Latest / Journey Elgin / Journey Through Scripture - Jer 48-9, 27-9, 50-1
Transcript
- Phillip Thomas: It's good to see you again today. My name is Philip Thomas, pastor of Journey here in Elgin, Texas, and we are continuing our journey through scripture. We continue walking through right now. We're in the middle of the Old Testament. We're going in a chronological order of the Bible, which kind of makes it go all over the place. We're in the middle of Jeremiah. The book of Jeremiah is kind of confusing. ⁓ Timeline-wise, it just kind of jumps back and forth. And so I understand it can be a little crazy. So I encourage you to, I'll always say where I'm reading from. So if you want to pause and read that chapter, or if you just want to listen to the summary of it, that's fine. ⁓ But I do encourage you whenever you have time to read through, because by the time we finish this, which I don't have a timeline, but let's see, we're getting close to halfway. We will have read through. all of scripture in a chronological order. So today we're going to be all over the place in Jeremiah. We will be in Jeremiah 48 and 49, 27 through 29, and then we'll hit Jeremiah 50 and 51. But we are at a place now where, if you remember, the exile has already begun. So remember we talked about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and Daniel? on Tuesday. ⁓ they're already Babylon. King Nebuchadnezzar has already taken many of the people from Jerusalem, taken them into exile in Babylon. But Jeremiah is still in Jerusalem, and King Zedekiah has now been put in place. ⁓ Basically, he's just expected to be an ally to Babylon and just, you know, keep the peace, is what he is supposed to do. And so you have Jeremiah who is continuing to give God's word to the people there. Second Kings 24 verse 18 and 19 and Jeremiah 52 verses 1 and 2 are basically the exact same. And they introduced Zedekiah. It says he was 21 years old when he becomes king. He reigned 11 years in Jerusalem. He did evil in the sight of the Lord according to all that his father had done. So again, It just, he's not a good king. No one again ⁓ appreciates Jeremiah. No one wants to hear what Jeremiah say. And honestly, if you do read all of this, it's a little bit different. It's not necessarily narrative. This is God's judgment being pronounced on different people. And so it doesn't make a lot of sense to us. I mean, you'll definitely get the sense of what it is trying to say, but But all the little details, don't get caught up in all the little details. It's just using different ways to express ⁓ how God's judgment and wrath is going to be poured out upon ⁓ all of the nations. And one thing that you'll see here is that, yes, that God is going to hold his own people accountable, but he also holds the rest of the world accountable, right? Which makes sense. He created all of us. ⁓ And the more we go against His will and His desire, the worse it is going to be. So in Jeremiah chapter 27, ⁓ says, Thus says the Lord, make yourselves bonds and yokes and put them on your neck. So He's telling Jeremiah to do this and send them to the king of Edom, Moab, Ammonites. He tells all these different places. and command them to say to their masters, thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, thus you should say to your master, I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are on the ground by my great power and my outstretched arms and have given it to whom seemed proper to me. And now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, my servant and the beast of the field. I have also given him to serve him." Skipping down to verse 9, therefore do not listen. to your prophets, your diviners or dreamers or soothsayers or sorcerers who speak to you saying, you shall not serve the King of Babylon, for the prophecy is a lie to you to remove you far from your land. And I will drive you out and you will perish. But the nations that bring their necks under the yoke of the King of Babylon and serve him, I will let them remain in their own land, says the Lord, and they shall till it and dwell in it." So what Jeremiah is saying is it's not what they want to hear. But it's actually what is best for them. ⁓ Jeremiah knows because God has told him that Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, is going to take over that entire area. And they did. They became a huge world empire. And God is saying, do not fight against that. ⁓ I'm allowing Nebuchadnezzar to do this. So do not fight back against it. The more you fight and rebel against it, the worst it's going to be for you. And of course, and we wouldn't like to hear that either, right? We don't want to hear that we're experiencing God's judgment, but sometimes, well, you push God enough, eventually that is what is going to happen. So that's Jeremiah 27. Now, Jeremiah 48 and 49. So basically you have this image of Jeremiah wearing yokes, wooden yokes, and going and talking to the heads of these nations, proclaiming God's Word to them. So he basically is bringing judgment to all the different nations. So chapter 48 is judgment of Moab, and you read through there just all the things that's going to happen to Moab. Verse 37. I really, don't know how to feel about this, but so often part of the judgment of God is revealed like this, verse 37, for every head shall be bald and every beard clipped. On all the hands shall be cuts and all the loins sackcloth, a general lamentation on all the house tops of Moab. I just don't really like the fact that baldness is associated so often with God's judgment. I can't do anything about it. I've tried to change all... all my ways and I am still bald and not even Rogaine can overcome God's judgment. But it's kind of interesting. Those are those things that... What does that mean? That had cultural significance, okay? They knew that this was God exacting vengeance, holding them accountable, right, for what they have done. Verse 46, the very end of chapter 48 says, People of Camosh Parish, for your sons have been taken captive and your daughters captive, yet I will bring back the captives of Moab in the later days, says the Lord, thus far as the judgment of Moab." Now, this is interesting. We're going to see this quite often. So he has all of this stuff to say about Moab that he's going to make them bald and all of these things. And then at the end he says, but I will return you your captives. Then chapter 49 has judgment on Ammon, and he goes through judgment on Ammon. Then in verse 5 says, all those who are around you, you shall be driven out, everyone headlong, and no one will gather those who wander off. But afterward I will bring back the captives of the people of Ammon. Then judgment on Edom goes through the judgments on Edom, says, ⁓ Verse 15, for indeed I will make you small among nations, despised among men. Your fierceness has deceived you. The pride of your heart. ⁓ you who dwell the clefts of the rock, who hold the height of the hill, though you make your nest as high as the eagle, I will bring you down from there, says the Lord. This is important. Nations think that they are above reproach, right? Nations may think that they will never fall. I'm sure for many of the years of the Roman Empire. They thought that they would never fall, but yet the further you get away from God, the more you go against God, eventually your nation will fall. It continues on, you get to judgment on Damascus in verse 23, judgment on Kadar and Hazor. See that, judgment on Elam. Verse 39 says, "'But it shall come to pass in the later days. I will bring back the captives of Elam,' says the Lord." Then Jeremiah 25 is talking about this kind of judgment on the nation starting in verse 15. It says, "'For thus,' says the Lord, "'God of Israel to me, take this wine cup of fury from my hand and cause all the nations to whom I send you to drink it, and they will drink and stagger and go mad because of the sword that I will send among them.'" So again, it's telling all of these nations, it talks about Pharaoh, ⁓ telling all of them they are going to have to suffer the consequences of their actions. And King Nebuchadnezzar is being used to exact that vengeance. Let's see, and it shall be if they, this is in verse 28, and it shall be if they refuse to take the cup from your hand to drink, then you shall say to them, thus says the Lord of hosts, You shall certainly drink, for behold, I bring calamity on the city which is called by my name, and you should be utterly unpunished. You shall not be unpunished, for I will call for a sword on all the inhabitants of the earth, says the Lord of hosts." Then Jeremiah chapter 27, starting in verse 12, so we read the first part of 27, now the second part of 27 and 28. This talks about Jeremiah is giving prophecies that no one wants to hear about. They don't want to hear Jeremiah's advice. And so there's lots of prophets who are telling people what they want to hear, encouraging people that God is going to save them from Babylon. It says, verse 14, there it is, Listen to the words of the prophets who speak to you, saying, You shall not serve the king of Babylon, for they prophesy a lie to you. For I have not sent them, says the Lord, yet they prophesy a lie in my name, and I may drive you out, and that you may perish, and you and the prophets whom prophesy to you." Says verse 17, do not listen to them. Serve the king of Babylon and live. Why should this city be laid to waste? Right? So the prophets are telling the people what they want to hear that, hey, know, mount up resistance to Babylon. ⁓ God will deliver them into your hands. And God is through Jeremiah saying, no, just as I have been warning you for years and years and years, Babylon is the extension of that warning. They are the ones who are now ⁓ bringing judgment upon you. So do not... push back or it will only be worse for you. So God is actually, His warnings, while no one wants to hear that, they actually are trying to make it better for them because if the people just step back, it's not fun being under Babylon, but if they don't fight back, Babylon is not going to destroy them. ⁓ But that's what the prophets are telling. And I thought that's very interesting. It's one of those things that's kind of happening now where there's lots of people that are pastors that have different views on what's going on in the world right now. ⁓ And it's tough. It's tough to know who is speaking the truth and who is not. ⁓ But we have to really do our own due diligence as well and seeking to seek what God's desires are, God's desire for the way that we should live. and listen to those people who are striving to be most close to what is revealed through scripture. Right? And it's hard. guess what? All of us will probably be deceived at different times. But you need to be real careful to anyone who is extremely certain of what they are saying. Right? Because we live in very uncertain times. And I can be certain of God. I can be uncertain of what God has revealed through scripture. But then applying that to our world today can be challenging. also, lots of things going through my head I want to be saying in an appropriate way. But also be careful of just listening to the people who say what you like to hear. You know, that's human nature. We all kind of desire that to be affirmed in what we believe. But don't fall into the trap of only listening to those whom you always agree with. Listen to other sides and other perspectives and then evaluate them against the Word of God. Because, you know, we can learn things from people who we may disagree with. And it's important that we know that God can speak through anyone and anyone can claim that God is speaking through them. So we need to make sure we are humbly approaching the things that we hear and listen to and making sure they do fit with the word of God. Chapter 28 introduces ⁓ Hananiah who is a prophet. who was speaking directly against Jeremiah. He did not like Jeremiah, ⁓ and he was very outspoken against him. says, then the prophet Jeremiah spoke to the prophet Hananiah in the presence of the priest and the presence of the people who stood in the house of the Lord, and Jeremiah gets in a back and forth with him. ⁓ And Jeremiah is wearing this yoke, remember, because they need to be under the yoke of Babylon. Hananiah is saying, within two years, that yoke is going to be broken. ⁓ Verse 10, Hananiah took the yoke off the prophet Jeremiah's neck and broke it. And he says, "'Thus says the Lord, even so I will break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, from the neck of all nations within the space of two full years.'" And then, of course, Jeremiah ⁓ Response says, Thus says the Lord, have broken the yokes of wood, but you have made in their place yokes of iron. For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, I have put a yoke of iron on the neck of all these nations that you may serve, Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, and they shall serve him, and I have given him the beast of the field also." And then Hananiah, his life is ended. So again, very interesting. these dynamics, people that claim to be speaking for the Lord are saying two totally different things. Well, both aren't going to be right, ⁓ and we need to be careful who we listen to. I want to spend just a little bit of time on Jeremiah chapter 29. So again, this is in that context. So this is a letter that Jeremiah has written. Remember, Jeremiah is in Jerusalem. He's writing a letter to the exiles. who are in Babylon. So to like Daniel and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that group of people that's in Babylon, they are hearing messages of these prophets that we've just been like Hananiah who's saying, hey, y'all are gonna be back within a couple of years. Well, that changes the way that you would live there, right? You would be preparing for a battle against Nebuchadnezzar. And Jeremiah writes to them saying, That is not the case. You are going to be there. In fact, most of the people that are reading this letter, you're never going to see Jerusalem again. You're stuck there. Sorry. That's the context of this letter. And I think that's really important because Jeremiah 29 has one ⁓ verse that all of you have heard before and we all have used this verse. It is vital to understand the context of it. So Jeremiah writes ⁓ this letter to the exiles in verse five, it says, build houses, dwell in them, plant gardens, eat fruit, take wives, beget sons and daughters, take wives for your sons and daughters, give your daughters to husbands. Just keep going. It says, and seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive and pray to the Lord for it, for it is. ⁓ Peace that you will have peace for thus says the Lord of hosts the God of Israel do not let your prophets or diviners in the midst deceive you nor listen to the dreams would cause you to be dreamed for they prophesy falsely ⁓ I have not sent them. So what is Jeremiah telling him? says no get involved engage seek peace in the place that you're that you find yourself I know that you're not in a place you you don't you don't want to be there. They didn't want to be in exile, but that's where they are and they're having to come to the realization that they're in a place that they don't want to be, but yet they should be finding peace there. And then the Lord says, after 70 years are completed, I will visit and perform my good word towards you and will cause you to return to this place. Okay, so 70 years, again, most of the people reading that letter will not return back to Jerusalem. And then here's this wonderful verse that all of us know, verse 11, for I know the thoughts or the plans that I have for you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace, not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call on me and go and pray to me and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart. I will be found by you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back from your captivity. I will gather you from the nations, from all the places where I've driven you. I will cause you, I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive." All right. vitally important to understanding this wonderful passage because we love this passage that talks about how God desires for us to have a future and a hope and a desire for us to experience peace. He wants that for you right now. Don't wait ⁓ to start experiencing that until all your circumstances are just the way you want them to be. No, God wants that for you right now. Yes, he has his future is he's bringing you to the to the place that he originally designed for you to be. But in the meantime, it doesn't matter where you find yourself. It doesn't matter what your circumstances are. Know that God is present with you, that you can find peace, that you can find ⁓ a future and have a hope where you are right now, even if you're in a miserable place. That is so important for us to understand. And I think we've misused this passage so often that people look at it and think, you know, things are so bad now. I just can't wait until God removes me from all of this and brings me back to the place that I want to be. Well, guess what? You may never completely get there this side of heaven, but you can still have peace and hope and joy if you allow God. to use you and to make a difference in your life where you are right now. That's what Jeremiah is saying. He tells them, have a family, raise children, live that life that God has called you to live while you're in captivity. And then maybe you'll be able to experience God bringing you out of captivity. Or maybe you experienced that on the other side of heaven. God will fulfill that promise one way or the other. But it's important, don't... Don't always be looking at your current circumstances and just say, ⁓ I've got to wait till things get better. No, start living the way that God has called you to live right now and start experiencing the hope and the peace that God has for you right now. Don't wait until your circumstances get better, because guess what? On this side of heaven, your circumstances are always going to be pretty tough. All right, continuing on. You can read lots about what he talks about ⁓ to the people. ⁓ He also starts to say how he's going to—this is verse chapter 50—that he is going to punish Babylon and King Nebuchadnezzar. And he actually—Jeremiah actually sends this letter to ⁓ King Nebuchadnezzar. And so chapters 50 and 51, if you read through there, it just talks about 50 verse 2 says, her idols are humiliated, her images are broken in pieces. That is just representative of the fact that Babylon will be utterly destroyed, that their false gods will not protect them. You can read through, it's lots of reading. But again, it's just talking about how Babylon has been used by God, but... you know what, they didn't turn and follow God, so they will also experience God's judgment. Chapter 51 just continues to talk about how they will be destroyed. And it's, again, important to know and to get this picture that all nations will be held accountable and that God will hold all nations accountable. at the same time, he will use nations to hold other nations accountable. That's kind of what's going on here. So I know that's jumping around, skipping around, but on Tuesday, we're going to read Ezekiel chapters 1 through 3, and then Jeremiah probably 21 and 22. All right. So we'll read a couple from Jeremiah, but mainly Ezekiel chapters one through three. We'll see you on.