Jeremiah 7 Commentary

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Chapter 7 begins the famous temple sermon. Jeremiah is commanded to stand at the gate of the temple and preach from there.

Two points stand out. Firstly, clean house: treat each other justly; don’t oppress the poor, the fatherless, and the widows; and don’t shed innocent blood. Secondly, don’t follow other gods to your harm.

Then comes an important verse: “Has this house, which bears my Name, become a den of robbers to you?”

The LORD Jesus Christ referenced this verse when He drove out businessmen and businesswomen from the temple.

Because of Israel’s wickedness, God’s dwelling place at Shiloh was destroyed. Because of wickedness, God’s dwelling at Jerusalem would be destroyed, unless men and women changed their ways.

Jeremiah makes this point, even while the temple remained standing and people still flocked to it in numbers, it remained dead because of Israel’s wickedness. Israel’s confidence in the temple was all vanity.

Without the presence of the LORD God in an individual, all outward rituals – regardless of their good looks all amount to nothing. The saint is warned.

The LORD’s anger and wrath would be poured out on Jerusalem: on man and beast, on the trees, and on the crop in the field – the devastation of the economy in addition to human fatalities. Life becomes impossible. Isn’t our world getting closer to this point, if not already there?

When nature begins to work against mankind and when men and women turn on each other, you suspect there is more to it. The green energy campaign and the promotion of peace talks all sound great but read Jeremiah again and you know the solution is more spiritual than physical.

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Jeremiah 6 Commentary

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Nighttime should bring relief to a troubled soul. But not when the LORD has ordered trouble on your life! It doesn’t matter; day or night. The LORD heals the fatigue of the day in the night. But not anymore for Jerusalem.

Intense trouble should speak to the soul. When a trouble doesn’t listen to seasons, and when trouble fails to yield to natural healing, then know the LORD is speaking. But is anybody listening?

The priests keep shouting: Peace, peace. This may be a reference to the prosperity gospel that insists on completeness or fulfillment on this side of heaven. It is well, or it should be well here. It should be well even in the midst of trouble from the LORD.

Or it could be a reference to the world’s concocted peace and security – satan’s version of peace. Ponder this scenario. The saint is under pressure to live up to this false peace. It becomes a measure of success. And at times, the prosperity gospel aims for this standard. The saint is utterly confused. Know the times.

“Ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls” Verse 16. It is like you are reading the New Testament! “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” Matthew 11 verses 28 and 29.

The ancient paths may be a reference to the following fact: “Before Abraham was, I Am.” The LORD Jesus Christ isn’t an afterthought. He is the way, the truth, and the life. Let Jerusalem walk in it; she will find rest for her soul.

“Stand at the crossroads and look.” Isn’t the scripture speaking to someone in the valley of decision? From this position of confusion, ask for the ancient paths. Ask where the good way is. Walk in it. Then it shall be well. Then peace comes – not the false peace of the world. Then rest comes – not the false rest we constantly want to have otherwise.

The scripture is written so that we can look back and see for ourselves the outcome of faithlessness and unfaithfulness. But as the good way remains available, no one need have this kind of outcome.

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Jeremiah 5 Commentary

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Run through your streets! Look around! See for yourselves! Search the marketplaces! Can you find one person who does what is right? If you can, the LORD will forgive Jerusalem.

We have the repeat of Abraham’s request to the LORD concerning Sodom. “Are you really going to destroy the innocent with the guilty?” If you can find one person who does what is right and tries to be faithful to God, the LORD won’t destroy Jerusalem.

This is interesting! Not even the prophet Jeremiah was good enough! So Jerusalem would be destroyed for lacking righteousness – not even in one individual.

The good news of the New Testament, and Isaiah strongly hinted at it, is this: there is one man who is righteous and faithful to the LORD God. And on account of this one man, you and I can be saved. It is the man Jesus Christ.

Think about it and know humanity behaves foolishly and does not know what the LORD requires. It is a sad state of affairs. So the LORD orders punishment for the offenders. But again, think about the one man who alone can stand and behind whose righteousness an individual can find salvation.

Israel was never going to sit down and think about it. We won’t have hard times; no war is coming. The LORD won’t do anything, or so they thought. But the LORD had other plans. Jerusalem would be destroyed right before the prophet’s eyes. The LORD meant what He had said. Jeremiah’s words were a fire and the people were wood, literally.

The Good News Translation would put it this way: “Pay attention, you foolish and stupid people, who have eyes, but cannot see, and have ears, but cannot hear. I’m the LORD; why don’t you fear me?”

Then the LORD calls out the rich for their greediness and oppression against the poor. They have filled their houses with loot. That is why they are powerful and rich. Let the saint know that not every rich man is a student of diligence and integrity. The many people we admire are exactly like this.

“Don’t you think I’ll take serious measures against a people like this?” The Message Bible.

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Jeremiah 4 Commentary

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The LORD God has decided and won’t change His mind; Jerusalem will be destroyed. Jerusalem’s wicked ways are the reason for the destruction. But knows this information? The city is peaceful and goes about life as always.

Who wouldn’t think of our own times! People eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage – who knows it until the Son of Man shows up as the Judge of the universe.

The prophet throws in a light complaint. Why has the LORD deceived the people? Why this false peace – the thought of false security. All is normal out there but with the saint, even a small lie yet to be said sends the saint into earnest repentance. And which saint truly feels secure against the holy standards of the Sovereign LORD!

Yet it is so peaceful out there – with danger in the blink. We can wonder as the prophet did.

Return to the LORD in truth, not just in empty words of reverence. Let the good words you say about God come from your hearts and not just from your lips. Don’t mix good and evil in one act. Be one thing; confess it and act it; otherwise, the LORD’s anger will burn like a fire.

As we all know, this fire did come and Jerusalem was destroyed in 587 B.C. Probably delivered by the same Jeremiah, the Book of Lamentations describes for us the horror of God’s anger against Jerusalem.

Is our world safe today? The LORD Jesus Christ, says no. “As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.”

You cannot have it any stronger!

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Jeremiah 3 Commentary

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Faithlessness and unfaithfulness – that is the main subject of the chapter. Faithlessness is the situation with unbelievers. They don’t know who the LORD is. Their actions are an abomination before the LORD. Unfaithfulness, on the other hand, concerns the saint. They are in a marriage relationship with the LORD but constantly break faith. Infidelity.

Unbelievers don’t bother at all. Saints want to come to the LORD in pretense. The LORD is not happy at all.

Jeremiah uses a physical marriage between a man and a woman to mirror the saint’s relationship with the LORD. If there is no marriage, the LORD wants it. Let Israel come to me. If there is marriage, let it flow without unfaithfulness.

At the time of this volume, the LORD had already separated Israel into two kingdoms. One kingdom was called Israel while the other was called Judah. Israel is faithless while Judah is unfaithful. But the LORD calls out: “Return, faithless people.”

We have a hint concerning the distant future. Jeremiah springs up the thought of a time when Israel would have a good government. We are reminded of the Son spoken of by the prophet Isaiah who would have the government on his shoulders.

At about this time, the Ark won’t be important anymore. The LORD will have descended and His perfect reign and Presence would be there, at Jerusalem. And all the nations would come to Jerusalem to worship. It is no longer a tribal situation; it is global.

Jeremiah also uses the relationship between a father and his children. The LORD also speaks of yet another land. Could it be a reference to the future Garden of peace and tranquility? And this obsession with gardens or lands! It represents a settled Israel, safe and well-nourished by the heavenly provisions.

Then Jeremiah prays: “Let us lie down in our shame, and let our disgrace cover us. We have sinned against the LORD our God, both we and our ancestors; from our youth till this day we have not obeyed the LORD our God.” Indeed, something to ponder for the trip ahead.

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Jeremiah 2 Commentary

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Chapter 2 is a direct sermon. Israel has forsaken her God. She has committed two sins: forsaking her God; and secondly, replacing the worship of the one true God with countless counterfeits.

Jeremiah explains it to us clearly. You first forsake the Creator God. Then you create your own useless god. He begs us to ponder the rationale behind it all. The gods so created are useless; they cannot save Israel. They are empty cisterns.

An important part of wickedness – so critical that without it wickedness probably doesn’t exist at all – is ignorance; lack of knowledge or simply the absence of wisdom. A man’s relationship with the Creator God is compared to jewelry. Can a woman ever forget her jewelry? There is a value of the greatest importance that every thinking man won’t want to miss if only one sits down to think about it.

Ironically, Jeremiah doesn’t even want us to think about it. It should be natural! A woman’s jewelry is her very essence. It’s her next life. How does the saint treat her marriage with the LORD Jesus Christ?

“Males don’t have to tire themselves.” Israel has cheapened herself to this level!

Stop and ponder the facts. What wrong has God done to you? On the other hand, a life without God has brought all the troubles possible.

And there is a strong warning. You cannot clean yourself. You cannot define your own destiny. It is a point that the prophet repeats throughout this volume. We need God. We cannot save ourselves. And none cannot save other than the Creator God Himself. Ponder these facts.

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Jeremiah 1 Commentary

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The introduction to the Book places the work of the prophet Jeremiah somewhere between 627 B.C and 587 B.C. But God’s work began way before the prophet was born. This is significant! The LORD God isn’t making Boardroom decisions every day. He knows the end from the beginning. Nothing surprises Him.

Jeremiah was in a ‘destiny’ situation. The LORD wired him for a special assignment. But how little he about it! And how unprepared he felt! It didn’t matter; the LORD would ignore Jeremiah’s feelings of inadequacy and fear.

The NIV Bible has the best rendering of verse 8. “I’m with you and will rescue you.” In the background is an admission of the presence of trouble for the prophet’s work, but the LORD would rescue him. The presence of the LORD with the prophet would not prevent trouble from coming.

It is a situation that contradicts our reasoning. The prophet will have trouble regardless of the fact that the LORD would be with him. It is a Boardroom decision made long before the prophet was even born.

The first message the LORD gives Jeremiah is an announcement of a pending disaster in the nation. You want to think twice before delivering such a message. But Jeremiah doesn’t have this option. The LORD warns the prophet against fear. It would be his undoing if he entertains it. It is easily our take from this chapter.

Fear has a way to destroy humans against the purposes of the LORD. We all remember the words of the LORD to Joshua: “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1 verse 9.

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Isaiah 66 Commentary

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Expand chapter 66 and you have the Book of Revelation. And that is just how rich Isaiah is!

If the LORD gave you a couple of days to represent Him and speak to the entire world, what would be your key lines? Well, Isaiah had 66 chapters to say it. And how awesome!

Using visions, prophecies, sermons, and biographical material, Isaiah the physical man and his institution have delivered to us an amazing volume. He has brilliantly mixed together future events and the past interactions of the LORD with Israel. Blending his own present and his own immediate past together, with his own immediate future, the book is one long complicated collection of tenses.

And when your own material becomes history even before you are done writing, how do you script the last chapter? The LORD shows you a movie of the distant future and you must inform the world about it; the cinema is a past event but the contents aren’t. Isaiah navigates such complex waters but how calmly and expertly!

The opening verse is a throwback to the good times of Israel’s first temple – Solomon’s temple. The LORD had promised His servant David an everlasting dynasty. David, for his part, had pledged to build the LORD a house. The task of building the LORD’s house fell to David’s son Solomon. The LORD would interact with Israel from this base.

What the prophet says here is revolutionary! Of course, Solomon had known the LORD of the universe could not be housed in a house made by humans. Yet the temple remained the central point of Israel’s worship until this announcement. So how will the LORD dwell among His people? That’s the message of the Book of Isaiah.

Without requiring the temple or the palace, Israel’s King would dwell among His own people in a simple and reachable form. Probably to ensure complete simplicity, the Shepherd-King would be born in a manger to an ordinary country couple. The Servant or the Son would take on multiple titles fitting just about every human need. Look up and see the LORD Jesus Christ as everything humanity has needed!

In the beginning, He created the heavens and the earth. He shall recreate them. He created Adam and Eve. He is creating sons and daughters from among the nations. We expect them to be put back in the Garden of peace and tranquility – exactly as originally intended. The LORD doesn’t have many Boardroom meetings!

In the meantime, the LORD has words for false worship. It’s about the religious rituals of the supposed children of God. Saints are warned to check if they are doing the right thing. Are you listening to God? Do you tremble at the word of the LORD?

“Do I bring to the moment of birth and not give delivery?” says the LORD. Simply wonderful, isn’t it?

Isaiah began by stating the human problem. Yes, it is localized: Judah, Samaria, Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, and Cush among others. Eventually, it is the entire world. It spans both time and space. And there is no one to intervene other than the LORD God Himself. He is called by all sorts of functional names, each name fitting the redemption role that he plays. He is the Mountain, the Branch, Immanuel, the Son, and the Servant with the government on His shoulders.

Jesus Christ is always breaking news on every channel and in every language. He is speaking on every platform. He is speaking to you and me – ever knocking on the door of your heart.

Isaiah ends here. Thanks for loving the scriptures. Up next is yet another interesting book: Jeremiah.

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Isaiah 65 Commentary

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In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis chapter 1 verse 1.

See, the LORD is going to lay waste the earth and devastate it. Isaiah Chapter 24 verse 1.

See, I will create new heavens and a new earth. Verse 17a.

Then follows the restoration of the history-long blessing: Increase in number, become fruitful, and have dominion. The LORD will have restored life exactly as it was in the Garden of peace and tranquility. The Prince of Peace will be in charge. The government will be on His shoulders. The Servant will have cleansed the willing; the upright will have settled in the newly created Jerusalem.

“Dust will be the serpent’s food.” It is a direct reference to the Servant’s victory over satan – trampling him under the Lamb’s feet. Victory for the remnant!

The fact that the Book of Revelations closes with the same announcement means the LORD is yet to create the new heavens and a new earth. It was a project for Isaiah’s future; it was a project for the Revelator’s future. It is a project for the reader’s future. The LORD will one day make all things beautiful in His own time.

The second section of chapter 65 is beautifully repeated in the closing chapters of the Bible.

The first section of chapter 65 deals with the intervening period. The first period is life in the Garden of peace and tranquility. The last period is covered by the second section of chapter 65. In between is the famous fall in Genesis 3 and the LORD trying again to reveal Himself to a people who haven’t bothered to find Him.

Fine. He would personally undertake the task of reaching out to man. And so He does. He comes down as the Servant. He is now available and knocking at the door of your heart. The born-again saint knows the LORD found them.

Yes, found them in the midst of misconduct: grave-soaking, idol worship, witchcraft, and defiling the LORD’s name on the mountains. Extreme wickedness. Not everyone pays attention. Some elect to continue in their wickedness and the LORD raises His powerful hand against them. They shall not be part of God’s new creation. They are punished.

The reader is warned not to read these symbols out of context. They remain symbols. Look at the following: – My servants will eat, but you will go hungry; my servants will drink, but you will go thirsty; my servants will rejoice but you will be put to shame. At the same time, death or the sword is decreed against the same team. You guess then that they won’t have the chance to ‘enjoy’ shame, hunger, and humiliation because of the kindness of death.

Ponder the LORD’s message and know the importance of our times. The LORD is reaching out to us, to them, and to everyone. We cannot save ourselves. The LORD is fishing us out of the mud of our sinfulness – grave-soaking, witchcraft, and idol worship. Grave-soaking is an actual evil activity of consulting the dead but it may also refer to the soaking or immersing of self into dead pursuits – the vanities of life.

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Isaiah 64 Commentary

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We’ve sinned and kept at it for so long! Is there any hope for us?

Who wouldn’t have the same conclusion? Even our best efforts are filthy through and through.

Isaiah continues the prayer he began in chapter 63. Indeed, the question remains: Is there any hope for us? “For to us a child is born, to us, a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

Or, “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds, we are healed.”

Isaiah has unfolded the LORD’s master plan by which Israel would be saved; not just Israel but the entire world – the nations.

Of course, this prayer is written within the context of Isaiah’s post-exile experiences. The famous temple on whose grounds Solomon once stood and raised his hands to the LORD is all but completely gone. Jerusalem is simply a heap of wreckage. The temple had stood as a place of mediation between the Creator God and man but it is no more.

Isaiah’s prayer reflects the hope of the nation in deep grief.

No man living today needs to repeat this prayer. The good news is that the LORD has come down to the aid of His people. The LORD Jesus, a child born to us, the Servant, or simply Immanuel is knocking at every man’s heart. Won’t you say yes to the invitation?

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