God s Just Judgment Jeremiah 6:1-30 Introduction

Transcription

1 Introduction Last night on Television I saw a news broadcast that said new warning labels would be posted on cigarette packages. Graphic images include a man blowing smoke through his own a cut in his throat, images of disfigured babies and images of rotting teeth and mouth lesions. I turned to my wife and said, Do you think the images will be sufficient to make people stop smoking? She said, I don t think so. Warning labels are supposed to do just that, warn. But we live in a world where we are warned about the side effects of medications, deploying air bags, we are warned about the food we eat and the air we breath and the movies we watch. Warnings are meant to provide us with security and protection, and so also God s warnings are designed for our protection. In this chapter we have one of the longest lists of warnings in the Bible. What is the focus of the warnings? God s coming judgment on his people. The book of Jeremiah issues a series of warnings to the people of Judea and Jerusalem. Jeremiah has spoken of divorce (3:1-25); and disobedience (chapter 5:1-5) and destruction (chapter 4:1-4, 14, and now chapter 6:1-3; 8-10). The message of Jeremiah has been plow up your hard heart (chapter 4:1-4; 14); if you are righteous flee Jerusalem immediately (chapter 6:1-3); this is the last warning before judgment falls (chapter 6:8-10). The destruction of Jerusalem will come as a result of God s wrath; God s just judgment for sin and rebellion and disobedience. The wrath will come from the north (the Babylonian invasion of 606 BC); it will destroy Judah s cities, the Lord s tools are a burning wind and an invading army, they will breach Jerusalem s walls (6:4-7); why? Because the city is wicked through and through; everyone will be effected (6:11-17); from the least to the greatest, and God will refuse the people s Temple offerings (6:18-26). Their sacrifices mean nothing to God because of their sins. Jeremiah has spoken of his agitation over Israel s punishment (4:10); his agony over Israel s future (4:19-31) and now Jeremiah will speak of a new assignment as a tester of metals, an assayer, Jeremiah will test Israel s spiritual condition (6:27-30). Warning To The World (vv.1-20) The Certainty of Judgment (vv.21-30) The Warning To Flee To Safety Jeremiah 6:1 (NKJV) O you children of Benjamin, Gather yourselves to flee from the midst of Jerusalem! Blow the trumpet in Tekoa, And set up a signal-fire in Beth Haccerem; For disaster appears out of the north, And great destruction. 1

2 Jeremiah begins in his own neighborhood. The territory of Jerusalem originally fell in the land set apart for Benjamin (Joshua 15:8). Like Washington DC for America Jerusalem belonged to all the people. The city of Tekoa was home to the prophet Amos. It was less than 13 miles from Jerusalem. The city of Beth Hakkerem s location is unknown. But scholars speculate it must have been close enough so that you could see a visible signal fire. The name means the house of the vineyard and is mentioned here and in Nehemiah 3:14. It may have been the mountain between Bethlehem and Tekoa were you could build a beacon or light a fire. The warning to flee, the sound of the trumpet and the raising of the signal fire--all these were warnings to be heeded right away. We act now. There is to be no delay. The message is urgent. The army is coming. The conquer city after city and are fast approaching Jerusalem. The people of Benjamin who live just north of Jerusalem were not to seek refugee in the city of Jerusalem because the city was doomed. They are instructed to flee south. Jeremiah 6:2 (NKJV) I have likened the daughter of Zion To a lovely and delicate woman. God s judgment will come in spite of the fact that Zion has been like a daughter. The capitol city was delicate, beautiful. What does it mean that God likens the city to the daughter of Zion? Anyone with a daughter or a grand daughter knows the heart wrenching sorrow when they see their baby threatened or harmed. Sin cuts the heart of God and sin must be dealt with. Sinners will be judged by God. All sinners must repent of their sin or else face the judgment of God. The message seems so antiquated. So yesterday! Yet the message is timeless. The city was delicate and beautiful but would wind up ruined. Jeremiah 6:3 (NKJV) 3 The shepherds with their flocks shall come to her. They shall pitch their tents against her all around. Each one shall pasture in his own place. God will use foreign powers as the instrument of his judgment. He likens them to foreign shepherds who bring their flocks to feed on land that does not belong to them. We think of shepherds as peaceful, but not so to the ancient people of Israel. It may include the idea that Jerusalem will be devastated and become a place where nomads graze their flocks. Jeremiah 6:4 (NKJV) Prepare war against her; Arise, and let us go up at noon. Woe to us, for the day goes away, For the shadows of the evening are lengthening. 2

3 The Lord will impart a successful strategy against His people in the mind of their enemies. The enemies are willing to attack at the most inconvenient time. The word prepare here is the same word that means to prepare a sacrifice; literally sanctify ; we might think of the enemy offering a sacrifice to their pagan gods, for them--the war is religious, a holy war! Wars are typically not fought at noon in the heat of the day; this is the time when armies rest. Jeremiah 6:5 (NKJV) Arise, and let us go by night, And let us destroy her palaces. The enemy cannot wait until morning, they are so eager to attack. The word translated palaces can also mean citadels or the outer fortifications of the city. Here we are left with the impression that they are the dwellings in the heart of the city. Warning: God s Judgment Must Be Executed Against The City Jeremiah 6:6 (NKJV) For thus has the Lord of hosts said: Cut down trees, And build a mound against Jerusalem. This is the city to be punished. She is full of oppression in her midst. We are a people who look for reasons for judgment. God gives reasons. The city is full of oppression (v.6). The text leaves us with the impression that God himself directs the enemy to attack the city. The city must be punished for its sins of oppression. Oppressing the weak, the sick, the poor, the righteous. Why will they cut down the trees? To provide towers for the archers, mobile platforms for battering rams and firewood. The mound is an earthen ramp to make the entry way easier into the city. The Scythians did not use siege equipment; the Babylonians did. Jeremiah 6:7 (NKJV) 7 As a fountain wells up with water, So she wells up with her wickedness. Violence and plundering are heard in her. Before Me continually are grief and wounds. What are some of the other reasons? The city pours out wickedness, violence and destruction. The metaphor of fountains are normally for refreshing, but here the city keeps bringing the wickedness, which is always before God. The written text translated wells is cisterns. The expression violence and plundering is a kind of idiomatic expression which we might translate; we hear cries like help police I am being robbed. 3

4 The expression in the Hebrew language; before Me continually is Before MY Face expresses God s personal concern with a forceful image. We use the expression get out of my face when we can no longer bear to see something. Jeremiah 6:8 (NKJV) 8 Be instructed, O Jerusalem, Lest My soul depart from you; Lest I make you desolate, A land not inhabited. The Lord issues yet another warning: The city must repent or else God will turn away and make the land desolate. The passage holds out hope it is not too late to repent! If Israel fails to repent, God will be alienated from His people; Lest My soul depart from you. Lest the land be made desolate. The expression depart literally means pulled out or ripped out. The metaphor speaks of intimacy and proximity, God s closeness to Israel; and the devastating result of sin! Fellowship is ripped away! Be instructed (musar) or be warned or be disciplined. We might translate this accept your discipline. The refusal to repent results in alienation and devastation. Jeremiah 6:9 (NKJV) Thus says the Lord of hosts: They shall thoroughly glean as a vine the remnant of Israel; As a grape-gatherer, put your hand back into the branches. The Lord issues yet another warning: The judgment will be thorough. The people will be judged time and time again. When a person gleans a field they get ripe fruit and low hanging fruit, and easy to reach fruit. The gleaner goes back and gets the fruit that is less accessible. In effect God is commanding Jeremiah to search Israel, just like he searched Jerusalem (chapter 5); look for a just man. The gleaner removes the branches, the leaves, whatever keeps you from the fruit. The search is for good fruit. Glean, glean, keep searching, strict conscientious --ask seek knock, look, keep looking. Jeremiah 6:10 (NKJV) To whom shall I speak and give warning, That they may hear? Indeed their ear is uncircumcised, And they cannot give heed. Behold, the word of the Lord is a reproach to them; They have no delight in it. 4

5 The Lord issues another warning: The people s hearts will be hard and their ears closed to the message of judgment. The people will no longer hear the Word of God. They will consider the Word of God offensive (hate speech). The people find no pleasure in the Word of God. Have there been times in human history where people simply do not want to hear or heed the Word of God? Jeremiah wants to respond to the substance of God s command. Who do I talk to? Who will listen? Who can he speak to who will hear with open ears and receive with an open heart? Who will be open to the Word of God? Jeremiah 6:11 (NKJV) 11 Therefore I am full of the fury of the Lord. I am weary of holding it in. I will pour it out on the children outside, And on the assembly of young men together; For even the husband shall be taken with the wife, The aged with him who is full of days. The Lord issues another warning: The wrath of God will fall on everyone, no one is exempted, neither children and youth, the husbands and the wives, or the elderly. Jeremiah let s loose with a kind of emotional outburst! Jeremiah expresses his fatigue and sorrow and weariness; at holding back the wrath of God and judgment. Jeremiah 6:12 (NKJV) 12 And their houses shall be turned over to others, Fields and wives together; For I will stretch out My hand Against the inhabitants of the land, says the Lord. The Lord issues another warning: Houses, property, wives will be plundered and taken by the conquerors. Jeremiah 6:13 (NKJV) Because from the least of them even to the greatest of them, Everyone is given to covetousness; And from the prophet even to the priest, Everyone deals falsely. The Lord anticipates the question why and responds. The people have lived lives of greed and selfishness and self-indulgence. Because the Priests and Prophets were deceptive. The more of heaven there is in our lives, the less of earth we shall covet. 5

6 But aren t the Babylonians greedy? Yes--but they don t know God. Jeremiah 6:14 (NKJV) 14 Saying, Peace, peace! When there is no peace. They have also healed the hurt of My people slightly, The religious leaders have substituted a message of peace for God s true message. People were reluctant to expose sin, declare true God honoring righteousness and judgment. Shalom means more than just the absence of conflict; but the presence of wholeness and wellness. Abraham Lincoln was very unpopular in the South. Lincoln said, I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed, but I am bout to live up to the light I have. I must stand with anybody that stands right, stand with him while he is right, and part with him when he goes wrong. In Napoleon s expedition to Russia, a Russian peasant was captured, forced into Napoleon s service and branded on the arm with the letter N. When he understood what it meant, he chopped off the arm that had been branded, rather than serve his country s enemy. Shouldn t the spiritual leaders be sensitive to God s will? Jeremiah is not attacking spiritual leadership--but the abuse of spiritual leadership! For centuries leaders call for peace when the only solution is war; and for war when the only solution is peace! Spiritual doctors must not simply treat the symptoms but must deal with the root cause of the problem. Jeremiah 6:15 (NKJV) Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? No! They were not at all ashamed; Nor did they know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; At the time I punish them, They shall be cast down, says the Lord. The prophet continues the reasons for judgment. The people were unashamed of their sinful behavior. They refused to blush. The people will fall. The people will fall as individuals and as a nation. 6

7 The reason given is moral. Jeremiah 6:16 (NKJV) Thus says the Lord: Stand in the ways and see, And ask for the old paths, where the good way is, And walk in it; Then you will find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk in it. The Lord issues another warning: The nation is at a crossroads. The prophet outlines the need: Seek the Old proven path of righteousness. The prophet outlines the promise: You will find rest for your souls. The prophet outlines their response: Refusal and rejection. Deuteronomy 32:7 (NKJV) Remember the days of old, Consider the years of many generations. Ask your father, and he will show you; Your elders, and they will tell you: Jeremiah 6:17-20 (NKJV) Also, I set watchmen over you, saying, Listen to the sound of the trumpet! But they said, We will not listen. The Lord issues another warning: The people refused to hear the watchmen. In this case the watchmen are the prophets sent by God to warn the people. 18 Therefore hear, you nations, And know, O congregation, what is among them. The warning is extended to the nations (goyim) all the people of the earth. What is the warning? God is willing to judge his people. If God is willing to judge His people how severe will the judgment be to those who are not His people? 19 Hear, O earth! Behold, I will certainly bring calamity on this people The fruit of their thoughts, Because they have not heeded My words Nor My law, but rejected it. Why is the judgment coming? Because the people of God have rejected God s Word, God s Law and God s Commandments. 7

8 Does God expect people to heed his words? 20 For what purpose to Me Comes frankincense from Sheba, And sweet cane from a far country? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable, Nor your sacrifices sweet to Me. The people of Jerusalem believed they worshipped the Lord. But God does not accept their worship because of their hypocrisy. The frankincense from Sheba speaks of how rare and expensive the elements of worship were to the people. But no matter how rare or expensive the worship is--it becomes worthless unless the worship is acceptable and sweet to the Lord. What is the worship that God accepts? The Certainty of Judgment (vv.21-30) Jeremiah 6:21-30 (NKJV) 21Therefore thus says the Lord: Behold, I will lay stumbling blocks before this people, And the fathers and the sons together shall fall on them. The neighbor and his friend shall perish. What are the stumbling blocks God places before the people? In this case it is the Babylonian army. The people will trip and fall before the onslaught of the invading army. 22 Thus says the Lord: Behold, a people comes from the north country, And a great nation will be raised from the farthest parts of the earth. The Lord will mobilize a great army from the ends of the earth. 23 They will lay hold on bow and spear; They are cruel and have no mercy; Their voice roars like the sea; And they ride on horses, As men of war set in array against you, O daughter of Zion. 24 We have heard the report of it; Our hands grow feeble. Anguish has taken hold of us, Pain as of a woman in labor. 25 Do not go out into the field, Nor walk by the way. Because of the sword of the enemy, Fear is on every side. 26 O daughter of my people, Dress in sackcloth And roll about in ashes! Make mourning as for an only son, most bitter lamentation; For the plunderer will suddenly come upon us. 8

9 27 I have set you as an assayer and a fortress among My people, That you may know and test their way. 28 They are all stubborn rebels, walking as slanderers. They are bronze and iron, They are all corrupters; 29 The bellows blow fiercely, The lead is consumed by the fire; The smelter refines in vain, For the wicked are not drawn off. 30 People will call them rejected silver, Because the Lord has rejected them. Conclusion Someone wrote seven things you will never regret: Showing kindness to an aged person. Destroying a letter written in anger. Offering an apology that saves a friendship. Stopping a scandal that was wrecking a reputation. Helping a boy find himself. Taking time to show your mother consideration. Accepting the judgment of God on any question. 9