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  DISCUSSION                                                                          To be a prophet of God in the Old Testament meant that there were many sacrifices that you were expected to endure.   No sacrifice was as great as the one that Ezekiel had to make.   For God to illustrate His point, Ezekiel had to watch as his wife suddenly died.   If it wasn’t enough to have her die, Ezekiel was not allowed to show any grief.   When the Jews came to console him, they were shocked that he did not show any grief or signs of the usual bereavement.   The reason for God doing this is simple.   Ezekiel’s wife was the joy of his life (24.16), now the Lord has taken her away.   The Temple was the joy of the Jewish people, but now the Lord has taken the Temple away.   God was commanding the Jewish exiles to mourn over the loss of the Temple, the same way that Ezekiel had mourned over the loss of his wife; without loud lamentation or change of eating habits.    The lesson for us today is th

  DISCUSSION                                      Ezekiel 16 and 22 are very similar chapters in that they both depict the apostasy of the nation.   They both compare Israel to a prostitute who had broken her marriage vows to God.   The difference in the two chapters is that in chapter 16 the adultery has been committed with idolatry, and in chapter 18 the idolatry has been committed in their trust of other nations.   Instead of trusting in God for their protection, they had placed their trust in Assyria, Babylon and Egypt.   Although the parable used in this passage is specifically for Israel, Judah and Samaria, it is very relatable to us to today.    Let me explain; God has always promised that He would deliver those that placed their trust in Him. His love, protection and peace are available to all those who reciprocate that love back to Him.   However, how many people look for love, protection and peace in other things rather than God.    Today, people look to alcohol or drugs t

  DISCUSSION                                                                           In John 9, Jesus and His disciples come upon a man that had been born blind.   Intrigued by his blindness, the Disciples ask a very poignant question; "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" (John 9:2).   Jesus responded "It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. (John 9:3).   It was a common thought of the day that if someone was born with a disability such as blindness, that his parents must have sinned, and their punishment was in the form of the child’s disability.   Jesus shoots this theory down in his statement, but they should have already known that it wasn’t because of the sin of his parents.   In fact, centuries before the prophet, Ezekiel also deals with this line of faulty reasoning .   "What do you mean by repeating this proverb concerning the land of Israel, 'The fathers

  At first it might seem that if God created all things, then evil must have been created by God. However, evil is not a "thing" like a rock or electricity. You cannot have a jar of evil. Evil has no existence of its own; it is really the absence of good. For example, holes are real but they only exist in something else. We call the absence of dirt a hole, but it cannot be separated from the dirt. So when God created, it is true that all He created was good. One of the good things God made was creatures who had the freedom to choose good. In order to have a real choice, God had to allow there to be something besides good to choose. So, God allowed these free angels and humans to choose good or reject good (evil). When a bad relationship exists between two good things we call that evil, but it does not become a "thing" that required God to create it. Perhaps a further illustration will help. If a person is asked, "Does cold exist?" the answer would like

  DISCUSSION                                                                                 Nobody wakes up in the morning and says “I really want to be weird today”. Certainly, nobody wants to be considered at school or work as the weird one. Did you know the bible tells us we should, in fact, strive to be weird. The passage for today says just that. Most translations people read that we should be “special” or “chosen”, but the King James Version reads that we should be “peculiar”. The first definition in the dictionary for peculiar is “strange or odd, unusual”. Most of us would never want to be considered those things. Those are the ones at school people laugh at, talk about, or stay away from. The second definition listed says “belonging exclusively to”.   As Christians we are to belong exclusively to God. We are to have no other gods before him. This can be tough living in the world today. The truth is, the same could be said for the world Peter was writing about. Could you im

  The realities of sin, suffering, and evil persist in our world prompting many (especially young millennials) to question their faith. These same realities exist still today—post resurrection of Jesus. As Paul laments in Rom 7-8, the sinfulness of man and the suffering of all creation leave him and it groaning for a time of redemption.     Richard Oster calls Lamentations, “the best commentary on Romans 8.” Lamentations confronts these questions and God’s role in them while providing a voice of heartfelt emotion but steadfast hope in the God who chastens. Lamentations deals with the reality of our world emotionally, and leaves it to marinate on the heart of the reader.   The poems give voice to deep pains and questions for a 6th century BC audience, but still gives voice to many in pain today. But the poems are given to God in the form of lamenting prayer, petition for him to act differently in the future.   -Chapter one personifies God’s people in Jerusalem (Zion) as a wi

  DISCUSSION                                                                               I received a call that a major part of my life was now gone.   The Larimore home at Mars Hill Bible School has been an icon of love and sacrifice as far back as I can remember, and now was destroyed by fire.   The house was home to TB Larimore, the founder of Mars Hill Bible School.   He was also a huge factor as to why the church is so strong in north Alabama.   As I read the recounting of the fall of Jerusalem and the burning of the Temple by Nebuchadnezzar, I could not get those images of the Larimore home in flames out of my mind.   It must have been excruciating for the devout Jews to watch as their temple erupted in flames.   With each passing moment another memory, another treasure, and a small piece of their soul just disappeared before their eyes. Those similar feelings went through my mind as I watched our beloved school landmark go up in smoke.   So much of the school’s history was

  DISCUSSION                                                                                As strange as it might have seemed, the LORD has used a pagan nation to teach the children of Israel what happened when they turn aside to idols.   However, don’t think that God is going to allow Babylon off the hook for their own sins.   In Jeremiah 50, God begins the pronouncement of judgment on Babylon as well. He wants to ensure that they know “…Babylon has become a horror to the nations…” (Jeremiah 50.23) and “I am against you” (Jeremiah 50.31).   Even though God is using them to teach a lesson to His people, He wants to make sure that they cannot escape judgment either.   This all fits into God’s plan.    In Jeremiah 50.45 He says, “ Therefore hear the plan that the LORD has made against Babylon, and the purposes He has formed against the Chaldeans” .   God has plans for all of us, whether we serve Him or not.   That brings about good news and bad news.   The good news is that if we ar

  DISCUSSION                                         As Jeremiah begins to close out his book, God is using him to pronounce judgment upon all the nations that have practiced wickedness.   The words of Jeremiah that were specifically assigned for the Egyptians were “the swift cannot flee away, nor the warrior escape” (Jeremiah 46.6). As I read these, I can’t help but be reminded of the judgment that this world will have when Christ returns.    In the New Testament concerning judgment day, we see it will come as a “thief in the night” (Matthew 24.43; I Thessalonians 5.2; Revelation 16.15).   We also see it will be an exercise of “vengeance” and retribution (2 Thessalonians 1:5-12).   It will be a day in which no soul will be able to escape (2 Corinthians 5.10).    If there is anything that is certain concerning our Lord, He will not allow the wicked to go unpunished.   Therefore, we should use every resource at our disposal to make sure we are following the path that Christ would hav

  DISCUSSION                                                         As a child I can remember being scolded by my parents and grandparents that I should not say the word “hate”.   “You should not “hate” anyone or anything because that is just not nice to say”, they would tell me.   Well I’m not one to rebuke my parents, but even God is said to “hate” some things (Proverbs 6.16-23).   Now I completely understand where my parents and grandparents were coming from because I have said the exact words to my children.   It is true that I should never say I hate someone because it doesn’t matter what they did; they were still created in the image of God and have something good to offer.   Nor should I say I hate certain things because I am blessed beyond compare with physical blessings, and even though I may not like someone, I am still better off than 90% of the world.   But should I not be like God and hate the same things that He does? For instance, in Jeremiah 44 God is declaring judg

  DISCUSSION                                                                                   The short book of Habakkuk is a recording of Habakkuk’s complaints to God and God’s response. Habakkuk is looking around at the evil people of the world (specifically Assyria and Babylon) and seeing them rise to power. He notes that the law has become paralyzed and the wicked outweigh the righteous (1.4). God’s response reminds us “his ways are not our ways” when he says, “I am doing work that you would not even believe if I told you” (1.5). Habakkuk had a little bit of a “Jonah” mentality but what we have to understand is that God held his people to his standard – a higher standard. They were his special people and if they wanted to be blessed, then they themselves needed to become righteous. As Jesus says, “…to whom much is given, much is required” (Luke 12.48).   God reminds Habakkuk and us that no matter what is going on around us that the “righteous will live by faith” (2.3). H

  DISCUSSION                                                  Warning after warning, after warning; and he still did not listen!   As I continue to read through the book of Jeremiah, I keep asking myself “Why…why did Zedekiah not listen to the words of God through the mouth of Jeremiah?”   God gave him ample time to humble himself with the assurance that if he did, he and his family would survive, yet because of arrogance and unbelief he did not listen.   As we read in Jeremiah 39, it is too late for him to change.   King Nebuchadnezzar slaughters the son of Zedekiah right in front of his eyes, and then he gouges out Zedekiah eyes so that the last thing he sees is the death of his sons.   How horrible, how painful, how miserable it must have been for him to have to endure.   Not to mention the painful thoughts of regret he must have had the last days of his life of knowing all of this could have been avoided if he had just heeded the message of Jeremiah.   This is only a small paral

  DISCUSSION                                                                      Have you ever read a passage of Scripture that you wish wasn’t there?   Maybe it was something that when you read it, you were so upset about it being there that you wish you could just rip out that page so you would never have to read it again.   We have all heard of people who have torn out pages of their Bible, thinking if it wasn’t in their Bible they would not be held accountable for the words on those pages.   Doesn’t that sound facetious?   Yet that is exactly what the King did to the words that God gave to Jeremiah to write on a scroll.   Jeremiah dictates Gods message to Baruch because he is not allowed to go the House of the LORD.   Then he tells Baruch to go to the men of Judah and read the scroll in the hearing of all the people in hopes that they will humble themselves and turn back to God.   When the king seizes the scroll and reads it for himself, he doesn’t like what he reads. He begins

  DISCUSSION                                               Even though the nation has been wicked and left the ways of the LORD and are facing the punishment of a seventy-year captivity, God continues to love them.   When Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden and were punished, God still loved them.   When the children of Israel decided to not trust Him when they were afraid to go into Canaan and God punished them to wander in the wilderness for forty years, He never stopped loving.   When David had the affair with Bathsheba and then had Uriah killed and their son died, God never stopped loving him.   Even though we fail Him every day by our sin and shame, He will never stop loving us.   His love for us is unconditional; that means there is no condition by which He will stop loving us.   As Jeremiah continues to prophecy concerning the nations punishment, the LORD places a side note to assure them of His love.   “Give thanks to the LORD of host, for the LORD is good, for His ste

  DISCUSSION                                                                                 The LORD declares to Jeremiah not only the things that are shortly to come to pass with the nation of Israel and Judah, but He also points him into the blessings of the future with a new covenant.   This new covenant will not be like the old one that God gave to His people as they came out of Egypt, because they have already broken that covenant.   This one will not be written on tablets of stone but will be written on their hearts.   This covenant will also be different in that it will not be just for the Jews, but this will be for everyone.   By this time, all the nations of the earth will know who God is and that He is the forgiver of iniquities.   You can imagine, the look of happiness and joy that must have been on the face of Jeremiah as he hears about this new covenant.   Sadly, Jeremiah would never be able to physically see that day; but we have!   Today, we are no longer serving und

  DISCUSSION                                                                            In Jeremiah 27, the LORD has Jeremiah use an object lesson for the nation of Judah and their neighbors.    He has Jeremiah build a yoke and place it upon his neck as he prophesies.   The lesson is this: any nation who does not accept the yoke of King Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon, the LORD will punish.   Yet, if they do accept the yoke, then he will bless them while they are under Babylonian rule.   As I read this story and understood the lesson, I could not help but remember the words of Jesus in Matthew 11.28-30.             “ Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." -Matthew 11:28-30 A yoke is a symbol of submission and being under the control of the person who oversees the yoke. Although the yok

  DISCUSSION                                                                 In Jeremiah 24, God sends a vision to the prophet of two baskets of figs that were placed before the Temple.   One basket was full of good figs, yet the other basket was full of bad figs that could not be eaten.   The meaning of the vision was directed towards those exiled from Judah that would be sent to Babylon.   The good figs are compared to those that go away into exile; these are the ones that accept their punishment for the LORD and do what they are told.   The bad figs were compared to Zedekiah and his officials, as well as all of those who tried to remain in Jerusalem or hide out in Egypt.   These are the ones that are not accepting the punishment of the LORD and did not regard His Word.   We have a very similar comparison that we use today, yet we compare it to a different fruit… apples.   The good apples are the ones that are seeking to follow the will of the LORD, while the bad apples are those

  DISCUSSION                                                         Throughout his ministry, Jeremiah had to endure intense persecution because of his stand for God’s word to him (15:15).   Jeremiah knew that his life was in danger and yet he chose to serve God. He never wavered from telling his people of their wrongs with little fear for his own life. Jeremiah loved his people and Jerusalem. Today, we have similar opportunities in America, our country that we love. We have all of God’s word, in the Bible, and we know what He expects of us. As you see our people in America doing things that are against God’s word, what do you do?   Does it make you sad as it did Jeremiah, when he saw his people worshiping other gods? Do you stand up against the evil that is entering into our society? Does the fear of persecution sway you into being silent? The heavenly rewards of speaking up far outweigh the earthly gain of remaining silent.   What do you think God expects us to do? Prayer Requ

  DISCUSSION                                                  Jeremiah lived in a world of cultures based on idolatry (Jeremiah10: 3-10). His own nation, Judah, was given over to idols during the reign of Manasseh and Amon, probably the period when Jeremiah was a boy. In fact, Jeremiah says that Judah had as many gods as it did cities (2:28). Also, each society around Judah worshipped many false gods. Looking back on these religions from today’s perspective, we have a tendency to look at an idol as merely an object crafted of stone, wood or metal that worshipper’s bowed down to in hopes of receiving good fortune. But that is not really what an idol is. An idol is anything that we value more than we value pleasing God; it may control you, and it’s probably something you can’t let go of. It takes priority over all things. What are some idols we have today?   Certainly work and possessions would qualify for many people, considering the addictive way they are pursued. We each know w

  DISCUSSION                                    Having faith is not a onetime event in one’s life, and it is not a state of moral perfection that only a few can attain. Faith is a dynamic lifelong journey that each of us as Christians are on. At any given time we are either moving toward God or away from Him. The people in Jeremiah’s day were under God’s judgment because they turned away from Him – they went backward not forward. (Jeremiah 7:24). Rather than cultivate a growing relationship with God based on sustained faithfulness, they went their own direction following their evil hearts direction. (7:23-24).Let’s not let that be true of us. The only way to make progress on our journey of faith is to keep moving toward God, following His word. We will fail sometimes but we must get up and turn back toward God and not away from Him. Paul described this in his own personal experience; forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to the things ahead, I press toward

  DISCUSSION                                           The prophets frequently compared the city of Jerusalem to the city of Sodom. God destroyed Sodom for its wickedness. God would have spared the city if Abraham could have found 10 righteous people. They weren’t there. How many would have saved Jerusalem from a similar judgment? only one (Jer. 5:1). Jeremiah searched in poor neighborhoods, in the area of the leaders, but he found no one righteous and following Gods way. People of Jerusalem had turned completely away from God. Sin had crept into their lives to a point where they weren’t even ashamed of their sinful ways; nothing embarrassed them (Jeremiah 6:15). Paul used similar words in Eph. 4: 17-19 when talking to the Christians in Ephesus who had fallen away. Their hearts where hardened and they didn’t even recognize evil.   Does one just wake up one morning and find themselves this deep in sin? Maybe we start out with “G” rated movies and progress to “X” (we fool ourselve

DISCUSSION                           Jeremiah 1:5 “Before I formed you in the belly I knew you; and before you came forth out of the womb I consecrated you, and I ordained you a prophet to the nations.” Ephesians 2:10 “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God afore prepared that we should walk in them.”       These two verses clearly show us that God does have a plan for each of us and has prepared each of us to perform certain good works. If we don’t use the abilities God has blessed us with, we are not meeting Gods plan for us. Age is not an excuse in Gods sight. If we are given an opportunity to do God’s work, He expects us to do it.       Young people can easily feel intimidated in the presence of older adults. As Jeremiah, when he was called to serve as God’s prophet to Judah and the nations, he complained he was too young. (Jer. 1:6). Was this because he was imagining the stern look the elderly might have when he announced that God

  DISCUSSION                                   The book of Zephaniah has only 53 verses, but Zephaniah refers to the “day of the Lord” 18 times. He warned his listeners to be silent in the presence of God (1:7). To listen to the warnings of repenting and being ready, for the day of the Lord is at hand. You will be judged. Along the seacoast there are many threats to ships as they approach the rocks and reefs near shorelines. Foghorns are used night and day to warn the approaching ships of danger. Remarkably, seagulls choose these locations to build their nests, seemingly unbothered by the loud continuous horn warning blast. It seems like in Zephaniah’s day, the people of Judah had grown deaf to the periodic warnings of the imminent shipwreck of their nation. It seems as though Gods every effort to help them make the changes needed in their lives was ignored. They were oblivious to Gods warning of danger ahead (3:1-7).   Do we react in a similar way to Gods warnings? Do we ig