Author: pastor.gerooney@gmail.com

So Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to the scribe Baruch son of Neriah, and as Jeremiah dictated, Baruch wrote on it all the words of the scroll that Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire. And many similar words were added to them. Jeremiah 36:32 (Jeremiah 25, 35-36, 45)

The first captives have been taken from Judah into Babylon. God tells Jeremiah that the captivity will last 70 years then Babylon will be punished. He then commanded Jeremiah to write down all that He said, so the ages will know God’s sovereign authority. Jeremiah employs the services of the scribe, Baruch. After several months of hard word, Jeremiah, who was banded from the temple, sent Baruch to read God’s word. King Jehoiakim reacted by burning the scroll piece by piece. He intended to put an end to God’s inconvenient and uncomfortable truth. He failed.

The plight of Jeremiah and Baruch seems bleak, but God promises to protect them from harm.

God continues to seek man. Even when all seems lost, God is reaching out. One burned scroll at the hand of a wicked king did not stop God’s work of grace. The singular, most amazing thing about God’s grace is His persistence and long suffering. We are a loved creation, evidenced by our Creator becoming our Savior, again and again and again. God’s not giving up, don’t you either!

Love,

Gretchen

This is what the LORD says: Do what is just and right. Rescue from the hand of his oppressor the one who has been robbed. Do no wrong or violence to the alien, the fatherless or the window, and do not shed innocent blood in this place. Jeremiah 22:3 (II Kings 23-24, II Chronicles 35:20-27, 36, Jeremiah 22, 26, 46 and 47)

Josiah had cleaned all of Judah and Samaria of the temples and false prophets of Baal. A revival and return to worship occurred. But, there was unrest all around Judah as three world powers fought for dominance. Nineveh fell, bringing Assyria to its knees. Babylon, the new empire, had to contend with Assyrian outliers as well as a rising Egypt to the west. Josiah, out of an act of loyalty to Assyria, but contrary to Jeremiah’s recommendation, went into battle against Neco, Pharaoh of Egypt, and was mortally wounded. Judah’s most faithful king was gone and Judah’s fate was sealed. Jehoiakim and finally Zeddekiah did evil in the eyes of the LORD. This was the end of the temporal kingdom of Judah, but from this seed came the Christ, the everlasting Savior and King.

Jeremiah has been to the gates of hell, faced his doubts and fears, and walked away the victor. He now has the fortitude to endure whatever God has in store. Josiah was Jeremiah’s advocate and with him dead and buried, Jeremiah is in jeopardy again. He declares that killing him will not silence God and some of the elders stepped forward in his defense. He survived, but his contemporary Uriah was martyred.

God will not tolerate misrule and corruption. Jeremiah, like Jesus, suffered persecution by those who claimed to know God intimately. God knows the purity of man’s heart and will judge accordingly. Be watchful of wrongly placed loyalties, reckless reactions and scripture-less theologies. Be holy, kind and if all else fails…..love. In this you will never go wrong.

Love,

Gretchen

“Sing to the LORD! Give praise to the LORD! He rescues the life of the needy from the hands of the wicked.” Jeremiah 20:13

God sends Jeremiah to the potter’s house where Jeremiah witnesses the power of the craftman/creator to change the outcome of a marred vessel. Jeremiah is sent with this illustration and the message that God has the ability to alter the destiny of Judah. Following this, Jeremiah takes a valuable, beautiful vase and shatters it before the leaders of Jerusalem. In this act, he announces Jerusalem’s ruin.

There is a continual counter campaign among the false prophets and again, Jeremiah’s wellbeing is threatened. In fact, he is put in stocks, a wooden frame that holds the body in a distorted, painful pose. Jeremiah is fed up with his pitiful life and God’s incomplete purpose. He lashes out in anger as he is publicly ridiculed and scorned. THEN! His sorrow becomes joy as he realizes his Hope is in the LORD alone. His pity party becomes a cathedral of praise.

God’s relationship to man should be like that of the clay in the potter’s hands. His will, the pressure or gentle nudge of His palm, determines what we become, even when it is nothing like we imagined. In God alone we are perfected for His divine purpose, so spin with abandon, in the Master’s hand.

Love,

Gretchen

“But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in Him.” Jeremiah 17:7 (Jeremiah 13-17)

The people of Judah, in the face of false, but comforting prophecy, seek a second opinion and wish to silence Jeremiah’s inconvenient truth. Still reeling from the threat to his life, Jeremiah questions himself, his message and his authenticity. He receives a very clear response! God gives this faithful servant two tangible examples of what is to come for those who reject his message. One is the linen belt, or loincloth, (Chapter 13) which would have been bejeweled with elaborate stones and was a sign of Jeremiah’s position.  God gave instructions to place it in a crevice (see post script for Jeremiah’s grotto) where it became ruined. Jeremiah was then instructed to wear it as an example of God’s beloved and glorious people becoming nothing because of their sin and self-imposed separation from God.

Although Jeremiah is reassured, his plight does not improve. In fact, God says, don’t go to funerals or celebrations and do not marry.  These things are the normal milestones of life, but to invest in them is to say, “All is well.” This is no time and place to start a family. Those who turned to false gods will rely on the work of their hands, but it is futile, all hope is gone because no one is seeking salvation and life is about to get real ugly.

In the middle of God’s declaration of doom are words of encouragement for those who remain faithful. Obedience is faith, faith is confidence in God, even when there is drought and you are thirsty too.

Hang in there!

Gretchen

P.S. The crevice, or cave, Jeremiah placed the linen cloth in was one of several hiding retreats he fled to when grief overwhelmed him.  In these moments, Jeremiah spoke with God, heard from his LORD, gained new perspective and returned to urgent prayer and action for his fellow Judeans. This particular place has been found at the base of Golgotha, the site of Love’s greatest sacrifice. It is fitting that Jeremiah sacrificed his own will for the hope of the unrepentant. By the way, I don’t believe in coincidence

You are always righteous, LORD, when I bring a case before you. Yet I would speak with you about your justice: Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all the faithless live at ease? Jeremiah 12:1 (Jeremiah 11 & 12)

The covenant between God and Moses/the Hebrew children defined righteousness, promised blessings, stated consequences and set God’s chosen nation apart from the rest of the world and quested them to carry out His blessing to all the earth. Israel’s failure was colossal but God did not quit loving. He is was long suffering and sent Jeremiah with a message to repentance and a warning of dire punishment that would come to those who refuse.

Jeremiah’s message was so harsh and persistent that the people of his hometown plotted to kill him.  God intervened and he escaped, but his fear gave way to anger and he lashed out at God. “Why do the wicked prosper?”  Jeremiah wasn’t the first, nor will he be the last to ask this question. God responded with hope. The day of the LORD will come. For the believer there will be eternal glory, for all those who have rejected God or oppressed the faithful, they will be wiped off the face of the earth…..in God’s time.

God’s purpose is first and foremost, salvation, redemption and restoration. Final judgement is His last option. His Son, Jesus, is the highest model of righteous servitude in our relationships with each other, but to the people of Judah, God waited and waited in the hope of humble confession and redirection. He modeled patient love.

Do not wish judgment on anyone. Just love and let God be God.

Love,

Gretchen

If you really change your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly, if you do not oppress the alien, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not follow other gods to your own harm, then I will let you live in this place, in the land I gave your forefathers for ever and ever. Jeremiah 7:5-7 (Jeremiah 7-10)

Repentance and obedience are game changers!

The people of Judah were stubborn to the very end, but they had a strong superstition about the temple of God.  Although they had many false gods, they still offered sacrifices and practiced a weak semblance of worship. Jeremiah’s message insisted this was not Holy or pleasing and would bring judgement. The false prophets of the day were smooth talkers seeking their own comfort.  They preached peace and pointed to Jeremiah as an alarmist. He was not.

Oddly, as things worsened for Judah, there was a boom in the idol making industry. God created the trees these worthless gods were carved from. The miracle of His creative power made the gold that gilded them. Jeremiah and God both grieved for this unrepentant nation who chose ridiculous, empty securities.

It was not God’s desire to destroy. He is a kind and loving God that brings new life to those who ask. Repentance and obedience change everything.

Love,

Gretchen

This is what the LORD says:  “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But you said, “We will not walk in it.” Jeremiah 6:16 (Jeremiah 5 & 6)

This flat out refusal to follow God’s law left the Creator of all things with no choice but to judge and punish. The depravity of these people was universal and they were ecstatically content with their self authority.  Jeremiah compares them to animals who eat with no regard for other’s need and who breed out of random opportunity and lust rather than love and choice. Ignorance will exempt no one when the armies of Babylon do their worst, everyone will perish of be taken captive.

Some of the people attempted empty, elaborate offerings, to appease The One True God in the same manner that they paid homage to their idols. God was quick to respond: Offerings mean nothing without a repentant heart, a humble attitude and a determination to walk in the Good Way.

That rest for the soul is what it’s all about! Peace in the present and future is an option I like!

Love,

Gretchen

My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken Me, the Spring of Living Water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water. Jeremiah 2:13 (Jeremiah 2-4)

Jeremiah was called to take on the moral leadership of a depraved people. Who wants that job? One on going crisis was the tendency to listen to the most optimistic prediction. The spiritual revival of Josiah had brought some semblance of peace, but not thoroughly enough to change the hearts of all. False prophets assured the people that this was a lasting peace disparaging the words of Jeremiah, who had been given a vision of the nation’s collapse at the hands of Babylon.

Judah had forgotten why destruction came to their brothers to the north, as they repeat their sins of idolatry and refuse to repent. God asks over and over why they forsake Him, it makes NO sense. A well of Life has sprung before them, but they go and dig their own cisterns that fill with polluted, unhealthy and dangerous water. Even as they thirst, a Life spring is available, but they will not drink from it! Crazy!

We subconsciously focus on the words of gloom and doom, but they are not this. God’s call, over and over, is for repentance. God’s desire is to save, redeem and rescue, restore and protect. That sounds like the deal of a life time! Why will people not turn from their wicked ways? I do not know, but God has not given up loving each of us. He created us to love and He sent His Son to prove and seal that indestructible love.

Love,

Gretchen

I will pronounce My judgements on My people because of their wickedness in forsaking Me, in burning incense to other gods and in worshiping what their hands have made. Jeremiah 1:16 (Jeremiah 1)

A contemporary of Zephaniah, Jeremiah was a country boy and son of a priest when God called him to be His spokesperson. He is known for being a reluctant and weeping prophet. He was so much more!

Jeremiah was an engaged observer of nature, finding the wonder of God in things all around him. He felt under qualified to answer God’s beckoning, and fought his entire life with doubt and fear. Amidst his personal turmoil, there is faithfulness and an encounter with God that left him forever changed. In spite of being labeled a traitor for encouraging submission to Babylon, seeing his personal writings burned in protest, knowing a constant threat to his life and being exiled to Egypt, Jeremiah stayed on message. 

The people of Jerusalem once again returned to their attitude of entitlement, believing their city invincible, no matter their behavior. They were wrong. Still today there are those who believe God will just leave them alone, ignore their actions and exempt them from judgement because they refuse to engage in spiritual things. It is agreed that good people will indeed see Heaven, but those who chose to disbelieve or live on a greater, enlightened plane, will just cease to exist or become a positive energy to encourage and inspire those they leave behind. It wasn’t true for the people of 600 BC and it isn’t true today.  God sent someone with a message of salvation and rescue. He is sending that same someone today. God takes His message VERY seriously, and so should we!  Heaven is for real!

Love,

Gretchen

 Their wealth will be plundered, their houses demolished. They will build houses but not live in them; they will plant vineyards but not drink the wine. Zephaniah 1:13 (Zephaniah 1-3)

Young king Josiah struggled to lead his nation spiritually. God sent Zephaniah, a distant relative, to deliver His message of judgement against immorality, injustice and pagan idolatry. Zephaniah made a rare difference. In partnership with the adolescent king, Judah did restore the temple and correct worship.  A factor in this renewal of obedience and worship was the prophecy of Nineveh’s demise that came to pass. But two world powers were waging a war for dominance, Babylon and Egypt, and tiny Judah was setting in the crosshairs. The Day of the Lord was coming!

The Day of the Lord sounds like something to anxiously await, and well it should be…..for the faithful. But for those who refused to listen and heed, this is a time of separation. God was preparing to set apart a faithful remnant for salvation, and the rest for the destruction they have brought by their rejection of God’s love and protection. Indeed, a small group of David’s house survived and from them, a new covenant was born.

I always try to give verses of hope and inspiration, but by this time in the history of God’s people, they looked for more excuses to keep their ridiculous, handmade gods, rather than offer single minded subjection to God. Zephaniah tells of a coming theology, correct and indisputable, that will explain God’s purpose and love without room for misinterpretation. A new language would be spoken (3:9) and every tribe and nation will raise their voices in perfect praise to the One True God. Jesus was just a few centuries away and He would bring a new language of service and love, grace and mercy.

You really, really, really can’t take it with you, but what is waiting is incomprehensible, either to the good or bad.  Choose wisely, and in a world headed in the wrong direction, be the remnant, with a light to show the Way.

Love,

Gretchen