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Tag: Prophet Jeremiah

Mercies new every morning

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

What does it mean that God’s mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3:23)?

Lamentations 3:22–23 says,
“Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.”
The ESV and KJV use the word mercies instead of compassions. God’s mercy and compassion are “new every morning,” yet another reason to praise Him.

The prophet Jeremiah wrote Lamentations in a time of grief and national mourning, after the once great city of Jerusalem fell to Babylon, circa 586 BC. The book describes great anguish—and great hope—in poetic form. The main theme of the book is God’s judgment on Judah’s sin as well as His compassion for His people. Lamentations contains “laments” or “loud cries” for Jerusalem and many expressions of anguish and pain, but in chapter 3, right in the middle of the book, there is a beautiful passage of confidence and hope.

Jeremiah’s tone changes from despair to hope in Lamentations 3:21: “Yet this I call to mind / and therefore I have hope.” From this and ensuing verses, we know that, even in the darkest times, God is faithful and will not cast off His people forever. Every day, every morning, God shows His mercy and compassion.

Taking a closer look at Lamentations 3:22–23, we notice a couple important themes. First, the Lord’s “great love” (“steadfast love” in some translations) abides even in times of trouble and divine judgment. God never stopped loving Israel, despite His discipline of them. The Hebrew word translated “great love” is used about 250 times in the Old Testament; it refers to love, of course, but it also encompasses elements of grace, mercy, goodness, forgiveness, compassion, and faithfulness. It is God’s “great love” for His people that spared them from being utterly wiped out by Babylon. As we know from history, God later restored His people to their land and blessed them again.

A second theme is God’s unfailing compassion or mercy. Mercy in the Bible is God’s withholding of a just punishment. The particular Hebrew word used in Lamentations 3:22 has to do with tender love, great and tender mercy, or pity. The same word is used in Isaiah 63:7 and translated “compassion”: “I will tell of the kindnesses of the LORD, the deeds for which he is to be praised, according to all the LORD has done for us—yes, the many good things he has done for Israel, according to his compassion and many kindnesses.” The Lord has pity on His suffering children; in fact, His mercies are new every morning.

Jeremiah’s statement that God’s mercies are “new every morning” is related to the statement that follows: “Great is your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:23). God is unchanging, and His mercies toward Israel were unfaltering. His covenant with Abraham’s descendants would be kept (see Jeremiah 31:35–37). This was the bright ray of hope that shone through the smoke of Jerusalem’s ruins.

The dawning of every new day could be seen as a symbol of God’s light breaking through the darkness and His mercy overcoming our troubles. Every morning demonstrates God’s grace, a new beginning in which gloom must flee. We need look no further than the breath in our lungs, the sun that shines upon us, or the rain that falls to nourish the soil. The mercies of God continue to come to us via a multitude of manifestations.

There is no expiration date on God’s mercy toward us. His mercies are new every morning in that they are perpetual and always available to those in need. We have our ups and downs, and “even youths grow tired and weary” (Isaiah 40:30), but God is faithful through it all. With the dawn of each day comes a new batch of compassion made freshly available to us. God’s compassion is poured out from an infinite store; His mercies will never run out. Some mornings we get up on the wrong side of the bed, but even there we find God’s mercies awaiting us.

Believers still sin and grieve the Holy Spirit, but forgiveness is always available (1 John 1:8–9). God’s mercy is ready to forgive our sins, as they are atoned for by the shed blood of Jesus Christ on the cross. We serve a great, loving, and merciful God, and because of His great love we are not consumed. Our God is for us, not against us.

In Jesus Christ we have the fullest expression of God’s mercy and compassion (see Matthew 14:14), and He is “the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). Jesus’ mercy is indeed “new every morning.”

Plead my cause before the Lord

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

How do I plead my cause before the Lord (Jeremiah 20:12)?

Jeremiah had a difficult ministry and was persecuted severely for doing what God had sent him to do. In Jeremiah 20 we discover an episode in which Jeremiah is beaten and arrested. In that context Jeremiah pleads his cause before the Lord (Jeremiah 20:12).

As Jeremiah was presenting God’s message of impending judgment on the people of Judah (Jeremiah 19), a chief priest named Passhur had Jeremiah beaten and placed in stocks not far from the temple (Jeremiah 20:1–2). After being released, Jeremiah prophesied that God would judge Passhur for rejecting God’s Word and for Passhur’s own false prophecies (Jeremiah 20:3–6). After that, we read of Jeremiah’s frustration with God and how he goes on to say, “I have pleaded my cause before You” (Jeremiah 20:12, NKJV).

After experiencing mistreatment at the hands of the temple official, Jeremiah cries out that he feels deceived by God (Jeremiah 20:7). Jeremiah presented God’s Word to the people, but, rather than respond in submission and respect, the people treated Jeremiah poorly. He is a laughingstock who is mocked constantly by seemingly everyone (Jeremiah 20:7–8). Jeremiah also seems deeply frustrated that he has to constantly bring the people bad news about coming judgment—violence and destruction—and the people receive those messages with reproach and derision for Jeremiah (Jeremiah 20:8). But, despite the difficulty of being God’s messenger, Jeremiah can’t bring himself to turn away, as God’s Word (Jeremiah’s message spoken in God’s name) was like a fire within him, and he could not be silent (Jeremiah 20:9).

Because Jeremiah was constantly proclaiming God’s judgment (“terror on every side,” Jeremiah 20:10), the people denounced Jeremiah. Even his friends were waiting for him to fall, hoping he was simply being deceived so they could reject him as a false prophet (Jeremiah 20:10). Rather than receive Jeremiah’s words as a message from God, they wanted to do violence to Jeremiah. The prophet takes the matter to God, to plead his cause before the Lord, and he waits for vindication from heaven: “Let me see your vengeance against them, for I have committed my cause to you” (Jeremiah 20:12, NLT).

Despite the constant rejection that Jeremiah felt, he refused to quit. He recognized that God was with him like a dread champion or a terrifying mighty one (Jeremiah 20:11a). Jeremiah knew that, because God was with him, his enemies would not prevail over him and would one day be ashamed and disgraced (Jeremiah 20:11b). Jeremiah knew that God determined whether someone was righteous, and it was God who could see what was in the mind and the heart (Jeremiah 20:12a). Jeremiah had confidence that God knew what was in Jeremiah’s mind and heart, that he was indeed being faithful to the task God had given him. While everyone resisted Jeremiah for the message he presented, Jeremiah asks God for His vengeance on them, for they had rejected God and persecuted Jeremiah. Jeremiah adds that he has pled his case before the Lord (Jeremiah 20:12). Jeremiah then reminds his readers that God is worthy of praise. Jeremiah breaks into song, praising the One who delivers the soul of the needy from the hands of those who do evil (Jeremiah 20:13). As he awaits God to show Himself faithful, Jeremiah laments the day of his birth, that he should see such sorrow in his life (Jeremiah 20:14–18).

Jeremiah provides an important example to all of us that serving God is not always easy. Sometimes, obedience can be most difficult and painful. But even in the midst of life-threatening difficulty, Jeremiah recognizes that he can plead his cause before the Lord (Jeremiah 20:12). Jeremiah shows us that, even though we might face great difficulty, we can bring our concern to the Lord, standing on His promises and trusting Him to bring about justice in His own time.

Later, even after seeing the destruction that he had prophesied take place, Jeremiah wrote that he had hope because God’s lovingkindness is everlasting. God’s compassions never fail, and His faithfulness is great (Lamentations 3:21–23). Jeremiah understood that, even though people may reject him, his value and his very life are found in God (Lamentations 3:24). When we plead our cause before God like Jeremiah did—if we draw the same conclusions that Jeremiah did—we will have the same hope, because His lovingkindness and compassions are still everlasting. God’s mercies never fail.

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.

Before I formed you in the womb I knew you

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

What did God mean when He said, “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you,” in Jeremiah 1:5?

The calling of the prophet Jeremiah included these life-altering words from the Lord: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations” (Jeremiah 1:5).

The Hebrew word translated “formed” in Jeremiah 1:5 is the same verb used in Genesis 2:7 as part of God’s creative act in forming Adam, the first human, from the dust of the ground. The term is typically used to describe a potter’s process of molding clay into unique and useful pottery, as in Jeremiah 18:2–4. A master potter knows the creation he plans to form before he sits at his wheel to work, just as God knew Jeremiah before He ever started shaping him in His mother’s womb. God had set His sights on Jeremiah with plans to create him uniquely to be a spokesperson for the Word of the Lord.

The Hebrew verb translated “knew” in Jeremiah 1:5 means more than mere intellectual knowledge. It is used to describe the most intimate of relationships. Before Jeremiah was conceived in his mother’s womb, the Lord was thinking about him in the most profoundly personal way. Even before Jeremiah’s conception and birth, God chose him to be set apart as a minister of God’s Word to the nations.

Prior to his birth, Jeremiah had been “set apart,” which means he was “sanctified, made holy, consecrated.” This “setting apart” indicates the dedication of an object or individual to a specific use. In the Bible, people or items “set apart” for use by God include the Sabbath day (Exodus 16:23; 20:8), the tabernacle and its furnishings (Exodus 29:44; 40:9), and the priests (Exodus 29:1; 30:30). God knew Jeremiah intimately before conception. He placed His mark upon Him in the womb, reserving him for the specialized task of a prophet.

God also formed the prophet Isaiah “in the womb to be his servant” (Isaiah 49:5). The psalmist acknowledged that “from birth I was cast on you; from my mother’s womb you have been my God” (Psalm 22:10). And the apostle Paul testified that God “set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by his grace” (Galatians 1:15).

As the Lord set His sights on Jeremiah, choosing him to be a prophet, so Paul taught that God set His love upon us: “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified” (Romans 8:29–30). God’s purpose in calling people to salvation is that they be conformed into the image of His Son (Philippians 3:21; 1 Corinthians 15:49; Colossians 3:10; 1 John 3:2). As the Lord said to Jeremiah, “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you,” so He says to us today, “Whoever loves God is known by God” (1 Corinthians 8:3).

Jeremiah heard the Lord say, “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you,” as the prophet was receiving his call. At first, Jeremiah responded with self-doubt. “O Sovereign LORD,” Jeremiah said, “I can’t speak for you! I’m too young!” (Jeremiah 1:6, NLT). Jeremiah felt inadequate, ineloquent, and too inexperienced to be God’s ambassador. But the Lord reassured Jeremiah, encouraging him simply to be faithful. “Do not be afraid,” declared the Lord, “for I am with you to deliver you” (Jeremiah 1:8).

God touched Jeremiah, putting His words in his mouth (Jeremiah 1:9), and from then on the prophet never doubted the authenticity of his call. The experience changed Jeremiah forever. Throughout his lifetime, Jeremiah proclaimed the Word of the Lord to Judah, and his ministry extended to the Gentile nations.

As believers, we can know that God is the master designer of our lives. He is the potter molding, shaping, and engineering the purpose and destiny of our story. We are all formed by His hand (Isaiah 64:8). God knew us intimately before He formed us in the womb. He chose us in Christ. He will be with us always to fulfill His purpose through our lives: “For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan from before the beginning of time—to show us his grace through Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 1:9, NLT; see also Romans 8:28; Ephesians 1:11).

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).

Return to God with your whole heart

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

What does it mean to return to God with your whole heart (Jeremiah 24:7)?

Through Jeremiah’s vision of the good figs and the bad figs (Jeremiah 24:1–10), God encourages the prophet with a promise to care for a remnant of His people in exile. The Lord would work in their hearts and one day bring them back to their land: “I will set my eyes on them for good, and I will bring them back to this land. I will build them up, and not tear them down; I will plant them, and not pluck them up. I will give them a heart to know that I am the Lord, and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart” (verses 6–7, ESV).

Inspired by this vision, Jeremiah writes a letter from Jerusalem to the exiles in Babylon, urging them to live peacefully and patiently in the land because God has good plans for their future (Jeremiah 29:1–14). Again, through Jeremiah, the Lord calls the people to return to Him with their whole hearts: “Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you . . . and will bring you back from captivity” (verses 12–14). The prophet Joel delivers a similar call to repentance: “‘Even now,’ declares the Lord, ‘return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning. Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God’” (Joel 2:12–13).

In these passages, repentance from sin is conceived as returning to God with a whole heart. Interestingly, in Jeremiah’s vision, the Lord Himself begins the work of repentance by changing their hearts. God did the same for the children of Israel when they disobeyed the covenant under Moses. The Lord promised to circumcise their hearts so they would love Him and return to Him with their whole hearts and souls (Deuteronomy 30:1–10). True repentance that turns us away from sin and back to God begins when the Lord changes our hearts. He gives us “an undivided heart” and “a new spirit,” removing our stony hearts and replacing them with “a heart of flesh” (Ezekiel 11:19; see also Ezekiel 36:26; Jeremiah 32:38–39).

The great longing of God’s heart is for people who are far away in spiritual rebellion to repent of their sins and return to a place of wholehearted obedience and devotion to the Lord (Luke 15:11–32). This theme weaves throughout the entire Bible (Nehemiah 1:9; Zechariah 1:3; Malachi 3:7; 1 John 1:9). In His loving grace, God leads us to repentance (Titus 2:11–14; 1 Peter 5:10). In His goodness and kindness, He draws us back to Himself (John 6:44; Romans 2:4). By working in our hearts to change our minds about sin, He does for us that which we cannot do for ourselves. He creates in us new hearts, clean and pure (Psalm 51:10), so that we want to return to Him, our source of life, and love Him with all our hearts.

Returning to God with our whole heart indicates the sincerity of our repentance and devotion to the Lord (Jeremiah 3:10; 1 Kings 8:46–50). God wants us to love Him and dedicate ourselves to Him with everything we’ve got—heart, soul, mind, and strength (Deuteronomy 6:5; 13:3; Matthew 22:37). Samuel urged the people to “worship the Lord with all your heart, and don’t turn your back on him” (1 Samuel 12:20, NLT).

A whole heart for God is an undivided heart (Psalm 86:11). Too often, our hearts become divided through sin and distracted by the things of this world. Just like the stubborn and rebellious children of Israel, we lose interest in what God wants. If we find ourselves in this predicament—more interested in pleasing ourselves than pleasing God—we must surrender our divided hearts to God.

Do you need to return to God with a whole heart? Then heed the apostle Paul’s plea to “live in a right way in undivided devotion to the Lord” (1 Corinthians 7:35). Let God change your heart as you repent from sin and follow James’ urging to “come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world” (James 4:8, NLT).