Stopping to Think

In the Old Testament book of Jeremiah, we read not only the prophec ies which God made t hrough Jeremiah, but we also encounter much of Jeremiah's life. And as you read his life you are often struck with a sense of pity for this man who faithfully obeyed God year after year after year and seemed to receive little but pain and scorn in return.  Part of why his life proved so difficult was the nature of his message. Jeremiah was speaking to the people of Judah shortly before their captivity in Babylon. He frankly warns them that this i s coming, tells them it's too late to change this fact, and exhorts them to bear up submissively underneath the pain that will come. But the people, especially those in the highest places, resist these words from the Lord through his prophet.  In chapter 36   we find the story of Jeremiah dictating the words of his prophecy to his assistant, Baruch. After Baruch takes the full dictation, Jeremiah instructs him to take this scroll down to the ...

'As most of us do when we’re suffering, Jeremiah was asking, “ How can I get out of this?” But he should have been asking, “ What can I get out of this?” God’s servants don’t live by explanations; they live by promises. Understanding explanations may satisfy our curiosity and make us smarter people, but laying hold of God’s promises will build our character and make us better servants.' Warren Wiersbe Commonplace Monday is a series of posts wherein, on Monday mornings, I share short quips, sentences -perhaps as much as a paragraph- which I have collected in my various commonplace books and files. If I wrote down or recall where it came from I will certainly give attribution. However, sometimes I write down things and not where they came from. So if you see anything like that here and recognize it, that's what comment sections are for.  

God said what? "Lift up your eyes to the bare heights, and see! Where have you not been ravished? By the waysides you have sat awaiting lovers like an Arab in the wilderness. You have polluted the land with your vile whoredom." (Jeremiah 3:2) Here, speaking through the prophet Jeremiah, God chastises his people. And he does so in a way that many church folk (or anyone) might find offensive. He calls them whores. Coming across this as I read in my devotions this morning did not exactly bring a case of the warm fuzzies to my heart. It called me out, forcing me to look at the sin in my life, and it furthermore reminded me that this is not an uncommon use of language for God. The use of marriage and sexual metaphor to explain the covenant relationship of God to his people, and the way in which his people violate that covenant, is found throughout the Scriptures. Ezekiel 16 being perhaps the most notable case. There God explains his calling of Israel unto himself, ad...