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

Today, I am reading and commenting on Jeremiah 45-48.

    The passage starts with the message which God gave Jeremiah for his scribe, Baruch. Baruch faced many troubles because of the assistance which he gave Jeremiah. Baruch apparently had ambitions of rising to great prominence. Jeremiah warned him that such was not to be for him. Baruch apparently hoped that the troubles he experienced, and the persecution he faced, as Jeremiah’s assistant would lead to opportunities for himself. Jeremiah told Baruch that considering the terrible times in which he lived he should be content to not die a premature death due to war, famine, or disease. In fact, through Jeremiah, God promised such to Baruch. Not everyone who suffers in service to the Lord attains great things in this world. And yet, while Baruch never gained the prominence in his life which he desired, his name is known today. Many of his contemporaries who were considered of greater merit have been forgotten.

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on Jeremiah 42-44.

    Today’s passage gives us a warning about seeking God’s guidance as a rubber stamp of what we want to do anyway. After the murder of the governor appointed by Nebuchadnezzar the people were afraid of what the Babylonians would do to them. They had decided to take refuge in Egypt, but they were having cold feet. So, they asked Jeremiah to pray to God to show them what to do. Their decision was already built into their question, “Pray that the Lord your God will show us what to do and where to go.” They had already decided that they needed to flee. Their only question was whether they should flee to Egypt, or somewhere else. Of course, since Nebuchadnezzar already controlled all of the lands between them and anywhere other than Egypt, Egypt was their only choice if they fled. We need to turn to God for guidance BEFORE we have made up our minds about what to do.

    Once the people got to Egypt, they took up making offerings and worshiping idols. In particular, they offered sacrifices to the “Queen of Heaven”. The people responded by claiming that the troubles which came upon them in Jerusalem was a result of them giving up idol worship, not of the idol worship itself. All too often we do this sort of thing. Something convicts us of our sin causing us to attempt to give it up and live righteously. However, we fail to truly give up the sin. Then when we begin to suffer the consequences, we blame giving up the sin rather than the sin itself for our suffering.
    I want to touch a little more on the fact that the women were worshiping the Queen of Heaven. I think it is telling that they did not refer to this goddess by a name. Earlier in Jewish history they often worshiped Asherah, and sometimes Ashtoreth. Asherah and Ashtoreth were different goddesses. However, I think it likely that the “Queen of Heaven” referenced here is an amalgamation of the two. We see a similar amalgamation of various female gods in modern paganism. Actually, we see a similar amalgamation of various gods in modern paganism. I am not quite sure to make of the fact that we see this happen again and again, but one thing to note is that the writer of Ecclesiastes was wright in saying that there is nothing new under the sun.

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on Jeremiah 39-41.

    After the fall of Jerusalem, King Nebuchadnezzar gave specific instructions to find and look after Jeremiah. We do not know how King Nebuchadnezzar became aware of Jeremiah, but his actions instructions regarding Jeremiah lent support to those who had thought that Jeremiah was a traitor. Of course, based on what we know, it seems unlikely that Jeremiah had any impact on the outcome of Babylon’s war against Jerusalem. I do not believe that Jeremiah was a Babylonian agent, but I can understand why some would argue that he was. When people today accuse others of being traitors to our country, we need to bear in mind those who did the same about Jeremiah. Of course, as Christians we also need to remember that our first loyalty is in the Kingdom of God, not whatever earthly nation we live in. Which means that we may need to take actions which will get us accused of treason.

    After destroying Jerusalem, King Nebuchadnezzar appointed Gedaliah governor over the province. The various leaders of guerilla war bands which had been harassing the Babylonian army met with him to see how they would be treated. Gedeliah assured them that the Babylonians would allow them to live in peace as long as they served the king of Babylon going forward. Many of the Jewish refugees who had fled the war returned and began settling back into the land. The key thing we learn in this lesson is that Gedeliah was naive. When he was warned that one of the former guerilla leaders was planning to kill him, he refused to believe it. The man who killed Gedaliah was a member of the royal family of Judah (I assume this means that he was a descendant of David). While I will not fault Gedaliah for not forbidding Johanan from killing Ishmael, he should have taken precautions against the information he was given being true.

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

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

    The account of the scroll which Jeremiah dictated of all of his prophecies and the reactions of various officials gives us an insight into the politics of Jerusalem in the final years before the Babylonian Captivity. When Baruch read the scroll at the Temple, some of the officials heard about it and had him brought to them to hear what was written on it. It seems to me that these officials were horrified both by what the messages said and by the fact that the common people had heard them. They appear to have felt that the king should take heed of these prophecies. They clearly were sympathetic and supportive of Jeremiah because they told Baruch that he and Jeremiah should hide before they told the king. Unlike the officials who first heard Jeremiah’s words, the king and his courtiers were unmoved by Jeremiah’s prophecies. The king in question here is Jehoiakim. It is interesting to contrast his attitude towards Jeremiah with that of his brother, Zedekiah.

    King Zedekiah had an interesting relationship with Jeremiah, one which tells us that he was a weak king. Certain of King Zedekiah’s officials wanted Jeremiah executed ofr his prophecies about the fall and destruction of Jerusalem. They went to King Zedekiah and demanded Jeremiah’s death. What I find interesting is that King Zedekiah did not order Jeremiah’s execution, nor did he order the officials to leave Jeremiah alone. King Zedekiah granted them permission to do as they pleased with Jeremiah, but only in so far as he did not order them not to do it, “I can’t stop you.” The interesting thing is that rather than outright kill Jeremiah, those officials put him in a dry cistern to starve to death. A short time later, another official came to King Zedekiah and told him that what they had done was evil. This time, King Zedekiah gave that official 30 of his men and sent him to rescue Jeremiah.
    Some time after this, King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah and asked him what he should do. Jeremiah told the king that he should surrender to King Nebuchadnezzar. King Zedekiah replied that he was afraid the King Nebuchadnezzar would turn him over to the Jews who had already gone over to Nebuchadnezzar if he did that. This really tells us a lot about King Zedekiah’s failure as king. He wanted to be godly as his father King Josiah had been, but he was not willing to take any risks to serve God. As a result, he ended up suffering as much or more than what he feared would happen if he had done what was right. We need to learn not to follow his example. King Zedekiah did not do God’s will because he was afraid of what would happen to him if he did. as a result he experienced suffering at least as great as that which he attempted to avoid.

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

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

    Once again as I read this I am struck by how close the modern state of Israel is to fulfilling this prophecy. And yet, it does not do so completely. While those who actually pay attention to such things marvel at the prosperity of Jerusalem and the nation of Israel, no one would claim that it experiences peace. Israel today is as prosperous as it ever was, but peace will continue to elude it. That peace will only come when its people truly turn to God.
    Jeremiah says two other things about the future of Israel in this prophecy. He says that David will have a descendant sitting on the throne and that there will be numerous Levitical priests. As a Christian, I believe that Jesus is the descendant of David who sits upon Israel’s throne. Additionally, many of the most common Jewish surnames indicate that the bearer is a descendant of priests. My conclusion is that God will fulfill this prophecy which He gave to Jeremiah. Of course, even without the evidence given above I would believe that to be true.
    This prophecy tells us one more important thing for those who consider themselves followers of Christ must remember. God declares that He will no more reject the Jewish people, the descendants of Jacob, then we could change things so that day does not follow night and night does not follow day. Anyone who thinks that the Jewish people are not blessed by God does not follow Jesus, the descendant of David whom God placed on David’s throne for all eternity.

    In this passage we read a description of an incident which highlights an all too common human behavior. King Zedekiah issued a proclamation calling for the people to free all Hebrew slaves. As a side note: this is one of several passages which suggest that King Zedekiah, at least partly, wanted to be a godly king, but was afraid to stand up to the special interests which he would have had to cross to do so. Publicly, everyone agreed with King Zedekiah’s proclamation and did as it ordered. However, as soon as public attention moved on to other things, those with power went about re-enslaving those they had freed. You see this in politics a lot. A call for some action arouses the public attention and the masses call for political change. The politicians quickly pass a law or regulation to make the change and the public moves on to other things. Then the politicians quietly either stop enforcing/implementing the new law/regulation or, if they think no one will notice, actually repeal through indirect means the law/regulation. We see the same thing in religious organizations as well. An issue comes up and the congregants demand that it be addressed. The leaders make speeches, maybe even enact new policies for the organization, and convince their congregants that they are addressing the issue in line with what the congregants believe. Then a few years later, it is discovered that as soon as people stopped watching their actions were directly contrary to what they said they would do. Jeremiah called out the leaders here, reminding us that, while the people might not be watching, God knows whether or not we have done His will.

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

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

    When I read Jeremiah’s prophecies concerning the restoration of the Children of Israel to the land God promised them I cannot help but think of the founding and establishment of the modern state of Israel. Jeremiah speaks of the people of Israel being gathered from all over the world by God, which happened in the founding of modern Israel. When I read about the deep anguish and bitter weeping in Ramah I am reminded of the Holocaust. But in the following verses I am reminded of the establishment of modern Israel in 1948 and the successes of that state following its founding. All of this strikes me as a fulfillment of Jeremiah’s prophecy. However, Jeremiah’s prophecy also foretells that the people of Israel will all turn back to God and worship Him and I do not see that happening in the modern state of Israel. So, this prophecy concerns more than just the establishment of the modern state of Israel. God promised that the people of Israel would be restored to His land, and they have indeed been restored. But there is more to this prophecy than that.

    Jeremiah tells us that God would establish a new covenant, not just with the Children of Israel but with all of the people of Earth. God will write His instructions on the hearts and deep within the minds of those who enter into His covenant. No one will need to rely on someone else to teach them God’s commands. Each and everyone of us can read and understand God’s instructions for ourselves. We do not need to rely on people of special learning to teach us the hidden secrets of God. God’s secrets are only hidden from those who refuse to see them. Do not rely on what others tell you about the Bible, read it for yourself.

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

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

    While Jeremiah was wearing an ox yoke to illustrate his prophecy about Judah and the surrounding countries submitting to King Nebuchadnezzar another prophet contradicted Jeremiah’s prophecy. This brings up the question of how someone was determined to be a prophet. At several points in the Old Testament it refers to people as prophets who did not speak a message from God. I do not think that we can answer this question, but it suggests that there was some characteristic of the people who were considered prophets that has nothing to do with from where they got their messages. That being said, Jeremiah tells us that prophets speaking on behalf of God usually warn of war, disaster, and/or disease. So, a prophet who predicts peace and/or prosperity must be held to a higher standard before being believed. We should be skeptical of those who prophesy peace and prosperity until their prophecies come true. For that matter we should always be a little skeptical of those who prophesy the future. My favorite statement about someone who was asking why no one acted on his predictions of a devastating earthquake was, “He has predicted 10 of the last two major earthquakes.” In many ways we can judge a prophet based on the actions they call us to undertake. If the actions are a good idea even if there is not a disaster coming (such as when a prophet tells us to stop sinning and start following God’s commands) then we should follow their advice whether we believe a disaster is coming or not.

    When I first read Jeremiah’s letter to the Exiles I had one set of thoughts, but by the time I got to this portion of writing I had forgotten what that point was. However, one thing which struck me was the contrast between Jeremiah’s advice to the Exiled Jews and the advice given to the Arab refugees from Palestine. Jeremiah’s advice to the Exiled Jews was to settle in, get married, have children, plant gardens, and seek to prosper where they found themselves (and seek the prosperity of the land they found themselves in). He told them they were going to be there for awhile, 70 years to be exact. Other prophets told them that they should not settle in, that they should keep their bags packed because they would be going home soon. It is worth noting that the Exiled Jews were living among people who had a different religion and culture from themselves. On the other hand, the Arab refugees from Palestine were told to not settle in to the lands they were in and to expect to return to their homes presently. Now 70 years later, they are still in exile among people who share their religion, culture, and ethnic background. I do not bring this up to take a position on the Arab-Israeli conflict, merely to highlight the differences between good advice given by prophets and bad advice given by other prophets. Jeremiah’s advice the the Jewish Exiles was worth following because even if he was wrong about the future they would not be harmed by following it. On the other hand, we can see the harm which has been suffered by the Arab refugees, and their children and grandchildren.

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

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

    God sent Jeremiah to the Temple with a message for the people of Jerusalem. Jeremiah went and prophesied that if they did not turn from their sins and obey God, He would bring disaster on Jerusalem and destroy the Temple. However, those who heard him speak only paid attention to the second part. They accused Jeremiah of being a traitor because he prophesied that God would destroy the Temple. There were other prophets giving similar prophecies during this time. King Jehoiakim had at least one of those prophets killed. Nevertheless, there were some government officials who stood up for Jeremiah and prevented the mob from killing him.
    There are a couple of lessons here. We must be willing to stand up against popular opinion to express God’s word, even when that popular opinion is backed by both violence and government sanction. Further, we must be willing to stand up against the crowd when they are bent on committing an injustice, again, even in the face of possible government sanction. Finally, we should be prepared to listen to unpopular opinions and consider whether God is calling us to change our behaviors.

    Once again in today’s passage, Jeremiah acts out the message which God has given him. In this case Jeremiah wears an ox yoke in order to make the point that Judah and its neighbors must submit to King Nebuchadnezzar. This was certainly an unpopular opinion and many of those who opposed Jeremiah’s message would have argued that it was better to die in war against King Nebuchadnezzar than to submit to him. They might even have had a point if they were arguing for living according to God’s commands rather than submitting the King Nebuchadnezzar. However, the Book of Jeremiah tells us that they were claiming that they should resist King Nebuchadnezzar in order to pursue their own desires and wishes.

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

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

    Our society toady is fast heading towards being just like the people to whom Jeremiah prophesied in today’s passage. Many of our leaders are encouraging division among us rather than acting to unite us. More and more people choose to do evil, and it seems like everyone who has any power whatsoever is abusing it. Even many of our religious leaders are revealed as wicked. Rather than call people to follow the Lord, they are telling those who follow their own selfish desires that no harm will come to them. It makes you wonder if these religious leaders have ever known God. Those who have truly heard what God has to say will be calling for people to turn from their sins. They will challenge the assumptions of our society. They will call on people to help the poor, rather than on the government to force them to do so. They will seek to heal those who are suffering from mental disorders rather than telling them that their delusions are real. They will call on people to treat each other as children of God rather than as objects to satisfy our own desires. I want to go back to something Jeremiah said near the beginning of this passage. Everyone does evil and abuses what power they have. When those who do not abuse their power are the exception God’s judgment will not be long in coming.

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

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

    The passage begins with Jeremiah leading some of the prominent men of Jerusalem out to the garbage dump where he warns them that God is going to smash Jerusalem like a clay jar. We see here, and elsewhere in the Book of Jeremiah, the value of illustrating our message. Jeremiah does not just tell these people that God is going to smash Jerusalem like a clay pot and throw it on the trash heap, he takes them out to the city dump and smashes a clay pot as part of preaching this message. But there is more to Jeremiah’s message than just his theatrics and more meaning to his choice of locations than just the fact that it was a garbage dump. Jeremiah told them that God was going to smash Jerusalem because the people of Jerusalem spilled the blood of innocent children. They sacrificed their children here in the valley of Ben-Hinnom despite the fact that King Josiah had defiled it by turning it in to a garbage dump. Every time I read the Old Testament prophets condemning the people of Jerusalem for sacrificing their children I think of modern day abortion. There is a growing segment of our society which views abortion as a sacrament, not as a “regrettable necessity” but as a positive good. If this continues the United States will face the same sort of destruction which Jeremiah prophesied for Jerusalem.

    When the priest in charge of the Temple learned of what Jeremiah had done he had him arrested, whipped, and put in stocks overnight. Later this same priest, Pashhur, came to Jeremiah on behalf of the king to ask Jeremiah to beg God for aid against King Nebuchadnezzar. The answer God gave to Jeremiah was that no assistance would be coming. The people of Jerusalem, from the lowest to the highest, had a choice to make: they could surrender to the Babylonians, or die. Just as Pashhur had told the people that God loved them and all would be well, despite their continued sins, there are religious leaders today who preach the same message. Pashhur attempted to silence Jeremiah’s calling people to repentance. So too do many religious leaders today.