Good morning, we are going into the book of Jeremiah, the strong prophet of the Lord here on day 54; so let's get right into this good food. Before we dive in, let us pray to the God of the Heaven and Earth to give us good understanding of His word we are about to read now, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Jeremiah 1
1The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests that were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin:Jeremiah prophesied in the days of Josiah, his son Jehoiakim through Zedekiah and through the carrying away of the Jews out of Jerusalem.
4Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 10See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.
The Lord appears to be speaking to Jeremiah, and this is quoted among churches a great deal as inspirational and motivational saying that God knew you before you were in the womb. While that is true, the context of what we're reading here is being spoke to Jesus by the Father. The reason I can say this is because Jeremiah was ordained a prophet to Judah, then in verse ten, God says He has set Him over the nations and over the kingdoms to root out, pull down, destroy, throw down, build, and plant. That's a lot for Jeremiah, and out of his characteristics. But it fits Jesus Christ perfectly.
We've spoken about Jesus Christ in every single book thus far. 16And I will utter my judgments against them touching all their wickedness, who have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, and worshipped the works of their own hands.
19And they shall fight against thee; but they shall not prevail against thee; for I am with thee, saith the LORD, to deliver thee. The Lord gives Jeremiah a prophecy of the kings of the North, which are Babylon of Nebuchadnezzar, who will come down on Judah and destroy those people who forsook the Lord and worship idols. He also told Jeremiah that the men of Judah will come against him, but the Lord will be with him.
Jeremiah was then sent by God to "go and cry" in the ears of the people in Jerusalem. Lord wanted Jeremiah to tell them that at one point Israel was holiness to the Lord, His first fruits, so God is wondering what sin have they and their fathers found in the Lord that they have left Him to walk after vanity?
8The priests said not, Where is the LORD? and they that handle the law knew me not: the pastors also transgressed against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit.
11Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? but my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit.
The children of Israel never say, where is the Lord that brought us out of Egypt and took care of our fathers and us all these years. I rarely hear any people thanking God for bringing them out of Egypt (bondage). The Jewish people may, but it is only around Passover when they are forced to tell the story; but no one else. Let's look at the top "Christian" organization, the Catholics, do they thank God for getting them out of Egypt? Also verse eight says the priest and the pastors never ask and they sin against God and walk after other gods.
Verse eleven is a good question asked by God. He ask has any other nation changed their gods, even though they are not real gods? No. But the children of Israel who had the true and living God have changed their Glorious God for stuff that does not profit. Go from nation to nation around the world today and dig into their old worship and you will see, they are still worshiping the gods their fathers worshiped years of old. Many still worship the sun, the cow, the moon, I recently saw a country attempt to begin worshiping a frog. Many of them, even sophisticated European countries still worship statutes that are handcrafted. They cover it up by putting the name of Jesus over it, but if you really peer through you will see, they have not changed gods.
God tells the heavens to be astonished at the fact that Israel can trade the world for nothing, and also tells the heavens to be horribly afraid of what the Lord is about to do. The children of Israel have committed two evils in forsaking the Lord who is the fountain of Living Waters, and made other gods that cannot hold any water. Two great evils that transgress the top two commandments on the list in Exodus 20.
19Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord GOD of hosts.
Their own wickedness will correct the children of Israel and our own wickedness will correct us today. When you do something bad or evil, more likely than not, drama will come on you. Perfect example for young teenagers, they are taught and told over and over that sex is dangerous and they should not be doing it, also drugs are horrible to use. However, this is ignored and they go on having sex premaritally, then one gets zapped with AIDS, another has a child at age 13, another gets an STD, another fries his brain on drugs and becomes homeless. Their own wickedness will correct them, if they don't correct themselves, finally the police and the graveyard are brought in and the state corrections will or Mr. Death himself.
This is how the Lord forces you to fear Him. I grew up in some pretty violent neighborhoods, and there were some guys you just did not mess with and it was told to you if you were not "street smart" enough to observe it on your own. If you did not take heed, those guys would show you why you need to fear them. The Lord is like that, you can fear Him on your own, or you can be forcefully taught to fear Him. Either way, at the end of the road you will fear the Lord.
26As the thief is ashamed when he is found, so is the house of Israel ashamed; they, their kings, their princes, and their priests, and their prophets.
30In vain have I smitten your children; they received no correction: your own sword hath devoured your prophets, like a destroying lion.
When you transgress God, God ask you to go call on the gods you've made with your hands to save you in the time of trouble. We know they cannot. I remember a story from a great man who told me that a man who did not believe in Jesus fell ill and he called on elders from the church of Jesus to pray for him. And the Lord blessed and recovered him; and afterwards the man went back to his church that did not believe nor deal with Jesus Christ. In troubled times, we all find a way to pray to the true and living God; but after we get our pay check, off to our honeymoon with the gods we made up in our minds.
One day the Lord will ask people like that to petition their own gods. Because as He did with the children of Israel, whipping their children for nothing because they do not take correction, and Israel is responsible for destroying their own prophets who were sent to deliver.
33Why trimmest thou thy way to seek love? therefore hast thou also taught the wicked ones thy ways. The way of love that they trimmed was the keeping of the commandments; when you are the model nation suppose to keep the commandments and you do not, you are teaching other wicked countries their ways. The children of Israel have taught the world all of the nonsense going on in it today!
35Yet thou sayest, Because I am innocent, surely his anger shall turn from me. Behold, I will plead with thee, because thou sayest, I have not sinned. This is the very reason why it is important not to think you're blameless, even if you're keeping the commandments. Along the way, in deeds or in thought, you will see that you have committed some sin. Repent and pray for forgiveness and mercy, every hour.
1They say, If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man's, shall he return unto her again? shall not that land be greatly polluted? but thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; yet return again to me, saith the LORD.
We have men today that catch their wives cheating on them and it breaks the heart and they cannot forgive their wife and leave her. But we see God watch His wife go become a whore to many other gods, still He asked her to return to Him. That is mercy and patience we need to adopt. It was law in Israel that if your wife left you and went to another man, she has become defiled to you and cannot return to you. So in Israel law and custom, the Lord should have cast them away forever, however, the covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is still good that is why the Lord still deals with Israel.
Verse two and three consist of the Lord dishing out a slew of insults calling this nation a whore, and they have a whore's forehead.
The Lord asked Jeremiah has he seen all the whoring Israel has done. After all the whoring, the Lord still request you return, but Israel did not return from their whoring. Now Judah was taking out by the Babylonians after the ten tribes were taken out by the Assyrians; but Judah did not have enough sense to see that her whorish sister committed adultery against the Lord and He sent her away (out of the land), she did not fear and did the same things and received the same outcome.
11And the LORD said unto me, The backsliding Israel hath justified herself more than treacherous Judah. This is why Judah's captivity has been harsher than Samaria's captivity; because Judah should have learned from Samaria. However, the Lord is very merciful - 13Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the LORD thy God...Repent and admit your sin and the Lord will be merciful to you.
14Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion:
15And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.
This is the last days as a nation, but individually, the Lord will do this today, give your pastors according to His heart who give you knowledge and understanding.
Jeremiah has gone prophetic on us and has skipped into the future: 17At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the LORD; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the LORD, to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart.
This should certainly sound familiar as Isaiah spoke on it and we read some in the Psalm, that all nations will be gathered to the Lord in Jerusalem (on the earth here).
18In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers. Also, Judah and the house of Israel will walk together coming out of the land they are captive in and return to the land given to them by their fathers. Right now we Jewish people in the land and Arabs, the Jewish state and the Palestinians.
Verse 25 sums up what the children of Israel are saying today.
1If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the LORD, return unto me: and if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my sight, then shalt thou not remove. The Lord would not have removed them from the land if they would have returned to the Lord wholly. He would have allowed them to stay in the land. However, if they do not return to the Lord and put away abominable ways, His fury will come out like fire, and burn a burn that none can quench it.
The Lord tells Jeremiah to publish it throughout the land that violence is coming on Jerusalem and Judah, the lion is away (lion was the symbol of Babylon), the destroying Gentiles are already on the way and they are coming with the fierce anger of the Lord. The Lord sent Babylon and Nebuchadnezzar to destroy Jerusalem.
13Behold, he shall come up as clouds, and his chariots shall be as a whirlwind: his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe unto us! for we are spoiled.
Nebuchadnezzar's army came up quick and powerful and very destructive. All the children of Israel could say at that time was, "woe unto us." Why did this happen to them?
22For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.
When you have no knowledge nor any understanding, it is not pretty. It is not good for anyone to be without knowledge, even if you're poor, if you had knowledge of how to apply for public aid you'd be better off than starving to death. All over the book, we see that Israel tanked as a nation because they had no understanding and no knowledge of God, so other nations individuals should take strong heed. Growing up, I was a strong student of other people's mistakes. I still learn from others in the mistakes and their accomplishments.
1Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be any that executeth judgment, that seeketh the truth; and I will pardon it.
This is amazing that the Lord had the angels check out the entire city of Jerusalem to see, know, and seek if they could find a man that executed judgment and sought out the truth and the Lord would have pardoned the sins of Judah. And they could not find one man. We get to a point where we all just follow status quo instead of seeking and sticking with the true God.
The Lord says that if they do not keep the Law of God, they are poor and foolish (verse 4). Does this stand in our modern days? I do not see why not.
The children of Israel left the Lord, they commit adultery (spiritually and physically) and assemble themselves in great number in harlot's houses. What is a harlot's house? That is not just a whorish woman's house, it is the strange woman Proverbs spoke about, and that is a strange church that is not of God. They (children of Israel), go after their neighbor's wife, make and worship pagan gods, and the Lord ask, how can He pardon them for this?
He will not and did not; nevertheless, He did not destroy everyone. 18Nevertheless in those days, saith the LORD, I will not make a full end with you. Keep this in mind, that the Lord is punishing the evil and keeping the remnant to purge them then restore them at the end time.
20Declare this in the house of Jacob, and publish it in Judah, saying,
21Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding; which have eyes, and see not; which have ears, and hear not:
God is talking to the children of Israel here, they are the foolish people, and people without understanding. A people clearly with eyes and ears attached to their head, but cannot see or hear. God ask, will you not fear Him, the being that set up the entire world, that includes the other planets that man has no ability to inhabit. You will not fear Him? He sets the oceans water limits and the sand so they never over flow each other and you won't fear Him?
Israel were and are a bunch of renegades, revolting, and rebellious people and because Israel did not serve God, God made them serve other nations and those nation's gods. So if anyone ever ask why the Jews have it rough, it is because they did not want to serve God; so they are serving man.
25Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withholden good things from you. Sins hold good things from you as they did for Israel. If your life is miserable, perhaps it is the sins you are committing that are holding them back. And if you get abundant things and do not keep God's commandments, it may be time to ask yourself, where are your blessings coming from?
For sins, the Lord will certainly visit you and that means punish, if He punished David harshly for his adultery against Uriah the Hittes wife and punished Israel for their sins, He will certainly avenge Him self on everyone who sins against Him. In Israel, the prophets tell lies, priest rule by their own means, preachers preach what is on their own mind, and the people love to have it this way. But God ask, what will you do in the end?
The Lord continues to warn the Israelites that they should repent and return to Him; but they don't listen. 10To whom shall I speak, and give warning, that they may hear? behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken: behold, the word of the LORD is unto them a reproach; they have no delight in it.
The Lord ask who can He warn that will take heed? Like today, who will take heed of the coming tribulation and war of Armageddon? If you are uncircumcised in the ears, you cannot listen, and someone sharing the true word of God with these types of people is like blaming or faulting them.
Therefore the Lord is full of the fury He is tired of hold in His anger and will pour it out on the children of Israel; even the husband with the wife shall be taken, old men and the folks full of days.
12And their houses shall be turned unto others, with their fields and wives together: for I will stretch out my hand upon the inhabitants of the land, saith the LORD - The curses in Deuteronomy 28 should be ringing a bell.
The priest and prophet deal falsely and fake heal the people by telling them peace and that no danger will come from the Lord, when in fact there is no peace; in Jerusalem in the days of Jeremiah and also today. The Lord would send prophets like Isaiah, Jeremiah (those are watchmen) and other who would correct the paths of the people, but they would not listen (verse 17). How do you help anyone that does not listen?
Read verse 19 in your own bible as well:
19Hear, O earth: behold, I will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not hearkened unto my words, nor to my law, but rejected it.
Listen, the entire earth, the LORD will bring evil on this people (Judah), He will even bring evil in their thoughts (they are a violent people), all because they have not listened to His words or to His law; instead they have rejected it. So do we think today we can reject the law and not get similar punishments?
22Thus saith the LORD, Behold, a people cometh from the north country, and a great nation shall be raised from the sides of the earth. The countries that oppress the children of Israel today are the same; the north country. Go look on any map and see what countries lie north of Israel? You will see European countries and Russia. And the nations today, in their minds, call the children of Israel reprobate silver because the LORD has rejected them. We have all heard a person or two say that the Lord has rejected the Jews, and further the Jewish people do not even recognize Jesus, there is the reprobate silver.
2Stand in the gate of the LORD's house, and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of the LORD, all ye of Judah, that enter in at these gates to worship the LORD. The Lord sent Jeremiah to Judah often to admonish them, do you think they listened?
8Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit.
9Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not;
How can you break all Gods commandments and come stand before Him in prayer? 16Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to me: for I will not hear thee. No one could pray for these people for God to stop the calamity He was bringing on the people. It was already spoken and it had to be done in full.
Look at some of the old pagan religions and think about current religious practices that mimic the things the children of Israel were doing: 18The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me to anger.
The women make cakes or hot cross buns to the queen of heaven. Mary the "mother of god" is the queen of heaven, but "Our Lady Fatima" is the queen in another religion, where people actually worship these women more so than they worship God.
God never asked Israel or anyone for that matter to sacrifice animals when they came out of Egypt. All He ever wanted was for everyone to obey and walk in His ways (verse 22-24).
30For the children of Judah have done evil in my sight, saith the LORD: they have set their abominations in the house which is called by my name, to pollute it.
This tells us the name of the Lord again. The name of the nation is not Judah, Judah was just one tribe, but Israel, this is the Lord's name. We should all be careful house we use the name Israel.
2And they shall spread them before the sun, and the moon, and all the host of heaven, whom they have loved, and whom they have served, and after whom they have walked, and whom they have sought, and whom they have worshipped: they shall not be gathered, nor be buried; they shall be for dung upon the face of the earth.
Look at some of the evil the Lord is going to bring on some of the chief men, kings, priests, and rulers in Jerusalem in that day. No proper burial. There bones will be pulled out of the graves and spread before the sun and moon and stars which they worshiped. If one desires to worship stars and elements of the heavens, perhaps the Lord will allow one to do it even in death.
The Lord listens but never heard any of the children of Israel repent, they never asked themselves, "what have we done?" I remember I did something ridiculous and at the end of the day I stood in the mirror in great remorse, guilt, and shock and I asked myself, "who do I think I am?" I veered from that behavior since then. Israel and all who seek repentance from the Lord must do the same things.
The animals of the world know their roles and what they are suppose to do as commanded by God, but humans, and even the people of the Lord, Israel, do not know His judgments. It is rather embarrassing that a cow knows how to obey the Lord better than man. The Lord says His words are in vain and the writers, prophets, and scribes are all in vain because the people read but don't do, and others don't read the bible at all, so how can they know?
It says that when even wise men reject the word of the Lord, what wisdom is left in them? 9The wise men are ashamed, they are dismayed and taken: lo, they have rejected the word of the LORD; and what wisdom is in them? There is none; the only thing remaining is shame. It is a shame to be a well respected man in the community or village, but stand naked in front of a poor man who fears the Lord; because the poor man can see you clearly, that there is no wisdom in that man if he does not fear God.
22Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered? God ask is there any balm in Gilead or Israel, is there no physician in Israel? He is not asking for physical healers here, He is asking about spiritual healers, men who can teach the healing word of God to save one from the pangs of death with good balm to preserve.
The Lord warns not to trust any man, especially those who of the captivity of the children of Israel. In as in the previous chapter, who is wise and has understanding to know the people the Lord is speaking about and to declare it to them in this day? Who knows that the Lord did this to this people because they did not keep His covenant? This is why we have to read the bible today with understanding; so we know exactly who is who, and what is going on (verse 12-13).
16I will scatter them also among the heathen, whom neither they nor their fathers have known: and I will send a sword after them, till I have consumed them. These are part of the curses in the books of Moses. Here in Jeremiah's day, during the days of Josiah, who was a good king, this prophecy is beginning to be unraveled.
The Lord tells the women to teach their daughters to cry, to cry for their neighbors because death is coming into their houses in the countries they will be scattered, and will kill their children and their young men in the streets (verse 20-21).
The chapter ends with God telling the wise, the strong, and the rich man not to be consumedly happy in their wisdom, strength, and money, but to only be happy that he understands and knows the Lord, that the God of Israel is the One and Only God, who exercises love, kindness, righteousness, these are the things He has delight in. Not man's wisdom, strength or money, but God has delight in them who obey Him.
When Babylon come on Jerusalem, they will take out the circumcised with the uncircumcised. Israel is the circumcised and the neighboring countries are the uncircumcised; but Israel is uncircumcised in the mind.
1Hear ye the word which the LORD speaketh unto you, O house of Israel:
2Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.
3For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe.
4They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.
5They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good.
The Lord is speaking to His people Israel; and tells them not to be like the other nations (heathen) and not to be amazed at things that go on in the sky like the nations are. They are amazed at the sun, moon, and different stars. How do we know? In much of the European world, the days of the week are name after the sun, moon, and other planets. That sounds like amazement to me. SUNday (day of the Sun), Monday (Moons day), Tuesday (Mars), Wednesday (Mercury), Thursday (Jupiter), Friday (Venus), and Saturday (Saturn).
The Lord goes further to say that the customs of the people are vain; an example is the going into the forest and cutting a tree, bringing it home and decking it with silver and with gold, and these days all kinds of ornaments and nailing the tree so it does not totter down. This tree is a god to the people that do it; it started as a god to the people that practiced it. This is the Christmas tree here that Jeremiah is describing and this is years before the Christ was around. This is not a "Christian" practice, but a pagan one, and even pagans who keep it in it's original form (meaning they don't copy and paste Jesus name to it), get angry every year telling "Christians" to back off their day and event.
I remember a job I worked where a lady pulled me to the side and said I see you're not into the Christmas things, are you a pagan like me? I said no, she said because you know "Christmas" is our thing, not there's. I was in shock.
Israel was commanded not to do this as other nations do; but it is being done all over the world, even Muslims have joined the band wagon in part. The people that participate in this are described and called in verse 8 -8But they are altogether brutish and foolish: the stock is a doctrine of vanities.
It is vain to do this, and not to mention foolish. We are reading the bible with understanding. Previously, you probably read through this with no heed to this chapter, but now that it is pointed out, I recommend you take this into consideration. It will not be an easy change, but following God is better than bowing down to a tree and exchanging gifts that you probably can't afford; those in the working population.
Who is to blame for the world getting caught up in "Christmas?" The bible reads: 21For the pastors are become brutish, and have not sought the LORD: therefore they shall not prosper, and all their flocks shall be scattered. Pastors can easily begin to teach against it; but many pastors keep the confusion going by not seeking God, in the end, they will not prosper. When you learn this, you may be upset at the author or at the Bible; that is okay. However, the most important thing to do is keep learning and reading so you know the absolute truth, then you can pick which ever way you desire to follow. Then you can pray the prayer in verse twenty-four.
24O LORD, correct me, but with judgment; not in thine anger, lest thou bring me to nothing. I ask the Lord to correct me by showing me the right way, and not by slamming a hammer across my head. A word is enough for the wise.
This concludes today's reading. If Jeremiah chapter 10 did not thoroughly upset and disgust you, but pleased you, I will see you tomorrow. Peace and grace in the name of Jesus
*Build a recession proof business online. Visit Build a Biz Fast
The Lord appears to be speaking to Jeremiah, and this is quoted among churches a great deal as inspirational and motivational saying that God knew you before you were in the womb. While that is true, the context of what we're reading here is being spoke to Jesus by the Father. The reason I can say this is because Jeremiah was ordained a prophet to Judah, then in verse ten, God says He has set Him over the nations and over the kingdoms to root out, pull down, destroy, throw down, build, and plant. That's a lot for Jeremiah, and out of his characteristics. But it fits Jesus Christ perfectly.
We've spoken about Jesus Christ in every single book thus far. 16And I will utter my judgments against them touching all their wickedness, who have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, and worshipped the works of their own hands.
19And they shall fight against thee; but they shall not prevail against thee; for I am with thee, saith the LORD, to deliver thee. The Lord gives Jeremiah a prophecy of the kings of the North, which are Babylon of Nebuchadnezzar, who will come down on Judah and destroy those people who forsook the Lord and worship idols. He also told Jeremiah that the men of Judah will come against him, but the Lord will be with him.
Jeremiah Chapter 2
8The priests said not, Where is the LORD? and they that handle the law knew me not: the pastors also transgressed against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit.
11Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? but my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit.
The children of Israel never say, where is the Lord that brought us out of Egypt and took care of our fathers and us all these years. I rarely hear any people thanking God for bringing them out of Egypt (bondage). The Jewish people may, but it is only around Passover when they are forced to tell the story; but no one else. Let's look at the top "Christian" organization, the Catholics, do they thank God for getting them out of Egypt? Also verse eight says the priest and the pastors never ask and they sin against God and walk after other gods.
Verse eleven is a good question asked by God. He ask has any other nation changed their gods, even though they are not real gods? No. But the children of Israel who had the true and living God have changed their Glorious God for stuff that does not profit. Go from nation to nation around the world today and dig into their old worship and you will see, they are still worshiping the gods their fathers worshiped years of old. Many still worship the sun, the cow, the moon, I recently saw a country attempt to begin worshiping a frog. Many of them, even sophisticated European countries still worship statutes that are handcrafted. They cover it up by putting the name of Jesus over it, but if you really peer through you will see, they have not changed gods.
God tells the heavens to be astonished at the fact that Israel can trade the world for nothing, and also tells the heavens to be horribly afraid of what the Lord is about to do. The children of Israel have committed two evils in forsaking the Lord who is the fountain of Living Waters, and made other gods that cannot hold any water. Two great evils that transgress the top two commandments on the list in Exodus 20.
19Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord GOD of hosts.
Their own wickedness will correct the children of Israel and our own wickedness will correct us today. When you do something bad or evil, more likely than not, drama will come on you. Perfect example for young teenagers, they are taught and told over and over that sex is dangerous and they should not be doing it, also drugs are horrible to use. However, this is ignored and they go on having sex premaritally, then one gets zapped with AIDS, another has a child at age 13, another gets an STD, another fries his brain on drugs and becomes homeless. Their own wickedness will correct them, if they don't correct themselves, finally the police and the graveyard are brought in and the state corrections will or Mr. Death himself.
This is how the Lord forces you to fear Him. I grew up in some pretty violent neighborhoods, and there were some guys you just did not mess with and it was told to you if you were not "street smart" enough to observe it on your own. If you did not take heed, those guys would show you why you need to fear them. The Lord is like that, you can fear Him on your own, or you can be forcefully taught to fear Him. Either way, at the end of the road you will fear the Lord.
26As the thief is ashamed when he is found, so is the house of Israel ashamed; they, their kings, their princes, and their priests, and their prophets.
30In vain have I smitten your children; they received no correction: your own sword hath devoured your prophets, like a destroying lion.
When you transgress God, God ask you to go call on the gods you've made with your hands to save you in the time of trouble. We know they cannot. I remember a story from a great man who told me that a man who did not believe in Jesus fell ill and he called on elders from the church of Jesus to pray for him. And the Lord blessed and recovered him; and afterwards the man went back to his church that did not believe nor deal with Jesus Christ. In troubled times, we all find a way to pray to the true and living God; but after we get our pay check, off to our honeymoon with the gods we made up in our minds.
One day the Lord will ask people like that to petition their own gods. Because as He did with the children of Israel, whipping their children for nothing because they do not take correction, and Israel is responsible for destroying their own prophets who were sent to deliver.
33Why trimmest thou thy way to seek love? therefore hast thou also taught the wicked ones thy ways. The way of love that they trimmed was the keeping of the commandments; when you are the model nation suppose to keep the commandments and you do not, you are teaching other wicked countries their ways. The children of Israel have taught the world all of the nonsense going on in it today!
35Yet thou sayest, Because I am innocent, surely his anger shall turn from me. Behold, I will plead with thee, because thou sayest, I have not sinned. This is the very reason why it is important not to think you're blameless, even if you're keeping the commandments. Along the way, in deeds or in thought, you will see that you have committed some sin. Repent and pray for forgiveness and mercy, every hour.
Jeremiah 3
We have men today that catch their wives cheating on them and it breaks the heart and they cannot forgive their wife and leave her. But we see God watch His wife go become a whore to many other gods, still He asked her to return to Him. That is mercy and patience we need to adopt. It was law in Israel that if your wife left you and went to another man, she has become defiled to you and cannot return to you. So in Israel law and custom, the Lord should have cast them away forever, however, the covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is still good that is why the Lord still deals with Israel.
Verse two and three consist of the Lord dishing out a slew of insults calling this nation a whore, and they have a whore's forehead.
The Lord asked Jeremiah has he seen all the whoring Israel has done. After all the whoring, the Lord still request you return, but Israel did not return from their whoring. Now Judah was taking out by the Babylonians after the ten tribes were taken out by the Assyrians; but Judah did not have enough sense to see that her whorish sister committed adultery against the Lord and He sent her away (out of the land), she did not fear and did the same things and received the same outcome.
11And the LORD said unto me, The backsliding Israel hath justified herself more than treacherous Judah. This is why Judah's captivity has been harsher than Samaria's captivity; because Judah should have learned from Samaria. However, the Lord is very merciful - 13Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the LORD thy God...Repent and admit your sin and the Lord will be merciful to you.
14Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion:
15And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.
This is the last days as a nation, but individually, the Lord will do this today, give your pastors according to His heart who give you knowledge and understanding.
Jeremiah has gone prophetic on us and has skipped into the future: 17At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the LORD; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the LORD, to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart.
This should certainly sound familiar as Isaiah spoke on it and we read some in the Psalm, that all nations will be gathered to the Lord in Jerusalem (on the earth here).
18In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers. Also, Judah and the house of Israel will walk together coming out of the land they are captive in and return to the land given to them by their fathers. Right now we Jewish people in the land and Arabs, the Jewish state and the Palestinians.
Verse 25 sums up what the children of Israel are saying today.
Jeremiah 4
The Lord tells Jeremiah to publish it throughout the land that violence is coming on Jerusalem and Judah, the lion is away (lion was the symbol of Babylon), the destroying Gentiles are already on the way and they are coming with the fierce anger of the Lord. The Lord sent Babylon and Nebuchadnezzar to destroy Jerusalem.
13Behold, he shall come up as clouds, and his chariots shall be as a whirlwind: his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe unto us! for we are spoiled.
Nebuchadnezzar's army came up quick and powerful and very destructive. All the children of Israel could say at that time was, "woe unto us." Why did this happen to them?
22For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.
When you have no knowledge nor any understanding, it is not pretty. It is not good for anyone to be without knowledge, even if you're poor, if you had knowledge of how to apply for public aid you'd be better off than starving to death. All over the book, we see that Israel tanked as a nation because they had no understanding and no knowledge of God, so other nations individuals should take strong heed. Growing up, I was a strong student of other people's mistakes. I still learn from others in the mistakes and their accomplishments.
Jeremiah Chapter 5
This is amazing that the Lord had the angels check out the entire city of Jerusalem to see, know, and seek if they could find a man that executed judgment and sought out the truth and the Lord would have pardoned the sins of Judah. And they could not find one man. We get to a point where we all just follow status quo instead of seeking and sticking with the true God.
The Lord says that if they do not keep the Law of God, they are poor and foolish (verse 4). Does this stand in our modern days? I do not see why not.
The children of Israel left the Lord, they commit adultery (spiritually and physically) and assemble themselves in great number in harlot's houses. What is a harlot's house? That is not just a whorish woman's house, it is the strange woman Proverbs spoke about, and that is a strange church that is not of God. They (children of Israel), go after their neighbor's wife, make and worship pagan gods, and the Lord ask, how can He pardon them for this?
He will not and did not; nevertheless, He did not destroy everyone. 18Nevertheless in those days, saith the LORD, I will not make a full end with you. Keep this in mind, that the Lord is punishing the evil and keeping the remnant to purge them then restore them at the end time.
20Declare this in the house of Jacob, and publish it in Judah, saying,
21Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding; which have eyes, and see not; which have ears, and hear not:
God is talking to the children of Israel here, they are the foolish people, and people without understanding. A people clearly with eyes and ears attached to their head, but cannot see or hear. God ask, will you not fear Him, the being that set up the entire world, that includes the other planets that man has no ability to inhabit. You will not fear Him? He sets the oceans water limits and the sand so they never over flow each other and you won't fear Him?
Israel were and are a bunch of renegades, revolting, and rebellious people and because Israel did not serve God, God made them serve other nations and those nation's gods. So if anyone ever ask why the Jews have it rough, it is because they did not want to serve God; so they are serving man.
25Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withholden good things from you. Sins hold good things from you as they did for Israel. If your life is miserable, perhaps it is the sins you are committing that are holding them back. And if you get abundant things and do not keep God's commandments, it may be time to ask yourself, where are your blessings coming from?
For sins, the Lord will certainly visit you and that means punish, if He punished David harshly for his adultery against Uriah the Hittes wife and punished Israel for their sins, He will certainly avenge Him self on everyone who sins against Him. In Israel, the prophets tell lies, priest rule by their own means, preachers preach what is on their own mind, and the people love to have it this way. But God ask, what will you do in the end?
Jeremiah chapter 6
The Lord ask who can He warn that will take heed? Like today, who will take heed of the coming tribulation and war of Armageddon? If you are uncircumcised in the ears, you cannot listen, and someone sharing the true word of God with these types of people is like blaming or faulting them.
Therefore the Lord is full of the fury He is tired of hold in His anger and will pour it out on the children of Israel; even the husband with the wife shall be taken, old men and the folks full of days.
12And their houses shall be turned unto others, with their fields and wives together: for I will stretch out my hand upon the inhabitants of the land, saith the LORD - The curses in Deuteronomy 28 should be ringing a bell.
The priest and prophet deal falsely and fake heal the people by telling them peace and that no danger will come from the Lord, when in fact there is no peace; in Jerusalem in the days of Jeremiah and also today. The Lord would send prophets like Isaiah, Jeremiah (those are watchmen) and other who would correct the paths of the people, but they would not listen (verse 17). How do you help anyone that does not listen?
Read verse 19 in your own bible as well:
19Hear, O earth: behold, I will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not hearkened unto my words, nor to my law, but rejected it.
Listen, the entire earth, the LORD will bring evil on this people (Judah), He will even bring evil in their thoughts (they are a violent people), all because they have not listened to His words or to His law; instead they have rejected it. So do we think today we can reject the law and not get similar punishments?
22Thus saith the LORD, Behold, a people cometh from the north country, and a great nation shall be raised from the sides of the earth. The countries that oppress the children of Israel today are the same; the north country. Go look on any map and see what countries lie north of Israel? You will see European countries and Russia. And the nations today, in their minds, call the children of Israel reprobate silver because the LORD has rejected them. We have all heard a person or two say that the Lord has rejected the Jews, and further the Jewish people do not even recognize Jesus, there is the reprobate silver.
Jeremiah 7
1The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,2Stand in the gate of the LORD's house, and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of the LORD, all ye of Judah, that enter in at these gates to worship the LORD. The Lord sent Jeremiah to Judah often to admonish them, do you think they listened?
8Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit.
9Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not;
How can you break all Gods commandments and come stand before Him in prayer? 16Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to me: for I will not hear thee. No one could pray for these people for God to stop the calamity He was bringing on the people. It was already spoken and it had to be done in full.
Look at some of the old pagan religions and think about current religious practices that mimic the things the children of Israel were doing: 18The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me to anger.
The women make cakes or hot cross buns to the queen of heaven. Mary the "mother of god" is the queen of heaven, but "Our Lady Fatima" is the queen in another religion, where people actually worship these women more so than they worship God.
God never asked Israel or anyone for that matter to sacrifice animals when they came out of Egypt. All He ever wanted was for everyone to obey and walk in His ways (verse 22-24).
30For the children of Judah have done evil in my sight, saith the LORD: they have set their abominations in the house which is called by my name, to pollute it.
This tells us the name of the Lord again. The name of the nation is not Judah, Judah was just one tribe, but Israel, this is the Lord's name. We should all be careful house we use the name Israel.
Jeremiah 8
1At that time, saith the LORD, they shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of his princes, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves:2And they shall spread them before the sun, and the moon, and all the host of heaven, whom they have loved, and whom they have served, and after whom they have walked, and whom they have sought, and whom they have worshipped: they shall not be gathered, nor be buried; they shall be for dung upon the face of the earth.
Look at some of the evil the Lord is going to bring on some of the chief men, kings, priests, and rulers in Jerusalem in that day. No proper burial. There bones will be pulled out of the graves and spread before the sun and moon and stars which they worshiped. If one desires to worship stars and elements of the heavens, perhaps the Lord will allow one to do it even in death.
The Lord listens but never heard any of the children of Israel repent, they never asked themselves, "what have we done?" I remember I did something ridiculous and at the end of the day I stood in the mirror in great remorse, guilt, and shock and I asked myself, "who do I think I am?" I veered from that behavior since then. Israel and all who seek repentance from the Lord must do the same things.
The animals of the world know their roles and what they are suppose to do as commanded by God, but humans, and even the people of the Lord, Israel, do not know His judgments. It is rather embarrassing that a cow knows how to obey the Lord better than man. The Lord says His words are in vain and the writers, prophets, and scribes are all in vain because the people read but don't do, and others don't read the bible at all, so how can they know?
It says that when even wise men reject the word of the Lord, what wisdom is left in them? 9The wise men are ashamed, they are dismayed and taken: lo, they have rejected the word of the LORD; and what wisdom is in them? There is none; the only thing remaining is shame. It is a shame to be a well respected man in the community or village, but stand naked in front of a poor man who fears the Lord; because the poor man can see you clearly, that there is no wisdom in that man if he does not fear God.
22Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered? God ask is there any balm in Gilead or Israel, is there no physician in Israel? He is not asking for physical healers here, He is asking about spiritual healers, men who can teach the healing word of God to save one from the pangs of death with good balm to preserve.
Jeremiah 9
1Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people! This is the Lord speaking about His people. Although He is the one who hurt them, He did not want to but He had to. It's like a parent who punishes their child in order to correct them. That parent may not be happy about punishing them, but they had to do it in order to correct their behavior.The Lord warns not to trust any man, especially those who of the captivity of the children of Israel. In as in the previous chapter, who is wise and has understanding to know the people the Lord is speaking about and to declare it to them in this day? Who knows that the Lord did this to this people because they did not keep His covenant? This is why we have to read the bible today with understanding; so we know exactly who is who, and what is going on (verse 12-13).
16I will scatter them also among the heathen, whom neither they nor their fathers have known: and I will send a sword after them, till I have consumed them. These are part of the curses in the books of Moses. Here in Jeremiah's day, during the days of Josiah, who was a good king, this prophecy is beginning to be unraveled.
The Lord tells the women to teach their daughters to cry, to cry for their neighbors because death is coming into their houses in the countries they will be scattered, and will kill their children and their young men in the streets (verse 20-21).
The chapter ends with God telling the wise, the strong, and the rich man not to be consumedly happy in their wisdom, strength, and money, but to only be happy that he understands and knows the Lord, that the God of Israel is the One and Only God, who exercises love, kindness, righteousness, these are the things He has delight in. Not man's wisdom, strength or money, but God has delight in them who obey Him.
When Babylon come on Jerusalem, they will take out the circumcised with the uncircumcised. Israel is the circumcised and the neighboring countries are the uncircumcised; but Israel is uncircumcised in the mind.
Jeremiah 10
This chapter can be unsettling for those who are big on the special time of the year when a man named Santa Clause comes to town on rain deers that fly and he gets around the entire world in one day in grueling snowy weather. This a fairytale meant for kids has been swallowed up by very grown adults. I loved the "Christmas" season; who can be mad at receiving gifts? But it is important to investigate what things were built on. So read this chapter, especially the first 5 verses objectively and not subjectively.1Hear ye the word which the LORD speaketh unto you, O house of Israel:
2Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.
3For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe.
4They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.
5They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good.
The Lord is speaking to His people Israel; and tells them not to be like the other nations (heathen) and not to be amazed at things that go on in the sky like the nations are. They are amazed at the sun, moon, and different stars. How do we know? In much of the European world, the days of the week are name after the sun, moon, and other planets. That sounds like amazement to me. SUNday (day of the Sun), Monday (Moons day), Tuesday (Mars), Wednesday (Mercury), Thursday (Jupiter), Friday (Venus), and Saturday (Saturn).
The Lord goes further to say that the customs of the people are vain; an example is the going into the forest and cutting a tree, bringing it home and decking it with silver and with gold, and these days all kinds of ornaments and nailing the tree so it does not totter down. This tree is a god to the people that do it; it started as a god to the people that practiced it. This is the Christmas tree here that Jeremiah is describing and this is years before the Christ was around. This is not a "Christian" practice, but a pagan one, and even pagans who keep it in it's original form (meaning they don't copy and paste Jesus name to it), get angry every year telling "Christians" to back off their day and event.
I remember a job I worked where a lady pulled me to the side and said I see you're not into the Christmas things, are you a pagan like me? I said no, she said because you know "Christmas" is our thing, not there's. I was in shock.
Israel was commanded not to do this as other nations do; but it is being done all over the world, even Muslims have joined the band wagon in part. The people that participate in this are described and called in verse 8 -8But they are altogether brutish and foolish: the stock is a doctrine of vanities.
It is vain to do this, and not to mention foolish. We are reading the bible with understanding. Previously, you probably read through this with no heed to this chapter, but now that it is pointed out, I recommend you take this into consideration. It will not be an easy change, but following God is better than bowing down to a tree and exchanging gifts that you probably can't afford; those in the working population.
Who is to blame for the world getting caught up in "Christmas?" The bible reads: 21For the pastors are become brutish, and have not sought the LORD: therefore they shall not prosper, and all their flocks shall be scattered. Pastors can easily begin to teach against it; but many pastors keep the confusion going by not seeking God, in the end, they will not prosper. When you learn this, you may be upset at the author or at the Bible; that is okay. However, the most important thing to do is keep learning and reading so you know the absolute truth, then you can pick which ever way you desire to follow. Then you can pray the prayer in verse twenty-four.
24O LORD, correct me, but with judgment; not in thine anger, lest thou bring me to nothing. I ask the Lord to correct me by showing me the right way, and not by slamming a hammer across my head. A word is enough for the wise.
This concludes today's reading. If Jeremiah chapter 10 did not thoroughly upset and disgust you, but pleased you, I will see you tomorrow. Peace and grace in the name of Jesus
*Build a recession proof business online. Visit Build a Biz Fast
