^{Thus says the Lord:
“Stand by the roads, and look,
and ask for the ancient paths,
where the good way is; and walk in it,
and find rest for your souls.
But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’}

1) What is the significance of the 3 action verbs at the beginning of this verse?
Anytime you see multiple verbs in a verse in Scripture, it’s a good indicator to slow down and pay attention! “Stand”, “Look”, and “Ask” are all pro-active verbs. Think about them as playing “defense” in a sports game. In the verses and chapters prior to 6:16, God is speaking to Jeremiah about the rebellious and adulterous ways that Israel has disobeyed and turned away from the Lord God. And it breaks God’s heart! “Thus says the Lord, Stand…look…ask!” He wants his people to stop going with the flow and seeing sin as normal; He’s calling them to take an active role in seeking Him and repenting from sin.

2) What are the “ancient paths” and how do we walk in them?
The ancient paths refer to the Law of Moses, which are the Ten Commandments. God called Israel to walk in His ways, to live life according to His plan, not because He was a cruel, egotistical God, but because He Is Good and He knows what’s best. He promised to bless Israel as a nation if they lived life under God’s rule.

3) In what ways does this “Ancient Path” bring “rest for our souls”?
Israel was headed into some pretty serious consequences as a nation because of their disobedience and rebellion against God. Destruction and death were waiting for them and God spent significant time and effort to warn them over and over about what was coming, but they refused. As it says in the last part of this verse, “We will not walk in it.” God was calling them into life, but they chose death.

1) What is the significance of the 3 action verbs at the beginning of this verse
These action words remind me of the verbs used in Proverbs 1-7 as the author is urging his audience to seek wholeheartedly after God and His wisdom. We are not called to be mediocre Christ-followers, happy enough to allow sin to grow and eventually run rampant in our lives and those around us. We are called to Stand, Look, and Ask. Check your heart for sinful motives, your life for actions and words that don’t bring glory to God, and check to see if your everyday choices are propagating sin or defensively standing against it as you actively follow Jesus!

2) What are the “ancient paths” and how do we walk in them?
A quick look at this, seemingly simple list of 10, makes us realize how quickly we fail the “righteousness of God” litmus test. If you’ve ever lied or stolen or lusted in you heart, you’ve broken the Ten Commandments, which makes you and me imperfect sinners. No amount of “good deeds” on our part will ever be able to bridge the gap between us and God because of our sin. Jesus came to fulfill the Law of Moses perfectly because we never could; He kept every single one of those Ten Laws for us. And then He gave us one command that summed them all up, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind….Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and prophets depend on these two commandments.” If we love God wholeheartedly and give Him our hearts, and then love other people as a result, we will be walking in the paths that God has been urging His people to do from the beginning of time!

3) In what ways does this “Ancient Path” bring “rest for our souls”?
Just as God was calling His people to please, follow His path for life rather than turn towards death and disobedience, so He calls out to us. Rest for our souls, rest in our everyday, rest in our relationships, it can be ours to the fullest, but the choice is ours. What will we do with the urging voice in our ear? Only when we seek Him out, choose to love Him with everything we are, and allow His love to overflow into our everyday lives can we find the sweet, satisfying rest that we long for.

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Want to know more about a specific word in a verse? Click on “Strong’s Interlinear Bible” then click the word you’d like to study. Find super awesome stuff like “origin”, “definition”, and even all the different ways that single word has been translated into English! If you want to be geeky, you can even click the word and hear its original pronunciation – That Is Awesome!

Want to get more background on a word or phrasing or passage? Click “Study Tools”, then pick a few commentaries to read their scholarly approach, keeping in mind that just because a commentary says it, doesn’t mean it’s true. (just like the internet :-))

Finding the original meaning is a huge deal when we study Scripture and can make all the difference in our understanding as we apply God’s truths to our everyday lives.

In our modern-day relationships, we want people to understand our original intention as we communicate; how much more so between God and humanity?!

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Embracing God’s fullness in our lives is rooted in scripture and memorizing His word is vital to our continued growth and depth with Jesus.
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Looking for other journeys from this theme?
See all past studies in Resting!