Jeremiah 6 (HCSB)
Threatened Siege of Jerusalem
1 “Run for cover, Benjaminites, out of Jerusalem! Sound the ram’s horn in Tekoa; raise a smoke signal over Beth-haccherem, for disaster threatens from the north, even great destruction.
2 Though she is beautiful and delicate, I will destroy Daughter Zion.
3 Shepherds and their flocks will come against her; they will pitch their tents all around her. Each will pasture his own portion.
4 Set them apart for war against her; rise up, let’s attack at noon. Woe to us, for the day is passing; the evening shadows grow long.
5 Rise up, let’s attack by night. Let us destroy her fortresses.”
6 For this is what the Lord of Hosts says:
Cut down the trees; raise a siege ramp against Jerusalem. This city must be punished. There is nothing but oppression within her.
7 As a well gushes out its water, so she pours out her evil. Violence and destruction resound in her. Sickness and wounds keep coming to My attention.
8 Be warned, Jerusalem, or I will turn away from you; I will make you a desolation, a land without inhabitants.
Wrath on Israel
9 This is what the Lord of Hosts says:
Glean the remnant of Israel as thoroughly as a vine. Pass your hand once more like a grape gatherer over the branches.
10 Who can I speak to and give such a warning that they will listen? Look, their ear is uncircumcised, so they cannot pay attention. See, the word of the Lord has become contemptible to them—they find no pleasure in it.
11 But I am full of the Lord’s wrath; I am tired of holding it back. Pour it out on the children in the street, on the gang of young men as well. For both husband and wife will be captured, the old with the very old.
12 Their houses will be turned over to others, their fields and wives as well, for I will stretch out My hand against the inhabitants of the land.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
13 For from the least to the greatest of them, everyone is making profit dishonestly. From prophet to priest, everyone deals falsely.
14 They have treated My people’s brokenness superficially, claiming, “Peace, peace,” when there is no peace.
15 Were they ashamed when they acted so abhorrently? They weren’t at all ashamed. They can no longer feel humiliation. Therefore, they will fall among the fallen. When I punish them, they will collapse, says the Lord.
Disaster because of Disobedience
16 This is what the Lord says:
Stand by the roadways and look. Ask about the ancient paths:
Which is the way to what is good? Then take it and find rest for yourselves. But they protested, “We won’t!”
17 I appointed watchmen over you and said: Listen for the sound of the ram’s horn. But they protested, “We won’t listen!”
18 Therefore listen, you nations and you witnesses, learn what the charge is against them.
19 Listen, earth! I am about to bring disaster on these people, the fruit of their own plotting, for they have paid no attention to My word. They have rejected My instruction.
20 What use to Me is frankincense from Sheba or sweet cane from a distant land? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable; your sacrifices do not please Me.
21 Therefore, this is what the Lord says:
I am going to place stumbling blocks before these people; fathers and sons together will stumble over them; friends and neighbors will also perish.
A Cruel Nation from the North
22 This is what the Lord says:
Look, an army is coming from a northern land; a great nation will be awakened from the remote regions of the earth.
23 They grasp bow and javelin. They are cruel and show no mercy. Their voice roars like the sea, and they ride on horses, lined up like men in battle formation against you, Daughter Zion.
24 We have heard about it, and we are discouraged. Distress has seized us—pain like a woman in labor.
25 Don’t go out to the fields; don’t walk on the road. For the enemy has a sword; terror is on every side.
26 My dear people, dress yourselves in sackcloth and roll in the dust. Mourn as you would for an only son, a bitter lament, for suddenly the destroyer will come on us.
Jeremiah Appointed as an Examiner
27 I have appointed you to be an assayer among My people—a refiner—so you may know and assay their way of life.
28 All are stubborn rebels spreading slander. They are bronze and iron; all of them are corrupt.
29 The bellows blow, blasting the lead with fire. The refining is completely in vain; the evil ones are not separated out.
30 They are called rejected silver, for the Lord has rejected them.
PERSONAL JOURNAL:
SIN (verses 16-19): Ever since coming to faith, Father, most of my journey with You has been one that I’ve decided on when to listen, when to take action, when to accept Your instructions. I am sorry for my selfish and self-righteous ways, Father. Please forgive me for trying to create my own path instead of following the path that You created for me which is “the way to what is good.” Help me to remember the many mistakes of my past in rejecting Your path and Your instructions most of the time, Father, so that I may remain faithful and on Your path for my life moving forward. Help me to remember through all things that Your way is the good way, not my own, so I must not only listen and pay attention to Your instruction, but also take action on it.
PROMISE (verse 21): You promise us in this one verse that those who do not follow Your word and Your instruction will get stumbling blocks placed in front of them for the path they have chosen is not from You but from their own selfish desires. Thank You for the many stumbling blocks in my life, Father, for they have taught me many lessons. The biggest lesson being that if I refuse to listen to and accept Your will for my life, then the desires of my flesh and the ways of this world will always disappoint me. Help me to continue to learn from the mistakes I make in the future through these stumbling blocks, so that my mistakes become less and less moving forward, Father.
ATTITUDE (verse 19): For most of my journey, Father, as I stated in my confession, I have been very rejecting of Your instructions for me. Help me to have an accepting attitude from now on; one that joyfully accepts the instruction You have for me so that I may live in the way that You want me to live. Help me to change my self-righteous attitude of bickering and sorrow whenever I feel convicted by You that I should be doing things a different way than my flesh and the world wants me to do. Help my attitudes align with how You designed me in the womb before the world’s corruption influenced my many mistakes and changes, Father.
COMMAND (verses 10, 17-19): In each of these four verses, You tell us over and over again what we are to be doing—pay attention and listen. This is such a simple command, but just like when I was a teenager and my mom spoke these same words to me when she was talking to me, I let my own selfish desires distract me from truly paying attention and listening to You, Father. Help me to no longer be like a rebellious teenager in my faith, so that I start to truly pay attention and listen to what You are speaking to me, Father. Help me to embrace Your words deeply into my heart, mind, and soul so that all that I am and all that I do comes from Your kingdom and not this world. Thank You for keeping Your commands so simple for me, Father, because I struggle with even the simple commands so often that I couldn’t even fathom trying to take on anything advanced. You know me better than even I know me and I thank You for providing simplicity in Your word for me to be able to understand them easier.
EXAMPLE (verses 27-30): I had to look this up because I’ve never heard this word before, but an assayer is someone who performs refinement and testing on metals to determine their purity levels (ref: https://www.dictionary.com/browse/assayer). You appointed Jeremiah as an assayer of Your people. Being an assayer, from what I can tell, is hard work because of the amount of heat involved and the amount of expertise required to know what you’re looking for in the various metals to determine the purity. Help me to follow the example You give here for Jeremiah specifically in my own life, Father. Help me to become an assayer of myself, so that I can be better at filtering through my thoughts, my life choices, and such to determine which ones are truly pure of Your will and which ones require more refinement; also to determine which ones that maybe “refinement is completely in vain” as You stated in verse 29. I’ve done so many things in my life that refinement is pointless because there is no purity in those things, so I can definitely understand the point You are trying to make to me here, Father. Thank You for speaking to me in a way that I understand. Thank You for always providing an amazing example of how I am to live this life, Father.
*DAILY NOTE: Father, in this life I find it so difficult to do things that I have no control over. I find it difficult to relinquish control to anyone, including to You. Please forgive me for this, but also help me to remember that no matter what my controlling mind wants to do that Your will for my life is ALWAYS better than anything I want to keep control over. Thank You for Your timing, Your guidance, Your wisdom, and Your counsel, Father. Thank You so much for all that You’ve blessed me with even through my very controlling attitude that I’ve struggled with my entire life.
*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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