Today, I am reading and commenting on  Jeremiah 42-44.

After overtaking and rescuing those taken prisoner by the man who killed Gedaliah, who Nebuchadnezzar had appointed governor over Judah. the leaders of those remaining in Judah asked Jeremiah for a message from God as to what they should do.  Jeremiah told them they should not flee to Egypt, but they called him a liar and did so anyway.  They forced Jeremiah to go with them, which makes no sense to me.  It makes even less sense when you see how they refused to listen to Jeremiah’s words from God once they were in Egypt.  So, in this passage the people repeatedly listened to the message from God, then chose to do otherwise.  We see people doing the same today.  Perhaps we are guilty of doing the same thing.  We should examine our lives to determine when we seek God’s word, but do not follow it when we hear it.

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Jeremiah 39-41.

I am going to start with a different take on a lesson to be learned from this passage than I would normally go with.  This passage speaks about the fall of Jerusalem to Babylon.  Before this we read about how Zedekiah refused to take Jeremiah’s advice to surrender to Nebuchadnezzar and Jeremiah was imprisoned.  In addition, Ebed-Melek had rescued Jeremiah from dying in a cistern, where Jeremiah’s enemies had placed him.  Today, we read that Zedekiah suffered the terrible things which Jeremiah had prophesied would happen if Zedekiah failed to surrender.  We also read about how the Babylonians freed Jeremiah and provided for him, and God sent a prophecy through Jeremiah to Ebed-Melek that He would look out for him during the fall of Jerusalem.  So, we see that in the disaster of the fall of Jerusalem, God looked out for those who served Him, and allowed those who rejected His guidance to suffer.  As bad as things might seem. if we serve God, He will care for 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 36-38.

In today’s passage we have two different, but equally bad responses to God’s word.  At the beginning of the passage, Jeremiah dictates a scroll of the prophecies which God has given him to Baruch, who then reads said scroll to the people entering the temple.  The express purpose of this was that when the people heard the disasters which God had planned they might repent of their sin and God would forgive them.  When officials discovered that this was going on they took the scroll to Jehoiakim, the king.  As the scroll was read to Jehoiakim, he casually cut off the parts which had already been read and burned them.  Jehoiakim then ordered Jeremiah and Baruch to be arrested, but the officers he sent to do this could not find them.  Jehoiakim casually ignored the words of warning which God had sent to him and continued to sin.  At the end of the passage, when Zedekiah was king he sent for Jeremiah and consulted him about God’s will.  But Zedekiah was afraid of what people might do to him if he did as God commanded.  Both Jehoiakim and Zedekiah refused to do as God commanded.  Jehoiakim did so because he did not fear God.  Zedekiah feared God, but he feared man more than he feared God.  Both men suffered because they would not listen to 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 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.