Today, I am reading and commenting on  Jeremiah 33-35.

Jeremiah prophesies that God will bring great destruction upon Jerusalem and upon the people of Jerusalem, but he also prophesies that God will restore them and bring them back to Him.  God’s promise to bring peace and security for His people cannot be broken any more than day will not follow night.  As sure as day follows night and night follows day, God will bring peace and prosperity to His people.  If we listen to God’s commands and obey them, He will guide us and protect us.

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Jeremiah 31-32.

I was struck by something in today’s passage and am going to write from a different perspective than I am normally willing to take.  In Chapter 31 verse 21, Jeremiah writes:
Set up road signs;
    put up guideposts.
Take note of the highway,
the road that you take.
As I read this I felt like God was speaking through that to us today.  God is telling us to set up road signs and guideposts to direct people to Him.  In the past such signs had been created by those who went before us in the Lord, but our society has torn them down, or twisted them to point in the wrong direction.  It is past due time for those of us who worship the Lord to replace those signs and guideposts.  And what are those road signs and guideposts?  They are our actions and how we interact with others.  Let us be imitators of God, who forgives our wickedness and forgets our sins.  If God has done that for us, surely we can do that for our fellow Man.

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Jeremiah 28-30.

At the end of yesterday’s passage, Jeremiah prophesied that the people of Judah and Jerusalem should submit to the “yoke of Babylon.”  Today’s passage begins with a prophet named Hananiah telling Jeremiah in the presence of the people in the temple that God had told him He would break the yoke of Babylon and the captives would return, including Jehoiachin, who had been king.  To which Jeremiah replied, “May it be so, but God usually sends prophets to prophesy war, disaster, and plague.”  So, Jeremiah continued that prophets who prophesy peace and prosperity need to be taken with a grain of salt, they need to be held to a higher standard before being believed.  Prophets who prophesy war, disaster, and plague can be believed when they tell us these things will happen if we do not turn from our sins, even if the war, disaster, and plague do not come.  Because those things may not have come because enough people turned to the Lord.  But if a prophet prophesies peace and prosperity, we need to give it careful evaluation because peace and prosperity only comes when God is not calling us to change our ways.

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Jeremiah 26-27.

When Jehoiakim was king, Jeremiah prophesied to the people of Jerusalem and Judah that if they listened to God’s words and repented of their sins, He would forgive them and relent of the destruction He had planned for them.  But if they did not, He would bring desolation upon Jerusalem.  There was still time for them to turn from their sins.  God had declared destruction for Jerusalem, but there was still time for them to turn to Him.  Later, when Zedekiah was king, God sent Jeremiah with another prophecy.  If the people of Jerusalem would accept God’s judgement and submit to Babylon, He would spare their lives, but it was too late to maintain their independence.  The day when they could avoid God’s judgement had passed.  Their only choice was to accept, or suffer even worse.  I believe that today we are still at the point similar to Jeremiah’s first prophecy in today’s passage, but we are rapidly approaching the second.

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

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

Today’s passage begins with a condemnation of leaders who divide the people rather than unite them.  In particular Jeremiah speaks out against religious leaders who declare false visions and false prophecies.  He condemns those who speak their own ideas as if they are from God.  Jeremiah tells us that these false prophets and godless priests steal words from each other and claim they are from God.  As I read Jeremiah’s words about these divisive shepherds and lying religious leaders I am reminded of today.  Today, I see leaders who encourage the divisions between groups in order to further their own power rather than unite people for the good of everyone.  I see religious leaders who proclaim their own ideas as the words of God.

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

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

In today’s passage Jeremiah says that God deceived him, other translations say that God persuaded him, to speak words proclaiming violence and destruction.  So whenever he speaks he is insulted and put down.  This led Jeremiah to try keeping quiet, but he found that he could not.  God’s word became a fire eating him up from the inside until it would burst forth once more.  Those who heard his words tried to use them against him, they tried to find something Jeremiah said which they could use to condemn him, but Jeremiah was careful to speak only the words which God had given him.  So, those who sought to persecute him failed and were brought low.  I want to point out that Jeremiah makes this proclamation the day after he had been put in the stocks and beaten.  We may find ourselves in the same position today.  When we speak the words which God gives us, there are many in our society today who will try to use the words we speak against us.  We must be careful to only speak the words which God has given us.  If we do so, He will stand with us and our persecutors will fall.

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

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.

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

In some ways the prophecies with which today’s passage begins are deeply depressing.  In them Jeremiah prophesies that terrible times are coming upon Judah and its people and it is too late for them to avoid them.  God tells Jeremiah, and others who still faithfully served God, to no longer pray for the wellbeing of the people of Judah.  God would not listen to such prayers and even if the people themselves would fast and pray He would not change His judgement, not even if Moses and Samuel were to stand before Him and ask Him to do so.  In years past I was convinced that our society today had not yet reached the point where these prophecies applied to us.  I am no longer sure that such is the case.  However, the passage ends with words of hope.  There God tells us through Jeremiah that if we repent, He will restore us.  We must not speak worthless words, the words which those around us wish to hear, but we must be God’s spokespeople and speak words of worth.  We must strive to get people to turn to us, but we must never turn from God to them.  Let us strive to influence the people around us without being influenced by them.  If we allow God to make us a wall to those who sin against Him, He will save us from the hands of the wicked.

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.

At the beginning of today’s passage Jeremiah tells God’s people not to learn the ways of the nations.  He describes how they make objects which they then worship.  These images cannot speak, they cannot walk.  They must be carried everywhere.  They were made by men out of materials they found on the earth.  So, they could not have made heaven and earth.  Yet, people turn to them for guidance and salvation, instead of turning to God, who DID make  heaven and earth.  Those who turn to something other than God and His commands is senseless.  All of this Jeremiah tells us at the beginning of today’s passage.  Then at the end of today’s passage, He tells of God’s promise to those who have chosen to be enemies of God’s people.  God promises that He will uproot those who taught His people to worship idols and led them into sin, but after a time He will have compassion on them.  Anyone who takes the time to learn the ways which God teaches and chooses to swear by His name will be welcomed among God’s people.  So, we should not learn the ways of the nations.  Rather, we should practice the ways of God so that the nations might learn those ways and join us in serving God.

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.

Jeremiah’s prophecy in today’s passage is directed at those who claim to worship and serve God while worshiping and serving idols.  God tells Jeremiah not to pray for such people because they fail to understand that it is not God they are offending with their actions, but rather they are harming themselves (and perhaps God was telling Jeremiah not to pray for them until they came to understand that).  We should keep this in mind while we consider our actions.  We do that which seems righteous to us, but do we worship other gods at the same time?  If we do, the appearance of righteousness we cultivate so carefully will do us no good.

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