Category: 843 Acres

Links for today’s readings:

Sep 22  Read: Jeremiah 49 Listen: (7:15) Read: 2 Corinthians 8 Listen: (3:25)

Scripture Focus: Jeremiah 49.4-6

4 Why do you boast of your valleys, 
boast of your valleys so fruitful? 
Unfaithful Daughter Ammon, 
you trust in your riches and say, 
‘Who will attack me?’ 
5 I will bring terror on you 
from all those around you,” 
declares the Lord, the Lord Almighty. 
“Every one of you will be driven away, 
and no one will gather the fugitives. 
6 “Yet afterward, I will restore the fortunes of the Ammonites,” 
declares the Lord.

Reflection: Don’t Become an Ammonite

By John Tillman

Ammonites were enemies of Israel, but also family.

Ammon was a grandson of Lot—a complex man of contradictions. Israel’s relationship with Ammon was also complex and, at times, contradictory.

Lot gradually compromised, moving farther from Abraham and Yahweh and deeper into the culture of the Canaanites. Yet, despite his obvious flaws and mistakes, Peter called Lot “righteous” and described him as “distressed” and “tormented” by Sodom’s lawlessness (2 Pet 2.7-8).

God cared for the Ammonites, too. He gave them land and drove out giants before them just as he did for Israel (Deut 2.20-21). The Ammonites had friendly relations with Israel during David’s rule but were mostly political enemies and often joined other enemies to attack Israel or Judah.

Ammon had proximity to God’s family and knew his commands and ways. Yet they chose assimilation into the surrounding culture instead of faithfulness to God’s family.

Just as Lot chose to move close to, and trust in the wealth and prosperity of, Sodom, Ammon chose to trust and boast of their wealth. Ammon chose to trust in a false god, Molek, who often demanded child sacrifice and promised destruction of enemies.

God condemned Ammon for thinking that great wealth and prosperity could protect them and for how they abused and harmed their cousin nations, Israel and Judah.

Ammon boasted of strength and would be made weak. They boasted of wealth and would be made destitute. They boasted of terrorizing their enemies and would become terrorized by everyone around them. They boasted of (and profited from) sending their relatives, Israel and Judah, into captivity and exile and would be made desperate fugitives, driven away from all that they loved.

Both individually and collectively, we must be careful about the culture we live in. Our culture boasts in strength and wealth. It boasts in terrorizing enemies and scattering fugitives and foreigners. That’s “Ammonite” culture. Are you assimilated to it? Or is it “tormenting” you as it did Lot?

Thank God that there is hope for Ammonites and those, like us, who have grown like them. Even after all the Ammonites did, God promised to restore them. Even after all we have done, God is willing to restore us.

There is room in the family of God for us, even if we’ve become a little like the Ammonites. Repent of boasting and settle among the many nations in the family of God.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Call to Prayer

Love the Lord, all you who worship him; the Lord protects the faithful, but repays to the full those who act haughtily. — Psalm 31.23

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.

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Read more: How to Know When to Give

As the Corinthians’ generosity caused Paul to celebrate, may our generosity bring joy and refreshment to those doing good in the world.

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Links for today’s readings:

Sep 18  Read: Jeremiah 44 Listen: (6:10) Read: 2 Corinthians 4 Listen: (3:02)

Links for this weekend’s readings:

Sep 19  Read: Jeremiah 45-46 Listen: (5:51) Read: 2 Corinthians 5 Listen: (3:14)
Sep 20  Read: Jeremiah 47 Listen: (1:21) Read: 2 Corinthians 6 Listen: (2:31)

Scripture Focus: Jeremiah 44.15-18

15 Then all the men who knew that their wives were burning incense to other gods, along with all the women who were present—a large assembly—and all the people living in Lower and Upper Egypt, said to Jeremiah, 16 “We will not listen to the message you have spoken to us in the name of the Lord! 17 We will certainly do everything we said we would: We will burn incense to the Queen of Heaven and will pour out drink offerings to her just as we and our ancestors, our kings and our officials did in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. At that time we had plenty of food and were well off and suffered no harm. 18 But ever since we stopped burning incense to the Queen of Heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have had nothing and have been perishing by sword and famine.”

Reflection: Same Data, Wrong Conclusions

By John Tillman

From our perspective, Israel’s Old Testament idolatry seems inexplicable. How could they make a golden calf when the fire cloud was still on the mountain? (Ex 32.1) How could they resume worshiping Baal after the Mount Carmel showdown? (1 Ki 18.38-40) How could they continue ignoring prophets’ warnings after watching their previous warnings come true? How could they exchange the truth of God for a lie? (Rom 1.20-25) How could they be so foolish?

In today’s passage, Jeremiah confronts families engaged in idol worship while living in Egypt following Jerusalem’s collapse. Think about what these men and women had lived through.

They saw (or heard about) God’s blessings and favor on the nation during Josiah’s revival and elimination of idolatry. They saw the kings following Josiah return to idols and foreign gods. They heard the warnings of defeat and exile from Isaiah, Jeremiah, and other prophets. They heard the promises of prophets like Hananiah (Jer 28.1-11), who predicted quick and easy victory over Babylon. They watched the false prophets’ promises fail and many of them, including Hananiah, be killed. They heard Jeremiah’s promises about restoration and peace if they stayed faithful to God.

With all this data, we conclude that Jeremiah had been telling the truth and the best course of action would be to follow the commands of God he related. However, these men and women observed the exact same data and came to the shocking (to us) conclusion that they should ignore Jeremiah and resume idol worship.

The people interpreted the data differently and wrongly. They defended idolatry as a reasonable solution to their problems. They concluded that idolatry had worked and faithfulness to God had failed them. Just like Eve and Adam, they saw something pleasing, desirable, and practical to improve their situation, and they took it.

When people in scripture make foolish decisions, instead of shaking our heads in judgment, we should examine our hearts in humility. Put yourself in their place and wonder what might entice you to make similar errors. We aren’t pressured to worship “the queen of Heaven,” but we are pressured to do “whatever works” for us regardless of what God’s word says.

Have the humility to admit that we have the same tendencies as ancient idolaters. When we think something will work for us, or is good for us, we find ways to justify it.

Remember that what “works” for you is not always what is good for you.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Greeting

O God, you know my foolishness, and my faults are not hidden from you. — Psalm 69.6

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.

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Read more: Godly Silence

The Bible urges us to experience silence as a spiritual discipline. Don’t wait for a power outage in order to spend time in silence.

Godly Silence

Links for today’s readings:

Sep 17  Read: Jeremiah 43 Listen: (2:34) Read: 2 Corinthians 3 Listen: (2:25)

Scripture Focus: Jeremiah 43.1-7

1 When Jeremiah had finished telling the people all the words of the Lord their God—everything the Lord had sent him to tell them—2 Azariah son of Hoshaiah and Johanan son of Kareah and all the arrogant men said to Jeremiah, “You are lying! The Lord our God has not sent you to say, ‘You must not go to Egypt to settle there.’ 3 But Baruch son of Neriah is inciting you against us to hand us over to the Babylonians, so they may kill us or carry us into exile to Babylon.” 
4 So Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers and all the people disobeyed the Lord’s command to stay in the land of Judah. 5 Instead, Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers led away all the remnant of Judah who had come back to live in the land of Judah from all the nations where they had been scattered. 6 They also led away all those whom Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard had left with Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan—the men, the women, the children and the king’s daughters. And they took Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch son of Neriah along with them. 7 So they entered Egypt in disobedience to the Lord and went as far as Tahpanhes. 

Reflection: We’re Going to Egypt!

By John Tillman

Jeremiah and his scribe, Baruch, were taken against their will into the exact situation they advised against and knew was going to be a disaster.

Many leaders had come to Jeremiah (or other prophets) asking for a word from the Lord about their situation. Many disobeyed God’s instructions for those situations and many persecuted or killed the prophets who spoke for God.

In some ways, Johanan is similar to those previous leaders, but in one way, Johanan is unique. Few other leaders swore so boldly that they would follow what the prophet said (Jer 42.1), and then so quickly did exactly the opposite (Jer 43.1-2). Jeremiah said, “Don’t go to Egypt.” (Jer 42.19) Johanan immediately said, “We’re going to Egypt and we’re taking you with us!” (Jer 43.2-7)

Johanan didn’t get the answer he wanted to hear and concluded that Jeremiah was compromised by political motives. The truth was that Johanan wanted God to bless his decisions instead of submitting his decisions to God.

Have you answered someone’s question about a topic you are an expert on and then watched them do the exact opposite? And then, you had to suffer along with them the consequences of their foolish decision? I have. We all probably have. You might have experienced this as a parent, a teacher, a friend, an employee, an advisor, a therapist, or even as a voter.

Johanan is not the only one to ever swear to do something and fail to do it because of fear. Peter is a New Testament example. Despite his oath to never fall away (Matt 26.33-35), Peter folded under the pressure of his fears and fled the servant girl’s questions, weeping (Matt 26.69-75).

Jeremiah and Baruch are faithful and follow their principles, no matter the consequences. We’d all do well to follow their example. However, we must also consider when we might be in Johanan’s or Peter’s positions rather than Jeremiah’s.

Like Johanan, we are likely to be tempted to reject facts, teachings, or advice that we are inclined to disagree with. Like Peter, we are very likely to find our commitments difficult to keep.

Perhaps great oaths are not a sign of great faith but of great fear. A greater sign of faith might not be pledging that we are brave, but confessing that we are afraid. Great faith doesn’t require great oaths. Jesus tells us to simply let our “Yes” be “Yes.” (Matt 5.37)

Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons

My eyes are upon the faithful in the land, that they may dwell with me… — Psalm 101.6

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Readers’ Choice is Coming!

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Read more: Only Through Christ :: Worldwide Prayer

If we have confidence in our own competence, we are destined to accomplish only what is possible by human effort.

Only Through Christ :: Worldwide Prayer

Links for today’s readings:

Sep 16  Read: Jeremiah 42 Listen: (3:44) Read: 2 Corinthians 2 Listen: (2:13)

Reflection: Let Go and Let God?

By Erin Newton

One thing that has worked well in my marriage (and I would assume that nearly all relationships would benefit positively) is that when one spouse complains, the other pauses before giving any advice and asks, “Do you need to vent or do you need advice?” Usually for me, I only want to vent. I know what to do, but I need to get all my feelings out there.

There are times when I genuinely have no idea what to do. Do I take this teaching position when I already feel too busy? Do I write a letter to a former church explaining the pain they caused? Do I stay? Do I go?

Our lives are filled with a multitude of decisions, and decision fatigue is a real thing. Sometimes we are simply out of our depth or out of energy. We need advice. I’m grateful for the pastors, mentors, friends, and family that have often been a solid source of guidance.

In chapter 42, Johanan comes to Jeremiah asking for advice. He even vows to take the advice no matter what. That is a strong commitment.

Ten days pass before Jeremiah returns with the words of God for Johanan. I really like this slow approach. It’s not Jeremiah’s opinion given at a drop of a hat. It’s advice that’s been sought after and slowly gathered. Jeremiah is the “God-expert” so to speak. His role as a prophet meant he was the right person to ask advice from. Johanan made a good choice there.

Asking for advice is a humbling experience. One has to let go of control and pride, admit a deficiency in experience or ability, and then hold oneself to the guidance of another. Sometimes our pursuit of wisdom stops there. But what does Johanan promise next? He commits to taking the advice.

Johanan realizes in his vulnerable request that he has relinquished control of the situation and he cannot guarantee the outcome of God’s advice. That can be a scary place.

Sometimes we ask for advice and hope for a particular outcome. We feign commitment by promising to listen and take heed of whatever response is given.

But we will see in the next chapter that asking for advice is one step. Committing to follow is another step. But following through will be the ultimate litmus test of one’s faith.

Are you willing to seek advice? Now are you willing to take it?

Divine Hours Prayer: The Call to Prayer

Let us make a vow to the Lord and keep it; let all around him bring gifts to him who is worthy to be feared. — Psalm 76.1

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Readers’ Choice is Coming!

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Read more: The “Ideal” of the New Testament Church

Rather than one “ideal,” when we look at what the different churches actually did, we see many variations. 

The “Ideal” of the New Testament Church