August 2–Jeremiah 28-30

“Listen now, Hananiah, the Lord has not sent you, and you have made this people trust in a lie”(28:15).

It is distinction that some people never understand. Optimism and faith are not synonymous. “Being positive” or “hoping for the best” is not always true faith in the true God. Often, the very opposite.

For months, Jeremiah had been wearing a yoke around his neck. It was an object lesson with prophetic purpose. It symbolized enslavement coming for the Jewish nation.

One day, with an eye to his own approval ratings, the false prophet Hananiah publicly confronted Jeremiah and broke the yoke. “I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon,” Hananiah declared, as if speaking for God. “Within two years, I (God) will bring Jerusalem back from exile,” he declared to the nodding heads of the gathered observers.

A very positive word! Very hopeful! No question about it. Trouble is, it wasn’t true. It would cost Hananiah his life. See v. 16-17.

Those who speak for God must do so with great loyalty to the Spirit. No political correctness allowed. When mercy is offered by God, the prophet must make clear the terms and the kindness of it. When judgement is threatened, he/she must be equally clear as to the harsh certainties. When the word of God is sharp like a sword (Hebrews 4:12), only a FALSE prophet softens the intended blow.

Is good news good if it isn’t true? Being optimistic is a plus only so long as the hope being offered rests on the certain and sure word of the Lord.

August 1-Jeremiah 24-27

“Thus says the Lord God of Israel, ‘Like these good figs, so I will regard as good the captives of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans. . .but like the bad figs which cannot be eaten due to rottenness. . .so I will abandon Zedekiah. . .and his officials, and the remnant of Jerusalem who remain. . . and ones who dwell in Egypt’ “(24:5,8).

It is a common mistake of the secular mind. The world assumes that all men have the same standing with God. That we all are equally His children.

Scripture denies it. We are not ONE nation under God. No nation ever is. After the disaster on the Titanic, there are two groups. Saved. Lost. So with the human race.

Years later, Paul will make the same assertion. Not everyone who belongs to national Israel was (is) a member of Spiritual Israel. (See Romans 9). True Israel (see Philippians 3:3) is a deeper designation. A Spiritual reality. Invisible identity known to God.

As the long-predicted destruction of Jerusalem began, God revealed this truth to Jeremiah. Looking at Judah, God saw two nations. One group represented by over-ripe, to-be-thrown-away figs. Another group (those sent into exile early) represented by the just-ripe, still useful figs. See Jeremiah 24:1-10. The Great Judge had different verdicts for these groups. They were not the same in His eyes.

In 1 Kings 19, Elijah was reminded of this reality. Even in a nation that for years had drifted toward immorality and unbelief, God still had, “8000 who had not bowed the knee to Baal.” Same truth in Genesis 18. God told Abraham that His eyes were on the righteous, even as He reached a decision for wrath on the sinful city.

National, racial, language distinctions are superficial. The only truly significant thing about a man is his standing with God. In Christ, God redeems people for Himself and covers their lives with care and favor. These are God’s elect, God’s children.

Friend, are you His?

“All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats”(Matthew 25:32).

“The Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgement”(2 Peter 2:9).

“Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves!”(2 Corinthians 13:5).

July 31–Jeremiah 22-23

” ‘What does straw have in common with grain?’ declares the Lord. ‘Is not My word like fire, like a hammer that shatters a rock?’ “ (23:28-29).

False prophets are a problem in every age. Particularly serious in moments of God’s wrath, when accurate information from God is most vital.

Through Jeremiah, God confronted the false prophets of Israel. Having not stood in God’s counsel (23:22), having not been sent by His Spirit (23:32), they spoke a message that was not God’s word. Empty people, leading others into emptiness.

With urgency and clarity, God called His people to consider the difference between straw (the words of the false prophets) and grain (true food, from a true prophet). He urged people to look for fire that challenged sin and cleansed the conscience, for a hammer-like quality that shattered the pride of man and restored the soul to God. These qualities are true marks of God’s word. Always.

In a nation where thousands of sermons are preached every Lord’s Day (in person and online) we are wise to hear this warning. Not words, but power is the real need. Sermons are not enough. We need the food, the fire, the hammer of God’s Spirit, God’s word.

Friend, when you listen to a sermon, does it shatter and move you toward justice and righteousness? Does it bring you into an encounter with God? Will you pray for your Pastor? For your own ears and heart?

“My message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God”(1 Corinthians 2:4).

“Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4).

July 30–Jeremiah 18-21

“I will show them My back and not My face in the day of their calamity”(18:17).

“I Myself will war against you with an outstretched hand and a mighty arm, even in anger and wrath and great indignation”(21:5).

“If God be for us,” said Paul in his famous encouragement in Romans 8. With precise logic and genuine joy, he verbalized the confidence of those redeemed in Christ. If God is working for our advantage (blessing us, protecting us, guiding us), we can (and should) live without fear!

In Jeremiah 18-21, the prophet makes the OPPOSITE argument. He proposes the real possibility of God turning against people in their sin. “Your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear,” says Isaiah to shocked Israel. See Isaiah 59:2. “On a nation such as this shall I not avenge Myself?”(Jeremiah 5:29).

It is a moment to be feared. In righteous anger, God begins to oppose a nation, a church or an individual. He “gives them over.” See Romans 1. He removes His protection, begins to actively oppose.

In the last book of Scripture, we hear similar warnings. “I will war against them with the sword of My mouth,” says Revelation 2:16. The Lamb becomes the Lion. Fierce in wrath. Unbending in judgment. A God not mocked.

Certain signs warn us when this terrible moment comes. Visible circumstances point to it. Military defeat. Natural disasters. Fear as a norm. Moral drift. God’s prophets declare it. Spirit-inspired spokespeople call and warn us.

Will you consider the terrible possibility of God being against us? In Jeremiah 19 describes a clay jar so hardened that it must be destroyed without hope of repair. In a different moment, Jeremiah 18 describes clay still soft enough to be reshaped by the potter’s hand. If repentance is still possible, should we not urgently seek it?

“Therefore, repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord” (Acts 3:19).

“When God saw their deeds, that they turned from their wicked way, then God relented concerning the calamity which He had declared He would bring on them. He did not do it”(Jonah 3:10).

July 29–Jeremiah 15-17

“Even though Moses and Samuel were to stand before Me, My heart would not be with this people. Send them away from My presence and let them go!”(15:1).

It is an easy mistake to make. A place of my own stumbling. Subconsciously, a pastor (or a friend or a parent) can accept blame for a situation when the actual explanation lies somewhere else. “Maybe if I preached better, maybe if I prayed harder, my church would do better.”

One day, God corrected Jeremiah on exactly this point. The condition of the nation was NOT Jeremiah’s fault. With the rebellious hearts in Jeremiah’s day, even Moses and Samuel would have done no better.

Sometimes leaders get more credit than they deserve. Sometimes, they take more blame. The condition of the nation had nothing to do with Jeremiah’s preaching or faithfulness. The deep need of the moment was for the hearts of the people to melt before God in real repentance. Apart from it, there would be no cure.

“How often I wanted to gather your children, the way a hen gathers her chicks (for safety, for comfort) but you were not willing,” said Jesus as He prayed over Jerusalem. Apart from the softening of the WILL of the people, judgment was soon to come.

“We must reject the idea that every time a law is broken, society is guilty rather than the lawbreaker. It is time to restore the American precept that each individual is accountable for his actions”(Ronald Reagan).

“You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink” (old American proverb).

Are you aware, dear one, as you vote for a President or relate to your Pastor, leaders have limited power to save us? Are you aware, dear Pastor, dear parent, that true help, and true healing, comes from God. Each of us must turn to God. No leader can do it for us.

July 28–Jeremiah 12-14

“Why has the way of the wicked prospered? Why are all those who deal in treachery at ease?”(12:1).

Ministry was often hard for Jeremiah. Many moments of discouragement. People criticized him. Threatened him. At times, he was even disappointed with God.

In a sour mood, one day, he complained to God. “For years I have faithfully prophesied judgement, but it hasn’t come. In fact, the people who have rejected Your word seem to be doing very well. What is taking so long? Why don’t You act? Why, God, are You so hidden, so subtle, so slow?”

Maybe you have felt the same. I have.

As is often the case, God didn’t answer Jeremiah’s specific question. In v. 5, He challenged the prophet to grow strong. “If you have run with footmen and they have tired you out, how can you compete with horses?” The call for patience (endurance) is ever present in Scripture.

With this challenge, God repeated His unchanged (but still in the future) judgement. See v. 7. Two messages are clear (to Jeremiah, to us, as well). God WILL bring judgement in His time. People who love/serve Him must LEARN TO WAIT.

Patience is a clear virtue of Spiritual life. The God who knows what must happen also knows when. If patience is a problem (and it often is), it is MY problem to fix. With complete confidence in the Father’s calendar and timing, Jesus said, “My hour has not yet come.” Our Savior did not wrestle with the Father regarding the timing of his life.

Friend, do you ever feel like God is not moving fast enough to suit you? By faith, will you embrace His wisdom and schedule? If He is patient, will you be, also? Will you grow strong enough to endure the pressure without quitting or complaining?

“Rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer” (Romans 12:12).

“God will bring about justice for His elect who cry out to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them?. . .However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?”(Luke 18:7-8).

July 27–Jeremiah 9-11

“Thus says the Lord, ‘Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on the earth; for I delight in these things’ declares the Lord”(9:23-24).

What makes you rejoice? What makes you excited and grateful? In Jeremiah 9, God calls us to consider our boasting. The Hebrew word is halal. (Note the English word “hallelujah”). The word means, “to shine forth, to praise.” To boast is to express the thing that makes us confident or joyful.

The problem is NOT that we boast. The Lord is not sorry when His people are glad. The problem is that we boast in the wrong things. Wisdom. Power. Wealth. Control. These things fill us with false confidence. We brag (are self-pleased) when we have them. Ultimately, always, they pass away and disappoint us.

In Christ, we learn a new wisdom, a true wisdom. The only legitimate and durable source of joy is God! The person who understands God, who sees God actively at work, accomplishing His purposes, exercising lovingkindness and justice and righteousness, finds true treasure. Jeremiah knew it. Jesus exampled it.

In Philippians 3, the Apostle Paul gives his own short summary of the same wisdom. “I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. . .that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.”

Dear friend, have you learned this wisdom? Have you set your heart to know Christ, to rest in Him and boast in nothing else?

“In any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me”(Philippians 4:12-13).

July 26–Jeremiah 6-8

“Behold, you are trusting in deceptive words to no avail. Will you steal, murder, and commit adultery and swear falsely, and offer sacrifices to Baal. . .and then come and stand before Me in this house and say, ‘We are delivered’? Has this house which is called by My name, become a den of robbers?”(7:9-11).

Scholars call it the “Temple Sermon”. Dramatic story. Tense moment. This sermon got Jeremiah arrested. See chapter 26. Six hundred years later, when our Lord cleansed the Temple (a similarly tense moment), He quoted these words. See Mark 11:17.

Uncomfortable but true. Public worship divorced from moral repentance is an empty waste of time! Security in the Lord is found only in the inner integrity of soul-shaping repentance and faith toward the Holy One. Public worship that is not a pledge of this repentance/faith is hypocrisy. “If we say we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth”(1 John 1:6). Perfection is not required, but authenticity is.

There is never a shortage of advocates for a happier, easier gospel. Ear-ticklers. See 2 Timothy 4:3. “God will ALWAYS save Jerusalem, for the sake of the temple,” said the smiling salespreachers of Jeremiah’s day. We are His people. God would never destroy us. “Deceptive words,” said Jeremiah.

I must remember. We all must. Our true safety, and the safety of our family and nation, is in repentance and obedience. We must not be deceived! A holy God can never be other than He is. His people are only safe as we stand with Him in holiness.

Should God’s house be a safe place for a sinner? Does God intend a den for the unrepentant to run to for comfort? Is there such a place?

“If My people, who are called by My name, humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear. . .and heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14).

July 25–Jeremiah 4-5

“You have smitten them, but they did not weaken; You have consumed them, but they refused to take correction. They have made their faces harder than rock; they have refused to repent”(5:3).

I have discovered a real problem. I am STUBBORN!

Deep inside me, is an “old me” that doesn’t yield. Can’t. Even when painful consequences come, “he” stubbornly holds onto what he thinks and wants. Can I get a witness? It is not a problem unique to me!

As Jeremiah looked to the future, he saw the same stubbornness in the people of Judah. Disaster was coming. Apart from repentance, the wrath of God would soon come. “On a nation such as this shall I not avenge Myself?” God asks in 5:9.

Despite the calls from God, the people refused to respond. For forty years, Jeremiah spoke God’s word, but His warnings were ignored. Even as the discipline of God began to fall on their nation, they only grew more determined to have life on their own terms. Sound familiar?

Surrender is hard. No question about it. Non-surrender, however, is harder. The Spirit calls us to return to God as the center, the first principle. He offers us life as NEW men, forgiven and restored. The condition, however, is repentance and faith. So long as the OLD man stays in control, we will miss the power of these promises.

In the Gospels, Peter often talked and seldom listened. Sadly, I am his twin. His stubborn confidence was in himself, his own ideas, the force of his own will. He was convinced (as I often am) that he could make things better by his own wisdom and effort and opinions. Thankfully, he eventually learned a new way, but only through significant pain and failure.

You, dear one? Are you stubborn? As you experience the discipline of God, will you humble yourself?

“Sometimes we don’t have the answer because it’s less about getting the answer and more about our unwillingness to acknowledge that we don’t have it and God does”(Craig Lounsbrough).

“Those who never retract their opinions love themselves more than they love truth” (Joseph Joubert).

July 24–Jeremiah 2-3

“What injustice did your fathers find in Me, that they walked away from Me, and walked after emptiness and became empty?”(Jeremiah 2:5).

It is an irrational decision! People who disobey God do so without logic or reason. No cause and no benefit. It only brings hardship. Sin makes no sense!

In Jeremiah 2, God asks the obvious question. WHY? What injustice did Israel experience in Him? What failure on His part did they encounter that would explain their disloyalty? Very similar to America in the last fifty years. Blessed by God, recipients of His care, why have we turned to a world of secular thought and humanism? It doesn’t make sense!

Scripture teaches that the human heart has a deep flaw. We carry an illness in our hearts. After the fall (Genesis 3), we are partial to sin. Prefer it. Resonate with it. “Prone to wander, Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love.”

In each of us exists a deep tendency toward the dark, the dishonest, the selfish, the cruel. We are proud and demand our own way. “The mind of the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so” (Romans 8:7).

Some deny this teaching of inborn sinfulness. They argue that it is pessimistic and self-fulfilling. As an alternative, they propose humans as basically good.

Scripture never waivers its somber testimony. History provides proof. The human race is sin-sick.

Against this background, the great love of God shines with greater glory. “For God so loved the world.” To know Christ is to marvel at God’s grace. His patience! His mercy! His love!

Friend, today will you reflect on the illness of your natural heart? Will you confess your own disloyalty and dishonesty? Will you allow this reflection to send you running to Christ in gratitude and praise?

“Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Genesis 6:5).

“Lord Jesus, I long to be perfectly whole, I want Thee forever to live in my soul; break down every idol, cast out every foe; now wash me and I shall be whiter than snow” (James Nicholson).