Jeremiah 44-45  After being forced to go to Egypt with the remnant of Jews, Jeremiah continued to pronounce the Lord's word of warning and judgment .  These people were so hard-hearted and hard-headed that they couldn't even accept the fact that Judah had been destroyed because of  their wickedness and idolatry.  When Jeremiah tells them that destruction is coming to them in Egypt they stoically refuse to give up their  worship of the "queen of heaven".  The women are the ones insistent on this and their husbands are agreeing with them.  Finally, the Lord just says go ahead and do it, but know this.. none of you will ever return to Judah.

The Lord does say that  a few would be able to return, but I cannot find a reference as to whether or not Jeremiah was one of them.

Chapter 45 is a short message expressly for Baruch.  This man was the writer and keeper of Jeremiah's prophecies.  Baruch may have been one of those few allowed to return to Judah.  ".. I will give your life to you as booty in all the places where you may go." the Lord declares.   Just don't seek great things for yourself.

Even as the words of Jeremiah were meant for the people of Judah, they always seem so relevant for our world today.  The "queen of heaven" that the women offered their sacrifices to - burning incense and making cakes in her image, and offering drinks to - supposedly provided for them material goods and fertility.  They were "well off and saw no misfortune", the women boasted. They gave the Lord no acknowledgement or honor.  The Lord did not even want them to say His Name any more.

 Our society refuses to give up its false gods, just like the Jews did.   As in this passage, we find hard-hearted and hard-headed women in our day.. bent on doing what they want to do.. and trying to force it on everyone else.  Yet, we know that God's Word will stand firm and He will not be moved.   Sin is still sin, even if our society wants to throw it into every media venue, into every city, town, and state, or even into the laws of our land.  Lord, help us.

Father in heaven, show us Your ways  and teach us Your paths. Guide us in Your truth and teach us, for You are God our Savior.  We put our hope in You all day long!  Lord, Your Word is like a hammer that shatters rock.. and we ask that You break the hard hearts of the wicked.  Turn our world back to the truth. May they see You and acknowledge that You alone are God and there is no other.  I pray specifically for family members that are still walking in rebellion and ignorance, Lord; asking that You would have mercy and open their eyes and ears.. to see You and to hear Your voice and to turn to You.  I ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.

Jeremiah 40-43 Nebuzaradan, the "captain of the bodyguard" under the authority of Nebuchadnezzar, allowed Jeremiah to stay in Judah after they had taken the majority of the Jews into chains and led them to Babylon.   Jeremiah went to Mizpah where Gedaliah was living, having been appointed governor of Judah.  Gedaliah tried to help all those who were left in Judah.. this consisted of the poorest of the land, Jews who had returned from Moab, Ammon, and Edom, and some of the king's daughters.

Unfortunately, Gedaliah refused to listen to a warning from Johanan, and was killed by Ishmael who was sent from the Ammonite king.  Johanan then went after all the remnant that Ishmael had taken captive, and returned them back to Judah.  However, he then led them all to Egypt in rebellion against the Lord's command. He even forced Jeremiah to go with them.   Once again the Lord gives Jeremiah a word of prophecy telling them that they will be judged for this disobedience.  Egypt will also be conquered by Babylon.

Over and over again, the same pattern emerges.  They want to know what the Lord has to say, and then when He speaks, they turn around and refuse to listen! Jeremiah 44:4 " Yet I sent you all My servants the prophets, again and again, saying, 'Oh do not do this abominable thing which I hate. But, they did not listen or incline their ears to turn from their wickedness, so as not to burn sacrifices to other gods. " 

"Why are you doing great harm to yourselves ?"  God cries out to His people.  Even the remnant has not learned from the destruction of their city and their temple!  Calamity after calamity has come over them.. and they still would not listen.

Disobedience to the word of God will result in judgment.  The Lord offers every good and perfect gift to those who will listen to His voice and obey His Word.  But, again and again, He warns that rebellion and disobedience will result tin punishment.  This is what the fear of the Lord is all about.
A godly and righteous fear..  is more than just reverence .. although it is that also.  It is an understanding that God is holy and His will is for us to be holy.  We can only be holy as we walk by faith in Christ and by obedience to His perfect will. Trust and obey.. there is NO other way.

Psalm 25: 4-5 " Show me your ways, Lord, teach me your paths. Guide me in Your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long. " 

The ways of the Lord.. His paths are paths of righteousness .  Not according to our world's interpretations.. but according to His Word.  The ten commandments are still standards to be observed.. but it goes beyond even those.  Jesus boiled it down to two essentials - Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength; and love your neighbor as yourself.
The path of righteousness is the way of Truth .  Truth according to the Bible, God's Word.
We must listen .. and determine to live by His word, rejecting the voices of men.

Father in heaven, You are holy and righteous in all Your ways.  Guide us in Your truth and help us to live according to Your will. Keep our hearts pure and our hands clean as we seek to live for You and walk by Your Spirit who lives in us.  Forgive us our trespasses, O Lord. Search out and remove all unrighteousness from our hearts.  Be exalted O Lord, for You alone are God and there is no other.
Amen.

Jeremiah 36-39  There are several  events recorded here as the time of judgement draws near.  Jeremiah dictated all of his prophecies to Baruch, a scribe.  This scroll was read in the Lord's house, then was sent to the king - Jehoiakim at that time - who proceeded to cut it up and throw it into the fire.  Jeremiah was then instructed to rewrite it and add the word that Jehoiakim would not be spared, and would lose the throne for his descendants.

Zedekiah seemed to listen to Jeremiah, and even allowed his rescue when some had thrown him into a muddy cistern, but  he ultimately rebelled against God and against Nebuchadnezzar .  Jeremiah pleaded with Zedekiah to surrender and be taken into exile, but he refused and was captured trying to flee.  All his son's were killed as he watched and then his eyes were blinded. All of the palaces, the walls, and the temple were burned down by the Babylonians.

Jeremiah was spared.  Somehow, Nebuchadnezzar commanded that Jeremiah not be harmed.  They put him in the care of Gehaliah,  who was made governor by Nebuchadnezzar .  Ebed-melech, an Ethiopian, who had helped Jeremiah be removed from the cistern is mentioned again at the end of chapter 39 - "Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, 'Behold, I am about to bring My words on this city for disaster and not for prosperity; and they will take place before you on that day. But I will deliver you on that day... because you have trusted in Me..'" 

Again we are reminded that God looks at every heart and judges according to each person's deeds.
Some are spared, some are not. Those who trust the Lord and live in obedience to His Word can stand firm on this truth!  God is able to deliver us - in the fire and in the storm - in wars and in famines and  in times of sickness.  How great is our God.. how kind to show us compassion and mercy.

Father in heaven, even as we look around our country today and see the sinfulness and are exposed to the falsehoods of our society's thinking - we know that You are True and Your Word has not changed.
Sin is still sin. Rebellion against Your Word is still punishable by death.  My heart breaks to see how our children's lives are being pulled into immorality and lies by the philosophy of those who deny You. But, they will not win.  Darkness cannot overcome Your Light.  We put on the armor again Lord - truth, righteousness, the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and we take up the sword of Your Spirit.. the word of God.. and we pray!  Bring revival, Lord.  Bring repentance and salvation to our towns and states.. to our senators and governors.  Let Your church awake and rise up to proclaim the Truth.  Help us to be faithful and to persevere, we pray, in Jesus' name, amen.

Jeremiah 35  The Lord uses the example of a family, the descendants of Jonadab, who were called the Rechabites.  Their introduction into the tribe of Judah came when the descendants of Moses' father-in-law( particularly Hobab, his son - Numbers 10:29)  joined with Judah.. perhaps by marriage or adoption.. and took possession of their territory during Joshua's days. ( Judges 1:16)

This family had a patriarch, Jonadab, who was a man of God. He had commanded his family to not drink wine, not build a house, not plant a vineyard, and not plant seeds.  They were to dwell in tents.. always.  This family continually obeyed Jonadab's commands.

Jeremiah was told to bring the house of Rachabites into the house of the Lord and to offer them wine.
But, even then, they would not do it. They stayed committed and obedient to their "father".  But, the Lord, God of Israel, Judah, and Jerusalem.. spoke " again and again"... and they would not even listen!

The Lord rebukes Judah strongly:

"Will you not receive instruction by listening to My words?" v13
"But I have spoken to you again and again; yet you have not listened to Me." v14
"Also I have sent to you all My servants and prophets, sending them again and again, saying; Turn now every man from his evil way and amend your deeds, and do not go after other gods to worship them... but you have not inclined your ear or listened to Me." v15
".. but this people has not listened to Me." v16
".. because I spoke to them but they did not listen, and I have called them but they did not answer." v17

And because of this reason.. disaster has been pronounced.

The descendants of Jonadab, the Rechabite, are promised this,  they " .. shall not lack a man to stand before Me always" v19 They listened and obeyed.. and they were saved and given a position of standing in the Presence of the Lord!

Father in heaven,  Your Word tells us that when we call on You, You hear us.. You incline Your ear to us.. You lean in to hear our cries.  How awesome is our God!  Thank You!  Lord, Your voice is all we want to hear.. when You speak to us, may we lean forward, inclining our ears to hear every Word.  Help us to not only hear, but to obey.  May our words and deeds be pleasing to You.  May we bear fruit in good works that bring You glory.  Grant to us wisdom from above... pure, peaceable, gentle, reasonable, merciful, unwavering, and without hypocrisy.. wisdom that is not of this world, but from You.  Live and move in us, Lord God. Speak and we will listen.
We give You ourselves for Your will to be done.  Amen.

Jeremiah 34  King Zedekiah was given another opportunity to obey the Lord and survive the Babylonians. He seemed to obey, by making a covenant with all the people in Jerusalem to release any Jewish slaves as required by the Law.  But, "afterward they turned around and took back the male servants and the female servants, whom they had set free, and brought them into subjection.." 

Disobedience brought severe judgement. "Therefore thus says the Lord, 'You have not obeyed Me in proclaiming the release each man to his brother, and each man to his neighbor.  Behold, I am proclaiming a release to you,' declares the Lord, 'to the sword, to the pestilence , and to the famine; and I will make you a terror to all the kingdoms of the earth .'"

Why would they make a covenant that they did not intend to keep?  Why would they make their fellow Jews their slaves.. at the price of their own lives?  I can think of several reasons:
1. Unbelief - they continually denied the authority of God's Word and did not believe that God would do what He said He would do.
2. Greed - without their servants they would not have all that they wanted -no one to plant or harvest food, no one to cook or care for them, no one to lord over and boast of their success.
They were so foolish!  For they were about to lose everything! Including their own lives.

 The people of Jeremiah's time forfeited everything for the sake of the "world".  Zedekiah in particular lost so much for his disobedience  - instead of living in Babylon and having an honorable funeral at his peaceful death - he watched his sons be killed in front of him and then had his eyes blinded.  He gained nothing and lost everything.   Do we also fall into these false ways of thinking?

Jesus spoke these words, " For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul?" ( Mark 8:36) He tells us to deny ourselves and take up our cross and follow Him.  He tells us that if we try to save ourselves we will lose.. but if we lose ourselves for His sake, for the gospel - then we will live.  What is our soul worth?   If we were in Zedekiah's place would we decide that having our own way is worth more than our souls? Do we understand that for ourselves?

What do we do?  First of all, we must make the decision to believe God's Word - to believe that He is who He says He is and He will do what He says He will do.  Second, we must obey His Word - following Jesus. Persevering.. overcoming.. surrendering all to Him.. Walking by His Spirit living in us.  Nothing in this world is worth losing Him! No amount of money or power or selfish wishes.. nothing!

Father in heaven, hallowed be Your Name.  You are worthy of all our praise and worship.  May we keep every covenant with You.  May we walk in Your paths and lean on Your understanding and not our own.  Fill us Spirit with spiritual wisdom and understanding so that we may live a life worthy of You, pleasing You and bearing fruit in every good work.  We pray this with great thanksgiving in our hearts for You are able to do all things and we belong to You.  amen.

Jeremiah 33   In spite of the sins of Israel, the Lord has not rejected them.  Instead,  He promises to restore them completely.

Verse 2 " Thus says the Lord who made the earth, the Lord who formed it and established it, the Lord is His name."   - This is WHO the promise is coming from... Yahweh, the self-existent One who has revealed Himself to us.. Our Maker, our Sustainer, our King.. all powerful, all knowing, and always present... He is proclaiming what He will do. 

V3. " Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things which you do not know."   What an invitation!  The future was uncertain for Jeremiah.  He was imprisoned, his country was falling down around him, and he was hated by just about everyone.  Yet, God invited him to ask what he wanted to know.. and promised to tell him things he couldn't even imagine.

v6 " Behold, I will bring to it health and healing, and I will heal them; and I will reveal to them an abundance of peace and truth."   What a promise!   The broken will be made whole.  The sick will be made well.  The lame will walk. The blind will see... Israel will be restored.  Jerusalem will once again be the City of God.. " And it shall be to Me a name of joy, praise, and glory before all the nations of the earth, which shall hear of all the good that I do for them, and they shall fear and tremble because of all the good and all the peace that I make for it." 

v14 " Behold, days are coming.. when I will fulfill the good word which I have spoken.. "  the Lord declared to Jeremiah.  " In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch of David to spring forth; and He shall execute justice and righteousness on the earth." ( v15)  The Lord had made a promise to David and that promise is fulfilled in Jesus Christ.   The covenant is as solid as the "covenant for the day .. and the night."   The One who fixed the "patterns of heaven and earth" is the One who has sworn to fulfill His Word to David, and has promised to restore Israel and have mercy on them.

What does that mean for you and me?  It means that we can stand on the Rock, and  have confidence in all the Word of God.  He loved Israel, His people, even though they broke His covenant and rebelled against Him time after time.  His love was strong enough to see their transgressions and plan for their restoration at the same time.  He sees us and knows us each, just as we are.. but He chooses to love us and proclaim us spotless, because of the righteousness of Jesus Christ that we now wear!

Again, we are reminded that His plan is to do good for us.
Romans 8:28-32 " And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren; and whom He predestined, these He also called; and whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?"

God, our Father, our good and mighty  and loving Lord, Creator of heaven and earth, we belong to You. You have known us since the beginning of time.  You have called us according to Your plan and purpose.  You have predestined us to be like Jesus.  You have justified us by His sacrifice.  You have glorified us in His righteousness.  You have taught us that nothing can separate us from Your love which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Hallelujah!  We praise You and we thank You in His precious Name.  Amen.

Jeremiah 32  Nebuchadnezzar and his troops are outside the gates of Jerusalem, building "siege mounds".. ready to take the city.  Jeremiah has been put into the prison house at the king's palace.  Yet, God does something incredible...  He asks Jeremiah to buy a piece of property from his cousin.  Jeremiah pays 17 shekels of silver, signs the deeds in front of witnesses, registers the deed and puts it in a clay pot to keep it safe "a long time"..

This is a testimony to the nation, that God is not through with Israel.  They are going into exile.. they will suffer judgement because of their idolatry.. but the nation will one day be rebuilt. They are still God's people.  They have turned their back on Him, but He will not turn His back on them.

God's plan has not been changed.  "And they shall be My people, and I will be their God; and I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me always, for their own good, and for the good of their children after them." 

" And I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will faithfully plant them in this land with all My heart and with all My soul." ( v41)  " I'm going to bring on them all the good I am promising them." The Lord declares. ( v42)

This reminds me of Romans 12:2 "... that you may prove ( or discern) what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect."  God's will for Israel was always and still is for their good.  His will for each of us is still the same.. He wants "good" for us. That which benefits us and makes us well. He also desires that we "do good".. overcoming evil with good. He commands us to do good works and bring forth good fruit.  His will for us is that we be like our Father and our Savior, Jesus Christ.... good. 

God our Father, You are good.. Your very nature is goodness - from which flows love and blessing, forgiveness and mercy.  How small our faith is sometimes, Lord.  Forgive us.  Enlarge our understanding of Who You are!   May we cling to You.. to Your goodness... fully and without any doubt.  Thank You for the Word of Truth.  Fill us with Your Spirit to live out Your goodness to the world around us today.  We are Your people and You are our God. Your will be done. Amen.