top of page
Writer's pictureFilip

Quiet Time in Jeremiah 19

Updated: Mar 16, 2022



Jeremiah 19 (HCSB)


The Clay Jar

1 This is what the Lord says: “Go, buy a potter’s clay jar. Take some of the elders of the people and some of the leading priests 2 and go out to the Valley of Hinnom near the entrance of the Potsherd Gate. Proclaim there the words I speak to you. 3 Say: Hear the word of the Lord, kings of Judah and residents of Jerusalem. This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: I am going to bring such disaster on this place that everyone who hears about it will shudder 4 because they have abandoned Me and made this a foreign place. They have burned incense in it to other gods that they, their fathers, and the kings of Judah have never known. They have filled this place with the blood of the innocent. 5 They have built high places to Baal on which to burn their children in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal, something I have never commanded or mentioned; I never entertained the thought.


6 “Therefore, take note! The days are coming”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“when this place will no longer be called Topheth and the Valley of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter. 7 I will spoil the plans of Judah and Jerusalem in this place. I will make them fall by the sword before their enemies, by the hand of those who want to take their life. I will provide their corpses as food for the birds of the sky and for the wild animals of the land. 8 I will make this city desolate, an object of scorn. Everyone who passes by it will be horrified and scoff because of all its wounds. 9 I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and their daughters, and they will eat each other’s flesh in the siege and distress that their enemies, those who want to take their life, inflict on them.


10 “Then you are to shatter the jar in the presence of the people traveling with you, 11 and you are to proclaim to them: This is what the Lord of Hosts says: I will shatter these people and this city, like one shatters a potter’s jar that can never again be mended. They will bury the dead in Topheth because there is no other place for burials. 12 I will do so to this place”—this is the declaration of the Lord—“and to its residents, making this city like Topheth. 13 The houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah will become impure like that place Topheth—all the houses on whose rooftops they have burned incense to the whole heavenly host and poured out drink offerings to other gods.”


14 Jeremiah came back from Topheth, where the Lord had sent him to prophesy, stood in the courtyard of the Lord’s temple, and proclaimed to all the people, 15 “This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘I am about to bring on this city—and on all its dependent villages—all the disaster that I spoke against it, for they have become obstinate, not obeying My words.’”




PERSONAL JOURNAL:

SIN (verse 15): In this Scripture, You tell us of how the people in these villages have not obeyed Your words and actually become so stubborn and self-centered that they truly believed they were doing Your will in all the corrupt acts they were performing. I have been like this at times in my faith walk, Father. There have been times that I was doing something selfish because I made myself believe that it is what You wanted, when in reality it was just my own selfish desires that wanted me to do that. Please forgive me for often giving into my own selfish desires, but also for making myself believe that I am doing it for Your glory even though I am not. Forgive me for often not obeying Your words, especially when I have so much head knowledge of Your word, Father.

PROMISE (verse 8): You make a promise here that those who claim to do things in Your name but are obviously nothing even remotely close to what You want them to do, will suffer from Your wrath. You promise that Your wrath will overcome them so much and be so devastating that anyone who even thinks of the city will shudder at the thought of the name. Please allow this to serve as a reminder to me, Father, so that I never disobey You to the level that these people did in this Scripture. Remind me often of Your punishments that You inflicted on people when they falsely claimed Your name in the selfish acts they performed.

ATTITUDE (verse 15): In this verse, You tell us how the people in this Scripture have “become obstinate, not obeying My words.” My default attitude for so long has been to strive for my own selfish desires, Father; to strive for what the world says is the right thing to strive for. My focus has been so misplaced that I have made some massive mistakes in my life, even ever since I accepted You as my Lord and Savior. Help me to change these default attitudes, Father, so that I do not live this life in an obstinate way. Help me to not only remember Your words in stressful moments where I often default to selfish desires, but also to put Your words into action in my life in those moments. Help my default be one that glorifies You and not myself.

COMMAND (verse 15): This verse yet again is speaking to me for my journaling, Father. In this, You tell us to not only obey Your words, but also to not become obstinate in our daily walk in this life. Help me to understand Your word fully, take it to heart, then allow it to exit me into actionable steps, Father. Help me to obey this command by fully embracing and obeying Your words in all that I am and all that I do.

EXAMPLE (ALL verses): This Scripture as a whole gives us such a strong example to live by. Jeremiah was told to relay a very strong and convicting message to the people around him. I can only imagine how stressful this situation was for him, because he was basically being told by God to relay to all of those people that they were about to get a punishment inflicted onto them so severe that generations will shudder when they hear the name of their town. Being a messenger for God for such a powerful message like this is a great responsibility, privilege, and honor, but I can only imagine how stressed Jeremiah was when God first spoke this to him. I know I would’ve have likely responded with “You want me to do WHAT?! Have You seen how crazy these people are? They have sacrificed their own children claiming it to be in Your name, I can only imagine what they’ll do to me if I say that to them.” Yet, regardless of how he felt about what God just asked him to do, He was a good and faithful servant throughout by relaying the message according to God’s will. He relayed it exactly how God wanted him to and didn’t hold back or delay it at all due to his own fear or selfishness. Help me to follow Jeremiah’s example so that when I know there is something You want from me that I fearlessly and unselfishly charge forward into Your will for me, Father.

*DAILY NOTE: This was a short but powerful Scripture for me today. Honestly, I probably could have done my entire quiet time just on Jeremiah 19:15 as this one verse spoke loudly to me in every aspect of my journaling. Thank You so much for always speaking clearly to me through Your word, Father. Thank You for knowing the way I learn and understand things and always bringing things down to the level that I’m at right now in my faith walk. I am sure in a couple of years as I go through Jeremiah 19 again in the future for my quiet time that it’ll speak to me differently than it did today, because You have a way of revealing to me what I need in the moment and in a way that I am able to understand and accept at that time. Thank You for being the perfect teacher and counselor, Father, and for always being there for me no matter how often I have failed in my faith walk with 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.

2 views0 comments

Recent Posts

See All

Kommentare


Post: Blog2 Post
bottom of page