September 9, 2020: Day 18 – Jeremiah 18

Wow, I have a lot of catching up to do!  This is a great chapter.  We begin with God giving Jeremiah an example of a potter and clay. He had messed up with the clay and it wasn’t taking the shape that he was hoping so he reworked it, and reshaped it, and when he was done he  looked at it and it “seemed good to him.”  As a result the example given is that God gives the people of Israel a chance and says, I  am willing to reshape you and mold you and give you another chance. In vs.11 we read that it was conditional to “turn now, all of you from your evil ways, and amend your ways and your doings.”  

But the people of Israel said: “It’s no use, we will follow our own plans.”  As a result of their failure to be willing to follow along with God’s plan, God once again turned His back on the people.  We then read that the people verbally choose to gang up against Jeremiah and to find ways in which to discredit his words and his ministry.  We read in vs.18: “Come, let us make plots against Jeremiah.”  “Come, let us not heed any of his words.”

As a result not only did God turn His back on the people of Israel, but here Jeremiah encourages God not to defend his detractors.  In fact, he asks that their wives would become childless and widowed.  Wow, not really something to emulate, but absolutely something to pay attention to as we look to follow God even in times when we are told to do things that we do not want.