00:00 Introduction and Welcome

00:46 The Importance of Attending Church

02:51 Back to the Gospel of John

02:58 Exploring Jeremiah's Fourth Message

06:32 Jeremiah's Struggles and God's Response

09:29 The Significance of Jeremiah's Singleness

10:36 The Coming Judgment and Its Severity

15:03 The Sabbath and Israel's Neglect

16:43 Conclusion and Prayer

Hey, welcome to Sunday's edition

of the daily Bible podcast.

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We are back.

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It is August 11th, 2024.

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Just in case you needed

a quick date check.

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And, uh, so we're going to be

in back at church this morning.

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We are back in the gospel of John.

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So we took off.

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Uh, for a period of time, as we

did a little summer series and

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had some other things going on,

but we are back in John and John

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chapter 12, beginning in verse 12.

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Uh, we're going through 12

through 19 this morning.

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It is marking the triumphal entry

of Jesus into Jerusalem, which is

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significant because this really.

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Kicks off the final week

of Jesus' earthly ministry.

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It kicks off the passion week.

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It kicks off the time leading up to

his crucifixion and resurrection.

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So.

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A significant moment in our text today.

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Can't wait to have you join us there.

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And if you're not with us here in north

Texas, hopefully you're making plans

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to be at your church this morning.

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Or you've already been today,

but a church is so important.

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We need to be there and we need to

be present as much as we can be.

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I mean, the, the, uh, the presence of

streaming technology is helpful and I

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get it and it played a role in during

COVID and, and during other things,

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but it's, it's not the way that God

designed and intended the church to be,

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uh, to, to show up and to be executed.

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Um, We're we're to be together.

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We're to be with one another.

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And so, uh, that looks like being

present with a local body on a

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regular weekly basis where, you

know, people and people know you.

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Uh, you're not, you know, clicking

play on a button and watching.

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Somebody on YouTube, your YouTube

pastor is not your pastor.

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Your podcast, pastor is not your pastor.

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The pastor of your local

church is your pastor.

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And if you say, well, I don't

have a local church then.

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You're being, you're not

being shepherded right now.

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You don't have a pastor right now.

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Um, you need a pastor, a local

church, a local set of elders that

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care for your soul that love you.

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That are there to, to, to serve you

by preaching the word by counseling,

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by walking through life with you.

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So hopefully you have that.

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If you don't, today's the day to start.

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Making a change on that Sunday morning.

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Be at church.

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Uh, and, and that's so important for us.

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And honestly, maybe you're in an

area and you're sitting there going

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well, there's just not a lot of

really good churches in my area.

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Uh, my advice to you, if that's

where you are is find the best

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one that you can and go there.

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It's better to go.

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Even to one that may not be as strong.

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Uh, in order to, to be obedient to

what God calls us to and to build

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relationships with other Christians

than it is to not go to a church at all.

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Now if you're in an area in every single

church around you is a Mormon church.

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Okay.

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Fine.

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We can revisit that conversation,

but my guess is that's not true

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of anyone listening to this.

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Uh, so find the best

possible church that you can.

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The church that is.

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As the most faithful church to

what God has called the church

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to be that you can find in your

area and plug in and be there.

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That's so important for us guys

to be part of the local church.

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So hopefully you've already been to

yours this morning, or you're planning

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if you're coming to ours, we've,

we're back in the gospel of John.

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Uh, but let's jump into our texts.

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We got a lot to cover today,

Jeremiah 14, 15, 16, and 17.

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So we've got four chapters here

and there's a lot going on.

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So chapter 14 kicks off the

fourth message of Jeremiah.

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There's 12 opening messages here.

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And so we're in the fourth message.

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Now it goes chapters 14

all the way through 17.

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So really.

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Well, most of 17, at least, uh, what

we're reading today, most of it is, is

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what constitutes this fourth message.

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Uh, 14 opens up verses one through six,

again, verse one, the word of the Lord

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came to Jeremiah concerning the drought.

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So it wasn't just going to be Babylon.

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That was going to be the means

of God's judgment against Israel.

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Here, we read of a period of intense

drought that was going to be fall.

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The people as well, Deuteronomy 28

is an important backdrop to a lot

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of what happens in the profits.

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And especially in Jeremiah here, as

he's seeing so much of the judgment of

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God before the people Deuteronomy 28,

lays out the cursings for disobedience

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beginning in verse 23 and following and.

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So if you go back and you read

Deuteronomy 28 verses 23, and

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following through the end of the

chapter there, you're going to find.

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A lot of, of.

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Descriptive language that, that

befits what's happening right

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now in the book of Jeremiah.

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And so God is bringing to fruition,

the things that he threatened,

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if the people were disobedient.

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All the way back in the

lie and Deuteronomy 28.

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Uh, Jeremiah, Jeremiah 14 four.

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Notice that even though it says the

ground is dismayed because of this,

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because of the ground, that is.

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Dismayed since there's

no rain on the land.

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Now it's talking about the.

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The ground in the effects of not having

a rain, but it just, it reminds us that

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even creation is under the curse of God.

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It Romans 8 22 creation,

groans under the weight of sin.

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And so we see that even verses seven

through 10, there, Jeremiah intercedes,

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he pleads for the Lord to show mercy

and confesses the sins of the people.

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He implores the Lord to retain or to

remain rather with his people, not

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to forsake them, but God responds by

pointing to the disobedience of the people

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and the stipulations of the covenant.

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So Jeremiah does pray.

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God has told him multiple times.

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Don't pray for the people at Jeremiah.

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Still praise.

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And he still asks that God

would be merciful to the people.

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Is this an example of disobedience

from the prophet perhaps?

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Uh, although.

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The Lord doesn't specifically chastise

them and say, Hey, I told you not to pray.

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Uh, but he does say, Hey, listen,

I'm not going to be merciful because

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the people have broken the covenant.

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Uh, verses 11 through 12, then the

Lord again tells Jeremiah don't pray.

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Don't pray for the people.

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He would not accept the prayers or

offerings on their behalf any longer.

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And if nothing else, even though Jeremiah

continues to pray, God is consistent.

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He says, I'm not going to hear this.

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I'm not going to respond in the way

that you're asking me to respond.

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Uh, verses 13 through 16, then Jeremiah

appeals to the false prophets as the

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cause for the disobedience of the people.

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Not, not God.

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It's it's their fault.

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And so spare everybody else, but them,

but he's kind of saying, look, got.

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Th these people have been deceived

and, and Yoweri responds, God responds

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by declaring that he never sent these

false prophets and they're going to

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suffer the very things they told the

people would never happen to them

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as the profits where they're saying

none of this is going to happen.

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None of this is going to befall you.

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God's saying all of that is actually

going to happen in the profits are

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going to be at the center of it.

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The people had an obligation.

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It seems to.

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To there to see through their lives and

to know that they were not from the Lord.

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And in other words, Jeremiah 14, 16.

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The Lord is saying you

should've known better.

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You are, are complicit in this.

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The people to whom they prophesies shall

be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem.

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In other words, there's a.

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Uh, guilt that they bear for.

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Not.

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Uh, not seeing through not

testing the word of the profits

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as they were supposed to do.

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Uh, Jeremiah 14, then 17 through 22, as

the chapter concludes Jeremiah appeals to

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the Lord to remember his covenant still

and not to forsake his people completely.

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So Jeremiah understands judgments coming.

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But yet he's saying, Lord,

don't make a full end.

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Remember?

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Uh, remember your covenant don't

make a full end of your people.

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Jeremiah 15 then.

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Uh, if, if, even if, if Moses and

Samuel were here in, in, remember back

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in the day, uh, when they were there.

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Uh, respectably, Moses and Samuel

were able to avert God's wrath on his

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people, but Jeremiah would not have

the same effect if in fact, even if

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Moses and Samuel were there, even,

they wouldn't have the same effect,

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they wouldn't be able to stay off.

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Uh, the hand of judgment because

of the sins of Manasseh that had

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filled up the guilt to the brim.

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So now the Lord was certain to destroy and

there's going to be four destroyers that

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are described in these first four verses.

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Uh, pestilence, which has disease.

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Famine sword and captivity.

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Those are the four forms of judgment

that are coming upon the people

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and even Moses and Samuel, wouldn't

be able to stay the hand of God.

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Versus 59 then of chapter 15,

none of the Lords of warnings.

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Uh, warning judgements had produced

the repentance from the people

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that they were intended to produce.

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And so not only had he sent the

profits, but he'd also given fired some

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warning shots, so to speak of judgment.

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And the people had not listened to the

people not responded in repentance.

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And now he was weary from relenting.

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What an interesting descriptor there

that we find he's weary from relenting.

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And that is a troubling reality for

the people of Israel that, that here

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you now have God who is, is done.

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He's, uh, he's not going

to do this anymore.

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He is weary of relenting and, uh, would

that, that he never gets there with us.

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And if we're in Christ, we know that he

won't, he, we know that he will always.

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Uh, forgive us of our sins when we

truly and faithfully go back to him and

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repent as, as we should, as believers.

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Uh, verses 10 through 14 then in this

section, Jeremiah complains of his

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circumstances again, his lot, but God

reminds him first of his commission.

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And God's protection of him during that

commission, that's verses 11 through 12.

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And that goes all the way back to

chapter one, verses 17 through 19, when

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God told them what he was going to do.

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Uh, dress yourself for work arise.

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This is back in chapter one and

behold, I make you to this day of

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four or five city in iron pillar.

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So God is telling Jeremiah and kind

of calling that back to mind for

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him saying, Hey, remember, remember

what, what your, your commission was.

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Remember I told you, I'd be with you.

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And so he reminds them of that.

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And then number two, he reminds

them of the sins of the people and

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the punishment that they deserved.

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And so God is responding to

the profits complaints there.

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And then in verses 15 through 21, Uh,

in, in the first part of this, 15 through

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18, the prophet lament, his loneliness

and his plight in seems to blame the

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Lord for bringing such things on him.

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After he had loved him.

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It says, look, I loved your word.

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I ate your word.

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I devoured your wordy.

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I consumed your truth.

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And yet no change had come despite

his faithfulness to the task.

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And then in verses 19 through 21,

again, the Lord gently rebukes and

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chastises Jeremiah here, inviting him

to turn back and remember again, his

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mission and the promise to protect him.

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To be with him in spite of opposition.

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So that's Jeremiah 15.

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The profits kind of having in the

second half of the chapter, at least

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a little bit of a, of a crisis of

faith of going, okay, God, is this

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really what my life is going to be?

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Is this what you've called me to do?

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And the answer from the Lord

is yes, but remember I also

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promised I would protect you.

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And I also promised.

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That I would be faithful to

you if you'd be faithful to me.

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And so Jeremiah has this, a little bit

of a wrestling match, so to speak there

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with God chapter 16 minute and chapter 16

verses one through four, Jeremiah really

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did sacrifice quite a lot in order to be

faithful to the Lord's call in his life.

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Including we learn here that the

comfort of having a wife and a

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family, he, he never marries.

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He doesn't get that.

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And this would have stood out as

certainly as, as different as unique

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among the people, because it was the norm.

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Uh, this is part of God's and

it remains part of God's command

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that the norm in, in, not across

the board, not in every case.

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And, and when I say norm, not as

in a person who's normal versus

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abnormal, but the norm is societaly.

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The Norman God's program and plan is, is

that people get married and have children.

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That's part of the creation mandate.

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And so here in.

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And chapter 16.

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Uh, you see that this would have stood

out as unique, uh, for the profit not

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to be married, not to have a family.

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And yet it was an object lesson to the

people that, that they were going to end

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up losing the families that they had.

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And so even Jeremiah's singleness

and lack of family was God teaching

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and instructing the people of

the judgment that was coming.

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Verses 15 through or

verses five to nine, then?

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Sorry of chapter 16, 16 59.

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Uh, Jeremiah is commanded here not

to enter the house of mourning.

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This is a troubling in, in it's it's

a, it's a horrific passage, really,

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because God says so much death is coming.

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That no one is going

to bury anyone so much.

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Death is coming.

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The people are going to be overwhelmed.

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No, one's going to have any morning.

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No, one's going to have awake.

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No, one's going to have a funeral

because there's going to be so much

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death that there's not going to be

anything to where you would stop to go.

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Remember somebody else's loved one

because you were so busy bearing your own.

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And so it's just, again that the, the.

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Forward-looking of the horrific

nature of what this judgment at

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the hands of Babylon is going to

look like and is going to produce.

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Verses 10 through 13, then the people

wouldn't understand the severity

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of God's judgment, but Jeremiah

was to remind them of the gravity

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of their offense against God.

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They're going to think

of this is too much.

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But Jeremiah was going to remind them

of their, the seriousness of sin.

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And he was going to God was going

to hurl them from the promised

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land into a strange land to serve.

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God's remember as a backdrop to this,

the Abrahamic, covenant, and how

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significant the land was in that.

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So for Israel to be removed from the

land was a massive, massive deal.

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And it was a reversal.

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Not an abrogation.

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God was not abandoning his covenant

promises that he made through Abraham,

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but this was, uh, this was a big deal

for them to be removed from the land.

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Verses 14 through 21.

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Then as chapter 16 ends, while

the judgment was necessary for

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Israel Jeremiah's day, there

was going to be a return.

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God is, is reminding them as

he's telling them, he's going

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to remove them from the land.

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He's reminding them that

he's not done with them.

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That there's going to be a time in

the future when they do come back.

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Uh, and when they come back in and

when they are delivered, um, th

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this is going to take place in part,

under Cyrus, as Nehemiah is going

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to lead a group of exiles back.

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But the full realization of this is going

to be known in the end when the nations

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come and flock to Jesus, as he reigns

during the millennial kingdom, that's

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verses 19 through 21 of chapter 16.

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All right.

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Chapter 17.

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Verses one through four Israel sin.

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Uh it's it's not an issue

of just external behavior.

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Um, If this were the case, then, then the

punishment might not be as severe as it

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was, but it was an issue of the heart.

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It had been deeply engraved written

with an iron pen, as the text says,

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what a, what a picture of that is

a pen of iron, a point of a diamond

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engraved on the hearts of the people.

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The heart of the issue

is a heart issue, right?

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The judgment was coming that would

tear them from their land and their

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wealth and their possessions and

make them servants of a foreign

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nation that they did not know.

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And for some, his anger would burn

forever against their them for their sins.

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Unrepentant hearts have forfeited.

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The mercy of God is what

we're learning here.

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Uh, 15, this is.

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Uh, repeat in, in some ways, uh,

chapter 15, verses 13 through 14.

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Uh, but when it says in verse four,

you shall loosen your hand from

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your heritage that I gave you.

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I will make you serve

your enemies in a land.

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You do not know for my anger

in my anger is a fire Kindle

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that she'll burn for forever.

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Now.

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How does that relate

to the remnant concept?

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How has God's anger going to burn forever?

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When there is a remnant that's

going to be restored and in

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the answer to that, Is there.

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Uh, for the remnant, his fire is not

going to burn forever, but for those

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who refuse to repent that fire, that

anger that's leading to this judgment

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is indeed going to burn forever.

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And so that's what we find here.

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In, uh, in this section of, of

Jeremiah chapter 17 has got to sing.

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I do have an anger that is going

to burn forever against a certain

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amount of a group of people.

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And again, that's a repeat of,

of Jeremiah 15, 13 through 14.

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All right.

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Uh, Jeremiah 17, five to 10, continuing

the theme of the depth of Israel,

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seeing the Lord contrasts, those

who put their trust in men with

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those who put their trust in him.

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And those who put their trust in him, the

language is very similar to Psalm one.

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The.

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The tree planted by

streams of flowing water.

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Right.

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And we get in the section that famous

line, the heart is deceitful and sick and

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who can understand it without God's mercy.

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And in grace, it's going to lead a man to

trust in everything in anything, but God.

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And so here we find the profit that,

that got through the profits words

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here, contrasting those that trust

in, in other men, because the heart

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is deceitful and leads them to do

that with those that trust in God,

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with those that trust in Yahweh.

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And so we find that there in chapter 17,

verses five through 10, including that

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famous verse about the deceitfulness

of the heart verses 11 through 13,

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essentially here, judgment is coming.

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Judgment is coming and no one's

gonna be able to stay this.

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14 through 18 Jeremiah praise for God

to write the wrongs that have been

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committed against him personally, as, as

the prophet, and to deliver him from any

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peril that might otherwise befall him.

345

So Jeremiah understands.

346

Uh, the heat is, is

getting up is, is growing.

347

And in, in with that heat is the threat

against his safety is growing as well.

348

So he prays that God would protect him.

349

In the midst of all this.

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Well verses 19 through 27.

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Uh, one of the primary dereliction of

duty from Israel pertain to the Sabbath.

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And so we get this section here on

the Sabbath, which really amounts

353

to another message from God.

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The fifth one.

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Uh, here in Jeremiah, and this is

interesting that he has this interlude

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on the Sabbath, but, um, I think one

of the best ways to do you understand

357

this is one of Israel's primary.

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Areas of neglect was keeping the Sabbath.

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And especially the Sabbath

year, every seven years, they

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were to give the land rest.

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Well, they were 490 years

between the beginning of the

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monarchy under king Saul and the

captivity, which was about to come.

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And in those that captivity

at the end of that 490 years.

364

Was going to be a 70 year captivity now.

365

490 years.

366

If every seven years they

were to celebrate the Sabbath

367

year and let the land rest.

368

There were 70 Sabbath years in

the 490 years between Saul and the

369

captivity that Israel did not observe.

370

And so the captivity, it lasting 70 years.

371

One of the reasons why.

372

A lot of commentary.

373

Taters believe in.

374

And I tend to agree with them here is that

this was God's way of giving the land.

375

The rest that the people

had had failed to give it.

376

Uh, that God had promised that he would

provide for the people, because really

377

in failing to give the land rest, they

were demonstrating a lack of trust

378

in God, because God has said, I will

provide all that you need during the

379

Sabbath year, but give the land rest.

380

Well, the people hadn't done that

and there were 70 years of back.

381

Taxes, so to speak on, uh, the, the

Sabbath year of trusting that God was

382

going to provide in their 70 years

of captivity in front of Israel.

383

So I think that's some of what

Jeremiah is addressing here.

384

In this final section from

chapter 17 on the Sabbath.

385

Well, there you go.

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Let's pray.

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And then we will wrap up another

episode of the daily Bible podcast.

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God, we thank you for your kindness to us.

389

And we thank you that you do

hear us when we pray to you.

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We thank you that.

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Um, your, your anger is not a fire.

392

That's kindled forever against us.

393

If we know Christ that, uh, for

those that don't know Christ,

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that, that, that is their reality.

395

That is the impending reality of their,

uh, their eternity after they die here.

396

And, and.

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And so God, I pray that you would

give us a, a mind and a heart that

398

is soft towards those and that we

would be faithful to bring the gospel

399

to them, to plead with them, to.

400

I bow the knee to.

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Jesus Christ before it

becomes too late for them.

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And so we thank you.

403

We praise you for this in Jesus name.

404

Amen.

405

Hey, tune in again tomorrow for another

episode of the daily Bible podcast, bio.