Jeremiah 17 - The Courage of a Prophet - Jeremiah 26-27

[Music] as you open up the jeremiah chapter 26 I think about it when we approach a passage of Scripture like this tonight and as we approach the Book of Jeremiah in general on a Wednesday evening sometimes I think that I'm crazy for doing what I do in teaching verse by verse through a book of the Bible like this I mean I imagine me talking with a you know a consultant or expert in church growth or progress or administration or something and him saying something like you're doing what on Wednesday nights because listen I know people like to be inspired I know people like to have you know a high hopeful stirring vision and to get pumped up and excited about things and look if you've been with us on Wednesday nights in the Book of Jeremiah it's not exactly that kind of book is it it's a book that talks a lot about judgment and a lot about the dark aspect of God's righteous work in this world but let me tell you why I do it I do it not because I'm looking for an opportunity to preach a lot of judgment that's not my preference actually now I do it because I believe in God's Word I believe that it is living and active and more powerful than any two-edged sword and I believe that God's Word does not come back void and I believe that even though it seems so strange to us in our modern perspective and I totally accept that this seems strange to us the themes of Jeremiah seems strange to us in the modern world I believe that there's something in God's eternal Word that we need to gain from here tonight so let's open up our hearts and receive from this Jeremiah chapter 26 beginning at verse 1 in the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah this word came from the Lord saying 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 perhaps everyone will listen and turn from his evil way that I may relent concerning the calamity which I propose to bring on them because of the evil of their doings the Prophet Jeremiah had a 40-year span of ministry and the Book of Jeremiah is not arranged chronologically it skips around from time period to time period chapter 26 is given to us in the first few years of the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah in the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim verse 1 says so hiakim came to the throne in 609 BC this was four years before the first Babylonian invasion and taking Webb exiles in that first Babylonian invasion and taking away of exile men like Daniel and his four Hebrew friends or three Hebrew friends were taken at the same time so this was the very first one it was just four years after Jehovah Kim came to the throne now this particular prophecy must have been very early in Joey Kim's reign before the first Babylonian invasion there on the horizon but they have not yet invaded Jerusalem now it seems that what we have in Jeremiah chapter 26 speaks about a message that is also recorded and recorded in greater detail in Jeremiah chapter 7 it seems like it was the same message preached at the same place at the same time chapter seven tells us more about what Jeremiah preached so you just might want to write that in your Bible Jeremiah 7 if you want the more in-depth of what this message was but Jeremiah chapter 26 tells us about the effect of the sermon and what happened afterwards but let's just take a quick look at what he said he says here verse 2 do not diminish a word God told Jeremiah to stand in the temple court and to preach a message to all the cities of Judah and to all who came to worship at the Lord's house and it was important that Jeremiah said everything that God told him to do that he did not leave out a word you don't hold back a single word Jeremiah and then verse three perhaps everyone will listen and turn from his evil way look it's possible God says that the people might respond that they might return to the Lord that is always God's heart when he announces judgment friends I don't want anybody to ever think and it's important to say as we talk about the Book of Jeremiah that God delights in judging humanity God does not delight in it matter of fact God's earnest desire is that men and women would repent that's why he announces his judgment that's why he lets him know it's coming so that they will repent and that was God's desire here in Jeremiah chapter 26 now look at verse 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 set before you 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 then I will make this house like Shiloh and will make this city a curse to all the nations of the earth okay I'm telling you if you won't listen to me this is what I'm gonna do what did God say he was going to do look at it right there in verse 6 then I will make this house like Shiloh and I will make this city a curse you can just picture Jeremiah gesturing towards the temple I'll make this house like Shiloh I'll make this city a curse now what was Shiloh 1st samuel chapter 4 tells us that Shiloh was a city where the Ark of the Covenant and the tabernacle of God was set up in the early days of the book of 1st Samuel before Saul became King and what happened was the Philistines came and over ran it they killed a bunch of priests there was a massacre of the people the tabernacle was destroyed and the Philistines even carried away the Ark of the Covenant that's what happened Shiloh was a symbol of God's judgment of destruction of desolation it was a terrible scene and it's a very simple message he says listen do you remember what happened back then it's going to happen again let me put it to you this way and I hope I'm not inflaming any bad memories when I say this but when you and I think of 911 from an American perspective we go man that was terrible that was a disaster that was something awful that that was a crime perpetrated against the United States okay you get kind of emotional about it friends it's as if God says if you don't obey me it's gonna be 911 all over again that's basically what you're saying by drawing the figure of Shiloh and brooding it before them now look at verse 7 so the priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah's speaking these words in the house of the Lord now it happened when Jeremiah made an end of speaking all that the Lord had commanded him to speak to all the people that the priests and the prophets and all the people seized him saying you will surely die why have you prophesied in the name of the Lord saying this house shall be like Shiloh and this city shall be desolate without inhabitant and all the people were gathered against Jeremiah in the house of the Lord so there's Jeremiah speaking out boldly preaching in the temple courts saying if you don't repent and listen to God God's gonna wipe out this city destroy this temple and who knows what's going to happen to the Ark of the Covenant and as he's preaching those words so boldly so fearless Lee there on the temple courts the priests and the prophets say stop we don't want you to preach this message here stop and you shall surely die you're committing treason you're saying that God's going to destroy us when we believe God wants to bless us you see the priests and the prophets in the ingrained religious system of Jeremiah's day they did not believe that judgment was coming and they were offended that Jeremiah preached it so matter-of-fact they said we're going to criticize you because you say verse 9 that this house shall be like Shiloh and they said no way so what's happening he's been arrested he's been stopped we are going to stop you and we're gonna try to put you to death you shall surely die for this message you have preached let's see how it develops here in verse 10 when the princes of Judah heard these things they came up from the king's house to the house of the Lord and sat down in the entry of the new gate of the Lord's house and the priests and the prophets spoke to the princes and all the people saying this man deserves to die for he is prophesied against this city as you have heard with your ears so you have the priests you have the prophets we have the people and now you get the princes of Judah the Royal leaders maybe some of them were actual princes maybe some of them part of the royal court they're gonna judge this matter and the priests and the prophets come as the prosecuting attorneys and they say this man Jeremiah should be executed he's committed treason he's spoken against the city he's spoken against the temple off with his head that is their attitude that's what they say they're in verse 11 this man deserves to die for he has prophesied against this city they branded him as a traitor to Jerusalem and they believe that Jeremiah dangerously weakened morale with the army of Nebuchadnezzar out there and who knows what it might do friends do you get the idea here the army of the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar was out there and could come against Jerusalem at any time the priests the prophets and many of the people did not think that it was helpful to have a guy saying we're gonna lose we're gonna lose we're gonna lose that's what Jeremiah was saying so they brought the case before the princes and let's see what happens here verse 12 then Jeremiah spoke to all the princes and all the people okay stop right there stop right there if you know something of this guy Jeremiah especially from the first few chapters of the book how do you think of Jeremiah is he like bold as a lion or is he kind of shy hesitant retiring when God calls him this is oh god I'm just the youth you can't call me that's what he said in the very first three chapters of The Book of Jeremiah Jeremiah did not seem to have a big resource of natural courage he wasn't one of those fearless leaders of men you know that would stand up in the face of whatever kind of thing no no that wasn't Jeremiah Jeremiah seemed by nature to be timid and shy and retiring he was a rely didn't prophet he was a prophet who cried a lot why do I say all this because friends starting at verse 12 you're gonna see Jeremiah about at his finest in the entire Book of Jeremiah so let's just think about this and say go Jeremiah here you are shining in your finest moment perhaps in the entire Book of Jeremiah okay ready for this verse 12 then Jeremiah spoke friends he's on trial for his life literally then Jeremiah spoke to all the princes and all the people saying please don't kill me no that's not what it says is it look back at verse 12 then Jeremiah spoke to all the princes and all the people saying the Lord sent me to prophesy against this house and against the city with all the words that you have heard now therefore amend your ways and your doings and obey the voice of the Lord your God then the Lord will relent concerning the doom that he has pronounced against you as for me Here I am in your hand do with me as seems good and proper to you but know for certain that if you put me to death you will surely bring innocent blood on yourselves and on the city and on its inhabitants for truly the Lord has sent me to speak all these words in your hearing god bless you Jeremiah at this moment when you are literally on trial for your life you stand strong before the princes of Judah men who had your life in their hands and what do you say to them you say verse 12 the Lord sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city does it be saying hey guys don't blame me I am just the messenger the Lord sent me to deliver this message if you don't like the message take it up with the author of the message and that's the Lord God whom we serve I am just the messenger that was a bold thing to say to the princes of Judah and then he goes on verse 13 did you see what he said there I can't believe the boldness he says therefore amend your ways and your doings in verse 13 he called upon them to repent it says listen guys you sit in judgment of me no no God sits in judgment of you you have to repent now to understand how bold that is of Jeremiah to say that the next time you stand in front of a judge why don't you try the same technique next time you're in traffic court you know you're disputing that ticket why didn't you say and let's talk about your driving habits Your Honor try that see how far it gets you Prince you see the boldness of Jeremiah here it's genuinely remarkable but notices he's also humble he's not arrogant look at what he says in verse 14 as for me Here I am in your hand do with me it seems good to you listen I understand you're in authority over me you're gonna do with me as seems good to you I'm in your hand I understand that do what you feel you must do but I'm not gonna stop doing my message because it's what God has called me to do you know in this Jeremiah spoke very much in the same spirit as the Apostles in the early church centuries later in the book of Acts chapter 4 this is what they would say when they stood before judges notice this whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than God you judge for we cannot speak the things we have seen and heard isn't that the same attitude that the Apostles had in Acts chapter 4 hey listen judges fine I understand you got your job to do you do whatever you're gonna do but we're gonna do what is right before God and if we got to take our lumps if we got it into our punishment we'll do it I hope that I'm not being paranoid I hope that I'm not being alarmist when I say that the day when believers may have to stand before judges with the very same attitude may not be far away in our own life where I might have to stand before a judge accused of a hate crime maybe for just saying what the Bible says now hopefully I would say it with the spirit of love but I would bring forth what the message says and don't blame me there's the message I'm just the messenger but if I would have to stand before a judge I hope I would do it with the same courage and with the same humility that Jeremiah did your honor do what you got to do you're the judge I'm in your hand but I will not stop speaking what the Lord God has given me and if it means that I have to endure punishment then so be it that was Jeremiah's attitude but notice this he did say this he gave them a warning in verse 15 know for certain that if you put me to death you'll surely bring innocent blood on yourselves it's a little funny it strikes me that Jeremiah was saying that more for their benefit than for his look you got to know if you're gonna kill me okay whatever you're gonna kill me but this what you got to know if you kill me if you put me to death there will be innocent blood on your account before God and I don't think you want that you better think twice about this better think twice about this death sentence that has been suggested for my case now look at what happened verse 16 so the princes and all the people said to the priests and the prophets this man does not deserve to die for he has spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God and you can see Jeremiah going who friends do you see something how God blessed the humble courage of Jeremiah he would not back down and doesn't it seem I know I know the text doesn't specifically say it but doesn't that have the feel that he won the respect of the princes of Judah and of the people by the way it says that the people understood that - then he won their respect they said listen this guy might be crazy but at least he's sincerely crazy he really believes that he's the messenger of God it's not like he wants these calamities to come upon Jerusalem he believes he's bringing God's message I want you to look again at verse 15 where he says know for certain that if you put me to death you will surely bring innocent blood on yourselves that appeal seemed to work but I want you to fast forward in your mind a couple centuries maybe about five centuries ahead of this five and a half actually because centuries later there was another innocent Messenger of God who was unjustly accused of by religious leaders and in the trial they were warned that they would have the blood guilt of an innocent man upon them if they continued the difference between Jeremiah in Jesus is that Jesus was sent to death nevertheless the judges in Jeremiah's case came to their sentence and they understood verse 16 for he has spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God they didn't like Jeremiah's message but they had to admit that it was God's message and that it wasn't right to blame the messenger for faithfully delivering the message verse 17 then certain of the elders of the land rose up and spoke to all the Assembly of the people saying now these elders are pretty remarkable guys look at what they say Micah of Marsh ëthe prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah and spoke to all the people of Judah saying thus says the Lord of hosts Zion shall be ploughed like a field Jerusalem shall become heaps of ruins and the mountains of the temple like the bare hills of the forest did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah ever put him to death did he not fear the Lord and seek the Lord's favor and the Lord relented concerning the doom which he had pronounced against them but we are doing great evil against ourselves so verse 17 explains how there were certain elders of the land who stood up after he was pronounced not guilty now maybe the elders were afraid that some mob justice might take place look friends it's happened more than once in history where a man or a woman has been acquitted by a formal court but the mob took vengeance upon them and so the elders say we know that the princes of Judah have just acquitted this man declared and be not guilty or not deserving of death but let us explain something there was a prophet about a hundred years ago named Micah of Mauritius and they explained about the prophet Micah now the prophet Micah his prophecy is right there in your Bible look up the prophet Micah that's the same Micah that they're talking about Micah of Marcia and the elders of Judah stood up and they said Micah of Morris shet said some pretty harsh things to King Hezekiah about the destruction of Jerusalem in the temple and Hezekiah never killed him Hezekiah if I could say he took that message like a man and he said let's repent I said maybe we should do the same thing now I think it's kind of remarkable here in this work of Micah the Marsha I want you to notice something that Micah said right before this portion that they quoted the portion that they quoted by the way they quoted exactly from the Hebrew text Micah chapter 3 verse 12 they quoted exactly which showed that if they knew what Micah said exactly more than a hundred years later it showed how much they valued and and published the words of the prophets but Micah chapter 3 verse 11 the verse right before it says this her prophets divine for money yet they lean on the Lord and they say is not the Lord among us no harm can come among us that was the mindset that Micah of more sheth spoke to and you know what it was the exact same mindset in Jerusalem a hundred years later in the days of Jeremiah they say hey Hudson God we're good do you remember I told you a couple weeks ago what was the main tenor of Jeremiah's message Jeremiah's main message was this repent what was the taint main tenor of the message of the false prophets their main message was relax God's gonna make it good and they recognized you know what Micah who was a godly prophet he didn't preach relax he preached repent my friends let me just say very quickly parenthetically there is a time when we need to hear from God relax is there not in fact that can be a totally valid message from God for individuals life or for a congregation or whatever but that wasn't God's message for them at this time his message was repent so the elders stuck up for Jeremiah and pronounced him not guilty and they defended him I want you to notice something when Jesus was unjustly tried no elders stood up and spoke on his behalf isn't that strange this man Jesus of Nazareth who did good everywhere there was not a single leper or a single blind men that had been healed or a lame person that had been brought back to - mobility there wasn't a a dead person like Lazarus who'd been brought from the dead none of them stood forth and say how dare you do this against Jesus of Nazareth I'm gonna stick up for him you know there's nothing like having somebody stick up for you when you're in a tough spot right Jeremiah had the blessing of that with these elders in Jesus's suffering he didn't have that blessing now continuing on here verse 20 now there was also a man who prophesied in the name of the Lord uriah the son of Shammai shamaya of Kirra theorem who prophesied against this city and against this land according to all the words of Jeremiah and when johanna came the king with his all his mighty men and the princes heard his word the king sought to put him to death but when Uriah heard it he was afraid and fled and went to Egypt then Jehovah came the king sent men to Egypt Elna 'then the son of a and the other men who went with him to egypt and they brought Uriah from egypt and brought him to Jehoiakim the king who killed him with the sword and cast his dead body into the graves of the common people this is the story about a man as verse 20 mentions your ayuh the son of shamaya this was another faithful prophet in the days of Jehovah Kim the king and Jeremiah the Prophet by the way you know we preachers we have these bad habits of just saying things that aren't really true in the Bible here's one of the things that I probably said many times before about Jeremiah that Jeremiah was the only righteous prophet in this day nobody Jeremiah stood alone listen there were certainly times when Jeremiah stood alone but there were the righteous prophets now this man Uriah was such a faithful prophet that he paid for it with his life but he prophesied a very similar thing and what happened he escaped to Egypt when he heard that there was a death sentence pronounced against him but King Jehoiakim sent out messengers and had him killed now it's a little bit interesting as to why this account is there there's two main ways of thinking the one way of thinking is Jeremiah's scribe a man named Baruch added this to show us how dangerous it was what Jeremiah was doing and that's a possibility okay there's another possibility though it could be and I kind of lean more towards this idea that this is something that the elders said to Jeremiah and what are they doing they're giving a not very subtle hint Jeremiah no death sentence upon you you felt like you were doing right but if you keep doing this you're gonna lined up dead just like Uriah that's kind of how I intend to it more but it shows us that this man Uriah the son of shamaya was murdered was martyred for his faithfulness to the Lord's work verse 24 nevertheless the hand of ahi com the son of shaphan was with Jeremiah so that they should not give him into the hand of the people to put him to death would you please look at verse 24 just for a moment it says nevertheless the hand of ahi come the son of shopmen was with Jeremiah now we don't know exactly who this aji calm was maybe he was one of the elders probably so and it's just maybe the leading elder among them who defended Jeremiah but again isn't it wonderful to have somebody who will stick up for you when you're in a bad spot the two things I want you to consider number one Jesus had no hockey come Jeremiah did and he was greatly blessed by him Jesus had no one no man at least no woman to stick up on his behalf and defend him when he was on trial the second thing I want you to think about friends this is the exciting part are you ready for this Jesus is your hockey cop isn't he isn't he the one who has pledged to be by you that there may be times where you're in a tight spot you really need somebody to stick up for you and you know what nobody sticks up with you and I'm not gonna justify it I'm not gonna say well you just got to deal with it man it's sad it's disappointing sometimes it's crushing but let me tell you something even when no person with human flesh stands behind you Jesus Christ is your icon he's the one who will stand beside you and never leave you or forsake you all right on to chapter 27 chapter 27 verse 1 in the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord saying ok stop right there we got it difficulty here friends there's no way I can dance around this there seems to be a corruption of the text here I don't know what particular Bible translation you have in front of you I'm reading from the New King James Version the New King James Version as do many translations have right there in verse 1 I'll read it to you again in the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim just like chapter 26 verse 1 started out here's the problem this wasn't during the reign of Jehoiakim and there are several old manuscripts ancient manuscripts that don't have Jehoiakim there they have Zedekiah and that fits perfectly can I remind you about the chronology again Zedekiah was the last king to reign over judah before the Babylonians completely conquered completely conquered so keep that in mind it says in the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim but the reference to Johanna come is a problem again not only because of the manuscripts but because of the history and the rest of the chapter this is likely a scribal error and who we're talking about is Zedekiah here not Jehoiakim okay ready for that let me read again verse 1 in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah i'll just replace it the son of Josiah king of Judah the word came to Jeremiah from the Lord saying thus says the Lord to me make for yourselves bonds and yokes and put them on your neck and send them to the king of Edom the king of Moab the king of the ammonites the king of tyre and the king of Sidon by the hand of the messengers who come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of judah okay you got the senior we're talking about the last king of judah before the complete babylonian conquest and the temple is destroyed and Jerusalem is destroyed and it says there in verse 3 that they came to him they came to Zedekiah and what did they do well Jeremiah had a job look at it there in verse 2 make for yourselves bonds and yokes what do you tell him to do God wanted Jeremiah to make bonds and yokes this is what he'd come do do you know what a yoke is no not in Ag the kind of yoke that you put upon animals that they pull things make a yoke and bonds what were the bonds well they weren't like handcuffs they were the leather straps that they would use to tie the yoke to the animal so it was a yoking system both the wooden yoke and the straps used to tie it so what does Jeremiah do we know this from the next chapter that we'll get to next week Jeremiah actually put this upon himself he walks in the midst of King Zedekiah well King Zedekiah is hosting all these envoys from different nations what definitions did you see it there in verse 3 send to the king of Edom the king of Moab the king of the ammonites of tyre and sidon all these envoys from these foreign kings have come to Jerusalem to meet with King Zedekiah and they're there in the midst of it when Jeremiah comes in with a yoke on his neck hey everybody Here I am prophet of the Lord now why were they there why were all these envoys from these foreign kings there in Jerusalem I'll tell you why because when you chart it out with the chronology of history this was a time when Nebuchadnezzar was in trouble alam that ancient kingdom which is in today modern-day Iran or painted Persia Alam had attacked Babylon in Syria there was a revolt against him Nebuchadnezzar was distracted and he was a thousand miles away from that region so the kings of that region the the Moabites the amorite s-- israelites all those guys that got together and they said now's the time for us to rebel against nebuchadnezzar we can throw off his domination and we can be free because by this time by the reign of Zedekiah babylon already ruled over the era Zedekiah was a puppet King from Nebuchadnezzar they said now is our chance to revolt they got together to discuss this and then Jeremiah walks in with his yoke so what does he say well let's take a look starting here at verse 4 and command them to say to their masters in other words speak to the envoys of these foreign nations and command them to say to their masters thus says the Lord of hosts the God of Israel thus you shall say to your masters I have made the earth the man and the beasts that are on the ground by my great power and by my outstretched arm and I have given it to whoever seen prosper to me and now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon my servant and the Beeson field I have also given him to serve him so all nations shall serve Him and his son and his son son until the time of his land comes and then many nations and great kings shall make him serve them it shall be that the nations and kingdoms which will not serve Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon and which will put theirs neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon this and that nation I will punish as the Lord with the sword the famine the pestilence until they have consumed them by his hand they're having a meeting to plot revolt against Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon until the Prophet Jeremiah walks in wearing a yoke Jeremiah what are you doing guys the Lord just told me to bring a message send this back to the Kings whom you represent if you try to rebel against Nebuchadnezzar you're gonna lose God has given him the authority to reign at the present time give up your dreams of revolt it's not gonna work and you're just gonna suffer from it if you did verse 16 no excuse me I'm sorry verse 9 therefore do not listen to your prophets your diviners your dreamers your soothsayers or your sorcerers who speak to you saying you shall not serve the king of Babylon for they prophesy a lie to you to remove you far from your land and I will drive you out and you will perish but the nation's that bring their necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him I will let them remain in their own land says the Lord and they shall till it and dwell in it do you see the point here the point is very plain he said don't listen to those other spiritual mediums prophets diviners dreamers don't you listen to anybody who tells you that you can win against Nebuchadnezzar do not listen to your prophets your diviners your dreamers your soothsayers your sorcerers you see just like the king of Judah those other kings they all had spiritual people around him to me you can beat Nebuchadnezzar now's the right time he's weak he's distracted you can get him Jeremiah says don't even dream of it if you submit to the yoke that is upon you God can bless you that's what he says look at verse 11 the nations that bring their necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve Him I will let them remain in their own land well God says to them is simply this if you submit to the yoke of the king by their you know what a yoke means you put a yoke on something I'm your boss you work for me God said if you submit to the yoke of the king of Babylon I will find a way to bless you in that let me speak on something that is difficult to speak about and why it is difficult to speak about is that it is so easily misunderstood and I just pray Lord that if there's anybody's gonna misunderstand what I say now protect them from it Lord let there be no misunderstanding about what I say friends there are times when God appoints correction for his believers whom the Lord loves he disciplines and sometimes he has to give a spanking so to speak to an erring believer it's not because he hates you it's because he loves you it's because he loves you enough to deal with you and to train you and to bring you into his place and bring you under his will his discipline is a sign of his love now the reason why this is so easily misunderstood his friends sometimes believers think that God is chastening them when he's not but there are situations where God disciplines a believer and here's what I want to get across to you if you are under God's discipline don't fight it surrender to it bear the yoke hitch me up God if because of your discipline because of my foolishness I need to be brought down a few notches then Lord bring me down I'm not gonna fight against it put me under the yoke of the king of Babylon that's what God was telling these ancient kings can I give you some better yoke news how about what a precious Savior Jesus said you know this don't you you know these verses Matthew chapter 11 beginning at verse 28 come to me all you who labor and are heavy-laden and I will give you rest take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and lowly in heart and you will find rest for your souls for my yoke is easy and my burden is light you know when you picture Jeremiah walking around in that yoke and when you see how pictures the judgment that was coming upon not only Judah but the other nations as well would you just stop and say Jesus I don't ever want to have to wear the yoke of Babylon I want your yoke Jesus your yoke is easy your burden is light that's what the Savior has appointed for you verse 12 I also spoke to Zedekiah king of Judah according to all these words saying bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve Him and his people and live why will you die you and your people by the sword by the famine and by the pestilence as the Lord has spoken against the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon therefore do not listen to the words of the prophets who speak to you saying you shall not serve the king of Babylon for they prophesy a lie to you for I have not sent them says the Lord yet they prophesy a lie in my name that I may drive you out and that you may perish you and the prophets who prophesy to you you see that message was not only for the surrounding nations it was also for King Zedekiah and the kingdom of Judah verse 16 also I spoke to the priest and to all the people saying thus says the Lord do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you saying behold the vessels of the Lord's house will now shortly be brought back from Babylon where they prophesy a lie to you do not listen to them serve the king of Babylon and live why should the city be laid to waste now notice there were false prophets in that day giving a false prophecy what was the false prophecy verse 16 behold the vessels of the Lord's house will now shortly be brought back from Babylon what were the vessels of the Lord's house what they were gold and silver cups and platters and pitchers maybe things like the altar of incense the golden candlestick you know the menorah maybe the other accouterments and things in the tabernacle in the temple to me in the temple not the tabernacle tabernacle had been long since replace all these furnishings all these gold vessels and articles this was valuable treasure here's the other thing whenever one nation conquered another nation in the ancient world what they did was they took the idols of the nation they conquered and they put him back and they put him back in their own temple what was there any Idol in the Temple of Jerusalem no so they just brought the treasures of the temple now the false prophets said they're coming back that the king of Babylon took all these treasures from our temple but they're coming back Jeremiah says no way they're not coming back that is not a true word from the Lord 2nd chronicles chapter 26 verse 7 says Nebuchadnezzar also carried off some of the articles from the house of the Lord to Babylon and put them in his temple in Babylon that was in the very first invasion the one where Daniel was taken away Jeremiah says they're not coming back don't get your hopes up now verse 18 but if they are prophets and the word of the Lord is with them let them now make intercession to the Lord of Hosts that the vessels which are left in the house of the Lord in the house of the king of Judah and in Jerusalem do not go to Babylon oh yeah these false prophets you know if they're so right on why don't they pray and pray that what remains at the temple never gets taken away friends it was going to get taken away in just a matter of months with the Babylonians coming Jeremiah knew that just like Elijah challenged the prophets of Bale on Mount Carmel when he challenged the false prophets to pray and see God answer nothing would happen now to conclude the chapter verse 19 where thus says the Lord of Hosts concerning the pillars concerning the sea concerning the carts concerning the remainder of the vessels that remain in the city which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take when he carried away captive Jack and I the son Jehoiakim king of Judah from Jerusalem to Babylon all nobles of Judah and Jerusalem yes thus says the Lord of hosts the God of Israel concerning the vessels that remain in the house of the Lord and the house of the king of Judah and of Jerusalem they shall be carried the Babylon and there they shall be until the day that I visit them says the Lord then I will bring them up and restore them to this place the false prophet said they're coming back Jeremiah said no way matter of fact what we have what remains is gonna go away Oh it'll come back someday but not for a long time not until the days of Ezra and Nehemiah my friends is very interesting it talks about all these different aspects of the temple and what was there do you notice one thing that wasn't mentioned in this the Ark of the Covenant what happened to the Ark of the Covenant it's not mentioned here was it already taken to Babylon was it already you know melted down I'll tell you there's a few main theories one theory is that it was hidden away and Indiana Jones found it later on and right now that it's in a government warehouse somewhere that doesn't have a lot of things sly cinematography but listen it's not really the other big theme the other big idea is simply this that there's Jewish legends I can't say there anything more than legends that Jeremiah hid the Ark of the Covenant before Jerusalem was conquered there are people who believe there are rabbis who will tell you that it is within the caverns because there's caverns and tunnels underneath the Temple Mount that it is hidden with it is it possible yes I suppose it's possible there are other people who think listen it was just taken away it was taken away by Nebuchadnezzar and just got melted down that's possible - there's also an intriguing possibility in the book of Revelation John says he sees an arc of the Covenant in heaven in Jerusalem there some people think that it got raptured so to speak that it got taken up to heaven maybe I don't know about that but here's the point it got lost track of in history and when the temple was rebuilt they never put an Ark of the Covenant back in it when Jesus visited the temple he didn't go inside the temple building not being a priest according to Aaron order of Aaron he was a priest according to order hesitate but not according to Aaron but the priests in that day in the Holy of Holies there was nothing in there the Ark of the Covenant did not exist it was not in there in those days it got lost track of in the days of Jeremiah so this is something of a mystery this is something of mystery but let's end on this hope from though verse 22 they shall be carried to Babylon and there they shall be until the day that I visit them God promised that the remaining vessels would be carried away from the temple and brought back brought to Babylon but in time God would restore them and Friends in Ezra chapter 1 verses 7 through 11 and in Ezra chapter 7 I believe at verse 19 it tells us specifically that that was fulfilled that many of the articles that were taken away by Nebuchadnezzar ended up going back when the Babylonians were conquered by the Medes and Persians God fulfilled his promise so can I just conclude with two principles number one number one God keeps his promises it's true he keeps his promises of judgment friends but he also keeps his promises of mercy and grace and forgiveness you can appeal to God on the basis of those promises because God is a promise keeping God but then number two God knows when and how to restore to usefulness sometimes you meet people and just feel useless I'm useless in the earth maybe at one time I had some use but now I just feel useless where am I at what does God want me what am i doing I tell your friends God knows how to take those articles that once of use in the temple but the Babylonians took him away and they were useless for a long time God knows how to restore to usefulness once again I can tell you this if you feel useless in the kingdom of God and in this world God does not want you to feel that way I can assure you of that and you should be praying right now okay God what use do you have for me in this world I know that there is one I know there may be many you show me what it is father thank you that that's the kind of God you are you are a God who restores to youthfulness Lord you had your timing you had your place you had your manner for doing it so lord I just pray I pray for a mighty blessing upon all who hear your word tonight the Lord I pray that you would give every one of them the hope and the encouragement of usefulness before you and Lord if I could be so bold I want to pray that you give us some of the courage that Jeremiah showed in chapter 26 fill us with it Lord pour out your grace upon us thank you for your goodness among us here this evening in Jesus name [Music] you

Channel: David Guzik

Views: 4,454

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: david guzik, guzik, jeremiah, jeremiah 26, jeremiah 27, prophet jeremiah, enduring word

Id: -yNSyURGz78

Length: 47min 42sec (2862 seconds)

Published: Wed Nov 27 2019