Lessons From Jeremiah – Part 27 – A Series Of Ifs So That The Lord Might Bless His People So They Could Possess Their Land Series

LESSONS FROM JEREMIAH – PART 27 – A SERIES OF IFS SO THAT THE LORD MIGHT BLESS HIS PEOPLE SO THEY COULD POSSESS THEIR LAND

PART 27 - Jeremiah 7:3-7

CHAPTER 7

In our study last time we considered Jeremiah’s message given in the gate of the temple. Judah was challenged to amend its ways and cease trusting the lying words of the false prophets and the rulers. The section we were looking at was Jeremiah 7:3-7 but we only got verses 3 and 4 done. Today we continue from that point.

{{Jeremiah 7:3 Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, “AMEND YOUR WAYS and your deeds, and I will let you dwell in this place.

Jeremiah 7:4 “DO NOT TRUST IN DECEPTIVE WORDS, saying, ‘This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD,’

Jeremiah 7:5 for if you truly amend your ways and your deeds; if you truly practise justice between a man and his neighbour;

Jeremiah 7:6 if you do not oppress the alien, the orphan, or the widow; and do not shed innocent blood in this place; nor walk after other gods to your own ruin,

Jeremiah 7:7 then I will let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers forever and ever.”}}

VERSE 5

In the next two verses, 5 and 6, there are 5 conditions with which God confronts Judah. Each of the phrases could all begin with “If”. I don’t believe this is all that was at stake; the whole sum of Judah’s sin, and these 5 matters actually embrace a lot of issues, but these 5 are divided into social matters and man’s relationship with God. The first one strikes at the heart of national insincerity, and note the inclusion of the word “truly” –

(1) – THE FIRST IF. “for IF you truly AMEND your ways and your deeds”. Society was corrupt and just to acknowledge that fact is not enough. It required a national repentance along the lines of what Jonah saw in Assyria. A number of observers can easily point to the corruption today found in Australia, the USA, Britain and in all levels of the United Nations and the Criminal Court of Justice. They can point to the corruption in high areas of government and business, legal and environment in general, and all the other ills of injustice, lying and cheating that go on, but for any real change to happen, there must be a national and international desire to amend our ways, that is, a national/world repentance and adoption of righteousness.

It will never happen though. The serious error of Dominion Theology wants to bring heaven down to earth, but the world is corrupt and it can not reform itself. We know the outcome in Israel/Samaria and in Judah – both unrepentant, and both consumed in judgement. The current world likewise in on the brink with the Tribulation judgement almost on this wicked world. The indications of the last days in 2Timothy 3:1-13 are that things keep declining until God says, “Enough,” as He did in the flood.

God never strikes like a wasp does if you come close to the wasp nest, strike without warning. He gives warning after warning until these alarms are utterly rejected by irresolute hearts incapable of repentance. The world today is almost there. I am amazed how in just 4 years in the USA evil is dominating almost the whole political scene. It’s not just that nation – it is everywhere, but it has been so marked in the USA, particularly in California and New York.

(2) - THE SECOND IF. This contains the significant word – “truly” which is a test of sincerity. “IF you truly practise JUSTICE between a man and his neighbour”. Justice was severely lacking. Micah, a contemporary of Jeremiah, knew the came thing – {{Micah 3:9-10 “Now hear this, heads of the house of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel, WHO ABHOR JUSTICE and TWIST EVERYTHING THAT IS STRAIGHT; who build Zion with bloodshed and Jerusalem with violent injustice.”}} That is really laying it on the line, saying it without a glossy coating. It was a nation that hated justice and those who suffered were the poor and the unrepresented and the “decent” people. How descriptive even in our own day.

He wrote passionately against the injustice of his own people – {{Micah 6:8 - “He has told you, O man, what is good, and what does the LORD require of you but to DO JUSTICE, to LOVE KINDNESS, and to WALK HUMBLY with your God?” Micah 3:1-3 - I said, “Hear now, heads of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel, IS IT NOT FOR YOU TO KNOW JUSTICE? You who hate good and love evil, who tear off their skin from them and their flesh from their bones, and who eat the flesh of my people, strip off their skin from them, break their bones, and chop them up as for the pot, and as meat in a kettle.”}} The phrase “between a man and his neighbour” is a term meaning “for everyone,” “all people”. Micah is so infuriated with the injustice he saw everywhere that he used quite direct language in highlighting all this.