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.
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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.
Jeremiah 17:11 He who makes a fortune unjustly is a partridge that hatches eggs it didn’t lay. Halfway through his day his riches will abandon him, so after that he will be a fool.
Jeremiah 17:12 A glorious throne on high from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary.
Jeremiah 17:13 Lord, the hope of Israel, all who abandon you will be put to shame. All who turn away from me will be written in the dirt, because they have abandoned the fountain of living water, Yahveh.
Jeremiah 17:14 Heal me, Lord, and I will be healed; save me, and I will be saved, because you are my praise.
Jeremiah 17:15 Hear how they keep challenging me, “Where is the word of Yahveh? Let it come!”
Jeremiah 17:16 But I have not run away from being your shepherd, and I have not longed for the fatal day. You know my words were spoken in your presence.
Jeremiah 17:17 Don’t become a terror to me. You are my refuge in the day of disaster.
Jeremiah 17:18 Let my persecutors be put to shame, but don’t let me be put to shame. Let them be terrified, but don’t let me be terrified. Bring on them the day of disaster; shatter them with total destruction.
they keep challenging me
Jeremiah is being constantly challenged by those who have abandoned the Lord. He wants to stay faithful to the Lord no matter what, but all around him are those who have already given up on God’s deliverance and restoration.
Our situation as believers in Christ can sometimes feel like that. We have put our faith in him, but all around us there are those who have rejected the gospel, or deserted the faith. And they will not leave us alone.
Lord, give us the stubborn confidence in you that will bring us through this time of testing.
Jeremiah 17:5 This is what Yahveh says: the person who trusts in the man is afflicted with a curse. He sets up flesh as his arm, and his heart deserts Yahveh.
Jeremiah 17:6 He will be like a juniper in the Arabah; he cannot see when good comes but dwells in the parched places in the open country, in a salt land where no one lives.
Jeremiah 17:7 The person who trusts in Yahveh, whose confidence is really Yahveh, is empowered with a blessing.
Jeremiah 17:8 He will be like a tree planted by water: it sends its roots out toward a stream, it doesn’t fear when heat comes, and its foliage remains green. It will not worry in a year of drought or cease producing fruit.
Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is more deceitful than anything, and incurable – who can figure it out?
Jeremiah 17:10 I, Yahveh, examine the heart, I test the insides [1] to give to each according to his way, according to what his actions deserve.
juniper in the Arabah
It is impossible not to see Psalm 1 in today’s text. Jeremiah is speaking the truth of that song in his own context. That context is the impending exile. Jeremiah is telling his people to put their trust in God, and he will continue to make them fruitful, even in the dire situation they are about to face.
The exile will be a test of the heart. In that parched land, many a juniper will languish and die, because they put their trust in a man. But Jeremiah encourages his people to put their confidence in God who is able to make them fruitful, even in the desert.
Lord, no matter what our situation, may we have the good sense to put our confidence in you.
Jeremiah 17:1 Judah’s failure is inscribed with an iron stylus. With a diamond point it is engraved on the tablet of their hearts and on the horns of their altars,
Jeremiah 17:2 when their children remember their altars and their Asherah poles, by the green trees on the high hills –
Jeremiah 17:3 my mountains in the open fields. I will give up your wealth and all your treasures as plunder because of the failure of your high places in all your borders.
Jeremiah 17:4 You will, on your own, give up your inheritance that I gave you. I will make you serve your enemies in a land you do not know, because you have set my anger on fire; it will burn permanently.
permanent fire
Judah had inherited a land filled with untold wealth and treasures, but because of its idolatry, the Lord decided to give it up. As a consequence, the Judeans would also choose to give up their inheritance, and escape the land and the violence of the Babylonians.
What does the permanent fire of God’s anger mean in this text? In Jeremiah, it is not a literal fire. It is an obstacle to returning to the land. God’s burning anger is that obstacle. It is described as a permanent fire that prevents the return to the land.
When we read about the permanent fire in the New Testament (Jude 7), it describes a fire which is both literal and figurative. It was the burning sulfur that rained down on Sodom and Gomorrah, destroying those cities, and making it impossible for them to come back.
But Jude also says that Sodom and Gomorrah are an example, having suffered the vengeance of permanent fire. They are an example of what final punishment of the wicked will be like. It will be a destruction so complete that restoration and return to life will be impossible.
Lord, thank you that restoration with you is possible today. Lead us all to take advantage of your grace before it is forever too late.
Jeremiah 16:19 Yahveh, my strength and my fortress, my refuge in a time of distress, the nations will come to you from the ends of the land, and they will say, “Our fathers inherited only lies, temporary idols of no benefit at all.”
Jeremiah 16:20 Can a man make gods for himself? But they are not gods.
Jeremiah 16:21 “Therefore, I am about to inform them, and this time I will make them know my power and my might; then they will know that my name is Yahveh.”
eliminated idolatry
Jeremiah envisions a time in the future when not only Israel and Judah know God, but all the other nations do as well. He sees a time in the future when all the nations recognize that they inherited a lie – that human beings can manufacture their own gods.
Are we living in such a time? Some would say yes. They think that humanity has outgrown idolatry.
Come with me to the cities in Asia and Africa, and I will show you that the idols are still there, to humanity’s shame.
Come with me to Europe and the Americas, and I will show you the same thing. What is that device in your hand? Idolatry is still alive and well. It cannot be outgrown. It must be eliminated.
But God promises a future when everyone who survives will know that Yahveh is God and there is no other.
Thank you, Lord, for the promise of a purified future.
Jeremiah 16:14 “However, notice, the days are coming” – this is what Yahveh declares – “when it will no longer be said, ‘As Yahveh lives who brought the Israelites from the land of Egypt,’
Jeremiah 16:15 but instead, ‘As Yahveh lives who brought the Israelites from the land of the north and from all the other lands where he had banished them’ because I will return them to their land that I gave to their fathers.
Jeremiah 16:16 “Notice, I am about to send for many fishermen” – this is what Yahveh declares – “and they will fish for them. Then I will send for many hunters, and they will hunt them down on every mountain and hill and out of the clefts of the rocks,
Jeremiah 16:17 because my eye is on all their ways. They are not concealed from me, and their violation is not hidden from my sight.
Jeremiah 16:18 I will first repay them double for their violation and failure because they have polluted my land. They have filled my inheritance with the corpses of their repulsive and offensive idols.”
an undefiled land
The purpose of the exile was not for God to destroy his people utterly. He intended to bring a remainder of his people back to the land. So, why the exile? The land had become polluted by the idolatry which had been practiced by his people. It had to be cleansed, otherwise it would continue to be repulsive to the Lord.
Jesus wants to deliver us from our failures as well. He has procured an undefiled future for us (1 Peter 1:4). His death purchased our forgiveness, and his resurrection (which we will experience when he returns) will restore us to an undefiled land. That undefiled land is the new earth, and is just as certain as our salvation, because it too is God’s will for us.
Lord, thank you for the promise of a cleansed, undefiled inheritance.
Devotions 