God tells Jeremiah to go to the potters house. That might be good advice for all of us. Let's watch this potter as he makes a mistake and starts over.




The message from Jeremiah is fairly simple, we are the clay, God is the Potter. As you watch the potter, you see the care and hope the potter has for his creation. He has a clear vision in his mind what he is about to form and create. The image is burnt into his mind, waiting there to be drawn out and onto the potters wheel.

He works the clay with care and skill until it starts to take shape and we can recognize it as a vessel, useful for containing something and displaying that something. It has a purpose, to provide some kind of service. The creation of this vessel is art with a purpose. It is a grand piece of work, even if it appears simple in the making.

Great skill works the piece until it stands tall enough, wide enough, appropriately shaped for its purpose. Then the thin work begins. A kind of pruning, final shaping of the clay whereby it will take on its final form. Large amounts of material will be removed and the tolerances for the piece will take over as the creator cleans and molds the clay into a delicate but whole expression of perfection.

Suddenly, painfully, discouragingly, a small wound turns into a deep cut, finally an open gash that cannot be repaired. Instantly the potter smashes the work of his hands and starts over. The clay is still good. The image was fine. The dream in the potters mind is still alive. The ingredients were good. The outcome was not.

There are numerous lessons in this analogy, aren't there? Spend some time watching some of these pottery video's and you'll see more of them. Imagine you are watching God shape His people. One of the great words to explain this work is Sovereignty. God is sovereign. He rules, He shapes, He reigns, what He says goes. When He decides it's time to build up, then we will see a building. When He decides it's time to tear down, then we will see destruction.

Remember this, He doesn't crave destruction nor relish it. He delights in building and beauty. He is the artist of the universe. But all artists meet with failure. Most go on, some give up. Some give up on art because it is so disappointing at times. Fortunately for us, there is no give up in God. He will start over again. For this persistence in God, we can be confident and certain that He will accomplish His purposes. He will complete His art. Our interest is to be included in His final works, not on display in a museum, but carrying water in the thirsty world, sharing the glory of a vase filled with glorious flowers, bringing sustenance and joy to those who are not yet on the potters wheel.

Go down to the potters house. God is there. He's working.

Jeremiah 18

At the Potter's House

 ¹ This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD : ² "Go down to the potter's house, and there I will give you my message." ³ So I went down to the potter's house, and I saw him working at the wheel. ⁴ But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.

 ⁵ Then the word of the LORD came to me: ⁶ "O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does?" declares the LORD. "Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. ⁷ If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, ⁸ and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned. ⁹ And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, ¹⁰ and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it.

 ¹¹ "Now therefore say to the people of Judah and those living in Jerusalem, 'This is what the LORD says: Look! I am preparing a disaster for you and devising a plan against you. So turn from your evil ways, each one of you, and reform your ways and your actions.' ¹² But they will reply, 'It's no use. We will continue with our own plans; each of us will follow the stubbornness of his evil heart.' "

 ¹³ Therefore this is what the LORD says:
       "Inquire among the nations:
       Who has ever heard anything like this?
       A most horrible thing has been done
       by Virgin Israel.

 ¹⁴ Does the snow of Lebanon
       ever vanish from its rocky slopes?
       Do its cool waters from distant sources
       ever cease to flow? ^[a]

 ¹⁵ Yet my people have forgotten me;
       they burn incense to worthless idols,
       which made them stumble in their ways
       and in the ancient paths.
       They made them walk in bypaths
       and on roads not built up.

 ¹⁶ Their land will be laid waste,
       an object of lasting scorn;
       all who pass by will be appalled
       and will shake their heads.

 ¹⁷ Like a wind from the east,
       I will scatter them before their enemies;
       I will show them my back and not my face
       in the day of their disaster."

 ¹⁸ They said, "Come, let's make plans against Jeremiah; for the teaching of the law by the priest will not be lost, nor will counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophets. So come, let's attack him with our tongues and pay no attention to anything he says."

 ¹⁹ Listen to me, O LORD;
       hear what my accusers are saying!

 ²⁰ Should good be repaid with evil?
       Yet they have dug a pit for me.
       Remember that I stood before you
       and spoke in their behalf
       to turn your wrath away from them.

 ²¹ So give their children over to famine;
       hand them over to the power of the sword.
       Let their wives be made childless and widows;
       let their men be put to death,
       their young men slain by the sword in battle.

 ²² Let a cry be heard from their houses
       when you suddenly bring invaders against them,
       for they have dug a pit to capture me
       and have hidden snares for my feet.

 ²³ But you know, O LORD,
       all their plots to kill me.
       Do not forgive their crimes
       or blot out their sins from your sight.
       Let them be overthrown before you;
       deal with them in the time of your anger.

Commentary on this chapter could go in several directions, the heart is wicked, man can't be trusted to save himself, healing and salvation are closely aligned, Israel has cursed themselves and they are reaping their own undoing, and on it goes. As you read the chapter, you will find a wealth of topics to ponder.

I want to focus on the last part of the chapter for today. It's about the Sabbath.

Let's start by saying that God is not against wealth and prosperity. Listen to Deu. 8:17,18. You may say to yourself, "My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me."  But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today.

God gives us the ability to produce wealth. If that is the case, then wealth itself must not be bad.  It may be very good actually, even if it is not God's plan for everyone. The question of what wealth is can be profitable itself. Most people didn't have monetary wealth or a big retirement account in those days. What they could gain was land, a home and food and family. This could be called the Good Life or Shalom.

But Shalom could be destroyed by one thing, Greed. The idea that one could work seven days a week, 18 hours a day is not new. It has been around since Jeremiah 17 at least. And underneath this commandment to honor the Sabbath is God's concern for his people and their spiritual, physical and emotional welfare.

The Sabbath is not the cure for distress. We are so used to going to the medicine cabinet for cures, doctors for treatments, hospitals for surgeries, but most of the time we live in relative health. So it would be easy to look at the Sabbath as the cure here for their troubles. It is true that if you look at vs 24 and following, you see that there is a cause and effect element to the Sabbath. If they honor the Sabbath, God will prosper their population and their kingdom.

But I tend to look at it more like preventative medicine if there is such a thing. The Sabbath won't cure you once you have the disease, but it is a major preventative to avoid the disease. The disease is self accommodation and greed. The prevention is a seventh of my life returned to God in focus, love, devotion and trust. The Sabbath is a rest from self and then an engagement with God. To live in the rest of the Sabbath is to be whole and healthy. To live without it is to be on fire with self engulfing flames of destruction. The flames seem to comfort us at first but they will eventually consume us.

As medicine, the Sabbath is more like Sunshine and fresh air than blood pressure drugs or artery drugs which help to lower your cholesterol. I'm glad for those drugs I suppose. They must be helping some folks. But how much healthier many would be if they would take in the great gift of the Sabbath in the first place.

We will find that Israel did not take this spectacularly simple guidance about the Sabbath and they went into captivity as a result. Their abuse of God's gift did allow them to prosper. When they start coming back from captivity in the following centuries, they will once again return to the Sabbath, but even there they will use it as medicine more than lifestyle. They will abuse it in another way entirely.

All this confusion is alarming, how hard can it be to get the Sabbath gift right? God meant it for good, of that I am sure. We must avoid turning it into something else. We must learn to enjoy it as the great gift it is meant to be. It is filled with blessing and nutrition for our thirsty souls. We are fortunate enough to have it every week. What better reminder than the Sabbath that God wants us to prosper and be wealthy. Rest that day and the work week will go well is the promise. Rest that day and life will be more rewarding is the lesson. Israel as a people struggled with these ideas, so do we. But the struggle is worth it. Shabbat Shalom.

Jeremiah 17

 ¹ "Judah's sin is engraved with an iron tool,
       inscribed with a flint point,
       on the tablets of their hearts
       and on the horns of their altars.

 ² Even their children remember
       their altars and Asherah poles ^[a]
       beside the spreading trees
       and on the high hills.

 ³ My mountain in the land
       and your ^[b] wealth and all your treasures
       I will give away as plunder,
       together with your high places,
       because of sin throughout your country.

 ⁴ Through your own fault you will lose
       the inheritance I gave you.
       I will enslave you to your enemies
       in a land you do not know,
       for you have kindled my anger,
       and it will burn forever."

 ⁵ This is what the LORD says:
       "Cursed is the one who trusts in man,
       who depends on flesh for his strength
       and whose heart turns away from the LORD.

 ⁶ He will be like a bush in the wastelands;
       he will not see prosperity when it comes.
       He will dwell in the parched places of the desert,
       in a salt land where no one lives.

 ⁷ "But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,
       whose confidence is in him.

 ⁸ He will be like a tree planted by the water
       that sends out its roots by the stream.
       It does not fear when heat comes;
       its leaves are always green.
       It has no worries in a year of drought
       and never fails to bear fruit."

 ⁹ The heart is deceitful above all things
       and beyond cure.
       Who can understand it?

 ¹⁰ "I the LORD search the heart
       and examine the mind,
       to reward a man according to his conduct,
       according to what his deeds deserve."

 ¹¹ Like a partridge that hatches eggs it did not lay
       is the man who gains riches by unjust means.
       When his life is half gone, they will desert him,
       and in the end he will prove to be a fool.

 ¹² A glorious throne, exalted from the beginning,
       is the place of our sanctuary.

 ¹³ O LORD, the hope of Israel,
       all who forsake you will be put to shame.
       Those who turn away from you will be written in the dust
       because they have forsaken the LORD,
       the spring of living water.

 ¹⁴ Heal me, O LORD, and I will be healed;
       save me and I will be saved,
       for you are the one I praise.

 ¹⁵ They keep saying to me,
       "Where is the word of the LORD ?
       Let it now be fulfilled!"

 ¹⁶ I have not run away from being your shepherd;
       you know I have not desired the day of despair.
       What passes my lips is open before you.

 ¹⁷ Do not be a terror to me;
       you are my refuge in the day of disaster.

 ¹⁸ Let my persecutors be put to shame,
       but keep me from shame;
       let them be terrified,
       but keep me from terror.
       Bring on them the day of disaster;
       destroy them with double destruction.

Keeping the Sabbath Holy

 ¹⁹ This is what the LORD said to me: "Go and stand at the gate of the people, through which the kings of Judah go in and out; stand also at all the other gates of Jerusalem. ²⁰ Say to them, 'Hear the word of the LORD, O kings of Judah and all people of Judah and everyone living in Jerusalem who come through these gates. ²¹ This is what the LORD says: Be careful not to carry a load on the Sabbath day or bring it through the gates of Jerusalem. ²² Do not bring a load out of your houses or do any work on the Sabbath, but keep the Sabbath day holy, as I commanded your forefathers. ²³ Yet they did not listen or pay attention; they were stiff-necked and would not listen or respond to discipline. ²⁴ But if you are careful to obey me, declares the LORD, and bring no load through the gates of this city on the Sabbath, but keep the Sabbath day holy by not doing any work on it, ²⁵ then kings who sit on David's throne will come through the gates of this city with their officials. They and their officials will come riding in chariots and on horses, accompanied by the men of Judah and those living in Jerusalem, and this city will be inhabited forever. ²⁶ People will come from the towns of Judah and the villages around Jerusalem, from the territory of Benjamin and the western foothills, from the hill country and the Negev, bringing burnt offerings and sacrifices, grain offerings, incense and thank offerings to the house of the LORD. ²⁷ But if you do not obey me to keep the Sabbath day holy by not carrying any load as you come through the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will kindle an unquenchable fire in the gates of Jerusalem that will consume her fortresses.' "

Been down with the flu/cold/lung/cough your heart out kind of thing since last week. Needless to say, I'm not having much fun this weekend and early this week. Starting to feel like I'm coming back though this afternoon and maybe tomorrow I might feel like I'm back in the land of the living. In the meantime, I think I'll pick up the devotionals again next week. Thanks for reading them, glad to know someone finds them worthwhile.

I'll get back at it soon, in the meantime, stay healthy and enjoy the beginnings of Spring.

I enjoy a good disaster movie about as well as the next guy. Independence Day, Matrix, Tidal Wave Movies, Freezing Planet Movies, Earth in the path of Meteor Movies, Virus killing off the planet Movies, Sharks with Huge Jaws Movies, even Piranha Taking Over The Central Texas Waters and Killing Swimmers Movies. Have you got a favorite? I'm sure there have been thousands of them. Remember the Blob. Was that Steve McQueens debut?

With all this disaster around us, do you think we are kind of inoculated against disaster? Maybe it's a good thing that Israel didn't have television in those days. It might have made it worse, if such were possible. Maybe Jeremiah was their Television. Think about that for a moment.

Tele is the endpoint of something. In a television set, you see the end of the signal at the end point or terminus. Telegraph is the same thing. Telephone same thing. And in a television you are hearing and seeing the end point with your eyes, your vision. Do you see how Jeremiah is ancient television? And he is playing a non-stop disaster movie, called Israel Dies or/and Goes Into Captivity. It's a true story, about to happen, Prophecy.

There are current prophecies making the rounds right now. Some of them revolve around the ancient Mayan's and their calender and the year 2012, focusing on Dec. 21. It's been interesting enough to even gain my interest as I've read some about it. I mean, who can turn away from a good round of date setting?

But the end is not Jeremiahs only focus in this passage. There is a pass through, a portal for many to move through and move on. Life after the tragedy is assured. I think that most prophecy leads to a future for someone, somewhere. There have been a couple of places where it seems God was prepared to finish off the human race, right down the last breathing soul. The ark of Noah came close, right? Sodom and Gomorrah seemed like a complete doom for those inhabitants.

Yet, there was always a people who came through. Here in vss. 14, 15 we see the pattern repeated.

¹⁴ "However, the days are coming," declares the LORD, "when men will no longer say, 'As surely as the LORD lives, who brought the Israelites up out of Egypt,' ¹⁵ but they will say, 'As surely as the LORD lives, who brought the Israelites up out of the land of the north and out of all the countries where he had banished them.' For I will restore them to the land I gave their forefathers.

The question comes to mind, what does it take to be in that group?

Faith, Knowledge, Perseverance, Anger, Patience, Fear? What will be the characteristics of the group that comes through and lives on, eventually to return or at least have offspring that return to the land and reap the rewards that God has planned for them in the future.

Where should our focus be in times of disaster? Dates, charts, enemies, rumors, problems, people, self? I don't think any of those things will see us through. I think there is only one focus. You can probably guess what that is, right? Well, it's Television again. As verse 10 describes the reason for their demise, that they have forsaken the Lord, we would do best to unforsake the Lord. Turning our thoughts back to the source of all vision and the source of all beginnings and endings, God Himself.

There is nothing easier to talk about than God. There is nothing harder to talk about than God. In all that talk though, only when we see and thrill in God's vision for our future do we reap the blessings of friendship with the Universe God. Change the channel is my suggestion. Not to the preachers, nor the healers, nor the politicians, nor the gardeners, nor the builders channels, but to the Hope Channel. The Hope in the God of vs 16 who says, "As surely as the LORD lives, who brought the Israelites up out of the land of the north and out of all the countries where he had banished them.' For I will restore them to the land I gave their forefathers"

This is the story that's on my television, a story of restoration. There are ends to come, but restoration trumps and succeeds all.

Jeremiah 16

Day of Disaster

 ¹ Then the word of the LORD came to me: ² "You must not marry and have sons or daughters in this place." ³ For this is what the LORD says about the sons and daughters born in this land and about the women who are their mothers and the men who are their fathers: ⁴ "They will die of deadly diseases. They will not be mourned or buried but will be like refuse lying on the ground. They will perish by sword and famine, and their dead bodies will become food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth."

 ⁵ For this is what the LORD says: "Do not enter a house where there is a funeral meal; do not go to mourn or show sympathy, because I have withdrawn my blessing, my love and my pity from this people," declares the LORD. ⁶ "Both high and low will die in this land. They will not be buried or mourned, and no one will cut himself or shave his head for them. ⁷ No one will offer food to comfort those who mourn for the dead—not even for a father or a mother—nor will anyone give them a drink to console them.

 ⁸ "And do not enter a house where there is feasting and sit down to eat and drink. ⁹ For this is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Before your eyes and in your days I will bring an end to the sounds of joy and gladness and to the voices of bride and bridegroom in this place.

 ¹⁰ "When you tell these people all this and they ask you, 'Why has the LORD decreed such a great disaster against us? What wrong have we done? What sin have we committed against the LORD our God?' ¹¹ then say to them, 'It is because your fathers forsook me,' declares the LORD, 'and followed other gods and served and worshiped them. They forsook me and did not keep my law. ¹² But you have behaved more wickedly than your fathers. See how each of you is following the stubbornness of his evil heart instead of obeying me. ¹³ So I will throw you out of this land into a land neither you nor your fathers have known, and there you will serve other gods day and night, for I will show you no favor.'

 ¹⁴ "However, the days are coming," declares the LORD, "when men will no longer say, 'As surely as the LORD lives, who brought the Israelites up out of Egypt,' ¹⁵ but they will say, 'As surely as the LORD lives, who brought the Israelites up out of the land of the north and out of all the countries where he had banished them.' For I will restore them to the land I gave their forefathers.

 ¹⁶ "But now I will send for many fishermen," declares the LORD, "and they will catch them. After that I will send for many hunters, and they will hunt them down on every mountain and hill and from the crevices of the rocks. ¹⁷ My eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden from me, nor is their sin concealed from my eyes. ¹⁸ I will repay them double for their wickedness and their sin, because they have defiled my land with the lifeless forms of their vile images and have filled my inheritance with their detestable idols."

 ¹⁹ O LORD, my strength and my fortress,
       my refuge in time of distress,
       to you the nations will come
       from the ends of the earth and say,
       "Our fathers possessed nothing but false gods,
       worthless idols that did them no good.

 ²⁰ Do men make their own gods?
       Yes, but they are not gods!"

 ²¹ "Therefore I will teach them—
       this time I will teach them
       my power and might.
       Then they will know
       that my name is the LORD.

One of Jeremiah's seven conversations with God is found here in this chapter.

¹⁵ You understand, O LORD;
       remember me and care for me.
       Avenge me on my persecutors.
       You are long-suffering—do not take me away;
       think of how I suffer reproach for your sake.

 ¹⁶ When your words came, I ate them;
       they were my joy and my heart's delight,
       for I bear your name,
       O LORD God Almighty.

 ¹⁷ I never sat in the company of revelers,
       never made merry with them;
       I sat alone because your hand was on me
       and you had filled me with indignation.

 ¹⁸ Why is my pain unending
       and my wound grievous and incurable?
       Will you be to me like a deceptive brook,
       like a spring that fails?

In the inner heart of Jeremiah, we find these thoughts. Persecuted, suffering, loyal but lonely, faithful but feeling forgotten, unending pain and deep wounds that were not capable of healing. Jeremiah is fearful that the water of life will dry up.

Even the prophet is down. His heart is beating but just barely. It is broken and erratic, deeply affected for his country and himself. There is no need for the real Jeremiah to stand up, we're looking at him. Any concerns that Jeremiah is not for real should be stripped away in these conversations. As Peterson suggests in his book, Run With The Horses, Jeremiah is not a "Religiopath". He's the real deal.

Can Jeremiah's prayer life be a guide for mine, for yours? I think so. None of us want the problems that Jeremiah had, but we have our problems, don't we? One thing that I value is that Jeremiah doesn't turn away from his problems, he turns more decidedly toward God.

Remember this text from James 5:

¹⁰Brothers, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. ¹¹As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job's perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.

And of course, this well known passage from James 1:

²Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, ³because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. ⁴Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

I suppose that's the thing here, Perseverance. Like so many others, Jeremiah has learned and lived perseverance. He has learned it in tough times. Maybe, and I say maybe carefully, it is only learned well in tough times. I wish this were not so. I wish we could learn it without the painful experiences of life. But I don't see a lot of evidence for that, Biblical or contemporary.

If Jeremiah had joined the "Peace, Peace" crowd, I would be more frightened had I known him. The need to color problems with a rosy paintbrush or only talk about good things or avoid discussion of the tough problems was not his need. For that we can be glad. But notice who he talked his problems over with. God. Not revelers or other humans so much, but God.

This simple concept amazes and haunts me. It's all I can do to avoid conversations about problems on an hourly basis. I hear and see problems every day, sometimes more than I can stand. There are people who think that I run a bank and they can deposit all their troubles and problems in that bank. It gets to be a pretty sad place. I learn from Jeremiah that I don't have the right to take and hold those problems where they will intensify and grow with interest. I have the responsibility to take them to God, both the problem and the one who is dealing with the problem.

Leaders should always be open to problems, life is filled with them, and at this point, would be strange without them,(I'm ready for some strange life without problems all the same, probably the name for that is Heaven) but leaders must know where to turn for problem solving. Some problems may not be solved in our lifetime and that is probably a good indication that it is not really our problem, but it can and should be our prayer.

Jeremiah was real with his faith, his religion. He did not run away from reality nor sugarcoat it, but turned into it with the megaphone of prayer and the confidence that God hears our prayers. That is prophetic leadership. That is leadership. That is life in the Lord.


Jeremiah 15

 ¹ Then the LORD said to me: "Even if Moses and Samuel were to stand before me, my heart would not go out to this people. Send them away from my presence! Let them go! ² And if they ask you, 'Where shall we go?' tell them, 'This is what the LORD says:
       " 'Those destined for death, to death;
       those for the sword, to the sword;
       those for starvation, to starvation;
       those for captivity, to captivity.'

 ³ "I will send four kinds of destroyers against them," declares the LORD, "the sword to kill and the dogs to drag away and the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth to devour and destroy. ⁴ I will make them abhorrent to all the kingdoms of the earth because of what Manasseh son of Hezekiah king of Judah did in Jerusalem.

 ⁵ "Who will have pity on you, O Jerusalem?
       Who will mourn for you?
       Who will stop to ask how you are?

 ⁶ You have rejected me," declares the LORD.
       "You keep on backsliding.
       So I will lay hands on you and destroy you;
       I can no longer show compassion.

 ⁷ I will winnow them with a winnowing fork
       at the city gates of the land.
       I will bring bereavement and destruction on my people,
       for they have not changed their ways.

 ⁸ I will make their widows more numerous
       than the sand of the sea.
       At midday I will bring a destroyer
       against the mothers of their young men;
       suddenly I will bring down on them
       anguish and terror.

 ⁹ The mother of seven will grow faint
       and breathe her last.
       Her sun will set while it is still day;
       she will be disgraced and humiliated.
       I will put the survivors to the sword
       before their enemies,"
       declares the LORD.

 ¹⁰ Alas, my mother, that you gave me birth,
       a man with whom the whole land strives and contends!
       I have neither lent nor borrowed,
       yet everyone curses me.

 ¹¹ The LORD said,
       "Surely I will deliver you for a good purpose;
       surely I will make your enemies plead with you
       in times of disaster and times of distress.

 ¹² "Can a man break iron—
       iron from the north—or bronze?

 ¹³ Your wealth and your treasures
       I will give as plunder, without charge,
       because of all your sins
       throughout your country.

 ¹⁴ I will enslave you to your enemies
       in ^[a] a land you do not know,
       for my anger will kindle a fire
       that will burn against you."

 ¹⁵ You understand, O LORD;
       remember me and care for me.
       Avenge me on my persecutors.
       You are long-suffering—do not take me away;
       think of how I suffer reproach for your sake.

 ¹⁶ When your words came, I ate them;
       they were my joy and my heart's delight,
       for I bear your name,
       O LORD God Almighty.

 ¹⁷ I never sat in the company of revelers,
       never made merry with them;
       I sat alone because your hand was on me
       and you had filled me with indignation.

 ¹⁸ Why is my pain unending
       and my wound grievous and incurable?
       Will you be to me like a deceptive brook,
       like a spring that fails?

 ¹⁹ Therefore this is what the LORD says:
       "If you repent, I will restore you
       that you may serve me;
       if you utter worthy, not worthless, words,
       you will be my spokesman.
       Let this people turn to you,
       but you must not turn to them.

 ²⁰ I will make you a wall to this people,
       a fortified wall of bronze;
       they will fight against you
       but will not overcome you,
       for I am with you
       to rescue and save you,"
       declares the LORD.

 ²¹ "I will save you from the hands of the wicked
       and redeem you from the grasp of the cruel."

Who can you trust these days? It doesn't take a cynic to realize that there are so many voices claiming that they speak for God, that you almost don't want to believe any of them. Come to think of it, maybe that's a big part of our modern world, too many prophets, not enough truth.

There are at least two very interesting texts in this chapter. The first one starts in vs. 11;

¹¹ Then the LORD said to me, "Do not pray for the well-being of this people. ¹² Although they fast, I will not listen to their cry; though they offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Instead, I will destroy them with the sword, famine and plague." ¹³But I said, "Ah, Sovereign LORD, the prophets keep telling them, 'You will not see the sword or suffer famine. Indeed, I will give you lasting peace in this place.' "

I don't know if this is the first place in the Bible where God does not want a leader to pray for His people, but it sure feels like it. How do you reconcile such a command? I don't know to be perfectly candid. Could it be that Israel is no longer His people? Their downfall has not come yet, at least the physical calamity has not happened.  And yet, they have left God spiritually. It might be a question of who left who. Remember the divorce decree earlier in Jeremiah? This still feels like the divorce is not final, but it is in that period where uncertainty rules. Often after a separation, there is an intense period of pulling apart and heightened anxiety about the future. Sadly, its often very messy.

And the amount of advice at that time is like the amount of marriage counseling that one receives when it is too late. I've counseled with a number of couples over the years when they were near the end of their rope you could say. It is not impossible to help them turn things around, but it doesn't happen very often. And one or the other, usually the most anxious of the two goes looking for opinions on how to keep the marriage together. Too often, this means how do I change my spouse to see things my way or do things my way. That one sentence alone is worth the price of admission to marriage.

People do change, but only when they want to. Pain is a major change factor. It either drives you deeper into the relationship or further away from the relationship. This passage reminds me of Jesus and how he treated he woman with an issue of blood. Her life was in some kind of pain, certainly emotional pain. But for a few minutes, Jesus tried to ignore her. I think He knew all about her, but He made her pursue healing and she wanted it badly enough that He finally relented. She knew what she wanted, Jesus was convinced of what she wanted and He healed her, even though she was a foreigner.

Israel is about to become a foreigner it seems. And yet there is still a chance that they can change. They can't change God, but they can change. Do they hurt badly enough to ask God to change them or do they simply want to be fed and protected as vs 13 implies.

It might be a question of gratitude. We love and appreciate what we show gratitude for. Israel had no gratitude to share with God. This topic deserves far more discussion so we'll hold it off for another time.

The other text starts in 13 and goes through 16. There are prophets who are not telling the truth. If that doesn't drive you crazy, what will? Who can you trust anymore? How do we know we can trust Jeremiah for that matter? This is a tough question as well. We want to trust someone. They are prophesying in God's name, but using the techniques of other god's, false god's. Slapping a badge on your jacket saying I am a prophet of God does not make you a prophet of God, does it?

When things are bad all around you, famine in the land, distrust in the community, self interest reigns instead of community care, you know something is deeply wrong, both spiritually and emotionally. When humans become black holes of self interest, God is not near. And saying He is is not a cure. It is a lie. A very damaging lie.

 ¹⁴ Then the LORD said to me, "The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I have not sent them or appointed them or spoken to them. They are prophesying to you false visions, divinations, idolatries ^[a] and the delusions of their own minds. ¹⁵ Therefore, this is what the LORD says about the prophets who are prophesying in my name: I did not send them, yet they are saying, 'No sword or famine will touch this land.' Those same prophets will perish by sword and famine. ¹⁶ And the people they are prophesying to will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and sword. There will be no one to bury them or their wives, their sons or their daughters. I will pour out on them the calamity they deserve.

Spiritual maturity, spiritual growth is the underlying factor here. The physical famine is similar to the spiritual famine. God showers us with grace and we grow in that grace. The famine of gracefulness in the treatment of others is the result of a failure to appropriate that grace for ourselves. No prophet, pastor, preacher, teacher or leader is doing anyone any good when they say everything is ok, when it most certainly is not. Knowing the difference is classic spiritual leadership. Knowing how to stay connected to God, not divorced is classic Christianity.

Who can you trust? God for starters. Who you trust from there depends. Depends on whose telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. And the truth in Israel's case is that things are badder than bad. Really bad. It takes courage to speak that word of truth. Jeremiah has a courage born of faith. That's why he tells the truth. And the deep truth is this, the relationship is broken. The hopeful truth is that it can be restored, but only by a return to two way love. God loves us and we love God. When the truth is told, That is the truth. That's the only way this is going to work.

Drought, Famine, Sword

 ¹ This is the word of the LORD to Jeremiah concerning the drought:

 ² "Judah mourns,
       her cities languish;
       they wail for the land,
       and a cry goes up from Jerusalem.

 ³ The nobles send their servants for water;
       they go to the cisterns
       but find no water.
       They return with their jars unfilled;
       dismayed and despairing,
       they cover their heads.

 ⁴ The ground is cracked
       because there is no rain in the land;
       the farmers are dismayed
       and cover their heads.

 ⁵ Even the doe in the field
       deserts her newborn fawn
       because there is no grass.

 ⁶ Wild donkeys stand on the barren heights
       and pant like jackals;
       their eyesight fails
       for lack of pasture."

 ⁷ Although our sins testify against us,
       O LORD, do something for the sake of your name.
       For our backsliding is great;
       we have sinned against you.

 ⁸ O Hope of Israel,
       its Savior in times of distress,
       why are you like a stranger in the land,
       like a traveler who stays only a night?

 ⁹ Why are you like a man taken by surprise,
       like a warrior powerless to save?
       You are among us, O LORD,
       and we bear your name;
       do not forsake us!

 ¹⁰ This is what the LORD says about this people:
       "They greatly love to wander;
       they do not restrain their feet.
       So the LORD does not accept them;
       he will now remember their wickedness
       and punish them for their sins."

 ¹¹ Then the LORD said to me, "Do not pray for the well-being of this people. ¹² Although they fast, I will not listen to their cry; though they offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Instead, I will destroy them with the sword, famine and plague." ¹³ But I said, "Ah, Sovereign LORD, the prophets keep telling them, 'You will not see the sword or suffer famine. Indeed, I will give you lasting peace in this place.' "

 ¹⁴ Then the LORD said to me, "The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I have not sent them or appointed them or spoken to them. They are prophesying to you false visions, divinations, idolatries ^[a] and the delusions of their own minds. ¹⁵ Therefore, this is what the LORD says about the prophets who are prophesying in my name: I did not send them, yet they are saying, 'No sword or famine will touch this land.' Those same prophets will perish by sword and famine. ¹⁶ And the people they are prophesying to will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and sword. There will be no one to bury them or their wives, their sons or their daughters. I will pour out on them the calamity they deserve.

 ¹⁷ "Speak this word to them:
       " 'Let my eyes overflow with tears
       night and day without ceasing;
       for my virgin daughter—my people—
       has suffered a grievous wound,
       a crushing blow.

 ¹⁸ If I go into the country,
       I see those slain by the sword;
       if I go into the city,
       I see the ravages of famine.
       Both prophet and priest
       have gone to a land they know not.' "

 ¹⁹ Have you rejected Judah completely?
       Do you despise Zion?
       Why have you afflicted us
       so that we cannot be healed?
       We hoped for peace
       but no good has come,
       for a time of healing
       but there is only terror.

 ²⁰ O LORD, we acknowledge our wickedness
       and the guilt of our fathers;
       we have indeed sinned against you.

 ²¹ For the sake of your name do not despise us;
       do not dishonor your glorious throne.
       Remember your covenant with us
       and do not break it.

 ²² Do any of the worthless idols of the nations bring rain?
       Do the skies themselves send down showers?
       No, it is you, O LORD our God.
       Therefore our hope is in you,
       for you are the one who does all this.

God is pulling out the dreaded, "Linen Belt" illustration now. He's told them that lions and terrors from the north are coming, a day of calamity and so forth. Now he goes easy on them, a linen belt. How's that going to win hearts and minds?

God sends Jeremiah on field trip number 1. Tomorrow is the trip to the potters house, but today its down to Perath. But today we are into linen loincloths. Let's jump ahead for the punchline. Go down to verse 11 and you'll see it.

¹¹ For as a belt is bound around a man's waist, so I bound the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah to me,' declares the LORD, 'to be my people for my renown and praise and honor. But they have not listened.'

Now let's keep this clean if we can. I know we can talk about underwear and stinky and all those things that make you want to avoid this discussion. I mean, does God really want to compare Himself to underwear? Well, yes, actually He does. Although their underwear was more like basic wear, and they didn't seem to be as hygienic as we are.

But it's fresh linen we are talking about here, something of a holy garment fabric and its a fresh start with the most basic/intimate garment that one could wear. It was to be pure from the start and then intentionally made to rot as Jeremiah placed it into the elements near a river where it would waste away and become useless.

We are unsure of where Perath is but it generally means the river Euphrates, a long trip from southern Israel. But where ever it is, the symbol remains the same. Something good is going rotten. I don't know why we say it sometimes, but something is rotten in Denmark. Ever hear that? Well, something is rotten and useless in Israel and it has to do with the close and intimate relationship that God had with His people.

The priests wore a lot of linen in the performance of their duties. The linen cloth must have absorbed a lot of blood as they offered sacrifices. A lot of death was involved. But life also grew from the death. Holiness was exchanged for sin, right for wrong, good for evil. There was always a transfer available to ever Israelite should they want it. God's holiness was always available to the humble heart.

I think this is the basic exchange that Israel was unwilling to make at this point. By placing the linen in the wilderness, which represents sin itself, Israel is saying it would rather choose rottenness than wholeness or holiness. That choice is still the same today. Holiness is a choice we make when we choose God as the architect of our holiness. The mistake that they made is simple, they did not need to be holy, nor did they need a holy God. The mistake they will make many years later when they are returned from captivity also has to do with holiness. They will come back to Israel to restore it and in the restoration they are convinced that they must be a holy people. As good as that sounds, they went about holiness with out the Holy God once again. They wanted the linen but not the loincloth, at least not a loincloth of God's own making.

The source and maintenance of one's holiness is not self authenticating and can easily deteriorate. Israel found this totally true. The key to lifelong holiness is lifelong connection with God. Without it, all else is rotten in Denmark or  _________. As always, a fresh start is available today.

Jeremiah 13

A Linen Belt

 ¹ This is what the LORD said to me: "Go and buy a linen belt and put it around your waist, but do not let it touch water." ² So I bought a belt, as the LORD directed, and put it around my waist.

 ³ Then the word of the LORD came to me a second time: ⁴ "Take the belt you bought and are wearing around your waist, and go now to Perath ^[a] and hide it there in a crevice in the rocks." ⁵ So I went and hid it at Perath, as the LORD told me.

 ⁶ Many days later the LORD said to me, "Go now to Perath and get the belt I told you to hide there." ⁷ So I went to Perath and dug up the belt and took it from the place where I had hidden it, but now it was ruined and completely useless.

 ⁸ Then the word of the LORD came to me: ⁹ "This is what the LORD says: 'In the same way I will ruin the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem. ¹⁰ These wicked people, who refuse to listen to my words, who follow the stubbornness of their hearts and go after other gods to serve and worship them, will be like this belt—completely useless! ¹¹ For as a belt is bound around a man's waist, so I bound the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah to me,' declares the LORD, 'to be my people for my renown and praise and honor. But they have not listened.'

Wineskins

 ¹² "Say to them: 'This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Every wineskin should be filled with wine.' And if they say to you, 'Don't we know that every wineskin should be filled with wine?' ¹³ then tell them, 'This is what the LORD says: I am going to fill with drunkenness all who live in this land, including the kings who sit on David's throne, the priests, the prophets and all those living in Jerusalem. ¹⁴ I will smash them one against the other, fathers and sons alike, declares the LORD. I will allow no pity or mercy or compassion to keep me from destroying them.' "

Threat of Captivity

 ¹⁵ Hear and pay attention,
       do not be arrogant,
       for the LORD has spoken.

 ¹⁶ Give glory to the LORD your God
       before he brings the darkness,
       before your feet stumble
       on the darkening hills.
       You hope for light,
       but he will turn it to thick darkness
       and change it to deep gloom.

 ¹⁷ But if you do not listen,
       I will weep in secret
       because of your pride;
       my eyes will weep bitterly,
       overflowing with tears,
       because the LORD's flock will be taken captive.

 ¹⁸ Say to the king and to the queen mother,
       "Come down from your thrones,
       for your glorious crowns
       will fall from your heads."

 ¹⁹ The cities in the Negev will be shut up,
       and there will be no one to open them.
       All Judah will be carried into exile,
       carried completely away.

 ²⁰ Lift up your eyes and see
       those who are coming from the north.
       Where is the flock that was entrusted to you,
       the sheep of which you boasted?

 ²¹ What will you say when the LORD sets over you
       those you cultivated as your special allies?
       Will not pain grip you
       like that of a woman in labor?

 ²² And if you ask yourself,
       "Why has this happened to me?"—
       it is because of your many sins
       that your skirts have been torn off
       and your body mistreated.

 ²³ Can the Ethiopian ^[b] change his skin
       or the leopard its spots?
       Neither can you do good
       who are accustomed to doing evil.

 ²⁴ "I will scatter you like chaff
       driven by the desert wind.

 ²⁵ This is your lot,
       the portion I have decreed for you,"
       declares the LORD,
       "because you have forgotten me
       and trusted in false gods.

 ²⁶ I will pull up your skirts over your face
       that your shame may be seen-

 ²⁷ your adulteries and lustful neighings,
       your shameless prostitution!
       I have seen your detestable acts
       on the hills and in the fields.
       Woe to you, O Jerusalem!
       How long will you be unclean?"

This is probably not poetry, but it's how I think a lot of people are thinking this winter, wondering when the weather forecasters are going to do something about this cold and snowy weather. Having come from Fargo makes you want to appreciate the warmer weather relatively speaking. But things are only relative for those who can relate, right? If you've lived here for a while, you keep watching the normal highs and and the actual highs and you get a ten to fifteen degree difference, on the cold side of course. So you just keep wishing the weather would warm up or you turn off the TV and ignore the weather as best you can.

So here's a little something for those who are thinking about Spring, maybe we can't help ourselves, it sounds so good to think about the warmth to come.

Fill our minds with the smell of warmth
Plaster our southern walls with sun
Let the waves radiate in the air
As we imagine bees dipping into soda cans

Soon the sun will arrive early
The moon will be more coy
The geese will swell the river
The fish will wonder at them above

Windows will open themselves
Doors will swing their flanks outward
Air conditioners will prepare to hum
And heaters will hibernate

The first bud, the first bird
The first bloom, the first bug
all will buzz and be
Among my best friends, you'll see

This is the day that the Lord has made. It might be a little chilly, but it's life.

Thanks to Sue Carlson for this catch.

Jeremiah 12

Our chapter opens with Jeremiah’s wrestling.  Why? He’s wondering why, when God is Sovereign has power over all creation and is just, do the wicked continue to get away with so much?  Jeremiah is still troubled over the conspiracy against God and himself. He expects God to vindicate him. Oh now here’s a big one! Sometimes I want that vindication more than I want God. And I’ve not only seen that in myself, I’ve seen it in others too. Ever held God hostage until He decided to vindicate you? Ever not done your daily devotionals because of your disappointment? Or given up your Christianity because nobody else has to do right? Let’s see, wasn’t it the disciples who asked Jesus if they should call down fire from heaven and consume the Samaritans for not receiving Him? -Luke 9:54. I hope you’ve learned as I have that no matter what you do, Jesus WILL NOT come down off of that cross! Human nature dies hard so Jesus nailed it there. God does and will vindicate his servants it’s just not always in the way we think. Here’s one big lesson we learn from the book of Jeremiah and a couple of questions too. Did he ever see the results of his ministry bear fruit for God? Did he continue to be faithful to God even though is expectations for God were not met in the way he wanted?

Jeremiah sets a great example for us here, he is not afraid to question God in his wrestling and what a faith saving thing that can be!  If we are wrestling over something we should realize that our heart has some underlying question about God. If we can figure that out, we can tell Him what we’re feeling and thinking and ask Him to clear up the conflict for us. He is oh so willing to do that! I’ve never asked a question yet that Scripture hasn’t answered. So how does God answer Jeremiah’s question?   

Well, He says, to coin an old phrase,” If you can’t run with the big dogs, stay on the porch.” In other words God is telling Jeremiah I need to allow this to happen in your life because I have provided the power (grace) for you to deal with it and I desperately need you to grab a hold of that so you can endure bigger rejection, be better than your surroundings and love bigger in the things to come. I want you to understand Me more at a heart level, believe me more at a heart level and be more like Me. We live in a sinful world with sinful people and God who is love, does not control. Yes He intervenes in the affairs of the earth for the sake of His children, but He does not control. Positive responses to God have to be a product of free will and God is interested in the salvation of all mankind. His response to rebellion is patience and patience often involves suffering on God’s part.

It’s not just about me, it’s not just about you, it’s about God and His love for His creation, and if I’m going to be a part of Him I’m going to have to give my heart over to loving Him no matter what I go through, and then I will love what He loves. The greatest proof of loving God unfolds in Jeremiah in the chapters to come. He’s there for God because he’s surrendering his false expectations of God as they surface and with them falls by the wayside love of self.

Only Love Remains by JJ Heller on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3BDYBGhSgI

  12:1   Righteous [art] thou, O LORD, when I plead with thee: yet let me talk with thee of [thy] judgments: Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? [wherefore] are all they happy that deal very treacherously? 

  12:2   Thou hast planted them, yea, they have taken root: they grow, yea, they bring forth fruit: thou [art] near in their mouth, and far from their reins. 

  12:3   But thou, O LORD, knowest me: thou hast seen me, and tried mine heart toward thee: pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and prepare them for the day of slaughter. 

  12:4   How long shall the land mourn, and the herbs of every field wither, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein? the beasts are consumed, and the birds; because they said, He shall not see our last end. 

  12:5   If thou hast run with the footmen, and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses? and [if] in the land of peace, [wherein] thou trustedst, [they wearied thee], then how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan? 

  12:6   For even thy brethren, and the house of thy father, even they have dealt treacherously with thee; yea, they have called a multitude after thee: believe them not, though they speak fair words unto thee. 

  12:7   I have forsaken mine house, I have left mine heritage; I have given the dearly beloved of my soul into the hand of her enemies. 

  12:8   Mine heritage is unto me as a lion in the forest; it crieth out against me: therefore have I hated it. 

  12:9   Mine heritage [is] unto me [as] a speckled bird, the birds round about [are] against her; come ye, assemble all the beasts of the field, come to devour. 

  12:10   Many pastors have destroyed my vineyard, they have trodden my portion under foot, they have made my pleasant portion a desolate wilderness. 

  12:11   They have made it desolate, [and being] desolate it mourneth unto me; the whole land is made desolate, because no man layeth [it] to heart. 

  12:12   The spoilers are come upon all high places through the wilderness: for the sword of the LORD shall devour from the [one] end of the land even to the [other] end of the land: no flesh shall have peace. 

  12:13   They have sown wheat, but shall reap thorns: they have put themselves to pain, [but] shall not profit: and they shall be ashamed of your revenues because of the fierce anger of the LORD. 

  12:14   Thus saith the LORD against all mine evil neighbours, that touch the inheritance which I have caused my people Israel to inherit; Behold, I will pluck them out of their land, and pluck out the house of Judah from among them. 

  12:15   And it shall come to pass, after that I have plucked them out I will return, and have compassion on them, and will bring them again, every man to his heritage, and every man to his land. 

  12:16   And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name, The LORD liveth; as they taught my people to swear by Baal; then shall they be built in the midst of my people. 

  12:17   But if they will not obey, I will utterly pluck up and destroy that nation, saith the LORD. 

Kim Janousek shares from Jeremiah 10 today. Blessings.

Jeremiah 10

Here in chapter 10 God gives a message to His failing church through Jeremiah as they head into captivity. And that message is NOT to learn “THE WAY” of the nations. Not to participate in heathen religions, evidently the idolatry would be so prevalent where they were going, it would have a seductive influence among them. But there is something in the way this message is given that inspires hope, it’s not given like a denouncement as much as it is encouragement. After this  Jeremiah returns to the subject of the previous chapter, the invasion of Judah and reminds them that their impending captivity is for redemptive purposes…so that they may surrender their idols and return to God who alone is worthy of worship, He being the creator and all.  

 

So what’s in this message for us? Don’t get wrapped up in “Go Big Red”? Well, maybe and maybe not, you be the judge. We can compare it to our experience here on earth as God’s church until we are taken out of this fallen world and our fallen natures. It is interesting to note that verse 11, “Thus you shall say to them, “The gods that did not make the heavens and the earth will perish from the earth and from under the heavens.”” is written in Aramaic while the rest of the chapter is written in Hebrew.What could this mean?

It’s a special note to remind those captive in Babylon, that their lives are the testimony that God alone is worthy of worship, just as our lives are witnesses of the God we worship. But the greatest thing in this chapter is what God gives us all to hang our courage on; God is not only the God of the Jews, He is the God of ALL creation. He’s strengthening us by that statement, ministering to us in our fears so we won’t buckle under peer pressure. The knowledge that God is sovereign should be a big faith booster to us, as He can intervene in circumstances for the benefit of His children if He so chooses. And we need to hang onto that in order to stand here and now in the world we live in. “For the kingdom is the LORD’S and He rules over the nations.” “God reigns over the nations, God sits on His holy throne. The princes of he people have assembled themselves for the shields of the earth belong to God’ He is highly exalted.” Say among the nations, “The LORD reigns; indeed, His work is firmly established, it will not be moved: He will judge the peoples with equity.” -Psalm 22.28, 47:7-8, 96:10.

If you get a chance today check out the song by JJ Heller, Your Hands. She sings “…when my world is shaking, heaven stands.  When my heart is breaking,  I never leave your hands.”

 

Confession is the first step of accepting correction from the Lord, “All discipline, for the moment seems not to be joyful but sorrowful;yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.” Hebrews 12:11. Here, now, in this sinful world is our time to repent.

  10:1   Hear ye the word which the LORD speaketh unto you, O house of Israel: 

  10:2   Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. 

  10:3   For the customs of the people [are] vain:for [one] cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the ax. 

  10:4   They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not. 

  10:5   They [are] upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also [is it] in them to do good. 

  10:6   Forasmuch as [there is] none like unto thee,O LORD; thou [art] great, and thy name [is] great in might. 

  10:7   Who would not fear thee, O King of nations?for to thee doth it appertain: forasmuch as among all the wise [men] of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, [there is] none like unto thee. 

  10:8   But they are altogether brutish and foolish:the stock [is] a doctrine of vanities. 

  10:9   Silver spread into plates is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the workman, and of the hands of the founder: blue and purple [is] their clothing: they [are] all the work of cunning [men]. 

  10:10   But the LORD [is] the true God, he [is] the living God, and an everlasting king: at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide his indignation. 

  10:11   Thus shall ye say unto them, The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, [even] they shall perish from the earth, and from under these heavens. 

  10:12   He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heavens by his discretion. 

  10:13   When he uttereth his voice, [there is] a multitude of waters in the heavens, and he causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth; he maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures. 

  10:14   Every man is brutish in [his] knowledge:every founder is confounded by the graven image: for his molten image [is]falsehood, and [there is] no breath in them. 

  10:15   They [are] vanity, [and] the work of errors:in the time of their visitation they shall perish. 

  10:16   The portion of Jacob [is] not like them: for he [is] the former of all [things]; and Israel [is] the rod of his inheritance:The LORD of hosts [is] his name. 

  10:17   Gather up thy wares out of the land, O inhabitant of the fortress. 

  10:18   For thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will sling out the inhabitants of the land at this once, and will distress them,that they may find [it so]. 

  10:19   Woe is me for my hurt! my wound is grievous:but I said, Truly this [is] a grief, and I must bear it. 

  10:20   My tabernacle is spoiled, and all my cords are broken: my children are gone forth of me, and they [are] not: [there is]none to stretch forth my tent any more, and to set up my curtains. 

  10:21   For the pastors are become brutish, and have not sought the LORD: therefore they shall not prosper, and all their flocks shall be scattered. 

  10:22   Behold, the noise of the bruit is come, and a great commotion out of the north country, to make the cities of Judah desolate, [and] a den of dragons. 

  10:23   O LORD, I know that the way of man [is] not in himself: [it is] not in man that walketh to direct his steps. 

  10:24   O LORD, correct me, but with judgment; not in thine anger, lest thou bring me to nothing. 

  10:25   Pour out thy fury upon the heathen that know thee not, and upon the families that call not on thy name: for they have eaten up Jacob, and devoured him, and consumed him, and have made his habitation desolate.

The Jeremiah Devotionals this week are from guest blogger Kim Janousek. I hope you are blessed by them. Thanks Kim.

Jeremiah 9

I was talking to my neighbor one afternoon, and he was telling me how some of the things I believed about the Bible were way off base. When I asked him if he had ever read the Bible he told me he did pick it up one time and read only a small portion, because he didn’t like what he saw in there. At first glance a person might be turned off by this chapter. I can’t deny that on the surface it might come off as reading like something out of a horror flick. But in all actually it probably reads more like an epic western, or okay if you’re not in my age bracket, a classic good guy vs. bad guy movie.  Upon closer examination though, I think it turns out to one of the most beautiful revelations of God’s character given to us in the Old Testament.

 

Unfolding within its pages we find a Jealous God whose heart is breaking over the loss of an intimate

relationship with His betrothed. Having done all He could possibly do, including allowing His heart to break while He waits patiently for her to return of Her own volition in sorrow for forsaking Him in exchange for self gratification.  Because of her waywardness though His patience has not served its purpose but is being viewed as permission for her promiscuity. You know, she’s kind of like the girl who leaves her lover and expects him to be her best friend while she shares all the intimate details of her torrid relationships with other men. Knowing the danger she’s in and more concerned for her righteousness and honor He has to do what He hates to do, but knows He must. He must allow hurt in order for their relationship to profit. In short, God will allow us to experience separation, hurt and pain in order to bring us to our senses. Yes, He’s the morally upright man on the horse passing through the town of degradation looking for his betrothed who has done him wrong.

 

So in light of all of this Jeremiah takes up a lament at the beginning of the chapter. 1892 Funk and Wagnall’s Homiletic Commentary puts it this way, “Note the pathos of the reiteration, “My people!”  Humanity, philanthropy, patriotism, and religious feeling, all summon us to bitter sorrow over -1) the sufferings of our people; 2) the slaughter wrought by tyranny (especially the tyranny of Satan over the lives and souls of men; and the slaughter of virtue, happiness, and hopes ); 3) the sinfulness which under lies and explains all man’s woes. Character wasted, lives degraded, hearts pierced, with anguish souls ruined, a sad world; the gentle generous heart shudders amid these devastations,” and in this Jeremiah is brought closer through sharing in the sorrows of His God. Thus he is forever labeled the weeping prophet.

Reference is made in this chapter that God’s people are circumcised in uncircumcision, i.e. putting stock in the rite they participated in rather than the relationship it symbolized. Sound familiar? Okay I won’t go into all the applications for that one but we’ve all heard that going to church doesn’t save us and here’s a biblical passage that shows us how God feels when He’s left out of our lives. He’s in it for our salvation and honor, without that intimate relationship we’re shutting Him out. He’s hurt and He’s jealous for His bride, He’ll go to whatever lengths it takes in an effort to bring us around. To boast of our own abilities, church going, righteousness, etc. is ridiculous, as they are spawned from the power of God delivering us.

To be sound in the faith is to know Jesus; to believe in Him, Live in Him, Work in Him, Suffer for His sake.

 

¹ Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!

² Oh that I had in the wilderness a lodging place of wayfaring men; that I might leave my people, and go from them! for they be all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men.

³ And they bend their tongues like their bow for lies: but they are not valiant for the truth upon the earth; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they know not me, saith the LORD.

⁴ Take ye heed every one of his neighbour^a, and trust ye not in any brother: for every brother will utterly supplant, and every neighbour will walk with slanders.

⁵ And they will deceive^b every one his neighbour, and will not speak the truth: they have taught their tongue to speak lies, and weary themselves to commit iniquity.

⁶ Thine habitation is in the midst of deceit; through deceit they refuse to know me, saith the LORD.

 

⁷ Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, Behold, I will melt them, and try them; for how shall I do for the daughter of my people?

⁸ Their tongue is as an arrow shot out; it speaketh deceit: one speaketh peaceably to his neighbour with his mouth, but in heart^c he layeth his wait.

⁹ Shall I not visit them for these things? saith the LORD: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

 

¹⁰ For the mountains will I take up a weeping and wailing, and for the habitations^d of the wilderness a lamentation, because they are burned up, so that none can pass through them; neither can men hear the voice of the cattle; both the fowl of the heavens and the beast are fled; they are gone.

¹¹ And I will make Jerusalem heaps, and a den of dragons; and I will make the cities of Judah desolate^e, without an inhabitant.

 

¹² Who is the wise man, that may understand this? and who is he to whom the mouth of the LORD hath spoken, that he may declare it, for what the land perisheth and is burned up like a wilderness, that none passeth through?

¹³ And the LORD saith, Because they have forsaken my law which I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice, neither walked therein;

¹⁴ But have walked after the imagination^f of their own heart, and after Baalim, which their fathers taught them:

¹⁵ Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink.

¹⁶ I will scatter them also among the heathen, whom neither they nor their fathers have known: and I will send a sword after them, till I have consumed them.

 

¹⁷ Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Consider ye, and call for the mourning women, that they may come; and send for cunning women, that they may come:

¹⁸ And let them make haste, and take up a wailing for us, that our eyes may run down with tears, and our eyelids gush out with waters.

¹⁹ For a voice of wailing is heard out of Zion, How are we spoiled! we are greatly confounded, because we have forsaken the land, because our dwellings have cast us out.

²⁰ Yet hear the word of the LORD, O ye women, and let your ear receive the word of his mouth, and teach your daughters wailing, and every one her neighbour lamentation.

²¹ For death is come up into our windows, and is entered into our palaces, to cut off the children from without, and the young men from the streets.

²² Speak, Thus saith the LORD, Even the carcases of men shall fall as dung upon the open field, and as the handful after the harvestman, and none shall gather them.

 

 

²³ Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches:

²⁴ But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD.

²⁵ Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will punish^g all them which are circumcised with the uncircumcised;

²⁶ Egypt, and Judah, and Edom, and the children of Ammon, and Moab, and all that are in the utmost^h corners, that dwell in the wilderness: for all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in the heart.

There are well known texts in this chapter. See vss. 11, 20 and 22.  Vs. 22 is especially interesting. The Balm in Gilead was probably an oil that came from outside the country. Balsam Fir grows across the north of our country and the resin fills the air in Fir Forests around the world. You can see the large leaks and wounds of oil as they streak down the Fir tree. Balm was collected and then used as medicine or preservative but also as the word Embalm shows, to embalm a body and prepare it for burial.

The Balm in Gilead is likely a reference to the highlands across the Jordan river, in the land of Jordan today. This area was controlled at one time by three of the tribes of Israel, Gad, Reuben and part of Manasseh.

Notice this in Genesis 50. In his father's case;

¹ Joseph threw himself upon his father and wept over him and kissed him. ² Then Joseph directed the physicians in his service to embalm his father Israel. So the physicians embalmed him, ³ taking a full forty days, for that was the time required for embalming. And the Egyptians mourned for him seventy days.

And in Joseph's case;

²⁴ Then Joseph said to his brothers, "I am about to die. But God will surely come to your aid and take you up out of this land to the land he promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob." ²⁵ And Joseph made the sons of Israel swear an oath and said, "God will surely come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones up from this place."

 ²⁶ So Joseph died at the age of a hundred and ten. And after they embalmed him, he was placed in a coffin in Egypt.

Without balm, death is seen as permanent. Even today, the custom of embalming seems to enhance a families optimism for the future of their loved one. But this chapter is not about Israel's future as much as it is about the absence of a future. They will not be embalmed, they will not even have their bones properly buried, vs. 1-3. Their bones will have no place to reside, hence no peace, and no future.

We have some very sad sayings like "Death Warmed Over", or "Dead Man Walking". This chapter could be described as "Dead Nation Scattered". All that would be left would be bones in the wild that could only be bleached and worn by the sun and the ravages of nature. Tragically, the worship of sun, moon and stars, so common in surrounding nations would be the final resting place of the religion of much of Israel. And the country from the North, Babylon would be the very nation to destroy God's people. How ironic that the Babylonians were steeped in pagan religion and they would take the lead role in destroying a nation that had departed from true religion and moved firmly into paganism.

There would be a remnant though. In vs. 3, some will be banished to other nations. Some will survive. Even they will mourn so deeply that they will never be the same, a people who hope for Peace or Shalom. From that remnant, a group will survive that will eventually return and bring salvation back to Israel. But it will not be easy and it will not come in the way they expect and it certainly won't come in their lifetimes. Many of these people died with utter hopelessness. Their salvation or healing or peace was gone.

This is a very special chapter to understand God's plan for salvation for Israel as a nation that God was the primary leader of. Salvation in this chapter appears to be different in its results than we have come to know it from the New testament. In the end, it is the same, future peace and eternal life. But here in the apparent end of Israel's national life, salvation would simply have been a complete dependence upon God and God would take care of the rest.

Of course, this has not changed. Salvation is still dependent on this God Dependence. But we have a clearer view of what eternal life looks like, thanks to texts like John 14 and Thessalonians and the book of Revelation.

The cry is still the same though, "Is there no balm in Gilead"? This question is still the heavy question. What will preserve our lives for the once and future kingdom of God?

The Negro Spiritual offers this;

Chorus (in bold):

There is a balm in Gilead, To make the wounded whole;

There is a balm in Gilead, To heal the sin-sick soul.

Some times I feel discouraged,

And think my work’s in vain,

But then the Holy Spirit

Revives my hope again.

(Chorus)

If you cannot sing like angels,

If you can’t preach like Paul,

You can tell the love of Jesus,

And say He died for all.

Listen Here

We know that Balm as Jesus.

Jeremiah 8

 ¹ " 'At that time, declares the LORD, the bones of the kings and officials of Judah, the bones of the priests and prophets, and the bones of the people of Jerusalem will be removed from their graves. ² They will be exposed to the sun and the moon and all the stars of the heavens, which they have loved and served and which they have followed and consulted and worshiped. They will not be gathered up or buried, but will be like refuse lying on the ground. ³ Wherever I banish them, all the survivors of this evil nation will prefer death to life, declares the LORD Almighty.'

Sin and Punishment

 ⁴ "Say to them, 'This is what the LORD says:
       " 'When men fall down, do they not get up?
       When a man turns away, does he not return?

 ⁵ Why then have these people turned away?
       Why does Jerusalem always turn away?
       They cling to deceit;
       they refuse to return.

 ⁶ I have listened attentively,
       but they do not say what is right.
       No one repents of his wickedness,
       saying, "What have I done?"
       Each pursues his own course
       like a horse charging into battle.

 ⁷ Even the stork in the sky
       knows her appointed seasons,
       and the dove, the swift and the thrush
       observe the time of their migration.
       But my people do not know
       the requirements of the LORD.

 ⁸ " 'How can you say, "We are wise,
       for we have the law of the LORD,"
       when actually the lying pen of the scribes
       has handled it falsely?

 ⁹ The wise will be put to shame;
       they will be dismayed and trapped.
       Since they have rejected the word of the LORD,
       what kind of wisdom do they have?

 ¹⁰ Therefore I will give their wives to other men
       and their fields to new owners.
       From the least to the greatest,
       all are greedy for gain;
       prophets and priests alike,
       all practice deceit.

 ¹¹ They dress the wound of my people
       as though it were not serious.
       "Peace, peace," they say,
       when there is no peace.

 ¹² Are they ashamed of their loathsome conduct?
       No, they have no shame at all;
       they do not even know how to blush.
       So they will fall among the fallen;
       they will be brought down when they are punished,
       says the LORD.

 ¹³ " 'I will take away their harvest,
       declares the LORD.
       There will be no grapes on the vine.
       There will be no figs on the tree,
       and their leaves will wither.
       What I have given them
       will be taken from them. ^[a] ' "

 ¹⁴ "Why are we sitting here?
       Gather together!
       Let us flee to the fortified cities
       and perish there!
       For the LORD our God has doomed us to perish
       and given us poisoned water to drink,
       because we have sinned against him.

 ¹⁵ We hoped for peace
       but no good has come,
       for a time of healing
       but there was only terror.

 ¹⁶ The snorting of the enemy's horses
       is heard from Dan;
       at the neighing of their stallions
       the whole land trembles.
       They have come to devour
       the land and everything in it,
       the city and all who live there."

 ¹⁷ "See, I will send venomous snakes among you,
       vipers that cannot be charmed,
       and they will bite you,"
       declares the LORD.

 ¹⁸ O my Comforter ^[b] in sorrow,
       my heart is faint within me.

 ¹⁹ Listen to the cry of my people
       from a land far away:
       "Is the LORD not in Zion?
       Is her King no longer there?"
       "Why have they provoked me to anger with their images,
       with their worthless foreign idols?"

 ²⁰ "The harvest is past,
       the summer has ended,
       and we are not saved."

 ²¹ Since my people are crushed, I am crushed;
       I mourn, and horror grips me.

 ²² Is there no balm in Gilead?
       Is there no physician there?
       Why then is there no healing
       for the wound of my people?

Look at the first 8 verses of this chapter. Now, imagine me or another preacher, or yourself if you wish, standing at the door of church this week using those 8 verses as my greeting. Stand at the gate. Proclaim this Message. Reform your ways and actions. Then you can live here.

Check it out in the Message paraphrase or what I like to call paralation.

^2-3"Say, 'Listen, all you people of Judah who come through these gates to worship God. God-of-the-Angel-Armies, Israel's God, has this to say to you: ^3-7"'Clean up your act—the way you live, the things you do—so I can make my home with you in this place. Don't for a minute believe the lies being spoken here—"This is God's Temple, God's Temple, God's Temple!" Total nonsense! Only if you clean up your act (the way you live, the things you do), only if you do a total spring cleaning on the way you live and treat your neighbors, only if you quit exploiting the street people and orphans and widows, no longer taking advantage of innocent people on this very site and no longer destroying your souls by using this Temple as a front for other gods—only then will I move into your neighborhood. Only then will this country I gave your ancestors be my permanent home, my Temple.

Did it jump out at you? Don't believe the lies. What lies? The lies others tell us or the lies we tell ourselves, or both?

Let's look for the positive again. Let's find something to hang our hats on here. Let's take the phrase from the Message, "Spring Cleaning"

Spring Cleaning

Are you prepared to admit that we need a Spring Cleaning? In general we are. It's usually easy to admit that the Lord is still working on us. It gets more difficult, more personal when we start to describe how He is working on us.  Spring cleaning begins to feel like a trip to the Dentist office, or having the whole house remodeled, or have surgery to remove a tumor. We begin to fear it, even avoid it. we might admit we need it, but then turn around and do all we can to put it off.

What does Spring Cleaning in the mental, emotional, spiritual realm mean? If you look at the rest of the text you will notice it is about relationships. The simple truth is, what isn't related to relationships. There are two basic relationships in our lives, the one we have with God and the one we have with other people. The basic rules are the same, love, appreciate and maintain the dignity of the relationship. Add the rules you think should be in there as well. But there are basic rules. Then there are some specific rules for some relationships. I love my wife and share an intimacy with her that is singular and exclusive to her. No one comes in between that by taking my focus of that love off of her and on to someone else. That must never happen but if it does, it must be corrected.

There are lots of other types of relationships, mentors, parents, friends, coaches, antagonists, and so on. This is your network. And your relationship with God is your source of healthy relationships.

So Spring Cleaning has to do with getting your relationships back into health or back into shape. This may be the most challenging aspect of our lives. We might start off on the wrong foot by saying in defense, "There is nothing wrong with my relationships." Once we voice that belief, we begin down the road of false religion. The heart of false religion is broken relationships. When we find ourselves using people to get what we want instead of serving them in their needs, we are living with broken relationships. There is no question that relationships are a source of needs supplied. Don't misunderstand me on that point. My wife answers my needs with remarkable care as I try to do the same for her. In that way, needs are met all around. But only having my needs met, would not be a relationship as much as a dictatorship. A selfish, short term, doomed to fail dictatorship.

Notice what is says in vss. 3-7;

Only if you clean up your act (the way you live, the things you do), only if you do a total spring cleaning on the way you live and treat your neighbors, only if you quit exploiting the street people and orphans and widows, no longer taking advantage of innocent people on this very site and no longer destroying your souls by using this Temple as a front for other gods—only then will I move into your neighborhood....

See the relationships in this passage. I don't think you can miss them, but let me point them out again. Relationships with people and then God moves into our neighborhood, in other words He becomes a relative, relating to us in relationship.

Too much talk of relationships? Sorry. The truth is, it's all about relationships. True religion is all about relationships. Doesn't James say something like that? 

James 1:27 "Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world."  If you want more Spring Cleaning, check out vs. 26 also in James 1.

Anyhow, I probably won't be standing at the door this week, I hope you aren't either. But I will be asking the Lord to stand at the door of my heart. As I open my heart in worship and wonder, in friendship and fellowship I'll also ask Him to build my relationships in service and joy. But don't be surprised if some of what I preach about sounds similar to Jeremiah's cry for healthy relationships. It may be that this is not just a problem for Israel, but it is the central problem that is causing Israels downfall. Their failure to keep their relationships in good health is central to their failure to maintain their nations health and welfare. Israel has no future when they fail to care for each other.

Is it any different for us? When we fail to understand each other, or care for each other, or listen to each other, or forgive each other, or enjoy each other, respect, appreciate, motivate and love each other? What reason do we exist for if it isn't relationships?

Want to make a world changing difference? Love God, Love people like never before. Become a Relationship Expert. Spring's coming. Spring Cleaning is on the agenda.

There is so much more that can be learned from this chapter. Maybe you will take it further this week. Maybe we'll save it for another time together. Enjoy. See you in the Gates.

Jeremiah 7

False Religion Worthless

 ¹ This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD : ² "Stand at the gate of the LORD's house and there proclaim this message:
      " 'Hear the word of the LORD, all you people of Judah who come through these gates to worship the LORD. ³ This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Reform your ways and your actions, and I will let you live in this place. ⁴ Do not trust in deceptive words and say, "This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD!" ⁵ If you really change your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly, ⁶ if you do not oppress the alien, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not follow other gods to your own harm, ⁷ then I will let you live in this place, in the land I gave your forefathers for ever and ever. ⁸ But look, you are trusting in deceptive words that are worthless.

 ⁹ " 'Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, ^[a] burn incense to Baal and follow other gods you have not known, ¹⁰ and then come and stand before me in this house, which bears my Name, and say, "We are safe"-safe to do all these detestable things? ¹¹ Has this house, which bears my Name, become a den of robbers to you? But I have been watching! declares the LORD.

 ¹² " 'Go now to the place in Shiloh where I first made a dwelling for my Name, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of my people Israel. ¹³ While you were doing all these things, declares the LORD, I spoke to you again and again, but you did not listen; I called you, but you did not answer. ¹⁴ Therefore, what I did to Shiloh I will now do to the house that bears my Name, the temple you trust in, the place I gave to you and your fathers. ¹⁵ I will thrust you from my presence, just as I did all your brothers, the people of Ephraim.'

 ¹⁶ "So do not pray for this people nor offer any plea or petition for them; do not plead with me, for I will not listen to you. ¹⁷ Do you not see what they are doing in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? ¹⁸ The children gather wood, the fathers light the fire, and the women knead the dough and make cakes of bread for the Queen of Heaven. They pour out drink offerings to other gods to provoke me to anger. ¹⁹ But am I the one they are provoking? declares the LORD. Are they not rather harming themselves, to their own shame?

 ²⁰ " 'Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: My anger and my wrath will be poured out on this place, on man and beast, on the trees of the field and on the fruit of the ground, and it will burn and not be quenched.

 ²¹ " 'This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Go ahead, add your burnt offerings to your other sacrifices and eat the meat yourselves! ²² For when I brought your forefathers out of Egypt and spoke to them, I did not just give them commands about burnt offerings and sacrifices, ²³ but I gave them this command: Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in all the ways I command you, that it may go well with you. ²⁴ But they did not listen or pay attention; instead, they followed the stubborn inclinations of their evil hearts. They went backward and not forward. ²⁵ From the time your forefathers left Egypt until now, day after day, again and again I sent you my servants the prophets. ²⁶ But they did not listen to me or pay attention. They were stiff-necked and did more evil than their forefathers.'

 ²⁷ "When you tell them all this, they will not listen to you; when you call to them, they will not answer. ²⁸ Therefore say to them, 'This is the nation that has not obeyed the LORD its God or responded to correction. Truth has perished; it has vanished from their lips. ²⁹ Cut off your hair and throw it away; take up a lament on the barren heights, for the LORD has rejected and abandoned this generation that is under his wrath.

The Valley of Slaughter

 ³⁰ " 'The people of Judah have done evil in my eyes, declares the LORD. They have set up their detestable idols in the house that bears my Name and have defiled it. ³¹ They have built the high places of Topheth in the Valley of Ben Hinnom to burn their sons and daughters in the fire—something I did not command, nor did it enter my mind. ³² So beware, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when people will no longer call it Topheth or the Valley of Ben Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter, for they will bury the dead in Topheth until there is no more room. ³³ Then the carcasses of this people will become food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and there will be no one to frighten them away. ³⁴ I will bring an end to the sounds of joy and gladness and to the voices of bride and bridegroom in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem, for the land will become desolate.

You might remember the battle cry for early America, The British are Coming, the British are Coming. And so they did, over 200 years ago. In the case of Judah or Benjamin or Jerusalem, the Babylonians are Coming, the Babylonians are Coming. That is what chapter 5 and 6 tell us. 5:5 mentions the lion while 5:15-16 adds that they are a "nation" of "mighty Men". In 6:1 we see the warning again as the "evil" or "disaster" that "looms out of the north".

What can one do? God offers this.

⁸ Take warning, O Jerusalem,
       or I will turn away from you
       and make your land desolate
       so no one can live in it."

In verse 8 we see a disgusted God. If the people of Southern Israel will not listen, God will turn away from them in disgust. The Hebrew word yaqa tells us this.  This is the opposite of everything God wanted. He wanted to keep His face turned toward this people, not away from them.

The furniture in the sanctuary symbolized this facial posture continuously, especially the Table of Shew bread. This table inside the tent of the Holy Place was kept stocked with 12 loaves of fresh bread, one loaf for each tribe. It was called the Bread Of God's Face. As long as God's face was turned toward you, things would be all right, even better. But remove the bread, remove His face, remove His blessing.

In very simple terms, God just wanted to hang out with the people. That may be too informal for some of us, but it comes down to God wanting to dwell with us. This is of course the special name of Jesus, Immanuel. God With Us.

Another very special message was written on the miter of the Priest's head wear. The words were Chodesh la Jehovah. Holiness to the Lord. The message of the sanctuary was not being taken seriously, God was not being taken seriously. God is our God. He is our holiness. His holiness is to become our holiness. It happens by His presence. In simple terms again, it rubs off on us, or infuses us. Unfortunately for Israel, they decided that they needed no more of what God was offering. Truth is, they always struggled to accept what God was offering. God never offered them a self correcting form of Holiness, but a God blessed spirit of fresh air, a Spirit filled holiness that shapes our hearts from within.

Israel took the wrong pill. It hardened their hearts and arteries you might say. They made more requirements to be reached in order to achieve holiness. Many years later when they began their return from Babylon back to their beloved but destroyed Jerusalem, they picked up their own versions of holiness again and went holy crazy with their Sabbath rules and regulations and other requirements to prove to God(or someone) that they were a holy people.

The great lesson they missed, the one so often missed to this day, is the lesson of verse 8. Keep oriented toward God. Keep His face in view. Stay in His presence. Go to the sanctuary. Make an offering, worship God, praise Him for He is God, your God. He knows all, and meets all your needs. He will not turn His back on the one who knows this.

One more appeal can be found in vs. 16.

¹⁶ This is what the LORD says:
       "Stand at the crossroads and look;
       ask for the ancient paths,
       ask where the good way is, and walk in it,
       and you will find rest for your souls.
       But you said, 'We will not walk in it.'

Go to Mapquest, or Google Maps. Find a crossroads, where two great highways come together. There are many of them today, but In Israels time, there were only a few. And you had to walk out there probably. But once you arrived, you would see people in their travels, living their lives, knowing where they were going. And you could find your bearings again. You could find the old paths which made life and commerce successful. You could look back at the road that was traveled by Abraham or Moses, or Lot, or David, or Saul and see the errors of their ways, or the correctness of their ways. You could go back to the Covenant they made with God, (see 11:2) the Covenant that from God's side has never changed. He is in the same business as He was then, to Be Our God. That is the heart of the Covenant. You will see this on the old paths. And new things will come from the old. As Churchill said, the more we observe the past, the better we will be prepared for the future.

"Ask where the good way is, and walk in it." Amen. Reminds me of John 14:6. I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.

We may not know all the details of what's coming, the British, the Babylonians, the Iranians, the Wall Streeteeans, The Politicians, the Morticians, or whoever we seem to be most afraid of these days. We may know, should know, must know the one who is most definitely coming. The Way Himself. His face is turned toward us at this moment.


Jeremiah 6

Jerusalem Under Siege

 ¹ "Flee for safety, people of Benjamin!
       Flee from Jerusalem!
       Sound the trumpet in Tekoa!
       Raise the signal over Beth Hakkerem!
       For disaster looms out of the north,
       even terrible destruction.

 ² I will destroy the Daughter of Zion,
       so beautiful and delicate.

 ³ Shepherds with their flocks will come against her;
       they will pitch their tents around her,
       each tending his own portion."

 ⁴ "Prepare for battle against her!
       Arise, let us attack at noon!
       But, alas, the daylight is fading,
       and the shadows of evening grow long.

 ⁵ So arise, let us attack at night
       and destroy her fortresses!"

 ⁶ This is what the LORD Almighty says:
       "Cut down the trees
       and build siege ramps against Jerusalem.
       This city must be punished;
       it is filled with oppression.

 ⁷ As a well pours out its water,
       so she pours out her wickedness.
       Violence and destruction resound in her;
       her sickness and wounds are ever before me.

 ⁸ Take warning, O Jerusalem,
       or I will turn away from you
       and make your land desolate
       so no one can live in it."

 ⁹ This is what the LORD Almighty says:
       "Let them glean the remnant of Israel
       as thoroughly as a vine;
       pass your hand over the branches again,
       like one gathering grapes."

 ¹⁰ To whom can I speak and give warning?
       Who will listen to me?
       Their ears are closed ^[a]
       so they cannot hear.
       The word of the LORD is offensive to them;
       they find no pleasure in it.

 ¹¹ But I am full of the wrath of the LORD,
       and I cannot hold it in.
       "Pour it out on the children in the street
       and on the young men gathered together;
       both husband and wife will be caught in it,
       and the old, those weighed down with years.

 ¹² Their houses will be turned over to others,
       together with their fields and their wives,
       when I stretch out my hand
       against those who live in the land,"
       declares the LORD.

 ¹³ "From the least to the greatest,
       all are greedy for gain;
       prophets and priests alike,
       all practice deceit.

 ¹⁴ They dress the wound of my people
       as though it were not serious.
       'Peace, peace,' they say,
       when there is no peace.

 ¹⁵ Are they ashamed of their loathsome conduct?
       No, they have no shame at all;
       they do not even know how to blush.
       So they will fall among the fallen;
       they will be brought down when I punish them,"
       says the LORD.

 ¹⁶ This is what the LORD says:
       "Stand at the crossroads and look;
       ask for the ancient paths,
       ask where the good way is, and walk in it,
       and you will find rest for your souls.
       But you said, 'We will not walk in it.'

 ¹⁷ I appointed watchmen over you and said,
       'Listen to the sound of the trumpet!'
       But you said, 'We will not listen.'

 ¹⁸ Therefore hear, O nations;
       observe, O witnesses,
       what will happen to them.

 ¹⁹ Hear, O earth:
       I am bringing disaster on this people,
       the fruit of their schemes,
       because they have not listened to my words
       and have rejected my law.

 ²⁰ What do I care about incense from Sheba
       or sweet calamus from a distant land?
       Your burnt offerings are not acceptable;
       your sacrifices do not please me."

 ²¹ Therefore this is what the LORD says:
       "I will put obstacles before this people.
       Fathers and sons alike will stumble over them;
       neighbors and friends will perish."

 ²² This is what the LORD says:
       "Look, an army is coming
       from the land of the north;
       a great nation is being stirred up
       from the ends of the earth.

 ²³ They are armed with bow and spear;
       they are cruel and show no mercy.
       They sound like the roaring sea
       as they ride on their horses;
       they come like men in battle formation
       to attack you, O Daughter of Zion."

 ²⁴ We have heard reports about them,
       and our hands hang limp.
       Anguish has gripped us,
       pain like that of a woman in labor.

 ²⁵ Do not go out to the fields
       or walk on the roads,
       for the enemy has a sword,
       and there is terror on every side.

 ²⁶ O my people, put on sackcloth
       and roll in ashes;
       mourn with bitter wailing
       as for an only son,
       for suddenly the destroyer
       will come upon us.

 ²⁷ "I have made you a tester of metals
       and my people the ore,
       that you may observe
       and test their ways.

 ²⁸ They are all hardened rebels,
       going about to slander.
       They are bronze and iron;
       they all act corruptly.

 ²⁹ The bellows blow fiercely
       to burn away the lead with fire,
       but the refining goes on in vain;
       the wicked are not purged out.

 ³⁰ They are called rejected silver,
       because the LORD has rejected them."

I add some of these video's and articles to my site in the hope that some will gain a piece of knowledge or be encouraged to think more deeply about a subject. Thinking is both exciting and provocative. Having a church full of thinkers would be all right I think to myself, especially if they all thought the same way. I haven't seen that church yet, but I can hope right? Actually, I'm more interested in learning how to foster and support a thinking church without going crazy. I want members to believe and value certain things or teachings because I think they are so very important to their spiritual health. But they don't always see it that way. How do we live and work together when we can't always reconcile every belief? Answer, you just do.

This belief about Hell and our Western version of it has not divided many in my church, but it has become less important in the last few decades. And some find that frightening in itself. Here is a short video of N. T. Wright giving a candid and simple explanation of what Hell will really be like. I find myself agreeing with him to a point. I like the way he describes the scene. I'm not sure we agree on some of the outcomes or how God finishes this period of earth's history, but we have time to think about it all, don't we. Give a look. Think some more.

⁷ "Why should I forgive you?
       Your children have forsaken me
       and sworn by gods that are not gods.
       I supplied all their needs,
       yet they committed adultery
       and thronged to the houses of prostitutes.

 ⁸ They are well-fed, lusty stallions,
       each neighing for another man's wife.

 ⁹ Should I not punish them for this?"
       declares the LORD.
       "Should I not avenge myself
       on such a nation as this?

I've chosen these three verses for their obvious picture of decadence. God is a moral God. His concern with our morality is written on nearly every page of the Bible. Without God's moral compass, where would mankind end up? To what depths would we sink? Some find morality of any kind, especially the Biblical kind obnoxious. Why should we be limited by God and His version of what is right or wrong?

Why can't we take what we want and control what belongs to others? When you think about it, the desire to have something that belongs to someone else is at the root of all wars. War is waged in order to control a larger share of the resources, land, money, gold, people, all in order to enrich one's own country.

The root of war, such tragic schemes to hoard and control more of the consumables in this world, will be found in every conversation God has about morality. Notice in vs 7, "I supplied all their needs".... There must be a way to live with what we have, having confidence in God that all our needs will be met. There must be a way to trust in the words of the 23rd Psalm. "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want."

There comes a time when God cannot forgive us because we have simply said too often and too loudly, we don't want forgiveness. We want what we want, no more, no less, and we will get it. Such a lack of morals can only lead us into a deep darkness that cannot be escaped. I've never watched even a minute of Desperate Housewives, or similar shows because it seems to me that they are all about wanting something that we really don't need and we should learn where all of our needs are met. I have no clear idea about what that show is about, but I've seen enough of life to know that living our lives in that sort of way is really like living in a hamster cage, keeping the wheel turning only because there is nothing else to do, except eat, sleep and run the wheel and chase other hamsters around the cage.

God seems to suffer the most when we forget how much we need Him. It takes Him a long time, perhaps a lot longer than we realize to make it clear that the lines are so deeply drawn that they cannot be undone. But there does come that time, when we no longer seek the Lord as our Shepherd and we go it on our own. Punishment comes then as vs. 9 says. I see God's tears written all over that verse. I never find comfort in the announcement of punishment but I cannot ignore it either. What I can do is trumpet the wise and beneficent Provider that my God is. He is a shepherd who has laid down His life for mine, in more ways than one. For that I am most grateful.


Jeremiah 5

Not One Is Upright

 ¹ "Go up and down the streets of Jerusalem,
       look around and consider,
       search through her squares.
       If you can find but one person
       who deals honestly and seeks the truth,
       I will forgive this city.

 ² Although they say, 'As surely as the LORD lives,'
       still they are swearing falsely."

 ³ O LORD, do not your eyes look for truth?
       You struck them, but they felt no pain;
       you crushed them, but they refused correction.
       They made their faces harder than stone
       and refused to repent.

 ⁴ I thought, "These are only the poor;
       they are foolish,
       for they do not know the way of the LORD,
       the requirements of their God.

 ⁵ So I will go to the leaders
       and speak to them;
       surely they know the way of the LORD,
       the requirements of their God."
       But with one accord they too had broken off the yoke
       and torn off the bonds.

 ⁶ Therefore a lion from the forest will attack them,
       a wolf from the desert will ravage them,
       a leopard will lie in wait near their towns
       to tear to pieces any who venture out,
       for their rebellion is great
       and their backslidings many.

 ⁷ "Why should I forgive you?
       Your children have forsaken me
       and sworn by gods that are not gods.
       I supplied all their needs,
       yet they committed adultery
       and thronged to the houses of prostitutes.

 ⁸ They are well-fed, lusty stallions,
       each neighing for another man's wife.

 ⁹ Should I not punish them for this?"
       declares the LORD.
       "Should I not avenge myself
       on such a nation as this?

 ¹⁰ "Go through her vineyards and ravage them,
       but do not destroy them completely.
       Strip off her branches,
       for these people do not belong to the LORD.

 ¹¹ The house of Israel and the house of Judah
       have been utterly unfaithful to me,"
       declares the LORD.

 ¹² They have lied about the LORD;
       they said, "He will do nothing!
       No harm will come to us;
       we will never see sword or famine.

 ¹³ The prophets are but wind
       and the word is not in them;
       so let what they say be done to them."

 ¹⁴ Therefore this is what the LORD God Almighty says:
       "Because the people have spoken these words,
       I will make my words in your mouth a fire
       and these people the wood it consumes.

 ¹⁵ O house of Israel," declares the LORD,
       "I am bringing a distant nation against you—
       an ancient and enduring nation,
       a people whose language you do not know,
       whose speech you do not understand.

 ¹⁶ Their quivers are like an open grave;
       all of them are mighty warriors.

 ¹⁷ They will devour your harvests and food,
       devour your sons and daughters;
       they will devour your flocks and herds,
       devour your vines and fig trees.
       With the sword they will destroy
       the fortified cities in which you trust.

 ¹⁸ "Yet even in those days," declares the LORD, "I will not destroy you completely. ¹⁹ And when the people ask, 'Why has the LORD our God done all this to us?' you will tell them, 'As you have forsaken me and served foreign gods in your own land, so now you will serve foreigners in a land not your own.'

 ²⁰ "Announce this to the house of Jacob
       and proclaim it in Judah:

 ²¹ Hear this, you foolish and senseless people,
       who have eyes but do not see,
       who have ears but do not hear:

 ²² Should you not fear me?" declares the LORD.
       "Should you not tremble in my presence?
       I made the sand a boundary for the sea,
       an everlasting barrier it cannot cross.
       The waves may roll, but they cannot prevail;
       they may roar, but they cannot cross it.

 ²³ But these people have stubborn and rebellious hearts;
       they have turned aside and gone away.

 ²⁴ They do not say to themselves,
       'Let us fear the LORD our God,
       who gives autumn and spring rains in season,
       who assures us of the regular weeks of harvest.'

 ²⁵ Your wrongdoings have kept these away;
       your sins have deprived you of good.

 ²⁶ "Among my people are wicked men
       who lie in wait like men who snare birds
       and like those who set traps to catch men.

 ²⁷ Like cages full of birds,
       their houses are full of deceit;
       they have become rich and powerful

 ²⁸ and have grown fat and sleek.
       Their evil deeds have no limit;
       they do not plead the case of the fatherless to win it,
       they do not defend the rights of the poor.

 ²⁹ Should I not punish them for this?"
       declares the LORD.
       "Should I not avenge myself
       on such a nation as this?

 ³⁰ "A horrible and shocking thing
       has happened in the land:

 ³¹ The prophets prophesy lies,
       the priests rule by their own authority,
       and my people love it this way.
       But what will you do in the end?

30 page pdf article from William Lane Craig, a research theologian at Talbot.

Some info on Craig here.