Jeremiah 17-20

Please note, this entry was originally scheduled for August 3.

The Lord said that the hearts of men are desperately wicked - He knows what is in the heart of every person. He also said “cursed is the man who trusts in man”, and “blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord”. We cannot trust even ourselves, but only Him! It’s interesting that God sends Jeremiah to the gates of Jerusalem to preach against those who violate the Sabbath, and says that He will bless them if they just do this one thing (honor the Sabbath by ceasing from their labors) - yet, no one listens.

In chapter 18 the Lord uses the example of the potter to tell Judah that He is sovereign, and that even though He has designed disasters for His people, He will relent if they would just repent and turn back to Him. Jeremiah tells the priests and leaders in Judah that the Lord is going to bring great destruction and devastation upon them and Jerusalem. Many will die, and many more will be taken as slaves to Babylon. The leaders in Judah arrest and do violence to Jeremiah in response to the word of the Lord that he spoke, and he bemoans the day of his birth.