I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.  I am back from vacation, but back to doing my daily readings a few days earlier than planned.  I will continue to try to be a few days ahead so that I can publish on time if anything comes up.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Jeremiah 23-25.

Each year as I read through the Old Testament prophets I realize more and more how each section flows into the next.  For example, it is easy to look at today’s reading and see it as starting a new theme from Jeremiah separate from what came before.  But the fact of the matter is that Jeremiah’s condemnation of the leaders and prophets expands on his condemnation of idolatry among the people.  As part of his condemnation of leaders and prophets Jeremiah reminds us that all of the people abuse what power they have.  All too often when we condemn the abuse of power by leaders we forget that that the poor and oppressed use what power they may have over others to abuse them as well.  The leaders of society, both political and religious, have an obligation to lead with honor and righteousness.  However, the common people cannot expect their leaders to be honorable and righteous if they themselves are not.

Jeremiah condemns as false prophets those religious leaders who tell those who despise God’s word that they will have peace and those who follow their own desires that no harm will come to them.  I have heard those who say that God loves everyone, no matter what they believe or do.  They say that there are many paths to God and we should not presume that others need to follow the one which we have found.  There is truth to both of these statements, but both miss God’s message to us.  Yes, God loves everyone, no matter what they believe or do, but He wishes to bring them healing and love which will transform them.  If you believe that evil is good and good is evil you will continue to do things which harm both yourself and others.  God desires to show you His love and truth so that you will stop harming yourself through self-destructive behavior.  And yes, there are many paths to God.  If you truly seek God you will find Him, no matter what path you follow, but eventually that path will lead you to Christ and if you reject Christ when you come to Him you are rejecting God.  Those who claim to be speaking for God who claim that you need not come to Christ and need not stop self-destructive behaviors are liars

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.  I am back from vacation, but back to doing my daily readings a few days earlier than planned.  I will continue to try to be a few days ahead so that I can publish on time if anything comes up.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Jeremiah 19-22.

As I read the writings of Jeremiah I see him prophecy against two forms of idolatry.  He prophesied against those who worshiped the nation of Judah and the Temple, who failed to understand that just because God’s Temple was in Jerusalem did not mean that God would protect the city.  He also prophesied against those who joined in every worship fad which came along.  These were not the equivalent of having loud, electrified worship teams leading the Christian worship service, singing the latest contemporary Christian songs (although some of those fads may lead towards what Jeremiah is prophesying against, but that is a different discussion).  No, Jeremiah was prophesying against those who partook in pagan practices.  

I cannot decide if Jeremiah’s prophecies against these two forms of idolatry were directed to the same group of people, or if they were two different groups.  Based on what I see in our society today, I would guess that his prophecies were directed at multiple groups.  There were those who fully joined in his condemnation of the pagan worship practices, but thought he went too far when he said Jerusalem would fall because its people failed to deliver justice to the poor and powerless.  There were those who fully joined in his condemnation of the failure of Jerusalem’s people to deliver justice to the poor and powerless, but thought he went too far by condemning pagan practices.  And there were those who thought that by condemning pagan practices he was taking part in denying justice to the poor and powerless.  Each group failed to understand that they were no better than the others.  If you believe that the failures of others plays a more important role in the breakdown of society than your own failures, Jeremiah was talking to you.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.  I just got back from a ten day vacation and prepared this before I left.

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

Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows…well, perhaps, but The Shadow was a fictional character.  God knows, and He is not fictional, no matter how much some people proclaim that He is.  We may think we know that wickedness lurks in the hearts of certain people and not in the hearts of others.  But we are generally mistaken.  We do not truly know our own wickedness, let alone that of others.  However, God knows the inmost thoughts of everyone and will give us the just reward for our thoughts and behaviors.  Which should scare each and everyone of us!  On the other hand, if we humbly throw ourselves upon His mercy, He will extend us that mercy.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.  I just got back from a ten day vacation and prepared this before I left.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Jeremiah 13-15.

God told Jeremiah to stop praying for the people of Judah, that they were too far gone in their sin to return to God before they suffered His judgement.  Yet, Jeremiah still cried out for them and prayed to God.  He did so because their prophets were telling them that they were doing nothing wrong, that if they continued to follow the path which they were following God would send them peace.  Today we often see the same thing, false teachers proclaiming that God will send peace and prosperity to those who are sinning.  There are two types of such prophets: those who preach “prosperity gospel” and those who preach acceptance of self-destructive behavior.  The former teach that God will grant us material wealth.  The latter teach that we can do whatever we like as long as we are “loving”.  Neither group preaches God’s actual word.  Some know they are lying and some of them failed to heed what God told Jeremiah later on in this passage.

Jeremiah complains to God about the persecution he is suffering and begs God for deliverance.  God promises Jeremiah that He will indeed keep him safe.  God told Jeremiah to speak God’s good words rather than worthless ones of those around him.  In like manner we should seek to influence those who do not worship God (yet), but not allow them to influence us.  As Paul says in Romans 12, let us not copy the behaviors of this world but let us be transformed by the Holy Spirit into the likeness of God.

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.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.  I am going to be on vacation through August 10th.  I have prepared my daily Bible Studies for each day throughout that time in advance since I will have limited access to the Internet during this time.  The timing on when I publish these blogs may be erratic during this time.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Jeremiah 4-6.

Reading Jeremiah frightens me, but it also gives me hope.  The fear comes because Jeremiah’s prophecies started when Josiah was king and things seemed to be getting better.  The hope comes from things like the start of today’s passage.  The people of Judah could have returned to God and avoided the coming disaster.  Even now, if the people would plow up the  hard ground of their hearts and turn to God, He would forgive them and welcome them home..

Still, my fear persists.  I see the signs of the coming storm which God will unleash on this land if its people continue to ignore His warnings.  I read what Jeremiah says about the lack of honest people and see similar things in our society.  People condemn their opponents for lying, then lie themselves when they perceive it as being to their advantage.  The poor do it, the rich do it.  Those without any power do it, those with great power do it.  And everyone in between.  God tells us to walk in the old, godly way, but no one today wants that road.    They call that way “intolerant”, refusing to see where they path they choose instead actually leads.  They want a “new” way and will not listen to anyone who tells them that the “new” way is not new.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.  I am going to be on vacation through August 10th.  I have prepared my daily Bible Studies for each day throughout that time in advance since I will have limited access to the Internet during this time.  The timing on when I publish these blogs may be erratic during this time.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Jeremiah 1-3.

Jeremiah’s prophecy today reminds me of the history of the United States.  I want to be clear that I do not view the United States as God’s new “Chosen People”.  I think that similar comparisons can be made of other people and nations.  Jeremiah begins by speaking about how the Israelites loved and worshiped God as He led them through the wilderness.  Yet soon began to stray to the worship of other gods.  In the United States, before there was a United States, there was a great revival.  However, it is not entirely accurate to call it a revival because few of the early settlers were particularly religious (there were some notable exceptions: the Puritans in Massachusetts, the Quakers and others in Pennsylvania, and a few other similar groups elsewhere, but before the “Great Awakening” most of those who lived in the Colonies had no use for God).  That all changed with the Great Awakening.  The Holy Spirit swept over the thirteen Colonies like a wild fire.  Then came the conflict between the British and French colonists and the war which followed.  Than, just as Jeremiah said of the Israelites, the settles did not ask, “Where is God?”, they asked, “Where is the government?” (in this case the British government)..  There were similar revivals where the people of the United States turned to God in large numbers, only to a few years later look elsewhere for solutions to their problems.

I want to point out that Jeremiah began to prophecy while Josiah was king.  Josiah was one of the kings of Judah who “did what was pleasing in God’s sight.”  So, just because you attend Church regularly and worship God, does not mean that you are not one of those whom Jeremiah would accuse of idolatry.  Where do YOU turn for solutions to the problems you see around you?  Are you lobbying the government? Or, are you seeking to do God’s will?