Blog – Read Through the Bible

February 27 / Jeremiah 19-20

Jeremiah 19-20

In considering Jeremiah 19, take some extra time to study the “Valley of the Son of Hinnom” and “Topheth” to understand the setting for Jeremiah’s breaking of a flask to illustrate the LORD’s judgment of Judah. Take a look at II Chronicles 28:3 (referring to evil King Ahaz), II Chronicles 33:6 (referring to evil King Manasseh), and II Kings 23:10 (referring to good King Josiah) along with the surrounding texts to get some history. King Josiah tears down this vile place of pagan child sacrifice. By New Testament times, the Valley of the Son of Hinnom becomes known as “Gehenna” and is a trash pit with fires burning continuously. Jesus uses it to represent hell, and so that is how “Gehenna” is often translated. See, for example, Matthew 23:15 or Mark 9:43.

Is there any part of your life that likewise needs to be utterly destroyed?

O LORD, you have deceived me,
and I was deceived…
Jeremiah 20:7a

Can you relate to Jeremiah here? Have you ever thought that God has sold you a bill of goods? You may recall that the LORD repeatedly promises to deliver Jeremiah from his enemies. Yet we find Jeremiah brutally beaten and placed in stocks. (Jer. 20:2) Even his close friends denounce him. (Jer. 20:10) He is derided, humiliated, threatened. Clearly, the LORD’s definition of deliverance does not quite line up with what Jeremiah (or we) might expect, and so Jeremiah struggles to hold on. Although the middle of his prayer reflects faith in the LORD’s deliverance (Jer. 20:11-13), Jeremiah ends in near despair with words reminiscent of Job. (Jer. 20:14-18)

So I ask again: Can you relate to Jeremiah here?

I’m pretty sure Jesus can relate:

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Psalm 22:1 (cf., Matthew 27:46, Mark 15:34)

February 26 / Jeremiah 17:19-18:23

Jeremiah 17:19-18:23

Thus says the LORD: Take care for the sake of your lives, and do not bear a burden on the Sabbath day or bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem. And do not carry a burden out of your houses on the Sabbath or do any work, but keep the Sabbath day holy, as I commanded your fathers.
Jeremiah 17:21-22

Do you get the sense that maybe, just maybe, the LORD cares about the Sabbath? This is by no means the only place that the Sabbath is placed in focus. Rather, the holiness of the Sabbath is a repeated refrain. Just consider this list of references (which is not at all exhaustive):

Exodus 20:8-11; 31:13-16; 35:2-3;
Leviticus 19:3; 19:30; 23:3; 26:2;
Deuteronomy 5:12-15;
Nehemiah 9:14; 13:15-22;
Isaiah 56:2-6; 58:13;
Ezekiel 20:12-24; 22:8,26; 23:38; 44:24.

Do you think that maybe, just maybe, we should care about what the LORD cares about?

It should be quite clear that our so-called “Christian” nation, the good ol’ U.S.A., cares nothing about the Sabbath, but that should be expected, as our nation is now anything but “Christian.” But what about us, those who profess a true faith in Christ? Do we honor the Sabbath and keep it holy? Do we try even just a little bit to do so? Or do we actively resist the Sabbath? In our attempts to avoid the legalism of the Pharisees, do we reject the gift of rest that is the Sabbath, and in so doing do we reject the Lord of that Sabbath?

Ask the Lord to speak to you about the Sabbath. Listen to what He has to say. Look and see whether your life actually reflects what He wants for you. Search your heart and see whether you are resisting Him. Do not be like ancient Judah:

Yet they did not listen or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck, that they might not hear and receive instruction.
Jeremiah 17:23

February 25 / Jeremiah 16:1-17:18

Jeremiah 16:1-17:18

In case you haven’t noticed yet, things are not looking good for the people of Judah. Forget about life as usual. Forget about having kids, as it will most certainly not go well for them. (Jer. 16:1-4) It’s time for any partying to stop:

For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will silence in this place, before your eyes and in your days, the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride.
Jeremiah 16:9

Further, the LORD declares that He will send His people into exile:

Therefore I will hurl you out of this land into a land that neither you nor your fathers have known, and there you shall serve other gods day and night, for I will show you no favor.
Jeremiah 16:13

None of that should be a surprise to anyone at this point. But look at what He says next:

Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when it shall no longer be said, ‘As the LORD lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’ but ‘As the LORD lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he had driven them.’ For I will bring them back to their own land that I gave to their fathers.
Jeremiah 16:14-15

Did you catch that? On the one hand, the LORD is confirming the judgement of exile on the faithless people of Judah, but on the other hand He is simultaneously promising restoration. In His faithfulness, the LORD will bring His people back to their land.

One can certainly argue that the LORD fulfills this promise several decades hence when He brings the exiles back from Babylon to rebuild Jerusalem and resettle the land in the time of Ezra and Nehemiah. But it seems to me that Jeremiah 16:16-21 envisions much more:

O LORD, my strength and my stronghold,
my refuge in the day of trouble,
to You shall the nations come
from the ends of the earth…
Jeremiah 16:19a

What do you think? Are you part of that? Do you want to be?

February 24 / Jeremiah 14-15

Jeremiah 14-15

Though our iniquities testify against us,
act, O LORD, for your name’s sake;
for our backslidings are many;
we have sinned against you.
Jeremiah 14:7

Thus begins a seemingly good and proper prayer of confession and contrition in Jeremiah 14:7-9, looking for relief from the LORD. We see another such prayer in Jeremiah 14:19-22. Yet the LORD’s response is a firm rejection of each of these prayers in Jeremiah 14:10-11 and Jeremiah 15:1-4, respectively. My sense here is that Jeremiah is “putting words into the mouths of” the people of Judah, that he sets them an example, hoping that they would turn to the LORD this way. But even if the people were to say these words themselves, the LORD knows better, because He sees the heart. He knows that such a prayer from the people would be fake and not backed by any true repentance.

Have you ever prayed such a fake prayer? Perhaps more pointedly, is fake prayer your habit? Do you come to church and go through the liturgy mouthing the prayers while harboring sin in your heart? Have you come to confession to acknowledge your sin and look for forgiveness, but with no real intention of turning away from that same sin? It’s one thing to confess sin from which you earnestly desire to be set free; it’s quite another to confess sin with the full intention of continuing in it. The latter is a sham, and the LORD knows it full well. Deep down, so do we.

February 23 / Jeremiah 13

Jeremiah 13

Hear and give ear; be not proud,
for the LORD has spoken.
Jeremiah 13:15

Well? Are we listening? Or are we too proud to heed what the LORD says? Are we so proud that we think of ourselves as superior to ancient Israel and Judah? Are we so proud that we don’t even see our own sin? Are we too proud to confess our sin? Are we so proud that we think we can reform ourselves on our own? Are we too proud to admit that we need a Savior?

Hear and give ear; be not proud,
for the LORD has spoken.
Jeremiah 13:15

February 22 / Jeremiah 11-12

Jeremiah 11-12

Sometimes (rather often, actually) I hear that God’s patience is infinite. You might even find such statements in comments here at RTB. It is a pleasant thought. But is it biblical? I think we can all readily agree that God is very patient, exceedingly patient, supremely patient, definitely far, far more patient than anyone else we know. If the LORD weren’t so patient, Jeremiah would have no audience at all, because God would have wiped out Israel and Judah (and all mankind) centuries earlier. So yes, to us impatient folk, His patience appears to be “infinite,” and we most certainly should be grateful for all that overwhelming patience.

But our reading today would suggest that the LORD’s patience is not, in fact, infinite. It has a limit. At some point, the LORD says, “Enough! I’ve had it!” Just listen to what He says:

Therefore, thus says the LORD, Behold, I am bringing disaster upon them that they cannot escape. Though they cry to Me, I will not listen to them.
Jeremiah 11:11

And again:

Therefore do not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer on their behalf, for I will not listen when they call to Me in the time of their trouble.
Jeremiah 11:14 (cf., Jeremiah 7:16; 14:11; 15:1)

The problem with thinking of the LORD’s patience as infinite, is that our fleshly, devious hearts have a tremendous propensity to presume upon that patience. We think that we can put off repenting until tomorrow, or next week, or next year, or even indefinitely because, well, the LORD is infinitely patient. We need not listen to Him today. We can wait. We can procrastinate. We can cling to our sin. We tell ourselves that it’s OK, because God is so patient.

Think again.

Let’s not presume upon the LORD’s patience, or His mercy, or His grace. The time to repent is not next year or next week or tomorrow. Any future time is too late. The time to repent is now.

See also: July 8 (2023) / Jeremiah 26:7-24; 11-12. (That post focuses more on Jeremiah 26, it but ties in here with the threats against Jeremiah’s life as indicated in Jeremiah 11:19,21.)

February 21 / Jeremiah 9:23-10:25

Jeremiah 9:23-10:25

The LORD vs. the works of men’s hands. That’s a pretty easy call, right?

Idols can’t do diddly. They can’t talk. They can’t walk. They can’t do evil. Neither can they do good. (Jer. 10:5) Idols are stupid and foolish. (Jer. 10:8) They might be shiny and all dressed up (Jer. 10:9), but they are worthless, a work of delusion. (Jer. 10:15) They are no match for the LORD God Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth. (Jer. 10:6-7,10-13,16)

Yet here we are with lives that may still be filled with idols. Sure, our idols may not be quite so blatantly obvious as a chunk of wood or stone that we cover with gold or silver. We might not prostrate ourselves in worship to such graven images. But we may well have idols nonetheless: wealth, family, success, status, comfort, hobbies, security, sports, sex, entertainment, politics, leisure, art, food — you name it. We can make an idol out of it. If anything even remotely approaches standing in God’s place in our lives, our affections, our devotion, our trust, then it’s an idol that needs to be dethroned and destroyed.

So what might your idols be? What do you cling to? Or what clings to you?

Why are you keeping such things around?

February 20 / Jeremiah 8:4-9:22

Jeremiah 8:4-9:22

Therefore I will give their wives to others
and their fields to conquerors,
because from the least to the greatest
everyone is greedy for unjust gain;
from prophet to priest,
everyone deals falsely.
They have healed the wound of my people lightly,
saying, ‘Peace, peace,’
when there is no peace.
Were they ashamed when they committed abomination?
No, they were not at all ashamed;
they did not know how to blush.
Therefore they shall fall among the fallen;
when I punish them, they shall be overthrown,
says the LORD.
Jeremiah 8:10-12 (cf., Jeremiah 6:13-15)

You may notice that the above verses from today’s reading are very nearly identical to Jeremiah 6:13-15, which we read just two days ago. Repetition in Scripture is a pretty good indicator that it is important, so maybe we should pay attention, especially when we, too, are so used to sin that we are are not at all ashamed and do not know how to blush.

So how do you picture Jeremiah himself as he proclaims his message of coming disaster to the unrepentant people of Judah? Do you think of him as looking down his nose at them, smugly sneering at all those who are greedy for unjust gain, all those adulterers and idolaters? Do you imagine him saying, “Boy, it sure will be great to see them get theirs!”? Does he take pleasure in pointing the finger, gloating over how much better he is than everyone around him? If that is your idea of Jeremiah, think again:

My joy is gone; grief is upon me;
my heart is sick within me.
Jeremiah 8:18

Oh that my head were waters,
and my eyes a fountain of tears,
that I might weep day and night
for the slain of the daughter of my people!
Jeremiah 9:1

No, Jeremiah doesn’t gloat. He grieves. Do we?

February 19 / Jeremiah 7:1-8:3

Jeremiah 7:1-8:3

The people of Judah have this notion in their heads that since the Temple of the LORD sits in Jerusalem, they will be fine, that the LORD would not possibly let any harm come to His Temple or to His holy city. But the LORD sends Jeremiah to preach in the gates of the Temple, to let everyone know that they are gravely mistaken and deluded in their thinking. It is only by repentance, by doing what is right and just in the eyes of the LORD, that disaster is to be averted. But no one is listening to Jeremiah.

So how about us? We may not have the Temple, but do we nonetheless delude ourselves? Do we think that if do a few good things we can get away with not so good things? Do we think that popping into church on Sunday means that we can do “whatever” the rest of the week? Do we look for forgiveness from God while refusing to forgive another? Do we think that saying “in Jesus’ name” makes whatever we do OK, when our hearts are far from Him? Hmmm. See Matthew 7:21-23.

Are we listening?

February 18 / Jeremiah 5-6

Jeremiah 5-6

Although we are only about a tenth of the way through this Book of Jeremiah, it should already be clear that the nation of Judah is headed for disaster, but that the people — rich, poor, weak, powerful, blue collar, white collar, cleric, lay — aren’t listening. They are not heeding Jeremiah’s warnings. If that isn’t clear yet, then it should become abundantly clear as we proceed. Jeremiah sounds the alarm of approaching disaster and gives plenty of indications as to why judgment is falling (e.g., Jer. 5:19), but there are plenty of false prophets who say otherwise, proclaiming a more welcome message of “Peace, peace,” when there is no peace. (Jer. 6:14)

It’s rather easy to observe all this from afar, looking back on ancient Israel and Judah. But what about observing what is more up close and personal? How are we doing in our own self-evaluation? Does anything that Jeremiah says make you squirm a bit? If not, is that because you truly are walking closely with the Lord, or is it because you are casually inattentive? Or are you, like Judah and Israel, refusing to look and listen?

Jeremiah ministers over a period of about 40 years. Today, Ash Wednesday, we enter into the season of Lent, 40 days of reflection and repentance. Let’s not squander the opportunity to listen well.