Pastor and Bible teacher Warren Wiersbe shared his thoughts and insights on the book of Jeremiah in Be Decisive (Jeremiah): Taking a Stand for the Truth.
Jeremiah had a tough job. God's people had worshiped idols for decades. They hadn't obeyed His laws. They had also gone to other nations for help instead of God, in spite of the fact that He had provided for them and delivered them time and again. He sent prophets at various times to point them back to Him. But they refused.
The time came that God had to deal with them more severely. He was sending punishment in the form of the Babylonians, who would conquer their nation, destroy their temple, and take most of the population back to Babylon.
God would not annihilate them completely. He would preserve a remnant. He would keep His promises to maintain David's lineage and bring forth the promised Messiah. "The purpose of chastening is that we might seek the Lord, confess our sins, and draw near to Him (Heb. 12: 3–13)" (p. 140). But for now, they were to go to Babylon, make their homes there, and settle in for seventy years.
God called Jeremiah to give this message to His people. They didn't listen any better than they had before.
The false prophets preached what the people wanted to hear, but Jeremiah preached what the people needed to hear (p. 134).
The civil and religious leaders of Judah preferred the pleasant messages of the false prophets to the strong words of God's true servant, because the human heart wants to rest, not repent. It wants peace, but it wants it without having to deal with the basic cause of unrest—unbelief (p. 211).
Further, Jeremiah's instruction to actually submit to Babylon sounded like treason.
Jeremiah is sometimes called the "weeping prophet." Though he had to point out the people's sins in order to try to bring them to repentance, and though he knew they deserved what was coming, he still had compassion on them.
At least sixty-six times the word heart is found in the book of Jeremiah, for he is preeminently the prophet of the heart (p. 16).
We call Jeremiah "the weeping prophet," and he was (9: 1), but he was also a courageous man who faced many dangers and trials and remained true to the Lord (p. 22).
Like many of us, Jeremiah balked at first at God's calling.
Jeremiah hesitated as he looked at the work before him and the wickedness around him, and when he looked at the weakness within himself, Jeremiah was certain that he wasn't the man for the job.
When it comes to serving the Lord, there's a sense in which nobody is adequate. "And who is sufficient for these things?" (2 Cor. 2: 16) asked the great apostle Paul as he pondered the responsibilities of ministry. Paul then answered his own question: "Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God" (3: 5).
When God calls us, however, He isn't making a mistake, and for us to hesitate or refuse to obey is to act on the basis of unbelief and not faith (p. 20).
At the end of Jeremiah's ministry, it may not have looked like he accomplished much.
By today's human standards of ministry, Jeremiah was a dismal failure. He preached to the same people for over forty years, and yet few of them believed him or obeyed his message. He had few friends who stood with him and encouraged him. The nation he tried to save from ruin abandoned their God and plunged headlong into disaster (p. 213).
Jeremiah may have thought he had failed, but God saw him as a faithful servant, and that's all that really counts (p. 213).
Jeremiah is one of Scripture's greatest examples of faithfulness and decisive action in the face of physical danger and national decay (p. 20).
Some other quotes that stood out to me:
Any theology that minimizes God's holiness and tolerates people's deliberate sinfulness is a false theology (p. 52).
That on which I center my attention and affection and for which I am willing to sacrifice is my god, and if it isn't Jesus Christ, then it's an idol. "Little children, keep yourselves from idols" (1 John 5: 21) (p. 60).
The remedy for idolatry is for us to get caught up in the majesty and grandeur of God, the true God, the living God, the everlasting King. An idol is a substitute, and you would never want a substitute once you have experienced the love and power of the Lord God Almighty (p. 60).
That, however, is what faith is all about: obeying God in spite of what we see, how we feel, and what may happen. It's well been said that faith is not believing in spite of evidence but obeying in spite of consequence" (p. 153).
Lamentations, the book that follows Jeremiah in the Old Testament, is thought by some to also be authored by Jeremiah. Whether it is or not, I thought it would be included with this commentary, because its author laments the devastation that has come to Jerusalem after the Babylonian invasion. I looked at the table of contents of Wiersbe's "Be" books on the minor prophets and later historical books, thinking his commentary on Lamentations might have been included with other books. But I couldn't find it anywhere
The middle of the Lamentations contains some of the most hopeful verses. In the midst of sorrow over deserved chastening, the prophet said:
But this I call to mind,
and therefore I have hope:
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases,
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
"The Lord is my portion," says my soul,
"therefore I will hope in him."
The Lord is good to those who wait for him,
to the soul who seeks him.
It is good that one should wait quietly
for the salvation of the Lord.
For the Lord will not
cast off forever,
but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion
according to the abundance of his steadfast love;
for he does not afflict from his heart
or grieve the children of men.
Let us test and examine our ways,
and return to the Lord!
Let us lift up our hearts and hands
to God in heaven.
Lamentations 3:21-27, 31-33, 40-41
Most of the prophets did that: issued warnings, pointed out sins, yes, but also shared God's love, compassion, and willingness to forgive.
I benefited from reading Jeremiah again, and Dr. Wiersbe's insights were a great help.
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