Call to Commitment

 

Wesley on father's tomb

Chapter 26

 

God is patiently compassionate 

 1.      In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of  Josiah, king of Judah, this word came from the LORD, saying, 

 2.      "Thus says the LORD: 'Stand in the court of the LORD's house, and speak to all the cities of Judah, which come to worship in the LORD's house, all the words that I command you to speak to them. Do not diminish a word. 

 3.      Perhaps everyone will listen and turn from his evil way, that I may relent concerning the calamity which I purpose to bring on them because of the evil of their doings.' 

 4.      And you shall say to them, 'Thus says the LORD: "If you will not listen to Me, to walk in My law which I have set before you, 

 5.      to heed the words of My servants the prophets whom I sent to you, both rising up early and sending them (but you have not heeded), 

 6.      then I will make this house like Shiloh, and will make this city a curse to all the nations of the earth." ' " 

7.      So the priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the LORD. 

 Do you get confused, as I do, over the last kings of Judah? One reason for confusion is because of similar names, each beginning with “Jeho”. Another reason is because two of their reigns were for only three months and the other two were both 11 years long. Let’s try to end the confusion here, giving a brief summary of each of them. 

 

Chapter 25 

 

  Twenty-three years of warning

 

Ruins of Babylon today

1.  The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah (which was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon), 

      2.   which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the people of Judah and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying: 

       3.   "From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, even to this day, this is the twenty-third year in which the word of the LORD has come to me; and I have spoken to you, rising early and speaking, but you have not listened. 

 4.      And the LORD has sent to you all His servants the prophets, rising early and sending them, but you have not listened nor inclined your ear to hear. 

 5.      They said, 'Repent now everyone of his evil way and his evil doings, and dwell in the land that the LORD has given to you and your fathers forever and ever. 

 6.      Do not go after other gods to serve them and worship them, and do not provoke Me to anger with the works of your hands; and I will not harm you.' 

 7.      Yet you have not listened to Me," says the LORD, "that you might provoke Me to anger with the works of your hands to your own hurt. 

 8.      "Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts: 'Because you have not heard My words, 

 9.      behold, I will send and take all the families of the north,' says the LORD, 'and Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant, and will bring them against this land, against its inhabitants, and against these nations all around, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, a hissing, and perpetual desolations. 

 A prophet must speak, when the word of the Lord comes to him, and only when His word comes. It came, addressed to all the people of Judah, when Jehoiakim was in the fourth year of his 11-year reign. His brother, Jehoahaz, was the people’s choice, but Pharaoh Necho removed him, after only three months, and put Jehoiakim on Jerusalem’s throne. Nebuchadnezzar was emperor over powerful Babylon. 

  

 

                             Chapter 24

Very Good and Very Bad Figs

      1.   The LORD showed me, and there were two baskets of figs set before the temple of the LORD, after Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and the princes of Judah with the craftsmen and smiths, from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon. 

       2.    One basket had very good figs, like the figs that are first ripe; and the other basket had very bad figs which could not be eaten, they were so bad. 

 3.      Then the LORD said to me, "What do you see, Jeremiah?" And I said, "Figs, the good figs, very good; and the bad, very bad, which cannot be eaten, they are so bad." 

 4.      Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 

 5.      "Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: 'Like these good figs, so will I acknowledge those who are carried away captive from Judah, whom I have sent out of this place for their own good, into the land of the Chaldeans. 

 6.      For I will set My eyes on them for good, and I will bring them back to this land; I will build them and not pull them down, and I will plant them and not pluck them up. 

 7.      Then I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the LORD; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God, for they shall return to Me with their whole heart. 

 8.      'And as the bad figs which cannot be eaten, they are so bad'—surely thus says the LORD—'so will I give up Zedekiah the king of Judah, his princes, the residue of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those who dwell in the land of Egypt. 

 9.      I will deliver them to trouble into all the kingdoms of the earth, for their harm, to be a reproach and a byword, a taunt and a curse, in all places where I shall drive them. 

 10.  And I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence among them, till they are consumed from the land that I gave to them and their fathers.' " 

 The apostle Paul, who used so many valuable principles from the Old Testament in forming New Testament doctrine said, “The hardworking farmer must be first to partake of the crops” (2 T.2:6). This is true in terms of spiritual things, received from the word of God, as well as the natural. The prophet, preacher or teacher of biblical truth must first hear from the Lord, in order to deliver the message to the people.

 

 

Chapter 23, Part II

 

 

  Self-appointed prophets walking in their hearts’ deceit

21.  "I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran. I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. 

 22.  But if they had stood in My counsel, And had caused My people to hear My words, Then they would have turned them from their evil way And from the evil of their doings. 

 23.   "Am I a God near at hand," says the LORD, "And not a God afar off? 

 24.    Can anyone hide himself in secret places, So I shall not see him?" says the LORD; "Do I not fill heaven and earth?" says the LORD. 

 25.  "I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy lies in My name, saying, 'I have dreamed, I have dreamed!' 

 26.    How long will this be in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies? Indeed they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart, 

 27.    who try to make My people forget My name by their dreams which everyone tells his neighbor, as their fathers forgot My name for Baal. 

 28.  "The prophet who has a dream, let him tell a dream; And he who has My word, let him speak My word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat?" says the LORD. 

 29.    "Is not My word like a fire?" says the LORD, "And like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces? 

 30.  "Therefore behold, I am against the prophets," says the LORD, "who steal My words every one from his neighbor. 

 31.  Behold, I am against the prophets," says the LORD, "who use their tongues and say, 'He says.' 

 32.  Behold, I am against those who prophesy false dreams," says the LORD, "and tell them, and cause My people to err by their lies and by their recklessness. Yet I did not send them or command them; therefore they shall not profit this people at all," says the LORD.

 Jesus called Peter, Andrew, James and John to be fishers of men (Mk.1:16-20). He spent an entire night in prayer before choosing the twelve as apostles (Lk.6:12-13). Later, he appointed 70 others, whom He sent out two by two (Lk.10:1). Paul often tells that he was called to be an apostle. Every prophet was called of God and kings and priests were anointed. At the beginning of this book, we read of Jeremiah’s calling: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations” (Jer.1:5). Divine calling is essential to genuine ministry.

 

Chapter 23, Part I

  A King of Righteousness is coming

1.      "Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!" says the LORD. 

2.      Therefore thus says the LORD God of Israel against the shepherds who feed My people: "You have scattered My flock, driven them away, and not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for the evil of your doings," says the LORD. 

       3.      "But I will gather the remnant of My flock out of all countries where I have driven them, and bring them back to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase. 

4.      I will set up shepherds over them who will feed them; and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, nor shall they be lacking," says the LORD. 

 5.      "Behold, the days are coming," says the LORD, "That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; A King shall reign and prosper, And execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. 

 6.      In His days Judah will be saved, And Israel will dwell safely; Now this is His name by which He will be called: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. 

 7.      "Therefore, behold, the days are coming," says the LORD, "that they shall no longer say, 'As the LORD lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land of Egypt,' 

 8.      but, 'As the LORD lives who brought up and led the descendants of the house of Israel from the north country and from all the countries where I had driven them.' And they shall dwell in their own land." 

The Lord has always seen Israel as a flock of sheep in need of care and those, who are charged with their wellbeing, are called shepherds. We have the same terminology in the New Testament and they are also called elders and overseers (which is the meaning of bishops) in the church and Peter, himself an elder, urges them to fulfill their office: “Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; nor as being lord over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock” (1 P.5:2-3). 

  

Chapter 22

Shallum or Jehoahaz

      1.   Thus says the LORD: “Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and there speak this word, 

      2.     and say, ‘Hear the word of the LORD, O king of Judah, you who sit on the throne of David, you and your servants and your people who enter these gates!    

      3.   Thus says the LORD: “Execute judgment and righteousness, and deliver the plundered out of the hand of the oppressor. Do no wrong and do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, or the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place. 

 4.      For if you indeed do this thing, then shall enter the gates of this house, riding on horses and in chariots, accompanied by servants and people, kings who sit on the throne of David. 

 5.       But if you will not hear these words, I swear by Myself,” says the LORD, “that this house shall become a desolation.” ‘ “ 

 6.        For thus says the LORD to the house of the king of Judah: “You are Gilead to Me, The head of Lebanon; Yet I surely will make you a wilderness, Cities which are not inhabited. 

 7.      I will prepare destroyers against you, Everyone with his weapons; They shall cut down your choice cedars And cast them into the fire. 

 8.      And many nations will pass by this city; and everyone will say to his neighbor, ‘Why has the LORD done so to this great city?’ 

 9.      Then they will answer, ‘Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD their God, and worshiped other gods and served them.’ “ 

 10.  Weep not for the dead, nor bemoan him; Weep bitterly for him who goes away, For he shall return no more, Nor see his native country. 

 11.  For thus says the LORD concerning Shallum the son of Josiah, king of Judah, who reigned instead of Josiah his father, who went from this place: “He shall not return here anymore, 

 12.  but he shall die in the place where they have led him captive, and shall see this land no more. 

  

Chapter 21

 

God is Jerusalem’s enemy

      1.      The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD when King Zedekiah sent to him Pashhur the son of Melchiah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, saying, 

      2.      "Please inquire of the LORD for us, for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon makes war against us. Perhaps the LORD will deal with us according to all His wonderful works, that the king may go away from us." 

      3.      Then Jeremiah said to them, "Thus you shall say to Zedekiah, 

 4.      'Thus says the LORD God of Israel: "Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands, with which you fight against the king of Babylon and the Chaldeans who besiege you outside the walls; and I will assemble them in the midst of this city. 

 5.      I Myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm, even in anger and fury and great wrath. 

 6.      I will strike the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast; they shall die of a great pestilence. 

 7.   And afterward," says the LORD, "I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah, his servants and the people, and such as are left in this city from the pestilence and the sword and the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those who seek their life; and he shall strike them with the edge of the sword. He shall not spare them, or have pity or mercy." ' 

 Chapter 21 is a comparatively short lesson in our study of Jeremiah. I remind you of what we saw from the very beginning of this book; that is, that Jeremiah did not organize his book chronologically. What we find in this chapter, relates to what is in chapter 37 and 38. There these same two priests, Pashhur, the son of Melchiah (38:1) and Zephaniah, the son of Maaseiah (37:3), are mentioned. Jeremiah’s message is identical here in verse 9, with chapter 38:2.

 In the two cases of these priests, we do not have the biblical introduction of father and son, as is common throughout the Scriptures. The priests are presented by their orders. In the last chapter, Pashhur was called the son of Immer, meaning that he belonged, by ancestry, to the 16^th order of priests, that of Immer. Immediately, we recognize that this is a different Pashhur, who belonged to the fifth order of Melchiah. Zephaniah, the son of Maaseiah, belonged to the twenty-fourth order (see the orders in 1 Chr.24:7-18). 

 

Jeremiah 20

 Pashhur’s persecution and fate

      1.     Now Pashhur the son of Immer, the priest who was also chief governor in the house of the LORD, heard that Jeremiah prophesied these things. 

      2.    Then Pashhur struck Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that were in the high gate of Benjamin, which was by the house of the LORD. 

 3.      And it happened on the next day that Pashhur brought Jeremiah out of the stocks. Then Jeremiah said to him, "The LORD has not called your name Pashhur, but Magor-Missabib. 

 4.      For thus says the LORD: 'Behold, I will make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends; and they shall fall by the sword of their enemies, and your eyes shall see it. I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall carry them captive to Babylon and slay them with the sword. 

 5.      Moreover I will deliver all the wealth of this city, all its produce, and all its precious things; all the treasures of the kings of Judah I will give into the hand of their enemies, who will plunder them, seize them, and carry them to Babylon. 

 6.      And you, Pashhur, and all who dwell in your house, shall go into captivity. You shall go to Babylon, and there you shall die, and be buried there, you and all your friends, to whom you have prophesied lies.' " 

 Because the numbers of the priesthood grew, so that it was impossible that they could all serve in the temple at once, David divided them into 24 orders. We can study the orders in 1 Chronicles 24. Each priest descended from Aaron. The first two sons of Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, were killed for kindling false fire before the Lord, and so only Eleazar and Ithamar were left. Sixteen orders descended from Eleazar and eight from Ithamar. Each order served in turn for a week in the temple and these orders continued in the New Testament. Zachariah, the father of John the Baptist was of the eighth order… that of Abijah (Lk.1:5; 1 Chr.24:10).

 The priest, Pashhur, in this chapter, descended from Immer of the sixteenth division. We should also understand his rank, which was among the top in the priesthood. The Hebrew word, nagid, was the highest of the two and indicated the high priest, translated ruler in 1 Chronicles 9:11, as well as Nehemiah 11:11.  The second belonged to Pashhur, that of the pachid (Hebrew), or deputy to the high priest, translated chief governor in NKJV.

 Pashur was informed of the prophecy given by Jeremiah in chapter 19. NKJV says that Pashur struck Jeremiah (3), but the Hebrew better indicates that he had him beaten, and put him in stocks, imprisoned at the Benjamin Gate, near the temple. Even though on the following day he released him, Jeremiah prophesied the consequences of this act: The Lord has not called your name Pashhur, but Magor-Missabib, meaning terror on every side (3). Men may follow him, because of his high office, but God’s purpose for him would prevail. His unjustified act against God’s minister changed his destiny into one of fearful danger. He had brought it on himself, and it would extend to his followers. Enemy swords would kill them and Pashur would witness it, when God turned Israel over to Babylon (4). 

  Chapter 19

 God’s use of parables

       1.      Thus says the LORD: "Go and get a potter's earthen flask, and take some of the elders of the people and some of the elders of the priests. 

        2.      And go out to the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, which is by the entry of the Potsherd Gate; and proclaim there the words that I will tell you, 

 God gives parables or illustrations to Jeremiah, using them as visual object lessons, to impress upon the people, the judgments that He will bring upon them. They begin in chapter one with an almond branch, followed by a boiling pot. He continues chapter after chapter, with illustration after illustration, in the last chapter using a potter and his clay. Now we have before us an earthen flask, which is broken in verse 10. This kind of delivery of a message is common in the prophets and shows us something of the Lord’s method in teaching.

 I am going to take the time and space to show a very important fact, concerning parables. Jesus answered a devious question concerning paying tribute to Caesar by holding up a denarius and asking about the image on it. He said that because Caesar’s image was on it, the people owed him tribute. In the same way, people owe God their lives, because His image is upon them and they are created for His pleasure: “God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them” (Ge.1:27).

 Israel’s heart progressively hardened, generation after generation, so that by the time of the coming of Christ, it had reached a pinnacle of sedition against the Kingdom of God, prompting Him to lay the composite guilt of the ages upon them: “Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers’ guilt… that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation” (Mt.23:32, 35-36). Then they fell to the lowest possible level of depravation, crucifying their Messiah and bringing an awful curse upon themselves that continued over two millennium: “His blood be on us, and on our children” (Mt.27:25). 

 

 Chapter 18

 The parable

     1.     The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying: 

      2.     "Arise and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause you to hear My word

      3.     Then I went down to the potter's house, and there he was, making something at the wheel. 

     4.     And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter; so he made it again into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to make. 

 The allegory of the potter and the clay, learned from this chapter of Jeremiah, is frequently referred to and commented upon by Bible teachers and preachers. It is now before us for our contemplation and we will attempt to learn more from it.

 Verse 1 tells us that the source behind the lesson is the Lord and the Holy Spirit will write with the pen of human lives and their daily occupations, in order to illustrate divine principle. (see 2 Co.3:3) He directs Jeremiah to go to the potter’s house to observe his work and hear the word of the Lord through it. Jeremiah will take his pen and record it for the benefit of his people first, and then the Lord will see that His word will come to all mankind through the Bible (2). I encourage you to pause and think for a moment of the loss and consequences to the world, if there had been unfaithfulness on his part

 So the servant of the Lord faithfully obeys, the ears of His heart open to hear vital instruction, by which all future mankind can benefit. The Hebrew will easily relate to the scene that he depicts, because it is commonly practiced throughout Judah. He finds the potter busy at work with his wheel (3). Isaiah already provided some background to this illustration, God sovereignly teaching the principle in various passages.

  

Chapter 17

 Engraved sin

 1.      "The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron; With the point of a diamond it is engraved On the tablet of their heart, And on the horns of your altars,

 2.      While their children remember Their altars and their wooden images By the green trees on the high hills. 

 3.      O My mountain in the field, I will give as plunder your wealth, all your treasures, And your high places of sin within all your borders. 

 4.      And you, even yourself, Shall let go of your heritage which I gave you; And I will cause you to serve your enemies In the land which you do not know; For you have kindled a fire in My anger which shall burn forever." 

 I am impressed that the Holy Spirit uses the example of Israel, in part, to teach the hopeless condition of the entire human race. Israel’s sin is not hidden; the text says it is engraved, as with a pen of iron, as a clear example of man’s depravity. Then it illustrates the condition of human nature, by referring to the mark of a diamond point, the hardest stone in existence, writing upon the deepest center of man´s being, as if it were a tablet. The wicked impression cannot wear away or be erased (1).

 After showing sin´s presence in the innermost being of the Israelite personality, it shows its mark on the focal point of its religion… that is, upon the horns of its altars. In true religion, there were four brass horns, one on each corner of the altar, and they were to be smeared with the blood of the sacrifice. The altar was to reveal the life-source that was slain as a substitute for the sin of the one, who sacrificed.

 However, the idolatrous altars of Judah show only a nation given over to treason against their Creator and God.  Israel’s case seems especially shameful, because it was the divine choice and extremely privileged. However, I am convinced, that if any other nation would have been in their place, they would have failed just as miserably. The failure is due to the extreme depravation and perversity of fallen human nature.

 
                             

                       Capital 16 

               No more funeral rites

1.      The word of the LORD also came to me, saying, 

 2.      "You shall not take a wife, nor shall you have sons or daughters in this place." 

 3.      For thus says the LORD concerning the sons and daughters who are born in this place, and concerning their mothers who bore them and their fathers who begot them in this land: 

 4.      "They shall die gruesome deaths; they shall not be lamented nor shall they be buried, but they shall be like refuse on the face of the earth. They shall be consumed by the sword and by famine, and their corpses shall be meat for the birds of heaven and for the beasts of the earth." 

 5.      For thus says the LORD: "Do not enter the house of mourning, nor go to lament or bemoan them; for I have taken away My peace from this people," says the LORD, "lovingkindness and mercies. 

 6.      Both the great and the small shall die in this land. They shall not be buried; neither shall men lament for them, cut themselves, nor make themselves bald for them. 

 7.      Nor shall men break bread in mourning for them, to comfort them for the dead; nor shall men give them the cup of consolation to drink for their father or their mother. 

 A prophet not only speaks the words of a prophet, but lives the life of a prophet. His calling affects every area of his existence and people around him, not only hear the word of the Lord, but his lifestyle is a sign to them. That is Jeremiah’s case.

 Before we proceed with the chapter, it would be good to look into the situation in the world at the time, when the apostle Paul wrote 1 Corinthians. While Paul introduced the gospel to Corinth, he met Aquila and Priscilla, who were among the Jews, whom Emperor Claudius commanded to leave Rome. Rome was not friendly to Jews or Christians. Claudius reigned from 41 A.D. to 54 A.D.

 

Chapter 15

 A limitation to intercession

1.      Then the LORD said to me, "Even if Moses and Samuel stood before Me, My mind would not be favorable toward this people. Cast them out of My sight, and let them go forth. 

 2.      And it shall be, if they say to you, 'Where should we go?' then you shall tell them, 'Thus says the LORD: "Such as are for death, to death; And such as are for the sword, to the sword; And such as are for the famine, to the famine; And such as are for the captivity, to the captivity." ' 

 3.       "And I will appoint over them four forms of destruction," says the LORD: "the sword to slay, the dogs to drag, the birds of the heavens and the beasts of the earth to devour and destroy. 

 4.      I will hand them over to trouble, to all kingdoms of the earth, because of Manasseh the son of Hezekiah, king of Judah, for what he did in Jerusalem. 

 5.      "For who will have pity on you, O Jerusalem? Or who will bemoan you? Or who will turn aside to ask how you are doing? 

 In chapter 14, we noted three ways, in which the Lord responds to prayer. The first and most important is a response, which brings positive results. The second response is one that we see applied from time to time in the Bible. When people insist on having their own way, God will eventually give them that,  which they have demanded, but it is to their own misfortune. The third response was the one that Jeremiah experienced in the last chapter… a refusal to even hear his prayer. This chapter begins by emphasizing that refusal.

 Jeremiah must be somewhat relieved to know that he is not the only one, whose prayer is rejected. He has company among some of the most reputable and powerful intercessors (1). The first is Moses. We often recognize, and rightly so, his wonderful intercession for Israel, when God threatened to eliminate the race.  Even so, I think sometimes we underestimate the scope of Moses prayer ministry. His intercessory prayers were set in motion in Egypt, long before that period in the wilderness. Beginning in Exodus 8:8, whenever Pharaoh asked for relief, Moses cried to the Lord and He answered. There is a recurrence in 8:28-30, 9:27-33, and in 10:16-18.

 Samuel was a continuous intercessor for the people of Israel.  After the people wanted to follow the nations around them by asking for a king to reign over them, the Lord consented, but manifested His anger. The people recognized their sin and begged Samuel to pray for them. Samuel answered, “Far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you” (1 S.12:23).