[Faithwalker012]

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.