Jeremiah 11 (HCSB)
Reminder of the Covenant
1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Listen to the words of this covenant and tell them to the men of Judah and the residents of Jerusalem. 3 You must tell them: This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Let a curse be on the man who does not obey the words of this covenant, 4 which I commanded your ancestors when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the iron furnace.’ I declared: ‘Obey Me, and do everything that I command you, and you will be My people, and I will be your God,’ 5 in order to establish the oath I swore to your ancestors, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as it is today.”
I answered, “Amen, Lord.”
6 The Lord said to me, “Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: Obey the words of this covenant and carry them out. 7 For I strongly warned your ancestors when I brought them out of the land of Egypt until today, warning them time and time again, ‘Obey My voice.’ 8 Yet they would not obey or pay attention; each one followed the stubbornness of his evil heart. So I brought on them all the curses of this covenant, because they had not done what I commanded them to do.”
9 The Lord said to me, “A conspiracy has been discovered among the men of Judah and the residents of Jerusalem. 10 They have returned to the sins of their ancestors who refused to obey My words and have followed other gods to worship them. The house of Israel and the house of Judah broke My covenant I made with their ancestors.
11 “Therefore, this is what the Lord says: I am about to bring on them disaster that they cannot escape. They will cry out to Me, but I will not hear them. 12 Then the cities of Judah and the residents of Jerusalem will go and cry out to the gods they have been burning incense to, but they certainly will not save them in their time of disaster. 13 Your gods are indeed as numerous as your cities, Judah, and the altars you have set up to Shame—altars to burn incense to Baal—as numerous as the streets of Jerusalem.
14 “As for you, do not pray for these people. Do not raise up a cry or a prayer on their behalf, for I will not be listening when they call out to Me at the time of their disaster.
15 What right does My beloved have to be in My house, having carried out so many evil schemes? Can holy meat prevent your disaster so you can rejoice?
16 The Lord named you a flourishing olive tree, beautiful with well-formed fruit. He has set fire to it, and its branches are consumed with a great roaring sound.
17 “The Lord of Hosts who planted you has decreed disaster against you, because of the harm the house of Israel and the house of Judah brought on themselves, provoking Me to anger by burning incense to Baal.”
18 The Lord informed me, so I knew. Then You helped me to see their deeds,
19 for I was like a docile lamb led to slaughter. I didn’t know that they had devised plots against me:
“Let’s destroy the tree with its fruit; let’s cut him off from the land of the living so that his name will no longer be remembered.”
20 But, Lord of Hosts, who judges righteously, who tests heart and mind, let me see Your vengeance on them, for I have presented my case to You.
21 Therefore, here is what the Lord says concerning the people of Anathoth who want to take your life. They warn, “You must not prophesy in the name of Yahweh, or you will certainly die at our hand.” 22 Therefore, this is what the Lord of Hosts says: “I am about to punish them. The young men will die by the sword; their sons and daughters will die by famine. 23 They will have no remnant, for I will bring disaster on the people of Anathoth in the year of their punishment.”
PERSONAL JOURNAL:
SIN (verses 7-8): Father, I see You feel the need to repeat Yourself to me, which means that I must still be struggling with this command. Forgive me for being so stubborn in my faith walk with You, Father. Forgive me for not always listening to You and the commands You’ve given to me, Father. Help me to be a better follower of You so that I may glorify You in all that I do. Please forgive me for often putting my own selfishness and the world ahead of You. Help me to no longer live a life full of sin and selfish desires. Help me to not only know and hear Your commands, but also to have a joyful heart in following them, Father.
PROMISE (verses 18-19, 21-23): You give us a promise here, Father, that there will be people in our lives that will try to lead us astray from You and oftentimes it will be difficult for us to tell on our own. Help me to not be like a “docile lamb led to slaughter” in my faith walk, Father, so that I always keep You at the forefront of my focus but so that I also always keep the Armor of God on and ready for battle. Help me to not be deceived by any plots that those who are against You devise so that I may always be fighting for Your kingdom and Your glory daily.
ATTITUDE (verse 8): I have a very strong default of stubbornness, Father. I have been a “trained” stubborn-hearted person for most of my life and I no longer want to live like this. Please help me to change this stubborn attitude of mine, Father, so that I willingly and openly follow Your ways and not my own through all things in this life. Help me to remove this stubbornness from my heart so that I not only hear You, but also act on the things You want me to do in this life. Help me to no longer live this life with a stubborn heart, always fighting against Your will for my life instead of joyfully pursuing everything You want for me both inside and out.
COMMAND (verse 6): Quite simply, You command us to not only obey Your words, but to also carry them out. You tell us to “proclaim all of these words” to everyone so that we may glorify You through all things. Help me to be better at not only following Your commands, Father, but following them with a joyful heart and no fear for what the world or others may think of me as I pursue You. Help me to understand and embrace that this life is not one that I should be living selfishly, self-righteously, and in fear of those that walk this world alongside me.
EXAMPLE (verses 18-19): Once again, Jeremiah gives us such a great example to follow in this Scripture. He kept his faith in You and communication with You strong, so when he was being blindly deceived by others, he was able to recognize through You the deception being brought against him. Help me to continue to live a life strong in my relationship with You, Father, through my prayer life and quiet times, so that our conversations never cease and the counsel, instructions, and warnings You provide to me are always heard and understood. Thank You for always providing me with a clear example of how I am to live this life, Father. Now, I just need to get better at actually following the examples You provide instead of constantly trying to do this life my own broken ways.
*DAILY NOTE: You sure do like to repeat Yourself to me, Father. It must be the stubbornness I so strongly lean to all the time. Having to break through the fleshly barriers I’ve put up throughout my life must require a lot of repetition. I feel like the way You are repeating Yourself to me is just like when I have to repeat myself to my children because they obviously are not getting what I am saying. Thank You for treating me this way, Father, and knowing that I do need this repetition from You else I will wander and go astray due to my own stubbornness and selfish desires. Thank You for knowing me far greater than I can ever truly know myself. Just when I think I’m starting to get things in my head, You point out to me something I’m not understanding or not working hard enough on. Thank You!
*GENERAL NOTE: I always "sandwich" my quiet time with God in prayer and do it in a location that I will not have any distractions so that I can be focused on my quiet time with God. Do not worry about how short or long your journal entries are for that day's quiet time. Just focus on the actual quiet time and relational conversation with God through the Holy Spirit and His Word. The journaling is an enhancement to your quiet time conversation with God, but also to allow you to reflect on things later as you can look back on your journal entries later when you do the chapters again in the future to see how you have grown. See the FAQ for more detail on how I do my quiet time.
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