A STUDY OF THE BOOK OF JEREMIAH
Don’t Ignore the Warnings
Jeremiah 24-25 SCC 2/19/17
WE CAN CHOOSE TO BE USEFUL TO GOD OR USELESSLY DISCARDED
BY GOD
Verse 1 After Nebuchadnezzar
king of Babylon had carried away captive Jechoniah...king
of Judah, and the officials of Judah with the craftsmen and smiths from
Jerusalem and had brought them to Babylon (2 Kings 24:8-16). This
was sometime in 597 B.C. at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah. God showed
Jeremiah two baskets of figs set before the Temple
of the Lord, in Jerusalem.
Verses 2-3 One basket had very good figs, like the first-ripe
figs. These would be the first fruits that were to be offered to God in the
Feast of First fruits in a basket at the Temple (Deuteronomy 26:2). (I have Agnus’ fig preserve recipe)
Application: It’s hard to imagine now because we can get fresh
fruit and vegetables year-round. But remember the joy of the very first
strawberry of the season, the first watermelon, the first ear of corn. They were the best tasting because they were
the first. That’s what was to be given to God, the first and the best.
The other basket had
very bad figs, which could not be eaten due to rottenness v 2. Emphasizing this corruption, rottenness is repeated
three times. These would represent an
offering that was unacceptable to God. Malachi 1:6-9 describes a similar scene
where the people gave lame and blind animals as sacrifices to God. And God told
them to try to pay their taxes with those animals. Would the government accept
them? No. Yet they wanted God to accept them. Then God asks Jeremiah what he
sees, and he describes the two baskets with good and bad figs due to rottenness v 3.
Verses 4-7 The good
figs are the captives of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the
land of the Chaldeans v 5. This is a surprising answer
because the people believed that those sent into exile were those taken away
from the Lord (Ezekiel 11:14-15). Men like Daniel and Ezekiel. But God has set
My eyes on them for good, and I will bring them again
to this land v 6. They (the exiles) will come back to the land of
Israel. I will give them a heart to know Me, ...they
will be My people and I will be their God, for they will return to Me with
their whole heart v 7. Although there were a small
number of people who did return to the land, and some whose heart was devoted
to God, like Nehemiah and Ezra, this is a prophecy yet to be fulfilled in the
Millennial Kingdom, when all Jews will return to the land with a heart devoted
to God (31:31-34; Ezekiel 36:24-32; Matthew 24:29-31).
Verses 8-10 The bad figs
represent King Zedekiah (2 Chronicles 36:10-13), whom Nebuchadnezzar made king
in place of Jechoniah, and the other survivors in the
land, including those who fled to Egypt v
8. These people God will make them a terror...evil...reproach...a
proverb...a taunt...a curse...I [God] will scatter them v 9.
I [God] will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence
upon them until they are destroyed from the land which I gave to them and their
forefathers
v 10.
Application: Making judgments according to man’s values will result
in the opposite conclusion to God’s values. For example, men think good works
will get them to God. The Bible says man’s righteousness (good works) are as filthy rags to God. Man says to work on your
self-esteem. God says to deny yourself. Ignoring the
mind of God leads to a path of uselessness. Nothing God can do with you.
WE ARE USELESS TO GOD WHEN WE REFUSE TO LISTEN TO GOD
OR OBEY GOD
Warning about uselessness 1-8
Verses 1-2 the word [of the Lord] that came to Jeremiah concerning all
the people of Judah. When? In the fourth year of Jehoiakim, the
son of Josiah, king of Judah (that
was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon) v 1. In 605 B.C.,
when Jeremiah is 42 years old. Jeremiah has been prophesying for twenty three years, from the 13th year of Josiah v 2. So far his ministry has spanned
the reign of three kings: Josiah, Jehoahaz, and now Jehoiakim.
Verses 3-8 God has given them plenty of time to respond and repent v 3.
Jeremiah has spoken to you again and
again, but you have not listened. Not only the prophet Jeremiah, but
also the Lord has sent to you all
His servants the prophets again and again, but you have not listened nor
inclined your ear to hear v 4. The
message: Repent, turn now everyone from his evil
way v 5. Do not go after other gods to serve them and to worship
them. Do not provoke Me to anger with the work of your
hands v 6. If they would
have responded positively to this message, then God would do you no harm. But, you
have not listened to Me, declares the Lord v 7. They provoke Lord to anger with the work of your hands to your own
harm. Because you have not
obeyed My words v 8
Application: Consequences are the results of our own actions, no
matter who or what else we blame. Our choices can
jeopardize us spiritually. A relationship with God is unmanageable when one
ignores Him, His Word, and He is not listened to or obeyed.
Judgement because of uselessness 9-29
Verses 9-11 I will send Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, my
servant, and will bring them against this land...and I will utterly destroy
them v 9. Nebuchadnezzar is God’s servant in the sense that God is using him to
accomplish God’s purpose. The voice of
joy will be gone from the land (no voice of joy, gladness, bridegroom,
bride, millstones or light) v 10. Each
of these represent vitality and prosperity. Instead the whole land shall be a desolation and
horror v 11.
These nations shall
serve the king of Babylon seventy years [605-536
B.C.]. God had decreed that every 7th year the land was to lie
fallow, to have a “Sabbath rest” (Leviticus 25:3-5). The people were not to sow
their fields or prune their vineyards. If the people would fail to follow this
command, God would remove them from the Land to enforce this Sabbath rest (Leviticus 26:33-35). The
seventy year Babylonian Captivity promised by Jeremiah
allowed the land to enjoy its Sabbath
rest (2 Chron 36:20-21). Therefore, the Captivity
lasted seventy years because this was the number of Sabbath rests that had not
been observed for the Land (one year in captivity for every 7th year
when the land did not rest would mean they did not practice this law for 490
years [490 divided by 7=70]).
Verses 12-14 Then… when seventy years are completed I will
punish the king of Babylon and that nation, declares the Lord, for their iniquity. ...I will recompense
them according to their deeds, and according to the work of their hands v 12. This is the consequence of
ignoring God’s will. I will bring upon that land all My words which I have
pronounced against it, all that is written in this book, which
Jeremiah has prophesied against all the nations v 13. This is material in
chapters 50-51, which
evidently was written about the same time as chapter 25 v 14. Here is a description of Judah’s
final end when King Zedekiah is marched to King Neb to be blinded.
Verses 15-29 God pictures His wrath as a cup of the wine of wrath from My hand (same as
Jesus did in the garden). Jeremiah was to take the cup and cause all
the nations, to whom I send you, to drink it v 15. Judgment starts with Jerusalem and Judah v 18, then spreads south to Egypt v 20, west to the coast v 20,
east and Northeast v 21, north v 22, far east
to Arabia v 25 and on to Babylon v 26, all the nations surrounding Judah at that time.
Verses 27-29 God says to the nations, Drink, be drunk, vomit,
fall, and rise no more because of the sword which I will send among you v 27. They have no option v 28. God says, I am beginning to
work calamity in this city which is called by My name
(Jerusalem) v 29. If God’s city does
not escape His punishment, then certainly the other nations will not escape His
punishment. In fact, I am summoning a sword against all the inhabitants of the
earth, declares the Lord of hosts v
29.
Gods judgment sweeps all the useless
Verses 30-38 Jeremiah continued the theme of God’s judgment on the
nations. The Lord will roar from on
high v 30, like a lion
over its prey. God will shout... against all the inhabitants of
the earth. ...He is entering into judgment with all flesh v 31.
Why? Evil is going forth from nation to nation v 32. So God, like a
great storm, is going forth. No one will escape, not even those from the
remotest parts of the earth. Those
slain by the Lord on that day shall be from one end of the earth to the other v 33. Their corpses shall be like dung, lying everywhere,
in the same way that Judah’s dead had remained unburied. All that’s left it to
wail v 34, no escape v 35, cry v 36. Why? B/c of Gods fierce anger v 37-38.
Application:
It takes an awful lot for Gods fierce anger to be worked up. There must be
unimaginable provocation for this to happen. It takes place selectively and is
usually associated with either deliberately willful sin or prolonged
disobedience. Here its prolonged, yet you have not listened to me declares the Lord in order that you
might provoke me to anger, because you have not obeyed My words v 7-8.
· Avoid uselessness at all costs. Beef up listening to Gods Word. Heed. Apply. Obey. Conform.
· Uselessness is a waste of life. Since our destiny is eternal
its senseless to not prepare for that.
· No one gets away with a useless life. If no eternal
investment, then eternal divestment.