Thurs.’s Devo - The Valley of Broken Pots

Read: Jeremiah 19:1-21:14; 1 Thessalonians 5:4-28; Psalm 82:1-8; Proverbs 25:9-10 God told Jeremiah to buy a clay jar from one of the potters and invite the leaders and priests to follow him through the Gate of Broken Pots where potters threw their broken pots to the garbage dump in the valley of Ben-Hinnon. This was another name for “drugged”. They had turned this valley into a place they drugged children and sacrificed them. They had shrines to Baal where they made their sons walk through fire. They had killed innocent children here and this would be where they would be slaughtered. *** Jeremiah was to smash the jar he had brought and tell them that this is what happen to Jerusalem. It would be torn down as a monument to their stupidity. As it went through its siege, the people trapped inside will eat their own children and their friends. They would be driven to utter despair. *** Jeremiah left Topheth, the garbage dump and wet to the front of the Temple of the Lord and told them people there of God’s coming judgment. When Pashhur the priest in charge of the Temple heard Jeremiah prophesying he arrested him and had him whipped and put in stocks at the Benjamin Gate. This was the gate that Jesus would enter through on the donkey to Jerusalem to be crucified. *** Jeremiah was released the following day by Pashhur. Jeremiah told him that God was changing his name from Pashhur which means “liberation” to “the Man Who Lives in Terror.” He and all his friends who prophesied that everything would be all right would live to see Jerusalem sacked and the people taken in captivity. They would go into captivity and have to live among the people they refused to warn and continued to lie to. They would be branded false prophets. *** In verses 7-18, Jeremiah has a melt down. He can’t help but say what the Lord tells him to say which is all about violence and destruction, but nothing happens so it makes him look like a fool. They called him the name that he gave to Passhur and threatened to report everything he said to the authorities. Jeremiah knew he was being tested but it didn’t make it easier to endure. He begged for God to let him see his words come true. *** Jeremiah was told to prophecy 35 years before Jerusalem fell, but it did finally happen and he lived to see it. When the siege began, Pashhur was sent to him by King Zedekiah to ask him to help them. Don’t you know this was like eating humble pie for Pashhur. He had to ask Jeremiah to pray for them for a miracle. They hoped that God would make Nebuchadnezzar withdraw his armies. Jeremiah told him to tell the king that their weapons would be useless against Babylon because God would be fighting with the Babylonians against them. He would show no mercy, pity or compassion. He told them they could choose their end - death or deportation. *** God gave the royal family of David one more chance to get it right. They were told to judge the people with justice and help the weak and oppressed. Otherwise they would be burned to death. *** Paul told the Church to stay awake and the day of the Lord would not take them by surprise. Only those in darkness would be surprised. God was coming to save them when he comes. *** They were to have respect for their spiritual leaders, not be lazy, take care of those who are weak and be patient with everyone. Don’t pay back evil for evil, but do good to others. Always be joyful and thankful in all circumstances. Do not stifle the Holy Spirit by scoffing at prophecies but test everything that is said and hold on to what is good. Stay away from evil. *** Lord, may we heed Paul’s instructions and love at all times and live godly lives that bring you glory. May we heed the words of the prophets and not scoff when we don’t see them fulfilled in our timetables.