Jeremiah 15 (HCSB)
The Lord’s Negative Response
1 Then the Lord said to me: “Even if Moses and Samuel should stand before Me, My compassions would not reach out to these people. Send them from My presence, and let them go. 2 If they ask you, ‘Where will we go?’ you must tell them: This is what the Lord says:
Those destined for death, to death; those destined for the sword, to the sword. Those destined for famine, to famine; those destined for captivity, to captivity.
3 “I will ordain four kinds of judgment for them”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“the sword to kill, the dogs to drag away, and the birds of the sky and the wild animals of the land to devour and destroy. 4 I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth because of Manasseh son of Hezekiah, the king of Judah, for what he did in Jerusalem.
5 Who will have pity on you, Jerusalem? Who will show sympathy toward you? Who will turn aside to ask about your welfare?
6 You have left Me.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
You have turned your back, so I have stretched out My hand against you and destroyed you. I am tired of showing compassion.
7 I scattered them with a winnowing fork at the gates of the land. I made them childless; I destroyed My people. They would not turn from their ways.
8 I made their widows more numerous than the sand of the seas. I brought a destroyer at noon against the mother of young men. I suddenly released on her agitation and terrors.
9 The mother of seven grew faint; she breathed her last breath. Her sun set while it was still day; she was ashamed and humiliated. The rest of them I will give over to the sword in the presence of their enemies.”
This is the Lord’s declaration.
Jeremiah’s Complaint
10 Woe is me, my mother, that you gave birth to me, a man who incites dispute and conflict in all the land. I did not lend or borrow, yet everyone curses me.
The Lord’s Response
11 The Lord said:
I will certainly set you free and care for you. I will certainly intercede for you in a time of trouble, in your time of distress, with the enemy.
12 Can anyone smash iron, iron from the north, or bronze?
13 I will give up your wealth and your treasures as plunder, without cost, for all your sins in all your borders.
14 Then I will make you serve your enemies in a land you do not know, for My anger will kindle a fire that will burn against you.
Jeremiah’s Prayer for Vengeance
15 You know, Lord; remember me and take note of me. Avenge me against my persecutors. In Your patience, don’t take me away. Know that I suffer disgrace for Your honor.
16 Your words were found, and I ate them. Your words became a delight to me and the joy of my heart, for I am called by Your name, Yahweh God of Hosts.
17 I never sat with the band of revelers, and I did not celebrate with them. Because Your hand was on me, I sat alone, for You filled me with indignation.
18 Why has my pain become unending, my wound incurable, refusing to be healed? You truly have become like a mirage to me—water that is not reliable.
Jeremiah Told to Repent
19 Therefore, this is what the Lord says:
If you return, I will restore you; you will stand in My presence. And if you speak noble words, rather than worthless ones, you will be My spokesman. It is they who must return to you; you must not return to them.
20 Then I will make you a fortified wall of bronze to this people. They will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you to save you and deliver you.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
21 I will deliver you from the power of evil people and redeem you from the control of the ruthless.
PERSONAL JOURNAL:
SIN (verse 16): For so long, I have not truly embraced Your word deeply into my heart like Jeremiah says here. Please forgive me for keeping Your word as only head knowledge for so long, Father. Even though I am getting better at this nowadays, I do find myself still struggling to truly embrace Your word at times. Help my heart to be filled with joy from Your word, Father, so that I see them as a delight to me daily instead of a struggle to be worthy of them. Help me to remember that although I am not perfect, I am perfectly restored through Your grace if I’d just be willing to accept it fully. Thank You for being so loving and caring to me through all of my struggles, Father. I am undeserving, yet You are always there to offer me Your hand to help me get back up when I fall. Thank You.
PROMISE (verses 19-21): The promise You give us here is so powerful to me, Father. You promise that if we return to You fully, in Your presence, speaking Your words, then we will be restored and redeemed. You assure us that through us, if we are pure and true to Your word, that others will come to You through us and that You will deliver us from evil and release the control this ruthless world tends to have on us daily. Thank You for Your amazing promise here, Father. Thank You for always providing us with a light that we can go to when we feel hopeless or worthless. Thank You for being my deliverer and redeemer no matter how often I fall in this life.
ATTITUDE (verses 10, 16): As You began to give Jeremiah some of the insight of things to come, he began to have a “woe is me” mentality through the process. I do this so often as well, Father. Please help me to no longer have this selfish attitude of despair. Help me to do like Jeremiah did, after a little encouragement from You of course. Help me to truly be delighted by Your words and Your truths to the point that my heart is always filled with Your joy through all things in this life. Help me to fully embrace all that You say to me, Father, so that I may live a life that glorifies You, but also one that embraces everything You want of me, Father. Help me to be more like Jesus and less like my selfish and broken self in this life, so that Your kingdom will grow and be glorified.
COMMAND (verse 19): Although not truly a command, per se, I do feel like part of this verse is speaking directly to me. You say “if you speak noble words, rather than worthless ones, you will be My spokesman.” So often I get stuck in my negative emotions such as anger, pride, and/or irritability and I allow that to drive me into saying things I regret almost immediately after saying it. Please help my words become more noble as I progress in my faith journey with You, Father. Help me to no longer spew such worthless words out of my mouth or even in my thought-life for that matter. Help me to truly be a spokesman for Your kingdom in a way that glorifies You through all that I am and all that I do, Father.
EXAMPLE (verses 10, 16): Going back to these verses, I find Jeremiah’s example to be a practical one for a broken person such as myself. Although he fell into the pit of the “woe is me” type of mentality in his struggles, he continued to stay focused on You through it all. Staying focused on You helped him to quickly shift his mentality from that “woe is me” mentality to one where he said “Your words became a delight to me and the joy of my heart.” Thank You so much for giving us Your word, Father. The more I dig into Your word, the more joy I feel in my heart on a daily basis. I have experienced this exact same shift slowly but surely in my life that Jeremiah experienced in his as he became more and more focused on You and Your word. Help me to remove more of my stubbornness, complacency, and laziness so that I may continue to dig deeper into Your word to embrace it fully into my heart and truly experience the joys only You can bring to my life, Father.
*DAILY NOTE: Such a powerful message today in Jeremiah 15, Father. By giving me an example of Jeremiah’s struggles through a hard time in his relationship with You, I actually felt like You were showing me my own life of struggles in my relationship with You. Thank You for always being there for me, no matter how often I’ve fallen into the “woe is me” mentality in my life. Thank You for always providing me good counsel, a shoulder to lean on, the truth even when I don’t want to hear it in the moment, as well as the Godly men that You have surrounded me with in my Real Men 300 group. Iron sharpens iron is such a valid statement, even though it’s not in this chapter. You have been my core sharpening stone for so long just sitting there waiting and begging for me to use You, yet I have far too often just allowed You to sit there and collect dust instead, which has led to my sword of life becoming extremely dull at times. Thank You for never wavering from me, Father, and always being there to sharpen me through Your word, Your good counsel, and through other Godly men who often help build me up for Your glory.
*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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