to death too.

How about you?  How do you respond to hard words.  When someone confronts you about sin in your life, do you brush it off?  Do you get angry and attack the person who confronts you?  Or do you take those words to heart and repent?

God’s desire is not to judge people.  His desire is that we turn from our sins and repent.  And by sending people to warn us, he’s giving us that chance. 

How much better for us would it be if we would take those words and let them shape us, instead of casting them aside?

What will you do?

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2 Chronicles 2 Kings Jeremiah

To know God

Kings,Chronicles, and Jeremiah

The last four kings after Josiah can all be basically painted bad. 

Jehoahaz (known as Shallum in Jeremiah 22), Jehoakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah all were miserable failures as kings. 

We’ll take a closer look at the latter three later, but God makes his comment on the first three kings in Jeremiah 22. 

Basically, they were all more interested in themselves than in serving God or the people.  They used their positions of power merely to enrich themselves while ignoring God and the needs of the people.  And so God passes judgment on all three kings. 

In doing so, he compares them to Josiah, saying,

“Does it make you a king to have more and more cedar?  Did not your father have food and drink?  He did what was right and just, so all went well with him.  He defended the cause of the poor and needy, and so all went well.  Is that not what it means to know me?” declares the Lord. 

“But your eyes and your heart are set only on dishonest gain, on shedding innocent blood and on oppression and extortion.”  (Jeremiah 22:15-17)

All of these men knew of God.  They knew what he had done in the past.  But they didn’t truly know him.  And God makes crystal clear that knowing him doesn’t simply mean knowing about him. 

To know God means to acknowledge him with our lives and with our actions.  To do what is just and right, things that these kings simply did not do.

James put it this way,

Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. 

You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that — and shudder.  (James 2:18-19)

How about you?  Do you simply know about God?  Do you simply believe that he exists?  Or do your actions and your life show it?

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Jeremiah

A word like a fire

Jeremiah

“Why don’t you just shut up?  All this preaching and prophesying ever does is get you in trouble.”

Jeremiah’s own family probably asked him this question. Jeremiah himself asked this question.  

God told him to take a pot and break it in front of some of the priests and elders of the people, using it as an illustration of the judgment that was coming on Judah.

Jeremiah then went to the temple courts and warned all the people there of the judgment that was coming.

When he did, one of the priests, Pashur, had him beaten and put in stocks.

And so Jeremiah complained to God,

O Lord, you deceived me, and I was deceived; you overpowered me and prevailed.  I am ridiculed all day long; everyone mocks me.  

Whenever I speak, I cry out proclaiming violence and destruction.  So the word of the Lord has brought me insult and reproach all day long.  (Jeremiah 20:7-8)

But then he said,

But if I say, “I will not mention him or speak any more in his name,” his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones.  I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot.  (Jeremiah 20:9)

Jeremiah’s feelings are completely jumbled as you look at this passage.  

In one verse, he’s praising the Lord, believing he will be vindicated (20:11-13), the next he’s cursing the day he was born (20:14-16).

But one thing he could not do was shut up.  The word of God burned too strongly in his heart and soul.

How about you?  How strongly does the word of God burn in your heart and soul?  

Is it but a spark that is quickly extinguished?  Or is it a roaring fire that cannot be quenched?

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Jeremiah

Turn

Jeremiah

When I was in Hawaii, I often had Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons come to my door. 

Even in Japan, I had Jehovah’s Witnesses come to my door, although since I’ve moved to my condo 6 years ago, I’ve had no such visits because of condo rules. 

It’s too bad really.  I had some very interesting conversations with them.

Anyway, one problem with these groups (among many others), is the number of false prophesies that their leaders have given in the past. 

And one thing they often say in response is, “Well, sometimes Biblical prophets made mistakes too.  Look at Jonah.  He prophesied that Ninevah would fall, and it didn’t.”

What they fail to realize is that God’s purpose in Jonah’s message was that the people would repent.  It wasn’t a false prophesy, it was a warning. 

This is what God says of such warnings:

If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned. 

And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it.  (Jeremiah 18:7-10)

The Ninevites were a perfect example of this.  They repented and therefore God spared them. 

On the other hand, God promised the Israelites that if they would follow his commands, he would bless them, and that they would be his people and he would be their God. 

But the people turned their backs on him, and so although God planned good for them, he instead brought disaster against them.

Here at the end of this chapter, we see that they were so hardened against God’s message that they ignored Jeremiah and wanted to be rid of him. 

The result?  Exile.

What is the message for us?  Turn.  Turn from our sin.  Turn from our selfish ways.  And most of all, turn to God.  For only in following him will we find true life. 

So as we end this year, let us reflect on the sins in our lives that we need to turn from and also on the things that God would have us do in the coming year.

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Jeremiah

Marred

Jeremiah

It’s hard to believe another year is coming to a close.  Mine is not exactly coming to an ideal end.  I caught my third cold in the past month or so. 

I suppose it doesn’t help to have a daughter who keeps spreading the germs she catches from nursery school.  All part of a broken world, I suppose.  And all of us are a part of it.

But here, we see that God can take something that is broken or marred and turn it into something beautiful. 

God told Jeremiah to go to a potter’s house, and as Jeremiah observed, he saw a potter shaping a pot.  When Jeremiah looked carefully however, he saw that the pot was marred. 

But the potter didn’t throw it away.  Rather, the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as he saw fit.  Then God told Jeremiah,

“O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does?” declares the Lord. 

“Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.”  (Jeremiah 18:6)

The house of Israel was marred by their sin.  But God let them know that as badly marred as they were by their sin, they could still be shaped into something beautiful.

And he tells us the same. 

Maybe you look at your life and think that you’re worthless.  Maybe you look at your life and think that it’s so bad that even God couldn’t possibly love you.

But no matter how marred you are, God can take the scars of your life and heal them.  He can take your brokenness and restore you.

It was for that purpose that Jesus himself was marred.  As Isaiah 53:5 says,

But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.

Do you feel you are damaged goods?  God can forgive you and restore you.  All you have to do is turn to him.

As the old song goes,

Something beautiful, something good.
All of my confusion, he understood.

All I had to offer him was brokenness and strife,
But he made something beautiful of my life.

— Bill Gaither

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Jeremiah

Honor, trust, and obedience

Jeremiah

I suppose it would be easy to just skip over this section in which God tells the Israelites to keep the Sabbath.  Easy because Paul wrote to the Christians at Colosse not to let people judge them concerning the Sabbath. 

I’ve written more on this here.

But I think there are some principals that we can take from this passage. 

The keeping of the Sabbath was something that the Israelites did that showed three things. 

It showed that they honored God as their creator.  They remembered his creative work and how on the 7th day he rested from that work. 

It also showed their trust in him.  They took a day off from work, trusting that God would provide their needs, even if they did so. 

And finally, it showed their obedience.  Trust and obedience are very much linked.  Without trust, it’s very difficult to obey God.

Unfortunately, the Israelites failed on all three counts. 

God told them, “If you will only keep the Sabbath, you will find blessing.  But if you don’t, judgment will come.” 

Why?  Because in violating the Sabbath, they failed to show honor towards God, they failed to trust him, and they failed to obey him, even in something that was pretty easy to do. 

Their failure to keep the Sabbath was but a symptom of the overall problem the Israelites had in their relationship with God.

How about you? 

Do you honor God with your life?  Do you remember all that he has done for you, and praise him for it? 

Do you trust him?  Do you trust that his way is best and that he really does want the best for you?  And do you obey him even in the little things?

That’s what God desired from his people.  And that’s what he desires from us. 

May we be a people that honors, trusts, and obeys him.

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Jeremiah

The need for a cure

Jeremiah

The human condition can probably be summed up in verse 9 of this chapter.

The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure.  Who can understand it?  (Jeremiah 17:9)

If you think about all the problems in this world, it comes down to the hearts of people. 

Our hearts are deceitful.  Our hearts deceive others.  Our hearts even deceive ourselves.

Jeremiah talks about people who deceive others in order to gain wealth. But in doing so, they deceive themselves into thinking that they have found the path to happiness. 

Jeremiah says of them,

When his life is half gone, they will desert him, and in the end he will prove to be a fool.  (Jeremiah 17:11)

Others turn away from God thinking that it will allow them to enjoy life more.  That God is just trying to take away their fun. 

But Jeremiah points out,

All who forsake you will be put to shame. 

Those who turn away from you will be written in the dust because they have forsaken the Lord, the spring of living water.  (13)

In other words, life is found only in God, and in walking away from him, people ultimately lose their lives because they’ve walked away from the source of  life.

Others scoff at the words of God, thinking they’re meaningless babble.  They say,

Where is the word of the Lord?  Let it now be fulfilled!  (15)

The Lord’s word will be fulfilled.  And if these people don’t turn from their sin, when the day of judgment comes, their scoffing will turn into weeping and regret.

We may deceive others.  We may even deceive ourselves.  But we’re not fooling God. 

And he warns us,

I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve.  (10)

Our hearts are sick and stained with sin.  And we don’t have the power to heal ourselves.  We are beyond human remedy. 

No matter how hard we try, we cannot make ourselves righteous in the eyes of God.  Instead we continually fall into the same patterns of sin that leads to death.

Where is the hope then?  Only in God.  All we can do is pray as Jeremiah did,

Heal me, O Lord, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for you are the one I praise.  (14)

Through the blood of Jesus, our sins have been paid for at the cross.  And through the work of the Spirit, he cleanses us from the inside out, washing away the stain of sin, and making us holy.

How about you?  Do you see the need for a cure in your own life?  Do you see the sin that seems to hold you captive? 

Turn to Jesus, and he will heal you and set you free. 

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Jeremiah

Remaining fruitful in difficult times

Jeremiah

Let’s be honest.  Life can be difficult. 

Sometimes, it’s through no fault of our own.  Other times it’s directly related to bad decisions we make.

For the Israelites of Jeremiah’s time, they had brought trouble onto their own heads by turning their backs on God and going their own way. 

God told them,

Through your own fault you will lose the inheritance I gave you. 

I will enslave you to your enemies in a land you do not know, for you have kindled my anger, and it will burn forever.  (Jeremiah 17:4)

Jeremiah, on the other hand, was suffering through no fault of his own.  Rather, he was suffering for doing exactly what God told him to do, preaching the Word to a stubborn and rebellious people.

God gave this word to the Israelites, but I think it was just as much for Jeremiah’s encouragement, when God told him,

Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the Lord. 

He will be like a bush in the wastelands; he will not see prosperity when it comes. 

He will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives.

But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. 

He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. 

It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. 

It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit. (Jeremiah 17:4-8)

In saying this, God condemned the Israelites for trusting in themselves, but encouraged Jeremiah at the same time. 

Basically, he said, “Jeremiah, I know things are tough.  But if you will trust in me and put your confidence in me, you will be blessed.  Even though your circumstances seem tough, you will always be fruitful for me.  Even if everyone else around you falls to these hard times, you will prosper.”

And God was as good as his word.  Though Jerusalem would eventually fall, God delivered Jeremiah.  Nebuchadnezzar himself gave orders that Jeremiah was to be taken care of and not harmed.  (Jeremiah 39:11-14)

This is not to say Jeremiah’s life was easy and that he lived a life of leisure.  But he was a man that lived a life that was fruitful despite everything that happened around him.

As we face the coming year, what difficulties are you going through?  Are they coming because you’ve turned your back on God? 

Now’s a good time to turn back.  To turn your back on your stubbornness  and sin, and to start trusting God again.

Are things going wrong even though you’re following God?  Keep trusting him.  Don’t get discouraged. 

And like Jeremiah, you will see a life that is fruitful and makes a difference in this world.

Isn’t that what we all want?

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Jeremiah

The One to whom all nations will come

Jeremiah

As Christmas approaches, our eyes turn to Jesus. 

But which Jesus do our eyes turn to?  Is it to that cute baby in the manger?

That’s a Jesus that people like.  Why?  Because it’s a picture that’s not threatening.  It’s a Jesus that makes no demands on you.  It’s a Jesus that just lays there resting comfortably.

But the day will come when “every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”  (Philippians 2:10-11).

On that day,

The nations will come from the ends of the earth and say, “Our fathers possessed nothing but false gods, worthless idols that did them no good.  Do men make their own gods? Yes, but they are not gods!”  (Jeremiah 16:19-20)

Perhaps the people will say this with joy at finding the truth.  But there may also be weeping and gnashing of teeth on that day. 

Many people will look at their gods and see them for the worthless pieces of wood and stone that they are. 

Others will look at the things they pursued in life.  Money, sex, power, the things of this world.  But all those things will be shown for the empty things that they are.

At that time they will know that Jesus is no longer a baby in a manger.  They’ll know that he is both Lord and King.

God says at that time,

I will teach them – this time I will teach them my power and might.  Then they will know that my name is the Lord.  (Jeremiah 16:21)

How about you?  How do you see Jesus?  Do you see him as just the baby from Bethlehem?  Or do you see him as your Lord and King? 

When Jesus comes and you fall to your knees saying “Jesus is Lord,” will you say it in love and awe? 

Or will you say it with the words literally being pulled out of your mouth through gritted teeth?

May you come to know this Jesus, not as a baby born 2000 years ago, but as your Lord and King today.

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Jeremiah

Deliverer and Redeemer

Jeremiah

As I write this, Christmas is drawing near.  And as such, my thoughts turn even more than usual to the one who came 2000 years ago. 

Why did he come?  He came not to judge, but to deliver and redeem us from our captivity to sin and to set us free that we might have a relationship with him once again.

As usual, we see a lot of the judgment of God in this passage. 

God told Jeremiah not to mourn with those who had lost loved ones, because there was no comfort to give. God had withdrawn his blessing from the people.

And soon, so many would die that there would be no one left who could bring comfort to others.  All would be suffering from pain and loss.

Then he told him not to join in their feasting because all joy and gladness would soon be taken from them. 

God told Jeremiah to make crystal clear to the people why judgment would come.  That it would come because they had turned their backs on God and started serving other gods in the stubbornness of their own hearts.

But then the tone of the passage changes a bit in verses 14-15. 

God asked Jeremiah, “Do you know how people always look back at how I saved the Israelites from the hands of the Egyptians.  That’ll be nothing compared to how I’ll bring all my people back from exile into the land I promised their forefathers. 

“From that point on, people will no longer point back to the Exodus, but to their return from exile.”

And that’s exactly what God did.  He brought them back from Persia into their own land. 

And after Rome decimated Jerusalem during the time of the apostles and all the Jews were scattered, 2000 years later, in our very own time, he brought them back into their own land. 

Why did he do so?  To prove to them that he is their deliverer and redeemer, not the gods that they had been seeking. 

The day will come when all Israel will acknowledge that.  And God says concerning them,

“Therefore I will teach them — this time I will teach them my power and might.  Then they will know that my name is the Lord.”  (Jeremiah 16:21)

Today, there are many people lost in their sin.  Who like the Israelites have turned their backs on God in the stubbornness of their own hearts. 

But Jesus came to deliver and redeem them.  To show them who God really is, that they might know him and have a relationship with him.

So as we look around at the people around us this Christmas, let us keep that in mind and share with them the good news that they can be delivered and redeemed as well.

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Jeremiah

Spiritual pitfalls: The trap of self-pity

Jeremiah

Sometimes when following God gets hard, it becomes easy to complain. 

“Why is this happening to me?  I don’t understand.  I thought that if I followed you, all would go well.  Why are you allowing this to happen?”

And that’s how Jeremiah felt.  Once again, he felt the sting of rejection and persecution from his own people. 

As a result, he started to face doubts about what he was doing for God, saying,

Why is my pain unending and my wound grievous and incurable? 

Will you be to me like a deceptive brook, like a spring that fails?  (Jeremiah 15:18)

In other words, “I’m suffering here.  Can’t you see?  Are you truly going to help me?  Or will you let me down like so many others have in the past?”

But once again, God doesn’t allow Jeremiah to wallow in his own self-pity.  Rather, he challenges him, saying,

Therefore this is what the Lord says:  “If you repent, I will restore you that you may serve me; if you utter worthy, not worthless, words, you will be my spokesman. 

Let this people turn to you, but you must not turn to them. 

I will make you a wall to this people, a fortified wall of bronze; they will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you to rescue and save you,” declares the Lord. 

“I will save you from the hands of the wicked and redeem you from the grasp of the cruel.”  (Jeremiah 15:19-21)

Put simply, “Stop feeling sorry for yourself.  Walk away from your pity party so that I can use you.  Stop your complaining, and instead speak the words I give you. 

“These people around you would have you become like them, but you must not.  Instead, you must make them bend to you. 

“They may fight against you and persecute you, but they will not overcome you.  I will rescue you. 

“So take your eyes off of yourself, and put them on me where they belong.”

How about you?  Do you wallow about in self-pity when things get hard because you’re serving God? 

Satan loves that, because it makes you utterly useless to God.  Satan wants you to focus on yourself, because when you do, it’s impossible to focus on God or the people around you.

Let us not be people that focus on ourselves and our own troubles. 

Rather, as the writer of Hebrews says,

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 

Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.  (Hebrews 12:2-3)

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Jeremiah

Feeding on the words of God

Jeremiah

Things were so bad in Judah, that God told Jeremiah he would not have heeded any intercession even from Moses or Samuel.

Basically, after Hezekiah died, Judah went on a downward slide.  His son Manasseh had led the nation back into idol worship, and though he himself repented, the nation continued in their sin.

This despite the rise of Josiah, who like Hezekiah before him, truly sought the Lord from his heart.

The problem?  The people refused to take in the words of God.  They heard them all the time from Jeremiah and the other prophets.  But they would not heed them.

Jeremiah, on the other hand, was different.  He said,

When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart’s delight, for I bear your name, O Lord God Almighty.  (Jeremiah 15:16)

When the people of Judah tasted the words of the Lord, they immediately spit it out.

But when Jeremiah tasted the words of the Lord, he savored them.  He delighted in them.  And he took them in and let them transform him.

How about you?  What do you do with the words of God?

Some people are literally starving spiritually because they fail to take in the nutrients of the Word.

They think that the Sunday message is enough, though they would never consider having just one big meal to sustain them through the entire week.

Other people hear the word, and immediately forget what they read, making it of no use to them.

But if we want to see God work in our lives, we need to feed on his words, delight in them, and take them into our hearts.  To let them renew our minds and transform our way of thinking and acting.

If we do, we will find not judgment, as the people of Judah received. Rather, we will find mercy as Jeremiah and the others who followed God received even in the midst of a troubled time.

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Jeremiah

Where our hope lies

Jeremiah

Here we see more warnings of judgment to come. 

Jeremiah first warns the people that they will be taken captive and put to shame because of their sins.  That while they would hope for light, God would cover them in the utter darkness of despair (Jeremiah 13:16).

Then he uses the drought Judah was going through to show them that this was just another warning for the people to turn from their sin before utter disaster hit. (Chapter 14)

In the midst of the drought, Jeremiah pleaded with God for mercy in spite of the people’s sins.  But after he finished praying,

The Lord said to me, “Do not pray for the well-being of this people. 

Although they fast, I will not listen to their cry; though they offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. 

Instead, I will destroy them with the sword, famine and plague.”  (Jeremiah 14:11-12)

Still, Jeremiah pleaded with God for the people, and in the end said,

Do any of the worthless idols of the nations bring rain?  Do the skies themselves send down showers? 

No, it is you, O Lord our God.  Therefore our hope is in you, for you are the one who does all this.  (Jeremiah 14:22)

The thing that Jeremiah realized, which apparently none of the other people of Judah did, was that their only hope lay in God. 

The people of Judah put their trust in themselves, in their alliances with other countries, and in their own wisdom and strength. 

But that pride would end up destroying them.  And the gods they stubbornly clung to wouldn’t be able to pull them out of the trouble they were in.

Where does your hope lie?  Does it lie in God?  Do you put your trust in him for everything in life?  Do you do things his way?

Or are you like the people of Judah, trusting in yourself, and counting on the gods of this world to pull you through the troubles you are going through.

There is only one place we can truly find hope, and that’s in God.  So let us turn to him and follow him before it’s too late.

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Jeremiah

Making ourselves useless

Jeremiah

What are we doing here on earth?  What is God’s purpose for us? 

Ultimately it comes down to two things:

First, to know him more. 

And second, to touch the world around us for him. 

God could take us straight to heaven and accomplish the first.  But he would be quite limited in doing the second if he took us to heaven right here and now. 

(I suppose he could use our writings or the inspiration people take from our lives to touch others even after our death, for example).

But it is possible to make ourselves useless.  To be a person that God cannot use at all to touch this world.  How can that happen? 

God told the people of Judah,

I bound the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah to me,’ declares the Lord, ‘to be my people for my renown and praise and honor. 

But they have not listened.’  (Jeremiah 13:11)

In other words, God intended Israel and Judah to be a shining light to the nations around them.  That the nations would see God in their midst and be drawn to him. 

But Israel and Judah refused to listen to or obey him.  So God made a graphic picture for them to realize what had happened to them.

He had Jeremiah buy a linen belt, wear it for a while, and then bury it in the ground for a time. 

When Jeremiah finally brought it back out of the ground, it was ruined and completely useless.  God then told Jeremiah,

In the same way I will ruin the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem. 

These wicked people, who refuse to listen to my words, who follow the stubbornness of their hearts and go after other gods to serve and worship them, will be like this belt – completely useless!  (Jeremiah 13:9-10)

When we in our pride turn from God, refuse to heed his voice and instead follow the stubbornness of our own hearts, following the gods of this world, whether it be idols, or money, or possessions, or whatever it may be, we become like the linen belt:  buried in the ground, ruined, and useless to God.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be that way.  As the old song goes,

My heart’s one desire
Is to be holy
Set apart for You, Lord

I choose to be holy
Set apart for You, my Master
Ready to do Your will.

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Jeremiah

Running out of steam

Jeremiah

Nobody ever said following the Lord would be easy.  (At least I never have).  And the life of a prophet is much tougher.

Jeremiah found that out when he learned that the people of his own hometown of Anathoth were plotting to kill him. 

But despite God’s reassurance that their time of judgment was coming near, Jeremiah complained to God saying,

You are always righteous, O Lord, when I bring a case before you.  Yet I would speak with you about your justice: 

Why does the way of the wicked prosper?  Why do all the faithless live at ease?  You have planted them, and they have taken root; they grow and bear fruit.  You are always on their lips but far from their hearts. 

Yet you know me, O Lord; you see me and test my thoughts about you.  (Jeremiah 12:1-3)

In other words, “Why are these evil people around me prospering?  Look at me!  I’m doing my best to follow you, and see what it’s getting me?  Everyone hates me and they even want to kill me!”

One might think that God would give him a consoling pat on the shoulder and say, “Oh don’t worry Jeremiah.  It’ll all be okay.”

But instead, God gives him a word of rebuke.  A slap in the face, so to speak.

If you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses?

If you stumble in safe country, how will you manage in the thickets by the Jordan?  (Jeremiah 12:5)

In short, “You’re tired already?  This is only the beginning.  Things are about to get  much tougher.  If you’re wilting now, how are you going to stand when the pressure really comes.”

God never promised us that the Christian life would be easy.  And he warned Jeremiah, “Don’t even trust the members of your family, because they will betray you behind your back, while speaking pleasantly to your face.”

What am I saying?  That we should be paranoid of everyone around us?  Of course not.  But on the other hand, don’t be surprised if you suffer for the sake of Christ. 

Jesus himself said,

Remember the words I spoke to you:  ‘No servant is greater than his master.’  If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also.  (John 15:20)

Jeremiah was running out of steam because of the opposition he was facing. 

And essentially God was telling him, “Welcome to the big leagues.  This is but a taste of what it means to follow me.  And if you’re going to not just survive but thrive, you need to get a lot stronger.”

How do we get stronger?  Know what you’re facing and prepare.  Know that there are forces around us that are out to get us, and I’m not talking about the people that make trouble for us in our lives. 

Paul wrote,

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.  (Ephesians 6:12)

How do we prepare in this spiritual fight?  Paul tells us,

Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 

Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.  (Ephesians 6:10-11)

In other words, don’t rely on your own strength to fight.  If you rely on your own strength, like Jeremiah, you will start to falter. 

Root yourself in your relationship with God.  That’s what Jesus did daily, spending much time in prayer with the Father, drawing his strength for the day from him. 

Honestly, that’s something I need to do more of.

But not only that, put on the armor of God.  Put on the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shield of faith, the helmet of faith, and the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God.

Too many Christians run around naked and in their own strength, not even knowing there’s an enemy out there.  That’s a good way to get killed.

How about you?  Are you rooted in your relationship with God?  Are you daily putting on his armor? 

If not, you’ll find yourself running out of steam very quickly, and getting shot down by the enemy.

Let us not be that way.  Rather, as Paul said, let us,

Put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.  (Ephesians 6:13)

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Jeremiah

When God won’t listen

Jeremiah

“I’m already saved.  So I’ll just sin and God will forgive me.”

That’s the unfortunate attitude of many people that say they are Christians, but continue to live their own way. 

But God makes clear here that he doesn’t tolerate that kind of attitude.

He said of the people of Israel and Judah,

There is a conspiracy among the people of Judah and those who live in Jerusalem. 

They have returned to the sins of their forefathers, who refused to listen to my words.  They have followed other gods to serve them. 

Both the house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken the covenant I made with their forefathers.  (Jeremiah 11:9-10)

So many people today are the same.  They return to the sins that they had previously left behind. 

Perhaps the people of Judah thought to themselves, “It’s okay.  If we get into trouble, we’ll just make the sacrifices for sin, and God will forgive us.”

But they forgot the sacrifices were not for willful sins, that is, sins made in utter rebellion and disobedience towards God. 

Sometimes we sin in the heat of the moment.  Sometimes we sin before we even know it.  It was for those sins that the sacrifices were for, not for defiant ones.  See here for more on that.

Here, the people of Judah knew what they were doing was wrong, but insisted on sinning.  So God said,

Therefore this is what the Lord says: ‘I will bring on them a disaster they cannot escape.  Although they cry out to me, I will not listen to them.  (11)

And again,

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.  (14)

We are living in the age of grace.  That’s true.  God will forgive us if we’re truly repentant.  But as I’ve mentioned before, that doesn’t mean we’ll escape the consequences of sin.

If you cheat on your wife, she may divorce you no matter how much you may plead with her or God. 

If you blow your money on gambling or unwise use of credit cards, you can plead with God all you want, but most likely, he’ll let you suffer the consequences of your actions.

So let us not fool ourselves by saying, “God will forgive, so I’ll just sin.” 

Let us instead do as Paul admonishes us.

Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.  (2 Timothy 2:22) 

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Jeremiah

The God who is awesome

Jeremiah

In America, we don’t see many actual idols that people worship.  Of course you have the “idols” of this world.  Fame.  Money.  Power.  Sex.

But in Japan, we see idols all over the place, mostly of one Buddha or another.  Many people also worship in front of a Shinto altar. 

And it’s really sad to me.  Because at best, they are worshiping a piece of carved stone or metal.  At worst, they’re worshiping a demon behind the stone.  It’s hard for me to understand why people would do that.

Actually, for most Japanese, it’s more cultural practice than actual religious belief.  But it doesn’t really change the fact of what they’re actually doing.

God puts it this way,

For the practices 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.

Like a scarecrow in a cucumber field,
their idols cannot speak;
they must be carried
because they cannot walk.

Do not fear them;
they can do no harm nor can they do any good.  (Jeremiah 10:3-5)

And again,

The images he makes are a fraud;
they have no breath in them.

 They are worthless, the objects of mockery;
when their judgment comes, they will perish.  (14-15)

But God is quite different.  Jeremiah says of him,

No one is like you, Lord;
you are great,
and your name is mighty in power.

Who should not fear you,
King of the nations?
This is your due.

Among all the wise leaders of the nations
and in all their kingdoms,
there is no one like you.  (6-7)

And again,

The Lord is the true God;
he is the living God, the eternal King.

When he is angry, the earth trembles;
the nations cannot endure his wrath…

But God made the earth by his power;
he founded the world by his wisdom
and stretched out the heavens by his understanding.  (10-12)

I don’t say this to mock those who worship these false idols. 

But my prayer is that they would turn from these false gods, these pieces of stone or metal, and worship the one true God.  Because he alone is worthy of our worship.

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Jeremiah

Something to boast about

Jeremiah

This is what the Lord says:  “Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this:  that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,” declares the Lord.  (Jeremiah 9:23-24)

The people of Judah were boasting in their own wisdom and strength.  Some even boasted that they were God’s people because they were circumcised. 

But all these things were meaningless because they had turned their backs on God and were living their own way.  And so judgment was about to fall on them.

What about you?  What are you proud of?  Your education?  Your job?  Your wealth?  Your position?  The things that you own? 

They are all meaningless if you don’t know the Lord.

This doesn’t mean that we just know about God.  Many people know about God.  Satan knows more about God than probably any of us do.  But do we truly know him? 

Do we walk in close relationship with him, delighting in the things that he delights and despising the things he despises?  Do we even know God well enough that we know what he delights in and despises?

To truly know God and what he’s like.  Now that’s something to boast about. 

And it’s a lifelong process.  To not only know what he delights in and despises, but to have our minds transformed so that we delight in and despise the same things that he does.

How much time do we spend getting to know God?  How much time do we spend with him everyday?  Is it a priority in our lives? 

Paul wrote this,

I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. 

I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ – the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. 

I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.  (Philippians 3:8-11)

To know Jesus was Paul’s passion.  Is it yours?

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Jeremiah

Deceptive hearts, lying tongues

Jeremiah

If there’s one thing I try to be, it’s to be honest.  I don’t even care to tell white lies very often. 

If I don’t want to do something, I’ll just say so.  Nicely, but honestly. 

If I don’t like something, I’ll usually go by the maxim, “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” 

If I do have to say something, I try (although I admittedly don’t always succeed) to do it gently.

There are two reasons for this: 

One, I’m not a good liar anyway. 

But secondly, and more importantly, God calls us to be honest.  He hates deceptive hearts and lying tongues.  And that’s what we see here. 

He told Jeremiah,

They make ready their tongue like a bow, to shoot lies; it is not by truth that they triumph in the land. They go from one sin to another; they do not acknowledge me,” declares the Lord. 

“Beware of your friends; do not trust your brothers.  For every brother is a deceiver, and every friend a slanderer. Friend deceives friend, and no one speaks the truth. They have taught their tongues to lie; they weary themselves with sinning. 

You live in the midst of deception; in their deceit they refuse to acknowledge me,” declares the Lord. 

Therefore this is what the Lord Almighty says:  “See, I will refine and test them, for what else can I do because of the sin of my people? 

Their tongue is a deadly arrow; it speaks with deceit. With his mouth each speaks cordially to his neighbor, but in his heart he sets a trap for him.  (Jeremiah 9:3-8)

That’s a pretty miserable picture God paints.  A picture where you can’t even trust your own family or friends.  Tongues as smooth as silk, but hearts filled with poison. 

And God says of these kinds of people,

“Should I not punish them for this?” declares the Lord.  “Should I not avenge myself on such a nation as this?”  (Jeremiah 9:9)

What kind of person are you? 

Do you teach your tongue how to lie?  Or do you teach it how to speak the truth in love? 

Is your mouth filled with deceit?  Or is it full of integrity?

When you talk with your wife or your husband, do you hide things from them?  Or are you completely open with them? 

When you talk with your business clients, do you keep things from them in order to win the contract?  Or are you completely honest and above board with them? 

Do you speak soft words to people, while despising them in your heart?  Or are you learning to love them as Jesus does, matching both your heart and words?

God says that people that live lives of deceit are failing to acknowledge him in their lives. 

God is truth.  And so he calls us to live truthful lives.

How truthful are you?

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Jeremiah

Jeremiah: Weeping for the lost

Jeremiah

Jeremiah is known as the weeping prophet and you see part of the reason why here. 

So often, we look at the prophets and all the fire and brimstone they bring to the table and think that they almost delighted in doing so.

But I believe that most, if not all, were like Jeremiah, weeping for the people they were preaching to.  Weeping because the people refused to listen and were headed for judgment.

After railing against the Israelites, Jeremiah said,

O my Comforter in sorrow, my heart is faint within me. 

Listen to the cry of my people from a land far away:  “Is the Lord not in Zion? Is her King no longer there?”…

“The harvest is past, the summer has ended, and we are not saved.” 

Since my people are crushed, I am crushed; I mourn, and horror grips me.  Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there?  Why then is there no healing for the wound of my people? 

Oh, that my head were a spring of water and my eyes a fountain of tears!  I would weep day and night for the slain of my people. 

Oh, that I had in the desert a lodging place for travelers, so that I might leave my people and go away from them; for they are all adulterers, a crowd of unfaithful people.  (Jeremiah 8:18-22, Jeremiah 9:1-2)

I’ve mentioned this before, but going through all the prophets in the Old Testament is kind of tough, basically because a lot of times I feel like I’m repeating myself, particularly concerning God’s judgment. 

I probably am repeating myself, considering the fact that the prophets continually preached judgment on the people for their sin. 

And it wasn’t as if the people were always making new mistakes.  They kept repeating their sins of the past, constantly going in a downward spiral.

It might be easy for someone to look at a lot of what I write and think I’m kind of a fire and brimstone type of guy myself, which I don’t consider myself to be. 

But one thing I always want to do as a writer and as a teacher is to tell it like it is.  And I write these things for the same reasons that the prophets did.  I want people to be saved.

To be honest, though, I still need much more of a heart for the lost.  A heart that weeps for them as Jeremiah did.  To see their needs, having a heart that breaks for them and reaches out to them. 

If the church were filled with those kinds of people, how much of an impact do you think we could have on this world?

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Jeremiah

When the church is not a sanctuary

Jeremiah

We often  call the church a sanctuary.  And that’s what it is.  It’s a place where we can find God and find safety in his presence.

But it is not a sanctuary for everyone.  And that’s what God tells the people here.

This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Reform your ways and your actions, and I will let you live in this place. 

Do not trust in deceptive words and say, “This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord!” 

If you really change your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly, if you do not oppress the alien, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not follow other gods to your own harm, then I will let you live in this place, in the land I gave your forefathers for ever and ever.  

But look, you are trusting in deceptive words that are worthless. 

Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to Baal and follow other gods you have not known, and then come and stand before me in this house, which bears my Name, and say, “We are safe”–safe to do all these detestable things? 

Has this house, which bears my Name, become a den of robbers to you? But I have been watching! declares the Lord.  (Jeremiah 7:3-11)

In short, you can’t just live your own way and claim sanctuary in the house of God. 

David’s general Joab learned that to his sorrow.  After years of living his own way and killing innocent men, he tried to escape to the sanctuary to avoid being put to death. 

It didn’t work.  Solomon had him struck down right there in the tabernacle.  (1 Kings 2:28-34)

God told the people, “Look at Shiloh where my tabernacle used to be.  It was wiped out because the people there turned their backs on me.  And the same will happen to the temple in Jerusalem unless you repent.  (12-15)

“I’m not so interested in your sacrifices or religious rituals.  I’m much more interested in your obedience.  If you’ll just obey, everything will go well with you.  But instead you continually harden your hearts as your forefathers did.” (21-27)

Then he said,

This is the nation that has not obeyed the Lord its God or responded to correction.  Truth has perished; it has vanished from their lips…

“The people of Judah have done evil in my eyes,” declares the Lord…” 

So beware, the days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when people will no longer call it Topheth or the Valley of Ben Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter, for they will bury the dead in Topheth until there is no more room.”  (28-30,32)

Topheth, in the valley of Ben Hinnom in Jerusalem, was a place where the Israelites were doing child sacrifice.  While they were performing their sacrifices to God at the temple, they were also performing these vile sacrifices to false gods.

And so God said, “I will bring judgment.  Your going to the temple will not save you.  Truth has perished to the point where you’re doing things that are evil in my eyes and you no longer respond to correction.”

How about you?  Do you go to church thinking it absolves you from all the evil that you do during the week?  It doesn’t.  Going to church means nothing if you just live your own way the rest of the week.

So let us not live for God just for a few hours each week.  But let us remember the words of Micah.

He has showed you, O man, what is good.  And what does the Lord require of you?  To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.  (Micah 6:8)

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Jeremiah

A crossroad

Crossroad Nishinomiya church

I belong to a church in Japan called Crossroad Bible Fellowship.  It’s an appropriate name in more ways than one. 

We’re located near a station that’s literally a junction point between several different cities.  But as part of the church at large, we’re also called to be a crossroad to the community around us. 

When people walk into our church, they should be forced to a point of decision, a crossroad as it were.  To follow Christ or to not.

And that’s what Jeremiah was trying to force the people of Judah to do.  Make a decision.  Either follow God or not.  He said,

This is what the Lord says:   “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.”  (Jeremiah 6:16)

Basically God’s saying here, “You’re at a point of decision.  You can go one way or the other.  Ask for the ancient paths that people like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the other people of faith followed.  That’s the good way.  If you walk in it, you’ll find peace.”

But the problem is found in the very next sentence.

But you said, ‘We will not walk in it.’ (16b)

Stubbornness.  Hardness of heart. 

However you want to put it, that’s how the people of Judah were.  Though God sent people like Jeremiah to warn them and admonish them, the people responded,

‘We will not listen.’ (17)

Jeremiah said of the people,

To whom can I speak and give warning? Who will listen to me?

Their ears are closed so they cannot hear. The word of the Lord is offensive to them; they find no pleasure in it.  (10)

The result?  Judgment.

It was very interesting yesterday as I posted this blog on Facebook. 

I printed this quote from yesterday:  “Everyone loves to hear about God’s love and mercy.  No one likes to hear about God’s judgment.”

A few people “liked” the quote.  But I wonder if they really understood what I was saying.  It occurred to me this morning that it could be taken two ways. 

When I wrote it, it was to make people realize that the love and mercy of God were only one side to the gospel.  But there is another side to it as well:  judgment.

I wonder if some people took it in the wrong way.  That we should be preaching God’s love and mercy and completely leave behind the message of God’s judgment.

That’s what the priests and false prophets were doing.

They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious.  ‘Peace, peace’ they say, when there is no peace.  (14)

There was a missionary named Jim Elliot who wrote something that I’ve never forgotten.  He prayed,

Let me not be a milepost on a single road; make me a fork, that men must turn one way or another on facing Christ in me.

How about you?  Are you simply a milepost on a single road?  Or are you a fork?  A crossroad? 

I’m not saying we should bash a person on the head with the gospel and force them to make a decision right then and there (although a quick decision would be ideal). 

But if a person is with us long enough, they should come to a point of decision.  And if they’re not, then we’re probably not doing the job God has called us to do. 

Are you?  Some people, like the people of Judah, may reject the message we bring.  But others will hear and be saved.  And that’s what really matters.

May we all be a crossroad to the people around us, not just pointing the way to Christ, but also forcing people to a point of decision.

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Jeremiah

Deceiving ourselves

Jeremiah

Jeremiah continues to rip the people here in this passage.  He starts with an allusion to Sodom and Gomorrah. 

As you may recall, Abraham asked if God would spare them if he found just ten righteous people in the city, and while God agreed, ten righteous people were not to be found.

Here, God says that if he found just one righteous person, he would spare Jerusalem, but there was none. 

Either none of the prophets lived in Jerusalem, or this is a bit of hyperbole.  Jeremiah was certainly one man that sought God, and there were other prophets as well, such as Zephaniah and perhaps Nahum. 

King Josiah had also started seeking the Lord as well, although perhaps he hadn’t started at the time this prophesy was written.  But the point is that there were precious few who were seeking God, from the high on down to the low.

What was the problem?  Nobody feared the Lord.  Everyone took him lightly, and thought that even if he noticed what they were doing, that he wouldn’t do anything about it. 

Jeremiah said of them,

They have lied about the Lord; they said, “He will do nothing!  No harm will come to us; we will never see sword or famine. 

The prophets are but wind and the word is not in them; so let what they say be done to them.  (Jeremiah 5:12-13)

So many people live that way today.  They live their own way, believing that God will not ever bring judgment.

“God’s a God of love.  Surely he wouldn’t bring judgment down on us, would he?  All those people that talk about his judgment are just trying to scare us.  Don’t pay any attention to what they say.”

And so instead of listening to those who bring God’s word and warnings of judgment, they listen only to those who make them feel good. 

As Jeremiah said,

The prophets prophesy lies, the priests rule by their own authority, and my people love it this way. 

But what will you do in the end?  (31)

Everyone loves to hear about God’s love and mercy.  No one likes to hear about God’s judgment.  But if we refuse to listen to those warnings, we are deceiving ourselves because judgment is coming.

He judged the people of Judah through the Babylonians.  And the day will come when Jesus will come back and judge each person both the living and the dead.  All will stand before him and give an account to him.

How about you?  Are you living your own way, deceiving yourself into thinking that judgment will never come? 

God is patient, but judgment will come.  You may like to only hear words of God’s love and mercy, but if you ignore his warnings of judgment and refuse to repent, what will you do when you stand before him?

There’s only one way to be ready for judgment day.  To turn from your sins, and receive Jesus as your Lord. 

As Paul wrote,

If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 

For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.  (Romans 10:9-10)

Let us not deceive ourselves.  Judgment is coming.  Let us get ready now before it’s too late.

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Jeremiah

Bringing evil upon ourselves

Jeremiah

Why is this happening to me?  People often ask that question when bad things happen in their lives. 

Sometimes, bad things happen because we are caught in a world corrupted by sin.  But sometimes, we bring evil upon ourselves.  That’s what the people of Judah did.

In this passage, God warns them of the coming judgment through Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon.  That he would come and besiege the land, and leave Judah in ruins (6-7).

And the people would have no one to blame but themselves.  They had hardened their hearts against God’s message, from the king, to the priests and prophets, all the way down the people. 

God said of them,

They (the Babylonian army) surround her like men guarding a field, because she has rebelled against me. 

Your own conduct and actions have brought this upon you.  This is your punishment. 

How bitter it is!  How it pierces to the heart.  (Jeremiah 4:17-18)

And again,

My people are fools; they do not know me.  They are senseless children; they have no understanding.  They are skilled in doing evil; they know not how to do good.  (22)

Even when disaster overtook them, they refused to repent, prostituting themselves to other gods.  And so Jeremiah asked,

What are you doing, O devastated one? 

Why dress yourself in scarlet and put on jewels of gold?  Why shade your eyes with paint?  You adorn yourself in vain.  Your lovers despise you; they seek your life.  (30)

It’s amazing how little changes over the centuries.  People harden their hearts against God and suffer the consequences of their own sin.  Yet instead of repenting, they continue to live a life that would destroy them.

How about you?  Are you that way? 

Are there things that you’re doing that are destroying your marriage, your relationships, your career, or your life? 

Despite seeing what damage you’re doing, are you persisting in your attitudes and actions? 

Or will you repent?

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Jeremiah

False repentance

Jeremiah

Every once in a while, my daughter will do something wrong, and we’ll tell her to apologize.  But when she does, she sometimes makes light of it, almost singing, “I’m sorrryyy.”

And that’s how Judah was.  God said of them,

You have the brazen look of a prostitute; you refuse to blush with shame.

Have you not just called to me: ‘My Father, my friend from my youth, will you always be angry?  Will your wrath continue forever?’

This is how you talk, but you do all the evil you can. (Jeremiah 3:3-5)

With their lips, they said “I’m sorry,” but their actions showed they were not sorry at all.

God then compared them to the northern kingdom of Israel that had been exiled.  God said that he divorced them because of their adulteries (that is, he exiled them because of their idolatry).  But despite seeing this, the people of Judah didn’t repent.

Oh, they said the words of repentance, but did not truly repent in their hearts.  God said of them,

“In spite of all this, her unfaithful sister Judah did not return to me with all her heart, but only in pretense,” declares the Lord.

The Lord said to me, “Faithless Israel is more righteous than unfaithful Judah.” (Jeremiah 3:10-11)

What does God mean by this?  “Either repent, or don’t.  I’d prefer outright rebellion than false piety.”

But of course, true repentance is what God truly wants.  And so he says,

“Return, faithless Israel,” declares the Lord, “I will frown on you no longer, for I am merciful,” declares the Lord, “I will not be angry forever.

Only acknowledge your guilt – you have rebelled against the Lord your God, you have scattered your favors to foreign gods under every spreading tree, and have not obeyed me,” declares the Lord.

“Return, faithless people,” declares the Lord, “for I am your husband…

Return, faithless people; I will cure you of backsliding.”  (Jeremiah 3:12-14,22)

How should we respond?

Yes, we will come to you, for you are the Lord our God.  (Jeremiah 3:22)

And as God says,

Break up your unplowed ground and do not sow among thorns.

Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, circumcise your hearts.  (Jeremiah 4:3-4)

In other words, soften your heart towards God.  Break up the hardness of your heart.  Pull out the thorns of sin.  And cut out the things in your life that would keep you from him.

When we do this, our repentance will not only affect us, but the people around us.

As God says,

“If you will return, O Israel, return to me,” declares the Lord.

“If you put your detestable idols out of my sight and no longer go astray, and if in a truthful, just and righteous way you swear, ‘As surely as the Lord lives,’ then the nations will be blessed by him and in him they will glory.”  (Jeremiah 4:1-2)

In short, when we return to the Lord in true repentance, and truly start living for him, all the people around us start to be blessed as he works through us to touch them.

May we all have hearts that are softened towards him that we may touch the world around us.

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Jeremiah

Where our worth comes from

Jeremiah

Self-esteem.  Self-worth. 

These words are often thrown around in society as people try to “find themselves.”

But there is only one place you’ll ever find yourself.  And you won’t find it by looking at yourself.

That’s what God told the people of Israel.  He compared them to a wife who left her husband for another lover.  Despite God’s love for his people, despite all he had done for them, still they strayed away from him. 

And God asked them,

What fault did your fathers find in me, that they strayed so far from me?　(Jeremiah 2:5a)

And then he said,

They followed worthless idols and became worthless themselves.  (5b)

So many people say, “I have to find myself.”  And so they seek everywhere they can to “find themselves.”  Everywhere, that is, except God. 

They look to money, a career, a boyfriend, girlfriend, husband or wife.  They look to possessions.  They look to all the things that this world offers.

And that’s what the Israelites did too.  God told them,

They did not ask, ‘Where is the Lord, who brought us up out of Egypt…

The priests did not ask, ‘Where is the Lord?’ 

Those who deal with the law did not know me; the leaders rebelled against me. 

The prophets prophesied by Baal, following worthless idols.  (6,8)

But in seeking the worthless idols of the world, we don’t gain self-worth.  We lose it.  We don’t find life.  We lose it.

God said,

My people have committed two sins:  They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.  (13)

Two sins.  Forsaking God, the true living water.  And building our own broken cisterns that can’t support anything. 

How many people have tried to build cisterns based on money, possessions, power, and even relationships, only to find that they’ve been left empty.  And so they cry out even more, “I need to find myself.”

But God tells us that in the end,

Your wickedness will punish you; your backsliding will rebuke you. 

Consider then and realize how evil and bitter it is for you when you forsake the Lord your God and have no awe of me.  (19)

Why?  Because we can’t find life when we’ve abandoned the source of life.  Everything else will leave us disappointed. 

Israel tried to “find themselves” by their alliances with Egypt and Assyria and the gods they served (18).  But in the end, God said,

You will be disappointed by Egypt as you were by Assyria.  You will also leave that place with your hands on your head, for the Lord has rejected those you trust; you will not be helped by them.  (36-37)

Are you trying to find yourself?  You won’t find it in yourself.  You won’t find it in the things the world offers.  You’ll only find it in God.

Pursue him.  Everything else will leave you empty.

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Jeremiah

Something more

Jeremiah

And so we hit our second major prophet.  This one’s a challenge, and I’m not sure how I want to tackle this yet. 

For some reason, Jeremiah keeps switching the chronology of events.  He’ll talk about Josiah, then Zedekiah (the last king of Judah), and then Jehoiakim (Josiah’s son), and then go back to Zedekiah. 

Isaiah may have done a bit of skipping around too, but not to the extent Jeremiah does.

But anyway, God speaks to Jeremiah and says,

Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.  (Jeremiah 1:5)

How old Jeremiah was when this call came is uncertain.  What is certain is that Jeremiah was hardly brimming with confidence.  He said,

“Ah, Sovereign Lord,” I said, “I do not know how to speak; I am only a child.”  (6)

In other words, “Who me?  I can’t do that.  I’m too young.  I don’t know anything.  And I’m no orator either.  I think you’ve got me confused with someone else.”

But God replies,

Do not say, ‘I am only a child.’ 

You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you.  Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the Lord. 

Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “Now, I have put my words in your mouth.  See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant. (7-10)

What was God saying? 

He was saying to Jeremiah, “You’re something more than what you think of yourself.  You’re something more because I’ve made you something more.  I’ll put my words in your mouth and I’ll use you to make a difference in this world.”

So often, we are like Jeremiah.  I know I am.  I look at myself, and I still don’t think I’m much. 

I may have a few years on me, but I still don’t feel particularly wise.  Nor do I feel particularly capable to do all that God may be calling me to do.

But God says, “Don’t put yourself down.  I am with you.  What you are is not so important.  What’s important is who I am.  And I will use you to make a difference.”

What do we have to do?  Just do whatever God asks.  God won’t give us more than we can handle.

He started simple with Jeremiah as we see in verses 11-12.

The word of the Lord came to me: “What do you see, Jeremiah?” 

“I see the branch of an almond tree,” I replied. 

The Lord said to me, “You have seen correctly, for I am watching to see that my word is fulfilled.”

God gave him a simple vision with a simple question.  Jeremiah answered, and God said “See you can do it.  And I’m watching to make sure the word I give to you is fulfilled.”

He even did a little wordplay in the process. The word for “watching” in Hebrew sounds similar to the word for “almond tree.”

It’s the same with us.  God starts simple with us, and then he gives us more when we can handle it.  But even more importantly, he promises to always stand with us. 

He told Jeremiah,

Get yourself ready!  Stand up and say to them whatever I command you.  Do not be terrified by them, or I will terrify you before them. 

Today I have made you a fortified city, an iron pillar and a bronze wall to stand against the whole land–against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests and the people of the land. 

They will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the Lord.  (17-19)

God tells us the same.

“Get ready.  Stand up and do and say whatever I tell you.  People will fight against you, but they will not overcome.  Satan himself will fight you, but you will not be defeated, for I am with you and will rescue you.”

How do you see yourself?  Do you see yourself as weak?  Inadequate?  Worthless? 

You’re so much more in the sight of God.  All you have to do is follow him. 

Will you?