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skipping the receptions

Jeremiah 16:5-13 (JDV)

Jeremiah 16:5 “Now – you see – this is what Yahveh says: Don’t come into a house having a mourning feast. Don’t go to mourn or show sorrow for them, because I have removed my peace from these people as well as my covenant faithfulness and comfort.” This is what Yahveh declares.

Jeremiah 16:6 “And they will die – big ones and little ones in this land without being buried. No sorrow will be shown for them, nor will anyone cut himself or shave his head for them.

Jeremiah 16:7 Bread won’t be broken for the mourner to comfort him because of the dead. A cup to drink won’t be given him for the loss of his father or mother.

Jeremiah 16:8 Do not come into the house where feasting is taking place to sit with them to eat and drink

Jeremiah 16:9 because this is what Yahveh of Armies, the God of Israel, says: I am about to eliminate from this place, before your very eyes and in your time, the sound of joy and gladness, the voice of the groom and the bride.

Jeremiah 16:10 “When you tell these people all these things, they will say to you, ‘Why has Yahveh declared all this terrible disaster against us? What is our violation? What is our failure with which we have failed Yahveh our God? ‘

Jeremiah 16:11 Then you will answer them, ‘Because your fathers abandoned me – this is what Yahveh declares – and followed other gods, served them, and bowed in worship to them. Indeed, they abandoned me and did not keep my instruction.

Jeremiah 16:12 You did more evil than your fathers. Notice, each one of you was following the stubbornness of his evil heart, not obeying me.

Jeremiah 16:13 So I will hurl you from this land into a land that you and your fathers are not familiar with. There you will worship other gods both day and night, because I will not grant you favor.’

skipping the receptions

The Lord tells Jeremiah to stop attending mourning feasts. The mourning feasts were another cultural expectation, and Jeremiah’s absence at such feasts would have sent a strong message of God’s disapproval of his people.

These receptions are very important in any setting. They give us opportunity to reconnect with relatives and friends we have not seen in a while, to process our grief among those who are feeling the same loss. We don’t think about them much, but the receptions are a blessing that we would miss.

The coming invasion would eliminate the mourning receptions for Jeremiah’s people.

There are so many things about our life that we would really miss if they were taken away – so many blessings from God that we often assume will always be there. Abandoning God strips a life of so much.

Lord, thank you for all the things in our life that reveal your care for us.