Jeremiah

Chapter 3

A Lesson for Spiritual Israel.—Please read the third chapter [of Jeremiah]. This chapter is a lesson for modern Israel. Let all who claim to be children of God understand that He will not serve with their sins any more than He would with the sins of ancient Israel. God hates hereditary and cultivated tendencies to wrong (Letter 34, 1899).

Chapter 8

7. Birds Respond More Quickly Than Men.—The swallow and the crane observe the changes of the seasons. They migrate from one country to another to find a climate suitable to their convenience and happiness, as the Lord designed they should. But God’s people sacrifice life and health by seeking to gratify appetite. In their desire to accumulate treasure, they forget the Giver of all their blessings. Their health is abused, and their God-given powers are used to carry out their unsanctified, ambitious projects. Their days are filled with pain of body and disquietude of mind because they are determined to follow wrong habits and practices. They will not reason from cause to effect, and they sacrifice health, peace, and happiness to their ignorance (MS 35, 1899).

8 (Matt. 15:9; 22:29). Rejection of Truth Has Produced Present Condition.—The prevalence of sin is alarming; the world is being filled with violence as in the days of Noah. Would the world be in its present condition if those who claim to be the people of God had reverenced and obeyed the law of the Lord? It is the rejection of the truth, man’s dispensing with the commandments of God, that has produced the condition of things which now exists. God’s Word is made of none effect by false shepherds. The decided opposition of the shepherds of the flock to the law of the Lord reveals that they have rejected the Word of the Lord, and have put their own words in its place. In their interpretation of the Scriptures they teach for doctrines the commandments of men. In their apostasy from the truth they have encouraged wickedness, saying, “We are wise, and the law of the Lord is with us.” The words of Christ to the Pharisees are applicable to them. Christ said to these teachers, Ye are both ignorant of the Scriptures and of the power of God. …

The condition of our world today is just as the prophet has represented that it would be near the close of this earth’s history (MS 60, 1900).

22. See EGW on Ex. 15:23–25, Vol. I, p. 1102.

Chapter 11

16. Fruitless Branches Broken Off.—[Jer. 11:16 quoted.] Where her branches should have yielded fruit without stint, they were broken off because of her stubborn disobedience. The wrong course of the people of Jerusalem brought its sure result upon them and upon those whom they influenced. They departed from the example of the holy men who caught their inspiration from Jesus Christ, their invisible Leader. They could not possibly form characters that God could approve (Letter 34, 1899).

Chapter 17

5. Dependence on World Is Fatal.—[Deut. 4:1, 2, 5–9; 7:1–6, 9, 10 quoted.] Under David’s rule, the people of Israel gained strength and uprightness through obedience to God’s law. But the kings that followed strove for self-exaltation. They took to themselves glory for the greatness of the kingdom, forgetting how utterly dependent they were upon God. They regarded themselves as wise and independent, because of the honor showed them by fallible, erring man. They became corrupt, immoral, and rebelled against the Lord, turning from Him to the worship of idols.

God bore long with them, calling them often to repentance. But they refused to hear, and at last God spoke in judgment, showing them how weak they were without Him. He saw that they were determined to have their own way, and He gave them into the hands of their enemies, who spoiled their land, and took the people captive.

The alliances made by the Israelites with their heathen neighbors resulted in the loss of their identity as God’s peculiar people. They became leavened by the evil practises of those with whom they formed forbidden alliances. Affiliation with worldlings caused them to lose their first love, and their zeal for God’s service. The advantages they sold themselves to gain, brought only disappointment, and caused the loss of many souls.

The experience of Israel will be the experience of all who go to the world for strength, turning away from the living God. Those who forsake the mighty One, the source of all strength, and affiliate with worldlings, placing on them their dependence, become weak in moral power, as are those in whom they trust.

God comes with entreaties and assurances to those who are making mistakes. He seeks to show them their error, and lead them to repentance. But if they refuse to humble their hearts before Him, if they strive to exalt themselves above Him, He must speak to them in judgment. No semblance of nearness to God, no assertion of connection with Him, will be accepted from those who persist in dishonoring Him by leaning upon the arm of worldly power (RH Aug. 4, 1904).

25 (Isa. 65:2; Eze. 12:2). Israel Blind to Light, Deaf to Messages.—Had God’s chosen people stood in their appointed place, as the repositories of sacred, eternal truth, which was to come to the heathen world, Jerusalem would have stood to this day. But they were a rebellious people. And when God had done all that a God could do, even to the sending of His only begotten Son, they were so ignorant of the Scriptures and the power of God, that they refused the only help that could save them from ruin. “This is the heir,” they said, “come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.”

God appointed Israel to be a light to the Gentiles, thus to call them back to their loyalty. But Israel herself became blind to the light, deaf to the messages sent to open her understanding (MS 151, 1899).

Chapter 18

1–10. God’s Way.—[Jer. 18:1–10 quoted.] This presents before us God’s way of dealing with His people. He sends warnings. He pleads with them to cease to do evil and learn to do well. Hear the words of Christ, for they are spoken to all who claim to be His people. Blessings are promised to all who follow the Lord to do righteousness, but those who walk in their own ways show that under the trying circumstances liable to occur anywhere, they will prove unfaithful, and God cannot bless them (Letter 34, 1899).

Chapter 20

7–10. God’s Messengers as Sheep Among Wolves.—The messages of reproof that God gave through His prophets to backsliding, apostate Israel, did not lead them to repentance. Misrepresented, misunderstood, His messengers were as sheep in the midst of wolves. Many of them were cruelly put to death.

How scornfully the Jewish nation treated the message that the Lord gave to them through His prophet Jeremiah! Of his experience Jeremiah the prophet says: “O Lord, Thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived: Thou art stronger than I, and hast prevailed: I am in derision daily, every one mocketh me. For since I spake, I cried out, I cried violence and spoil; because the word of the Lord was made a reproach unto me, and a derision, daily.”

So strong was the opposition against Jeremiah’s message, so often was he derided and mocked, that he said, “I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name.” Thus it has ever been. Because of the bitterness, hatred, and opposition manifested against the word of God spoken in reproof, many other messengers of God have decided to do as Jeremiah decided. But what did this prophet of the Lord do after his decision? Try as much as he would, he could not hold his peace. As soon as he came into the assemblies of the people, he found that the Spirit of the Lord was stronger than he was. The record is: “His word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay. For I heard the defaming of many, fear on every side. Report, say they, and we will report it. All my familiars watched for my halting, saying, Peradventure he will be enticed, and we shall prevail against him, and we shall take our revenge on him.”

In this generation, when God’s servants speak the word of the Lord to reprove wrong-doers, to rebuke those who bring in wrong principles, have they not had an experience similar to that which Jeremiah had? When a course of action to pervert justice and judgment is introduced, the word of the Lord must be spoken in reproof. In this our day we find the very same difficulties that the Lord’s servants found in the days of ancient Israel when they were sent to expose existing evils that were corrupting in their influence (MS 56, 1902).

Chapter 23

1 (Hosea 8:1; 13:9; Matt. 15:6). Shepherds That Scatter.—There are professedly pious men who screen the sinner by their own transgression. They disregard the commandments of God, choosing the traditions of men, making void the law of God, and promoting apostasy. The excuses they make are feeble and weak and will bring destruction to their own souls and the souls of others. …

Upon those who have taken upon them the work of shepherds of the flock, will be visited the heaviest judgments, because they have presented to the people fables instead of truth. Children will rise up and curse their parents. Church members, who have seen the light and been convicted, but who have trusted the salvation of their souls to the minister, will learn in the day of God that no other soul can pay the ransom for their transgression. A terrible cry will be raised, “I am lost, eternally lost.” Men will feel as though they could rend in pieces the ministers who have preached falsehoods and condemned the truth. The pure truth for this time requires a reformation in the life, but they separate themselves from the love of the truth, and of them it can be said, “O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself.” The Lord sends a message to the people, “Set a trumpet to thy mouth. He shall come as an eagle against the house of the Lord, because they have transgressed my covenant and trespassed against my law” (Letter 30, 1900).

6. The Coronation Day.—On the Saviour’s coronation day He will not acknowledge as His any who bear spot or wrinkle. But to His faithful ones He will give crowns of immortal glory. Those who would not that He should reign over them will see Him surrounded by the army of the redeemed, each bearing the sign, the lord our righteousness. They will see the head once crowned with thorns crowned with a diadem of glory (RH May 5, 1903).

28 (1 Cor. 3:13). Preach the Word, Omit the Chaff.—In regard to entering into the subject of the divine mystery of the essence of God, Christ ever maintained a wise reserve. He did this that He might close the door where human conjectures should not be encouraged. The most sacred, holy, and eternal mysteries which God has not revealed are but speculations when considered from a human standpoint, mere theories that confuse the mind. There are those who know the truth but do not practice it. These greatly long for some new, strange thing to present. In their great zeal to become original some will bring in fanciful ideas which are but chaff. Even now there is a descending from the sublime and living issues for this time to the ridiculous and fanciful, and sensational minds stand ready to catch up suppositions and guesses and human theories and false science as truth to be accepted and taught.

These put the test of salvation on speculation without one plain, “Thus saith the Lord.” They thus bring in a mass of rubbish, wood, hay, and stubble, as precious material to be laid upon the foundation stone. This will not stand the test of fire, but will be consumed, and if the ones who have made themselves believe these theories are so self-deceived and know not the truth yet are converted, their life is saved as by fire through repentance and humiliation before God. They have been dealing in common things in place of the sacred. Many catch up ideas which are of no consequence and place them before the flock of God as food, when they are only chaff which will never benefit or strengthen the flock of God, but will keep them in the lowlands, because they are feeding upon that which contains not the least virtue or nourishment. What is the chaff to the wheat (MS 45, 1900)?

Chapters 25; 27–29; 30, 31

(Dan. 9:1) Records Studied by Daniel.—A copy of the letters sent by Jeremiah to the Hebrew captives in Babylon, and of the letters sent by the false prophets to these captives and to the authorities of Jerusalem, together with a story of the controversy between the true and the false, is found in the twenty-seventh to the twenty-ninth chapters of Jeremiah.

It was immediately after this interchange of letters between Jeremiah and the elders of the Israelites in captivity, that the prophet was instructed to write in a book all that had been revealed to him regarding the restoration of Israel. This is recorded in the thirtieth and the thirty-first chapters of Jeremiah.

These, with the prophecies of the twenty-fifth chapter, are the letters and the records that Daniel the prophet, during “the first year of the reign of Darius the Mede,” prayerfully studied, three-score years and more after they were written (RH March 21, 1907).

Chapter 25

11, 12 (chs. 28; 29:14). Punishment in Proportion to Intelligence and Warnings Despised.—“In the fourth year of Jehoiakim,” very soon after Daniel was taken to Babylon, Jeremiah predicted the captivity of many of the Jews, as their punishment for not heeding the Word of the Lord. The Chaldeans were to be used as the instrument by which God would chastise His disobedient people. Their punishment was to be in proportion to their intelligence and to the warnings they had despised. “This whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment,” the prophet declared; “and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the Lord, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations.”

In the light of these plain words foretelling the duration of the captivity, it seems strange that any one should hold that the Israelites would soon return from Babylon. And yet there were in Jerusalem and in Babylon those who persisted in encouraging the people to hope for a speedy deliverance. God dealt summarily with some of these false prophets, and thus vindicated the truthfulness of Jeremiah, His messenger.

To the end of time, men will arise to create confusion and rebellion among the people who profess to obey the law of God. But as surely as divine judgment was visited upon the false prophets in Jeremiah’s day, so surely will the evil workers of today receive their full measure of retribution, for the Lord has not changed. Those who prophesy lies, encourage men to look upon sin as a light thing. When the terrible results of their evil deeds are made manifest, they seek, if possible, to make the one who has faithfully warned them responsible for their difficulties, even as the Jews charged Jeremiah with their evil fortunes.

Those who pursue a course of rebellion against the Lord can always find false prophets who will justify them in their acts, and flatter them to their destruction. Lying words often make many friends, as is illustrated in the case of these false teachers among the Israelites. These so-called prophets, in their pretended zeal for God, found many more believers and followers than the true prophet who delivered the simple message of the Lord.

In view of the work of these false prophets, Jeremiah was directed by the Lord to write letters to the captains, elders, priests, prophets, and all the people who had been taken captive to Babylon, bidding them not to be deluded into believing their deliverance nigh, but to submit quietly, pursue their vocations, and make for themselves peaceful homes among their conquerors. The Lord bade them not to allow so-called prophets or diviners to deceive them with false expectations. Through His servant Jeremiah He assured them that after seventy years’ bondage they should be delivered, and should return to Jerusalem. God would listen to their prayers and show them His favor, when they would turn to Him with all their hearts [Jer. 29:14 quoted] (RH March 14, 1907).

Chapter 27

12–22. See EGW on 2 Kings 24:17–20, Vol. II, p. 1040.

Chapter 28

See EGW on ch. 25:11, 12.

Chapter 29

14. See EGW on ch. 25:11, 12.

Chapter 31

10–12. Divine Help Available for Correction.—[Jer. 31:10–12 quoted.] Corn and wine are symbols of grace and plenty.

All who receive the messages that the Lord sends to purify and cleanse them from all habits of disobedience to His commandments and conformity to the world, and who repent of their sins and reform, looking to God for help and walking in the way of obedience to His commandments, will receive divine help to correct their evil course of action. But those who apparently repent and seek the Lord, yet do not put away the evil of their doings, will not only disappoint themselves, but when their course is placed before them in symbols or parables, they will feel shame and sorrow because they have disappointed the Lord. They have hoped and trusted in their own course of action. As a people they have been reproved, and yet they have not put away the evil works that called for reproof (MS 65, 1912).

Chapter 36

Now Covering the Same Ground.—[Jer. 36:1–7 quoted.] This chapter is a record of historical events that will be repeated. Let all who desire to receive warning, read carefully.

[Jer. 36:22, 23, 27, 28, 32 quoted] (MS 65, 1912).

Chapter 39

4–7. See EGW on 2 Kings 24:17–20, Vol. II, p. 1040.

Chapter 48

10–12. Spirit Does Not Work Beyond Human Power of Resistance.—The influence of the Spirit upon the human mind will regulate it after the divine order. But the Spirit does not work in a manner and power beyond the human agent’s power of resistance. A man may refuse to hear the counsels and admonitions of God. He may choose to take the regulating of his conduct into his own hands; but when he does this, he is not made a vessel unto honor. Like Moab, he refuses to be changed, emptied from vessel to vessel, and therefore his scent remaineth in him. He refuses to correct his defective traits of character, although the Lord has plainly pointed out his work, his privileges, his opportunities, and the advancement to be made. It is too much trouble to break up his old ways, and transform his ideas and methods. “His scent is not changed.” He clings to his defects, and is thus unfitted for the sacred work of the ministry. He was not willing to make a close examination of himself, or to closely inquire for light to shine upon him in a clear, distinct manner. His prayers have not ascended to God in humility, while with humble endeavor he sought to live his prayers by understanding and performing his duty.

After the Lord has put one on test and trial, that he may be assured of his calling to the ministry, if he is content to follow his own way and his own will, if he will not heed the manifestations of the Spirit of God, if he refuses to profit by growth in grace and depth of understanding, be assured that the Lord does not need him; for he cannot communicate that which he has never received.

Every soul is to minister. He is to use every physical, moral and mental power, through sanctification of the Spirit, that he may be a laborer together with God. All are bound to devote themselves actively and unreservedly to God’s service. They are to cooperate with Jesus Christ in the great work of helping others. Christ died for every man. He has ransomed every man by giving His life on the cross. This He did that man might no longer live an aimless, selfish life, but that he might live unto Jesus Christ, who died for his salvation. All are not called upon to enter the ministry, but nevertheless, they are to minister. It is an insult to the Holy Spirit of God for any man to choose a life of self-serving.

Ministry means not only the study of books and preaching. It means service (Letter 10, 1897).

Knowledge of Truth Not Practiced.—This description of Moab represents the churches that have become like Moab. They have not stood at their post of duty as faithful sentinels. They have not cooperated with the heavenly intelligences by exercising their God-given ability to do the will of God, pressing back the powers of darkness, and using every power God has given them to advance truth and righteousness in our world. They have a knowledge of the truth, but they have not practiced what they know (MS 7, 1891).

God Disciplines His Workers.—God has given to every man his work, and we are to acknowledge the wisdom of His plan for us by a hearty cooperation with Him. It is in a life of service only that true happiness is found. He who lives a useless, selfish life is miserable. He is dissatisfied with himself and with every one else.

The Lord disciplines His workers, that they may be prepared to fill the places appointed them. Thus He desires to fit them to do more acceptable service.

A life of monotony is not the most conducive to spiritual growth. Some can reach the highest standard of spirituality only through a change in the regular order of things. When in His providence God sees that changes are essential for the success of the character-building, He disturbs the smooth current of the life.

There are those who desire to be a ruling power, and who need the sanctification of submission. God brings about a change in their lives. Perhaps He places before them duties that they would not choose. If they are willing to be guided by Him, He will give them grace and strength to perform these duties in a spirit of submission and helpfulness. Thus they are being qualified to fill places where their disciplined abilities will make them of great service.

Some God trains by bringing to them disappointment and apparent failure. It is His purpose that they shall learn to master difficulty. He inspires them with a determination to make every apparent failure prove a success. Often men pray and weep because of the perplexities and obstacles that confront them. But if they will hold the beginning of their confidence steadfast unto the end, He will make their way clear. Success will come to them as they struggle against apparently insurmountable difficulties. …

Many are ignorant of how to work for God, not because they need to be ignorant, but because they are unwilling to submit to His training. Moab is spoken of as a failure because, the prophet declares, “Moab hath been at ease from his youth, … and hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel, neither hath he gone into captivity: therefore his taste remained in him, and his scent is not changed.”

Thus it is with those whose hereditary and cultivated tendencies to wrong are not purged from them. Their hearts are not cleansed from defilement. They were given an opportunity to do a work for God, but this work they did not choose to do, because they wished to carry out their own plans.

The Christian is to be prepared for the doing of a work that reveals kindness, forbearance, longsuffering, gentleness, patience. The cultivation of these precious gifts is to come into the life of the Christian, that, when called into service by the Master, he may be ready to use his highest powers in helping and blessing those around him (RH May 2, 1907).