The Burden of the Lord
The Book of Jeremiah • Sermon • Submitted
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· 57 viewsGod declares to Jeremiah that those who mock him are no longer to be responded to, and that they would face judgment, destruction, and be forgotten by God.
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Introduction
Often, through the years, I’ve heard the statement, I got a word from God. I got a vision from God. I know that God wants us to do this. I’ve seen people use the phrase, God has told me thus and thus, so if you are arguing with me, you are arguing with God. Let us take reservation in stating that. Let us be cautious in stating that a word is from God when it is not straight from the Bible. For some have erred in stating a Word is from God, when it really wasn’t from God but from their heart. The word, while on the surface may seem sincere, it truly, in the end, was out of insincerity.
What we find before us, within our text, is God’s pronouncement against those that claim to have a word from Him that was not from Him. In the end, their mocking of God’s word, a burden from the Lord, truly became their personal burden from the Lord.
Focus Passage
33 And when this people, or the prophet, or a priest, shall ask thee, saying, What is the burden of the Lord? thou shalt then say unto them, What burden? I will even forsake you, saith the Lord. 34 And as for the prophet, and the priest, and the people, that shall say, The burden of the Lord, I will even punish that man and his house. 35 Thus shall ye say [every one] to his neighbor, and [every one] to his brother, What hath the Lord answered? and, What hath the Lord spoken? 36 And the burden of the Lord shall ye mention no more: for [every man’s] word shall be his burden; for ye have perverted the words of the living God, of the Lord of hosts our God. 37 Thus shalt thou say to the prophet, What hath the Lord answered thee? and, What hath the Lord spoken? 38 But since ye say, The burden of the Lord; therefore thus saith the Lord; Because ye say this word, The burden of the Lord, and I have sent unto you, saying, Ye shall not say, The burden of the Lord; 39 Therefore, behold, I, even I, will [utterly forget] you, and I will forsake you, and the city that I gave you and your fathers, and cast you [out of] my presence: 40 And I will bring an everlasting reproach upon you, and a perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.
Outline
Mocking the warnings of God (v.33)
Within (v.33) God addresses those that had been mocking Jeremiah. We find it reads within the King James Version Bible, What is the burden of the Lord? Within the New American Standard Bible, you find (v.33) translated as, What is the pronouncement of the Lord? The NASB gives a little clearer understanding of the text and situation at hand.
The people were mocking the warnings of God - ‘…when this people, or prophet, or a priest, shall ask thee, saying what is the burden of the Lord...’
God commands Jeremiah to stop responding to the people - ‘…thou shalt then say unto them, What burden...’
If we are not sincere, God will not respond. He is not going to invest in an insincere people or effort. Let this be a warning to us in prayer, in service, in missions, etc. All that we do must be with sincerity. The people, the prophets, the priests, did not care what God stated. They looked at it as a burden, something that was required to be carried by them.
How many of us are looking at the word of God, the warnings of God, as burdens.
How many of us are ignoring God and not taking the word seriously no matter how many times God calls out to us with great love and care. As God tells Jeremiah to stop responding to insincere questions and response, Jesus told his disciples the same thing. We have the same calling before us.
6 Give not [that which is holy] unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and [turn again] and rend you.
Let us not look at them as burdens. Let us look at the word of God as a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. As the Psalmist writes...
105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
God declares that I will cast you off because of your mocking - ‘…I will even forsake you...’
There comes a point, in response to our insincerity, just as he did with the false prophets, where he will cast us off like dirty clothes. He will toss us to the side and no longer deal with us.
Let us respond with sincerity before we are cast off and no longer dealt with by God.
Our words will become our judgment (vv.34-36)
God will bring a charge against those who claim a word from God when God did not bring a word (v.34)
God tells Jeremiah, I will charge those who claim a word from me, that shall say, The burden of the Lord, I will even punish that man and his house.
Why would he punish them? Because those words were not from God and thus were not sincere. Their prideful, self-centered, self-invented words of insincerity were from the same insincere heart their mocking came from.
God declares I will charge them with this lie and deceit, I will even punish that man and his house.
God, in turn, will mock those that mocked Him and His word (v.35)
God’s reaction to the mocking of His word (v.36)
God will no longer deal with His people
God will charge the people with guilt by the evidence of their very word
One truth that we must all come to grips with is that God will judge each of us by every word that comes from our mouth.
36 But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.
Why is God just in His judgment of us by the words that come out of our mouth? Because those words coming out of our mouths express what is the condition of our heart.
18 But [those things which proceed] [out of] the mouth [come forth] from the heart; [and they] defile the man.
Just as the false teachers, priests, and prophets revealed their heart and insincerity toward their relationship with God, our words, that proceeds out of our mouth, reveal our sincerity or insincerity toward God and our relationship with Him through word and prayer and deed.
Perpetual shame (vv.37-40)
God, once again, tells Jeremiah to respond to the false prophets as they have responded toward Him (God), Thus shalt thou say to the prophet, What hath the Lord answered thee? and, What hath the Lord spoken? I point out the response toward God and not Jeremiah, because when people mock the truth of God presented by us, it is not us they mock. It is God and His truth they mock. It is not us that they reject, but rather it is God’s truth they reject. Ultimately, they do not reject us but rather reject God.
God addresses those that claiming to have a word without a true word - ‘…But since ye say, The burden of the LORD; therefore thus saith the LORD; Because ye say this word. The burden of the LORD, and I have sent unto you, saying, Ye shall not say, The burden of the LORD...’
God declares to those that claim to have word but do not that He will forget them and cast them off - ‘...Therefore, behold I, even I, will utterly forget you, and I will forsake you, and the city that I gave you and your fathers and cast you out of my presence...’
God’s judgement on those that claim to have a word but do not have a word will be judged with a shame that will not be forgotten - ‘…I will bring an everlasting reproach…perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten...’
Conclusion
Let us take heed to God’s warning. Let us be reminded that God will judge us by our very own words that condemn us. Let us all come to the true realization that everyone of us will give an account for all that we’ve said, especially those things we claim was word from when in reality it wasn’t from God but from us. Let us be cautious in what we say. For everyone will give account of our words. Let us know that God will not be mocked.