The Strand Study Bible

JEREMIAH JEREMIAH 1. wrath (II Ki 22:13,17) – This word ( wrath ) means “ hot with rage. ” God was “mad as hades” with the nation of Israel because of their disobedience to His commands (Deut 29:10-13,21-28). 2. evil (II Ki 22:16,20) –This word ( evil ) means “ affliction; calamity .” God was “afflicting” the nation of Israel (allowing evil to come upon them) because of their disobedience to His commands (Deut 22:21-24 & 30:15). 3. curse (II Ki 22:19) – This word ( curse ) means “ vilification .” God was “vilifying” the nation of Israel (cursing them) because of their disobedience to His commands (Deut 11:26-29 & 27:12-13 & 30:1-3). 1:3 Interestingly enough only three of the five kings that Jeremiah served under are mentioned here: Josiah, Jehoiakim and Zedekiah ). The short reigns of Jehoahaz (3 month reign) and Jehoiachin (3 month reign) are passed over. 1:5a Although this verse was not intended as ammunition in our time’s battle over abortion, it does apply. According to the Scriptures, God is the author of life ( Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee ), not Planned Parenthood. J. Vernon McGee in Jeremiah & Lamentations notes: 1142 God is unquestionably pro-life, despite what some pro-abortion advocates preach ( Lk 18:8 - point #4). Seeing God is the Alpha and Omega (Rev 1:8,11,17 & 22:13) and the First and the Last (Isa 41:4 & 44:6), He knows each and every one of us before we are even conceived; therefore, each life, whether inside or outside the womb, should be valued. Anytime we presume to know better than God, as to who should be given life and whose life should be taken, we put ourselves in the place of God, and that’s idolatry ( Lev 17:12 ). NOTE –The reasoning of the world is absolutely absurd. According to the world’s thinking, the unborn fetus, when viewed with a lawsuit against a doctor, or a drug company, or a hospital, is called “an unborn child” and is worth millions in damages. Yet that same “unborn” fetus to the pro-abortion crowd is not a person at all, but a “piece of tissue” that you can conveniently discard for any reason. Women have abortions for many different reasons. They can have an abortion for immaturity reasons (too young to raise a child), or financial reasons (too poor to raise a child), or even emotional reasons (too unstable to raise a child due to rape and/or incest), which, sadly, is a cruel irony… for while a father of the unborn child cannot receive the death penalty for the crime of rape or incest, his pre-born child conceived in that rape or incest can be executed without trial, jury or judge. Whatever the reason, statistics show that 97% of abortions occur for only one reason - convenience . In the United States alone over 4,000 babies each day lose their lives due to a woman’s right to accommodate her “lifestyle.” Seeing modern technology (techniques such as amniocentesis, chorionic villi sampling (CVS) and ultrasound) can offer today’s parents the opportunity to “see” into the womb and look at their unborn child in order to detect abnormalities, if the pre-born child is diagnosed with Down’s syndrome, Spina Bifida, or Tay-Sachs disease, should abortion ever be a justified “option?” Is it right to “cure the disease” by killing the child? To most people, the idea is foul and repugnant. Such “search and destroy” tactics are based on eugenics (the Nazis movement devoted to improving the human species by controlling heredity). Eugenics says that some human lives–those that do not meet an arbitrary standard of mental or physical health – are not worth living. Think about it! Children that are aborted for this reason are not merely discriminated against for their disability; they are killed because of it. Whenever abortion is used “to solve the problem,” it is discrimination of the most severe kind. There are three main reasons why women choose to abort. Women abort: 1. out of convenience – if a woman discovers an abnormality with their defenseless pre-born child, they become uncomfortable coexisting with another person’s disability 2. out of selfishness – women don’t want their own quality of life being affected by having to care for an infant 3. out of pride – women don’t want anyone (not even God) telling them what they can and cannot do ( Jn 9:1-3) . According to the clear teaching of Scripture, God is the one who allowed us to be formed the way we are in the belly of the womb. Therefore, taking the life of the “unborn” is clearly anti-scriptural ( Exo 21:22-23 ). The question is not, “Does abortion take the life of a child?” We know it does. The question is, “Is it okay to take that life?” NOTE – Due to liberal ideology, the liberal left in America is responsible for wiping out more African Americans via abortions than violence, accidents, diseases and all the white racist groups combined. As of 2002, there were approximately 36 million black people living in America. Ever since 1973, when liberal politics decided abortion should be legalized, over 20 million African American babies have perished. Approximately one-half million African American babies are aborted every year (about 41,000 a month). The facts speak for themselves. African Americans within this country (especially within the last thirty years) need to take a good hard look at themselves and how they “voted” when it comes to how their people have been politically manipulated and destroyed. 1:5b Long before Jeremiah was ever born God knew what Jeremiah was going to do, and then called him to do it ( I sanctified thee ). It’s called “foreknowledge” (God’s prior knowledge of all things – I Pet 1:2a ). The preordination ( and I ordained thee a prophet ) of individuals is a common theme throughout the Bible (Judg 13:3, Isa 45:1-4 & 49:1, Psa 139:16, Lk 1:15/Jn 1:6,19-23 and Gal 1:15-16/II Tim 1:9-11). Many people today are asking, “When is a child a child?” May I say to you, a child is a child at the very moment he is conceived. Read Psalm 139. David says, “My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth” (Psalm 139:15). That is, he was formed in the womb of his mother, and at that moment, life began… Abortion is murder, unless it is done to save a life. That is the way the Word of God looks at it. 2

1 Ellicott, Charles John. Ellicott’s Bible Commentary , Grand Rapids, MI, Zondervan, 1971, Print. 2 McGee, J. Vernon. Jeremiah & Lamentations , Pasadena, CA, Thru the Bible Books, 1978, Print.