The plot against Jeremiah

JEREMIAH    CHAPTER 11

The Lord told Jeremiah to give a message to the people and remind them of their covenant.  Tell them that anyone is cursed who does not obey the terms of the covenant and that the Lord brought their ancestors out of slavery to Egypt and into the land of milk and honey, where they live today. Jeremiah was told to broadcast this message in the streets of Jerusalem and go from town to town.

Then the Lord told Jeremiah that there was a conspiracy against him among the people of Judah and Jerusalem. They refused to listen and were worshipping idols. So the Lord said he would bring calamity upon them and they would not escape. The Lord told Jeremiah to not pray anymore for these people or weep for them, for he would no longer listen to them when they cry out in distress.

And Jeremiah had no idea of the plot against him, to kill him. The men of Anathoth wanted Jeremiah dead and said they would kill him if he didn't stop speaking in the Lord's name. Then the Lord said he would punish them and their young men would die in battle and their little boys and girls would starve. None of the plotters from Anathoth would survive.

BIBLE NOTES SHOW: The people of Anathoth wanted to silence Jeremiah for four reasons: 1. economic - his condemnation of idol worhip would hurt business of the idol makers. 2. religious- the message of doom and gloom made people feel depressed and guilty. 3. political-Jeremiah openly rebuked their hypocritical politics. 4. personal- the people hated him for showing them they were wrong.

HOW DOES THIS CHAPTER RELATE TO US TODAY?
Were you surprised in verse 14 when God told Jeremiah not to pray for his people any longer? I was. But even God reaches a point when he must dispense justice.

Can you imagine a prophet coming into our society and proclaiming that if we don't repent, disaster will rein down on us? We would hate to listen to that doom and gloom, right? I can see our policians plotting to rid us of that sort of prophet. You see that we have our own idols, like sucess, money, lavish lifestyles etc. But God sees what is in our hearts and he searches our hearts for the good in man.

Jeremiah had a couple of options when he discovered the plot to kill him. He could run and hide or he could call upon God to help him.  Would you have picked the right option? Calling on God helped Jeremiah reinforce his message.

Oh, that we in our society today would have the strength and courage of Jeremiah. Oh, that we would choose to call upon God for reinforcement. Pray now for our leaders. Pray that God can bless us when we are committed to him.

Yours in Christ,
Mary

Prayer Requests are needed for:


HEALTH: Pray for Gabe.

Pray for Arlene’s nephew David and for my neighbor Al who is nearing the end of his life.

Pray for Carolyn’s brother Ronald who has cancer and for her sister Wanda’s soul which went to heaven.

Pray for our friend Michelle who was diagnosed with a form of MS.

Pray for Robert Sargent who is quite ill with lung cancer.

Pray for Gary Summers, my friend from church, who has cancer.

Pray for Judy’s husband who was recently diagnosed with prostate cancer. Pray for her too, that she can deal with the side effects of his illness.

Pray too for Charly’s husband Robert who is undergoing chemo for his prostate cancer. Update on Robert: he has one more treatment and then three months of waiting for his psat test to come back clean.

Pray for James’s sister Cynthia whose chemo has lost its effect as the cancer grows powerful.

SPIRITUAL UPLIFTING: Gail, Mary

RESTORATION OF FAITH: Al, John

LOVE AND SUPPORT: Claire, Hunter, Brian

SUPPORT: Haiti, Chile, survivors of Japan’s earthquake, survivors of the devastating tornadoes in our southernmost states and Joplin, Missouri. Pray too, for our country’s leaders and our military people who die each day for our freedom.