Jeremiah 19:10

 Jeremiah 19:10 says, Then shalt thou break the bottle in the sight of the men that go with thee,  Jeremiah was instructed to break the bottle that he got from the potter in front of the elder leaders that he had taken with him.  Sometimes God teaches us with symbolic lessons.  Verse eleven adds, And shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Even so will I break this people and this city, as one breaketh a potter’s vessel, that cannot be made whole again: and they shall bury them in Tophet, till there be no place to bury.  God then told Jeremiah to tell the men with him what the breaking of the bottle meant.  Judah was going to be broken like the bottle until it couldn't be made whole again.  People were going to be buried in that valley until there was no room to bury them anymore.  If God uses something symbolic to get our attention. I believe that He will also let us know what the symbolism means.  If we are really following God's leadership, He will never leave us confused about what He is saying to us.  Verse twelve continues, Thus will I do unto this place, saith the LORD, and to the inhabitants thereof, and even make this city as Tophet:  God didn't say that this was what might happen, but that it was what would happen.  When God pronounces His judgment, it is certain to happen.  Verse thirteen concludes, And the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses of the kings of Judah, shall be defiled as the place of Tophet, because of all the houses upon whose roofs they have burned incense unto all the host of heaven, and have poured out drink offerings unto other gods.  Just as Josiah had done to the people of Tophet because of their idolatry, so was God going to do to Jerusalem.  The people had not learned from a past example.  When we see how God has dealt with idolatry in the past, it should keep us from allowing idolatry to come into our lives if we are followers of Christ.  Verse fourteen declares, Then came Jeremiah from Tophet, whither the LORD had sent him to prophesy; and he stood in the court of the LORD’s house; and said to all the people,  Jeremiah went where God had instructed him to go.  If we are to be successful in our witness for God, we must go where He sends us, and then do as He has instructed us to do.  Verse fifteen adds, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring upon this city and upon all her towns all the evil that I have pronounced against it, because they have hardened their necks, that they might not hear my words.  Jeremiah pronounced God's judgment on the people telling them what God had said.  We must tell the people what God has said about the coming destruction of those who refuse to accept Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord.  God said that Jeremiah was to tell them why this punishment was coming, and that is because they would not listen to God any more.  If someone today goes away to everlasting suffering it will be because they refuse to listen to God and accept salvation through Christ.  Just as the people of Judah in that day, it will be because of their choice and not God's choice.  God would rather save all people, but He leaves the choice up to each individual.

Jeremiah 19:1

Jeremiah 19:1 says,  Thus saith the LORD, Go and get a potter’s earthen bottle, and take of the ancients of the people, and of the ancients of the priests;  Jeremiah was told to go and get a potter's bottle and the elderly people and priests.  They should have know more about what God actually said for the people to do if they were to be obedient to Him.  Matthew Henry says that they would more likely be willing to follow a man who said he was a prophet of God than the younger ones were.  Verse two adds, And go forth unto the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is by the entry of the east gate, and proclaim there the words that I shall tell thee,  God told Jeremiah to take these ancients, or elders, and the bottle to a particular place, the valley of the son of Hinnom.  I believe that God will direct us to where He wants us to be.  Verse three declares, And say, Hear ye the word of the LORD, O kings of Judah, and inhabitants  of Jerusalem; Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, the which whosoever heareth, his ears shall tingle.  Jeremiah was to tell the people the word of God, and that word was not good.  God was to bring judgment on the people of Judah because of their sin.  There is coming a time when everyone will be held accountable for their sins, and those who have not listened to God's word and accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord will be sent away to everlasting punishment, but none will have an excuse for doing failing to do so.  This is God's message that we must present today.  Verse four states, Because they have forsaken me, and have estranged this place, and have burned incense in it unto other gods, whom neither they nor their fathers have known, nor the kings of Judah, and have filled this place with the blood of innocents;  God told Jeremiah to tell the people of Judah why this was happening.  They had forsaken God and began to worship other gods.  Verse five adds, They have built also the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings unto Baal, which I commanded not, nor spake it, neither came it into my mind:  The people of Judah had even gone so far as to offer their sons as sacrifices to Baal, burning them on the altars of Baal.  We today have sacrificed many children on the altar of convenience and pleasure, and one day God will hold us accountable.  Verse six proclaims. Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that this place shall no more be called Tophet, nor The valley of the son of Hinnom, but The valley of slaughter.  God said that the day was coming that instead of being called the valley of peace that the place that they were at would be called the valley of slaughter.  We may believe that we are at peace in the world today, but if we are not following God's word and will then when judgment day comes, all of our works will come to nothing.  Verse seven adds, And I will make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place; and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hands of them that seek their lives: and their carcases will I give to be meat for the fowls of the heaven, and for the beasts of the earth.  God said that the coming destruction would be complete and totally devastating.  So will the everlasting defeat of everyone who does not follow God through faith in Jesus Christ.  Verse eight continues, And I will make this city desolate, and an hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished and hiss because of all the plagues thereof.  God said that after the fall of Judah that people would marvel at the destruction.  Verse nine concludes, And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and they shall eat every one the flesh of his friend in the siege and straitness, wherewith their enemies, and they that seek their lives, shall straiten them.  Those in the city would resort to eating their sons and daughters due to a lack of food.  There is no end to the evil things that people will do in order to hang on to this earthly existence, but it is our soul that we should be concerned with.  

Jeremiah 18:11

Jeremiah 18:11 says, Now therefore go to, speak to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device against you: return ye now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good.  God had Jeremiah to call on the people of Judah once more to turn from their evil ways before they suffered the consequences of them.  God will always call on people to repent before they suffer the consequences of their sins, and sin will always have consequences.  Verse twelve states, And they said, There is no hope: but we will walk after our own devices, and we will every one do the imagination of his evil heart.  The people of Judah said that here was no hope, I believe meaning in being obedient to God, so they would follow their own devices.  There are still many people today who claim that there is no hope in God so they follow their own devices to live life.  Verse thirteen declares, Therefore thus saith the LORD; Ask ye now among the heathen, who hath heard such things: the virgin of Israel hath done a very horrible thing. God said for them to ask among the heathen, those who worshipped other gods, if they had heard of such a thing.  Verse fourteen asks,  Will a man leave the snow of Lebanon which cometh from the rock of the field? or shall the cold flowing waters that come from another place be forsaken?  God then asked if people would leave the snows of Lebanon which provided cool water for anther place.  Verse fifteen states, Because my people hath forgotten me, they have burned incense to vanity, and they have caused them to stumble in their ways from the ancient paths, to walk in paths, in a way not cast up;  God said that His chosen people had left the path that He set for them and burned incense to other gods.  We must never allow any other god to come between God and us.  Verse sixteen adds, To make their land desolate, and a perpetual hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished, and wag his head.  God said because of their disobedience that the land was made desolate, and that the people blamed each other for this.  Verse seventeen declares, I will scatter them as with an east wind before the enemy; I will shew them the back, and not the face, in the day of their calamity.  God said that the people of Judah would be scattered before their enemies because God was going to turn His back on them.  We better pray that we as individuals and as a nation never reach the point where God turns His back on us.  Verse eighteen states, Then said they, Come, and let  us devise devices against Jeremiah; for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, and let us smite him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words.  The people of Judah decided to defy Jeremiah, God's prophet.  People will always attempt to discredit God's word and will often rise up against His messengers.  Verse nineteen states, Give heed to me, O LORD, and hearken to the voice of them that contend with me.  Jeremiah asked God to hear his plea and listen to what was being said against him, but God already knew.  Verse twenty asks, Shall evil be recompensed for good? for they have digged a pit for my soul. Remember that I stood before thee to speak good for them, and to turn away thy wrath from them.  Jeremiah asked if good would be repaid with evil, and too often it is.  Jeremiah had simply proclaimed God's word, and now the people of Judah were seeking ways to punish him for doing so.  The world may recompense our sharing of the gospel with evil, but we still have the responsibility to share the gospel.  Verse twenty-one adds, Therefore deliver up their children to the famine, and pour out their blood by the force of the sword; and let their wives be bereaved of their children, and be widows; and let their men be put to death; let their young men be slain by the sword in battle.  Jeremiah asked God to punish those who were attempting to destroy him.  I don't believe that we should ever pray that those who stand against us when we serve God should be destroyed, but that we should continue to reach out with them with the love of God.  Verse twenty-two continues, Let a cry be heard from their houses, when thou shalt bring a troop suddenly upon them: for they have digged a pit to take me, and hid snares for my feet.  Jeremiah continued in his plea to God to punish those who were out to destroy him.  Verse twenty-three concludes, Yet, LORD, thou knowest all their counsel against me to slay me: forgive not their iniquity, neither blot out their sin from thy sight, but let them be overthrown before thee; deal thus with them in the time of thine anger.   Jeremiah was not in a forgiving mood toward those who were attempting to destroy, but I believe that Jesus set a different standard on the cross. 

Jeremiah 18:1

 Jeremiah 18:1 says, The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,  Verse two adds, Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words.  God first told Jeremiah to arise and go down to the potter's house, then He would hear God's words.  Sometimes, we may need to simply go where God tells us to go without fully understanding what He has for us to do when we get there.  Had Jeremiah said he wasn't going until God told him why, then he never would have gotten God's message.  Verse three states, Then I went down to the potter’s house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels.  Jeremiah said that he went to the potter's house and saw him working at the potter's wheel.  This would have been nothing unusual, and many times the things that God uses to reveal His word to us are very ordinary.  Verse four adds, And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.  Jeremiah said that as the potter was making the vessel that it became marred and that the potter made another vessel as he chose to do.  Again, this was nothing unusual.  Verse nine declares, Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,  As Jeremiah was there watching the potter, being where God had directed Him to be, then he heard God speak to Him again.  I don.t believe that this was an audible voice, though it could have been.  God normally does not speak to us in an audible voice, so it is important that we recognize His voice when He speaks to us however He chooses to do so.  Verse six states, O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.  God asked if He could not do to the house of Israel as the potter had done to the clay.  God said that they were like the clay and He was like the potter, and we still are and He still is today.  The people of Israel were God's chosen people and He was molding them into a nation to serve Him, but they became marred by their disobedience.  We, as followers of Christ, are called to be shaped into the person that He calls us to be, but it is always His choice what that will be.  Verse seven declares, At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it;  God said that the fate of a nation, especially those who were supposed to be His people, was in His hands.  God may allow evil to exist in the world today as He calls people to come to Him through faith in Christ, but He is the ultimate authority and those who do not come to Him individually, and I believe as a nation, will be plucked up, torn down and destroyed when God's judgment comes.  Verse eight adds, If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them.  God said that even after He had pronounced His judgment against  nation that there was still hope if they repented.  God's intention has never been to punish but to save people from sin and everlasting punishment, but it is always up to each individual whether he or she will repent and accept God's salvation.  Verse nine states, And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it;  Then verse ten concludes, If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them.  God said that if a nation repented and turned to Him and then rebelled again, that He would repent of having spared them.  As stated numerous times, I don't believe that we can lose our salvation once we have truly accepted Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, but I do believe that all that we do in this life that is not in accordance with God's will ultimately will be destroyed.

Jeremiah 17:19

Jeremiah 17:19 says, Thus said the LORD unto me; Go and stand in the gate of the children of the people, whereby the kings of Judah come in, and by the which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem;  Jeremiah was told by God to go and proclaim His word in the gates where the leaders of the country went in and out.  They could not miss God's message.  We need to make sure that those in power today cannot miss God's message to us today.  Verse seventeen declares, And say unto them, Hear ye the word of the LORD, ye kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, that enter in by these gates:  God told Jeremiah to call on the kings of Judah and all of the people who passed through the gates to hear God's word.  Jeremiah was to start from the highest ranking people and to spread the word downward.  We today usually start from where we are and spread God's word upward, but the important point is that God's word is spread throughout the land.  Verse twenty-one adds, Thus saith the LORD; Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem;  God told Jeremiah to tell the people to observe the sabbath as God had instructed them to do.  God had not changed His law, but His chosen people were ignoring it.  Verse twenty-two continues, Neither carry forth a burden out of your houses on the Sabbath day, neither do ye any work, but hallow ye the sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers.  God just continued to to remind them of the requirements of the Sabbath.  They were to do no work on the Sabbath.  Verse twenty-three proclaims, But they obeyed not, neither inclined their ear, but made their neck stiff, that they might not hear, nor receive instruction.  God told Jeremiah that the people did not only did not hear, but that they deliberately chose not to hear.  We may proclaim God's message on every street corner, but some people are always going to chose to not hear what God has to say.  They will not even incline their ear to hear God.  Verse twenty-four adds, And it shall come to pass, if ye diligently hearken unto me, saith the LORD, to bring in no burden through the gates of this city on the sabbath day, but hallow the sabbath day, to do no work therein;  God then had Jeremiah tell the people what He would do if they began to observe the Sabbath again.  Verse twenty-five continues, Then shall there enter into the gates of this city kings and princes sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they, and their princes, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: and this city shall remain for ever.  God said that if the people of Judah would begin to observe the Sabbath again, which would be a sign that they were obeying His commandments, then there would be a king in Judah forever and the nation would survive.  We as God's people must obey His commands if we are to survive spiritually today.  Verse twenty-six declares, And they shall come from the cities of Judah, and from the places about Jerusalem, and from the land of Benjamin, and from the plain, and from the mountains, and from the south, bringing burnt offerings, and sacrifices, and meat offerings, and incense, and bringing sacrifices of praise, unto the house of the LORD.  God said that if the people began to observe the Sabbath in faith that people would come from throughout the land to bring their offerings to God.  The requirement was really quite simple- the people of Judah were to obey the LORD and He would bless them.  The same is true today.  Verse twenty-seven concludes, But if ye will not hearken unto me to hallow the sabbath day, and not to bear a burden, even entering in at the gates of Jerusalem on the sabbath day; then will I kindle a fire in the gates thereof, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched.  Just as obedience to God's word had its reward, disobedience had its consequences.  This also has not changed.  If we are to receive the gifts of God, we must first be obedient to God, beginning with accepting Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord.

Jeremiah 17:9

 Jeremiah 17:9 says, The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?  God said that the heart, or the mind, is deceitful above all things and who can know it.  A person may say all the right words and go through all the right motions, but they may not believe in anything they are saying or doing.  We cannot know the heart of a person, and unless the heart, or mind, is devoted to God it will always be deceitful.  Verse ten adds, I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.  God tells us that He searches the heart of people, and He tries their reins, or what guides them.  He then rewards them according to what their thoughts say about the person.  People may be fooled by the words and actions of others, but God never will be.  God will never be fooled.  Verse eleven states, As the partridge sitteth on eggs, and hatcheth them not; so he that getteth riches, and not by right, shall leave them in the midst of his days, and at his end shall be a fool.  God said the person who got riches by illegal means were like a partridge that sits on eggs to hatch them, but they do not hatch.  Whatever they think they have gained will really amount to nothing in God's kingdom.  Verse twelve says, A glorious high throne from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary.  Jeremiah is meditating on the situation with Judah, spending time alone to do so as Matthew Henry says.  We too need to spend time alone meditating on God's word if we are going to be truly successful in obeying Him.  Israel, or Judah in this case, had started as a glorious nation under God's leadership, but now was a nation that had turned totally away from Him.  Verse thirteen declares, O LORD, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living waters.  Jeremiah acknowledged the fate of Israel because they had forsaken God, the fountain of living water.  Jesus Christ is the fountain of living water today, and if we do not accept Him as Savior and Lord, we will never know this living water.  Verse fourteen add, Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved: for thou art my praise.  This should be our first call when we realize that we need salvation.  We must cry out to God to heal and save us.  When God heals and saves us, then we are healed and saved forever, and we should give Him the glory.  Verse fifteen states, Behold, they say unto me, Where is the word of the LORD? let it come now.  Jeremiah said that the people of Judah were basically mocking him, asking him where this judgment of God was.  People today continue to do the same thing, even denying the existence of God.  We can only continue to share the gospel with them even if the mock and ridicule us.  Verse sixteen declares, As for me, I have not hastened from being a pastor to follow thee: neither have I desired the woeful day; thou knowest: that which came out of my lips was right before thee.  Jeremiah declared his faithfulness to God, even if he did not like the message that God had him to preach to the people.  We can only be faithful to present God's word, even if we would like for everyone to be saved no matter what.  We should have compassion on the lost, even if they mistreat us, and we should never hope that they will be destroyed.  Verse seventeen adds, Be not a terror unto me: thou art my hope in the day of evil.  Jeremiah asked God to not be  terror to him, because God was his hope in the day of evil.  God should be our hope today, even if the whole world turns evil.  Verse eighteen concludes, Let them be confounded that persecute me, but let not me be confounded: let them be dismayed, but let not me be dismayed: bring upon them the day of evil, and destroy them with double destruction.  Jeremiah said that even if the world were confounded to not let him be confounded by the world.  He then asked that God allow His destruction to come on the people who refused to believe Him.  Jeremiah's message from God was that God was going to allow Judah to be destroyed, and even though Jeremiah did not want that to happen, he realized that the way that God's word was going to be proven true was when this did happen.  We may not like the truth of God's judgment on the lost, but ultimately it will prove the truth of His word without a doubt.

Jeremiah 17:1

 Jeremiah 17:1 says, The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, and with the point of a diamond: it is graven upon the table of their heart, and upon the horns of your altars;  God said that the sins of Judah were written on the tablet of their hearts.  The Ten Commandments were written on a stone tablet, but they were also to be written in the hearts of the people of Israel then and in our hearts now.  The people of Judah could not claim their innocence because their sin was too visible.  Verse two adds, Whilst their children remember their altars and their groves by the green trees upon the high hills.  Their idols had become as important to them as their children were.  Some people today think more of their idols, such as money, fame, power and pleasure than they do of their children.  We as followers of Christ should always put our children and their welfare, both physical and spiritual, ahead of the things of this world.  Verse three declares, O my mountain in the field, I will give thy substance and all thy treasures to the spoil, and thy high places for sin, throughout all thy borders.  God was in sorrow because His mountain and plains would be given to others.  What we need to realize is that as Christians all that we have belongs to God and should be used in accordance with His will.  Verse four adds, And thou, even thyself, shalt discontinue from thine heritage that I gave thee; and I will cause thee to serve thine enemies in the land which thou knowest not: for ye have kindled a fire in mine anger, which shall burn for ever.  God said that not only was the land going to be given to another, but so were the people of Judah.  They were to be taken to a strange land that they did not know.  If we are God's people in name only, as were the people of Judah, then one day we are going to find ourselves in a strange land called hell.  Matthew Henry says that sin works a discontinuance of our comforts and deprives us of the enjoyment of that which God has given us.  I don't believe that we will ever lose our salvation if we have truly accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, but we will lose the joy of our salvation if we give in to the power of sin once more.  Verse five declares, Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD.  God said that those who trusted in man instead of God would be cursed.  There is no man who is going to make the world right except for Jesus Christ Himself.  If we are putting our faith in any man today, then we are not living according to God's word.  Verse six adds, For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited.  God said that those who put their faith in man will never find satisfaction for their needs. We may have everything our heart desires, but without faith in God we are still in a spiritual desert.  Verse seven states, Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.  If we want to be blessed, then we must put our trust in God alone.  It is that simple.  This does not say that those who put their faith in God will be rich and famous, but that they will be blessed.  Verse eight adds, For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.  The people who put their faith in God will always be at peace in life, no matter what happens.  If we are rooted in faith in God, nothing can ever destroy our spiritual relationship with God.