Day 223—We are in the eighth month of Bible reading, with more of Israel’s history and prophecy.

    Day 223 – Jeremiah 14 – 17 (Terrible drought, false prophets, no turning back, famine-sword-death, trust & the Sabbath) These chapters reveal the sternness of the Lord, the pleading and depression of Jeremiah, an a glimmer of hope for the obedient.

Jeremiah 14 begins with a dire picture of drought and famine and Jeremiah pleading for God to relent.  ONCE AGAIN, God tells Jeremiah, “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 sword, by famine, and by pestilence.”

Jeremiah then points out FALSE prophets who say Judah will not see those things, and God responds, “I did not send them, nor did I command them to speak. They are prophesying a lying vision, worthless divination, and the deceit of their own minds.” 

The rest of the chapter is either Judah or Jeremiah for Judah pleading for God to relent, even acknowledging their wickedness. They tell God they know the false gods cannot bring rain; only He can!

Jeremiah 15.  Here, God responds to their pleading. It’s too little, too late. “Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my heart would NOT turn toward this people. Send them out of my sight.”   “I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth because of what Manasseh, the son of Hezekiah, king of Judah, did in Jerusalem.”  See 2 Kings 2:2-7, 10-15

Jeremiah is overcome with grief at this and wishes he had not been born.

God reminds him of His promised protection for the remnant of Judah who obeys.

Still,  Jeremiah, in self-pity, asks God not to fail him like a streambed that’s dried up.  God reprimands his prophet for feeling sorry for himself and tells him to repent.  He does, and God promises to protect him.

Jeremiah 16.  God tells Jeremiah NOT to take a wife and have children because those who are born then will suffer deadly diseases, perish by the sword, and by famine.  Both great and small shall die in the land. They shall not be buried or lamented.

When the people ask why these predictions, Jeremiah is to say, “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 because YOU have done worse than your fathers.”   ” 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.”

HOWEVER….. for the faithful remnant, the LORD promises restoration.  And their deliverance from Babylon will be greater than their former deliverance from Egypt.  And such deliverance will result in Israel never again turning to idols. They will entirely and permanently renounce idolatry.

Jeremiah 17. After that vision of hope, the passage turns again to their horrendous sins of idolatry, depending on their own flesh, and dishonesty in gaining wealth.

Thus says the LORD:
Cursed is the man who trusts in man
and makes flesh his strength,
whose heart turns away from the LORD."

"Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,
whose trust is the LORD.
He is like a tree planted by water,
that sends out its roots by the stream,
and does not fear when heat comes,
for its leaves remain green,
and is not anxious in the year of drought,
for it does not cease to bear fruit.

The heart is deceitful above all things,
and desperately sick;
who can understand it?
I the LORD search the heart
and test the mind,
to give every man according to his ways,
according to the fruit of his deeds."

"Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed,
save me, and I shall be saved,
for you are my praise." (Jeremiah) 

Then the LORD tells Jeremiah to go to the gates of Jerusalem, and remind the people of the importance of “keeping the Sabbath Day holy unto Him.”  He tells them the results of their hearing and obeying His words (blessings) or NOT listening and keeping the day holy (destruction).