AM Nov 1st Heb 5

November 1^st   

6: As he saith also in another place, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec. 7: Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared; 8: Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; 9: And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him; 10: Called of God an high priest after the order of Melchisedec. 11: Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing. 12: For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. 13: For every one that useth milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. 14: But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

There is no actual priesthood of Melchisedec except in the sense that Melchisedec was himself. Christ has a priesthood that has some similar features and this is what the writer to Hebrews is saying. There is no record in scripture of the birth or death of Melchisedec and Christ’s ministry is like that he is an eternal person and so therefore unlike the Aaronic priests who died and their ministry ended Christ’s ministry goes on eternally. Christ’s ministry of prayer for Israel is described here as - prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears. Christ as a son and as a man learned obedience through his suffering. We see this in the garden where he sweated great drops of blood as he contemplated the suffering to come. And his obedience was fully completed, that it was made perfect and he became ‘the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him’. The writer to the Hebrews confesses that there is much more that he could say but that they would not understand. He says at this stage you should be the teachers of these things yet you are still struggling to understand the alphabet. He says you are babies in understanding. Those that are mature have the ability to make difficult decisions regarding moral issues.

PM Oct 31st Jer 24

October 31^st      Jeremiah 24      Good and bad figs

1: The LORD shewed me, and, behold, two baskets of figs were set before the temple of the LORD, after that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, and the princes of Judah, with the carpenters and smiths, from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon. 2: One basket had very good figs, even like the figs that are first ripe: and the other basket had very naughty figs, which could not be eaten, they were so bad. 3: Then said the LORD unto me, What seest thou, Jeremiah? And I said, Figs; the good figs, very good; and the evil, very evil, that cannot be eaten, they are so evil. 4: Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 5: Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; Like these good figs, so will I acknowledge them that are carried away captive of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans for their good. 6: For I will set mine eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them again to this land: and I will build them, and not pull them down; and I will plant them, and not pluck them up. 7: And I will give them an heart to know me, that I am the LORD: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto me with their whole heart. 8: And as the evil figs, which cannot be eaten, they are so evil; surely thus saith the LORD, So will I give Zedekiah the king of Judah, and his princes, and the residue of Jerusalem, that remain in this land, and them that dwell in the land of Egypt: 9: And I will deliver them to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth for their hurt, to be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse, in all places whither I shall drive them. 10: And I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, among them, till they be consumed from off the land that I gave unto them and to their fathers.

Jeremiah 25      Seven years of desolation

1: The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, that was the first year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon; 2: The which Jeremiah the prophet spake unto all the people of Judah, and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, 3: From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah, even unto this day, that is the three and twentieth year, the word of the LORD hath come unto me, and I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking; but ye have not hearkened. 4: And the LORD hath sent unto you all his servants the prophets, rising early and sending them; but ye have not hearkened, nor inclined your ear to hear. 5: They said, Turn ye again now every one from his evil way, and from the evil of your doings, and dwell in the land that the LORD hath given unto you and to your fathers for ever and ever: 6: And go not after other gods to serve them, and to worship them, and provoke me not to anger with the works of your hands; and I will do you no hurt. 7: Yet ye have not hearkened unto me, saith the LORD; that ye might provoke me to anger with the works of your hands to your own hurt. 8: Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Because ye have not heard my words, 9: Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the LORD, and Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and an hissing, and perpetual desolations. 10: Moreover I will take from them the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the candle. 11: And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. 12: And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the LORD, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations. 13: And I will bring upon that land all my words which I have pronounced against it, even all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah hath prophesied against all the nations. 14: For many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of them also: and I will recompense them according to their deeds, and according to the works of their own hands.

The wrath of God on the nations

15: For thus saith the LORD God of Israel unto me; Take the wine cup of this fury at my hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send thee, to drink it. 16: And they shall drink, and be moved, and be mad, because of the sword that I will send among them. 17: Then took I the cup at the LORD's hand, and made all the nations to drink, unto whom the LORD had sent me: 18: To wit, Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, and the kings thereof, and the princes thereof, to make them a desolation, an astonishment, an hissing, and a curse; as it is this day; 19: Pharaoh king of Egypt, and his servants, and his princes, and all his people; 20: And all the mingled people, and all the kings of the land of Uz, and all the kings of the land of the Philistines, and Ashkelon, and Azzah, and Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod, 21: Edom, and Moab, and the children of Ammon, 22: And all the kings of Tyrus, and all the kings of Zidon, and the kings of the isles which are beyond the sea, 23: Dedan, and Tema, and Buz, and all that are in the utmost corners, 24: And all the kings of Arabia, and all the kings of the mingled people that dwell in the desert, 25: And all the kings of Zimri, and all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of the Medes, 26: And all the kings of the north, far and near, one with another, and all the kingdoms of the world, which are upon the face of the earth: and the king of Sheshach shall drink after them. 27: Therefore thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Drink ye, and be drunken, and spue, and fall, and rise no more, because of the sword which I will send among you. 28: And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup at thine hand to drink, then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Ye shall certainly drink. 29: For, lo, I begin to bring evil on the city which is called by my name, and should ye be utterly unpunished? Ye shall not be unpunished: for I will call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth, saith the LORD of hosts. 30: Therefore prophesy thou against them all these words, and say unto them, The LORD shall roar from on high, and utter his voice from his holy habitation; he shall mightily roar upon his habitation; he shall give a shout, as they that tread the grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth. 31: A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth; for the LORD hath a controversy with the nations, he will plead with all flesh; he will give them that are wicked to the sword, saith the LORD. 32: Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth. 33: And the slain of the LORD shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth: they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung upon the ground. 34: Howl, ye shepherds, and cry; and wallow yourselves in the ashes, ye principal of the flock: for the days of your slaughter and of your dispersions are accomplished; and ye shall fall like a pleasant vessel. 35: And the shepherds shall have no way to flee, nor the principal of the flock to escape. 36: A voice of the cry of the shepherds, and an howling of the principal of the flock, shall be heard: for the LORD hath spoiled their pasture. 37: And the peaceable habitations are cut down because of the fierce anger of the LORD. 38: He hath forsaken his covert, as the lion: for their land is desolate because of the fierceness of the oppressor, and because of his fierce anger.

If you are finding these Bible readings hard. Don’t worry we are half way through Jeremiahs book. The Lord shows to Jeremiah two baskets of figs in front of the temple of the Lord. One basket of figs are good but the other are bad. The Lord asked Jeremiah what he saw and he said good and bad figs. Then the Lord said these baskets are like two sorts of people the bad figs are like those who will go to Babylon but the good figs will be like those who come back. When they come back they will be willing to know the Lord. They will return to the Lord with a whole heart. Then the Lord revealed to Jeremiah that the captivity would last for 70 years. Again at this late stage the Lord pleads with Judah to return to him. The Lord describes the sadness and the bloodshed and the weeping but then says it will last only for 70 years. The Lord says after the 70 years he will punish the Babylonians for doing all this. This prophecy has elements of the Great tribulation mixed in with it. Jeremiah was unable to see all of future prophesy. The Lord will send war to every nation of the earth. (As in the world wars!) These wars will be so great that every country and island will have the slain unburied. This is the day of the wrath of God on the whole earth - which the church will be delivered from. Christ said of those days that if those days were not cut short - no man would survive.

AM Oct 31st Heb 5

October 31^st      Hebrews 5

1: For every high priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins: 2: Who can have compassion on the ignorant, and on them that are out of the way; for that he himself also is compassed with infirmity. 3: And by reason hereof he ought, as for the people, so also for himself, to offer for sins. 4: And no man taketh this honour unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron. 5: So also Christ glorified not himself to be made an high priest; but he that said unto him, Thou art my Son, to day have I begotten thee.

The writer goes on to talk of Christ’s priestly work. He says, all the high priests are taken from among men to do the service of God to offer gifts (of worship) and sacrifices for sin. They are tender toward the ignorant and on those who have slipped off the path because he is also surrounded by the same weaknesses. And so he offers sacrifices for himself as well as others. And no man takes the honour of priesthood to himself but he is chosen of God just as Abraham was. In the same way Christ did not appoint himself to be High Priest but he was called of God who said to him, ‘you are my Son, this day l have begotten you’. And so Christ was not the begotten son because he was the offspring of God – God forbid. But he was the begotten son because God anointed him.

PM Oct 30th Jer 21

October 30^th      Jeremiah 21      C. Prophesies during the reign of Zedekiah         Jerusalem to be destroyed

1: The word which came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, when king Zedekiah sent unto him Pashur the son of Melchiah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, saying, 2: Inquire, I pray thee, of the LORD for us; for Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon maketh war against us; if so be that the LORD will deal with us according to all his wondrous works, that he may go up from us. 3: Then said Jeremiah unto them, Thus shall ye say to Zedekiah: 4: Thus saith the LORD God of Israel; Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands, wherewith ye fight against the king of Babylon, and against the Chaldeans, which besiege you without the walls, and I will assemble them into the midst of this city. 5: And I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm, even in anger, and in fury, and in great wrath. 6: And I will smite the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast: they shall die of a great pestilence. 7: And afterward, saith the LORD, I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah, and his servants, and the people, and such as are left in this city from the pestilence, from the sword, and from the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those that seek their life: and he shall smite them with the edge of the sword; he shall not spare them, neither have pity, nor have mercy. 8: And unto this people thou shalt say, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I set before you the way of life, and the way of death. 9: He that abideth in this city shall die by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence: but he that goeth out, and falleth to the Chaldeans that besiege you, he shall live, and his life shall be unto him for a prey. 10: For I have set my face against this city for evil, and not for good, saith the LORD: it shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire. 11: And touching the house of the king of Judah, say, Hear ye the word of the LORD; 12: O house of David, thus saith the LORD; Execute judgment in the morning, and deliver him that is spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor, lest my fury go out like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings. 13: Behold, I am against thee, O inhabitant of the valley, and rock of the plain, saith the LORD; which say, Who shall come down against us? or who shall enter into our habitations? 14: But I will punish you according to the fruit of your doings, saith the LORD: and I will kindle a fire in the forest thereof, and it shall devour all things round about it.

Jeremiah 22      The kings of Judah

1: Thus saith the LORD; Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and speak there this word, 2: And say, Hear the word of the LORD, O king of Judah, that sittest upon the throne of David, thou, and thy servants, and thy people that enter in by these gates: 3: Thus saith the LORD; Execute ye judgment and righteousness, and deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor: and do no wrong, do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, nor the widow, neither shed innocent blood in this place. 4: For if ye do this thing indeed, then shall there enter in by the gates of this house kings sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, he, and his servants, and his people. 5: But if ye will not hear these words, I swear by myself, saith the LORD, that this house shall become a desolation. 6: For thus saith the LORD unto the king's house of Judah; Thou art Gilead unto me, and the head of Lebanon: yet surely I will make thee a wilderness, and cities which are not inhabited. 7: And I will prepare destroyers against thee, every one with his weapons: and they shall cut down thy choice cedars, and cast them into the fire. 8: And many nations shall pass by this city, and they shall say every man to his neighbour, Wherefore hath the LORD done thus unto this great city? 9: Then they shall answer, Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD their God, and worshipped other gods, and served them. 10: Weep ye not for the dead, neither bemoan him: but weep sore for him that goeth away: for he shall return no more, nor see his native country. 11: For thus saith the LORD touching Shallum the son of Josiah king of Judah, which reigned instead of Josiah his father, which went forth out of this place; He shall not return thither any more: 12: But he shall die in the place whither they have led him captive, and shall see this land no more. 13: Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by wrong; that useth his neighbour's service without wages, and giveth him not for his work; 14: That saith, I will build me a wide house and large chambers, and cutteth him out windows; and it is cieled with cedar, and painted with vermilion. 15: Shalt thou reign, because thou closest thyself in cedar? did not thy father eat and drink, and do judgment and justice, and then it was well with him? 16: He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well with him: was not this to know me? saith the LORD. 17: But thine eyes and thine heart are not but for thy covetousness, and for to shed innocent blood, and for oppression, and for violence, to do it. 18: Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah; They shall not lament for him, saying, Ah my brother! or, Ah sister! they shall not lament for him, saying, Ah lord! or, Ah his glory! 19: He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem. 20: Go up to Lebanon, and cry; and lift up thy voice in Bashan, and cry from the passages: for all thy lovers are destroyed. 21: I spake unto thee in thy prosperity; but thou saidst, I will not hear. This hath been thy manner from thy youth, that thou obeyedst not my voice. 22: The wind shall eat up all thy pastors, and thy lovers shall go into captivity: surely then shalt thou be ashamed and confounded for all thy wickedness. 23: O inhabitant of Lebanon, that makest thy nest in the cedars, how gracious shalt thou be when pangs come upon thee, the pain as of a woman in travail! 24: As I live, saith the LORD, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were the signet upon my right hand, yet would I pluck thee thence; 25: And I will give thee into the hand of them that seek thy life, and into the hand of them whose face thou fearest, even into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans. 26: And I will cast thee out, and thy mother that bare thee, into another country, where ye were not born; and there shall ye die. 27: But to the land whereunto they desire to return, thither shall they not return. 28: Is this man Coniah a despised broken idol? is he a vessel wherein is no pleasure? wherefore are they cast out, he and his seed, and are cast into a land which they know not? 29: O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD. 30: Thus saith the LORD, Write ye this man childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days: for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah.

Jeremiah 23      The return of the remnant

1: Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD. 2: Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the LORD. 3: And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase. 4: And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the LORD. 5: Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. 6: In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. 7: Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that they shall no more say, The LORD liveth, which brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; 8: But, The LORD liveth, which brought up and which led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all countries whither I had driven them; and they shall dwell in their own land.

Jeremiah opposes false prophets

9: Mine heart within me is broken because of the prophets; all my bones shake; I am like a drunken man, and like a man whom wine hath overcome, because of the LORD, and because of the words of his holiness. 10: For the land is full of adulterers; for because of swearing the land mourneth; the pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up, and their course is evil, and their force is not right. 11: For both prophet and priest are profane; yea, in my house have I found their wickedness, saith the LORD. 12: Wherefore their way shall be unto them as slippery ways in the darkness: they shall be driven on, and fall therein: for I will bring evil upon them, even the year of their visitation, saith the LORD. 13: And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria; they prophesied in Baal, and caused my people Israel to err. 14: I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies: they strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none doth return from his wickedness: they are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah. 15: Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets; Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink the water of gall: for from the prophets of Jerusalem is profaneness gone forth into all the land. 16: Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the LORD. 17: They say still unto them that despise me, The LORD hath said, Ye shall have peace; and they say unto every one that walketh after the imagination of his own heart, No evil shall come upon you. 18: For who hath stood in the counsel of the LORD, and hath perceived and heard his word? who hath marked his word, and heard it? 19: Behold, a whirlwind of the LORD is gone forth in fury, even a grievous whirlwind: it shall fall grievously upon the head of the wicked. 20: The anger of the LORD shall not return, until he have executed, and till he have performed the thoughts of his heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it perfectly. 21: I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. 22: But if they had stood in my counsel, and had caused my people to hear my words, then they should have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings. 23: Am I a God at hand, saith the LORD, and not a God afar off? 24: Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD. 25: I have heard what the prophets said, that prophesy lies in my name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed. 26: How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies? yea, they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart; 27: Which think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which they tell every man to his neighbour, as their fathers have forgotten my name for Baal. 28: The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the LORD. 29: Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces? 30: Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that steal my words every one from his neighbour. 31: Behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that use their tongues, and say, He saith. 32: Behold, I am against them that prophesy false dreams, saith the LORD, and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their lightness; yet I sent them not, nor commanded them: therefore they shall not profit this people at all, saith the LORD.

The Lord’s burden

33: And when this people, or the prophet, or a priest, shall ask thee, saying, What is the burden of the LORD? thou shalt then say unto them, What burden? I will even forsake you, saith the LORD. 34: And as for the prophet, and the priest, and the people, that shall say, The burden of the LORD, I will even punish that man and his house. 35: Thus shall ye say every one to his neighbour, and every one to his brother, What hath the LORD answered? and, What hath the LORD spoken? 36: And the burden of the LORD shall ye mention no more: for every man's word shall be his burden; for ye have perverted the words of the living God, of the LORD of hosts our God. 37: Thus shalt thou say to the prophet, What hath the LORD answered thee? and, What hath the LORD spoken? 38: But since ye say, The burden of the LORD; therefore thus saith the LORD; Because ye say this word, The burden of the LORD, and I have sent unto you, saying, Ye shall not say, The burden of the LORD; 39: Therefore, behold, I, even I, will utterly forget you, and I will forsake you, and the city that I gave you and your fathers, and cast you out of my presence: 40: And I will bring an everlasting reproach upon you, and a perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.

Those of you who are following these daily Bible readings may find these passages obscure and difficult to comprehend. They were frightening and difficult to accept for the Jews living in Jeremiahs day. In Ch 21 the King Zedekiah sends Pashur and Zephaniah to Jeremiah with the message asking him to enquire of the Lord because Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon had declared war against Judah. Jeremiah sends a message back saying, that the Lord will defeat their own army because the Lord is on the side of the enemy. The people of the city will be destroyed. And the Lord puts before the people the way of life and death. If they remain in the city they will die but if they leave they will live. The Lord is going to execute judgment on Judah through the Babylonian army. Then Jeremiah calls on Judah and the King to live righteously before the Lord. even at this late time God pleads with the people to repent. Even the nations who pass by will wonder at the destruction that the Lord will allow on Jerusalem. And they will know the reason it will be because they forsook the Lord their God and worshipped idols. They are not to weep for those taken captive and they will never see the city again. The Lord passes judgment on slavery 22v13 and ill gotten gain. In the end Jeremiah prophesies that no man will be king over Judah. In Ch 23 Jeremiah looks very far into the future. Of course he did not know how far this would be and he describes a future restoration of Israel based on their conversion to the Lord. this is not fulfilled in the return of the people under Nehemiah or even the preaching of Christ and his apostles (They are ultimately rejected. There are many similarities between the ministry of Christ and the apostles to Jeremiahs ministry – both end in invasion and destruction) The Lord using the allegory of the shepherds and sheep says, Woe to the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! (Often Jews today will say why did the leaders of Israel reject Christ in their day? In Israel there is the ‘leadership complex’ the leaders of the nation are responsible before the lord to lead the people and if they lead Israel astray the Lord holds them responsible.) In Jeremiahs day the religious leaders ‘the Pastors’, rejected the word of the Lord from Jeremiah and led the people into destruction. The Lord says, You have scattered the flock, driven them away and have not visited them, But l will visit on you evil for your deeds. (Those who are Pastors today take heed) The Lord will gather the flock from all the countries where they have been scattered says the Lord. (This will be prior to the Messianic Kingdom) Then the Lord (in the Kingdom) will set up shepherds over them that will feed them and the sheep will never be afraid again nor will they lack anything. Then the Lord gives a remarkable prophecy, He says l will raise up unto David a righteous Branch and a King will reign and prosper. This is the resurrection of Christ himself who will sit on David’s throne. In those days Judah will be saved and Israel will dwell safely. And Christ will be called ‘Jehovah-tsidkenu’. And in the Kingdom the children of Israel will no more say do you remember when God brought us out of Egypt but they will say do you remember when the Lord gathered us from every country in the World. The Lord Jesus will do this by Angelic transportation. (See Matt 24-25) this message of the Lord filled Jeremiah with a sense of light headedness and of intense joy. Then the Lord again describes the wickedness of Israel. The Lord says, I see it all. Can anyone hid himself from me? the Lord says my word is like a consuming fire and like a hammer that breaks the rock. The Lord says, I am set against the false prophets that speak lies in my name. The Lord says to the false Prophets, l will forget you and forsake you and the city that l gave you and cast you out of my presence. You will be in everlasting shame and reproach.

AM Oct 30th Heb 4

October 30^th      Hebrews 4

1: Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. 2: For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. 3: For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. 4: For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works. 5: And in this place again, If they shall enter into my rest. 6: Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief: 7: Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. 8: For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day.  9: There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. 10: For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. 11: Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief. 12: For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. 13: Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.

Superior to the old Priesthood

14: Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. 15: For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. 16: Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

Even now we see that this letter is not written to Christians as the other letters are but to Hebrews who have heard of Christ, saw his Messianic signs - heard the Apostles, yet they still teeter on the brink of rebellion as the generation did in the wilderness. It’s interesting that the Children of Israel marched for 40 years in the desert and the gospel of repentance went out for 40 years starting with the preaching of John and finishing at the judgement of God in AD70. The writer to the Hebrews says let us have a godly fear that leads to repentance, because if not, then the promise of entering into the rest (of the Kingdom) some of you will miss. The gospel was preached to us as well as Israel in the wilderness but the gospel had no effect on them because it was not joined to faith in those who heard it. Those of us who do believe in Christ do enter into rest. God has sworn an oath that they will never enter into the rest. (This explains the significance of Christ’s call on the last great day of the feast when he said, ‘Come unto me all you that labour and are heavy laden l ad l will give you rest.) This was established before the foundation of the world. God said that He rested on the seventh day from all his works. Their must be some remaining that will enter into the rest And we know that those who first heard this call did not enter into the rest because of unbelief. David said, Today, after such a long time - today, If you will hear his voice do not harden your hearts. (We see the significance of Christ’s words to Israel after the Parable of the Sower. He that has ears let him hear) If Jesus had given them rest then there would be no need to say that there will come a day when they will enter rest. However there still today remains a rest for the children of Israel. The man who rests ceases to work, as God rested from his work. So then, you Hebrews, says the writer, work hard to enter into the rest that Christ gives and do not fall away like your fathers in the wilderness did. The Message of God is alive and mighty making itself known in the world and able to cut both to save and to destroy and cutting through to the your innermost being. It is able to judge the thoughts and motives of the mind. There is no creature on the earth that is not made clear to his sight. Everything is naked and open to the eyes of the God, who we are to obliged to obey. Our Great High Priest has passed into the heavens (The writer contrasts Christ to the Old Levitical Priests.) Christ is our ideal priest. He is the Saviour - the Son of God. So let us hold on to our confession of Jesus as the Messiah. Our High Priest is touched by the feelings of our weaknesses. He has stood where we stood. And he was tempted in all the ways that we are tempted yet he did not sin. So let us draw near with courage to the throne of grace that we may obtain restraint in the judgment of God and find overflowing kindness to us the undeserved to help us in times of need. 

PM Oct 29th Jer 19

October 29^th      Jeremiah 19      The broken pot

1: Thus saith the LORD, Go and get a potter's earthen bottle, and take of the ancients of the people, and of the ancients of the priests; 2: And go forth unto the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is by the entry of the east gate, and proclaim there the words that I shall tell thee, 3: And say, Hear ye the word of the LORD, O kings of Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem; Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, the which whosoever heareth, his ears shall tingle. 4: Because they have forsaken me, and have estranged this place, and have burned incense in it unto other gods, whom neither they nor their fathers have known, nor the kings of Judah, and have filled this place with the blood of innocents; 5: They have built also the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings unto Baal, which I commanded not, nor spake it, neither came it into my mind: 6: Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that this place shall no more be called Tophet, nor The valley of the son of Hinnom, but The valley of slaughter. 7: And I will make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place; and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hands of them that seek their lives: and their carcases will I give to be meat for the fowls of the heaven, and for the beasts of the earth. 8: And I will make this city desolate, and an hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished and hiss because of all the plagues thereof. 9: And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and they shall eat every one the flesh of his friend in the siege and straitness, wherewith their enemies, and they that seek their lives, shall straiten them. 10: Then shalt thou break the bottle in the sight of the men that go with thee, 11: And shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Even so will I break this people and this city, as one breaketh a potter's vessel, that cannot be made whole again: and they shall bury them in Tophet, till there be no place to bury. 12: Thus will I do unto this place, saith the LORD, and to the inhabitants thereof, and even make this city as Tophet: 13: And the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses of the kings of Judah, shall be defiled as the place of Tophet, because of all the houses upon whose roofs they have burned incense unto all the host of heaven, and have poured out drink offerings unto other gods. 14: Then came Jeremiah from Tophet, whither the LORD had sent him to prophesy; and he stood in the court of the LORD's house; and said to all the people, 15: Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring upon this city and upon all her towns all the evil that I have pronounced against it, because they have hardened their necks, that they might not hear my words.

Jeremiah 20      Pashur cursed

1: Now Pashur the son of Immer the priest, who was also chief governor in the house of the LORD, heard that Jeremiah prophesied these things. 2: Then Pashur smote Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that were in the high gate of Benjamin, which was by the house of the LORD. 3: And it came to pass on the morrow, that Pashur brought forth Jeremiah out of the stocks. Then said Jeremiah unto him, The LORD hath not called thy name Pashur, but Magor-missabib. 4: For thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will make thee a terror to thyself, and to all thy friends: and they shall fall by the sword of their enemies, and thine eyes shall behold it: and I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall carry them captive into Babylon, and shall slay them with the sword. 5: Moreover I will deliver all the strength of this city, and all the labours thereof, and all the precious things thereof, and all the treasures of the kings of Judah will I give into the hand of their enemies, which shall spoil them, and take them, and carry them to Babylon. 6: And thou, Pashur, and all that dwell in thine house shall go into captivity: and thou shalt come to Babylon, and there thou shalt die, and shalt be buried there, thou, and all thy friends, to whom thou hast prophesied lies.

Jeremiah’s lamentation

7: O LORD, thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived: thou art stronger than I, and hast prevailed: I am in derision daily, every one mocketh me. 8: For since I spake, I cried out, I cried violence and spoil; because the word of the LORD was made a reproach unto me, and a derision, daily. 9: Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay. 10: For I heard the defaming of many, fear on every side. Report, say they, and we will report it. All my familiars watched for my halting, saying, Peradventure he will be enticed, and we shall prevail against him, and we shall take our revenge on him. 11: But the LORD is with me as a mighty terrible one: therefore my persecutors shall stumble, and they shall not prevail: they shall be greatly ashamed; for they shall not prosper: their everlasting confusion shall never be forgotten. 12: But, O LORD of hosts, that triest the righteous, and seest the reins and the heart, let me see thy vengeance on them: for unto thee have I opened my cause. 13: Sing unto the LORD, praise ye the LORD: for he hath delivered the soul of the poor from the hand of evildoers. 14: Cursed be the day wherein I was born: let not the day wherein my mother bare me be blessed. 15: Cursed be the man who brought tidings to my father, saying, A man child is born unto thee; making him very glad. 16: And let that man be as the cities which the LORD overthrew, and repented not: and let him hear the cry in the morning, and the shouting at noontide; 17: Because he slew me not from the womb; or that my mother might have been my grave, and her womb to be always great with me. 18: Wherefore came I forth out of the womb to see labour and sorrow, that my days should be consumed with shame?

The Lord calls on Jeremiah to go to go and get a pot from the potters house and get the very old men of the people and the very old priests and take them to the valley of Hinnon and proclaim there the words of the Lord. The message was to be that the Lord will bring evil on this place which will cause men’s ears to itch. And then he lists their spiritual adulteries. There will come a day says the Lord when the valley will not be called the valley of Hinnon any more but it will be called the valley of slaughter. All the wisdom of Judah and Jerusalem will cease and the bodies of the people will be food for vultures. The people will eat each other in the famine. Then Jeremiah is told by the Lord to break the bottle of clay. And he is to say in the same way God will break this people. And just like the bottle of clay cannot be made whole again so the people will be destroyed and the slaughter will be so great that they will run out of space to bury the dead. There was a man called Pashur who was the son of Immer the priest and he came and stuck Jeremiah and put him in the stocks then the next day when Pashur came to release him Jeremiah said the lord says that you are to have a new name, Magor-missabib which means ‘terror on every side’. This is because this man will be horrified by himself and all men will be terrified of him. And the Lord said that he would be transported to Babylon he and all his friends and he would die there because he prophesied lies to his friends. Jeremiah was so persecuted that he thought of not speaking in the name of the Lord again, but he could not keep from speaking. The Word of the Lord was like a fire in his chest. Although the people sough to persecute and kill him yet the Lord stood with Jeremiah like a ‘mighty terrible one’. Then Jeremiah bursts forth into a song of blessing on the deliverance of God.

AM Oct 29th Heb 3

October 29^th      Superior to Joshua

7: Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice, 8: Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness: 9: When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years. 10: Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do always err in their heart; and they have not known my ways. 11: So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.) 12: Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. 13: But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. 14: For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end; 15: While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation. 16: For some, when they had heard, did provoke: howbeit not all that came out of Egypt by Moses. 17: But with whom was he grieved forty years? was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness? 18: And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not? 19: So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.

The writer says to these Hebrews The Holy Spirit says to you, Today if you will hear his voice do not harden your hearts (like you did when your fathers provoked the Lord in the wilderness) Then they tempted the Lord and proved him over forty years. The Lord said l was disgusted with that generation and said they are always going off the path in their minds and they do not know my ways. Therefore l swore an oath saying that, they will never enter into my rest. Now says the writer it’s the same with you Hebrews. Listen to what l am saying brethren, uncase an evil mind of unbelief should cause you to leave off listening to the living God. Encourage each other while you have an opportunity lest any one of you become hardened through the trick of sin to lead you astray. Because we will become part of what Christ is going to do if we believe in him right on to the end. Even though the Lord warned Israel in the wilderness yet they still rebelled against him – yet not all. Those who rebelled fell in the wilderness. Do you think that Gods curse - that they would not enter into his rest – was to those who believed or those who believed not? And then the writer answers his own question – Israel could not enter into rest because of unbelief. Joshua could only get Israel into the land. but Christ will get Israel into the everlasting Messianic Kingdom. 

PM Oct 28th Jer 16

October 28^th      Jeremiah 16      Judgement of the Lord

1: The word of the LORD came also unto me, saying, 2: Thou shalt not take thee a wife, neither shalt thou have sons or daughters in this place. 3: For thus saith the LORD concerning the sons and concerning the daughters that are born in this place, and concerning their mothers that bare them, and concerning their fathers that begat them in this land; 4: They shall die of grievous deaths; they shall not be lamented; neither shall they be buried; but they shall be as dung upon the face of the earth: and they shall be consumed by the sword, and by famine; and their carcases shall be meat for the fowls of heaven, and for the beasts of the earth. 5: For thus saith the LORD, Enter not into the house of mourning, neither go to lament nor bemoan them: for I have taken away my peace from this people, saith the LORD, even lovingkindness and mercies. 6: Both the great and the small shall die in this land: they shall not be buried, neither shall men lament for them, nor cut themselves, nor make themselves bald for them: 7: Neither shall men tear themselves for them in mourning, to comfort them for the dead; neither shall men give them the cup of consolation to drink for their father or for their mother. 8: Thou shalt not also go into the house of feasting, to sit with them to eat and to drink. 9: For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will cause to cease out of this place in your eyes, and in your days, the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride. 10: And it shall come to pass, when thou shalt shew this people all these words, and they shall say unto thee, Wherefore hath the LORD pronounced all this great evil against us? or what is our iniquity? or what is our sin that we have committed against the LORD our God? 11: Then shalt thou say unto them, Because your fathers have forsaken me, saith the LORD, and have walked after other gods, and have served them, and have worshipped them, and have forsaken me, and have not kept my law; 12: And ye have done worse than your fathers; for, behold, ye walk every one after the imagination of his evil heart, that they may not hearken unto me: 13: Therefore will I cast you out of this land into a land that ye know not, neither ye nor your fathers; and there shall ye serve other gods day and night; where I will not shew you favour.

The return predicted

14: Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that it shall no more be said, The LORD liveth, that brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; 15: But, The LORD liveth, that brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the lands whither he had driven them: and I will bring them again into their land that I gave unto their fathers. 16: Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith the LORD, and they shall fish them; and after will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks. 17: For mine eyes are upon all their ways: they are not hid from my face, neither is their iniquity hid from mine eyes. 18: And first I will recompense their iniquity and their sin double; because they have defiled my land, they have filled mine inheritance with the carcases of their detestable and abominable things. 19: O LORD, my strength, and my fortress, and my refuge in the day of affliction, the Gentiles shall come unto thee from the ends of the earth, and shall say, Surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and things wherein there is no profit. 20: Shall a man make gods unto himself, and they are no gods? 21: Therefore, behold, I will this once cause them to know, I will cause them to know mine hand and my might; and they shall know that my name is The LORD.

Jeremiah 17      The sins of Judah

1: The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, and with the point of a diamond: it is graven upon the table of their heart, and upon the horns of your altars; 2: Whilst their children remember their altars and their groves by the green trees upon the high hills. 3: O my mountain in the field, I will give thy substance and all thy treasures to the spoil, and thy high places for sin, throughout all thy borders. 4: And thou, even thyself, shalt discontinue from thine heritage that I gave thee; and I will cause thee to serve thine enemies in the land which thou knowest not: for ye have kindled a fire in mine anger, which shall burn for ever.

Curses and blessings

5: Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD. 6: For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited. 7: Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is. 8: For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit. 9: The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? 10: I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings. 11: As the partridge sitteth on eggs, and hatcheth them not; so he that getteth riches, and not by right, shall leave them in the midst of his days, and at his end shall be a fool. 12: A glorious high throne from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary. 13: O LORD, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living waters.

Jeremiah’s prayer

14: Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved: for thou art my praise. 15: Behold, they say unto me, Where is the word of the LORD? let it come now. 16: As for me, I have not hastened from being a pastor to follow thee: neither have I desired the woeful day; thou knowest: that which came out of my lips was right before thee. 17: Be not a terror unto me: thou art my hope in the day of evil. 18: Let them be confounded that persecute me, but let not me be confounded: let them be dismayed, but let not me be dismayed: bring upon them the day of evil, and destroy them with double destruction.

The Sabbath to be observed

19: Thus said the LORD unto me; Go and stand in the gate of the children of the people, whereby the kings of Judah come in, and by the which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem; 20: And say unto them, Hear ye the word of the LORD, ye kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, that enter in by these gates: 21: Thus saith the LORD; Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem; 22: Neither carry forth a burden out of your houses on the sabbath day, neither do ye any work, but hallow ye the sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers. 23: But they obeyed not, neither inclined their ear, but made their neck stiff, that they might not hear, nor receive instruction. 24: And it shall come to pass, if ye diligently hearken unto me, saith the LORD, to bring in no burden through the gates of this city on the sabbath day, but hallow the sabbath day, to do no work therein; 25: Then shall there enter into the gates of this city kings and princes sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they, and their princes, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: and this city shall remain for ever. 26: And they shall come from the cities of Judah, and from the places about Jerusalem, and from the land of Benjamin, and from the plain, and from the mountains, and from the south, bringing burnt offerings, and sacrifices, and meat offerings, and incense, and bringing sacrifices of praise, unto the house of the LORD. 27: But if ye will not hearken unto me to hallow the sabbath day, and not to bear a burden, even entering in at the gates of Jerusalem on the sabbath day; then will I kindle a fire in the gates thereof, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched.

Jeremiah 18      The Potter

1: The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, 2: Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words. 3: Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. 4: And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it. 5: Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 6: O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel. 7: At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it; 8: If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them. 9: And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it; 10: If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them. 11: Now therefore go to, speak to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device against you: return ye now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good. 12: And they said, There is no hope: but we will walk after our own devices, and we will every one do the imagination of his evil heart. 13: Therefore thus saith the LORD; Ask ye now among the heathen, who hath heard such things: the virgin of Israel hath done a very horrible thing. 14: Will a man leave the snow of Lebanon which cometh from the rock of the field? or shall the cold flowing waters that come from another place be forsaken? 15: Because my people hath forgotten me, they have burned incense to vanity, and they have caused them to stumble in their ways from the ancient paths, to walk in paths, in a way not cast up; 16: To make their land desolate, and a perpetual hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished, and wag his head. 17: I will scatter them as with an east wind before the enemy; I will shew them the back, and not the face, in the day of their calamity.

Another pot

18: Then said they, Come, and let us devise devices against Jeremiah; for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, and let us smite him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words. 19: Give heed to me, O LORD, and hearken to the voice of them that contend with me. 20: Shall evil be recompensed for good? for they have digged a pit for my soul. Remember that I stood before thee to speak good for them, and to turn away thy wrath from them. 21: Therefore deliver up their children to the famine, and pour out their blood by the force of the sword; and let their wives be bereaved of their children, and be widows; and let their men be put to death; let their young men be slain by the sword in battle. 22: Let a cry be heard from their houses, when thou shalt bring a troop suddenly upon them: for they have digged a pit to take me, and hid snares for my feet. 23: Yet, LORD, thou knowest all their counsel against me to slay me: forgive not their iniquity, neither blot out their sin from thy sight, but let them be overthrown before thee; deal thus with them in the time of thine anger.

The next instruction from the Lord is that Jeremiah is not to marry. The Lord explains that the mothers, daughters and sons born in Judah will die terrible deaths. And the Lord says you must not mourn for them, because he says, l have taken away my peace - my loving kindness and my mercies. Great and small will die in this land and they will remain unburied and unmourned. Nor is Jeremiah to go to a funeral meal. The sound of joy and happiness will cease in the land and none shall marry. And the Lord says when you bring this message to the people they will say to you, what have we done wrong? Then you will tell them that they have forsaken me, says the Lord, and gone after idols to worship them. And that is why you will be thrown out of this land in fact a day will come when men will not say the Lord who brought us up out of Egypt but the Lord who brought us out of the north country and from all lands where we were scattered. This was fulfilled when Judah returned from Babylon but it will be fulfilled fully when the ten tribes will be gathered from every nation, in the future – before the kingdom. The Lord will send his ‘fishers’ and ‘hunters’ to find every Israelite living in every nation and on every Island. In that day every son of Jacob will know that Gods name is The LORD. (Jehovah) The prophet declared that the sins of Judah are written with an iron pen with a diamond tip. And it is engraved on the memory of Israelites. The Lord curses the man who trusts in men and relies on the strength of the flesh whose heart has departed from the Lord. However blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord and those hope is the Lord. He will be like a tree planted by waters, whose roots reach the river. He will be evergreen and fruitful. The Lord warns that the mind of men of terribly deceitful and desperately wicked, who can know how wicked it is? The Lord searches the minds of men and tries his motives so that he will punish or bless according to his actions. The rich man is like a partridge who sits on dead eggs and they do not hatch so is he that gets rich by evil methods. He will leave them in the middle of his life and in the end he will find that he was a fool. Jeremiah is sent to go and stand in the gate of the city. (This location gives him the best opportunity of meeting most people. It is the judicial and social centre of the city) It is through this gate that the king enters and leaves the city. Jeremiah brings a message to the Kings of Judah. He is to tell the Kings not to break the Sabbath day. (The Sabbath day is symbolic of all the Mosaic Law.) if they keep this law then This will be a token obedience that will turn away the wrath of God. It will be the beginning of a spiritual revival. The Sacrificial system will follow, whereby Israel will have their sins covered. But if they will not keep the Sabbath then a fire will burn the gates and it will burn until everything is consumed. Next the Lord sends Jeremiah to the Potter’s house. Jeremiah sees a vessel that is being formed but in the hands of the potter collapsed and so he took the heap of misshapen clay and made a new vessel. And so this was the message to the house of Judah. The Lord says that every men will walk by and shake their heads in disbelief. The men of the city instead of being smitten by his words begin to argue with Jeremiah. Jeremiah calls on the Lord to judge Judah with slaughter. He says do not forgive them and do not blot out their sin.

AM Oct 28th Heb 3

October 28^th      Hebrews 3         Superior to Moses

1: Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus; 2: Who was faithful to him that appointed him, as also Moses was faithful in all his house. 3: For this man was counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who hath builded the house hath more honour than the house. 4: For every house is builded by some man; but he that built all things is God. 5: And Moses verily was faithful in all his house, as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after; 6: But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.

The writer to the Hebrews builds his thinking point by point. Here he says, because of what l have previously said, l want you - holy brethren (Israelites). You who are designated to be partakers of the heavenly calling, (The Messianic Kingdom) to consider ‘The Anointed One’ ‘The High Priest of our confession’ – Christ Jesus. He was faithful to the one who called him – just as Moses was, who was faithful in his house. Christ is much more glory than that which Moses had, because the person who builds the house is more honourable than the house. Every house is built by someone, but the one who built everything is God. Moses was a faithful servant in the house but Christ is the Son and Heir of the house and we belong will belong to his house if we hang on believing and rejoicing in the hope of the Kingdom of heaven to the end.

PM Oct 27th Jer 14

October 27^th      Jeremiah 14      Prophesy concerning the Drought

1: The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah concerning the dearth. 2: Judah mourneth, and the gates thereof languish; they are black unto the ground; and the cry of Jerusalem is gone up. 3: And their nobles have sent their little ones to the waters: they came to the pits, and found no water; they returned with their vessels empty; they were ashamed and confounded, and covered their heads. 4: Because the ground is chapt, for there was no rain in the earth, the plowmen were ashamed, they covered their heads. 5: Yea, the hind also calved in the field, and forsook it, because there was no grass. 6: And the wild asses did stand in the high places, they snuffed up the wind like dragons; their eyes did fail, because there was no grass. 7: O LORD, though our iniquities testify against us, do thou it for thy name's sake: for our backslidings are many; we have sinned against thee. 8: O the hope of Israel, the saviour thereof in time of trouble, why shouldest thou be as a stranger in the land, and as a wayfaring man that turneth aside to tarry for a night? 9: Why shouldest thou be as a man astonied, as a mighty man that cannot save? yet thou, O LORD, art in the midst of us, and we are called by thy name; leave us not. 10: Thus saith the LORD unto this people, Thus have they loved to wander, they have not refrained their feet, therefore the LORD doth not accept them; he will now remember their iniquity, and visit their sins. 11: Then said the LORD unto me, Pray not for this people for their good. 12: When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and an oblation, I will not accept them: but I will consume them by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence. 13: Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, the prophets say unto them, Ye shall not see the sword, neither shall ye have famine; but I will give you assured peace in this place. 14: Then the LORD said unto me, The prophets prophesy lies in my name: I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake unto them: they prophesy unto you a false vision and divination, and a thing of nought, and the deceit of their heart. 15: Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the prophets that prophesy in my name, and I sent them not, yet they say, Sword and famine shall not be in this land; By sword and famine shall those prophets be consumed. 16: And the people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword; and they shall have none to bury them, them, their wives, nor their sons, nor their daughters: for I will pour their wickedness upon them. 17: Therefore thou shalt say this word unto them; Let mine eyes run down with tears night and day, and let them not cease: for the virgin daughter of my people is broken with a great breach, with a very grievous blow. 18: If I go forth into the field, then behold the slain with the sword! and if I enter into the city, then behold them that are sick with famine! yea, both the prophet and the priest go about into a land that they know not.

The people call on The Lord

19: Hast thou utterly rejected Judah? hath thy soul lothed Zion? why hast thou smitten us, and there is no healing for us? we looked for peace, and there is no good; and for the time of healing, and behold trouble! 20: We acknowledge, O LORD, our wickedness, and the iniquity of our fathers: for we have sinned against thee. 21: Do not abhor us, for thy name's sake, do not disgrace the throne of thy glory: remember, break not thy covenant with us. 22: Are there any among the vanities of the Gentiles that can cause rain? or can the heavens give showers? art not thou he, O LORD our God? therefore we will wait upon thee: for thou hast made all these things.

Jeremiah 15      The anger of the Lord

1: Then said the LORD unto me, Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my mind could not be toward this people: cast them out of my sight, and let them go forth. 2: And it shall come to pass, if they say unto thee, Whither shall we go forth? then thou shalt tell them, Thus saith the LORD; Such as are for death, to death; and such as are for the sword, to the sword; and such as are for the famine, to the famine; and such as are for the captivity, to the captivity. 3: And I will appoint over them four kinds, saith the LORD: the sword to slay, and the dogs to tear, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the earth, to devour and destroy. 4: And I will cause them to be removed into all kingdoms of the earth, because of Manasseh the son of Hezekiah king of Judah, for that which he did in Jerusalem. 5: For who shall have pity upon thee, O Jerusalem? or who shall bemoan thee? or who shall go aside to ask how thou doest? 6: Thou hast forsaken me, saith the LORD, thou art gone backward: therefore will I stretch out my hand against thee, and destroy thee; I am weary with repenting. 7: And I will fan them with a fan in the gates of the land; I will bereave them of children, I will destroy my people, since they return not from their ways. 8: Their widows are increased to me above the sand of the seas: I have brought upon them against the mother of the young men a spoiler at noonday: I have caused him to fall upon it suddenly, and terrors upon the city. 9: She that hath borne seven languisheth: she hath given up the ghost; her sun is gone down while it was yet day: she hath been ashamed and confounded: and the residue of them will I deliver to the sword before their enemies, saith the LORD.

Jeremiah’s complaint

10: Woe is me, my mother, that thou hast borne me a man of strife and a man of contention to the whole earth! I have neither lent on usury, nor men have lent to me on usury; yet every one of them doth curse me. 11: The LORD said, Verily it shall be well with thy remnant; verily I will cause the enemy to entreat thee well in the time of evil and in the time of affliction. 12: Shall iron break the northern iron and the steel? 13: Thy substance and thy treasures will I give to the spoil without price, and that for all thy sins, even in all thy borders. 14: And I will make thee to pass with thine enemies into a land which thou knowest not: for a fire is kindled in mine anger, which shall burn upon you. 15: O LORD, thou knowest: remember me, and visit me, and revenge me of my persecutors; take me not away in thy longsuffering: know that for thy sake I have suffered rebuke. 16: Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts. 17: I sat not in the assembly of the mockers, nor rejoiced; I sat alone because of thy hand: for thou hast filled me with indignation. 18: Why is my pain perpetual, and my wound incurable, which refuseth to be healed? wilt thou be altogether unto me as a liar, and as waters that fail? 19: Therefore thus saith the LORD, If thou return, then will I bring thee again, and thou shalt stand before me: and if thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth: let them return unto thee; but return not thou unto them. 20: And I will make thee unto this people a fenced brasen wall: and they shall fight against thee, but they shall not prevail against thee: for I am with thee to save thee and to deliver thee, saith the LORD. 21: And I will deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem thee out of the hand of the terrible.

Jeremiah receives a prophesy from the Lord that there is coming a great dearth. A dearth is a drought followed by a famine. The significance of this dearth is seen in 1 Kings 17v1 when Elijah predicted a dearth in the reign of Ahab. This dearth was a continuation of the previous judgment of God in Elijah’s life and is understood to be the discipline of God on Israel according to the Palestinian Covenant Deu 28v23-24. In the Palestinian covenant God promised rain and crops and blessing on all stock if Israel remained faithful but he also promised a dearth if they forsook him. Now the Lord brings up this judgment as a discipline on Israel’s backslidings. Jeremiah graphically describes what this dearth will be like. The plowmen will be ashamed. The hind will forsake her calf. The wild asses will stand on the hill tops sniffing for wind and rain. This is very serious, it’s impossible for us to imagine the horror of these events. Worse still false prophets are sending false messages to the people. People are dying in the streets and there is no-one to bury them. Everywhere he goes Jeremiah sees the slain of the Lord. It is a terrible sight. The people plead with the Lord for help. Then the Lord says to Jeremiah that even if Moses and Samuel stood before him he would not hear them. These two men are singled out as men who can plead with God. The Lord says the people are appointed to death and destruction. And four instruments of destruction, the sword, the dogs, the fowls and the beasts of the earth. The Lord says I am weary of repenting – I will destroy them.