365 Days of Pursuit.org

OVERVIEW:

The destruction of Jerusalem (39:1–10); God’s deliverance of Jeremiah and Ebedmelech (39:11–18); Jeremiah’s release (40:1–16); the plot against Gedaliah, Babylon’s appointed governor over those remaining in the land (41:1–10); the hostages taken by Ishmael are rescued (41:11–18); the Jews request a word from God through Jeremiah (42:1–6); Jeremiah delivers God’s word (42:7–22); the people reject God’s word (43:1–7); God’s rejection of the people (43:8–13).

HIGHLIGHTS & INSIGHTS:

That fateful day, of which Jeremiah had been prophesying, had finally arrived. Verse one of chapter 39 says that Nebuchadrezzar and “all his army came against Jerusalem, and they besieged it.” Those who had been called to be the holy people of God, blessed with a holy standing before Him, with a holy temple, in a holy land, had finally desecrated their holy calling. King Zedekiah escaped in the middle of the night out of a secret passage way, but was overtaken in the plain and brought before Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon. (39:4–5) Nebuchadrezzar killed Zedekiah’s sons right “before his eyes” (39:6), just before he “put out Zedekiah’s eyes.” (39:7) Imagine, the last thing you ever see being your own children being slaughtered, and then, going the remainder of your life knowing full well that it was because of your own sin! It is an amazing phenomenon, that as parents, we can choose to be so willfully blinded to the consequences of our sinful choices upon our own precious children! Sadly, the example of Zedekiah’s selfishness and cluelessness regarding the effects of his sin upon his children, has historically, represented the rule rather than the exception, right up to this present day! (Galatians 6:7–8)

Just as God promised Jeremiah when He first called him (1:17–19), Jeremiah’s life was spared in the whole demise of the nation. (39:11–18) How ironic it is, that Jeremiah was shown more kindness by the King of Babylon than he had ever received from the previous four kings of Judah! In chapter 40, Jeremiah is actually freed by the Babylonians, being presented with the option of either being provided for in Babylon or remaining with the remnant that had been permitted to stay in the land. (40:4) In the great spirit and tradition of Moses before him, Jeremiah chose “to suffer affliction with the people of God, rather than to enjoy the pleasures of” Egypt (Hebrews 11:24–26) or, in this case, Babylon!

In 40:5–6, the king of Babylon appoints Gedaliah as governor over the people who were permitted to remain in the land. Gedaliah encouraged the people to quietly and respectfully serve Babylon, assuring them that if they did, things would go well with them. (40:9) Unfortunately, a plot was devised against Gedaliah, and in chapter 41, Ishmael not only murdered him, but many others who were with Gedaliah, taking many others as hostages as well. Ishmael’s plan was to flee to the city of Ammon, leaving the Jews around Jerusalem to suffer the wrath of the Babylonians. At that point, the people understood that they had two possibilities: they could flee to Egypt and trust them to help against the Babylonians or, they could remain where God had placed them and trust Him to help them. Stating it in that fashion makes the decision they “should have made” an absolute “no brainer” but as we look back over our shoulder and see how many times during a time of difficulty or trial we trusted the world’s (Egypt’s) solution, rather than trusting God, we find that in the moment, it doesn’t always feel like such a “no brainer”! May God BE our wisdom and discernment to see the choices before us as He sees them!

Surprisingly, the people of Judah actually sought Jeremiah’s counsel as to what they should do (42:1–4) pledging that whatever God said through him, regardless of what it was, they would obey it. (42:5–6) Wow! That’s a switch!

God’s word came back through Jeremiah, telling them that if they would remain in the land, He would protect them and bless them (42:7–12), but if they went to Egypt for help, He would allow them to be blasted to “kingdom come”! (42:13–18) Jeremiah prophesied that they were all full of “talk” but no “walk” and full of “show” but no “go” (42:19–22), and chapter 43 proved true. Rather than obey Jeremiah’s words to them, which is to say, God’s words to them, they accuse Jeremiah of telling them the things he did so they would fall to the Babylonians. What this really proved, is that they had planned to do what they wanted to do all along. They had just hoped that God’s will lined up with theirs. Recognize, that the same empty promises of surrender to God’s will, that will only be carried out if it lines up with what we want to do, are constantly and consistently made in our day! (2^nd Timothy 3:1–5) As the old saying goes, “The more things change, the more they remain the same.”

Chapter 43 ends with another of God’s many object lessons through Jeremiah, this time, pointing to the fact that Babylon would conquer Egypt just as they had Judah.

SPECIFIC REFERENCES TO “THE DAY OF THE LORD”:

• 39:16 – “in that day” 
• 39:17 – “in that day”

CHRIST IS REVEALED:

Through GEDALIAH, as he instructed the Jews to pay homage to the heathen nation that ruled over them — Jeremiah 40:9 (Matthew 22:21)  

OVERVIEW:

God’s faithfulness to the Davidic Covenant (34:1–11); Israel’s unfaithfulness to their fellow countrymen (34:12–22); Israel’s unfaithfulness to their God (35:1–19); Israel’s rejection of God’s word (36:1–32); Jeremiah preaches against a false sense of security and self-deception (37:1–10); Jeremiah is imprisoned (37:11–21); Jeremiah is delivered (38:1– 16); Jeremiah presents alternatives to Zedekiah (38:17–28).

HIGHLIGHTS & INSIGHTS:

We enter the second and third sections of the book of Jeremiah in today’s reading. Whereas the first 33 chapters detailed the fate of Judah, chapters 34 and 35 detail the fate of Jerusalem, and chapter 36 to the end of the book is basically detailing the fate of the Gentile nations. This is the fulfillment of what God said to Jeremiah when He first called him: “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.” (1:5, 10)

As chapter 34 opens, Babylon is about to overtake Jerusalem. God tells Jeremiah to go and tell King Zedekiah that the city would, in fact, fall to the Babylonians, but that he would not be killed in the invasion. The fact that God was willing to spare this wicked king’s life is not only a testimony of His incredible mercy and grace, but a testimony of His faithfulness to keep His promises. As we have talked about, in the Davidic Covenant, God had promised that David’s lineage would survive. Though the covenant was obscured, in the fact that David’s kingly line would actually live in exile, the covenant was not revoked.  

In verses 12–22 of chapter 34, God speaks through Jeremiah to show Israel that they had not been faithful to one another by disobeying His plan for releasing on the seventh year, those, who for financial reasons, had sold themselves into slavery. In chapter 35, He uses the example of the faithfulness of the Rechabite family to reveal to Israel their unfaithfulness to Him. Oh, in the same way that the family of Rechab stood as a shining light in the midst of the darkness in Jeremiah’s day, may our families likewise bring glory to God against the “lukewarm-ness” (Revelation 3:15-17) and apostasy of our day! (1^st Timothy 4:1)

Chapter 36 is absolutely classic in terms of revealing the divisive nature of the word of God and its utter indestructibility! Because Jeremiah had been forbidden to enter the temple (36:5), he was forced to dictate the words of the Lord for Baruch, the scribe, to write into a scroll and deliver to the leaders of Israel, once again, calling for Israel’s repentance. The words were so powerful that the temple officials sent them to the king. As the words were read to the king by Jehudi, before he could get to the fourth “page”, the king grabbed it out of Jehudi’s hand, took out his pen knife and began cutting it to shreds, just before throwing it into the fire! It’s a very interesting story, and very easy to follow. But there is more than meets the eye that is really going on here. The chapter actually opens up to us one of the clearest explanations in the entire Bible about the whole process of the inspiration and preservation of Scripture!

The process of inspiration is described in verses 4 and 6 and, interestingly enough, it is precisely how 2^nd Peter 1:21 says it happened: “For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God SPAKE as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” Jeremiah SPOKE his words to Baruch the scribe, but the words Baruch wrote weren’t actually JEREMIAH’S WORDS, they were the very “WORDS OF THE LORD”! (36:4) 

Jeremiah restates the process in verse 6 as he says to Baruch: “Go thou, and read in the roll, which thou hast written from my mouth, the words of the Lord.” By the way the story unfolded, and how God orchestrated the recording of it, it is apparent that God wanted to make sure we totally understood exactly how the actual process of inspiration and preservation works. In verse 17, God records the words of the temple leaders to Baruch: “Tell us now, How didst thou write all these words at his mouth?” Baruch responded in verse 18: “He pronounced all these words unto me with his mouth, and I wrote them with ink in the book.” In other words, what Baruch had in written form, were the very words of God; what is often referred to, in theological circles, as the “original manuscripts”. But it is important to note, that what happened in this chapter to Jeremiah’s “original manuscripts”, is the same thing that happened to the entirety of the original manuscripts in history. They were totally destroyed! But remember, God not only “inspired” His word and words, He also promised to “preserve” them! (Psalm 12:6–7; Matthew 5:18) Notice in Jeremiah’s account of how this actually unfolded, that though the “original manuscripts” were no longer in existence, “somehow” God had no problem remembering exactly what they said, and He certainly had no problem producing a copy that contained “all the words of the book (the “original manuscript”, as it were) which Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire”! (36:32) 

The reason this is so significant, is that many people today balk at the very idea of believing that the Bible we are able to actually hold in our hands (as opposed to original manuscripts that do not exist!) is the very word and words of God, just as He intended them. Every word, in fact! (Proverbs 30:5) However, it only stands to reason, that if God went to the “trouble” of inspiring His words in/on original manuscripts (that He obviously did not intend to keep in existence or we’d have them!), it certainly is no trouble for Him to preserve them in a book that we can actually wrap our hands and our lives around! 

Another contention people seem to have with those who have a faith-based view of the Bible (i.e. have faith in God’s promise to preserve His word! Psalm 12:6–7; Matthew 5:18) has to do with the italicized words in our King James Bible. When the “original manuscripts” were being penned, the Old Testament was written in Hebrew, and the New Testament was written in Greek and Aramaic. Obviously then, most translations of the Bible into other languages were translated out of copies of manuscripts that were written in these original languages. Since there is no such thing as a “word for word” translation (for the simple fact that in translating from one language to another, some words do not have a corresponding equivalent!) as the King James translators we’re translating the Bible into English, the italicized words were “added” to convey the meaning of the original language when there was no English equivalent. The argument is, how can we believe that we hold in our hands “every word of God” (Proverbs 30:5), if there are words that have been “added”? But the question we need to ask ourselves is, is that actually uncharacteristic of how God has previously worked in the whole process of inspiring and preserving His word? Notice that the last verse of Jeremiah 36 says that not only did the copy God produced contain every single word of the “original,” check this out: “And there were added besides unto them (in other words, besides the words that were written in/on the “original manuscripts!”) many like words”! (36:32)

In chapters 37 and 38, Jeremiah continues to hammer the message of Jerusalem’s destruction per God’s instruction, and is cast into prison for carrying out God’s will. For a detailed unfolding of chapters 37 and 38, refer to the outline provided in today’s “Overview”.

CHRIST IS REVEALED:

By JEREMIAH, WHO STOOD AS A FAITHFUL WITNESS TO THE REVEALED WILL OF GOD — Jeremiah 38:2–10 (Matthew 26:59)

OVERVIEW:

God’s promise that Israel will be His people (31:1–14); God’s promise of mercy to weary Israel (31:15–26); God’s promise to make Israel secure (31:27–30); God’s promise of a New Covenant with Israel (31:31–40); God’s instruction to Jeremiah to buy a field (32:1–15); God’s explanation to Jeremiah (32:16–35); God’s promise to bring the exiles home (32:36–44); God’s promise to keep His promises (33:1–26).

HIGHLIGHTS & INSIGHTS:

Jeremiah continues his positive message for Israel in chapter 31, though, as was discussed in yesterday’s reading, the ultimate fulfillment of his prophecy won’t be until the Second Coming of Christ. In verse 28 of chapter 31, God says through Jeremiah, “And it shall come to pass, that like as I have watched over them, to pluck up, and to break down, and to throw down, and to destroy, and to afflict; so will I watch over them, to build, and to plant, saith the Lord.” In other words, just as careful as God was to PUNISH Israel, He will be just as careful to BLESS them.

Verse 31 of chapter 31 is very significant. God speaks of a New Covenant that He would make with the house of Israel and Judah. As we have made our way through the Old Testament, we have seen God make at least three major covenants. The first was what we call the Abrahamic Covenant, in Genesis 17:7-8: “And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.” Coupled with what God had told Abraham in Genesis 12:2–3, the Lord promised to give Abraham heirs, a great name, a homeland, fame, protection, and the blessing of all nations through him.

The second major covenant was the covenant God made with Israel at Mount Sinai. (Exodus 20; Leviticus 27) We refer to it as the Mosaic Covenant because this covenant with Israel was mediated by Moses. In contrast with the Abrahamic Covenant, this was not an unconditional and everlasting covenant.

The third major covenant, what we call the Davidic Covenant, was God’s promise to David of an everlasting kingdom. Through Nathan, the prophet, the Lord told David, “And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever.” (2^nd Samuel 7:12–13) As Jeremiah repeated in chapter 23:5, the coming King of Israel, or Messiah, whose kingdom would be eternal, would come through the kingly line of David.

It must be understood that God’s promise of a New Covenant in Jeremiah 31:31–34 would certainly not negate the everlasting covenants that He had previously made with Abraham and David. This covenant would actually participate with and work in conjunction with them. One of the tremendous beauties of this New Covenant is whereas the Mosaic Covenant was filled with God constantly saying, “Thou shalt”, this covenant is filled with God saying, “I will”! Oh my, what a blessed contrast! (See how many times you can find God saying, “I will” in 31:31–40, and then in chapter 32:36–44, where God picks up the subject again!) Recognize, also, that though this is an everlasting covenant that God made specifically with Israel and Judah, we have been permitted to participate in the blessing of this new covenant by God’s sovereign plan and grace. Paul said in Romans 11:17, that we, “being a wild olive tree, wert grafted in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree.”

After the glorious promises of this future new covenant in chapters 30 and 31, in chapter 32, God brings things back into Jeremiah’s present situation, and the impending judgment that He was about to unleash upon Israel and Judah. Just before Babylon’s final siege of Jerusalem, God tells Jeremiah to do something that certainly must have seemed strange to him. Purchasing property just before your entire city is overtaken by a foreign enemy is not exactly what you would call a wise business deal, to say the least! Yet, that is precisely what God tells Jeremiah to do. As we have seen God do repeatedly throughout Jeremiah’s ministry, this is, yet, another object lesson God intended to use to illustrate His point. This time, His point was that, though judgment would come, He would restore the people back to their homeland. He wanted to drive home the fact that there is nothing too hard for Him. (32:17, 27) He would bring the people back to their land, and they would enjoy the blessing of His new covenant with them. Again, we now know that these promises will be fulfilled during the Great Tribulation as Israel turns to her Messiah, and will be enjoyed by the nation of Israel as He returns at the end of the Tribulation to establish His Millennial Kingdom.

Chapter 33 is a joyous chapter as it focuses on God’s character. It reminds us that the truth of God’s word is grounded in the trustworthiness of His person. He will perform every single thing He has ever promised (33:14), and it will be fulfilled just as He said, right when He said, and just how He said. It is true for Israel and Judah, and, praise the Lord, it’s just as true for you and me!

SPECIFIC REFERENCES TO “THE DAY OF THE LORD”: 

• 31:29 – “In those days” (Specifically, the Tribulation period) 
• 31:31 – “Behold, the days come” 
• 31:33 – “After those days” 
• 31:38 – “Behold, the days come” 
• 33:15 – “In those days, and at that time” 
• 33:16 – “In those days”

CHRIST IS REVEALED:

As the ONE WHO FORGIVES SINS — Jeremiah 31:34 (Matthew 9:6; John 8:10–11)

By JEREMIAH, WHO ACTED AS A KINSMAN-REDEEMER IN PURCHASING THE LAND OF HIS COUSIN — Jeremiah 32:6–14 (Leviticus 25:25, 44; Ruth 2:20; 3:12–13; Galatians 4:4–5; Titus 2:13–14)

OVERVIEW:

Jeremiah’s cry to reject the false prophets and false prophecy concerning Babylon (27:1–22); Jeremiah’s cry to reject the false prophets and false prophecy concerning the Babylonian captivity (28:1–17); Jeremiah’s letter to those already taken into captivity urging them to reject the false prophets, and to seek the Lord (29:1–32); Jeremiah’s message about Israel’s future restoration (30:1–24).

HIGHLIGHTS & INSIGHTS:

At the beginning of King Zedekiah’s reign, the Lord prophesied that Babylon, under the leadership and rule of Nebuchadnezzar, would overthrow Judah. The Lord commanded that Judah serve the one that He had used to discipline them. (27:8) The prophets of Judah told the people not to serve the king of Babylon, just as did the “diviners, dreamers, enchanters and sorcerers.” (27:9) It is a definite sad state of affairs when those who are presumably speaking for God are saying the same thing as those who are speaking for the devil! Jeremiah passionately warns the people not to hearken to their lies. (27:9, 14, 16) He tells them that God would ultimately restore them, but not before being brought into captivity. (27:22) Chapter 27 teaches us that though a “positive” message from a stereotypical Laodicean “preacher” (2^nd Timothy 4:3-4) feels a whole lot better on the ears than a “negative” message from a non-stereotypical Laodicean preacher (2^nd Timothy 4:2), God’s “negative” message will have a whole lot more powerful ramifications in our lives than their supposed “positive” one! May we never lose sight of Jesus’ words in Revelation 3:19 to those of us living in this “negative” Laodicean Church Period: “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten…” In other words, the results of Jesus’ “negativity” through His preachers is actually a very positive thing!

Chapter 28 lets us know that in the same year that the events of chapter 27 were taking place, Jeremiah encountered what must have been one of the “well respected” and “big name” prophets of Judah; a man by the name of Hananiah. His message from “the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel” (28:2) was that God had broken Babylon’s power over Judah, and that within two years, all of the vessels that had been taken out of the temple would be returned, along with all of the exiles. What a positive message that was! The only problem with it is that it wasn’t true! God had said no such thing! (28:15) Jeremiah tells Hananiah that Babylon’s yoke was not a yoke of wood that would be easily broken, but was a yoke of iron, and that he was a liar. Jeremiah then prophesied Hananiah’s death for his sin of misleading the people, and he died, verifying which one of them was truly speaking for the Lord. Even so, the people still refused to listen to the words of the Lord through Jeremiah.

In chapter 29, Jeremiah writes a letter to the Jewish people who had already been taken into captivity.  He tells them not to listen to the false prophets who have been prophesying their soon release. He tells them that the captivity is actually going to last 70 years, and that they should go ahead and make the best of it by building houses, planting gardens, and strengthening their families, because this would be the place where most of them would die. Our gracious God even wrote to them through Jeremiah, saying that if they refused to listen to the false prophets and would seek Him, their lives in captivity in Babylon would be blessed, and actually be better than those who lived in the freedom of Judah! Once again, they refused to listen to Him.

In chapter 30, Jeremiah’s message actually turns in more of a positive direction. Though the positive nature of his message pertained to a future time, (actually, the time of the Great Tribulation and Second Coming of Christ when God will restore the nation of Israel, not only to her homeland, but to her Messiah), the break from the negativity of Jeremiah’s message had to be refreshing to him. Do recognize that all of the events that are taking place in the Middle East today are simply setting the stage for what God was prophesying through Jeremiah in this chapter. It is an exciting time to be alive if for no other reason than that! Lift up your head, my brothers and sisters, our redemption draweth nigh!

SPECIFIC REFERENCES TO “THE DAY OF THE LORD”: 

• 30:7a – “that day is great, so that none is like it” 
• 30:7b – “the time of Jacob’s trouble” (specifically, the Tribulation Period)
• 30:8 – “in that day” 
• 30:24 – “in the latter days”

CHRIST IS REVEALED:

As the LORD WHO WILL BE RAISED UP AS DAVID THEIR KING — Jeremiah 30:9 (Matthew 2:2; 1:1; Luke 1:31–33)

OVERVIEW: 

Jeremiah preaches about the Righteous King who would rise to the throne (23:1–8); Jeremiah preaches against the false prophets (23:9–40); Jeremiah preaches against the people (24:1–25, 38); Jeremiah preaches against false worship and false prophecy (26:1–29, 32).

HIGHLIGHTS & INSIGHTS:

As was mentioned in yesterday’s reading, in chapters 21–29, Jeremiah is called on by God to preach to those to whom He referred back in 1:17–19: “kings, princes, priests, and the people of the land.” Beginning in 21:1, all the way into 23:8, Jeremiah has been preaching against the kings. Though God pronounced “woe” upon these wretched shepherds (“pastors”) who were leading Judah to destruction, God begins to point to a different day, when a righteous King from David’s line would rise to the throne! “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, The Lord Our Righteousness.” (23:5–6) Of course, that righteous Lord and King from David’s Branch (i.e. line or ancestry) is none other than the King of kings Himself, the Lord Jesus Christ! Little did Jeremiah, or those to whom he was preaching, realize that he was actually preaching about what would happen 2000 years after our Lord’s first coming! (1^st Peter 1:10–12)

In the remainder of chapter 23 (23:9–40), Jeremiah turns from preaching against the kings, to preaching against the prophets. It is amazing how history repeats itself. (Ecclesiastes 3:15) So many of the things Jeremiah preached, as he opposed the prophets of his day, he could come and preach in opposition to many of the preachers in our day! Check out 23:16–17: “Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the Lord. They say still unto them that despise me, The Lord hath said, Ye shall have peace; and they say unto every one that walketh after the imagination of his own heart, No evil shall come upon you.” Again, much like in Laodicea, the words that are so often spoken in the name of the Lord, or in the name of “preaching”, leave people void of the truth of God. (2^nd Timothy 4:4) Preachers are to preach a message “out of the mouth of the Lord” (i.e. the word of God!!!), not out “of their own heart.” (23:16) God has already given His commentary on men’s hearts through Jeremiah back in 17:9. Our hearts are so deceitful and desperately wicked it is near nigh impossible to even know what’s actually going on in them! Spare us the message you feel the Lord has laid on your heart, Preachers, and just give us the Lord’s heart as it has been revealed in His word! (“out of the mouth of the Lord” — 23:16) The message from the prophets in Jeremiah’s day (23:17), like many of the preachers in our own day, was void of the message of God’s impending judgment. The people were told they were “going to be all right” (i.e. “No evil shall come upon you”), even though they willfully and blatantly lived for self, self-satisfaction, and self-gratification. (i.e. “after the imagination of his own heart” — 23:17)

In 23:22, God says that if those given the responsibility of heralding His words would have “stood in his counsel”, so that the people would have actually heard the words of the Lord, the people would have turned from “their evil way, and from the evil of their doings.” Note in this verse, that God reveals to us that “evil” is not limited to our specific actions (i.e. evil things we “do”); “evil” is also a “way” in which we find ourselves (as in, a “way of life,” or the “course of our life” — Ephesians 2:2).

Would to God that every preacher in Laodicea would read 23:31 just before they walk out to preach: “Behold, I am against the prophets, saith the Lord, that use their tongues, and say, He saith.”  Whoa!  Or, maybe better stated, “Woe!”

In chapters 24 and 25, Jeremiah turns the focus of his preaching against the people. Something we want to be sure we don’t miss out of this section is that, though the people had horrific spiritual leadership, God still held them responsible for their actions. We all need to recognize, that at the Judgment Seat of Christ, God will not receive the argument, “But my pastor didn’t preach the word!” That may be true, but the fact remains, God has not only given every single one of us His word, He has even placed the resident Truth Teacher (the Holy Spirit) inside each one of us! (1^st John 2:27) We will all be held personally responsible for our stewardship of God’s word and God’s Spirit!

Note also, that just like in Laodicea, one of the reasons that Judah had such terrible spiritual leadership, is that the people didn’t want godly counsel or leadership! (2^nd Timothy 4:3) The way Jeremiah was treated is more than proof of that. God says of our day, that the people do “not endure sound doctrine: but after their own lusts…heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears. And they…turn away their ears from the truth…and unto fables.” (2^nd Timothy 4:3-4)

In chapter 26, Jeremiah begins to preach against, not only the kings, the prophets, and the people, but the priests as well. In verses 7–15, the priests and the prophets actually call for Jeremiah’s death.  Notice in 26:2–8, that carrying out the Lord’s perfect will, comes with a very significant cost! “Yea, and all that live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” (2^nd Timothy 3:12) Yes, it’ll cost us, but the rewards are out of this world! Literally!  

SPECIFIC REFERENCES TO “THE DAY OF THE LORD”: 

• 25:29 – “for I will call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth”
• 25:30 – “The Lord shall roar from on high” 
• 25:31 – “he will give them that are wicked to the sword” 
• 25:33 – “at that day”

CHRIST IS REVEALED:

As THE KING RAISED UNTO DAVID A RIGHTEOUS BRANCH — Jeremiah 23:5 (Matthew 2:1; Matthew 1:1; Luke 1:31–33)

As THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS — Jeremiah 23:6 (1^st Corinthians 1:30; 2^nd Corinthians 5:21)

OVERVIEW:

God’s lesson to Jeremiah at the potter’s house (18:1–10); Jeremiah’s message to Judah based on the lessons from the potter (18:11–17); Israel’s opposition to Jeremiah (18:18–23); Jeremiah fights his calling (19:1–20:18); Jeremiah’s message of opposition to kings (21:1–22:30).

HIGHLIGHTS & INSIGHTS:

God is most certainly the Master Illustrator! He has masterful ways of using things in His physical creation to teach us spiritual truth, just as Romans 1:20 says He does. As we move into chapter 18, God is employing this teaching technique in the ministry of Jeremiah, just as He had, in the two previous occasions, in 13:1–7 and 16:1–9. This time, God takes Jeremiah on a little “field trip” to the potter’s house to make His point. God shows Jeremiah that He (God) is as the Potter, and Israel is as the clay, and He can do with them whatever He jolly-well wants! The real point He wants Jeremiah to see, is that if Israel would repent, He would instantaneously fashion them into a beautiful and usable vessel, but if they chose to remain rebellious and obstinate, He could mar them in an instant, right in His powerful hands, and as the Potter, it would be perfectly within His right to so!

Based on what God showed Jeremiah in His object lesson in 18:1–10, He then tells him to get out there and call the nation to repentance. (18:11) Obviously, knowing and understanding God’s sovereignty (“as seemed good to the potter to make it” — 18:4) and God’s omnipotence (“as the clay in the potter’s hand, so are ye in mine hand” — 18:6) puts a whole different “umph!” behind a preacher’s message! As is evident in 18:18, the “umph!” of the message wasn’t well received, and as it has consistently done throughout Jeremiah’s ministry, it only brought more hatred and opposition from the people to whom he ministered. As chapter 18 concludes, it becomes obvious that Jeremiah has gotten fed up with the people and calls upon God to just go ahead and give them what they deserve.   

In chapter 19, God wants to use another object lesson, in making a point to the people, that was like the one He used to make His point to Jeremiah in 18:1–10. He tells Jeremiah to a take “a potter’s earthen bottle” and to go preach to Judah’s king and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. He was to preach a strong message about God’s judgment that would come upon them because of their idolatry and rebellion. In effect, Jeremiah said, “You are kind of like this jar,” and then he smashed it to smithereens right in their face! (19:10–12) Jeremiah continued on, “And God is going to smash you into a million tiny pieces, just like that, and you won’t be able to glue yourself back together!”

Well, needless to say, the message didn’t go over really well with the supposed religious leaders, much less the people in general! In chapter 20, Pashur, “the chief governor in the house of the Lord”, smacks Jeremiah right in his face and slams him into the stocks in the city jail. Jeremiah tells him, “Just for that, God has changed your name from Pashur (meaning “freedom”) to Magormissabib” (meaning “terror on every side”).” Jeremiah prophesied the “terror” (20:4) that would soon come upon Pashur, and all those who believed his lies. (20:6)

But once again, the opposition of the people was wearing on Jeremiah. He registers his complaint against God for calling him to such a long, difficult, and painful ministry. He even communicates that he felt as if God had deceived him. In effect, he tells God, “You may be able to take this because You are stronger than me, but I just can’t take it anymore!” (20:7–8) He even vows that he’s never going to preach again, and never even mention the name of the Lord to anybody. (20:9) But what Jeremiah found was that God’s word was so deeply embedded in him, that it burned like a fire in his bones, and that the only way to find relief was through preaching! Would to God that His word would be that deeply embedded in us!

So, Jeremiah preached on. He had come to grips with the fact that it was the right thing to do, recognizing that just because it was right, didn’t make it easy. In fact, biblically, it might be better stated, “If it’s right it won’t be easy!” Paul, most certainly, could vouch for that! (2^nd Corinthians 11:24–28)

As we move into chapters 21 and 22, in today’s reading, it becomes apparent that Jeremiah had nailed some things in his relationship with God, and the ministry to which he had been called. It is evident that he has matured as a believer and a prophet. Just as God had told Jeremiah back in 1:17–19, that he would be called to preach to and receive opposition from kings, princes, priests, and the people of the land, in this next section (chapters 21–29), Jeremiah preaches to each of these groups of people, likewise, receiving the retaliation God had prophesied from each. Each time, however, the more seasoned and mature Jeremiah hands the opposition over to God, rather than blame Him for it.

CHRIST IS REVEALED:

As the one who pronounces judgment upon those who refuse to obey His word — Jeremiah 19:15 (John 5:22)

OVERVIEW:

The object lesson of the ruin of Judah (13:1–11); Israel described as a drunken nation (13:12–14); Jeremiah pleading to the nation (13:15–27); Judah’s drought and Jeremiah’s intercession (14:1–22); God’s refusal to answer Jeremiah’s prayers (15:1–9); Jeremiah’s complaint against God (15:10–18); God’s call for Jeremiah’s repentance (15:19–21); Jeremiah’s personal renewal (16:1–17:18); God’s message through Jeremiah concerning the sabbath (17:19–27).

HIGHLIGHTS & INSIGHTS:

As chapter 13 begins, God wants to give Jeremiah an object lesson concerning the people of Judah. He instructs him to get a “linen girdle”, which was what we would call today, a linen belt or waistband, and put it around his “loins” or his waist. He then told him to remove it, and to hide it in a hole in a rock near the Euphrates. After many days, God told him to go back to retrieve it, only to find that the belt was totally ruined and “good for nothing”. God explained to Jeremiah that, like the belt, Judah would become “good for nothing” because of her pride, her refusal to hear the word of God, her wicked imagination, and her idolatry. (13:9–10) God’s desire for Judah was for them to “be unto [Him] for a people, and for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory” (13:11), but sadly, verse 11 ends by saying, “but they would not hear.” As God’s people, in a different dispensation, His desire for us is that we also “be unto [Him] for a people, and for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory.” We might need to ask ourselves, “Are we hearing Him?”

Even after God had revealed to Jeremiah all that He had concerning Judah’s inevitable fate, Jeremiah’s heart still caused him to plead, to weep, and to yearn for Judah to repent and give glory to God once again. Would to God we had Jeremiah’s passion for the glory of God and the souls of men!

God’s punishment first manifested itself in chapter 14 with a terrible “death” or drought. Jeremiah’s heart led him to ask God to be merciful to them and remove the drought, but God told Jeremiah that they were getting what they deserved (14:10), and even told him to stop praying for them! (14:11) Even then, Jeremiah continued to pray on their behalf. As chapter 15 begins, God tells Jeremiah that it wouldn’t matter who was interceding on Judah’s behalf, even if it were Moses or Samuel (that’s some pretty major props for those two fellas!), His judgment was going to be unleashed. In 15:10–18, Jeremiah becomes rather upset with God about his role. He complains that all he had ever done was what God wanted him to do, but all it had ever gotten him was pain and heartache. (15:15–18a) He even charges God at the end of 18 with being a liar! Jeremiah was actually beginning to sound much like the people to whom he was called to minister. In verses 19–21, basically, God tells Jeremiah that he better sort things out in his head and in his heart, and get back to the task God had intended for him. Jeremiah was simply going to have to find a way to carry out his mission even though he would never receive any encouragement from the people to whom he was seeking to minister. Imagine, in Jeremiah’s entire ministry, a 40-year span (627-587 B.C.), he never saw one convert!

In chapter 16:1–8, once again, God gives an object lesson. Jeremiah is given a series of three strange commands in order for God to make His point. First, he instructs him not to marry (16:1–4), because his wife and children would only be mercilessly killed by the armies God would use to punish Israel’s sin. Second, God tells Jeremiah not to mourn for the dead (16:5–7), because in light of what was about to happen in Judah, they would be better off than the living. And third, he was not to participate in feasts of any kind, because all it produced was just wishful thinking in a land that was without hope. God tells Jeremiah that these three things would provide him the opportunity to warn the people of the impending judgment to come, and the need to repent. At the end of chapter 16 (16:14–18), God points to a time following His judgment upon them, when He would deliver Israel out of her oppression and bondage, just like He did in delivering them out of Egypt.

In chapter 17, God affirms to Jeremiah that, once again, Israel’s idolatry was etched in their hearts with “a pen of iron, and with the point of a diamond.” (17:1) Because of their unfaithfulness to Him, God warns Jeremiah against trusting them for anything, and urges him to trust in Him alone. Verse 9 is a classic, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: Who can know it?” May we all meditate on that for about the next 20 years!

In 17:12–18, Jeremiah offers an incredibly humble and powerful prayer for renewal, asking God for spiritual healing, deliverance from his oppressors, and for courage. Immediately, God charges Jeremiah with the responsibility of standing at the gates where all who came in or out of Jerusalem could hear, and confront them about their observance of the sabbath, or lack thereof! He tells them that if they don’t stop carrying things in and out of the city on the sabbath, God would allow an invading army to see to it that all activity in the city ceased!

CHRIST IS REVEALED:

As the HOPE OF ISRAEL — Jeremiah 14:8 (Titus 2:13)

OVERVIEW: 

Jeremiah’s life amid a deceitful people (9:1–9); Jeremiah’s grief over Judah (9:10–26); Judah’s idolatry and exile (10:1–25); Israel’s history of covenant breaking (11:1–17); Jeremiah’s enemies plot against him (11:18–23); Jeremiah’s complaint concerning the wicked (12:1–4); God’s challenge to Jeremiah (12:5–13); God’s promise to restore Israel (12:14–17).

HIGHLIGHTS & INSIGHTS:

Jeremiah was definitely the right man for the job! What was needed was a prophet that would not only clearly communicate God’s MESSAGE, but God’s HEART! Jeremiah gave the people both. We saw God’s heart in Jeremiah as chapter 8 came to a close in yesterday’s reading (8:18–22), as Jeremiah said that because of Judah’s refusal of her King and Healer, he was unable to find comfort for the sorrow and pain in his heart. As chapter 9 begins today, we hear Jeremiah cry out, “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!” (9:1) What Jeremiah provided the people of Judah, giving God’s message and God’s heart, is exactly what Laodicea needs of its pastors. Sadly, it seems that it is most generally, one extreme or the other. Either a pastor is all heart and no truth, or he is all truth and no heart. Pray earnestly that God will allow your pastor to have both! Pray that he will give the message just as God gave it, and with God’s heart! Pray that although he must preach a message of “reproof” and “rebuke” in these Laodicean days (2^nd Timothy 4:2), that he will also preach with a heart that loves and breaks for the people. (“exhort with all longsuffering” — 2^nd Timothy 4:2)

The more Jeremiah began to understand just how devastating God’s judgment would be (9:9–26), the more earnestly he preached, and the more he longed for God’s people to repent. In the context, verses 23 and 24 let us know that God’s judgment could have been stayed if the people, rather than glory in everything but God, would simply have sought to “understand” and “know” Him! Note also that these are two great verses to meditate upon to bring us into the glorious wonder of our God! Jeremiah said, “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: 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.” (Jeremiah 9:23–24) That is exactly why Paul said, “But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Galatians 6:14) It is only through the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ that we can “understand” anything about God (1^st Corinthians 2:14), or “know” Him at all. It was through the cross that our Lord exercised “lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth”! (9:24)

As Jeremiah preaches his heart out in chapter 10, he declares the greatness of the one “true God” (10:10) saying, “Forasmuch as there is none like unto thee, O Lord; thou art great, and thy name is great in might.” (10:6) His point is to confront Israel with the fact that God is not just their national deity, but the Creator (10:11–12), the only “living God,” the “everlasting King”, and the One who will unleash His judgment upon the whole world. (10:10) He also shows how that when God’s people bow to the gods of other nations, the Lord turns them over to be consumed by those nations. (10:25)

As we move into chapters 11 and 12, we find that even though God had warned Jeremiah of the opposition and adversity that would inevitably come his way (1:17–19; 9:1–3), it is apparent that Jeremiah somehow thought that it might happen otherwise. It is the same syndrome that continues today. Though God clearly told us, “In the world ye shall have tribulation” (John 16:33), and “Yea, all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution” (2^nd Timothy 3:12), somehow it seems to take us off guard when it actually happens to us. Even though God said through Peter, “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:” (1^st Peter 4:12) Again, it is amazing how amazed we are when it actually unfolds in our lives! The Lord reveals to Jeremiah in 11:18–23 a plot to take his life by the men of Jeremiah’s hometown, and in chapter 12, tells Jeremiah to prepare for even worse times. (12:5–13)

One of the beautiful things that continues to surface through the book of Jeremiah, is that God’s ultimate purpose behind exercising His judgment is to restore and renew. Chapter 12:14–17 points to the compassion of the Lord, and His willingness to not only deliver Israel, but all nations.

SPECIFIC REFERENCES TO “THE DAY OF THE LORD”: 

• 10:10 – “at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide his indignation” 
• 11:11 – “I will bring evil upon them, which they shall not be able to escape”
• 11:12 – “the time of their trouble” 
• 12:12 – “the sword of the Lord shall devour from the one end of the land even to the other end of the land”

CHRIST IS REVEALED:

In the ONE WHOSE JUDGMENT IS INESCAPABLE — Jeremiah 11:11 (2^nd Thessalonians 1:7–9)

As the ONE WHO WILL DEVOUR WITH HIS SWORD — Jeremiah 12:12 (Revelation 19:19–21)

OVERVIEW: 

God’s instruction for Jeremiah to search for the righteous (5:1–9); God’s promise to judge the wicked (5:10–6:30); Jeremiah’s first message to the people concerning their faith in the temple and external religion (7:1–8:3); Jeremiah’s message concerning rejecting the truth of God’s word (8:4–22).

HIGHLIGHTS & INSIGHTS:

Before God actually begins to EMPOWER Jeremiah to preach against the sin of the people in chapter 7, He takes the events recorded in the first six chapters to IMPASSION him. As chapter 5 begins, God doesn’t send Jeremiah on a “search-and-destroy” mission, but a “search-so-I-won’t-destroy” mission!  God wants Jeremiah to understand the depths to which His people had apostatized, and why His judgment against them was so deserved. Just as God told Ezekiel in his day to search for one single man to “make up the hedge and stand in the gap” (Ezekiel 22:30), God tells Jeremiah to see if he, too, could find just one man somewhere in the land who simply sought truth and executed judgment. (5:1) But just as Ezekiel’s search ended with the pitiful words, “But I found none.” Jeremiah’s search produced the same empty result. The people were so incredibly perverted in their thinking, they even viewed God’s mercy as weakness! (5:11–13) Through the “fiery” preaching of Jeremiah (5:14), God promises the invasion of a mighty army to destroy them. 

As you read 5:31, allow it to not only acquaint you with the horrific spiritual climate of Jeremiah’s day, but to remind you of the horrific spiritual climate of our own day: “The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priest bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so.” God said something strangely similar through what the Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy concerning our day: “After their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.” (2^nd Timothy 4:3–4)

As we move into chapter 6, it becomes clear why Judah had become so debauched that God says that “from the least of them even to the greatest of them every one is given to covetousness; and from the prophet even to the priest every one dealeth falsely.” (6:13) The key is in verse 10. Very simply, the people had come to the place that the word of God held no delight or significance in their hearts. It is a great commentary on how our world has gotten to the place it has, and how churches have gotten to the place they are. Week after week in most churches, both from the pulpit, and in the personal lives of the people, truth sits forsaken. Perhaps this is a great time to be reminded that the goal of our 365 Days of Pursuit isn’t simply to go through the word of God, but to so delight ourselves in the God of the word, that we allow His word to go through us, and find a resting place everywhere it “reproves, rebukes, and/or exhorts” us! (2^nd Timothy 4:2)

As we come into chapter 7, God now takes the things He revealed to Jeremiah in chapters 1–6, and turns him loose to carry out the six-fold ministry He delineated to him in chapter 1 and verse 10. God strategically places Jeremiah at the entrance to the temple so he can specifically confront those who thought that because of their great temple and their great involvement there (7:4), that they were doing fine spiritually. Oh, may we never confuse “blessings” and “busyness” at church with spirituality! God’s words through Jeremiah are just as potent and pertinent today as they were then: “For if ye throughly amend your ways and your doings; if ye throughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbour; If ye oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your hurt: Then will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, for ever and ever.” (7:5-7) The New Testament equivalent is 2^nd Corinthians 7:1: “Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” The entire chapter emphasizes the fact that our personal and holy God is neither impressed, nor the least bit interested in external religion!

In chapter 8, Jeremiah’s message to the people was similar to his message in chapter 7. The same attitude the people had about themselves spiritually because they were in possession of the temple (7:4), they had about themselves because they were in possession of the law of Moses. (8:8) Again, it is such a reminder that God is interested in so much more than that we simply attend church services and read our Bible. Obviously, those things have their place, but God is interested in holding His rightful place as Lord in our lives!

Because of the many implications and applications of Jeremiah’s words to those of us living in the last days of the Laodicean Church Period, notice that much of Judah’s problem was rooted in the fact that their spiritual leaders did not properly proclaim the truth of God’s word. (8:8–12) Their prophets turned the truth of God into lies (2^nd Timothy 4:4), telling the people that God was going to be okay with them continuing to live the way they were living. Oh, where are the “Jeremiahs” that will unashamedly, lovingly, and yet, dogmatically proclaim the truth of God’s word regardless of the consequence in these spiritually dark Laodicean days?!

CHRIST IS REVEALED:

As THE ONE WHO DEMANDED A CLEANSED TEMPLE — Jeremiah 7:1–11 (Mark 11:17)

OVERVIEW:

God’s call of Jeremiah (1:1–19); God’s explanation that Israel was an unfaithful spouse (2:1–3:5); God’s explanation that there was still time for Israel to repent (3:6–4:4); God’s warning of judgment for Israel’s refusal to repent (4:5–31).

HIGHLIGHTS & INSIGHTS:

Jeremiah was used of God to prophesy during the last 40 years of the small Southern Kingdom of Judah’s history. By the time Jeremiah begins his ministry, it had been 100 years since the Assyrians had destroyed the Northern Kingdom of Israel. As the Assyrian empire weakened through the years, they, of course, were overthrown by the Babylonians.  

According to 1:2, Jeremiah’s ministry began in the thirteenth year of Josiah’s reign (627 B.C.), who ruled for 31 years. (2^nd Chronicles 34:1) His ministry continued through the reigns of the last four kings of Judah (Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah), all of whom were wicked, as we saw in reading through 2^nd Chronicles and 2^nd Kings. As Jeremiah reveals in 1:3, his ministry concluded with “the carrying away of Jerusalem captive”, which was in 586 B.C. 

Jeremiah is sometimes referred to as “the Weeping Prophet”. (see 9:1; 13:17; 14:17; 15:17–18; Lamentations 1:2; 2:11, 18) His tears flowed out of his passion for God’s glory (13:15–17), and Israel’s “backsliding” from her God. “Backsliding” is the key word in the book (see 2:19; 3:6, 8, 11–12, 22; 5:6; 8:5; 14:7), for which cause the word “repent” is used 11 times by the prophet. Though repentance was his continual message, the sad reality is, Judah never did. There was certainly no Old Testament prophet who suffered more opposition than did Jeremiah. (2:8, 26; 4:9; 5:31; 6:14; 14:13–16; 18:18; 23:9–40; 26:8–19; 27:9–16; chapters 28–29)

As we make our way through this book, it will be important to realize that the book of Jeremiah is not necessarily arranged in chronological order but by similar subject matter. By presenting the truth of Jeremiah by similar subject, it helps us to more clearly see the tragic results of sin.

Perhaps the simplest breakdown of the book is as follows:

• The Fate of Judah. (1–33) 
• The Fate of Jerusalem. (34–45) 
• The Fate of the Gentile nations. (46–52)    

As mentioned above, Jeremiah details in verses 2 and 3, of chapter 1, that the period in which he prophesied was approximately between 627–587 B.C. His ministry spanned from Judah’s last RIGHTEOUS king (Josiah — 640–609 B.C.) to Judah’s last ACTUAL king (Zedekiah — 597–587 B.C.). Verse 3 lets us know that Jeremiah lived to see Jerusalem destroyed by the Babylonians; an event he both prophesied and lamented.

God’s call upon Jeremiah, as it is revealed in chapter 1, forever settles the question of when life truly begins. The Bible is very clear that life begins BEFORE our actual BIRTH (Jeremiah 1:5; Psalm 139:14–15) and continues AFTER our actual DEATH! (Hebrews 9:27) God tells Jeremiah that a whole lot had taken place concerning him before his birth! He tells Jeremiah that even before forming him in his mother’s womb: He “knew” him; He “sanctified” him; and He “ordained” him to be “a prophet unto the nations”. The same thing could be said about God’s purposes for our lives!  

In similar fashion to Moses’ response to God’s call (Exodus 3:11), Jeremiah’s initial response to God’s call on his life was to focus on his own inadequacies and inabilities. God tells Jeremiah, as He did Moses (Exodus 3:14), that His call upon his life wasn’t about who Jeremiah was but who He is! He tells Jeremiah: “I’ll send you…I’ll tell you what to say…I’ll put My very words in your mouth…and when the people don’t like it, I’ll deliver you…because I have set you over the nations and the kingdoms…” (1:7–10)

God goes on to tell Jeremiah that his actual ministry would be six-fold. It would be:

1. “To root out.”
2. “To pull down.”
3. “To destroy.”
4. “To throw down.”
5. “To build.”
6. “To plant.”

Interestingly, two-thirds of Jeremiah’s preaching was intended by God to be negative! Perhaps this is a good time to make sure we understand what a “prophet” was honestly being called to do. Basically, we could say that a prophet in the Bible was a man that God raised up to take His side against the people who had turned away from Him. Obviously, there were other implications, but that’s it in a nutshell! Do note, the ministry of the Old Testament prophet is not much different than what God intends for a New Testament preacher! God said through Paul, in 2^nd Timothy 4:2, that a preacher of the word must “reprove” (negative), “rebuke” (negative), and “exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine” (positive). Once again, God’s instruction is that two-thirds of the preaching is to be negative! No wonder Jeremiah had it so tough in his day; and no wonder those who “preach the word” have it so tough in our day! In the Laodicea Church Period (1901 – Rapture), just as in Jeremiah’s day, “God’s side” is a far cry from His “people’s side”! (Revelation 3:14–22)

Notice in 1:17–19, God didn’t tell Jeremiah that his task would be easy! In fact, He warned that it would be very intimidating (“be not dismayed at their faces” — 1:17c), and that it would be a constant battle (“they shall fight against thee” — 1:19a). Amidst the difficulty, however, God commanded Jeremiah to “man up” (i.e. “gird up thy loins” — 1:17a), and promised His abiding presence and power. (“I am with thee, saith the Lord, to deliver thee” – 1:19c). Wow! How much difficulty and adversity do you think you could endure in your mission with a promise like the one Jeremiah received?! But, may I remind you of God’s promise to us in our mission?! Jesus said in Matthew 28:18–20: “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye THEREFORE (Note that He’s implying that He is going to empower us with His power!)…and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.” 

In 2:1–3:5, God has some incredibly strong things to say to Jeremiah about His people. He even likens them to an unfaithful, adulterous spouse in contrast to God’s constant faithfulness and goodness to them. In 2:1–3, He tells Jeremiah that Israel had forgotten her devotion to Him in her “youth” (when God had first delivered them out of Egypt — i.e. her “first love” — Revelation 2:4); that she had become ungrateful (2:4–8); that she had changed her God (2:9–13); that she had ignored God’s discipline (2:14–19); that she had denied any wrongdoing (2:20–28); that she had mistreated the poor (2:29–37); and that, spiritually speaking, she had been sleeping around (3:1–5).

In spite of her sin, however, God tells Jeremiah that He is merciful, and that He is willing to forgive her if she will simply return to Him, having put away her other lovers. (3:6–4:4) What an incredibly merciful and gracious God we serve!

In 4:5–31, God tells Jeremiah that, though Israel has time to repent, He is only providing a window of opportunity to do so. He warns that if they refuse to return to Him, He will send an army to annihilate their nation.  

SPECIFIC REFERENCES TO “THE DAY OF THE LORD”:  

• 3:16 – “in those days” (specifically, the Tribulation Period)  
• 3:17 – “At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord”  
• 3:18 – “in those days” (specifically, the Tribulation Period)  
• 4:9 – “at that day”

CHRIST IS REVEALED:

As THE FOUNTAIN OF LIVING WATERS — Jeremiah 2:13 (John 7:37; John 4:1–26)