Daily Thoughts From God's Word

I always find myself pausing at chapter 29. In the future, the people would be forced from their homes. One day they would return (Jer. 25:11-12; 29:29:10). But until that future point they were living in the in-between times. To comfort and encourage the exiles Jeremiah wrote a letter to them. The prophet’s advice to his fellow countrymen can be summarized in five statements: 1) Keep doing all the good things you have been doing (vss. 5-6). Every season is a good tim

Jeremiah said to the people, “I have spoken persistently to you, but you have not listened” (25:3). The people refused and refused and refused to turn from their evil ways. Still, one more time, Jeremiah called out to them, “Turn now, every one of you, from his evil way and evil deeds, and dwell upon the land that the LORD has given to you and your fathers from of old and forever” (25:5). God’s patience and longsuffering toward his people, toward us, is just amazing. And

A fascinating passage: 3 “I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. 4 I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the LORD. 5 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king

The people of Judah had sinned, they had rejected God and his pleadings. It was so bad and so certain that God would discipline, without any hope of avoiding the exile, that Jeremiah observed, “The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron; with a point of diamond it is engraved on the tablet of their heart” (17:1). At that point, nothing could change the trajectory of the outcome. The situation was pictured in yet another of Jeremiah’s word pictures. The potter had form

In addition to his use of the prophetic word, Jeremiah also employed a number of word pictures. That is, he acted out his message so that there could be no misunderstanding about his meaning. Chapter 13 tells the stories of the ruined loincloth and the jars filled with wine. Jeremiah was instructed to bury his loincloth at the Euphrates River, then go back and retrieve it after many days. The cloth was ruined, a picture of God’s judgment on the people: “I will spoil the

The words of Jeremiah: “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!” (9:1) Jeremiah is often called “the weeping prophet.” Most of his 40 year ministry was comprised of pointing out the people’s sins and treacheries while announcing the coming end of the kingdom and consequent exile. His was a difficult and painful ministry. He was a young man when first called to the prophetic

From ch. 4 the prophet spoke for the Lord: “I have spoken; I have purposed; I have not relented, nor will I turn back” (4:28). God pronounced such harsh judgment because his people simply refused to repent, all of them. In case Jeremiah doubted this reality, the Lord presented him with a task: “Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, look and take note! Search her squares to see if you can find a man, one who does justice and seeks truth, that I may pardon her”

Jeremiah: one of my favorites. For so many reasons, but probably more than any other, are the many peeks into his life, his emotions, his anxieties, and his struggles. For 40 years a preacher of judgment and the end of Jerusalem, this young man constantly needed encouragement and direction from the God who sent him. Early on in his ministry, the Lord gave him a vision of an almond branch (1:11,12). I have read that the almond tree is among the earliest that produce buds

Thus says the LORD: “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool; what is the house that you would build for me, and what is the place of my rest? All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the LORD. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word” (66:1-2). Consider the great contrast! Heaven is the Lord’s throne and he had made a

In the book of Isaiah are so many words of judgment, terrible judgment. God is a righteous God, and he disciplines even his own people when we disobey him. But he is also a gracious God, and he just cannot help himself. I do not type this meaning any irreverence; it’s just his nature to be gracious. And aren’t we glad that is so! If it were not so, as Isaiah could say, “If the LORD of hosts had not left us a few survivors, we should have been like Sodom, and become like

In chapter 56, Isaiah addresses the destiny of the faithful among Israel: “Blessed is the man who does [righteousness] . . . ,who keeps the Sabbath, not profaning it, and keeps his hand from doing any evil” (56:2). He also addresses the foreigner: “Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the LORD say, ‘The LORD will surely separate me from his people’” (56:3). And to the faithful eunuch, he says, “I will give in my house and within my walls a monument and a name

The Lord says to his people: “I will not forget you. Look, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands” (49:15,16). Can there be any greater joy and comfort that this, to know that my name is always there before the Lord in his sight! “Come, everyone who is thirsty, come to the waters; and you without money, come, buy, and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost!” (55:1). Can there be any greater encouragement than this, to know God himself calls

Isaiah 44 continues a number of chapters in which the glories of God are spoken of. Isaiah says such things as “Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god. Who is like me? Let him proclaim it” (44:6-7) & “Is there a God besides me? There is no Rock; I know not any” (44:8) & “Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, who formed you from the womb: I am the LORD, who made all things, who

As we begin a new quarter century as a nation, these chapters become particularly poignant. Isaiah looked to the future when a people long in exile would gain their freedom and return to their homes. The prophet called to the people: “Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the LORD’s hand double for all her sins” (40:1-2). Furthermore, Isai

These chapters in Isaiah tell about the invasion of Judah by Assyria and also Hezekiah’s illness and recovery. Sennacherib, king of Assyria, sought to defeat and dominate Judah, the very definition of political and military oppression, this Fourth of July. I’d like to do something a bit different, this morning, as I reflect on these chapters. Dr. Sarah S., who has had to leave Sudan because of the fighting and is temporarily living in another country in North Africa, sent