Posts from September 2020

One of the truly vivid lessons presented by Jeremiah comes in chapter 35, and it concerns the descendants of a man named Rechab. Rechab was the father of Jehonadab, who participated with Jehu in slaughtering the worshipers of Baal after the death of king Ahab (2 Kings 10:15-28). Rechab’s “claim to fame” was his decree that none of his descendants should ever live in a house, nor plant a field or vine- yard, nor drink grape juice/wine in any form…

One of the most valuable lessons we can learn from the prophet Jeremiah comes from his own experience in faithfully serving the Lord. True commitment to the Almighty means persisting in His way, with His message even when those around us don’t want to hear it. In Jeremiah 20:7-9, the servant of the Lord laments that he “got more than he bargained for” in obeying the Lord’s call to be His prophet: The people mocked him for his message, until…

“Do not pray for this people… for I will not hear you.” What an incredibly hard, harsh-sounding decree! Yet this was God’s explicit instruction to Jeremiah, in chapter 7:16. The bible critic, and the skeptic would respond, “See; the God of the bible is a mean, cruel despot!” Some background information is in order, however, so as to understand the context of the Lord’s words here; He first instructed Jeremiah to go to the main entrance of the temple and…

The prophet Jeremiah has often been described as the “weeping” prophet of Judah because of the sorrow he experienced in the course of performing his task. Jeremiah was sent to warn a wayward, rebellious, and impenitent people about the Lord’s coming judgement upon them. A patriotic Jew, but also a tender-hearted man, there were times when Jeremiah felt his prophetic burden was more than he could bear. His service spans the reigns of the last five kings of Judah, and…