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.

Today’s passage contains a short message from God to Baruch, Jeremiah’s loyal assistant and scribe.  The message suggests that Baruch was an ambitious man, which may explain the suspicion that those remaining in Judah had towards him.  God said to Baruch through Jeremiah that he should give up on his ambitions because they would only lead him to greater sorrow.  However, God promised to preserve his life despite the destruction that so many around him would experience.   Baruch’s faithfulness did not gain him the reward for which he had hoped, but gained him a valuable reward nonetheless.  This message was delivered to Baruch before the fall of Jerusalem, but is recorded here after the accounts of he and Jeremiah being forced to join those who fled to Egypt.   Jeremiah had told those who fled to Egypt that neither they nor their children would see their homeland again.  However, not all of those who went to Egypt did so voluntarily and I think this message to Baruch is recorded here as a reminder that Jeremiah’s prophecy did not apply to them.  

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.

After the murder of the governor appointed by the Babylonians, the people remaining in Judah were afraid of what the Babylonians would do to them.  Initially, they did the right thing, they went to Jeremiah and asked him to tell them what God wanted them to do.  However, when Jeremiah came back 10 days later and told them that God’s answer was for them to stay in Judah and submit to the king of Babylon, they did not trust him.  Despite having promised that they would do whatever Jeremiah told them God commanded and despite Jeremiah’s warning that tragedy would follow them should they go to Egypt, they chose to flee to Egypt rather than remain in Judah.  This really reminds me of the lesson I took from King Zedekiah’s last consultation with Jeremiah.  How often do we choose to act counter to what we know to be God’s will because we do not truly trust God to care for us?  Because we are afraid of what will happen to us if we do His will?  The lesson here is that the consequences of not doing God’s will are always worse than doing God’s 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 39-41.

King Zedekiah, the last king of Judah, refused to take Jeremiah’s advice to surrender to the Babylonians because he was afraid of what the Babylonians would do to him.  Instead, he chose to continue the fight until the city walls fell, at which point he attempted to flee in the night.  However, the end result was exactly what Jeremiah had told him would happen.  If Zedekiah had done as Jeremiah advised, the worst that would have happened would have been what happened and those for whom he was responsible would have suffered less and Zedekiah would probably have been treated better than he was.  An important lesson for us: if we do as God directs, we may experience the suffering we fear, but we will save others from suffering.  However, if we do not do as God directs we will definitely suffer and will likely cause others to suffer needlessly as well.

I find interesting what the rest of this passage reveals about the military defense of the Kingdom of Judah.  I had written an entire paragraph about this, but realized it did not lead to the point.  Jeremiah had prophesied that those who remained in Judah after the first group taken into Exile by the Babylonians would be killed or scattered.  After the fall of Jerusalem, they had an opportunity to live in the land peacefully under the Babylonians.  Something Jeremiah had been advising them to accept for years.  However, after one of those too zealous to accept such an outcome killed the governor appointed by the Babylonians, the rest were too fearful to remain.  So, we see that Jeremiah’s prophecy was fulfilled through the actions of the people themselves.

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.

I am struck as I read through the Book of Jeremiah by the political factions within the Kingdom of Judah during Jeremiah’s lifetime.  In today’s passage we see that one faction wanted to kill Jeremiah, and other prophets of God, while another faction protected them.  King Jehoiakim was a member of the anti-prophet faction, later, his brother, Zedekiah was part of the pro-prophet faction when he was king.  When Jehoiakim was king, those supporting Jeremiah were able to protect him, but later when Zedekiah was king those opposing Jeremiah were able to endanger his life.  We see from various comments of King Zedekiah recorded here that he was not a strong enough king to stand up to the faction which wanted Jeremiah dead.  As I read this, King Zedekiah was not just politically weak, but also a personally weak man.  Part of him wanted to do what was right, but he was too afraid of others to do so.  It seems likely to me that King Jehoiakim was similarly weak, but, since he did not desire to do what was right, covered it up by being a bully.

The question is, what does all of this mean for us?  Well, we see that God protected Jeremiah for doing his will, both when King Jehoiakim tried to have him killed and later when those who opposed him tried to starve him to death.  I will note that through all of this Jeremiah experienced quite a bit of suffering, and that God allowed several other prophets to be killed.  We also see that King Zedekiah’s failure to do the right thing did not protect him from the consequences he feared.  There is one more thing which I want to point out.  Those who wanted to kill Jeremiah did so out of “patriotism”.  They felt that his prophecies concerning the fall of Jerusalem encouraged the enemies of Judah, especially its internal enemies.  They placed what they perceived as the best interests of the nation above doing what was right.  Of course, it is quite likely that some of them mistook their own interests for the interests of the nation and allowed others to do things they knew to be wrong because they needed support for their policies.

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.

Jeremiah predicted the fall of Jerusalem, but he also prophesied that God would never abandon the Jewish people.  What I find interesting is that Jeremiah’s prophecy here was in response to people saying that Israel was not worthy to be counted as a nation.  This struck me because there are many people saying the same thing today.  I thoroughly believe that those people will discover that God’s promise given through Jeremiah is every bit as true today as it was then.  The reason that people said it then was much different from the reasons people say it today.  When Jeremiah prophesied, God promised to restore the people of Israel to their land.  Today, they have been restored to that land, but some people refuse to recognize that this came about because of God’s action.  It may be that God will once again exile His people from the land He gave them because of their sin, but those who choose to be their enemies will pay a price for their hostility.  God has restored the people of Israel to their land several times throughout history, and each time, He exiled them once more when they failed to faithfully follow His commands.

After the above prophecy, Jeremiah condemns the elites of Jerusalem for their failure to stay the course when they repented and turned back to God, or, at least, claimed to do so.  They had freed their Hebrew slaves, their fellow Israelites whom they had enslaved for one reason or another.  By doing so as part of a religious revival they acknowledged that continuing to keep them as slaves was a sin.  However, they soon repented of freeing their slaves and re-enslaved them on one pretext or another.  Jeremiah unfavorably contrasts this with the Recabites, who followed the commands of their ancestor to not drink wine or live in houses.  They had followed these commands since the time of King Jehu of Israel, when their ancestor helped Jehu eliminate Baal worship in the Northern Kingdom.  The Recabites followed their ancestors commands for generations, but the elites of Jerusalem would not remain faithful to God’s commands for even a matter of months.  To which of these groups do you and I belong?  

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.

Through Jeremiah God promises to enter into a new covenant with the people of Israel (from other passages, both in Jeremiah and elsewhere, we learn that this covenant extends to all people).  This new covenant was necessary because the people of Israel were unable to keep the original one (no one would have been able to do so).  The new covenant which God made does not require teachers who have been extensively trained to understand what God commands and how those rules fit together.  God has provided simple and basic rules which anyone can understand for themselves if they so desire.  Further, He has placed His Spirit in those who wish to follow this new covenant to explain to them from within what He desires.  This does not mean that there is no place for teachers of God’s will.  It means that you can go to Scripture for yourself, and with the aid of the Holy Spirit, determine if what the teacher is teaching matches what God has said through Scripture.  

On a slightly different note, Jeremiah was accused of being a traitor to his people because he prophesied that Jerusalem would fall and that the people of Judah should submit to the Babylonians.  This accusation was wrong on several counts.  First, Jeremiah also prophesied that Babylon would be destroyed for what it did to the people of Israel (including Judah).  Second, we have today’s passage where Jeremiah demonstrated his belief that the nation of Israel would one day be restored.  Jeremiah purchased land from a relative and sealed the deed and other ownership documents in a clay jar to preserve them against the time when the Jewish people would once more be able to buy and sell land in the Land of Israel.  He had told the people of Jerusalem that they would go into exile, but he had also told them it would only be for 70 years.  In today’s passage, he put his money where his mouth was by buying land. 

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.

Before the final fall of Jerusalem many of the people of Judah had already been taken into Exile by the Babylonians.  They mourned being exiled from their homeland and wished to return.  God directed Jeremiah to write them a letter.  In that letter Jeremiah told them to accept their lives in this new location.  I want to focus on a small portion of that letter, but one which represents much of God’s message for all who love Him.

For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. I will be found by you,” says the Lord.

God has plans for us, and they are plans for good, not for disaster.  When we pray, God will listen.  If we look for God, we will find Him.  This is true for all people.  If you seek God with your whole heart, you will find Him. 

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.

Other parts of the Book of Jeremiah are directed at abandoned God completely to worship pagan gods.  However, in today’s passage Jeremiah directs his prophecy of doom directly to those worshiping in the Temple.  Rather than listening to his words from God and repenting, the people who claimed to be trying to follow God tried to have Jeremiah killed.  They were angry because he told them that they would not be safe just because they worshiped in the Temple.  In the same way today it is not enough to go to Church and pay lip service to obeying God.  We must show His love to those suffering in the world around us.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.  I am back from vacation, but back to doing my daily readings a few days earlier than planned.  I will continue to try to be a few days ahead so that I can publish on time if anything comes up.

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

Each year as I read through the Old Testament prophets I realize more and more how each section flows into the next.  For example, it is easy to look at today’s reading and see it as starting a new theme from Jeremiah separate from what came before.  But the fact of the matter is that Jeremiah’s condemnation of the leaders and prophets expands on his condemnation of idolatry among the people.  As part of his condemnation of leaders and prophets Jeremiah reminds us that all of the people abuse what power they have.  All too often when we condemn the abuse of power by leaders we forget that that the poor and oppressed use what power they may have over others to abuse them as well.  The leaders of society, both political and religious, have an obligation to lead with honor and righteousness.  However, the common people cannot expect their leaders to be honorable and righteous if they themselves are not.

Jeremiah condemns as false prophets those religious leaders who tell those who despise God’s word that they will have peace and those who follow their own desires that no harm will come to them.  I have heard those who say that God loves everyone, no matter what they believe or do.  They say that there are many paths to God and we should not presume that others need to follow the one which we have found.  There is truth to both of these statements, but both miss God’s message to us.  Yes, God loves everyone, no matter what they believe or do, but He wishes to bring them healing and love which will transform them.  If you believe that evil is good and good is evil you will continue to do things which harm both yourself and others.  God desires to show you His love and truth so that you will stop harming yourself through self-destructive behavior.  And yes, there are many paths to God.  If you truly seek God you will find Him, no matter what path you follow, but eventually that path will lead you to Christ and if you reject Christ when you come to Him you are rejecting God.  Those who claim to be speaking for God who claim that you need not come to Christ and need not stop self-destructive behaviors are liars

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.  I am back from vacation, but back to doing my daily readings a few days earlier than planned.  I will continue to try to be a few days ahead so that I can publish on time if anything comes up.

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

As I read the writings of Jeremiah I see him prophecy against two forms of idolatry.  He prophesied against those who worshiped the nation of Judah and the Temple, who failed to understand that just because God’s Temple was in Jerusalem did not mean that God would protect the city.  He also prophesied against those who joined in every worship fad which came along.  These were not the equivalent of having loud, electrified worship teams leading the Christian worship service, singing the latest contemporary Christian songs (although some of those fads may lead towards what Jeremiah is prophesying against, but that is a different discussion).  No, Jeremiah was prophesying against those who partook in pagan practices.  

I cannot decide if Jeremiah’s prophecies against these two forms of idolatry were directed to the same group of people, or if they were two different groups.  Based on what I see in our society today, I would guess that his prophecies were directed at multiple groups.  There were those who fully joined in his condemnation of the pagan worship practices, but thought he went too far when he said Jerusalem would fall because its people failed to deliver justice to the poor and powerless.  There were those who fully joined in his condemnation of the failure of Jerusalem’s people to deliver justice to the poor and powerless, but thought he went too far by condemning pagan practices.  And there were those who thought that by condemning pagan practices he was taking part in denying justice to the poor and powerless.  Each group failed to understand that they were no better than the others.  If you believe that the failures of others plays a more important role in the breakdown of society than your own failures, Jeremiah was talking to you.