A Survey of the Book of Jeremiah — Jeremiah 31

0:00 Morning everyone. I was briefly... I was politely rebuked by the audio visual crew for not wearing a tie. I thought the tie was was for a different reason, it's for the attachment of the recording device. So if you can't hear me, it's my fault.

0:19 We're going to have a word of prayer, then I will launch into our our time together. Father, we do thank you for for your love to us, for your for your word, which is given to us. It's profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction, righteousness, father, and for the for the need of our hearts this morning, we pray that you will will line up the words that you have to speak, that we might grow and and learn and increase in our appreciation and devotion to you. We ask for your help now in our Lord Jesus' name. Amen.

0:55 Well, we're in an interim period. We finished the study in second Corinthians, and in the new year, Lord willing, we plan to start a study in first and second Peter. So between now and then, you have the smorgasbord from the pulpit. Not entirely haphazard, but not in fact, not any haphazard. We trust the spirit is leading.

1:17 And what you're getting this morning is a survey or review of the book of Jeremiah, and those of you that are familiar at all with that book probably think I'm crazy. But it's the most recently completed book of mine in my devotions, and I took a slower read through it this time than before, and it just spoke to me in different ways, and I want to share some of my thoughts from that book with you today. There's much that I will not be able to say for for sake of time. There's it's the second longest book in the Bible, Jeremiah. It's shorter only only than the book of Psalms, and then only by a small amount.

1:58 It's Psalms is like 3% larger than Jeremiah by by word count. So there's a lot in the book. It took a while to get through it. But Jeremiah, first I want to talk a little bit about the person. Jeremiah was was a prophet.

2:16 Before him, the prophets before him were Joel, Jonah, Amos, Hosea, Isaiah, Micah, and Nahum. And along with Jeremiah in his day was Zephaniah and Habakkuk and and Obadiah. And then later after, Israel and Judah were in in the Babylonian captivity, he was contemporary for a while with Ezekiel and Daniel. As a person, Jeremiah, and this is the remarks of a bible teacher by the name of Scroggy who has long since gone to be with the Lord, but he says in regards to Jeremiah, in this book, the prophet himself stands revealed, timid, sensitive, sympathetic, loyal, courageous, plaintive, retiring, tender, severe, and patient. None of the other prophets come so near to us in a human way as Jeremiah, and as a sufferer, perhaps no other character comes so near as the man of sorrows.

3:25 In other words, in his prophetic office, Jeremiah is perhaps more like the Lord Jesus than anybody else. Jeremiah's name means Jehovah will lift up, or it could be rendered another way, Jehovah will exalt, and that actually reminds me of the Lord Jesus because he's the exalted servant of Jehovah, but perhaps, that is there to encourage Jeremiah. In the book, all 52 chapters of Jeremiah, Jeremiah's name is mentioned a 130 times, which is remarkable because in in the book of Isaiah, Isaiah in 66 chapters in Isaiah, Isaiah the name is only mentioned 16 times, and in all the chapters of Ezekiel, Ezekiel is only mentioned twice by name in the book. So there's a likeness to Christ in a couple different ways. He suffers much in his ministry, and we won't take time to look at it, but MacArthur chronicles some of the ways he suffered in his ministry.

4:32 Also, like like Christ, Jeremiah had to go at it alone. The Lord had told him not to take a wife, perhaps because of the intense destruction that God was going to bring on Jerusalem. And also, was like Christ because many people wanted to kill him at different times, but but he was preserved until his work was done. And for those of you that appreciate tradition, tradition records that he was stoned by a rebellious Jewish remnant, which makes perfect sense. They wanted to kill him a few different times, and they probably cornered him once he was done writing Lamentations.

6:00 Warning. Jeremiah is giving the people warning. One of the sayings that we use occasionally is those who don't learn from history are likely to repeat it, and that's certainly applicable to us today. Jeremiah is not a warm and fuzzy book, and New Testament doesn't necessarily refer to it specifically, but we read in Romans 15 that everything that was written before was written written for our learning so that we can benefit from it. Or first Corinthians 10 is a little bit more specific.

6:38 It says, the the failures of Israel were for your example so that you might not repeat it. So there's a challenge to us. Human nature does not get better by itself. I'd to read a paragraph from Warren Henderson's book and this is... I'll show you the book.

6:59 The title is Forsaken, Forgotten and Forgiven. I've really enjoyed this. Warren Henderson was here two years ago. He's, done a lot of writing, and this is an excellent book. I will loan it to the first first requester, and if not, I won't mind.

7:12 I am still enjoying it. But he says, regarding the book of Jeremiah, there are four main reoccurring themes in the book of Jeremiah. Number one, an admonition against sin. Number two, a warning of impending judgment. Number three, a call to repentance.

7:30 And number four, a promise of future restoration. The general theme of the first half of this book can be summarized by the verse, the wages of sin is death. Oswald Chambers once said, sin enough and you will soon be unconscious of sin, and that's one of the problems of Israel and Judah in this time this time frame. Such was the state of God's covenant people at the time of Jeremiah's ministry, the long suffering nature of God would be restrained no longer. Justice would be served.

8:06 Jehovah was jealous for the hearts of his people who had either forsaken him, for other gods, or who were engaged in religious exercises devoid of true devotion. Now you might be thinking, I thought God was all loving. Well, those of us who are parents know that there have to be rules in the home or there's absolute chaos, and as much as we love our children, they at times need correction and and punishment. So how much more on a divine scale do we need instruction and correction? So in thirty minutes we're going to cover part of the book of Jeremiah, and my approach is to highlight some of the chapters that's that caught my eye or that I think are important for a general survey, which will primarily include parts of chapter one, parts of chapters nine and ten, parts of chapter 17, and then chapter 31.

9:37 I ordained you a prophet to the nations. Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. That's how the Lord is. He made us. That is a phrase that we see in other parts of scripture too.

9:51 Psalm one thirty nine might come to mind, or even even in the the New Testament. God knows us before we're born because he made us. He put us together. And before you were born, I sanctified you. God had a plan, a specific plan for Jeremiah's life.

10:10 Paul uses very similar words in Galatians chapter one that God changed his... Had a call upon him while he was still in his mother's womb, had a specific plan for him. And for Jeremiah, it was to be a prophet. Now, some of you, well, I think all of us have a specific plan and God has a specific plan for all of our lives. Whether or not they're ever realized is maybe the casualty of free will that we, even even in our own abilities, can say no to God.

10:49 But if you let God have his will be done in your life, he has a remarkable job for you to do. Not many will be called to be a Jeremiah, and I don't know anybody who would want to be Jeremiah. But in your own area of life and and operation, God has a a work for you to do. We know from scripture that that God desires all men everywhere to be saved. He's not willing that any should perish.

11:22 We know that the grace of God that bringeth salvation has appeared to all men, but we also know that all men are not saved. So Jeremiah has his life redirected by the sovereign will of God, and like all good men, he says, I cannot speak for I'm a youth. We feel inadequate in ourselves often, but God has an answer to him. Do not say I am a youth for you shall go to all whom I will send you and whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of their faces for I am with you to deliver you says the Lord.

12:02 Remember what the last phrase of the great commission is after the Lord instructs his disciples to go into all the world and preach and to make disciples? It's, lo, I am with you always. That same one is with us too that was with Jeremiah. So we can be encouraged by that. In verse verse nine, the Lord equips those that he calls.

12:28 Then the Lord put his hand and touched my mouth, and the Lord said to me, behold, I have put my words in your mouth. See, have set this day... I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms to root out and to pull down, to destroy and to throw down, to build and to plan. Jeremiah was the voice that was bringing judgment to the information of God's judgment upon Israel and Judah, primarily Judah. So he was equipped to do amazing things.

13:02 In verse 11, moreover the word of the Lord came to me saying, Jeremiah, what do you see? And I said, I see a branch of an almond tree. Then the Lord said to me, you have seen well for I'm ready to perform my my word. Almond trees are the early bloomers. They come to life earlier in the spring than anything else, and this was an indication of God's soon approaching judgment for his people.

13:32 And then the next next verse, verse 13, and the Lord came to me the second time saying, what do you see? And I said, I see a boiling pot and it is facing away from the north. This was a picture of the coming Babylonian invasion and conquest. And then in chapters two through eight, we have Israel's departure from God and their refusal to listen to Jeremiah chronicled in detail, and in other parts of the book too. But the verse that came to mind as I looked at this section was that verse in Genesis chapter six verse five, before before Noah was called, it says that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

14:54 Chapter nine will be the next chapter we spend some time in. And this chapter shows the sense of sensitivity of Jeremiah. He was quite distraught for the condition of his countrymen. And he says in verse one, oh that my head were waters and my mountains a fountain of tears, and my eyes a fountain of tears that I might weep day and night for the slaying of the daughter of my people. Kind of reminds us of of the Lord as well as he lamented over the unbelief of his people, and he too wept.

15:33 But Jeremiah was, in his lament, was, received the word of the Lord to address his complaint, and God had five things to remind Jeremiah of. Judgment is not a pleasant thing for any of us. I know as parents we don't enjoy disciplining our children, but God explains to Jeremiah that he had to. Verses seven to nine, he had no choice but to bring judgment upon their sin. They weary themselves to commit iniquity.

16:12 Through deceit they refuse to know me says the Lord. Therefore, thus says the lord of hosts, behold, I will refine them and try them for how shall I deal with the daughter of my people? One speaks peaceably to his neighbor with his mouth, but in his heart he lies in wait. Shall I not punish them for these things? Says the Lord.

16:37 Shall I not avenge myself on such a nation as this? They were deserving and needful of God's judgment. Secondly, in verse 10, even in this obligation that the Lord had, he was not happy. He too would take up weeping for all the destruction that was coming. Thirdly, God explains why in verse 13.

17:07 And the Lord said, because they have forsaken my law which I set before them and have not obeyed my voice nor walked according to it, but they have walked according to the dictates of their own hearts and after the Baals which their fathers taught them. They were into idolatry, which is probably a danger for all of us. Idolatry can take on many different forms, but God had had enough. And then verses seventeen and nineteen, of course the people were sorry for all the things that were coming upon them and were in misery and were agonizing over it, but the Lord, Jeremiah admonishes them in verse 20, yet hear the word of the Lord. O women, and let your ear receive the word of his mouth.

18:00 So there had to be a lament certainly, but for the right reason. Often we might lament our sin, but unless we have the right attitude toward it, it's just it's just misery without benefit. And then fifth, the the true ground, and then we see these in these familiar verses twenty three and twenty four. The true ground of glory glorying for man is not in himself, in his in his own abilities, his wisdom or his riches as spelled out here, but in his understanding and knowledge of God. Let me read these verses.

19:14 That I am the Lord exercising loving kindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth, for in these I delight, says the Lord. Loving kindness, I would define as as benevolence. Everybody appreciates a loving God. However, along with loving kindness is judgment or justice, and for that, I would explain as proper conduct relative to a standard, And that standard is that third item wrenched in there, his righteousness. Because of who God is and our knowledge of him should dictate and challenge us and correct us into living appropriately.

20:03 Chapter 10 is sort of a poetic mockery of the stupidity of man, and I want to look at some of these verses here. So he's, verse two, thus says the Lord, do not learn the way of the Gentiles. And in the New Testament, we often, at least in some spots, about where the Gentiles are being ridiculed or we are told not to be like the Gentiles, and it's a very general term for those who don't know God. And for those who don't know God, some of the things they do is, verse two, do not be dismayed by the signs of the heavens, for the Gentiles are dismayed by them. They like to worship the constellations perhaps, the sun, the moon, and the stars.

20:57 And then he goes on in verse three and following, for the customs of the people are futile. And then he's talking about the foolishness of idol, of idols. First, they're forming and then they're they're they're uselessness. Know, you you cut you cut down a tree and the workman shapes it and they decorate it and they fascinate with nails and hammers and they set prop it up so it won't fall over, and then they worship it. But they can't speak.

21:34 They can't do anything because they're nothing. Not be afraid of them, verse five, for they cannot do evil nor can they do any good. And then verse six, a little bit of bringing us back to what is true, Inasmuch as there is none like you, o lord, you are great, in your name is great in might. Who would not fear you, o king of the nations? For this is your rightful due.

22:00 For among all the wise men of the nations and in all their kingdoms, there is none like you. So God alone is is God, and he should be the one that we give our attention to our worship to because he is able to work in our life. He's able to work his purposes without being thwarted. Verse eight again, it talks about the dullness and the foolishness of the idols. As contrasted in verse 10, but the Lord is the true God.

22:33 He is the living God and the everlasting king. At his wrath, the earth will tremble and the nations will not be able to endure his indignation. Verse 11, thus you shall say to them, the gods that have not made the heavens and the earth shall perish from the earth and from under these heavens. He has made the earth by his power, speaking of the Lord. He has established the world by his wisdom.

22:59 And has stretched out the heavens at his discretion. When he utters his voice, there's a multitude of waters in the heavens, and he causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth. He makes lightning for the rain. He brings the wind out his treasuries, as standing in contrast to the idols. Everyone is...

23:20 And to the people that make them. Everyone is dull hearted without knowledge. Every metalsmith is put to shame by an image for his mold is for his molded image is falset, and there is no breath in them. They are futile, a work of errors. In the time of their punishment, they shall perish.

23:39 And then verse 16 contrasts the portion of Jacob. Jehovah is not like them, for he is the maker of all things. Just quite a contrast, and that's the value of spending time in the word because it helps us to see the futility of investing in the world system. Obviously, we all have to live and move and operate and raise our family and work productively, but to make that your idol is just doesn't make sense. Okay.

24:45 The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it? Yeah. That's, I don't say that much on the birthday cards or anniversaries or what have you. But this chapter chronicles just the extent and the thoroughness of Judah's sin and rebellion.

25:09 The first two commandments of the 10 commandments are that you shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make yourself... For yourself a carved image, any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. And here we have the graphic imagery of verse one. The sin of Judah is ridden with a pen of iron, with the point of a diamond it is engraved.

25:38 They were so entrenched and involved in their sin that they were beyond hope, which of course is the reason for Jeremiah's judgment upon them. And there's early verses just talk about the futility of that. Verse five says, cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart departs from the Lord for he shall be like a shrub in the desert and shall not see when good comes, but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness in a salt land which is not inhabited. So if living by our own strength leads us into the desert, Why would we want to do that? Of course, we still tend to want to do our own thing even if we end up living in the desert because we have our independence.

26:47 However, let's contrast it with in verse seven, and these are quite descriptive word pictures. Verse seven, blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord and whose hope is in the Lord for he shall be like a tree planted by the waters which spreads out its roots by the river and will not fear when heat comes, its leaf will be green and he will not be anxious in the year of drought nor will nor will cease from yielding fruit. So... And we see this imagery often in scripture for the the man who has his heart inclined to the Lord. Psalm one comes to mind.

27:27 You know, The sinner is going to end in destruction, but those who who meditate on the law of the Lord, the scriptures are like a tree planted by streams of water, which is going to be prosperous. These are two extremes. These... The eventual futility of living for yourself versus the decision of trusting the Lord. Perhaps it's highlighted most clearly in verses nine and ten.

28:05 The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, who can know it? Proverbs three five talks about lean not on your own understanding because our own understanding leads us astray. The human heart cannot be trusted implicitly. Our human nature, even as believers, our human nature is tugging at us to pull us away from the Lord. Verses nine and ten here illustrate the reaping and the sowing principle.

28:37 We're good at pretending and fooling each other perhaps, but we can't can't fool God. He searches the heart in verse 10. He searches the heart and he tests the mind. Hebrews four thirteen reminds us that, there is no creature hidden from his sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of him to the the eyes of him to whom we must give account. I think that's the leading reason for atheism.

29:06 People do not want to be accountable, accountable to God. We're all good at ignoring truth, I think, because sometimes we just want to do our own thing, But God always sees who we are both in our conduct even if no one else is around to see us, and also he knows our thoughts. Recall the remarks that John Lennox, who was a Christian apologist and bible teacher, he was in a debate once with an atheist and the atheist threw a... Well, he said to John, the problem with you Christians is that you're afraid of the dark. Not sure what he meant by that, but probably...

30:29 I mean, he's our creator. He's also holy, righteous as we looked at in chapter nine, but we have sinned. We're all born under, We're all born as sinners through the sentence passed upon Adam. And if we don't like that, we still soon become sinners. We don't have to teach our children to sin.

30:55 But because God is holy and we're sinners that creates a creates a problem because we fall short of his standard. These are some verses we're sharing with some of our Awana kids for the first time. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. God knows we can't save ourselves, but his love and we're trying to explain to them that God is a solution to this to this problem. And I think the most famous verse in the Bible, which just popped into most of your heads, is John three sixteen.

31:26 For God so loved the world, and he so loved us by sending Jesus to earth to communicate his love and his power. His love for sinners and his power to forgive sin. So we don't have to be held captive by our sin to live under its guilt and its power. And of course, these are some verses we read earlier that Christ Jesus died for our sins. Going to the scripture, he was buried and he rose again.

31:55 And the fact that he rose again proves that he was who he said he was. So chapter 17 clearly illustrates the failure of man, but thanks be to God for his unspeakable gift. Okay. We're gonna wrap up our time in chapter 31, which is in the midst of this this book of warning. There's also some great hope given.

32:37 And it's known as the new covenant. And there's different facets to the new covenant, and the new covenant is not to state that the previous covenants were failures because they weren't. It showed, actually they were quite successful. It showed, it clearly demonstrated the failure of man. So the New Covenant, we're gonna cover the New Covenant in seven minutes or so, which will astound Don Morris, but this is not the end.

33:18 The new covenant, there's three parts of it here that Warren explains they're introduced by the phrase behold. The first one is in verse 27. Behold the days are coming says the Lord that I will show the house of Israel and the house of Judah that I will sow the house of Israel and house of Judah with the seed of man and the seed of beast, and it shall come to pass that as I have watched over them to pluck up, to break down, to throw down, to destroy, and to afflict, So I will watch over them to build and to plant says the Lord. In those days they shall no longer, they shall say no longer, the fathers have eaten sour grapes and the children's teeth are on edge, but everyone shall die for his own iniquity. Every man who eats the sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge.

34:15 The explanation for that little proverb is apparently the the children the, the children born during the captivity were a little bit bitter because they thought they were suffering for the sins of their parents, but in that coming day everybody's going to be individual, individually accountable before the Lord and individually have that opportunity. But in the context of this prophecy, I take this to mean that there's a limited time to that captivity and that the Lord's gonna restore them to the land, to prosperity, to a normalcy of sorts. So it's a physical promise of blessing to come. Secondly, in verse 31 through 34, again that phrase behold, the days are coming says the Lord when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant which they broke though I was a husband to them says the Lord, but this is the covenant I'll make with them, that I'll make with the house of Israel after those days said the Lord.

35:39 I will put my law in their hearts, I'll put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts and I'll be their God and they shall be my people. No more shall every man teach his neighbor and every man his brother saying, know the Lord for they shall all know me from the least of them to the greatest of them says the Lord. For I'll forgive their iniquity and their sin I will remember no more. This is a more spiritual part of the covenant that involves a divine dynamic by which those who know him would participate in the blessings of salvation. Ephesians one talks about the spiritual blessings which are ours in Christ.

36:25 It's going to be a covenant that's absolutely inseparable from the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. In fact, when he when he established the Lord's Supper, when he met with his disciples before he was crucified, and he took the cup, he says this is the new covenant which is which is my blood for you. So it's it's rooted absolutely and essentially in the person of Christ. And it's for us, we're partakers of the new covenant by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And we do that individually Just because just because Jennifer and I are saved doesn't mean that the children are saved.

37:13 They have to they have to come to the Lord as individuals and and her... And relate to him as individuals. So it was a fulfillment to individuals, but also it'll be fulfilled among the nation of Israel, the national nation of Israel at the end of the church age when God brings them back into a national relationship with him. Right now, this is the church age which is Israel Israel, I believe, has temporarily been set aside. Not that not that salvation is restricted from them because presently Jews and Gentiles alike are saved the same way, and we are united in Christ.

38:00 Ephesians two talks about that, that there's no longer an essential barrier between Jews and Gentiles, but we're united in Christ. And then the last part of this new covenant, as I understand is in verse 38, behold the days are coming, says the Lord, that the city shall be built for the Lord from the Tower Of Anel El to the corner gate. And I won't go on for sake of time, but this is a picture of the millennial Jerusalem, when Jerusalem is is the restored city and God's blessing is upon them undeniably, and they they are looked at by the world as the place of of the Lord's dwelling. So, sorry Don. Well, we are out of time, but let me try to draw a couple of couple of applications from this, from these, from Jeremiah.

39:49 Let's pray. Father, do thank you for this time we've had together, for your word, which is powerful. And Father, we pray that we'll just be students of it and learn from it and forsake the temptations that would make us be like the Israelites who made many mistakes and who wandered from you. Help us to spur one another on to love and good deeds and purity and service commitment to you. Father, just pray these things now in our Lord Jesus' name.

40:26 Amen.