Tag: Jeremiah

Scripture Focus: Jeremiah 15:19–20
19 Therefore this is what the Lord says:
“If you repent, I will restore you
     that you may serve me;
 if you utter worthy, not worthless, words,
     you will be my spokesman.
 Let this people turn to you,
     but you must not turn to them.
 20 I will make you a wall to this people,
     a fortified wall of bronze;
 they will fight against you
     but will not overcome you,
 for I am with you
     to rescue and save you,”
 declares the Lord.

Reflection: The Wall or the Wrecking Ball
By Erin Newton

Standing up for what you believe in conjures up images of stalwart protesters in a line. But it could be the minority vote in the church or the quivering voice that steps up to the microphone during a denominational meeting saying, “What we’ve done is wrong.”

After hearing the vivid reality of Judah’s inevitable destruction, Jeremiah interrupts. “Lord, you understand…Remember me…Care for me.” Despite the clear declaration of judgment—undoubtedly their sinfulness demanded it—Jeremiah leans into the mercy of God.

Jeremiah is our “weeping prophet” no less. But he is steadfast in his confidence that God is not only just but also merciful.

God responds through his trusted merciful and compassionate character. As long as Jeremiah seeks truth by speaking worthy words (funnily, God is clear that they are not worthless words), then God would make him a wall.

A wall?! What a strange image. God doesn’t say here he will make Jeremiah a likable hero. He isn’t making him a shade-giving tree or fruit-bearing vine. He will be a wall.

Walls keep people out of where they might want to go. To the person, walls are obstacles. They are always “in our way.” Walls tend to get graffitied and pushed on. (To be clear, walls built by humans to segregate or harm other humans are the worst of walls. But this is a divinely built, metaphorical “wall.”)

As a wall, Jeremiah would stand against his peers as they pushed against him, trying to make him crumble. They might even try to force their words, their ideas, on him in hopes he would move aside so they could carry on their sinful ways. They were headed on a path (to destruction) and Jeremiah as a wall was meant to keep them from advancing.

God doesn’t sugarcoat what it will be like for the prophet. It will be hard.

We might fantasize what it would be like to stand up for what we believe in. Will we be the unlikely superhero or star of a biography? The reality is that we are likely to be pushed against, tempted to cave in to peers, and join Jeremiah in lamenting for our world.

In a very real way, we may find ourselves not as the wall standing for God’s truth but as the wrecking ball, trying to tear down our fellow brother or sister.

Are you standing for truth or actively tearing down?

Divine Hours Prayer: The Greeting
I restrain my feet from every evil way, that I may keep your word. — Psalm 119.101

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


​Today’s Readings
Jeremiah 15 (Listen 3:49)
Galatians 6 (Listen 2:18)

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Read more about Jeremiah, the Unpatriotic Prophet
Christians who see deeply into the problems of their country will often feel pressured not to speak about it for fear of being “unpatriotic” or “disrespectful.”

Jeremiah, the Unpatriotic Prophet

Scripture Focus: Jeremiah 14.11-14
11 Then the Lord said to me, “Do not pray for the well-being of this people. 12 Although they fast, I will not listen to their cry; though they offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Instead, I will destroy them with the sword, famine and plague.” 13 But I said, “Alas, Sovereign Lord! The prophets keep telling them, ‘You will not see the sword or suffer famine. Indeed, I will give you lasting peace in this place.’ ” 14 Then the Lord said to me, “The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I have not sent them or appointed them or spoken to them. They are prophesying to you false visions, divinations, idolatries and the delusions of their own minds

Reflection: Second Chances Blown
By John Tillman

How many “second chances” are we willing to give? How many do we deserve?

Judah’s second chances ran out. God wouldn’t even allow Jeremiah to pray for them anymore. They were given over to evil choices and consequences.

Judah had chance after chance to repent. They were reminded about sin but they turned back to it. They were warned about evil, but they just called evil good. Prophet after prophet proclaimed the truth, but they continually turned to lies.

With enough effort, you can always find a prophet saying what you want to hear. This was true for Judah and it is true for us today. If you don’t like the facts on the news, you can listen to different news channels with “alternate facts.” If hearing Jesus’ words at church offends your political sensibilities or convicts you of sin, you can always find a church that puts your political sensibilities in the pulpit instead of the gospel or never mentions sin. But this is deadly dangerous.

The first things God lists when describing himself to Moses are “compassionate, gracious, and slow to anger.” (Exodus 34.6) But even God reaches his limit. Our every little denial hardens our hearts a bit more. Every little rebellion opens a wider rift. Every little half-truth weakens our sight. Every little refusal to listen deafens.When we reject calls to repent, call evil good, and blaspheme the Holy Spirit speaking through his prophets we risk finding the limits of God’s patience. God is also the God who “does not leave the guilty unpunished.” (Exodus 34.6-7)

The first sign of God’s punishment is not usually fire from the sky or police at the door. It is when God stops appealing to our hard hearts and instead makes them even harder. He stops giving us light and leaves us in darkness. He stops calling out to us and leaves us in silence. He lets us become so sure of ourselves that we won’t listen to anyone. The most dreadful judgment of God is when he lets us burn in the fires of our own prideful self-confidence.

Have you blown your second chances? If you have any pricks of conscience, probably not yet. Those turned over to sin have seared consciences. Humble yourself and soften your heart.

Is there light you’ve blocked out? Truth you’ve tuned out? Sin you’ve indulged? Stirrings of the Spirit you’ve quenched? Prophets you’ve ignored? 

Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence
Bow your heavens and come down; touch the mountains, and they shall smoke. — Psalm 144.5

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


​Today’s Readings
Jeremiah 14 (Listen 3:51)
Galatians 5 (Listen 3:22)

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Read more about Choices and Hard Hearts
Hardened hearts happen in stages. Our choices matter. Our hearts are hardened or softened day after day.

Choices and Hard Hearts—Readers’ Choice

Scripture Focus: Jeremiah 13.6-9
6 Many days later the Lord said to me, “Go now to Perath and get the belt I told you to hide there.” 7 So I went to Perath and dug up the belt and took it from the place where I had hidden it, but now it was ruined and completely useless. 8 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 9 “This is what the Lord says: ‘In the same way I will ruin the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem.

Reflection: A Neglected Garment
By John Tillman

God loves an object lesson. Some of God’s most disturbing and stomach-churning object lessons are in Jeremiah and Ezekiel.

Jeremiah, at God’s direction, bought a new linen belt. It was unstained by use or mishap. Pristine. Flawless. Fine clothing was a mark of wealth and privileged status but this item of clothing would not have attracted attention and compliments. Most commentators believe it was worn as an undergarment. 

The garment was common, but God’s instructions were uncommon. God instructed Jeremiah to wear, but not wash, his new underwear. Then he instructed Jeremiah to take a long journey and bury this dirty underwear in a rocky, muddy crevice near a river. Later, when instructed to retrieve it, Jeremiah found the garment ruined and useless.

The garment was ruined by misuse, neglect, and abandonment. God says that his relationship with Judah is ruined in the same way. Judah’s issue was pride. It might seem odd to neglect or mistreat something we are proud of, but it happens often. The gifted athlete takes their talent for granted and ruins their body with drugs or alcohol. The gifted speaker fails to prepare and loses their reputation. The hare lays down to nap and is overtaken by the dutiful tortoise. The expensive car is not maintained and becomes a junker. The pricey designer clothes are improperly laundered and shrink.

Judah was privileged to have a close and intimate relationship with God. They were proud of this status, but they disregarded it. They didn’t maintain it. And they ultimately discarded and abandoned it.

What should be a source of pride became a mark of shame.
What should be functional became useless.
What should be beautiful became ruined.

Can this happen to us?

If Judah’s relationship with God was close, ours in Jesus is closer. If theirs was holy, ours in Jesus is spotless. If they had reason for pride, we have greater reasons.

Let us consider ourselves with sober judgment. Do we treat our status under Jesus with disdain? Neglect? Pride? Don’t let the gospel be a neglected garment.

Unlike Jeremiah’s ruined garment, we can be washed clean and made new again.
Jesus renews what we wreck.
What was rotted is restored to health.
What was ugly is made beautiful.
What was broken is repaired.
What was damaged is reinforced.

Let Christ dress us in the garment of the gospel and never neglect or abandon it.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence
Be my strong rock, a castle to keep me safe, for you are my crag and my stronghold; for the sake of your Name, lead me and guide me. — Psalm 31.3

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


​Today’s Readings
Jeremiah 13 (Listen 4:11)
Galatians 4 (Listen 4:13)

Read more about Garments of Peace
Make us a holy priesthood, in garments of peace, not holding ourselves above others, but lifting them up and carrying them to you.

Garments of Peace — Readers’ Choice

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Scripture Focus: Jeremiah 8:7-8
7 Even the stork in the sky
     knows her appointed seasons,
 and the dove, the swift and the thrush
     observe the time of their migration.
 But my people do not know
     the requirements of the Lord.
8 How can you say, “We are wise,
     for we have the law of the Lord,”
 when actually the lying pen of the scribes
     has handled it falsely?

Reflection: Having vs. Knowing God’s Word
By Erin Newton

How many times a day do we read a post or article claiming to be really telling you the truth? But wait! They have the real answer!

We are a culture that is bent on convincing others that everything has been a lie, and the only solution is to trust this person who has this special knowledge. Even now, why should you believe what I’m typing?

What does it mean to be wise? How can we know if truth and wisdom have been handled falsely?

During Jeremiah’s time, the people spouted their confidence: “We are wise. We have the law. Isn’t that enough?” What they didn’t say is that they were sorry or had done wrong. They said, “Peace,” as if everything was fine. But in that time, things were anything but fine. They were anything but innocent. They had anything but wisdom.

God heralded his judgment: “They clung to deceitfulness; they trusted their own ways…like a charging horse going into battle.” They might have had the word of God, but they did not know its requirements (v. 7). We know from other texts that the people deprived the poor, acted unjustly, worshiped other gods, and felt no shame in the midst of it all.

When the community was hurting, the religious leaders would “dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious” (v. 11). Yes, they had the word of God but their handling of it was a lie.

How can we, today, avoid this egregious error? How do we know if those who say they have the right answer are actually wise people?

The proud statement that they had the law is important. They possessed the law. They probably read it from time to time. They might even have it out for people to see. But did they even know what it required?

Having and knowing are different things. You can possess a Bible, but it makes no difference if you don’t know what’s in it. You can display the Ten Commandments in a public building, but does anyone know what they require?

What they really needed, and we need, is one step further: doing. And I think that is how we know if someone is handling truth wisely—they have truth, know truth, and do truth. It must be all three.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons
The earth, O Lord, is full of your love; instruct me in your statutes. — Psalm 119.64

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


​Today’s Readings
Jeremiah 8 (Listen 3:52)
James 4 (Listen 2:25)

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Scripture Focus: Jeremiah 7.2-11
2 “Stand at the gate of the Lord’s house and there proclaim this message: “ ‘Hear the word of the Lord, all you people of Judah who come through these gates to worship the Lord. 3 This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Reform your ways and your actions, and I will let you live in this place. 4 Do not trust in deceptive words and say, “This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord!” 5 If you really change your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly, 6 if you do not oppress the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not follow other gods to your own harm, 7 then I will let you live in this place, in the land I gave your ancestors for ever and ever. 8 But look, you are trusting in deceptive words that are worthless. 9 “ ‘Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury,  burn incense to Baal and follow other gods you have not known, 10 and then come and stand before me in this house, which bears my Name, and say, “We are safe”—safe to do all these detestable things? 11 Has this house, which bears my Name, become a den of robbers to you? But I have been watching! declares the Lord.

Reflection: A Different Kind of Greeter
By John Tillman

Jeremiah wouldn’t make a great church door greeter.

Even as a mostly introverted person, I love churches with smiling, happy, engaging greeters. Having greeters actively welcoming people is an important part of the modern church environment.

God sent Jeremiah to “greet” people at the Temple’s entrance but God didn’t tell him to have a warm smile and a pleasant demeanor. Jeremiah stood at the door and warned people sternly. Imagine a scowling prophet, growling something like the following to you as you arrive to church:

“I don’t care how happy you act when you enter these doors or how much you say you love this place and love God! You must change your ways! You are deceived if you think you can oppress the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed innocent blood, and bow down to other forces and idols, and I won’t notice! Instead of a place of worship, you have made this a den of robbers!”

Jeremiah is hot-tempered and prickly Instead of warm and fuzzy. Jesus remixed Jeremiah when he cleansed the Temple. (Matthew 21.12-14; Mark 11.15-17; Luke 19.45-46)

Unlike modern churches, the Temple was designed only for Jews and believers. There were restrictions on who could enter and how far. Because Jesus did away with those distinctions modern churches welcome anyone, believer or unbeliever, into holy space without exception. The devout believer, the absolute skeptic, and the sin-addicted outsider are all welcome. We are all sick and Jesus is the doctor.

But what if we think we aren’t sick?

Jeremiah’s warning told the seemingly devout they were deceived. They thought they were righteous sheep but were ravenous wolves. (Matthew 7.15; Acts 20.29) They thought they were rich but were poor, blind, and naked. (Revelation 3.17) Jeremiah, and God, judged them not by their demeanor but their deeds.As we enter worship, let us imagine a different kind of greeter. As you pass smiling people, ask the Holy Spirit, “What parts of Jeremiah’s warning apply to us today?” Would Jeremiah (or Jesus) say to us, “You have made this a den of robbers”?

Are we shedding blood? (Or profiting from suffering?)
Are we oppressing foreigners or other vulnerable people? (Or supporting those who are?)
Are we devoted to the idols of culture, such as politics, pleasure, wealth, or notoriety?

Don’t despair. When Jesus cleared the temple of “robbers,” he called the wounded to himself. Go to Jesus. Repent. Fall on his mercy and grace.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Call to Prayer
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his mercy endures forever.
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his mercy endures forever.
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his mercy endures forever. — Psalm 136.1-2

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


​Today’s Readings
Jeremiah 7 (Listen 5:18)
James 3 (Listen 2:38)

Read more about Readers’ Choice
Readers’ Choice starts in September, so it’s time to share your favorite posts of the year. Tell us your faves via email, direct message, or the linked form.

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Read more about Where is the Love?
Who does Jesus love? Who or what is he fighting for? …allow Jesus to clean out your Temple courts…Are you willing to let him do it?

Where is the Love?