THROUGH THE BIBLE IN THREE YEARS

This program of daily devotions is designed to take you through the Bible in three years. It is our desire to help you gain a better general understanding of God's Word.

Please understand that in a study this brief, we will be concerned with only the major emphases and context of the Scriptures.

Each day a devotion for one or two chapters is posted, beginning with chapter one of Genesis and going through chapter twenty-two of Revelation. You are free to print each page as it appears. If you miss a day, you may go to the archive below and find it.

Bruce McGee, Pastor
205 Adams
Columbia, LA 71418

We have a great friend in Gary Godard. He has set up an archive page. To view ALL the prior devotions by Scripture, just clik

HERE

Bro. Bruce's commentaries for the books of Genesis through 2Kings are
now available in hard copy for $7.50. Just mail your request for COMMENTARY ON (BOOK NAME) to the address above.

Jeremiah

CHAPTER 16

1 The word of the LORD came also unto me, saying, 2 Thou shalt not take thee a wife, neither shalt thou have sons or daughters in this place. 3 For thus saith the LORD concerning the sons and concerning the daughters that are born in this place, and concerning their mothers that bare them, and concerning their fathers that begat them in this land; 4 They shall die of grievous deaths; they shall not be lamented; neither shall they be buried; but they shall be as dung upon the face of the earth: and they shall be consumed by the sword, and by famine; and their carcases shall be meat for the fowls of heaven, and for the beasts of the earth. 5 For thus saith the LORD, Enter not into the house of mourning, neither go to lament nor bemoan them: for I have taken away my peace from this people, saith the LORD, even lovingkindness and mercies. 6 Both the great and the small shall die in this land: they shall not be buried, neither shall men lament for them, nor cut themselves, nor make themselves bald for them: 7 Neither shall men tear themselves for them in mourning, to comfort them for the dead; neither shall men give them the cup of consolation to drink for their father or for their mother. 8 Thou shalt not also go into the house of feasting, to sit with them to eat and to drink. 9 For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will cause to cease out of this place in your eyes, and in your days, the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride.

It befalls some men to never marry. Jeremiah was one of those men. Jesus said there are some men made eunuchs of God, and some made eunuchs by others for slavery; but some are made eunuchs of themselves because of their love for God (Matthew 19:12).

Jeremiah's vision from God taught him that men, women and children would suffer in his lifetime (see verse 9). It would be really difficult for men to see their wives and children horribly mistreated at the hands of barbarians (verses 3-4). And the judgment of Judah would be so strong and swift that men would not have time to give decent burials nor even to mourn over the deaths of loved ones.

The pleasure times were going to end! (see verse 9)

WHY? Why would God allow this to happen to His "chosen people?"

10 And it shall come to pass, when thou shalt shew this people all these words, and they shall say unto thee, Wherefore hath the LORD pronounced all this great evil against us? or what is our iniquity? or what is our sin that we have committed against the LORD our God? 11 Then shalt thou say unto them, Because your fathers have forsaken me, saith the LORD, and have walked after other gods, and have served them, and have worshipped them, and have forsaken me, and have not kept my law; 12 And ye have done worse than your fathers; for, behold, ye walk every one after the imagination of his evil heart, that they may not hearken unto me: 13 Therefore will I cast you out of this land into a land that ye know not, neither ye nor your fathers; and there shall ye serve other gods day and night; where I will not shew you favour.

God's answer to the question above is that the people have wholly forgotten allegiance to Him and have gone after "imaginations" of their own hearts. They have refused to let God be the center of their lives. His grace is abated by their lack of attentiveness. God is about to lift the veil of protection that He held over them so long.

Christians, when God ceases to be the center of all you do, then His grace is blocked from reaching you.

14 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that it shall no more be said, The LORD liveth, that brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; 15 But, The LORD liveth, that brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the lands whither he had driven them: and I will bring them again into their land that I gave unto their fathers. 16 Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith the LORD, and they shall fish them; and after will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks. 17 For mine eyes are upon all their ways: they are not hid from my face, neither is their iniquity hid from mine eyes.

God has been known among them as "The LORD..Who" saved them from the slavery of Egypt and gave them the "Promised Land." But now, God will be known as "The LORD...Who" brought them again out of the captivity caused by idolatry.

God saves us from the slavery of sin so that we can serve Him. When we serve selfish desires instead of God, then He saves us from ourselves through death. But God will one day call from the ends of earth and return those who are genuinely His to His glorious heaven!

Nothing is hidden from God (verse 17). He knows our innermost being.

18 And first I will recompense their iniquity and their sin double; because they have defiled my land, they have filled mine inheritance with the carcases of their detestable and abominable things. 19 O LORD, my strength, and my fortress, and my refuge in the day of affliction, the Gentiles shall come unto thee from the ends of the earth, and shall say, Surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and things wherein there is no profit.

The Hebrew word for "recompense" (verse 18) is shalam. It can mean to be safe, or it can mean to make right. God is saying BOTH to His people. He will make them safe by making things right.

It is not right for people to, on the one hand say they have only one God, and on the other hand to worship many gods. This defiles their worship and defiles the name by which God has called them. It defiles their witness to truth in the world.

God will "make right" by allowing them to suffer for their sins of idolatry, and then He will "make safe" by showing them the importance of focusing their attention upon Him and Him alone.

Jeremiah questions, "What will the Gentiles say, Lord?" (verse 19)

20 Shall a man make gods unto himself, and they are no gods? 21 Therefore, behold, I will this once cause them to know, I will cause them to know mine hand and my might; and they shall know that my name is The LORD.

God's answer to Jeremiah's question teaches that man's imaginative "gods" are NOTHING! There is only ONE GOD!!

Through what God did by allowing the nation of Judah to go into captivity, both Jew and Gentile have come to know that there is only ONE true and living GOD!

This whole chapter brings to mind the ten commandments. There were two tables of stone given to Moses. On the one table were the four commandments concerning our relationship to God:

  1. "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." (Exodus 20:3)
  2. "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image.." (Exodus 20:4)
  3. "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain..." (Exodus 20:7)
  4. "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy." (Exodus 20:8)

These four commandments show that we are to make God the CENTER of our lives, and all other things are to revolve around Him.

When Jesus was asked, "Which is the greatest commandment?" He answered, "This is the greatest of commandments - Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind." ((See Matthew 22:36-40))

That statement encompassed all of the first four commandments God gave to Moses ((see also Deuteronomy 6:5, and Deuteronomy 11:1)).

The most important relationship we have is with God. In fact, without it, all other relationships are superficial. We cannot truly "love thy neighbor as thyself," unless we have first known the love of God in our hearts.

Keep in mind, Jeremiah is preaching to a people who have SHOWN God that they only want a superficial relationship with Him, and are refusing all efforts of God to be reconciled to Him.

PLEASE CONTINUE IN BIBLE STUDY WITH US TOMORROW.