Sayre Woods Bible Church

Two things stood out at me from today’s reading:

The LORD says to the people of Judah,
    “What right do you have to be in my temple, my beloved people?
    Many of you have done wicked things.
    Can your acts of treachery be so easily canceled by sacred offerings
    that you take joy in doing evil even while you make them?
(Jeremiah 11:15)

This verse made me closely examine my approach to worship. Too often I approach God (whether individually or corporately) without having prepared my heart to do so. Sometimes I haven’t asked forgiveness from someone I should have. Sometimes I’m dealing with a poor attitude or bitterness. Sometimes my mind is just not focused on the Object of my worship. I find that I take worship far too casually. And when I do, its not really worship. Its just going through the motions, no matter what what I feel while I’m singing or listening or interacting with the word. Israel had gotten to the point where God asked them what right they had to be in the temple. May my worship never become so meaningless that its not even worth showing up for.

The LORD gave me knowledge, that I might have understanding.
    Then he showed me what the people were doing. Before this I had been like a docile lamb ready to be led to the slaughter.
    I did not know they were making plans to kill me.
    I did not know they were saying,
    “Let’s destroy the tree along with its fruit!
    Let’s remove Jeremiah from the world of the living
    so people will not even be reminded of him any more.”
(Jeremiah 11:18-19)

I’ve wondered a lot lately about the lack of persecution the American Church faces. When reading the Prophets and the New Testament it seems clear that when the people of God are doing their job, they face persecution. Jesus told his disciples that they should expect persecution because he himself faced it. Yet the American Church faces very little persecution. In fact, we currently have a whole group of Presidential candidates catering to the Church in order to earn votes. If we are to expect persecution when following God, why are we not experiencing any? My own personal opinion is because we have become too interested in politics and too closely related to government. When Christians do receive criticism it is often based on our political beliefs and not on the basis of our proclamation of Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection.

For those individuals who do face persecution from family and friends because of their beliefs (because some individuals do, even if the Church in America doesn’t) and for the persecuted Church around the world, there is the assurance that God will avenge the suffering of his people. Jeremiah asked the Lord to vindicate him and judge those who have threatened his life, and God responded:

So the LORD who rules over all said, “I will surely punish them! Their young men will be killed in battle. Their sons and daughters will die of starvation. Not one of them will survive. I will bring disaster on those men from Anathoth who threatened you. A day of reckoning is coming for them.” (Jeremiah 11:22-23)

The LORD, who is the inheritance of Jacob’s descendants, is not like them.
He is the one who created everything.
And the people of Israel are those he claims as his own.
He is known as the LORD who rules over all.”
(Jeremiah 10:16)

As I read this verse, I found myself incredibly awestruck and humbled at the realization of who God is. In this one verse, God makes five claims about his person and character:

1. He is the Portion of Jacob
The study note in my Bible for this phrase says:

The phrase the portion of Jacob’s descendants, which is applied to God here, has its background in the division of the land where each tribe received a portion of the land of Palestine except the tribe of Levi whose “portion” was the LORD. As the other tribes lived off what their portion of the land provided, the tribe of Levi lived off what the LORD provided, i.e., the tithes and offerings dedicated to him. Hence to have the LORD as one’s portion is to have him provide for all one’s needs.

By using this title for himself, God is promising to provide for his people. I was fortunate enough to grow up in a home where I didn’t need to worry about where my next meal was going to come from or where I was going to live. I had the confidence that no matter what was going on in my life, my needs would be met; my father would provide for me. As children of God, we have the same assurance. He is Jehovah Jireh, The Lord Who Provides, and he has promised to provide all our needs (Phil. 4:19).

2. He is not like them.
This phrase is more powerful in light of what God has said about the false idols:

“They cannot talk. They must be carried because they cannot walk… they cannot hurt you. And they do not have any power to help you.” (10:5)

“They are the handiwork of carpenters and goldsmiths… They are all made by skillful workers.” (10:9)

“For the image he forges is merely a sham… There is no breath in any of those idols.” (10:14)

“They are worthless, mere objects to be mocked.” (10:15)

What does it mean if God is not like them? It means that he is the Living God (10:10), that he talks to his people (10:1), that he is the Creator, not the Created (10:12), and that he is worthy of the worship and obedience he has commanded from his people.

3. He is the one who created everything.
I think God is using a little bit of irony here for effect. In the first half of the chapter, he describes how the people created idols from trees and metal. In the second half of the chapter, he describes how he created the earth. It makes the worship of idols seem foolish. Why worship something you have created when you can worship the one who created you? And yet people today still want to worship a god created in their own image instead of the God who created us in his image. Even Christians fall into the trap of thinking God is like them instead of trying to be like God. The Lord is the one who created everything, and he is the one who is worthy of our worship.

4. The people of Israel are those he claims as his own.
After describing how Israel has created false idols, and how they are completely dependent upon him for provision and are unable to care for themselves, and reminding them how he is the omnipotent Creator, God makes the statement that he has claimed Israel as his own. As Christians, we have been adopted as children of God. He has claimed us as his own. The Creator, the Provider, the One whom we have forsaken, considers us his possession.

“The Spirit himself bears witness to our spirit that we are God’s children. And if children, then heirs (namely, heirs of God and also fellow heirs with Christ) — if indeed we suffer with him so we may also be glorified with him.” (Romans 8:16-17)

“But you, brothers and sisters, are children of the promise like Isaac.” (Galatians 4:28)

“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may proclaim the virtues of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” (1 Peter 2:9)

5. The LORD who rules over all.

This name of God is actually the LORD of armies, and it is a title used to show God’s strength. Here (and often in the prophets) it takes on additional meaning because of the judgment is he pronouncing on Israel.

“Listen! News is coming even now.The rumble of a great army is heard approaching from a land in the north…” (Jeremiah 10:22)

God is not only the Lord over the host of angels in heaven, he is the Lord over the armies of the earth. God has left no room for doubt in the minds of Israel that he is behind the invaders. The Babylonian army was used by God to judge his people for their disobedience. We serve a God of love and mercy and grace, but let us never forget that we also serve a God of justice and righteousness and judgment.

So what should our response to this passage be? I think it should be an attitude of awe and humility at who God is, and a desire for God to refine us into a people he is not ashamed to call his own. Jeremiah understood this and his response is very appropriate: “So correct me, LORD, but please be gentle.” (10:24, NLT).

This is what the LORD says: “Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who exercises lovingkindness, justice, and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,” says the LORD (9:23-24)

There is a tendency in all of us to compare ourselves to one another and to find glory in our strengths or in whatever we possess that seems to surpass others. Jeremiah mentions three things that we often find glory in–our wisdom, our abilities, and/or our wealth. I think these three are prime objects of our attention and boasting because they are so easy to compare with others. School grades, games, quizzes all attempt to measure our knowledge compared to others. Sports and many occupations often put us in competition with others over abilities. And the number of toys we possess, the type of car we drive, and the size of our house are often used as measuring sticks of our success in the wealth department.

God tells us that none of these things are worth boasting about. None of them last. None of them make a person any better than anyone else. And none of them will matter when we stand before a holy and righteous God. Instead God says if you are going to find glory in anything, find glory in the fact that you understand and know Me. To know God is the supreme purpose of life–to know who He is and to be in intimate relationship with Him. Jesus says that knowing God is the essence of eternal life–Now this is eternal life: that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent (John 17:3).

So who is God? He is the LORD, Jehovah, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And He is the One who exercises lovingkindness, justice, and righteousness in the earth. In fact, God says He not only exercises these things on earth but He delights in them.

God delights in love, justice, and righteousness. We see all three at the cross of Christ. Christ lived a righteous life, knowing no sin. Christ went to the cross to bear our sins and to satisfy the justice of God. And Christ bore our sins out of love to offer us the gift of eternal life. At the cross, God’s love, justice, and righteousness perfectly met. That’s why Paul proclaimed, God forbid that I should boast in anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ… (Galatians 6:14).

And in Christ, God begins to develop these three characteristics in our lives. To know God is to grow in love, justice, and righteousness. It is to seek to live a righteous life, to desire justice, and to exercise love and grace toward others. What does the LORD require of you? But to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God (Micah 6:8).

All three must be balanced in our lives. Sometimes we get overzealous for justice and forget to show mercy and grace toward others. Or we become so focused on love that we tend to overlook the need for justice and righteousness. But knowing God intimately involves a progressive alignment of our hearts with His heart. Because of His righteousness, we become more aware of sin in our lives and in society as a whole. Because of His justice, we seek to defend the defenseless, stand up for the persecuted, and pursue fairness in the legal and economic systems of society. And because of His love, we develop a heart of compassion and grace toward others.

What should I glory in? Not education, golf scores, or financial investments but in God alone and in the work that He is doing in my heart.

Lord, thank You that You are a God that delights in lovingkindness, justice, and righteousness. Align my heart with Your own.

The LORD says,
“Wise people should not boast that they are wise.
Powerful people should not boast that they are powerful.
Rich people should not boast that they are rich.

If people want to boast, they should boast about this:
They should boast that they understand and know me.
They should boast that they know and understand
that I, the LORD, act out of faithfulness, fairness, and justice in the earth
and that I desire people to do these things,”
says the LORD.

(Jeremiah 9:23-24)

Human beings are proud and insecure, so we are constantly boasting in order to make ourselves seem more important than others. The things we boast about are usually the things that we think define us. If we are wealthy, we brag about that wealth because it makes us who we are. If we are influential, we boast about our influence. If we are smart, we boast about our intelligence. Because we see these things as defining who we are, people come to know us based on those traits.

It should not be this way for the child of God, however. Our boasting should not be about our intelligence, our influence, our strength, or our wealth because these things do not define us. What defines us should be our relationship with God, and this is where these verse really get convicting. Can I really boast that I know and understand the Lord? I have to admit that if I was comparing myself to others, I would keep the focus on my intelligence or athleticism or physical attributes. I’m not sure I can truthfully boast about my knowledge and understanding of God because quite frankly I probably do not know him as well as I should.

And so I am left asking myself the question: What defines me? Do people know me as the smart guy or do they know me as the guy who knows and understands the Lord? Am I known for how I dress or what position I hold in my company or am I known for delighting in the faithfulness, fairness, and justice of the Lord and living them out in my life?

Lord, take away my pride and my insecurity so that I will not focus my time and efforts on puffing myself up. Help me to seek a greater knowledge and understanding of you and your attributes that I may live them out. May I be known not for my own talents and abilities, but for what you have given me and have chosen to do through me. May the world see you when it looks at me. Amen.

How can you say, “We are wise! We have the law of the LORD”? The truth is, those who teach it have used their writings to make it say what it does not really mean. (8:8)

All of us at some point will use God’s word to guide behaviors and attitudes. We may use it to teach ourselves, our children, a Sunday school class, or a church, but we will still use it to instruct. And though we are supposed to use it for this (2 Tim. 3:16), there is a danger in doing so. All of us have our personal opinions, beliefs, and preferences that we have come to rely on throughout our Christian lives, and naturally we would like others to think like we do. Because of this there is always a temptation to find Bible verses that back up our train of thought and use them to show others that we are correct. I have seen very well-intentioned people use the Bible to show that we should sing only hymns in church, or that we should only use one translation of Scripture, or that Christians shouldn’t dance, or that smoking is a sin. There may be valid arguments for all these issues, but I have never come across a passage in the Bible that makes any of those statements. None of us like when people put words in our mouth or when they take our statements out of context (which apparently happens quite often in the political and sports worlds), but we tend to do exactly that to God.

Whenever we approach the Bible from a topical perspective, we run the risk of doing what the scribes and pharisees of Israel did and make it say what it does not really mean. Besides the threat of this kind of hermeneutic leading to either legalism or licentiousness, it can also lead to opening up the Bible to outright sinful and dangerous interpretations. Over the years Christians have used the Bible to defend anti-Semitism, slavery, the Crusades, and numerous other travesties.

We have the law of the LORD, but may we never consider ourselves wise in our own interpretations. We must be a church and a people that seeks to accurately interpret the Scriptures and resist the temptation to use them to push our own agendas, beliefs, opinions, and preferences. And on issues where we believe strongly, but have no Scriptural support, may we be humble enough to recognize that God has not chosen to speak about every issue under the sun.

Lord, thank you for the gift of your word and the enlightenment and comfort it brings to our lives. Use your Holy Spirit to guide our reading and interpretation of it and to convict us when we go astray. May it never be said of us that we have used it to make it say what it does not mean. Amen.

My heart is crushed because my dear people are being crushed. I go about crying and grieving. I am overwhelmed with dismay. There is still medicinal ointment available in Gilead! There is still a physician there! Why then have my dear people not been restored to health? (Jeremiah 8:21-22)

Like I mentioned before, Jeremiah is a hard-hitting book. It is not an “easy read.” The sin of the people of Israel is confronted head-on and God is warning them over and over of the judgment coming their way. It is easy to see our own country and/or the American church in these passages. And there are some parallels.

The people rushed headlong into sin with no thought of their actions being wrong. No one repents of his wickedness, saying, “What have I done?” Each pursues his own course like a horse charging into battle. (8:6)

The people thought they were wise but they had no true wisdom because they had rejected the Word of God. Your wise men will be put to shame. They will be dumbfounded and be brought to judgment. Since they have rejected the word of the Lord, what wisdom do they really have? (8:9)

Material greed was the order of the day. From the least to the greatest, all are greedy for gain (8:10).

Instead of repentance, the solutions offered by religious teachers and cultural leaders were superficial. They offer only superficial help for the hurt my dear people have suffered. They say, “Everything will be all right!” But everything is not all right! (8:11)

Sin was so accepted in society that no one even blushed when someone sinned openly. Are they ashamed because they have done such disgusting things? No, they are not at all ashamed! They do not even know how to blush! (8:12)

The parallels are there so what should our response be? I was drawn to Jeremiah’s words at the end of the chapter. My heart is crushed because my dear people are being crushed. I go about crying and grieving. I am overwhelmed with dismay. Here is where I miss the boat. It is easy to sit back and critique American society and culture. It is easy to point out the sin and obstinacy of others. But until our hearts are broken over sin (our own sin and the sin of others) we have not really discovered the heart of God.

Jeremiah was known as the “weeping prophet.” Though his words to the people were strong, his heart was tender. I think that is why God chose him to deliver this message. God did not want the “in your face” prophet who sort of enjoyed speaking harshly and watching people squirm. He wanted a prophet who was tender-hearted, compassionate, and emotionally tied to the people of Israel. Only such a prophet could speak such harsh truth with a heart of love.

Hard truth, soft hearts. I think that is what God is looking for in his servants today–people who know His Word, know His holiness, know the destructive nature of sin and do not soft peddle it but people who also know how to weep, how to grieve, and how to speak God’s truth with love.

Lord, forgive me for allowing my heart to become cold and cynical. Give me a tender heart that weeps for this nation–this nation that has been blessed by You so abundantly. Give me the boldness to speak Your truth in love to those who need to hear it today.

Stop putting your confidence in the false belief that says, “We are safe! The temple of the LORD is here! The temple of the LORD is here! The temple of the LORD is here!” You must change the way you have been living and do what is right. You must treat one another fairly. Stop oppressing foreigners who live in your land, children who have lost their fathers, and women who have lost their husbands. Stop killing innocent people in this land. Stop paying allegiance to other gods. That will only bring about your ruin. If you stop doing these things, I will allow you to continue to live in this land which I gave to your ancestors as a lasting possession. ” ‘But just look at you! You are putting your confidence in a false belief that will not deliver you. You steal. You murder. You commit adultery. You lie when you swear on oath. You sacrifice to the god Baal. You pay allegiance to other gods whom you have not previously known. Then you come and stand in my presence in this temple I have claimed as my own and say, “We are safe!” You think you are so safe that you go on doing all those hateful sins! (7:4-10)

This passage portrays one of the most common and most idiotic beliefs of mankind: that we can fool God by paying him lip service. The Israelites thought they were protected simply because the Lord’s temple was in their midst. They thought they could live how they wanted as long as they showed up to that temple on the Sabbath.

We are lulled into the same false sense of security as American Christians. Firstly, we think that God is for America because we were founded on Christian principles. Never mind that we have never lived those principles out. We think that God is for America because we bring Christianity and civilization to the heathen nations. Never mind that we have committed atrocities in many places around the world in God’s name. Never mind that the flood of missionaries from America has severely slowed down over the past couple generations. Never mind that only 10% of the money American churches spend on missions actually goes towards efforts to preach the gospel to those who have never heard it. The United States and the American Church are not promised safety and security simply because of our belief that God is “in our midst”. God is not American and God is not an Evangelical. If we want God to be with us and for us, we must be living lives of obedience and service to him. If we do, then he is for us no matter if we believe he is or not. If we are disobedient and live for ourselves, he is against us, whether we believe he is or not.

Secondly, we live as if we believe that as long as we show up to church or Sunday school or small groups, that our attendance makes up for living in disobedience the rest of the week. We may not do all the things Israel was accused of (like stealing or murdering), but each of us has our own things with which we struggle. We may not kill or steal, but we may lust or lose our temper or put the TV before God and our families. Then we arrive at church on Sunday and say, “We are safe!” Again, a life of obedience is more important that dryly going through the motions on the Sabbath. Consider this: When I spoke to your ancestors after I brought them out of Egypt, I did not merely give them commands about burnt offerings and sacrifices. I also explicitly commanded them: “Obey me. If you do, I will be your God and you will be my people. Live exactly the way I tell you and things will go well with you.” (7:22-23)

Lord, help us live our lives in obedient service to you. May we not fall into a false sense of security in ourselves or in our nation. May we be a people who strive to live every moment to glorify you, and may you, therefore, use us mightily in the world in which we live. Amen.

This is what the LORD says, “Stand at the crossroads and look: ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But you said, “We will not walk in it.” I appointed watchmen over you and said, “Listen to the sound of the trumpet!” But you said, “We will not listen.” (Jeremiah 6:16-17)

Whew, Jeremiah is a hard-hitting book. Reading through it slowly you get a real sense of the anger of God and the obstinance of the people of Israel. I am reminded of Jesus’ words against the Pharisees. Jesus showed compassion and grace to almost everyone He met, except the prideful religious leaders. His hardest, sharpest words were against them. Why? Because they had shut their ears to God and were smug in their own self-righteousness.

God deals with us according to our own attitude. With the merciful You will show Yourself merciful; with a blameless man You will show Yourself blameless; with the pure You will show Yourself pure; but to the crooked You show Yourself shrewd. You save the humble but bring low those whose eyes are haughty (Psalm 18:25-26). Jesus makes the same point in the Sermon on the Mount: For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you (Matthew 7:2).

It’s a wild concept. We basically set the standard by which God will judge us based on our attitude toward Him and others. In the case of Israel, they had looked God in the face and said, “We will not listen to You. We will not walk in Your ways.”

They stood at the crossroads of life. God pleaded with them to take the road of righteousness, to follow Him, to find rest for their souls. But they chose to go their own way, to follow their own desires and lusts. Then God appointed watchmen to warn them of their ways and call them back to righteousness and they shut their ears. “We will not listen!”

Ever known someone who had become so hardened in their ways that they would not listen? There is nothing more frustrating than to try to talk and reason with someone who is systematically destroying him/herself. They have closed their ears, walled off their heart, and set their mind to run full throttle into sin. The only hope for such a person is “tough love,” hard words with hard actions to back them up. That is what God is doing in Jeremiah–hard words with hard actions to back them up.

Reading Jeremiah should cause us to evaluate our own hearts. Where am I at the crossroads? Am I determined to go my own way or am I seeking the will of God? Am I still listening or has my heart become hardened, obstinate, cold? A good way to gauge your heart toward God is to see how you treat and respond to others. Another way is to evaluate how you respond when God’s Word is taught.

Lord, preserve me from a hardened heart! Keep my heart sensitive to Your Word and sensitive to others. May I take the ancient paths and find rest for my soul.