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

For the most part, Jeremiah prophesies that an unavoidable disaster is about to come upon the people of Jerusalem.  The people to whom he spoke feigned ignorance as to why God would allow that to happen to them.  Jeremiah pointed out that their ancestors had forsaken God’s law and that they had behaved even more wickedly than their ancestors, stubbornly following their own wills rather than obeying God.  Jeremiah goes on to condemn them for putting their trust in human beings while turning away from God.  He tells them that if they would put their trust in God and depend upon Him they would be able to face the coming disaster without need to fear.

So, even now, as bad as it seems, and how inevitable disaster appears, God promises that if we, each of us, turn to Him, He will rescue us from the disaster our actions deserve.  As Jeremiah told the people of Jerusalem, we must return to keeping the Sabbath holy.  We must return to the days when we did not work, or do business, on Sunday.  Or, whatever day of the week you choose, just pick a day and spend it worshiping the Lord.  It might even be different days each week, but there should be a system to how you select the day.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Jeremiah 13-15.

I struggle with today’s passage.  For most of this passage, Jeremiah prophesies destruction upon the people for their sins.  He reports that God has told him not to pray for the people because He (God) is going to destroy them with famine, plague, and the sword.  Jeremiah defended the people by saying that the prophets were telling them that they would not see the sword or suffer famine.  God responded that those prophets were lying because He (God) had not sent them.  Further God told Jeremiah that those prophets would perish by famine and the sword, as would the people who listened to them.  The point here being that we should be very careful about listening to people who claim to speak on behalf of God, especially when they tell us that our sins will not lead to our destruction.  Then God tells Jeremiah that even if Moses and Samuel were to stand before Him, He would not relent on the suffering and destruction which was coming to this people.  I believe we are fast approaching a time, if we are not already there, when Jeremiah’s prophecy here will apply to our society today.

So far, the passage is clear, if very scary; people have been so sinful for so long that the suffering which God warned would result from such sinfulness cannot be turned aside.  However, after having told Jeremiah that such is the case, God tells him

If you repent, I will restore you
that you may serve me;

Which tells us that Jeremiah, at least, can avoid the coming suffering (avoid is probably not quite the right word, but I am going to go with it for today).  I believe that God’s message here was not just for Jeremiah, but for anyone who would listen to it, but God knew that few would actually do so.  And that is where we stand today, our society is going headlong  down the road towards suffering and destruction and time to turn aside is running out, if it has not already run out.  However, God will use and protect those who repent and speak worthwhile words, instead of the worthless words so many today speak.  If we wish to serve God, we must speak His words so that people are drawn towards us (insomuch as that draws them to God), but we must be careful not to be drawn towards the sins of our society.

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Jeremiah 10-12.

I have been trying to figure out how to approach today’s passage for awhile now.  Today’s passage begins with God telling us not to learn the ways of the “nations” around us nor to be terrified by “signs in the heavens”.  When I read the word “nation” (or its plural) I think of a group of people with a shared culture.  So, I take that part of this passage to mean that we should not adopt the ways of non-Christian cultures.  That does not mean that we cannot learn from other cultures, only that we must be careful not to adopt practices contrary to what God teaches us through the Bible.  In this particular case, the culture we must be most cautious about is the one by which we are surrounded.  As for the :signs in the heavens” by which we should not be terrified, I believe that refers to things like global warming, genetically modified organisms,  or any of the other things which we are told we must act on immediately without taking the time to cautiously debate.  All of these things create terror in those around us, but we serve the true God, the one who made the heavens and the earth.  Those around us believe that we must serve their idols in order to avoid the terrors which they imagine will come if we do not do so.  However, the objects and the organizations which they worship can do us no good, nor any harm, if we do not give them power over ourselves.  God controls the earth and the heavens.

What I wrote above does not mean that none of the terrible things of which our society demands we be fearful  are of no importance.  Merely that we should calmly and clearly identify the risks and choose actions in response which are commensurate with those risks.

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Jeremiah 7-9.

In today’s passage Jeremiah addresses “church-goers”, those who regularly take part in official worship of God.  God sent him to stand in front of the temple gate and speak to those who went through the gate to worship God, which was more or less the equivalent of going to church services on Sunday.  Jeremiah told them that the temple would not protect them from God’s judgement and in the same way going to church services every Sunday, or even including weekday services, will not save us from God’s judgement.  In order to be saved from God’s judgement we must allow God’s Spirit to change our actions.  We must deal with others justly, we must not oppress those weaker than ourselves, and we must not follow other gods.  I want to expand on that last one a little bit.  Through Jeremiah, God tells us not to follow other gods, because doing so harms us.  The other things in that list of things bring harm to others, but following other gods brings harm to ourselves.

This passage highlights the danger of thinking that “faith” in Christ is all that you need.  We cannot earn our way into heaven by doing good deeds; none of us are good enough for that to work.  However, if our faith in Christ does not cause us to do good deeds, we do not really believe Him.  If we think we will get into heaven because we were wise enough to avoid the mistakes which others made that are leading them to Hell, we are mistaken.  We must seek to obey God and provide assistance to those in need.  Do not boast about your wisdom, nor about your strength, nor about your wealth.  None of those things will do you any good.  Instead, boast about the fact that God has chosen you to take part in the sufferings of Christ, boast about the fact that you serve a God who will accept any who humbly turn to Him.  I serve a great God, and so can anyone who chooses to do so, no matter how many mistakes they have made, no matter how bad the mistakes they made.

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Jeremiah 4-6.

When reading today’s passage I think we should take note that the prophecy Jeremiah gives here took place between when King Josiah began his religious reforms and when he began to renovate the temple.  Which means that, at least in part, Jeremiah was addressing those taking part in King Josiah’s religious revival.  So, if we seek revival, and I hope that you join me in doing so, we need to pay close attention to Jeremiah’s message.  We must find the unplowed ground of our hearts, the places where we are resistant to allowing the Holy Spirit to transform us, and break it up.  We must circumcise our hearts to the Lord, accepting the pain of cutting out that which separates us from the Lord.  Otherwise, God’s anger will flare up against us because of the evil we have done.  We stand at a crossroads.  We must ask for  the ancient path, the good way, and follow it.  Just as in Jeremiah’s time, God is looking for people who deal honestly and seeks the truth.   Allow God’s Spirit to transform you into such a person, even if you are the only one.  In Jeremiah’s time, God was looking for just one person in all of Jerusalem.  If He had found that person, He would have forgiven the people of Jerusalem for their sins.  I don’t know how many God is looking for today, but I do not want destruction to come because He found one less than He was looking for, and I could have been that one.

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Jeremiah 1-3.

When God called Jeremiah to be a prophet, Jeremiah felt that he did not know how to express himself well enough because of his youth.  He was afraid that he would say the wrong thing at the wrong time.  God told him not to be afraid, that He would put His words in his mouth.  You are neither too young, nor too old, to carry out the ministry to which God has called you.  He will give you the strength and knowledge to do as He commands.  Just like He did with Jeremiah, God chose you for His ministry before you were even conceived.

Which brings me to Jeremiah’s message.  Ultimately, all of our sins can be broken down to two sins.  First, we turn from God and refuse to follow commands which He has given us: commands which He gave in order for us to get what was best for us.  Second, we have made up our own rules for living; rules which we think will bring us happiness, but which will only drain happiness from us.  We actively look to anything but God to find inspiration for our rules.

As a note that is not really part of my Bible Study, Jeremiah 3:16 says that people will no longer talk about the ark of the covenant of the Lord.  They will not even think about it most of the time and another one will not be made.  That little note is worth noting because many people who try to track down the ark of the covenant theorize that it was hidden during Jeremiah’s lifetime.  However, this verse suggests that it was already gone at the beginning of his ministry.

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Jeremiah 51-52.

I had previously stated that we did not know when Jeremiah made the prophecy concerning Babylon.  I was mistaken, in today’s passage we are told that Jeremiah made this prophecy during the reign of King Zedekiah just before Zedekiah visited Babylon.  I struggle with what lesson to take from Jeremiah’s prophecy against Babylon.  As I have thought about it it seems that Jeremiah was speaking to those Exiles who had “gone native” in Babylon, who had decided that Babylon was “the future”.  There were those who thought that Babylon’s success proved that they need not obey God’s law.  Jeremiah’s prophesied that for all of Babylon’s might, it too would fall…and that God would restore the people of Israel.  We must never make the mistake of thinking that the interests if the nation in which we live are synonymous with God’s will.  While it is true that if the people of a nation do God’s will that nation’s interests will be served, we cannot assume that because something is in a nation’s interest it is in God’s will.

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Jeremiah 49-50.

It is not clear when Jeremiah gave the prophecies against various nations listed in today’s passage.  However, what is noteworthy is that Jeremiah prophesied that God would use Babylon to bring judgement against the nations which neighbored Israel, then He would bring judgement against Babylon.  So, while God used Babylon to bring judgement on the wicked in many lands, He did not approve the way in which they oppressed the people in the lands they conquered.  I really struggled with what this passage said to me today until it finally hit me: Jeremiah prophesied against the people of Judah and called on them to forsake their wicked ways.  He said again and again that God would allow the Babylonians to destroy the city of Jerusalem if its people did not repent.  Yet, at no time did he say that any of the peoples around them were righteous.  Here he declares that God will pour out His judgement against them as well, and against the Babylonians whom He used to end the wickedness of these other nations.  Jeremiah called on the people of Judah to do what was right/  He did not call on them to imitate any other nation.

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

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

One of the things which one needs to remember about the Book of Jeremiah is that the prophecies in it were primarily recorded long after the fact and are not in chronological order.  For example, the message to Baruch was given before the fall of Jerusalem when Jeremiah was dictating his prophecies for Baruch to write them down, and the prophecy concerning Egypt occurred years earlier. I think the prophecy against the Philistines was given before the prophecy against Egypt, even though it follows it here.  As for the prophecy against Moab, we are given no clues as to when Jeremiah made that prophecy.  I like to note that this passage makes it clear that Jeremiah did not prophecy just against the Kingdom of Judah.  Additionally, we learn here that when God brought judgement against Judah, the destruction spread to the wicked nations around her as well.  We should remember that when God’s judgement comes, it comes to all who embrace wickedness.

I use 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 assassination of the governor appointed by the Babylonians the people remaining in the land came to Jeremiah  requesting him to ask God what they should do.  Then when Jeremiah gave them God’s answer some of them accused him of lying.  Note that they did not say he had heard God’s answer incorrectly, they said he was lying.  So, they had gone to Jeremiah seeking God’s guidance, but when they did not like the answer he gave them they did not argue that he misunderstood God.  Rather than make a case that Jeremiah’s understanding of God’s will was wrong, they accused him of acting in bad faith.  Further, the same leaders who had approached Jeremiah in the first place were the ones who did so.  As best I can understand, they were hoping that Jeremiah would agree with their plan to take the remaining Israelites to Egypt and when he did not attacked him.  If they had argued that he said what he did because he was in the service of Babylon it would have at least had the virtue of being one interpretation of events.  Of course, that would have called into question why they went to him in the first place.  The leaders who led the people to Egypt did not make a case for it to be God’s desire that they go to Egypt.  Instead, they attacked the motivations of those who argued for them to stay in the land.  In the same way today, we should be cautious of those who make the case for their preferred actions by attacking the integrity of those who disagree with them rather than by arguing the merits of their course of actions and the liabilities of the opposing course of action.

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