From the day we are born till the day we die, we all live in the shadow of death. It may not seem so acute or the shadow so large as in times of war, famine, plague, or another crisis. Generally, we are rightfully busily engaged in this gift called life and tend not to focus on that inevitable outcome of our lives. But death is always around, stalking and taking the lives of people.

As we consider an unknown future, the thought came to my mind that ‘When we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we do not need to fear it as a child of God. Death is problematic, but fear is an even more significant threat. Fear paralyzes people. It keeps them from moving forward, from doing what is right. The challenges the prophet Jeremiah faced in bringing God’s message of impending judgment to an unreceptive nation took continual courage to remain faithful to God and His message for His people. People often reject the truth because it is not what they want to hear. While many ignore the message, others threatened by the message become hostile to the messengers.

Fear does strange things to people. Some are almost superstitious in their avoidance of ‘negative talk.’ It is almost as if they believe that to silence the words means to avoid the reality to which they may point. So-called ‘gag orders’ are intended to keep someone from publicly stating a truth when it may be injurious.

How do we handle opposition toward us? What do we do with death threats? Persecution is a very real reality for believers. Jeremiah’s message was speaking directly against the establishment of his day. His message was counter-cultural, and many opponents wanted to silence him. How are we responding to God’s message today?

In Jeremiah 38, we discover three responses toward God’s message that some reject, while it is the only means of addressing our ultimate enemy: death.

In the editor's synopsis of Barbara Tuchman's book, 'The March of Folly,' we see the historical tragedy of folly in human governance. "A phenomenon noticeable throughout history regardless of place or period is the pursuit by governments of policies contrary to their own interests. Mankind, it seems, makes a poorer performance of government than of almost any other human activity. Why do holders of high office so often act contrary to the way reason points and enlightened self-interest suggests? Why do intelligent mental processes seem so often not to function? ...It may be asked why, since folly or perversity is inherent in individuals, should we expect anything else of government? The reason for concern is that folly in government has more impact on more people than individual follies, and therefore governments have a greater duty to act according to reason.

In Jeremiah 37, we find that a relief force of Egyptians has drawn away the Babylonian from their siege around the city of Jerusalem. In this moment of respite, we see two fascinating incidents that reveal the nation's folly and the prophet Jeremiah's faithfulness. How do we respond in a crisis? Do we act with integrity and courage? Or are we overwhelmed, vacillating, and ultimately disobedient to what God reveals to us in His word? What may be more telling about our lives is our response after a crisis. How do we move forward? Do we go back to our lives before the crisis? Or do we make significant adjustments and grow as a result of the situation in our lives? Do we respond by renewed obedience toward God and His word? What is the outcome of an indifferent or apathetic life toward God? Our actions reveal the actual condition of our souls. Here in Jeremiah 37, we find a contrast between the beleaguered prophet and the indecisive king, who allowed political expediency to determine his course of action to the detriment of him and the nation. What can we learn from the poor decisions of others to make better choices for our lives?

We live in a society awash in lies posing as truth. What when wrong? What can we do about it? Jesus was challenged as to the heart of serving God. In his response, Jesus said, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind (Matthew 22:37).’ This speaks of total commitment and developing a comprehensive understanding of Who God is and what He requires. It means that we need to develop a biblical worldview. It means that in ‘presenting our bodies as living sacrifices, we are to be transformed by renewing our minds (cf. Romans 12:2). We need to understand our world and see it the way God does. In his book, ‘How shall we live?’ Charles Colson relates: “Religion is not a reflection or product of culture, but quite the reverse. As the great twentieth-century historian Christopher Dawson argued, cult is at the root word of culture (taking ‘cult’ in its most basic meaning as a system of religious worship). The late political philosopher Russell Kirk agreed: ‘It’s from an association in a cult, a body of worshipers, that human community grows.

The oyster offers a good analogy. Oysters make their shells, so if the shell is badly formed, the problem is not in the shell but in the oyster. Likewise, when a culture deforms and decays, don’t ask what went wrong with the culture; ask what went wrong with the cult-the religious core.”

Our response to the word of God determines the answer. An indifferent and dismissive attitude does not diminish the message. God’s word is eternal, and what is being communicated will occur regardless of our response. Here in Jeremiah 36, we discover two very different responses to God’s word. The first group is struck with ‘fear,’ a deep concern for what God is warning the people about. This suggests that these individuals believed in and revered God and realized their danger because of their prior indifference.

The second group, led by the king, had no fear of God and literally discarded the words. The king burned the message in the fire burning in the firepot in his winter apartment. The king was left with no lasting family dynasty, and the nation suffered greatly.

So, how do we respond to God’s word? How is God’s word influencing, directing, and determining our lives? Are we just hearers, or are we doers of God’s word? Though there are only two responses toward God and His message, God’s actions also occur from those responses. So, what can we learn about human nature and God’s nature from interaction with His divine message? There are three things we learn from God’s revelation toward humanity.

There have always been counter-cultural movements. From the Amish, who have maintained a very agrarian, communal, and non-modern approach toward life, and momentary movements like the hippies of the 1960s, there has always been a segment of society that is living ‘off-grid.’ Values shape how people live life. There are many who are at odds with the current culture and will not allow it to define who they are.

One of the best ways for us to determine what our values are is to be brutally honest with where we spend our time and resources and what inspires passion in us. Living a counter-cultural lifestyle is not just a modern phenomenon. In Jeremiah 35, we discover a group of people who rejected the predominant lifestyle of the Jewish people. R. E. O. White describes the nature of the Rechabites and their lifestyle.

For basketball fans, ‘March Madness’ is the tournament where the best teams in college basketball meet over a couple of weeks. The tournament begins with 64 teams endeavouring to win a national championship which takes talent, determination, and grit. It is so difficult to repeat. Yet between 1964-75, an eleven-year stretch, one team won that championship ten times, the UCLA Bruins. At that time, players came and moved on from University, but one single factor never changed: Coach John Wooden. So, what was his secret to such high-level consistency? Tony Dungy, who coached and won a Superbowl, studied John Wooden’s philosophy and summarized it this way: “He didn’t just coach teamwork and preparation and strategy. He coached character and attitude and ideals.” John Wooden was a wonderful follower of Jesus Christ, and how he coached these young athletes extended into their lifestyles. He realized that the real issue in life is character. When we become the right kind of person, certain results occur.

In Jeremiah 34, we see a contrast between God’s faithfulness and those who rebel against God and their fickleness toward others. In the next chapter, we will compare these people who were unfaithful to God and another people group who were faithful to keep the instructions of their forefathers.

The message comes sometime in the final year and a half of Zedekiah’s reign before the city is destroyed, and the people are exiled. This chapter reinforces why God had to bring his people into exile. They had violated their covenant with God in every way possible. In Jeremiah 34, we see three aspects of the coming judgment upon Judah, but the real question that we need to evaluate in our own lives is what God will address in our lives as we also will face Him. How did we walk in relationship to our covenant with Him? Are we faithful? I recently attended a bible study group in our church to answer questions regarding what happens after this earthly life. One of the questions had to do with the issue of judgment. Will God judge everyone? The quick answer is yes. However, as believers who trust in Christ, we will not be judged for our sins, but we will be judged based on how we served the Lord.

Sin shatters our sense of self-identity. What others do to us, what we do to others, and finally, what we do to ourselves distorts the image of God in our lives. Sin, followed by failure, loss, rejection and abandonment, causes us to wonder who we are and where God is in the equation. The exile shattered the nation of Israel. The questions that came to the surface in their minds were: Are we still God’s chosen people, or are we rejected? To this issue, God wanted to reassure His people that they were not rejected but that a transformation was about to occur in their hearts that would change everything. When God wants to reassure people of what He is about to do, He speaks again. Here we see that God is reaffirming to Jeremiah what He is about to do, so we see that God’s word came to Jeremiah again.

Jeremiah 33:1-3: While Jeremiah was still confined in the courtyard of the guard, the word of the LORD came to him a second time: “This is what the LORD says, he who made the earth, the LORD who formed it and established it—the LORD is his name: ‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’

The hidden things God will reveal to Jeremiah are yet to come. They lie in the future. So, what is God about to do? How should we respond to the future God has planned for us? Is there any response we should have when God makes promises to us? Matthew Henry, the puritan devotional writer, says: “Promises are given, not to supersede, but to quicken and encourage prayer.”5 We need to act on God’s promises by praying they will be enacted in our lives. God makes promises for a brighter tomorrow. God begins in the nations painful present to encourage a better day ahead. We discover what God reveals to His servant and messenger, Jeremiah, a message of hope and future blessings. So, what was God revealing?

One of the most quoted texts of Scripture is Proverbs 3:5: “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.”

Yet, we can struggle with this idea, especially when everything we see, hear and experience difficulties, pain, and loss; it seems God is telling us to trust Him in that season of darkness. Jeremiah had been prophesying God’s upcoming message of disaster upon the nation for years, and now it was taking place. The Babylonians were outside the city walls with their siege ramps. Jeremiah is a prisoner in the king’s prison. His words were seen as unpatriotic or, worse treasonous. F. B. Huey states: “Jeremiah probably was kept under arrest because his calls for surrender were demoralizing the will of the people to resist the enemy.”

Then God says something so unexpected that it causes Jeremiah to wonder what it means. He needed a word of reassurance. While imprisoned, he is told that his uncle is coming to sell a piece of property, and Jeremiah is to buy it. God is giving a prophetic picture to reassure the people that they will return to the land one day.

Here we come to one of the Old Testament's most moving and powerful texts. These promises are a high point in the Old Testament. A broken, divided nation hears the amazing promise that will extend for generations. The introduction of the new covenant is communicated here, which will move God's covenant past an agreement with a nation to extend this covenant to people as individuals. God will not only be their God as a nation but also our God, personally. God will write His laws within our hearts and dwell within us. In chapter thirty, we continue the incredible promises of God's promised restoration at the nation's lowest point in history. We will discover that the restoration promised by God is beyond anything that can be imagined. The nation will be once again unified, no longer divided, which happened because of the sin, under the reign of Solomon and occurred during the reign of Rehoboam, Solomon's son.

When we discover about life is that when we are living in a wrong relationship with God, life becomes difficult. There are seasons in our lives when we are stretched in our spiritual growth, and we may lose a sense of God-given joy. Yet, God desires to bring us an exciting celebratory life. We generally don't celebrate being disciplined, but there is joy to follow, and that is what this fantastic chapter speaks of. There will come a time of dancing and celebration when God brings His promises to fulfillment.

God does and will address sin in our lives and our society as a whole. When God’s discipline occurs, it is very painful to bear. Despair and hopelessness often accompany that discipline. It is designed to bring us to the end of ourselves and cause us to look up.

Robert Davidson explains this reality by taking the example of Jeremiah’s messages: “In Jeremiah’s day, the people of Judah had to be led to the point where they were stripped of all human resources before they were prepared to turn to the healing and renewing a power which God alone could give. It is an experience echoed across the centuries when people at the end of their rope, totally despairing, have found God, healing, and new life.”

In the darkest hour and the moment of most tremendous pain, Jerusalem was devastated by siege, famine, and plague, where survivors were enslaved and taken into captivity and exile; God breathed a word of hope. God changes the message to help the people look past the present sorrow to a new day of hope because of the promise of God. Here we have the word of restoration being preached by Jeremiah.

Scholars call chapters thirty to thirty-three the ‘book of comfort.’ It begins with a message of what God is about to accomplish through the discipline for their sinfulness, disobedience, and defiance, which ultimately will lead people to a place of humility and repentance, causing a message of renewal, revival, and restoration.

In Jeremiah thirty, we discover three restoration elements that will come about in the ‘days ahead.’ Though the future never looked so bleak, God’s word presents a brighter picture for their tomorrow. God’s promises help us find beauty in the seasons of ashes in our lives.

Interestingly, we have finally arrived at one of the most popular biblical texts in our contemporary society. But we may not realize the context in which Jeremiah 29:11 is situated. For those who may not know the text: "For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future."

What an amazing word of hope and encouragement to a group of people who interpreted their lives as being difficult and unexplainable. They certainly felt confused and forsaken. How were they to move forward now that they were captives and living in exile far from their homeland? Hope is a critical component in life. Without it, the will to move forward disappears. Others try to secure hope in the wrong places and what they end up with is either false hope or no hope at all, and they wallow in despair. In our text today, we see the process of God’s discipline and how this was about to bring a change of thinking. Now, as they lived in a foreign culture, how were the Jewish exiles to move forward? Were they to resist the Babylonians? Should they join in the resistance movements that other people groups who had also been conquered and exiled were engaged in?

Having just addressed the false hopes in Jerusalem regarding their continued rebellion against the Babylonians, Jeremiah turns his attention to the captives and exiles in Babylon. Reports are travelling between Jerusalem and Babylon. Jeremiah has a word from God to pass on to the exiles and gives it to some envoys travelling between the cities.

We are about to explore God’s message to the Jewish exiles. What is striking about the message is its relevance to us today. We know what it is like to live in our fallen world. In one sense, God designed us to live with Him forever in a society without sin and its destructive consequences. So how are we to live in this ‘earthly exile’ when ultimately, we were designed to live with God forever? How should we live while passing through this old world below? How do we respond, or even more importantly, move forward when our personal worlds come crashing upon us? We may quickly question where God is in those moments. Jeremiah addressed the issue of hope, those who had lost it, and those who were resting in false hope because they believed in lies. Where do we find hope and a future in exile? We can learn three things from Jeremiah’s message of how to live in exile or while waiting for God’s promises to be fulfilled. Or let me frame it another way. How should we live in our ‘Babylon’ while waiting for Jesus to bring us home to Him?

I’ve just finished reading an interesting biographical sketch on the life of Winston Church during his first 58 years before the Second World War and his first time in office as the Prime Minister. The book is entitled: ‘The Last Lion,’ by William Manchester. Churchill was never fooled by Hitler and his intentions before the War. While Britain was disarming following the First World War, Churchill, who initially agreed with that approach, realized the mistake and pointed out that two significant threats were rising, Communism and Nazism. Before Hitler’s ascent into German leadership, he had insisted that “he would never wage aggressive War, but Winston didn’t believe him. By his own admission, the man was untrustworthy; Churchill quoted Mein Kampf: ‘The great masses of people...will more easily fall victims to a great lie than to a small one.”

In hindsight, we can see that is precisely what Hitler communicated to the German people and the world. We know the damage caused by spreading and embracing lies. It leads people into bondage and ultimately to death.

In Jeremiah 28, we have a confrontation of a false prophet toward Jeremiah’s message. What is at stake is the truth of God’s warning being negated, and the consequences for disobedience will be devastating. What happens when lies are being propagated? Why does God allow liars to operate? God actually uses them to reveal what is in the hearts of people.

"If a prophet, or one who foretells by dreams, appears among you and announces to you a sign or wonder, and if the sign or wonder spoken of takes place, and the prophet says, ‘Let us follow other gods (gods you have not known) ‘ and let us worship them,’ you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. The LORD, your God, is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and soul.

It is the LORD your God you must follow, and him you must revere. Keep his commands and obey him; serve and hold fast to him. That prophet or dreamer must be put to death for inciting rebellion against the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt and redeemed you from the land of slavery. That prophet or dreamer tried to turn you from the way of the LORD your God commanded you to follow. You must purge the evil from among you." (Deuteronomy 13:1-5)

Moses explains that God is testing people regarding their commitment to God. It is not that God doesn’t know, but that we discover from our response to false teaching where we really are. If we think that this is just an Old Testament concept, notice Paul’s warning in 2 Thessalonians 2:9:

"The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie and all the ways wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refuse to love the truth and so be saved."

For this reason, God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.

One of the problems with sin is that its very nature is deceptiveness, and it can suppress the truth.

"There have always been false prophets. Jesus speaks of them in the Sermon on the Mount. How we can identify them." (cf. Heb. 3:13, Rom. 1:18)

"Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit, you will recognize them. Do people use grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?

Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit, you will recognize them." (Matthew 7:15-20)

So what is the actual cost of lies, and what happens when we embrace the lie or lies and suppress the truth? What happens to those who deceive and those who are deceived?

How do we live under unpopular political leadership? It is a question that we are constantly faced with in dealing with changing leaders and political philosophies. Where do we look for answers when society as we know it is faltering? The psalmist speaks of the hour when the 'wicked bend their bows, and they set their arrows against the strings to shoot from the shadows at the upright in heart. When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?' (cf. Psalm 11:2-3).

The foundation spoken of here is the moral fibre and values of a people. The simple answer is to 'take refuge in the Lord' (Psalm 11:1).' To remember whose world this really is. 'The LORD is in his holy temple; the LORD is on his heavenly throne. He observes everyone on the earth; his eyes examine them (cf. Psalm 11:4-5). This is God's world, and He will ultimately act. While we are waiting, what should our response be? Revolt? Rebellion? Complaint and criticism? Compliance? Or is there a different response that is being called for? In Jeremiah 27, we are about to discover who is behind the unpopular political leadership. What we learn should help us respond to even the most oppressive governments. Oppressive governments are often God's tools of chastisement. These are moments that ought to cause us to consider. It is a time when we should humble ourselves and cause us to stop looking for human solutions and political leaders for answers and instead surrender our lives anew before God. God is ultimately in charge of our world. He appoints whoever He desires to rule over people.

Walter Brueggemann points out: "Yahweh may assign power to anyone Yahweh chooses. ...Yahweh does not need to give explanation or justification, does not need to give account to the nations." Who are we to call God to account for his actions, which are higher than our ways? We are accountable and answerable to God; this includes those God uses as His appointed leaders. God will ultimately judge every person, including every leader, for how they lived and served as leaders.

So how should we respond to unpopular political leaders? There are three things we need to consider from our text and how it applies to our current context.

We live in an hour when many people do not want to be corrected or warned. In Proverbs 1, we hear the call of wisdom to turn to her ways. However, we see that the foolish mock and refuse to listen to God's correction, resulting in calamity and distress.

"Repent at my rebuke! Then I will pour out my thoughts to you; I will make known to you my teachings. But since you refuse to listen when I call, and no one pays attention when I stretch out my hand, since you disregard all my advice and do not accept my rebuke, I, in turn, will laugh when disaster strikes you; I will mock when calamity overtakes you." (Proverbs 1:23-26)

God's word not only warns and rebukes us but also instructs, comforts, and encourages us. But if we won't listen to God's warnings, then all that is left is the consequences. The apostle Paul describes those who refuse to listen to God's instructions and warnings. "The Spirit clearly says that in the later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons." (1 Timothy 4:1)

Here in Jeremiah 26, we discover that when a culture moves toward apostasy, it will ultimately be judged by God. One of the distinguishing signs is that they refuse to hear the truth and will not only distort it but will persecute those who advocate for it. In other words, they will endeavour to silence the truth. Even as believers, we need to hear the voices of those who disagree with us. We must be careful not to shoot the messenger because sometimes they may carry God's word to us. As God's children, we are responsible for sharing God's message with our world. So, how do we do so when we realize our culture's growing level of hostility? In Jeremiah 26, we discover three specific courses of action that we must pursue despite the times we are living in.

What happens when God is talking, but we are not listening? Maybe even more critically, God warns us of impending danger, but we ignore what is being said? One aspect of God’s loving nature is that He does warn us when we are deviating from the right path. The problem begins when our deviation is about to destroy ourselves and others. What happens, then? What does God do, and how is this action ultimately the source of our restoration? As we turn once again to the book of Jeremiah, we will discover how God is finally heard.

How do we see tragedy in our lives? How do we move forward when our world comes crashing down around us? As we are about to discover, God has a plan for good even in times of trouble and despair. Robert Davison relates this powerful insight about the things we may consider sacred, but we have lost the true meaning of what faith is all about. “Sometimes the things we regard as essential to our faith and fight desperately to retain patterns of worship and congregational life may, and indeed sometimes must, be taken from us if we are to rediscover the meaning of discipleship.” People who are never challenged in their faith often grow weak and apathetic. Challenges have a way of causing us to reconsider our lives and see things in a different light.

Who is influencing and shaping your life? Who are the people that are knowingly or unknowingly influencing you? Some of the most significant influences in our lives are friends, media, and people who we respect and embrace what they are telling us. How do we know where we are headed unless we know the character and direction of those influencing us? We have been looking at the book of Jeremiah, where God has been warning His people that their direction in life was leading them to exile, which is simply being separated from God. We discover the importance of those who are leading or influencing us. One key reason for the exile was the leadership crisis in Judah. In the end, it became a carousel of ungodly leaders exploiting the people rather than empowering them and redirecting them toward God. Roland Harrison summarizes it: “Bad leadership is the ultimate attributive cause of the exile.”1 We may not always have a choice in our parents, teachers, and political leaders, but we do have a choice in listening to those who champion biblical values. So when and where we have a choice in who we will listen to, let’s choose the right kind of leaders to follow. Here we are about to see the difference between two leaders and the effects they had on the people being influenced by them. In Jeremiah 23, we find a contrast between godly and ungodly leaders and their impact on others. Then what can we learn about the kind of leaders we are following and shaping our lives. So, what kind of a leader are we going to follow? What are the qualities we should be looking for?

The passing of Queen Elizabeth II has caused us to pause and be amazed at her reign of seventy years. She had a very consistent moral influence on others. Her speeches pointed people to God. She brought honour to her position. So, what is it that God requires of those in leadership positions? God’s standard is the same for all those in positions of leadership. Leaders influence others. Here in Jeremiah 22, we find that God spoke to the Shepherds of His people, those kings and officials who were giving direction over the land. Tremper Longman relates regarding the role of the King: “It was the king’s duty to protect those who could not protect themselves and also create a society that was harmonious for law-abiding citizens.” But what happens when those in authority flaunt and abuse their positions? Will God address these abuses? Maybe the greater question is how does He go about it?

The most terrifying state of being is when we find ourselves in conflict with God. Is it possible for God to be against us rather than for us? Our decisions can move us in a direction that brings us into conflict with God. We are either moving toward God or away from God in our lives. Using the image of light and darkness within a moral context, we are either walking or living in the light of God’s word, or we allow our sinful desires to move us into the darkness away from God and ultimately face the greater terror of finding ourselves at war with God. James warns us that this is a very real possibility.

"You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God." (James 4:4)

What is James telling us? He is not speaking of befriending people but rather embracing the values system of a society that has turned its back on God and is, therefore, against God. Returning to the book of Jeremiah, we find a significant chronological movement in time. Years have elapsed from the previous chapter. Many of the things that Jeremiah had warned about were now happening. The king and the people had hardened their hearts, disregarded God’s word, and counsel through prophets such as Jeremiah and Ezekiel. Babylon was now attacking the city. King Zedekiah, who had made a political alliance with Egypt to rebel against the Babylonian’s control over Judah, is now facing total destruction. So how do we become God’s enemy? What happens when we are in conflict with God? These are questions that Jeremiah 21 answers for us. What is it that God requires of us if we are to walk with God as our friend?

As we journey through the Christian life, there come moments where it seems God is distant and the task at hand seems overwhelming. Things are not transpiring as we would hope or desire. Jesus had his Gethsemane experience, where the conflict between what He knew He needed to do and the difficulty of doing it collided and created conflict within His soul. The agony in the garden was knowing that He would be estranged from His father because he would become sin, who had never sinned. The abhorrence of being separated from the Father and the darkness that would assault His soul seems beyond Him. There are moments where we are treading on our journey of faith, where we come to our ‘dark night of the soul,’ where we feel the abandonment by God and the task before us seem beyond us.

Roland Harrison relates the intensity of the anguish that Jeremiah was experiencing from the hostility of those he was ministering to. “This powerful poetic section contains unusual psychological insights, not merely in relation to Jeremiah himself but for canonical prophecy as a whole because of the self-disclosure of profound emotional conflict. Jeremiah’s sensitive nature appears in his reaction to the sarcasm and ridicule with which his message was received.”

One of the expectations of a prophet was that their words would come to pass. However, in Jeremiah’s case, there seemed to be a delay, and as a result, Jeremiah was considered by many to be a false prophet and later a traitor to his people. For a person who cared about his people, Jeremiah was often heartbroken regarding their rebellion and wept over their soul’s condition. He has been called the ‘weeping prophet’ because of his intense intercession for God’s mercy upon the people. Yet there was also a great emotional and spiritual toll on this sensitive man’s life. He endured much sarcasm and ridicule. For the most part, his ministry was not well received, and at times he experienced hostility and physical abuse. His life was threatened and endangered even though God promised Jeremiah protection from death itself. We learn from this episode the challenges and difficulties that obedient ministry exposes a person to. Serving others is often painful and very difficult. People are often impossible in their expectations and demands. So while a part of Jeremiah wanted to quit and remain silent, there was another conflicting emotion within him that could not keep the passion of sharing the message of warning that needed to be expressed. In all of this, Jeremiah expresses his deepest angst to God. This is the final cry of Jeremiah to God regarding his ministry.

One of the repeated themes in the Scriptures is the imminent judgment about to occur because of human rebellion against God. Think back to Noah and the flood, Sodom and Gomorrah, the destruction of the Northern Kingdom under the Assyrians, and the destruction of Jerusalem first by the Babylonians and later by the Romans. We are now living in the hour of Christ's return. For the believer in the gospel of Jesus Christ, it will be a day of redemption, but for the lost, a day of judgment. One of the dangers of life is ignoring or recasting the past with the desire to create a different narrative in the future apart from past and even current realities. The problem is that what happened in the past is a tale that must be heard and understood in its context and learned from; otherwise, we will repeat its mistakes and suffer the consequences of unwise decisions. We have been going through the book of Jeremiah and hearing God’s indictment against His own people who are making tragic decisions that will ultimately lead to terrible consequences. In Jeremiah 19 through the first six verses of chapter 20, we see both the most challenging message and the response to that message by those who were in the establishment of both political and religious leadership. They were leading the nation further astray. How does this biblical truth impact the way we live? Or ought to live?

I’m currently listening to lectures on Utopia and Dystopia, which express the nature of human anxieties and fears that we struggle with in our society. One of the more well-known writers in this literary genre is George Orwell. In his book, ‘Nineteen Eighty-Four,’ he ‘Big Brother,’ which is the name given to the totalitarian regime ruling by that year. Orson wrote this book in 1948 during the ‘Cold War and described the sense of powerlessness that individuals feel in that kind of a world. In Dr. Pamela Bedore’s course: “Great Utopian and Dystopian Works of Literature,’ she writes in her course guidebook: “Nineteen Eighty-Four embodies the power of language to shape thought for good or for ill and explores the devastating potential of language to destroy both personal and cultural identity when used to preserve a totalitarian system of government.”

Many today are deeply concerned, and rightfully so, about the suppression of speech. We can quickly develop anxieties over what our future holds. Yet, the more significant question that could be raised is, ‘Who really is behind all of this? We know from Scripture that our battle is not with ‘flesh and blood,’ which we often forget. We have a spiritual adversary trying to destroy humanity, but we discover in Jeremiah that God is ultimately in control. He is the One shaping the destinies of human lives? Here in Jeremiah 18, we will find that ultimately, God is the one who raises up and brings down nations, kingdoms, and governments as they are simply instruments in His hands. Even though God allows freedom of choice, the choice is framed between what is best, His will and the opposite position of rejecting God’s path and then experiencing the ensuing consequences. God gives us opportunities to discover His ways which ultimately bring hope, life, and peace; or we choose to live autonomous lives, strike out on our own, and find our path strewed with more significant challenges and diminished resources. In Jeremiah 18, God leads the prophet Jeremiah to a potter’s house, where a visual presentation is about to occur. This becomes a dramatization of the message the prophet is to deliver to the nation.

Life is far more about faith than most people realize. When we get into our vehicles, we trust that they will work and not have something happen that will cause problems for us. Once on the road, we trust that people will stay on their side of the road. We step into an elevator, trusting that it is adequately maintained and in good working order. We go to a restaurant and trust that the cook doesn’t mix up his ingredients and serve something harmful to us. The list is endless.

For most people, who they really trust is themselves. In his book: ‘Improving Your Serve,’ Charles Swindoll related the following: “Lots of philosophies are floating around, and most of them are more confusing than they are helpful. Interestingly, those that are clear enough to be understood usually end up focusing full attention on the individual. Consider a few of them:

Greece said, ‘Be wise, know yourself!’

Rome said, ‘Be strong, discipline yourself!’

Religion said, ‘Be good, conform yourself!’

Epicureanism says, ‘Be sensuous, enjoy yourself!

Education says, ‘Be resourceful, expand yourself!

Psychology says, ‘Be confident, assert yourself!

Materialism says, ‘Be satisfied, please yourself!’

Pride says, ‘Be superior, promote yourself!

Asceticism says, ‘Be lowly, suppress yourself!’

Humanism says, ‘Be capable, believe in yourself!’

Legalism says, ‘Be pious, limit yourself!’

Philanthropy says, ‘Be generous, release yourself!’

Swindoll concludes: “Do something either for yourself or with yourself or to yourself. How very different from Jesus’ model and message! Jesus says, ‘Be a servant, give to others!’”

What does it really mean to be a follower of Jesus? It begins with a change of focus. It is not about us; it is all about trusting God, and out of that relationship comes a heart to serve. It means that our focus moves from ourselves upward to God and then to others. It’s an upward look that helps us with our outward look. However, whom we think we trust may be different than reality. Do we really know ourselves? Often it takes some crystallizing moment where we see ourselves as God does, as Isaiah experienced in an hour of national calamity. Here in Jeremiah 17, we come to the heart of the problem: ourselves. Where are we placing our trust? If we turn away from God because we put our faith in humanity, we will experience the curse of turning away from our Creator. Sin then dominates our life. We easily see how sin is now dominating in our culture. The outcome of sinful domination is social deterioration. Here in chapter seventeen, we see the condition of the heart as Jeremiah contrasts the effects between trusting God and anything or anyone else.

Illness, accidents, marriage breakups, war, and disease, to name a few, can totally alter the direction of life. It can change how you live and where you live. Life then stops being normal or what it was. How can we move forward in a time where life now is different, and we must adapt to this new reality?

We are living in a day of Amazing Grace. God continually reaches out to us as people, willing that we would embrace all that He has provided for us. He desires to be in a relationship with us. It is incredible to think how awesome our God is. When we consider the great sacrifice He made for us, how can we remain impassive, negligent, and indifferent to Him? Yet, we see the outcome of the autonomous life, the self-directed life, being played out each and every day. The result of the self-directed life is confusion, anxiety, and anger as we find that we cannot control events, people, and circumstances to our advantage. It does not take long to discover that life is often messy, confusing, and at times tragic. Sometimes the mess we are in is a result of our own self-directed life. The wisdom literature would sum it up in a proverb.

“There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end, it leads to death.” - Proverbs 16:25

We have been journeying through the book of Jeremiah. What we see are God’s people going their own way. Over time they have been seduced by the values of the people living within their land and the surrounding people groups. Wickedness had become so entrenched in their culture that people could not discern right from wrong. Their knowledge of God was distorted. They really did not know God. Even though God had continued to speak words of direction, instruction, and warning over the centuries, they repeatedly ignored His words through his prophets. Why the confusion? Because there were false prophets giving reassurances that were causing them to have a false sense of security. However, the reality was that they were practicing idolatry. In their minds, they felt they were serving the Lord, but they had adopted a syncretistic (a blending) of other religious worship, thereby distorting God’s commandments. They were putting idols ahead of God. They were in violation of the greatest commandment, which was to have no other god before the Lord. Now the day of the Lord was at hand. God was about to judge the nation, yet they were mystified by Jeremiah’s warnings; why would God do such a thing?

God has told Jeremiah to stop praying for the people because they have so hardened their hearts that they have refused to listen and are now headed for destruction. God has given them up to their sinful ways. The apostle Paul captures this idea in the book of Romans when he states that God gives people over to their depraved thinking, leading to the consequences of their lifestyle. Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind so that they do what ought not to be done. (Romans 1:28) There is nothing so tragic in a person’s life or the life of a nation when we cross over to that state of mind that nothing will curb our sinful passion, and God gives us over to it. One of the roles of the Old Testament priesthood was to teach the people the distinction between what is holy and profane (common, unclean). Ezekiel, a contemporary prophet of Jeremiah, relates: They [priests] are to teach my people the difference between the holy and the common and show them how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean. (Ezekiel 44:23) Now, who are the priests in the New Testament? We, who are God’s people, are priests. We are responsible for revealing that distinction by our lives, actions and words. What happens when we are biblically ignorant. We will no longer be able to make that distinction even for ourselves and find ourselves compromised. Here in Jeremiah and Ezekiel hour, we see the impact of unrestrained sin on the ungodly and the godly who care for them. There is no greater agony than to see those you love destroying themselves by their lifestyle. Here in our text, we will learn about the impact this lifestyle has on both the ungodly and the godly.

How do we get to the place where crisis overwhelms a country? Are there some contributing factors? Is what happened to Judah in the 6th century applicable to us and other countries in the 21st century? If this is so, in what ways? What about each of us as individuals? What are the takeaways from ‘crossing certain boundaries in relationships, and how does that impact our lives? The larger question is, who are we to believe today? There are so many voices crying out to be heard. Just like in that hour of crisis in the nation of Judah, most leaders were complacent regarding their relationship with God. They were making some terrible assumptions and presuming that all was well when a crisis was looming before them. In Jeremiah 14, we find several important things to consider regarding our future before Almighty God. Are we building our lives upon the right foundation? Where are we getting our information from? Who are we listening to? What is God trying to say to us in this hour?

In Jeremiah 13, we find God calling the prophet to a certain action that would grip the attention of a people who were, for the most part, indifferent toward the message of Jeremiah. God directs Jeremiah to purchase a linen garment or belt designed to be worn around his waist. Then he is told to bury it and then retrieve it. The result is something that has been ruined and is now useless. Then, God tells Jeremiah to take a common expression and give it a unique twist. Finally, Jeremiah explains a nightmarish experience of trekking in hilly terrain at night, stumbling about longing for the morning light to come, but it never appears. What are these messages trying to convey to the ancient Jewish people and possibly us today? God is having his prophet speak out against the stubborn pride that the people were manifesting as they were living a life in disobedience to God. We are about to discover what keeps us from God’s intentions for our lives. God challenges us all regarding the pride that keeps us from fully surrendering our lives to experience spiritual intimacy with Him. Here in this chapter, we see four snapshots of missing God’s purpose for our lives.

That’s not fair! How many young people have screamed this in frustration to a parent, a teacher, or a friend? But it is not just young people crying out and becoming jaded by life and the injustices they see and experience. O. T. scholar Robert Davidson relates a profound truth about life and the challenges we constantly face. “To have confidence in God does not mean that all problems are solved.” There remain challenges and perplexities that, at times, cause great unrest, disappointment and even anger in our souls. Here in the book of Jeremiah, the prophet is struggling with the injustices that he is experiencing. He has faithfully declared God’s message of impending judgment, yet nothing is happening. Evil still persists, and now his life is in danger. What is he to do?

Most people are confused about the difference between an idea of a covenant versus a contract. Some use the terms interchangeably; however, God deals with them based on a covenant. What is amazing is that when as human beings, we were unable to keep the Old Covenant, God, who is so loving and faithful, created a New covenant based upon better promises. It was Jeremiah that revealed to God’s people this beautiful expression of love found in Jeremiah 31:31-33: “The days are coming, declares the LORD, ‘when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them, declares the LORD. This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time. I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.” Yet, as we see here in Jeremiah 11, the story of God’s people is a trail of broken promises to God while God continued to be faithful to His pledge to His people. However, there is a cost to neglecting our part of the covenant. It is this that we are going to address not just in the lives of those ancient Jewish people but in our lives today.

Dr. Rufus Fears is a professor of classic history. He relates that just before the end of the Athenian empire at the hands of the Spartans, the philosophers of Athens had arrived at the idea that there was no absolute truth. This is currently the dominant note of our Postmodern culture. We have abandoned our moorings recast many historical narratives to suit our current values, one of which is the idea that there are no absolutes. Interestingly, 21st Century people have arrived at the same place that the ancient Athenians came to, before their demise as a dominant civilization in the ancient world. We have progressed as a culture when our ancestors have already been there. The book of Ecclesiastes reminds us of a powerful reality. "What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun." - Ecclesiastes 1:9 Will we learn anything from those who have gone before us? We need to awaken and learn what happens when a culture embrace lies rather than truth as a value. Here in Jeremiah 9, we discover what was transpiring just before the nation of Judah went into exile. It is the story of living a life of self-deception as a culture and rejecting values that reflect the heart of God and what those values are. Here we see the tragic outcome, but also an encouragement to discover what God does value.

Why do people who know what is right to do often refuse to do it? Why do people suppress the truth and believe a lie rather than the truth? What keeps us from moving forward in our relationship with God? Here Jeremiah addresses the painful issue of willful sin. Why would a nation who had a covenant relationship with God and were entrusted with the very words of God not return to Him? How do people who once professed faith in God go off the rails and find their lives broken, distorted, and in despair? God has designed us so that we must suppress truth within ourselves to distance ourselves from God. Here Jeremiah 8, we discover three aspects in understanding their refusal to obey the call of God to return to Him.

One of the great temptations in the Christian life is to know what to do and then ignore it. Hypocrisy is always a present danger. We’re not talking about never making mistakes or falling short. Hypocrisy is an attitude of false security and an indifference toward behaving ethically and morally. Hypocrisy is fostered when there is a sense of spiritual entitlement rather than a heart of gratitude and appreciation because we are God’s children. This is reflected in our behaviour. Here in Jeremiah 7 and the first three verses of chapter eight, we have a change in the literary genre. We move to a narrative section of the book from the poetic we have seen in the first six chapters. This section is actually one of Jeremiah’s temple sermons. Jeremiah is challenging the people of his day to respond to God’s message of warning. Here we find in this warning message three movements designed to teach us how God is trying to create change in our lives.

God is always trying to get our attention. When we are deviating from His purposes, He will speak into our lives. The Scriptures are filled with instructions, words of promise and encouragement, but we also find sections of warnings. Here in Jeremiah 6, we find that God is calling for a decision that would move them in the right direction and warning them of the dangers of ignoring His counsel. If we are about to experience danger, the greatest gift we can receive at that moment is to be warned to prepare for what is about to happen. God desires that we respond in obedience to His warnings. These are designed to protect us and allow us to flourish. When we arrive at that juncture in the road where we finally realize that there has got to be something better than what is happening at present in our world and possibly in our lives, we need to ask God for the ancient path, which leads to the good way that will bring rest or genuine peace to our souls. What does that path look like?

The writer and producer of ‘It’s a Wonderful Life, Frank Capra, is trying to give an insight into the value of a single life. That each life matters. Most people feel that their lives are insignificant in the larger scheme of things, but that is not how God sees each of our lives. In Jeremiah 5, we understand that the way we live affects our community beyond our comprehension. Here in this chapter, we will discover some critical elements in what brings God’s favour into our communities and what doesn’t.

One of the most important aspects of life is relationships. They are the most rewarding and challenging aspects of life. We become deeply invested in others, but when there is a breach in the relationship, particularly in our marriage relationship, the question comes to mind: is it possible to start over again? Are there terms we need to consider before moving forward, and what are those ingredients to make reconciliation possible? As we look at the nation of Israel and Judah, God’s people, we can learn how relationships can come to an end or be reconciled. What are the ingredients to make that possible? The devastating impact of Israel’s sins leads to a broken covenant. Just like in marriage, apart from certain powerful changes needed, the relationship will dissolve. It is shocking to discover that in Jeremiah 3, God divorces the nation of Israel and warns Judah of a similar fate.