Learning from Jeremiah 32-36

32:1-25 - ‘Nothing is too hard for You’ (17). We face many difficult situations. What are you to do when you feel you can take no more? Remember the Lord. Nothing is too hard for Him. Remember His promise: ‘The Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen and protect you from the evil one’ (2 Thessalonians 3:3). Jesus calls us to follow Him. He calls us to follow Him. He warns us - ‘the way is hard’. It is Jesus - our loving Saviour - who calls us to follow Him. He does not leave us to go it alone. He gives us His strength - ‘My yoke is easy and my burden is light’ (Matthew 4:19; 7:14; 11:30). ‘When the road is rough and steep, fix your eyes upon Jesus. He alone has power to keep. Fix your eyes upon Him’. You can ‘depend on’ Jesus. He is your ‘gracious Friend’. ‘He is faithful to the end’ (Junior Praise, 279).

32:26-44 - ‘I will bring them back to this place’ (37). God is bringing us into His ‘place’. He is bringing us close to Himself: ‘They will be My people, and I will be their God’ (38). He is bringing us into the ‘place’ of obedience: ‘I will inspire them to fear Me, so that they will never turn away from Me’ (40). He is leading us to the ‘place’ of blessing: ‘I will give them singleness of heart and action, so that they will always fear Me for their own good and the good of their children after them’ (39). Sometimes, our life seems like ‘a desolate waste’. We must not lose sight of the purpose of God: ‘I will rejoice in doing them good and will assuredly plant them in this land with all My heart and soul’ (43,41). God will not leave us in our ‘desolate waste’. He will lead us to a better ‘place’ - the ‘place’ of obedience and blessing.

33:1-26 - ‘I will bring Judah and Israel back from captivity and will rebuild them as they were before. I will cleanse them from all the sin they have committed against Me... Then this city will bring Me renown, joy, praise, and honour before all nations on earth...’ (7-9). What great blessing lay ahead of God’s people! God was pointing His people to the place of blessing: Jesus Christ - ‘the righteous Branch from David’s line’ (15-16). ‘In Christ’, we have ‘every spiritual blessing’: ‘No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him’ (Ephesians 1:3; 1 Corinthians 2:9). God has so much blessing to give to us. Come to Him and receive His blessing: ‘Call to Me, and I will answer you; I will show you wonderful and marvellous things that you know nothing about’ (3).

34:1-22 - ‘Freedom for the slaves’ - What a good idea! ‘Everyone agreed’. The slaves were ‘set free’. So far, so good! Then things went wrong - ‘Afterwards they changed their minds and took back the slaves... and enslaved them again’ (8-11). What did God have to say about this? - ‘You have turned round and dishonoured Me... You took back the slaves... You forced them into slavery again... You have not obeyed Me’ (16-17). Jesus Christ isn’t like these slavemasters! He doesn’t only promise us freedom. He gives us our freedom: ‘If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed’. He doesn’t come to us with ‘a pack of lies’ - promising this, that and the other, and then breaking every promise. He sets us free with His Word of truth - ‘You shall know the truth, and the truth will set you free’ (John 8:36,32; Psalm 119:45).

35:1-19 - ‘Will you not learn a lesson and obey My words?’ (13) - ‘Jonadab, son of Rechab, ordered his sons not to drink wine and this command has been kept... I have spoken to you again and again, yet you have not obeyed Me’ (14). We are not to say, ‘I will follow You’ and then change our mind (Luke 9:57). We are not to sing, ‘Take my life, and let it be consecrated, Lord, to Thee’, and then live a life which contradicts our prayer of commitment to the Lord (Church Hymnary, 462). We are to mean what we say. We are to follow through our words of commitment with a life of obedience, a life that is pleasing to the Lord. The Rechabites were obedient to Jonadaab’s command - and they were blessed by God (18-19). Obedient and blessed - That’s what God wants us to be. Let’s obey the Lord - and look to Him for the blessing.

36:1-32 - ‘The king cut it with the penknife, and threw it into the fire’ (23). The king didn’t like God’s Word. He thought he could get rid of God’s Word. What a fool he was! God saw what was going on. The king’s attempt to silence God was utterly futile. God would not be silenced. He continued to speak His Word. Soon, the king was hearing another Word from the Lord: ‘You burned that scroll...’ (29)! God is still speaking to us today. He calls us to listen to Him. He calls us back from the way of ‘wickedness’, back from the brink of ‘disaster’ (31). He calls us back from the way of unbelief, the way that leads to ‘the eternal fire, prepared for the devil and his angels’. He calls us to be ‘blessed’. Have faith in the Saviour. Receive ‘the Kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world’ (Matthew 25:41,34).