Jeremiah 25:1-14.  In recent readings in Jeremiah we have seen many warnings to the people of Judah and their leaders about coming trouble.  We have seen that the trouble was deserved because they had been disrespectful and disobedient toward God.  Their religious leaders had been encouraging them to honor false gods and the prophets, who were supposed to deliver messages from God, were making up their own messages for the people.  These messages were usually the opposite of what God was actually telling them through his faithful representative, Jeremiah.

In yesterday’s reading Jeremiah had a “dream” or vision, and this one was from God.  In that vision the people of Judah were compared to two baskets of figs, one good and the other spoiled.  This vision came after some of the people of Judah had been taken captive by Nebuchadnezzar to Babylon.  The baskets of figs in the vision represented the people of Judah.  Most of us think pretty highly of ourselves and when something like that happens we like to think that the other guy got what he deserved.  Most of us would see being taken captive to another country as some sort of punishment.  That seems to be the attitude behind the vision that Jeremiah had.  But God turned the feelings of the  people who had remained in the land inside out.  In the vision the good figs represented the people in captivity and the bad figs represented the people left in the land.  God promised the people taken captive that they would have a pretty good life where they were and that they would eventually return.  The people in the land were warned about the path they were on (one that involved turning to Egypt for help instead of trusting God).  The people who remained in the land were told that eventually they would be seen by the world as a cursed people.

The vision in chapter 24 is some time after Jeconiah (also called Jehoiachin and Coniah) was taken captive by Nebuchadnezzar.  That happened in 597 BC.  The events in today’s reading take place in the “fourth year of Jehoiakim”.  Jehoiakim was Jehoiachin’s father and he reigned from 609 BC to 598 BC  (Remember he was the guy who got Nebuchadnezzar all stirred up by not paying tribute (a sort of tax) then died and left his son to face Nebuchadnezzar).  His 4^th year would have been 605 BC the same year Nebuchadnezzer thrashed the Egyptians at Carchemish.  Nebuchadnezzer also took captives from the cities of Palestine back to Babylon (see Daniel 1).  So this chapter is sort of a flash back.

In verse 2 notice that Jeremiah speaks to all the people of Judah and Jerusalem.  We need to keep in mind that God makes sure that we know what he wants.  So what does Jeremiah have to say to they?  In verse 3 he reminds the people that he has been bringing the word of God to them for the last 23 years, but they have not been listening.  That phrase occurs again in verses 4, 7 and we learn in verse 4 that it was not just Jeremiah telling them what God though, there were other prophets too.  In verse 7 the LORD (all capitals in many English translations mean that this is the one true God’s personal name Yahweh) makes it clear that this message came from him; it was Yahweh that they were not listening to.   Jeremiah also emphasizes that the message has been repeated over and over again in verses 3 and 4.  In verse 4 Jeremiah tells the people that they have not “inclined” their ear.  The word translated “inclined” means to “stretch out, hold out, turn toward”.  The idea is like turning your head to hear better or putting you had behind your ear to direct the sound in to it better.  The problem isn’t that these people couldn’t hear but that they were trying not to hear; they weren’t listening, for 23 years.  We see this idea in verse 7 too.

So what was the “message” from God?  In verse 5 Jeremiah tells them (and us) that he continually told them to stop doing “evil”.  That’s pretty general, but he gets more specific.  In verse 6 we find out that the people were chasing after other gods.  We also learn that they had made these gods with their own hands.  When we read through Isaiah he made a big deal of how stupid it is to carve a piece of wood and then set it up and serve it as a god while you are warming yourself by a fire made from the other parts of the same tree or bush or whatever.  Many of the false gods that the people worshipped were the “gods” of the people who had inhabited the land before the Israelites took it over.  God foresaw this and that is why he made such a big deal of having the Israelites getting  rid of the former inhabitants when they took over.  Unfortunately they never did a good job of that and now 800 years later they were seeing the consequences.  As we saw a couple of days ago the “gods” are often linked to the land; they are seen as a part of it in a way.  The Israelites probably though that they needed to make these local gods happy when things were not going the way they wanted; that is what their non-Jewish neighbors would have told them.  But just like the message from the figs yesterday, what God is doing doesn’t always match what we think.  Just last night I saw a trailer for a remake of “Left Behind”.  In the trailer one of the characters is mad about the rapture and the chaos that follows it.  She says, “The God my grandmother always talked about would never do something like this.”  We need to be careful about putting God in a cage that we design, he knows what he is doing, and based on what I see in the Bible it will have the most benefit for the most people (see 2 Peter 3:3-15, especially vv. 9-10, 15).

IN verse 7 we see that the actions of the people “provoke” God to “anger” and that the result will be “harm” to them.  The phrase “provoke me to anger” is one word in the Hebrew language “kawas”.  It can also mean “grieved” or “indignant”.  Indignant is an interesting word that means “not worthy”.  When I put that together with “grieved” (think sad) and the actions of the Jewish people I wonder if it they who are not worth or the fact that they don’t seem to treat God like he has worth.  It’s like the people are throwing God away with all he has to offer them.  Since God literally holds the universe together (Hebrews 1:3, Colossians 1:17) imagine what a mess we would be in without him.  No wonder he is sad and mad and grieved.  The word “harm” at the end of verse 7 is the same word used to describe the bad figs in chapter 24.  Basically the idea here is that throwing God away leads to a pretty rotten life.  Although God is clearly in control of the whole universe (Bible scholars like to use the word “sovereign” like a king), that does not mean that his control is not influenced by our actions.  Verses 5-7 make it very clear that our actions affect what God does.

In verses 8-11 we are told that the harm that is coming their way is going to be at the hand of Nebuchadnezzer.  God is going to use Babylon to show them what happens when you turn away from Him.  These verses don’t paint a very pretty picture including ideas like “utter destruction” and no “joy or gladness”.  I guess the girl in that movie trailer was wrong; we often are.

In verse 11 we get a little glimpse of hope.  In that verse we are told that Babylon will have control for 70 years.  In 2 Chronicles 36:21 that author mentions this verse and tells us that it is because of the land and “it’s Sabbaths”.  In the Law of Moses there was a rule that every seventh year the people were not supposed to plant any crops, they were to let the land rest (the word Sabbath means “seventh” but in the context of the Old Testament it contains the idea of rest).  For 490 years the Jewish people had blown off the rule and now God was going to let the land have it’s rest while they were in captivity in Babylon.  The hope comes in the fact that there would be an end to the captivity (see also Jeremiah 24:6).

In verses 12-14 we see that at the end of the 70 years that the Babylonian empire would be destroyed.  According to verse 13 this destruction was foretold by God.  Some might think it is not consistent for God to use someone’s actions and to later punish them .  What we see here is God giving us freedom but also making the most out of the situation that we have created.  The Babylonians were determined to dominate their world.  God used their actions to teach the Israelites a lesson; turning away from God has consequences.  But that goes for the Babylonians too.  Their lack of respect for God would have consequences for them too.

I like it that God repeated himself over and over again, for 23 years.  God really wants us to get the message and honor him with our lives.  He even allows events that show us, in a little way, what happens when he isn’t a part of our lives.  God is very patient but there are consequences.  God thank you for waiting.  Thank you for letting me exist.  Thank you for waiting until I heard about you.  Thank you for waiting until I started to listen.  Help me keep my ear stretched out to hear you.  Help me listen.  Help me obey.  Thank you for holding our universe together.  Let me honor you today and every day for all eternity.

Jeremiah 24:1-10. In yesterday’s reading God reminded the Israelites that he wasn’t some local hick god but was the one true God who is overall, sees, all, and is yet right here watching each one of us.  Prophets are supposed to be messengers for God but in the southern kingdom of Judah, near the end before it was taken over by Babylon, guys who claimed to be prophets were passing off their own words and dreams as messages from God.  When the people couldn’t get a message from them they started turning to each other looking for messages from God.  But God had told them that they weren’t listening to what he had already said and so there would be no more messages.  Anyone who said otherwise would be punished and would suffer everlasting shame; they would be remembered as deceivers and liars.

In chapters 21-22 Jeremiah had a message from God to the last king (Zedekiah) of the southern kingdom (Judah).  The message was that they were going to lose to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.  The message also included messages that he had given to the three previous kings of Judah; Shallum (also known as Jehoahaz), Jehoiakim, and Coniah (also known as Jehoiachin).  These messages establish a pattern in the Southern Kingdom of disregard for God’s standards.  The trouble that was coming in Zedekiah’s day was deserved and, some might say, long over due.  In chapter 23 we saw that the people had decided to listen to false prophets instead of true prophets, like Jeremiah, and to the word of God.  Twice in chapter 22 (vv. 11,18) God mentions Josiah in relationship to his family members who served after him on the throne.  It is interesting that Josiah was the young king who had cried when priests were fixing up the temple and found the word of God stuck in a forgotten corner.  He was the king who brought worship of Yahweh (the one true God, the God of the Israelites) back to the people (622 BC).  It is sad that just 25 years later, after the initial conquest by the Babylonians that Zedekaih would have to be reminded that this was all happening because the people, his people, had defected from God.  I think the reference to Josaih in those two verses was a little hint to Zedekiah about what was going on.

In chapter 23 we saw that the people had defected in part because of bad leadership.  In Jeremiah 23:1 The LORD (Yahweh) tells the “shepherds” of the people that they better look out (“woe”) because they are destroying and scattering the people.  Shepherds are supposed to lead and protect the flock (see Psalm 23).  In the time of Jeremiah the priests and prophets would have been these shepherds.  Chapter 23 makes it clear that they had misled the people by making up messages instead of giving them truth from God.

In today’s reading Jeremiah returns to the scene of those three kings mentioned in chapter 22.  Remember the order was Josiah (the good king), Jehoahaz or Shallum, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin or Coniah, and finally Zedekiah.  In 605 BC during the reign of Jehoiakim Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, had been busy fighting Egypt and conquering territory around Israel.  In that year he took captives from many of the leading cities of the area including Jerusalem.  It was at that time that Daniel (Daniel 1:1-7) was taken as a captive to Babylon. Eight years later in 598 BC Jehoiakim decided to rebell against the Babylonian rule.  Nebuchadnezzar marched his army back toward Jerusalem.  Before Nebuchadnezzar arrived  Jehoiakim died and left his 18 year old son, Jehoiachin, in charge.  Early in 597 BC Nebuchadnezzar arrived and removed Jehoiachin from the throne, replacing him with Zedekiah.  Jehoiachin, his family, and 10,000 leading citizens of Jerusalem were taken captive to Babylon.  That is the scene in verse 1 of today’s reading.

In verse 2 Jeremiah receives a vision from God.  Unlike the dreams of the previous chapter this one was from God.  In the dream or vision Jeremiah saw two baskets of figs one good and one rotten (verses 3-4).  Remember that this vision is to Zedekiah and the people left behind after the invasion.  You might also want to remember that these same people are the ones who we saw yesterday being scolded for making up their own visions.  It is very likely that the people left behind though of themselves as the lucky ones and of the captives as the ones whom God was punishing.

In verses 4-7 God explains the vision to Jeremiah but the explaination is just the opposite of what we might expect.  The people who had been taken captive by Nebuchadnezzar were the ones whom God was going to “bless”.  He was going to watch over them, build them up, make them like well cared for plants.  Eventually he would bring them back to Jerusalem and Judah.  But they would be different.  In verse 7 we see that God would use the time in Babylon to help them appreciate him.  Their hearts would be turned back to Him.  The captives would be his people and he would be their God.

In contrast we see that the people who remained with Zedekiah were the bad useless rotten figs.  God would leave them on their own (abandon them).  Also included in this group are some who were in Egypt.  When we studied Isaiah (a century earlier) we saw a constant desire by the leaders of Judah to look to Egypt for help.  God’s words to them through Isaiah were a constant warning to look to him not Egypt.  It appears from verse 8 that some of the people of Judah refused to give up on Egypt as a refuge.  They were not “whole heartedly” (v. 7) trusting in God; Egypt would be their refuge.  As we will see later that was a misplaced trust.

In verses 9-10 God tells the people who were left behind that they would become a terror, an evil, a reproach, a proverb, a taunt, and a curse.  All of these descriptions are of what the people around them would see and think when they looked at them.  In theses verses we see that God is going to scatter them through out the whole earth.  He would use faming and battles and disease to accomplish this.  Notice that they would be a terror and an evil for all the kingdoms of the Earth.  They would be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse in all places .  The word translated terror means “to make shake or tremble”, the word translated evil is the same word that describes the figs as rotten.  It can also mean “unpleasant or disagreeable”, maybe think stinky or offensive.  The word reproach means “not approved” and a proverb is a wise saying.  The word translated “taunt” has the idea of sharpness, like a sharp stick uses to poke some one or something to keep them moving.  The word curse has the idea of something that is passing away, quickly gone.  This last word is just the opposite of how God described the people taken captive to Babylon; they were like permanent structures and well rooted plants.  Where I live it was a common practice a few years ago to set wrecked cars near certain intersections around the time of certain holidays where people would drink a lot.  The cars were wrecks from drunk driving accidents and based on how mangled the cars were you could tell that people had probably died in them.  If Jeremiah had been describing those wrecks he might have said that they were a terror, evil, a reproach, a taunt, a proverb, and a curse.  They were examples of what happens when you disregard the rules in life.  We see that the main point here is the example these dreamers, disrespectful and disobedient to God, were going to be to the world around them.  In verse 10 we see that they were not destroyed entirely but were completely removed from the land that had been promised to their ancestors.

Going our own way and not listening to God is destructive, in our own lives and in the lives of those around us.  The first group shows us that God can and will help but there is often a price to pay.  Those captives had to go live in a foreign land for many years (in the next chapter we will learn more about disobedience and the reason for the Babylonian Captivity).  They could not go to their temple, had to start over, and much more.  The second group shows us that sometimes our disobedience has permanent consequences.  The people left behind will continue to show a rebellious attitude toward God.  But there is hope too.  From the book of Daniel we know that people in Babylon had a positive influence for God in on the people around them.  We see even in the second group that their situation taught the people around them about God’s purity and standards too.  I like it that even when he is showing us his purity and high standards that God shows us his merciful side too.  I’m glad it’s not “one strike” and you are out.  I like it that God offers a way out and is constantly informing us of it.  I’m glad that God builds up and plants.

God help me be established and well rooted.  Build me up and make me grow.  I’m glad that you are willing to correct, I know I need a lot of it.  Help me learn your ways, hear your voice, know your truth.  Let me listen to the truth and not lies.  Let me look to your word for truth and not to the voice of my neighbors, or the voices in my own head.  Help me hear and obey.  Let my life be pleasing to you.  And help me be a voice of truth for you to others.