Jeremiah 10:8

The Bible says in Jeremiah 10:8-13, “But they are altogether brutish and foolish: the stock is a doctrine of vanities. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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.” This passage of scripture is a continuation of the comparison of God to the idols and the false gods. Verse 10 tells us, “the Lord is the true God.” There are false gods in the world and false religions. A wise person will seek the truth. Jesus said in Matthew 7:7, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” Jesus also said in John 14:6, “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

This passage of scripture in Jeremiah chapter 10 lists many of the attributes and characteristics of God. Notice that it says in Jeremiah 10:10, “But the LORD is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting king.” The word that is translated “LORD” with all capital letters in the King James Version comes from the Hebrew word for “Jehovah.” The word is a derivative of the verb “to be” and thus the name “LORD” or “Jehovah” or “Yahweh” refers to the ever-present and always existing nature of God. He is the “living” God and an “everlasting” king. God is also Judge. That is why it says in the last part of Jeremiah 10:10, “at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide his indignation.” Two things are important for people to seek: because God is eternal, we need to find eternal life. Because God is Judge, we need to be able to escape His wrath and His indignation. That is why Jesus went to the cross of Calvary: to provide us a means to escape the wrath and the indignation to come.

Jeremiah 10:11-13 is teaching us about the fact that God is the Creator. One of the key phrases in this passage is the fact that it says that “he hath established the world by his wisdom.” It is interesting to notice that in these verses that what is used to illustrate God’s wisdom in establishing this world are the weather patterns. Reference is made to thunder, and rain, and lightening, and wind. These things are the hand of God keeping the world working as it has always worked. Jesus demonstrated that He ruled the weather. It says in Mathew 8:23-27, “And when he was entered into a ship, his disciples followed him. And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he was asleep. And his disciples came to him, and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish. And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm. But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!”

The Bible says in Jeremiah 10:14-20, “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. They are vanity, and the work of errors: in the time of their visitation they shall perish. 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. Gather up thy wares out of the land, O inhabitant of the fortress. 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. Woe is me for my hurt! my wound is grievous: but I said, Truly this is a grief, and I must bear it. 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.” Speaking of those who are involved in false religion, it says in Jeremiah 10:15, “in the time of their visitation they shall perish.” There will be a time of visitation. Things may seem to be going well for a while, but things will change. They always do. Something will happen. Some great trial, some great sorrow, or some great judgment will come from God, and of course, the false religion will be of no value. It will only ensure their destruction. One of the reasons to build up your faith while things seem to be going fairly well is because the day will come when you will need faith more than you could imagine. With faith in the Lord you will be able to face any difficulty and any sorrow, and come out victorious. It says in First John 5:4, “For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.”

Notice that Jeremiah said in 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.” Every follower of Christ will have some kind of grief to bear. It says about the Messiah in Isaiah 53:3, “He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.” Jesus said in John 15:19-20, “If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.” And Jesus also said in Luke 14:27, “And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.” This was said long before Jesus Himself was to die on a cross. The cross was well-known by everyone who lived in a country that had been conquered by Rome. The cross represented a shameful death because the victim was stripped naked and hung there in public for many hours before dying in agony resulting from the very slow and painful torture of the cross. How descriptive that is to realize that Jesus used this symbol to tell His followers what their lives would be like if they followed Him. Any volunteers? Yes, there are volunteers from the few who appreciate Jesus for what He did for them. To be called to believe in Jesus, and then follow in His footsteps, is a great challenge. It is a call to suffer for His glory.

Jeremiah gave another reason for his great sorrows when he wrote in 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.” Three things are said about these pastors: 1. What they had become: “brutish.” 2. Why they became that way: they “have not sought the LORD.” 3. The result: in general they “shall not prosper,” and specifically, “their flocks shall be scattered.” It is an important calling to be a pastor. Paul wrote in First Timothy 3:1, ”This is a true saying, if any man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work.” Among the most important responsibilities of the pastor is the need to teach the flock and to lead the flock. A shepherd leads the sheep to green pastures so they can be safe and feed properly to grow and be strong. The spiritual food is God’s Word. Jesus spoke to Peter in John 21:15-17 that says, “So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs. He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep. He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.” One sure way to do great harm to a flock of sheep is to render the pastor ineffective. A congregation will be weak or strong relative to the spiritual food that is fed to them by the pastor. If you want to ruin a country or a society, just get the pastors to stop seeking the Lord, and then everything else that is good will fall apart. The sheep will be scattered.

The Bible says in Jeremiah 10:22-24, “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. O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps. O LORD, correct me, but with judgment; not in thine anger, lest thou bring me to nothing.” Verse 22 is a reminder of the destruction that was coming upon Israel. This is not unlike the current situation in the world in which we live. We see bad things happening, and there will be consequences. We have foolish leaders who do not know what to do, and whatever they do is probably the wrong thing. There are contagious diseases for which there is no known cure that can spread rapidly, and the world could once again see the misery that was experienced when the bubonic plague gripped the earth in the middle ages. Immorality is being taught to the young people as never before by Hollywood, the entertainment industry, and bad uses of the internet. The consequences of these teachings will bring a terrible burden on the generation that will be controlled by their desires only. Any country that is weak militarily risks being attacked and over-taken by a conqueror. The financial institutions of the world could crumble any day because of how the entire system has been mismanaged through the mis-use of debt. This problem was caused by the wrong kind of government regulation and by greed from many sources. Trouble is coming, you can believe that. Just like in the day of Jeremiah most of the trouble is a result of human sin.

What does a believer do in the midst of a world like this in order to make a way through this world? The answer is found in what was said in 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.” We can make it, if we are led of the Lord. It says in Psalm 23:1-2, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.” A gospel song-writer named Joseph Gilmore in 1862 picked up this theme very well: