Sabbath: More Woes For The Prophet
Read for This Week’s Study: Jeremiah 23:14-15; Jer. 20:1-18; Acts 2:37; Job 3:1-26; Jer. 18:1-10, Jer. 18-23.
Memory Text: O Lord, thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived: thou art stronger than I, and hast prevailed: I am in derision daily, every one mocketh me
(Jeremiah 20:7).
Image © Pacific Press from GoodSalt.com
One thing anyone who has followed the Lord for any length of time will learn is that being a believer in Jesus and seeking to do His will do not guarantee an easy passage through life. After all, as we have been told, Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution
(2 Tim. 3:12, NKJV). This is a truth that Jeremiah was surely learning for himself.
At the same time, however, what our faith can do for us in times of trial is give us a broader understanding upon which we can steady ourselves amid our struggles. That is, when unfair and unjust sufferings and trials come (and no question, so many of them are unfair and unjust), we don’t have to be left alone with a sense of meaninglessness and purposelessness that people who don’t know the Lord often feel. We can know something of the big picture, and the ultimate hope God offers us, no matter how dismal the present is, and from this knowledge-and hope-we can draw strength. Jeremiah knew something of this context, though at times he seemed to forget it and instead focus only on his woes.
Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, October 31.
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The beauty of all these is that some of us have gone through Jeremiah's experience and the LORD had made us prevail, so it is heartening to learn that Yahweh and also our Abba Father cares and listens and wishes us to communicate like father and child relationship. We need to relate in an intimate level and question Him on some of our concerns and misunderstanding, Jeremiah had helped me along the years of my spiritual journey and to forge an intimate relationship with my Father and Brother Jesus Christ on a more personal level with love and trust.
Jeremiah uses the word heart and the mind to discribe God's dealing with men. Please someone explain to me if heart and mind are the same thing in biblical terms?
When we talk of the heart, that is where our desires come from. Whereas the mind is the architect of all kinds of evil. Eg. If you decide to cheat, all the cooking of the story is done in our minds. Therefore their is need for us to tame the mind and the desires of the heart so that we may not be led to sin.
Sometimes the heart and mind are used interchangeably in scripture however this I have come to understand as the reference to the merging of the emotions and passions (the heart) and logical thinking (the mind) e.g. we are called upon to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul and mind and strength. I see this as meaning that we should love God with all that is within us - emotions and passions (the heart) and logical thinking (the mind) included. Our love for God should be passionate and hinged on the solid revelation of His goodness as revealed in His Word (Deut. 6:5).
At times rebuke comes so strong that we take it as judgement,When in the real sense it is help in someway for us to try and mend our ways.In simple terms correction.
Jeremiah was pre-warned by God that he would suffer and struggle and that people would persecute him for his faith. How does one differentiate between persecution for your faith and rebuke for wrong doing? In other words when does one tell that he/she is being rebuked and not persecuted? As human beings sometimes when someone is going through a rough time we conclude that they are being rebuked for something they did wrong.
The way I see it, if others are going through a rough time, we should treat them as we would want to be treated if we were going through a rough time. I believe that means that we should not conclude that they are being rebuked
And if we are going through a rough time, it is our privilege to ask the Lord to reveal to us the true condition of our hearts. (See the prayer of David in Psalm 51.) Whether we are being rebuked or persecuted, we can be sure that the Lord will not leave us alone. He is present to comfort and to guide whenever we turn to Him.
Something which may escape the attention of some Christians, especially those living in relative prosperity and spoiled by the provisions of user-friendly developed regions, is the extent to which they are the beneficiaries of grace and mercy.
They may not realize how much others have and are suffering and had the effects of sin not been tempered, and had they not been sheltered their own measure of difficulty or distress would be much worse. There are places in the world where children do well to make it to five years of age, and even then with compromised health.
So some privileged and sheltered believers may be quick to cry foul, unfair or unjust when they suffer a little setback or woe. Seemingly unaware they signed up for trials and persecution (2 Timothy 3:12) they curse God (Job 2:9-10) in creative ways, though not out rightly.
They complain that the ‘good’ suffer, as if to suggest they are entitled to shelter on account of their goodness, but those they deem to be bad only should remain exposed to the wretchedness of sin’s universal effects (Romans 3:9-23). By this the Creator and Sustainer of heaven and earth is indirectly misrepresented as unfair, though the actual words may not escape the lips.
If any should remain cheerful amid difficulty it is those who know the Redeemer and are assured things will not always be this way. Those with hope may lift up their heads and react to suffering differently from others. They may by their buoyant disposition and unrelenting sense of gratitude testify that there is something better beyond (Romans 8:18-19).
The Lord reserves special honor for those who make an effort to represent Him well in suffering. The honest contemplation of how much the Savior cares in spite of the tragedy of sin and its terrible effects may draw out a tear drop from even the stoic (tough) Christian (2 Timothy 2:3). Just think of the cross. We may suffer some, but we are free (John 8:32-36).
It is very helpful to me a lot of times I do not receive the mission quarterlies and I cut and paste these mission stories and read it to the children. I am a Children's Division Leader
It is very helpful as I am a children's Division Leader
The more trials come our way the more we get stronger we need to get lessons from the situations around us.
'Cursed be the day'. What is the meaning of this? Are these words from the same mouth that preaches the word of God? This is a question that many may ask and it may look like a shame to the Prophet. But this could be as a result of the ferment that he underwent while he was in the stocks. Like Job in "Job 3:1-3 'Cursed be the day when I was born......".Because of the sorrows Jeremiah is cursing the day that he was born but no man on earth has reason to wish so, because he knows not the purpose of God in his life, he may onetime become a vessel of honor. We normally look to celebrate our birthdays while here we see a man of God wishing hell to the man who brought to his father the news of his birth.
Note that this is not recorded for our imitation but recorded that we may learn from it;
1.See the vanity of human life and the vexation of spirit that attends it.
2.See the weakness even of good men, who are but men of the best and not to think that we are firm and cannot fall but to take heed lest we fall. Pray daily that 'Father in heaven, lead us not into temptation!
3.See the folly and absurdity of sinful passion, how unreasonably it talks when it is suffered to ramble. What nonsense it is to curse a day, to curse a messenger for the sake of his message.
The temptation was so strong but Jeremiah, by the divine assistance got the victory so let us not despair if through the weakness of the flesh we might be tempted.
I have always wondered why Evil seems to prosper. Now I got my answer from this lesson. Being a christian entails signing for temptations and tribulations. It is never rosy. Blessings may come but the persecution is plenty so as to push you out from the narrow way and start to insult Jehovah.
I sold my car and got half deposit but never got the other half. The buyer disappeared and all changed his contact details and work. I tried the legal route and paid a lot of legal fees but all came to nothing. I later transferred the car to his name fearing that he may be involved in accidents and ending in me being liable. Yesterday I received huge traffic fines for the same car which the new buyer was using before I changed into his name. Now I cannot even license my other cars due to this. This lesson helped to understand why I had to suffer and have to pay all these (evil seems to prosper)