Jeremiah 49 Devotional by Pastor Lawrence Bowlin           Continuing on the same theme from the last three chapters of God’s judgment upon the nations, this chapter is addressed to five different kingdoms or coalitions of kingdoms, first to Ammon just east of Israel, then Edom to the south, Damascus to the northeast, the kingdoms of Kedar and Hazor to the southeast and Elam much farther east, near ancient Babylon.  Those kingdoms were located in what…

Jeremiah 47 Devotional by Pastor Mark Hudson This section of Jeremiah is where God’s judgment comes not just to Judah or Babylon or even Egypt. But in chapters 46 (Egypt) 47 (Philistia) 48 (Moab) 49 (Ammon) 50 (Babylon) are all the subject of God’s judgment. You can see the same thing in Amos 1-2, Obadiah directed to Edom, Jonah going to Nineveh, Nahum directing his message to Nineveh, and so many verses in the O.T.…

Jeremiah 46 by Pastor Lawrence Bowlin The first forty-five chapters of the book of Jeremiah have been dedicated exclusively to God’s judgment upon the Jews, but the remaining chapters are devoted to God’s judgment upon all the surrounding gentile nations. The prophet had briefly shared with us earlier on in Jeremiah 25:15ff that the Lord was going to bring judgment on these other nations in addition to Judah by also making them to drink from…

Jeremiah 45 by Pastor David Groendyk Paul Tripp wrote a book a while back about marriage called “What Did You Expect?” In that book, Tripp explains how people tend to enter into marriage with unrealistic expectations and then are sorely disappointed and frustrated when their new spouse and new marriage aren’t perfect. “What Did You Expect?” would also be an appropriate title for Jeremiah 45. In this very short chapter, Jeremiah’s scribe Baruch is lamenting…

Jeremiah 44 Devotional by Pastor Mark Hudson You have been reading 43 chapters of Jeremiah. In chapter 44, you might think that the people of Israel will, after seeing the destruction of Jerusalem, the deportations of the Jews to Babylon, and the murder of Gedaliah figure out that what God had warned through Jeremiah was actually coming true. They could see and they were experiencing God’s judgment. Furthermore, you might think now, after all these…

Jeremiah 43 Devotional by Pastor Lawrence Even though Johanan and his men swore to listen to the prophet Jeremiah and do whatever the Lord had told them to do that it might go well with them when they obeyed the voice of the Lord, they did not keep their promise. Because they did not believe that the Lord would protect them from the wrath of King Nebuchadnezzar, they refused to stay in Israel as the…

Jeremiah 42 by Pastor David Groendyk How many times will Judah make the same stupid and sinful mistakes over and over again? They never learn. After killing the Babylon-appointed (and God-ordained) governor over the land, the people intend to flee to Egypt in order to outrun the wrath of the Babylonian king, which is exactly what Zedekiah and his officials had tried to do back in chapter 39 and exactly what the Lord had warned…

Jeremiah 41 Devotional by Pastor Mark Hudson Unfortunately you could make R rated movies from stories in the Bible.  This is one violent chapter in a book that has quite a few violent chapters and stories.  I think this chapter also shows that once you start down a path of disobedience it can get worse and worse. As you have noticed, some of the Jews did go to Babylon.  Maybe they were reluctant. Some of…

Jeremiah 40 Devotional by Pastor Lawrence Bowlin                  After the city of Jerusalem is destroyed and most of the remaining Jews who survived the siege, sword, famine and plague are now bound in chains and on their way to Babylon, Nebuzaradan, the Babylonian captain of the guard, releases Jeremiah from his manacles and gives him his freedom.  Very unexpectedly, we hear this pagan guard give credit to the Lord for pronouncing the destruction of Jerusalem in advance…

Jeremiah 39 by Pastor David Groendyk The moment we’ve all been waiting for: Jerusalem has fallen. As we read the first ten verses, the description of the fall gets worse and worse. The Babylonian army makes a breach in the city wall and occupies the city (vv. 2–3). After the great king Zedekiah and his officials try to make a break for it in the middle of the night, they get chased down and taken…

Jeremiah 38 Devotional by Pastor Mark Hudson If you are a follower of cultural trends, you have noticed the term `cancel culture.’  If you do not know the term, you know the concept.  Someone says something offensive and people demand that the person should be fired.  This discussion of what constitutes tolerance and intolerance is fascinating.  D. A. Carson’s book The Intolerance of Tolerance, although a bit dated, is an excellent elucidation of this dilemma…

Jeremiah 37 Devotional by Pastor Lawrence Now the events move forward once again to just after the death of the proud king Jehoiakim with his dead body being devoured by the birds of the air and the beasts of the field.  His son Jehoiachin has been taken captive to Babylon after ruling for only three months, and his brother Zedekiah has now been appointed king by Nebuchadnezzar.  Zedekiah is also wicked in God’s sight, but…

Jeremiah 36 by Pastor David Groendyk These are the final days of Judah. The clock is ticking until Jerusalem falls in Jeremiah 39. Contrasted with the faithful, command-keeping, authority-obeying Rechabites in yesterday’s chapter, Jehoiakim the king of Judah is defiantly rebellious and disobedient to God. The king that’s been center-stage for much of the story lately is Zedekiah, who was the final king of Judah, but in our chapter we’re going back in time about…

Jeremiah 34 Devotional by Pastor Lawrence Bowlin After King Zedekiah’s rebellion against Babylon in 589 BC, Nebuchadnezzar laid siege to Jerusalem and the two remaining fortified cities in Judah, Lachish and Azekah, both southwest of Jerusalem in 588 BC.  (See 2 Chronicles 11:5-12 for a list of all fifteen fortified cities established by King Rehoboam years before).  It was during this siege that the Lord came to Jeremiah, and he told the king that Jerusalem…

Jeremiah 33 by Pastor David Groendyk Remember Jeremiah is currently imprisoned for speaking the words of God (32:2ff.). This is now the second time God has revealed something to Jeremiah while in prison, and the theme of this chapter is that God fulfills all his promises to his people. The Lord prefaces this revelation by reminding Jeremiah that he is the Creator God of the universe (v. 2). He formed and established the earth by…

Jeremiah 32 Devotional by Pastor Mark Hudson Jeremiah is imprisoned because as Zedekiah told him, “"Why do you prophesy and say, 'Thus says the LORD: Behold, I am giving this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall capture it. . . .”  The king abused his power by putting Jeremiah in prison because the king did not like what Jeremiah said.  This is a poor reason to discipline a prophet. …

Jeremiah 31 Devotional by Pastor Lawrence Although chapter twenty-nine of Jeremiah is probably the most well-known by church members today, it is chapter thirty-one that is most familiar to pastors, for it is a pivotal chapter in the progressive history of God’s redemption.  It contains the promise of a new covenant that builds upon the Adamic covenant (Gen. 2-3; Hos. 6:7); the Noahic covenant (Gen. 8-9), the Abrahamic covenant (Gen. 12 15, 17), the Mosaic…

Jeremiah 30 by Pastor David Groendyk Jeremiah 1:10 says that Jeremiah will preach a message of plucking up, breaking down, destroying, overthrowing, building, and planting. After so much plucking, breaking, destroying, and overthrowing thus far, we finally get the building and planting. Jeremiah 30–33 is known as the “Book of Comfort” in this long prophetic book written by the weeping prophet. It tells of the hopeful future that the people of God have despite the…

Jeremiah 29 Devotional by Pastor Mark Hudson If you are looking for a favorite verse to memorize or put up on your wall Jeremiah 29:11 is the verse. But before we get to that well-know and much loved verse let’s understand the context of chapter 29.  This book concerns the Babylonian exile.  This refers to a time when, after many warnings, God finally made good on His promised threats of removing His people from the…

Jeremiah 28 Devotional by Pastor Lawrence If it hasn’t been said already, the book of Jeremiah is not in chronological order chapter by chapter.  Although we were told in the beginning of the book, in chapter one, that Jeremiah prophesied from the thirteenth year of Josiah’s reign until the eleventh year of Zedekiah’s reign, every succeeding chapter has jumped from one time period to another.  However, in this particular case, chapter twenty-eight follows immediately after…

Jeremiah 27 by Pastor David Groendyk Here is another chapter in which Jeremiah warns people of impending doom. The emphasis this time, however, lies in the fact that the people should not listen to the prophets, diviners, dreamers, fortune-tellers, or sorcerers who are saying that the exile won’t come (v. 9). And the Lord is awfully direct in these verses. Notice how many times he calls out the false prophets for their lies: “Do not…