DAY 300

HOW DEEP OUR FAITH?

Jeremiah 9, 10 & 11 and 1 Timothy 6

Yesterday I mentioned how the first part of chapter 9 was about Jeremiah praying for his people. We pick up in the chapter with God speaking in verse 17. He says to “call for mourning,” what else can be done, for He is bring ruin upon them. In verse 25 there is an interesting phrase where God says he will punish those who are circumcised merely in the flesh – and in this verse he links Judah with pagan nations! In other words Judah is no better than those other countries because their circumcision is only “skin deep” and not “heart deep.”

In chapter 10 we read an argument, a polemic, comparing the Living God to idols – it is no contest and it comes to its peak in verse 16 “for he is the one who formed all things.” From the height of verse 16, we plunge into verses 17-22 as a “great commotion” is coming out of the north. The “argument” in this chapter is a little bit like God’s Word saying, “Are you kidding me, you are following idols?”

Before we dig into chapter 11 I want to circle back to Day 1 where I tried to describe the different kings, and one of those kings was King Josiah—a good king. Before Josiah, King Manasseh reigned and he was a bad king. He was the son of another good king, Hezekiah. How do we go from good to bad to good? There are some theories.

Hezekiah was the king for much of Isaiah’s reign. While Hezekiah tried to reform his country, the siege upon Judah by Assyria left it a wasteland. It took a strong toll on the nation, and no doubt on Hezekiah’s son. When this son, Manasseh, came to the throne he rejected all that his father represented. This is a story as old as the ages. Manasseh therefore turned strongly to idolatry. It was a long dark reign. There is even an Assyrian tablet containing a treaty where Manasseh becomes a vassal of Assyria and swears, yes—swears, that he will worship the Assyrian god Asshur as his own god.

Josiah is different, and so is Jeremiah: two men born relatively in the same time period; born to serve the One True Living God. We read that Jeremiah began his ministry in the 13^th of Josiah’s reign; Josiah would be about twenty or twenty-one and the year would be 672 b.c. Five years later, in the 18^th year of his reign, they found the Book of the Law and Josiah gathered everyone, they read it, and Josiah had everyone “perform the words of the covenant.” (cf. 2 Chronicles 34).

I provide all the background because as we come to chapter 11 we read, “Hear the words of the covenant…” Scholars believe that the events of this chapter were inspired by the Book of the Law being found and Josiah “kicking his reform movement into high gear.” In fact Jeremiah was sent on a preaching tour…to all the cities of Judah and all the streets of Jerusalem. The result was rejection.

We read in 11:21 “the men of Anathoth, who seek your life, and say “Do not prophesy in the name of the Lord, or you will die by our hand.”” Anathoth…might you remember that name. I didn’t, but fortunately some other people who have written about Jeremiah did. In chapter 1, verse 1, we read that this is Jeremiah’s home town and it is a town of priests. What do you think these priests were doing before Josiah come to the throne? They were leading idol worship. While Josiah has people with their lips professing covenant renewal, their hearts are far away…their circumcision is only skin deep.

We face the same challenge. We hear week-in and week-out the message of the Gospel and then go back into the world, the world with all it tempting idols. In the days after Jesus’ Ascension the idols were both of wood and clay, but also the kind we wrestle with today…like money. Listen again to the New Testament lesson:

But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. 11 But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

Jeremiah’s world may seem far from ours, but it is not really; nor is Jesus’. May our faith in God be a deep faith, for the idols of the world still seek to draw us from His love.