Sunday, 21 August, 2005: Today’s Bible readings.

Jeremiah 50:17-20

¹⁷“Israel is a hunted sheep driven away by lions. First the king of Assyria devoured him, and now at last Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has gnawed his bones. ¹⁸Therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I am bringing punishment on the king of Babylon and his land, as I punished the king of Assyria. ¹⁹I will restore Israel to his pasture, and he shall feed on Carmel and in Bashan, and his desire shall be satisfied on the hills of Ephraim and in Gilead. ²⁰In those days and in that time, declares the LORD, iniquity shall be sought in Israel, and there shall be none. And sin in Judah, and none shall be found, for I will pardon those whom I leave as a remnant.”

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Jeremiah 50:33-34

³³“Thus says the LORD of hosts: The people of Israel are oppressed, and the people of Judah with them. All who took them captive have held them fast; they refuse to let them go. ³⁴Their Redeemer is strong; the LORD of hosts is his name. He will surely plead their cause, that he may give rest to the earth, but unrest to the inhabitants of Babylon.”

In this chapter of Jeremiah, God is declaring judgment upon Babylon for their treatment of His people. God used Babylon to discipline Israel, but He promises to restore Israel and bring punishment upon Babylon for their sin.

God’s purpose in allowing Assyria and then Babylon to have dominance over Israel was to drive the people of Israel back to Himself. And God promises that this will take place, and that He will return Israel back to their homeland.

What do we learn from this?

God does use the evil actions of people to serve His purposes. In this example, Assyria and Babylon were cruel, wicked, aggressive nations. God used their sinful actions for the purpose of working restoration and salvation for His people. Everything in the Babylonian captivity was ordained by God for His own glory and the good of His people. And at the end of the appointed time when the goal had been accomplished, God brought judgment upon the captors for their sinfulness, while restoring His people.

God continues to use the sinful actions and the circumstances around us for a purpose: His glory and the good of His people. Oftentimes all we can see are the terrible circumstances. But by faith we know that for those who love God all things work together for good. We might face war, famine, death and captivity, like Israel did in the Babylonian captivity, but we know that God will use even these circumstances for good.

Where is Christ in this passage?

In verse 34 we see that there is a Redeemer for God’s people who will plead their cause before the Father. And in verse 20 we see the result of the intercession of this Redeemer: Their sins are pardoned. If you seek for them, you won’t be able to find them.

Jesus Christ is our Redeemer and Mediator. It is because of His perfect righteousness and His death on our behalf that The Father can not find our sins. They have been completely atoned for. We are justified and adopted into God’s family by the Person and work of Jesus Christ, our Redeemer and Mediator. And it is because we are justified and are adopted into God’s family that God cares for us as His children and works everything in our circumstances for His glory and our good.

Wednesday, 17 August, 2005: Today’s Bible readings.

Jeremiah 46:27-28

²⁷ “But fear not, O Jacob my servant,
nor be dismayed, O Israel,
for behold, I will save you from far away,
and your offspring from the land of their captivity.
Jacob shall return and have quiet and ease,
and none shall make him afraid.
²⁸ Fear not, O Jacob my servant,
declares the LORD,
for I am with you.
I will make a full end of all the nations
to which I have driven you,
but of you I will not make a full end.
I will discipline you in just measure,
and I will by no means leave you unpunished.”

In the midst of a prophesy of what will come upon Egypt, God graciously gives this wonderful promise to His people. He gives them this word of encouragement that they not lose heart. Yes, they are facing difficult times, as their nation is destroyed and the people are sent into exile. And yes, other nations are facing difficult times as well. Egypt that has been spared to this point will be conquered as Israel has already been. The whole world that they knew will be in turmoil.

But there is a huge difference between Israel and Egypt: God claims Israel as His own and promises they will be restored. Israel faces God’s discipline, not God’s punishment. What they suffer is to bring them back to God and restore them, not to destroy them.

The other nations have no such hope.

What do we learn from this?

The Church is the people of God in all ages, and so in the same way as we see that God works to discipline His people Israel in the Old Testament, we can expect that He will also discipline His people the Church today.

The circumstances the Church will face might be quite harsh, and the circumstances for people outside the Church might be just as bad. But we know there is a difference. God will discipline His people, as a father disciplines his child.

Hebrews 12:6-8

⁶ For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.” ⁷ It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? ⁸ If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.

And so we should look to God in our difficulties. Not every problem we face comes to us because of our sin. But as children of God, everything that comes into our lives is an opportunity for us to draw closer to our Father.

Where is Christ in this passage?

Christians are children of God. We have been adopted into God’s family. As we are children of God, Christ is our elder Brother.

Romans 8:29

For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

Monday, 08 August, 2005: Today’s Bible readings.

Jeremiah 36:27-32

²⁷ Now after the king had burned the scroll with the words that Baruch wrote at Jeremiah’s dictation, the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: ²⁸ “Take another scroll and write on it all the former words that were in the first scroll, which Jehoiakim the king of Judah has burned. ²⁹ And concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah you shall say, ‘Thus says the LORD, You have burned this scroll, saying, “Why have you written in it that the king of Babylon will certainly come and destroy this land, and will cut off from it man and beast?” ³⁰ Therefore thus says the LORD concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah: He shall have none to sit on the throne of David, and his dead body shall be cast out to the heat by day and the frost by night. ³¹ And I will punish him and his offspring and his servants for their iniquity. I will bring upon them and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem and upon the people of Judah all the disaster that I have pronounced against them, but they would not hear.’”

³² Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to Baruch the scribe, the son of Neriah, who wrote on it at the dictation of Jeremiah all the words of the scroll that Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire. And many similar words were added to them.

In Jeremiah 36, Jeremiah is no longer allowed to go to the temple, most likely because he continues to preach God’s unpopular message to the people, and so he sends Baruch to read God’s word of the destruction that is coming if the people do not repent.

Some of the officials heard the message and were struck with fear, and so they took the scroll from Baruch and urged him to go into hiding. They then brought the scroll to King Jehoiakim so that he would hear of God’s coming judgment. They saw that they only hope as a nation was that their king would repent and lead the nation to return to God.

But the king did not repent. As they read the scroll, Jehoiakim would cut off the read portion and burn it, though the repentant officials urged him not to be so disrespectful of God’s word. Rather than repent of his evil, Jehoiakim destroyed the entire scroll and ordered Jeremiah and Baruch to be arrested.

What do we learn from this?

It is interesting to see that Jehoiakim had no regard for God’s word and intended to destroy it. But God preserved His own word despite Jehoiakim’s attempts to suppress it. Jehoiakim didn’t evade God’s pronounced judgment by destroying the scroll. Rather, his attempts to destroy God’s word only increased his coming punishment.

There have been people throughout the ages who have also unsuccessfully attempted to destroy God’s word, but they have been similarly unsuccessful. God preserves His word.

We also see that some people will be convicted by the word of God, and others will despise it. The difference is not in the word. It is the same word in both cases. The same scroll with the word from God struck fear and respect into some of the officials, but provoked defiance from Jehoiakim and others of his officials. The difference was in the hearer and not in the word.

We can not control how people will react to God’s word, and their reaction is not our responsibility. We are simply called to bring God’s word, no matter how unpopular it might be, and let Him do the work.

What we are responsible for is what we personally do with God’s word. Do we submit to the correction from God’s word? Do we mourn for the sin we see in our own lives as we study God’s command? Do we claim God’s promises for salvation for those who repent and come to Him in faith? Or do we reject God’s word, and despise it.

Where is Christ in this passage?

The Father’s ultimate Word that He has sent into the world is our Lord and Savour, Jesus Christ. We are responsible for how we respond to God’s final Word.

John 1:1.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

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Hebrews 1:1-2.

¹ Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, ² but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.

Friday, 05 August, 2005: Today’s Bible readings.

Jeremiah 33:14-16

¹⁴ “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. ¹⁵ In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. ¹⁶ In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will dwell securely. And this is the name by which it will be called: ‘The LORD is our righteousness.’”

Jeremiah lived in a very dark time for Israel. They were in rebellion, and were being taken into captivity in Babylon in stages. But in the midst of the declarations of woe and destruction, God brings promises of hope for the future.

In today’s passage, we see the promise God made that Israel will be restored, and that a descendent of David will reign in justice and righteousness.

And then there is this interesting phrase. God says that Judah and Jerusalem will be called “The LORD is our righteousness”.

What do we learn from this?

What is the standard that God holds me to? What do I have to do to be saved? How righteous do I have to be? Jesus answers these questions in the Sermon on the Mount. Here is the standard that God demands of us:

Matthew 5:48.

You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

That’s it. Perfection. God demands perfect obedience to His law.

James tells us that even one sin is too many.

James 2:10

For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it.

Since I’ve sinned, along with everyone else, what hope do I have? Since I don’t have the righteousness required to be saved, my only hope is if someone who has been perfectly obedient to God’s law can give me the righteousness required, and can take the penalty for my sins.

And God does that for those who come to Him in faith through the work of the Second Person of the Trinity, Jesus Christ. The sins of God’s people are imputed to Jesus upon the cross, and the righteousness that Christ Jesus earned in living the perfect life here on earth is imputed to His people. He gives us His righteous. And so all God’s people can be called, “The LORD is our righteousness”.

Where is Christ in this passage?

Christ is our righteousness. It is His righteousness that is imputed to us. He is the branch of David. He is the one who is bringing everything into submission under His Lordship as He reigns in justice and righteousness.

It is because of Jesus Christ that we, His people, can be called “The LORD is our righteousness.”

Tuesday, 02 August, 2005: Today’s Bible readings.

Jeremiah 29:10-14

¹⁰ “For thus says the LORD: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. ¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. ¹² Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. ¹³ You will seek me and find me. When you seek me with all your heart, ¹⁴ I will be found by you, declares the LORD, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the LORD, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.

Jeremiah tells the people of Israel that God has a plan for His people who are actively rebelling against Him. He will send them into exile for seventy years because of their continued disobedience. They will be destroyed as a nation and will be removed from the land of Israel.

But God also makes a great promise to them, even in the midst of their disobedience. He will not totally destroy them. He promises to maintain a remnant that will return at the end of the seventy years of exile. But more than that, God promises to work in their lives so that at the end of the exile, they will then desire God. God will fulfill His promise to His people when at the end of the seventy years He “visits” them. It is at that point they will seek Him.

What will change at the end of the seventy years? Why will they then call out to God and not before?

Because, as God tell them through Jeremiah, He has a plan for their future. He will visit them and change their desires so that they will earnestly seek Him. And when they seek Him in this way, God promises they will find Him. It is God’s plan to let them to their own desires as a punishment for their disobedience, but then to work in their lives create a desire they previously did not have. They will desire God.

What do we learn from this?

Are you not seeking God as you ought? Is your desire for Him flagging? Pray, asking that God increase your faith and your desire for Him. As you seek after Him, He promises to be found, so ask Him for the desire to seek Him. Make full use of the means God has provided for increasing our faith. Read, study, and meditate upon the scriptures. Consider the Christ to whom they point. Pray, earnestly asking God to work in your life. Make sure you are sitting under the faithful preaching of the word every Sunday. Regularly participate in the Lord’s Supper. Meet regularly with other believers so you are spurred on in your faith and you are encouraging others.

It is God who is working to draw you to Him, so trust in Him and make full use of His means of grace to spur yourself on to love and good deeds.

But always remember that you are not saved by your zeal for God. You are saved by grace, through faith in Jesus Christ. He saves you, so trust in Him and not in your own desire for Him.

Where is Christ in this passage?

My only hope of being accepted when I come before God is the fact that I have a mediator to represent me and a substitute who bore the penalty for my sin and gives me the righteousness I need. Without Christ’s perfect righteousness imputed to me, I can not stand before God. I can only be accepted by God because of the Person and work of Jesus Christ.

I can only seek God because of Jesus Christ. No one can come to the Father except through Him. So any promise of seeking and finding God is a promise of the work of Christ being applied to you through faith in Him.

Monday, 01 August, 2005: Today’s Bible readings.

Jeremiah 28:1-4

¹ In that same year, at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fifth month of the fourth year, Hananiah the son of Azzur, the prophet from Gibeon, spoke to me in the house of the LORD, in the presence of the priests and all the people, saying, ² “Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon. ³ Within two years I will bring back to this place all the vessels of the LORD’s house, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away from this place and carried to Babylon. ⁴ I will also bring back to this place Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and all the exiles from Judah who went to Babylon, declares the LORD, for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.”

Jeremiah had a very difficult task: he brought God’s word of condemnation and judgment to people who were not going to repent. He had many weary years of preaching to a people who would reject the word of God and ridicule and persecute God’s prophet.

Jeremiah was not alone. There were a few others who were also faithfully calling the hard-hearted people to repent of their evil and return to God, Uriah the son of Shemaiah from Kiriath-jerim for one.

But there were others like Hananiah the son of Azzur from today’s passage. These “prophets” preached what the people wanted to hear instead of bringing the true word of God to the people. They took the easy way out, and proclaimed the coming release of those in bondage and the immanent freedom from Babylon. The problem was, the word they brought was a lie.

Hananiah receives a harsh rebuke from God and pays for his presumption with his life.

Jeremiah 28:15-16

¹⁵ And Jeremiah the prophet said to the prophet Hananiah, “Listen, Hananiah, the LORD has not sent you, and you have made this people trust in a lie. ¹⁶ Therefore thus says the LORD: ‘Behold, I will remove you from the face of the earth. This year you shall die, because you have uttered rebellion against the LORD.’”

What do we learn from this?

It was easier in Jeremiah’s day to tell people what they wanted to hear: You’re OK. Everything will soon be better. There is no coming judment. You don’t need to repent.

It is much harder to bring a word of God’s condemnation of sin, and the universal sinfulness of mankind.

It is no different in our time. It is difficult to faithfully bring God’s word to people. But ultimately, if we water down or eliminate the bad news, we have no good news to bring. Unless people understand their need for a Savior, we have no Savior to offer.

We must be faithful to bring God’s word, no matter how unpopular it might be.

Where is Christ in this passage?

Jeremiah clearly preached the bad news to the people of his day, and called them to repent and return to God, trusting in His salvation. The only way Jeremiah and the people in His day were saved was by trusting in God’s provision for their salvation. As they came to God, repenting of their sins, offering the sacrifices that were required in their day (to point them to a coming substitute who would bear the penalty for their sins), and trusting in God for salvation, they were truly saved.

Jesus Christ is the substitute for those who repented in Jeremiah’s day, and although they didn’t understand it all, they looked forward to when He would come to live the perfect life in their place and die on the cross to pay the penalty for their sins. The difference for us is that we have a more complete understanding of what Jesus has done as we look back on His life, death and resurrection.

And in the completeness of this understanding, we are called to tell people the bad news of the coming punishment of sin as preparation for telling them the good news of the one who bore that punishment for all who come to Him in faith.