365 Reflections

Every hero has an anti-hero. In the case of Jeremiah, that person is named, Hananiah. He's a false prophet "ministering" at the same time and falsely prophesying that the exile to Babylon will only be two years. You can imagine the appeal of such a message. Two years is far better than the 70 Jeremiah predicted.  Hananiah represents the message people wanted at a time when Jeremiah offered the message people needed. Jeremiah's yoke illustration must have triggered something animus in Hananiah. Watch what he does. Jeremiah 28:1–4 (ESV) In that same year, at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fifth month of the fourth year, Hananiah the son of Azzur, the prophet from Gibeon, spoke to me in the house of the LORD, in the presence of the priests and all the people, saying, 2 “Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon . 3 Within two years I will bring back to this place all the vessels of the LOR...

Preachers are often known for their physical props in sermons. Jeremiah, the prophet, was the king of them.  At the beginning of Zedekiah's reign, an immoral king, Jeremiah was commanded to fashion a yoke for teaming oxen and wear them as a sign to the people of God's sovereign rule over the nations.  Jeremiah 27:1–7 (ESV) In the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD. 2 Thus the LORD said to me: “Make yourself straps and yoke-bars, and put them on your neck. 3 Send word to the king of Edom, the king of Moab, the king of the sons of Ammon, the king of Tyre, and the king of Sidon by the hand of the envoys who have come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah. 4 Give them this charge for their masters: ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: This is what you shall say to your masters: 5 “It is I who by my great power and my outstretched arm have made the earth, with the men and animals that are on the...

Just when you think it's all over for Jeremiah, as the nation comes against him en masse, as the officials and priests want him to die, some really great things happen on his behalf. Some leaders come to his defense.  Jeremiah 26:16 (ESV) Then the officials and all the people said to the priests and the prophets, “This man does not deserve the sentence of death, for he has spoken to us in the name of the LORD our God.” Just a few verses earlier the priests and "prophets" were calling for his execution. But verse 16 teaches us that there is always someone who will hear the Word even when we do not see it.  Not only do these officials hear the Word of the Lord, they know the history of the Word of the Lord. This is not the first time God prophesied disaster for the nation.  Jeremiah 26:17–19 (ESV) And certain of the elders of the land arose and spoke to all the assembled people, saying, 18 “Micah of Moresheth prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and said to a...

Every generation needs a Jeremiah. That is, every generation needs a man of God who will stand up and declare His Word in a way that challenges even the appearance of wise leadership. An intriguing example of that happens in Jeremiah 26. Jeremiah 26:1–2 (ESV) In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came from the LORD: 2 “Thus says the LORD: Stand in the court of the LORD’s house, and speak to all the cities of Judah that come to worship in the house of the LORD all the words that I command you to speak to them; do not hold back a word.   To understand this chapter, we have to know a few facts. Jehoiakim is the third-to-last king of Judah. In God's judgment, he will become a vassal to Babylon and die a violent death. At this time, he foolishly rebelled against Babylon and God sent raiding armies against him, undercutting his effort to free the nation from Babylon's stranglehold. Now, you have the picture. Here is Jehoiakim, the kin...

Jeremiah 25:15–16 (ESV) Thus the LORD, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take from my hand this cup of the wine of wrath, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it. 16 They shall drink and stagger and be crazed because of the sword that I am sending among them.” Jeremiah is called on to communicate to the nations God's coming judgment. As much as we don't like to talk about this subject, it is all over the Bible and particularly emphasized in Revelation. So we do well to pay attention earlier in the Biblical canon.  God's wrath is symbolized by wine. Have you ever thought about why? It is a picture of how God brings judgment. People think it's a lightning bolt from heaven. It is not. It is handing a nation over to their own stupidity. Sin, when left unrestrained, intoxicates a person or nation and makes them self-destructive. God usually brings His wrath by simply letting us go on our own self-determined demise.  After the nations are told to drink the cup of ...

Jeremiah is known as the weeping prophet. The reason is simple: His ministry seemed to have no impact on the generation in which he ministered. Imagine preaching for 23 years and seeing no one respond.  Jeremiah 25:1–3 (ESV) The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah (that was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon), 2 which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the people of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem: 3 “For twenty-three years, from the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, to this day, the word of the LORD has come to me, and I have spoken persistently to you, but you have not listened. Jeremiah has preached "again and again" the same word to the same people and they haven't budged. There are few clearer presentations of human hard-heartedness in the Bible. And to think the name Jeremiah is heralded now. His ministry is honored. His contrib...

In Jeremiah 24 the exile into Babylon has begun. The first wave of exiles has been taken. And God speaks to Jeremiah again. Jeremiah 24:1–3 (ESV) After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken into exile from Jerusalem Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, together with the officials of Judah, the craftsmen, and the metal workers, and had brought them to Babylon, the LORD showed me this vision: behold, two baskets of figs placed before the temple of the LORD. 2 One basket had very good figs, like first-ripe figs, but the other basket had very bad figs, so bad that they could not be eaten. 3 And the LORD said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” I said, “Figs, the good figs very good, and the bad figs very bad, so bad that they cannot be eaten.” These figs are a picture for Jeremiah that God is going to distinguish between those who are good and those who are evil in Israel even through this judgment.  Jeremiah 24:5–7 (ESV) “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Like these...