Jeremiah 20:11

 Jeremiah 20:11 says, But the LORD is with me as a mighty terrible one: therefore my persecutors shall stumble, and they shall not prevail: they shall be greatly ashamed; for they shall not prosper: their everlasting confusion shall never be forgotten.  Jeremiah may have felt persecuted, but he also knew that those who persecuted him would fail, because God was with him.  No matter how persecuted we may feel in the world today, if God is with us, then we have no reason to fear.  If you are a follower of Christ, putting your faith in Him as your Savior and Lord, then God will always be with you and you are secured by His love.  Verse twelve adds, But, O LORD of hosts, that triest the righteous, and seest the reins and the heart, let me see thy vengeance on them: for unto thee have I opened my cause.  Jeremiah then asked to see God's vengeance on those who persecuted him.  I don't believe that this should be our prayer today though, since Jesus taught us a better and higher way.  I feel like many people look forward to the second coming so that those that they don't like will get what is coming to them, but we should instead be looking for more time so that they might instead claim the gift of salvation so they like we will not get what they deserved.  Verse thirteen continues, Sing unto the LORD, praise ye the LORD: for he hath delivered the soul of the poor from the hand of evildoers.  Jeremiah said that we should sing praises to God because He will deliver us from all the evil of this world in His own time.  We need to spend more time praising God than we do complaining about the world.  Verse fourteen declares, Cursed be the day wherein I was born: let not the day wherein my mother bare me be blessed.  Then, after saying that we should sing praises to God, Jeremiah said that he regretted the day that he was born.  I believe that he was looking at all the problems in his life without looking to God in faith.  We should never despair the day that we were born or hate life so much that we wish we had never existed.  With our faith in God we should always delight in life as long as we live.  Verse fifteen adds, Cursed be the man who brought tidings to my father, saying, A man child is born unto thee; making him very glad. Jeremiah even asked that the man who brought the news of his birth, which made his father glad, be cursed.  Jeremiah's self pity made him wish that a man who had done nothing wrong be cursed.  We as followers of Christ can never afford to lash out at the world in self pity.  Verse sixteen continues, And let that man be as the cities which the LORD overthrew, and repented not: and let him hear the cry in the morning, and the shouting at noontide;  Jeremiah continued to call for the man who brought the news of his birth to be punished severely.  Jeremiah was one of the great prophets of God, and yet he was asking something of God that was totally outside of God's teachings and nature.  We need to be careful that we do not allow our personal feelings to lead us to an attitude that is contrary to the will of God.  Verse seventeen declares, Because he slew me not from the womb; or that my mother might have been my grave, and her womb to be always great with me.  Jeremiah wished that he had never been born or that he had died in the womb.  That is a lot of self pity.  Verse eighteen asks, Wherefore came I forth out of the womb to see labour and sorrow, that my days should be consumed with shame?  Jeremiah asked why was he born if he was only going to see labor and sorrow and have his days consumed by shame.  No matter how bad life may get, as followers of Christ we can never be ruled by self pity.  We instead need to continue to sing praises to God.

Jeremiah 20:1

 Jeremiah 20:1 says, Now Pashur the son of Immer the priest, who was also chief governor in the house of the LORD, heard that Jeremiah prophesied these things.  A priest. Pashur, of one of the order of priests, heard about Jeremiah's prophecy.  He should have been protecting Jeremiah, but instead he was persecuting him.  Verse two adds, Then Pashur smote Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that were in the high gate of Benjamin, which was by the house of the LORD.  Pashur struck Jeremiah and put him in stocks.  He was trying to both disgrace Jeremiah and to silence him.  It is bad enough when the rest of the world attempts to silence God's messengers, but it is even worse when those who profess to be God's people do.  Verse three states,  And it came to pass on the morrow, that Pashur brought forth Jeremiah out of the stocks. Then said Jeremiah unto him, The LORD hath not called thy name Pashur, but Magormissabib.  The next day, when Pashur brought Jeremiah out of the stocks, Jeremiah said that God had renamed him.  Matthew Henry said the name Magormissabib means terror all about, meaning that he would see terror all about him even if there was none.  Verse four adds, For thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will make thee a terror to thyself, and to all thy friends: and they shall fall by the sword of their enemies, and thine eyes shall behold it: and I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall carry them captive into Babylon, and shall slay them with the sword.  God said that He was going to give Pashur and all of his friends into the hands of the king of Babylon.  The priests were still proclaiming that Israel was going to continue to prosper, whereas Jeremiah was prophesying the coming doom.  No matter how many people may proclaim that everything is going to be good in life if we follow God, God tells us that we are to take up our cross daily.  Verse five continues, Moreover I will deliver all the strength of this city, and all the labours thereof, and all the precious things thereof, and all the treasures of the kings of Judah will I give into the hand of their enemies, which shall spoil them, and take them, and carry them to Babylon.  God said that He was going to give all the riches of the people of Judah to the enemy, and that the people were going to be taken away captive.  If we do not put our faith in God, then one day everything that we have put our faith in will disappear and we will be taken away from the presence of God because of our captivity to sin.  Verse six declares, And thou, Pashur, and all that dwell in thine house shall go into captivity: and thou shalt come to Babylon, and there thou shalt die, and shalt be buried there, thou, and all thy friends, to whom thou hast prophesied lies.  God then had a personal message to Pashur, concerning him and all those that he had prophesied lies to.  If we are speaking lies concerning God today, it is going to affect not only us individually but also all of those who put their faith in what we say.  Verse seven proclaims, O LORD, thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived: thou art stronger than I, and hast prevailed: I am in derision daily, every one mocketh me.  Jeremiah began to tell God that He had deceived him, and that he was in derision every day.  Even if the whole world laughs at us when we proclaim the gospel.  We must never reach the point of feeling that God has somehow deceived us.  Verse eight adds, For since I spake, I cried out, I cried violence and spoil; because the word of the LORD was made a reproach unto me, and a derision, daily.  Jeremiah said that since he proclaimed violence and spoil to the people of God, who were yet living in prosperity that he was held in derision.  The world today may not believe us when we proclaim the coming judgment of God, but even if they hold us in contempt and we do not live to see it in this lifetime, it is still coming.  Verse nine continues, Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.  Jeremiah said that he had decided to no longer prophesy in God's name, but that the word of God was like a fire making it impossible for him to not do so.  God's word should be just as much of a fire in us today as followers of Christ, making it impossible for us to not proclaim His word to the world.  Verse ten concludes, For I heard the defaming of many, fear on every side. Report, say they, and we will report it. All my familiars watched for my halting, saying, Peradventure he will be enticed, and we shall prevail against him, and we shall take our revenge on him.   Jeremiah said that everyone was talking about him behind his back, if not to his face.  We should not be worried about what other people may say about us because of our witnessing for God, but only with what God Himself says.

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.