Can the Heavens give Showers?
Chapter 14
The Lord describes a terrible drought
1. The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah concerning the droughts.
2. "Judah mourns, And her gates languish; They mourn for the land, And the cry of Jerusalem has gone up.
3. Their nobles have sent their lads for water; They went to the cisterns and found no water. They returned with their vessels empty; They were ashamed and confounded And covered their heads.
4. Because the ground is parched, For there was no rain in the land, The plowmen were ashamed; They covered their heads.
5. Yes, the deer also gave birth in the field, But left because there was no grass.
6. And the wild donkeys stood in the desolate heights; They sniffed at the wind
like jackals; Their eyes failed because there was no grass."
There is much that we can learn about prayer, the most important is to know that God is a prayer-answering God, Who glorifies His name by responding to the prayers of His people. One of two ladies, Sarah A Cooke (one of two who spoke to D. L. Moody about the Baptism in the Spirit), was at a Chicago train depot, witnessing to the travelers. She came across a couple on their way to Oberlin, Ohio. Learning that the crippled husband had been a member of Charles Finney´s church in Oberlin, she asked if he could recall, personally, any incidents from the ministry of Finney.
The man began: “We had been long without rain. All vegetation was drying up; everything looked parched. In the prayer preceding the sermon, on Sabbath, Mr. Finney began to pour out his full heart to God for rain: ‘Lord, the cattle in the fields are lowing for water; there will be no food for them for winter, unless thou sendest rain. The harvest will fail - no food for man - unless Thou sendest rain. The little squirrels in the woods are panting for rain.’ The service proceeded, the text was chosen, and for about half an hour Mr. Finney preached, when the rain began to dash against the windows,” That story was published in a book in 1893. God specializes in answering prayer.
Can a Leopard Change His Spots?
I am not satisfied that the NKJV, which I normally use in my studies, closely portrays the analogy, used by the Lord in this chapter. I will turn to the American Standard Version, just this time.
1. Thus saith Jehovah
unto me, Go, and buy thee a linen girdle, and put it upon thy loins and put it not in water.
2. So I bought a girdle according to the word of Jehovah, and put it upon my loins.
3. And the word of Jehovah came unto me the second time, saying,
4. Take the girdle that thou hast bought, which is upon thy loins, and arise, go to the Euphrates, and hide it there in a cleft of the rock.
5. So I went, and hid it by the Euphrates, as Jehovah commanded me.
6. And it came to pass after many days, that Jehovah said unto me, Arise, go to the Euphrates, and take the girdle from thence, which I commanded thee to hide there.
7. Then I went to the Euphrates, and digged, and took the girdle from the place where I had hid it; and, behold, the girdle was marred, it was profitable for nothing.
8. Then the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,
9. Thus saith Jehovah, After this manner will I mar the pride of Judah, and the great pride of Jerusalem.
10. This evil people, that refuse to hear my words, that walk in the stubbornness of their heart, and are gone after other gods to serve them, and to worship them, shall even be as this girdle, which is profitable for nothing.
The parable of the girdle
Paul wrote to Timothy: “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God” (2 T.3:16). By this we know that the Bible, Old Testament and New, has the anointing of God upon it, but Peter shows that man did not leave his human imprint on the word at all. He attributes the authorship entirely to the Holy Spirit. “For prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit” (2 P.1:21). Men, then, were simply secretaries, who received dictation from Him.
Having settled that absolute truth in our hearts, we can move on to the manner, in which the Holy Spirit expresses Himself. There is no literature among the human race that is more intriguing than the divine word. God’s stories are written with the lives of people, played out in real situations. The film industry has sometimes borrowed from it to present their productions. World empires and significant geographical locations play a part in the plots. Poetry and song are often included in the Scripture. There is oneness of purpose and principle throughout the Bible and conformity to them and the consequences of opposition to them could not be weightier. They continue throughout life and into eternity.
Righteousness and Salvation
1. Righteous are You, O LORD, when I plead with You; Yet let me talk with You about Your judgments. Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why are those happy who deal so treacherously?
2. You have
planted them, yes, they have taken root; they grow, yes, they bear fruit. You are
near in their mouth but far from their mind.
The unquestionable righteousness of God
Righteous are you, O Lord. The heart of Jeremiah, just as Paul’s, had settled the issue of the righteousness of God and does not bring it into question. Even in the difficult circumstances of Romans 9, where Paul discerned a human potential for doubting God’s righteousness, he immediately squelched the matter: “(The children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil…) it is written, Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated… Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not!” (Ro.9:11,13,14). “O man, who are you to reply against God?” (Ro.9:20). God is perfectly righteous and we are not. Let’s get that settled, so that we do not bring it into this question. Paul attempts no explanation in bringing the fact of Jacob and Esau’s case into light. He declares truth. That is the premise of the Bible; it is not an explanation, but a declaration. It does not cater to the mind, but to the heart of man. It does not promote intellectualism, but faith… confidence in the Lord and in His word.
I find rest in the statement quoted above: Righteous are you, O Lord. Since my understanding is limited… actually very small… I will leave matters in the hands of the One, Who is perfectly righteous, takes every consideration into account and views everything from the standpoint of eternity. I will then simply say, “If God had already decided the fate of Jacob and Esau before birth, then it was perfectly righteous, without a flaw in judgment.” I can trust Him and His righteousness. I have little tolerance for human arrogance, my own and anyone else’s, which rises up, thinking that it understands righteousness better than God does. That is an awful demonstration of hubris!
The Broken Covenant
1. The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
2. "Hear the words of this covenant, and speak to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem;
3. and say to them, 'Thus says the LORD God of Israel: "Cursed is the man who does not obey the words of this covenant
4. which I commanded your fathers in the day I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, 'Obey My voice, and do according to all that I command you; so shall you be My people, and I will be your God,'
5. that I may establish the oath which I have sworn to your fathers, to give them 'a land flowing with milk and honey,' as it is this day." ' " And I answered and said, "So be it, LORD."
6. Then the LORD said to me, "Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, saying: 'Hear the words of this covenant and do them.
7. For I earnestly exhorted your fathers in the day I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, until this day, rising early and exhorting, saying, "Obey My voice."
Mankind’s responsibility
We observed from the introduction of this book, that Jeremiah was concerned with the message that the Lord gave to him, rather than the chronology. That would cause us to think that his message was applicable to his people at all times. I think that we have tried to see how it applies to us many centuries later under the New Covenant.
It seems that the Lord gave this portion to Jeremiah early in his ministry, when he was very young. Jeremiah was still among the citizens of Anathoth, his native town, where already he was drawing opposition from them. Anathoth is in the territory of the tribe of Benjamin and God is sending him to Judah and, particularly, to the streets of Jerusalem (6). Also, in agreement to his calling and message, Jeremiah says, “Amen”.
The message has to do with the Covenant, which God established with His people at Mount Sinai. They agreed then to obey His Covenant with them (Ex.24:3). Recently the Book of the Law was rediscovered at the repair of the temple and had been made public by the good king, Josiah. King Josiah showed deep remorse and attempted to guide his people in repentance. To the best of his ability, he destroyed idolatry, even in the high places, and restored the temple and the Passover, but apparently the people did not follow with their whole heart.
Man Cannot Self-Govern
Chapter 10
1. Hear the word which the LORD speaks to you, O house of Israel.
2. Thus says the LORD: "Do not learn the way of the Gentiles; Do not be dismayed at the signs of heaven, For the Gentiles are dismayed at them.
3. For the customs of the peoples are futile; For one cuts a tree from the forest, The work of the hands of the workman, with the ax.
4. They decorate it with silver and gold; They fasten it with nails and hammers So that it will not topple.
5. They are upright, like a palm tree, And they cannot speak; They must be carried, Because they cannot go by themselves. Do not be afraid of them, For they cannot do evil, Nor can they do any good."
Rejecting the way of futility
The Lord directs His message to the house of Israel (1). If there is any place, where He can possibly be heard, it would have to be in that house. If there are any people, who have the necessary understanding, to be able to discern the good sense of His words, it would have to be the Israelites. No true wisdom at all can be expected from the pagan non-Jews, who do not know God and are given to worship idols.
Jeremiah proves that in the first verses of this chapter. If people pray to and depend on a decorated piece of wood, chopped down with an ax, how can the Lord expect a reasonable response from them? A palm tree has living roots, which grow deeply into solid earth and hold it upright, while man’s creations are fastened in place by tools and hardware. They have no life, they cannot speak for themselves, and are not self-propelled, to rise and choose their way. Modern, man-made creations can move, but they cannot move independently, nor can they do good or evil, without the pre-ordained will of their inventors. They are not to be feared. When are we human beings, who cannot create life, going to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God?
The Lord counsels His people: Do not learn the way of the Gentiles. Senseless pagans look to the stars, the moon and the sun for direction; they still do in modern times, by astrology, the zodiac, horoscopes and, with a certain degree of legitimacy, astronomy. Here is a definition of astrology from Wikipedia: Astrology is a pseudoscience that claims to discern information about human affairs and terrestrial events by studying the movements and relative positions of celestial objects.
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