Jeremiah 18, Jeremiah Series

I’m currently listening to lectures on Utopia and Dystopia, which express the nature of human anxieties and fears that we struggle with in our society. One of the more well-known writers in this literary genre is George Orwell. In his book, ‘Nineteen Eighty-Four,’ he ‘Big Brother,’ which is the name given to the totalitarian regime ruling by that year. Orson wrote this book in 1948 during the ‘Cold War and described the sense of powerlessness that individuals feel in that kind of a world. In Dr. Pamela Bedore’s course: “Great Utopian and Dystopian Works of Literature,’ she writes in her course guidebook: “Nineteen Eighty-Four embodies the power of language to shape thought for good or for ill and explores the devastating potential of language to destroy both personal and cultural identity when used to preserve a totalitarian system of government.”

Many today are deeply concerned, and rightfully so, about the suppression of speech. We can quickly develop anxieties over what our future holds. Yet, the more significant question that could be raised is, ‘Who really is behind all of this? We know from Scripture that our battle is not with ‘flesh and blood,’ which we often forget. We have a spiritual adversary trying to destroy humanity, but we discover in Jeremiah that God is ultimately in control. He is the One shaping the destinies of human lives? Here in Jeremiah 18, we will find that ultimately, God is the one who raises up and brings down nations, kingdoms, and governments as they are simply instruments in His hands. Even though God allows freedom of choice, the choice is framed between what is best, His will and the opposite position of rejecting God’s path and then experiencing the ensuing consequences. God gives us opportunities to discover His ways which ultimately bring hope, life, and peace; or we choose to live autonomous lives, strike out on our own, and find our path strewed with more significant challenges and diminished resources. In Jeremiah 18, God leads the prophet Jeremiah to a potter’s house, where a visual presentation is about to occur. This becomes a dramatization of the message the prophet is to deliver to the nation.

Jeremiah 17, Jeremiah Series

Life is far more about faith than most people realize. When we get into our vehicles, we trust that they will work and not have something happen that will cause problems for us. Once on the road, we trust that people will stay on their side of the road. We step into an elevator, trusting that it is adequately maintained and in good working order. We go to a restaurant and trust that the cook doesn’t mix up his ingredients and serve something harmful to us. The list is endless.

For most people, who they really trust is themselves. In his book: ‘Improving Your Serve,’ Charles Swindoll related the following: “Lots of philosophies are floating around, and most of them are more confusing than they are helpful. Interestingly, those that are clear enough to be understood usually end up focusing full attention on the individual. Consider a few of them:

Greece said, ‘Be wise, know yourself!’

Rome said, ‘Be strong, discipline yourself!’

Religion said, ‘Be good, conform yourself!’

Epicureanism says, ‘Be sensuous, enjoy yourself!

Education says, ‘Be resourceful, expand yourself!

Psychology says, ‘Be confident, assert yourself!

Materialism says, ‘Be satisfied, please yourself!’

Pride says, ‘Be superior, promote yourself!

Asceticism says, ‘Be lowly, suppress yourself!’

Humanism says, ‘Be capable, believe in yourself!’

Legalism says, ‘Be pious, limit yourself!’

Philanthropy says, ‘Be generous, release yourself!’

Swindoll concludes: “Do something either for yourself or with yourself or to yourself. How very different from Jesus’ model and message! Jesus says, ‘Be a servant, give to others!’”

What does it really mean to be a follower of Jesus? It begins with a change of focus. It is not about us; it is all about trusting God, and out of that relationship comes a heart to serve. It means that our focus moves from ourselves upward to God and then to others. It’s an upward look that helps us with our outward look. However, whom we think we trust may be different than reality. Do we really know ourselves? Often it takes some crystallizing moment where we see ourselves as God does, as Isaiah experienced in an hour of national calamity. Here in Jeremiah 17, we come to the heart of the problem: ourselves. Where are we placing our trust? If we turn away from God because we put our faith in humanity, we will experience the curse of turning away from our Creator. Sin then dominates our life. We easily see how sin is now dominating in our culture. The outcome of sinful domination is social deterioration. Here in chapter seventeen, we see the condition of the heart as Jeremiah contrasts the effects between trusting God and anything or anyone else.

Jeremiah 18, Jeremiah Series

Illness, accidents, marriage breakups, war, and disease, to name a few, can totally alter the direction of life. It can change how you live and where you live. Life then stops being normal or what it was. How can we move forward in a time where life now is different, and we must adapt to this new reality?

We are living in a day of Amazing Grace. God continually reaches out to us as people, willing that we would embrace all that He has provided for us. He desires to be in a relationship with us. It is incredible to think how awesome our God is. When we consider the great sacrifice He made for us, how can we remain impassive, negligent, and indifferent to Him? Yet, we see the outcome of the autonomous life, the self-directed life, being played out each and every day. The result of the self-directed life is confusion, anxiety, and anger as we find that we cannot control events, people, and circumstances to our advantage. It does not take long to discover that life is often messy, confusing, and at times tragic. Sometimes the mess we are in is a result of our own self-directed life. The wisdom literature would sum it up in a proverb.

“There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end, it leads to death.” - Proverbs 16:25

We have been journeying through the book of Jeremiah. What we see are God’s people going their own way. Over time they have been seduced by the values of the people living within their land and the surrounding people groups. Wickedness had become so entrenched in their culture that people could not discern right from wrong. Their knowledge of God was distorted. They really did not know God. Even though God had continued to speak words of direction, instruction, and warning over the centuries, they repeatedly ignored His words through his prophets. Why the confusion? Because there were false prophets giving reassurances that were causing them to have a false sense of security. However, the reality was that they were practicing idolatry. In their minds, they felt they were serving the Lord, but they had adopted a syncretistic (a blending) of other religious worship, thereby distorting God’s commandments. They were putting idols ahead of God. They were in violation of the greatest commandment, which was to have no other god before the Lord. Now the day of the Lord was at hand. God was about to judge the nation, yet they were mystified by Jeremiah’s warnings; why would God do such a thing?

Jeremiah 15, Jeremiah Series

God has told Jeremiah to stop praying for the people because they have so hardened their hearts that they have refused to listen and are now headed for destruction. God has given them up to their sinful ways. The apostle Paul captures this idea in the book of Romans when he states that God gives people over to their depraved thinking, leading to the consequences of their lifestyle. Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind so that they do what ought not to be done. (Romans 1:28) There is nothing so tragic in a person’s life or the life of a nation when we cross over to that state of mind that nothing will curb our sinful passion, and God gives us over to it. One of the roles of the Old Testament priesthood was to teach the people the distinction between what is holy and profane (common, unclean). Ezekiel, a contemporary prophet of Jeremiah, relates: They [priests] are to teach my people the difference between the holy and the common and show them how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean. (Ezekiel 44:23) Now, who are the priests in the New Testament? We, who are God’s people, are priests. We are responsible for revealing that distinction by our lives, actions and words. What happens when we are biblically ignorant. We will no longer be able to make that distinction even for ourselves and find ourselves compromised. Here in Jeremiah and Ezekiel hour, we see the impact of unrestrained sin on the ungodly and the godly who care for them. There is no greater agony than to see those you love destroying themselves by their lifestyle. Here in our text, we will learn about the impact this lifestyle has on both the ungodly and the godly.

Jeremiah 14, Jeremiah Series

How do we get to the place where crisis overwhelms a country? Are there some contributing factors? Is what happened to Judah in the 6th century applicable to us and other countries in the 21st century? If this is so, in what ways? What about each of us as individuals? What are the takeaways from ‘crossing certain boundaries in relationships, and how does that impact our lives? The larger question is, who are we to believe today? There are so many voices crying out to be heard. Just like in that hour of crisis in the nation of Judah, most leaders were complacent regarding their relationship with God. They were making some terrible assumptions and presuming that all was well when a crisis was looming before them. In Jeremiah 14, we find several important things to consider regarding our future before Almighty God. Are we building our lives upon the right foundation? Where are we getting our information from? Who are we listening to? What is God trying to say to us in this hour?

Jeremiah 13, Jeremiah Series

In Jeremiah 13, we find God calling the prophet to a certain action that would grip the attention of a people who were, for the most part, indifferent toward the message of Jeremiah. God directs Jeremiah to purchase a linen garment or belt designed to be worn around his waist. Then he is told to bury it and then retrieve it. The result is something that has been ruined and is now useless. Then, God tells Jeremiah to take a common expression and give it a unique twist. Finally, Jeremiah explains a nightmarish experience of trekking in hilly terrain at night, stumbling about longing for the morning light to come, but it never appears. What are these messages trying to convey to the ancient Jewish people and possibly us today? God is having his prophet speak out against the stubborn pride that the people were manifesting as they were living a life in disobedience to God. We are about to discover what keeps us from God’s intentions for our lives. God challenges us all regarding the pride that keeps us from fully surrendering our lives to experience spiritual intimacy with Him. Here in this chapter, we see four snapshots of missing God’s purpose for our lives.

Jeremiah 12, Jeremiah Series

That’s not fair! How many young people have screamed this in frustration to a parent, a teacher, or a friend? But it is not just young people crying out and becoming jaded by life and the injustices they see and experience. O. T. scholar Robert Davidson relates a profound truth about life and the challenges we constantly face. “To have confidence in God does not mean that all problems are solved.” There remain challenges and perplexities that, at times, cause great unrest, disappointment and even anger in our souls. Here in the book of Jeremiah, the prophet is struggling with the injustices that he is experiencing. He has faithfully declared God’s message of impending judgment, yet nothing is happening. Evil still persists, and now his life is in danger. What is he to do?

Jeremiah 11, Jeremiah Series

Most people are confused about the difference between an idea of a covenant versus a contract. Some use the terms interchangeably; however, God deals with them based on a covenant. What is amazing is that when as human beings, we were unable to keep the Old Covenant, God, who is so loving and faithful, created a New covenant based upon better promises. It was Jeremiah that revealed to God’s people this beautiful expression of love found in Jeremiah 31:31-33: “The days are coming, declares the LORD, ‘when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them, declares the LORD. This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time. I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.” Yet, as we see here in Jeremiah 11, the story of God’s people is a trail of broken promises to God while God continued to be faithful to His pledge to His people. However, there is a cost to neglecting our part of the covenant. It is this that we are going to address not just in the lives of those ancient Jewish people but in our lives today.

Jeremiah 10, Jeremiah Series

Jeremiah 9, Jeremiah Series

Dr. Rufus Fears is a professor of classic history. He relates that just before the end of the Athenian empire at the hands of the Spartans, the philosophers of Athens had arrived at the idea that there was no absolute truth. This is currently the dominant note of our Postmodern culture. We have abandoned our moorings recast many historical narratives to suit our current values, one of which is the idea that there are no absolutes. Interestingly, 21st Century people have arrived at the same place that the ancient Athenians came to, before their demise as a dominant civilization in the ancient world. We have progressed as a culture when our ancestors have already been there. The book of Ecclesiastes reminds us of a powerful reality. "What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun." - Ecclesiastes 1:9 Will we learn anything from those who have gone before us? We need to awaken and learn what happens when a culture embrace lies rather than truth as a value. Here in Jeremiah 9, we discover what was transpiring just before the nation of Judah went into exile. It is the story of living a life of self-deception as a culture and rejecting values that reflect the heart of God and what those values are. Here we see the tragic outcome, but also an encouragement to discover what God does value.