From Sorrow to Joy! From Jeremiah to Jesus!

Transcription

1 From Sorrow to Joy! From Jeremiah to Jesus! Sermon Transcript February 14, 2016 God s Word is Sure Jeremiah 1:1-19 This message from the Bible was addressed originally to the people of Wethersfield Evangelical Free Church on February 14, 2016 at 511 Maple Street, Wethersfield, CT, by Dr. Scott W. Solberg. This is a transcription that bears the strength and weaknesses of oral delivery. It is not meant to be a polished essay. An audio copy of the sermon on CD is available by request at (860) An audio version of this sermon may also be found on the church website at 1

2 Sermon Text: Jeremiah 1: The words of Jeremiah, the son of Hilkiah, one of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, 2 to whom the word of the LORD came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign. 3 It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, and until the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the captivity of Jerusalem in the fifth month. 4 Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 5 Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations. 6 Then I said, Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth. 7 But the LORD said to me, Do not say, I am only a youth ; for to all to whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. 8 Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the LORD. 9 Then the LORD put out his hand and touched my mouth. And the LORD said to me, Behold, I have put my words in your mouth. 10 See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant. 11 And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, Jeremiah, what do you see? And I said, I see an almond branch. 12 Then the LORD said to me, You have seen well, for I am watching over my word to perform it. 13 The word of the LORD came to me a second time, saying, What do you see? And I said, I see a boiling pot, facing away from the north. 14 Then the LORD said to me, Out of the north disaster shall be let loose upon all the inhabitants of the land. 15 For behold, I am calling all the tribes of the kingdoms of the north, declares the LORD, and they shall come, and every one shall set his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, against all its walls all around and against all the cities of Judah. 16 And I will declare my judgments against them, for all their evil in forsaking me. They have made offerings to other gods and worshiped the works of their own hands. 17 But you, dress yourself for work; arise, and say to them everything that I command you. Do not be dismayed by them, lest I dismay you before them. 18 And I, behold, I make you this day a fortified city, an iron pillar, and bronze walls, against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests, and the people of the land. 19 They will fight against 2

3 you, but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you, declares the LORD, to deliver you. From Sorrow to Joy! From Jeremiah to Jesus! If you were to ask me to pick one word to associate with the Old Testament book called Jeremiah, I would pick the word sorrow. It is a book filled with sorrow. I understand that the book that follows Jeremiah is the book of Lamentations. And so quite naturally, you would associate the word sorrow with that book. And I do. In fact, I have come to see Jeremiah to be Sorrow, Volume I and Lamentations as Sorrow, Volume II. The last chapter of Jeremiah recounts the destruction of the city of Jerusalem. And then in the next breath we come into Lamentations and in the first two verses we hear the cry of sorrow, How lonely sits the city that was full of people!... She weeps bitterly in the night, with tears on her cheeks. Many, with good reason, consider Jeremiah to be the author of both of these Old Testament books of sorrow. They go together. First of all, Jeremiah tells the story of national sorrow. It tells the story of the destruction of the city of Jerusalem. Literally, at the end of the book, the city lies in ruins. It says in Jeremiah 52:13-14 that the temple was burnt to the ground, along with the king s palace. The walls of the city were also torn down. In addition to that, we find at the end of the chapter that nearly 5,000 Jewish citizens were taken captive and dispersed throughout the Babylonian Empire. When I read this, I see in my mind the images of cities that had been leveled in World War II and the blank expressions of the survivors combing through the rubble. When I think of these Jewish exiles being deported to Babylon, I see the long line of distraught Syrian refugees who are being displaced from their homes because of a long standing war. This is the same stuff and the same sorrow we find in Jeremiah. It was a time of great national sorrow and loss. Secondly, Jeremiah also tells a story of theological sorrow. There is something going on in this book between the people of Israel and God. This is a book of judgment. In this book, clearly God is the judge and it is the people of Israel who are being judged by God. What is interesting about this is that all the way back in the book of Exodus, the second book of the Bible, God and the people of Israel entered into covenant with each other. God agreed to be their God and Israel agreed to be God s people. It is here where we get the Ten Commandments where we learn what it looks like to live as God s people. Through this covenant, God makes a promise to protect them and meet their needs and enter into relationship with the people of Israel. At the same time, Israel agreed to obey God. I know that can sound heavy-handed but the reality is that there 3

4 is blessing in obeying God. Does not Psalm 1 tell us, Blessed is the man... who s delight is in the law of the LORD. But the opposite is true as well. If Israel rejected God and did not keep the law of God, it would bring God s judgment upon them. So here we are, some 900 years later, and the judgment of God is being poured out on his people. If you know anything about the history of Israel as God s people, God had been extremely patient with Israel to this point. But now we read in Jeremiah 2:13, for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water. That is, they rejected God and they replaced God with something that in the end was empty. True to his word, God brought judgment on his people. This is a book of theological sorrow. Finally, in this book we see the personal sorrow of the prophet Jeremiah. Jeremiah had a very difficult life. He is known as the weeping prophet because several times you find him weeping for his people as he pleads with them to repent and turn back to God. Jeremiah was called by God to pronounce judgment on the people of Israel. It was no different then, as it is today. When your message is one of judgment, you don t always find a group of people eager to welcome you. That was Jeremiah s life. As far as we know, there were only two people who responded positively to Jeremiah s ministry that lasted over 40 years. He was rejected by his hometown. He was in and out of prison. He was hated by King Jehoiakim. Once when Jeremiah had written down the warning of God against the people of Israel, King Jehoiakim ordered that it be read in front of him. As Jeremiah s servant, Baruch, read from the scroll, after every three of four columns were read, the king would take his knife and defiantly cut off what was read and flippantly throw into the fire. This was the constant response to Jeremiah s ministry and it caused him much personal sorrow as he often stood alone. This book tells the story of personal sorrow. Perhaps you are not too excited over the prospect of spending much time in this book of sorrow over the next several weeks. But lets be honest, life is filled with sorrow. Jesus even promises that in this world we will have tribulation. We all know national sorrow and what it is like to be swept along with current events and cultural trends and there seems to be little one can do to live outside of that. We also know our own theological sorrow as we work through our own ups and downs in our relationship with God. There are times in life when we seem to be pursuing God and there are many stories of walking away from God or at least straying from God. And of course, we know the personal sorrow of trying to follow God in a culture where it is not always easy to do so. So perhaps this journey through Jeremiah will have a lot to say to us as we seek to live faithfully even while we know and experience the sorrows of life. 4

5 Before we take another step into this book of sorrow, I want you to know that even in this book of sorrow, sorrow does not have the last and final word. Tucked into these fifty-two chapters of sorrow are four chapters of comfort and hope. It is here where we read of the promise of God to his people in Jeremiah 31, I will turn their mourning into joy; I will comfort them and give them gladness for sorrow. See, for God s people, sorrow does not have the last word. God will turn our sorrow into joy. But how? In Jeremiah 32, we find that God has not ultimately turned his back on his people. Instead, the prophet begins to talk about a new covenant between God and his people. It is interesting to me that this is the only place in the Old Testament where the phrase new covenant is used. And yet, we divide our Bible into two parts; Old Testament and New Testament. We get the word testament from the Latin word testamentum. That is the Latin translation for the Hebrew word for covenant. In other words, we are basically dividing our Bible between the old covenant and the new covenant. And furthermore, by putting these twenty-seven books under the title New Testament the early church was making a connection between what Jeremiah was saying about the new covenant and what the New Testament is all about. In fact, the largest passage quoted from the Old Testament in the New Testament is from this section of Jeremiah and it is quoted in Hebrews 8 where we read about Jesus our priest who brings us to God and how through his blood he has made the final sacrifice for sin. Do you know what that means? The path from sorrow to joy is the path from Jeremiah to Jesus. Jesus is the one who turns our sorrow into joy. In fact, in John 16 where Jesus reminds us that in this world we will have tribulation, he doesn t end there. Remember, for God s people, sorrow does not have the final word. Rather, Jesus goes on to say, But take heart, I have overcome the world. And so Jeremiah ultimately leads us to Jesus. So here is where we are going over the next seven weeks. The first three weeks will spend looking at the sorrow we find in the book of Jeremiah. This morning we will look at the national sorrow as I recount for you the events that lead to the fall of Jerusalem. Then next week we will look at the theological sorrow and how Israel strayed from God. And then finally, I want you to see Jeremiah s personal sorrow and what it was like for him to be God s servant in a community that was rejecting God. Here is what we are going to learn from these three messages. We are going to learn how to live faithfully in the midst of our sorrows. I will tell you up front what we will discover. To live faithfully we need to hold to God s Word no matter what. We need to live a life of continual humble repentance. And finally, by God s grace, we are called to persevere to the end. Then the next four weeks we will spend time looking at the new 5

6 covenant and how Jesus is the one who can turn our sorrow into joy. No matter what your sorrow is this morning, Jesus is the answer and only he can bring you lasting joy. The Call of Jeremiah I want to begin this series by considering the national sorrow chronicled for us in this book. It would be helpful for you to know what was going on in Jeremiah s world. What were the headlines in the local Jerusalem Gazette during the days of Jeremiah? What were the lead stories on CNN during Jeremiah s day? It is good to know that Jeremiah was called as a prophet to speak into real time events. His ministry took place during very difficult times for Jerusalem. The nation was on the verge of collapse. The days of Jeremiah s ministry are marked in Jeremiah 1:2-3. We read of Jeremiah, of whom the word of the LORD came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign. It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, and until the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the captivity of Jerusalem in the fifth month. I understand these names are somewhat unfamiliar to us and so when we read them we don t readily put them into their historical context. They are just a bunch of strange names to us. But let me give you some perspective to the length of Jeremiah s ministry by illustrating it this way. Think of Billy Graham, who was given the title Pastor to Presidents. It started with Harry Truman s invitation for Billy Graham to come to the White House in From that point on, Billy Graham was invited by each president to speak into their lives. That is Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush, Clinton and Bush. That is 1950 to That is the length of Jeremiah s ministry. From Josiah to Jehoiakim to Zedekiah to the captivity, Jeremiah had a message from God for the people of Judah and for the kings of Judah. A lot of things have changed in our country since A lot has happened in our country since Harry Truman was President. The same could be said about the length of Jeremiah s ministry. There was a lot of change that took place both nationally and internationally during that time. On the national scene, when Josiah became king, they were just two years removed from the reign of Manasseh. Manasseh was king of Judah for fifty-five years. That is a long time to be king. And furthermore, there were no kings as evil as Manasseh. His reign is summarized in 2 Kings 21:9 where it says, Manasseh led [the people of Judah] to do more evil than the nations had done whom the LORD destroyed before the people of Israel. 6

7 When Josiah became king, it was a spiritually dark time. Under Josiah, they began to renovate the temple and a priest discovered the Book of the Law in the temple. I find this very fascinating. By the Book of the Law we are talking about the Pentateuch, that is the first five books of the Bible. This shows you how far the people had strayed from God due to the influence of Manasseh. Either they had completely forgotten about the Book of the Law, or under Manasseh, it was hidden. Either way, once they found it and shook off the dust, it was read to King Josiah. As the Law of God was read to King Josiah, he tore his clothes in an act of repentance. As a result, Josiah led the people of Judah back to God. It says of Josiah in 2 Kings 23:25, Before him there was no king like him, who turned to the LORD with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to the Law of Moses, nor did any like him rise after him. Jeremiah began his ministry during a time of spiritual renewal. Sadly, Josiah was killed in battle against Egypt and his son Jehoiakim became the next king. Jehoiakim was nothing like his dad. All the spiritual gains that were made under Josiah were lost under Jehoiakim. Jehoiakim was the king I just talked about awhile ago. He is the one who stood there with his knife as the word from God was being read by Jeremiah s servant. After three or four columns would be read, he defiantly cut it off and flippantly threw it into the fire. Contrast that with how Josiah responded when the Book of the Law was discovered and read in his presence. This was the spiritual tone that pervaded most of Jeremiah s ministry. Unlike Billy Graham being embraced by presidents, Jeremiah was not a welcomed guest in the palace of the king. And yet, God called Jeremiah to be his mouthpiece during this very difficult time. In Jeremiah 1:5 God says, I appointed you a prophet to the nations. Further, in Jeremiah 1:9 we read, Then the LORD put out his hand and touched my mouth. And the LORD said to me, Behold, I have put my words in your mouth. Then Jeremiah received two visions that set the tone for his ministry. He received a vision of an almond branch and a boiling pot. In Jeremiah 1:11-12 we have the vision of the almond branch. And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, Jeremiah, what do you see? And I said, I see an almond branch. Then the LORD said to me, You have seen well, for I am watching over my word to perform it. There is a word play going on here and it gets lost in the English translation. The Hebrew word for almond branch is very similar to the Hebrew word for watching. The Hebrew word for almond branch is shaqed and the Hebrew word for watching is shoqed. The almond tree was the first tree to bud in spring. It was a sign that spring in coming. It is kind of like the crocus that starts popping out of the ground 7

8 in March. Don t you get excited when you see that? Thank God, spring is coming! It may be a long way away, but it is coming. The phrase that would be used to speak of the budding of the almond tree was that it would watch for spring. When that tree would bud, you knew for sure that spring was coming. And so God is telling Jeremiah, so it is with the word that God places in Jeremiah s mouth. Jeremiah can be sure that God will bring his word to pass. God is watching over his word to perform it. Therefore, Jeremiah should not shrink back from proclaiming the word of God. Anticipating how hard it is going to be for Jeremiah, we read in verse 18, I make you this day a fortified city, an iron pillar, and bronze walls, against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests, and the people of the land. They will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you, declares the LORD, to deliver you. Then Jeremiah is given another vision. It is a vision of a boiling pot. Starting in verse 13 we read, The word of the LORD came to me a second time, saying, What do you see? And I said, I see a boiling pot, facing away from the north. Then the LORD said to me, Out of the north disaster shall be let loose upon all the inhabitants of the land. For behold, I am calling all the tribes of the kingdoms of the north, declares the LORD, and they shall come, and every one shall set his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, against all its walls all around and against all the cities of Judah. And I will declare my judgments against them, for all their evil in forsaking me. They have made offerings to other gods and worshiped the works of their own hands. This vision basically defines the message that will come through Jeremiah. The message is that God s judgment is coming and the people of Judah will be removed from the land for a period of 70 years. In Jeremiah 25:11 Jeremiah says, This whole land shall become a ruin and a waste, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. This judgment was fixed and Jeremiah s task was to let the people of Judah know that it will indeed come to pass. From Jeremiah 37 42, you have a detailed account of the unfolding of these events. Then in Jeremiah 52, the last chapter of the book, the story of the destruction of Jerusalem is once again told in summary fashion. I just want to give you a glimpse of what was happening on the international scene during this time. Basically, there were two super powers vying for control and Jerusalem just happened to be the buffer in between these two powers. You had Egypt to the south and Babylon to the north. Both of them wanted to get a foothold in Jerusalem. So when Josiah was killed in battle against Egypt, it was Pharaoh Neco who placed Jehoiakim on the throne in Jerusalem. And so when Jehoiakim began his reign in Judah, he was really serving Egypt. But then Egypt was defeated at the battle of Carchemish by King Nebuchadnezzar and so now Jehoiakim is a puppet of Babylon. For three years, he paid tribute to Babylon. But he 8

9 tries to shake free from Babylon by turning to Egypt and he fails. In fact, as Babylon was standing at the gate of Jerusalem, Jehoiakim died. Eventually, Nebuchadnezzar appointed Zedekiah to be king of Judah and for 9 years he served the interests of Babylon. But then he too tried to shake free, and this was the final straw as far as Babylon was concerned. They surrounded the city and for a year and a half they laid siege to the city. And when all the supplies ran out, Zedekiah and his men tried to escape, but they were caught. The last thing Zedekiah saw before they removed his eyes was the slaughter of his sons. This is when Jerusalem ultimately fell. This is the national sorrow that permeates the book of Jeremiah. The basic message of Jeremiah to the people of Jerusalem was this: Do not resist Babylon. They are God s appointed instrument for judgment. You can imagine how difficult a message like this would be for anyone in Judah to swallow. And yet this was the purpose of God. And so with this calling in mind, God tells Jeremiah in verse 17, But you, dress yourself for work; arise and say to them everything that I command you. Do not be dismayed by them, lest I dismay you before them. God s Word is Sure In the context of this national suffering we find on the pages of Jeremiah, there is a lesson for the people of faith. The lesson is this. No matter what you see happening around you and no matter what the headlines may read in the paper and no matter what the lead story is on CNN; God s Word can still be trusted. God s Word is still sure. God is watching over his word to perform it. God uses his Word that is proclaimed through his people to do his work in this world. Be confident in the Word of God. Jeremiah stands in contrast to the people of his day. In a few weeks you will see how Jeremiah continues to trust God even though things are very difficult for him. He trusts God and he perseveres even when it seems like everything else around him is crumbling. Even though no one else is following him, he trusts God s Word. And furthermore, God accomplishes his purpose through Jeremiah faithfully proclaiming God s Word. If I can just give you one story out of Jeremiah to illustrate this. Zedekiah was the king in Jerusalem when the city ultimately fell. Unlike his predecessor, Jehoiakim, Zedekiah at least had a healthy respect for Jeremiah. In Jeremiah 37, Zedekiah reaches out to Jeremiah and he asks the prophet to pray for him. In Jeremiah 38, some of the officials are upset with Jeremiah and so they throw him into an empty cistern with no food. One of Jeremiah s two followers, an Ethiopian by the name of Ebed-melech, went running to 9

10 Conclusion the king to tell him what these officials did to Jeremiah and so the king ordered that Jeremiah be rescued. And then he called Jeremiah and said, I will ask you a question; hide nothing from me. In other words, he was seeking a word from God through the prophet. Jeremiah said in return, If I tell you, will you not surely put me to death? And if I give you counsel you will not listen to me. Zedekiah assured Jeremiah that no harm would come to him. And so this is what Jeremiah said to Zedekiah. If you will surrender to the officials of the king of Babylon, then your life shall be spared, and this city shall not be burned with fire and your house shall live. The problem was that Zedekiah was filled with fear of what others thought. And so Jeremiah said, Obey now the voice of the LORD and what I say to you, and it shall be well with you and your life shall be spared. But failure to trust the word of the Lord will lead to your destruction and the destruction of your family and the city. Do you know what Zedekiah s response was? He basically said, Don t let anyone know about our conversation. In the end he turned to Egypt for help and God s judgment came as Jeremiah warned it would. A lot has happened in this country since the time of Harry Truman. It is not an exaggeration to say that the spiritual climate has changed and you can especially feel it in New England. But it is true throughout the country as well. Since the 1960 s there has been an erosion of moral values, whether it is the legalization of abortion, or the breakdown of the family and marriage, or what is often celebrated as the sexual revolution. We sure have seen much of what would qualify as national sorrow. Add to this, on the international scene the recent rise of terrorism, and on the home front mass shootings have become common and racial tension remains a constant challenge. And, furthermore, is there any security to be found in the political process? In the midst of all this uncertainty, one thing remains constant. God is still at work and through the proclamation of the Word of God, God is watching over his word to perform it. So do not waiver in your faith. Proclaim the hope of Jesus Christ to this world. One of the daily affirmations I make is based on the parables of Jesus in Matthew 13. I am confident that God is at work in this world and that my labor in Christ is not in vain. I think that is the point of the parable of the mustard seed. It may seem that God s kingdom is of little consequence in this day. But it will grow to the largest of the plants. How so? God is performing his word through his people. Be confident! What about you? The promise that comes with the ministry of God s Word is that it 10

11 does not return empty. God will bring about his judgments and keep his promises. Will you respond like Jeremiah and rest on the authority of God s Word? Or, will you respond like Zedekiah and be overcome by the fear of what others think? This is the Word of the Lord. Repent of your sin. Turn in faith to Jesus Christ, the Son of God. He loved us so much that he went to the cross and died in our place. He took our punishment for sin. Three days later, he rose from the dead, having defeated sin and death. If we turn in faith to Jesus, we are given eternal life and God s wrath is removed from us. Jesus said in John 3:36, Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him. Learn the lesson from King Zedekiah. God will watch over his word to perform it. It will either lead to our salvation or to our judgment. That depends on how you respond to Jesus. Repent of your sin. Turn in faith to Jesus. He will forgive you of your sins! This is the pathway from sorrow to joy! It is Jesus! Every Home a Church As we move towards Easter, here are some things you can do at home as we make our way through the book of Jeremiah. 1. Read the book of Jeremiah as a family. This week, read a chapter a day. That will get you to Jeremiah 7 by next Sunday. 2. As a family, pray the Lord s Prayer together. 3. Consider doing some kind of fast as we move towards Easter. by Dr. Scott Solberg - All rights reserved 11

12 Sermon Title: God s Word is Sure Sermon Text: Jeremiah 1:1-19 Sermon Date: February 14, 2016 Getting To Know Me Questions 1. Why do you think bad habits are hard to break? 2. In the sermon three kinds of sorrow were mentioned National Sorrow: concern over world events Theological Sorrow: wrestling with God Personal Sorrow: the challenge of living for God in this world Which one of these sorrows are of most concern to you? Why? 3. Share something you learned about the book of Jeremiah this week. Diving Into The Word 4. Read Jeremiah 52:1-30. This is a summary of the destruction of Jerusalem, the national sorrow of Jeremiah s day. Talk about what it must have been like to live through something like this. What would it be like to be one of the exiles deported to Babylon? What would it be like to be left behind among the rubble of the city? What challenges to your faith would you find in this situation? 5. Read Jeremiah 1: What is God saying to Jeremiah through this vision? How is it encouraging to you to know that God is watching over his word to perform it? See also Isaiah 55:11. What does this say to us about the confidence we can have in God s Word? 6. Read Jeremiah 1: What is God saying to Jeremiah through this vision? What was the message that Jeremiah was to preach? Take note of verses and talk about what Jeremiah should expect as he deliver this message. How would you relate this to sharing the gospel and proclaiming the message of Jesus? See also John 3: Read Matthew 13: A mustard seed is small and insignificant. Do you ever feel that way about the influence of the church in our culture? How does this parable encourage us to have confidence that God is at work through us? See also 1 Corinthians 15:56-58 Taking It Home 8. Each person share one thing that you want to take home with you from your conversation. 9. Spend some time praying for our country and for the advance of the gospel. Pray that God s people will have the boldness of Jeremiah to trust that God is watching over his word to perform it. 12