vs. 4 and 5 Give them a message for their masters and say, “this is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “Tell this to your masters: With my great power and outstretched arm I made the earth and its people and the animals that are on it, and I give it to anyone I please. vs. 21 and 22 yes, this is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says about the things that are left in the house of the LORD and in the palace of the king of Judah and in Jerusalem: they will be taken to Babylon, and there they will remain until he day I come for them, declares the LORD. Then I will bring them back and restore them to this place.”

God created the earth, the people, and all of the animals. He can give them away or keep them. Then, we see in vs. 22, that He can come and get anything He wants and rescue it or restore it to whatever place He wishes. This is real power – power beyond our scope of understanding power. This is the One Who said, “Let there be light” (Gen. 1:3) and light was created. This is the One Who breathed life into the man He created from the dust of the earth He created. Through the sacrifice of Christ, we belong to the One Who has this power. We are His.

“This is what the LORD says: Stand in the courtyard of the LORD’s house and speak to all the people of the towns of Judah who come to worship in the house of he LORD.: Tell them everything I command you; do not omit a word. Perhaps they will listen and each will tum from his evil way. Then I will relent and not bring on them the disaster I was planning because of the evil they have done.

Here is that re-occurring theme: with repentance comes relief from the Lord’s proclaimed disaster. When the people turn from their wicked ways God turns back His intended punishment. My dad worked in he San Joaquin Valley of California on the system of canals and waterways. He was part of a crew reclaiming the desert, turning it from a dry and dusty, fruitless place ,into a land where fruits and vegetables grew in abundance. God is in the original business of reclamation: re-claiming all people from the way of sin, and restoring them to His way, the way of godliness.

I will banish from them the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of bride and bridegroom, the sound of millstones and the light of the lamp.

I was sad when I read this. Sounds of joy and laughter, children playing and singing, the happy celebration of marriage – all removed from their lives. Abundance of food, the simple ability to light up the darkness with a lamp – all gone. Every vestige of gladness, joy, peace of heart and mind replaced by desolation. This is life without God’s hand of blessing. It seems like too steep a price to pay for sin.

I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the LORD. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart.

This is our God. We are too sinful to have a relationship with Him, so He provides salvation for us. We are of little faith, so He provides the faith for us to believe and to receive that salvation. Our hearts are hard and wicked beyond measure, so he removes our heart of stone and gives us a new heart with which we can know Him and then desire Him with all of our new heart.

They think the dreams they tell one another will make my people forget my name, just as their fathers forgot my name through Baal worship. Let the prophet who has a dream tell his dream, but let the one who has my word speak it faithfully for what has straw to do with grain””, declares the LORD

Those of us who belong to God through the blood of His Son will not forget His Name or the truth of His Word. That is why it is important to read and to study the Word of God. When others try to share with us what they THINK is the truth, we will know if it does not match the truth of the Word of God. If given the opportunity, We can share what is true, and correct what is false.

He defended the cause of the poor and needy and so all went well. Is that not what it means to know me:, declares the LORD.

This is a recurring theme throughout Scripture: God’s heart for the poor and needy. Here, He says that defending the cause of the poor and needy is what it means to know Him. That is a powerful statement. Aligning with God in the case of the poor and needy is to understand the heart of God, Who knowing mankind was lost in sin, poor in spirit, in need of love and mercy , with the greatest of all kindness sent His son to rescue us. As God shows us those in need and gives us the means to meet that need, we draw from the compassionate heart of God, and reach out to help.

I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and a mighty arm in anger and fury and great wrath.

This is a terrible judgment. The Lord Himself will fight against them. In the past, the Lord Himself has been Israel’s protector and guardian. Now, He has pledged to be their destroyer, yet even in this pledge we catch a glimpse of the unearned grace, the abundant mercy of God. vs. 8 and 9 Furthermore, tell the people, “This is what the LORD says; See, I am setting before you the way of life and the way of death. Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword, famine or plague. But whoever goes out and surrenders to the Babylonians who are besieging you will live; he will escape with his life.

This chapter reminds me of some of the Psalms of David. Jeremiah vacillates between deep despair and praise to God. He is suffering for doing what God commands him to do. He is desperate, depressed and overwhelmed. But look at verses 11, ad 13b But the LORD is with me like a mighty warrior; so my persecutors will stumble and not prevail. They will fall and be thoroughly disgraced, their dishonor will never be forgotten. vs. 13b He rescues the life of the needy from the hands of the wicked. This is where we need to rest. In the struggle, in the desperation, we cry out to God for help in finding this place of rest: “The LORD is a Mighty Warrior. He rescues…”

This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “Listen! I am going to bring on this city and the villages around it every disaster I pronounced against them, because they were stiff-necked and would not listen to my words.

This is the message of Chapter 19: stubbornness toward God leads to disaster.

See also Proverbs 29:1 A man who remains stiff-necked after many rebukes, will suddenly be destroyed without remedy.

Then the word of the LORD came to me: “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does”? declares the LORD “Like clay in the hand of the potter so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.

What is the message God gave to Jeremiah? First it is about God’s sovereignty over Israel, and all nations, like the potter’s sovereignty over the clay. Second, it is about the disaster God has planned for Israel if she does not repent. The Bible says there are some who will never change their hearts. I don’t want to be like that. If God shows us sin in our lives, purpose now to repent and embrace God’s love and forgiveness. Be prepared to choose that which leads to blessings.