God even at this late stage is offering mercy and deliverance. But hard hearts prevail and judgement is only a matter of time.
Jeremiah 22:
1 Thus says the LORD: "Go down to the house of the king of Judah and speak there this word,
2 and say, 'Hear the word of the LORD, O king of Judah, who sits on the throne of David, you, and your servants, and your people who enter these gates.
3 Thus says the LORD: Do justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed. And do no wrong or violence to the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place.
4 For if you will indeed obey this word, then there shall enter the gates of this house kings who sit on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their servants and their people.
5 But if you will not obey these words, I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that this house shall become a desolation.
6 For thus says the LORD concerning the house of the king of Judah: "'You are like Gilead to me, like the summit of Lebanon, yet surely I will make you a desert, an uninhabited city.
7 I will prepare destroyers against you, each with his weapons, and they shall cut down your choicest cedars and cast them into the fire.
8 "'And many nations will pass by this city, and every man will say to his neighbour, "Why has the LORD dealt thus with this great city?"
9 And they will answer, "Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD their God and worshiped other gods and served them."'"
10 Weep not for him who is dead, nor grieve for him, but weep bitterly for him who goes away, for he shall return no more to see his native land.
Message to the Sons of Josiah
11 For thus says the LORD concerning Shallum the son of Josiah, king of Judah, who reigned instead of Josiah his father, and who went away from this place: "He shall return here no more,
12 but in the place where they have carried him captive, there shall he die, and he shall never see this land again."
13 "Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness, and his upper rooms by injustice, who makes his neighbour serve him for nothing and does not give him his wages,
14 who says, 'I will build myself a great house with spacious upper rooms,' who cuts out windows for it, panelling it with cedar and painting it with vermilion.
15 Do you think you are a king because you compete in cedar? Did not your father eat and drink and do justice and righteousness? Then it was well with him.
16 He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well. Is not this to know me? declares the LORD.
17 But you have eyes and heart only for your dishonest gain, for shedding innocent blood, and for practicing oppression and violence."
18 Therefore thus says the LORD concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah: "They shall not lament for him, saying, 'Ah, my brother!' or 'Ah, sister!' They shall not lament for him, saying, 'Ah, lord!' or 'Ah, his majesty!'
19 With the burial of a donkey he shall be buried, dragged and dumped beyond the gates of Jerusalem."
20 "Go up to Lebanon, and cry out, and lift up your voice in Bashan; cry out from Abarim, for all your lovers are destroyed.
21 I spoke to you in your prosperity, but you said, 'I will not listen.' This has been your way from your youth, that you have not obeyed my voice.
22 The wind shall shepherd all your shepherds, and your lovers shall go into captivity; then you will be ashamed and confounded because of all your evil.
23 O inhabitant of Lebanon, nested among the cedars, how you will be pitied when pangs come upon you, pain as of a woman in labour!"
24 "As I live, declares the LORD, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, were the signet ring on my right hand, yet I would tear you off
25 and give you into the hand of those who seek your life, into the hand of those of whom you are afraid, even into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of the Chaldeans.
26 I will hurl you and the mother who bore you into another country, where you were not born, and there you shall die.
27 But to the land to which they will long to return, there they shall not return."
28 Is this man Coniah a despised, broken pot, a vessel no one cares for? Why are he and his children hurled and cast into a land that they do not know?
29 O land, land, land, hear the word of the LORD!
30 Thus says the LORD: "Write this man down as childless, a man who shall not succeed in his days, for none of his offspring shall succeed in sitting on the throne of David and ruling again in Judah."
Jeremiah 23: The Righteous Branch
1 "Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!" declares the LORD.
2 Therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for my people: "You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the LORD.
3 Then I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply.
4 I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the LORD.
5 "Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.
6 In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: 'The LORD is our righteousness.'
7 "Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when they shall no longer say, 'As the LORD lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,'
8 but 'As the LORD lives who brought up and led the offspring of the house of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he had driven them.' Then they shall dwell in their own land."
Lying Prophets
9 Concerning the prophets: My heart is broken within me; all my bones shake; I am like a drunken man, like a man overcome by wine, because of the LORD and because of his holy words.
10 For the land is full of adulterers; because of the curse the land mourns, and the pastures of the wilderness are dried up. Their course is evil, and their might is not right.
11 "Both prophet and priest are ungodly; even in my house I have found their evil, declares the LORD.
12 Therefore their way shall be to them like slippery paths in the darkness, into which they shall be driven and fall, for I will bring disaster upon them in the year of their punishment, declares the LORD.
13 In the prophets of Samaria I saw an unsavoury thing: they prophesied by Baal and led my people Israel astray.
14 But in the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a horrible thing: they commit adultery and walk in lies; they strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that no one turns from his evil; all of them have become like Sodom to me, and its inhabitants like Gomorrah."
15 Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets: "Behold, I will feed them with bitter food and give them poisoned water to drink, for from the prophets of Jerusalem ungodliness has gone out into all the land."
16 Thus says the LORD of hosts: "Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD.
17 They say continually to those who despise the word of the LORD, 'It shall be well with you'; and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, 'No disaster shall come upon you.'"
18 For who among them has stood in the council of the LORD to see and to hear his word, or who has paid attention to his word and listened?
19 Behold, the storm of the LORD! Wrath has gone forth, a whirling tempest; it will burst upon the head of the wicked.
20 The anger of the LORD will not turn back until he has executed and accomplished the intents of his heart. In the latter days you will understand it clearly.
21 "I did not send the prophets, yet they ran; I did not speak to them, yet they prophesied.
22 But if they had stood in my council, then they would have proclaimed my words to my people, and they would have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their deeds.
23 "Am I a God at hand, declares the LORD, and not a God far away?
24 Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the LORD. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the LORD.
25 I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy lies in my name, saying, 'I have dreamed, I have dreamed!'
26 How long shall there be lies in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies, and who prophesy the deceit of their own heart,
27 who think to make my people forget my name by their dreams that they tell one another, even as their fathers forgot my name for Baal?
28 Let the prophet who has a dream tell the dream, but let him who has my word speak my word faithfully. What has straw in common with wheat? declares the LORD.
29 Is not my word like fire, declares the LORD, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?
30 Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, declares the LORD, who steal my words from one another.
31 Behold, I am against the prophets, declares the LORD, who use their tongues and declare, 'declares the LORD.'
32 Behold, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams, declares the LORD, and who tell them and lead my people astray by their lies and their recklessness, when I did not send them or charge them. So they do not profit this people at all, declares the LORD.
33 "When one of this people, or a prophet or a priest asks you, 'What is the burden of the LORD?' you shall say to them, 'You are the burden, and I will cast you off, declares the LORD.'
34 And as for the prophet, priest, or one of the people who says, 'The burden of the LORD,' I will punish that man and his household.
35 Thus shall you say, every one to his neighbour and every one to his brother, 'What has the LORD answered?' or 'What has the LORD spoken?'
36 But 'the burden of the LORD' you shall mention no more, for the burden is every man's own word, and you pervert the words of the living God, the LORD of hosts, our God.
37 Thus you shall say to the prophet, 'What has the LORD answered you?' or 'What has the LORD spoken?'
38 But if you say, 'The burden of the LORD,' thus says the LORD, 'Because you have said these words, "The burden of the LORD," when I sent to you, saying, "You shall not say, "The burden of the LORD,""
39 therefore, behold, I will surely lift you up and cast you away from my presence, you and the city that I gave to you and your fathers.
40 And I will bring upon you everlasting reproach and perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.'"
Things to think about…
1. Even at this late stage in Jer 22:1-8 the God of Israel is offering deliverance from the destruction and desolation of Jerusalem. The only requirement – act godly, honour the Lord. Why is this so hard? As the drug addict returns to his ‘ice’ or ‘crack’ so Israel kept returning to its sin. Even as Christians we can return to ‘darling’ sins that keep us in a place that stops the blessing and the deliverance from the Lord.
2. Josiah was a godly king. He wiped out all the idols, the Asherah poles and Baal worship etc. But his sons did not follow in his ways, Jer 22:11-28. We can never assume just because we love the Lord that our children will do the same. There are many who lament the fact that their kids don’t follow Christ. What should we do? Chap 23 speaks about judgment that came upon false shepherds – the priests and the prophets. Our need and our children’s need (including those outside of Christ) is a faithful word. Making sure we don’t let go of our kids, but constantly give them the Word of God. Jerusalem by this stage had become like the world and would ultimately be judged for it. The church should be a light and a place of refuge where there is peace, love and truth. Let’s make sure these things are maintained with loving accountability. Send a text, make a call, send some flowers, drop in, take out for coffee, give a word in season for someone to show Christ’s love. All these things are important to staying on the path that leads to life and pointing others to it who are straying at the moment.
3. Jer 23:1-8. Jesus is clearly the ‘Righteous’ branch that would be raised up. The Lord is our righteousness, vs 6. We can only be made righteous – right with God, by God’s grace. Here the Lord is prophesying justification by God’s grace alone – in the Old Testament. Long before Paul or Luther got a hold of this truth!
4. Jeremiah is at the end of himself. He says “Both prophet and priest are ungodly”, Jer 23:11. He says all his bones shake as a result. How is wickedness allowed to be exalted and lifted up by those who should be proclaiming the Lord’s holiness? What a tragedy it is when the church behaves like the world, where there is no obvious fruit of the Spirit, but only division and worldliness.
5. We are burdened by the same issue that Jeremiah had in his day. False prophets, who send out a word that is simply not true. They proclaim peace and prosperity when there should be repentance and trust in the Lord’s revealed word. I love the answer to those false prophets and how Jeremiah was called to answer them in Jer 23:33. When they would ask Jeremiah “What is the burden (message) of the Lord”, Jeremiah was to answer “'You are the burden, and I will cast you off, declares the LORD”. False prophets are a burden to the Lord in every generation. Something he neither desires nor tolerates. Pray that the ministers of the gospel in our day faithfully speak the Lord’s truth regardless of its palatability.
Vision Point for cell groups – Cell groups on break over the school holidays
CBC’s Vision :- To be a growing biblical church community, significantly influencing our city and beyond, through intentional outreach, fulfilling our mission.
Prayer Points
1. People in the church and community who have Covid. Pray especially as some will have a severe reaction.
2. That we see Christ even as Covid goes through the community.
3. Praise, hope and Joy through this new year.
4. Pray for other building projects – café roof, the repair of the house roof.
5. Growth, conversions, joy in the Word and Spirit to remain and increase.
Praise Points
1. CBC Leadership team – maintaining church and grounds as well as the weekly running of ministries. Thankyou.
2. Wonderful worship on Sunday – thankyou, Zac, Gina as well as Bec and Doug – technical team.
3. Joy in our service, great times in the cafe.
4. Word of God being blessed at CBC.
Announcements
1. All ministries on break until the start of February
2. Church bank details bsb:- 704 913 and Acc number:- 4000 4388 1
3. Tune in again this week on our youtube page. Subscribe to the CBC channel Chuwar Baptist YouTube channel.
Catechism question for January...
Q. 15. What does the wine represent? A. The blood of Christ, shed for our salvation.
Bible References – Matt.26:27&28; 1Cor.11:25.
“Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known” Jer 33:3
