Pour out Your grace upon the nations

Jeremiah 10 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Hear the word which the Lord speaks to you, O house of Israel. ² Thus says the Lord,

“Do not learn the way of the nations,
And do not be terrified by the signs of the heavens
Although the nations are terrified by them;
³ For the customs of the peoples are delusion;
Because it is wood cut from the forest,
The work of the hands of a craftsman with a cutting tool.
⁴ “They decorate it with silver and with gold;
They fasten it with nails and with hammers
So that it will not totter.
⁵ “Like a scarecrow in a cucumber field are they,
And they cannot speak;
They must be carried,
Because they cannot walk!
Do not fear them,
For they can do no harm,
Nor can they do any good.”

⁶ There is none like You, O Lord;
You are great, and great is Your name in might.
⁷ Who would not fear You, O King of the nations?
Indeed it is Your due!
For among all the wise men of the nations
And in all their kingdoms,
There is none like You.
⁸ But they are altogether stupid and foolish
In their discipline of delusion—their idol is wood!
⁹ Beaten silver is brought from Tarshish,
And gold from Uphaz,
The work of a craftsman and of the hands of a goldsmith;
Violet and purple are their clothing;
They are all the work of skilled men.
¹⁰ But the Lord is the true God;
He is the living God and the everlasting King.
At His wrath the earth quakes,
And the nations cannot endure His indignation.

^11]Thus you shall say to them, “The gods that did not make the heavens and the earth will perish from the earth and from under the heavens.”

¹² It is He who made the earth by His power,
Who established the world by His wisdom;
And by His understanding He has stretched out the heavens.
¹³ When He utters His voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens,
And He causes the clouds to ascend from the end of the earth;
He makes lightning for the rain,
And brings out the wind from His storehouses.
¹⁴ Every man is stupid, devoid of knowledge;
Every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols;
For his molten images are deceitful,
And there is no breath in them.
¹⁵ They are worthless, a work of mockery;
In the time of their punishment they will perish.
¹⁶ The portion of Jacob is not like these;
For the ^]Maker of all is He,
And Israel is the tribe of His inheritance;
The Lord of hosts is His name.

¹⁷ Pick up your bundle from the ground,
You who dwell under siege!

¹⁸ For thus says the Lord,

“Behold, I am slinging out the inhabitants of the land
At this time,
And will cause them distress,
That they may be found.”

¹⁹ Woe is me, because of my injury!
My wound is incurable.
But I said, “Truly this is a sickness,
And I must bear it.”
²⁰ My tent is destroyed,
And all my ropes are broken;
My sons have gone from me and are no more.
There is no one to stretch out my tent again
Or to set up my curtains.
²¹ For the shepherds have become stupid
And have not sought the Lord;
Therefore they have not prospered,
And all their flock is scattered.
²² The sound of a report! Behold, it comes—
A great commotion out of the land of the north—
To make the cities of Judah
A desolation, a haunt of jackals.

²³ I know, O Lord, that a man’s way is not in himself,
Nor is it in a man who walks to direct his steps.
²⁴ Correct me, O Lord, but with justice;
Not with Your anger, or You will bring me to nothing.
²⁵ Pour out Your wrath on the nations that do not know You
And on the families that do not call Your name;
For they have devoured Jacob;
They have devoured him and consumed him
And have laid waste his habitation.

Amos 3:7 says: Surely the Lord GOD does nothing Unless He reveals His secret counsel To His servants the prophets.    Today’s text, the revelation of God’s plans to Jeremiah, begins:    Hear the word which the Lord speaks to you, O house of Israel.  Thus says the Lord, “Do not learn the way of the nations, And do not be terrified by the signs of the heavens
Although the nations are terrified by them;  For the customs of the peoples are delusion; Because it is wood cut from the forest, The work of the hands of a craftsman with a cutting tool. They decorate it with silver and with gold; They fasten it with nails and with hammers So that it will not totter. Like a scarecrow in a cucumber field are they, And they cannot speak; They must be carried, Because they cannot walk! Do not fear them, For they can do no harm, Nor can they do any good.”   Although this was a word to the house of Israel, the truth of God’s word never changes. While it may not be that people today worship idols made of wood or metal, by the hands of man, we are still called not to follow the way of the nations, who serve and worship false ideologies made in the minds of man. The word says: “Do not fear them, For they can do no harm, Nor can they do any good.”  Surely no good can come from the false ideologies of man and as the prophet says: There is none like You, O Lord; You are great, and great is Your name in might. Who would not fear You, O King of the nations? Indeed it is Your due! For among all the wise men of the nations And in all their kingdoms, There is none like You.

No one or nothing can stand against the will and the power of The God of creation. The prophet says:  It is He who made the earth by His power, Who established the world by His wisdom; And by His understanding He has stretched out the heavens.  When He utters His voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, And He causes the clouds to ascend from the end of the earth; He makes lightning for the rain, And brings out the wind from His storehouses.  In Daniel 2:20-22, when God revealed His plan to His prophet, Daniel responded saying:  “Let the name of God be blessed forever and ever, For wisdom and power belong to Him. It is He who changes the times and the epochs; He removes kings and establishes kings; He gives wisdom to wise men And knowledge to men of understanding. It is He who reveals the profound and hidden things; He knows what is in the darkness, And the light dwells with Him.  The false ideologies of man cannot change or over rule what God will do, but those who follow them can do and suffer great harm.   they are altogether stupid and foolish In their discipline of delusion…  But the Lord is the true God; He is the living God and the everlasting King. At His wrath the earth quakes, And the nations cannot endure His indignation… Every man is stupid, devoid of knowledge; Every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols; For his molten images are deceitful, And there is no breath in them.   Again, the ideologies of man are powerless against God, but those who follow or promote them can suffer and do great harm. In Matthew 5:17-19 Jesus says:  “Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfil them. For truly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Whoever then relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but he who does them and teaches them shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”

The prophet says:  I know, O Lord, that a man’s way is not in himself,
Nor is it in a man who walks to direct his steps.  Correct me, O Lord, but with justice; Not with Your anger, or You will bring me to nothing.  Pour out Your wrath on the nations that do not know You And on the families that do not call Your name.  For us, we do not ask for God’s justice, but rather in Christ we seek and receive His mercy and grace. In Matthew 7:1-2 Jesus says:  “Do not judge so that you will not be judged.  For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you.”   In Matthew 5:44-45 Jesus says:  “I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,  so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.”   If we want the mercy and grace of God for ourselves, then it is His mercy and grace we should seek for others. 

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ, precious Holy Spirit, there is none like You. The ways and the wisdom of man are foolishness in Your sight. You created the heavens and the earth and by Your power, according to Your will, they are sustained. You raise up kings and kingdoms and at Your word and Your will they also fall. Correct us, O Lord, Not with Your anger, not even with justice, that we would get what we deserve, or You will bring us to nothing.  Pour out Your mercy and grace on the nations that do not know You And on the families that do not call Your name. So that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess  that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.(Philippians 2:10-11)  Amen.