Jeremiah 15
COMMENTARY:
: 1 Then said the LORD to me, Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet MY mind could not be toward this people: cast them out of me: cast them out of MY sight, and let them go forth. (5315 “mind” [nephesh] means soul, the part of a person (or animal) that thinks, feels, wills, and desires, heart, or emotion.)
DEVOTION: Even the LORD sometimes has had enough with HIS people. The children of Israel were HIS people and HE blessed them with land and wealth but they didn’t think it was enough. They wanted more and the more they wanted was to worship not just HIM but the false gods of the nations around them,
They wanted to be accepted by the crowd rather than just the LORD. They wanted to have what seemed like fun like the rest of the world. They didn’t want to follow all the Commandments of the LORD. They wanted freedom to do as they pleased and still receive the protection and blessings of the LORD.
That is not how the LORD worked. HE expected obedience and if not then repentance. The children of Israel were not willing to do that so HE had to just them with captivity to get their attention again.
HE expects us as New Testament Saints to obey HIS commands to us. This takes daily work and if we fail, we have to daily confess our sins and HE is righteous and just to forgive us our sins IF we mean business and not continue in the same sins.
Too often we even have besetting sins that repeat in our lives and we have to go to HIM for help to fight these sins. HE will help and will forgive if our attitude is right in HIS sight.
God loved us enough to send HIS SON to die for us to give us a way to escape hell for eternity. We need to be a thankful people. Remember to pray for forgiveness and move back in the right direction.
CHALLENGE: HE is longsuffering with us as HE exams our hearts to see if we mean business. HE will chasten but HE will do it in love to keep us walking the way He wants us to walk. However, we need to remember what HE did to Israel when they continued down the wrong path!
: 6 You have forsaken me, says the LORD, you are gone backward: therefore will I stretch out my hand against you, and destroy you; I am weary with repenting. (3811 “weary” [la’ah] means to become emotionally tired, to be disgusted, to be impatient, to be offended, to faint, to grieve, or to loathe.)
DEVOTION: There is a point of no return for those who are rebellious against the LORD. The New Testament book of Romans instructs us in the fact that there is a point when the LORD turns them over to their desires. The people were guilty of uncleanness. The people were guilty of worshiping and serving the creature more than the Creator. The people were guilty of vile affections. The people were guilty of a reprobate mind. God gave them up to their desires.
Jeremiah lived in a time period where this was happening in Judah. The LORD stated that they had forsaken HIM. HE stated that they were going backwards. We understand what it meant to go backwards in our faith. The book of Hebrews stated that there were people in the church who should be teachers because they have received instructions but they were still children in the faith.
We find today that there are many people who attend church for over thirty years but stay one year old in the LORD. They don’t want to grow. They don’t want to get closer to the LORD. Are they born again? That is in the LORD’S hands. We might not think so. Ours is not to judge their salvation but their growth can be observed.
Remember that the LORD gave the disciple John a vision of seven churches. One of the statements made was that the LORD could come and remove the candlestick from the church if they don’t turn around.
The challenge is given to become more active for the LORD. If their actions don’t show their love for the LORD, HE will come in judgment.
The children of Judah showed that they were not going to return to the LORD. The long-suffering of the LORD was at the point of judgment. HE was offended that their actions. HE had kept all HIS promises.
CHALLENGE: Remember to examine your habits. There might be a time the LORD’S patience might end because HE is tired of our lack of growth in our life. Continually ask the LORD for wisdom from above to have victory over that sinful habit.
: 15 O LORD, You know; Remember me and visit me, And take vengeance for me on my persecutors. In Your enduring patience, do not take me away. Know that for Your sake I have suffered rebuke. The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982).
DEVOTION: Prayer is such an important part of the believer’s life. Yet sometimes we are overwhelmed by the circumstances and situations that come upon us that we forget to pray. Jeremiah was a man acquainted with grief and overcome with sorrow, yet he often cried out to the Lord in prayer. In our own prayer life we need to lay hold of the prophet’s three affirmations. This all-knowing God by His very nature remembers, visits, and avenges. He remembers even when I feel forgotten and forsaken. These three affirmations may help us when we are feeling like God has forgotten or our enemies are overwhelming our positions of biblical integrity.
The reality of Scripture is that He has not forgotten us when we, like Jeremiah, suffer rebuke, mockery and loneliness. He still visits us through His word and Spirit and confirms our relationship with Him. Finally, He does exact vengeance in His time.
CHALLENGE: The Lord’s protective presence is real as we are obedient to Him.
The reassurance of this fact is found in v.19-21 of this chapter. Do not compromise and do not go back to the ways of the past. Victory is built in to perseverance! It is like playing a game we used to play when I was a young boy.
The last one standing on the top of the hay pile was the winner. Stand for the Lord and see what He can do for you in prayer! (Dr. Brian Miller – board member)
: 20 And I will make thee unto this people a fenced brazen wall: and they shall fight against thee, but they shall not prevail against thee: for I am with thee to save thee and to deliver thee, says the LORD. 3898 “fight” [lacham] mean to war, overcome, devoured, to engage in battle, wage war, come to close quarters, or attack.)
DEVOTION: Do you think it is wrong to question the LORD? Do you think that we should call God a liar? Here we find that the prophet who has been accused by his family and his nation of being a traitor. He seems to be at the end of his rope. He was questioning the way the LORD did things.
What was the LORD’S response? HE told Jeremiah to repent and return to following HIM. HE promised to take care of him. HE promised HIS presence in his life. HE promised to deliver him from all of his enemies.
If you are faithful to the LORD there will be enemies. If you are faithful to the LORD you will have questions. This is normal. This is what Jesus promised would happen to the disciples.
Jeremiah got discouraged. So did Elijah and other prophets. It seemed that their message was hitting deaf ears. Their ministries seemed to be failures. They might have been like Jeremiah and wondered why the LORD even called them to serve HIM.
Each time the LORD gave them the message that HE was still sovereign and they were to trust HIM. HE also allowed them to question what was happening to a point. Once the point was crossed the LORD asked Job questions that he couldn’t answer. Jeremiah was in the same position.
There might be times that we are in the same position. What does the LORD expect of us? TRUST.
HE has promised to never leave us or forsake us. HE has promised to give us wisdom from above if we ask for it. There are many promises. HE never LIES!! HE never allows more in our life than HE knows we can take. Jeremiah might have thought it was too much but the LORD knew his limit.
CHALLENGE: When discouraged go to the LORD and be honest with HIM. Don’t ever call him a liar. HE is holy. Ask for wisdom instead to understand your present circumstances.
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