The Good Book Club: Week 34
Jeremiah's lament - and reiteration that a false prophet's words are NOT equal to God's words
This Week
We are reading:
Jeremiah 5-26
Proverbs 14:25-35, 15:1-16
Summary
Jeremiah echoes many other reluctant prophets we have read about. He complains to God, curses the day he was born, and begs to be released from a calling he never wanted. He keeps going anyway, like the reluctant prophets before him.
This week we’re deep in the indictment of Jerusalem and Judah, yet again. We can recite the charges by now — idolatry, injustice, false worship, ignoring the prophets — and Jeremiah delivers them with the flair of personal anguish. He is grieving the downfall of his culture from right inside it.
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Here is the daily breakdown from our annual plan:
Day 229 — Monday, 8/17 — Jeremiah 5-7, Proverbs 14:25-28
Day 230 — Tuesday, 8/18 — Jeremiah 8-10, Proverbs 14:29-32
Day 231 — Wednesday, 8/19 — Jeremiah 11-13, Proverbs 14:33-35
Day 232 — Thursday, 8/20 — Jeremiah 14-16, Proverbs 15:1-4
Day 233 — Friday, 8/21 — Jeremiah 17-19, Proverbs 15:5-8
Day 234 — Saturday, 8/22 — Jeremiah 20-22, Proverbs 15:9-12
Day 235 — Sunday, 8/23 — Jeremiah 23-26, Proverbs 15:13-16
Day 229 — Monday, 8/17 — Jeremiah 5-7, Proverbs 14:25-28
In typical God fashion, He tells Jeremiah to go through the streets of Jerusalem and look for even one person who acts justly and seeks truth. If he finds one, the city will be forgiven. He looks among the poor, then among the leaders, but he finds no one.
The siege of Jerusalem is announced because the people refuse to correct their behavior. Jeremiah tells the people that they cannot expect the temple of the Lord to protect them while they are disobedient.
“Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to Baal and follow other gods you have not known, and then come and stand before me in this house, which bears my Name, and say, ‘We are safe’ — safe to do all these detestable things?”
Jeremiah 7:9-10
Day 230 — Tuesday, 8/18 — Jeremiah 8-10, Proverbs 14:29-32
Jeremiah mourns the persistent rebellion and spiritual sickness of his people, and expresses deep grief over the deceit and falsehood of Judah, leading to impending judgment. He is crushed by the inevitable outcome.
The contrast between the Creator God and human-made idols, which are sheer delusion, is hammered home for the umpteenth time.
Day 231 — Wednesday, 8/19 — Jeremiah 11-13, Proverbs 14:33-35
God tells Jeremiah to proclaim the terms of the covenant that the people swore to at Sinai and have been breaking ever since.
God tells Jeremiah that the men of his hometown are plotting to kill him. Jeremiah asks why the wicked prosper, and God explains that future judgment and restoration is coming.
Day 232 — Thursday, 8/20 — Jeremiah 14-16, Proverbs 15:1-4
A severe drought hits the land, and God tells Jeremiah not to pray for the people. The false prophets have been telling the people there will be peace — but God never promised that.
God tells Jeremiah not to marry, not to have children, not to attend funerals or feasts — his isolation is itself a sign to the people of what is coming, much like the symbolism displayed by other prophets. Jeremiah laments his calling.
Day 233 — Friday, 8/21 — Jeremiah 17-19, Proverbs 15:5-8
Judah’s sin is permanently carved on their hearts, detailed in the infamous line that the heart is deceitful above all things.
God uses a potter to explain to Jeremiah: as the potter shapes this vase, so too does God shape His people.
The breaking of a clay flask symbolizes the total destruction of Jerusale
The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?
Jeremiah 17:9
Day 234 — Saturday, 8/22 — Jeremiah 20-22, Proverbs 15:9-12
Pashhur the priest has Jeremiah beaten and put in stocks overnight. When he is released, Jeremiah renames him: not Pashhur but Terror on Every Side. Jeremiah’s burden is great — he is ridiculed constantly, yet if he doesn’t speak the words of God burn his heart like a fire in his bones. He cannot stop; his blessing is a curse.
King Zedekiah asks for help, hoping Jeremiah will call upon God to save him, but Jeremiah tells him to surrender to Babylon. God issues a judgment against the kings.
Does it make you a king
to have more and more cedar?
Jeremiah 22:15
Day 235 — Sunday, 8/23 — Jeremiah 23-26, Proverbs 15:13-16
The shepherds who scatter and destroy God’s flock are condemned. God promises a righteous Branch will soon come from David’s line.
A vision of the good figs (those going into exile) and bad figs (those remaining behind). The word of God and the word of the false prophet are not comparable, no matter how similar they sound from the outside.
Jeremiah is put on trial for predicting the temple's destruction, but is spared.
What jumped out at you the most you this week? It’s the false prophets for me.