JEREMIAH LESSON 11


     We will begin this lesson in Jeremiah 10:1 "Hear ye the word
which the LORD speaketh unto you, O house of Israel:"

     This is a request for Israel to listen to what Jeremiah is
saying, because the words he speaks are the Words of the LORD.

     Jeremiah 10:2 "Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the
heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen
are dismayed at them."

     One of the ways of the heathen is to look to the stars for
answers about their lives. Way, in the verse above, also means
religion.  This is the same thing we call horoscopes today. God told
His people not to get involved with this.  It is sin. Anything that
takes the place of God in our lives, is sin.  The heavens have no
answers for us.  The God who made the heavens is the answer for us.
They may be living in the land of the heathen, but God forbids them to
take up the ways of the heathen. Christians are like that, also. We
are in the world, but we better not take up the ways of the world.

     Jeremiah 10:3 "For the customs of the people [are] vain: for
[one] cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the
workman, with the axe."

     These customs, here, are speaking of religious customs. Their
custom was idol worship. They worshipped wooden idols that had been
carved out by man's hands. Vain, in the scripture above, means they
got no benefit from their worship.

     Jeremiah 10:4 "They deck it with silver and with gold; they
fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not."

     They decorate it up to be an outwardly beautiful inanimate
object. All of the silver and gold they put upon it, does not bring
life into it. It is an idol {nothing}.

     Jeremiah 10:5 "They [are] upright as the palm tree, but speak
not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid
of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also [is it] in them to do
good."

     This just speaks of the utter uselessness of these idols they
have made. They not only cannot help those who worship them, but they
are a burden to the people, as well. They must be carried around by
the worshipper. They have no power to even help themselves. Why would
a person fear them? They have no power to do good, or evil.

     Jeremiah 10:6 "Forasmuch as [there is] none like unto thee, O
LORD; thou [art] great, and thy name [is] great in might."

     There is no god like unto the real God. The extreme opposite of
these idols is true of the LORD. He is alive for ever more. He has all
power and all strength. The very life and breath of man is furnished
by God. He is everything to those, who will just believe. He even
affects those who do not believe. He is their eternal Judge. There is
absolutely no comparison, between God and these false deities.

     Jeremiah 10:7 "Who would not fear thee, O King of nations? for to
thee doth it appertain: forasmuch as among all the wise [men] of the
nations, and in all their kingdoms, [there is] none like unto thee."

     We see in this, that God is King of all nations, not just King of
the Jews. God created all mankind. He created the heavens, and the
earth, and then created mankind to dwell there. We are all His
creation. We are all offered the opportunity to become His sons. These
earthly kings that were created by God are humans, they are not to be
worshipped. We must not worship any created being, or thing. We must
worship the Creator, only. Even the wise men are created by God.

     Jeremiah 10:8 "But they are altogether brutish and foolish: the
stock [is] a doctrine of vanities."

     The word "baar", that brutish was translated from, means to
kindle, or burn.  Stock, in the verse above, is speaking of wood.
To worship a piece of wood, no matter how decorated it might be, is a
foolish thing indeed. They are worshipping this piece of wood in vain.

     Jeremiah 10:9 "Silver spread into plates is brought from
Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the workman, and of the
hands of the founder: blue and purple [is] their clothing: they [are]
all the work of cunning [men]."

     The silver and gold, mentioned here, was used to decorate the
idols of wood. Again, this is vain to worship. The silver and gold
here is just a coating to make the wood appear to be something better
than it was. It appears these cunning workman had colors scattered in
the idols, as if they were clothing. None of this will make an idol
live. They are nothings.

     Jeremiah 10:10 "But the LORD [is] the true God, he [is] the
living God, and an everlasting king: at his wrath the earth shall
tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide his indignation."

     The Creator has complete control of His creation. God is not
dead, He is alive for ever more. He is the Beginning and the Ending.
There was nothing before Him, and there will be nothing after Him.
Living God is speaking of the great I AM. He is King. He is Truth. He
is Life. He is Love. At one word from His mouth, the entire earth will
shake. At His command, the planet we call earth came into existence.
He flung it out in space, and told it to stay in perfect orbit, and it
did. Everything and everyone are His.

     Jeremiah 10:11 "Thus shall ye say unto them, The gods that have
not made the heavens and the earth, [even] they shall perish from the
earth, and from under these heavens."
     These false gods, made of wood would not last five minutes in a
fire. Wood shows their worldliness, and that they are nothings.  They
did not make anything. They are the design of men's hands.

     Jeremiah 10:12 "He hath made the earth by his power, he hath
established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the
heavens by his discretion."

     The very first thing we are taught in the Bible, is that God
spoke and created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1:1 "In the
beginning God created the heaven and the earth." Each time God made
something, the Bible says, and God said. The next sentence says, it
was so. We read in John 1:1 "In the beginning was the Word, and the
Word was with God, and the Word was God." John 1:2 "The same was in
the beginning with God." John 1:3 "All things were made by him; and
without him was not any thing made that was made." You see, the spoken
Word of God created all things.

     Jeremiah 10:13 "When he uttereth his voice, [there is] a
multitude of waters in the heavens, and he causeth the vapours to
ascend from the ends of the earth; he maketh lightnings with rain, and
bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures."

     God controls all the elements of the earth. The rain must obey
His voice, as does the wind, and everything else. A good example of
that power over the elements, is when Jesus speaks to the raging sea
and tells it to be still, and it obeys.

     Jeremiah 10:14 "Every man is brutish in [his] knowledge: every
founder is confounded by the graven image: for his molten image [is]
falsehood, and [there is] no breath in them."

     Man's knowledge is so small, when compared to God's knowledge.
Man cannot create a living thing. God breathes the breath of life into
every living thing. Anything man makes is an inanimate object. Worship
of anything, or anyone, other than God is false worship.

     Jeremiah 10:15 "They [are] vanity, [and] the work of errors: in
the time of their visitation they shall perish."

     Only a very foolish vain person would worship an idol. Anyone who
worships anything, or anyone, other than God will perish on judgement
day. Revelation 20:15 "And whosoever was not found written in the book
of life was cast into the lake of fire."

     Jeremiah 10:16 "The portion of Jacob [is] not like them: for he
[is] the former of all [things]; and Israel [is] the rod of his
inheritance: The LORD of hosts [is] his name."

     The word "rod" was translated from the word shebet, which also
means branch off, or clan, or tribe. We could understand the Scripture
above, if we thought of Israel as the tribe of His inheritance. Israel
is an offshoot of the family of Jacob. The LORD of hosts is the same
one as the King of the Jews. Israel, remember, is made up of the
physical house and the spiritual house of Israel. Romans 3:29 "[Is he]
the God of the Jews only? [is he] not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of
the Gentiles also:" Galatians 3:29 "And if ye [be] Christ's, then are
ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise."

     Jeremiah 10:17 "Gather up thy wares out of the land, O inhabitant
of the fortress."

     The "wares", here, are speaking of their belongings that they can
carry. Inhabitant of the fortress is speaking of them being overrun.

     Jeremiah 10:18 "For thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will sling out
the inhabitants of the land at this once, and will distress them, that
they may find [it so]."

     The "slinging out" indicates that they went, not of their own
free will, but were forced out by God. Their distress was not just for
the loss of their land and belongings, but they were slaves of the
Babylonians now.

     Jeremiah 10:19  "Woe is me for my hurt! my wound is grievous: but
I said, Truly this [is] a grief, and I must bear it."

     This could be Jeremiah grieving over their loss, or it could be
the people themselves grieving over their loss. They are finally aware
they must bear the grief, because they brought the trouble on
themselves. This, too, will pass. They must just make up their minds
to bear it.

     Jeremiah 10:20 "My tabernacle is spoiled, and all my cords are
broken: my children are gone forth of me, and they [are] not: [there
is] none to stretch forth my tent any more, and to set up my
curtains."

     We see the complete desperation of people who no longer even have
a tent to dwell in. Their children, who had helped raise the tent for
time of resting, are captured and gone. We could, also, see in this a
lamenting Father, who no longer has the tabernacle to dwell in with
His children. The priests and high priest are captured, too.

     Jeremiah 10:21 "For the pastors are become brutish, and have not
sought the LORD: therefore they shall not prosper, and all their
flocks shall be scattered."

     "Pastor" means to tend a flock.  There are two ways to tend a
flock. The one, possibly intended here, is the shepherd in the country
who tends the sheep, grazing them in the pastureland. It seems the
other is important here, too. The minister of the church who actually
is the pastor of his, or her, flock. It is a dangerous thing for
either of these people to not seek the LORD. The shepherd who allows
the wolves to come in and destroy, because the LORD was not guiding
his actions is intended here. In an invasion of the country, the
physical sheep will scatter. In the spiritual sense, the invasion of
the church by the devil can, also, scatter the flock.
     Jeremiah 10:22 "Behold, the noise of the bruit is come, and a
great commotion out of the north country, to make the cities of Judah
desolate, [and] a den of dragons."

     Babylon is the dragon mentioned here. This is a large noisy army,
that comes from the north, and invades Jerusalem and Judah.

     Jeremiah 10:23  "O LORD, I know that the way of man [is] not in
himself: [it is] not in man that walketh to direct his steps."

     When men walk in their own ways, they fall. We are told, many
times, in the Bible that a man that does what is right in his own
sight is not living for God. The LORD has a path for all who believe
in God to walk. It is a straight, narrow path which leads to
righteousness. We must walk in the Light of God to see the path
clearly. I John 1:7 "But if we walk in the light, as he is in the
light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus
Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin."

     Jeremiah 10:24 "O LORD, correct me, but with judgment; not in
thine anger, lest thou bring me to nothing."

     All that happened to these Israelites, happened to bring them
back to God. They had wandered away, and God used this to correct
them.  Notice, in the following Scripture, why God allows this to
happen to His children. Proverbs 22:15 "Foolishness [is] bound in the
heart of a child; [but] the rod of correction shall drive it far from
him." Those who are not chastised of God to correct them, do not
belong to Him. Hebrews 12:8 "But if ye be without chastisement,
whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons."  God
corrected them, to save them.

     Jeremiah 10:25 "Pour out thy fury upon the heathen that know thee
not, and upon the families that call not on thy name: for they have
eaten up Jacob, and devoured him, and consumed him, and have made his
habitation desolate."

     God had not intended for the heathen to destroy them with such
vengeance. The heathen will be destroyed, because they went too far
with their punishment. They were destroyed, also, because they did not
believe in God. They were not destroyed until the captivity had
finished.












                         Jeremiah 11 Questions


1.  Why were they to listen to the words of Jeremiah?
2.  What was one of the evil practices of the heathen?
3.  What do we call this today?
4.  Even though they are living in the land of the ________, they are
    not to take up their ways.
5.  The customs of the people are ______.
6.  What are the customs mentioned in verse 3?
7.  What were the idols made of?
8.  What did they deck the idols with?
9.  Why were they to not be afraid of the idols?
10. Idols have no power to do ________, or ______.
11. Describe some things that make God far superior to any idol.
12. Who is King of nations?
13. What does the word "nations" tell us?
14. What word was brutish translated from?
15. What are some other things it means?
16. What does the blue and purple, in verse 9, tell us?
17. Quote Jeremiah chapter 10 verse 10.
18. Living God is speaking of the great __ ___.
19. What will happen to all false gods?
20. What is the first thing we are taught in the Bible?
21. Quote John chapter 1 verses 1 through 3.
22. When is a good example of God having power over the elements?
23. Quote Revelation chapter 20 verse 15.
24. What was the word "rod", in verse 16, translated from?
25. What are some other things it means?
26. Quote Galatians chapter 3 verse 29.
27. What are the "wares" in verse 17?
28. What does "slinging out" indicate?
29. What is verse 20 speaking of?
30. What does "pastor" mean?
31. Who are the dragons in verse 22?
32. What happens when a man walks in his own ways?
33. Why did God allow this to happen to them?
34. Quote Proverbs chapter 22 verse 15.
35. Why will God pour out His wrath on the heathen?