seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Jeremiah 8:1
“‘At that time, declares the Lord, the bones of the kings and officials of Judah, the bones of the priests and prophets, and the bones of the people of Jerusalem will be removed from their graves. 2 They will be exposed to the sun and the moon and all the stars of the heavens, which they have loved and served and which they have followed and consulted and worshiped. They will not be gathered up or buried, but will be like dung lying on the ground. 3 Wherever I banish them, all the survivors of this evil nation will prefer death to life, declares the Lord Almighty.’
4 “Say to them, ‘This is what the Lord says:
“‘When people fall down, do they not get up?
When someone turns away, do they not return?
5 Why then have these people turned away?
Why does Jerusalem always turn away?
They cling to deceit;
they refuse to return.
6 I have listened attentively,
but they do not say what is right.
None of them repent of their wickedness,
saying, “What have I done?”
Each pursues their own course
like a horse charging into battle.
7 Even the stork in the sky
knows her appointed seasons,
and the dove, the swift and the thrush
observe the time of their migration.
But my people do not know
the requirements of the Lord.
8 “‘How can you say, “We are wise,
for we have the law of the Lord,”
when actually the lying pen of the scribes
has handled it falsely?
9 The wise will be put to shame;
they will be dismayed and trapped.
Since they have rejected the word of the Lord,
what kind of wisdom do they have?
10 Therefore I will give their wives to other men
and their fields to new owners.
From the least to the greatest,
all are greedy for gain;
prophets and priests alike,
all practice deceit.
11 They dress the wound of my people
as though it were not serious.
“Peace, peace,” they say,
when there is no peace.
12 Are they ashamed of their detestable conduct?
No, they have no shame at all;
they do not even know how to blush.
So they will fall among the fallen;
they will be brought down when they are punished,
says the Lord.
13 “‘I will take away their harvest,
declares the Lord.
There will be no grapes on the vine.
There will be no figs on the tree,
and their leaves will wither.
What I have given them
will be taken from them.[a]’”
14 Why are we sitting here?
Gather together!
Let us flee to the fortified cities
and perish there!
For the Lord our God has doomed us to perish
and given us poisoned water to drink,
because we have sinned against him.
15 We hoped for peace
but no good has come,
for a time of healing
but there is only terror.
16 The snorting of the enemy’s horses
is heard from Dan;
at the neighing of their stallions
the whole land trembles.
They have come to devour
the land and everything in it,
the city and all who live there.
17 “See, I will send venomous snakes among you,
vipers that cannot be charmed,
and they will bite you,”
declares the Lord.
18 You who are my Comforter[b] in sorrow,
my heart is faint within me.
19 Listen to the cry of my people
from a land far away:
“Is the Lord not in Zion?
Is her King no longer there?”
“Why have they aroused my anger with their images,
with their worthless foreign idols?”
20 “The harvest is past,
the summer has ended,
and we are not saved.”
21 Since my people are crushed, I am crushed;
I mourn, and horror grips me.
22 Is there no balm in Gilead?
Is there no physician there?
Why then is there no healing
for the wound of my people?
a. Jeremiah 8:13 The meaning of the Hebrew for this sentence is uncertain.
b. Jeremiah 8:18 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
I went straight to bible-studys.org this morning.
As a mockery, God would allow this desecration, spreading the “bones” of the dead Jewish leaders before Judah’s “god” (the “sun, moon,” and host), which were of no help in time of need.
The reason God allowed this, was so they could be placed in front of all these things they had worshipped falsely. It was to show that the sun, moon, and stars, and all the idols of false worship had no power to revive them. They were left to decay. Their bodies came from the earth and they would decay and return to that earth.
Unlike birds, whose instincts guide them to know the seasons (“appointed times”), and fly in the right direction, the people did not have enough sense to discern “the judgment of the Lord” and treat it as a reason to repent and change their ways.
The people did not know how to “blush” (had no shame), because they had rejected “the word of the Lord”. Rather than living faithfully and teaching truth, Israel’s spiritual leaders had “healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly”, the equivalent of putting a bandage on a deep, open wound.
Judah’s “wise men “show the shallowness of their misdirected “wisdom” by rejecting their basic commitment to “the word of the Lord". The office held by the “scribes “was an old one by Jeremiah’s day. It must have existed early in Israel, but seems to be little noted as a particular profession before the time of Hezekiah (2 Kings 18:18; compare Prov. 25:1). In Judah scribes appear to have been organized into distinct families or guilds (1 Chron. 2:55), and were certainly active by Jeremiah’s time (2 Chron. 34:13). Unfortunately, the mere handling of God’s Word is no guarantee of spiritual fidelity. The Word must master its readers and become part of their lives. In New Testament times, the scribes were condemned by Jesus for partaking of a corrupt society (compare Matt. 23:13-36).
In vain, Jeremiah urged the people to wake up to what was happening. Already God’s judgment was becoming apparent, but these warnings would be ignored.
“We are not saved”: The coming devastation is compared with the hopeless anguish when harvest time has passed but people are still in desperate need. Jeremiah identified with his people’s suffering, as a man of tears, but saw a doom so pronounced that there was no remedy to soothe. There was no healing balm, the kind in abundance in Gilead (east of the Sea of Galilee), and no physician to cure (compare Gen. 37:25; 43:11).
Jeremiah is overcome with grief for his people. As the passing of a “harvest” season that failed to produce fruit gives rise to despair for the availability of food, so the passing days without repentance in Judah made destruction inevitable. Jeremiah was dismayed and cried out for its healing balsam (compare Gen. 37:25).
The “daughter of My people”, represented all the people. “Balm” was a medicine taken from the bark of a tree and was one of the primary exports from Judah.
This morning I thought of how God must feel.... I think of God as Father..... my parent..... so when I want to get a hint of how God must feel.... I think of my dad. That's really interesting, considering Daddy is the one who introduced me to Christ. I think I've told the story of the restaurant adventure. Mom and Dad took me, my sister, and I think my brother or my cousin was with us..... to a fancy restaurant. We must have been out of town because we should have stayed with a babysitter. This place was just too fancy for kids. Anyway.... there was a button at the booth we were seated at. The button would call the waiter..... classy..... but when one of us found the button and saw the action it caused.... well the game was afoot. My dad was so embarrassed....
I think God was embarrassed by the humans in Judah. God gave those people everything they needed. God gave them the land.... it was so rich that when one cluster of grapes was harvested, it took two men and a pole to take it to the winery. He gave them bountiful..... and what did they do..... they decided they were smarter than God.... and started crafting their own little gods. The only time the people of Judah had time for God.... was when they wanted to complain.
IMHO.... God is saying.... through Jeremiah..... I'm going to come in there.... and when I do... you won't even think of pressing another button.... ever.
Preachers, Priests, and Rabbis.... better get their hat on right and stop preaching to the paycheck or the free housing..... God is watching.
IMHO... if a preacher is teaching "peace, peace" and making me feel good.... I should run.
:coffee;