The Conspiracy Against Jeremiah (Jeremiah 11:18-23)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/28/2014 8:50 AM

My Worship Time                                                      Focus:  The Conspiracy against Jeremiah

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Jeremiah 11:18-23

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  We continue today in our study of the eleventh chapter of the book of Jeremiah where we will be looking at the second sub-point from Dr. Wiersbe outline which he entitles “Conspiring Against God’s Authority.”

            The Conspiracy Against Jeremiah (Jeremiah 11:18-23):  “18  Moreover, the LORD made it known to me and I knew it; Then You showed me their deeds. 19 But I was like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter; And I did not know that they had devised plots against me, saying, "Let us destroy the tree with its fruit, And let us cut him off from the land of the living, That his name be remembered no more." 20 But, O LORD of hosts, who judges righteously, Who tries the feelings and the heart, Let me see Your vengeance on them, For to You have I committed my cause. 21  Therefore thus says the LORD concerning the men of Anathoth, who seek your life, saying, "Do not prophesy in the name of the LORD, so that you will not die at our hand"; 22  therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts, "Behold, I am about to punish them! The young men will die by the sword, their sons and daughters will die by famine; 23 and a remnant will not be left to them, for I will bring disaster on the men of Anathoth-the year of their punishment.’”

            We can see from this passage that the cup of wrath that God has for these people is full and He will execute judgment on them, and they will not be allowed to fulfill the plan that they have concocted for the prophet Jeremiah.

            Why did these people want to kill Jeremiah?  There was a deep seated hatred against the Lord, which they probably did not even know existed in their heart because they did not have the Word of God in their hearts for they had believed the false prophets and the false priests who spoke out against the Lord.  This did not happen all at once for it is kind of like the frog in the kettle story where if you put a frog into a pot of very hot water he will jump out, but if you put the frog in a kettle of warm water and continue to increase heat you will cook him before he knows the water is too hot for him.  These people had been feed the lies a little at a time and now they had swallowed the entire false teachings of what the false prophets said against the Lord and against Jeremiah.  If we are honest with ourselves we can see that this same thing is happening to our country today for seeds were sown years ago for the destruction of our country, but just as in the case of Israel we have the chance to turn it around but telling others one person at a time about the forgiveness that is found in Jesus Christ, and as more and more people are saved then they will be able to tell others about how they too can be saved and before you know it there will be a revival in the Church in our country.

            When you think about why the Lord Jesus Christ was killed by the false teachers of His day you can determine that instead of being convicted, which they should have been, they decided to destroy the Messenger of the good news, and this was the same thing that was happening to Jeremiah and the people from his home town.  Dr Wiersbe writes “But they had a second reason:  as loyal Jews, they felt that his prophecies were harmful to the welfare of the nation.  Jeremiah preached impending judgment from Babylon, while the false prophets were declaring messages of peace (Jer. 6:14:8:11).  Jeremiah insisted that the people obey the Law and bring their sacrifices to the temple and not to the local shrines (high places), some of which were dedicated to idols, and the priests didn’t like that.  Jeremiah was pro-Babylon while the rusers were pro-Egypt.  In other words, Jeremiah was out of step with his times, and because he was decisive, he had to walk along and ‘vote with God.’”

            We can see from this passage that Jeremiah didn’t realize what was going on with the people of his home town until the Lord told him about it, for he was like a sheep going to slaughter until God informed him about the plot.  We see in this section and others that Jeremiah pours his heart out to the Lord, for while in public he was bold, but in private he poured out his heart to the only One who could help him.  Paul was the same way as he wrote to the Corinthians about this same thing that Jeremiah was doing.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Pouring my heart out to the Lord over sin that is going on in our country is something that I surely need to do more of, for it is sin that is destroying our country, and only God can take care of that problem for it is a heart problem and needs the Great Physician to care for it

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Be like Daniel and Jeremiah, and also like Jesus who were brokenhearted over the sin that went on around them.  Daniel confessed the sins of Israel to the Lord, and also confessed his sins before the Lord asking for mercy, and mercy is what is needed from the Lord in our country now.

Memory verses for the week:  Philippians 2:5-7

5 Have this attitude in yourself which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking on the form of a bond-servant, and being make in the likeness of men.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “twenty-seven.”

Today’s Bible question:  “How long was the span of time from the Exodus from Egypt until Solomon started building the temple?” 

Answer in our next SD.

2/28/2014 9:27 AM

           

            

Conspiring Against God's Authority PT-1 (Jeremiah 11:9-17)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/27/2014 8:08 AM

My Worship Time                                         Focus:  Conspiring Against God’s Authority PT-1

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                     Reference:  Jeremiah 11:9-17

            Message of the verses:  As we begin the second main point in Dr. Wiersbe’s outline of his forth chapter we read the following “The Lord revealed to His servant a twofold conspiracy in the land:  a conspiracy of the men of Judah to disobey the covenant and resist the reforms led by King Josiah (11:9-17), and a conspiracy of the people in Jeremiah’s hometown to kil the prophet and silence God’s Word (11:18-12:6).  Both led to a third crisis that threatened Jeremiah’s own faith in the Lord.”

            The conspiracy against the king (Jeremiah 11:9-16):  “9 Then the LORD said to me, "A conspiracy has been found among the men of Judah and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 10  "They have turned back to the iniquities of their ancestors who refused to hear My words, and they have gone after other gods to serve them; the house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken My covenant which I made with their fathers.’

    “11 Therefore thus says the LORD, "Behold I am bringing disaster on them which they will not be able to escape; though they will cry to Me, yet I will not listen to them. 12  "Then the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem will go and cry to the gods to whom they burn incense, but they surely will not save them in the time of their disaster. 13  "For your gods are as many as your cities, O Judah; and as many as the streets of Jerusalem are the altars you have set up to the shameful thing, altars to burn incense to Baal. 14 “Therefore do not pray for this people, nor lift up a cry or prayer for them; for I will not listen when they call to Me because of their disaster. 15 “What right has My beloved in My house When she has done many vile deeds? Can the sacrificial flesh take away from you your disaster, So that you can rejoice?" 16 The LORD called your name, "A green olive tree, beautiful in fruit and form"; With the noise of a great tumult He has kindled fire on it, And its branches are worthless.  17 The LORD of hosts, who planted you, has pronounced evil against you because of the evil of the house of Israel and of the house of Judah, which they have done to provoke Me by offering up sacrifices to Baal.”

            We have mentioned that the revival that came under King Josiah was not a true revival, although the king actually experienced revival and brokenness in his heart the fact is that most of the people were actually faking it and their worship of false gods proved this.  Dr. Wiersbe writes:  But what we worship and the way we worship are not incidentals in life; they’re essentials that determine the character of life itself.  ‘A people’s lives are only as good as their worship,’ writes Eugene Peterson.  ‘Worship defines life.  If worship is corrupt, life will be corrupt.’  God gave His people the covenant so He might bless them and keep the good promises He made to them, but His people preferred to trst the gods of their pagan neighbors.”

            The nation of Israel was given many privileges that the nations around them were not given, for the covenant that God had with them was a marriage covenant, for God loved them and wanted them to do His will.  The people of Israel tested the Lord and they thought that they were better than the nations around them because of all the gifts that God had given them.  Let us look at some of those gifts that God gave to Israel from the pen of the Apostle Paul as he writes to the Romans:  “1 I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit, 2 that I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh, 4 who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons, and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the temple service and the promises, 5 whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen (Romans 9:1-5).”  We not only see the gifts that God had given to His people, but we also see the true beating of Paul’s heart for the people that he loved so much, loved them with such a great love that he was will to give up his salvation to have them all saved even though this was impossible.  Dr. Wiersbe writes “the greater the privileges we have form Him, the greater the responsibility we have to Him.”

            In verses 15-18 we read “15  "What right has My beloved in My house When she has done many vile deeds? Can the sacrificial flesh take away from you your disaster, So that you can rejoice?" 16  The LORD called your name, "A green olive tree, beautiful in fruit and form"; With the noise of a great tumult He has kindled fire on it, And its branches are worthless. 17 The LORD of hosts, who planted you, has pronounced evil against you because of the evil of the house of Israel and of the house of Judah, which they have done to provoke Me by offering up sacrifices to Baal.  18 Moreover, the LORD made it known to me and I knew it; Then You showed me their deeds.”  We see in these verses two pictures of the people of Judah and how they reveal how futile their religious faith really was.  First we see one of them who worship in the temple and we can see that God tells them that they really have no business worshiping in His temple because of their sins.  We see in verses 17-18 an olive tree, which is a picture of the nation of Israel, and we see that there is a great storm coming that will do great damage to that tree which pictures the coming invasion of the Babylonians.

            As we look at the many sinful things that the people of Israel and Judah did we can condemn them or we can do as Paul writes about the reason we have the OT, and that is that we may learn from the mistakes that these people made so that we do not make them ourselves.  While living in another state my wife and I went to church and heard a sermon in which the Pastor said that every age group in the church was important and he proceeded to go through all of the different age groups beginning with the small children and going all the way to the older saints who were a part of the Church.  He told us that one of the reasons that the older people were important was because others can learn from them through the mistakes that they have made so that the younger people would not make the same mistakes.  One of the younger married ladies in the church began to laugh very loudly to which the Pastor told her that this was no laughing matter that she could learn from the older generation many things.  It seems that in today’s church culture that the younger people don’t seem to want to have much of a relationship with the older saints for many of them have all the answers on their cell phones and the only thing they need from the older saints is to care for their children when they want to go out.  Dr. Wiersbe comments with the following statement:  “Before we condemn the people of Judah, however, let’s examine our own hearts and churches.  Are there idols in our hearts?  Do we give wholehearted devotion to the Lord, or is our devotion divided between Christ and another?  When unsaved people visit our worship services, are they impressed with the glory and majesty of God? (1 Cor. 14:23-25).  Do the worldly lives and questionable activities of professed believers disgrace God’s name?  Remember, God’s ‘last word’ to the church isn’t the Great Commission: it’s ‘Repent, or else!’ (Rev. 2-3).”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  It’s easy to point fingers at the people of Judah and Israel, but remember when we point a finger at a person we have nine more point back at us.  I desire to learn from the mistakes that these people made and not make them myself.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Jesus said in Mark 14:38 “Keep watching and praying that you may not come into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

Memory verses for the week:  Philippians 2:5-7

5 Have this attitude in yourself which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking on the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Daniel.”

Today’s Bible question:  “How many books are in the New Testament?”

Answer in our next SD.

2/27/2014 9:42 AM

            

Breaking God's Covenant (Jeremiah 11:1-8)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/26/2014 9:07 AM

My Worship Time                                                                      Focus:  Breaking God’s Covenant

Bible Reading & Meditation                                         Reference:  Jeremiah 11:1-8

            Message of the verses:  In today’s SD we begin looking at the forth chapter of Warren Wiersbe’s commentary on the book of Jeremiah in which he titles it “Voting With God,” and it covers chapters eleven through thirteen of the book of Jeremiah.  He mentions at the end of his introductory commentary “In this section of his prophecy, Jeremiah recorded the sins of the nation and pleaded with the people to return to the Lord while there was yet time.”

            The section we are going to look at this morning is “Breaking God’s Covenant” and this covers the first eight verses of chapter eleven of Jeremiah, however we need to first of all look at some of the covenants that God made with the children of Israel beginning with the Abrahamic Covenant which was also reinforced by also giving it to Isaac in Genesis 26:1-5 and then with Jacob in Genesis 35:1-15.  God first gave this covenant to Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3 where we read “1 ¶  Now the LORD said to Abram, "Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father’s house, To the land which I will show you; 2  And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing; 3  And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.’”  He later confirmed this covenant to Abraham in the fifteenth chapter of Genesis.  I have mentioned that this covenant is an unconditional covenant made with the people of Israel and is still in effect today.  God later gave an unconditional covenant with the nation of Israel after bringing them out of Egypt and stopping at Mt. Sinai and this covenant is what is called the Mosaic Covenant, having the Ten Commandments in it.  However in this covenant God told them if you obey me and keep this covenant then I will bless you, but if you don’t then I will punish you.  They did not obey the covenant and God did punish them as He brought the Babylonians in to conquer them beginning in 605 BC and finishing the job in 586 BC.  Jeremiah is speaking to the people before this happened and at that time the people were supposed to be in what we call “Josiah’s Reformation” which is found in the book of 2 Kings 23:2 where we read  The king went up to the house of the LORD and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests and the prophets and all the people, both small and great; and he read in their hearing all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the LORD.”  The book of the Law or the covenant from Moses was found in the temple and thus Josiah had it read to all of the people, the problem was that Josiah truly had revival, but most of the people did not have it for the were not truly worshiping the Lord, for they would still go to the high places to worship their idols and when Josiah was killed it did not take long for the nation to go right back into idolatry. 

            The problem with them, and with some believers today is their lack of love for the Lord.  Jesus said “If you love me you will keep my commandments.”  Jesus knew that if a person loved Him that they would want to keep the commandments that He gave them.  Dr Wiersbe points out that in the book of Deuteronomy which means the renewing of the Law, for in it Moses gave again the Law to the next generation that came out of Egypt for all of the first generation had died because of their failure to believe that God could use them to conquer those who were in the Promised Land.  In the book of Deuteronomy we find that the word love is used twenty times.  Dr. Wiersbe points out “Note the emphasis on love in the Book of Deuteronomy.  The word is used twenty times, and love is presented as the motive for obedience to the Lord (6:4-5; 10:12; 11:1, 13, 22).  The word ‘heart’ is used nearly fifty times in Deuteronomy.  In this ‘second edition ‘ of the Law, Moses moved the emphasis from mere outward obedience to inward love and a desire to please God.  Why we obey God is a mark of maturity in the Christian life.”  This was the problem with the people of Israel during the time when Jeremiah was alive and ministering to them, and is also a great problem in the Church today, as it seems to me that the people of God care more about the gifts that God has given them than the Giver of the gifts. 

            Jeremiah 11:1-8 “1 The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, 2  "Hear the words of this covenant, and speak to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem; 3  and say to them, ’Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, "Cursed is the man who does not heed the words of this covenant 4  which I commanded your forefathers in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, ’Listen to My voice, and do according to all which I command you; so you shall be My people, and I will be your God,’ 5  in order to confirm the oath which I swore to your forefathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as it is this day."’" Then I said, "Amen, O LORD." 6 And the LORD said to me, "Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, saying, ’Hear the words of this covenant and do them. 7  ’For I solemnly warned your fathers in the day that I brought them up from the land of Egypt, even to this day, warning persistently, saying, "Listen to My voice." 8  ’Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but walked, each one, in the stubbornness of his evil heart; therefore I brought on them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, but they did not.’"

            God is telling Jeremiah to remind the children of Israel to remember the covenant that He had made with them and wanted them to repent and begin again to follow this covenant of God would bring about all the curses that are found in it.  Of course they did not obey it and God did bring the curses of the covenant upon them.  Is it any wonder for as soon as God gave the covenant to them at Mt. Sinai and they told them that they would follow all that was in it that a few days later they had Aaron make an idol and began to worship it while Moses was on the mountain getting the Ten Commandments.

            The “iron furnace” that we see in verse four is the nation of Egypt.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  There were a few people in the OT and in the days when Jesus walked on planet earth that knew that it was more important to love the Lord than bringing the sacrifices to the Lord.  There are two commandments that were given by the Lord Jesus, “Love the Lord with all your heart” and “love your neighbor as yourself.”  Out of these flowed the Ten Commandments and out of them flowed the other Laws given by the Lord as found in the early OT books.  Loving the Lord is the most important thing for me to do and out of that love for the Lord will come love for my neighbors, those who God brings onto my path.  I am convicted in my heart and desire to love the Lord and my neighbors as God desires me to do so.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Love the Lord and love my neighbors.

Memory verses for the week:  Philippians 2:5-7

5 Have this attitude in yourself which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Syria” (1 Kings 20:1).

Today’s Bible question:  “What Old Testament told Nebuchadnezzar’s dreams?”

Answer in our next SD.

2/26/2014 9:55 AM

Jeremiah Looks Up & Prays for Mercy (Jer. 10:23-25)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/25/2014 8:53 AM

My Worship Time                                                   Focus:  Jeremiah Looks up & Prays for Mercy

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Jeremiah 10:23-25

            Message of the verses:  “23 I know, O LORD, that a man’s way is not in himself, Nor is it in a man who walks to direct his steps. 24 Correct me, O LORD, but with justice; Not with Your anger, or You will bring me to nothing. 25 Pour out Your wrath on the nations that do not know You And on the families that do not call Your name; For they have devoured Jacob; They have devoured him and consumed him And have laid waste his habitation.”

            When we look back at Jeremiah 7:16 we read “"As for you, do not pray for this people, and do not lift up cry or prayer for them, and do not intercede with Me; for I do not hear you.”  Jeremiah was instructed by the Lord not to pray for these people, and son in this passage Jeremiah prays for himself, as one who is a representative of these people.  Jeremiah had a great heart and a great burden for these people, and I suppose that is why the Lord chose him for this job.

            Dr. Wiersbe points out that the prayer that Jeremiah prays presents three arguments to persuade the Lord to be merciful to His people.  I am reminded of what Moses did when he prayed for the nation of Israel after they had sinned and how it was that he interceded for them as Moses also had a great burden for the people of God.

            First part of the prayer Jeremiah reminds the Lord that these people were only flesh and blood.  Let us look at Psalm 103:13-16 to see if maybe Jeremiah was thinking about these verses when he prayed for the people of God:  “13  Just as a father has compassion on his children, So the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him. 14 For He Himself knows our frame; He is mindful that we are but dust. 15 As for man, his days are like grass; As a flower of the field, so he flourishes. 16 When the wind has passed over it, it is no more, And its place acknowledges it no longer.”

            Second we see in this prayer that if  the Lord gave these people what they deserved then they would all be destroyed, but isn’t that the truth with all of us for if it were not for the mercy of the Lord we would all be consumed.  Let us go back to Psalm 103 and look at verse ten:  “10 He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.”  As we compare these verses in Psalm 103 with Jeremiah’s prayer we can be sure that Jeremiah was a student of the Word of God.

            In his third argument Jeremiah brings up the point that the nations were trying to destroy Israel, whereas God wanted Babylon to discipline them, but they took it too far and now God would judge these nations for trying to destroy the nation of Israel.  This kind of thing is still going on today and has been going on ever since Israel became a nation for Satan hates Israel and is doing everything to destroy them, but he will not succeed.  When God called Abram who He renamed Abraham He told him “1 Now the LORD said to Abram, "Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father’s house, To the land which I will show you; 2  And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing; 3  And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed."  We can see throughout history that God has kept his promise to Abraham and to his offspring.  Just as we saw when we studied the book of Daniel that Daniel prayed for things that God had promised, and this is a pattern that we as believers should follow. 

            Dr. Wiersbe finishes this third chapter in his book by writing “It was on this note that Jeremiah ended his ‘temple sermon.’  The results?  According to Jeremiah 26, he was seized and condemned to die!  Rather than hear and obey the true Word of God, the priests would rather commit murder!  The Lord saved Jeremiah from being killed, but he was banished from the temple (36:5).  I wonder how many preachers today would boldly preach a message they knew would result in their being dismissed?  And I wonder how many in the congregation would be willing to accept that message and obey it?

            “God didn’t promise Jeremiah any easy ministry, but He did promise to keep him strong (1:7-8, 17-19).  He kept His promise to Jeremiah, and He will keep His promises to His servants today.”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  My prayer is that God will keep me strong doing what He desires me to do regardless of any consequences that may come.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Proverbs 3:5-6

Memory verses for the week:  Philippians 2:5-7

5 Have this attitude in yourself which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 8 but emptied himself, taking the form of a bond-servant and being made in the likeness of men.

 Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Jesus” (John 2:7).

Today’s Bible question:  “Ben-hadad was king of what country?”

 Answer in our next SD.

2/25/2014 10:31 AM

Jeremiah Looks Ahead & Laments that Judgment is Coming (Jeremiah 10:17-22)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/24/2014 11:20 AM

My Worship Time                  Focus:  Jeremiah looks ahead and laments that judgment is coming

Bible Reading & Meditation                                            Reference:  Jeremiah 10:17-22

            Message of the verses:  “17 Pick up your bundle from the ground, You who dwell under siege! 18 For thus says the LORD, "Behold, I am slinging out the inhabitants of the land At this time, And will cause them distress, That they may be found." 19 Woe is me, because of my injury! My wound is incurable. But I said, "Truly this is a sickness, And I must bear it." 20 My tent is destroyed, And all my ropes are broken; My sons have gone from me and are no more. There is no one to stretch out my tent again Or to set up my curtains. 21 For the shepherds have become stupid And have not sought the LORD; Therefore they have not prospered, And all their flock is scattered. 22 The sound of a report! Behold, it comes-A great commotion out of the land of the north-To make the cities of Judah A desolation, a haunt of jackals.”

            Jeremiah is not called the weeping prophet for nothing as we see here that he is weeping over what is about to come upon the Jews who live in Jerusalem and the surrounding cities.  He gives the reason as to why the Lord is going to punish His precious people in verse twenty-one.  When Jeremiah writes the book of Lamentations he says “13 Because of the sins of her prophets And the iniquities of her priests, Who have shed in her midst The blood of the righteous (Lam. 4:13.”  After the invasion was over is when Jeremiah wrote the book of Lamentations, and gives the reason for the invasion in this verse.

            Jeremiah was warning the people to pack up and leave, but they did not listen to him, for they did not believe him, but they did believe the false prophets.  What a shame as the people had the truth given to them by Jeremiah, but believed a lie told to them by the false prophets and false priests. 

            People believe the same lies today as false teachers tell people that they have to earn their way to heaven, or they have to do something like being baptized or follow some rituals in order to be right with God.  What they are doing is putting the cart before the horse for the Scriptures tell us that we are to be baptized, but after we have realized that there is nothing we can do in order to be saved on our own, but we must confess that we are sinners, guilty before a holy God, and then believe in our hearts that Jesus died in our place to take away our sins in order to be saved, and then we can be baptized and then we can do good works for the Lord as the Spirit directs us.  If we look at Ephesians 2:8-10 we can see this progression “8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Just as Jeremiah was doing the good works for the Lord that He had planned for him to do before he was even born, so I want to do those good works that God has called me to do before I was born so that I can bring glory to His name.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Proverbs 3:5-6.

Memory verses for the week: Philippians 2:5-7

5 Have this attitude in yourself which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,  7 but emptied Himself, taking on the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Your sins be forgiven you” (Luke 5:20-21).

Today’s Bible question:  “Who said ‘fill the waterpots with water’?”  

Answer in our next SD.

2/24/2014 11:47 AM 

Jeremiah Looks Around and Ridicules the Idols (Jeremiah 10:1-6)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/23/2014 8:25 PM

My Worship Time                                        Focus:  Jeremiah looks around and ridicules the idols

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Jeremiah 10:1-16

            Message of the verses:  In today’s SD we will begin to look at the fourth point from Dr. Wiersbe’s outline which he entitles “False Gods: the True and Living God” and it will cover the entire tenth chapter of Jeremiah. 

            Before we begin to look at this first sub-point we may want to take a trip down memory lane and look at the history of the nation of Israel.  It began with God calling an idol worshiping named Abram who God changed to Abraham and he lived in the idol worshiping country of Ur of the Chaldeans which is modern day Iraq.  It was God who gave this call to Abraham to move to the Promised Land which he did.  He was 75 years old and his wife was 65 years old when they left their homeland.  God gave a son to them when he was 100 and Sara was 90 and thus the people of Israel began with this miracle birth.  Eventually Jacob and his family of around 70 people ended up in Egypt where they eventually became slaves and while they were there they saw all of the idol worship that went on by the Egyptians.  Four hundred years later God used Moses to lead the people out of Egypt and took them on their way to the Promised Land.  While they were at Mt. Sinai God gave Moses the Law and while he was getting that law the children of Israel were have an idol worshiping orgy at the bottom of the mountain.  When they finally got to the Promised Land God told them to destroy the entire idol worshiping people who occupied the Promised Land at that time.  They failed to do so and these people that were left influenced the children of Israel instead of the children of Israel infusing them to worship the One True God.  Eventually the people continued to worship the idols and that is why the Lord was going to take them out of the Promised Land and this is where Jeremiah’s story comes in.

            Jeremiah Looks around and Ridicules the Idols (Jeremiah 10:1-6):  “1 Hear the word which the LORD speaks to you, O house of Israel. 2 Thus says the LORD, "Do not learn the way of the nations, And do not be terrified by the signs of the heavens Although the nations are terrified by them; 3 For the customs of the peoples are delusion; Because it is wood cut from the forest, The work of the hands of a craftsman with a cutting tool. 4 “They decorate it with silver and with gold; They fasten it with nails and with hammers So that it will not totter. 5 “Like a scarecrow in a cucumber field are they, And they cannot speak; They must be carried, Because they cannot walk! Do not fear them, For they can do no harm, Nor can they do any good." 6 There is none like You, O LORD; You are great, and great is Your name in might. 7 Who would not fear You, O King of the nations? Indeed it is Your due! For among all the wise men of the nations And in all their kingdoms, There is none like You. 8 But they are altogether stupid and foolish In their discipline of delusion-their idol is wood! 9 Beaten silver is brought from Tarshish, And gold from Uphaz, The work of a craftsman and of the hands of a goldsmith; Violet and purple are their clothing; They are all the work of skilled men. 10 But the LORD is the true God; He is the living God and the everlasting King. At His wrath the earth quakes, And the nations cannot endure His indignation. 11 Thus you shall say to them, "The gods that did not make the heavens and the earth will perish from the earth and from under the heavens." 12 It is He who made the earth by His power, Who established the world by His wisdom; And by His understanding He has stretched out the heavens. 13 When He utters His voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, And He causes the clouds to ascend from the end of the earth; He makes lightning for the rain, And brings out the wind from His storehouses. 14 Every man is stupid, devoid of knowledge; Every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols; For his molten images are deceitful, And there is no breath in them. 15 They are worthless, a work of mockery; In the time of their punishment they will perish. 16 The portion of Jacob is not like these; For the Maker of all is He, And Israel is the tribe of His inheritance; The LORD of hosts is His name.”

            When one looks at the description that Jeremiah gives of idols that the people of Israel along with other nations at that time were worshiping it makes one wonder why they worshiped those idols.  The problem is that they were blind, and especially the children of Israel who knew the truth were even blinded, and this make no sense at all. 

            Dr. Wiersbe quotes A. W. Tozer “the essence of idolatry is the entertainment of thoughts about God that are unworthy of Him.”  Dr. Wiersbe explains “It means worshiping and serving the creature rather than the Creator (Rom. 1:25), the gifts rather than the Giver.  The idols were senseless, and so were the people. (Jer. 10:8), because we become like the god we worship (Psalm 115:8).”  “Those who make them will become like them, Everyone who trusts in them.”

            I have written about the idols that we as believers, and even unbelievers worship today, and they are not like the ones that the people in Jeremiah’s day worshiped.  Dr. Wiersbe comments on today’s idols when he writes “Our contemporary idols aren’t ugly as were the pagan idols in Jeremiah’s day, but they capture just as much affection and do just as much damage.  Whatever we worship and serve other than the true and living God is an idol, whether it’s an expensive house or a car, the latest stereo equipment, a boat, a library, a girlfriend or boyfriend, our children, a career, or a bank account.  That on which I center my attention and affection and for which I am willing to sacrifice is my god, and if it isn’t Jesus Christ, then it’s an idol.”  “Little children, keep yourselves from idols” (1 John 5:21).

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  “The remedy for idolatry is for us to get caught up in the majesty and grandeur of God, the true God, the living God, the everlasting King.  An idol is a substitute, and you never want a substitute once you have experienced the lov and power of the Lord God Almighty.”  (Warren Wiersbe)

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Worship the Lord and Him alone.

Memory verses for the week:  Philippians 2:5-7

5 Have this attitude in yourself which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking on the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of man.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Three months” (Acts 28:11).”

Today’s Bible question:  “What statement did Jesus make to the man with palsy that caused his opposition to criticize him?

Answer in our next SD.

2/23/2014 9:02 PM

  

Being the Covenant People of God is no Assurance of Spiritual Understanding (Jer. 9:17-26)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/22/2014 10:55 AM

My Worship Time                              Focus: Being the Covenant people of God is no assurance of spiritual understanding

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Jer. 9:17-26

            Message of the verses:  We come today to the last sub-point of Dr. Wiersbe’s outline form the third main point.  We have been looking at the ninth chapter of the book of Jeremiah in the last few days dealing with the pride of God’s people, pride that came because of the covenant that God had with them.  We noted that God has a covenant with the children of Israel that started with Abraham and this covenant is unconditional.  We also noted that the covenant that God made with the children of Israel on Mt. Sinai is a conditional covenant and much of this covenant can be seen in the 28^th chapter of Deuteronomy.  God says if you keep this covenant then I will bless you, but if you don’t then I will curse you.  I think that one of the problems is with the Jews in Jeremiah’s day was that they disregarded the conditional covenant and only though of the unconditional covenant.

            Being God’s Covenant people is no assurance of Spiritual Understanding (Jeremiah 0:17-26):  “17 Thus says the LORD of hosts, "Consider and call for the mourning women, that they may come; And send for the wailing women, that they may come! 18 “Let them make haste and take up a wailing for us, That our eyes may shed tears And our eyelids flow with water. 19 “For a voice of wailing is heard from Zion, ’How are we ruined! We are put to great shame, For we have left the land, Because they have cast down our dwellings.’" 20 Now hear the word of the LORD, O you women, And let your ear receive the word of His mouth; Teach your daughters wailing, And everyone her neighbor a dirge. 21 For death has come up through our windows; It has entered our palaces To cut off the children from the streets, The young men from the town squares. 22 Speak, "Thus says the LORD, ’The corpses of men will fall like dung on the open field, And like the sheaf after the reaper, But no one will gather them.’"

    23 Thus says the LORD, "Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; 24 but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things," declares the LORD. 25 “Behold, the days are coming," declares the LORD, "that I will punish all who are circumcised and yet uncircumcised- 26 Egypt and Judah, and Edom and the sons of Ammon, and Moab and all those inhabiting the desert who clip the hair on their temples; for all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised of heart.’”

            I have been trying to highlight the times when Jeremiah writes the word “therefore” and also when he writes “Thus says the Lord” or “Now hear the word of the Lord” because when you read these statements there seems to be something important that is about to be said.  As far as the word “therefore” when you see that the author is trying to bring something to a conclusion from a point that he has been making.  I think that one of the most famous “therefore” is found in the 12^th chapter of the book of Romans where Paul begins that chapter by saying “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.”  Most Pastor’s and teachers that I have read believe that the “therefore” found in this verse goes all the way back to what Paul was teaching in the first eleven chapters of the book of Romans.  In those first eleven chapters of Romans Paul has much to say about sin and also about justification by faith and other things that God has done for us, and so he begins chapter twelve by saying that in light of all that I have taught you about what the Lord has done for you doesn’t it seem logical that your give yourselves to the Lord as a living sacrifice.  (Sorry to get off track here).

            When I look at the highlighted portion of verse twenty-one I can’t help but think of the last plague that God put on the first born of Egypt and for that matter all of the people who did not have the blood applied to their door posts.  Now judgment is coming upon the Jews, where it was the Jews who were saved by the blood while in the land of Egypt.  There is irony in that situation for sure.  Dr. Wiersbe writes this end note “Jeremiah 9:22 pictures death as the ‘grim reaper’ with the scythe in his hand, mowing people down like wheat in the field.”

            Dr. Wiersbe begins his commentary on this section by quoting verses 23-24 “23 Thus says the LORD, "Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; 24 but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things," declares the LORD.”  Then he goes on to write:  “No amount of education power, or wealth—three things the world today depends on and boasts about—can guarantee the blessing of God.  God doesn’t delight in a nation’s learning, political influence, armies, or gross national product.  He delights in a people who practice kindness, justice, and righteousness because they know and fear the Lord.  God promises covenant blessings to those who obey Him, not to those who only submit to religious ceremonies.”

            Let us look again at verses 25-26 “25 “Behold, the days are coming," declares the LORD, "that I will punish all who are circumcised and yet uncircumcised- 26 Egypt and Judah, and Edom and the sons of Ammon, and Moab and all those inhabiting the desert who clip the hair on their temples; for all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised of heart.’”  I see more irony in these two verses as the Jews were depending on circumcision to save them and God says that the Jews along with the Gentiles were uncircumcised, as the Jews were uncircumcised in their hearts.  That is the kind of circumcision that all believers have, the circumcision of their hearts as God cuts away the sinfulness around the heart. 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I can’t depend on rituals for my salvation or for my spiritual growth for that takes time in reading and studying and applying the things in the Word of God.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Jeremiah 9:23-24 “23 Thus says the LORD, "Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; 24 but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things," declares the LORD.”

Memory verses for the week:  Philippians 2:5-6

5 Have this attitude in yourself that was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to grasped,

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “To see whether Baal or the Lord would send fire from heaven” (1 Kings 18:21-24).

Today’s Bible question:  “For how long did Paul and those shipwrecked with him stay on the island of Melita?”

Answer in our next SD.

2/22/2014 11:44 AM

Being God’s Covenant people offers no escape from Judgment (Jeremiah 9:7-16)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/21/2014 10:09 AM

My Worship Time      Focus: Being God’s Covenant people offers no escape from Judgment

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                    Reference:  Jer. 9:7-16

            Message of the verses:  We will look at the second sub-point from the third main point from Dr. Wiersbe’s outline in today’s SD.

            Being God’s Covenant people offers no escape from Judgment (Jeremiah 9:7-16):  “7 Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, "Behold, I will refine them and assay (test or examine) them; For what else can I do, because of the daughter of My people? 8 “Their tongue is a deadly arrow; It speaks deceit; With his mouth one speaks peace to his neighbor, But inwardly he sets an ambush for him. 9 “Shall I not punish them for these things?" declares the LORD. "On a nation such as this Shall I not avenge Myself? 10  "For the mountains I will take up a weeping and wailing, And for the pastures of the wilderness a dirge, Because they are laid waste so that no one passes through, And the lowing of the cattle is not heard; Both the birds of the sky and the beasts have fled; they are gone. 11 “I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins, A haunt of jackals; And I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant."  12 Who is the wise man that may understand this? And who is he to whom the mouth of the LORD has spoken, that he may declare it? Why is the land ruined, laid waste like a desert, so that no one passes through? 13 The LORD said, "Because they have forsaken My law which I set before them, and have not obeyed My voice nor walked according to it, 14  but have walked after the stubbornness of their heart and after the Baals, as their fathers taught them," 15  therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, "behold, I will feed them, this people, with wormwood and give them poisoned water to drink. 16 “I will scatter them among the nations, whom neither they nor their fathers have known; and I will send the sword after them until I have annihilated them.’”

            As we read through this section of Scripture we can see why Dr. Wiersbe entitled it what he did, for God would not stop from judging His people just because they were His covenant people, and this surely surprised many of the people who believed the lies of the false prophets saying that God would never judge Israel because they our His covenant people.  In fact it was because they were His covenant people that God should expect more out of them for they were given greater advantages because of their position they were given.  After all God called them out of Egypt and gave them the Law and gave them the land they were living in.  He spoke to them through His prophets and they had His Word to read, so yes, they were actually more accountable to the Lord that other nations or peoples.  Jesus says in Luke 12:48 “but the one who did not know it, and committed deeds worthy of a flogging, will receive but few. From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more.”

            I have mentioned in earlier SD’s that my job for 35 years was melting iron in a very large foundry, working for a large car manufacture and when I look at verses like Jeremiah 9:7 it takes me back to the days that I melted iron to make, among other things, engine blocks.  We would take old scrap iron, among other things, and put it into a cupola, which is what we used to re-melt the iron, making it into cast iron.  Jeremiah says that God is going to do similar things to Judah, and we know when this process is finally over that they will come out refined and usable by the Lord.  In my opinion I don’t think that this process will be over until the last part of the tribulation period when Paul writes “All Israel will be saved.” 

            As we read through these verses we see more weeping but this time it seems to be more for the land and the animals, as the cities will now be vacant as the people will go into captivity.  God had given this land to the children of Israel and they were suppose to drive out those who worshiped idols, but they failed to do this and became more like these idol worshipers than worshipers of Jehovah. 

            Dr. Wiersbe finishes his commentary on this section by writing “Why would the land of ‘milk and honey’ become a barren wilderness?  Because the people disobeyed God’s law and turned to idols.  They thought their favored status before the Lord would protect them from judgment.”  We know from history that it did not.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I have to go back to the verse in the book of Luke that tells me that because much has been given to me by the Lord, much is required of me. 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Remember that the successful Christian life is a series of new beginnings.

Memory verses for the week:  Philippians 2:5-6

5 Have this attitude in yourself which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who although He existed in the form of God did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Cooper, silver, and gold.”

Today’s Bible question:  “What contest did Elijah propose to the prophets of Baal?”

Answer in our next SD

2/21/2014 10:39 AM

           

Being God's Covenant People is no Excuse or Sin (Jer. 9:1-6)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/20/2014 8:29 AM

My Worship Time                              Focus:  Being God’s Covenant People is no excuse for sin

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Jeremiah 9:1-6

            Message of the verses:  I think that a little review over the last two chapters is in order at this point.  We are following the outline of Warren Wiersbe’s commentary on the book of Jeremiah which he entitles “Be Decisive” and are now in the third chapter of this book.  This chapter covers chapters 7-10 of Jeremiah and at the end of his beginning commentary he wrote Jeremiah dealt with their sinful mistreatment of the temple, the Law, the covenant and the Lord Himself.”  In today’s SD we are looking at the beginning of the third main point in which we deal with the false confidences that the people had over the covenant that God had with them.  At the beginning of this section Dr. Wiersbe writes these important words “The Jews are the only nation in history with whom God has entered into a covenant relationship (Gen. 12:1-3).  As the children of Abraham, marked by the seal of circumcision (Gen. 17), they are indeed a special people to the Lord (Ex. 19:4-6).  The tragedy is that they trusted the covenant and the ritual to guarantee them acceptance before the Lord.  They though they didn’t need to repent or believe; that was for the uncircumcised Gentiles.  John the Baptist faced this obstacle in his ministry (Matthew 3:7-10), and so did Jesus  (John 8:33ff) and Paul (Rom. 2-4).  Jeremiah had to deal with the pride of his people as he pointed out to them three oblivious truths.”  Now that we are caught up with the review we will begin by looking at the first obvious truth that Jeremiah brings up to the people of Judah.

            Being God’s Covenant People is no Excuse for Sin (Jeremiah 9:1-6):  “1 Oh that my head were waters And my eyes a fountain of tears, That I might weep day and night For the slain of the daughter of my people! 2 Oh that I had in the desert A wayfarers’ lodging place; That I might leave my people And go from them! For all of them are adulterers, An assembly of treacherous men. 3 "They bend their tongue like their bow; Lies and not truth prevail in the land; For they proceed from evil to evil, And they do not know Me," declares the LORD. 4 “Let everyone be on guard against his neighbor, And do not trust any brother; Because every brother deals craftily, And every neighbor goes about as a slanderer. 5 “Everyone deceives his neighbor And does not speak the truth, They have taught their tongue to speak lies; They weary themselves committing iniquity. 6 “Your dwelling is in the midst of deceit; Through deceit they refuse to know Me," declares the LORD.”

            We see in verse one why Jeremiah is called the weeping prophet, but both Jesus and Paul wept for the people of Israel:  “When He approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it (Luke 19:41).”  “1 I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit, 2  that I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh, 4 who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons, and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the temple service and the promises, 5 whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen (Romans 9:1-5).”  For all of these men to weep over the children of Israel shows me that all had great compassion for the situation that they were in, as we will see, in the case of Jeremiah,  as we go through the book he wrote.

            I remember on several different occasions that the first Pastor that I had after I became a believer that he wept from the pulpit and this is not seen a whole lot today.  The Pastor that we have now is a very emotional person and I have seen tears of joy along with tears of sorrow come from him.  I truly appreciate this quality that he has for by seeing his tears I know that he cares for those whom he is ministering to.  I hope to see more tears from those who are listening to his sermons, those who need to weep over sin in their lives, and I surely include myself in that number.  James writes “9 Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up (James 4:9-10).”  Dr. Wiersbe quotes Vance Havner who said “Never in history has there been more ribald hilarity with less to be funny about.”  He may have been thinking about what James wrote in saying what he said.

            Jeremiah, if he could do what he wanted to do, would have left these people and gone to a place of safety, but he knew that God had called him to this work and he would obey the Lord.  Jeremiah would stay the course with them even after the city and the temple were destroyed. Jeremiah was grieved over the sins of the people’s immorality, idolatry, deception, and slander, and that was why he wept.

            We have mentioned in earlier SD’s that the Jewish people in that day and in the days of Jesus, and perhaps even today believe that they can do something to earn their salvation, but they also believe that because they are circumcised that they are the children of God.  Abraham has those who belong to his family in a way that all families are joined together, but He also has those who are spiritually joined to him and that includes all who are and have been believers.  John the Baptist told the Jews of his day “Mt 3:9  and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, ’We have Abraham for our father’; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham.”  Jesus told Nicodemus that in order for him to become a true son of God he had to be born again, this is the new birth, and as a friend of mine use to tell me “I was born wrong” that is true of all people as we are all born with a sin nature and are in need of having a new birth to be cleansed from our sin nature and our sins.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  As I look at Jeremiah in this section and I look at our Pastor along with my Lord and others in the Word of God and others in our world today and see that they can weep over sin I pray that this will be something that I can do too.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Proverbs 3:5-6; Phil. 2:5-11.

Memory verses for the week:  Philippians 2:5-6

5 Have this attitude in yourself which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Elisha” (2 Kings 6:1-7).

Today’s Bible question:  “The first Jewish coins consisted of what three metals?”

Answer in our next SD.

2/20/2014 9:27 AM

Judah's Refusal led to Judgment (Jeremiah 8:13-22)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/19/2014 1:31 PM

My Worship Time                                                Focus:  Judah’s Refusal would lead to judgment

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Jeremiah 8:13-22

            Message of the verses:  “13 "I will surely snatch them away," declares the LORD; "There will be no grapes on the vine And no figs on the fig tree, And the leaf will wither; And what I have given them will pass away."’" 14 Why are we sitting still? Assemble yourselves, and let us go into the fortified cities And let us perish there, Because the LORD our God has doomed us And given us poisoned water to drink, For we have sinned against the LORD. 15 We waited for peace, but no good came; For a time of healing, but behold, terror! 16 From Dan is heard the snorting of his horses; At the sound of the neighing of his stallions The whole land quakes; For they come and devour the land and its fullness, The city and its inhabitants. 17 “For behold, I am sending serpents against you, Adders, for which there is no charm, And they will bite you," declares the LORD. 18 My sorrow is beyond healing, My heart is faint within me! 19 Behold, listen! The cry of the daughter of my people from a distant land: "Is the LORD not in Zion? Is her King not within her?" "Why have they provoked Me with their graven images, with foreign idols?" 20 “Harvest is past, summer is ended, And we are not saved." 21 For the brokenness of the daughter of my people I am broken; I mourn, dismay has taken hold of me. 22 Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then has not the health of the daughter of my people been restored?”

            We begin the last sub-section in our main section entitled “False Prophets: the Law” and this final subsection covers the remaining verses in Jeremiah eight.  Dr. Wiersbe wrote the following at the beginning of this second main section:  “He raised a number of questions in this section, but the whole proclamation centers on one major question:  ‘Why did the nation not turn back to God?’  In answering the question, Jeremiah dealt with three aspects of the people’s stubborn refusal to obey God.”

            In these verses we see the blending of three different voices:  God’s voice of judgment, and then the people’s voice of despair, and also the prophet’s voice of anguish as he contemplates the ruin of a once great nation.  In verses 13 and 16 we see God declaring that the fields would be ruined and in verse seventeen we also see God declaring the cities would be destroyed and in verse nineteen we see that many of the people will be slain, as verse fourteen says it will be like drinking poison.  Verse seventeen speaks of poison snakes attacking and in verse twenty-one we see the people will be crushed and broken.

            In verse fourteen we see that the people decide to go to the walled cities to be protected instead of turning back to the Lord to repent and ask for His help.  The people were wondering why the Lord allowed all this to happen, when it was really the sin of the people that has caused all of this to come upon them.  Verse twenty is a proverb “Harvest is past, summer is ended, And we are not saved.”  They knew that it was too late for them as their opportunity had come and gone.

            We know that Jeremiah is known as the weeping prophet and we also know that he lamented a long time over what had come over Judah, but now he laments over what will happen.  I have mentioned in earlier SD’s that in the book of Revelations John is given a book by an angel and was told to eat it and it would be like honey in his mouth and when it got to his stomach it will be bitter.  This is the life of the prophets as they are have the opportunity to see what will happen in the future but it becomes a great burden to them like the bitterness of stomach that John experienced.

            In verse twenty-one we read “For the brokenness of the daughter of my people I am broken; I mourn, dismay has taken hold of me.”  This is how Jeremiah felt about his people.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I desire to have compassion when compassion is needed, and I desire for that compassion come to me from the Lord so I can pass it on to those who are hurting so that will bring glory to the Lord.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Pray that the Lord will fill me with His compassion like Jeremiah had for the people of Judah when I am put into a position where compassion is needed.

Memory verses for the week:  Philippians 2:5-6

5 Have this attitude in yourself which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Thessalonica” (2 Timothy 4:10).

Today’s Bible question:  “Who recovered an axe head by causing it to swim or float/”

Answer in our next SD.

2/19/2014 2:01 PM

Judah's Refusal was caused by Deception by the False Prophets (Jer. 8:8-12)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/18/2014 6:24 PM

My Worship Time                                             Focus:  Judah’s Refusal was caused by Deception

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Jeremiah 8:8-12

            Message of the verses:  Remember that this will be the next to last section from the eight chapter of Jeremiah and we are trying to answer questions regarding with three aspects of the people of Judah’s refusal to obey God.

            Judah’s Refusal was caused by Deception(Jeremiah 8:8-12):  “8  "How can you say, ’We are wise, And the law of the LORD is with us’? But behold, the lying pen of the scribes Has made it into a lie. 9 “The wise men are put to shame, They are dismayed and caught; Behold, they have rejected the word of the LORD, And what kind of wisdom do they have? 10 “Therefore I will give their wives to others, Their fields to new owners; Because from the least even to the greatest Everyone is greedy for gain; From the prophet even to the priest Everyone practices deceit. 11 “They heal the brokenness of the daughter of My people superficially, Saying, ’Peace, peace,’ But there is no peace. 12 “Were they ashamed because of the abomination they had done? They certainly were not ashamed, And they did not know how to blush; Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; At the time of their punishment they shall be brought down," Says the LORD.”

            Jeremiah mentions the “lying pen of the scribes” in verse eight and this caused me to do a little research on what a scribe was in both the OT and NT.  It seems that the scribes were first used to copy the Scriptures, making sure that they were accurate, but when the Jew came back from their captivity there is a difference in what a scribe did as Ezra was called a scribe.  The following quote is from a website entitled “Lear the Bible.”  “However, these uses for scribe are mostly found in the Old Testament. The New Testament scribes are a special group among the Jewish religious leaders. Their primary duties were to study the law of Moses, teach it to the people, and even to help settle disputes involving the questions of the law. The New Testament scribes traced their origin back to Ezra who is variously called "a ready scribe in the law of Moses" (Ezra 7:6This Ezra went up from Babylon; and he was a ready scribe in the law of Moses, which the LORD God of Israel had given: and the king granted him all his request, according to the hand of the LORD his God upon him.  See All...), "a scribe of the words of the commandments of the LORD, and of his statutes to Israel" (Ezra 7:11Now this is the copy of the letter that the king Artaxerxes gave unto Ezra the priest, the scribe, even a scribe of the words of the commandments of the LORD, and of his statutes to Israel.  See All...), and "the scribe of the law of the God of heaven" (Ezra 7:21And I, even I Artaxerxes the king, do make a decree to all the treasurers which are beyond the river, that whatsoever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, shall require of you, it be done speedily,  See All...). Ezra received these titles because he "had prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments" (Ezra 7:10For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments.
See All...). Ezra was therefore the ideal type for the New Testament scribe.”  We know that Jesus did not have many good things to say about the scribes when He walked upon planet earth.

            We have mentioned in earlier SD’s that there were many, many false prophets in Jerusalem during this time period, and many false prophets before this time period, and they would say things that were popular and did the most for them, not really telling people the truth.  We can go back to the time of Balaam, and we know that he too was a false prophet who was trying to use his “talents” to make money.  Now we can look at many “TV Evangelists” today who claim that they can heal people, but of course you have to send them money to get that healing that you need.  Now if these “Evangelists” were really able to help people they should all go down to the hospitals and heal everyone who is there.  We would not need any health care if these folks were on the level.  When Jesus walked the earth He healed most everyone whom He came in contact with, proving that He was the Messiah.  Ok sometimes I get a little off track and have to stand on my soapbox, but what I am writing is the truth.

            We know that these false prophets who claimed to be speaking in the name of the Lord deceived most everyone in the kingdom of Judah, however they did not fool God or for that matter the true prophets of which Jeremiah was one.  Dr. Wiersbe writes “Jeremiah pictured these men as deceitful physicians (6:14; 8:11), empty wind (5:13), dispensers of chaff (23:28), ruthless, selfish shepherds (23:1-4), and infected people spreading disease (23:15, NIV).  God had not sent these so-called prophets (14:14; 23:18, 21; 29:9, 31), nor did they receive their messages from God (23:25-28).”

            He goes on to write “What happens to the Lord’s people largely depends on the leaders they follow.  Worldly leaders attract and produce worldly people, but you pay a price to follow spiritual leadership.  It’s much easier to drift with the current and go along with the crowd.  Jeremiah had few friends or disciples because his message wasn’t popular.”

            We can look at the Lord Jesus Christ when He walked on planet earth and see that the majority of the people of His day did not really follow Him because of what He said, but what He did, that is the healing of many thousands of people.  However when it came down to it at the end the false prophets of that day had Him crucified.  He tells us that it is difficult to follow Him and when we are living a life that is pleasing to Him others will not like it because they see the sinfulness in their own lives and do not like that.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I desire to be like the Berean’s who searched the Scriptures after they were taught by Paul to make sure that he was telling them the truth.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Proverbs 3:5-6.

Memory verses for the week:  Philippians 2:5-6:

5.  Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped;

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Ruth” (Ruth 2:2).

Today’s Bible question:  “After forsaking Paul, Demas departed unto what place?”

Answer in our next SD.

2/18/2014 7:19 PM