Devotionals: Jeremiah Archives

Into the Depths

By Andrew YoungOctober 27, 2018Devotionals: Jeremiah

“Cursed be the day on which I was born!” (Jeremiah 20:14) Bible Reading: Jeremiah 20:14-18 The final phase of Jeremiah’s greatest lament – and with this, we will finish our studies in the book that bears his name – takes us back down into the depths of hopelessness. There have been glimmers of light, but they are swallowed up again in the blackness of despair. “Cursed be the day on which I was born!” he bemoans. “The day when my mother bore me, let it not be blessed!” (Jeremiah 20 14). We have encountered this expression before, but it is […]

Light in the Darkness

By Andrew YoungOctober 26, 2018Devotionals: Jeremiah

“But the LORD is with me as a dread warrior…” (Jeremiah 20:11) Bible Reading: Jeremiah 20:11-13 The laments we find in the Bible – outpourings of grief and complaint – typically contain a mixture of elements. There is a complaint about personal circumstances, but there is also confidence in God, hope for the future, and even praise for deliverance. We find all of these in Jeremiah’s lament that we are studying. He has expressed his complaint (Jeremiah 20:7-10); here he affirms his confidence in God. “But the LORD is with me as a dread warrior,” he says, “therefore my persecutors […]

Fire in the Heart

By Andrew YoungOctober 25, 2018Devotionals: Jeremiah

“…there is in my heart as it were a burning fire…” (Jeremiah 20:9) Bible Reading: Jeremiah 20:9-10 Yesterday, we noted that the word of the Lord had become for Jeremiah a “reproach and derision all day long” (Jeremiah 20:8). His prophetic role led to him being constantly despised and mocked. He tells us what he had to endure in verse 10. “For I hear many whispering…’Terror is on every side!’” is what they are saying. This is likely a nickname people had taken to using, mimicking Jeremiah’s messages of woe and annihilation. “There goes old ‘terror on every side’” people […]

Mocked and Derided

By Andrew YoungOctober 24, 2018Devotionals: Jeremiah

“For the word of the LORD has become for me a reproach and derision all day long.” (Jeremiah 20:8) Bible Reading: Jeremiah 20:1-8 Jeremiah’s despair over his calling as a prophet reaches its lowest point in chapter 20. His lament(s) in verses 7-21 reveal what has been called “the dark night of his soul.” There is no glimmer of joy and hope, only profound misery. It is likely that his discouragement is linked with the events described in the earlier part of the chapter. There, we read of Jeremiah being physically assaulted by a priest named Pashur for predicting the […]

Standing Firm

By Andrew YoungOctober 23, 2018Devotionals: Jeremiah

“…they shall not prevail over you, for I am with you…” (Jeremiah 15:20) Bible Reading: Jeremiah 15:10-21 As one of the longest books in the Bible, there is much in Jeremiah that we might explore and reflect upon as it relates to our lives today. However, let’s content ourselves with one or two more devotionals looking at the trials of the prophet himself as he fulfilled God’s calling. We have already noted in the early chapters of this book that Jeremiah’s lot was to call the southern kingdom of Judah to account for abandoning God for useless idols. His task […]

God’s Answer

By Andrew YoungOctober 22, 2018Devotionals: Jeremiah

“If you have raced with men on foot, and they have wearied you, how will you compete with horses?” (Jeremiah 12:5) Bible Reading: Jeremiah 12:5, 6 Our last two devotionals have centred on the troubles Jeremiah was experiencing in his hometown of Anathoth (Jeremiah 11:21). God had revealed the plots of evil men against the prophet, and Jeremiah had responded by a complaint to God about his justice. Here, we have God’s answer to his despondent servant. “Where is your justice?” Jeremiah had asked, expecting God to provide some explanation for the slowness of his judgments. God’s response is not […]

Jeremiah’s Complaint

By Andrew YoungOctober 21, 2018Devotionals: Jeremiah

“Why does the way of the wicked prosper?” (Jeremiah 12:1) Bible Reading: Jeremiah 12:1-4 In these verses we see Jeremiah wrestling with God. There are things about God’s ways that puzzle him – indeed, that even provoke him to complain. At heart, his complaint is about God’s justice, or the lack of it, in the case of “wicked” and “treacherous” people. “Righteous are you, O LORD, when I complain to you,” he begins (Jeremiah 12:1). He knows that God is always right in what he does, yet he has this complaint about the way he deals with the ungodly. “Why […]

A Plea for Vengeance

By Andrew YoungOctober 20, 2018Devotionals: Jeremiah

“…let me see your vengeance upon them… ” (Jeremiah 11:20) Bible Reading: Jeremiah 11:18-20 One of the features of the book of Jeremiah is the way in which the personal struggles of the prophet are revealed. Here we have Jeremiah’s response to discovering a plot against him by the men of his hometown, Anathoth. He knew nothing of this plot until the Lord himself revealed it to him. “The LORD made it known to me and I knew,” he says. “Then you showed me their deeds [or, their plots –NIV]” (Jeremiah 11:18). Up until that time, Jeremiah continues, “I was […]

The Broken Covenant

By Andrew YoungOctober 19, 2018Devotionals: Jeremiah

“Yet they did not obey or incline their ear… ” (Jeremiah 11:8) Bible Reading: Jeremiah 11:1-8 In these verses, Israel’s unfaithfulness to God is expressed in terms of breaking the covenant he had established with them. From the beginning of human history, God has related to humans through covenants – solemn contracts or structured relationships with conditions and consequences. From the time of the exodus until the coming of Christ, God’s chosen people (Israel), had been bound in a covenant with him (the old covenant) which he established with them in the desert at Mt Sinai (Exodus 19-24). The terms […]

God and Idols

By Andrew YoungOctober 18, 2018Devotionals: Jeremiah

“…the customs of the people are vanity… But the LORD is the true God. ” (Jeremiah 10:3, 10) Bible Reading: Jeremiah 10:1-10 God’s case against his people centres on their deserting him for idols. In the tenth chapter of Jeremiah, the worthlessness of idols is contrasted with the glory of God. The customs of the people connected with idol worship are summed up and dismissed in one word – they are “vanity” or “worthless” (Jeremiah 10:3). They are merely the work of human hands, likened here to “scarecrows in a cucumber field” (v. 5). What a vivid image that is. […]