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Look around; God is speaking through everyday images around you. Lessons and Questions God is the Great Communi- cator, constantly sending bold messages and quiet whispers our way. Do you hear them? Do you see them? Jeremiah was His paint- brush, His microphone, His chosen orator. I wonder if Jeremiah ever asked himself, “What metaphor will He use today? Will people under- stand . . . today?” With the urgency charac- teristic of a prophet, Jeremiah spoke of what the people were originally supposed to resemble: a choice vine destined to bear good fruit; a strong tree planted by a stream, never worried by heat or drought because its roots were near the water. Yet Israel, God’s own nation, was the opposite. What had hap- pened? They had “forsaken the LORD, the spring of living water” (Jeremiah 17:13b). Thus they withered. Has God ever spoken an image over your life? Dive into it: journal about it, draw it, collage it, Google it, enjoy it! Another question for you: do you feel like you began your Christian journey like the well- watered tree, only now you are withering? Take Jeremiah’s advice: examine your life. Have you forsaken God, put Him low on your list of priorities, ignored Him, disregarded Him, outright disobeyed Him? That’s the essence of sin. That’s what Jeremiah was talking about, and we need to listen to his warnings in our day, and change, through the help of the Holy Spirit. Many of the other images quoted here and later in the book (you can find many more) are negative, focusing on the choices and consequences of moving away from God into idolatry. Look up a few of the verses and dwell with them in context. You will see that God bluntly names and confronts the people about their sin, and then calls to them to repent and come back to Him. His love is clear; but so is His holiness. And He is still calling to you and to me. Read chapter 24 about the figs, another potent object lesson. My prayer for us is this: “My [God’s] eyes will watch over them [His true followers] for their good, and I will build them up and not tear them down; I will plant them and not uproot them. I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the LORD. They will be My people, and I will be their God, for they will return to Me with all their heart.” (24:6-7). Yes, Lord Jesus! Amen. JEREMIAH’S OBJECT LESSONS Lesson Five “What do you see, Jeremiah?” “I see the branch of an almond tree . . . I see a boiling pot, tilting away from the north,” I answered. 1:11,13 broken cisterns 2:13 a choice vine, ruined 2:21, 5:10 a swift she- camel running here and there, a wild donkey [in heat] 2:23,24 a prostitute with many lovers 3:1 a woman unfaithful to her husband 3:20 an olive tree ablaze and broken 11:10 the linen belt 13:1-11 chaff driven by the desert wind 13:24 like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. 17:8 clay in the hand of a potter 18:1-12, ch 19 ©SuzanneStelling This is a burning roll of thick cardboard, on fire layer by layer.
