Jeremiah 16
Do not take a wife. A godly wife can be a great encouragement to a minister, but Jeremiah had to serve alone. His singleness was a witness to the nation that homes would be destroyed (See 1 Corinthians 7:25-33).

Do not mourn. People were dying because of the drought, but Jeremiah was not to join in mourning. Why? Because the dead were better off than those who would perish in the siege. The prophet was a living witness that God’s comfort was taken from His people.

Do not celebrate. There were weddings as well as funerals, but what joy could they bring knowing that death was imminent? When people asked Jeremiah about his strange behavior, he would have opportunity to declare the Word of God.

Do not look back. He ended with a message of hope : the future restoration of the nation will be greater than the exodus from Egypt. In the discouraging hours of life, God is working out His purposes, so take refuge in Him.

Posted by Brother Narayan

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Jeremiah 20:7-9: “You deceived me, Lord, and I was deceived; you overpowered me and prevailed. I am ridiculed all day long; everyone mocks me. Whenever I speak, I cry out proclaiming violence and destruction. So the word of the Lord has brought me insult and reproach all day long. But if I say, I will not mention his word or speak anymore in his name, his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot.”

Jeremiah 20:7-18 consists of two expressions of grief,
• The first lament is found in verses 7-12.
• The second lament is found in verses 14-18,.

God called Jeremiah to speak a harsh message to rebellious people.
He was obeyed.

But on one occasion Jeremiah so angered an assistant to the high priest and chief security officer for the temple, Pashhur, that the man arrested Jeremiah, beat him, and threw him in jail, locking him in stocks so that his body was contorted, writhing in pain.

Here was a man in deep distress.

He endured physical, emotional, spiritual, and professional anguish. He walked into deep despair, all for doing God’s will.

Jeremiah was honest.
But he felt deceived by God.

Remembering those words,
Jeremiah is saying, What happened, Lord? What happened to your promise? You said you’d be with me to deliver me, but here I am in these miserable stocks.

Have you ever felt like that toward God?
Is it wrong to be angry with God?
First, we must remember that anger is an emotion, and oftentimes emotions are neither right nor wrong: they just are.

There are at least 3 lessons we can learn here.
Even though God is sometimes silent He is always working in our lives.
Regardless of how bad things seem, never, ever quit talking to God.
We must reclaim the promises of God.
The prayer of Jeremiah is not exactly an powerful prayer. It’s blunt. Almost rude. Almost disrespectful.
But in Verses.11 and 13, He started remembering all the good things God had done.
And he began to praise God.
We can experience the same change in our lives.

Let’s
Be honest – tell God how you feel?
Be obedient – keep doing what you’ve been called to do?

No service for Christ is insignificant.

Jooley Mathew Z
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Mending the vessel (18:1-11). Individual believers are God’s vessels (Acts 9:15; 2Corinthians 4:7), but the reference here is to the nation of Israel, a chosen vessel to bring God’s blessing to the world. Romans 9:1-5 tells you what God put into the vessel. Many times in her history, when the nation would not yield to God, He made her again. She was marred but still in His hands. She was marred but had potential. She was marred and He made her again; and He will do the same for anyone who yields to His will (Romans 9:19-21).

Breaking the vessel (19:1-13). However, if the vessel becomes hardened, it cannot be made again. All God can do is break it, and that is what He did when Babylon captured Judah. The nation was beyond repair. The valley of the Son of Hinnom was a site for pagan worship, but Josiah turned it into a garbage dump (2Kings 23:10). (In the Greek it is Gehenna, the New Testament word for “hell.”) Tophet (Vs. 12-13) means “burning.”
Jeremiah gave a new name to the place :”the valley of Slaughter” (19:6).

People with hard hearts and stiff necks (19:15) may be easily broken.

Posted by Brother Narayan