A son who learns nothing from his father

 Jeremiah 22:11-17

It makes no sense to observe a man who walks with integrity and has a son or sons that do not pray that they also will be men of integrity before God and man.  King Josiah was a man of integrity, but both his grandfather and father were evil and sinful kings.  Josiah was only eight years of age when he became the king of Judah, and he reigned for thirty-one years.  The account of Josiah as a boy/man king: “And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and walked in all of the ways of David, his father, and he did not turn aside to the right or to the left.” (2 Kings 22:2)  Also in 2 Kings 23:25, “Before him there was no king like him, who turned to the Lord with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to the Law of Moses, nor did any like him arise after him.” 

That gives us a hint that his son Jehoiakim did not do as his father at the time of his father's death in battle, Jehoiakim was twenty-three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months.  His epitaph: “And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all his fathers had done.” (2 Kings 23:32)

Now when it refers to fathers it is going back to the line of his father Josiah, it is not referring to King Josiah.  But now the rest of the story about Jehoiakim or your Bible may refer to him as Shallum.  Returning to 2 Kings 23:33, “And Pharaoh Neco put him in bonds at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem, and laid on the land a tribute of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold.”  And just like he did to Jehoiakim he put the other son of Josiah whose name was Eliakim and changed his name to Jehoahaz.

This is what God told Jeremiah to proclaim in the hearing of all. “For thus says the Lord concerning Shallum the son of Josiah, king of Judah, who reigned instead of Josiah his father, and who went away from this place: “He shall return here no more, but in the place where they have carried him captive, there shall he die, and he shall never see this land again.”  (Jeremiah 22:11-12)  You may be wondering how a leader can get in that much trouble with God in just three months, and you will find the answer in verses 13-16.  He began a building campaign that was typical of Eastern kings, and he violated Mosaic Law by forcing Judean laborers to build and remodel his palace without pay.  We see in verse 15 Jeremiah making fun of him by asking; “Are you a king because you excel in cedar?”

But somehow Shallum/Jehoiakim learned nothing from his father King Josiah as one can see in verses 15b-17, “Did not your father eat and drink and do justice and righteousness? Then it was well with him.  He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well.  Is not this to know me? Declares the Lord.  But you have eyes and heart only for your dishonest gain, for shedding innocent blood, and for practicing oppression and violence.”  He listened to the wrong voices, and his kingship was short-lived.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Justice Overlooked

Jeremiah 22:1-10

Yesterday we visited verse one and today let’s look at what God was instructing the King of Judah and his servants. “Thus says the Lord: “Go down to the house of the king of Judah and speak there this word, and say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, O king of Judah, who sits on the throne of David, you, and your servants, and your people who enter these gates. Thus says the Lord: Do justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed. And do no wrong or violence to the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place.”

This introduction implies that justice was overlooked, much as it is in our time.  When a person with political contacts and wealth can break the law, and nothing happens, and one who does not have that same status goes to jail, you have a corrupt system!  When there is a breakdown in justice, it becomes very clear that righteousness goes out the window.  The poor, we would refer to them as under-resourced or oppressed, and the widows, the alien, and the fatherless.  The unprotected were robbed, abused, and even suffered violence to the point of death in Judah.

Maybe our leader and your leader need to listen to what God is telling the king and his servants, perhaps you and I also need to pay attention.  “For if you will indeed obey this word, then there shall enter the gates of this house kings who sit on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their servants and their people. But if you will not obey these words, I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that this house shall become a desolation. For thus says the Lord concerning the house of the king of Judah:” They were no different than you and me, each day we choose, blessing or curses.

Jerusalem and the royal palace were like the beauty of the trees of Gilead and Lebanon, but the palace and all of Jerusalem was burned.  When future generations saw the terrible destruction and ask why this happened, it would be answered in this manner: because they abandoned the covenant of Yahweh.  They broke the relationship between the Lord and His people.  Look at Deuteronomy 5:7-8 ‘‘You shall have no other gods before me.” “You shall not make for yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.”  Have you entered into a covenant relationship with Jesus Christ, if so you have confessed your sin and believe Jesus has risen from the dead and at this moment He is sitting at the right hand of the Father, and also in your soul?  That by His blood you have been made right with God, for it has covered the sins of all who come to Him in faith.

In the tenth verse, Jeremiah is telling the people not to weep for kings like Josiah who died in battle but to weep for the king Jehoahaz who would be exiled and die in a foreign nation.  Earth is our foreign nation if heaven is our home, but once more it comes down to the choice you make, heaven or hell, Jesus as Savior and Lord, or self, but please go to this warning in John 10:10, and ensure that you have chosen the right path!

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice 

God speaking through you

 Jeremiah 22:1

Have you ever had this thought; the Lord has never spoken to me about warning a leader or a person in leadership to choose correctly, as he did with Jeremiah.  You will find the answer in the time you spend in the Scriptures. We find this answer in Jeremiah’s life; “Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O Lord, God of hosts.” (Jeremiah 15:16)  Do you ponder on the Scriptures, do they become an encouragement to your heart, do you know that God knitted you together in your mother's womb and numbered your days before one of them had happened?  Do you know that you are the apple of the Fathers eye?  Do you listen for God your Father to speak into your life, as Jeremiah is doing in Jeremiah 15:17, “I did not sit in the company of revelers, nor did I rejoice; I sat alone, because your hand was upon me, for you had filled me with indignation.”  The world’s offerings had no appeal to Jeremiah, in fact, he had disdain for what it offered.  

What if we did the above is our encouragement found in the Scriptures of what our great and mighty God will do?   We do not have to search very far in Jeremiah 15:19, we have God’s promise: “Therefore thus says the Lord: “If you return, I will restore you, and you shall stand before me.  If you utter what is precious, and not what is worthless, you shall be as my mouth.  They shall turn to you, but you shall not turn to them.”

So as we begin to search for God speaking to our heart in Jeremiah 22:1, “Thus says the LORD: “Go down to the house of the king of Judah and speak there this word,” could our lack of hearing be found in Jeremiah 15:16-19?  Are we just checking off in our minds that we read the Bible, but we did not allow time to ask a question and listen for the Spirit to speak into our life?  Or could it be we heard the voice of the Lord, but it was not the message we wanted to deliver?

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice  

“Time Critters”

December 20, 2016

Jeremiah 21:11-14

We humans, build our lives around time, I like the term “Time Critters” I borrowed it from Bill Gillham, and he is now enjoying not being a “time critter.”  But being a “Time Critter” can be somewhat of a problem when reading prophet’s writings, especially Jeremiah’s in that we have been learning about God’s judgment on Judah and how the Babylonians are going to kill and destroy and take some back as slaves.  In these verses, it seems none of that has happened, and there is still time for seeking God and repentance.  If the leaders and the people turned to seeking God and His righteousness the threatened judgment of God can still be reversed.  Verse 11 begins in this manner; “And to the house of the king of Judah say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord,”

Now the coma at the end of verse 11, tells us that verse 12 is staying with the same thought.   So let's read; “Thus says the Lord: “‘Execute justice in the morning, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed, lest my wrath go forth like fire, and burn with none to quench it, because of your evil deeds.’” I’ve read that the job of the king and his officials was to hear from the people who had been wronged early in the morning and to administer justice that was not happening at this time in Judah.  The under-resourced people needed men of integrity then, as they do in our time, leaders who would stand against evil people and people of wealth.  Yes, they had problems with robbers and con men, but the ones they encountered most was all sorts of economic thieveries, such as cheating them on their pay and taking their land or their sons and daughters as slaves, all of this was against God’s law given to Moses.

As we look at verse 13, “Behold, I am against you, O inhabitant of the valley,
O rock of the plain, declares the Lord; you who say, ‘who shall come down against us, or who shall enter our habitations?”  The layout of the land, Jerusalem and the king and the very wealthy live above the people in a walled city, and the people lived and worked in the valleys below.  The attitude was much like ours today; ‘who shall come down against us, or who shall enter our habitations?”  The short answer is God!

Verse 14 uses the forest to depict the royal palace, and it's burning to the ground; “I will punish you according to the fruit of your deeds, declares the Lord; I will kindle a fire in her forest, and it shall devour all that is around her.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Looking for a Fix

December 19, 2016

 Jeremiah 21

Something like this may have happened in your life experiences, and if it has I will enjoy hearing how you reacted?  The something is a person who may or may not be kin to you, they may have been a person you went to school with or worked with, but it has been years since they called, sent a note, or you have had any contact with them.  But you get the call that they want to spend the weekend; they want to catch-up on your life after all this time. 

It does not take long before you realize they are not looking for a reunion, but they do have a reason for the visit and it’s not about renewing a relationship, it’s about wanting a favor, a big favor!  Life has not been kind to them, but it is clear that they were informed about your success, and they are asking for you to fund them.  You have not looked past the car they are driving, it is very new, yours is 13 years old, but it still runs and you have no payment.  Your dear, dear lost friends share that if you do not help the bank is going to repo it, and they are also three months behind on their 4,000 sq. ft. house, but if you could just find it in your heart to help, they could save both house and car.

Now the close coming from your friend is; you have always been there for your buddies, and because of your goodness and kindness your name came into their mind.  We believe God told us that you would be the answer to this small problem because of your generosity.  I made up the story, but that is the attitude of many who when they are in trouble run to God, not out of love but needing a fix. 

That is the story of King Zedekiah as we look at his request for Jeremiah to intercede for Judah.  If you want background on Zedekiah, look at 2 Kings 24:17-20, but verse 19 gives us a picture of who Zedekiah was; “And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that Jehoiakim had done.”  He had the gall, the disrespect for a Holy God to ask Him to show kindness only when judgment had come to his throne.

The story has three messages, first to the king of Judah, next to the people of Jerusalem, and last to the house of the king of Judah.  How King Zedekiah was put over the kingdom by the king of Babylon and how he has run to Egypt’s Pharaoh to be his protector against Nebuchadnezzar.  He had not only rebelled against God, but he was rebelling against the one who had made him king. 

I’m sure that your dear, dear friend who came only for money may be shocked at your reply to his request, as was the three groups mentioned were of God’s response.

“Then Jeremiah said to them: “Thus you shall say to Zedekiah, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands and with which you are fighting against the king of Babylon and against the Chaldeans who are besieging you outside the walls. And I will bring them together into the midst of this city. I myself will fight against you with outstretched hand and strong arm, in anger and in fury and in great wrath. And I will strike down the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast. They shall die of a great pestilence. Afterward, declares the Lord, I will give Zedekiah king of Judah and his servants and the people in this city who survive the pestilence, sword, and famine into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of their enemies, into the hand of those who seek their lives. He shall strike them down with the edge of the sword. He shall not pity them or spare them or have compassion.’

“And to this people you shall say: ‘Thus says the Lord: Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death. He who stays in this city shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence, but he who goes out and surrenders to the Chaldeans who are besieging you shall live and shall have his life as a prize of war. For I have set my face against this city for harm and not for good, declares the Lord: it shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire. “And to the house of the king of Judah say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, O house of David! Thus says the Lord: “‘Execute justice in the morning, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed, lest my wrath go forth like fire, and burn with none to quench it, because of your evil deeds.’”

“Behold, I am against you, O inhabitant of the valley, O rock of the plain, declares the Lord; you who say, ‘Who shall come down against us, or who shall enter our habitations?’  I will punish you according to the fruit of your deeds, declares the Lord; I will kindle a fire in her forest, and it shall devour all that is around her.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Elevation of Self

December 14, 2016

Jeremiah 19

Many time critters have elevated themselves to a level of being like God, and they foolishly believe they have an understanding of His ways and thoughts, mistakenly believing they can explain His ideas and actions.  If you are in that camp do me a favor and leave me ignorant and depending on the Holy Spirit to guide me to the light.  I cannot fathom the calling on Jeremiah’s life, nor do I have any understanding of Jeremiah 1:4-6. “Now the word of the LORD came to me saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, And before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.” Then I said, "Alas, Lord GOD! Behold, I do not know how to speak because I am a youth."   

Only one man who has ever lived has any understanding of the ways and thoughts of God, in that He, Jesus is God, and He created everyone else, and we are controlled by time, God is outside of time.

So as we look at this nineteenth chapter, it is good to keep in mind that Jeremiah is not running for the most popular prophet, his goal is to do as told, God refers to that as obedience.  As we begin the chapter, Jeremiah is being instructed by God to go and buy a potter’s clay jar, and it is going to be symbolic of what is going to take place in Judah.  His instructions are to take the clay pot along with some elders and go to the Valley of Hinnom that is near the entrance of the Potsherd Gate.  I read that this gate is south of Jerusalem’s wall and was the gate where broken pottery and other trash were taken to the city dump.   Verses 3-6 give us the message and the effect it had on the leaders and people who heard it.  “You shall say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, O kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I am bringing such disaster upon this place that the ears of everyone who hears of it will tingle. Because the people have forsaken me and have profaned this place by making offerings in it to other gods whom neither they nor their fathers nor the kings of Judah have known; and because they have filled this place with the blood of innocents, and have built the high places of Baal to burn their sons in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal, which I did not command or decree, nor did it come into my mind— therefore, behold, days are coming, declares the Lord, when this place shall no more be called Topheth, or the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter.”

These foolish people are offering the lives of their children as burnt offerings to Baal or Molech.  Not much different than our time of killing the innocent baby in the mother’s womb out of convenience, it is still a form of worship, the worship of self.

He tells us that the eating of human flesh happened just as Jeremiah foretold, it occurred in the siege of Samaria in 587 B.C. and 70 A.D. when Jerusalem fell to the Romans.  Now in verses 10-11, we have Jeremiah breaking the clay jar and proclaiming that God was going to do the same thing to these people and this city. 

As I wrote this paper the thought came into my mind, God’s spokesperson may not have the message we want to hear, but that does not change the message.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

A Private Pity Party

Jeremiah 20:14-18

When Jan and I lived in Corpus Christi, Texas, we had a friend who often said; when the world gives you a lemon you have two choices, make lemonade or turn sour.  Over my lifetime I’ve used both options, and it became apparent that choosing to allow the bad thing to turn into something positive and healthy is the only plan that works.  

You may not have noticed, and we live in a time and culture of blaming others; I would not have done that but they did not let me suck my thumb as a child, and that is why I do the things I’m being accused of at this time.  Now on a personal note, as a child I was a thumb sucker, my thumb was this little boy’s blanket it was a private thing everywhere but home.  It was also a battleground for my mother; she did not want her son to be a thumb sucker, so she did things to her little thumb sucker that would get her put into jail today.  She rubbed red pepper on it, and when that did not work, she tried other remedies.  She tried bribes and punishment and yet she never got me to quit until one day I made a choice to leave my thumb and seek what did not bring conflict into my life.  Now to my defense, I was not 12 years of age when I made that decision, but I was in school.

Jeremiah is having a private pity party, and as we look at his life and the circumstances, you and I may have had a meltdown long before he did.  His private pity party is shared with us in verses 14-18, “Cursed be the day on which I was born!  The day when my mother bore me let it not be blessed!  Cursed be the man who brought the news to my father, “A son is born to you,” making him very glad.  Let that man be like the cities that the Lord overthrew without pity; let him hear a cry in the morning and an alarm at noon because he did not kill me in the womb; so my mother would have been my grave, and her womb forever great.  Why did I come out from the womb to see toil and sorrow, and spend my days in shame?”

The culture that Jeremiah was born into rewarded the person who brought the news of a son being born, but in Jeremiah’s case, he is saying that man should have been cursed.  Have you noticed Jeremiah never said his parents should be cursed for that was forbidden?  In fact, he wished that the man who carried the news, his end would be like Sodom and Gomorrah.  Now, this was not a battle anyone, but God and Jeremiah saw it was an inward struggle, but he always held to his mission.  You and I should learn that life brings lemons and yet our Lord has promised never more than we can bear.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice 

What drives a Jeremiah?

 Jeremiah 20:7-13

I may be mistaken about you, but this writer has never had anything close to a conversation like this with God.  Listen to Jeremiah as he tells God how he feels; “O Lord, you have deceived me, and I was deceived; you are stronger than I, and you have prevailed.  I have become a laughingstock all the day; everyone mocks me.”  Is that not close to blaspheming?  I've read that the word he used is like a virgin that seduced?  Jeremiah is saying, God, you forced me into this prophet gig, and I must not be splendid at it for I’ve become a laughingstock to the people.

Most people do not like to hang with a person who is negative, all that comes from them is doom and gloom, and that is the message of Jeremiah from the Lord, it is a turn or burns message.  Listen to verse eight; “For whenever I speak, I cry out, I shout, “Violence and destruction!”  For the word of the Lord has become for me a reproach and derision all day long.”  

What drives a Jeremiah, a man who has been called out to proclaim the bridge is out to all who pass that way?  I believe the answer is a profound love for the ones who will perish if they do not heed the message.  Listen to verse nine; “If I say, “I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name,” there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot.”  Many a priest and preacher have wanted to throw in the towel, to quit, but a man with the calling of God on his life will be like Jeremiah.  They will have this fire burning in them, and they will feel compelled to speak, and it matters not the popularity of the message.

In verse ten Jeremiah is telling the Lord that everywhere the people are gossiping about him and they have given him a nickname, Mr. Terror.  But God has made promises to Jeremiah, and he, like us has to go back to those promises and hold on to them for we know that faith is acting at all times and all circumstances like Jesus tells the truth, for we are aware He is Truth.

Jeremiah believed God, and when one believes God they are counted as righteousness.  So do as he did in verse thirteen, “Sing to the Lord; praise the Lord!  For he has delivered the life of the needy from the hand of evildoers.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

A Pashhur in our life,

Jeremiah 20:1-6

Most of us have had a Pashhur in our life, we have known he was the richest and most popular kid at school, or maybe his dad owned the company you worked for, or maybe he was a member of your family.  He is always a little smarter than anyone else in his thinking, and he/she does not desire words that are not to their liking, not even, and maybe especially words of truth.

It may be challenging for our time to grasp the power of the office of the Priest and in the case of Pashhur, the son of Immer, the chief official in the temple of the Lord.  Pashhur is out and about with the people doing whatever a priest should be doing when he hears Jeremiah prophesying, and they are not words to his liking, so this is what took place.  We find the account in verse two; “Then Pashhur beat Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that were in the upper Benjamin Gate of the house of the LORD.”   Now guess what; Pashhur had the authority to do this in that culture and time, he was the law.

God was still on his throne and in total charge and was acutely aware of what was taking place with His spokesman.  It is the next day and Pashhur goes down to the Upper Benjamin Gate in the Lord’s temple, it was the northern gate and the most prominent gate in the city.  If you are Jeremiah that is the presided place to share what God is about to do, and if you are Pashhur it is also the place you want the people to see what happens when someone speaks evil of the leadership or the nation.

It is now the second day, and I’m sure Pashhur has no doubt that Jeremiah will now be subdued and submissive to his authority.  Picking up the rest of the story; verses 3-6, “The next day, when Pashhur released Jeremiah from the stocks, Jeremiah said to him, “The LORD does not call your name Pashhur, but Terror on Every Side. For thus says the LORD: Behold, I will make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends. They shall fall by the sword of their enemies while you look on. And I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon. He shall carry them captive to Babylon, and shall strike them down with the sword. Moreover, I will give all the wealth of the city, all its gains, all its prized belongings, and all the treasures of the kings of Judah into the hand of their enemies, who shall plunder them and seize them and carry them to Babylon. And you, Pashhur, and all who dwell in your house, shall go into captivity. To Babylon, you shall go, and there you shall die, and there you shall be buried, you and all your friends, to whom you have prophesied falsely.”

The beating of Jeremiah may have been the fist physical beating of his mission, but it will not be the last.  What did you learn from the prophet Jeremiah and what did you learn from the priest Pashhur?  How can you apply this Scripture to your walk with the Lord?

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

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Ignore the Message-Bearer

Jeremiah 18:18-23

The life of a prophet of God was not all that joyful, the people of Judah want to ignore Jeremiah they were refusing even to notice that he was speaking to them.  They were not that different than our time, for they had a false belief that no matter what they did, God would continue to bless them. 

I bet you have passed by a street preacher, some seem to not have a message of grace but judgment much like Jeremiah, and what do we do with such people?  We notice them, but we discount their message, and often we cross the street so that we do not have to encounter them, sounds like what they were doing to Jeremiah.

Maybe it would help us if we heard the prayer of our Jeremiah’s, for this is the prayer of Jeremiah: “Hear me, O Lord, and listen to the voice of my adversaries.  Should good be repaid with evil?  They have dug a pit for my life.  Remember how I stood before you to speak good of them, to turn away your wrath from them.” (Jeremiah 18:19-20)  A great question “Should good be repaid with evil?”  The answer is never, but often when it is this writer whose desire is to be a Christ follower, but he forgets the grace that has been shown to him, and has an attitude of just nuke them, Lord.  Now Jeremiah was not up on nukes, but listen to his prayer; “Therefore deliver up their children to famine; give them over to the power of the sword; let their wives become childless and widowed.  May their men meet death by pestilence, the sword in battle strike down their youth.  May a cry be heard from their houses when you bring the plunderer suddenly upon them!  For they have dug a pit to take me and laid snares for my feet.  Yet you, O Lord, know all their plotting to kill me.  Forgive not their iniquity, nor blot out their sin from your sight.  Let them be overthrown before you; deal with them in the time of your anger.”  (Jeremiah 18:21-23)

If Jeremiah were living today, that prayer would be very close to Lord nuke them, every last one of them.  You may be wondering how he could do such a thing, it got personal, the people he was ministering to wanted to kill him, and all he was doing was trying to get them to see and repent before God brought about judgment.

But as a follower of Jesus Christ that should never be our response, but to model our Lord. 

In John’s gospel chapter 1 and verse 11, “He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.”  The prophet Isaiah shared this with us in Isaiah 53:4-6, “Surely he has borne our grief and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.  But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”  That grace, that is the grace Jesus shows to you and to me, and yet we are so not like Jesus when we want to kill or harm those Jesus came for and died to redeem.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

A Virgin acting like a Whore

 Jeremiah 18:13-17

 What would other countries say about our nation, have you ever wondered in that we have been so blessed and the protector and champion of liberty, yet have also been the source of telling the other nations God has no place in government?  God calls Israel a virgin, yet she has acted more like a whore, and so He tells Jeremiah to ask the nations to verify Judah’s action of leaving Him, or turning to little gods, like material goods and government and putting their trust in the military.

In verse 14 God is saying that even in nature we find consistency and yet not in His people.  Verse 15-16, “But my people have forgotten me; they make offerings to false gods; they made them stumble in their ways, in the ancient roads, and to walk into side roads, not the highway, making their land a horror, a thing to be hissed at forever.  Everyone who passes by it is horrified and shakes his head.”   Now it is getting very personal, what are some of the false gods that are making you stumble, what has got you off the highway of life?  In my life it is a fear of not showing up for the game of life, being A.W.O.L. when needed most, letting the fear of man or the fear of failure rob us of the joy and peace we have in Christ Jesus.  I read this morning that in the time of Jeremiah people would make a hissing sound at a guilty person and shake their heads in scorn and disbelief.  Must be a trait I picked up when someone cuts me off in traffic, I find myself doing the same thing.

Verse 17, “Like the east wind I will scatter them before the enemy.  I will show them my back, not my face, in the day of their calamity.”  The east wind is a hot wind coming from the desert, and that also is a sign that the Babylonians would be coming.  It is one thing to have a mighty army coming to do battle with you, but it is entirely different when the God who has been your protector and provider sends a message to you that you are not going to see His face, only His back.

It seems to this writer that we who are called Christian in the USA have not wanted to seek God’s face, but only His hand.  We who are older see the harm that has been done to the Millennial by not having winners and losers.  Everyone has to be a winner, and everyone has to get a trophy, and mom and dad would take a school or a teacher to court if they dare told little Johnny or little Susie that they did not have the skillset to play or meet the task.  Have we not wanted the same from our Father, we want the blessing but have no time to seek Him, to spend time searching His word and examining our hearts to see if we are on the highway of life or the road to destruction?

 From the Back Porch,

 Bob Rice

The Wrong Road

Jeremiah 18:11-12

Shall we begin with verses 11 and 12, “Now, therefore, say to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: ‘Thus says the Lord, Behold, I am shaping disaster against you and devising a plan against you. Return, every one from his evil way, and amend your ways and your deeds.’

“But they say, That is in vain! We will follow our own plans, and will every one act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart.”

Verses 11-12 answer the question ask in Romans 9:20-22, about the clay or the created response to the Potter or the Creator.  “But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? .  

Only when the clay foolishly believes it is wiser than the Potter will this happen, and my dear brothers and sister in Christ, the clay has been doing this since the fall of man, since sin entered the world through Adam.  Not a new thing but a very dangerous thing both for this world and the everlasting, or eternal one. 

In my Nation, the United States of America, we have just had an election for the President; the last mere man who held that office has 40 days left and was a tool of the evil one.  The new mere man tells us he is going to make America great again, but did our greatness come from jobs and a powerful military or the Potter, the Creator, our mighty God, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac and Jacob?

A history lesson is always in order the United States of America began not with a mighty army, but faith in a powerful God.  Our Lord had placed into the heart of a group of men to live as free men, not from God but the control of England.  But we like these foolish people of Judah have said; “We will follow our own plans, and will every one act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart.”

Our nation will not become great without God’s favor, but greatness will begin in your heart and mine when we place the King of Glory on the throne of our hearts.  In Psalm 51:1-4 is a great place to begin: “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.  Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!  For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.  Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

A Word to the Clay

 Jeremiah 18:7-10

A word to the clay from the Potter; “If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, and if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it. And if at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it, and if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will relent of the good that I had intended to do to it.”

The message God is extending to the people of Judah is blessing and curses, and it is not a new message, for it was given to them when they were under Moses watch care, and now many years later, once more God who loves them is reminding them this life is a choice.   As parents, we understand that choices in life can bring blessing or curses.  That is why we instruct our children from a young age to not touch the stove top it may be hot, do not play in the street for a driver might not see you, and as they become teenagers to pick your friends wisely in that bad company corrupts good morals.  But a child will touch the stove top and often get burned, a child will run into the street after a ball and get hit by a car, and teens often, way too often pick the wrong friends and make mistakes that leave scars and break their parent's heart.

How many times does the Lord have to tell His people the ramification of sin, and the blessing of obedience?  Deuteronomy 28 has a clear picture of a loving Father proclaiming to His child the blessing of obedience, and the pitfalls of rebellion, and 

remember it is the Potter who makes the rules.

So how does this affect those who have entered into a relationship with Jesus, is it still about choices?  The answer is found in John 3:16-21, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

I will never forget the message I was taught as a young man, as a baby in Christ, when walking into a dark room and the pastor asking me where were these people when we came in?   And I answered they were sitting all around us, but we came out of the light and into darkness and could not see them.  He looked at me and said, young man, that is how sin works, the longer we stay in the darkness of sin the lighter it becomes.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

A real Mess

 Jeremiah 18:1-4

The first time I heard my pastor say we are all messed up in our heart and mind, I knew he was speaking truth, but another voice I refer to as coming from Channel One said, I agree, but you're not as messed up as many of these pew sitters.  And before I knew what was happening that voice was telling me about how I gave and how I performed another voice, let’s call it Channel Two, or the Holy Spirit.   That voice was saying listen to my spokesman, for I know you, I see what others cannot see, and Bob, you’re a mess. 

It did not come as any great surprise that God’s ways are higher than mine, and His thoughts higher than mine, that often I allow the world to mold me, and God the Potter has all authority to mess with His design.   So let’s go to where the rubber meets the road, have you come to that point in your walk with Jesus, have you told Him to do what is needed to make you less of a mess and more like Him?  That is the cry of my heart, but Channel One volume is so loud, and the world still has a draw on my flesh, my desires get ahead of my needs.   It is a constant battle not to want to be first in line, to be praised by men, and not willing to sit and listen to the voice of Truth, the one I refer to as Channel Two.

As I read the first verse of Jeremiah 18, “The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: “Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will let you hear my words.”  How often have you heard the word that comes from the Lord?  Sure you read the Scripture as do I, but are you and am I taking action on those words?  That gives me real concern, not about you but I am I hearing the Lord?  Jeremiah was not only listening but was willing to do as instructed. 

Look at verses 2-4, “So I went down to the potter's house, and there he was working at his wheel. And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter's hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do.”  Now it is evident the Potter is our Lord, and we are the clay, and when our clay gets spoiled, the Potter is going to rework it.  Clay has no pain, but the Father knows a reworking will often bring pain only to bring peace and joy as we grasp whose hands we are in.  The prophet Isaiah gives us this insight in Isaiah 64:8, “But now, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand.”

Foolish people want a God like themselves; they foolishly believe they are in lockstep with Him, and when encountering God there is no delight in Him for He is not the God they serve.  In Romans 9:19-21 Paul tells us about such a person: “You will say to me then, "Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?" On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, "Why did you make me like this," will it? Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use?”  Now one response to this Scripture will tell all about whom you are worshiping.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice