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

Jeremiah continues to prophesy that God’s judgement could not be avoided, that a time of sorrow and mourning was coming and that it was too late to forestall it.  The disaster is coming because those who came before us forsook God, rejected Him and worshiped other gods.  They worshiped power and wealth.  They chose not to keep the laws which God had given them.  And our generation has behaved even more wickedly than those who went before us.  For this reason, God will show us no favor.  Yet there is still a path forward for us.  Jeremiah tells us that those who trust in man will be cursed, but those who trust in the Lord will be blessed.  The former will be like a bush in the wastelands, dry and bitter.  The latter will be like a tree planted by the water, even during a drought it will bear fruit.  Jeremiah tells us to keep the Sabbath holy and things will go well for us and our land.  When Jeremiah says that he is referring more to keeping God’s will than to following specific rituals.  He refers to seeking justice and not oppressing the poor, to feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, and visiting the sick and the prisoner.  Finally, Jeremiah gives a reason to hope and something for which to strive.  He tells us that God is like a potter, if the nation which God has declared will be destroyed because of its evil repents of its sin and turns to Him, He will turn that destruction aside and bring good things to it.  Let us pray that God pour out His Spirit upon the people of this land and turn them from their sins.

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