Tag: Jeremiah

Jeremiah 47:6-7 (KJV)
O thou sword of the LORD, how long will it be ere thou be quiet? put up thyself into thy scabbard, rest, and be still.
How can it be quiet, seeing the LORD hath given it a charge against Ashkelon, and against the sea shore? there hath he appointed it.

It is, I believe, an example of wondrous kindness that the very same prophet pronouncing this judgment would also beg that the judgment be stopped.

It is even more remarkable when we consider:

• That the recipient of this judgment was an enemy of Israel and had been for generations.
• That the executioner of this judgment had also judged Jerusalem

The child of God wishes no evil on anyone, not even his greatest enemies. We long to see them:

• Reconciled to God
• Forgiven
• Changed and united with the people of God

And so we pray

Yet there is a truth that cannot be escaped; those who are not united to Christ in saving faith have no option but the wrath of God.

• There is no other grace but Jesus
• There is no other salvation but the gospel
• There is no other prayer that can deliver one from this judgment except the humble prayer of repentance, calling upon Christ for salvation

Christians don’t want any to suffer this wrath, but we are bound to warn all that, except they repent, they shall likewise perish.

 

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Jeremiah 47:6-7 No Other Grace But Jesus

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Jeremiah 44:16-18 (KJV)
As for the word that thou hast spoken unto us in the name of the LORD, we will not hearken unto thee.
But we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth, to burn incense unto the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, as we have done, we, and our fathers, our kings, and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem: for then had we plenty of victuals, and were well, and saw no evil.
But since we left off to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, we have wanted all things, and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine.

What a snare men set for themselves. Truly the god, who is the mind of the corrupt men, reasons to their own harm.

God had warned them not to worship those false gods and do that thing that He hates. They countered that they would not obey God for two reasons:

• When they had disobeyed in the past, they had plenty
• When they had done as God said in the past, they had suffered

To them it was all about their own experience. They took the short view. They looked at what was in the moment. They missed the fact that God’s promises work on a different timetable.

God countered by reminding them that the reason they had lost the Promised Land was the disobedience of their fathers. Judgment had not come instantly but it had come. Blessings come in the same manner.

Any one of us can find reasons why obeying God’s Word doesn’t make sense. The reason to obey it is just one, “it’s appointed unto man once to die and after this, the judgment.”[1]

[1] Hebrews 9:27

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For this and more than 3700 earlier Daily Visits with God visit Marvin McKenzie’s blogger page. There you will find daily visits going back to 2006.

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Jeremiah 44:16-18 The Reason to Obey God

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Jeremiah 39:11-12 (KJV)
Now Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon gave charge concerning Jeremiah to Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, saying,
Take him, and look well to him, and do him no harm; but do unto him even as he shall say unto thee.

Jerusalem wasn’t as populated in Jeremiah’s time as now but it wasn’t little then either. The city was significant enough that Babylon wanted to take it.  And yet, in a city of that size, Nebuchadnezzar was aware of Jeremiah, a preacher turned prisoner.

John Gill says he must have heard about Jeremiah, “by one or another of his generals.” It is likely that the news of Jeremiah had been shared by those Jews who had already surrendered to the Babylonians.

I am thinking of those faithful ministers and preachers of God’s Word. Perhaps they feel imprisoned in their current circumstances. Maybe they believe that their work has gone unheeded and unnoticed. Jeremiah most certainly felt that way.

The lesson in this passage is that we haven’t been forgotten. No matter how dark one may feel the dungeon of his circumstances is, God has not forgotten.

Keep the faith.

By and by, in the fullness of His time, God will deliver you and reward you at the same time.

 

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For this and more than 3700 earlier Daily Visits with God visit Marvin McKenzie’s blogger page. There you will find daily visits going back to 2006.

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Jeremiah 39:11-12 God Has Not Forgotten

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Jeremiah 38:18-20 (KJV)
But if thou wilt not go forth to the king of Babylon’s princes, then shall this city be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they shall burn it with fire, and thou shalt not escape out of their hand.
And Zedekiah the king said unto Jeremiah, I am afraid of the Jews that are fallen to the Chaldeans, lest they deliver me into their hand, and they mock me.
But Jeremiah said, They shall not deliver thee. Obey, I beseech thee, the voice of the LORD, which I speak unto thee: so it shall be well unto thee, and thy soul shall live.

What a strange thing it is that Zedekiah should be more afraid of the Jews than of Babylon, whose might was already deemed to be greater than his own, or God, who Jeremiah had prophesied would not help him unless he surrender to the Babylonians.

Zedekiah reminds me of the average professing Christian. He was interested in the Word of God. In many ways he was sympathetic to the cause of those in the ministry. But he was physically unwilling to put aside his rational fears and simply obey the Lord.

Why Zedekiah was this way is only ours to speculate. I imagine it was for many of the same reasons people come week after week to hear the Word of the Lord but, in the end, make few changes in their lives to comply with that Word.

• I think they want to believe the Word but they do not.
• I think it sounds plausible in their heart but their flesh will not allow them to trust in it.
• I think they want to secretly keep the preacher on their side in case he is right but they aren’t willing to risk if he is wrong.

This leaves the preacher to do just what Jeremiah did. He pled for the king to set aside those fears and obey the voice of the Lord.

May many heed this plea!

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For this and more than 3700 earlier Daily Visits with God visit Marvin McKenzie’s blogger page. There you will find daily visits going back to 2006.

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Jeremiah 38:18-20 Set Aside Those Fears

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Jeremiah 35:18-19 (KJV)
And Jeremiah said unto the house of the Rechabites, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Because ye have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your father, and kept all his precepts, and done according unto all that he hath commanded you:
Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not want a man to stand before me for ever.

The Rechabites obeyed because they obeyed.

• They weren’t forced to obey.
• They did not live in conditions where they could not but obey

They had means and opportunity to disobey and yet they didn’t.

Such character is lacking among so many. It was lacking in Israel in that day and lacking among Americans in our day.

Notice that they didn’t require some “Eleventh Commandment” in order to obey. It did not require “chapter and verse” (although such passages exist) to keep them from drinking alcohol, they didn’t drink wine because their fathers had taught them not to.

Now God promised that, despite the upheaval Israel was about to experience, “Rechab shall not want a man to stand before me…” There is, of course, a supernatural answer to this promise but there is also a practical one; those who obey what they are taught will obviously be those who survive catastrophes much more frequently than those who throw instruction to the wind.

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For this and more than 3700 earlier Daily Visits with God visit Marvin McKenzie’s blogger page. There you will find daily visits going back to 2006.

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Jeremiah 35:18-19 Don’t Throw Instruction to the Wind

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Jeremiah 31:7 (KJV)
For thus saith the LORD; Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout among the chief of the nations: publish ye, praise ye, and say, O LORD, save thy people, the remnant of Israel.

Every word of God is profitable and ought to be heard and heeded. Every word of God is in fact, “Thus saith the Lord.” But here we have a passage[1] that specifically declares “thus saith the Lord.” It is worth our while to pause and consider it.

Sing with gladness
This was preached in a time of great trouble but singing and gladness were called for. Few things will get you through hard times better than finding reasons to rejoice.

For Jacob
The trouble was directed toward them yet God said be glad for them. They are the people of God and He is at work in them. That’s a reason to rejoice.

Shout
There is no good reason to keep our faith quiet. We are not only to be loud about it when we are with believers but also and even especially when we are out among the nations.

Publish ye
Make it known. Not merely through preachers and missionaries you support but personally.

Praise ye
Make your own confidence and faith in God be known .

Say, O LORD, save thy people, the remnant of Israel.
Pray for the salvation of those who are not.

 

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For this and more than 3700 earlier Daily Visits with God visit Marvin McKenzie’s blogger page. There you will find daily visits going back to 2006.

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Jeremiah 31:7 Pause and Consider

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[1] One of many.

Jeremiah 28:12-13 (KJV)
Then the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah the prophet, after that Hananiah the prophet had broken the yoke from off the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, saying,
Go and tell Hananiah, saying, Thus saith the LORD; Thou hast broken the yokes of wood; but thou shalt make for them yokes of iron.

This is the great danger of religion.

• It looks good and sounds appealing.
• It promises liberty and frees people of expectation.
• It claims to break bondage and set captives free.

In reality it does only the opposite.

The trouble with religion, as with all systems that disavow or pay mere lip service to God’s Word, is that they are focused only on the present. They operate on the modern religious premise “Your Best Life Now. ” Their failure to view eternal things seriously condemns those who accept them into bondage far worse than anything this earth can imagine; hell and the Lake of Fire.

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For this and more than 3700 earlier Daily Visits with God visit Marvin McKenzie’s blogger page. There you will find daily visits going back to 2006.

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Jeremiah 28:12-13 The Danger of Religion

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Jeremiah 25:2-4 (KJV)
The which Jeremiah the prophet spake unto all the people of Judah, and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying,
From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah, even unto this day, that is the three and twentieth year, the word of the LORD hath come unto me, and I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking; but ye have not hearkened.
And the LORD hath sent unto you all his servants the prophets, rising early and sending them; but ye have not hearkened, nor inclined your ear to hear.

Jeremiah’s ministry was personal and independent.

• God had called him Independently.
• God had anointed him independently.
• God had spoken to him independently. 

But Jeremiah wasn’t alone.  Jeremiah was keenly aware that there were other prophets doing exactly as he was doing. He was independent but he was not alone.

The same can be said, for instance, of the New Testament apostles. The majority of Biblical information has to do with Paul.

• His ministry was independent.
• He was personally accountable for it.

But he too was not alone. While the Bible tells us little of the ministries of Peter, and next to nothing of the others, we know they were busy in the Lord’s work and they knew it (about each other) too.

The same is true of us. Each of us is independently accountable for our walk with Christ but we are not alone. Each pastor is independently responsible for his ministry but he isn’t the only preacher. Each church is independently accountable for the light they send to the world but we operate best when we are aware that others send that same light.

We are personally responsible, but we are not alone.

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For this and more than 3700 earlier Daily Visits with God visit Marvin McKenzie’s blogger page. There you will find daily visits going back to 2006.

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Jeremiah 25:2-4 We Are Not Alone

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Jeremiah 23:1-4 (KJV)
Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD.
Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the LORD.
And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase.
And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the LORD.

This passage is challenging for at least two reasons:
The use of the title “pastors” is different than we understand it today
We use the title “pastor” for the leader of our church. We see the pastor as the spiritual shepherd of a local congregation. While some have styled themselves as:

• radio pastors
• television pastors and
• internet pastors,

we think of the pastor as the shepherd of a local church.

That is not what that title meant to God in Jeremiah’s day. There were prophets and priests who had the spiritual charge over God’s flock of the day, Israel. Bible students such as Barnes and Gill agree that this (pastors) refers to a civil leader.

The use of the term “visit” is different than we understand it today.
We think of a pastoral visit as something of a comfort. It’s the preacher coming to our home for a meal or to attend our kid’s birthday party. There’s nothing wrong with him doing those things, but that’s not what is intended in Jeremiah. Consider for example those passages that speak of the day of God’s visitation. By it, the Bible means His judgment. It’s a reference to the time when God corrects wrong.

It is this sort of visitation that Jeremiah’s pastors were guilty of neglecting. The people were straying from the commands of the law and it was their responsibility to rein them in. It was a responsibility they had all but abandoned.

It would be more accurate to apply this passage to our:

• mayors
• judges and
• councilmen

They are the ones who have abandoned the Word of God, scattered their faith to the wind and set our moral integrity adrift.

God’s answer?

I believe it is the New Testament Church. There, a soul may find a shepherd who will feed them God’s Word and provide them moral (as well as spiritual) direction.

To my readers:
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For this and more than 3700 earlier Daily Visits with God visit Marvin McKenzie’s blogger page. There you will find daily visits going back to 2006.

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Jeremiah 23:1-4 God’s Answer?

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Jeremiah 21:3-9 (KJV)
Then said Jeremiah unto them, Thus shall ye say to Zedekiah:
Thus saith the LORD God of Israel; Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands, wherewith ye fight against the king of Babylon, and against the Chaldeans, which besiege you without the walls, and I will assemble them into the midst of this city.
And I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm, even in anger, and in fury, and in great wrath.
And I will smite the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast: they shall die of a great pestilence.
And afterward, saith the LORD, I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah, and his servants, and the people, and such as are left in this city from the pestilence, from the sword, and from the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those that seek their life: and he shall smite them with the edge of the sword; he shall not spare them, neither have pity, nor have mercy.
And unto this people thou shalt say, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I set before you the way of life, and the way of death.
He that abideth in this city shall die by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence: but he that goeth out, and falleth to the Chaldeans that besiege you, he shall live, and his life shall be unto him for a prey.

Though it isn’t a perfect fit and I would not be insistent upon forcing this interpretation, I see a foreshadow of the Tribulation in these verses.

It begins with God fighting them
The first half of the Tribulation is marked by every sort of natural disaster

• Drought
• Famine
• Pestilence
• Earthquakes
• Fires
• Etc

The disasters are such that a fraction of the population of the world survives.

It is followed by Babylon being unleashed on those that remain
The second half of the Tribulation is marked by the aggressive and violent rule of Antichrist. The only real survivors are those who risk death by Antichrist.

Those who follow him will ultimately perish. In the end, only those who refuse his mark and risk their lives in it go to the millennial kingdom.

Christ taught the principle that those who save their lives shall lose it and those who give their lives shall save it.

To my readers:
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For this and more than 3700 earlier Daily Visits with God visit Marvin McKenzie’s blogger page. There you will find daily visits going back to 2006.

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Jeremiah 21:3-9 A Tribulation Foreshadowing?

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