365 Reflections

Jeremiah 10:6 (ESV) There is none like you, O LORD; you are great, and your name is great in might. Who is like the Lord? No one.  Israel learned the hard way that idols never live up to their promise. This very blessed nation, delivered and defined by the Lord failed to trust the Lord was enough all the way into exile. In what seems silly to us, they worshipped trinkets made by their own hands.  In Jeremiah 10, we find out the fruits of idolatry in nations, communities, and individuals.  First, when idolatry reigns, fear is common. Jeremiah 10:2 (ESV) Thus says the LORD: “Learn not the way of the nations, nor be dismayed at the signs of the heavens because the nations are dismayed at them, The signs of the heavens upset those who put their trust in their own hands. When someone believes they make their own way in the world, the creation has a funny way of reminding them they do not. Want to find idolatry? Look for those who fear what's happening to the Earth (even when nothing act

Jeremiah 9:23–24 (ESV) Thus says the LORD: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, 24 but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.” Three things that lead us to pride: Our own wisdom, strength, and money. And we seek them constantly. Israel had them under Solomon, and they ended up doing to the nation what they did to Solomon. They became self-indulgent behaviors that attracted the attention of others but lost him his heart for God.  Jeremiah brings the nation back to the things that made David their great king. The knowledge of God. When David first knew the Lord he did not have wisdom, might, or riches. God gave David these throughout His life as David faced greater trials and challenges along the way. And when David struggled, he l

Want to know what a godless nation looks like? Consider the description in Jeremiah 9. Most importantly, consider who suffers in a godless nation. The people lose community, trust and peace.  Jeremiah 9:3 (ESV) They bend their tongue like a bow; falsehood and not truth has grown strong in the land; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they do not know me, declares the LORD. They lie to each other when God is not their Lord. They grow from evil to evil and get worse. Can we not see the same thing happening today? Jeremiah 9:4 (ESV) Let everyone beware of his neighbor, and put no trust in any brother, for every brother is a deceiver, and every neighbor goes about as a slanderer. Jeremiah 9:5 (ESV) Everyone deceives his neighbor, and no one speaks the truth; they have taught their tongue to speak lies; they weary themselves committing iniquity. Jeremiah 9:8 (ESV) Their tongue is a deadly arrow; it speaks deceitfully; with his mouth each speaks peace to his neighbor, but in his heart h

So you want to be a prophet?  Take note! They weren't loved in their generation. In fact, as we study Jeremiah, we are going to see they were ignored, they were ridiculed and they were even tortured for the sake of their ministry to God's hard-hearted people.  Worst of all, they were often depressed over the condition of the world they lived in. Jeremiah is known as the weeping prophet because although his message was firm truth in times truth was not popular, he wept as he presented it. Jeremiah 8:18–19 (ESV) My joy is gone; grief is upon me; my heart is sick within me. 19 Behold, the cry of the daughter of my people from the length and breadth of the land: “Is the LORD not in Zion? Is her King not in her?” “Why have they provoked me to anger with their carved images and with their foreign idols?” Jeremiah sees God's people wondering where God is and he weeps even though He knows they are getting what their deeds deserve. Be careful of Christians who take pleasure in God&#

One thing reading the Bible does is teach you about history. And what you learn is that history is very dark. The ancient world, segregated to life in the dark before the light of Christ shone in men's hearts was a place of unbelievable evil. When you read Jeremiah you see that this evil found it's way into the heart of Israel's community.  Jeremiah 7:30–31 (ESV) “For the sons of Judah have done evil in my sight, declares the LORD. They have set their detestable things in the house that is called by my name, to defile it. 31 And they have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I did not command, nor did it come into my mind. Imagine this picture - burning your children in sacrifice to "gods". That is what Judah took part in. And God specifies - this did not even enter his mind! He did not even consider this to be a thing for them and yet they did it.  Leviticus 18:21

Jeremiah 7:1–4 (ESV) The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: 2 “Stand in the gate of the LORD’s house, and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of the LORD, all you men of Judah who enter these gates to worship the LORD. 3 Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Amend your ways and your deeds, and I will let you dwell in this place. 4 Do not trust in these deceptive words: ‘This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD.’ In Jeremiah's day the phrase, "This is the temple of the Lord" had become a boast. They believed that just because they had the temple, they were safe. They believed nothing could come against them as long as that temple stood. How wrong they were.  How often we can consider our religious practices and buildings and products a sign that we are blessed by God and doing right when really we are guilty of empty worship, sinful habits, and vain self-seeking idolatry.  What was Israel up to? Jeremiah s

Jeremiah is a man of God and a man of truth. Those two must go hand in hand as to be the former you must be devoted to the later. The proof? He wasn't afraid to call out the entire nation for her sins against the Lord. He brought everyone's actions into account. He spoke against the political leaders, the religious leaders and even the "so called" spiritual leaders.  This was God's calling and design for him if you remember back to Jeremiah 1.  Jeremiah 1:18 (ESV) And I, behold, I make you this day a fortified city, an iron pillar, and bronze walls, against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, its officials , its priests , and the people of the land. Jeremiah's ministry would offend the gamut of Israel's populace. So it should come as no surprise when he turns his target on the priests of prophets of Israel in Jeremiah 6. Jeremiah 6:8 (ESV) Be warned, O Jerusalem, lest I turn from you in disgust, lest I make you a desolation, an uninhabited land.

Theologians of a certain sort talk about the total depravity of man. Not that man is totally evil and utterly corrupt but rather there is no part of man that is NOT corrupt. In all things and in every way, sin lingers, stains, and destroys the image of God in him. Israel was a test case for the nations that prosperity from the outside does not transform the inside. They also proved that both the poor and rich are corrupt. The history of Israel as Jeremiah outlines in one of the darker chapters in the book (Jeremiah 5) is proof that mankind needs more than material blessings to be changed. They need a savior.  Jeremiah has examined the nation and found none seeking God. Jeremiah 5:1 (ESV) Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, look and take note! Search her squares to see if you can find a man, one who does justice and seeks truth, that I may pardon her. They propagated lies in God's name: Jeremiah 5:2 (ESV) Though they say, “As the LORD lives,” yet they swear falsely. T

We esteem men like Jeremiah today. But when he ministered the word of the Lord he was despised by the culture and he was demoralized by what he saw around him. We will see many glimpses of this man's heart as we walk through this book. One of the first times we see it is in Jeremiah 4.  Jeremiah 4:19 (ESV) My anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain! Oh the walls of my heart! My heart is beating wildly; I cannot keep silent, for I hear the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war. Jeremiah repeats the phrase, "my anguish" to emphasize his inward pain. He is torn apart for God's people as they await judgment.  Never listen to someone who claims to know that God's judgment will come and they do not weep for those on whom it falls. Judgment from God is a destructive reality. Any Earthly judgment we ever see is only a preview of the judgment to fall on all who reject Him. We who know the Lord should join Jeremiah is sorrowful anguish over the state of our nation.  Jeremia

God has a word from Jeremiah to Israel in Jeremiah 4 but it is to a specific segment of the population. The men.  Jeremiah 4:3 (ESV)  For thus says the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem: “Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns. It's astonishing the impact men have on society. For both tremendous good and tremendous evil. Look at the story of almost any overachiever and you will most likely find a failed father in their past. They are desperate to undo the damage Dad did.  Jeremiah knows that the men need to repent if the nation is to rebound. And their hardness is causing hardship in the land.  Then this phrase: "So not among thorns." What a crazy statement! Who would sow seed where you could get stuck or pierced with pain? Only foolish men! Thorns are a picture of sin in Genesis 3. Adam's rebellion would cause the land to produce them. Jesus wore a crown of thorns on his brow symbolizing His payment for Adam's rebellion. Jesus also tells us th

Jeremiah makes a stunning pronouncement in chapter 3.  Jeremiah 3:11 (ESV) And the LORD said to me, “Faithless Israel has shown herself more righteous than treacherous Judah. Israel had been more wicked than Judah up to this point by far. They are the nation of Ahab and Jezebel. They are the prophet-killing kingdom. They were the spiritual offspring of vile Jeroboam who taught Israel to abandon the Lord and worship in the high places. Yet here, Jeremiah says Judah is less righteous than Israel. How? Simply put, because Judah saw what happened to Israel. They were handed over to the Assyrians and destroyed. Judah should have paid attention and learned in order to avoid the same fate, but they did not, they ran in the same rebellious direction without care. There is a greater condemnation on the people who should have learned from the failures of those before them.  Jeremiah offers that northern nation hope: Jeremiah 3:12 (ESV) Go, and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, “

Contrary to popular adages, God doesn't strike sinners with lightning bolts. He lets their own choices reveal their missteps and lets them feel the pain.  Jeremiah 2:19 (ESV) Your evil will chastise you, and your apostasy will reprove you. Know and see that it is evil and bitter for you to forsake the LORD your God; the fear of me is not in you, declares the Lord GOD of hosts. God indicts the evil of Israel by stating something we often neglect to mention in the Christian faith. Our own evil will cost us great pains. When we turn from the Lord, we are the ones who suffer. That was Israel's condition and it is so often the condition of our own lives as well. Jeremiah 2:21 (ESV) Yet I planted you a choice vine, wholly of pure seed. How then have you turned degenerate and become a wild vine? God did everything necessary to make Israel a wonderfully fruitful land. But now they are unrecognizable. This too warns us against letting sin in our life. It deteriorates us inwardly.  The

Do you ever get nostalgic? I do. I drove by my first apartment today and thought about the person I was 25 years ago. It was so weird to be there. First time in decades. Sometimes life brings you back. But does God do that?  I know not dwelling on the past is a very Christian thing to do. Paul says, "Forgetting what is behind I press on." But there are moments when nostalgia can be necessary. Such is the case in Jeremiah's ministry.  Jeremiah 2:1–3 (ESV) The word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2 “Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem, Thus says the LORD, “ I remember the devotion of your youth , your love as a bride, how you followed me in the wilderness, in a land not sown. 3 Israel was holy to the LORD, the firstfruits of his harvest. All who ate of it incurred guilt; disaster came upon them, declares the LORD.” What is God doing? He's reminding them of where they began. They were at one time devoted to the Lord. They followed Him and while they did complain

The first event after Jeremiah's commission is a conversation about visions given to him by God. The Lord asks him two questions. Here is the first.  Jeremiah 1:11–12 (ESV) And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Jeremiah, what do you see?” And I said, “I see an almond branch.” 12 Then the LORD said to me, “You have seen well, for I am watching over my word to perform it.” A note in my Bible over the word, "almond" stipulates a wordplay at work here. The Hebrew word for almond (saqed) sounds like "watching" (saqad). God wanted Jeremiah to SEE God's word at work. God will always see that His Word goes to work as God declared it to work.  This is the fundamental requirement if one should venture to speak for God. That person must be confident that God's Word will come to pass no matter what others SAY. Those who reject such confidence will find themselves swaying in the wind of public opinion, current trends, and even age-old deceptions. God makes p

You can have a kid without intention. But you cannot be a child without God's direction. He has a purpose for you from before you are even born.  Jeremiah 1:4–5 (ESV) Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” Jeremiah was a priest, but something more significant defined him. He was known by God and THEN formed by God. Notice the order. God knew him, THEN formed him, THEN consecrated him, and THEN after all that, he was born. It's almost as if birth was a foregone conclusion with God. To us, birth is such a huge deal, to God it's the last on the list of why you came to be. Consider that the next time you feel worthless. God has no accidents.  It's also good to see that even this great man Jeremiah struggled with this idea. Because he offers God an excuse as soon as he learns of God's coordination of his birth. Jeremiah 1:6 (ESV) Th

Jeremiah 1:1–3 (ESV) The words of Jeremiah, the son of Hilkiah, one of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, 2 to whom the word of the LORD came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign. 3 It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, and until the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the captivity of Jerusalem in the fifth month. The prophet Jeremiah is from a priestly family in the territory of Benjamin from a town called, "Anathoth." The name of the town means, "answers to prayer." Jeremiah's own name is a Hebrew derivative of "whom Jehovah has appointed." All of this is ironic since Jeremiah's ministry will be mostly to weep and announce judgment for the sins of the nation. Through his ministry, they will be rightly prepared for a 70-year exile clothed in the hope he gives them through his multi-decade prophet

Isaiah 66:7–8 (ESV) “Before she was in labor she gave birth; before her pain came upon her she delivered a son. 8 Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall a land be born in one day? Shall a nation be brought forth in one moment? For as soon as Zion was in labor she brought forth her children. Amazingly, Isaiah ends on a euphoric note of hope. God will bring a miraculous resurrection to Israel and one day she will be born. Now I happen to believe the fulfillment of that text happened on May 14, 1948, when Israel declared itself a state, and the U.S. President recognized her sovereignty moments later against the wishes of his cabinet. Biblical History was made and the world changed forever.  Isaiah does what a lot of prophets in the Bible do. They spoke of things to happen in their generation and the ultimate things to happen much later. The fact is, God was so gracious to His people, that He fulfilled their comeback prophecy twice, separated by 2400 years of history.

Isaiah 66:1–2 (ESV) Thus says the LORD: “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool; what is the house that you would build for me, and what is the place of my rest? 2 All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the LORD. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word. I love this text.  God is the one who has the heavens as His throne. The stars and Sun cannot contain Him. They are a seat for His glory. The Earth is a footstool, a resting place. Whatever temple Israel built, it did not do Him service.  The verse doesn't end there. The end is wonderful. God will look to the one who humbles himself, repents of sin, and trembles at His Word. What is this opening about? Simple. Israel had grown over-confident that it's religious practice was somehow making God happy. It wasn't.  It is evident from Isaiah's next verse that worship in the sacrificial system had grown empty.

Isaiah 65:17–18 (ESV) “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind. 18 But be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem to be a joy, and her people to be a gladness. As Isaiah comes to a close we are invited to eternal hope. For all the warnings this prophet has laid out to God's people. For the back and forth that continues in almost every chapter - judgment, God's mercy, hope, back to judgment. We know that all is pointing to a final destination in glory. A new heavens and a new Earth. A wonderful joy so overwhelming that our sorrow and struggle will not come to mind! We have in Isaiah 65 a clear picture of the next age of the universe.  Isaiah 65:19–20 (ESV) I will rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in my people; no more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping and the cry of distress. 20 No more shall there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man w

There's the idea many people have in their minds about how we relate to God. Then there's the truth as revealed in scripture.  In our minds, we think we are pretty good toward God. We haven't killed anyone. We are "good people" in our opinion. Then we consider that we deserve better in life for our performance. Why haven't we been given what others have? Why doesn't God show up more often?  But scripture shows a far worse reality. We are wholly rebellious in spite of God's consistent search to bring us home. Isaiah 65:1–5 (ESV) I was ready to be sought by those who did not ask for me; I was ready to be found by those who did not seek me. I said, “Here I am, here I am,” to a nation that was not called by my name. 2 I spread out my hands all the day to a rebellious people, who walk in a way that is not good, following their own devices; 3 a people who provoke me to my face continually, sacrificing in gardens and making offerings on bricks; 4 who sit in t

Isaiah 63-64 is a beautiful prayer for mercy from the prophet on behalf of the people. Sometimes we think a prophet's job is only to speak for God. But Isaiah and many other prophets oftentimes speak to God on behalf of men.  Isaiah 63:15 (ESV) Look down from heaven and see, from your holy and beautiful habitation. Where are your zeal and your might? The stirring of your inner parts and your compassion are held back from me. Isaiah's prayer for mercy is based not on their righteousness at all. He bases his pleas on God's compassion within. I think of the ministry of Jesus in Matthew 9 as He looked upon the people who came to Him.  Matthew 9:36 (ESV) When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Isaiah 63:16 (ESV) For you are our Father, though Abraham does not know us, and Israel does not acknowledge us; you, O LORD, are our Father, our Redeemer from of old is your name. Isaiah will acknowledge

God is God because He will act alone when necessary. And because humanity is filled with imperfections and failures God stands out. Because He will do what we don't do. He will act in full righteousness and holiness and sometimes when He does we don't see it or understand it.  Isaiah 63 gives us that image of God being God and acting alone.  Isaiah 63:1–2 (ESV) Who is this who comes from Edom, in crimsoned garments from Bozrah, he who is splendid in his apparel, marching in the greatness of his strength? “It is I, speaking in righteousness, mighty to save.” 2 Why is your apparel red, and your garments like his who treads in the winepress? The question is simple. The Lord is crimson stained and the prophet asks on behalf of the people, why?  Isaiah 63:3 (ESV) “I have trodden the winepress alone, and from the peoples no one was with me; I trod them in my anger and trampled them in my wrath; their lifeblood spattered on my garments, and stained all my apparel.  God did what no on

Isaiah 62:1 (ESV) For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not be quiet, until her righteousness goes forth as brightness, and her salvation as a burning torch. I love the beginning of Isaiah 62. The chapter is full of good news for God's captive people. They were lost in exile but they will be brought back and restored to wholeness with the Lord. You get the idea that Isaiah's message has been dark for a reason, to bring those dwelling in darkness to the light.  Earlier in Isaiah, the prophet also could not keep silent. But then it was about the terrible sins of the nation. Remember Isaiah 58? Isaiah 58:1 (ESV) “Cry aloud; do not hold back; lift up your voice like a trumpet; declare to my people their transgression, to the house of Jacob their sins. One thing God is never going to do. He's never not going to speak to us. He will lead us with His voice until we are freed from sin and in right relationship with Him.  This time in Isaiah 62, th

Christians who know scripture should be the most positive people on the planet. Why? Because we know how the story began - with God. And we also know how the story turned around - through God, the Son becoming sin for us so that we might become the righteousness of God. And we know we have the Spirit of God and that God the Son will come back and bring us home to God the Father.  Isaiah's positive message in chapter 61 spells out those realities in ancient prophetic language that contains stunning accuracy to New Testament realities.  Isaiah 61:5–7 (ESV) Strangers shall stand and tend your flocks; foreigners shall be your plowmen and vinedressers; 6 but you shall be called the priests of the LORD; they shall speak of you as the ministers of our God; you shall eat the wealth of the nations, and in their glory you shall boast. 7 Instead of your shame there shall be a double portion; instead of dishonor they shall rejoice in their lot; therefore in their land they shall possess a d

Isaiah 61:1 (ESV)  The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; Ultimately God's prophets are people of HOPE. They are people of good news. But we avoid their message because their message first must address the bad news about us! We do not want to hear that we are sinful and wrong. Modern society has jettisoned those ancient ideas of "original sin" and "condemnation." Modern society believes man is basically born good and needs a better society to improve. God's best men beg to differ with those concepts. Humanity must be confronted over the evil inside so that it might enjoy the hope of God's goodness in the end.  Now Isaiah 61 is the verse that Jesus will read and pronounce fulfilled in Nazareth. After doing so, the people are fixed on him.  Luke 4:20 (ESV) A

Isaiah prophesied during the reigns of some of Judah's worst kings. Ahaz and Manasseh to name a couple. These are men who denied the Lord, worshipped false gods, sacrificed their children in the fire to Molech, and encouraged the nation to do the same.  Yet time and again, as Isaiah weaves throughout his book the troubling warnings of utter devastation for this people, there are also several moments where he clearly enunciates a soon-coming redemption for them in spite of their sin.  Isaiah 60:1–3 (ESV) Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. 2 For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the LORD will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you. 3 And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. The pronouns in this chapter are feminine singular. What is God talking about? The city of Jerusalem. For all she has been through, God will cause her to shine among the

The back and forth between judgment and hope in Isaiah begins on page one and continues throughout. The two go hand in hand. God is a perfect judge who will not dwell in the presence of sin. But God is also the justifying God who makes it possible for wayward sinners to come back. However, we need to remember the great cavern between us if we are going to live gratefully forgiven.  Isaiah 59:1 (ESV) Behold, the LORD’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear; Hope in verse 1 of Isaiah 59. God can save. He can hear us. But there's some troubling news as well.  Isaiah 59:2 (ESV) but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear. Which is it? Can God save or have our sins pushed us far from Him? The answer is both. From verse 3 on, Isaiah describes the waywardness of Israel. This is a nation eager to sin. Isaiah 59:7–8 (ESV) Their feet run to evil, and they