Remembering Traditions
January 10, 2020
Commentary
Jeremiah admonishes the people to remember the old traditions of faith and obedience. By returning to those ancient paths and walking in them they could find rest. They defiantly refuse (v. 16)! They actually showed a stubbornness and rejection of the law (vv. 16-19), as they gave false sacrifices (v. 20). God had done all He could to spare them of judgment. Yet, Judah rejected God’s law, thinking she could substitute rituals for obedience. Their elaborate burnt offerings, with incense imported from Sheba in southwest Arabia, were missing genuine love for God and did not please Him.
Because of their continued refusal to follow Him, God foretells of the desolation that will be coming. “I will lay stumbling blocks before this people” (v. 21). He will send the Babylonians :from the north” to bring destruction (v. 22). These people are very numerous “great nations” (v. 22), they are war-like. “They hold onto the bow and spear” (v. 23), they are a barbarous people, “cruel and have no mercy” (v. 23). They also “ride upon horses” (v. 23) which will make the battle come swiftly.
Jeremiah goes on to describe the responses of the people as they hear the news (vv. 24-30). There is anguish, fear, and weakness, like a woman in hard labor (v. 24). The people were afraid of leaving their cities because of a sword which would strike them down (v. 25). Instead they put on sackcloth, which was a dark, rough cloth worn at times of mourning (v. 26). The sadness experienced by the people was similar to that experienced by one who had lost “an only son” (v. 26). It were as if God appointed Jeremiah as a tester of precious metals and the people of Judah were the ore (vv. 27-30). When God turned on the furnace, it revealed the people as dross to be thrown away.
Application
As I look at my life do I see any impurities that should be burned away? Lord help me to recognize them and confess them to You and allow You to purify my life. Thank You Lord!!!!!!!
Jeremiah 6:16– 30 (NET)
16 The Lord said to his people: “You are standing at the crossroads. So consider your path. Ask where the old, reliable paths are. Ask where the path is that leads to blessing and follow it. If you do, you will find rest for your souls.” But they said, “We will not follow it!”
17 The Lord said, “I appointed prophets as watchmen to warn you, saying, ‘Pay attention to the warning sound of the trumpet!’” But they said, “We will not pay attention!”
18 So the Lord said, “Hear, you nations! Be witnesses and take note of what will happen to these people.
19 Hear this, you peoples of the earth: ‘Take note! I am about to bring disaster on these people. It will come as punishment for their scheming. For they have paid no attention to what I have said, and they have rejected my law.
20 I take no delight when they offer up to me frankincense that comes from Sheba or sweet-smelling cane imported from a faraway land. I cannot accept the burnt offerings they bring me. I get no pleasure from the sacrifices they offer to me.’”
21 So, this is what the Lord says: “I will assuredly make these people stumble to their doom. Parents and children will stumble and fall to their destruction. Friends and neighbors will die.”
22 This is what the Lord says: “Beware! An army is coming from a land in the north. A mighty nation is stirring into action in faraway parts of the earth.
23 Its soldiers are armed with bows and spears. They are cruel and show no mercy. They sound like the roaring sea as they ride forth on their horses. Lined up in formation like men going into battle to attack you, Daughter Zion.”
24 The people cry out, “We have heard reports about them. We have become helpless with fear! Anguish grips us, agony like that of a woman giving birth to a baby!
25 Do not go out into the countryside. Do not travel on the roads. For the enemy is there with sword in hand. They are spreading terror everywhere.”
26 So I said, “Oh, my dear people, put on sackcloth and roll in ashes. Mourn with painful sobs as though you had lost your only child. For any moment now that destructive army will come against us.”
27 The Lord said to me, “I have made you like a metal assayer to test my people like ore. You are to observe them and evaluate how they behave.”
28 I reported, “All of them are the most stubborn of rebels! They are as hard as bronze or iron. They go about telling lies. They all deal corruptly.
29 The fiery bellows of judgment burn fiercely. But there is too much dross to be removed. The process of refining them has proved useless. The wicked have not been purged.
30 They are regarded as ‘rejected silver’ because the Lord rejects them.”