Jeremiah 18
COMMENTARY:
: 8 If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them. (5162 “repent” [nacham] means relent, not bring the disaster, revoke, forgo, to sigh, breathe strongly, to pity, comfort oneself, ease oneself, or to be sorry.)
DEVOTION: This is a hard verse to understand by some. God is long-suffering. God gives every chance to a group to turn from their evil, even HIS own people, Israel. HE told Israel that if they worshiped other gods, HE would send judgment. HE was sending HIS prophet, Jeremiah, with a final warning. God always gives a choice to HIS people: repent or judgment.
If a group of people repent of their sin, than no judgment. When a group of people doesn’t repent of their sin, then judgment follows in the LORD’S time.
HE has done this with heathen nations as well as HIS own people over the course of history. Does this mean that God is not in control? NO!!! There is a point of no return with those who continue to sin without turning toward HIM again.
Our turning changes our relationship with the LORD. We have daily choices after we chose to follow the LORD. We can choose to live according to HIS standards or chose to not live according to HIS standards. If we chose to live by HIS standards, HE can bless us. Does this mean no more trials? NO!!! Each day brings its own challenges. Even when we are obedient HE prunes us so that we can produce more fruit for HIM.
However, when we are disobedient, HE will chasten us to call us back to obedient service. HE wants HIS people obedient to HIM. Are we being obedient today?
We need to be praying for a revival in our world. Revival can still happen, if God’s people obey HIM. Pray! Pray! Pray! Prayer changes our relationship with the LORD. HE bases HIS relationship with us by our behavior. If our behavior changes, HE will forgive. If our behavior doesn’t change, HE will judge.
CHALLENGE: We have not reached the point of no return in our lives or in our nation. There is still time for HIS blessings to come into our lives and nations. Encourage yourselves in the fact that God is long-suffering.
: 12 And they said, There is no hope: but we will walk after our own devices, and we will every one do the; imagination of his evil heart. (2976 “no hope” [ya’ash] means to be despaired, desperate, to be in vain, void of hope, one who despairs, give up hope, or one who is desperate.)
DEVOTION: There are many people who think that they are in a desperate situation at present. They think they have no place to turn. They just have to resign themselves to the fact that they just have to give up.
Have you ever thought that your situation is hopeless? I have been in a situation that I thought was hopeless but the LORD used the situation to encourage me in HIS provision and strength.
Here we find the children of Judah who have all the promises of Scripture at their disposal and yet they think that they can’t change even with the LORD’S help. They think that the only thing they can do is give up.
So they tell Jeremiah not to waste his breath on them. They don’t think they can change and in fact they don’t even want to change. They are enjoying sin. They are enjoying being out of fellowship with the LORD. They really don’t think that God is going to judge them for their sins.
Why are they thinking those thoughts? It is because there are false prophets and priests and political leaders that are instructing them in opposition of the message of Jeremiah.
They are giving the people false assurance that the LORD would never destroy Jerusalem. They were informing them that the message of Jeremiah was not coming from God.
They liked what these false teachers and politicians were telling them. There only thought was to kill Jeremiah because they didn’t like his message. It was so negative.
Many people in the church today want to hear the same message. They want to hear that their sins are never going to be judged and that they can live as they please as long as they don’t do anything really wrong.
They think that they are just as good as any other believer and therefore God will be happy with them the way they are. They take the song “Just as I am” to mean that God doesn’t really want to change them. HE accepts them with all their faults and they don’t really have to mature in the faith. It is wrong thinking.
The children of Judah were thinking wrong. They were not in a hopeless situation. They could and should change to serve the LORD faithfully. Their choice would result in judgment for the nation and their families. It is the same with us here in America and in any other nation that doesn’t want to honor the LORD.
Killing the messenger or burning the Bible is not going to cause the judgment to go away. In fact, it might hasten its coming. Remember there are consequences to our lack of growth in the LORD.
Realize that with the LORD there is always the promise of assurance of comfort in difficult circumstances. Repentance is needed for the LORD to restore our relationship with HIM.
CHALLENGE: Our message should be one of confidence in the help of the LORD in any situation. HE will give us the strength to face any trial with honor to HIS name.
: 18 Then they said, “Come and let us devise plans against Jeremiah; for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come and let us attack him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words.” The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982).
DEVOTION: God’s people have often been attacked because well intentioned individuals believe teachers and scholars instead of God’s word. The Pharisees and Sadducees communicated and instructed the people of Israel against the teaching of Jesus Christ. They desired for the laws and regulations that past teachers had instituted to be equal or above the Old Testament commands. The rituals and ordnances were more important than the word of God. Jeremiah received the same treatment and was rejected and attacked by his countrymen. In reality they were rejecting God’s message and then attacked God’s messenger. They conceived a conspiracy to silence Jeremiah or at least nullify his words.
CHALLENGE: Today the newsmen, scholars, respected teachers are also seeking to silence the simple and clear teachings of the Bible. Individuals accuse bible believing people and pastors of not being sensitive to cultural issues or individuals rights. They bring accusations of misrepresentation of the word of God. Some individuals challenge the use of Scripture from being placed on open boards or public display. All this is done like it was to Jeremiah so that the truth of God’s word would not be spoken or heard. The devising of plans continues and the people of God cannot become discouraged. Remember, “…do not worry about how or what you should answer, or what you should say. For the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.” (Luke 12:11b, 12) (Dr. Brian Miller – board member)
:23 Yet LORD, YOU know all their counsel against me to slay me: forgive not their iniquity, neither blot out their sin from YOUR sight, but let them be overthrown before YOU, deal thus with them in the time of YOUR anger. (4229 “blot out” [machah] means to forgive, conceived of as blotting something out, perhaps with the blotting out being destructive or by punishment, wipe out, to rub over, wash off, annihilate, or be exterminated.)
DEVOTION: Here we find a faithful servant of the LORD who has given the children of Israel a warning from the LORD that judgment is coming and they were not listening to him. In fact, they wanted to kill him because of his message to them from the LORD.
Jeremiah was tired of their not listening to his message from the LORD to them, so, he asked the LORD to just punish them by annihilation if necessary, to get their attention.
God has given us a message today and it seems that in the New Testament we wouldn’t pray this prayer regarding a group of people who reject our message but we find in the book of Revelation at the end of the Bible that the LORD does judge them and places them in the lake of fire where all their works will be burned and they will suffer for eternity.
These seem like two extremes but we find that things were different in the Old Testament as the LORD chose only one group of people to be HIS representatives to the world while in the New Testament there are people from all ethic groups who are witnessing for the LORD around the world.
Jeremiah was a preacher to the only group that were supposed to represent the LORD. If this group was not a good representation of the LORD and their witness was not good what was Jeremiah to say. He was telling the LORD to start over and pick another group to be HIS representatives.
The LORD didn’t do that but HE did just Israel with captivity where they realized what they had done and wanted to return to the Promised Land again for another try at being good representatives of HIM. They failed again.
The appeal of sin then and now is great even for those who claim to be followers of the LORD. It is a daily choice to be made and it takes the help of the Holy Spirit to give us the strength to fight the battle and win.
CHALLENGE: How is your battle going? Are you winning the battle against sin in your life? If not, there needs to be recommitment to HIM and a time of genuine prayer with obedience to win the battle. It is a DAILY BATTLE!!
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