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Re: Jeremiah
The first thing that is actually noteworthy about this book is that much of it, at least the early part of it, is full of pretty harsh words for Judah as well as to some extent all the tribes of Israel. The thing about it is we are all responsible and accountable for what we do, good or bad. God doesn't go looking for someone to zap, but people sure can bring it on themselves. You can do things God's way or you can do it your own way. So many people want to do things their own way. That's fine, God will let you do that in most cases. But the thing is, you need to ask yourself who is more intelligent and knows more, you or God. Hopefully, you would say that God is. So the thing is, things generally work out a lot better for you when you do it God's way. You want to be really careful because when you get too complacent in the ways of the world, traditions of man, and listen to people, even from behind the pulpit in church dreaming up a bunch of nonsense and claiming it's from God or His Word and you don't check them out, you can wind up in a world of trouble. Judah and Jerusalem at this time was full of false prophets, false shepherds(pastors) and idolatry. That's why ultimately they would go into captivity taken by Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon, God's own servant,in around 497 BC, as we see at the beginning of the book of Daniel. God doesn't bring evil on anyone, but stray far enough from Him for a long enough period of time and He will allow you to be carried away into captivity in a spiritual sense. We also are coming up on a time in which the end times Babylon will be upon us, and most of the world, again caught up in their own concerns, their own traditions, and their false sense of security regarding among other things the "rapture doctrine", are going to be taken captive by the Antichrist. What's important to note from Daniel is that even when Antichrist is here, God will take care of those who do not bow to him, just as he did the three Hebrew children Shadrach, Mesach, and Abednego.
As for Jeremiah, he was given a special purpose by God to speak to those in Jerusalem and to be a prophet to the nations (Jeremiah 1:5). While I regret in a way starting with Chapter 7, this is where I was just reading and so I'll start there. I will go back and recap some of what was in the earlier chapters, although Jeremiah itself is not a book that is in chronological order of prophecy or events. Chapter 7 is not a bad chapter to start with, because God basically tells Jeremiah, "You go right into the church and speak to my people." He tells him they're not going to like what he has to say, but he also told Jeremiah in Chapter 1 that although they would fight against him, they were not going to prevail, because God would be with him to deliver him.
So with that said, on to my next post.
Jason
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