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The Lord Directs His Servants (Jeremiah 10:23) · Reformed Thinking

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Welcome to Reformed thinking. So, you know, walk into any
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bookstore today or just scroll through your social media feed.
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Yeah, or listen to basically any valedictorian speech at a local
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high school graduation. Right, you are going to be
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bombarded by the same slogan. I mean the culture shouts it at
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us on an endless loop. Things like follow your heart.
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Trust yourself. Yeah, and you are the master of
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your destiny. It is basically the absolute
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background noise of modern society.
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It is the air we breathe. We are told constantly that we
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are the sole architects of our own lives.
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The assumption is that you know you hold the pen, you write the
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story. And you have the absolute
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capacity to chart a course toward whatever you define a
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success or self actualization. On the surface, I mean, that
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sounds liberating. It sounds like freedom.
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Sure it does. But I want you to consider a
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different angle today. What if this intense pressure to
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be the captain of your own soul is actually the root cause of
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the massive anxiety epidemic we see everywhere around us?
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Oh, that is a huge question. Right.
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Like what if the demand to constantly direct our own steps
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is an unbearable weight? A weight that we were never
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actually designed to carry. That is the core tension we are
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looking at in this deep dive. Our mission today is to analyze
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2 massive, highly detailed theological commentaries.
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And they focus entirely on one single biblical verse, right?
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Yes, just one Jeremiah 10.23. We are going to contrast the
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illusion of human autonomy with the massive reality of divine
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sovereignty. So the verse we are looking at
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says, I know, O Lord, that the way of man is not in himself.
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It is not in man who walks to direct his steps.
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It is a short sentence, but it shatters the proudest instinct
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of human nature. It really does.
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So to understand why human autonomy is an illusion, we have
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to start with the precise words Jeremiah used.
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Right, because we are not just dealing with an English
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translation here. We need to look at the original
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Hebrew syntax. To see how the verse actually
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constructs its argument, Yeah. The commentators point out that
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this verse is a beautifully crafted, tightly bound, poetic
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bicolon. OK, so the verse begins with the
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phrase yadati Yahweh, which translates to I know.
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Oh Lord yes. Why does Jeremiah start there?
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I mean, what is the significance of making that specific
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declaration before he even gets the core statement about human
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inability? Well, that opening establishes
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the entire baseline for how we know anything to be true.
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When Jeremiah says, I know he's not making a guess.
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He isn't just throwing out a philosophical assumption.
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No, not at all. He isn't basing this on his own
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observation of human behavior. The Hebrew verb for knowing here
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communicates settled recognition.
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Like absolute certainty. Yes, and he pairs it with direct
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address. Oh Lord, this is spoken directly
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to God. So the commentaries stress that
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true knowledge begins with divine revelation, not human
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reasoning. Precisely.
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The prophet is not acting as a detached analyst standing above
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the world. He is making a confession before
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the living God. We are not allowed to speak of
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human life without speaking first to God.
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That is the idea. It places the entire theology of
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human inability directly under Yahweh's authority.
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I see that sets a very specific tone for everything that
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follows. It does.
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He is essentially saying God because of who you are.
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I am certain of this reality about myself.
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Wow. Then the verse examines the
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Hebrew word Derek, which we translate as way.
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Right. And Derek is a major biblical
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term. It occurs hundreds of times in
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the Old Testament. But in this context it is not
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talking about a physical Rd. you walk on, is it?
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No, not a dirt path. It signifies the entire life
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course, the moral direction, and the destiny of a person.
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The sources contrast this with ancient Near Eastern Pagan
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ideas, right where destiny was subject to the whimsical fates
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of the gods. Or manipulated by magic.
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Yeah, but the biblical concept of Derek is entirely linked to
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God's covenantal will. So that linguistic background is
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pretty crucial. It is.
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The commentators make a staggering claim here, using a
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double negative structure to really hammer the point home.
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OK, break that down for us. The first assertion is the way
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of man is not in himself. In the Hebrew, the construction
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denies any internal possession or inherent ability.
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So the Derek the way does not belong to the man.
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Right, the source of right direction does not reside in
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fallen human wisdom or desire or imagination.
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Or physical force, Yeah. The author applies the negation
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to create absolute, undeniable certainty.
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The logical relationship established here is basically
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one of total deprivation regarding our capacity to govern
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our own destiny. Yes.
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The second-half of the verse restates and intensifies that
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first negative assertion. It is not in man who walks to
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direct his steps. And this brings us to a really
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fascinating linguistic contrast to the sources.
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It does. The commentaries examine 2
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specific Hebrew verbs here holic, which means walking, and
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kun, which means to establish or make secure.
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So the man is holic. He's walking, he's taking
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action, making decisions. Moving through time, yeah, but
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he completely lacks the ability to kun meaning.
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He can't immutably establish or secure where those steps will
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permanently land. That distinction between Holik
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and Khan is the hinge of the entire verse.
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Jeremiah could have used other Hebrew words, couldn't he?
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Oh, absolutely. He could have used a word that
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means to lead gently, or a word that means to make a path
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physically straight. But instead, he deliberately
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chose Kun right? Which carries the nuance of
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immutable establishment. It is the same root word used
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elsewhere in Scripture to describe the firm establishment
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of God's throne. Wow.
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So by using this specific word, the verse denies that a human
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being possesses the force to firmly fix or guarantee the
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outcome of their steps. A walking man still needs a
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directing Lord. I am picturing a toddler sitting
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in the front of a shopping cart. You know, with one of those
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plastic steering wheels attached to it.
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Oh. Yeah, I know those.
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Right, so the child genuinely thinks they're driving the cart.
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I mean, they are turning the wheel frantically taking real
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action. The car noises.
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Yeah, making the noises and they feel like they're in motion, but
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the parent walking behind the cart is the one actually
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steering it down the aisle. That is a great way to picture
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it. The child is acting, but they
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completely lack the authority to establish the outcome of the
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trip. But hold on, if my steps aren't
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my own, then why bother making a budget or going to the doctor or
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planning for retirement? Right, the whole why do anything
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question, Yeah. Doesn't this text just lead to
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pure fatalism where we sit back and do nothing?
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That is the natural objection, but the text does not erase
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human agency. Scripture never denies
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creaturely action. So the man is walking.
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He is. He is accountable for his
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choices, his sins, and his obedience.
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The verse is not teaching a fatalism where human beings are
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just inanimate stones. Or puppets on a string.
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Right. Instead, it is teaching
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creaturely dependence and fallen inability.
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Because of sin, the human heart is deceitful and its desires are
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disordered. Yes.
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Therefore, while man acts, he cannot direct his steps securely
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according to truth and righteousness, apart from God
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intervening. The commentators harmonized this
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with Proverbs 16.9. Yeah.
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Which says that the heart of man plans his way, but the Lord
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establishes his steps. The human being plans, but the
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sovereign decree of God establishes the final execution.
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Spot on. To truly grasp the weight of
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this, though, we have to step out of the grammar.
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Book and into the dirt of the ancient Near East, Yes.
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Jeremiah wasn't writing a theological essay in an ivory
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tower. He was writing in the middle of
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a terrifying geopolitical collapse.
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The commentary spend a lot of time on this historical context
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and it gives his words severe tangible weight.
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We are looking at late 7th to early 6th century BC Judah.
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The geopolitical landscape is an absolute nightmare for them.
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The nation was completely trapped, aren't they, between a
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fading Egyptian Empire to the South and the terrifying,
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unstoppable rise of the Neo Babylonian Empire to the north?
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The setting is as grim as it gets.
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To understand the gravity of Jeremiah 10.23, we have to feel
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the desperation of the people he was speaking to.
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Because the northern Kingdom of Israel had already been wiped
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out by Assyria a century earlier.
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They were gone, scattered to the winds.
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Now Judah is facing the exact same threat from Babylon.
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The commentators note that King Josiah had enacted some reforms
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earlier, but they were. Pretty shallow.
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Very shallow. They brought about genuine
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outward change, removing high places, recovering the book of
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the law. But they did not produce
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national regeneration, no. The hearts of the people remain
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divided, and the leaders who followed Josiah were openly
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hostile to God's direction. The sources mentioned King
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Jehoiakim. This guy despised the prophetic
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word so brazenly. Oh, the story with the scroll is
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wild. Yeah, when he was read the
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scroll of Jeremiah's prophecies, he literally took a penknife,
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cut the scroll up, and burned it piece by piece in a fire pot.
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The leaders of Judah completely ignored God's warnings.
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Instead, they trusted in political alliances.
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They thought they could use diplomatic scheming to play
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Egypt against Babylon. They also listened to false
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prophets, people who constantly promised peace and safety when
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God had explicitly creed destruction.
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So they were engaging in practical atheism.
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Basically, yes, they retained religious vocabulary, but they
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planned as though God did not rule history.
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They. Treated the Temple in Jerusalem
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like a lucky charm. They did.
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They assumed that because God's house was located there, the
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city was invincible. They thought God would never let
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it fall. But the commentators highlight
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that the impending Babylonian exile, this massive invasion led
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by King Nebuchadnezzar, was not some historical accident.
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It was not a random shift in ancient Near Eastern politics.
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It was the absolute sovereign decree of a holy God punishing
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his people for obstinate idolatry.
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They were facing the terrifying implementation of covenant
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purses. If you are a citizen of Judah,
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standing on the wall of Jerusalem watching the dust kick
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up from the approaching Babylonian army, it feels
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entirely like a political problem.
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Right. It feels like a military crisis
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requiring a political or military solution.
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You want stronger walls, bitter weapons, and an alliance with
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Egypt. You were looking at the
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geopolitical chess board and trying to figure out your next
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move. Exactly.
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So how does Jeremiah 10.23 force the Lister to stop looking at
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the board and start looking at the hand moving the pieces?
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Jeremiah uttered this confession to completely shatter their
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self-reliance. He wanted them to look at the
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approaching Babylonian hordes and recognize something huge.
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That every political strategy was useless.
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Yes, every frantic alliance and every military calculation was
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completely impotent to alter the course God had established.
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Jeremiah is pressing the doctrine of divine sovereignty
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upon their conscience. He is telling them to stop
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fighting against the yoke of Babylon, because that yoke was
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forged by the hand of God himself.
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The people thought they were players moving the pieces.
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But Jeremiah is telling them that they are the pieces, and
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God is moving the entire board to bring about His righteous
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judgment. So the historical force of the
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verse rebukes national self direction.
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It does, and that historical crisis was fueled directly by
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spiritual rebellion. To expose this rebellion, the
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sources show how Jeremiah uses brilliant literary satire right
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before uttering verse 23. This is in the preceding verses
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of Jeremiah chapter 10. The Prophet mocks the idols of
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the surrounding nations to show the absolute absurdity of their
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idolatry. He is setting them up for a
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massive theological fall. Oh, the satire in verses one
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through 16 is severe. It's biting.
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The commentators breakdown how the Prophet describes the idol
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making process, right? Yeah.
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A Craftsman goes into the forest, cuts down a tree, works
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it with an axe, shapes. It and then decorates it with
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silver and gold. Then, crucially, they have to
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fasten it with a hammer and nails so that it won't fall
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over. That part is so funny.
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The source points out the devastating literary punchline
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here. These idols are compared to
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scarecrows and a cucumber field. They cannot speak and even
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worse, they must be carried because they cannot walk.
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A scarecrow and a cucumber field.
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I mean, it is completely lifeless.
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The irony here is thick. It is the people of Judah were
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looking to these blocks of wood to guide the steps of their
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entire nation. People were seeking direction
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from statues that cannot even take a single physical step, let
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alone direct the destiny of a human beyond the.
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Commentators highlight the textual contrast Jeremiah makes
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here between these dead idols and the living God.
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That contrast is the pivotal literary unit of the chapter.
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On one hand, you have false gods that are paralyzed blocks of
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wood. They are entirely dependent on
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human hands to carry them from place to place.
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On the other hand, you have Yahweh, the living Creator, who
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brings what the text calls the Great Commotion out of the North
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Country, meaning the Babylonian army.
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The idols cannot even move themselves, but God is moving
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entire empires. Because lifeless gods cannot
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guide living men, and because the doom of Judah is sovereignly
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fixed by the living God, man is forced to confess his total
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inability to govern his own destiny.
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That is the whole point. So Jeremiah mocks the idols,
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establishing that they are completely useless.
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Then he drops the hammer in verse 23, admitting that humans
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are just as incapable of directing their own steps.
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Which sets up his desperate plea in the very next verse verse 24
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right he. Asked God to correct him with
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justice rather than with wrath. How do the sources connect the
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mocking of the idols to this desperate plea for correction?
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The flow of thought is critical here.
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The literary movement goes from exposing idolatry to exalting
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God's supremacy to lamenting judgment and.
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Finally, to confessing human inability.
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Yes, because the people trusted in idols that could not guide
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them, they ended up wandering into a path of destruction.
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Verse 23 is the confession that human self direction is ruinous.
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Once that reality is accepted, the only rational response is
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verse 24. Since man cannot direct his own
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steps, he must either be left to completely ruin himself or he
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must be corrected by God. And Jeremiah chooses correction.
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He pleads for God to intervene and set his steps right through
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discipline. Asking that the discipline be
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governed by covenant mercy rather than consuming anger,
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the. Satire proves that idols can't
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save them, which leaves God's merciful correction as their
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only hope. It is a brilliant progression,
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and it is fascinating how the authors of these commentaries
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take this ancient verse and point it directly at modern
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movements. Because the idolatry of self
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direction did not die with the Babylonian exile.
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Not at all. The commentators apply this
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verse to confront various modern theological and secular
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ideologies. They.
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Paint a very stark line in the sand, arguing that the concept
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of human autonomy is institutionalized in several
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prominent movements today. The commentaries are highly
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explicit in their critiques. Let's look at a few specific
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examples that authors raise to see how they apply this concept
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of autonomy. So just to be clear for the
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listener, we are reporting on what the source material argues
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here. We are just laying out their
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critiques. Right.
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For instance, they heavily criticize the prosperity gospel.
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They label it a blasphemous movement that treats God as a
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cosmic bellhop. The commentators argue that
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prosperity theology tells people they have the inherent ability
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to speak their own reality into existence.
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Yes. And direct their steps to health
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and wealth through the force of their own faith.
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Think about how that functions practically if someone is sick.
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The prosperity gospel essentially says your healing is
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dependent on your ability to muster enough faith and declare
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the right words. That places the entire burden of
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the outcome back on the individual.
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It is the ultimate expression of the way of man is in himself.
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If you aren't healed, it's because you failed to direct
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your steps properly. Exactly.
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The sources contrast the sharply with a more historically
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Reformed view of Providence, which submits entirely to God's
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sovereign decree regarding our physical health.
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The sources also critique Arminianism, right?
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They do. They claim it falsely elevates
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the human will over God's grace, and they take aim at Roman
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Catholicism, arguing that it adds human merit to salvation.
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They even go after groups like Mormonism and Jehovah's
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Witnesses. Yes, labeling them as cults that
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exalt human effort over divine grace.
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Another major critique the commentators bring up involves
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pragmatic, seeker sensitive church growth models.
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They argue that churches relying heavily on demographic studies,
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marketing strategies and entertainment to attract crowds
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are operating on a false assumption.
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They are functioning as if the way of church growth is in man,
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right? By softening the hard truths of
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Scripture to appeal to a secular audience, these models assume
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that human ingenuity and marketing can manufacture
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spiritual life. Which directly contradicts the
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premise of Jeremiah 10.2. Three.
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According to the authors, yes. The commentators also take this
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critique beyond the walls of the church.
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They apply it to broad secular frameworks.
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They look at modern sociological movements, specifically
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referencing frameworks like critical race theory and
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intersectionality. They're.
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Reading through the commentary, the authors view these as
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godless philosophies that attempt to engineer society
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based on power dynamics and grievance.
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The core issue the authors identify here is the denial of
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God's Providence over history. These frameworks assume that
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human beings can create a utopian society if they just
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dismantle the right structures and redistribute power
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correctly. It is another attempt to
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establish human steps without acknowledging the sovereign God
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as the sources see it to. Counter these ideologies, the
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sources affirm specific doctrines grounded in the
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Westminster Confession's view of eternal decrees and Providence.
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They state that God unchangeably ordained whatsoever comes to
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pass. They also affirm cessationism.
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Which is the belief that the Canon of scripture is closed.
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Right. The application here is that
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Christians should rely on the completed Bible rather than
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seeking new subjective revelations to direct their
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steps. Furthermore, the sources
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explicitly support complementarianism.
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Trusting that God has directed specific roles for men and
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women. And believers baptism, arguing
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that salvation is only given to those whose steps God has
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sovereignly directed to saving faith.
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Looking at how stark this line is drawn by the sources, we have
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to ask a practical question. Yeah, what is the precise
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difference between making wise, responsible human plans and
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falling into the arrogant autonomy that these modern
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ideologies are accused of promoting?
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Like if I make a five year plan for my business, am I acting
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like a Babylonian? That is a great question.
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The authors address this balance directly.
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Scripture does not forbid planning, It forbids arrogant
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planning. So the precise difference lies
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in the posture of dependence. Responsible planning means you
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use wisdom, you act, you make decisions, but you hold every
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single plan loosely under the banner of God's Providence.
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Arrogant autonomy assumes that your plan is the final authority
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and that you have the inherent ability to guarantee its
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success. When a person acts as if they
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hold the final veto over their destiny, whether in salvation,
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church growth, or daily life, they're repeating the rebellion
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of Judah. Wise planning is saying I will
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walk, but I trust the Lord to establish where my foot lands.
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If human beings are completely unable to direct their own steps
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to a righteous outcome, you listening right now might be
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feeling a sense of desperation. The commentators have completely
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stripped away our ability to save ourselves.
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But they do not leave us in despair.
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They resolve this immense tension through the person of
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Jesus Christ. If the way of man is not in
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himself, we don't just need better information, we need a
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true and righteous man who can lead us.
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The sources present Jesus as the true Israel and the last Adam.
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He is the only perfect man whose steps never wandered.
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The commentaries draw a massive contrast between Adam's
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rebellion in the Garden of Eden and Christ's submission in the
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Garden of Gethsemane. In Eden, Adam acted in
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autonomous rebellion. He tried to direct his own steps
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to become like God. And the result was death.
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Yes, but in Gethsemane Christ faced the unimaginable terror of
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bearing infinite wrath. He sweat drops of blood,
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contemplating the cup he was about to drink.
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Yet his humanity submitted entirely to the divine decree.
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He said not my will, but thine be done.
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He displayed perfect, unbroken submission to the Father's
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sovereign direction. The sources breakdown how Christ
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fulfilled this verse in four specific roles.
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Let's walk through those first as a prophet.
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Because man's way is not in himself, he needs divine
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revelation. Christ is the final word of God
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who exposes false ways and teaches the truth.
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Second, as a priest, our inability isn't just
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intellectual, it's moral. We have chosen crooked path.
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Christ as priest atones for our rebellious steps and bears the
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wrath we deserve for trying to direct our own lives. 3rd, as a
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king, he subdues our stubborn hearts, rules Providence, and
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actively restrains enemies. And 4th as a shepherd we are
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like sheep who have turned to our own way, and Christ gathers
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the Wanderers back to God. The commentary also points to a
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future eschatological fulfillment of this verse.
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The source holds to a pre millennial eschatology stating
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that there will be a literal millennial Kingdom where Christ
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returns to the earth physically. When he returns, he will
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violently crush the delusion of human autonomy once and for all.
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He will specifically defeat the Antichrist and the rebellious
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nations who arrogantly thought they could direct their own
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steps to overthrow the Almighty Christ.
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Will rule with absolute sovereignty, perfectly directing
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the steps of all humanity. Think about humanity being lost
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in a dense, dangerous forest, OK?
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I like this analogy. If we are completely lost and
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unable to direct our steps, we don't need someone to just stand
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at the edge of the woods and hand us a map.
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We don't have the capacity to read the map or walk the path.
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Right. We need a guide who has already
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walked the path perfectly, who comes into the forest and who
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can physically carry us out. So how does Christ actually
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become the way for us, rather than just pointing to the way?
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Jesus does not merely offer advice from a distance because
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He took on human flesh and walked the path of perfect
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obedience all the way to the cross.
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His righteous steps are credited to the believer.
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He bears the iniquity of our wandering.
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He does not point to a path. He says I am the way.
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He becomes the substitute for our arrogant rebellion.
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By uniting us to Himself, He guarantees that our steps,
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though stumbling, will arrive at eternal life.
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Because they are secured by His perfect record, not ours.
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Yes, now we bring the conversation to the immediate
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practical reality of our daily lives.
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This is where the doctrine hits the pavement.
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The sources provide a staggering statistic.
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Nearly one in three adults in our modern society suffers from
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severe anxiety or stress related disorders.
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The commentators diagnosed this not as a medical mystery, but as
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a direct spiritual result. This rampant anxiety epidemic
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stems from the agonizing, impossible, and utterly
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exhausting attempt to play God. When society tells you that you
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are the sole master of your fate, it places the entire
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burden of the universe on your shoulders.
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You have to control your career, your health, your family's
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future, and your ultimate happiness.
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Trying to guarantee every outcome will inevitably cause a
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person to collapse under the crushing weight of a
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jurisdiction that belongs exclusively to God.
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The application drawn from the text is a direct command repent
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of self-reliance. The sources argue that true
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comfort is only found when you yield control to God.
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The text references the Puritan Thomas Watson and the preacher
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Charles Spurgeon, who argued that God's absolute sovereignty
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is the softest pillow for a weary soul.
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I love that quote. If you are exhausted from trying
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to steer the ship of your destiny through the hurricane of
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this world, the doctrine of Providence offers rest.
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This doctrine fundamentally alters how a person views
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suffering. If the way of man is not in
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himself, and if God directs every step, then suffering is
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never random. The commentators explicitly
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mentioned that a cancer diagnosis, financial ruin, a
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severe bereavement or a suddenly closed door is never a cosmic
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accident. It is a meticulously planned
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stroke by a loving father who is conforming the believer to the
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image of his son. It removes the panic of blind
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fate and replaces it with the comfort of purposeful design.
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The text advises adopting the mindset of James 4.15.
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We should plan responsibly, but always under the banner of if
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the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.
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Culture constantly says that freedom comes from having total
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control of your options and your choices.
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But this commentary argues that trying to maintain total control
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is exactly what puts us in a psychological prison.
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Yielding to absolute weakness actually provides the greatest
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mental and spiritual relief it. Provides relief because it
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aligns us with reality. The illusion of control requires
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constant, exhausting maintenance.
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You are always terrified of making the wrong move and
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ruining your life. Acknowledging weakness drops
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that burden. When you realize that you cannot
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establish your steps, but that a perfectly wise, infinitely
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loving God can and does, the pressure is off.
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You are free to walk in obedience today, leaving the
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final outcome of tomorrow entirely in His hands.
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Surrendering control to God is not bondage.
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It is the only true freedom from the tyranny of self.
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We have covered a massive scope of material today.
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We really have. We started by looking at the
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precise Hebrew syntax of Jeremiah 10.23, seeing how the
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grammar itself denies human autonomy.
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We looked at the terrifying historical crisis of Judah
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facing the Babylonian army and how Jeremiah used brilliant
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satire to mock the dead idols of the nations.
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We examine how the commentators apply this text to critique
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modern theological and secular ideologies, drawing a line
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against human autonomy. We saw how Jesus Christ
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perfectly fulfills this verse through His obedience in
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Gethsemane, acting as our prophet, priest, king, and
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shepherd. And finally, we discussed how
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surrendering our self-reliance is the true antidote to the
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modern anxiety epidemic. Before we sign off, I want to
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leave you with a final thought to chew on.
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Think about a major disappointment you faced
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recently. I mean.
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It was a plan that failed, a relationship that ended, or a
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door that slams shut in your face.
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If Jeremiah 10.23 is true and the ability to establish your
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sticks does not belong to you, how does it change your
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perspective to view that very failure not as bad luck, but as
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a severe mercy? A severe mercy from a God who
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refused to let you walk into a ruin of your own making.
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Thank you for joining us on this deep dive into Reformed
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thinking.