[Faithwalker012]

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