The Lord Promises Exile (But Also Restoration) (continued) Individuals Are Challenged to Put Their Trust in the Lord

Transcription

1 1 The Lord Promises Exile (But Also Restoration) (continued) Individuals Are Challenged to Put Their Trust in the Lord Jeremiah Appeals to the Lord for Vindication Observance of the Sabbath Day Is a Key to the Future Jeremiah 17:1-27

2 2 The Lord Promises Exile (But Also Restoration) (continued) Individuals Are Challenged to Put Their Trust in the Lord Jeremiah Appeals to the Lord for Vindication Observance of the Sabbath Day Is a Key to the Future Text: Jeremiah 17:1-27, 1. The sin of Judah is engraved with an iron chisel on their stone-hard hearts. It is inscribed with a diamond point on the horns of their altars. 2. Their children are always thinking about their altars and their sacred poles dedicated to the goddess Asherah, set up beside the green trees on the high hills 3. and on the mountains and in the fields. I will give your wealth and all your treasures away as plunder. I will give it away as the price for the sins you have committed throughout your land. 4. You will lose your hold on the land which I gave to you as a permanent possession. I will make you serve your enemies in a land that you know nothing about. For you have made my anger burn like a fire that will never be put out. 5. The Lord says, I will put a curse on people who trust in mere human beings, who depend on mere flesh and blood for their strength, and whose hearts have turned away from the Lord.

3 3 6. They will be like a shrub in the desert. They will not experience good things even when they happen. It will be as though they were growing in the desert, in a salt land where no one can live. 7. My blessing is on those people who trust in me, who put their confidence in me. 8. They will be like a tree planted near a stream whose roots spread out toward the water. It has nothing to fear when the heat comes. Its leaves are always green. It has no need to be concerned in a year of drought. It does not stop bearing fruit. 9. The human mind is more deceitful than anything else. It is incurably bad. Who can understand it? 10. I, the Lord, probe into people s minds. I examine people s hearts. I deal with each person according to how he has behaved. I give them what they deserve based on what they have done. 11. The person who gathers wealth by unjust means is like the partridge that broods over eggs but does not hatch them. Before his life is half over he will lose his illgotten gains. At the end of his life it will be clear he was a fool. 12. Then I said, Lord, from the very beginning you have been seated on your glorious throne on high. You are the place where we can find refuge. 13. You are the one in whom Israel may find hope. All who leave you will suffer shame. Those who turn away from you will be consigned to the netherworld. For they have rejected you, the Lord, the fountain of life. 14. Lord, grant me relief from my suffering so that I may have some relief; rescue me from those who persecute me so that I may be rescued, for you give me reason to praise!

4 4 15. Listen to what they are saying to me. They are saying, Where are the things the Lord threatens us with? Come on! Let s see them happen! 16. But I have not pestered you to bring disaster. I have not desired the time of irreparable devastation. You know that. You are fully aware of every word that I have spoken. 17. Do not cause me dismay! You are my source of safety in times of trouble. 18. May those who persecute me be disgraced. Do not let me be disgraced. May they be dismayed. Do not let me be dismayed. Bring days of disaster on them. Bring on them the destruction they deserve. 19. The Lord told me, Go and stand in the People s Gate through which the kings of Judah enter and leave the city. Then go and stand in all the other gates of the city of Jerusalem. 20. As you stand in those places announce, Listen, all you people who pass through these gates. Listen, all you kings of Judah, all you people of Judah and all you citizens of Jerusalem. Listen to what the Lord says. 21. The Lord says, Be very careful if you value your lives! Do not carry any loads in through the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. 22. Do not carry any loads out of your houses or do any work on the Sabbath day. But observe the Sabbath day as a day set apart to the Lord, as I commanded your ancestors. 23. Your ancestors, however, did not listen to me or pay any attention to me. They stubbornly refused to pay attention or to respond to any discipline. 24. The Lord says, You must make sure to obey me. You must not bring any loads through the gates of this city on

5 5 the Sabbath day. You must set the Sabbath day apart to me. You must not do any work on that day. 25. If you do this, then the kings and princes who follow in David s succession and ride in chariots or on horses will continue to enter through these gates, as well as their officials and the people of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem. This city will always be filled with people. 26. Then people will come here from the towns in Judah, from the villages surrounding Jerusalem, from the territory of Benjamin, from the western foothills, from the southern hill country, and from the southern part of Judah. They will come bringing offerings to the temple of the Lord: burnt offerings, sacrifices, grain offerings, and incense along with their thank offerings. 27. But you must obey me and set the Sabbath day apart to me. You must not carry any loads in through the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. If you disobey, I will set the gates of Jerusalem on fire. It will burn down all the fortified dwellings in Jerusalem and no one will be able to put it out. (NET) Introduction: I. Jeremiah 17:1-18 was written in poetic form while verses were written in prose. II. God was the speaker of the material in Jeremiah 17:1-11 and 17:19-27 while Jeremiah was the speaker in 17: III. Smith dated the material in Jeremiah 17 to the middle period of the prophet s ministry. A. Three of these sermonettes are brief and unrelated.

6 6 1. The concluding section consists of a longer sermon summary. (See Smith.) IV. Kuist via Coffman outlines Jeremiah 17 as follows: A. an indictment of Judah s guilt (Judah s destruction due to sin) (verse 1-4),... B. a psalm (trusting in men is cursed) (verses 5-8),... C. two proverbs (the deceitful heart unable to deceive God) (verses 9-11),... D. an invocation (the salvation of God) (verses 12-13),... E. a prayer (Jeremiah s third personal lament) (verses 14-18),... F. a sabbath proclamation (regarding sabbath observance) (verses 19-23),... G. continued violation of God s law ends in terminal punishment (verses 24-27). V. The Pulpit commentary states verses 1-18 are closely connected with the preceding chapter.

7 7 Commentary: The Lord Promises Exile (But Also Restoration) (continued) NOTE: The Septuagint omits Jeremiah 17:1-4. (Hamilton) Jeremiah 17:1, The sin of Judah is engraved with an iron chisel on their stone-hard hearts. It is inscribed with a diamond point on the horns of their altars. (NET) I. The sin of Judah is engraved with an iron chisel on their stonehard hearts. A. The guilt of these horrible sins of Judah were permanent, could not be erased. (See Hamilton.) 1. Verses 1-4 speak to these sins and their consequences. (See Smith.) 2. Willis described the people s sins as persistent and pervasive. 3. A wooden stylus would have been used with clay tablets, but Judah s heart was so hard it was likened to stone and required an iron chisel as a stylus. (Willis) a. Ezekiel 36:26, I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you. I will remove the heart of stone from your body and give you a heart of flesh. (NET)

8 8 4. Willis suggested these stone hearts may remind the reader of the stone tablets on which the Ten Commandments were written. a. Deuteronomy 6:6, These words I am commanding you today must be kept in mind, (NET) b. Deuteronomy 11:18, Fix these words of mine into your mind and being, and tie them as a reminder on your hands and let them be symbols on your forehead. (NET) c. Jeremiah 31:33, But I will make a new covenant with the whole nation of Israel after I plant them back in the land, says the Lord. I will put my law within them and write it on their hearts and minds. I will be their God and they will be my people. (NET) 5. Coffman observed that the hardness of the hearts of the people implies it would take a diamond-pointed stylus to inscribe anything on the hearts of the Israelites. a. The sins of the people of Judah had so affected the Jews that the record of their wickedness could not be erased. (Coffman) II. It is inscribed with a *diamond point on the horns of their altars. A. *NET Footnote: Hebrew an adamant or an emery

9 9 1. Adamant was harder than flint. (The Pulpit Commentary) B. This refers to stone altars with upward projecting corners. (See Hamilton.) 1. Expiation for sin came when the priest anointed the horns of the altar with the blood of the sacrifice. (See Hamilton.) a. Exodus 28:2, You must make holy garments for your brother Aaron, for glory and for beauty. (NET) b. Leviticus 16:18, Then he is to go out to the altar which is before the Lord and make atonement for it. He is to take some of the blood of the bull and some of the blood of the goat, and put it all around on the horns of the altar. (NET) c. Exodus 29:12, and take some of the blood of the bull and put it on the horns of the altar with your finger; all the rest of the blood you are to pour out at the base of the altar. (NET) d. Leviticus 4:7, The priest must put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of fragrant incense that is before the Lord in the Meeting Tent, and all the rest of the bull s blood he must pour out at the base of

10 10 the altar of burnt offering that is at the entrance of the Meeting Tent. (NET) e. Judah s sin, now engraved in stone, cannot be cleansed, Hamilton wrote. 2. The altars were theirs, not God s. a. This would indicate the reference here is to the people s altars which they built and which were used to worship idols. III. The Pulpit Commentary identifies Judah s sin as idolatry including all the other evils associated with its practice. A. This sin was graven on the table of their heart; that is, they were passionately dedicated to this way of life. (See The Pulpit Commentary.) Jeremiah 17:2, 3a, Their children are always thinking about their altars and their sacred poles dedicated to the goddess Asherah, set up beside the green trees on the high hills and on the mountains and in the fields. I will give your wealth and all your treasures away as plunder. (NET) I. Their children are always thinking about their altars and their *sacred poles dedicated to the goddess Asherah, set up beside the green trees on the high hills and on the mountains and in the **fields.

11 11 A. *NET Footnote: Sacred poles dedicated to... Asherah were shrines or images of the Canaanite fertility goddess Asherah. B. **NET Footnote: So Theodotion, Syriac, and Targum; MT reads My mountain in the open field and your wealth... I will give C. Asherah poles were symbols of the Canaanite (fertility) goddess, Hamilton wrote. 1. Judah had clearly rejected the sole sovereignty of God. D. The Temple Mount (My Mountain) in Jerusalem is contrasted with the high places in the countryside (fields) both of which would be destroyed. (See Hamilton.) 1. The people knew where to find the hills on which idols were worshiped, but may not have been so familiar with the mount on which Jehovah was to be worshiped. 2. Even the children were indoctrinated in the worship of idols, the next generation being taught to follow in the sinful ways of their parents. (See Clarke.) 3. Judea was a mountainous country and Jerusalem was a mountainous city. 4. The thoughts of the people turned to the worship of idols everytime they saw a green tree from which Asherah poles were made.

12 12 a. 1 Kings 24:22-24, Judah did evil in the sight of the Lord. They made him more jealous by their sins than their ancestors had done. They even built for themselves high places, sacred pillars, and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree. There were also male cultic prostitutes in the land. They committed the same horrible sins as the nations that the Lord had driven out from before the Israelites. (NET) E. References to Mount Zion. 1. Isaiah 2:3, many peoples will come and say, Come, let us go up to the Lord s mountain, to the temple of the God of Jacob, so he can teach us his requirements, and we can follow his standards. For Zion will be the center for moral instruction; the Lord will issue edicts from Jerusalem. (NET) 2. Zechariah 8:3, The Lord says, I have returned to Zion and will live within Jerusalem. Now Jerusalem will be called truthful city, mountain of the Lord who rules over all, holy mountain. (NET) 3. Psalm 24:3, Who is allowed to ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who may go up to his holy dwelling place? (NET)

13 13 4. Jeremiah 17:12, Then I said, Lord, from the very beginning you have been seated on your glorious throne on high. You are the place where we can find refuge. (NET) 5. Jeremiah 21:13, Listen, you who sit enthroned above the valley on a rocky plateau. I am opposed to you, says the Lord. You boast, No one can swoop down on us. No one can penetrate into our places of refuge. (NET) Jeremiah 17:3, b & c, *I will give your wealth and all your treasures away as plunder. I will give it away as the price for the sins you have committed throughout your land. (NET) I. I will give your wealth and all your treasures away as plunder. I will give it away as the *price for the sins you have committed throughout your land. A. *NET Footnote: Or I will give away your wealth, all your treasures, and your places of worship. B. Judah would lose its wealth, plundered by their enemies. 1. Jeremiah 15:13, I will give away your wealth and your treasures as plunder. I will give it away free of charge for the sins you have committed throughout your land. (NET) C. Sinfulness would cost Judah their wealth, their homeland, and their freedom. (See Coffman.)

14 14 Jeremiah 17:4, You will lose your hold on the land which I gave to you as a permanent possession. I will make you serve your enemies in a land that you know nothing about. For you have made my anger burn like a fire that will never be put out. (NET) I. You will lose your hold on the land which I gave to you as a permanent possession. A. Judah, because of its sinfulness, would lose its land to pagan enemies. 1. The Jews had not observed the Sabbatical Year rests for the land and would be removed from the land forcibly until the land had been properly rested... a period of seventy (70) years. a. Exodus 23:11, But in the seventh year you must let it lie fallow and leave it alone so that the poor of your people may eat, and what they leave any animal in the field may eat; you must do likewise with your vineyard and your olive grove. (NET) b. Deuteronomy 15:2, This is the nature of the cancellation: Every creditor must remit what he has loaned to another person; he must not force payment from his fellow Israelite, for it is to be recognized as the Lord s cancellation of debts. (NET) II. I will make you serve your enemies in a land you know nothing about.

15 15 A. Sinful Judah would be exiled to a land of which they knew nothing. 1. Their suffering, punishment was their own fault! (Coffman) III. For you have made my anger burn like a fire that will never be put out. A. The Lord is all powerful. His power can be used to extend love and mercy to the righteous and punishment to the wicked. (See Willis.) 1. Jeremiah 15:14, I will make you serve your enemies in a land that you know nothing about. For my anger is like a fire that will burn against you. (NET) 2. Exodus 34:5-7, The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there and proclaimed the Lord by name. The Lord passed by before him and proclaimed: The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, and abounding in loyal love and faithfulness, keeping loyal love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin. But he by no means leaves the guilty unpunished, responding to the transgression of fathers by dealing with children and children s children, to the third and fourth generation. (NET)

16 16 3. Exodus 23:11, But in the seventh year you must let it lie fallow and leave it alone so that the poor of your people may eat, and what they leave any animal in the field may eat; you must do likewise with your vineyard and your olive grove. (NET) 4. Deuteronomy 15:2, This is the nature of the cancellation: Every creditor must remit what he has loaned to another person; he must not force payment from his fellow Israelite, for it is to be recognized as the Lord s cancellation of debts. (NET) Individuals Are Challenged to Put Their Trust In the Lord Jeremiah 17:5, The Lord says, I will put a curse on people who trust in mere human beings, who depend on mere flesh and blood for their strength, and whose hearts have turned away from the Lord. (NET) I. The Lord says,... Note: Jeremiah 17:5-8 and Psalm 1:1-6 contrast righteous and wicked lives. (See Hamilton.) Psalm 1:1-6, How blessed is the one who does not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand in the pathway with sinners, or sit in the assembly of scoffers! Instead he finds pleasure in obeying the Lord s commands; he meditates on his commands day and night. He is like a tree planted by flowing streams; it yields its fruit at the proper time, and its leaves never fall off. He succeeds in everything he attempts. Not so with the wicked! Instead they are like wind-driven chaff. For

17 17 this reason the wicked cannot withstand judgment, nor can sinners join the assembly of the godly. Certainly the Lord guards the way of the godly, but the way of the wicked ends in destruction. (NET) A. In verses 5-8, curses and blessings, believers and unbelievers are contrasted. (See Smith and Willis.) II. I will put a curse on people who trust in mere human beings, who depend on mere flesh and blood for their strength,... A. Willis wrote, The state of being cursed is associated with man, and the state of being blessed is associated with the Lord. 1. The contrast here is between one who trusts in human power and ability to give life in its fullest sense and one who trusts in divine power and ability to give life, Willis further wrote. B. Willis wrote that a person s heart turns toward the one in whom he trusts. 1. Psalm 118:8-9, It is better to take shelter in the Lord than to trust in people. It is better to take shelter in the Lord than to trust in princes. (NET) 2. Psalm 56:4, In God I boast in his promise in God I trust, I am not afraid. What can mere men do to me? (NET)

18 18 3. Isaiah 31:3, The Egyptians are mere humans, not God; their horses are made of flesh, not spirit. The Lord will strike with his hand; the one who helps will stumble and the one being helped will fall. Together they will perish. (NET) 4. Psalm 56:4, In God I boast in his promise in God I trust, I am not afraid. What can mere men do to me? (NET) C. Some Bible students see in this verse Jehoiachin s seeking the help of Egypt rather than God s in view of the threatened Chaldean invasion. (See Coffman.) 1. This seeking human help proved totally futile. 2. Clarke suggested that Egypt, as noted above quoting Coffman, was likely the human beings which were in view here. 3. Those who rely on an arm of flesh, his own or someone elses, will inherit a curse instead of a blessing. (Clarke) III. and whose hearts have turned away from the Lord. A. The Jews had utterly turned away from God and paid the heavy price for this sin. Jeremiah 17:6, They will be like a shrub in the desert. They will not experience good things even when they happen. It will be as though they were growing in the desert, in a salt land where no one can live. (NET)

19 19 I. They will be like a shrub (heath) in the desert. A. NET Footnote: identified as a type of juniper B. Willis wrote that one who trusts in man is compared with a desert bush which grows in wastelands, parched places, a salt land where no one lives. 1. The shrub represents those who trust in mankind, human wisdom. 2. Shrub/heath refers to some forlorn, destitute desert plant. C. The shrub, (heath) was like a blasted tree, without moisture, parched and withered. (Clarke) 1. Jeremiah 48:6, They will hear, Run! Save yourselves! Even if you must be like a lonely shrub in the desert! (NET) 2. Psalm 102:18, The account of his intervention will be recorded for future generations; people yet to be born will praise the Lord. (NET) II. They will not experience good things even when they happen. A. These evil people did not experience good things even when they occurred around them. (See Clarke.) 1. Isaiah 44:16, Half of it he burns in the fire over that half he cooks meat; he roasts a meal

20 20 and fills himself. Yes, he warms himself and says, Ah! I am warm as I look at the fire. (NET) III. It will be as though they were growing in the desert, in a salt land where no one can live. A. A salt land was barren and therefore unfit to be inhabited. (Clarke) 1. Deuteronomy 29:23, The whole land will be covered with brimstone, salt, and burning debris; it will not be planted nor will it sprout or produce grass. It will resemble the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the Lord destroyed in his intense anger. (NET) Jeremiah 17:7, My blessing is on those people who trust in me, who put their confidence in me. (NET) I. My blessing is on those people who trust in me, who put their confidence in me. A. This fact is clearly stated: trust God and receive his blessings. 2. put confidence in God and be blessed. Jeremiah 17:8, They will be like a tree planted near a stream whose roots spread out toward the water. It has nothing to fear when the heat comes. Its leaves are

21 21 always green. It has no need to be concerned in a year of drought. It does not stop bearing fruit. (NET) I. They will be like a tree planted near a stream whose roots spread out toward the water. A. Those who trust in the Lord will be blessed and are likened here to a tree planted near a stream whose roots spread out toward the water. (See Willis.) 1. Psalm 1:1-6, How blessed is the one who does not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand in the pathway with sinners, or sit in the assembly of scoffers! Instead he finds pleasure in obeying the Lord s commands; he meditates on his commands day and night. He is like a tree planted by flowing streams; it yields its fruit at the proper time, and its leaves never fall off. He succeeds in everything he attempts. Not so with the wicked! Instead they are like wind-driven chaff. For this reason the wicked cannot withstand judgment, nor can sinners join the assembly of the godly. Certainly the Lord guards the way of the godly, but the way of the wicked ends in destruction. (NET) 2. Such a tree would flourish and be healthy whether or not there was rain because its roots spread out toward the stream (river) of water by which it was planted. (See Clarke.)

22 22 II. It has nothing to fear when the heat comes. Its leaves are always green. It has no need to be concerned in a year of drought. It does not stop bearing fruit. A. The righteous have nothing to fear, are healthy and bear fruit bountifully. 1. Isaiah 40:31, But those who wait for the Lord s help find renewed strength; they rise up as if they had eagles wings, they run without growing weary, they walk without getting tired. (NET) Jeremiah 17:9, The human mind is more deceitful than anything else. It is incurably bad. Who can understand it? (NET) I. The human mind (heart) is more deceitful than anything else. It is incurably *bad, (wicked, desperately wicked). Who can understand it? A. *NET Footnote: Or incurably deceitful 1. Isaiah 40:4, Every valley must be elevated, and every mountain and hill leveled. The rough terrain will become a level plain, the rugged landscape a wide valley. (NET) 2. Habakkuk 2:4, Look, the one whose desires are not upright will faint from exhaustion, but the person of integrity will live because of his faithfulness. (NET)

23 23 3. Psalm 131:2, Indeed I am composed and quiet, like a young child carried by its mother; I am content like the young child I carry. (NET) 4. Jeremiah 15:18, Why must I continually suffer such painful anguish? Why must I endure the sting of their insults like an incurable wound? Will you let me down when I need you like a brook one goes to for water, but that cannot be relied on? (NET) B. Verses 9-11 speak to the fact that the heart of man is deceitful and desperately sick, Smith wrote. 1. A person who trusts in other humans engages in futile behavior. a. Willis wrote, One human cannot fully fathom the heart of another. b. God cannot be deceived. The Lord searches and understands the human heart. (See Willis.) i. Acts 1:24, Then they prayed, Lord, you know the hearts of all. Show us which one of these two you have chosen (NET) ii. Acts 15:8, And God, who knows the heart, has testified to them by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, (NET)

24 24 C. The question here is, Coffman wrote, If the one who serves God fares so much better in this life than the unrighteous person, why do men then trust the arm of flesh? 1. Barnes answered, Because man s deceitful heart is incapable of seeing things in a straight-forward manner; it is full of shrewd guile. 2. The human heart is full of pride, selfish greed, evil desire and corruption of all kinds. (Clarke) Jeremiah 17:10, I, the Lord, probe into people s minds. I examine people s hearts. I deal with each person according to how he has behaved. I give them what they deserve based on what they have done. (NET) I. I, the Lord, probe into people s minds. I examine people s hearts. A. Only God could understand the human heart, Smith observed. (See verses 9-11.) 1. Acts 1:24, Then they prayed, Lord, you know the hearts of all. Show us which one of these two you have chosen (NET) a. Only God truly knows man s heart. II. I deal with each person according to how he has behaved. I give them what they deserve based on what they have done. A. actions, behaviors flow from the heart.

25 25 B. Matthew 25:30-46, And throw that worthless slave into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. When the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be assembled before him, and he will separate people one from another like a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the king will say to those on his right, Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me. Then the righteous will answer him, Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and visit you? And the king will answer them, I tell you the truth, just as you did it for one of the least of these brothers or sisters of mine, you did it for me. Then he will say to those on his left, Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire that has been prepared for the devil and his angels! For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink. I was a stranger and you did not receive me as a guest, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me. Then they too will answer, Lord, when did

26 26 we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not give you whatever you needed? Then he will answer them, I tell you the truth, just as you did not do it for one of the least of these, you did not do it for me. And these will depart into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life. (NET) Jeremiah 17:11, The person who gathers wealth by unjust means is like the partridge that broods over eggs but does not hatch them. Before his life is half over he will lose his ill-gotten gains. At the end of his life it will be clear he was a fool. (NET) NOTE: The Pulpit Commentary states verse 11 is a shorter form of Jeremiah 22:13-19 which is addressed to Jehoiakim as a warning against negotiating with Egypt after his revolt against Nebuchadnezzar. Jeremiah 22:13-19, Sure to be judged is the king who builds his palace using injustice and treats people unfairly while adding its upper rooms. He makes his countrymen work for him for nothing. He does not pay them for their labor. He says, I will build myself a large palace with spacious upper rooms. He cuts windows in its walls, panels it with cedar, and paints its rooms red. Does it make you any more of a king that you outstrip everyone else in building with cedar? Just think about your father. He was content that he had food and drink. He did what was just and right. So things went well with him. He upheld the cause of the poor and needy. So things went well for Judah. The Lord says, That is a good example of what it means to know me. But you are always thinking and looking for ways to increase your wealth by dishonest means. Your eyes and your heart are

27 27 set on killing some innocent person and committing fraud and oppression. So the Lord has this to say about Josiah s son, King Jehoiakim of Judah: People will not mourn for him, saying, This makes me sad, my brother! This makes me sad, my sister! They will not mourn for him, saying, Poor, poor lord! Poor, poor majesty! He will be left unburied just like a dead donkey. His body will be dragged off and thrown outside the gates of Jerusalem. Isaiah 29:15, Those who try to hide their plans from the Lord are as good as dead, who do their work in secret and boast, Who sees us? Who knows what we re doing? (NET) A. The person who gathers wealth by unjust means is foolish and will pay for his wicked, greedy gain. B. God knows the hearts of mankind and knows whose wealth has been gained by just and unjust motivations, reasons, means. C. The Anchor Bible reads, Like a partridge hatching eggs that it laid not. D. Coffman quoted Blayney as saying, As the kore hatches what it does not lay, So is he that gets riches, and not according to right. E. Partridge here may be the kore, a bird that hatches what it does not lay. (Blayney via Clarke) 1. This is like the person who gets riches, but not according to what is right. (Blayney via Clarke)

28 28 2. This speaks of the covetous man who heaps up riches by unjust means. (Dahler via Clarke) 3. The birds after being hatched by the kore, leave the nest, abandon the kore and leave her with nothing. (Dahler via Clarke) II. Before his life is half over he will lose his ill gotten gains. At the end of his life it will be clear he was a fool. A. Temporary blessedness does not prelude ultimate justice. 1. By this temporary blessedness people are deceived. 2. Ecclesiastes 8:11, When a sentence is not executed at once against a crime, the human heart is encouraged to do evil. (NET) B. The person who sells his soul for ill-gotten gain and does not live to enjoy it is clearly seen to have been a fool. Jeremiah Appeals to the Lord for Vindication Jeremiah 17:12, Then I said, Lord, from the very beginning you have been seated on your glorious throne on high. You are the place where we can find refuge. (NET) I. Then I said,... A. Jeremiah now begins speaking. 1. Jeremiah addressed his remarks to the Lord.

29 29 B. We must always be diligent to determine who is speaking. 1. Is this person speaking God s truth? II. Lord, from the very beginning, you have been seated on your glorious throne on high. A. From eternity Jehovah has been seated on his glorious throne on high. 1. Some regard this glorious throne as being in the temple. (See Clarke.) B. Jeremiah had utmost confidence in God s justice, the overthrow of the wicked and the reward of the righteous. (Coffman) 1. Psalm 5:7, But as for me, because of your great faithfulness I will enter your house; I will bow down toward your holy temple as I worship you. (NET) III. You are the place where we can find refuge. A. Only in God can they find refuge. 1. Jeremiah 14:21, For the honor of your name, do not treat Jerusalem with contempt. Do not treat with disdain the place where your glorious throne sits. Be mindful of your covenant with us. Do not break it! (NET)

30 30 2. Psalm 7:8, The Lord judges the nations. Vindicate me, Lord, because I am innocent, because I am blameless, O Exalted One! (NET) 3. Isaiah 57:15, For this is what the high and exalted one says, the one who rules forever, whose name is holy: I dwell in an exalted and holy place, but also with the discouraged and humiliated, in order to cheer up the humiliated and to encourage the discouraged. (NET) 4. Ezekiel 17:23, I will plant it on a high mountain of Israel, and it will raise branches and produce fruit and become a beautiful cedar. Every bird will live under it; Every winged creature will live in the shade of its branches. (NET) 5. Ezekiel 20:40, For there on my holy mountain, the high mountain of Israel, declares the sovereign Lord, all the house of Israel will serve me, all of them in the land. I will accept them there, and there I will seek your contributions and your choice gifts, with all your holy things. (NET) 6. Isaiah 60:13, The splendor of Lebanon will come to you, its evergreens, firs, and cypresses together, to beautify my palace; I will bestow honor on my throne room. (NET) Jeremiah 17:13, You are the one in whom Israel may find hope. All who leave you will suffer shame. Those who

31 31 turn away from you will be consigned to the netherworld. For they have rejected you, the Lord, the fountain of life. (NET) I. You are the one in whom Israel may find *hope. All who leave you will suffer shame. A. *NET Footnote: Hebrew O glorious throne, O high place from the beginning, O hope of Israel, O Lord B. In God Israel could find hope. Aside from God Israel would suffer shame. II. Those who turn away from you will be consigned to the *netherworld. For they have rejected you, the Lord**, the fountain of life. A. *NET Footnote: Or to the world of the dead. B. **NET Footnote: Or of living water C. Those who turn away from God will be consigned to the world of the dead. 1. The reason for this is that they have rejected the Lord, the only source, the fountain of life. a. Jeremiah 16:11, Then tell them that the Lord says, It is because your ancestors rejected me and paid allegiance to other gods. They have served them and worshiped them. But they have rejected me and not obeyed my law. (NET)

32 32 D. All men are written somewhere, the saints in heaven, but the sinners on earth. (Origen via Coffman) 1. Philippians 4:3, Yes, I say also to you, true companion, help them. They have struggled together in the gospel ministry along with me and Clement and my other coworkers, whose names are in the book of life. (NET) 2. Revelation 3:5, The one who conquers will be dressed like them in white clothing, and I will never erase his name from the book of life, but will declare his name before my Father and before his angels. (NET) 3. Revelation 21:27, but nothing ritually unclean will ever enter into it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or practices falsehood, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb s book of life. (NET) Jeremiah 17:14, Lord, grant me relief from my suffering so that I may have some relief; rescue me from those who persecute me so that I may be rescued, for you give me reason to praise! (NET) I. Lord, grant me relief from my suffering so that I may have some relief. Rescue me from those who persecute me so that I may be rescued.

33 33 A. Jeremiah plead for relief from his suffering. He begged God, the only one who could save him, to be rescued from those who persecute him. 1. Jeremiah 1:8, 19, Do not be afraid of those to whom I send you, for I will be with you to protect you, says the Lord. They will attack you but they will not be able to overcome you, for I will be with you to rescue you, says the Lord. (NET) 2. Jeremiah 15:18-20, Why must I continually suffer such painful anguish? Why must I endure the sting of their insults like an incurable wound? Will you let me down when I need you like a brook one goes to for water, but that cannot be relied on? Because of this, the Lord said, You must repent of such words and thoughts! If you do, I will restore you to the privilege of serving me. If you say what is worthwhile instead of what is worthless, I will again allow you to be my spokesman. They must become as you have been. You must not become like them. I will make you as strong as a wall to these people, a fortified wall of bronze. They will attack you, but they will not be able to overcome you. For I will be with you to rescue you and deliver you, says the Lord. (NET) 3. Psalm 6:2, 4, Have mercy on me, Lord, for I am frail! Heal me, Lord, for my bones are shaking! Relent, Lord, rescue me! Deliver me because of your faithfulness! (NET)

34 34 4. Psalm 147:3, He heals the brokenhearted, and bandages their wounds. (NET) B. Coffman wrote that Jeremiah was going to be faithful to his prophetic ministry even though he was persecuted and disbelieved. 1. Jeremiah prayed that God would grant him grace to withstand opposition. (Coffman) 2. Jeremiah had remained faithful in adversity to the discharge of his duties and ministry. (Coffman) 3. Jeremiah proclaimed God s word, not his own. (Coffman) Jeremiah 17:15, Listen to what they are saying to me. They are saying, Where are the things the Lord threatens us with? Come on! Let s see them happen! (NET) I. Listen to what they are saying to me. They are saying, Where are the things the Lord threatens us with? Come on! Let s see them happen! A. Jeremiah asked the Lord to fulfill, bring about what he had foretold that those against whom he had prophesied would know he spoke for God and would cease persecuting him. 1. Isaiah 9:8, The sovereign master decreed judgment on Jacob, and it fell on Israel. (NET)

35 35 2. Deuteronomy 18:22, whenever a prophet speaks in my name and the prediction is not fulfilled, then I have not spoken it; the prophet has presumed to speak it, so you need not fear him. (NET) B. The people to whom Jeremiah prophesied charged Jeremiah with being a false prophet because what was foretold had not come to pass. 1. These people needed to be patient because what Jeremiah prophesied did indeed come to pass in due time! Jeremiah 17:16, But I have not pestered you to bring disaster. I have not desired the time of irreparable devastation. You know that. You are fully aware of every word that I have spoken. (NET) I. But I have not pestered you to bring *disaster. I have not desired the time of irreparable devastation. A. *NET Footnote: So Aguila, Symmachus, and the Syriac: MT reads, I have not run from being a shepherd after you. 1. Hosea 9:7, The time of judgment is about to arrive! The time of retribution is imminent! Let Israel know! Israel Rejects Hosea s Prophetic Exhortations The prophet is considered a fool the inspired man is viewed as a madman because of the multitude of your sins and your intense animosity. (NET)

36 36 2. Isaiah 63:11-12, His people remembered the ancient times. Where is the one who brought them up out of the sea, along with the shepherd of his flock? Where is the one who placed his holy Spirit among them, the one who made his majestic power available to Moses, who divided the water before them, gaining for himself a lasting reputation, (NET) B. Jeremiah had spoken as God directed him to speak. Jeremiah was not the source of proclamations of coming disaster and irreparable devastation. 1. Therefore, Jeremiah did not think he should be punished, persecuted for what he had prophesied. 2. Jeremiah prophesied as God commanded, but he did not urge God to punish Judah and Jerusalem soon; that is, without delay. (Clarke) C. The time of irreparable devastation reads the woeful day in the NKJV which The Pulpit commentary renders desperately wicked. 1. Isaiah 17:11, The day you begin cultivating, you do what you can to make it grow; the morning you begin planting, you do what you can to make it sprout. Yet the harvest will disappear in the day of disease and incurable pain. (NET) II. You know that. You are fully aware of every word that I have spoken.

37 37 A. Jeremiah had been faithful to the mission God had given him. (Coffman) B. God knew everything Jeremiah had said. 1. God knows everything we say. 2. Does that make you nervous? It certainly does me. Jeremiah 17:17, Do not cause me dismay! You are my source of safety in times of trouble. (NET) I. Do not cause me dismay (terror)! You are my source of safety in times of trouble. A. Clarke stated this means Jeremiah was asking God not to command him to prophecy things that would cause those to whom he preached to persecute him. 1. Jeremiah asked God not to leave him vulnerable, subject to abuse and persecution by the sinners to whom he preached. 2. Jeremiah looked to God for protection in times of trouble, terror, consternation. Jeremiah 17:18, May those who persecute me be disgraced. Do not let me be disgraced. May they be dismayed. Do not let me be dismayed. Bring days of disaster on them. Bring on them the destruction they deserve. (NET)

38 38 I. May those who persecute me be disgraced (confounded). Do not let me be disgraced. A. Jeremiah prayed that the people who were persecuting him would be disgraced, terrorized, shamed and destroyed and that he would be spared these afflictions. 1. Jeremiah was asking that the wicked be punished and the righteous be protected. II. May they be dismayed. Do not let me be dismayed. A. Willis noted that Jeremiah, to his credit, looked to God to make everything right. 1. Revelation 18:6, Repay her the same way she repaid others; pay her back double corresponding to her deeds. In the cup she mixed, mix double the amount for her. (NET) 2. Jeremiah 16:18, Before I restore them I will punish them in full for their sins and the wrongs they have done. For they have polluted my land with the lifeless statues of their disgusting idols. They have filled the land I have claimed as my own with their detestable idols. (NET) III. Bring days of disaster on them. Bring on them the destruction they *deserve. A. *NET Footnote: Or complete destruction

39 39 B. What hope would we have if God brought on us the destruction we deserve. C. This double destruction means amply sufficient, but never more than the sinner deserves. (Coffman) 1. Jeremiah 16:18, Before I restore them I will punish them in full for their sins and the wrongs they have done. For they have polluted my land with the lifeless statues of their disgusting idols. They have filled the land I have claimed as my own with their detestable idols. (NET) 2. Revelation 18:6, Repay her the same way she repaid others; pay her back double corresponding to her deeds. In the cup she mixed, mix double the amount for her. (NET) Observance of the Sabbath Day is a Key to the Future Jeremiah 17:19, The Lord told me, Go and stand in the People s Gate through which the kings of Judah enter and leave the city. Then go and stand in all the other gates of the city of Jerusalem. (NET) NOTE: Verses stand on their own with no direct subject connection with the verses before and after this passage. Emphasis is here placed on observing the Sabbath day as commanded as well as all the other commandments related to the Sabbath. I. The Lord told me,...

40 40 A. God communicated his word to Jeremiah. 1. The Lord told Jeremiah, said to him,... II. Go and stand in the *People s Gate through which the kings of Judah enter and leave the city. A. *NET Footnote: identification and location uncertain; some see it referring to the Benjamin Gate. 1. Jeremiah 37:13, But he only got as far as the Benjamin Gate. There an officer in charge of the guards named Irijah, who was the son of Shelemiah and the grandson of Hananiah, stopped him. He seized Jeremiah and said, You are deserting to the Babylonians! (NET) 2. Jeremiah 38:7, An Ethiopian, Ebed Melech, a court official in the royal palace, heard that Jeremiah had been put in the cistern. While the king was holding court at the Benjamin Gate, (NET) 3. Clarke suggested this may have been the gate which had the most traffic. It is also called the gate of the children of the people. B. Jeremiah was directed to preach a sermon on national survival at the gates of Jerusalem. (See Smith.) 1. Jeremiah was to preach at the gates of Jerusalem where people would be coming and going.

41 41 C. This gate was evidently the one used by the kings of Judah as they entered and departed Jerusalem. III. Then go and stand in all the other gates of the city of Jerusalem. A. The word was to be preached everywhere, in all the other gates of the city of Jerusalem, wherever the people were found. Jeremiah 17:20, As you stand in those places announce, Listen, all you people who pass through these gates. Listen, all you kings of Judah, all you people of Judah and all you citizens of Jerusalem. Listen to what the Lord says. (NET) I. As you stand in those places announce,... A. Jeremiah was told both where and what to preach. 1. We are also told where (into all the world) and what (the gospel) we are to preach. II. Listen, all you people who pass through these gates. Listen, all you kings of Judah, all you people of Judah and all you citizens of Jerusalem. A. The word of God was the same for all, the people of Judah, the citizens of Jerusalem and the kings of Judah. 1. All you kings, The Pulpit Commentary suggests, may be a reference to all members of the royal family.

42 42 a. Jeremiah 21:11-12, The Lord told me to say to the royal court of Judah, Listen to what the Lord says, O royal family descended from David. The Lord says: See to it that people each day are judged fairly. Deliver those who have been robbed from those who oppress them. Otherwise, my wrath will blaze out against you. It will burn like a fire that cannot be put out because of the evil that you have done. (NET) b. Zephaniah 1:8, On the day of the Lord s sacrificial meal, I will punish the princes and the king s sons, and all who wear foreign styles of clothing (NET) c. Jeremiah 36:26, He also ordered Jerahmeel, who was one of the royal princes, Seraiah son of Azriel, and Shelemiah son of Abdeel to arrest the scribe Baruch and the prophet Jeremiah. However, the Lord hid them. (NET) d. Jeremiah 13:18, The Lord told me, Tell the king and the queen mother, Surrender your thrones, for your glorious crowns will be removed from your heads. (NET) e. Zechariah 12:12, The land will mourn, clan by clan the clan of the royal household of David by itself and their wives by themselves; the clan of the family of Nathan

43 43 by itself and their wives by themselves; (NET) f. Jeremiah 19:3, Say, Listen to what the Lord says, you kings of Judah and citizens of Jerusalem! The Lord God of Israel who rules over all says, I will bring a disaster on this place that will make the ears of everyone who hears about it ring! (NET) g. Jeremiah 25:18, I made Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, its kings and its officials drink it. I did it so Judah would become a ruin. I did it so Judah, its kings, and its officials would become an object of horror and of hissing scorn, an example used in curses. Such is already becoming the case! (NET) III. Listen to what the Lord says. A. Listen includes attentatively hearing and diligently complying with the Lord s will. B. All God s promises were and are conditioned on obedience to his commands. 1. Jeremiah made it clear that the people of Judah held their destiny in their own hands, Coffman wrote quoting Thompson.

44 44 Jeremiah 17:21, The Lord says, Be very careful if you value your lives! Do not carry any loads in through the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. (NET) I. The Lord says, Be very careful if you value your lives! A. Obey and survive. Disobey and be destroyed. 1. Take heed to yourselves... a. Malachi 2:15-16, No one who has even a small portion of the Spirit in him does this. What did our ancestor do when seeking a child from God? Be attentive, then, to your own spirit, for one should not be disloyal to the wife he took in his youth. I hate divorce, says the Lord God of Israel, and the one who is guilty of violence, says the Lord who rules over all. Pay attention to your conscience, and do not be unfaithful. (NET) II. Do not carry any loads in through the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. A. Faithful obedience to God including observance of the Sabbath was essential for Judah s future prosperity. 1. Exodus 20:8-11, Remember the Sabbath day to set it apart as holy. For six days you may labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; on it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter,

45 45 or your male servant, or your female servant, or your cattle, or the resident foreigner who is in your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in them, and he rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy. (NET) 2. Failure to keep the Sabbath opened the door for all the other sins of which Judah was guilty. B. The Sabbath commandments here may stand for all the commands of the Mosaic Law, Coffman suggested. C. Instead of observing the Sabbath day, they had used the day as the time to transport their goods to market. Jeremiah 17:22, Do not carry any loads out of your houses or do any work on the Sabbath day. But observe the Sabbath day as a day set apart to the Lord, as I commanded your ancestors. (NET) I. Do not carry any loads out of your houses or do any work on the Sabbath day. A. Hamilton concluded, The people s fate and that of their city ultimately lay in their own hands through obedience or disobedience. 1. Exodus 20:10, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; on it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, or your male servant, or your female servant, or