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

Today’s passage begins with a prophecy which seems to say that the coming disaster can no longer be avoided.  Jeremiah goes from there to warn against putting our trust in human beings, or human institutions.  He contrasts them with those who put their trust in God.  He tells us that those who rely on God will withstand the coming disaster.  Then God sends Jeremiah to stand in the gate of the temple and tell people to be sure to keep the Sabbath Day.  This message is being delivered to those going into the temple in order to offer sacrifices to God.  After that Jeremiah prophesies that if God sends an evil nation a warning that He is about to destroy it and that nation repents of its evil, He will refrain from fulfilling His prophecy.  On the other hand, if God announces that a good nation is to be rewarded for its deeds and that nation turns to evil, He will bring destruction upon it.

So, I really believe that our nation, and perhaps our entire world, is at the point the Kingdom of Judah was when Jeremiah made these particular prophecies.  Our institutions have been completely corrupted and that can only lead to destruction and devastation.  If we continue to put our trust in man and human institutions, the destruction will be inevitable.  If we continue to think that if we just elect the right people, demand the government do the right thing, we can escape God’s judgement, the destruction will be unescapable.  Only if we put our trust fully in God, recognizing that only Divine intervention can change the path we are on will we be able to see things turn around.  Doing so means more than just going to Church on Sunday and making donations to charitable organizations, or even directly to those in need.  We need to keep the Sabbath, we need sacrifice some of our personal convenience in order to serve God.  I have long thought that many abortions in this country result from people sacrificing their child on the altar of convenience, that convenience is a god more important to them than God.  But, how many of us serve that same god by shopping on Sunday because it is convenient?  Can’t we set aside one day to rest and serve God?  Maybe it is worth a little inconvenience to allow others to rest on Sunday as well?  I think this message applies to me, but each person will have to see where they need to stop offering service to the god of convenience for themselves.

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