Hear with your ears what the Lord speaks to you. Believe God’s Word!
“Thus says the Lord: do not learn the way of the Gentiles; do not be dismayed at the signs of heaven, for the Gentiles are dismayed at them.” Jeremiah 10:2
“Do not be dismayed at the signs of heaven [the stars].” The Gentiles are dismayed as they try to interpret the meaning of the star positions. This is a poor approach to problem solving. Knowing and having the help of the Creator of these things is better.
Without revelation from God’s Word, the Gentiles developed their own set of beliefs based on lies. Some common “bad luck” beliefs are: Friday the 13th based on Norse mythology and false Good Friday beliefs; breaking a mirror based on Greek beliefs; walking under a ladder and having a black cat cross one’s path based on Middle Ages false beliefs; and opening an umbrella indoors which is based on an Egyptian belief that it insults the sun god.
Other objects like a horse’s shoe and rabbit’s foot were said to bring good luck but it wasn’t “lucky” for the horse or rabbit who lost these things.
The word “luck” comes from the Middle Dutch word “luc” a shortened form of “gheluc” meaning “happiness” or “good fortune.” It entered English around the late 15th century, likely as a gambling term. I associate “luck” with Lucifer. Lucifer is always trying to replace trust in God with something instead of God. The prefix “anti” also carries the meaning of “instead.” An antichrist can be anything that pretends to replace Christ as the Savior and Lord.
“For the customs of the peoples are futile; for one cuts a tree from the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the ax. They decorate it with silver and gold; they fasten it with nails and hammers so that it will not topple.” Jeremiah 10:3-4
Some cut trees and shaped them into idols that need to be propped up. God urges us to turn from sellers whose aim is to transfer funds from us to them.
“Commercialism had become the besetting sin of Judah. Money dictated their policies.” [1] In Revelation 18:2-3, commercialism is a besetting sin of the last days, “Babylon... has become a dwelling place of demons... the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury.”
“Like a scarecrow in a cucumber field, their idols cannot speak; they must be carried because they cannot walk. Do not fear them; they can do no harm nor can they do any good.” Jeremiah 10:5
The Lord urges us not to fear idols.
The God who created the universe and sustains it helps us. He sent His Son into the world to save us. Jesus resurrected from the dead after being crucified and placed in a tomb for three days. No other founder of a religion did this. The Lord Jesus Christ is a miracle worker.
“Inasmuch as there is none like You, O Lord (You are great, and Your Name is great in might), who would not fear You, O King of the nations? For this is Your rightful due. For among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, there is none like You.” Jeremiah 10:6-7
There’s a similar word of praise to God amidst the judgments in Revelation 15:4, “Who will not fear you, Lord, and bring glory to Your Name? For You alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before You, for Your righteous acts have been revealed.”
“They are altogether dull-hearted and foolish; a wooden idol is a worthless doctrine.” Jeremiah 10:8
Romans 1:21 says, “For even though they knew God, they didn’t honor Him as God or give thanks to him, but their became futile in their speculations, and their foolish hearts were darkened.”
2 Corinthians 4:18 says, “We do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” Christianity is a revealed religion. Jesus Christ reveals God’s Kingdom to people.
1 Corinthians 2:9-10 says, “As it is written: ‘What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived’—the things God has prepared for those who love Him—these are the things God has revealed to us by His Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.”
Jesus Christ reveals His Kingdom to us to save us from our sins. In John 16:33, Jesus said, “I have told you these things, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have trouble; but cheer up! I have overcome the world.”
“Silver is beaten into plates; it is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the craftsman and of the hands of the metalsmith; blue and purple are their clothing; they are all the work of skillful men.” Jeremiah 10:9
Tarshish is in Spain and Uphaz is in India. Both places are far from Israel. Distance does not endue with supernatural powers. People place high value on silver and gold, but silver and gold cannot save a soul. It is amazing what craftsman do with precious metals, but superior design does not impart divine character. Royal garments are made from blue and purple cloth, but royal clothes are not vested with God’s wisdom.” [2]
“The Lord is the true God. He is the living God and the everlasting King. At His wrath, the earth will tremble, and the nations will not be able to endure His indignation.” Jeremiah 10:10
Similarly, Revelation 20:11 says, “Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them.”
Jeremiah declared that God’s wrath makes the earth tremble. Nations cannot endure His indignation! Hebrews 10:31 says, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”
God is God. No matter what some may do to sabotage faith in Him, He remains God. No matter how people twist His Words or try to erase them, His Word is settled forever in the heavens.
Stars, metal, and wood cannot transform a hateful heart into a loving one.
“Thus you shall say to them: ‘The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth shall perish from the earth and from under these heavens.’” Jeremiah 10:11
Jeremiah’s words, “Thus shall you say to them,” are in Chaldee, the language of the Babylonians. The Babylonians needed a reality check. Although they defeated the armies of nations, their gods were not God. There is an old Greek saying: “Whoever thinks himself a god besides the one God, let him make another world.” [3]
The Babylonians plundered Jerusalem’s gold, but they needed Jerusalem’s God more than Jerusalem’s gold.
1 Timothy 6:17 says,, “Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy.”
“He has made the earth by His power He has established the world by His wisdom and has stretched out the heavens at His discretion.” Jeremiah 10:12
Colossians 1:16 says, “For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.”
John 1:3 says, “All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.”
“When He utters His voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens: and He causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth. He makes lightning for the rain He brings the wind out of His treasuries.” Jeremiah 10:13
Humankind has barely scratched the surface when it comes to understanding the wisdom and discretion with which God created the universe. God created all things with love. He orders the elements to work together in harmony to provide a livable climate for us. We need to understand God’s love, to understand rightly the universe which He created.
“Everyone is dull-hearted, without knowledge; every metalsmith is put to shame by an image; for his molded image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.” Jeremiah 10:14
They are dull-hearted because apart from God people only think in terms of profit and loss. God is love. His economy is based on love for one another. His love is at odds with the world’s selfish ambition. In Romans 1:22, Paul wrote, “Professing to be wise, they became fools.”
“They are futile, a work of errors; in the time of their punishment, they shall perish.” Jeremiah 10:15
God leaves no room for doubt. Idolatry is unequivocally wrong. Those who worship idols will perish. God is unlike them. God’s people are unlike them. Our inheritance comes from God.
Jonah 2:8 says, “Those who regard worthless idols forsake their own mercy.”
“The Portion of Jacob [God] is not like them, for He is the Maker of all things, and Israel is the tribe of His inheritance. The Lord of hosts is His Name.” Jeremiah 10:16
Genesis 1:1 says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”
Zechariah 13:2 says, “It shall come to pass in that day, says the Lord of hosts, that I will destroy the names of idols out of the earth, and they shall be remembered no more: and I will take away the false prophets, and the unclean spirit out of the earth.”
A day is coming when there will be no more idols, false prophets or unclean spirits. Glory to God!
“Gather up your wares from the land, O inhabitant of the fortress!” Jeremiah 10:17
As for the time-being, Judah needed to prepare to be deported to Babylon.
“For thus says the Lord: behold, I will throw out at this time the inhabitants of the land, and will distress them, that they may find it so.” Jeremiah 10:18
As Adam and Eve were evicted from the Garden of Eden after they sinned, so the people of Judah were evicted from the Promised Land and taken captive to Babylon.
“Woe is me for my hurt! My wound is severe. But I say, ‘Truly this is an infirmity, and I must bear it.” Jeremiah 10:19
God grieves the distance between Him and His children due to sin.
“My tent is plundered, and all my cords are broken; my children have gone from me, and they are no more. There is no one to pitch my tent anymore or set up my curtains.” Jeremiah 10:20
Jacob’s tent, meaning his people, have been robbed. The cords that held them upright are severed. There is no one to help them reset at this point.
The root cause of Jerusalem’s problem was misguidance...
“For the shepherds have become dull-hearted and have not sought the Lord; therefore, they shall not prosper, and all their flocks shall be scattered.” Jeremiah 10:21
Jesus contrasted the difference between one who shepherds for profit’s sake and one who prophets for the sheep’s sake. In John 10:11, Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.”
“Behold, the noise of the report has come, and a great commotion out of the north country, to make the cities of Judah desolate, a den of jackals.” Jeremiah 10:22
Jerusalem rejected the voice of God. Jerusalem received the noise of an attacking army.
“O Lord, I know the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man who walks to direct his own steps.” Jeremiah 10:23
God had made numerous efforts to coax them in the right direction but they refused to follow Him so God had applied discipline to them.
“O Lord, correct me, but with justice; not in Your anger, lest You bring me to nothing.” Jeremiah 10:24
In Psalms 6:1, King David prayed in a similar fashion, saying, “O Lord, do not rebuke me in Your anger, nor chasten me in Your wrath.”
Isaiah 42:3 says, “A bruised reed He will not break, and a smoldering wick He will not snuff out. In faithfulness He will bring forth justice.”
“Pour out Your fury on the Gentiles, who do not know You, and on the families who do not call on Your Name; for they have eaten up Jacob, devoured him and consumed him, and made his dwelling place desolate.” Jeremiah 10:25
Jeremiah prayed that the full tide of God’s wrath would be on the nations who were attacking his nation. They neither respected God nor God’s ways. They were exceedingly cruel.
The Lord Jesus Christ revealed to us in the Book of Revelation two kingdoms, two cities, and two women. There is the Kingdom of Christ and the Kingdom of the Beast [the antichrist]. There is Heavenly Jerusalem and Babylon. There is the Bride of the Lamb and the Harlot Babylon.
The Lord wants all people to be saved and indeed, there will be people from every tribe and language worshipping before His throne, but He requires from each of us an invitation followed by an abidance in Him.
The invitation involves inviting Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior. Ask Him to save you, to reveal Himself to you and to transform you from what you are into what God meant you to be.
Abiding in Christ involves an ongoing personal relationship with Him via prayer, Bible reading and obedience to follow His Spirit’s leading.
Revelation 22:17 says, “The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let the one who hears say, ‘Come!’ Let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires let him take the water of life freely.”
[1] Dr. Theo Laetsch, Bible Commentary Jeremiah, Concordia Paperback Ed., 1965, ©, page 124
[2] Dr. Theo Laetsch, Bible Commentary Jeremiah, Concordia Paperback Ed., 1965, ©, page 124
[3] Jamieson Fausset Brown Commentary
Jacob’s tent, meaning his people, have been robbed. The cords that held them upright are severed. There is no one to help them reset at this point.
The root cause of Jerusalem’s problem was misguidance...
“For the shepherds have become dull-hearted and have not sought the Lord; therefore, they shall not prosper, and all their flocks shall be scattered.” Jeremiah 10:21
Jesus contrasted the difference between one who shepherds for profit’s sake and one who prophets for the sheep’s sake. In John 10:11, Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.”
“Behold, the noise of the report has come, and a great commotion out of the north country, to make the cities of Judah desolate, a den of jackals.” Jeremiah 10:22
Jerusalem rejected the voice of God. Jerusalem received the noise of an attacking army.
“O Lord, I know the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man who walks to direct his own steps.” Jeremiah 10:23
God had made numerous efforts to coax them in the right direction but they refused to follow Him so God had applied discipline to them.
“O Lord, correct me, but with justice; not in Your anger, lest You bring me to nothing.” Jeremiah 10:24
In Psalms 6:1, King David prayed in a similar fashion, saying, “O Lord, do not rebuke me in Your anger, nor chasten me in Your wrath.”
Isaiah 42:3 says, “A bruised reed He will not break, and a smoldering wick He will not snuff out. In faithfulness He will bring forth justice.”
“Pour out Your fury on the Gentiles, who do not know You, and on the families who do not call on Your Name; for they have eaten up Jacob, devoured him and consumed him, and made his dwelling place desolate.” Jeremiah 10:25
Jeremiah prayed that the full tide of God’s wrath would be on the nations who were attacking his nation. They neither respected God nor God’s ways. They were exceedingly cruel.
The Lord Jesus Christ revealed to us in the Book of Revelation two kingdoms, two cities, and two women. There is the Kingdom of Christ and the Kingdom of the Beast [the antichrist]. There is Heavenly Jerusalem and Babylon. There is the Bride of the Lamb and the Harlot Babylon.
The Lord wants all people to be saved and indeed, there will be people from every tribe and language worshipping before His throne, but He requires from each of us an invitation followed by an abidance in Him.
The invitation involves inviting Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior. Ask Him to save you, to reveal Himself to you and to transform you from what you are into what God meant you to be.
Abiding in Christ involves an ongoing personal relationship with Him via prayer, Bible reading and obedience to follow His Spirit’s leading.
Revelation 22:17 says, “The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let the one who hears say, ‘Come!’ Let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires let him take the water of life freely.”
Attached is a link to a power point version of this article
which I have recorded on my YouTube channel:
https://youtu.be/wQSN9D6htOw
[1] Dr. Theo Laetsch, Bible Commentary Jeremiah, Concordia Paperback Ed., 1965, ©, page 124
[2] Dr. Theo Laetsch, Bible Commentary Jeremiah, Concordia Paperback Ed., 1965, ©, page 124
[3] Jamieson Fausset Brown Commentary
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