365 Reflections

God's call on a prophet is to see sin the way God sees it. It destroys and ultimately makes creation utterly useless, chaotic and empty. This is why the Lord speaks to Jeremiah in such seemingly cold-hearted tones in Jeremiah 16.  Jeremiah 16:1–2 (ESV) The word of the LORD came to me: 2 “You shall not take a wife, nor shall you have sons or daughters in this place. Jeremiah is not to have a family. There's a very rational argument for this. The land is utterly corrupt and destined for destruction. The nation was sacrificing their children to Molech. The king was leading the way. It was not a good time for the prophet of God to produce offspring in such a heinous context. Judgment was coming.  Jeremiah 16:4 (ESV) They shall die of deadly diseases. They shall not be lamented, nor shall they be buried. They shall be as dung on the surface of the ground. They shall perish by the sword and by famine, and their dead bodies shall be food for the birds of the air and for the beasts ...

Jeremiah begins to lament once more in chapter 15.  Jeremiah 15:15 (ESV) O LORD, you know; remember me and visit me, and take vengeance for me on my persecutors. In your forbearance take me not away; know that for your sake I bear reproach. His first words here are so important. He acknowledges that the Lord knows his struggles. And that's true. The Lord really does know the struggles of those who serve Him. He knows what we do for Him and how we work for Him.  Jeremiah 15:16 (ESV) Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O LORD, God of hosts. The preacher loves the Word of God. The idea of "finding" them speaks to the truths revealed as one meditates over them again and again. You never run out of insights to "find" in the Word of God.  Jeremiah 15:17 (ESV) I did not sit in the company of revelers, nor did I rejoice; I sat alone, because your hand was upon me, for you h...

Jeremiah 15:1 (ESV) Then the LORD said to me, “Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my heart would not turn toward this people. Send them out of my sight, and let them go! Jeremiah 15 marks a dangerous declaration from the Lord. He has handed Judah over to her sins. She will be punished for what she has done in abandoning Him. But the manner of her punishment is self-inflicted. Notice the next verse: Jeremiah 15:2 (ESV) And when they ask you, ‘Where shall we go?’ you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD: “ ‘Those who are for pestilence, to pestilence, and those who are for the sword, to the sword; those who are for famine, to famine, and those who are for captivity, to captivity.’ The description here is of inevitable consequences. Judah had chosen the path to pestilence, war, famine, and captivity by abandoning the covenant with Yahweh. The eventual consequences of life without God are her inescapable future. God declares: Jeremiah 15:4 (ESV) And I will make them a horror t...

Have you ever felt like you were in a spiritual drought? The people of Jeremiah's day were in a physical one because they were in a spiritual one. And in Jeremiah 14, we find hope for those who are thirsty.  Jeremiah 14:1–3 (ESV)  The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah concerning the drought: 2 “Judah mourns, and her gates languish; her people lament on the ground, and the cry of Jerusalem goes up.  3 Her nobles send their servants for water; they come to the cisterns; they find no water; they return with their vessels empty; they are ashamed and confounded and cover their heads. The answer to spiritual drought is to recognize it. Take note that you're not experiencing the fullness and freshness you once did. That is what Jeremiah is doing in the first 6 verses. He's exposing the nation to their desperate condition. They didn't have water but the real problem was, they did not have the Lord's presence and provision.  Second, Jeremiah leads the nation in repentan...

Sometimes, many times, the prophets of the Old TEstament were asked by the Lord to do some weird things. Jeremiah is no exception.  Jeremiah 13:1–4 (ESV) Thus says the LORD to me, “Go and buy a linen loincloth and put it around your waist, and do not dip it in water.” 2 So I bought a loincloth according to the word of the LORD, and put it around my waist. 3 And the word of the LORD came to me a second time, 4 “Take the loincloth that you have bought, which is around your waist, and arise, go to the Euphrates and hide it there in a cleft of the rock.” The "linen loincloth" mentioned here would be an undergarment perhaps warn by priests. The symbolism is aimed to illustrate intimacy. Jeremiah obeys and hides the loincloth in the rock. And God speaks again. Jeremiah 13:6–7 (ESV) And after many days the LORD said to me, “Arise, go to the Euphrates, and take from there the loincloth that I commanded you to hide there.” 7 Then I went to the Euphrates, and dug, and I took the loinc...

I think we forget that those who spoke for God also had questions for God. Jeremiah was not some detached morally perfect completely confident person. He was a man of his age with questions about the world and fairness and God's justice just like many of us. Which brings us to Jeremiah 11. Jeremiah 12:1 (ESV) Righteous are you, O LORD, when I complain to you; yet I would plead my case before you. Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all who are treacherous thrive? That's a question we all can ask, right? Why does God let the wicked prosper? They should be judged for their actions. And the most vile of the wicked in any age are those who pretend to be spiritual.  Jeremiah 12:2 (ESV) You plant them, and they take root; they grow and produce fruit; you are near in their mouth and far from their heart. Now for the best part of the chapter and one of my favorite verses in scripture. God's reply begins with a wonderful question for anyone who plans to serve God.  Jerem...

Idols are like flies - they multiply and overwhelm you. Israel was warned consistently both before they entered the promised land and after they took occupancy and lived among the judges and also throughout the monarchy that idolatry would be their downfall. They never could change it. And Jeremiah prophesied at a time when idolatry was overrunning the nation. Jeremiah 11:13 (ESV) Look now, people of Judah; you have as many gods as you have towns. You have as many altars of shame—altars for burning incense to your god Baal—as there are streets in Jerusalem. God calls them to look. Perhaps they did not notice. Their idols were abundant. As many towns and streets in the land - so they had idols. I tend to think this is a cultural reality. Every town has a particular idol in the world. Whether that be sports, money, gambling, celebrity, or fame, I believe idolatry is regional as it is national. The point is - the human race can make a "god" out of almost anything.  God then tel...