Rev. Peter Ill, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Millstadt, IL, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Jeremiah 17:1-13.
Judah’s sin is permanently engraved into their hearts. Though this writing is unseen to human eyes, their idolatrous sacrifices at numerous altars and high places shows the depth of their depravity. For this idolatry, the LORD will cast them out of the land. What hope is there for Judah? To trust in man and his strength is to look for life in the desert. Only those who trust in the LORD will be planted as a tree that survives heat and drought because of nourishment that comes from the LORD. Man’s heart is only sick and deceitful; the LORD sees this reality. Yet He remains the only hope of Israel. If they are to survive, the LORD’s people must look to His throne on high, for from Him flow streams of living water.
“A Time to Destroy and a Time to Build” is a mini-series on Sharper Iron that goes through the book of Jeremiah. The prophet calls the people of Judah and Jerusalem to repent of their faithless idolatry and warns them of the destruction that is coming in the Babylonian exile. Yet Jeremiah does not leave us without hope in the midst of such dark days. Jeremiah and all who believe the Word of God he preached survive because of hope that is found in the righteous Branch from the line of David, Jesus Christ.
