Jeremiah 48-49 Fighting Against God Never Pays

In page after page, God promises not to let the sins of nations go unpunished.  Moab trusted in the things they did and in their wealth.  They worshiped Chemosh, an idol.  They thought they were greater than the Lord.  They would be destroyed.  "But in days to come, I will make good things happen again to Moab," God promises.

The people of Ammon were unfaithful and believed their treasures would save them.  God would scatter them.  "But the time will come when I will make good things happen to the Ammonites again," says the Lord.

For Edom, their pride had fooled them, living in rock cities like Petra, but Edom also would be destroyed.  There was no promise or hope from God for them, though.

God also swore that Damascus, Syria, would be destroyed.  The nomadic peoples of Kedar and Hazor, who kept their hair cut short, would be scattered and their land would become an empty desert forever.

Elam was warned that God would kill them all and even set up His throne there, yet He did promise to make good things happen to them in the future.

It doesn't pay dividends to ignore God, disrespect Him, or fight against Him.  He's sovereign and all-powerful and He cannot be defeated.  We only hurt ourselves when we foolishly believe that we can live any way we want and not have to one day pay dearly for our own rebellion against Him.  Father, please remove Satan's deceptions from the eyes and hearts of those I love so that they can see what they are doing and learn from it before it is too late.

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Your Brother In Christ,

Jeremiah 45-47 Specific Messages God Sent

God gave Jeremiah a message about Baruch, Jeremiah's faithful secretary.  "Baruch had chosen to identify with Jeremiah and do the will of God ... Not everybody is called to be a prophet or apostle, but all of us can do the will of God by helping others do their work," my commentary said.  "Baruch was willing to stay in the background and serve God by serving Jeremiah."

Starting in Chapter 46, Jeremiah delivered God's messages to the nations associated with Israel.  Egypt got to hear that they would face battle against Babylon, and that its wounds were incurable.  Philistia would face a similar Babylonian invasion so terrible that parents would flee for their lives and leave their children behind, my commentary mentioned.

My commentary also featured a postlude on Jeremiah himself, with several important lessons that I needed to hear right now.  I'm glad I skipped ahead and started reading:

     First, in difficult days, we need to hear and heed the Word of God.

     Second, true prophets of God are usually persecuted.

     Third, True patriotism isn't blind to sin, but seeks to deal with those sins compassionately and realistically.    The nation that doesn't deal with sin is wasting time and resources trying to solve national problems. which are only symptoms of the deeper problem, which is sin.

     Fourth, God's servants occasionally have their doubts and failings.

     Fifth, The important thing isn't success:  it's faithfulness.

     Sixth, The greatest reward of ministry is to become like Christ.

     Seventh, God is King, and the nations of the world are under His sovereign control.  Nothing catches God by surprise.

Father, I know these things, but sometimes in the heat of battle, I forget them.  Help me to remember that You never lose -- that You are all-powerful and sovereign, despite how I might be feeling in the circumstances of life.

Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford

Jeremiah 45-47 Specific Messages God Sent

God gave Jeremiah a message about Baruch, Jeremiah's faithful secretary.  "Baruch had chosen to identify with Jeremiah and do the will of God ... Not everybody is called to be a prophet or apostle, but all of us can do the will of God by helping others do their work," my commentary said.  "Baruch was willing to stay in the background and serve God by serving Jeremiah."

Starting in Chapter 46, Jeremiah delivered God's messages to the nations associated with Israel.  Egypt got to hear that they would face battle against Babylon, and that its wounds were incurable.  Philistia would face a similar Babylonian invasion so terrible that parents would flee for their lives and leave their children behind, my commentary mentioned.

My commentary also featured a postlude on Jeremiah himself, with several important lessons that I needed to hear right now.  I'm glad I skipped ahead and started reading:

     First, in difficult days, we need to hear and heed the Word of God.

     Second, true prophets of God are usually persecuted.

     Third, True patriotism isn't blind to sin, but seeks to deal with those sins compassionately and realistically.    The nation that doesn't deal with sin is wasting time and resources trying to solve national problems. which are only symptoms of the deeper problem, which is sin.

     Fourth, God's servants occasionally have their doubts and failings.

     Fifth, The important thing isn't success:  it's faithfulness.

     Sixth, The greatest reward of ministry is to become like Christ.

     Seventh, God is King, and the nations of the world are under His sovereign control.  Nothing catches God by surprise.

Father, I know these things, but sometimes in the heat of battle, I forget them.  Help me to remember that You never lose -- that You are all-powerful and sovereign, despite how I might be feeling in the circumstances of life.

Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford

Jeremiah 43-44 -- Hearing God's Words And Refusing To Listen

Once Jeremiah finished delivering God's message to the Jews who'd been away from Judah and who'd returned after the Babylonians had overtaken the land and decided to live just like their defeated brothers, their leaders let pride lead them where their hearts should not have gone.  They accused Jeremiah of lying about what God was saying.  They forced the entire entourage to travel to Egypt despite God's clear call for them to remain in the land.  They were following a cult of personality led by Johanan.

When they arrived in Tahpanhes, Egypt, God directed Jeremiah to deliver his final action sermon.  He buried some large stones underneath the brick pavement in front of Pharaoh's palace there.  God directed him to say, "I will soon send for my servant, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.  I will set his throne over these stones ... He will bring death to those who are supposed to die ... Nebuchadnezzar will wrap Egypt around him ... and he will burn down the temples of the gods of Egypt."

What had caused this?  Jeremiah tells them and us:  The people were doing evil ... burning sacrifices to false gods.  What God asked next is still what He asks us today:

"Why are you doing such great harm to yourselves? ... Why do you want to make Me angry? ... You will destroy yourselves  ... Even to this day the people of Judah are still too proud.  They have not learned to respect Me or follow My teachings.  They have not obeyed..." 

The women were burning incense to other gods with the full approval of their husbands.  Their justification was that it had worked before and they were therefore going to do it again, regardless of what God had to say.  Never mind that their country was in ruins because of it!  Jeremiah told them, "You sinned against the Lord your God.  You did not obey Him or follow His teachings ... You did not keep YOUR part of the agreement with Him ... So go ahead.  Do the things you promised, and keep your promises.  But hear the Word of the Lord ... "I am watching over them, not to take care of them, but to hurt them.  The Jews who live in Egypt will die from swords or hunger... A few will escape ... then those who are left alive will know if My word or their word came true."

What a shame to know God and then willfully ignore what one knows, taking their own paths instead, despite His warnings!  When God says, "Why are you doing such great harm to yourselves?" too often we think that we know better than Him.  Such hubris!  Such pride!  When He asks, "Why do you want to make Me angry?" how can we possibly have the courage to answer?  And when He warns us, "You will DESTROY yourselves," how can we not listen and stop what we're doing?

Satan's deceptions and our own sinfulness and pride blind us to the truth because we've let him take up residence in our hearts instead of allowing God to reside there.

Father, hold back Satan and expose his deceptions.  Allow those I love to hear You crying out these same words today.  Let them hear and be moved to agree with You and to repent.  Don't let Satan's foothold take root in their souls.  Rescue them, Father!

Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford

Jeremiah 40-42 The Error In Trying To Get God To Approve What We've Already Decided

Those who'd remained in the land had been told by God to submit to Babylonian rule so that it would go well with them.  Yet "they repeated the very sins that had led to the collapse of the nation and the destruction of the city.  They wouldn't listen to the Word; they turned to Egypt for help, and they worshiped idols," my commentary said.

Jeremiah was invited to live with the Babylonian captain who'd freed him from chains.  But he was a shepherd to the people and wanted to live among his flock.  He took up the captain's offer to live with the newly appointed governor of the land, Gedaliah, who'd "told the people exactly what Jeremiah had been telling them for many years.  Serve the Babylonians and you will live safely in the land."

Johanan, a concerned Jewish captain, heard about a plot to assassinate the governor and warned him, but the governor refused to believe it.  Ishmael was the assassin's name and he and his ten men killed the governor and his men, then killed 70 of 80 Jewish pilgrims returning to the land to worship.  Johanan managed to save those ten pilgrims, but Ishmael escaped.  Johanan then asked Jeremiah to find God's will for them, hoping with insincere hearts that Jeremiah would tell them to go live in Egypt.  But God had already told them Egypt was not an option.  Jeremiah warned them again not to disobey the Lord by moving to Egypt.  The disasters they were escaping would only follow them there.  

Finally, Jeremiah exposed their hearts, announcing publicly their deception and lack of desire to obey God.  "They wanted the Lord to approve what they had already decided to do ... This event is a warning to us not to be insincere as we seek the will of God," my commentary said.

Father, I'm seeking Your will right now in several areas.  i need Your answers and I want to obey.  Remove any insincerity from my heart.  I don't want You to simply approve what I decide to do without Your blessing.  I want You to guide me and direct me to the decision You've already made.

Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford

Jeremiah 38-39 The End For Many

Sometimes being right in the middle of God's will may seem like anything other than safety.  "Four of Zedekiah's officers banded together to urge the king to kill Jeremiah."  They saw his message as propaganda that was hurting the war effort, my commentary said.  Jeremiah was lowered into the deep mud at the bottom of a well in the courtyard of the guard, where they hoped he would suffer and die.  But his fate wasn't unknown to God.  Ebed-Melech, from Cush, witnessed his predicament and told King Zedekiah, who vacillated again and told Ebed-Melech to take 30 soldiers and rescue Jeremiah.  He was brought to the king.

Zedekiah charged Jeremiah to withhold nothing of God's Word from him, and made a secret promise that he wouldn't be killed or handed over to those who might try to kill him.  Jeremiah assured the king that if he surrendered, his life would be saved, the city would not be burned, and he and his family would live.  Otherwise, the city would be destroyed and Zedekiah and his family would still be captured.

Zedekiah feared what the Jews already captured would do to him if he surrendered.  But Jeremiah assured him that if he obeyed God, things would go well for him in captivity.  It was simply a matter of trusting God.

Instead, Zedekiah attempted to flee in the night, but his entourage was captured some 200 miles north of Jerusalem.  "There, Nebuchadnezzar passed his sentence on Zedekiah ... the king of Babylon killed Zedekiah's sons and all the important officers as Zedekiah watched.  Then he put out Zedekiah's eyes.  He but bronze chains on Zedekiah and took him to Babylon."  They set fire to Jerusalem and left only the poorest people in the land to tend the vineyards and fields.

True to His word, God directed Nebuchadnezzar to find Jeremiah and release him.  The Babylonian commander's words are amazing, coming from a nonbeliever:  "The Lord your God announced this disaster would come to this place.  And now the Lord has done everything He said He would do.  This disaster happened because the people of Judah sinned against the Lord and did not obey Him.  But today I am freeing you from the chains on your wrists.  If you want to, come with me to Babylon, and I will take good care of you.  But if you don't want to come, then don't.  Look, the whole country is open to you.  Go wherever you wish."

Jeremiah chose to live with the governor appointed to administer the land.  "He lived among the people who were left behind in Judah."

Faithful to God's message, Jeremiah still found himself up to his armpits in mud at one point, but God could be trusted, and eventually Jeremiah was cared for by those God had ordained to overtake the land.  He wasn't a traitor.  Indeed, he was the only one who remained loyal.

Father, I'm trusting in You.  When it feels like I'm still under siege, reassure me and give me strength.

Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford

Jeremiah 35-37 -- What Type Of Devotion?

God had Jeremiah perform another action sermon.  He highlighted the devotion of the family of Rechab, which had followed their ancestor's admonition to remain nomads and refuse to drink wine for over two centuries.  

"The message to the nation was clear.  If the command of a mere man, Jonadab, was respected and obeyed by his family for over two centuries, why didn't the people of Israel and Judah obey the command of Almighty God?  If a family tradition was preserved with such dedication, why was the very law of God treated with such disrespect? ... How often God's people are put to shame by the devotion and discipline of people who don't even know the Lord but who are intensely loyal to their family, their religion, or their personal pursuits.  Even people who want nothing to do with the Word of God can by loyal to traditions and man-made codes.  If Christians were putting into their spiritual walk the kind of discipline that athletes put into their chosen sport, the church would be pulsating with revival life," my commentary said.  

God had Jeremiah deliver all of the words God had spoken to him to Baruch, who wrote them on a scroll, then Baruch was told to read them in the Temple on a fast day when a large number of people would be in attendance.  There's no word about the crowd's reaction, but one man listened and told the princes.  They asked for a reading and them hid the scroll and went to get the King to listen.  As King Jehoiakim heard the words, he sliced strips from the scroll and through them into the fire, until the entire 23 years of messages were burned up.  "he had a very high opinion of himself and a very low opinion of God," my commentary said.  "The same God who gives the Word has the power to protect and preserve the Word.  The king had tried to destroy the Word, but the Word destroyed him."

Father, I thank You for preserving Your Word for me to read, and for quickening my ear and my heart to it after drawing me back to Yourself all those years ago.  Thank You for leading me to also preserve what You show me so that perhaps someday my boys and their families will be able to read the words You have given to me.

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Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford