Posts Tagged 'Survey of the Major Prophets'

A SURVEY OF THE MAJOR PROPHETS, 9

Published January 28, 2010 Uncategorized Leave a Comment
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Personal Responsibility, Ezekiel 18

Chapter 18 of Ezekiel’s book of prophecy reveals another side of this man.  Here he changes from a pastor, burdened down with care and concern for his people, to a theologian, preaching doctrine.   There is a brief New Testament passage that parallels precisely what Ezekiel wrote in 31 verses—

7Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.  (Galatians 1:7—8)

In the previous chapters, Ezekiel’s messages from God dealt with the sin of the nation as a whole; God was unhappy with the state of his nation, resulting in His judgment upon them.  But in chapter 18, the prophet abruptly changes his tune and deals primarily with the individual and their responsibility to live righteously before God.

This is an important message; no person can live their life as they please in violation of God’s will and expect to escape judgment.  Just because in this time of grace God does not send His wrath upon sinful man immediately, does not mean He is out of the judgment business or that He no longer cares about how people live their lives.  Eventually an errant child of God will be confronted by His God as surely as David was confronted by Nathan.

1.  Proverb vs. Principle, verses 1—4

1 The word of the LORD came to me: 2 “What do you people mean by quoting this proverb about the land of Israel: ” ‘The fathers eat sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge’?3 “As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, you will no longer quote this proverb in Israel. 4 For every living soul belongs to me, the father as well as the son—both alike belong to me. The soul who sins is the one who will die.

Ezekiel begins by shattering a common belief of the day.  This isn’t the first time this widely-quoted proverb is seen in the Old Testament; Jeremiah quotes it as well in Jeremiah 31:29—30.   A couple of chapters earlier (16:44) Ezekiel quotes another proverb to show how his people had slowly adopted the blackened character of the Canaanites—

44 ” ‘Everyone who quotes proverbs will quote this proverb about you: “Like mother, like daughter.”

In that chapter, the people appeared to run around quoting proverbs, especially this one, but failed to understand it.  They were so ego-centric that they assumed they were being punished because of past transgressions:  namely the sins of their forefathers.  We can see how dangerous this way of thinking was; it didn’t matter how a contemporary Israelite lived because he was being set upon by God because of what his ancestors did.   In fact, the exiles to which Ezekiel was preaching had taken Exodus 20:5 to a ridiculous extreme and were more or less using it to justify their sinful state—

5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me.

Before we condemn Ezekiel’s people, we should realize that Christians in this present age are very skilled at doing the exact same thing; we are expert at wrenching Bible verses out of context in order to make ourselves feel safe by justifying our sin.

Ezekiel’s people, the exiles, had misunderstood and misapplied both Ezekiel’s message and the Word of the Lord.  What the Bible teaches, and the truth that Ezekiel was trying to drive home was simply that children would be affected by their father’s sin; therefore, parents should serve as proper role models for their children.  The sinful—or lazy, questionable living—of parents is easily picked up and readily followed by their children.   If a child committed the same sins as their father, they must accept the same punishment.  That was the exact opposite to what the exiles thought the Bible taught and to what the prophet was trying to teach them!

It is really frightening to think that people can be that deluded and have no clue!   Sadly, there are many Christians who are just as deluded and many, many churches preaching ideas and doctrines that further delude the ignorant.

Here in chapter 18, Ezekiel is seen trying again to get his message of personal responsibility across by quoting another proverb:  “The fathers eat sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge,” which was apparently another commonly quoted saying of the day.  Its meaning should have been clear:  because of the sins of the fathers, their children will suffer; that is, God would not let one generation get by with a sin when He punished a previous generation for doing the same thing.  Of course, the opposite is also true:  God cannot pronounce a son righteous merely because his father was righteous.  Each individual stands before God by himself.   Twice in this chapter (verses 4 and 20), Ezekiel says:

The soul who sins is the one who will die.

The word translated “soul” is nephesh, and is used as a synonym for the whole person.  In this context, life and death refers to physical, not spiritual death.  A person received eternal life by faith in the Messiah (Jesus Christ), whether by looking forward in faith to His work on the Cross, as the Old Testament saints did, or looking backward in faith to His work on the Cross, as we do.  Salvation was always a matter of faith, not in keeping the Law; the Law was given to people already in a trusting, faith-based relationship with God.  Obeying the Mosaic Law—we might say “living right,” in obedience to God’s Word—resulted in physical blessings, whereas stubborn, rebellious, and sinful living resulted in the opposite; judgment and punishment.

Each person, man or woman, boy or girl, lived or died according to their own actions, not their parents.  This is Ezekiel’s message.

2.  Three illustrations of the principle, verses 5—18

In this lengthy group of verses, the prophet, like any good preacher, used three illustrations to help the people understand what he had just said.

  1. The first illustration is that of a “righteous father” (verses 5—9).  This man was obviously in a trusting, faith-based relationship with God and practiced what he preached; he lived righteously.  Ezekiel gave five legal areas to differentiate between righteous and unrighteous deeds.  This man was a paragon of virtue, morality, and faith.  Such a man, the prophet concludes, is righteous based on his faith and his actions, and he would be physically blessed:  “The man is righteous; he will surely live, declares the Lord.”  Notice that this man is declared to be righteous by God; this is significant because only God is able to do that, objectively and perfectly.
  2. The second illustration is that of an unrighteous and “violent son” (verses 10—13).    This man demonstrated his unrighteousness and lack of faith by a lifestyle exactly opposite that of his father.  Whatever his father did in righteousness, his son did not do; whatever his father did not do to remain righteous, his son did.  This man, who had the benefit of a righteous father, would not live because of his “detestable” lifestyle.  His father was blessed with life, but the son would be, “put to death and his blood will be on his own head” (verse 13).  In other words, his punishment was his own fault.
  3. Ezekiel’s final illustration is that of the righteous man’s “righteous grandson” (verses 14—18).  Would an unrighteous man have an unrighteous son?  This question is answered in this illustration.  If the unrighteous son’s son (the grandson) lived righteously and did all the righteous deeds of the Law like his righteous grandfather did, refusing to follow the sinful example of his father, he would not die because of the sins of his father, but would surely live.  However, his father would die because of his own sin.

The key thought behind this whole section is found in verse 20—

20 The soul who sins is the one who will die. The son will not share the guilt of the father, nor will the father share the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous man will be credited to him, and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against him.

You cannot blame your parents for the state you are in.  You cannot honestly blame your surroundings.  And you must not blame God, for God is merciful and always fair in everything does.  But remember, Ezekiel is not speaking here of eternal life, but of physical life; of physical blessing and punishment.

3.  A final explanation of the principle, verses 19—32

The preacher has stated the basic principle of individual responsibility for the state of their life in verses 1—4 and he illustrated the principle in verses 5—18.  In this section, Ezekiel asks some rhetorical questions or statements to further emphasize and elaborate on his point.

  1. Why does the son not share the guilt of his father? The answer to this question is simply this:  if a man lived righteously according to the Law, then the Lord would bless him with life, both physical and eternal.  The way this is worded, this principle applies to anybody who kept the Law, even the son of an unrighteous father.
  2. Not only that, if an unrighteous man saw the light and turned his life around, he would be blessed and his former life of disobedience would be forgotten.
  3. But if a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits sin and does the same detestable things the wicked man does, will he live? The opposite of point #2 is true; if a righteous man falls away he would be punished for his new state of sin and rebellion, not his previous state of righteousness.  This is individualism defined:  a person stands before God on his own merits, not on the merits of any familial relationship or even on past achievements.  For God, it is the “here and now” that counts.
  4. Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ Imagine the arrogance of people who would accuse God of that.  God’s reply was terse and clear:   It was Israel’s ways that were intolerable; they were the ones who had twisted His Word to justify their rebellion. 

The last three verses of chapter 18 represent the pleading of a loving heavenly Father to His wayward, backslidden children—

30 “Therefore, O house of Israel, I will judge you, each one according to his ways, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent! Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall. 31 Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, O house of Israel? 32 For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent and live!

Is there a stronger invitation to LIVE anywhere in the Bible?  Why would anybody chose to die when they had the choice to live?  Repentance was available to the people of Ezekiel’s day as surely as it is today.  Verse 32 is remarkable:  God takes no pleasure in the death of a person who dies because of His sin.  Isaiah proclaimed a similar message during his prophetic ministry—

18 “Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.”  (Isaiah 1:18)

Conclusion

This chapter is a magnificent testimony to the power of personal responsibility.  We live in a culture that shuns personal responsibility; the problems we have in life are always somebody else’s fault; we want somebody else to “bail us out”; we foolishly assume God will accept us by virtue of a decision we made to accept Christ years ago but we live today like that decision is largely forgotten.  And what’s worse is this horrible attitude of irresponsibility has found a home in the Church of Jesus Christ.  The dreaded “once saved always saved” doctrine is so widely accepted in Protestant circles, most people don’t know it’s not a Biblical doctrine, but simply an idea taught by John Calvin and his followers.  It is hard to understand how any reasoning adult can reconcile a theology that says “once in grace, always in grace” with the clear teaching of Ezekiel 18.

God is a God of eternity, but He is also the God of this moment.  How we were raised or the life we may have lived to get to this moment is not the determinative factor in how we are supposed to be living now.   God is concerned with the now of our lives.  He is concerned with how we are living now.  Many Christians need to grow up, put away their toys, put on long pants, and start taking responsibility for the state of their lives.  We can blame poor potty training for only so long.  The urgent need of our day is:  live righteously!

Paul, writing to the Corinthians, quotes from the prophet Isaiah—

2For he says, “In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.” I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.  (2 Corinthians 6:2; cf. Isaiah 49:8)


©  2010 WitzEnd

A SURVEY OF THE MAJOR PROPHETS, 8

Published January 21, 2010 Uncategorized Leave a Comment
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God’s Demanding Call, Ezekiel 2—3

Some jobs are harder others.  Some jobs are physically demanding, others are emotionally draining, and some are hard just because they offer no challenge.   The life of the prophet cannot be separated from his job, and without a doubt the job of the Biblical prophet was the most difficult and demanding job in that era.

Ezekiel was a Biblical prophet with a difference.  He did not work in Israel nor did he work in Judah.  But he did preach to his people.  It wasn’t that he worked “out of town,” it was that during most of his ministry there was no Israel and there was no Judah.  His work took place during the exilic period while Judah was either controlled by Babylon or after all of its citizens had been deported to Babylon.  Ezekiel himself was taken away during the second of three deportations.

His ministry began about seven years (on or about 593 BC) before the Temple was destroyed.  Those who remained in Judah were traumatized when their Temple was leveled; the Temple was more than just a “church,” it was where Jehovah lived.  With no Temple, the people had no hope.

Ezekiel’s wife died during the siege of Jerusalem, which was tragic enough, but God forbade Ezekiel a period of mourning as sign to his people that a greater tragedy was occurring—

15 The word of the LORD came to me: 16 “Son of man, with one blow I am about to take away from you the delight of your eyes. Yet do not lament or weep or shed any tears. 17 Groan quietly; do not mourn for the dead. Keep your turban fastened and your sandals on your feet; do not cover the lower part of your face or eat the customary food of mourners.”  (see Ezekiel 24:15—24)

Regardless of how poor Ezekiel may have felt, regardless of His personal loss, God needed His man to focus on his mission; nothing was more important than fulfilling the call of God and taking God’s Word to the people.

Life as a dedicated, consecrated servant of God is not an easy life.  It wasn’t easy during Ezekiel’s day and it still isn’t today; which may explain why we don’t see more Ezekiel’s roaming the countryside today.

1.  The challenge of God’s call, 2:1—7

The Appearance, verses 1, 2

Chapter one serves as a kind of preface to Ezekiel’s call with chapters two and three describing the prophet’s call in some detail.

In verse 1 and in over 80 other instances, the Lord addresses Ezekiel as “son of man.”  Of all the prophets, major and minor, only Ezekiel is so addressed.   This title was to serve as a reminder of the frailty and weakness of the man as he humbly stood before the majestic God, his creator.  By using this ascription, the Lord gently reminded Ezekiel that despite his high office as prophet, he was utterly dependent on the power of the God’s Spirit.  It was only through His Spirit that Ezekiel was able to hear the Lord speaking to him.  In fact, the prophet would have been of no use to God whatsoever except the Lord fill his mouth with His word.

In verse 2, the Lord tells His prophet to “stand up.”  It took the Spirit of God to get Ezekiel on his feet; the Spirit entered him and empowered him.  Through the power of God’s Spirit, Ezekiel was physically strengthened for the task that he was called to and that same Spirit enabled the man to hear God’s voice.

The mission, verses 3—7

To the man drafted for prophetic service, the message was clear:  Israel was a rebellious nation.  God had nothing good to say about the nation He called into existence.  Ezekiel referred to them as (literally):  “hard of face,” “hardheaded” and “brazen.”  What other adjectives would fit people who had been judged and found wanting, yet refused to repent or admit their sin?  Their “hard faces” meant that generations of willful rebellion and sinful living had caused their hearts to become hard.

While the commission side of Ezekiel’s call takes up most of chapters 2 and 3, the thrust of his message starts off depressing and gets worse.  The Lord describes His people in a horrible progression of hurtfulness:  from briers to thorns to scorpions.

The message was bad, but the truly disquieting feature of Ezekiel’s calling was that his message was not to be conditioned on his listener’s response (verse 5).  Even if nobody listened, the prophet was to keep on preaching the same message; only then would those stubborn people realize that a prophet had been among them.   If God’s spokesman then had to minister with that kind of single-minded devotion, how important it is that God’s spokesmen today heed that same principle!

In light of the difficult ministry to which Ezekiel had been called, the Lord gave him two directives:  he was not to be afraid and he was to keep on preaching regardless.  Really, the message, as important as it was, was secondary to these main directives, for if Ezekiel failed to be obedient, the message would have never been delivered.

2.  Internalizing God’s Word, 2:8—3:3

1 And he said to me, “Son of man, eat what is before you, eat this scroll; then go and speak to the house of Israel.” 2 So I opened my mouth, and he gave me the scroll to eat. (3:1, 2)

A true spokesman of God never preaches a message impersonal to him, with which he has never wrestled with personally; over which he had never struggled.  The word a preacher delivers to others has first passed through his own soul.

So it was with Ezekiel.  He was called to speak for God, but first God’s Word had to become part of the prophet.  It was absolutely necessary for the prophet to hear, understand, and assimilate God’s message prior to delivering it to anybody.  His “eating” the scroll symbolized his complete acceptance of the Lord’s difficult message.  The message Ezekiel was to proclaim was written on the scroll; it was like a funeral dirge, full of mourning and lamentation; it was not a joyous message.  Yet even when Ezekiel’s ministry would prove to be difficult and often distasteful, the Lord would cause His Word to be as sweet as honey!  The words of verse 3 bring to mind Psalm 119:103—

103 How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!

3.  Emboldened by God’s call, 3:4—14

The audience, verses 4—7

As it was the later Son of Man, Ezekiel’s great Anti-type, so the prophet was commissioned to go to the House of Israel.  Verse 11 clarifies and limits the extent of his audience—

11 Go now to your countrymen in exile and speak to them. Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says,’ whether they listen or fail to listen.”

The people to whom Ezekiel was to preach were not strangers, they were his own people.

Special empowerment, verses 8, 9

Though stiff-necked, rebellious, and obstinate, and though it would have been much easier to take his message to strangers, Ezekiel was to be strong and determined.  This would be no problem for the prophet, because the Lord had prepared him by making him more determined than the people of Israel.  God never sends out his messengers without first preparing them.    Greater is He who was FOR Ezekiel, than the multitude against him!

It may seem strange that God would call such a mild-mannered person as Ezekiel to such a mission.  As we read his book, we see that Ezekiel was a man who shrank from “crossing swords” with those who opposed his message.  He often dramatized his message using symbolic acts rather than words, perhaps because the words were too difficult to speak.  But just as the weeping prophet Jeremiah was given strength for a task not natural to him, (Jeremiah 1:18; 20:7—18), so was Ezekiel.

The ministry, verses 10—14

The Word of the Lord was to literally become part of Ezekiel before he could go and proclaim it, and so he was to meditate on it.  Verse 12 begins the conclusion of his commission-giving vision.  The prophet was raised up by the Spirit to the heights where he heard a final benediction, assuring him that he indeed had seen and heard a revelation of God’s awesome glory.

Did God supernaturally transport the prophet from where he was to where his people were?  Or did Ezekiel witness his people in a vision?  Certainly he had seen a vision and been given a revelation of God, but most scholars believe the latter, and that verses 14 and 15 merely recount the prophet’s objection to his commission.  As Ezekiel was “brought back to earth” and walked among his people, he like all prophets before and after him, struggled with his calling.

We are told it took him seven days to come to grips with what God had called him to do.  All the while, however, the Lord’s hand was on him, suggesting that God was controlling him, as he sat appalled at the condition of his people and the content of his message.  Like any of us, Ezekiel struggled with the very idea of having to deliver such a distasteful, negative message to people who would not receive it.   Many of us would wonder, “What is the point of it all?”  But again, even Ezekiel’s period of mourning and struggle was used by God to teach the onlookers a lesson.  A week was both a period of mourning for the dead (the House of Israel) and also the length of time for a priest’s consecration (Ezekiel).  On his 30th birthday, Ezekiel was being consecrated for the priesthood and commissioned to proclaim his people’s funeral dirge.

The work of the Lord is not always easy or attractive.  Often the Lord calls people to do things way outside their “comfort zones.”  But we can be sure that if we are obedient to our calling, the Lord will more than equip us to perform that which He has called us to.

©  2010 WitzEnd

A SURVEY OF THE MAJOR PROPHETS, 6

Published January 6, 2010 Uncategorized Leave a Comment
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The Lonely Prophet

Jeremiah 3:  The Shamefulness of Sin

Human beings have a difficult time understanding the gravity of sin.  Perhaps this is because we have such short memories; when we knowingly disobey God, we ask for forgiveness—or not—and we just move on.  Or perhaps it is because we know how loving and gracious and merciful God is, so no matter what we do, all we have to do as ask Him for forgiveness and we move on.  Or it could be we are so used to comparing ourselves to others, our misdeeds when compared to the misdeeds of others are not as bad as theirs, and so we assume that, while we may not be saints, we aren’t really evil people, either.  Of course, we delude ourselves.  When we sin against an immortal God, our sins wound eternally because, unlike us mortals with comparatively short life spans and short memories, God’s memory is perfect and eternal.  How great are our sins?  They are as wicked and as evil and as hideous as God is loving and as merciful and as eternal.

The prophet Jeremiah, God’s mouthpiece to the people of Judah, had to convey this message to them in a language they could understand.   The first five verses of chapter 3 probably belong to thoughts Jeremiah began in 2:26—

As a thief is disgraced when he is caught, so the house of Israel is disgraced—they, their kings and their officials, their priests and their prophets.

1.  Setting the scene:  the irrationality of sin

Jeremiah began his preaching ministry in a no-nonsense manner, like a bullet fired from a gun.  At length the prophet described how far the House of Jacob had fallen from grace.  He used several figures to describe her lost condition:

  • A prostitute
  • A vineyard
  • A deeply stained object
  • A young she-camel
  • A female donkey in heat

Throughout chapter 2, God reminded his people of His many deliverances—

I brought you into a fertile land to eat its fruit and rich produce. (2:7a)

God had taken enough from generations of His faithless and rebellious children, and so He warned them in 2:9—

“Therefore I bring charges against you again,” declares the LORD. “And I will bring charges against your children’s children.”

No one in all the land was insulated from God anger; from the top political leaders to their top religious leaders, to the children; all were in the Lord’s crosshairs.  Despite all the blessings the people had received from the hand of Jehovah, time and again they went on “playing the harlot,” worshiping false gods at the many country shrines that had come to dot the Judean landscape.

The people had become totally incorrigible in their wickedness; their sins so deeply ingrained that they were forever stained.   Despite the outward prosperity and religious reforms under Josiah, the inner defilement of the people could not be cleansed.  No amount of reform could please God because sin is more than skin deep.   With great blessings comes great responsibility; the nation of Israel was birthed in the heart of God and had been given the keys to success:  the Law of God at Mount Sinai, and the presence of God in the Temple.  She was planted and groomed to be a perfect vineyard, yet she had degenerated into a wild and corrupt vine.  The nation ran around like a frenzied she-camel looking for satisfaction, driven by mere instinct; so the people of Judah appeared to God as they chased after false gods and engaged in all manner of perverse and wicked idolatry.  To make matters all the worse was their haughty, arrogant attitude—

But you said, ‘It’s no use! I love foreign gods, and I must go after them.’  (2:25b)

Why do my people say, ‘We are free to roam; we will come to you no more’?  (2:31b)

The people of Judah had descended to the depths of religious and moral depravity, yet they felt that they had a claim on God; in their time of trouble they believed they could call on the Lord and they He would rush to their aid.  To this, the Lord replies ironically—

Where then are the gods you made for yourselves? Let them come if they can save you    when you are in trouble!  For you have as many gods as you have towns, O Judah.  (2:28)

The people had to understand the senselessness of trusting in nothing, but instead, they continued to claim innocence and blamed God for their problems—

Why do you bring charges against me?  You have all rebelled against me,” declares the LORD. (2:29)

Like a spoiled child, Judah thought she had a case against God; she found fault in God because she was unable to manipulate Him.  Even though the people were at fault, they murmured and spoke out against God.   In spite of their obvious guilt, the people irrationally believed they were innocent.  We can learn a great lesson from the behavior of Jeremiah’s countrymen:  we may be able to hide our sins in the guise of good intentions and we may be very creative in justifying our rebellion and selfish lifestyles, but those things do nothing to change God’s attitude.   From Adam to the saintliest church member, we have become experts in self-delusion and self-justification.

2.  The spectacle of sinful living

Unrestrained selfish living, which leads to gratifying only our sinful natures, eventually leads to a state of shamelessness where we are literally unable to care.  Judah had reached that state.  Though caught in her sin like a burglar in the night, the nation’s civic and spiritual leaders continued to compromise their preaching and the people went on practicing their spiritual whoredom.  Despite the suffering the people may have experienced, they learned nothing.

Because Judah had placed her confidence in false gods and false prophets and had aligned herself with heathen nations, she had nothing to look forward to except:

  • Certain judgment;
  • Consternation and desolation;
  • Betrayal by the nations she depended on;
  • A realization that there was no one to blame but themselves.

In chapter 3, the shamelessness of Judah’s sin is further illustrated in language reminiscent of Hosea 2:1—5; 9:1.

(a)  No easy repentance, 3:1—5

In using the figure of an adulterous wife who continues to run from lover to lover, Jeremiah paints a bleak picture of Judah and makes it clear that there is no such thing as “easy repentance.”  Religiously, Judah had had many lovers, yet she seemed to think she could return to God, her only husband, any time she wanted and He would take her back.

That Judah had reached the point to utter shamelessness is seen in how she lives versus how she addresses God—

2 “Look up to the barren heights and see.  Is there any place where you have not been ravished?  By the roadside you sat waiting for lovers, sat like a nomad in the desert. You have defiled the land  with your prostitution and wickedness.

3 Therefore the showers have been withheld, and no spring rains have fallen. Yet you have the brazen look of a prostitute; you refuse to blush with shame.

4 Have you not just called to me: ‘My Father, my friend from my youth, 5 will you always be angry?  Will your wrath continue forever?’  This is how you talk, but you do all the evil you can.”  (3:2—5)

In fact, it is fairly easy to repent from sin except when the point of no return has been reached, and Judah was crowding the point:  her sin was such a part of her everyday day existence and it had become so enmeshed in her national character, she became literally unable to repent.  Despite having a very godly king, Josiah, Judah’s final righteous king, his efforts at religious reform, though monumental and outwardly impressive, did nothing to halt the fall of his nation.  Judah was rushing headlong into sure and certain doom, caught up in the overwhelming and unstoppable momentum of her sin.

(b)  Missed opportunity, verses 6—10

Was Judah’s future inescapable?  In order to show the seriousness of Judah’s sin, Jeremiah compared it to that of Israel, the northern kingdom, which had been in exile for some time before Jeremiah began preaching.  In truth, what happened to the Ten Tribes had been a warning to Judah, but Judah in her arrogance, missed the warning completely.  Judah had assumed she was the favored nation because Israel had backslidden and the northern kingdom had, in effect, come to personify apostasy.  She was hauled away in disgrace, and the laid bear.

However, verse 11 is stunning—

The LORD said to me, “Faithless Israel is more righteous than unfaithful Judah.”

The verse is stunning because historically, Israel had not one righteous king, while Judah had many.  The reason faithless Israel is more righteous is because Judah had the benefit and the blessing of an example of God’s judgment and yet failed to take advantage of that blessing; they followed in Israel’s example instead of avoiding it.

What excuse do believers have for living sin?  We have the accumulated examples of thousands of years of the Lord’s interaction with His people throughout the Old and New Testaments.  So before we smugly assert our righteousness and boast of our enviable position in Christ which precludes us from any kind of judgment, let’s make sure our hearts are right and that we are not, as Judah was, merely going through the religious motions, unaware that awful judgment is looming just ahead.

(c) A call to return, verses 11—14a

So grieved with the people of Judah, God turned His attention to the people of Israel, in exile.  Though their sin had been so heinous, He is ready and even eager to forgive them if the people would only acknowledge their guilt and repent.

‘Return, faithless Israel,’ declares the LORD, ‘I will frown on you no longer, for I am merciful,’ declares the LORD, ‘I will not be angry forever.’  (verse 12)

For almost a century, the Ten Tribes had been in Assyrian captivity, though a small remnant was left behind and had mingled with the expatriated Assyrians to form the Samaritans.  God’s word to all of Israel was that they could be restored if they met His conditions.  It should be noted that Israel, though faithless, never allowed themselves to be assimilated into the surrounding nations.

This group of verses gives us valuable insight into the heart and mind of God.  There is great love, mercy, and forgiveness available, however, man and nations must respond to His call.

Only acknowledge your guilt.  (verse 13a)

(d)  A future blessing assured, verses 14b—18

How great is the love of God for His errant people?  Both the Northern and Southern kingdoms had proven themselves to be untrustworthy, rebellious and wicked people, yet the Lord promises they will be reunited and restored in the future.

“Return, faithless people,” declares the LORD, “for I am your husband. I will choose you—one from a town and two from a clan—and bring you to Zion.”  (verse 18)

Not only would the kingdoms be returned to the land and reunited as one, they would grow and prosper and be given godly rulers.  Jeremiah refers to them as “shepherds” after God’s heart.  In contrast to the ungodly rulers of Jeremiah’s day, the new breed of leader would conform to the mind and will of God.  We also know that this future restoration will actually happen; it is not symbolic.  Note carefully the wording of verse 16—

In those days, when your numbers have increased greatly in the land…

The phrase “in those days” is significant because it always refers to a very specific time:  the time of Messiah.

Here in these verses we see the recurring structure of prophetic literature:  a mixing of the near and the far.  In just a handful of verses, Jeremiah addresses:  (1)  the immediate time in which he was living, (2) the near future of his day when, in just a few months and years hence Judah would fall,  and (3) the far future, when the Messiah—Jesus Christ—would return and restore Israel’s fortunes.  How marvelous will that day be for Jeremiah’s people?

At that time they will call Jerusalem The Throne of the LORD, and all nations will gather in Jerusalem to honor the name of the LORD. No longer will they follow the stubbornness of their evil hearts. 18 In those days the house of Judah will join the house of Israel, and together they will come from a northern land to the land I gave your forefathers as an inheritance.  (verses 17—18)

Conclusion

From Jeremiah’s standing, the immediate future was dark, but the far future was glorious.  But God had a problem.  How was He going to make all this happen?  For Jeremiah, the message of hope must have also been a baffling message.  Verse 19 is difficult verse to understand because the Hebrew is very obscure, as evidenced by the different ways our English translations have interpreted it.  Notice these two very different renderings of the same verse—

‘How gladly would I treat you like sons and give you a desirable land, the most beautiful inheritance of any nation.’ I thought you would call me ‘Father’ and not turn away from following me.’ – NIV

How shall I put thee among the children, and give thee a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of nations? and I said, Thou shalt call me, My father; and shalt not turn away from me. – KJV

The sense of the original language seems to be God saying, “How can I do all these good things for you, when you are so far from me?”  The answer is in the second part of the verse:  He will give them the Promised Land when they finally come to Him as their Father, never to leave Him again.

God wants to extend mercy and forgiveness to backsliders and desperately wants to restore them to a right relationship with Him.  Regardless of the time and the distance of their drifting or the sins they may have involved themselves in; there is always an open door to them.  However, as Jeremiah has made clear, the way back is not easy and involves more than simple confession.  There must be repentance; a conscious effort to stay right and to remain away from sin.  God continually yearns for and reaches out to the backslider.

In these verses, we once again see in Jeremiah a kind of foreshadow of Christ’s ministry.  In proclaiming the Word of the Lord to the north—toward what was once Israel, and in the direction of the Assyrians—we see that the Word of the Lord is, in fact, for all people, Jew and Gentile alike.  A call to Israel in the land of the north would be heard by others in that land, just as the Gospel began in Jerusalem and spread out to the Gentiles in foreign lands.  All who heard and responded in faith to Jeremiah’s pleas would be included in God’s grace just as His people are.

Yes, there is nothing more shameful for a child of God than to be caught up in sin.  But there is nothing more powerful than the pull of God’s grace.  He never gave on His people and we should never cease praying for those who have wandered from the Truth and proclaiming that Truth to all who have ears to hear.

(c)  2010 WitzEnd

A SURVEY OF THE MAJ0R PROPHETS, 5

Published January 1, 2010 Uncategorized Leave a Comment
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Rembrandt's Jeremiah

The Calling, Jeremiah 1:1—19

While most students of the Bible love the book of Isaiah and consider him to be the prophetic voice of the Old Testament, Jeremiah is thought to be the foremost Old Testament prophet.  Jeremiah was the most personable of the prophets; we know more about him than any other.  With good reason Jeremiah is known as “the weeping prophet,” for he witnessed the downfall and exile of his people, literally from the window of his home.  Not only are his writings intense and interesting, the man himself was remarkable; he is often credited by historians with the survival of his people after the Fall of Jerusalem in 586  BC.

The book of Jeremiah is longer than Isaiah or Ezekiel, and the Minor Prophets combined still fall short of Jeremiah’s length.  So significant are the writings of Jeremiah that some scholars consider them to be the most significant in the Old Testament.   Not so much for the prophecies, but for the window on the decline and fall of the Judean kingdom, is this assessment made.   Jeremiah’s theology had influenced the theological thinking of his and subsequent generations and also inspired the writing of some Apocryphal books, including “The Letter of Jeremiah” and “The Book of Baruch.”

1.  Introducing the prophet and his times, verses 1—3

1 The words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah, one of the priests at Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin. 2 The word of the LORD came to him in the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah, 3 and through the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, down to the fifth month of the eleventh year of Zedekiah son of Josiah king of Judah, when the people of Jerusalem went into exile.

These first three verses make up the title and preface to the scroll containing what we commonly refer to as the Book of Jeremiah.  These verses serve three functions, in that they:

  • Identify the writer.  The book contains the “words of Jeremiah.”  The word “Jeremiah” most naturally means “the Lord shoots” or “the Lord hurls.”  Exactly how this name relates to the prophet is open to speculation, however, given the nature of the times in which he lived, it is possible to see a connection between the prophet’s name and the pointed character of his divine utterances to a sinful nation.  Jeremiah’s name could also indicate the nature of his ministry; being literally thrown into his tumultuous times to deliver stern words of judgment and prophecy.   Beyond his name, we learn that his father was a man by the name  Hilkiah and that his hometown was Anathoth.  There is some debate as to Hilkiah’s lineage, but scholars point to the fact that Jeremiah’s family was made up of priests because Anathoth was a priestly city as far back as the days of Joshua.  In fact, it is likely that Hilkiah was part of the family of Abiathar, David’s priest, and if this the case, then Jeremiah himself was directly related to Eli, who was the high priest during the days of Samuel.
  • Initiation of the writer.  Clearly, Jeremiah began his prophetic career at God’s initiative:  “the word of the Lord came to him.”  If the Bible teaches us anything about the call of God and God’s redemptive plans for man, it is that God always takes the initiative.  Every good thing in one’s life and in the world is the result of prevenient grace; the “grace that goes before.”  Jeremiah did not summon God’s permission to speak for him words he thought the people needed to hear; it was God who called for the prophet to speak words God knew the people needed to hear.   God was the Prime Mover behind the life and work of Jeremiah.
  • History of the writer.  It helps our understanding of all the prophets if we understand that they ministered during periods of history described elsewhere in Scripture.  For example, the Major Prophets, including Jeremiah, can be woven into the historical books from 1 Samuel through 2 Chronicles.  If you read those books, you can get good idea of what Israel and/or Judah was like, especially in the years just prior to the fall of Judah and their Exile.  Only a handful of the prophets (Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi) ministered during the years following the Exile, and their history is covered in Ezra and Nehemiah.   As far as Jeremiah is concerned,   he began his ministry during the reign of godly king Josiah, king of Judah, probably around 626 BC and continued until the end of Zedekiah in 586 BC, when Jerusalem finally fell to the Chaldeans.

Jeremiah’s ministry, then, lasted at least 20 years, although some scholars estimate his prophetic ministry to have gone on for almost half a century.  That is a long to work with a broken heart.

2.  Jeremiah’s call, verses 4—7

The word of the LORD came to me, saying,

5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
before you were born I set you apart;
I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

6 “Ah, Sovereign LORD,” I said, “I do not know how to speak; I am only a child.”   7 But the LORD said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a child.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you.

Verse 4 is brief, only 9 words long, but it describes the very heart of the prophet’s life.  Jeremiah’s call to ministry did not come as the result of a startling, life-changing vision, as in the case of Isaiah, but rather simply by hearing God’s Word.  It was more than just hearing “word of the Lord,” though, for verse 4 indicates a “divine-human confrontation” (Paul Gray), where the Lord came very close to Jeremiah.  The prophet does not say he saw God, but the inference is that God’s presence was as real and as definite to Jeremiah as His Word was.  What a contrast to the transcendent appearance of God to Isaiah!   Here is the manifested presence of God changing direction of Jeremiah’s life.   What is interesting in this group of verses is that despite the weighty and undeniable presence of the Almighty that moved Jeremiah into a specific area of ministry, Jeremiah never lost his identity; he may have been absorbed into God’s presence, yet he remained the man he was born; notice the Lord knew Jeremiah, the person, even before he was born.

We notice how definite God was in His choice of Jeremiah and we compare that to how unsure Jeremiah was in accepting the call.  The vividness of Jeremiah’s call is seen in the Lord’s use of the transitive verbs:  I formed you…I knew you…I set you apart…I appointed you as a prophet among the nations.  Here we see the strength of God’s claim on the man, and that claim was before any other relationship or duty or obligation.   That is a pretty definite claim!    We see very clearly, again, God’s sovereign choice of an individual to perform a specific task, and we also see a coupling of God’s foreknowledge and the preparation of His chosen one.  God says “I sanctified you,” meaning that the Lord had been preparing Jeremiah for his work even before the call came to him.  Those whom God calls He equips and prepares; no one need ever fear serving the Lord.

Jeremiah, however, in characteristic style, objects, believing he is unworthy of the task set before him.  The awesome presence of the Lord served to magnify Jeremiah’s native weaknesses.  All through his writings we see this humble spirit shining through.  Jeremiah was not rebelling against God’s expressed wishes, he simply could not conceive of being able to carry them out effectively.  This reminds us of how Moses reacted when he was told to go back to Egypt and lead his people out—

Moses said to the LORD, “O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.”  (Exodus 4:10)

But the Lord, in grace and understanding, firmly brushed aside young Jeremiah’s objections.  Jeremiah was probably only at most 20 when his call came, but God makes it clear that he is His only choice to take His message to the people.  In verse 5 God indicates that He had chosen and ordained Jeremiah to do this work and in verse 7 He further tells the young man that he will go and preach what God wants him to.  We can only imagine how Jeremiah felt when he realized that from this moment on his life would no longer be his own; that the call of God upon his life was inescapable and undeniable.  That Jeremiah would go was already seen in the mind of God from eternity past.

3.  Jeremiah’s confidence, verses 8—9, 17—18

8 Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the LORD.  9 Then the LORD reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “Now, I have put my words in your mouth.”

17 “Get yourself ready! Stand up and say to them whatever I command you. Do not be terrified by them, or I will terrify you before them. 18 Today I have made you a fortified city, an iron pillar and a bronze wall to stand against the whole land—against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests and the people of the land.”

God never makes a mistake in choosing His servants.  He empowers all He calls and provides more than enough encouragement for them.  Verse 8 must have been the greatest encouragement to Jeremiah:  the promise of God’s continued presence.  Nothing gives a believer more confidence than knowing God is near to them in good and bad times.  The word “rescue” probably tipped Jeremiah off to the fact that his ministry would not be an easy one; he would need rescuing, but that should not be a source of fear for the prophet’s help would come from God Himself.  In the New Testament, Paul fleshes out this thought and applies it to all believers, not just prophets—

The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.  (2 Corinthians 10:4)

Of course, the prophet Isaiah wrote these very encouraging words at the most difficult of times—

No weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and this is their vindication from me,” declares the LORD.  (Isaiah 54:17)

Jeremiah had a tremendous promise:  God would preserve him no matter what came his way, and not only that, God would give Jeremiah the moral courage he would need and also words he would need.  The touching of the prophet’s mouth indicates a spiritual experience he had in God’s presence.  The strength of that experience would propel Jeremiah forward, speaking God’s word in confidence.  In fact, God would remain so close to Jeremiah and Jeremiah would remain in God’s presence so that the words Jeremiah said would be the same words God would say if He were there in the flesh!  Now that is a close relationship!

Verses 17 and 18 near the close of the chapter further serve to show how the Lord will protect Jeremiah and  how the Lord has called, commissioned, and equipped the man to do the work.  As unworthy as Jeremiah thought he was, he was able to do the difficult work solely because of the power of God on his life.  When we think about the time in which Jeremiah lived, we realize how hard this job was.  In the next point, we will look at the brutal content of the prophet’s message, but consider this:  all of God’s prophets by now had passed from the scene.  Hosea, Joel, Amos, Micah, Nahum and Isaiah were all gone.  Zephaniah and Habakkuk may have still been alive, but their time had past.  Ezekiel and Obadiah were contemporaries with Jeremiah but their ministries didn’t start until his was over, Daniel was just a boy when Jeremiah was called and he also wouldn’t start prophesying until long into the Babylonian captivity.   Right now, at the time he was called, Jeremiah was a man standing alone; there was no one else doing what he was about to do.

4.  The message and the response, verses 14—16; 19

14 The LORD said to me, “From the north disaster will be poured out on all who live in the land. 15 I am about to summon all the peoples of the northern kingdoms,” declares the LORD.
“Their kings will come and set up their thrones
in the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem;
they will come against all her surrounding walls
and against all the towns of Judah.

16 I will pronounce my judgments on my people
because of their wickedness in forsaking me,
in burning incense to other gods
and in worshiping what their hands have made.

This was the basic message Jeremiah was to give; it is a stern message of impending judgment.  Who loves the preacher of judgment?  The answer is NOBODY!   The sole purpose of Jeremiah’s call was to pronounce judgment upon his people.  This is the kind of evangelist who never gets invited to speak at anybody’s church.  Jeremiah’s people and country, who had been so patient in the past, had finally passed the point of no return; their accumulated transgressions had tipped the scales of divine judgment and their day was almost over.  The hour of God’s horrible judgment had come, and Jeremiah was to be an “overseer” of God’s plan.  How awful it must have been for this man.  Verse 10 serves as a kind of summary of Jeremiah’s message and commission—

See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.

Though he preached in Judah, his message encompassed all nations around him.  The purposes of God in Jeremiah’s ministry would be two-fold:  destructive and constructive.  His ministry would bear witness to the destruction of nations, including his own, but also he would preach the preservation of the promise of God that would be fulfilled some time in the future.

This must have been a baffling and difficult message for Jeremiah to comprehend and preach.  Like any devoted believer and citizen of what was the Land of Promise, the thought that it would torn from God’s people was unthinkable.  And yet, the horrendous future of Judah was a result of the stubborn rebellion of God’s people.  Generations and generations of Jews had continually jabbed a thumb in God’s eye, and after a long line of prophets had come and gone, Jeremiah is left with the final message, and it was a message seemingly devoid of all hope.

But like all messages from the Lord, Jeremiah’s would have a spark of hope buried beneath the bleakness.  Though Judah and other nations would see destruction and be overthrown, the refining fires of suffering and sorrow could result in a turning away from sin and disobedience.  This has always been the “strange side” of a loving God; often His plan of redemption seems to involve the most terrible things, like death and destruction.  Yet there is a universal law at work even in God’s plan:  some things must die in order for others to live.  Evil must be banished in order for good to thrive.  Man’s hands must be made to let go of all that is evil so that they may be free to receive what is good.  The old, wicked, and rebellious Judah must be done away with so that a remnant may return and rebuild.  What was true of ancient Judah is true of every man, woman, and child who has ever lived.  Romans 6:6 personalizes what Jeremiah wrote about on a national scale—

Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.  (KJV)

Jesus Christ died on the Cross so that those who identify themselves with Him may live.  There is that universal law:  One died, so that many could live. That is the good news of the Gospel.

Conclusion

Jeremiah was a faithful prophet; he preached an unpopular message to people who wanted nothing more than to see him dead.  Despite that, Jeremiah wept for his people because he knew what the future held for them.  But God was also faithful to His prophet; He kept him safe through it all.  Yet Jeremiah was never isolated from the threats and the emotion of knowing what was to come; perhaps that was what kept Jeremiah going.   The sadness and sorrow Jeremiah felt was nothing compared to what his people would live with because of their sin.  Maybe the prophet hoped that his words could change but one life.

We can’t help but think of Christ, who, like Jeremiah, came and ministered to people who eventually hung Him on a tree.  Yet even knowing what awaited Him, Jesus never held back from declaring the message His Father gave Him because as bad as the experience of Cross was, it eventually came to an end for Jesus.  The experience of Hell, on the other hand, will never end for those who stubbornly refuse to hear the message and repent.

(c)  2010 WitzEnd
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