Chuck Larsen

Success in the market place is more important than anything else. Whatever you must do to succeed you must do! It’s the mindset of the modern business man but is really nothing new. The lives of people so occupied with position, power, and possessions are as confusing as a cage full of birds flying in every direction. The fluttering of wings and the clawing and the cawing lifts a cacophony of confusion which cannot be contained. But each bird symbolizes another plot, plan, or trick to acquire more. In Jeremiah 5:27, the prophet indicts the “businessmen” of Judah of this dilemma. He writes, “Like a cage full of birds, their houses are full of deceit; therefore they have become great and rich.” Ray Stevens wrote a great song about this back in the 60’s entitled, “Mr. Businessman.”  Here are his lyrics:

“Itemize the things you covet, As you squander through your life… Bigger cars, bigger houses, Term insurance for your wife…Tuesday evenings with your harlot And on Wednesdays it’s your charlatan..Analyst, he’s high upon your list…You’ve got air conditioned sinuses And dark disturbing doubt about religion…And you keep those cards and letters going out While your secretary’s tempting you…Your morals are exempting you from guilt and shame – Heaven knows you’re not to blame…You better, Take care of business Mr. Businessman….What’s your plan? Get down to business Mr. Businessman if you can…Before it’s too late..And you throw your life away…Did you see your children growing up today..And did you hear the music of their laughter As they set about to play..Did you catch the fragrance of those roses in your garden…Did the morning sunlight warm your soul,..Brighten up your day…Do you qualify to be alive Or is the limit of your senses so as only to survive…Hey yeah…Spending counterfeit incentive…Wasting precious time and health…Placing value on the worthless…Disregarding priceless wealth…You can wheel and deal the best of them…And steal it from the rest of them…You know the score, their ethics are a bore…Eighty-six proof anesthetic crutches prop you to the top…Where the smiles are all synthetic And the ulcers never stop..When they take that final inventory,…Yours will be the same sad story everywhere… No one will really care, no one more lonely than…This rich important man, lets have your autograph…Endorse your epitaph…”

Of course the refrain of the song is “You better, take care of business Mr. Businessman…Get down to business Mr. Businessman…” It’s a call to reflect on your life and to reconsider what matters most. It’s Jeremiah’s call to the citizens of Judah. It’s God’s call to us every day! Let’s set aside the truly temporal things and focus on what really matters. It’s time to get down to doing business with God!

While in Deadwood, South Dakota a few weeks ago we stayed at the Historic Franklin Hotel. In our small suite was a bookshelf on which I found the “Unofficial Biography of Frank Sinatra” by Kitty Kelley. Frank sued Kitty to prevent this book from being published and held its publication up for years. After reading it, it’s no wonder he didn’t want it to hit the market. It exposed his abortionist mother, his criminal records and his mob connections that made him what he was.  I don’t think I’ll ever hear one of his songs in the same way again. The bottom line is that Frank has a very seedy side which served him to advance himself in the entertainment industry. He did whatever it took to get what he wanted.

In Jeremiah 5:26, the prophet explained that this was the case of many successful figures in Israel in his day. That verse says, “For wicked men are found among my people; they lurk like fowlers lying in wait. They set a trap; they catch men.” According to Bert Hall, as he explains the context of this verse, he writes that it is pointing to “…the specific wicked men, men who by deceit and cunning became rich and great.”^[1] I’m sure we can get anything we want in this world if we’re willing to do anything at all to get it. Ethics, morals, basic biblical standards of behavior are ignored as long as we can get what we want. If it will make me successful there’s no other measurement that matters. “Whatever works is right” is the motto of our national business effort to much too large of a degree.

William James is the founder of the philosophical school referred to as “pragmatics.” He teaches that the end justifies the means. But the scriptures, God’s ways, are revealed clearly to us and they stand head and shoulders above the perceived results of our actions. Pragmatism, as a world view, existed long before William James and the 1900’s. Saul, who had to be instructed that obedience was more important than sacrifice, stands out as the biblical example of a man who justified his behavior accordingly. It seems in many respects the nation of Israel had become a nation of pragmatists who were willing to do anything they needed to get what they wanted. In Judah, the leaders, like Saul, actually argued that they were serving God by doing this. I like what Bryan Chapell says about this; “People who think they will serve God in ways better than God himself has prescribed are only fooling themselves. You cannot do the will of God and break the Word of God.”^[2]

^[1] Bert Harold Hall, “The Book of Jeremiah,” in Isaiah-Malachi, vol. 3, The Wesleyan Bible Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1969), 201.

^[2] Bryan Chapell, Using Illustrations to Preach with Power, Rev. ed. (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2001), 149.

In the agricultural economy of Israel the blesses of prosperity and the curses of poverty, drought, and infertility were seen as directly proffered from the hand of God as a result of man’s obedience or disobedience respectively. Israel’s current situation is of course the consequence of turning away from the covenant of Sinai that Israel entered into upon deliverance from slavery in Egypt. As Moses reminded them of this covenant in the book of Deuteronomy he closed his statements with a refresher on the blessings of obedience and the cursings of disobedience. The blessings of obedience brought Israel houses they didn’t build, water from wells they didn’t dig, and food from crops they didn’t plant. Indeed, Israel was blessed with a land flowing with milk and honey. But Jeremiah explains that the lack of rain, the poor yields from the fields, and the famine in the land is a direct result of Israel’s sin. In Jeremiah 5:25 he says, “Your iniquities have turned these away, and your sins have kept good from you.” Dearman says, “Jeremiah 5:25 then underscores the correspondence between act and consequence: ‘Your sins have deprived you of good.’^[1]

Job teaches us that not all suffering is a result of our sin. Sometime it’s the result of an invisible battle designed to test our faith and confidence in the goodness of God. Sometimes hardships come as a normal part of living in a fallen world. Jesus also taught that sometimes disaster may fall upon us in ways that seem rather random and unexplainable by our goodness or our badness (see Luke 13:1-5).

But I have found over the years that my mother was right; “your sins will find you out.” They always come back to you it seems in one form or another. Surely, Jeremiah is right; our sins will always “deprive us of good.” Jeremiah uses this truth to point out that God’s everlasting love is expressed to us not only in His blessings for obedience but also in His cursings on disobedience. Our sins make life much less than what God has planned for us. God’s everlasting love is expressed in His positive intentions for us. Jeremiah 29:11 is going to summarize God’s love to a sinful, wayward people; “I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you, not to harm you; plans to give you hope and a future.” God always has our best interest foremost in mind regardless of our situations. He only wants the absolute best for us, yet, like Israel, we often are willing to settle for so much less.

^[1] J. Andrew Dearman, Jeremiah and Lamentations, The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 2002), 88.

The citizens of Jerusalem in Jeremiah’s day had turned from God. They denied the evidence all around them of God’s sovereignty and his majesty, but more importantly, the clear evidence of His love. They lost perspective and adopted the conviction that Satan promoted with Adam and Eve in the Garden. They believed that God was keeping good things from them and that He didn’t really care about them but only wanted their praise and worship to salve His own ego. They no longer knew God. They knew about God but they had no relationship with Him anymore. Jeremiah put it this way in Jeremiah 5:23, “But this people has a stubborn and rebellious heart; they have turned aside and gone away.”

Jeremiah 5:24 continues that idea. It says, “They do not say in their hearts, ‘Let us fear the LORD our God, who gives the rain in its season, the autumn rain and the spring rain, and keeps for us the weeks appointed for the harvest.’ Notice that God is presented by Jeremiah as the protector of His people. He keeps the oceans from destroying them. He set boundaries. He’s the provider for His people. He gives all good things to them. He loves us and only wants what’s best for us all. Unfortunately, we don’t know Him as well as we should.

In 1996 U.S. astronaut Shannon Lucid spent 188 days in space along with two cosmonauts from the former Soviet Union. One night after supper she and the two cosmonauts began talking about their childhoods and what life was like for them during the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. Lucid and the cosmonauts surprised each other. She told them she had grown up fearful of the Soviet Union, and most American adults would have felt the same way. But the cosmonauts said they had been equally afraid of the United States. What? Afraid of the United States? The idea that Russians would think we wanted to destroy them is incredible to Americans. These Russian cosmonauts resemble those who do not know God. They think that God wants to harm them, but nothing could be farther from the truth. Although there is a spiritual cold war going on, in which those who do not know Christ are indeed God’s enemies because of their sins, they are not enemies that God wants to destroy. They are enemies that God dearly wants to make his friends.^[1]

^[1] Craig Brian Larson, 750 Engaging Illustrations for Preachers, Teachers & Writers (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2002), 173–174.

Just as the apostles saw the miracles Jesus performed and heard His divine teachings they did not understand what it all meant. They saw but didn’t see. They heard but didn’t hear. Thus, they did not comprehend the reality of the divine presence with them in the person of Jesus Christ. One of the latest lessons He taught His disciples was when Peter cut of Malthus’ ear in the garden. Jesus rebuked Peter, replaced the ear which miraculously reattached itself and said, “don’t you know that I could call legions of angels to come fight for me?” Well, they didn’t know! They saw and they heard but they didn’t comprehend. Jesus was indeed the physical presence of God almighty!

Jeremiah suggested that the Israelites saw God’s handiwork as well but didn’t see. God’s greatness, His majesty is apparent to all who will open their eyes and ears to see and hear. Once we do that we will stand in total awe and amazement. In Jeremiah 5:22, he writes to those living in Jerusalem, “Do you not fear me? declares the LORD. Do you not tremble before me? I placed the sand as the boundary for the sea, a perpetual barrier that it cannot pass; though the waves toss, they cannot prevail; though they roar, they cannot pass over it.” God established the basic laws of nature which enable us to live and breathe and exist in the world as we do. William Blake was right, “A fool sees not the same tree that a wise man sees.”

Just as He established the laws that make our lives possible, so too, He established the moral foundations that make our lives meaningful. But, like the citizen of Jerusalem, we see but do not see. We hear and do not hear! I would love to speak the words Jeremiah spoke to Jerusalem to the members of the Supreme Court of the United States. “Do you not fear me? Declares the Lord. Do you not tremble before me? I established marriage in the garden. I set its boundaries. I established its ceremonies and vows and participants. I placed the genders in their proper places and established permanent barriers that should not be crossed. Do you not fear me? Declares the Lord! Jeremiah’s indictment is that God has set bounds for the sea and the sea must obey. He has set bounds for mankind, but mankind has rebelled. I like what T.S. Eliot said; “I had far rather walk, as I do, in daily terror of eternity, than feel that this was only a child’s game in which all the contestants would get equally worthless prizes in the end.”^[1] Unfortunately, the United States decided by a vote of five to four that we have no fear of God!

^[1] Craig Brian Larson and Brian Lowery, 1001 Quotations That Connect: Timeless Wisdom for Preaching, Teaching, and Writing (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 2009), 126.

As I begin my study of Jeremiah chapter 4, it occurs to me that this chapter is a complete section in and of itself. Guest described it in his commentary, “This section is a series of poems, the pithiest to be found anywhere. They were preached as sermons. Like any good communicator, Jeremiah scorned the vague, the colorless, and the irresolute and struck right at the heart. After all, the southern kingdom, to whom Jeremiah’s words were directed, was in serious trouble, and he must reach beyond their complacency and stir them to redemption.”^[1] His call to the prodigal nation again is one to leave the pig sty and come home!

In coming home, there is only one place to go. The Israelites had probably moved from one thing to another in their attempt to find happiness and purpose in life. They’ve moved between the god’s of the Babylonians, to the gods of the Assyrian and as far-fetched as it may sound they had even spent time with the gods of the Egyptians. I suppose it’s not a lot different from our own generation. We move from pleasure to possessions to prestige to power all in the hopes of making our lives more meaningful and rewarding. At the end we all wind up as the prodigal son! We’ve wasted our days and wasted our nights.

In Jeremiah 4:1-2, God repeats His plea to His people to simply give up on their own ways and means and come on home. There is only one God, the true God and the light of the world. These verses say, “If you return, O Israel, declares the Lord, to me you should return. If you remove your detestable things from my presence, and do not waver, and if you swear, ‘As the Lord lives,’ in truth, in justice, and in righteousness, then nations shall bless themselves in him and in him shall they glory.” God promises Israel that if they come home to Him the nations will come also. Ryken says, “This is a description of the nation’s joining in a united expression of joy and thanksgiving at the excellence and supremacy of the Lord who has made this provision for their salvation.”^[2] Through a believing nation, a world could be won to faith in the one true God! That’s what will happen when every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. I think this is part of what we’re praying for when we say “…thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

^[1] John Guest and Lloyd J. Ogilvie, Jeremiah, Lamentations, vol. 19, The Preacher’s Commentary Series (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc, 1988), 49–50.

^[2] John L. Mackay, Jeremiah: An Introduction and Commentary: Chapters 1–20, vol. 1, Mentor Commentaries (Fearn, Ross-shire, Scotland: Mentor, 2004), 204.