Jeremiah 42:11

October 4, 2025 by Leave a Comment

“Do not fear the king of Babylon, of whom you are afraid. Do not fear him, declares the Lord, for I am with you, to save you and to deliver you from his hand.” (Jeremiah 42:11)

Babylon was the biggest and baddest dude in the neighborhood. But God told Israel, “Do not fear him.” How is that possible? The nation is under siege by Babylon! The next clause provides the answer: “for I am with you.” But, not just to “be with you” but “to save you and to deliver you.” The Lord has a purpose in His presence.

In a similar scenario, but a century earlier, when Assyria was the big boy, King Hezekiah said a similar thing to the great-grandparents of the people Jeremiah was talking to: “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or dismayed before the king of Assyria and all the horde that is with him, for there are more with us than with him. With him is an arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God, to help us and to fight our battles.” And the people took confidence from the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.” (2 Chronicles‬ ‭32‬:‭7‬-‭8‬) Once again, the Lord’s presence is purposeful: “to help us and to fight our battles.”

About 115 years apart, King Hezekiah had seen Assyria destroy the northern kingdom, and Jeremiah had witnessed the Babylonians destroy the southern kingdom. And both said, “The Lord is with you.”

Having witnessed what Hezekiah witnessed, Isaiah said the same thing: “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” (‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭41‬:‭10‬) (And, once again, the Lord’s presence has purpose: to strengthen and to help.

If we look at the impossible circumstances of Hezekiah, Isaiah, and Jeremiah, we can see that these were words of faith. To be clear, both Jeremiah and Isaiah were speaking the word of the Lord to their audiences. I wonder if Hezekiah hadn’t heard the same from Isaiah. Perhaps, he just knew the Lord so well that he rightly concluded that the Lord was with them.

To put a finer point on this thought, the reason that Judah should not be afraid was that the Lord was with them. Their courage should have come from the fact that the Lord was with them. And who is with me?

Father, please help me to remember that your Spirit dwells within me. Help me find courage in that truth and not fear what others may say or think if I’m completely obedient to you. Amen.

Filed Under: Assyria, Babylon, devotional thoughts, fear, Hezekiah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Old Testament Tagged With:

Jeremiah 41:9, 12

October 3, 2025 by Leave a Comment

“Now the cistern into which Ishmael had thrown all the bodies of the men whom he had struck down, along with Gedaliah, was the large cistern that King Asa had made for defense against Baasha, king of Israel; Ishmael the son of Nethaniah filled it with the slain. (9)

“… they took all their men and went to fight against Ishmael the son of Nethaniah. They came upon him at the great pool that is in Gibeon.” (12)

What stands out to me today is the historical nature of the Bible. Here, we see that the writer clearly intends that the reader believe these are events that happened to real people at real places, which he names. By naming specific places like the large cistern that King Asa had built or the great pool of Gibeon, the writer wants us to see these reports as both accurate and real. So what?

Understanding that these are real events experienced by real people should give us greater confidence in God’s word. It should also help us relate to the situations presented in the Bible. And it should give us greater confidence in the solutions offered in the Bible.

Interestingly, 2 days ago, I read an article about ancient Gibeon being destroyed by the Palestinians. (See https://www.jpost.com/archaeology/article-869181)

Father, help me believe and love your word more than I love today’s news. Amen.

Filed Under: devotional thoughts, history, Jeremiah, Old Testament Tagged With:

Jeremiah 40:1-3

October 2, 2025 by Leave a Comment

“The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord after Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, had let him go from Ramah, when he took him bound in chains along with all the captives of Jerusalem and Judah who were being exiled to Babylon. The captain of the guard took Jeremiah and said to him, ‘The Lord your God pronounced this disaster against this place. The Lord has brought it about, and has done as he said. Because you sinned against the Lord and did not obey his voice, this thing has come upon you.’” (Jeremiah 40:1-3)

Interestingly, the captain of the guard is echoing Jeremiah’s warnings back to Jeremiah. Of course, the soldier is speaking after the fact. That means he has connected Jeremiah’s warnings with the actual event.

  1. Jeremiah’s God (YHWH) pronounced this disaster (ie, the destruction of Jerusalem).
  2. The Lord brought it about. He did what He said He would do.
  3. This happened because of sin.

I hope that I will be able to connect God’s word to my life as well as that soldier did.

Father, please help me to see your book, the Bible, as clearly as this soldier saw your word through Jeremiah. Amen.

Filed Under: Babylon, devotional thoughts, Jeremiah, Old Testament, Sovereignty Tagged With:

Jeremiah 39:6-9

October 1, 2025 by Leave a Comment

“The king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah at Riblah before his eyes, and the king of Babylon slaughtered all the nobles of Judah. He put out the eyes of Zedekiah and bound him in chains to take him to Babylon. The Chaldeans burned the king’s house and the house of the people, and broke down the walls of Jerusalem. Then Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, carried into exile to Babylon the rest of the people who were left in the city, those who had deserted to him, and the people who remained.” (Jeremiah 39:6-9)

Judah had repeatedly been called to repent. But they repeatedly refused. Jeremiah had given the Lord’s clear warning of judgment if they refused to repent. Now, the judgment was landing heavily upon them. The king and his security fled as the Babylonians approached. But they were caught and seized near Jericho. From there, they were taken to Nebuchadnezzar’s HQ in Syria, which is where the selected text picks up the story.

The king’s sons were executed before his eyes, then the Babylonians gouged out the king’s eyes. The last thing he saw was his sons being slaughtered! While it is legitimate to point out the harshness of that punishment, we should not forget that the punishment was the result of the king’s refusal to repent. Jeremiah had repeatedly warned the king.

Pointing to the cruelty of eternity in hell has become something of a sport among former evangelicals these days. They are correct that eternity in hell is harsh, but their thought experiment stops short of acknowledging that only sinners who did not repent before a holy God go there.

Similarly, by repenting, King Zedekiah could have avoided God’s wrath. The power of human pride is astounding. And, I’m not talking about the pride of others. I’m talking about mine. Yikes!

Lord, help me to be humble and quick to repent. Amen.

Filed Under: devotional thoughts, Hezekiah, Jeremiah, Old Testament Tagged With:

Jeremiah 38:3-6

September 30, 2025 by Leave a Comment

“Thus says the Lord: This city shall surely be given into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon and be taken.” Then the officials said to the king, “Let this man be put to death, for he is weakening the hands of the soldiers who are left in this city, and the hands of all the people, by speaking such words to them. For this man is not seeking the welfare of this people, but their harm.” King Zedekiah said, “Behold, he is in your hands, for the king can do nothing against you.” So they took Jeremiah and cast him into the cistern of Malchiah, the king’s son, which was in the court of the guard, letting Jeremiah down by ropes. And there was no water in the cistern, but only mud, and Jeremiah sank in the mud.” (Jeremiah 38:3-6)

This is one of the most famous stories of Jeremiah. Jeremiah was thrown into a dried-up cistern and left to die. But why? Because he would not compromise his calling to speak the word of the Lord.

I hope that I would have Jeremiah’s courage if I should ever be in such a spot.

Father, please grow my courage and take away my fear of man. Amen.

Filed Under: courage, devotional thoughts, Jeremiah, Old Testament Tagged With:
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