Old Testament - Jeremiah 16-17 - October 11, 2022

 10/11/2022 – Jeremiah 16-17

Chapter 16: Once again, the chapter synopsis tells us what to look for: “Utter ruin of the Jews foreseen—Israel rejected and scattered for serving false gods—Fishers and hunters shall gather them again, and they shall serve the Lord—Gospel to be restore for the last time.”

This is a sad time. The Israelites have fallen away from the Lord to worship false gods. The Lord cautions Jeremiah, telling him not to marry, and not to have children ( 3)…for all the Israelite women have fallen away from the Lord, and living within this group would also lead any child away from the Lord. The Lord continues saying “…for I have taken away my peace from this people...even loving kindness and mercies.” (v 5) There are times in my daily living, when I forget to pay attention to the peace I feel from my Heavenly Father. This is not something I should just assume as though it is always there. I need to remember that that sweet feeling of peace comes when I am staying close to my Father—thinking of Him, praying to Him, and consciously working to follow His commandments. I so value that sweet peace in my life, I never want it to fade because of my neglects. And the other thing the Lord had stopped giving to the Israelites was His loving kindness and mercies. I want always to recognize His special kindness and mercies—for that is a wonderful part of daily communication with my Father. I don’t want to be a “spoiled child” of His—instead I want to recognize His help immediately and give my thanks to Him every single day.

V 9 is in a long line of verses that explains just how the Israelites will be rejected and scattered, the Lord declares that “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…” I feel those things in my everyday life, and instead of simply enjoying those feelings, I want to remember to thank my Heavenly Father for His multiple gifts that lift each day for me.

In v 16 the Lord is speaking of what He has in store for those Israelites to survive the coming disasters: “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.” These are two ways of doing missionary work!

The Lord still loves His children and He so keenly desires to have them follow Him back to their heavenly home: “For mine eyes are upon all their ways”. (v 17) He then tells us that there will be better days ahead: “…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…” (v 19)

Chapter 17 synopsis is also very helpful: “Captivity of Judah comes because of sin and forsaking the Lord—Hallow the sabbath day; such shall save the people; otherwise they shall be destroyed” I think we often forget the importance of the Sabbath in our spiritual strengths.

In the first few verses of this chapter, the Lord, once again, tells the Israelites of the hardships that will overcome them, and He reminds them that this is because of their refusal to follow the simple commandments He had given them.

He goes on in verses 6-8 to explain what happens to those who only trust man, and who trust the Lord: “For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited. Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, nether shall cease from yielding fruit.” Even in hard and difficult times, there is a difference between those who trust in the Lord and those who do not.

V 10 tells us how the Lord looks over us: “I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways and according to the fruit of his doings.” The Lord always knows our inward thoughts. I want to keep my inward thoughts toward Him through all my good and pleasant time, AND through all my difficult and troubled times.  Then in v 14, Jeremiah pleads with the Lord: “Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed”. The Lord always stands ready to help us, all we have to do is to reach out to Him and to try to order our lives to keep His commandments.

The Lord then goes on teaching us just how important keeping His Sabbath day is to our growth and development. In v 25 He tells of the tremendous effect of our keeping the Sabbath each week—which is to enter into His house and remain there forever.


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