Category: Jeremiah–BibleTrekToday
New mercies each morning!
Scripture reading for August 18th: Lamentations 1-5
Do you enjoy funerals? How about mourning and wailing over the dead? Well, this next short book of Jeremiah is a series of five funeral songs about the death of Jerusalem and the captivity of God’s people. As a pastor, this book is helpful to gain insight into the process of grief and helping families and individuals deal with death and loss. Grief takes time and energy to process. Mourning people go through stages ranging from disbelief and shock, to mourning and wailing, blaming others or God, to quiet acceptance and finally readiness to move on. These stages may take various amounts of time to process and work through. God understands our grief and sorrows for Jesus was a man of sorrows and familiar with suffering. (Isaiah 53:3)
Jeremiah was known as the weeping prophet because he had a tender heart of compassion for God’s people. (Lamentations 1:16) He had warned them faithfully of the coming judgment and destruction of Jerusalem. He had witnessed this destruction and now was writing to chronicle the grief process going on in his heart. Jeremiah was a lot like Jesus Christ, who also wept over the city of Jerusalem as He saw prophetically the destruction that was to come upon it for their rejection of Him as their Messiah. (Matthew 23:37-39) God values tears so much that the Psalmist said He gathers them up in a bottle and records them on a scroll. (Psalm 56:8) Tears are a sign of caring and compassion and they were modeled by Jesus at Lazarus’ tomb and again over Jerusalem.
In Lamentations 3, the prophet is recounting his misery and pain and describes it with images that bring Isaiah 53 and the crucifixion to mind. In the middle of his rant, he turns his thoughts to hope! (Lamentation 3:20-21) The cause of this hope is the thought of God’s steadfast love and great compassion and mercy. Jeremiah states that this mercy is “new every morning” and that “great is God’s faithfulness”. (Lamentations 3:22-23) Because God is Jeremiah’s portion, he will wait for the Lord. The Lord is good to those who wait for Him and put their hope in Him! It is truly God’s mercy that gives us hope and leads us to repentance! (Romans 2:4) His unfailing love and compassion will come through for those in deep grief!
This funeral lament ends with words of faith and hope and a prayer. God is sovereign and reigns forever. He will have compassion and restore them as they pray. Take a moment and offer a prayer of thanksgiving and trust in the Lord and His compassion for you today. His Son Jesus Christ wept over us and bore our sorrows and tears that we might live in the joy of His love and receive new mercies every morning!
“You, O Lord, reign forever; your throne endures from generation to generation. Why do you always forget us? Why do you forsake us so long? Restore us to yourself, O Lord, that we may return; renew our days as of old unless you have utterly rejected us and are angry with us beyond measure.” Lamentations 5:19-22
Flee from Babylon!
Scripture reading for August 17th: Jeremiah 46-52
“Flee from Babylon! Run for your lives! Do not be destroyed because of her sins. It is time for the Lord’s vengeance; He will pay her what she deserves. Babylon was a gold cup in the Lord’s hand; she made the whole earth drunk. The nations drank her wine; therefore they have now gone mad. Babylon will suddenly fall and be broken. Wail over her.” Jeremiah 51:6-8a
Jeremiah’s prophecies in the last chapters of his book are absolutely amazing and encouraging to every student of Scripture. God has promised to watch over His word to perform it and we get in on some amazing performances; others are yet to be confirmed. Jeremiah ends his book with the story of God’s dealing with Babylon because of her treatment of the people of God. Babylon is to be destroyed suddenly and the people who will do it are named by Jeremiah 70 years before it happens. The Medes and Persians would carry out God’s purposes and be his war club! (Jeremiah 51:11, 20) Jeremiah had earlier told the people that the captivity would last 70 years and that word came to pass! (Jeremiah 25:11-12)
Through Jeremiah God calls to His people to flee from Babylon. Although they will live there for 7o years, they must be ready to return to the promised land and to escape the punishment of God upon that land. The end of Babylon would come quickly or suddenly. Jeremiah tells how Babylon will fall. In Jeremiah 51:36-40, he tells that God will dry up the sea or springs of Babylon. The officials of Babylon will be aroused and drunk at a feast. They will be shouting with drunken laughter and suddenly they will sleep forever! This word was probably known by Daniel and helped him interpret the handwriting on the wall the night that Babylon fell! The Babylonian officials were drinking from the golden goblets from God’s House in Jerusalem when the handwriting appeared on the wall. (Daniel 5) Daniel was called to interpret and God’s judgment fell before morning! (Daniel 5:30) It is said that the Medes damned up the river and came in under the wall, taking the city from within! What a fulfillment of God’s prophetic word!
This prophecy about the destruction of Babylon was to be read aloud to the captives in Babylon by Seraiah, an aid to King Zedekiah. When he was finished, he was to tie a rock on it and throw it into the Euphrates River. It was to sink to the bottom as a symbol of how Babylon would sink at the appointed time! (Jeremiah 51:59-64) For a real rush of adrenaline, turn to Revelation 18 and read the whole chapter in light of Jeremiah’s prophecy. God’s word has multiple fulfillment and speaks to the time of the end as well as to the fall of Babylon in Daniel’s time.
“Then I heard another voice from heaven say: “Come out of her, my people, so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues; for her sins are piled up to heaven, and God has remembered her crimes. . . .Therefore in one day her plagues will overtake her; death, mourning, and famine. She will be consumed by fire, for mighty is the Lord God who judges her.” ” Revelation 18:4-5,8
Sunday rest and reflection-trust and obey!
Dear Friends,
Greetings in the Wonderful Name of Jesus Christ! Another week has flown by and we have another opportunity to enjoy a Sabbath rest. We can join with others of precious faith and worship and pray together. The church is the Bride of Christ and meets together to prepare for His coming and to reach out to those who are yet to know Him. The Sabbath is for man’s benefit and blessing.
As I reflect back on this week’s readings in Jeremiah, I am again encouraged with the simplicity of God’s message to His children. Trust and obedience will bring blessing! It is so simple yet it seems to be so difficult for the people of God to trust Him! We see over and over people who say they want to hear His word and follow His directions turning the other way and doing their own thing. This always leads to disastrous consequences and they are warned again and again that these consequences will come. Who will deliver them from these fatal errors?
A group of people mentioned by Jeremiah and singled out by God for blessing were the Recabites. (Jeremiah 35) These people had sworn in a covenant oath to their father Jonadab that they would not drink wine, plant grapes, sow seed, or build houses but would live in tents. This people had been faithful to their oath for years. Jeremiah tried to entice them to drink wine and they refused. They were commended as being faithful to their oath while the Israelites had broken their covenant vows to God to be faithful over and over. (Jeremiah 35:18-19) These Recabites were rewarded and commended for their faithfulness! They had learned to trust and obey their earthly father while the Isrealites refused to trust and obey their heavenly father! Even in their limited obedience, they still needed God’s grace because they too were sinners.
Thanks be to God for He did for us what we could not do! We have the Holy Spirit living in us today and God’s power and presence to enable us to live holy, obedient lives of faith. We have the New Covenant and God’s law written on our hearts and minds as promised through the prophet Jeremiah. (Jeremiah 31:31-34) We are born again by the Spirit, living seed of God’s word, and adopted as God’s children. We are being transformed daily by the Spirit by an ever-increasing glory! Trust and obedience should be so much easier for us under the Spirit than for those who lived under the law. Check your trust level in Jesus Christ, the one who totally trusted and obeyed on our behalf! Rest in His complete obedience and grace today! In His Love, Pastor John
Is there any word from the Lord?
Scripture reading for August 14th: Jeremiah 37-39
“Jeremiah was put in 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
When times are tough, many people are curious about what the Lord might be saying. When you haven’t listened to His word for a long time and have tried to silence the voice of God in your life, it is not easy to hear properly again. God knows the motives behind our questions. They may sound like we want to hear, but may be mere curiosity. Such was this question from King Zedekiah. He sounded sincere–like he wanted to know and understand what the Lord was saying–but really did not believe that what Jeremiah said was true.
Sometimes we have another reason for wanting to hear another word from the Lord. We may hope that God has changed His mind or given a new word. None of the last kings of Judah wanted to hear Jeremiah’s word from the Lord. He was in prison because of preaching that word of coming judgment. In the coming days, a plot to kill Jeremiah came from some of the king’s officials and King Zedekiah did nothing to stop them. He really did not want to hear the word of coming judgment. He was hoping for a word of peace and safety.
Today, people are running around looking for a “word from the Lord”. They go to conferences and seek out those with prophetic gifts. They want to hear the latest prophetic predictions. They want guidance and direction. We each must check our motives and ask ourselves if we are obeying what has already been spoken and written from the Lord. If we have been ignoring simple truths, how can we be sure we will be given truth? In the last days there will be a famine, not for bread or water, but for hearing the word of the Lord! (Amos 8:11-12)
Yes, there is a final word from the Lord for these last days; Jesus Christ Himself is the last word from God for the world. He offers grace and forgiveness of sins to all who will repent and believe on Him. He promises salvation, healing and deliverance through Him alone. Have you responded to this word?
“In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and various ways, but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom He made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful word. After He had provided purification of sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.” Hebrews 1:1-3
Slash and burn theology!
Scripture reading for August 13th: Jeremiah 34-36
Jeremiah 36 gives us a record of the process of recording scripture in written form. Jeremiah the prophet dictated to his secretary, Baruch, what God had revealed to him concerning the judgment coming on Jerusalem. Baruch took a pen and ink and wrote the words down on a papyrus scroll. (Jeremiah 36:18) He was told by Jeremiah to go and read the words to the people in the temple of the Lord. (Jeremiah 36:8) As he read the words of coming destruction and God’s wrath against the people because of their sins, officials of the king heard the message. They had him read it again to them and they decided that the king must be notified. They warned Baruch to tell Jeremiah to go and hide both of them.
The king was sitting by a fire and had a scribe’s knife in his hand as the scroll was being read. As he heard the words of a portion of the scroll, the king cut it off, threw it into the fire and burned it up. (Jeremiah 36:23-24) They showed no fear or respect for what the Lord had said or for the written word of God. In fact, the king gave orders to arrest Jeremiah and Baruch, but the Lord had hidden them! God knows how to protect his people!
As I read this account, I could not help but wonder if God’s people are still doing this same thing today. When some who claim to be Christians read the command “you shall not murder”, they don’t believe that it applies to them or their politics and simply ‘slash and burn’ the word of God! They vote to keep murder legal by supporting abortion. When some who claim the name of Christ hear that no homosexual offender will inherit the kingdom of God, they ‘slash and burn’ and sanction gay marriages and ordain gay pastors and priests. Still others cut out the verses concerning salvation by grace through faith and continue to teach a righteousness based on good works.
The ‘slash and burn’ mentality is bad theology and yield’s God’s wrath and judgment. King Jehoiakim lost his future place in the messianic line as well as a decent and honorable burial. (Jeremiah 36:30-31) All that was written by Jeremiah and Baruch would come to pass because God watches over His word to perform it! (Jeremiah 1:12) No word of God is void of power. It is a fire and a hammer that will burn and smash those who try to oppose it! (Jeremiah 23:29) Take time today to reflect on your treatment of God’s word. Make a fresh commitment to read, believe, and obey the word of God. Good theology puts the fire in your bones!
Great and unsearchable things!
Scripture reading for August 12th: Jeremiah 30-33
“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
“While Jeremiah was still confined in the courtyard of the guard, the Word of the Lord came to him a second time: “This is what the Lord says, He who made the earth, the Lord who formed it and established it–The Lord is His name: ‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’ ” Jeremiah 33:2-3
God loves His people! He always has and always will love them! He draws His people to enter into a love relationship with Him by cords of loving-kindness. He knows that love must be freely given by His people and that they must be drawn back to Him from the world and it’s enticements. God’s love will ransom them from the hand of the enemy. (Jeremiah 31:11) He will cause them to take up the tambourine and dance with the joyful! (Jeremiah 31:4, 13)
God then speaks to Jeremiah of a time that is coming when He will make a new covenant with Israel and Judah. This covenant will be different than the old one made with those who came out of Egypt. This covenant would include God writing His law on the human heart and mind. God would personally be their God and each person would personally know God. His forgiveness of sin would be experienced by all and God Himself would remember it no more. (Jeremiah 31:31-34)
These visions of restoration came to Jeremiah at a most unlikely time in the history of the nation. The nation was surrounded by the Babylonians and Jeremiah was confined to the courtyard of the guard under house arrest. In the natural, it did not look good. But in the midst of the troubling time, God’s word brought hope and encouragement to Jeremiah and His people. God would allow the destruction of the Temple and city and send the people into captivity but He promised restoration and the coming time of the New Covenant.
The condition for great revelation is calling on God in faith in the midst of trial and trouble! The amazing promises of great things given to Jeremiah included the promise of the righteous “Branch” that would sprout from David’s line. (Jeremiah 33:14-16) This “Branch” would bring salvation to Judah and peace and safety to Jerusalem. His name would be “The Lord our Righteousness”. This “Branch” is none other than Jesus Christ! He is the salvation of His people, and their righteousness! He brought the “New Covenant” in His own blood that would enable eternal forgiveness of sins and the law written on hearts. He was the embodiment of the everlasting love of God in human flesh and draws us with His loving-kindness! These are great and unsearchable things revealed to those who call on Him! What a wonderful promise!
Truth? Or consequences?
Scripture reading for August 11th: Jeremiah 26-29
It takes discernment to hear the voice of God. What sounds good is not always truth and only the truth will make us free! In Jeremiah 28 we have a story that always makes me stop and consider what I might have done as I listened to these two prophets debate one another. One had a message of victory and hope, and the other a message of judgment and captivity. One message was true and the other was false. God allowed the contest to take place in the temple of the Lord in front of the priests and all the people. After the messages were given, the people had to decide which one to believe. Were they to prepare for captivity or deliverance? Was the message of peace and restoration truth or was the message of judgment and a yoke true? I know which I would have wanted to believe!
In the fifth month of the fourth year of King Zedekiah, all the people were gathered with the priests in the temple. Hananiah, a prophet from Gibeon spoke to Jeremiah in front of all the people. Jeremiah had been wearing a wooden yoke around his neck for a long time telling the people of their coming captivity. Hananiah spoke that within two years, God would remove the yoke of the Babylonians and Judah would be free. To illustrate that message, he took the yoke off Jeremiah and broke it in front of the people. (Jeremiah 28:1-4,10-11)
Jeremiah responded initially with an ‘amen’ to the message. But he added some prophetic insight. Most prophets are sent to warn of coming disaster and turn the people back to God. This prophecy of peace will only be from the Lord if it actually happens. (Jeremiah 28:6-9)
Jeremiah went his way and then the Lord spoke to him to go back with a word for Hananiah. He was to tell Hananiah that he was not sent by the Lord and that his prophecy was not true. God was going to remove the wooden yoke and place an iron yoke on his rebellious people. His final word was that Hananiah would die because he preached rebellion against the Lord.
Wow, what would you have done? Who would you want to believe? Wouldn’t it have been tempting to hate Jeremiah and his message? How would you decide which was true? As we finish reading, the truth becomes apparent. In the seventh month, three months later, Hananiah died! God’s word is always validated because it comes to pass! It took three months of waiting to know, but the truth became evident! Please take time today to thank God for His word and the blessing of knowing the truth. Ask Him for discernment in these last days that you will not be deceived by messages that simply make you feel good but are not of God!
Sunday rest and reflection:fire in the bones!
Dear Friends,
Greetings in the beautiful Name of Jesus Christ, our heavenly Rest! One of the things that is good to do on days of rest is to spend time with God’s people studying God’s word and hearing a message from God through His word. God’s word is full of God. It is Spirit and life and brings light to our path and a lamp to our feet. (John 6:63) (Psalm 119:105) His word is eternal because Jesus Christ is the eternal Word made flesh. (John 1:14)
In our readings through Jeremiah last week, we often saw Jeremiah speaking the ‘word of the Lord’ to God’s people. After all, it was God’s word that had sent him in the first place! (Jeremiah 1:4-5) On one occasion, he stood outside the temple and spoke that word to those who were entering to worship. On other occasions, he would use an object lesson and then share God’s word with the people. The word of God was bringing light and God’s heart to the people who heard it, but they often rejected it and refused to listen. On one occasion they plotted Jeremiah’s murder! (Jeremiah 11:21)
In fact, Jeremiah got so tired of the rejection, plots of murder, and reproach, that he wanted to quit preaching the word of God. But as he tried to do that, he found that the word was like a fire in his bones! (Jeremiah 20:9) That fire is the power of God in the word to produce what God desires from His word! (Isaiah 55:10-11) God’s purposes are fulfilled with His word! No word of God is void of power! Jeremiah went on to state that the Lord was with him like a mighty warrior! (Jeremiah 20:11) He knew through the word of God that all his enemies would stumble and fall and be defeated. God would give him the victory! God’s word would produce results that assured victory!
Today, take fire into your bones by allowing God’s word to reside in your heart. God’s word brings faith to accomplish all that is written! It will move you forward in discouraging situations and overcome opposition! May you be baptized in a fresh way with the Holy Spirit and fire! In the fire of His love, Pastor John