JEREMIAH
3v6 - 4v4
JEREMIAH
A PROPHET TO THE NATIONS
Jeremiah
2:1-3:5 FROM
MARRIAGE TO DIVORCE AND REMARRIAGE
The message moves from v1
'Just Married' to 3v1 'Divorce', and Remarriage 3v4-5?
Jeremiah, a young man,
has to preach this in Jerusalem. What a daunting prospect it must
have been!
At the end of the
previous message we saw that under the law a husband and wife who
divorce they may not remarry - Deuteronomy 24:1-4. Is this the final
word? The next message picks up the theme as the Lord speaks as a
husband to his people.
Some 15 times in the next
message Jeremiah uses the word 'turn/return'. He uses this word in a
variety of ways. (Although the same word may be used in Hebrew or
Greek it can have different meanings. You have to consider the
context and how it is used by that writer.) Jeremiah uses it to mean
turn towards someone, turn away from them, turn back (repentance) or
return (physically to a place). He uses it in all these ways in this
message.
Jeremiah 3:6-4:4
'RETURN FAITHLESS ISRAEL AND TREACHEROUS JUDAH'
1. Some comments by
way of introduction:
[1] When you are reading
the bible do not settle for not knowing something the writer wants
you to know. Here Jeremiah tells us the time in which he delivered
this message:
3v6 The LORD said to
me in the days of King Josiah:
Josiah reigned from 640 -
609 BC. He was the last faithful King in Judah's history. In his
lifetime the world changed. Assyria, the world superpower had been
challenged by Egypt, Babylon and other nations and prevailed until
612 BC when the Babylonians conquered Nineveh.
Around 628/627 BC the
12th year of his reign Josiah begun to reform the Temple. Appearances
can be deceptive. Outwardly the people went along with the reforms.
Jeremiah is called, as all prophets and preachers, to minister to the
heart.
Jeremiah begun his
ministry in 627 BC. This message comes form the earlier part of his
ministry.
[2] Knowing the History
is vital to understanding what you are reading.
931/930 BC Israel split
into two: Israel in the North, Judah in the South.
Israel never has a
faithful King! Idols fill the land. Centres of false worship were
established. The prophets Elijah, Elisha, Amos and Hosea ministered
to Israel without seeing reform or revival.
722 BC Israel falls to
the Assyrians. Survivors are scattered far and wide.
Judah had a mixture of
good and bad kings.
The
prophets Joel, Micah, Isaiah, Zephaniah and now
Jeremiah ministered to Judah. Habakkuk is difficult to date but he
may have ministered at the same time as Jeremiah.
Now we are in a position
to make sense of what takes place next in Jeremiah.
2. AN UNEXPECTED
MESSAGE TO FAITHLESS ISRAEL FROM WHICH JUDAH, AND WE, ARE TOO LEARN
FROM
[1] 3:6-11 Two Sisters
- Faithless & Treacherous.
Team mates sometimes
become rivals, even enemies. The same is true of siblings. Israel and
Judah were family, sisters. They had endured a stormy relationship.
Even so Judah would be intensely interested in anything that was said
to her sister Israel.
Israel had played the
whore - v6
She did not return to the
Lord so he had divorced her - v7-8. The curses of the covenant fell
on them - Deuteronomy 28:58, 64-68.
Although Judah had seen
this she too played the whore! - v9.
Now she was pretending to
return to the Lord. Josiah's reforms did not reach their hearts. They
lied. They had not returned to the Lord- v10.
Judah
had thought herself to be better than her sister Israel. Had not God
divorced her. Had she not been defeated by Assyria and scattered
among the nations? What a shock to hear (and what courage it took on
Jeremiah's part to say) Faithless Israel was more righteous than
treacherous Judah! v11
[2] 3:12-14 The Law
May Say No Going Back, But Grace Says Return.
Jeremiah is now sent to
preach to remnants of the Northern tribes an appeal to return to the
Lord with an assurance that they will be forgiven - v12-14.
[a] God assures them he
is merciful - v12.
Eph
2:4 But God, being rich
in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,
[b] The condition for
their return is confession of their guilt and rebellion - v13.
1
John 1:9 If we confess
our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
[c]
Return - v14 an appeal made 3 times
v12, 14, & 22. Literally
'turn you turning one'.
The Lord will bring them
to Zion - v14d
[3] 3:15-18 A Vision
Of What Might Be
If they return then this
is what the Lord will do.
[a] He will give them
Shepherds after his own heart - v15a.
[b] They will feed the
people with knowledge and understanding - v15b
[c] He will multiply
their numbers and they will live in the land - v16. This is as God
promised Abraham. As Solomon prayed - 1 Kings 8:46-53.
[d] They will no longer
look to the ark of the covenant of the LORD in the superstitious way
that they had done.
[e] Blessings will not be
limited to the Jews, but will overflow to all nations - v17.
[f] Judah and Israel
shall be reunited, coming from the North to live once again in the
land, their heritage - v18.
[4] 3:19-25 An
Emotional Appeal
v19 God gave them
everything a father could give his children: to be part of a family,
a pleasant land, a heritage - as part of the most beautiful of
nations. They should have regarded him as their father and remained
faithful to him.
v20 Instead they were
like a treacherous wife who left her husband.
v21 Is this a picture of
faithless sons realising their folly?
22a is a very moving
plea.
v22b-25 Jeremiah gives
them words of repentance.
In general I am against
the use of 'a sinners prayer'. If people have learned the gospel then
it is best to leave them to their own words. However, in this age
where many have little knowledge of Christianity setting out the sort
of prayer someone might pray can, if used with care, be of help.
Jeremiah does this here, and Hosea does in Hosea 14:1-3:
1 Return, O Israel, to
the LORD your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity.
2 Take with you words
and return to the LORD; say to him, “Take away all iniquity; accept
what is good, and we will pay with bulls the vows of our lips.
3 Assyria shall not
save us; we will not ride on horses; and we will say no more, ‘Our
God,’ to the work of our hands. In you the orphan finds mercy.”
4v1-2. If they return
then they must return to Him! They must get rid of their idols.
If they return then it
must be in repentance. The law says you cannot come but grace says
come in repentance.
If Israel returns then
blessing will come to the nations.
Romans 11:12 Now if
their trespass means riches for the world, and if their failure means
riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion
mean!
v3-4 Two metaphors;
(1) Break up the
unploughed ground:
Jeremiah may be quoting
Hosea 10:12
Sow for yourselves
righteousness; reap steadfast love; break up your fallow ground, for
it is the time to seek the LORD, that he may come and rain
righteousness upon you.
(2) Circumcise your
hearts:
Jeremiah applies the
words of Moses -Deut 10:12-16; 30:1-6.
John the Baptist later
echoes these words: Matthew 3:7-12.
The gospel is a message
of good news that includes a call to repentance. Jeremiah's message
shows us the importance of preaching repentance.
Jesus preached
repentance: Mt 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach, saying,
“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at
hand.”
Jesus
commanded repentance be preached: Luke 24:47 ...and that
repentance and forgiveness of sins should
be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
The
early church looked for repentance as a mark of a genuine work of
God - Acts 11:18 When
they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God,
saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted
repentance that leads to life.”
Paul
preached it Acts 20:21 testifying
both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God
and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.
Acts
26:20 but declared
first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all the
region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they
should repent and turn to God,
performing deeds in keeping with their repentance.
Peter
wrote about it 2 Peter 3:9 The
Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but
is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but
that all should reach repentance.
