Month: September 2020

We find ourselves once again with another image that is pretty powerful.  Jeremiah is told to take the religious leaders with him and go out into a valley that had been used to worship other gods through human sacrifices.  He was told to bring a jar with him and use that jar as an object lesson.  Now, keep in mind that the people that he brought with him to that valley were the very same people who in the previous chapter had said: “Let us not heed any of his words.”  So he basically was bringing with him those who were looking to discredit him and were looking to bring him down.  But he did it.

The object lesson that he was to take part in was to break that jar and to give the message that once that jar is broken it can not be replaced and put back together again.  There is a difference between the clay not taking the shape that the potter wants it to take so he uses the same clay and reshapes it to his purposes.  This is very different from taking a jar that is already shaped, already fired in the oven, and then breaking it.  It then has absolutely no use.  You can’t take those pieces to create anything of use.

That broken jar was Israel and Judah.  Once that jar is broken, and God saw that it was already broken, as nations had come and conquered His people, He realizes it is time now to raise up a new branch.  This image will come a little later, but the jar serves as almost the final indication that God has turned His back on his people because His people have been so unfaithful.  It is a good understanding for us to recognize that our unfaithfulness has eternal and earthly consequences.

Wow, I have a lot of catching up to do!  This is a great chapter.  We begin with God giving Jeremiah an example of a potter and clay. He had messed up with the clay and it wasn’t taking the shape that he was hoping so he reworked it, and reshaped it, and when he was done he  looked at it and it “seemed good to him.”  As a result the example given is that God gives the people of Israel a chance and says, I  am willing to reshape you and mold you and give you another chance. In vs.11 we read that it was conditional to “turn now, all of you from your evil ways, and amend your ways and your doings.”  

But the people of Israel said: “It’s no use, we will follow our own plans.”  As a result of their failure to be willing to follow along with God’s plan, God once again turned His back on the people.  We then read that the people verbally choose to gang up against Jeremiah and to find ways in which to discredit his words and his ministry.  We read in vs.18: “Come, let us make plots against Jeremiah.”  “Come, let us not heed any of his words.”

As a result not only did God turn His back on the people of Israel, but here Jeremiah encourages God not to defend his detractors.  In fact, he asks that their wives would become childless and widowed.  Wow, not really something to emulate, but absolutely something to pay attention to as we look to follow God even in times when we are told to do things that we do not want.

So when you travel to Israel you have to be aware that on Saturday things are going to be stripped down.  You will be walking the steps at your hotel, or at least the elevator will stop at every floor. You will be eating left-overs, or at least pretty minimalist food.  If you are able to consider it as part of the experience then you can take it in stride, if you see it as something that is a bother, then you will miss the point that Jeremiah makes here in this chapter.  

Starting at vs. 19 and following Jeremiah is commanded to go and stand by the gates and yell  at the people that they need to follow the Sabbath.  He tells them that they are not to carry any burden on the Sabbath, because that is considered work and you are not to do work on the Sabbath.  

How do we obey the Sabbath?  I know, some of you say that we go to church and that pretty much checks the box for Sabbath keeping.  What if we agreed not to go to any stores and make purchases on Sunday?  What if  we agreed not to cook on Sunday?  What if we agreed not to carry any heavy burdens?  What if we agreed not to do any work with machinery, which might even include driving?  Uh oh, what about church?  Maybe you can be allowed to drive to church.

Our lives would be very different if we followed the commandment, which is one of the 10 Commandments, and really followed the Sabbath.  Life would be very different.

As we continue along with Jeremiah I continue to think of the resonance of what Jeremiah is saying and the reality in which we find ourselves.  Jeremiah has the law laid down before him to the extent where God says it is best if you do not marry,  that you do not have children, that you do not propagate the following of idols and others gods which was currently happening in the land.  Again, there is the expectation that the people are going to ask why?  What did we do wrong?

The response is very interesting and also very common in the Old Testament.  The reason why you are going through what you are going through is not because of something that you have done, but rather it is “because your ancestors have forsaken me.”  But, just in case you think it is only because of your ancestors, you can see in vs.12: “Because you have behaved worse than your ancestors, for here you are, every one of you, following your stubborn evil will, refusing to listen to me.”  So no, it isn’t just because your ancestors have done wrong, but because you have also done wrong.

The pollution of the land of the Lord as a result of idol worship was such that it needed to have a deep clean.  Those who were disobedient had to be fished out, had to be hunted down, and the land had to be cleared of those who were not obedient to the Lord.  We find ourselves in a time where people are not really sure what the right thing and the wrong thing to do is simply because people have various opinions.  What we have done is lost sight of what are the parameters for right and wrong?  It isn’t what our political leaders say, and even now it isn’t even what our religious leaders say.  It is simply what our Scripture says.  Love God and love your neighbor.

Jeremiah asks God what he should tell the people when they ask: where shall we go?  The reason this question comes up is because  God has told them earlier in vs.1: “Send them out of my sight.”  But where shall we go?  Go to ….those who are to die from pestilence, to pestilence, those who are to die from the sword, to the sword, those who are destined to famine, to famine, captivity, captivity.  Basically, God says I want nothing more to do with you…for now.

There is a pretty serious change in theology and approach from the Old Testament where we see God turn God’s back on His people to the New Testament where we see God reach out with open arms to us even while we were yet sinners.  Even while we sinned against God, and against God alone, Jesus still looks to us and says: “Today you will be with me in paradise.”  

This conditional relationship in the Old Testament is highlighted in vs.19 where we read: “If you turn back then I will take you back.”  It isn’t a bad idea to read these Scriptures with an understanding that we know what is required of us, so why not do it?

If you were to pick up at vs.11 you would see where God asks Jeremiah, again, to not pray for the people because they have wandering feet.  But Jeremiah responds and says: My colleagues are telling the people that everything is fine, there is no problem.  There never will be a famine, nor will the sword strike them down.  My colleagues, my fellow priests, are telling the people that everything is just fine.

Not everything is fine.  God tells Jeremiah that his colleagues are wrong, they are preaching a message  that was not given to them by Him.  They will be consumed just as the people will be consumed because they are telling a message that they have made up and is not a message given by God.

How can we tell if a message is from God or if it is our own desires that are directing the message?  There are parameters that allow us to understand what is God’s message and what is our message.  The parameters are laid out by the greatest commandment which is to love God and to love neighbor.  When we try to give a message that is just to reinforce our own preconceived ideas of how things should be, well then we will easily fall prey to our own message.  

If we are stuck upon one issue that we deem as most important and then forget other incredibly important issues which Jesus actually spoke about (poverty, justice, love of stranger) then we will more than likely become  like those colleagues of Jeremiah who preach just to please the people and have wandering feet.

We find God using an object lesson to describe how the people of Israel have treated him.  The loincloth would basically be our underwear and it would in one sense describe an intimacy with God that was unmatched.  Israel was described as clinging to God.  You see that example in vs.11 where God was hoping the people of Israel would be for God “a name, a praise, and a glory, but they would not listen.”  But because the loincloth was placed in an environment where it was ruined, so the people of Israel were ruined because they chose to run with the wrong nations.  They chose to run with the wrong gods.  They chose to turn their back on the God of Israel, who had chosen them, and they chose the gods that were in their midst from the other nations.

We see the author letting Israel know that how they are now they are not going to be able to change.  Look at vs.22 and following where God says that they are not able to do good because they are so accustomed to doing evil.  The end of this chapter gives us this phrase: “Woe to you, O Jerusalem!  How long will it be before you are made clean?”   

We begin this chapter with the question that has provided uncertain answers for millennia.  Why do good things happen to bad people?  Normally we would follow suit and ask the question with the same title of the book, why do bad things happen to good people, but here it is reversed.  The author asks: “Why do all who are treacherous thrive?”  As Billy Joel would say:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMdOsk3fVAE

We then hear God,  and Jeremiah, ask the people of Israel and Judah that if they think they can do it on their own, then they should try.  But they need to look at their previous attempts.  They tried to run with people and were exhausted, how are they going to run with horses?  They were given a safe land and still fell down, how will they do in the treacherous land of their neighbors who are looking to kill them?  

We are not able to live outside of the protection of God.  God is our maker, God is our potter, and we are the clay.  How can the clay say to the potter, why did you make me in this way or shape?  I would rather be a bowl, but you have made me a vase.  Why do the wicked prosper?  I would rather they suffer.  But we have not created the wicked, we do not control what God does.  How does that sit with us?

We read about the covenant that God made with the people of Israel when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.  We see that mentioned in vs.2-3.  The covenant that God made with the people of Israel was that if they followed his commandments then he would provide for them a land flowing with milk and honey.  He goes on to state that he fulfilled his end of the bargain.  He provided the people of God the land which was Israel and it was the promised land, the land that had been set aside for the people of God, by God.  So God did his part, but the people did not obey God’s commands.  

You read in vs.10 the final verdict: “the house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken the covenant that I made with their ancestors.”  God did his part, but the people did not do their part.  As result of the people breaking the covenant God says: “assuredly I am going to bring disaster upon them that they cannot escape.”  He even tells Jeremiah to not even pray for the people.  

Can you imagine that?  Can you imagine that you are a pastor at a church and you are teaching them the way that God has placed upon your heart to teach them, but they don’t follow it and God tells you that they are going to be destroyed and you aren’t able to pray for your flock.  Consider  the pain of Jeremiah in this passage.  What it would mean that he  could not even pray for his family, his church family, as they were being set up to be destroyed because of their unfaithfulness.  Just consider this chapter and how Jeremiah was feeling.  Do you see now why he was called the weeping prophet?

As we continue along with the author predicting the doom that will come, we do find an interest appeal in vs.23ff.  We find the author asking to be corrected.  That doesn’t normally happen, that we ask God to correct us.  But notice that the request is that we be corrected, “In just measure.”  Basically asking as we see in the New Testament the request that we be tested but not “beyond our strength.” I Corinthians 10:13.  This request in Jeremiah is a request that we be corrected but only in just measure.  Basically the request is: Be nice God, please.

But the author continues and asks, also, just in case you were thinking about it, please don’t correct me when you are angry.  Walk away, count to ten, and then come back if you don’t mind.  When I am counseling young couples as they get married and we get to the place where we discuss children and the discipline of children, because if couples re not unified on this then it can cause problems, I always remind them that they should never ever punish a child when they are angry.  It always leads to bad things.  The same request is made of God.  Please don’t punish us when you are angry.  It can lead to bad things.