Year 3, Day 78: Jeremiah 25

The Truth Comes Out

Jeremiah gives us a clue about his personal level of patience.  For twenty three years Jeremiah has brought the word of the Lord to the people of Israel.  For twenty three years Jeremiah has told them to repent.  For twenty three years Jeremiah has told the Hebrew people to not chase after foreign gods.  For twenty three years Jeremiah has continued to come to the Hebrew people in spite of being rejected, refused, and even beaten and mocked.

Jeremiah was a patient man.  Most of us would have given up long before twenty three years.  But then again, Jeremiah was called by God.  It just goes to show us that when God calls us to do something He can give us what we need in order to accomplish His will.  Our own abilities will not sustain us; God can sustain us regardless of the impossibility of the task.

Judgment Against the Hebrew People

Because the Hebrew people did not listen to the words of the Lord, they will be judged and punished.  They will go into captivity.  They will learn to be humbled if they will not voluntarily humble themselves.

However, once more we see grace at work.  Once more we see that God can love in abundance over His wrath.  Yes, God tells the Hebrew people that they are going into captivity.  But there will be an end.  The captivity will only last 70 years.  There will be a remnant.  There will be a return to the Lord.  God’s wrath comes; but God’s love endures for His people.

Judgment Against the Babylonians

Unfortunately, the same does not appear to be true of the Babylonians.  God will use the Babylonians to bring His wrath upon the Hebrew people.  Then, the Babylonians will be judged.  They will be enslaved just as they have enslaved others.

Cup of Wrath

The next passage that we have in this chapter is a vision from God.  God gives Jeremiah a cup of His wrath.  God tells Jeremiah to take it among the nations and make them to drink.  In fact, we read that many of the nations will not want to drink.  But they will be made to drink.  The Lord is bringing judgment and a sword among the nations, and they will not escape what the Lord has purposed.

There is a really interesting analogy here.  The people who drink are said to drink to their fill, vomit, and fall.  In other words, this is pretty stereotypical behavior for a person who has become drunk.  Through Jeremiah, God is saying that the people of the world have become drunk in their own power.  Then, they will be made to drink the Lord’s purposed consequences for their behavior.  They will drink the Lord’s wrath to the full.  They will not escape.  They will drink to the point that they are sick.  And then they will fall.  They will stumble.  They will come down to their knees – perhaps even lower.

Then God gives a very sobering piece of logic.  If God brings disaster among His own people when they are disobedient, what makes anyone think that those who are not His people will not receive the wrath that is due to them?  We are all sinners.  We all deserve wrath.  We will stand before God and be held accountable for our actions.

In fact, at the end of this chapter we also hear that people of prominence in this life will not have any escape.  Once more we hear about the shepherds.  As we discovered in the 23^rd chapter, these shepherds are the leaders (kings) of the nations.  They might think that they are going to be spared because they are the rulers.  They might thank that their power will save them.  They might think that their might and prominence will have an effect.

But they are wrong.  The Lord will destroy their flock.  He will destroy their pastures.  He is going to discard their wealth.  He will toss it away like rubbish.  What are wealth and power and prominence to the Lord?

Again we can hear why.  Humanity oppresses one another.  Humanity is violent to one another.  We have brought the anger of the Lord upon ourselves.

<>< 

Year 3, Day 77: Jeremiah 24

Captivity begins

At the beginning of Jeremiah 24 we hear that king Nebuchadnezzar has already taken some of the people in Jerusalem captive.  You can read this account in 2 Kings 24:8-16.  The interesting thing about this story is that it really does show us the cycle of kingdom conquest.

So often we think that a nation will rise up against another nation and just take them over.  But often, that isn’t really what happens.  One nation rises up and overthrows a neighboring nation.  But the aggressor isn’t often set-up to absorb the new nation into their political framework.  At the very least, they can’t deal with all the newly conquered people.  So usually what the aggressor nation does is set up a government within the conquered kingdom in which the newly appointed leaders are favorably disposed to the conquering nation.

This helps us understand how when Jerusalem is besieged and one king is taken that we still end up with a king on the throne.  Nebuchadnezzar is trying to establish loyal vassals in leadership positions.

Resources Drained

However, this doesn’t mean that the country still has good leadership and resources.  Notice how this chapter begins.  The king, the craftsmen, the court official, and the metal smiths were all dragged off to Babylon.  Nebuchadnezzar may have allowed a king to rule in Jerusalem, but it was a puppet court.  The resources and the ability to manage any resources weren’t present.

Parable of the Figs

After the king and his court officials have been dragged off, Jeremiah gets a really neat vision.  Jeremiah sees two baskets of fruit.  One basket is incredibly ripe – perfectly ripe if you will.  The other basket is rotten and inedible.

As we expect, God tells Jeremiah that the perfectly ripe fruit represents the faithful Hebrew people.  We also hear, as we expect, that the rotten and spoiled basket of figs represents the unfaithful Hebrew people.  So far, we have not gotten anything unusual.

Yet, in what comes next we do discover something unusual.  God tells Jeremiah that the ripe figs are some of the people who have been dragged off to captivity.  Hear this out.  The faithful people – the ones that God promises to plant and to prosper – as people who are already in captivity.  God’s faithful are already gone!

Now, you may be asking why it is that this is so groundbreaking.  There are two reasons.  First, we typically think of captives as people who are being punished.  We think of captives as the people who were disobedient.  This is not what God is saying at all.  Some of the captives are people that are the most faithful and who are still within God’s love.  What’s the old saying?  Sometimes bad things happen to good people.

The second reason that this is surprising is because of what is going to happen to the rotten fruit.  God tells Jeremiah that the rotten fruit are especially the ones who are left in Jerusalem.  God is going to turn them into a horror to the other nations.  They are going to be a reproach to the world.

Notice what God is saying to Jeremiah?  God actually got the good fruit out of the way so that the bad fruit could just go ahead and spoil.  The good fruit was removed from Jerusalem so that the bad fruit could decompose, rot, and become useless.  All of a sudden captivity doesn’t look like “bad things happening to good people” after all.  All of sudden, captivity almost looks like a blessing.

God will be with those good fruit.  God promises to plant them.  God would be with them in spite of their difficulties – and regardless of how positive I make it sound above there were plenty of difficulties with respect to being a captive race among another group of people.  But God would not abandon them.  He would not forget them.  He will be their God, and they shall return to Him with their whole heart.

<>< 

Year 3, Day 76: Jeremiah 23

Shepherds

Jeremiah 23 has always been a very personal chapter for me.  I have heard the challenge of the first verse and taken it extremely personally.  However, I think I may have been a little wrong in my earlier way of seeing this passage.  The reason I have misread this passage is pretty simple.  All of my life I’ve heard the word “shepherd” as a symbol for the role of “pastor.”  {For the record, this is an analogy that I loathe.  I really dislike being called the “shepherd” of this or that.  From my perspective, clergy are sheep – sinners in need of redeeming – just like everyone else.  We have one shepherd – the Good Shepherd – see John 10:11-18.  There is no need for me to also be a shepherd.  I don’t mind being a “sheep” with big horns that helps look out for the rest of the flock.  But I am not about to replace Christ as the shepherd.  Okay, I’m stepping off of that soapbox now.}

But here is an interesting thing.  Do you notice who happens to ultimately be the opposite of the false shepherds?  Yes, God says that he will set up other shepherds.  But then God says that the line of David will produce a righteous Branch.  That righteous Branch will reign as a king.  He shall execute justice and lead people in righteousness.  That righteous Branch will save so that people can live in security.  Of course, this righteous Branch is Jesus.

But the really amazing point for me to understand today is that the comparison is not one of spiritual leadership but one of legal governance.  It is not the priests who are the subject of the opening sentence!  The “false shepherds” are the kings of the Hebrew people!  That is why it is so interesting that the righteous Branch is called a king!  Jeremiah 23:1-8 is not a passage condemning the religious institution of Judah and Israel but rather a passage condemning the governance!

Yet another reason to not want the title of shepherd placed upon my shoulders.  I am no king.  I’m not even a very good political leader at all.  There is no need for me to replace God’s King who currently sits upon His throne.

Spiritual Leadership

Of course, we don’t have to read very far to get to a passage that does talk about religious leadership.  Please don’t read my words above to say that I am giving a pass to the religious institutions of the Hebrew people.  In no way am I doing any such thing.  When we get to verse 9 the whole rest of the chapter will deal with the religious institutions of the Hebrew people.

I find one of the most appalling descriptions of people within this section.  “Both priest and prophet are ungodly.  Even in my house I have found their evil.”  Declares the Lord.  Those aren’t Jeremiah’s words!  The Lord looks down upon the spiritual leaders among His people and concludes both ungodliness and evil exists.

I think it is important to hold both of those words together.  You might have read that and wondered why it is that both are listed.  Can you have one without the other?

Of course, God cannot.  God cannot do evil, and by the definition of the word God cannot be ungodly.

Humanity, on the other hand, can.  Every single one of us is evil.  Scripture is quite clear on this point.  Paul tells us that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.  In the same chapter of the Bible (Romans 3) Paul also declare that “none are righteous, no, not one.”  Not even one.  Evil is among every single one of us.

However, that doesn’t mean that ungodliness is among all of us.  We all sin.  We all do evil.  But some among humanity repent.  Some turn to God and turn away from their sin.  Some people in this world are called godly – in spite of the evil that resides in their heart.  We are not godly because of our nature; we are godly because we are willing to put our nature aside and embrace God’s nature.

So let’s return back to Jeremiah.  This is why I find the description of the priests and prophets so deplorable.  It’s one thing for us to say that evil exists among us.  Of course it does!  Evil exists in me.  If God did not help me to keep it in check, I would be a far greater sinner!  But to say that ungodliness exists among the religious leaders implies that the religious leaders are not longer turning away from the evil that is within their hearts.  If the leaders are no longer turning away, then those whom they teach are no longer turning away, either.  The greatest shame among God’s priests and prophets is when one of us stops turning from our sin.  {Don’t forget that we are all priests in Christ, right?}

A Horrible Conclusion

As I end this blog post, a part of me weeps inside.  As we come to the end of this chapter we talk about the nature of God.  He sees all.  He knows all.  He expects repentance.  So what happens when repentance does not come – especially among His priests and prophets?

God tells them that He is against them.  What a horrible fate!  I cannot imagine a life in which God was against me.  But it gets worse.  Not only is God against them, they are a burden to God.  Can you imagine hearing those words from God?  Think about that for a second.  What would it be like to hear God say, “You are a burden to me?”

My soul weeps.

<>< 

Year 3, Day 75: Jeremiah 22

More Specific Words to the Kings

As I said yesterday, Jeremiah 22 continues the conversation with Jeremiah and the kings of the Hebrew people.  Jeremiah specifically tells the kings what God expects of them.  They are to be just.  They are to be righteous.  They are to deliver those who have been robbed from the hand of the oppressor.  They are to do no wrong or violence to the resident alien, the fatherless, or the widow.  They are not to shed innocent blood.

This really got me thinking today.  What is God really saying?  God is saying that the only good government is a government that genuinely is looking out not for itself but for others.  The only good leadership comes from leaders who are seeking to deliver people from the humanity that wants to oppress them.  Good leaders are just.  Good leaders are righteous.  Good leaders pay special attention to those who have nobody else to champion their cause.  Good leaders seek to preserve innocence rather than destroy it.

I find this perspective refreshing yet challenging.  I am a leader – although certainly there are leaders with more weight upon their shoulders than me.  But I find this section challenging even here in my neck of the woods with the leadership I bear.  Am I always a champion for those who have no champion?  Am I always seeking fairness, justice, and righteousness?  I’d like to say that I am.

But that would be a lie.

The truth is that sometimes as a leader I champion my own agenda.  The truth is that sometimes I take advantage of the people who have little support.  The truth is that sometimes I am guilty of not listening to the little small voice of the person that other people are already ignoring.  I’m no king of Israel, but that doesn’t make me any less guilty.

Grace

That leads me to the Lutheran’s favorite topic: grace.  One of the things that I love about this chapter is that even now there is a chance for hope.  How many times has God told Jeremiah to stop praying for these wretched Hebrew people and their despicable leadership?  How many times has God told Jeremiah that His mind is made up and His wrath is coming down the pipeline?  How many times has God been more than clear about what Nebuchadnezzar is going to do about those people who resist the siege and stay in Jerusalem?

Yet here is God once more saying, “If you just do this, you will see that the true king of David will enter these gates riding in splendor.”  God is saying, “Just repent and change your ways and I’ll return Judah and Jerusalem to its prior splendor and glory.”  Even now in the midst of the tremendous shadow of God’s wrath, there is an olive branch to be offered by God.

That’s really the cool part.  God would be righteous even if He didn’t extend that olive branch of grace.  God would be righteous if He sent every one of the Hebrew people into famine, sword, pestilence, or captivity.  God has no need to extend grace!  But God loves.  God extends the olive branch because God’s love is greater than His need for righteous wrath.  That’s what is so neat about this chapter.

Reality Sets In

Of course, just because God is gracious doesn’t mean the people receive God’s grace.  Not everyone wants to be humble.  Not everyone is willing to turn to God even in the midst of certain doom.

So the time will come when people will pass by Jerusalem and shake their head.  The time will come when people will say, “It sure is a shame about the Hebrew people.  They could have had it all, but they were rebellious against their God and turned to other gods who could not save them.”  The time will come when the splendor of Jerusalem will be pulled down and destroyed.

Grace abounds, but not everyone basks in it.

The “Sons” of Righteous Josiah

For historical reference to the end of this chapter, you might want to read 2 Kings 23:23 – 24:17.  (Shallum is the same person as Jehoahaz, Coniah is the same person as Jehoiachin)

We see Jeremiah talking about three of the Hebrew kings in this passage.  The message is not good in any of the cases.  King after king after king falls into disobedience.  Shallum (Jehoahaz) is removed by Pharaoh Neco.  Jehoaikim is so evil that when he is killed the people of Jerusalem don’t even mourn for him.  {Note the parallel messages against the shedding of innocent blood found at the beginning of this chapter in Jeremiah and the condemnation of Jehoiakim in 2 Kings 24:3-5.}  Jehoiachin is so evil that his reign only lasts three months before God sees to it that he is removed.  In fact, Jehoiachin is so evil that he is the last of the line.  His uncle succeeds him as king.  God is done with that particular branch of David’s lineage.

<>< 

Year 3: Day 74: Jeremiah 21

Personal Gloom

With the attack of Passhur, the book of Jeremiah takes on a far more personal tone.  Up until now, Jeremiah had uttered prophecies from God against the nation in general.  However, now Jeremiah will go about uttering specific prophecies.  Now God goes on a very specific offense as judgment is sealed and draws perpetually closer.

People of Jerusalem – First Oracle

The first people to be personally attacked in prophesy are the people of Jerusalem.  This is not a big change in the tenor of the book.  After all, most of Jeremiah is written when only Jerusalem remains against the onslaught of the Babylonians.  Therefore, as Jeremiah begins to narrow God’s sight of His wrath we don’t see too much narrowing happen.

However, you will notice that God is quite specific in revealing the destruction to come.  God tells the people of Jerusalem that not only is God not going to fight for them as they hope but in actuality God is going to fight against them!  God is going to take their weapons of warfare and make them ineffective against the Babylonians.

Then it gets worse.  When the people of Jerusalem discover that their weapons are useless against the Babylonians, they will also discover a plague and pestilence among them.  Not only will they struggle to defend themselves from an external threat, but they will also be unable to fight an enemy within the town!  Just in case this wasn’t bad enough, God reminds the people that there will also be a famine as talked about elsewhere in Jeremiah.

Whoever is “lucky” enough to survive the siege warfare, the pestilence, and the famine will then get to face the ire of Nebuchadnezzar.  God tells them that Nebuchadnezzar will not be merciful.

The Choice

Then something very interesting happens.  God gives them a choice.  God tells the Hebrew people in Jerusalem that they can choose life or death.  It’s that simple.  If they surrender to Nebuchadnezzar they will become his captives but they will live.  If they stay in the city they will die.

The Hebrew people would not humble themselves to God.  They absolutely refused.  So God made them decide to humble themselves to Nebuchadnezzar or stubbornly invite death.  This really is an absolute story about humbleness.

This is also a great analogy to life.  We can stubbornly cling to living our life our way in our self-defined attempt to embrace freedom.  We can stay within “Jerusalem” and eventually die.  Or, we can let go of personal freedom and embrace God’s ways.  We can let go of our so-called ability to choose for ourselves and we can start being obedient to God.  We can humble ourselves and be His servant or we can refuse and stubbornly cling to our own ways and eventually die in them with no hope of salvation.  This is the choice set before all of Jerusalem.  This is the choice set before all of humanity.  {Interestingly enough, might I also remind us that Jesus Himself died OUTSIDE of Jerusalem.  Even Jesus hints back to this moment and tells us that surrender to God is far better than ruling our own life within “Jerusalem.”}

Rebuke of the King

The next group to be attacked is the kings of the Hebrew people.  These are literally the house of David.  This pronouncement against the kings of Judah begins in this chapter and will continue into Jeremiah 23.

What we have in the end of Jeremiah 21 is the set-up.  God has told the kings that it was their job to execute justice.  It was their job to deliver people from those who would take unfair advantage of them.  It was the king’s responsibility to make sure that the kingdom was fair, righteous, and honest.

But the kings did not do this.  The kings promoted a system where those in power exerted their power over the subjects.  Instead of being a help to the people, the kings were an oppressor over the people.  Instead of being a banner for righteousness, the kings were a sign-post for worldly passionate behavior.  They were supposed to make sure things happened properly and instead they simply encouraged people to depart from God’s ways.

They were also arrogant.  They believed they were safe inside the walled city of Jerusalem.  They believed that they were untouchable.  So God gives them a warning.  God is going to kindle a fire so great that they will be consumed.  Even their great city of Jerusalem is not going to be able to protect them.

<>< 

Year 3, Day 73: Jeremiah 20

Retribution

Passhur – it is an interesting name.  The name is derived from the word that means “to tear into pieces.”  I find it interesting that a guy by the name of Passhur should be made the chief temple official as the Babylonians are threatening Jerusalem and as Jeremiah is called to prophesy the Word of God.  In the moment where the Hebrew people need to listen more than any other, a guy whose name means “to tear into pieces” is promoted to the chief officer of the temple.  Seriously, folks, you just can’t make this stuff up.

What does Passhur do?  He takes Jeremiah and attempts to tear his prophecy to pieces.  He takes Jeremiah and beats him.  Then he drags him out to the stocks so that he can be publically ridiculed.  This is a mud-slinging campaign against Jeremiah if I’ve ever seen one.

Refusal to Change

I love Jeremiah.  Jeremiah gets out of the stocks and says, “You’ve just made God mad.  Now, rather than be called “one who tears to pieces” you are going to be called “one who is a terror on every side.”  Jeremiah refuses to change his tone because God has inspired him to greatness.

Oh, the irony.  Oh, the symbolism.  As dark and depressing as the book of Jeremiah is, this is one of my favorite moments.  Jeremiah takes the chief officer of the temple and makes his name a lesson for all the people.  Jerusalem was going to be torn to pieces.  Now it is revealed that there will be terror on every side of Jerusalem.  The people will be dragged away and made captive.  There will be no relief.

Mind you, this doesn’t happen because of the actions of Passhur.  God had already made up His mind about the fate of Jerusalem.  However, in Passhur God sees a great opportunity for an object lesson.  Passhur’s violence against God’s prophet is symbolic of the violence of the Hebrew people against God.  Passhur’s name would be symbolic of the fate of the Hebrew people.

In the End …

In the end, though, it doesn’t matter to the people of Jerusalem.  It matters to us, but it doesn’t change a thing in Jerusalem.  This is the part that I have to carefully remember.  It’s great to get all worked up about Jeremiah’s witness and uncompromising attitude.  But in the end all it did was get him beaten.

Mind you, I’m not saying that anything bad happened.  Jeremiah did what was asked of him and God protected him through the persecution to follow.  God is with His servants, even when they are proclaiming unfavorable messages.

But here’s a bleak reality.  Just because a message is from God doesn’t mean people will accept it.  In fact, I might be more likely to assert that a message from God has a high chance of being rejected!  Sometimes stepping out and proclaiming the message of God is going to get you in trouble.  It is just the nature of what we are doing as God’s people.

I am reminded of Jesus’ message to His disciples in John 17.  “The world is going to hate you guys.  The world is going to hate you because you have Me and you have My Word.”  I am willing to bet that Jeremiah can relate to what Jesus is trying to teach His disciples in that chapter of John.

Woe the Day I Was Born

This leads us to Jeremiah’s outpouring of his soul to God.  I feel for Jeremiah.  I really do.  It is hard to put yourself out there for God and have it come back.  It’s hard to be rejected again and again by the world.  It’s hard to try and live right and convince other people to pay attention only to have them grow weary of the sound of your voice.  It’s tough being the laughingstock.  That really isn’t much fun at all.

I can say I’ve been there.  I have asked God to curse the day of my birth.  I’ve asked God why I was ever born.  I know what Jeremiah is feeling.

I also know that in the end it’s wrong.  It may be human, but it is wrong.  It may be understandable given particular circumstances, but it is still wrong.  Ultimately, it is self-centered.  Life is not about me and my success.  The same is true for Jeremiah.  Life is about walking with God.  Life is about being willing to go into the Valley of the Shadow of Death with confidence knowing that God is with us.  Sometimes we must have the darkness of life to appreciate the light of God.

Jeremiah is very human in this chapter.  Given that he had been beaten and left in the stocks, I can honestly say that I can understand.  But that doesn’t make it right.  God’s plan is God’s plan.  If we are following God, who are we to critique the plan of God?

<>< 

Year 3, Day 72: Jeremiah 19

The Valley of Hinnom

Before I actually get into this chapter, I’d love to do some historical research on the blog.  The Hebrew name Gehinnom, which means “The Valley of Hinnom” is the root word for the place we know in the New Testament as Gehenna.  How does this geographic location become the typology for the place in the New Testament that is symbolic for Hell?  Well, that’s a good question.

Prior to Jeremiah’s time, the Valley of Hinnom was a place that became famous for Canaanite-style ritualistic child sacrifice.  (See Jeremiah 7:31)  King Ahaz even sacrificed some of his own sons in this valley in honor of Ba’al.  (See 2 Kings 16:3 and 2 Chronicles 28:3)  Under King Josiah the Valley of Hinnom is purged and cleansed as much as it could be.  It largely becomes a garbage dump for Jerusalem so that people are not encouraged to spend much time there at all.  (See 2 Kings 23:10)  At this time the name transfers from Gehinnom to Gehenna.

It is likely that since the Valley of Hinnom has roots in the offering of child sacrifice through burning that this place is connected with the idea of Hell as being a place of fire.

So, Back to the Pottery Flask

With that in mind, God tells Jeremiah to go buy a pottery flask and then collect some elders from among the government and priests.  Jeremiah was to take the flask and break the flask in front of the elders as a sign to them.  The broken flask symbolizes how the Lord will break the Hebrew people.  They will be broken in such a way that they cannot ever be put back together as they once were.

Of course, we know that is true.  The people of Israel were taken by the Assyrians and scattered all over their empire.  The people of Judah were taken by the Babylonians and scattered all over their empire.  Sure, some of the Hebrew people return with Zerubbabel, Ezra, and Nehemiah.  But the Hebrew people never return to the status they had as a nation.  They are perpetually under oppression from Persia, Greece, Rome, and eventually the Muslim community.  God breaks the Hebrew people and they are never really able to be put back together – even now.

Back to the Children

What I said is bad enough.  But God goes one step further in declaring the trial to come.  Through Jeremiah, God declares that in the same way as the people voluntarily offered their sons and daughters as sacrifices to foreign gods in the Valley of Hinnom, those who seek refuge from the Babylonians in Jerusalem will be cannibalistic (literally, “eat the flesh of their sons and daughters).

Siege warfare is one of the most brutal kinds of warfare.  It seems so innocent.  No actual battle happens.  An army camps outside a walled city, simply waiting for those inside to starve and lose good water.  As they starve, they must choose between surrender or cannibalism.  It is surprising how many besieged towns turn to cannibalism rather than surrender.  While this is a grim topic, it is part of what Jeremiah is told to forecast for the Hebrew people.

I find this chapter to indeed be very grim.  This chapter deals with the ultimate depravity of the human condition.  It is bad enough to think about cannibalism in circumstances that are uncontrollable – such as the plane crash in the Andes Mountain Range several decades ago.  But to think about cannibalism as a means to hold onto one’s freedom is almost deplorable.  Yet God goes one step further and connects the act of cannibalism to a people who were accustomed to sacrificing their own children.  As the Hebrew people sought religious freedom they turned to the Cannanite religious and offered up child sacrifices.  Now they will pursue personal freedom in resisting Babylonian captivity and become cannibalistic.  It is simply unbearable.  Human beings truly are depraved.  We may not all fall to these specific depths, but we all fall into sin pretty deeply in our own ways.

Public Proclamation

After Jeremiah gives this testimony to the elders of the Hebrew people, Jeremiah returns from the Valley of Hinnom and goes into the temple.  There Jeremiah gives this grim prophecy to the people in general.  It would be one thing for the elders to know what Jeremiah said.  But now all the people would know.

Why is this happening?  The people are stiff-necked.  They refuse to hear God’s Word.  They have turned aside and followed their own desires – even things as despicable as offering their own children as a sacrifice.  The deplorable behavior is ultimately rooted in their unwillingness to be humble before God.  There is a great price to pay for grave disobedience.

<>< 

Year 3, Day 71: Jeremiah 18

The Potter 

 I love this analogy.  I’m not alone.  This is one of the more talked about analogies within the book of Jeremiah. 

Jeremiah goes and watches a potter.  He is amazed at how the potter turns the clay around on a wheel and shapes it.  Often, the clay doesn’t work out the way the potter desires.  So the potter mashes it all back together and starts over.  It seemed good for the potter to go about this process. 

God tells Jeremiah that we are really no different in His eyes.  If we are out doing evil and God starts shaping us for destruction but we repent, God will understand that the destruction is no longer serving its purpose.  So God will mash up the destruction that He has planned and replace it with good.  On the other hand, if God is planning good for us and suddenly we begin to do evil in His eyes, then God will mash up His plans for good and reshape destruction. 

We do this all the time as people.  Parents base the rewards of their children upon the current fruit of the child’s efforts.  Employers base the evaluations of the employees upon the current fruit of the employee.  Why should God really be any different?  If God is planning something we don’t deserve (whether for good or for bad) then why should He not change His plans so that we get what we deserve? 

Our Own Plans 

However, we as human beings have no desire to be in the position of the clay.  We want to be the potter.  We want to be the one in charge.  We want to be the one handing out the reward of punishment, not the one being rewarded or punished.  Isn’t this the dream of every human?  Do we not strive for our independence so that we can live our own lives and make our own decisions? 

Thus, God raised up a complaint against Israel.  They have abandoned Him.  They are no longer interested in following His ways.  They are not even interested in repenting and acknowledge that they haven’t followed His ways.  In truth, they completely don’t even care about their relationship with God.  God accuses the Hebrew people of abandoning Him.  They have abandoned the ancient pathways that God established and they now wander aimlessly among the byways of the world. 

Again Jeremiah is Attacked 

When Jeremiah brought this message to the people, they began to attack him.  This time, they don’t attack him physically but rather verbally.  They try to plot against him and discredit his name.  They are convinced that the Law and wisdom are on their side, and these things will not depart from them.  Thus, they believe if they slander Jeremiah his messages will be discredited. 

I find a brash arrogance here.  At the same time, I wonder how much arrogance I have within me as well.  How often do I act brazenly assuming that I have the Law and God’s words on my side?  I wonder how many times I am no different than the people who came to slander Jeremiah.  I assume that I am right, but I am ignoring the people that God has sent my way to tell me that I am wrong. 

A Change in Jeremiah 

Then something interesting happens within Jeremiah.  Now it seems as though Jeremiah is at a point of listening to God’s thrice repeated declaration to pray no longer for these people.  Jeremiah joins in the chorus against the Hebrew people. 

First, notice that Jeremiah asks the Lord to hear his plea.  Then, Jeremiah confesses how short-sighted he was to stand before God and plead for them.  Then, Jeremiah unleashes a barrage of ill-will against them.  Instead of asking for God to overlook their sins, Jeremiah asks God to remember their iniquity.  Jeremiah asks God to be intentional about making their houses places of lament.  Jeremiah asks God to refrain from blotting out the sins of the people.  Jeremiah tells God that he is okay with the idea of them being overthrown.  Jeremiah agrees with God.  It is time to deal with them in terms of wrath. 

This is a hard end of the chapter.  It is painful within me to hear when a leader of the people finally washes his hands of the people.  I compare stories like this to Jesus on the cross when Jesus says, “Forgive them, for they know not what they do.” 

But on the other hand, have we not heard God say three times to Jeremiah to stop praying for these people?  Has God not giving a directive to Jeremiah to stop being concerned about them?  Is Jeremiah doing anything wrong by following God’s directive?  I don’t think so! 

I think we are actually seeing Christ in Jeremiah here in this chapter.  We are not seeing the Christ who asked for forgiveness for the people as He hung on the cross.  Rather, I think here we are seeing the triumphant Christ returning once more to earth to judge the nations.  There had been plenty of time for mercy.  Time and time again God had given the Hebrew people opportunity to repent.  They didn’t.  So the time of judgment has come.  Jeremiah – like the Lord to come once again – says, “Enough.” 

What a hard – but revealing – end to this chapter. 

<><