Gary Gleans

There are certain scenes we find ourselves at a loss for words to describe.  Jeremiah attempts to overcome this loss of words in order to record the reality of what has happened in God’s judgment on Judah.  This description is important in order for future generations to understand the full consequences of God’s judgment and to what lengths He is willing to go in order to chastise the sins of men.  The reality is that the judgment Jeremiah describes here is only a small sampling of the future judgment of sin God has planned for the entire world.  It is important to gain an understanding of what God’s wrath looks like in hopes that we will be motivated to flee from the greater wrath that is soon to be revealed on the earth. GOD’S DESTRUCTION OF JUDAH: One thing must be made absolutely clear: this judgment on Judah was not done by Babylonians; it was done by God.  He used Babylon as an instrument but Jeremiah makes it clear that God’s anger was the source of this judgment.  God has

Funerals are sad events because they always involve physical separation.  It is sad for us to realize we will never be able to share the joys and trials of life with the person who has passed on.  As believers, we know we will have eternity to share with one another but we still experience the sadness of separation during our life on this earth.  The book of lamentations is a lot like a funeral; only it is not the funeral of a person but of a nation and its main city: Jerusalem.  We believe Jeremiah writes this series of poems soon after the Babylonian invasion.  As he walks through the desolate city his heart is moved to tears and he records his thoughts in a type of eulogy in a funeral. THE WEEPING OF JEREMIAH: As Jeremiah observes the destruction of Jerusalem he can do nothing but cry.  He tried to call the people to repentance but they would not listen and now all he had predicted had come true.  This was not a time for an “I told you so” attitude.  It was a time for all out w

Repetition is the key to recollection.  Jeremiah closes this book of the Bible with the repetition of the fall of Jerusalem.  The last several chapters he has foretold the destruction of many nations as well as the future fall of Babylon, but he does not want his main message to be lost.  Jeremiah’s main audience was his own nation and he had spent his life and ministry warning them to turn from their sin and submit to the Lord.  Unfortunately, the people and the leaders of the nation refused to listen to Jeremiah or submit to the Lord so they suffered the consequences of their disobedience and idolatry.  Sin will always have consequences apart from faith in Christ and repentance.  It is vital that we learn from the consequences of others so we do not have to suffer under the consequences of our own sin.  Here is a reminder of what Israel suffered because she refused to listen to the voice of the Lord. DEATH: When Nebuchadnezzar came out against Jerusalem the city was under siege

God’s wrath is often very slow in being displayed.  However, a delay in God’s judgment should be interpreted as grace not weakness or forgetfulness.  God tolerated Israel’s idolatry for generations and used Babylon as an instrument of judgment on Israel.  Babylon was also an idolatrous nation who became very powerful and very proud.  God’s wrath would also fall upon her.  God’s purposes will be realized and His name will be glorified.  Today’s generation has become very comfortable in sin and idolatry.  God’s wrath seems to by lying dormant as society sinks further and further into self-worship and denies God’s very existence.  This reality will not go on forever.  One day His wrath will be revealed and judgment will come. THE VENGEANCE OF THE LORD WILL BE RECEIVED: When Babylon destroyed Israel and Judah, an attack was leveled on Jerusalem, the city was destroyed and the temple was burned.  The sacred objects from the temple were hauled to Babylon and made into objects of idolatr

Instruments of God’s judgment often become objects of God’s judgment.  Babylon is certainly an example of this truth.  God used Nebuchadnezzar and the nation of Babylon to capture and destroy Israel and many of the surrounding nations as a judgment for their sin.  Babylon’s dominance should not be attributed to their own righteousness before God.  They were empowered by God to be able to judge the sinfulness of others just as other nations would be empowered by God to bring about judgment on Babylon.  The blessings of God do not come to us by our own merit so we must never allow His blessings to fill us with pride.  Our pride is what leads us to destruction so in the face of God’s blessings; humility and gratitude are the only proper response. RETRIBUTION FOR BABYLON: When Babylon conquered the majority of the region and became one of the first world empires, they were especially cruel and exceptionally proud.  Those who lived in that day may have thought Babylon’s success was som

Change is a consistent part of the history of the world.  However, there seem to be seasons of change in which there are multiple changes made simultaneously.  Jeremiah ministers of the eve of one of these seasons of change.  From Abraham to the time of Jeremiah Israel had grown into a powerful nation, entered and conquered the Promised Land, established a monarchy and then fallen into a roller coaster ride of idolatry and repentance.  Idolatry grew and repentance became more and more rare to the point that God decided to make a change.  God raised up Babylon to usher in this season of change in which not only Israel, but all of the surrounding nations were conquered and taken into captivity.  People often thing that things will always be the same, but this is a grave mistake.  God has and will continue to judge this world.  These smaller judgments are subtle reminders of God’s future, full and final judgment of the world. THE JUDGMENT OF AMON: Ammon had taken possession of the po

Just because something has never happened, does not mean that it never will.  Moab was a nation that had escaped defeat in battle for generation after generation.  They had yet to experience captivity and had been left alone.  They had negotiated peace agreements with Israel but did not align themselves with other nations in such a way that they would be seen as a threat to larger nations and yet they were strong enough that smaller nations did not have the courage to come out against her.  However it happened, Moab had managed to stay in that and took great comfort as well as pride in that fact.  All of that was about to change.  There are many nations today that have, for whatever reason, been able to stand for many generations.  A sense of invincibility is a dangerous thing.  God will eventually judge all the nations no matter how great or small. THE REALITY OF MOAB’S DESTRUCTION: Moab came into existence because of Lot’s drunkenness and the sin of his daughters bearing childre

God’s judgment is full and complete.  Israel has been taken into captivity and left desolate because of their constant idolatry.  However, there were many nations surrounding Israel that were instrumental in leading her into idolatry.  Egypt had always been a stumbling block to the nation of Israel and God judged her.  The Philistines were another nation that led Israel astray into idolatry.  God had used the Philistines to judge Israel and now God reveals His plan to judge them for their idolatrous influence as well as their own wickedness. GOD WILL JUDGE WITH FLOOD: Jeremiah promises that the land of the Philistines will be destroyed with a flood of rushing waters.  All the people of the land will flee from the flood but it will be useless.  Horses and chariots will flood down upon them and the will be so weak from running that they will not even have the strength to look back and see how their own children are doing.  When God determines to destroy a land there is nothing that

God is the Judge of the nations and the world.  There is an erroneous perception that God’s only concern in the Old Testament was the children of Israel.  God’s desire has always been to demonstrate His glory in all the nations and be worshiped by all the nations.  His dealings with Israel and Judah were, and continue to be, a vital part of that strategy but by no means is it His only strategy.  This chapter and the ones to follow, demonstrate God’s concern for, involvement in and judgment on the nations.  Jeremiah turns his attention to Egypt and reveals God’s plan for judging this nation. EGYPT WILL PREPARE FOR BATTLE: Egypt will know that war is on the way and will call the surrounding nations to join forces with her to help protect her from the invading army of Chaldeans.  These mercenary soldiers will be numerous, bold and brave.  Egypt and her allies will have great confidence that they are sufficient to ward off the attack of their enemies.  They are wrong.  When men face d

Baruch is Jeremiah’s scribe.  He has had the unenviable task of writing down the many terrible prophecies of the Lord against the nation of Judah and Israel.  It is difficult for us to receive bad news but it is also difficult to give bad news, especially when it involves your nation, your neighbors and your family.  Jeremiah and Baruch have been faithful to reveal and record the Word of God during a very difficult time, but that does not make it easy.  The message they had to give made it very clear that they would see many heartaches and sorrows.  Those who seek to serve the Lord in a time of judgment must recognize that they will suffer loss but must remain faithful and humble because God is able to preserve the just in the midst of His judgment of the unjust. BARUCH IS DISCOURAGED BY THE PROPHECIES OF GOD: God has made it very clear that Israel will be severely judged.  The nation will fall to the Babylonians and the land will be under the authority of a foreign king.  Many of

Jeremiah had been assured by the people that they would obey whatever the Lord told them to do through him.  Jeremiah made it very clear to them that they should remain in Judah and not go to Egypt.  God would bless them and protect them if they stayed in Judah and trusted in His care; but they would be destroyed or taken captive if they went to Egypt.  Demonstrating faith in God is the only means by which we can please Him.  From a human perspective it made perfect sense to flee to Egypt where there was still an army to help protect them from the wrath of Nebuchadnezzar.  Staying in Judah meant being completely exposed without any protection except that of God; which is exactly where God wants us to be. THE PEOPLE DISOBEY THE LORD’S INSTRUCTION: Despite the people promise to obey whatever Jeremiah said, as soon as they heard him insist they stay in Judah; they accused him of lying.  They could not believe God had told Jeremiah these things and claimed he was promoting the agenda

Decisions are often very difficult for us to make.  We often find ourselves in situations where we honestly do not know what the right thing to do is.  There are other times when we know exactly what we want to do but we are pretty sure that it is not God’s will so we look for excuses or support to do our own will instead of the Lord’s.  The remnant of Judah finds themselves in such a place.  They fear the reproductions of the rebellion of Ishmael will fall upon them even though they were innocent.  The only logical decision in their minds is to flee for their lives to Egypt.  This is the general consensus but before they move forward they decide to seek for the will of God in this matter.   THE PEOPLE SEEK FOR GOD’S WILL FROM JEREMIAH: Jeremiah is generally recognized as the secure source for knowing God’s will.  The people go to him and ask for him to seek God’s will as to what they should do.  There is an interesting play on words that happens in the text were the people ask fo

Treachery is a terrible thing but all too common in the heart of man.  Johanan had warned Gedaliah about the intentions of Ishmael but he would not believe him.  Instead, the appointed governor of Judah received Ishmael and ten men to eat a meal together.  It was the last meal Gedeliah would ever eat and was the start of a treacherous bloodbath that saw dozens of men slaughtered.  Gedeliah had been kind to Jeremiah and the other remnants of Judah who were able to stay on the land.  He is now dead and the consequences of this act of treachery are yet to be known.  We must learn to guard our own hearts from treacherous acts as well as look out or the treachery that may be in the hearts of the men around us. ISHMAEL SLAUGHTERS MANY AND FLEES WITH JUDEANS: Ismael and his men slaughter Gedeliah, his guards, many inhabitants of the city, eighty men of Samaria who had come to offer sacrifices to the Lord and then flees the city with many of the people as captives.  It is unclear why Ishm

A remnant has always been a part of God’s plan for the children of Israel.  Even during the darkest days of the history of the nation, there was always a remnant of faithful men who feared the Lord.  When Nebuchadnezzar conquered the nation there was a great slaughter of people and many others were taken captive and exiled in Babylon.  However, God had him leave a remnant of people behind to care for the land.  Nebuchadnezzar appointed Gedaliah as the governor of the land and allowed the poorest people to remain in the land and gather its produce.  They were under Babylonian rule but they were still in the land.  God is always looking for men and women who will remain faithful to Him in the midst of difficult circumstances. JEREMIAH IS RELEASED FROM CAPTIVITY: Jeremiah’s Babylonian captors knew he had foretold the fall of Jerusalem.  His own people had imprisoned him, tried to kill him and kept him in chains.  The captain of the army releases Jeremiah from his chains and gives him

“I told you so” must have been the words Jeremiah was very tempted to say to all those men who had contradicted him and to the king.  God had promised that Jerusalem would fall for many years but the people would not listen.  Now they are facing the consequences of their actions.  Things could have been much different had they heeded the Word of the Lord.  God has revealed many things about the future to us.  Time has a way of making us forget these things.  God does not forget and will always keep His Word .  We must live in light of these promises. JERUSALEM FALLS: Just as Jeremiah had foretold, Nebuchadnezzar broke through the walls of Jerusalem and captured the city.  Zedekiah continues his poor leadership by fleeing the city with some of the key leaders.  He did not surrender as Jeremiah had recommended, nor did he stay and fight for the people until death.  He and his cowardly counselors are overtaken and the majority of these rulers were brutally killed while Zedekiah was m

Leadership is essential to the well-being of any nation or group of people.  Part of the reason Judah has fallen into their current mess is a lack of leadership that is clearly on display in this chapter on the part of King Zedekiah.  Leaders are supposed to set direction with confidence and then call others to fall in step with that direction.  Zedekiah is living in the midst of crisis as are his people but he does not seem to know in which direction to turn or what to do.  There are four attributes he displays that every leader must thrive to avoid. PASSIVITY: Zedekiah is approached by a group of angry and assertive men who believe Jeremiah is being a detriment to the nation so they go to the Zedekiah to ask for permission to kill him.  Jeremiah has been Zedekiah’s adviser for years but instead of defending Jeremiah or condemning Jeremiah Zedekiah takes a passive approach as simply says that he cannot stop them from doing whatever they want to do.  The men end up taking Jeremiah

People will believe what they want to believe even if it is a lie.  Jeremiah has been telling the truth, but nobody wants to hear his message of destruction and captivity.  The “good news” of the false prophets is much more attractive to the people and the leaders so they do all they can to shut Jeremiah up.  Easy lies are generally much more popular than hard truths.  It is important that we base what we believe on the Word of God and not on what we want to believe.  JEREMIAH IS INSISTENT: King Zedekiah comes to Jeremiah to hear a Word from the Lord, but he is not pleased with Jeremiah’s honest response.  Nebuchadnezzar has been besieging the nation but has temporarily withdrawn at the approach of the Egyptian army.  The nation of Judah hopes the Egyptians will defeat the Chaldeans and rescue them from the impending destruction but Jeremiah is insistent that the king of Babylon will be back and that the city of Jerusalem will be burned.  Even if the entire army is injured and can

God is persistent.  He has constantly pursued mankind in order to reconcile us to Himself. He has done the same for the children of Israel even though they have consistently turned their backs on Him.  God’s Word has come to Jeremiah and he has repeatedly warned the nations of Judah and Israel of the coming judgment against them.  Jeremiah has now been banned from speaking in the assembly but that does not stop God.  He commands Jeremiah to record his message on a scroll in written form in hopes that the people will respond to these warnings, turn from their sin and follow Him.  I am very thankful that persistency is a part of God’s character because if it were not, He would have given up on me a long time ago. JEREMIAH DICTATES THE WORD OF GOD: Jeremiah’s oral messages and warnings were being ignored.  Jeremiah is no longer permitted in the assembly to speak the Word of the Lord so God changes the delivery system.  He calls Jeremiah to record His message in written form in hopes

God always has a faithful remnant of people who fear Him.  No matter how unfaithful a society may become; God always seems to have a small group of people who stand out in the midst of these people and live in obedience to Him.  The Rechabites were an example of this in the land of Judah.  God sent Jeremiah to them as He wanted to use them as an example to the nation and as an encouragement to Jeremiah.  God had given Jeremiah a very difficult ministry and there must have been times when he felt as if he were the only one who was following the Lord.  It must have been a blessing for him to discover a family so dedicated to obeying the Lord. THE RECHABITES WERE EXAMPLES OF CONVICTION: God calls Jeremiah to invite the Rechabites into the house of the Lord and offer them wine.  When he does so, they all refuse to drink it because they have been instructed by their father to never drink wine, to not plant fields and to live in tents.  Their father had apparently been instructed by God

Jeremiah had bad news and worse news.  The bad news was actually almost good news but it is hard to call captivity good news.  Jerusalem is under siege and King Zedekiah is scrambling to do what he can to save the people and his city.  He calls the people to repent of their sinful practices of enslaving one another in hopes of gaining God’s favor and escaping the wrath of Babylon.  However, the people refused to obey and made things worse than they were before.  When we know what is right and refuse to do it we open ourselves up to very drastic consequences of sin in our lives. ZEDEKIAH’S LIFE IS SPARED: We must not blame Zedekiah for the captivity of Judah just because he was king when it happened.  Many of the kings who had gone before him were far more evil than he was.  He just happened to be on the throne when all of this happened.  While he was far from perfect; he was also far from the most wicked of Israel’s kings.  The Word of the Lord comes to Jeremiah that Jerusalem wou

In the midst of a siege on Jerusalem where Jeremiah has repeatedly prophesied Judah’s captivity and the fall of Jerusalem, the Word of the Lord comes to Jeremiah again.  The leadership of Judah is so angry with Jeremiah that they have locked him up in the courtyard and yet the Word of the Lord still comes to him.  For years he has been warning the nation of this very judgment and now that it has come, God gives him a message of hope.  It would have been easy to thing they discipline of the Lord on Israel and Judah was God’s rejection of them and the removal of His promise to them.  God does not want this mistake to be made so He tells Jeremiah exactly what His plans and intentions are. GOD WILL FORGIVE SINS: The city of Jerusalem will be destroyed and desolate.  The lands of Israel and Judah will be abandoned and all the nations will wonder at how severe this judgment was.  The sinfulness and idolatry that ran rampant in these places caused God to turn His face away from them and