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.