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 prophesied that God would make a new covenant with the people of Israel. Traditionally, Christians have interpreted this to have been fulfilled with the death and resurrection of Jesus. I tend towards this interpretation, but, if so, that means we need to give some thought to what the prophet means when he talks about aspects of this new covenant. Jeremiah says that God will put His law in our minds and write it on our hearts. That is fairly straightforward. However, then Jeremiah tells us that we will not need to teach our neighbors or call on them to know the Lord because they will already know Him. That part seems problematic. There are certainly people today who do not know the Lord and it seems like there are people who do know the Lord who need to be taught.

    Having said that, it seems to me that my understanding of how God intends for the Church to be structured fits right into that. God has provided the Bible to us in a way that each of us can read it on our own and learn His intentions and desires. It does not take special training to understand what the Bible says to us. Each and every one of us can go to the Bible and see what God has to say for ourselves. We do not need someone to interpret what it means. As for the place where Jeremiah says that everyone will know the Lord, he actually says that all of the “people of Israel” will know the Lord. In terms of the New Covenant of Christianity, “the people of Israel” are the Church, those who have accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior.

    I want to point out that this interpretation leaves something to be desired. For me, filling that hole can be dealt with by recognizing that many of the prophecies in the Bible have more than one valid interpretation. God promises that He will never abandon the descendants of Jacob, that Israel will never cease to be a nation. This is consistent with what we see in the world today. Israel was a nation without land for centuries, but once more it has land in which it exists. More importantly, in the prophecy from Jeremiah God stated that He will never reject all of the descendants of Israel. We see this fulfilled in those Messianic Jews who are followers of Christ. In every generation there have been Jews who have come to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

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.

    At the end of yesterday’s passage, Jeremiah had employed another one of his metaphors. He had put on a wooden yoke to indicate that the Kingdom of Judah, and many of the surrounding nations would be bound to serve the king of Babylon. Another prophet, Hananiah, contradicted Jeremiah’s prophecy and said that God would break the yoke of the king of Babylon. Jeremiah exclaimed that he desired for Hananiah to be correct, however, the prophets who preceded the two of them had all prophesied war and destruction. Therefore, the burden of proof was on any prophet who prophesied peace. Hananiah then broke the yoke which Jeremiah was wearing, and repeated his prophecy that God would likewise break the yoke which Babylon had put on the people of Jerusalem. Jeremiah did not immediately respond to this confrontation, and thus escalate it. He went on his way. Later he prophesied that Hananiah was lying and offered as support for his statement the prediction that Hananiah would die before the year was out. Which happened just as Jeremiah had predicted.
    There are two key elements here for us today. When the prophet who disagreed with him began to physically interfere with his message, Jeremiah did not respond in kind. He went on his way and allowed the situation to de-escalate. Second, the burden of proof rests on those who claim that God is not calling us to repentance. Jeremiah’s message was that we had better change our ways because terrible times are coming. Hananiah’s message was that there is no need to change, God is going to come to our rescue as we are. When things are bad and there are more storm clouds on the horizon, our default should be to examine ourselves and look for the sin in our life from which we need to repent.

    Later, Jeremiah wrote a letter to the exiles living in, or near, Babylon. His message was one of hope, but not the message they wanted to hear. They wanted to hear that Jerusalem was going to throw off Babylonian control and they would soon be able to go home. They had plenty of people among them willing to tell them that such was the word from God. Jeremiah told them that they would not soon be returning to Jerusalem. However, Jeremiah also told that that if they were faithful and lived their lives patiently serving God where He had put them, God would look out for them. Jeremiah’s message to them is one for those who seek to serve God in all ages:

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

IF we seek God with our whole heart, with our entire being, we will find Him.

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.

    Jeremiah went to the courtyard of the Temple and prophesied that, if the people did not listen to the prophets whom God had sent to them and follow God’s law, the Temple and all of Jerusalem would be destroyed. The people who were worshiping in the Temple at the time were infuriated that Jeremiah said that the Temple and Jerusalem would be destroyed. They did not pay attention to the core of his message, which was that this destruction could be avoided if people would faithfully follow God’s will. Of course, that was because to do so would have been to admit that they needed to change their behaviors. It is worth noting that it was the religious leaders, and the most “religious” people who wanted to put Jeremiah to death for his prophecy, while it was members of the secular authorities who came to his defense. Which group do we find ourselves in? Do we call for the “death” of those who prophesy that destruction will come on our nation if we do not start following God’s law? Or, do we humbly repent of our sins and seek to identify where we have failed to do God’s will in our lives so that we can change?

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 23-25.

    Jeremiah focuses his condemnation on the leaders of the people of Jerusalem. He calls them out for their encouraging the people to do wrong. He puts a special emphasis on the religious leaders. Jeremiah tells us that the religious leaders were dishonest and committed adultery. But, not only did they sin themselves, they encouraged the people to sin. They told the people who were sinning that no harm would come to them from their sins. Jeremiah recounts how the prophets made up stories about being given a message from God when they had not listened to what God had to say. I see the same thing going on today, religious leaders telling people that no harm will come to them from sinning, telling people that there is no need to turn from their sin because God loves them the way that they are. It is true that God loves people the way that they are, but He does not want them to remain in their self-destructive lifestyles. Because He loves them He wants them to turn from their sins, which are gradually destroying them. If we truly love them, we will want the same.

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 19-22.

    Throughout the Book of Jeremiah the prophet says that it is too late for Jerusalem to avoid the coming disaster. Yet, he also says that if the people and the rulers turn from their sins and begin obeying God it will not happen. This is not a contradiction. Jeremiah knows that not enough of the people of Jerusalem, especially among the ruling class, will turn from their sins. He points out that many of the people of Jerusalem, again, especially among the ruling class, publicly worship God while practicing idolatry in private. Among those in the ruling class, they worshiped God as part of their public duties, but worshiped idols with their friends and neighbors in their private life. The key thing in Jeremiah’s condemnation of the people of Jerusalem was that their worship of God was purely ceremonial. Jeremiah points out that there is a connection between the idolatry of the ruling class and the way in which they oppress the rest of the people.

    Repeatedly the prophet addresses those among the people of Jerusalem who were sure that God would never let Jerusalem fall. The argument that God would not let Jerusalem fall was based on the idea that the ceremonies which God called His people to perform needed to be performed at the Temple (or, at least many of them did). One of the themes throughout the Book of Jeremiah is that those ceremonies are less important to God than for people to live righteously. Jeremiah repeatedly told the people that they had it wrong. The ceremonies (singing praise songs, reading Scripture, offering sacrifices, etc) were not ends in themselves. They were extensions of leading a holy life, of treating our fellow man the way God intended. The people thought that as long as they practiced the ceremonies which God had directed they were, more or less, doing the most important part. It was OK that they were performing ceremonies to other gods on the side and using their power to lord it over others. It is the same mentality that led Mafia bosses the think they were good Christians because they went to mass every Sunday, while ordering people beaten up or murdered during the week. The same mentality that leads certain businessmen to think they are good Christians because they teach Sunday School, while bribing government inspectors or cheating their customers during the week.

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 16-18.

    Jeremiah continues his rant against the sins of the people of Jerusalem. He tells them that disaster is coming, that it is no longer avoidable. They would suffer because their ancestors had abandoned the Lord, but not just because of their ancestors sins. The disaster was coming because their sins were even worse than those of their ancestors. Jeremiah’s entire point was that each generation added new sins on top of those which came before. Mankind follows this same pattern time after time. Each generation pushes the envelope of sin further than the last until finally the pile of sins becomes so high that it topples over on them in a disaster which spreads suffering onto just about everyone. Then people rediscover God and righteousness and the cycle resets.

    In these times of disaster (and even in the good times) we must choose where we will put our ultimate trust. Where will we look in order to determine right from wrong? If we look to humans, ourselves or others, as the source which determines right from wrong, we will be like a tumbleweed in the desert. Blown ever further from the truth. Our hearts will deceive us into thinking that what we want to be right is right, even when we know it is wrong. On the other hand, if we look to God as the source for determining right from wrong, we will be like a tree planted by a body of water. Firmly rooted with no need for concern when the dry months come. God can look into our heart and see where our selfishness leads. If we look to Him for knowledge of right and wrong He will reveal our selfishness to us and guide us to the path of success.

    Once again in this passage Jeremiah uses a metaphor to communicate the message which God has given him. This metaphor is of a potter shaping clay. In the same way which a potter shapes clay, so does God shape people, and nations. And, just as a potter may change his mind about the way in which he is shaping the clay, so may God change His mind about the form into which He is shaping us, or our nation. In explaining that metaphor, Jeremiah explains that, even though he has been prophesying that it is too late for Judah to avoid the judgment which God is about to mete out on them, it is always worth repenting of our sins and turning to God in obedience. While God may be planning to bring disaster on us, and/or our nation, because of our sins, if each and every one of us turns from our sins He will change His mind and withhold that disaster. In the same manner, if God was planning to bless us because of our faithfulness and we turn from Him to sin, He will withhold from us that blessing and pour out disaster upon us. No matter how evil we have been, there is always value in turning from our sins to serve and worship God.

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 10-12.

    The prophet belittles those who make idols and then worship them as gods. I used to think that this was an obsolete practice, that no one worshiped idols made by human hands as gods, but I know now several people who do that very thing. They spend time reconstructing the worship practices which were abandoned by their ancestors, claiming they are returning to that religion. Those I have spoken with about it acknowledge that they can never fully reconstruct what their ancestors believed or practiced because the records are incomplete. Yet they claim their religion is more “genuine” than Christianity (or Judaism), for which there is thorough documentation of the beliefs and practices of our predecessors. They even admit that the gods they worship did not make the heavens and the earth, yet they will not consider worshiping the God which did.

    I had a point to make when I started the previous paragraph, I am not sure I made it. Jeremiah tells us that God called on the people of Judah to obey Him, but they would not. Instead they turned to the idols of the people around them and ones which they themselves created. Today, God is calling on us to obey Him and all too many of us are turning to gods of our own devising rather than doing so. Judah’s multiplicity of gods failed to save them when disaster struck and the same will be true today. If we do not turn to God and obey His decrees when times are good, He will not save us when disaster strikes. God instructed Jeremiah to stop praying for the people of Judah because He would not aid them. There comes a point where we should stop praying for people who refuse to do God’s will. Actually, that is not quite true. There comes a point where we should stop praying for God to save people from the consequences of their sins. We should never stop praying that people repent and turn to God for His salvation. As Jeremiah points out at the end of this passage, everyone has the opportunity to declare that God is their God and to obey Him. Those who do, no matter who they were before that, or what they did, become the People of God.

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 7-9.

    Jeremiah warns the people of Jerusalem that God will bring judgment against them for their sins. There were those among them who thought they were safe because the Temple was in Jerusalem, that God would never let Jerusalem fall because the Temple was there. However, Jeremiah told them that unless they stopped exploiting foreigners, orphans, and widows God would bring suffering into their midst. Today in this country if you listen to the debate over illegal immigration you realize that we are guilty of exploiting the foreigners among us. Further, one realizes that the reason for the issue even being debated is because the foreigners are being used to allow those in positions of power to exploit the least powerless among us, the orphans and the widows(although, not just the orphans and widows). With few exceptions, those in power propose solutions appealing to one side or the other in the debate which serve to further this exploitation not correct it. There is one further point which the prophet makes on this specific subject. Those who are oppressing the foreigner, the widows, and the orphans (the powerless) are harming themselves. We will only turn away from our sins when we recognize that they cause more harm to ourselves than whatever pleasure they bring us. We will only convince others to repent of their sins when we both recognize and communicate this fact.

    Jeremiah speaks of the people of Jerusalem, from the least to the greatest, who are not ashamed of their sins, of their detestable conduct. Look around at our society today and you will see the same thing. People are not ashamed of having done wrong when they are caught. They are ashamed that they were caught doing wrong! They condemn others for doing wrong, but when they are caught doing the same sort of things, they place the blame on those who revealed their wrongdoing. They attempt to convince people that the person who revealed their wrongdoing did worse by revealing it than they themselves had done. It is easiest to see this behavior among our political leaders, but everyone does it. Until we value honesty in ourselves more than we value anything else, this problem will continue.