Jeremiah 16 - Learning from Figs and from Cups - Jeremiah 24-25

[Music] Jeremiah chapter 24 is part of a larger section where Jeremiah is speaking to the kings of Judah into the leaders of Judah shortly before the final conquest of Judah by the Babylonians the the the conquering of Judah and Jerusalem by the Babylonians happened in several stages over many years and in the broader context he's speaking to the kings of Judah shortly before the final conquest of Jerusalem and Judah keep that in mind as we take a look at verse 1 of Jeremiah chapter 24 the Lord showed me and there were two baskets of figs set before the Temple of the Lord after Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and carried away captive jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah and the princes of Judah with the craftsmen and Smith's from Jerusalem and had brought them to Babylon now it's a little hard to tell if what follows in this short chapter from the Book of Jeremiah is a vision a dream or whether a cook jeremiah saw it maybe he really did go down to the temple and just see a couple of baskets of figs or there are indications that it could have been a vision or a dream we don't quite know but the point is the same either way he has in his mind two baskets of figs it says somewhere near the temple perhaps they were there as some kind of grain offering unto the Lord perhaps somebody just left them behind on a shopping trip we don't really know but there's two baskets of figs there by the temple now notice what else it says there in verse one it says after Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive Jeconiah King jeconiah of Judah reigned only a few months and then he was deposed and exiled when Nebuchadnezzar came a second time to Jerusalem that's when these events happen now this was after the short reign of jeconiah therefore another man is king a man named Zedekiah and Zedekiah would be the last king of before the final conquest by the babylonians the other thing you have to understand about Kings etic ayah was that he was a puppet set up on the throne of Judah by King Nebuchadnezzar before Nebuchadnezzar left Jerusalem and went back to Babylon he said I'm gonna install a king who will be obedient and and good to me and so he installed Zedekiah under those instructions now it says that they had already carried away many people captive verse 1 says the princes of Judah with the craftsmen and the Smiths in other words they had already had two phases of Exile the first one happened several years before when people like Daniel and his associates were taken then came another one shortly before this when more were taken and the final conquest was yet to come now look at this verse 2 you ask what do the figs mean what do the baskets of figs mean well that's first to take a look 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 and 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 you don't have to be a genius to figure that out he sees two baskets of figs one basket art good figs we just planted a fig tree in our backyard a couple years ago and we're just now just a couple days ago anglo got like the first great fig of the season off of it just perfect just great but you know figs when they're ripe and good they're a little bit's mushy you know there comes up can you matter what over ripe figs are like how gross those are so you got one basket full of good figs you got another basket full of terrible figs rotten figs so bad that they cannot be good do you have these two baskets of figs in your mind now here's the twist you might think okay great the good figs are the righteous the bad figs are the unrighteous the good figs are the people who didn't get carried away into captivity the bad figs are the ones who did get carried away in captivity and there you'd be wrong take a look now starting at the next verse starting at verse four we read again the word of the Lord came to me saying thus says the Lord the God of Israel like these good figs so I will 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 that's the Babylonians for I will set my eyes on them for good and I will bring them back into this land I will build them and not pull them down and I will plant them and not pluck them up and 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 and they shall return to me with their whole heart so God says first let me tell you about the basket of good figs what about the basket of good fix looking at there in verse five like these good figs so will I acknowledge those who are carried away captives from Judah whom I have sent out of the place for their own good now judgment had come to Judah as a whole and was to come to Judah in an even greater measure and it would be very easy if you were left behind in Jerusalem to say woo am I glad God must be pleased with me because I didn't get taken away by the Babylonians into into captivity I stayed behind God must smile upon me and I must be in special favour and you know what God says no just the opposite those people who are already carried away now when I think about the already people who tear it away think about Daniel Daniel and his companions they were in the very first wave God says they're the Blessed ones they're the good figs you people who got left behind in Jerusalem you're the bad figs you thought that you are the objects of God's special favor I'm telling you that you're like the bad figs and the people already taken away to captivity are the good figs now there's one thing I want you to understand here a principle that I think is worthy to mention when judgment comes upon a nation people who are not directly responsible for the sins that brought the judgement on the nature nation suffer I mean this is just in the nature of things is it not when judgment comes upon a nation comes upon a people there are for example children who suffer because of the judgment that came upon the nation and the children weren't directly involved in the sin but they suffered do they not so it's easy for us to think well God how unfair of you you just look at them on you go Oh wipe them all out you know on and on and God says no even when I'm judging a nation I know how to distinguish between the good figs and the bad things even when I'm judging a nation I know the state and the status of each individual heart and I will deal with them on that level friends don't ever think that just because judgment comes to a nation or a people or a group that God has lost the distinction between the righteous in that group and the unrighteous that God has lost the distinction if I could say it between the good figs and the bad figs he stills knows who they are but here's the other aspect of it sometimes the way that works out is unexpected to human nature we would not have expected that God says the good ones are the ones who are already carried away captive that's why he says in verse 6 I will set my eyes on them for good and I will bring them back to this land those people who were represented by the good figs would be blessed even in their captivity God promised to bring them back to the land and they would be among those who came back to Judah with Ezra and Nehemiah starting about 538 BC they see there was a blessing for those who were first taken in the Exile because they would be among those who were first to go back to the land when the opportunity was given and God says in verse 6 I will build them up and not pull them down and I will plant them and not pluck them up when they return to the land God would not God would I would say he would establish them securely again then he continues on in verse seven then I will give them a new heart to know me that I am the Lord now when we read those verses here in Jeremiah chapter 24 they sound an awful lot about like the New Covenant passages that we will come to in the Book of Jeremiah friends I just want to build your anticipation up in a few weeks and we get to the New Covenant passages of the Book of Jeremiah and this is what I would call a partial New Covenant passage in other words he's using many of the themes that he will announce in the New Covenant to come some of those themes like a heart to know me they shall be my people they so return to me with her whole heart he's using those but in my view there's some people might dispute this but in my view he still has in mind the return from exile and friends there is a sense which there was a very wonderful change of heart in the people of Israel when they came back into the land after the Exile after the Babylonian captivity you know what that big change of heart was and the big change of heart was simply this before Israel went into captivity into Babylon their biggest problem that God had to adjust to the prophets again and again and again was idolatry but all in Astrid but all in Ashworth asteroth and Moloch Moloch and ball on and on and on it was these pagan gods of the canines that was their biggest problem all the time that God had to address before they went into exile friends after exile was over when they came back you find very little problem in Israel them messing around with ball or a Sharath or Molech it cleanse them of their idolatry I'm not trying to say that all their spiritual problems were over there were still things God had to deal with in their life but there was a definite change when they came back from the Babylonian exile and this is what God is referring to when he uses this wording I will give them a new heart to know me so I regard this as using the gathering from exile as a prefiguring of the ultimate fulfillment of the new covenant that we're gonna see in the later chapters of the book of jeremiah alright that's the good figs the people already taken away in captivity should we look at the bad figs let's taste the bad figs beginning here verse 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 king of Judah his Prince's the residue of Jerusalem who remain in the land and those who dwell in the land of Egypt I will deliver them into 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 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 I please notice us verse 8 he says has the bad figs which cannot be eaten so will I give up Zedekiah not everybody in Judah was like the good figs there were bad figs there and what does God say that to them verse 9 I will deliver them into trouble into all the kingdoms of the earth virtually all of the people of the kingdom of Judah would be carried away as captives be carried away as exiles and in God's plan it was better to be taken earlier into exile now before we leave this I just want you to think what would have been like if you lived in Jerusalem in these days when Nebuchadnezzar comes and it takes away a bunch of people and you're left behind it would be very easy for you to think God is very pleased with me they got taken away I was left behind and then Nebuchadnezzar comes back again and he takes more people and you're still left behind and now you're thinking well I am the special apple of God's eye look at how pleased God is with me friends isn't it amazing how easy it is for us to take spiritual pride when we have no reason to take it whatsoever and I don't know how this might apply to your life if I sat down and think about I think about some ways that could apply to my life but it's just very easy for us to think that we are spiritually superior to somebody else when we have no reason for thinking it whatsoever and that was the case with the good fix the bad fix thought they were the good figs and God says no no no let me set you straight on that now starting in verse 1 of chapter 25 the word that came to Jeremiah concerning 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 which Jeremiah the Prophet spoke to all the peoples of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem saying a couple things we got a set here first of all we got a set the general time here he's taking us back to the fourth year of Jehoiakim this is before the reign of Zedekiah many years before the reign of Zedekiah just to give it a quick estimation about seven years before the reign of Zedekiah why have we jumped back so quickly well look sometimes the Book of Jeremiah just jumps around I like the suggestion from one Bible commentator named G Campbell Morgan G Campbell Morgan says that what Jeremiah is doing right here is he's relating a vision that he had back in the fourth year of Jehoiakim but he's relaying it to King Zedekiah right there in the present day he's saying remember what God spoke to me many years before I think that's the sense of it right here that's one sense the biblical anchor for this the other thing the fourth year of Jehoiakim was a pivotal year in world history I'll tell you what happened in that I doubt if it's on the tip of anybody's tongue it's when the Babylonians defeated the Egyptians at the Battle of Carr kamesh a car kamesh is a city at the Fords of the afraid E's River on the turkey side of the Turkish side of the Euphrates in the modern-day map right across the border from Syria on the modern-day map and there was an epic military battle that happened there in 605 BC and it was the battle that established that the Babylonians ruled that area of the world that was the battle that established them as the superpower of the world against the Egyptians who were trying to exercise their influence and keep the Babylonians down so it was a pivotal year for world history but after nebuchadnezzar defeated the Egyptians at karke mesh then he came down to Jerusalem and invaded Jerusalem so it wasn't this was the year of the first invasion of Nebuchadnezzar on Jerusalem so it's his earth-shaking thing and personally I believe that these particular prophecies that Jeremiah gave happened in between those two events so Babylon is the undisputed world power because of the victory car kamesh they're on their way down to Jerusalem and the whole world is wondering what are they gonna do how are they gonna reign what kind of power they going to be and God's going to answer those questions with the prophecy in Jeremiah chapter 25 here we go now verse 3 from the 13th year of Josiah the son of anand king of judah even to this day is the 20th 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 and the Lord has sent to you all his servants the prophets rising early and sending them but you have not listened to them nor inclined your ear to hear they said repent now every one of his evil way it is evil doings and dwell in the land that the Lord has given you and your father's forever forever do not go after other gods and serve them and worship them and do not provoke me to anger with the words of your hand with the works of your hands and I will not harm you 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 okay first of all verse three do you see the time marker there Jeremiah says it the twenty-third year of his ministry friends that's about halfway through his 40-year career as a prophet it's an interesting thing being halfway through your career isn't it you no longer the rookie you're no longer the young guy I'm doing the work you've got a lot of experience you got a lot of credibility but you still got a lot more to go and that's where Jeremiah was when he delivered this prophecy he had been in for 23 years but what was the result look at verse 3 but you have not listened despite as many years of faithful service to God and to the people they did not listen to Jeremiah and they also did not listen to the other servants of the prophets that God sent to them and what was the message of these other servants and Jeremiah verse 5 repent now every one of his evil way and of his evil doings this was the message of Jeremiah and the other faithful prophets around him do you remember the last time we were in the Book of Jeremiah a couple weeks ago tonight I explained how there was a difference between the message of Jeremiah and the rest of the false prophets the message of Jeremiah and the true prophets was repent the message of the false prophets was relax don't worry about that kind of stuff and there was a big contradiction between those two messages well Jeremiah and those who lied to him they brought the faithful message but the people did not listen to it that's why it's repeated in verse 7 yet you have not listened to me that's the great crime friends I'm gonna say this again I feel like almost every night in Jeremiah I say this but I think it's relevant it's important it's something I try to remember from my own life and I hope you'll remember it the most important thing you can do is listen when God speaks to you in his word if you will listen when God speaks to you in his word God could do anything with you you you think that the big problem is your sin it's almost as if God says man your sin is an easy thing for me if you'll just listen to me when I speak to you in my word I'll guide you through dealing with your sin but you have to listen to me I get afraid sometimes and maybe it's an unfounded fear I'd be very happy to learn that this was an unfounded fear that there are many people who are churchgoers and seek to live the Christian life that when it comes to listening to God basically they walk around like this speak to me Lord guide me God you know you need to sit down and just say God I want to listen to you in and through your word to me you've given me your word I want to listen to it and you will teach me what when I'm in sin you'll teach me you'll show me when I need guidance you'll teach me you'll show me God can do anything with a man or a woman who will listen to him as he speaks through his word but this is what they would not do so what would happen look at verse 8 therefore thus says the Lord of hosts because you have not heard my words 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 moreover I will take from them the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness the voice the bridegroom and the voice of the bride the voice of the midst thus accuse me the sound of the millstones and the light of the lamp and this whole land shall be a desolation and an astonishment and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years first thing to notice in verse eight look how God introduces himself it's as if well let me put you there's all different ways somebody can introduce themselves to you can't they you say hi you know I'm so-and-so nice to meet you that's an introduction isn't it there's another way sometimes people making an introduction they pull out a badge and they say hi I'm officer so-and-so here's my introduction to you it's a different flavor between the two introductions is it not God is taking out the military metaphor when God calls himself the Lord of Hosts as he does in verse 8 Hosts speaks of heavenly angelic armies it's like God's pudding and I hope this isn't a disturbing figure anybody but I think it's it's accurate and spirit of it it's like God putting on his generals uniform and saying Here I am I'm speaking to you now as the general the captain of the Lord's armies listen up to me ok God you got our attention right now what does he say to him verse 9 Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon my servant and will bring them against this land Prince you see what he's saying there at verse 9 the conquering king of Babylon was God's servant against the people of Judah he said woman wait a minute God he's a pagan King who knows how many worthless heathen idols he worships well wait a minute he's a wicked man it's Nebuchadnezzar because his known when it comes to performing the work of judgment upon my people he is my servant he's my messenger doing my work and what's he gonna do verse 9 he's gonna make them an astonishment hissing a perpetual distillation desolation as Jeremiah did so many times before he announced the coming Babylonian conquest of Judah and Jerusalem matter of fact in verse 9 if you see the phrase it says he will utterly destroy them friends this is a heavy phrase because when he says in verse 9 I will utterly destroy them he's using a phrase that's used especially in the book of Joshua for what the Hebrew word is something like hmmm it means to carry out a holy war of total destruction God says that's what I'm sending Nebuchadnezzar to do against Judah and Jerusalem friends the judgments coming that's what God's announcing through Nebuchadnezzar now look at verse 11 these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years 70 years here God gave Jeremiah and additional revelation friends all through the Book of Jeremiah we've been reading judgments coming from Babylonians judgments coming from Babylonians judgments coming from the Revel onehans almost every week we talk about it here's something new judgments coming from the Babylonians and it'll last 70 years God just put an expiration date on it he put a clock on it he said that the forced exile of the people of God out of the promised land would last for 70 years now there are many Bible scholars and commentators and such who believe that the 70 years is a symbolic number it's a symbolic number referring to a long time and they say well it's kind of almost 70 years but not quite but friends there's good evidence to believe that when God said 70 years he meant 70 years there's good reason to believe this I'll quote from a man named charles feinberg he says on the other hand there are many who take the number of years to be precise namely from the fourth year of Jehoiakim the first year of Nebuchadnezzar to the end of the Babylonian dynasty with the coming of Cyrus in second chronicles chapter 36 they hold that the reckoning must be precise because it was Daniel who was among the first captives who said that the seventy years were fulfilled and friends I just got to believe that if Daniel said it was 70 it was 70 now look I'm not trying to say that this ends all the questions about it there are definitely questions and difficulties with the chronology but my inclination whenever you have a biblical number like this is to take it as literal unless there is overwhelming evidence to the contrary the fact that Daniels seemed to regard it as a literal number seems to argue very strongly that God intended it to be a literal number now what's gonna happen after the 70 years take a look here starting at verse 12 he says then it will come to pass when seventy years are completed that I will punish the king of Babylon for than that nation the land of the Chaldeans for their iniquity says the Lord and I will make it a perpetual desolation so I will bring on that land all my words which I pronounce against it all that is written in this book which Jeremiah's prophesied concerning all the nations for many nations and great kings shall be served by them also and I will repay them according to their deeds and according to the works of their own hands seventy years would not only mark the length of the Exile that was forced upon the people of Judah but it would also mark the length of Babylonian domination because after those seventy years they would be conquered by the Medes and the Persians who would take over and establish a new Empire God says the clock is ticking upon the Babylonians please understand this friends God said that Nebuchadnezzar was his servant did he not yet he would still judge him because in the service that Nebuchadnezzar did for God he didn't do it from his heart he didn't do it willingly in other words nobody should think this Nebuchadnezzar was oh I love the people of God I love the people of Israel all I want to do is bless them and mean old Yahweh is making me conquer Jerusalem because I'm his servant when really all I want to do is bless them does anybody think it worked like that for a moment friends let me tell you how it worked a wicked man had a wicked thought in his heart and God guided him even in his wickedness to accomplish his ultimate end for Nebuchadnezzar it was nothing but wickedness that prompted him to do what he did but God used it to bring a righteous judgment upon Judah just as Jeremiah prophesied therefore Nebuchadnezzar cannot stand before God and say hey I was your servant you used me now I don't want to get off into a side issue the whole case of Nebuchadnezzar is complicated because Daniel seems to indicate that he did turn to the Lord later in his life so I'm setting all that aside okay let's set that aside but apart from that we have this amazing instance of God can use a person and that person can still end up in ruin don't you wonder sometimes what Judas might say to God that Judas might come to God and say something like this hey you should be thanking me if I don't betray Jesus then he doesn't go to the cross and the sins of the world aren't paid for you should be thanking me for what I did somebody if they got that crazy thought friends let me tell you Judas would never dare think that thought in God's presence much less say those words why because it was no credit to Judas whatsoever even though God used his wicked actions don't ever think that just because God uses a man or a woman that that man or woman is necessarily justified in the eyes of God it wasn't you for Nebuchadnezzar it wasn't true for Judas it's been true it hasn't been true in many cases okay now that's God dealing with the Babylonians here he's going to increase his vision from verse 15 to the end of the chapter and we don't spend a lot of time on this word mostly just gonna read through it but check out how God is gonna pour out his judgment upon the nation's verse 15 thus says the Lord God of Israel to me take this wine cup of fury from my hand and cause all the nations to whom I send you to drink it and they will drink and stagger and go mad because of the sword that I will send among them alright you ready to put a picture in your mind here it's the picture right here from Jeremiah chapter 25 God says What did he say take this wine cup of fury from my hand now you know if I was really a better preacher and had better presentation here I would have established a goblet right here you know just a big goblet and not only that but I got it would use some of this fog or smoke stuff that they're using for the VBS now we're to put that in it and it would have looked like something from a Hansel and Gretel movie you know where you handed out in front of it come my little dearie drink of this you know it's uh soul this potion overflowing this friends that's the idea right here God has a wretched cup that he holds out and he says drink it and as we're gonna see in the coming verses the nation's might say oh I don't want to drink that no thank you I've given up drinking God says no you're gonna drink this there's no option to this he holds out this cup before the nation's now several times in the Old Testament a cup is presented as a powerful picture of the wrath and judgment of God let me read you just two passages Psalm 75 verse 8 we're in the hand on the Lord there is a cup and the wine is red it is fully mixed and He pours it out surely it's dregs shall all the wicked of the earth drain and drink down whoa how about this from Isaiah chapter 51 verse 17 awake awake stand up Oh Jerusalem you who have drunk at the hand of the Lord the cup of his fury you have drunk the dregs of the cup of trembling and drained it out do you see what we're talking about is a figure of judgment God holds the cup out before those who he's going to judge and he says drink it you got to drink the whole thing you've got to drain it down my friends before I move on to Jeremiah does this have any suggestions in people's minds about a prayer that jesus prayed in the garden of cemani the night before he was crucified what did Jesus pray one of the things he prayed in that garden was this father let this cup pass from me if it's possible and I'm paraphrasing the prayer of Jesus if it's possible to accomplish the salvation of humanity any other way I don't want to drink this cup let it pass do you understand the cup that God was talking about there in the Garden of Gethsemane do you understand that in Jesus is mine in his soul he could see that foaming wretched poisonous cup of the wrath of God and he knew that if he went to the cross he would drink it the friends here's the point who deserved to drink that cup I'll put it to you this way when your kids were growing up or when you were growing up did you ever have it where the kids would have their own little cups or something and maybe have their little name on it friends this is what I know that on that cup that was held before the Son of God in the Garden of Gethsemane my name was on that cup that cup was appointed for me I suppose it's a pretty big cup it could hold your name too and what Jesus said is he said father I don't want David to have to drink that cup I will drink it it's appointed for him he deserves it but I'll drink it I'll drink it because I can take it and he can't it will destroy him if he takes it he can't stand under your wrath but I can I will drink it so friends when we have this very powerful image of the cup of the wrath of God understand how it connections to the redemption that Jesus Christ won for us on the cross now he says verse 15 cause all the nations to whom I send you to drink it verse 16 they will stagger and drink and go mad because of the sword that I will send God says when I send this judgment when I make them drink this Cup it's not like they're going to be happy drunks they're gonna be staggering they're gonna be in pain they're gonna be in as if they're crazy because of this drink that I give to drink them now please understand this people please understand it in two ways first of all I almost hesitate to use the phrase because in my mind it has very unpleasant associations but some years ago there were people talking about God or his servants being a Holy Ghost bartender friends let me tell you something this is the kind of drink that God serves of his wrath and you want no part of this secondly I want you to notice this when he gives this cup and he tells them to drink it and he says they're gonna drink and stagger and go mad there's something characteristic of cultures before they're judged by God oftentimes it seems that sanity leaves them they're crazy they're crazy and friends I'll be straight with you that makes me fear for Western civilization in general and for the United States of America specifically when I see the things that capture the interest of Americans and Western culture when I see the things that are really important all the top priorities for us to pursue and the things that it seems like madness this that these are the things that our culture is focused upon and it makes me afraid it makes me leave then maybe we've already been given this cup and we're already staggering in our madness then the judgment is not far away now if all of that were true what it would be impressed upon us to do is to love God and trust him and keep short accounts with him and to preach the gospel with all our might all the more let me continue on here verse 17 then I took the cup from the Lord's hand and made all the nations drink to whom the Lord had sent me Jerusalem in the cities of Judah its kings and it's princes to make them a desolation and astonishment a hissing and it's Prince's excuse me and a curse as this is this day Pharaoh king of Egypt and his servants his princes and all his people all the mixed multitude all the kings of the land of us and all the kings of the land of the Philistines namely Ashkelon Gaza Ekron and the remnant of Ashdod Edom Moab and the people of Ammon and the kings of tyre the kings of Sidon and the kings on the coast land which are across the sea de Don Thema buzz and all those who are in the farthest corners all the kings of Arabia and all the kings of the mixed multitude who dwell in the desert all the kings of Zimri all the kings of Elam and all the kings of the Medes all the kings of the North far and near one with another and all the kingdoms of the world which are on the face of the earth also the king of Shishak shall drink after them in other words he takes this cup and obviously this is done symbolically in symbolically way he gives it to all the nations and to all the words because judgment is coming now Francis points to two things it points in a smaller way in a lesser way to the judgment that God was going to bring upon the whole region through the Babylonian army but more specifically it points to the end of all things and the judgment of the nation's at the end of the age and there will be such a judgment of the nations at the end of the age it's going to come I don't know if it's near or far but it's going to come and God says there's going to come this time when every man every woman every nation will be held to account verse 18 tells us that it's going to begin at Jerusalem in the cities of Judah Francis is a principal judgment always begins at the house of God always but listen when God is performing his judgment upon his people if the rest of the nations were smart they'd get right with him right away because they'd say if judgments come upon the house of God it's gonna come upon us for sure next and that's what God was announcing in and through this and so he gives this big long list you heard the listen I read of all these conceivable nations he wraps it all up at the end by saying all these nations will be led to drink and then at the very end did you see that verse 26 also the king of Shishak shall drink after them and everybody said amen but do you even know what you're saying amen - does anybody know what Shishak is I didn't know I had no clue I mean I had to look it up this week but let me explain you what she said is it's really kind of interesting shishak is a code name for babylon and it uses a special ancient hebrew code known as an at Bosch and akbash is a alphabetic code where you substitute the first letter of the alphabet for the last letter of the alphabet and the second letter of the alphabet for the second-to-last letter alphabet and you substitute those if you do that in the Hebrew alphabet and you do it to the the word Babylon or Babylonia you come up with Shishak so he's speaking in code well why what's the point of this friends the army of Babylon is coming down upon Jerusalem and is ready to contact them they probably wrote the name Babylon in code sometimes because they feared that their messages would be intercepted by spies or by Babylonian agents and that they would be liable they would be known as collaborators so they used code from time to time and God says even in code Babylon is going to be judged anyway verse 27 therefore you so say to them thus says the Lord of hosts the God of Israel drink be drunk and vomit fall and rise no more because of the sword which I will send among you it shall be if they refuse to take the cup from your hand to drink then you shall say to them thus says the Lord of hosts you shall certainly drink for behold I begin to bring calamity on the city which is called by my name and should you be utterly unpunished you shall not be unpunished for I will call for a sword on all the inhabitants of the earth says the Lord of hosts they said no we don't want to drink it God says you're going to drink it you cannot escape my judgment you cannot opt out of this he's going to bring it and that's why he says verse 29 I will call for a sword on all the inhabitants of the earth friends I want you to notice us yes Babylon is in view but ultimately the judgment of the world in general is in view does it surprise anybody that in the book of Revelation the economic system and the religious system of the end times is described as what in Revelation chapter 17 and 18 it's described as Babylon God's drawing back from these same images of world judgment and bringing them back into the book of Revelation matter of fact he's going to continue on that imagery that will tie back to the book of Revelation in the following verses - look at verse 30 therefore prophesy against them all these words and say to them the Lord will roar from on high and utter his voice from his holy habitation he will roar mightily against his fold and he will give a shout as those who tread the grapes against all the inhabitants of the earth a nose will come to the ends of the earth for the Lord has a controversy with the nation's he will plead his case with all flesh he will give those who are wicked the sword says the Lord thus says the Lord of hosts behold disaster shall go forth from nation to nation and a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the farthest parts of the earth and at the ad that day the slain of the Lord shall be from one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth they shall not be lamented or gathered or buried they shall become refuse on the ground grants let me say this this is remarkably like the description of the Battle of Armageddon in Revelation chapter 19 that's what Jeremiah is looking forward to in the longer prophetic vision where God verse 30 will roar like a lion from on high and utter his voice from his holy habitation it's like Jesus says the days of the Lamb of God are past now it's time for the Lion of the tribe of Judah to preside over the earth and it goes forth the shout and disaster and the slaying of the Lord covered the earth verse 34 whales Shepherds and cry roll about in the ashes your leaders of the flock the days of your slaughter and your dispersions are fulfilled you shall fall like a precious vessel and the Shepherd's will have no way to flee nor the leaders of the flock to escape a voice of the cry of the Shepherd's and a wailing of the leaders to the flock will be heard for the Lord has plundered their pasture and peaceful dwellings are cut down because of the fierce anger of the Lord he has left his lair like the lion for their land is desolate because of the fierceness of the oppressor and because of his fierce anger now in the very beginning of this broader section going all the way back to Jeremiah chapter 24 God was addressing mainly the kings of the people and the Shepherds over them Shepherds meaning kings and rulers he says in this judgment you kings and you rulers you will have a special responsibility friends I don't know what all that means I honestly don't but I will say this that the leaders political military economic religious spiritual if you will the leaders of a nation in judgment will face a special accountability before God he announces it here when he says wale shepherds and cry verse 38 because of the fierceness of the oppressor and because of his fierce anger again like many knights in the Book of Jeremiah we get to the end of our appointed chapter and we go oh that is a lot of judgment friends two things to consider here in conclusion it is a lot of judgment and it is the goodness and the graciousness of God to warn us about it before it happens now look if there is no God if there is no judgment if Jeremiah is just a guy who just wrote things that came to his mind and none of it has God behind it then all of these words isn't gonna make it real and it's not gonna make it happen we know that but let me tell you something if there is a God and there is a judgment that we all have to answer for all our wishing it would go away isn't gonna make it happen it's real and we have to be ready for it how could anybody be ready for this okay here's the last point the fierceness of his anger the terror of his judgment all of this this is what I wonder something whenever we read these passages about the fierceness and the terrible nature of God's judgment this one I want you to consider this is what was poured out upon Jesus on the cross he bore the fullness of the wrath and the judgment of God if if you read this and like me you go man that's a lot wow that's over-the-top boy this is big friends once you understand all of that was poured out upon Jesus why so that it might not be poured out upon you and anyone who comes to God in repentance and faith and puts their faith in Jesus Christ the good news is this does not have to be the necessary destiny of anybody but Jesus Christ board all on the cross and he says trust in me come to me and terms of surrender and I'll free you from this I'll protect you in the midst of it and I will bear the wrath that you deserve I will drink the cup that had your name upon it father that's our prayer I pray that everybody in this room everybody who might listen to this later everybody Lord who might see it on a video or whatever Lord I pray for each and every one of them that they would be spared this wrath to come because they put their faith in Jesus Christ and in his great work and Jesus we say thank you Lord we we read these descriptions of your judgment and we feel it's over-the-top we feel it's so extreme and we just say thank you Jesus for bearing it for us we love you Lord and we thank you for your kindness to us pour out your grace upon us and give us wisdom and heart and passion to reach a world that seems mad that seems crazy under the staggering cup of your judgment in Jesus name [Music]

Channel: David Guzik

Views: 3,989

Rating: 4.9436622 out of 5

Keywords: david guzik, guzik, enduring word, jeremiah, jeremiah 24, jeremiah 25, prophet jeremiah, figs and cups, book of jeremiah

Id: npQLq5PD7mw

Length: 50min 28sec (3028 seconds)

Published: Mon Nov 25 2019