Inspired by Jeremiah chapter 10-11 and 2 KINGS 23:1-37
Hi guys, thank for joining me.
This will be a bi-weekly series on our walk through Jeremiah, you will get:
1. A song/Poem/Podcast
2. The story
3. Some discussion questions at the end for you, your kids and family.
Pick up your Bibles and join me, follow with the podcast for cool sound effects too!
CATCH UP
Please take time to go through the previous episodes (The last one is here). As they generally build on one another. If you don’t have time, the short summary is: We have a boy called by God to preach a message of warning to Jerusalem and Judah. The thing is that nobody wanted to hear his message from God …
Now walk and imagine with me through chapter 10 and 11 of Jeremiah.
SAYING YES AND AMEN
The sun rose warm and golden over Jerusalem that day, gilding the rooftops and catching in the banners hung across the city streets. It was a day for celebration—a day when Josiah, the young king, had called the people together for something they had neglected for generations.
They came from the hill towns and villages, from the vineyards of Hebron and the valleys near Jericho. Farmers, merchants, soldiers, priests, all crowding into the great court before the Temple. The sound of sandals scuffing the stone mingled with the bleating of goats and the hum of hundreds of voices.
On the Temple steps, Josiah stood in his royal robes, the scroll of the Law of God in his hands. He had found it - or rather, it had been found - buried and forgotten in the Temple storerooms. It was the book of the covenant, the words of Moses from Deuteronomy, calling Israel to love and serve the Lord their God with all their heart, soul, and strength.
The priests blew the silver trumpets, and silence fell.
Josiah’s voice rang out: “Hear the words of this covenant, O Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem!”
He read of blessings for obedience and curses for rebellion. He read of the love and faithfulness of the God who had brought them out of Egypt. He read the commands against idols, against oppression, against shedding innocent blood.
And when he finished, the people lifted their voices in unison: “We will obey the LORD our God!” Yes and Amen.
It was a stirring moment. Tears glistened in many eyes. Heads nodded. Hands were lifted. The covenant had been renewed— at least with their lips.
But at the edge of the crowd, in the shadow of a colonnade, Jeremiah watched. His heart was heavy.
He had grown up in nearby Anathoth, just a few miles from here. He knew these people; their ways, their bargains, and their back-room deals. He had walked their streets and eaten at their tables. He loved them as one loves his own family.
Yet the voice of the Lord burned in his heart like a coal: “These people draw near to Me with their mouth and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me.”
THE FOOLISHNESS OF IDOLS
A few days later, Jeremiah stood in the marketplace, his voice rising above the calls of vendors selling figs and pomegranates.
“Listen!” he cried. “Do not learn the way of the nations! For the customs of the peoples are futile. Can you not see it? They cut down a tree from the forest, the work of the hands of a craftsman with the ax. They decorate it with silver and gold. They fasten it with nails so it will not topple. It cannot speak, it must be carried … yet you are afraid of them, man-made gods?”
Heads turned. Some smirked. Others frowned. A potter muttered to his apprentice, “There he goes again.”
Jeremiah’s voice swelled: “But the Lord is true, He is the living God and everlasting King! By His power the earth was made, by His wisdom the world is here, at His discretion the heaven’s are stretched out beyond our sight. Do you see the rain? our God has brought lightning to accompany it. Have you felt the wind? It comes from His treasuries.
He looked at their faces and said: “And yet you have forsaken the God who can carry you through it all — for gods that you yourselves must carry?”
THE PLOT IN ANATHOTH
Back in his hometown, the elders sat in a shaded courtyard, speaking in low voices.
“This Jeremiah,” one said, “is bad for business. He speaks against the city. He says disaster is coming from the Lord. Who will trade with a people cursed by their own God?”
Another spat on the ground. “We should silence him. Let him preach no more in the name of the LORD.”
The whispers carried, as whispers do. And God himself told Jeremiah of their assassination plot.
That night he sat alone in his small room, the oil lamp flickering low. He prayed silently, words tangled with grief. He wanted his people to thrive. He wanted the blessings Josiah had read to come to pass. But he could not pretend. He knew the truth: that outward religion, even when wrapped in the beauty of temple rituals, meant nothing without a changed heart.
He remembered the day God had called him: “Do not be afraid of their faces, for I am with you to deliver you.” That promise clung to his soul, for he was struggling, and if it weren’t for God’s fire inside him, he would not have the strength or will to speak.
The Lonely Prophet
The sound of crickets filled the night air. Jeremiah knelt by his bed. “Lord,” he whispered, “I love them. I do not want them to suffer. Yet You have told me… judgment is coming. If only they would turn to You.”
Yet the answer came, gentle yet unyielding: “Speak all the words that I command you. Do not diminish a word.”
And so Jeremiah lay down at last, the weight of his calling pressing on his chest: ‘Ka boom, ka boom’, as the flicker of a dying lamp danced on the wall. He was alone… yet held by the God who carries.
ONLY A MIRACLE
This moment - Josiah’s covenant and Jeremiah’s warning - was the collision of two roads. One paved with reforms, laws, and outward zeal, while the other cut deep into the heart, exposing its wounds and calling for healing only God’s Spirit could give.
Jeremiah knew… without that inner change, the nation’s “Yes and Amen” would be nothing more than an echo—soon swallowed by the sound of coming footsteps from the north.
Babylon! The Harlot.
A few small questions to help you and your family reflect:
What did the people of God say ‘Yes and Amen’ to?
Have you said ‘yes’ when your actually meant ‘no’?
What is the correct response: Jeremiah sees that?
A: The heart of men and woman need to be made new
B: If we say yes with our lips, our hearts will follow
C: Because people hate him, he should change his message to what they want to hear
Discuss with your family what modern day ‘Idols’ could be (maybe think of things that we make with our own might, and our own intelligence, and our own hands)?
Tune in next time for more stuff from the prophet Jeremiah. Words more relevant today than ever before.
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