Calvary
Chapel Bible College
September
16, 2020
Homework Review
I hope you took the “quiz” about your reading as well as those for your
memory verse and prayer requests.
I reworked all the assignments into “tests” that will be available for the
entire week before they’re due.
Would anyone like to try reciting our memory verse for the week?
(Jeremiah
8:11 NKJV) For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of
My people slightly, Saying, ‘Peace, peace!’ When there is no peace.
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 14
14:1-6 The drought
:1 The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah concerning
the droughts.
droughts – batstsoreth – dearth, drought, destitution
:2 “Judah mourns, And her gates languish; They mourn for the land, And the cry
of Jerusalem has gone up.
:3 Their nobles have sent
their lads for water; They went to the cisterns and found no water. They
returned with their vessels empty; They were ashamed and confounded And covered their heads.
lads – some translations have “servants”.
All the wells were dry.
:4 Because the ground is
parched, For there was no rain in the land, The
plowmen were ashamed; They covered their heads.
:5 Yes, the deer also
gave birth in the field, But left because there was no
grass.
The deer in the wild gives birth and abandons its baby.
:6 And the wild donkeys
stood in the desolate heights; They sniffed at the wind like jackals; Their
eyes failed because there was no grass.”
So not only was Judah facing an impending Babylonian invasion, they were also going through a severe drought.
One thing after another.
Sometimes God allows these kinds of things to get our attention.
Do you think He has our nations attentions?
Covid. Hurricanes. Wildfires.
14:7-9 Where is God?
:7 O Lord, though our iniquities testify
against us, Do it for Your name’s sake; For our
backslidings are many, We have sinned against You.
:8 O the Hope of Israel,
his Savior in time of trouble, Why should You be like
a stranger in the land, And like a traveler who
turns aside to tarry for a night?
:9 Why should You be like
a man astonished, Like a mighty one who cannot
save? Yet You, O Lord, are
in our midst, And we are called by Your name; Do not
leave us!
God wasn’t responding to the cries and pleas of the nation. He acted like a stranger to them.
14:10-12 God won’t hear their prayers
:10 Thus says the Lord to this people: “Thus they have
loved to wander; They have not restrained their feet. Therefore
the Lord does not accept them; He
will remember their iniquity now, And punish their
sins.”
:11 Then the Lord said to me, “Do not pray for this
people, for their good.
This is the third time God has told Jeremiah not to pray for the people (7:16; 11:14).
:12 When they fast, I
will not hear their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and grain offering,
I will not accept them. But I will consume them by the sword, by the famine,
and by the pestilence.”
:12 When they fast
Fasting is about learning to deny your flesh and draw near to God.
Prayer and fasting can be very beneficial.
Jesus hinted that certain demons couldn’t be cast out by anything but
“prayer and fasting” (Mark 9:29)
(Mark 9:29 NKJV) So He said to them, “This kind can come out by nothing but prayer
and fasting.”
The problem comes when we think that fasting is about twisting God’s arm.
Fasting is about putting you into alignment with God, making you learn to
listen to the Spirit and not your flesh.
Sometime read Isaiah 58 – where God talks about what fasting
is supposed to do – it’s supposed to change us, not God.
God would not respond to the people’s cry for rain because they had not
truly turned to Him.
:12 I will not hear their cry
There is one prayer that God will always hear:
“God, I’m truly sorry”. That is NOT what the people were praying.
(1 John 1:9 NKJV) If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to
forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
God is not looking for you to promise you’ll never do
it. He wants to know if you realize
you’ve done wrong, and if you want to change.
He will forgive.
14:13-16 False prophets
:13 Then I said, “Ah,
Lord God! Behold, the prophets
say to them, ‘You shall not see the sword, nor shall you have famine, but I
will give you assured peace in this place.’ ”
This was the message that the prophets were giving.
These most likely aren’t prophets of some other god like Baal.
These are the guys at church. These
are the guys at the Temple of Yahweh.
They were telling everyone, “better days are
ahead”.
:14 And the Lord said to me, “The prophets prophesy
lies in My name. I have not sent them, commanded them, nor spoken to them; they
prophesy to you a false vision, divination, a
worthless thing, and the deceit of their heart.
:14 the deceit of their heart
Lesson
False prophets
(Key word!)
Prophesy is a wonderful gift from God.
But it better not be from your own imagination
It isn’t wishful thinking
Some folks will say things and put “thus saith the Lord” on it in order to get you to do what they want you to do.
Our memory verse was one of those things they “imagined”
(Jeremiah
8:11 NKJV) For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of
My people slightly, Saying, ‘Peace, peace!’ When there is no peace.
There may be times when you are helping someone, you are
feeling bad for them, and you want all their problems to go away.
Be careful about speaking “peace” to them if their sin is
at the root of their problem and they have no intention of turning from their
sin and turning to God.
Let me say that God does not appreciate people speaking for Him when He
hasn’t spoken.
:15 Therefore thus says
the Lord concerning the prophets
who prophesy in My name, whom I did not send, and who say, ‘Sword and famine
shall not be in this land’—‘By sword and famine those
prophets shall be consumed!
God says that the false prophets are going to experience the very thing
they are promising won’t happen.
:16 And the people to
whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem because of the
famine and the sword; they will have no one to bury them—them nor their wives,
their sons nor their daughters—for I will pour their wickedness on them.’
The people will still be judged.
Ultimately, it’s the people who are hurt.
They hear the message that everything is okay when it’s not, and they
will experience the judgment that God has been warning them about.
14:17-22 Confession of sin
:17 “Therefore you shall
say this word to them: ‘Let my eyes flow with tears night and day, And let them not cease; For the virgin daughter of my
people Has been broken with a mighty stroke, with a very severe blow.
:17 Let my eyes flow with tears
This is God speaking.
We call Jeremiah the weeping prophet.
The truth is, God too is weeping over His people.
:18 If I go out to the
field, Then behold, those slain with the sword! And if
I enter the city, Then behold, those sick from famine!
Yes, both prophet and priest go about in a land they do not know.’ ”
:19 Have You utterly
rejected Judah? Has Your soul loathed Zion? Why have You stricken us so that there
is no healing for us? We looked for peace, but there was no good;
And for the time of healing, and there was trouble.
:20 We acknowledge, O Lord, our wickedness And
the iniquity of our fathers, For we have sinned
against You.
Jeremiah is praying in the place of the people, confessing the sin of the
people, even though God told him not to pray for them. He’s saying the words, but the people don’t
mean it.
I think there’s a place for us to confess the sins of the nation, but keep
in mind, when the nation doesn’t feel the same way, it doesn’t seem to do any
good.
:21 Do not abhor us,
for Your name’s sake; Do not disgrace the throne of Your glory. Remember, do
not break Your covenant with us.
:22 Are there any among
the idols of the nations that can cause rain? Or can the heavens give showers? Are
You not He, O Lord our God? Therefore we will wait for You, Since You have made all
these.
None of the “idols” are going to help the people.
Baal was considered the “storm god”.
But Elijah proved that Baal was worthless.
How does God respond to the prophet Jeremiah praying for his people, saying
the things that should sway God’s heart?
Jeremiah 15
15:1-9 Prayer won’t keep judgment from coming
:1 Then the Lord said to me, “Even if Moses
and Samuel stood before Me, My mind would not be
favorable toward this people. Cast them out of My sight,
and let them go forth.
:1 Moses and Samuel
Moses and Samuel both prayed for God to turn away His wrath from the people
(Ex. 32:9-14; 1 Sam. 7:5-11)
(Exodus 32:9–14
NKJV) —9 And the Lord said to
Moses, “I have seen this people, and indeed it is a stiff-necked people!
10 Now therefore, let Me alone, that My wrath may burn hot against
them and I may consume them. And I will make of you a great nation.” 11 Then Moses
pleaded with the Lord his God,
and said: “Lord, why does Your
wrath burn hot against Your people whom You have brought out of the land of
Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? 12 Why should
the Egyptians speak, and say, ‘He brought them out to harm them, to kill them
in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from
Your fierce wrath, and relent from this harm to Your
people. 13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants, to whom You
swore by Your own self, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your descendants as
the stars of heaven; and all this land that I have spoken of I give to your
descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’ ” 14 So the Lord relented
from the harm which He said He would do to His people.
(1 Samuel 7:5–11
NKJV) —5 And Samuel said, “Gather all Israel to Mizpah, and I will pray to
the Lord for you.” 6 So they gathered together at Mizpah, drew
water, and poured it out before the Lord.
And they fasted that day, and said there, “We have sinned against the Lord.” And Samuel judged the children
of Israel at Mizpah. 7 Now when the Philistines heard that
the children of Israel had gathered together at
Mizpah, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the
children of Israel heard of it, they were afraid of the Philistines. 8 So the children of Israel said to Samuel, “Do not cease to cry out
to the Lord our God for us, that
He may save us from the hand of the Philistines.” 9 And Samuel took a suckling lamb and
offered it as a whole
burnt offering to the Lord.
Then Samuel cried out to the Lord
for Israel, and the Lord answered
him. 10 Now as Samuel was offering up the burnt offering,
the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel. But the Lord thundered with a loud thunder upon
the Philistines that day, and so confused them that
they were overcome before Israel. 11 And the men of Israel went out of
Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, and drove them
back as far as below Beth Car.
God isn’t going to change His mind about the Babylonian judgment.
:2 And it shall be, if
they say to you, ‘Where should we go?’ then you shall tell them, ‘Thus says the
Lord: “Such as are for
death, to death; And such as are for the sword, to the sword; And such
as are for the famine, to the famine; And such as are for the
captivity, to the captivity.” ’
:2 Where should we go?
To the nation of Judah:
You have four choices ahead of you.
Death, war, famine, or captivity.
This is very much the same message that God would speak through Ezekiel around
the same time to those already in Babylon, but in slightly different.
Ezekiel was one of those prophets who often used visual aides to teach.
He cut his hair and divided the hair into three piles (Eze. 5-6).
(Ezekiel
5:1–4 NKJV) —1 “And you, son of man, take a sharp
sword, take it as a barber’s razor, and pass it over your head and your
beard; then take scales to weigh and divide the hair. 2 You shall
burn with fire one-third in the midst of the city,
when the days of the siege are finished; then you shall take one-third and
strike around it with the sword, and one-third you shall scatter in the
wind: I will draw out a sword after them. 3 You shall also take a small number of them and bind them in the edge of your garment. 4 Then take
some of them again and throw them into the midst of
the fire, and burn them in the fire. From there a fire
will go out into all the house of Israel.
It was to mean that 1/3 of the people would die of disease/famine, one
third from war, and one third would be scattered.
(Ezekiel
5:12–13 NKJV) —12 One-third of you shall die of the pestilence, and be consumed with famine in your midst; and
one-third shall fall by the sword all around you; and I will scatter another
third to all the winds, and I will draw out a sword after them. 13 ‘Thus shall My anger be spent, and I will cause My fury to
rest upon them, and I will be avenged; and they shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken it in My zeal,
when I have spent My fury upon them.
Yet in Ezekiel’s prophecy there were to be a few loose hairs tucked into
Ezekiel’s robe – a picture that a few of the Jews would escape judgment by
clinging to the Lord.
(Ezekiel
6:8–10 NKJV) —8 “Yet I will leave a remnant, so that
you may have some who escape the sword among the nations, when you are
scattered through the countries. 9 Then those of you who escape will
remember Me among the nations where they are carried captive, because I was
crushed by their adulterous heart which has departed from Me, and by their eyes
which play the harlot after their idols; they will loathe themselves for the
evils which they committed in all their abominations. 10 And they
shall know that I am the Lord;
I have not said in vain that I would bring this calamity upon them.”
:3 “And I will appoint
over them four forms of destruction,” says the Lord: “the sword to slay, the dogs to drag, the birds of the
heavens and the beasts of the earth to devour and destroy.
:4 I will hand them over
to trouble, to all kingdoms of the earth, because of Manasseh the son of
Hezekiah, king of Judah, for what he did in Jerusalem.
:4 because of Manasseh
Manasseh was one bad dude.
He followed his father Hezekiah to the throne. Hezekiah was one of the best kings.
Instead of following his father’s footsteps, Manasseh too the nation down a
path of idolatry and immorality, defiling the Temple, and even having his
grandfather, the prophet Isaiah, put to death.
(2 Kings 21:1–16
NKJV) —1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he
reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hephzibah.
It is a Jewish tradition that Hephzibah was the daughter
of Isaiah. They say that the reason
Isaiah isn’t mentioned was because “so wicked a king was unworthy of such a
grandfather”.
2 And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, according to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord had cast out before the children
of Israel. 3 For he rebuilt the high places which
Hezekiah his father had destroyed; he raised up altars for Baal, and made a
wooden image, as Ahab king of Israel had done; and he worshiped all the host of
heaven and served them. 4 He also built altars in the house of
the Lord, of which the Lord had said, “In Jerusalem I will put
My name.” 5 And he built altars for all the host
of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord. 6 Also he made his son pass through
the fire, practiced soothsaying, used witchcraft, and consulted spiritists and
mediums. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord,
to provoke Him to anger. 7 He even set a carved image of
Asherah that he had made, in the house of which the Lord had said to David and to Solomon his son, “In this house
and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will
put My name forever; 8 and I will not make the feet of
Israel wander anymore from the land which I gave their fathers—only if they are
careful to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all
the law that My servant Moses commanded them.” 9 But they
paid no attention, and Manasseh seduced them to do more evil than the nations
whom the Lord had destroyed
before the children of Israel. 10 And the Lord spoke by His servants the
prophets, saying,
Jewish tradition has it that one of those that God spoke
through to Manasseh was the prophet Isaiah
11 “Because Manasseh king of Judah has done these abominations (he has
acted more wickedly than all the Amorites who were before him, and has
also made Judah sin with his idols), 12 therefore
thus says the Lord God of Israel:
‘Behold, I am bringing such calamity upon Jerusalem and Judah,
that whoever hears of it, both his ears will tingle. 13 And I will
stretch over Jerusalem the measuring line of Samaria and the plummet of the
house of Ahab; I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes
a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. 14 So I will forsake the remnant of My inheritance and deliver them
into the hand of their enemies; and they shall become victims of plunder to all
their enemies, 15 because they have done evil in My
sight, and have provoked Me to anger since the day their fathers came out of
Egypt, even to this day.’ ” 16 Moreover Manasseh shed very much
innocent blood, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another, besides
his sin by which he made Judah sin, in doing evil in the sight of the Lord.
When it speaks of Manasseh shedding innocent blood, one of
those Manasseh killed was the prophet Isaiah, his own grandfather.
Justin Martyr records that Isaiah was “sawn asunder” by
orders of Manasseh.
The Jewish version goes like this:
``Manasseh sought to kill Isaiah, and he fled from him,
and fled to a cedar, and the cedar swallowed him up, all but the fringe of his
garment; they came and told him (Manasseh), he said unto them, go and saw the
cedar, "and they sawed the
cedar", and blood was seen to come out.''
When the writer of Hebrews speaks of how some of the men
of faith were “sawn asunder” (Heb. 11:37),
it is speaking of Isaiah.
(Hebrews 11:37 NKJV) They were stoned, they were sawn in
two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins
and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented—
While the writer of 2Chronicles 33 does tell us that Manasseh finally
repented of his sins, and turned to God for forgiveness, it was too late for
the nation.
(2 Chronicles
33:12–13 NKJV) —12 Now when he was in affliction, he
implored the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his
fathers, 13 and prayed to Him; and He received his entreaty, heard his
supplication, and brought him back to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh
knew that the Lord was
God.
The people never repented or recovered from the sins they were involved
with.
It is a sobering thought to think that while we may be
forgiven for our sin, the impact of our sin on others may not go away.
:5 “For who will have
pity on you, O Jerusalem? Or who will bemoan you? Or who will turn aside to ask
how you are doing?
:6 You have forsaken Me,”
says the Lord, “You have gone
backward. Therefore I will stretch out My hand against
you and destroy you; I am weary of relenting!
God was tired of giving them second chances.
:7 And I will winnow them
with a winnowing fan in the gates of the land; I will bereave them of
children; I will destroy My people, Since they
do not return from their ways.
:7 winnow them with a
winnowing fan
This is a word
picture the people were very
familiar with.
Winnowing was the process of
removing the “chaff” (like the skin on a peanut) from the harvested grain.
The grain was broken up and then
tossed up in the air where the wind would blow off the chaff.
You can simulate that today with
an electric fan…
The worthless stuff is separated from the important stuff.
:8 Their widows will be
increased to Me more than the sand of the seas; I will bring against them,
Against the mother of the young men, A plunderer at noonday; I will cause
anguish and terror to fall on them suddenly.
Because so many men will die, there are more widows than they know what to
do with.
:9 “She languishes who
has borne seven; She has breathed her last; Her sun has gone down While it
was yet day; She has been ashamed and confounded. And the remnant of them I
will deliver to the sword Before their enemies,” says the Lord.
Even a mother with a lot of kids will lose them all.
15:10-14 Jeremiah’s problems
:10 Woe is me, my mother,
That you have borne me, A man of strife and a man of
contention to the whole earth! I have neither lent for interest, Nor have men lent to me for interest. Every one of them
curses me.
:10 a man of contention
Jeremiah is complaining because nobody likes him. He hasn’t been a lender or a borrower, and
people still hate him.
Lesson
Opposition
When we get to the point where we make a decision
that we’re not just going to sit on the sidelines, but we’re going to get out
into the action and serve the Lord we can sometimes be surprised when we face
opposition.
Sometimes the opposition is right in your own family.
What surprises us the most is that sometimes the opposition comes from
inside the church, from people that you expected would support you.
Don’t be surprised at opposition.
Some of it comes from hell itself.
Satan doesn’t want you to serve the Lord.
Some of it might be from people who are actually looking
out for you – sometimes we need a little opposition to straighten up some of
the crooked things in our lives.
:11 The Lord said: “Surely it will be well with
your remnant; Surely I will cause the enemy to
intercede with you In the time of adversity and in the
time of affliction.
:11 I will cause the enemy to intercede with you
God replies that it’s going to be okay.
These people that hate him now will be asking him for help later.
Lesson
Stay true to the Lord
Some of the people around you may not appreciate that you follow after Jesus.
They may joke about you or call you “preacher boy”.
But if you stay true to the Lord, when they’re in trouble, they’ll come to
you for help.
:12 Can anyone break
iron, The northern iron and the bronze?
(Jeremiah
15:12 NLT) Can a man break a bar of iron from the north, or
a bar of bronze?
The iron from the north, Babylon, won’t be stopped. Judgment is still coming.
:13 Your wealth and your
treasures I will give as plunder without price, Because of all your sins,
Throughout your territories.
:14 And I will make you
cross over with your enemies Into a land which
you do not know; For a fire is kindled in My anger, Which
shall burn upon you.”
Judgment is coming
15:15-18 Jeremiah: Help me God
:15 O Lord, You
know; Remember me and visit me, And take vengeance for
me on my persecutors. In Your enduring patience, do not take me away. Know that
for Your sake I have suffered rebuke.
:16 Your words were
found, and I ate them, And Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my
heart; For I am called by Your name, O Lord
God of hosts.
:16 Your word was to
me the joy
(Jeremiah
15:16 NLT) When I discovered your words, I devoured them.
They are my joy and my heart’s delight, for I bear your name, O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies.
Lesson
Comfort in the word
They say that certain foods are “comfort” foods – mash potatoes, hot soup,
hot fudge sundaes.
Jeremiah’s comfort food was God’s Word.
You may be going through a difficult trial right now.
Maybe you’ve been tempted and fallen.
I used to tell my sons when they got struggled with certain temptations to
spend some time washing their mind out with the Word of God. It’s what I do when I’m tempted
or I sin.
Treat yourself to a little comfort food.
Immerse yourself in God’s Word.
Read, read, read.
:17 I did not sit in the
assembly of the mockers, Nor did I rejoice; I sat
alone because of Your hand, For You have filled me with indignation.
:17 the assembly of the mockers
King David wrote,
(Psalm 1:1 NKJV) Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in
the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;
But their delight is in God’s word…
Jeremiah says that’s him.
:17 I sat alone because of Your hand
There will be times when we feel alone, an outcast, because of our walk
with the Lord.
Just remember that you are not actually alone.
Elijah felt he was the only one left who served the Lord. God replied to him: I have 7,000 more.
You have a new family, God’s family.
:18 Why is my pain
perpetual And my wound incurable, Which
refuses to be healed? Will You surely be to me like an unreliable stream, As waters that fail?
Even though we’ve read Jeremiah talk about some real answers for us –
spending time in God’s Word – he still feels very much alone.
When you read verses like this – very real and raw on our emotions – just
don’t stop here. Keep reading.
15:19-21 Jeremiah’s restoration
:19 Therefore thus says
the Lord: “If you return, Then I
will bring you back; You shall stand before Me; If you take out the precious
from the vile, You shall be as My mouth. Let them
return to you, But you must not return to them.
:20 And I will make you
to this people a fortified bronze wall; And they will fight against you, But they shall not prevail against you; For I am with
you to save you And deliver you,” says the Lord.
:21 “I will deliver you
from the hand of the wicked, And I will redeem you from the grip of the
terrible.”
:21 I will deliver you from the hand of the
wicked
Have you ever felt like Jeremiah?
Ever felt alone and abandoned?
Lesson
Jeremiah’s deliverance
Jeremiah is asked to do three things (vs. 19)
1.
Return to God
It sounds kind of funny that God is telling Jeremiah the prophet to
“return” to Him.
Yet when we get in these “funks”, we may have walked away from the Lord.
Whenever God seems far away, guess who moved?
When my heart is filled with complaining – could it be that
I’ve wandered away from the Lord?
When Israel wandered in the wilderness for forty years,
they had one attitude that was consistent through the whole time – complaining
(see Heb. 3:17-19)
(Hebrews
3:17–19 NLT) —17 And who made God angry for forty
years? Wasn’t it the people who sinned, whose corpses lay in the wilderness? 18 And to whom was God speaking when he took an oath that they would
never enter his rest? Wasn’t it the people who disobeyed him? 19 So we see that because of their unbelief they were
not able to enter his rest.
2. Focus on the good
Jeremiah was told to “take the precious from the vile”
Too often I place my focus on the negative things around
me, things that stir up my complaining.
Listen to this clip from Lord of the Rings …
Video: LOTR Two Towers – I can’t do this Sam
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not talking about the benefits of “positive
thinking”, I’m talking about what Paul says,
(Philippians 4:8 NKJV) Finally, brethren, whatever things
are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just,
whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever
things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there
is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.
3. Be an Influencer
Jeremiah would be a wall that the people would not be able to tear down.
Too often we allow others to influence us because we want to be liked by
them. We’re looking for love in all the
wrong places.
But if you get that love you’re looking for from the Lord,
then you don’t “need” those other people to like you and instead of them
influencing you, you can influence them.
Jeremiah 16
16:1-9 No joy for Jeremiah
:1 The word of the Lord also came to me, saying,
:2 “You shall not take a
wife, nor shall you have sons or daughters in this place.”
Jeremiah had a direct order from God not to get married or raise a family.
I remember as a young believer wondering whether or not
I’d be married. After getting married we
wondered about having kids with the signs pointing to Jesus’ return.
I’m glad I didn’t have Jeremiah’s calling.
:3 For thus says the Lord concerning the sons and daughters
who are born in this place, and concerning their mothers who bore them and
their fathers who begot them in this land:
:4 “They shall die
gruesome deaths; they shall not be lamented nor shall they be buried, but
they shall be like refuse on the face of the earth. They shall be consumed by
the sword and by famine, and their corpses shall be meat for the birds of
heaven and for the beasts of the earth.”
:5 For thus says the Lord: “Do not enter the house of
mourning, nor go to lament or bemoan them; for I have taken away My peace from
this people,” says the Lord,
“lovingkindness and mercies.
Jeremiah is not supposed to go to funerals.
He’s not supposed to comfort or feel sorry for the people.
:6 Both the great and the
small shall die in this land. They shall not be buried; neither shall men
lament for them, cut themselves, nor make themselves bald for them.
:7 Nor shall men
break bread in mourning for them, to comfort them for the dead; nor
shall men give them the cup of consolation to drink for their father or
their mother.
:8 Also you shall not go
into the house of feasting to sit with them, to eat and drink.”
Don’t escape by going to parties all the time.
I wonder about some of the things happening on college campuses this fall
with students having parties despite the orders not to. They are looking for “comfort” from the
pandemic.
:9 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel:
“Behold, I will cause to cease from this place, before your eyes and in your
days, the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom
and the voice of the bride.
:9 cause to cease … the voice of mirth
Jeremiah lived in a very somber time.
He was to live a somber life to show the people the seriousness of the
times they lived in.
His calling to remain single was unique, and not the norm.
For the people who were taken captive off to Babylon, the message was
different:
(Jeremiah
29:6 NKJV) Take wives and beget sons and daughters; and
take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, so that they may
bear sons and daughters—that you may be increased there, and
not diminished.
A different message for a different
people. They were to marry, have kids,
and keep the nation alive.
16:10-13 Why is judgment coming?
:10 “And it shall be,
when you show this people all these words, and they say to you, ‘Why has the Lord pronounced all this great disaster
against us? Or what is our iniquity? Or what is our sin that we
have committed against the Lord
our God?’
:10 Why has the Lord
pronounced all this …
When Jeremiah starts living this kind of life – not marrying, not going to
funerals, not going to parties, the people are going to have questions.
For us, when we learn to live like God wants us to live, people ought to be
asking questions too.
(Matthew
5:16 NKJV) Let your light so shine before men, that they
may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
:11 then you shall say to
them, ‘Because your fathers have forsaken Me,’ says the Lord; ‘they have walked after other gods and have served them
and worshiped them, and have forsaken Me and not kept My law.
:12 And you have done
worse than your fathers, for behold, each one follows the dictates of his own
evil heart, so that no one listens to Me.
:13 Therefore I will cast
you out of this land into a land that you do not know, neither you nor your
fathers; and there you shall serve other gods day and night, where I will not
show you favor.’
:12 each one follows the dictates of his own evil heart
Lesson
Evil hearts
What their ancestors had done was bad, but what these people were doing was
worse.
They walked after the “dictates of their evil heart”.
It’s like the people in the book of Judges:
(Judges 21:25 NKJV) In those days there was no
king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
Instead of paying attention to the things that God said, they paid
attention to their own imaginations.
This is like the person who says, “Well I don’t believe in hell because I
can’t believe that a God of love would send anyone to hell”.
It sounds nice to our mind, but it’s a thought based on a person’s
imagination, not on the truth.
God is love. God is also just and
holy.
Hell exists as a part of God’s justice, as to how God will
make all things right. Debts must be
paid. Crimes must be punished.
God loves you so much that He sent His Son to die on a
cross in your place, paying for your sins, so you wouldn’t have to go to hell.
Now that is love.
(1 John 3:16 NKJV) By this we know love, because He
laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for
the brethren.
It’s important that we base what we believe about God upon God’s Word, upon
what God says about Himself.
The more you stay in the Word, the more your ideas about who God is will
change. Don’t be surprised if you find
that some of your ideas about God are challenged by what the Word says.
16:14-15 A new standard of restoration
:14 “Therefore behold,
the days are coming,” says the Lord,
“that it shall no more be said, ‘The Lord
lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land of Egypt,’
:15 but, ‘The Lord lives who brought up the children
of Israel from the land of the north and from all the lands where He had driven
them.’ For I will bring them back into their land which I gave to their
fathers.
:15 from the land of the north
There would be a future time of restoration. It would set a new standard for the people.
It may be hard for us to grasp this, but up until this time, the people
could always point back at their deliverance from Egypt to know that God cared
for them.
Now, people would think about how God had brought them back from the
captivity in Babylon.
Their upcoming judgment would be the foundation for God doing a new work.
Lesson
A future work
Could God do a new work in you?
Would you be open to it?
We may focus on our failures and difficulties and wonder if God could ever
use us.
What if God wants to do a whole new work, building on a
broken person?
16:16-21 Certain judgment, Gentile believers
:16 “Behold, I will send
for many fishermen,” says the Lord,
“and they shall fish them; and afterward I will send for many hunters, and they
shall hunt them from every mountain and every hill, and out of the holes of the
rocks.
:17 For My eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden from My
face, nor is their iniquity hidden from My eyes.
:18 And first I will
repay double for their iniquity and their sin, because they have defiled My
land; they have filled My inheritance with the carcasses of their detestable
and abominable idols.”
:16 I will send for many fishermen
Jesus talked about making His disciples “fishers of men”.
God is not talking about it in this way.
The people are going to be “fished” or “hunted down” by the Babylonians in order to be killed, not saved.
:19 O Lord, my strength and my fortress, My refuge in the day of affliction, The Gentiles shall come
to You From the ends of the earth and say, “Surely our fathers have inherited
lies, Worthlessness and unprofitable things.”
:20 Will a man make gods
for himself, Which are not gods?
:21 “Therefore behold, I
will this once cause them to know, I will cause them to know My hand and My
might; And they shall know that My name is the Lord.
:21 they shall know that My name is the Lord
The LORD – Again, the English translators follow the Jewish
tradition of replacing the actual name of the Lord with the word “LORD”, out of
respect for the holy name of God. Our
English translations use all capital letters to clue us in to the fact that the
actual Hebrew is “Yahweh”. “They shall know that my name is “Yahweh”.
Gentiles would one day realize that their “gods” were stupid and worthless, and recognize Yahweh as God.
To the ancient Jewish mind, it was absolutely
inconceivable to think that there would ever be such a thing as a
Gentile (a non-Jew) in heaven.
The early church had difficulty accepting that Gentiles could be saved.
When Peter reluctantly preached to Cornelius the centurion (Acts 10), he
was surprised when the whole household was baptized in the Holy Spirit.
It’s not until Acts 15, when
Paul is brought before the church to explain his ministry with the Gentiles
that the church finally, officially realized that God wanted Gentiles to be
saved.
One of the things James said was,
(Acts 15:15 NLT) And this conversion of Gentiles is
exactly what the prophets predicted…
Jeremiah was one of those prophets.
Jeremiah 17
17:1-4 Judah’s sin recorded
:1 “The sin of Judah is
written with a pen of iron; With the point of a diamond
it is engraved On the tablet of their heart,
And on the horns of your altars,
:2 While their children
remember Their altars and their wooden images By the
green trees on the high hills.
wooden images – ‘asherah – “groves (for idol worship)”; a Babylonian
(Astarte)-Canaanite goddess of fertility, the supposed consort of Baal.
:3 O My mountain in the
field, I will give as plunder your wealth, all your treasures, And your
high places of sin within all your borders.
:4 And you, even
yourself, Shall let go of your heritage which I gave
you; And I will cause you to serve your enemies In the
land which you do not know; For you have kindled a fire in My anger which
shall burn forever.”
:1 The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron
The sin of the people was engraved in stone, written with indelible ink,
not only on their hearts but even in their places of
worship.
17:5-8 Blessings in trusting the Lord
:5 Thus says the Lord: “Cursed is the man who
trusts in man And makes flesh his strength, Whose heart departs from the Lord.
:5 makes flesh his strength
The person who is counting on
people to help him.
For the nation of Judah, this is
talking about their tendency to count on nations like Egypt to bail them out of
trouble with Babylon.
:6 For he shall be like a
shrub in the desert, And shall not see when good
comes, But shall inhabit the parched places in the
wilderness, In a salt land which is not
inhabited.
:7 “Blessed is the
man who trusts in the Lord, And whose hope is the Lord.
:8 For he shall be like a
tree planted by the waters, Which spreads out its
roots by the river, And will not fear when heat comes;
But its leaf will be green, And will not be anxious in
the year of drought, Nor will cease from yielding
fruit.
:7 Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord
Again, it seems that Jeremiah is quoting from Psalm 1.
(Psalm 1 NKJV) —1 Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in
the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; 2 But his
delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night. 3 He shall be
like a tree Planted by
the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its
season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper. 4 The ungodly are not so, But
are like the chaff which the wind drives away. 5 Therefore
the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, Nor sinners in the congregation of
the righteous. 6 For the Lord knows
the way of the righteous, But the way of the ungodly shall perish.
Lesson
Who do you trust?
Illustration
Blondin the tightrope walker.
Jean Francois Gravelet was born February 28, 1824 in Hesdin, France. Under
the guidance of P.T. Barnum (of Barnum & Bailey Circus), he became known as
the Great Blondin.
In 1859 (35 yrs. old) he announced that he would do the most amazing of all
feats, he would cross Niagara Falls on a tightrope 1,100 feet long, 160 feet
above the water.
On June 30, 1859 the rope was in position and at five o’clock in the afternoon Blondin
started the trip that was to make history. Incredulous watchers saw him lower a
rope to the Maid of the Mist, pull up a bottle and sit down while he refreshed
himself. He began his ascent toward the Canadian shore, paused, steadied the
balancing pole and suddenly executed a back somersault. The crowd ‘screamed’,
women ‘fainted’, those near the rope ‘cried’ and begged him to come in. When he
finally stepped off the rope, he was grabbed by a delirious mob of well wishers who whisked him away
to a champagne celebration.
He crossed the Falls several times, each time making it more
difficult. In all, he crossed the rope
on a bicycle, walking blindfolded, pushing a wheelbarrow, stopping to cook an
omelet in the center, and making the trip with his hands and feet manacled.
His most daring crossing came when he announced that he would carry a man
across on his back. It would be his
manager, Harry Colcord. According to Colcord, the trip was a nightmare. In the
un-guyed center section, the pair swayed violently. Blondin was fighting for
his life. He broke into a desperate run to reach the first guy rope. When he
reached it and steadied himself, the guy rope broke. Once more the pair swayed
alarmingly as Blondin again ran for the next guy rope.
When they reached it Blondin gasped for Colcord to get down. Six times in all
Colcord had to dismount while Blondin struggled to gather his strength. In the
end Blondin had to charge the crowd on the brink to prevent the press of people forcing them back in the precipice.
You don’t have to be a tightrope walker to get across the falls of life,
you just need to know someone who can carry you.
You just need to trust Jesus enough to get on His shoulders. He won’t even falter at the end. Let Him get
you across the falls of life.
17:9-11 The wicked heart
:9 “The heart is
deceitful above all things, And desperately
wicked; Who can know it?
:10 I, the Lord, search the heart, I test
the mind, Even to give every man according to his
ways, According to the fruit of his doings.
:9 The heart is
deceitful above all things
Lesson
Follow your heart?
I get kind of confused when it comes to the subject of the “heart”.
To be honest, I have a hard time telling the difference inside me of what
is in my “heart”, what is in my “mind” or what is in my “soul”. The Hebrew and Greek language use these terms
interchangeably.
For the sake of simplicity, let’s agree that the “heart” refers to the
stuff, the ideas that are inside of you.
Without Jesus our hearts are wicked.
They are deceitful.
When someone in the world says, “Just trust your heart”, it kind of creeps
me out. We need to be careful about
trusting our hearts.
Yet with Jesus we experience what is called the “New Covenant” or, “New
Testament”. This new deal between God
and man involves a heart transplant.
We’ll see Jeremiah deal with this in Jer. 31:33
(Jeremiah 31:33 NKJV) But this is the covenant that
I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds,
and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My
people.
Ezekiel also talks about it:
(Ezekiel 11:19 NKJV) Then I will give them one heart, and
I will put a new spirit within them, and take the stony heart out of their
flesh, and give them a heart of flesh,
God promises to give a new heart. We call this being “born again”.
Yet even as a Christian, I need to be careful when it comes to my
heart. The apostle Paul, as a Christian,
wrote,
(Romans 7:18–19
NLT) —18 And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful
nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t. 19 I want to do
what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it
anyway.
Now you may say, “Our heart is good, but our flesh is
evil”. And that’s where I get a little
confused. How can you tell
which “thought” rumbling around in your head is from
your “heart” and which is from your “flesh”?
As a Christian, we now have this predicament. We not only have been given a new and good
“heart”, but we still have our old sin nature still attached to us.
Where can I find help with figuring out my heart?
God’s Word
(Hebrews 4:12 NKJV) For the word of God is living
and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the
division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of
the thoughts and intents of the heart.
Prayer
(Psalm
139:23–24 NKJV) —23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; 24 And see if there is any
wicked way in me,
And lead me in the way everlasting.
Can I ever “follow my heart”?
Yes, but make sure you’ve run those thoughts through God’s filtering
process.
(Psalm 37:4 NKJV) Delight yourself also in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of
your heart.
:11 “As a
partridge that broods but does not hatch, So
is he who gets riches, but not by right; It will leave him in the midst of
his days, And at his end he will be a fool.”
Here’s an example of what a wicked heart can conjure up.
The idea here is of a bird that sits on eggs it didn’t lay, but hatches them. The baby bird won’t stay with the mother, but will fly away.
So a person who gets wealthy by doing bad things
will lose their wealth.
17:12-18 Help for Jeremiah’s troubles
:12 A glorious high
throne from the beginning Is the place of our sanctuary.
:13 O Lord, the hope of Israel, All who forsake You shall be ashamed. “Those who depart from
Me Shall be written in the earth, Because they have
forsaken the Lord, The fountain
of living waters.”
:14 Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; Save me,
and I shall be saved, For You are my praise.
:15 Indeed they say to
me, “Where is the word of the Lord?
Let it come now!”
The people wonder why Jeremiah’s predictions weren’t coming true right
away.
:16 As for me, I have not
hurried away from being a shepherd who follows You, Nor have I desired the woeful day; You know what came out of
my lips; It was right there before You.
:17 Do not be a terror to
me; You are my hope in the day of doom.
:18 Let them be ashamed who persecute me, But do
not let me be put to shame; Let them be dismayed, But
do not let me be dismayed. Bring on them the day of doom, And
destroy them with double destruction!
Jeremiah has remained a faithful shepherd over God’s people, and to speak
what is right.
He is crying to God for help from those who are plotting against him.
17:19-27 Message for Sabbath restoration
:19 Thus the Lord said to me: “Go and stand in the
gate of the children of the people, by which the kings of Judah come in and by
which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem;
Jeremiah was to go to each of the gates of Jerusalem where the people would
enter and exit the city, and give this message.
:20 and say to them,
‘Hear the word of the Lord, you
kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who enter
by these gates.
:21 Thus says the Lord: “Take heed to yourselves, and
bear no burden on the Sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem;
:22 nor carry a burden
out of your houses on the Sabbath day, nor do any work, but hallow the Sabbath
day, as I commanded your fathers.
:22 hallow the Sabbath day
The fifth commandment was to remember the Sabbath day. (Ex. 20:8-11)
The people were to work for six days, take the seventh off, and honor God
on that seventh day.
(Exodus 20:8–11
NKJV) —8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you
shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is the
Sabbath of the Lord your God. In
it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your
male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is
within your gates. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth,
the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord
blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.
Though we should all pay attention to the general principle of taking a day
to rest and honor God, the Sabbath was meant to be something special between
God and Israel.
(Exodus
31:13 NKJV) “Speak also to the children of Israel, saying:
‘Surely My Sabbaths you shall keep, for it is a sign between Me and you
throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you.
Yet we will see over and over that this is going
to be part of the coming judgment – Israel didn’t honor the Sabbath
and they didn’t show the world that they trusted in Yahweh.
:23 But they did not obey
nor incline their ear, but made their neck stiff, that they might not hear nor
receive instruction.
:24 “And it shall be, if
you heed Me carefully,” says the Lord,
“to bring no burden through the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, but
hallow the Sabbath day, to do no work in it,
:25 then shall enter the
gates of this city kings and princes sitting on the throne of David, riding in
chariots and on horses, they and their princes, accompanied by the men of Judah
and the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and this city shall remain forever.
:26 And they shall come
from the cities of Judah and from the places around Jerusalem, from the land of
Benjamin and from the lowland, from the mountains and from the South, bringing
burnt offerings and sacrifices, grain offerings and incense, bringing sacrifices
of praise to the house of the Lord.
:27 “But if you will not
heed Me to hallow the Sabbath day, such as not carrying a burden when entering
the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will kindle a fire in its
gates, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched.” ’ ”
:27 if you will not heed Me to hallow the Sabbath day
Lesson
Sabbath
There are a couple of principles at work in the Sabbath, no matter what day
you give to Him.
1.
Trusting God.
Instead of trusting in yourself and working harder and harder to make ends meet, trust God by giving Him
a day. Trust Him to provide for your
needs if you will honor Him one day a week.
2. Rest.
The Sabbath was to be a day of rest. If God took a day off and rested, perhaps we
ought to as well.
The need for balance
In Jeremiah’s day the people were flagrantly breaking the Sabbath. They worked just as hard on the Sabbath day
as every other day of the week.
In Jesus’ day the pendulum had swung so far the
other way that Jesus was criticized for healing people on the Sabbath.
These are not easy lessons to learn.
After the people eventually came back from Babylon, they still struggled
with the Sabbath.
You’ll see Nehemiah rebuke the people several times for
working on Saturdays.
(Nehemiah 13:15–18
NLT) —15 In those days I saw men of Judah treading out their winepresses on
the Sabbath. They were also bringing in grain, loading it on donkeys, and
bringing their wine, grapes, figs, and all sorts of produce to Jerusalem to
sell on the Sabbath. So I rebuked them for selling
their produce on that day. 16 Some men from Tyre,
who lived in Jerusalem, were bringing in fish and all kinds of merchandise.
They were selling it on the Sabbath to the people of Judah—and in Jerusalem at
that! 17 So I confronted the nobles of Judah. “Why are you profaning the
Sabbath in this evil way?” I asked. 18 “Wasn’t it
just this sort of thing that your ancestors did that caused our God to bring
all this trouble upon us and our city? Now you are bringing even more wrath
upon Israel by permitting the Sabbath to be desecrated in this way!”
Nehemiah knew that one of the reasons for the Babylonian
judgment was the neglect of the Sabbath Laws.
He didn’t want to see them go through it again.
Jeremiah 18
18:1-10 In the potter’s hands
This is Jeremiah’s ninth message.
This is another of those “visual” lessons.
God sends Jeremiah to watch a potter at work.
The whole point is to remind the people that God is the potter and they are
the clay.
If a pot is “marred”, the potter has every right to mold the clay into a
new vessel.
We’re just going to take something from verse 6 …
:1 The word which came to
Jeremiah from the Lord, saying:
:2 “Arise and go down to
the potter’s house, and there I will cause you to hear My words.”
:3 Then I went down to
the potter’s house, and there he was, making something at the wheel.
:4 And the vessel that he
made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter; so
he made it again into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to make.
:5 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
:6 “O house of Israel,
can I not do with you as this potter?” says the Lord. “Look, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are
you in My hand, O house of Israel!
:7 The instant I speak
concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, to pull down, and to
destroy it,
:8 if that nation against
whom I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I
thought to bring upon it.
relent – nacham – (Niphal) to
be sorry, be moved to pity, have compassion; to be sorry, rue, suffer grief,
repent
God has the right to change His mind about things. If a nation repents, God
has the right to be merciful.
:9 And the instant I
speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it,
:10 if it does evil in My
sight so that it does not obey My voice, then I will relent concerning the good
with which I said I would benefit it.
:6 can I not do with you as this potter?
Lesson
Sovereignty
(Key word!!)
We call this God’s “sovereignty”.
He is God and He has the right to do whatever He wants in our lives.
Paul talks about this in Romans 9 – a very difficult passage that simply
says that God has the right to do whatever He wants.
(Romans 9:18–24
NLT) —18 So you see, God chooses to show mercy to some, and he chooses to
harden the hearts of others so they refuse to listen. 19 Well then, you might say, “Why does God blame people for not
responding? Haven’t they simply done what he makes them do?” 20 No, don’t say that. Who are you, a mere human being, to argue with
God? Should the thing that was created say to the one who created it, “Why have
you made me like this?” 21 When a potter makes jars out of
clay, doesn’t he have a right to use the same lump of clay to make one jar for
decoration and another to throw garbage into? 22 In the same
way, even though God has the right to show his anger and his power, he is very
patient with those on whom his anger falls, who are destined for destruction. 23 He does this to make the riches of his glory shine even brighter on
those to whom he shows mercy, who were prepared in advance for glory. 24 And we are among those whom he selected, both from the Jews and
from the Gentiles.
Our problem comes when we as the clay want to argue with the potter.
Illustration
The Teacup
An American couple went to Europe, to England and they were celebrating
their 25th wedding anniversary. Both the man and the wife were
connoisseurs and fanciers of pottery, antiques and China. When they came to
Sussex they went into a Little China shop. Their eyes singled out a beautiful
little tea cup on the top shelf. The man said, “Can I
see that, that’s the most beautiful tea cup I’ve ever
seen.” And as he was holding the tea cup the tea cup begins to speak.
It said, “You don’t understand, I haven’t always been a tea
cup. There was a time when I was red and that I
was clay. My master took me and he rolled me and he patted me over and over and over. I yelled out “Let me alone” but he
only smiled and said, “Not yet”. And then I was placed on a spinning wheel,
suddenly I was spun around and around and around.
“Stop it I’m getting dizzy,” I said. The master only nodded and said “Not yet” Then he put me in an oven, I’d never felt
such heat. I wondered why he wanted to burn me and I
yelled and I knocked on the door and I could see him
through the opening and I could read his lips. As he nodded his head he said “not yet.” Finally the door
did open “whew”, and he put me on a shelf and I began to cool. “That’s better”
I said. And then suddenly he grabbed me and he brushed me and he began to paint
me all over. I thought I would suffocate, I thought I would gag, the fumes were
horrible. And he just smiled and said, “Not yet”. And then suddenly he put me
back into an oven, not the first one but one twice as hot, and I knew that I
was going to suffocate. And I begged and I screamed and I yelled, and all the
time I could see him through the opening, smiling and nodding his head, “not yet, not yet. And then I knew that there was no hope, I knew
that I wouldn’t make it. I was just ready to give up when the door opened and he took me out and he put me on a shelf .Then an hour later he came back and he handed me a
mirror and he said “Look at yourself”. And I did. And
I said, “That can’t be me, I’m beautiful!” “I want you to remember,” he then
said, “I know that it hurt to be rolled and to be patted but if I would have
left you, you would have dried out. And I know that it made you dizzy to spin
you around and around on a spinning wheel but if I had
stopped you would have crumbled. And I know that it hurt and it was hot and
disagreeable in the oven but if I hadn’t put you there you would have cracked.
And I know that the fumes were oh so bad when I brushed you and when I painted
you all over, but you see, if I hadn’t done that you wouldn’t have hardened and
there would have been no color in your life. And if I hadn’t put you in that
second oven you wouldn’t have survived for very long. The hardness would not
have held. But now you are a finished product. You are what I had in mind when
I first began with you.”
He is the potter. We are the clay. Be careful
about fighting what He wants to do in your life. It goes easier if you just
yield to Him.
Sometimes we see difficult times coming and we want to run away.
But what if those difficult times are the very thing that God is using to
mold us and shape us?
(Romans 5:3–5 NLT)
—3 We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we
know that they help us develop endurance. 4 And
endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our
confident hope of salvation. 5 And this hope will not lead to
disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us
the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.
What do you consider the key events in your life that have molded you the
most and made you the person you are today?
For most of us, we would probably look back at how God worked in difficult
times. It was then that God either worked to get our attention, or He taught us
how to trust Him and serve Him.
18:11-17 Judah is rebellious
Summary: God once again warns Judah to turn from their
wicked ways, but the people reply, “We will do what we want to do”.
God warns that He will scatter
the nation in judgment.
:11 “Now therefore, speak
to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, ‘Thus says the
Lord: “Behold, I am fashioning a
disaster and devising a plan against you. Return now every one from his evil way, and
make your ways and your doings good.” ’ ”
:12 And they said, “That
is hopeless! So we will walk according to our own
plans, and we will every one obey the dictates of his
evil heart.”
When God warns the nation about the coming judgment, their response is that
it’s useless to try and turn. There’s no hope. They just can’t change.
Yet God would not ask us to turn from our sins if it were not possible.
You CAN teach an old dog new tricks.
:13 Therefore thus says
the Lord: “Ask now among the
Gentiles, Who has heard such things? The virgin of
Israel has done a very horrible thing.
:14 Will a man
leave the snow water of Lebanon, Which comes
from the rock of the field? Will the cold flowing waters be forsaken for
strange waters?
:15 “Because My people
have forgotten Me, They have burned incense to
worthless idols. And they have caused themselves to stumble in their ways, From
the ancient paths, To walk in pathways and not on a
highway,
:16 To make their land
desolate and a perpetual hissing; Everyone who passes by it will be
astonished And shake his head.
:17 I will scatter them
as with an east wind before the enemy; I will show them the back and not the
face In the day of their calamity.”
18:18-23 More plots against Jeremiah
This last section of Jeremiah 18
is about Jeremiah once again facing people who want to shut him up and kill
him.
We’ve seen Jeremiah weep for the
nation.
Here we see Jeremiah asking God
to wipe them out.
:18 Then they said, “Come
and let us devise plans against Jeremiah; for the law shall not perish from the
priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come and let
us attack him with the tongue, and let us not give
heed to any of his words.”
:19 Give heed to me, O Lord, And
listen to the voice of those who contend with me!
:20 Shall evil be repaid
for good? For they have dug a pit for my life.
Remember that I stood before You To speak good for them, To
turn away Your wrath from them.
People have different ideas of what is “good” for them.
In reality, though Jeremiah’s messages have been
tough on the people, they are the very thing they need
to hear. His messages HAVE been “good” for them.
Yet for the people, they just want to be told how good and nice they are.
They don’t want to hear difficult things.
:21 Therefore deliver up
their children to the famine, And pour out their blood
By the force of the sword; Let their wives become
widows And bereaved of their children. Let their men
be put to death, Their young men be slain By the sword in battle.
:22 Let a cry be heard
from their houses, When You bring a troop suddenly upon them; For they have dug
a pit to take me, And hidden snares for my feet.
:23 Yet, Lord, You know
all their counsel Which is against me, to slay me. Provide no atonement
for their iniquity, Nor blot out their sin from Your
sight; But let them be overthrown before You. Deal thus with them In the time of Your anger.
:18 Come and let us devise plans against Jeremiah
Lesson
Difficulties in serving God
Ministry can be a “love/hate” kind of thing. We know that we’re supposed to
be loving and kind to one another, but frankly sometimes people can be quite
mean and hurtful.
Illustration
After a community worship service, a farmer invited the local pastor,
reverend, and priest back to the farm for dinner. At the meal, each of the
three clergy was served a whole young chicken. As the three returned to their
cars, a rooster was seen strutting about, chest puffed out and held high. “He
sure seems full of himself,” commented the pastor. “He has good cause to be
proud,” answered the farmer. “He just had three of his children go into the
ministry.”
Sometimes serving the Lord is a lot like being eaten for dinner.
Among pastors and those trying to serve the Lord, we often joke that
“Ministry would be a great thing if it weren’t for the people”.
Yet serving the Lord is ALL ABOUT people.
When you look back at Pastor Chuck and the impact he had on people, you can
kind of get the idea he must just waved a magic wand and great things were
done. But think about some of the people Chuck had an impact on and how they’ve
impacted others:
Mike MacIntosh – he was so messed up on drugs that he was
convinced that half of his brain had been blown away by a gun.
Greg Laurie – a young kid from a very messed up family.
His mom had been married and divorced five times.
Raul Ries – a very angry man, a Viet Nam vet, and a
killer.
Steve Mays – a homeless drug addict living in the gutter.
Jeff Johnson – a drug dealer
Though these fellows experienced a new life in Jesus Christ and were
changed dramatically by Jesus, there was also a process of lifelong change
helped along in part by someone being patient and loving toward them. All these
guys tell stories of how they would call Chuck for advice and the patience and
grace that Chuck showed them.
And yet even Chuck has had people turn on him. Over the years there have
been all sorts of people who have split off of Calvary
Chapel. Some are quite antagonistic.
There are always the crazies standing out in the parking
lot holding signs, “Calvary Chapel is Satan’s church”.
Do you quit when you face opposition or disappointment?
No. You keep going.
Homework
Read Jer. 14-25 in NKJV (each week a different version).
Memorize
(Jeremiah
9:24 NKJV) But let him who glories glory in this, That he
understands and knows Me, That I am the Lord,
exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these
I delight,” says the Lord.
Today’s ending quiz
What were the two key words from our lesson? (…)
What could you apply to your life from today’s lesson?