Remnant of Judah, the LORD has told you, 'Do not go to Egypt.' Be sure of this: I warn you today. – Jeremiah 42:19

Today's Scripture Reading (September 8, 2026): Jeremiah 42

Italian author Laurentius Abstemius wrote his most famous work, Hecatomythium, in 1495. The book is a collection of a hundred fables written in Latin. Some of the fables were translated from Greek for the book. The book of fables was passed over by the critics of the day. They considered the stories ridiculous, and many took exception to the negative view some fables took of the clergy.

One of the fables contained within the book was a story about a group of fish. The fish had been caught and were being placed in a pan of boiling oil. In this fable, the fish began to talk. One of the fish suggested they do whatever they could to get out of the pan. So, they made a plan and jumped out of the oil, but that only landed them in worse trouble because they landed in the fire. There, lying on the burning coals, the fish cursed the bad advice that they had followed. The fabulist concludes that "this fable warns us that when we are avoiding present dangers, we should not fall into even worse peril." Aesop paraphrased the fable for his collection of moral tales. He entitled the fable "Worse and Worse" and rephrased the moral as "jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire."

The fish fable fits the message God gives to Jeremiah. It would seem that the immediate reaction of those left in Judah, after the close of the Babylonian-Judean war, was to run to the other superpower that ruled in their world. The idea was that maybe they could be safe in Egypt. It is sometimes amazing, as we tell the story of the Bible, how often Israel seems to believe that safety is found in Egypt, that place where they once existed as enslaved people.

But God's message was that the only place where they could be all that they were created to be was with God. What had happened in Judah may have been uncomfortable, but if God had not been with the people of Judah during their conflict with Babylon, it would have been so much worse. God had never left them. In this moment, God was inviting them to stay, not to run to Egypt. God was still with them, and He had no plans to leave them. Jeremiah hoped the people left in Judah would commit to God, leaving behind any plans to leave Him if they wanted to be successful in the future.

According to Jeremiah, to run to Egypt would be like "jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire." Life might have been uncomfortable, but they could trust God to be with them where they were and walk with them into the future. Here is the reality that I know. People will let you down. That was the danger that Egypt represented. Escaping to Egypt meant trusting a group of people who could not save them. Only God was worthy of their trust, and if they were looking for someone to move them through to the end of the story, they would not find that person in Egypt. That someone was the one who had held them every step of the way so far, and the one who was never going to give up on them. That someone was their God, the one who deserved their trust.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 43

Ishmael son of Nethaniah and the ten men who were with him got up and struck down Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, with the sword, killing the one whom the king of Babylon had appointed as governor over the land. – Jeremiah 41:2

Today's Scripture Reading (September 7, 2026): Jeremiah 41

After the Second World War, the first war of the Cold War era was fought between the Soviet Union and the United States. The fighting took place in Greece. Nazi Germany and Italy had gained control of Greece throughout the middle portion of the Second World War. As a result, the Greek government became a government in exile. But when the nations allied with the United Kingdom and the United States began to take control of the war in the European theater, a power vacuum was created in Greece. As a result, by the end of the Second World War, no government clearly controlled Greece. So, from 1946 to 1949, the Greek government, which had been ruling in exile and was backed by the United Kingdom and the United States, waged a civil war against the Greek Communist Party, backed by the Soviet Union. However, the events of the Second World War had essentially set up this civil war.

The Babylonian conflict in Judah was over. The Babylonian army had been, for the most part, withdrawn. Jerusalem lay in ruins. The Babylonians had left Gedaliah and his supporters, all of whom had defected to the Babylonian army at some point during the war, in charge of the country. However, much like what happened in Greece after the Second World War during the 20^th Century, during the early years of the 6^th Century B.C.E., a power vacuum in Judah had been created by the Babylonian-Judean war, and that left conditions favorable for the beginning of a new civil war.

Jeremiah writes that in this case, Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah (to differentiate him from Ishmael, the son of Zedekiah, both of whom were part of the Royal family, but Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, was from a much more remote branch of the family), disagreed with who the Babylonians had left in control of the nation. Ishmael, son of Nethaniah, strongly believed that he was the one who should have been left in control of Judah. So he decided to take matters into his own hands and assassinated Gedaliah.

Gedaliah, on the other hand, seems to have taken no precautions against a possible uprising. Rabbinic writings indicate that Gedaliah was known for eating and drinking well, and our understanding is that Gedaliah invited Ishmael, son of Nethaniah, to share food and drink with him. Ishmael took advantage of the situation, and when Gedaliah and his men were drunk enough, Ishmael and his men killed them.

But Jeremiah also wants to make sure that the reader understands the enormity of Ishmael's crime. Throughout his prophecies, Jeremiah is clear that Nebuchadnezzar (and Babylon) wins the conflict with Judah because God decreed it. And here, Jeremiah says that Ishmael takes his sword and kills "the one whom the king of Babylon had appointed as governor over the land." Ishmael, in killing Gedaliah, was not only guilty of killing his own countryman, but he killed the man that Nebuchadnezzar had placed on the throne. Therefore, he opposed the will of his God, who had placed Nebuchadnezzar in control of the nation. 

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 42

They all came back to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah at Mizpah, from all the countries where they had been scattered. And they harvested an abundance of wine and summer fruit. – Jeremiah 40:12

Today's Scripture Reading (September 6, 2026): Jeremiah 40

One limiting factor of growth is leadership. Leadership is required in both our organizations and our individual lives if we are to keep growing. I can't grow those around me past the point where I have the leadership ability to lead. And I will not grow myself beyond the leaders I choose to invite into my life. However, we often don't think about the reverse. If there is a lack of leadership in the organization, we will often fill the void with whoever comes along, rather than wait for the appropriate leader the circumstances require. I believe health might be found somewhere between having all the right leaders in place and continually searching for needed leadership. If we have all the leaders we need, then leadership will be closed, and we will miss out on any benefits from new leaders who may come along. However, if we lack some of the leaders required to keep the organization growing, that lack can result in chaos. Still, the organization can find a healthy position amid the limited chaos.

Judah had leaders, but the leadership was closed. To be a leader in Judah, you had to be born into the position. As a result, under good leadership, the country grew, but under bad leadership, it shrank. Too often, Judah suffered under bad leadership and shrank. As a result, some key Judean leaders lived outside the nation of Judah. However, when Judah's leadership was taken into exile in Babylon, these leaders on the fringes of the nation needed to return to fill the leadership void. And Jeremiah says that is precisely what happened.

The principle is also true for our own personal lives. We are 'led' by key ideas. They shape and guide our lives and help us to grow. But learning also takes a willingness to consider new ideas, incorporate them into our lives, and allow them to lead us. So, without these new concepts to lead us, our lives lose purpose. We become so rigid and closed that we can't accept new ideas, and at that point, we stop growing. Life requires a healthy balance between established concepts and new ideas to keep us fresh and growing throughout our life journeys.

We need to be led by something, but don't be afraid to open yourself up to new ideas. And maybe, even in the chaos, you might have some unexpected fun. Have a great day!

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 41

I will save you; you will not fall by the sword but will escape with your life, because you trust in me, declares the LORD. – Jeremiah 39:18

 Today's Scripture Reading (September 5, 2026): Jeremiah 39

On August 22, 1572, Gaspard II de Coligny was shot by a man called Maurevert. The shot missed taking Coligny's life, but it did cost the French Nobleman and admiral one of his fingers. No one is sure who ordered Coligny to be shot, but the assassination attempt caused French Catholics a problem. Coligny was a prominent Huguenot (Protestant), and the fear was that the attempted assassination would be seen as being religiously motivated. So the French Catholics made a fateful decision. They decided to make a pre-emptive strike against the Huguenots. Many of the Protestant leaders, including Gaspard II de Coligny, were executed on August 24, 1572. After the execution, mob violence would claim as many as another 70,000 Huguenots in what has become known as the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre.

Part of what we know about the Massacre comes from a Huguenot who narrowly escaped the violence with his life. His name was Maximilien de Bethune, the Duke of Sully. The Duke escaped death by walking out of Paris with a Catholic book of prayer under his arm. At the height of the violence, Maximilien de Bethune's possession of the book of prayer allowed the attacking Catholics to overlook the Huguenot Duke.

As Jerusalem prepares to fall, the city's inhabitants face a very uncertain future. However, for the leaders in the city, what happens next is relatively certain: death at the hands of the Babylonians. One of these leaders was a man named Ebed-Melek. Ebed-Melek was a Cushite who served in the court of King Zedekiah. One reason we believe Ebed-Melek was a leader in Jerusalem is that Jeremiah says Ebed-Melek went to the king to ask for Jeremiah's release from the cistern where the prophet had been imprisoned and, rather than brushing away the request, the king responded positively to Ebed-Melek's request.

Another reason we believe Ebed-Melek was a leader in the court of Zedekiah is that Jeremiah also tells us the Cushite was worried about his future when the city fell. So Jeremiah assures this leader that because he honored God by getting his prophet out of the cistern, when the city fell, God would find a way to get him out to a place of safety. All because he dared to trust in God.

Amazing things still happen when we dare to trust God. Even when things look bleak, we can trust that God has a plan, and we honor God when we are willing to follow the example of Ebed- Melek and place ourselves in the middle of that plan.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 40

Then the officials said to the King, "This man should be put to death. He is discouraging the soldiers who are left in this city, as well as all the people, by the things he is saying to them. This man is not seeking the good of these people but their ruin." – Jeremiah 38:4

Today's Scripture Reading (September 4, 2026): Jeremiah 38

A theme runs through Jeremiah; it is repeated throughout the book. The external reality of Jeremiah's words is that Judah as a nation is ending. There won't be many more days left in her existence. Repeatedly, Jeremiah comes to the powers that be and tells them what he has heard God say, and they repeatedly reject everything he tells them. The prophecy Jeremiah provides to the officials is not the one the national leadership wants to receive. And they aren't all that different from some of our contemporary leaders; all they want to hear are people willing to tell them they are the best and the nation is lucky to have them. Everyone else is just more fake news and should be silenced and ignored. As a result, Jeremiah pays a price for speaking the truth that he has heard from God to those in power over the nation of Judah.

I am not sure that I believe that everyone can be a Jeremiah. Some of us don't clearly understand what God is saying. Somehow, the message gets messed up in our heads, and we get sidetracked by unimportant issues. And sometimes, we just don't have the opportunity, or don't know how to put God's truth into words; but even though we all can't be Jeremiah, we all need a Jeremiah to speak truth to us, even when we don't want to hear it.

Even though we need Jeremiahs to be in our lives, we often don't accept their presence. The miserable truth is that we aren't all that different from our leaders. We begin to call the Jeremiahs God places in our lives false and purveyors of just more fake news. Nothing really seems to have changed from the last days of Judah and the ministry of Jeremiah. We have the message that we believe is true, and when anyone else says something different, even if they are a Jeremiah, well, they must be wrong. The truth is that as much as we all need a Jeremiah in our life, their presence is often very painful. In Judah, there were many prophets willing to change their messages to something palatable for the King and his advisors. Then again, growth is always painful, and for a Jeremiah, that is the outcome for which they always seem to be searching.

The message Jeremiah gave Israel was not that they had been abandoned, but that God had found a different path for them to follow. It may not have been the message Israel wanted to hear or the path they wanted to walk, but if they were willing to accept it, they would grow and continue their journey with God. However, if they rejected the message, then the result would be even more painful.

If you know of a Jeremiah in your life, thank God for their presence, and then listen to the message that you hear and grow through the times that are ahead. We need our Jeremiahs, and we need to remember that it isn't any more pleasurable to be the bearer of bad news than it is to receive it.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 39

This is what the LORD says: Do not deceive yourselves, thinking, 'The Babylonians will surely leave us.' They will not! – Jeremiah 37:9

Today's Scripture Reading (September 3, 2026): Jeremiah 37

The war in Ukraine has highlighted how interconnected our world is. Our reality is that we really do need each other. The ties between Russia and Ukraine should be strong, but those living in Ukraine would probably like to forget the days that they spent tied to Russia in the U.S.S.R.; however, leaving that history buried in the past seems somewhat unrealistic. Russia's focus is on Ukraine, and to be honest, the focus of Ukraine is on Russia. It has to be. As one Ukrainian worker put it, whenever he looks behind him, he sees the lives of his father and grandfather, and in those memories, Russia is there. That tie is important. Whenever they look into the past, what they see and hear is Russia. The reality is that Russia will not be going away any time soon. Unfortunately, the relationship the two countries should enjoy won't be achieved through war. Note that I am not just talking about Russia and Ukraine. I am also talking about the United States and Canada, or maybe the United States and Greenland, Denmark, or even the United Kingdom. We are linked by history, whether we recognize it or not.

Jeremiah sends a message to the king that should sound familiar. The Prophet tells the king that Babylon's focus is on Judah. In Babylon's case, it is not a shared history that has caused this focus; it is God. Jeremiah's message to the king is that whenever he looks at God, he sees Babylon. Whenever he listens to God, he hears Babylon. The two nations are focused on each other all because God has determined that is the way it needs to be. Neither nation is going away any time soon. Even though Egypt rides out to support Judah (not out of a love for Judah, but out of a fear of Babylon and a belief that the best thing for Egypt's future was an independent Judah that could provide a buffer zone between the two empires), Egypt would be unsuccessful. Babylon was not going away.

As much as we want to spend effort changing our physical realities, that time would be better spent understanding our realities and how we can live within them. I am Canadian. We are defined by saying "eh" (which, just so you know, is rarely actually said in my part of Canada anymore), and by our apologetic, gentle nature. One difference between Canadians and Americans is found in the word "sorry." In the United States, saying sorry is an admission of guilt; in Canada, it's just a way of being polite. Canadians sometimes take issue with the United States being called Americans because we are Americans too; we are full citizens of the North American Continent. But we also try to distance ourselves from the Americans who live to the South of us. We are different from them. When we travel abroad, we sew Canadian flags into our stuff so people know we are Canadian, and so they know we are not from the United States. We have our own character. Our reality is much like Ukraine's. When we look backward, we see the United States. These Americans are our brothers and sisters, often quite literally. We share history with them, and they influence us just as we influence them. Canadians know the United States is not going away, and it would be foolish to think that it was. So our task is to define ourselves as a people in our own right and develop a good relationship with these people, who are also called "Americans."

Jeremiah's basic instruction to the king is simply that Babylon is not going away. The best, and most God-honoring, thing for the king to do was to figure out what life looks like in the new reality and in relationship with Babylon. To do anything else would be foolish, and God never instructs us to act the part of the fool. 

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 38

So Jeremiah called Baruch son of Neriah, and while Jeremiah dictated all the words the LORD had spoken to him, Baruch wrote them on the scroll. – Jeremiah 36:4

Today's Scripture Reading (September 2, 2026): Jeremiah 36

Community and team are both recurring themes in the Bible. These ideas are sprinkled liberally throughout the pages of the books, indicating their importance. So it shouldn't be a surprise to find that Jeremiah lived in a community. Jeremiah was actually part of two communities. Jeremiah's primary community was the nation of Judah. In a day when most of the world existed in small communities, centuries before a national social consciousness would rise, Jeremiah already existed within a nation-wide community. His prophecies and warnings were directed at the national community of Judah, where he lived. Judah was also a community Jeremiah loved. Jeremiah's love for Judah strongly motivated the Prophet's actions. He was willing to suffer for his community, hoping they would understand their place in God's purposes because of the words God spoke through him.

A second community that Jeremiah was part of was a smaller community; a community of maybe only two people. This community included Baruch and possibly a couple of other local scholars who understood the truth Jeremiah prophesied. These people were Jeremiah's team. Jeremiah did not minister and prophesy alone. Through Baruch, his prophecies were written down and reached people who lived beyond the reach of Jeremiah's voice, a reach that, because of Baruch's faithful service, includes us.

In this small community, we see something that is part of God's design. No one is intended to work alone. None of us are equipped to accomplish anything by ourselves. Like Jeremiah, we stand in need of community, and I am convinced that possible Baruchs surround each of us. We just need to be willing to reach out to them and ask them to come alongside us, or be willing to come alongside someone and be a Baruch to them.

As much as we remember the name of Jeremiah, Baruch was just as important to the team and just as essential to the community. Jeremiah may have spoken the words we read, but it was Baruch who wrote them down for us, which made Baruch an essential part of Jeremiah's team.

We have three choices in this life. We can find our own Baruch to help us with our endeavors, or we can be a Baruch for someone else; we can exist within the confines of the team and the community and make a difference. The only other option is to be happy living a life of inconsequence, never really making a difference in anyone's life.

My advice? Don't pick that last option. Go and find your Baruch or your Jeremiah, become part of the team, and make a difference.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 37