Jeremiah 19-20
Notes
Transcript
Jeremiah 19-20
Jeremiah 19-20
Good evening church! We are picking up our study in Jeremiah chapter 19. Let’s pray
1 Thus says Yahweh, “Go and buy a potter’s earthenware jar, and take some of the elders of the people and some of the elders of the priests.
2 “Then go out to the valley of Ben-hinnom, which is by the entrance of the potsherd gate, and there call out the words that I tell you
Now as is often the case, we are picking up in the middle of a story. In this case in the middle of a very difficult 40 year ministry. As you will see again tonight, it is a ministry of prophesying about coming judgement. For 40 years, Jeremiah was faithful. He is now prophesying to the southern region of Judah. Northern Isreal has already been attacked, destroyed, many of the people taken captive.
Now God directs him to go out to this dump. Fires, worms Gehenna, used in NT as a description for Hell.
The object lesson that we read about here with the earthenware jar actually started in the last chapter. We read about the potter at work at his wheel. Look back at verses 3 and 4 with me.
3 Then I went down to the potter’s house, and behold, he was making something on the wheel.
4 But the vessel that he was making of clay was ruined in the hand of the potter, so he turned around and made it into another vessel, according to what was right in the eyes of the potter to make.
The idea expressed there was that while the clay is still wet, it is soft and pliable, it can still be molded and reshaped by the hand of the potter and formed into something beautiful. Here in this example it is speaking of Isreal as the clay and God as the potter, but it certainly can apply to us as well. As long as our lives remain in the hand of the potter, He can change us and mold us more and more into His image, but if we become hardened, we are no longer pliable, and then when we are squeezed under pressure, rather than just being reshaped, we shatter.
Do you guys remember the Band Jars of Clay? Well their name was taken by a verse that Paul wrote, they take the name from the NIV version of the verse, so I’ll show you that.
7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.
Now Paul was using a different application here, with showing the power of God within us and recognizing it is not us. Some used to call this being a cracked pot, allowing the light of God to shine through.
Jeremiah is told to take an earthen vessel. When we hear this we think of a clay jar, but the description is really more of a flask. Newman’s commentary on Jeremiah tells us...Flask: The word refers to a narrow-necked bottle, the name of which is derived from the verb meaning “make a gurgling sound,” describing what the water did when it came out of the bottle. Archaeological finds indicate that these bottles were from four to ten inches in height.
Barclay M. Newman Jr. and Philip C. Stine, A Handbook on Jeremiah, UBS Handbook Series (New York: United Bible Societies, 2003), 437.
They would have a narrow neck on them that could be easily broken, which we will see in a couple of verses which the point of this object lesson.
3 and say, ‘Hear the word of Yahweh, O kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, “Behold, I am about to bring a calamity upon this place, at which the ears of everyone that hears of it will tingle.
4 “Because they have forsaken Me and have made this a foreign place and have burned incense in it to other gods, that neither they nor their fathers nor the kings of Judah had ever known, and because they have filled this place with the blood of the innocent
5 and have built the high places of Baal to burn their sons in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal, a thing which I never commanded or spoke of, nor did it ever come upon My heart,
God uses this act as another justification for the judgement to come. The disregard for human life, for the innocents.
6 therefore, behold, days are coming,” declares Yahweh, “when this place will no longer be called Topheth or the valley of Ben-hinnom, but rather the valley of Slaughter.
7 “I will empty out the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem to the point of destruction in this place, and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies and by the hand of those who seek their life; and I will give over their carcasses as food for the birds of the sky and the beasts of the earth.
8 “I will also make this city an object of horror and of hissing; everyone who passes by it will be horrified and hiss because of all its slaughtering.
9 “I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and they will eat one another’s flesh in the siege and in the distress with which their enemies and those who seek their life will distress them.” ’
10 “Then you are to break the jar in the sight of the men who accompany you,
11 and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says Yahweh of hosts, “Just so will I break this people and this city, even as one breaks a potter’s vessel, which cannot again be repaired; and they will bury in Topheth because there is no other place for burial.
Valley of Hinnom=Topheth. This was to create an unforgettable image in the minds of the people. When the flask or the earthen vessel was shattered is could not be reassembled, it was worthless. These people in their sinful, idolatrous state were worthless to God and judgement was coming. He tells us the meaning of example of the flask here...
12 “This is what I will do to this place and its inhabitants,” declares Yahweh, “so as to make this city like Topheth.
13 “And the houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah will be defiled like the place Topheth because of all the houses on whose rooftops they burned incense to all the heavenly host and poured out drink offerings to other gods.” ’ ”
14 Then Jeremiah came from Topheth, where Yahweh had sent him to prophesy; and he stood in the court of the house of Yahweh and said to all the people:
15 “Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Behold, I am about to bring on this city and all its towns the entire calamity that I have spoken against it because they have stiffened their necks so as not to hear My words.’”
This is the true gravity of their sin, when they refused to hear from God.
1 Then Pashhur the priest, the son of Immer, who was ruling overseer in the house of Yahweh, heard Jeremiah prophesying these words;
2 and Pashhur had Jeremiah the prophet struck and put him in the stocks that were at the upper Benjamin Gate, which was by the house of Yahweh.
Not one of the priestly elders, but probably a priest serving like the head of the Temple police. Whoever he was, he put a beating on poor old Jeremiah, so not only was this role of prophet difficult emotionally for Jeremiah, but also at times put his life at risk.
3 Now it happened that on the next day, Pashhur released Jeremiah from the stocks. And Jeremiah said to him, “Pashhur is not the name Yahweh has called you, but rather Magor-missabib.
4 “For thus says Yahweh, ‘Behold, I am going to make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends; and while your eyes look on, they will fall by the sword of their enemies. So I will give over all Judah to the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will take them away into exile to Babylon and will strike them down with the sword.
5 ‘I will also give over all the wealth of this city, all the fruit of its labor, and all its precious things; even all the treasures of the kings of Judah I will give over to the hand of their enemies, and they will plunder them, take them away, and bring them to Babylon.
6 ‘And you, Pashhur, and all who live in your house will go into captivity; and you will enter Babylon, and there you will die, and there you will be buried, you and all your friends to whom you have prophesied lies.’”
Fruitful all around-Pashhur
7 O Yahweh, You have enticed me, and I was enticed; You were stronger than I, and You prevailed. I have become a laughingstock all day long; Everyone mocks me.
8 For each time I speak, I cry aloud; I call out violence and devastation Because for me the word of Yahweh has resulted In reproach and derision all day long.
Seduced or tricked. Now we go into the depths of despair and the cost of this ministry of Jeremiah, and can only imagine as we read these things. I mentioned he had a 40 year ministry…we are in chapter 20 of 52 I think so he still has at least another 20 to go...
9 But if I say, “I will not remember Him Or speak anymore in His name,” Then in my heart it becomes like a burning fire Shut up in my bones; And I am weary of holding it in, And I cannot prevail.
10 For I have heard the bad report of many, “Terror on every side! Denounce him; yes, let us denounce him!” All my trusted friends, Keeping watch for my fall, say: “Perhaps he will be deceived, so that we may prevail against him And take our revenge on him.”
I cannot not preach! Mock him!
11 But Yahweh is with me like a ruthless mighty one; Therefore my persecutors will stumble and not prevail. They will be utterly ashamed, because they have not prospered, With an everlasting dishonor that will not be forgotten.
12 Yet, O Yahweh of hosts, You who test the righteous, Who see the mind and the heart; Let me see Your vengeance on them, For to You I have revealed my cause.
Alright God, I will trust you, I’ll leave tomorrow up to you.
13 Sing to Yahweh, praise Yahweh! For He has delivered the soul of the needy one From the hand of evildoers.
What an incredible transition here…I quit to singing and praising. When we are weak He is strong.
9 And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.
what is the context of that verse for Paul
7 Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me—to keep me from exalting myself!
8 Concerning this I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might leave me.
Now it would be cool if the chapter ended on a mountain top like that, but real life doesn’t always go that way.
14 Cursed be the day when I was born; Let the day not be blessed when my mother bore me!
15 Cursed be the man who brought the good news To my father, saying, “A baby boy has been born to you!” And made him very glad.
16 But let that man be like the cities Which Yahweh overthrew without relenting, And let him hear an outcry in the morning And a shout of war at noon,
17 Because he did not put me to death from the womb, So that my mother would have been my grave, And her womb ever pregnant.
Sodom and Gomorrah
18 Why did I ever come forth from the womb To look on trouble and sorrow, So that my days have been spent in shame?
People say that the Psalms read as if David was bi-polar. I don’t think this is that. I think it is just the prophet being real. I think he is feeling the weight of ministry. Now many say that Pastors that get discouraged should quit, because the Lord should be our strength, so the burden should be light…One of the cool things about Jeremiah is his continual honesty before the Lord.
I personally think the guys in ministry that claim to never have discouragement should be the ones to get out, because God says puts liars in a special class of people which we will see soon in the Book of Revelation.
8 “But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and sexually immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”
But for those that are honest like Jeremiah, and this isn’t just for ministers, but really for all of us. Life is just hard and it will be hard until we get to Heaven. There will be incredible highs between now and then, moments of unexpected victory, intense joy, but also heartache, suffering, maybe persecution. But yes, discouragement, doubt, maybe depression. But Jeremiah’s cries and even his complaints are made to God, not the people. He doesn’t walk around complaining like an Eeyore all the time with the people. He preaches what God gives him and does it faithfully.
The best thing about that is that it keeps us forever dependent upon God. You’ll notice as we continue to go through this book, one of the things that really keeps Jeremiah going and moving forward is focusing on the mission God has given him in serving people that are worse off than him. How do I know they are worse off? Because they are facing the wrath and judgement of God and Jeremiah isn’t. The day to day circumstances of life don’t really matter when you look at those stakes.
We live in a day and age where people are constantly seeking the easy way out. A pill for this, or a shot for that. Can you imaging if God had such a pill or a shot for us? Something we could take and then everything would be easy, no more hardship, no more pain. Do you know what would happen? We would miss out. We’d miss out on crying our to God and having Him rescue us, deliver us, uphold us with His mighty hand.
I don’t need God, I’m reliant on this other thing. I don’t know everyone’s struggle in the room, I do know that you have them. Maybe not today, or tomorrow, but you’ve experienced it in the past and will again in the future. When you are in that spot. I want you to know and to remember that you’re not alone in that. If a brother or sister you have good fellowship won’t admit their struggles to you, know that men of God like David, and like Jeremiah were there long before you. As he does here and as David does in the Psalms, cry out the Lord.
Cry out to Jesus in those moments. He’s not going to give you the easy way out, He’s going to give you Himself, so you can find rest in Him.
28 “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.
Grace and Peace