Jeremiah Chapters 32-33_John_Karmelich
1.
The last chapter ended with God telling us about His eternal plans for
Israel as a nation (the end of Chapter 31).
Now we jump into of all things what could be considered either the worst
or best real estate deal in history.
I've worked in that industry all my adult life. I've seen lots of good
and bad deals occur. The one we'll read of in Chapter 32 is a horrible deal for
Jeremiah well except for the fact God told him to do it and it'll benefit his
extended family in the long run. Investments are based on good information. The
better informed we got the better the decision we'll make. If God made it
obvious for you or me to do "this deal", in effect what choice do we
have?
a)
OK so these chapters focus on the consequences of a strange real estate
deal that occurred over 2,500 years ago. Let me ask the important question
first: Why should we care? No it's got nothing to do with about learning how
real estate was transferred, but we will get that in this lesson to explain the
deal. It's also not just about the Babylonian Empire who ruled over Israel for
about 70 years. It's not even to realize
what's obvious to us, the fact that the nation of Israel is around today. The most important thing to get out of this
lesson is that God interferes in our affairs and "moves the pieces"
when He wants for His glory.
b)
So if that's true, why does God allow all the horror that occurs in
this world? The answer is that He allows
free will and He allows the consequences of sin to play out. In spite of all of
that, God still will work behind the scenes to control the events of history as
He desires, if for no other reason than to give evidence of His existence and
lead people to Him.
c)
Let me explain it another way:
Do you want proof that the bible is God's word? Consider the history of Israel. As I state often, no other nation in the
history of civilization has ever been conquered, scattered and came back
together to be a nation, except Israel, who did it twice in human history. If one ever travels there, the
"land" is full of evidence that it's true
history did occur as the bible teaches.
In summary, this real estate deal is here to show us evidence that God
interferes in the affairs of man. That
makes it worth studying.
2.
John, you're preaching to the choir again. Most of us already accept the bible as His
Word and we accept that the Israelites are the chosen people whether they like
it or not. Give those facts, tell us why we should study about this real estate
transaction and why does God want us to know all of these details? In other words, what's in it for us? For starters, learning about how Jewish real
estate transactions work give us another reason why
Jesus had to be a man in order to redeem the world. We'll get to that in this lesson. Understanding why God's punishment is often
necessary before He can bless us is "extended" in this lesson just as
it was discussed in the last one. What I'd like you to consider over and above
all of that, is simply the fact that because God will sometimes work on the
"Grand scale" as He does with Israel, is the fact He an also work on
with individuals such as you and me. OK,
we know that because we've given our lives to Jesus. More than that, is
simply the fact that God saved us for a purpose. He wants us to use our lives
to make a difference for Him. As we do that realize that at any time God wants He can "step
in to interfere" just as He did of all things to do a real estate deal
with Jeremiah over 2,500 years ago.
a)
With that speech out of my system, let me go over some of the facts in
this text.
3.
Chapter 32 opens up by giving us the real estate deal setting. The
short version is it occurred soon before Babylon would destroy Jerusalem. At that time Jeremiah was in that city in
prison as their leaders didn't like the fact he was preaching
"surrender". Apparently he was allowed visitors and even had some
money on him in order to do the deal.
Keep in mind that if the Babylonian army's surrounding Jerusalem, that means they've already conquered and
controlled the land outside of that city, which would include the land that's
the source of the real estate transaction.
If there is no government to enforce "title", what good is
this real estate transaction? Let's be
honest, would the Babylonians as the conquerors ever acknowledge any Israelite
real estate ownership. All that I am
getting is, is this is a real estate deal that no logical person would ever
agree to! Yet Jeremiah did the deal essentially because God told him too. In this lesson I discuss how this affects us.
a)
From there the scene changes to explain why Jeremiah was in
prison. He explains to the king in
effect, "Hey, you put me in prison for proclaiming God's word, let me now
tell you what will happen to you, your highness". The short version is Jeremiah states how he
will not win and he'll be taken prisoner to Babylon. What's interesting is the Babylonian king's
the one who put the Jewish king in power.
The fact that Jerusalem is fighting them won't be a good thing if he's
taken prisoner!
b)
By Verse 6 we're back to the real estate deal. Jeremiah's hometown was a few miles
away. His cousin shows up to the prison
saying in effect, "As the closest living relative to all our family, you
have the right to buy your uncle's land if he chooses to sell it, which he
is." In Israel, all land belongs to
God, so buying it is technically leasing it.
What all of this means is God desires that land designated for the priests
(Jeremiah was one) stays in their family.
c)
Anyway, despite the fact the deal didn't make sense with Babylon taking
over, Jeremiah is agreeing to buy it and publicly gives his cousin the
money. Also keep in mind Jeremiah's got
no children, so what he's agreeing to is keeping the land in the "family
hands" if Israel ever gets to control "title" again.
d)
By Verse 17, Jeremiah breaks out in prayer. Let's face it, lacking
children of his own, given the fact the Babylonians are about to destroy Israel
as God told Jeremiah, he pondered the whole transaction if this is the right
thing to do.
e)
By Verse 26, God responds in effect with, "Is anything to hard for
me? If I say all of this is going to
happen, who are you Jeremiah to question me? Then God "rehashes" His
plan for the land of Israel. He goes
over the plan for its destruction and then gives the good news of its
"resurrection" as a nation. In
effect it's a big reassurance that the real estate deal is a good one and
despite everything looking bad, Israel's "resurrection" will fix
everything! If that isn't a clue, I don't know what is!
4.
In Chapter 33, Jeremiah gets a second vision from God while he's still
"stuck in prison". This one's for all those in Jerusalem fighting the
Babylonians. It's a "you're all
wasting your time" message. The details discuss the horrible aspects of
Israel's fall along with all the dead bodies.
a)
By Verse 6, Jeremiah gets positive again. He says in effect, despite all of that, I'm
going to "resurrect" it (Jerusalem along with all of Israel). Not because you deserve it, but only due to
the fact that I'm keeping my word that Israel is God's chosen and they will be
united in this place to honor me as God.
b)
To state what hopefully is obvious, there's the short-term fulfillment
of their return after a 70-year period in captivity and a long-term fulfillment
that hasn't happened yet. I say that the real prediction is
"millennial" as in describing a future 1,000-year period where Jesus
is going to rule over the world from Jerusalem (see Revelation Chapter
20). In fact we'll get some of the same
"language" as the last few verses of Chapter 31 when Jeremiah
predicted The Messiah (A Jewish title for Jesus role in His Second Coming)
would be ruling over the world for eternity.
5.
With all that said, I was torn between two titles: One is "Understanding the bad real
estate deal", or "National Resurrection". Both fit the text well. I think I'm going to stick with the latter is
we've got to realize that Israel's resurrection, past tense and future tense,
affects us Christians as well. I would
argue that our resurrection trusts in the necessity of theirs as a nation with
Jesus ruling for 1,000 years for "them" and eternally for us. For those of you who love "bible
details" there are lots of neat little things to learn from this text. If
all that stuff bores you, even the big picture stuff that deals resurrection
affects all of us as believers so for that reason alone I encourage you to read
the rest of this lesson.
a)
For those of you interested in learning about how to do a real estate
deal, "God's way" I'm afraid this won't be much help. Like any major
decision in life the more information we've got the better the decision. Like any investment, it is risk and nothing's
certain in life. We simply have to make
the best decisions we can and success in life requires taking risks.
b)
With all of that out of my system, I welcome you to join me for the
details!
6.
Chapter 32, Verse 1: This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD
in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of
Nebuchadnezzar. 2 The army of the king of Babylon was then
besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was confined in the courtyard of
the guard in the royal palace of Judah.
a)
Verse 1 gives a
date stamp. It's about 587 BC, that is shortly before Babylon wiped out the Israelites
"once and for all" so to speak.
Think about being a situation that looks hopeless. Jeremiah predicted
doom and destruction and was essentially locked up for preaching it.
b)
This is one of
those moments when God says to us, "I never said the job I've asked you to
do was going to be easy. However, if we
trust in His power, we can do whatever it is that He's called us to do. As I
said in the introduction, Jeremiah is going to preach "doom" and
resurrection of the nation. Let's be
honest, the promise of preserving the nation would not interest people there if
they also heard they're about to die!
However, a resurrection hope is all Jeremiah could offer at this time.
c)
The text also
says that Jeremiah was confined to a courtyard set up as a prison. It's logical that he's in there. Let's face if, if your army is defending this
city with their lives, having a person saying, "You might as well give up,
it's over", wouldn't be good for morale!
d)
Also keep in mind
that if the army had surrounded Jerusalem that means they've already conquered
most of that kingdom or else just going through it for the big price
(Jerusalem).
7.
Verse 3: Now Zedekiah king of Judah had imprisoned him
there, saying, "Why do you prophesy as you do? You say, `This is what the LORD says: I am about to hand this city
over to the king of Babylon, and he will capture it. 4 Zedekiah king
of Judah will not escape out of the hands of the Babylonians but will certainly
be handed over to the king of Babylon, and will speak with him face to face and
see him with his own eyes. 5 He will take Zedekiah to Babylon, where he
will remain until I deal with him, declares the LORD. If you fight against the
Babylonians, you will not succeed.' "
a)
Here we get a speech by the last Jewish king who was a direct
descendant of David. Keep in mind that
the Babylonian king placed this guy in power during his last visit there. The fact that the Israelites kept rebelling
against them (some of the leaders turned to Egypt to get out of the Babylonian
grip). That didn't exactly help this
king. I'm sure he's fearing for his life at this
point. Having someone preach "we're going lose",
isn't good for morale as I explained earlier, so Jeremiah was locked up.
b)
Meanwhile Jeremiah himself, despite the fact he's in prison, despite
the fact I'm sure he is afraid himself of being killed by the Babylonians, kept
preaching the message God gave to him about the fact "they're going down
for the count". In fact he said
that the king would be taken prisoner to Babylon. I'm sure that king feared that as much as
death itself!
c)
The king had to be thinking, "Well, Jeremiah's been right to
date. Here I am not doing the will of
God right now. This can't be good for my
eternal future! I have to encourage men
to fight because that's the only choice I have here". My point is the king's "stuck between a
rock and hard place". He can't
order surrender, even if He suspected it was God's will.
i)
The point for you and me is it may be hard to do God's will at times,
but in effect, what choice do we have?
It's one of those situations were one has to realize that to please God
is always better than to please man, even at the cost of our lives.
ii)
On that scary thought, we can get to the heart of the chapter.
8.
Verse 6: Jeremiah said, "The
word of the LORD came to me: 7 Hanamel son of Shallum your uncle is going to
come to you and say, `Buy my field at Anathoth, because as nearest relative it
is your right and duty to buy it.'
a)
Keep in mind that Jeremiah was born a Levite, which simply means he had
to be a priest whether he liked it or not.
Realize certain cities exited in Israel back then for the priests to
live. Jeremiah came from one of those
"priest cities" a few miles from Jerusalem.
b)
I'm guessing God put the thought of Jeremiah's uncle in his head. He probably thought I am in prison and my
cousin is going to show up? Wow, will
that be strange!
c)
Then we get the first reference to the "real estate
deal". As I stated in the
introduction, the land of Israel in effect belongs to God. Therefore, the Israelites use of it is a leasing
type of situation. One of the Israelite
laws given by Moses says in effect that if one needs to sell it for some
reason, it has to be first offered for sale to the nearest living relative. Therefore it was necessary for Jeremiah's
cousin to visit him in prison and make that offer. I'm sure his cousin had no
idea what Jeremiah would say, but the ritual was necessary.
i)
Quick side note, for those of you familiar with the book of Ruth, this
transfer ritual is similar to the one performed in Ruth Chapter 4. There a man named Boaz was a relative of
Ruth's mother in law and did that real estate transaction.
ii)
Here's another interesting thing to think about for this ritual. When Satan tempted Jesus as told in Matthew
Chapter 4, one of the temptations was Satan promised he would give the
"kingdoms of the world" to Jesus if He'd bow down to Satan. That would only be a temptation if Satan were
in control of the world. He got control at the time he got Adam to sin. My point is it took a "kinsmen" to
pay for the sins of Adam and the world to redeem the world. That's a key reason why Jesus has to be fully
man as well as fully God in order to fulfill that ritual.
iii)
While you're digesting that thought time to get back to the "real
estate deal".
d)
A number of things crossed my mind as I thought about this passage.
Where did Jeremiah get the money in the first place to buy the land? God must
have worked that out so he did have the correct amount in the first place and
his cousin agreed to it. I also pondered if the area of land was already under
Babylonian control at that point. Did his cousin escape just to make this
deal? The chapter implies it was. Still,
Jeremiah knew that the Israelites were "going down for the count" so
even if he bought itt, the Babylonians probably won't honor a contract claiming
the Israelites lost the land. Also you
might recall Jeremiah didn't have any descendants. God told him he can't take a wife. (Jeremiah 16:1). So even if he had the right
to this land, he knew the captivity would be 70, so he wouldn't have a
descendant to claim it. Being the
redeemer simply means if the Israelites could say in the future control the
land again, that Jeremiah's cousin's descendants would get that piece of land. Bottom line, if this deal worked, the descendants
of Jeremiah's cousin in effect would get the land back "free of
charge".
i)
Gee John all of this is interesting, why should we care? Because we effectively got bought the same
way. God Himself paid the complete price
for our redemption as we had nothing to do with it except "go along with
the deal". My whole point here is
simply that this whole section is a model for what Jesus did for us!
e)
Now that I explained all of that, we can read the story that repeats
some of these points.
9.
Verse 8: "Then, just as the LORD had said, my cousin
Hanamel came to me in the courtyard of the guard and said, `Buy my field at
Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin. Since it is your right to redeem it and
possess it, buy it for yourself.' "I knew that
this was the word of the LORD; 9 so I bought the field at Anathoth from my
cousin Hanamel and weighed out for him seventeen shekels of silver. 10 I signed and
sealed the deed, had it witnessed, and weighed out the silver on the scales. 11 I took the deed
of purchase--the sealed copy containing the terms and conditions, as well as
the unsealed copy-- 12 and I gave this deed to Baruch son of Neriah,
the son of Mahseiah, in the presence of my cousin Hanamel and of the witnesses
who had signed the deed and of all the Jews sitting in the courtyard of the
guard.
a)
In these verses, we learn more about the Jewish ritual of the transfer
of real estate than we ever probably cared to know. First, the transaction
itself. Jeremiah's cousin came to him as he couldn't leave prison. Imagine walking into a prison and telling one
of the prisoners to buy my land. I'm
sure the other prisoners were watching out of curiosity if nothing else. I also
suspect the guards watched Jeremiah knowing that he preached against the
Israelites in the ongoing war. Even the fact that Jeremiah agreed to the deal
had to be a sign to those guards that Jeremiah believed they would return there
one day.
b)
For those of you that have done real estate deals, some of these
rituals must "ring a bell". More than one copy was signed. There were witnesses to the transaction. (The notaries of that day!) The money was weighed out for accuracy. One
copy of the deed was sealed for safekeeping and the other was kept open for
people to examine if needed.
c)
A quick side note. When the Israelites
from Jerusalem were taken into captivity they were allowed to bring the
"family records" with them.
That's how for example around the time of Jesus, He could still trace
his lineage back to King David and even further than that!
d)
Anyway, the real estate deal was done.
I'm sure Jeremiah's cousin was thinking whatever Jeremiah is paying, I'm getting a great deal as the land's now in
Babylonian control. If you care the amount is about 7 ounces of silver. I googled it, and that's about $100. It probably
wasn't a lot for a farmable field, but given that the Babylonians controlled
it, I'm guessing that his cousin was happy with whatever he got for it.
e)
Anyway the deal is done, the documents are signed. There were witnesses
and now we've got Jeremiah owning a field in his hometown that he can't even
inspect as he's in prison in Jerusalem.
So what does Jeremiah do now?
Verse 13:
10.
Verse 13: "In their presence I gave Baruch these
instructions: 14 `This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of
Israel, says: Take these documents, both the sealed and unsealed copies of the
deed of purchase, and put them in a clay jar so they will last a long time. 15 For this is
what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Houses, fields and vineyards
will again be bought in this land.'
a)
Jeremiah tells
his cousin, take the official documents and keep them safe for a long time.
b)
For those of you familiar with the Dead Sea scrolls, these were bible
scrolls (partial as well as complete) and other writings that date back to
about the time of Jesus. My point is
that if scrolls were placed in earthen jars in dry climate, they could last for
millenniums!
c)
Remember that the Babylonians are "knocking on the door" to
destroy what's left of Israel in that land.
Yet Jeremiah is saying Israelite real estate deals will happen one day
again in the land, "bank on it". It's amazing to consider when the
Persians, who conquered Babylon allowed the Israelites to return to their
homeland, they even allowed local ownership of it at that return. My guess is they simply required paying of
taxes. Original ownership was allowed
after that return just as Jeremiah predicted.
I assume all those records must have gone with them so they knew who
owned what they returned!
d)
So now that the deal is done, its prayer time. After all God forbade Jeremiah from having a
wife. God told Jeremiah it'll be 70
years for the return. What about the
real estate deal, with all of that?
That's why it's prayer time!
11.
Verse 16: "After I had given the deed of purchase to Baruch
son of Neriah, I prayed to the LORD: 17 "Ah,
Sovereign LORD, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and
outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you. 18 You show love
to thousands but bring the punishment for the fathers' sins into the laps of
their children after them. O great and powerful God, whose name is the LORD
Almighty, 19 great are your purposes and mighty are your
deeds. Your eyes are open to all the ways of men; you reward everyone according
to his conduct and as his deeds deserve. 20 You performed
miraculous signs and wonders in Egypt and have continued them to this day, both
in Israel and among all mankind, and have gained the renown that is still
yours. 21 You brought your people Israel out of Egypt
with signs and wonders, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with great
terror. 22 You gave them this land you had sworn to give
their forefathers, a land flowing with milk and honey. 23 They came in
and took possession of it, but they did not obey you or follow your law; they
did not do what you commanded them to do. So you brought all this disaster upon
them.
a)
Here Jeremiah pours it on thick.
He reminds God of some of the history of Israel. Why? I
would argue that Jeremiah's naming past miracles, as he's going to need one if
the land he bought is ever going to be in the hands of his descendants. Did Jeremiah doubt God? No, I just think he wanted to know how God
was going to pull this one off. The language here implies that Jeremiah knew
God knows all things and knows the affairs of mankind.
b)
Keep in mind that God doesn't have to answer Jeremiah. God does what He wants when He wants, so he's
not obligated to answer Jeremiah here. The fact that He does is meant as a
lesson to us about how God works.
c)
Speaking of that, let me discuss asking God
for miracles. First I'm positive that we can ask anything we want of God. He has the right to say no or not now. God never promises us a long and healthy
life. He wants us to use our lives as a witness for Him. The time length is His business, not
ours. Can we expect the miraculous? No
I'm not talking about the fact we're saved, but just things that can't be
explained by the course of nature. In my
life, I've seen some people unexplainably cured of cancer for no particular reason
and I've seen the slow death of devout Christians for the same disease. I can't explain all things. There's no magic prayer that gets God to do a
certain miracle. The idea of prayer is lining up our will with His. Because we don't know His will, it's ok to
ask. However, we must accept the no
answer or the not now answer as much as we expect the yes answer.
d)
With that lecture about miracles out of my system, Jeremiah finishes
his prayer below:
12.
Verse 24: "See how the siege ramps are built up to take the
city. Because of the sword, famine and plague, the city will be handed over to
the Babylonians who are attacking it. What you said has happened, as you now
see. 25 And though the city will be handed over to the
Babylonians, you, O Sovereign LORD, say to me, `Buy the field with silver and
have the transaction witnessed.' "
a)
Let's be honest,
Jeremiah is confused here. He doesn't
even know if he's going to live after Jerusalem is destroyed. He states here how the Babylonian army has
surrounded the city where he's being held prisoner. He knows who'll win this war for the simple
reason that God already told him the results.
Yet with all that doubt about how he's going to live or wondering if the
Babylonians or whoever else will allow Israelites to buy and sell there in some
future day, he was confused. Keep in
mind no nation in history has been conquered then scattered then came back, let
alone allowed to own land again!
b)
At this point I
think God's heard enough. I don't think
God responded to get Jeremiah off His back!
I'd argue that God simply has more things he wants to say to
Jeremiah. Keep in mind this response
we're about to read is going to run until the end of the chapter. Ok, let us begin with God's response:
13.
Verse 26: Then
the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: 27 "I am the
LORD, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me? 28 Therefore, this
is what the LORD says: I am about to hand this city over to the Babylonians and
to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who will capture it. 29 The Babylonians
who are attacking this city will come in and set it on fire; they will burn it
down, along with the houses where the people provoked me to anger by burning
incense on the roofs to Baal and by pouring out drink offerings to other gods.
a)
You have to love the phrase, "Is anything to hard for me
(God)?" I've never had an issue
with what God can do. I'm amazed by what
He does do and what He allows. The issue
is not that God only works on grand-scales for Israel. The issue is God controls the affairs of
mankind for His glory. He wanted this
captivity to occur essentially because the Israelites had turned from him to
worship other gods. To make it worse,
they even burned incense to Baal (the popular false god in that area at that
time) as well as other gods.
b)
Wait a second John, I thought God allowed free
will. Can't we worship whoever we want
in life? Sure, that's not the issue. The
issue's about those He's called to be His witnesses to
the world. It's about those of us who've
already dedicated our lives to serving Him.
If we have done that, sure we can ignore God, but there are consequences
for doing that. Yes I'd say those consequences are severe. At the least we're a bad witness for Jesus.
Besides that, He has every right to "end us", especially if we're
known as His witnesses! That's the issue here.
The Israelites were known as worshippers of God. Because they turned from that, it is
necessary for God to say, "Time to be put in the penalty box" so to
speak. Lots of people had to die just to
prove the point that God's not to be messed with.
c)
Speaking of God, He's did real damage to Jerusalem when the Babylonians
destroyed that city about a year after Jeremiah wrote this. Stop and consider why this punishment? God
could have had a plague wipe out that city or a meteor hit it. Why this cruel method? It's to show God's wrath for turning against
Him. The Israelites there turned to other gods in that
city even though they knew their history of being God's people.
i)
This is God saying, "What's the punishment for turning your back
on me? Death. Just like punishment today for turning our
backs on God? Remember that hell is a
place for people who don't want to be with God for eternity. It's giving people the desire they want for
eternity, separation from God. That's
why God chose to have this horrid punishment against His own people, to show us
what's the price paid if we waste the most valuable
thing God gives us, our time.
ii)
Speaking of God being ticked off, let's continue with the verses.
14.
Verse 30: "The people of Israel and Judah have done nothing
but evil in my sight from their youth; indeed, the people of Israel have done
nothing but provoke me with what their hands have made, declares the LORD. 31 From the day it
was built until now, this city has so aroused my anger and wrath that I must
remove it from my sight. 32 The people of Israel and Judah have provoked
me by all the evil they have done--they, their kings and officials, their
priests and prophets, the men of Judah and the people of Jerusalem. 33 They turned
their backs to me and not their faces; though I taught them again and again,
they would not listen or respond to discipline. 34 They set up
their abominable idols in the house that bears my Name and defiled it. 35 They built high
places for Baal in the Valley of Ben Hinnom to sacrifice their sons and
daughters to Molech, though I never commanded, nor did it enter my mind, that
they should do such a detestable thing and so make Judah sin.
a)
At this point God
continues His lecture through Jeremiah why He's so "ticked off". I'd say the key point is what I've been
preaching all through Jeremiah, that God called the nation of Israel to be His
witness to the world around us. To put it in our vocabulary, "God saved us
for a purpose". That purpose is to
glorify Him with our lives by being His witnesses to the world around us. We're
called to obedience not to earn His love but strictly based on a sense of
gratitude for what He's done for us.
b)
OK, that's old
news. In these verses, God singles out
the peoples of both Israel kingdoms as if to say, "You've all blown
it". Just as the North kingdom went
into captivity over 100 years earlier, so it's the South turn, because even
though they knew all of this, they blew it just as bad if not worse.
c)
The "kicker"
of all things is the fact that the Israelites in the Southern Kingdom offered
up their children to Baal to show their loyalty to Him. In Verse 35 God says it's so detestable it
"never even crossed His mind".
Yes, I believe God knows all things.
It's a colorful way of saying "I never thought they'd sink this
low", even though again, He knows all things.
d)
The bottom line
here is "Hey all of you in Jerusalem, don't think
you're "holier than thou".
Don't think I'll spare this place because the temple is here". Don't think I'll spare you just because I
promised the Messiah will rule from here one day". Bottom line, you are guilty as charged and
now destruction is coming.
e)
But let's assume
everyone didn't do that practice, why should everyone suffer? To start, I would say because no one said
anything to put a stop to it. When we
Christians refuse to say "What you're doing is wrong", or "we
won't participate in that", we fail to be a witness for God and that's
when the hammer comes down hard.
f)
OK John this is
horrible, but it happened over 2,500 years ago.
Besides we Christians are scattered all over
the world. God can't punish us the same
way. You're right He may not kick us out
of our country, but there are countries that ban Christian missionaries today. I also know there are countries were
distribution of the bible is forbidden. Resistance to any growth of
Christianity is alive and well all over the world. So what do we do? Pray for it to spread. Be a good witness for Jesus and encourage
those on the "front lines" as well!
15.
Verse 36: "You are saying about this city, `By the sword,
famine and plague it will be handed over to the king of Babylon'; but this is
what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 37 I will surely
gather them from all the lands where I banish them in my furious anger and
great wrath; I will bring them back to this place and let them live in safety. 38 They will be my
people, and I will be their God. 39 I will give
them singleness of heart and action, so that they will always fear me for their
own good and the good of their children after them. 40 I will make an
everlasting covenant with them: I will never stop doing good
to them, and I will inspire them to fear me, so that they will never turn away
from me. 41 I will rejoice in doing them good and will
assuredly plant them in this land with all my heart and soul.
a)
Enough of the bad news. The
chapter is going to end with the good news.
He's saying, "I know this is bad.
I know the Babylonian Army is surrounding this city. I'm aware many of you will die. The only comfort I (God) can give is this is
not "The end"." The
language in effect is similar to the end of Chapter 31. It's eternal in nature as Jeremiah is
describing life after Jesus returns. It
says for example, "They'll never turn away from
me (God)'. As I've been preaching
modern, Israel is mostly secular so this is future to us as well.
b)
Think of it this way, when Jesus returns, it'd be logical for Israel to
exist when He returns. That leads to the question, ,
"Why the big Revelation show" prior to all that? Why doesn't Jesus
just return and the Jewish people say we blew it and that's that! I'd argue that if the world today is obsessed
with Israel's destruction and a large percentage of the world acts that out,
having a savior who despite all the odds conquers those nations, it'd be at
then I could see Israel saying, "OK we blew it. Jesus is God". Anyway now you know why all of that frightening
stuff that's described through most of Revelation realize
these predictions here in Jeremiah tell
well to the event where Jesus returns to run things!
c)
I bring that up here, because these verses are here to give hope to
people when things are at their worst.
When one is facing certain death, one is concerned with the
afterlife. That is why Jeremiah spends
so much time preaching repentance. I
suspect we'd also want to be assured that our death is not the "end"
of our families. That's why Jeremiah's
telling us as well as them about the eternal future is good. It's like a classic Christian joke that goes,
"I read the last chapter, we win". It doesn't mean we should commit
suicide. It just means God's going to
win in the end, so accept it, despite how bad things might. So when things are at their worst, we can
have assurance that not only will there be eternal life if we trust in Jesus,
but also reassurance that no matter how bad things get in this world, God's
going to win in the end with Jesus ruling over this world.
d)
All of that leads me back to these verses. Verse 36 states for the "hundredth
time" the fact that those living in Jerusalem will suffer death through a
number of horrid ways. Then it says as
surely as that occurs, God will one day restore Israel not only to "live
there again" but also in the eternal sense of the Messiah ruling the world
from there.
e)
Let me give a "thirty second" discussion of why there is a
1,000-year "post-Christian-era" period of time. During that time Satan is locked up. It'll be a time where God shows that we sin
despite Satan's influence! The other
purpose of it is to show what happens when the world is forced to live by God's
laws and under His rule. Yes we'll get
eternity with Jesus, but there's a special future period where God rules the
world from Israel. It's what is in focus
in these verses. It's called "the
millennium" as it literally lasts for 1,000 years.
f)
With that said, remember what God desires, having all the people who
love Him united in one place to worship Him.
That'll be Israel in that day. So
what do we do then? What I suspect is we
work in effect as angels to enforce His rule around the world. I don't think travel will be an issue, so if
we just want to be in Jerusalem with Jesus at that time, what I suspect is we
can just be there, because we want to be!
Could I be wrong about this? Yes,
the millennium specifics is a debated topic among
Christians. For what it's worth my view
is essentially the view that's the most dominant among Evangelical Christians.
g)
With that said God's got some "encore" comments to finish
Chapter 32.
16.
Verse 42: "This is what the
LORD says: As I have brought all this great calamity
on this people, so I will give them all the prosperity I have promised them. 43 Once more
fields will be bought in this land of which you say, `It is a desolate waste,
without men or animals, for it has been handed over to the Babylonians.' 44 Fields will be
bought for silver, and deeds will be signed, sealed and witnessed in the
territory of Benjamin, in the villages around Jerusalem, in the towns of Judah
and in the towns of the hill country, of the western foothills and of the
Negev, because I will restore their fortunes, declares the LORD."
a)
I suspect these
verses are as much for Jeremiah himself as much as to preach to those who are
about to perish. Remember that Jeremiah is not married and living in Jerusalem
that is doomed for destruction. I'm sure
Jeremiah had doubts about the future of that real estate deal even with God's
reassurance. Now think of God telling
Jeremiah, "hey buddy, a day is coming where
fields are bought and sold one again, kind of like what you just did!"
b)
Is this message
for al the Israelites there? Of
course. They had to be scared for their
lives. That's why Jeremiah's reassuring
them, that one day Israelites will do "real estate deals" in the land
once again. Good news for my profession
as well!
c)
OK John before we
jump into the shorter Chapter 33, tell us why we should care about the fact
that Israelites can buy and sell there again?
Israel exists today and obviously that did come true. Again think about the fact no nation other
than Israel has ever been conquered scattered and became a nation again. If we can see that come true, it reassures us
that His promises to us as Christians will also come true. (By the way, if you need proof that all of the
aspects of Jesus life were predicted before He came in the world, read Isaiah
53 as well as Psalm 22 as evidence that what Jesus went through was predicted
before His birth!"
d)
On that positive
noted, Chapter 33 is much shorter and is a separate vision. Let's begin:
17.
Chapter 33, Verse
1: While Jeremiah was still confined in
the courtyard of the guard, the word of the LORD came to him a second time: 2 "This is
what the LORD says, he who made the earth, the LORD who formed it and
established it--the LORD is his name: 3 `Call to me and
I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.' 4 For this is
what the LORD, the God of Israel, says about the houses in this city and the
royal palaces of Judah that have been torn down to be used against the siege
ramps and the sword 5 in the fight with the Babylonians: `They will
be filled with the dead bodies of the men I will slay in my anger and wrath. I
will hide my face from this city because of all its wickedness.
a)
The first thing
to realize is Chapter 33 is a separate vision that God gave Jeremiah around the
same time as the last one. Verse 1 states that this one came after the last one. To me it is like God's saying, "Now that
everyone's digested what I had to say in Chapter 32, let me state a few more
things here in Chapter 33. Yes I know there were no
chapter breaks when this book was first organized, but obviously God wants us
to know this one is "second".
b)
The next thing to
notice is God's most holy name is used four times in the first two verses. It's Jeremiah's way of saying, "This is
God speaking, trust it!"
c)
Before I go any further, a lot of Sunday school children learn that
Jeremiah 33:3 tells us to call on God and He will answer us. Since we're adults, let me explain that one
better. It is not saying that no matter
what we ask, God's now required to answer us.
It doesn't mean we're entitled to know what's going to happen in our
immediate future or how long we'll live.
So if that's what it doesn't mean, what does it mean? It's the idea that if we study the bible we
can learn God's eternal plan for mankind.
For what it's worth I've been studying this book for 20 years and I'm
still learning daily. I've heard people
who've studied it for a much longer period and they are still learning
things. Let me put it this way, if you
are interested in your eternal future, as well as God's desire of us, that
alone is motivation to seek Him as these verses imply.
d)
With all that "general" stuff out of my system, time for
specifics. Time for the bad news: It
starts with the fact the Israelites tore down some of their homes for materials
in their fight against the Babylonians.
In short it's another "you're wasting your time" lecture!
e)
OK, so why is Jeremiah going "on and on" about all the negative
stuff. Obviously he had to be aware by
now Jerusalem will fall, so why give this lecture? Because there may be a person or more in the
crowd who turns to God in their hearts based on this. Think of it as a plea by God to turn to Him
not to save their lives on earth, but to preserve their lives for all of
eternity. As the saying goes, it's the
job of the pastor "to comfort the afflicted as well as the afflict the
comfortable!".
Anyway, Jeremiah's saying things are going be really bad, so they're wasting
their time as well as their housing materials defending that city!
18.
Verse 6: " `Nevertheless, I will bring health and healing to it; I
will heal my people and will let them enjoy abundant peace and security. 7 I will bring
Judah and Israel back from captivity and will rebuild them as they were before.
8 I will cleanse them from all the sin they have
committed against me and will forgive all their sins of rebellion against me. 9 Then this city
will bring me renown, joy, praise and honor before all nations on earth that
hear of all the good things I do for it; and they will be in awe and will
tremble at the abundant prosperity and peace I provide for it.'
a)
Once again, we
get the "good news in the very long run message" here. Yes, there's more to this one, and we'll get
to that in a moment. I think the reason
God's repeating all of this is for assurance during a real tough time. OK, so
where's my reassurance when I deal with my own tough time? It's reading
passages like this to remind us that God's guiding us just as He's guiding
Israel. As I love to state, God never
promises us long lives or that our life will always go well. He promises that if we seek Him, He will
provide us comfort during such time periods.
b)
With that said,
onto the specifics. Again, we get the
fact that God will bring back people from both the North and South
Kingdom. So what's the
deal with forgiveness as stated in Verse 8? I'd argue it has to be "millennial"
when God forgives Israel "for His sake". What I suspect is in that day, Jewish people
will simply all have a heart for God and yes I would argue they accept Jesus as
the Messiah. Since I'm using a bunch of
classic jokes, one is the fact the Israelites will ask in that day to the
Messiah, "So is this your first or second visit?"
c)
Anyway, we get
another "happy ending" in this section.
19.
Verse 10: "This is what the LORD says: `You say
about this place, "It is a desolate waste, without men or animals."
Yet in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem that are deserted,
inhabited by neither men nor animals, there will be heard once more 11 the sounds of
joy and gladness, the voices of bride and bridegroom, and the voices of those
who bring thank offerings to the house of the LORD, saying, "Give thanks
to the LORD Almighty, for the LORD is good; his love endures forever." For
I will restore the fortunes of the land as they were before,' says the LORD.
a)
By the way, since
you've already made it this far, I'd like to encourage you to finish this as
we'll get some interesting revelations in the last part of this lesson. Until then, Jeremiah is still encouraging the
Israelites who are facing certain doom, that it won't
always be like it is at that moment.
It's a good reminder when we go through our own tough times. One of my
favorite cliché's is "This too shall pass". In effect, that's what Jeremiah is saying
here to the Israelites. Yes they're
about to die. Yes it'll be horrible, but
"this too shall pass" and in spite of all of that, God still has
great plans for them as a nation!
b)
In fact the
phrase "Give thanks to the LORD Almighty" is used in Psalm
136.
c)
The point is when
things look grim, a great way to deal with it is to
start listing things we are grateful for.
It's about giving praise to God in the worst of times because we know we
"win in the end". Yes that
applies to us Christians as well.
20.
Verse 12: "This is what the
LORD Almighty says: `In this place, desolate and without men or animals--in all
its towns there will again be pastures for shepherds to rest their flocks. 13 In the towns of
the hill country, of the western foothills and of the Negev, in the territory
of Benjamin, in the villages around Jerusalem and in the towns of Judah, flocks
will again pass under the hand of the one who counts them,' says the LORD.
a)
Short version,
even thought this city will soon be desolate, I'll
restore it one day.
b)
For those who
know about ancient geography, usually when a city is destroyed it remains
destroyed through history. It's pretty rare for a city to be leveled to the
ground and then it come back to life again. Yes this happened to Jerusalem not
only here but also again when the Romans destroyed it completely as well. Yet
God is describing its resurrection here.
c)
Not only
Jerusalem but all of Israel as well. If you think hated of a Jewish state is
anything new, you can tell it's been an issue all through history. Why?
Because of that state doesn't exist, Jesus can't return to rule there! That's why I'm convinced hatred of the Jewish
state is demonic based. Anyway,
Jeremiah's preaching long term good news to a people scared for their lives and
rightly so.
21.
Verse 14: " `The days are coming,' declares the LORD, `when I
will fulfill the gracious promise I made to the house of Israel and to the
house of Judah. 15 " `In
those days and at that time I will make a righteous Branch sprout from David's
line; he will do what is just and right in the land.
a)
I assume everyone
has noticed the general pattern by now:
It's the prediction that all of the land of Israel will be uninhabited
and destroyed. Then 70 years later God
is going to resurrect that nation.
Obviously it's to prove He's God to do all of this. So why kill all of those people? Why not just "skywrite" I'm God and
deal with it? The answer is He wants us
to come to Him by faith and not out of fear.
He allows all sorts of "insane things" to be evidence for
people to study that He's God so, again we must deal with it.
b)
With all that
said, we're pretty much done with the "you're all going to die and then
Israel will be resurrected sometime in the future message. Here in Verse 14 we're back to telling about
the "eternal future". So why does God "jump" that way? It's
the idea of saying while I'm discussing the future let me discuss the ultimate
future and give the readers as well as those here in Jerusalem hope about the
eternal future. In that sense, this last
part of what we call Chapter 33, focuses on Israel's
eternal future. OK, enough intro, time for details.
c)
Jeremiah's saying
a "branch" which is a "code word" for descendant of King David, be the ultimate ruler in Israel. Yes those of us who believe in Jesus already
believe He's ruling in our hearts, but that's different from a literal Jesus
ruling in Israel. Jesus told us He would
return one day and that's a literal return. Again this is describing the
1,000-year millennial period where Jesus will force the world to live under His
rule. Understand that Jesus isn't going
to change the world's hearts to love Him out of force. It's more like the idea that the world will
be forced to accept Him as God and live as God desires. I suspect that the way we get involved is we
help enforce that rule. Anyway, that's
what these verses imply.
22.
Verse 16: In those days Judah will be saved and
Jerusalem will live in safety. This is
the name by which it will be called: The LORD Our Righteousness.'
a)
For those of you
who've had the privilege to go to modern Israel, you'd know that in spite of
the fact it's mostly a Jewish population, it's mostly people who don't take God
seriously or honor Him as such. The religious population is a minority. As I've been stating, I think it's going to
take the "Revelation Show" to get Israel to realize how bad they've
blown it as far as seeing Jesus as God.
That's why these verses are millennial.
b)
Next think about
the idea of the City of Jerusalem in safety.
Let's face it people argue over Jerusalem for millenniums. It's amazing considering that city has no
significant resources. Yet Jeremiah
tells us when the Messiah rules that city will be in safety for the first time!
c)
We also learn
that Jerusalem will be known as the home of Jesus or which is why that city is
going to be called "The LORD Our Righteousness". Now comes the interesting part:
23.
Verse 17: For this is what the
LORD says: `David will never fail to have a man to sit on the throne of the
house of Israel, 18 nor will the priests, who are Levites, ever
fail to have a man to stand before me continually to offer burnt offerings, to
burn grain offerings and to present sacrifices.' "
a)
OK as Christians I assume all of us get the idea that Jesus the
descendant of David who'll be the king over Israel let alone the world. For those who don't know, when the Romans
destroyed Israel, they also killed the family records. No one can legitimately claim to be a
descendant of David, except Jesus who will return as dramatically as He left!
b)
That leads to two quick questions:
How can we tell if an imposter tries it?
Easy it has to happen after all the "Revelation Stuff" which
includes natural disasters and lots of people dying. Even if Satan tries to impersonate Jesus at
that point, I suspect the real deal will be showing up to say in effect,
"Nice try!"
i)
The other logical question is why 2,000 years? How do we know it will still occur? For
starters, the Israelites are back in the land after 2,000 years. That's a clue we're still working on God's
timetable. Another clue is its been roughly 2,000 years from the time of Abraham (first
Jew) to Jesus, so we can argue the Jewish nation had the same amount of time
roughly as the Christians did. Another
clue is the 7-letters to the seven churches (Revelation 2-3). The order they're in lay out church history
in the order they're laid out. (E.g.,
the early letters lay out the persecuted church. The last one talks about the
"indifferent" church.) Do I
know when Jesus will return? I do not
claim to know the date. I'm just saying
clues are there to explain why it has been 2,000 years and why it still can
happen at any time now!
c)
Believe it or not, all of that leads back to the second part of this
verse. It not only says that a
descendant of David will rule forever, but also the Levites will still be
priests in then! So
how will that happen? Either a day will come where the Israelites
will once again be able to figure out what tribe their from
(based on DNA evidence) or simply by the fact that we have Jewish last names
that most likely come from priest.
(Cohen is a prime example) In
summary I don't know how God's going to do it, but when Jesus returns there
will also be descendants of Levi who'll work as priests.
d)
That leads to one final question:
If Jesus paid the complete price for our sins? Why will we need Levites to do animal
sacrifices in the future? They'll be
done to remember what Jesus did. Yes,
the millennium will have such sacrifices (See last 8-9 chapters of Ezekiel) but
it will be for the remembrance of what Jesus did for us.
e)
OK that's enough weirdness for one lesson. Let's finish the chapter.
24.
Verse 19: The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: 20 "This is
what the LORD says: `If you can break my covenant with the day and my covenant
with the night, so that day and night no longer come at their appointed time, 21 then my
covenant with David my servant--and my covenant with the Levites who are
priests ministering before me--can be broken and David will no longer have a
descendant to reign on his throne. 22 I will make the
descendants of David my servant and the Levites who minister before me as
countless as the stars of the sky and as measureless as the sand on the
seashore.' "
a)
My loose
translation: As soon as the sun will
rise tomorrow and the stars shine in the sky, all that I (God) say will come
true. That includes all the future Jesus
stuff, let alone Israel coming back as a nation. Obviously we have "history on our side"
where we've now seen Israel back in that land after about 2000 years. My point is if we can trust God to keep the
promises about the nation of Israel, then why do we still have doubts about all
the bible is telling us about the return of Jesus? Anyway, these verses say in sense all these
things we read Jeremiah predicting are as sure as what we see in the sky
continuing!
25.
Verse 23: The
word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: 24 "Have you
not noticed that these people are saying, `The LORD has rejected the two
kingdoms he chose'? So they despise my people and no longer regard them as a
nation. 25 This is what the LORD says: `If I have not
established my covenant with day and night and the fixed laws of heaven and
earth, 26 then I will reject the descendants of Jacob
and David my servant and will not choose one of his sons to rule over the
descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. For I will restore their fortunes and
have compassion on them.' "
a)
These verses
continue the same thoughts. The key
point is God's been doing resurrection action all through history. Yes Jesus was and yes we will if we believe
in Him. Anyway, what God wants us to get
out of all these predictions is that they're a "done deal". If God created time, He knows all things
about time. Therefore have faith in His
promises.
26.
I'm the first to
admit, these chapters are tough stuff with a lot of strange predictions. We
know by history a lot of what He told Jeremiah literally came true about the
nation of Israel. That means I and hopefully you can trust God with what will literally
happen in the future as well.
a)
OK John, you're
preaching to the choir. We believe the
history of Israel as told in the bible and we believe Jesus will return. Yes we
may have learned some details in this lesson that we didn't know but we already
accept the general principals taught here.
So what?
b)
The "so
what" is the question of what are we doing with this information. I assume we all believe in our resurrection
because we believe in the literal aspects of Jesus resurrection. I would argue the "so what" is the
question of what are we doing about it? The mistake that the Israelites made
was they failed to act on that information. We too could waste the time God has
given us or use it to make a difference for Him. I'm not saying we can't have any down
time. I'm saying God saved us for a
purpose. That's to use our lives to
glorify Him.
c)
Now that I've
made us all feel guilty for the week, time for the closing prayer!
27. Heavenly Father, thank You that You've separated us for Your glory just as You've separated the Israelites back then. Help us to read our bible and not repeat the same mistakes. Help us to learn from what we read and use our lives to make a difference for You. Since You've stated in advance how to recognize Jesus return and how to know it's Him, help us not to stand around and watch as much as we use the time we've given us for Your glory. Make it obvious us You want us to use the time You've given us. Help us to rely upon Your Spirit for Your glory. We ask this in Jesus name, Amen