Jeremiah paints a picture of the moral failure of Judah and the judgement that was coming on them as a result.
Jeremiah 5: Jerusalem Refused to Repent
1 Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, look and take note! Search her squares to see if you can find a man, one who does justice and seeks truth, that I may pardon her.
2 Though they say, "As the LORD lives," yet they swear falsely.
3 O LORD, do not your eyes look for truth? You have struck them down, but they felt no anguish; you have consumed them, but they refused to take correction. They have made their faces harder than rock; they have refused to repent.
4 Then I said, "These are only the poor; they have no sense; for they do not know the way of the LORD, the justice of their God.
5 I will go to the great and will speak to them, for they know the way of the LORD, the justice of their God." But they all alike had broken the yoke; they had burst the bonds.
6 Therefore a lion from the forest shall strike them down; a wolf from the desert shall devastate them. A leopard is watching their cities; everyone who goes out of them shall be torn in pieces, because their transgressions are many, their apostasies are great.
7 "How can I pardon you? Your children have forsaken me and have sworn by those who are no gods. When I fed them to the full, they committed adultery and trooped to the houses of whores.
8 They were well-fed, lusty stallions, each neighing for his neighbour's wife.
9 Shall I not punish them for these things declares the LORD; and shall I not avenge myself on a nation such as this?
10 "Go up through her vine rows and destroy, but make not a full end; strip away her branches, for they are not the LORD's.
11 For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have been utterly treacherous to me, declares the LORD.
12 They have spoken falsely of the LORD and have said, 'He will do nothing; no disaster will come upon us, nor shall we see sword or famine.
13 The prophets will become wind; the word is not in them. Thus shall it be done to them!'"
The LORD Proclaims Judgment
14 Therefore thus says the LORD, the God of hosts: "Because you have spoken this word, behold, I am making my words in your mouth a fire, and this people wood, and the fire shall consume them.
15 Behold, I am bringing against you a nation from afar, O house of Israel, declares the LORD. It is an enduring nation; it is an ancient nation, a nation whose language you do not know, nor can you understand what they say.
16 Their quiver is like an open tomb; they are all mighty warriors.
17 They shall eat up your harvest and your food; they shall eat up your sons and your daughters; they shall eat up your flocks and your herds; they shall eat up your vines and your fig trees; your fortified cities in which you trust they shall beat down with the sword."
18 "But even in those days, declares the LORD, I will not make a full end of you.
19 And when your people say, 'Why has the LORD our God done all these things to us?' you shall say to them, 'As you have forsaken me and served foreign gods in your land, so you shall serve foreigners in a land that is not yours.'"
20 Declare this in the house of Jacob; proclaim it in Judah:
21 "Hear this, O foolish and senseless people, who have eyes, but see not, who have ears, but hear not.
22 Do you not fear me? declares the LORD. Do you not tremble before me? I placed the sand as the boundary for the sea, a perpetual barrier that it cannot pass; though the waves toss, they cannot prevail; though they roar, they cannot pass over it.
23 But this people has a stubborn and rebellious heart; they have turned aside and gone away.
24 They do not say in their hearts, 'Let us fear the LORD our God, who gives the rain in its season, the autumn rain and the spring rain, and keeps for us the weeks appointed for the harvest.'
25 Your iniquities have turned these away, and your sins have kept good from you.
26 For wicked men are found among my people; they lurk like fowlers lying in wait. They set a trap; they catch men.
27 Like a cage full of birds, their houses are full of deceit; therefore they have become great and rich;
28 they have grown fat and sleek. They know no bounds in deeds of evil; they judge not with justice the cause of the fatherless, to make it prosper, and they do not defend the rights of the needy.
29 Shall I not punish them for these things declares the LORD, and shall I not avenge myself on a nation such as this?"
30 An appalling and horrible thing has happened in the land:
31 the prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule at their direction; my people love to have it so, but what will you do when the end comes?
Jeremiah 6: Impending Disaster for Jerusalem
1 Flee for safety, O people of Benjamin, from the midst of Jerusalem! Blow the trumpet in Tekoa, and raise a signal on Beth-haccherem, for disaster looms out of the north, and great destruction.
2 The lovely and delicately bred I will destroy, the daughter of Zion.
3 Shepherds with their flocks shall come against her; they shall pitch their tents around her; they shall pasture, each in his place.
4 "Prepare war against her; arise, and let us attack at noon! Woe to us, for the day declines, for the shadows of evening lengthen!
5 Arise, and let us attack by night and destroy her palaces!"
6 For thus says the LORD of hosts: "Cut down her trees; cast up a siege mound against Jerusalem. This is the city that must be punished; there is nothing but oppression within her.
7 As a well keeps its water fresh, so she keeps fresh her evil; violence and destruction are heard within her; sickness and wounds are ever before me.
8 Be warned, O Jerusalem, lest I turn from you in disgust, lest I make you a desolation, an uninhabited land."
9 Thus says the LORD of hosts: "They shall glean thoroughly as a vine the remnant of Israel; like a grape-gatherer pass your hand again over its branches."
10 To whom shall I speak and give warning, that they may hear? Behold, their ears are uncircumcised, they cannot listen; behold, the word of the LORD is to them an object of scorn; they take no pleasure in it.
11 Therefore I am full of the wrath of the LORD; I am weary of holding it in. "Pour it out upon the children in the street, and upon the gatherings of young men, also; both husband and wife shall be taken, the elderly and the very aged.
12 Their houses shall be turned over to others, their fields and wives together, for I will stretch out my hand against the inhabitants of the land," declares the LORD.
13 "For from the least to the greatest of them, everyone is greedy for unjust gain; and from prophet to priest, everyone deals falsely.
14 They have healed the wound of my people lightly, saying, 'Peace, peace,' when there is no peace.
15 Were they ashamed when they committed abomination? No, they were not at all ashamed; they did not know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; at the time that I punish them, they shall be overthrown," says the LORD.
16 Thus says the LORD: "Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls. But they said, 'We will not walk in it.'
17 I set watchmen over you, saying, 'Pay attention to the sound of the trumpet!' But they said, 'We will not pay attention.'
18 Therefore hear, O nations, and know, O congregation, what will happen to them.
19 Hear, O earth; behold, I am bringing disaster upon this people, the fruit of their devices, because they have not paid attention to my words; and as for my law, they have rejected it.
20 What use to me is frankincense that comes from Sheba, or sweet cane from a distant land? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable, nor your sacrifices pleasing to me.
21 Therefore thus says the LORD: 'Behold, I will lay before this people stumbling blocks against which they shall stumble; fathers and sons together, neighbour and friend shall perish.'"
22 Thus says the LORD: "Behold, a people is coming from the north country, a great nation is stirring from the farthest parts of the earth.
23 They lay hold on bow and javelin; they are cruel and have no mercy; the sound of them is like the roaring sea; they ride on horses, set in array as a man for battle, against you, O daughter of Zion!"
24 We have heard the report of it; our hands fall helpless; anguish has taken hold of us, pain as of a woman in labour.
25 Go not out into the field, nor walk on the road, for the enemy has a sword; terror is on every side.
26 O daughter of my people, put on sackcloth, and roll in ashes; make mourning as for an only son, most bitter lamentation, for suddenly the destroyer will come upon us.
27 "I have made you a tester of metals among my people, that you may know and test their ways.
28 They are all stubbornly rebellious, going about with slanders; they are bronze and iron; all of them act corruptly.
29 The bellows blow fiercely; the lead is consumed by the fire; in vain the refining goes on, for the wicked are not removed.
30 Rejected silver they are called, for the LORD has rejected them."
Things to think about…
1. Have a look at Jer 5:1. Does it remind you of another city that was being prepared for judgement if only there were a handful of the righteous found in it? Jerusalem like Sodom would be spared if any righteous were in it. Not even ten were required. We know Jeremiah was righteous, but the point is that the whole city was sold into corruption and judgement was near. What a tragedy when nations do not listen to the Lord and reject His word. Jerusalem in recent years has come under the constraint of the nations simply because the US embassy has been relocated there. Israel today however needs to turn to the Messiah to receive the blessings promised. Military might will not do it.
2. Judah has always been deeply religious, but both the poor and the high ranking were all corrupt together, Jer 5:2-5. The particular sins Jeremiah highlights are idol worship and adultery, vss 7, 8. We of course see these same cultural sins in Australia. We now have the abomination of web sites and apps promoting extra marital affairs and casual sex encounters if people want them. God have mercy on Australia.
3. What a tragedy when the spiritual leaders of a city, its church leaders and pastors turn away from the Word of God and embrace the identity of the world. This is Jeremiah’s complaint in Jer 5:31 “the prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests’ rule at their direction; my people love to have it so”. May the congregations in the cities of Ipswich and Brisbane desire the Word of God and drive the preachers into the Word of God.
4. The inhabitants of Judah both in the north, Tekoa and in the south, Beth-haccherem, were going to be destroyed, Jer 6:1. Jerusalem was about to have a siege mound set against it, Jer 6:6. All this would be achieved by the Babylonians in 586BC. Only a few short years from the time of writing by Jeremiah.
5. The prophets and the priests have told lies and said everything would be ok, there is no need to keep the law. These men were saying ‘peace, peace, when there is no peace’, Jer 6:14. Better are the wounds from a friend than the kisses from an enemy, Prov 27:6. The church needs to be faithful with the truth, even when it does not feel pleasurable. In the end it reaps a harvest of righteousness.
6. Sometimes the only answer is judgement. Judah and Jerusalem had had enough warnings. God would not relent ‘the Lord has rejected them’, Jer 6:30. Sometimes this happens to churches, when there is no love, truth or accountability, the Lord takes away their lampstand and they shine no more. When the gospel is not preached or lived out in genuine community it is only a matter of time before that church is turned into a restaurant or the land is sold and redeveloped.
Vision Point for cell groups
CBC’s Vision :- To be a growing biblical church community, significantly influencing our city and beyond, through intentional outreach, fulfilling our mission.
Sermon and reading topic for this week – Sermon “Proclaiming Christ”
Reading – 1 Corinthians 12, 14
1. We all love receiving gifts. Especially if they have been well considered with who we really are and what we like. What is the most thoughtful gift you have ever received?
2. As Christians we all have a spiritual gift/s. What is yours? Are you using it to build up the body of Christ?
3. Paul says not to be ignorant of spiritual gifts, 1Cor 12:1. But there is a lot of confusion regarding the spiritual gifts of especially surrounding tongues and prophecy. Tongues as described in these 2 chapters (1Cor 12, 14) speak of known languages in the world, 1Cor 14:10, 11. Discuss how this gift is abused in some church contexts. How should it be used as outlined by Paul?
4. The gift of prophecy is also not well understood in the modern church. The 1st century Christians did not have the entire bible and needed revelation. We have the complete revelation in scripture and hence saying “Thus says the Lord” as the OT prophets declared is not the role of prophecy as described in 1 Cor 12&14. How do we discern the difference between a genuine prophetic word for someone or the church and a false prophecy?
5. Pray for the use of all the spiritual gifts in the church with a right discernment in their use.
Prayer Points
1. Pray for testimonies that people will be doing every second week. Please consider when you would like to do yours when the pastor asks you to share yours 😉
2. Pray for those on holidays and travelling.
3. Pray for other building projects – café roof, the repair of the house roof and solar.
4. Growth, conversions, joy in the Word and Spirit to remain and increase.
5. Church finances to meet our new staff and to put a roof over our café.
6. Sunday’s message from Jer 1 - “Not the calling I’m after” – Pastor Jay.
Praise Points.
1. More visitors on Sunday.
2. New cell groups.
3. Praise and worship – thanks Rod, Rin, Molley, Riley, Zac, great job.
Announcements
1. Masks to be worn on Sunday during worship. Can be taken off when eating in the café with social distancing.
2. New Cell groups starting up. Find one near you.
3. PlayPatch starting up next term for toddlers at church. See Maddison for details.
4. Men’s brekky TBA. But will be down at Colleges Crossing within the next month or so on a Saturday morning.
5. Church bank details bsb:- 704 913 and Acc number:- 4000 4388 1
