Tommy Mann

The Jews didn’t think God loved them anymore. It certainly didn’t look like He did. The nation split into two, and both North and South had been defeated. Not only were they decimated by their enemies, the survivors were rounded up and marched out of their land. No, it certainly didn’t look like God still loved them.  That is why His message through the prophet Jeremiah in chapter 31 were welcomed words. In the third verse we read, “The LORD appeared to him from far away. I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.” “From far away” reminds us they were in Babylon, far away from the Promised Land, and far away from the temple where they went to meet with the Lord. That He would appear to them at all, and especially from far away, was in itself wonderful news.  But notice what He said when He appeared. He loved them with an everlasting love. Their idolatry was not enough to break the love of the Lord. Their being conquered and di...

In Jeremiah 13 God asked an interesting question through His prophet: “Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots (v.23)?” This question is rhetorical because we know the answer to both halves of that question is no. The Ethiopian cannot change the color of his skin, nor can the leopard get rid of his trademark pattern.   But why did God ask such an obvious question? He was making a point, as the second half of the verse tells us: “Then also you can do good who are accustomed to do evil.” The things about the Ethiopian and the leopard is not that they do not have the ability to change, but that they have no desire to change. Why would the Ethiopian want to change his dark skin? Why would the leopard want to remove his spots? They are proud of the way they look; that is part of their distinguishing characteristic.  The point was the stubborn people of Israel’s Southern Kingdom had even less desire to change their behavior. Their identifying mark was their idolat...

  Where we sit says a lot about us. Or I should say, who we sit with says a lot about us. Do you prefer the company of the wicked or the righteous?   In Psalm 26 David prayed for God to vindicate him because he was being falsely accused of something. To David, the problem wasn’t just that he was accused of something he didn’t do, but that he was accused of something he wouldn’t do because he hated it.  (Although we don’t know for sure, this psalm may be in reference to the assassination of Ishbosheth, the son of Saul who installed himself as king even though David had been anointed as successor. People likely accused David of ordering the hit, and he didn’t want people think he condoned the murder.) In v.4-5 of the psalm the king said, “I do not sit with men of falsehood, nor do I consort with hypocrites. I hate the assembly of evildoers, and I will not sit with the wicked.” If hate seems like a strong word, to David it wasn’t strong enough. What else could he say? He loa...