Today, I am reading and commenting on  Jeremiah 10-12.

I have been trying to figure out how to approach today’s passage for awhile now.  Today’s passage begins with God telling us not to learn the ways of the “nations” around us nor to be terrified by “signs in the heavens”.  When I read the word “nation” (or its plural) I think of a group of people with a shared culture.  So, I take that part of this passage to mean that we should not adopt the ways of non-Christian cultures.  That does not mean that we cannot learn from other cultures, only that we must be careful not to adopt practices contrary to what God teaches us through the Bible.  In this particular case, the culture we must be most cautious about is the one by which we are surrounded.  As for the :signs in the heavens” by which we should not be terrified, I believe that refers to things like global warming, genetically modified organisms,  or any of the other things which we are told we must act on immediately without taking the time to cautiously debate.  All of these things create terror in those around us, but we serve the true God, the one who made the heavens and the earth.  Those around us believe that we must serve their idols in order to avoid the terrors which they imagine will come if we do not do so.  However, the objects and the organizations which they worship can do us no good, nor any harm, if we do not give them power over ourselves.  God controls the earth and the heavens.

What I wrote above does not mean that none of the terrible things of which our society demands we be fearful  are of no importance.  Merely that we should calmly and clearly identify the risks and choose actions in response which are commensurate with those risks.

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 10-12.

Since I was on vacation from July 31-August 9 I have already written my blog posts for these days and scheduled them to be posted.  This is the last of those written before my vacation and my normal schedule will resume tomorrow. Please continue to visit my site to read my daily devotional.

Today’s passage begins with Jeremiah repeating a message which Isaiah had previously stated: we need not, and should not, fear the “gods” created by humans.  They can do us neither harm nor good.  Instead, we should fear the Lord Almighty, who made all that is.  He is the One who holds our lives in His hand.  Every one who does not worship Him is senseless and without knowledge.

Throughout the Book of Jeremiah, God tells Jeremiah, “Do not pray for this people or offer any plea or petition for them, because I will not listen when they call to me in the time of their distress.”  This has bothered me until today (well, it still bothers me a bit) because I believe we should pray for all of those around us.  However,  today I realized that we have to interpret this in context.  Jeremiah was to stop praying that people not experience the sufferings which were coming their way because of their sins, but he was allowed to pray that they turn from their sins.  In the same way, we should not pray for our non-believing friends to avoid the suffering which comes from their sins, we should pray that they turn to God and repent of their sins.

There is one last point from today’s passage I want to write about. At the time Jeremiah gave these prophecies, some powerful people told him to stop spreading such “lies”.  We know from later in this book that they accused him of spreading misinformation.  God told him to ignore their threats because He would punish them. God promised to bring disaster upon those threatening Jeremiah for speaking the words which God had given him.  In the same way, there are those in positions of power today who threaten those who speak God’s word.  In all but a few parts of the world, those threats do not include death, at least, not yet, but the attempt to silence those who speak God’s word has begun.  Let us not fear those who make such threats, because God will punish them and will hold us to account for the message He has given us.

who are threatening to kill you, saying, “Do not prophesy in the name of the Lord or you will die by our hands”— ²² therefore this is what the Lord Almighty says: “I will punish them.

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

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.

Jeremiah reminds us that the entire human race is foolish and has less knowledge than any of us believe about ourselves.  We worship things which we have made with our own hands, rather than worship the One how made everything.  We look to the stars to predict the future, despite knowing that what we see of the stars comes from long ago.  Our lives are not our own, so let us strive to follow the path which God has laid out for us.  Let us cry out to the Lord now for mercy, for Him to transform us, because He is bring His judgement and when that day arrives it will be too late.   Let us not be like the wicked to whom Jeremiah refers, who had God’s name on their lips, but whose hearts were far from Him.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.  I am on vacation from July 31 through today, but I did my Bible reading in advance so that I could continue to publish these every day.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Jeremiah 10-12.

Growing up, and even into my young adult years, I viewed passages like those in today’s reading where the prophets spoke against idols made by man as something to be read figuratively.  However, in recent years I have come to know more and more people who are returning to worship of gods made by human hands.  Some of them even view the gods they worship as being man-made.  We should not allow ourselves to be drawn into their practices.  None of those other gods can compare to God.  God created the universe and all that is in it.  The believers in those other gods make no such claim.

God sent Jeremiah to speak His message to people who did not want to hear it.  Some of those to whom Jeremiah preached wished to silence him by killing him.  We see the same thing today.  Perhaps not yet to the point of seeking to kill those who truly preach God’s word, but strong efforts are under way to silence such voices.  Those who sought Jeremiah’s death were from Anathoth, which was one of the Levitical Cities of Refuge and Jeremiah’s birthplace.  A little further on God tells Jeremiah that his own brothers had turned against him.  Since Jeremiah was a priest, his brothers also would have been priests.  So, some of the religious leaders of the day were taking part in the attempt to silence Jeremiah because he spoke God’s word.  Similar things happen today.