Prosperity and Peace
Read: Jeremiah 33:1-9 I will heal my people and let them enjoy abundant peace and security. (v. 6 NIV) Throughout the Old Testament, God promised one thing above all others: peace. The Hebrew word for “peace” is shalom, a term with sweeping, almost cosmic implications. Shalom, best understood, means “all things as they were meant […]
Nothing Is Too Difficult
Read: Jeremiah 32:17-23 Ah, Lord God . . . Nothing is too hard for you. (v. 17) Periodically I counsel couples in crisis. When there is conflict or neglect between partners, it can be encouraging to recall times of mutual fulfillment and happiness. It helps to remember when life together was good. In Jeremiah, God […]
A New Covenant
Read: Jeremiah 31:27-34 I will make a new covenant with . . . Israel . . . (v. 31) At Mount Sinai, God established a covenant with his people. He offered the law as a means of making life right and making Israel right with him. They accepted the terms: “It will be righteousness for […]
I Will Be Your God
Read: Jeremiah 30:18-24 I will restore the fortunes of the tents of Jacob. (v. 18) In the first half of Jeremiah, God threatened judgment; in the second half, he promised restoration. The judgment was concrete: in 587 BC, God sent his rebellious people into exile. The restoration was abstract, and consisted of three future actions: […]
Hope and a Future
Read: Jeremiah 29:10-14 I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD. (v. 11) Jeremiah 29:11 is one of the most-quoted verses of the Hebrew Bible. There is something universally comforting about God’s promise of “hope and a future” (NIV). But the verses surrounding it are no less powerful. God opened with a […]
Rooted in Love
Read: Jeremiah 29:1-9 Seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. (v. 7 NIV) When my family and I first moved into our church’s parsonage, we had to get over the sense that this house wasn’t our house. A church member urged us to hang pictures. A […]
A God Nearby
Read: Jeremiah 23:23-24 Am I a God at hand, declares the Lord, and not a God far away? (v. 23) The first Toy Story movie begins with a crisis. Woody, a toy cowboy, experiences a fate worse than death: separation from his beloved owner, Andy. When he realizes his predicament, Woody cries in despair, “I’m […]
The Righteous Branch
Read: Jeremiah 22:1-5 Behold, the days are coming . . . when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch. (v. 5) Last fall I cut down a tree that had grown up in a corner of my yard. This spring, to my surprise, I saw small green shoots growing out of what I […]
Ruin or Redemption?
Read: Jeremiah 22:1-5 Do what is just and right. (v. 3 NIV) In Jeremiah 21, God denied a king’s cry for help. God refused because his people had refused his past offers of help. They had trusted alliances with pagan neighbors instead of trusting God. God would use these very alliances to ruin Jerusalem. But […]