The Book of Jeremiah - Part 7

We are studying Jeremiah chapter 10, where we will begin this evening. We know this pandemic is a worldwide thing that's all around the world, and we really need to be praying for the nation, for the leadership, that God's will be done. You know, I gave a sermon this past Sabbath, and I titled it, The Lord's Prayer for the Elect. And in John chapter 17 and verse 9, Jesus says, I pray not for those in the world, but those whom you have given me. And of course, God is so vitally concerned about those who have been begotten of his Spirit and who cry out to him. And of course, we're to sigh and cry for all the abominations that we see before us. And yet, at the same time, as you see these things happening, you lift your head up high because you know that your redemption draws nigh. So, Father, we just thank you for this opportunity, once again, to be together. With all what I would do to begin with here this evening, as we begin Jeremiah chapter 10, remember I told you that it'll be 51 years ago on May 1st that I submitted this paper, but I did this outline on Jeremiah. I did an outline on Jeremiah, on Ezekiel, on Isaiah.

I want to read what I wrote at that time on chapter 10, and then when we come to 11, I'll read that. And you remember that the kings of Israel were asked to copy out the law, to copy the law, so they would not forget it when they came to the throne in Israel. And one of the great ways that you can have the the Word of God really hidden in your inward parts is to read it, to study it, and to write it. Verses 1 through 5, this is chapter 10, and this is reading from what I wrote almost 51 years ago. God warns Israel not to act like the people who make horoscopes.

The word horoscopes is a compound word taken from aura, which means time, and scopes, which means observer, like you've got a microscope, you observe micro things. So a horoscope, it literally means time observer, in which the pagans would observe the heavens, the planets, the moon, the stars, the sun, the moon, because they believed that their destiny was contained within that.

And of course, there are people today, most newspapers around the country, run a daily horoscope, and some people follow their horoscope, some for quote, they say fun, and others really put stock in it. But as we read here, God warns Israel not to act like the people who make horoscopes and try to read their fate and future and the stars.

And it's not just the stars, it's all the heavenly bodies. Don't be frightened by predictions such as theirs, for it is all a pack of lies. Their ways are futile and God also condemns the pagan observance of the winter's soulless festival, which today is called Christmas by the so-called Christian world.

God says they cut down a tree in carb and idle and decorate it with gold and silver, passing it securely in place with hammer and nails so they won't fall over. And there stands their God, like a helpless scarecrow in a garden. Verses 6 through 7, Jeremiah praises God, saying, everyone should fear God because of his power and wisdom. Verses 8 through 9, the so-called wise men of the world worship idols that have been made of the very matter that God created because they worshiped the creation instead of the Creator.

They're all together stupid and foolish. I'll return the page here. Continuing verses 10 through 13. The Creator is the only true God who controls the universe. He has the power to control the weather. Verses 14 through 25. Once again, God warns Judah to turn from their foolish idolatry and worship the true God or pack their bags and leave, where God is going to destroy their cities and take them into captivity. Jeremiah asks God to please be gentle and take his fury out on those nations who don't obey him.

So that's how I summarize chapter 10 51 years ago. Now let's go verse by verse with chapter 10 of Jeremiah 10 and verse 1. Hear you the word which the eternal speaks unto you, O house of Israel. Thus says the Lord, learn not the way of the heathen. The word heathen is not just the goim in the plural. It is those who are not of God. It includes all nations at times, but basically it's speaking of those who are not of those called out. Learn not the way of the heathen.

Be not dismayed. In other words, do not be distracted. Do not be discouraged. Do not be frightened at the signs of heaven. For the heathen, the nations, are frightened, dismayed at them. For the customs of the people are vain. For one cuts a tree out of the forest. Okay, I sent you three handouts. One, explaining the history of the Christmas tree. I also sent you what United says, a brief blurb about it, showing that it is a pagan origin, and trees were used in pagan worship, and that the Christmas tree is so perfectly described here in Jeremiah chapter 10.

Then I also sent you what the former worldwide church of God was saying, Grace Communion Church, and saying that it has nothing to do with Christmas. For the customs of the people are vain. For one cuts the tree out of the forest. Remember, the trees were upright, and this ties any upright figure like poles and trees and towers and that kind of thing were symbolic of the male principle, and they worshipped at those groves and those trees.

The work of the hands of the workmen were the axe. They deck it with silver, with gold, they fasten it with nails, with hammers. Bet it moved not. It is so such a perfect description of how Christmas trees are put up today. In verse five, they are upright as the palm tree. We had palm trees in our yard when we lived in Houston. Palm trees are beautiful trees, generally straight up, but speak not. Of course, they have no life in them. They must needs be born because they cannot go. They have no way of transportation, of moving themselves. Be not afraid of them, for they cannot do evil.

Neither also is it in them to do good. If you have your hand out there on Jeremiah 10 and the Christmas tree, I got this from the website, Test All Things.

I want to read a couple of paragraphs here. The Christmas tree finds its beginning at Babylon as the asteroth, the female moon deity represented as a tree. Upon the explosion of the sun and moon, bale and groves worship from Babylon, the seat of Satan located at Pergamos. Now, if you turn to Revelation 2 and verse 13, in the message to the seven churches, one of the churches is Pergamos, the second one. First of all, you have Ephesus, you have Smyrna, and then you have Pergamos. Verse 12 of Revelation 2. And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write, These things say he which has the sharp sword with two edges. Now, the sharp sword with two edges is defined in Revelation 19 as the Word of God. I know your works where you dwell, even where Satan's seat is, and that word for seat in the Greek is thornos. It is the word from which we get thrown. So it is the place of Satan's throne at that time. I know your works and where you dwell, even where Satan's throne is, and you hold fast my name and have not denied my faith, even in those days where an Antibas was my faithful martyr who was slain among you, where Satan dwells. There are certain places on the face of the earth in which the spirit of Satan and the work of the demons is stronger than it is in other places. For a long time, God placed the hedgerow around the United States of America, and it was basically World War II and then succeeding decades that to a large degree the hedgerow was removed. You read about the hedgerow being removed in Isaiah chapter 5, where God had planted this beautiful vineyard, and then he says that he's going to remove the hedgerow because of their disobedience. Later in Isaiah 10, it talks about how woe unto those who call evil good and call good evil, and that's where we are today. And of course, Satan is alive and well, and his activity is greatly increased. So we read here that the throne of Satan was located at Pergamos. Adelas III died and left his chaldean system of magic and superstition to roam by will and testament upon organizing the Romanesque Church. Constantine not only implemented the Chaldean system of sun and moon worship into his church, he adapted their annual seven festival of drunken revelry and riotous immorality. This festival called the Saturnalia was given the name of Christmas within the church. The Astarte Grove, Astaroth, Venus, as it was called in other places, or Christmas tree was an integral part of this festival. There is no question that when you really look at this and the pagan origins and what was going on with regard to patient pagan worship and the role of the tree in that worship that Jeremiah is talking about, the Christmas tree. Now we'll read one other paragraph here from Hislop's The Two Babylons. The Christmas tree is now so common among us was equally common in pagan Rome and pagan Egypt. In Egypt, that tree was the palm tree, which we've mentioned already. In Rome, it was the fir tree. If you live in the state of Washington, like Paul Moody does, of course, he's on the eastern side, it's more on the western side, where you have these groves of beautiful fir trees. The mother of Adenos, the sun god, and great medatorial divinity was mystically said to have changed into a tree and went in that state to have brought forth her divine son. So I hope you have read that handout that I gave you, which presents quite a concise summary of the history of how the pagans worshiped trees and how the church of Rome adapted a lot of that into their worship. And so did the church in Germany. A lot of the practices that we have today concerning Christmas comes from Germany. Now we go to chapter 10 and verse 6. Jeremiah 10 and verse 6.

For as much as there is none like unto you, O Lord, you're great, and your name is great in might. Time after time in Scripture, you will see the name of God being exalted.

And verse 7. Who would not fear you, O King of nations?

For to you doth it appertain for as much as among all these wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms there is none like unto you. And of course, Jeremiah then contrasts God to those pagan deities that Judah had come to worship. One of the things that I want to mention here while I'm thinking about it with regard to pagan worship, and it really is relevant to what is happening today. You know, God is one of the great characteristics of God is long suffering. He is long suffering, and sometimes people confuse long suffering with mercy. Long suffering means that God will bear with a people and sometimes individuals a long time before he intervenes and brings them to judgment. Now mercy is when God forgives one, and ultimate mercy can only be applied upon repentance. And mercy glories against judgment, as it says in James 2. How does mercy glory against judgment? If you would look at James chapter 2, I believe it's verse 13. In James 2, we have this phrase that mercy glories against judgment.

What we're talking about here, God is long suffering, and sometimes He would go the extra extra mile with people.

In James 2.13, where He shall have judgment without mercy that shows no mercy, and mercy rejoices against judgment. See, once we have judged ourselves, and we cry out for God's forgiveness upon repentance, then mercy rejoices against judgment. But mercy is only extended where, in the case of ultimate, ultimate mercy is only extended in case where people have repentance. Now some quote in 1 Peter, I believe it's chapter 2, where it says that glory rejoices, I mean love rejoices against sin, or love comes. I get the quote right, I'm doing it by memory. But love covers a multitude of sin. The way that love covers a multitude of sin is that if you love people sufficiently, then you will help them get back on the right track. So love will cover a multitude of sins upon repentance, faith, and turning to God. But you have to love a person enough to go to them and help turn them about. The last two verses in James addresses that. And so I think it is good that we understand what is talking about when it says that love covers a multitude of sins, or that we don't confuse long suffering with mercy. God was long-suffering with Israel and with Judah. He went hundreds of years with them. They came out of Egypt somewhere circa 440-420 BC, and now Jeremiah is prophesying in roughly what, 626 BC? That's about 800 years after Israel came out of Egypt. And so he had suffered with them hundreds of years before he stepped in with judgment.

So hopefully we do not confuse long suffering with mercy. I'm reading now from James 5 verse 19. Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one turn him about, that word can convert is epistrefo. E-P-I-S-T-R-E-P-H-O. It means to turn him about. Let him know that he which epistrefo turns about the center from the air of his way shall save a soul from death and shall hide a multitude of sins. See, this is how a multitude of sins is hidden, is when that person comes to judge himself, repents, exercises faith in Christ, cries out for God's mercy, then God extends mercy, and mercy rejoices against judgment.

So God here is the ultimate king in verse 7. Now we go to verse 8 of Jeremiah 10. Jeremiah 10 in verse 8. But they are altogether brutish and foolish. The stock is a doctrine of vanities. The stock is a word representing the idols, the things that they had made. This word is etz. It's spell A-T-E-S, like eights, but it's etz. It means a tree, hence wood stocks.

So it's what they had carved out of wood is a doctrine of vanities. Now vanity means that it is empty, that is unsatisfactory, that is transitory, is something that won't last. Then, not only did they do carve out idols out of wood, silver is spread into plates, is brought into tarshish, which is thought to be probably Spain, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the workmen and of the hands of the founder, blue and purple is their clothing. They are all the work of cunning men, so they produce some beautiful works of art. Some were worshipped, some were even worn beautiful works of art and clothing, but they have no life in them of their own. Verse 10, But the Lord is a true God, He is the living God, an everlasting King. It's not just a short period of time, it is for everlasting. Their eternity has no beginning, and eternity has no end. So when we speak of eternity, we should usually speak in terms of in eternity.

At His wrath, at His wrath, that is of the everlasting King, the earth shall tremble, and the nation shall not be able to abide His indignation. Of course, that judgment was coming upon Judah at that time, but this indignation, this judgment, is going to come upon all nations. God is going to plead with all flesh. The great tribulation is going to come, the abomination of desolation is going to be set up, and God is going to plead with all flesh and try to get their attention. He's trying to get our attention now. We must not be as those described in 2 Peter chapter 3, where it says, they say that all things continue as from the beginning. I'm here to say tonight that probably you will never see the the world and our society return to what we once called normal. We've not even yet begun to see the great fallout that is going to come eventually, economically, because the government is printing money as rapidly as they possibly can. Right now, the Democrats and Republicans are debating another bailout bill to help those affected by the virus, especially those who at the lower income levels. They're also going to extend the unemployment and moratorium on evictions and on mortgages, but that only has a certain lifespan. There are 46 million Americans out of work. That is about 40 percent of the workforce, though the unemployment rate is much lower than that by the U.S. labor statistics. But all of this will eventually have to be given account for. There's no way that you can print enough money. You have to begin to produce things, and as long as you are locked down, you cannot produce. And so you're caught in a deadly spiral. You remember in the Weimar Republic back before Hitler came to power in Germany, they have these cartoons in which people have their wheelbarrow loaded with Dutch marks. I guess it was with German currency on the way to buy a loaf of bread or something like that. The inflation rate was so high. So it is the time to really examine ourselves and draw a night of God. Of course, Passover is just around the corner as well.

In verse 12 now, he hath made the earth by his power. He has established the world by his wisdom as stretched out the heavens by his discretion. So in comparison to what the idols are that man worships, whether it be heavenly bodies or whether it be idols made by their own hands out of wood, hay, stone, stubble, or precious jewels, it has no life in it with itself. It has no ability to create. It doesn't even have ability to move from one point to another. In contrast to that, verse 13, when he utters his voice, there's a multitude of waders in the heavens, and he calls the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth. He makes lightnings with rain and brings forth the wind out of his treasures. And here we show how that God can and at times does elect to intervene in the weather, in which at times he will send drought in one place and floods in another place. And one of the big items that's being discussed today and made a political football wrongly has to do with climate change. Of course, God can intervene in the climate at any time and do what he wishes to do with it. Let's go to Amos chapter 4. In Amos chapter 4, let's see, Hosea, Joel, Amos, and the minor prophets. Here's Hosea, and we're going to Amos chapter 4 and verse 1. Hear the word, you kind, or your cattle of Vashan. They are in the mountains of Samaria, the capital of the northern kingdom, which oppress the poor, which crush the needy, which say to the masters, bring and let us drink. The Lord God is horned by his holiness. The law of the day shall come upon you that he will take you away with hooks and your posterity with fish hooks. And you shall go out at the breeches every cow at which every cow at that which is before her. And cows used in the metaphoric sense, you should cast them into the palace, says the Lord. Come to Beth El. Beth El, remember Beth is the Hebrew word for house. El is the primary name of God. So come to the house of God and transgress a gilgal, one of the places where they had set up false worship. Multiply transgressions. Bring your sacrifices every morning and your tithes after three years, and offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven. And see, God says that the sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to him in the book of Proverbs. And proclaim and publish the free offerings for this like she owe you children of Israel, says the Lord God. So God can control the weather. It goes on here.

Look at verse 7. I have withheld the rain from you when there was yet three months to the harvest. I caused it to rain upon one city, caused it not to rain upon another city. One piece was rained upon, the other piece whereupon it rained not with her. You know from the book of Job that even God allowed Satan to bring about a storm to greatly affected Job's family. So God, of course, controls everything when he so chooses. In verse 14, every man is brutish in his knowledge. Of course, in Romans 3 it says that there is none righteous, no not one. And in Romans 3, 23 it says that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. 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, no life, no ability to move. They can't do anything. Why would anyone worship them? Why would you make a rosary? Why would you make an icon today? Why would you bow down and worship? Why would you cross yourself in front of an idol? They are vanity. They are temporary. They are transitory. They don't last. And the work of errors is just a pack of lies of fraud. In the time of their visitation, they shall perish. Not only shall the idols perish, but those who also participate in idolatry and false worship. Do you remember the the showdown that Elijah had with the priests of Baal and Mount Carmel? Let's look at that briefly. You get an idea of God's intervention and what it's like when the living God really rises up to intervene. In 1 Kings chapter 18, we want to go to 1 Kings chapter 18. We'll start in verse 17, 1817. And it came to pass when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said unto him, Are you he that troubles Israel? Of course, Elijah, similar to Jeremiah, had pronounced judgment upon the the northern kingdom, especially if they did not repent. Of course, Ahab was one of the kings of the northern kingdom. And he answered, I have not troubled Israel, but you and your father's house, in that you have forsaken the commandments of the Lord, and you have followed Balaam. Now therefore send out, gather to me all Israel unto Mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal, 450, and the prophets of the groves, 400, which eat at Jezebel's table.

450, 400, 950. So Ahab sent unto all the children of Israel, gathered the prophets together unto Mount Carmel. Elijah came unto the people and said, How long shall you halt between two opinions? If the Lord be God, follow him. But if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him, not a word. You might remember, at the end of Joshua's life, he gave a similar choice to Israel when he said, If God be God, then worship him. But if God is not God, then go back and worship those gods across the rivers, across the town of Euphrates, where you came from, from the land of Ur, from what is now modern-day Iraq. And so they set up this trial of, you know the story, and how Elijah challenged the priests of Baal to consume the altar, but they could not do it. Look at verse 38. Then the fire of the eternal fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, the wood, the stones, the dust, licked up the water that was in the trench, when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces. They said, The Lord, he is God. The Lord, he is God. We don't have manifestations in the physical sense like that today, but we have a more sure word of prophecy where until we do well to take heed as Peter writes in 2 Peter chapter 1 and verses 18-19 along in there. And Elijah said unto them, Take the prophets of Baal, listen to this, take the prophets of Baal, let none of them escape, and they took them, and Elijah brought them down to the brook of Kishon and slew them there. They were killed, the false prophets. Yes, it is a fearful thing to fall in the hands of the living God. Of course, things like this are difficult to talk about at times, but at the same time, we need to understand that God will only go a certain certain ways in his long suffering. He yearns to give us mercy, but mercy is predicated on judging ourselves, repenting, and exercising faith in the sacrifice of Christ. Now verse 18, no, I'm going to read 16. I'm sorry. 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. You see, what is this talking about? This understanding is so vital, and in today's religious world, they basically don't even understand this. See, of all the nations on the face of the earth, and this is covered in more detail in Ezekiel 16, that God called out Israel. They were the least of the nations. He chose them.

He clothed them. He cleaned them up. He clothed them. He decked them with jewels and ornaments, and so on. They became his, I'm paraphrasing some of Ezekiel 16 now, and they became his inheritance. That is, they or the nation through whom he would work through to bring all peoples into a relationship with him. And that's covered in Exodus 19, where it talks about that you're to be kings and priests, and you're to bring other nations into relationship with me. And now, of course, that relationship is that mission to bring all nations into relationship with God and Christ is now passed on to the church, and the church is to bring all nations into a relationship with God and Christ. And the Israel of God will inherit all things under Jesus Christ. So when it talks about here the the rod of his inheritance that Israel, and at one time it was physical Israel, and then now it is the church, but that does not mean that God has forsaken physical Israel. Physical Israel will be restored, will be the model physical nation in the millennium. And I have asked you in the past to turn to Zachariah 8 in times past, where it says they will out of all the nations they will grab hold of the skirt of the Jew and say show us your God. We have heard that he is with you. So Israel is the rod of his inheritance, and the Israel of God is the ultimate rod of his inheritance. We are going to be made kings and priests under God in Christ. Verse 17, gather up your wares out of the land, inhabitant by the fortress. In other words, you better get ready because the invasion is coming, and you need to flee to a place where you can have some kind of protection. But of course, they did not listen. For thus says 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. Woe is me, for my hurt, my wound is grievous. But I said truly, this is a grief, and I must bear it. And so, of course, God was grieved at Israel. Jeremiah was grieved at Israel.

God had chosen Israel. He had chosen Israel, and Jerusalem is his dwelling place. When Solomon's temple was dedicated, he filled it with his glory. My tabernacle, my dwelling place, is spoiled, and all my cords are broken. Of course, he used cords to set up tabernacles. My children are gone forth of me, and there is none to stretch forth my tent anymore and to set up my curtains.

And so that's a playback to the tabernacle that they set up in the wilderness. Of course, that tabernacle, when they reared it up, when it was completed at the end of the first year, God's glory filled that tabernacle, and it also filled Solomon's temple. But it did not fill the Restoration Temple, because the Restoration Temple pointed toward the greater temple that is to come, that is, the Church of God not made by hands. Jeremiah 10, 21, For the pastors are become brutish, they have not sought the Lord. Now, in this case, pastors is not limited, not pastor in the sense, just only of one who pastors a church or heads religious organization. It's all of those in leadership positions, whether they be kings or priests, in the physical sense, the pastors are become brutish and have not sought the Lord. See, there's none there in Judah at that particular time. Therefore, they shall not prosper, and all their flocks shall be scattered. Behold, the noise of the brute has come, and a great commotion out of the North Country, once again pointing toward the direction that the Babylonian-Caldean army would come from to make the cities of Judah desolate and a den of dragons. Verse 23, O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in him, it is not in man that walks to direct his steps. This verse, of course, is quoted also or used in Proverbs. I'm going to read Proverbs 16.1. That's not the scripture that I am looking for, but I will go back now to Jeremiah and go from there. Once again, Jeremiah 10.23, O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself, not in man that walks to direct his steps. In Proverbs 20 and verse 24, man's goings are of the Lord. How can a man then understand his own way? And it says in Proverbs, there's a way that seems right to a man, but the ends thereof are the ways of death. Now in Jeremiah 10 verse 24, O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in him, that's 23 again, O Lord, correct me, but with judgment, not in your anger lest you bring me to nothing. Pour out your fury upon the nations, that know you not, and upon the families that call not on your name. For they have eaten up Jacob, and devoured him, and consumed him, and have made his habitation desolate.

Okay, let's go to chapter 11. Chapter 11, once again, I want to read what I wrote 51 years ago, verses 1 through 8. God tells Jeremiah to remind Judah of the contract their fathers made with God, and that is the Old Covenant, and cursed is a man who does not heed it. God told them that if they would obey him, that they would be greatly blessed, and if they disobeyed, they would be cursed. In verses 9 through 17, God said that this generation had returned to the sins of their fathers, talking about those who were in the wilderness with them, as you recall, that only of those in the wilderness that were with them, the those over 21 or 20, those over 20 that Jacob and Caleb went in, but the others died in the wilderness. God said that this generation had returned to the sins of their fathers, and for this reason, he was going to bring calamity upon them. They turned to idolatry. They will call upon their idols in the day of calamity, but they will not receive an answer. God instructs Jeremiah not to pray for them any longer, for I, God, will not listen to them when they are finally desperate enough to beg me for help. God says the people have no right to call on him. Verses 18 through 23, God showed Jeremiah the evil plots of the people. They had planned to kill Jeremiah, then after Jeremiah was shown how the people of his hometown, Anatoth, really felt about him, he called to God, called on God, to repay them. Jeremiah said, I looked to you for justice, and God replied that none of the plotters would be spared when he destroyed Anathoth. So the very people in Jeremiah's hometown, as it were, turned on him. Remember that Jeremiah was the son of a priest, Hilkiah, who was from Anatoth. That's where Jeremiah grew up. Of course, Jeremiah once again was called before he was even born. While he was still in his mother's womb, God had determined that he would set him apart and that he would perform this prophetic work.

When Jeremiah was of age, I don't know what age it was, of course, God revealed this to him. Then he began his prophecy work around the age of 20, somewhere along there. So Jeremiah 11 and verse 1, the word that came to Jeremiah from the eternal saying, Hear you the words of this covenant, and speak unto the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Now the covenant that he's talking about, of course, is the Old Covenant, the covenant that they entered into at Sinai when they promised that they would obey God. And say you unto them, Thus says the Lord God of Israel, cursed be the man that obeys not the words of this covenant. You remember the blessings and cursings, chapters Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28. We want to turn to Deuteronomy 28 here. We're not going to read a lot of this. Hopefully you've read it in recent times because now is the time to understand this.

Deuteronomy 28 verse 15, And it shall come to pass, if ye will not hearken unto the voice of the Lord your God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes, which I command you this day, that all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you. Cursed you shall be in the city, and cursed you shall be in the field. Cursed shall be your basket and your store. And then God goes on to specify, to lay out, to describe all the various curses that would come upon them. I'm going to read verse 20. The Lord shall send upon you cursing, vexation, and rebuke, and all that you set your hand unto for to do, until you be destroyed, and until you perish quickly, because of the wickedness of your doings, whereby you have forsaken me. And he goes on and on for several verses there outlining the curses that would come upon them. Now verse 4 of Jeremiah 11. Jeremiah chapter 4 verse 11. The words of this covenant, which I commanded your fathers in the day that I brought you forth out of the land of Egypt from the iron furnace, and they were in slavery, they were in servitude, they had cruel slave masters over them, they had to meet their quotient every day, Obey my voice and do them according to all which I command you, so shall you be my people, and I will be your God, 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. Now let's go to Exodus chapter 24, where they entered into this covenant, which in a sense is also called a marriage covenant, and this was like the marriage ceremony that they agreed to the terms of the covenant, just like a couple wanting to be married, stands before the minister, and he reads the vows, and then they say, I do. In Exodus 24 verse 4, this is the account of Israel entering into the old covenant, and Moses wrote all the words of the Lord and rose up early in the morning and built an altar under the hill and twelve pillars, recording the twelve tribes of Israel. He sent young men of the children of Israel, which offered burnt offerings, sacrificed peace offerings of auction unto the eternal. Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins. Half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar. He took the book of the covenant, read it in the audience of the people, and they said, see this is where they said, I do, or so be it, all that the Lord has said, will we do, and be obedient. So this is where Israel said, I do, to the terms of the old covenant. And Moses took the blood, sprinkled it on the people, and said, behold the blood of the covenant, which the Lord has made with you concerning all these words. And we go to Hebrews chapter 10. It talks about how that without the shedding of blood, there's no remission of sins, and even the old covenant was ratified by blood, which we see here, and the new covenant was ratified by the precious blood of Jesus Christ. Now in Jeremiah 11 and verse 6, remember I told you that Israel was to be a model nation. They were to serve to help bring all nations into a relationship with God. Now, as the Israel of God, we are to do that. Once again, God is going to restore physical Israel and the remnant seed of other nations, and so there will be two phases in the kingdom of God. There will be those living in the flesh, and then the kings and priests that will rule over them.

They will also have physical rulers as well. In Jeremiah 11 and 6, then the Lord said unto me, Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, saying, Hear you the words of this covenant and do them. So here Jeremiah is commissioned to go all over Israel, to go through all the streets. So here Jeremiah becomes a street preacher and itinerant preacher, going up and down the streets of Jerusalem, proclaiming the covenant, and then going to the various cities of Judah, proclaiming the covenant.

Of course, the church has been commissioned today to go you therefore and all the world, disciple all nations, teach them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you even to the end of the age. So Jeremiah had quite the job here to go over the streets of Jerusalem and also the cities of Judah. Verse 7, verse 7, for I earnestly protested, and this word protested means that he testified or he took the message, as he was told to do, he duplicated it, he said it over and over, he repeated it, for I earnestly repeated unto your fathers, and God had given this message to the fathers in the day that I brought them up out of the land of Egypt. And we read that covenant that they agreed to do. Moses read the covenant. They said we will do it, even unto this day, rising early and saying it again and again, saying, Obey my voice. Yet they obeyed not nor inclined their ear, but after walked everyone in his own imagination. One of the great problems that we have today is that people make God over in their own imagination. They make God over in their own image. We have people today who have no problem with killing fetuses in the womb, or even shortly after they are born infanticide, infanticide, and yet at the same time claim that they believe in God. I think I got sidetracked the last time that I was about to say this, that when I talked about long suffering and mercy, I didn't come back to the capstone really. What I wanted to go wind up with there is that God is long suffering and will go a long ways with people, but when they begin to shed innocent blood, when you begin to shed innocent blood, it seems that is the time. See, in ancient Israel and in Judah, they began to sacrifice their children in the fire to Baal. How many million children have been sacrificed on the altars of so-called woman's reproductive rights in our society today? We cloak it in something and at the same time pretend that we're righteous, that we're holy, that we're ethical, that we're upright people. We're not as like everybody else. We love everybody as long as they agree to tolerate our sin. Therefore, I will bring upon them all the words of this covenant. Verse 9, and the Lord said unto me, a conspiracy is found.

The conspiracy here has to do with the fact that they banded together an unlawful alliance, a confederacy. This confederacy consisted of both the civil rulers, the kings, the priests, and all the people in the leadership positions. And of course, they affected the men on the street and led them astray. A conspiracy, a confederacy is found among the men of Judah and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

They are turned back to their iniquities, the iniquities of their forefathers. The forefathers are the ones that, of course, that were in the wilderness that I talked about earlier, that died in the wilderness. Only Joshua and Caleb of those over 20 went into the promised land, which refused to hear my words, and they went after other gods to serve them. The house of Israel and the house of Judah had broken my covenant, which I made with their fathers. Therefore, thus says 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 listen unto them. Then shall the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem go and cry unto the gods, unto whom they offer incense. Oh, they offered incense! They offered even the break-incense, myrrh, and all of that. But they shall not save them at all in the time of their trouble. Of course, the incense that we offer today, the spiritual sacrifice, is the prayer of the saints. If you look at Revelation chapter 8, where the trumpet plagues are about to be poured out, it seems that the prayers of the righteous are the ones that are the prayers that really cause God to take action, and the trumpet plagues are poured out upon the environment. But before they do, notice this. Revelation 8, too, and I saw the seven angels which stood before God. To them were given seven trumpets, and another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden center. There was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne, and the smoke of the incense which came with the prayers of the saints ascended up before God out of the angel's hand. And the angel took the cinch and filled it with the fire of the altar, cast it into the earth, and there were voices and thunderings and lightnings and an earthquake. And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound. So we offer up spiritual sacrifices through our prayers. And it seems like these prayers are stored in heaven, stored in heavens, and at times are poured out. Now verse 14, Therefore pray not you for this people. And we have talked about this, or comes a time in which God says, pray for them. Or see, God had already determined what he was going to do with Judah at this time. They had gone too far, and he was bringing them the judgment, the Babylonians were coming, and we're going to take them into captivity. We're commanded to pray for all men everywhere, and to pray that we might lead peaceful and profitable lives. And of course, one of the main things is the commission of the church to carry out the commission that Christ gave the church to be able to boldly preach the Word of God.

You remember how the first few chapters of Acts, how much the apostles suffered in those early days in which they were preaching Christ and him crucified there at the temple. They were put in prison, they were beaten, and all kinds of things happening to them, and would have killed probably them unless Gamaliel had intervened and had pleaded their case, interceded for them. Verse 15, what is my beloved to do in mine house? Now, my beloved, in this case, is Israel. What is my beloved to do in mine house, seeing she has wrought lewdness with many? Now, Jesus Christ is called beloved Son of God. In this case, Israel is referred to as God's beloved nation. What is my beloved to do in mine house, seeing she has wrought lewdness with many? And the holy flesh is passed from you. When you do evil, then you rejoice. Of course, there's a scripture that talks about how they had pleasure in unrighteousness, the wicked have pleasure in unrighteousness. And it says in Psalms that God is angry with the wicked every day, and it says that he hates the workers of iniquity in Psalm chapter 5.

In verse 16, the Lord called your name a green olive tree, fair and of goodly fruit. With the noise of a great tumult, he has gathered fire upon it, and the branches of it are broken. Of course, at a later time, we don't have time to go in it tonight, we will talk about the olive tree that Israel is the olive tree, and they were broken off, and the Gentiles were grafted into the olive tree, and yet God is going to graft Israel back into the olive tree upon their repentance in the millennium. For the Lord of hosts has planted you as pronounced evil against you 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 and offer incense unto Baal. Notice this where it says, they have done against themselves. All sin is against God, and as we mentioned last time, all sin is also against yourself, because the wages of sin is death. Verse 18, if the Lord has given me knowledge of it and I know it, then you showed me their doings. But I was like a lamb or an ox, as brought to the slaughter. I knew not that they had devised devices against me. Jeremiah talking about how the people were really against him and were seeking to kill him. Sin, 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 no more be remembered. So they sought to kill Jeremiah. But the Lord of hosts that judges righteously, that tries the reins in the heart. Let me see your vengeance on them, for unto you have I revealed my cause. Therefore, thus says the Lord of the men of Anathoth. Remember, Anathoth is where Jeremiah grew up. It's where he was born, and he grew up. His father, one of the priests, Hilkiah, was from that area that seek your life, saying, prophesy not in the name of the Lord, that you die not by our hand. Therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts, Behold, I will punish them. The young men shall die by the sword. Their sons, their daughters, shall die by famine, and there shall be no remnant of them.

I will bring evil upon the men of Anathoth, no remnant of Anathoth, even the year of their visitation. So God did deliver Jeremiah from the people of Anathoth is, sadly, his hometown. So we will pause there for this evening.