Blogging Bible Study: Digging in the Desert - Jeremiah: Hope for the Future

 Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi

We come to the last verse in our perusal of the word 'desert' in the book of Jeremiah.  So far, we have looked at verses proclaiming coming judgment.  But there is ONE verse that mentions 'desert' and favor.  With a bit included for context:

The fierce anger of the LORD will not turn back until he fully accomplishes the purposes of his heart.  In days to come you will understand this.  "At that time," declares the LORD, "I will be the God of all the clans of Israel, and they will be my people."  This is what the LORD says:  "The people who survive the sword will find favor in the desert; I will come to give rest to Israel."  (Jer. 30:24 - 31:2)

Pretty much all of chapter 31 details hope and restoration that will come to the nation, but the turn around point is in this passage.  God's purposes in chastising his people will be accomplished...it will come to an end.  THEN his people will find favor in the desert. Now, remembering all the verses that have preceded, they could be in the desert because they were hauled away from their home as captives; they could be in the desert because they fled to the desert to escape the invading armies or they could be in the desert because the town they were in was decimated by war and the desert reclaimed it. There were probably folks who were in each of those categories.  Life as they knew it had been disrupted and they were in the desert until God had accomplished his purpose.

The desert had a purpose...and a time limit.

There's more...God says he will come to them.

God himself will come.

How appropriate is it to hit this verse just as we head into the Advent season?

Most Biblical prophecy has at least two distinct applications...a near and a far interpretation.  Of course, the near application was the return of the Israelites from exile back to their homeland.  God met them in their exile, in the destitution of their ruined land, in their hideouts.  He moved the hearts of various kings and leaders to give the remnant favor to return and rebuild.  But...years later...the people were in a desert of a different kind.  No national prophet had spoken since Malachi.  It was a spiritual desert.

And God himself came, proclaiming the year of the Lord's favor (Luke 4:16 - 21).

But, beyond that, there's hope for anyone who finds themselves in a desert today.  It has a purpose and a time limit and, in the end, to the faithful, there is favor and the promise of His presence.

Blogging Bible Study: Desert Digging - Jeremiah: Judgment against Judah's Enemies

 Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi

There is ONE verse in Jeremiah that mentions 'desert' that isn't about judgment; I'm going to save it for next week and stay with the judgment theme while I'm there.

We have looked at judgment against Judah's people, leaders, priests, kings, neighbors who have forsaken God...over and over God has warned them of the consequences of disobedience; he even said he would use pagan nations to punish them.

But what of the nations that attacked God's people and ridiculed their God? Who thought that their triumph over the people of God was due to their own cleverness or strength and did not recognize that they were the willow switch in the hand of discipline?

We'll look at what Jeremiah has to say to them today. There are several nations mentioned in the closing chapters of Jeremiah...Phillistia, Phoenica, Edom, Ammon, and others that do not mention 'desert' in their prophecies.  All of chapter 48 is dedicated to Moab, however,  and there is a desert reference:

"Moab will be broken; her little ones will cry out.  They go up the way to Luhith, weeping bitterly as they go; on the road down to Horonaim anguished cries over the destruction are heard. Flee! Run for your lives!  Become like a bush in the desert.  Since you trust in your deeds and riches, you too will be taken captive and Chemosh will go into exile, together with his priests and officials."  Jer. 48:5-7.  

Chapter 50 and the first half of 51 relate the judgment against Babylon, and there are a few verses here that mention 'desert':

"Because you rejoice and are glad, you who pillage my inheritance, because you frolic like a heifer threshing grain and neigh like stallions, your mother will be greatly ashamed; she who gave you birth will be disgraced.  She will be the least of the nations -- a wilderness, a dry land, a desert.  Because of the LORD's anger she will not be inhabited but will be completely desolate.  All who pass Babylon will be horrified and scoff because of her wounds." -- Jer 50:11-13

"So desert creatures and hyenas will live there, and there the owl will dwell.  It will never again be inhabited or lived in from generation to generation." - Jer. 50:39

"The sea will rise over Babylon; its roaring waves will cover her.  Her towns will be desolate, a dry and desert land, a land where no one lives, through which no man travels."  Jer 51:43 

Moab was a nation that was under judgment from God from the time of the Exodus, because they, who were actually related to Israel through Abraham's nephew Lot, had not given aid to the nation of Israel when they came out of the wilderness, but instead hired Balaam to try to pronounce curses on them.  But this judgment is something else..'you trust in your deeds and riches'.  They believed they didn't need the God of Abraham...so they learned the hard way that what they could do and the wealth they could amass was not enough to maintain their independence and identity. No one knows, today, who is descended from Moab.

Babylon has suffered a similar fate.  Oh, the archaeological ruins have been found, but the remnants of Babylon...anyone who can claim Babylonian heritage...are lost.

The worst fate anyone could suffer under the old covenant was to be 'cut off'...recorded as having no inheritance, no legacy, and no descendants.  The heritage of those ancient civilizations has no sons or daughters who know who they are; only artifacts. The nationalities have mixed and blended and now there is no telling who is Bablyonian and who is Persian, or who is descended from Moab and who is descended from the Philistines.  It's all lost, gone, destroyed, forgotten.   It  happened over a span of generations, but it happened.  Judah was chastised...Bablyon was condemned.

Hodgepoging Today for Fun

 Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi

I was looking over the blog posts for the last however many weeks and, y'all, it's been AWFULLY serious over here.  Time to throw in something lighthearted.  And it just so happens to be HodgePodge Wednesday, so, without even looking at the questions, I'm dropping them in.  We'll see how it works out, lol.

If you're interested in reading other folks' answers, or you'd like to play along on your own blog, just click the link to Joyce's page...

1. It's Mickey Mouse's birthday (November 18)...happy birthday Mickey! He reads here, right? Have you ever been to Disney, any of the parks at all? Are you a Disney superfan or something less than that? They're open right now so tell us, would you go if you had the time/money/a free trip?

Well, Happy Birthday to Mickey Mouse!  I've been to visit him three times in my life; once to Disneyland in October of  1979, pre-engagement, on a trip to visit then-boyfriend now-hubby. I was enchanted...one minute you're in Anaheim and then you walk through the gates and you're transported to elsewhere.  It really did seem magical...back in 1979.  Not sure it's still like that now. No pics, but somewhere I have some Minnie ears with my name embroidered on them.  The next time was March 1982; My Sweet Babboo and I drove down to central Florida to visit my grandmother.  Of course, we did a day trip to The Magic Kingdom, which was the only park open at that time (Epcot opened a few months later).  WDW was celebrating its 10th anniversary; we had a thunderstorm dump on us literally moments after walking through the gate and the temperature plummeted.  But we bought sweatshirts in a gift shop and carried on.  We even ate at King Stefan's Banquet hall...made reservations when we walked through the castle that morning. Can't do that now, lol.  It was one of the best meals I've ever had. Then last year...we spent a week with our kids doing all the parks.  Lemme just say...it's changed a LOT.  If I could go back...I'd spend a day at Hollywood Studios.  Actually, I'd spend most of it at Galaxy's Edge; there's an 18 year old geek deep in a corner of me that was all gaga there.  I wouldn't say I am a superfan...but I do have a kid who's a Disney Travel Agent so there is a LOT of Disney in our lives, lol.  #thisistheway

2. Your favorite place to go when you want to be quiet as a church mouse? Would those who know you well describe you as more churchmouse or perhaps more like mighty mouse? 

 

My 'quiet as a churchmouse' time would be ideally spent with my Bible and journal...either at the table on my front porch or sitting at lunch time in the quiet sanctuary at church (I'm on the business office staff) with no one else around.  But life is not cooperating with me sitting either place right now so I've got to make do with other spots that just don't seem as exclusive.   And I'm probably a churchmouse...a clamourous church mouse, lol

3. The day before Mickey's birthday happens to be National Homemade Bread Day. Did/will you celebrate? Do you bake your own bread? Last time you had hot out-of-the-oven homemade bread? What's your favorite kind of bread? 

 

Ack!  I didn't have time to bake bread yesterday but I might've if I had known ...if I had yeast, which seems to be hard to find.  I have my grandmother's  recipe for 'Delicate Rolls', which I remember eating at every big family dinner growing up.  I don't quite have her knack, since I only make them once a year (turn 'em into crescent rolls wrapped around a mixture of butter, brown sugar and pecans and...a marshmallow; another one of her tricks) for New Year's Eve.  But I do love some just plain ol' homemade bread; the 'Rich Egg Bread' recipe in the Betty Crocker Cookbook is a good one.  But yeast is like toilet paper for some reason...very hard to find at times...

4. What's something you might say is 'the greatest thing since sliced bread'? 

Teabags, lol.  I have developed a taste for some artisinal tea but don't like the little bits that seep through a teaball.  You can get little filters and make it work, but I have a new appreciation for pre-bagged tea.  

5. Let's keep the gratitude theme we started last week rolling on through November. Share with us five little things you're grateful for today. Small blessings. One catch-they all must start with the letter T. Gotta keep us thinking, right? 

Time off; I had some use-or-lose vacation time that's giving me a nice break before Thanksgiving

Taste - there have been years (two in a row a while back) that I had a severe sinus infection at Thanksgiving and could not taste anything.  It was truly sad to cook the traditional dinner and not be able to taste any of it.  

Traditions -I am a sap for traditions.  Thanksgiving menu is the same every year; we decorate the house with old and loved ornaments and decor.  I don't do trendy trees.. ours are eclectic and mismatched and kitschy but I love setting them up for the memories they bring.

Tap water - especially hot tap water.  This is one thing that I continually give thanks for; so many folks in the world have to work for drinkable water and we just turn a knob.

Trees - so pretty this time of year.  I've taken lots of pics.  Here's one... love the contrast of the yellow against the blue sky.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

I really don't know what Thanksgiving is going to look like this year; we have some many variables and Covid is encroaching on our plans.  But even if it is substantially different from our traditional holiday we still have much to be thankful for.

Blogging Bible Study: Digging in the Desert -- Jeremiah: General Judgment

 Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi

I realized today that I actually missed a verse that I hadn't covered yet, so this post ...technically... should come before last week's.  Thank my scribbled up notes for that.

Both of the verses  we're looking at today use 'desert' as an adjective; a geographic description of a group of people, and there really isn't any particular significance attached to 'desert'; I'm going to look at the specific 'other nations' that are mentioned next week.  But, in the interest of being thorough....

"The days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will punish all who are circumcised only in the flesh -- Egypt, Judah, Edom , Ammon, Moab and all who live in the desert in distant places.  For all these nations are really uncircumcised, and even the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart." -- Jer. 9:25-26

I don't know anything about the practices of the Arabic nations mentioned here, or the tribes who lived in the desert, such as the Nabateans and the Idumeans,  but circumcision was, to the Jews, a sign of God's covenant with them.  This concept...circumcision of the heart...was repeated in Romans: "Circumcision has value if you observe the law, but if you break the law, you have become as though you had not been circumcised....A man is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. No, a man is a Jew if is is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code.  Such a man's praise is not from men, but God." (Rom. 4:25, 28-29)

Even in the Old Testament, the idea was established that the motive and intent of the heart mattered.   Taking the mark of the covenant of God in one's body was not terribly significant if one did not also apply one's heart to following God and the laws He gave.  A ritual, however costly, does not substitute for obedience and relationship. We can carry this further and apply it anyone who believes their participation in a ritual...whether it's baptism or sacrament or even walking down the aisle in a church service and repeating a prayer...is the thing that's going to make them righteous.  No, it is a heart thing.  The heart  needs to be circumcised...removed of excess flesh (IE, that inclination to regard, crave and indulge in what God has forbidden). It is with the heart that we believe and are saved (Rom 10:10).

So. I'm just going to leave that there and go on.

The next passage also mentions a multitude of nations and also includes Judah (I've actually mentioned this chapter briefly in an earlier post regarding taking biblical passages out of context). In Jer. 25:15, Jeremiah is instructed to take a 'cup of God's wrath'  around to a specific list of nations.  That list is in verses 18 - 26 and includes Jerusalem, all the towns of Judah, Egypt, Uz, the Philstines of Askhelon, Gaza, Ekron and Ashdod; Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre and Sidon, the kings of the coastlands, Deadan, Tima, Buz, all who are in distant places, 

all the kings of Arabia  and all the kings of the foreign people who live in the desert; (25:24)

Zimri, Elam and Medisa, all the kings of the north, near and far, one after the other -- all the kingdoms on the face of the earth.  In short, EVERYONE ON THE PLANET.  "See, I am beginning to bring disaster on the city that bears my Name, and will you indeed go unpunished?" (25:29)

If God does not hold his hand back from pouring judgement upon his own people, the rest of mankind surely will not escape.  We all  know the judgment that fell upon Israel and Judah for adopting the practices and gods of the pagan nations around them...this is a warning to anyone who wants to shake their heads at God's people.  What we have to understand...God's punishment to Israel was always to purify the nation, to ultimately bring them closer to him as his own. God's punishment to those who have abused his people...that's a different thing.

Blogging Bible Study: Digging in the Desert - Jeremiah: Judgment against Judah

 Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi

So, for those who are joining us lately....I'm doing a word study.  The word is 'desert', and we've been at it since August of last year.   Up to Jeremiah now, and this is post number...4...in which we're clustering the verses by topic as we go through.  Most of the verses containing the word 'desert' have to do with judgment, and today...we're looking at verses that have to do with judgment against the nation of Judah specifically.

In the first passage, you've got to back up several verses to see that the 'you' mentioned is the nation of Judah.... Jer. 13:19 states. 'The cities in the Negev will be shut up, and there will be no one to open them.  All Judah will be carried into exile, carried completely away.'  What follows is a more detailed discussion, but the bit we're specifically looking at today is down a bit further.

"I will scatter you like chaff driven by the desert wind. This is your lot, the portion I have decreed for you, " declares the LORD,  "because you have forgotten me and trusted in false gods."  -- Jer. 13:24-25

"For this is what the LORD says about the palace of the king of Judah:  "Though you are like Gilead to me, like the summit of Lebannon, I will surely make you like a desert, like towns not inhabited."  -- Jer 22:6

For context, Judah had been threatened by Babylon, but literally all the prophets of the day were declaring that God would deliver Judah and Jerusalem out of the hands of the Babylonians...as he had done so many times previously.  Only Jeremiah had a message of doom...this was not like the other times, this was not an external threat against the people of God.  This was judgment coming from God himself, because the people had left off doing what he had required of them.  Not that they weren't following the specifics of the law, they were keeping up the sacrifices...somewhat...and the holy days and such.  They were going through the outward motions of obedience.  But he required that they serve only him, and they had added worship of pagan gods to their rituals.  Ultimately, they even turned to these idols to try and protect them against the judgment God was sending, trying to placate as many gods as possible.  At that point, their faith had fallen from trust in God to mere superstitions actions, considering the God who had called them out of Egypt and made them a nation no more powerful than the other deities they were honoring. As for Jeremiah, rather than believe he was bringing them a message from God with an opportunity to repent...they accused him of treason, of working with the Babylonians to discourage them.   But Jeremiah never wavered in his message...although he did complain to God about having to deliver it. And don't be fooled; staying consistent with his message cost him.

A wind from the desert...hot, scorching, unrelenting.  And despite how he loved the nation, God was not going to hold back his hand from their punishment.  He had told them under Moses...if they left off following his commandments and followed other gods, disasters would come, with the final one being deportation from the land they had traveled 40 years and fought many battles to win. He had warned them in the beginning, continued to warned them through the years and now was making the final appeal through Jeremiah before their cities were unpeopled and the desert reclaimed them.

We think them foolish for not heeding the message, but do we not have prophets among us today, warning us of judgment?  And do we not shrug them off as crackpot religious freaks?  What if...the disasters of 2020 are not a crazy random string of events, but are actually warnings from God that we have left off from following him?  Sure, there are some crackpot religious-sounding freaks making a noise for their own promotion...but what if there are some truth tellers in the mix?  It would be a good strategy of the enemy to drown out the true voices with so many near-misses that no one heard the real message of warning and a call to repentance.  We are not so unlike the last days of Judah.  

And I'm not really referring to a society that has turned its collective back on God.  I'm talking about those that call themselves followers of God, who are listening to the unbelievers around them and claiming their objectives and adding their ideas of holiness to the worship of the one true God.  Mixing in the surrounding culture didn't work for the people of Jeremiah's day...and it won't work for God's people now.