Kingdom Keys - Jeremiah Series

So maybe you’ve heard it said, ‘read your bible’ so you tried and failed. Our hope as leaders is that all of us will pick up God’s word and come to understand the true nature of God. After all, the bible is God’s Word curated over centuries detailing His nature, His will, the meaning of life and humanity’s historical interactions with Him. The Bible details the hidden keys to the Kingdom. Hence, the reason we are reviewing a new book each week.

This week we move into the Book of Jeremiah and its companion book, Lamentations. Jeremiah saw his nation disintegrating morally from within and the future militarily destruction.

He warned them.

They ignored him.

He continued anyway.

He told them they would be judged by God if they didn’t stop their willful disobedience.

They didn’t.

As a result, he saw Jerusalem attacked in 586 BC and his people being taken captive to foreign lands.

While his apprentice, Baruch’s details the story, what should we take from the man best known as ‘the weeping prophet?’

Jeremiah loved His God and those who called Yahweh their God. However, he struggled with their cultural faith as well as the false Gods in the society all around them. He showed his love for both by his willingness to warn the world of the consequences for not obeying God. He also struggled with the question many of us struggle with today - why would God allow man's inhumanity?

He was broken by the evil he witnessed. Just look at part of the poem from lamentations 1:18-20

“The Lord is righteous, yet I rebelled against his command.

Listen, all you peoples; look on my suffering.

My young men and young women have gone into exile.

19 “I called to my allies but they betrayed me.

My priests and my elders perished in the city while they searched for food to keep themselves alive.

20 “See, Lord, how distressed I am!

I am in torment within, and in my heart I am disturbed, for I have been most rebellious.

Outside, the sword bereaves; inside, there is only death.

In the middle of trying circumstances, we often wonder “where are you and why aren’t you jumping in here and helping. It reminds me of a story…

A seminary professor was vacationing with his wife in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.

One morning, they were eating breakfast at a little restaurant, hoping to Enjoy a quiet, family meal. While they were waiting for their food, they Noticed a distinguished looking, white-haired man moving from table to Table, visiting with the guests. The professor leaned over and whispered to His wife, ‘I hope he doesn’t come over here.’ But sure enough, the man did come over to their table. ‘Where are you folks from?’ he asked in a friendly voice.

‘Oklahoma,’ they answered. ‘Great to have you here in Tennessee,’ the stranger said…

‘What do you do For a living?’ ‘I teach at a seminary,’ he replied.

‘Oh, so you teach preachers how to preach, do you? Well, I’ve got a really Great story for you.’ And with that, the gentleman pulled up a chair and sat Down at the table with the couple.

The professor groaned and thought to himself, ‘Great.. Just what I Need…. Another preacher story!’ The man started, ‘See that mountain over there? (Pointing out the restaurant window). Not far from the base of that mountain, there was a boy born to an unwed mother. He had a hard time growing up, because every place he went, he was always asked the same question, ‘Hey boy, who’s your daddy?’ Whether he was at school, in the grocery store or drug store, people would ask the same question, ‘Who’s your daddy?’

He would hide at recess and lunch time from other students.. He would avoid going into stores because that question hurt him so bad. ‘When he was about 12 years old, a new preacher came to his church. He would always go in late And slip out early to avoid hearing the question, ‘Who’s your daddy?’

But one day, the new preacher said the benediction so fast that he got caught and had to walk out with the crowd. Just about the time he got to the back door, the new preacher, not knowing anything about him, put his hand on his shoulder and asked him, ‘Son, who’s your daddy?’

The whole church got deathly quiet. He could feel every eye in the church looking at him. Now everyone would finally know the answer to the question, ‘Who’s your daddy?’

This new preacher, though, sensed the situation around him and using discernment that only the Holy Spirit could give, said the following to that scared little boy.. ‘Wait a minute! I know who you are! I see the family resemblance now, 'You are a child of God.’