Jeremiah 17:5-8 [The One Who Trusts and Relies on Man, and the One Who Trusts and Relies on God]

[Things to Meditate On]

1. Through the passage above, we are told that there are two kinds of people. First, there are those whose hearts depart from God, who trust in man and make flesh their strength. Second, there are those who rely on and trust in God. Then what does the Bible say will be the result for each of them (verse 6, verse 8)?

2. The words of Jeremiah above are not difficult for us to understand. However, even though they may be easy to understand intellectually, it often seems difficult to live with the faith written in verses 7-8 in our daily lives. Why then, in our daily lives, do we often try to rely on wealth or make the people around us our help, rather than relying on and trusting in Jesus according to the written word?

3. Jesus went into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil, and He fasted for forty days (Matthew 4:1). For someone who had eaten nothing for forty days, bread, that is, food, would have been needed more than anything else in this world. Because the devil knew this well, he tempted Jesus, who had fasted for forty days, saying, "If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread" (Matthew 4:3). But Jesus overcame that temptation with the following word.

Matthew 4:4 "But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." (Deuteronomy 8:3)

Thus, Jesus showed us that by "the written word of God," we can surely overcome the weakness of the flesh. Jesus made it clear to us that man lives by "the word of God," and not by the food of the flesh. Besides this temptation, Jesus also overcame the other two temptations by "the written word of God" (Matthew 4:5-11).

On the other hand, Jesus said that the Israelites who came out of Egypt ate manna in the wilderness, yet they all died (John 6:49). This was because they followed the immediate desires of the flesh more than the word of God’s promise. Although they had already experienced the power of God many times before, they still could not rely on or trust in the word of God. The Bible records that they tempted God ten times (Numbers 14:22). From this, we can know that even if people are chosen by God and directly experience the power of God, that does not mean they can all rely on or trust in the word of God. Therefore, fundamentally, only when we have "faith in the word of God" can we choose the spirit, not the flesh, when we stand between the flesh and the spirit.

John 6:48-68 "48I am that bread of life. 49Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. 50This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. 51I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever... 52The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat?... 60Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it? 61When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you? 62What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before? 63It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life... 66From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. 67Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? 68Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life."

[Decision and Application]

The Israelites in the wilderness, standing between the flesh and the spirit, followed the things of the flesh rather than the word of God’s promise (1 Corinthians 10:6-12). Because of this, they murmured because of the fleshly problems that came before their eyes, and they tempted God ten times. This was because they did not have a heart that sought to rely on or trust in God. In order for us not to repeat the same mistakes of the past, we must surely have faith in the word of God, that is, in Jesus Christ.

Trusting in man and making flesh one’s reliance will bring about the result of repeating the mistakes of the past. That is why the Bible says that "such people will be like the heath in the desert, will not see when good cometh, and will inhabit the dry and barren wilderness, a land where no one dwells" (verse 6). Therefore, following the example of Jesus, who relied on and trusted in the word of God, we also must rely on and trust in Jesus, the word of God, all the more when life is hard and difficult, and even when life is joyful.

2 Chronicles 20:20 "And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established..."

Isaiah 26:3-4, 13 "3Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. 4Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength. 13O LORD our God, other lords beside thee have had dominion over us: but by thee only will we make mention of thy name."

2 Corinthians 1:8-9 "8For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life: 9But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead."

On the other hand, the tree planted by the waters spreads out its roots by the river. This shows us the life of one who relies only on Jesus. Therefore, even when heat comes, he does not fear; his leaf remains green; in the year of drought he is not anxious; and he does not cease from yielding fruit (verse 8). Therefore, the one who delights in the word of God and meditates on that word day and night truly cannot help but be "a blessed man" (Psalm 1:1-3). Now we must become such "blessed people." If we become blessed people who always walk with Jesus, then according to the written word, "whatsoever he doeth shall prosper," He will fulfill this for us.

Psalm 1:1-3 "1Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. 2But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. 3And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper."

Psalm 146:3-5 "3Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. 4His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish. 5Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the LORD his God."

Amen.