Chris Marshall Resources

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.

In Jeremiah 26 the LORD tells Jeremiah to go to the Temple and prophesy to the people that He is going to destroy Jerusalem and all of Judah.  The purpose was that the people might repent, and the LORD would withdraw His promise of destruction.  When Jeremiah went to the Temple and prophesied as the LORD instructed, the priests and the people wanted to kill him.  The king and his counselors came to hear the prophesy and afterwards, he wanted to kill Jeremiah as well, but some of the elders reminded everyone that previous prophets had made such prophecies against Jerusalem and the previous kings did not kill them.  After a great deal of discussion and debate, which included one of those who sided with Jeremiah being hunted down in Egypt and brought back to be executed, Jeremiah’s life was spared.

In Jeremiah 27 Jeremiah tells King Zedekiah and the kings of the surrounding nations the LORD has given them into the hands of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, and they will all serve under his yoke.  Those who will not turn themselves in will die of pestilence, famine or by the sword.  Once again, the message is one of utter despair, yet within it in is the promise that several of the largest items from the Temple, which were not taken by Nebuchadnezzar when he carried off the rest of the items from the Temple treasury, which would be carried off soon, would one day be returned to the Temple in Jerusalem.  Despair is never complete, for the people of the LORD, and His mercy and grace are available to those who will turn and receive it.

In Jeremiah 28 the prophet Hananiah prophesied the opposite of what Jeremiah had prophesied.  He told the people that within two years the LORD would return all the items to the Temple which had been carried off to Babylon.  He also took the wooden yoke Jeremiah had used as an illustration and broke it.  Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah and He told Hananiah that he had broken a yoke of wood, but in its place would be a yoke of iron.  He also told Hananiah that for prophesying falsely he would die within the year.  Seven months later he died.

As we return to Matthew 3, we are introduced to John the Baptist.  John was a prophet who dressed and acted much like the prophet Elijah.  He baptized people in the Jordan River as a sign of their repentance and preparation for the coming of the Messiah.  John called the religious leaders who came a “brood of vipers.”  This kind of engagement with the religious leaders would become a common practice of Jesus during His ministry on the earth.  As John was baptizing folks, Jesus came to be baptized by him.  John protested that he needed to be baptized by Jesus, not the other way around.  But Jesus insisted it be done, so John baptized Him.  As Jesus came up out of the water, the sky opened and the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus as a dove.  God the Father spoke from heaven, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased.”  That empowerment and confirmation initiated Jesus earthly ministry.  As we seek to follow Jesus, we are called to be baptized as a response of obedience to Him, and to wait on and then live in the power of the Holy Spirit.

In Jeremiah 23 the LORD speaks against the evil shepherds who have led the people of Judah astray.  He tells them He will raise up new shepherds and a new king, a righteous king, who He calls a Righteous Branch.  This is most likely a prophesy of Jesus’ coming.  He goes on to condemn the false prophets at length.  He calls them adulterers, because they led the people away from the LORD, who is their true husband, to the false gods of the nations, and Baal especially.  The length of the condemnation of the false prophets shows us how great their sin was before the LORD.

In Jeremiah 24, the LORD shows Jeremiah a vision of two baskets of figs, one good, and one bad.  The bad figs were so bad no one could eat them.  The LORD explained to Jeremiah the basket of good figs represented the people of Judah who were carried off into exile by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.  He would look on them with favor, and would bring them back to the land eventually. The basket of bad figs represented King Zedekiah and those who were left behind in Judah.  Once again, the LORD says they will be destroyed by sword, famine, and pestilence.

In Jeremiah 25 Jeremiah tells us he has been prophesying against the people of Judah for 23 years, but that no one has listened.  As a result, the people will be carried off to Babylon for 70 years, and after 70 years they will return.  At that time, the LORD would destroy Babylon for her evil.  The remainder of the chapter tells of the LORD commanding the nations that Jeremiah had spoken against to drink the cup of His wrath, which would mean destruction for them.  The list of nations and cities that would be destroyed was long, because each had deserted the LORD or led His people astray.

As we return to Matthew 2, we read the record of Jesus’ birth.  Matthew’s record doesn’t include the actual moment of Jesus’ birth as Luke’s does.  Matthew tells us of the wise men or kings who came from the east to worship the new king of Israel.  They had been made aware of it because a new star had appeared and shown them the way to the land.  When they arrived in Jerusalem, they went to the king’s palace, which was an obvious place to look for the new king.  But Jesus wasn’t there.  The actual King, Herod, was confused and alarmed at the prospect of a new king.  He called in the priests to offer an explanation.  They told the wise men the Messiah or king would be born in Bethlehem.  They went and found Jesus and worshiped Him.  Afterwards, they returned home by another way, because the LORD warned them in a dream not to return to Herod.  When Herod realized he had been tricked, he sent soldiers to kill all the male children in the area who were two years old and younger.  This was based on the time of the natal star.  Jesus was no longer in Bethlehem when the soldiers arrived, because Joseph had been warned in a dream to go to Egypt to escape the attack.  They remained as refugees in Egypt until Herod died.  When they returned, and found that one of Herod’s sons was in power, they returned to Nazareth in Galilee.  Matthew points out this fulfilled another prophecy about the Messiah.  God’s hand of providence is seen throughout this account, although the slaughter of the innocents shows us while the LORD is in charge, He isn’t always in control, because of His willingness to let human beings act on our own wills and purpose.

Jeremiah 20 records one of the lowest times in Jeremiah’s life.  First, one of the priests, Pashhur, had Jeremiah beaten and put in stocks for his prophecies.  Passhur and the false prophets didn’t want to hear what Jeremiah had to say, but after he was released, Jeremiah prophesied directly against Passhur and told him he and his descendants would go down as exiles into Babylon.  There Passhur and all his descendants would die.  Then Jeremiah turned on the LORD.  He cried out telling the LORD He had deceived him.  The course of Jeremiah’s life was too much for him.  He didn’t want to prophesy against his own people, yet he could not stop for it was like a fire in his bones.  After telling the LORD he would have been better off if he had never been born, if his father had killed him while he was still in his mother’s womb, Jeremiah eventually comes around and praises the LORD and asks Him for vindication.

In Jeremiah 21 Jeremiah prophesies against the people of Judah and Jerusalem.  He tells them the LORD is going to stand against them, that the siege of the Babylonians will not be their worst concern: The LORD Himself stands against them.  The LORD tells the people they will die by pestilence, famine, and sword.  The only ones who will survive will be those who turn themselves over to the Babylonians.  They will be carried off into exile.  The end of the chapter reminds the people once again the LORD is doing this, because they have turned against Him.  It is not He who has turned against them.

In Jeremiah 22 the LORD tells the kings to practice justice as Josiah did, but then goes on to say that not one of Josiah’s “sons” (his descendants) will do as Josiah did.  They will not act justly.  They will not remember that it was well with him, because he acted justly.  Each of them will come either to an untimely end or to exile, because they continue to practice godlessness.  While all this took place, and while the message is utterly negative, it reminds us we are called to live in righteousness.  We have the power to do that through the Holy Spirit, so we must not follow the pattern of our culture and do whatever we please.  We must follow the LORD, and carry out His will in Jesus’ name.

As we return to the Gospel of Matthew for the third time, let’s continue to “hide” this word in our hearts (as we read in Psalm 119) that we might not sin against the LORD, and that we might live in victory over sin in Jesus’ name.  As you will recall, Matthew starts with the genealogy of Jesus.  Both Matthew and Luke start with genealogies.  Matthew’s begins with Abraham, who was the father of the Jews or Israelites.  That’s because Matthew wrote from a Jewish background.  Luke, being a Gentile, traced Jesus’ lineage all the way back to Adam, the first human being.  After the genealogy, Matthew tells us how the birth of Jesus came about.  He tells us after Mary and Joseph were betrothed, but before they “came together,” Mary was found to be “with child,” or pregnant.  That was cause for Mary to be stoned to death, because the reasonable assumption would have been that Mary had been sexually unfaithful.  Joseph considered divorcing her privately, rather than making it a public matter, but as he considered it, an angel of the LORD appeared to him in a dream and told Joseph the Holy Spirit was the “father.”  Joseph accepted the dream as the truth, and took Mary as his wife, but they didn’t consummate the marriage until after Jesus’ was born.  When we read this account, it might not hit us how incredible it is, because we have read it so many times before.  But this was a once in history occurrence: the Son of the living God was coming to earth, and He was doing it through the vehicle of being born as a human being!  As we let that sink in, we see how great God’s love was and is for us, that He would become one of us to satisfy His justice (through Jesus’ death on the cross), and offer us the opportunity to become His children!

Jeremiah 17 is divided in three parts. In part one, the LORD tells Judah she will be judged and judged severely.  He tells her He will never forget her punishment.  She will be sent among peoples she doesn’t know.  In part two, Jeremiah prays to the LORD for protection and deliverance, and in part three, the LORD tells the people He will restore them.  So, which is it?  Eternal separation from the LORD or restoration?  Yes.  It is what the people choose.  The LORD gives us the opportunity to trust Him and be saved, or to turn away from Him and be punished.  We start in sin, and we will remain that way unless we turn to the LORD and accept His grace and mercy.

In Jeremiah 18 the LORD sends Jeremiah to watch a potter.  As the potter creates a pot on the wheel, something happens and he reshapes it into something else.  The LORD compares Himself to that potter.  He notes He has the right to make a nation anything He wants.  He tells Jeremiah if He intends good for a nation, but it turns to evil, He will destroy it, but if He intends to destroy a nation and it returns to good, He will save it.  Jeremiah then cries out to the LORD, because the king and people of Judah are determined to destroy him.  Jeremiah asks the LORD how it is that he who has done good is to be repaid with evil, and he asks the LORD to protect Him.

In Jeremiah 19 the LORD tells Jeremiah to take a potter’s flask and take it before the leaders and people of Judah and Jerusalem and proclaim that as such a flask is broken and cannot be repaired, so will they be.  He tells them the valley will be called the valley of Slaughter, because the people will be slaughtered by their enemies, and during the time of siege they will eat one another and their children.  The picture is horrendous, and demonstrates the LORD’s judgment for the people’s turning away from Him to all the gods of the people of Canaan.  The LORD will not be second in our lives.  He will only accept first place.  That was true in Jeremiah’s day, and it is true today.  The main difference in our day, is the LORD doesn’t tend to use other nations to judge us.  He waits for the judgment day to judge us Himself.  We can certainly experience the judgment of our actions in this life, yet through Jesus, He has shown us His patience and love for us, which tempers His wrath and judgment.

As we return to John 21, the conclusion of John’s Gospel, we read of the poignant reinstatement of Peter by Jesus.  As Peter and a handful of other disciples have spent the night fishing, catching nothing, Jesus appears on the shore.  He calls out, “Children, have you caught any fish?”  When they tell Him they haven’t, Jesus tells them to throw the nets in the water on the other side of the boat.  Suddenly their nets are full!  John tells Peter, “It’s the LORD.”  Peter, recognizing the truth, puts on his clothes, jumps in the water and swims to shore.  Jesus already has breakfast cooking for the crew.  After breakfast, Jesus takes Peter aside and asks him three times whether he loves Him?  Each time Peter tells Jesus he does love Him.  The third time, Jesus asked, Peter was grieved.  We don’t know for certain, but it certainly seems as if the three questions relate to the three denials.  Jesus gave Peter the opportunity to affirm his love for Jesus once for each time he denied knowing Him.  When the episode nears an end, Jesus tells Peter he will die affirming His faith in Jesus as LORD.  Imagine the comfort that must have been to Peter, yet, being human Peter wanted to know what was going to happen to John.  Jesus didn’t tell Peter.  He said, “What is it to you if I want Him to stay until I return?  Follow me.” Jesus didn’t say John wouldn’t die.  He asked Peter, “What is that to you?  Peter’s only business, as our only business, is to put Jesus first.  As we do that, whatever happens to others will be cause for us to pray or to celebrate.  We pray when others have need, and we celebrate when others are blessed or praised.  That isn’t natural, but in the supernatural realm of Jesus’ family we help those in need, and we celebrate the victories of our brothers and sisters.