Don’t Pray for Them! - Jeremiah 7-11

Jeremiah 7:16-20 (ESV)

“As for you, do not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer for them, and do not intercede with me, for I will not hear you. Do you not see what they are doing in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? The children gather wood, the fathers kindle fire, and the women knead dough, to make cakes for the queen of heaven. And they pour out drink offerings to other gods, to provoke me to anger. Is it I whom they provoke? declares the LORD. Is it not themselves, to their own shame? Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, my anger and my wrath will be poured out on this place, upon man and beast, upon the trees of the field and the fruit of the ground; it will burn and not be quenched.”

We should read also:

Jeremiah 11:14 (ESV)

“Therefore do not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer on their behalf, for I will not listen when they call to me in the time of their trouble.

In this section of Jeremiah the prophet is twice told not to pray for his fellow countrymen.   As a prophet he is told not to pray for those who would hear his prophecy.   As a herald in the streets of Jerusalem he was not to ask God to have those who hear him to heed his warnings.   In the New Testament, however, we are told to pray for one another:  

James 5:16 (ESV)

Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.

1 Timothy 2:1 (ESV)

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people,

In the Old and New Testament we are given countless examples of people praying for each other.   Yet, this prophet, Jeremiah, was to NOT pray for others.   This shows us how angry God was about the disobedience of His people.   He was so angry He wanted no intercession for them.   Lacking intercession people will have no hope for their own salvation.  One of the tools God uses to heal the land is through prayer.   Remember what God instructed the people of Israel to do:

2 Chronicles 7:14 (ESV)

if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

It is only by prayer that salvation is afforded mankind.   Yet, this group of people were not to be prayed over.  They were simply to be warned about their impending doom.   Disobedience to God puts man in a bad condition.  

Security of Home in the Hurricanes of Life - Job 27-28

Job 27:18 (ESV)

He builds his house like a moth’s,

like a booth that a watchman makes.

Job once again is defending his righteousness in this on-going argument with the three friends who came to comfort him; at least that was their original intent.  Job, in the above verse, is talking about the insecurity of the wicked and their children.   He has painted, thus far, that they have little that last in the world.   In the above verse he writes about how unstable their homes are.  He compares the homes of the wicked (homes they believe will keep them safe) to that of a moth’s home.  Nothing is so easily destroyed than that crafted by the moth.   He also compares it to the booth that the watchman makes.  These were simply a lean-tos built by those who were sent to watch over the fields from those who might steal the crops.   Never meant to be permanent, these quickly built booths were meant only to keep the sun off the backs of the watchmen.   What Job is telling his listens is that wealth can’t protect you, no matter how secure your home is.  He would know this truth better than anyone in this discussion:

 Job 1:18-19 (ESV)

While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, and behold, a great wind came across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young people, and they are dead, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”

To emphasize the same truth, Jesus said it this way:

Matthew 7:26-27 (ESV)

And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”

Job has lost everything.  He is now left without home and health to defend his righteous integrity.    He wants his friends to know that he, like the wicked, has no home able to withstand the trauma of life.   Yet, in Christ, we have a sure and steadfast hope.  

Hebrews 6:19 (ESV)

We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain,

When we trust our homes and lands for security we are standing on sand in the midst of the hurricane of life. 

God’s Justice is Just - Ours Is Not! Psalms 39-41

Psalms 40:13-15 (ESV)

Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me!

O LORD, make haste to help me!

Let those be put to shame and disappointed altogether

who seek to snatch away my life;

let those be turned back and brought to dishonor

who delight in my hurt!

Let those be appalled because of their shame

who say to me, “Aha, Aha!”

We are told in the scriptures to not seek vengeance.   Note what Paul told the believers in Rome:

Romans 12:14-21 (ESV)

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

In the above portion of Psalms 40, we read that David is doing some of what Paul stated.  He is turning this person that is against him over to God.   He is not personally seeking vengeance.  He is giving the person that hurt him to His God and allowing God to care for his protection and justice.   This is so hard to do in our lives.  We would rather be the one who carries out the justice.  But we are unjust people.  Therefore even our justice is corrupt.  When we simply pray and allow God to carry out His justice, we can be assured it will be done in perfect holiness.  Justice that is not pure is not real justice.   We are not pure so our justice is not just.   Praying and allowing God to carry out justice is to assure that the justice is pure and holy.  

God Sets Boundaries and Uses Wicked Spirits - 1 Samuel 16-20

1 Samuel 18:10-11 (ESV)

The next day a harmful spirit from God rushed upon Saul, and he raved within his house while David was playing the lyre, as he did day by day. Saul had his spear in his hand. And Saul hurled the spear, for he thought, “I will pin David to the wall.” But David evaded him twice.

The above verse is the first time this is written.  Here is the second:

1 Samuel 19:9

Then a harmful spirit from the Lord came upon Saul, as he sat in his house with his spear in his hand. And David was playing the lyre.

We can struggle with this as to why God would use an evil spirit to influence Saul’s demise.   In our struggle to understand the sovereignty of God, these verses seem to show a part of that sovereignty that is confusing.    This recalls what happened to Job, when a wicked men, fire and wind came to destroy all Job owned:

Job 1:15-19 (ESV)

and the Sabeans fell upon them and took them and struck down the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, “The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, “The Chaldeans formed three groups and made a raid on the camels and took them and struck down the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, and behold, a great wind came across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young people, and they are dead, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”

The fact that God works in our lives in such a way can give us pause.  But we can rejoice that God is in control of all things.  He sets the boundaries for all things:

Jeremiah 5:22 (ESV)

Do you not fear me? declares the LORD.

Do you not tremble before me?

I placed the sand as the boundary for the sea,

a perpetual barrier that it cannot pass;

though the waves toss, they cannot prevail;

though they roar, they cannot pass over it.

We can be fearful and/or perplexed at these truths, or we can rejoice that God is in control and even limits and uses the evilness in this world for His good.