Latest / Faith by annm2705 / 770. Bible Study: Jeremiah 9 (Testing, Refining, Obeying- God is kind, just, and righteous)

Transcript

770. Bible Study: Jeremiah 9 (Testing, Refining, Obeying- God is kind, just, and righteous) · Faith by annm2705

0:00
Today we have Chapter 9 from the book of Jeremiah.
0:04
First, let's pray. Dear God, please be with us as
0:07
we read through this and give us wisdom and insight from your
0:10
word. We ask this in Jesus name.
0:14
So this is the Lord speaking. It's continuing actually from
0:17
chapter 8, but starting with verse one in Chapter 9.
0:22
Oh, that my head were a spring of water, and my eyes a
0:27
foundation of tears. I would weep day and night for
0:30
the slain of my people. Oh, that I had in the desert a
0:36
lodging place for travellers, so that I might leave my people and
0:40
go away from them, For they are all adulterers, a crowd of
0:45
unfaithful people. They make ready their tongue
0:50
like a bow to shoot lies. It is not by truth that they
0:54
triumph in the land. They go from one sin to another.
0:59
They do not acknowledge me, declares the Lord.
1:02
Beware of your friends. Do not trust anyone in your
1:06
clan, for every one of them is a deceiver, and every friend a
1:11
slanderer. Friend deceives friend, and no
1:15
one speaks the truth. They have caught, they have
1:18
taught their tongue to lie. They weary themselves with
1:22
sinning. You live in the midst of
1:25
deception. In their deceit they refuse to
1:29
acknowledge me, declares the Lord.
1:32
Therefore, this is what the Lord Almighty says.
1:35
See, I will refine and test them for what else can I do because
1:41
of the sin of my people. I'll pause there for a minute.
1:45
Because he's going through all these things that people are
1:48
doing that are against him. And they are not listening to
1:53
any of the prophets that he has sent and is sending as far as
1:58
Jeremiah, who is a prophet that's being sent to speak with
2:02
the people of Judah. And so because nobody's
2:06
listening, then God is saying, I will refine them.
2:10
So that's showing his mercy, like he's, he's actually going
2:13
to take care of this someday and and then test them.
2:18
So to me, this was something that alerted me, like when we
2:22
get tested, it's probably because God's letting us, I
2:27
guess, I don't know. I mean, I guess is he seeing
2:31
letting us see that how we're handling a certain sin or a
2:37
certain way of living that God is not happy with when he tests
2:43
us? Is he, you know, he's obviously
2:46
testing our faith, testing what we do, maybe putting us in a
2:51
situation where he can see, he probably knows already, but we
2:56
can see, what do we choose? Do we choose to do what we feel
3:00
we're being led by the Holy Spirit to do, or do we choose
3:04
the sinful way that our flesh desires?
3:06
That's what Paul talks about. He's like, we're in a battle
3:09
where we have our fleshly desires and then we have what
3:13
God said, you know, God's holy ways.
3:17
And we get to a point where what are we going to do?
3:20
What are we going to choose? And it is all about a decision.
3:23
And I think the interesting thing is that the it's the evil
3:29
one who brings about the I don't know, let's see how to explain
3:35
this. Who brings about temptation?
3:40
God test. But the evil 1 brings
3:43
temptation. So when he tests us, he allows
3:47
the evil 1 to tempt us. And then it's like, are we going
3:51
to go with the tempter or are we going to go with God?
3:56
And and that's where the decision is.
3:58
And it, and it seems like there's a really simple solution
4:01
to this because it says in scripture to resist the devil
4:07
and he will flee from you. So we it's, it's a choice.
4:11
It's an everyday choice. Like it may not be comfortable
4:16
for us to make that decision, but it's only a decision.
4:20
It's not like this warfare is like a physical battle that
4:24
we're dealing with. This is all about, it's a battle
4:27
of the mind. It's all about decision.
4:31
I mean, that is another reason why it makes sense in scripture
4:34
where it says be alert and of sober mind, because the devil
4:40
roams the earth or he's prowling the earth looking for his next
4:44
victim. So if we're my if our mindset,
4:47
if we've allowed it to become altered from something we
4:53
consume or take, then we are not, we are, we are in a very
4:59
susceptible way. Our, our guard is down and, and
5:05
we are, we can be more affected by evil influencing our life and
5:12
not, you know, resist the temptation during the testing
5:18
that God allows. So it's really interesting when
5:21
you get into the Bible, you realize that all wrongdoing, if
5:25
you reflect on it, is a matter of choice.
5:28
We have a choice and it's not I mean, you know, what your mind
5:33
decides is it's that's not hard physically, but mentally that is
5:39
hard. But that's why I guess being in
5:41
the word of God is helpful because it renews your mind.
5:46
It gives it keeps feeding you good things.
5:49
It keeps telling you the holy things about God, what God
5:53
wants, what God doesn't like, what is holy, what is not holy.
5:58
And if we we consume that by reading God's Word, it gets into
6:05
our minds. So then when we come upon a
6:09
period of testing, we can remember the Word of God and
6:13
what it says about whatever situation we come across.
6:17
And then it's just a matter of choice.
6:20
And to be honest, our eternal destination is a matter of
6:27
choice because it's all based on what we decide.
6:31
We can't blame anyone or we can't get mad at God and say
6:38
God's sending people to hell. No, he doesn't do that.
6:41
It's based on our choices. If we don't believe in, it's,
6:47
you know, gosh, there's a lot to hear.
6:50
If we don't believe that Jesus died on the cross and
6:54
resurrected and makes it possible for us to be in God's
7:00
Kingdom, then we're relying on ourself.
7:03
So when we believe that Jesus did that and that's how we can
7:07
be made ready for God's Kingdom, that's that's the first step.
7:13
And then Jesus said we must be born of the Spirit.
7:17
So that's really the second step.
7:19
That's the second step of saying, OK, God, I, I don't want
7:22
to go my ways anymore. I want your ways to affect my
7:28
life, to influence my life. And I want to change my mindset
7:32
to do the things that you want me to do things according to
7:35
your will rather than the sinful ways that my heart desires or my
7:41
flesh desires. That's what the Bible calls it,
7:43
the flesh, just what people generally want to do selfish
7:49
things basically. And, and so when you submit to
7:52
God and you say God, I want, I want to do the things you want
7:56
me to do, not the things, the selfish things that I want to
7:59
do. I need your help for that.
8:00
That's the surrender to God. That's that's where God that's
8:04
like almost the legal rights that you're giving God that are
8:08
that are saying God, I want you in my life.
8:11
And that's what Jesus is talking about when he says you must be
8:14
born again, when you invite God into your life, the Holy Spirit
8:19
into your life. And the Holy Spirit can begin to
8:22
start giving you that intuition about about right and wrong,
8:29
quite honestly. And and then you still have, we
8:34
still have our free will where we can decide what we want to
8:36
do. But every decision has an
8:40
eternal impact on us. It may mean our placement in
8:44
God's Kingdom by the decisions we make, but it may also be a
8:49
matter of salvation, like if we refuse the Holy Spirit, that's
8:54
what blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is.
8:56
That's refusing rejecting God's Holy Spirit and that's the
9:00
unforgivable sin. So that would make us
9:03
automatically destined for hell for I don't even hell isn't the
9:08
right word for it, but it's talked about like the eternal
9:11
lake of fire. There's like it's a place of
9:13
torment that goes on forever and and that's where we by default
9:19
will go if we reject the Holy Spirit of God.
9:22
And like Jesus said, we we need the Holy Spirit to be in the
9:25
Kingdom of God. He did the hardest thing that no
9:27
human could do because he's God, the Son of God, and he died on
9:33
the cross and made it possible for us to be in God's Kingdom.
9:37
But it just doesn't stop there. We have to, like Jesus said,
9:41
pick up your own cross if we want to be in God's Kingdom.
9:45
You know, he already did the hardest part, the impossible
9:48
part for us. But then we have to respond to
9:51
that. And if we don't respond to that,
9:54
by default, we are making a decision and that decision
10:01
doesn't get us into God's Kingdom.
10:03
So it's a very, very important decision.
10:06
And the Word of God is so important to understand.
10:10
So anyway, I kind of went off down a tangent on that, so I'll
10:13
get back to Scripture. We'll read in Chapter 9, verse
10:16
8. Their tongue is a deadly arrow.
10:19
It speaks deceitfully with their mouths.
10:22
They speak cordially to their neighbors, but in their hearts
10:26
they set traps for them. Should I not punish them for
10:29
this, Declares the Lord? Should I not avenge myself on
10:33
such a nation as this? I will weep and wail for the
10:38
mountains, and take up lament concerning the wilderness
10:41
grasslands. They are desolate and
10:44
untraveled, and the lowing of the cattle is not heard.
10:48
The birds have all fled, and the animals are gone.
10:52
I will make Jerusalem a heap of runes, a haunt of jackals, and I
10:58
will lay waste the towns of Judah, so no one can live there.
11:03
Who is wise enough to understand this?
11:06
Who has been instructed by the Lord and can explain it?
11:10
Why has the land been ruined and laid waste like a desert that no
11:15
one can cross? The Lord said He always gives
11:19
those reasons why He doesn't leave anybody guessing.
11:22
So here's where God's going to explain why.
11:26
It is because they have forsaken my law which I set before them.
11:32
They have not obeyed me or followed my law.
11:38
Instead, they have followed the stubbornness of their hearts.
11:42
That's basically selfishness. They have followed the bells or
11:47
the bales, whatever they're called.
11:50
Those are Lords or gods that people worship.
11:53
The Study Bible give any more detail about that.
11:57
They had followed the bells as their ancestors taught them.
12:02
So idolatry, therefore, this is what the Lord Almighty, the God
12:07
of Israel says. See, I will make this people eat
12:11
bitter food and drink poisoned water.
12:16
I will scatter them among nations that neither they nor
12:21
their ancestors have known, and I will pursue them with the
12:25
sword until I have made an end of them.
12:29
This is what the Lord Almighty says.
12:31
Consider now. Call for the wailing women to
12:33
come. Send for the most skillful of
12:36
them. Let them come quickly and wail
12:38
over us till our eyes overflow with tears and water stream from
12:43
our eyelids. The sound of wailing is heard
12:46
from Zion. How ruined we are, how great is
12:48
our shame. We must leave our land because
12:51
our houses are in ruins. Now you women, hear the word of
12:55
the Lord. Open your ears with to the words
12:59
of his mouth. Teach your daughters how to
13:01
wail. Teach one another a lament.
13:04
Death has climbed in through our windows and has entered our
13:08
fortresses. It has removed the children from
13:12
the streets and the young men from the public squares.
13:15
Say this is what the Lord declares.
13:19
Dead bodies will lie like dung on the open field, like cut
13:24
grain behind the Reaper, with no one to gather them.
13:29
This is what the Lord says. Let not the wise boast of their
13:33
wisdom or the strong boast of their strength or the rich boast
13:39
of their riches, but let the one who boast boast about this that
13:45
they have the understanding to know me that I am the Lord who
13:51
exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth.
13:57
For in these I delight. I think we need to pause there.
14:02
When I read this, I, the study Bible doesn't address this, but
14:08
I noticed that this is something I had heard in the New Testament
14:13
and Paul says there's a few, few different times.
14:16
So I'm going to, I didn't have this called up, but I'm going to
14:22
read you the verses that Paul talks about.
14:25
So there's two times that he mentions this in First
14:28
Corinthians chapter one verse 31 and 2nd Corinthians chapter 10
14:34
verse 17. And the exact phrases are
14:37
therefore, as it is written, let the one who boast, boast in the
14:43
Lord. And then in 2nd Corinthians
14:46
1017, but let the one who boast, boast in the Lord.
14:52
So the, you know, there's nothing for us to brag about or
14:58
to be proud of other than knowing God.
15:03
That's the only thing that really we should be proud of if
15:07
we know God, because let's read this again.
15:11
What God says, it says let the one who boast, boast, boast that
15:16
they have the understanding to know me.
15:20
So that is like a that's like a great blessing to know God.
15:24
Because if we know God, that means that we have a
15:30
relationship with him. That means and, and it says that
15:34
we can only worship in spirit. So that means that we have to
15:38
have the Holy Spirit at that point to know God, we have to
15:41
have the Holy Spirit because it says God is Spirit and we must
15:46
worship him in spirit. I don't remember where that is
15:49
in the Bible, but it does say you can look that up.
15:51
So it says that we have to worship God in spirit.
15:55
So the only way to know him is to know him through the Spirit.
15:58
And the Spirit reveals things to us.
16:01
So that is something that we should be proud of, that we
16:05
should be joyous of, that we should be glad for because that
16:09
is how we will be with Him in eternity when we have the Holy
16:14
Spirit. So and then he says, you know,
16:17
it's interesting because he talks about all of this like
16:19
horrible stuff that's going to happen.
16:22
But then this is how he describes himself, which is
16:25
which is true. You know, that I am the Lord who
16:28
exercises kindness. Like we just heard all this
16:32
horrible stuff that was going to happen.
16:34
But then we have to remember justice.
16:37
That's the next word that he says is justice.
16:40
And if we think about it like God is holy, God is love, but
16:46
holiness can't be in the presence of unholy things.
16:51
It says that God is a consuming fire.
16:55
So he he will like because of His Holiness, it will burn out
16:59
anything that is unholy. That's why we need to be made
17:03
holy. That's why we need the Holy
17:05
Spirit so that we can be in the presence of God without getting
17:10
harmed. But this justice, like the
17:15
justice that God, that God does is just, it's just punishment
17:22
for rebellion against him, for evilness that is in people's
17:28
lives, in all of our lives. I mean, that's what we have to
17:31
get to a point of admission about is that we do evil things
17:36
and with the help of the Holy Spirit, we can eliminate a lot
17:40
of that. And, and that's what the process
17:43
of having the Holy Spirit work in our life.
17:46
It starts to change us. It starts to rid us of the
17:49
impurities that God compares himself to, like a silversmith
17:53
who has to put people through the fire.
17:56
And there's a great analogy about that of what a silversmith
18:00
actually does when it puts the silver into the fire.
18:03
It exposes the impurities and has to keep going through the
18:06
fire until it, the silversmith can see his reflection in the
18:13
silver. So that's how all the impurities
18:16
get out. That's what happens to us as
18:18
well, is that we have to go through the fire.
18:23
We have to go through the testing to get rid of all the
18:26
impurities, all the selfishness in our life until we start to
18:31
resemble more of what God is like the character of God.
18:37
We were made in the image of God.
18:39
We are truly children of God. But if we don't allow the Holy
18:45
Spirit into our life, we can't be called children of God.
18:49
We are still in rebellion. So if if anyone you know, or if
18:54
you haven't asked God to send the Holy Spirit to you with, you
18:59
know, to ask God for forgiveness for mercy of anything that
19:05
you've done that that you know we've done that is contrary to
19:10
what God wants of us, Ask him for forgiveness of that.
19:14
Ask him for the Holy Spirit to enter our lives, to begin to
19:17
change us, to make us aware of the things in our life that
19:21
God's not thrilled with and, and we will begin to change.
19:25
And it some it happens really quickly and others it happens
19:28
slowly and gradually. But it's very, very important.
19:33
And it's a requirement to be in God's Kingdom to have the Holy
19:37
Spirit. It's a requirement to be in
19:40
communion in, in relationship with God, to have the Holy
19:44
Spirit because we have to worship in spirit.
19:47
So this is not a negotiable item.
19:49
This isn't something that we can say, well, I don't really need
19:52
that. Yes, we do.
19:53
Every single one of us needs that if we want to be in
19:56
eternity with God and if we want the the blessings that God is
20:01
actually prepared for those who prep themselves by accepting
20:06
him, by wanting him, by desiring him, by loving him back.
20:10
That's what this is all about. So then there's one more
20:14
statement that comes and this is about the future, apparently
20:18
because of what it says. The days are coming, declares
20:22
the Lord, when I will punish all who are circumcised only in the
20:30
flesh. So that's a physical thing if
20:33
you're just circumcised in the flesh.
20:35
And then he goes on to say, and this is also symbolic too, but
20:39
he it says, I'll read it again. The days are coming, declares
20:43
the Lord, when I will punish all who are circumcised only in the
20:47
flesh. Dash, Egypt, Judah, Edom which
20:53
is present day Jordan, Amon, Moab which are also part of
20:57
Jordan and all who live in the wilderness in distant places,
21:02
Well, that could be everybody, right?
21:04
For all these nations are really uncircumcised and even the whole
21:09
House of Israel is uncircumcised in heart.
21:15
So in our internal desires, have we cut out sin?
21:23
Are we doing that? I mean, that's what the Holy
21:25
Spirit helps us to do, is cut out sin out of our life.
21:29
And if we don't have the Holy Spirit, it's impossible.
21:33
I mean, it's pretty much impossible.
21:36
It is impossible. I mean, to be completely
21:38
sinless. We can't, we're human beings.
21:40
So it says like with God, all things are possible.
21:45
So with man, we might have struggles, you know, on our own
21:48
self to try to do things ourself.
21:50
So that's why there's that surrender to God, to his Spirit,
21:54
to invite his Spirit to have more influence over our life and
21:59
dwell. It says he dwells within us
22:02
spiritually. So that's what we, we all need
22:05
to do if we want to be in God's Kingdom and enjoy the eternal
22:12
blessings that God has promised to all who do this.
22:16
It doesn't matter if you're Israel.
22:18
It doesn't matter if you're Judah.
22:20
It doesn't matter if you're the United States, if you're Russia,
22:23
if you're Africa, if you're, you know, from anywhere, it doesn't
22:27
matter. This is an invitation to all
22:30
people, to all nations. But we have to do a couple
22:35
things. I mean, we have to believe.
22:38
Number one, that's faith. Faith in Jesus, to recognize
22:42
Jesus as our Savior, as the Son of God who made it possible for
22:47
us. And then #2 we have to be born
22:51
of the Spirit. We have to invite God's Holy
22:53
Spirit in. Jesus is the one who gives us
22:56
the Spirit. So you can't get the Spirit
22:59
directly from God because it says that you ask Jesus and he
23:04
will ask the Father, and then give the Spirit to us.
23:06
That's what he told his followers.
23:08
So you can't circumvent Jesus. That's why Jesus said I am the
23:12
way, the truth and the life and no one comes to the Father
23:16
except through me. So Jesus is a non negotiable in
23:22
being God in God's Kingdom. We need Jesus in order to be in
23:27
God's Kingdom if we can't get into God's Kingdom without
23:30
Jesus. So hopefully I made this really
23:33
clear and then I'll go through the questions and answers and
23:36
we'll wrap up Chapter 9. All right, so let's see where it
23:40
starts. Here is Jeremiah.
23:43
If Jeremiah really cared about the people of Judah, why did he
23:47
want to leave? He felt saddened by their
23:50
plight, but was nonetheless repulsed by their sin.
23:56
I thought this was the Lord talking about this.
23:59
So because it said declares the Lord at the end.
24:03
I don't know. Oh, I guess that was actually
24:05
OK. I probably misspoke.
24:07
This wasn't the Lord speaking when I first read it.
24:09
That was Jeremiah talking about how everybody was adulterers.
24:13
But then in quotation marks it says that it starts actually in
24:17
verse three. They make their they make ready
24:20
their tongues like a bow to shoot lies.
24:22
It is not that by truth that they triumph in the land.
24:24
They go from one sin to another, but they do not acknowledge me.
24:29
And then God is telling him, Beware of your friends.
24:31
Don't trust anyone in your clan, for every one of them is a
24:34
deceiver, and every friend is a slanderer, friend, deceased
24:37
friend, and no one speaks the truth.
24:39
They have taught their tongues to lie.
24:41
They they weary themselves with sinning.
24:44
You live in the midst of deception.
24:46
In their deceit, they refuse to acknowledge me, declares the
24:48
Lord. So anyway, Jeremiah felt
24:52
saddened by their plight was but was nonetheless repulsed by
24:56
their sin. He said it would be better for
24:58
him to live in isolation, alone in the desert and away from such
25:02
deplorable behavior than to stay with the people he loved.
25:07
What lies were people telling? They assured each other that the
25:11
sins they committed were OK and that God would never abandoned
25:16
them. But no doubt there was also the
25:18
run-of-the-mill hypocrisy, backstabbing and deceit that
25:23
usually occurs in the business, government and everyday life of
25:28
many nations. How can you weary yourself with
25:32
sinning when you live a life of lies?
25:35
Just keeping up the pretense can be exhausting.
25:39
It's easy to tire and stumble into traps of your own making.
25:44
How does God refine and test people?
25:47
Metal is tested to see if it's pure.
25:50
If it is not, it needs to be refined by fire.
25:53
Because of their obvious sins, the people of Judah were not
25:57
pure, so they needed to be refined.
26:00
That is tested with the goal of purification.
26:04
God still seeks to purge, not destroy His people.
26:09
He refines them by bringing difficulty into their lives so
26:14
they will experience vulnerability and spiritual
26:18
thirst. The goal of this is to cause
26:22
them to turn to the Lord. That's an interesting
26:26
explanation. What do jackals say about an
26:30
area? Jackals are scavengers that
26:32
avoid human settlements unless the area is completely deserted.
26:37
If they didn't know any better, why did God punish them?
26:40
Weren't they only doing what their parents had taught them?
26:43
Yes, but the command to honor father and mother does not
26:47
override the command to remain faithful to God.
26:50
In fact, the people did know better, and many prophets had
26:55
warned them about the consequences of their sins.
26:59
Was there more than one Baal or Baal?
27:02
At first there were many Baals because each region worshipped
27:05
its own gods. Gradually, Baal became the name
27:09
for the main God of a king or nation.
27:12
So in the confrontation between Elijah and the prophets of Baal,
27:16
the contest was between the Baal and the Ashira of King Ahab and
27:22
Queen Jezebel and the one true God.
27:26
Did God plan to completely destroy Israel?
27:30
Yes, in two senses #1 Israel was temporarily destroyed as a
27:35
nation. The nation ceased to exist for
27:38
generations. For a generation or more, Israel
27:43
was also destroyed. Theologically, the old is what
27:47
Israel. I disagree with this statement
27:50
though. The old Israel was replaced by
27:52
the new Israel, the Church, which is the people of God in
27:56
Christ. Well, it wasn't, it was
27:59
expanded. I don't, I don't think replaced
28:02
is the right word because you have to go into the book of
28:06
Ezekiel, I think it is where it talks about the two sticks being
28:11
separated but then later being joined.
28:14
And so God's plan was always for all nations.
28:18
So Israel wasn't replaced, but it was expanded to include the
28:23
Gentiles. So I think there's a there's
28:26
actually a typo in this study Bible because it contradicts
28:30
scripture where it's Israel's never replaced.
28:35
It's Israel is remains the elect God is still going to save the
28:41
remnant of Israel, the 144,012 thousand from various tribes.
28:49
And then there's also, you know, thousands upon thousands of
28:53
others besides Israel who are seen in the presence of the
28:58
Lord. So there's it, there's the, the
29:02
ancient Israel people ancestry that, you know, the, the
29:07
bloodline of those people. We're, we're all technically
29:10
brothers and sisters. If you look back.
29:12
I mean, we all came from the the descendants of Noah on the ark.
29:18
I mean, they were the eight people that, you know, were
29:20
saved after the flood. And that's how the population
29:23
grew. So technically we're all
29:25
brothers and sisters. But, you know, some are, you
29:28
know, specifically the descendants of Abraham, Isaac
29:32
and Jacob. And that's Israel.
29:34
But Israel's not forgotten. Israel shows up.
29:37
It's not replaced. It's expanded because there's
29:41
evidence of that in the Book of Revelation where there are
29:44
12,000 people. People, Whether that's symbolic
29:48
or literal, I don't know. We'll see in the very end.
29:51
And it's from various tribes. However, the tribe of Dan and
29:56
the tribe of Ephraim or Ephraim, I don't know how to say it
29:59
properly. Those two are missing and I
30:03
don't know why except that they were known to be idolatrous.
30:07
And there are some comparisons of the tribe of Dan to a snake,
30:11
which is very interesting too. So I don't know if there's like
30:15
a spiritual apostasy, see where in within that tribe.
30:20
I don't know if most of that tribe got eliminated because of
30:23
idolatry. Those are questions we can ask
30:26
God because I don't think Scripture clearly explains that.
30:30
But there's a couple missing, you know, Dan and Ephraim,
30:33
Ephraim, whatever, but there's 12,000 from the others.
30:38
So we will see someday. And then there's a couple more
30:41
questions and answers. Why was God going to judge these
30:44
nations? The term uncircumcised was a
30:46
typical Jewish term used in the Old Testament to describe
30:50
Gentiles, other nations not in covenant relationship with God.
30:56
Jeremiah pointed out that Judah wasn't the only nation to
30:59
practice circumcision, and that judgement could not be avoided
31:03
merely by an external mark. What really mattered was a true
31:08
covenant from the heart. This was a roundabout way of
31:12
warning that Judah would be judged just as other nations
31:17
would be judged. Now here's where we can also
31:20
recognize that God shows no favoritism.
31:25
He will punish his own elect, his own chosen tribe, tribes.
31:31
You know, the the clans, the descendants of Abraham, Isaac,
31:35
and Jacob. He's going to judge them as
31:37
well, so all nations plus those nations will all be judged.
31:43
God doesn't have favorite favoritism.
31:45
Being chosen doesn't mean it's God's favorite, it just means He
31:51
chose. He gives an example of this when
31:54
he talks about the clay and the Potter.
31:56
Cannot the Potter representing God use some of the clay for
32:00
special purposes and some for common purposes?
32:04
So God had special purposes for some people in the Bible.
32:08
Like Jeremiah was one who had a special purpose.
32:11
Like Moses was one who had a special purpose.
32:15
David was one who had a special purpose.
32:18
But some others who are mentioned, their names, you
32:21
know, might be just, they may have been mentioned in the
32:24
Bible, but they weren't really significant, but they had a
32:28
purpose, a common purpose. And so, you know, having a
32:32
special purpose does not show favoritism, does not mean that
32:38
anything is greater. It just means it has a special
32:41
purpose from God. Like God said, this is, I want
32:44
to use this person for this reason and that's what they're
32:48
being used for. But some people don't have that
32:50
calling on their life and they're just like a common
32:54
person. And there's nothing wrong with
32:56
either of those. Like Moses killed a man out of
32:59
anger. Well, that's not a godly thing
33:01
to do. And he had to flee from, you
33:04
know, getting in trouble for that basically.
33:06
And and he disobeyed God too. And God told him to, to speak to
33:11
the rock to get water from it. And instead he struck the rock
33:15
and that prevented Moses from entering into in the promised
33:21
land. He he was able to see it, but he
33:25
was not able to go into it. So anyway, those are God deals
33:32
with each person individually with their own sinful ways.
33:36
So nobody in the Bible is perfect because everybody is
33:40
human. So there it shows how each
33:43
person in the Bible, even though God uses them for special
33:46
purposes, they also have sin in their life and God has to refine
33:50
find them and they also struggle.
33:52
Not one person in the Bible had like a a uncomplicated, peaceful
34:03
life. If God chose them for a special
34:05
purpose, there was something that they they really had to
34:09
give up something they had to give up some comfort.
34:12
Like Jeremiah was, you know, several of the people that God
34:15
used for a special purpose were kind of like, I wish I'd never
34:18
been born born because this is what I have to experience.
34:22
So when we have troubles, we can relate to a lot of the people
34:26
who were significant people in the Bible that God chose for
34:30
special purposes. And sometimes when God does
34:33
choose people for special purposes, they may experience
34:37
struggles. They probably will.
34:39
I mean, most of all of Jesus's disciples were executed.
34:44
I think only one, John, died of old age, but he was also
34:49
isolated onto the island of Patmos.
34:53
So it, you know, following God, it, you know, there's one thing
34:56
that Jesus said, he said, you know, before you decide this,
34:59
you should count your cost and and don't just jump into this
35:03
thinking my life is going to be wonderful because I did this.
35:07
That's what I actually, that's what I did.
35:08
Honestly, I hadn't read the Bible and I just thought I saw
35:13
that my life was not going the way I wanted it to go.
35:16
And then I thought, well, if I listen to God, if I become
35:21
obedient to God, my life will be better.
35:23
That's what I thought. And that isn't really true.
35:27
And I was afraid to tell anybody that because I knew it was good
35:30
to follow God, but I didn't want to discourage people from
35:34
following God because it's not an easy thing to choose.
35:39
But when we choose that, we're showing God that we love him,
35:43
that we appreciate what he's done for us and that we want a
35:47
relationship with them, even if it is hard.
35:49
And God promised that anything that we suffer here on earth, I
35:53
mean, you, there's evidence in the Bible throughout where he,
35:56
like, doubly blesses people. So people who have had terrible
36:00
sufferings because of the nature of God and the goodness of God,
36:04
it seems very likely that those blessings will be doubled
36:08
because of the hardships they experienced with God.
36:11
We have to remember God is just so if he, if we had to suffer
36:15
here on earth, just think of what he's going to do in the
36:18
future in his Kingdom. So God is good, he's always
36:23
good. And we have to keep the the long
36:25
range, the eternal perspective rather than the here today
36:30
perspective, because here today can bring about not some great
36:35
thoughts, but when we think about eternity, that's where we
36:39
have to keep our focus on because that's the important
36:41
part that is much longer we life here is but a vapor.
36:45
That's what James, I think one of Jesus's brothers said that
36:48
James or Jude, I can't remember which one, that said that life
36:51
is but a vapor. It's so short.
36:54
And we have to realize that our time here on earth is really
36:57
short. I mean, it's maybe be like 120
37:00
years and approximately and then we have eternity after that,
37:07
which is never ending. So that's where our focus should
37:11
be. We shouldn't be short sighted.
37:13
We need to look at the big picture of things.
37:15
So anyway, did other nations practice circumcision?
37:20
There is historical evidence that Egypt, Edom, and certain
37:23
Arab tribes practice circumcision as practiced by
37:27
nations other than Israel. It did not have the spiritual
37:31
significance that it had for Israel, nor did it signify that
37:35
the people belonged to God in a covenant covenantal
37:38
relationship, as it did for the Jews.
37:41
It may have been a superstitious practice to ward off evil.
37:45
It also may have been a right of marriage or of puberty, or
37:50
perhaps practice for hygienic purposes.
37:54
What does it mean to be uncircumcised in the heart?
37:57
This is a figurative way of calling people to cut sinful
38:01
impurities from their lives. Just as the foreskin is removed
38:06
in physical circumcision, Jeremiah was advising the people
38:10
of Judah to remove the sinful practices that hindered their
38:14
spiritual growth. The apostle Paul also used the
38:19
metaphor of a circumcised heart. He talks about that in Romans
38:24
chapter 2 verses 28 through 29 and Colossians chapter 2 verse
38:30
11. So he was Paul was referencing
38:34
some things from Jeremiah. If you go to those other verses
38:36
that I quoted in liketheblueletterbible.org you
38:41
will see it. It shows you where the reference
38:44
came from. And it was from this chapter
38:46
that we're reading Jeremiah 9. So Paul meditated on the word.
38:50
He knew the word. He was a Pharisee and he was he
38:54
was a Jew. He and he was changed after he
38:59
had a vision of the Lord of Jesus and he experienced some
39:03
physical things and then he became the author of many of the
39:07
books that are incorporated into the Bible.
39:09
So God took someone who, which I didn't mention, he was actually
39:14
persecuting, I think actually killing Christians originally.
39:19
But then God changed his life. When the Spirit of God came into
39:23
Paul, he had a complete change. And that's what can happen to
39:28
any of us who surrender our lives to God and invite God into
39:32
our lives. So don't waste time doing that,
39:35
because it will prove to be valuable.