As I said in my post yesterday/this morning, I had my last final exam at 8am for music 27 in hertz hall. I slept two hours last night after studying all night for the test with Sang. The test was pretty hard, but hopefully I did well enough to keep my grade in the A range. I took a nap after getting back to the apartment.

I woke up from my nap at about 12:40, and packed up all my stuff. Joseph left for Taiwan earlier this week, but left his car here and gave me permission to drive it back to davis. I got home a little before 3 in the afternoon, and got settled down.

It feels weird not having any homework to do, projects to work on, or tests to study for. I had time to play guitar and take a little more photos than usual.

Jeremiah 19

What are some activities that people engage in today to which God would say “I did not command or mention [it], nor did it enter my mind”?

False doctrines that masquerade as being a part of true Christianity. Many religious traditions, activities, or rituals carried out by people in "obedience to God" were never commanded by God in the first place.

Reflect on the extremes to which human evil can go when an entire people and culture reinforce evil practices and values. What perspective does this give me regarding the need to be vigilant against the encroachment of sin and worldly values in my life?

It is not hard for an entire group of people to be led astray together if the individual members of that group are not careful and quick to speak out. The Israelites obviously did not decide all together one day that burning their sons as offerings to Baal was something they should all do, but the sinful practices must have started small, but spread and grew until it took the horrible form that Jeremiah notes here. Just as the anecdote with the frog in boiling water tell us, we need to be vigilant in our sinful surroundings, or else we could slowly begin living a sinful lifestyle that seems perfectly normal and okay to us.

Historically, how did Jeremiah’s prophecies come true?

Israel was conquered, and Jerusalem destroyed. Many of the Israelites were killed, and the rest were exiled to a foreign land.

What perspective does this give me regarding the efficacy of God’s Word and prophecies regarding the final judgment (2 Peter 3:3-10)?

By looking back at history, it is clear that whenever God makes a prophecy regarding the future, it will come to pass. Since we learn this from the many prophecies that have already been fulfilled (including the coming of Jesus), we can have confidence and have faith that all the prophecies that have not been fulfilled yet will one day come true as well. This means that there will surely be a final judgement, and we should all behave accordingly in both how we live our own lives and how we relate to those around us.

Reflect on what the imagery of a “potter’s jar [being] smashed” shows about the finality of God’s judgment.

The people had hardened in sin to a point of being incapable of changing from their ways, and therefore can only be broken and not moulded. During our lifetimes, we are soft clay that can still turn to God and be moulded for his purposes. However, once this life of ours ends, we will face judgement, and if we had continued to reject God and embrace sin instead, we will have hardened beyond hope.

Reflect on Jeremiah’s role as a prophet and how again and again he needs to repeat the same words of warning to the Judeans.

He had to repeat his warnings both for those who hadn't heard it yet, and also for those whose hearts were perpetually hardened towards God, so that they would be without excuse. Jeremiah was faithful in delivering the same unpopular message again and again to people all over the land, something we are also called to do in modern times.

What message does this have for me, as someone who needs to speak the truth as well as receive the truth?

I must be bold in delivering God's word and not be afraid of what others might think of me. Jeremiah knew what he was doing and saying was unpopular and would cause the whole nation to hate him, yet he was faithful in carrying out the work God had given him. I must strive to live the same way, and put God's work above my own comfort.