AUGUST 2 & 3 JEREMIAH 4-6

Jeremiah 4-6

 

“If you will return, O Israel, return to me, declares the Lord!”   (Jeremiah 4:1)

 

So begins today’s reading!  In these three chapters, Jeremiah alternately pleads and warns, exhorts and condemns.  

 

Pleading:  There are times when Jeremiah pleads with God’s people through tears and anguish (4:19). There are times when he pleads with them to weep (4:8).

 

Warning:  Jeremiah begins to warn God’s people of a clear and present danger, approaching from the north (4:5f; 6:1, 22).  God is bringing disaster upon his people in a last ditch effort to get them to return to Him (4:20).

 

Exhorting:  To exhort is to encourage strenuously. Jeremiah exhorts the people to “break up their fallow ground and circumcise the foreskin of their hearts.” (4:3-4)  This is a picturesque way of saying: Get right with the Lord! He exhorts them not to pursue material things (4:31), but to turn to God. “Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls.” (6:16)

Condemning: The response of the people is not good. The very next words in Jeremiah 6:16, after the powerful exhortation I’ve just quoted, are these: “But they said: ‘We will not walk in it’!” Over and over rings the sad refrains of their hearts’ hardness:

• They have refused to repent (5:3)
• They all alike had broken the yoke (5:5)
• Their apostasies are great (5:6)
• They have “eyes, but see not; ears, but hear not (5:21)
• They have prophets who “prophesy falsely” (5:31)
• They are all stubbornly rebellious (6:28)
• Their own response (or lack thereof) condemns them.  And God will allow the terror from the North to overcome them.

Does this mean that God’s people are without hope?  By no means!  At any time, they can turn, and find help and healing from the Lord.  And what’s more, there is a promise hidden among these hard words:

“But even in those days, declares the Lord, I will not make a full end of you.”  (Jeremiah 5:18)

Praise the Lord, for His mercy endures forever!

Monday, Jeremiah continues unabated!

Your fellow pilgrim through the Prophets,

Pastor Gary

AUGUST 1 JEREMIAH 1-3

Jeremiah 1-3

They’ve arranged our trek through the Bible so that, with a new month, a new book of the Bible arrives. During August, we will tackle four more prophets: Jeremiah, Lamentations (by Jeremiah), Ezekiel, and Daniel. By September, we will have completed the “Major Prophets,” named so because they are longer than the “Minor Prophets,” not more important.

Instead of waiting until chapter 6, like Isaiah, Jeremiah describes his call in the very first chapter. Notice, God called Jeremiah to this special ministry while still a youth. In fact, God says that Jeremiah had been appointed to this work before he was born. I receive this as a major Biblical encouragement to sanctify life in the womb!

When God calls Jeremiah, God tells him up front (as God told Isaiah) that the ministry would not be easy. God says, “I make you this day a fortified city, an iron pillar, and bronze walls against the whole land.” (1:18) This is a good thing, for the people will fight against him! Wait till you read about it!

The first public prophecies of Jeremiah follow in chapters 2 and 3. It’s tough stuff. But, it’s especially tough on those who should know better. In Jeremiah 2:8, we read the first of many hard words against the spiritual leaders of Israel, who have “run after things that do not profit.” This has led the whole nation into idolatry, what Jeremiah constantly refers to as spiritual whoring and adultery. Continuously, Jeremiah calls the people to repentance: “Return, faithless Israel!” is the cry. If they repent, God will give them leaders (shepherds) after God’s own heart (3:15).

Let’s receive the call to repentance for ourselves. From what idolatry do we need to turn?

Tomorrow, Jeremiah’s plea for repentance continues!

Your fellow pilgrim through the Prophets,
Pastor Gary

JULY 31 ISAIAH 63-66

Isaiah 63-66


In the final chapters of Isaiah’s great prophecy, we are allowed to peer through the veil into the “new heavens and the new earth,” (Isaiah 65:17f; 66:22) which includes a renewed Jerusalem (66:10f). What do we learn? What can we see?


God’s goals include both judgment and mercy! (Isaiah 63)

We, God’s people, should pray for mercy. (Isaiah 63-64)

We, God’s people, should anticipate the ultimate fulfillment of God’s renewal. What a picture of heaven we read in Isaiah 65:17-25; there, all things will be eternally new; all people eternally joyful, youthful and peaceful! And best of all, “all flesh shall come to worship before [the Lord].” (Isaiah 66:23)
The way to find this place of peace is through humility and contrition before the Word of the Lord (Isaiah 66:2)

Judgment remains for those who rebel and refuse the grace of God (Isaiah 66).

Tomorrow, we meet the weeping prophet, Jeremiah.

Your fellow pilgrim through the Prophets,

Pastor Gary

JULY 30 ISAIAH 58-62

Isaiah 58-62

When you read Isaiah 58, you might think that it’s just about “fasting.” It is about the way we fast. In other words, there is a right way and a wrong way to fast, observe the Sabbath or do any godly thing. The wrong way is to imagine that our “good work” is earning us brownie points with God. “Why have we humbled ourselves, and You have not noticed?” (Isaiah 58:3) we cry to God. We think our devotion is worth something. Isaiah teaches that our devotion is worth NOTHING if it does not bear the fruit of selfless service! Read this chapter for yourselves; it’s powerful!

Isaiah 59 begins with Biblical truth that our sins separate us from God. Read this chapter and see how pervasive sin is. This is why even the repentant need a Redeemer (Isaiah 59:20)!

Isaiah 60 literally sings of that day when the light of the Lord will shine on all peoples and all nations, “for the nation...that will not serve You will perish!” (Isaiah 60:12)

Isaiah 61 requires us to be present on that day in the Nazareth synagogue, when Jesus stood to read the opening verses of this chapter, then sat down (like all Jewish teachers) and said, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” Jesus was claiming Messiah-ship that day, and—in the end—it nearly cost Him His life three years to soon. Read this chapter thinking: Jesus!

Isaiah 62 describes what the restored, redeemed, holy people of God will look like! When you read this chapter, think: New Jerusalem!

Your fellow pilgrim through the Prophets,

Pastor Gary

JULY 29 ISAIAH 52-57

Isaiah 52-57

Start by imagining yourself the eunuch of Acts 8. You are a treasurer for Queen Candace of Ethiopia, but you are a eunuch. You were probably made a eunuch when you entered the queen’s service. You are probably a Jew living in the dispersion of that day. You had come to Jerusalem to worship, and were on your way home, when you stopped the chariot to read a scroll you had obtained. What are you reading? The first two of our chapters for today! A man with bright, happy eyes approaches you, looks over your shoulder and asks if you understand what you’re reading. “How can I, without someone to explain it to me?” you say. Then Philip, the evangelist, explains each verse in Isaiah 52-53, and how they point to Jesus!

Try this for yourself. Read the 4th Servant Song, Isaiah 52:13—53:12, and make your own list of everything that reminds you of Jesus. Let the prophetic nature of the words overwhelm you, as they did the Ethiopian Eunuch, who desired baptism when Philip was finished explaining!

Isaiah 54 is “the eternal covenant of peace;” when you read this chapter, make yourself a list of all the promises you can find. One that my brother and I shared with Mom, shortly after Dad’s death, was v. 5: “For your Maker is your Husband.” Just as God is a Father to the fatherless, so He is a Husband to the widow!

Isaiah 55 is an incredible invitation to the free gift of salvation and a call to “seek the Lord while He may be found.” When this word, this invitation, goes forth, God promises fruit. Even the trees of the field will clap their hands for joy.

Isaiah 56 is more hope for foreigners and eunuchs. When the Ethiopian Eunuch read this chapter, he’d have been blown away by the grace of God!

But Isaiah 57, beginning, actually, in Isaiah 56, the prophet rails against the irresponsible leaders of a people addicted to idolatry. But by the end of the chapter, we read one of the most hopeful revival verses in the Bible: Isaiah 57:15

“For this is what the high and exalted One says—he who lives forever, whose name is holy: “I live in a high and holy place, but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.”

Your fellow pilgrim through the Prophets,

Pastor Gary

JULY 28 ISAIAH 49-51

Isaiah 49-51

Two of the “Servant Songs” are here in these three chapters for today.

Isaiah 49:1-13. Why did God bring forth His Servant (Think Jesus!) from the womb? These verses list several great reasons; Jesus was born to:

• To teach; “He made my mouth like a sharp sword!” (v. 2)
• To glorify the Lord; (v. 3)
• To revive Jacob (Israel); (v. 5)
• To be a light to the nations (Gentiles); (v. 6)

Isaiah 50:4-11. What has the Lord given to His Servant (think Jesus!)? Here’s a list; The Lord gave to Jesus:

• A teaching gift; (v. 4)
• A listening gift; (vv. 4-5)
• Holiness; (v. 5)
• Perseverance; (v. 5)
• A willing to endure unjust suffering; (vv. 6f)
• Help and vindication; (vv. 6-9)
• Isaiah 51 promises God’s comfort, once again, to God’s people, yet calls them to do several things:
• Look to Abraham’s example! (v. 2)
• Give attention to the Lord! (vv. 4, 7)
• Awake and be strong in the Lord! (vv. 7, 17)

Your fellow pilgrim through the Prophets,

Pastor Gary