Under God’s orders, Jeremiah has been persistent in preaching warnings about sinful behavior and the effect of national sin on the fortunes of the kingdom of Judah. People don’t like what he is saying. The government doesn’t like to be reminded of how corrupt they are. Even his own family gets tired of it. So, some begin to take action against the preacher. “Justice must be served,” or so they say, but that depends on who is being prosecuted, doesn’t it? Why do those who dema

King David’s downfall was his illicit affair with Bathsheba. David’s power met his lust and in his self-serving the woman became pregnant and the husband was killed to cover it up. “The thing that David had done displeased the LORD.” Bathsheba then gave birth to their son, but the child “became very ill.” David fasted and prayed; he even lay all night on the cold floor, to the dismay of his counselors. The child died anyway. David then rose up, washed, changed his clothes,

Jeremiah 19: 1-2. Thus said the LORD: Go and buy a potter’s earthenware jug. Take with you some of the elders of the people and some of the senior priests, and go out to the valley of the son of Hinnom at the entry of the Potsherd Gate, and proclaim there the words that I tell you. Cultural and Historical Context. The potter’s house is his place of business. Pottery began to appear around 12,000 years ago in Japan, then China, and finally in the Near East by about 10,000 yea

In the 1800s, Christian missionaries from England and Australia sailed to the South Seas to preach the Gospel and gain converts. Often new converts joined them in spreading the Good News to the next islands. The London Missionary Society, the Church Missionary Society, and the Wesleyan Methodists all sent missionaries who began in the east (Tahiti and the Cook Islands) and sailed across Polynesia to the west (Tonga, Samoa, and Fiji). Catechisms were developed and schools were

Jeremiah 18: 12. But they say, “It is no use! We will follow our own plans, and each of us will act according to the stubbornness of our evil will.” Now, no one would really say this to God; but people certainly act like they secretly believe this. Their behavior reveals how hard-headed and stubborn they are. They refuse to recognize their sin and admit their guilt, let alone apologize and ask for forgiveness. In fact, in our day and age, it’s just the opposite. The tenden

“So much death. What can men do against such reckless hate?” So said King Theoden of Rohan. “Ride out with me. Ride out and meet them,” answered Aragorn, the returning king of Gondor (Lord of the Rings, J. R. R. Tolkien). One could ignore the threat and hope that it goes away. With the Nazis, it just got worse. Or, one could find a place to hide and hope that, if trouble comes, one could keep on fleeing from danger. In our days of immediate communication and rapid transport