Charles (Chuck) Kensinger

Jeremiah is called to go to the house of the potter in chapter 18. Every town of any size had tradesmen that did different kinds of work. This artisan worked in clay. The vessels he made were formed on a turning wheel. Unlike modern potters these times required the worker to purify the material as they created a pot. Lumps would come to the surface and need to be removed. This would spoil the creation and it would need to be reshaped. Jeremiah witnessed this process.

“You are like clay in the potter’s hands” comes from verse six. He is creating us to be what He desires for us. Jehovah as the creator has power over everything in our lives and the lives of nations. We do not see Him at work as the prophet did, but He is there sculpting the world around us. For His children He changes us as well.

You have a choice. Follow God’s plan for your life and obey Him or refuse and suffer the consequences. This is what Judah is being warned about in this scripture. They, like us, can follow the will of the Lord or they can refuse. Their refusal led to the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple.

Once again Jeremiah is attacked. When you follow God, are you ever challenged by those in authority. I am teaching through Facebook and my website for this reason. My local church leaders have decided not to allow me to instruct as I once did. You are now my class. This is ordained by Yahweh just as our writer was forced into a pit that had been dug for him.

Jeremiah buys a pot from the potter’s shop and takes it to the gate where broken pots are destroyed. The city officials are taken with him. He, again, announces the calamity that will fall on the city. As a word picture he smashed the container in his hands as he proclaims destruction.

Their crime was being stiff-necked and would not listen to what God wanted from them. I am sure that you have never done this. We are perfect and would never disobey the Lord. In 1974 I was accepted to the school of journalism in Columbia, Missouri. I declined that opportunity and transferred to a college in Bolivar, Missouri to study the Bible. My life has been different because of that choice.

Pashhur the priest puts Jeremiah in the stocks in chapter 20. This was punishment for prophesying against the temple. The beating he received before being locked in this wooden restraint was to intimidate him and prevent him from declaring the words he had been given by Jehovah. This seems foolish to us. It still happens to God’s messengers and not only in other countries.

Pashhur is renamed Magor-Missabib which means terror on every side. He will be carried away with his family and will die in Babylon. He will watch his friends be killed by the invaders. It contrasts with the meaning of his previous name that means deliverance will come about. This is not the only time this name was given to a child or taken by an Israelite.

Jeremiah complains to the Lord about this treatment. He cannot hold the words of Yahweh in his mouth. He must proclaim what has been given to him. He is considered terror on every side by Pashhur and his friends. The proclaimer of God’s words knows that he will be defended by his God and that his oppressors will be defeated. He still wishes that he had never been born. This is a common lament for many of us.

We see another of these men called Pashhur in Jeremiah 21. King Zedekiah sent Jeremiah to Pashhur the son of Malkijah and the priest Zephaniah. The attack by Babylon is imminent and the king wants the prophet to tell him that Jerusalem will be saved by God as in previous times. It ain’t gonna happen.

Jehovah will fight against Zedekiah and his rulers. They will die by plague, sword, and famine. They will not be delivered but will die or go into captivity for their disobedience and worship of false gods. If they want to live, they must surrender to Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon.

In Jeremiah 22 he goes to the king and tells him personally what God wants him to know. The way they have been treating people must change. Everything could be different for them if they stopped the violence and oppression. We need to listen to this in our world today. I as an individual must become more attuned to what my friends and neighbors need. I should be the solution not the problem.

A woe is declared by Jeremiah on those profit from others without paying them a decent wage. Some of the kings of Judah obeyed Yahweh and their kingdoms were blessed by Him. Zedekiah has failed to be the kind of ruler that was needed. That is why his kingdom will soon fall.

We are approaching the time for another Presidential election in this country. We choose our own leaders. Read what Jeremiah listed as the wrongs done in Jerusalem. Doesn’t this sound like Washington, DC. Many are endeavoring to make themselves rich and powerful and do not care about anyone else. We must look at their past decisions, both personal and governmental. Are they the leaders we need? The king of Judah was a descendant of David. He was not doing what he needed to do for the people. We have a choice. Exercise your right to vote.

©Copyright 2020 by Charles Kensinger

Part of the distress that is going on in Judah according to Jeremiah 14 is drought. The cisterns are dry. The ground is cracked. This is no symbolic lack of rain. The deer have nothing to eat.

They have no self-control. Once again God tells Jeremiah not to ask Him for anything for them. The prophets are speaking lies and arguing with the message that Jeremiah brings. He proclaims woe and they declare prosperous times. Even the other nations have no better luck.

Moses and Samuel could not change the heart of Yahweh to the Judeans is given in Jeremiah 15. There are only four choices for them: death, sword, starvation, or captivity. The life of a slave appears to be the best choice. Repentance is the only answer. Words are worthless.

How would you feel if God told you to never marry? In Jeremiah 16 this is what our prophet is instructed to do. Funerals, drinking, and feasting are also off limits. The exodus from Egypt will be eclipsed by the return from Babylonia.

Language in Jeremiah 17 expresses the engraving of Judah’s sinfulness as being marked on their hearts and altars. They lose their inheritance. The encouragement comes from verse eight where it says, “They will be like trees planted by waters.” God knows who is wicked and who innocent. He searches the heart and examines the mind.

Instructions for the observance of the sabbath day are included here. Obedience is still the rule of the day. Nothing else will bring forgiveness. The result of disobedience is the destruction of Jerusalem.

©Copyright 2020 by Charles Kensinger

The Lord speaks again in Jeremiah 10. We often want to be like others that we know and envy. Trying to be who they were not led to the fall of Israel and Judah. No one is like Jehovah. In contrast to idols that are manmade, He should be feared and respected.

We know He is the true God because He made the Earth. Genesis tells us that in the beginning Yahweh created everything that we have today.

There is a covenant between Yahweh and Israel that began in Genesis and is being restated in Jeremiah 11. We must obey Him. If we do not, we face the curse. They are suffering from the curse because they failed to follow His will. Jeremiah must proclaim this to all of Judah.

The disaster of being driven from their land is the final step in the curse they have brought on themselves. The city of Anathoth has developed a plot to Murder the prophet. They will be the ones who are destroyed because they oppose God and His messenger.

Justice is described in Jeremiah 12. Why do wicked people not suffer the consequences of their actions? God is just. Why does He allow this? These evil people are the ones that have caused the devastation of Israel and Judah. This will be corrected.

The dishonest will be uprooted like a weed. They will be carried away. Eventually the Judeans will return to their homeland and anyone who tries to lead them astray again will be removed and destroyed. We know that happened because of the nations that no longer exist.

Jeremiah tells us in chapter 13 that he has been told to buy a linen belt and wear it. Then he is told to hide the belt in the rocks at Perath. Of course, the belt is ruined. This is a visible example of what is being done to Judah. They will also be filled with drunkenness. They will go into captivity.

We want people to change their actions and become honest and courteous. Our society is going the opposite direction. Yahweh says that we can’t change our skin any more than a leopard can change its spots. If God asks you to change, you can change. It must be your desire. It cannot be something you are forced to do.

©Copyright 2020 by Charles Kensinger

Jeremiah 7 has the prophet standing at the gate of the Temple. What is your greatest weakness? Do you believe liars? Do you treat others justly? Are you oppressive with others? To many of us allow ourselves to be deceived.

Verse eleven is the scripture that Jesus quoted when He threw the vendors from the Temple grounds at Passover. Jehovah reminds them of what happened to Shiloh because of their unbelief and unfaithfulness. Remember that this was the city where Samuel was raised in the Tabernacle and Eli’s sons were killed in a battle and lost the Arc of the Covenant. Moses gave the Israelites instructions to obey the Lord. All they remember is the sacrificial system.

Have you ever wished that you could just die because of circumstances in your life? Jeremiah 9 tells that the Jews will feel this as they are driven from their homeland. They will wish that they could perish where they are and not have to be displace.

Do you return after you leave? Do you get up when you fall? When you fail Jesus do you return to Him with repentance. God tells Jeremiah that Israel has refused to return to Him and rise when they have fallen. Even the scribes copy the scriptures incorrectly. They pervert His word. Have you ever heard a minister interpret the Bible in a way that does not sound like what was written? I have.

We sometimes are advised to ignore guilt from our sins and not feel any shame. If you want to do it, go ahead. You can make your own choices. You are Americans. You are free. We all feel hopeless and helpless at times. Do not despair. There is salvation in Christ alone.

Jehovah laments over His chosen people in Jeremiah 9. He wants to leave them and not have to listen to their disloyalty or see the terrible things they do to each other. Your tongue can be like a bow and shoot lies at others. I have shot my mouth off before. This is the reason I do not watch reality television. The contestants do not hesitate to say or do whatever it takes to win the prize. Therefore, they are so popular.

 Wisdom is being ignored in our time as it was in Jeremiah’s. We follow the stubbornness of our hearts as they did. We do not have professional mourners now. We have television, movies, and recorded music to cry out our sorrows. Listen to your play list and tell me that I am wrong. We teach our children how to complain about everything. Christians are falling into this trap also. Break the cycle. Teach the children to praise the Lord.

©Copyright 2020 by Charles Kensinger

We continue speaking of Israel returning to Jehovah in Jeremiah chapter four. The Lord asks them to destroy the idols they have been worshiping and be truthful, just, and righteous. What does breaking unplowed land have to do with repentance? Judah is to circumcise their hearts. This is a cutting away of flesh that is of no use to them. It is an act of obedience to God. Plowing the ground symbolizes the change that needs to be made in their lives. The weeds and thorns that are buried by the plow are the sins that they promise to move out of their lives.

If they believe that the disaster that is foretold will come, they will move to the cities for protection. Yahweh’s anger is against them. Do they believe this? They have told God lies in the past. Are they going to keep their word now? Punishment is for something that we have done. He does not apologize for giving us what we deserve. They will cry as a pregnant woman does because of the discomfort of childbirth.

The challenge in Jeremiah 5 is to find one person who is honest. The city will be forgiven for one person who speaks the truth. In this election year, this is something we all desire, people to be honest with us. Swearing by God is no indication of their lack of falsehood. Why should we be forgiven when we and our children deny that God exists. We make science, knowledge, lust, or money our object of worship.

If there is a God, why do people violate His laws without suffering the consequences? That time is coming according to Jeremiah. The Judeans asked that question and believed that He would never punish them. Slowness should not be misinterpreted as apathy. His love continues when we are disciplined. This is for our growth as His children. Do not be one of those that rejects Jehovah to your eternal doom.

The warning in Jeremiah 6 is to flee from Jerusalem before the Babylonian army attacks. Siege ramps will be built. The fighting will be fierce. Before the walls are breeched starvation will set in. Judah will not listen. They are offended by God’s call to recognize Him as their sovereign. Deceitfulness will bring the doom. “They do not know how to blush.” We refer to that as having no conscience.

Sacrifices and burnt offerings mean nothing to the Lord. Mourning for their disbelief is all they can do now. Yahweh’s attempt to refine the Israelites as they would gold, silver, or bronze has failed. They are being rejected.

©Copyright 2020 by Charles Kensinger

Jeremiah has a prophecy for Josiah, King of Judah, in chapter one of his book. This chapter contains verse five which is used to show that Jehovah knows each of us before we are in our mother’s wombs. The future prophet tells the Lord that he is too young. He is told that he will be told what to say. We have the first of his visions described to us. It is a boiling pot. It is north of Judah and will pour out destruction and death on Jerusalem.

A proclamation is given to Jerusalem in Jeremiah 2. Israel once loved Jehovah as a bride loves her groom. What was wrong with Him that made the Jews reject Him? They did not follow Him. They had no good reason for that. The Lord is prosecuting them for alienation of affection. The spring of living water is what Jesus told the woman at the well that He was.

The bride has become a prostitute. She was like a vine planted in the ground. That vine became wild. They do not want to be tamed. It is the same with each of us. We make our choice of whether to follow Christ or not. It does not matter what Yahweh does for some of us. There are those that will always run away from God.

Divorce is the first topic in Jeremiah chapter three. The Prophet draws a connection between a man returning to his divorced wife and the Israelites trying to return to Jehovah. Faithless is a description for God’s people. Adultery is again used to describe the idolatry the has been practiced throughout the promised land. The northern kingdom of Israel has been divorced and Judah is said to be less righteous than he sister.

All that He requires for forgiveness is for them to repent and return to Him. This means forsaking their foreign lovers and worshiping only the true God, Yahweh. The prediction of the loss of the Ark of the Covenant is given here. It will not be missed or remembered, and another will never be made. There goes the story line for “The Raiders of the Lost Ark.” Israel and Judah will someday return to their land.

©Copyright 2020 by Charles Kensinger