The second sermon of Jeremiah is found in the scripture passage Jeremiah 3:6-6:30. This is quite a long passage, so I will have to hit only the highlights, but I encourage you to read the entire scripture passage prior to reading this post.
In this warning to the people, the Lord through Jeremiah reminds the people that they had the perfect example given to them of what NOT to do, yet they did it anyway, and it is worse for them because they had no excuse since they chose to sin even after having seen Israel's unrepentance and the subsequent destruction of the northern kingdom of Israel (Jer. 3:6-10).
The Lord follows that warning with a plea to repent (3:11-4:4), a prediction of the judgment that will come from the north (4:5-31), a review of Judah's list of sins (5:1-31), and ends with the imagery of the near future destruction of their own beloved Jerusalem (6:1-30). This breakdown should help you with the overview of the sermon.
Now for some important details.
Many times throughout Jeremiah, we will be told that the people of God worshipped at altars in groves of trees and in high mountainous places (see 3:43). More specifically, we are told that they cried out to the trees and the rocks, and just as they worship these empty, useless (vain) idols, they themselves become empty and useless (vain). Israel was forbidden from placing any altars to God near any tree grove, or in high mountainous places. That didn't stop them, sadly, and the people became as useless (vain) as the things they worshipped.
This puts me in mind of the number of people today who consider themselves noble for worshipping the Lord outdoors. They believe that admiring God's earth, and caring for it to the extreme, is pleasing to God as a form of worship of Him, even as they neglect what He has told them to do concerning worship. God is not pleased.
As I have often said before, God has told us how to worship Him, and where to worship Him, and also where not to worship Him. Any other way besides what He has instructed is not God worship, it is simply disobedience and will be judged. In fact, if we are not obedient first, before we attempt to praise and worship Him, we have failed already. He tells us that He does not want rituals, but obedience!
There is a perfect analogy, I think, to help us understand what the Father wants from His children, and that is the analogy of a manipulative teenager who is told by his Dad to go clean his room. The teen doesn't want to clean his room, so instead goes to clean Dad's garage, even though his father has told him numerous times to stay out of the garage. How pleased will the Dad be to find that the teen has done what the teen thinks will please his dad, instead of just doing what Dad asked? Now consider how pleased God is when we don't do what He asks, but instead we imagine that all sorts of other things (that we prefer to do) will be found pleasing to Him instead of just doing as He says.
Israel was judged for their worship of vain idols, and yet Judah, who witnessed all of it, including Israel's captivity and the destruction of its cities, was not really seeing or hearing at all: "Their ear is uncircumcised" (6:10). They are a "foolish people, and without understanding, which have eyes, and see not; which have ears, and hear not." (5:21) Like most of us when our hearts get hardened towards God, we have the unique ability to rationalize and call it all good, rather than submit to God in God's way.
Another interesting point is found in 3:16:
"And it shall come to pass, when ye be multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, saith the Lord, they shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of the Lord; neither shall it come to mind; neither shall they remember it; neither shall they visit it; neither shall that be done anymore."
Recall that the ark of the covenant was the mercy seat of God, it was the place upon which God's shekinah glory rested, and then suddenly, during the judgment of Israel, specifically during Jeremiah's time, the ark disappeared. The movie, Raiders of the Lost Ark, was instrumental in promoting the mystery of the lost ark to the imaginations of its movie-going crowds. Jewish tradition also says that perhaps Jeremiah himself hid it, in Egypt, in a cave. But God is clearly saying here that they will not see it ever again, so no matter how much it is sought, it will not be found. Not here on earth. You see, it is in heaven, even now, I believe:
"And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail." (Rev. 11:19)
The reason the ark will not be found here on earth is because it is no longer needed. Jesus is the mercy seat of God. Jesus is the shekinah glory of God. Jesus is God. It is Jesus that we are to seek diligently with all of our hearts. It is Jesus who takes away our sins that once could be taken away only one time a year and then only in the Holy of Holies that contained the ark. And once we find Christ, we are to worship Him. Worship of Jesus will not produce vain actions on our part, for Christ is not vain. Just as we can worship idols and become like that which we worship, so also, will we become like Christ as we worship Him.
Now let's look at verse 4:1: "If thou will return, O Israel, saith the Lord, return unto me: and if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my sight, then shalt thou not be removed" [taken captive]. It was the neglect of God and the worship of false idols that caused Israel (and Judah) to be sent away into a land that worshipped false idols. They were no longer free to worship the true God.
Sin's captivity has not changed. God allows us to become sin's captive, no matter what our sin is, as long as we remain unrepentant of that sin. We become its captive, at first willingly, and later unwillingly, but unable to do anything about it without the grace and mercy of God choosing to allow us to be released and set free. We have only the opportunity to avoid sin's captivity, if we repent BEFORE captivity arrives.
Now, I am not talking here about eternal salvation or the loss of. Israel was not eternally held captive. Israel was released in God's own time, and began to serve Him once more, or will with their whole hearts after the tribulation. What I am talking about is the danger that we will be held captive to sin against our will if we risk not repenting in time. Then, it is only God's grace, mercy and His timing that will set us free again. And I believe He will, if we cry out to Him during our captivity to sin. But it just might not arrive as quickly as we would like. This is the danger we face.
We will finish the second half of this second sermon, tomorrow.
In this warning to the people, the Lord through Jeremiah reminds the people that they had the perfect example given to them of what NOT to do, yet they did it anyway, and it is worse for them because they had no excuse since they chose to sin even after having seen Israel's unrepentance and the subsequent destruction of the northern kingdom of Israel (Jer. 3:6-10).
The Lord follows that warning with a plea to repent (3:11-4:4), a prediction of the judgment that will come from the north (4:5-31), a review of Judah's list of sins (5:1-31), and ends with the imagery of the near future destruction of their own beloved Jerusalem (6:1-30). This breakdown should help you with the overview of the sermon.
Now for some important details.
Many times throughout Jeremiah, we will be told that the people of God worshipped at altars in groves of trees and in high mountainous places (see 3:43). More specifically, we are told that they cried out to the trees and the rocks, and just as they worship these empty, useless (vain) idols, they themselves become empty and useless (vain). Israel was forbidden from placing any altars to God near any tree grove, or in high mountainous places. That didn't stop them, sadly, and the people became as useless (vain) as the things they worshipped.
This puts me in mind of the number of people today who consider themselves noble for worshipping the Lord outdoors. They believe that admiring God's earth, and caring for it to the extreme, is pleasing to God as a form of worship of Him, even as they neglect what He has told them to do concerning worship. God is not pleased.
As I have often said before, God has told us how to worship Him, and where to worship Him, and also where not to worship Him. Any other way besides what He has instructed is not God worship, it is simply disobedience and will be judged. In fact, if we are not obedient first, before we attempt to praise and worship Him, we have failed already. He tells us that He does not want rituals, but obedience!
There is a perfect analogy, I think, to help us understand what the Father wants from His children, and that is the analogy of a manipulative teenager who is told by his Dad to go clean his room. The teen doesn't want to clean his room, so instead goes to clean Dad's garage, even though his father has told him numerous times to stay out of the garage. How pleased will the Dad be to find that the teen has done what the teen thinks will please his dad, instead of just doing what Dad asked? Now consider how pleased God is when we don't do what He asks, but instead we imagine that all sorts of other things (that we prefer to do) will be found pleasing to Him instead of just doing as He says.
Israel was judged for their worship of vain idols, and yet Judah, who witnessed all of it, including Israel's captivity and the destruction of its cities, was not really seeing or hearing at all: "Their ear is uncircumcised" (6:10). They are a "foolish people, and without understanding, which have eyes, and see not; which have ears, and hear not." (5:21) Like most of us when our hearts get hardened towards God, we have the unique ability to rationalize and call it all good, rather than submit to God in God's way.
Another interesting point is found in 3:16:
"And it shall come to pass, when ye be multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, saith the Lord, they shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of the Lord; neither shall it come to mind; neither shall they remember it; neither shall they visit it; neither shall that be done anymore."
Recall that the ark of the covenant was the mercy seat of God, it was the place upon which God's shekinah glory rested, and then suddenly, during the judgment of Israel, specifically during Jeremiah's time, the ark disappeared. The movie, Raiders of the Lost Ark, was instrumental in promoting the mystery of the lost ark to the imaginations of its movie-going crowds. Jewish tradition also says that perhaps Jeremiah himself hid it, in Egypt, in a cave. But God is clearly saying here that they will not see it ever again, so no matter how much it is sought, it will not be found. Not here on earth. You see, it is in heaven, even now, I believe:
"And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail." (Rev. 11:19)
The reason the ark will not be found here on earth is because it is no longer needed. Jesus is the mercy seat of God. Jesus is the shekinah glory of God. Jesus is God. It is Jesus that we are to seek diligently with all of our hearts. It is Jesus who takes away our sins that once could be taken away only one time a year and then only in the Holy of Holies that contained the ark. And once we find Christ, we are to worship Him. Worship of Jesus will not produce vain actions on our part, for Christ is not vain. Just as we can worship idols and become like that which we worship, so also, will we become like Christ as we worship Him.
Now let's look at verse 4:1: "If thou will return, O Israel, saith the Lord, return unto me: and if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my sight, then shalt thou not be removed" [taken captive]. It was the neglect of God and the worship of false idols that caused Israel (and Judah) to be sent away into a land that worshipped false idols. They were no longer free to worship the true God.
Sin's captivity has not changed. God allows us to become sin's captive, no matter what our sin is, as long as we remain unrepentant of that sin. We become its captive, at first willingly, and later unwillingly, but unable to do anything about it without the grace and mercy of God choosing to allow us to be released and set free. We have only the opportunity to avoid sin's captivity, if we repent BEFORE captivity arrives.
Now, I am not talking here about eternal salvation or the loss of. Israel was not eternally held captive. Israel was released in God's own time, and began to serve Him once more, or will with their whole hearts after the tribulation. What I am talking about is the danger that we will be held captive to sin against our will if we risk not repenting in time. Then, it is only God's grace, mercy and His timing that will set us free again. And I believe He will, if we cry out to Him during our captivity to sin. But it just might not arrive as quickly as we would like. This is the danger we face.
We will finish the second half of this second sermon, tomorrow.
2 comments:
Well, you have shared with us some information that I had not thought of before.
First, I agree with your comments about those who worship creation (“mother earth”) versus the Creator Himself. Many years ago, I heard the actor Charlton Heston read the words of Michael Crichton (author of Jurassic Park). I have place a link below.
The first words he says, “You think Man can destroy the planet? What intoxicating vanity!” These words are absolutely true. For Man to think he can destroy what God created is vain. I am the first to appreciate God’s work…. a beautiful sunset, hiking along the Blue Ridge Parkway, sitting on the edge of the Grand Canyon. But, when government will put animal lives above human life - - I have a problem (and I believe so does God). For instance, when courts side with environmentalist over growers and limit water diversion to protect a small fish called the Delta smelt, I believe is unconscionable. Farmers equal food. Food equals life. I find it hard to believe these fish cannot be farmed raised.
My second comment is in reference to your statement “The reason the ark will not be found here on earth is because it is not longer needed. Jesus is the mercy seat of God.”
I had never even thought of that! I have always wondered why it had never been located. That explanation makes perfect sense. GW
https://search.yahoo.com/search?ei=utf-8&fr=aaplw&p=charlton+heston+reading+jurassic+park
So glad to see that the comment section is working for you again! Good and appropriate quote from Michael Crichton. Thanks for the link, although out of the entire prologue that I heard, I think the first two statements, that which you quoted, were the closest to the truth of God. Vanity being the key word once more. We are a vain race of people, even more so if we do not acknowledge God but consider ourselves to be gods as so many new age cults do. I spoke with a group recently who believe that Jesus is a transcended master, and that we can all attain to such a place as He. Deception was strong, and my words had little effect breaking through, so I didn't hang around too long. But it was amazing what people will do rather than worship God as He instructs. We are a vain people full of our own thoughts and ways, neglecting Him, while preferring our own intelligence to that of our Creator. Vanity indeed!
Post a Comment