Jeremiah 17-26

• Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the LORD. He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land (17:5-6)

Contrasted with

• Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit. (v7-8)
• "I the LORD search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds."
• It is not the deeds that God likes, but the heart that God is after (v10)
• God gives them a chance, but they don't listen (v19-23)

• God is potter, we are the clay (18:1-8)

• Another chance to repent, (Chapter 19) but they don't listen (v15)

Thus says the LORD of hosts: "Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD. They say continually to those who despise the word of the LORD, 'It shall be well with you'; and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, 'No disaster shall come upon you.'"

-- Jeremiah 23:16-17

• The world today often is like the days of Jeremiah: false prophets and people comforting it is ok not to listen to God's word
• But in this chapter, God says these false prophets who tell you to ignore God will get punished.

• God speaks to Judah, but they ignore. (25:3-4) As a result, they face destruction (v8-14)

• The priests hear God's warning but are hard-hearted, and rejects Jeremiah (26:7-8) and wants him killed, not acknowledging that he is God's prophet (v11)