Gary Gleans

Bad news is always hard to give but it is far better in God’s eyes for us to give bad news that is true than to give good news that is false.  The nation of Judah is experiencing extreme hardship in the form of a drought.  The easiest message to give in these conditions is that rain is on the way, but God has told Jeremiah that no such thing is going to happen.  It is always tempting to tell people what they want to hear instead of telling them what the Word of God says.  We must never fall into that temptation.  The warnings of the Gospel are an eternity separated from God in hell.  This is not an easy message to proclaim but a very necessary one for us to remember and proclaim to all. JEREMIAH IS TOLD NOT TO PRAY ABOUT THE DROUGHT: The nation of Judah is experiencing a drought that has the entire nation falling to its knees.  The people and animals are without water, no crops will grow and misery is compounding by the day.  This is only a p...

We are our own worst enemies.  When we consider the various sources of temptation in our lives: society, Satan and self; it is easy to see that “self” is the hardest for us to run away from.  Jeremiah writes to his fellow countrymen about their plight and the difficulty they will be facing because of their self-inflicted sin.  God created us to worship Him and walk in fellowship with Him.  When we refuse to fulfill this purpose God is faithful to discipline us in an effort to bring us back to Himself.  Judah had been living in rebellion against God for generations and now they are about to discover the results of this kind of living.  As a result of their sinful living the people have become: DIRTY: God tells Jeremiah to go buy a cloth belt and then bury it by the river.  After time passes God tells him to go dig it up.  When he does so he discovers the belt is dirty, decomposed and worthless.  This is meant to be an illustration of what...

One of the most difficult questions for us to answer is: “why do the wicked prosper?”  This just does not seem fair to us and will always raise questions in our minds.  In reality, we should wonder why anyone would prosper because none of us deserve anything but judgment from God.  When we don’t understand God’s dealings with men it is best that we simply understand that His ways are higher than our ways and He deals with men according to His sovereign will.  The apparent prosperity of the unjust will not last just as the suffering of the apparently just will not last.  In God’s perfect timing all of these things will be made right. GOD PERMITS THE PROSPERITY OF THE WICKED: Jeremiah does not understand why the wicked and evil men seem to prosper while he suffers hardships.  God’s response may take us by surprise but He simply tells Jeremiah that things will only get worse.  Our sense of fairness has very little in common with God’s sovereign justi...

Popularity is an infectious desire.  All of us like to be liked.  Jeremiah was an unpopular prophet with an unpopular message.  His job was not an easy one but it is what God called him to do.  His message was one of condemnation because of the nation’s refusal to obey the Lord.  Because of their rebellion God was about to reject them and lead them into captivity.  The people did not want to hear this message so instead of repenting they decided to try to remove the messenger.  The only comfort in all of this for Jeremiah was the fact that God had promised to protect Him in the face of unpopularity. ISRAEL WAS UNFAITHFUL TO THE PROMISE: When God was about to take the children of Israel into The Promised Land for the very first time, He made a covenant with them.  It was a conditional covenant in that it called for Israel to obey the Law in order to enjoy the blessings of the promise.  It also warned of the consequences of disobedience....

When we were children, we would argue with one another about whose father was the greatest or most important.  We would say things like “my daddy is the boss of your daddy.”  Jeremiah is making a very compelling argument in this chapter as to why God is greater than the gods of the nations.  He gives very distinct reasons that make it seem very foolish for man to worship any other besides the Lord.  Idolatry is such a common practice in the hearts of men but just because it is common does not mean it makes a lot of sense.  Jeremiah argues with the people about why God is the greatest. GOD IS ALL WISE: The idols of men are cut from a tree and carved with the hands of men.  They are then decorated to make them look something like powerful man.  Once all this carving, cutting and decorating takes place the idol is immobile, mute and ignorant.  God on the other hand is the source of all wisdom and knowledge.  He was never made and has no nee...

Tears are the natural byproduct of physical or emotional pain.  Jeremiah cries because of the plight of His people to the point that He is all cried out.  The people cry because of the punishment they experience due to their idolatry.  God cries because His chosen people have rejected Him and refuse to return to Him despite His numerous efforts to call them back to Himself and be reconciled with them.  There are plenty of tears to go around due to both physical and emotional pain.  If only those tears would produce a true turning back to the Lord. JEREMIAH WEEPS OVER THE REBELLION OF HIS PEOPLE: Jeremiah has seen the rebellion and idolatry of His people as well as the consequences this rebellion will bring upon them in the future.  This knowledge has overwhelmed him with tears.  He is discouraged by the hard hearts of his people and would like nothing more than to be able to turn his back on them and be relieved of any responsibility for them....

Judah had been involved in a long sequence of actions that systematically took them further and further from the Lord.  They would not learn from their mistakes and they would not learn from the Word of God.  The people refused to repent and did not even recognize the extent of their corruption or the danger they were facing.  All of these things were going to change very rapidly.  God was preparing to judge the nation in a very severe way because of all that was lacking in their relationship with God. THE PEOPLE LACKED DECENCY: The people had spent generations ignoring the Word of God and running after idols.  Their immoral acts were grievous and repetitive.  Leaders who were supposed to call the people to repentance were contributing to the problem by keeping silent and in many cases were promoting the idolatry they were supposed to be stopping.  As a result of this blatant lack of decency, God has determined to judge the people and their leader...