In Jeremiah’s prophetic message, he gives a dire warning to his audience about their Spiritual condition. A curse has fallen on some of them and doom hangs over their heads. They are destined for desolation and the removal of all their stability and prosperity. What could make things so bad that God would sentence them to that punishment?

This is what the Lord says:

“Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind

And makes flesh his strength,

And whose heart turns away from the Lord.

For he will be like a bush in the desert,

And will not see when prosperity comes,

But will live in stony wastes in the wilderness,

A land of salt that is not inhabited.

Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,

And whose trust is the Lord.

For he will be like a tree planted by the water

That extends its roots by a stream,

And does not fear when the heat comes;

But its leaves will be green,

And it will not be anxious in a year of drought,

Nor cease to yield fruit.

Jeremiah 17:5-8

Trust in mankind, in flesh, leads to ruin but trust in God leads to blessings. Where do we place our trust and whose strength do we rely on? If man, then we should expect destruction but if God, then we can count on abundance.

Ethan Kirl