Deep Dive
Shownotes Transcript
Hey, Bible readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble, and I'm your host for The Bible Recap. Jeremiah continues his plea to Judah today, and he opens with a reminder of what many, but not all, of their idols really are. It's a tree God made, cut down by a human God made, covered in gold God made. It can't hear or speak or move.
That block of wood by itself can't do good or evil. It's completely impotent. Unless, and this is something the text doesn't quite dig into here, unless an evil spirit attaches itself to the object. And this is actually what the people are hoping for, although they aren't specifically seeking evil spirits, just forces of power.
In order to summon these forces of power, they do incantations, cut themselves, and perform magic and rituals to try to get what they believe is a god to indwell the thing they've just made. They even make special outfits for the statues and take them on trips. When you think about those statues and then you consider Yahweh, there is no comparison. The people are worshipping these idols because they think it will give them safety and power and happiness.
Most of us probably don't have a false god set up in our homes, but we certainly do look to other things besides Yahweh for those same purposes. Safety and power and happiness. There's nothing wrong with those things, but when they take precedence in our hearts and thoughts, they take our eyes off Yahweh.
When our good desires become ultimate, when they become expectations and requirements, we are on the same path as the people of Judah who sought out other gods to access their desires. In verses 19 through 21, Jeremiah speaks on behalf of Jerusalem. And one of the things that the personified Jerusalem says is that the people who are supposed to be leading Judah aren't actually seeking God. And as a result, the people of Judah are scattered.
If no one is following a person, they aren't really a leader, not even a bad one. And good leaders know that they have to first be good followers. But again, these guys aren't following God. They're following themselves, their own hearts, their own impulses. Then in verse 23, Jeremiah prays as Jerusalem, begging God to bring judgment on the pagan nations, but not on Judah.
Yesterday in 7.16, God commanded Jeremiah not to pray for Judah. And maybe this is his attempt to find a loophole. He's not praying for them, he's praying as them. In chapter 11, God is like, hey, I heard that, knock it off. He puts it like this in verse 14. Do not pray for this people or lift up a cry or prayer on their behalf, for I will not listen when they call to me in the time of their trouble.
Then God reminds Judah of his covenant with them. They've broken it, and these are the consequences they're experiencing because of that.
When we were nearing the end of Isaiah on day 211, you may remember that God initiated a new covenant with them, an everlasting covenant. This isn't contradicting that. That part is coming in Jeremiah as well, but we're not there yet. By the way, chronological reading plans can be really challenging to parse. There's truly no way to do it perfectly or clean, so let's aim to have grace for any ways that it's not laid out according to your preference. The people at Blue Letter Bible who made this YouVersion plan did a great job.
All that to say, according to where we are in Jeremiah, the people of Judah are still living under the conditional covenant. In the history of God's relationship with Israel, they weren't listening to him. So he was like, let me write it down for you so there's no question about what I'm saying. And they're like, got it, thanks, we'll do this for sure. And then, of course, they don't.
You may remember that they even lost the scroll until King Josiah's guys found it when renovating the temple. And at some point, they even lost the tablets of the Ten Commandments. They have no regard for God or His Word. If they took the time they spent dressing their idols in fancy outfits and put that towards seeking God instead, they'd be in a totally different place right now. In 11, 18-20, Jeremiah talks to God about what's going on in his own life because of all these prophecies.
The people of his hometown don't like his sermons one bit, and they've made a threat on his life. God responds in verses 21 through 23 by letting Jeremiah know that he doesn't need to sweat those guys because God will end them. Wow. In chapter 12, Jeremiah tells God that he's really confused by God's actions. He knows God is righteous and that they both want the wicked and the hypocrites to be punished, but God doesn't seem to be doing anything about it. In fact, those guys seem to be thriving.
God responds by basically saying, it's even worse than you think, and it's about to get worse. God never promised Jeremiah an easy life. He just promised he would be with him. And now Jeremiah is living in that reality. He's talking to the living God while all his family and friends betray him. It's clear God is with him, even if no one else is. God says this hasn't been easy for him either. He's had to hand over his people to the consequences of their sins.
But even as they're taken into exile, God is keeping a watchful eye on them, and he will punish anyone who hurts them. He's got a plan to bring them back into this land eventually. And he also reminds us of his merciful promise to pardon any foreigners whose hearts turn to worship him. And he'll include them in his family as well. It's in 12.16, which says, If they will diligently learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name as the Lord lives...
Even as they taught my people to swear by Baal, then they shall be built up in the midst of my people. Chapter 13 gives us a bit of theater. The kind God uses as a metaphor to make his point. He asked Jeremiah, buy a linen cloth, put it on, then go bury it in the ground. A few days later, God tells him to go back and dig it up. And obviously it's filthy. It's probably covered in earthworms. Then God says, this is what I'm going to do to Judah's pride. I'm going to ruin it like this loincloth.
The chapter closes with prophecies of death, destruction, and exile, and God points out that there is no escape from his plan. In verse 25, he says, This is your lot, the portion I have measured out to you, declares the Lord. What was your God shot? Mine showed up a few times today. It was in the reminders that God is with us in every moment, not just in destinations or arrivals, but in steps.
I saw it in 10.23, which says, I know, O Lord, that the way of man is not in himself, that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps. And I saw it again when God is talking about the covenant he made with his people. 11.4 says, Listen to my voice and do all that I command you. This is still the best advice. Listen to God. Do what he says.
That very statement implies that God is attentive, speaking, giving direction. He cares. He's not removed from you or your life. He's there to help you and guide you. You are not on your own. It's easy to feel lonely and confused and like we're on the verge of ruining our lives with one decision.
But God says, I'm here. Talk to me. I know exactly what's next for you. You're trying to decide what city to move to, and I already know where you're going to store your paper towels. He listens. He guides. He's with you. And he's where the joy is. ♪
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