God's Message of
Love to His People
Book of Jeremiah 2
Verses 4-9, 13, 21,
26-32, 35
We already know that
the Nation of Israel had been divided at the end of the rule of King
Solomon. One called Judah consisted of 2 tribes and the other called
Israel consisting of 10 tribes. The men of Israel had long been
carried off by Assyria and the women left behind and provided with
other men and this area became known as Samaria. This was the reason
there was so much, uncalled for, hatred of the Jews and Samaritans.
These things
happened because the ten tribes of Israel had abandoned Jehovah and
had chosen false gods.
Judah had now become
more sinful than Israel had been!
Judah had forsaken
the Lord Jehovah for a multitude of false gods, yet they still
claimed to be the children of God.
It was an insult to
God for the people of Israel to neglect God and forget Him. No one
acknowledged his kindness, and no one acknowledged His great love He
had for them. Today we would say those who backslide away from the
Lord.
I said no one, but
God always has a remnant who stands by him.
Let's Begin:
*****Jer 2:4 Hear
ye the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob, and all the families of
the house of Israel:
Jer 2:5 Thus saith
the LORD, What iniquity have your fathers found in me, that they are
gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and are become vain?
We must first
understand that the Lord will only forget those things that He
chooses to forget! It should be obvious that as the children of God
we are always under His watchful eyes.
These people had
broken off their commitment to God!
We should ask
ourselves, just what kind of relationship do we have with our Savior?
I know the Lord prefers an up close and very personal relationship
with each of us.
An atheist denies
the existence of God.
An agnostic believes
that no one can even really know if there is a God.
If we admit we
believe that God exists but we ignore and neglect Him what does that
say about us?
If we say we believe
God, then maybe we should obey the words He says.
If we came face to
face with the Lord today, would He take us on to Heaven with Him or
would He reject us as we have rejected Him?
Would He ignore us
as we have ignored Him?
When we make a
genuine decision to follow the Lord but then pull away, what does
that say about our love for Him?
The Lord God Jehovah
promises to be faithful to us if we will commit to be faithful to
Him.
Our relationship
with the Lord must be based on "faith"!
Heb 11:6 But
without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to
God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that
diligently seek him.
If we please the
Lord with our faith, then the Lord will please us with His promises
and He promise us eternal freedom to be with Him wherever He is!
Unfaithfulness is
such a terrible sin that this will be the thought behind the very
first message given to Jeremiah by God the Holy Spirit!
2Ti_3:16 All
scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for
doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in
righteousness.
It behooves each one
of us to listen to what God has to say!
How can anyone take
a piece of wood and carve out a figure and call it a god with power?
How can anyone take
a stone and carve out a figure and think of it as a god with power?
How can anyone take
a mold and pour melted silver or gold and say it is now become a god
with power?
To put it bluntly,
how could an educated people believe such things as this?
How can an educated
people look at all that we can see with our eyes and say these things
happened by accident?
God says it right,
those who believe such things are vain. Vain means worthless.
The Apostle Peter
said:
1Pe 1:18 Forasmuch
as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as
silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition
from your fathers;
1Pe 1:19 But with
the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and
without spot:
The children of
Israel were brought out of Egypt with the power of God and they
witnessed powerful wonders that could not be explained other than to
say they came from Jehovah God. This was the first time they had met
their Savior!
Exo_6:3 And I
appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God
Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them.
God had made a
promise to Abraham and Sarah and God will always keep all His
promises!
*****Jer 2:6
Neither said they, Where is the LORD that brought us up out of the
land of Egypt, that led us through the wilderness, through a land of
deserts and of pits, through a land of drought, and of the shadow of
death, through a land that no man passed through, and where no man
dwelt?
What is wrong with a
people who will not concern themselves with the truth, after all the
things their forefathers had witnessed of the truth of God.
The wilderness
journey of the nation of Israel was the birth of the Nation that God
had charged with preserving the Word of God.
As many has 600,000
may have died on the journey, yet as many as 600,000 were also born
on this journey, so we could say that the nation of Israel was "born
again" as they traveled from the death of Egypt to the life of
the Promise land but so many had forgotten the truth of the
wilderness journey!
Some Christians do
the same today. They forget what they use to be before the Lord broke
our chains of captivity to Satan.
They had forgotten
that the Lord had warned them that this would happen.
Deu 8:13 And when
thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is
multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied;
Deu 8:14 Then thine
heart be lifted up, and thou forget the LORD thy God, which brought
thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage;
Deu 8:15 Who led
thee through that great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery
serpents, and scorpions, and drought, where there was no water; who
brought thee forth water out of the rock of flint;
Deu 8:16 Who fed
thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that
he might humble thee, and that he might prove thee, to do thee good
at thy latter end;
Deu 8:17 And thou
say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten
me this wealth.
God had given Israel
a land that was to be their own land and it was a plentiful land.
To me it seems that
as we get older it is our memories that must sustain us until the
Lord takes us home. Here we see a nation who had rejected their own
memories and made the present the truth.
We see this same
thing happening in our nation today as our history is being erased by
those who reject the truth!
We have forgotten
the birth of our own nation and the struggles to build our nation
into a great nation but now a nation falling because we have
forgotten our past and are trying to live in today, which has become
very evil!
*****Jer 2:7 And I
brought you into a plentiful country, to eat the fruit thereof and
the goodness thereof; but when ye entered, ye defiled my land, and
made mine heritage an abomination.
We should understand
that everything we see, and all the land belongs to Jehovah God and
He allows us to live on it.
When we defile God's
land then He will deal with us just as He dealt with Israel back in
this day of Jeremiah!
We can just imagine
that these words of Jeremiah from the Holy Spirit would not go over
well with these people, who still felt they were giving God the Glory
with their false worship.
The Lord insisted
that Jeremiah be obedient, and he would, because he still loved the
Lord and He knew these Words of the Lord were true.
In most every case
we just feel like we are incapable to do what God ask us to do. I
know I have felt this way myself. If we use the Word of God and much
less of our own words things will usually be alright.
The truth is, it is
always best to submit to the will of God! We are all called to share
the Word of God! We must also remember that the Word of God will cut
deep to most of those who hear it!
As we study these
lessons in the Book of Jeremiah we are looking into the past of
Israel. There were many of these Jews in the time of Jesus and in our
day that know another promise, that has not yet taken place.
Act 1:6 When they
therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt
thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?
Act 1:7 And he said
unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which
the Father hath put in his own power.
Act 1:8 But ye
shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and
ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea,
and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
When we realize that
the nation of Israel ruled their own destiny and things would have
been much different if they had remained true to the Lord.
We could also say
this about our own selves and our own nation, today!
When we do not learn
from our mistakes as a people and as a nation, the results will be
very similar, but God's patience will not last forever.
When the Lord says
that His heritage has become an abomination, He is not talking so
much about the land, it is the people.
*****Jer 2:8 The
priests said not, Where is the LORD? and they that handle the law
knew me not: the pastors also transgressed against me, and the
prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not
profit.
All those who were
set aside to teach the people the Word of God, were themselves
worshippers of Baal!
How can we not see a
comparison to the church that exists today? Certainly not all but
more and more as time passes.
In fact, it is
becoming against the law to teach the truth of God and many are
pushing this to the limit because they serve sin and the father of
all sin Satan, the Devil!
Israel, the nation
that had been set apart to serve the Lord, had themselves become a
wicked nation.
What is sin? Sin is
the departure from God and the truth of God!
We should understand
that no matter how evil our leaders, or our church leaders become, we
are still responsible for our own relationship with the Lord!
Sin can be described
as going from things that are real to depending on things that are
unreal and vain!
If our Heavenly
Father had some sin within His being, we might have grounds for our
sin but in all the years since our creation no sin has been
discovered in the Lord!
The priests did not
seek the Lord nor call upon Him!
The judges who
handled the Laws of Moses did not regard Jehovah God!
The pastors, another
word for shepherds, did not pasture the flocks of believers.
The prophets only
prophesied of Baal and led the people to false gods!
When we forget and
erase our history, we are headed for destruction!
It had been Jehovah
God who had set the people of Israel free and brought them to a land
of milk and honey.
The leaders of
Israel had led the people of Israel in a revolt against the King of
Kings and Lord of Lords.
Rom 1:28 And even
as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them
over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not
convenient;
Rom 1:29 Being
filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness,
covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit,
malignity; whisperers,
Rom 1:30
Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of
evil things, disobedient to parents,
Rom 1:31 Without
understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection,
implacable, unmerciful:
Rom 1:32 Who
knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are
worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that
do them.
We live in a land
today that is ruled by those who have reprobate minds and our own
President is treated has one who is hated by those who reject him in
the highest office in the land. Our Congress and Senate has become a
place where fools gather to do nothing!
I never knew such
foolish people exists as those who are against the laws of the land
and the laws of our republic!
What kind of God do
we serve? The God of love who will offer chance after chance until He
has had enough of our rebellion!
*****Jer 2:9
Wherefore I will yet plead with you, saith the LORD, and with your
children's children will I plead.
Israel had
backslidden several times since leaving Egypt, but they soon returned
to Jehovah but this time there was no sign of them returning to the
truth of God.
It was the Lord
Himself who gave these words to Jeremiah and these charges were
brought no only against the parents but also to the children and
those children's children.
Children normally
will follow the teaching of the parents and many as we know will
follow in the footsteps of their parents and grandparents!
We are never to
think that any child will be disciplined by the Lord for the sins of
the parent.
Each of us will live
or die by our own mistakes in serving the Lord or in not serving the
Lord!
What God is saying
is that the discipline of this nation would last a long time. We
already know that besides being in siege for a period, they would
spend 70 years in captivity until the time God brought Cyrus onto the
scene.
Rev 2:4
Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy
first love.
Rev 2:5 Remember
therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first
works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy
candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.
God will not
tolerate this sin for very long!
*****Jer 2:13 For
my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the
fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken
cisterns, that can hold no water.
This verse was not
part of our lesson but let's look at it anyway.
Those who are lost
who go around switching from one false god to another, only commit
one sin and that is the sin of unbelief which will indeed bring their
eternal death.
When any Christian
forsakes the One True God, they have committed at least two sins.
Once we have been
introduced to the Lord then it's time to make a choice.
We can continue to
live in sin or we can accept the truth of God and be gloriously
saved!
What we cannot do is
claim to follow in the ways of Jesus Christ and remain out in the
world, like so many we see today.
Judah currently was
still claiming Jehovah, but they were serving Baal. God simply will
not allow this!
What did the Lord
teach that Samaritan woman at that well in Samaria?
Joh 4:13 Jesus
answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall
thirst again:
Joh 4:14 But
whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never
thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of
water springing up into everlasting life.
There is nothing in
this world, no water, no idol and no false god that can bring eternal
life, for these things are only broken cisterns that can hold no
water.
We must drink from
the living waters that flow from the Lord Jesus Christ!
Those cisterns were
used to collect rain water because water was a scarce thing at the
time of Jeremiah and these people knew exactly what Jeremiah was
talking about because it was the absolute truth.
Isa 55:1 Ho, every
one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money;
come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and
without price.
Isa 55:2 Wherefore
do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for
that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye
that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.
Another Scripture
that is not in our lesson verse 21.
*****Jer 2:21 Yet I
had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed: how then art thou
turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me?
A noble vine, here
is a healthy vine or some would say tree, but it will not show its
death in the short term. Some time must pass by before it will be
noticed that it is dying. Sometimes it cannot be revived and
sometimes it will still produce fruit, but the fruit will not be of
good quality, or not even edible.
God says Israel was
a noble vine, from the right seed but turned out to be a degenerate
plant, a strange looking vine that produced wild grapes as is said in
another Scripture.
A so-called believer
who does not retain the truth of God and veers from the truth of God
will never reach its full potential!
How was Israel
described:
Isa 5:1 Now will I
sing to my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My
wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill:
Isa 5:2 And he
fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with
the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also
made a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth
grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes.
Isa 5:3 And now, O
inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you,
betwixt me and my vineyard.
Isa 5:4 What could
have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it?
wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought
it forth wild grapes?
Isa 5:5 And now go
to; I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away
the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and break down the wall
thereof, and it shall be trodden down:
Isa 5:6 And I will
lay it waste: it shall not be pruned, nor digged; but there shall
come up briers and thorns: I will also command the clouds that they
rain no rain upon it.
Isa 5:7 For the
vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of
Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for judgment, but behold
oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry.
We must understand
as Christians we must not follow this same path to destruction!
*****Jer 2:26 As
the thief is ashamed when he is found, so is the house of Israel
ashamed; they, their kings, their princes, and their priests, and
their prophets,
Jer 2:27 Saying to
a stock, Thou art my father; and to a stone, Thou hast brought me
forth: for they have turned their back unto me, and not their face:
but in the time of their trouble they will say, Arise, and save us.
The children of
Israel were all in a shameless pursuit of false gods trying to
satisfy the lust of their flesh instead of giving themselves over to
serve the Lord.
Verse 25 said they
had loved strangers(false gods) and after them would they go.
They were in direct
denial of Jehovah forgetting the wonders of their escape from Egypt
and the miracles in the wilderness.
They had forgotten
the great battles where God had fought for them.
They had forgotten
the manna from Heaven and the water from the rock.
They had turned
their back on God and had turned to animals such as a bull.
They had turned
their back on Jehovah and turned to carved stones or carved wood and
who knows what they said were now their gods.
They were not even
ashamed! Even a thief is ashamed when they get caught but not these
Jews, who were not ashamed that they had left the Lord for false
things.
They had not been
obedient to the Lord and it was Jeremiah who would point out all
these things to them jeopardizing his own life, but God would be with
him and they could not harm him even if they tried and they did try.
It is hard to
imagine those who go back out in the world after they have known the
Master, but it happens all the time.
Immorality has
proven that it destroys nations throughout history and therefore an
attempt to erase our own history continues to take place.
We live in a world
that will be happier when us older Christians die off and then they
can deal with a younger generation that has been taught lies and not
the truth!
They worshipped
these idols with the honor due to our Heavenly Father!
What is a
backslider? Verse 27 says "they have turned their back unto me
and not their face"
How can we call
ourselves Christians if we are afraid to come face to face with our
Lord and Savior!
They would in fact
call upon these things to help them in a time of trouble, but no
man-made god can help anyone, and our world today is filled with many
man-made gods.
You cannot be a
Christian without your Heavenly Father!
Isa 64:8 But now, O
LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and
we all are the work of thy hand.
Isa 64:9 Be not
wroth very sore, O LORD, neither remember iniquity for ever: behold,
see, we beseech thee, we are all thy people.
Until we accept the
truth of our Father in Heaven, we will never know our Lord and our
Savior!
Joh_6:65 And he
said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except
it were given unto him of my Father.
Joh_10:30 I and my
Father are one.
There is no God
except the Triune God, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy
Ghost! Not three gods but One God in three persons!
*****Jer 2:28 But
where are thy gods that thou hast made thee? let them arise, if they
can save thee in the time of thy trouble: for according to the number
of thy cities are thy gods, O Judah.
The Lord in ridicule
said, you have more than enough gods, that you made with your own
hands, call out to them and see if they can save you.
Even in this day of
Jeremiah, it is said that the non-Jews had above 30,000 false gods,
that they worshipped. Much more than enough if they had any power
which was impossible, for they had no power at all!
Then the Lord said,
"wherefore would you plead with Me".
When we push the One
True God away, why then should He help us in our hour of need.
Here in America, The
Lord has been removed from and pushed away from us, until something
happens such as a Hurricane, or the death of a child, or all the
school shootings, then He gets the blame by non-believers.
Why should He stop
any of these things in our land when He has been told to leave?
While our nation is
so deep in sin and immorality, why would the Lord ever listen to any
of our prayers.
He will only listen
to the prayers of His children and that one who prays the sinner’s
prayer. He will not act on prayers to those who reject Him!
Psa 66:18 If I
regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:
Do not come to the
Lord or even call upon Him if you are not willing to worship Him and
Him only!
*****Jer 2:29
Wherefore will ye plead with me? ye all have transgressed against me,
saith the LORD.
The Lord does not
expect perfection, but He does expect our worship, which means we ask
for forgiveness when we know we have failed Him in any way.
2Ch_7:14 If my
people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and
pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I
hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their
land.
*****Jer 2:30 In
vain have I smitten your children; they received no correction: your
own sword hath devoured your prophets, like a destroying lion.
We should understand
that with every sin comes the chastisement of God and these people
had been chastised repeatedly but it had brought no positive results
this time.
They just placed
their trust in other people and other nations and other gods.
Remember sometimes
they would turn to Egypt for help against the Assyrians.
They would turn to
other nations for help when they had the God of their forefathers who
had shown Himself invincible to people who trusted Him!
Once a great nation
under King David and King Solomon even when he had done wrong he had
kept the nation safe from invasion.
The worship of false
gods had only brought emptiness, distrust, restlessness and betrayal.
They could not even
trust each other.
These things sound
familiar to us today!
When they had sinned
the prophets of God had preached repentance, but they did not want to
hear such things and they killed the prophets of God like lions in
search of their prey.
They still thought
of themselves as good and decent people, but goodness will never
bring salvation!
God had pity on them
because He still loved them even though they desired to be free of
God and His commandments.
Again, this sounds
like the America we live in today.
2Ti_4:3 For the
time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after
their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having
itching ears;
2Ti_4:4 And they
shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto
fables.
These people had
forsaken Jehovah God!
*****Jer 2:31 O
generation, see ye the word of the LORD. Have I been a wilderness
unto Israel? a land of darkness? wherefore say my people, We are
lords; we will come no more unto thee?
Jer 2:32 Can a maid
forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? yet my people have
forgotten me days without number.
When the Lord speaks
through His prophets, He is asked questions from His people, many
times that the answer is a simple "No".
If we have something
to ask the Lord, then ask. He already knows what the question is, and
He is always the answer!
Just ask, why delay
because of shame?
**No, the Lord has
never been a wilderness to Israel. We see Israel to day and as
Christians we know what God is saying is true, but it was just as
true in the time of Jeremiah.
**No, the Lord has
never been a land of darkness. The Lord has always been a bright
shining light for all people who placed their trust in Him!
We must never treat
the Lord like He has left us when He never will leave us.
If we cannot trust
the Word of God and the promises He makes, then we are a pathetic
people!
When we place
ourselves above the god we serve, it should be obvious we have taken
on the traits of Satan!
Eze 28:17 Thine
heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy
wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I
will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.
When we take on the
traits of Satan then we will suffer with him in the burning lake of
fire. "The wages of sin is still death"
Eze 28:18 Thou hast
defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the
iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from
the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to
ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee.
What would Judah see
for her iniquities?
Eze 28:7 Behold,
therefore I will bring strangers upon thee, the terrible of the
nations: and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of thy
wisdom, and they shall defile thy brightness.
Assyria lay to the
North of Judah and had already captured the ten tribes but now
Babylon had captured Assyria and it was this powerful nation that God
called upon to punish Judah for her sins.
They would be
captives throughout Babylon for 70 years.
Why do the guilty
always declare their innocence?
*****Jer 2:35 Yet
thou sayest, Because I am innocent, surely his anger shall turn from
me. Behold, I will plead with thee, because thou sayest, I have not
sinned.
Just as in America
today, people will always try to justify their sinful behavior. Not
very many thought they deserved to see the wrath of God.
Again, we see this
happening right before our eyes!
We must never forget
that any act of sin, no matter how small is enough to be rejected by
the Lord if we refuse to repent.
Preaching on
repentance is not heard from many of the pulpits today.
When we are short of
God's glory, we are unacceptable to our Holy God!
We must wear the
righteousness of His Dear Son, the Lord Jesus Christ!
In the day of
Jeremiah these people turned everywhere except toward the Lord!
Amen
Let's Pray!
