Jeremiah 10 (HCSB)
False Gods Contrasted with the Creator
1 Hear the word that the Lord has spoken to you, house of Israel. 2 This is what the Lord says:
Do not learn the way of the nations or be terrified by signs in the heavens, although the nations are terrified by them,
3 for the customs of the peoples are worthless. Someone cuts down a tree from the forest; it is worked by the hands of a craftsman with a chisel.
4 He decorates it with silver and gold. It is fastened with hammer and nails, so it won’t totter.
5 Like scarecrows in a cucumber patch, their idols cannot speak. They must be carried because they cannot walk. Do not fear them for they can do no harm—and they cannot do any good.
6 Yahweh, there is no one like You. You are great; Your name is great in power.
7 Who should not fear You, King of the nations? It is what You deserve. For among all the wise people of the nations and among all their kingdoms, there is no one like You.
8 They are both stupid and foolish, instructed by worthless idols made of wood!
9 Beaten silver is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz from the hands of a goldsmith, the work of a craftsman. Their clothing is blue and purple, all the work of skilled artisans.
10 But Yahweh is the true God; He is the living God and eternal King. The earth quakes at His wrath, and the nations cannot endure His rage.
11 You are to say this to them, “The gods that did not make the heavens and the earth will perish from the earth and from under these heavens.”
12 He made the earth by His power, established the world by His wisdom, and spread out the heavens by His understanding.
13 When He thunders, the waters in the heavens are in turmoil, and He causes the clouds to rise from the ends of the earth. He makes lightning for the rain and brings the wind from His storehouses.
14 Everyone is stupid and ignorant. Every goldsmith is put to shame by his carved image, for his cast images are a lie; there is no breath in them.
15 They are worthless, a work to be mocked. At the time of their punishment they will be destroyed.
16 Jacob’s Portion is not like these because He is the One who formed all things. Israel is the tribe of His inheritance; Yahweh of Hosts is His name.
Exile After the Siege
17 Gather up your belongings from the ground, you who live under siege.
18 For this is what the Lord says:
Look, I am slinging out the land’s residents at this time and bringing them such distress that they will feel it.
Jeremiah Grieves
19 Woe to me because of my brokenness—I am severely wounded! I exclaimed, “This is my intense suffering, but I must bear it.”
20 My tent is destroyed; all my tent cords are snapped. My sons have departed from me and are no more. I have no one to pitch my tent again or to hang up my curtains.
21 For the shepherds are stupid:
they don’t seek the Lord. Therefore they have not prospered, and their whole flock is scattered.
22 Listen! A noise—it is coming—a great commotion from the land to the north. The cities of Judah will be made desolate, a jackals’ den.
23 I know, Lord, that a man’s way of life is not his own; no one who walks determines his own steps.
24 Discipline me, Lord, but with justice—not in Your anger, or You will reduce me to nothing.
25 Pour out Your wrath on the nations that don’t recognize You and on the families that don’t call on Your name, for they have consumed Jacob; they have consumed him and finished him off and made his homeland desolate.
PERSONAL JOURNAL:
SIN (verse 14): This sounds harsh, but I guess I needed it. Please forgive me, Father, for being so “stupid and ignorant” in my faith so often. Forgive me for not listening to You and learning from You through this journey, Father. Help me to understand that Your Word and Your counsel are better than anything that this world may provide. Help me to embrace everything that You are, Father, so that my day-to-day faith walk will no longer be led by my stupidity and ignorance. Forgive me for taking so long to realize the flaws I have that I brought into my walk with You.
PROMISE (verses 5-7): In these verses, Father, You promise us that none of the false gods of this world are worthy of our fear because they can do no harm nor do any good compared to You. You assure us that You are great and there is no other like You. You say that if we are to have any fear of anything, that it should only be of You because You are the only one deserving of that emotion from us as there is no other like You and You are great in power. Thank You for the kingdom You provide to us, Father; thank You for showing Your amazing glory and power through Your creation. I am always in awe at the things You have created and done in this world, so thank You for that.
ATTITUDE (verse 23): This has been a big struggle of mine throughout my faith walk with You, Father. Far too often my controlling attitude wanted to determine what steps I take instead of leaning on Your instructions and Your counsel for those steps. Please help me to no longer have an attitude of control over my life, Father. Help me to remember that my fleshly way of living is not the right way. Help me to remember that I should always keep my focus on You as the way of life I should be living is not my own, but Yours. Help me to rid myself of this crippling and selfish attitude of control so that I will learn to listen to You more and release that control to Your will for my life, Father.
COMMAND (verses 2-3): You give us a command here that has been extremely difficult for me to follow, Father. Please forgive me for being so weak at following this command. You tell us to not learn the ways and customs of the nations and the world as they are a broken way and worthless compared to Yours. Help me to be better at following Your ways, Father, instead of simply conforming to what the world expects of me. Help me to first and foremost understand Your ways, but then help me to also internalize Your ways so that I can put them to action in my daily walk in this life. Thank You for revealing things to me as I’m able to understand and accept them, Father.
EXAMPLE (verse 19): Jeremiah gives us a great example to live by in this one verse. He recognizes his mistakes and the suffering that he must endure as a result of those mistakes and his brokenness. He says “this is my intense suffering, but I must bear it.” Help me to have a mindset of Jeremiah, recognizing my brokenness, but also recognizing what that brokenness has caused in my life. Help me to understand the repercussions of my mistakes while at the same time giving me the strength through You to endure and overcome any suffering this life may bring to me as a result of those mistakes. Thank You for providing Jeremiah as such a great example for how we are to live with our past mistakes and current brokenness, Father.
*DAILY NOTE: The book of Jeremiah has been speaking loudly to me so far, Father, and I thank You for this. Jeremiah 10 specifically gives so much insight as to the way I should be living. I need to remove the false idols in my life and keep them out; I need to do a better job at not only recognizing my brokenness but also recognizing the mistakes I’ve made and will continue to make so I can learn from them. If I can learn from that brokenness and my mistakes, then I should be able to make far less of them moving forward. I recognize that I will never be perfect until I join You in Heaven, but it doesn’t mean I should simply stop trying as a result of that knowledge. Help me to live this life in a way that I am constantly learning more about You and about myself so that I can make myself more in line with how You want me to be and not how my flesh or the world expects me to be, Father. Thank You for the amazing lessons You’re providing me through Jeremiah.
*GENERAL NOTE: I always "sandwich" my quiet time with God in prayer and do it in a location that I will not have any distractions so that I can be focused on my quiet time with God. Do not worry about how short or long your journal entries are for that day's quiet time. Just focus on the actual quiet time and relational conversation with God through the Holy Spirit and His Word. The journaling is an enhancement to your quiet time conversation with God, but also to allow you to reflect on things later as you can look back on your journal entries later when you do the chapters again in the future to see how you have grown. See the FAQ for more detail on how I do my quiet time.
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