Jeremiah 22:13-23 - Live for God an not for the things of this world

Jeremiah’s prophecy in chapter 22 verses 13-23 addressed Jehoiakim. Second Kings 23:34-37 provide some detail of his life. When Pharoah Neco deposed of his brother Jehoahaz, he put Eliakim in his place as the puppet king. He then changed his name to Jehoiakim. We are told that he came to the throne at age 25 and ruled for 11 years. In making him the king, Neco demanded that he paid 100 talents of silver and one talent of gold. This he did by taxing the people of Judah. However, this was pale in comparison to what 2 Kings 23:37 said about him. It said, “He did evil in the sight of the Lord, in accordance with all that his forefathers had done.” How evil was Jehoiakim? This is where Jeremiah 22:13-23 fill up the gap for us.  

Jeremiah 22:13-17 indicated that Jehoiakim built for himself a luxurious palace. The problem was that on top of taxing the people to pay tribute to Neco, he burdened them further by using them  to build his luxurious palace. If they were paid for the services, it would not have been so bad. But he exploited them by not paying them for the service. He showed how much contempt he had for the people when he forced them to work for his grand palace without pay. Contrasting Jehoiakim with his godly father Josiah, who pleased God by showing compassion for the poor, verses 17 had this to say of him. That his eyes and his heart were bent on dishonest gain. And he had no qualms in shedding innocent blood, oppressing and extorting needlessly from his subjects.

 

In response to his evil, Jehoiakim was told in verses 18-23 what his end would be. He would die a humiliating death with no funeral and no one to mourn for him. Like how a dead donkey would be buried, his dead body would be dragged beyond the gate of Jerusalem and be dumped  there. This was how dead unclean animals would be treated. Furthermore, all his extravagance would come to an end. His grand cedar palace would be brought down and destroyed. In verse 21, tells us that while he was in prosperity, he already would not take heed to God’s word. Stubbornly he had never obeyed God since his youth. Like a strong wind, God’s judgment would come upon him, all his lovers, and corrupt allies and drive them into captivity. The pain they would experience would be as intense as a woman travailing in deep labor.    

 

The message to Jehoiakim in Jeremiah 22:13-23 warns us not to live for things. In an affluent society where the culture is to accumulate more things, it behooves us to be careful where our heart is placed. Jesus reminds us that earthly treasures never last. Without an abiding relationship with God, the house, the car, the gold, and the silver can never bring real meaning to life. In our prosperity, when the Lord speaks we must listen and take heed. Do not be like Jehoiakim who stubbornly refused to listen to the coaxing of God. Take to heart the words of Jesus in Matthew 6:19-21, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”     

Jeremiah 22:10-12 – Forget the past, use the present to build for the future

Shallum that the subject of the prophecy in Jeremiah 22:10-12.  A brief history of the event that led to him becoming king, then being deposed and taken captive in Egypt would help to make sense of this prophecy.

King Josiah was a good king who died a tragic death. He was shot by an arrow from an Assyrian while on the way to Carchemish to confront Pharoah Neco. His servants then had him brought to Jerusalem where he died and was buried. Second Chronicles 36:1 tells us that when he died, the people took Jehoahaz and made him king in his father’s place. Shallum was the other name for Jehoahaz. Second Kings 23:32 had this to say about him. “He did evil in the sight of the Lord, in accordance with all that his forefathers had done.” This was perhaps the cause for why he only had a short reign of three months. After his dealing at Carchemish, Pharoah Neco deposed Shallum as king of Judah, placed his brother Eliakim on the throne, and had Shallum taken prisoner to Egypt.

In Jeremiah 22:10, the people were urged not to mourn for his father Josiah who had died tragically but to mourn for Shallum instead. He would only have a short reign and would die as a captive in a foreign land. Jeremiah prophesied that he would be led away from Jerusalem to a foreign land. And that he would never see his native land again. This came to pass for Shallum died as a captive in Egypt and never saw Judah and Jerusalem again.  

The call of God through Jeremiah seems to suggest that there was no point in mourning for Josiah. Godly as he was, his regime had passed. They should instead deal with the present. They should mourn for the wicked Shallum who would be taken captive to Egypt and would die eventually. The lesson for us from these verses is to deal with the present and not dwell in the past.  No matter how wonderful our experience of the past may be we need to deal with and take care of the present. It is our present that will determine our future outcome. Settle our past with the Lord, walk uprightly now in the present and our future will be strengthened. Like Paul, we must forget the past but reach for what lies ahead. We must press on towards the goal ode the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Seize every present opportunity in the present to build a glorious future in Christ.    

 

 

  

Jeremiah 22:6-9 – Don’t be done in by idolatry

From Jeremiah 21:11 to this point, God was dealing with the issue of widespread social injustice in Judah. He was calling for the king, especially the descendant of David who sat on the throne to deal with it. He promised that if he would do it, the throne would always have someone from David’s line. But if he refused, God Himself bring an end to the Davidic dynasty.

In Jeremiah 22:6-10, God spoke concerning the house of the king of Judah, i.e. the palace. Figuratively, God referred to the palace as Gilead, at the summit of Lebanon, a place known for its thick forestry of cedar wood. The place was constructed with cedar wood from Lebanon. Hence it was grand and lofty like Lebanon. Yet God guaranteed that the loft palace, the house of the king would become a desolation due to the king’s disobedience. He had earmarked it for destruction. Destroyers would come and cut down all its pillar of cedar beams, destroying the palace and burning it to the ground,  making it a total desolation.   

 

Verse 8-9 shows how utterly ruined would Jerusalem be that even visitors would inquire about the reason for her destruction. They wondered why Yahweh their covenant Lord would allow that city to become such a devastation. The obvious reply would be that they forsook Him and bowed down to other gods to serve them. When the king pivoted to pursue other gods, the protective hedge of the Lord over him and the nation was removed. Their idolatry led to their destruction.

Here we learn of the danger of failing to make God central in one’s life. The king of Judah became idolatrous because they failed to do so. He forsook Yahweh and went after other gods, bowing to them and serving them. Today our idols may not be in the form of physical images. And anything in our lives that we allow to take the place that should rightly be God’s would be an idol. If we make anything in our lives our focal point and pursuit, anything that takes away our time and energy from God is our idol. Remember craving for anything always begins in the heart. that’s where we must guard. Idolatry will unwittingly incur God’s displeasure, invite divine discipline and bring on destruction in all areas of life eventually. Let us take heed. Be sure to make God central in our lives, stay connected with Him, and live out what He has prescribed in the Bible.          

Jeremiah 22:1-5 – Living proactively

In chapter 22:1-5, Jeremiah was told to go down to the house of the king of Judah and specifically speak to the descendant of David who was on the throne. The message was  for him, his servants, and the people in Jerusalem.  God continued to call for social justice. The king was to provide justice to all and deliver those who were oppressed. He was not to mistreat the needy regardless of their status. Whether foreigners, orphans, or widows, they must be treated with dignity and no innocent blood should be shed.

God promised that if the king would obey this instruction of God and show welfare and rule uprightly, there would be continuity in David’s dynasty. There would forever be a king from the line of David. However, the opposite would also be experienced if they disobey. God Himself would impoverish them and bring an end to their dynasty.

There is no value in having a godly heritage if we will not emulate the steps of our godly parents and walk in line with God. Living righteously is more important than being a member of the privileged line. Privilege always comes with responsibilities. Walking with the Lord and serving Him  is a privilege, not an entitlement. Our effectiveness does not rest on our position, but on discharging our responsibility and helping others attain their God-given destiny.  Be proactive and take responsibility for the action we take in life. 

Jeremiah 21:11-14 – Stop social injustice and misled arrogance

A Scrutiny of Jeremiah 21:11-14 suggests that was widespread social injustice and corruption during Jeremiah’s day. Ane there was also the issue of the people arrogantly thinking that they were safe and secure in fortified Jerusalem. Addressing the king of Judah, specifically the house of David, God was calling for them to deal with the two issues. They must correct social justice and stop being misled by their arrogance.   

In verses 11-12, God assured the rulers of Judah that if they did not correct the social injustice, He would judge them and destroy the nation. They were particularly told in verse 12 to “deliver the person who has been robbed from the power of his oppressor.” If they wouldn’t, God would send on unquenchable fire that none could extinguish to deal with them.

 

Then in verses 13-14, God turned His attention to dealing with the arrogance of their deluded confidence. They had the false notion that God would not allow any judgment to come upon Jerusalem. So they deluded themselves into thinking that Jerusalem was impenetrable. God assured them that they would be grossly disappointed for thinking that their fortified city was safe and secure and tight. He warned in verse 14 that He would punish them according to the results of their deeds, He would kindle a fire in its forest that it may devour all its environments.   

 

Here we see God showing why we must have social justice. God addressed this issue right at the formation of the nation. In the books of the Law, especially in Deuteronomy, God was calling for social justice often.  Deuteronomy 32:4 refers to God as the Rock and His ways are just. He has constantly called for justice to be shown to the foreigners, widows, and fatherless. In the New Testament, we see Jesus in His ministry address this issue. He assures us that attending to the needy is as good as attending to Him. James in his letter said that true religion is attending to the needs of orphans and widows (James 1:27).

 

For application, let us be sure to include in our life a program to show social concern. We must think of the needy and less fortunate. And where we can, we must do our best to meet those needs. Then as the passage shows, we must also be sure not to allow pride to delude us and cause us to underestimate the danger of any false security in our lives. Our safest place is in God. Only in an abiding relationship with Him can we  find security and safety. The name of the Lord is a strong tower; The righteous runs into it and is safe (Proverbs 18:10).

Jeremiah 21:8-10 – Yielding to divine chastening

In Jeremiah 21:1-7, we saw how King Zedekiah, hoping for deliverance from the Babylonian siege, sent men to Jeremiah to inquire of God. He wanted to know if the Lord would deliver them from the hand of Nebuchadnezzar. The reason for the siege on Judah was because as a vassal state, she had rebelled and refused to pay the tribute that was due to Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar then sent his army to besiege Jerusalem. Instead of being assured, Jeremiah’s words from the  Lord to him spelled doom. Zedekiah and Judah not only had to face the wrath of Nebuchadnezzar but would also have to face the fierce anger of God. For He, Himself was against them. He was giving them into the hand of Babylon and their enemies for destruction. As Hebrews 10:31 has declared, “It is indeed a fearful thing  to fall into the hand of the Living God.”

Having given God’s message to Zedekiah, Jeremiah added some words from the Lord to the people of Judah in verses 8-10. To the king, God did not offer any hope but to the people of Judah, God’s message contained a glimmer of hope. He gave them two ways to choose. They had to choose one way or the other. One offered life but they had to surrender themselves and become the booty of war to the Babylonians. The other meant absolute death if they would not surrender.  Perhaps God was reminding them of the covenant condition that he had set before in Deuteronomy 11 and 30. Since Nebuchadnezzar was merely an instrument in God’s hand, surrendering to him would be surrendering to God. It would be as good as yielding to God’s plan for their life. It would mean humbling oneself to accept the purpose of God for divine chastening at the hand of the enemy.  

Realize it or not, as followers of Christ whom He loves, we will be disciplined to help us to become more conformed to Him. Hebrews 12:6 explicitly said that “For whom the Lord loves He disciplines, and He punishes every son whom He accepts.” Like the early Christians, we today also need to make the choice of yielding to God and submitting to His divine chastening.  It is the only appropriate and logical response to become the person He intends for us to be. When He is through with us, we shall come forth truly refined. Like Job 23:10 had declared, be assured that God knows the way that we will take and when He has put us through the test, we will come forth pure as gold.    

Jeremiah 21:1-7 – Don’t circle around the periphery, deal with the root.

Second Kings 24-25 and 2 Chronicles 36 provide the backdrop to the circumstances of Jeremiah 21. King Zedekiah, whose original name was Mattaniah, was the youngest son of King Josiah. Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon who had put him on the throne in the place of his nephew  Jehoiachin, also changed his name to Zedekiah. However, he was not a good representation of either of those names. He was neither a good representation of “the gift of God” nor “the righteousness of God.”

He rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar by refusing to pay the tribute promised to the latter and even had the gut to seek the help of Egypt to deal with Babylon. In response to what he did, the Babylonians came and laid a siege on Jerusalem. This was why he sent Pashhur the son of Malchijah, and Zephaniah the priest, the son of Maaseiah to seek Jeremiah’s help to intercede with the Lord. He was hoping that perhaps God would be willing to deliver them from the hand of the Babylonians.   

So Jeremiah 21 contained the prophet’s response to Zedekiah. He told the king that God not only refused to deliver him and Judah from Babylon but that he Himself would also fight against them to bring about their defeat.  God said He was going to “…war against you (the king)  with an outstretched hand and a mighty arm, even in anger and wrath and great indignation… and also strike down the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast; they will die of a great pestilence.” Verse 7 guaranteed them that those people in Jerusalem who survived the initial bombardments of pestilence, famine, and sword would be delivered into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar as well as their foes to be struck down by “the edge of the word.” Neither pity nor compassion would be shown to the people.

Zedekiah had obviously missed the point. The Babylonian's attack was part of God’s judgment on them for their sin and rebelliousness. By seeking Jeremiah to implore God for help was like asking Him to sabotage His own plan. The more important thing he should do was to examine where he had gone wrong, then repent and make the needful amendments. He was merely circling and skirting around the peripheral and not dealing with the root. In life, there is a need to rightly appraise our condition to ascertain the cause of our trouble. If  we do not rightly perceive the reason why we are experiencing our trouble, we will most lightly bark up the wrong tree. So be sure to appraise life rightly! Remember, “For every thousand hacking at the leaves of evil, there is only one hacking at the root!  

Jeremiah 20:7-18 – God understands our dilemma

Jeremiah described his personal struggles as he conversed with God in Jeremiah 20:7-18. Here he candidly expressed his personal dilemma concerning his experience as God’s messenger. It was only human of him to desire a smooth and trouble-free ministry and to have an audience that would give attentive ears and be obedient to what would be said. It is undeniable that as a messenger of God, he had loyally and faithfully proclaimed His message honestly and frankly. He had served God as best as he knew how. But he could not fully comprehend the immense suffering he had to endure doing it. What he did here show us that God will not begrudge his people from honestly expressing their hearts to him in time of their struggles.

Jeremiah felt that God was not being fair to him. Although he did resist the call initially, he finally also gave in willingly and serve him unreservedly. When he gave himself to serve Him, he did not cower but unflinchingly declared all that he was told to proclaim. At great personal cost faithfully announced God’s message. He was often mocked and jeered and even beaten and scorned.  Even when he tried to keep quiet and shut up so as not to invite opposition, he found he couldn’t shut up God’s message. For the truth would be stirring so deeply within him like burning fire being stoked making it needful for him to proclaim them.  The friends he thought would be sympathetic also turned against him. They even plotted his downfall.

 

In his inner struggles concerning with his own bitter experience in life, he despairingly wished in verses 14-18 that he was never born. However, in his deep anguish and struggles, Jeremiah knew deep within his heart that God could be trusted and that he would never fail. He felt that his experiences were just God’s testing his righteousness to ascertain how his heart was for Him. He was sure that God would ultimately avenge him and that his opposers would be routed and defeated. That thought did engender moments of praise to the Lord such as what is s described in verse 13. Here, he burst out in a soliloquy saying:

 

“Sing to the Lord, praise the Lord!
For He has delivered the soul of the needy one
From the hand of evildoers.”

 

Walking and serving God does not free us from suffering. If anything, they would seem to increase them.  We need to know that God uses all our experiences in life to develop us. We have said this before and it bears repetition, “God will never lead us to where His grace cannot sustain us.” While suffering would make a man, it would also reveal the substance and character of the man are made up of.  

 

There are deep and profound lessons to be learned when God allows us to go through suffering. Robert Browning Hamilton had this to say:

 

I walked a mile with Pleasure;
She chattered all the way,
But left me none the wiser
For all she had to say.

I walked a mile with Sorrow
And ne'er a word said she;
But oh, the things I learned from her
When Sorrow walked with me!  

 

When we are struggling in life just abandon ourselves to the Lord. We don’t need to try to understand everything because the secret things belong to God. Tuck in our hearts what He said in Isaiah 55:7-8:

 

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord.
“For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways
And My thoughts than your thoughts.

Jeremiah 20:1-6 – God uses the trials of life to build us

The last two verses of chapter 19 said that Jeremiah proclaimed the Word of God at the court of the house of the LORD after he returned from Potsherd Gate with those that went with him. He first declared what God would do to Jerusalem and all its towns. He told them of the impending calamity that was coming because of their stubbornness and refusal to heed the word of God.

Jeremiah 20:1-6 then proceed to describe what happened after his prophecy. Among those who were listening was a Pashhur, the son of Immer. He was a priest and the chief officer in the temple. When he heard Jeremiah's threatening words, he ordered that he be apprehended, beaten, and tortured. Jeremiah was literally scourged. He was then bound up in a public square within the temple precinct at the northern end of Benjamin Gate. The words used to describe how Jeremiah was bound up were “put him in the stocks.” This was to say that the prophet was bound up in a very awkward and twisted, torturous position.

 After one night in that awkward contorted position, Pashhur released him. On his release, while his back was still throbbing with pain, Jeremiah gave that cruel priest a nickname. His name Pashhur literally meant “fruitful on every side.” But instead of being fruitful on every side, he would be “ Magor-missabib” which means “terror on every side.” He would be a terror to himself and all his friends and would live to see the horrific invasion of the land. He and his friends would experience the terror of the enemy. many of them would be cruelly cut down by the enemy’s sword.

 In Jeremiah’s prophesy concerning the nation that would invade Judah, this was the first time that Babylon was explicitly mentioned. He said that God would give Judah over to the hand of the king of Babylon and Jerusalem would be plundered. Jerusalem’s wealth and treasure and produce would be carted away to Babylon. Pashhur and his family would also be taken into captivity in Babylon and there they would die, and be buried disgracefully in a foreign land. For they, Pashhur and his friends had all engaged in falsely prophesying to the people.

No one who truly walks and serves the Lord is exempted from hard times. Jesus assures us that in this world we will have tribulation. And if they would persecute our Master and Lord, we his followers will also not be spared. Hence in Romans 5:3, we are told that while we exult in our justification we must also exult in tribulation. Why? Because tribulations develop endurance and build us up. Tribulations we encountered in this life have a way of developing us into stable, constant, and unwavering disciples of Christ. They help us to redirect our focus to God and lean on Him for the strength we need and as we do so, we find the strength to overcome. Hear the words God assured us through Paul in 1 Corinthians 10:13. He said, “…God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.”

Jeremiah 19:10-15 – The call to to yield to God

At the beginning of Jeremiah 19, God told the Prophet Jeremiah to buy an earthenware and together with the elders of Jerusalem and senior priests to go to Potsherd gate, located at the valley of Ben-Hinnom. This was the dumping ground where potters would discard their spoilt, broken, and unwanted pottery. God’s harsh message was already indicated by the place where it was to be given. That is, He was about to discard Judah like a potter would discard a ruin earthenware.

Jeremiah’s message from God to those with him showed why He was bringing the impending destruction upon Judah and Jerusalem. The reasons: they had forgotten and forsaken him, went after other gods, offered burnt sacrifices to those false pagan gods, and shed innocent blood through child sacrifice. He foretold of a devastating ruin that was coming upon them that none would escape. From adults to children, husbands to wives all would experience the devastating effect of God’s wrath.

Now Jeremiah 19:10-15, God then instructed Jeremiah to smash the earthenware that he was told to bring along. This was a symbolic message. Through Jeremiah, God was demonstrating the extent of the impending judgment that was coming upon Jerusalem. Just as an earthenware of a potter that had been broken beyond repair, so would Jerusalem be after judgment. The word Tophet in Hebrew meaning “stove or oven” was deliberately twisted to mean “shame or abomination.” For the way the Judean had desecrated Jerusalem God would make it a shame and an abomination and a place where their corpses would be dumped.  What an indictment! Jerusalem would be like Topheth, a dump and a burning place for corpses.  This was how God was making this place to be, a place of horrific defilement.

When Jeremiah had done at the Potsherd Gates, he returned to the temple in verses 14-15. And there he stood in the court of  the Lord’s house  and declared to all the people saying, “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Behold, I am about to bring on this city and all its towns the entire calamity that I have declared against it, because they have stiffened their necks so as not to heed My words.’” Here we see the crux of their sin reiterated. They had stiffened their necks. Being rebellious they would not heed God’s words. Since their action was a deliberate choice of their will, there was no way other way but for them to face the wrath of God.

God, our divine potter wants to mold and make us each into a vessel fit for honor fit for His use. He will exert the right pressures with His moistened hands to shape us. When we, the clay remain pliable in His hand, there is no need for Him to increase His pressure. But if we stiffen our will, He will have to exert extra pressure to mold us into what He wants. Don’t harden our hearts and resist His gentle molding or God will need to exert greater pressure to reshape us into the vessel of His intention and desire.

 

 

  

 

Jeremiah 19:1-9 – Never forsake God

Both Jeremiah chapters 18 and 19 are illustrated sermons. The objective of the message from chapter 18 was on the sovereignty of God and in chapter 19, it was on the wrath of God. Here in Jeremiah 19:1-9, the prophet was first instructed to buy an earthenware made by a potter. He was to bring earthenware he had bought to the entrance of the potsherd located at Valley of Ben-Hinnom just outside the city wall. The Valley of Ben-Hinnom was the place where the people of Judah once sacrificed their children to Molech and performed other rituals to Baal and foreign gods. The potsherd was the dumping ground where potters would discard their spoilt or old and broken pottery.

God’s instruction was for Jeremiah to bring along some elders of Jerusalem and some senior priests together with the earthenware he had bought with him. Then there at the entrance of the potsherd gate, he was to proclaim the words that God would instruct him concerning the future of Judah. The message Jeremiah was to proclaim would be about the severity of the upcoming wrath of God. It was going to be a severe calamity of unimaginable proportion. So much so that the ears of those who listen to the message would tingle. What was God saying? He was telling them that the message would  be so impactful that the effect could be felt all the way up to their ears. Their experience  would be like someone who had just received the tragic news of a sudden death.

In verses 4-5. The reasons why the judgment would be justified were given. Firstly it was because they had forsaken their God. They had totally forgotten about honoring  their true God. Secondly, they pursued and worshipped false gods. They had made Jerusalem a strange place, desecrating it by burning sacrifices to false gods. Thirdly, they murdered their children. They had unwittingly “…filled this place with the blood of the innocent and have built the high places of Baal to burn their sons in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal.” What they did was something that never even crossed God's mind nor had He instructed them to do.  

The severity of the judgment, and the extensive destruction that would take place, the place would more rightly be renamed the Valley of Slaughter. It would no longer be referred to as Topheth or the Valley of Ben-hinn0m.  For God would “make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place, and …will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies and by the hand of those who seek their life; and …will give over their carcasses as food for the birds of the sky and the beasts of the earth.” The city would become a desolation and become a place where even passers-by would sneer and scorn. Furthermore, the severe starvation would bring unimaginable stress that the people would even eat the flesh of their own children.  

The lesson: the wrath of God is always unjustified. Every unrepented sin deserves His judgment. And no sin is more scandalous than forsaking God and pandering to idols and false gods. Remember the words of Exodus 20:3-5 - “You shall have no other gods before Me….  You shall not make for yourself an idol or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them….” The call is for us to stay faithful and worship only Him, our one and only true God.

     

 

 

Jeremiah 18:19-23 – Praying for our adversaries

The genre of Jeremiah 18:19-23 poses some application difficulties. Collectively, these verses formed what is termed an imprecatory prayer. What is an imprecatory prayer?  It’s a prayer where a person implores God’s judgment and pronounces curses on his adversaries or on people who are his cruel nemesis. Here Jeremiah was asking God to pour out his judgment on the people who came against him.  

Notice Jeremiah had been faithful in delivering God’s tough message to them. He had even upheld them in prayer seeking God to turn His fierce anger and wrath from them. Instead of appreciating him, the people now turned against him and were repaying his good deeds for them with evil. Verses 22-23 indicate that they connived and set a deadly trap to ensnare him and to have him executed.  

So he prayed that God would avenge him. He pronounced a series of curses on the rebellious people. Here we see imprecatory elements in his prayer in verses 21-23. He pronounced curses that would affect every class of people - from children to adults to wives and families. He pronounced famine, invasion, and even death that would turn many wives into widows. He even asked God to make his enemies’ wives barren and childless. Besides, he implored God not to forgive their sins nor to blot out their transgressions and to overthrow them in the time of His wrath.   

 

Our difficulty with these verses lies in the application. Should such a prayer be prayed? Was Jeremiah justified in praying this imprecatory prayer? Didn’t Jesus our Lord say that we should love our enemies and pray for them? To pronounce a curse and pray for God to judge them seems to contradict our Lord’s instruction.

 

Remember that Jeremiah prayed out of the anguish of his soul. On deeper reflection, we will realize that his prayer was in line with the curses God had stipulated in the law of Moses in Deuteronomy 28. God Himself said that they would be cursed if they walk in rebellion and disobedience. Jeremiah prayed this prayer after his plea for them to change fell on dead ears and they were threatening to endanger his life. One thing is sure, God knew Jeremiah’s exact state of mind.    

 

For us Christians how do we reconcile Jeremiah’s prayer here and the call of the Lord to love and pray for our enemies? New Testament tells us to leave vengeance to God. He said, “Vengeance is mine and I will repay it.” Today, we have the privilege and advantage of revelation which Jeremiah did not have because revelation to us is progressive.  We should always pray for our enemies and leave the vengeance to our all-compassionate God.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jeremiah 18:18 – Real truths are usually hard truths.

Jeremiah had a challenging role which he did recoil from doing. He spoke as God directed him and did not mince his words. Some of the people of Judah could not take his message kindly so they plotted to get him. So in Jeremiah 18:18, they said, “Come and let us devise plans against Jeremiah. Surely the law is not going to be lost to the priest, nor counsel to the sage, nor the divine word to the prophet! Come on and let us strike at him with our tongue, and let us give no heed to any of his words.”

What was their plot? They refused to acknowledge him and his God-ordained ministry. Bear in mind that they had been listening to other spokesmen who were giving them comforting and sugar-coated messages that were not from God. They, therefore, felt that those official priests, counselors, and prophets could not be so too far wrong. So they deluded themselves with false assurances that they still could rely on those spokesmen to provide direction concerning the way of God and the law. So they decided to malign and slander Jeremiah and ignore the message God had given through Him. To them, Jeremiah was a troublemaker, whom they could do without.

 

As in the day of Jeremiah, there are also many spokesmen who purported to be God’s messengers in the church world today. Go to the internet and you will find a proliferation of false teachers and teachings that are not only stimulating but also seemingly palatable to life. Look deeper and we will realize that the Scriptural texts they would quote are often taken out of context, stretched, and extrapolated to suit the false teacher’s motive. What we really need is God’s plain truth. Plain truths are often hard truths. They are not meant to pander to our carnal desires. They are intended to get us to align with our walk with God. Hard truths are transforming. 

In our internet world, we sense the need today to examine the credential of teachers or preachers whose message we are listening to. It is better that we stick to listening to teachers, whose character we can attest. We need to be watchful with what we are being fed.  We live in a world where many false messages are lined with just a bit of “poison” that may not kill us instantly. But when receive undiscerningly, we will eventually be harmed. False messages  subtly alter our view of God and affect our relationship with Him. We need to discern what we hear.                 

 

 

 

 

 

Jeremiah 18:13-17 - Living life with integrity

Israel had a unique relationship with Yahweh, their Covenant Lord. From Israel's history, we learn that Israel became divided after the reign of King Solomon. His son Rehoboam caused the nation to be divided into the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judah. Living unfaithfully to the call placed on them, Israel fell into the hands of Assyria and was destroyed in 722 BC. Judah continued till 586 BC and was taken into exile by the Babylonians for the same reason. She should have learned from the experience of the North and been faithful to God, but she did not. She continued on the path that brought destruction to their northern brethren. 

 

Judah’s horrible sin was absurd. Her appalling response to the kindness of God was unheard of among the nations.  The purpose of the two rhetorical questions asked in Jeremiah 18:4 was to contrast the faithful of nature to the unfaithfulness of Judah. God used the all-year-round snow-capped mountains in Lebanon and the swift-flowing streams of water down the slopes to show that even nature was more faithful than Judah. Choosing to be unfaithful, Judah had rejected their Covenant Lord.  They pivoted from their true God to pursue a new relationship with those worthless gods. Stumbling all the way, Judah departed from the faithful path and pursue a relationship with those worthless gods and actively burnt incense to them.

 

In choosing to abandon God, they had chosen the consequence of their choice. Verses 14-17 then detail the impending suffering that would be coming on them. Judah would become a desolation and an object of scorn and sneer. Everyone who passed by her desolate remains would be aghast by what had happened to her. The people of Judah would be scattered before their enemies much like how a strong wind would disperse leaves.  God would also turn his back on them on the day of their calamity. In their time of desperation, all they could see would be the back of God and not His face. In other words, God would turn His back on them.  

Just as he prized faithfulness from Judah, God is looking for faithfulness in our relationship with Him. We must treasure our relationship with God and learn to be faithful to God in the little things in life.  Our ability to remain faithful all the way lies in being faithful to the little things we face each day. Faith in God demands faithfulness. The word faith can be defined as fidelity.  Hence, the life we now live, we must live it by the integrity of the Son of God who loves us and died for us!  

Jeremiah 18:5-12 - Taking God at HIs word.

In Jeremiah 18:1-4, we learned that Jeremiah was sent to a Potter’s house to see an illustrated sermon. There he saw the potter at work. There he could see that a potter has the liberty to make whatever clay vessel he desired. And if the product turned out to be different from what he had in mind, he also has the freedom to re-shape it into another vessel.  

From what he saw a message, a message from the Lord for the people of Judah emerged. The essence of the message told in Jeremiah 18:5-13 is this: just as a potter decides on the kind of vessel he would make from a lump of clay, so also would the Lord determine the destinies of nations.  

 

In verses 5-10, God made known that while He might have pronounced a judgment on a nation and when that recalcitrant nation chose to repent, He could withhold His judgment on her. Conversely, the opposite could also happen. If a nation to which He had promised blessings chose to rebel and not walk according to His instruction, He would withdraw the blessings and send judgment. With that said, God through Jeremiah was warning the people of Judah to repent, and He would avert the destruction. But hopelessly, Judah obstinately refused His kind overtures but persisted in following through with the stubborn plan of their evil hearts.  

 

The inescapable lesson we glean from this passage is that while God has the final say in what will happen to us, He is not unreasonable. The kind of outcome we will experience is conditional. It depends on how we respond to Him. However, there is this strange curiosity about our fallen nature. We must experience pain to know that pain is real. For example, when we can tell a child not to touch a hot stove because it will burn his fingers, yet he would ignore the warning and touch it and be burnt. Faith in God demands that we take Him at His word, especially HIs warnings. We must do as He had instructed. For God will never say something that He will not bring to pass.  He always keeps His word.          

 

Jeremiah 18:1-4 – God is shaping our destiny.

In the Bible, a potter is seen as a skillful craftsman who uses his artistic talent to create vessels such as dishes, pots, mugs, and vases from clay. While some vessels that a potter would make were purely works of art for decorative and display pieces, most potters would make functional pottery vessels for everyday use in the home. The potter’s main equipment would be the wheel. He would start by putting a lump of clay on the wheel. Then as he spun the wheel, he would shape the lump of clay with his moistened hands to make it into the vessel he wants to make.

In Jeremiah 18:1-4, God instructed Jeremiah to a Potter's house to see an illustrated sermon. Of course, Jeremiah obeyed willingly and went down to the Potter’s house and there he saw the potter at work.  The potter started out to make a vessel and realize that it did not turn out to be what he first had in mind. So he skilfully reshaped what he had made into another vessel that pleased him. God’s intended message from this potter and his clay was to show that as the potter, He has the right and ability to reshape His people into the kind of vessel He wants them to be.

One thing to note as we seek to identify the message God to us through different people and situations. His messages to us  are discernible when we stay sensitively and receptively connected to Him. However, one guiding principle to keep in our hearts is that whatever message God has for us through people or circumstances, it must always be consistent and in line with the Bible, His Written Word. Everything for our faith and practice has already been made known in the Scriptures. God’s message for us will always be in line with what He had already revealed there. This is the guide rail for us so that we will be able to discern and avoid heretical teachings.           

 

Know it or not our lives are in God’s hands. Like a skillful potter, He is constantly shaping us. He uses people, our daily circumstances, and experiences as the spinning wheel as He moistened His skillful hand to make us into the vessels that He intends us to be. The process is easy when we yield to Him in obedience. If we resist, the wheel will have to be spun harder to reshape us. The Bible makes it clear that the end goal of God for each of us is Christlikeness. Yielding to Him becomes easier when we know what He wants out of us.   

Jeremiah 17:19-27 – The importance of keeping the Sabbath

Sabbath is to be a day where everyone refrains from work to rest. One of the misconceptions concerning the Sabbath is that since it was a day to rest, it ought to be a day of passivity. But this was never God’s idea. He wanted it to be a day where His people would rest from strenuous work but not from restful activities that enable connection with Him.

In God's covenant with Israel at the foot of Mount Sinai, He stipulated in the fourth of the Ten Commandments that they should keep the Sabbath and hallowed that day. However, this call to rest to make the day holy precedes the giving of the Ten Commandments. God instituted it after He brought creation into order. Genesis said that God rested on the seventh day and made that day holy. So we safely conclude that Sabbath rest is an ordinance in creation. God had decreed it at the onset of creation. This was the pattern God had ordained for mankind to allow them to recalibrate life.

Over time His people had broken the sabbath and failed to observe the day of rest stipulated. Perhaps this was one of the reasons that led them to be so distracted by the work that they lost their focus. From Jeremiah 17:19-27, we see how much God values the Sabbath. So in these verses, Jeremiah was told to go to all the gates of the city as well as the gate of Jerusalem, where the kings, as well as the citizens, would go in and out and warn them to cease from work on the Sabbath. They must not repeat the mistake of their forefathers who had chosen to break the Sabbath. In verse 27 he warned that the nation would be overthrown if they persist in their disobedience by breaking the Sabbath.  

However, in verses 24-26, God restates the covenant blessings they would enjoy if they would keep this command. God promised to proper them as He stipulated in His agreement with King David. Verses 25-26  specifically said that “…then there will come in through the gates of this city kings and princes sitting on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their princes, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and this city will be inhabited forever. They will come in from the cities of Judah and from the environs of Jerusalem, from the land of Benjamin, from the lowland, from the hill country and from the Negev, bringing burnt offerings, sacrifices, grain offerings and incense, and bringing sacrifices of thanksgiving to the house of the Lord.” 

What relevance has the call to observe Sabbath to us? This call is particularly relevant for us living in an affluent society where our focus in life can be so wrong. Unconsciously many have allowed work and rigorous activities on the Sabbath to  squeeze God out of life. We forget His warning that apart from Him we can do nothing. Our well-being in life can only be maintained and enjoyed when our connection with Him stays intact.  When we observe the Sabbath rest, we will be surprised that our focus on work on the other days will be enhanced. Besides observing the Sabbath also allows us to connect with the other members of our family as well as friends. So let us remember to the Sabbath to keep it holy!      

Jeremiah 17:14-18 – Shaped through tough times.

Reading Jeremiah 17:15 gives hint that the prophet's opposers were smugly jeering Jeremiah and making fun of his prediction. They asked him “Where is the word of the Lord? Let it come now!” He had been warning them people of God’s impending judgment which they were yet to experience. And it seemed long coming.  So they took a dig at him mocking him for the delay.

Despite the mocking he received from his opposers, Jeremiah did not shy away from his under-shepherd role and calling. Though his message was hard to stomach, and he took no delight in proclaiming it, yet he did not flinch from the task. However, it must be said that he felt intimidated and entertained some trepidations. So he started out asking God to heal him, probably of the mental torment. He was certain that God would do so for He was the one that he had come to praise.     

Jeremiah’s  message was one of doom and gloom. Seriously, who would look forward to such a message? He knew his message would inevitably bring opposition. So even speaking God’s truth, he had trepidations. However, the assurance he had that kept him going was that he knew His God. It was to Him that Jeremiah sought refuge. Thus, he had nothing to fear. So he prayed against all his opponents and asked that they be put to shame and be dismayed and that a day of disaster would come upon them, and totally destroy them.

No true servant of God who proclaims His message dares to take the role lightly. Being God’s spokesman is an awesome task that must be done with all serious intensity. It must not be lightly and cursorily done. The main motivation for us to serve God must not be for glory or self-aggrandizement. Otherwise, when we face challenges and hardship in the ministry, our first thought is to quit. What’s your motivation for serving God? Remember while we serve God. He uses the service we offer to Him to build our character and mature us and make us more Christlike.   

Jeremiah 17:12-13 – Our hope and security is in God

How pathetic the people of Judah were as we consider the paths they had chosen to walk. It was sheer folly for them to depart from the true God,  their Covenant Lord, their source of life. It was unthinkably stupid for them to choose to depart from Him, and like the pagans went after false gods. In Jeremiah 17:1, we were told that their sins were carved on their hearts and even on the horns of the altar. In other words, on the most sacred part of the altar that belonged to God, they made to bear the names of false gods.  

Now in Jeremiah 17:12-13, the prophet was redirecting the attention of the people to the true God, who had chosen to make Jerusalem His dwelling place. Jerusalem was synonymous with the exalted throne of God. He was the true hope of Israel, and their security was in Him. He should be the one the people ought to trust with their whole hearts. For He was the source of their living. He alone could provide nourishment to them like streams of living water to thriving green trees.  

In Jeremiah 17:13 we see a reiteration of what the prophet had earlier said in verse 11. There, Jeremiah talked about the result of those who had placed their hope and trust in their own strength and not in God. They had chosen to turn away from Him. According to him, their lives would be wasted and useless.  Like shrubs planted in barren and waste desert ground their growth would be stunted. The emphasis in verse 13 is on those who had chosen to forsake God. They would be depriving themselves of the fountain of living water, the source of life.  Their end would be a shame.

These two verses underscore for us to the need build a steadfast faith in God. It is important that our faith in God be immovable and unchanged. How do we build steadfast faith? Here are a few suggestions: Fix our eyes on Jesus; don’t get distracted; stay connected with God by spending time in the Word and prayer. Fellowship with like-minded believers. Bear in mind that the things of the world may seem more attractive, but true security can only be found and experienced in God.    

Jeremiah 17:9-11 – The heart matters

The human being is a complex being that God has made. Every one of us is essentially made up of a spirit, a soul, and a body. In the Bible, the heart is seen functioning not only in the body but also in the spirit and the soul. In the physical body, the heart is that vital organ located within the person’s chest. It plays a crucial role in our circulatory system by pumping non-stop day and night to keep us alive. It ensures that our blood is sent to be oxygenated in our lungs, then it ensured that the oxygenated blood is sent to provide oxygen to the cells in our whole body.

Relating to the spirit and the soul, the heart is said to be the aspect of us that enables us to feel, desire, and decide. This is the heart that Jeremiah 17:9 is referring to. He is talking about our feeling and emotion, and our desire and decision in relation to pleasing God. Concerning our feeling, desire, and decision, this verse tells us that our hearts are deceitful and desperately sick and hard to understand. Why? Because we all have adopted Adam’s fallen nature, hence we are prone to fall prey to our fallen desire.

Unlike the physical heart, the spiritual heart is hard to fathom. In the body, the function of the heart is strictly assigned and regimented to keep us alive. But in the spirit and soul, the heart is hidden and is hard to comprehend. While we know we need God, yet we may have desires that drive us to make decisions that are contrary to a healthy relationship with Him. The only person that can see our hidden attitudes, and motives is God. And He is constantly searching and testing our hearts. He deals with it when we are wayward and blesses us when we steer our hearts toward pleasing Him.

There are people who seek to gain riches by dubious means. using a bird, a partridge to illustrate, Jeremiah 17:11 shows us the outcome of gaining wealth through dubious means.  It is like a bird, a partridge that hatches eggs that it had stolen from the nest of others. When the birds it had hatched from the stolen eggs had grown, they will definitely fly the coup and leave one's nest empty.  

What does the Bible propose that we do? In Proverbs 4:23, we are told to guard our heart with all diligence, for from it flows the wellspring of life. In Proverbs 3:5 we are urged to trust the Lord wholeheartedly and not to lean on our own understanding. It is undeniable that the heart of learning is the learning of the heart.

  

Jeremiah 17:5-8 – Live a flourishing life, not a languishing one

Jeremiah 17:5-8 like Psalm 1 provides us with the contrast of two groups of people with two different sets of outcomes. The first category is about those who put their trust in their natural strength and the second category is about those who trust and walk with the Lord. While Psalm 1 deals first with the blessed people that put their trust in the Lord and walk with Him, Jeremiah starts with those cursed people who put trust in their own strength.  

We can see clearly here the outcomes of each group. The hearts of the people who place their hope and trust in their own strength are not with God. They choose to turn away from Him. As a result, their lives are useless.  They experience stunted growth like shrubs planted in barren and waste desert ground. They are deprived of water because  sources of water would be scarce.

On the other hand, the people who put their hope and trust in God  are like the blessed man described in Psalm 1. They shall be like trees planted by streams of water whose leaves will never wither. In walking with God, this group of people is planted fertile and well-irrigated soil. How can such trees not flourish when their roots are supplied with a constant stream of water? Such people had no anxiety and would continue to bear fruit in life even when the conditions were harsh.

There is nothing more important than to build a God-centred life where we live according to the Word of God. Building it any other way will give us a weak foundation and cause us to be separated from God’s purpose for our lives. If we want to be counted among the redeemed and make the mark at the final accounting, partaking of God and obeying and acting on the Word of God must take a significant place in our daily living.  Thus, it is important to study, meditate, memorize, and obey the Word of God. They will certainly ensure that we attain a Word-watered, God-centred life that is pleasing to Him.      

Jeremiah 17:1-4 – The need to swiftly deal with sin

The national sin was Judah was deeply entrenched. Their waywardness was indelibly engraved upon their hearts. Notice how Jeremiah 17:1 describes the people’s condition. It was as if their sins had been engraved with an iron stylus and an instrument with diamond tips.  They were not only carved upon their hearts but were also on the most sacred part of the altar, the “horns of the altars.” Worship of Baal was widespread and had become a part of everyone’s daily living. They remember the pagan altars and the Asherim on every green tree as much as they remembered their own children. God surmised that unless he did something drastic it would be  impossible to remove their evil practice.   

God’s anger for His people and His unstoppable fire had been kindled. They had steeply persisted in their sins and rebelliousness and polluted Jerusalem, the mountain to God. Hence in God’s judgment of them,  Jerusalem, all the pagan altars of the land, and their treasures would be given as booties of wars to an enemy. They would forgo their inheritance and the citizens of Judah be carried all carried away to a foreign land to be servants of their enemies.

Sin must not be minimized or underestimated. It becomes entrenched when we refused to deal with it instantly. The more we persist in sin, the harder it would be to turn around. This was demonstrated in the people of Judah. Despite God’s overextending His patience, Judah would not budge. Hence He had to harden Himself and deal harshly with these wayward people by giving them into the hands of their enemies. Sin has a way to harden us. It holds us longer than we can afford to be held. It makes us pay much more than we are willing to pay. Don’t trifle with sin, the longer you toy with it, the deeper it will be entrenched.  Deal with sin swiftly.   

  

Jeremiah 16:19-21 – Where is your focus? Is it on God?

In response to God’s promise, Jeremiah's confidence in the Lord was renewed. This was seen in his prayer to God. In Jeremiah 16: 18-20, affirming the Lord as his strength and stronghold, he affirmed that  God was his refuge in the day of distress. He foresaw that it would be to Him that His people the Jews would return. Besides, he was also sure that people from other nations would flock to Him too. So he looked forward to the day when God would be acknowledged and the uselessness of the false gods renounce. For no false gods could become real no matter how much they were acknowledged and worshipped.

Then in Jeremiah 19:21, God responded to the prophet saying that He would make the people who returned experience His power and might. They shall come to know and experience the significance of Yahweh, the covenant name of the Lord, the only true God.

 

No matter how gloomy and bleak the situation and the circumstances of life may be, we must fix our eyes on God. When we do so, we will see Him for who He truly is. Our confidence is found in Him. And like the song says, “the things of this world will become strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.”

 

Is our focus on God as we consider the chaotic situation in the world today? It matters that our eyes are fixed on God and not on the situations of the world. We tend to move toward where we are focused on. The greater the intensity of our focus, the greater will be the mastery of our mind over our lives and the situation. Focus always brings clarity. Don’t focus on what we are up against but on God and the goals and dreams He has for us. He promised that He will never leave us or forsake us.