Jeremiah’s Warning
Sermons, List 3
Text: Jeremiah 36:1-8.
1. Now it came to
pass in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, that
this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying; 2. Take a scroll of a book
and write on it all the words that I have spoken to you against Israel, against
Judah, and against all the nations, from the day I spoke to you, from the days
of Josiah even to this day. 3. It may
be that the house of Judah will hear all the adversities which I purpose to
bring upon them, that everyone may turn from his evil way, that I may forgive
their iniquity and their sin. 4. Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah;
and Baruch wrote on a scroll of a book, at the instruction of Jeremiah, all the
words of the LORD which He had spoken to him. 5. And Jeremiah commanded Baruch,
saying, "I am confined, I cannot
go into the house of the LORD. 6.
"You go, therefore, and read from the scroll which you have written at my
instruction, the words of the LORD, in the hearing of the people in the LORD'S
house on the day of fasting. And you shall also read them in the hearing of all
Judah who come from their cities. 7. "It may be that they will present
their supplication before the LORD, and everyone will turn from his evil way. For great is the anger and the fury that the
LORD has pronounced against this people." 8. And Baruch the son of Neriah
did according to all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, reading from the
book the words of the LORD in the LORD'S house.
Introduction
It has been said, and rightly so: “If man
has learned anything from history it is that he has learned nothing from
history.” (Author unknown). We are so intent on self-realization that we reject
the advice of our forbears. So the lessons learned by experience in one
generation seem always to need repeating in the next.
The
Nation of Israel is a case in point. One generation would repent when God
chastised them for ignoring His rules. But the next generation would rebel
again. God put up with Israel’s nonsense for very long periods of time.
However, since He is both just and merciful, He had to punish them eventually
and He used their enemies to do so.
Many
people lost their lives during the judgment Jeremiah predicted for Judah. Many
more lost their freedom when the Babylonians took them captive. The seemingly
lucky ones, who escaped both death and captivity at the time, intermarried with
foreigners and became the despised Samaritans.
U.S.
In case you hadn’t noticed, Israel has nothing on us. In fact, Isaiah’s writings could, and should
serve as our warning too. We, in The United States of America, have managed to
survive crisis after crisis by repenting for our National sins and appealing to
God’s mercy. The last time we did so, in my memory, was just before Ronald
Reagan was elected President the first time. Some of his predecessors policies reeked
of disaster. For one thing, he did not do Israel any favors in the land for peace fiasco.
Peace never materialized and Israel continues to become more and more vulnerable.
The continued ‘help’of our State Department only makes the problem worse.
Unfortunately,
the lessons we should have learned over the years always seem to fade quickly.
Philistines don’t want peace with Israel or with any other democratic country.
They want to rule a world submitted to sharia law and are determined to achieve
it at any price. In the mean time, our rejection of God’s rule may soon prevent
us from receiving the help we need to survive.
The
USA was founded on Christian principles, by men who acknowledged God’s right to
direct our destiny and understood the need to submit. This land is His. Our
forefathers dedicated it to Him for propagating the Gospel of Jesus Christ both
here and around the world. Our dedication to that principle accounts for
blessings we cannot expect to continue when we treat God as if He were no
longer irrelevant.
If
you need another reminder of God’s judgment on unrepentant sinners consider
Sodom and Gomorrah. Those cities were destroyed completely. Sadly, the sins
that consumed them are becoming more and more prevalent among us.
Responsibility
So who is most responsible for the sad
condition of our country today? You and me, and others who also call themselves
Christians. We cannot depend on someone else to curry God’s favor. We must
repent ourselves, not only turning from our own sins but also seeking to learn
and do God’s will His way.
God
usually calls His people to repent when He wants to delay judgment. If
they refuse there is no reason to expect obedience from men who categorically
deny His right to rule. Look at 2nd Chronicles 7:14: “If My people who are called
by My Name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from
their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and
heal their land.”
I
hope you understand the urgency of the hour. God cannot delay our punishment
much longer if we don’t repent. And we might have to get down on our faces
before He will hear us. We have neither condemned sinful practices that
destroyed other nations nor held governing authorities responsible for catering
to the evildoers. Because we watch, passively, as innocent unborn babies are
murdered, some of us may end up being slaughtered too, simply because of old
age or disabilities.
Alexander
Pope understood how evil encroaches on men.
“Epistle IV” of his “Essay on Man” describes the enslaving power of
un-resisted sin: “Vice is a monster of so frightful mien, As to be hated needs
but to be seen; Yet seen to oft, familiar with her face, We first endure, then
pity, then embrace.”
Foolishness
Our Nation is in trouble. We are in terrible shape
morally, perhaps guilty of sins Israel never dreamed of and as deserving of
chastisement as She was.
We
have chosen unquestioning loyalty to political parties over the eternal
vigilance our hard-won freedoms demand, even though politicians who hate our
God and despise our values do not deserve our support. They sponsor judges who
trash our Constitution and supersede our laws with foolish notions. It we don’t
act soon, to replace traitors with patriots, we may have to kiss the land of
the free and the home of the brave good-by forever. If that thought does not
give you pause, consider how our culture is being destroyed from within, by
both legal and illegal immigrants who insist on perpetuating their cultures at
the expense of ours.
Jeremiah
Jeremiah wrote two of the Bible’s Books; one bears
his name; the other is called Lamentations. He lived during an era when God’s
patience with Judah was stretched mightily. He wanted the people to repent and
he shed many tears for them. It’s a shame his sincere concern did not persuade
them to consider his warnings carefully. Jerusalem
was the setting for the incidents of Chapter Thirty Six. He prophesied a
judgment that began about twenty years before the last of the Jews was taken
into captivity.
Willful people
For
the most part, God's chosen people were never as obedient to Him as they should
have been. Like us, they could always
find some way to violate his commands. And, as I hope you and I learn before it
becomes too late, our disobedience always interferes with His ability to bless
us. God demands obedience. He warned Israel again and again to repent.
Jeremiah was one of the last
of a series of prophets who brought repeated warnings. Before God reached the
end of His patience, He divided Israel into two kingdoms; a northern kingdom
called Israel and a southern kingdom called Judah. When He finally gave up on
the Northern Kingdom she ceased to exist as a separate entity. Judah knew about
Israel’s punishment but refused to learn from it.
Truth
God’s
latest warning was rejected, at least partly, because the King, and others of
Judah’s leaders, despised Jeremiah. But, as Isaiah 55:11 indicates, truth is
more important than the men who speak it. Consider God’s declaration as Isaiah
recorded it: “So shall My word be that goes forth from my mouth: It shall not
return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper
in the thing for which I sent it.” In other
words, the message is paramount; God chooses the messenger. When we recognize
the validity of a message we should heed it, no matter who delivers it.
Saving and keeping
King
David spoke of God's saving and keeping power when he wrote Ps. 119:11. He
said, "Your word I have
hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You." God's Word could have kept both Judah and Israel in His good
graces and away from judgment - if they had obeyed. Their refusals brought awful consequences.
When I was a young man
someone gave me a Bible with these words written on the flyleaf: “This Book will keep you from sin or sin
will keep you from this Book.” God's Word can do nothing for those who ignore
it. It can keep Christian’s from sin, and from the judgment sin earns, but only
if they read it and heed it.
The warning
Anyway,
Jeremiah dictated God’s warning to Baruch, who wrote it on a scroll and read it
aloud to people in the Lord's house on a fasting day.
Baruch was not a prophet; he
was a scribe. But he did his job well, reading the message, as told, and
leaving the consequences with God. It was God's business to control the
results. He did so by making sure certain people heard it. Michaiah did hear it
and he told some princes who asked for a private reading. They ordered Baruch
and Jeremiah to hide and then reported the matter to the rebelling King
Jehoiakim.
Many of Jehoiakim
predecessors were rebels too. They descended from David but did not serve
David’s God, primarily because of the ungodly influence of heathen mothers.
That’s why God advises Christians not to become unequally yoked with
unbelievers. We cannot afford to have our children raised in ungodly homes.
Christians who understand the
importance of salvation through Jesus pick spouses who help their children know
Him too. Citizens who are wise also select godly men as representatives in
government offices, men who will support their right to practice their faith
instead of opposing it.
Jehoiakim blew it
This
was Jehoiakim's last chance to submit and he blew it, not only for himself, but
also for the nation of Judah. If he had repented, they might have followed his
example. Jehoiakim did agree to listen as Jehudi read the scroll - but he,
foolishly, cut and burned each portion as it was read. He did not want to leave
any reminders of the warning.
People burn Bibles today for
the same reason. Others simply pretend God’s word isn’t relevant for today but
it contains truths sinners must hear and act on in order to be saved. All who
reject the Bible’s offer of salvation will pay for their own sins in hell. No wonder
they don't want to be reminded.
Jehoiakim actually destroyed
the only prescription available for saving Judah. Repentance could have
delivered them from the sword of Babylon. When he ordered the arrest of Baruch and Jeremiah, the LORD hid them
from him. (Verse
26). Can you see the irony? Jeremiah escaped death
and imprisonment; Jehoiakim did not.
Another scroll
God
told Jeremiah (in
verse 28) "Take
yet another scroll, and write on it all the former words that were in the first
scroll which Jehoiakim the king of Judah has burned. And
Jeremiah did so.” Jehoiakim’s rebellion gained him
nothing. God is omnipotent; no one can oppose Him successfully. The second
scroll contained everything the first one recorded, and more. Jehoiakim also
destroyed his opportunity to be saved. Verse 30 says, “Therefore thus says the LORD concerning
Jehoiakim king of Judah: "He shall
have no one to sit on the throne of David, and his dead body shall be cast out
to the heat of the day and the frost of the night.”
Warning fulfilled
2
Chronicles 36:5-6 indicates Nebuchadnezzar attacked Judah about 6 years after
this incident. Jehoiakim was taken to Babylon in chains and died there. The
rest of the nation was punished later, with some people being taken to Babylon
and others killed. Only a few escaped along with Jeremiah.
Jehoiakim did not stop God’s
plans. He could not have done so even if he had killed Jeremiah. God had other
prophets through whom He could have spoken. God always does what He says. No
one can hinder His declarations for long. Jehoiakim only proved himself a fool.
I hope none of us does the same.
Our choice
Consider
the choice we must make. God is warning us of a judgment we can escape only by
heeding His advice. It is nearer than most people imagine. This age is winding
down fast. I would be surprised if our Lord tarries another seven years. Our
national guilt is collective, of course, but our nation consists of guilty
individuals. Are you ready to face God?
All of us have fallen short
of God’s glory (Romans 3:23) and the wages of sin is death (Romans
6:23). But forgiveness is
available in Christ (Romans 6:23) for those
who ask. Romans 10:8-11 adds this:
“8. But what does it say?
"The word is near you, even in your mouth and in your heart" (that
is, the word of faith which we preach): 9. that if you confess with your mouth
the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead,
you will be saved. 10. For with the heart one believes to righteousness, and
with the mouth confession is made to salvation. 11. For the Scripture says, "Whoever believes on Him will
not be put to shame."
Final
question
How
about it? Have you been born-again as a
result of your trust in and confession of Jesus Christ as your Savior? Is He your Lord? Do you read His Word? Do you obey it? If all of the Christians in
our country would repent soon enough God might spare this generation. I believe
He wants to but that isn’t likely to happen without your input. So share the
warning where you can,
- -
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David E; Beneze, 1006 Fairview Ave., Canon City, CO, 81201.
See page 29 of "Pastor's Annual" for 1976. Latest revision 06/06/2007.
Page last updated 5:36 PM 6/6/2007