Some women in Jeremiah
Jeremiah 2:32, 33 NET
Does a young woman forget to put on her jewels?
Does a bride forget to put on her bridal attire?
But my people have forgotten me for more days than can even be counted.
“My, how good you have become at chasing after your lovers!
Why, you could even teach prostitutes a thing or two! (Jeremiah 2:32, 33 NET)
First Jeremiah tries to compare Israel to a bride, which is a real surprise after everything else he’s been saying so far.
The really cool thing is HOW he compares her to a bride.
Does a young woman forget to put on her jewels?
What is the point of her jewels?
To ornament herself,
to make herself beautiful,
to show off her wealth,
or her inheritance,
or her rich lover?
How do you spot a bride coming from a mile away?
Does a bride forget to put on her bridal attire?
By her smile or the marriage license in the groom’s back pocket? NO!
By her dress! The bride’s dress is the SINGLE thing that separates her from all of the other women at the reception. The bridesmaids even wear ugly dresses to showcase the bride¡
If Israel were close to God like she should be, her salvation and redemption would be abundantly clear.
The same thing goes for us today. Think about it! You see Amish people and you KNOW a lot about them. You know about the things they take seriously and the things they do well.
I’m not saying that I’m going to start dressing funky or anything, but it would be nice if we heeded these words from Jeremiah a little bit. God’s people should not be able to teach prostitutes any tricks. We should really run after our solid & true lover – Christ the King!
One of the great attractions to ancient Judaism throughout the world was the fact that their religion had consistency from city to city, and a high moral standard. If you knew a Jew in Rome you’d know how to be consistent with a Jew in Morocco. In a world that was extremely spiritual (or superstitious, whichever you prefer) to the point that every city had it’s own set of gods and it’s own set of religious rules, the structure and consistency of God’s chosen people was a big attraction. When She wore what her Husband had given her, she was beautiful.
Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with a heart of mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, (Colossians 3:12 NET)
For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. (Galatians 3:27 NET)
However you want to look at it, God has adorned us and clothed us in His own greatness. We need to fully clothe ourselves in what He has provided or strip off all of the world’s garbage that we seem to put on over it.
God wants to show you off like a groom loves to show off his bride on their big day.
Let Him!
You Say That To All The Deities
Hosea 2:11
I will put an end to all her celebration: her annual religious festivals, monthly new moon celebrations, and weekly Sabbath festivities – all her appointed festivals.
Look at what is on this list–It’s all of the religious things that Israel was doing!
Somebody might say, “Wait, didn’t God ask them to do all of these religious things?” Yep, He did, but they were all for the reason of drawing closer to the one true God and they were doing these things for every deity on their list! They went all over looking for spiritual beings and the sacrifices or activities that would please them!
God is Jealous
There are a lot of people that don’t like the idea that God is a jealous God. The idea of being jealous or selfish seems controlling, limiting.
Honestly, I think people don’t like the idea of being controlled because they haven’t had somebody stick up for them. If you’ve been oppressed–and I mean really oppressed–and then you’ve had somebody step in and stick up for you, you appreciate jealousy.
Nobody likes to be the damsel in distress, but that’s what we are. Even our Christian books teach us how to be the manly-man hero and save our families/communities/churches that are the ones in distress. We are the ones that need to be saved, not the saviors. We are the ones that need spiritual acts done to us by our Lord, not the ones that need to do spiritual acts for our Lord.
May we end our religious hobbies and let our savior do what He is mighty to do–Save!
Paul Goes All Habakkuk in Pisidian Antioch
‘Look, you scoffers; be amazed and perish! For I am doing a work in your days, a work you would never believe, even if someone tells you.’ – Acts 13:41
Paul tells the people in Pisidian Antioch all about how all of Jewish history has been leading up to the birth of Christ, and then he quotes Habakkuk at the end of it. The wild thing is that he quotes Habakkuk in a section that Habakkuk is talking about an impending army coming and taking them over.
The quote from Habakkuk goes on and gets even better…
Habakkuk 1:5 “Look at the nations and pay attention! You will be shocked and amazed! For I will do something in your lifetime that you will not believe even though you are forewarned.
Look, I am about to empower the Babylonians, that ruthless and greedy nation. They sweep across the surface of the earth, seizing dwelling places that do not belong to them.
It’s almost like Paul is saying, “Look, don’t make the same mistake our forefathers made! They didn’t listen and so the Babylonians came and took them over and plundered their blessings. Now if you who are Israel won’t turn to God and believe Jesus is the Messiah, the Gentiles will come in and plunder the blessing that is for you!”
And that is EXACTLY what happened the next week at the same synagogue…
Car Sermon on Joel
Here is an old video I came across on thoughts on fellowship offerings in Joel.