Milo

JUNE 2

Reading 153

THE POTTER Jeremiah 16–20

“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” (Jer. 16:21).There is no more powerful image in Scripture of God’s sovereignty than that of the potter, shaping clay to form whatever vessel he decides. This passage reminds us that God is sovereign. Yet the exercise of His sovereign power is tempered by love—even in the case of complaining Jeremiah.

Overview

In view of the coming disaster, Jeremiah was forbidden to live a normal human life (16:1–21). Three causes of Judah’s failure were identified (17:1–13), leading Jeremiah to cry out for personal healing (vv. 14–18). Judah was then challenged to put God first by honoring the Sabbath (vv. 19–27). At the house of a potter God announced again the certain disaster He was preparing against Judah (18:1–23). Jeremiah smashed a clay jar to symbolize the devastation destined for Jerusalem (19:1–15). Pashhur had the prophet beaten (20:1–6), leading to another anguished complaint by a weary and bitter Jeremiah (vv. 7–18).

Understanding the Text

“You must not marry and have sons or daughters in this place” Jer. 16:1–21. God restricted Jeremiah. His prophet was not to live a normal life in the city destined for destruction. He was not to marry (vv. 1–4). He was not to mourn with others at funerals (vv. 5–7). He was not to celebrate at such festivities as weddings (vv. 8–9). Jeremiah was destined to be a perpetual outsider: a specter, who walked silently among members of his society but whose grim isolation from them was to be a reminder of the judgment bearing down on the land. This strange behavior was intended to raise questions—and create opportunities for Jeremiah to announce God’s Word. We should see God’s refusal to let Jeremiah marry as a grace—gift to His prophet, though it surely must have seemed a painful burden. But when the city population starved, and its young men were cut down by the invading army and its young women raped by its soldiers, Jeremiah would be spared the anguish of watching his own children suffer this fate. The popular saying is, “Every cloud has a silver lining.” A more accurate expression is, “Every burden God asks us to bear carries a hidden blessing.” “Through your own fault you will lose the inheritance I gave you” Jer. 17:1–18. Again we’re reminded. When judgment comes, don’t blame God. The Lord identified three faults that assured disaster. One: Sin was engraved on the tablets of Judah’s hearts (vv. 1–4). The image of writing on the heart is a common one in Scripture (cf. 2 Cor. 3:2–3). It is a reference to innate character; to the very core of one’s personality. There is not the slightest scratch on Judah’s heart to indicate any response to God’s Word. What is there, scored deep by bold slashes with a diamond (not “flint”) point, is sin. Two: Judah had turned away from God to trust in mere man (Jer. 17:5–8). There is no remedy for sin but trust in God. Yet Judah would not put her confidence in the Lord. Three: The human heart is corrupt beyond any cure (vv. 9–13). Judah’s heart constantly turned toward evil. Surely God could not be blamed for dooming a people of sinful character and corrupt heart, who refused to put their trust in Him. Jeremiah wisely took this revelation personally, and cried out, “Heal me, O Lord” (vv. 14–18). Despite the fact that he had “not run away from being Your shepherd” to Judah, Jeremiah was fearful and uncertain. If only the people of Judah had responded as the prophet did now! If only they had cried out to God for healing. But instead they scoffed, and ridiculed Jeremiah saying, “Where is the word of the Lord?” Because disaster was not there, they could not see it ahead! What a blessing that we have seen the coming judgment, and with Jeremiah cried out to God for spiritual healing. And what a joy to know that, because of Jesus Christ, healing is ours. God has erased the sin engraved on our hearts, and replaced it with His own Living Word. He has healed us from within, and taught us to trust not in man but in Him alone. A day of “double destruction” was hurtling down on Judah. But we wait for the redoubled blessings to be ours when Jesus comes. “Keep the Sabbath Day holy” Jer. 17:19–27. Why, with all the many sins committed by the people of Judah, did God tell Jeremiah to focus his preaching on keeping the Sabbath Day holy? Surely the practice of idolatry in Judah was worse than the practice of carrying a load of firewood! Certainly the immorality Jeremiah had mentioned was more serious than doing a little work on God’s day of rest! It’s best to see this message, with its promise of blessing for obedience (vv. 24–26), as a test case. If the people of Judah would put God first on the Sabbath, they would put Him first in their daily lives. The failure of Judah to honor God on the day set aside for that purpose revealed a reversal of all their values. We too are to put God first on the day we worship Him, and in our private devotions as well. When we give the Lord priority in this, our other priorities will fall in line. “At the potter’s house” Jer. 18:1–19:15. The sermon on sovereignty that was stimulated at the house of a Jerusalem potter led to another outburst of fury against Jeremiah. Rather than respond to God’s invitation, an angry populace chose to “attack [Jeremiah] with our tongues” and “pay no attention to anything he says” (18:18). After years of such rejection, Jeremiah angrily cried out against his persecutors. Let their children be given “over to famine. . . . Their wives be made childless and widows . . . their men be put to death” (v. 21). It is not for us to judge this vitriolic outburst. The fact is that the people of Judah merited—and would soon receive—just this fate. What we should remember, however, is that despite the most terrible provocations the Lord urged the people of Judah to return to Him again and again. When we suffer unjustly as Jeremiah surely did, it’s hard not to remember “all their plots to kill me” and hope for just retribution. Still at the potter’s house, Jeremiah was told to purchase a clay jar and take it to the “sacred confines” (Topheth) where the rulers and people of Judah practiced pagan sacrifice. There Jeremiah smashed the jar, and announced in God’s name, “I will ruin the plans of Judah and Jerusalem. I will make them fall by the sword before their enemies.” Then Jeremiah returned to the city, and repeated his message of coming destruction. In a sense, God answered His prophet’s prayer. Jeremiah’s persecutors, who were God’s committed enemies too, would suffer just the fate the prophet desired. In Jeremiah’s time potters placed lumps of clay on a round platform, which they turned with their feet. Under their skilled hands, the clay took on whatever form they intended. As Jeremiah watched a potter at work, God told him to remind Judah that the nations are like clay in His hands! He can destroy, or restore. But the people of Judah rejected this explicit invitation to turn to the Lord. They said, “It is no use. We will continue with our own plans.” Yes, God is sovereign. But this truth is intended to bring hope! The heavenly Potter has sovereignly determined to bless all who turn wholeheartedly to Him. “The priest, Pashhur” Jer. 20:1–6. This high temple official heard Jeremiah’s preaching, and ordered him beaten and placed in stocks. When released, Jeremiah boldly predicted that Pashhur would see his friends die, the temple treasures he supervised taken away, and that he and his family would die in Exile. It’s no fun being persecuted for our faith. But it’s better to be the persecuted than the persecutor!

DEVOTIONAL

The Other Fellow’s Shoes(Jer. 19–20)

In some ways, Jeremiah strikes me as something of a pill. Always looking grim. Always condemning. And, worst of all, always complaining. We see each of these traits in chapters 19 and 20. Grim Jeremiah is undoubtedly a prophet of doom (chap. 19). Granted that the people of Judah fully deserved the disaster about to strike, Jeremiah seemed at times to be a little too enthusiastic. He almost licked his chops over their fate! (cf. 18:19–22) Granted too that Jeremiah faced hard times. It was no fun to be publicly beaten and placed in the stocks for speaking God’s word (20:1–6). But when we read Jeremiah’s words of complaint to the Lord after this incident, we can almost hear the whine in his voice. And it grates on us. “Lord, You tricked me into serving You. I didn’t expect ridicule! But that’s all I get” (vv. 7–8). “Lord, I’ve tried not speaking. But then You give me this pain, and the only way I can get relief is to speak out again” (v. 9). “Lord, everybody’s whispering and plotting against me” (v. 10). “Lord, at least let me see them get zapped” (vv. 11–12). “Lord, I try praising You, and You have rescued me (v. 13). But I still curse the day I was born. And I’m still angry that people rejoiced over my birth (vv. 14–16). I wish,” and here the whine becomes pronounced, “that someone had performed an abortion and murdered me in the womb (v. 17). Why did I ever come out of the womb to see trouble and sorrow and to end my days in shame?” (v. 18) Now, I’ve known some whiners. And they’re no fun to be around. In fact, before long we get so tired of their whining that we tune such people out, ignoring them and their feelings. Yet two things impress me about the complaints of Jeremiah. First, everything he complained about was rooted in reality. He really did have a painful and difficult life. Compared to Jeremiah, my life has been a bed of roses. So perhaps I should listen more patiently, with more compassion, and realize that if I had been forced to walk in his shoes, I might have felt just as Jeremiah did. Perhaps too I can learn from Jeremiah. Despite all his complaints, despite the depression and despair that often gripped him, Jeremiah was totally faithful to God. He spoke God’s word to others, even when he knew ahead of time that they would listen with hostility and make his life even more difficult. What are a few complaints compared to this! But second, when Jeremiah complained, God listened! God didn’t seem to become impatient, or angry, or even to ignore His prophet. And I can learn from this. People who hurt often will complain. And what they need most may very well be simply the sympathy and understanding of another person. A person willing to listen, and willing to admit, “Yes, it would be tough to walk in your shoes.” A person willing to express a little admiration of people like Jeremiah, who have chosen, despite their problems, to commit their cause to the Lord (v. 12).

Personal Application

When you hurt, seek God’s ear. When others hurt, be God’s ear for them.

Quotable

If we knew the cares and trials, Knew the efforts all in vain, And the bitter disappointment, Understood the loss and gain; Would the grim, eternal roughness Seem, I wonder, just the same? Should we help where now we hinder? Should we pity where now we blame? -Rudyard Kipling

JUNE 1

Reading 152

THE BROKEN COVENANT Jeremiah 11–15

“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’ “ (Jer. 15:2).Relationship with God is marked by commitment—on both sides. When we fall short of our commitment to God, He remains committed to us. But God’s commitment includes punishment, in order that by discipline He might purify and restore.

Overview

Jeremiah announced Judah’s punishment for breaking her covenant with God (11:1–17). Jeremiah’s life was threatened, and God responded to the angry prophet’s appeal (v. 18–12:17). Jeremiah delivered five symbolic warnings (13:1–27) to a people who “greatly love to wander” (14:1–15), and then graphically portrayed the coming disaster (v. 16–15:9). But the prophet, who bore God’s name, would be kept safe (vv. 10–21).

Understanding the Text

“Proclaim all these words” Jer. 11:1–17. Most believe this sermon was delivered during the reign of Josiah, just after the lost Law of the Lord had been rediscovered in the temple. Despite Josiah’s active efforts at reform, the Prophet Jeremiah was called to remind Judah of the terms of her ancient covenant with God. If the people obeyed wholeheartedly, God said, “I will fulfill the oath I swore to your forefathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey.” But Jeremiah was also told to confront. God knew that the house of Judah had “broken the covenant I made with their forefathers,” and that their towns were filled with pagan idols. Because of the broken covenant the Lord had “decreed disaster for you.” Two themes we’ve seen before are repeated here. “Consecrated meat” (v. 15) represents superficial public religion. No mere reform of ritual without complete moral and spiritual commitment could help. And again Jeremiah was told, “Do not pray for this people” (v. 14). For them it was too late. It’s not too late for us. But our commitment must be more than settling comfortably into some Sunday pew, and putting our dollars in the offering plate. Only complete moral and spiritual commitment are appropriate to our own covenant relationship with God in Christ. “The men of Anathoth” Jer. 11:18–23. Jeremiah was shaken when God revealed a plot against his life by the men of Anathoth. The prophet was shocked: he never expected his preaching to provoke such a savage reaction. He said, “I was like a gentle lamb,” meaning that he was totally naive. It’s better for us to be naive than to be cynical. And it’s often better for us not to know the plots others may hatch against us. If we are as faithful as Jeremiah in doing God’s will, we may rest assured. The God who protected Jeremiah will guard us as well. “I would speak with you about your justice” Jer. 12:1–17. Jeremiah, as you and I often are, was in a “hurry-up” mode here. His query, “Why does the way of the wicked prosper?” really means, “Why don’t You act to punish the wicked now?” In bloodthirsty terms, Jeremiah cried, “Drag them off like sheep to be butchered!” In response God gave a full-orbed vision of what He intended. He knew the character of Judah well, and warned Jeremiah against trusting anyone—even in his own family (vv. 5–6). God would abandon this wicked people to become a prey to pagan nations (vv. 7–13). But He would “again have compassion” and restore His people in the end (vv. 14–17). What is striking here is the pain God felt at the prospect of punishing Judah. The Lord cried out in anguish, “I will give the one I love into the hands of her enemies” (v. 7). God takes no pleasure in punishments. He disciplines because He must. And because, ultimately, discipline brings restoration to fellowship. Any time you or I feel God’s heavy hand of discipline, it’s important to remember what the Lord told Jeremiah. We are still “the one I [God] love,” even when we deserve and receive punishment. And divine discipline is not abandonment. The Lord will “again have compassion, and bring each of them back to their inheritance.” “The Lord’s flock will be taken captive” Jer. 13:1–27. The chapter lists five different warnings given Judah through Jeremiah. The first was by a symbolic act: the prophet’s linen “belt” was buried by a river representing the distant Euphrates (vv. 1–11). When it was dug up months later, it was rotted and ruined. This linen garment was most likely a thigh-length undershirt, worn next to the body. It symbolized the intimacy of the relationship God intended to have with Israel and Judah. But in Judah linen had come to represent luxury and pride. Only removal from the land, and symbolic burial in Babylon, would ruin Judah’s pride and make the people responsive to God once again. The second message was based on a popular saying associated with drunkenness: “Every wineskin should be filled with wine” (vv. 12–14). Here the “wineskin” was a nebel, a large earthen jar. Judah’s people and leaders would be as foolish as drunkards, and God would smash and destroy them all. The third warning was in plain words, condemning arrogance and announcing Captivity (vv. 15–17). The fourth called the king and queen mother to step down from their thrones and go into Captivity (vv. 18–19). The final warning was a denunciation of Judah’s sins, and again in plain words announced the coming Exile (vv. 20–27). Here the Lord specified the reason for the coming disaster. This people are so accustomed to doing evil that they don’t even know how to do good! (v. 23) They will be scattered like chaff because of their detestable moral and spiritual ways. The only way to be good is to practice doing good. We become what we do. Modern men and women, as well as the people of Judah, can become so used to doing wrong that doing good is foreign to them. “They greatly love to wander” Jer. 14:1–16. Jeremiah was again told not to pray for Judah. Because the people “do not restrain their feet” (from wandering) the Lord would “now remember their wickedness and punish them for their sins.” Jeremiah observed that the prophets of Judah had a different message. These recognized spiritual leaders kept preaching, “You will not see the sword or suffer famine.” God’s answer was that all promises of lasting peace were lies. Disaster had been determined, and even the most holy of Israel’s saints could not avert it if they were present (15:1–2). The prophets spoke, but God “did not send them,” and they were telling lies (14:14–15). “Popular” preaching isn’t something for spiritual leaders to strive for, or for you and me to seek out. Any popular message, of prosperity without perspiration, of blessing without battles, of success without suffering, of national greatness without social justice, or of divine approval without personal holiness, marks the speaker as one whom God has not sent, and the message as something less than God’s own.

DEVOTIONAL

Do Not Turn to Them(Jer. 15)

It hurts to be out there, visible—and alone. It always has. I understand that pressure I mentioned in yesterday’s devotional; pressure that’s reflected in our nine-year-old’s compulsion to be in style and just like the other kids in her class. Adults feel the same pressure. And Christian adults perhaps especially. Many Christians make a real effort to fit in, and not make too much of their Christian faith or convictions. Taking any stand, particularly if you seem to be the only one holding an unpopular position, is a painful proposition. Jeremiah felt the pain. He took a stand, and announced God’s message of judgment on his society. As a result he was isolated; “a man with whom the whole land strives and contends” and “everyone curses.” And it hurt. He “sat alone,” and as a result felt “unending pain.” I don’t suppose that any of us would choose to be in Jeremiah’s place, despite the fact that later generations have honored him. This chapter tells us, however, what motivated Jeremiah—and what sustained him. The motivation is explained in verse 16. “When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart’s delight, for I bear Your name.” The prophet took God’s words into his heart. They became part of his very being. As he digested their meaning, he was filled with joy and delight. And the more he feasted on the words of God, the more he realized what it means to bear God’s name. This is our primary source of motivation as well. We are to feast on God’s words: to “eat” them, digesting and applying their meaning. As we do we realize how wonderful it is to bear God’s name, and we are moved to honor Him in all we do and say. Because we do bear God’s name, we will often be moved to represent Him publicly by our words as well as by our way of life. And the more we “eat” and delight in God’s words, the more clearly we will see those issues on which we must speak out. But what sustains us if, as may happen, speaking out brings ridicule or social isolation? God promised Jeremiah, “I will make you a wall to this people, a fortified wall of bronze” (v. 20). No one and nothing could penetrate the wall of protection that God erected around His servant. But with that promise of protection came a warning. “Let this people turn to you, but you must not turn to them” (v. 19). Those who oppose us may very well find their way inside the wall, for God’s Word is an open door inviting them to enter. But you and I must never step outside the wall, by abandoning our complete commitment to Scripture, in order to adopt the values, beliefs, or ways of a lost world. Yes, often it does hurt if we take a stand for our faith and feel ourselves isolated from others. We all want to be popular and to fit in. Often we can, and without compromise. Yet when a conflict does come, let’s remember that we bear God’s name. Let’s be guided by His words. And, as we seek to represent our Lord, let’s be sustained by His words to Jeremiah: “I am with you to rescue and save you” (v. 20).

Personal Application

When we acknowledge the fact that we bear God’s name, His Word will guide us concerning those things about which we must make a personal stand.

Quotable

“When I was fourteen, I heard Lyman Beecher preach on the Lordship of Jesus Christ. I went to my room, locked the door, then threw myself on the floor of my room. This was what I said. ’O God, I belong to Thee. Take what is Thine own. I gladly recognize Thy ownership of me. I now take Thee as my Lord and Master.’ From that time to this I have never known a thing to be wrong without having an aversion to it. I have never seen anything to be right without having an attraction to it.”— Wendell Phillips

MAY 31

Reading 151

DEATH HAS CLIMBED IN Jeremiah 7–10

“I did not just give them commands about burnt offerings and sacrifices, but I gave them this command: Obey Me” (Jer. 7:22–23).In a powerful image, Jeremiah warned his nation that death had “climbed in through our windows.” We need to take Jeremiah’s words seriously today, for some of the same attitudes which characterized ancient Judah are prevalent in “Christian” America.

Overview

Jeremiah’s stunning “temple sermon” condemned Judah’s superficial religion (7:1–19) and warned of coming slaughter (v. 20–8:4). Judgment must strike the tainted land; divine punishment was fixed and certain (v. 5–9:26). Yet after scorning Judah’s idolatry (10:1–22), Jeremiah prayed that the suffering which was ahead would correct, not destroy (vv. 23–25).

Understanding the Text

“At the gate of the Lord’s house” Jer. 7:1–2.

Jeremiah 26 gives us another report of this sermon, and sets its date. Jeremiah spoke in the fall or winter of 609B.C Josiah, the godly reformer, had just been killed in battle. Jehoiakim had been set up as king by Egypt. The dream of independence that flourished under Josiah was dead. Yet Judah had one last source of confidence and hope: the temple of the Lord. Surely God would never desert the nation where the temple stood that He had designated “My resting place forever and ever” (Ps. 132:14). Jeremiah’s sermon challenged this deeply held belief so forcefully that many shouted for his death! What does Jeremiah’s sermon say to us today? Simply that just because a nation has a superficial form of religion, its people have no guarantee of peace or prosperity. America can take no comfort in being a “churchgoing” nation. What Judah and our own country must be is a holy nation, not just a religious one. “Do not trust in deceptive words” Jer. 7:3–11. Jeremiah’s sermon condemned a distorted “temple theology.” The people of Judah believed that because the temple of the Lord was enclosed in the walls of their Holy City, they were safe. Surely God would not act against His own house! Jeremiah cut the ground out from under this popular belief. “Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to Baal . . . and then come and stand before Me in this house, which bears My Name, and say, ’We are safe’?” Today too some are confident that God will not permit disaster to strike America. Don’t most of the missionaries in the world come from the U.S., and aren’t they supported by Christians here? Doesn’t every survey show that a large portion of our population believes in God? Modern popular theology often equates our nation or democracy with a temple of the Lord. How could God permit us to fall? Yet when we look at the news we see constant reports of the very sins which destined Judah for destruction. Child abuse is a constant headline. Murder is commonplace. Just last week a young woman who had fought drug abuse on her block in St. Petersburg was shot in her own home. And officials of HUD, an agency supposedly dedicated to helping the poor, were shown to instead have fraudulently funneled millions of dollars to wealthy friends. We need to face the fact today that religiosity without holiness is completely worthless. The only thing such religion guarantees a people is divine judgment! Tragically, the fallacy is also found within the church. The Jim Bakkers of TV and radio somehow assume that because they present the Gospel verbally, they will not be held responsible for moral and financial depravities. They are just as wrong as were the leaders in Jeremiah’s time. We are to present the truth, yes. But truth without holiness is a mockery and an insult to God. And God will not be insulted. “So do not pray for this people” Jer. 7:12–29. There comes a time when it is too late for a people to avoid judgment. God told Jeremiah that that was the case with Judah. We will see this theme—“Don’t pray for this people”—repeated in future chapters. How can we tell when a people have come to this sorry state? God told Jeremiah to look back—and then look around. Looking back Jeremiah was reminded that for generations the people of Judah had followed the “stubborn inclinations of their evil hearts.” They “did not listen or pay attention” to the prophets. Now, as Jeremiah looked around, he realized that when he himself spoke, “They will not listen to you; when you call them, they will not answer.” It is persistent refusal to hear and respond to the Word of God that puts a people beyond the reach of prayer. Yet note that it took centuries, even generations of rejection, before God told Jeremiah to pray for Judah no longer. Neither our country, nor our friends, nor our families, have persisted in unbelief so long. We can, and must, keep on praying that the nation and people we love will respond to the Lord before it is too late. “People will no longer call it Topheth” Jer. 7:30–8:3. The valley referred to here lay outside Jerusalem and was a sacred area where the Jews offered child sacrifice: “Something I did not command nor did it enter My mind” (7:31). God warned through Jeremiah that these “sacred” precincts will be desecrated by the bones of the people who worshiped pagan deities there. In that day at last the valley will be called by its right name: “the valley of slaughter.” One of Satan’s favorite strategies is to give abominations deceptive names. In Jeremiah’s time the place where innocents were slaughtered was called a “topheth”—a “sacred precinct.” Today they are called “family planning clinics,” and defense of the decision to kill the unborn is presented as a woman’s “right to choose.” Homosexuality is called an “alternative lifestyle,” and TV and movies glamorize immorality as “adult.” When God acts in judgment, all our abominable practices will be stripped of their deceptive names, and identified for what they are. Until then, you and I must stand for the truth, and speak the truth, even as Jeremiah did in his day. “Get up” Jer. 8:4–17. Jeremiah introduced a lengthy passage on judgment with a peculiar question. Don’t folks who fall down get up? Don’t folks who turn aside (get lost) try to find their way back? (v. 4) The people of Judah had gone against nature itself, for having fallen into idolatry, they simply lay there. And having turned away from God, rather than looking for a way back they actually refused to return! Jeremiah offered two explanations. The people themselves refused to repent; each “pursues his own course” (vv. 6–7). The scribes who were responsible to interpret the Word of God had “handled it falsely.” The text suggested they twisted the Law to make it mean what they wanted. Many passages in Jeremiah suggest that their main deception was to make it seem that Judah could sin with impunity, rather than to affirm the necessity of holiness. The flaw in these spiritual leaders is their motivation: “All are greedy for gain; prophets and priests alike, all practice deceit” (vv. 8–17). As a result, people and priests will perish. “Since My people are crushed, I am crushed” Jer. 8:18–9:2. Jeremiah’s own deep compassion for the sinning people of Judah reminds us that even the harshest words of judgment are to be uttered in love. But God’s response reminds us that we are to avoid another danger. We are not to be so compassionate that we find ourselves on the side of those who deserve judgment! Jeremiah was torn by these two opposing forces, and wished that he could simply “leave my people and go away from them; for they are all adulterers, a crowd of unfaithful people.” But neither Jeremiah nor you and I can avoid this tension as we try to live godly, caring lives in our society. The most difficult challenge we face may well be to speak the truth in love, without compromising truth for love, or love for truth. “Should I not punish them for this?” Jer. 9:4–16 Jeremiah was reminded that he lived “in the midst of deception.” Even those whom he thought of as friends were secretly enemies. There were people who “speak cordially” to a neighbor, but in their hearts “set a trap for him.” Today’s newspaper tells of a young woman who set up a “charity” to help victims of spina bifida. She collected over $250,000 . . . and kept all but about 6 percent to support her waterfront home and Mercedes! She is typical of those who use deceit to present themselves as “friends,” while in fact attempting simply to use others for their own profit. God reminded Jeremiah, “Should I not punish them for this?” The question is rhetorical. And the answer is, “Yes.” God should, and will punish. He says, “I will lay waste to the towns of Judah, so that no one can live there.” No one can sin and expect to prosper. “Gather up your belongings to leave the land” Jer. 10:17–22. Jeremiah delivered God’s relentless message. He would judge Judah. An enemy would appear from the north (Babylon) that would make Judah desolate and carry her people away captive. One can talk and debate and argue about the meaning of various passages of Scripture. But some are unequivocably clear. This is one of those clear and final statements, which God uttered through Jeremiah to Judah. Enough talk! Pack your clothes! Judgment is coming, and will soon be here. “It is not for man to direct his steps” Jer. 10:23–25. Jeremiah now submitted to the inevitable. God is sovereign. A man’s life is not his own: he must live in the time and place and circumstances that God has decreed. Yet while Jeremiah recognized the inevitability of the coming judgment, he had one request. He asked God to use Judah’s defeat for her correction, rather than total destruction (v. 24). Let destruction be the fate of those nations that refuse to acknowledge Him and have devastated the Holy Land (v. 25).

DEVOTIONAL

Death Climbs through Our Windows(Jer. 9:17–10:16)

Bringing up children is really tough today. I’m finding it much harder with our 9-year-old girl than with my “first” family of boys, now 31 and 27. Right now Sarah is enamoured with the “New Kids on the Block.” She loves their songs, wants to buy teen magazines that tell about them, and thinks the group’s scrawny 16-year-old is a “hunk.” She’s also very fashion conscious. It’s no use to bring home a schoolbag until she’s seen what her classmates have. And not to have anything the others have is a total social disaster. And it bothers me. Somehow I keep thinking of verses in these chapters of Jeremiah, and wondering how to apply them in our own home. God warned Judah that “the customs of the peoples are worthless” (10:3). Yes, I know the passage is talking about idolatry. But it says to me that the whole system of values adopted in any basically pagan society is worthless. And that God’s people are not to fall prey to such “senseless” notions. On the one hand, I have no doubts about our decision to block out several TV channels with a “parental control” code. But I’m troubled by an uncertainty about just how far to go in restricting our daughter in other ways. What troubles me most is Jeremiah’s observation that “death has climbed in through our windows and has entered our fortresses” (9:21). We can bar the smiling death’s head that knocks at our door. It is the death that climbs in through our windows, when we’re unaware, that spoils us—and our children. I do know this. I can’t rely on my wisdom today. All I can do is struggle to follow God’s advice in Jeremiah 9:24, and strive daily to understand and know “Me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight.”

Personal Application

We have a special need these days for divine wisdom to see through our society’s deceit.

Quotable

“Adam’s choice cost him Eden; Esau’s, his birthright; Achan’s, his life; Lot’s, his home and herds; Absalom’s, his father’s throne; Saul’s, his kingdom; the rich young ruler’s, the companionship of Christ. Judas lost his apostleship; Demas his discipleship. Pilate, Agrippa, and Felix chose wrong and missed immortality. Ananias’ choice fooled no one but himself. Caleb and Joshua chose well, while Jonah’s first choice nearly shipwrecked himself and the crew. “Ye older ones, what would your answer be as a father, a mother, as a Christian leader, if, concerning our young people, God would say to you today, ’Ask what I shall make of these young people’? Would your answer prove you know how to choose the things that matter most?”—Robert G. Lee

MAY 30

Reading 150

JUDAH’S SINFUL HEART Jeremiah 2–6

“They are skilled in doing evil; they know not how to do good” (Jer. 4:22).Judah’s sins are spelled out, and the judgment due is defined. Jeremiah found his ministry bitter, for his anguished heart knew that the people of Judah would never listen or repent.

Overview

Judah had forsaken God in favor of pagan idols, despite His loving care (2:1–37). Even so, spiritually unfaithful Judah was urged to return (3:1–25), before judgment came from the north (4:1–31). Josiah’s religious reformation had not touched Judah’s heart (5:1–31), and the enemy was commissioned to punish the Holy City (6:1–16). Everyone listening to Jeremiah stood at a crossroads: the way he or she chose would determine his destiny (vv. 17–30).

Understanding the Text

“The devotion of your youth” Jer. 2:1–8.

Last week my wife and I walked on the beach in the little Michigan town where we met. It was a very special time, as we remembered how that meeting had grown into love and the discovery that God intended us to wed. This is what looking back to first love is supposed to be like. Yes, our love has changed as we’ve lived together. But the change has been one of growth and maturity. We are closer now. Yet remembering that early love still has the power to make us smile, and look at each other with even deeper affection. What a contrast we see here. God feels only pain when He looks back on His relationship with the people of Israel and Judah. The love of the bride who followed Him then has not simply faded. Despite all the blessings God poured out on His own (vv. 6–7), the people He loved had strayed far from Him, and “followed worthless idols.” Only a person who has been betrayed by a husband or wife he or she loved can understand the depth of God’s pain—or the seriousness of Judah’s sin. We need to look back on those days when we first came to know the Lord, and remember our first love for God. We may not feel exactly the same as we did then, or express our love in just the same way. But if we have grown in our relationship with the Lord, looking back and remembering can bring us that same feeling of renewed intimacy that my wife and I experienced in Michigan. And if remembering brings us no joy, we may take it as a warning from God to check and see if we have strayed. “My people have committed two sins” Jer. 2:10–37. This passage takes the form of a rib, or an indictment presented in court. God brought two serious charges against Judah. God’s people had forsaken Him, the “spring of living water.” It was water alone that made the Holy Land produce crops. Thus water was the one necessity Judah required for prosperity. Despite the fact that God was the one utter necessity in the life of His people, they “long ago broke off Your yoke and tore off Your bonds; [they] said, ’I will not serve You’ ” (v. 20). Judah’s even more serious sin was to dig “their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.” Cisterns were plastered underground pits where water was stored for use during the dry season. Here they represent the pagan gods to whom Judah turned. The twin choices to reject God and to turn to idolatry are inexplicable. No pagan nation ever changed its gods. Yet Judah abandoned the Lord. The closest thing to an explanation is given in verses 23–24. The people of Judah had behaved like a female camel in heat, in the grip of an uncontrollable urge. There is no rational explanation for anyone to reject God, much less to seek spiritual or other help elsewhere! Perhaps this is the message of this lament. Human beings are not “rational” in making choices. Rather we often find ourselves in the grip of sin, which expresses itself as an instinctive rejection of the one true God, and in a hunger that leads men to turn anywhere in search of substitutes. Only the grace of God can preserve any of us from the power of indwelling sin. Only the grace of God can help us remember His benefits, and honor the Lord as the one essential source of our well-being. “You have the brazen look of a prostitute” Jer. 3:1–13. These early messages of Jeremiah were given during the religious revival promoted by godly King Josiah. This reform is described in 2 Chronicles 34–35. Josiah repaired the temple and reinstituted worship there. When the lost book of Old Testament Law was found, Josiah called for national repentance. He held a Passover service that the people joyfully participated in, and did all he could to stamp out idolatry by desecrating places of pagan worship. Yet, as this chapter shows us, all his efforts failed to touch the hearts of the people of Judah. The failure is portrayed in Jeremiah’s reference to a specific Old Testament law. A person who divorced his wife might remarry, but could never marry the first wife again if either of them had been married to another in the interim. Judah, like a faithless wife, had abandoned her Husband, God, and gone on to join herself not to just one but a series of lovers. Even so God was willing to take faithless Judah back! And Judah seemed to come back. But the people of Judah treated the whole thing lightly. It was as if their spiritual unfaithfulness didn’t matter at all! Judah came back smirking, saying, “My Father, my friend from my youth.” These were words that a young wife often spoke to an older husband. But they were not appropriate for Judah to speak, as if she were still an innocent and had not rejected the Lord and turned to idols! And so God said through Jeremiah, “You have the brazen look of a prostitute; you refuse to blush with shame.” God’s grace is overwhelming. Even after we have been unfaithful to Him, He is willing to take us back. But we are to come as a penitent, deeply aware of our sin and bowed with shame. We are not to come brazenly, or lightly, as if our unfaithfulness to God had no significance at all. “Yes, we will come to you” Jer. 3:14–25. Jeremiah’s generation did not return to God. But the prophet looked ahead, and foresaw a day when God’s people would turn to Him again. In these verses he described what repentance and true return involve. There is a decision to return to God (v. 22b). There is a fresh grasp of the futility of past ways (vv. 23–24). And there is an overwhelming sense of shame, as the greatness of past sins overwhelms (v. 25). None of these marks of repentance were present in Judah. May they be found in our lives whenever we stray and then turn back again to the Lord. “The whole land will be ruined” Jer. 4:1–31. Despite God’s call to Judah to wash the evil from her heart, the people refused to heed. Jeremiah had no choice but to announce the judgment that must come because of “your own conduct and actions.” This is an important concept for us to grasp. God does not punish people without cause. It is our own actions, not God, that bring disaster on us. And what a disaster awaited Judah. Through His prophet the Lord said, “The whole land will be ruined, though I will not destroy it completely. Therefore the earth will mourn and the heavens above grow dark, because I have spoken and will not relent.” “They have lied about the Lord” Jer. 5:1–17. The particular lie that Jeremiah drew attention to challenged God’s justice and His power. Judah had been “utterly unfaithful” to God. Their spiritual adultery had been matched by their moral deterioration. They had abandoned morality, and acted like “well-fed, lusty stallions, each neighing for another man’s wife” (v. 8). They had abandoned justice: Jeremiah could not find “one person who deals honestly and seeks the truth” (v. 1). Despite this, Judah complacently said, “No harm will come to us” (v. 12). This is the lie that Jeremiah identified. They had said that God “will do nothing.” Let’s never forget that God is the moral judge of humanity. He not only can, but will act to judge sin. “Let us fear the Lord our God” Jer. 5:18–31. To fear God means to hold Him in awe: to take Him seriously. Here God reminded Judah of His greatness. He is the One who set the seas in their beds, and established the boundaries of the land. “Should you not tremble in My presence?” Today there are many in America who have no real awe of God. This is truly tragic. Yet the greatest tragedy of all is described by Jeremiah. “A horrible and shocking thing has happened in the land: The prophets prophesy lies, the priests rule by their own authority, and My people love it this way.” There may be little we can do to affect the secular tone of modern life. But what is most important is to retain our own awe of God, and to take His presence and His power seriously. We must constantly say to ourselves what the people of Judah refused to utter: “Let us fear the Lord our God.” “This city must be punished” Jer. 6:1–15. Judah refused to listen to God’s word. So now Jeremiah, using the authority God gave him over nations, commissioned Babylon to attack the Holy City. Because the word of the Lord was offensive to the people of Judah, the “city must be punished.” “Stand at the crossroads and look” Jer. 6:16–30. The invitation here is a call to consider. The “ancient paths” represent the ways laid down in God’s Law. These are good ways, for when a person walks in them he or she “will find rest for your souls.” Jeremiah now outlined the consequence of the only other choice available. One must either walk in the ancient paths, or strike out to find a new path for himself. Yet the new paths offer no one rest. Instead, as we peer with Jeremiah down that alternate highway, we see in the distance clouds of dust raised by marching men. We see the sun glinting on the points of spears, and hear the thunder of hooves as cavalry approach in battle formation. And suddenly we are gripped by fear, for we realize that along that road judgment rushes to meet us. How thankful we can be that we have chosen the good way, the ancient way, and that we walk in it.

DEVOTIONAL

With Compassion(Jer. 3–4)

It’s easy to become self-righteous when looking at others’ sins. We can become quite passionate about injustice and wickedness. And in the process we can sound more than a little judgmental. Reading these two chapters that sum up Jeremiah’s early preaching we do sense righteous indignation. The prophet was brutally frank. Israel and Judah were “faithless.” God’s sinning people were brazen and shameless. The idols they had worshiped were detestable, and the people wickedly harbored evil thoughts. Yet despite the blunt confrontation which marks this prophet’s style, he shouts out his angry words with a broken heart. Listen, as Jeremiah echoes God’s own bitter pain. Oh, my anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain. Oh, the agony of my heart! My heart pounds within me, I cannot keep silent. For I have heard the sound of the trumpet; I have heard the battle cry (4:19). What moved the prophet was not only a concern for righteousness. He was moved by compassion for a people whose own wicked choices destined them for disaster. How both God and His prophet yearned for Judah to repent. There was no joy for either in being right. There was no surge of satisfaction at the thought of the judgment that must surely fall on the people of Judah for their sin. Instead there was anguish and pain. There are times when we Christians must confront others over wicked acts. There are times we must take a firm stand against sin. But at such times we must carefully guard our hearts. There is no room then for even a hint of spiritual pride. There is no room for even a glint of gladness that the wicked will get theirs in God’s time. Instead, we are to feel, as Jeremiah did, the pain that God knows—not only at the sin, but also at the necessity of judging the sinner. If we have compassion even as we announce the coming judgment, others may sense in our words what God most wants to convey. His greatest desire is not to punish, but to redeem. Not to condemn, but save. Not to reject, but to welcome the sinner home, forgiven, for Jesus’ sake.

Personal Application

Speak boldly to others. But always in love and with compassion, remembering that we too are vulnerable to sin.

Quotable

“As murder storywriters assume, and as most of us learn by experience, we have in us capacities for fury, fear, envy, greed, conceit, callousness, and hate which, given the right provocation, could make killers out of us all-baby-sitters or Bluebeards, professional thugs or amateur hit men. G.K. Chesterton’s Father Brown explained his method of detection by saying, ’You see, it was I who killed all these people’-in the sense that he looked within himself to find the mentality that would produce the crime he was investigating, and did in fact discover it there. . . . “Brown, though fictitious, states fact. When the fathomless wells of rage and hatred in the normal human heart are tapped, the results are fearful. ’There but for the grace of God go I.’ Only restraining and renewing grace enables anyone to keep the commandments.”—J.I. Packer

Jeremiah

MAY 29

Reading 149

MAN WITH A MISSION Jeremiah 1

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations” (Jer. 1:5).Jeremiah is often called the weeping prophet. He was called by God to suffer with a people destined for judgment, who persistently rejected the prophet and his message. We may yearn to be commissioned by the Lord for some vital ministry. But Jeremiah reminds us that the spiritually prominent have a price to pay.

Overview

Jeremiah was commissioned to communicate the word of the Lord at a critical time in Judah’s history. This chapter reports his call, and provides the key to understanding both the pressures on God’s servant and the promises that sustained him.

Understanding the Text

“Through the reign” Jer. 1:1–3.

The first verses of Jeremiah specify the kings during whose reigns the prophet cried out to God’s people. Jeremiah’s call came during the reign of godly King Josiah, in 627B.C, and the first 10 chapters of this book record messages given during the Josian revival. Chapters 21–39 record messages given during the reigns of evil rulers, Jehoiakim and Zedekiah. In 587B.C Jeremiah was imprisoned for treason, and chapters 40–52 report the culminating events of his life—and of Jerusalem’s fall. Here is a brief chronology of the tumultuous times during which this prophet lived and ministered. 686     Wicked Manasseh rules 648     Josiah born 642     Amon succeeds Manasseh 640     Josiah succeeds Amnon 633     Josiah turns to the Lord Ashurbanipal of Assyria dies 628     Josiah begins reforms Jeremiah begins ministry 626     Nabopolassar becomes king of Babylon 621     Book of Law found in the temple 612     Nineveh, Assyrian capital, taken by the Babylonians 609     Josiah killed in battle Jehoahaz rules three months Jehoiakim placed on throne by Egyptians 605     Egyptians defeated by Babylonians Nebuchadnezzar becomes king of Babylon First Jewish captives deported to Babylon. The group includes Daniel 601     Babylon invades Egypt, is thrown back 598     Jehoiachin becomes king in Judah, but is taken to Babylon in April of 597 597     Zedekiah becomes king in Judah 588     Babylonians begin siege of Jerusalem, on January 15th 586     Jerusalem falls on August 14th. The final deportation takes place The Babylonian governor of Judah is assassinated October 7 The remaining Jews reject Jeremiah’s counsel and flee to Egypt During such times, the Word of God is most desperately needed. But that word, delivered by God’s spokesman Jeremiah, was consistently rejected by Jewish people and their rulers, despite the fact that their world was crumbling around them. We need to be especially sensitive to God’s Word in our own times of stress, even if what we hear condemns our attitudes and challenges our values. Ultimately, God’s Word is intended not to destroy but to heal. “I formed you in the womb” Jer. 1:5. These words to Jeremiah remind us that God is deeply involved in the formation of every human being from conception. On the one hand this is a great comfort. God knew you and me as individuals before we were born. He knew us, loved us, and participated in every stage of our development. The gifts and talents you have were carefully nurtured, even as you developed in embryo. This means that you and I can be glad in who we are. We are the persons that God intended us to be. The abilities we have are His gifts, and He can use you and me to His glory. On the other hand, this verse offers us a challenge. Many are confused by the rhetoric of moderns who place no value on the human fetus, dismissing the unborn as some insignificant part of a mother’s body, as easily discarded as hair that is too long or a broken fingernail. God’s words to Jeremiah, “I formed you in the womb,” confront us with the fact that the unborn child is a separate, individual person, precious to God and with full rights as a separate human being. Perhaps Jeremiah’s example of commitment to an unpopular cause, despite ridicule and abuse from his society, may encourage us to stand with God for, rather than against, the unborn. “I am only a child” Jer. 1:6–8. When God called Jeremiah as a young man in his early 20s, he felt terribly vulnerable and inadequate. He surely had his reasons. Jeremiah grew up in a priestly family during the reign of Manasseh, who had murdered many pious men. He was young and untested, unsure of himself as any young person is likely to be. The thought that God viewed him as special, and had a special mission for him, was overwhelming. It’s appropriate when we approach any ministry to share Jeremiah’s emotions. In ourselves we are inadequate, mere children. The person who approaches any spiritual service with an arrogant self-confidence is sure to fail. We need to grasp, as did Jeremiah, that no matter what natural gifts God has given us, we can do nothing in or by ourselves. In this case, however, Jeremiah’s protests indicate more than humility. The future prophet’s objection was rebuked, as if he were using his sense of weakness as an excuse to refuse God’s call. God responded, “You must go.” Yet, even God’s rebuke conveys a promise. Jeremiah was told not to be afraid, “For I am with you and will rescue you.” When God calls any person to a ministry, He commits Himself to be with that individual. God will be with you as you serve Him, despite your weaknesses, and despite any fears you may have. “Over nations and kingdoms” Jer. 1:9–16. These verses provide a preview of the message that Jeremiah would deliver to Judah. It was an unpopular message, for it conveyed God’s intention to bring a powerful new kingdom from the north down on His people and their land. Jeremiah was told that as God’s prophet he was “over” the kingdoms of this world. That is, they would behave as he announced they would. Most often we think of ourselves as subject to the political powers of the nation in which we live. Jeremiah was reminded that real authority belongs to God—and that a person who proclaims the Word of God is greater than any worldly power. Ultimately the world will submit to God’s authority, and will surely do what He has willed. You and I too live in tension between the powers of this world and the Word of God. If we commit ourselves to do God’s will and to live by His Word, we, like Jeremiah, will be “over nations and kingdoms.” “Get yourself ready!” Jer. 1:17–19 Jeremiah was about to set out on a great adventure. He had been called to live not by the values and beliefs of his society, but by God’s Word. And he had been called to proclaim that Word, whatever the cost might be to him personally. Jeremiah now had to prepare himself: he had to make a firm decision, and commit himself to God’s way only. You and I are challenged to make the same commitment. We are not to drift through life, believing in God but living like men and women of the world. We are to take a stand, as Jeremiah did. We are to make a firm decision to live by, and to witness to, the Word of God. Again God’s challenge is accompanied by a promise. A promise that you and I as well as Jeremiah can claim. “Today I have made you a fortified city. . . . They will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you and will rescue you” (vv. 18–19).

DEVOTIONAL

The Price of Commitment(Selected passages)

If we glance ahead through the Book of Jeremiah, we learn something of the price that Jeremiah paid because of his complete commitment to God. His message was so unpopular that some men actually conspired to take his life (cf. 11:18–20). Others attempted to neutralize Jeremiah’s influence by slandering him. They said, “Let’s attack him with our tongues and pay no attention to anything he says” (18:18). Still others simply ridiculed God’s faithful prophet. This apparently hurt Jeremiah most of all, for he wrote: I am ridiculed all day long; everyone mocks me. . . . So the word of the Lord has brought me insult and reproach all day long (20:7–8). Later in his life Jeremiah was imprisoned and his life threatened by Judah’s rulers. He was accused of treason, and considered a national disgrace. None of this was easy for the sensitive prophet. In one passage that captures the despair he often felt, Jeremiah cried out, “Cursed be the day I was born!” And he concluded his cry with this lament: “Why did I ever come out of the womb to see trouble and sorrow and to end my days in shame?” (vv. 14, l8) But Jeremiah did not end his days in shame. His predictions of doom came true, and it was his enemies who were put to shame in the end. Even so, what sustained Jeremiah through the difficult years was not the conviction that he was right, but a deep compassion for those to whom he spoke. Jeremiah warned of judgment—in hope that some would hear, repent, and be saved. “The Lord sent me to prophesy against this house and this city,” one of his sermons affirmed. But his hope was that his listeners would “now reform your ways and your actions and obey the Lord your God. Then the Lord will relent and not bring the disaster He has pronounced against you” (26:12–13). Yes, if we fully commit ourselves to the Lord there may very well be a price to pay. Yet because God’s Word is true, we will be proven right in the end. And, until then, we will be sustained by the awareness that our faithfulness may be the means of bringing others with us to the Lord.

Personal Application

The rewards of commitment far exceed any cost.

Quotable

“I go out to preach with two propositions in mind. First, everyone ought to give his life to Christ. Second, whether or not anyone gives Him his life, I will give Him mine.”—Jonathan Edwards