Jeremiah 26:1-6; 7:1-8:3

It may be they will listen…

Jeremiah 26:3a

The LORD, exceedingly gracious and merciful, gives the people of Judah every opportunity to repent. He sends Jeremiah to the Temple court to proclaim His message that there is yet time to turn away from evil and avoid disaster. But the window of opportunity is closing — and closing fast.

In the Temple, one would expect to find those who ostensibly worship the LORD, those presumably most likely to be receptive to the word of the LORD. And yet it is these very people whose ways need amending. They are every bit as far from the LORD as anyone else, but they think they have Him in their back pocket. Just as their forefathers treated the Ark of the Covenant as a good luck charm, so the people of Judah now view the Temple as their guarantee of the LORD’s deliverance. They think, “We have the Temple, so all will be well.” But that is a false hope (Jer. 7:4,8), because their lives run counter to the LORD Whose Temple it is.

So the LORD issues fair warning: Repent! Turn around before it is too late! Do not miss this opportunity!

Is anyone listening?

Habakkuk 1-3

Does the world seem upside-down? Does it seem like the good guys are losing — and losing badly? Do you feel like God is not answering your prayers to your satisfaction? Do you wonder where God has gone? Does it seem like injustice generally prevails? Are you at a loss to explain your impossibly difficult circumstances?

If you answered “Yes” to any of those questions, then you are in good company! Say “Hello!” to Habakkuk, who expresses many of the same frustrations.

As a faithful member of God’s people, Habakkuk is confused. He sees the wickedness within Judah. He sees violence and destruction among his people. He sees the wicked rising up against the righteous. He sees justice perverted. And so he wonders where the LORD is. He wonders why God seems to sit idly by. (Hab. 1:2-4)

But the LORD is not on the sidelines. He is actively engaged. He is, in fact, raising up the Chaldeans (that is, the Babylonians) who will be more violent still! (Hab. 1:5-11)

Say what?! Now Habakkuk is even more confused. He understands that the Babylonians are an instrument of judgment, but it still seems upside-down. How can his own people, the people of Judah, who at least have some semblance of a relationship with the LORD, face destruction at the hands of these wicked Babylonians? Is the LORD going to let the “bad guys” mercilessly kill the “good guys” forever? (Hab. 1:12-17)

In such bewilderment, Habakkuk registers his complaint to the LORD and waits for an answer. (Hab. 2:1)

And the LORD responds with a great big, “Trust Me!” He says that the righteous shall live by his faith (Hab. 2:4), that the “bad guys” will not go unpunished but will most certainly receive their due (Hab. 2:6-20), and that the LORD will be glorified in the end. (Hab. 2:14,20) (We might note that the message here for Babylon is all very much in line with the message for Assyria in Isaiah 10:5-27 and Nahum 1-3. God raises up these nations as instruments of judgment upon His people, but then turns and punishes those nations for acting with evil intent. The LORD is sovereign over all.)

In the end, Habakkuk responds with one of the brightest beacons of faith in all of Scripture:

Though the fig tree should not blossom,
nor fruit be on the vines,
the produce of the olive fail
and the fields yield no food,
the flock be cut off from the fold
and there be no herd in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the LORD;
I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
GOD, the Lord, is my strength;
He makes my feet like the deer’s;
He makes me tread on my high places.

Habakkuk 3:17-19

No matter how dark the night, no matter how bleak the outlook, no matter how difficult the circumstances, the LORD remains faithful and worthy of our trust. Meditate on these verses today. Return to them often. Let the LORD speak to your heart and grant you His peace.

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One more thing…

Righteousness should subsist by faith. In it was life, as predicted in Habakkuk: “Now the just shall live by faith.” Hence Abraham, the father of the nations, believed. In Genesis “Abraham believed in God and it was counted to him for righteousness.” In like manner Paul wrote to the Galatians: “Abraham believed God and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.” So you see, those of faith are descendants of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” So then, those who are people of faith are blessed with Abraham who had faith.

Cyprian on Habakkuk 2:6, from Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews [an unfortunate title…]; the vast majority of the above is just quoting Galatians 3:6-9

II Kings 23:28-37; Jeremiah 22:10-17; II Chronicles 35:20-36:4

[Josiah] judged the cause of the poor and needy;
then it was well.
Is not this to know Me?
declares the LORD.

Jeremiah 22:16

So, do you want to know the LORD better? Then perhaps a good place to look for improvement is in one’s care for the poor and needy. The LORD clearly cares about the poor and needy, and throughout the Scriptures He calls us to do likewise. The question is not whether we need to care for the poor, but how.

Some will immediately respond with “Vote for liberals” whose rhetoric claims concern for the little guy. I would commend such voters for their desire to help the poor, but I would ask, “Where is your compassion for the future generations who are saddled with an inconceivably large national debt burden, mostly driven by entitlement spending that we refuse to rein in?” We do not get to pat ourselves on the back for being generous with other people’s money, particularly that of future generations who have no say.

Others will immediately respond with “Give to charities” who help provide for the poor. Good! But does writing a check to the Salvation Army at Christmas really feel like knowing the LORD?

How many other immediate responses might there be, responses that do not really require much of us or involve our hearts to any depth?

All of that just goes to say that the question of how we care for the poor is not a trivial one. It is not something that we can quickly answer. It’s not a matter of checking a box and moving on. We need to give it serious, prayerful consideration. We need to understand who, in fact, is poor or needy — not just those anonymous and distant “masses”, but our neighbors and friends, perhaps ourselves. We need to seek the Holy Spirit’s guidance and to listen to His voice. We need to press on to truly help the poor. We need to press on to know the LORD.

Nahum 1-3

Assyria, once the world’s superpower, the most feared of nations: Where are you now?

The LORD is good,
a stronghold in the day of trouble;
He knows those who take refuge in Him.
But with an overflowing flood
He will make a complete end of the adversaries,
and will pursue His enemies into darkness.
What do you plot against the LORD?
He will make a complete end;
trouble will not rise up a second time.

Nahum 1:7-9

Whereas Jeremiah assures Judah that the LORD will not make a full end there, Nahum tells Assyria just the opposite: The outcome for Assyria is most definitely a complete end. As Isaiah 10:5-27 makes clear, Assyria is the LORD’s instrument of judgment upon Israel and Judah — but unwittingly so, as Assyria’s own intent is evil. The LORD thus holds Assyria responsible for its arrogance and its brutality. And sure enough, Assyria’s descent from world domination to obscurity is remarkably swift at the hands of the Babylonians and the Medes — or, rather, by the LORD’s mighty hand.

Take heed, Russia. Take heed, China. Take heed, U.S.A.

Jeremiah 4-6

It is not looking good for Judah. Jeremiah’s message is not, “Don’t worry. Be happy!” Unlike Isaiah in Hezekiah’s day, Jeremiah does not tell the people of Jerusalem that the LORD will protect the city. On the contrary, he tells the people of Benjamin to flee Jerusalem because destruction is coming. (Jer. 6:1) But in the midst of this message of looming disaster, the LORD declares that He will not make a full end. In fact, He says this three times in today’s reading:

For thus says the LORD, “The whole land shall be a desolation; yet I will not make a full end.

Jeremiah 4:27

Go up through her vine rows and destroy, but make not a full end; strip away her branches, for they are not the LORD’s.

Jeremiah 5:10

But even in those days, declares the LORD, I will not make a full end of you.

Jeremiah 5:18

Yes, Judah, disaster is coming, a disaster of your own making, because of your persistent rebellion against the LORD, but the LORD is yet merciful and will not make a full end.

In all of that we should recognize that Jeremiah’s message — and that of all the prophets — is never simple condemnation, put a plea for repentance. The LORD is patient. He warns His people — again and again and again. But for the most part, His words fall on deaf ears (Jer. 5:21), both then and now.

Let’s not be so deaf.

Jeremiah 1-3

As I look at the history of both the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judah, I tend to think of Israel as being worse than Judah. After all, the Bible’s assessment of each and every one of Israel’s kings is that they did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, whereas at least some of the kings of Judah are good like David and did what was right in the sight of the LORD, especially Hezekiah and Josiah. And then, of course, God’s judgment falls on Israel in the form of conquest and deportation by the Assyrians while Judah continues to survive. Surely Judah is better than Israel. But Jeremiah tells us something very interesting:

The LORD said to me in the days of King Josiah: “Have you seen what she did, that faithless one, Israel, how she went up on every high hill and under every green tree, and there played the whore? And I thought, ‘After she has done all this she will return to me,’ but she did not return, and her treacherous sister Judah saw it. She saw that for all the adulteries of that faithless one, Israel, I had sent her away with a decree of divorce. Yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but she too went and played the whore. Because she took her whoredom lightly, she polluted the land, committing adultery with stone and tree. Yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah did not return to me with her whole heart, but in pretense, declares the LORD.”

And the LORD said to me, “Faithless Israel has shown herself more righteous than treacherous Judah.”

Jeremiah 3:6-11

So I have things backwards. God’s assessment is that Judah is worse than Israel. Hmmm. That little phrase “in pretense” illuminates the entire scene. God sees the heart, not just the outward show. Hezekiah and Josiah (for example) may well be good kings, serving the LORD faithfully and leading the people in the right direction. And I am sure that there are any number of faithful people supporting those kings in their endeavors. But then there’s the general populace who apparently are acting in pretense, with no true devotion to the LORD at all. They’re just following the king’s commands, going with the flow. So when the winds change direction, they do, too. And that is not what the LORD desires.

So how about us? Is our church life just a big put on, just a show? Do we sing songs and lift our hands in worship while harboring sin in our hearts? How easily swayed are we by the world, by the news media, by politicians or other leaders? Are we devoted to the LORD with our whole heart? Or only in pretense?

Psalms 33, 66-67, 100

Many thanks to Fred for stepping into the gap to provide commentary for the past few days while I was traveling. As it turns out, we get to hear more from him today, too!

See:

• March 27 (2022) / Psalm 33:1-12
• March 28 (2022) / Psalm 33:13-22
• June 15 (2022) / Psalm 66
• June 16 (2022) / Psalm 67
• August 26 (2022) / Psalm 100

II Kings 23:1-27; II Chronicles 34:1-35:19

In today’s readings we have only one king, Josiah, and he is good – not a single bad word mentioned! He became king at 8 years old, he began to seek the LORD when he was 16, and he began his cleansing of Jerusalem and Judah when he was 20 years old (II Chronicles 34:2-3). He lived another 19 years and served the LORD with all his heart during his lifetime.

The list of his accomplishments is impressive and is described in detail in II Kings 23. First, you may recall from yesterday that the Book of the Covenant had been discovered when the workmen began to cleanse the Temple area. Josiah’s first order of business was to read from this Book with all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Then he continued that cleansing of the Temple area and all of Jerusalem and all of Judea and even all of Israel. These activities occupy almost all of II Kings 23. The details occupy a full 17 verses in that chapter, with substantial detail on all the evil that had been perpetrated by his father and grandfather and earlier kings – surprisingly, including even Solomon. Josiah’s purging was complete!

Finally, when Josiah was 26 he restores the Passover for himself and all of Judah and Israel. We move to II Chronicles 35 for those details. And the details are, in fact, overwhelming: 30,000 lambs and goats and 3,000 bulls from the king’s possessions; 2,600 lambs and 300 bulls from the chief officers of the Temple; and 5,000 lambs and goats and 500 bulls from other chiefs of the Levites. I can’t stop myself from adding those numbers up – 37,600 lambs and goats and 3,800 bulls offered for this Passover for Josiah and the elders and the people of Judah and Israel! Huge!!

So, what do we see from Josiah’s early reign?

1. Finding and reading from the Book of the Covenant
2. Cleansing the Temple area and all of Jerusalem through the destruction of all the altars and idols to foreign gods
3. Moving on even to the northern parts of Israel to cleanse all of the Promised Land of these foreign gods
4. Celebrating the Passover for himself and all of Judah and Israel.

Quite an accomplishment!! Would that my own seeking and serving the Lord could be so extensive!

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One more very important item…

Still the LORD did not turn from the burning of His great wrath, by which His anger was kindled against Judah, because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked Him. And the LORD said, “I will remove Judah also out of My sight, as I have removed Israel, and I will cast off this city that I have chosen, Jerusalem, and the house of which I said, My name shall be there.”

II Kings 23:26-27

Josiah’s reforms, as great and extensive as they were could not undo the harm done by his father and grandfather and previous kings. Under Josiah, Judah’s cleansing had only begun!

II Kings 22; Zephaniah 1-3

I noted yesterday that Josiah was regarded as a good king. We see that today, right off the bat:

And [Josiah] did what was right in the eyes of the LORD and walked in all the way of David his father, and he did not turn aside to the right or to the left.

II Kings 22:2

Today we see Josiah concerned about the restoration of the Temple, an item that had been both ignored and blasphemed by his father and grandfather. We’ll read more about Josiah over the next few days. For now, Zephaniah…

Zephaniah is known as a “minor prophet”, one of twelve so named in the Old Testament. They are “minor” in length, not in importance and are less well known because they are shorter and are less often quoted. By contrast, we are more well acquainted with the major prophets – Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel.

The book of Zephaniah is mostly about condemnation. That’s all we see in the first two and one-half chapters, condemnation on Judah (Jerusalem), Moab, Philistia, Ammon, Cush (Ethiopia) and Assyria, then finally Jerusalem again. However, prior to those nations being named, Zephaniah speaks condemnation on the whole earth in the first chapter. He speaks of “the day of the LORD”:

Be silent before the Lord GOD!
For the day of the LORD is near;
the LORD has prepared a sacrifice
and consecrated his guests.
And on the day of the LORD’s sacrifice—
“I will punish the officials and the king’s sons
and all who array themselves in foreign attire.
On that day I will punish
everyone who leaps over the threshold,
and those who fill their master’s house
with violence and fraud.
… ”

Zephaniah 1:7-9

Zephaniah is not quoted explicitly anywhere in the Bible, but the “day of the LORD” is widely cited. One Internet reference listed 86 occurrences of that phrase in Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Joel, Amos, Micah, Malachi, Daniel, Hosea, and Zechariah, in addition to a number of New Testament references. (https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/Day-Of-The-Lord)

Zephaniah closes his book with hope. He sees the restoration of Israel’s remnant in Zeph. 3:9-20, a very different tone from the rest of the book. One verse in particular is known in music to many of us:

The LORD your God is in your midst,
a mighty One who will save;
He will rejoice over you with gladness;
He will quiet you by His love;
He will exult over you with loud singing.

Zephaniah 3:17

Here are the lyrics:

The Lord your God is in your midst,
The Lord of lords Who saves;
He will exult over you with joy,
He will renew you in His love,
He will rejoice over you
With shouts of joy! With shouts of joy!
With shouts of joy! With shouts of joy!
With shouts of joy!

Ernie Rettino – Listen to an instrumental version on YouTube

Warning: You’ll have “shouts of joy” in your head the rest of the morning!!

So, a happy ending for Zephaniah!

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One more thing…

As church Treasurer I had to chuckle over II Kings 22:7, But no accounting shall be asked from them for the money that is delivered into their hand, for they deal honestly. The workmen for the Temple restoration had been given the money, but no receipts were required of them. How different that is for us today, where church audits require that every dollar be accounted for!