To say that Ezekiel’s actions were strange would be an understatement. Previous prophets like Jeremiah had used props in their preaching – pointing to a pot being fashioned on a wheel (Jeremiah 18:3-4) or breaking a ceramic vessel (Jeremiah 19:10). Jeremiah had even worn a sash or waistband and then…

How should a Christian deal with suffering? Contrary to the false promises of the prosperity gospel, the first step is to admit that it is a part of God’s plan. In fact, verse 27 reminds us that experiencing the yoke of suffering is actually an important part of everyone’s education….

There was no more room for denial. In the smoking ruins of Jerusalem, the handful of survivors had to admit that Jeremiah had been right all along. The people had in fact rebelled against God by worshipping idols and oppressing one another. And because God is holy and righteous, He…

“I sure hope he gets what’s coming to him!” We’ve all entertained such thoughts, but who would be on your list of those who deserve judgment? Possessors of “white privilege?” Wall Street fatcats who profit from others’ misery? Goons who deface monuments or burn inner-city businesses? Mass-media talking heads who…

The Egyptians placed their confidence in the Nile River, which flooded every year, bringing water and fertile sediment to nourish their fields. In their prosperity, they assembled mighty armies, which they naturally assumed would be able to flood the earth in a similar way (Jeremiah 46:3-4, 7-8). The people of…

They should have learned. After all, Jeremiah had told them exactly what was going to happen. Ever since the days of Josiah’s reign, almost 30 years earlier, Jeremiah had been saying that armies would come from the north, besieging Jerusalem because of its wickedness (1:13-16). Some 11 years earlier, at…

“O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear” (1:2)? It’s not hard to relate to Habakkuk’s lament, is it? Even when we try to do the right thing, our world continues to be filled with injustice, with destruction and violence. And so we long…

A worldwide pandemic. Riots in our biggest cities. And buckle your seatbelts for two weeks of political conventions, putting America’s deadlocked and increasingly dysfunctional two-party federal system on full display. In times like these, it’s easy to think that God either doesn’t know what’s going on or that He doesn’t…

The quest for justice did not begin with the death of George Floyd. It didn’t even begin when Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama bus in 1954. In fact, it didn’t begin with the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, or the…

When we look at the headlines, it’s hard to see how Jesus could be the one Whose coming Jeremiah foretold in chapter 33. If He’s the righteous Branch, the Son of David, then where’s the justice and the righteousness on the earth (Jeremiah 33:15)? If He’s the One Who sits…