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

Today’s passage begins with a prophecy which seems to say that the coming disaster can no longer be avoided.  Jeremiah goes from there to warn against putting our trust in human beings, or human institutions.  He contrasts them with those who put their trust in God.  He tells us that those who rely on God will withstand the coming disaster.  Then God sends Jeremiah to stand in the gate of the temple and tell people to be sure to keep the Sabbath Day.  This message is being delivered to those going into the temple in order to offer sacrifices to God.  After that Jeremiah prophesies that if God sends an evil nation a warning that He is about to destroy it and that nation repents of its evil, He will refrain from fulfilling His prophecy.  On the other hand, if God announces that a good nation is to be rewarded for its deeds and that nation turns to evil, He will bring destruction upon it.

So, I really believe that our nation, and perhaps our entire world, is at the point the Kingdom of Judah was when Jeremiah made these particular prophecies.  Our institutions have been completely corrupted and that can only lead to destruction and devastation.  If we continue to put our trust in man and human institutions, the destruction will be inevitable.  If we continue to think that if we just elect the right people, demand the government do the right thing, we can escape God’s judgement, the destruction will be unescapable.  Only if we put our trust fully in God, recognizing that only Divine intervention can change the path we are on will we be able to see things turn around.  Doing so means more than just going to Church on Sunday and making donations to charitable organizations, or even directly to those in need.  We need to keep the Sabbath, we need sacrifice some of our personal convenience in order to serve God.  I have long thought that many abortions in this country result from people sacrificing their child on the altar of convenience, that convenience is a god more important to them than God.  But, how many of us serve that same god by shopping on Sunday because it is convenient?  Can’t we set aside one day to rest and serve God?  Maybe it is worth a little inconvenience to allow others to rest on Sunday as well?  I think this message applies to me, but each person will have to see where they need to stop offering service to the god of convenience for themselves.

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.

This is a troubling passage.  In it Jeremiah prophesies that God told him not to pray for the people of Judah.  Yet, I firmly believe that we should always pray for those around us.  This led me to read, and re-read, this passage, seeking understanding.  Before mentioning that God had told him not to pray for these people, Jeremiah warned them to listen and give glory to God.  If they would not turn to God and renounce their sins and their idols, God would bring destruction upon them.  Then, after making that prophecy, Jeremiah gave a prophecy concerning a drought in the land.  It was in the context of that drought that God told Jeremiah not to pray for the people and then I understood the message.  God had sent the drought to cause the people to turn to Him for salvation.  God told Jeremiah not to pray for Him to relieve the people from the drought because they had worse problems than those caused by a lack of water.  So, I learn from this that I should not pray that sinners, even those most dear to me, be relieved of the suffering which comes from their sin, at least not as my primary prayer.  No, my first, most heartfelt prayer should be that they turn from their sin before they suffer even worse.

Throughout today’s passage Jeremiah records God promising to destroy the people of Jerusalem, to destroy the people to whom Jeremiah was prophesying.  All in all, it seems very depressing because Jeremiah seems to be saying that it is too late for the people of Jerusalem to escape God’s wrath.  Yet, also throughout the passage are little statements which suggest otherwise: “If you repent, I will restore you that you may serve Me.”  Let us stand firm in our loyalty to God, so that if the sinners we know turn to us they will be turning to God.  But under no circumstances should we allow them to influence us so that we turn to them, and thus away from God.  If we pray that people be relieved of their suffering, God may hear our prayers and they will not turn from their sins, leading them into even greater suffering.  On the other hand, if we call for people to turn from their sins, and pray to God that they do so, perhaps they will turn from their sins, and be relieved of their suffering.

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.

Today’s passage begins with Jeremiah comparing false gods to scarecrows. He writes something very similar to what is written in Isaiah 44.  Most importantly, Jeremiah tells us not to fear false gods because they can do no harm, nor any good.  Jeremiah goes on to point out that everything other than God which we might worship came into existence after the creation of the universe.  If you study the holy writings of every other religion, its gods came into being after something already existed.  Only the God of Abraham existed before anything else.  Even today, everything other than God which is worshiped came into being after the universe began.  There are those who worship the Sun or the Moon, and those who worship the Earth, and, of course, those who worship themselves, but all of these things did not exist before time.  None of these things can provide us with a basis for doing good because they exist only within time.  Only by listening to God can we learn what is truly good.

Ahhh! this seems so clear in my head, but I cannot type the words to make the point clear here.

Jeremiah tells us that the shepherds, those who should provide us guidance, are senseless because they fail to inquire of God before telling us what course of action to follow.  The prophet Isaiah largely prophesied against those who blatantly turned their backs on God and embraced the sins which God had proscribed.   Jeremiah, on the other hand, prophesied primarily against those who maintained the semblance of worshiping God, while embracing the sins which God had proscribed.   Jeremiah speaks out against those who use a veneer of godliness to hide their moral corruption, who come up with ways to justify their self-indulgence, or that of others.  And Jeremiah warns that God will uproot all such peoples.

However, today’s passage ends with a note of hope.  God promises that He will embrace and make part of His people all of those, from whatever nation or heritage, who learn His ways and choose to be identified as His.  Those He will establish and protect.

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 prophesied against those who came to the temple to worship God.  They thought they were gaining God’s blessing by coming to the temple to offer sacrifices to God, without reforming their ways.  They thought that by offering sacrifices to God on the Holy Days, while stealing and murdering, committing adultery and perjury the rest of the time.  Jeremiah warned them that they were arousing God’s anger, but not because they were causing any harm to Him.  No, God was angry because they harmed themselves with their sins.  This passage presents two important lessons.  God does not give us commands arbitrarily.  He does not tell us “Do this, don’t do that,” just to make us jump to His tune.  He tells us “Do this” because He knows we will be better off if we do so.  And He tells us “Don’t do that” because He knows we will suffer if we do that.  God’s rules are not intended to limit our enjoyment of life, they are designed to enhance it.  But the prophet has a second message for us here: following the commands which cause other people to think we are righteous benefits us less than following those which no one notices us doing. Going to Church every Sunday won’t do you any good if you take advantage of people with limited options to save money.

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.

I am going to write about two themes I read about in today’s passage, themes which I see applying to our society now.  On the one hand, the prophet calls on people to return to the Lord and give up detestable idols.  He calls for us to break up the unplowed ground of our hearts and plant a crop of righteousness so that nations and peoples throughout the world will invoke God and turn to Him.  On the other hand, he also tells us that instead of seeking God, everyone is greedy for gain and practice deceit.  As I read this I think of my friends who are quick to fall into “conspiracy theory” territory, blaming the ills of society on the deception and greed of the powerful, who work together to gain wealth and the expense of those without the connections to do likewise.  There is truth in what they say, but in many cases they are guilty of doing the same thing when they have the opportunity.  If you look around, everyone, from the least to the greatest, seeks to gain through fraud and deceit.  Those who should be calling people to account for their abuse of power, lie in order to favor their own interests, while those who should be calling people to serve God instead promote the behaviors which give them power and wealth.  Those who hold positions of authority apply bandaids where surgery is needed.  As a society we stand at a crossroad.  There are a few voices crying in the wilderness for us to follow the ancient path, tried and true, the path which has been shown to be a good way which leads to safety and rest.  But as a society we keep saying, “No, we don’t want to go that way. ”  And we do this despite the fact that anyone with eyes can see that the path we have chosen instead leads to disaster and those with ears can hear the disaster coming, because, as various Old Testament prophets prophesied, those with eyes do not perceive and those with ears do not listen.  Let us join with the prophet in pointing our friends and neighbors to the path which leads to righteousness, and let us walk that path, even if we must walk it alone.

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 we read Jeremiah we tend to think of him prophesying to the people of Judah under the last few, wicked kings of Judah.  We overlook the fact that he began prophesying under King Josiah, who is recorded as having led a major revival in worship of God.  In fact,  Jeremiah begins to prophesy the year after King Josiah began his major reforms.  So, while King Josiah was busy having the altars to Baal and the Asherah poles throughout the land of Israel (including all of Israel, not just the portion which was the Kingdom of Judah), Jeremiah was prophesying against the people of Israel for worshiping idols and failing to worship God.  I believe that today’s passage is directed at those who embraced Josiah’s reforms without acknowledging their own sins; those who had happily worshiped Baal and other idols, in particular the gods of Assyria and Egypt, right up until King Josiah began his campaign to wipe out such worship, at which point they enthusiastically joined his campaign and became avid promoters of worshiping God.

Which brings me to another thing I noticed here: Jeremiah prophesied against relying on Assyria and Egypt.  I want to note the King Josiah died when he went out to prevent Pharaoh Necho from marching to support the Assyrian Empire in its battle against the Babylonians, who subsequently defeated the Assyrians.  It seems to me that perhaps Jeremiah was speaking out about the Assyrians and the Egyptians because there was a faction, a strong faction, in the court in Jerusalem which favored appeasing Assyria and Egypt, while King Josiah favored seeking to join the Babylonian alliance in its war against Assyria.  Jeremiah seems to be suggesting here that the faction which had previously backed being willing vassals of Assyria had now turned to being willing vassals of Egypt.  And that part of that vassalage was offering sacrifices to the gods of Egypt.

Finally, I want to point out that Jeremiah called the people of Judah, and all of Israel, to return to God and renounce their sins in genuine repentance.  His prophecy in today’s passage would have served to reinforce the revival which King Josiah was attempting to foster while rejecting those who embraced the revival for purely political reasons by taking up worship of God without truly rejecting idol worship.

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