Insightful Musings on the Scriptures

by

Raymond P. Sparre
Northwest University class of '67

Hello, dear peoples.

We sure have had some cloud-bursts of rain. We got pretty wet at the end of our WOG this morning when we stopped to pick some blackberries…and it began to rain. We collected just over two pounds between us.

I better get on with the sawmill work and try to get that wrapped up soon. I also have more sign work pushing on me.

May your day go well for you and yours.

Love, Dad/Ray.

Jeremiah did not seem to have much fun in the course of his life and ministry. He’s regarded as “the weeping prophet.” So be prepared for exposure to a lot of sadness as we move through this book. But in spite of all the sadness Jeremiah faced, all the heartache at seeing Israel pay little or no attention to his divinely-inspired words of warning, all the rejection and persecution he encountered while announcing God’s truth, and seeing his predictions of God’s judgment unfold with Jerusalem being captured and wiped out by the Babylonians and thousands exiled, he remained faithful to his God and his prophetic call. To be sure, faithfulness is more important than success, comfort, or popular acceptance. I sense that we are being called to be Jeremiah-types in our own day. God’s judgment is just as impending.

Life is dangerous. In fact, life on earth is a terminal condition. Until we meet our unavoidable terminus, our frail lives can be snuffed out at any moment. This life course really is “the valley of the shadow of death.” If death is so certain, and no one of a sound mind really wants to die, how is it that David could exclaim with such happy confidence, “I will fear no evil?” He answers that question immediately—“…for thou art with me” (Psalm 23:4). And who is “thou”? We’re talking about the Sovereign LORD and Maker of all things. I cannot imagine a safer and more secure way to do life than to do it in partnership with and submission to our Maker. On that basis we are absolutely indestructible, stronger than “a fortified city,” until He deems it the right time for us to “put on immortality” (1 Corinthians 15:53-55). And then—“Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints” (Psalm 116:15).

Marriage has always exemplified a love relationship. Sure, there are exceptions and perversions of that universal principle, but everyone knows that commitment love is the best bond for a happy and lasting marriage. So it is upon that principle that the LORD inspires Jeremiah to reprimand Israel and Judah. “’Return, faithless people,’ declares the LORD, ‘for I am your husband’” (3:14). The verbiage gets rather base, and there’s no mistaking the meaning. “I remember the devotion of your youth, how as a bride you loved me and followed me” (2:2). “Indeed, on every high hill and under every spreading tree you lay down as a prostitute” (2:20). “You are a swift she-camel (in heat) running here and there” (2:23). “How skilled you are at pursuing love! Even the worst of women can learn from your ways” (2:33). “But you have lived as a prostitute with many lovers” (3:1). “You have defiled the land with your prostitution and wickedness” (3:2). “Yet you have the brazen look of a prostitute; you refuse to blush with shame” (3:3). Get the picture? We could go on. Here’s a good bottom-line question: What part of “LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART” do we tend to not understand? And here’s a good bottom-line conclusion: This will never and can never be the condemnation of one possessing a HEART AFTER GOD.