Christ Through The Bible- Jeremiah

CHRIST THROUGH THE BIBLE- JEREMIAH

TEXT: ''Now it came to pass when Jeremiah had ceased speaking all that the Lord had commanded him to speak unto the people, that the priests and the prophets and all the people took him, saying, Thou shalt surely die'' (26:8).

Introduction

The prophet Jeremiah has a close similarity with the life of Jesus.  Each of them was “a man of sorrow and acquainted with grief”; each came to his own and was rejected.  Both passed through hours of desolation and were forsaken.  There is a special message in the ministry of Jeremiah for those who stand alone; God will take care of you.

Many of the details of Jeremiah's activity depict the response of the nation of Israel to the first coming and the ministry of the Lord Jesus. You could write these words of the Lord Jesus over the pages of Jeremiah: ''O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them who are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!'' (Mat 23:37).

Jeremiah's call.

God had put His hand upon the prophet before he was born (1:4-9).  For every true believer, the concept of a divine call should be absolutely essential to our understanding of biblical religion. The call of Abram (Gen 12:1-3) at the very beginning of the patriarchal history is the critical event referred to by Stephen at the very beginning of his speech to the Sanhedrin in Acts 7. People of all other religions are asked to reach out to God, but the Bible everywhere describes God as reaching out to us, searching for us, calling us. Elsewhere the direction of the call is from down upward, as people seek to touch God in their own strength and through their own devices, building towers of Babel in uninvited attempts to reach heaven. But in Scripture, the direction of the call is from above downward, and that difference alone is enough to expose every man-made religion as being entirely opposed to biblical faith.

As a young man, Jeremiah had already seen the evil results of pagan worship, and he perhaps longed to do something- anything--to foster and further the worship of the God of his fathers. But we can be sure that he had no idea of the fearful responsibility that the Lord was about to place on his shoulders.

''Now it came to pass when Jeremiah had ceased speaking all that the Lord had commanded him to speak unto the people, that the priests and the prophets and all the people took him, saying, Thou shalt surely die'' (26:8).

Before Jeremiah was born, God had called him to a specific task.  We should be asking what is it that God has called us to do?  What is the mission you were born to fulfill?  Remember that in the creative mind of God there is a divine purpose for you.  It is our responsibility to the seek the will of God for our lives.  We should never doubt that we have been endowed with the particular aptitude that requires us to fulfill the purpose that God demands of our life.  We have been formed by God for His purpose.  We should not be envious, jealous or covetous of the lives of other; it is enough for us to be what God has made us to be. 

Just as God formed and called Jeremiah we too have been called for a purpose.

I am convinced that the weakness and spiritual lethargy that characterizes far too many churches in these days is due at least partially to the fact that their pulpits are occupied by uncalled men; men who have usurped the divine privilege and have placed themselves in positions that they have no right to hold. In such cases the voice of authority is replaced by the view of opinion; proclamation is replaced by discussion; the Word of God is replaced by the words of men. But miserable indeed is the man who, having received a definite call from God, has refused to obey that call! Jeremiah tried to keep from speaking forth God's word at one point in his career, but he was unable to keep it in because it was like a fire shut up in his bones (Jer 20:9). Peter and John on one occasion said, "We cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard" (Acts 4:20). And Paul referred to the inward compulsion that he felt: "Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!" (1 Cor 9:16). So it always is with the real prophet: He becomes miserable when for one reason or other he is not engaged in fulfilling his divine vocation.

Jeremiah's suffering.

Few men ever suffered for doing good as much as Jeremiah. He was imprisoned again and again.

·        Chapter 20, verse 2, tells us that he was put in stocks.

·        Chapter 38 records that he was lowered by ropes into a miry dungeon (probably a cistern), accused of treason, opposed by false prophets, and surrounded by his countrymen who were demanding he die.

·        He was then carried away into Egypt and not permitted to die in his beloved Judah.

We can readily see that his suffering at the hands of his own people is a type and picture of the agony of Christ.  “He came unto his own, and his own received him not.” John 1:11

Jeremiah's message.

In our culture today, we are accustomed to instant everything.  We have instant meals by just adding water; we have instant money at ATM, we have fast passes at the airport, so we don’t have to wait in long lines.  We have email, twitter, so we don’t have to wait days for a letter.  We have snapchat, voice-mail, facebook, and smart phone so we can be in instant contact. 

Because we have an immediate life, we get lulled into the self-deception that God is not going to bring judgment on us.  But Jeremiah reminds us that judgment will come, and we will pay for our sins.  Even if that judgment is not instant, there is a day of reckoning coming.  The message of Jeremiah is relevant to us today. 

The words of the LORD, when He commissioned Jeremiah, are: ''For, behold, I have made thee this day a fortified city, and an iron pillar, and bronze walls against the whole land, against kings of Judah, against its princes, against its priests, and against the people of the land'' (1:18).

It took them all in-- the throne, the politicians, the clergy, and the laity. His message was against every Jew; consequently, it turned every Jew against him. Why did God ask this of His servant?

The nation was rushing headlong toward destruction. God thrust Jeremiah onto the scene to endeavor to save them. He was faced with a decision: should he go along with the crowd, or should he go with God?  Same decision you must make today.

To the east of Palestine were the mighty Assyrians, and Egypt was a substantial threat on the south. So the frightened Jews were trying to play politics. God had said, ''Go not down into Egypt for help'' (42:19). Why did He give this command? Because the LORD alone was their help. So, Jeremiah sounded the message, ''Repent! Repent! Repent!''

The message of Jeremiah was a two-part message, repent or be destroyed.  Anytime a message of destruction is given people will rise up and rebel against the message.  The prophets and priests of the day assured the people that the very presence of Jehovah’s Temple was a guarantee of their safety, and to suggest that a fate might come upon them was the height of presumption.

When Jeremiah was finished with his message, he found himself in the middle of an angry group of people.  Had it not been for the prompt intervention of the princes he would have been killed on the spot.

The Word of God is never quietly accepted by those who hug their sin.  They will rise up in anger and try to destroy those who are the messenger of God.  Jesus told us that if they hated Him, we would be hated as well.  The message of repentance is never a easy message to give or receive.

If you want to know about the times of Jeremiah's work, look at chapter 36. The prophet is confined in prison, and his scribe Baruch is with him. God commanded Jeremiah to put into a scroll all the words that He had spoken against Israel, Judah, and the nations. Baruch transcribed this message. Did the people receive it? Jehudi, the king's servant, took the scroll, cut it with a knife, and cast it into the fire to destroy it. The record comments, ''Yet they were not afraid, nor tore their garments, neither the king nor any of his servants that heard all these words'' (36:24).  The destruction of the scroll did not cancel the judgment of God.

In the Book of Revelation, Jesus told John to write what he saw and to give the message to the Churches.  John gave the message as he saw it.  It was a message of repent or destruction would come.  That is the message for today.  Just like in the day of Jeremiah people are refusing to listen.

Why do they refuse to listen? Because wicked people hate God's Word, for it testifies against their sins. The psalmist said, ''But unto the wicked, God saith, what hast thou to do to declare My statutes, or that thou shouldest take My covenant in thy mouth, seeing thou hatest instruction, and castest My words behind thee?'' (Psalm 50:16,17). Evil men seek to destroy God's Word because it tells of their doom.

But the wicked can no more destroy the written Word than they could the Living Word. ''Forever, O Lord, Thy word is settled in heaven'' (Psalm 119:89). Jesus spoke some very stringent words, recorded in John, when He asked the Jews, ''If He called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken, say ye of Him, whom the Father hath sanctified and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?'' (John 10:35,36). Jesus had earlier certified Jeremiah's words when He said, ''Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets; I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no way pass from the law, till all be fulfilled'' (Mat 5:17,18).

You might think there is no bright side to the prophecy of Jeremiah, yet there is.

Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: ³² Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord: ³³ But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. ³⁴ And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. Jer, 31:33

The new covenant that was give is through Jesus Christ.  The new covenant is a spiritual one, not physical with rituals and ceremonies, not the works of the Law but where God dwell within us, we are baptized with the Holy Spirit, we have one LORD, one faith, one baptism that LORD is Jesus Christ, the faith is in the atonement of His shed blood, and the baptism is the baptism of the Holy Ghost with fire purifying our hearts.

If you have not accepted Jesus as your LORD and Savior, you need to do so now.  Today is the day of salvation, now is the accepted time.