The Jeremiah Project, Week 44

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Week 44

Day 1

Link to video clip
(Originally posted Sunday, October 26, 2014)

Overview Jeremiah 44:1-30 - "We All Fall Down". As we read the chronological end of Jeremiah's ministry in this week's chapter, we will also see the end of any doubt about the people's devotional lives in their worship of the so-called "queen of heaven", and consequently a repeated and final foretelling of the end of Yahweh's people who fled to Egypt. The "plague" of idolatry will run its course.

Day 2
(Originally posted Monday, October 27, 2014)

Jeremiah 44:1-10 - "The Last Straw". Today we read a scathing indictment from Yahweh through Jeremiah of His people, not just because they are in the wrong, but also because they're not really sorry about it, either. This callousness Yahweh will cut away.

Like our straws today, this situation sucks.

Day 3

Link to video clip
(Originally posted Tuesday, October 28, 2014)

Jeremiah 44:11-14 - "Ecclesiastes 3:2". Passages in the Scriptures like our reading today are bitter, bitter pills that are best swallowed whole rather than tasted at all; oh the bitterness! Yahweh will be obeyed by His people; it is a moral imperative. His people are to Him as our children are to us: they are free to play for a time so long as they behave, but to misbehave earns a timeout and other consequences leading up to and including being called in for the night. We take no pleasure in the loss even of the wicked, but weep with the realization that there but for the grace of God go we all. And Jesus Christ our Lord is the Grace of God Incarnate.

One life lost is not the end of the world, but it's the end of their world. May we pray.

Day 4

Link to video clip
(Originally posted Wednesday, October 29, 2014)

Jeremiah 44:15-19 - "Doubling Down". The proper response after reading today's portion should be an incredulous "Wow.".

Where to begin with this passage?
Verse 15: The people, men AND women, stood against Yahweh's prophet. The words do exist to differentiate gender.
Verse 16: With this statement, these people demonstrate they are officially losing their minds by not listening knowing full well Jeremiah's track record.
Verse 17: Refusing to accept the finality of Yahweh's judgment, these people proceed to double down on the idolatry that got them in trouble in the first place, as if they're engaged in some sort of game of chance with the Almighty.
Verse 18: The offer of their flawed perspective as a reasonable justification for turning completely away from Yahweh shows they really didn't want to have anything to do with Him. Hello, as an example, they could have prayed with contrition recalling Abraham and Isaac and a ram of some sort...
Verse 19: Listen. At the end of the day, the women understood the husbands had the official authority over what was going on in the household. They appealed to it here. So when it all comes down, we men are responsible and accountable for what our wives do, whether good or evil.

Listen.

Day 5

Link to video clip
(Originally posted Thursday, October 30, 2014)

Jeremiah 44:20-23 - "You Have Done That Yourself." Our reading today is part one of Jeremiah's response to the people's defiant pronouncement which we read yesterday. This that we read today is a setting straight of the record by Jeremiah the prophet established by Yahweh. These defiant people at least get the opportunity to hear the fact that they are in their current predicament because of their own transgressions, they are not innocent bystanding victims whom Yahweh simply picked out for celestial abuse. They were supposed to represent Him in a fallen world, not JOIN IN with that fallen world against Him.

And so with we who name the name of Jesus as Christians. We represent Him to people who desperately need Him whether they realize that or not. His Spirit flows in us and through us, reaching out to fallen people in ways we don't always recognize, to help save those who want to be saved. Our God Yahweh knows what He is doing. We will trust in Him.

Day 6

Link to video clip
(Originally posted Friday, October 31, 2014)

Jeremiah 44:24-30 - "No Tricks And No Treats". So as we finish reading our chapter this week, we find the balance of Jeremiah's response to these willfully defiant people whom Yahweh desired to keep as the prime pumpkin in His patch, so to speak. But you know what they say in the grocery, "pumpkins are a seedy business." (*rimshot*) So now after years and decades of disobedience, and after centuries of sin, these people who habitually and continually seek after any god but Yahweh will be the pumpkin He carves as a sign for the world, and the candle He'll use to highlight it will be the pharaoh king of Egypt, because to Yahweh, everything is fragile as wax.

And so He waxes. And so we should listen.

Day 7
(Originally posted Saturday, November 1, 2014)

Review Jeremiah 44:1-30 and REST in the realization that
Terrible it is for those who would regain what they had lost by leaving their God behind;
How much better for those who lose themselves in Him and their true life in Him they find.

<==== Back to Menu <== Back to Week 43 Proceed to week 45 ==>

Week 44
Day 1	Link to video clip	(Originally posted Sunday, October 26, 2014) Overview Jeremiah 44:1-30 - "We All Fall Down". As we read the chronological end of Jeremiah's ministry in this week's chapter, we will also see the end of any doubt about the people's devotional lives in their worship of the so-called "queen of heaven", and consequently a repeated and final foretelling of the end of Yahweh's people who fled to Egypt. The "plague" of idolatry will run its course.
Day 2		(Originally posted Monday, October 27, 2014) Jeremiah 44:1-10 - "The Last Straw". Today we read a scathing indictment from Yahweh through Jeremiah of His people, not just because they are in the wrong, but also because they're not really sorry about it, either. This callousness Yahweh will cut away. Like our straws today, this situation sucks.
Day 3	Link to video clip	(Originally posted Tuesday, October 28, 2014) Jeremiah 44:11-14 - "Ecclesiastes 3:2". Passages in the Scriptures like our reading today are bitter, bitter pills that are best swallowed whole rather than tasted at all; oh the bitterness! Yahweh will be obeyed by His people; it is a moral imperative. His people are to Him as our children are to us: they are free to play for a time so long as they behave, but to misbehave earns a timeout and other consequences leading up to and including being called in for the night. We take no pleasure in the loss even of the wicked, but weep with the realization that there but for the grace of God go we all. And Jesus Christ our Lord is the Grace of God Incarnate. One life lost is not the end of the world, but it's the end of their world. May we pray.
Day 4	Link to video clip	(Originally posted Wednesday, October 29, 2014) Jeremiah 44:15-19 - "Doubling Down". The proper response after reading today's portion should be an incredulous "Wow.". Where to begin with this passage? Verse 15: The people, men AND women, stood against Yahweh's prophet. The words do exist to differentiate gender. Verse 16: With this statement, these people demonstrate they are officially losing their minds by not listening knowing full well Jeremiah's track record. Verse 17: Refusing to accept the finality of Yahweh's judgment, these people proceed to double down on the idolatry that got them in trouble in the first place, as if they're engaged in some sort of game of chance with the Almighty. Verse 18: The offer of their flawed perspective as a reasonable justification for turning completely away from Yahweh shows they really didn't want to have anything to do with Him. Hello, as an example, they could have prayed with contrition recalling Abraham and Isaac and a ram of some sort... Verse 19: Listen. At the end of the day, the women understood the husbands had the official authority over what was going on in the household. They appealed to it here. So when it all comes down, we men are responsible and accountable for what our wives do, whether good or evil. Listen.
Day 5	Link to video clip	(Originally posted Thursday, October 30, 2014) Jeremiah 44:20-23 - "You Have Done That Yourself." Our reading today is part one of Jeremiah's response to the people's defiant pronouncement which we read yesterday. This that we read today is a setting straight of the record by Jeremiah the prophet established by Yahweh. These defiant people at least get the opportunity to hear the fact that they are in their current predicament because of their own transgressions, they are not innocent bystanding victims whom Yahweh simply picked out for celestial abuse. They were supposed to represent Him in a fallen world, not JOIN IN with that fallen world against Him. And so with we who name the name of Jesus as Christians. We represent Him to people who desperately need Him whether they realize that or not. His Spirit flows in us and through us, reaching out to fallen people in ways we don't always recognize, to help save those who want to be saved. Our God Yahweh knows what He is doing. We will trust in Him.
Day 6	Link to video clip	(Originally posted Friday, October 31, 2014) Jeremiah 44:24-30 - "No Tricks And No Treats". So as we finish reading our chapter this week, we find the balance of Jeremiah's response to these willfully defiant people whom Yahweh desired to keep as the prime pumpkin in His patch, so to speak. But you know what they say in the grocery, "pumpkins are a seedy business." (rimshot) So now after years and decades of disobedience, and after centuries of sin, these people who habitually and continually seek after any god but Yahweh will be the pumpkin He carves as a sign for the world, and the candle He'll use to highlight it will be the pharaoh king of Egypt, because to Yahweh, everything is fragile as wax. And so He waxes. And so we should listen.
Day 7		(Originally posted Saturday, November 1, 2014) Review Jeremiah 44:1-30 and REST in the realization that Terrible it is for those who would regain what they had lost by leaving their God behind; How much better for those who lose themselves in Him and their true life in Him they find.