Lesson 13 for December 26, 2015

“Therefore I said, ‘Surely these are poor. They are foolish; for they do not know the way of the Lord, the judgment of their God.’” (Jeremiah 5:4) Lucifer distorted God’s nature before the angels. That way he won third of the angels for his cause (Revelation 12:4). Unfortunately, he was able to distort His nature before mankind too. In Jeremiah, the true character of God is vindicated.

“Therefore I said, ‘Surely these are poor. They are foolish; for they do not know the way of the Lord, the judgment of their God.’” (Jeremiah 5:4) A FOUNTAIN OF LIVING WATER “For My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, and hewn themselves cisterns— broken cisterns that can hold no water.” (Jeremiah 2:13) CREATOR “‘Do you not fear Me?’ says the Lord. ‘Will you not tremble at My presence, Who have placed the sand as the bound of the sea, by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass beyond it? And though its waves toss to and fro, yet they cannot prevail; though they roar, yet they cannot pass over it.’” (Jeremiah 5:22) JUDGE “therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Behold, I will punish them. The young men shall die by the sword, their sons and their daughters shall die by famine.’” (Jeremiah 11:22) LOVE “The Lord has appeared of old to me, saying: ‘Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindnes s I have drawn you.’” (Jeremiah 31:3) FORGIVING “I will cleanse them from all their iniquity by which they have sinned against Me, and I will pardon all their iniquities by which they have sinned and by which they have transgressed against Me.” (Jeremiah 33:8) GOD IS… God constantly calls us to repentance from our sins and to leave the ways that lead us to destruction.

“and then come and stand before Me in this house which is called by My name, and say, ‘We are delivered to do all these abominations’?” (Jeremiah 7:10) The Jews turned all religious rites into meaningless ceremonies. Their official religion in Jeremiah’s time was based on: Openly disobeying the Commandments: “Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incense to Baal.” (Jeremiah 7:9). Going to the temple and offering sacrifices to feel like forgiven. Keep sinning. That’s a clear example of what our relationship with God shouldn’t be like: Doing our own will during the week  attending church to feel like holy  keep living without God.

“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is the Lord.” (Jeremiah 17:7) Like the old Israel, the Church might or might not fulfill its mission as the people of God. However, the salvation of each person doesn’t depend on that. We are not saved as a Church, but each one of us is individually. Therefore, the book of Jeremiah is full of individual calls to repentance, to trust God and to a positive change in life (Jeremiah 9:23-24; 17:7; 17:10; 29:13). Our salvation relies on our response to that personal call.

“Each must give an account of himself to God. He has given us His law as a mirror into which we may look and discover the defects in our characters. We are not to look into this mirror for the purpose of seeing our neighbor’s faults reflected, of watching to see if he comes up to the standard, but to see the defects in ourselves, that we may remove them. Knowledge is not all that we need; we must follow the light. We are not left to choose for ourselves and to obey that which is agreeable to us and to disobey when it best suits our convenience. Obedience is better than sacrifice.” E.G.W. (Testimonies for the Church, vol. 3, cp. 11, page 116)

“Everyone is dull-hearted, without knowledge; every metalsmith is put to shame by an image; for his molded image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.” (Jeremiah 10:14)

“But I will gather the remnant of My flock out of all countries where I have driven them, and bring them back to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase.” (Jeremiah 23:3) God always had a faithful people, even in the midst of that apostasy and defeat. That small number of people is called the remnant (Luke 12:32; Revelation 12:17). Jerusalem was destroyed and God’s people was in exile. Nevertheless, God promised an eternal King and Priest (Jeremiah 33:17-18). He shall govern the remnant once they came back from Babylon. That prophecy was partially fulfilled in the life, death, resurrection and priestly ministry of Jesus. We still wait for its complete fulfillment when Jesus will gather all the saved people from all ages. Then, that “little flock” will live forever with Him.

By studying the book of Jeremiah, we’ve learnt the importance of faithfulness, obedience, true personal religion, listening to God’s voice, revival and reformation, quitting idolatry and false religion, and being part of the remnant Church. “The glorious possibilities set before Israel could be realized only through obedience to God’s commandments. The same elevation of character, the same fulness of blessing—blessing on mind and soul and body, blessing on house and field, blessing for this life and for the life to come—is possible for us only through obedience.” E.G.W. (Christ’s Object Lessons, cp. 23, pg. 305)