From Devotion to Disaster (Jeremiah 2–6)

Humility isn’t a costume you put on for a day. We open with Harry Ironside’s attempt to become humble by wearing a sandwich board through Chicago—and the surprising pride that followed—then move straight into Jeremiah’s world, where a prophet’s entire life becomes the sign. The contrast is sharp: humiliation can bruise the ego, but true humility redirects the heart toward God and neighbor. That insight sets the stage for a gripping walk through Jeremiah 2–6, where Judah trades living water for broken cisterns and learns why empty religion can never quench a thirsty soul.

We unpack Jeremiah’s twin sermons with clarity and urgency. First comes the warning: judgment is near, and here’s why. Idolatry looks sophisticated in any century, but whether you say “tree, you gave me birth” or “we’re just star dust,” the outcome is the same—purpose gets thin, truth blurs, and conscience dulls. Then a promise breaks in: God will raise shepherds after His heart to feed people with knowledge and understanding. That vision of leadership isn’t about charisma; it is about nourishing truth that heals minds and steadies lives. Still, Judah refuses correction, assumes God will do nothing, and mistakes patience for permission, even as Babylon marches.

Through it all, Jeremiah weeps. The warning isn’t gloating; it’s grief. We sit with that tension—justice that must come, mercy that still calls, and a door that hasn’t shut yet. If you’ve felt the ache of dry spirituality, if you’ve chased meaning in trends and found only dust, this conversation points you back to the water that lasts. Scripture is plain: death is certain, judgment is real, and grace is offered without price. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. If this message meets you at the right moment, don’t push it off.

If the episode resonates, follow the show, share it with a friend who’s searching for solid ground, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway. Your notes help others find their way to living water.

Get instant, biblically faithful answers to your Bible questions. https://www.wisdomonline.org/ask

Learn more at https://www.wisdomonline.org/

Transcript

Jeremiah As Living Billboard

Two Sermons And A Warning

Broken Cisterns And True Water

Idolatry And Origins Mocked

Spiritual Unfaithfulness Exposed

Promise Of True Shepherds

Babylon Approaches

Why Judgment Is Certain

SPEAKER_00 0:54

Dr. Harry Ironside pastored a church in Chicago during the early 1900s. As a young man, he wasn't developing the kind of humility he thought he should have. So he asked an older Christian friend what he ought to do about it. His friend gave him some rather poor advice. He told him that if he wanted to be humble, he needed to do something humiliating. Well, like what? Harry asked. Well, his friend told him you need to create a sandwich board. You know, that's that large board you might wear in the front that's strapped to another board that hangs over your back. And he said, write on those boards the message of God's judgment and the plan of salvation, and then walk through the shopping district in downtown Chicago for an entire day, and that will help make you humble. Well, Ironside followed his friend's advice, and when he returned to his apartment after a humiliating day of ridicule and people laughing at him, he was exhausted. But as he took off that sandwich board, he found himself thinking to himself, you know, there's probably nobody else in Chicago humble enough to do what I just did. It only created more pride. Listen, beloved, humility isn't developed by being humiliated. It isn't, you know, being jeered at or even thinking poorly of yourself. Humility is when you don't think about yourself at all. You've simply surrendered to live for God and for others. Humility is the opposite of self-centeredness. You know, when I think of the prophet Jeremiah, I think of a truly humble man, not because he was humiliated, but because nothing in his life seemed to be self-centered. It's as if God told Jeremiah to become a living billboard. His life will be a sandwich board, essentially delivering the message of God's judgment and salvation, and his world is going to jeer at him and mock him and frankly ignore him. Now, here in chapters two through six, Jeremiah is going to deliver two messages. The first sermon takes you from Jeremiah 2 all the way through chapter 3 and verse 5. And then the second sermon takes you all the way over to the end of chapter 6. Now the main point of this first sermon is a warning to the nation of Judah. If Jeremiah was wearing that sandwich board, it would simply read, The end is near, judgment is coming. And here's why. So in this analogy, God's people had traded the living water of God for the mud puddle of false religion. And let me tell you, beloved, religion will never satisfy your spiritual thirst. It's muddy water. Clear, clean, refreshing, satisfying water only comes through God's Son, the Lord Jesus. The Bible quotes the Lord saying, Let the one who desires take the water of life without price. That's Revelation chapter 22 and verse 17. Now Jeremiah goes on here to describe the foolishness of their idolatry in verse 27. He pictures the leaders of Judah saying to a tree, You are my father, and to a stone, you gave me birth. In other words, everything evolved. We're all related somehow to a tree or to a rock or a stone. You know, you might you might think that people today are smarter than that. Well, not really. People believe to this day that they're the result of an explosion of stars out there in the universe. In fact, I I heard a scientist say not too long ago, you know, you ought to feel good about yourself because you're the result of that explosion and you are made of star dust. Well, that's no different than the people in Jeremiah's day saying, you know, to a rock, you gave me birth. It's the same thing. You see, whenever people reject the creator, they're going to assume their origin came from a rock or a tree or mother earth or some star out there. They're even going to say to a rock, you gave me birth. Well, now here in chapter three, the people are described not just as unfaithful spouses, but it's worse. They're described as spiritual prostitutes. They've polluted the land with their immorality, and verse five describes them as doing all the evil that they could do. And Judah ought to know better. They saw what happened to the ten tribes in the north, the kingdom of Israel. They had seen Israel taken captivity, but now that doesn't seem to matter here. Even though Judah had abandoned God, though, I the good news is God isn't going to abandon Judah forever. In fact, he gives them this promise here in chapter three and verse 15. I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding. Now this promise is partially fulfilled in every generation, by the way, even to this day. And in fact, this is the verse we've chosen for our seminary, shepherds theological seminaries. We train Bible expositors and pastors and church leaders. We want to be involved in God's promise to provide shepherds for his people in every nation. But now for Jeremiah here, his generation doesn't want anything to do with godly shepherds. And so Jeremiah, he's walking through the shopping district of Jerusalem, so to speak. He's got that sandwich board on that reads, The end is near, and judgment is calling, and they don't really care. Well, God speaks through Jeremiah here now in chapter four and verse six. I bring disaster from the north and great destruction. A destroyer of nations has set out, and your cities will be in ruins without inhabitant. Now, this destroyer of nations is Babylon, and there's no escaping the Babylonian army, they've already set out. So Jeremiah isn't smiling here, he isn't laughing, he isn't gloating as he delivers this message of judgment. In fact, he says in verse 19, My anguish, my anguish, I writhe in pain. Oh, he's weeping. He he he's gonna become known as the weeping prophet. See, Jeremiah is making it clear why God will arrive in judgment. He's gonna list now a number of Judah's sins in chapter five and verse one. The people do not seek for justice or truth. They verse two swear falsely. They refuse correction and do not repent. Verse three. Down here in verse twelve, it says that in their arrogance they proclaim, He that is God, will do nothing. No disaster will come upon us. In other words, you know, God's not going to do anything to us. We're not facing judgment. God isn't gonna judge anybody. Well, doesn't that sound just like people today? And just like the nation of Judah, so many people today are in for a shocking surprise when they finally meet God. Well, now Jeremiah preaches here in chapter six about the certainty of Jerusalem's destruction. There is a vivid poetic language here that gives the details of what's coming. Verse six says that the Babylonians are gonna cut down trees and build siege ramps against the city of Jerusalem, the city that must be punished, God says. Judgment is gonna fall upon everybody, verses eleven through thirteen. The young and the old alike are all guilty. And the Lord says here in verse 19, they have not paid attention to my word. So don't miss this here. You know, judgment doesn't come until God has exhausted every effort to bring them to repentance. He's He's sent them prophets to warn them, He's waited patiently for centuries for them to respond, but they've misinterpreted His patience here as freedom to continue in their sin. What about you today, my friend? Has God been patient with you? Well, maybe this program you're watching or listening to today is is one more evidence of his patience. It's one more invitation. It it's his it's one more warning to you. I'm not a prophet, but you can consider me the prophet Jeremiah in your life today as I read his word. God is warning you again today. The Bible says over in Hebrews chapter 9 and verse 27, it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment. You can avoid the judgment of God when you meet him one day by accepting the gift of salvation through his Son, the Lord Jesus. The Bible also says, everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Call out to him today. He's listening. Ask the Lord Jesus to forgive you, to save you, to become your shepherd today. Let us know here if you've made that decision. And until our next wisdom journey together, may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.