Journal Through the Bible: Week 71 Thursday

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Jeremiah chapter 18

Does God issue any commands?

• God told Jeremiah to go to the potter's house where He would talk to him.
• God sent Jeremiah to the inhabitants of Judah, specifically the men of Jerusalem, to tell them of the evil the LORD would bring their direction for their destruction if they did not turn from their wickedness. (The men refused. See verse 12.)
• God told the men of Judah to ask among the heathen nations who had heard of such evil things!

Does God make any promises?

• God declares Himself the potter that builds up nations to be trophies of righteousness or destroys those that are marred by sinfulness. An evil nation would have the opportunity to repent to avoid this destruction.
• Because the men of Judah refused to listen to Jeremiah's call to repentance God promised to make their land desolate. God would turn His face away from them.

Does this chapter teach anything about Jesus?

• God turns His face away from sin. He did this to Judah when they had forsaken Him. Because Jesus carried our sins to the cross, God turned His face away from Jesus.
• The prayers of Jeremiah to God during the time when his enemies sought to harm him because of the words that he preached are very much like some of the imprecatory psalms of David. Jesus is the Righteous Judge that renders to each the sentence earned.
• Unlike Jeremiah who asked God to bring about the harshest punishment for the religious leaders who wished to harm him, Jesus asked God the Father to forgive those who harmed Him because He said they did not know what they were doing.

Does this chapter teach anything about yet-future events?

• This chapter teaches about judgment. Those who denounce God will be punished. Those who harm God's prophets will be punished. There is a definite distinction made concerning the future of those who obey God and those who don't. As it was in the day of Jeremiah, so shall it be in the final days.
• God had already told Jeremiah what the penalty would be for the wicked that chose to disobey Him and when they tried to lay hands on Jeremiah he agreed with God that the wicked needed to be punished just as God said they must. It is hard for us to think of what awaits those who choose to disobey God, but when the time of judgment arrives we will agree with God that the sentence God pronounces is just and must be carried out. This is taught in Revelation also when those around God's throne ask how long it will be until God avenges those martyred for naming the name of Jesus.