Month: August 2019

Jeremiah 51 offers an extensive prophecy of the fall of Babylon. While we have already read of it in previous chapters, this is the most extensive word against Babylon.  The LORD recounts her guilt not only for destroying Jerusalem, but for her actions against many nations.  While the LORD used Babylon for judgment, and while He set her up to serve Him in this regard, she did not acknowledge Him, and continued to serve idols, who are not gods.  The prophecy is written both in the future tense, and in the present tense, as if the events had already happened.  Throughout the chapter the descriptions of the extensive nature of Babylon’s destruction shows us nothing will be left of this once great place and people.  At the end of the chapter, the LORD instructs Jeremiah to write down all these words, to take them to Babylon and read them to the people, and then to throw the book into the river, to illustrate that as a stone sinks to the bottom of a river, so will Babylon sink.

Jeremiah 52 recounts the historical fall of Jerusalem and Judah. We have this history in other places in Jeremiah, as well as in the records of the kings, but here we have one more recording of the events that took place when Judah fell, the Temple was burned, and the people were carried into exile.  As always there is a bit of hope, when it comes to the LORD’s record of His people, as the king is released from prison, showing the Davidic line would continue.  Jeremiah ends with the people in captivity, but hope still alive.

As we return to Matthew 13, we find a chapter filled with parables.  We must remember, Matthew organized his gospel roughly along chronological lines, but he also organized it in a way it would be easier to memorize.  Thus, we find sections of teaching and sections of action.  Of course, Jesus taught through the actions of healing sick people, casting demons out of people, walking on water and calming storms.  But Matthew 13 offers us a large grouping of parables, which may be easily memorized and passed on to others.  That was important in Jesus’ day, because no means of mass producing books was available.  To have a copy of Matthew one would literally have to copy it by hand.  As we look at the parables, we see Jesus was a masterful creator of these stories with a point.  No one before or since ever created parables with greater impact, although often they were quite simple in their content.  Jesus’ goal was to hide information from those who were only seeking information or religious content, but to reveal it to those who were truly after a relationship with God, and had a desire to pursue His kingdom.  As we read the parables, let’s remember to act on the punchlines, and not just nod our heads in affirmation!

Jeremiah 50 foretells the fall of Babylon in great detail.  Intertwined with the telling of Babylon’s judgment is a promise that Israel and Judah will be restored.  One of the most powerful statements in the chapter is that when anyone looks for sin in Israel and Judah it will not be found, because the LORD will pardon their sin, not holding it against them.  The LORD tells Babylon, she has relied on her idols, but they won’t help her.  She has abused the nations, and Israel and Judah, now a group of nations will come from the north and destroy her.  Once again, the LORD will use pagan nations to overcome a pagan nation.  Babylon was used by the LORD, but did not turn to her.  Now, she will reap the consequences of her own actions.  In the end, we always do. Those who “sow” sin “reap” judgment, and those who “sow” righteousness “reap” life.  As we read through the chapter, we see how completely Babylon will be destroyed.  The LORD tells us Babylon will be as Sodom and Gomorrah.  It doesn’t get any worse than that, when the LORD pronounces judgment against a nation!

As we return to Matthew 12, we find Jesus and the religious leaders at odds once again.  This time, Jesus and His disciples were walking through a grain field on the Sabbath and some of them picked heads of grain and ate them.  The religious leaders condemned the action as “working” on the Sabbath.  Jesus responded with a couple examples from Jewish history of David “breaking” the Law by eating food reserved for priests, and of the priests working on the Sabbath with impunity to show the religious leaders were wrong.  Then Jesus made an incredible statement, “I tell you something greater than the temple is here.” (Matthew 12:6)  Jesus said those words about Himself.  He told the religious leaders He was greater than the temple!  Let’s stop to consider that for a moment. If Jesus was greater than the temple, the place where God dwelled, the place where the people’s sins were forgiven through the offering of sacrifices, the place where Jews from around the world came on pilgrimage at the times of all the holy days of Israel, then Jesus was saying He was the vehicle for all of that to take place.  That is incredible!  Jesus concluded this interaction by saying the religious leaders ought to remember the LORD wants compassion and not sacrifice.  He also told them He is LORD of the Sabbath.  This was a clear statement of His lordship.

Jesus continued to put Himself in conflict with the religious leaders by going into a synagogue and healing a man with a withered hand.  He confronted them before He did so by asking whether it was lawful to do good on the Sabbath?  When they wouldn’t answer, He healed the man.  They went out and plotted how to kill Jesus.  Jesus wasn’t concerned.  He went out and healed many more and cast demons out of people.  The religious leaders said Jesus cast out demons by the prince of demons.  Jesus asked how a kingdom divided against itself could stand?  He also pronounced judgment against the religious leaders for blaspheming against the Holy Spirit, which is attributing the work of God to the devil.  Jesus told a parable of a man who was demon possessed, who had the demon cast out, but did not fill his life with God.  The demon went out and found seven other demons worse than itself, and the last state of the man was worse than the first.  This tells us how important it is to be filled with the Holy Spirit once we have been delivered from sin and evil in our lives.  Finally, Jesus identified those who are His “family,” by saying anyone who does His Father’s will is His sister, mother and brother.

Jeremiah 47 is a brief chapter in which the LORD calls down judgment on the Philistines.  He tells them they will be overrun and destroyed.  He mentions cutting themselves, which was a common practice among idol worshipers.  The intent was to gain the god’s attention.  But such action would have no impact, as the LORD’s judgment was going to be carried out against them.

As brief as Jeremiah 47 is in proclaiming judgment on the Philistines, so extensive is Jeremiah 48 in proclaiming judgment against Moab.  In great detail, the cities of Moab are named and marked for destruction.  The LORD mentions Chemosh, one of the gods of the Moabites, by name as being overthrown. The LORD speaks both in the present tense and in the future tense of Moab being destroyed.  He tells the people they will be scattered and not one will remain in Moab.  He tells them they will be destroyed in the pit and in the snare.  The words of judgment flow from beginning to end, and then in the last verse, words of hope are offered as the LORD says He will restore Moab.

Jeremiah 49 offers judgment against the Ammonites.  The pronouncement isn’t as lengthy as that against Moab, but it is still detailed.  Then the pronouncements of judgment turn to Edom, Damascus, Kedar, Hazor, and Elam.  With more or less detail, the LORD tells each nation or city of the impending judgment.  In this case, only Elam is promised restoration by the LORD.

As we return to Matthew 11, we find John the Baptist, who was in prison, sent some of his disciples to ask Jesus whether He was the Messiah or whether they ought to expect another?  The question comes from John’s understanding that the Messiah would be a conquering hero who would overthrow Rome and restore Israel’s prominence.  This wasn’t merely John’s understanding.  Most of Israel thought the same way.  Jesus’ response was to tell of His works, and to quote the prophet Isaiah, which said the Messiah would do such works.  Jesus then turned to the crowds and spoke of his place in the redemptive process.  He said John was the Elijah who was to come to prepare the way for the Messiah.  He pointed out John was not dressed in fine clothes, because his purpose was not to experience the finery of life, but to prepare the way of the LORD.  He also said no human being to that point was greater than John, but the least in the Kingdom of God was greater than John.  Jesus was pointing out that those of the old covenant have place and prominence in God’s purpose, but God’s ultimate purpose was to establish His eternal kingdom.

Jesus went on to condemn several cities in the region of Galilee, for their unwillingness to let Jesus’ miracles turn their hearts to the LORD.  He mentioned Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum by name.  He said if the kind of works done there had been done in Tyre, Sidon, Sodom, and Gomorrah, the people there would have repented and turned to the LORD.  Therefore, the judgment on those three cities would be great.

Jesus closes out the chapter by thanking His Father for showing His truth to the simple, and hiding it from the wise.  He tells us if we are tired and burdened to come to Him and He will give us rest.  His “yoke” is easy and His burden is light.  The yoke refers to the instrument used to connect two cattle so they could be used to plow a field or some other type of work.  As we are yoked to Jesus, He shoulders most of the burden, and guides us along the way.  How important it is for us to yoke ourselves to Him!

In Jeremiah 44 Jeremiah tells the remnant of the Judeans who had gone down into Egypt of the LORD’s complete judgment on them for worshiping false gods both in Judah and in Egypt.  He singled out the women for offering sacrifices to the Queen of Heaven.  In response, the women said they would continue to offer their offerings to the Queen of Heaven, because when they did it in Judah, they had plenty.  They told Jeremiah they made their offerings with the full affirmation of their husbands. Jeremiah responded the LORD was punishing them, because of their offerings to false gods, and his response would be complete.  Only a few would ever return to Judah, but the vast majority would be destroyed by the sword, pestilence, and famine.  Jeremiah told them the Pharaoh of Egypt would suffer the same fate as King Zedekiah, and be carried off into exile, and that he would not be able to offer any protection to them.

Jeremiah 45 is brief and is directed at Baruch, Jeremiah’s scribe.  The LORD’s message to Baruch was he would, indeed, experience the devastation of the people of Judah, but he himself would be spared.

Jeremiah 46 is a lengthy condemnation of the land of Egypt.  In it the LORD promises to use Babylon to crush Egypt, and to not leave them with any strength or power.  In extensive detail, the LORD tells how and where it will happen.  At the end of the chapter the LORD also tells the people of Judah they will be offered a reprieve at the end of it all.  While He promises to make a “full end” of Egypt, He also promises not to make a “full end” of Judah, but to restore them in the future.

As we return to Matthew 10, we find Jesus calling the twelve who He wants to appoint as disciples/apostles.  Then He does what He told them to pray for at the end of Matthew 9: He sends them out into the harvest field.  He gives them extensive instructions.  He tells them they will have His authority, but He also tells them they will be hated, and will be dragged before kings and other authorities.  He tells them they will be hated by their own family members, but in the end if they are faithful they will receive their reward.  Anyone who reads Matthew 10 must understand Jesus did not promise an easy life filled with blessing and material riches for those who follow Him.  He promised an abundant eternal life, and He promised we would have trouble and challenge both among our families and out in the world.  Jesus was always completely honest, and as He sent out the twelve He assured them they would have what they needed, but it would come with great sacrifice and cross-bearing.  We must understand that same promise is for us.  Jesus will never abandon us, but that does not mean we won’t experience great challenge and difficulty.  He was crucified and He was perfect, so we must expect the world to mistreat us as well–if we are following Him faithfully.

Jeremiah 41 tells us of Gedaliah’s murder by Ishmael and his men.  Ishmael wreaked havoc on the small remnant of Judeans remaining in Jerusalem, but eventually a new cohort of Judeans came and attacked Ishmael and his men, forcing Ishmael to return to the Ammonites.  At that point, the remnant decided they would go down to Egypt where they thought they would be safe from the “Chaldeans” or Babylonians.

In Jeremiah 42 Johanan the leader of the remnant of the Judeans asks Jeremiah to inquire of the LORD whether they ought to go down to Egypt.  They tell Jeremiah they will do whatever the LORD says, but when the LORD responds, He tells them to remain in Judah.  The LORD promised if they would stay in Judah, that none of the things they feared: sword, pestilence, or famine would come to them.  But if they decided to go to Egypt to avoid these things, they would all die in the land of Egypt.  The LORD also told the group that He knew they would not obey them, and they would go to Egypt.

In Jeremiah 43 Johanan and his men take all the remaining Judeans to Egypt, including Jeremiah, and Baruch, Jeremiah’s scribe.  When they arrive in Egypt, the LORD tells Jeremiah to take stones and put them in the wall of the palace of Pharaoh.  Then He tells Jeremiah to tell the people He is going to bring the King of Babylon to sit on a throne higher than those stones, in other words, he is going to rule over Egypt.  The LORD tells them the Babylonians will take some off into captivity, and some will die by the sword, and some will die by pestilence.  This is the result of the disobedience of Johanan.  We would think after so much of what Jeremiah telling the people coming true, even though some of it was after considerable periods of time, the people would have listened to Jeremiah.  Because they didn’t, everything Jeremiah said would happen to harm them would happen.

As we return to Matthew 9, we find Jesus again healing people, casting demons out of people, even raising someone from the dead.  He calls Levi or Matthew the tax collector to be one of His disciples, which upsets the religious leaders, because Jesus associated with such “sinners.”  Jesus simply responded that healthy people don’t need a doctor, but the sick.  Jesus also had a conversation with some of the disciples of John the Baptist who wanted to know why Jesus and His disciples didn’t fast.  Jesus pointed out no one fasts during the wedding feast.  Calling Himself the bridegroom, He said His followers would fast when He was no longer with them.  As Jesus saw everyone in so much need, He turned to His disciples and told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.”  Then He told them to pray for the “Lord of the harvest,” to send workers into the harvest.  Hold that thought until tomorrow, because after calling the disciples to pray for the Lord to send more workers at the end of this chapter, He sends them out at the beginning of the next!

In Jeremiah 38 we come to Jeremiah’s lowest point–literally.  Some of King Zedekiah’s men came to him and said that Jeremiah needed to be killed, because he was prophesying against the city of Jerusalem and against the nation.  King Zedekiah responded that he could do nothing against them, and they could do whatever they wanted with Jeremiah.  They took Jeremiah and lowered him into a cistern.  The cistern contained no water, only mud at the bottom and Jeremiah sank in the mud.  He would have died there except for the goodwill of one of the king’s eunuch’s who saw what had been done to Jeremiah as wrong.  He went to the king and convinced him to let Jeremiah out of the cistern.  When Jeremiah was safely out of the cistern, King Zedekiah called for him, and asked what was going to happen next.  Jeremiah told him he would kill him if he told the truth.  The king promised not to kill him.  Jeremiah told him if he surrendered to the Babylonians he would be carried off to Babylon and the Babylonians would not burn the city, but if they didn’t surrender the entire city would be burned. King Zedekiah then let Jeremiah go, and told him not to tell anyone what he had said.  They put together a ruse of telling others Jeremiah had begged the king to spare his life.  That is how the chapter ends.

In Jeremiah 39 the city falls to the Babylonians.  In a horrendous act, King Nebuchadnezzar has King Zedekiah watch as all his sons are slaughtered, and then his eyes are gouged out, so the last thing he ever saw was the death of his sons.  Then he was taken into captivity in Babylon, along with the rest of the people of the city.  Nebuchadnezzar’s forces burned the city and broke down its walls, leaving only the poorest in the land in place.  Jeremiah was set free by Nebuchadnezzar, and Jeremiah told the Ethiopian eunuch who had freed him from the cistern, the LORD was with him and he would not be carried off or put to death.

Jeremiah 40 tells us of the Babylonians giving Jeremiah the opportunity to go with them or to stay in the land under the protection of Gedaliah, the governor.  Jeremiah chooses to stay in Judah.  Under Gedaliah, the Judeans who had gone into self-imposed exile in Ammon and Moab returned.  As life returned to some semblance of normal for the remnant who remained, a plot against Gedaliah’s life was uncovered, but Gedaliah would not permit his men to kill the man who was said to be the one who was going to assassinate him.

As we return to Matthew 8, we read of many miraculous signs Jesus performed, including the healing of a leper, the healing of a centurion’s servant without Jesus even going near the man, the healing of Peter’s mother-in-law, and the healing of many other people in Capernaum.  Matthew shows us Jesus’ ability to bring wholeness to people’s lives.  Then Jesus performs the miracle of calming a storm on the Sea of Galilee, showing us He has power over nature.   Following this, Matthew tells us of several men who said they would follow Jesus, but they put limitations on when and how they would do it.  Jesus made it clear, He is the one who sets the agenda not us.  After that, Jesus healed two men in the region of the Gadarenes, a Gentile area, who were possessed by demons.  When the people of the region saw Jesus’ power, rather than being amazed and asking Him to heal others, they were overwhelmed and asked Jesus to leave the area.  This shows us not everyone wants what Jesus offers.  We see this in our own day. People have the opportunity to receive salvation in Jesus’ name, and some do.  But others reject Jesus as one “miracle worker” among many.  Others reject the entire concept of God.  In every era, some receive Jesus and His miraculous salvation, while others reject it and send Him away.

In Jeremiah 36 the LORD tells Jeremiah to write down all the words of prophecy He has given him.  Then Jeremiah got Baruch to write down everything the LORD had told him.  After this Baruch went to Jerusalem on a day of fasting and read the scroll to the people.  They were afraid, and told the king’s secretaries about it.  The secretaries came out and told Baruch to go find Jeremiah and hide with him, so no one would be able to find them.  (It seems the secretaries knew their king!)  After they had read the scroll, they were filled with fear–an appropriate response.  They took it to the king, and had it read to him.  The purpose of all this, was the LORD had told Jeremiah that if the people heard the words and repented, He would forgive them.  Instead, as the words were read to King Jehoiakim, he cut them off the scroll three or four lines at a time, and threw them into the fire.  In this way, he burned the entire scroll!  He also told the people to find Jeremiah and Baruch so they could be killed.  The LORD protected Jeremiah and Baruch, and told Jeremiah to dictate the words again, and that the result of Jehoiakim’s action would be that the punishments would be carried out against all the people, and Jehoiakim would die and his body left to be subjected to the heat and the cold.

In Jeremiah 37 Jeremiah prophecies to King Zedekiah that he will be carried off to exile in Babylon, and then he returns home.  He is seen by one of the royal guards and arrested for attempting to flee to the Chaldeans.  This charge was not true, but Jeremiah was arrested nevertheless.  He was held in prison for a time, and then brought to King Zedekiah to see whether the LORD had a word for him.  When Jeremiah again told him what would happen, the king, moved Jeremiah to another prison, and saw that he had bread to eat as long as there was bread in the city.  Jeremiah’s “reward,” for being faithful to the LORD was being beaten, arrested, and imprisoned.  The important principle for us to gain from this is: obeying the LORD isn’t always easy, and sometimes it leads to imprisonment or worse, but the LORD will always reward us in the end for our obedience.  Jesus is the clearest example of that, because He was the only person who was always obedient, and His “reward,” was being arrested, beaten, and crucified.  As we know that turned out for the best!

As we return to Matthew 7, we come to Sermon on the Mount’s conclusion.  This chapter contains six different teachings of Jesus, and cover not being judgmental when we see faults in others, praying with perseverance, the “Golden rule,” recognizing the source of true “fruit” in our lives, the reality that only those who do the will of our Heavenly Father, will enter heaven, and the importance of “building our house on a rock.”  Each of these lessons offers us the challenge to do something we won’t continue to do for long without the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit.  Jesus established what it looks like to live the spirit-filled life throughout the Sermon on the Mount, but until He died, rose again, returned to heaven and sent the Holy Spirit, the Sermon on the Mount would be a source of great frustration to any who sought to live it.  As we know from the lives of Jesus’ disciples, until they received the Holy Spirit they often failed to understand Jesus’ teaching, and they were unable to follow His will consistently.  Let’s use that as a reminder for our lives: We must call on Jesus to fill us with the Holy Spirit daily, so we can live out His teaching and will for our lives!

Jeremiah 33 offers us another mixture of condemnation and promise for Israel and Judah.  The chapter starts with condemnation, for the unfaithfulness of the people.  Yet, once again the LORD promises to restore the land and to bring the people back to both Israel and Judah.  He makes an amazing declaration about the unconditional and eternal covenant He has made with the house of David: He tells us that if He breaks His covenant with the day and night, so that the day and the night do not come, so the covenant with David might be broken.  He speaks once again of the righteous “Branch” that will come forth from David, and He reminds Jeremiah of His own steadfast love and faithfulness.  We must always remember: No matter what we might be experiencing in the current moment, the LORD’s steadfast love and faithfulness never fail.

In Jeremiah 34 the LORD tells Jeremiah the siege against the city of Jerusalem will result in many dying by the sword, pestilence, and famine, but King Zedekiah would be carried off by King Nebuchadnezzar into Babylon.  Zedekiah would live there in peace, and ultimately when he died, the people living in exile would remember and memorialize him as they had kings before him.  The chapter continues with more affirmations of the people’s defeat, and their future return to the land.  The theme has been expressed and restated throughout Jeremiah’s prophecies, but each chapter has nuances that make it worth reading.  Each chapter reminds us those who reject the LORD will ultimately be rejected, and those who trust the LORD will ultimately be redeemed.  This is not a short-term truth, but a long-term reality.

Jeremiah 35 shows us in every era, the LORD reserves those who live in obedience to Him.  The example we find are the Rechabites.  They made a vow never to drink wine, and never to build houses or plant vineyards, but to live in tents.  Because of the siege of the Babylonians against all Israel and Judah, the Rechabites had been forced to move into the city of Jerusalem.  The LORD told Jeremiah to go to them and offer them wine to drink, but they would not drink it.  They would not break the vow they and their ancestors had made before the LORD.  As a result, the LORD made this promise to them through Jeremiah, “The Rechabites will never lack a man to stand before the LORD.  Would that each of us were as the Rechabites, making commitments to the LORD that we and our children live out regardless of the test or challenge.

As we return to Matthew 6, we find ourselves in the middle of the Sermon on the Mount. The chapter contains teaching on four important matters: almsgiving, prayer, fasting, and stewarding all the LORD has entrusted to us.  As Jesus taught about almsgiving, prayer, and fasting, He offered a common theme: do not practice these disciplines as a show for people to see and be impressed.  Rather, practice them as to the LORD alone.  When He sees that kind of faithfulness, devoted to Him, He rewards it.  The prayer we call the Lord’s Prayer comes to us in this chapter.  Jesus presents it and then underlines the truth of the necessity for us to forgive those who sin against us.  Our forgiveness of others keeps the flow of the LORD’s forgiveness to us going.  Finally, Jesus devotes a major portion of the chapter to reminding us of the importance of storing our treasure in heaven rather than on earth.  In addition to this vital truth, Jesus tells us not to worry about provision for our lives, so long as we put the Kingdom of God and its righteousness first.  When we do that, the LORD will provide us everything we need.  The key is putting Him first!

Jeremiah 31 continues the LORD’s promise that Israel and Judah will once again inhabit the land.  With many promises of blessing, the LORD tells Jeremiah how it will be when the land is restored.  Ephraim will once again be populated.  Samaria will be inhabited.  The LORD will “plant” humans and animals throughout the land.  The mourning will turn into dancing, and no longer will anyone be punished for the sins of their fathers, each will be accountable for his own sins.  All this will be the result of a new covenant the LORD will establish with Israel and Judah.  The new covenant will be written not on tablets of stone, but on the hearts of each person.  The Law will not need to be taught, because it will be written on each one’s heart.  These final promises are aspects of the new covenant we have through Jesus, and yet the words of the LORD look forward to the day, of Jesus’ second coming, when we shall all be fully what the LORD created us to be, and do what He created us to do.

Jeremiah 32 offers us concrete assurance of the LORD’s previous promises about the people returning to the land after their exile.  He tells Jeremiah to go and buy a field from his uncle, and to have the deed recorded.  The idea sounds absurd to Jeremiah.  He knows the siege which is being carried out at that moment against Jerusalem is going to result in the people being carried off into exile.  The LORD has declared it, and Jeremiah has prophesied it.  So, why bother to purchase land in a place where the people are being carried off into exile, a place that will be dominated by a foreign power for more than a generation?  Short answer: the LORD thinks more than a generation ahead!  He sees the truly big picture.  He wanted Jeremiah to hold on to the truth that what he was doing was important, and mattered.  While Jeremiah would not live to see the restoration of Israel and Judah, his descendants would.  Sometimes we get caught up in that which concerns our own lives in the immediate present and forget about the future, not just our future, but that of our children and our children’s children.  How helpful to be reminded while we must live in the present, there will be a future, because the LORD is in charge of the big picture.  Sometimes when He doesn’t seem to be in control of the small details, we forget He is in charge of the big picture!

As we return to Matthew 5, we return once again to Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, which is recorded in chapters 5-7.  As we read the opening statements, we see Jesus took His disciples up on a mountain and sat down.  Then He began to teach them.  This teaching would have taken a couple hours. It sets forth what it means to live a “kingdom life.” Jesus came to bring the Kingdom of heaven to earth, and if we live according to Jesus’ teachings in Matthew 5-7, we will fulfill that purpose.  The challenge is much of what Jesus said in these three chapters is beyond our ability to do–without the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives.  Let’s consider one example from the end of Matthew 5. Jesus said, “Be perfect even as your Father in heaven is perfect.”  Really?  How are we going to do that?  How can we, the ones for whom Jesus came to earth to die to pay the penalty for our sins, be perfect?  The only way we live in the perfection of our Heavenly Father is to receive the Son as Savior and Lord, be born again, and then live in the power of the Holy Spirit.  Will we ever do it perfectly?  Jesus calls us to that.  While I’m not there, and have never seen anyone else who has arrived, one thing we know about Jesus: His message in the Sermon on the Mount was serious.  He didn’t tell us to do something that couldn’t be done.  He challenged us to consider what it would take for us to live “perfect” lives, even as He offered the only perfect example to us: His Heavenly Father.  That is our clue that He is calling us to something so much more, we can only move in that direction through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit!

In Jeremiah 29 Jeremiah writes a long letter to the exiles in Babylon.  He tells them to build houses, plant gardens, and pray for the welfare of the city in which they live.  The reason?  It is the LORD’s will for them to be there.  Their stay will be seventy years, and then the LORD will deliver them and return them to their home land.  Jeremiah offers his famous prophesy, I know the plans I have for you, says the LORD, plans for welfare and not evil, plans to give you a future and a hope.  While Jeremiah 29:11 is often offered to encourage high school or college graduates, or those moving into an uncertain future, it is truly used out of context in those situations.  After all, the future and hope the LORD promised was not to be fulfilled for 70 years.  Many college graduates don’t live for 70 years after they graduate.  The principle that the LORD has our good in mind, and a future filled with hope for those who trust His Son, Jesus, is valid, the specific promise from Jeremiah 29:11 was for a people who were going to experience a long, and often unpleasant future, before the future they were promised came to them.   Jeremiah concluded the letter by pointing out the false priests and prophets of the people who had gone down to Babylon, and had prophesied falsely would be punished.

Jeremiah 30 offers an extended promise to Israel and Judah that the LORD will restore them.  He makes it clear this promise is for the distant future.  He makes it clear “David” will once again sit on his throne.  He makes it clear the people’s time of punishment will be completed before they experience their deliverance.  The sins of the nation had been so many, which is why they were scattered among the nations.  Yet, in the end, it would be the nations where the people of Israel and Judah were scattered, who would be subjected to the LORD’s judgment, while His people would be restored.  This promise must have seemed both welcome and agonizing to the people, because they knew it was more for their children or grandchildren than for them.  Even so, such a promise would have seemed like cool water in a parched land.

As we return to Matthew 4, we read again of Jesus’ temptation by the devil in the wilderness.  This event took place in Jesus’ life after the amazing high point, of having His Heavenly Father speak from heaven after His baptism, offering His love and affirmation of Jesus and His upcoming ministry on the earth.  The temptation took place after Jesus had fasted for 40 days.  The first temptation attacked the weakness and hunger Jesus felt after such an extended period without food.  The devil picked up a stone (undoubtedly shaped like a loaf of bread. Many such stones can be found in the Judean desert.)  and said, “If you are the Son of God, turn this stone into bread.” In English, a sentence that starts with the word “if” is always conditional, meaning we don’t know for certain whether what we’re asking is true or is going to happen. For example, when I say, “If you are going to the store, would you pick up a bag of potatoes for me?” I don’t know whether you are going to the store. But in the Greek language in which this account was written, the “if” was written in the indicative, which means the devil was saying, “If you are the Son of God–and I know you are–then turn this stone into a loaf of bread.” The context tells us the same thing.  After all, it wouldn’t be a temptation for you or me to have the devil ask us to turn a stone into a loaf of bread, because we couldn’t do it!  Jesus could have, but instead of succumbing to the temptation, He responded with Scripture, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”  Jesus would use this same approach in responding to the next two temptations as well.  He quoted Scripture.  I once read in the margins of an elderly pastor’s Bible:  “When dealing with Satan, don’t argue, quote!”  What powerful advice.  Once we know the word of God, and apply it daily in the power of the Holy Spirit, it will be available to us when we face temptation, too.  Remember, temptation to sin is not sin. It only becomes sin when we yield to it.  Jesus didn’t yield the first time, nor the second, nor the third.  Each time He resisted the devil and quoted Scripture.  The third time Jesus said, “Be gone.”  After the victory, angels came and ministered to Jesus. We can only imagine the feast they brought to Him.  (We aren’t told they brought any food, but if you were ministering to someone who hadn’t eaten for forty days, food would definitely be on the list of ministry supplies!)

After completing the temptation, and celebrating the victory, Jesus returned to Nazareth in Galilee and started His ministry.  Jesus’ message was the same as that of John, who had been imprisoned by King Herod, “Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand!”  Repent, means to turn around and walk the other direction, or to change one’s mind from the sinful, worldly perspective with which we’re born, and toward God.  After the initial message, Jesus called the first four disciples, Peter, Andrew, James, and John. They were fishermen.  Jesus gave them the opportunity to switch from fishing for fish, to fishing for the souls of people.  What an amazing change of focus and purpose.  In our lives, whatever our vocation may be, Jesus calls us to follow Him, and as we live in His Spirit’s power to call others to follow Him, so all might know the life that is truly life in Him.