Go Say Do — Jeremiah 1-2

0:00 We've got a handout going around. So we're going to look at some things in Jeremiah this morning, mostly in Chapter one. But before we do that and we'll eventually get to this handout, let's put Jeremiah into an historical context. One hundred years or so before Jeremiah writes, Isaiah wrote and Isaiah wrote primarily during the reign of Hezekiah. How many years did Hezekiah ask the lord to add to his life?

0:44 Or did the lord add to his life? Twelve. Fifteen. Fifteen. During that fifteen years, who was born?

0:57 Manasseh, the most evil king in Judah. And Manasseh began to reign when he was 12 years old. And second Kings 21, second Chronicles 33 talks about the reign of Manasseh. Now when you look at Manasseh, you need to look at both the kings and the chronicles. And in fact, when you look at any of the kings, you need to look at both of those sets of books because they're very different.

1:32 According to second kings, Manasseh was an evil wicked king and he died. That's my summary of it. According to second Chronicles, Manasseh was an evil wicked king. The Lord sent the Babylonians. They took him to Babylon.

1:52 He repented. The Lord restored him and then he died. Very different. You're not gonna get the whole picture if you don't look at both of those books. The problem though with Manasseh is before he repented, the damage was already done.

2:12 And I want you to take a look for a moment at Jeremiah 15. Jeremiah 15 verse four, I will make them referring to Judah and Jerusalem an object of horror among all the kingdoms of the earth because of Manasseh, the son of Hezekiah, the king of Judah for what he did in Jerusalem. He may have repented and the lord restored him and he began to undo some of the things that he had done But it was too late. Judah and Jerusalem had fallen so far away from the Lord that the Lord wasn't going to relent. Now, in these notes that I've given you, and and this is sort of a historical summary of of some of the things.

3:28 Manasseh had a son named Ammon. Didn't live very long. Not a whole lot is said about him. Ammon had a son named Josiah. So Josiah is Hezekiah's great grandson, Manasseh's grandson.

3:44 He's the last good king in Judah. In fact, he's the last good king. Period. There's a couple things I want you to notice here. He began to reign in 640.

4:00 In 06/27, that that's a date you want to circle. That's the year that Jeremiah began to prophesy. It's also the year that the neo Babylonian empire began. Now, the Babylonians had been around for ages. You find the Babylonians all the way back in Genesis.

4:24 But then the Assyrians took over. The Babylonians were still there but Assyria was the world empire. With Nabopolizer, he defeated the Assyrians at Babylon and the Neo Babylonian Empire began. The Assyrian Empire is still going on. They don't get defeated until 06/2009.

4:52 So, there's two empires going on right now. The Assyrian Empire is in a steep decline. The Babylonian Empire is in a very rapid rise. So 06/27 is a year you should circle. Another year you should circle is 06/22.

5:14 That's when the law gets discovered in the temple. So Jeremiah is prophesying, begins to prophesy five years before the law is found. And he hints at that in in after Josiah dies, now Josiah had four sons. One son, his firstborn is Johannan. He's nothing of him.

5:46 Doesn't even become king which kind of leads me to believe very early age. His next son was Eliakim. We know him better as Jehoiakim. His third son was Madaniah. We know him better as Zedekiah.

6:05 His fourth son was Shalom. We know him as Jehoahaz. Or should. Jehoiakim and Jehoiachin. Don't get the kim and the chin mixed.

6:20 So, after Josiah dies, his youngest son becomes king. And his name... Mentioned of him in Jeremiah. His name is mentioned, but that's it. Shalom dies.

6:41 It's replaced by his older brother, Jehoiakim. Jehoiakim is mentioned a lot. He was a nasty guy too. He made Jeremiah's life miserable. That you wanna circle under Jehoiakim is 06/2005.

7:01 That's when the Babylonians decide, you know, Judah and Jerusalem, that's a pretty nice prize. And so Nebuchadnezzar, who replaces his father, Nabal Pelasor, comes up against Jerusalem, and he takes a bunch of people into exile. Daniel goes into exile in 06/2005. Alright? Jehoia Chin, who's Jehoia Kim's son, begins to reign, and he doesn't last too long either.

7:39 He only stays around for three months. He gets removed, and it's during his reign on the on the back side in 597 that Ezekiel gets taken to Babylon. So Daniel's been there for quite some time. Ezekiel gets taken. Jeremiah is still...

8:01 Prophesying during this entire time. Not a whole lot is said about Jehoiachin. He gets replaced, and his uncle, Zedekiah, becomes king. And in 586, that's another date you wanna circle, that's when Nebuchadnezzar says, I've had it with these Jews. I'm done with them.

8:28 He burns the temple to the ground, knocks out the walls of Jerusalem, and that was the end. Zedekiah is also the guy who had... A... Well, he got to watch his sons being executed, and then his eyes were gouged out. So he was a bad guy.

8:54 And then some of the... Some other things that that went on after Zedekiah, I've given you note here. But I want us to look at Jeremiah chapter one. That's the historical context of what's going on here. And some of the thoughts I would like us to consider.

9:43 He's the high priest. Now I'm not going to go to the stake and say Hilkiah is Jeremiah's father, but it's kinda interesting that here's this Hilkiah, the high priest, during the time of Josiah, the guy who actually found the law, and Jeremiah is the son of Ahilqiah. Maybe that's his father, which gives an interesting perspective to the book of Jeremiah if he really is of the high priestly line. Just just a thought. Of the priests who were at Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, to whom the word of the lord came in the days of Josiah, the son of Ammon, king of Judah in the thirteenth year of his reign, that's 06/27.

10:34 The neo Babylonian empire begins, makes a rapid rise. The Assyrian empire begins a very steep decline. It came also in the days of Jehoiakim, who is Josiah's second son, king of Judah until the end of the eleventh year of of Zedekiah, that's his third son, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the exile of Jerusalem in the fifth month, that's 586. Now the word of the lord came to me. Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you.

11:17 Before you were born, I consecrated you. I have appointed you a prophet to the nations. Now God can say the same thing of us. Before we were formed in the womb, before we were even conceived, he knew us. This is the whole idea of foreknowledge.

11:41 Before the world began, before anything came into existence, he knew us. And he knew those who would believe. He's consecrated us as believers. He set us apart to do certain things. Take a look at Ephesians two ten for a moment.

12:15 We are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works. We as believers are the workmanship of God. We've been created for good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. God knew where Jeremiah was gonna be when he reached this age and God had certain things that he wanted Jeremiah to do. So he set him apart.

12:51 Just like he set Paul apart in in Galatians chapter one, Paul says that God set me apart from my mother's womb and called me through his grace to preach the gospel among the Gentiles. Now Paul was a blatant unbeliever. But he knew. God knew where Paul was gonna be. God had some tasks for Paul to do when he believed.

13:21 And he called him. So God knows all about us and God appointed Jeremiah to be a prophet to the nations, plural. Not just to the nation of Judah, but to the nations. He was supposed to go to the nations. And if you look toward the end of Jeremiah, you've got a whole slew of nations that he prophesies concerning.

13:52 Now God is telling Jeremiah this. I knew you. I consecrated you. I've appointed you. Now Jeremiah is like a lot of us, myself included.

14:06 We really don't wanna go. I mean, sometimes the Lord wants us to go someplace and we really don't wanna go. I I I shared this with Roger the other night. I've been asked to go a certain place and I really don't wanna go. I mean, I don't do well in certain countries.

14:31 And up to this point, I've had all sorts of legitimate reasons, excuses. They're all true. I never would lie. They're all true But it it finally got to the point where I ran out of excuses. I I couldn't put this off anymore.

14:55 And there there was one last excuse, it's too expensive. I mean, I was clinging to that one. That one got shot down really fast. One of the elders in Montana said, oh, don't worry about the expense. We'll take care of it.

15:12 What? So now, I I I have to go. I I still don't really wanna go but you know, we're that. Moses was like that. We'll look at that in a minute.

15:57 Do you have a younger brother? Yeah. Well, you're not gonna see my face until you bring him down. And they they talk about Benjamin as a lad. Really?

16:13 Benjamin had 10 kids. He was not a lad. He had 10 kids. So these guys, their concept of youth and lad, very different than ours. He was a lad in the sense that he was the youngest of all the brothers but he had 10 kids already.

16:35 That's not a little kid. So when Jeremiah is saying, I'm a youth. Yeah. Right. You know, maybe you're 20.

16:43 You're probably in your thirties. You may be the youngest of your brothers. But youth youth to me is like somebody under 10. So he makes these excuses. I don't know how to speak.

16:57 Take a look at Exodus chapter four. Moses does the same thing. God wants Moses to go down to Egypt to speak to pharaoh, to bring Israel out. And Moses says in Exodus four verse 10, please lord, I've never been eloquent neither recently nor in time past nor since you've been speaking to me. I I mean, I still am not eloquent.

17:34 I'm slow of speech and slow of tongue. That statement leads me to believe Moses probably stuttered. And when you put a stutterer in a stressful situation, that's not a good thing. Standing before Pharaoh, the guy that really wants to kill you and then saying to speak? Yeah.

18:01 Well, what's the Lord's response? Who's made man's mouth? Or who makes him mute or deaf or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Enough with your excuses.

18:14 Verse 12. Now then go. And I, even I, will be with your mouth and teach you what you are to say. And he's still making excuses. And God says, fine.

18:29 I'll send your brother. You can talk to him, can't you? Yeah. Well then you talk to him and he'll talk to Pharaoh. So God says to Jeremiah here, Jeremiah's excuse, I don't know how to speak.

18:46 I'm I'm a youth. The Lord says, do not say I'm a youth because everywhere I send you, you shall go. All that I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of them. I am with you to deliver you.

19:02 Now these kings, Josiah was a good king. Jeremiah didn't have to worry about Josiah. He was a good guy. Jehoiakim, bad guy. Zedekiah, bad guy.

19:16 These guys thought Jeremiah was a traitor. Jeremiah's message to the people in Jerusalem as the Babylonians are coming was don't fight them. Surrender. Well, that's gonna demoralize everybody. Just surrender.

19:37 That was God's message. God told Jeremiah to tell the people, if you wanna survive this onslaught, and there were multiple onslaught. Just look at those dates and you'll find, you know, every now and then, these exiles are taken and these exiles are taken and these exiles are taken. He's telling them, you wanna survive this? Don't fight the Babylonians.

20:07 You're not gonna live through it. If you wanna survive, surrender. They'll take you captive. You'll go to Babylon. You'll prosper and I will bring you back.

20:20 That's a promise. Well, the kings, Jehoiakim and Zedekiah, they didn't like losing their army. In fact, Zedekiah was such a coward, he snuck out one night and got caught and, well, didn't see anything after that. Jeremiah, in their eyes, was a traitor. This was treason.

21:14 Well, he knew how to speak. He may not have known what to say. And God touches his mouth and says, okay, I put my words in your mouth. Now you know what to say. And here's the message.

21:30 Verse 10, I have appointed you this day over the nations and over the kingdoms. To pluck up, to break down, to destroy, and to overthrow. Well, saying that to the foreign nations might have been a good idea. That's kind of what Jehoiakim and Zedekiah wanted to hear. We're going to pluck up and break down and overthrow and destroy all the foreign nations.

21:59 But when Jeremiah said started saying that to them, Jehoiakim, Zedekiah, Jerusalem, it's all gonna be gone. The temple's gonna be gone. They didn't like to hear that. And they made his life miserable. How would you like to be thrown into a cistern that has nothing but muck and you start to sink?

22:24 And then they just leave you there. That's what they did, one of the things they did. So part of his message was a message of judgment. People don't like to hear a message of judgment. People don't like to hear about the wrath of God.

22:43 People don't like to hear about hell. But that's part of the message. And Jeremiah was told to preach it. The other part of the message, to build up or to build and to plant. There was a message of restoration.

23:03 And what's kinda interesting about the message of restoration, Isaiah began that message of restoration. Now, in the context, the Jews were gonna be plucked up, transported to Babylon, those that surrendered, and they'd be there for seventy years. And then God was gonna bring them back. Now if you look at the end of Isaiah 44. Isaiah tells us whom the Lord is going to use to bring Israel back from Babylon.

24:04 Now remember, Isaiah's writing this a hundred years before Isaiah or before Jeremiah. Jerusalem still standing. The temple still standing. The Babylonians aren't even in power. And Isaiah says, verse 28, it is I who says of Cyrus.

24:34 Cyrus isn't gonna be born for at least a hundred years, maybe longer. It is I who says of Cyrus, he is my shepherd. He will perform all my desire. He declares of Jerusalem, she will be built. Jerusalem still standing when Isaiah wrote this.

24:57 Of the temple, your foundation will be laid. It's still standing. He's looking ahead to that time of restoration that Jeremiah is talking about. God's gonna bring you back after seventy years and Jeremiah is the guy that mentions the seventy years. And then he says in chapter 45 verse one, thus says the Lord to Cyrus, his anointed.

25:29 The word anointed is Messiah. Cyrus was a Messiah to the Jews in Babylon. He was gonna bring him back. And Jeremiah is told to reiterate this message of restoration along with the message of judgment. And then the Lord gives Jeremiah a couple pictures.

26:18 The rod of an almond tree and watching over my word to perform it? There's actually a play on words going on here and I don't wanna get into a whole lot of detail, but the word watching can also be translated to awaken. The almond tree was also known as the awake tree. It was the first tree to blossom and bear fruit. And so God is saying, what do you see Jeremiah?

26:48 Well, I see a... The rod of an awake tree. Right on. Because I'm awakening my word in order to perform it. Now remember when he's writing this, the law hasn't been found yet.

27:02 It's not gonna be found for five more years. I'm going to awaken my word and I am going to perform it. All of the passages dealing with judgment, those passages at the end of Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy 28, God sending these foreign nations in to pluck up Israel and take them away. I'm awakening my word to perform it. And then he gives another sort of object lesson.

27:36 And he says, what do you see? Verse 13. I see a boiling pot facing away from the North. Yep. Out of the North, the evil will break forth on all the inhabitants of the land.

27:46 Just like a boiling pot tipping over. You don't wanna be in the way of a boiling pot that's spilling. And that's what he's seeing here. Behold, I am calling the families of the kingdoms of the North. They will come.

28:01 They will set each one is thrown at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem and against all its walls roundabout and against all the cities of Judah. And just for your reference, Jeremiah thirty nine three is the fulfillment of that. Kinda lists them. Some strange names. And I will pronounce my judgments on them concerning all their wickedness and their wickedness was threefold.

28:32 They've forsaken me. And chapter two in Jeremiah kinda brings it out really well. My people have committed two evils. They have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters. They hew for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water.

28:50 They forsaken the spring in order to have an empty hole. Not very bright. They have offered sacrifices to other gods. The reigns of all of these kings. That's what they did.

29:09 Manasseh was the worst. Just read second Kings 21, second Chronicles 33. And the last thing they did, they've worshiped the work of their hands. Instead of worshiping me who created all things, they're worshiping the works of their own hands. And so the Lord says to him, gird up your loins, rise, speak to them all which I command you.

29:37 Do not be dismayed before them. Don't be afraid. If you don't do what I tell you, I will dismay you before them. I will give you something to fear if you're afraid of them and keep your mouth shut. Don't do that.

29:56 Now, like I said, Jeremiah's life was not easy. You might wanna just read Jeremiah chapter 20 verses seven to 18 sometime. Jeremiah didn't have a problem complaining to the Lord. He spoke his mind. He spoke his heart.

30:18 Now behold, I have made you today as a fortified city, as a pillar of iron, as walls of bronze. You can't be broken into. You can't be shattered. You can't be breached. Against the whole land of the kings of Judah, its princes, its priests, the people of the land, they will fight against you, but they will not overcome you.

31:02 Wherever the Lord sends us, we should go. You know, sometimes it's gonna be on a on a large scale. You know, you think of what Jesus said, go into all the world. Okay. That that's kinda large scale.

31:19 Make disciples of all the nations. Okay. That that's a general thing. Sometimes it's very specific. For example, in Acts chapter nine, when the Lord speaks to Ananias, I want you to get up.

31:36 I want you to go to the street called Straight. I want you to find the house of Judas and talk to a man from Tarsus named Saul. I don't think you can get any more specific than that. Sometimes the Lord tells us, I want you to talk to this person. No one else, just this person.

32:00 We should do it. Sometimes it's a little indefinite. You think of Acts chapter 13 where the Holy Spirit says, I want you to set apart Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I've called them. Okay. Where?

32:18 They just got up and went. They, oh, let's go to Cyprus. They went to Cyprus. Now, we're done here. Let's go up into Asia Minor.

32:26 Went up into Asia Minor. Sometimes doors close and others open. Take a look at Acts 16. In Acts 16 verse six, Paul and his entourage passed through the Phrygian and Galatian region having been forbidden by the spirit to speak the word in Asia. Now we're not told how that happened or or how it manifested itself, but the doors closed.

33:11 Now did Paul just sit on his butt and say, oh, I guess the Lord doesn't want me to do anything. No. After they came to Mysia, they were trying to go into Bithynia. So the Lord says, I don't want you to go here, closes the doors, prevents them from going there. Now they're trying to go into Bithynia.

33:34 The spirit of Jesus did not permit them. Okay. So, if we can't go here and we can't go here and we're not gonna go back, well, let's just go straight down the middle and see what happens. Passing through Mysia, they came down to Troas, headed across the sea, doors were open. The key is they didn't give up.

34:02 When things go badly, when things don't go as we hope or expect, don't give up. Try another door. Things went badly for Jeremiah. He even complained to the Lord about it, but he never gave up. And we should take advantage of our opportunities.

34:26 Paul's in Athens, wandering around, waiting for his friends, city full of idols. Great opportunity to preach the gospel. Goes into the synagogue, starts reasoning with him from the scriptures. People get saved. Took advantage of the opportunity.

34:47 Sometimes the Lord wants us to do things that might seem a little bizarre. Like, why do you want me to go here? Why do you wanna put me in this situation? We might not always know what the reason is or even understand it, but there's always a reason. Jeremiah was asked to do some pretty strange things.

35:11 I think, you know, one of the strangest for me is he's told to buy a linen waistband, a belt. Okay? And then the lord says, go up and hide it under a rock in the Euphrates. Okay. That's like a couple 100 miles away.

35:33 So, he hops on his donkey. Hopefully, had a donkey. Rides up to the Euphrates. Hides it under a rock. Now go back home.

35:41 Okay. So, he goes back home. A few months later, Jeremiah, remember that belt I had you bury under a rock on Euphrates? Yeah. Go and get it.

35:52 So, he goes and get it. And the Lord says, so what does it look like? Well, it's ruined. Right on. That's the message.

36:01 Why couldn't we do this in the Jordan? Sometimes we're supposed to do some strange things. Jeremiah, not too bad. Isaiah, yeah, that... You know, running around naked and barefoot.

36:15 Yeah, that's kinda strange. Some of the things that Ezekiel had to do, just read through Ezekiel. We won't even go into those details. Say what he tells you to say. It's all here.

36:33 This is what we're supposed to say. Too many times, people start adding things, making things up, flying by the seat of their pants, and then they get into trouble. This is what he wants us to say. He's given the message very clearly, very plainly, very simply. Don't add to it.

36:58 Don't take away from it. Yeah, it might offend some people just like Jeremiah's message offended the kings and the people. So what? This is what he wants us to say. This is what's gonna lead people to Christ.

37:13 And then, the Lord's the enabler. When the Lord touched Jeremiah's mouth, he gave him the words to speak. The Lord is our enabler as well. And he does it by the Holy Spirit. You know, look at look at Acts chapter 12 for a moment.

37:39 In Acts chapter 12 verse six, there are varieties effect of effects but the same God who works all things in all persons to each one is given the manifestation of the spirit for the common good. Every single believer regardless of age has a spiritual gift, an enablement to do what the Lord wants us to do. Verse 11 here in first Corinthians 12, one in the same spirit works all these things distributing to each one individually just as he wills. He's the enabler. And the last thing I'd want us...

38:32 Or second last, be quick here. We need to remember that our times are in his hands. He may want us to go into a dangerous situation. And in some countries, it is a dangerous situation. But our times are in his hands.

38:52 How many times does he tell Jeremiah, don't be afraid. I'm with you. I'll deliver you. I'm watching over you. It's only when our work is done do we get to go home.

39:26 Don't try and weasel your way out of it because it's not going to work. Go where He wants you to go. Do what He wants you to do. Say what He wants you to say. Let's pray.

39:38 Father, we thank you that you've given us your word. You've given us these tremendous examples from saints in the Old Testament, saints in the New Testament. And we pray, Father, that you would help us to learn from these examples and to truly go where you want us to go and do what you want us to do and say what you want us to say. Help us to walk in a manner that is pleasing to You and worthy of Your calling. And we pray in Jesus' name, Amen.