Latest / Faith by annm2705 / 780. Bible Study: Jeremiah 19 and 20 (False gods, Deceptive religion brings God's judgement, Warning, God using people to Warn Others)

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780. Bible Study: Jeremiah 19 and 20 (False gods, Deceptive religion brings God's judgement, Warning, God using people to Warn Others) · Faith by annm2705

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  Chapter 19 from the book of Jeremiah.
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  Let's start it as always with a prayer and remember why we read
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  Scripture. According to Two Timothy chapter
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  3 verse 16, all Scripture is God breathes and is useful for
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  teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness so
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  that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every
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  good work. Dear Lord, please let the Holy
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  Spirit give us this insight as we read through this chapter
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  today. We ask this in Jesus name.
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  So chapter 19, This is what the Lord says.
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  Go and buy a clay jar from the Potter.
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  Take along some of the elders of the people and of the priest,
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  and go to the valley of Ben Hinnom, near the entrance of the
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  Patchard Gate. There, proclaim the words I tell
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  you and say, Hear the word of the Lord, you kings of Judah and
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  people of Jerusalem. This is what the Lord Almighty,
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  the God of Israel, says. Listen, I'm going to bring a
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  disaster on this place that will make the ears of everyone who
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  hears of it tingle, for they have forsaken me and made this
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  place of foreign gods. They have burned incense in it
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  to gods that neither they nor their ancestors nor the kings of
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  Judah ever knew, and they have filled this place with the blood
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  of the innocent. They have built the high places
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  of Baal to burn their children in the fire as offerings to
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  Baal. Something I did not command or
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  mention, nor did it enter my mind.
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  So beware. The days are coming, declares
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  the Lord, when people will no longer call this place Tafeth or
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  the Valley of Ben Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter.
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  In this place I will ruin the plans of Judah and Jerusalem.
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  I will make them fall by the sword before their enemies at
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  the hands of those who want to kill them.
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  I will give their carcasses as food to the birds and wild
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  animals. I'm going to pause there because
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  this is a a warning to Judah and Jerusalem, but it's also a
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  foreshadowing of what God will do with all his enemies and the
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  very end. And you can find that in
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  Revelation chapter 19, verse 17. So the future enemies of God
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  will be treated like this too. They will it's like the great
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  supper of God. All of the those that are
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  destroyed in wrath. There's a call out to the
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  animals to to feed on them. It's, you know, so again, God
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  repeats things and he does things in the same way, but he's
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  a God of justice. So the people that are being
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  destroyed are the people who rejected him completely.
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  So he says I will devastate this city and make it an object of
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  horror and scorn. All who pass by will be appalled
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  and will scoff because of all its wounds.
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  I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and daughters, and
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  they will eat one another's flesh because their enemies will
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  press the siege so hard against them to destroy them.
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  Then break the jar, while those who go with you are watching and
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  say to them, this is what the Lord Almighty says.
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  I will smash this nation and this city just as the Potter's
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  jar is smashed and cannot be repaired.
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  They will bury the dead in Topoth until there is no more
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  room. This is what I will do to this
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  place and to those who live here, declares the Lord.
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  I will make this city like Topoth.
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  The houses in Jerusalem and those of the kings of Judah will
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  be defiled like this place. Topoth all the houses were they
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  burned incense on the roofs to all the starry hosts and poured
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  out drink offerings to other gods.
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  This is a strong warning against worshipping other gods and I
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  guess it would be a strong warning to all nations, the
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  whole entire world. Like if you are worshipping or
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  you are following some other God that is not the God of the
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  Bible, then these kinds of things will be the outcome for
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  all, all other religions. I mean, this is a, this is a
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  word of warning to all people because right now it's talking
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  about Judah and Jerusalem. But in the future, this is
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  coming against all who reject God.
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  And the other thing is that is really important because it
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  affects other religions because the Son of God is the Savior.
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  And if people don't believe that Jesus is the Son of God, those
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  are all the religions that are false religions.
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  Those are all who will receive the wrath of God.
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  So this is a word of warning to all people because the Bible
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  says this. This is the oldest book, this is
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  the oldest religion. And this is true because of all
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  the witnesses, because of the things that happen and the
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  documentation the Bible is there is so much evidence within the
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  Bible and from all the witnesses and all the authors of the Bible
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  that prove this is true. So it's a really great wake up
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  call for all people who practice any other religion because God
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  is not playing around with other little G gods who aren't gods
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  but are probably fallen angels or maybe demons.
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  I don't know what they are, but they are something other.
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  There's something from a spiritual realm that is not God
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  but is pretending to be God and is deceiving many people.
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  So this is a word of warning about this for other people.
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  And there are other religions besides the biblical 1 and
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  that's why this is so important. It's not a matter of, you know,
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  my religion is better than yours.
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  It has nothing to do with religion, but it it has
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  everything to do with the true God and not being deceived by
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  other religions. So now more than ever, it's so
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  important to pray to the one true God and ask him.
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  I mean, he's stronger than any other spirit and ask him to
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  reveal himself to you. It says if you seek him, you
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  will find him. I'll go back to Scripture.
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  Jeremiah then returned from Topath where the Lord had sent
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  him to prophecy, and stood in the court of the Lord's temple
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  and said to all the people, This is what the Lord Almighty, the
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  God of Israel says. Listen, I am going to bring on
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  the city and all the villages around it.
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  Every disaster I pronounced against them because He gives
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  the reason here. They were stiff necked and would
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  not listen to my words. So let's make sure that we are
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  not stiff necked and not listening to God's words, not
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  listening to the warnings that are found in the Bible.
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  So that's the end of chapter 19. I'm going to read what the study
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  Bible has for questions and answers, and then maybe we'll go
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  into chapter 20. Why would parents sacrifice
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  their children? They probably thought that by
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  appeasing Pagan gods, they could improve their quality of life.
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  You know, that's very similar to improving the quality of life.
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  The same reasons that people today give for abortion.
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  If you do not think that that is evil, that is, you know, getting
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  into people's thoughts and influencing people, then it's a
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  part of deception. And so all these people who are
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  talking about having abortion rights, this is some this is a
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  great deception right now. And this is something that they
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  did in ancient times too. They sacrificed their children.
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  Like it says here, they probably thought that by appeasing Pagan
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  gods, they could improve their quality of life.
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  Usually it's an unwanted child. That's why people have it
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  doesn't fit into somebody's life, you know, their schedule
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  or their their way of life. It becomes, you know, in their
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  mind, a burden. And so they destroy a life by
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  having an abortion. And then this is the same
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  deception. Now there are people who just
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  like any other sin, people may have done this in the past, but
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  God is forgiving and merciful and he will forgive if you go to
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  him and and realize like what actually happened.
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  Yes, if you know, most people I think that do this are probably
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  deceived. They don't know what they're
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  doing. They don't think what they're
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  doing, but then their conscience gets to them afterwards and they
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  and they have regret over what they've done.
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  And God is merciful and forgiving.
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  He's not going to. Let's see, I guess here's the
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  thing to think about. Despite having made a terrible
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  decision like that, If somebody has their child is likely with
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  God. So if they repent and never ever
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  do it again and ask for God's forgiveness, there's a good
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  chance that they will be in the Kingdom of God.
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  If they surrender to God and listen to God, they will be in
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  God's Kingdom. And potentially I've the Bible
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  doesn't really have clarity on this, but potentially they will
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  be reunited with that child. That child will be living in
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  God's Kingdom. If you know, God creates life.
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  So if he made that life happen, there's a reason for it and a
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  purpose. And God can take bad things,
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  even if it came from bad circumstances, and make it good.
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  So there's so much to actually consider about life.
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  Like God is the author of life and death.
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  I mean like he decides when a person is born, he creates each
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  person and he also decides when they will die.
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  Now some people take that also into their own hands and that is
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  going against God as well. God says you shall not kill, and
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  God is all about life. He's not about death.
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  But there are other deceiving things that are about death.
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  So any kind of religion that you know is all about death, like
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  Islam, that's a false religion. So let's go back to scripture.
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  Life's harsh realities. High infant mortality may have
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  prompted some to place a lower value of children than adults.
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  Many neighboring peoples abandoned unwanted infants to
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  die. Others didn't name their
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  children until they were older and more likely to survive.
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  The thought of murdering children shocks us.
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  But the people of Judah, who were calloused by the Pagan
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  views around them appear not to have been alarmed by it.
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  Just like today, there's people, you know, who support this
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  abortion, which is like the most evil thing that anyone, you
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  know, anyone who's supporting this is apparently blinded
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  spiritually and does not see what they are doing.
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  So we should pray for all the people who do not see, who did
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  not recognize this, whose eyes aren't open.
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  I pray right now that God opened the eyes of people who do not
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  see these things that we are talking about today.
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  What were Topheth and the valley of Ben Hinnam?
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  The name Topheth may have come from the Hebrew word for
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  fireplace. Topheth was near Jerusalem in
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  the valley of Ben Hinnam. It was known as the place where
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  people sacrificed their children by fire to Molech.
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  Later, the valley became the city's garbage dump.
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  There, the corpses of criminals were discarded and the city
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  trash was burned. Its perpetual fires caused it to
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  become a symbol of future judgment.
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  The word hell is derived from Greek gehenna, which comes from
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  the Hebrew gehennam, a word that refers to the Hinnam Valley.
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  Was cannibalism common at that time?
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  Cannibalism occurred only in the most extreme circumstances and
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  is recorded elsewhere in the Bible.
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  Like Deuteronomy chapter 28 and 2nd Kings chapter 6.
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  It is the ultimate act of desperation.
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  The famine that Jeremiah prophesied would be so severe
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  that the people would be forced to eat human flesh to survive.
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  This actually occurred during the siege of Jerusalem in 586
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  BC. Would the people have seen
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  breaking of this jar's prophecy? The breaking of the jar was a
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  serious signal indicating the beginning of Jerusalem's
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  destruction. Onlookers probably shuddered as
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  they watched Jeremiah smash the jar.
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  Jeremiah was beaten and put in stocks for his warning, but that
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  didn't stop him from prophesying.
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  So continuing on in in Scripture, we'll continue into
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  chapter 20. When the priest Pasture, son of
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  Emer, the official in charge of the temple of the Lord, heard
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  Jeremiah prophesying these things, he had Jeremiah the
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  prophet beaten and put in the stocks at the upper gate of
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  Benjamin at the Lord's temple. The next day, when Pasher
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  released him from the stalks, Jeremiah said to him, The Lord's
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  name for you is not Pasher, but terror on every side.
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  For this is what the Lord says. I will make you a terror to
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  yourself and to all your friends.
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  With your own eyes you will see them fall by the sword of their
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  enemies. I will give all Judah into the
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  hands of the king of Babylon, who will carry them away to
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  Babylon, or put them to the sword.
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  I will deliver all the wealth of the city into the hands of their
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  enemies, all its products, all its valuables, all the treasures
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  of the kings of Judah. They will take it away as
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  plunder and carry it off to Babylon.
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  And you, Pashur, and all who live in your house, will go into
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  exile to Babylon. There you will die and be
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  buried. You and all your friends to whom
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  you have prophesied lies Jeremiah's complaint.
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  Now this is where the Bible, the NIV translation, I think is
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  faulty because it doesn't make sense because when I read this,
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  I was like, wait a minute, this doesn't make sense to me.
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  And then I looked further into it and I found more information
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  that does make sense. So going to the
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  blueletterbible.org, that's where you can find this.
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  If you search Jeremiah 20 verse 7.
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  So it says you deceived me, Lord, and I was deceived.
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  So I disagree with that interpretation.
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  And then it says you overpowered me and prevailed.
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  So I am ridiculed all day long. Everyone mocks me.
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  So did God ever tell Jeremiah he was going to have an easy go at
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  this? No, and he didn't like lure him
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  into, you know, saying these things and say everything is
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  going to go good with you. He never told Jeremiah that.
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  If we look back at all that we've read so deceived.
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  How is Jeremiah deceived? That didn't make sense to me.
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  Like how did God deceive him? He, he, you know, told him what
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  was going to happen and it wasn't necessarily good things
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  and, but he never lied to him or deceived him.
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  So I had to look up the word and it's patha is the Hebrew word
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  and, and it says, you know, it says to entice, deceive,
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  persuade, flatter, allure, enlarged, silly one or silly.
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  Those are all the, the definitions of that word.
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  And it says to be, you know, ultimately the first one is to
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  be spacious, be open, be wide. And then it talks about being
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  open minded, be naive, you know, like to be gullible, all these
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  things. And then it says it's a
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  primitive root. Strong's definition says to make
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  Rumi use figuratively in a moral sense, to make simple, delude
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  flat or persuade. It gives you a lot of different
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  descriptions or definitions of it.
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  And then it says again in brown driver Briggs lexicon, it says
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  it's a verb and it's be spacious wide open and it Aramaic.
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  It says be spacious, abundant, compare Arabic, be youthful in
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  the prime of life. So all these things just really
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  didn't seem like it made sense until I got to it.
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  Says QAL participant in Proverbs 2019, possibly O1 open as to
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  lips. And then if you look in the
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  Hebrew Chaldea lexicon, it says to spread out to open also in
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  the roots beginning with the letters in endo Germanic
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  languages compare sensor pad to spread out.
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  And then it references Proverbs 20 verse 19.
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  And it says one who opens his lips used of a Garrulius man
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  whose lips are opening continually.
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  So then I had to look at, you know, Proverbs 19.
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  So Proverbs 19 warns against associating with a gossip or a
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  simple babbler because they reveal secrets and by extension
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  can be dangerous to be around. Well, this does seem more like
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  Jeremiah. He's revealing secrets.
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  His mouth is open and as as we continue to read in chapter 20,
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  it affirms this interpretation more so than what is written in
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  the Bible. It's not really that he's a
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  gossip, but he's revealing secrets to the public and he can
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  be dangerous to be around, if you think about it, because he's
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  pronouncing judgment. So they they don't want to the
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  people are are rejecting him and it's just like what he's
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  complaining about. So if he you know, if it says
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  that you know, You made my mouth open, Lord.
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  And I was open and spoke all of these things like I, you
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  overpowered me and prevailed. Well, God always said he was
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  going to use Jeremiah to speak. I am ridiculed all day long.
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  Everyone mocks me. Well, that's kind of what
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  happened to Jeremiah. Now here's what it continues.
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  Whenever I speak, so it's talking about speaking, I cry
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  out proclaiming violence and destruction.
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  So the word of the Lord has brought me insult and reproach
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  all day long. But if I say, I will not mention
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  His word, or speak any more in His name.
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  His word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my
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  bones. I am weary of holding it in.
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  Indeed I cannot. So this is like Jeremiah.
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  God has put this in him. And I think that's what Jeremiah
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  is complaining about. He's like, you put these words
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  in my mouth and I'm spewing these words and telling the
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  secret, the things that people don't know about this
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  destruction that's coming on them, and I can't hold it in.
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  I'm proclaiming this to all the people.
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  I mean, that's the interpretation that makes sense
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  to me and it's supported by the rest of this chapter.
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  So again, we have to sometimes look at what interpretations are
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  when they just don't make sense in context or in reference to
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  the rest of the chapters. Like God was never deceiving
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  Jeremiah, but he was putting words in Jeremiah's mouth.
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  And Jeremiah was, you know, he just couldn't hold it in.
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  He said things he didn't really want to be used like this.
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  And the you know, you see at the very end of this chapter 20 how
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  Jeremiah is just really not liking his calling from God.
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  It's really kind of sad how he says this, but he says I this
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  Jeremiah, I hear many whispering terror on every side.
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  Denounce him. Let's denounce him.
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  All my friends are waiting for me to slip, saying perhaps he
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  will be deceived. Then we will prevail over him
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  and take our revenge on him. But the Lord is with me like a
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  mighty warrior, so my persecutors will stumble and not
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  prevail. They will fail and be thoroughly
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  disgraced. Their dishonor will never be
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  forgotten. Lord Almighty, you who examine
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  the righteous and probe the heart and mind, let me see your
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  vengeance on them. For to you, I have committed my
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  cause. So here we see that Jeremiah is
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  he's relying on God. He's not taking the vengeance
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  himself. He's relying on God.
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  He's saying, God, this is yours to do.
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  Sing to the Lord, give praise to the Lord.
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  He rescues the life of the needy from the hands of the wicked.
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  So he's reminding God of what God does.
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  He, you know, and he's thanking him for that.
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  Now here's where Jeremiah gets really sad.
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  Cursed be the day I was born, may the day my mother bore me
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  not be blessed. Cursed be the man who brought my
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  father the news, who made him very glad, saying, A child is
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  born to you, a son. May that man be like the towns
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  the Lord overthrew without pity. May he hear wailing in the
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  morning, a battle cry at noon. For he did not kill me in the
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  womb. With my mother as my grave, her
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  womb enlarged forever. Why did I ever come out of the
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  womb? To see trouble and sorrow, and
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  to end my days in shame. It's really sad, like God used
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  Jeremiah very powerfully to speak to his people.
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  Now one thing that we do know is that God often if he uses
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  somebody like this, he will bless them doubly so I don't I
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  haven't looked to see how Jeremiah's life on earth ended,
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  but in eternity, I am assured that God will doubly bless him
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  that God, there will be some really great things that God has
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  in stored because Jeremiah was submitted, surrendered to God.
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  He he was praising God in the midst of this like terrible
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  stuff that he had to proclaim to people.
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  He didn't want to do it, but he just felt the words of God just
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  overwhelm him and speak these things to people who didn't want
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  to hear it either. And God warned him.
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  He's like, I will tell you know, you're going to tell people
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  this, but they will not listen to you.
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  So it was kind of like, well, why do it?
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  But God is just so He needed somebody powerful to speak to
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  these people, to give everyone the opportunity to listen to
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  Jeremiah or to ignore him. And then when judgement fell on
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  those people, it was it was just because they heard it from
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  Jeremiah. They had the opportunity.
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  They weren't just taken by surprise.
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  Jeremiah's talking and he just can't stop talking.
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  And so we should think about that today too.
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  If people are warning us about something in our life that needs
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  to change and it lines up with the Bible, we should listen.
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  We shouldn't ignore it because maybe God sent that person.
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  Maybe God put it on somebody's heart to say that so that the
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  person could be warned. Because if a person doesn't
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  change, then the only thing they can expect is judgement.
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  And it's right, you know, they can't blame God for it because
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  they were warned. So it's it's, you know, the
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  people who say these things, the people who are truly speaking on
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  behalf of God don't want to tell people bad news.
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  It doesn't make them good. It doesn't make them, you know,
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  well liked. But are we serving the one?
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  Are we serving God? Or are we trying to please man
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  because we only should please God.
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  And if God puts something in us like this where we can't hold
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  back with it, you know, everything should be done in
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  love. If it's doing in an accusing
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  mean way, then that's not of God.
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  If it's done in like some self-righteous manner, that's
• 26:42
  not of God. But if it's done with genuine
• 26:45
  concern about the person, whomever someone is speaking to,
• 26:50
  if somebody gets a word from God or, you know, has this hard,
• 26:55
  difficult conversation with someone, you know, maybe they
• 26:58
  don't even want to have this conversation, but they do it
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  because it's just something that's been bothering them.
• 27:04
  Well, maybe the Holy Spirit is putting that fire in them to
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  have that tough conversation with someone.
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  And if you're the one, you know, having that conversation with
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  someone, you know, make sure it's done in love.
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  And that is done according to the Bible.
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  The way the Bible says it's for the person's ultimate turning to
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  God to build them up, not to destroy them.
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  And our words can either build up or destroy.
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  And if you're the recipient, just think about God's mercy
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  that God is actually sending someone to you who's telling you
• 27:43
  things that are uncomfortable that that person probably
• 27:46
  doesn't want to say, but they care about you and they love you
• 27:49
  and they want you to be in God's Kingdom.
• 27:53
  So really think about these things and, and really meditate
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  on things that are spoken and when something touches you, when
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  something effects you, because it could be the Holy Spirit
• 28:07
  opening up your ears, opening up your eyes, giving wisdom.
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  And don't reject it because God works those in those ways.
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  And we can see that from this chapter.
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  So I will read the questions and answers from chapter 20 and then
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  we will conclude this. So why would a priest punish
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  someone? Pastor?
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  The official in charge of the temple was an executive priest
• 28:34
  responsible for maintaining order in the temple area.
• 28:37
  When he heard Jeremiah's prophecy, he lost his temper and
• 28:41
  had Jeremiah beaten and put in stock.
• 28:43
  Some say this was a prison, others thinks it was a device
• 28:47
  for torture that nearly bent a person double.
• 28:51
  Whatever it was, Pastor's actions were hardly priest like.
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  Why did Jeremiah change Pastor's name?
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  Pastor meant prosperity everywhere.
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  Jeremiah played off this meaning and gave him a new name.
• 29:06
  Terror on every side. Why did Jeremiah accuse God of
• 29:10
  deception? Oh, I wonder what they say here.
• 29:14
  Deceived is a strong word, although it can be translated.
• 29:17
  Persuaded. Jeremiah used it here to
• 29:21
  complain about being roped into something in other places.
• 29:24
  The word translated, seduced or enticed.
• 29:28
  Jeremiah accused God because he felt that he had been enticed or
• 29:32
  seduced into becoming a prophet. Jeremiah could not accuse God of
• 29:37
  lying, however, because God had warned him that his message
• 29:41
  would be resisted by the kings of Judah, its officials, its
• 29:44
  priest, and the people of the land.
• 29:49
  So it's kind of they're coming up with a similar conclusion.
• 29:52
  Was it? OK?
• 29:53
  Next question. Was it impossible for Jeremiah
• 29:55
  to resist speaking God's message?
• 29:57
  Jeremiah felt compelled by God to speak for him.
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  Certainly there was no external constraint on the prophet.
• 30:05
  However, God's inner persuasion did not allow Jeremiah to stop
• 30:09
  bringing God's message. Jeremiah tried to resist, but
• 30:13
  became so spiritually and emotionally spent that he
• 30:16
  finally surrendered his will to God's.
• 30:22
  Why were they whispering terror on every side?
• 30:25
  This was the same. This was the name Jeremiah had
• 30:28
  given to Pesher. Perhaps some who had heard
• 30:32
  Jeremiah use it, we're now mimicking him by using it as a
• 30:37
  nickname for Jeremiah. The prophet's message of judge
• 30:40
  judgement was so unpopular that the crowds delighted in hounding
• 30:44
  him. Another view is that Jeremiah
• 30:47
  described the whispering as terror he heard whenever he went
• 30:52
  on every side. What kind of friends were these?
• 30:55
  Jeremiah friends were anything but loyal.
• 30:58
  His message alienated even his allies, who now waited to report
• 31:04
  his unguarded words to the authorities.
• 31:08
  Was Jeremiah looking for vengeance?
• 31:10
  Probably. But it's important to remember
• 31:13
  that despite Jeremiah's raw emotions and honest complaints,
• 31:16
  he was thinking not only of his feelings but also of God's.
• 31:20
  He recalled God's warnings of punishment on the same people
• 31:25
  who were causing him so much grief.
• 31:27
  And God's vengeance does not arise from revenge, but from
• 31:32
  justice. People who oppose God bring
• 31:35
  judgment on themselves. So again, Jeremiah was not
• 31:40
  taking vengeance himself, he was asking God for that.
• 31:44
  Why did Jeremiah wish he'd been killed in the womb?
• 31:47
  This is simply a poetic way of expressing anguish and despair.
• 31:51
  Because God called Jeremiah to pronounce judgement on the
• 31:54
  people he loved, he became extremely unpopular.
• 31:58
  Enemies plotted his death, and so-called friends watched for
• 32:03
  ways to report him to authorities.
• 32:07
  And that's the end of chapter 2019 and 20.