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 51-52.

A theme which runs through the Book of Jeremiah is that God raised up the Babylonians to punish the people of Judah, but that does not free the Babylonians from God’s judgement on them for abusing His People.  In fact, Jeremiah tells us that God raised up Babylon to punish many of the nations of the world for their sins.  Nevertheless, God destroyed Babylon for the wrong which they had done to His people.  So, God raises up nations and people to punish evil-doers, but that does not justify them committing evil acts against those they have been raised up to punish.  I dislike touching on the same theme two days in a row, but I think this message really is that important.  There are times when we wish to be God’s Hand of Judgement against those who have committed heinous sins, but we should keep it mind that those who have been God’s Hand of Judgement have usually later been subject to His Judgement.  We should rather desire to be those who deliver God’s mercy, because those who deliver God’s mercy will be the recipients of God’s Mercy.

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 49-50.

Jeremiah gave a prophecy of condemnation against the Ammonites which condemned them for two wrongs.  The first one he mentions is that they inhabited the land of Gad (one of the Israelite tribes which settled east of the Jordan River).  The second one is their worship of the idol Molech.  That first one makes me wonder about the people living in that land today.  Is God planning to turn that land over to the modern state of Israel?  Will they face destruction because of their idolatry?  I am hesitant to apply Old Testament prophecy concerning the Land of Israel to the modern nation of Israel, but from time to time as I read the Bible I wonder about whether and how the prophecies apply.

Later, in the prophecy against Babylon there are two things of which I want to take special note.  Jeremiah says that the people of Israel will come seeking the Lord and bind themselves to Him.  This new covenant will never be forgotten and will be eternal.  God’s people were like lost sheep who could not find their way back to the sheepfold; they were scattered, but God is going to gather them once more.  Those who attacked and scattered God’s people said that they did nothing wrong.  They justified their attacks by saying that these people had sinned against God.  They had plundered God’s people and rejoiced in the misery they had caused them.  Jeremiah tells us that God’s anger will pour forth against those who did these things.  We should keep this latter in mind when we interact with those who have sinned.  It is our job to warn sinners of God’s coming judgement, not to mete it out (and always remember that we too are sinners deserving of God’s judgement).

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.

I want to focus on Jeremiah’s message to Baruch this morning.  It struck me immediately when I read the passage, but it is such a small portion of today’s passage that I tried to find something else to write about. However, none of the rest of the passage connected for me today.   From the passage we realize that Baruch was ambitious.  His brother was chamberlain to King Zedekiah, which suggests that Baruch was of noble birth.  Baruch wished to be someone of note, and complained that all of his efforts had gotten him nowhere.  Jeremiah advised him to accept never being a person of clout because those who attained great positions in the Kingdom of Judah would suffer disaster.  Baruch should accept his lot as “just another guy” as far as most people were concerned.  God promised Baruch that, while he would never be what people considered to be a great person, he would be safe wherever he went as his life went on.  We should take this message to heart.  Not everyone who does as God directs will become a “great” person.  Each of us should strive to do God’s will to the best of our ability and to the fullest of our strength while accepting that God’s plan for us may not include recognition from others.

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 assassination of the governor appointed by the king of Babylon by one of the guerrilla leaders, the remaining leaders consulted with Jeremiah as to what they should do.  They promised that they would do whatever Jeremiah determined that God said they should do.  Despite this fervent promise, when Jeremiah called them back to hear God’s answer, they refused to follow it.  They accused Jeremiah of lying to them under the influence of his long time assistant, Baruch.  They were convinced that Baruch wanted them to be killed by the Babylonians.  No explanation is given as to why they would believe that he wanted that to happen.  Despite refusing to listen to Jeremiah, and blaming Baruch for him giving them “bad” advice, they took both of them with them to Egypt.  Then once they had gotten to Egypt, they began blaming everything which had happened on giving up their idolatry.

We see both of the above behaviors today.  People ask for guidance from God, but don’t really want guidance.  They just want someone to tell them that God wants them to do what they were going to do anyway. When things continue to get worse after they stop doing the things which caused problems to start, people often blame the problems on the fact that they stopped rather than recognize that it takes time for changing your behavior to change the results you experience.  I am really sorry, I cannot find the words to fully communicate my thoughts here.

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.

The first thing from this passage is the revelation that the Judeans had practiced asymmetrical warfare against the Babylonians, at least within the area of the Kingdom of Judah and the surrounding lands.  Many times we read about asymmetrical warfare, or guerrilla warfare, presented as if they are modern inventions, but, as “the Teacher” wrote in the Book of Ecclesiastes, there is nothing new under the sun.  Here we read about those who commanded military groups in the countryside.  They would have been the commanders of guerrilla groups that avoided direct encounters with the Babylonian army.  And just as modern guerrilla bands do, they sheltered in the territory of surrounding nations which were not officially involved in the war between Babylon and Judah.  Today I think that is the reminder which I want to take from this passage: people often think that this development, or that one, are new and invalidate the instructions which God gave His people long ago, they are mistaken. Human nature has not changed over the centuries and God’s instructions are just as relevant today as they were when He first gave them to mankind.

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.

One of the things which is revealed in today’s passage is that there was a faction of government officials who were seeking to get the government of Jerusalem to rule more justly and righteously.  When Jeremiah had Baruch write all of his prophecies on a scroll and read them at the Temple, they attempted to use this to convince King Jehoiakim to make changes.  The passage does not say so explicitly, but the King and his attendants appear to have taken pleasure out of the making that faction uncomfortable by destroying the scroll (reading between the lines I see them also getting pleasure out of rubbing the righteous officials faces in the sins they committed).  We see similar things today where some people take pleasure in blatantly sinning in front of those calling them to repentance.  Later, we see the same divide when Zedekiah was king.  I believe that King Zedekiah wanted to act righteously, but was more afraid of men than of God.  He was too afraid of the corrupt officials in his government to do as God commanded.  Let us not fall into that trap.  We must be willing to stand up for what God says, no matter what opposition we will face.

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.

During much of the time when Jeremiah prophesied, the land of Judah (and the rest of Israel) was a war ravaged land; It was desolate and barren.  Even the Recabites, a clan of the Israelites which had maintained a nomadic lifestyle, had moved into the city of Jerusalem.  Yet, Jeremiah prophesies that God will restore Jerusalem and the entire land of Israel.  The day will come when the people of Israel in the land of Israel will bring glory to God’s name.  When I look at the world of today, with the new agreement which Israel has reached with the United Arab Emirates, I wonder if perhaps God is about to fulfill this prophecy.  Certainly, there are still ways in which the people of the modern nation of Israel anger God, but that does not mean that God’s Spirit is not working to bring this prophecy to fulfillment. (Of course, there is a part of me which suspects that this prophecy figuratively applies to the Christian Church).

I intended to write about Jeremiah’s interaction with the Recabites and their faithfulness, but the more I thought, trying to put together my thoughts in order to write, the more I thought the account of the elites of Jerusalem freeing, then re-enslaving, their slaves seemed to speak to today.  The elites of  Jerusalem acknowledged that the way that they treated their Hebrew slaves was sinful and entered into a binding covenant to free them.  However, as soon as the public attention had turned to other things, they re-enslaved their recently freed slaves.  This reminds me of the ways in which many of the elites of today act.  They publicly acknowledge that the way in which they treat the poor and powerless is wrong and vow to make changes (although, they rarely admit that they themselves have done this wrong), yet as soon as the public attention is turned to other things, they change the rules in ways that allow them to resume their former practices.  God is not fooled, and eventually even the most gullible person catches on as well.

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.

Jeremiah tells us that God will make a new covenant with Israel because the people of Israel had demonstrated that humans were not capable of following God’s original covenant.  So, God promised through Jeremiah to create a new covenant, one which I believe was created by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Under the new covenant, God put His Spirit within us to give us God’s instructions and write them upon our hearts.  I believe that under this new covenant we do not need teachers in order to learn what God wants us to do.  Nevertheless, God has provided us with teachers to help us master His will.  A key part of what Jeremiah says here about not needing teachers is that there are no secrets which only the “select” can know: all of God’s truth is freely available to all who wish to know.

On another lesson of importance for us, despite prophesying the fall of Jerusalem, Jeremiah also prophesied its restoration.  But Jeremiah did not just say that these future good things would happen, he acted upon them.  When given the opportunity, Jeremiah bought land outside of the city.  However, he made it clear that he did not expect to make any gain from it in the short-term by putting the deed in a clay jar to preserve it for a long time.  Jeremiah had faith that the deed would someday be worth something and acted on that faith.

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.

Jeremiah once again warns against prophets who lie in God’s name, prophets who claim to be speaking words from God but have not received any words from God.  Jeremiah points out that most prophets have a message of warning concerning war, disaster, and/or disease.  Any prophet who predicts peace and good fortune must be viewed skeptically until their prophecies come true.  God will punish those who prophecy lies in His name.  Those who use God’s name to serve their own interests will not escape God’s judgment.

Jeremiah’s message to the Exiles in Babylon carries meaning to me as a Christian in the world but not of the world.  The Exiles were in Babylon, but they were not of Babylon.  Nevertheless, Jeremiah told them to pray for the welfare of the city where they lived in exile, because their welfare was tied to the welfare of that city.  In the same manner, we should pray for the welfare of the city and country where we dwell, because our welfare is tied to the welfare of where we live.  Further, God has plans for us, just as He did for the Exiles.  Those plans are for good and not for disaster.

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.

If God would destroy Shiloh, where His Tabernacle had been, and later destroy Jerusalem, where His Temple was built, because they would not listen to Him and the prophets He sent, then He will destroy this country if people continue to refuse to listen to Him and the messengers He sends.  It is kind of scary to feel compelled to carry God’s message to people when I read this passage, because Jeremiah faced serious threat, and other godly prophets were killed, for relaying God’s message which people did not want to hear.  However, I find it much scarier to refuse to speak God’s message.  God protected Jeremiah and kept him from the suffering that many of his contemporaries experienced.  And we know that those prophets who were killed for speaking God’s word have entered into God’s presence and live there with Him.  Pray for the people of this world that they may turn to God before their sin brings destruction down upon them.