Jeremiah 2:4-13, Psalm 81:1, Psalm 81:10-16, Proverbs 25:6-7, Psalm 112, Hebrews 13:1-8, Hebrews 13:15-16, Luke 14:1, Luke 14:7-14
A). A PLEADING.
Jeremiah 2:4-13.
In this passage the LORD yet again makes His complaint against the whole house of Israel (Jeremiah 2:4). As we read it, we begin to realise that this is also His indictment against the whole of mankind, and against the visible Church in particular.
“What iniquity have your fathers found in Me?” complains the LORD (Jeremiah 2:5). What iniquity had Adam found in the LORD when he first defied Him in the garden? Mankind has since gone far from Him. We chase after vanity (Ecclesiastes 1:2). In doing so we have become vain. Vanity makes us vain: ‘As a man thinks in his heart, so is he’ (Proverbs 23:7; cf. Romans 1:21).
Not only has man forgotten God the Creator, but even the visible Church has forgotten God the Redeemer (Jeremiah 2:6). Israel was in slavery in Egypt when God “brought them out.” Mankind was in bondage to sin and death when God ‘sent His only begotten Son’ (John 3:16).
‘It was while we were yet sinners that Christ died for us’ (Romans 5:8). We crucified Him, but death could not hold Him: yet still we reject Him and His salvation. We would rather wallow in the hog-pen than return to God by the Way which He has opened up to us (John 14:6; Acts 4:12).
Not only did God bring them out of slavery, but He led them through the wilderness (Jeremiah 2:6). They rebelled against Him there for a full forty years, but our Suzerain never forgot His covenant. Then He brought them into a “plenteous land, to eat the fruit thereof” (Jeremiah 2:7), but they defiled it, and refused His Word.
Some of us have been brought up in the shadow of gospel privilege. We have been given a ‘plenteous redemption’ (Psalm 130:7), but when we do not ‘desire the sincere milk of the word’ (1 Peter 2:2-3) it stagnates, and we stunt our growth.
Not only do people not say, “Where is the LORD?” (Jeremiah 2:6), but their leaders likewise. Jeremiah 2:8 presents us with priests who do not truly pray. Professors who have the audacity to handle the word of God but do not know Him. Supposed leaders in both Church and State, Pastors, and princes, who transgress against Him. Prophets who prophecy by man-made philosophy and walk after things “that do not profit” (the pun on the word “prophet” is not in the original Hebrew, but it works in English).
“Wherefore I will yet plead with you,” continues the LORD (Jeremiah 2:9). In other words, because of all this I will bring My case against you. The ‘pleading’ is a legal term and is perfectly reasonable: Search high and low in the known world, He says, and will you find a nation which has changed its ‘gods’ (which are not gods at all)? “Yet My people have changed their Glory for that which does not profit” (Jeremiah 2:10-11).
“Be astonished, O heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid,” says the LORD (Jeremiah 2:12). Stand aghast! This is a horrible thing!
“For My people have committed two evils,” explains the LORD (Jeremiah 2:13). Not only have they forsaken “the Fountain of Living Waters,” but they have also sought to replace Him with something of their own making.
In a land of drought, with drought intensified by the oppression of Babylon, this is an apt picture of what was happening. In the physical realm, would man-made cisterns hold out against a siege? Would man-made religion hold out in the face of the spiritual crisis which Israel had brought upon themselves?
Well, this is not just about Israel, but about mankind in general. We have forsaken the true and living God, repeatedly and again. We have left a God-shape hole in our lives and try to fill it with other things. Whether philosophies or religions, riches, or relationships, they are all things of our own devising: we hew them out and it is we who have to maintain them.
However, man-made cisterns so easily break! In the aridity of our spiritual vacuum, they crack, they break, they cannot give the return they promise. Happiness; Peace; Contentment - they all run away. Nothing is permanent, nothing endures.
This is an astonishing statement when we consider Who God is, when we consider That God is! “Me,” says the great ‘I AM’: “The Fountain of Living Waters” (Jeremiah 2:13).
A fountain is deep: ‘O the depth!’ (Romans 11:33). It seems unlimited: ‘Unsearchable’ (cf. Ephesians 3:8). It wells up (John 4:14; John 7:38). It gives what it promises.
‘How shall WE escape if we neglect so great salvation?’ (Hebrews 2:2-4).
B). OPEN YOUR MOUTH WIDE AND I WILL FILL IT.
Psalm 81:1, Psalm 81:10-16.
If we allow that the summons to praise (Psalm 81:1) is a call to celebrate the kingship of the LORD, it is because He, and He alone, is God (Psalm 81:9-10; cf. Deuteronomy 6:4-5).
Psalm 81:10. “I am the LORD your God, who brought you up out of Egypt.” We sometimes need to be reminded of what God has done for us in leading us ‘out of the house of bondage’ (cf. Exodus 20:2) - out of the bondage of sin and death and into His glorious kingdom!
Past mercies are the foundation of present prayers, and present prayers are the channel towards future blessings.
“Open your mouth wide and I will fill it.” What a PROMISE! The picture is of chicks in the nest, anticipating the return of a parent with a morsel. ‘Ask, and you shall receive; seek, and you shall find’ (cf. Matthew 7:7).
Yet it would be sad to limit this just to food. The more we open our mouths in prayer, the more the Holy Spirit assists us in prayer (cf. Romans 8:26-27). The more we pray, the more the Lord shall fill us with the blessings we crave (cf. Philippians 4:19). The more God answers prayer, the more we should open our mouths in praise (cf. Ephesians 3:20-21).
Psalm 81:11. “But my people would not hearken to my voice; and Israel would none of me.” The DISOBEDIENCE began even while Moses was still in the mountain (Exodus 32:1). It continued throughout the days of the prophets (Jeremiah 2:11-13). The same lament is found on the mouth of our Saviour (cf. Matthew 23:37).
Psalm 81:12. “So I gave them up to their own hearts’ lust: and they walked in their own counsels.” It is a terrible thing for stubborn hearts to be given up to their own desires (cf. Romans 1:24-25). Left to his own devices, man will only wax worse and worse. And sin is aggravated where God’s voice was heard, but not heeded.
Psalm 81:13. The LORD upbraids His people: “Oh that my people had hearkened unto me, and Israel had walked in my ways.” We can almost feel the ANGUISH of the parent. The Father’s love is still reaching out to His wayward children. ‘He has no pleasure in the death of the wicked’ (cf. Ezekiel 33:11); ‘not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance’ (cf. 2 Peter 3:9).
If only they had hearkened, then God would have been their ‘strength’ (Psalm 81:1), and they would not have suffered the setbacks hinted at in the following verses.
Psalm 81:14. “I should have soon subdued their enemies, and turned my hand against their adversaries.”
‘We wrestle not against flesh and blood’ (cf. Ephesians 6:12), so ‘the weapons of our warfare are not carnal’ (cf. 2 Corinthians 10:4-5). Spiritual enemies are best combatted by an obedient spiritual life.
Psalm 81:15. If the LORD’s people hearkened, then “the haters of the LORD should have submitted themselves unto Him.” I wonder how often believers’ lack of faithfulness proves to be a stumbling-block to others.
“But” if the LORD’s people had hearkened, then, “their time should have endured for ever.” ‘Righteousness exalts a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people (cf. Proverbs 14:34).
However, despite the disobedience, despite the reproach, despite the regret, our God still furnishes another PROMISE for those who will hearken:
Psalm 81:16. “He should have fed them also with the finest of the wheat.” He “fills” (Psalm 81:10) us with ‘the finest of wheat’ (cf. Psalm 147:14). ‘He that spared not His own Son, but gave Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things’ (Romans 8:32).
“And with honey out of the Rock should I have satisfied thee,” says the LORD. ‘And that Rock is Christ’ (cf. 1 Corinthians 10:4). There is no greater satisfaction than to abide in Him, and He in us (cf. John 15:7).
C). COME UP HITHER.
Proverbs 25:6-7.
This proverb is doubtless what Jesus had in mind when He made His own parable about people choosing the finest seats for themselves at a feast (Luke 14:7-11).
There are always ranks in society, any society. Solomon speaks of a king, and of “great men.” But he exhorts his pupils not to intrude themselves uninvited into such company (Proverbs 25:6).
It is better to take a ‘low’ place in the great hall, and to be invited, “Come up hither;” rather than to be sent down lower in public shame and humiliation (Proverbs 25:7).
The force of this argument is summed up in the reversal of roles indicated in Luke 14:11, which both abases the arrogant and elevates the humble. This is God’s work, and the order of priority in God’s kingdom.
Perhaps the greatest demonstration of this reversal comes from Jesus Himself (Philippians 2:6-11).
In the incarnation Jesus gathered our manhood into the Godhead. He willingly partook of death on our behalf, ‘even the death of the cross’ – and God exalted Him to the place where He now receives honour from all.
And this supreme example of humility is one that we must aspire to reflect in our own lives (Philippians 2:5)!
D). WHO STANDS IN AWE IS BLESSED.
Psalm 112.
Like its immediate predecessor, Psalm 112 is an acrostic poem, using the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet in order as the opening letter of each line. This can best be represented in English by:
“Alleluia.
“Blessed is the man…” (Psalm 112:1).
The blessings arise from the ‘fear of the LORD’ which is the ‘beginning of wisdom’ (Psalm 111:10). This is the definition of what it is to be “upright” (Psalm 112:2). Such reverential awe delights in the works of the LORD (Psalm 111:2), and in His commandments (Psalm 112:1).
The blessings and virtues of the righteous reflect the works and attributes of the LORD. The works of the LORD are great (Psalm 111:2); the seed of the upright shall be mighty (Psalm 112:2). The blessing passes on to future generations (cf. Deuteronomy 7:9).
“Wealth and riches” accrue to the righteous (Psalm 112:3). We might imagine this is not true to experience, but when the books are balanced, we will find that virtue has accumulated where vice has dissipated. The person who upon their conversion has also been cured of an addiction (for example), no longer has that particular drain upon his resources, and is better disposed to frugality.
This “wealth and riches” clause should not be detached from the “righteousness which endures” (Psalm 112:3). At this point, the blessing seems proportionate to the virtue. Our “righteousness” has the same durability as the righteousness of the LORD: “for ever” (Psalm 112:3; cf. Psalm 111:3).
The “light rising in the darkness” (Psalm 112:4):
1. The LORD (Psalm 27:1; 1 John 1:5);
2. Jesus (Isaiah 49:6; Luke 2:32; John 8:12);
3. His followers (Matthew 5:14; Acts 13:47).
The dissemination of God’s light by His people is seen in their lifestyle (Psalm 112:4). The LORD’s gracious provision (Psalm 111:4-5) is echoed in the generous dealings of the good man (Psalm 112:4-5). Neither does this in any way diminish him (Psalm 112:6; cf. Proverbs 11:24).
Yet “wealth and riches” (Psalm 112:3) does not exempt the recipient of the blessing from “evil tidings” (Psalm 112:7) - and the true believer is sometimes challenged anew as to where, or in whom, we are placing our trust. When bad news does come, the good man’s heart remains steady, and fear is vanquished (Psalm 112:8). Those who persevere will be triumphant.
The upright is finally identified by his attitude to the poor (Psalm 112:9; cf. James 1:27). The righteousness of the righteous is of eternal durability (cf. Psalm 112:3). Future honour awaits him.
As for the wicked, they are angry when they see the “horn” (strength) of the righteous exalted (Psalm 112:9-10). They can gnash all they like, but they will “melt away” (Psalm 112:10). Wickedness embraces nothingness, and shall surely perish.
When we put our trust in the righteous LORD, and aim at a life of piety and morality, we shall not lose our reward.
E). OUR PART IN THE REFINING PROCESS.
Hebrews 13:1-8; Hebrews 13:15-16.
I. PRACTICAL LOVE (Hebrews 13:1-3).
1. “Brotherly love” (Hebrews 13:1).
Jesus is ‘not ashamed’ to call us brethren (Hebrews 2:11-12). The readers of Hebrews are viewed as ‘holy brethren’ (Hebrews 3:1). This section begins abruptly: literally, “The brotherly love let abide” (Hebrews 13:1).
We do not know what gave rise to this particular exhortation. There is, however, an ongoing need to nurture relationships within the fellowship (Hebrews 12:14; cf. Romans 12:10). ‘Brotherly love’ is already at work in God’s people, and the writer is encouraging its development (cf. 1 Peter 1:22).
2. Hospitality.
One way in which brotherly love is manifested is through hospitality. The writer speaks of “entertaining strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares” (Hebrews 13:2). Indeed, Jesus takes it a step further: ‘Inasmuch as you have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, you have done it unto me’ (Matthew 25:31-40).
Abraham saw ‘three men’ - and offered them hospitality. Two ‘angels’ proceeded thence toward Sodom, but Abraham was left standing before ‘the LORD’ (Genesis 18-19). Similarly, Samson’s parents offered hospitality to one whom they perceived to be a ‘man of God’ - who turned out to be ‘the angel of the LORD’ (Judges 13).
3. Prisoners.
The writer encourages a certain empathy with prisoners, and with those who suffer adversity. The Greek text reminds us that “we also are in the body” (Hebrews 13:3). Since the word used translates as ‘body’ (rather than ‘flesh’), I am drawn to the possibility that we are not just talking about physical identity with these sufferers, but mutuality as fellow-members of the church = the ‘body’ of Christ. (Some translations seem to miss this phrase altogether.)
II. MARRIAGE IS HONOURABLE (Hebrews 13:4).
Despite the rigidity of the Mosaic law, there had evidently been those who sought to wriggle out of its obligations: hence the Pharisees’ question to Jesus (Matthew 19:3). There were also those - on the other hand - who not only discouraged marriage, but went so far as to forbid it (1 Timothy 4:3). The law, of course, still stands - it is “immoral and adulterous” people whom “God will judge” (Hebrews 13:4).
III. COVETOUSNESS (Hebrews 13:5-6).
‘The love of money’ is a root of all kinds of evil (1 Timothy 6:10; 1 Timothy 6:17-19). Yet “covetousness” reaches beyond the financial, to discontentment in other areas as well. It is, basically, a lack of trust, betraying a faithlessness bordering on outright infidelity (Matthew 6:31-33).
So we are to be content with our present circumstances, knowing that the Lord has said, “In no wise will I leave you, neither in any wise will I forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5). This promise resonates throughout Scripture (e.g. Joshua 1:5; Haggai 2:4-5), and is reinforced by Jesus (Mat 28:20). It also links with the following verse (Hebrews 13:6), where confidence replaces the fear of man (Psalm 118:6).
IV. THE FAITH OF THE LEADERS (Hebrews 13:7-8).
“Remembering” (Hebrews 13:7) our leaders probably implies praying for those who are still with us, or honouring those who have since died by following their examples. Scan their lives, and look at the outcome of their conduct. They have spoken the word of God, and we are to follow their faith [as opposed to those who teach ‘strange doctrines’ (Hebrews 13:9)].
And what faith is that? That “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today, and will remain so throughout all the ages forever” (Hebrews 13:8). The book has come full circle to the changelessness of Jesus which was demonstrated in contrast to the malleability of creation (Hebrews 1:10-12).
V. CONCLUSION (Hebrews 13:15-16).
“The sacrifice of praise” (Hebrews 13:15) recalls the ‘living sacrifice’ of Romans 12:1. This is “the fruit of lips that acknowledge His name” (Hebrews 13:15). This is what it means to ‘hold fast the confession of faith without wavering (for He is faithful who promised)’ (Hebrews 10:23).
The exhortation continues, in effect, ‘Continue to show such kindness as is typical of you’ (Hebrews 13:16). This could refer back to the Hebrews’ ongoing ministry to the saints (Hebrews 6:10), or to the writer’s recollection of their companionship and compassion in his own affliction (Hebrews 10:32-34). And finally, “sharing” in fellowship is a sacrifice which marked out the early church (Acts 2:44-45), with which God is well pleased.
F). TABLE ETIQUETTE IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD.
Luke 14:1; Luke 14:7-14.
One Sabbath, one of the chief Pharisees gave Jesus the courtesy of a dinner invitation. Jesus courteously accepted. Somewhat discourteously, the Pharisees were keeping their eye on Jesus (Luke 14:1).
It was on this occasion, as Jesus observed the unseemly jostle for place amongst His fellow guests, that Jesus told them “a parable” (Luke 14:7).
This “parable” addressed the immediate problem of table manners in wisdom terms familiar from Proverbs 25:6-7, but was recognized by at least one of Jesus’ hearers in the context of the great feast of the kingdom of God (Luke 14:15).
The force of the argument is summed up in the reversal of roles indicated in Luke 14:11, which both abases the arrogant and elevates the humble. This is God’s work, and the order of priority in God’s kingdom.
We hear it in the Psalms (Psalm 138:6).
We hear it in the wisdom books (Proverbs 29:23).
We hear it in Mary’s song (Luke 1:51-52).
We hear it from Jesus (Luke 18:14).
It is echoed in the letters of the New Testament (James 4:6).
Perhaps the greatest demonstration of this reversal comes from Jesus Himself (Philippians 2:6-11).
In the incarnation Jesus gathered our manhood into the Godhead. He willingly partook of death on our behalf, ‘even the death of the cross’ – and God exalted Him to the place where He now receives honour from all.
And this supreme example of humility is one that we must aspire to reflect in our own lives (Philippians 2:5)!
Jesus also addressed His host plainly, in words which turned the whole social etiquette upside down (Luke 14:13), reflecting His own priorities in the establishment of the kingdom of God.
“The poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame” are those whom Jesus has favoured in His own kingdom ministry, and who will be granted a place at the great feast (cf. Luke 14:21).
At the very least, this is calling the church to the duty of open hospitality, without distinguishing between one group as opposed to another (Hebrews 13:2).
In like manner Jesus tells His host that for all the good that he does for those who cannot reciprocate, he will receive recompense at the resurrection of the just (Luke 14:14). This is not justification by works, but the reward for works which arise from faith (Titus 3:8).
