Calvary
Chapel Bible College
September
2, 2020
Homework
Did you read your assigned reading? Yes or no.
Type out the verse:
(Jeremiah
2:13 NKJV) “For My people have committed two evils: They have
forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, And hewn
themselves cisterns—broken cisterns that can hold no water.
Share one thing I could be praying about for you
this week.
Introduction
His name means “Yahweh appoints”
Jeremiah was the chief prophet during the days of the destruction of the
nation of Judah. There were other
prophets around at the time as well:
Daniel, Ezekiel, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah, but Jeremiah was the main
prophet. His ministry began about 60 years after the death of the prophet
Isaiah.
Jeremiah was born into a family of priests, but he would function more as a
prophet.
His ministry was destined from the beginning to be a ministry of
“failure”. The people were not going to
pay attention to him. The people were on
the way downhill and destined for judgment.
One of Jeremiah’s nicknames is the “weeping prophet”.
It’s possible this nickname comes from the book of Lamentations,
also written by Jeremiah.
Lamentations is Jeremiah’s weeping over the destruction of
Jerusalem.
It’s not a bad thing to keep in mind though as you read this book. We don’t often hear the “emotion” of the
writer as we read.
The prophecies are not in chronological order.
We know this because he dates many of his prophecies.
The order seems to be more topical than chronological.
Jeremiah 4
We are now in Jeremiah’s second prophetic address, which began back in 3:6.
4:1-18 Coming judgment, dry winds
:1 “If you will return, O
Israel,” says the Lord, “Return
to Me; And if you will put away your abominations out of My sight, Then you shall not be moved.
:2 And you shall swear,
‘The Lord lives,’ In truth, in
judgment, and in righteousness; The nations shall bless themselves in Him, And
in Him they shall glory.”
:2 you shall swear, ‘The Lord lives
The people had been saying, “The Lord lives”, but it was just used as a
slang phrase. The day would come when they would mean it.
Today we fall into the trap of saying things like, “O, praise the Lord”, or, “I swear to God …”, and sometimes we don’t really think
about what we’re saying.
:3 For thus says the Lord to the men of Judah and Jerusalem:
“Break up your fallow ground, And do not sow among
thorns.
:4 Circumcise yourselves
to the Lord, And
take away the foreskins of your hearts, You men of Judah and inhabitants of
Jerusalem, Lest My fury come forth like fire, And burn
so that no one can quench it, Because of the evil of your doings.”
:3 Break up your fallow ground
fallow ground – a field that hasn’t been planted,
but has had a chance to rest.
When the land lies fallow, it gets hard, and the seeds have a difficult
time to penetrate and grow.
sow … thorns – Jesus talked about the “thorns” (Mat. 13) being the
“cares” of the world. When we get too
worldly, our “stuff” chokes out the growth of the Word in our life.
Lesson
New Growth
There’s one of those “key words”.
Our heart needs to be broken from time to time. We can get too complacent and the things of
God don’t penetrate very far.
Let God break your heart. True
repentance over sin, grief over you sin, turning from
sin.
Stay away from worldliness.
Plant God’s Word.
:4 take away the foreskins of your heart
Circumcision was a ritual that every boy went through as a baby.
It was meant to be a symbol of the “cutting away” of the flesh.
Yet rather than becoming something that caused them to think – they just
trusted the ritual rather than trusting in the Lord.
Some of the Rabbis taught that if you were circumcised, you wouldn’t go to
hell.
The real issue isn’t a piece of skin, but the condition of our heart.
:5 Declare in Judah and
proclaim in Jerusalem, and say: “Blow the trumpet in
the land; Cry, ‘Gather together,’ And say, ‘Assemble yourselves, And let us go into the fortified cities.’
:6 Set up the standard
toward Zion. Take refuge! Do not delay! For I will bring disaster from the
north, And great destruction.”
:6 I will bring disaster from the north
Babylon is coming
:7 The lion has come up
from his thicket, And the destroyer of nations is on his way. He has gone forth
from his place To make your land desolate. Your cities
will be laid waste, Without inhabitant.
Babylon is like a wild lion coming out of its den to hunt
(In Daniel’s vision of four beasts – Dan. 7 – Babylon was a lion).
:8 For this, clothe
yourself with sackcloth, Lament and wail. For the fierce anger of the Lord— Has not turned back from us.
:9 “And it shall come to
pass in that day,” says the Lord,
“That the heart of the king shall perish, And the heart of the princes;
The priests shall be astonished, And the prophets shall wonder.”
(Jeremiah
4:9 NLT) “In that day,” says the Lord, “the king and the officials will tremble in fear. The
priests will be struck with horror, and the prophets will be appalled.”
:10 Then I said, “Ah,
Lord God! Surely You have greatly
deceived this people and Jerusalem, Saying, ‘You shall have peace,’ Whereas the
sword reaches to the heart.”
:10 Surely You have greatly deceived this people
God hadn’t deceived the people. But the prophets had been prophesying peace
falsely.
:11 At that time it will
be said To this people and to Jerusalem, “A dry wind
of the desolate heights blows in the wilderness— Toward the daughter of
My people— Not to fan or to cleanse—
:12 A wind too strong for
these will come for Me; Now I will also speak judgment against them.”
:11 A dry wind of the desolate heights
wind – ruwach – wind, breath, mind, spirit
This is talking about the false prophets, they are just “hot air”.
(Jeremiah
6:14 NLT) They offer superficial treatments for my
people’s mortal wound. They give assurances of peace when there is no peace.
:13 “Behold, he shall
come up like clouds, And his chariots like a whirlwind. His horses are swifter
than eagles. Woe to us, for we are plundered!”
Babylon is coming…
:14 O Jerusalem, wash
your heart from wickedness, That you may be saved. How
long shall your evil thoughts lodge within you?
:15 For a voice declares
from Dan And proclaims affliction from Mount Ephraim:
Dan – the tribe at the far north
Ephraim – the main tribe of the northern kingdom, at the south of
the northern kingdom.
:16 “Make mention to the
nations, Yes, proclaim against Jerusalem, That watchers come from a far country And raise their voice against the cities of Judah.
Spies from Babylon are coming from Babylon, stirring up trouble.
:17 Like keepers of a
field they are against her all around, Because she has
been rebellious against Me,” says the Lord.
:18 “Your ways and your
doings Have procured these things for you. This is your
wickedness, Because it is bitter, Because
it reaches to your heart.”
4:19-31 Vision of coming judgment
:19 O my soul, my soul! I
am pained in my very heart!
My heart makes a noise in me; I cannot hold my peace, Because
you have heard, O my soul, The sound of the trumpet, The alarm of war.
:19 I am pained in my very heart!
Jeremiah has this sense in him of the coming judgment. He knows what’s
going to happen.
He’s pained at what he sees.
This is the “weeping prophet”.
How do you react when you hear of God’s coming judgment, of people dying
and going to hell?
Do you care for the lost
of this world? Jeremiah did.
The rest of the section
continues this sense of woe about the coming judgment.
We’ll just look at one more
verse out the section, vs.27
:20 Destruction upon
destruction is cried, For the whole land is plundered. Suddenly my tents are
plundered, And my curtains in a moment.
:21 How long will I see
the standard, And hear the
sound of the trumpet?
:22 “For My people are
foolish, They have not known Me. They are silly
children, And they have no understanding. They are
wise to do evil, But to do good they have no
knowledge.”
The people are great when it comes to doing the
wrong thing.
They’re clueless when it comes to doing the right thing.
Paul wrote,
(Romans
16:19 NKJV) For your obedience has become known to all. Therefore I am glad on your behalf; but I want you to be
wise in what is good, and simple concerning evil.
We don’t need to be involved in evil things. We ought to be ignorant and
dumb about them.
When people tell dirty jokes, we should be happy when we don’t “get it”.
:23 I beheld the earth,
and indeed it was without form, and void; And the heavens, they had
no light.
:23 without form, and void
In the beginning …
(Genesis 1:1–2
NKJV) —1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on
the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the
waters.
Perhaps Jeremiah saying that in his vision
everything looked like the chaos of the early days of
creation.
:24 I beheld the
mountains, and indeed they trembled, And all the hills
moved back and forth.
:25 I beheld, and indeed there
was no man, And all the birds of the heavens had
fled.
:26 I beheld, and indeed
the fruitful land was a wilderness, And all its
cities were broken down At the presence of the Lord, By His fierce anger.
:27 For thus says the Lord: “The whole land shall be
desolate; Yet I will not make a full end.
:27 Yet I will not make a full end
Even though judgment was coming, God was not going to wipe out the entire
nation of Jews.
There is still hope.
Let’s pick it up in chapter 5.
:28 For this shall the
earth mourn, And the heavens above be black, Because I have spoken. I have purposed and will not relent, Nor
will I turn back from it.
:29 The whole city shall
flee from the noise of the horsemen and bowmen. They shall go into thickets and
climb up on the rocks. Every city shall be forsaken, And
not a man shall dwell in it.
:30 “And when you are
plundered, What will you do? Though you clothe
yourself with crimson, Though you adorn yourself
with ornaments of gold, Though you enlarge your eyes
with paint, In vain you will make yourself fair; Your
lovers will despise you; They will seek your life.
enlarge – qara‘– to tear, tear in pieces
paint – puwk – antimony, stibium, black paint; eye
cosmetic
(Jer 4:30 NLT)
…Why do you brighten your eyes with mascara?
Though Judah is dressed up like a prostitute, her lovers won’t help her,
they’ll only kill her.
:31 “For I have heard a
voice as of a woman in labor, The anguish as of her who brings forth her first
child, The voice of the daughter of Zion bewailing herself; She spreads her
hands, saying, ‘Woe is me now, for my soul is weary Because of
murderers!’
Jeremiah 5
5:1-9 God wants to be merciful
:1 “Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem; See now and know; And
seek in her open places If you can find a man, If
there is anyone who executes judgment, Who
seeks the truth, And I will pardon her.
:1 … And I will pardon her
God will give a pardon to the city of Jerusalem if one person of justice
can be found.
Genesis 19 – the angels destroying Sodom and Gomorrah, Abraham’s
negotiations with God. God said that He would spare Sodom and Gomorrah if he
could find ten righteous people in the city. There weren’t ten. The city was
destroyed.
:2 Though they say, ‘As
the Lord lives,’ Surely they
swear falsely.”
:2 the LORD lives
We saw in Jer. 4:2, this was a “spiritual” phrase.
The Hebrew phrase is found 43 times in the Old Testament.
Gehazi, Elisha’s servant, used spiritual terms, though he was a greedy
man. When God healed Naaman, and Elisha
didn’t ask for any payment…
(2 Kings
5:20 NKJV) But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of
God, said, “Look, my master has spared Naaman this Syrian, while not receiving
from his hands what he brought; but as the Lord lives, I will run after him and take something from
him.”
Spiritual words don’t make a spiritual heart.
:3 O Lord, are not Your eyes on the
truth? You have stricken them, But they have not
grieved; You have consumed them, But they have refused
to receive correction. They have made their faces harder than rock; They have
refused to return.
Even though God has given them some strong forms of persuasion, they’ve
refused to change.
:4 Therefore I said,
“Surely these are poor. They are foolish; For they do not know the way
of the Lord, The judgment of
their God.
Perhaps they are just poor, ignorant people and this is why the people
don’t change.
:5 I will go to the great
men and speak to them, For they have known the way of
the Lord, The judgment of their
God.” But these have altogether broken the yoke And
burst the bonds.
But even the great men who should know better have walked away from God.
Note: Jeremiah wasn’t just the crazy
man on the street corner. He had access
to the halls of power.
:6 Therefore a lion from
the forest shall slay them, A wolf of the deserts shall destroy them; A leopard
will watch over their cities. Everyone who goes out from there shall be torn in
pieces, Because their transgressions are many; Their
backslidings have increased.
:7 “How shall I pardon
you for this? Your children have forsaken Me And sworn by those that are
not gods. When I had fed them to the full, Then they
committed adultery And assembled themselves by troops
in the harlots’ houses.
:8 They were like
well-fed lusty stallions; Every one neighed after his
neighbor’s wife.
:9 Shall I not punish them
for these things?” says the Lord.
“And shall I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this?
God is certainly making a case for why He is going to bring judgment on the
nation.
Does any of this sound like the world today?
5:10-19 Judgment coming
:10 “Go up on her walls
and destroy, But do not make a complete end. Take away
her branches, For they are not the Lord’s.
branches – n@tiyshah – twig, tendril, tendrils of a vine (as
spread out)
(Jeremiah
5:10 NLT) “Go down the rows of the vineyards and destroy
the grapevines, leaving a scattered few alive. Strip the branches from the
vines, for these people do not belong to the Lord.
:11 For the house of
Israel and the house of Judah Have dealt very treacherously with Me,” says the Lord.
:12 They have lied about
the Lord, And
said, “It is not He. Neither will evil come upon us, Nor
shall we see sword or famine.
:13 And the prophets
become wind, For the word is not in them. Thus
shall it be done to them.”
The false prophets were misleading the people, saying there would be no
judgment.
:14 Therefore thus says
the Lord God of hosts: “Because
you speak this word, Behold, I will make My words in your mouth fire, And this people wood, And it shall
devour them.
When Jeremiah speaks, it will be like a fire on dry wood, consuming the
people.
:15 Behold, I will bring
a nation against you from afar, O house of Israel,” says the Lord. “It is a mighty nation, It is an ancient nation, A nation whose language you
do not know, Nor can you understand what they say.
Babylon is coming
:16 Their quiver is
like an open tomb; They are all mighty men.
The quivers that hold their arrows are going to send you to the grave.
:17 And they shall eat up
your harvest and your bread, Which your sons
and daughters should eat. They shall eat up your flocks and your herds; They
shall eat up your vines and your fig trees; They shall destroy your fortified
cities, In which you trust, with the sword.
fortified cities – The people trusted in their homeland security.
But it wasn’t going to help.
:18 “Nevertheless in
those days,” says the Lord, “I
will not make a complete end of you.
God won’t totally wipe out the nation.
:19 And it will be when
you say, ‘Why does the Lord our
God do all these things to us?’ then you shall answer them, ‘Just as you
have forsaken Me and served foreign gods in your land, so you shall serve
aliens in a land that is not yours.’
This was to be how Jeremiah would answer the people when they wondered why
this was happening:
If you serve foreign gods, then you’ll live in a foreign land.
5:20-24 It’s foolish not to fear God
:20 “Declare this in the
house of Jacob And proclaim it in Judah, saying,
:21 ‘Hear this now, O
foolish people, Without understanding, Who have eyes and see not, And who
have ears and hear not:
:21 Who have eyes and see not
They people have become like their idols, their “gods”.
(Psalm 115:7–8 NLT)
—7 They have hands but cannot feel, and feet but cannot walk, and
throats but cannot make a sound. 8 And those who make idols are just
like them, as are all who trust in them.
It’s a spiritual principle – we become like the “god” we worship.
:22 Do you not fear Me?’
says the Lord. ‘Will you not
tremble at My presence, Who have placed the sand as
the bound of the sea, By a perpetual decree, that it
cannot pass beyond it? And though its waves toss to and fro,
Yet they cannot prevail; Though they roar, yet they
cannot pass over it.
:23 But this people has a defiant and
rebellious heart; They have revolted and departed.
:24 They do not say in
their heart, “Let us now fear the Lord
our God, Who gives rain, both the former and the
latter, in its season. He reserves for us the appointed weeks of the harvest.”
Jeremiah reminds the people
about some of the characteristics of God seen in creation.
He is powerful – He keeps the
oceans in their place.
He is kind – He sends rain for
our crops.
And yet the
people have rejected what is right in front of their eyes.
5:25-29 Unrepentant sin
:25 Your iniquities have
turned these things away, And your sins have
withheld good from you.
:25 your sins have withheld good
Instead of rain, God has brought punishment on the nation through drought.
Illustration
STAND BY YOUR MAN
The woman’s husband had been slipping in and out of a coma for several
months, yet she had stayed by his bedside every single day. One day, when he
finally came out of it, he motioned for her to come nearer. As she sat by him,
he whispered, eyes full of tears, “You know what? You have been with me all
through the bad times: When I got fired, you were there to support me. When my
business failed, you were there. When I got shot, you were by my side. When we
lost the house, you stayed right here. When my health started failing, you were
still by my side... You know what?” “What dear?” She
gently asked, smiling as her heart began to fill with warmth. “I think you’re
bad luck.”
God isn’t “bad luck” for the nation.
He’s been trying to get their attention.
God wants to do good things for us, but sometimes our sin can keep us from
them.
(Isaiah 59:1–2
NKJV) —1 Behold, the Lord’s
hand is not shortened, That it cannot save; Nor His ear
heavy, That it cannot hear. 2 But your iniquities have separated
you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He
will not hear.
This isn’t a one-size-fits-all answer.
Have you thought about “why” during this Covid-19 crisis?
Bad times aren’t always because of our sin – though in Jeremiah’s day it
was.
Sometimes God allows even the most righteous person (like
Job) to experience hardship.
Sometimes it’s to refine us and build us up.
Sometimes it’s His way of showing the world how a
relationship with God will take anyone through hard times.
:26 ‘For among My people
are found wicked men; They lie in wait as one who sets snares; They set
a trap; They catch men.
Sounds like human-trafficking
:27 As a cage is full of
birds, So their houses are full of deceit. Therefore they have become great and grown
rich.
:28 They have grown fat,
they are sleek; Yes, they surpass the deeds of the wicked; They do not plead
the cause, The cause of the fatherless; Yet they prosper, And the right of the
needy they do not defend.
:29 Shall I not punish them
for these things?’ says the Lord.
‘Shall I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this?’
:29 Shall I not punish them
In one sense, Jeremiah is a bit like the typical worldly caricature of the
crazy guy on the corner telling people to repent for the end is near.
And surely there are some folks with mental issues who take some of
Jeremiah’s words and use them.
But keep the whole book in mind – Jeremiah was given a hard message for a
hard time – AND IT CAME TO PASS LIKE HE SAID.
Also, remember he is the “weeping prophet”, not the angry prophet.
Some people mock Christians because we believe in a coming judgment. Or they say, “How can a loving God send
people to hell?”
Some of those same people will also wonder why there is evil in this world
and what will be done about it.
The day will come with God when we have reached the limits of His patience.
He will bring justice and righteousness, but they will
come with judgment.
5:30-31 People love bad leaders
:30 “An astonishing and
horrible thing Has been committed in the land:
:31 The prophets prophesy
falsely, And the priests rule by their own
power; And My people love to have it so. But what will you do in the
end?
What’s the astonishing thing?
:31 My people love to have it so
The spiritual leaders are not speaking correctly, and the people love it.
They say that God gives a nation the leaders it deserves.
We’ll see over and over that they are telling the
people, “Don’t worry, it’s going to be okay.”
In reality, things are not okay, the people
need to seriously turn from their sins toward God, and if they don’t, judgment
is coming.
Jeremiah 6
This is a continuation of Jeremiah’s second prophetic message that started in 3:6.
6:1-8 Judgment is coming
:1 “O you children of
Benjamin, Gather yourselves to flee from the midst of
Jerusalem! Blow the trumpet in Tekoa, And set up a
signal-fire in Beth Haccerem; For disaster appears out of the north, And great
destruction.
Play video: Jerusalem to Tekoa map
Babylon is coming from the north.
The idea is that the warnings are to go out to let the people of Jerusalem
flee southward towards Bethlehem and Tekoa.
Benjamin – small tribe, sharing Jerusalem with the tribe of Judah,
located just north of Jerusalem, told to flee south, but not to stop at
Jerusalem.
Tekoa – “stockade” – a town in the hill country of Judah near Hebron
built by king Rehoboam of Judah; birthplace of Amos; 11 miles southeast of
Jerusalem.
Bethhaccerem – “house of the vineyard”; a
place in Judah halfway between Jerusalem and Bethlehem. Signal fires were to be lit to help the
fleeing people.
:2 I have likened the
daughter of Zion To a lovely and delicate woman.
Zion = Jerusalem. Jerusalem is
described as a beautiful woman that is savagely attacked.
:3 The shepherds with
their flocks shall come to her. They shall pitch their tents against her
all around. Each one shall pasture in his own place.”
Jerusalem will be wiped out to the point that shepherds will graze their
flocks where the city once was.
:4 “Prepare war against
her; Arise, and let us go up at noon. Woe to us, for
the day goes away, For the shadows of the evening are lengthening.
:5 Arise, and let us go
by night, And let us destroy her palaces.”
There isn’t enough time to attack it in one day, so the attack goes on into
the night.
:6 For thus has the Lord of hosts said: “Cut down trees, And build a mound against Jerusalem. This is
the city to be punished. She is full of oppression in her midst.
Trees were cut down to build the engines of war
such as battering rams, siege ramps, etc.
:7 As a fountain wells up
with water, So she wells up with her wickedness.
Violence and plundering are heard in her. Before Me continually are
grief and wounds.
Jerusalem is spewing out wickedness like a fountain.
:8 Be instructed, O
Jerusalem, Lest My soul depart from you; Lest I make you desolate, A land not
inhabited.”
Keep in mind that this word is probably given 30+ years before Babylon
comes to wipe out Jerusalem.
It reminds me of our times.
The current pandemic that we’re living in wasn’t a total surprise.
People have been warning for years about the world’s susceptibility with infectious diseases, especially if a new virus shows
up.
Look up the Ted Talk
of Bill Gates warning about the dangers of a pandemic – five years ago.
6:9-17 Reasons for judgment
:9 Thus says the Lord of hosts: “They shall thoroughly
glean as a vine the remnant of Israel; As a grape-gatherer, put your hand back
into the branches.”
When crops were harvested, they didn’t get every single grape from the
vines.
Gleaning was when the harvesters would go through the vineyards a second
time and take every last little grape.
The nation would be picked clean.
:10 To whom shall I speak
and give warning, That they may hear? Indeed their ear is uncircumcised, And
they cannot give heed. Behold, the word of the Lord is a reproach to them; They have no delight in it.
:10 their ear is uncircumcised – They are unable to hear God’s
words.
:10 They have no delight in it –
David said that the “blessed man” was the one …
(Psalm 1:2 NKJV) But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night.
I think a great indication of where your walk is with the Lord is your
attitude towards God’s Word.
When the Word starts to become “boring” to you, the warning lights ought to
be going off in your head.
The problem is never that God’s Word is “boring”.
If God’s Word was some dead document, it could be
boring. But it’s not dead. It’s alive.
The real problem is that your heart has become hardened.
:11 Therefore I am full
of the fury of the Lord. I am
weary of holding it in. “I will pour it out on the children outside, And on the assembly of young men together; For even the
husband shall be taken with the wife, The aged with him who is full of
days.
:11 I am full of the fury of the Lord
Lesson
Angry prophets
I know there are times when anger is appropriate, but my concern is that
too many take the concept of “righteous indignation” too far.
Some folks seem to consider themselves “prophets” after the example of
Jeremiah.
And the chief word to describe their emotional state is
anger.
Yet Jeremiah’s anger is not like most of our anger. Keep in mind that Jeremiah was also greatly
saddened by the things he saw and spoke:
(Jeremiah 9:1 NKJV) Oh, that my head were
waters, And my eyes a fountain of tears, That I might weep day and night For the slain
of the daughter of my people!
Critical spirit – sometimes the “anger” is coming from a person who is
nothing but critical of others.
Illustration
“If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see
every problem as a nail.”
-- Abraham Maslow,
Leadership, Vol. 1, no. 2.
If you find that you are constantly finding fault with
others or getting angry with them, perhaps you need to expand your toolbox.
James wrote,
(James 1:19–20
NKJV) —19 So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow
to speak, slow to wrath; 20 for the wrath of man does not
produce the righteousness of God.
:12 And their houses
shall be turned over to others, Fields and wives together; For I will stretch
out My hand Against the inhabitants of the land,” says the Lord.
:13 “Because from the
least of them even to the greatest of them, Everyone is
given to covetousness; And from the prophet even to the priest, Everyone deals falsely.
:13 Everyone is given to covetousness
Lesson
Stuff
One of the reasons for the coming judgment was greed. Everyone wanted “more”.
We are not too different from the monkeys.
Sometimes we are a little too attached to our “stuff”.
Jesus said,
(Matthew 13:22 NKJV) Now he who received seed among the
thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the
deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.
The writer of Hebrews states,
(Hebrews 12:1 NKJV) Therefore we also, since we are
surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and
the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the
race that is set before us,
Sometimes those “weights” are the stuff that we cling
to. They aren’t particularly sinful, but
they slow us down.
Illustration – Monkey Treats
Monkey trappers in North Africa have a clever method of catching their
prey. A number of gourds are filled with nuts (monkey
treats) and firmly fastened to a branch of a tree. Each has a hole just large enough for the
unwary monkey to stick his forepaw into it. When the hungry animal discovers
this, he quickly grasps a handful of nuts, but the hole is too small for him to
withdraw his clenched fist. And he
doesn't have enough sense to open up his hand and let
go in order to escape, so he is easily taken captive.
Too often we get these certain things in our lives that we just don’t want
to let go of. Yet it’s these very things
that keep us captive. If we’d just let
go, we could be free.
:14 They have also healed
the hurt of My people slightly, Saying, ‘Peace, peace!’ When there is no
peace.
:15 Were
they ashamed when they had committed abomination? No! They were not at all
ashamed; Nor did they know how to blush. Therefore
they shall fall among those who fall; At the time I punish them, They shall be cast down,” says the Lord.
:16 Thus says the Lord: “Stand in the ways and see, And ask for the old paths, where the good way is, And walk in it; Then you will find rest for your souls. But
they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’
:17 Also, I set watchmen
over you, saying, ‘Listen to the sound of the trumpet!’ But they said,
‘We will not listen.’
:16 ask for the old paths
Lesson
Old can be good
The danger with “old” things is that they can lead to useless traditions
like the Pharisees were caught up in.
But that doesn’t mean there isn’t value in “old” things.
Jesus came to bring a “New Covenant”, but He didn’t come to get rid of what
was old and good.
Jesus said,
(Matthew 13:52 NLT) Then he added, “Every teacher of
religious law who becomes a disciple in the Kingdom of Heaven is like a
homeowner who brings from his storeroom new gems of truth as well as old.”
My generation tried to get rid of “old” things.
In church we got rid of the “hymns” and replaced them with choruses. That was ok.
We tried to get rid of the concept of people getting married before they
live together. It’s been a disaster.
I saw a comic once where a young man is asking his grandfather whether they
had any kind of protection available for sex when he was young. The old man said, “Yes, we had a wedding
ring”.
6:18-25 Judgment Coming
The next section reiterates that Babylon is indeed coming to bring
judgment.
We’ll skip to vs.26
:18 Therefore hear, you nations, And know, O
congregation, what is among them.
:19 Hear, O earth!
Behold, I will certainly bring calamity on this people— The fruit of their
thoughts, Because they have not heeded My words Nor My
law, but rejected it.
:20 For what purpose to
Me Comes frankincense from Sheba, And sweet cane from a far country? Your burnt
offerings are not acceptable, Nor your sacrifices sweet to Me.”
:20 frankincense from Sheba – apparently the latest in fragrance
The land of modern Jordan lay on a road that ran to Saudi Arabia, and was a source of trade with these nations to the
south, peddling among other things fragrant spices.
If you ever go to Israel, it’s worth the extra money to do the “Petra
Extension”.
One of the things you’ll see in Petra are the spice merchants that can sell
you things like frankincense from Saudi Arabia.
The people thought that perhaps these kinds of things might make up for all
their sin against God.
(1 Samuel
15:22 NKJV) So Samuel said: “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and
sacrifices, As in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is
better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams.
God doesn’t want sacrifice without repentance.
A person who lives their life thinking they can always “make it up” to God
with some sacrifice is wrong.
God doesn’t want your sacrifice. He wants your obedience.
:21 Therefore thus says
the Lord: “Behold, I will lay
stumbling blocks before this people, And the fathers and the sons together
shall fall on them. The neighbor and his friend shall perish.”
:22 Thus says the Lord: “Behold, a people comes from the north country, And a
great nation will be raised from the farthest parts of the earth.
Babylon is coming
:23 They will lay hold on
bow and spear; They are cruel and have no mercy; Their voice roars like
the sea; And they ride on horses, As men of war set in
array against you, O daughter of Zion.”
:24 We have heard the
report of it; Our hands grow feeble. Anguish has taken hold of us, Pain as of a
woman in labor.
:25 Do not go out into
the field, Nor walk by the way.
Because of the sword of the enemy, Fear is on every side.
6:26-30 Refining not happening
:26 O daughter of my
people, Dress in sackcloth And roll about in ashes!
Make mourning as for an only son, most bitter lamentation; For the
plunderer will suddenly come upon us.
sackcloth … ashes – things that represented mourning and repentance
:27 “I have set you as
an assayer and a fortress among My people, That
you may know and test their way.
The assayer is the one who determines just how valuable gold ring is.
assayer – bachown’ – assayer (an inspector and valuer of metals)
God speaking to Jeremiah. He has set
up Jeremiah as one who would test the hearts of the people like a goldsmith tests metals.
:28 They are all
stubborn rebels, walking as slanderers. They are bronze and iron, They are all corrupters;
:29 The bellows blow
fiercely, The lead is consumed by the fire; The
smelter refines in vain, For the wicked are not drawn off.
:30 People will
call them rejected silver, Because the Lord
has rejected them.”
:30 rejected silver
rejected – ma’ac – to reject, despise, refuse
No matter what kind of refining fire God puts the nation through, the metal
is still not refined. It is worthless
and will be discarded.
Lesson
Better or bitter
How have your difficulties affected you?
Have you become bitter or better?
(1 Peter 1:6–7 NLT)
—6 So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you
must endure many trials for a little while. 7 These trials
will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and
purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it
will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is
revealed to the whole world.
Illustration
Adversity
A daughter complained to her father about her life and how things were so hard for her.
She did not how she was going to make it and
wanted to give up. She was tired of
fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved a new one arose. Her father, a chef, took her to the
kitchen. He filled three pots with water
and placed each on a high fire. Soon the
pots came to a boil.
In one he placed carrots, in the second he placed eggs, and the last he
placed ground coffee beans. He let them
sit and boil, without saying a word. The
daughter sucked her teeth and impatiently waited, wondering what he was
doing. In about twenty minutes he turned
off the burners. He fished the carrots
out and placed them in a bowl. He pulled
the eggs out and placed them a bowl. Then he ladled the coffee out and placed it
in a bowl. Turning to her he asked.
“Darling, what do you see.” “Carrots,
eggs, and coffee,” she replied. He
brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. He then asked her to take an egg and break
it. After pulling off the shell, she
observed the hard- boiled egg. Finally,
he asked her to sip the coffee. She
smiled as she tasted its rich aroma. She
humbly asked. “What does it mean Father?”
He explained that each of them had faced the same adversity, boiling
water, but each reacted differently. The
carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting.
But after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became
weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had
protected its liquid interior.
But after sitting through the boiling water, its
inside became hardened. The ground
coffee beans were unique however. After they were in the boiling water, they
had changed the water. “Which are you,”
he asked his daughter. “When adversity
knocks on your door, how do you respond?
Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?”
How does adversity affect you?
Does it soften you up? Make you
hard?
Or do you find that your response, like coffee, can change the atmosphere
of adversity?
How about you? Are you the carrot
that seems hard, but with pain and adversity do you wilt and become soft and
lose your strength?
Are you the egg, which starts off with a malleable heart? Were you a fluid spirit, but after a death, a
breakup, a divorce, or a layoff have you become
hardened and stiff. Your shell looks the
same, but are you bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and heart?
Or are you like the coffee bean? The
bean changes the hot water, the thing that is bringing the pain, to its peak
flavor reaches 212 degrees Fahrenheit.
When the water gets the hottest, it just tastes better. If you are like
the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and make things better
around you .
When people talk about you, do your praises to the Lord increase? When the hour is the darkest and trials are
their greatest, does your worship elevate to another level? How do you handle adversity? Are you a
carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?
by Eric Mansfield
(2 Corinthians
4:8–10 NLT) —8 We are pressed on every side by
troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but
not driven to despair. 9 We are hunted down,
but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not
destroyed. 10 Through suffering, our bodies
continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be
seen in our bodies.
The people of Judah weren’t responding to the fire with repentance, but hardening their hearts.
Jeremiah 7
This begins the third prophetic message of
Jeremiah. It is known as Jeremiah’s
“Temple Address” (ch.7-10). He’s going
to talk about how the people had been putting their hopes on the fact that they
had the “Temple”. Yet in fact, God would
tear down the Temple. It is thought that
the negative reaction toward Jeremiah recorded in Jeremiah
26 come as a result of this
“Temple Address”.
It’s interesting that Jesus was also charged with speaking against the
temple:
(Matthew 26:60–61
NKJV) —60 but found none. Even though many false witnesses came forward, they
found none. But at last two false witnesses came
forward 61 and said, “This fellow said, ‘I am able to
destroy the temple of God and to build it in three days.’ ”
7:1-7 Judgment depends on turning
:1 The word that came to
Jeremiah from the Lord, saying,
:2 “Stand in the gate of
the Lord’s house, and proclaim
there this word, and say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, all you of Judah who enter in at these gates to
worship the Lord!’ ”
:3 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel:
“Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place.
Amend – yatab – (Hiphil) to
make glad, rejoice; to do good to, deal well with; to do well, do thoroughly;
to make a thing good or right or beautiful; to do well, do right
God was promising the people that if they changed their ways, He would
change His mind about judgment.
:4 Do not trust in these
lying words, saying, ‘The temple of the Lord,
the temple of the Lord, the
temple of the Lord are
these.’
:4 The temple of the Lord
The people felt that since they had God’s Holy Temple, they were
indestructible.
They were putting their trust in the temple, not in God.
Jesus told the woman at the well that worship wasn’t limited to a locality
…
(John 4:23 NKJV) But the hour is coming, and now is, when
the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father
is seeking such to worship Him.
I am concerned about people putting perhaps a bit too much emphasis on
being in a church building to worship on Sunday.
Don’t get me wrong, I believe it’s important for the church to meet together, fellowship is vital, but worship isn’t
limited to a church building. It’s me
and God. We have to
work on that.
In verses 5-7 God promises that
if the people truly turn around, He will restore them.
:5 “For if you thoroughly
amend your ways and your doings, if you thoroughly execute judgment between a
man and his neighbor,
:6 if you do not oppress
the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in
this place, or walk after other gods to your hurt,
These are the kinds of things the people were doing.
:7 then I will cause you
to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers forever and
ever.
God gives them a chance to turn around. The judgment isn’t inevitable.
7:8-16 Abusing God’s grace
:8 “Behold, you trust in
lying words that cannot profit.
They were trusting that since they had the Temple,
no harm could come to them.
:9 Will you steal,
murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incense to Baal, and walk after
other gods whom you do not know,
:10 and then come
and stand before Me in this house which is called by
My name, and say, ‘We are delivered to do all these abominations’?
:10 delivered to do all these abominations
(Jeremiah
7:10 NLT) and then come here and stand before me in my
Temple and chant, “We are safe!”—only to go right back to all those evils
again?
Lesson
Cheap grace
There’s one of those “key words”.
There is a sense of this in the Christian church as well.
Paul was accused of saying that if a person had faith in Jesus, it didn’t
matter what kind of life he lived after that.
In fact, Paul was accused of teaching people that if they sinned after
believing in Jesus, that it meant that they got to experience even more grace,
and that was a good thing.
(Romans
6:1–2 NLT) —1 Well then, should we keep on sinning
so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful
grace? 2 Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to
live in it?
It is true that nothing we do can earn God’s favor. It’s true that we are saved by grace.
But it’s also true that we should be changed by God’s grace as
well. If we’ve been saved, then God will
be at work changing us so that we won’t want to do things that are not pleasing
to Him.
:11 Has this house, which
is called by My name, become a den of thieves in your eyes? Behold, I, even I,
have seen it,” says the Lord.
:11 a den of thieves
Jesus quoted this phrase when He cleansed the Temple.
(Matthew
21:13 NKJV) And He said to them, “It is written, ‘My
house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of
thieves.’ ”
:12 “But go now to My
place which was in Shiloh, where I set My name at the first, and see
what I did to it because of the wickedness of My people Israel.
Shiloh was one of the early semi-permanent worship places with the
Tabernacle and the Ark after Israel conquered the land.
Yet it was wiped out in the days of Eli because of the people’s wickedness.
The site of Shiloh is being excavated in recent
years (see pics)
Archaeologists now believe that Israel had even built a crude stone
structure for the Tabernacle. The
dimensions fit perfectly, along with an area for the Holy of Holies.
But Shiloh was apparently wiped out by the Philistines at the time when
they captured the Ark (1Sam. 4-5).
At that time, the people were trusting in the Ark much as the people in
Jeremiah’s day were trusting in the Temple. Yet God allowed the Ark to be captured. God allowed Shiloh to be wiped out.
:13 And now, because you
have done all these works,” says the Lord,
“and I spoke to you, rising up early and speaking, but
you did not hear, and I called you, but you did not answer,
:14 therefore I will do
to the house which is called by My name, in which you
trust, and to this place which I gave to you and your fathers, as I have done
to Shiloh.
If God did it to Shiloh, He can do it to Jerusalem.
:15 And I will cast you
out of My sight, as I have cast out all your brethren—the whole posterity of
Ephraim.
:16 “Therefore do not
pray for this people, nor lift up a cry or prayer for
them, nor make intercession to Me; for I will not hear you.
:16 do not pray for this people
It’s usually a good thing to be praying for
people.
Samuel said,
(1 Samuel
12:23 NKJV) Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I
should sin against the Lord in
ceasing to pray for you; but I will teach you the good and the right way.
But here’s the rare exception. God
tells Jeremiah to stop praying for the people.
7:17-27 Other gods or obedience
In the next couple of paragraphs
God shares how frustrated He is that they are serving other gods.
He tells them that He has been
warning them for a long time…skip to …v.25
:17 Do you not see what
they do in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?
:18 The children gather
wood, the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead dough, to make cakes for
the queen of heaven; and they pour out drink offerings to other gods,
that they may provoke Me to anger.
The “cakes” may have been made in the shape of the goddess Astarte, the
“queen of heaven”.
:19 Do they provoke Me to
anger?” says the Lord. “Do
they not provoke themselves, to the shame of their own faces?”
:20 Therefore thus says
the Lord God: “Behold, My anger and My fury will be poured out on this place—on man
and on beast, on the trees of the field and on the fruit of the ground. And it
will burn and not be quenched.”
Is God angry? Yes.
:21 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Add
your burnt offerings to your sacrifices and eat meat.
Eat your own sacrifices. God doesn’t
want them.
:22 For I did not speak
to your fathers, or command them in the day that I brought them out of the land
of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices.
:23 But this is what I
commanded them, saying, ‘Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you shall
be My people. And walk in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may
be well with you.’
When God took the people out of Egypt, it wasn’t so they could give God
sacrifices. It was so they could follow
God in obedience.
:24 Yet they did not obey
or incline their ear, but followed the counsels and
the dictates of their evil hearts, and went backward and not forward.
:25 Since the day that
your fathers came out of the land of Egypt until this day, I have even sent to
you all My servants the prophets, daily rising up
early and sending them.
:26 Yet they did not obey
Me or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck.
They did worse than their fathers.
:27 “Therefore you shall
speak all these words to them, but they will not obey you. You shall also call to them, but they
will not answer you.
God is letting Jeremiah know that nobody is going to respond to his
message.
:25 daily rising up early and sending them
Other translations take this verse as…
(Jeremiah
7:25 NLT) …I have continued to send my servants, the
prophets—day in and day out.
(Jeremiah
7:25 NIV) …day after day, again and
again I sent you my servants the prophets.
I really like this idea of “daily rising up early”. That’s the literal translation of the Hebrew.
Jesus also got up early:
(Mark 1:35 NKJV) Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He
went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed.
I would suggest to you that perhaps God speaks clearest at the beginning of
your day. Spend time with Him then.
I appreciate it when people spend time with God each night before going to
sleep. But also
learn to get up a little bit earlier.
Give God time in the morning before all else.
7:28-34 Tophet and Jerusalem to be removed
:28 Therefore say to
them, ‘This is the nation that has not obeyed the Lord its God or responded to correction. Truth has perished;
it has vanished from their lips.
:29 “ ‘Cut
off your hair and throw it away; take up a lament on the barren heights, for
the Lord has rejected and
abandoned this generation that is under his wrath.
:29 cut off your hair
One commentary says that it’s Jeremiah that’s supposed to cut off his hair.
Other translations indicate that it’s Jerusalem …
(Jeremiah
7:29 NLT) Shave your head in mourning, and weep alone on
the mountains. For the Lord has
rejected and forsaken this generation that has provoked his fury.’
It seems to speak of mourning, repentance, sadness.
:30 “ ‘The
people of Judah have done evil in my eyes, declares the Lord. They have set up their detestable idols in the house
that bears my Name and have defiled it.
:31 They have built the
high places of Topheth in the Valley of Ben Hinnom to burn their sons and
daughters in the fire—something I did not command, nor did it enter my mind.
:31 Tophet … Valley of Ben Hinnom
The Hebrew word for valley is Ge,
and when you put it with the Hinnom, you get Ge-henna.
It was where the Jews who worshipped
Molech had burnt their children in the fires
The name Tophet comes from “toph”,
meaning “drum”, because the cries of the babies were drowned out with a drum.
In the 18th year of Josiah’s reign (he was 26 years old), he
began some major reforms:
(2 Kings
23:10 NKJV) And he defiled Topheth, which is in the
Valley of the Son of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter
pass through the fire to Molech.
Perhaps this was in response to
Jeremiah’s prophecy?
Eventually this valley was turned into
a garbage dump where the fires were kept burning to consume garbage, animal carcases, and dead bodies. A vivid picture of hell.
:32 So beware, the days
are coming, declares the Lord,
when people will no longer call it Topheth or the Valley of Ben Hinnom, but the
Valley of Slaughter, for they will bury the dead in Topheth until there is no
more room.
After the destruction of Jerusalem, this valley would be filled with the
dead bodies of the slain.
:33 Then the carcasses of
this people will become food for the birds and the
wild animals, and there will be no one to frighten them away.
:34 I will bring an end
to the sounds of joy and gladness and to the voices of bride and bridegroom in
the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem, for the land will become
desolate.
Sounds very much like some of
the pictures in Revelation.
The pictures in Revelation
weren’t all new. Some of it had happened
before to some extent.
Jeremiah 8
We are still in what is known as Jeremiah’s “Temple Address”.
8:1-3 Kingly bones scattered
:1 “At that time,” says
the Lord, “they shall bring out
the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of its princes, and the bones of
the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of
Jerusalem, out of their graves.
:2 They shall spread them
before the sun and the moon and all the host of heaven, which they have loved
and which they have served and after which they have
walked, which they have sought and which they have worshiped. They shall not be
gathered nor buried; they shall be like refuse on the face of the earth.
:3 Then death shall be
chosen rather than life by all the residue of those who remain of this evil
family, who remain in all the places where I have driven them,” says the Lord of hosts.
:1 bring out the bones
This is not talking about a resurrection, but
about defiling the graves of the kings and leaders. Their bones will be spread
out before the “gods” they had loved and worshipped.
This was a huge abomination to the Jew.
Ancient Jewish burial usually involved two stages.
First the body was buried somewhere where it would not be disturbed, like a
cave or tomb.
After the body had decayed, the tomb was opened and the bones collected and
placed in a “bone box” or “ossuary”.
You can see some of these ossuaries on the Mount of
Olives.
They worked hard to keep their graves from being desecrated. They wanted to
keep their bones intact and together, not scattered.
8:4-13 Unrepentance, judgment coming
:4 “Moreover you shall
say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord:
“Will they fall and not rise? Will one turn away and not return?
:4 Will they fall and not rise?
When most people fall down, they get right back up
again.
There was an old commercial years ago that eventually became parodied over and over…
The problem with the city of Jerusalem is that spiritually they’ve fallen
and they WON’T get up.
It won’t learn from its mistakes.
:5 Why has this people slidden back,
Jerusalem, in a perpetual backsliding? They hold fast to deceit, They refuse to return.
:6 I listened and heard, But they do not speak aright. No man repented of his
wickedness, Saying, ‘What have I done?’ Everyone turned to his own course, As
the horse rushes into the battle.
:7 “Even the stork in the
heavens Knows her appointed times; And the turtledove, the swift, and the
swallow Observe the time of their coming. But My people do not know the
judgment of the Lord.
:6 Everyone turned to
his own course
Lesson
Turn around
The animals have their built-in mechanisms like bird migration,
they know when it is time to return home.
But the people of God do not know what to do.
Illustration
The Call of the Barnyard
A flock of wild ducks were flying in formation, heading south for the
winter. They formed a beautiful V in the sky, and were
admired by everyone who saw them from below. One day, Wally, one of the wild
ducks in the formation, spotted something on the ground that caught his eye. It
was a barnyard with a flock of tame ducks who lived on the farm. They were
waddling around on the ground, quacking merrily and eating corn that was thrown
on the ground for them every day. Wally liked what he saw. “It sure would be
nice to have some of that corn,” he thought to himself. “And all this flying is
very tiring. I’d like to just waddle around for a while.” So
after thinking it over, Wally left the formation of wild ducks, made a sharp
dive to the left, and headed for the barnyard. He landed among the tame ducks, and began to waddle around and quack merrily. He also
started eating corn. The formation of wild ducks continued their journey south,
but Wally didn’t care. “I’ll rejoin them when they come back north in a few months,
he said to himself. Several months went by and sure enough, Wally looked up and
spotted the flock of wild ducks in formation, heading north. They looked
beautiful up there. And Wally was tired of the barnyard. It was muddy and
everywhere he waddled, nothing but duck doo. “It’s
time to leave,” said Wally. So Wally flapped his wings
furiously and tried to get airborne. But he had gained some weight from all his
corn-eating, and he hadn’t exercised his wings much either. He finally got off
the ground, but he was flying too low and slammed into the side of the barn. He
fell to the ground with a thud and said to himself, “Oh, well, I’ll just wait
until they fly south in a few months. Then I’ll rejoin them and become a wild
duck again.” But when the flock flew overhead once more, Wally again tried to
lift himself out of the barnyard. He simply didn’t have the
strength. Every winter and every spring, he saw his wild duck friends
flying overhead, and they would call out to him. But his attempts to leave were
all in vain. Eventually Wally no longer paid any attention to the wild ducks
flying overhead. He hardly even noticed them. He had, after all, become a
barnyard duck.
Sometimes we get tired of being wild ducks-followers of Jesus Christ. It’s
not always easy to be obedient to God and to discipline ourselves
to hang in there for the long haul. When we are feeling that way, that’s when
Satan tempts us to “fall out of formation” and to join the barnyard ducks - the
world. But look what happened to Wally. He thought he
would just “check it out” for awhile and then leave
when he wanted to. But he couldn’t do it. Sin is like that. Sin is a trap, and
it has a way of changing us into people we don’t even want to become.
Eventually we lose touch with who we really are—the sons and daughters of the Most High. We become barnyard ducks.
Edited from More Hot Illustrations
for Youth Talks by Wayne Rice. Copyright 1995 by Youth Specialties, Inc.
If we aren’t careful, we can become so accustomed to the “duck-doo” around
us, and the food the world feeds us, that we lose our ability to fly when we
need to.
:8 “How can you say, ‘We are
wise, And the law of the Lord is
with us’? Look, the false pen of the scribe certainly
works falsehood.
Just like the Pharisees of Jesus’ day, there were people in Jeremiah’s day
that were prideful about having God’s Word, but they weren’t exactly obeying
like they should.
:9 The wise men are
ashamed, They are dismayed and taken. Behold, they
have rejected the word of the Lord;
So what wisdom do they have?
You aren’t wise if you are rejecting God’s word.
:10 Therefore I will give
their wives to others, And their fields to
those who will inherit them; Because from the least even to the greatest
Everyone is given to covetousness; From the prophet even to the priest Everyone
deals falsely.
:11 For they have healed
the hurt of the daughter of My people slightly, Saying, ‘Peace, peace!’ When there
is no peace.
:11 ‘Peace, peace!’ When there is no peace
slightly – qalal – be
insignificant; NAS – “superficially”
Lesson
False hope
One reason the people weren’t getting any better was because the false
prophets were telling the people the wrong thing.
If you go to the quack doctor with severe headaches, and all he does is
tell you that you need to repeat over and over again,
“I am not sick, I am not sick”, you might have a problem on your hands.
Years ago the Psychology manuals listed ways of
helping a homosexual change.
Today, if you go to a secular psychologist and say you are struggling with
homosexual thoughts, they would try to talk you out of
it and say, “peace, peace” when you should not be having peace.
:12 Were
they ashamed when they had committed abomination? No! They were not at all
ashamed, Nor did they know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; In the time
of their punishment They shall be cast down,” says the Lord.
:13 “I will surely
consume them,” says the Lord. “No
grapes shall be on the vine, Nor figs on the
fig tree, And the leaf shall fade; And the things I have given them
shall pass away from them.” ’ ”
:12 the time of their punishment
There would be a time of punishment coming.
8:14-17 It won’t be nice
:14 “Why do we sit still?
Assemble yourselves, And let us enter the fortified
cities, And let us be silent there. For the Lord our God has put us to silence And given us water of gall to drink, Because
we have sinned against the Lord.
The people are talking to themselves, thinking that if the Babylonian army
is going to come, they can just find shelter in their “fortified” cities. That won’t be good enough.
:15 “We looked for
peace, but no good came; And for a time of health, and there was
trouble!
:16 The snorting of His
horses was heard from Dan. The whole land trembled at the sound of the neighing
of His strong ones; For they have come and devoured the land and all that is in
it, The city and those who dwell in it.”
:17 “For behold, I will
send serpents among you, Vipers which cannot be charmed, And
they shall bite you,” says the Lord.
:16 The snorting of His horses was heard from Dan
Dan is the northernmost tribe of Israel.
The people in Jerusalem would be getting reports that the Babylonians
were on their say.
:17 Vipers which cannot be charmed
We might think that snake charmers are the thing of movies. They’re real…
Video: Snake Charmer (play after 1:14 for
30 seconds)
The Babylonians can’t be charmed like a snake is charmed.
Jerusalem won’t be able to stop the judgment. It can’t be stopped by
hiding.
8:18-22 No comfort
:18 I would comfort
myself in sorrow; My heart is faint in me.
:19 Listen! The voice, The cry of the daughter of My people— From a far country: “Is
not the Lord in Zion? Is
not her King in her?” “Why have they provoked Me to anger With
their carved images— With foreign idols?”
The people who have already been taken to Babylon are crying out, “Isn’t
Yahweh still in Zion?”
God’s response is that the people have provoked Him to abandon them.
:20 “The harvest is past,
The summer is ended, And we
are not saved!”
:20 The harvest is past
It almost sounds like some of us, the anguish of things dragging out.
When the Covid pandemic first hit us back in March
we were all groaning about having to stay home in isolation for TWO WHOLE
WEEKS.
Then it was a month. Maybe it would be over when summer is over??
We’ve still got a ways to go.
The harvest represented Judah’s opportunities to repent, yet they’ve passed
those opportunities by.
Illustration
The story goes that a big storm was on the horizon, and the police cars
went through the small farming community to warn the citizens to head for high
ground. Farmer Bill heard the warning, but decided
that he was just going to stay put and trust God. When the rain began to fall,
and the water began to rise, the firemen came by in a boat, offering to
evacuate Farmer Bill, but he said, “No, I’m going to stay put and trust God.”
Finally, as Bill had to climb out onto his roof to get away from the raging
flood, a helicopter came by offering assistance, but
Farmer Bill stayed put. When Bill got to heaven, he was a bit ticked off at
God. He said to God, “How come you didn’t rescue me from the flood when I
trusted you!” God gently replied, “Bill, I sent a police car, a rescue boat,
and a helicopter. What did you expect?”
When God gives you an opportunity to turn around, take it.
:21 For the hurt of the
daughter of my people I am hurt. I am mourning; Astonishment has taken hold of
me.
mourning – qadar – to mourn, be dark
:22 Is there no
balm in Gilead, Is there no physician there? Why then is there no
recovery For the health of the daughter of my people?
:22 no balm in Gilead
balm – ts@riy – a kind of balsam, balm, salve.
“Balm” was the resin of the storax tree that was used medicinally.
Gilead is the northern land east of the Jordan River, famous for its
healing balm.
Lesson
The Balm
For Judah, there was no “balm”, no medicine. But that’s not the case for
us.
The Holy Spirit is called the “anointing”
(1 John 2:27 NKJV) But the anointing which you have
received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but
as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is
not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.
anointing – chrisma – anything
smeared on, unguent, ointment.
For the Jews, it was prepared from oil and aromatic herbs.
Anointing was the inaugural ceremony for priests
Jesus called the Holy Spirit another “Comforter”
(John 14:16 NKJV) And I will pray
the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you
forever—
Our God is called the God of all “comfort”
(2
Corinthians 1:3–5 NKJV) —3 Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to
comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves
are comforted by God. 5 For as the sufferings of Christ
abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ.
For every trouble, there is “consolation”.
There is hope. There is a “balm”. The Holy Spirit is our
comfort.
There is an old hymn:
There is a balm in
Gilead
To make the wounded whole;
There is a balm in Gilead
To heal the sin sick soul.
Some times I
feel discouraged,
And think my work’s in vain,
But then the Holy Spirit
Revives my soul again.
There is a medicine for what ails you
friends. Connect with the Holy Spirit.
This week assignments:
Read Jer. 1-13 in NIV (each week a different version).
Memorize
(Jeremiah
6:16 NKJV) Thus says the Lord: “Stand in
the ways and see,
And ask for the old paths, where the good way is, And walk in it; Then you
will find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’
Today’s ending quiz
What were the two key words from our lesson? (New Growth, Cheap Grace)
What could you apply to your life from today’s lesson?