Jeremiah 16 & 17 - Listen!

LINK: Jeremiah 16 & 17  

BACKGROUND 

Jeremiah 16:1-17:18 

This section portrays the coming calamity and captivity because God has removed His lovingkindness and compassion due to Judah's forefathers having forsaken Him and followed other gods and bowed down to them. Judah continued in the stubbornness of their heart and did not LISTEN. 

LISTEN is a key, repeated word in this section. It is the Hebrew word, shamaʿ, which occurs 1159 times in the Old Testament. It is the same word in the famous Shema declaration, "Hear, O, Israel," of Deuteronomy 6:4. This word always implies a response of obedience from the hearer.  

In all of this, God instructs Jeremiah to not marry or have children because they would all die. He is also instructed to refrain from participating in feasts or funerals, and this causes more social ostracism for him because not showing grief for the dead was unthinkable in that culture. 

Jeremiah concludes this section with another plea to repent, turn to God, and trust in Him. Their hearts were deceived to believe they could trust in anything but the Lord (Jeremiah 17:9-10). 

But they would not LISTEN. The first wave of destruction and captivity was soon approaching. It occurred in 605 B.C. (2 Kings 24:8-12). This is when Daniel and his friends were deported to Babylon.  The second came in 597 B.C. This is when the prophet, Ezekiel, was taken into captivity.  Eventually, Judah was totally destroyed in 586 B.C.

I do observe that amid all the dread and doom of the last days of Judah, there is a promise that the Gentile nations will come to the true God of Israel! Oh, happy day when they admit that they had followed false religions (16:19-21)!

Jeremiah 17:19-27

Now Jeremiah's message is specifically about the sin of not keeping the Sabbath. (Exodus 20:8-11). They were to keep the Sabbath day holy, and they had considered making money more important than following God. A century later, Nehemiah would make it a priority to reinstate the Sabbath for the returned exiles to Jerusalem (Nehemiah 13:15-22). Again, the key word here is LISTEN!

REFLECTION/APPLICATION

There are several important things in this passage:

1) God repeatedly tells us to LISTEN. I honestly believe that this problem still plagues us today. We go about our day without even giving heed to the "still, small voice" of God.  Instead, like Eve, we listen to the lies of the enemy or just do our own thing, detached from Him. 

Application: Take some time to listen to Him today.

2) God tells us our hearts are deceitful and desperately sick. We cannot "follow our heart" as the Romantics say. We need to LISTEN to God, not our deceitful hearts. 

Application: Pray that your heart aligns with God's heart in all things. Listen and obey when He tells you to do something. Remember that this book will inspire you to listen and obey: God Guides.

3) Gentile nations are part of God's plan. I have been saying this since the beginning of the Bible Book Club.

Application: Pray for the world's unreached people groups using information from www.joshuaproject.net. I have been praying for a different unreached people group for every mile I walk this summer. SO FUN! There are options to pray daily using an app or listen to a one-minute podcast. 

4) Jesus is our Sabbath rest. So, you can come to Him when you are weak and weary (Matthew 11:28-30):

Though this shadow-sabbath, i.e., Saturday observance, ended at the cross, the true sabbath, the rest of God, God's ceasing from effort, continued and still continues today. That sabbath, in its application to us, is defined for us in Hebrews 4, Verses 9 and 10:

So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God [it is available to us now]; for whoever enters God's rest also ceases from his labors as God did from his. (Hebrews 4:9-10) ("Jesus is our Sabbath Rest" by Ray Stedman at http://www.ldolphin.org/sabbathrest.html)

Application: We are not bound to the "shadow-sabbath," but the principle is true that sometimes we need to come away and unplug and refuel in Jesus. Might I suggest taking a day off? We are trying to keep many Saturdays or Sundays free this year to have peaceful family time together. It is not always possible with our busy ministry schedule, but we try to do it regularly, and we have really seen the benefits!

2023 Update: We are very consistent with this. If our weekend is busy with celebrations and church (sometimes it cannot be avoided), we take the weekday off before or after that Saturday/Sunday. 

PRAYER

Lord, You cannot violate Your holiness, and You must be a God of justice. We pray that we would listen to what You say and obey. Cut off the voice of the Deceiver and also the deceptiveness of our own hearts so we might hear You more clearly. I pray that many nations would come to and worship You as the only true God. Lastly, give us rest in You today. I pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.