"Do I not fill Heaven and Earth?" says the Lord.

Sunday Scripture ~ Jeremiah 23:24

Posted on by Michele Morin

Jeremiah floats the question, and I almost miss the impact.
Coming as it does in the midst of a firestorm of holy fury against the false prophets who are Jeremiah’s contemporaries, the question sounds rhetorical:

 “’Am I a God at hand, declares the Lord, and not a God far away?
Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him?
Do I not fill heaven and earth?’ declares the Lord.”  (Jeremiah 23:23, 24)

Immanent and transcendent, God declares Himself to the ears of those who want nothing of Truth, and Jeremiah faithfully stored up His words for us today. We know from reading his howling laments that Jeremiah was no stranger to the sense of God’s absence. A condition that has prowled every believer in every era, I wonder if we notice as acutely in our time?

Oswald Chambers warned against it:

“Guard jealously your relationship to God. . .  Are you drawing your life from any other source than God Himself?” If you are depending upon anything but Him, you will never know when He is gone.”  (My Utmost for His Highest, January 20th)

He who “fills heaven and earth” is certainly never “gone,” but with a Word that comes to us as both fire and hammer, it’s incredible that we miss His voice so easily.

Because the whole earth is full of his glory,

Michele Morin

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Published by Michele Morin

Michele Morin is a Bible teacher, writer, reader, and gardener committed to the truth that women can become confident Christ-followers and students of God's Word. She has been married to an unreasonably patient husband for thirty-plus years, and together they have four sons, three daughters-in-love, and five adorable grandchildren. Michele loves hot tea and well-crafted sentences, poems that stop her in her tracks, and days at the ocean with the whole family. She laments biblical illiteracy and advocates for the prudent use of “little minutes.” She blogs at Living Our Days, and you can connect with her on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter.

18 thoughts on “Sunday Scripture ~ Jeremiah 23:24”

  6. That’s true that God is always with us, has promised never to forsake us, yet the relationship is a lot closer at some times than others. Our church read through Isaiah, then took a quick jaunt through Mark, and started Jeremiah this week. It’s so easy to shake our heads over those foolish Israelites and their idolatrous ways and miss our own tendencies. As the hymn says, “Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love. Here’s my heart: O take and seal it. Seal it for Thy courts above.”

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  7. Powerful thought! We do need to remind ourselves that God is everywhere and we cannot hide ourselves from him. The Chambers quote is something to think about as well. Thank you for sharing on Scripture and a Snapshot

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  9. Incredible that God does not reserve his glory for heaven only. He allows the whole sin-blemished EARTH to be full of his glory as well. Lord, give me eyes to see and ears to hear–to not miss a glimmer! And thank you, Michele, for your uplifting words.

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