Devotion 844
“They Have Burned Incense To Vanity”
Reference Jeremiah chapter 18
Israel stumbled and walked away from the ancient path. The Word of God is always the path. The Word was the path then, is the path today. The Word of God is Who Jesus Christ is. Many did not understand it, but any time God appeared to a man or revealed Himself through a prophet to His people, His Word that was coming to the people was the path. This path or His Word is Who Jesus Christ is. He is the Word of God from the beginning. He is this same Word of God that became flesh with blood to be the new bloodline for the whole world. This is where God is trying to point Israel to, but they had no spiritual discernment to recognize it. They were so far removed from the Word of God that when Jesus the Word of God stood before them, they couldn't recognize Him. The true Word of God was foreign to them. They rejected Him and actually crucified Him. They were rather burning incense to vanity.
Let's read.
Jeremiah 18:1-8 “The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, [2] Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words. [3] Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. [4] And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it. [5] Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, [6] O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel. [7] At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it; [8] If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them.”
To turn from evil is to turn to the Word of God. The Word of God, from the beginning, was to bring man into relationship with God. That's why Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, was slain before the foundation of the world. Even before the creation of the world, the redemption plan was ordained. Jesus Christ was crucified before the foundation of the world. Because the plan was ordained before the fall, God cannot do anything with an individual who chooses to remain in the blood of the first Adam. The whole plan of God is based on redemption to remove man from the first Adam into the second Adam. Creation of man is based on this redemption plan. The sovereignty of God is relinquished to this redemption plan. Meaning, God cannot save man any other way. If there was another way, Jesus Christ would not have had to go onto the cross.
We continue our reading.
Jeremiah 18:9-15 “And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it; [10] If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them. [11] Now therefore go to, speak to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device against you: return ye now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good. [12] And they said, There is no hope: but we will walk after our own devices, and we will every one do the imagination of his evil heart. [13] Therefore thus saith the LORD; Ask ye now among the heathen, who hath heard such things: the virgin of Israel hath done a very horrible thing. [14] Will a man leave the snow of Lebanon which cometh from the rock of the field? or shall the cold flowing waters that come from another place be forsaken? [15] Because my people hath forgotten me, they have burned incense to vanity, and they have caused them to stumble in their ways from the ancient paths, to walk in paths, in a way not cast up.”
Israel left the Word of God to their own destruction. Today, we leave the Word of God to our own destruction. The destruction is in the blood of the first Adam.
We continue our reading.
Jeremiah 18:16-18 “To make their land desolate, and a perpetual hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished, and wag his head. [17] I will scatter them as with an east wind before the enemy; I will shew them the back, and not the face, in the day of their calamity. [18] Then said they, Come, and let us devise devices against Jeremiah; for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, and let us smite him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words.”
The people were unaware that they were not contending with Jeremiah, but the Word of God in Jeremiah. This Word of God is Who Jesus Christ is. They hated Jeremiah because they hated the Word of God. They hated Jesus Christ because He is the Word of God. In their spiritual blindness, they hated the only thing that could save them. As it was then, and so it is today. This is the spiritual blindness Adam encountered in the garden when he fell. This spiritual blindness can only be healed by believing in the Word.
We conclude our reading.
Jeremiah 18:19-23 “Give heed to me, O LORD, and hearken to the voice of them that contend with me. [20] Shall evil be recompensed for good? for they have digged a pit for my soul. Remember that I stood before thee to speak good for them, and to turn away thy wrath from them. [21] Therefore deliver up their children to the famine, and pour out their blood by the force of the sword; and let their wives be bereaved of their children, and be widows; and let their men be put to death; let their young men be slain by the sword in battle. [22] Let a cry be heard from their houses, when thou shalt bring a troop suddenly upon them: for they have digged a pit to take me, and hid snares for my feet. [23] Yet, LORD, thou knowest all their counsel against me to slay me: forgive not their iniquity, neither blot out their sin from thy sight, but let them be overthrown before thee; deal thus with them in the time of thine anger.”
That was the spirit of Jeremiah and not the Holy Spirit. Just like the spirit of Moses when strike the rock twice. Just like the spirit of Elisha when he cursed the forty-two children. We have learned today from our Savior that we don't pray against the unbeliever, but we pray that their eyes may be opened to see the only way out is the Word, which is Christ.
Let the Word redeem you. BELIEVE and confess Jesus Christ, the Word of God, as we reveal Him from the first Adam. The redemption plan, in Christ!
Reference Jeremiah chapter 18
Israel stumbled and walked away from the ancient path. The Word of God is always the path. The Word was the path then, is the path today. The Word of God is Who Jesus Christ is. Many did not understand it, but any time God appeared to a man or revealed Himself through a prophet to His people, His Word that was coming to the people was the path. This path or His Word is Who Jesus Christ is. He is the Word of God from the beginning. He is this same Word of God that became flesh with blood to be the new bloodline for the whole world. This is where God is trying to point Israel to, but they had no spiritual discernment to recognize it. They were so far removed from the Word of God that when Jesus the Word of God stood before them, they couldn't recognize Him. The true Word of God was foreign to them. They rejected Him and actually crucified Him. They were rather burning incense to vanity.
Let's read.
Jeremiah 18:1-8 “The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, [2] Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words. [3] Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. [4] And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it. [5] Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, [6] O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel. [7] At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it; [8] If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them.”
To turn from evil is to turn to the Word of God. The Word of God, from the beginning, was to bring man into relationship with God. That's why Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, was slain before the foundation of the world. Even before the creation of the world, the redemption plan was ordained. Jesus Christ was crucified before the foundation of the world. Because the plan was ordained before the fall, God cannot do anything with an individual who chooses to remain in the blood of the first Adam. The whole plan of God is based on redemption to remove man from the first Adam into the second Adam. Creation of man is based on this redemption plan. The sovereignty of God is relinquished to this redemption plan. Meaning, God cannot save man any other way. If there was another way, Jesus Christ would not have had to go onto the cross.
We continue our reading.
Jeremiah 18:9-15 “And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it; [10] If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them. [11] Now therefore go to, speak to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device against you: return ye now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good. [12] And they said, There is no hope: but we will walk after our own devices, and we will every one do the imagination of his evil heart. [13] Therefore thus saith the LORD; Ask ye now among the heathen, who hath heard such things: the virgin of Israel hath done a very horrible thing. [14] Will a man leave the snow of Lebanon which cometh from the rock of the field? or shall the cold flowing waters that come from another place be forsaken? [15] Because my people hath forgotten me, they have burned incense to vanity, and they have caused them to stumble in their ways from the ancient paths, to walk in paths, in a way not cast up.”
Israel left the Word of God to their own destruction. Today, we leave the Word of God to our own destruction. The destruction is in the blood of the first Adam.
We continue our reading.
Jeremiah 18:16-18 “To make their land desolate, and a perpetual hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished, and wag his head. [17] I will scatter them as with an east wind before the enemy; I will shew them the back, and not the face, in the day of their calamity. [18] Then said they, Come, and let us devise devices against Jeremiah; for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, and let us smite him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words.”
The people were unaware that they were not contending with Jeremiah, but the Word of God in Jeremiah. This Word of God is Who Jesus Christ is. They hated Jeremiah because they hated the Word of God. They hated Jesus Christ because He is the Word of God. In their spiritual blindness, they hated the only thing that could save them. As it was then, and so it is today. This is the spiritual blindness Adam encountered in the garden when he fell. This spiritual blindness can only be healed by believing in the Word.
We conclude our reading.
Jeremiah 18:19-23 “Give heed to me, O LORD, and hearken to the voice of them that contend with me. [20] Shall evil be recompensed for good? for they have digged a pit for my soul. Remember that I stood before thee to speak good for them, and to turn away thy wrath from them. [21] Therefore deliver up their children to the famine, and pour out their blood by the force of the sword; and let their wives be bereaved of their children, and be widows; and let their men be put to death; let their young men be slain by the sword in battle. [22] Let a cry be heard from their houses, when thou shalt bring a troop suddenly upon them: for they have digged a pit to take me, and hid snares for my feet. [23] Yet, LORD, thou knowest all their counsel against me to slay me: forgive not their iniquity, neither blot out their sin from thy sight, but let them be overthrown before thee; deal thus with them in the time of thine anger.”
That was the spirit of Jeremiah and not the Holy Spirit. Just like the spirit of Moses when strike the rock twice. Just like the spirit of Elisha when he cursed the forty-two children. We have learned today from our Savior that we don't pray against the unbeliever, but we pray that their eyes may be opened to see the only way out is the Word, which is Christ.
Let the Word redeem you. BELIEVE and confess Jesus Christ, the Word of God, as we reveal Him from the first Adam. The redemption plan, in Christ!
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