The Rechabites are a wonderful inclusion in the narrative. We have a faithful family. A family full of people who choice to follow the covenant they were taught. You always wonder, or I do, when reading these accounts of judgment. With the exception of Sodom and Gomorrah, when we’re told there aren’t even ten righteous …
“I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts.” “And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord.” He’s talking about the coming of …
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a future and a hope. This is a very popular verse, and for good reason. It is an encouragement sent to a people in exile. Once your exile has been completed, …
I think it’s maybe safe to assume, or at least reasonable to expect, that not everyone in the nation of Judah was horrible. I mean, Jeremiah was a faithful man. He can’t have been the only one, right? But the king was corrupt. And the culture was corrupt. And the nation had, as a community, …
So, I could write about Jeremiah’s complex feelings after the night in the stocks. I really could. There’s something about having context to this outcry against God that hits a bit deeper than similar Psalms that have been preserved without the context. And it’s different than Job, somehow, too. Maybe because Jeremiah isn’t defending himself …
Here we have mention of false prophets again, those that say what the people want to hear. “Destruction isn’t coming. You’re perfectly safe!” It’s so much easier to give a message you know will be received well. There’s no fear of recrimination. There’s no fear of reprisal. You know you get to keep your job. …
Go ahead and start mourning, Judah. Everyone is going to die. That’s the message here. The worship in the temple, the sacrifices, it’s all completely meaningless, because it isn’t from the heart. It isn’t real. It’s just form. The people are worshipping all the other gods, too. There’s no devotion. Worse: they’re sacrificing their children. …
Jeremiah does not feel fit to fill the role to which he is called. He is too young. He does not have the experience. It isn’t that he’s worried no one will listen to him, though that would be the outcome I suppose. He’s worried that he does not have the skill to do what …
It’s a strange book. There’s no way around that. It’s meaning or purpose within the canon is not entirely clear. It’s application is even less so, if that’s possible. Other than being beautiful, what does this have to do with us? What should we take away from it? How should this book impact our daily …
So, I grew up with translations of Scripture that call this book the Song of Solomon being taught that Solomon wrote it. A lot of people have believed he wrote it because it has the subtitle, provided in the first line of the book, “of Solomon.” Song of Songs, which is of Solomon, is a …