Jeremiah
 

Reading in this lengthy, great book and will want to post some thoughts on this as I go. Very open for discussion and it's not as if I'm some great teacher, but I will post my own thoughts.

Oh yeah, Happy Thanksgiving! :)

Jason

Re: Jeremiah
 

The first thing that is actually noteworthy about this book is that much of it, at least the early part of it, is full of pretty harsh words for Judah as well as to some extent all the tribes of Israel. The thing about it is we are all responsible and accountable for what we do, good or bad. God doesn't go looking for someone to zap, but people sure can bring it on themselves. You can do things God's way or you can do it your own way. So many people want to do things their own way. That's fine, God will let you do that in most cases. But the thing is, you need to ask yourself who is more intelligent and knows more, you or God. Hopefully, you would say that God is. So the thing is, things generally work out a lot better for you when you do it God's way. You want to be really careful because when you get too complacent in the ways of the world, traditions of man, and listen to people, even from behind the pulpit in church dreaming up a bunch of nonsense and claiming it's from God or His Word and you don't check them out, you can wind up in a world of trouble. Judah and Jerusalem at this time was full of false prophets, false shepherds(pastors) and idolatry. That's why ultimately they would go into captivity taken by Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon, God's own servant,in around 497 BC, as we see at the beginning of the book of Daniel. God doesn't bring evil on anyone, but stray far enough from Him for a long enough period of time and He will allow you to be carried away into captivity in a spiritual sense. We also are coming up on a time in which the end times Babylon will be upon us, and most of the world, again caught up in their own concerns, their own traditions, and their false sense of security regarding among other things the "rapture doctrine", are going to be taken captive by the Antichrist. What's important to note from Daniel is that even when Antichrist is here, God will take care of those who do not bow to him, just as he did the three Hebrew children Shadrach, Mesach, and Abednego.

As for Jeremiah, he was given a special purpose by God to speak to those in Jerusalem and to be a prophet to the nations (Jeremiah 1:5). While I regret in a way starting with Chapter 7, this is where I was just reading and so I'll start there. I will go back and recap some of what was in the earlier chapters, although Jeremiah itself is not a book that is in chronological order of prophecy or events. Chapter 7 is not a bad chapter to start with, because God basically tells Jeremiah, "You go right into the church and speak to my people." He tells him they're not going to like what he has to say, but he also told Jeremiah in Chapter 1 that although they would fight against him, they were not going to prevail, because God would be with him to deliver him.

So with that said, on to my next post.

Jason

Re: Jeremiah
 

7:1
The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
7:2
Stand in the gate of the LORD’s house, and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of the LORD, all ye of Judah, that enter in at these gates to worship the LORD.

Again God tells Jeremiah you go to the church, or what today would be the church and you speak to the people there. Friends, God cares for His children and even those who are maybe in a church that teaches tradition and does not adequately feed them from the Word itself, if these people recognize the real truth when they hear it in its simplicity and fullness, they can come out of the deception and confusion of Babylon, spiritually speaking and come into the blessings of God and the fullness of His truth. Even when Antichrist is here, there are some who will at first believe he is Christ, but upon hearing the words of those not deceived (God's elect), they will come out of that deception as well.
7:3
Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place.
7:4
Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, are these.

Friends, don't get caught up in "playing church" and don't believe something or do something because the church said it was so. The church is not the final authority. Your pastor is not the final authority. God and His Word are what counts and what you want to direct your life. A church that does not have that or believe that is simply a pile of bricks. God is going to make pretty clear what He thinks of this "temple of the LORD" in several verses here. Which would you rather listen to... some "ordained minister" or God Himself? When God speaks, and that's who is truly speaking here through Jeremiah, you'd better listen. In the first chapter of this book, verse 9, God literally puts His words into Jeremiah's mouth. So, let's listen.
7:5
For if ye throughly amend your ways and your doings; if ye throughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbour;
7:6
If ye oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your hurt:
7:7
Then will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, for ever and ever.
7:8
Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit.
7:9
Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not;
7:10
And come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations?
7:11
Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, even I have seen it, saith the LORD.
7:12
But go ye now unto my place which was in Shiloh, where I set my name at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel.
7:13
And now, because ye have done all these works, saith the LORD, and I spake unto you, rising up early and speaking, but ye heard not; and I called you, but ye answered not;
7:14
Therefore will I do unto this house, which is called by my name, wherein ye trust, and unto the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I have done to Shiloh.
7:15
And I will cast you out of my sight, as I have cast out all your brethren, even the whole seed of Ephraim.
7:16
Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to me: for I will not hear thee.
7:17
Seest thou not what they do in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?
7:18
The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me to anger.
7:19
Do they provoke me to anger? saith the LORD: do they not provoke themselves to the confusion of their own faces?
7:20
Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, mine anger and my fury shall be poured out upon this place, upon man, and upon beast, and upon the trees of the field, and upon the fruit of the ground; and it shall burn, and shall not be quenched.
7:21
Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Put your burnt offerings unto your sacrifices, and eat flesh.
7:22
For I spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices:
7:23
But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you.
7:24
But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward.
7:25
Since the day that your fathers came forth out of the land of Egypt unto this day I have even sent unto you all my servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them:
7:26
Yet they hearkened not unto me, nor inclined their ear, but hardened their neck: they did worse than their fathers.
7:27
Therefore thou shalt speak all these words unto them; but they will not hearken to thee: thou shalt also call unto them; but they will not answer thee.
7:28
But thou shalt say unto them, This is a nation that obeyeth not the voice of the LORD their God, nor receiveth correction: truth is perished, and is cut off from their mouth.
7:29
Cut off thine hair, O Jerusalem, and cast it away, and take up a lamentation on high places; for the LORD hath rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath.
7:30
For the children of Judah have done evil in my sight, saith the LORD: they have set their abominations in the house which is called by my name, to pollute it.
7:31
And they have built the high places of Tophet, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my heart.
7:32
Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that it shall no more be called Tophet, nor the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of slaughter: for they shall bury in Tophet, till there be no place.
7:33
And the carcases of this people shall be meat for the fowls of the heaven, and for the beasts of the earth; and none shall fray them away.
7:34
Then will I cause to cease from the cities of Judah, and from the streets of Jerusalem, the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride: for the land shall be desolate.

Re: Jeremiah
 

7:1
The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
7:2
Stand in the gate of the LORD’s house, and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of the LORD, all ye of Judah, that enter in at these gates to worship the LORD.

Again God tells Jeremiah you go to the church, or what today would be the church and you speak to the people there. Friends, God cares for His children and even those who are maybe in a church that teaches tradition and does not adequately feed them from the Word itself, if these people recognize the real truth when they hear it in its simplicity and fullness, they can come out of the deception and confusion of Babylon, spiritually speaking and come into the blessings of God and the fullness of His truth. Even when Antichrist is here, there are some who will at first believe he is Christ, but upon hearing the words of those not deceived (God's elect), they will come out of that deception as well.
7:3
Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place.
7:4
Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, are these.

Friends, don't get caught up in "playing church" and don't believe something or do something because the church said it was so. The church is not the final authority. Your pastor is not the final authority. God and His Word are what counts and what you want to direct your life. A church that does not have that or believe that is simply a pile of bricks. God is going to make pretty clear what He thinks of this "temple of the LORD" in several verses here. Which would you rather listen to... some "ordained minister" or God Himself? When God speaks, and that's who is truly speaking here through Jeremiah, you'd better listen. In the first chapter of this book, verse 9, God literally puts His words into Jeremiah's mouth. So, let's listen.
7:5
For if ye throughly amend your ways and your doings; if ye throughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbour;

Notice it says if you thoroughly amend your ways, or completely change them. It doesn't take a lot necessarily, but you're not going to con our Father. In Chapter 3:10 God mentions that Judah even in witnessing the backsliding and punishment of the house of Israel still did not turn to Him with their whole heart, but feignedly, or they faked it. Friends, you can't fool God and you can't cheat people and expect to receive God's blessings or approval.
7:6
If ye oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your hurt:

So many people who don't believe think that God is some sort of tyrant demanding worship. No, what does that say...walk after other gods to your hurt. He doesn't want to see His children go down a path that's going to hurt them. Well, He's the one who ultimately does the hurting some might say. Imagine if you will for a moment having someone you truly love with all your heart and you're faithful to them completely. You provide for them, you help them, you give them all you have. They respond by running after someone or something else again and again. You would probably be rather angry and hurt. Well, so is He. But the thing is, He gives people more chances and is much more patient and forgiving than any of us are. In Chapter 3 he makes mention of the Mosaic law that when a man divorces a woman and she marries again, if that man divorces her or she becomes a widow, he's not to marry her again. Yet God did in fact divorce Israel and in making the comparison is telling Israel, you've remarried and now want to come back. Yet God still will take them back on true repentance. Also, it is to one's own hurt if they go after other gods. Those gods can't help them, they can't give them peace of mind. They don't exist, but our Father does.
7:7
Then will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, for ever and ever.

That's it. Meet the conditions and receive the blessings. Isn't that much better than the alternative? We all fall short, but there's a difference between falling short and repenting and sinning and just not caring.God's grace is always there for you and forgiveness is there always upon true repentance. But if you ignore God long enough you'll be in a sorry state and have no one to blame but yourself.
7:8
Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit.
7:9
Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not;
7:10
And come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations?
7:11
Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, even I have seen it, saith the LORD.
7:12
But go ye now unto my place which was in Shiloh, where I set my name at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel.
7:13
And now, because ye have done all these works, saith the LORD, and I spake unto you, rising up early and speaking, but ye heard not; and I called you, but ye answered not;
7:14
Therefore will I do unto this house, which is called by my name, wherein ye trust, and unto the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I have done to Shiloh.
7:15
And I will cast you out of my sight, as I have cast out all your brethren, even the whole seed of Ephraim.
7:16
Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to me: for I will not hear thee.
7:17
Seest thou not what they do in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?
7:18
The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me to anger.
7:19
Do they provoke me to anger? saith the LORD: do they not provoke themselves to the confusion of their own faces?
7:20
Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, mine anger and my fury shall be poured out upon this place, upon man, and upon beast, and upon the trees of the field, and upon the fruit of the ground; and it shall burn, and shall not be quenched.
7:21
Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Put your burnt offerings unto your sacrifices, and eat flesh.
7:22
For I spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices:
7:23
But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you.
7:24
But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward.
7:25
Since the day that your fathers came forth out of the land of Egypt unto this day I have even sent unto you all my servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them:
7:26
Yet they hearkened not unto me, nor inclined their ear, but hardened their neck: they did worse than their fathers.
7:27
Therefore thou shalt speak all these words unto them; but they will not hearken to thee: thou shalt also call unto them; but they will not answer thee.
7:28
But thou shalt say unto them, This is a nation that obeyeth not the voice of the LORD their God, nor receiveth correction: truth is perished, and is cut off from their mouth.
7:29
Cut off thine hair, O Jerusalem, and cast it away, and take up a lamentation on high places; for the LORD hath rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath.
7:30
For the children of Judah have done evil in my sight, saith the LORD: they have set their abominations in the house which is called by my name, to pollute it.
7:31
And they have built the high places of Tophet, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my heart.
7:32
Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that it shall no more be called Tophet, nor the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of slaughter: for they shall bury in Tophet, till there be no place.
7:33
And the carcases of this people shall be meat for the fowls of the heaven, and for the beasts of the earth; and none shall fray them away.
7:34
Then will I cause to cease from the cities of Judah, and from the streets of Jerusalem, the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride: for the land shall be desolate.

Re: Jeremiah
 

Okay, little confusing or messy perhaps. I accidentally hit submit reply a couple of times.:roll:

So I'll pick up where I left off.;)

Jason

Re: Jeremiah
 

7:8
Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit.

It's a sad thing indeed when these lying words come from what is supposedly "the temple of the LORD". But whether it comes from a church, a scholar, your neighbor, your best friend, if it contradicts God and His Word it does not profit you.
7:9
Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not;

Now the religious community did murder and steal. They murdered the prophets, they crucified Jesus Christ. They also ripped people off to fill their own pockets in the name of religion. But this committing adultery and all accusations afterward are in the spiritual connotation. God took Israel to wife and He also takes the body of Christ as His bride. When one goes after other religions and gods and worships or gives reverence to them, then they commit spiritual adultery. Also leading others to do the same when you're a priest, pastor, whatever is basically committing a spiritual murder of their soul. It doesn't mean those people are going to hell necessarily, as God can restore life to them with truth. But again, if you're going to "preach" you had better make sure you're leading your flock down the path of heaven and not the other way around.
7:10
And come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations?

Right in the "church" these things were going on. Let me ask, do you think it's any different today? Churches don't build idols today and worship them. But they can't or won't teach truth chapter by chapter and verse by verse in God's Word. I'm not saying every church, but unfortunately there are many. They rob hungry souls from hearing and being fed the real truth and the meat of the Word and these gentle souls hear and learn little more than salvation, salvation, salvation when they're already saved. They become "politically correct" because the Word becomes a stumbling block to them to where they would rather make friends and not offend then speak out against that which God Himself calls an abomination. Some even allow those abominable things to not only take hold in their church but lead the flock. Friends, homosexuality is not the unforgivable sin and if a person realizes that they have a weakness and come for help and to be forgiven, then by all means welcome them. But if they continue in unnatural acts, don't expect to be blessed if you actually appoint them pastor, priest, bishop, deacon, whatever the case may be.
7:11
Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, even I have seen it, saith the LORD.

Christ Himself referred to this in Matthew 21:12-13 when he drove the money changers out of the temple. These money changers were selling mite infested doves to be used as sacrifices in God's own house. If you think Jesus is gentle, well He is. But when it comes to people ripping off and robbing his people, in a literal sense, or especially in a spiritual sense, He does not like it one bit. He drove those money changers out of that temple with force, with a cat of nine tails. God will not stand for being mocked or having His people taken advantage of by people who claim, "But I am doing the Lord's work". Especially not in a church that calls itself Christian.
7:12
But go ye now unto my place which was in Shiloh, where I set my name at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel.

Shiloh was one of the biggest disasters in all of the Old Testament. It was a place where God did set His name first and it meant place of rest. Jerusalem actually means habitation of rest. But in Shiloh there was a judge by the name of Eli. Eli himself was not a bad man but he had two rotten sons Hophni and Phineas. They were priests in name only for they abhorred the offering of the Lord (1 Sam 2:17) and even laid with women at the door of the tabernacle (1 Sam 2:22) In Chapter 4 of 1 Samuel everything bad basically happens at once. Israel is routed by the Phillistines in battle. The ark of the covenant is taken. Hophni and Phineas are killed in battle. Eli is informed of this by one who escaped and ran from the battlefield and falls from his seat and breaks his neck and dies. Eli's daughter-in-law hears of all this and dies in childbirth, namind her son Ichabod which means "Where is the glory" because the glory was taken from Israel just like that. God is telling these church people,I've done it before and I will do it again if you don't change.
7:13
And now, because ye have done all these works, saith the LORD, and I spake unto you, rising up early and speaking, but ye heard not; and I called you, but ye answered not;
God has called out to His people again and again. Through the prophets, through some of the good teachers today, and of course through His word. Don't be one of those who hears not and answers not. He loves you and He doesn't speak just to hear Himself. He wants to bless you, He really does. But you have to meet the conditions.
7:14
Therefore will I do unto this house, which is called by my name, wherein ye trust, and unto the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I have done to Shiloh.

Jerusalem would go into captivity for 70 years to Babylon and Media-Persia
7:15
And I will cast you out of my sight, as I have cast out all your brethren, even the whole seed of Ephraim.

The whole seed of Ephraim is the 10 northern tribes or the House of Israel. At this time they were already in captivity to the Assyrians. Friends you can only go into captivity if you disobey or disregard God. That even goes for individuals today as we come on the time in which Antichrist is going to appear Get into His word, put on the gospel armor, and seal your mind with His truth so that even as most of the world does go into captivity you are free and well protected and provided for.

Re: Jeremiah
 

7:16
Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to me: for I will not hear thee.
When God decides to do something that is usually it. At times people may make intercession, as Abraham did or tried to for Sodom and Gomorrah due to his nephew lot being there. But when Gods says He will not hear, He will not hear. Now if the people themselves want to come around, then that's on them to do so. Forgiveness and grace can still be available, but it's on the people themselves to repent.
7:17
Seest thou not what they do in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?
7:18
The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me to anger.

Do you know who the queen of heaven is as it's referred to here? It is Ishtar. Ever wonder where our word Easter comes from? Ishtar was a pagan fertility goddess and in the spring they had fertility festivals, including sexual orgies. Now we have taken the solemn event and the holy day of Passover and made it into bunnies and rolling easter eggs. Many times churches have easter egg hunts and they don't even know or remember that among other things Jesus was crucified probably more on a Wednesday than a Friday, because Friday to Sunday is not 3.5 days in the tomb. But the day isn't as important as honoring and remembering what Christ did at the time of the Passover, as He in fact became our Passover( 1 Cor 5:7). So when we honor Passover and celebrate it today we celebrate not an old Hebrew feast and custom, but Jesus Christ Himself. There's no need to mix pagan tradition or religion into the beauty of what Jesus Christ did for us.
7:19
Do they provoke me to anger? saith the LORD: do they not provoke themselves to the confusion of their own faces?

And so it is... they do it to themselves. They bring shame on themselves. Unfortunately, they do feel shame because there are many good Christians that are caught up in tradition. They're going to be calling for the mountains to fall on them as it states in Revelation because they will feel ashamed when they find out they worshipped a fake... that their religion and good old church tradition lead them right to Satan himself. It will be a very sad time for them.
7:20
Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, mine anger and my fury shall be poured out upon this place, upon man, and upon beast, and upon the trees of the field, and upon the fruit of the ground; and it shall burn, and shall not be quenched.

Much of this is still future because indeed when Satan as Antichrist sets up camp right in the temple of God claiming to be God, in Jerusalem, God certainly will pour out His anger upon His enemies. But you need to understand that His anger does not touch those He loves. When those 3 Hebrew children went into that firey furnace in Daniel Chapter 3, that was a type for you that you can be right there in the middle of everything and not have a hair on your head singed. But that pouring out will happen, and for those who offend it will not be pretty.

Re: Jeremiah
 

7:21
Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Put your burnt offerings unto your sacrifices, and eat flesh.

God is basically saying keep your sacrifices and even today your mixing of religions to yourself, because He doesn't want anything to do with them. I'm not trying to make anyone feel guilty because we pretty much all grew up coloring or rolling Easter eggs, getting Easter baskets, etc. The fault is not yours for being brought up in man's traditions. But God does expect people at some point to actually study His Word for themselves so they can determine what fits and lines up, and what is tradition and should be done away with, at least on a personal level.
7:22
For I spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices:

It is true that when they were first brought out of the land of Egypt that there was no law or statute concerning sacrifices. But the larger point is in the next verse.
7:23
But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you.

That's the point. The idea was never to out of feeling of ritual or obligation to make burnt offerings to God. The point was, is, and always will be in this verse. Hosea 6:6 stipulates that God wants our love, not our burnt offerings. Have you told Him you love Him lately?
7:24
But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward.

Back into their spiritual adultery and idolatry. How easy it is for some to fall back on old habits whether than simply listening to the creator of their very soul.
7:25
Since the day that your fathers came forth out of the land of Egypt unto this day I have even sent unto you all my servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them:

God is saying, it's not for lack of effort or warnings and communication on My part. Even today we have God's letter to us. Have you read it?
7:26
Yet they hearkened not unto me, nor inclined their ear, but hardened their neck: they did worse than their fathers.

So it continues today. It seems the more distractions we have, the more "religion and spirituality" and the more we think we know, the less time we have to hearken to or listen to God and read His letter. The world is worse off for it.

Jeremiah 7:27 "Therefore thou shalt speak all these words unto them; but they will not hearken to thee: thou shalt also call unto them; but they will not answer thee."

If people don't want to listen to what God has to say and if they don't want to read His word then they're just not going to. That's been the case since before Jeremiah's day and is the case still today. Still, those who are truly called and chosen as Jeremiah was will speak the Word.Those who are chosen "elect" of God have compassion and a need to get the real truth out. For though some do not listen, there are many who do. Even some of those who would not listen when it was first delivered, perhaps down the road at some point in their life they will. God determines if and when a planted seed will truly grow.

Jeremiah 7:28 "But thou shalt say unto them, This is a nation that obeyeth not the voice of the LORD their God, nor receiveth correction: truth is perished, and is cut off from their mouth."

Jeremiah 7:29 "Cut off thine hair, O Jerusalem, and cast it away, and take up a lamentation on high places; for the LORD hath rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath."

The generation of His wrath is that last generation that is present when Antichrist is here, for that is the time in which God's wrath will be poured out. That time is not here but it is coming pretty rapidly. But again you need to know that His wrath isn't spilled out on all people. Only His enemies get the wrath. You who are in Christ and you who have God's seal, that is to say His truth in your mind at that time will not be harmed. Satan is given strict orders not to touch those who have that truth in Revelation 9:4. Only those who do not have that seal can be harmed, and even then it's spiritual. How do you avoid being rejected and forsaken? Study His Word and know that the first one showing up claiming to be Christ is nothing but an abomination in Satan himself.

Jeremiah 7:30 "For the children of Judah have done evil in my sight, saith the LORD: they have set their abominations in the house which is called by my name, to pollute it."

Have you read of the 7 churches in Revelation in Chapters 2 and 3? Out of 7 churches God only found 2 that He could find no fault in. Those churches were Smyrna and Philadelphia. The names are not important. It's the doctrine that's important. Both of those churches knew about the ones claiming to be Jews but were of the synagogue of Satan. They stood up and stood on the Word of God and didn't waiver or compromise. They didn't teach tradition and they kept their houses clean. How many churches today teach about these ones claiming to be Jews but are of the synagogue of Satan? When's the last time your pastor mentioned them? I'll bet it's been a while if it's ever happened. But it's in the Word, so what's the problem?

Jeremiah 7:31 "And they have built the high places of Tophet, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my heart."

Tophet in the Hebrew means a place of heat or cremation, Strong's Hebrew word 8613. At this time some of these people of Judah had fallen so far as to burn their own children as a sacrifice. That certainly never came from God. Is there any wonder why He would be angry?

Jeremiah 7:32 "Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that it shall no more be called Tophet, nor the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of slaughter: for they shall bury in Tophet, till there be no place."

This is looking forward, as we will see and reference in the next verse, to the time at the very end when Jesus Christ returns and in a twinkling of an eye all flesh is changed. Jesus is going to come back and set things right where there will be no more abominations in His house, there will be no twisting things pervertedly in the name of religion. There will be 1,000 years of peace before Satan is released for a short season and then unfortunately deceive many people. But then after that comes Satan's defeat, the Judgment, and at that point anyone who would offend is simply done away with, never to be thought of or remembered again.

Jeremiah 7:33 "And the carcases of this people shall be meat for the fowls of the heaven, and for the beasts of the earth; and none shall fray them away."

Christ again makes reference to this time in the book of Matthew. We'll go there quickly.

Matthew 24:27-29 "For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.[27] For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.[28] Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:[29]

The eagles actually should be translated vultures. So now you get the idea of why they are there and what they are doing. There's nothing sinister or violent about it, they are simply doing what they were created to do, which is cleanse the earth of dead and decaying matter. Again all of this will of course center around Jerusalem. God is going to cleanse that great city, and afterward it will be the center of His eternal kingdom.

Jeremiah 7:34 "Then will I cause to cease from the cities of Judah, and from the streets of Jerusalem, the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride: for the land shall be desolate."

Antichrist is referred to of course in Daniel as the abomination that maketh desolate (Daniel 11:31). Satan fell once and drew one third of God's own children with him. Jeremiah Chapter 4 actually refers to this time, taking us back to Genesis 1:1. God did not create the world void and without form. Satan's rebellion caused it to become that way and become desolate. He's going to do it again, but it's going to be in a spiritual sense. At this point there will be no more true joy and no peace, though they will cry peace peace, but there will be no peace. (Jer 6:14) The bridegroom is Christ and the bride is the body. There will be no more calls to come to Christ and be saved in the sense there is today, because at that point in time you either know the truth and will stay true to Him or you will be deceived and bow to Antichrist. You're sealed in your mind either with the seal of God, or with the mark of the beast. Don't be sealed with the later. It truly will be shameful for those who really do love Christ to worship a fake. That is disgrace. So, get in His word, stay in His word, don't rely on tradition, and don't listen to man, including me, without checking things out in the only source that counts, God's Word.

God bless,

Jason

Re: Jeremiah
 

Clearly I'm going to have to be less wordy or break things up better. Forgot about the character count limit!

Jason

Re: Jeremiah
 

Okay, we'll try to keep things a bit neater as we go to Chapter 8.;)

Chapter 8 as it starts is a continuation of the end of Chapter 7. Therefore, we know the "at that time" referred to is the time at the end of this age. The last two verses of Chapter 7 set that stage because it speaks of that time that Christ referred to in Matthew 24 upon His return. Again, this does not mean people are going to die violently. But at that time, everyone will be changed from flesh body to a spiritual one. This is actually one way to almost test if you will whether the entity here first claiming to be Christ is the real deal or a fake. First off, you should know he's a fake because the Word states the false Christ comes first. But if it ever starts to get a little questionable for you, pinch yourself or do something else to determine that you're still in a flesh body. When the true Christ returns, flesh is done away with. Just an aside, and with that on to this chapter.

Jeremiah 8:1 "At that time, saith the LORD, they shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of his princes, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves:"

Jeremiah 8:2 "And they shall spread them before the sun, and the moon, and all the host of heaven, whom they have loved, and whom they have served, and after whom they have walked, and whom they have sought, and whom they have worshipped: they shall not be gathered, nor be buried; they shall be for dung upon the face of the earth."

I have seen this mentioned and explained a couple of different ways and really I can go either way on it. I have seen it stated or interpreted that this is saying these deceased people are the ones who went bad. That certainly makes sense in the context of what God has been saying in prior chapters. Remember this is yet future even for us. Then I have also seen it said that it's talking about people who fall away and show a great amount of disrespect toward these ancestors and forefathers from Judah. I don't know if that part of it matters a great deal. The main point here is we have extreme idolatry and apostasy. The Great Apostasy if you will. You have people worshipping the created instead of the Creator. We have people who will make a religion out of astrology today and let that guide their life. "Well I can't do that today because my horoscope told me not to." God did put the stars in the sky and arrange them in a way that they do give signs and seasons as it says in Genesis 1:14. But you certainly don't let it dictate your personal every day life.

But who are these hosts of heaven? Well, you can call it angel worship which would be bad enough. But specifically fallen angel worship, and even Satan worship. Certainly at this time for many if not all, unfortunately done out of ignorance. But Satan and his fallen angels are still in heaven at this time. They are in chains as it says in Jude, but they are in heaven. But as it states in Revelation 12:9 there's going to come a time probably not too far off in which Michael is going to boot Satan out of heaven. When that happens, he's bringing some help with him, that being Satan bringing those fallen angels. They're all supernatural beings. People today go crazy over athletes, rock stars, even over Barack Obama when he was campaigning in 2008. People falling all over themselves trying to see him, touch him... people fainting... OVER A POLITICIAN!! These people aren't going to have a chance when they see something supernatural. They'll go running to it. And did you know that the image most of us have of what Jesus looked like, that's how Satan will appear and what he will look like. Don't get too carried away or thrown by that, but documentation is Revelation 13:11 in which it says he has two horns like a lamb but spake as a dragon. In other words he will look like Jesus but speak as the dragon. Why is that? Because he is the dragon, which is to say Satan. Unfortunately in as much as there will be a spirit of slumber or even stupor placed on most in the world, they won't be able to pick up on that. They'll see something supernatural who looks like Jesus and says, "Oh my child, I've come to take you away. I've come to fly you away." They won't have a chance. They'll go right along with it. It's getting late in the day. But it's still not too late to get into His Word so that you're not deceived.

Jeremiah 8:3 "And death shall be chosen rather than life by all the residue of them that remain of this evil family, which remain in all the places whither I have driven them, saith the LORD of hosts."

Why would these people choose death over life? Well, in one sense those who would worship Satan are choosing death over life. But why does it say in Revelation 9:6 that men will seek death and it will flee from them? Why does it say in Revelation 6:16 they will be calling for the mountains and rocks to fall on them? Because when you have basically good people... Christians.... who do love the Lord and have maybe sat in a church pew all their life, but never got around to checking things out in the Word themselves, and they are unaware that the first "messiah" that shows up is the fake, when the True one shows up and they realize they've been had and worshipped a fraud, they would rather die than face Jesus at that time. It's going to be a sad time for many. It really is. Make sure you're not one of them.

Jeremiah 8:4 "Moreover thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD; Shall they fall, and not arise? shall he turn away, and not return?"

This is kind of a rhetorical common sense question. Basically it's asking, or stating, that when someone falls, or messes up, don't they get back up, and when they go the wrong way, which is away from God, don't they return back to Him for help? The original text in the Massorah locked it in so that it should lead "shall they return (to Him) and He not return (to them)? So basically to really dumb it down God is simply saying, "Don't they know that if they mess up and return to Me that I will return to them and help them?" Friend, that's been the theme from Day 1. None of us are perfect and we're going to sin. But repent, return to Him and be forgiven and restored. What was that verse from the last Chapter, Jeremiah 7:23? Obey My vocie, and I will be your God, and ye shall be My people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you... (WHY).... that it may be well unto you. He's not going around looking for someone to pour His wrath out on. So why not be blessed instead? This is a good cut off point.

Re: Jeremiah
 

Jeremiah 8:5 "Why then is this people of Jerusalem slidden back by a perpetual backsliding? they hold fast deceit, they refuse to return."

It's a fair question by our Father. Most people when they realize something just isn't working and the road they're going down is taking them the wrong way, they turn back and go the other way. But these people hold fast to their traditions, to their religion, to their way of doing things. Friend, your Father wants to help you. Obey His voice and walk in His ways and it will be well unto you. Why do something counterproductive? But, how do you know His ways? You study His word. Not, "well my pastor says this, the guy on television says that, and the person on the internet said this. What does God say?

Jeremiah 8:6 "I hearkened and heard, but they spake not aright: no man repented him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? every one turned to his course, as the horse rusheth into the battle."

God is saying, I listened, I studied the situation. I waited for and watched for someone to do what is right and repent. But no one did.They continued with their falsehoods and rushed forward with them. They didn't turn back to Me so that I could turn back to them. I can't help but think of the several times in Revelation where it's mentioned that those who receive the mark of the beast do not repent. For some people doing things God's way is just apparently too much. When actually, it's very easy. Again, there's no one perfect. But He doesn't expect you to be. He only expects you to care enough and think enough of Him that when you do mess up you come to Him and say, "Father I'm sorry. I messed up. Help me to do better next time. He stamps that as perfect, and you've got a fresh start. Turn back to Him so that it may be well unto you.

Jeremiah 8:7 "Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times; and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming; but my people know not the judgment of the LORD."

This is saying that even the birds (turtle being turtle dove) know basically when to fly south for the winter, to make it plain and simple. God's people are smarter than the birds... or at least they should be. But yet they don't know His Word or His ways. Why is that? They don't study. Again, you can be a fine church going Christian. But if you set in a church pew for 50 or 60 years and you listen to a pastor feed you a verse here, a verse there, and spend 20 minutes of his sermon talking about Aunt Betty's pies, where he's going for lunch, last night's baseball game, or just plain and simple recycled traditions of man, then spiritually speaking your rib cage is showing even though you've gone there every Sunday for your entire life, basically. You haven't been fed the meat of the Word of God, and you're starving. Get out of tradition.

Jeremiah 8:8 "How do ye say, We are wise, and the law of the LORD is with us? Lo, certainly in vain made he it; the pen of the scribes is in vain."

The translation here is not the greatest. What this is saying is God is telling them, "You say we have the law of God or the word of God but your scribes have changed it. The word vain is sheqer, and it means a lie or falsehood. In other words, you think you have my Word but you're relying on the words of a bunch of men that have nothing to do with what I said. You've let them tell you what it says rather than reading it for yourself. As a good pastor says, it's not a sin to be biblically illiterate. It is a sin to stay that way.

Jeremiah 8:9 "The wise men are ashamed, they are dismayed and taken: lo, they have rejected the word of the LORD; and what wisdom is in them?

This word taken is interesting. It's lakad in the Hebrew and it means seized, captured, or ensnared like in a trap. Relying on your own wisdom or the wisdom of other men will trap you. Where does true wisdom come from? Proverbs 1:7 The fear(reverence) of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Re: Jeremiah
 

Jeremiah 8:10 "Therefore will I give their wives unto others, and their fields to them that shall inherit them: for every one from the least even unto the greatest is given to covetousness, from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely."

Friends, you can not rip off or cheat God's people and expect to gain anything from it in the long term.Ministries that have to beg for money have a severe problem and those who would rip people off or con them supposedly in the name of God will answer for it.

Jeremiah 8:11 "For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace."

Just love Jesus and you will be fine. Go your way my child, it's going to be okay. Send your check in the mail and we'll pray for you. You don't need to understand the book of Revelation, you're going to fly away. People look to these "reverends" for answers to their problems and they can't say anything except, "oh just believe in Jesus and it will be okay. Are you saved my child?" No one has all the answers but when you have a bunch of so called pastors who are steeped in tradition instead of the Word of God and can say or teach nothing but "salvation, salvation, salvation, and they can't teach people or explain what's going on today and how it relates to God's Word, and they put the idea in people's head that they want to be the first one taken from the field when the first "messiah" that shows up is Antichrist, you'd better believe there's no peace in that. But they sure do make sure that people know when that collection plate is being passed around. Some of them, not all. There are good churches and pastors. But there sure are some bad ones as well.

Jeremiah 8:12 "Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore shall they fall among them that fall: in the time of their visitation they shall be cast down, saith the LORD."

It's going to happen, for it is written. Not by the false scribes or pen of man. But by the Word of God. But you know what's sad... many of them do it out of ignorance. But for some ignorance is an excuse, for a time. Paul made mention that when he actually persecuted the church it wasn't counted against him because Paul thought he was doing right. But if you're going to preach, if you're going to teach, ignorance is not an excuse. No one has the answers to everything. But you'd better at least study the Word yourself and get a pretty firm grasp of it and teach it as it is written without apology and without any input from man trying to change it.

Jeremiah 8:13 "I will surely consume them, saith the LORD: there shall be no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the fig tree, and the leaf shall fade; and the things that I have given them shall pass away from them."
Well I thought God's gifts were given without repentance. It is true, as it states in Roman's 11:29 that the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. But let's say that God actually does give one the gift to teach, preach, or evangelize. They have a sharp mind and maybe are a dynamic communicator. God gave them the gift, but how they use it is up to them. If they have some success and decide that they can get a little money for their ministry, just as an example, begging for it here, and creating an emergency there, and putting people on a guilt trip for not contributing here, well hopefully you get the picture. They still, I believe will have that gift to teach. But they misused that gift terribly and so they could certainly stand to lose all the blessings they were given earlier in their work. As an aside, I can't help but think of Nebuchadnezzar, who these same people of Jerusalem and the tribe of Judah would go into captivity to. In Daniel Chapter 4 Neubchadnezzar gets a little puffed up and says basically "Look at my great kingdom and everything that I've done for my own glory." And basically in that same instant he lost it all. A voice came down from heaven saying "Thy kingdom is departed from you." He was driven out, driven mad, and lived as an animal and as it was written 7 times passed over him until finally he looked up at heaven and to God and gave Him the glory and he had his kingdom and even more restored to him. But if you ever want to lose everything in a heartbeat just try to take all the credit yourself without even acknowledging God.


Jason

Re: Jeremiah
 

(((Hugs))) "J" ...Happy Thanksgiving to you too!

Re: Jeremiah
 

Thank you Sasa.:)

Now, carrying on with our subject

Jeremiah 8:14 "Why do we sit still? assemble yourselves, and let us enter into the defenced cities, and let us be silent there: for the LORD our God hath put us to silence, and given us water of gall to drink, because we have sinned against the LORD.

This is a bit confusing to me but it's the nature of people sometimes. You can enter the most fortified city with the best military in the world and it's not going to matter if it is indeed God Who has turned against you. This water of gall is poppy water, or poisoned water. This actually is what makes heroin today though that isn't the most important point here. But I might ask to or I might say, where is the repentance? I suppose the answer to that is in verse 12. Out of ignorance they don't even feel the need to repent because they think they're doing just fine. Unfortunately, not so.

Jeremiah 8:15 "We looked for peace, but no good came; and for a time of health, and behold trouble!"

It is truly a sad state of affairs when God's people and those seeking Him go into a church, let's say, for peace of mind and to learn and be fed, and get a bunch of fluff that can't nourish a soul in a spiritual sense. You know, Paul in the New Testament makes at least a couple references to milk vs. meat in teaching and in learning God's Word. Probably the best place he uses it is in the last 3 verses of Hebrews 5.

Hebrews 5:12 "For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat."

This is actually quite a state of condemnation and criticism by Paul. Not condemnation in terms of condemned to hell of course. But he's saying, you're at a point now where you should be knowledgeable enough and skilled enough to teach the Word. But instead, you yourselves need to be taught all over again from the very beginning. That's not a good thing.

Hebrews 5:13 "For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe."

This is a natural analogy that will be completed in the next verse. When a child is newborn it needs milk, and that's all it can take in for food. But when that child matures if you keep feeding it milk and not meat, or solid food, then that child is going to be rather sickly or malnourished. So to will a soul be that is fed nothing but the milk, the basics of God's Word. Doesn't mean they're going to hell necessarily. But it does mean unfortunately they're not too useful to God. And they in this day and age could very well be ripe to be deceived by the Antichrist. You've got to feed the people meat, when they're ready for it. You also don't want to jam it down them before they can take it in. But when they are ready, you've got to get away from the milk of salvation and into the deeper truths in the Word of God.

Hebrews 5:14 "But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil."

Full age doesn't necessarily mean they know it all, because no one does. But they are mature enough that quite frankly when it comes down to it they will recognize Antichrist for the abomination he is when most of the world is falling at his feet. But if people are fed nothing but milk, they don't stand a chance, because they at best were told they would fly away and not even be here when Antichrist shows up. Unfortunately, that's not written at all.

It is trouble when the church does not feed souls with the full truth from the Word.

Re: Jeremiah
 

They ask why do we sit still? but lets make a defence...We have sinned against God and now we are reaping what we have sown.

Why do we sit still? We look for peace but there is no peace...

"they have set their abominations (Negativity) in the house(temple) which is called by my name, to pollute it."


They know not the judgement (what comes around goes around)..to be ignorant of that is very dangerous, its the same as giving a gun to a toddler and saying go play, but to know it requires much responsiblity...great responsiblity for everyone and the earth.

There is peace...and I am interested to see at what point... how and when it comes about in this book, there must be a turning point somewhere. :)


Nice thoughts about Meat vs Milk I have always thought of that as spiritual maturity as well.

Reminds me of Edgar Cayces's story...He read the bible front to back 12 times..seeking, seeking..truth...and one day an angel appeared to him...she told him he was ready to receive greater wisdom. His life was never the same after that meeting. He had many healing gifts given to him. One of them was that he could sleep on a book under his pillow and know the entire contents the next morning by page number. Another gift given to him was the ability to heal people in other locations..without ever making physical contact. :)

Appreciate your thoughts.

Re: Jeremiah
 

Indeed there is peace,there is healing, but there's only One Who's going to bring it.

I would personally wonder just what Edgar Cayce came across, if anything. I can't say I know everything or really a lot about the man. But I know even if there is some validity to the story of his encounter, not everything that claims to be an angel, or at least an angel of God, is that. Satan himself will comedisguised as an angel of light.

II Corinthians 11:13 "For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ."

Clearly for these to be false and deceitful they are not apostles of Christ. This is one reason why Christ would say paraphrasing here many would come in His name and to believe them not. There's a lot of people who claim to be not only Christian but to speak to God, for God, have a message from God, or have these gifts, whether it be prophecy, healing, what have you. But does what they say match up with His Word? But what about this transforming themselves?

II Corinthians 11:14 "And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light."

Now, it amazes me that there are actually some people who read this and believe that Satan is going to be converted. It's actually pretty sad because a child can read from verse 13 to verse 14 and basically reason pretty well that if the people in the previous verse are false and deceitful then it stands to reason Satan is not going to be converted. But even going back to verse 13, what is the definition of an apostle? It is one sent forth by God. Naturally He's not going to send forth fakes, although He will allow them to operate, particularly in this day and age and at the very end during Satan's tribulation. If a person wants to be deceived by not studying God's Word, He will allow that person to be deceived. But also, how can man transform themselves into apostles of Christ? He can't. Man can not save himself. Only Christ can transform one that way.

So then, what is this word transformed in verse 14?The number in the Strong's Greek dictionary is # 3345.

"Metaschematizo, met-ask-ay-met-id-zo; from the Greek #3326, and a derivative of #4976; to transfigure or disguise; fig. to apply (by accommodation): -transfer, or transform (self)." So it is disguised, and naturally in as much as Satan comes disguised as an angel of light, so to do his helpers and children do likewise, whether as fallen angels, or man claiming to be a Christian preacher. So what happens?

II Corinthians 11:15 "Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works."

It's no great mystery. They all work together in deception, and just as with everyone else they will answer for whatever it is that they do in this life. I don't want to get or didn't mean to get sidetracked on Edgar Cayce, but I would caution anyone from marvelling too much over a man who I fear would lead many astray. I don't judge him, that's up to God. It is in and of itself quite a story. But then so is God's Word.... which does a much better job of providing wisdom, healing, and telling us what's happening and what's going to happen in the world. I would even say that if that's a line by line account that an "angel" showed up to Edgar Cayce (when he was about 13 I believe the story goes) saying he was ready to receive greater wisdom... there is no greater wisdom than what comes out of God's Word. I would say there's also no "new wisdom" for Christ Himself said He's foretold us all things that we need to know in Mark 13:23. So actually, judging by God's Word I would say that Edgar Cayce did not come across an angel if that's the account. I don't want so much to argue and I certainly don't want to get completely off track. I do appreciate the response Sasa.

Jason

Re: Jeremiah
 

I love his words and his story is so very interesting to me personally, the book is called "There is a River" and I loved it.

Your very welcome for the response.

Please continue with your commentary, sorry to get you off subject, Jason.
Just wanted to talk a little.

Re: Jeremiah
 

Jeremiah 8:16 "The snorting of his horses was heard from Dan: the whole land trembled at the sound of the neighing of his strong ones; for they are come, and have devoured the land, and all that is in it; the city, and those that dwell therein."

Geographically Dan was the northernmost tribe of the House of Israel in terms of encampment. When the Assyrian invaded and actually took the entire House of Israel into captivity, he came from the north and so it was the tribe of Dan that first came into contact with him. Notice though that it is talking about something that is past even to Jeremiah. This had happened well before Jeremiah's day, about 200 years before. The 10 northern tribes are gone. They were scattered but certainly not lost, but they are no longer present at that location at this time of Jeremiah's day, or even today as far as that goes. So, this is a warning to what could happen to the House of Judah and Benjamin, and even as much as the Assyrian was a type of Antichrist, it's a warning or type for us today. When you depart from doing things God's way, and especially when you would go so far as to provoke him through idolatry, even adultery in the spiritual sense, then that wall of protection even individually in your life just came down. It doesn't mean you can't get back to Him, but you must repent.

Jeremiah 8:17 "For, behold, I will send serpents, cockatrices, among you, which will not be charmed, and they shall bite you, saith the LORD."

Anytime you see a reference to serpents and here cockatrices, which means or can be translated adders, you know you're dealing with something of Satan. Now, I made mention in referencing the verses in 2nd Corinthians that God is not going to send forth false apostles. Certainly He is not going to in the sense of sending them to go forth and preach a bunch of lies. However, there is a negative part of God's plan at this time. What is that negative part of His plan?
It goes back to those of that synagogue of Satan in Revelation 2 and 3.

Have you read the parable of the tares in Matthew 13? There's a great mystery in this that goes clear back to the Garden of Eden. It's not very popular and it's another subject in and of itself. But it is certainly the truth. Have you not read in John 8 where Jesus in addressing the Pharisees and others of their ilk where He states they are of their father the devil? A lot of people try to spiritualize it when they really shouldn't since in Matthew 13 in the parable the Greek word for "seed" when it speaks of the sowing of seed is sperma. But be that as it may, Satan has his children and his workers who are those spoken of as well in 2nd Corinithians 11 who claim to be apostles of Christ and are ministers of Satan.

Now let's reason this out. Am I saying that God will allow people who claim to be Christian preachers, ministers and really are in Satan's camp to operate? Yes, He will. Why is that? Well, that's kind of what this whole age is about. This is a time in which God needs to see who He can trust and gives basically each individual the right to decide whether they will love God and follow His way, or choose Satan. If there's someone who wants to rely on the traditions of man and follow a "religion" rather than learn to study God's Word on their own so they can rightly divide it and show themselves approved, so be it. If a person wants to be deceived, then they can be deceived. Well that doesn't sound fair. No, it's very fair. God wrote this letter to be received and to be read. If someone doesn't care, God has a lot of patience. He loves His children. He really does. But He likes to have that love returned enough to where people actually care about what He has to say... not what some man says, but what He says. So therefore, if people want to listen to man because what they say sounds fancy and tickles their ears, then, if it actually comes from Satan, then sad as it is to say, they can follow him right down his path. Until that is they decide that they care enough to listen to what God has to say. Then they're just fine. But God said He would send them and He certainly did. The Pharisees and religious leaders during the time that Christ was here, many of them right out of this synagouge of Satan. You've got to listen to God and study His Word.

Jeremiah 8:18 "When I would comfort myself against sorrow, my heart is faint in me."

This is Jeremiah speaking and he's grief stricken over this. These are his people, going in the wrong direction. A true man or woman of God can't help but feel this way when they see people just absolutely wrapped up and in total bondage to sin, deception, whatever the case may be.

Jeremiah 8:19 "Behold the voice of the cry of the daughter of my people because of them that dwell in a far country: Is not the LORD in Zion? is not her king in her? Why have they provoked Me to anger with their graven images, and with strange vanities?"

Even in your everyday life God will not forsake you but you can certainly forsake Him. Again, turning to anything other than God is to your own hurt. Don't listen to man's traditions and religious doctrine unless it matches up to God's Word. When Antichrist is here then indeed it is not the LORD in Zion but a fake. Worshipping that fake will provoke God to anger. Don't let that happen.

Jeremiah 8:20 "The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved."

Harvest biblically is of course the time of the end. Again going back to the parable of the tares in Matthew 13:39 the harvest is the end of the world. If you make it past the harvest when the wheat and the tares are separated and you're not saved, you're in a heap of hurt. You're basically chaff. How am I saved? You read this Word. You follow Jeremiah 7:23 and obey His voice and walk in His ways so that it will be well unto you. You stand up for what is right in this world and according to God's law and you don't concern yourself with whether or not man approves of it. Man's not the one doing the harvesting, God is. Most of all you love Him. You know reading and going through this, as sasa indicated it's bad. For some it is. But for those who love God, who do walk in His ways, it isn't. Even when God went so far as to divorce Israel in the third chapter of this book, He still is willing to take her back. It is not His will that anyone should perish, but that all repent. They won't, but that's what He wants. He took on the sentence that when you think about it you deserve. Why? Because He loves you, and so that you could have that relationship with Him, so that you could come right up figuratively to the holy of holies and come straight to His throne.

Jeremiah 8:21 "For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt; I am black; astonishment hath taken hold on me."

Jeremiah is saying, I mourn for my people. Again, a man or a woman of God should feel this way when they see people who love the Lord used and abused and deceived, by people claiming to be apostles or ministers of Christ.

Jeremiah 8:22 "Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?"

Well there is a physician and there is healing. There will be a time when Jesus Christ is here for 1,000 years during the Millenium in which people who through false teachings and through being deceived by supposed Christian preachers will maybe be healed when taught real truth and discipline. Then when Satan and those who would follow him are finally done away with and we get to the last two chapters of Revelation then there will be healing. What a time that will be. Make sure you're part of it.

Jason

Re: Jeremiah
 

No problem Sasa. I obviously am not as intrigued by him and my words of caution do stand toward anyone, not just you. But we all make our own way and path, and interesting reading can be, well, interesting.:razz:

On to chapter 9 now. I will say that in regards to Sasa's comments this book certainly can be a "downer" for some perhaps. There's a reason why Jeremiah also had a book called Lamentations right after this one. But again, there is an answer and a way out.Again, I keep going back to Jeremiah 7:23, which is becoming one of my favorite verses. In the midst of all the negative in this same book what does it say? "Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be My people, and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you.

Or even in Chapter 3, the very chapter where God wrote Israel a bill of divorce. 10 of the 12 tribes of His "chosen people" He divorced. But what does He say starting in verse 12 of that Chapter? "Return thou backsliding Israel and I will not cause Mine anger to fall upon you. I mean He divorced them and they were married to another spiritually speaking. Hebrew law and customs said that in the fleshly literal sense a man would not take his wife back under those circumstances. God is going to. He even says in the midst of all the false teachers and false churches in this book in 3:15 that He will give them pastors according to His heart and in verse 23 of that third chapter which is also very beautiful, and it reads.
Jeremiah 3:23 "Truly in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills, and from the multitude of mountains: truly in the LORD our God is the salvation of Israel."

Friends, that salvation of course is not just for Israel. It's for whomsoever will. You can't find your own way or work out your own way to salvation. He paid that price, because He was worthy and we're not. He of course being Jesus Christ. But the amazing thing is He thought you were worthy enough to die for. But you can try any "religion" you want, you can pray to some old pile of wood or your car if you want to. You'd probably look a little funny doing so. But the point is there's only place only in one individual in which you'll find salvation and peace of mind, and that's in Jesus Christ.

I wanted to start out with something positive because Chapter 9 is going to be pretty negative. But again, the anger, the disappointment, the wrath if you will, it's only if you're not doing things God's Way. And even if you're not, it's still not too late to get back to doing it His way at this time. So okay, on to Chapter 9.

Re: Jeremiah
 

Jeremiah 9:1 "Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!"

This is Jeremiah and he's weeping for his people. Again kind of a continuation here of the end of Chapter 8. When a person who is a Christian sees his or her people hurting, whether it's literal physical death and abuse, or being deceived and spiritually slain, it hurts. When one who is a Christian looks even at what goes on in this nation of America today and sees not only the physical and literal criminal acts but the moral degradation, it almost would cause one to weep day and night if they were unaware that it will be corrected by God. But even with that, it's still hurtful.

Jeremiah 9:2 "Oh that I had in the wilderness a lodging place of wayfaring men; that I might leave my people, and go from them! for they be all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men."
What Jeremiah is saying here actually is if I could just find some far off place to escape to, I would leave. I would leave my own people. That's pretty strong, but for some they can get to that point. When one looks around at the wickedness around them and feels that no one cares or no one can or will do anything, they can get pretty upset. Sometimes, and maybe more the case in Jeremiah's case, they feel like they have to leave to keep from losing their mind.

Jeremiah 9:3 "And they bend their tongues like their bow for lies: but they are not valiant for the truth upon the earth; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they know not me, saith the LORD."

I look at this almost like they practice or train themselves to do evil and to lie and become quite skilled in it. This is just a personal observation obviously so it should be taken as such. But, when an archer, whether in sport and competition or at this time in military combat, to become skilled it takes effort and practice. The word bend of course can be translated as prepare, because an archer does bend his bow to kind of load it with an arrow. Then when he lets go, that arrow is moving at pretty good speed toward its target. That's the comparison here with these people and their lies.
Jeremiah 9:4 "Take ye heed every one of his neighbour, and trust ye not in any brother: for every brother will utterly supplant, and every neighbour will walk with slanders."

Boy can we see this today or what? Whether it's in the workplace, in the community, sometimes unfortunately maybe even in some families there is just not much trust. People are concerned about me, me,me, and they will say whatever they can for their own benefit. If it's a lie, they really don't care as long as people believe it. There will come a time as foretold by Jesus Himself in which certainly some will not be able to trust their brother.

Mark 13:12 "Now the brother shall betray the brother to death, and the father the son; and children shall rise up against their parents, and shall cause them to be put to death."

I agree with the teaching that this is spiritual. This is at the time when Satan is here operating as Antichrist. This is a time that Satan is going to have most of the world believing he is Jesus. So, when a deceived brother, father, or child takes their loved one to Satan because they are concerned for their soul and salvation, then in essence they're delivering them up to death, which is to say Satan. Documentation for that is Hebrews 2:14. But certainly at that time we can expect it and today we can expect to be betrayed for more malicious reasons.

Jeremiah 9:5 "And they will deceive every one his neighbour, and will not speak the truth: they have taught their tongue to speak lies, and weary themselves to commit iniquity."
This kind of almost documents my observation. What does that say? They have TAUGHT their tongue to speak lies. They've practiced it to almost you might say make it an art form in some cases. They work at it day and night almost wearing themselves out to do that which is wrong. To spread falsehoods and tear people down. Is it any wonder why Jeremiah would want to get away from this crowd? We still have them today without a doubt.
Jeremiah 9:6 "Thine habitation is in the midst of deceit; through deceit they refuse to know me, saith the LORD."

Your habitation is getting right there in your back yard where you live. Notice God is speaking to Jeremiah here and these people would rather deceive and be deceived than to know God. They would rather listen to and pass along a lie than actually study God's truth for themselves. Now we kind of get back to churches a little bit. Again, not coming down on churches, but how many of them simply pass down what was taught to them, and then the next person passes it down and the next one passes it down and on and on? "Well, my pastor or teacher at seminary taught me that I wanted to be the first one taken from the field because I'm going to fly away. So, they've been doing this longer than me so I guess I'm going to fly away like a little bird." I mean unfortunately it's an easy trap to fall into. But unfortunately as well it is a trap. A trap in many cases set out of ignorance, but one that is deadly and shameful to get caught in.

Jeremiah 9:7 "Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, Behold, I will melt them, and try them; for how shall I do for the daughter of my people?"

This is the second time in this book that God says he will do something like this. Now, He's not saying He's going to melt them in hell necessarily. He also mentions this at the end of the 6th Chapter of Jeremiah. But this is an analogy like the process of smelting gold and silver. When gold or silver is refined it is put through a furnace basically or melted down to remove any impurities that may be present from when it was pulled from the earth. When God says He's going to do this He's basically saying He's going to test them out and refine them to see if there's anything good there. If there is, then there just may be some hope for them. If there isn't then they're not in too good of shape.

Jeremiah 9:8 "Their tongue is as an arrow shot out; it speaketh deceit: one speaketh peaceably to his neighbour with his mouth, but in heart he layeth his wait."

Now when you see the phrase lying in wait or layeth his wait, this is one of God's prerequisites if you will for determining a murder. If there's an accidental killing or even a "crime of passion" in which tempers flare all of a sudden or emotions become such that someone lashes out and kills someone, that's not a murder. A murder involves lying in wait. In other words to plan something out in advance. So we're talking about murder here. Now, in as much as the subject matter is deceit, we're kind of talking about a spiritual murder here. Although certainly it can apply to in the literal sense where a person acts pleasant toward his neighbor and is plotting inwardly to do him in. But whichever way you wish to look at it, we're not dealing with too nice of a crowd here.

Jeremiah 9:9 "Shall I not visit them for these things? saith the LORD: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?"

Naturally the answer to both of these questions is yes. Again the phrase the daughter of my people has been used by both Jeremiah and by God Himself in this chapter. God does not like when someone murders one of His children. He especially doesn't like when through deception they actually participate in the murder of that child's soul. Now, don't get too skittish over the phrase the murder of a soul, because what man kills spiritually God can restore to life with the actual truth. But He certainly does not like to see His children deceived... especially by those who claim, "well I come in the name of Jesus". He does not like it at all, and they will answer for it UNLESS they repent themselves. But I certainly would not want to be in their shoes.

Jason

Re: Jeremiah
 

Jeremiah 9:10 "For the mountains will I take up a weeping and wailing, and for the habitations of the wilderness a lamentation, because they are burned up, so that none can pass through them; neither can men hear the voice of the cattle; both the fowl of the heavens and the beast are fled; they are gone."

Now it is interesting that the word habitations here refer to pastures in the Hebrew. Now God is not going to burn up cow pastures over this for they are innocent creatures that have nothing to do with this. Symbolically who are the sheep who would graze in a pasture? Naturally they are God's people who come to be fed. Who does the feeding, or is supposed to? Obviously the shepherd. Now again the whole subject matter here has been lies and deceit. If the food is burned up, how much truth do you think is out there? Not much. This is why as it states in Amos 8:11 that the famine for the end times is not for bread or water but for hearing the Word of God. Then in verse 12 in that same chapter it says man shall run to and fro to find the Word of Lord and not find it. So, guess what's truly happening here. The beautiful and spiritually sustaining truth in God's Word has been burned up in these once lush pastures by all the lies and traditions that these false shepherds have thrown out there. Now they're not going to hear the cattle and the fowl of the heavens and the beast are fled for what reason? Nothing there to eat. If you are a pastor and you have a lot of empty space in your church pews, you might want to try feeding your flock the meat from the Word of God. Otherwise they will go elsewhere. Really, who could blame them?

Checking out real quick. Take care and God bless,

Jason

Re: Jeremiah
 

Jeremiah 9:11 "And I will make Jerusalem heaps, and a den of dragons; and I will make the cities of Judah desolate, without an inhabitant."

[color="Blue"]God is very good to us and it's important that we catch the clues. This refers to the time that Antichrist is here, which of course has not occurred yet. Who is the Dragon biblically speaking? Naturally, as it says in Revelation, it is Satan.
Revelation 12:9 "And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Sa'-tan, which deceived the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him."

Naturally in as much as when Satan comes and is cast out, He's going to the temple claiming to be God. I don't want to get too far off track here, but I do want to go to 2nd Thessalonians. This by the way is a chapter that pretty much smashes the rapture theory to pieces. But, that's another subject. But I'm going to the 2nd Thessalonians Chapter 2. The first 2 verses Paul basically says "I don't want you to be confused about when we gather back to Christ" He then outlines what must happen first

II Thessalonians 2:3 "Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come [it will not be], except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;"

What's that say at the outset? Let NO MAN deceive you. What have we been talking about? Deception. Why would it be that Christ Himself would say that when someone would say "lo here is Christ" in Matthew 24 that He said don't believe that person? Because that "Christ" is a fake! The son of perdition is the son who perishes. There's a lot of people who try to say this was Judas Iscariot. Judas gets his sentence, whatever that may be, the same time the rest of us do. It's very important that we not judge Judas or anyone else, because I believe Judas repented. He took those 30 pieces of silver and threw them down before the chief priests. For all we know, he may be in good standing now with our Father. No, the son of perdition is none other than Satan, in as much as he's already been sentenced to perish by our Father in Ezekiel 28. So again, I don't want to get off subject but I do want to add that Paul is stating here that there is no gathering back to Christ until there is a falling away *APOSTASY* and that Satan be revealed.

II Thessalonians 2:4 "Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God."

This is the time that Jerusalem is going to be a den of dragons, because the Dragon himself in Satan will be there... along with his fallen angels. The cities of Judah will be desolate at this time because, as stated in Daniel he's also the abomination that causes desolation, in Daniel 8:13 and also 9:27, and referred to by Christ in Matthew 24 and Mark 13. So our timing is very specific. It can only refer to one time, that being the time of Antichrist's tribulation.

Jeremiah 9:12 "Who is the wise man, that may understand this? and who is he to whom the mouth of the LORD hath spoken, that he may declare it, for what the land perisheth and is burned up like a wilderness, that none passeth through?"

I don't know, do you understand this? Do you work at it so that you can understand it? Again, do you know where true wisdom starts? Proverbs 1:7 the fear, better translated reverence of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. Do you revere Him? Do you love Him? I hope so, because He sure loves you. Even in the midst of these harsh sentences and troubled times in this book and in the world today, if you're at least honestly trying to serve Him and understand His will in your life, then He's not angry at you. He wants to bless His children, not hurt them. He's going to explain who He is angry with and why these pastures are burned up, so pay attention.
Jeremiah 9:13 "And the LORD saith, Because they have forsaken my law which I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice, neither walked therein;"

A direct contradiction or violation of Jeremiah 7:23.

Jeremiah 7:23 "But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you."

Jeremiah 7:24 "But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward."

Friends, you will always go backward in your life instead of forward when you're doing things contrary to God's law and direction even in your personal life. Does it seem that no matter what you do in life you just can't get ahead, and I'm not talking necessarily financially or just financially. I'm talking about everything. But it's hard to serve God, I mess up! Join the club. You know how many times I've messed up? I've messed up maybe bigger and worse than many of you. He's not expecting you to be perfect. He's expecting you to care and to try, and that when you fall short you repent. Then guess what? Boom, clean slate.... it's as if it never happened and in His eyes you are perfect. Friends, the blessings of God are so enormous, and His love for you and what He sacrificed for you, it's worth it to go after them. But you do have to meet the conditions. The first condition is that you love Him. Because if you really do love Him you don't want to disappoint or hurt Him. It's the same as when you love someone else in your life, be it mother, brother, husband or wife. You don't want to hurt or disappoint them.

Re: Jeremiah
 

Jeremiah 9:14 "But have walked after the imagination of their own heart, and after Baalim, which their fathers taught them:"

Again almost an exact duplicate of Jeremiah 7:24. Instead of obeying God's voice and walking in His way, they went their own way and went with their own man made religion. You can believe anything you want in this world. If you want to go worship an oak tree, go worship an oak tree. That oak tree isn't going to be able to do one thing to help you or bless you, but if that's your thing go for it. But don't try to pass it off as God's Word and teach it to children who honestly want to serve Him when it came from your imagination and your man made traditions.

Jeremiah 9:15 "Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink."

We know from Chapter 8 this water of gall is poisonous water that actually came from the poppy plant. But what is this wormwood? Where else is this word mentioned in God's Word? The word means bitterness or even poisoning. So let's go to Revelation Chapter 8. What God is basically saying is if they would rather dream up things on their own and have a nice little religion that has nothing to do with Him or His Word and try to pass it off as such then they may not like the taste of things.

Revelation 8:10 "And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters;"

Revelation 8:11 "And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter."

Now, this isn't a literal poisoning of the rivers and it's not a physical death. One must understand the symbology in Revelation and what the subject matter is. Stars in the book of Revelation are symbolic of God's children. When this star falls from heaven, this is none other than Satan when Michael boots him out. What did Jesus himself say in Luke 10:18? I beheld Satan fall as lightning from heaven. This star of Wormwood is Satan. To get the subject in this instance let's go to Jeremiah since we are studying in Jeremiah and since this is where God said, "I'll give them wormwood and water of gall." What's the subject here? Doctrine.... or religion.... good and bad spiritual food. So then, what we have is a very bitter religious doctrine if you will that will kill many people spiritually. So if anyone says, the rivers are going to be polluted and people won't have anything to drink at this time, they miss the boat completely. It is bitter doctrine that when taken in will kill a soul. So actually it's much worse. That's why it's important to obey His voice, walk in His ways, and study His Word, and it will be well unto you. You won't partake of this wormwood. Not because you're going to be gone. But because you won't want that bitter posionous doctrine, when you've got the fountain of living waters in Jesus Christ and His Word that sustains throughout the eternity.

Jeremiah 9:16 "I will scatter them also among the heathen, whom neither they nor their fathers have known: and I will send a sword after them, till I have consumed them."

This has already occurred in a large part. When the Assyrian took the 10 Northern tribes or the House of Israel captive, the people of those 10 tribes were scattered throughout what today we basically refer to as the Christian nations, with obviously one of those nations being America. We refer to many of these people today as Caucasian and it is a reference to their skin color or ethnicity. In actuality, it refers to their passing through the Caucusas Mountain range in their journey.

It is fascinating to see in this country at various spots engravings and etchings in the stones and in the earth that are in Ancient Hebrew. The Bat Creek Stone in Tennesse that was pulled out of a burial mound that had a Paleo-Hebrew inscription that reads "For Judea". How did it wind up in Tennessee? The Los Lunas Decalogue Stone in New Mexico that had the Ten Commandments engraved in it. Who did that? Where did it come from? Another decalogue stone found in 1860 engraved with the Ten Commandments in post-exilic Hebrew, found in a burial mound in Newark, Ohio.

The Keystone found at the same location with these inscriptions:
Qedosh Qedoshim, "Holy of Holies"
Melek Eretz, "King of the Earth"
Torath YHWH, "The Law of God"
Devor YHWH, "The Word of God"

Even the coronation stone in England and Scotland, sometimes called the Stone of Scone or Stone of Destiny, which is the very stone Jacob laid his head on, Jacob's Pillar, carried throughout the years by these people and winding up as a stone of coronation for monarchs in Scotland and England. How is that? Though they have been scattered and maybe lost their own way and down through the generations forgotten who they are, their ancestors certainly have left their mark!

Jason

Re: Jeremiah
 

Okay, good morning to everyone. Picking up on Jeremiah 9:16 and the thought that God will send a sword after these people He's scattered, does that mean all the people? No! Again we have to look at context and who He's angry at. Who He is angry at is those who as it says in verses 13 and 14 have forsaken His law and obeyed not His voice but decided to dream up their own religion and even perhaps their own god(s). In as much as the House of Israel and the House of Judah will be joined backed together in the Millenium and in the eternity, obviously this is not directed toward all these people. Now, does that sound tough on those it is directed at? Yes it does. But you must understand that God does not like it when people allow themselves to becomed tied up in tradition and deception and falsehoods and think that it will save them when the Saviour has His outstretching arms to them and all they have to do is obey His voice and they will be blessed. He especially doesn't like it when teachers, professed teachers, lead people into falsehood. But it's interesting this word sword even.

2719.
brx chereb, kheh'-reb; from 02717; drought; also a cutting instrument (from its destructive effect), as a knife, sword, or other sharp implement:--axe, dagger, knife, mattock, sword, tool.

That word drought stands out, but the word comes from another Hebrew word. Let's take a look at that one.

2717.
brx charab, khaw-rab'; or chareb {khaw-rabe'}; a primitive root; to parch (through drought) i.e. (by analogy,) to desolate, destroy, kill:-- decay, (be) desolate, destroy(-er), (be) dry (up), slay, × surely, (lay, lie, make) waste.

Who is the desolator and destroyer? Naturally, as we should have already talked about going back to Daniel 8 and most specifically Daniel 11:31 it is the Antichrist, i.e. Satan. So, if these people want falsehood they will get as much and more than they can handle through Satan's lies. That's the sword God will use to consume them. But even with that he can only do as much as God will allow. Now, let's try to finish up this chapter.:)

Jeremiah 9:17 "Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Consider ye, and call for the mourning women, that they may come; and send for cunning women, that they may come:"

At the time of this writing they actually had women who this was kind of their business. They were "professional mourners". The word cunning does not necessarily mean anything negative. It actually can mean wise and even teaching wisdom, but it basically means women who are skilled at this craft of professional mourning. Why? It's going to be bad for these people. These are Jeremiah's people. These are our people. So it's going to be a time of mourning for some or over some to be sure.

Jeremiah 9:18 "And let them make haste, and take up a wailing for us, that our eyes may run down with tears, and our eyelids gush out with waters."

Why is this such a time of mourning? Go back to verse 16 and this "sword" that God is going to send after these people to consume them. It's not a physical death. It's actually much worse. Satan is going to come as Antichrist pretending to be Jesus, and these people are so wrapped up in traditions and their own imaginations instead of studying, learning, and teaching the Word of God so that they would know he's a fake, and so they're not only not going to know he's a fake, they're going to worship him! It will be a very sad time for these people.

Jeremiah 9:19 "For a voice of wailing is heard out of Zion, How are we spoiled! we are greatly confounded, because we have forsaken the land, because our dwellings have cast us out."

Zion of course being Jerusalem, but what is on Mount Zion? Mount Zion is the temple mount. This wailing is coming straight out of the churches. Why would there be a wailing and shame in the churches? What they taught lead people straight into Satan's camp when he comes as Antichrist. Again, it's very important that you study truth, learn truth, and teach it. Teach it from where? You teach from God's Word. If you truly do that, you're not going to be ashamed. But if you teach man's traditions you most certainly will be.

Jeremiah 9:20 "Yet hear the word of the LORD, O ye women, and let your ear receive the word of His mouth, and teach your daughters wailing, and every one her neighbour lamentation."

When God calls something to our attention or to someone's attention. This is actually kind of directed to these "cunning women". Let me ask, do you hear the Word? More importantly, do you let your ear receive it? Do you meditate over it? If you do, then you are a wise person, because you revere our Father. (Proverbs 1:7). At the same time, you do mourn for those who are deceived. You want to pull them out of the fire, figuratively speaking, and maybe almost literally speaking. Because guess what... chances are if someone makes the effort to go to church on a regular basis, they really do want to learn and really do love God.

Jeremiah 9:21 "For death is come up into our windows, and is entered into our palaces, to cut off the children from without, and the young men from the streets."

Death again is one of Satan's names and roles. His message, his lies, when received, will indeed cut off children, young men, and everyone off from eternal life. So, how do you cut him off? Again you study God's Word, you obey His voice, and you exercise the power that God gave you over him and all his little followers.

Luke 10:18 And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.
Luke 10:19 Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
Luke 10:20 Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.


Now the way many are going to really sting him will be when they are delivered up to actually testify against him and they allow the Holy Spirit to speak through them. At that time they are going to shake him to his core, because what God says through them not even the gainsayers will be able to rebut (Luke 21:15). What a time that will be. Okay, I'll complete the chapter in the next post.

Re: Jeremiah
 

Jeremiah 9:22 "Speak, Thus saith the LORD, Even the carcases of men shall fall as dung upon the open field, and as the handful after the harvestman, and none shall gather them."

Now keep in mind that again this is spiritual. We're still on the subject matter here of deception and death in the spiritual sense. That "sword" that cuts them to pieces is not a physical sword but the lies of Satan that will carve up a soul. This is why putting on the gospel armor is so very important. What is this gospel armor? Let's go to Ephesians quickly and find out.

Ephesians 6:11 "Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil."

This is why you want to put it on. Satan is a supernatural entity and he's going to deceive many. But there are some who will not put up with him and will not be deceived by him. But you've got to be covered and well protected with these items.

Ephesians 6:12 "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."

This is an important verse to take note of. I'm not saying memorize it, make a religion out of it, or go off on some fanatical tangent off of one verse. But it is important to realize that we are in a spiritual war. It's not a physical war with guns and bombs, but a war of ideas. Quite frankly, there's no middle ground or neutral ground in this war. If you say you're neutral, then you're actually on the wrong side. I'm not saying you're evil, you're going to hell, or anything of the sort. I'm saying there's two sides... God's side or Satan's. If you stand up in whatever way suits you for what is right according to God and this Word then you're on His side. If you think the other ideas sound better or just don't care either way then you're on the other side, which is to say Satan's. Again, I'm not judging anyone here, just stating facts. But when you see a nation or government do things that seem downright evil, devilish if you will, well they could very well be. We are fortunate to live in a country, those who do, where we have both freedom of religion and a Christian majority. We've been blessed by putting our trust in God. Not everyone has that luxury. Yet even in this nation we have allowed evil and contrary ideas to creep in. Contrary to what exactly? The Word and law of God. I'm not going to get too political, but we've legalized abortion, we've kicked prayer out of school, by law, though no one can truly stop someone from praying in school. We've started to allow gay marriage in some states. Just recently we had our lovely elected Senate vote 93-7 in favor of a bill that among other things lifts the military ban on sodomy and beastiality. We also found that our President wants to kind of make America almost an asylum or safe haven for LGBT people and kind of encourage other countries to follow suit. Where do you think those ideas come from? People do evil on their own, but they do get a little push in that direction without a doubt.

Ephesians 6:13 "Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God that ye may be able to with stand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand."

When is the evil day? Naturally the most evil day or time period imaginable would be when Satan is here pretending to be Jesus. That's the time you really want to have the gospel armor on.

Ephesians 6:14 "Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;"

Your girt is your belt. Quite honestly, girting yourself up with truth will keep your pants from falling down spiritually speaking and getting confounded, which is to say embarrassed or ashamed. When you have the truth, you will not be one of those praying for mountains to fall on top of you at Christ's return, because you knew the truth that Satan was a fake and wanted nothing to do with him.

Your breastplate of righteousness comes from obeying God's voice and protecting your Christian name and character. No one is perfect, but if you work at doing things the right way and stand up for God and His Word and speak out against those principalities and spiritual wickedness in high places then God counts you as pretty righteous.

Ephesians 6:15 "And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;"

Your feet obviously are what you move around on. There will be many again as it written in Daniel and even in Jeremiah who cry peace, peace when there is no peace. So, what is the preparation of the gospel of peace? It is knowing God's basic plan and timeframe of events and operating within that plan and timeframe. You will not be harvested out of season for you know that the false Christ comes first and you know that you will stand against him and not run to him.

Ephesians 6:16 "Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked."

That is so important even today beloved. Satan will do a number on you in your life if you allow him to. You must keep the faith in God in knowing that no matter what he does, Satan is a dead man walking, and just as God told Jeremiah in the last verse of the first chapter, even though they would fight against Jeremiah they would not prevail because God was with him and would deliver him. You need to have the faith that if it would come down to it you would go into a firey furnace and risk your flesh life before you would bow to falsehood, as Shadrach,Mesach, and Abednego did in Daniel 3. It won't come to that, but you have to have that level of faith. You know what happened there, I hope. Nebuchadnezzar threw them in that furnace, tying them up even, heated it 7 times hotter. Yet he threw 3 Hebrew people in there and saw a 4th that he said was like the Son of God. They pulled those 3 out and their clothing was not even singed. There wasn't even the smell of fire or smoke on them. God takes care of His own friends.

Ephesians 6:17 "And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:"

Your head is the most vulnerable part of your body, so you want that helmet, that covering of salvation. You also want to be sealed in your head, in your mind with God's truth. But you want to lean on and hold on to your salvation in Christ, and you fight back with what, a metal sword? No, you fight back with the Word of God, that spiritual two edged sword that cuts right through Satan's lies, so that he can't decieve you and so you can cut him to pieces rather than the other way around. Friends, we have the victory! But you have to know what to take into battle.

Jeremiah 9:23 "Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches:"

Again I can't help but think back to Luke 10:20 when it says what not to rejoice in or glory in since I brought it up. It's not a perfect comparison at all, but the point made there was rejoice not that the spirits were made subject unto you but that your names were written in heaven. Here we have instructions not to glory in wisdom, might, or riches. None of these things in and of themselves are bad, but if you put them before God they are, or even if you actually obtained them through God's blessings and tried to take the credit yourself then too they can become bad. But what we glory in is in the next verse.

Jeremiah 9:24 "But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD."

This too is something that one can truly glory in. When there is a child who truly seeks to understand and know our Father, that gives Him great pleasure. He does exercise lovingkindness, which is to say favor to the unworthy and judgment, which is to say justice to the oppressed. But to know and understand Him is indeed something to boast about. Not on your own account but to boast of Him and that you're a part of His family.

Jeremiah 9:25 "Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will punish all them which are circumcised with the uncircumcised;"

This leaves a little to be desired on the surface but it's explained in the next verse.

Jeremiah 9:26 "Egypt, and Judah, and Edom, and the children of Ammon, and Moab, and all that are in the utmost corners, that dwell in the wilderness: for all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in the heart."
What this is referring to is although the people of Israel might be circumcised in the physical sense inwardly in their minds they are not circumcised. Circumcision is no longer of the flesh but it's of the heart(mind). It's saying you might follow doctrine and play the part of a legalist, but inwardly you do not honor God or truly love Him. You don't listen to or obey His voice. You have your doctrine, you have your traditions and you look all nice and religious. But on the inside and in terms of what you teach and believe, it does nothing to honor our Father. So therefore the people who fall into that boat, they will be grouped right with those who know nothing of God and don't care. Which is sad because God does delight in showing that lovingkindness to His children. But you have to seek Him. You honestly seek Him and seek out His truth and you'll find it. So do that won't, you, and be blessed.

God bless,

Jason

Re: Jeremiah
 

Good day and an early Merry Christmas to you. I hope as we are at this time of year that all of you are healthy, happy, and enjoy a joyous and blessed holiday season with all your loved ones. I want to take a moment and recognize and in some say send along my "God blesses" to the people who have stood in Henderson, Texas in defense of a Christmas nativity display that some atheist group wants removed. Thousands of people standing, literally standing in support of this nativity scene. What courage and conviction, faith, and love these people have.

Okay then, we come to Jeremiah Chapter 10. Chapter 10 is kind of an interesting chapter in that it's not so much prophetic, though there is prophecy and future events in it. But it's really more of a statement chapter against idolatry and kind of the pointless nature of it. It holds true today even. You can not look to some "made up god" or religion to save you. Notice I said made up god. There is of course a God. He's not hard to find either. But if you go running after a bunch of nonsense, you can run after it all you want. But it's not going to help you and it certainly won't bless you or give you eternal life. So, here we go Jeremiah Chapter 10.

Jeremiah 10:1 "Hear ye the word which the Lord speaketh unto you, O house of Israel:

This tells us who this is addressed to. There is still a House of Israel today. But if you prefer to make it relevant today, even though the House of Israel is probably more relevant to many of you than you realize, just focus in on Hear ye the word which the Lord speaketh. We all need to pay attention to it, House of Israel or Gentile today. It matters not because if you believe in Yeshua Messiah, than you want to pay attention.

Jeremiah 10:2 "Thus saith the Lord, `Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them."

Even today, don't get off into other people's traditions. If you really do love the Lord then He wants to bless you, but it's hard for Him to do that if you go after some other religion or neat little doctrine someone has. God told us what He expects out of us in His word and there's nothing new under the sun. The heathen, especially at that time marveled at and worshipped the heavenly bodies, such as the sun and moon. Friends, these are created things. Why worship creation when we can know the Creator and when He loves you and can help you? There are signs in the sky, and God has even written His Word in the stars. But don't get shook up by that or make that your religion. Read and study this Word, follow it, and obey His voice and you'll do just fine.
Jeremiah 10:3 "For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe."

What this is leading up to is someone cutting down a tree and carving the wood to make an idol. This is what God is saying don't have anything to do with. It has nothing to do with lumber workers or Christmas trees or anything. We will get to it as we move along in the chapter.


Jeremiah 10:4 "They deck it with silver and with gold they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not."

Think about this and picture it in your mind. These heathen take a tree out of the forest and carve up the wood to make it look like whatever god they want to create. They lay it out real pretty with silver and gold. The Hebrew for move is stumble. Hebrew word 6328 in a Strong's Concordance.
Original Word: פִּיק
Transliteration: puq
Phonetic Spelling: (pook)
A primitive root; to waver -- stumble, move.

I mean, they create these idols and they have to fasten them down with hammer and nails so they don't tip over. Is that something you would want to worship? Even today, people don't necessarily carve out idols, but they do carve out doctrine that won't stand on its own two feet figuratively. You can either accept it because it sounds so spiritual, or you can test it to see if it has any legs to stand on. If it doesn't, let it fall and stick with what will not waver, what can not be moved in God's true word.

Jeremiah 10:5 "They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good



I mean these idols or "gods" can't talk, they need to be secured or else they'll tip over, and to be transported you have to pick them up and carry them. They can't do evil or good, why not? They're not real, they're not living. God though is living, and He's the God of the living, and not the dead. People, both these heathen, and unfortunately Christians at times need to have something they can see to keep their focus where it needs to be. But what good are these things? They're a hunk of wood, they can't do anything! So let me ask you today, what do you put your faith in? Who or what do you give your time to? I'm not talking about all your time. But do you make time for God? Have you told Him you loved Him lately? Or do you put your hopes and devotion in created or imaginary things? If you do, how are things going for you? Your Father is the one who loves you and can help you.

Jeremiah 10:6 "Forasmuch as there is none like unto thee, O LORD; thou art great, and thy name is great in might.

You know, I can't help but think of an occasion in the bible where one of these little idols, these little hunks of wood or metal couldn't stand before the One True God. The Philistines had actually captured the Ark of the Covenant. How did something like that happen? Well there were some pretty wicked priests in Hophni and Phineas and their father Eli wasn't too successful at correcting them. So God did His own correcting. But here the Philistines had the Ark, and they set it in their temple to their little fish god Dagon. What happened to Dagon?

I Samuel 5:2 "When the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon."

I Samuel 5:3 "And when they of Ashdod arose early on the morrow, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the earth before the ark of the Lord. And they took Dagon, and set him in his place again."

Their little pretend god and their idol had fallen from its perch and was bowing face first before God. Do you think maybe that's a sign?

I Samuel 5:4 "And when they arose early on the morrow morning, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the ground before the ark of the Lord; and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold; only the stump of Dagon was left to him.

So they set old Dagon up again figuring probably it was just an accident or coincidence. Then the next morning there Dagon is again bowing before the mercy seat of God but his head and his hands were cut off. That's probably not much of a coincidence.

I Samuel 5:5 "Therefore neither the priests of Dagon, nor any that come into Dagon's house, tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod unto this day."

Needless to say even these heathen Philistines recognized the fact that their little fish god couldn't stand before the True God. It wouldn't be too much longer that they would want to give the Ark back to the people of Israel. God has a way of making a point to people who want to put their hope and faith in meaningless created things.

Jason

Re: Jeremiah
 

Jeremiah 10:7 "Who would not fear thee, O King of nations? for to thee doth it appertain: forasmuch as among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, there is none like unto thee."

So it is true. There are no false little gods who can compare nor are there any wise men who can. The word fear can also mean revere. But He is the king of all the nations and on that first day of the Millenium every knee of very nation shall bow before him. Actually this is documented in more than one place but most relevantly here in Revelation Chapter 15.

Revelation 15:3 And they sing the song of Mo'-ses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints."

The Song of Moses, written in Deuteronomy 32, is the song that those who overcome Satan and who are not deceived by him will be singing. This is part of that song.

Revelation 15:4 "Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest."

So there it is. How many nations shall come and worship before Christ? ALL nations will do so. It's going to be quite a time, 1,000 years of peace, learning, and discipline. We'll head back to Jeremiah again.


Jeremiah 10:8 "But they are altogether brutish and foolish: the stock is a doctrine of vanities

What we have here in this chapter is kind of a comparison and contrast between God and these little idols. This verse is saying that those who worship and depend upon these carved wood idols are foolish. The word stock here means wood or tree and it's saying it's a doctrine of emptiness. And so it is. I mean which would you rather go with... the God of all the nations to which every nation will one day bow, or some little carved out piece of wood that you have to fasten to keep from falling over? Would you rather less to someone behind a pulpit talk and talk and get all emotional but not really say anything.... or would you rather listen to Your Father? One of those paths is vanity and the other path is to blessings and eternal life. It shouldn't be too hard to decide.

Jeremiah 10:9 "Silver spread into plates is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the workman, and of the hands of the founder: blue and purple is their clothing: they are all the work of cunning men."

I mean they make it look really pretty and holy. They get the finest silver and gold and decorate their idols and they even make clothes for them of blue and purple, the color of royalty. It doesn't matter, it's still just a hunk of wood. Do you understand today it's not so much hunks of wood but doctrine being preached from a pulpit? Do you understand there are people who will try to pretty up and even cover up the beautiful truth from God's Word? They tell people what they think they want to hear to soothe their mind and make it sound religious. "You don't need to understand the book of Revelation because God loves you so much that you're going to be the first one taken from the field and you'll be "raptured away, oh hallelujah, praise Jesus." Friends, the first one who shows up to take someone from the field is none other than Satan and it should be clear to a child that when the word Revelation means of course to reveal or uncover that maybe just maybe God did send it and have it written so that it could be read and understood. But it sounds holy and tickles the ear so unfortunately many drink it in. You remember that water of gall and water tainted by wormwood? That's what it tastes like spiritually speaking. Stick with the simplicity and the purity of the living water offered by the Living Word, Jesus Christ.

Jeremiah 10:10 "But the LORD is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting king: at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide his indignation

Everlasting king, meaning king of the ages or king of eternity.Nations come and go. Kingdoms come and go. God's kingdom is everlasting. But let me ask you, does that verse scare you or trouble you? It shouldn't. Have you done anything to deserve His wrath or indignation? Well, I've sinned. Join the club! If you've repented of those sins, then guess what? He's not angry at you. He's only angry at those who just don't care and those who do evil. He's mostly angry at those who do evil. If you at least try to follow Him and do His will, He counts that as a lot.

Jeremiah 10:11 "Thus shall ye say unto them, The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, even they shall perish from the earth, and from under these heavens."

[color="blue"]This is pretty much common sense, but what's interesting is this verse is in Chaldee, the language of the Babylonian captors. It's the only verse in the entire book of Jeremiah written in Chaldee. So this is a message even to their captors saying, "your little wood idols are going to be gone and the true God is going to reign. I don't know, I'll ask again, what do you put your faith and hope in? There is an eternity, even for some who at one point followed their own false gods, false idols, and false religious ideas. God loves the people all the same. He doesn't love what they all do necessarily. But He does love them. Again, His kingdom is everlasting, and it's really not all that hard to be a part of it. You do have to love Him enough to try to do things His way. With what He's done for us, how can you not?

Jeremiah 10:12 "He hath made the earth by His power, He hath established the world by His wisdom, and hath stretched out the heavens by His discretion."

[color="blue"]I mean as it says in Genesis, He created the world and everything He created was good. It was exactly as He wanted it. Everything we see around us that is created, every natural force and laws of science that govern our planet and our universe, God put them in effect.

Jeremiah 10:13 "When he uttereth his voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens, and he causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth; he maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures"

[color="blue"]It is almost funny how carried away people get with global warming, or I guess it's climate change now. Or are we back to global warming? Man has polluted a great deal, this is true. It's also true that this is not a good thing. But God is still firmly in control of the weather and the climate and man can't do anything to change that. But again can these little wood gods do that? I don't think so! They can get wet, rotted out, and destroyed by lightning but that's about the extent of it.

Jeremiah 10:14 "Every man is brutish in his knowledge: every founder is confounded by the graven image: for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them."

[color="blue"]There's no life or spirit in them. The Hebrew word is ruwach.

7307.
xwr ruwach, roo'-akh; from 07306; wind; by resemblance breath, i.e. a sensible (or even violent) exhalation; figuratively, life, anger, unsubstantiality; by extension, a region of the sky; by resemblance spirit, but only of a rational being (including its expression and functions):--air, anger, blast, breath, × cool, courage, mind, × quarter, × side, spirit((-ual)), tempest, × vain, ((whirl-))wind(-y).

Why would you want to waste your time on either an idol or a "doctrine" that is completely and utterly lifeless? When instead you can follow Almighty God who created the universe and your very soul? The one who put life into you? And some would go chasing after something dead instead. They do it many of them out of ignorance to be sure. But that's why those who have that truth must share it so that in planting a seed maybe someone who is spiritually dead will receive it and come to life, even everlasting life.

Jeremiah 10:15 "They are vanity, and the work of errors: in the time of their visitation they shall perish."

[color="blue"]Now this isn't necessarily talking about the people here, although unfortunately some of them will perish as well. But this is all the false idols, false doctrine, false religions and traditions. Even anything that takes you away from God that you place above Him, that's an idol in your life. It's going to be done away with, and the best thing for you is to do away with it yourself before we come to this point. Idolatry is a pretty serious sin in God's eyes, but it's not unforgivable. And, again, He knows you. He knows what's in your mind and heart, so no matter what be sincere with Him. But certainly all the idols will be destroyed, as well the rudiments that offend at the time of God's judgment.

I'll stop there for now. I've got to find some more time to do this but I will be back tomorrow.

Merry Christmas and God Bless,

Jason

Re: Jeremiah
 

Merry Christmas, Jason! Hope Santa was good to you this year!

Re: Jeremiah
 

Have a very Merry and blessed Christmas today! Remember that God loved us enough to take off His incorruptible body and be born of woman in a flesh body, like the rest of us. Born in a humble manner but born a king. Crucified as a criminal though innocent, raised once again incorruptible and as a king everlasting. He went through all that, and by that, I mean the negative parts, for you. Won't you tell Him you love Him today?

Okay, we're in Jeremiah and I pray that God opens eyes and ears in Jesus name. We are still talking about the foolishness and vanity of idols and we're just about done with that particular part of the chapter. But remember, anything that is worshipped or honored over God is pointless. Now, that's not to say don't have hobbies. But don't make your hobby an idol to where it becomes the center of your life when the center of your life, if you call yourself Christian, should be God your Father.

Alright then, verse 16

Jeremiah 10:16 "The portion of Jacob is not like them: for he is the former of all things; and Israel is the rod of his inheritance: The LORD of hosts is his name."

Did you know that God is Israel's inheritance, and that Israel is his? That even extends today to people outside of the tribes of Israel. Certainly Israel, it's people, and Jerusalem is special to our Father, but all people who love Him are special to Him.

Numbers 18:20 And the LORD spake unto Aaron, Thou shalt have no inheritance in their land, neither shalt thou have any part among them: I am thy part and thine inheritance among the children of Israel.

Deuteronomy 32:9 "For the Lord's portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance

Now, where is the documentation that through Christ all can be a part of this inheritance?

Galatians 3:14 "That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith."

Abraham was the first one the promise was made to. He was told by God that he would be the father of many nations and his descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the sky. Now, how and through whom does that blessing come? Through Abraham? No, through Jesus Christ!

Galatians 3:15 "Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; Though it be but a man's covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto."

If two men agree to something contractually and both sign it, then it's confirmed and at least in theory neither man backs out or tries to violate any part of it and no one tries to add anything to it. It's settled and agreed to. Man sometimes has a problem living up to his word, even his written word. But guess what? God never does. If He promises to give you something and meet His conditions on your end, then you're going to receive it. You know something? It gives Him great pleasure to give it to you when you meet His conditions. You can even remind Him of what He promised you. Just make sure you meet the conditions. But if you do, then you can claim His promises.

Galatians 3:16 "Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, "And to seeds, as many; but as of one, "And to thy Seed," Which is Christ

Christ is the one who brings it all together. Jew, Gentile, it doesn't matter. If you are in Him, you are of that seed of Abraham spiritually speaking, and you are entitled to the promise.

Galatians 3:29 "And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise."

I don't want to get off track too much, but I do want to go to Romans. Did you know that if you are part of the promise and of this seed, you inherit basically what Christ does? Romans 8 starting with verse 14.

Romans 8:14 "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God."

You get that? There is no race, ethnicity, family tree in a flesh sense in that. If you are led by the Spirit of God, you're a part of His family. There's no gender either, so don't get hung up on sons.

Romans 8:15 "For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, "Abba, Father." "

He is your Father. He is your closest relative, and He loves you.

Romans 8:16 The Spirit Itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:"

Romans 8:17 "And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together."

Friend, do you know what Christ inherits? He inherits everything! Now don't get carried away and put yourself on an equal plane with Him. But He is happy to share the kingdom with you! So why on earth would you want to carve something out of some little stick or make an idol out of something like a house or a car and put all your time and attention into something other than your Father who created everything and wants to share it with you? Now again, not trying to put anyone on a guilt trip here. There's nothing wrong with enjoying and being proud of things you've earned in your life. But don't put them before your Father. He's the one who loves you, and He's got far more in store for you and to give you than anything you can obtain in this world on your own, or even with His blessings. There's still much more to come.

Jeremiah 10:17 "Gather up thy wares out of the land, O inhabitant of the fortress."

Here the subject kind of changes. This is a command or piece of advice to pick up your bags and get moving because Jerusalem (the fortress) is under siege. I can't help but think in kind of a different sense when Christ said something similar but in a different vein when He said in Mark 13:15 for he that was on the housetop not go into the house and even pack a bag. But that will also certainly be a time in which Jerusalem is under siege but it will not be in any war with guns but spiritual siege to Antichrist.

Re: Jeremiah
 

Thank you Sasa. This has actually been a difficult year in many ways and I got a late start on Christmas. But, it went fine.:)

Now let's see if I can't get through this chapter of Jeremiah.:)

Jeremiah 10:18 "For thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will sling out the inhabitants of the land at this once, and will distress them, that they may find it so."

This would happen in a sense as a type with the Babylonian captivity that would be coming upon the people of Jeremiah's day. But what it really looks forward to is again as alluded to in the previous verse that time when Antichrist is here and even when Christ Himself returns . Notice it says inhabitants. This includes and really even applies almost more to people who are living there who are not of the tribe of Judah. When Christ returns He is going to clean things up and set them right as only He can. You know what? That's going to be a good time, and a good thing. All that which offends is not necessarily done away with or destroyed at that time, for not even Satan is destroyed when Christ returns. All 7,000 fallen angels actually are. But we will have a thousand years of peace, of God in control, then at the end of that 1,000 years Satan will be released and unfortunately deceive some still into following him. But when that happens,Christ will put a stop to it immediately, and then we see who makes it into the eternity and who does not at the Great White Throne Judgment. But regardless, anything and anyone who would cause problems will not be around when it's all said and done.]
Jeremiah 10:19 "Woe is me for my hurt! my wound is grievous: but I said, Truly this is a grief, and I must bear it."

One can look at this as the city of Jerusalem speaking or as Jeremiah speaking when he says all of this. Either way, it is a tough thing. It's a tough sentence. But as you can hopefully see, it is brought on by their own acts. The greatest apostasy... the greatest idolatry known to man will take place during this time, when the majority of the world worships Satan himself, most of them convinced he's Jesus. The bad teachings, the traditions, the unwillingness to teach that which is not popular or politically correct, even if it's truth from God's Word, all of that will come home to roost. A lot of what comes down in terms of wrath and correction will come down on these so called teachers. But even so, every single person makes their own way and their own decision. You and you alone decide what you do in your life. When we do stand before God on Judgment Day, we will answer for what we did. And, that might be even a good thing. If you've pleased Him, you'll receive rewards. If you haven't, then you might be headed somewhere not so good. But regardless it will be you and you alone who decides that, good or bad.

Jeremiah 10:20 "My tabernacle is spoiled, and all my cords are broken: my children are gone forth of me, and they are not: there is none to stretch forth my tent any more, and to set up my curtains."
This will be a temporary thing as when Christ sets everything right, the center of His kingdom is still going to be in Jerusalem. Again, when Christ sets things right and His people, and this being people of all nations and races... Jew, Gentile, it won't matter. When His people who love Him go into the eternity, the heart of everything is going to be in Jerusalem. This is documented in this same book of Jeremiah.

Jeremiah 3:16 "And it shall come to pass, when ye be multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, saith the LORD, they shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of the LORD: neither shall it come to mind: neither shall they remember it; neither shall they visit it; neither shall that be done any more."

The ark of the covenant was symbolic of God's mercy seat. There will be no need for or concern so much regarding that artifact, because the mercy seat itself will be present with us, as will the one who sits on that mercy seat, which is to say God or Christ. The symbol of it will very much take a back seat to the real thing.

Jeremiah 3:17 "At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the LORD; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the LORD, to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart."

Notice again, that says all the nations will gather to Jerusalem. God loves the city, the location, and the people. He's just going to need to clean it up a bit. But once He does, it will be the beautiful spot that God has always wanted it to be. At that time too the entire seed of Jacob, both the House of Israel, that being the 10 northern tribes who were scattered, many here in the USA, and the House of Judah, being the tribes of Judah and Benjamin will be reunited and again be one stick. God's favorite people again together in one place, but surrounded by those who love Him of all peoples. Heading back to Jeremiah 10

Jeremiah 10:21 "For the pastors are become brutish, and have not sought the LORD: therefore they shall not prosper, and all their flocks shall be scattered."
Again, we saw this in the last chapter. If you are a pastor and you're not seeking the truth out in God's Word, then you're not much of a pastor. If all you do is teach the doctrine that your church board says you can teach, and it doesn't line up with God's Word, then you're not going to prosper and your flock indeed is going to be scattered and gone. Ministries and pastors that feed hungry souls the truth will always be blessed. Those who do not will be unsuccessful, for God's sheep will always seek to find someplace where they are actually fed. You know something? Even in the famine of the end times, which is for hearing the Word of God, the Word itself will never disappear, and those who honestly seek out truth will always find it. It will be a lot more difficult, but God does take care of His own.

Jason

Re: Jeremiah
 

"Thank you Sasa. This has actually been a difficult year in many ways and I got a late start on Christmas. But, it went fine."


Your Welcome. I got a late start too, it was a mess, but I pulled it off, everyone was happy and that made me happy. A difficult year? I am exhausted from 2011. At times my days start at 4am and end and 10pm. I am looking forward to 2012. :)
What doesn't kill us only makes us "stronger"....and I have certainly learned to appreciate the times when I can lay my head down. :D

Re: Jeremiah
 

Well, good to hear.:) Now, let's try to finish the last 4 verses of this chapter.:)

Jeremiah 10:22 "Behold, the noise of the bruit is come, and a great commotion out of the north country, to make the cities of Judah desolate, and a den of dragons."

This word bruit is interesting. It means rumor, but it's the feminine passive participle of another Hebrew word "shamem"
8074.
~mX shamem, shaw-mame'; a primitive root; to stun (or intransitively, grow numb), i.e. devastate or (figuratively) stupefy (both usually in a passive sense):--make amazed, be astonied, (be an) astonish(-ment), (be, bring into, unto, lay, lie, make) desolate(-ion, places), be destitute, destroy (self), (lay, lie, make) waste, wonder.

So here we once again come across a Hebrew word meaning desolate or desolation. It's even interesting that we have this word that can mean destroy one's self. Because again, it is false teachings, false traditions, false doctrine that is very self destructive. But who you think prophetically for us this refers to us and what time? Well, I gave a pretty big hint hopefully bringing your attention to desolate or desolation. Obviously it says in the verse itself that he's coming to make the cities of Judah desolate and a den of dragons. We again are referring to the time that Satan as Antichrist is literally on this earth and in that location of Jerusalem. Again, as a reminder when it refers to the north that's the path the Assyrian took to capture all the tribes of the House of Israel. He came from the North and Dan, which was the northern most tribe was the first to encounter him and his armies. It's going to happen, and as bad as it was in these past examples, it will be that much worse when Satan himself is here. But do you know something? We can handle it. God is going to take care of His election who are not deceived. So bring it on. God's people can cut it.





Jeremiah 10:23 "O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps."

What this is saying, and it may be confusing to some considering how we've talked about how man makes his own way in life.This is not saying that man has absolutely no control over his life. It's saying that man needs God's help and guidance to direct his steps at times, to tell him which way to go, which course of action to take. If he tries to do it on his own without God's input, it may not go so well... particularly at that time when Satan is here deceiving most of the world. This is where you really need to have that gospel armor on, that shield of faith from Ephesians 6 to where you have no doubt in your mind that He is with you, and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace so that you can say, "Here I am Father, point in the right direction to go." He certainly will.

Jeremiah 10:24 "O LORD, correct me, but with judgment; not in thine anger, lest thou bring me to nothing.

Some might say, well if it's judgment, isn't it anger? NO! Judgment is determining that which is right... that which sets things right, in this world, in our nation, and even in an individual sense. God is going to judge many people on Judgment Day whom which He is quite pleased with. God's judgment is nothing to fear... unless you're an enemy of His. But, even when you are corrected, He corrects those whom He loves. Do you know what this word correct means in the Hebrew? It means correct, but it means as well to instruct. You should welcome God's instruction and correction as a Christian. Why? We all stray off the right path from time to time, and God might give you a little kick in the pants to get you back on the path. Sometimes that kick might sting a little. But it's done out of love, and He will never, ever bring someone He loves to nothing.

Jeremiah 10:25 "Pour out thy fury upon the heathen that know thee not, and upon the families that call not on thy name: for they have eaten up Jacob, and devoured him, and consumed him, and have made his habitation desolate."
This is who God's anger is reserved. Keep in mind we're not talking so much about people who simply believe in some other religion. That is not up to us to judge. These are people who have abused God's people who do call on His name. Now what about these families? Hebrew word 4940 in a Strong's.

hxpXm mishpachah, mish-paw-khaw'; from 08192 (compare 08198); a family, i.e. circle of relatives; figuratively, a class (of persons), a species (of animals) or sort (of things); by extens. a tribe or people:--family, kind(-red).

Included in this are actually some people of the tribes of Israel or Judah(including Benjamin) who look to some other god, one of these fake idols, or even just have no regard for Him whatsoever. Too many other things on their mind that they feel are more important than their own Father who has blessed them with so much.

It is this combination, those who are natural enemies of God's people, and those who are of God's people perhaps in either genealogy in the sense of this writing, perhaps geographically in that they live in a Christian nation, or perhaps they are saved themselves. But they get off in traditions and falsehoods and, they get off into their own "hobbies", and again, hobbies are fine in the proper context. But they leave their first love, which is to say God. It is that combination that will bring about and does bring about a falling away, apostasy if you will. Many times it is coming from those who are enemies of God, and those who call themselves Christian listening to them because they don't want to offend.

I don't know, take a look around. More and more you've got people trying to say that we shouldn't have references to God in this nation that was founded on Christian principles. If you say homosexuality and anything that is unnatural is wrong, then you're homophobic or a religious bigot. It's gotten to the point where those who are "learned scholars" or at least think they are snicker at you if you call yourself Christian, or even if you believe in God period. You're uneducated, brainwashed, mentally ill or deficient. Oh it's real fun on the internet where people can act as high and mighty as they want anonymously. Although, it does extend outside the internet as well. But take a look around and ask yourself how we're doing.

God is very patient, and He's getting His people in place where He wants them, and He's giving those whom He still has hope for the chance to repent and make things right with Him. But that patience does have its limits. Pay attention, these are interesting times we're living in. Always remember to seek His will and His direction in your life in these times especially.

God bless,

Jason

Re: Jeremiah
 

So, now we come to Chapter 11 in this great book of Jeremiah. Chapter 11 is again kind of a harsh chapter, but it's directed toward those who don't listen to God and hold up their end of the covenant.As we mentioned in Galatians 3, man draws up contracts and written agreements and while they're binding, or at least supposed to be, sometimes people find a loophole so they're not so binding for them. Or they just plain disregard the contract. God doesn't. He will never and has never broken a covenant with any of His children, but His children have on their end. What's interesting too is at the end of this chapter we're going to see where Jeremiah is told not to prophesy in the name of the Lord or else these people of Anathoth would kill him. People who kind of have a good thing going, at least in their minds, don't like to hear the truth from God when the truth from God and the judgment from God would shake up and burst their little bubble that they've decided they want to live in. But hey, you know love hurts sometimes and tough lough stings a little. Sometimes it stings a lot. But it's much better to hurt feelings and maybe even anger someone than to do nothing and let them ultimately go to hell. That's not judging. That's discerning and showing concern for people who maybe think they're doing right and are on a road straight to hell.. unless someone shows enough concern and love for them to tell them the truth. So here we go, chapter 11 Jeremiah.
Jeremiah 11:1 "The Word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying,"
Jeremiah 11:2 "Hear ye the Words of this covenant, and speak unto the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem;"

The covenant at this particular time, it was the covenant from Exodus, and it had been renewed by Josiah, king of Judah at the time. This is documented in 2 Kings.

II Kings 23:1-2 "And the king sent, and they gathered unto him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem.[1] And the king went up into the house of the LORD, and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the people, both small and great: and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the LORD.[2]
II Kings 23:3 "And the king stood by a pillar, and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD, and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all their heart and all their soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant."

This took place roughly around 513 BC and these chapters of Jeremiah are dated anywhere from 518-500 BC. So here we have people making a point before man and God to stand to this covenant. Would they do so?



Jeremiah 11:3 And say thou unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel; Cursed be the man that obeyeth not the words of this covenant.

That may sound harsh to some. But one must understand that this is an agreement between God and basically the people of Israel, although it is Judah and Benjamin only who are present in Jerusalem. But it is the people saying, yes God we will honor this. So to then go back on one's word, particularly to God, that person would be cursed. The same applies today to an extent even in every individual's life. You may not be cursed as far as God going against you. But you're probably without His blessings. What are the words of the covenant today? What words do you need to obey? They're all right here, in the bible.

Jeremiah 11:4 "Which I commanded your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, Obey my voice, and do them, according to all which I command you: so shall ye be my people, and I will be your God:"

This is what is key to the covenant. Did it say read the words and forget them? Did it say hear what God says and ignore it? No, it says OBEY God's voice and DO them... do what? Do His commandments. That friends is the condition to being God's people and God being your God. Those conditions apply to this day. It is good to read the Word and meditate on it. That's actually very good. But God expects little action and obedience as well. Again, how would these people do?
Jeremiah 11:5 "That I may perform the oath which I have sworn unto your fathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as it is this day. Then answered I, and said, So be it, O LORD "

God really does enjoy blessing and giving things to His children. But again, they have to meet His conditions. If you as an individual meet His conditions, then if He has promised and sworn to give you something, He's going to do just that. If a nation meets His conditions, He's going to bless that nation. Do you think the United States became so richly blessed by doing evil? I mean we are the standard among nations in this world, in many ways. Doesn't mean everyone likes us. Doesn't mean everyone has to like us. But we have been the most powerful and the most successful. Why is that? In God we trust... One Nation Under God... with liberty and justice for all. We don't always deliver on justice for all, unfortunately. But we were founded a Christian nation... and we succeeded because of it.
Jeremiah 11:6 "Then the LORD said unto me, Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, saying, Hear ye the words of this covenant, and do them."

Again, there's the instructions from Our Father. Is it just hear ye the words? No, it's hear and DO! Works do not save you. It is faith in and by the grace of Jesus Christ that one is saved. But, having said that God likes people who actually do something for the kingdom. If you are not a doer than you're quite frankly not much use to our Father. This doesn't mean you're going to hell. But you should in all honesty care enough about God and His people to be a doer. Each to his or her own ability and comfort level. I'm not saying be an overachiever or a superstar, although if you are, that's great. But do something.... and God will bless you. Quite frankly that's both on earth and even more so in heaven. And that's not why you should want to be a doer. But the reward is worth it.

Jeremiah 11:7 "For I earnestly protested unto your fathers in the day that I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, even unto this day, rising early and protesting, saying, Obey my voice."

Again, God has a lot of patience. Here He is basically saying, I got up early every morning first thing and reminded them, obey My voice.. listen to Me... read and understand My Word as it would apply to today. God is reminding Jeremiah and He's reminding us, giving us examples of the past so that we would learn from them in the present. There's nothing new under the sun. As it is written in 1st Corinthians 10:11, what has happened in the past is an example for us to learn from. In 1st Corinthians 10, I'll go there and we'll take a look at a few things. I'll actually start with verse 5 and I'm not going to go into too much detail on these verses, I just want to show what I'm talking about.
I Corinthians 10:5 "But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness."
I Corinthians 10:6 "Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted."
I Corinthians 10:7 "Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, "The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play."
I Corinthians 10:8 "Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand."
I Corinthians 10:9 "Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents."
I Corinthians 10:10 "Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer."
I Corinthians 10:11 "Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come."

Did you get that? A lot of people look at the Old Testament and say, oh that's history. It doesn't apply today. Well, much of it is history. But there's also that which is unfulfilled prophecy in the Old Testament. And, even the history, as it is plainly stated by Paul... what happened in the past is an example for how it's going to be in the end. If you want a second witness from none other than Christ Himself said in Matthew 24:37, as the days of Noe were, so shall the coming of the Son of man be. So when God calls something to our memory, it's important to take note of it. It's a clue to how things will be at the end.

Jason

Re: Jeremiah
 

Well, Happy New Year to everyone! I hope it's been a good one so far. It certainly could be an interesting one to be sure, but above all else I hope it's one that brings you a lot of blessings. I left off with verse 7 in Jeremiah 11 and was talking about how what has happened in the past is a type for what will happen even at the very end. So it will be, as God is very good to us in that way at informing us. Judah at this point was getting ready to go into captivity, and so too are we getting more than likely very close to going into captivity again, only this time it will be most of the world. But do you know something? Even as most of the world is in captivity, God still takes care of His own and provides for them. You need look no further than those 3 Hebrew children in Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and even Daniel... especially Daniel even at that time. If you don't abandon God He certainly will not abandon you at that juncture. Alright, on to verse 8... going to get a little tough now in this chapter, but keep in mind who it's going to get tough on. I actually want to pick up verse 7 again to establish the subject.

Jeremiah 11:7 "For I earnestly protested unto your fathers in the day that I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, even unto this day, rising early and protesting, saying, Obey my voice."

Jeremiah 11:8 "Yet they obeyed not, nor inclined their ear, but walked every one in the imagination of their evil heart: therefore I will bring upon them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do; but they did them not."

There is always a negative part, in this dispensation at least, to God's plan. More than that, as mentioned, there are conditions to receiving His blessings and the promises of that covenant. What were those conditions? Obey My voice, and DO them. Do what? God's commandments of course. One must understand that with God and really just in life there are consequences to our actions. If we do what we're supposed to do, we'll come out alright. If we do something bad, generally there will be something negative happen to us. I mean go out and rob a bank and see if there's any negative consequences to that. See if people, society, and our law enforcement is inclined to just let that slide. Following God's law and direction quite frankly keeps you out of trouble. That doesn't mean bad things won't happen in your life, because there's evil in this world. But you'll still come out ahead in the end because you're doing things God's way. Unfortunately, there are people who always seem to think they have a better way... a better religion, better doctrine, or just know better. They don't.

Jeremiah 11:9 "And the LORD said unto me, A conspiracy is found among the men of Judah, and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem."

This is interesting. Why would we have this separation of the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem? Not everyone in Jerusalem was of the tribe of Judah, or the tribe of Benjamin. They're not today. Again, what does Revelation 2:9 and Revelation 3:9 say? There are some people who claim to be of Judah (Jews) but are the synagogue of Satan. Even in the new testament in several places where it speaks of the men of Judea or inhabitants of Judea, it is not talking about Jews or just about Jews. The inhabitants are just people who live there. Hopefully as we continue through this book it will become clear that these aren't necessarily the best of people. So, who then do you think kind of starts the conspiracy? The inhabitants do. That is not to say that the men of Judah are without blame. They go along with it. What do they go along with?


Jeremiah 11:10 "They are turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers, which refused to hear my words; and they went after other gods to serve them: the house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant which I made with their fathers."

This is the conspiracy. The House of Israel, which is indeed separate, had already been taken into captivity and were scattered amongst what we today refer to as the Christian nations. Why did this happen? They broke the covenant. But the problem here for the house of Judah is they have allowed these "inhabitants" to not only dwell with them and claim to be of them. They've allowed them to poison God's Word. They would actually allow these people to become scribes and teachers. The problem with this is these people, sons of Cain or Kenites quite frankly to call them by name, as a whole have no interest in or loyalty to the Word. Again, these people are of the synagogue of Satan and there's a very good reason for that. Again, it's a separate subject but the bottom line is they do the work of their father, who is Satan. That is not to say that these people, who are very much alive today, can not be saved. But they, the ones who know who they are at least, do their father's work. To allow what we will call the accursed thing to be the keeper, writer, teacher of God's Word is certainly a path that's not a good one to go down. Yet again, even today we've allowed tradition and falsehood to creep not in God's Word... but into our churches.

Jason

Re: Jeremiah
 

Good evening to you on what has been a pretty mild winter day here in Ohio! We're picking up where we left off in Jeremiah, and let's go right into it. We had talked about this conspiracy between the Kenites (inhabitants of Jerusalem) and the people of the House of Judah, and God mentioned how the House of Israel and the House of Judah had broken His covenant. That's going to set up this next verse and it will come across harsh but there's a reason and an explanation for it.
Jeremiah 11:11 "Therefore thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will bring evil upon them, which they shall not be able to escape; and though they shall cry unto me, I will not hearken unto them."

Again, that appears harsh but there's a couple of things that need to be said and realized here. In the first place, I hope you're getting the message that God doesn't Himself bring evil upon anyway... they bring it upon themselves. When you have basically all of the blessings of God before you, which you certainly do in the new covenant, and you break that to go after some false gods or false religious ideas, you're kind of making your own bed. Now unfortunately in this day and age especially there's a lot of people with good intentions who follow false doctrine out of ignorance. But you know, man kind of has a saying about the road to a certain place being paved with good intentions, and that place isn't heaven. Now, that's not judging, because that's up to God and perhaps if they're good people who really do love Him, perhaps in as much as even God Himself sends strong delusion on these ones who choose to not study His Word but listen to man (2nd Thessalonians 2:11) then perhaps come the Millenium and afterward they will be straightened out. But also when it says God will not hearken, as we will see in the next verse they will not have truly repented. You can't con God. He knows what you're thinking right at this very minute. If you say "Oh Lord help me" when you get into trouble... He'll always help you if you're in good standing with Him or even if you're not but you repent. But if you are not in good standing with Him and just say "God, help me", I'm sorry but He's not going to do it. John 9:31 is pretty plain. If you are a sinner, God doesn't hear you. He hears you but He's not going to listen. Again, am I judging? Absolutely not... just proclaiming what is written. God forgives sins, but again you won't con Him. He's not there to bail you out automatically every time you get into trouble. In the first place, what would you learn if He automatically bailed you out every time you came across the slightest hint of trouble? You probably wouldn't learn very much. He forgives sin, He loves to help out His children who love Him when they need it. But if you don't care about Him, He does care about you, but He's not going to jump because you ask Him to. It's as simple as that.

Jeremiah 11:12 "Then shall the cities of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem go, and cry unto the gods unto whom they offer incense: but they shall not save them at all in the time of their trouble."

Again they're offering and burning incense to these other "gods" so how sincere are they? Why would they not save them? Well, in the case of history and referring to the last chapter, they're not real. You have to fasten them down to keep them from falling over, and you have to pick them up and carry them to transport them. That's some fancy religion, huh? In the present day,it's whatever man chooses to put his trust or affection, faith, and hope in, other than God. In the likely not too far off future, when most of the world is whoring after Satan as Antichrist, he certainly can't save you because he can't even save himself. He's got a death sentence on his head. Again, it is so easy to avoid this. All you have to do is TRY to do things God's way. That doesn't mean you mess up and quit and say, "well I tried, where's my blessings". You're not going to be perfect, but if you care enough about Him to listen, to study, to rightly divide His Word and to stick with it, repenting when you fall short, He counts that as pretty much perfect. So why fall off into junk?

Jeremiah 11:13 "For according to the number of thy cities were thy gods, O Judah; and according to the number of the streets of Jerusalem have ye set up altars to that shameful thing, even altars to burn incense unto Baal."

You know the shameful thing indeed is we don't lack for churches today. We don't lack for "christian preachers" and "ministries" on tv. But if all they talk about is "Oh Jesus is just so wonderful, He's going to fly us all away, He's going to take away your illness take away your debt, all you have to do dear brother is make your donation in that offering plate or send it in the mail." Now, again I'm not judging. But for all our churches today and all our televangelists, how much real substance is taught? If a man or woman is evangelizing just to bring people to Christ, there's nothing wrong with that if that's all they're doing? That's a good thing. But when the supposed teachers don't inform people that the first "messiah" to show up is a fake, and they build up a theory of some supposed rapture off of a subject that the only thing Paul was talking about was do not sorrow over the dead, they're with Christ, which is what the actual subject of 1st Thessalonians 4:13-18 and that yes we will gather back to Him as well, but not in this "rapture"...these good Christian people will be lead straight to Satan when he comes as the first supernatural "messiah" they see. Unintentionally lead, maybe. But lead to him nonetheless.

Jeremiah 11:14 "Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up a cry or prayer for them: for I will not hear them in the time that they cry unto me for their trouble."

You know God is extremely patient. But there does come a time and there will come a time in which it just becomes too late. The time of trouble here is the time of Jacob's Trouble in the last generation when Antichrist is here. Again, they're going to be worshipping Antichrist, they're going to be offering incense, or their devotion to him. At this time most people will be either marked with the seal of God, meaning the knowledge of His truth, in their forehead or have the mark of the beast in their mind meaning they are totally deceived by Satan. Either way it will play out as it is written during the time that Satan is here deceiving the majority of the world. This is why as it is written in Matthew 7:23 that there will be some who Jesus will say He never knew. They thought they were doing well, when in reality they were following a fake. It will be a miserable and shameful time for those ones.

Jason

Re: Jeremiah
 

Good afternoon, and we continue on.

Jeremiah 11:15 "What hath my beloved to do in mine house, seeing she hath wrought lewdness with many, and the holy flesh is passed from thee? when thou doest evil, then thou rejoicest."

What God is saying and asking here is we have these people, and they are God's people in one very real sense because he refers to them as His beloved. But they come to His house, which is to say church, and they are not exactly chaste virgins which is what Christ wants in a bride. That is what we are supposed to be spiritually speaking. This is what Paul stipulates and it's how he says he wants to present "the church" to Christ.



II Corinthians 11:1 "Would to God ye could bear with me a little in my folly: and indeed bear with me."

II Corinthians 11:2 "For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ."

Now, what is it that would take one's virginity spiritually speaking? Well naturally it would be to fully commit to some other god, some other doctrine, to take part in worshipping and doing the work of some other god. Do you know why the mark of the beast is either in the forehead or in the right hand? What is in your forehead? Well, your brain is. Where are your thoughts focused? What is it that you believe? If you believe that the false Christ is the true Christ and actually would out of that deception love him, then you're marked. The mark of the beast is not some "bar code". It is not a computer chip... although that is not to say that those things won't be used when it comes to keeping track of who can buy and sell. But the mark itself comes in believing the lie, and you receive it in your hand when you start to work for him... helping his ministry along. Now, at that point you not only are not a chaste virgin, you're impregnated spiritually. Not a good thing.

But, getting back to the verse in Jeremiah, again we have God's people who have committed spiritual adultery, and God is basically saying, you're in My house, and you think that participating in ritual, offering your burnt sacrifices is going to please Me. Unfortunately it won't. Why? Well number one, as it says again in Hosea 6:6 God is not interested so much in burnt offerings. He's interested in our grace, which is to say our love. But number two, as it says at the end of this verse, when they do evil, they rejoice. Well why would that be? They don't know that it's evil. When Satan shows up pretending to be Jesus he's going to come off as lovey dovey as possible. They're going to be thrilled, because "Jesus is here". Only it's none other than Satan himself. Don't go running to the first "messiah" who shows up beloved. It will put you in a heap of hurt... it really will.

Jeremiah 11:16 "The LORD called thy name, A green olive tree, fair, and of goodly fruit: with the noise of a great tumult he hath kindled fire upon it, and the branches of it are broken."

[color="blue"]The olive tree and the oil that comes from it is very special to God's people. When one is sick, even spiritually sick, we are instructed to anoint them with oil and pray over them.

[James 5:14 "If any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:"


The oil that is used for anointing is olive oil. This is the oil of our people. But how is it that you have this flourishing, beautiful tree, symbolic of God's people, with these broken branches and in such a sorry state? Well, obviously with the sin and spiritual adultery. I can't help but think of John 15, the first few verses where Christ speaks of how He is the vine and the branches that abide in Him bear fruit and are pruned and sharpened up so they can bear even more fruit. The branches that do not wither and die and are cast in the fire. Naturally we're not talking about branches or trees, or bushes. We're talking about people. You either root yourself in and abide in Christ, or you're not going to produce fruit. You don't produce fruit, then I'm sorry... you're just not useful to Him, and if you're not in Him, you're not living. If you're not living in a spiritual sense, you might want to see about changing that. In fact, scratch the might. But those who abide in the false Christ... do you think they're living in a spiritual sense? The answer of course is absolutely not. You pull yourself away from the true vine and attach yourself to the false one, then that's a good way to die spiritually. That is not to judge... but let those who have a bit of wisdom consider it. /COLOR]

Jeremiah 11:17 "For the LORD of hosts, that planted thee, hath pronounced evil against thee, for the evil of the house of Israel and of the house of Judah, which they have done against themselves to provoke me to anger in offering incense unto Baal.

You know, some might say or ask why God would be so angry? Well, these are His people and He loves them. He made a covenant with them that He intends to be eternal. But when people do not even seem to have the time to get into His Word and read it for themselves, and are content to listen to a man or woman behind a pulpit talk to them about apples and easter eggs and flying away, when none of it is biblical, well unfortunately if people are not sealed in their minds with God's truth they will run right to Satan, because they both have not been taught and have not read that he comes first, and he probably will even say "I'm here to rapture you away." That's just a personal feeling, so consider it as such. But what a sad state of affairs, when God's people never quite get around to truly learning His Word. It does anger Him. It hurts Him. And unfortunately, it hurts people very bad.

Jeremiah 11:18 "And the LORD hath given me knowledge of it, and I know it: then thou shewedst me their doings."

This is God showing Jeremiah what the people are doing.


Jeremiah 11:19 "But I was like a lamb or an ox that is brought to the slaughter; and I knew not that they had devised devices against me, saying, Let us destroy the tree with the fruit thereof, and let us cut him off from the land of the living, that his name may be no more remembered."

You know it should be very evident that there's a type of Christ here in Jeremiah. These are Jeremiah's people and they want to kill him. But remember... we also have these "inhabitants" in the mix who are actually not of Judah. These same "inhabitants" were there shouting to crucify Christ as well.

Jason

Re: Jeremiah
 

And we continue in Chapter 11... hopefully I'll wrap it up.

Jeremiah 11:20 "But, O LORD of hosts, that judgest righteously, that triest the reins and the heart, let me see thy vengeance on them: for unto thee have I revealed my cause."

This was Jeremiah's prayer to our Father. What you must always have is the faith and the trust in our Father that when He sends you out to do something and He says He will be with you as He said to Jeremiah in the first chapter of this great book, you've got to believe that to be true. When He says no harm will come to you, guess what? If you have the faith in Him and if you do your best to do things His way, and repent when you do slip up and get up and go after it again, you can take it to the bank that He's going to protect you. The reins and the heart is the mind and the heart but you might also even think of it as the spirit and the soul. The soul being the real you and the spirit being your intellect, your thought process. I mean God knows you inside and out friend. If you don't have that faith to believe He's going to protect you if you're in His will, then work on it. It's all too easy sometimes to doubt in the flesh. But that's why you keep in His Word, and you talk to Him, every day. You communicate with Him just as you do your earthly father, or a loved one you can see. Well, hopefully maybe you're a little nicer to God, but I don't know. I'm joking a little. But He will take care of you, IF you do things His way.

Jeremiah 11:21 "Therefore thus saith the LORD of the men of Anathoth, that seek thy life, saying, Prophesy not in the name of the LORD, that thou die not by our hand:"

The thing about this is Anathoth means answer to prayer. Some answer, huh? These men of Anathoth want to kill Jeremiah. What's his crime? Spreading the Word of God. See, this was a priest's city. But what did the "religious leaders" yell out to Christ? They yelled "Crucify Him!" Do you start to hopefully understand the nature of these "inhabitants" of Jerusalem? They claim to be not that we had the word at the time but I'll use it at least today. They claim to be Christian... followers of God. But they want to kill those who are true followers of God and who teach His Word... whether it be Jeremiah, whether it be Christ, or whether it be someone today. They may not so much try to literally kill you in a physical sense... though that all depends. But they will certainly deceive you. And they will kill you spiritually if you listen to them and if you believe them. Why do you think Christ would say, "many shall come in My name" and that you are not to believe them? Friends, you've got one thing you can count on, and it isn't some man. It's your Father, and it's His Word.

Jeremiah 11:22 "Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, Behold, I will punish them: the young men shall die by the sword; their sons and their daughters shall die by famine:"

Again, this sword as mentioned before is Satan with his lies and this famine is the famine for hearing the Word of God. So don't get all shook up and think this is mass slaughter. Although, in the spiritual sense it kind of is. And again, that's much worse. Friends, the Word of God is precious. It saves lives. It brings families together and gives people peace of mind. And when one believes, it gives them eternal life. Those who would try to put a stop to it, mark them real well in your mind.

Jeremiah 11:23 "And there shall be no more remnant of them: for I will bring evil upon the men of Anathoth, even the year of their visitation."

God will wipe these false preachers and their lies out until there's nothing left... UNLESS they do some serious repenting. But for Him to do that, is that fair or just? You better believe it is. Friends, God's children are precious... especially their souls. For someone to mislead a soul, to march them right up to Satan when he arrives as Antichrist so that thinking he's Christ they worship him, that's a serious offense in God's eyes... a serious offense. But you know something? God really does love His children, and if they out of ignorance and from not being properly taught would worship Antichrist, then maybe, just MAYBE upon the Millennium they will learn and they will even come out of it saved and going to heaven. It won't be easy, because it's going to be at that point and time based on works and not faith. But thank God for it, and what a time that will be.

God bless,

Jason

Re: Jeremiah
 

Well, winter has arrived here in Ohio but not a lot of snow on the ground. Got pretty cold though. Our next chapter in Jeremiah of course is chapter 12. Chapter 12 is kind of a short chapter with 17 verses. But it's got a lot of information and is very relevant to people both today and of Jeremiah's day. It starts out with Jeremiah asking God why those who do wicked things prosper. This is something that I think many of us have asked or wondered. God's answer is to say basically that when the time is right, they will get what they have coming to them, but there's also kind of a message there of "don't get shook up over the small things." Which, that's my wording, and it's not to say that what Jeremiah was concerned about was small. They were threatening to kill him. But the point being, if you think it's bad now, there are bigger problems down the road. There always will be in this world so long as Satan and those who choose to follow him have any influence at all. So don't get shook up, hang in there and hang tough. Why? We have the victory, and God is still on the throne.

Jeremiah 12:1 "Righteous art thou, O LORD, when I plead with thee: yet let me talk with thee of thy judgments: Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? wherefore are all they happy that deal very treacherously?"

Jeremiah has a problem here. The "priests" in the city of Anathoth are not only deceiving the people there by leading them into a false religion. They want to kill Jeremiah for passing along the Word of God. Again, though situations and times differ somewhat, a lot of people have asked this question. Again, it's natural to ask,it's somewhat natural AT TIMES to think that may be the case. But the thing is, it really isn't. You must understand that even if someone makes through their entire life on this earth having not been caught for their crime or crimes, they've got a big trial coming up after that. The Judge at that trial, He's fair, but He's righteous and all knowing. Man may miss a few things and may be capable of being fooled, but God isn't.Many times even before they do die they are even caught and punished by man. But if they do escape that, they won't escape God. That's the first place they go when they die, because as it says in 2nd Corinthians 5:8 to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. Some may be there awaiting judgment to PERHAPS eventually go to hell. But nonetheless, they are there with Him. Psalms 37 deals real well with this question to... where God says the wicked are kind of like the fat dripping off a lamb on a spit. When that fat drips off and falls into that fire, they are instantly consumed in a puff of smoke. Not tortured forever, but done away with quickly and as mercifully as possible.

Jeremiah 12:2 "Thou hast planted them, yea, they have taken root: they grow, yea, they bring forth fruit: thou art near in their mouth, and far from their reins."

You know, God wants His people to bring forth fruit. But there are some people, they do produce fruit. But it's not fruit for God and it's absolutely poisonous to eat. The thing about it though is did God plant them? I want to go back to these inhabitants, who are truly the real wicked people being talked about here. Again I'm going to take a side trip to Matthew 13 and that parable of the wheat and the tares.

Matthew 13:24 "Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field:"


Matthew 13:25 "But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way."
Matthew 13:26 "But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also."
Matthew 13:27 "So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares?
Matthew 13:28 "He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?"

Matthew 13:29 "But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them."
Matthew 13:30 "Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn."

Skipping down several verses Jesus explains the parable as plain as day to His disciples.

Matthew 13:38 "The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one;"

Matthew 13:39 "The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels."

Again, we must understand that there are some people here even put here "planted here" by Satan that serve a negative purpose. Now, what we must also understand is that if you believe salvation is open to all, that includes them. That doesn't mean they will take part in it. But some might. The opportunity at least is there. But in general they do play a very negative part even in God's plan. Why would He allow it? He likes to test His children out to see who will listen to Him and who will listen to Satan or man.

Jeremiah 12:3 "But thou, O LORD, knowest me: thou hast seen me, and tried mine heart toward thee: pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and prepare them for the day of slaughter."

This eventually will happen unfortunately to those who don't repent. It will be good in a way though because those who truly love the Lord and those who try to do what is right and honest in this world won't have to deal with those who choose to go the other way.

Jeremiah 12:4 "How long shall the land mourn, and the herbs of every field wither, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein? the beasts are consumed, and the birds; because they said, He shall not see our last end."

This is kind of at the end where it says that "He shall not see our last end" a case of Jeremiah was telling the people of Judah that they were going to go into captivity and these false preachers were saying "it's not going to happen." We see the same thing today. You have perhaps not so much preachers but as it is written in 2nd Peter 3:3-4 you will have these scoffers saying, "It isn't going to happen. Jesus Christ is not coming. People have said over and over again that He is. Of course today, there's even a lot of people who scoff at you if you believe in God.

But it's also written in Romans 8:19-22 that all of creation itself, meaning in a way the vegetation and the animal life groan to be delivered from the corruption in this world that will happen at Christ's second coming. The world itself used to be a lot different place before Satan's rebellion. It's too bad I decided to start this thread around Chapter 7 or 8, because there is actually so much truth and an in depth look at the ending of the first earth age in the 4th chapter of this same book, starting with the 23rd verse. But suffice it to say God created the world beautiful and perfect and when Satan and anyone who follows him is finally done away with, it will go back to that.

Jeremiah 12:5 "If thou hast run with the footmen, and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses? and if in the land of peace, wherein thou trustedst, they wearied thee, then how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan?"

Again, this is God's answer to Jeremiah's question and prayer. He is saying, if you're getting worn out and worn down by what's happened so far Jeremiah, how can you last when the real race starts and the real problems come? It's kind of like saying you're only the first few miles into a marathon run. You can either quit or get discouraged because you've run into some obstacles that makes it a little tough. Or, you can run the race smart and run it God's way knowing, again as He told Jeremiah in the first chapter that He's with you. God has never told anyone that there would not be problems. It's actually quite the contrary. But if He's with you, you can handle anything that comes your way... with His help of course.

Jeremiah 12:6 "For even thy brethren, and the house of thy father, even they have dealt treacherously with thee; yea, they have called a multitude after thee: believe them not, though they speak fair words unto thee."
This continues today. People right in the church claiming to be teachers of God's Word who whisper sweet things. " You don't need to worry about anything. Just believe. Just love Jesus. You're going to fly away and you won't have to deal with that mean old Antichrist because you'll be raptured. You know, it's good to be sweet with people and it's good to love Jesus. But if a supposed pastor/teacher says something that is contrary to God's Word, that's not good. If man says something will not happen and God says it will, you'd better go with God because man is deceiving you. Will, how do I know what God says. Right here in this word. Stick with that and you won't go wrong.

Re: Jeremiah
 

"winter has arrived here in Ohio but not a lot of snow on the ground. Got pretty cold though"...

You know what I love? Warm tropical weather... ALL THE TIME! I have been told that the Virgin Islands stays a nice 80 degree temp..year round.

:)

Re: Jeremiah
 

I could live with a winter/fall in the 50's, a spring in the 70's, and a summer mostly in the 80's. When I was a kid naturally I liked snow. When I started driving in it I started to like it a little less.;)

Jason