Pod Prep 6-16-17
Jeremiah A Young And Bold Prophet
JEREMIAH WAS AN IRON WALL FOR THE UNPOPULAR TRUTH
Jeremiah was called as a young man to be a strong warning messenger for the true God. He did not seek the calling. Like many of the great prophets, Jeremiah believed, like Moses, that he was not the person for such a illustrious assignment.
Jer 1:5 "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations."
6 Then I said, "Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth."
(RSV)
Note also that God did not see the fetus as just tissue, but as a real human being. If God does not condone abortion for the convenience of the mother. Should we engage in such practices? God told Jeremiah that his appointment as Prophet of God would make him like an IRON WALL. He would be a powerful force for the true messages of God.
8 Be not afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, says the LORD."
9 Then the LORD put forth his hand and touched my mouth; and the LORD said to me, "Behold, I have put my words in your mouth.
(RSV)
Note God touched him and made the young man determined and strong. He became a force for the godly warning to Judah. True prophets are noticed by rulers and are at center of news.
Jer 1:17 But you, gird up your loins; arise, and say to them everything that I command you. Do not be dismayed by them, lest I dismay you before them.
18 And I, behold, I make you this day a fortified city, an iron pillar, and bronze walls, against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, its princes, its priests, and the people of the land.
19 They will fight against you; but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you, says the LORD, to deliver you."
(RSV)
Jeremiah warned the nation against pagan nature worship replacing the magnificence of the true God. We still have some later forms or cousins of that nature worship in our modern world. They worshiped the sun, the moon, trees and such things in nature that the superstitious pagans feared.
Jer 10:2 Thus says the LORD: "Learn not the way of the nations, nor be dismayed at the signs of the heavens because the nations
are dismayed at them,
3 for the customs of the peoples are false. A tree from the forest is cut down, and worked with an axe by the hands of a craftsman.
4 Men deck it with silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails so that it cannot move.
FALSE PROPHETS TELL US WE DO NOT NEED TO CHANGE OR REPENT
The false prophets told the nation what they wanted to hear. They said the course that the people were on would be blessed. The people could do what they wanted. False prophets preach a popular message. Jeremiah bravely opposed these false messages.
Jer 5:11 For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have been utterly to me, says the LORD.
12 They have spoken falsely of the LORD, and have said, 'He will do nothing; no evil will come upon us, nor shall we see sword or famine.
13 The prophets will become wind; the word is not in them. Thus shall it be done to them!'"
14 Therefore thus says the LORD, the God of hosts: "Because they have spoken this word, behold, I am making my words in your mouth a fire, and this people wood, and the fire shall devour them.
The people did not want to hear the truth, they had itching ears for clergy to tell them pleasant things, popular things. Our end of age period will be the same.
2Ti 4:3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own likings,
4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander into myths.
Jeremiah warned that having the temple was not enough. Being God chosen people did not make them immune from punishment for forsaking God for paganism.
Jer 7:2 "Stand in the gate of the LORD's house, and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of the LORD, all you men of Judah who enter these gates to worship the LORD.
3 Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Amend your ways and your doings, and I will let you dwell in this place.
4 Do not trust in these deceptive words: 'This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD.'
Christ himself quoted the Prophet Jeremiah regarding how the people misused the Temple of God in Jerusalem.
Jer 7:10 and then come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, 'We are delivered!' --only to go on doing all these abominations?
11 Has this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I myself have seen it, says the LORD
12 Go now to my place that was in Shiloh, where I made my name dwell at first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel.
JEREMIAH A PROPHET OF CRUCIAL REVELATIONS AND POWERFUL WORDS
One of the most meaningful revelations in all the Bible was given by Jeremiah regarding the ultimate fate and goal of mankind. It is to become like God on the inside.
Jer 31:31 "Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah,
32 not like the covenant which I made with their fathers when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant which they broke, though I was their husband, says the LORD.
33 But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it upon their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
34 And no longer shall each man teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more."
Jeremiah's words at crucial times had consequences for the political powers of the day. What he prophesied happened. This included the death of a false prophet who opposed him.
Jer 1:10 See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant."
11 And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, "Jeremiah, what do you see?" And I said, "I see a rod of almond."
12 Then the LORD said to me, "You have seen well, for I am watching over my word to perform it."
IF DECADENCE INCREASES TOO MUCH OPTIONS BECOME MORE LIMITED
The nation had backslid-den so far that God told the prophet to no longer pray for them. They no longer had the choice of repent and be blessed with peace and prosperity. Now they were given the message from God. Surrender to Babylonian army that is besieging Jerusalem. They could go into captivity and live or fight on and die. This is a very unpopular and seemingly unpatriotic message given by Jeremiah.
Jer 11:14 "Therefore do not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer on their behalf, for I will not listen when they call to me in the time of their trouble.
Has America gone too far away from God? Has America turned sufficiently toward more conservative Biblical values to at least slow down the backsliding? These are hard questions to evaluate. We see some good trends and some decadent trends. Which ones are growing? God wants us to repent deeply.
Jer 4:4 Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, remove the foreskin of your hearts, O men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem; lest my wrath go forth like fire, and burn with none to quench it, because of the evil of your doings."
