The Bride of Christ

Readings for today: Ezekiel 13-16

The graphic imagery from chapter 16 of Ezekiel has grown on me over the years. Whereas I initially struggled to get through this chapter and those like it, I now find it presenting a deeply compelling picture of the gospel. A gospel that was as much for Israel as it is for us today. In this chapter, God describes His journey with His people from His point of view. He reminds them He was there at their birth when no one wanted to claim them. He reminds them of His tender mercies and lovingkindness and the lavish blessings He gave to them. He reminds them of their betrayal of His love and His faithfulness to the everlasting covenant He had made. This is their story. This is our story. This is the gospel story.

Where does our relationship with God begin? Not with us. We did not choose God, He chose us. We were stillborn spiritually. Existentially helpless. Abandoned. All alone. It was not our beauty that caught God’s eye but our desperation. “And as for your birth, on the day you were born your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to cleanse you, nor rubbed with salt, nor wrapped in swaddling cloths. No eye pitied you, to do any of these things to you out of compassion for you, but you were cast out on the open field, for you were abhorred, on the day that you were born. "And when I passed by you and saw you wallowing in your blood, I said to you in your blood, 'Live!' I said to you in your blood, 'Live!' (Ezekiel‬ ‭16:4-6‬) Out of pure compassion and grace, God adopted us as His own. Brought us into His family. Lifted us out of the pit where we had been cast. Bathed us. Fed us. Clothed us. Rocked us. Sang to us. Raised us. “I made you flourish like a plant of the field. And you grew up and became tall and arrived at full adornment. Your breasts were formed, and your hair had grown; yet you were naked and bare.” (Ezekiel‬ ‭16:7‬)

We grew up under God’s watchful eye and gracious care. When the time was right, God took us as His bride. He covered our nakedness with the corner of His garment. He made His vow and covenant with us. He bestowed riches and honor and glory on us as befits the bride of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And the whole world marveled at what God had done. The whole world came to see the splendor and glory of Israel just as she came to see the splendor and glory of the church. The whole world envied the relationship we had with our God.

But we grew proud. We began to believe our own hype. We read our own press clippings. We trusted in our riches and beauty and power and influence. We abandoned our covenant with the Lord and began to serve other gods. For Israel, it meant worshipping other gods. Establishing high places where sacrifices could be made to pagan deities. Creating and fashioning idols just like all the other nations. We fall into this same trap as well. We worship the gods of money and sex and power and success. We sacrifice time and talent and treasure and even our families to pursue these things. In either case, God’s bride is now playing the whore. Literally taking the gifts God has given her and giving them away to idols. “How sick is your heart, declares the Lord God, because you did all these things, the deeds of a brazen prostitute...” (Ezekiel‬ ‭16:30‬) 

Therefore God brings judgment on His bride. “For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God...” (1 Peter‬ ‭4:17‬) God will not spare her and in fact, holds her to a higher standard. Higher than Samaria. Higher than Sodom. Higher than the happy pagans that live around us. “Bear your disgrace, you also, for you have intervened on behalf of your sisters. Because of your sins in which you acted more abominably than they, they are more in the right than you. So be ashamed, you also, and bear your disgrace, for you have made your sisters appear righteous.” (Ezekiel‬ ‭16:52‬) God disciplines those He loves out of a desire to see us cleansed from sin and brought to glory. "My child, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by Him. For the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and chastises every son or daughter whom He receives." (Hebrews‬ ‭12:5-6‬) His desire is for His bride to return home. To remain faithful and true. To remember from whence she came and to honor her Divine Husband for all He has done. Why? So the world may again marvel at the intimacy of their relationship. “For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the Lord our God is to us, whenever we call upon him?” (Deuteronomy‬ ‭4:7‬)

This is why Ezekiel 16 ends with this note of hope. “Yet I will remember my covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish for you an everlasting covenant...I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall know that I am the Lord, that you may remember and be confounded, and never open your mouth again because of your shame, when I atone for you for all that you have done, declares the Lord God." (Ezekiel‬ ‭16:60, 62-63‬) God has atoned for His bride. On the cross, He paid for all her sin. He took all her punishment. All her shame. All her self-inflicted degradation on Himself. On the cross, the faithful Husband gave His life for the sake of His bride “so that He might present the church to Himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.” ‭(Ephesians‬ ‭5:27‬)

Readings for tomorrow: None

Seeking God’s Glory

Readings for today: Ezekiel 9-12

It is hard for us to fathom the national catastrophe that befell Israel. Harder still for us to understand the depth of their pain and suffering. Living as we do in the world’s most powerful nation, we cannot begin to grasp what it would be like to watch your entire way of life destroyed. However, all of that pales in comparison to the tragedy Ezekiel sees in his vision today. All the destruction. All the loss of life. All the famine and disease. None of that would have compared to the grief he felt watching the Lord leave His Temple. 

From the moment God had indwelled the Tabernacle in the wilderness, Israel had never been alone. They enjoyed His protection. They enjoyed His provision. He gave them victory after victory. Established them in the Promised Land. Took up residence in Jerusalem once they built the Temple. Over time, the Israelites began to take Him for granted. In fact, there was a sense in Jeremiah and Ezekiel’s time that the Lord was somehow “trapped” in the Temple. They believed they had the Lord caged. He ceased to be their god and had now become a totem. A magic talisman that kept them from evil. This is why they stubbornly refused to leave Jerusalem when Jeremiah called them to submit to Nebuchadnezzar. They falsely believed as long as they had the Lord locked down in His Temple, they could never be fully defeated.  

Imagine their shock when Ezekiel relates his vision of the Lord leaving the Temple. Departing from the east gate. Rising above the cherubim where He normally sat. Heading out of the city that bore His name. Imagine their fear as their one hope departs, leaving them alone for the first time since their days in Egypt. It’s difficult for us wrap our minds around simply because we believe God is everywhere all the time. We hold onto the promise that God is always with us. We trust He will never leave us or forsake us.  

But what if the Lord is leading us into exile? What if the Lord is leading us into a season of suffering? What if the Lord is seeking to refine us and sanctify us? Are we willing to go where He leads? The reality is we too often take the Lord for granted. We too act as if He’s “trapped” in a relationship with us. As if God is “bound” by His unconditional love for us. We falsely believe our thoughts, attitudes, and actions don’t matter. We falsely believe we can reject holiness as a way of life. We falsely believe God’s primary goal is our personal happiness. Nothing could be further from the truth. God does love us with an everlasting love. God does love us unconditionally. Nothing can snatch us out of His hand. Yes. Yes. Yes. But make no mistake, God is not “bound” to us. He is not “trapped” in this relationship. He is not co-dependent on us nor does He allow our whims, our feelings, our desires to shape His will for our lives. We sin at our own risk. We run ahead of God at our own peril. We stubbornly refuse to follow Him and invite despair into our lives. 

Perhaps the best example of how God relates to us comes from the story Jesus tells of the prodigal son in Luke 15. The younger son comes to his father in the tale and asks for his inheritance. He wants nothing to do with his family any longer. He wants to be on his own. Live according to his own rules. Follow his own path. Find his own happiness. So he takes his money and leaves. The father lets him go. Many years pass. The son has spent all he has on sinful pursuits. He has abandoned all his father taught him. Now he’s desperate. Alone. Afraid. Ashamed. One day he plucks up the courage to go home. He has no hope his father will accept him back into the family but he thinks he might be able to catch on as a hired servant. But while he is far off, the father sees him. The father’s been waiting by the door. Watching out the window. Longing. Praying. Looking forward to the day when his son will come to his senses. The father runs to him. Embraces him. Gives him a robe to wear and places the signet ring back on his finger. He is home. He is one of the family again.  

It’s a powerful story. One that reminds us of the great love of God. It should also remind us of the consequences of our sin. The father never stopped loving the son just as God never stops loving us. But the father did let the son go. He did let the son make his own sinful decisions and then let him face the terrible consequences. The same was true for Israel. God did indeed come to dwell in His Temple. Like the father from the story, He loved His children unconditionally. Over and over He forgave them. But then there came a day when they finally said, “We don’t want you here anymore. We don’t want to be your children. We want to do our own thing. Live our own lives. Pursue our own happiness. Chase our own dreams. And they don’t include you.” So the Father did what they asked. He left His home in their hands. He removed His glorious presence. The result is pain. Suffering. Heartbreak. Such is always the case when we abandon God. At the same time, Ezekiel sounds a note of hope. Presumably, God could have chosen to leave His Temple and head in any direction. He went east. East to where the exiles lived. East to Babylon. East to find His wayward children. East to be with them in captivity. East to comfort them in their diaspora. East to provide for them and make them prosper. East to join them.

Friends, God’s glory doesn’t need a Temple. A house made with human hands. A sanctuary covered in gold. The Bible declares that we are temples of the Holy Spirit! Our hearts have become the residence of God Himself! This is why Ezekiel declares, “And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in my statutes and keep my rules and obey them. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God.” (Ezekiel‬ ‭11:19-20‬) Furthermore, it’s why the Apostle Paul will later declare, “Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?” (1 Corinthians‬ ‭3:16‬) Because God’s Spirit has taken up residence in our hearts, we ourselves are “being transformed into the Christ’s image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” (2 Corinthians‬ ‭3:18‬) Amazing! The great news of the gospel is that God’s glory now lives in us! And this is why we do not take Him for granted or presume upon His grace. Rather we should be deeply humbled by God’s willingness to dwell with us and in us and work through us.

Readings for tomorrow: Ezekiel 13-16

The End of God’s Judgment

Readings for today: Ezekiel 5-8

Today’s reading is as difficult as it gets. Violence. Disease. Famine. Destruction. Pain. Suffering. God delivering His people over to judgment. It is hard to read. Harder still to try and picture. But the hardest part is to accept is that this is all from God. All a part of His plan. It raises some extremely difficult questions. How can this be the same God who promised compassion and steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love Him? How can this be the same God who will later reveal Himself fully and completely in Jesus Christ? How can this God of wrath be the same God of love? Is this God schizophrenic? Can He be trusted? Is such a God even worthy of our love? 

These are all important questions to ponder but they also ultimately miss the point. God is God. He has made known His will. He has established His covenant. He has made clear His expectations. From the beginning, He held nothing back. Nothing hidden. Nothing secret. He created us to fulfill His purposes. He is the Potter. We are the clay. Our problem is we keep forgetting our place. We keep rejecting our role. We refuse to acknowledge His Lordship over our lives. Starting with Adam and Eve, we keep asserting our independence. We keep trying to be our own gods. Do things our own way. Worship as we please. Do things as we choose. And we forget the One we were created to serve. We forget the One we were created to please.

We cannot say we haven’t been warned. God is more patient with us than we deserve. He forbears for generations as the sin piles up. He continues to reach out in love only to have the door slammed in His face over and over again. He continues to show us grace though we deserve judgment. He continues to be faithful though we ignore Him and walk away. There are consequences to such actions. The apostle Paul talks about them in Romans 1, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all the ungodliness and unrighteousness of humanity...” And how does that wrath manifest itself according to Paul? God simply withdraws His hand. He “gives us over” to the lusts of our hearts. The lust of our eyes. Our pride and arrogance. And the results are ugly. Human beings, left unchecked, are often brutal creatures. It was Robert Burns who first coined the phrase, “Man’s inhumanity to man” in a poem he wrote in 1787 and the events of the last few hundred years only serve to confirm his analysis of the human condition. We are capable of unfathomable evil. We are capable of the most horrific violence. We are capable of the most dehumanizing behavior. And if we’re totally honest, we all know this to be true. Given the right conditions, all of us are capable of just about anything. (See the infamous “Stanford Prison Experiment” of 1971.) 

How should a just and holy God respond? Righteous judgment. Our sin offends God on a level we simply cannot understand. Listen to how Ezekiel describes how God feels, “Then those of you who escape will remember me among the nations where they are carried captive, how I have been broken over their whoring heart that has departed from me and over their eyes that go whoring after their idols.” (Ezekiel‬ ‭6:9‬) God takes our sin seriously. Our problem is we don’t take it seriously enough. We gloss it over. We make excuses. We rationalize our behavior. We justify our thoughts, attitudes, and actions. We foolishly believe we are somehow special and will escape judgment. We presume upon our relationship with God. We are just like Israel who believed they were “immune” because they were God’s chosen people. 

But God will not be mocked. He vents His fury without mercy. "Thus shall my anger spend itself, and I will vent my fury upon them and satisfy myself. And they shall know that I am the Lord —that I have spoken in my jealousy—when I spend my fury upon them.” (Ezekiel 5:13) It is scary. It is frightening. It makes us tremble. And if we aren’t careful we will miss what God is trying to do. In our fear, we will focus yet again on all the wrong things. God’s judgment is NOT an end in itself! It points beyond itself to something far greater! Far more important! 

“That they may know I am the Lord.” Over and over again we read this refrain. God using judgment to cleanse His people. To refine them. To separate the gold from the dross. The wheat from the chaff. He disciplines them in His love. He confronts the evil of their hearts. He forces them to come face to face with the depth of their sin. The utter futility of their idolatry. The full measure of their rebellion. Yes, it is harsh but it is also true. It is just. It is fair. It right. It is good. And it is ultimately designed to bring them back in humility to the Lord. They must be broken. Their hardened hearts must be crushed. Their stiff necks bent. God will bring them to their knees through judgment so they may again experience the joy of being in right relationship with Him. This is the point of their exile. This is the point of their suffering. God wants His people back. And He will not relent until they return. 

It’s a sobering reality. Especially for us Christians. To think of all that Christ endured as the Father poured His wrath out on His Son. To consider all Christ went through as he experienced the depths of hell and God-forsakenness. He took on the full weight of human sin. As terrifying as the judgment is in Ezekiel, it pales in comparison to the judgment Christ suffered on the Cross. Reading these words through the prism of the Cross should make us appreciate more and more the wonder of Christ’s sacrifice for us. We should find ourselves marveling at the great love of a God who would take our place. Bring judgment on Himself. Freely lay down His life in order to save us from our sin. Amazing love! How can it be that Thou my God wouldst die for me?

Readings for tomorrow: Ezekiel 9-12

Seeing God’s Glory

Readings for today: Ezekiel 1-4

How many times have I prayed over the years to see the glory of God? But am I prepared for God to answer that prayer? Reading through the opening words of Ezekiel is a bit frightening. Ezekiel’s vision of God’s glory is simply overwhelming. Angels in flight. Faces constantly shifting and changing. Wheels spinning. Fire and lightning flashing. It levels the prophet. “Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard the voice of one speaking.” (Ezekiel‬ ‭1:28‬) Such is always the case when we come face to face with God’s glory. Moses could only bear to see it in passing. Isaiah cried out in fear because he was a man of unclean lips. Ezekiel falls on his face. Even the disciples fall down prostrate before the Lord when He reveals Himself in power and exercises His divine authority.

Thankfully, God doesn’t leave us on our faces. He is not interested in making us grovel before Him. He has no need to prove Himself to us or demonstrate His power over us. Instead, He lifts us up. He invites us to become part of what He’s doing in the world. He encourages us and strengthens us. Listen to what He says to Ezekiel, “Son of man, stand on your feet, and I will speak with you.” And as he spoke to me, the Spirit entered into me and set me on my feet, and I heard him speaking to me.” (Ezekiel‬ ‭2:1-2‬) God has a plan for Ezekiel’s life. He will use Ezekiel to speak His Word to His people. There will be words of comfort and confrontation. Blessed words of hope and strong words of warning. It’s an open question as to whether or not they will receive God’s Word but no matter what they will know a prophet has been among them. A man full of the Spirit of the Living God.

The Word Ezekiel is called to preach is not easy. The Spirit of God will make his face like flint. His forehead like emery. His words will fall on deaf ears and hard hearts. Most likely, Ezekiel will be an outcast. Isolated and lonely. Perpetually misunderstood. Many will believe he is insane. Still the call remains. This makes Ezekiel bitter on some level. He must feel trapped. Torn between the overwhelming glory of God on one hand and the hard hearts of his own people on the other. “Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me the voice of a great earthquake: “Blessed be the glory of the Lord from its place!”…The Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness in the heat of my spirit, the hand of the Lord being strong upon me. And I came to the exiles at Tel-abib, who were dwelling by the Chebar canal, and I sat where they were dwelling. And I sat there overwhelmed among them seven days.” (Ezekiel‬ ‭3:12, 14-15‬)

Only the Spirit of God can sustain such a call. Only the Spirit of God can hold him together as he faces the challenges of the years ahead and fulfills God’s call on his life. Standing as a watchman. Lying on each side for over a year. Eating unclean food cooked over human waste. It’s brutal. And yet the Spirit is there with him to sustain him miraculously. Every time Ezekiel falls, the Spirit lifts him up. Every time Ezekiel finds himself at a loss for words, the Spirit is there to give him the words to speak. Every time Ezekiel feels alone and afraid, he feels the Lord’s hand upon him. “And the hand of the Lord was upon me there. And he said to me, “Arise, go out into the valley, and there I will speak with you.” So I arose and went out into the valley, and behold, the glory of the Lord stood there, like the glory that I had seen by the Chebar canal, and I fell on my face. But the Spirit entered into me and set me on my feet, and he spoke with me and said to me, “Go, shut yourself within your house. And you, O son of man, behold, cords will be placed upon you, and you shall be bound with them, so that you cannot go out among the people. And I will make your tongue cling to the roof of your mouth, so that you shall be mute and unable to reprove them, for they are a rebellious house. But when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God.’ He who will hear, let him hear; and he who will refuse to hear, let him refuse, for they are a rebellious house.” (Ezekiel‬ ‭3:22-27‬)

We live in challenging times ourselves. It’s easy to become discouraged when we see what’s happening all around us. When we encounter the hardened hearts of so many people. When people refuse to listen to the Lord and return to Him. It’s easy to become bitter and disillusioned when we see so much pain. So much suffering. So much heartbreak. Much of it self-inflicted. This is especially true for those of us who have seen God’s glory revealed in the Person of Jesus Christ. Once we come to know Him, we can’t imagine life without Him. His Spirit comes to live inside us, lifting us up out of the dust and ashes. He strengthens us and encourages us. He confronts us and convicts us. He heals us and restores us. He sustains us through every trial and wipes away every tear. No matter what challenges you may face, know God is with you today!

Readings for tomorrow: Ezekiel 5-8

Next Steps

Readings for today: Lamentations 3:37-5:22

What comes after lament? That’s a question I often deal with as a pastor. I walk with people through crisis. I sit with people in their grief. I do my best to comfort them as they mourn. I help them process their pain. After making space for all of the heartache, what comes next? After walking through the valley of the shadow of death together, what happens when one gets to the other side? Honestly, in my experience, this is where the hard work really begins.

I think of a woman I once knew who was married for decades. On the outside, things in their family looked good. He was very successful in his business. They were able to travel the world together. Pursue whatever their hearts desired. But after he passed and the funeral was over, the real truth began to emerge. Alcoholism. Abuse. A life of torment and fear. As the widow and I met to process what she was feeling, we talked about her need for healing. Her need to recover. Her need to be patient and give herself time to work through all the emotions she was experiencing. We also talked about what life would look like on the other side. Her desire to be married again. Her desire to pursue some of the dreams her husband had denied her. Her desire to reconnect with their estranged children and recover some of the years they had lost. This would require a lot of introspection and self-reflection. Owning what she needed to own and disowning what she needed to disown. Thankfully, she had the courage to walk the road faithfully before the Lord. She took up hobbies like horseback riding and cooking. She renewed her relationship with her son. She began dating a good man who treated her with the love and respect she deserved. It was beautiful to watch.

We catch Jeremiah at a much earlier, much darker place in the journey. He is still very much processing his pain. The heartache is real. The emotions are visceral. Though the reading is hard, it is good to know we can be raw and real before God. At the same time, we see the stirrings of a new season begin to emerge as well. Jeremiah calling for the people of Israel to think about what comes next after lament. Once they’ve fully grieved, they will need to take some time to reflect and repent and renew their faith and trust in God. “Who has spoken and it came to pass, unless the Lord has commanded it? Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that good and bad come? Why should the living complain about the punishment of their sins? Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the Lord! Let us lift up our hearts and hands to God in heaven…” (Lamentations 3:37-41) Jeremiah knows what comes next. He knows the people of God must return to Him if they are experience the healing and restoration their hearts so desperately long for.

Anyone who has ever walked with grief knows the journey well. It begins in deep darkness where it’s hard to see any light at all. Momentum begins to pick up as we take our initial steps and the darkness doesn’t seem as deep. As we continue walking the road, a light does appear at the end of the tunnel. Eventually, as we keep doing the work, we emerge into the bright sunshine of a new day. God is faithful! He will walk with us through the valley of the shadow of death and as we turn to Him - lifting up our hearts and hands in worship - He promises to cast out all our fear and bring us to green pastures and still waters, to places where we will find our souls restored.

Readings for tomorrow: Ezekiel 1-4

Lament

Readings for today: Lamentations 1:1-3:36

I have a friend named Dinesh. Dinesh is a Ugandan pastor who ministers in the northern part of his country. When he was a boy, he lived under the constant threat of terrorism. The Lord’s Resistance Army under the leadership of Joseph Kony was very active in his region. He was trained by his family to run into the bush when he heard the jeeps and trucks roll into his village. He escaped several times over the years only to come back and find the bodies of his family members who had been killed. Eventually, those living in villages all over northern Uganda escaped to cities like Kitgum where Dinesh now lives. They found safety in numbers but they left their homes behind. They left their livelihoods behind. The cities were not set up to support all the refugees so many of them suffered from life-threatening poverty. It’s been many years since Kony ravaged the region. The latest news has him hiding out in the Central African Republic, a shadow of his former self. Still, the people are afraid to go home. They believe their villages are cursed. The memories of death and destruction are too painful to face. It reminds me of Lamentations.

“My eyes are spent with weeping; my stomach churns; my bile is poured out to the ground because of the destruction of the daughter of my people, because infants and babies faint in the streets of the city. They cry to their mothers, “Where is bread and wine?” as they faint like a wounded man in the streets of the city, as their life is poured out on their mothers’ bosom…In the dust of the streets lie the young and the old; my young women and my young men have fallen by the sword; you have killed them in the day of your anger, slaughtering without pity.” (Lamentations‬ ‭2:11-12, 21‬) It’s hard to believe this kind of thing still happens around the world. But it’s more common than we realize. This fall I hope to travel to the northern regions of Ethiopia where a civil war has been raging for the last couple of years. We are hoping to launch over seventy new church planters into the area to bring the hope of the gospel to people who are experiencing unbelievable suffering. We will work alongside our indigenous leaders to empower them and equip them and resource them as they rebuild. But it will not be an easy task. The trauma is immense. The pain is very real. We will lament even as we labor to bring renewal and restoration.

It’s not easy to read a book like Lamentations. It’s not easy to enter another person’s pain and suffering. It’s not easy to hear them cry out. It’s not easy to look at the world through their tear-filled eyes. It’s not easy to sit with them in the ashes and dust of their lives and listen to them. And yet the Lord calls us to weep with those who weep. To mourn with those who mourn. To grieve with those who grieve. Jeremiah models this for us by putting these words to paper. Though he knows God is in the right, his heart breaks for God’s people. He feels their pain intensely. Listen to just a few of the verses from Lamentations 3 again, “I am the man who has seen affliction under the rod of his wrath; he has driven and brought me into darkness without any light…He has made my flesh and my skin waste away…he has broken my bones; he has made me dwell in darkness like the dead of long ago…though I call and cry for help, he shuts out my prayer…he turned aside my steps and tore me to pieces; he has made me desolate…He drove into my kidneys the arrows of his quiver…He has filled me with bitterness; he has sated me with wormwood…He has made my teeth grind on gravel, and made me cower in ashes; my soul is bereft of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is; so I say, “My endurance has perished; so has my hope from the Lord.” (Lamentations‬ ‭3:1-2, 4, 6, 8, 11, 13, 15-18‬) All hope seems lost but Jeremiah continues to turn to the Lord. “But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.” The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.” (Lamentations‬ ‭3:21-26‬)

God is always faithful. Even in judgment, His desire is to bring mercy and forgiveness and grace. His love is steadfast, loyal, faithful, and true. It never wavers. It never ceases. It never fails. No matter where you may find yourself today, turn to the Lord! Make Him your portion! Make Him your hope! Make Him your sanctuary! No matter what pain or suffering you may endure, wait for the Lord. Seek His face! Trust He is already on His way to bring deliverance and salvation in this life and the next!

Readings for tomorrow: Lamentations 3:37-5:22

The Language of Suffering

Readings for today: Jeremiah 51, Psalms 137

One of the most important things to keep in mind as you read the Bible are the different genres of Scripture. It’s not all directions and commands. There is history. There is poetry. There are wisdom sayings. There is storytelling. There are parables. All of it is God’s Word. All of it is useful for teaching and correction and encouragement. 

Today’s reading from Psalm 137 is a gut-wrenching one. It is a song sung from the perspective of those recently exiled to Babylon. Force-marched over 900 miles, they arrive at the Euphrates. Held captive and enslaved, they have lost all hope. They had just witnessed the destruction of their entire way of life. They come to the waters of Babylon and they sit and they weep. Their cries fill the air. They shared their memories of better days when they walked the streets of Zion. They were so heartbroken, they longed to hang up their instruments and sing no more but their captors forced them. Adding insult to injury, they mocked them saying, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion.” Sing us one of the songs of deliverance. Tell us stories about the God who abandoned you in your hour of greatest need. It is an incredibly heartbreaking scene. 

It reminds me of a book I once read titled, Conversations with God: Two Centuries of Prayers by African Americans. Scholars have uncovered a treasure trove of prayers going all the way back to the days of slavery and it is powerful to read them. To place oneself in their shoes and imagine their pain and suffering. To hear their hearts as they cry out to God for deliverance and healing and freedom. It is not a book you can read dispassionately. It brings tears to your eyes at times. The raw emotion is moving. It’s also what informs so many of negro spirituals. Songs like Go Down Moses, Give Me Jesus, and Wade in the Water. Their music and prayers rose out of their pain and gives them an unmatched gravitas that moves hearts to this day.

Psalm 137 ends with a terrible request, “O daughter of Babylon, doomed to be destroyed, blessed shall he be who repays you with what you have done to us! Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones and dashes them against the rock!” (Psalms‬ ‭137:8-9‬) It is horrifying and yet it is as honest and real as it gets. By including it in the canon of Scripture, God is not promising to answer such prayers as much as letting us know He listens to them. No matter how dark our prayers become. No matter how angry we get. Even if we lace our prayers with profanity and frustration. God hears them. God welcomes them. God is a big boy and can handle all we can throw at Him. He is not afraid to get down into the muck and mire. He’s not afraid to dig through the manure pile that our lives can become. He is with us in the midst of the deepest heartaches and terrible tragedies. It doesn’t matter whether we find ourselves in Jerusalem or Babylon. At home or in exile. Feeling blessed or cursed. God is there. We can talk to Him. We can share our deepest thoughts and emotions with Him. We don’t need to be ashamed. We don’t need to hide. He is our Father and He understands our fears. 

Readings for tomorrow: None

Biblical Archeology

Readings for today: Jeremiah 49-50

I have stood on the mound in Rabbath-Ammon. I have seen the ruins of Edom. I have spoken to the descendants of Kedar. It’s a powerful experience to see the Bible come to life. To connect the dots between what we read in Jeremiah today and real life events. The archeological “tel” in the modern day city of Amman, Jordan dates back to the Bronze Age (1800 BCE). Walking among the ruins, one can see evidence of the Romans, Byzantines, and Umayyads. As they have excavated certain portions, they found a tomb dating to the middle Bronze Age that held some pottery. They also found evidence of the ancient capital of the nation of Ammon. In fact, the oldest known inscription of the Ammonite language was discovered here. The museum that was built on site holds some of the oldest artifacts ever unearthed. It’s really something to behold.

The ruins of Edom are just as powerful. I took a tour of Wadi Rum and saw the places where ancient caravans would stop to rest and water their camels before continuing north. It’s also the wilderness where Israel wandered after coming up out of the Red Sea. It’s desolate. Empty. Dangerous. It’s easy to see why Israel spent so much time complaining and longing for Egypt. There’s simply nothing out there. Petra was a marvel, of course. Though not Edomite, it was a major city in the region built by the Nabateans. One also encounters the Bedouins in this region of the world. Descendants of nomadic tribes like the Kedarites referenced in today’s reading. They largely maintain the same way of life their ancestors did.

What’s my takeaway from the journey? How does it relate to today’s reading? Jeremiah makes it clear that kingdoms come and go. Nations rise and fall. As powerful as one county may be at a particular moment, there is already another rising that will take it’s place. This was true in the ancient world and it’s just as true today. Only the Kingdom of God lasts forever. Only the Triune God reigns supreme. He has no rival. He has no equal. There are none who can match his power. I love how Psalm 2 puts it, “Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying, “Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.” He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision. Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying, “As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.” (Psalm‬ ‭2:1-6‬)

As believers in Jesus Christ, we place our trust in the King of kings and Lord of lords. While we may love and serve our earthly kingdoms, we do not give them our final or ultimate allegiance. We know they will one day fall just as surely as Ammon and Edom and Damascus. We must learn from those who have gone before us and whose voices cry out to us from the ruins they left behind. They spent their lives building great civilizations and monuments only to watch them disappear into the sands of the desert. Will we do the same? Or will we spend our lives building for a different kind of kingdom? A kingdom that never ends?

Readings for tomorrow: Jeremiah 51, Psalms 137

The Lord’s Discipline

Readings for today: Jeremiah 45-48

The Lord disciplines those He loves. I remember when I first ran across those words from Hebrews 12:6. They resonated deeply. As Christians, we believe God is our Heavenly Father. We believe He is a Good Father who delights in giving good gifts to His children. We believe He is a Faithful Father who walks with us every step of the way throughout all of life. We believe He is a Wise Father who knows what’s best for us. As such, it makes perfect sense that He would discipline me when I go astray. It makes perfect sense that He would say “No” when I ask for something outside of His will for my life. It makes perfect sense that He would lovingly but firmly correct me when I am engaged in sin.

God made a covenant with Israel after delivering them from bondage in Egypt. He promised to be their God. He promised to be faithful and true and steadfast and loyal to them. He promised to walk with them wherever they would go. He promised to be good to them and bless them and keep them. But God was also clear as to what would happen should Israel forsake the covenant and worship other gods. He would punish them. He would discipline them. He would lovingly but firmly correct them. Now His judgment may seem harsh in light of everything we have read. The pain and suffering they’ve endured has been immense. The devastation and destruction overwhelming. So many have lost their lives and lost loved ones as a result of all that has happened. This is loving discipline? No thanks! But take a moment and try to look at things from God’s perspective. Recall to mind all the injustice and oppression and idolatry and violence and abuse of power that had taken place under the evil kings who ruled both the northern and southern kingdoms. Called to be the light, Israel had become a land of deep darkness. Called to be set apart, Israel had become just like her pagan neighbors. Called to be righteous and good, Israel had become corrupt and evil. It’s hard to overstate the horror she had become so God brings forth His judgment.

God’s goal in judgment is never the complete destruction of His people though they have rightfully earned such a fate. It is always to turn them back to Him. Even here at the end of Jeremiah after all has been lost and the nation scattered, the prophet sounds a note of hope. “Fear not, O Jacob my servant, declares the Lord, for I am with you. I will make a full end of all the nations to which I have driven you, but of you I will not make a full end. I will discipline you in just measure, and I will by no means leave you unpunished.” (Jeremiah‬ ‭46:28‬) Yes, the evil Israel has committed in God’s name must be dealt with but God will never forsake the covenant He made with them. Yes, their sin must be atoned for but God will never abandon them to their fate. He will discipline them in just measure. He will punish them for their transgressions. But He will restore them as well and gather them from the nations to which they have been scattered.

Now consider your own life. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He still disciplines those He loves. He still corrects those who’ve gone astray. He still confronts us in our sin. But thankfully ALL of His wrath and judgment was poured out on Jesus at the Cross. All our sin was atoned for by Jesus’ sacrificial death. God’s justice has been perfectly satisfied in Christ. This is unbelievably good news! Because of what Jesus has accomplished for us, we receive mercy and forgiveness rather than judgment and punishment. God’s discipline is kind and gentle even as it is firm and righteous. Yes, we will still experience the natural consequences of our sin but God is always faithful to welcome us back home.

Readings for tomorrow: Jeremiah 49-50

Family Feud

Readings for today: Obadiah 1, Psalms 82-83

There’s nothing worse than a family feud. Especially one that lasts generations. Two brothers grow up together. Polar opposites in personality, they never get along. One is favored by his father, the other by his mother. One loves hunting, camping, fishing, and the outdoors. The other prefers staying at home, reading, studying, enjoying the finer things of life. One is big and strong. A mountain of a man. The other is small and thin. He’s the intellectual. One day, the big, strong older brother comes in from hunting and is famished. The younger brother has been cooking all day. The older brother asks for some food but the younger brother refuses him unless he gives up his birthright. The stage is set for the younger brother to usurp the older brother’s place in the family. Many years pass. Their father is failing. It’s time to divide up the inheritance. The younger brother steals the favored place in the family. The older brother is enraged. He seeks revenge. The younger brother leaves home. He’s gone for years. When he finally comes home, he’s prospered. In his absence, so has the older brother. They meet. They forgive. But their families remain separate. Their clans do not mingle. There is no indication they even see each other again.  

Fast forward generations. Hundreds of years. Edom and Israel are now mortal enemies. Locked in perpetual conflict. What began with a bowl of porridge has become a tribal war. Seems crazy, doesn’t it? And yet, it’s not an uncommon story. Especially in “honor/shame” cultures where defending one’s family reputation is taken very seriously. Through it all, God has been watching. Watching these two “brothers” fight. Watching their descendants go back and forth. Now judgment has come for Esau has gone too far. “Because of the violence done to your brother Jacob, shame shall cover you, and you shall be cut off forever.” (Obadiah‬ ‭1:10‬) It’s painful to read. 

Family feuds are the worst. There’s nothing worse than going to war with the people you love. Husbands. Wives. Mothers. Fathers. Children. Grandchildren. Brothers. Sisters. It’s heartbreaking. It doesn’t matter if the conflict is large or small, it’s always painful. Working through it requires great courage and humility as we forgive, reconcile, and restore relationships. It’s some of the hardest work we will ever do. 

In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus tells a very famous story. Two brothers and a father. The younger brother comes and shames his father by asking him to give him his inheritance early. For some reason, he doesn’t want to be part of the family anymore. The father graciously agrees. The older brother is horrified. His anger begins to smolder. The younger brother heads off on his own. He wastes everything he has on sinful living. Gossip and rumors filter back to the family of his experiences bringing more shame and more dishonor on the family’s reputation. The older brother is enraged. He secretly begins wishing his younger brother would die. Meanwhile, the younger brother loses everything. Things are so bad, he takes on the most shameful profession there is for a Jew. Feeding pigs. He’s starving. He’s destitute. He has nothing left. Coming to the end of himself, he finally decides to return home. To face the family he once left. To ask for mercy and perhaps be taken on as a hired servant. On his way home, he rehearses what he will say when he finally sees his father. But he while is far off...the Bible says...the father sees him! He’s been waiting! Hoping! Praying for the day when his younger son would appear on the horizon! He runs to him. He embraces him. He gives him the family robe and signet ring. He welcomes him home with a feast. Meanwhile, the older brother’s rage now erupts. He refuses to embrace his brother. Refuses to forgive. Refuses to reconcile. Refuses to welcome him back into the family. And what does the father do? Runs to him as well. Embraces him. Assures him of his great love. 

The parable ends with a cliffhanger. What will the older brother do? How will he respond? Will he follow his father’s example and embrace his brother once again? Think about your own family. What relationships need reconciliation? Where does forgiveness need to be offered and received? What does restoration look like? Think about your own position in your family. Are you the prodigal son whose left home and damaged relationships? Are you the older brother whose anger and rage threaten the possibility of reconciliation? Are you the father who embraces both his sons with grace and love?  

Readings for tomorrow: Jeremiah 45-48

Fear or Faith?

Readings for today: Jeremiah 41-44

One of the things I get to do in my line of work is help churches that find themselves in crisis. Leadership failings. Trust issues. Organizational chaos. There are lots of reasons churches struggle and when it gets to a certain point, they cry out for help. That’s often when I am called to go in. We begin working with the pastors. Working with the elders. Working with the leaders. And the biggest challenge we face in these situations is to help people who are often hurting, angry, fearful, and afraid, walk by faith. 

Jeremiah faced the same challenge. The national crisis of God’s people deepens with the murder of the Babylonian governor. The people of God come to Jeremiah and ask him to pray on their behalf. What should they do? How should they respond? They are naturally afraid of the wrath of Nebuchadnezzar. Will he return and utterly destroy them? Will he seek retribution for the murder of his official? What’s going to happen? Jeremiah seeks the Lord on their behalf and the Lord graciously answers. “If you will remain in this land, then I will build you up and not pull you down; I will plant you, and not pluck you up; for I relent of the disaster that I did to you. Do not fear the king of Babylon, of whom you are afraid. Do not fear him, declares the Lord, for I am with you, to save you and to deliver you from his hand. I will grant you mercy, that he may have mercy on you and let you remain in your own land.” (Jeremiah‬ ‭42:10-12‬) What an amazing promise! Even now, after all their sin and rebellion, God is willing to forgive and show mercy and establish them in the Promised Land. Even now, God is willing to bless them and help them and come to their aid. Yes, it will require a step of faith. It will require them to be humble. Submit to Nebuchadnezzar once again. It will require faith as they wait to see how the Babylonians will respond. But if they will do these things, God will be with them. 

Sadly, their fear gets the best of them. “Azariah the son of Hoshaiah and Johanan the son of Kareah and all the insolent men said to Jeremiah, "You are telling a lie. The Lord our God did not send you to say, 'Do not go to Egypt to live there,' but Baruch the son of Neriah has set you against us, to deliver us into the hand of the Chaldeans, that they may kill us or take us into exile in Babylon." (Jeremiah‬ ‭43:2-3‬) They flee to Egypt. Back to the place where they were once enslaved. They begin to worship Egyptian gods. They leave the land of promise for a foreign land to serve foreign masters hoping they will protect them and keep them safe. 

We walk by faith and not by sight. It’s not easy. It often seems illogical to our human minds. Azariah and Johanan were doing what made sense. It makes sense to run for cover when you are afraid. It makes sense to run to Egypt, the world’s only other superpower, to escape the wrath of the Babylonians. It makes sense to flee when you’ve just been conquered. It is natural to be afraid in such situations. But it is PRECISELY in these moments, when things are at their darkest and most bleak, that we turn to God in faith.  

Many churches I’ve worked with over the years have sadly not been able to make this turn. They keep trying to handle things on their own. They keep turning to their own wisdom. They keep trying to operate according to their own strength. They falsely believe if they can just get another pastor. If they can just get rid of a certain leader. If they can just hit on the right program. Attract the right kind of people. Success will come. They turn to business principles. They go to conferences. They talk vision and values and policies and procedures. They try so hard and all the while God is in heaven reaching out to them. Calling them to slow down. Simplify. Sit with Him in prayer. Rebuild trust by spending time together in the Word and just sharing life. 

Thankfully, I’ve seen some wonderful successes along the way as well. Churches who finally come to the end of themselves and are ready to submit to God. Ready to walk by faith not by sight. Ready to look past attendance and budget and building issues and let God restore them. They are ready to put aside all the talk about vision and values and leadership and let the Spirit show them the way. They are ready to stop looking to organizational solutions for spiritual problems and instead rely on God. It’s a beautiful thing to watch as God builds them back up. Replants the fields and brings in a harvest. Friends, if we trust God, He will come through! 

Readings for tomorrow: Obadiah 1, Psalms 82-83

Sabbath

Readings for today: 2 Kings 24-25, 2 Chronicles 36:1-21, Jeremiah 52

Today’s reading includes this fascinating line from 2 Chronicles 36:20-21, “Nebuchadnezzar took into exile in Babylon those who had escaped from the sword, and they became servants to him and to his sons until the establishment of the kingdom of Persia, to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its Sabbaths. All the days that it lay desolate it kept Sabbath, to fulfill seventy years.” Most scholars believe the books of the Kings and the books of the Chronicles are written by two different authors with two different perspectives. Both agree that the reason Judah was now going into exile was due to the sins of the kings. Both agree that Nebuchadnezzar is an agent God has raised up to execute His righteous judgment. However, the Chronicler goes into further detail as to why judgment has come. Not only did the kings refuse to humble themselves before the prophet Jeremiah and obey the Word of the Lord, they ignored the Sabbath. They broke the fourth commandment. They refused to give the land its rest. According to Leviticus 25:3-4, “For six years you shall sow your field, and for six years you shall prune your vineyard and gather its fruits, but in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a Sabbath to the Lord. You shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard.” Sabbath rest for the land was part of a healthy agricultural cycle God hardwired into creation. It also served as a reminder to the people of God of their dependence on Him. In the Sabbath year when the land is at rest, they would have to trust God to produce what they needed. Furthermore, it reset humanity’s relationship with the earth. It reminds us of the calling God placed on our lives at creation - to be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and exercise dominion as stewards over all God has made. The earth is not a possession to exploit or abuse but something to nurture and cherish.

Our world would do well to recover the idea of Sabbath and God’s people should be the first to show them the way. Beginning in the way we lead our lives, we take one day out of every seven to rest from our labors. We worship. We rest. We sleep. We disconnect from technology. We enjoy time with those we love. We engage in those activities that bring us joy. Second, we seek to create Sabbath opportunities for those around us. If we are employers, we give our employees generous time off. We create space for them to worship and rest and recharge. We give our business a rest as well. We refuse to bow the knee to the relentless pressure to turn a profit. We refuse to believe the lie that “time is money.” This is what drives a company like Chick fil-A to remain closed on Sundays. Third, we create Sabbath for the world we inhabit. If we are engaged in agriculture, we practice crop rotations and other such things that give the land a rest and allow it recharge. If we are energy producers, we seek to minimize our environmental impact, expand into renewables, and do all we can to steward our resources well. If we are architects and engineers, we try to build with the land rather than against it. Rather than engage in a running war with the earth, we seek to build our communities in partnership with it. If are government leaders, we incentivize new technologies that leave less of a mark on the planet and regulate business in order to eliminate abuses like overfishing, strip mining, or slash and burn farming techniques. All of these examples are not just good social policy but actually have biblical warrant in the foundational principle of Sabbath.

Practicing Sabbath is revolutionary. It’s also deeply Biblical. God ordained the Sabbath when He chose to rest on the seventh day of creation. God set up all of life and all of creation to operate according to a divine rhythm. Mornings and evenings. Springtime and harvest. Six days to labor and one day to rest. Six years to plant and prune and one year to lie fallow. We ignore these rhythms to our peril. Those who refuse to take one day out of seven to rest find themselves anxious and stressed and unhealthy. Human beings simply were not meant to run 24/7. Employers who drive their employees relentlessly without giving them a break will find themselves with high turnover and lower quality products. Communities that ignore the contours of the land on which they are built will find themselves at greater risk of floods, earthquakes, and other natural disasters. These are the consequences of ignoring Sabbath and we see the examples all around us.

So what are we to do? What’s the first step towards change? It begins with each one of us making a conscious, intentional decision to set one day in seven apart for worship and rest before the Lord. Creatively finding ways to disconnect from email and social media, putting work aside, and getting outside to enjoy all God has made. What does Sabbath look like in your life today?

Readings for tomorrow: Jeremiah 41-44

Entitlement

Readings for today: Jeremiah 38-40, Psalms 74, 79

Have you ever been disappointed with God? Ever feel like He let you down? Ever wonder how His plans for you could be good when so many bad things are taking place? I imagine that’s how King Zedekiah felt in today’s reading. He hoped against all hope for an 11th hour rescue. He simply could not believe God would abandon His people. Abandon His city. Abandon His Temple. He fundamentally could not bring himself to believe things had gotten that bad. He knew his history. He could look back and tell you story after story about God relenting from disaster at the last possible moment. But then he watches in horror as the Babylonians storm a breach in the wall. He tries to escape only to be captured and forced to watch as his sons are executed in front of him. It is the last thing he will ever see as his eyes are the next thing to go. He is then shackled in chains and carried off into exile. It’s a tragic ending to a tragic story.  

But we’ve seen this before, have we not? After Adam’s fall, God raises up Seth only to watch as humanity descends into chaos. He raises up Noah and rescues him from the flood only to watch Noah’s descendants rebel and build a tower to the heavens. He scatters them and raises up Abraham only to watch his descendants end up in slavery in Egypt. God raises up Moses and delivers them from bondage. Brings them to a land flowing with milk and honey only to watch them forget Him and do what is right in their own eyes. So he raises up David. The man after God’s own heart and sets him on the throne. But now David’s descendants have followed the same path and ended up in the same place as those who’ve come before. In each case, I am confident the people of God believed God would never leave them or forsake them. I am confident they believed God would remain steadfast, loyal, and true. And I imagine they were incredibly disappointed when judgment came.  

The reality is our disappointment with God is often grounded in entitlement. We make the mistake of taking God’s grace for granted. We presume on the unconditional nature of His love. We fail to acknowledge the seriousness of our sin and refuse to take responsibilty for the selfish choices we make. Bonhoeffer called this “cheap grace.” Grace without cost. Love without sacrifice. Relationship without rules. Unfettered freedom which isn’t really freedom at all. This is what Zedekiah believed that led to his destruction. This is what Israel believed that led to their destruction. And this is what far too many of us believe if we’re honest.   

Friends, we cannot blame God for the consequences of our sinful choices. We cannot blame God for our rebellion. He has warned us over and over again what will happen should we choose to reject His ways. We cannot claim to love God and not follow His commands. The two always go together. Yes, we are saved by grace. Yes, Jesus loves us with an everlasting, unconditional love. Yes, God’s forgiveness is always within reach. But only for those who repent. Only for those who confess. Only for those who acknowledge their sin and actively seek to turn from their self-centered ways. This is the truth of the gospel! Grace and law hang together. Only those who believe obey and only those who obey believe or, as the old hymn put it, “Trust and obey for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus.”

Readings for tomorrow: None

God’s Word

Readings for today: Jeremiah 33-37

God’s grace is truly amazing. No matter how bad things get. No matter how far we fall. God is always quick to forgive. Quick to relent of the judgment our sin rightfully deserves. Jehoiakim is another in a long line of evil kings. Kings who reject the will of God. Kings who worship idols. Kings who seek their own glory and power instead of humbly serving God. Judgment is coming. Jeremiah has been sent to proclaim the impending doom. The sins of Israel are many and have piled up over the years, creating a mess God intends to use Babylon to clean up. It’s going to be ugly. It’s going to be tragic. It’s going to be painful. Many will suffer. Many will die. All they hold dear will be destroyed as God’s justice rolls down on the earth. 

But even now at the eleventh hour, there is hope. God’s mercy makes one last appearance. God commands Jeremiah to speak a word of grace to the nation. To speak words of life instead of death. He gives them one last chance to repent and turn from their wicked ways. “Take a scroll and write on it all the words that I have spoken to you against Israel and Judah and all the nations, from the day I spoke to you, from the days of Josiah until today. It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the disaster that I intend to do to them, so that every one may turn from his evil way, and that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin." (Jeremiah‬ ‭36:2-3‬) Jeremiah obeys. He writes everything down on a scroll and gives it to his servant, Baruch, to proclaim. Baruch goes to the Lord’s House and reads it in the presence of all who’ve gathered. Officials from the king’s household hear the news and they ask Baruch to come and read the scroll to them. Eventually, the scroll makes it’s way into the king’s presence for one final hearing. The tension builds. How will the king respond? Will he repent? Will he turn back to the Lord? Will he humble himself and bow the knee? Sadly, the answer is no. He takes out a knife and cuts the scroll to pieces as each line is read and then proceeds to burn it in his fire pit. His rejection of the Word of God is complete and final. So is his doom.

One cannot so easily dispose of God’s Word. It has a power all its own. Coming from the Holy Spirit, it is eternal. Unquenchable. Inflammable. Unbreakable. The grass may wither and the flower may fade but the Word of God endures forever.  (Isaiah 40:8) So again the Word comes to Jeremiah. Only this time, judgment has replaced grace. Justice has replaced mercy. God’s wrath is about to be fully unveiled. “Thus says the Lord, You have burned this scroll, saying, "Why have you written in it that the king of Babylon will certainly come and destroy this land, and will cut off from it man and beast?" Therefore thus says the Lord concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah: He shall have none to sit on the throne of David, and his dead body shall be cast out to the heat by day and the frost by night. And I will punish him and his offspring and his servants for their iniquity. I will bring upon them and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem and upon the people of Judah all the disaster that I have pronounced against them, but they would not hear.” (Jeremiah‬ ‭36:29-31‬)

It is a serious matter to reject the Word of God. To disobey His commands. Whether by ignorance or by deliberate defiance, we rebel against God to our own peril. God takes our sin seriously. Far more seriously than we know. He is so holy. So righteous. So just. His nose cannot bear the stench of sin. His eyes will not behold the stain of sin. His presence will not endure even the appearance of sin. It must be dealt with. It must be done away with. A price must be paid. A sacrifice offered. It will either be us or it will be Christ. Either you receive Christ as your perfect sacrifice. Receive Christ as your perfect substitute. Receive Christ’s atoning death on your behalf or you will bear the punishment yourself.

I know this sounds harsh. I know this doesn’t feel good. What about God’s love? It is there! In Christ! One cannot separate Christ from the love of God for Christ Himself is the love of God! “In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” (1 John‬ ‭4:10‬) God has provided a way for you to escape the coming judgment just as He provided a way for Jehoiakim to escape his coming judgment! Repentance! Faith! Accept the perfect sacrifice God Himself has offered on your behalf! Do not reject the Word of God, friends! Receive Christ and live!

Readings for tomorrow: Jeremiah 38-40, Psalms 74, 79

God’s Plan

Readings for today: Jeremiah 29-32

Jeremiah 29 is a chapter embedded in a much larger story. A tragic story. The story of Israel’s exile. They have lost their home. They have been forcibly removed. Their leaders have been tortured and put to death. All of their cultural icons - including the Temple of God itself - have been razed to the ground. In short, their collective identity as the people of God suffered a massive hit, leaving behind an emotional and spiritual crater that will not be easily filled. Especially not as they rebuild in a foreign land. 

Think about the collective shock we’ve felt during the COVID pandemic. Public health models predicting millions of deaths. Hospitals filling up. Cities on lockdown. A robust economy crashing to a halt. As weeks turned to months, frustration reached a boiling point. Then George Floyd was killed. Thousands of protesters filled the streets. Peace gave way to violence as the sun set in many of our cities. Looting. Rioting. Burning. Then came election season. A bare-knuckle affair that left a nation more divided than ever. Then came January 6th and the fallout. At times, it has felt like our society was on the verge of collapse. But as bad as the last several months have been, it could have been much, much worse. Imagine groups like Antifa or the Proud Boys or some other extremist group having their way? Imagine anarchy breaking loose not just in a small autonomous zone in Seattle but across the country. Imagine all the hateful, violent rhetoric becoming reality. Imagine an enemy invading the United States like Ukraine. Imagine our political and social leaders imprisoned, tortured, and killed. Imagine the systematic destruction of every monument we’ve ever built. Washington, Lincoln, and Jefferson memorials all destroyed. Arlington, the US Capitol, and the White House all burned to the ground. Imagine these invaders attempting to erase “America” from the face of the earth. This is what the Israelites experienced and as they begin to settle into captivity…into slavery…into their new lives as strangers and foreigners in a new land, they receive the strangest letter from Jeremiah.

“Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease.” (Jeremiah‬ ‭29:5-6‬) In essence, live your lives. Do what you’ve always done. Don’t spend your days looking back at where you’ve been but forward to the future.

“Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.” (Jeremiah‬ ‭29:7‬) Pray for your enemies. Pray for those who destroyed your way of life. Pray for those who killed your loved ones. Conquered your land. Burned your cities. Destroyed your nation. And don’t just pray. Actively seek to bless them. Bless their city. Bless their communities. Be salt and light in this new place.

“For thus says the Lord: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place.” (Jeremiah‬ ‭29:10‬) Settle in for the long haul. This is not going to quick or easy. You will be in exile for generations. Your children and children’s children will be born here. You may actually never return home yourselves. 

It is only AFTER all these difficult things have been said that Jeremiah pens the words we love to quote so much, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for good and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.” (Jeremiah‬ ‭29:11-14) 

Friends, the hard truth we don’t like to think about very much is that God’s plans for us often include exile. Suffering. Hardship. Pain. God uses such experiences like a chisel to knock off the rough edges of our lives. To refine out all the impurity. To strain out all the sin. His “good” plans for us include taking us through the fire so that we can be made pure and holy as He is pure and holy. Seeking God with all our hearts means trusting Him with the direction of our lives even when that direction doesn’t appear to be comfortable or safe. It means letting Him lead and guide us into dark valleys where all we have is His presence. It means trusting the Good Shepherd to eventually find us green pastures and still waters though the journey may be long and arduous. This is what Jeremiah is trying to communicate to his people as they start their heartbreaking, gut-wrenching exile in Babylon. God is with them. He has not forgotten them. He will eventually redeem them. This is their hope! This is their future! And though they themselves may not actually get there, they can trust God will bring their descendants home.   

Readings for tomorrow: Jeremiah 33-37

The Patience of God

Readings for today: Jeremiah 25-28

We talk about it all the time in my home…the school of hard knocks. Reality being the best and most effective teacher. As each of my children has grown up, we have done our best to teach them and instruct them in the ways of the Lord. We’ve done our best to help them understand the consequences - good or bad - of the choices they make. We’ve done our best to come alongside them when they stumble and fall. But at the end of the day, each of them in their own way has had to figure some things out on their own. They’ve had to come face to face with reality and learn that the world is not very accommodating. When I take a step back, it’s a fascinating process to watch unfold. I’ve gone from being the smartest person they know when they are young to the dumbest person they know when they are teenagers back to pretty smart again when they get into their early twenties. Through it all, my wife and I’ve learned to be patient. To wait on the Lord. To wait on our children. To let them go through hard experiences and learn difficult lessons so that they will be better for it in the long run. Does it mean crying a lot of tears? Yes. Does it mean dealing with the anxieties and fears that come with parenting? Absolutely. Is it hard to watch your children go through suffering? Without a doubt. It continually keeps us on our knees before the Lord, hoping our children will relent and see the light and return to Him. Thankfully, all of them are on that journey and because we’ve loved them well, we get to be part of it.

Now step back and try to put yourself in God’s position. For generations, He has been reaching out to His people. He has sent them prophets and preachers. He has performed miracle after miracle. He has given them His Word and provided for them a Land. He has done all these things out of love but they have rejected Him. “You have neither listened nor inclined your ears to hear, although the Lord persistently sent to you all His servants the prophets saying, Turn now, every one of you, from his evil way and evil deeds, and dwell upon the land that the Lord has given to you and your fathers from of old and forever. Do not go after other gods to serve and worship them or provoke me to anger with the work of your hands. Then I will do you no harm. Yet you have not listened to Me, declares the Lord, that you might provoke me to anger with the work of your hands to your own harm.” (Jeremiah 25:4-7) The natural consequence of the people’s rejection of God is judgment. God will send Babylon against His people and all the surrounding nations. None shall escape. The whole land will become a ruin and a waste. And lest we think God is being too harsh here, God makes it clear that His judgment is righteous and just and good. “I will recompense them according to their deeds and the work of their hands.” (Jeremiah 25:14)

Human beings have never truly grasped the depths of their sin. We have never truly understood the depths of our depravity. We were given authority and dominion by God at the beginning but we have made a complete mess of things. We want to be like God but we reign like a tyrant over a world that is suffering and tormented. We are selfish and greedy. We treat the earth like a disposable resource. We dismiss or ignore or disdain other human beings made in the image of God simply because they look different or act different or speak different or spend money different or vote different. And still God loves us. Still God reaches out to us. Still God is patient with us. “Thus says the Lord: Stand in the court of the Lord’s house and speak to all the cities of Judah that come to worship in the house of the Lord all the words that I command you to speak to them; do not hold back a word. It may be they will listen and every one turn from his evil way that I may relent of the disaster that I intend to do to them because of their evil deeds.” (Jeremiah 26:2-3) God longs for us to return to Him. He longs for us to return to His ways. He longs for us to return to His love. Today is yet another opportunity to turn back to Him. Why delay any longer? Why keep holding out? Why keep running from Him? The God who loves you so much is patiently waiting for you to come home.

Readings for tomorrow: Jeremiah 29-32

The Battle for the Heart

Readings for today: Jeremiah 21-24

Today’s reading makes me so thankful for Jesus. Jesus died in my place. He took the full wrath and fury my sin had earned on Himself. He endured the suffering. The pain. The horrors of hell that I may live. Without Christ, I would be lost. Rightfully condemned. At the mercy of God’s judgment. Just like the people of Israel. 

“I myself will fight against you with outstretched hand and strong arm, in anger and in fury and in great wrath.” (Jeremiah‬ ‭21:5) These might be some of the scariest words in all the Bible. Can you imagine what it must be like to be at war with God? To be in complete rebellion against your Creator? Not just ignoring His will but consciously, intentionally, even eagerly seeking to disobey? The sons of Josiah knew full well what they were doing. The priests and prophets of Jeremiah’s time were fully aware of their actions. The people of God who lived in the cities and villages were not ignorant of the commandments of God. They simply chose to ignore them. They simply chose to reject them. And the consequences of their actions are devastating. 

Israel will go into exile in Babylon. They will lose their land. They will lose their homes. Their Temple will be razed to the ground. Their glory pounded into dust. Even worse, their God was now fighting on the side of the Chaldeans! No longer their Protector. No longer their Warrior. He who was once for them is now against them. Who can resist His might? “I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands and with which you are fighting against the king of Babylon and against the Chaldeans who are besieging you outside the walls...I will strike down the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast. They shall die of a great pestilence...I will give Zedekiah king of Judah and his servants and the people in this city who survive the pestilence, sword, and famine into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of their enemies, into the hand of those who seek their lives. He shall strike them down with the edge of the sword. He shall not pity them or spare them or have compassion.” (Jeremiah‬ ‭21:4, 6-7‬) It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of a Holy God.

And yet, even amidst the national catastrophe, Jeremiah sounds a note of hope. There will come a day when the sins of Israel have been fully atoned for and the Lord will visit His people once more. “I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the Lord. "Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: 'The Lord is our righteousness.'” (Jeremiah‬ ‭23:3-6‬) As is so often the case in the prophetic literature of the Old Testament; it is always darkest before the dawn. The promise of a Messiah rises out of the ashes of their sin like a phoenix spreading her wings. David will not be abandoned. A righteous Branch shall come from his line. A king who will reign with justice and righteousness and wisdom. One who will restore the fortunes of God’s people. One who will defeat their great enemy once and for all so they may finally dwell secure. He will even have a name...יְהוָ֥ה צִדְקֵֽנוּ...“The Lord is our righteousness.” 

Jesus is our righteousness, friends. God made Him who knew no sin to actually become sin on our behalf. To bear the full weight of the world’s sin. Past. Present. Future. He took all my sin. All my brokenness. All my fears. He took all my rebellion. All my rejection. All my disdain. He took all my selfishness. All my greed. All my lusts. And He nailed them to the cross. By His wounds, I am healed. By His brokenness, I am made whole. By His chains, I am set free. By His death, I am given new life. 

As I reflect deeper on the passage above, I realize God is indeed at war with me. His Spirit is waging a battle even now for my heart. He has invaded my life. Invaded the innermost depths of my being in order to cleanse me. Purify me. Refine me. He is a consuming fire. He will not rest until my life reflects His glory. And the more I surrender. The more I submit. The more I cooperate with the work of the Spirit, the more I will experience the freedom Christ promises. This is no easy task. The flesh and its desires must be crucified. Put to death. There can be no safe harbor for them in our souls. We must allow the Spirit to “save to the uttermost.” We must open ourselves up fully and completely to His work. Only then will we be truly set free.  

Readings for tomorrow: Jeremiah 25-28

Logical Consequences

Readings for today: Jeremiah 17-20

One of the images Jesus refers to the most when describing the character and nature of God is that of a Father. Jesus calls Him “Abba.” (Mark 14:36) When teaching His disciples how to pray, He encourages them to begin, “Our Father who art in heaven…” (Matthew 6:9) When describing God to His disciples, Jesus calls him a “good father who knows how to give good gifts to His children.” (Matthew 7:11) He tells them their Heavenly Father delights in them and it is His pleasure to give them the Kingdom. (Luke 12:32) When Jesus Himself is suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane, He prays, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me…” (Matthew 26:39) And when He hangs in agony on the Cross, it is to His Father that He appeals for our forgiveness. (Luke 23:34)

God is a faithful Father. As such, He knows what is best for His children. He knows what it takes for them to flourish and thrive. He knows how to give them good gifts and bless them. But He also knows how to discipline them. He knows when to step back and let them face the consequences of the choices they have made. He knows that sometimes children need to experience the “curse” of a life lived apart from God. Think of the story of the prodigal son from Luke 15 and how the Father in that story allows His son to take his inheritance and squander it. The Father in that parable never stops loving His son. Never stops waiting up for His son. Never stops hoping and longing for the day when His son will return. But He also never rescues His son. He never enables His son. He knows His son has to make His own choice to reject the “curse” and return for the “blessing.”

Listen to how Jeremiah describes this dynamic in Jeremiah 17:5-6, “Thus says the Lord: Cursed is the one who trusts in themselves and trusts in their strength, whose heart turns away from the Lord. He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come. She shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land…” (see pic below from the Judean wilderness)

Contrast this with Jeremiah 17:7-8, “Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is in the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and it is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.” (See pic below from Jericho which is one of the largest desert oases in the world)

Again, God is a faithful Father. He honors the choices of His children and allows them to face the consequences of their decisions. When we turn away from God and reject His will for our lives, we should not be surprised when we end up in desert places. Places where life is hard and sustenance is scarce and death is an ever-present companion. When we find ourselves in these places, it’s not so much that God has cursed us as much as we have cursed ourselves. The same is true with blessing. If we will turn to God and walk in His ways, we will find ourselves flourishing like an oasis in the desert. Bearing fruit throughout all the different seasons of life. Tapped into springs of living water that never cease to flow. Friends, this is your Father’s heart for you today. Turn to Him and receive the blessings He has stored up for those He loves.

Readings for tomorrow: Jeremiah 21-24

A Prophet’s Pain

Readings for today: Jeremiah 13-16

The prophetic burden is a terrible one. It comes with incredible pain and suffering. It is accompanied by conflict and persecution. It is not a call that brings glory or honor, riches or wealth. It is a costly burden. It will sap one’s mental, emotional, and physical strength. It will leave one often feeling weak and helpless. I have met many such prophets in my life. They are serving in some of the darkest places on the face of the earth. Their bodies bear the scars of their work. No one will ever know their name. They are desperately poor. They often go hungry and thirsty. They weep frequently. They feel so alone. They are beaten. They are threatened. They are often left for dead. And yet, they never stop preaching. Never stop speaking God’s truth to those around them. They remind me of Jeremiah.

“O Lord, you know; remember me and visit me, and take vengeance for me on my persecutors. In your forbearance take me not away; know that for your sake I bear reproach. Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O Lord, God of hosts. I did not sit in the company of revelers, nor did I rejoice; I sat alone, because your hand was upon me, for you had filled me with indignation. Why is my pain unceasing, my wound incurable, refusing to be healed? Will you be to me like a deceitful brook, like waters that fail?” ‭‭(Jeremiah‬ ‭15:15-18‬)

I love the raw honesty of Jeremiah. He never sugarcoats his life. He never pretends his call is easy or fulfilling or fun. He is hurting. He is in pain. He suffers tremendously. He is attacked on every side. He has no friends to speak of. No one to share his burden. He sits alone. When he does open his mouth, he is “a man of strife and contention” to His people. They curse him when they see him. They hate what he has to say. They refuse to believe him. When Jeremiah first accepted God’s call, he rejoiced. God’s Word became his joy. It was an honor to be called by God’s name. But his joy has turned to sorrow. His rejoicing has turned to mourning. Honor has turned to shame. For the Lord’s sake, Jeremiah bears reproach. He is hated and despised. God has filled him with indignation. Honestly, it feels to Jeremiah like he got a raw deal.

Though I would never claim the prophet’s mantle, I have tasted a bit of Jeremiah’s pain. I have felt the indignation Jeremiah references when I have felt compelled to preach God’s truth and confront the idolatry of God’s people. I have been cursed for preaching on ethnic reconciliation. I have been criticized harshly for confronting things like preference-driven worship, greedy and power-hungry preachers, or unhealthy and toxic congregational systems. I have taken some shots over the years for my biblical views on sexuality and marriage. I have been attacked for the fact that I am pro-life from the womb to the tomb. I have to admit in my darker moments I too wonder if I got a raw deal. But then the Lord encourages me just as He encouraged Jeremiah.

“Therefore thus says the Lord: If you return, I will restore you, and you shall stand before Me. If you utter what is precious and not what is worthless, you shall be as my mouth. They shall turn to you but you shall not turn to them. And I will make you to this people a fortified wall of bronze; they will fight against you but they shall not prevail over you, for I am with you to save you and deliver you, declares the Lord.” (Jeremiah 15:19-20) God is faithful. If we take our stand on His Word, we will never be defeated or put to shame. If we walk in His ways, He promises to be with us and save us and deliver us. He will guide us and protect us. He will strengthen us and equip us for every task He sets before us. This call is not just for preachers like me. Not just for prophets like Jeremiah or my friends overseas. It is for every Christian. Every person who calls on the name of the Lord. So stand before the Lord, friends! Utter what is precious and good and righteous and true. Trust Him for your deliverance and salvation. He will stand by your side!

Readings for tomorrow: None

True Greatness

Readings for today: Jeremiah 9-12

I grew up with a deep sense of insecurity. I always felt like I had something to prove. Always felt like I needed to impress others. I cared a lot about what others thought. An unkind word would send me into an emotional tailspin for days. Sure, I covered well. I developed an instinct for self-preservation. I guarded my heart and let no one in. I overcompensated by chasing achievement. I drove myself hard. I refused to ever quit. Though I was never the smartest, I graduated high school with honors. Though I was never the most athletic, I lettered in two sports and made the all-state team in lacrosse. Though I was not excited about Boy Scouts, I achieved the rank of Eagle. Though I wasn’t sure what I believed, I was a leader in my youth group at church, sang solos in the church choir, and even played the lead (Jesus) in a production of Godspell. By the time I got to college, I was tired. Tired of having to keep up appearances. Tired of having to pretend every single day. Tired of having to project a perfect image to the world. Furthermore, I had no close friends. No community to speak of. My family was an hour away. I felt very much alone. The results were not good. The house of cards I had built came crashing down around me. I began drinking heavily. Skipping class. Failing out of school. That’s when I met Jesus. He overwhelmed all my defenses. He penetrated to the depths of my heart. And He let me know I was deeply and dearly loved. Loved for who I was not who I pretended to be. Loved fully and completely and unconditionally. To say it was life-changing would be an understatement.

I love this verse from our reading today…“Thus says the Lord: Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.”(Jeremiah‬ ‭9:23-24‬)‬ It describes the old Doug and the new Doug so well. I used to be the guy who would boast in his wisdom. Boast in his strength. Boast in his success. But I knew deep down I was just covering for my insecurity. After meeting Jesus, I learned to boast only in Him. He became my security. He became my wisdom. He became my strength. Serving Him became my success. Learning to practice steadfast love and justice and righteousness in the earth became the goal of my life. After almost thirty years, I can say with confidence that my life is richer and more full that I could ever have imagined. I am wiser and stronger than I’ve ever been. I’ve experienced far more success than I ever deserved or could have achieved on my own. All because of Jesus.

It’s so tempting to boast in the things of this world. To get caught up trying to keep up with those around us. Compare ourselves to other people’s highlight reels on social media. Cover for our insecurities by chasing temporal wisdom, riches, success, or power. It’s so easy to spend our lives trying to find something…anything…to boast in. To base our self-esteem on our own abilities and accomplishments. But God wants so much more for us. God has so much more for us. If we will simply turn to Him and let Him in, He will do more than we can ever ask or imagine.

Readings for tomorrow: Jeremiah 13-16