Jeremiah 30:11

September 22, 2025 by Leave a Comment

“For I am with you to save you, declares the Lord; I will make a full end of all the nations among whom I scattered you, but of you I will not make a full end. I will discipline you in just measure, and I will by no means leave you unpunished.” (Jeremiah 30:11)

This verse is rich. I like to break the verse apart to see the details.

  1. For I am with you to save you, declares the Lord;

God declares He is with Israel.

How can that be if they are in exile? He is not a regional deity; He can be everywhere.

How can that be if they are in trouble? While they may feel abandoned, especially while being disciplined, God has not turned His back on them. God’s purpose is to save Israel. The reason he disciplines them is that he loves them and has plans for them.

For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives. (Hebrews 12:6)

  1. I will make a full end of all the nations among whom I scattered you, but of you I will not make a full end.

Although Babylon conquered Jerusalem and drove Judah into exile, God took credit for scattering Judah among the nations. This gives us a glimpse into God’s ability to use the wicked actions of men to accomplish his purposes.

… “this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.” (Acts 2:23)

God promises once again that He will not destroy Israel.

  1. I will discipline you in just measure, and I will by no means leave you unpunished.”
    ‭‭
    God affirms that Israel will be punished, but in the appropriate amount.

One of the beauties of God is that while He will destroy the nations that rebel against Him, He offers to graft us into Israel through His son, Jesus.

As John wrote in 3:16-18, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.”

Paul writes in Romans 9:25-26, “As indeed he says in Hosea, ‘Those who were not my people I will call ‘my people,’ and her who was not beloved I will call ‘beloved.’” “And in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ there they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’”

Father, thank you for your faithfulness to your people and for your generosity toward those who come to you through Jesus. Amen.

Filed Under: covanent, devotional thoughts, Jeremiah, Old Testament

Jeremiah 29:11-13

September 21, 2025 by Leave a Comment

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:11-13)

This is powerful. While it is written to Israel in exile, I believe it reveals the truth about God that applies to all people everywhere.

  1. (11) Even though Israel was so wicked that God sent them into exile, He says He has plans for them. God has not abandoned His covenant with them. Apparently, when He said “forever,” He meant forever.
  2. (11) God’s future for Israel is restoration, not destruction or abandonment.
  3. (12) Israel will call on God, and He will hear them.
  4. (13) He promises they will find Him when they seek Him with all their heart.

My thoughts are on the condition of verse 13. “You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.” I don’t know how to measure “with all your heart.” However, I think it means with sincerity. Perhaps, “with all your heart” means with the same energy and commitment we would search for our lost car keys if we were late for a meeting at which we would receive one million dollars, but only if we are present.

It’s hard to measure the heart, so we can’t look at someone who seems to be low energy about finding God and say, “You aren’t seeking with all your heart.” I suspect this is more of a personal standard that we use to measure our own hearts.

Jesus uses similar wording in His Sermon on the Mount: “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.” (Matthew 7:7-8)

Father, please grow me in my faith so that I am more regularly seeking you with all my heart. Amen.

Filed Under: covanent, devotional thoughts, Israel, Jeremiah, Old Testament

Jeremiah 28:2-4, 8-9

September 20, 2025 by Leave a Comment

“Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon. Within two years, I will bring back to this place all the vessels of the Lord’s house, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away from this place and carried to Babylon. I will also bring back to this place Jeconiah, the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and all the exiles from Judah who went to Babylon, declares the Lord, for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.” (2-4)

“The prophets who preceded you and me from ancient times prophesied war, famine, and pestilence against many countries and great kingdoms. As for the prophet who prophesies peace, when the word of that prophet comes to pass, then it will be known that the Lord has truly sent the prophet.” (8-9)

This is something of a contest of the prophets. Hananiah surely must have gained a following because he was prophesying the almost immediate end of Babylonian captivity and the restoration of the temple and the throne. Peace and prosperity are highly desired.

In fact, Jeremiah’s initial response was, “Amen. May the Lord bring your words to pass.” Jeremiah is clearly not against the restoration of Israel. However, he also realizes that a prophet’s word must be tested. Just because a prophet says, “Thus says the Lord,” doesn’t automatically make it a word from the Lord.

In this case, Hananiah’s word was so contrary to what the prophets of old had said regarding war and famine that Jeremiah said, when his words come to pass, we will know that he was truly from the Lord. In other words, we have to take a wait-and-see approach. In the end, the Lord told Jeremiah to declare Hananiah a false prophet.

I appreciate Jeremiah’s desire for peace and restoration and willingness to see if Hananiah was a true prophet. I also appreciate his heart to stay true to the Lord and speak once God spoke to him.

Father, help me to be more like Jeremiah in my commitment to you and your word. Amen.

Filed Under: covanent, devotional thoughts, Jeremiah, Old Testament, Prophecy

Jeremiah 27:1-2

September 19, 2025 by Leave a Comment

“In the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord. Thus the Lord said to me: ‘Make yourself straps and yoke-bars, and put them on your neck.’” (Jeremiah 27:1-2)

How can I be embarrassed to witness to people in a normal conversation? Here, Jeremiah had to walk around in a cattle yoke as a visual aid to his words. God only asks me to talk with people, and I can become fearful with “what ifs.”

The fear of man is a mighty spiritual and emotional force.

Father, please help me to love you more than I fear man. Please grow me out of my fear of man. Amen.

Filed Under: devotional thoughts, Evangelism, fear, Jeremiah, Old Testament

Jeremiah 26:12-15

September 18, 2025 by Leave a Comment

“Then Jeremiah spoke to all the officials and all the people, saying, ‘The Lord sent me to prophesy against this house and this city all the words you have heard. Now therefore mend your ways and your deeds, and obey the voice of the Lord your God, and the Lord will relent of the disaster that he has pronounced against you. But as for me, behold, I am in your hands. Do with me as seems good and right to you. Only know for certain that if you put me to death, you will bring innocent blood upon yourselves and upon this city and its inhabitants, for in truth the Lord sent me to you to speak all these words in your ears.’” (Jeremiah 26:12-15)

What a timely reminder of what it means to fear God rather than man. The Lord told Jeremiah to prophesy against Jerusalem and to call on them to repent. When he did, some of the men arose and claimed Jeremiah should be put to death because of what he said. Insert the selected passage here.

  1. Jeremiah explained that he had been sent from the Lord.
  2. He restated the Lord’s words of condemnation.
  3. He offered the people the option of repentance to stop the Lord’s wrath.
  4. He acknowledged that he was in their hands and they could do with him as they chose.
  5. Finally, he warned them of the consequences that would befall them should they kill him.

Jeremiah stood on business. He demonstrated what it means to fear God more than man. I want to have this kind of commitment to God. I want to have confidence that if I were in Jeremiah’s shoes, I would have behaved the same way he did.

Father, please help me to grow in my love for you so that I will always stand firm in your name, even if it means danger to me. Amen.

Filed Under: devotional thoughts, fear, Jeremiah, Old Testament
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