Latest / Faith by annm2705 / 779. Bible Study: Jeremiah 18 (How God "speaks" to people, God's mercy; How to respond to Hatred)

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779. Bible Study: Jeremiah 18 (How God "speaks" to people, God's mercy; How to respond to Hatred) · Faith by annm2705

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Chapter 17 from the book of Jeremiah.
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Dear Lord, before we get started, we remind ourselves in
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second Timothy chapter 3 verse 16.
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All scripture is God breathed and is useful for teaching,
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rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness so
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that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every
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good work. We ask that the Holy Spirit help
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us with this as we read through this chapter in Jesus name,
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Amen. This is the word of the Word
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that came to Jeremiah from the Lord.
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Go down to the Potter's house and there I will give you my
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message. Just starting out with that
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verse. Isn't it interesting, if you
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think about it, that this is how God starts speaking to Jeremiah?
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He just tells him this really strange message, like go to the
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Potter's house and I will give you my message.
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So isn't that just, it's so interesting.
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I, I think of how God communicates with people and he
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has his own way of communicating personally with each person.
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We see the different prophets in the Bible and how God
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communicated with them, sometimes through visions,
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sometimes through other people, sometimes directly like this.
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Like I can't imagine. And I know there are people who
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claim to get words from God like this today.
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And, and, and you know, according to testimonies that
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people have given, God still does this sort of thing.
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Like what we read, we've read about with Peter where he was up
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on a rooftop and then he received the word of God about
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clean and unclean foods. And he was told to meet with a
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certain person at the same time God was communicating with that
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person. And the two of them didn't know
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one another that that person was going to meet Peter.
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So God like arranges meetings between people that don't even
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know one another. And that's we see that in
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Scripture. And so again, this is just and
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like I said, there are still people today who have had this
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experience. So God is still communicating
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with people and he's still doing these kinds of amazing things
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when we are close to him, when people are close to him, or when
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God is has a purpose for a person, He will make that clear,
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just like he's making it for Jeremiah.
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He, you know, told Jeremiah, I formed you in the womb.
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I know every hair on your head. And God knows that about each of
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us. And God does have a plan and a
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purpose. And God had a specific purpose
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for Jeremiah. So the other thing about the way
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God said this, go down to the Potter's house and there I will
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give you my message. That's also a testing of
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Jeremiah. Is he going to respond to God or
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is he going to blow it off and just say, I don't feel like
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going down to the Potter's house, but he's obedient to God.
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And that's really important too, that when God communicates that
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we are obedient to him. And knowing if it's God's voice
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is another thing that I think over time maybe people find out
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when when good things happen as a result of following what you
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think might be God's word. And then also just knowing that
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whatever it is that it aligns with, it doesn't conflict with
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what's in Scripture, what we know about God through
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Scripture, like it doesn't change the way God would
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typically handle something, but just very interesting and, and
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something that we should all strive for to hear from God and
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to let God speak to us and be open to that and find the way
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that God communicates to us because he will communicate with
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every person. It, you know, it says in
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Scripture, if you seek him, you will find him.
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So continuing on in Scripture. So I went down to the Potter's
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house and saw him working at the wheel, but the pot he was
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shaping from the clay was marred in his hands.
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So the Potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as it as
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seemed best to him. Then the word of the Lord came
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to me. He said, Can I not do with you,
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Israel, as this Potter does, declares the Lord like clay in
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the hand of the Potter. So are you in my hand, Israel?
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If at any time I announce that a nation or Kingdom is to be
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uprooted, torn down and destroyed, and if that nation I
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warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on
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it the disaster I had planned. So this is really something that
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we should be aware of because an A nation, I mean, we're all
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connected to a our own nations. If we see the nation being
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ungodly, then that should be a concern because we'd be in the
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same situation as Jeremiah. If we see the nation turning
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towards God, that's a good thing because as a nation, as this
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says, as a nation turns toward God, God could relent some of
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his judgment that's coming. And this again is evidence of
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God's mercy, like justice would be to to destroy because the
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wages of sin is death. So that's like, if you go by the
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law, that's what would happen. Anybody who is disobedient, it
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would be death. But because God is merciful, he
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doesn't just automatically go to that.
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And he gives us the opportunity to repent, to change our ways,
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to seek Him, to stop doing evil, to ask for forgiveness, to turn
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to Him. That's what repentance really
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is, is turning away from the evil acts, the evil sin, the
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things that God doesn't approve of, and turning towards God for
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his help and his power to overcome the sin.
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So continuing in the Scripture. And if at another time I
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announce that a nation or Kingdom is to be built up and
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planted, and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me,
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then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it.
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So here's another thing that we can all learn is that if we
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follow God and if we are obedient to God, he has good
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planned for us. If we turn away from God and we
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sin against God, we may not get the things that God had planned
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for us. God is a good God.
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He is the giver of good gifts. And we bring about stuff on
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ourselves when we turn away from God, when we disobey God, when
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we don't live the way God wants us to.
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We don't even know what God had planned.
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Maybe he was about to do something and then we, you know,
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offend him by disobeying him. And then he's like, well, I
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don't think I'm going to do that anymore because look what
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they're doing. So pretty much everything that
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comes upon us seems like is, you know, is justified, I guess,
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because we're all sinners. And so anything that does happen
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to us is justified in that way. But at the same time, God is
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also so merciful because the what our thoughts and our minds
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and our hearts, our desires, what we desire, God recognizes
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that. And when we desire to be close
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to him, God has mercy. And sometimes he blesses people
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in this life. And sometimes there is a promise
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in the eternal Kingdom where a person will be blessed.
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But I have not seen anywhere in Scripture where God does not
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reward people for doing good. So it may not come as we maybe
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want it to be in this life, but there is a promise.
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This is a promise that I see from God in all Scripture is
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that when you are obedient to Him, when you show love to Him,
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when you show love to others, that God sees that, He
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recognizes that and there will be a reward.
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We don't do it for the reward, but it should be comforting to
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know that even if things are not perfect in our lives right now,
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that God sees it. God knows the good that's being
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done. And God will reward at some
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point, and we can just trust in Him and believe that He will.
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He will make everything right. He, He's a God of justice.
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So if we are truly doing good things and having bad things
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come against us, it's only temporary and it will not be
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that way forever. We could see that Jeremiah
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experienced that too. So going back to verse 11.
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Now therefore, say to the people of Judah and those living in
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Jerusalem, this is what the Lord says, look, I am preparing a
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disaster for you and devising a plan against you.
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So God's talking to the people of Judah.
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These are His chosen people and He's telling them, hey, he's
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giving them a heads up, you know, through this prophet
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Jeremiah, he's telling them this is what's going to come about.
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Like how clear can you communicate?
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Like God is giving these people every opportunity to change the
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outcome. That's something you know, look
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at how loving that is, how God is.
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So turn from your evil ways, each one of you, and reform your
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ways and your actions. That's what repentance is.
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It's turning away from sin and changing, having a change of the
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way we live. But they will reply, it's no
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use. We will continue with our own
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plans. We will all follow the
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stubbornness of our evil hearts. So they don't listen.
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Their hearts are hardened to God.
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They want to do what they want to do.
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They want to stay in their sin. Their sin is causing judgment to
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come upon them. But instead of getting rid of
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the sin, they keep the sin and take on the judgment.
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And that's what we do in our lives too.
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When we stay in sin, we're just bringing judgement on ourselves.
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And we can't blame anybody else because it's just, you know,
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it's very clear in the Bible. This is what happens when you
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stay in sin. There will be consequences for
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it. And it's not good stuff, not
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good consequences. Therefore this is what the Lord
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said. Inquire among the nations who
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has ever heard anything like this?
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A most horrible thing has been done by virgin Israel.
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Does the snow of Lebanon ever vanish from its rocky slopes?
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Do its cool waters from distant sources ever stop flowing?
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Yet my people have forgotten me, they burn incense to worthless
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idols which made them stumble in their ways in the ancient paths.
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So this part makes me think about like this is like the same
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deception as from long ago about other things, other entities,
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other beings being God and not the true God, detracting from
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God with something that is not God and people that are
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worshiping it. We see that today with people
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like worshiping nature and honestly, anyone who is not
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worshiping the true God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
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So anybody who's not worshiping that God is worshiping something
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false some some other being. And the Bible is very clear
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about that. So today we because we have
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other religions, that means these other religions are
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worshipping a false God. There's only one creator.
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So they made them walk in byways, on roads not built up.
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Their land will be an object of horror and of lasting scorn.
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All who pass by will be appalled, and will shake their
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heads like a wind from the east. I will scatter them before their
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enemies. I will show them my back and not
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my face. In the day of their disaster,
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they said, Come, let us make plans against Jeremiah.
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For the teaching of the law by the priest will not cease, nor
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will counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophets.
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So come, let's attack him with our tongues and pay no attention
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to anything he says. So what Jeremiah is experiencing
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from them is verbal attacks. And they're ignoring him too.
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They're just going to speak about him and they're just going
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to ignore whatever he says. But that's not the wisest thing
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to do. But again, they are following
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their hearts. They're being deceived.
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They're in idolatry. And you know, the like we read
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at the beginning of this, actually, that's not at the
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beginning of this, but the word is like a, a sword and how it
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divides between the bone and the marrows and the joints.
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I, I read that the other day and I, I don't really recall the
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words of that verse, but that just came to mind where the word
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of God is very convicting and, and it's uncomfortable for
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people. It really like cuts and people
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don't want to hear it, but if they listen to it, they will
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benefit. They will benefit themselves and
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others around them when they obey God.
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Obedience to God is not an option.
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And for it's just so important to be in God's Word.
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So then it says, listen to me Lord, hear what my accusers are
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saying. Should good be repaid with evil?
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Yet they have dug a pit for me. Remember that I stood before you
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and spoke in their behalf to turn your wrath away from them.
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So Jeremiah's talking to God and he's like, what?
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But why are they doing this to me?
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I was trying to plead their case in front of you, and he was
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concerned about them. But now they are turning against
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him, and then Jeremiah is saying so.
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Give their children over to famine.
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Hand them over to the power of the sword.
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Let their wives be made childless, and widows.
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Let their men be put to death, their young men slain by the
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sword in battle. Let a cry be heard from their
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houses when you suddenly bring invaders against them.
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For they have dug a pit to capture me, and have hidden
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snares from my feet. But you, Lord, know all their
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plots to kill me. Do not forgive their crimes or
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blot out their sins from your sight.
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Let them be overthrown before you deal with them in the time
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of your anger. So this brings about a lot of
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thoughts and discussion. Is it right to pray for others
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to be harmed? So I'm going to go to that part
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of it and have this is from the study Bible.
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Is it right to pray for revenge? Now this is in the study Bible
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in the one I have it's it's in the psalms and a lot of the
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Psalms they do ask for the same thing.
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So I'm going to read this. Several Psalms call on God to
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take revenge on an enemy. Yet Jesus taught that we should
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love our enemies. Matthew chapter 5 and the
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apostle Paul wrote, Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but
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leave room for God's wrath. That's in Romans 12, verse 19.
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How then do we interpret Psalms that call a curse on the enemy?
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Several points can help to put this question into perspective.
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Number one for the psalmist cursing the wicked was a plea
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for God's justice more than a cry for personal revenge.
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They may have reasoned that sinners show contempt for God's
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honor when they cause the innocent to suffer.
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Since the psalmist could not tolerate the idea of God
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standing by permitting these wrongs to go unpunished, they
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begged for His justice and His wrath to be carried out.
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Number two through date. Though David asked God to show
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no mercy to the wicked like in Psalm 59 verse five, he himself
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showed mercy to the guilty several times when he could have
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taken revenge on them. To Saul in first Samuel chapter
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24 and chapter 26. To shimmy high in second Samuel
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chapter 16. To Absalom in Second Samuel
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chapter 18. In those cases, David left the
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judgement of these sinners in the hands of God the judge of
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the earth. And that referenced Psalm 94.
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For psalmist though they had the benefit, the psalmist, though
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the psalmist though they had the benefit of the Old Testament
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law, had not experienced the freedom and grace that God gave
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us through Christ. It is hardly fair to expect Old
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Testament people to act quote Christian before Jesus Christ
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even came. We should not pray for revenge
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like the psalmist. We should trust God to right the
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wrongs of this world and with Christ's help we can love and
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pray for those who mistreat us. So there's another verse that I
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think is very applicable here. And for people who have been
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wronged by other people, there's a few, a couple verses actually,
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it starts in Proverbs, which is, you know, pretty much the book
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of wisdom. So in Proverbs chapter 25, verse
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22, it says in doing this you will heap burning coals on his
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head and the Lord will reward you.
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So doing what? If your enemy is hungry, give
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him food to eat. If he is thirsty, give him water
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to drink. Now what my study Bible just
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said, they didn't have the Old Testament law, but they had
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Proverbs back then, and in Proverbs is teaching them to do
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exactly what Christ teaches. If your enemy is hungry, give
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him food to eat. If he is thirsty, give him water
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to drink. So in doing this, you will heap
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burning coals on his head and the Lord will reward you.
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So this is really again another part where my study Bible, it's
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great, but I also think there's when we really like pay
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attention to Scripture. It's always good to be LED
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somewhere, but then like double check it because in reality,
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people did have this Old Testament knowledge.
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I don't know when exactly the Proverbs.
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I'm going to go to the study Bible because it gives you an
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idea of when they were actually written.
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The proverbs were compiled and edited around 7:15 to 686 BC.
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So almost, you know, like, well, 700 years or more before Jesus
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was even born, this was being, this was compiled.
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This is the, the word of God. God doesn't change.
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So I, I've heard people before say, Oh, the God of the Old
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Testament is mean and revengeful and, and then Jesus is loving
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and kind. That is such a bad
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interpretation of Scripture. God is so merciful and loving
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even in the Old Testament, but he is also a God of justice and
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what the people in that say those things about Old and New
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Testament God, God is the same and they must be forgetting that
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Jesus will return one day and he's going to bring about
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justice. He came for the sinners.
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He came to wake everybody up and and then it's documented.
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So we all have the benefit of reading what Jesus said, but
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when he returns, he's not going to be easy going on the people.
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He is coming back for wrath. Now He is gathering the people
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who have, who obey him, you know who are believers who obey Him,
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and they will, they will not be subject to his wrath.
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But when he returns, there's going to be this period of wrath
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for all the people who are unrepentant, those who don't
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turn away from their sin. This is the same thing we're
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reading about in Jeremiah right now.
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Unrepentant people are going to reach reap judgment.
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Judgement is going to be brought on them.
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So let's go back to this burning coals thing about South.
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Paul reiterates this in Romans chapter 12 verse 20.
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It says, On the contrary, if your if your enemy is hungry,
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feed him. If he is thirsty, give him
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something to drink. In doing this, you will heap
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burning coals on his head. So Paul is repeating what was
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written in Proverbs, and then he says do not be overcome by evil,
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but overcome evil with good. So that brought about a question
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like, what's the significance of burning coals in the Bible?
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Like, that seems pretty harsh. Like if you're doing something
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good, but then there's going to be burning coals on somebody's
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head. And there was a time in my life
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where it was like, we're early in my Christian faith, I found
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this verse. And so I was like, OK, so
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anybody who's like evil, who's wronged me or whatever, I'm just
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going to pray for them because this will be like burning coals
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on their head. And so my motivation probably
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wasn't the best motivation for that.
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But I think that this explanation of it that is found
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with within gotquestions.org, you can search what is the
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significance of burning coals in the Bible?
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And it it ties all the scripture that we were just talking about
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together. So I'm going to read this
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because I think this is a really good explanation of how we can
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justify doing good things and the burning coals on somebody's
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head because this really helps it makes sense and ties it to
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truth that's found in the Bible. Burning coals are mentioned
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several times in scripture, usually referring to the literal
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red hot coals of a fire, like as in John 2921 verse nine.
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However, Proverbs 25, verses 21 through 22 has a reference to
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burning coals that is probably not literal.
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If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat.
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If he is thirsty, give him water to drink.
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In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head, and
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the Lord will reward you. That's always an interesting
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thing. So you will heap burning coals
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on his head, and the Lord will reward you for that.
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But Paul quotes this passage again in Romans 12/20.
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It is probably that neither passage is Speaking of literal
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coals. Paul's choice of this metaphor
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explained by the context of Romans 12.
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He is addressing the proper response of a Christian when
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treated wrongly. Verse 21 explains the idea of
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heaping burning coals on someone by saying do not be overcome by
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evil, but overcome evil with good.
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Anyone can return evil for evil, but when a Christian does so,
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the watching world sees nothing different about our lives.
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It is not even clear who is right and who is wrong when we
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respond the same way to the one who wronged us.
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But when we follow Jesus's instruction to love our enemies,
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found in Matthew chapter 5, verse 43, four, 344 and return
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good for evil, the contrast is stark.
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Our kind and gentle reaction to hatred spots spotlights the
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depravity of the one who treated us poorly and leaves the hurtful
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person alone in his or her hatefulness.
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Nothing the conscience of a hateful person like a soft,
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forgiving spirit. In the 1 he is wronged and
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that's a reference to Proverbs 15 verse one.
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The burning coals that are heaped on his head could be a
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reference to the burning shame he will feel as his conscience
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works upon him. Burning coals in the Bible also
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symbolize judgment, Psalm 140 verse 10, and spiritual
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purification. We can find that in Isaiah
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chapter 6 verse 6, Leviticus chapter 16 verse 12, God is
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compared often to fire and is described in terms that relate
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to fire's heat, brightness, and power.
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So another understanding of burning coals in Proverbs 2522
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is that our right response to those who do us harm allows
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God's own power and judgement to fall on that person.
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We must leave room for God's wrath.
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That's Romans 12/19 it says, which says, beloved, never
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avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God.
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For it is written, vengeance is mine.
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I will repay, says the Lord. So and wait for the vengeance
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God brings in his own time. When we relink relinquish to God
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our right to take revenge, we show faith in his justice.
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God will bring conviction upon the sinning heart.
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Responding the way Jesus did to his enemies allows the Brancoals
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in quotations of God's righteousness and justice to
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operate within the soul of the person and hopefully bring him
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or her to repentance. And that's second Peter chapter
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3, verse 9. Then the Lord is not slow to
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fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient
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toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all
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should reach repentance. So again, this ultimately shows
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God's mercy and shows that God knows the person.
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He knows the thoughts, He knows the motives, He knows what's
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going on in the head of the person.
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God can judge that person fairly.
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We may not, we may not know all the facts around it.
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So when we leave it to God, we can trust that judgement will
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prevail at some point, whether it's something we get, we see,
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we are witnesses to, or it's something that happens eternally
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for them or are to them because of their unrepentants, or they
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repent and turn to God, which is really ultimately what God
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wants. And then we also have to think
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about this in terms of ourselves.
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We are not perfect. We are not good in front of God.
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There's many things that God could have been very harsh with
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us about in our lives, in all people's lives.
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Everybody has something. So we need to remember that that
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God didn't destroy us. If we're alive right now, we're
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still living. God's being merciful to us.
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He's allowing us to change our ways to be, you know, to conform
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to his commands, to obey him. So we have this time, we have
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this opportunity right now to obey God and there are blessings
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that come along with it. So that's pretty much the all
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that I have to add to this chapter, but there's still a few
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more questions and answers that are in the study guide, so I
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will read those and then conclude this.
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So chapter 18, what sort of wheel this Potter's wheel was
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this? This was a Potter's wheel which
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made which was made of either wood or stone and consisting of
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two discs, a lower disc turned by the Potter's foot and an
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upper disc attached to an axle to the lower disk.
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Clay placed on the upper disk could be shaped into round bowls
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or pots as it turned. Does God steal deal with entire
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nations? God rewards and judges
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individuals today, but nations also can benefit from His
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blessings or suffer under His judgement.
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When most citizens are wicked, God considers their nation to be
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wicked and vice versa. But no simple formula can tell
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us what to expect. Sometimes a righteous few may
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prevent God's judgement on a nation.
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Kind of like when Abraham prayed for a lot.
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Perhaps more often, as in Jeremiah's case, the righteous
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suffer with the nation, though they may receive spiritual
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rewards as individuals. So God always has a reward if
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they're suffering. You can know through God's
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history, through the history found in the Bible about God,
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through God's character, God rewards.
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If there is suffering, that suffering will be turned to a
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reward of some kind. That's just the goodness of God.
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So why does God seem to change his plans?
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God is not being capricious or indecisive when He changes his
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course of action. In fact, mercy is entirely
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consistent with his nature, which is why he promises to
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respond when people pray. His mercy, even in the face of
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Judah's deserved judgement, demonstrates his true character.
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Why did God call the people virgin Israel?
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This phrase showed how radically God's people had changed.
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Israel had once been pure and chosen by God.
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But Israel, that is, the people of Judah, for they were all that
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remained of the nation of Israel, had lost had, quote,
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lost her virginity by prostituting herself with other
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lovers. Jeremiah chapter 3 verses one
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through 3. Israel was unfaithful to the
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Lord, giving her love and affection to false gods and
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idols. Why would God show His back?
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This was a figurative way to say that God would not help the
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people out of their coming troubles.
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They would see him walking away from them instead of toward
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them, which is the same treatment they had given him.
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Why did Jeremiah react so vehemently to his accusers?
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Jeremiah had suffered tremendous internal distress because of his
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accusers. He had prayed that God would
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save them, but they returned his efforts with hatred.
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After all he'd done for them, they did all they could to hurt
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him. It is no wonder Jeremiah asked
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God to punish them. Did Israel persecute all its
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prophets? Israel persecuted many of its of
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its prophets. That's found in Matthew 23 and
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Luke Chapter 11, though not necessarily all of them.
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When it was necessary, God sent prophets to confront the people
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about their failures. So it was inevitable that
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prophets were unpopular and suffered persecution.
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Jeremiah seemed to suffer even more acutely than most because
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of his sensitive personality and his genuine concern for the
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accusers who despised him. Now that concludes chapter 18
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from the book of Jeremiah. Hope you come back for chapter
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19.