Jer.10
2,3 - “... Thus says the Lord, "Do not learn the way of the nations, And do not be terrified by the signs of the heavens Although the nations are terrified by them; For the customs of the peoples are delusion; Because it is wood cut from the forest, The work of the hands of a craftsman with a cutting tool...” What customs? [Idolatry] What do American’s worship?
21 - “...For the shepherds have become stupid And have not sought the Lord; Therefore they have not prospered, And all their flock is scattered...”
Jer.11
4 - “...which I commanded your forefathers in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, 'Listen to My voice, and do according to all which I command you; so you shall be My people, and I will be your God,..'
8 - “...'Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but walked, each one, in the stubbornness of his evil heart; therefore I brought on them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, but they did not.' ..."
10 - “...They have turned back to the iniquities of their ancestors who refused to hear My words, and they have gone after other gods to serve them; the house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken My covenant which I made with their fathers..."
It’s US not THEM that frustrate God.
Jer.12
2,3 - “... You have planted them, they have also taken root; They grow, they have even produced fruit. You are near to their lips But far from their mind. But You know me, O Lord; You see me; And You examine my heart's attitude toward You. Drag them off like sheep for the slaughter And set them apart for a day of carnage!..” What does God find in our hearts?
10 - “...Many shepherds have ruined My vineyard, They have trampled down My field; They have made My pleasant field A desolate wilderness...”
17 - “...But if they will not listen, then I will uproot that nation, uproot and destroy it," declares the Lord...”
Jer.13 THE RUINED WAISTBAND
If we don’t cling to God and His word, we too become ruined.
25 - “...This is your lot, the portion measured to you From Me," declares the Lord, "Because you have forgotten Me And trusted in falsehood...”
Jer.14
10-12 “...When they fast, I am not going to listen to their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I am not going to accept them. Rather I am going to make an end of them by the sword, famine and pestilence." But, "Ah, Lord God!" I said, "Look, the prophets are telling them, 'You will not see the sword nor will you have famine, but I will give you lasting peace in this place.' " Then the Lord said to me, "The prophets are prophesying falsehood in My name. I have neither sent them nor commanded them nor spoken to them; they are prophesying to you a false vision, divination, futility and the deception of their own minds...” Is everything that is said in religious circles true?
Jer.15
The Lord has had enough of Judah’s sin. They are destined to death, the sword, famine, and captivity. Why?
4 - “...I will make them an object of horror among all the kingdoms of the earth because of Manasseh, the son of Hezekiah, the king of Judah, for what he did in Jerusalem...” Poor leadership leads to considerable sin. [Abortion, Homosexuality, Adultery, etc]
Jer.16
5 - “...For thus says the Lord, "Do not enter a house of mourning, or go to lament or to console them; for I have withdrawn My peace from this people," declares the Lord, "My lovingkindness and compassion...”
Does God do that? Why?
12 - “...You too have done evil, even more than your forefathers; for behold, you are each one walking according to the stubbornness of his own evil heart, without listening to Me...”
18 - Double repay! Why? “... they have polluted My land...”
21 - “...Therefore behold, I am going to make them know— This time I will make them know My power and My might; And they shall know that My name is the Lord..."
Jer.17
5 - “...Thus says the Lord, "Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind And makes flesh his strength, And whose heart turns away from the Lord...”
7 - "...Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord And whose trust is the Lord...”
9 - "...The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?...”
14 - “...Heal me, O Lord, and I will be healed; Save me and I will be saved, For You are my praise...”
Then we get another Sabbath command.
12,22 - “...Thus says the Lord, "Take heed for yourselves, and do not carry any load on the sabbath day or bring anything in through the gates of Jerusalem. "You shall not bring a load out of your houses on the sabbath day nor do any work, but keep the sabbath day holy, as I commanded your forefathers...”
Or else 27 - “...But if you do not listen to Me to keep the sabbath day holy by not carrying a load and coming in through the gates of Jerusalem on the sabbath day, then I will kindle a fire in its gates and it will devour the palaces of Jerusalem and not be quenched...'
Jer.18 POTTER / CLAY
7 - God can uproot, pull down, and destroy nations.
8 - He relents if there is repentance.
11 - God has Jeremiah warn His people of the need for repentance.
18 - The people fail to heed Jeremiah’s warnings.
19-23 Jeremiah starts praying against them rather than for them.
Jer.19 THE BROKEN JAR
4 - “...Because they have forsaken Me and have made this an alien place and have burned sacrifices in it to other gods, that neither they nor their forefathers nor the kings of Judah had ever known, and because they have filled this place with the blood of the innocent...” Blood of the innocent? [abortion].
Jar to be broken. Nation to be broken.
Why? 15 - “...Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, 'Behold, I am about to bring on this city and all its towns the entire calamity that I have declared against it, because they have stiffened their necks so as not to heed My words.' ..."
Jer.20
What did Jeremiah get for proclaiming the Word of God?
2 - Beaten, put in stocks.
7 - Jeremiah’s not too happy with the treatment he’s getting.
What kind of treatment do proclaimers of God’s intentions and expectations get in America?
12 - “...Yet, O Lord of hosts, You who test the righteous, Who see the mind and the heart; Let me see Your vengeance on them; For to You I have set forth my cause...” Are we God’s, regardless of the world’s raging?
Jer.21
Zedekiah asks Jeremiah if God will perform one of His wonderful acts to deliver Jerusalem from Nebuchadnezzar.
Answer?
5,6 - “...I Myself will war against you with an outstretched hand and a mighty arm, even in anger and wrath and great indignation. "I will also strike down the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast; they will die of a great pestilence...”
10 - “...For I have set My face against this city for harm and not for good," declares the Lord. "It will be given into the hand of the king of Babylon and he will burn it with fire..."'
But chance to avert?
12 - “...O house of David, thus says the Lord: "Administer justice every morning; And deliver the person who has been robbed from the power of his oppressor, That My wrath may not go forth like fire And burn with none to extinguish it, Because of the evil of their deeds...”
14 - “...But I will punish you according to the results of your deeds," declares the Lord, "And I will kindle a fire in its forest That it may devour all its environs...”
Jer.22
3 - “...Thus says the Lord, "Do justice and righteousness, and deliver the one who has been robbed from the power of his oppressor. Also do not mistreat or do violence to the stranger, the orphan, or the widow; and do not shed innocent blood in this place...”
13 - “...Woe to him who builds his house without righteousness And his upper rooms without justice, Who uses his neighbor's services without pay And does not give him his wages,..”
17 - “...But your eyes and your heart Are intent only upon your own dishonest gain, And on shedding innocent blood And on practicing oppression and extortion..."
Jer.23
1 - God’s disapproval of shepherds who are destroying and scattering.
3-4 God Himself will gather the remnant and provide shepherds.
7-8 - “...Therefore behold, the days are coming," declares the Lord, "when they will no longer say, 'As the Lord lives, who brought up the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt,' but, 'As the Lord lives, who brought up and led back the descendants of the household of Israel from the north land and from all the countries where I had driven them.' Then they will live on their own soil..." A shift from remembering deliverance from Egypt to remembering deliverance from Babylon. Any since then?
11 - Prophet and priest are polluted
14 - Committing adultery and walking in falsehood. Failing to bring about repentance.
16 - Leading into futility. Speaking from their own imagination.
20 - “...The anger of the Lord will not turn back Until He has performed and carried out the purposes of His heart; In the last days you will clearly understand it...”
22 - Three parts to proper leadership:
1 - Stand in God’s council.
2 - Announce God’s words to the people.
3 - Repentance.
29-32 “...Is not My word like fire?" declares the Lord, "and like a hammer which shatters a rock? "Therefore behold, I am against the prophets," declares the Lord, "who steal My words from each other. "Behold, I am against the prophets," declares the Lord, "who use their tongues and declare, 'The Lord declares.' "Behold, I am against those who have prophesied false dreams," declares the Lord, "and related them and led My people astray by their falsehoods and reckless boasting; yet I did not send them or command them, nor do they furnish this people the slightest benefit," declares the Lord...”
Is it possible to parade God’s words recklessly without being sent?
36 - “...For you will no longer remember the oracle of the Lord, because every man's own word will become the oracle, and you have perverted the words of the living God, the Lord of hosts, our God...”
Jer.24 GOOD AND BAD FIGS
Different results.
7 - “...I will give them a heart to know Me, for I am the Lord; and they will be My people, and I will be their God, for they will return to Me with their whole heart...”
Jer.25
Time frames are given.
3 - “...From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, even to this day, these twenty-three years the word of the Lord has come to me, and I have spoken to you again and again, but you have not listened...” Seek Him while He may be found?
11 - Captivity to be 70 years.
12 - Judgment in Babylon
Jer.26
2 - Speak the words God gives - don’t omit a word.
3-6 God was willing to withhold judgment if everyone would turn away from evil.
7-15 Instead of repenting, they want to put Jeremiah to death.
16-24 Jeremiah is spared.
Jer.27 BONDS AND YOKE
Jeremiah demonstrates the coming bondage and yoke of captivity.
5 - “...I have made the earth, the men and the beasts which are on the face of the earth by My great power and by My outstretched arm, and I will give it to the one who is pleasing in My sight...” Interaction, not just creation.
17 - The message becomes “...serve the king of Babylon and live!...”
Jer.28
Hananiah speaks a preferred word, but not a true word.
10 - broke the yoke from Jeremiah’s neck.
There are always opposing views, but only one reality from God.
15 - Hananiah made the people believe a lie.
17 - Hananiah dies.
Jer.29
7 - “...Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf; for in its welfare you will have welfare...'
11 - “...For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope...”
Popular, much quoted verse, but look at the context.
10 - They have to spend 70 years in exile.
13 “...You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart...”
Can we live for another generation’s good?
31-32 Positive confession can be a lie and rebellion against the Lord.
Jer.30
11 - “...For I am with you,' declares the Lord, 'to save you; For I will destroy completely all the nations where I have scattered you, Only I will not destroy you completely. But I will chasten you justly And will by no means leave you unpunished...”
17 - “...For I will restore you to health And I will heal you of your wounds,' declares the Lord, 'Because they have called you an outcast, saying: "It is Zion; no one cares for her...”
24 - “...The fierce anger of the Lord will not turn back Until He has performed and until He has accomplished The intent of His heart; In the latter days you will understand this...” Whose intent? When is it understood?
Jer.31
3,4 - “...The Lord appeared to him from afar, saying, "I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore I have drawn you with lovingkindness. "Again I will build you and you will be rebuilt, O virgin of Israel! Again you will take up your tambourines, And go forth to the dances of the merrymakers...”
9 - “...With weeping they will come, And by supplication I will lead them; I will make them walk by streams of waters, On a straight path in which they will not stumble; For I am a father to Israel, And Ephraim is My firstborn..."
14 - "...I will fill the soul of the priests with abundance, And My people will be satisfied with My goodness," declares the Lord...”
17 - "...There is hope for your future," declares the Lord, "And your children will return to their own territory...”
25 - “...For I satisfy the weary ones and refresh everyone who languishes..."
31-33 “...Behold, days are coming," declares the Lord, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them," declares the Lord. "But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days," declares the Lord, "I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people...”
When were these promises being given? Can we have hope in the midst of country being judged by God?
Jer.32
2 - Jeremiah is under house arrest.
7-15 Purchases a field and stores the deed in an earthenware jar, thus proclaiming there will be a return to the land.
17-19 Great song in the midst of struggle. Jeremiah is in prison and Jerusalem is under siege. There is always a bigger reality than our current situation.
38,39 “...They shall be My people, and I will be their God; and I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me always, for their own good and for the good of their children after them...” God’s ultimate reality.
Jer.33
Said at the fall of Jerusalem and beginning of 70 yr exile.
3 - “...Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know...”
6 - “...Behold, I will bring to it health and healing, and I will heal them; and I will reveal to them an abundance of peace and truth...”
Could the 70 yr exile have been averted? [Not once the sins were committed].
Could Jesus death on the cross have been averted? [Not once the sins were committed. Didn’t Christ Himself ask for another way?]
Jer.34
Releasing the slaves but then taking them back.
Our attempts at following God’s clear instructions seem always to fall prey to our selfishness.
We need new hearts.
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