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Woodland Hills Church of Christ episodes

August 02 I Surrender All
Topical Sermons / Speaker:David Desloge
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025. The ESV text may not be quoted in any publication made available to the public by a Creative Commons license. The ESV may not be translated in whole or in part into any other language. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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1 hr 6 min
August 02 2 Timothy Class (Lesson 5)
Bible Classes / Speaker:Adam Malone
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45 min
July 30 2 Chronicles 22 & 23
Bible Classes / Speaker:Berry Kercheville
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45 min
July 26 Do You Want To Be A Victim
Topical Sermons / Speaker:Eli Todd
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38 min
July 26 2 Timothy Class (Lesson 4)
Bible Classes / Speaker:Adam Malone
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37 min
July 26Jeremiah 18-19 The Potter and The Clay
Old Testament Sermons / Speaker:Berry Kercheville
The Potter and the Clay
Jeremiah 18-19
Introduction: In our culture, the word “artist” is commonly used. A great songwriter or singer is called an artist. A person who writes bestselling books is called an artist. Truly, we are amazed at these abilities. But the one thing I do not hear very much is how artistic God is. God is without question the greatest artist ever. We see it in his physical creation—we know that. But his artistry is also seen in his mind. It is seen in the way he reveals his inspired words, and it is especially seen in how he preaches. We love to hear Jesus’ sermons. We need also to appreciate God’s preaching in the OT prophets.
The Clay in the Potter’s Hand (18:1-11)
It is first important to note that God does not begin his sermon by illustrating a potter making a vessel, he tells Jeremiah to go watch the potter in his artistic work.
I have watched my son work with clay as he forms his own pottery. It isn’t an exact art. How the clay responds to the potters hands depends on a number variables. Many times what Robb intended must be reformed into a different kind of vessel. And sometimes he must just throw the clay away and start again. Those are the things God wanted Jeremiah to see.
Thus, God’s message is clear:
Just like the potter, God is working the clay to make a useful and beautiful vessel. And just as the potter, the vessel doesn’t always cooperate with the potter’s intentions.
When the vessel is marred/spoiled in the potter’s hand, the potter will rework the vessel “as it seemed good to the potter to do.”
Then not God’s direct, bold, look-me-in-the-eye challenge to Israel: “Can I not do with you as this potter has done? Behold, like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand!” In the beginning, God had declared good for Israel; but he can now he has just as easily declare destruction. But now that he has declared destruction on them, he also has the power to “relent of the disaster he intended to do to it.”
We so often pay almost exclusive attention to how God urges us to choose life and good. Because of this, we can forget one major message: Judah needs to understand and we need to understand God is the Potter, we are the clay! Our humanness can be so arrogant. Since God has given us freewill, we so easily convince ourselves that we are in control.
“You turn things upside down! Shall the potter be regarded as the clay, that the thing made should say of its maker, “He did not make me”; or the thing formed say of him who formed it, “He has no understanding”? (Isaiah 29:16 ESV). This is the essence of idolatry; making God into our own image.
James 4:13-17, ESV “Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit’—yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.’ As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.”
This principle should magnify our need for prayer. It is foundational for why God repeatedly tells us how important it is for us to “pray without ceasing.” He is the Potter, and we are the clay!
“Who Has Ever Heard Anything Like This?” (18:12-23)
As the Hebrew suggests in verse 12, “But they keep on saying…” It reminds me of what a cartoon might look like with the clay suddenly opening its eyes with a mean, wicked look, and saying, “We will follow our own plans…!”
Notice God’s reply in verse 13 as he turns and asks the nations, “Who has ever heard anything like this!” The clay actually tells the Potter that He has no control over them, and they will do whatever they want!
Here is where we need to be careful. We have done that. Note the words of God: “Israel has done a very horrible thing.” They are acting against basic laws of nature: the snow of Lebanon never ceases to give cold flowing streams. But Israel has forgotten “the fountain of living water.”
Verse 15: they had left the “ancient roads” and the “highway” and walked on the side roads. How many have ridiculed the scriptures, calling it some old, ancient, and antiquated. Well, those side roads you are following will dump you off a cliff and to utter destruction. God is the Potter!
18-23 Notice how Jeremiah now understands God’s plans to destroy his people! Jeremiah had been arguing with God’s destruction plans and repeatedly praying for the people. But now the people are proclaiming their desire to not only disregard God’s warning, they now plot to kill Jeremiah.
Jeremiah’s prayer has completely changed: “Therefore, deliver up their children to famine; give them over to the power of the sword; let their wives become childless and widowed. May their men meet death by pestilence, their youths be struck down by the sword in battle.” It is similar to what we might say today: “These people are crazy!”
Their reaction explains persecution and hatred against Jesus and those who serve God and will not compromise his word. The reactions today against Biblical teachings have been the same: “Give us a safe space. We don’t want to hear anything that is uncomfortable.”
The Broken Flask that Can Never Be Mended (19:1-14)
God’s final picture of the work of the potter. “Go buy a potter’s earthenware flask…” Now that God has convinced his prophet of the unchangeable wickedness of the nation, Jeremiah is ready to preach the message to the people.
God has Jeremiah take the flask and the elders of the priests! Yes, these are the “holy ones” who were to instruct the people! Maybe if Jeremiah details the sins of the people, they will join him in warning of destruction.
Vs. 4 In their offerings to their gods, “they have filled this place with the blood of innocents, and have built the high places of Baal to burn their sons in the fire as burnt offerings.”
Vs. 6 “this place shall no more be called Topheth, or the Valley of he Son of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter.” Verse 8, “I will give their dead bodies for food to the birds…beasts.” Verse 9, “I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and their daughters…”
Vs. 10: “Then you shall break the flask…”
Verse 11, “So will I break this people and this city…so that it can never be mended. Men shall bury in Topheth because there will no place else to bury.”
Note the stark contrast between the clay that was being formed by the potter and the broken flask. They people are no longer clay on a wheel that can be formed and mended. Now they are a flawed jar that will be shattered!
At present, every living human being is clay in the Potter’s hand. But if a stubborn heart persists, one day we will be as the broken flask “that never can be mended.”
Conclusion: Did you notice the where the “innocents” were sacrificed as burnt offerings, and where the dead bodies would be after destruction? Yes, the Valley of Hinnom. Jesus made reference to this valley in Mark 9:43-48. The Greek is Gehenna.
“If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off…if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off…if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out…it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one hand, one foot, one eye than with two hands, two feet, two eyes, to be thrown into hell (Gehenna, the Valley of Hinnom), where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched!”
Yes, there is still a Valley of Hinnom, and there is still a choice to make. Who is the Potter and who is the clay in our lives?
Berry Kercheville
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32 min
July 23 2 Chronicles 21 – 22
Bible Classes / Speaker:Berry Kercheville
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45 min
July 19Tell the Truth
New Testament Sermons / Speaker:David Desloge
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025. The ESV text may not be quoted in any publication made available to the public by a Creative Commons license. The ESV may not be translated in whole or in part into any other language. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Introduction
There are few sins more culturally normalized than lying. We assume that everyone tells lies sometimes—and as long as you’re not lying about anything too serious (or you can avoid getting caught), it’s no big deal. However, Scripture teaches that lying is a really big deal to God, and should be a really big deal to us too.
Let’s look at the story of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5. We might think this story is fairly straightforward—but I’d like us to read it with fresh eyes. It teaches a critical lesson about how Christians ought to live, especially if we hope to be effective in evangelism.
Acts 4:32-37
Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common. And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need. Thus Joseph, who was also called by the apostles Barnabas (which means son of encouragement), a Levite, a native of Cyprus, sold a field that belonged to him and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet.
The context of this story is very important. It takes place early in the church’s growth, when it was still centered in Jerusalem. Many new Christians who had traveled there for Pentecost were now staying much longer after their conversions. There was great financial need among the Christians, and the church was figuring out how to deal with this. Lots of people were selling their possessions in order to provide for the needs of others.
The story
Acts 5:1-11
But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, and with his wife’s knowledge he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles’ feet. But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God.” When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last. And great fear came upon all who heard of it. The young men rose and wrapped him up and carried him out and buried him.
After an interval of about three hours his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. And Peter said to her, “Tell me whether you sold the land for so much.” And she said, “Yes, for so much.” But Peter said to her, “How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.” Immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. When the young men came in they found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things.
To understand the basics of this story, let’s find the answers to three questions:
What precisely was the sin that they committed?
What motivated them to do this?
Why was the consequence so severe?
What precisely was the sin?
Peter calls out two things in verse 3:
Lying to the Holy Spirit
Keeping back a portion of the money
Is it one or the other, or both? He makes it clear that there was nothing wrong with keeping some of the money:
Before the property was sold, it was Ananias’. Nobody coerced him into selling it. He did it on his own.
After the property was sold, the money was his to do with as he wished. Nobody asked him to give any or all of the money to the apostles.
The sin is the lie. Ananias concocted a plan to have his cake and eat it too. He wanted the money, but he also wanted to be seen as someone who didn’t want the money.
What motivated them to do this?
Perhaps Ananias and Sapphira were looking to get some recognition. Imagine the buzz that would have gone around the church: “Did you hear what Ananias and Sapphira gave?” “So generous!” Maybe they were hoping that this act of “generosity” would make them popular with the apostles or other Christians, or give them some kind of importance in the church.
Let’s consider another possibility:
It’s clear from chapter 4 that this kind of thing was already going on. Lots of people were selling their real estate and giving the proceeds to the apostles. What Ananias and Sapphira did would have been noteworthy, but not exceptional.
If they’re expecting people to be impressed by how much they’re giving, holding back some of the money works against that. They said the property was worth less than it really was. They seem to want to be seen as giving a lot sacrificially, not monetarily. They care that people believe they’re giving 100%, not a specific dollar denarii amount.
They’re concerned about how this act will be perceived, but maybe they’re more worried about being judged as “less-than” rather than impressing others. They feel like they have to make a show of giving to measure up. Perhaps their motivation is a fear of looking bad, not a desire for recognition.
Ultimately, we’re not told whether they were trying to be impressive or just trying to avoid looking bad. Maybe it was a bit of both. But it’s obvious they were motivated by a concern for their reputation, rather than a concern for their brethren.
Why was the consequence so severe?
Ananias and Sapphira are struck dead! Does that feel like a proportionate response to you? They just lied about some money. Sure, that’s not good, but wouldn’t a stern scolding have sufficed? It’s shocking that the consequence of this is “simple” sin is death.
Why were the consequences of their sin so severe?
Setting an example
This pattern repeats throughout the history of God’s people. When a new chapter in their journey has begun, inevitably someone rebels against God. Usually there’s a severe consequence, often involving a few people, that sets a warning example to the rest of God’s people.
Nadab and Abihu
Consecration of the priesthood
Leviticus 10
Achan
Entrance into the Promised Land
Joshua 7
Korah
40 years in the wilderness
Numbers 16
Uzzah
Ark entering Jerusalem
2 Samuel 6, 1 Chronicles 13
Adam and Eve
The Garden of Eden
Genesis 3
Similarly, this is the beginning of the church—we shouldn’t be surprised that this act of defiance is met with severe consequences in order to set an example for the rest of the church. They got the message:
Acts 5:11
And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things.
Going deeper
Okay, so this is is setting an example to everyone else. But that begs another question:
Why was this the sin that met such severe consequences? What was the example being set?
Is the example just “don’t disobey God”? That’s definitely a takeaway—but it feels a little shallow. Nadab and Abihu, Achan, Uzzah—all three of those examples violated very specific commands that were contextualized to the time and scenario that they were in. For example, Nadab and Abihu are violating the instructions God had just given for how the priests were supposed to practice their consecration. But there’s no obvious, contextually specific command that Ananias and Sapphira are violating—they’re simply lying. That’s a pretty generic sin.
Imagine you’re a Christian in Jerusalem who knew Ananias and Sapphira. You heard about what happened to them. Maybe you were even present at the gatherings where they died. What’s the one thing you are absolutely, definitely not going to do? LIE!
God is setting an example for His people in this new and penultimate chapter, just like in eras past. But is this what we would expect Him to emphasize? The examples of Nadab and Abihu or Uzzah focus on proper reverence and worship. Don’t offer the wrong sacrifices. Don’t touch the ark. At the establishment of the church, maybe we would expect someone to be struck dead for partaking of the Lord’s Supper in an unworthy manner. But what’s the warning example this time? Christians must not lie.
Why?
Christians tell the truth
Notice again the ultimate result of these events in verse 11: everyone is afraid. Not just the Christians, but everyone who heard about what happened. Think very practically about the kinds of things unbelievers would be saying:
“Did you hear about Ananias and Sapphira? I heard they joined up with those Christians and God struck them dead!”
”Struck them dead?! Why?”
”They lied about some money.”
”That’s it?”
Now everybody knows: Christians take telling the truth very seriously. That’s important because:
The apostles and other Christians are testifying that Jesus is the Christ! There’s nothing more important than that the testimony of the Christians is heard and believed!
This event establishes something both within the church and in the culture around them: say what you will about the Christians, but they don’t lie.
To this day, the trustworthiness of the apostles’ testimony is critical to the historical witness of Christianity. Many secular critical scholars deny the resurrection. But the scholarly consensus is also: there’s no denying that the apostles and disciples of Jesus in the first century truly believed what they were preaching. They argue that the apostles were mistaken, that someone stole the body, that Jesus did not rise from the dead. But they do not argue that the apostles were lying.
This story teaches us something very important about the kingdom of God. Citizens of the kingdom tell the truth. Citizens of the kingdom must tell the truth.
Christians tell the truth. Christians do not lie. Christians must not lie. Christians tell the truth because our entire identity is based on fact and truth: that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, that He died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and was raised on the third day, according to the Scriptures. Our lives are about bearing witness to the truth! We want those who believe lies about Jesus to hear the truth and to know the truth.
If the gospel truly changes our lives, we will not lie. Practically speaking, because lying damages our witness of the gospel. There are many ways in which we could damage our gospel witness—for people to say “Christians are arrogant.” “Christians are greedy.” “Christians are sexually immoral.” But it’s hard to imagine anything being more harmful than “Christians are liars.” Let unbelievers say, “Say what you will about Christians, but they tell the truth”—so they will know without question we speak the truth about Jesus.
Lying to God
Pay particular attention to the kind of lie Ananias told. Ananias was not lying to unbelievers—but the lie that he told is one kind of lie that can be the most dangerous to our witness of the gospel.
Ananias and Sapphira thought they were only lying to people, but Peter says that they “have not lied to man but to God.”
What does that mean?
They were trying to present themselves as someone they were not. They wanted to be perceived as people with generous and selfless hearts, when in fact, that’s not really who they were. They weren’t offering genuine service to God; it was just for show.
Peter describes this as lying to God. I doubt Ananias and Sapphira thought of it that way. They probably just thought they were fooling their fellow Christians. But they were living a double life. They weren’t just lying about the money; they were lying about who they were. Peter says if you’re living a double life, you’re lying to God. You’re claiming to be a Christian, but not living like it. You’re outwardly presenting the marks of sanctification, but your heart is filled with sin. Your subconscious thought is, “If I look like I’m doing good works on the outside, God won’t notice the darkness in my heart.”
How we do this
We can fall prey to the exact same temptations as Ananias and Sapphira. Sometimes, we pretend to be people we’re not, in order to be seen as godly and righteous in the eyes of other people.
Have you ever felt like you didn’t belong in a church? It’s easy to look around and feel like everyone else has their life together more than you do. It feels like everyone else has deeper knowledge of Scripture, a better prayer life, an easier time with temptation. Nobody else seems to ever feel discouraged, struggle in their faith, or have a bad week where they gave in to temptations.
This can make us feel like we need to put up a front. We need to make sure that we appear to have it all together, so that no one will find out about all the chaos going on inside us.
We talk/dress/act how we feel we should when we’re around other Christians, but when we’re around unbelievers, we act just like them.
When we’re alone, we turn to pornography, alcohol, drugs, or other vices—but always keep it hidden.
We gossip about people behind their back. We hold grudges and do not forgive. We harbor envy and resentment. But in public, we’re all smiles.
During the week, our thoughts are consumed by selfishness, materialism, and worldly concerns, but we show up to church three times a week.
Or perhaps, we simply hide discouragement. We’re struggling with doubts in our faith, we’re going through mental health issues, or simply a trying time—but when people really ask, we still say, “I’m good!”
We know there’s a strong temptation that’s been plaguing us, but we’re careful not to let anyone find out.
We act like “good Christians,” even though that’s not really who we are. We want to look like we’ve been changed, but we don’t want to be changed.
This isn’t the same thing as “acting yourself into a new way of feeling.” When our lives are being changed by the gospel, those changes will feel unnatural at first. We have to push through that unfamiliarity and discomfort in order to “renew our minds” into a new way of thinking. That’s not what Ananias and Sapphira were doing; they were trying to appear like they were changed by the gospel, without having to actually change.
We may think that we can get away with living this kind of double life, fooling everyone, including ourselves. But God isn’t fooled, and given enough time, people will see the truth too. When we’re hiding our sin and pretending to be righteous, we’re lying to ourselves, to one another, and to unbelievers about the truth of the gospel. Unbelievers can often be the quickest to spot this kind of double identity. When they see us claiming to be Christians, but acting in ways that are ungodly, it hurts the gospel. They will say, “Christians are two-faced. Christians are hypocrites. Christians are liars.” Our alter-egos damage the cause of Christ.
A call for honesty
We can all fall into the trap of performative righteousness. Sometimes, it may be that we want to do something to impress people. Other times, we may be thinking that people will judge us if we don’t measure up. Either way, we’re actually worried about how we’re going to be perceived. How can we escape this trap?
Hiding our sins and struggles is lying about the gospel.
First, we must understand what we are doing when we cover up our sins in order to look good to others. Hiding our sins and struggles is lying about the gospel. When we try to look righteous, we’re sending a false message: “God’s kingdom is for people who are already righteous, and I’m righteous.” We’re telling a false version of the gospel story that’s about how righteous we are. That’s a lie!
1 John 1:8-2:3
If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.
The truth of the gospel is:
That we are all sinners
That Jesus is faithful to forgive our sins and cleanse us from unrighteousness
That if we sin, Jesus is our advocate
That Jesus paid the price for our sins
That Jesus paid the price for the sins of the whole world
Let’s not be like Ananias and Sapphira, who wanted to look righteous. Let’s tell the truth about the gospel to each other and to the world: we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. Let’s tell the truth about who we are, who He is, and what He’s done for us.
Confess your sins
Christians tell the truth, and that means telling the truth about our flaws, too. James wrote,
James 5:16
Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed.
This is one of the hardest commands to keep, and I don’t like it. It’s not fun. But it’s one of the most important areas that we should tell the truth. We have to be honest with one another about our sins, so that we can pray for one another and be healed. Being honest about our sins is not about rejoicing in our sinfulness. The point of such honesty is to deal with our sins and actually change—not just master how to look righteous on the outside. Being honest about our sins is scary. This isn’t a complicated command. It just takes sitting down with another Christian and telling them the truth: “These are the sins I’ve been committing. These are the ways I’ve failed. These are the temptations that I’m fighting.” It’s simple, just not easy. But James says this leads to healing.
Let’s not be a church where everyone pretends to have it all together while we’re assembled, while keeping our struggles secret. Let’s not be a church that pretends we don’t deal with temptation. Let’s not be a church that pretends we never find our faith shaken. Let’s be a church that tells the truth to one another, so that we can pray for each other.
Ephesians 4:25
Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.
Jesus sets us free to tell the truth
Being honest and confessing our sins is scary, but Jesus empowers us to speak the truth even when it is hard.
John 8:31-36
So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?”
Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
When you lie, do you feel the shackles you entangle yourself in? You’ve hidden the truth—and now you must continue to make sure that nobody finds out the truth, or the fact that you covered it up. Now you must always be on the alert to keep your secret hidden—and keeping that secret often leads to more lies.
Sin always multiplies. Adam and Eve eat the fruit, then shift the blame when they are caught. Cain kills Abel, then lies about it to God. One sin never solves the problem; you must always be committing more sin in order to keep your head above water.
Jesus is speaking in this passage about truth setting us free—not just from the sin of deceit, but from all sin. We don’t need to cover up our sins with lies anymore, because the truth is Jesus has taken our sins away. We do not need to fear speaking the truth anymore, because story of the truth is not simply the unspeakable darkness that lurks in our hearts. It’s also that Jesus came to fix the darkness in our hearts and to wash us clean.
Tell the whole truth, to others, and to yourself. You were once a slave to sin, but now the truth has set you free indeed.
Do you tell the truth?
Ask yourself: what kinds of lies are you telling?
Being well-behaved around fellow Christians, but acting differently around unbelievers or in private.
Manipulating people to get your way (not outright “lying”).
Keeping secret sins of the heart—envy, bitterness, lust, etc.
I exhort you: tell the truth, always.
Confess your sins to one another. Find someone who you will be honest with, and tell them about the temptations you’re fighting, and the temptations you’ve given into. Expect this to feel scary. Do it anyway.
Tell the truth even in situations where it feels unimportant. Christians must tell the truth about everything, so everyone can trust that we are telling the Truth about the most important thing: Jesus.
The post Tell the Truth appeared first on Woodland Hills Church of Christ.
30 min
July 19 2 Timothy Class (Lesson 3)
Bible Classes / Speaker:Adam Malone
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46 min
July 19Jeremiah 17 Fixing Our Heart
Old Testament Sermons / Speaker:Berry Kercheville
Fixing Our Heart
Jeremiah 17
Introduction: Every person who has ever desired to turn away from sin and turn to God has lost the battle because of the same mistake: we try to stop the sin without fixing the illness of the heart. Jesus said in Mark 7:21-23 For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”
Jeremiah 17 is a blessing to us. God exposes the problem with our heart and then gives us the answer. It is typical of the graciousness of God. He always knows our weaknesses, but always comes to the rescue.
Sin Engraved on the Tablet of Their Heart (1-4)
God presents a contrast between 16:19-21 and these verses. While Israel stubbornly refused to obey God and give up their idols, the nations would come to the Lord and confess the foolishness of the idolatry of their fathers.
Therefore the opening of chapter 17 is an expose of Israel’s root problem: “their sin is engraved on the tablet of their heart.”
The heart is more than just our minds. The heart has to do with our inner most thoughts and desires. When the heart is wicked, it results in making decisions that affect the direction of our life. Habitual has only one outcome: sin is embedded/etched in our heart.
We would say it this way: their sins are set in concrete. Verse 2 explains when he says, “their children remember their altars and their Asherim.” Their altars were placed on high hills and under green trees where lascivious rituals were practiced. The Asherim were a female fertility goddesses which gave the people further excuses to practice sexual sins. In other words, their evil had been normalized from childhood and thus embedded in their thinking. To suggest living differently would be abnormal! This is how movies, TV shows, and other various corporate advertising normalizes sin so that kids who grow up with it are shocked when anyone objects.
The “horns of their altars” reveals even further wickedness. The horns of the altar was to be smeared with blood in order to provide forgiveness of sin and protection from the wrath of God. Thus they had mingled their sins with their worship to justify themselves.
The price of “high places” would eventually be paid. For the greater part of 200 years they served the sin of their high places, and there did not seem to be a downside. In the same way, the consequences of our own neglect of God is not immediately apparent. But the principle of Galatians 6:7 stands, “Whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.”
Romans 2:5 “But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.”
Where Is Our Trust? (5-13)
Now the Lord enters into a discussion on the choices the heart makes. In other words, even though sin is engraved on their heart, it does not mean they cannot change. We must never allow Satan to convince us that we are beyond hope. If we desire to change, the Lord promises to give us the strength to do so (Deuteronomy 30:11-18; Ephesians 4:16-21).
Contrasting 5-6 with 7-8, we learn an important principle: everyone has faith. No one lives without faith. Faith is trusting in an object or person or activity that we hope will provide the unfulfilled desires of our heart. As God points out in this text, everyone trusts in something. In fact, God narrows down two objects of faith, either man and human strength or God and his desire and ability to care for his creation.
Thus, discussions with unbelievers need to focus on this point. You also live by faith. You put your trust in yourself and other people with the hope of a successful outcome.
How will we know which “faith” will accomplish the goal of human fulfillment? It cannot be seen at the moment, but when life begins to dish out trials and tribulations, which faith will put us to shame and which will answer the call even when “the heat comes” and “the year of drought?”
9-10 Understanding the Heart! How do you hear verse 9? Maybe you are thinking, “Well yes, some people are really crazy. They are just sick in the head.” But that is not the case. God is not talking about “some” people. He is exposing all of our minds—our human way of thinking, our goals and our desires. He is getting our attention that our human thinking is not something to trust. Notice the description:
“The heart is deceitful above all things!”
“The heart is desperately sick…”
“Who can understand it”
Who would want to trust something like that!
The Lord to the rescue! God understands our hearts. God tests our minds. And, most importantly, God will give to everyone according to his ways and according to his deeds. [God won’t make mistakes in judgment] So, who is the “fixer” of our desperately wicked minds? Only God.
Hebrews 4:12-13 “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.”
We will only be able to discern the thoughts and intents of our heart by turning to God’s word. Please understand: that is all 66 books! You might say, “Why all 66?” Well that gives you an idea of how complicated and easily deceived our hearts are! Casual and occasional Bible readers are not going to succeed in fixing their deceitful and desperately wicked minds—meaning they are not going to grow a passion for God and overcome a heart engraved with sin. [Like a prescription for antibiotics. We can’t stop halfway through.]
11-13 summarizes the end result of those who do not put their trust in the Lord compared to those who do.
Somewhere in the “midst of his day” his riches will leave him, and…
“at his end he will be a fool…and he will be “put to shame.”
The reason? “They have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of living water.”
But those who trust in the Lord will have “a glorious throne set on high from the beginning.” That will be their “sanctuary”—where one who trusts will be secure without fear.
Jeremiah’s Prayer (14-18)
Remember that in 15:19 Jeremiah was struggling with his faith and the Lord rebuked him. The prophet now turns his who heart to God. What does that look like? True dependence on God: “heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; same me, and I shall be saved, for you are my praise.” God and only God is now his refuge.
It is impressive how the Lord reveals that even his prophet struggles with faith at times. We can certainly relate. But his prayer is the answer. The whole prayer is an expression of being on the Lord’s side even when it is uncomfortable.
Jeremiah kept arguing with God for the redemption of the people. His human thoughts and human compassion kept him from seeing the necessity of the people’s destruction. Can we relate? Certainly. But those final words say it all: “bring upon them the day of disaster; destroy them with double destruction!” That is a prophet who now sees man’s persistent unrepentant rebellion from God’s point of view.
Warning of Sabbath Keeping (19-24)
At first, this sudden dissertation by the Lord concerning the Sabbath seems out of place. But when we consider that the theme of the text has been trust and the heart, we will begin to see why the Lord used the Sabbath command as his concluding emphasis.
Let’s start with this: what was the penalty for breaking the Sabbath? Numbers 15:32-36 was the first incident of Sabbath breaking. A man went out and picked up sticks on the Sabbath. When he was discovered, he was brought to Moses, and Moses inquired of the Lord since the penalty had not been revealed. God’s answer was, stone him to death. And that was that. Nothing else said. It was an example of a “high-handed,” in your face, sin.
Let’s look at why the Sabbath was so important to God:
Sabbath was the fourth commandment. It was a pivot point between loving God and loving your neighbor. Sabbath reminded Israel of their need for God and their need for reflecting God in their love for one another. As Jesus said, “Sabbath was made for man…” It is not difficult to see the parallel today in God’s command that we meet together.
Sabbath was a unique gift to Israel, giving balance to time for work, time for rest, and time for God. Sabbath “prevented work from becoming a dominating idol” (Christopher Wright) in life. Again, we can see the parallel value today of God giving us the first day of the week to celebrate the rest from sin that Jesus has given us and our future eternal Sabbath with the Lord.
Therefore, “Sabbath was not so much a burdensome prohibition on work for a day, as a liberating permission to rest for a day” (C. Wright). God desires our rest because only in rest can we truly contemplate and enjoy God—“Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10).
For Israel, Sabbath was a celebration of God’s deliverance from Egyptian bondage in which labor never ceased. Therefore, God is remembered as both our Creator and our Redeemer. To break the Sabbath exhibited a rejection of God’s grace that revealed a heart of greed for earthly possessions over the riches of God and love for fellow citizens in the Kingdom of God.
Though we have not been given a Sabbath “day” as was given to Israel, we can see all the same “Sabbath messages” for our lives today. Desiring to limit our time together for Bible study and encouraging one another to love and good works is counter-productive to God’s purposes as seen in the Sabbath command. Are we worshiping and studying together to check boxes so we can go back to fulfilling our desires? In the scriptures, God has given us 66 books that reveal his mind, his love, and his judgments, and are required to bring us to maturity and to salvation. Remember, the penalty for breaking the Sabbath was death!
Conclusion: This text begs the question for all of us: Where is our heart? Where is our trust? Are we living in such a way that reveals a heart trusting in the flesh or trusting in the Lord?
Berry Kercheville
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