"GOD'S GREATNESS ALWAYS RULES"
God's Greatness Always Rules • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Pray for mekenzie - custodynof kids this week -
Give the setting/background information
The book of Jeremiah is warning the people about the last hour. Judah was involved in apostasy, idolatry, perverted worship, and moral decay. Jeremiah has proclaimed for forty years about the coming judgment. They did not listen to him and in 586 BC the Babylonians came in and wiped out Judah as a result of their sin.
The book of Lamentations is Jeremiah’s morning for the nation of Judah.
Chapter 1 – “The Destruction of Jerusalem”
Chapter 2 – “The Anger of Jehovah” (Judah was destroyed b/c of their rebellion against God)
Chapter 3 – “The Prayer of Mercy”
Chapter 4 – “The Siege of Jerusalem”
Chapter 5 – “The Prayer for Restoration”
The Southern Kingdom (Judah)
Things that happened to Judah as a result of their rebellion towards God –
The Siege of Jerusalem (they encamped the southern Kingdom)
Lamentations 2:20–22 (NASB95)
20 See, O Lord, and look! With whom have You dealt thus? Should women eat their offspring, The little ones who were born healthy? Should priest and prophet be slain In the sanctuary of the Lord?
21 On the ground in the streets Lie young and old; My virgins and my young men Have fallen by the sword. You have slain them in the day of Your anger, You have slaughtered, not sparing.
22 You called as in the day of an appointed feast My terrors on every side; And there was no one who escaped or survived In the day of the Lord’s anger. Those whom I bore and reared, My enemy annihilated them.
5 He has besieged and encompassed me with bitterness and hardship. 6 In dark places He has made me dwell, Like those who have long been dead. 7 He has walled me in so that I cannot go out; He has made my chain heavy.
The Famine in the city
11 All her people groan seeking bread; They have given their precious things for food To restore their lives themselves. “See, O Lord, and look, For I am despised.”
19 “I called to my lovers, but they deceived me; My priests and my elders perished in the city While they sought food to restore their strength themselves.
Lamentations 2:11–12 (NASB95)
11 My eyes fail because of tears, My spirit is greatly troubled; My heart is poured out on the earth Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people, When little ones and infants faint In the streets of the city.
12 They say to their mothers, “Where is grain and wine?” As they faint like a wounded man In the streets of the city, As their life is poured out On their mothers’ bosom.
19 “Arise, cry aloud in the night At the beginning of the night watches; Pour out your heart like water Before the presence of the Lord; Lift up your hands to Him For the life of your little ones Who are faint because of hunger At the head of every street.”
5 Those who ate delicacies Are desolate in the streets; Those reared in purple Embrace ash pits.
9 Better are those slain with the sword Than those slain with hunger; For they pine away, being stricken For lack of the fruits of the field. 10 The hands of compassionate women Boiled their own children; They became food for them Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.
9 We get our bread at the risk of our lives Because of the sword in the wilderness. 10 Our skin has become as hot as an oven, Because of the burning heat of famine.
The flight of the army and the king
3 Judah has gone into exile under affliction And under harsh servitude; She dwells among the nations, But she has found no rest; All her pursuers have overtaken her In the midst of distress.
6 All her majesty Has departed from the daughter of Zion; Her princes have become like deer That have found no pasture; And they have fled without strength Before the pursuer.
2 The Lord has swallowed up; He has not spared All the habitations of Jacob. In His wrath He has thrown down The strongholds of the daughter of Judah; He has brought them down to the ground; He has profaned the kingdom and its princes.
19 Our pursuers were swifter Than the eagles of the sky; They chased us on the mountains, They waited in ambush for us in the wilderness. 20 The breath of our nostrils, the Lord’s anointed, Was captured in their pits, Of whom we had said, “Under his shadow We shall live among the nations.”
The burning of the palace, temple, and city
Lamentations 2:3–5 (NASB95)
3 In fierce anger He has cut off All the strength of Israel; He has drawn back His right hand From before the enemy. And He has burned in Jacob like a flaming fire Consuming round about.
4 He has bent His bow like an enemy; He has set His right hand like an adversary And slain all that were pleasant to the eye; In the tent of the daughter of Zion He has poured out His wrath like fire.
5 The Lord has become like an enemy. He has swallowed up Israel; He has swallowed up all its palaces, He has destroyed its strongholds And multiplied in the daughter of Judah Mourning and moaning.
11 The Lord has accomplished His wrath, He has poured out His fierce anger; And He has kindled a fire in Zion Which has consumed its foundations.
The breaching of the city walls
Lamentations 2:7–9 (NASB95)
7 The Lord has rejected His altar, He has abandoned His sanctuary; He has delivered into the hand of the enemy The walls of her palaces. They have made a noise in the house of the Lord As in the day of an appointed feast.
8 The Lord determined to destroy The wall of the daughter of Zion. He has stretched out a line, He has not restrained His hand from destroying, And He has caused rampart and wall to lament; They have languished together.
9 Her gates have sunk into the ground, He has destroyed and broken her bars. Her king and her princes are among the nations; The law is no more. Also, her prophets find No vision from the Lord.
The exile of the populace
1 How lonely sits the city That was full of people! She has become like a widow Who was once great among the nations! She who was a princess among the provinces Has become a forced laborer!
Lamentations 1:4–5 (NASB95)
4 The roads of Zion are in mourning Because no one comes to the appointed feasts. All her gates are desolate; Her priests are groaning, Her virgins are afflicted, And she herself is bitter.
5 Her adversaries have become her masters, Her enemies prosper; For the Lord has caused her grief Because of the multitude of her transgressions; Her little ones have gone away As captives before the adversary.
18 “The Lord is righteous; For I have rebelled against His command; Hear now, all peoples, And behold my pain; My virgins and my young men Have gone into captivity.
2 Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers, Our houses to aliens.
The looting of the temple
10 The adversary has stretched out his hand Over all her precious things, For she has seen the nations enter her sanctuary, The ones whom You commanded That they should not enter into Your congregation.
Lamentations 2:6–7 (NASB95)
6 And He has violently treated His tabernacle like a garden booth; He has destroyed His appointed meeting place. The Lord has caused to be forgotten The appointed feast and sabbath in Zion, And He has despised king and priest In the indignation of His anger.
7 The Lord has rejected His altar, He has abandoned His sanctuary; He has delivered into the hand of the enemy The walls of her palaces. They have made a noise in the house of the Lord As in the day of an appointed feast.
The execution of the leaders
15 “The Lord has rejected all my strong men In my midst; He has called an appointed time against me To crush my young men; The Lord has trodden as in a wine press The virgin daughter of Judah.
2 The Lord has swallowed up; He has not spared All the habitations of Jacob. In His wrath He has thrown down The strongholds of the daughter of Judah; He has brought them down to the ground; He has profaned the kingdom and its princes.
The collapse of the expected foreign help
17 Yet our eyes failed, Looking for help was useless; In our watching we have watched For a nation that could not save.
In chapter 3 Jeremiah comes to the conclusion that God’s Greatness Always Rules no matter what happens.
In today’s society our world is very sick – (We are permitted to abort babies, homosexuality is permitted, marriages are falling apart, stabbings, murders, and Jesus Christ is mocked)
This morning we are going to see how Jeremiah responds to difficulty. You and I ought to respond to difficulty the say way that Jeremiah does.
Interrogative question –
WHAT ARE YOU HOPING IN? AND SECONDLY
HOW ARE YOU HAVING HOPE?
21 This I recall to my mind, Therefore I have hope.
“Hope”
yachal /yaw·chal/] v. A[1] the idea of “tarrying” and “confident expectation, trust.” The LXX translates it nineteen times with elpizō and epelpizō “to hope.” ASV and RSV translate similarly.
Jeremiah has been remembering and reflecting on what has just happened to Judah. In verse 21 Jeremiah is going to shift gears, he is no longer focusing on what has happened to Judah rather, he reminds himself of the hope that he has.
The question is what kind of hope can Jeremiah have in this situation?
Well, lets look at verse 22 and find out what he has confidence in-
Reminds himself what he hopes in - vs. 22-24
Reminds himself what he hopes in - vs. 22-24
22 The Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, For His compassions never fail. 23 They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. 24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “Therefore I have hope in Him.”
Reminds himself that God’s love is “steadfast and it never ceases” - vs. 22
The word for ”great love“ (the NIV says “Great Love”) is ḥeseḏ, which has the idea of loyal love
Jeremiah remembers the fact that God’s love is loyal no matter what happens. He knows that the promises that God made will be fulfilled.
“Steadfast love”
deeds of devotion(2), devotion(1), devout(1), faithfulness(1), favor(2), good(1), kindly(7), kindness(32), kindnesses(1), loveliness(1), lovingkindness(176), lovingkindnesses(7), loyal deeds(1), loyalty(6), mercies(1), merciful(2), mercy(1), righteousness(1), unchanging love(2).
“Cease”
1 to be complete, be finished, be at an end. 1a (Qal). 1a1 to be finished, be completed[6]
In other words God’s love continues to be no matter what happens.
Mercies never come to an end they are new every morning - vs. 22-23
“Mercy/Compassions”
8171 רַחֲמִים(rǎ∙ḥǎmîm): n.masc.pl. ; ≡ Str 7356; TWOT 2146a—LN 88.75-88.82 compassion, mercy, pity, favor, i.e., the state or condition of receiving favor, and so in some contexts, not be in judgment or deserved punishment, implying relationship (2Sa 24:14
Now Jeremiah reminds himself that God’s mercies never come to an end, in other words they will always continue to be no matter what happens. He then goes on and says that they are new every morning. What is meant by the phrase they are new every morning is that each day you awake you experience the compassions of the Lord in some way. (we experience the compassion of the Lord every day by taking a breath)
Great is the Lord’s Faithfulness - vs. 23
“Faithfulness”
1 firmness, fidelity, steadfastness, steadiness.
[7]
“Great”
1 much, many, great. 1amuch. 1bmany. 1c abounding in. 1d more numerous than. 1eabundant, enough. 1f great. 1g strong. 1h greater than adv. 1i much, exceedingly. 2 captain, chief.
[8]
Now, Jeremiah reminds himself that God is abounding in faithfulness. In other words He is reliable in every aspect.
The Lord is my portion - vs. 24
“Portion”
1 portion, share, part, territory. 1a portion, share. 1b portion, tract, parcel (of land). 1c one’s portion, one’s possession. 1d (chosen) portion. 1eportion, award (from God). 2 smoothness, seductiveness, flattery[9]
He says the Lord is my portion. The term portion means – He (God) is my possession. Jeremiah understands that he could have different kinds of possessions however, the only one that will last is Salvation in Jesus Christ.
Jeremiah concludes by saying “therefore” in other words as a result of God’s love I will hope in the Lord. (he will have a confident expectation in God alone)
He is to hope in the character of God.
Now, lets look at how he is going to achieve this hope -
Reminds himself how to have hope - vs. 25-27
Reminds himself how to have hope - vs. 25-27
25 The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, To the person who seeks Him. 26 It is good that he waits silently For the salvation of the Lord. 27 It is good for a man that he should bear The yoke in his youth.
Having hope in the Lord requires two things –
Waiting for the Lord - vs. 25-26
vs. 26 says that “it is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.” This verse means that as believers we will wait for the Lord to deliver us.
“Quietly”
1876 דּוּמָם(dû∙mām): n.masc. [oth adj.] [see also 1876.5]; ≡ Str 1748; TWOT 415c—LN 23.98 lifelessness, i.e., not having life with the attributes of being dumb or silent, as the feature of an inanimate object (Hab 2:19+), see also domain LN 79
[10]
As we wait for the Lord we will trust Him in every respect.
31 Yet those who wait for the Lord Will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary.
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.
Now, lets look at the second thing -
Seek Him - vs. 27
“Seek”
1 to resort to, seek, seek with care, enquire, require. 1a (Qal). 1a1 to resort to, frequent (a place), (tread a place). 1a2 to consult, enquire of, seek. 1a2a of God. 1a2b of heathen gods, necromancers. 1a3 to seek deity in prayer and worship. 1a3aGod. 1a3b heathen deities. 1a4to seek (with a demand), demand, require. 1a5to investigate, enquire. 1a6 to ask for, require, demand. 1a7 to practice, study, follow, seek with application. 1a8 to seek with care, care for. 1b (Niphal). 1b1to allow oneself to be enquired of, consulted (only of God). 1b2 to be sought, be sought out. 1b3 to be required (of blood).
Vs. 27 says “It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.”
In other words it is good for a youth to carry the burden when he is young. He is saying that it is better if you encounter difficulties when you are young b/c you are vigorous and intense.
“Yoke”
6585 עֹל(ʿōl): n.masc.; ≡ Str 5923; TWOT 1628a—LN 6.4-6.9 yoke, i.e., usually wooden bar and frame with straps, used on beasts of burden for plowing and pulling loads (Nu 19:2), note: often as a reference to oppression or burden, see also domain LN 22.21–22
[12]
Oh that we as believers would have the same response as Jeremiah. We live in a dark and perverse generation, however, we ought to remind ourselves of the hope that we have as believers.
SO WHAT??
WHAT ARE YOU HOPING IN? AND SECONDLY
HOW ARE YOU HAVING HOPE?
Reminds himself what to hopes in - vs. 21-24
Reminds himself that God’s love is “steadfast and it never ceases” - vs. 22
Mercies never come to an end they are new every morning - vs. 22-23
Great is the Lord’s Faithfulness - vs. 23
The Lord is my portion - vs. 24
Reminds himself how to have hope - vs. 25-27
Waits for the Lord
Seeks the Lord