Jeremiah 21 - The Prophet In Prison - Jeremiah 32-33

[Music] verse 1 Jeremiah chapter 32 the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah which was the 18th year of Nebuchadnezzar 4 then the king of babylons army besieged Jerusalem and Jeremiah the Prophet was shut up in the court of the prison which was in the king of Judah's house were given a time marker for these two chapters chapter 32 and 33 the time marker is that it's in the 10th year of Zedekiah's reign well let me tell you something in the eleventh year of Zedekiah's reign everything was gone and destroyed completely gone in the tenth year the babylonian siege began and in those days oftentimes and they would attack a city they would do it with the siege a mighty army would come and surround a walled city and establish attacking positions throughout the city the city would defend themselves the very best that they could and then it was a waiting game how long could the city withstand the siege inside their own walls at the time Jeremiah wrote this Jerusalem was surrounded by a Babylonian army absolutely intent on destroying the city and completing their destruction of the region of Judah Jerusalem was the last nut to be cracked - totally conquering the kingdom of Judah and where was Jeremiah you saw it right there in verse 2 Jeremiah the Prophet was shut up in the court of the prison you know it's bad enough having a city under siege when you're in prison in a city that's like in a prison you're like in a double prison well why was Jeremiah in prison I'm glad you asked let's look at verse 3 for Zedekiah king of judah had shut him up saying why do you prophesy and say thus says the Lord behold I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon and he shall take it and Zedekiah king of Judah shall not escape from the hand of the Chaldean but surely be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon and speak with him face to face and see him I too high then he shall lead Zedekiah to Babel and there he shall be until I visit him says the Lord though you fight with the Chaldeans you shall not succeed why was Jeremiah in prison because he prophesied against Zedekiah the king of Judah can we just pause for a moment and admire the courage of Jeremiah the Prophet Jeremiah knew that people who were against him he wasn't afraid to speak I'll use a phrase that's overused it's a cliche in our day and age he spoke true to power in the most real and personal way and when he spoke truth to power it ended up that he suffered for it he ended up in prison why because his word was look at verse 5 I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon this was the word that Yahweh the Covenant God of Israel gave the Prophet Jeremiah to proclaim not just to the people but to the king himself now King Zedekiah didn't like it that Jeremiah told the people that the Babylonians were going to win matter of fact King Zedekiah thought this was treason here Zedekiah trying to rally the people of Judah and Jerusalem to defend the city against the siege all around him and friends in a battle like that moral matters a lot and what's Jeremiah going around Jeremiah's going around promising we're gonna lose we're gonna lose they're gonna win he may as well surrender we're gonna lose King Zedekiah did not like that message he threw him in prison notice verse 5 though you fight with the Chaldeans you shall not succeed that was the word he added on there in verse 4 Zedekiah king of Judah shall not escape from the hand of the Chaldeans Jeremiah not only prophesied the fall of Jerusalem and Judah in general but the captivity of King Zedekiah personally Zedekiah you're going down and you're gonna have to face the king of Babylon I too I face to face and I pause just for a moment here the reason why this was a frightening prospect to Zedekiah king of judah was that he was placed on the throne of judah by nebuchadnezzar he was a puppet king of Nebuchadnezzar but he rebelled against his puppet master he heard and heard the rumors that Nebuchadnezzar had so much trouble in other parts of his kingdom that it was a good time to rebel and that's what he did guess what it wasn't a good time to rebel against Nebuchadnezzar and Nebuchadnezzar has now has come against him and Jeremiah prophesied you're gonna see Nebuchadnezzar face-to-face eye-to-eye why do I pause right here ladies and gentlemen when you have been a rebel against your master it is a scary thing to face him face-to-face eye-to-eye is that not the destiny of every human being on the day of judgement what was ed Akaya gonna say before Nebuchadnezzar whoops oh I meant well there's no way to cover it over when you have rebelled against your master your King you can't cover that one up if it was true between Zedekiah and nebuchadnezzar how much more between the creature and the Creator between us and the god that we will have to answer to continuing on now verse 6 and jeremiah said well just just meant this is Santa Barbara we everybody knows about real estate right everybody's into real estate around here this is gonna be the weirdest real estate transaction you ever heard of in your life ready verse 6 and Jeremiah said the word the Lord came to me saying behold Hannah Mel the son of Shalom your uncle will come to you saying by my field which is an ad off for the right of redemption is yours to buy it then Hannah Mel my uncle's son came to me in the court of the prison according to the word of the Lord and said to me please buy my field that is in adinath which is in the country of benjamin for the right of inheritance and yours and the redemption is yours buy it for yourself then I knew that it was the word of the Lord so I bought the field from Hannah mill the son of my uncle who was in Anathoth and I weighed out to him the money 17 shekels of silver and I signed the deed and sealed it took witnesses and weighed the money on the scales so I took the purchased deed both that which was sealed according to the law and custom and that which was open and I gave the purchase deed - Baruch the son of Neriah the son of masiha in the presence of Hannah mell my uncle's son in the presence of the witnesses who signed the purchase deed before all the Jews who sat in the Court of the prison did you get what's happening here folks let me explain it to you verse 7 God told Jeremiah while he was in prison your cousin Hannah Mel is gonna come to you and Hannah Mel's gonna say Jeremiah please buy my field which is in Adana please ana North was Jeremiah's hometown that's where he came from it was only three miles from Jerusalem so one day Hanna Mel walks over to prison he visits Jeremiah's cos Jeremiah please do this and when it happened just as God told him it would happen Jeremiah said this is the word of the Lord I need to do this and I need to go through with the purchase hey my being so what I don't care about a prophet's real estate buying habits friends do you realize Ana naught was under Babylonian captivity right then if the Babylonian armies encircled the walls of Jerusalem and in all three miles away was already conquered by the Babylonians it would be like this let's just pretend can we play let's pretend just for a moment let's pretend that the Canadians conquer the United States I know that's a pretend but we're just pretending here Canadians conquer the United States and they're making their way down from the north and they've already conquered gelida they're making their way down to Carpinteria and you're in a prison you're in a jail cell in Carpinteria and somebody who lives in Goleta says hey do you want to buy my house I'll sell it to you you know you know there's just one thing I don't understand my title deed the property is worthless now that the Babylonians have conquered it who cares it's a stupidest real estate deal ever I mean plus I'm in prison and it can't exactly take advantage of the land but this was the craziest real estate deal ever conceived but because God told Jeremiah to do it what did he do he did it he did it he verse 8 and I'm out my uncle's son came to me in the court of the prison according to the word of the Lord and he bought it he paid out 17 shekels of silver because God told him to do it even though the Babylonians controlled Annan off and would soon control everything when they conquered Jerusalem in the same way that Jeremiah had prophesied he bought the property everywhere now let me tell you something the keepers of the prison and everybody else must have thought that Jeremiah was crazy and Hanan now the cousin must have thought that he was the luckiest guy around and Jeremiah was the stupidest real estate buyer on the face of the earth we don't even know whether or not 17 shekels was a lot of money for that piece of land because we don't know anything about the land remember location location location but listen to pay a nickel for that land would have been too much because it was worth nothing with the Babylonians conquering it yet Jeremiah made the transaction because God told him to make it and don't you find it interesting in verse 10 how it goes on and says in the presence of witnesses who signed the purchase deed before all the Jews who sat in the court of difference they did it all they they went through a normal tidal surge in escrow and all the rest of it they went through all the formalities that they went through in that day including putting the documents in an earthenware jar what we're gonna read that in just a minute they did everything that they should do verse 13 then I charged Baruch before them saying thus says the Lord of hosts the God of Israel take these deeds both the purchase deed which is sealed and the deed which is open and put them in an earthen vessel that they may last many days for thus says the Lord of hosts the God of Israel houses and fields shall be possessed again in the and friends that is what makes sense of all this jeremiah under instructions from the lord makes a crazy real-estate purchase a foolish one by any measure of good business he takes the documents and he says not only are we gonna do we're gonna put him in a time capsule and bury it in the ground by the way the Dead Sea scrolls were discovered 2,000 years later in just those kind of earthenware jars hidden out in the desert so this was a fairly safe way to keep documents at least for some period of time God said I want you to keep put them in a time capsule put them in a safe deposit box because this is my promise to you did you see it right there in verse fifteen houses and fields and vineyards shall be possessed again in this land this was God's promise and the purpose for an otherwise foolish property purchase now understand this Jeremiah with all his might with all his strength prophesied that the Babylonians were going to succeed in conquering Jerusalem and Judah there's no ways Jeremiah's words of them was surrender you may as well give up now but Jeremiah was just as strong and was just as passionate in prophesying there will be a restoration God will bring his people back God will bring them back into the land and basically do you see the wonderful display of faith that Jeremiah said he said I believe so strongly that God will bring them back into the land that I'm gonna make an otherwise foolish purchase because seventy years from now even though Jeremiah himself never came back from the captivity he said seventy years and now my descendants are going to be able to do something with his land we are coming back to the land and I'm so sure of it that I'm gonna buy a piece of it here and now that property purchase from prison was an expression in God's confident an expression of confident trust in God's promise that the land would be possessed again now that's not to say that it was easy for Jeremiah and why let me just explain something to you do you know what happens in a city under siege time food becomes an incredibly valued commodity something about supply and demand there's a very big demand and there's a very small surprise supply and because of the small supply in the big demand food costs a lot you want to hang on to every shekel you have so that you could buy a little cracker that'll sustain you for a few hours because you're gonna need every scrap of money that you have this was a big thing for Jeremiah to give up seventeen shekels in a symbolic purchase he really had to trust God through that well he's has questions about it look at it here in verse 16 now when I had delivered the purchase deed to Barack the son of Neriah I pray to the Lord saying aha Lord God behold you've made the heavens and the earth by your great power an outstretched arm there's nothing too hard for you you show loving kindness to thousands and repay the iniquities of the father's and to the bosom of their children after them the great the mighty God whose name is the Lord of Hosts you are great in council and mighty in work for your eyes are open to all the ways of the sons have been to give everyone according to his ways and according to the fruit of his doings you've set signs and wonders in the land of Egypt to this day and in Israel and among other men you have made yourself a name as it is this day you brought your people out of the land of Egypt with signs and wonders with a strong hand and the outstretched arm and with great terror you've given them this land of which you sort of their fathers to give them a land flowing with milk and honey they came and took possession of it but they have not obeyed your voice or walked in your law they have done nothing of all that you've commanded them to do therefore you have caused all this calamity to come upon them by the way isn't this a beautiful prayer that Jeremiah pours out from his heart he's confused he doesn't quite know what's going on and he cries out to the Lord I prayed to the Lord verse 17 behold you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and then he says there is nothing too hard for you it's that beautiful God there's nothing too hard for you it's that sometimes what we just got to believe when we pray there is nothing too hard for you God you are that big you're that powerful you're that majestic nothing is too hard for you you show loving kindness to thousands verse 19 your eyes are open to all the ways of the sons of man verse 21 you brought your people of Israel out of the land of Egypt but he knew verse 23 they have not obeyed your voice or walked in your law you see in contrast to the great love and goodness of God Jeremiah could look all around the walls of Jerusalem and see the Babylonian army itching to break through and to destroy everything in the city friends I wonder what it would be like to live in a city under siege oh it happens in modern times from time to time but what a terror what a stress it would be to live every moment knowing that there is an angry army intent on breaking through the walls and killing you and taking everything that you have and here's the thing Jeremiah looked at that army all around and he goes we've deserved it we've done this we have invited it upon ourselves now he says making the request in his prayer verse 24 look the siege mounts they've come up to the city to take it and the city has been given into the hand of the Chaldeans who fight against it because of the sword and famine and pestilence what have you spoken has happened there you see it and yet you have said to me Oh Lord God buy the field for money and take witnesses yet the city's been given into the hand of the Chaldeans what I see the armies out there I know what they're going to do I know this is how it going to go down why God why did you want me to buy that piece of land it's hard enough to get food in prison much less than a siege what am I going to do I'm never gonna get those 17 shekels back verse 26 then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah saying behold I am the Lord the God of all flesh is there anything too hard for me therefore thus says the Lord behold I will give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and he shall take it and the Chaldeans who fight against the city shall come and set fire to this city and burn it with the houses on whose roofs they have offered incense to baal and board out drink offerings to other gods to provoke me to anger because the children of israel and the children of judah have done only evil before me from their youth for the children of israel have provoked me only to anger with the work of their hands says the lord for this city has been a provocation of anger and my fury from the day that they built it even to this day so i will remove it from before my face because of all the evil of the children of israel and the children of judah which they have done to provoke me to anger they their kings their princes their priests their prophets the men of judah and the inhabitants of jerusalem and they've turned to me the back and not the face though i taught them rising up early and teaching them yet they have not listened to receive instruction but they set their abominations in the house that is called by my name to defile it and they built the high places of Baal which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire to Molech which i did not command them nor did it come into my mind that they should do this abomination to cause judah to sin god lays out the bad news jeremiah you admitted that the people of judah were guilty but jeremiah do you understand just how guilty they are do you get it jeremiah yes jeremiah you're right verse 27 I am the Lord the god of all flesh is there thing too hard for me listen Jeremiah if I wanted to deliver Judah I could deliver them I don't care about the Babylonian army surrounding Judah you know about a hundred and fifty years before this I'm using the dates very approximately but about a hundred and fifty years before this and a Syrian army surrounded Jerusalem in very much the same way that the Babylonian army surrounded them right now and you know what God did to that Assyrian army in one night he sent an angel and that angel slaughtered a hundred thousand Assyrian troops is there anything too hard for me the Lord says oh if I wanted to deliver Jerusalem from this Babylonian army I could certainly do it but no verse 28 I will give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans why look at some of their sins verse 29 on whose roofs they have offered incense to baal and poured out drink offerings to other gods god looked down from heaven and there was a citizen of jerusalem offering idolatry to baal and drink offerings to other gods they did it on the roofs of their own houses and God says I'm going to destroy that house I'm going to bring judgment upon this city if there's anything worse verse 35 to cause their sons and daughters to pass through the fire to mullah ladies and gentlemen one of the horrific Canaanite gods that Israel in their idolatry worshipped was a God known as mullah and in the worship of Molech children babies were sacrificed and burned to death now let me say this to me it's very important for me to give you the straight story and to not exaggerate there is not archaeological evidence in the Valley of Hinnom of child sacrifice it doesn't mean it didn't happen perhaps it happened but it happened on a relatively small scale listen a lot of times friends for things to be found with archeological evidence either it had to be done massively or it's just luck so to speak from the archaeologists spade maybe they worship Molech with child sacrifice very rarely maybe they did but let me say this it was still a stench in the nostrils of God maybe maybe only 3% of the worship that went to Molech was in the form of child sacrifice but if it was it was a stench before the nostrils of God I can't help but read this and think in my own mind not even these child sacrificers sold the parts of those babies to other people not even these lined their pockets with the profits made from children sacrificed Billy Graham said it many years ago it's hard to see how it's not true today he said if God does not judge the United States of America then he owes Sodom and Gomorrah an apology and Friends I don't know if you're aware but because certainly the media does not want you to be aware of this I don't know if you're aware that the United States has the most radical death loving abortion laws in the entire Western world to find abortion laws that are comparable to the United States I mean things that allow partial birth abortion abortion all the way up to the time the on and on to find laws comparable to that you got to go to China and North Korea Europe no European country has laws like that and and this is something our nation gonna have to answer for God made Judah answer for it what do we get an exemption now that's the bad news that's the bad news should we look at some good news verse 36 God just explained why the armies surrounded them and we're going to conquer now verse 36 now therefore thus says the Lord the God of Israel concerning the city of which you say it shall be delivered on the hand of the king of Babylon by the sword by the famine and by the pestilence behold I will gather them out of all the countries where I have driven them in my anger in my fury and in great wrath and I will bring them back to this place and I will cause them to dwell safely they shall be my people and I will be their God then I will give them one heart in one way and they may fear me forever for the good of them and their children after them and I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from doing them good yes but I will put my fear in their hearts so that they will not depart from me yes I will rejoice over them to do good and will assuredly plant them in the land with all my heart and with all my soul that's the good news yes Jeremiah Jerusalem's going down the Babylonians will conquer it you can be assured of it Patera Maia just as sure as that's gonna happen I will bring them back and I will restore them and God speaks in such a powerful and beautiful way not only of the near restoration later to come under Ezra and Nehemiah the return from exile that's described in the scriptures but even more pointedly of the ultimate restoration of Israel under the nuke because what he says here goes beyond what happened just under the knee the restoration under Ezra and Jeremiah I mean look at the new covenant terminology verse 38 they shall be my people and I will be their God verse 38 I will give them one heart in one way the last time we were in the Book of Jeremiah in chapter 31 we saw this is New Covenant terminology this is God describing what he will do with his people under the new covenant and then look at what he says in verse 41 yes I will rejoice over them to do them good see a further aspect of the New Covenant is that the disposition of God his attitude towards them would be changed instead of an attitude of judgment he would rejoice over them to do good friends that is the property of the believer under the New Covenant because this beautiful New Covenant that God offered to Israel this remarkable thing that he gave them this is what he says now he doesn't describe it in the Old Testament this way he really doesn't this was a mystery to be revealed under the New Testament dispensation but the great truth is under the New Covenant though he made it with Israel here we know from the Greek scriptures from the New Testament God says hey gents house you can get on in those to come in and under the New Covenant every believer has that beautiful promise of God's disposition yes I will rejoice over them to do them good and notice us God is so zealous to accomplish this would you please look at the end of verse 41 that he promised to do it with all of my heart and with all of my soul can we just agree God doesn't often speak like that you Bible experts out there how often in the scriptures does God say something like this I'm gonna do it with all my heart and with all my soul that's language he expects from us but there's a few beautiful places where God says I am so zealous to bless my people under the new covenant that I endeavor with all my heart with all my soul to do it do you know how much God wants to bless you for Jesus sake he wants to do it with all his heart with all his soul friends this shows that God is so generous in his blessing to us our problems we just need to receive the bounty that he gives to us by faith what we're not there begging a reluctant God o God please bless me I promise I'll be better a person no we come boldly because of our high priest and our Savior Jesus Christ and because he's instituted a new covenant we come with that kind of boldness and we say Lord you say that you want to bless me with all your heart and with all your soul verse 42 for thus says the Lord just as I have brought out this great calamity on this people so I will bring on them all the good that I promised them and fields will be bought in this land of which you say it's desolate without man or beast it's been given to the hand of the Chaldeans Men will buy fields for money signed deeds and seal them and take witnesses in the land of Benjamin in the places around tourism in the cities of Judah in the cities of the mountains in the cities of the lowland and in the cities of the south for I will cause their captives to return says the Lord Jeremiah do you know why I told you to make that fool purchase of property because you as a people you're coming back and what I told you to do was a prophetic picture that one day business will return to normal one day people will buy and sell land just as it should be one day it'll happen all again because I am a God a beautiful and powerful restoration now chapter 33 moreover the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah a second time while he was still shut up in the Court of the prison saying by the way now you know why we're taking these two chapters at once we're keeping with him in prison these are the prison Chronicles of Jeremiah saying thus says the Lord who made it the Lord who formed it to establish that the Lord is his name called to me and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things which you do not know well there he is in prison still shut up in the prison for preaching that the Babylonians were going to win and the people of Jerusalem especially King Zedekiah we're going to lose and what did God say to him he says listen Jeremiah called to me and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things which you do not know that's a wonderful promise in prayer don't you think God inviting this call to me and I'll answer come on pray come on people Here I am I'm ready to hear your prayers what a beautiful thing for God would we blame God for being hard to get when it came to prayer but he doesn't he invites us call to me and I'll answer you he says now you know what's really amazing about that remember the Babylonian armies surrounded Jerusalem when God told Jeremiah that and don't you think that there were a lot of people sending out anguished cries to God oh god help God rescue us from the Babylonians and because God did not say yes to those prayers there were probably a lot of people in Jerusalem that times what's the use of praying God saying no listen I have this necessary work of judgment to do but it doesn't mean that I want you to stop pray not speak a word to someone here and I don't know who you are but I'll speak to you as if I speak in you face to face I want to speak to someone here who has been sorely disappointed because God did not answer your prayer and it sticks in you like an ache it's like a sore like an itch you can't get rid of God I really wanted you to answer that prayer just like the citizens of Jerusalem no doubt prayed that God would take away the Babylonians God didn't take away the Babylonians and as far as you can tell he didn't answer your prayer can I just ask you don't stop praying I don't have an answer for you as to why your prayers seem to go an answer I can't tell you I cannot tell you but what I'm just saying is that things may be in an plan and purpose of God that we don't understand it doesn't mean that we should stop praying his word to you and to me is the same word that he spoke to Jeremiah called to me and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things which you do not know verse 4 for thus says the Lord the God of Israel concerning the houses of this city and the houses of the kings of Judah which had been pulled down to fortify against the siege mountains and the sword they come to fight with the Chaldeans but only to fill their places with the dead bodies of men whom I will slay in my anger and my fury for all those wickedness that I've hidden my face from this city behold I will bring it health and healing I will heal them and reveal to them the abundance of peace and truth and I will cause the captors of Judah and the captives of Israel to return and will rebuild those places as at the first I will cleanse them from all their iniquity by which they have sinned against me and I will pardon all their iniquities by which they have sinned and by which they have transgressed against me then it shall be to me a name of joy a praise and an honor before all the nations of the earth who shall hear all the good that I shall do and they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and all the prosperity that I provide for it God said listen I know the houses are being destroyed I know the cities are being laid away succeed me the the city of Jerusalem being laid waste and I know how futile it is to fight against the Babylonians look what it says here in verse 5 they come to fight with the Chaldeans but only to fill their places with dead bodies that's how much sense it made to fight against the Babylonians but God says that is not going to be the last word look at verse 6 behold I will bring it health and healing at the time God spoke this to and through Jeremiah Jerusalem was filled with death and destruction it was everywhere because there's no I haven't given up I'm going to bring health and healing I am going to reveal to them the abundance dents of peace and truth I'm gonna cause the captives of Judah and the captives of Israel to return I'm gonna cleanse them from all their iniquity that there gonna be a name of joy a praise and an honor and it's gonna be so wonderful look at verse 9 with me it's going to be so wonderful that they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and all the prosperity that I shall provide for it I want some of that when the Babylonians surround your city and there's dead bodies everywhere and the future looks even worse we fear in trouble don't we we shake we're disturbed we're we're messed up to our very core God says Jerusalem that's how you are now I'm gonna bring blessings so abundant let me read it again they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and all the prosperity that I shall provide for it look it's so good I can't believe it it's so good that I'm shaking man I want some of that but God says that's gonna be the glory of my restoration that I bring now on a small level this was fulfilled in the return from exile under Ezra and Nehemiah but that's only on small partial level ultimately this is a new covenant kingdom of God Messianic Kingdom talk that's where it will be ultimately fulfilled verse 10 thus says the Lord again there shall be heard in this place of which you say it's desolate without man or without beasts in the cities of Judah in the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate without man and without inhabitant without beasts without the voice of joy and the voice of gladness the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride the voice of those who will say this is what they're gonna say praise the Lord of Hosts for the Lord is good for his mercy endures forever and of those who will bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the Lord for I will cause the captains of the land to return as at the first says the Lord can you imagine with me what Jerusalem was like under siege can you imagine the screaming can you imagine the anguish cries can you imagine the sound of children crying non-stop just from hunger if from nothing else if you imagine how maddening the sound would be of animals dying in your midst of the war chants of the Babylonians just over the law can you imagine all the fearful sounds of a city under siege and then God says then there's even a worse sound it's the sound of silence when the city's conquered you don't hear anything Jerusalem becomes at least for a season a ghost town and you walk through those streets and you think you know children used to laugh and play here there used to be sound they used this used to be a market place they used to haggle over the price of hummus over there you think it's all quiet it's all desolate now God says listen to the sounds that I'm gonna bring back to Jerusalem verse 11 the voice of joy and the voice of gladness the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride I'm gonna bring the happiest sounds you can imagine back to Jerusalem isn't that beautiful it's just beautiful to think of that God says first you had the sounds of terror during the siege then you had the sounds of silence I'm gonna bring back the sound of joy and this is what people are gonna say as they walk up to the temple verse 11 praise the Lord of Hosts for the Lord is good for his mercy endures forever instead of the anguished cries of a city under judgment they would hear people praising the Lord together friends that's restoration and God says I'm gonna bring it to Jerusalem verse 12 thus says the Lord of Hosts and the place which is without man without beast in all its cities there shall again be a dwelling place of shepherds causing their flocks to lie down in the cities of the mountains in the cities of the lowland in the cities of the south and the land of Benjamin and the places around Jerusalem and the cities of Judah the flock shall again pass under the hands of him who counts them says the Lord it's going to be so beautiful that he uses this picture it's really just a picture of a shepherd with his flock there in the city and we look at that we go oh that's how it is right when you driving through the countryside you see a whole flock of sheep what do you do you go oh there's just something peaceful about seeing a shepherd with all this sheep God says this is the contrast between the terror of the siege and the beauty of my restoration can I add one more thing here well of course again who's gonna rush the stage and stop me verse 13 where it says please nobody please he says at the end of verse 13 the flocks shall again pass under the hands of him who counts them in targum which are some Jewish interpretations of the text in explicably him who counts them they say it's the Messiah they will pass under the hand of the Messiah who counts them it's not beautiful and the idea is of a shepherd standing at the doorway and that's his sheep come in he counts them one by one and you know what he does is he counts them he touches them one by one as they walk by Lord I am your sheep please count me as I come into your pen that's just a beautiful little picture verse 14 behold the days are coming says the Lord that I will perform that good thing which I promised to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah in those days and at that time I will cause to grow up to David a branch of righteousness he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the earth in those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will dwell safely and this is the name by which she will be called the Lord our righteousness for thus says the Lord David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel nor shall the priests the Levites lack a man to offer burnt offerings before me to Kindle grain offerings and to sacrifice continually this is fascinating because first of all in verse 14 he says listen I will perform that good thing that I promise and friends again as we look at these passages I said it before but I'll say it again we see a partial fulfillment in these under Nehemiah and Ezra but the complete fulfillment has to be in the Messianic age it just has to be because notice here verse 15 in those days and at that time I will cause to grow up to David a branch of righteousness friends way back in Jeremiah chapter 23 that branch was set forth that's the Messiah that's the Messiah the branch of righteousness and whatever you want to say about how beautiful it was when Israel was restored from exile under Ezra and Nehemiah the Messiah did not reign in Jerusalem at that time said no I'm gonna bring up to David a branch of righteousness and he will reign verse 15 he shall execute judgment and righteousness in Israel is that what it says in verse 15 no he shall execute righteousness and judgment in the earth again we're talking about the Messianic age when the Messiah rules over the earth no doubt the Millennial earth and in that day Jerusalem will be called by this name verse 16 this is the name by which he will be called the Lord our righteousness now what blows our mind this is a title Yahweh did sidqa knew which is previously given to the Messiah Jerusalem and it may be speaking of the New Jerusalem here will so reflect the nature and the character the Messiah that the city itself will be called the Lord our righteousness now you can't call Jerusalem that now anybody who's had a camera stolen in the Arab market can tell you right now you can't call it now the Lord our righteous this but this is God's holy promise to bring this ultimate restoration verse 19 excuse me here verse 19 and the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah saying thus says the Lord if you can break my covenant with the day and my covenant with the night so that there will not be day and night in their season then my covenant may be also broken with David my servant so that he shall not have a son to reign on his throne and with the Levites the priests my ministers as the hosts of heaven cannot be numbered nor the sand of the sea measured so will I multiply to the descendants of David my servant and the Levites who ministered to me friends this is heavy God says look here's my money back gaurantee do you want to know how you can know I'm going to do these things if I fail to restore Israel you can have the Sun in the moon that's my pledge to you that's my down payment if you can break my covenant with the day and my covenant with the night then then this will be broken and then he says there will always be a son to reign on his throne verse 21 we understand that to be fulfilled in the Messiah very plainly but then he says and with the Levites the priests and my ministers verse 22 so I will multiply the descendants of David my servant and the Levites who minister to me friends if this speaks of the Messianic age in the reign of the Messiah I have to say this is a bit of a mystery to me I don't know if I can fully explain it there is apparently in a way and I'm just being very upfront with you I don't really understand this fully I don't know if I ever will there will be some kind of Levitical work and service to be performed isn't this what he says just as much as the Messiah's reign is this way so with the Levites the priests my ministers so I will multiply the descendants of David my servant and a Levi to minister to me it is possible that this is fulfilled by the great promise that God's people will be a royal priesthood unto Him that is a possibility and he doesn't mean it literally he means it symbolically that's possible other people think this is all fulfilled in the priestly function of Jesus I suppose that's a possibility but friends we have other passages of scripture which speak of some kind of priestly service in the millennial range and I can't figure all of them out but it's suggestive that this is mentioned here going on now verse 23 moreover the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah saying have you not considered what these people have spoken saying the two families which the Lord has chosen he has also cast them off thus they have despised my people as if they should no more be a nation before them my friends this is heavy God speaks to those who claim that he has cast off Israel as a nation before him and what does he say they've committed this sin verse 24 they have despised my people as if they should no more be a nation before them God said of those who thought that Israel was cast off from his love or cast off from his plan that they despised his people and therefore they sinned they denied that Israel would continue as a nation a collective people with whom God had a special plan and a purpose and notice he says a nation before them that's what it says he doesn't say before me he's okay they're a nation before God no God says a nation before the world before them it is a heavy thing it's just honoring to the scriptures and I'll say it it's dishonouring to God to say that God has done with Israel in his plan this is what he says thus they have despised my people as if they should no more be a nation before finally verse 25 thus says the Lord if my covenant is not with day and night and if I have not appointed the ordinance of heaven and earth and I will cast away the descendants of Jacob and David my servant so that I will not take any of his descendants to be rulers over the descendants of Abraham Isaac and Jacob for I will cause their captives to return and will have mercy on them again the analogy between day and night again but notice verse 26 over the descendants of Abraham Isaac and Jacob friends that is a very clear reference to genetic Israel now the Bible teaches us the concept of spiritual Israel those who are the descendants of Abraham by faith as far as I know I don't have any Jewish blood in me though sometimes I think I should get that DNA test and find out there are a lot of Polish Jews running around so who knows but as far as I know I don't have any Jewish blood in me but I'll tell you I am a spiritual descendant of Abraham by faith there is spiritual Israel but it doesn't eliminate genetic Israel and God's plan for them as he says right here those descended from Abraham Isaac and Jacob here's the bottom line with the siege army around Jerusalem God was utterly concerned to demonstrate to them I will restore I don't care how bad the problems are in your life it's not as bad as having a siege army around your city God can and will restore you in Jesus Christ through the New Covenant nobody here should lose hope I prohibit you from leaving this room with lost hope do not you cannot do it God has given you too much confidence in his power to restore and rebuild and give his people a wonderful future so much so that we will fear and tremble because the blessing is so big father make it so thank you for the power of your restoration thank you God thank you that for calamity far worse than we face Lord I think of the years when fire has surrounded this city and it felt like there was a siege army on even then it wasn't as bad as it was for a Jerusalem and even so Lord we see your restoration we see your power we see your grace we fear and we tremble at the magnitude of the blessing that you've given us in the New Covenant through your Messiah Jesus Christ we love you and we praise you we give you on or we give you our hearts here this evening you are worthy of it and we yield to you in the matchless name of Jesus our Messiah amen [Music]

Channel: David Guzik

Views: 4,679

Rating: 4.8947368 out of 5

Keywords: david guzik, guzik, enduring word, jeremiah, jeremiah 32, prophet jeremiah

Id: 31GlazwrAog

Length: 51min 51sec (3111 seconds)

Published: Mon Dec 09 2019