February 19, 2010 (Jeremiah 4-25)

Lots of chapters to catch up on today...Jeremiah was a prophet who heard from God and spoke His words, but the people would not listen. As I read the following verses I thought of the oceans and the realities of verse 22 - His creation is wonderful. The design shows a Master architect - a Master builder. And then is verse 23 I thought of us today. When we experience a drought, do we realize it is a punishment from God, or do we just assume it is because of certain weather patterns. Jesus showed us that He controls the weather, but calming the wind and the waves.

^{Jeremiah 5:21} Listen, you foolish and senseless people,
with eyes that do not see
and ears that do not hear.
²² Have you no respect for me?
Why don’t you tremble in my presence?
I, the Lord, define the ocean’s sandy shoreline
as an everlasting boundary that the waters cannot cross.
The waves may toss and roar,
but they can never pass the boundaries I set.
²³ But my people have stubborn and rebellious hearts.
They have turned away and abandoned me.
²⁴ They do not say from the heart,
‘Let us live in awe of the Lord our God,
for he gives us rain each spring and fall,
assuring us of a harvest when the time is right.’
²⁵ Your wickedness has deprived you of these wonderful blessings.
Your sin has robbed you of all these good things.

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned a guest speaker we had at church - the President of Children's Hope Chest here in Colorado Springs. Their mission statement, and also Compassion International's, affirms they are dealing not only with the physical needs of orphans and children, but also the spiritual. And I would have to say that it is because of their desire to see the spiritual needs met that they try to accomplish that through first meeting the physical needs. I thought of that as I read:

^{Jeremiah 8:11} They offer superficial treatments
for my people’s mortal wound.

Those ministries (and others) are not trying to provide superficial treatments, but are dealing with the 'mortal wounds' - namely a life without Christ.

What is it we should be proud of?

^{Jeremiah 9:23} This is what the Lord says:
“Don’t let the wise boast in their wisdom,
or the powerful boast in their power,
or the rich boast in their riches.
²⁴ But those who wish to boast
should boast in this alone:
that they truly know me and understand that I am the Lord
who demonstrates unfailing love
and who brings justice and righteousness to the earth,
and that I delight in these things.
I, the Lord, have spoken!

I liked the following word picture. God commanded Jeremiah to wear a linen belt around his waist, and then told him to hide it in a hole in the rocks of the Euphrates River. After a while he was told to dig it up and discovered it was mildewed and falling apart. Now it was useless. This was what God said about that illustration:

^{Jeremiah 13:9} “This is what the Lord says: This shows how I will rot away the pride of Judah and Jerusalem. ¹⁰ These wicked people refuse to listen to me. They stubbornly follow their own desires and worship other gods. Therefore, they will become like this linen belt—good for nothing! ¹¹ As a belt clings to a man’s waist, so I created Judah and Israel to cling to me, says the Lord. They were to be my people, my pride, my glory—an honor to my name. But they would not listen to me.

Jeremiah gives the same message as Isaiah did. What does it mean to know God? Again, we are told that knowing Him means giving justice and help to the poor and needy.

^{Jeremiah 22:15} But a beautiful cedar palace does not make a great king!
Your father, Josiah, also had plenty to eat and drink.
But he was just and right in all his dealings.
That is why God blessed him.
¹⁶ He gave justice and help to the poor and needy,
and everything went well for him.
Isn’t that what it means to know me?”
says the Lord.