Readings for this week
Monday: Jeremiah 15
Tuesday: Jeremiah 16
Wednesday: Jeremiah 17
Thursday: Jeremiah 18
Friday: Jeremiah 19
Saturday: Jeremiah 20
Tuesday: Jeremiah 16
Wednesday: Jeremiah 17
Thursday: Jeremiah 18
Friday: Jeremiah 19
Saturday: Jeremiah 20
Sunday: Jeremiah 21
Introduction to Jeremiah 15-21
Chapter 15
In the next section of Jeremiah’s oracles of judgment, we hear about the false prophets. Jeremiah proclaimed that God would destroy His people with “famine, sword, and plague.” But the false prophets preached the opposite message to the people.
God says, “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 and the delusions of their own minds… Even if Moses and Samuel were to stand before me, my heart would not go out to this people.”
God says, “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 and the delusions of their own minds… Even if Moses and Samuel were to stand before me, my heart would not go out to this people.”
Chapters 16-17
Jeremiah then speaks about sin, judgment, and grace. First, he speaks of a coming Day of Disaster. God told Jeremiah not to get married or have kids because everyone is going to be destroyed. God told Jeremiah not to go to funerals because everyone’s going to die anyway. God told Jeremiah not to go to weddings or feasts because all celebrating would soon cease.
“However, the days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when it will no longer be said, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the Israelites up out of Egypt,’ but it will be said, ‘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 ancestors.”
Jeremiah compares their hearts to an “Arara” which was a type of fruit bush that grew in the desert. The fruit looked great on the outside, lush and juicy and green… but you opened up the fruit, it was full of air and nasty dry webs that had little poisonous seeds in them.
“Cursed (Arur) is the one who trusts in man,
who draws strength from mere flesh
and whose heart turns away from the Lord.
That person will be like a bush (arar) in the wastelands;
they will not see prosperity when it comes.
They will dwell in the parched places of the desert,
in a salt land where no one lives.”
Jeremiah calls them to trust God with their whole selves so that they will be like the “Acacia” tree instead of the “Arara” bush. The Acacia tree also grows out in the desert and it remains healthy and alive even when it goes for years without raining. This is because it has a hidden quality – its roots go very deep, and spread so far that they can find the underground sources of water that sustain them and give them life out in the desert. The trees are used for high quality perfume and incense. Because they remain connected to the source of life, they are able to give back to the world around them… unlike the Arara bush.
“But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord,
whose confidence is in him.
They will be like a tree (acacia) 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.”
“However, the days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when it will no longer be said, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the Israelites up out of Egypt,’ but it will be said, ‘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 ancestors.”
Jeremiah compares their hearts to an “Arara” which was a type of fruit bush that grew in the desert. The fruit looked great on the outside, lush and juicy and green… but you opened up the fruit, it was full of air and nasty dry webs that had little poisonous seeds in them.
“Cursed (Arur) is the one who trusts in man,
who draws strength from mere flesh
and whose heart turns away from the Lord.
That person will be like a bush (arar) in the wastelands;
they will not see prosperity when it comes.
They will dwell in the parched places of the desert,
in a salt land where no one lives.”
Jeremiah calls them to trust God with their whole selves so that they will be like the “Acacia” tree instead of the “Arara” bush. The Acacia tree also grows out in the desert and it remains healthy and alive even when it goes for years without raining. This is because it has a hidden quality – its roots go very deep, and spread so far that they can find the underground sources of water that sustain them and give them life out in the desert. The trees are used for high quality perfume and incense. Because they remain connected to the source of life, they are able to give back to the world around them… unlike the Arara bush.
“But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord,
whose confidence is in him.
They will be like a tree (acacia) 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.”
Chapters 18-20
Within Jeremiah’s oracles of judgment is a section on God’s Sovereignty. Jeremiah first tells the parable of the potter’s house. God is the potter. God’s people are the clay. The clay could not be shaped into what the potter wanted, so he shaped it to be something else.
Jeremiah then smashes a jar. This symbolized the coming destruction of Jerusalem for all the innocent people they had killed, including sacrificing their children at the “tophit.” The priest Pashhur didn’t like Jeremiah’s message and had him beaten and put in the stocks. When Jeremiah was released the next day, he gave a new name to Pashhur – “Terror on Every Side.”
We then read that Jeremiah despaired of God’s calling. He said:
“You tricked me, God!”
Jeremiah then smashes a jar. This symbolized the coming destruction of Jerusalem for all the innocent people they had killed, including sacrificing their children at the “tophit.” The priest Pashhur didn’t like Jeremiah’s message and had him beaten and put in the stocks. When Jeremiah was released the next day, he gave a new name to Pashhur – “Terror on Every Side.”
We then read that Jeremiah despaired of God’s calling. He said:
“You tricked me, God!”
“You didn’t tell me my job would be so hard!”
“Everybody hates me!”
“Cursed be the day I was born!
May the day my mother bore me not be blessed!
Cursed be the man who brought my father the news,
who made him very glad, saying,
‘A child is born to you—a son!’”
“Why did I ever come out of the womb
to see trouble and sorrow
and to end my days in shame?”
May the day my mother bore me not be blessed!
Cursed be the man who brought my father the news,
who made him very glad, saying,
‘A child is born to you—a son!’”
“Why did I ever come out of the womb
to see trouble and sorrow
and to end my days in shame?”
Chapter 21
We then read about the ungodly kings and other leaders of Jerusalem. God proclaims through Jeremiah his judgment against the wicked kings.
We then read that as King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon attacked Jerusalem, Zedekiah, Judah’s last king, sent messengers to ask Jeremiah for guidance. But God rejected Zedekiah’s request for “wonders of old” against the Babylonians.
We then read that as King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon attacked Jerusalem, Zedekiah, Judah’s last king, sent messengers to ask Jeremiah for guidance. But God rejected Zedekiah’s request for “wonders of old” against the Babylonians.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you for your comments!