STRAIGHT TO THE HEART OF and Jeremiah and E zekiel

60 BITE-SIZED INSIGHTS Phil Moore 3 Introduction: Only Radical Surgery Can Save This Patient

“I will slay in my anger and wrath… I will bring health and healing.” (:5–6)

A few years ago, an Australian woman stabbed me. She had planned her move so carefully that I was powerless to stop her. First, she arranged for her friend to drug me so that I became disorientated. Then she stabbed me with a sharp knife, slicing a great chunk of flesh out of my leg. Her blade was only inches 9 hadaway been from diagnosed a major artery. with a suspected melanoma? What if I told you thatSounds the prettyAustralian shocking, woman I know. was Buta gifted what surgeon if I told youwho that had I

What if I told you that her scalpel enabled me to sit here writing thisbeen devotionaltasked with commentary removing the forsuspicious you, cancer-free? tissue from myIt wouldbody? transform your perspective, and I want you to think the same Theyway about share Jeremiah a common and message. Ezekiel. TheyThey bothare two address of the the greatest same writers of the , and two of the most neglected. Only radical surgeryspiritual can cancer save thatthis patient.is spreading1 across the southern kingdom of , and they both reveal God’s diagnosis:

1 The twelve tribes of had split into two kingdoms in 930 BC. The northern kingdom of Israel had already been destroyed by this spiritual cancer in 722 BC. Jeremiah and Ezekiel address the southern in order to rescue it from the fate of its northern neighbour. –25 explains why radical surgery is needed.

still refer to any speech that outlines a long list of problems as a These early chapters are the reason why, in modern English, we

jeremiad. They are why modern politicians dismiss those who point out problems with their policies as the Jeremys of this downworld. by Granted, their doctor these and chapters informed can that make they for have difficult cancer, reading but it wouldin places, be farbut worse that’s forprecisely their doctor the point. to pretend Nobody that likes everything to be sat

the sin that is destroying God’s people and he calls his listeners towas lie looking down gladly fine and on God’srosy whenoperating it wasn’t. table beforeJeremiah it spreads describes to their entire body. At a time when many churches are in decline and when our experience of seems quite distant

chapters carefully. They help us to recognize the spiritual cancer thatfrom still the destroys triumphs God’s of the people. book Theyof Acts, invite we us need to embrace to read God’sthese scalpel in our own lives and in our own churches today. –52 informs us that radical surgery has begun. The Lord has heard his people’s response to his diagnosis, 10 and he has begun his life-saving operation. These chapters are full of horror, as many people close their ears to the doctor’s warnings and become part of the infected tissue that needs to

deliverance.be removed The from Lord the uses body. these But chapters these chapters to describe are also the bright full of futureglorious which hope, lies as on others the other face sideup to of thesurgery dire fordiagnosis anybody and who find is willing to surrender to the truth of his Word. Lamentations is a collection of poems that teach us healthy ways of responding to surgery

. Although the five poems are anonymous, we will discover later that the Jeremiah weepprobably for thepenned sin inside them our and churches so we will and take for the a brief catastrophic look at them pain thatin our it inevitablytour through causes. Jeremiah He encourages and Ezekiel. us thatHe teaches the Lord us wounds how to us in order to heal us, so long as we respond well to his scalpel. –32 informs us sadly that further surgery is needed

. Ezekiel was a teenager in 605 BC, when the Babylonians first besieged and carried away thousands of tocaptives, surrender including to the surgeon’s Daniel and hand his of God. friends. He was Ezekiel in his therefore twenties witnessed first-hand the stubborn refusal of the Jewish leaders when the Babylonians captured Jerusalem for a second time, in during597 BC, the and eleven he found years himself that amongled up theto the group total of destructioncaptives taken of into exile. These chapters record his prophecies in Babylonia pleadingJerusalem with in 586God’s BC. people Ezekiel to surrender confronts to the the spiritualsurgeon’s cancer blade that still lingers on in Judah and in its capital city of Jerusalem, to be ruined so that its spiritual recovery can begin. whileEzekiel they still 33–48 have isa chance.a glorious Otherwise proclamation their ofnation the results will need of surgery

. After Jerusalem is destroyed and Judah is swallowed up into the Babylonian Empire, the Jewish exiles start hearing promises of a glorious future for their fallen nation. Even now, 11 Ezekiel prophesies that if they repent of their rebellion against the Lord, he will bring them back to their land and recommence their nation’s great salvation story. These chapters take us surgeryback to thehas creationbeen successful of Adam and and that Eve thein thebest Garden days for of Eden,God’s peopleencouraging now lie the ahead Jewish of them. survivors These to chapters believe are that full the of mighty Lord’s promises about what God has in store for those who willingly embrace his radical surgery.

So, well done for deciding to read these books of the and thank you for allowing me to guide you through them in this devotional commentary. Jeremiah, Lamentations and Ezekiel are some of the least-read books of the Bible, but they are also some of the most rewarding. They are still the words God speaks to his backslidden people today. It doesn’t take much insight to spot that the church in the West has problems very similar to those of Jerusalem and Judah, in The Independent newspaper predicted that the church would as described by Jeremiah.2 and A few Ezekiel. years Some later, timean Anglican ago, a headline bishop admitted to The Daily Telegraph that he felt it hard to see the churchbe dead surviving within 40 more years than another 30 years.3

So let’s not treat these three books as somebody else’s stillmail, God’s dismissing Word to them his people as too today. gloomy Full or of too solemn difficult warnings for us andto understand. glorious promises, These three they booksstill warn of the believers Old Testament in our own are generation that only radical surgery can save this patient.

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2 The Independent is published in London, UK, and ran this headline on 16 April 2000. 3 The Daily Telegraph is also based in London and ran this article on 27 June 2009. Jeremiah 1–25: Radical Surgery is Needed

13 You Go First (Jeremiah 1:1–19) “Get yourself ready! Stand up and say to them whatever I command you. Do not be terrified by them, or I will terrify you before them.” (Jeremiah 1:17)

Shrek comes when the evil Lord Farquaad sends his soldiers off on a near-impossible Onemission. of the He best informs lines themin the grandly movie but callously that some of

1 them may have to die – but that it’s a sacrifice that he is willing RADICAL SURGERY IS NEEDED RADICAL SURGERY to make! merelyThe inform opening other verses people of thethat book radical of Jeremiahsurgery is reassure needed. Heus that the prophet is nothing like Lord Farquaad. He does not 14 “one of the priests at ”is the very first to lie down gladly on the Lord’s operating table. was synonymousJeremiah is with introduced sin and corruption. to us as Not only was the town named after, a townthe Canaanite three miles war to goddessthe northeast Anath, of butJerusalem it was alsothat home to a family of priests that had been spiritually sidelined for the sins of its ancestors. The family had been cursed because

had been exiled to Anathoth as a result of Abiathar’s treachery Eli tolerated wickedness2 within among his sons, and the family

towardsreprieved, King so when Solomon. the Lord Jeremiah called had him therefore to pronounce grown a up dire in a family that tried to keep its nose clean in the hope of being

1 Shrek (DreamWorks Pictures, 2001). 2 Joshua 21:17–18, 1 2:27–36 and 1 Kings 2:26–27. ofdiagnosis the respectable. over the disobedient3 nation of Judah, he was asking thehim prophetto surrender so unpopular all hope ofthat ever even being the restored disgraced to prieststhe ranks of Preaching such a message would make servingAnathoth as would his prophet seek to murderwill cost him him in everything.11:21–23. Nobody In order likes to to be given bad news, so the Lord warns Jeremiah upfront that Y ou G o Fir st preach that only radical surgery can save the nation of Judah, hisJeremiah unpopular must bemessage the first for to submitover forty to God’s years. surgeon’s He started scalpel. in These opening verses inform us that Jeremiah preached

627 BC, in the thirteenth year of King . He carried on (Jeremiah 1:1–19) throughout4 the reigns of the last four kings of Judah, then continuedwhile still toonly prophesy halfway even through after his the marathon destruction of ofministry. Jerusalem He inwould 586 BC.suffer Jeremiah physically expresses his frustration over this in 25:3, and threw him into prison. He would suffer emotionally when the Lord forbade him from when marrying, the kings even of thoughJudah tortured all the other him priests in his family had married.5 He would suffer spiritually when his insights made him weep for his unrepentant nation. 15 The Weeping Prophet. Unlike Lord Farquaad, Jeremiah completely practises what he inpreaches. surrendering Not for to nothing his surgeon’s is he known scalpel. as He encourages him The Lord calls Jeremiah to embrace this cost and to lead the way

3 Jeremiah’s father was named Hilkiah, which means The Lord Is My Portion and which was also the name of the high priest in Jerusalem (2 Kings 22:8). Although their cursed family had been barred from the Temple, the priests of Anathoth still longed to rejoin the other priestly families in Jerusalem. 4 Josiah reigned 640–609 BC, Jehoahaz reigned 609 BC, reigned 609–598 BC, Jehoiachin reigned 598–597 BC and reigned 597–586 BC. We do not know how Jeremiah died, but Jewish tradition says that he was stoned to death by some of the Jewish survivors in after the fall of Jerusalem. 5 Jeremiah’s call to singleness would be a prophetic sign to his hearers (16:1–4), as was Hosea’s call to marry a prostitute and Ezekiel’s call not to grieve after his wife died (:2 and :15–24). 16 Radical Surgery is Needed twenties, sothesoonerhestarted, thebetter! never livingtooldage(1Samuel 2:32).Jeremiahwasalreadyinhisteensor 9 8 7 6 5). (verse nations the toprophet his mother’s womb,the Lord hadalready chosen him to serve as that his life is brimfull of destiny. Before he was conceived in his at the time. at to speak;Iamtoo young.” 6), (verse protesting life. begins atconceptionandthatto terminate apregnancyisthereforetotake alongside Psalm22:10,Luke1:41–44andGalatians1:15indeclaringthatlife news today, sinceitanswersthequestionofwhenhumanlifebegins.Itstands God’s newandbettercovenantforeveryonewhobelieves. Gentile nations.Hedoesthisinchapters46–51,andalsohisproclamationof eeih oe fo te erw verb Hebrew the from comes Jeremiah some clever wordplay.second syllableIf the of thename a great prophetic army. remindthis action will him that he is merely thelatest soldier in isolated, and lonely feels Jeremiah Whenever 6:6–7. Isaiah in prophetsof back wayprince the the commissioned whichhe in of echo deliberate a therefore is it mouth, Jeremiah’s touches words sound to those of the prophet Micah.WhentheLord his similar how notice leaders Judah’s of some when 26:17–19 in row death from saved even is He . Testament Old features of the is how often it echoes the other interestingthe of prophetOne the Isaiah. of commissioning the of him remind will knows he that something doing by further still Jeremiah fortifies Lord The years. his beyond wisdom him times toall stand alongsidehimat protect himandto give win hisfavour. win unsolicited grace towards usandnotfrom ourownattempts to reminds us that our salvation and significance derive from God’s This isapoorexcuse,sincethe priestsof “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you” The JeremiahisnotjustcalledtoprophesythenationofJudah,but alsotothe Apostle PaulechoesthisinRomans9:10–16andEphesians2:8–10. The Lord offers Jeremiah a third encouragement through encouragement third a Jeremiah offers Lord The 8 He tries to postponehis operation to anotherday, 7 But it didn’t sound like good news to Jeremiah to news good like sound didn’t it But “Alas, SovereignLord, Idonotknow how 9

The Lord responds by pledging to nathoth had all been cursed with Anathoth hadallbeencursedwith 6 This is very goodnews. It is still greeted by many as bad is still greeted by many as bad rūm, thenhis name means The Lord Lifts Up or The Lord Raises Up, but if it comes from the Hebrew verb rāmāh then his name means The Lord Throws Down or The Lord Razes to The Ground. God uses this theyambiguity will build to encourage up the humble Jeremiah in their in verse salvation. 10 that He both will are preach true. His words will tear down the wicked in their arrogance10 and the gospel that is later likened to a double-edged sword. Y ou G o Fir st wordsThe for Lord almond encourages tree and Jeremiahfor watching further are byshāqēd giving and him shōqēd some, quick visions to kickstart his prophetic ministry. The Hebrew so Jeremiah’s first picture is a simple promise that the Lord is watching to ensure that everything that Jeremiah speaks will be (Jeremiah 1:1–19) willfulfilled. use asThe his vision surgeon’s of a pot scalpel of boiling to operate water onpoured his people. out from11 the northThe against Lord Jerusalem therefore is ends a first this hint commissioning at which nation chapter the Lord by “Get yourself ready! Stand up and say to them whatever I command you. Do not be terrified by them, or Icalling will terrify Jeremiah you beforeto go first. them. 12 Today I have made you a fortified city, an iron pillar and a bronze wall to stand against the whole land … They will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you and will rescue you.” 17 operatingThe peopletable, some of Judah of them may will not start like to Jeremiah’s believe his prophecies message thatbut, only when radical they surgery watch himcan save gladly their go nation. first onto the Lord’s

10 Hebrews 4:12. Four out of the six things that God speaks over Jeremiah in 1:10 are about tearing down. Only two are about building up. If we want to preach for salvation, we need to preach against sin. 11 Jeremiah started prophesying in 627 BC, around the same year that threw off Assyrian rule in the north and began amassing its own empire. Still, God insists in 1:10 that Jeremiah is the real nation-changer. 12 The great antidote to the fear of people is to fear the Lord instead. The Lord essentially warns Jeremiah: Do not be afraid of these people, or I will give you good reason to be afraid in front of them! 18 Radical Surgery is Needed worthless idolsandbecame worthless themselves.” our choose to is god our destiny,down. head rotsfromthe fish a because choose To worship. we what like become we that is Bible the of themes big the of One instead. deities pagan to looked and calf golden a built they them, help they were thirsty in the Insteaddesert. of looking to the Lord to that grumbling began quickly Israelites The long. very last not bride. In 2:4–6, the Lord recalls that this honeymoon period did they lovedof theexcited himwithall affection ofanewlywed was Delivererand their that as him to lookedIsraelites The whentrue. briefly Exodus the after days early the about fondly reminisces Lord the 2:1–3, leader.In true their as Lord the to Judah’s problematic leaders. of heart the to back right problem He Judah’s of agrees. heart the Jeremiah traces prophet the collection, his in prophecy first this In top. the to back traced be always can problem the 2 1 downhead .” An oldPersian proverbwarns usthat to Jesus,webecomeglorious(2Corinthians 3:16–18). idols, webecomecorrupted(2Kings17:15and Romans 1:18–32). Masnavi (3.144). The Biblestatesthisprinciplebothnegativelyandpositively. The thirteenth-century Persian poet Rumi first shared this proverb in his poem h tev tie o Ire wr awy mat o look to meant always were Israel of tribes twelve The themselves.” “They followedworthlessidolsandbecame 1 Whenever organizationor an nation a goes bad, (:1–3:5) own Head Down A ih os rm the from rots fish “A (Jeremiah 2:5) “They followed 2

s we look to As welookto s we look As welook

Israelites had blamed him for their many hardships in the desert,In so2:7–8, he transformedthe Lord recalls their how poverty he called into theirprosperity. bluff. The He empowered them to dispossess the Canaanites and to gain possession of some of the most fertile farmlands in the region. He gave them the Law as a written record of his character and of his constant mercies towards their sinful nation. He gave fresh words from the throne of heaven. He gave them leaders them priests to preach the Law to them and prophets to speak H ead Dow n (Jeremiah 2:1–3:5) disobeyed him in their poverty, this was a test of whether they wouldto rule serveas regents him gladly for the in Lord times as of King. prosperity. Since the It was Israelites a test thathad Israel failed. They became even more rebellious in the good times than in the bad. Their priests stopped preaching about him, and their prophets started claiming that the Canaanite 3 rain god was the true architect of their prosperity. evilTheir leaders leaders and turned an evil their nation. backs on God, and the rest of Israel followed. A fish rots from the head down. Evil gods produced 19 has betrayedIn 2:9–13, its national the Lord gods adopts as Israel the tonehas betrayed of a prosecuting him. The lawyer and calls the skies to bear witness that no other nation skies can testify that nowhere – from the marauding seafarers verseof Cyprus 13, inthe the Lord far westtherefore to the repeats nomadic the Arabs double-accusation of Kedar in the far east – has any other nation ever done such a vile“My thing. people In have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of livingthat he water, made and against have the dug nation their ownof Judah cisterns, in 1:16. broken cisterns that cannot hold water.” This is one of the most famous verses endlessly gushes forth the water of life, and the pagan idols to in the book of Jeremiah, comparing the Lord to a spring that

3 The Hebrew word for fertile land in 2:7 is carmel, which was meant to remind the people of Judah that Baal had been unmasked as a deceiving demon by the prophet Elijah on Mount Carmel in 1 Kings 18. 20 Radical Surgery is Needed became servants of the roaring lion, Satan (1 Peter 5:8). became servantsoftheroaringlion, Satan(1Peter5:8). of using their leadership positions to teach the people how to serve God, they have trained God’s people to lust after foreign idols like a camel and stone proved that so fatalto thenorthern tribes. the southern tribes astray into worshipping the gods of wood the is It kings, theofficials down. head the from rots fish a because leadership, its former slave masters in search of freedom.to about It is all back go to as foolish so being for Egypt in slavery from backsliding willrebuke you.” operating ontheir sin. idols instead oftheGodIsrael.wasIt God’s surgeon’s scalpel result of Judah having chosen to worship Assyrian and Egyptian 7 6 5 4 to deliver ontheirpromises. empty wellsdemand that heavyprovethat liftingbut powerless ruler instead. puppet their as Jehoiakim install deposed to successor later his as months Jehoahaz three and, battle in Josiah King killed Egyptians the BC, 609 plunder. fewIn their as the exile into carrying survivors wasteland, a into fields fertile their turned destroyedAssyriansand the cities BC, their 722 In sin. their on already paidtheprice for their refusal to allowGod to operate of hissurgeon’sThe ten scalpel. northern tribes ofIsraelhave that Jeremiahmusthaveprophesiedthesewordsin609or608BC. anotherofitsmajorcities. Though undated,theseversesshowus 2 Kings17:10andEzekiel6:13). and 7:37–39. the adulterous prostitute of2:20. into 2:2 of bride devoted the turned have who leaders Judah’s High hills The leaders of Judah murdered the true prophets of the 2Chronicles35:20–36:4.Memphis SeealsoJeremiah17:5–8and17:13,Ezekiel47:1–12,John4:10–15 In 2:20–30, the Lord confronts the nation that he rescued he that nation the confronts Lord the 2:20–30, In In 2:14–19, the Lord alerts the people of Judah to the work and leafy trees were the choice sites for pagan altars (1 5 vn fo cud e ta ti ws direct a was this that see could fool a Even , thepriests andtheprophets who have led “Your wickedness will punish you; your 4

gypt, and was thecapitalcityofEgypt,and 7 t s ua’ laes who leaders Judah’s is It Lord (2:30). ings 14:23, Kings 14:23, 6 nstead Instead It is It 8 Yet now, those same leaders dare to blame the Lord for their defeat at the hands of the or a donkey in mating season. 9 fatalEgyptian cancer army. of their Let sin. their10 idols deliver them! Better still, let them turn back to the Lord and plead with him to cut away the from divorcingIn 2:31–3:5, his thewife Lord in order uses to the have nation sex with of Judah’s another own woman, laws to condemn them. Deuteronomy 24:1–4 forbade a Jewish man H ead Dow n (Jeremiah 2:1–3:5) thenonly how to take can herthe backleaders without of leaders having imagine technically that they committed can cast theadultery. Lord Ifaside their to own worship law courts foreign outlawed idols and such oppress moral the trickery, poor, before insisting in his Temple courtyards that “I am innocent” and “I have not sinned”?11 How dare they still address the Lord as their “Father” and “Friend”? He has sent a drought upon their

Ahabland toof showIsrael. them that he has witnessed their Baal-worship and made plans to judge them as he judged the wicked King

This prophecy is the first in Jeremiah’s collection because 21 it goes straight to the heart of Judah’s problems. A fish rots from leadthe head the way down. in surrenderingThe leaders of to Judah God’s have surgeon’s led their scalpel, nation because astray radicaland they surgery must lead is required. it back to the Lord in repentance. They must

8 The valley in 2:23 is the Valley of Ben Hinnom, the site of a shrine where the people of Judah murdered their children as sacrifices to the false god Molek. King Josiah had destroyed the shrine, but it appears that it was quickly rebuilt by his successors (2 Chronicles 28:3 and 33:6, and 2 Kings 23:10). 9 The Lord still says the same thing to backslidden churches today: Let your clever modifications to my gospel stem your decline! You rejected my Word long ago, so I will do nothing to keep your religious social club open! 10 Jeremiah 2:22 echoes Isaiah 1:18. There is no detergent (Hebrew bōrīth) that can cleanse those who break God’s covenant (Hebrew berīth). The only detergent strong enough to cleanse away sin is the blood of Jesus. 11 1 Corinthians 4:4 warns that we can fall for this too. Believing we are innocent does not make us innocent.