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Day 222 – Reading Jeremiah 10 – 13

Day 223 – Reading – Jeremiah 14 – 17

Read today’s Scriptures … ANYWHERE you find yourself this summer. Stay in the WORD!

DAY 222 – Jeremiah 10 – 13.

In this book, Jeremiah prophesies God’s coming judgment on Judah for their unrepentant sin, often in horrifying detail.  He also foretells their return to the land and the final millennial restoration under the rule of the Messiah-King.  Jeremiah and/or the people pray for mercy, but God’s answer is mostly “Do not pray for them.” (In other words, God’s mind was made up. They had gone too long without remorse. Judgment WILL come.

Also, in Jeremiah, there are sections where God speaks directly to Jeremiah, telling him to do something, which is often a “picture” of what will happen to Judah.  Some instructions are difficult, as when the LORD told Jeremiah he was NOT to take a wife or have children.  Farther along in the book, Jeremiah will endure much suffering for the Word of the LORD’s sake.

Jeremiah 10.

The prophet compares the ultimate LORD God with the idols of the nations.

IDOLS:  “A tree from the forest is cut down and worked with an axe BY THE HANDS OF A CRAFTSMAN. They decorate it with silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails so it cannot move. Their idols are like SCARECROWS IN A CUCUMBER FIELD!  They cannot speak; they have to be carried, for they cannot walk!  DO NOT BE AFRAID OF THEM!  They cannot do evil… OR good!

THE LORD;  “There is none like you, O LORD: You are great, and your name is great in might.  Who would not fear you, O King of the nations? For this is your due; for among all the wise ones of the nations and in all their kingdoms, THERE IS NONE LIKE YOU!”

IDOLS:  “They are both stupid and foolish; the instruction of idols is but WOOD!  Beaten silver… and gold…  They are the work of the craftsman and of the hands of the goldsmith; their “clothing” is violet and purple; they are ALL THE WORK OF SKILLED MEN!”

THE LORD:  “BUT THE LORD is the true God; He is the living God and the everlasting King.  At HIS wrath the earth shakes, and the nations cannot endure His indignation.”

Jeremiah then shifts into the words the Israelites will speak when the invaders attack – their despair over their homes destroyed and their children killed.

In ending the chapter, Jeremiah pleads that God’s terrible fury would be poured out on the attackers. He understood Judah must be punished, but prayed for mercy and moderation for them.  

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Jeremiah 11.

God tells Jeremiah to remind the people of the “Covenant” He made with them when he brought them out of the “iron furnace of Egypt;” the blessings and curses He would bring depending on how they obeyed His law.   They had confirmed that, but had quickly strayed from their promise.  “Everyone walked in the stubbornness of his evil heart.”  Hence, the coming disaster that they cannot escape.

“Let them go and cry to the gods to whom they make offerings.”

And to Jeremiah, “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!”  WOW!

Jeremiah continued to tell the people of God’s fierce judgment.  Some men from the Levite town of Anathoth devised schemes to kill him for his prophesy. Jeremiah went to the LORD.   God assured Jeremiah that they would  “get theirs” when when the time came. “Behold I will punish them. I will bring disaster on the men of Anathoth.” 

(Also re-read God’s strong promise to Jeremiah in chapter 1:8, 17-18)

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Jeremiah 12.

In this chapter, Jeremiah complains about the wicked and treacherous prospering. (Maybe about those who had threaten him.)

God answers Jeremiah by listing all the ways that Judah has failed HIM, forsaken and hated HIM, destroyed HIS vineyard and pleasant land…  

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Jeremiah 13.

In this chapter, God gives Jeremiah a weird task to do, one that, if taken literally, involves a LONG TRIP.  Jeremiah is to buy a linen loincloth (equivalent of a pair of underwear) and put it on, but not to take it off to wash it. 

Jeremiah obeyed.

Then God told him to go to the Euphrates River (500 miles away!!), dig a hole and hide it there between some rocks. 

Jeremiah obeyed.

After many days, the LORD told him to go back to the Euphrates and dig up the loincloth.

Jeremiah obeyed, and reported that the loincloth was “spoiled” and “good for nothing.” 

WEIRD set of instructions, right?  But God said it illustrated how close Israel had been to Him, that they were His people and He, their God.  But they would not remain there, but stubbornly followed after other gods to worship them.  And so…. the prophesied long stay, “buried” so to speak in Babylon, was to spoil their pride.

Next, Jeremiah is to tell ALL the people, from the king who sits on the throne (Jehoiachin), the priests, and prophets, to the common inhabitants of Jerusalem, that they will be like “full wine jars” which will be dashed against each other and destroyed … when the invasion comes. 

When they all ask, “Why is this coming upon us?” tell them that it is “for the greatness of your iniquity” and “you have forgotten God and trusted in lies.”

Then God asks a question that goes back to the Illustration of the loincloth. “WOE to you, O Jerusalem! How long will it be before you are made clean?”

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DAY 223 – Jeremiah 14 – 17.

Jeremiah 14.

In a time of drought in Judah, Jeremiah pleads for mercy.  After stating how horrible it’s getting without water, he prays to God.

“O You, Hope of Israel, its Savior in time of trouble….”  Don’t be a stranger in a time of trouble.  “You, O LORD, are in the midst of us, and we are called by your name;  Do not leave us.”

But the LORD answered Jeremiah like this,

“Do not pray for the welfare of this people! Though they fast, I will not hear their cry, and though they offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them.  But I will consume them by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence.” 

WHOA!  How does it feel for God to say NOT to pray for someone?

Jeremiah pleads for the people, because false prophets have deceived them.  But God says HE did not send those prophets, and they will be punished too.  But so will the people.  They would have known that the prophets were false if they’d stayed close to Him.

Still, Jeremiah pleads to God for the people.

“We acknowledge our wickedness, O LORD, and the iniquity of our fathers, for we have sinned against You. Do not spurn us, for Your name’s sake; do not dishonor Your glorious throne; remember and do not break Your covenant with us.  Are there any among the false gods of the nations THAT CAN BRING RAIN?  Or can the heavens GIVE SHOWERS?  Are You not He, O LORD our God?  We set our hope on You, for You do all these things.”

Wow, what powerful, persevering prayer!!

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Jeremiah 15.

God’s answer to Jeremiah’s intercession,

“Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my heart would not turn toward this people. Send them out of my sight, and let them go!

WOW. Double WOW.

God will not relent of the 1) pestilence, 2) sword, 3) famine, and 4) captivity “because of what Manasseh, the son of Hezekiah, king of Judah, did in Jerusalem. (2 Kings 21:1-18, 23:26, and 24:3-4)  “I AM weary of relenting.”

Jeremiah goes through a time of self-pity and protests about staying clear of those wicked men and remaining faithful to God. (He truly loved God’s word, a joy and delight to him.) But why wouldn’t God answer his prayers? 

And God reprimanded him.  “If you utter what is precious, and not what is worthless, you will be as My mouth. I will make you, to this people, a fortified wall of bronze; they will fight against you, but you shall prevail, for I am with you to save you and deliver you.”

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Jeremiah 16.

When God commands Jeremiah NOT to take a wife or have children, it was a mercy. God reminds His prophet that the wives, sons, and daughters who are there will die of disease but not be buried, they will perish by the sword and famine, and beast will eat their bodies.  God has taken away PEACE from the land. He will silence the voice of mirth and gladness.

When the people ask WHY?, Jeremiah is to tell them, “Because your fathers have forsaken Me and have gone after other gods and have served and worshiped them and have forsaken Me and have not kept my law.  AND YOU HAVE DONE WORSE THAN YOUR FATHERS.  And so…… 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.

“I will bring them back … But first, I will doubly repay their iniquity and sin … for their detestable idols and for filling my land with their abominations. 

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Jeremiah 17.

God continues listing the reasons for such drastic judgment on Judah.

CURSED is the man who trusts in man … he’s like a shrub in the parched desert.

BLESSED is the man who trusts in the LORD … he’s like a man planted by the water, green and fruitful.

“I the LORD search the heart and the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.

Then the LORD sends Jeremiah to the kings of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem to tell them to KEEP THE SABBATH HOLY. This had been a major sin for Israel, for all the 490 years from the first king until their captivity.  Not only had they neglected and desecrated the Sabbath Day, they had ignored the Sabbath Year.  Their 70 years of captivity would give the land rest for all those Sabbath Years they had missed.  (When they did return from captivity, special emphasis was put on observing Sabbath.)

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(We saw Jeremiah as a “human” today as well as a faithful prophet.  He balked at a few of God’s judgments and prayed to change them, but in the end, he relented.  He obey strange and dangerous instructions and got harassed and persecuted for them.  But God promised He would always be with Jeremiah.  Jeremiah was faithful to give out God’s message.  HOW faithful am I?)