Habakkuk The Lord sent warnings about the coming onslaught of Babylonians not just to Jeremiah, but also to other prophets like Habakkuk.  The most beautiful prayer/song that I can remember reading in a long time is found in Habakkuk 3.  Here’s my favorite part: “17 Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vines; even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty, 18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord! I will be joyful … Continue reading This, too, shall pass

2 Kings 24-25; 2 Chronicles 36 After the King of Babylon did his smack down on Jerusalem, the people were exiled for seventy years…exactly the time pronounced earlier by Jeremiah.  But the land was not desolate for seventy years.  God used that time to heal it, and perhaps to heal the hearts of his people. “21 The land enjoyed its sabbath rests; all the time of its desolation it rested, until the seventy years were completed in fulfillment of the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah.” (2 Chronicles 36) Once again, the Lord brought rest and restoration out of … Continue reading Restoration

Jeremiah 38-40; Psalm 74, 79 It finally happened: Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians, just as Jeremiah said.  What thanks did he get for proclaiming the truth?  He was lowered down into a cistern, squashed in the mud.  Then he was again put in prison for daring to speak out against King Zephaniah.  But he never gave up, and he lived to see his prophesies come true. A close examination of this story of the Babylonian takeover of Jerusalem shows that God provided a way out for his people if they would only listen to him.  All they had to do … Continue reading A way out

Jeremiah 35-37 The written word is powerful.  This truth is revealed through these chapters of Jeremiah in a story that I confess is new to me! After the people of Israel continued to ignore the Lord’s messages and kept going their own, idolatrous ways, the Lord told Jeremiah to write all his prophesies down on a scroll.  Somehow seeing something in print and hearing something that has been written is powerful.  How much more powerful it is when it comes from the author of words Himself! Jeremiah enlisted the help of Baruch.  As Jeremiah dictated, Baruch wrote on the scroll … Continue reading Finding a way through