Skip to main content

Jeremiah 8

Image
By

Verses 1-9, “At that time,” says the Lord, “they shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of its princes, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves. They shall spread them before the sun and the moon and all the host of heaven, which they have loved and which they have served and after which they have walked, which they have sought and which they have worshiped. They shall not be gathered nor buried; they shall be like refuse on the face of the earth. Then death shall be chosen rather than life by all the residue of those who remain of this evil family, who remain in all the places where I have driven them,” says the Lord of hosts. “Moreover you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Will they fall and not rise? Will one turn away and not return? Why has this people slidden back, Jerusalem, in a perpetual backsliding? They hold fast to deceit, They refuse to return. I listened and heard, But they do not speak aright. No man repented of his wickedness, Saying, ‘What have I done?’ Everyone turned to his own course, As the horse rushes into the battle. “Even the stork in the heavens Knows her appointed times; And the turtledove, the swift, and the swallow Observe the time of their coming. But My people do not know the judgment of the Lord. “How can you say, ‘We are wise, And the law of the Lord is with us’? Look, the false pen of the scribe certainly works falsehood. The wise men are ashamed, They are dismayed and taken. Behold, they have rejected the word of the Lord; So what wisdom do they have?”

The ultimate disrespect was to disrupt the bones of the dead kings, priests, and prophets of Judah in their graves. In fact, the judgement upon Judah would be so bad that the living would wish they were dead in order to have relief from it. All of this was the result of their perpetual backsliding and refusal to repent. So many people want it their way, and you can have it your way, but it will not end well for you either. The safest place you can be is in the will of God; and there only, will you find peace. Those who have rejected the Lord have no wisdom, and therefore nothing good to share that we should listen to any of their advice that would lead us where they are going...toward death and judgement.

Verses 10-17, “Therefore I will give their wives to others, And their fields to those who will inherit them; Because from the least even to the greatest Everyone is given to covetousness; From the prophet even to the priest Everyone deals falsely. For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of My people slightly, Saying, ‘Peace, peace!’ When there is no peace. Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? No! They were not at all ashamed, Nor did they know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; In the time of their punishment They shall be cast down,” says the Lord. “I will surely consume them,” says the Lord. “No grapes shall be  on the vine, Nor figs on the fig tree, And the leaf shall fade; And the things I have given them shall pass away from them.” ’ ” “Why do we sit still? Assemble yourselves, And let us enter the fortified cities, And let us be silent there. For the Lord our God has put us to silence And given us water of gall to drink, Because we have sinned against the Lord. “We  looked for peace, but no good came; And for a time of health, and there was trouble! The snorting of His horses was heard from Dan. The whole land trembled at the sound of the neighing of His strong ones; For they have come and devoured the land and all that is in it, The city and those who dwell in it.” 'For behold, I will send serpents among you, Vipers which cannot be charmed, And they shall bite you,' says the Lord.”

Disobedient servants can be stripped of their blessings which are then given to another.  Matthew 25:26‭-‬29, “But his Lord answered and said to him, ‘You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed.  So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest. Therefore take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents. ‘For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away.”  In the midst of their disobedience they are claiming to know peace when there was no peace to be found. We know that there is no peace for the wicked. When they looked for it, no good came. Even though they had every opportunity to repent and avoid this disaster coming upon them, they chose instead to believe a lie.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

1 Corinthians 9

By
Paul feels the need to defend his calling and his position of authority among the Corinthians, due to the fact that he is being examined. Ironically, his decision to not take support from the church, which should have earned him even more respect, has done the opposite causing his legitimacy as an apostle to be called into question. He makes the point that those who labor spiritually for the Corinthians have the right to eat and drink at their expense, and should expect the same support for their believing wife if they choose to bring one along as part of their ministry.  Certainly if others have been supported by them, Paul has even more right, being their spiritual father so to speak. I Corinthians 9:12, "If others are partakers of this right over you, are we not even more? Nevertheless we have not used this right, but endure all things lest we hinder the gospel of Christ." Paul does not want to be accused of fulfilling his duty out of financial obligation, and so to demon...
7 comments
Read more

1 Timothy 6

By
Those of us who are under authority should be respectful so that outsiders will not witness our behavior and blaspheme God or His word. Although slavery has been abolished in America, we still have employers, and our jobs should be done unto the Lord so that our hard work will be to the glory of God. Matthew 5:16, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven." Some Christians believe that they can relax on these standards if they work for a Christian boss, but actually the opposite is true. We should serve them even harder knowing that a brother or sister will be benefiting from our labors. Having been employed in ministry I was able to witness firsthand how others served their Christian bosses. Many would show up late, leave early, miss meetings, and produce mediocre to poor quality work as though it were acceptable to do so. If we bear the name of Jesus, we should stand out for our quality of performance and our et...
5 comments
Read more

2 Corinthians 2

By
The letter Paul has written was out of love for the Corinthians, but was anguishing for him to write.  Choosing to send a letter rather than return to visit them on his way back through from Macedonia, was to avoid another occurrence of the first visit.  We can assume that the first visit was troubling for Paul, being their spiritual father so to speak, to see the church in the state it was in, requiring him to rebuke them harshly for their errors.  Much the same as when we are grieved when someone close to us goes astray (like our children), causing the need for strong words and discipline. Paul had sorrow over those whom he wanted to have joy.  Verse 4, “For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote to you, with many tears,  not that you should be grieved, but that you might know the love which I have so abundantly for you.” The intention of the letter was not to bring them grief, but to correct them in love and bring about a change of heart and...
5 comments
Read more