Jeremiah 29:8-9, 15-23 (Ask the people to look up this passage as you make a few comments)
Last Sunday we took a look at the part of this letter that pertained to the Jews who were taken into from Judah and Jerusalem.
In this letter from Jeremiah they were told to settle down in the cities where they were placed by the Babylonians. They were to build houses, plant gardens, marry and increase in number and to pray for the city in which they lived.
They were also told that after seventy years they would cry out to the Lord and He would take them back to Jerusalem where they would live in obedience to and in harmony with the Lord.
Included in this letter is another message to the self-proclaimed prophets of the Lord who were really no prophets at all. This is not a kind and gentle message.
Please follow along in your Bibles as we read from Jeremiah 29 starting with verse 8 …
(Bring out points to be considered as you read through)
OK. So let’s back up to verses 8 and 9 …
Jeremiah 29:8-9 NIV
“Yes, this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: 'Do not let the prophets and diviners among you deceive you. Do not listen to the dreams you encourage them to have. They are prophesying lies to you in My name. I have not sent them,' declares the Lord.”
This is how the NKJV translates it …
Jeremiah 29:8-9 NKJV
“For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are in your midst deceive you, nor listen to your dreams which you cause to be dreamed. For they prophesy falsely to you in My name; I have not sent them, says the Lord.”
During the time before the exile the inhabitants of Judea had forsaken the Lord and worshiped Him in name only. Look at how these prophets are described:
Your prophets
Your diviners
Spouting your dreams
Prophesying falsely to you
The LORD hates false prophets.
The LORD hates those who say what they know people want to hear instead of what people need to hear.
We can clearly see this in the rest of this Bible reading:
The LORD is angry with a righteous anger with the false prophets who have gone into exile.
Why is the LORD angry with them?
The people of Israel were the LORD’s chosen nation!
They were supposed to ACT like the LORD’s chosen nation!
Instead they wanted to act like the pagan nations around them!
Just look at the people chosen by the LORD and how they behaved after they left Egypt!
They had seen the awesome hand of God delivering, protecting, guiding and feeding them in the few short months after Egypt
Water turned to blood
Frogs
Lice
Flies
Livestock diseased
Boils
Thunder and Hail
Locusts
Darkness
Death of the First Born
The pillaging of the Egyptians
The protection of the LORD on the shore of the Red Sea
The miraculous crossing of the Red Sea by the Israelites
The destruction of the Egyptian army by the LORD in the Red Sea
The purification of the Waters of Marah
The manna from the LORD for food
The LORD gives water from the rock
The defeat of the Amalekites
Three months after they leave Egypt they are at the foot of Mount Sinai.
Moses makes several trips up the mountain to talk with the LORD.
On one trip Moses and his helper, Joshua, are up there for forty days and forty nights getting not only the Ten Commandments but also a lot of information about the Tabernacle and civil law.
Now, remember, it’s only been a few months since the Israelites have seen the mighty hand of the LORD delivering them from bondage.
So they say to Aaron, “Make us a god to lead us. As for this Moses, we don’t know what has happened to him.”
Now, Aaron has a choice to make …
1) The LORD is our God! Remember how the LORD brought us out of Egypt …
or he can say …
2) OK. Bring me your gold and silver and I’ll make you a god …
Now, as we think about the choice that Aaron made let's return to Jeremiah ...
Jeremiah 29:8 NKJV
“For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are in your midst deceive you, nor listen to your dreams which you cause to be dreamed.”
People: “Aaron, make us a god …”
Aaron: “OK”
Just a couple of chapters back the people are saying to Moses, “We will do all that the LORD commands …”
The LORD is mighty and true and worthy of all praise … and … beyond all reason He is forgiving of the most heinous of sins.
We see that the LORD was able to use Aaron even after that awful event.
Aren’t you glad that when you fail the LORD and sin you can go to Him in true repentance and find mercy and forgiveness?
OK. We can see that there were deceivers at the time of Moses. Aaron himself led the people astray instead of standing up for the LORD God of Israel.
And, we see in the Scripture for today that the people of Israel were being pulled astray by those prophesying what the people wanted to hear instead of what the LORD was saying to the exiles.
Finally, let’s look at the next to the last book of the Bible. Jude, the half-brother of Jesus the Christ.
Jude 1:3-4 NIV
“Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people.
“For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.”
Jude 1:17-19 NIV
“But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. They said to you, ‘In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.’
“These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.”
The bottom line is that the evil one has been waging war against the kingdom of God ever since he tempted Eve to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and he’s not about to stop until he is bound and thrown into the lake of fire for all of eternity.
Here is the good news. Are you ready for this?
We don’t have to follow the evil one into hell for all of eternity.
The LORD God Almighty has created us as free moral agents. By the amazing grace of God He gives us the ability to make a choice to follow Him.
Many of our memory Scriptures speak to this truth.
What are some of the un-Biblical ideas being accepted by churches that call themselves Christian but do not actually hold to Christ.
There is no one true god
There is no hell
All roads lead to eternal life
There are no absolutes regarding right and wrong
The ideas of what is sexual sin and what is not depends on the culture
God has created you for worldly success
God has created you for your pleasure
God has created nothing - it was all a cosmic accident
Jesus was not truly the Son of God
Now remember, the nation of Israel was and still is, the LORD’s chosen people and nation.
Look what happened to them when they abandoned God and turned to their own desires. They were dismantled piece by piece and sent into exile.
So … what do you want?
I mean other than for me to stop talking so you can go home and eat?
There is an old Hymn that I have only ever heard at the ordination of elders and deacon in District Assemblies:
It is a charge to those who are receiving the orders of elders and deacons and it’s a charge to every son and daughter of the Living God as well.
Listen carefully:
Verse 1
A charge to keep I have - A God to glorify
A never dying soul to save - And fit it for the sky
Verse 2
To serve the present age - My calling to fulfill
O may it all my powr's engage - To do my Master's will
Verse 3
Arm me with jealous care - As in Thy sight to live
And O Thy servant Lord prepare - A strict account to give
Verse 4
Help me to watch and pray - And on Thyself rely
Assured if I my trust betray - I shall forever die
Wow. That’s almost frightening, isn’t it?
But here’s the thing, it is also the path of greatest joy.
Knowing and walking with and serving the Lord most high!
Is there anything greater than that???
In closing let’s look at one more verse from the book of Jude:
Jude 1:20-21 NIV
“But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.”
How do we do that?
Of course by loving the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength.
By knowing His word intimately.
By being in constant contact with the Holy Spirit for guidance and truth.
And by spiting out evil at the first taste.
Have you ever taken a gulp of sour milk? You spit it out, right?
What if Aaron had stood up for the Lord instead of making and idol?
What if people of Israel had just followed the LORD all their days?
What if the churches at the time of Jude had thrown out all impostors?
What if we learned to spit out sin at the very first taste?
What if our lives revolved around the Son of God who came and lived as a human and allowed Himself to be tortured and crucified for our salvation?
What if we let the Lord have us completely? What would that be like?
We worry about this old world and how it’s breaking down.
We worry about our country and how it is falling into self-centered idolatry.
What if we worried about what Jesus thinks of us?
What if we sought to please Him every moment of our waking hours?
What if we all lived and died with the sweet name of Jesus on our lips?
As we come to this time of communion, let’s make it a time of self examination and surrender to the One who suffered for us and rose again from the dead for our salvation.
Communion
Benediction
Jude 1:24-25
“To Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy - to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.”
