Jeremiah 10:2-3a,23

‘Thus says the LORD:
“Do not learn the way of the Gentiles;
Do not be dismayed at the signs of heaven,
For the Gentiles are dismayed at them.
For the customs of the people are futile;”’ (Jeremiah 10:2-3a)

These words are strong for us. The Gentiles are a picture of the world for us. We are not to learn the ways of the world. We are not to love the world. Neither the thinking, ideologies, objects, customs, beliefs, entertainment nor values of the world. There is no exception. To love the world is to hate God. Why? Because the customs of the people are futile. They amount to nothing. They mean nothing. They all pass away like grass.

One thing the world values highly is money. But where is money when the end comes? It is futile. Thus money, when valued highly, becomes a source of evil, for it leads away from God, and towards futility.

Similarly for TV shows. Even seemingly harmless shows like Getaway promote only the self, the self above all else, which is a belief of the world system. Thus entertaining yourself with this does not lead towards God at all – but only towards futility.

Music. Unless music is glorifying to God, then it also is futile. To constantly entertain oneself with these, even if they are not explicitly ‘anti-God’, is to lead yourself away from God’s glory, and into futility. It is to ‘learn the way of the Gentiles’.

And all these things, God calls idolatry, which the rest of the first half of chapter 10 makes clear. Separate yourselves from instant-fun futility, and dedicate yourself to true, lasting Joy found in God’s glory. Be ‘set apart’ for the Gospel, as Paul calls himself. There is no advantage to worldliness. Rather, let us heed Jeremiah’s words:

‘O LORD, I know the way of man is not in himself;
It is not in man who walks to direct his own steps.’ (Jeremiah 10:23)

As Christians, we belong wholly to our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, and our complete love belongs to Him, and thus our complete life is led by Him. It is not ours to direct. It is not ours to walk where we will, love what we will, entertain ourselves how we will. It is Christ that directs us, and surely He directs us away from the poisoning influence of the world.

Jeremiah 12:1,2b-3a,5

Jeremiah 12 centres around a question asked by Jeremiah to God, which God then answers.

‘Righteous are You, O LORD, when I plead with You;
Yet let me talk with You about Your judgments.
Why does the way of the wicked prosper?
Why are those happy who deal so treacherously?...
…You are near in their mouth
But far from their mind.’ (Jeremiah 12:1,2b)

Have you ever felt like this? I know I have. Note first however, that Jeremiah recognizes God’s righteousness first up. He takes this as a given. He knows whatever God does is right. He is merely trying to understand it.

It is sometimes baffling to us how wicked people can be so successful, happy, prosperous and all the rest of it. Why does God allow it? It is often our desire for the LORD to do to them what they deserve. It is our ‘desire for justice’.

Even worse, so many people have God close in their mouth, but far from their mind. They talk about God, talk about religious things, sing Christian songs, go to a Christian school perhaps. But their mind, and their heart, is so far away from God. And yet, as Christians, we say with Jeremiah

‘But You, O LORD, know me;
You have seen me,
And You have tested my heart toward You.’ (Jeremiah 12:3a)

Our heart is true towards God, we have been tested and tried, and remain faithful. And where is our reward? Is our reward more trials? For sometimes it seems that there is no reward, and all the prosperity, success and happiness goes to those who the LORD doesn’t know.

So what is God’s answer to this? Surely at this moment you have started forming your own answer based on previous experience (as have I), but I think you’ll find God’s answer a little different than you might expect:

‘If you have run with the footmen and they have wearied you,
Then how can you contend with horses?
And if in the land of peace,
In which you trusted, they wearied you,
Then how will you do in the floodplain of the Jordan?’ (Jeremiah 12:5)

I think what God is saying is: ‘if you are having trouble with this little problem, then how are you to contend with those who are really against you?’ This is not meant to be a problem for us! And I daresay we set our sights too low when we are having trouble with this question. For prosperity and success on this earth to us is meaningless. Mere trash. To be troubled by the fact that those who disobey God obtain trash should be a silly idea to us. If we are troubled by this small thing, then how are we to contend with life’s real challenges, which God sets before us in love? Let’s set our sights much higher than the petty things of this world.

Isaiah 54:9-10

Life is a hierarchy. Some things are more important or fundamental than others, and this affects how we treat things further down the hierarchical ‘list’. For instance, we might brush our teeth every morning. That is a rule we keep. But if a day comes when you need to be somewhere else and you don’t get time, then if whatever you need to get to is more important or fundamental than brushing your teeth, you will do it. Another example would be that we obey the law set down by the Government (as the Bible instructs), but if that comes to disobeying God’s law, then we obviously follow God’s way and disobey the national law (since God’s way is more important and fundamental). Most of these hierarchical things in our life are chosen logically or by necessity. But some are rather arbitrary. We will come back to that later. I was surprised (I don’t really know why!) to read this in Isaiah 54:9

‘For this is like the waters of Noah to Me;
For as I have sworn
That the waters of Noah would no longer cover the earth,
So I have sworn
That I would never again be angry with you, nor rebuke you.’ (Isaiah 54:9)

This is an unconditional promise! God is saying that His promise of peace with Israel is more fundamental than whatever evils they could contrive. Now, this won’t fully come into effect until the Millennial kingdom, when Israel will be the spiritual and social centre of the world, and the world will enjoy peace.

But I just love the way God is saying ‘It’s not about what you do, because this is not about that. This is like the waters of Noah. It’s an unconditional promise that I made. This is more important than trivial evils and goods that you can come up with.’

‘For the mountains shall depart
And the hills be removed,
But My kindness shall not depart from you,
Nor shall My covenant of peace be removed,
Says the LORD, who has mercy on you.’ (Isaiah 54:10)

This is fundamental! It doesn’t matter if mountains move or deteriorate away – God won’t change His promise, He won’t change His mind about Israel. They are His people, and that is that.

Now that applies to us twofold. Initially, we see almost instantaneously that it is this type of promise, this type of unconditional grace that God has bestowed on us through the Lord Jesus. And this mesmerizes us. God looks at us and says ‘It doesn’t matter what you’ve done! This is like the waters of Noah to me, for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah will no longer cover the earth, so I have sworn that I will never be angry with you, nor rebuke you!’ He looks at us and doesn’t see our sin and filth. He only sees His promise, He only knows that which is more important. What an encouragement!

Secondly however, this type of unconditional love must be seen in our own lives! If Jesus is our example, who is the very essence of God’s love for us, which is this promise, this fundamental choice of grace, then we ought to show this type of love in our own lives. This is the type of love where the person is more important than the deeds. Forgiveness is more important than revenge or regret. Where appreciation is more important than social implications. Where encouragement is more important than safety. Where kind words are more important than the time spent. Where grace is more important than justice. Where their life is more important than your reputation. Where they are more important than you.

This is an arbitrary choice. This is a choice, a designation of the will, to say ‘I am for that person, no matter what they do or what they have done.’ Parents do it all the time. Husbands and wives should always be doing it all the time. We will never be at Jesus’ standard, nevertheless, shall we not try, in His strength?