Today’s readings.. (2 Samuel 4,5), (Jeremiah 10), (Matthew 21)

The words of Jeremiah continue to attract our thoughts, his situation before God and the messages he conveyed to a people who had become extremely Godless, have a great number of parallels to our days. We read ch. 10 which starts, “Hear the word the LORD speaks to you, O house of Israel … Learn not the way of the nations …”

The nations worshipped idols of wood and stone (v.3-5), but today the people of most nations idolize humans which they copy and follow. Jeremiah declares, “Every man is stupid and without knowledge” [v.14], that is, without knowledge of the true God, the Creator, “who made the earth by his power, who established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding stretched out the heavens.” [v.12] With the powerful telescopes, and special satellites and probes into space, scientists have recently learnt how much the universe has been immeasurably stretched out!

In awe of the awareness he had gained from God Jeremiah reflects on his own situation and writes, “I know, O LORD, that the way of man is not in himself, that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps. Correct me, O LORD, but in justice; not in your anger, lest you bring me to nothing.” [v.23,24] Surely Jeremiah’s attitude and words should also be ours, and should be evident every day in our thoughts and prayers making us increasingly strong in faith to be able to cope with the situation when the Almighty corrects this world in his anger!