Latest / Dwelling Place: The Bible for Moms / #160. Jeremiah 13-18: Being Deeply Rooted in God When Life Feels Like a Drought

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#160. Jeremiah 13-18: Being Deeply Rooted in God When Life Feels Like a Drought · Dwelling Place: The Bible for Moms

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  This is The Dwelling Place from Entrusted Ministries.
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  I'm Stephanie Hickox.
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  Today in our reading of Jeremiah chapters thirteen through eighteen, the Lord will provide multiple illustrations To continue to communicate with His people One of them is sure to be familiar to you, And in my opinion, is one of
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  the most beautifully challenging images in all of scripture Part of me was a little tempted to name this episode, "When God Tells You to Buy New Underwear," but you know I couldn't do that.
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  Because in chapter 13, God tells Jeremiah to buy a linen loincloth and put it around his waist Linen was definitively a priestly fabric So the people would certainly get this message Next, God continues his directions in commanding Jeremiah
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  To go to the Euphrates and hide the garment in the rock jeremiah obeys.
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  if you've studied Middle Eastern geography, you might be thinking, "Whoa, the Euphrates was pretty far away You'd be correct.
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  It's about a 700-mile round trip journey One of my commentaries absolutely believes that God called Jeremiah to make this long journey.
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  But another explains this possibility in Hebrew, the spelling for to Perah and to Euphrates are identical.
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  and there was a village about three miles from Anathoth, Jeremiah's hometown My moody commentary leans more toward Jeremiah's destination being this nearby village, because then the people would have been able to observe the process of what Jeremiah was
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  doing this would have pointed to the future judgment of Babylon being near the Euphrates, but that God didn't ask Jeremiah to physically make that 700-mile journey god commands Jeremiah to go get the loincloth.
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  Not surprisingly It's filthy and ruined.
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  and the ESV translation says it was good for nothing God explains, Even so will I spoil the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem.
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  This evil people who refuses to hear my words who stubbornly follow their own heart And have gone after other gods to serve them and worship them shall be like this loincloth, which is good for nothing for as the
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  loincloth clings to the waist of a man, so I made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to me," declares the Lord, that they might be for me a people, a name, a praise,
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  and a glory.
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  But they would not listen."
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  And after convicting them with an illustration of wine God tells the people how they will be publicly and completely humiliated because of how they've forgotten Him In chapter 14, we learn that the people are in a severe drought
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  even though God has told Jeremiah over and over to not pray for the people He just can't seem to help himself Though our iniquities testify against us, act, O Lord, for Your name's sake!
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  For our backslidings are many; we have sinned against You.
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  O You hope of Israel, its Savior in time of trouble, why should You be like a stranger in the land, like a traveler who burns aside to tarry for a night?
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  Why should You be like a man confused, like a mighty warrior who cannot save?
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  Yet You, O Lord, are in the midst of us, and we are called by Your name; do not leave us.
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  The Lord said to me, "Do not pray for the welfare of this people.
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  Though they fast, I will not hear their cry.
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  And though they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I will not accept them, but I will consume them by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence."
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  We acknowledge our wickedness, O Lord, and the iniquity of our fathers, for we have sinned against you.
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  Do not spurn us for your name's sake.
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  Do not dishonor your glorious throne.
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  Remember and do not break your covenant with us.
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  Are there any among the false gods of the nations that can bring rain?
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  Or can the heavens give showers?
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  Are you not He, O Lord our God?
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  We set our hope on you, for you do all these things It certainly seems like lip service And at the beginning of chapter 15, God makes his stance definitive Then the Lord said to me, Though Moses and Samuel
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  stood before me, yet my heart would not turn toward this people.
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  send them out of my sight and let them go.
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  Jeremiah has interceded for the nation over and over But now we find him discouraged and in need of hope Beginning in 15:15, "O Lord, you know.
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  Remember me and visit me, take vengeance for me on my persecutors.
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  In your forbearance take me not away.
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  Know that for your sake I bear reproach.
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  Your words were found and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart."
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  For I am called by your name, O Lord God of hosts.
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  I did not sit in the company of revelers, nor did I rejoice I sat alone because your hand was upon me, for you had filled me with indignation.
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  Why is my pain unceasing, my wound incurable, refusing to be healed?
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  Will you be to me like a deceitful brook, like waters that fail?
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  Therefore thus says the Lord: If you return, I will restore you, and you shall stand before me.
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  If you utter what is precious and not what is worthless, you shall be as my mouth.
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  They shall turn to you, but you shall not turn to them.
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  And I will make you to this people a fortified wall of bronze.
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  They will fight against you, but they shall not prevail over you, for I am with you to save you and deliver you," declares the Lord.
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  I will deliver you out of the hand of the wicked and redeem you from the grasp of the ruthless."
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  There are a couple verses that I pray for myself, And two of them are found here in 15:16, "Your words were found and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my
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  heart."
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  And then in 19 when God says to Jeremiah, "If you utter what is precious and not what is worthless, you shall be as my mouth."
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  Now, I know Jeremiah had an entirely different and holy calling as God was using him to speak and pen one of the books of the Bible.
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  But it's my desire that I would also speak what is precious and not what is worthless One verse that you may find comfort with is that Jeremiah said to God, "Will you be to me like a deceitful brook?
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  Like waters that fail?"
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  Don't we all have seasons like that where you think, "God, this really isn't what I expected."
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  And I thought if I obeyed you there would be a different result Maybe you've felt discouraged as you read all of the promises in scripture and then looked at your own life and felt a spiritual void If so,
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  you're not alone Jeremiah served God for about five decades with no fruit can you imagine being a pastor preaching a message of repentance to the same audience for 50 years and not seeing any conversions I think it's very
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  relatable that Jeremiah is struggling with discouragement, especially considering the fact that he's faced persecution and even plots to end his life Judah doesn't want to hear how Jeremiah is calling out their sin.
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  And it had to be an incredibly lonely mission But of course, God was with him And making it even more lonely, in chapter 16, God told him to not take a wife.
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  Though God commanded people many times in scripture to be fruitful and multiply, He commands Jeremiah just the opposite.
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  He knows judgment is coming, and He doesn't want Jeremiah's offspring to have to face it chapter 17 begins, The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron.
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  With a point of diamond, it is engraved on the tablet of their heart and on the horns of the altar.
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  A pen of iron and a point of diamond was the most permanent method of inscription at that point These people are so hard-hearted and so set in their wicked ways that none of God's warnings have penetrated Thus says
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  the Lord: Cursed is the man who trusts in man, and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the Lord.
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  He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come.
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  He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land.
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  Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord.
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  He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does
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  not cease to bear fruit."
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  I absolutely love these verses And when I said that they're beautifully convicting, I mean it, because I want this to be true of me The Lord is speaking to people who are in a severe drought But he says
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  that when you trust in Him, You can be continually filled and satisfied by the living water of the Lord These times of drought can force you to dig your roots deep so that they seek the nearby water And
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  I bet you've experienced that, where the harder life gets, sometimes you know you need Jesus more and more, and those are the times that you dig into His Word and you find yourself being strengthened and growing in your
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  faith This deeply rooted tree Doesn't fear the heat and is not anxious in the drought because it trusts in the provision and the care of the Lord and incredibly, even in the drought and the scorching heat, its leaves
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  are remaining green and it's bearing fruit these are verses I frequently pray would be true of me, It's a little surprising that the next verse is, The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand
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  it?"
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  and if we keep this verse in context, remember this chapter opened With God saying that Judah's sin is engraved on their heart Their hearts were so sick That Jeremiah wondered, who could heal them?
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  And verse 10 is the answer, I, the Lord, search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds."
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  God knows exactly what will work to bring us back to Him But it's an excellent reminder for us to remember that our flesh is wicked we deceive ourselves all the time whether it's thinking that we can just watch
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  one episode or just eat two Oreos Or in making a to-do list and thinking we can get way more done than we actually can.
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  We're constantly misunderstanding our own weaknesses When Peter was convinced that he would stay faithful to the Lord, Jesus said, The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak."
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  and I find that Truth, battling in my flesh and my spirit all the time Being reminded of my own weakness Helps me to be more gracious with my kids When they've had so much less experience realizing the wickedness
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  of their own hearts Perhaps you're thinking some of that sounds really familiar to something we already studied this year.
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  You are right it's very reminiscent of Psalm 1 For the rest of chapter 17, God rebukes the people for not honoring the Sabbath.
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  The Sabbath wasn't just a rule to follow, it was supposed to be a sign and a way that Israel looked different from every other nation when they stopped their work, it showed their trust in the Lord they were
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  also supposed to rest the land every seven years, and they've refused to I find it really fascinating that at the point that Judah goes into exile, it's been 490 years since the land was allowed to rest God's people
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  will be in captivity for 70 years, which is the exact amount of time that the land should have been resting if they would've obeyed Him After God's thorough rebuke for their lack of faithfulness In honoring the Sabbath It's
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  one of those chapters where you have to say hallelujah for the bus because God again gives them hope and an opportunity in 17:24.
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  But if you listen to me," declares the Lord, and bring in no burden by the gates of the city on the Sabbath day, but keep the Sabbath day holy and do no work on it, then there shall enter
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  by the gates of the city kings and princes who sit on the throne of David- He goes on to say, "And this city shall be inhabited forever."
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  There are multiple references in the Bible that God is the potter and we are the clay.
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  But the most descriptive of these is in Jeremiah God tells Jeremiah to go to a potter's house jeremiah watches this potter at work What he's making just isn't turning out right, so he starts over And it seemed good
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  to the potter to do God tells Jeremiah shouldn't I be able to do this with my people?
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  When it's not going well Shouldn't I have a chance?
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  To rework the clay?
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  It really is a perspective shift We are the Lord's.
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  He has created us for His glory We need to be surrendered to His will for our lives and rejoice at exactly how He's made us and I know I'm speaking to women and that that's not an easy one
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  for us.
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  So let's go to prayer Heavenly Father, we thank you that you are a talented potter we thank you for the good way that you created us and our families, Help us to see ourselves and others the way that
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  you see us We thank you.
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  that your words can be found by us and can be the delight of our hearts Help us to faithfully seek them out guide us To speak words that are precious and not worthless, and to train our families in
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  doing the same.
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  We know that our words deeply matter And we long to honor you with them Make us mothers that trust in you may every drought and trial cause us to be even more deeply rooted in you Help us to
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  not be anxious or fearful even when we're going through difficult circumstances And we humbly ask that in those times You would produce fruit in our lives and help us to come out of them Better, greener, and more fruitful
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  It's for your glory and your name that we pray this all, Jesus.
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  Amen