Jeremiah 36

Dear RTB’ers,

Today, the Scroll – #1 and #2. Over the next few chapters you will begin to see why I like the book of Jeremiah so much:

• The Lord speaks to him and he listens.
• He does the Lord’s bidding, speaking whatever he is told, in spite of opposition.
• Even with the resistance and persecution, he continues following the Lord’s instructions – he is persistent!!
• The Lord watches over him and protects him.
• The words that he speaks come to pass.

I love Jeremiah’ persistence in the face of opposition! To paraphrase St. Paul, “He knows Him in Whom he has believed”. (See II Timothy 1:12.)

So, the scroll… First, dictated by Jeremiah to Baruch (Jer. 36:4); then read by Baruch to “all the people” in the temple (Jer. 36:10); word brought by Micaiah to Jewish officials (Jer. 36:13); the scroll read by Baruch to the officials (Jer. 36:15); the beginning of the scroll read by the officials to the king (Jer. 36:23); the scroll burned by the king (Jer. 36:23); a second scroll dictated by Jeremiah to Baruch, And many similar words were added… (Jer. 36:32). Persistence!!

So, how are we doing with persistence? Maybe in prayer and daily devotionals? Maybe against temptation? Maybe in service when we are growing tired? Maybe simply resting in who God is and who we are in His sight? Not to worry – He persists whether we do or not. Persistence!

Blessings.

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See also: July 10 (2023) / Jeremiah 36:1-10; 25:1-14; 36:11-32; 45; 15:10-21.

Jeremiah 35

Dear RTB’ers,

The Rechabites. It’s a simple story. Rules had been laid down by their grandfather, Rechab, and passed on through their father, Jonadab, and were faithfully obeyed throughout the family. God uses them as a standard by which to compare Judah and Jerusalem. The Rechabites were obeying human fathers, while the Israelites were failing to obey their Creator, their heavenly Father: The command that Jonadab the son of Rechab gave to his sons, to drink no wine, has been kept, and they drink none to this day, for they have obeyed their father’s command. I have spoken to you persistently, but you have not listened to Me. (v. 14)

So, us? Taking a page from John… To whom are we listening? Whose word are we obeying? Where is our heart most truly set?

Blessings.

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See also: July 13 (2023) / II Kings 24:1-4; Jeremiah 35.

Jeremiah 34

Dear RTB’ers,

Jeremiah speaks the word of the Lord and Zedekiah and his officials listen: King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people in Jerusalem to make a proclamation of liberty to them, that everyone should set free his Hebrew slaves, male and female, so that no one should enslave a Jew, his brother. And they obeyed, all the officials and all the people who had entered into the covenant that everyone would set free his slave, male or female, so that they would not be enslaved again. They obeyed and set them free. (vv. 8b-10) Awesome! What a gracious act, the officials obeying Zedekiah’s proclamation and setting their slaves free! Well done, Zedekiah! Well done, officials and people!

But wait…!! In the very next verse, But afterward they turned around and took back the male and female slaves they had set free, and brought them into subjection as slaves. (v. 11) My Study Bible notes that Egypt had intervened on behalf of Jerusalem against Babylon and the Babylonians had temporarily lifted the siege. It seems that the slaves had been freed so that they could help defend the city. But now, with the siege lifted, the officials and people wanted their slaves back. What a turnabout!

So, an item for us…? Have we ever asked the Lord for this or that and seen our request granted, and thanked Him and served Him with all our hearts? And then, months or years later, we find ourselves back into our old ways of life. Not a good pattern!

Our God is a forever God. We need to be “forever people”!

Blessings.

Jeremiah 32-33

Dear RTB’ers,

A long reading today, one of our longest of the year, but also with a lot of narrative that makes it easier to read.

Jerusalem is under siege by the Babylonians (Chaldeans), just one year before the city actually falls in 586 B.C., yet the Lord tells Jeremiah to buy land in his hometown of Anathoth in Benjamin. The Lord is sending a message through Jeremiah that He will be restoring His people (recall yesterday’s message of restoration!) after they have suffered for their countless misdeeds: For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have done nothing but evil in My sight from their youth. The children of Israel have done nothing but provoke Me to anger by the work of their hands, declares the LORD. (v. 32:30) The Lord will indeed bring His people back: For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Houses and fields and vineyards shall again be bought in this land. I will rejoice in doing them good, and I will plant them in this land in faithfulness, with all My heart and all My soul. (vv. 32:15, 41) We will be reading more of this restoration in Ezekiel, Ezra, and Nehemiah.

Jeremiah continues this message of restoration in the first half of chapter 33, I will restore the fortunes of Judah and the fortunes of Israel, and rebuild them as they were at first. (v. 33:7) But then he moves beyond Judah’s immediate situation with the Babylonians to look far into the future: In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David, and He shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel, and the Levitical priests shall never lack a man in My presence to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings, and to make sacrifices forever. (vv. 33:15, 17b, 18) Jesus is that Righteous Branch; He is that King from David’s line and that Priest whose bodily sacrifice brought eternal salvation, what prior burnt offerings could never do. As the host of heaven cannot be numbered and the sands of the sea cannot be measured, so I will multiply the offspring of David My servant, and the Levitical priests who minister to Me. (v. 33:22)

But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, …He entered once for all into the holy places, …thus securing an eternal redemption. And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. (Hebrews 9:11-12, 10:10) Again, thank you, Jesus.

Blessings.

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See also: July 25 (2023) / Jeremiah 32-33.

Jeremiah 31:27-40

Dear RTB’ers,

The new covenant… In my earlier “born again” years I was active in a church called the “New Covenant Fellowship”, so this section of Jeremiah is always special to me.

The new covenant paragraph (Jer. 31:31-34) is quoted in its entirety in Hebrews 8:8-12. To me the essence of this new covenant is in two sentences: I will put My law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be My people. (v. 33b) I see this promise from God played out at Pentecost, wherein we now have the Holy Spirit living within each of us, His law now on our hearts – collectively and individually.

It’s worth each of us re-reading that paragraph a few times, asking the Holy Spirit to indwell us in this New Covenant – day by day, hour by hour, in all of our relationships and our circumstances. Let God be our God and us His people!

For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. Thank you, Jesus.

Blessings.

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See also: July 24 (2023) / Jeremiah 37; 30-31 (again).

Jeremiah 30:1-31:26

Dear RTB’ers,

Today and the next two days the key word is “restoration” – the Lord restoring the fortunes of both Israel (the Northern Kingdom) and Judah, bringing them back from captivity (exile) and re-settling them back in their own land. What’s unusual here is God’s inclusion of Israel and its restoration. Almost everything that we have read thus far in Jeremiah has been about Jerusalem and Judah (along with some chastisement for Babylon and for Judah’s neighbors). But Jeremiah 30 is written to both Israel and Judah. (Note especially the mention of both in Jer. 30:3, 4, 10.) Then the first twenty or so verses in Jeremiah 31 are devoted entirely to Israel. It’s comforting to know that God never forgets His people, no matter where they are or how difficult their misfortunes.

Thus says the LORD: “A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping. Rachel is weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no more.” (v. 31:15) Many of us recognize this verse, quoted in Matthew 2:18, reflecting Herod’s decision in Matthew 2:16-17 to kill all the infant boys in Bethlehem. In the immediate context, however, the Lord is still referring to Israel. Rachel was the mother of Joseph and Benjamin, and Joseph was the father of Ephraim and Manasseh, two of the leading tribes in Israel. So the mention of Rachel weeping for her children was probably referring to Israel being taken into captivity by Assyria in 722 B.C. In the next verse, however, the Lord returns to Israel’s restoration: Keep your voice from weeping, and your eyes from tears, for there is a reward for your work, declares the LORD, and they shall come back from the land of the enemy. (v. 31:16)

Today’s last verse surprised me: At this I awoke and looked, and my sleep was pleasant to me. (v. 31:26) And a blessed Good Morning to all of you!

Blessings.

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See also: July 24 (2023) / Jeremiah 37; 30-31.

Jeremiah 29

Dear RTB’ers,

A number of verses stand out for me today. First, But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. (v. 7) Although Jeremiah was writing to the exiles in Babylon to pray for the city of Babylon, I think there’s a message for us when we find ourselves in any unhappy situation. We may not like the job that we have, the house in which we live, the local or national government over us, or any other situation in which we find ourselves. However, the Lord knows exactly where we are, exactly what our particular situation is. He allowed us to be exactly where we are, and He has His Holy Spirit indwelling us to make the best of our situation – actually, not to make the best of that situation, but to thrive in it. That is, pray for everything, every situation in which we are unhappy and ask the Lord to give us peace. He may even turn things around. Always our prayer needs to be, “Not my will, but Your will be done.”

The second set of verses follows directly from the first, including a few oft-quoted verses (esp. vv. 11 and 13): For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will hear you. You will seek Me and find Me, when you seek Me with all your heart. (vv. 11-13) He knows the plans that He has for us. He knows where we are and where He wants us to be. It was a long, unhappy road that brought Carol and me to Kentucky. Come join us at our next RTB gathering on April 12 and I’ll tell you about it – a couple of major failures and a glorious deliverance. Thank you, Lord!!

Blessings.

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See also: July 20 (2023) / Jeremiah 29.

Jeremiah 27-28

Dear RTB’ers,

A first comment… I have often suggested that you read the “See also” material. I particularly suggest that you read those items when we are reading these Old Testament prophets. I have never posted comments over most of the Old Testament, but John covered the entire Bible in 2023. His comments are noteworthy, so please read those “See also…” comments.

Yesterday and in previous chapters we have seen Jeremiah predicting doom for Jerusalem and Judah and its leaders and people. In today’s first chapter we see Jeremiah also predicting doom for Judah’s neighbors – Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, and Sidon. Presumably these nations had come together with Judah to rebel against Babylon and were trusting in their own power and that of other nations to see Babylon defeated. Jeremiah tells these neighbors that they will also come under the yoke of Babylon and that they should submit to Babylon and remain in their lands. Failing that, they would become servants of the king of Babylon in his lands: For it is a lie that they are prophesying to you, with the result that you will be removed far from your land, and I will drive you out, and you will perish. But any nation that will bring its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, I will leave on its own land, to work it and dwell there, declares the LORD. (vv. 27:10-11) The chapter continues with the same message for King Zedekiah and the priests and people of Judah.

Chapter 28 is a stand-alone story of Hananiah, the false prophet. He predicts that Babylon will fall and that all the Temple treasures that had been taken to Babylon would be returned to Jerusalem within two years. Instead he is confronted by Jeremiah and he dies in two months. Bottom line – if you think that you have a word from the Lord, make sure of your source!!

Blessings.

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See also:

• July 18 (2023) / II Kings 24:18-19; Jeremiah 52:1-2; 27:1-11; 48-49
• July 19 (2023) / Jeremiah 25:15-38; 27:12-28:17

Jeremiah 26

Dear RTB’ers,

Back to Jeremiah. Both the STS editors and my Study Bible suggest that today’s chapter 26 reading is an extension of what we already read in Jeremiah 7. Back then Jeremiah was warning the officials and people of Jerusalem of their certain doom if they did not repent of their evil ways. We read that again today, with Jeremiah speaking words that the Lord gave him: Thus says the LORD: ‘If you will not listen to Me, to walk in My law that I have set before you, and to listen to the words of My servants the prophets whom I send to you urgently, though you have not listened, then I will make this house like Shiloh, and I will make this city a curse for all the nations of the earth.’ (vv. 4b-6) His words inflamed the Jewish leaders and the people, nearly all of whom were ready to kill Jeremiah. He, however, spoke in his own defense (Jer. 27:12-15) and was spared.

No doubt, Jeremiah’s defense was through the Lord providing the words that he spoke. Jesus had given similar advice to His disciples: Now when they bring you before the synagogues and the officials and the authorities, do not worry about how or what you are to speak in your defense, or what you are to say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say. (Luke 12:11-12; see also Matthew 10:18-20 and Mark 13:9-11) We also, in sharing our faith need to pray for wisdom and rely on the Holy Spirit to give us words to share.

Blessings.

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See also:

• July 7 (2023) / Jeremiah 26:1-6; 7:1-8:3
• July 8 (2023) / Jeremiah 26:7-24; 11-12