Jeremiah 6-8
Notes
Transcript
Jeremiah 6-8
Jeremiah 6-8
Good evening church! I know we have taken a long break in our study of the Book of Jeremiah. So by way of quick reminder, Jeremiah was known as the weeping prophet, as his heart was broken for the Lord’s people. It was his calling and his passion to prophecy to them, to call and urge them to repent, but he had a much harder mission field than we do here in Maine. His ministry produced accountability, but not fruit.
Remember he was called to prophecy to the final kings of the southern part of the nation of Isreal, specifically Judah. When you study his story there is one glimmer of hope in there for revival, at least affecting the life of King Josiah, but there was no lasting fruit in the nation.
His ministry was to a dying nation, to a stiff necked, rebellious, and adulterous people. What a heavy and hard ministry, it could have imbittered him, but rather and rightly so, it broke his heart. He begins his address to Benjamin. Remember this southern region was made up of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, Benjamin being the smaller of the two and at one point was nearly wiped out completely.
1 “Flee for safety, O sons of Benjamin, From the midst of Jerusalem! Now blow a trumpet in Tekoa And raise a signal over Beth-haccerem, For evil looks down from the north, As well as great destruction.
2 “The comely and delicate one, the daughter of Zion, I will ruin.
3 “Shepherds and their flocks will come to her; They will pitch their tents around her; They will pasture each in his place.
So there is an enemy coming from the North, so if you are still there, get out of there and flee. You won’t be able to defend yourself and this evil is coming from the North, remember Northern Isreal had already been overtaken a couple of years before this and this evil was coming from the North now towards them, as well as great destruction.
Us living in the U.S. don’t have a proper appreciation for this. We have never experienced war like this, apart from civil war. When the enemy, far more powerful and fierce, is at the gate and the terror that is brought by that.
4 “Set yourselves apart for war against her; Arise, and let us go up at noon. Woe to us, for the day declines, For the shadows of the evening stretch out!
He is talking about the signs of the times. I had the opportunity to go for a hike with Nicole on Monday. And when we summit-ed the mountain I was looking out over the trees below, and of course you could see all of the evergreens, and amongst the green ever greens what else is there in Maine during mud season, a whole lot of brown right. Hard woods and soft wood without leaves and the foliage of last year laying on the forest floor and you look out and just see brown, except it is spring in Maine.
So as you look out at the tips of those branches and the top of those trees, you see a sea of red. Right? The little buds, the curled leaves waiting to come out. The days are getting longer, the density of the sun is hotter and more direct, those are the signs of the times that it is a different season.
Here the prophet says woe to us, there are signs and the signs of these times is that things are bad, judgement is coming upon us.
5 “Arise, and let us go up by night And destroy her palaces!”
6 For thus says Yahweh of hosts, “Cut down her trees And cast up a siege against Jerusalem. This is the city to be punished, In whose midst there is only oppression.
7 “Like a well keeps its waters fresh, So she keeps fresh her evil. Violence and devastation are heard in her; Sickness and wounds are continually before Me.
What a sad description of Jerusalem and where there sin has taken them. But then look what we have in verse 8...
8 “Heed discipline, O Jerusalem, Lest My soul become disgusted at you, Lest I make you a desolation, A land not inhabited.”
Do you see that. This is happening, the evil enemy is at the door to destroy you because you have invited them in your sin…God is warning of the destruction and judgement that is coming, and even in the midst of that, He says wake up! Heed discipline, repent O Jerusalem, turn from your wicked ways…now, I don’t know about but it is easy to read through this history of the nation of Isreal and say ourselves why don’t you listen? OK God, that’s enough, let them have it they had it coming. More on that in a little bit. Verse 9.
9 Thus says Yahweh of hosts, “They will thoroughly glean as the vine the remnant of Israel; Pass your hand again like a grape gatherer Over the branches.”
SO, God says they are going to be shaken or the clusters will be gathered and then go in again to make sure they are stripped completely. Verse 10
10 To whom shall I speak and give warning That they may hear? Behold, their ears are uncircumcised, And they cannot give heed. Behold, the word of Yahweh has become a reproach to them; They have no delight in it.
Warning after warning after warning and who is listening. God says whom shall I warn? I love the language here, their ears are uncircumcised! See the Jew, God’s chosen people were a circumcised people, and the people around them, the pagan nations were not. SO they have pagan ears that will not hear. Their ears must be covered with a hood. Not in a literal sense, but the Word of God has become a reproach to them, they wont hear it.
So, it’s not a physical deafness, but when God speaks, they don’t like it. God speaks and they say, nope. Don’t care, not going to do it. I don’t believe that, or that’s not how I feel about that, or that’s not the way I would do that, it’s not what delights me, or pleases me, so. Nope.
Since we are here, this is a great point of application for us. Do you delight in the Word of God? Does it bring you joy, does it give you pleasure? I love the Word of the Lord. It is the best thing in my life when God speaks to me. When He shows me something in His Word. Even when it is correction. Because God is speaking, it’s awesome! That He would speak to me!
But when it is a reproach, why would you want it if you didn’t love God?
11 But I am full of the wrath of Yahweh; I am weary of holding it in. “Pour it out on the infants in the street And on the gathering of choice men together; For both husband and wife shall be captured, The aged with the one full of days.
12 “Their houses shall be turned over to others, Their fields and their wives together, For I will stretch out My hand Against the inhabitants of the land,” declares Yahweh.
Everyone, will feel and experience this wrath if they refuse to hear and fail to repent. The women, the children, the men and the land. The Lord has declared His wrath is coming and it is going to be inclusive of all. The Babylonians will not discriminate, nor give favor to anyone, it will be poured out on all. Here’s why…verse 13
13 “For from the least of them even to the greatest of them, Everyone is greedy for gain, And from the prophet even to the priest Everyone practices lying.
Covetous...
Verse 14 sounds like some of the biggest churches in America today...
14 “They have healed the brokenness of My people superficially, Saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ But there is no peace.
It’s OK, it’s not OK, God understands…God is holy, He has warned, He has begged you to repent, but He is just. This is the word of faith church today, it is all the churches today that fail to warn of judgement and sin. Rather than comfort superficially, these prophets and priests should not have lied and said it was OK, their false assurances lead to the destruction of themselves and the people.
15 “Were they ashamed because of the abomination they have done? They were not even ashamed at all; They did not even know how to feel dishonor. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; At the time that I punish them, They shall be cast down,” says Yahweh.
NKJV says blush…verse 16 an encouragement...
16 Thus says Yahweh, “Stand by the ways and see and ask for the ancient paths, Where the good way is, and walk in it; And you will find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’
Jeremiah is saying look for the old stuff, kinda your first love....this sounds like Jesus, are you weary? DO you need rest? "28 "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest." - Matthew 11:28 LSB
But they said, no thanks, we will not walk in it.
17 “And I set watchmen over you, saying, ‘Give heed to the sound of the trumpet!’ But they said, ‘We will not give heed.’
Can you image this gang. God is telling them to do something and their response is, nah, we won’t. Now we can shake out heads at that or even snicker at the stupidity, but is that something that we do? Are we resistant or stiff necked, or slow when God tells us to do something? Maybe not if it’s something we want to do, but what about when it isn’t your plan? Or what about when God changes the plan? I don’t mean God changes He is immutable meaning one of His characteristics is that He never changes.
But what about when we have a plan, or we have expectations on how something is going to be, or the way something should go, and God says, well that’s not My plan, I want you to do this, go in that direction? Do we say, naght on…I won’t give heed to that?
At the sound of the trumpet or the bugle do we say, not my timing Lord, not my way, this is where we part ways…so they continue not to listen, or at least not to hear, verse 18
18 “Therefore hear, O nations, And know, O congregation, what is among them.
19 “Hear, O earth: behold, I am bringing evil on this people, The fruit of their plans, Because they have not given heed to My words, And as for My law, they have rejected it also.
This is interesting, back in verse 10 He says, to whom shall I speak because My people won’t listen, so He speaks to the Nations, the whole congregation, He says OK Creation, you be My witness, hear o Earth.
20 “For what purpose does frankincense come to Me from Sheba And the sweet cane from a distant land? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable, And your sacrifices are not pleasing to Me.”
Sacrifice apart from obedience has zero value. We talked about this some on Sunday in reference to the Gnostics. How they thought they could do whatever they wanted in the flesh and it wouldn’t effect the spirit.
21 Therefore, thus says Yahweh, “Behold, I am laying stumbling blocks before this people. And they will stumble against them, Fathers and sons together; Neighbor and friend will perish.”
22 Thus says Yahweh, “Behold, a people is coming from the land of the north, And a great nation will be aroused from the remote parts of the earth.
23 “They take hold of bow and spear; They are cruel and have no compassion; Their voice roars like the sea, And they ride on horses, Arranged as a man for the battle Against you, O daughter of Zion!”
Here is the response to it.
24 We have heard the report of it; Our hands are limp. Distress has taken hold of us, Pain as of a woman in childbirth.
25 Do not go out into the field And do not walk on the road, For the enemy has a sword; Terror is on every side.
26 O daughter of my people, gird yourself with sackcloth And roll in ashes; Mourn as for an only son, A lamentation most bitter. For suddenly the destroyer Will come upon us.
The exhortation here is that you should be mourning your sin, not saying peace, Peace when there is no peace. Sadly, this often describes the backslider, they are unwilling to hear until the destruction has come upon them.
27 “I have made you a tester of metals and an assayer among My people, That you may know and test their way.”
28 All of them are rebelliously stubborn, Going about as a slanderer. They are bronze and iron; They, all of them, are corrupt.
29 The bellows blow fiercely; The lead is consumed by the fire; In vain the refining goes on, But the evil ones are not separated.
30 They call them rejected silver Because Yahweh has rejected them.
They are all dross. Chapter 7
1 The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying,
2 “Stand in the gate of the house of Yahweh, and you shall call out there this word, and you shall say, ‘Hear the word of Yahweh, all you of Judah, who enter by these gates to worship Yahweh!’”
He is preaching at the gate to the Temple…one of the things you need to understand is that attendance wasn’t down in their rebellion, the house of worship was packed. Here’s the message, again...
3 Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, “Make your ways and your deeds good, and I will let you dwell in this place.
This is the whole basis of the law of Moses, the old covenant with the people of Israel, the whole thing is based on “If, then.” If you do this, then I God will do this.
New covenant is simple, instead of if/then, it since. Since Jesus did this…you can have that
So God says again, it’s not too late, repent, not just in words, but change If you obey Me and make your ways and your deeds good, Then I will let you dwell in this place. NKJV says, I will cause you to dwell in this place.
4 “Do not trust in lying words, saying, ‘This is the temple of Yahweh, the temple of Yahweh, the temple of Yahweh.’
Don’t place your trust in your religious observance. Or in a building?
5 “For if you truly make your ways and your deeds good, if you truly do justice between a man and his neighbor,
6 if you do not oppress the sojourner, the orphan, or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place, nor walk after other gods to your own evil demise,
That is the foreigner, the stranger, don’t take advantage of them…this is America today. This actually happens in our country and outside our country. Americans travel to exploit strangers in other lands. Abortion. They are placing their faith in themselves or in a building, or in their past, and God says don’t do that, I’m going to destroy you. But if you do repent, verse 7
7 then I will let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers forever and ever.
8 “Behold, you are trusting in lying words to no avail.
9 “Will you steal, murder, and commit adultery and swear while lying, and burn incense to Baal and walk after other gods that you have not known,
10 then come and stand before Me in this house, which is called by My name, and say, ‘We are delivered!’—that you may do all these abominations?
11 “Has this house, which is called by My name, become a robbers’ den in your sight? Behold, I, even I, have seen it,” declares Yahweh.
Jesus quoted this when He said My house shall be a house of prayer, not a den of thieves. What is a robber’s den? It’s a hideout. The place the bad guys go. And now the heavy warning.
12 “But go now to My place which was in Shiloh, where I made My name dwell at the first, and see what I did to it because of the evil of My people Israel.
13 “And now, because you have done all these works,” declares Yahweh, “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 the place which I gave you and your fathers, as I did to Shiloh.
What happened to Shiloh, What happened to Jerusalem? What will happen to the U.S. if it doesn’t repent? The largest church in America is one that doesn’t talk about judgement or sin, they say peace, peace, when there is no peace.
15 “I will cast you out of My presence, as I have cast out all your brothers, all the seed of Ephraim.
16 “As for you, do not pray for this people and do not lift up a cry of lamentation or prayer for them and do not intercede with Me, for I am not hearing you.
17 “Are you not seeing what they are doing in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?
18 “The children gather wood, and the fathers make the fire burn, and the women knead dough to make cakes for the queen of heaven; and they pour out drink offerings to other gods in order to provoke Me.
19 “Do they provoke Me?” declares Yahweh. “Is it not themselves they provoke to the shame of their own face?”
Not only did their sin provoke the Lord, but it brought shame to them.
20 Therefore thus says Lord Yahweh, “Behold, My anger and My wrath will be poured out on this place, on man and on beast and on the trees of the field and on the fruit of the ground; and it will burn and not be quenched.”
21 Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, “Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices and eat flesh.
When a burnt offering was given to the Lord, the flesh was to be burned entirely. But God is saying, you guys aren’t doing this for me, so you might as well eat the meat. It’s like fasting for the wrong reasons, or for simply a religious practice, rather than to deny the flesh and seek the Lord. You might as well just eat fast, rather than fast in an attempt to manipulate God, it is of no value.
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 and sacrifices.
23 “But this is what I commanded them, saying, ‘Listen to My voice, and I will be your God, and you will be My people; and you will walk in the entire way which I command you, that it may be well with you.’
24 “Yet they did not listen or incline their ear, but walked in their own counsels and in the stubbornness of their evil heart 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 sent you all My slaves the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them.
26 “Yet they did not listen to Me or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck; they did more evil than their fathers.
The Lord is saying that when He gave them the law, when He laid out the 10 commandments on Mt. Sinai, there was nothing in there about the priesthood, or even about sacrifices all of that came later. First and primary, He required obedience. And that remains our highest form of worship.
27 “You shall speak all these words to them, but they will not listen to you; and you shall call to them, but they will not answer you.
28 “You shall say to them, ‘This is the nation that did not listen to the voice of Yahweh their God or receive discipline; truth has perished and has been cut off from their mouth.
29 ‘Cut off your hair and cast it away, And lift up a funeral lamentation on the bare heights; For Yahweh has rejected and abandoned The generation of His wrath.’
30 “For the sons of Judah have done that which is evil in My sight,” declares Yahweh, “they have set their detestable things in the house, which is called by My name, to defile it.
31 “They have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I did not command, and it did not come upon My heart.
32 “Therefore, behold, days are coming,” declares Yahweh, “when it will no longer be called Topheth or the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of the Slaughter; for they will bury in Topheth because there is no other place.
33 “The dead bodies of this people will be food for the birds of the sky and for the beasts of the earth; and no one will frighten them away.
34 “Then I will make to cease from the cities of Judah and from the streets of Jerusalem the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, for the land will become a waste place.