Archive for the ‘Jeremiah--BibleTrekToday’ Category

Scripture reading for August 18th: Lamentations 1-5

“How deserted lies the city, once so full of people!  How like a widow is she, who once was great among the nations! She who was a queen among the provinces has now become a slave.”  . . “Jerusalem has sinned greatly and so has become unclean.  All who honored her despise her, for they have seen her nakedness: she herself groans and turns away.” (Lamentations 1:1,8)

Jerusalem, the once proud city of the nation of Israel was turned to rubble!  Those who lived there were either killed or taken captive by their enemies and the rest were slaves of a foreign occupying power.  Jeremiah wrote this book of Lamentations as a funeral song over the death of a city and nation.  He knew why this had happened and repeatedly told the people what was coming and why!  Their sins had piled up and God had allowed them to reap the consequences!

The consequences of sin were horrible and sad!  Jerusalem was destroyed and burned by fire, and its walls broken down.  The children and infants suffered in the siege and had no food to eat.  Many starved to death and some were actually eaten by their parents in order for them to survive!  (Lamentations 2:11-12, 19-20)  Others were murdered or slaughtered by the conquerors.  The ravages of war and siege left a deposit of  hopelessness and bitterness in the hearts of the survivors and even in Jeremiah’s own heart!  (Lamentations 3:5-7, 19-20)

But Jeremiah found cause to hope in the midst of all the destruction and depression.  “Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail.  They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.  I say to myself, “the Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for Him.” (Lamentations 3:21-24)  God’s great love and mercy brought hope to the prophet.  He knew that God was faithful to His word and the many promises He had made for His people and holy city.

In his grief, Jeremiah was comforted by God’s mercy.  It is the same in our day.  God’s love through Jesus Christ will sustain us through life’s trials and save us from the consequences of our many sins.  He is our portion and we can trust in the God of all hope!  (Romans 15:13)

Scripture reading for August 17th: Jeremiah 46-52

Vengeance belongs to the Lord alone; only He can repay people and nations for their sins.   His judgments are right and true because He alone knows the truth about motives and actions.  As we read these last chapters of Jeremiah, we see that God has the final say concerning judgment on each nation and people mentioned.  He does nothing by judgment unless He warns people by prophetic word.  Even Gentile nations were warned by Jeremiah of God’s coming judgment.  Egypt, Moab, Ammon, Edom, Syria, and Israel were all spoken to.  The final warning was sent to Babylon, the nation God used to punish Israel and who had destroyed God’s temple and killed many of His people.  Although God used them to accomplish His purposes, they still stood accountable for their attitudes and actions.

This retribution would come from repentance by God’s people. “In those days, at that time, declares the Lord, “the people of Israel and the people of Judah together will go in tears to seek the Lord their God.  They will ask the way to Zion and turn their faces toward it.  They will bind themselves to the Lord in an everlasting covenant that will not be forgotten.” (Jeremiah 50:4-5)  This repentance would be followed by a new covenant that would not be forgotten.  They would petition God for Zion and seek God with all their hearts and He would hear them!

Babylon would be punished because they opposed the Lord. (Jeremiah 50:24)  He  would punish them because of their arrogance.  (Jeremiah 50:31-32)  He would punish them because of their false prophets and idols.  (Jeremiah 50:36-38)   They would feel His wrath because they destroyed His temple and did wrong in Zion.  (Jeremiah 51:11, 24)  They would fall because of Israel’s slain at the hands of the wicked in Babylon.  God does repay and is a God of retribution!  (Jeremiah 51:56)

This punishment for Babylon was written down 70 years before it would happen and Jeremiah sent it by messenger to Babylon to be read aloud.  (Jeremiah 51:60-63)  After the reading of the scroll, the messenger was to tie a rock to it and throw it into the Euphrates River.  He was to proclaim, “So will Babylon sink to rise no more because of the disaster I will bring upon her.  And her people will fall.” (Jeremiah 51:64)  God’s word is always right, and 70 years later, Babylon fell as Jeremiah predicted!

Scripture reading for August 16th: Jeremiah 40-45

“Then all the army officers, including Johanan son of Kareah and Jezaniah son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least to the greatest approached Jeremiah the prophet and said, “Please hear our petition and pray to the Lord your God for this entire remnant.  For as you now see, though we were once many, now only a few are left.  Pray that the Lord your God will tell us where we should go and what we should do.”…“May the Lord be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act in accordance with everything the Lord your God sends you to tell us.” (Jeremiah 42:1-3,5)

This is a preacher’s and a prophet’s dream:  people coming to them for God’s direction and vowing to obey whatever God  says!  These people were a small remnant that was left from the captivity and had survived the assassination of their appointed leader.  It seemed like they were ready to hear, so Jeremiah went away to pray.  Ten days later, he brought them God’s directions.  God told them in no uncertain terms what they were to do.  They were to stay in the land and care for it and God would care for them.  If they chose to go to Egypt, they would suffer and die there, never to return to the land.  (Jeremiah 42:7-18)

It was a simple word and easy to understand.  There was one problem, however.  These people did not believe it because they had already decided what they wanted to do.  The wanted to return to Egypt and felt that there they would have plenty to eat and protection.  They loaded up all their possessions and the people and headed for Egypt in defiance to God’s word and instructions! (Jeremiah 43:1-7)

Egypt represents a type of the world and the ways of the flesh.  When God’s people live in fear rather than faith, they often run to Egypt.  Egypt represents man’s strength and dependence on the works of his own hands.  Egypt was full of idols and its religion was sensuous and lust-driven.   This group of Israelites that went to Egypt had been worshiping the “Queen of Heaven”, a female fertility goddess, even while in Israel.  They were drawn to Egypt where they could indulge more freely! (Jeremiah 44:15-19)  God in judgment, gave them what they chose, resulting in their destruction!

Dear Friends of Jesus,

Greetings in the Wonderful Name of Jesus Christ!  No other name offers salvation and eternal life!  No other person has shown such great love to all of mankind and is now alive praying that we might enjoy this love forever!  It’s time to worship Him and gather to celebrate our life in Him!  It’s time to worship and bow down in honor and thanksgiving to the King of Kings!

I want to reflect today on a very obscure passage of scripture, Jeremiah 35.  In this passage, God instructed Jeremiah to tempt a family to drink wine.  They refused because of a command of their forefather, Jonadab.  They chose to fully obey their forefather and enjoyed blessing for doing so.  This was a simple command, but one not easy to obey in the culture of the Middle East of that day.  The Recabites went against the culture and customs of the land to obey, and continued to do so even when tempted to do otherwise!

This is the lesson God was and is still teaching us through these simple people,  “Therefore, this is what the Lord God Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘Listen! I am going to bring on Judah and on everyone living in Jerusalem every disaster I pronounced against them.  I spoke to them, but they did not listen; I called to them, but they did not answer.” (Jeremiah 35:17)  We must listen to God and heed His word, just like the Recabites of old listened to their father and obeyed.  They were rewarded for this simple obedience by God.  He longs to reward us as well, as He is no respecter of persons!

Are you a good example like the Recabites, that God could use to call others to obedience?  Why not make the changes you need today as you attend worship and hear the word of the Lord?  God will reward you too!

In His Love,

Pastor John

Scripture reading for August 14th: Jeremiah 37-39

Prophets have to know that they have heard from the Lord and stay true to the message, even when the going gets rough!  Jeremiah had been prophesying for nearly 40 years and giving the same basic message:  God was going to send Judah into captivity for her sins!  This was not a popular message and was not the message of the popular prophets of Judah either.  They were telling the king and people that God would deliver them from the Babylonians and break the yoke of the enemy, restoring their land and freedom. (Jeremiah 28:10-11)

However, as Jerusalem was surrounded and under siege for a time, the Babylonian army withdrew to fight against Pharaoh’s army.  (Jeremiah 37:9-12)  As Jeremiah began to leave the city to claim his property in Benjamin, he was caught by officials and falsely accused of deserting to Babylon.  He was beaten and imprisoned in the house of Jonathan.

“Jeremiah was put into a vaulted cell in a dungeon, where he remained for a long time.  Then King Zedekiah sent for him and had him brought to the palace where he asked him privately, “Is there any word from the Lord?”  “Yes,” Jeremiah replied, “you will be handed over to the king of Babylon.” (Jeremiah 37:16-17)  The king longed to know what God was thinking and sent for the prophet.  Had he been listening, he would have known that God had already spoken and no one was listening.  Jeremiah repeated the simple message and petitioned the king for mercy.  Zedekiah seemed to soften and allowed him to be moved to a more comfortable location and to receive food.

Some people seem eager to hear a fresh “word from the Lord” when they haven’t processed or heeded the earlier words.  Some of the instructions from God may not be to our liking or may seem too hard for us, but obedience is the right approach.  God can’t give further instructions until we obey the one’s we have already.  Faithfulness in the little brings an opportunity to be faithful in much!

Would you take time today to examine your obedience to what God has already spoken to you?  Are you walking in His call for your life?  Are you faithful in the tasks you know you should be doing?  If not, repent and begin to obey!  That’s a “word” for you today!

Scripture reading for August 13th: Jeremiah 34-36

Jeremiah had an interesting life and a difficult message.  He was sent by God to God’s people with a message of judgment and rebuke.  He was told up front that they would not listen. (Jeremiah 1:19)  In today’s reading, Jeremiah gives a final warning to the last king of Judah before the fall of Jerusalem and captivity.  He urged King Zedekiah to go peaceably into captivity and told him that God would take care of him there. (Jeremiah 34:2-5)

Zedekiah was desperate when he received this message from Jeremiah.  Jerusalem was surrounded by the Babylonian army and only two other cities of Judah were holding on.  Zedekiah made a vow and covenant before the Lord to free all the Hebrew slaves in the city.  The law of God commanded them to do this every seven years so they were only doing the will of the Lord.  They initially obeyed, but then changed their minds and took back all the slaves.  (Jeremiah 34:10)

God doesn’t look favorably on covenant breakers.  He sent Jeremiah with another word for Zedekiah.  “Recently you repented and did what is right in my sight:  Each of you proclaimed freedom to his countrymen.  You even made a covenant before Me in the house that bears my Name.  But now you have turned around and profaned My Name; each of you has taken back his male and female slaves you had set free to go where they wished.  You have forced them to become slaves again.” (Jeremiah 34:15-16)  Repentance is choosing to do what is right in God’s sight.   Turning back to the old way when you promised to go another is profaning God’s Name!

The Lord carefully marks vows we make before Him.  (Ecclesiastes 5:2-7)  When we make a covenant with God and others, God expects us to keep that agreement.  In that day, the agreement was made by killing an animal and splitting it in half.  The covenant makers would walk between the pieces and swear that God could do to them what was done to the animal if they broke the covenant.  (Jeremiah 34:18-19)  It was a visual reminder of the cost of keeping a covenant.  God’s decree over these covenant breakers was strong: ” The leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, . . .I will hand over to their enemies who seek their lives. Their dead bodies will become food for the birds of the air.. .” (Jeremiah 34:20)

Scripture reading for August 12th: Jeremiah 30-33

Out of all the gloom and doom of Jeremiah’s messages come words of hope and a glorious future!  Their God would not abandon His people forever, but would have pity on them.  He would be their God and they would be His people.  (Jeremiah 31:1-2)  Those who survived the siege would find favor in the desert and God would come to them.

“The Lord appeared to us in the past saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving kindness.  I will build you up again and you will be rebuilt, O Virgin Israel.  Again you will take up your tambourines and dance with the joyful.” (Jeremiah 31:3-4)  God’s love is not fickle.  His love is everlasting and  His tender mercies draw His people back to find comfort and hope.  God would build them again in their land and restore their joy.

Now God promises restoration and a gathering of His people from the lands where they were scattered.  This writing of Jeremiah mirrors Isaiah 35 where the redeemed of the Lord come back with singing to Zion.  “Then maidens will dance and be glad, young men and old as well.  I will turn their mourning into gladness instead of sorrow.  I will satisfy the priests with abundance and my people will be filled with My bounty,” declares the Lord.” (Jeremiah 31:13-14)

“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.  . . ” “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, 33-34)  This new covenant promised writing of the law on hearts and minds instead of on stone.  It promised personal relationship with God for each person.  Best of all it promised forgiveness of sins and a blotting out of any memory of those by God.  Restoration would be something new and better!  Praise the Lord.

Scripture reading for August 11th: Jeremiah 26-29

One of the many illustrated messages that Jeremiah was told to give the Israelites involved an ox yoke.  Jeremiah was to put this yoke on his own neck and deliver the message of God’s coming judgment through King Nebuchadnezzar.  He warned nations around Israel that this yoke of Babylon was coming.

He then went to Zedekiah, king of Judah with the same message.  (Jeremiah 27:1-3, 12-15)  Zedekiah was warned about listening to the false prophets who said that Judah would remain free.  He told them to bow under the yoke of Babylon and serve him and they would live.  This message seemed false to those who heard and Jeremiah was not popular.

One day Jeremiah and the leaders of Judah were in the house of the Lord.  Jeremiah was wearing the yoke and the prophet Hananiah began to speak to all who would hear.  (Jeremiah 28:1-4)  He told them that the God of Israel had told him that He would break the yoke of the king of Babylon and within two years bring back the captive articles from the Lord’s house.  Jeremiah said “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.” (Jeremiah 28:5-6)  Who would not desire this good word?

The test for a true prophet is that his words come to pass.  Jeremiah had prophesied that the nation would go into captivity to Babylon and they would wear the yoke.  Hananiah had said the opposite would happen in two years.  Who was right?  The prophet Hananiah then took Jeremiah’s yoke and broke it, repeating the promise of deliverance.  Jeremiah went his way and God spoke to him.  He must go back and give Hananiah a message.  “This is what the Lord says: You have broken a wooden yoke, but in its place you will get a yoke of iron. . .”  “Listen Hananiah, the Lord has not sent you, yet you have persuaded this nation to trust in lies. . . .This very year you are going to die because you have preached rebellion against the Lord.” (Jeremiah 28:13,15-16)

Before the year ended, Hananiah was dead, according to Jeremiah’s word from the Lord.  Within two years the people went into captivity because they did not heed the true word of the Lord!  The “yoke” was on them!

Scripture reading for August 10th: Jeremiah 21-25

Many people claim to know God and speak for Him.  Jeremiah’s day was no different from ours.  There were many self-appointed prophets giving a message of peace and safety to people who were living in sin and idolatry.  (Jeremiah 14:13-15)  These were not pagans, but people whose ancestors made a covenant with the Lord to walk in faith and obedience.  What does it mean to really know God?

Jeremiah used the example of  King Shallum (Jehoahaz) , son of Josiah, who had gone into captivity.  He focused on building a bigger palace and exploited the people of God for his own gain.  “Does it make you a king to have more and more cedar? Did not your father (Josiah) 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 so all went well.  Is that not what it means to know Me?” declares the Lord?  “But your eyes and your heart are set on dishonest gain, on shedding of innocent blood and on oppression and extortion.”" (Jeremiah 22:15-17)  This wicked king was sent ahead into captivity as an example to the people;  Jeremiah used his failure to follow his godly father as an example to the people.

Knowing God is very practical.  It is humbly following the ways of truth and justice laid out by God in His law and word.  It is being merciful to the poor and needy.  It is confronting injustice and defending those whose innocent blood is being shed.  It is refusing to be under the oppression of sin and unbelief, but truly knowing the heart of God by faith in His holy word!

We must be vigilant today concerning our own knowledge of God.  He has given us His word and His Holy Spirit to take that word and reveal a true knowledge of God to each person.  No longer do we need to be deceived by self-appointed prophets or political leaders.  We are each called to live by God’s word and speak truth to our neighbors.  We are to live a practical life that demonstrates we know God by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Some leaders of our nation and even some leaders of God’s church are speaking lies that take innocent life and oppress and extort from God’s people.  Check out their lives and fruit!

Scripture reading for August 9th: Jeremiah 16-20

Jeremiah was told by God not to marry or have children in Judah because of the terror of coming judgment.  (Jeremiah 16:2-4)  God was sending a great disaster upon His people that was coming because of their own wickedness.  In the face of Jeremiah’s warnings, no one was listening or paying heed.  They had become hard and stubborn and refused to repent and humbly follow God.  They were hardened even further by the prophetic preaching of this true prophet!

At the heart of this people’s trouble was unbelief!  “This is what the Lord says: “Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the Lord.” (Jeremiah 17:5)  Their sin nature made them the center of their own life and caused them to come under a curse.  They depended on their flesh and man-made idols instead of the Lord who had shown Himself faithful and miraculously provided for them again and again.

But what about those who continue to trust in the Lord and remain faithful to Him in the midst of an idolatrous and humanistic society?  Jeremiah speaks a word of encouragement to those who have ears to hear!  “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 the heat comes; its leaves are always green.  It has no worries in the year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.” (Jeremiah 17:7-8)  Faith keeps us connected with God, even in times of judgment and trouble.  The coming drought and famine would bring misery and suffering to the land, but God would be the source of refreshing to His people.

This seems so simple that a child could understand it.  However, man’s heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. (Jeremiah 17:9)  The flesh is proud and wants to do things it’s own way.  We have trouble discerning our motives.  We who trust the Lord allow Him to search our hearts and deliver us from wrong thinking.  We listen to His word and run to His throne of grace and mercy for help in time of need.  We place our confidence in God Himself and our hope is in His unfailing love.  Be blessed!