365 Reflections

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, an...

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.  Th...

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...