Jeremiah, the social outcast

JEREMIAH  CHAPTER 16

The Lord gave Jeremiah the message telling him not to marry or have children in this city. For the Lord says the children born there and their parents would die from terrible diseases. No one would mourn for them and they would be scattered on the ground like dung.

Further, the Lord said, for Jeremiah not to go to funerals or show sympathy for any of these people. For he had removed all protection and peace from them as well as his unfailing mercy and love. And told him to not go to their feasts and parties or eat or drink with them at all. For the Lord would put an end to the happy singing and laughter in the land. And when these people ask what they have done, says the Lord, tell them their ancestors were unfaithful too me. They worshiped other gods and abandoned the Lord and did not keep his law.

But the time is coming, says the Lord, when I will bring them all back to this land that I gave to their ancestors. But for now, he says, I am sending many fishermen who will catch them and hunters who will search for them in the forests and caves. I see every sin, says the Lord.

Jeremiah prayed and said that God was his strength and fortress, his refuge in the day of trouble. Nations from around the world would come to the Lord and tell of a time when their ancestors were foolish and worshiped idols.

BIBLE NOTES SHOW: In the time of Jeremiah, it was his culture's custom to show grief publicly. The absence of mourning showed the people how complete their devastation would be. So many people would die that it would be impossible to carry out customary mourning rituals.

In his prayer, Jeremiah gave God three descriptive names: strength, fortress and refuge. Each name gave a slightly different glimpse of how Jeremiah experienced God's presence.

HOW DOES THIS CHAPTER RELATE TO US TODAY? When God told Jeremiah not to mourn or go to feasts or eat or drink with the people, he essentially cut him off from everyone. Imagine if God did that to you today. Could you become a social outcast like Jeremiah, just so you could bring messages from God?

I hope every one of us could be as strong as Jeremiah. How lonely he must have been. God used Jeremiah as an icon through which he could communicate and teach the people. God can use you to bring his message too. Are you ready?

You and I cannot hide our sins any more than the people in Jeremiah's time period. God sees all.  What does it mean to repent? When I think of the word "repent", I imagine a cartoon of a homeless man on the street corner holding up a sign that says "Repent, the end is near!"  The word "repent" never held such a significant meaning for me until I became a Christian. It is a small word which brings us such a powerful acknowlegement from God. I love the sentence in my Bible's notes which says "that the 1st step to repentence is to acknowledge that God knows about your sins". To repent means to show that we recognize our sins and try not to sin again. Jesus gave us his greatest gift when he died for our sins. Does this mean in our times we should not repent any longer? I think not. God knows we are human and will probably always have sin in our lives. But we can still put our sin behind us and daily ask for forgiveness. He continues to listen. He continues to have mercy. He is OUR FATHER, our strength and our salvation!

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 too for Charly who struggles to get back her strength.

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: Pray for our country’s leaders and our military people who die each day for our freedom. Pray for our famers and those who raise livestock during this terrible drought.