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.

    Once again as I read this I am struck by how close the modern state of Israel is to fulfilling this prophecy. And yet, it does not do so completely. While those who actually pay attention to such things marvel at the prosperity of Jerusalem and the nation of Israel, no one would claim that it experiences peace. Israel today is as prosperous as it ever was, but peace will continue to elude it. That peace will only come when its people truly turn to God.
    Jeremiah says two other things about the future of Israel in this prophecy. He says that David will have a descendant sitting on the throne and that there will be numerous Levitical priests. As a Christian, I believe that Jesus is the descendant of David who sits upon Israel’s throne. Additionally, many of the most common Jewish surnames indicate that the bearer is a descendant of priests. My conclusion is that God will fulfill this prophecy which He gave to Jeremiah. Of course, even without the evidence given above I would believe that to be true.
    This prophecy tells us one more important thing for those who consider themselves followers of Christ must remember. God declares that He will no more reject the Jewish people, the descendants of Jacob, then we could change things so that day does not follow night and night does not follow day. Anyone who thinks that the Jewish people are not blessed by God does not follow Jesus, the descendant of David whom God placed on David’s throne for all eternity.

    In this passage we read a description of an incident which highlights an all too common human behavior. King Zedekiah issued a proclamation calling for the people to free all Hebrew slaves. As a side note: this is one of several passages which suggest that King Zedekiah, at least partly, wanted to be a godly king, but was afraid to stand up to the special interests which he would have had to cross to do so. Publicly, everyone agreed with King Zedekiah’s proclamation and did as it ordered. However, as soon as public attention moved on to other things, those with power went about re-enslaving those they had freed. You see this in politics a lot. A call for some action arouses the public attention and the masses call for political change. The politicians quickly pass a law or regulation to make the change and the public moves on to other things. Then the politicians quietly either stop enforcing/implementing the new law/regulation or, if they think no one will notice, actually repeal through indirect means the law/regulation. We see the same thing in religious organizations as well. An issue comes up and the congregants demand that it be addressed. The leaders make speeches, maybe even enact new policies for the organization, and convince their congregants that they are addressing the issue in line with what the congregants believe. Then a few years later, it is discovered that as soon as people stopped watching their actions were directly contrary to what they said they would do. Jeremiah called out the leaders here, reminding us that, while the people might not be watching, God knows whether or not we have done His will.

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.

    When I read Jeremiah’s prophecies concerning the restoration of the Children of Israel to the land God promised them I cannot help but think of the founding and establishment of the modern state of Israel. Jeremiah speaks of the people of Israel being gathered from all over the world by God, which happened in the founding of modern Israel. When I read about the deep anguish and bitter weeping in Ramah I am reminded of the Holocaust. But in the following verses I am reminded of the establishment of modern Israel in 1948 and the successes of that state following its founding. All of this strikes me as a fulfillment of Jeremiah’s prophecy. However, Jeremiah’s prophecy also foretells that the people of Israel will all turn back to God and worship Him and I do not see that happening in the modern state of Israel. So, this prophecy concerns more than just the establishment of the modern state of Israel. God promised that the people of Israel would be restored to His land, and they have indeed been restored. But there is more to this prophecy than that.

    Jeremiah tells us that God would establish a new covenant, not just with the Children of Israel but with all of the people of Earth. God will write His instructions on the hearts and deep within the minds of those who enter into His covenant. No one will need to rely on someone else to teach them God’s commands. Each and everyone of us can read and understand God’s instructions for ourselves. We do not need to rely on people of special learning to teach us the hidden secrets of God. God’s secrets are only hidden from those who refuse to see them. Do not rely on what others tell you about the Bible, read it for yourself.

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.

    While Jeremiah was wearing an ox yoke to illustrate his prophecy about Judah and the surrounding countries submitting to King Nebuchadnezzar another prophet contradicted Jeremiah’s prophecy. This brings up the question of how someone was determined to be a prophet. At several points in the Old Testament it refers to people as prophets who did not speak a message from God. I do not think that we can answer this question, but it suggests that there was some characteristic of the people who were considered prophets that has nothing to do with from where they got their messages. That being said, Jeremiah tells us that prophets speaking on behalf of God usually warn of war, disaster, and/or disease. So, a prophet who predicts peace and/or prosperity must be held to a higher standard before being believed. We should be skeptical of those who prophesy peace and prosperity until their prophecies come true. For that matter we should always be a little skeptical of those who prophesy the future. My favorite statement about someone who was asking why no one acted on his predictions of a devastating earthquake was, “He has predicted 10 of the last two major earthquakes.” In many ways we can judge a prophet based on the actions they call us to undertake. If the actions are a good idea even if there is not a disaster coming (such as when a prophet tells us to stop sinning and start following God’s commands) then we should follow their advice whether we believe a disaster is coming or not.

    When I first read Jeremiah’s letter to the Exiles I had one set of thoughts, but by the time I got to this portion of writing I had forgotten what that point was. However, one thing which struck me was the contrast between Jeremiah’s advice to the Exiled Jews and the advice given to the Arab refugees from Palestine. Jeremiah’s advice to the Exiled Jews was to settle in, get married, have children, plant gardens, and seek to prosper where they found themselves (and seek the prosperity of the land they found themselves in). He told them they were going to be there for awhile, 70 years to be exact. Other prophets told them that they should not settle in, that they should keep their bags packed because they would be going home soon. It is worth noting that the Exiled Jews were living among people who had a different religion and culture from themselves. On the other hand, the Arab refugees from Palestine were told to not settle in to the lands they were in and to expect to return to their homes presently. Now 70 years later, they are still in exile among people who share their religion, culture, and ethnic background. I do not bring this up to take a position on the Arab-Israeli conflict, merely to highlight the differences between good advice given by prophets and bad advice given by other prophets. Jeremiah’s advice the the Jewish Exiles was worth following because even if he was wrong about the future they would not be harmed by following it. On the other hand, we can see the harm which has been suffered by the Arab refugees, and their children and grandchildren.

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.

    God sent Jeremiah to the Temple with a message for the people of Jerusalem. Jeremiah went and prophesied that if they did not turn from their sins and obey God, He would bring disaster on Jerusalem and destroy the Temple. However, those who heard him speak only paid attention to the second part. They accused Jeremiah of being a traitor because he prophesied that God would destroy the Temple. There were other prophets giving similar prophecies during this time. King Jehoiakim had at least one of those prophets killed. Nevertheless, there were some government officials who stood up for Jeremiah and prevented the mob from killing him.
    There are a couple of lessons here. We must be willing to stand up against popular opinion to express God’s word, even when that popular opinion is backed by both violence and government sanction. Further, we must be willing to stand up against the crowd when they are bent on committing an injustice, again, even in the face of possible government sanction. Finally, we should be prepared to listen to unpopular opinions and consider whether God is calling us to change our behaviors.

    Once again in today’s passage, Jeremiah acts out the message which God has given him. In this case Jeremiah wears an ox yoke in order to make the point that Judah and its neighbors must submit to King Nebuchadnezzar. This was certainly an unpopular opinion and many of those who opposed Jeremiah’s message would have argued that it was better to die in war against King Nebuchadnezzar than to submit to him. They might even have had a point if they were arguing for living according to God’s commands rather than submitting the King Nebuchadnezzar. However, the Book of Jeremiah tells us that they were claiming that they should resist King Nebuchadnezzar in order to pursue their own desires and wishes.

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.

    Our society toady is fast heading towards being just like the people to whom Jeremiah prophesied in today’s passage. Many of our leaders are encouraging division among us rather than acting to unite us. More and more people choose to do evil, and it seems like everyone who has any power whatsoever is abusing it. Even many of our religious leaders are revealed as wicked. Rather than call people to follow the Lord, they are telling those who follow their own selfish desires that no harm will come to them. It makes you wonder if these religious leaders have ever known God. Those who have truly heard what God has to say will be calling for people to turn from their sins. They will challenge the assumptions of our society. They will call on people to help the poor, rather than on the government to force them to do so. They will seek to heal those who are suffering from mental disorders rather than telling them that their delusions are real. They will call on people to treat each other as children of God rather than as objects to satisfy our own desires. I want to go back to something Jeremiah said near the beginning of this passage. Everyone does evil and abuses what power they have. When those who do not abuse their power are the exception God’s judgment will not be long in coming.

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.

    The passage begins with Jeremiah leading some of the prominent men of Jerusalem out to the garbage dump where he warns them that God is going to smash Jerusalem like a clay jar. We see here, and elsewhere in the Book of Jeremiah, the value of illustrating our message. Jeremiah does not just tell these people that God is going to smash Jerusalem like a clay pot and throw it on the trash heap, he takes them out to the city dump and smashes a clay pot as part of preaching this message. But there is more to Jeremiah’s message than just his theatrics and more meaning to his choice of locations than just the fact that it was a garbage dump. Jeremiah told them that God was going to smash Jerusalem because the people of Jerusalem spilled the blood of innocent children. They sacrificed their children here in the valley of Ben-Hinnom despite the fact that King Josiah had defiled it by turning it in to a garbage dump. Every time I read the Old Testament prophets condemning the people of Jerusalem for sacrificing their children I think of modern day abortion. There is a growing segment of our society which views abortion as a sacrament, not as a “regrettable necessity” but as a positive good. If this continues the United States will face the same sort of destruction which Jeremiah prophesied for Jerusalem.

    When the priest in charge of the Temple learned of what Jeremiah had done he had him arrested, whipped, and put in stocks overnight. Later this same priest, Pashhur, came to Jeremiah on behalf of the king to ask Jeremiah to beg God for aid against King Nebuchadnezzar. The answer God gave to Jeremiah was that no assistance would be coming. The people of Jerusalem, from the lowest to the highest, had a choice to make: they could surrender to the Babylonians, or die. Just as Pashhur had told the people that God loved them and all would be well, despite their continued sins, there are religious leaders today who preach the same message. Pashhur attempted to silence Jeremiah’s calling people to repentance. So too do many religious leaders today.

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.

    In today’s passage Jeremiah confronts the people of Jerusalem about their failure to maintain the Sabbath. I remember a time when almost no one in this country did business on Sunday. Not only were most businesses closed, but most people chose not to frequent those which were open. Little by little people made exceptions for themselves for certain kinds of businesses, until now there are few people who set aside a day where they do not ever do business. The change has been both on the business side and on the consumer side. Years ago few businesses were open on Sunday and few people would have done business with them if they were. Today, few businesses are closed on Sunday and there are few people who refuse to do any business on that day. My limited observations suggest that few businesses actually do more business by being open on Sunday. I worked for a store that made the transition from being closed on Sunday to being open on Sunday. The result was that their Saturday sales volume dropped by about the amount of Sunday sales they gained, perhaps a little more. I am not sure where I am going with this, except to say that each one of us should set aside a day where we do not do business, where we focus on serving God. That day does not need to be Sunday (or Saturday).

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 13-15.

    Every day since I began reading Jeremiah this year I have struggled while reading the passage to see what I would write about. And every day as I was reading I saw an isolated verse or phrase which spoke to me. The same thing has happened again today. Having found that one passage (some days there were two or three, but not today) I went back and read the passage again and found something else I wanted to comment on.

    Jeremiah’s story about the loincloth and its message is as relevant today as it was when he first told it. We, every last one of us, was made to cling to God, to obey and serve Him. Our pride leads us to reject our role with God, seeking instead a role of greater prominence with other gods. However, rather than gaining greater value, we become something which must be discarded. We cannot change ourselves. Only by humbly accepting the role which God created us for can we attain any value. We must allow Him to change us into what He desires us to be.

    Now I come to the phrase which struck me and I see that it connects, to a degree, with what I just wrote. If we return to God, He will restore us. As rotten and worthless as our sin and pride have made us, God is capable of restoring us to being a garment which serves Him. We must speak the words which God will give us, not the worthless words which those around us want to hear. We live among people who refuse to listen to God, our calling is to influence them, but we must be careful to not allow that to go the other direction. We must not allow them to influence us.

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 beginning of this passage contains a description of building an idol. When I was a child I learned that people do not worship idols made that way any more. Now, as an adult I know people who do. The interesting thing about this is that at least some of those people complain about Christians rejecting science. It tells us a lot about human nature that this is happening in a society which also produced people who worship science.

    Jeremiah tells us that people who worship such “gods” are stupid and foolish. I believe that he is correct. However, the people I know who have taken up such worship have done so in order to establish a sense of community. This reflects poorly on the Church in America. Although I will say that part of their perceived need for this results from their a priori rejection of Christianity.

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.

    The people of Jerusalem thought that they were safe because the Temple was in Jerusalem. However, Jeremiah told them that they were mistaken. If they did not stop wallowing in evil thoughts and deeds they would indeed suffer the consequences. Jeremiah spelled out the sins which would lead to disaster. That list could be taken from the headlines today. Time and again we hear about how people are not treated with justice, and there are always those who are cheering on the injustice. We have a major debate going on over illegal aliens. No one involved appears to care that they are being exploited and are being used to allow others to be exploited as well. As a people we worship many things other than God, to our own detriment.

    Jeremiah goes on to condemn the people of Jerusalem for killing their own children as offerings to their idols, much as our society today does in the name of convenience. Rather than turn back when we have discovered that we have chosen the wrong path we compound our self-destructive behaviors. Even those who claim to follow God twist His words to support doing wrong. Our wise counselors tell us that our problem is our feeling of guilt, not the sin which leads to it. Rather than teach people to change the behaviors which destroy their lives, they teach people to not feel bad for doing wrong.

    Jeremiah reminds us that if we must boast we should not boast of our wealth, or our power, not even of our wisdom. The only thing which truly counts is whether we know God and understand that He is Lord (“the one to be obeyed”). As Paul states in Galatians what counts is whether we have been transformed into a new creation by God’s Spirit. If we are going to boast, let us boast about God. When I speak to those around me who suffer from emotional and psychological distress, my lack of similar distress does not come from me being wiser, richer, more powerful than they. My lack of similar distress is the result of God transforming me. My lack of suffering is not because I am better than others. It is because God’s Spirit has changed me as He will do for them if they but ask.