Good morning and welcome to Walking with Jesus through the Word, one chapter per day. I am Pastor Jason van Bemmel from Forest Hill Presbyterian Church. It is our 879th day together in the Word of God, and we are in the book of Jeremiah. Come to chapter 10. Let's pray together. Heavenly Father, thank you so much for your Word. Your Word is truth. It's living and active. It is full of your Son, our Savior. It is what we need. It's the words of eternal life. We pray that today as we read and reflect on Jeremiah 10, your Holy Spirit would write this word deep in our hearts, just as you inspired it through the prophet Jeremiah. So make it clear to us and help it to transform our lives by the power of your spirit and to the glory of your name, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Jeremiah chapter 10, hear the word that the Lord speaks to you, O house of Israel, thus says the Lord. Learn not the way of the nations, nor be dismayed at the signs of the heavens, because the nations are dismayed at them. For the customs of the people are vanity. A tree from the forest is cut down and worked with an axe by the hands of a craftsman, They decorate it with silver and gold. They fasten it with hammer and nail so that it cannot move. Their idols are like scarecrows in a cucumber field, and they cannot speak. They have to be carried, for they cannot walk. Do not be afraid of them, for they cannot do evil, neither is it in them to do good. There is none like you, O Lord. You are great, and your name is great in might. Who would not fear you, O King of the nations? For this is your due. For among all the wise ones of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, there is none like you. They are both stupid and foolish, the instruction of idols is but wood. Beaten silver is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz. They are the work of the craftsmen, and of the hands of the goldsmith. Their clothing is violet and purple. They are all the work of skilled men, but the Lord is the true God. He is the living God and the everlasting King. At His wrath the earth quakes, and the nations cannot endure His indignation. Thus you shall say to them, The gods who did not make the heavens and the earth shall perish from the earth and from under the heavens. It is he who made the earth by his power, who established the world by his wisdom, who by his understanding stretched out the heavens. When he utters his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, and he makes the mist rise from the ends of the earth. He makes lightning for the rain, and he brings forth the wind from his storehouses. Every man is stupid and without knowledge. Every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols, for his images are false. and there is no breath in them. They are worthless, a work of delusion. At the time of their punishment they shall perish. Not like these is he who is the portion of Jacob. For he is the one who formed all things, and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance. The Lord of hosts is his name. Gather up your bundle from the ground, O you who dwell under siege. For thus says the Lord, Behold, I am slinging out the inhabitants of the land at this time, and I will bring distress on them that they may feel it. Woe is me because of my hurt. My wound is grievous, but I said, truly this is an affliction and I must bear it. My tent is destroyed and all my cords are broken. My children have gone from me and they are not. There is no one to spread my tent again and to set up my curtain for the shepherds are stupid and do not inquire of the Lord. Therefore they have not prospered and all their flock is scattered. A voice, a rumor, behold it comes. a great commotion out of the north country to make the cities of Judah a desolation, a lair of jackals. I know, O Lord, that the way of man is not in himself, that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps. Correct me, O Lord, but in justice, not in your anger, lest you bring me to nothing. Pour out your wrath on the nations that know you not, and on the peoples that call not on your name. For they have devoured Jacob, they have devoured him and consumed him, and have laid waste his habitation. Well, that is Jeremiah chapter 10. Powerful, powerful chapter. Jeremiah is just such a strong and powerful prophet of the Lord. It's a wonderful chapter. It's a wonderful contrast. It's a wonderful wake-up call for us because we live in a world that's still full of idolatry. There are still many gods that the world worships, these celebrities and these financial titans and these tech gurus, and you know, whether we're talking about Taylor Swift or Elon Musk or Mark Zuckerberg or Donald Trump or or you know whoever or and then there's the things like political power and wealth and fame and celebrity social media influence and the social media influencers we still live in a world that is teeming with idols and sometimes the the things they talk about the things they they value the things they pursue they can seem like Whoa, these are so strong and so powerful. This person has such social media influence. And this person has such political power. And this person has such great financial wealth. This person has such tech savvy. And we can just be overwhelmed by all of these things. And here's what the word of the Lord says to us. Learn not the way of the nations, nor be dismayed at the signs of the heavens, because the nations are dismayed at them. For the customs of the people are vanity. All these idols, all these ways of the world, they are vanity. They're a puff of smoke that disappears. They're empty. They're useless. An idol is nothing. An idol has no power. Do not be afraid of them, for they cannot do evil, neither is it in them to do good." He might say, well, obviously, political, powerful people and wealthy financial people and, you know, these people who control things, they can do a lot. They can do a lot. No, they can't. They can't do one thing different from what the Lord allows and ordains, and they cannot touch the people of God. They can't. And they don't compare to the Lord. You see, when we live in fear of these earthly celebrities or authorities or power structures, when we live in fear of them, we're not living in fear of the Lord. So here's the word on that. Nothing in this world should cause us to be afraid, because whatever in this world causes us to be afraid robs God of the glorious. majestic and worshipful fear that is due to his name alone. None like you. Among the nations, the wise ones, there's none like you. They're stupid and foolish. They don't know anything. They don't have answers. They don't have solutions. They don't have real power. When Jesus was standing before Pontius Pilate, Pontius Pilate tried to flex his earthly political authority. And he said to Jesus, do you not realize that I have authority to release you and I have authority to condemn you? And Jesus said to him, you have no authority. but that which has been given to you from on high. Therefore, he who handed me over to you bears the greater guilt. Jesus would not tremble in fear before Pontius Pilate, even though from a human perspective, from an earthly perspective, Pontius Pilate held the power of life and death over Jesus. But actually, Pontius Pilate only had the authority that God had given him, and God would only allow him to execute it what he, to use it to carry out what God had already determined would come to pass. So we need to know the Lord is the true God. He is the everlasting King. At His wrath the earth quakes. Look at verse 11. The gods who did not make the heavens and the earth shall perish from the earth and from under the heavens. Whatever it is that's not God. This could be a person, this could be an ideology, this could be a system, this could be a material possession, this could be a technology, whatever it is. The gods, the mighty ones, who did not make the heavens and the earth, shall perish from the earth and from under the heavens. That ought to give us freedom. Because when everything else is gone, Jesus Christ will stand as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. It is he who made the earth by his power, who established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding stretched out the heavens. He will stand at the latter day upon the earth as Job confessed in his distress. All the idols worthless. Worthless, useless. So what is, what should grieve us, And what grieves Jeremiah in verse 19 is when we see God's people, the Lord's own inheritance, the Lord's own flock, going astray after idols. That should distress us. Not because we're afraid of the idols, but because we don't want to see God robbed of his glory, and we don't want to see his people led astray. The shepherds in particular among God's people should be inquiring of the Lord, and tending to the flock and not giving in to worldly panic, conspiracy theories, worldly idols. Those are the things that we should. It is not in man. The way of a man is not in himself. It is not in man who walks to direct his steps. So we need to ask the Lord to correct us. Injustice, but not in anger. We deserve God's wrath. We know that we're sinful. We're prone to idolatry. We can say, when we see God's people going astray after idols, when we see ourselves going astray after idols, please correct me, O Lord, but in justice and not in anger, lest you bring me to nothing. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, you are the one true God, maker of heaven and earth, sustainer of all, judge of all, the fear of all. Everything is from you. Everything is for you. Everything is to you. To you alone be glory and honor forever and ever. Amen. Keep us from idols. Keep us from going astray. Direct our steps in your word, in your will, in your way, for your glory. And let us not live in fear of anything in this world, but only in joyful worship and humble adoration and trembling before you, Lord God Almighty, our Father and our Redeemer. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. Well, thanks for joining me for Jeremiah chapter 10. Back to the Gospel of John tomorrow. John 16, I believe, is on tap. Have a blessed day in the Lord.