Chapters 16 to 22 have to do with the life of Jeremiah as it
went during the days of his warning to Judah. Chapter 23 is to do
with the time of the end and the coming of the Messiah to
establish the Kingdom of God on earth.
Certainly MANY lessons can be learned from these chapters.
You see how many of them you can find and apply to your life and
the life of your nation.
From the New-Living Translation:
CHAPTER 16
Jeremiah Forbidden to Marry
The LORD gave me another message. 16 He said, "Do not marry or
have children in this place. 3 For this is what the LORD says
about the children born here in this city and about their mothers
and fathers: 4 They will die from terrible diseases. No one will
mourn for them or bury them, and they will lie scattered on the
ground like dung. They will die from war and famine, and their
bodies will be food for the vultures and wild animals."
Judah's Coming Punishment
5 "Do not go to their funerals to mourn and show sympathy for
them," says the LORD, "for I have removed my protection and peace
from them. I have taken away my unfailing love and my mercy. 6
Both the great and the lowly will die in this land. No one will
bury them or mourn for them. Their friends will not cut
themselves or shave their heads in sadness. 7 No one will offer a
meal to comfort those who mourn for the dead - not even for the
death of a mother or a father. No one will send a cup of wine to
console them.
8 "And do not go to their feasts and parties. Do not eat and
drink with them at all. 9 For the LORD Almighty, the God of
Israel, says: In your own lifetime, before your very eyes, I will
put an end to the happy singing and laughter in this land. The
joyful voices of bridegrooms and brides will no longer be heard.
10 "When you tell the people all these things, they will ask,
'Why has the LORD decreed such terrible things against us? What
have we done to deserve such treatment? What is our sin against
the LORD our God?' 11 Tell them that this is the LORD's reply: It
is because your ancestors were unfaithful to me. They worshipped
other gods and served them. They abandoned me. They did not keep
my law. 12 And you are even worse than your ancestors! You
stubbornly follow your own evil desires and refuse to listen to
me. 13 So I will throw you out of this land and send you into a
foreign land where you and your ancestors have never been. There
you can worship idols all you like - and I will grant you no
favors!
Are our lands today stubbornly following the traditions and
ways that we have devised in our hearts? Can you find any
political leader today who is not only living by every word of
God, but is actively turning back the people to following the way
of the Lord as revealed in His Bible? NO THERE ARE NO SUCH
LEADERS TODAY!!
Hope despite the Disaster
14 "But the time is coming." says the LORD, "when people who are
taking an oath will no longer say, 'As surely as the LORD lives,
who rescued the people of Israel from the land of Egypt.' 15
Instead, they will say, 'As surely as the LORD lives, who brought
the people of Israel back to their own land from the land of the
north and from all the countries to which he had exiled them.'
For I will bring them back to this land that I gave their
ancestors."
A fulfilment in the days of Jeremiah when Judah was allowed
back in the holy land after 70 years captivity in Babylon, BUT
there WILL YET BE ANOTHER FULFILMENT AT THE END OF THIS AGE, AS
WE HAVE SEEN IN THE WORDS OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH, AS WELL AS IN
THE PROPHECIES OF JEREMIAH.
16 "But now I am sending for many fishermen who will catch them,"
says the LORD. "I am sending for hunters who will search for them
in the forests and caves. 17 I am watching them closely, and I
see every sin. They cannot hope to hide from me. "8 I will punish
them doubly for all their sins, because they have defiled my land
with lifeless images of their detestable gods and filled my
inheritance with their evil deeds."
Judah, the Jews today, are living according to their own
heart and mind, they are not in the main, a religious people,
they are SECULAR, and hence all that is written here applies to
them in this very age of the 21st century.
Jeremiah's Prayer of Confidence
19 LORD, you are my strength and fortress, my refuge in the day
of trouble! Nations from around the world will come to you and
say, "Our ancestors were foolish, for they worshipped worthless
idols." 20 Can people make their own god? The gods they make are
not real gods at all!"
21 "So now I will show them my power and might," says the LORD.
"At last they will know that I am the LORD."
A prophecy to be yet again, with even more power and
splendour, to come to pass in the last days of this age.
CHAPTER 17
Judah's Sin and Punishment
1 The LORD says, "My people act as though their evil ways are
laws to be obeyed, inscribed with a diamond point on their stony
hearts, or with an iron chisel on the corners of their altars. 2
Even their children go to worship at their sacred altars and
Asherah poles, beneath every green tree and on every high hill."
Here we see the worship UNDER "sacred" trees, the
imagination of the heart. We still today use "a tree" at the
secular or "Christian" (in quotes you'll notice) time we call
Christmas.
3 "So I will give all your wealth and treasures - together with
your pagan shrines - as plunder to your enemies, for sin runs
rampant in your land. 4 The wonderful inheritance I have reserved
for you will slip out of your hands, and I will send you away as
captives to a foreign land. For you have kindled my anger into a
roaring fire that will burn forever."
"Forever" can mean "until the conditions apply" - we have
seen God's anger towards them will not be eternal in length of
time.
Wisdom from the LORD
5 This is what the LORD says: "Cursed are those who put their
trust in mere humans and turn their hearts away from the LORD. 6
They are like stunted shrubs in the desert, with no hope for the
future. They will live in the barren wilderness, on the salty
flats where no one lives.
7 "But blessed are those who trust in the LORD and have made the
LORD their hope and confidence. 8 They are like trees planted
along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water.
Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months
of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they go right on
producing delicious fruit."
Read Psalm 1. And do not put your faith and trust in a mere
human, test them with the word of God, see Isaiah 8:20.
9 "The human heart is most deceitful and desperately wicked. Who
really knows how bad it is?
A mistranslation here. Note your KJV version, note the
"italic" word. There is no word "is" in the Hebrew. The truth of
the matter is the heart of man is NOT ALWAYS deceitful above all
things, and desperately wicked. Depending on the environment and
up-bringing of a person, SOME unconverted hearts CAN BE (in the
terms of morality and standards of the world) quite GOOD,
PLEASANT, AND NICE. There are many people out there, who profess
NO RELIGION, who do not think about God, do not read His word,
yet can be in the way they live, BETTER, NICER TO BE AROUND, MORE
CHARITABLE, KINDER, LOVING, MORE HUMBLE, than some who call
themselves "Christian" to the SHAME of those who consider
themselves a Christian and regular "church attender."
Certainly the heart of mankind CAN BE DESPERATELY WICKED.
The truth is the heart of man is not born or automatically
desperately wicked. See Deut.1:39. There is a time in a child's
life where God says they do not know good or evil, they are
innocent. Samuel is a fine example. He was an innocent child and
was put in the service of the Temple. With good teaching, a good
environment, Samuel NEVER had a heart that was deceitful or
desperately wicked.
This verse in Jeremiah, verse 9, has been OFTEN MISUSED and
ABUSED by religious preachers.
Jesus in there Gospels said the heart can be evil or good; read the Gospels and you'll find Jesus talking about the heart of man in the context of this world.
10 "But I know! I, the LORD, search all hearts and examine secret
motives. I give all people their due rewards, according to what
their actions deserve."
Yes, God looks to see if THAT particular heart is "deceitful
and desperately wicked."
Jeremiah's Trust in the LORD
11 Like a bird that hatches eggs she has not laid, so are those
who get their wealth by unjust means. Sooner or later they will
lose their riches and, at the end of their lives, will become
poor old fools.
12 But we worship at your throne - eternal, high, and glorious!
13 O LORD, the hope of Israel, all who turn away from you will be
disgraced and shamed. They will be buried in a dry and dusty
grave, for they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living
water.
14 0 LORD, you alone can heal me; you alone can save. My praises
are for you alone! 15 People scoff at me and say, "What is this
'message from the LORD' you keep talking about? Why don't your
predictions come true?"
It is no different today. Many will say that what I'm
telling you the prophets have foreseen and what WILL come to
pass, in Europe, the West, and the East, leading to the Great
Tribulation and the last 42 months of this age are predictions
that have been told to you for 60 or more years. People today
will say, "What is this message from God you keep saying? Why do
they not come to pass?"
16 LORD, I have not abandoned my job as a shepherd for your
people. I have not urged you to send disaster. It is your message
I have given them, not my own. 17 LORD, do not desert me now! You
alone are my hope in the day of disaster. 18 Bring shame and
terror on all who persecute me, but give me peace. Yes, bring
double destruction upon them!
So it will be in the end-time of this age. The things you
read about on my Website and Blog WILL COME TO PASS, and DESTRUCTION
will be DOUBLED. The Lord will not be PATIENT with our nations
forever; in HIS TIME, all will come to be as written.
Observing the Sabbath
19 Then the LORD said to me, "Go and stand in the gates of
Jerusalem, first at the gate where the king goes out, and then at
each of the other gates. 20 Say to all the people, 'Listen to
this message from the LORD, you kings of Judah and all you people
of Judah and everyone living in Jerusalem. 21 This is what the
LORD says: Listen to my warning and live! Stop carrying on your
trade at Jerusalem's gates on the Sabbath day. 22 Do not do your
work on the Sabbath, but make it a holy day. I gave this command
to your ancestors, 23 but they did not listen or obey. They
stubbornly refused to pay attention and would not respond to
discipline.
24 "But if you obey me," says the LORD, "and do not carry on your
trade or work on the Sabbath day, and if you keep it holy, 25
then this nation will continue forever. There will always be a
descendant of David sitting on the throne here in Jerusalem.
Kings and their officials will always ride among the people of
Judah in chariots and on horses, and this city will remain
forever. 26 And from all around Jerusalem, from the towns of
Judah and Benjamin, from the western foothills and the hill
country and the Negev, the people will come with their burnt
offerings and sacrifices. They will bring their grain offerings,
incense, and thanksgiving offerings to the LORD's Temple.
27 But if you do not listen to me and refuse to keep the Sabbath
holy, and if on the Sabbath day you bring loads of merchandise
through the gates of Jerusalem just as on other days, then I will
set fire to these gates. The fire will spread to the palaces, and
no one will be able to put out the roaring flames.'"
Of all the SINS God could have given emphasis to, sins that
nearly all people would name FIRST on the list, the Lord chose
the sin of SABBATH BREAKING!!
DO YOU THINK THE SABBATH COMMAND IS THE LEAST OF
COMMANDMENTS? Most would say it is. I am reminded of the verses
that say, "My ways are not your ways, My thought are not your
thoughts" says the Almighty. As unimportant as the Sabbath
commandment is to most, it is not so to the Lord!! For Judah in
the days of Jeremiah, the Sabbath commandment meant LIFE or
DEATH! Why you may ask?
If as NATIONS we were willing to OBEY the Sabbath
commandment, to keep it holy, to do not our regular work on the
Sabbath day, if we were willing to DELIGHT in observing the
Sabbath, the 7th day of the week, as it is written; then our
nations would KNOW the TRUE GOD! We would then be willing to
follow him, to worship Him in spirit and in truth. We would be
willing to live by His every word. Our lands would be willing to
turn from sin to righteousness. Obeying, what many consider the
"least commandment" would mean we would then obey what many
consider the greater commandments. Our lands would be HEALED in a
way that would SHOCK the rest of the world.
Yes, that is why God has said IF you obey the Sabbath
commandment you will live happily and prosperously in the land
forever. It is a mind-set, breaking the least of the commandments
means you go on to break all the others. So it is with modern
Judah and Israel. So it will be again - we will face the anger
and punishment of our God for all of our sins!
The Potter and the Clay
CHAPTER 18
1 The LORD gave another message to Jeremiah. He said, 2 "Go down
to the shop where clay pots and jars are made. I will speak to
you while you are there." 3 So I did as he told me and found the
potter working at his wheel. 4 But the jar he was making did not
turn out as he had hoped, so the potter squashed the jar into a
lump of day and started again.
5 Then the LORD gave me this message: 6 "O Israel, can I not do
to you as this potter has done to his clay? As the clay is in the
potter's hand, so are you in my hand. 7 If I announce that a
certain nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down, and
destroyed, 8 but then that nation renounces its evil ways, I will
not destroy it as I had planned. 9 And if I announce that I will
build up and plant a certain nation or kingdom, making it strong
and great, 10 but then that nation turns to evil and refuses to
obey me, I will not bless that nation as I had said I would.
11 Therefore, Jeremiah, go and warn all Judah and Jerusalem. Say
to them, 'This is what the LORD says: I am planning disaster
against you instead of good. So turn from your evil ways, each of
you, and do what is right."
12 But they replied, "Don't waste your breath. We will continue
to live as we want to, following our own evil desires."
So today, the voice of the true servants of the Lord,
shouting out the sins of our nations, is not heard, not listened
to. People, leaders, preachers of religion, just keep on saying
they will live according to their own desires, according to the
way that seems right to man; but it will end in DEATH!
13 Then the LORD said, "Has anyone ever heard of such a thing,
even among the pagan nations? My virgin Israel has done something
too terrible to understand! 14 Does the snow ever melt high up in
the mountains of Lebanon? Do the cold, flowing streams from the
crags of Mount Hermon ever run dry? 15 These can be counted on,
but not my people! For they have deserted me and turned to
worthless idols. They have stumbled off the ancient highways of
good, and they walk the muddy paths of sin. 16 Therefore, their
land will become desolate, a monument to their stupidity. All who
pass by will be astonished and shake their heads in amazement at
its utter desolation. 17 I will scatter my people before their
enemies as the east wind scatters dust. And in all their trouble
I will turn my back on them and refuse to notice their distress."
What a state to be in, a time when God will NOT HEAR, will
have no mercy, will turn His back on you. That day is coming
again for Israel and Judah. Truly it will be a DARK day.
A Plot against Jeremiah
18 Then the people said, "Come on, let's find a way to stop
Jeremiah. We have our own priests and wise men and prophets. We
don't need him to teach the law and give us advice and
prophecies. Let's spread rumors about him and ignore what he
says."
19 LORD, help me! Listen to what they are planning to do to me!
20 Should they repay evil for good? They have set a trap to kill
me, though I pleaded for them and tried to protect them from your
anger. 21 So let their children starve! Let the sword pour out
their blood! Let their wives become widows without any children!
Let their old men die in a plague, and let their young men be
killed in battle! 22 Let screaming be heard from their homes as
warriors come suddenly upon them. For they have dug a pit for me,
and they have hidden traps along my path.
23 LORD, you know all about their murderous plots against me.
Don't forgive their crimes and blot out their sins. Let them die
before you. Deal with them in your anger.
Not only was Jeremiah told to NOT PRAY for Judah and/or
Israel, but here we find a true servant of the Holy One, praying
that destruction and sorrow will speedily come. Yes, it must be
so from the lips of God's true prophets, for in punishment and
destruction comes REPENTANCE and a turning back to God with a
true heart and mind.
Jeremiah's Shattered jar
19 The LORD said to me, "Go and buy a clay jar. Then ask some of
the leaders of the people and of the priests to follow you. 2 Go
out into the valley of the son of Hinnom by the entrance to the
Potsherd Gate, and repeat to them the words that I give you. 3
Say to them, 'Listen to this message from the LORD, you kings of
Judah and citizens of Jerusalem! This is what the LORD Almighty,
the God of Israel, says: I will bring such a terrible disaster on
this place that the ears of those who hear about it will ring!
4 For Israel has forsaken me and turned this valley into a place
of wickedness. The people burn incense to foreign gods - idols
never before worshipped by this generation, by their ancestors,
or by the kings of Judah. And they have filled this place with
the blood of innocent children. 5 They have built pagan shrines
to Baal, and there they burn their sons as sacrifices to Baal. I
have never commanded such a horrible deed; it never even crossed
my mind to command such a thing! 6 So beware, for the time is
coming, says the LORD, when this place will no longer be called
Topheth or the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the Valley of
Slaughter. 7 For I will upset the battle plans of Judah and
Jerusalem and let invading armies slaughter them. The enemy will
leave the dead bodies as food for the vultures and wild animals.
8 I will wipe Jerusalem from the face of the earth, making it a
monument to their stupidity. All who pass by will be appalled and
will gasp at the destruction they see there. 9 I will see to it
that your enemies lay siege to the city until all the food is
gone. Then those trapped inside will have to eat their own sons
and daughters and friends. They will be driven to utter despair.
10 As these men watch, Jeremiah, smash the jar you brought with
you. 11 Then say to them, 'This is what the LORD Almighty says:
As this jar lies shattered, so I will shatter the people of Judah
and Jerusalem beyond all hope of repair. They will bury the
bodies in Topheth until there is no more room. 12 This is what I
will do to this place and its people, says the LORD. I will cause
this city to become defiled like Topheth. 13 Yes, all the houses
in Jerusalem, including the palace of Judah's kings, will become
like Topheth - all the houses where you burned incense on the
rooftops to your star gods, and where drink offerings were poured
out to your idols."
What words from the Eternal One, it is beyond sobering, it
is mind-blowing. The destruction of Judah and Jerusalem in the
days of Jeremiah was beyond words to imagine what it must have
been like.
Yet, the prophets tell us the time is coming when
TRIBULATION on Judah, Jerusalem, and all the world, will BE AS
NEVER BEFORE OR NEVER AGAIN AFTER. You need to read Matthew 24;
Mark 13; Luke 21. Jeremiah was told it (Jer.30:7) - Daniel was
told it (Dan.12:1) and Jesus told it (Mat.24:21). All the
tribulations that have gone before will be as a Sunday afternoon
picnic in comparison.
14 Then Jeremiah returned from Topheth where he had delivered
this message, and he stopped in front of the Temple of the LORD.
He said to the people there, 15 "This is what the LORD Almighty,
the God of Israel, says: I will bring disaster upon this city and
its surrounding towns just as I promised, because you have
stubbornly refused to listen to me."
Jeremiah and Pashhur
CHAPTER 20
1 O Now Pashhur son of Immer, the priest in charge of the Temple
of the LORD, heard what Jeremiah was saying. 2 So he arrested
Jeremiah the prophet and had him whipped and put in stocks at the
Benjamin Gate of the LORD's Temple.
3 The next day, when Pashhur finally released him, Jeremiah said,
"Pashhur, the LORD has changed your name. From now on you are to
be called 'The Man Who Lives in Terror.' 4 For this is what the
LORD says: I will send terror upon you and all your friends, and
you will watch as they are slaughtered by the swords of the
enemy. I will hand the people of Judah over to the king of
Babylon. He will take them captive to Babylon or run them through
with the sword. 5 And I will let your enemies plunder Jerusalem.
All the famed treasures of the city - the precious jewels and
gold and silver of your kings - will be carried off to Babylon. 6
As for you, Pashhur, you and all your household will go as
captives to Babylon. There you will die and be buried, you and
all your friends to whom you promised that everything would be
all right."
It is MODERN BABYLON (the whore woman that rides the Beast,
the Babylon of the book of Revelation, that will bring
destruction on Jerusalem, Judah and Israel in the last days. It
is all expounded in detail on my Website.
Jeremiah's Complaint
7 O LORD, you persuaded me, and I allowed myself to be persuaded.
You are stronger than I am, and you overpowered me. Now I am
mocked by everyone in the city. 8 Whenever I speak, the words
come out in a violent outburst. "Violence and destruction!" I
shout. So these messages from the LORD have made me a household
joke. 9 And I can't stop! If I say I'll never mention the LORD or
speak in His name, His word burns in my heart like a fire. It's
like a fire in my bones! I am weary of holding it in!
10 I have heard the many rumors about me. They call me "The Man
Who Lives in Terror." And they say, "If you say anything, we will
report it." Even my old friends are watching me, waiting for a
fatal slip. "He will trap himself," they say, "and then we will
get our revenge on him."
11 But the LORD stands beside me like a great warrior. Before Him
they will stumble. They cannot defeat me. They will be shamed and
thoroughly humiliated. Their dishonor will never be forgotten. 12
O LORD Almighty! You know those who are righteous, and you
examine the deepest thoughts of hearts and minds. Let me see your
vengeance against them, for I have committed my cause to you. 13
Now I will sing out my thanks to the LORD! Praise the LORD! For
though I was poor and needy, He delivered me from my oppressors.
14 Yet I curse the day I was born! May the day of my birth not be
blessed. 15 I curse the messenger who told my father, "Good news
- you have a son!" 16 Let him be destroyed like the cities of old
that the LORD overthrew without mercy. Terrify him all day long
with battle shouts, 17 for He did not kill me at birth. Oh, that
I had died in my mother's womb, that her body had been my grave!
18 Why was I ever born? My entire life has been filled with
trouble, sorrow, and shame.
I guess the burden that Jeremiah was carrying, having to
speak that all this evil and pain and sorrow and destruction was
to come on Judah, Israel and all the world, would have made at
times, the strongest man wish he had never been born, certainly
not called to such a job as Jeremiah was called to do.
No Deliverance from Babylon
CHAPTER 21
1 The LORD spoke through Jeremiah when King Zedekiah sent Pashhur
son of Malkijah and Zephaniah son of Maaseiah, the priest, to
speak with him. They begged Jeremiah, 2 "Please ask the LORD to
help us. King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon has begun his attack on
Judah. Perhaps the LORD will be gracious and do a mighty miracle
as he has done in the past. Perhaps he will force Nebuchadnezzar
to withdraw his armies."
3 Jeremiah replied, "Go back to King Zedekiah and tell him, 4
This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: I will make your
weapons useless against the king of Babylon and the Babylonians
who are attacking you. Yes, I will bring your enemies right into
the heart of this city. 5 I myself will fight against you with
great power, for I am very angry. You have made me furious! 6 I
will send a terrible plague upon this city, and both people and
animals will die." 7 "And then," says the LORD, "even after King
Zedekiah, his officials, and everyone else in the city have
survived war, famine, and disease, I will hand them over to King
Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. He will slaughter them all without
mercy, pity, or compassion."
8 "Tell all the people, This is what the LORD says: Take your
choice of life or death! 9 Everyone who stays in Jerusalem will
die from war, famine, or disease, but those who go out and
surrender to the Babylonians will live. 10 For I have decided to
bring disaster and not good upon this city," says the LORD. "It
will be captured by the king of Babylon, and he will reduce it to
ashes."
Judgment on Judah's Kings
11 "Say to the royal family of Judah, Listen to this message from
the LORD! 12 This is what the LORD says to the dynasty of David:
Give justice to the people you judge! Help those who have been
robbed; rescue them from their oppressors. Do what is right, or
my anger will burn like an unquenchable fire because of all your
sins. 13 I will fight against this city of Jerusalem that boasts,
'We are safe on our mountain! No one can touch us here.' 14 And I
myself will punish you for your sinfulness, says the LORD. I will
light a fire in your forests that will burn up everything around
you."
When God is against you, it makes no difference what your army has
for weapons or how mighty you have built up your war machines. When
the Lord decides you are for destruction, then for destruction you
will be.
A Message for Judah's Kings
22 Then the LORD said to me, "Go over and speak directly to the
king of Judah. Say to him, 2 Listen to this message from the
LORD, you king of Judah, sitting on David's throne. Let your
officials and your people listen, too. 3 This is what the LORD
says: Be fairminded and just. Do what is right! Help those who
have been robbed; rescue them from their oppressors. Quit your
evil deeds! Do not mistreat foreigners, orphans, and widows. Stop
murdering the innocent!
That last sentence could well be talking about ABORTION as
putting it in the modern context of Israel/Judah.
4 If you obey me, there will always be a descendant of David
sitting on the throne here in Jerusalem. The king will ride
through the palace gates in chariots and on horses, with his
parade of officials and subjects. 5 But if you refuse to pay
attention to this warning, I swear by my own name, says the LORD,
that this palace will become a pile of rubble."
A Message about the Palace
6 Now this is what the LORD says concerning the royal palace:
"You are as beloved to me as fruitful Gilead and the green
forests of Lebanon. But I will destroy you and leave you
deserted, with no one living within your walls. 7 I will call for
wreckers, who will bring out their tools to dismantle you. They
will tear out all your fine cedar beams and throw them on the
fire. 8 People from many nations will pass by the ruins of this
city and say to one another, 'Why did the LORD destroy such a
great city?' 9 And the answer will be, 'Because they violated
their covenant with the LORD their God by worshipping other
gods.'"
A Message about Jehoahaz
10 Do not weep for the dead king or mourn his loss. Instead, weep
for the captive king being led away! For he will never return to
see his native land again. 11 For this is what the LORD says
about Jehoahaz, who succeeded his father, King Josiah, and was
taken away as a captive: "He will never return. 12 He will die in
a distant land and never again see his own country."
A Message about Jehoiakim
13 And the LORD Says, "Destruction is certain for Jehoiakim, who
builds his palace with forced labor. By not paying wages, he
builds injustice into its walls and oppression into its
doorframes and ceilings. 14 He says, 'I will build a magnificent
palace with huge rooms and many windows, paneled throughout with
fragrant cedar and painted a lovely red.'
15 "But a beautiful palace does not make a great king! Why did
your father, Josiah, reign so long? Because he was just and right
in all his dealings. That is why God blessed him. 16 He made sure
that justice and help were given to the poor and needy, and
everything went well for him. Isn't that what it means to know
me?" asks the LORD. 17 "But you! You are full of selfish greed
and dishonesty! You murder the innocent, oppress the poor, and
reign ruthlessly."
18 Therefore, this is the LORD's decree of punishment against
King Jehoiakim, who succeeded his father, Josiah, on the throne:
"His family will not weep for him when he dies. His subjects will
not even care that he is dead. 19 He will be buried like a dead
donkey - dragged out of Jerusalem and dumped outside the gate! 20
Weep, for your allies are all gone. Search for them in Lebanon.
Shout for them at Bashan. Search for them in the regions east of
the river. See, they are all destroyed. Not one is left to help
you.
21 When you were prosperous, I warned you, but you replied,
'Don't bother me.' Since childhood you have been that way - you
simply will not listen! 22 And now your allies have all
disappeared with a puff of wind. All your friends have been taken
away as captives. Surely at last you will see your wickedness and
be ashamed. 23 It may be nice to live in a beautiful palace lined
with lumber from the cedars of Lebanon, but soon you will cry and
groan in anguish - anguish like that of a woman about to give
birth.
When it is time for God to punish modern Judah and Israel,
all her friends and lovers will have gone, nay, it is said that
it IS our LOVERS who will be our deadly ENEMY.
A Message for Jehoiachin
24 "And as surely as I live," says the LORD, "I will abandon you,
Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah. Even if you were the
signet ring on my right hand, I would pull you off. 25 I will
hand you over to those who seek to kill you, of whom you are so
desperately afraid - to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and the
mighty Babylonian army. 26 I will expel you and your mother from
this land, and you will die in a foreign country. 27 You will
never again return to the land of your desire.
Many would never return, they died in one way or another. It
was a new generation that were finally allowed to return to
Jerusalem, 70 years after captivity in Babylon.
28 Why is this man Jehoiachin like a discarded, broken dish? Why
are he and his children to be exiled to distant lands? 29 O
earth, earth, earth! Listen to this message from the LORD! 30
This is what the LORD says: "Let the record show that this man
Jehoiachin was childless, for none of his children will ever sit
on the throne of David to rule in Judah. His life will amount to
nothing."
WELL MANY WILL BE SAYING ALL THIS IS HISTORY, IT HAS NO BEARING ON JUDAH AND JERUSALEM TODAY. YES IT DID HAPPEN IN JEREMIAH'S DAY. BUT WE SHALL SEE VERY PLAINLY IT WILL HAPPEN AGAIN IN JUDAH AND ON JERUSALEM.
The Righteous Branch
CHAPTER 23
1 "I will send disaster upon the leaders of my people - the
shepherds of my sheep - for they have destroyed and scattered the
very ones they were expected to care for," says the LORD.
2 This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says to these
shepherds:
"Instead of leading my flock to safety, you have deserted them
and driven them to destruction. Now I will pour out judgment on
you for the evil you have done to them. 3 But I will gather
together the remnant of my flock from wherever I have driven
them. I will bring them back into their own fold, and they will
be fruitful and increase in number. 4 Then I will appoint
responsible shepherds to care for them, and they will never be
afraid again. Not a single one of them will be lost or missing,"
says the LORD.
5 "For the time is coming," says the LORD, "when I will place a
righteous Branch on King David's throne. He will be a King who
rules with wisdom. He will do what is just and right throughout
the land. 6 And this is his name: 'The LORD Is Our
Righteousness.' In that day Judah will be saved, and Israel will
live in safety.
AH, AS ALL BIBLE SCHOLARS KNOW THIS IS A PROPHECY OF THE
COMING OF THE MESSIAH IN POWER AND GLORY TO ESTABLISH THE KINGDOM
OF GOD ON EARTH! JUDAH TO BE SAVED! ISRAEL TO DWELL SAFELY!
THE CONTEXT IS REGATHERING OF ISRAEL AND JUDAH, APPOINTING
OVER THEM TRUE GOOD SHEPHERDS, GATHERING THEM FROM ALL THE LANDS
GOD HAS SCATTERED THEM AT THE TIME OF THE END. AS I'VE SAID
BEFORE, EVERYWHERE IN PROPHECY, THE PEOPLES OF ISRAEL AND JUDAH
ARE SCATTERED IN CAPTIVITY IN THE LANDS OF THEIR ENEMIES, AT THE
COMING OF CHRIST. IT IS THE MESSIAH THAT DELIVERS THEM FROM THAT
CAPTIVITY AND RESTORES THEM TO THE HOLY LAND, WHERE THEY WILL
LIVE IN PEACE AND SAFETY AND OBEY THE LORD THEIR GOD. SALVATION
POURED OUT ON THEM.
7 "In that day," says the LORD, "when people are taking an oath,
they will no longer say, 'As surely as the LORD lives, who
rescued the people of Israel from the land of Egypt.' 8 Instead,
they will say, 'As surely as the LORD lives, who brought the
people of Israel back to their own land from the land of the
north and from all the countries to which he had exiled them.'
Then they will live in their own land."
Judgment on False Prophets
9 "My heart is broken because of the false prophets, and I
tremble uncontrollably. I stagger like a drunkard, like someone
overcome by wine, because of the holy words the LORD has spoken
against them. 10 For the land is full of adultery, and it lies
under a curse. The land itself is in mourning - its pastures are
dried up. For the prophets do evil and abuse their power.
11 The priests are like the prophets, all ungodly, wicked men. I
have seen their despicable acts right here in my own Temple,"
says the LORD. 12 "Therefore, their paths will be dark and
slippery. They will be chased down dark and treacherous trails,
where they will fall. For I will bring disaster upon them when
their time of punishment comes. I, the LORD, have spoken!"
Over and over again, the Lord speaks about the FALSE
ministers, the false priests, the false prophets, in all of
Israel. It is they and the political leaders, those in public
office, that God puts the blame on, as to the punishment and
destruction that He must pour out on all the 13 tribes of Israel.
They did not lead the people into the true ways of the Lord, they
did not speak the truth and righteousness of the Holy One. All of
them, the spiritual and secular leaders, will be exposed, they
will be shown to be the FALSE PROPHETS, even through the disaster
that Israel and Judah must face.
13 "I saw that the prophets of Samaria (the House of Israel) were
terribly evil, for they prophesied by Baal and led my people of
Israel into sin.
Notice that God is NOT excluding Israel in all of what must
come to be - punishment and destruction. There it is, the
PROPHETS (spiritual and secular) are not just sinners, they are
"terribly evil" and they teach by "Baal" - simply pagan false
teachings which lead Israel to SIN!
As you may see and listen to the leaders of Canada and the
USA in those countrie's election this fall (the year 2008) for
Prime-minister and Presidents. As you listen to flowery and
sometimes dynamic speeches, that sound Oh so good, so promising,
so positive, you need to remember God hears none of the fine
oratory, tone of voice. He sees not the charisma of personalities
or how the words coming out of their mouth are put together. God
sees behind it all, behind the fan-fair, behind the banners,
behind the exited shouts of individuals claiming their party and
its leader should rule the country. God in His prophetic word,
sees none of this, sincere as it may appear. The Lord sees the
mounting and terrible SINS of our people. He sees us breaking
what some consider the least commandment (which should then be
the easiest to obey) - the Sabbath day, and He sees us KILLING
the innocent children by the thousands through abortion. He sees
the ever rise of homosexuality and Lesbianism and same sex
marriage. He sees our ever thirst for VIOLENCE on TV and in
movies. He sees the immorality mounting on prime time TV sick-
coms. He sees our ever more acceptance of EVOLUTION and throwing
Him out of all our institutions of education. He see our white
collar and blue collar crimes. He sees our drug addictions, our
prostitution, our drunkenness, our sexual immorality, our rise of
perverted people towards children. He sees our gangs of thugs
killing each other and innocent by-standers as well. He sees the
crazy amount of money spent on sports people and film-stars and
our obsession to travel into space, to planets that are mere
rocks of nothingness.
God sees all of this, not withstanding, our hype over
political elections. He sees the falsehood of our spiritual and
physical leaders in Israel.
14 "But now I see that the prophets of Jerusalem are even worse!
They commit adultery, and they love dishonesty. They encourage
those who are doing evil instead of turning them away from their
sins. These prophets are as wicked as the people of Sodom and
Gomorrah once were."
Wow, what a condemnation to Judah, to the Jews in Jerusalem
and the Promised Land.
15 Therefore, this is what the LORD Almighty says concerning the
prophets: "I will feed them with bitterness and give them poison
to drink. For it is because of Jerusalem's prophets that
wickedness fills this land. 16 This is my warning to my people,"
says the LORD Almighty. "Do not listen to these prophets when
they prophesy to you, filling you with futile hopes. They are
making up everything they say. They do not speak for the LORD! 17
They keep saying to these rebels who despise my word, 'Don't
worry! The LORD says you will have peace!' And to those who
stubbornly follow their own evil desires, they say, 'No harm will
come your way!'
18 "But can you name even one of these prophets who knows the
LORD well enough to hear what he is saying? Has even one of them
cared enough to listen?
The time is coming, when the false prophets will be exposed.
Anyone who is willing to listen to God, is told, to not have
anything to do with Israel's and Judah's false prophets,
ministers, leaders. God cannot name one of them that hears what
He is saying. In fact He says there is none of them who even
cares enough to listen. As far as I know not one of them is
studying from my Website, and I certainly know not one of them
is emailing me or calling me on the phone to learn what God
teaches and says.
19 Look! The LORD's anger bursts out like a storm, a whirlwind
that swirls down on the heads of the wicked. 20 The anger of the
LORD will not diminish until it has finished all his plans. In
the days to come, you will understand all this very clearly.
Oh, you bet we will come to know all this in its time. Its
time of this prophecy of chapter 23 is the time when the Messiah
Christ will come in power and glory to rule all nations with a
rod of iron.
21 "I have not sent these prophets, yet they claim to speak for
me. I have given them no message, yet they prophesy. 22 If they
had listened to me, they would have spoken my words and turned my
people from their evil ways. 23 Am I a God who is only in one
place?" asks the LORD. "Do they think I cannot see what they are
doing? 24 Can anyone hide from me? Am I not everywhere in all the
heavens and earth?" asks the LORD.
These leaders do not come from God. He did not send them. He
did not give them His message. If they were from God they would
be turning His people from their sins! God sees the sins, even if
the people and their leaders cannot.
25 "I have heard these prophets say, 'Listen to the dream I had
from God last night.' And then they proceed to tell lies in my
name. 26 How long will this go on? If they are prophets, they are
prophets of deceit, inventing everything they say. 27 By telling
these false dreams, they are trying to get my people to forget
me, just as their ancestors did by worshipping the idols of Baal.
28 Let these false prophets tell their dreams, but let my true
messengers faithfully proclaim my every word. There is a
difference between chaff and wheat! 29 Does not my word burn like
fire?" asks the LORD. "Is it not like a mighty hammer that
smashes rock to pieces?
Jesus said to His true servants that BEWARE if men shall
speak well of you, for so they did to the false prophets of old.
The Lord through His true prophets will be telling you what
the Eternal One tells you in His written prophets of old, and
that is just not popular today, when most want to hear smooth
things, they want messages of peace and safety and certainly NOT
TOLD their SINS, and where as individuals and nations we need to
CHANGE the way we think, say, and do. God's word and truth are at
times indeed like a MIGHTY HAMMER that smashes the rock to
pieces!
30 "Therefore," says the LORD, "I stand against these prophets
who get their messages from each other 31 these smoothtongued
prophets who say, 'This prophecy is from the LORD!' 32 Their
imaginary dreams are flagrant lies that lead my people into sin.
I did not send or appoint them, and they have no message at all
for my people," says the LORD.
Kinda plain it is. God pulls no punches at times, He lay it
all on the table.
False Prophecies and False Prophets
33 "Suppose one of the people or one of the prophets or priests
asks you, 'What prophecy has the LORD burdened you with now?' You
must reply, 'You are the burden! The LORD says he will abandon
you!' 34 If any prophet, priest, or anyone else says, 'I have a
prophecy from the LORD,' I will punish that person along with his
entire family. 35 You should keep asking each other, 'What is the
LORD'S answer?' or 'What is the LORD saying?' 36 But stop using
this phrase, 'prophecy from the LORD.' For people are using it to
give authority to their own ideas, turning upside down the words
of our God, the living God, the LORD Almighty.
As James was inspired to write, NOT MANY should be teachers
of the word of God, for a greater judgement is upon them. There
are many out there who claim they come from God, the land is full
of them, every town is full of them. But they are the ones who
turn upside down the truths of God. The time will come when they
will be paid the wage they have earned, and it will not be the
wage they expect.
37 "This is what you should say to the prophets: 'What is the
LORD's answer?' or 'What is the LORD saying?' 38 But suppose they
respond, 'This is a prophecy from the LORD!' Then you should say,
'This is what the LORD says: Because you have used this phrase,
(prophecy from the LORD), even though I warned you not to use it,
39 I will forget you completely. I will expel you from my
presence, along with this city that I gave to you and your
ancestors. 40 And I will make you an object of ridicule, and your
name will be infamous throughout the ages."
There it is; God will answer in no uncertain terms one day,
that day or time being the very last 42 months at the end of this
age as given in detail in the book of Revelation.
..................
To be continued
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