The Attributes of God:

Singing a Song of Praise Jeremiah 51- Lamentations 5 “Then the heaven and the earth and all that is in them will shout for joy over Babylon, for the destroyers will come to her from the north, declares the Lord.”                   We sing the songs of praise for the grace of God, but are silent in affirming his judgment.  We celebrate and affirm the existence of heaven, but want to deny the reality of hell.  A quick perusal of the top 100 most popular worship songs, there is not one song that celebrates the justice and judgment of God.  Yet when we read through the chapters of Jeremiah 51 through Lamentations 5, we find the words hard and difficult to read for they are a series of pronouncements of judgment upon Israel and the nations around them.  The message is dark and foreboding as God proclaims that he will pour out his wrath upon the nations for their i...

The One who Controls the Geo-Political World Jeremiah 46-51 46:25, “The Lord of hosts, The God of Isael, says, “Behold I am going to punish….”                   Daily, we are reminded that the geo-political world is in disarray.  We look about our world, and it seems the more advanced our society becomes and the more integrated the international scene, the more nations struggle to gain dominance.  In the decades since World War II, the world has become integrated in a global economy.  What happens in Europe not only affects the political world, but it also has a profound effect upon our own lives.  We see the rapid rise in oil prices and its effect on every facet of life as fuel costs continue to increase.  Everything we face in life, from the price of fuel to the price of our food, is affected by geopolitical developments.  However, ...

The Folly of False Obedience Jeremiah 41-45 “Whether it is pleasant or unpleasant, we will listen to the voice of the Lord our God…You are telling a lie! The Lord Our God has not sent you.”  41:6 and 43:2                   It's easy to trust and affirm our obedience to God when His plans align with ours, but it is far more difficult when He disrupts our plans and leads us in a direction we do not desire to go. The people of Judah were experiencing a time of great uncertainty. Babylon was applying pressure on them from the north as they sought to gain control of Judah. Judah became the buffer state between the two powerhouses of the Ancient Near East, so whoever controlled Judah controlled the trade routes between Europe and Africa and would hold the upper hand in the power struggle. Due to their strategic location, Babylon desired to gain control. With the threat of Babylon rising in the ...

Listening to What We Do not Want to Hear Jeremiah 36-40. “Yet the King and all his servants who heard all these words were not afraid, nor did they rend their garments.” (36:24)                   When writing to Timothy, Paul warns, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths” (2 Timothy 4:3-4).  The hardest thing to do is to listen to a warning that challenges us to change.  We want affirmation so that we do not need to change.  We want to be told that God loves us and that we are exempt from judgment.  But the one thing we do not want is to be told is that we must change or face the consequences of our sin. We want heaven, but reject hell, even...

The Greatest Hope in a Time of Darkness Jeremiah 31-25 “Behold, days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.”                   The heart of Jeremiah appears dark and foreboding as he pronounces judgment upon Israel. Yet within the book that seems to focus on judgment, we find one of the greatest statements of hope in Scripture. Jeremiah, the weeping prophet, gives a message that becomes the foundation for the entire New Testament. In chapter 31, we find the connecting link between the Old and New Testaments, a link we still regularly celebrate today. It is so central that it forms the basis for the title, “New Testament”.                   When Jeremiah arrived on the scene, Israel was in shambles. They had completely forsaken the La...

Hope in a Dark Period Jeremiah 26-31 “’For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.’” Jeremiah was not called the weeping prophet without reason. As we journey through the book, the central theme repeated is the certainty of God's judgment for their rebellion against Him. While false prophets were proclaiming peace and victory over Babylon, Jeremiah consistently emphasizes the certainty of judgment. Because Israel had abandoned their covenant with God, God was using Nebuchadnezzar as His instrument to discipline Israel for their sin. Their only hope for survival was to capitulate to Nebuchadnezzar's demands and accept their fate of being taken into captivity and transported back to Babylon. This required them to admit their sin and accept God's discipline. Yet, just like today, some denied God's justice and only proclaimed peace and prosperity. But they would be judged severely by ...