耶利米書17:5-11

17:5 耶和華如此說：倚靠人血肉的膀臂，心中離棄耶和華的，那人有禍了！

17:6 因他必像沙漠的杜松，不見福樂來到，卻要住曠野乾旱之處，無人居住的鹼地。

17:7 倚靠耶和華、以耶和華為可靠的，那人有福了！

17:8 他必像樹栽於水旁，在河邊扎根，炎熱來到，並不懼怕，葉子仍必青翠，在乾旱之年毫無掛慮，而且結果不止。

17:9 人心比萬物都詭詐，壞到極處，誰能識透呢？

17:10 我─耶和華是鑒察人心、試驗人肺腑的，要照各人所行的和他做事的結果報應他。

17:11 那不按正道得財的，好像鷓鴣菢不是自己下的蛋；到了中年，那財都必離開他，他終久成為愚頑人。

​ Thus says the Lord:

“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.

  “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.”

The heart is deceitful above all things,

and desperately sick;

who can understand it?

  “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.”

  Like the partridge that gathers a brood that she did not hatch,

so is he who gets riches but not by justice;

in the midst of his days they will leave him,

and at his end he will be a fool.

************

    先知耶利米知道猶大百姓除了拜迦南地的偶像，也就是在邱壇獻祭，做那些姦淫瘋狂的儀式之外，就是倚靠埃及的勢力。在亞述來侵的時代可以這樣，不代表面對巴比倫帝國就可以如此。更何況那時候猶大百姓是多麼敬畏上帝，多麼倚靠上帝，現在一點也不！

    說到這裡，讓我們不禁認為教會的興盛與否，不在於我們要有怎樣的信徒，而是在於我們是否是靠上帝的話語來建造門徒，被上帝更新的門徒，才能使教會興盛！因為，為有這樣的教會才會真正倚靠上帝，不會去倚靠人，才會尊主為大，讓聖靈在教會動工！

    人雖然是看的見，上帝是看不見的，但是人是有罪與敗壞的，是靠不住的！唯有上帝是堅固的磐石，是永遠靠得住的！更何況上帝為了讓我們可以看的見，就透過耶穌基督來彰顯自己，更透過我們心中的聖靈來引導人成為上帝在人中間的代表，宣告上帝的話語，也殷殷懇切的告訴我們：「倚靠人血肉的膀臂，心中離棄耶和華的，那人有禍了！」「倚靠耶和華、以耶和華為可靠的，那人有福了！」