God Must be Number One
September 30, 2021
Commentary
God’s people continued to sin even though they had the law, the prophets of God, and history filled with God’s miracles. Because of the people’s sin God would give the city of Jerusalem (His mountain in the land) and the wealth of its inhabitants as plunder (Jer. 15:13); (Jer. 20:5) to the invaders. It is easy for us to condemn them but why do we cherish sin even though we understand the eternal consequences. So deep is our tendency to sin that only God’s redemption can deliver us. In this chapter we see how Jeremiah was against the sins of his people and named them:
Idolatry (vv. 1-4) – In Jeremiah’s day the people of Judah were permeated with idolatry. It was as if their sin was engraved on their hearts with a pen of iron, and with the point of a diamond (v. 1). Their sin, however, showed up on the horns of their idolatrous altars (vv. 2-4).Unbelief (vv. 5-10) – The leaders of Judah were prone to trust in the flesh instead of depending on the power of God. The heart of every problem is the problem of the heart. “The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked: who can know it” (v. 9).Greed (v. 11) – The rich exploited the poor and the courts did nothing about it. “for from the least of them even unto the greatest of them every one is given to covetousness” (Jer. 6:13).Forsaking the Lord (vv. 12-13) – Though the previous generations (fathers) had abandoned the true God to follow other gods, the present generation behaved even more wickedly.Rejecting God’s servant (vv. 14-18) – The people called Jeremiah a false prophet and kept asking when all of his predictions would come true. Because they refused to accept his message, he asked God to bring the full measure of judgment against them (v. 18).
Application
There were many false gods in Jeremiah’s day, but there are many false gods in our day such as money, possessions, fame, power, pleasure, etc. I need to be on guard about what I love and trust more than the living God. God must be number one.
Jeremiah 17:1– 18 (NET)
1 “The sin of Judah is engraved with an iron chisel on their stone-hard hearts. It is inscribed with a diamond point on the horns of their altars.
2 Their children are always thinking about their altars and their sacred poles dedicated to the goddess Asherah, set up beside the green trees on the high hills
3 and on the mountains and in the fields. I will give your wealth and all your treasures away as plunder. I will give it away as the price for the sins you have committed throughout your land.
4 You will lose your hold on the land that I gave to you as a permanent possession. I will make you serve your enemies in a land that you know nothing about. For you have made my anger burn like a fire that will never be put out.”
5 The Lord says, “I will put a curse on people who trust in mere human beings, who depend on mere flesh and blood for their strength, and whose hearts have turned away from the Lord.
6 They will be like a shrub in the arid rift valley. They will not experience good things even when they happen. It will be as though they were growing in the stony wastes in the wilderness, in a salt land where no one can live.
7 My blessing is on those people who trust in me, who put their confidence in me.
8 They will be like a tree planted near a stream whose roots spread out toward the water. It has nothing to fear when the heat comes. Its leaves are always green. It has no need to be concerned in a year of drought. It does not stop bearing fruit.
9 The human mind is more deceitful than anything else. It is incurably bad. Who can understand it?
10 I, the Lord, probe into people’s minds. I examine people’s hearts. I deal with each person according to how he has behaved. I give them what they deserve based on what they have done.
11 The person who gathers wealth by unjust means is like the partridge that broods over eggs but does not hatch them. Before his life is half over he will lose his ill-gotten gains. At the end of his life it will be clear he was a fool.”
12 Then I said, “Lord, from the very beginning you have been seated on your glorious throne on high. You are the place where we can find refuge.
13 You are the one in whom Israel may find hope. All who leave you will suffer shame. Those who turn away from you will be consigned to the netherworld. For they have rejected you, the Lord, the fountain of life.
14 Lord, grant me relief from my suffering so that I may have some relief; rescue me from those who persecute me so that I may be rescued, for you give me reason to praise!
15 Listen to what they are saying to me, ‘Where are the things the Lord threatens us with? May it please happen!’
16 But I have not pestered you to bring disaster. I have not desired the time of irreparable devastation. You know that. You are fully aware of every word that I have spoken.
17 Do not cause me dismay! You are my source of safety in times of trouble.
18 May those who persecute me be disgraced. Do not let me be disgraced. May they be dismayed. Do not let me be dismayed. Bring days of disaster on them. Bring on them the destruction they deserve.”
Illustration: Calvin Coolidge His Preacher Preached About Sin
It has been written that President Calvin Coolidge came home from church one Sunday and his wife asked, “What did the preacher preach about?” The President replied in his usual concise manner, “Sin.” Then Mrs. Coolidge asked, “What did he say about sin?” The President replied, “He was against it.” (Source Unknown, Lou Nicholes Missionary/Author ).