Jeremiah 17
Notes
Transcript
1 The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, and with the point of a diamond: it is graven upon the table of their heart, and upon the horns of your altars; 2 Whilst their children remember their altars and their groves by the green trees upon the high hills.
the sin of Israel at this time had become deeply impressed upon their heart
this can happen to any of us, we stray from God in our heart of hearts, and our heart is hardened before we know it - it sneaks up on us
interestingly we see that the pen of iron and point of diamond , which kind of illustrates this point
it had even gotten so entrenched in them and their culture that their children will not be remembering God, they will be remembering the altars that their forefathers made
one point on idolatry - idols were not simply carved and set up - they thought the idol contained the essence of their gods, and when they made them, they had what was called “the opening of the mouth” or the “opening of the mouth ceremony” where the essence of that god was thought to be introduced into the idol
the land showed their straying from God, with the groves and the temples, etc.
look at the world today - people’s hearts being so far from God has molded the world in a terrible way
must not do this in our own lives - the state of our heart will directly impact our lives
3 O my mountain in the field, I will give thy substance and all thy treasures to the spoil, and thy high places for sin, throughout all thy borders.
likely speaking of either Mt. Zion or mountains where israel would have had their high places, defiling God’s promised lands with that of other Gods
God says He will give their substance, their wealth, their land asd a spoil and will totally turn the place over to the world/sin
4 And thou, even thyself, shalt discontinue from thine heritage that I gave thee; and I will cause thee to serve thine enemies in the land which thou knowest not: for ye have kindled a fire in mine anger, which shall burn for ever.
God tells them they will lose their heritage that He gave them, after showing them great mercy, patience, and lovingkindness
Think about our own lives, God is all powerful, all knowing, everywhere - surely He sees the state of our relationship to us
how much patience is God showing us? ideally, we would not have to have God being patience with us, just hoping we’ll eventually straighten out
are we provoking God? all sin is fundamentally anti-God, and so for us to take it lightly is a problem
5 Thus saith the Lord; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord.
“cursed are those who trust in man and their strength”
not only does the way of living not depend on God, but it relies on the flesh - the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak
and when we think of the power of God - we are nothing compared to Him - if God is with us, who can be against us - a life of trusting in God and HIS strength could not compare to trying to rely on ourselves
leaning on the flesh and counting on the flesh is just barely getting by in a world that is hard to understand sometimes, but a life with God gives us understanding, satisfaction, help, and a peace which surpasses all understanding
most importantly, it talks about those whose heart departed from God - this is the most important issue possible in our life
having a deep relationship with God, a real, personal connection is the way to life, to satisfaction of the soul, to satisfy a hunger and a longing that only God can provide
we have the pearl of great price there for the taking, God is available to us, a chance to know our creator and the God of this entire existence
how seriously we should take this opportunity! we only have one life, and it slips by faster and faster - we don’t want to procrastinate ourselves away from a deep and lasting relationship with our wonderful creator
RELYING ON OUR OWN STRENGTH IS FRUITLESS AND EMPTY
6 For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited.
heath = juniper *ASK IF ANYONE KNOWS WHAT HEATH IS*
one who relies on their own strength is like a plant in a dry and essentially poisonous patch of land
they will not produce fruit, they will dry up and wither - this is a very good image for those who are far from God
7 Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is.
Just think of all the good things that God has done and will do for us - He’s a great God to us, and we need not ever get used to that
He is our hope, our salvation, our deliverance, our satisfacition, the object of our yearning - most importantly, He is our life, and if He’s not, then He should be
Look at Israel, and all God had done for them, and they strayed far from Him - we’re certainly not immune to this - are we neglecting our pearl of great price? are we letting the gifts of God go to wase or not being used?
as we discussed, the book of Jeremiah is largely about Israel’s straying from God and what happened to them - it is a lesson that we could very well take from today
8 For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.
one thing we see from this imagery - we see safety - the plant is safe in it’s location - just as we are safe under God’s protection
another thing - dependability - we know God is our rock and our salvation, an ever present help in time of trouble, He’s our fortress and high tower
we see thriving - those who depend on the flesh again, are just barlely hanging on in this world, but those who depend on God will thrive spiritually, which will affect our physical as well
also there is peace - we see “shall not be careful in the year of drought” - that means the “plant” is not faring or worrying about the hard times
additionally, there is fruitfulness - meaning to our life, producing something for God
finally we see life even in these hard situations, and we see it indefinitely in the imagery, just like we have eternal or indefinite life in our creator
9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
here the Bible warns us about leaning on our own understanding, the heart is not just fleshly and wicked, but it’s DESPERATELY wicked
Even God Himself is exasperated at people’s hearts
“who can know it?” - this just shows us how important it is to be reliant on God for our life and our life decisions, the direction that we take our lives
we don’t want to have a desperately wicked heart driving us, think about where that would take us
especially when we are blessed with the opportunity to have Christ to be our good shepherd, He can be our Lord and satisfy our deepest longings
just think of Psalm 23, the Lord is our shepherd, we shall not want, He maketh me to lie down by green pastures and leadeth us beside still waters, etc...
and Christ came so that we may be saved from this human nature of ours, from our desperately wicked nature, we can overcome this world through Christ
He came, suffered terribly, and died so that we might live and live abundantly
where is our life right now, how abundantly are we living? how much are we utilizing God’s ultimate and wonderful power in our lives?
10 I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.
God searches the heart, He sees us in our private moments and moments when we think nobody is watching, we can never forget or neglect that we can never run from God spiritually or physically
He knows how much time we really spend in prayer or how much time we really spend in His Word
We go through trials in our lives, our reins are tested
we think of what reins do on a horse, and it keeps them in line, it keeps them on the path that they are meant to go on
does God have complete control of the reins in our life? He will lead us to life and abundance if only we will not fight the reins.
this verse also mentions God’s perfect justice - we know what sin deserves, and we know that Israel received justice when they were carried off to Babylon, but guess what, God had mercy upon them and they came back to the land
we know one day that every idle word will be judged, one thing this tells us is that our life should be absolutely permeated with a Godly lifestyle, it should completely permeate our mind and our thinking
we know that even thoughts can be sinful, thoughts of adultery for instance - a Godly lifestyle is something that should completely overtake us as a person
11 As the partridge sitteth on eggs, and hatcheth them not; so he that getteth riches, and not by right, shall leave them in the midst of his days, and at his end shall be a fool.
riches will not be there for a person in a life and death situation - riches will not save a person
so God is saying there is much more to this life than riches and physical goods, to trust in them is totally foolish and is kind of a powerful illusion
it can make someone feel safe and maybe even have an illusion of fulfillment, but it most certainly
12 A glorious high throne from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary.
there is nowhere else than on high that we can truly take sanctuary - a God that cares about us, a God that protects, a God that went out of His way to fight to save us
a place of sanctuary made by human hands could never prepare, not even the best that humanity could possibly come up with
so to live our lives that way would be ignorant
and it doesn’t matter so much whether we think we’re depending upon ourselves, it moreso matters how we act
13 O Lord, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of living waters.
14 Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved: for thou art my praise.
15 Behold, they say unto me, Where is the word of the Lord? let it come now.
Jeremiah’s detractors mock him, saying ‘Where is this destruction that you keep saying is coming?
sin is arrogant, pride is arrogant, - just look at eden
sin makes humanity lose track of it’s rightful place in the world
it blinds us in general, blinds ours hearts
16 As for me, I have not hastened from being a pastor to follow thee: neither have I desired the woeful day; thou knowest: that which came out of my lips was right before thee.
Jeremiah is not afraid of God and the judgement that will befall Israel, because He knows God’s justice is perfect and He knows that He’s done nothing wrong
it’s like in the New Testament when having confidence before the Lord is discussed
17 Be not a terror unto me: thou art my hope in the day of evil.
Just like God was Jeremiah’s hope, we are blessed to have a great hope that we can always count on no matter what
25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? 26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? 27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? 28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: 29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? 31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? 32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. 33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. 34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.