Jeremiah 10

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Jeremiah 10:1-25 (KJV) 

1 Hear ye the word which the LORD speaketh unto you, O house of Israel: 

Listen to God.

2 Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. 

  Do not give attention to signs.  Do not use horoscopes.

3 For the customs of the people [are] vain: for [one] cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe.

This practice is a waste of time.  Some go as far as to cut trees and make images to represent God.

You cut a tree out of the forest?  If that one tree can support you, why won't you cut more; you are in a forest that has many trees:  this is why I know you need me.  You left me to make a god out of a tree you cut down from the forest; yes sir, you really need Me.

 4 They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not. 

They make an idol from a tree and decorate it with silver and gold using a hammer and nails to secure it so that it will not move.

5 They [are] upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also [is it] in them to do good.

What you created on your own will be a waste of valuable time. It is a tree, that keeps you warm for wood, a tree that you pick food from, a tree that is used to build things you need.  How do we turn what was created for us into a thing we worship? and take and make a god from the God who made the tree?

6 Forasmuch as [there is] none like unto thee, O LORD; thou [art] great, and thy name [is] great in might. 

You are God, You are great! Your reputation is mighty!

7 Who would not fear thee, O King of nations? for to thee doth it appertain: forasmuch as among all the wise [men] of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, [there is] none like unto thee. 

Who would not fear You if they knew you?  You made everything that is made: Out of all of the wise men in the nation, and all the world, there is none like You.

8 But they are altogether brutish and foolish: the stock [is] a doctrine of vanities. 

Everything man has made to be a god is a bunch of foolishness and a waste of good wood.

9 Silver spread into plates is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the workman, and of the hands of the founder: blue and purple [is] their clothing: they [are] all the work of cunning [men]. 

Plates made of silver and brought from famous places and gold from Uphaz!  Oh, how fabulous!  that's what you think!  all the work of men who are up to no good.

10 But the LORD [is] the true God, he [is] the living God, and an everlasting king: at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide his indignation. 

He is God! He is King and will always be King!! When God is upset the earth moves and nobody can stand His anger!

11 Thus shall ye say unto them, The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, [even] they shall perish from the earth, and from under these heavens. 

Jeremiah, tell them these words, your god ain't nothing.  It is wood and it will burn with all the other trees.

12 He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heavens by his discretion. 

God said tell them I made everything!  I used my power, my wisdom and I made what no man has ever touched, the heavens!

13 When he uttereth his voice, [there is] a multitude of waters in the heavens, and he causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth; he maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures. 

When I speak I sound like water, I cause the vapor to do what it does: I made flashes of lightning and rain, I send wind from my hidden treasures.

14 Every man is brutish in [his] knowledge: every founder is confounded by the graven image: for his molten image [is] falsehood, and [there is] no breath in them. 

Man thinks like a wild animal without Me:  your own god you made confuses and it is made by you with My stuff.

15 They [are] vanity, [and] the work of errors: in the time of their visitation they shall perish. 

When you are visited by my anger, your god will not be available.

16 The portion of Jacob [is] not like them: for he [is] the former of all [things]; and Israel [is] the rod of his inheritance: The LORD of hosts [is] his name. 

The God of Jacob and Israel is God!!!!

17 Gather up thy wares out of the land, O inhabitant of the fortress. 

Get all your stuff, my people!

18 For thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will sling out the inhabitants of the land at this once, and will distress them, that they may find [it so]. 

I will move you so quickly off this land it will be like a rock flying from a slingshot.  Finally, you will see My anger!

19 Woe is me for my hurt! my wound is grievous: but I said, Truly this [is] a grief, and I must bear it. 

Are these the words of Jeremiah describing how he feels knowing this will happen to his friends and family?  Or are these the exact words that the people will utter under God's wrath?  Either way, these words will be spoken!

20 My tabernacle is spoiled, and all my cords are broken: my children are gone forth of me, and they [are] not: [there is] none to stretch forth my tent any more, and to set up my curtains. 

I taught you how I wanted for you, step by step how to handle my dedicated things: you left me, and not one of you is on my side, I have none to carry out my orders in how things should be done.

21 For the pastors are become brutish, and have not sought the LORD: therefore they shall not prosper, and all their flocks shall be scattered. 

Pastors of my people are like animals, and do not seek My Word: they will not make any gain and the members of the church will be all over the place.

22 Behold, the noise of the bruit is come, and a great commotion out of the north country, to make the cities of Judah desolate, [and] a den of dragons. 

The cruel men have arrived and things do not look the same.  Wild animals have taken over and called your home their den.

23 O LORD, I know that the way of man [is] not in himself: [it is] not in man that walketh to direct his steps.

Man cannot direct his path.  You did not create man to handle life by himself.  Your wisdom in man is too awesome for man to hold. 

24 O LORD, correct me, but with judgment; not in thine anger, lest thou bring me to nothing. 

Lord show me how to do over the things I have done wrong;  please do not let me see You angry.

25 Pour out thy fury upon the heathen that know thee not, and upon the families that call not on thy name: for they have eaten up Jacob, and devoured him, and consumed him, and have made his habitation desolate.

Lord deliver Your people from wrath. Let your wrath be known to those who continue to ignore Your Word, those who mislead families.  The evil ways of those who do not turn to you have caused the land to be broken and of no use.