Jeremiah 16:14-21.  In yesterday’s reading we saw that bad times were coming; God was going to remove his peace, lovingkindness and mercy.  We also saw a hint that the situation was not permanent.  Today’s reading starts out with that idea.  The people of Israel had been in trouble before; thay had lived in Egypt as slaves.  In one of the greatest moments in their history as a people God had a guy named Moses lead them out of Egypt toward a land promised to their ancestors.  Several years a go there was a movie “Like Mike”.  It was about a young boy in foster care that loved basketball.  He was small though and would get pushed around by the other kids. He wished he could play basketball like Michael Jordan.  He found an old pair of basketball shoes that worked “magic” in his life and he wound up playing in the NBA, as a kid.  The shoes helped him play “like Mike”.  The Jews had a saying too; when they were in trouble would put their trust in God and say “as the LORD (Yahweh) lives who brought us up out of the land of Egypt”…  The idea was that God would be faithful to them (show them lovingkindness) and bail them out of trouble.  The coming invasion and all the trouble with it were going to be a new “low” point in the history of the people of Israel, and their exile to Babylon was going to create the opportunity for a new saying, “As the LORD lives who brought up the sons of Israel from the land of the north and from all the countries where he banished them”.

There are a couple of things that are interesting so far.  First, both of these quotes use the personal name of the one true God.  When God told Moses to lead the Israelite tribes out of Egypt Moses wanted to know what to tell them when his authority to lead was questioned.  God told him, “Tell them ‘I Am’ sent you.” (Exodus 3:14).  The Old Testament was written mostly in Hebrew.  It was written without vowels and all of the letters were crammed together; no spaces.  “I AM” in Hebrew is written with four consonants “YHWH” (well actually there alphabet is different but in our alphabet it would be those four letters).  Jewish people have a lot of respect for the personal name of God and would never pronounce it so no one really knows how it sounds.  That makes it difficult to express in our language.  Early translators thought it might sound like “Jehovah” and that is a common way those four consonants are expressed today in English.  More modern translators think it sounded more like “Yahweh” and some people use that now.  What the Jewish people did do when they wanted to talk specifically about “Jehovah” or “Yahweh” (or when they read a verse out loud with that name in it) was substitute the word “Lord” (or once in a while “God” if the word “lord” was already there).  Some English translations followed the same pattern in printed form but used all capital letters so we would know about the substitution (LORD or occasionally GOD).  So in verses 14-15 we see the personal name of God (Yahweh) used.  It is Yahweh who took care of his people in the past and Yahweh who will take care of them in the future; God is a personal involved God.

The second thing that is interesting to me is the description of the second situation.  We are told that the new saying was gong to talk about bringing the Israelites back from the land of the north and all the countries where he had banished them to.”  The coming invasion was going to be by Babylon, technically east of Judah.  But the invasion route would be from the north.  I don’t know a lot about Hebrew and the commentators (Bible experts) I read didn’t have anything to say about this but I know that Hebrew is a “loose” or “fuzzy” enough language that this could be referring to the Babylonians.  That makes sense from the context too; Jeremiah is talking about the Babylonian invasion in much of this part of the book.  But there is more to this picture than just the Babylonian captivity.  Jeremiah (or God rather) is also saying that they will be gathered from “all of the nations where I have banished them”.  God did restore the people to the land after the Babylonian captivity but they lived under the control of various other nations.  At the time of Jesus they were living under the control of the Roman Empire.  IN 70 AD the Jewish people, who had been rebelling against the Romans, were invaded by the Roman army.  The Temple was destroyed and Jerusalem was burned to the ground.  Basically that was the end of a unified Jewish people.  Miraculously the people were able to maintain their identity down through he centuries.  Many came to live in Russia, and northern and eastern Europe.  In the late 1800 various conditions led to the persecution of these Jewish people in those regions.  Some migrated to the United States but many remained.  The persecution reached it’s high (or low) point under the reign of Adolph Hitler.  Shortly after the end of World War II and the defeat of Hitler the United Nations resolved to let the Jewish people have their old homeland back (By the way in the years around 1900 some Jewish people had started moving back there anyway, buying land from the nomadic people living in the area.  That movement was called the Zionist Movement; Zion being one name for the hill on which Jerusalem had existed.)  In 1949 the modern nation of Israel was founded and Jews from the north (Russia (?) and all the nations where they had been “banished” began to return to Israel).

We see here something that is common in Old Testament prophecy, multiple fulfillments.  One rule in Israel for a prophet was that if they said God told them something and then it didn’t happen they were to be executed as a false prophet.  From the Biblical record it seems more likely that the Israelites would kill a true prophet rather that a false one (Hebrews 11 for example), but that was still the rule.  In order for the people to believe a prophet at least some of their predictions would have to be fulfilled in their life time.  Some of the predictions about the distant future (the coming of the Messiah or chosen one, promises about a forever king and kingdom) would have a close fulfillment (time wise) to prove their accuracy and a second (or sometimes even a third) fulfillment in the distant future.  In Isaiah we saw an example of this with the promise about the virgin birth of the Messiah or coming promised leader.  That prediction was fulfilled in Isaiah’s day and ultimately was fulfilled with the birth of Jesus (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23).

Verses 16-18 are a mixed bag for me.  Verse 16 is cool because we see God “hunting down” the banished people of Israel.  But this hunt is not to kill but to bring home.  God says he is going to send fishermen to find them.  It is interesting that Jesus told his earliest followers that they should follow him and he would make them “fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19).  I wonder if they thought about this verse when Jesus said that.  Verse 17 is cool, or at least starts out that way.  God is looking after the Jews (and us too really), but  God sees the disobedience and rebellion (sin) that we do too.  Because God is pure he must deal with sin and in this case the people of Judah (in Jeremiahs time) were going to get two punishments, one for the actual wrong they were doing (worshipping false gods) and the second one for their bad example to those around them.  When the nations around them looked at “God’s land” they wouldn’t see a clear picture of God because the Jewish people had littered the land (pollution was a bid deal then too, but this is spiritual pollution) and all the world could see was a field full of false gods.

In verses 19-20 we have a prayer by Jeremiah (actually it is a lament or song of sorrow).  Jeremiah first identifies that God is good and strong; God is his strength and is like a fort when things get tough in Jeremiah’s life.  Jeremiah then tells God that he “gets it”; some day the people of the world (the nations) will come to God and tell him that they weren’t getting a good picture of him from the Jewish people; what they could learn about god from the Jewish people was useless because it wasn’t really about the one true God.  Jeremiah asks, “Can a man make gods for himself?”  His answer is, Yes, sort of.”  We can make things to honor or live for but hey really aren’t God because they have no power.  In verse 21 we have God’s reply to Jeremiah’s sad song.  God is going to make sure we all understand.  God is going to show his power and strength and then the whole world will know that Yahweh (LORD) is the one true God.

I like how involved God is in our lives but there is a down side, he sees and is involved when we screw up.  There is a double problem with our rebellion, disobedience, and disrespect.  First bad is bad and bad needs to be dealt with; sin has consequences.  But if we claim to know God (or even those who’s claims involve god, like Buddhists, Muslims, or a whole list of others) but we are really living for god then those around us get an unclear picture.  Years ago after I put my faith in Jesus I decided to tell my dad all about it.  For a couple of reasons I wasn’t really that credible to my dad but I tried, even giving him a book about God for Christmas (that didn’t help my credibility either).  One time when I offered God as a solution to a particular problem he was having he told me, “I have already tried that.”  He had been raise a Roman Catholic and had been “burned” by a representative of the church.  What my dad had tried was a religion not a relationship with the one true God, but it had turned him off to God altogether.  I think he died an unbeliever.  Sad how our bad representation of our relationship with God can affect those around us, giving them an excuse not to believe.  Our example is a very serious thing.  God sees it and will deal with us.  The up side is that God is loving and forgiving.  He is willing to forgive and is there to help us succeed, but we need to be willing to.  I don’t know if this current version of the nation of Israel is the one God is going to finally reform but it certainly contains people who have been hunted down and restored to the land, I hope they do return their hearts to God and allow him to make them the example they were meant to be (Genesis 12:2-3).  God hunted me down too, I hope I can give a good picture to those around me so they can see the power of God and honor Yahweh for who he is.

God thank you for being involved.  Thank you for seeing my sin too.  I know my sin make the reality of you unclear, help me get rid of it.  Let me be responsive to you so I don’t have to have times of punishment.  Let me live consistently in your presence.  Make me a “blessing” to the families around me (The word “blessing” means “cause to kneel”.  The idea is that people see my actions and “kneel” down in respect and honor of God).  I want to help people see you and know you clearly.  I want people to see your love and purity and their need to get right with you.  I want to help people learn of Jesus, the solution to the spiritual pollution that is on our lives.  Let my actions be clear and honor you.

Jeremiah 16:1-13.  In yesterday’s reading we saw Jeremiah starting to feel sorry for himself.  Then he started to blame God for being unfair.  That was the wrong way to go with his feelings.  God encouraged him to sty on the path he had been given and keep telling the people to return to God.  If he would honor God with his life then God would protect him.

In today’s reading we see more of the difficult life Jeremiah was leading.  In yesterday’s reading Jeremiah pointed out that he didn’t run around with the crowd (Jeremiah 15:17). In today’s reading we see God asking him to use his life as a living example to the people of Judah.  “Don’t get married or have a family here”, God tells Jeremiah.  Being married is awesome, it takes work too, but it’s awesome.  Cookie is my best friend; she’s always there.  Sometimes I call here just to hear here say, “Hello.”  It’s good to know that I have a partner in this life and I am not going through it alone.  Kids are good too.  Over the years my kids have come to work with me to learn and to help.  I had a long day at work yesterday and my youngest came with me to a late job.  On the way home we were talking about fixing up a bathroom in our house.  I mentioned getting rid of the shower in the bathroom and putting in a tub with a shower instead.  He told me I wasn’t getting any younger and probably would want a shower, so I wouldn’t have to step over the tub, someday.  I’m not rich and have to work to keep the bills paid.  I do physical work and if I can’t step over the edge of a tub then I’d be in real trouble.  I wouldn’t be able to pay the rent and wouldn’t have to worry about the tub.  He told me that that is what I have kids for; to help out when I get old. My son-in-law said something similar to me once. I really appreciated that sentiment.  I told him so but also told him if I wasn’t working that I would live someplace less expensive so it still wouldn’t be an issue.  In Jeremiah’s day it was like that, as a person got older their children would take over the family business and mom and dad would do less of the physical work and become more of advisors.  Telling Jeremiah not to get married and have a family would have been a big “downer” for Jeremiah.

God does put a positive spin on the situation though, if Jeremiah had children he would have to watch them suffer and die.  War has a terrible price.  In those days the people had fortified towns.  When an invasion happened the people would crowd into the town.  The invaders would attack the towns to be sure, but often they would just wait out the people inside, let them starve or dehydrate to death.  As people died from attacks and from starvation there would of course be no place to bury the dead and the bodies would start to rot.  Disease would spread in those towns and more would die.  Verses 3-4 don’t paint a very pretty picture of what is coming but at least Jeremiah won’t have kids and a wife to suffer when it does.

Not only is Jeremiah going to face this time without a partner, God tells him to do something that is going to make him very unpopular with just about everyone, when the trouble starts Jeremiah is not to mourn with the people.  Evidently the trouble will get so bad that the people won’t have time to mourn either, people will just die and be left out with no funeral, no burial, nothing.  When some people do mourn though Jeremiah has been told not to join them.  In verse 5 we are told why Jeremiah is not to mourn; he is representing God to the people and God wants them to understand that this is what they deserve.  In verse 5 we see that God “removes” his Peace, lovingkindness, and compassion.  Those are three very interesting ideas.  In our language peace means the absence of conflict; no fighting.  The Hebrew word here is “shalom”.  The word is often used as a greeting in modern Hebrew but it really is more of a “blessing”; wish or prayer for a great life.  The idea behind “shalom” is one of a full or very good and complete life.  In verse 5 we see that true “shalom” is from God.  Since the people were rejecting God (by accepting false gods) they were going to lose the “shalom” that comes with him.  The second word is “hesed” or “chesed”.  The English translation (lovingkindness) doesn’t even really come close to telling us all this word means.  The word is about God’s faithfulness to the promises he had made to the people of Israel.  It’s about his dedication and commitment to taking care of them and fulfilling his promises to them.  The fact that he is “withdrawing” (or actually holding back) his “hesed” doesn’t mean that God is breaking his word.  With respect to the Jewish people there were both forever, unconditional promises and more immediate promises with conditions.  God will give the land to them, God will build a kingdom for them, God will have the descendant of David (Jesus) rule over them forever (implying a resurrection and immortality) but that didn’t mean that, in the mean time, they might not lose parts of the goodness of the promises for a while; even for many generations (see Romans 11 especially v. 24 which is about the people of Israel being put back into God’s forever family).  The last word is usually translated “mercy” and I think that idea is better here because mercy is holding back what someone deserves, now God is not holding back.

God is the one who fills life up and makes it full, God is the one who has a plan for a great forever, and God is the one who holds back and does not give us what we deserve (death or separation from him is what our disobedience and disrespect really deserves).  So for God to “hold back” some of those things for a time so that the people could see where their actions (the idolatry) were leading them is not breaking his promises but a way of making sure that some people will enjoy them.   Lat year I had cable TV and there was a show about “cheapskates”; people who don’t like to spend a lot.  One story was about a doctor who had a lot of money that he had spread around in a lot of bank accounts.  His family, including his wife, only knew about one bank account though.  When they would ask for something he would show them the account and tell them they did not have enough money; he was hiding the truth from them and as a result they were not enjoying the benefits of the wealth the family had.  God wants us to understand the wealth we have by being a part of his family and showing us what it means to be on the outside is one way of doing that.  God isn’t hiding his riches from us but he does show us what life is like without him.

The words that Jeremiah was communicating must have been before the invasion because there were still parties and celebrations going on; Jeremiah was told not to go though.  When asked why he wouldn’t go to parties he was supposed to tell them that a time was coming when there would be not more parties, no more celebrations, even weddings would not have all of the festivities (vv. 8-9).

Verse 10 is kind of unbelievable.  After Jeremiah starts living out this miserable life and telling the people that this is what is coming in their lives, the people are going to ask him why God is going to back off from them.  It’s like they are saying to him, “What?  What?  What did we do?”  Really?  Often God uses the picture of cheating in a marriage to describe what it is like when we dedicate our lives to other gods or even other things (idolatry).  This response is like a husband asking “What?” as his wife walks out on him after he has cheated.  These people had accepted all the good stuff that God’s peace, lovingkindness and mercy had brought into their lives and then walked into their temples and shrines and thanked all the little statues their own hands had made; they should have known why the trouble was coming.

Verses 11-13 show that God was not removing all of his mercy because in these verses he actually takes the time to explain what the problem was.  Their ancestors (fathers) had been cheaters and they were even worse.  In verse 12 we also see that this is a problem of living for self.  Satan told Eve that if she disobeyed God that she would become like God.  Here in verse 12 we see that the root of the people’s actions was that they were putting themselves in God’s place; they followed their own desires and did not listen to God.  In verse 13 God also warns them of the results of their disobedience and rebellion; God is going to exile them and let them see just what you get when you replace him with fake gods.  In the end of verse 13 God is not forcing them to follow false gods he is describing what they will do when they are exiled.  It’s hard to understand how they could keep going back after all of the discipline God was going to send their way; but then again we do the same way, ignoring the warnings and going after the “stubbornness of our own evil hearts” too.

It impresses me how we keep going in spite of the warning signs.  There is a commercial on TV right now about a medicine for a sexually transmitted disease.  We are warned constantly about these in the world yet we jump from partner to partner thinking we will never get the disease.  Instead we should recognize the wisdom of God in his creation and stick to his plan; get married and have one partner for life.  We see how alcohol diminishes or capacity (slows down our ability to act and react) but we drink and drive.  Instead we should recognize the wisdom of God when he tells us that wine laughs at us and strong drinks beat us up.  We think that we will all hit the lottery and instead waste the money God has allowed us to earn to live on on a useless scrap of paper or some other gamble.  Instead we should recognize the wisdom of God when he tells us that there is no easy way to live since Adam first sinned and that we will live by the “sweat of our brow”.  God is merciful and faithful and has given us not only the words to live by but makes himself available to help in the form of the Holy Spirit.  We need to recognize him though and honor him and accept his forgiveness offered in Jesus.  Then listen to him and not our own stubborn evil heart.  Then we will have the “shalom” God always intended for us, both now in times of trouble and forever in eternity.

God thank you for never fully removing your mercy.  Thank you for all the chances you gave me to recognize you and accept Jesus.  Thank you for all the chances you have given me as I have failed, even as a believer in Jesus.  Help me be faithful to honor you regardless of what I go through in life.  Thank you for my family.  Thank you for my wife.  Thank you for everything.