Jeremiah condemns religiosity. People were coming into the temple and saying they were worshiping the Lord but they were doing detestable things in God’s house. Do we misuse the church today? Would a modern day Jeremiah condemn our churches for religiosity or for practicing "churchianity" instead of Christianity?

Jer 7:22-23
For when I brought your forefathers out of Egypt and spoke to them, I did not just give them commands about burnt offerings and sacrifices, but I gave them this command: Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in all the ways I command you, that it may go well with you.

God did not give the people these rituals and symbolic practices of burnt offerings and sacrifices in the beginning of the exodus from Egypt. All they had to do was to obey Him and walk in His commands. They had the Angel of His Presence (the pre-incarnate Jesus). It wasn’t until later that God added all the ritualistic regulations.

Exod 33:14
The LORD replied, "My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest."

He was with them for heaven’s sake! All they had to do was to listen and obey Him.
Oops...He is with us too isn’t He? If we are believers, we have His Presence with us always in the form of the Holy Spirit. So, what’s our problem???

Another warning that ties in with The Harbinger;

Jeremiah 7:27-28 

 “When you tell them all this, they will not listen to you; when you call to them, they will not answer.  Therefore say to them, ‘This is the nation that has not obeyed the Lord its God or responded to correction. Truth has perished; it has vanished from their lips.

Sound like the United States today??? 

And again in the following verse, a condemnation.  

Jeremiah 8:6 

 I have listened attentively,  but they do not say what is right. No one repents of his wickedness, saying, “What have I done?”

(See 2 Chronicles 7:14)

Jeremiah again rebukes the spiritual leaders.

Jer 8:11
They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. "Peace, peace," they say, when there is no peace.
The “falling away” from godly teaching started early. It was treated as a “scratch” when it was a “dagger” to the heart.

Jeremiah also mentions that the spiritual leaders are not ashamed of their conduct, that they don't even know how to blush.  If a person doesn't even know how to blush, that person has no shame.

(Again, see 2 Chronicles 7:14)

  

Jeremiah 9:12-13 
What man is wise enough to understand this? Who has been instructed by the Lord and can explain it?  (Theological seminaries alone are poor substitutes for the Holy Spirit who guides us into God's Truth.) 
Why has the land been ruined and laid waste like a desert that no one can cross? The Lord said, “It is because they have forsaken my law, which I set before them; they have not obeyed me or followed my law. Instead, they have followed the stubbornness of their hearts; they have followed the Baals, as their fathers taught them.
People believe untruths that have been handed down to them. (traditions of men). 

Jer 9:23-24
This is what the LORD says: "Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight," declares the LORD.

2 Cor 1:12
Now this is our boast: Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially in our relations with you, in the holiness and sincerity that are from God. We have done so not according to worldly wisdom but according to God's grace.

What a boast…to conduct ourselves in holiness and sincerity because we understand and know the Lord!

Jer 5:30-31
"A horrible and shocking thing has happened in the land: The prophets prophesy lies, the priests rule by their own authority, and my people love it this way. But what will you do in the end?
Why is it that the people love being told lies? 

Oh, guess the answer is found in the following verse.
Jer 6:10
To whom can I speak and give warning? Who will listen to me? Their ears are closed so they cannot hear. The word of the LORD is offensive to them; they find no pleasure in it.

In case we didn’t get it with Jeremiah, Paul adds a few touches.
II Th 2:9-12
The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.

The spiritual leaders in Jeremiah's day were telling the people things they wanted to hear.  Not much has changed today.

Jeremiah warns that the spiritual leaders deceive the people.

 Jer 6:13-15
"From the least to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; prophets and priests alike, all practice deceit. They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. 'Peace, peace,' they say, when there is no peace. Are they ashamed of their loathsome conduct? No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush. So they will fall among the fallen; they will be brought down when I punish them," says the LORD.

The people were being spiritually wounded unto the second death, yet the spiritual leaders were giving "band-aid" treatments at best. The prophets and priests who lie and rule by their own authority are not ashamed of their conduct. They are so far from God’s Monument of Truth that they don’t even know enough to be ashamed.

So how do we as people of God become familiar with His Monument of Truth? Jeremiah makes it so very clear.

Jer 6:16
This is what the LORD says: "Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But you said, 'We will not walk in it.'

The ancient paths are in God's Word. There we will find the good way so that we can walk in it.  It is there that we find the plan of salvation spelled out so beautifully for us.  We stand at the crossroads daily. We make choices daily. Back to our first verse for today, "But what will YOU do in the end?"

Will we take the “road less traveled” , the good way, and go to the ancient paths, the Monument of Truth?

Jer 3:11
The LORD said to me, "Faithless Israel is more righteous than unfaithful Judah.

This previous statement is made regarding their pretense. 

God urges the people to return to Him. He says He will bring them to Zion which is exactly what the Messianic Jews are doing today. Couldn't help but think of Moshe in Israel concerning the shepherds who lead the people with knowledge and understanding.

2 Tim 2:13
if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself.
We have an amazingly gracious God. He remains faithful to us - even when we are not faithful to Him!

God reminds us through Jeremiah as He did with Isaiah that our relationship with Him is as a spiritual marriage.

Jer 3:13

Only acknowledge your guilt -

This is a very important verse that reminds us of the need to acknowledge our sins and repent, then the blessings will come.

Jer 4:3
This is what the LORD says to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem: "Break up your unplowed ground and do not sow among thorns.

Unplowed ground is like a hardened heart…not open to hearing and applying the Word of God. We are told to break up this unplowed ground. How can we do that? 

He also tells us not to sow among thorns. Later in this same chapter we find this verse.

Jer 4:22b
They are skilled in doing evil; they know not how to do good."

If we sow among thorns, we reap destruction.  If a person does not know how to do good, could it be that they have not been taught God's ways?

Gal 6:8a
The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction;

Skill in doing evil comes from practicing that which is evil. It is called "usage familiarity".

Best advice: Break up our “unplowed ground” and allow God’s Word to take root and grow.

Jeremiah 5:1
“Go up and down the streets of Jerusalem, look around and consider, search through her squares. If you can find but one person who deals honestly and seeks the truth, I will forgive this city.
Does this mean that God will forgive a nation if a remnant repents?

Jeremiah 5:2
Although they say, ‘As surely as the Lord lives,’ still they are swearing falsely. ”
People may go through the motions, giving "lip service" to repentance but don't mean it.

Jeremiah 5:3
O Lord, do not your eyes look for truth?  You struck them, but they felt no pain; you crushed them, but they refused correction. They made their faces harder than stone and refused to repent.  
Sounds like some of the lessons we've learned from the book, The Harbinger.  We, as a nation and a church, have been given warnings about repentance, and yet we have not turned.

So in the next few verses Jeremiah thinks that maybe the people just don't know how to repent, they don't know the way of the Lord.  He thinks he will go to the leaders, surely they will know.  But, of course, they don't.  And so God lets Jeremiah know the fate of those people.

We just keep going back to the verse in chapter 5.
If you can find but one person who deals honestly and seeks the truth, I will forgive this city.
One person CAN make a difference!  Never forget the power of ONE.  

Jer 1:5
"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations."
Proof that God knew us even before we were conceived. Since He is omniscient, He can do that!

Jer 1:9
Then the LORD reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, "Now, I have put my words in your mouth.

What an image that is! The Lord reaches out to “touch” us. He did that through Jesus!

We were wondering about the vision of the almond branch and remembered Aaron's staff budding and bearing fruit overnight. Was God expecting Jeremiah to produce much "fruit" in his witness?

Interesting that the prophecies given to Jeremiah were during the times of Josiah's reforms. No wonder the people didn't listen.  Things were going too well.

Jeremiah reminds us of the spiritual marriage relationship.

Jer 2:2
"Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem: "'I remember the devotion of your youth, how as a bride you loved me and followed me through the desert, through a land not sown.

Jer 2:13
"My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.

How often do we try to do things on our own – at great cost and effort? Our way is substandard at best. God gives freely and His way is so much better.

God reminds the people that they have brought their disasters on themselves. It's not that God punishes so much but that people reap what they sow.

Jer 2:19b
Your wickedness will punish you; your backsliding will rebuke you. Consider then and realize how evil and bitter it is for you when you forsake the LORD your God and have no awe of me," declares the Lord, the LORD Almighty.

God is Holy. We should not worship Him casually!

Ps 29:2
Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness.

Heb 12:28
Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe,How should it look to worship Him in splendor and with reverence and awe?

Jeremiah 2:30  
“In vain I punished your people; they did not respond to correction. Your sword has devoured your prophets like a ravening lion.
The people didn't heed the warnings then, people are not heeding the warnings, the harbingers now.  They didn't listen to Jeremiah then, they don't listen to modern day prophets today. 

God is calling His people to humble themselves, pray, seek His face, and turn from our wicked ways.  Only then can we expect God to bless us.

Earlier we stated that ancient Nineveh is in ruins today, as prophesied by Nahum. The following is a link that you might find interesting.
http://www.bible-history.com/archaeology/assyria/2-assyria-mound-bb.html

Zephaniah is an excellent example of the layering of Biblical prophecies. There is an immediate literal fulfillment of the prophecy, which is symbolic of a future fulfillment of that same prophecy. These prophecies are spread throughout the book of Zephaniah. For example, the judgments of Philistia, Moab, Ammon, Cush, and Assyria were literally fulfilled when the Babylonians invaded the entire area in the 580s BC. The future fulfillment will take place during the wrath of God when God pours out His judgment on these same countries (See Chapters 17- 20 of the book THESE LAST DAYS ). God’s people will then inherit this land during the millennium (See Chapters 21-24 of the book THESE LAST DAYS). It’s ironic (at least from the human point of view) that God uses Ammon and Moab as places of safety for His people during the time of His wrath.

Zeph 2:10
This is what they will get in return for their pride, for insulting and mocking the people of the LORD Almighty.

Chapter 1 of Zephaniah relates God's judgment against Judah.  He mentions "those who turn back from following the Lord and neither seek the Lord nor inquire of him".  

Many times we as Believers turn back from following the Lord, and go our own way or the way of the world.  But even when we don't turn back from following Him, are we guilty of not seeking Him?  And how about when we pray, do we ask God or do we tell God.  We (Phil and Patti) are guilty many times of making plans and then asking God to bless them instead of asking God what plans He has for us.  He's already blessed those plans!  

Also in Chapter 1, God says He "will punish all who avoid stepping on the threshold."
This is a reference to the Philistine custom of stepping over the threshold.  Because of their paganism and superstition, they avoid the threshold. See the following:
1Sa 5:1-5
After the Philistines had captured the ark of God, they brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod.   They brought it into the temple of Dagon and placed it beside Dagon.   Early the next day the people of Ashdod saw that Dagon had fallen forward on the ground in front of the LORD'S ark. So they took Dagon and put him back in his place.   But the next morning they saw that Dagon had again fallen forward on the ground in front of the LORD'S ark. Dagon's head and his two hands were cut off and were lying on the temple's threshold. The rest of Dagon's body was intact. This is why the priests of Dagon and everyone else who comes into Dagon's temple in Ashdod still don't step on the temple's threshold.  

Zeph 3:4
Her priests profane the sanctuary and do violence to the law.
Many spiritual leaders today profane the sanctuary by bringing in unholy pagan rituals.  They change the commands of God to make them more palatable to the masses ("cotton candy" preaching).  And because God's laws are made palatable, the people are eager to act corruptly(verse 7).  They are quick to support laws concerning gay marriage, abortions, etc.

Zeph 3:18 
The sorrows for the appointed feasts I will remove from you, they are a burden and a reproach to you.
For us as Believers there is no sorrow attached to the appointed feasts and festivals (the Holy Days).  There is only joy in our remembrance that Jesus is the fulfillment of those days.

There is an unbelievable verse in today’s reading.
Zeph 3:17

The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing."

Can you even begin to imagine God singing??? Yet Zephaniah tells us that He does! He takes delight in us and rejoices over us. AMAZING!

"While Manasseh may have been an ungodly king in the beginning, he redeemed himself somewhat in the end. Manasseh reigned longer (55 years) than any other Israelite king and had the dubious distinction of being Judah's most wicked king. He came to the throne at the age of 12, although he probably co-reigned with Hezekiah for ten years. His father's godly influence appears to have affected Manasseh only negatively, and he reverted to the ways of his evil grandfather, Ahaz.

Committed to idolatry, Manasseh restored everything Hezekiah had abolished. Manasseh erected altars to Baal; he erected an image of Asherah in the Temple; he worshiped the sun, moon, and stars; he recognized the Ammonite god Molech and sacrificed his son to him, he approved divination; and he killed all who protested his evil actions.

Manasseh was temporarily deported to Babylon where he humbled himself before God in repentance. Upon Manasseh's return to Jerusalem, he tried to reverse the trends he had set; but his reforms were quickly reversed after his death by his wicked son Amon."
(from Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Copyright (C) 1986, Thomas Nelson Publishers)

Contrast the above description of Manasseh to his grandson Josiah.

II Ki 23:25
Neither before nor after Josiah was there a king like him who turned to the LORD as he did-- withall his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength, in accordance with all the Law of Moses.

What a statement to Josiah’s character! Notice all the “all”s.

We have reference to this commandment in the gospels.
Mark 12:30
and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength."  This is the first commandment.

However, even a godly person like Josiah can still suffer because of the sins of others.

II Ki 23:26
Nevertheless, the LORD did not turn away from the heat of his fierce anger, which burned against Judah because of all that Manasseh had done to provoke him to anger.

Sin has consequences. Sin is like an open wound. The wound may heal but often scars remain.

Nahum’s prophecy against Nineveh has some specific applications for us today. Nineveh was a wicked city when Jonah was sent there. They were so wicked that, according to Jonah, they didn’t deserve to be saved. Can you make any applications to humanity today? After Jonah finally obeyed God and went to Nineveh preaching repentance, the people in Nineveh believed God and repented, and then turned from their evil ways. God had compassion and did not destroy them. See any connections yet? Unfortunately, Nineveh shortly returned to their evil practices, even worse than before. The commentary in the Chronological Bible only touched on the surface when describing their many sinful and wicked ways. Making the applications to today yet?

Nahum lists some specific practices of the people of Nineveh; sorcery, prostitution, and witchcraft, all outward symptoms of inward character. God says He will treat them with contempt. Connections to today?

The people of Nineveh believed God, repented, and turned, however they didn’t necessarily believe IN God. They would be as the man Jesus spoke of in Matthew’s gospel.

Matt 12:43-45
"When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, 'I will return to the house I left.' When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation."

Unbelievers can believe, repent, and turn from their life of sin. God has compassion and saves those persons from destruction even though they may not deserve it. They, like the people of Nineveh may believe that God exists (even Satan knows that God exists) and yet not believe IN God (Jesus) and so have the indwellment of the Holy Spirit. When temptations of the former life resurface, their condition may be worse than before. 

How about unbelievers who believe IN God (Jesus), repent, and turn from their life of sin? Believers are saved from eternal destruction (eternal death), yet still give sanctuary to some former sins. For example, as Believers, we can sometimes be very soft concerning stands on sins, such as prostitution, sorcery and witchcraft. Sorcery and witchcraft can come in many forms, such as the celebration of Halloween, reading of novels and watching movies concerning sorcery and witchcraft. The sin of prostitution also can take many forms, not all necessarily connected with sexual sins. Remember our relationship with our Savior is as a marriage. Anytime we Believers “sell out” to the ways of the world we prostitute ourselves.

Interestingly, today's reading mentions celebrating festivals (the God-ordained feast and festivals) and fulfilling vows to the Lord.   Again, we can make many connections to today.

Ancient Nineveh is in ruins today. As Believers in Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior, we don’t have to be in ruin. We can put on our figurative “sackcloth and ashes”, repent, and turn from our wicked ways. Then our gracious and merciful God will have compassion on us, forgive us, and restore us to a right relationship with Him.