Skip to main content

Tag: Book of Jeremiah

Trusts in man cursed

Written by LWOM Amsterdam on . Posted in Jeremiah, What’s new?.

Why is the man who trusts in man cursed (Jeremiah 17:5)?

One of Jeremiah’s persistent themes is contrasting those who trust in human resources and those who put their confidence in the Lord: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the Lord. He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land. Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit” (Jeremiah 17:5–8, ESV).

“The man who trusts in man” is the person who rejects God and relies on his own strength and ingenuity or who looks to other people for help and rescue. Such a person is cursed with a dried-up, empty life. He is destined to experience hardship, distress, and eventual death. Conversely, the person who trusts in the Lord is richly blessed. This individual thrives, grows, and prospers, even in the heat of challenging circumstances.

In Jeremiah’s day, the nation’s leaders were trusting in man—their political allies—and leaning on “the arm of the flesh” (2 Chronicles 32:8). Borrowing from the wisdom in Psalm 1:3–4, Jeremiah likens those who trust in God to flourishing, well-watered trees. His warning not to trust in human resources echoes Psalm 146:3: “Do not put your trust in princes, in human beings, who cannot save.” Judah’s unbelief and rejection of the Lord would turn their lives and their land into a desert wasteland, but faith and trust in God would establish them as a firmly planted, thriving woodland.

Complete dependence on God was essential to Israel’s covenant agreement with Yahweh (Deuteronomy 28:1–68; Psalm 20:7; Proverbs 3:5–6; Isaiah 31:1). God had promised blessings for those who trusted and obeyed Him and curses for those who rejected and disobeyed Him. But the Jewish people and their leaders were known for turning their hearts away from the Lord and trusting in man (Isaiah 2:22; 30:1). Time and time again, Israel’s self-reliance and trust in man had ended in disaster (Numbers 14:40–45; Hosea 8:1–14; Amos 6:8).

God alone is worthy of our trust (Psalm 28:7; 56:4; 91:1–16; 118:8). Fearing people is “a dangerous trap, but trusting the Lord means safety” (Proverbs 29:25, NLT). It’s impossible to safely navigate the issues of this life relying on our own resources. For this reason, Solomon advised, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom. Instead, fear the Lord and turn away from evil. Then you will have healing for your body and strength for your bones” (Proverbs 3:5–8, NLT).

In the matter of our eternal salvation, God rewards faith. Those who trust in the Lord are blessed with His salvation, but those who trust in man are cursed and destined to miss eternity in heaven (Isaiah 43:11; Acts 4:12). There is absolutely no room for trusting in man in God’s plan of salvation (Psalm 60:11; 108:12; John 15:5; Romans 6:23). If we misplace our dependency—trusting in self or other people—we forfeit the extraordinary relationship God has planned for us with Him (Isaiah 40:31; Romans 3:27; Ephesians 1:3; 2:8–9).

When God created us, He designed us to live in intimate, trusting fellowship with Him (John 3:16–17; Matthew 11:28–30; 1 Corinthians 1:9). True believers are “planted in Christ.” He is our fountain of “living water” springing up to eternal life (John 4:10–14). Our relationship with Jesus involves total, lifelong reliance on Him to meet our needs (Psalm 23; Philippians 4:19).

The man who trusts in man is cursed because relying on human power or one’s own resources will result in negative consequences in this life and eventually eternal death (Proverbs 14:12). But those who trust in the Lord are blessed all their days with His love, care, peace, protection, guidance, provision, and the exceedingly great hope of eternal life (Isaiah 43:2; 26:3; Nahum 1:7; Psalm 28:7; 1 Peter 1:3–12).

Heart desperately wicked

Written by LWOM Amsterdam on . Posted in Jeremiah, What’s new?.

What does it mean that the heart is desperately wicked in Jeremiah 17:9?

Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (KJV). The immediate context of the verse speaks of Judah’s sinfulness in spite of all the blessings of God. Jeremiah 17:1 says, “Judah’s sin is engraved with an iron tool, inscribed with a flint point, on the tablets of their hearts and on the horns of their altars.” Saying that their sin is inscribed on the tablets of their hearts is similar to saying that they are “desperately wicked” in verse 9.

The phrase desperately wicked is from the KJV. Some of the modern translations use other wording such as “beyond cure” (NIV) and “desperately sick” (NASB and ESV). The Hebrew word translated “desperately wicked” has the idea of a terminal, incurable illness.

While the immediate context speaks of the nation of Judah, that nation illustrates the human condition that is true everywhere and for everyone. This is a concept that theologians have called “total depravity.”

Romans 1—3 speaks of the total depravity of mankind. The following verses serve to illustrate the point:

Romans 1:29–32: “They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.”

Romans 3:9–18: “What shall we conclude then? Do we have any advantage? Not at all! For we have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under the power of sin. As it is written: ‘There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.’ ‘Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit.’ ‘The poison of vipers is on their lips.’ ‘Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.’ ‘Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not know.’ ‘There is no fear of God before their eyes.’”

Not every person will commit all the sins listed above. Total depravity does not mean that every person is as bad as he possibly can be, but that every person is completely consumed by sin and there is no hope of his turning it around and “getting better’ on his own. We are “desperately wicked.” Romans 8:8 says, “Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” In the flesh in context refers to the natural person who has not been regenerated by the Spirit of God. The “illness” is terminal and incurable—so much so that Paul describes the unregenerate as “dead in sins” (Ephesians 2:1; Colossians 2:13).

The only hope for the sinful human heart is to be supernaturally changed. Jeremiah 31:33 gives the solution. Where sin was once inscribed on the hearts of His people, God provides a new inscription: “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”

Jesus came to inaugurate a New Covenant so that sins could be forgiven and sinners could be born again (John 3:5). As “desperately wicked” people, we cannot reform our hearts by our own effort. The only solution is for God to make our hearts new, washed clean from sin and fundamentally reoriented toward pleasing Him.

Peace, peace, when there is no peace

Written by LWOM Amsterdam on . Posted in Jeremiah, What’s new?.

What does “peace, peace, when there is no peace” mean in Jeremiah 8:11?

Jeremiah was a prophet of God, proclaiming that judgment was coming upon Jerusalem. However, Jeremiah was opposed by the king and the priests who did not want to hear his message. In their opinion, Jeremiah’s message of surrendering to Babylon amounted to treason. False prophets, who claimed to speak for God, also contradicted Jeremiah’s message. Jeremiah proclaimed bloodshed, destruction, and judgment when Babylon conquered Jerusalem. The false prophets, on the other hand, said that the future of Jerusalem looked bright—Jerusalem could look forward to peace, not war.

The phrase peace, peace, when there is no peace is found in Jeremiah 6:14 as well as Jeremiah 8:11. It is also found in Ezekiel 13:10 and 16. In all four places, it has the same meaning in the same historical context.

Jeremiah was like a doctor delivering bad news to his patient. His diagnosis was that, unless drastic measures were taken, the patient would die. However, the false prophets gave a “second opinion.” “Don’t listen to Jeremiah,” they said; “you are going to be just fine.” Instead of radical surgery and a drastic change of lifestyle, the priests and false prophets said a light bandage was all that was needed. The following passage is found in Jeremiah 6:13–14 and repeated exactly in Jeremiah 8:10b–11:

“From the least to the greatest,
all are greedy for gain;
prophets and priests alike,
all practice deceit.
They dress the wound of my people
as though it were not serious.
‘Peace, peace,’ they say,
when there is no peace.”

When the priests and false prophets said, “Peace, peace,” they were denying that judgment was on the way. They were giving the people false assurances. The explicit assumption is that Jerusalem and Judah had not committed grievous sins and that God was not displeased with them. In fact, according to the false prophets, God was quite happy with His people and wanted to bless them. They promised “peace, peace!” Unfortunately, their promised peace would not come. The book of Jeremiah bears this out, and, in the end, Jerusalem was destroyed by Babylon, just as God had said.

The prophet Ezekiel says something similar: “Because [the false prophets] lead my people astray, saying, ‘Peace,’ when there is no peace, and because, when a flimsy wall is built, they cover it with whitewash, therefore tell those who cover it with whitewash that it is going to fall. Rain will come in torrents, and I will send hailstones hurtling down, and violent winds will burst forth” (Ezekiel 13:10–11). In the same passage, God says, “So I will pour out my wrath against the wall and against those who covered it with whitewash. I will say to you, ‘The wall is gone and so are those who whitewashed it, those prophets of Israel who prophesied to Jerusalem and saw visions of peace for her when there was no peace, declares the Sovereign Lord”’ (verses 15–17).

There are still false prophets and religious leaders today who issue false promises of peace when there is no peace. The message of peace and prosperity “sells.” Some preachers and teachers today say that the Christian life is all about peace and prosperity, but God does not promise that. There are others who ignore or downplay the seriousness of sin and teach that God is not concerned with their behavior. Others deny that eternal judgment awaits the unrepentant sinner, even though God has promised just the opposite. These are modern examples of false prophets promising peace when there is no peace.

Paul tells Timothy to “preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths” (2 Timothy 4:2–4). People like to hear good news, and they do not want to hear that hardship may be God’s will for them in this life or that judgment is certain after death. Christians have the job of delivering bad news because the bad news must be embraced before the good news can be effective.

God bore witness against the people to whom Isaiah was sent to minister, calling them “rebellious people, deceitful children, children unwilling to listen to the Lord’s instruction” (Isaiah 30:9). Such people have closed their ears to the Word of the Lord, and desire to hear only “peace” even when there is no peace. They say to God’s prophets, “Give us no more visions of what is right! Tell us pleasant things, prophesy illusions. . . . Stop confronting us with the Holy One of Israel!” (verses 10–11).

For I know the plans I have for you (Jeremiah 29:11)

Written by LWOM Amsterdam on . Posted in Jeremiah, What’s new?.

What is the meaning of “for I know the plans I have for you” in Jeremiah 29:11?

“‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’” This verse or portions of it are very popular. Jeremiah 29:11 is often displayed on posters, T-shirts, bumper stickers, etc. This verse is often spoken as a promise of hope to people who are grieving or discouraged. However, before it can be applied, it must first be understood in context.

When interpreting Scripture, we must keep in mind the distinction between a passage’s interpretation and the same passage’s application: a passage can have only one meaning, but it may have many applications. Jeremiah 29:11 is no different. The verse has only one meaning.

Jeremiah 29 is addressed to the exiles in Babylon. As punishment for the sins of Judah, God was going to send the Babylonians to destroy Jerusalem and the temple and to carry away many of the people to Babylon. (See Jeremiah 25:8–14 for one example.) At the time Jeremiah wrote Jeremiah 29, Nebuchadnezzar had already removed some Jews to Babylon (see verse 1), although the total destruction of Jerusalem and the temple was still to come. Jeremiah writes to the exiles to tell them that people would return to the land after 70 years (verse 10). Then he reassures them in verse 11 that God has not forsaken them. They will be restored. God’s plans for His Chosen People were “for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope” (NLT).

In the primary application, Jeremiah 29:11 has nothing to do with any person living today. This verse applied only to the Jews who were in exile in Babylon during the sixth century BC. However, the sentiment expressed is so beautiful and encouraging, is there not any sense in which it applies today? The answer is, yes.

Jeremiah 29:11 has other applications. In particular, this verse reflects a more general principle of God’s grace and affections for those whom He loves, including the modern church. This more general application can be made because of the unchanging nature of God.

God had promised to bring Israel back; therefore, the exiles could be assured that they had a future and a hope. This promise was not made to all nations at the time, but only to Israel. Likewise, God has promised believers in Christ certain things that are not applicable to the human race in general. For those who are in Christ, God has promised that our sins are forgiven and we stand before God justified. God has plans for those in Christ, and those plans are good.

Shades of Jeremiah 29:11 are seen elsewhere in Scripture, such as in Romans 8:31–39: “If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? . . . No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Believers in Christ can be confident that all things will work together for our good and that God has a future planned for us. We have hope that “does not put us to shame” (Romans 5:5). We have been given promises to rely on, just as Israel was. So, if by quoting Jeremiah 29:11 we are thinking of our security in Christ, then the wording is appropriate, even if the historical context does not apply.

A word of caution, however, that Jeremiah 29:11 can be misused as well. First, it is sometimes wrongly applied to humanity in general. Strictly speaking, the promise of Jeremiah 29:11 does not apply to every human being, but only those who are in Christ. Perhaps it could even be extended as part of the invitation to receive Christ: “If you come to Him, He promises you a future and a hope!” Outside of Christ, the only Savior, there is no future and no hope (see John 3:18). Too often, Jeremiah 29:11, quoted without context and applied universally, is made to give the impression that God is a doting grandfather who just wants to spoil us.

The second danger of using this verse without understanding the context is the same as the danger of taking Romans 8:28 out of context. Jeremiah 29:11 promised that the nation of Israel would be restored, but very few of the exiles lived to see the fulfillment of that prophecy 70 years later. Most of them died without seeing the future that God had planned. Likewise, the future and hope we have in Christ are not a guarantee that things will go well in this life. For most believers throughout history and in the world today, the world is a cold and dangerous place. In fact, the promise outlined in Romans 8:28 is specifically that, even though believers will face all sorts of dangers and persecutions in this life (trouble, hardship, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger, sword—see verse 35), Christ will never abandon them. In this life, believers have hope because of the work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts, but the future and the hope and the prosperity that God has planned for believers will be fully realized only after this life of suffering is over.

Obey my voice

Written by LWOM Amsterdam on . Posted in Jeremiah, What’s new?.

Why does God command, “Obey my voice, and I will be your God” (Jeremiah 7:23)?

If the concept of authentic worship could be condensed into one word, it would be obedience. In Jeremiah 7, the prophet delivers a message to the wayward nation of Judah, who, like Israel, had turned from genuine, wholehearted devotion to God to empty rituals and reckless idolatry. Jeremiah warns the people to change their ways (verse 3) and reminds them of the Lord’s command: “Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people. And walk in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you” (verse 23, ESV).

God had issued the command to obey His voice while Israel camped in the wilderness: “If you will listen carefully to the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in his sight, obeying his commands and keeping all his decrees, then I will not make you suffer any of the diseases I sent on the Egyptians; for I am the Lord who heals you” (Exodus 15:26, NLT). When the people prepared to enter the Promised Land, Moses repeated, “Listen closely, Israel, and be careful to obey. Then all will go well with you, and you will have many children in the land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, promised you” (Deuteronomy 6:3, NLT; see also Deuteronomy 4:40).

The ultimate blessing of obeying God’s voice is His promise to “walk among you” and “be your God, and you shall be my people” (Leviticus 26:12, ESV). Yet, by Jeremiah’s day, false worship had spread beyond control. The people of Judah ignored the voice of the Lord. Instead of trusting in God, they had put their faith in outward religious observances. They believed Solomon’s temple in Jerusalem offered them an indestructible fortress of protection (Jeremiah 7:4). Therefore, the Lord instructed Jeremiah to stand in the temple and deliver a sermon that would reveal the hypocrisy and hollowness of their worship (Jeremiah 7:1—8:3). They needed to remember that protection for God’s people comes from one thing alone—God’s presence (Deuteronomy 31:6; Psalm 46:1; 91:1–16). And, under the Old Covenant, His sheltering presence is only promised to those who obey Him (Leviticus 25:18).

We demonstrate authentic worship when we hear and obey the Lord’s voice. Today, to obey God’s voice is to believe in Jesus Christ. God says, “This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him” (Luke 9:35). “The work of God is this,” Jesus said, “to believe in the one he has sent” (John 6:29). Believers today are under the New Covenant, ratified by Christ, and they have the promise of God’s presence with them always (Hebrews 13:5).

In obeying Christ, we build our spiritual houses on a solid foundation. Jesus put it like this: “Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash” (Matthew 7:24–27, NLT).

God says, “Obey my voice, and I will be your God” because He desires passionate, heart-and-soul submission to His will and not mere rule-following and ritual sacrifice (1 Samuel 15:22; Deuteronomy 26:16). Jesus said, “If you love me, obey my commandments” (John 14:15, NLT). The apostle John wrote, “This is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome” (1 John 5:3). Loving God and obeying His commands are inseparable and synonymous activities (1 John 3:10; 2 John 1:6). Our obedience expresses the reality of our faith in God (Hebrews 11:8; Matthew 7:21; James 2:14–26).

We need God’s presence and the fulfillment of His purpose (Proverbs 16:1; 19:21). God told Israel, “Obey my voice, and I will be your God” because “blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord” (Psalm 33:12a). He wanted to bless His people with His proximity and protection: “Now if you will obey me and keep my covenant, you will be my own special treasure from among all the peoples on earth; for all the earth belongs to me” (Exodus 19:5, NLT). The Lord knows the right path for us and always has our best interests in mind (Proverbs 3:5–6; Proverbs 5:21; Romans 8:28). His faithful ones are the apple of His eye (Psalm 17:8; Zechariah 2:8). He wants to reward us with fellowship with Him for all eternity (Matthew 7:21; 1 John 2:17).