Lessons From Jeremiah – Part 20 – Teach Your Generation - And Wicked Men In Nations Lie In Wait For Evil Series

PERSONAL STUDY AND TEACHING IN JEREMIAH – PART 20 – TEACH YOUR GENERATION - AND WICKED MEN IN NATIONS LIE IN WAIT FOR EVIL

PART 20 - Jeremiah 5:18-27

CHAPTER 5

[A]. THE MESSAGE TO BE PASSED FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION

{{Jeremiah 5:18 “Yet even IN THOSE DAYS,” declares the LORD, “I will not make you a complete destruction, Jeremiah 5:19 and it shall come about when they say, ‘Why has the LORD our God done all these things to us?’ THEN YOU SHALL SAY to them, ‘As you have forsaken Me and served foreign gods in your land, so you shall serve strangers in a land that is not yours.’}}

Do you know what is wrong with our societies today? Well, what a debate could ensue from that question but if it was tackled seriously, I think of all the reasons proposed, it would get down to the departure from God and the foundations of the bible such as what true marriage is. Our governments and rulers and institutions and people have turned away from God. Why is that we might wonder? Well has the message been passed from one generation to another? Have the churches been faithful in relaying the gospel, or has Christianity become something infused into the culture without being a dynamic force?

In any case when the message of the gospel is no longer relevant and Christians are in decline, then the populace becomes very anti-God, anti-Christian and anti-Semitic. That is where we stand today. After World War 1, it was said to be the war that ended all wars, so terrible it was, but then came World War 2. Someone once said the only thing we ever learn from history is that we never learn anything from history. It is so true. People are so sinful and so bent in their direction away from God, that it is unchangeable apart from the dramatic conversion through the Spirit of God.

The same principle applies to Israel. Did they ever learn from their departure from the Lord? Sadly, NO. Destruction was certainly coming for the nation but God declares it will not be a complete destruction in the sense of total annihilation, for He will leave a remnant. God always has a remnant, a faithful remnant. The “those days” of verse 18 is the invading Babylonian army.

Then comes a look into the days and years following the destruction, and the answer for those yet to be born who might inquire why Judah was overthrown. The question posed in verse 19 puts the agency of destruction as God, but more honest is, “Why has God allowed this to happen to us?” The answer is very clear, and it is God who actually answers, the reason being, the people forsook God and served foreign gods in the land of Judah. God then indicates that BECAUSE THEY BOUND THEMSELVES TO FOREIGN GODS IN THEIR OWN LAND, THEN HE WOULD SEND THEM BOUND INTO A FOREIGN LAND TO SERVE STRANGERS (the Babylonians and the Medes and Persians).

The truth is to be told to generations following lest they also go down that path to destruction. Honesty is required and we must never cover up our sins of the past. Today in China the people are fed the most blatant lies about the great Chairman Mao as if he was the angel who came from the great paradise of socialism. Yet, the Chinese populace is absolutely unaware that Mao is the greatest butcher in the history of the world with up to 80 million victims to his name.

Succeeding generations must be told the truth about the past. That must include the times of blessing when God was honoured and worshipped; and the times of failure and deprivation when God was dismissed and dishonoured. Our nations today are in that latter category and we are quickly heading to destruction. Today Mao is in the torment of hell in the flames because he deserves it.

The verse (19) singles out just one charge against Judah, and that was their root problem that affected their whole lifestyle. Any man’s relationship with God, or against God, will be reflected in that person’s lifestyle. It is the single and fundamental issue that a person’s life be correctly connected with God, and if not, then everything else is out of harmony. God has been forsaken by Israel, and so all these terrors came upon them. MAKE SURE THE YOUNGER GENERATIONS ARE TOLD AND PROPERLY NURTURED. Today the very opposite happens. The education system is twisting young minds into godless, manipulated individuals making up nations of wickedness.

[B]. A SERIES OF DOUBLES DESCRIBES JUDAH’S WOEFUL CONDITION

{{Jeremiah 5:20 Declare this in the house of Jacob and proclaim it in Judah, saying, Jeremiah 5:21 ‘Hear this, O foolish and senseless people who have eyes, but do not see; who have ears, but do not hear. Jeremiah 5:22 DO YOU NOT FEAR ME?’ DECLARES THE LORD. ‘Do you not tremble in My presence? I have placed the sand as a boundary for the sea, an eternal decree, so it cannot cross over it. Though the waves toss, yet they cannot prevail; though they roar, yet they cannot cross over it, Jeremiah 5:23 but this people has a stubborn and rebellious heart. They have turned aside and departed.}}