August 7th

Jeremiah 11 – 15
God, our Father, CARES, KNOWS AND STRENGTHENS
Earlier in Jeremiah Using frightening imagery of thundering chariots and clanging swords, Jeremiah cries out to an unhearing, unconcerned people to announce God’s soon – coming judgment upon them for their idolatry. Judah has gone too far for pardon 5:7 and its rebellious, unrepentant attitude has earned punishment so grave and terrible that the prophet’s heart breaks as he proclaims it. 4:19
Sins begin like cobwebs but become iron clamps! Radical problems often necessitate radical solutions. To extinguish an oil well fire, dynamite is sometimes used. The stupendous power of the explosion is the only way to “blow out” the raging inferno. In medicine, the seemingly radical amputation of a limb preserves life by stopping the progress of cancer or gangrene. Many old buildings are best “renovated” by tearing them down, clearing the rubble and building anew.
Judah’s apostasy had destroyed the nation’s spiritual vitality. Like a spreading cancer it resisted half-hearted attempts at treatment. Clearly something more radical was needed—something that would purge the nation of its idolatry and immorality.
Before God can build into your life, there may be things he needs to blast outand remove: bad habits, selfish attitudes, walls of indifference, closets of secret sin. Have possessions in your life become the focus of your affection? Are people in your life tearing you down rather than building you us? Do pursuits in your life oppose rather than promote the kingdom of God? It would be wise to pick one of the areas of need and with the Lord’s grace, deal with them now…before the CURE becomes more painful than the disease.
“Now hear this” over the speaker means listen up…did you hear me!” The fact that Babylon was destined to become God’s avalanche of judgment upon wicked Judah is repeated in Jeremiah’s prophecy 164 times!!!
Visual aids are so helpful and the Lord gave Jeremiah a visual to use…a new loincloth (a wide linen sash used as a man’s belt and wallet) – he was instructed to bury it in the moist muddy bank of the Euphrates River. Later, when told to dig it up again, Jeremiah found the belt in a predictable condition…rotten and useless. The object less: God’s chosen people, once bound close to Him and for generations filled with His riches, have become as useless as a rotten linen girdle because of their involvement with sinful excess.
“The reason some people don’t recognize opportunity is because it usually comes disguised as hard work!” OBEY most often has with it Doing something consciously.
Jeremiah’s “hiding” of the linen cloth spoiled its usefulness. In much the same way, you may be “hiding” yourself and like Judah are in danger of becoming spoiled and useless. Muscles that are never used soon atrophy and weaken; the same is true for spiritual muscles. The only known cure is exercise and plenty of it.
COME OUT OF HIDING and get some exercise in the work of the Lord. Use tracts that you can pick up at the church, use your stored knowledge of Him, be dependent upon Him as you speak and seize the moment to tell your world about God’s Good news!
Think back over this week and try to estimate how many people you spoke with … family members, fellow employees, classmates, friends, neighbors, service people, …etc. How many were not Christians ? That represents the number of opportunities that you had to offer a glimmer of hope, encouragement and a word of witness to a lost world.
Are you looking for results and rewards? Jeremiah’s reward was the scorn of his hearers and a plot against his life – in his own home town.
Let’s take a quick stroll through ch.11-15 and hit a few highlights as we walk through.
(Chp.11) The Lord spoke … “remind them of my contract when they came out of Egypt…IF they would obey…here is what I will do!” (v.7) “I have said it over and over and over …OBEY MY EVERY COMMAND!...BUT THEY DID NOT!”
(V.15) “Can promises and sacrifices now avert your doom and give you life and joy again?
The history of the Jews is the record of covenants: God made them and the people broke them. Jeremiah was walking alone (we always want company) in telling the people of their sins and the coming judgment of the Babylonian armies. King Josiah led a reformation …the people obeyed the Law only outwardly; in their hearts they still held on to their idols. Jeremiah knew that the people would return to their sins at the 1st opportunity. He recorded their sins and pled for them to return to the Lord while there was yet time. These were a people who made it a matter of going along with the crowd and doing what was popular…sound familiar?
Jeremiah reminded them of both the blessings and the curses written in the covenant. But the people weren’t interested in doing the will of the Lord. God gave His people the covenant so He might bless them and keep the good promises He made to them, but His people preferred to trust the gods of their pagan neighbors. God keeps His promises: whether to bless or to spank…privileges – the greater responsibilities.
J. Wallace Hamilton: “Our modern age is a pushover for the shallow and the shortcut. We want to change everything except the human heart.”
Jeremiah lived out another quote, “Preaching that costs nothing accomplishes nothing!” He paid a great price! He was pained by the people’s sins, the unpopular messages and perplexed by what the Lord was allowing him to suffer. He was bold before men but broken before God and yet it was his brokenness that gave him his strength. Are YOU broken before the Lord?
The people faced four possible judgments that Jeremiah speaks of: death from disease, war, starvation, or if they survived these calamities, exile in Babylon. The bodies of those slain by the Babylonian army would be desecrated and eaten by dogs, birds, or wild beasts; none would have a decent burial. It wasn’t a bright future that God revealed to His people, but it was a future they themselves had chosen by refusing to repent of their sins. You take what you want from life and you pay for it.
Is this a ? that we often ask: 13:32 “Why is all this happening to me? It is because of the grossness of your sins…!” [“If My people shall……”]
PROPHETS OR PUPPETS? 14:14 “Then the Lord said, The prophets are telling lies in my name. I didn’t send them or tell them to speak or give them any message. They prophesy of visions and revelations they have never seen nor heard; they speak foolishness concocted out of their own lying hearts. Therefore, the Lord says, I will punish these lying prophets who have spoken in My name tho I did not send them…” WE MUST ATTEND a CHURCH that HAS A PROPHET/PREACHER SPEAKING, PROPHET/TEACHERS IN OUR CLASSES OF INSTRUCTIONS (Bible classes or S.S. classes), PROPHET/AUTHORS WHO WRITE THE BOOKS WE READ, PROPHET/SPEAKERS WHO TEACH AND PREACH ON TELEVISION, AND ON AND ON…PROPHETS WHO WILL SPEAK WHAT THE LORD HAS SAID! And not from their creative, motivational FLESH hearts! We must guard what we listen to!!!!
14:20 “O Lord, we confess our wickedness, and that of our fathers, too.” Justifying the mis-deeds and sins of our fathers leads to present day disaster! Ask the Lord to shine His light not only into our hearts for personal sin but where our personal sin includes justifying sins in others…before us or presently present.
15:4 “Because of the wicked things of Manasseh…” Manasseh ruled wickedly. Another Manasseh who was a cruel, evil, wicked king…late in life he had a change of heart and attempted to change the direction of his people but to no avail. “the point of no return” (plane flying and can’t turn around because of the lack of fuel!) God was not punishing the nation for the sins Manasseh committed but because the nation imitated Manasseh in their sinning. JUST AS those who come after us imitate us in the “root” sin!
v.6 “I am tired of always giving you another chance….” My testimony: Praise the Lord Who has been long-suffering with me and given me MANY chances for a new start. “Finish strong, witness long!”
Is your testimony like Jeremiah’s? One where you are complaining or “down” and insert these words? (v.16) “Your words are what sustain me; they are food to my hungry soul. They bring joy to my sorrowing heart and delight me. How proud I am to bear Your name, O Lord.”
Jeremiah’s was not a popular message to proclaim. He cried to the Lord, “Remember me, care for me and avenge me of my enemies.” V. 15-18 gives us a picture of his heart and mind. One minute he was affirming the Lord’s long suffering and his own faithfulness to the Word, and the next he was crying out with pain because of the suffering of the people and the difficulty of his commission. He even suggested that God had lied to him when He called Him.
15: 18
Jerry (David/Psalm) was human and had his failings but at least he honestly admitted them to the Lord. He did not attempt to cover his true feelings…he poured out his heart and the Lord answered. God’s answer may have been a shock to Jeremiah…he was told that he must repent. 15:19 Because of his attitude toward God and His calling, he was about to forfeit his ministry. In some ways, he was mirroring the words and attitudes of the people of Judah when they questioned God.
What does it mean to Repent…to turn – If we are headed in the wrong direction, moving away from the Lord, we must change direction and become obedient to the Lord. Repentance is an expression of remorse for previous wrong behavior. It includes agreement with God on what is sinful. It also includes a commitment to never again act in the sinful way one has turned away from…admitting that “I can’t say that I will never do it again in my own strength (flesh), but I want to allow/yield to You, Lord, so that this behavior will not be in my life again.”
The Lord usually balances rebuke with reassurance. He promised once again to make Jeremiah a fortified wall and give him victory over all his enemies. Jeremiah had to learn to walk by faith which meant obeying God’s Word no matter how he FELT, what he SAW, or what others might do to him. The Lord did not promise Jeremiah an easy job, but He did promise him all that he needed to do his work faithfully. Is it unusual for chosen servants of God to become discouraged and endanger their own ministries? Because every servant of God is human and subject to the weaknesses of the flesh, discouragement can happen. Moses became discouraged and wanted to die. Joshua was ready to quit and leave the Promised land. Elijah even abandoned his place of duty and hoped to die. Jonah became so angry he refused to help the very people he came to save. God doesn’t want us to ignore our feelings, because that would make us less than human, but He does want us to trust Him to change our feelings and start walking by faith. II Cor. 1:3-11
The Lord Cares – We can overcome discouragement in serving the Lord by remembering He cares for me.
The Lord Knows – We can overcome discouragement in serving the Lord by remembering He knows the difficulties we are experiencing.
The Lord Strengthens – We can overcome discouragement in serving the Lord by remembering He strengthens us to do what He has called us to do.