Overview
Jeremiah: The Lord spoke to Jeremiah again while he was imprisoned in the guard’s court. He tells Jeremiah that he has made the earth and will reveal unsearchable things when asked. He will bring his wrath against Jerusalem and fill it with dead bodies. He will also restore it and remove their sin and guilt. He will forgive their rebellion so they shall fear him for all the good he will do for it. He will do the same for the cities of Judah that are laid waste. Then people will sing and give thanks to the Lord for he is good and his love endures forever. In this waste land there will again be places for shepherds and flocks. The surrounding areas and Benjamin will be restored also.
The Lord will fulfil his promise to Israel and Judah. He will raise up the righteous Branch from David. He will establish righteousness and justice in the land. Jerusalem and Judah will be safe and the city will be called, “The Lord is our righteousness” (Jer 33:16). There will always be a descendant of David on the throne and a Levitical priest to present offerings and sacrifices forever. This is as sure as it is impossible for a man to prevent the sun from rising each day. As it is impossible to count the stars or sand of the sea so will the offspring of David and the priest be.
The Lord told Jeremiah that the people are saying God has rejected the last two tribes of Israel. He says that would only happen if the continuing cycle of day and night were stopped. No, David’s offspring will always rule over all of Abraham’s offspring and he will restore their fortunes and have mercy on them.
While Nebuchadnezzar was battling Jerusalem and its cities, the Lord told Jeremiah to go to Zedekiah. He was to tell Zedekiah that God had given the city over to Nebuchadnezzar, he will see Nebuchadnezzar face to face but he will not be killed. He will die in peace and people will lament for him.
Zedekiah made a proclamation to free all Hebrew slaves. The people obeyed but turned around and made them slaves again. The Lord reminded them that every 7 years they were to set slaves free and it was good that they obeyed when their fathers had not. But because they took them back again, they would have sword, pestilence, and famine. The army of Babylon had withdrawn but the Lord would bring them back and capture the city and burn it along with all the other cities of Judah.
Psalm: Ethan the Ezrahite says he will sing of the Lord’s love forever. He will praise the Lord because of what he knows about the Lord and what the Lord has promised to David and his descendants. He extols God who is faithful and is mightier than all the angels; they fear him. No one is like the Lord who controls nature and nations. Everything in heaven and earth belong to him because he made them. All his creation praises his name.
Proverbs: As sure as the north wind brings rain, a backstabbing person will draw anger. It is easier to live in isolation than with a spouse who is always quarreling.
1 Timothy: Paul tells Timothy that things will get worse in the end times when people devote themselves to demons and heresy taught by liars with seared consciences. They teach things like forbidding marriage, abstaining from foods that God created to be eaten with thanksgiving. The food is made holy by prayer.
Paul instructs Timothy to teach the church this and stick to the doctrines he was taught. Then he will be a good servant of Jesus. Rather than investigating silly myths, work on godliness. While physical fitness is good, godliness is better because it will last forever. We toil and strive because our hope is in the living God who is the Savior.
Timothy is to command and teach this and not worry about what people think because he is young. He is to set an example in godliness for them. While Paul is away he is to teach from the Scriptures. He is not to neglect the spiritual gift he received when the elders commissioned him. Keep it up and people will see his growth. He will save himself and those who hear him if he pays attention to himself and the doctrines.
What Stood Out
Jeremiah: “The Levitical priests shall never lack a man in my presence to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings, and to make sacrifices forever” (Jer 33:18).
Psalm: “'I will establish your [David’s] offspring forever, and build your throne for all generations” (Ps 89:4).
Proverbs: “The north wind brings forth rain, and a backbiting tongue, angry looks” (Prov 25:23).
1 Timothy: “While bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come” (1 Tim 4:8).
Insight
Jeremiah: In the midst of all the predicted calamity on Judah and Jerusalem, the Lord continues to hold out a future for Israel that is still hard for many to believe. In Jeremiah 33:17-18, the Lord explains that this future Israel will have an offspring of David on the throne forever. We get that, it is Jesus. He will be on the throne forever because he lives forever. He is the Messiah and will restore the kingdom with justice and righteousness. This is a future promise that we can easily understand and embrace.
The second part is harder to understand. The Lord says he will always have a Levitical priest before him to make offerings and sacrifices. The offering part is easy to understand. We can always make offerings to the Lord, thank offerings, free will offerings, and such. I can understand that all Christians are considered to be priests (1 Peter 2:5, 9) and Jesus is actually declared to be a priest forever (Heb 7:17, 21). But sacrifices are something else. Jesus is our high priest (Heb 4:14) and Hebrews 7:27 explains that Jesus’ sacrifice was once and he no longer needs to offer sacrifices. So where do these forever sacrifices come in? It comes in the fact that we are to sacrifice ourselves, living sacrifices, not dead ones (Rom 12:1). This is not a sacrifice to cover sin but the need for us to give up everything we are to follow Jesus. It is done every day forever as we daily devote ourselves to the Lord in worship.
Psalm: God’s plan of redemption was established even before there was a need for it. It was made before the foundations of the earth, that is, God planned it all out before he created the earth. He chose us to be saved at that time (Eph 1:4), he established and prepared his kingdom for us at that time (matt 25:34). This Psalm speaks of God’s faithfulness. His faithfulness stretches from eternity past to eternity future. What he has established he will faithfully accomplish.
One thought is that by establishing Jesus as David’s offspring, it means that God the Son had to know exactly what would happen to him on the cross before he made the earth and people. Yet, he went ahead and did it. I can’t fathom looking ahead and then planning something that would cost me suffering and pain like the cross. Jesus carried that burden from before time, with thousands of years watching sinful men cause him the indescribable grief that he bore on the cross. His faithfulness brought us our salvation. It was for the joy of everything after the cross that he endured it (Heb 12:2). Praise be to our faithful God.
Proverbs: There are some things in nature that are very predictable. The cause and effect are reliable. Just like certain weather patterns bring rain, so certain human behaviors bring about predictable reactions. In this case, a backbiter or backstabber is going to get an angry reaction. But, just like the weather, it isn’t always so predictable. When we have the Holy Spirit living in us, we don’t have to react to other people’s sins. We can overlook offences and evil actions. When we do that, we bring glory to God and demonstrate our own wisdom (Prov 19:11).
1 Timothy: There are some people who emphasize dietary restrictions in order to live a godly life. They point to the Old Testament as proof that some things are bad for us and if we want to be godly, we will obey those. Some come up with some very convincing scientific reasons for abstaining from certain foods and try to say that this is the reason God prohibited this in the Old Testament. They are mixing apples and oranges when they put forth this reasoning.
The Old Testament dietary restrictions were for one reason. They were to show that Israel was separate from the nations around them and their abominable worship practices. Those nations sacrificed pigs to idols and then ate the meat. God prohibited pork for that reason, not because the meat could cause trichinosis when not properly cooked. The Bible says nothing about these laws being for health and everything about them being different from the nations.
Just as Jesus wanted us to get away from thinking that our external religious activity would produce godly lives, so Paul wants us to make sure we don’t think maintaining our health to some arbitrary standard will make us godlier. He isn’t putting down healthy living and exercise, but he is making the point that godliness is even more important because it is forever. So, we need to ensure that sticking to the Scripture and good teaching from it will yield godliness, not physical activities that can even distract us from these.
Application
I want to make sure that my life is a sacrifice to the Lord every day. I want to work on godliness first knowing that as priest of God and of Christ, it is the most important part of this life and my eternity.
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