Message - Till The Soil - Jeremiah 4 - Wednesday July 2

Till The Soil

Jeremiah 4:1-4 – Wednesday, July 2 – FBC, Winona

If/then statements

Covenant versus contract

Conditional covenant versus unconditional covenant

The dictionary defines covenant as a solemn and binding agreement made by two or more individuals or parties to do or keep from doing a specified thing

Jeremiah 4:1-4

1 "If you will return, O Israel, return to me," declares the LORD.

       "If you put your detestable idols out of my sight and no longer go astray,

 2 and if in a truthful, just and righteous way  you swear, 'As surely as the LORD lives,'

       then the nations will be blessed by him and in him they will glory."

 3 This is what the LORD says to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem:

       "Break up your unplowed ground and do not sow among thorns.

 4 Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, circumcise your hearts,

       you men of Judah and people of Jerusalem, or my wrath will break out and burn like fire

      because of the evil you have done—  burn with no one to quench it.

V. 1 – IF you will return  . . . return to me.

The conditions of the covenant are outlined

1)      If you will put your detestable idols out of your sight (what are idols?)

2)      No longer go astray

3)      If you swear “As surely as the Lord lives” in a truthful, just and righteous way (His way)

THEN . . .

1)      The nations will be blessed by him

2)      In him they will glory

Next . . . he tells them how to get it done – first emphasizing that this is the word of the Lord

1)      Break up your unplowed ground (fallow) (what is fallow ground?)

a.       Fallow ground is full of weeds

b.      Hard ground – hard to plow

c.       Not unusable but has many distractions and complications

d.      May have once been good soil but its become hard over time

2)      Do not sow among thorns (put seed where it has a chance to grow – prepare your “soil”)

3)      Circumcise yourselves to the Lord (what purpose does circumcision serve?)

a.       Cleans out the impurities that are held in

b.      Helps prevent the spread of this impurity and disease

c.       Remove the fleshly things that keep us from experiencing the breath of God

Consequences of not following this action

1)      My wrath will go forth like fire

2)      It will burn with none to quench it (what does that sound like?)

3)      Why? Because of the evil of your deeds

What does God count as evil?

·         In this case it seems that any disobedience is evil

·         Let’s cleanse our hearts of anything disobedient to Him so we can, as a church, hear His voice