In the middle of Jeremiah’s diatribe against his Jewish countrymen who have rejected God, there is this reminder in chapter 10 of whom they are rejecting.

God is unique…

There is none like you, O LORD; you are great, and your name is great in might. Who would not fear you, O King of the nations? For this is your due; for among all the wise ones of the nations and in all their kingdoms there is none like you. (Jeremiah 10.6, 7, ESV)

…the true, living, and everlasting King…

But the LORD is the true God; he is the living God and the everlasting King. At his wrath the earth quakes, and the nations cannot endure his indignation. (Jeremiah 10.10, ESV)

…with POWER:

It is he who made the earth by his power, who established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding stretched out the heavens. When he utters his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, and he makes the mist rise from the ends of the earth. He makes lightning for the rain, and he brings forth the wind from his storehouses. (Jeremiah 10.12, 13, ESV)

We just watched A Great Awakening about the great revivalist George Whitefield’s ministry in the American Colonies, including his long friendship with Benjamin Franklin. Strongly recommend. In one powerful scene, Ben drags George out in a lightning storm to show him how the kite and the key attract electric power. George yells, “Ben, what is the source of this power?” Jeremiah is clear.

“He makes lightning for the rain, and he brings forth the wind from his storehouses.”

Ben Franklin was a deist. For most of his life he believed precisely that God does NOT concern himself with the affairs of men. But he changed. He appealed to the deadlocked Constitutional Convention that they ought to pray. His speech contains this famous line:

I have lived, Sir, a long time and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth — that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid? – Benjamin Franklin, June 28, 1787, Philadelphia

From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides you, who acts for those who wait for him. (Isaiah 64.4, ESV)