If there was only one thing my students and my own children could learn from me, I would want it to be this – the way of man is not in himself. Do you know how much headache and heartache we are saved when we follow God’s good and perfect law?! He gives us rules and boundaries because we are his, we come from him, and he as our Author and Designer knows what is best for us. I want students to understand this truth so they can experience the freedom Christ offers now rather than spending their lives searching for false freedom from false gods that cannot satisfy, sustain, or fulfill because they are not real and will perish.
The prophet Jeremiah says, “I know, O Lord, that the way of man is not in himself, that it is not for man to direct his steps.” (Jeremiah 10:23 ESV/NIV) This truth from God’s word is the exact opposite voice we hear from the world. The world tells us that we, the humans, are the ones who determine what is right and wrong. The world tells us to govern ourselves. I have found that those of us who believe in Christ can conform to this worldly way of thinking and in turn project this autonomous mindset onto our God. We then begin to try to govern God, wanting him to give an account for his actions.
The book of Jeremiah beautifully and directly lays out the gospel response – “No one is like you, O Lord: you are great, and your name is mighty in power. Who should not revere you, O King of the nations? This is your due . . . God made the earth by his power; he founded the world by his wisdom and stretched out the heavens by his understanding . . . Everyone is senseless and without knowledge; every goldsmith is shamed by his idols. His images are a fraud; they have no breath in them. They are worthless, the objects of mockery: when their judgment comes, they will perish. He who is the Portion of Jacob is not like these, for he is the Maker of all things.” (Jeremiah 10:6-7, 12, 14-16)
God is in charge. He is supreme. One of the topics Jeremiah addresses is why God pronounces judgments on his people. I’ve listed below the answers found in just the first nine chapters of Jeremiah. (The list keeps going.) Why God decreed disaster against his people is because of –
- Their wickedness in forsaking him (1:16)
- They followed worthless idols, which made them became worthless (2:5)
- They defiled his land by setting up idols, the priests rebelled against him, and the prophets followed worthless idols (2:7-8)
- They exchanged his glory for worthless idols (2:11)
- They had forsaken God (2:13, 17)
- They were wicked, backsliding, forsook the Lord, had no awe of God (2:19)
- As a once devoted bride (2:1-3), they now lay down under every spreading tree as a prostitute turning into a corrupt, wild vine and becoming like a wild donkey in heat (2:20-21, 24)
- They have forgotten God (2:32)
- They believe they have not sinned (2:35)
- They “played the whore with many lovers” (3:1)
- They refused to blush with shame as if they did no wrong (3:3; 6:15; 8:12)
- They took their whoredom lightly and did not return to him with their whole heart (3:9)
- They rebelled against God and have not obeyed him (3:13, 25)
- The evil they had done (4:4)
- They are foolish, “stupid children” who do not know how to do good (4:22)
- They felt no anguish, refused correction, and refused to repent (5:3)
- The word of God is not in them – the prophets (5:13)
- They forsook God and served foreign gods with stubborn and rebellious hearts. They did not fear God. (5:19, 23-24)
- Their ears are uncircumcised, so they cannot listen. The word of God is offensive to them. They find no pleasure in the word of God. (6:10)
- They did not walk in God’s ways or listen to him (6:16-17)
- They did not listen to God’s words and rejected his law (6:19)
- When God spoke to them persistently, they did not listen. When he called them, they did not answer. (7:13)
- They did not listen or pay attention; instead, they followed the stubborn inclinations of their evil hearts and stiffened their necks (7:24, 26)
- They did not obey the voice of the Lord or accept discipline (7:28)
- They defiled his house (7:9-11, 30)
- They did not know the rules of the Lord (8:7)
- They go from one sin to another; they do not acknowledge God (9:3)
- They refuse to know God (9:6)
- They forsook God’s law not obeying him; instead, they followed the stubbornness of their hearts (9:13-14)
This list reminds me of why God is God. Because at every turn, we fail. We, his people, are a beautiful bride who has left our Bridegroom to chase after other lovers. Why? We forget that our lives are not our own. We belong body and soul, in life and in death, to God, not ourselves. (The Heidelberg Catechism Q&A1)
I fail at being obedient, and the person who ends up ultimately getting hurt is me. God says in Jeremiah 7:18-19 that his people are making offerings to other gods to provoke him to anger then he asks, “But am I the one they are provoking? Are they not rather harming themselves, to their own shame.” If my students and my children gain anything from me, let it be this – We have rebelled against God. He is good. He knows what is best. My life is not my own. Your life is not your own. Our sin confuses this.