Isn't studying the Word just exciting!? Despite the job I have chosen I still shy away from opportunities or experiences that surface conflict over my faith. I am not ashamed of the Gospel but I feel extremely uncomfortable when I feel challenged, especially over social media etc. I have been praying about this and asking God to help me be willing to open myself up to criticism for my faith. Something happened this week and usually I would just opt not to comment but I felt like it was an opportunity to grow and I couldn't help but think of Jeremiah standing in front of the temple delivering HIS message....my situation was a joke in comparison. So I said what I felt like I needed to and it was a little hard but it was ok. I want to trust God like Jeremiah did...not that everything will go smothly....but that God will support me and that He is enough, his love, his satisfaction, and ultimately the Gospel. Good lesson.
I have another video covering chapter 7-9. What my goal is through these videos is to direct you to various other sources....sermons, commentaries etc. What I share is almost entirely referencing another source. I try to share what the source is along the way. Just FYI.
Video Chapters 7-9
Jeremiah Chapter 10: False Gods versus The True and Living God
In Chapter 10 God exposes the idols for what they are: wood and metal and compares them to Himself.
Iversus 1-16 describes the idols like this:
delusion
cut from wood from the forest
the work of the hands of a craftsman with a cutting tool
decorated with silver and with gold
fastened with nails and with hammers
tottering
like a scarecrow in a cucumber field
cannot speak
must be carried
not to be feared
can do no harm NOR ANY GOOD
no breath in them
worthless
a work of mockery
perishable
verses 6-16 describes the Lord:
there is none like Him
great
Great is His name in might
to be feared
King of the nations
the true God
Living
Everlasting
Made the earth with His power
established the world by His wisdom
Rules the natural world
The Maker of all
Warren Wiersbe writes, "Whatever we worship and serve other than the true and living God is an idol, whether it's an expensive house, or car, the latest stereo equipment, a boat, a library, a girlfriend or boyfriend, our children, a career, or a bank account. That which I center my attention and affection and for which I am willing to sacrifice is my God and if it isn't Jesus Christ, then its an idol."
he continues...
"The remedy for idolatry is to get caught up in the majesty and grandeur of God, the true God, the living God, the everlasting King. An idol is a substitute, and you would never want a substitute once you have experienced the love and power of the Lord God Almighty"
So the remedy for idolatry is this very comparison that Jeremiah lays out in Chapter 10. Compare your "god" to God. It reminds me of what we looked at in Chapter 9 about Shiloh. The ark of the covenant is removed from Shiloh, stolen by the Philistines and taken to the temple of Dagon and overnight even the idol of Dagon falls and bows before the presence of God above the ark of the covenant. We must recognize our idols for what they are: maybe it is an immaterial object...that is easier to deal with maybe, but what if it's an idea....a dream, a wish, a desire. It's harder to recognize those for idols. What if its a person, or people? Yet, when I read this description of God in Chapter 10...truly what can compare to the Lord? What else should my faith and hope rest in?
Psalm 115:1-8
"Not to us, O Lord, not to us,
But to your name give glory
Because of Your lovingkindness, because of Your truth.
Why should the nations say,
"Where, now is their God?"
But our God is in the heavens;
He does whatever He pleases.
Their idols are silver and gold,
The work of man's hands.
They have mouths, but they cannot speak;
They have eyes, but they cannot see;
They have ears, but they cannot hear;
They have noses, but they cannot smell;
They have hands, but they cannot feel;
They have feet, but they cannot walk;
They cannot make a sound with their throat.
Those who make them will become like them,
Everyone who trusts in them."
Isn't the last line interesting? Those who make them will become like them, everyone who trusts in them....not seeing, hearing, smelling, feeling. The idols withhold "Life" from them because they trust in a lie.
10:2 "Do not learn the way of the nations..."
The sentence sums of a lot of the problems in Israel's history and what has led them to the point that we find Judah at in Jeremiah. They influence of the world has become much stronger than the influence of their God.
(the following points come from Warren Wiersbe)
In verses 23-25 you find Jeremiah praying, not for the people, but for himself as a representative of the nation.
3 arguments he makes:
1. The people are only weak humans who don't know how to run their own lives
2. If God gave them what they deserved they would be destroyed
3. Nations attacking Judah deserve punishment for seeking to destroy God's chosen people.
Jeremiah is pleading for the Lord to keep his promises to Abraham and protect the nations from extinction.
Here the "temple sermon" comes to an end. How did the people respond? According to Chapter 26 Jeremiah was seized and condemned to die. The Lord saved Jeremiah but he was banished from the temple. (36:5)
I want to look back on a theme that occurs three times in these surrounding chapters...the command not to pray:
in 7:27 you'll remember that God tells Jeremiah not to pray. This will be repeated in 11:14 and 14:11
Ray Stedman writes this: " 'Stop praying, but keep on preaching!' Imagine that. ' Don't pray, but I want you to keep preaching, and I tell you this, they will not listen to you at all.' This is one of the roughest assignments ever given anybody in the word of God."
How powerful must our prayers be? This is an EXTREME command and we should feel the weight of it with Jeremiah. Here in Berlin ministry is hard and we at times are discouraged because it feels that no one is listening....but we can pray...we MUST pray. Prayer is so hopeful. It reminds me that I am not in control and that God changes hearts and that he hears when I ask. What if that were gone?
Why does God ask Jeremiah not to pray....because it wouldn't do any good.
I am thankful today that God is still inviting my prayers for the people I minister to!
I want to wrap up this chapter by directing you to a really good sermon from Stephen Kenney the pastor of my parents church in Indianapolis. He gives an overview Sermon on Jeremiah and I thought it was just great and so insightful. Please take an hour and listen!!! I will not be making a video on chapter 10 but instead wrote this post ;)
Stephen Kenney "Life in Babylon"
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