Jeremiah 10 - Speaking Through Signs - Jeremiah 13-14

[Music] in jeremiah chapter 13 to 9 so let's just go we're gonna continue on as if nothing happened the last few months and pick it up right where we came off Jeremiah chapter 13 so let me pray and we'll get into our time in the word together Father in Heaven we're grateful we're grateful for this comfortable place we're grateful for a nice room that we can meet in for a sound system for lighting for all the rest of it but Lord none of that stuff matters much without the real presence and work of your Holy Spirit in their midst and so Lord we want to look beyond any of the technological or practical things that have worked together to make this night possible and we want to say Lord we rely on the presence and the power of your spirit so speak to us now Lord we pray that your Holy Spirit would do a work in and through your word and that we would receive it and pay attention to it tonight we pray this Lord in Jesus name Amen so again if your Bibles open to Jeremiah chapter 13 we're gonna spend some time in the next couple of chapters taking a look at the word of the Lord through the Prophet Jeremiah to the people of judah jeremiah spoke to the kingdom of judah in the days when the twelve tribes of israel were divided into two different kingdoms the northern kingdom containing the ten northern tribes was called israel and its capital was the city of samaria they had been taken away into captivity some 100 years before the ministry of jeremiah began now what was left was the southern kingdom of judah approximate with the two tribes but a remnant from the other tribes that came over to there when the Northern Kingdom of Israel went into apostasy but unfortunately the southern kingdom of Judah came to the place where they turned their backs on the Lord where they started going after the foreign gods especially the gods above all and Astra where they look to other nations to help them such as the Babylonians or the Egyptians in of looking to the Lord and in those very dark days in the kingdom of Judah God raised up a very bold prophet named Jeremiah he was a young man when God called him initially to his ministry and he was a man full of emotion sometimes people call Jeremiah the weeping prophet and then the chapters we take a look at tonight you're gonna see why but yet God called this man to deliver this message that was pretty strong and that's what we come to right now into Jeremiah chapter 13 beginning at verse 1 thus the Lord said to me go and get yourself a linen sash and put it around your waist but do not put it in water so I got a sash according to the word of the Lord and put it around my waist and the word of the Lord came to me a second time saying take the sash that you acquired which is around your waist and arise go to the Euphrates and hide it there in a hole in the rock so I went and hid it by the Euphrates as the LORD commanded me what's a strange command don't you think go and get yourself a linen sash some translations say a girdle some say a sash some say a belt basically what you're talking about is a linen thing that would go around the waist something that we might call a cummerbund or something like that it was meant to distinguish somebody as being somebody of importance something that the priests might wear something that a person of nobility or dignity might wear go get yourself this white linen sash now one thing you need to understand is that the prophets in the days of Jeremiah traditionally dressed in sort of a dark horse hair or camel hair or goat's hair kind of garment it was rough and it was dark and we don't know exactly if this is what Jeremiah wore but it's likely and if he had this normal thing as a dress just sort of this black almost like a monk's habit that you would normally wear to put a great big white cumberbund around his waist it would track a lot of attention wouldn't it good cool my Jeremiah why are you wearing the white sash did you just buy it there you know nice accessory what's going on with this it was meant to attract attention because God was going to teach an object lesson through this linen sash and one of the things he told me to do notice here verse 4 arise go to the afraid ease and hide it there in a hole in Iraq now when he told him to go hide it in your fraid ease some people have a difficult time believing that God actually meant for Jeremiah to go from his hometown which was just outside of Jerusalem all the way they were afraid his River you're talking about a round trip of about 600 miles people have worked I'm bidding him in go all the way they're afraid he's River and then come back well I believe probably so friends the Book of Jeremiah covers a career of a man's life these are decades upon decades I think he could take the six months out of his schedule to bring this to pass so people say well no it was a another water source that had the same name as you're afraid he's not so far away friends the best and the most logical answer is that God really intended him to take the long journey and it would be a long journey it would take months for him to make it but this is what God called Jeremiah to do so he puts on the linen sash never washed that means it was absolutely white it was absolutely pure he was go to the Euphrates and what we said to do there he was to bury it in the ground presumably near the river okay now verse 6 now it came to pass after many days that the Lord said to me arise go to the Euphrates and take up from there the sash which I commanded you to hide there then I went to the afraid ease and Doug and I took the sash from the place where I'd hidden it and there was a sash ruined it was profitable for nothing ok get the picture Jeremiah gets this sash and he wears it around town for a few days ago Jeremiah that's really weird look at you you're wearing this prophet's garment that's all black and nor dark hair garment you know goat's air whatever it is you're wearing this Arendt said now you weren't a nice white pretty sash around so it isn't this strange you go see a look at me wear this for a few weeks he wears around town for a few weeks and then he travels all the way to the Euphrates he comes back after several months mr. Jeremiah where's your sash what happened to it you left town wearing it now you come back you don't have it oh I buried it at the Euphrates so why did you do that he says I don't know let me go back and check on it so he goes all the way back to there for a tease and then he comes back again and what does he have to show the people of the people in his City a piece of fabric a piece of linen that is all deteriorated and rotten and smells bad and it's worth nothing and he holds it up he from this is my linen sash well what does this all mean we'll take a look verse 8 then the word of the Lord came to me saying thus says the Lord in this manner I will ruin the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem this evil people who refuse to hear my words who follow the dictates of their hearts and walk after the other gods to serve them and worship them shall be just like this sash which is profitable for nothing for as the sash clings to the waist of a man so I have caused the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah to cling to me says the Lord that they may become my people for renowned for praise and for glory but they would not hear ladies gentleman here is the lesson of the sash look at what it says right there in verse 9 where it says in this excuse me verse 9 yes in this manner I will ruin the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem this noble fancy sash it was taken away out of Israel over to the ER for a tease and there it became ruined now friends it would not become long until the people of Israel were forcibly taken from the land of Judah off into exile across the Euphrates River this was a pier at pure a a easy picture I should say of their coming exile associated with your freight ease River and what was once beautiful what was once useful what was once emblematic of nobility and dignity now was reduced to nothing and friends this would be the price that proud and disobedient Judah would have to pay when the judgment of God came upon them there's some very arresting words right in here look at it in verse 10 he says you shall be just like this sash which is profitable for nothing it's as if God had high hopes for the people of Israel I to be for beauty I want you to be for a doorman just as a sash is tied tightly around a person that's how close I want you to be for me but you didn't want it you rejected me you refused me therefore you're never gonna fulfill your purpose to be something beautiful something glorious think about the kind of thing that a person would wear that would because you know an accessory that a man might have maybe has a very fine watch on his wrist and people notice command that's a very fine accessory or think about a woman with just one of these really high-class handbags whatever the brands are the hot things are you know what they are in their minds you take that thing you take that handbag you take that watch and you put it in an environment whether it's the water or whether it's the mud or whether and it just becomes deteriorated and useless and you go what a tragedy something that normally could have been useful but could have been beautiful and glorious now it's reduced to nothing and friends that's what a life in rebellion against God is like God has made us so that we could be a beautiful adornment of his glory that's what men and women are when they're in obedience to God that's what men and women are when they walk in the will of God they are a beautiful adornment of the God on high but when they reject him when they won't listen to him they become profitable for nothing look at how he teases us out in verse 10 this is how their sins made them profitable for nothing first of all it describes in verse 10 those who refuse to hear my words that's one way to do it refuse to hear God's words secondly in verse 10 who followed the dictates of their hearts that's it you want to be useful you want to be profitable for nothing follow your own heart don't listen to God just follow your own heart so be determined to disobey refuse to hear his words follow the dictates of your own hearts and then thirdly and then walk after other gods to serve them friends that is a three-fold prescription for disaster in any person's life and where will it leave them friends the siren song of the world screams to us and it says fulfill yourself find your own way you know what you're going to end up you're gonna end up like that rotten linen sash like that rotten handbag like that beautiful watch that is now good-for-nothing God had another plan in mind for them to cling close to him but they would not receive it look at the end of verse 11 those lines but they would not hear because of their stubborn and persistent sins against the Lord Judah never fulfilled the noble and the beautiful destiny that God had planned for them they became useless and ruined just like the Buried sash and so it is among God's people or among humanity in general today remember that great line from the book of Revelation and I know I'm quoting it from the new from the King James Version because it has this is poetic beauty it says thou art worthy for thou has created all things and for thy pleasure they are created when we understand our proper place as a creation under God that we were created for his pleasure see here's the problem with this picture of the sash it shows that we were meant to or to what's the word I'm looking for not to ordain to adorn that's the word I was looking for we were meant to adorn God whereas we think that God was meant to adorn us okay God you you you take my life and make it something prettier and God's us no I want to put you as a jewel in my crown I want you to be something that adorns my glory that is the proper place of men and women under the will of God that's powerful picture don't you think the sermon of the sash well if that wasn't enough let's take a look at the sermon of the wine bottles verse 12 no no foolin therefore you shall speak to them this word thus says the Lord God of Israel every bottle shall be filled with wine and they will say to you do we not certainly know that every bottle shall be filled with wine now apparently this was a proverb in the days of Jeremiah the proverb went something like this every bottle shall be filled with wine and it went something like this everything will fulfill its purpose everything's gonna be good it's kind of like saying this it's all good every bottle will be filled with wine everything's gonna be alright and everything will fulfill its purpose now God's gonna take that proverb that was used among the people in Jeremiah's day and he's gonna turn it on sin look at verse 13 then you shall say to them thus says the Lord behold I will fill all the inhabitants of the land even the kings who sit on David's throne the priests the prophets and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with drunkenness and I will dash them one against another even the fathers and the sons together says the Lord I will not pity nor spare nor have mercy but will destroy them God's essentially saying this you want to talk about wine bottles by the way do you understand that they're not talking about glass bottles that we have today they're talking about earthenware vessels we would call them jars or vessels that they would hold wine in but they were earthenware and they could break and God says you want to take this proverb that every bottle shall be filled with wine every wine jars shall be filled with none you want to take that proverb well let me turn that proverb around on you verse 13 I will fill all the inhabitants of this land with drunkenness what is he talking about I'll tell you what he's talking about that they will be in a condition of stupor and stupidity when the Babylonians come against them you know if you see two guys kind of in a fistfight and one of them is stone-cold drunk and the other one is sober put your money on the sober guy but the drunk guy doesn't have the wherewithal he's stupid he's in a stupor and God says I'm gonna put that upon you when the judgment comes and you won't be able to stand against it and then what's gonna happen to you mister wine-bottle look at verse 14 I will dash them one against the other you see it's like this because you know bottles don't only have the destiny to be filled bottles also have a destiny to be broken and this is what's gonna happen to you I'm gonna take this proverb and I'm gonna turn it around on you to warn you of the coming judgement now with verse 15 we sudden come to a different place verse 15 sounds so hopeful but I think that verse 15 is Jeremiah's prophetic imagination of how the people of Judas should repent notice the sincerity of this repentance he says this here and give ear do not be proud for the Lord has spoken give glory to the Lord your God before he causes darkness and before your feet stumble on the dark mountains and while you are looking for light he turns it into the shadow of death and makes it a dense darkness here's a third picture he uses the first picture was of the linen sash the second picture was of the wine bottles or the wine jars the third picture is of the mountain traveler and basically what Jeremiah is saying is repent and get right with God before darkness falls and you're traveling in the mountains a friends you and I are at a disadvantage in understanding this text because we have all sorts of wonderful artificial supplies of light we have great flashlights you know we'll stumble around using our cell phone for a light whatever we have to do in the darkroom we have all these marvelous artificial forms for life but have you ever been in a place where it's absolutely dark and you don't have any ABS to access to light that's frightening isn't it now think about being on a mountain pass traveling and darkness falls and you are utterly helpless you got that fear that kind of grips your heart you don't know if you can take a single step without disaster coming your way friends this was the calamity that was going to come upon Judah in their rebellion against God and so Jeremiah's counseled to them is verse 15 do not be proud for the Lord has spoken verse 16 give glory to the Lord your God before he causes darkness give glory to God now confess your sin now that's what he means by give glory to the Lord that phrase is used in other places in the Old Testament in the sense of repenting and confessing your sin he says do it now before the darkness comes upon you you have a little bit of daylight now use that to get right with God because when the darkness falls you won't be able to find your way but now look at the price they're gonna pay in verse 17 but if you will not hear it my soul will weep in secret for your pride my eyes will weep bitterly and run down with tears because the Lord's flock has been taken captive say to the king and say to the Queen mother humble yourselves sit down for your rule shall collapse the crowd of your glory the cities of the South shall be shut up and no one shall open them Judah shall be carried away captive all of it it shall be wholly carried away captive lift up your eyes and see those who come from the north where is the flock that was given to you your beautiful sheep you know Jeremiah speaks with a man who has a broken heart look at it verse 17 if you will not hear it my soul will weep friends there is something so tragic but so admirable in the Prophet Jeremiah that it speaks to a man like myself who's a preacher or a pastor and I think it speaks to anybody who has a heart for the people of God Jeremiah had so many reasons to be hardened and bitter against the people of Judah he preached he preached he preached and they did not listen and it's not like they just ignored him with a common difference no they threw him into jail they persecuted him they put his life on the edge he faced all this persecution all this difficulty repeatedly again and again and again Jeremiah suffered for his ministry in a very intense way but he could still weep over the destiny that was going to come upon his people a lesser man dare I say perhaps someone like me it would be much easier for us to have that added they get what they deserve I warned him told you so shoulda listened to me why didn't you listen to my warnings see what's coming upon you friends a lesser man would have had dry eyes with all the rejection that Jeremiah faced in his ministry but friends even though they rejected him time and time again his heart was broken over the sinful course of the people of Judah and in this do we not find a beautiful example of Jesus Christ our Lord you know the person who's in rebellion against God the person who's pushing him away the person who's going their own way you you might think that Jesus after pleading with the person after reaching out to the person after ministering to that person you might think that Jesus might finally have well whatever man you deserve it this catastrophe comes upon you because your back was turned me whatever deal with it man you brought it on your own head that is not the attitude of our Savior at all he weeps with you his heart goes out to you he's not an i-told-you-so kind of God but his heart breaks right along with you even when it's totally your fault that's how it was for the people of Judah and so he gives the warning looking at here in verse 18 say to the king and to the queen-mother humble yourselves this apparently speaks to the young king Jehovah ken and his mother nahusha this is described in 2nd Kings chapter 24 who were eventually carried off into Babylon and he says listen humble yourselves the threat is coming you guys are going to be carried away maybe you can lessen your guilt if you humble yourselves now but they would not and this would be the result verse 18 for your rules shall collapse the crown of your glory if they did not repent even when they had a special responsibility to lead in repentance then they would find themselves in this difficult place and what would it be like verse 20 where is the flock that was given to your beautiful sheep it's like the king and the Queen Mother they were given to rule over the Sheep of the people of Judah and where are they been taking carried away to Babylon that's where they are the judgment of God has come upon them this was a warning to these proud kings and royal people to repent now before the calamity came then verse 21 what will you say when he punishes you for you have taught them to be chieftains to behead over you when that pang sees you like a woman in labor and if you say in your heart why have these things come upon me for the greatness of your iniquity your skirts are uncovered your heels made bare can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its spots then may you also do good who are accustomed to do evil friends when there's this much love when there's this much appeal when there's this much warning isn't the question valid in verse 21 what will you do when he punishes you what are you gonna do what can you say I didn't know what are you gonna say he never spoke to my conscience what are you gonna say I never had any good examples around me what will you say when he punishes you friends I think about this a lot because I think about people who think there are really people who think that when they stand before God on the day of judgment they're gonna tell him a thing or two have you ever met people like that you ever talked with people like that how frightening that is but what a delusion they live under they really think that when they stand before the Almighty that they'll take some moral superiority and they'll tell him a thing or two Lisa general what a dangerous delusion the question of Jeremiah hits us with full force what will you say when he punishes you what will you say when it's all exposed when it's all out the open when there's nothing more to hide but when every time you've rejected what God has offered you every time you've stopped your ears to what he said every time you've neglected the grace that he's given you every time it's all laid out there's nothing to respond and then he says verse 22 and I have to say that these are difficult words to read and if you say in your heart why of these things come upon me for the greatness of your iniquity your skirts have been uncovered your heels made bare friends he's either talking about one of two things he's either talking about a custom that they had in ancient Israel in an ancient world it wasn't unique to Israel where sometimes they would shame a prostitute by stripping her naked publicly okay that's the idea you Israel you've been spiritually unfaithful to God you've been like a prostitute offering yourself to all the idols you've committed the spiritual adultery so God's gonna treat you like that but but that's probably not the sense although it's possible the probable sense and I say this with delicacy there's no reason to go into this but just to tell you that it's probably speaking about the violent violation of a woman and probably what it's speaking about is God saying this is what it's gonna feel like to you when the judgment of God comes upon you how horrific how horrible KITT can you see that God is speaking in shocking disturbing images trying to get their attention any way they can friends the easier medicine has already been given and it hasn't worked now now it's time to warm up those shock paddles and put it on the chest and see if somehow you can't deliver some jolt that's so shocking so disturbing that that'll wake them out of their stupor but this is where Judah was at this time then he says in verse 23 can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its spots then may you also do good who are accustomed to evil Jeremiah quoted this proverb to warn the people that they were so stuck in their sinful nature that they were unable change themselves and you see that the answer was not first in some national reform the answer was first in national repentance and in reliance upon the God who can change the leopard spot who can change even the color of skin at least in this metaphorical sense France this is the point evil may be so ingrained in men and women that they find it impossible to stop France I'll just answer the question can the Ethiopian change of skin or the leopard its spots then you also may do good who are accustomed to evil here's the point you can't change yourself but there's a transforming power in Jesus Christ that's power that's greater than what you can do yourself do you see that this is the great invitation of the Scriptures it's not inviting you to come and turn over a new leaf it's inviting you to come and have Jesus Christ be the Lord and the transformer of your life to live out second Corinthians 5:17 if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation old things have passed away behold all things have become new now friends the changes don't always come at once and the changes aren't complete until we're glorified in our resurrection body but they should be real in the life of a believer there should be evidence of transformation the ethiopian cannot change his skin the leopard cannot change his spots but the Lord God in heaven can transform the lives of men and women but they would not be transformed verse 24 therefore I will scatter them like stubble that passes by the wind of the wilderness this is your lot the portion of your measures from me says the Lord because you have forgotten me and trusted in falsehood because you would not turn to me I'm gonna scatter you you're going to be sent away to exile all over the Babylonian Empire verse 26 therefore I will uncover your skirts over your face that your shame may appear I have seen your adulteries and your lustful names the lewdness of your harlotry your abominations on the hills in the fields woe to you O Jerusalem will you still not be made clean frenzied cats that last little question there will you not still be made clean I've spoken to you so strong I've tried to shock you with disturbing images but still we refuse to be made clean we refuse what I offer to you with this open hand now coming into chapter 14 the word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah concerning the drought now let me pause right here we in the state of California aren't we grateful for the rain that's come just in the last couple days what a beautiful thing how nice it is what a blessing from God and I don't doubt that there's been many believers praying for many weeks if not months for rain to come that God would display his mercy to this state because let me tell you friends that rain came not because the people in the state of California cleaned up their act and turned to God that rain came as a manifestation of the mercy of God and whatever drought stage that were supposedly still in you know whatever it is it's not over yet but we still need to cry out to God for His mercy but even in the ancient world God tried to get the attention of his people through drought so now verse 2 here they are in drought in this a very poetic and powerful description of drought Judah mourns and her gates languish they mourn for the land and the cry of Jerusalem has gone up their Nobles have sent their lads for water they went to the cistern and found no water they returned with their vessels empty they were ashamed and confounded and covered their heads because the ground is parched for there was no rain in the land the ploughman were ashamed they covered their heads yes the deer also give birth in the field but left because there was no grass and the wild donkeys stood in the desolate heights they sniffed at the wind like jackals and their eyes failed because there was no grass now of course drought was always a special issue for Israel for because they lived in these lands that are much like the geography of the state of California there's a semi-arid land they didn't have mighty rivers they didn't have great amounts of rainfall they relied on the seasonal rains just like we would in California if it were not for our vast elaborate irrigation systems and so again they relied on it just like we have to rely on it and they were so reliant on it that it was a great temptation for them to look to the God but all of the Canaanites because he was supposedly the god of the weather the God of the rain and that's what attracted many Israelites to the god Baal they thought that by serving but all they might ensure for themselves better crops and better rainfall but it hadn't worked there was a drought so severe in the land that the nobles were sending out their own children to go out and do the work they looked everywhere for water they could find none and it even affected the ecosystem looking here in verse five the deer also gave birth in the field but left because there was no grass there's nothing to feed the deer and sustain its young calf with milk there was nothing to do I guess it's a fawn isn't it for deer there was nothing to sustain the young fawn with milk and this tragedy by the way did you notices that man's sin and rebellion has an effect on the ecosystem you ever thought about that listen I I think if you're really an environmentalist you're gonna get right with God if you really want to bless the creation once you once you start I'm not saying necessarily have to finish there but once you start with getting right with God because it was the lack of repentance on behalf of the people that brought a curse to the ecosystem in this particular way now look at verse 7 where Jeremiah is gonna model godly repentance as if he's gonna say this let me show you what truly godly repentance would look like verse 7 Oh Lord though our iniquities testify against us do it for your name's sake for our backslidings are many have sinned against you Oh the hope of Israel has Savior in time of trouble why should you be like a stranger in the land and like a traveller who turns aside to tarry for a night why should you be like a man astonished like a mighty one who cannot save yet you O Lord are in our midst and we are called by your name do not leave us isn't it a beautiful prayer what a beautiful prayer of repentance here's the problem it was not the prayer of the people of Judah it was the prayer of Jeremiah he hoped it would be a model for the people of Judah but as we're gonna see in the rest of this chapter and in coming chapters it didn't really work out that way I love this way he describes it there in verse 7 Oh Lord though our iniquities testify against us do it for your name's sake Lord I know that we're sinners we don't deserve this display of your mercy but for your name's sake God because it'll glorify you because it'll show you as a great God why don't you extend your mercy and your kindness to us that's the whole attitude that he's expressing there in verse 7 and then verse 9 he says yet you O Lord are in our midst we are called by your name do not leave us I love these appeals to God's mercy to his kindness to the people do not leave us Lord please were called by your name it's a beautiful appeal to God from a very humble place but as I said before it wasn't the prayer of the people it was the prayer of the Prophet and God could see what was in the heart of the people so look at his response here in verse 10 thus says the Lord to the people thus they have loved to wander they have not restrained their feet therefore the Lord does not accept them he will remember their iniquity now and punish their sins friends you don't want that to be said of you you want it to be said of you as God promises under the New Covenant I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more if God says I will remember your sins and iniquities that's trouble that's trouble you don't want to be on that side of the equation no you don't want to be of those in verse 10 it says they have loved to wander no and you don't want to be of those that it says therefore the Lord does not accept them because this repentant one was only imagined and not real God would not accept an unfaithful people he would remember their sins and punished their sins now this this was grieving - Jeremiah thought Lord I hoped I could show the way of repentance I could be an example of the people having bit Lord this disturbs me so much look at what he says here in verse 11 then the Lord said to me do not pray for this people for their good when they fast I will not hear their cry and when they offer burnt offering and grain offering I will not accept them but I will consume them by the sword by the famine and by the pestilence whoa did you see that in verse 11 do not pray for this people now there's one thing right off the bat that convicts me with that there are many pastors and ministers who need to be commanded to pray for their people Jeremiah was such a man of Prayer that he had to be told not to pray for the people of Israel his default position was to pray for those people that he loved but no no he said no don't pray for them people why why do not pray for them notice this because I will consume them by sword by the fan by pestilence they're too far gone Jeremiah don't pray for them and this stirs up something within the Prophet look at it verse 13 he says this that then I said O Lord God behold the prophets say to them you shall not see the sword nor shall you see famine but I'll give you an assured peace in this place you see what umi is doing she says look Lord Lord I know you're so angry at the people I know you tell me not to pray for him but God can't you see they've been to see by false prophets they've had prophets in their midst to tell them everything's gonna be all right don't worry about the Babylonians God's gonna come through everything's gonna be good don't worry about a thing my friends that was a very popular message to the people in Jeremiah's day there were people who wanted to hear that message that everything was gonna be all right don't worry about the Babylonians no God is gonna rescue you everything's good peace safety don't worry about it there's just one problem that was a lie the friends any preacher worth anything would much rather preach everything's gonna be okay then fasten your seat belt the planes going down but here's the problem when the planes going down you better preach that message and Jeremiah wasn't gonna lie there were prophets who were more than willing to lie and speak falsehoods in the name of the Lord it's a sobering thing for us to remember but you know it don't you that not everybody who pretends to speak in the name of the Lord is really speaking not everybody who opens a Bible and starts talking is really preaching the truth of God it just doesn't work that way didn't work that way in Jeremiah's day doesn't work that way today so he's hoping to explain or excuse the lack of repentance on the part of guts but don't blame him Lord they've been deceived by these false prophets well what's not gonna say about that look at verse 14 and the Lord said to me that the prophets prophesy lies in my name and I've been looking for loopholes in that one in verse 14 I just don't find it they prophesy lies in my name I have not sent them commanded them nor spoken to them they prophesy to you a false vision divination a worthless thing and the deceit of their heart therefore thus says the Lord concerning the prophets who prophesy in my name whom I did not send and who say sword and famine shall not be in this land by sword and famine those prophets shall be consumed friends isn't that a heavy judgment look at what it says there in verse 14 I have sent them commanded them spoken to them they prophesy a false vision now if it didn't come from God where did it come from I'm not gonna say it came from the devil because that's not what Jeremiah says if you look at verse 14 it says it came from the deceit of their heart in other words somebody may be speaking smooth words in the name of the Lord but it doesn't come from the Lord it comes from the wishes and the aspirations and the desires of their own heart they speak grandiose or swelling words hoping to gain a following but it's not true it's from their own heart it's not from the Lord what's going to happen to those prophets in the days of Jeremiah look at it in verse fifteen by sword and famine those prophets shall be consumed verse 16 and the people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine the sword they will have no one to bury them they ignore their wives their sons nor their daughters for I will pour their wickedness on them you see this friends Jeremiah hoped to excuse the people of God because of the false prophets words everybody understand that what did God say in response first of all he said I'm gonna deal with those false prophets and secondly he said it's no excuse it's a heavy word for me to say but I think it's entirely justified by the text if you are led astray by a false prophet God will hold you to account for that you're not gonna be able to point at the false problems say hey man what my fault they're the one who is a false prophet God says I gave you the capability to judge whether or not they were false prophet you didn't use it that's what he did for the people of Judah and he said it's gonna be upon their own head verse 17 therefore you shall say this word to them let my eyes flow with tears night and day and let them not cease for the virgin daughter of my people has been broken with a mighty stroke with a very severe blow if I go out into the field then behold those slain with the sword and if I enter the city then behold those sick from famine yes both prophet and priest go about in a land they do not know do you see this outpouring of Tears from Jeremiah verse 17 let my eyes flow with tears night and day I look at the calamity that's come upon them I look at the judgment that's come upon them and there's no answer there's no hope there's no help I am reduced to nothing but tears verse 19 Jeremiah is crying out to God now have you utterly rejected Judah has your soul loathed Zion why have you stricken us so that there's no healing for us we look for peace but there was no good and for the time of healing but there was trouble we acknowledge Oh Lord our wickedness and the iniquity of our fathers for we have sinned against you I want you to look carefully at verses 19 and 20 he's astonished at the calamity that come and he cries out in verse 19 have you uh Turley rejected Judah has your soul loads I God it seems so severe do you hate us that's the pain of the Prophet Jeremiah I want you to know something well what is he doing right there in verses 19 and 20 he's praying but I thought God told him not to pray friends if there was ever a holy disobedience it was this God told him not to pray because I can't stop praying Lord I'm so consumed with pain over the fate of my people that I pray for them my eyes weep for them and I wonder why are you rejecting us we acknowledge I love this phrase and we acknowledge O Lord our wickedness and the iniquity of our fathers for we have sinned against you this is kind of repentance that God wanted Judah to bring before him but they would not they rebelled they stayed stuck in their own sinfulness and then the conclusion of the chapter verse 21 and 22 do not abhor us for your name's sake do not disgrace the throne of your glory remember do not break your covenant with us are there any among the idols of the nations that can cause rain or can the heavens give showers are you not he Oh Lord our God therefore we will wait for you since you have made all of these friends I want you to look at that line in verse 21 do not abhor us for your name's sake do not disgrace the throne of your glory jeremiah looked at his people who were about to perish the looming threat of the babylonian invasion and exile was just on the horizon and he can see it because he knows that he's a prophet of the Lord he sees it and he looks at the people and he goes there is nothing there that would merit God rescuing them nothing I look at them I pray prayers of repentance but they don't I turned my heart to the Lord but they don't so you know what he sees he sees nothing in the people that would arouse God to have mercy so he appeals to God himself and he says Lord if you can't see any reasons in them to have mercy would you please look for the reasons in yourself now when the big picture God did because even though the Babylonians came even though they were exiled even though they were sorely judged it was not the end God brought them back into the land and God worked through a remnant God in a sense answered Jeremiah's prayer and friends he'll answer the prayer if you come to him on the same grounds when Jeremiah looked at the people and saw nothing good in them to base his prayer on he said Lord there's something good in you look at that again in verse 1 1 this is what he says do not a Boris Lord for your name's sake he doesn't say do not abhor us because we're so good no for your name's sake do not disgrace the throne of your glory you didn't say don't disgrace us do not disgrace the throne of your glory friends this is a huge lesson to us and a good place to conclude on don't come to the Lord with this attitude or these words now you're probably too spiritual to come with these words but you might come with this attitude you know Lord I'm pretty holy maybe you want to answer this prayer you know read my Bible every day this week I guess I've pretty much got you in debt to me devotional life has been pretty strong you know I made every Wednesday night of life groups god I'm doing pretty good you know on and on and on whatever it is and you come to God either with your words or in your heart based on how good you think you are friends would you put that away and say no Lord I want to come to you based on your name on your glory on the work of Jesus Christ on my behalf that's the only way that you'll find the answer and look at the air Barry end of verse 22 therefore we will wait for you since you have made all these friends that's the attitude of a humbled surrendered heart it was the heart of Jeremiah wasn't the heart of Judah but it can be your heart Lord I'm gonna wait for you I'm gonna set my heart upon you I'm gonna come in humility not on the basis Who I am but on the greatness of who you are father that's our prayer right here right now Lord we want to disavow any trust in our own righteousness Lord we can think of good deeds that we've done things that we've given people we've helped sacrifices we've made you know rituals we performed we can think of all of it Lord and we proclaimed before you now we don't trust in a bit of it instead Lord we trust in the glorious name of Jesus who has wept over us in our waywardness who has pled for us as an intercessor before your throne we look to Jesus the author and the finisher of our faith and we say thank you Lord for his great work in our life thank you Lord we pray that the weeping of Jesus over us would have full effect before you do it for your glory Lord we pray in Jesus name [Music] you

Channel: David Guzik

Views: 5,760

Rating: 4.8823528 out of 5

Keywords: david guzik, guzik, jeremiah, jeremiah 13, jeremiah 14, fals prophets, prophecy, prophet jeremiah, enduring word

Id: ONAJsVuTtKs

Length: 49min 38sec (2978 seconds)

Published: Wed Nov 06 2019