Jeremiah

 Jeremiah Chapter 18

• Jeremiah 18:1 The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
• 2 Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words.

God is getting ready to give Jeremiah a visible demonstration by using the potter and the clay. This is an example of how we are in the hands of God. The Holy Spirit molds us after we are saved and makes us a new creature capable of fruitful works of righteousness.

• Jeremiah 18:3 Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels.
• 4 And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.
• 5 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
  6 O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.

As a potter can throw away the clay that was marred, so can the Lord discard any that is not being fruitful.

• John 15:1 I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. 
• 2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branchthat beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
• 3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. 
• 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. 
• 5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
• 6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
• 7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. 
• 8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples. 
• 9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.

Abide in, continue with, keep going, stay strong, walk with the Lord. He provided the power, our part is to respond, yield and resist evil.

• Jeremiah 18:7 At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it;

God has power over the most powerful nation upon the earth. We should never boast of our great armies or mighty navies. We are a great only as the Lord allows us to be.

• Jeremiah 18:8 If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them.

This shows us that nations which formerly did evil, if they repent, God will change his mind about their destruction. An individual has this same opportunity. If we only repent, We can change through His power, we will inherit eternal life and not be lost.

• Jeremiah 18:9 And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it;
• 10 If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them.

If a nation that once was good turns from God and does evil, the good will not even be remembered. It is what we are today that counts, not ten years ago.

• Jeremiah 18:11 Now therefore go to, speak to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device against you: return ye now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good.

Here is another exhortation for Jeremiah to ask the people to only repent and then the evil that was to come upon them would be turned back.

• Jeremiah 12 And they said, There is no hope: but we will walk after our own devices, and we will every one do the imagination of his evil heart.

They preferred to be comfortable in their own ways and sins. They did not want to change. They did not want God's correction and intervention in their lives. This is so sad but it is the same attitude we see today. God wants to give us so much of His presence, of His Spirit and His fellowship but many would rather stay in their sins.

• Jeremiah 18:13 Therefore thus saith the LORD; Ask ye now among the heathen, who hath heard such things: the virgin of Israel hath done a very horrible thing.
• 14 Will a man leave the snow of Lebanon which cometh from the rock of the field? or shall the cold flowing waters that come from another place be forsaken?
• 15 Because my people hath forgotten me, they have burned incense to vanity, and they have caused them to stumble in their ways from the ancient paths, to walk in paths, in a way not cast up;

Ancient paths are the ways of God, the paths of righteousness.

• Jeremiah 6:16 Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.

Jeremiah 6:16 is one of my favorite verse. It sounds so gentle like the Lord gently speaking to us to seek the good way. God is awesome.

• Jeremiah 18:16 To make their land desolate, and a perpetual hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished, and wag his head.
• 17 I will scatter them as with an east wind before the enemy; I will shew them the back, and not the face, in the day of their calamity.

Other nations were to see what happened to Judah and they will rejoice and gloat. The nations Judah followed after and desired to be like them, did not care for Judah at all. Even today Israel is a hated nation by many. Let me give a warning here to Christians. The bible says to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. We are never to hate any ethnic group of people and especially the Jews. God still has not cast them off and He has plans for their restoration.

• Jeremiah 18:18 Then said they, Come, and let us devise devices against Jeremiah; for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, and let us smite him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words.

The people hated Jeremiah for telling them the truth. This will be the reaction by many who reject the truth. They will hate the truth bearer. To hate one that brings the word of God is the same as hating God.

• Jeremiah 18:19 Give heed to me, O LORD, and hearken to the voice of them that contend with me.
• 20 Shall evil be recompensed for good? for they have digged a pit for my soul. Remember that I stood before thee to speak good for them, and to turn away thy wrath from them.

Jeremiah wanted good for the people that hated him. He wanted to see them delivered from evil.

This is the same desire for a true preacher of the gospel. They desire to see people saved and escape hell. They desire to see people find the Lord and enter into eternal life. They want good but are hated for it. Some faithful preachers of the gospel have left good paying secular jobs to preach in small churches or go on the mission field. They can get phone calls all hours of the night and day. They have to visit the sick, preach funerals, and really do not have much time for themselves.

I know that people assume most of them are rich but the majority of preachers are not rich. Some even have to hold down a job at the same time as they are pasturing a church.

• Jeremiah 18:21 Therefore deliver up their children to the famine, and pour out their blood by the force of the sword; and let their wives be bereaved of their children, and be widows; and let their men be put to death; let their young men be slain by the sword in battle.
• 22 Let a cry be heard from their houses, when thou shalt bring a troop suddenly upon them: for they have digged a pit to take me, and hid snares for my feet.

If a nation does not heed the warnings of its prophets and preachers, this is the end result. I don't care whether it is Israel or the United States, woe to those who persecute the ones that bring God's message to man. If you desire to be able to know who is the true prophets of God, check everything they say by the Word of God. The bible.

I personally prefer the KJV version because its been around long enough that I can trust in it. There may be other good versions but I can't vouch for them because I haven't taken the time to check them out. The point is, God gave us the written Word of God so that we do not have to be deceived by false teachers. Take no one's word for anything. Check it out. 

One sign of a true minister of the gospel is that he will not tell you that you can still live in open sin and still be saved and have eternal life if you know that you are committing sin that the bible is clear about. In other words if the bible states clearly that it is a sin. 

If you have received Jesus Christ as savior at one point in your life but you keep doing that same sin and do not repent then you are not saved,  How can Jesus be your Lord if you do not obey His word?  How can you call Jesus your Lord and steal, commit adultery and abort babies? 

The beautiful part of that though is that if you did those things you can repent and get right with God but you are not right with God if you continue in them with no repentance. 

• Jeremiah 18:23 Yet, LORD, thou knowest all their counsel against me to slay me: forgive not their iniquity, neither blot out their sin from thy sight, but let them be overthrown before thee; deal thus with them in the time of thine anger.

If we get so bad that even the prophets stop asking mercy on our behalf then we are in big trouble.

We don't have to wait to that though. We can come to God now. God wants us to come to Him washing away our sins and receiving His gift of eternal life. He made this possible through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ.

• Romans 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

There is peace, joy and hope in Jesus and the great salvation He has provided to us.

1. Acts 2:38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. 
2. 39 For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.

Study of Jeremiah 19