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Review of Jeremiah
We are still within the 3 year gap between the defeat of Pharoah Necho and Babylon taking the first exiles from Jerusalem.
In today’s passage, we find a poetic declaration that bounces between the mocking of worthless idols and the Glory of the true and living God!
And then without warning, Jeremiah snaps back to reality and reminds us of the judgement that is coming soon.
Read Jeremiah 10
Jeremiah Uses Poetry
Some hyper critical scholars attempt to say that that this chapter was written by later authors, not Jeremiah.
Part of the reason, is because of the change in style.
However just because an author normally writes non-fictional works does not mean that he can not write fiction; just think of C.S. Lewis as an example.
I see no reason to question Jeremiah’s authorship simply because he now decides to write in poetry.
Hebrew poetry differs from English poetry, in that instead of simply using rhyme and cadence, Hebrew poetry will alternate between several ideas.
As an example Proverbs 1:7
Here we see that those who fear Adonai are learning wisdom and love discipline, where as those who don’t foolishly reject the knowledge of God.
This verse from Solomon, in many ways, parallels the poetry of Jer.
10:1-16.
Jeremiah bounces back and forth between two contrary ideas: the worthlessness of idols, and the glory of the true and living God.
Michael Brown writes:
[This passage] observes a distinct literary pattern, “ABABABAB, where A represents the critique of the false gods of the nations and B the praise of the Holy One, the ‘portion’ of Israel”.
Worthless Idols (vs.
1-5)
So in the first section of this poem, Vs. 1-5, we see that Adonai firstly addresses Judah as “house of Israel” and then goes into saying “Do not learn the ways of the nations.”
This is a reference back to the Torah in Lev.
20:23
And again in Deut.
18:9
The passage in Deuteronomy is especially important because Moses goes on to say, Deut.
18:12-14
Jeremiah has been prophesying specifically that Adonai is about to bring judgement in the form of exile, and now is referring back to the Covenant that Adonai made with Beni Yisrael in the Wilderness.
Also just as Adonai had told the people not to learn the same practices of the nations, they were also not to fear the things that the nations feared.
We will talk more about this later.
Adonai mocks idols, they are useless pieces of wood or stone that can stand or speak or walk by themselves.
They are no better than a scarecrow in a cucumber garden!
Therefore do not fear false gods!
Rather, fear Adonai!
Adonai is Powerful (vs.
6-7)
Jeremiah bursts into praise of Adonai.
There is no one like our God!
There are many things that the nations fear, even to this day.
But really the nations should fear the awesome living God, who is about to bring judgement upon the whole earth!
Adonai is not only the God of Israel, but He is the God of the whole earth; there is none in all the earth who is as wise or as powerful as our God!
Useless Wood (vs.
8-9)
Jeremiah now goes back to his first point, the idols are “stupid, foolish, useless wood.”
Can Jeremiah get any clearer?
Why do people still, to this day, set up idols in and around their homes?
Are they looking for blessing?
Are they trying to appease a god?
Are they trying to stop a curse?
I talked to some local pastors who came to Yeshua from Hinduism.
One of the things that they mentioned was that when they accepted Yeshua, they no longer felt any fear of judgement.
All their lives they had lived in fear of all these millions of false gods, fear that if they did not appease each one, then something bad would happen to them.
And when something bad had happened, they were constantly asking which god they had offended.
Now they are following Yeshua in the freedom of knowing that He has paid for all their sins, and they freely follow the true and living God!
Adonai is Truth (vs.
10)
Verse 10 declares that YHVH God is Truth, is alive, is the eternal king!
This brings to mind something that Yeshua also said: John 14:6-7
Not only does Yeshua claim to be the only way to the Father, but by declaring Himself as “Truth”, He is in some way equating Himself with God.
This statement of Yeshua to his Talmidim follows a teaching that He had made earlier in His ministry.
John 8:32
But what truth must we know to be set free? Well I am glad you asked :D John 8:36
The truth we need to know is Yeshua the Messiah!
Change of Focus (vs.
11)
Jeremiah now shifts his focus to the surrounding nations in verse 11.
Now how do we know that Jeremiah is now speaking to all the surrounding nations?
Well, he switches from writing in Hebrew to writing this one verse in Aramaic.
Aramaic, the language of Aram, or the Assyrian empire, was the normal language of the surrounding nations.
Remember that Babylon was at this very moment gobbling up the Assyrian emipre, but had not yet made it to the Land of Israel.
Jeremiah declares to the surrounding nations, that the gods that they worshipped were not responsible for creating the heavens and the earth, they can not save them and these gods will themselves perish from under heaven.
Then in verse 12, Jeremiah switches back to Hebrew and declares the majesty of Adonai!
Remembering that this is poetry we see that Adonai is declared to be powerful, wise, full of understanding.
Therefore as we see in verse 14, the false gods are weak, foolish and ignorant.
Jeremiah also adds in “stupid” which is also translated “senseless”.
On top of that, the one who makes the idols is just like the idols he makes.
The work of our hands, reflects on the person that we are.
Jeremiah then finished up the poem by saying, Jer.
10:16 “Jacob’s portion is not like these.
For He is the Maker of all things and Israel, the tribe of His inheritance —Adonai-Tzva’ot is His Name.””
Back to the Present
Then without warning, Jeremiah’s is jarred back to the present.
Exile is almost here and Adonai declares to Judah: Jer.
10:18 “For thus says Adonai: “I am about to hurl the inhabitants out of the land.
At this time I will press hard on them so that they will be found out.””
I almost wanted to stay in the first half of the chapter.
It is much easier focus on the sins of others, the wickedness of the world around us, and especially the glory of Adonai that is made greater when comparing Him to the world.
But Jeremiah does not have that luxury.
He sees the armies of Babylon coming, and knows that in a few years the best and brightest will be sent off to exile.
Jeremiah cries out, “Oy to me because of my brokenness!”
For a moment Jeremiah was seeing the glory of Adonai, but now the reality of his sinful people confronts him.
Wicked Shepherds
One of the accusations that Jeremiah point to is in Jer.
10:21
The same description that was given to the false idols, is now applied to the senseless leaders of the people.
The concept of wicked shepherds is used throughout the prophets, for as the leaders of a nation go, so goes the people.
This idea was contrasted by Yeshua in John 10:11-16
But the leaders in Jeremiah’s day were doing what ever they wanted to do, worshiping other gods, and leading the people away from Adonai.
Therefore Jeremiah hears the sound of a report coming from the north.
Babylon is coming to desolate the entire land of Judah.
Personal Prayer
Jeremiah went from focusing on the nations, to focusing on Judah, but now he prays for himself.
Jer.
10:24 “Chasten me, Adonai, but with justice, not in Your anger, lest You reduce me to nothing.”
Application
So how do we apply this passage to our lives today?
A Good Balance
I think that there needs to be a good balance struck between recognising the sin and wickedness in the world and see God in His glorious majesty.
I have had times when all I focused on was the glory of God, and while it was wonderful for me personally, it did not bring others closer to God.
I spent my time soaking in God’s Presence, but did not give any time to bringing others closer.
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