Jeremiah 22:6 You see, this is what Yahveh says about the house of the king of Judah: “You are like Gilead to me, or the summit of Lebanon, but I will certainly turn you into an open country, uninhabited cities.
Jeremiah 22:7 I will commit destroyers against you, each with his weapons. They will cut down the choicest of your cedars and throw them into the fire.
Jeremiah 22:8 “Many nations will pass by this city and ask one another, ‘Why did Yahveh do such a thing to this great city?’
Jeremiah 22:9 They will answer, ‘Because they abandoned the covenant of Yahveh their God and bowed in worship to other gods and served them.'”
where is your mountain
As Penny and I hike the trail, we see the amazing difference the seasons make. Sometimes it only involves a little time, like the day we hiked the Ben Lomond trail in Queenstown, New Zealand, after a newly fallen snow. We had hiked the same trail only days before, but it was totally different after the snowfall. The only thing that stayed the same was the elevation.
Imagine how disoriented we would be if we took to a trail one day, and discovered that one of the mountains was gone.
That is the image that Jeremiah is using here. The city of Jerusalem is going to be leveled, and all the passers-by will ask the same question. They will not ask “how?” because they will know that answer. The question they will ask is “why?” – and the answer would be that they had abandoned the covenant!
Christian, do you know that we have covenanted with the same God. Pay attention to the commands of Christ and his covenant mission. If we don’t, someday they may be asking why our mountain is missing.
Lord, draw us to your words, consecrate us to your covenant.
Jeremiah 22:1 This is what Yahveh says: “Go down to the house of the king of Judah and speak this word there.
Jeremiah 22:2 You are to say, ‘Hear the word of Yahveh, king of Judah, you who sit on the throne of David – you, your officers, and your people who enter these gates.
Jeremiah 22:3 This is what Yahveh says: Do justice and righteousness. Snatch the one being robbed from his oppressor’s hand. Don’t exploit or brutalize the foreign guest, the orphan, or the widow. Don’t shed innocent blood in this place.
Jeremiah 22:4 Because if you conscientiously carry out this word, then kings sitting on David’s throne will enter through the gates of this house riding on chariots and horses – they, their officers, and their people.
Jeremiah 22:5 But if you do not obey these words, then I swear by myself – this is what Yahveh declares – that this house will become waste.'”
looking out for the little people
Jeremiah’s warning to the king of Judah was that if he did not live up to the covenant his ancestor David had entered with God, his house – that is, his kingship, was going to become waste.
What God wants of a leader is someone who concentrates on taking care of those who cannot take care of themselves. He wants a king who looks after the oppressed, foreign immigrants, orphans and widows.
If a leader is only interested in keeping himself or herself in office, I would suggest they look into the book and see what became of Zedekiah. Looking out for number one is not as important in God’s economy as looking out for the little people.
Lord, may our leaders take seriously their responsibility toward those who need help.
Jeremiah 21:11 “And to the house of the king of Judah say this: ‘Hear the word of Yahveh!
Jeremiah 21:12 House of David, this is what Yahveh says: Administer justice every morning, and rescue the victim of robbery from his oppressor, or my anger will flare up like fire and burn unquenchably because of your evil deeds.
Jeremiah 21:13 Beware! I am against you, you who sit above the valley, you atop the rocky plateau – this is what Yahveh declares – you who say, “Who can come down against us? Who can enter our hiding places?”
Jeremiah 21:14 I will punish you according to what you have done – this is what Yahveh declares. I will kindle a fire in your forest that will consume everything around it.'”
Jeremiah’s unquenchable fire
The theological know-it-alls tell us that God wants to torment the wicked perpetually in hell. They tell us that there is no other way to read scripture because the New Testament describes the final punishment of the wicked as an unquenchable fire.
These theological know-it-alls do not understand what the Bible is saying when it describes hell as an unquenchable fire. Jeremiah used the concept of an unquenchable fire here to describe God’s anger against the king of Judah for his disobedience. But Jeremiah’s fire would not torment the king and his kingdom perpetually. The result of that fire which God kindled was to “consume everything around it.” An unquenchable fire is a fire that cannot be put out until it destroys all its fuel. That is what hell will do.
Lord, help us to think biblically about your final punishment of the wicked.
Jeremiah 21:1 The word that was to Jeremiah from Yahveh when King Zedekiah sent Pashhur son of Malchijah and the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah, asking,
Jeremiah 21:2 “Inquire now about Yahveh on our behalf, since King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon is making war against us. Maybe Yahveh will do for us something like all his past wondrous works so that Nebuchadnezzar will withdraw from us.”
Jeremiah 21:3 But Jeremiah said, “This is what you are to say to Zedekiah:
Jeremiah 21:4 ‘This is what Yahveh, the God of Israel, says: I am about to repel the weapons of war in your hands, those you are using to fight the king of Babylon and the Chaldeans who are besieging1 you outside the wall, and I will bring them into the center of this city.
Jeremiah 21:5 I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and a strong arm, with anger, rage, and intense wrath.
Jeremiah 21:6 I will strike the residents of this city, both people and animals. They will die in a severe plague.
Jeremiah 21:7 Afterward – this is what Yahveh declares – King Zedekiah of Judah, his officers, and the people – those in this city who survive the plague, the sword, and the famine – I will hand over to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, to their enemies, yes, to those who intend to take their lives. He will put them to the sword; he won’t spare them or show pity or compassion.’
Jeremiah 21:8 “But tell this people, ‘This is what Yahveh says: Look, I am setting before you the way of life and the way of death.
Jeremiah 21:9 Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword, famine, and plague, but whoever goes out and surrenders to the Chaldeans who are besieging you will live and will retain his life like the spoils of war.
Jeremiah 21:10 You see, I have set my face against this city to bring disaster and not good – this is what Yahveh declares. It will be handed over to the king of Babylon, who will burn it.’
ninth inning miracle
Read carefully in today’s text because it is very easy to miss something. You see the name Pashhur in verse 1 and you think that the conflict of the previous chapter is continuing. But notice that this is Pashhur son of Malchijah, not Pashhur son of Immer. In fact, we have been transported in time 20 years. We are witnessing the final stages of the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem. King Zedekiah has been reigning for ten years, and he had been leading a lost cause.
So, Zedekiah sends his officials to consult with Jeremiah, to see if God would be willing to pull off a ninth inning miracle, and save the city and the nation.
God’s answer through Jeremiah was no. There would be no ninth inning miracle this time. God’s word to the people of Jerusalem was that if they wanted to save their lives, they would have to abandon the city, because it was going to fall.
It is human nature for us to seek the last minute rescue. We love it when the bomb is diffused in the last second, when the train tracks are crossed just before the train plows through. But God is free to ignore us at the last minute, especially if we have chosen to ignore him for twenty years or more.
Lord, give us the courage to be the miracle we expect. May our lives stay committed to you throughout the whole game.
Jeremiah 20:7 You deceived me, Lord, and I was deceived. You seized me and prevailed. I am a laughingstock all the time; everyone ridicules me.
Jeremiah 20:8 Because whenever I speak, I cry out, I proclaim, “Violence and destruction!” and the result is the word of Yahveh has become my constant disgrace and derision.
Jeremiah 20:9 I say, “I won’t mention him or speak any longer in his name.” But his message becomes a fire burning in my heart, shut up in my bones. I become tired of holding it in, and I cannot win.
Jeremiah 20:10 Because I have heard the gossip of many people, “Terror is on every side! Report him; let’s report him!” Everyone I trusted watches for my fall. “Perhaps he will be deceived so that we might win against him and take our vengeance on him.”
Jeremiah 20:11 But Yahveh is with me like a violent warrior. Therefore, my persecutors will stumble and not win. since they have not succeeded, they will be utterly shamed, a permanent humiliation that will never be forgotten.
Jeremiah 20:12 Lord of Armies, testing the righteous and seeing the heart and mind, let me see your vengeance on them, because I have presented my case to you.
Jeremiah 20:13 Sing to Yahveh! Praise Yahveh, because he rescues the life of the needy from evil people.
Jeremiah 20:14 May the day I was born be cursed. May the day my mother bore me never be blessed.
Jeremiah 20:15 May the man be cursed who brought the news to my father, saying, “A boy child is born to you,” causing him to celebrate. [1]
Jeremiah 20:16 Let that man be like the cities Yahveh demolished without compassion. Let him hear an outcry in the morning and a war cry at noontime
Jeremiah 20:17 because he didn’t kill me in the uterus so that my mother might have been my grave, her uterus permanently pregnant.
Jeremiah 20:18 Why did I come out of the uterus to see only fighting and sorrowing, to end my life embarrassed?
burning words
We don’t always get a glimpse into the minds of the prophets when we read their writings, but today’s text is exactly that. And what a mad scramble is going on in that noggin! One minute, Jeremiah is complaining that the Lord has deceived him, the next he his singing his praises. One minute he is praying for God’s vengeance on his enemies, the next he is wishing that he had been aborted!
And all the while, God’s words burn in his heart like a fire which he cannot keep in. He tries, but he just can’t win.
The people of God are called to a prophetic ministry. There are things that God has to say to our generation and he has chosen us to do the saying. They are not happy things. They are words that will not be appreciated. We probably will not even like ourselves much for saying them. But the burning words have to come out.
Lord, give us the strength and courage to say your words which are burning within us.
Jeremiah 20:1 Pashhur, son of Immer, the priest, and chief official in the temple of Yahveh, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things.
Jeremiah 20:2 So Pashhur had the prophet Jeremiah beaten and put him in the stocks at the Upper Benjamin Gate in Yahveh ‘s temple.
Jeremiah 20:3 The next day, when Pashhur released Jeremiah from the stocks, Jeremiah said to him, “Yahveh does not call you Pashhur, but Terror Is all around,
Jeremiah 20:4 because this is what Yahveh says, ‘Notice, I am about to make you a terror to both yourself and those you love. They will fall by the sword of their enemies before your very eyes. I will hand Judah over to the king of Babylon, and he will deport them to Babylon and put them to the sword.
Jeremiah 20:5 I will give away all the wealth of this city, all its products and valuables. Indeed, I will hand all the treasures of the kings of Judah over to their enemies. They will plunder them, seize them, and carry them off to Babylon.
Jeremiah 20:6 As for you, Pashhur, and all who live in your house, you will go into captivity. You will go to Babylon. There you will die, and there you will be buried, you and all your friends to whom you prophesied lies.'”
from freedom to terror
The name Pashhur means free. He might have personally known Jeremiah before his call to be a prophet. Regardless, his choice to have Jeremiah arrested and beaten surely made it personal. Jeremiah’s next prophecy was directed toward him. He would go into captivity in Babylon, along with his entire family. Because he attacked the Lord’s prophet, both he and those he loved would suffer terror all around.
Are you free today? Don’t take your freedom lightly. Don’t do something that might bring harm to you and those you love. Seek the Lord’s favor, not his wrath.
Lord, give us the wisdom to proclaim your word, not to suppress it.
Jeremiah 19:1 This is what Yahveh says: “Go, buy a potter’s flask. Take some of the elders of the people and some of the elder priests
Jeremiah 19:2 and go out to Ben Hinnom Valley near the opening of the clay pit gate. Proclaim there the words I speak to you.
Jeremiah 19:3 Say, ‘Hear the word of Yahveh, kings of Judah and those staying in Jerusalem. This is what Yahveh of Armies, the God of Israel, says: I am going to bring such disaster on this place that everyone who hears about it will quiver
Jeremiah 19:4 because they have abandoned me and made this a foreign place. They have burned incense in it to other gods that they, their fathers, and the kings of Judah have never known. They have filled this place with the blood of the innocent.
Jeremiah 19:5 They have built high places to Baal on which to burn their children in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal, something I have never commanded or mentioned; I never entertained the thought.
Jeremiah 19:6 ” ‘Therefore, notice, the days are coming – this is what Yahveh declares – when this place will no longer be called Topheth and Ben Hinnom Valley, but Killing Valley.
Jeremiah 19:7 I will spoil the plans of Judah and Jerusalem in this place. I will make them fall by the sword before their enemies, by the hand of those who intend to take their life. I will provide their corpses as food for the birds of the sky and for the wild animals of the land.
Jeremiah 19:8 I will make this city desolate, an object of scorn. Everyone who passes by it will be appalled and whistle because of all its wounds.
Jeremiah 19:9 I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and their daughters, and they will eat each other’s flesh in the distressing siege inflicted on them by their enemies who intend to take their life.’
Jeremiah 19:10 “Then you are to shatter the flask in the presence of the people going with you,
Jeremiah 19:11 and you are to proclaim to them, ‘This is what Yahveh of Armies says: I will shatter these people and this city, like one shatters a potter’s flask that can never again be mended. They will bury the dead in Topheth because there is no other place for burials.
Jeremiah 19:12 That is what I will do to this place – this is what Yahveh declares – and to its residents, making this city like Topheth.
Jeremiah 19:13 The houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah will become impure like that place Topheth – all the houses on whose rooftops they have burned incense to all the stars in the sky and poured out drink offerings to other gods.'”
Jeremiah 19:14 Jeremiah returned from Topheth, where Yahveh had sent him to prophesy, stood in the courtyard of Yahveh’s temple, and proclaimed to all the people,
Jeremiah 19:15 “This is what Yahveh of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘I am about to bring on this city – and on all its cities – every disaster that I spoke against it, because they have become obstinate, not obeying my words.'”
shattered flask
The image of the shattered potter’s flask represented the permanence of the destruction that the Lord would execute at Jerusalem. It symbolized every disaster that would take place in the city, in fulfillment of the Lord’s pledge. Jerusalem was supposed to be the city on the hill, displaying God’s righteousness. That is why their rebellion was so repulsive, and their penalty was so harsh.
Jeremiah had just been at the potter’s workshop, and had used that event to plead with his people to come back to God in repentance, so that he could remake them, like a potter does to a marred jar. Now he shatters the flask as if to say that there will be no restoration.
What was the sin the city committed? They abandoned the Lord, and turned the city into a foreign place, burning incense to other gods there.
The church of Jesus Christ needs to take this to heart. In this generation, we need to pay more attention to the covenant we have made with Christ, and the commission he has called us to fulfill. We are supposed to be the city on the hill – standing out as different in a world of sameness.
Lord, give us the wisdom to purge our city of its foreign ways, and show the world your pure gospel.
Photo by Abstrakt Xxcellence Studios on Pexels.com
pay attention!
Jeremiah 18:18-23 (JDV)
Jeremiah 18:18 Then they said, “Let’s make plans against Jeremiah, because instruction will never be lost from the priest, or counsel from the wise, or a word from the prophet. Let’s denounce him and pay no attention to all his words.”
Jeremiah 18:19 Pay attention to me, Lord. Hear what my opponents are saying!
Jeremiah 18:20 Should good be repaid with evil? Yet they have dug a pit for my throat. Remember how I stood before you to speak good on their behalf, to turn your anger from them.
Jeremiah 18:21 Therefore, hand their children over to famine, and give them over to the power of the sword. Let their wives become childless and widowed, their husbands slain by deadly disease, their young men struck down by the sword in battle.
Jeremiah 18:22 Let a cry be heard from their houses when you suddenly bring raiders against them, because they have dug a pit to capture me and have hidden traps for my feet.
Jeremiah 18:23 But you, Lord, know all their deadly plots against me. Do not wipe out their violation; do not blot out their failure before you. Let them be forced to stumble before you; deal with them in the time of your anger.
pay attention!
When you work hard at what you do, you expect people to appreciate that. If your job is warning people of coming disaster and giving them an opportunity to change their ways so the disaster can be averted, you expect people to pay attention. When they actually know your words come from God, and they purposely choose to ignore you, it is natural to feel embarrassed and angry about it.
God has given us his written word in the Bible, and he has given his church the prophetic gifts so that we can warn our generation of the consequences of our disobedience. We have to exercise those gifts and lead people away from destruction. And the world needs to pay attention to us when we do.
Lord, encourage our prophets to speak and write, and give our generation hearts to pay attention and repent.
Jeremiah 18:1 The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahveh – this is what it said:
Jeremiah 18:2 “Get up and go down at once to the potter’s house; there I will let you hear my words.”
Jeremiah 18:3 So I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, working away at the two stones.
Jeremiah 18:4 But whenever the jar that he was making from the clay became flawed in the potter’s hand, he would turn and remake it into another jar, as it seemed right for him to do.
Jeremiah 18:5 The word of Yahveh came to me:
Jeremiah 18:6 “House of Israel, can I not treat you as this potter treats his clay?” – this is what Yahveh declares. “Just like clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, house of Israel.
Jeremiah 18:7 At one moment I might announce concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will uproot, break up, and destroy it.
Jeremiah 18:8 However, if that nation about which I have made the announcement turns from its wickedness, I will relent concerning the disaster I had planned to do to it.
Jeremiah 18:9 At another time I might announce concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it.
Jeremiah 18:10 However, if it does what is evil in my eyes by not listening to me, I will relent concerning the good I had said I would do to it.
Jeremiah 18:11 So now, say to the men of Judah and to the residents of Jerusalem, ‘This is what Yahveh says: Notice, I am about to bring evil to you and make plans against you. Turn now, each from your evil way, and correct your ways and your deeds.’
Jeremiah 18:12 But they will say, ‘That’s useless. We will continue to follow our plans, and each of us will continue to act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart.'”
Jeremiah 18:13 Therefore, this is what Yahveh says: Ask among the nations, who has heard things like these? Virgin Israel has done a most horrible thing.
Jeremiah 18:14 Does the snow of Lebanon ever leave the highland crags? Or does cold water flowing from a distance ever fail?
Jeremiah 18:15 Yet my people have forgotten me. They burn incense to worthless idols that make them stumble in their ways on the roads of long ago, and make them walk on new paths, not the highway.
Jeremiah 18:16 They have made their land a horror, a permanent object of mockery; all who pass by it will be appalled and shake their heads.
Jeremiah 18:17 I will scatter them before the enemy like the east wind. I will show them my back and not my face on the day of their disaster.
the potter’s gospel
Jeremiah’s trip to the potter’s workshop reminded him of the theological truth he was so aware of: God is sovereign. Jeremiah’s people had forgotten that. They assumed that they could not change who they were, so whatever was going to happen was going to happen, and there was nothing they could do about it.
The sad thing is, the potter’s workshop is good news. The sovereignty of God is not something we should be ashamed of, or reject as if it is bad theology. The fact that God is in control means that I can change. I can repent and he can remake me into a worthy vessel.
But the inhabitants of Jerusalem refused to listen to that message. The disaster the Lord predicted came upon them, and destruction was the only future they had. God had offered them another chance, and they refused to repent.
Lord, thank you for the good news that we can change if we only let you do the changing.
Jeremiah 17:19 This is what Yahveh said to me, “Go and stand at the People’s Gate, through which the kings of Judah enter and leave, as well as at all the gates of Jerusalem.
Jeremiah 17:20 Announce to them, ‘Hear the word of Yahveh, kings of Judah, all Judah, and all the residents of Jerusalem who enter through these gates.
Jeremiah 17:21 This is what Yahveh says: Watch yourselves; do not pick up a load and bring it in through Jerusalem’s gates on the Sabbath day.
Jeremiah 17:22 Do not carry a load out of your houses on the Sabbath day or do any work, but keep the Sabbath day sacred, just as I commanded your fathers.
Jeremiah 17:23 They wouldn’t listen or pay attention but became obstinate, not listening or accepting discipline.
Jeremiah 17:24 ” ‘However, if you listen to me – this is what Yahveh declares – and do not bring loads through the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, but keep the Sabbath day sacred and do no work on it,
Jeremiah 17:25 kings and princes will enter through the gates of this city. They will sit on the throne of David; they will ride in chariots and on horses with their officials, the men of Judah, and the residents of Jerusalem. This city will be inhabited permanently.
Jeremiah 17:26 Then people will come from the cities of Judah and from the area around Jerusalem, from the land of Benjamin and from the Judean foothills, from the hill country and from the Negev bringing burnt offerings and sacrifices, grain offerings and frankincense, and thank offerings to the house of Yahveh.
Jeremiah 17:27 But if you do not listen to me by keeping the Sabbath day sacred by not carrying a load while entering the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, I will set fire to its gates, and it will consume the citadels of Jerusalem and not be extinguished.'”
this one thing
Of all the Commandments the Lord had given the Israelites through Moses, he only picked one. Sabbath observance was the easiest of the commandments to comply with, and the choice to obey it would be immediately visibly evident.
Jeremiah was to stand at the gates and demand just this one bit of obedience, just this one sign of repentance. If the people of Jerusalem were not willing to change just this one thing, then the gates and everything in them – and everyone in them – were doomed to destruction.
Under the new covenant with Christ there are some things he tells us to do to show our repentance and commitment to him. Just pick one, and do it. Show the Lord that he means something to you.
Lord, give us the wisdom to demonstrate our faith.
Devotions 