Through Jeremiah with Just Some Jesus People

Jeremiah 34

2008-06-03T09:34:00.002-05:00

unbelievable. if you thought it was hard for Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, well, this isn't that hard, but it's really really hard! To go to your king and tell him that he's going to lose. Flat out.
at least Jeremiah got to predict a peaceful death for Zedekiah, though.

then there's this slavery controversy! How, in the face of immanent slaughter, could a person let free and then recapture their slaves? these are the leaders of the City. These are the top dawgs of the country.

Can you see what a scandalous lot were running things before the nation got judged? Today's Psalms have a line that goes: "The wicked prowl on every side, When vileness is exalted among the sons of men" --Ps. 12:8
These people were really prowling, and they had been worshipping the sex and death gods on the side for years! False religion. sex and death. false gods adn idols. sex and death... they forgot how to blush! they were experts in sin! and they had NO integrity, even when they agreed with a (relatively) righteous king, they went back on it! astounding!

Jeremiah 33

2008-05-19T22:03:00.003-05:00

In my New King Jimmie, this starts with "Moreover..." That means it's in addition to the previous stuff! And that stuff was Gooooood. On the edge of judgment, God is already assuring them that it is for good. That He will restore them and punish the ones whom He uses to punish them...

He has promised to turn their hearts back to Him. Anyone who went over to king Nebby at this point got resettled on Babylonian terms in digs they could definitely stand... But it was still totally TREASON! Jeremiah was viewed as scum by the rulers and their loyal (power-hungry) subjects...

...so here's Jeremiah in prison (v.1) That's where a lot of these guys end up. That's true. Even dudes like MLKjr. you know? Birmingham Jail? But we're looking at some serious issues here. Jeremiah is in JAIL.

And Jeremiah gets a word that the defenses will not work. Those guys are just gonna die. (v.5)

And God speaks of healing and health for the "Captives", who are taken. The option to leave the city still stands at this point, you know? The king of Babylon is still open to receive anyone who believes Jeremiah. There is a way out. 70 years of exile is non-negotiable, but how you go over (or get killed cos you didn't) are still on the table.

v.8
God is promising to purify and forgive. This is Good news! v.7 said they'd return! God is speaking about putting things right! All of this "judgment" is the setting of the broken bone! Don't you just hate how the doc says, "Let me see that?" then he yanks that thing back "Crack" into place? Well, I'm starting to love it when ol doc jesus reaches out to me and says, "Let me see that."

v.8-14
Promises of restoration

v.15-26
A ton of stuff about the restoration of the eternal promise to David--the coming of Messiah!

please: Discuss

don't you think that the churches of america are a lot like this? Not america proper--that's mostly just a military-industrial complex. I'm talking about the North-american,
English speaking
mostly affluent
churches in America...
Aren't we like Jeremiah's Judah? With our spiffy mega-churches (that frankly ignore, deny, or re-invent scriptural, creed-level doctrines)(all for the sake of "reaching" people)...

immoral
idolatrous...

I'm talking IN the churches!

evil leaders who twist the truth about God
and follow their own fancies?

God will judge it! With trouble! But always with the purpose to bring us to right with HIM. he loves us and won't be deprived of us. He's going to set us right.

Jeremiah 32

2007-11-29T09:01:00.001-06:00

In 1 corinthians 10, it says that the things we're reading here were written as examples for us, on whom the end times have come (yes, 2,000 years of "end times"). The things we're reading about Israel have happened so that we wouldn't desire evil, like so many of them did back then, and were destroyed.

and here, in Jer. 32, I read about restoration, and the promise of return, even on the eve of destruction.

And we have seen with our own eyes the return of the Israelites to their land, a thing never before seen in the history of mankind: the return of a thoroughly exiled people,and the re-establishment of their own language in the land.

yet, even more striking to me is the promise of an "everlasting covenant". In verses 37-41 a covenant is promised in which God will deal bountifully with his people on a HEART level. He will give them "one heart and one way". He will "put [his] fear in their hearts".
And here we stand, whose hearts brim with the Spirit's voice, bouncing from Romans 6 Conviction to Romans 7 Sorrow to Romans 8 Rejoicing, in a dynamic walk with Jesus. All this was accomplished for us in the Cross! Sealed by the Spirit.

Amazing.

Jeremiah 31

2007-11-27T09:10:00.001-06:00

okay, look... i'm going to bottom line it for you... this chapter, like the others, has far too much going on in it to do some quick blog entry about. And this isn't exactly the place to write the three or four books that could be written on the themes of this book...

but I'm tellign you that there's good news here. There's a new covenant promised here, that teh Book of hebrews will tell us is in Jesus... Romans 9-11 will tell us we're grafted into the promises made to Israel. Early Romans will tell us that we are israel who are made God's children by Faith. We are heirs of this covenant, because we believe in Jesus.

We are inheritors of this restoration, comfort (and the disicplines that came before it)... We are comforted and restored by God, in Christ. We are not under the covenant of Moses (although it is indispensable in our instruction and discipleship), but we're in a new one... this is IT.

So think about that.

Jeremiah 30

2007-11-15T08:39:00.001-06:00

How good has this been for you? I know there aren't many comments, but people keep mentioning the study to me. I'm glad you're spending a bit of time with us, here...with God, here...

Jeremiah 30 is awesome. Here God explains it all. Why all the evil hordes are victorious over the people of God. Why He is doing it... When it'll all be changed, how the hordes will be judges, how the restoration will come about... Its wonderful! My margin notes on this were copious.

Let me share an observation or two, instead of outlining the whole chapter.

THIS IS WHEN JEREMIAH WROTE IT DOWN:
v.1-3
Here is God's command to write it all down. Some time into his ministry, he sits down and goes over all that has happened. I know that later we'll find out about Baruch (barook)(means "blessed) his scribe, and we'll see a king burning his scrolls, but now we're seeing Jeremiah go through it all and write it out. Awesome. And why write it? "for behold, the days are coming," syays the LORD. "And I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it."
The book is there so they'll have hope and guidance in their captivity, believing the promise of God for restoration.

MEN IN LABOR: (not to be confused with "men at work", the australian band from the '80's)
v. 6-7
I once enjoyed a CD from a band called "Jacob's Trouble". Google that, and you'll find its an important literary thingy...term...whatever... This is where that comes from. Jacob's trouble. men in anguish over immanent destruction. Foreign hordes, marauding, pillaging, killing, raping, taking slaves of children... we're talking absolute agony, here... God is destroying them.

please don't forget God's calling them to go over to the King of Babylon all this time. They have all got the opportunity to believe Jeremiah and go out of the city to safety, joining with God's plans of deportation and replanting.
but for those who won't listen to Jeremiah: death after agony.

From v.1-7 so far, God is speaking about the soon future destruction, and the restoration of the remnant, to israel.

in v.8, it turns to the promise of restoration... 70 years...

DO NOT FEAR:
v.10-11
OMG isn't this awesome! a promise of restoration framed in grace and faithfulness. Rest, peace, vindication...

then back to the present time of Jeremiah:

WOUND INCURABLE:
wounding
affliction
disease
adultery
chastisement

Because of SIN's increase.
v. 15 says, "why do you cry about your affliction?" It's like asking, "don't you get it? Stop whining like this is some surprise."

because of their SINNING, they were PUNISHED.

but v.16 and 17 say that He will restore them and punish their punishers.

v.18-20 say he'll bring back, have mercy, build their cities with them, establish the palace, multiply and glorify them, as they worship and thank Him... children will increase as before and he'll establish the congregation of israel...

then in 21, I find something terribly messianic! a prophecy of Jesus:

"...and their governor shall come from their midst; then I will cause him to draw near, and he shall appproach me; for who is this who pledged his heart to approach me?" says the LORD.
"You shall be my people, and I will be your God."

Jesus has made us a people unto God.
Jesus is the one whose heart is fully pledged to God.
who alone can approach God, having no sin, having laid down his very life to ransom us.
Jesus is that "governor from their midst" whom God has caused to draw near, who offered a priestly offering of his own blood for us, once for all, through the cross.

Look at the concept of "Governor/government" in Isaiah 9:7

"Of the increase if His government and peace there will be no end."

Look at Daniel 2:44, prophesying the establishment of a kingdom that will break in pieces all the other kingdoms. read about that rock that smashes the feet of the statue... a rock not cut by hands...
JEsus is that rock,
that governor...
that king of the kingdom...

He has made us a People... we are the people Jesus has made a People unto God: His family. adopted heirs of the King of Kings...
As we read on, don't forget the things that bleed from chapter to chapter. 31 is a continuation of this line of thought....

Jeremiah 29

2007-11-08T07:51:00.000-06:00

In the last two chapter there's been a "Prophecy-Off" to the death between Jeremiah and Hananiah. You may recall that Hananiah dies at the end of last chapter, after predicting the return of King Jeconiah and his peeps and some of the temple stuff.

Now, Jeremiah is going to give a word about that stuff and those folks.

v.1-14 70-year promise of return.

v.15-19 a word against false prophets who echo hananiah's "positive" message of Jeconiah's return.

v.20-23 2 false prophets mentioned by name. Not nice.

v.24-32 Shemaiah the Nehelamite (Ne-Hell-am-ight) writes a letter to try to get a handle on Jeremiah. Calling for him to be put in the stocks, he just gets condemned by the Lord's next prophecy through Jeremiah.

Imagine, after the plots against Jeremiah, how this head priest Zephaniah has called Jeremiah in to read this lettter to him (v.29)
Imagine that. And there's Jeremiah, just letting him have it! Wow. He's hearing from God and speakin gwith full integrity.

We all need to press into God, so we have courage in the time of trial. We don't know when its coming. We just have to be ready.

Wow.

come on, let's hear it people.

jeremiah 28

2007-11-07T08:40:00.000-06:00

v. 1-4
Dude named Hananiah pushes back on Jeremiah. Totally contradicts. What is Jeremiah's credibility level at this point in his ministry?

v.6-9
jeremiah reiterates the test of true prophecy: it comes true. They're dealing with immanent events, here. The proof will come. What is Jeremiah's credibility with the people at the end of the book?

v.10-11
Hananiah loses it and gets theatrical and violent with Jeremiah's visual aid. Seriously, think of how this went down. How violent it was and how it violated JEremiah. Jeremiah just leaves.

v.12-17
After meekly going away, Jeremiah is given a refresher of the word of the last chapter, and gives a personal prophecy for Hananiah that comes true within 2 months. how is his credibility,now?
I bet people just stilll won't listen, though.

Jeremiah 27

2007-11-06T07:57:00.000-06:00

imagine a monarchy. with a king. then imagine Jeremiah in your kingdom. Remember, you're ringed with state-sponsored prophets and priests who support your national pride and political agenda...

imagine messengers coming from Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, Sidon... imagine the important communiques he's sending with them, hoping through the negotiation of some sort of alliance that he might be able to fend off the onslaught of Babylonian aggression that is swallowing up the whole world...

now imagine this troublemaker, Jeremiah, telling them this stuff...
and telling the king this stuff...

what level of pest was he?
treason/traitor?

how did those messengers see the king after Jeremiah got to them? What did the other priests and prophets think? What credibility test did Jeremiah establish? how do you think they reacted? (read next chapter)

jeremiah 26

2007-10-22T08:53:00.000-05:00

Okay, in this chapter, Jeremiah stands, on orders, in the gateway of the court of the temple. He has stood in the gateway of Jerusalem, but now its the very Temple of Yahweh... And here, he prophesies against the cities of the land, gathered there to worship YHVH.

The Priests, the Prophets, and the People in the temple riot on him, seize him, and the Princes from the King's house come and there's an ad hoc trial, right there... deliberations are held,and an example on either side of the argument (some irony in the contrast of the two kings there) leaves them leaning toward killing Jeremiah.

One man's influence rescues Jeremiah, when all is said and done.

Notable in the chapter:

v.2
"...do not diminish a word..." Jeremiah is commanded not to soften the prophecy. This is an example of 1 Cor.14's statement that the spirit of the prophet is under the control of the prophet. Sometimes we get a word that is a "thing" that we must communicate about. Sometimes its a word that must be directly stated...

v.3
"...Perhaps everyone will listen and turn from his evil way, that I may relent concerning the calamity which I purpose to bring on them because of the evil of their doings."
God is being silly, again. These guys are bad to the bone, and we know it, eh? Look what they end up doing to Jeremiah, here.

God is still a hopeless lover of this evil people. He seems to vacillate back and forth... what's up with that? comments? (i love that he does that.)

Jeremiah 25

2007-10-18T08:29:00.000-05:00

A word from YHVH for "All the people":

Jeremiah personally involved in this prophecy...
the purpose of all the bitter crying out, to this point was MERCY!
But now (in the first year of Nebby), it's over.

70 years of exile. This is the chapter where we get the 70 year figure, a prophecy fulfilled in the days of Daniel, and the governors of judah...

some of this chapter is for them, in that generation. other parts of it ring with apocalyptic tones, of that great day of slaughter that awaits the unpenitent, during the day of the Lord...

and the last part is a lament over the shepherds. the wicked, unfaithful spiritual leaders whose cowardice, greed and impurity have brought down the guilt of the ages on their heads...

The Lord is likened to a lion leaving it's lair with roars. He is coming to scatter his land of trespassers and hunters...

LIstening to this, do you see how the judgment of God will be on the leaders of the church today who aren't fully committed to preaching the word of the Lord with purity and bravery? Mercy.
if you're a pastor, and you're reading this, or some preacher-type, watch out! Don't compromise the truth about Jesus, even if it means loss of position, power, opportunity, influence, money, home, job, whatever. You need to be brave and teach people to OBEY Jesus in this generation...

Nationally, we should all be praying for the leaders of our country who, thought they aren't the church, are leading the direction of our earthly sojouren. Pray for their wisdom, and protection from Satan, who runs the show too often for lack of our prayers' ascent.

Look at the shepherd passages, again today. Read proverbs, fear the lord, and be amazed by grace.

Jeremiah 24

2007-10-17T08:24:00.000-05:00

the last chapter should give anyone who wants to speak on behalf of YaHWeH, you know? Look at that. That generation had a whole slew of folks who just wanted to speak prosperity and comfort from the Lord, but He wasn't on that message. Wow. That's very "today" to us.

The good figs:
the people who were to be taken captive (including those who obeyed Jeremiah and surrendered to King Nebby) would come into a blessing and protection. Their posterity would be established...

The bad figs:
The stiff necked rebels who were going to resist Nebby to the end, and ultimately flee to Egypt with Jeremiah as a hostage, were going to get creamed...

That's the chapter.

do you appreciate that Jeremiah preaching this during a seige was a criminal act?

Jeremiah 23

2007-10-16T08:00:00.000-05:00

v.1-6
check out Ezekiel 34 for more words on shepherds
Look at John 10, where Jesus talks about himself as the shepherd
Look at Ephesians 4:11 and following, where the "pastor" is mentioned...
thoughts?

v.6-8
Israel (at Jeremiah's time) had been known as the nation ransomed from sojourn and bondage in Egypt. This passage prophesies their new international identity as the nation ransomed from having been scattered to the four winds.
This week, Mr. Weiss mentioned to me the joy of paying for the plane ride of Jewish settlers from Russia. There are programs set up to do that... the 'aliyah is the term for "going up" to israel...
any thoughts about how this prophecy has come to pass?

v. 9-end
the heart of this condemnation of the false prophets is that they turn people aside from faithfulness to YHVH. You can judge them by fruit: Matt. 7

Judging/Discerning vs. Judging/Condemning
1 Cor. 2:15--spiritual people judge/discern
Matt. 7:15--judgment/discernment is necessary to avoid deception
Matt.7:1--but not a picky, impatient judgment of wrongs. We should be forebearing to each other...

The standard is "...how you want to be judged, so judge..."
Personally, I'd love to have someone confront me about false teaching. Paul told Timothy to "...watch [his] life and doctrine closely, for by so doing [he] will save both [himself] and [his] hearers." If I err in the teaching of the gospel, or if an incompleteness in presentation of teaching leads to confusion of the saints, PLEASE treat that as serious.
I am called to mutual submission to Christ, in His Body, so I'll listen and happily repent, escaping judgment and entering greater humilities... What joy to be rebuked by brethren who love Jesus above all and wouldn't have His word sullied by my too often profane lips.

...so please, brothers and sisters, develop that character in yourself that is described in the book of Hebrews 5:14
"...those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil."
You are supposed to develop into a mature christian who is able to discern right from wrong, in real time. Not to be confused, but to be able to teach and help each other grow into the likeness of Jesus...

Jeremiah 22

2007-10-05T11:31:00.000-05:00

Prophecy to all the People, from leaders down. This is to BELIEVERS--people who have a covenant relationship with God.

v.1-4 offer mercy, again! Contingent on obedience to the hear of the Law!

Then God goes on to lament over a list of the last kings before the deportation.

Jeremiah 21 (Click It)

2007-10-03T08:56:00.000-05:00

v.1-2
Look at the incredible CREDIBILTY that jeremiah carries with the King! The king knows that Jeremiah is a prophet!

v.3-7
Jeremiah's answer from the LORD: scathing for the army and leaders.

v.8-10
the answer for the city and the people.

v.11-14
answer for the house of the King...

all of this because of their insincerity in repentance and their obstinacy in rebellion. Remember, if they had, just for a generation, relented in their pursuit of sin and selfish gain, God would have rained mercy on them.

This is how it gets when the people of God (the church, not America) persist in following the god of this world (satan) and his system (self-interest/pride) by his power (mammon).

There's a scripture that says, "It is time for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?" (1 Peter 4:17)

America is a World-System Nation, bathed in blood, with mammon pumping through it's veins. Don't confuse the Jeremiah judgements as being for America. They are for the church, primarily. America is more like Babylon, who is used to persecute the disobedient. Judgment has been set for all the nations.

Check out this scripture on that idea.

Jeremiah 20 (click it)

2007-10-01T08:14:00.000-05:00

In the last chapter, Jeremiah prophesies in the gateway, with priests and leaders he has brought with him, that Judah would be crushed by the enemy.

Imagine that in our country, with our presently predominant ideology: that we are a Christian Nation, with the blessing of God on us. Imagine a dude taking his state representative, and some prominent church leaders to the steps of a gov't building and proclaiming that our nation would become a Muslim theocracy within 2 generations.

What would happen to that guy? How far would freedom of speech rights stretch, in our country? how much of that could he do without being considered a traitor?

Well, here we are in Judah, with Jeremiah, and the "chief governor in the house of the LORD" has heard what Jeremiah was prophesying.

This is where Jeremiah gets put in the stocks overnight.

Does Jeremiah apologize? Is he shaken? Look at v.3. He names the guy "Magor-Missabib", which means "Fear on every side". by verse 5, Jeremiah has renewed his prophecy that the city and the land would be taken and subdued by the enemy.

v.6
Look how specific Jeremiah is (I hope you have a Bible open and a notebook out).

And now a shift in v.7
Jeremiah pours out a prayer in disappointment. he has been put in stocks for obedience to the Lord, and now he is feeling the heat.
literally, the word of the Lord is in him, like a fire.

v.10
People are mocking him saying "fear on every side"--the name he prophesied over Passhur the chief leader priest... they are daring him to prophecy more, and are threatening to turn him in: "report!" they say, "and we will report it!"

v.11
but he knows that the Lord is with him. And he proclaims the downfall of his enemies... harsh? bitter? Imagine living in a generation that has forsaken the living god for false idols and mammon! Oh. you do! And harshness and bittterness are on the horizon for every leader and every church that won't return to the Lord with tenderness of heart and fullness of repentance from the mess we've made...

v.12
Look how Jeremiah actually desires to see his vindication. Is that wrong? In what way is that right? Where else do we see this kind of prayer in scripture?

v.13
Here we see that Jeremiah's full-on engagement of God, in his disappointment, has given way to praise!

v.14-18
yet he still carries the sorrow of lamentation over his own life. For those of us who have read this book already ((you should finish it today)) we know that things're going to get more and more difficult around Jeremiah.

Consider the prophet's bitteness, and that of the Lord, Himself, in view of the terrible situation. Remember the days of Noah? That was God who was filled with grief. That was God who regretted even making man. Do you believe that? Yes? Then you believe in a God in whose image we are made--a God whose heart can break, who can be incensed in jealousy over his people's rejection, who will "start over" with a "clean slate" by destroying the falsehood and leaving a faithful remnant.

Consider God's hope: that his people would just LOVE Him back, obeying his commands in trusting faith. Believing tha tHe is Good, we walk obediently.

Throw out the garbage. Get our lives holy. He is coming soon.
Then we'll be fit for the works of the kingdom.
cast down the idols of our hearts, purify our minds of evil and doubt.
then we'll be safe with the power of God.
Then we'll be in the Way.

Jeremiah 19 (click)

2007-09-29T09:37:00.000-05:00

The Valley of Ben-Hinnom, or Topeth, is the subject of a prophetic act in this chapter. After going to the potter's house, Jeremiah is commanded to take an earthen vessel and shatter it, at the Valley of ben-hinnom, near the entrance to the "Potsherd Gate".

You can bet that this was a place where old pottery was taken for disposal. I'll bet it was a place of piles of old broken stuff...

This Valley: Ben-Hinnom, Topeth, is later referred to as "Gehenna" and finally as Har-Megiddon. This is the "Valley of Slaughter" where the Judaites will bury their dead in despair, until there's no more room.

Buried dead create an unclean place. Remember that in the Law of Moses you are made unclean for worship or fellowship if you walk over the burial of a dead body, even if youdidn't know.

What do you think of that when you consider the site of a mass grave, with bodies buried three and four deep for lack of room and time, under the conditions of plague and seige?

This place was a trash heap, perpetually burning, inthe days of the Roman occupation. That's what Jesus kept pointing at when he talked about the fiery condemnation of the wicked.

So this chapter is a key to understanding some of that teaching of Jesus...

Why is God going to shatter them like that?
Because they have burned incense to other gods, and poured out drink offerings...

Jeremiah 18 (click here for chapter)

2007-09-28T08:49:00.000-05:00

The story of Jeremiah's trip to the Potter--the moral is simple:
God is the Potter. We are the clay. If we're bad, he'll start us over. That means a bit of crushing.

v.11 is interesting: after all this threatening and doom, God calls them to turn from their evil, again. I think of Nineveh in the time of Jonah. They repented (and they were much more wicked) and God spared them.

I am convinced that, at this point in the ministry of Jeremiah, tha if the people had rent their hearts, God would have turned back the Babylonian armies. No kidding. God would have scrapped the whole deportation plan.
But they didn't.
And He didn't.

This morning I woke up very early, unable to sleep,adn listened on my iPod to some new music from a dude who writes songs. There's a link on sam's blog, from our main blog. Anyway, there's this one about "seek the ancient paths..."

Then today, this study says that Judah had forgotten God, burned incense to idols, and "...caused themselves to stumble in their ways,
from the ancient paths,
to walk in pathways
and not on a highway."

this is me.
This is us.
I see myself in this apostate nation, and I cry, "O God, please save! Please forgive! Please rescue from ME, and turn my heart to love you!" And God has always answered with a resounding "YES!!!!!"

Ever since the first day he found me kicking in my blood, Jesus has never failed me. Even when troubles and trials have made me face my worst fears, trusting in him has seen me into his courts to plead my case, and He has seen me through.

This is what God is calling them to in Jeremiah. To admit and repent.

but in v.18
they plot against Jeremiah.
and Jeremiah calls down a curse on them.
a bitter prayer
from a broken heart...

you think Jeremiah was mad and disappointed? How was God's heart in all this?

and Just really quick, how wicked do you think those nations were, that israel displaced inthe exodus and entry?

Jeremiah 17 (click here for chapter)

2007-09-27T09:40:00.000-05:00

On their heart...
and on your altars...
while children remember their pagan practises.

So you'll get exiled...

This is the material of the first section of this chapter. Then it shifts into a cursing and a blessing of two different categories of people.

1. those who trust in man and make flesh their strength (v.5)
2. those who trust in the LORD and whose hope is the LORD (v.7)

v.9
Deceitful heart:
YHVH is weighing the heart and minds to repay and reward us.

v.11
on riches unjustly gained.

v.12-13
shame on those who forsake YHVH

At this point, remember that this is a distinctly RELIGIOUS people. This is a confrontation of believers who have gone after the ways of the god of this world.

v.14
...a cry for healing and rescue. This could be that of any honest-hearted person who reads the preceding verses.
Like Isaiah 6 when Isaiah sees the Lord.
Like the woman in John 8, caught in idolatry, confronted ultimately by Mercy, Himself. We lie in the dust, dragged there by the truth about ourselves...

v.15
a return to the present situation of Jeremiah. He has been calling for deliverance from the people who are mocking and threatening him.

v.17
"...do not be a terror to me..." Jeremiah says to God.
v.18
calls for vindication on those who persecute him.
calls for destruction and doom on them. "...double destruction..."(NKJV)

v.19-27
a call to holiness on the Sabbath.
Interesting that in a city soaked in innocent blood, teeming with idols, that the call is simply to honor the Sabbath. Very interesting. This seems like a litmus test to the people's belief and obedience.

Jeremiah pronounces this in the Kings Gate of Jerusalem. This is a big deal. He was a major personality in Judah. They're gonna try to kill him for this kind of thing.

Jeremiah 16 (click link for chapter)

2007-09-26T09:04:00.000-05:00

QUICK CHAPTER SYNOPSIS:

No Wife for Jeremiah.
No mourning for Jeremiah.
No feasting for Jeremiah.

The people will all die gruesome deaths, and all celebration will cease.
...and Jeremiah has to tell them so.

"Why?" they will ask.

Because their fathers forsook YHVH, the law, and followed and worshipped idols. And because they themselves have surpassed that wickedness, each one following their own heart and not LISTENING TO YHVH.

Therefore:
Cast out as exiles.
Forced to serve other gods.
...YHVH will not show them favor.

But he will bring them back from that land of the North. "Many fishermen" will bring them back to their land. Many hunters will follow many fishermen.

First:
God will repay double punishment on their sin. Because they have defiled his land and filed his inheritance with the carcasses of their detestable and abominable idols.

v.19
Jeremiah says the darndest thing:
"O LORD...My refuge...the gentiles shall come to You from the ends of the earth..." They will renounce their fathers and their fathers' ways, and become subjects of YHVH.

v. 21
He will "...cause them to know [His] hand and [His] might...and...that [His] name is YHVH. a

In this chapter one thing I meditated on was how ultimately, the result of their sin and idolatry was that "...no one listens to Me (YHVH)." This is the result of our unfaithfulness and doing what's in our heart instead of LISTENING to YHVH.

I'm a guy who's going to tell you to listen to God. I've seen even good works/social justice mentality folks go off the straight way of the Lord by doing what was right in their own eyes. I've seen people who listen to God receive gentleness, wisdom, guidance, and a deeper love. I've seen people who are oriented around their own mind's eye, their own heart's wisdom--not people who live in LISTENING to God--get frustrated with the "listening/waiting" people...

But having a heart for God means paying attention to HIM, not just doing good stuff. This chapter is as much written to those who would work for God as for those who work overtly against Him.
In fact, the Judah that Jeremiah is writing to is an inherently religious institution. I am reminded of the rampant prostitution to idols that we find in our mega-churches of today. Mammon, greed, impurity, false doctrine, lukewarmness, pragmatism, humanism: these are the idols of today. Pride and unbelief are at the heart of them all...

Let's admit it. the people of Jeremiah's Judah were devout and spiritual, and engaged in some serious departures from YHVH. So is this generation. So let's also admit that we have some serious corporate repenting to do. let's pray for the church in america, as we speak truth about the real state of affairs...

But look at the verse ab out th egentiles: the punishment of Judah brings the gospel to the gentiles, who believe and are incorporated into the People of God. Salvation is coming. Rescue is on the way for the Gentiles, whether throught the blessing or punishment of God's people. He is faithful and always saving!

comments?

Jeremiah 15 (click link for chapter)

2007-09-25T09:35:00.000-05:00

This Chapter has a wholesale condemnation of the residents of Jeremiah's Judah:
1. To Death
2. To the Sword
3. To Famine
4. To captivity
(look at Revelation 22:11)

Four forms of destruction:
1. Sword
2. dogs
3. birds
4. beasts

v.6
God is weary of relenting and his patience is at an end. He is going to destroy them, leaving a remnant...

v.10
Jeremiah laments his birth to his mother. He is a man of strife an contention to the whole earth. (look at jude v.2-4) Everyone curses him.

Then God promises good to the Remnant. It seems like a promise to Jeremiah, himself, in light of his suffering in being the bringer of such bad news. The adversaries will "intercede" for him and his remnant will be blessed. I wonder if any alive today are distant relatives of this man.

Troubling passages, indeed.

Jeremiah prays for God to take vengeance on his persecutors (among the leaders of the peole of Judah).

v. 17
Jeremiah was removed because he loved the Word of God. He was filled with indignation and removed himself! This is that bitterness that the righteous feel in the "days of noah", as destruction looms over the stubbornness of sin in the land and the church.

v. 19
God warns Jeremiah not to return to his people (to let up on the prophetic message) and promises to bless and strengthen him.
"...I will redeem you from th egrip of the terrible."

jeremiah really is going to experience that grip.

This is for us, people. The churches in America are flying headlong into prostitution with wealth and power, just like Jeremiah's Judah. There is stubbornness in compromise and heresy all around us. Justice perishes, and the ways of the Lord are subverted to fulfill men's hunger for power and mammnon.

Don't mess around with this stuff. Join with Jeremiah in faithfulness, and remove your selves, gathering around Jesus. Jeremiah found the word adn ate it (v.16). Will you? Please consider that it is entirely possible...probable...actual...that the churches around us are compromising to an astounding depth with stubbornness...

And God's Judgment on our "nation" has to do with that unfaithfulness. God will strike the church with the very power she has lusted after. It won't be long until the state persecutes every form of church that denies the world and operates in the power of the Spirit...

Matthew 21

2007-06-29T08:18:00.000-05:00

Looking into Matt. 21, One of the first things we'll see is that there are a lot of References from the Tanakh (the old testament: Torah, Nebiim, and Kethubim--the Law, the Prophets and the Writings).
In an overview of this Chapter, we'll see that the reader will get the most understanding and depth of understanding by familiarizing themselves with these OT Scriptural highlights... Try to go and get a feel for each of these, asking, "What's up with God putting this reference in THAT part of the NT Scriptures?"

Look for thematic correlations between the Tanakh and Matthew. Look for a lack of thematic correlations.
What does it mean when there isn't a straight up correlation, and it looks like Matthew was "prooftexting"? What does that say about how the Apostles saw "theology"?

Here's a List of OT Scrips in Matt. 21:
v.5--Zech. 9:9
v.9--Psalm 118:26
v.13--Isaiah 56:7
v.16--Psalm 8:2
v.42--Psalm 118:22,23
These are the direct quotations from this chapter. looks like Psalm 118 may be a key psalm to the Prophetic level of what this chapter in the life of Jesus is about.

Once we stew in these references, let's think about finding Thematic References: What are some Scriptures that come to you as you read this chapter? Related portions of Scripture?

Good questions to ask are:
"How did the first readers feel when they read this?"
"How did Matthew feel as he wrote this?"
"How do I read it differently? Culturally? Historically?"
Does it matter entirely if you do have a different culture?
What isn't culturally/historically changed?

Get INTO the text. Use imagination to place yourself at the feet of Jesus, with Matthew, listening to the master... Imagine the day they walked next to Jesus, leading the donkey and the colt... Meditate on the image: what it means to you. Meditate on the image: what it meant to the Jewish people...

take TIME with the text, today. Let the text be the diving board into an experience of the presence of Jesus.
He loves you.
He loves you.
He loves you.
He loves you.
He loves you.
He loves you.
He loves you.
He loves you.
and on...
and on...
and on...

Jeremiah 14

2006-09-28T08:39:00.000-05:00

Opening Pleas: The Drought.
The Lord gives this poem of pleading to Jeremiah as a revelation. He is hearing the future cries of the beseiged city. He is hearing the spiritual condition of hearts that waste their days on idolatry...

v.10
The LORD isn't hearing their pleas. Could you imagine being Jeremiah and hearing the Lord speak in v.11, saying, "Do not pray for the well-being of these people." Incredible...
We think of God's patience as never running out. But here it does. These people were only concerned with saving their skins... But that's true of many of us. We aren't in love with God, we're just sorry for ourselves...
God show mercy to us, granting us "Godly Sorrow".
How frightening it is to think of God not accepting a prayer because of the heart motivation!

v.17-22
This lament sounds truly repentant. I love it. I speak it from my heart right now, over the church in our nation... we are surely on the edge of judgment for all the good we leave undone, and the evil we "amen"... Seriously. We're supposed to be living the WAY--an incredible, revolutionary, jubilee Life...

Remember Jesus? The incredible Man? Wonderful Counselor? Remember what He did? Remember what they who followed Him devoted themselves to? But the American church has few pockets of this revolutionary culture of Jesus... Where it is, it seldom lasts. Marginalized, starved out, confused, misled, deceived, the disciples of Jesus are often subverted to ineffectiveness by the predominant religious forms

It is sad that many who are in the place of leading God's people, like the prophets and priests of Jeremiah's Judah, depend on craftiness and human wisdom, instead of the Power of God...

Jeremiah lived in a time of false prophets... Judgment came on them all... even he wasn't "unscathed". How do we expect to fare, comparing the magnitude of the Church's wickedness, apathy, and idolatry (greed) with that of the Little Nation of Judah?

A Clarification

2006-09-28T08:34:00.000-05:00

Dearest Fellow Followers,

This blog has been created to be part of a more-than-year-long journey through the book of Jeremiah. if you would go back and start contributing comments (they are moderated, so they'll show up the next day), it will help others who read...

In our Meeting Times, we have a list of Scriptures that emerge each week for daily study, as a community. Very few avail themselves of this, but those who do are helpful to others and productive in their sharing...

This blog is another tool for Bible Study that will help us to all grow, together... Before I do Chapter 14, I want you to know that this isn't about me, or you, but about us ALL. When you spend time in Study, what you are absorbing may well be for your neighbor's benefit.

Peace be with your spirit.

Jeremiah 13

2006-09-21T07:39:00.000-05:00

LINEN BELT
After the last chapter, we're reeling from God's harshness in judgment of his unfaithful people. Now he's promising to ruin the pride of his disobedient people...
He uses a belt to show us how close to him they were...
Reminds us of John the Baptist. "Go buy some underwear. Wear it around. Now Bury it. Now dig it up and preach about it!" But people listened to John the Baptist. Jeremiah was hated and ignored.
v.11 They were to be a people for His renown and praise and honor.
Main accusation: they have not LISTENED...
The Word of the Lord: Heb. "DeVaR"--has a sense of substance in the Hebrew. It is often translated as "thing", or even "deed". In the NT, we have an even deeper insight, as "The Word" is personal-Jesus, God Himself. He is the Word
in Revelation, adn in John 1

And the word "Listen"--SHeMa'-- means a LOT of things: Hear, pay attention, obey, observe...

So not obeying the word is very personal to God...

WINESKIN

WARNING AND CALL TO REPENTANCE

ALLIES

CAN THE LEOPARD CHANGE HIS SPOTS?

ADULTERY AND PROSTITUTION EXPOSED

Jeremiah 12

2006-09-11T08:46:00.000-05:00

We're well beyond this chapter, but I'm going to try to bring this blog up to speed. The importance of this book of Scripture to a proper understanding of the Church in our times has been refreshed to my heart...

Setup:
Jeremiah is one of the Priests of Anathoth. I beleive that's in Benjamin. His family is priesthood. Very significant.
They have spoken against him in Ch. 11:21, telling him to stop speaking in the Name, or THEY would kill him.

So here we are in Jeremiah's "Prayer Debrief" with God. He cries out to God, God responds, and the prophet is set back on track, prophesying the doom of Judah, it's restoration, and the judgment of the nations that will be used to do it...

So he's back on track by the end of the chapter, and on to Linen Underwear in the next chapter.

But in this Chapter there are some notables:

vs 1-4: Jeremiah dares to complain to God about the prospering of the wicked. This reminds me of psalm 73.

vs 5-6: God speaks to Jeremiah's personal situation and his heart for his own family of priests at Anathoth. He is telling J to give up on these scamps. Sound bitter? That's God talking there... amazing. How unamerican-esque.

vs 7: God has Abandoned, Deserted, and given over to enemies!

A LION AND A CORPSE:
vs 8: God's people are likened prophetically to a Roaring Lion--one that dares to roar at God himself.
How does roaring at god look? How did they do it? Look at the preceding chapters. Look at how they threatened Jeremiah--his own family roared at him.
Look at Elisha, when bears ate the young men who mocked him. the prophets represented God among the people back then, and to say what they said to Jeremiah (and believe me, the non-family members of his day were no kinder) was to "roar" against God...

vs 9: My bible (Holman Xian Standard) translates this word as "hyena" and gives me the whole "unclear" thing in the bottom margin. NIV has "speckled bird of prey" Is it possible that the thing that the birds are circling is a corpse? a cadaver? a dead animal in the desert? Wild animals are called to devour, so whether or not my translation idea is so, she's gonna be dead and devoured.

A DESOLATE VINEYARD:
vs 10-11: Likened to a vineyard, destroyed by it's own "shepherds". This is all about the high priced that unfaithful leaders will pay on the day of judgment for leading unfaithfully. Destroying the fruit bearing vines, trampling the land... they have turned the church into a wasteland..
This land mourns. So do so many in the church who languish without a taste of the living water. Their teachers are bent on feeding them crumbs, while a feast awaits them in Jesus. That feast at the cost of influence, power, position, wealth, stability... John 3 tells us that those who are of the Spirit will be like the wind--no more knowing where we're going.

INVADING ARMIES:
vs 12: a vision of an army, spilling over the craggy lands of the desert...

WHEAT AND THORNS:
vs 13: The Lord is angry over this harvest failure. He gave good seed (the Word) and we have produced an evil crop with it. Do you know when the Word is being misused by leaders? mis-sown? Do you sense it? Can you tell? I pray so, since it's going on all over the place... Many are enforcing a status quo, or building a following, or their own justification by the way they teach and lead. Does your vineyard's leader collect anointed, holy saints? Or busybodies? Or lazybones? Or impure sinful, unrepentant compromisers? Look carefully at what people are changing into in your community. Look at the direction of repentance and renewal that is present in your community. Test the Spirits. Examine the fruit of the prophets and teachers who are active among you...
There is a day coming...

CONDEMNATION OF THE NEIGHBORING NATIONS:
Now God condemns the nations who have been harassing Israel. They're all going to be destroyed. he promises the reestablishment of Israel, though. Do you know any Ammonites? Moabites? But the 'Yisra'elim are still here...
Yet there is hope to the nation that will obey the Lord, too... If they will learn the ways of Israel. This fits as a prophetic reference to the ingrafting of the Gentiles, doesn't it? Another reference to the New Covenant, as well as a historical promise to the nations of that day...

PLEASE COMMENT AND SPUR ONE ANOTHER ON...

Blog Purpose Restated

2006-09-11T08:41:00.000-05:00

The purpose of this blog is INTERACTION within our community, shared with the public, around texts that are of prophetic import to the Body in this Country.

The fact that we're like nine months into it without much of that isn't a problem. I can trust that we're okay. BUT PLEASE CONTRIBUTE YOUR INSIGHTS. Please leave encouraging and edifying words to help strengthen each other.
Leave questions for discussion.

All comments are moderated, so there won't be any "comment wars" here. You are safe.

pick up again September 2006

2006-09-11T08:36:00.000-05:00

We're going to press through with this study in Jeremiah. There's an important message that We're part of in this study, and it has a significance that will be seen in retrospect, very clearly. I think that there's an aspect of "why are we slogging through this?"

We are continuing to slog through this at a snail's pace, because in years to come, we'll look back on these days as a generation very similar to the Judah that Jeremiah prophesied to. There is a LOT on the way in this nation that some will use to accuse sinners. Remember that it's the Church that is the object of God's affection and discipline, first. We are the Bride of Christ. He is loving us in these days and we will shine.

Jeremiah 11

2006-05-17T07:03:00.000-05:00

Last night we looked at the chapter where Jeremiah speaks of being a lamb for the slaughter... the chapter where God tells Jeremiah to stop praying for his people... where a Plot arises against the Lord, and against Jeremiah. The chapter where Jeremiah's own clan tells him that they'll kill him if he continues to prophesy in the Name...

Jeremiah Ten, Again

2006-05-17T06:54:00.000-05:00

We came back to Jeremiah Ten, last tuesday, with a bunch of guests at the table... It was a great study. We bounced from the verse about expert Idol makers, to a discussion of "expertness" that led us to an examination of Wisdom.

There is worldly wisdom.
There is godly wisdom.

We checked them out, and saw how the wisdom of the world is often used to "dress idols". The study ran from about 7pm to 11pm... Greetings to Mike and Emily (thanks for helping in the kitchen).
You need to know that I preached against the UFC this week. We should talk...

Peace to johntheGodhiker who brought Mike and Emily. You enrich our study with your intensity. gogogogogo!
JP, Zach, Chris, Lawless... all of you who sat at the table... Blessings!

Chapter 9

2006-02-15T06:31:00.000-06:00

Last night we tackled Jeremiah 9. Chris, Aaron, Smitty, Zach, Danielmatt...LEw... were all part of the night...

We saw in this chapter how the God who will do "whatever it takes" had reached the end of the line with His people... He was now forced by their persistence in evil, to destroy their cities, culture, families, even kill many of them in the Babylonian Captivity...

In this book, God is giving his last set of warnings before sending the nation off for 70 years of captivity...

Here are Key verses from the chapter, and other references to them that we discussed:

Jer. 9:1--is this JEremiah talking, or God?
*Matt. 23:37-39
*John 11:35
*Gethsemane when JEsus wept and groaned in the garden...

Jer. 9:9
*God is yearning for other options, but must punish
*see Sodom and Gomorrha in Genesis 18-20. Read it thoroughly...Jer. 9:16-21
*See Zechariah 12:10-13:2
*this is us, here. We must learn to weep...to be poor in Spirit before the God who is calling us to complete holiness of love...

Jer. 9:7 The Crucible
*a discussion of how metal is refined through melting and skimming, which reduces it's apparent greatness and size.
*a discussion of how a plow tip, or sword is fashioned into usefulness through heating, flattening (pounding), folding, cooling, heating, flattening, folding, cooling... again and again in trials and disciplines...
*Ecclesiastes 3--this is a part of theseasons of life for a disciple of Christ....
*Romans 5--this is for glory and perseverance and hope...
*this is from the God who will do "whatever it takes" to get us lined up with him..

Jer. 9:27 and fllowing
*Ezekiel 16:49--the sin of Sodom...
*Micah 6:8
*Isaiah 58
*Luke 14
the only way to overcome the greed that led judah and jerusalem into this judgment is by sharing and giving our table and our lives to the cause of the poor among us... by abiding in the vine of Christ, bearing it's fruit... applying our faith to cry out to the Father to grant us the works of the Cross-life...

not by deciding what to do and what sounds good and just doing it... many go astray by takign their zeal too seriously... we must learn to wait and pray... in that waiting and praying, God will reveal our works...

Read John 3, especially the end verses
read ephesians 2, especially 7-11
think of phillipians 1 where it says He is faithful to complete the work
Think of Titus where it says to be eager for good works
think of Timothy and faith working itself out in love...

this is the goal of our teaching! Mercy!

Bible Study Happenings/Chapter 9

2006-02-14T06:04:00.000-06:00

we haven't put time into a chapter of Jeremiah in a while, now. Two tuesdays ago we stopped studying it for prayer... then the next tiem was a work day on the newsletter...

but now, we'll be getting back on track... we'll hit Chapter 9 this week. I'll be commentign on it from Ireland, no less. Incredible.

So read up on chapter 9 and start dropping comments here... Just click the title of this blog to pull up the chapter on Biblegateway.com

Chapter 8

2006-01-24T15:58:00.000-06:00

We have spent solidly 2 weeks in Chapter 8, now... At this point, we've had our men's group meeting on Tuesday nights take over this track of study...

Looking at the Book to this point, we're getting the point that Judah and Jerusalem, and the people had all gotten into this cruddy false religion. Society was ripping apart at the seams, within the community of believers. Disobedience and neglect of the commandments had given way to cults of sex and death, oppression of the poor, immorality... you get it...

At the same time, the "Professional Religious Community" was lathering the people with all kinds of false comforts! They twisted the meaning of the Scriptures and created "another Gospel" to keep people from seeing the truth.

Jeremiah was a voice crying out for people to RECOGNIZE the days they were in. The only hope for anyone in judah in those days was to SURRENDER to the judgment of Yahweh, and go over to the Babylonians... That was a very unwelcome message to just about everyone...

We are constantly looking at Isaiah, who prophesied the coming of Messiah, the rebuilding of the nation after the deportation, and the call to justice... Isaiah's prophecies help us understand a lot about where to turn with Jeremiah's cry...

Is. 28:10-17 were a big part of our study, as we looked at how false religion in Judah included lots of rules, but didn't stop immorality...

1 Kings 17 and the Story of Elijah on Mount Carmel showed us the extent to which false cults of sex and death take root in a nation with bad leadership. How much more true in the church?

We talked about how the church in america is riddled with just the same kind of denial, immorality, and rule-keeping religion that Jeremiah preached against...

We spent a chunk of time praying for those among us who struggle with the seduction of such falsehood. The most time was spent praying for Lew...

God have Mercy! Mercy! Mercy!

Chapter Seven

2006-01-06T11:14:00.001-06:00

It's been a few weeks since we met for Study together. Since we started, we've moved the study to the Chase House from the Sidewinder Cafe. I've also stopped drinking coffee--an interesting experience to say the least. Those of you who know me will know how extreme a move that is for me... It's just that i can't justify the expense, and don't want to wait for the medical field to finally announce that coffee's as deadly as cigarettes. Whatever

Anyway, here we are in Ch. 7. Just click on the title to this entry to pull up the passage. It's a neat little thing that I can do on Blogger.

Comment away! I'll lay down some more thoughts on this during the week.

Jeremiah Chapter Six

2005-12-10T19:47:00.000-06:00

Big Snow this Friday. We all slept in. But I'll still post a quick observation on this chapter.

this chapter has a verse in it that is really important. It's no. 14.

"they heal the wound of my people slightly, as if it were not serious. Peace, peace, they say; but there is no peace." At least that;s my paraphase...
This gets repeated in Chapter 8, too.

you know, there is a huge problem on this planet.
we are created in the image of god, fit for glory.
but we're stranded in a fallen world, a hostile land.
and our souls cry for freedom and comfort from it.

and we seek out that comfort in sin, so often.

Jeremiah is calling the nationto forsake sin and return from its false gods. this flew in the face of the established religious voice which proclaimed peace and comfort. jeremiah was warning them that their time was up. They were being given over to destruction for their waste of grace...

So, Jeremiah still cries to us. He cries that when a people forsake the straight ways of Yahweh for twisted paths: forsake the River of Life for "broken cisterns" (ch.2)...that when we do that, we will experience patience, but also, ultimately, destruction... there are voices like this. they cry to us today.

And how do we respond to the Voice?
Don't we see what Jeremiah is talking about?
Remember how James tells us to change our laughter to mourning? It's about our obedience to what we know. What we know far outweighs our obedience, as a national church... heck, even as a city church.
There is so much torepent over, why would we resist calling a spade a spade and just crying out in mourning over it.

but in Jeremiah's day, they were averse to bad news. They didn't want to hear it, even with an army encamped around them. They were unwilling to ADMIT that they had departed from Yahweh.

I'd imagine it was at least partly because they didn't see how they could FIX it. True. We can't fix it. We have no hope of making up for what we've taken. There's no fixing what we have ruined. To admit the truth of apostasy is to mourn without hope of fixing it, begging God to forgive and restore... it is UTTER HUMILITY, offering nothing else.

Jeremiah is calling us all to a life of utter humility: recognising that the WOUND is DEEP! Yet we still hear, all around us, the superficial healing of the false teachers and scribes of Jeremiah's day, "Peace, peace" they cry.

just because it brings a certain misery doesn't mean that a true assessment is wrong. it's not wrong to admit that we're ruined. it's not wrong to admit that we're undone. it's not wrong to admit that the american church has sold out, by and large, to materialism, traditionalism, classism, racism, -ism schism... it's not wrong to admit that we're all really worldly, too.

...as long as it produces in us a humble mournfulness that will call back the rains... the rains of blessing, eh? god opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble...

but there is a strong religious market infalse comfort, lately. as soon as the conviction of teh Spirit sets in, andyou start to feel that mournfulness come upon you, here comes the professional religious man to chase it away with comforting words that massage the status quo back into you... soften up that senisitivity and put you back to sleep...

woe to the false religion of comfort that has made the church in america pro-war, without being missional in peacemaking. Woe to the false religion of comfort that allows divorce without discipline... that winks at adultery...

woe to the false religion of comfort that dares denounce abortion, but keeps its extra posessions to itself and its extra rooms empty of orphans...

woe to the false religion of comfort that amasses huge quantities of wealth under this world's banks, but is poor toward God.

woe to the false religion of comfort that gives little, out of its abundance, leaving the workers in the field hungry and bereft of succour...

woe to us! we are the church in america. children in china have prayed for us today--FROM PRISON!!!! And we have not visited them..
Woe to us! we are the church in america. we criticise the prophets, and assassinate the character of our true teachers... we work our mules and oxen to death in the sun, with plenty more to replace them with, never giving them food, or a break, just working them till they die, then harnessing another with promises and cajoling...

woe to us! What's wrong with woe? too much of a downer for you? Steer clear of the prophets when you live in an affluent nation full of religious hypocrisy. What can i tell you?

Jeremiah Chapter Five

2005-12-04T18:38:00.000-06:00

WEEK FIVE:

This is the day I created this blog.
Gary and Joann are at the table.

They ask, "So, have we dwindled to this? Just us?" I respond, "We have 52 weeks of this. We'll know who came, then."

I love getting up to study together in the word. I don't prepare anything but my life withChrist. Sometimes i'm especially ready. Sometimes someone else is. But the Word himself teaches us, every time.

Our study in Jeremiah is echoing in my week. I feel a burden for my nation and my heart is changing, grieving more deeply... That seems wrong, maybe, but it's in James...

Today's notes:
Ch. 5
Look for a godly person—I’d spare the nation on their account…
v.7 are kids a barometer? Or is he angry on their behalf?

We also referenced how they look to other nations
how they are like whores
like adulterous wives
their leaders are corrupt
and nobody pleads the cause of thepoor and the fatherless...

pleading for the fatherless? What a word to the 'hood...

Jeremiah Chapter Four

2005-12-03T18:38:00.000-06:00

Ch. 4
Northern Kingdom

Jeremiah Chapter Three

2005-12-02T18:38:00.000-06:00

Ch. 3
All you have to do is acknowledge!
Come back to me…

Jeremiah Chapter Two

2005-12-02T18:37:00.000-06:00

Ch. 2
The devotion of your youth
• Addressed to the people of Jerusalem: Everyone
• God confronts their abandonment
• Context of marriage
v. 13
20-25 adulterous woman who has left her husband
Idolatry
Making covenant for national security.

Jeremiah Chapter One

2005-12-02T18:35:00.000-06:00

Ch. 1
The Call
• Youth
• Priest class
o Priest/prophets
• Community—Anathoth
o They’ll try to kill
Reassurance
Almond Tree
Pot