Jeremiah 2 - Called to Prophecy

Jeremiah 2 – Called to Prophecy

 

Jeremiah was about 20 years old when he was called to prophecy. This was under the rule of King Josiah.

King Josiah was a good king who walked in the ways of his father, David. In the 12^th year of his reign, he rid Jerusalem and Judah of all the carved and molten images from all the high places. Before Josiah became king, this country was ruled by two wicked kings, his grandfather Manasseh, and his father Amon. During this time the Books of Law were lost in the rubbish of the neglected temple. The prophet Hilkiah was the one who found the books later.

Josiah did not know the word of God, but he did know that idolatry was wrong and need to be put away from their land.

Through Jeremiah, God asked Israel to remember the relationship they once had with Him. How they followed the pillar of fire at night and the pillar of cloud by day. Then God had given them a good land and they turned away from God to serve idols.

In this day, the country is ruled by people who do not remember our spiritual heritage and are going after the idol of the almighty dollar.

Jerusalem and Judah may have forgotten God and our Country may have forgotten God but be assured He has not forgotten them or us. God asked them what He has done wrong that they should turn from Him. Is God doing something wrong today? There are many people who delight in blaming God for our troubles, but God has done nothing wrong. We are stubborn people and we have a habit of going our own way. God doesn’t force us to follow Him, we have a choice, and He allows us our choices.

God told Jerusalem that when they entered the land that He had given them, that they defiled it.

He gives us many blessings today and it is our responsibility as His children to take proper care of what He gives us. Not only the physical blessings that we can see but the spiritual blessings also.

There are many preachers and teachers who do not know the word of God. As a result, they do not know God. It is necessary to study the Word of God to know God on a personal level. God is pleading with us today as He did with Jerusalem and Judah to give up our idols and come back to Him.

 

Please read the chapter listed so that you can understand God’s Word better.

If you have missed any lessons, you can go to: God Plans for You at https://sherrysouthard.blogspot.com. Nelson’s Quick Reference Commentary.

Dr. David Jeremiah Study Bible.

Jeremiah 1 - Judgment Against Jerusalem

 

Jeremiah 1 – Judgment Against Jerusalem                                                             

 

Jeremiah was appalled at the sins of justice, idolatry and immorality that were rampant in his nation. When God pronounced judgment against Jerusalem, Jeremiah was devastated. He pleaded with his countrymen to turn back to God, but they didn’t listen to Him. Because they didn’t listen God allowed Jerusalem to be ransacked and deported to Babylon.

God is very clear that He is well acquainted with every individual from the time they are conceived and that He has a plan for every one of them. God knew Jeremiah before he had been formed in his mother’s womb and He planned for Jeremiah to be a prophet.

God knows everything, so He knows that some young lives will end too soon, and others will live well into their 100’s.

Jeremiah had great self-esteem; He saw himself in relation to God’s plan for his life. God has done the same for each individual. He has each person’s life in His hands. He created us for a purpose. We should stand tall with high esteem by understanding who we are in Christ.

Self-esteem generally describes feelings of self-hate, rejection, and an inability to accept oneself as special and unique. When people grow up believing what they are told about themselves, that they are unattractive, incompetent, their self-esteem will be shaped accordingly.

Paul (Rom 12:3) tells us to “think soberly” about ourselves. This means to be honest about who you are as a person and how God sees you. God usually places more value on us than we do. Many people either distort their self-image in a negative way or in an exaggerated positive way. We are either down on ourselves, not liking who we are or think we are better than others and have become conceited. We must first be honest, be willing to admit our strengths and weaknesses. Stop degrading ourselves and get rid of the negative.

To be positive is to affirm the gifts that God has given us and to praise God for who He made us to be. We are neither worse nor better than anyone else. We must value ourselves as God values us and we must value others as God values them. When people conquer their self-rejection, they open the door to be more accepting of both them and others.

 

Please read the chapter listed so that you can understand God’s Word better.

If you have missed any lessons, you can go to: God Plans For You at https://sherrysouthard.blogspot.com.

J.Vernon McGee Thru the Bible.

Dr. David Jeremiah Study Bible.

 

Isaiah 66 - God's Footstool

 

Isaiah 66 – God’s Footstool

 

How can anyone build a house for the Lord when He made everything? He is so great that He uses the earth for His footstool. But with all His greatness, God desires to dwell with the humble, those who tremble at His word and seek to glorify Him.

 

To tremble means to respect what God says and fear to disobey it.

 

The restoration of Israel’s kingdom will be as sudden and joyful as the birth of a baby. The travail of their tribulation will give birth to glory, and God will love them just like a mother. It will be a time of peace and joy.

 

God will defeat His enemies, summon the gentile nations to share the glory, and make Israel a holy offering to the Lord. Isaiah opened his prophecy indicting Israel for her religious hypocrisy, but he ended it promising that her worship will be acceptable to the Lord.

 

God will make the distinction between true and false, those who practice religion but does not worship God will be cast out.

 

Any enemy of Israel is an enemy of God and He will deal with them in the final judgment. God will make sure all His promises are fulfilled.

 

Many nations will gather in Jerusalem and Christ will sit on His throne and separate the people as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. The redeemed of all ages will worship God throughout eternity. There will be no peace for the wicked.

 

 

Please read the chapter listed so that you can understand God’s Word better.

If you have missed any lessons, you can go to: God Plans For You at https://sherrysouthard.blogspot.com.

J. Vernon McGee Commentary and Nelson’s Quick Reference Commentary.

 

Isaiah 65 - The Remnant

 

Isaiah 65 – The Remnant

 

God makes it very clear that Israel’s sins and their unfaithfulness are responsible for His judgment against them. Nevertheless, He has preserved a remnant through which He will fulfill all His prophecies. Romans 10:20, Paul quoted “I am sought of them that asked not for me, I am found of them that sought me not; Behold Me, unto a nation that was not called by my name.” Isaiah was speaking of the Gentiles.

 

When Paul went to Philippi there was not one man seeking to hear the gospel. Instead, he found Lydia holding a prayer meeting down by the river. At the time she may not have recognized her need but Paul shared the gospel with her anyway. God does the same thing; He responds to people who doesn’t even call upon Him.

 

Many people never asked to be saved but He saves them anyway. Isaiah reminded the Jews that the gospel was given to them first and since they rejected it God gave it to the Gentiles. We must be careful not to reject God’s blessings because He will find someone else to give them to. Someone who will appreciate them more.

The Jews missed out on many blessings because they practiced idolatry and rebelled against God. They didn’t keep His commandments but walked in pride. Still there is a remnant that God holds dear to His heart. He will never be done with the Israelites because of His promise. Today there is a remnant in the church that He holds out to the end.

The church that will go through the tribulation is called the old harlot in Revelation 17. It is a group that does not belong to Christ. It is not His bride at all. The true believers will be taken out before the Great Tribulation.

 

Isaiah was the only prophet in the Old Testament that saw all the way to the new heavens and the new earth. Like the apostle John, the prophet saw a time when tears would be wiped away and God’s people would live with Him in a continual state of eternal bliss. (Rev. 21:4). Even the best of God’s promises for this life cannot compare to His wonderful promises for the life to come. The God who loves us enough to redeem this fallen world will one day express the greatness of His love by creating a brand-new world for His children.

 

 

Please read the chapter listed so that you can understand God’s Word better.

If you have missed any lessons, you can go to: God Plans For You at https://sherrysouthard.blogspot.com.

J. Vernon McGee Commentary and Nelson’s Quick Reference Commentary.

 

Isaiah 64 - Christ is Coming

 

Isaiah 64- Christ is Coming

 

According to J. Vernon McGee and popular opinion Christ is coming before the Great Tribulation to take the church out of the world before the suffering begins. At the end of the Tribulation Christ will establish His kingdom. There is great controversy as to when Christ will come whether before or after the tribulation. We’re not here to debate the truth of it, but to prepare for it. The scriptures tell us to not lean upon our own understanding. We as God’s children pray that we do not have to go through the times of tribulation.

 

Today, we are pleading for Christ’s return. “Oh Lord Jesus, how long, how long, ere we shout the glad song, Christ returneth, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, amen.”

 

As a nation, we wonder why our nation mingles with other godless nations to help them out. The truth is, that we are just as godless as they are, only in different ways. God deals with the other nations just as He deals with us. That is why there are earthquakes, volcano eruptions, tornadoes, Tsunami’s, pandemics, etc.

 

God speaks out in thunderous ways and still mankind does not notice what He is doing. If one were to look deep into what is going on in the places that these disasters happen, you could see how God’s anger has exploded upon them.

 

To His children, God has revealed His plans through the Holy Spirit. The answer will always be there for us, we must be open to His revelations.

 

All of us have sinned and come short of the glory of God. It doesn’t matter what we do here on earth, all our good works will not get us into heaven. It is our relationship with Jesus that causes us to Love Him enough to do these good works that will get us to Heaven. A lost sinner who believes his good works will get him to heaven is not acceptable to God. He must first come to God through the plan of Salvation. We can only come to God one way, and that is through Jesus Christ. We are certainly God’s creation, but that doesn’t make us children of God. It is through our choices that we become children of God, or children of Satan. We cannot serve two masters so we must decide to seek out Jesus and accept a relationship with Him by being obedient and baptized into His kingdom.

 

Please read the chapter listed so that you can understand God’s Word better.

If you have missed any lessons, you can go to: God Plans For You at https://sherrysouthard.blogspot.com.

J. Vernon McGee Commentary and Nelson’s Quick Reference Commentary.

Psalm 63- In His Wrath

 

Psalm 63 – In His Wrath

 

When Christ comes, He will come in wrath, but with His wrath, He will remember mercy.

 

In Isaiah’s day men would get into a winepress barefooted and tread out the grapes. The juice of the grapes would stain their garments. Those who witness Christ will see that there is blood on His garments just as if He had trodden a winepress. This blood is not His own blood but that of others. This will be the day of vengeance that He spoke of. He will come to save His redeemed ones from the vicious oppressors.

 

When Jesus died He brought Salvation on His own and when He returns He will bring judgment on His own. This may sound terrible, but can you think of any other way He could possibly come? If He came as He did before, do you think He would be accepted any better than the last time?

 

Man is not prepared to hand over their affairs to Him. He was rejected then and has been rejected ever since. The Book of Revelations speaks of Christ’s coming to put down the unrighteousness and rebellious and godlessness that is on the earth. He will destroy the anti-Christ and all his followers. There will be much blood shed and God will remain righteous in all His doings. His love for His own will pour out through His vengeance on the wicked. He will never forget His own people because He will show them mercy. The Israelites and a great company of Gentiles will turn to Him during the great tribulation. By then, the church had already gone to be with Him and has been in His presence for a long time. He is looking for people here who don’t lie, who fall or get in trouble. He is waiting to lead them out of their Egypt to Eden. In the end they will completely surrender to God.

 

Most of us are afraid to yield to God because we think He will be hard on us. God wants to be gentle with us if we give Him a chance. He is the God of judgment, but it is our choice whether we will yield to Him and accept His gentleness or rebel against Him and face His judgment.

 

Please read the chapter listed so that you can understand God’s Word better.

If you have missed any lessons, you can go to: God Plans For You at https://sherrysouthard.blogspot.com.

J. Vernon McGee Commentary and Nelson’s Quick Reference Commentary.

 

Isaiah 61 - The Year of Jubilee

 

Isaiah 61- The Year of Jubilee

 

In Luke 4:16ff, Jesus used this text while preaching in Nazareth. He announced that He was ushering in the Year of Jubilee (Lev. 25). It is a time of releasing the slaves, canceling all debts, and making a new beginning. Today, those who trust Christ begin to enjoy their jubilee; those who reject Him face judgment.

 

The land of Judah was in ruins after the Babylonian captivity, but God would help the people repair and rebuild. The whole nation would become priests of the Lord (I Peter 2:5,9) and servants of God.

 

Instead of shame, there would be rejoicing and everlasting joy. It would be like going from a funeral to a wedding (Luke 5:27-39) and from a desert to a beautiful garden!

 

For those who claim to follow Christ, they cannot refuse to help the poor, oppressed, and needy in their midst.

 

God intended the redeemed of Israel to be His priests and servants. Just as the Levitical priests were supported by the tribes they served, so will the Israelites enjoy the support of the nations to whom they minister as priests.

 

When Jerusalem is restored, she will be clothed with garments of salvation and the robe of righteousness.

 

 

Please read the chapter listed so that you can understand God’s Word better.

If you have missed any lessons, you can go to: God Plans For You at https://sherrysouthard.blogspot.com.

J. Vernon McGee Commentary and Nelson’s Quick Reference Commentary.