Today, I am reading and commenting on Jeremiah 36-38.

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Two different kings of Judah are featured in today’s passage, both sons of King Josiah.  One showed contempt for Jeremiah.  One showed Jeremiah respect.  Neither obeyed the commands which God sent to them through Jeremiah.  During the reign of Jehoiakim, God commanded Jeremiah to write down all of the prophecies which God had given to Jeremiah. God told Jeremiah that this was done to give the people of Judah the opportunity to turn from their evil ways.  Specifically, God said that He was sending this warning “so that every one may turn from his evil way.”  This was a call for each person to repent and receive forgiveness.  Certain officials gathered to hear the words Jeremiah had written down and were frightened by what they heard.  They then took the scroll and had it read for King Jehoiakim and “the officials who stood beside the king.”  Neither the king, nor this second group of officials was frightened by the words which Jeremiah had spoken.  Rather King Jehoiakim cut the words off the scroll after they had been written and burned them, showing contempt for what he had heard.  Jehoiakim tried to have Jeremiah and his secretary Baruch arrested, but his agents were unable to find them.

After Jehoiakim died his brother Zedekiah became king (you can read how that happened in 2 Chronicles).  When Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem (after Zedekiah rebelled against Babylon), Zedekiah sent messengers to Jeremiah asking him to pray to God for the people of Jerusalem.  After the Babylonian army withdrew its siege to face the army of Egypt, Jeremiah replied that they would return and capture Jerusalem, burning it to the ground.  Later, after allowing one faction of his officials to imprison Jeremiah in a cistern where he would have died from lack of water if Zedekiah had not allowed another faction to rescue Jeremiah from it, Zedekiah requested a meeting with Jeremiah.  There Zedekiah asked Jeremiah what God wanted him to do.  Jeremiah told him that if he surrendered to Nebuchadnezzar, the city would not be burned and his family would live, but if he did not, the Babylonians would burn Jerusalem and Zedekiah would still end up at the mercy of Nebuchadnezzar.  Zedekiah was afraid to obey God’s commands.

Jehoiakim was contemptuous of Jeremiah and the word of God.  Zedekiah had respect for Jeremiah and his prophecies, but was too afraid of political factions. too afraid of people, to follow God’s command.  Neither one had faith in God so as to obey His words.  Zedekiah is the more to be pitied because he knew God’s power, but he feared man more than he feared God.  We must be careful lest we too fear man more than we fear God.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Jeremiah 33-35.

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When Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem while Zedekiah was king, the elites of Jerusalem entered into a covenant to free their Hebrew slaves.  Shortly after this, Nebuchadnezzar withdrew his armies.  Once Nebuchadnezzar withdrew his armies the elites of Jerusalem found excuses to re-enslave the people whom they had released from slavery.  Jeremiah prophesies that just as the elites had re-enslaved those they had freed so would God bring Nebuchadnezzar back to besiege and sack Jerusalem.  In this passage, Jeremiah points out that the elites of Jerusalem had enslaved their fellow Hebrews in ways which were contrary to the law of God.  When they faced disaster, those elites recognized that they had done wrong and agreed to correct their behavior.  They agreed to free the slaves they had held in violation of God’s Law.  They amended their behavior to comply with God’s desire.  As soon as the threat of disaster was lifted they returned to their sin.  We need to examine our lives to see where we may do the same thing.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Jeremiah 31-32.

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Throughout most of the Book of Jeremiah the prophecies given to Jeremiah are about God’s anger against His people for abandoning His commands and turning to idols rather than worshiping God.  Even in today’s passage, Jeremiah prophesies against the people of Jerusalem for their failure to listen to God’s commands.  In that prophecy, Jeremiah specifically calls out two sins.  One of those sins was to set up abominations in the house of God.  The other was to sacrifice their children to Molech (side note: Jeremiah says that they set up high places of Baal to sacrifice their children to Molech…I thought that Baal and Molech were different gods).  We need to examine the ways in which we may set up abominations in our lives and in the Church.  And as a society, we need to examine the importance we lend to sacrificing our children, whether through abortion or other ways in which we sacrifice children on the altars of the idols we worship.

However, for all of the above, in most of today’s passage Jeremiah preaches a message of hope.  He tells the people that despite God’s anger at the people of Judah and Israel, He will gather them to Himself once more.  God is going to make a new covenant with His people.  God’s new covenant is eternal.  He will write His law on our hearts and we will not need others to teach us to know God.  All who seek God will find Him and will know Him.  He will remember our sin no longer.  Let us be careful to let nothing live in our hearts which God considers an abomination.  The Israelites erected idols in God’s temple.  Today our hearts are God’s temple, we must be careful not to erect idols there.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Jeremiah 28-30.

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The passage begins with an account of the prophet Hananiah prophesying the opposite of the message which God gave through Jeremiah.  In response, Jeremiah essentially said that it was his deepest wish that Hananiah’s prophecy come true, but that historically God only sent prophets to prophesy of war, famine, and pestilence.  So, any prophet who prophesies peace should only believed after his prophecy comes true.  When God sends prophets to His people, He sends them to warn them about the ways in which they need to change their ways.  God does not send prophets to tell us that we are doing the right thing and that all will be well.  God sends those with other gifts to those who are fulfilling His will.  Prophecy is sent to turn us from our sins and draw us back to God.

Jeremiah’s message to those already in exile tells us another important thing.  God does not always send prophets to tell us that terrible things will happen, but God never sends prophets to tell us what we want to hear.  Jeremiah told those in exile to settle down where they were and pray for the prosperity of the city they were in.  He did not prophesy death and destruction for them, nevertheless the message God gave them through Jeremiah was not what they wanted to hear.  God does not send us the message we want to hear.  He sends us the message we need to hear because He wants us to be His people and He wants to be our God.  He will be our God and we shall be His people if we listen to Him and accept His lordship.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Jeremiah 26-27.

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Today’s passage begins with a prophecy which Jeremiah gave to those who came to the temple to worship God.  In his prophecy, Jeremiah called on them to turn from their evil ways.  Let’s note that Jeremiah was not speaking to the people who had rejected God completely.  He was speaking to those who went to worship services regularly, to those who proclaimed that they worshiped God.  He told them that if they did not listen to God’s prophets and walk in God’s laws, God would destroy the temple.  Which brings me to what interests me today.  The priests and prophets and the people who heard Jeremiah’s prophecy seized Jeremiah and demanded that he be put to death for saying that the temple would be destroyed.  They did not pay attention to what he said was the reason it would be destroyed.  So, the religious leaders and the religious people wanted to put Jeremiah to death for telling them that God would destroy the temple.  They did not listen to the condition which would lead God to do that, or perhaps they did.  They did not hear Jeremiah tell them that they needed to change their ways if they wanted temple worship to thrive, if they did not want the temple to be destroyed.  In the same way, do we listen when God sends someone to tell us that we need to do things differently if we want our congregation of His Church to continue?

God has a lot more to say to us in this passage, please go and read the entire passage.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Jeremiah 23-25.

I have a Youtube video of me reading the Scripture passage and my comments. Please check it out and let me know your thoughts.

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Today’s passage begins by condemning the shepherds of His people who had scattered His flock, who had driven God’s people away from Him.  He promises to send good shepherds who will care for them and to raise up  One to reign over them.  Jeremiah goes on to condemn evil religious leaders, both prophets and priests.  Further he condemns those who listen to these lying prophets and priests. Jeremiah tells us that people listen to these false prophets because they do not like what God has said.  He warns prophets not to claim to speak for God if God has not spoken to them.  And he warns us against listening to prophets who steal words from other prophets rather than speaking words which God has told them to speak.  Be careful about listening to those who tell us what we want to hear.  Be careful of those who speak what others have said without acknowledging their sources.  Be careful about perverting what God has said, whether God spoke directly to us or through others.  Check what a prophet says against Scripture and do not listen to those who say something which is contrary to Scripture.

I want to note that there are many today who fall into the category of the lying prophets to whom Jeremiah writes about in today’s passage.  Do not follow them.  The other day I realized that, since I write this Bible Study, I need to pay careful attention to the warnings which Jeremiah gives to prophets.  If you give spiritual advice to others, if you tell others your understanding of what a Bible passage means, you also should pay attention to Jeremiah’s warnings to prophets.  Do not pervert God’s words and do not put words into God’s mouth.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Jeremiah 19-22.

I have a Youtube video of me reading the Scripture passage and my comments. Please check it out and let me know your thoughts.

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Jeremiah delivers two messages.  First, he tells the people of Jerusalem that Jerusalem and all of the cities which it rules will be conquered by Babylon and their people taken into captivity.  This will happen because the people forsook God and made offerings to other gods, filled the land with the blood of innocents, and sacrificed their children to Baal.  I have always read the Old Testament passages about “filling the land with the blood of innocents” as a comment on a tyrannical government which killed people who protested its actions, as the Chinese government did in 1989.  As I read it today I realized that while it sometimes means that it also refers to when criminals are allowed to run rampant and murder becomes common.

Which brings me to the lessons we need to take from this first message in today’s passage.  We need to examine our lives and stop worshiping any idols to which we have given our loyalty.  And we must call people to stop worshiping the various idols they have chosen to serve.  We need to seek solutions to crime.  Those solutions may call for us to make sacrifices, of time and of money.  But we must also demand that criminals be held accountable for their crimes.  Murder cannot be seen as an acceptable price to pay.  And we must stop sacrificing our children to the god of convenience, whether that is before birth, or later in their lives.

Jeremiah’s second message was to the rulers of Jerusalem.  They must rule justly and prevent the economically powerful from robbing those without power.  The rulers must stop using their power to do wrong or violence to the weak in society.

When we read Jeremiah a casual reading tells us that Jeremiah was prophesying that disaster and destruction cannot be averted.  But if we read more carefully we realize Jeremiah told the rulers and the people of Jerusalem how it could be averted, but he also told them that God knew that they would not take those actions.  We must never cease examining ourselves to see how we are failing to faithfully do God’s will and we must never cease to call people to turn to God.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Jeremiah 16-18.

I have a Youtube video of me reading the Scripture passage and my comments. Please check it out and let me know your thoughts.

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Today’s passage begins with God giving Jeremiah a prophecy which essentially says that it is too late for the people of Jerusalem to turn back to God.  It is similar to  the prophecy given to King Josiah after the Book of the Law was read to him (which would likely have been not very long before this passage was revealed to Jeremiah).  Throughout Jeremiah’s prophecies God repeatedly tells the people of Jerusalem and Judah that the disaster is coming and it is too late for them to avert it, or at least, that is what He seems to be saying with a surface reading.  Yet, while telling Jeremiah that disaster will not be averted, God also tells Jeremiah to preach to the people that, if they change their ways and do as God commands, He will withhold His wrath and bless them.  Jeremiah illustrates God’s message by going to the potter’s house and pointing out how the potter may stop while shaping a vessel and completely rework the clay into something different than he originally intended.  In the same way, if God sends prophecies of destruction to a group of people who have been doing evil and those people turn from their evil, God will change His plans and withhold the destruction of which He had warned.  On the other hand, if God sent prophecies of blessing to a group of people and they turn from their good ways to do evil, He will withdraw those blessings and send destruction.  God sent the prophecies of unavoidable destruction to Jeremiah because He knew the people would not change their ways, but He was still offering them the opportunity to do so.

I look around the world and see many nations and many peoples on the road to destruction.  At the same time, I see glimmers of hope for some of them.  I count my nation among those to which I am referring.  There is still time for us to change the road we are on.  Will we?  Will you? Will I?  Turn to God and do His will.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Jeremiah 10-12.

I have a Youtube video of me reading the Scripture passage and my comments. Please check it out and let me know your thoughts.

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Today’s passage begins with Jeremiah warning against learning from those who do not fear God.  They will be dismayed at things which they see happening, but we should not be dismayed by those events.  Those who deny God will see omens and portents, but those who fear the Lord need not fear those things.  People have taken material things and worship them.  They dress them up with decorations in order to make them seem elegant and powerful, but they are no more than scarecrows.  Those who fear the Lord need not fear those objects because they can do nothing.  The things which the people of this world worship can do neither evil nor good.  There is no one and nothing like God.  Let us fear Him, and Him alone.  The things which others worship will pass away and be of no account, but God created the heavens and the earth and will endure when they are no more.  Jeremiah tells us that no man can determine the way to go on his own, so let us seek God’s correction because it is He who directs our steps.  We can willingly do God’s will, or be forced into it.  The former is to be preferred to the latter.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.