Lamentations 1:12

Lamentations 1:12 says, Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by? behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is done unto me, wherewith the LORD hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger.  Jeremiah asked if anyone cared about his sorrow, which he attributed to the fierce anger of God.  Jeremiah was not speaking of himself alone, but of the nation of Judah.  Jeremiah's distress was due to his concern for the people of Judah and Jerusalem.  Verse thirteen adds, From above hath he sent fire into my bones, and it prevaileth against them: he hath spread a net for my feet, he hath turned me back: he hath made me desolate and faint all the day.   Jeremiah recognized the grief and distress of the people of Judah as coming from God, and this was because of their rebellion against Him.   We as the church today must realize that if we stray away from God that He will bring His judgment on us.  Verse fourteen continues, The yoke of my transgressions is bound by his hand: they are wreathed, and come up upon my neck: he hath made my strength to fall, the Lord hath delivered me into their hands, from whom I am not able to rise up.  Jeremiah said that God hand bound the sins of the people of Judah like a yoke upon their neck.  Sin will always weigh us down and control us, whether we realize it or not.  Verse fifteen states, The Lord hath trodden under foot all my mighty men in the midst of me: he hath called an assembly against me to crush my young men: the Lord hath trodden the virgin, the daughter of Judah, as in a winepress.  Once more, God is seen as the One behind the defeat of Judah.  As long as the people of Judah followed God and lived by their part of the covenant relationship with Him, He protected them, but when they started following false gods, He removed His protection.   We cannot expect God to protect us in the world today if we do not follow His guidance.  Verse sixteen adds, For these things I weep; mine eye, mine eye runneth down with water, because the comforter that should relieve my soul is far from me: my children are desolate, because the enemy prevailed.  Jeremiah said that the people were weeping because of the fact that the Comforter had left them.  The Holy Spirit is our Comforter today, and even though as Christians, He will never leave us, if we turn away from God and chase after the things or this world, we will lose His protection.  Verse seventeen continues, Zion spreadeth forth her hands, and there is none to comfort her: the LORD hath commanded concerning Jacob, that his adversaries should be round about him: Jerusalem is as a menstruous woman among them.  Jeremiah said that the people of Judah spread out their hand to God but that they could find no comfort.  I believe this was because they were still reaching out to God for Him to endorse their actions and not in real repentance.   Verse eighteen declares, The LORD is righteous; for I have rebelled against his commandment: hear, I pray you, all people, and behold my sorrow: my virgins and my young men are gone into captivity.  Here, Jeremiah acknowledges that it is because of sin that the people have been led away captive.  If we are suffering today as Christians, we need to make sure that it is not because of sin in our life.  Verse nineteen adds, I called for my lovers, but they deceived me: my priests and mine elders gave up the ghost in the city, while they sought their meat to relieve their souls.  Jeremiah said that the false gods, who had been followed even by the priests, had failed them, as false gods and false priests will always do.  Veree twenty continues, Behold, O LORD; for I am in distress: my bowels are troubled; mine heart is turned within me; for I have grievously rebelled: abroad the sword bereaveth, at home there is as death.  Jeremiah said that the people asked God to recognize their distress, but He already knew about it, and they were in distress because of their failure to be faithful to Him in the first place.   Verse twenty-one says, They have heard that I sigh: there is none to comfort me: all mine enemies have heard of my trouble; they are glad that thou hast done it: thou wilt bring the day that thou hast called, and they shall be like unto me.  Jeremiah said that even though the enemies of the people of Judah rejoiced that one day their judgment would come as well.  Verse twenty-two adds, Let all their wickedness come before thee; and do unto them, as thou hast done unto me for all my transgressions: for my sighs are many, and my heart is faint.  Jeremiah said the people of Judah asked God to punish their enemies as He had punished them, and we can be certain that there is coming a day when everyone will be judged for their sins, and the only hope anyone has is through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. 

Lamentations 1:1

Lamentations 1:1 says, How doth the city sit solitary, that was full of people! how is she become as a widow! she that was great among the nations, and princess among the provinces, how is she become tributary!  This book is credited to Jeremiah, so I will refer to him as the one writing what is said in the book.  Jeremiah was lamenting the destruction of Jerusalem and asking how it could be true.  Of course,  I believe he knew why, and that was because of the judgment of God against the sins of the people of Jerusalem and all of Judah.  Verse two adds, She weepeth sore in the night, and her tears are on her cheeks: among all her lovers she hath none to comfort her: all her friends have dealt treacherously with her, they are become her enemies.  Jeremiah said that those who had been friends of the people of Jerusalem had dealt treacherously with her.  We should realize that we like the people of Jerusalem and Judah can never depend on those who do not believe in God and may even be doing everything they can to discredit Him to stand by us in times of trouble if we are followers of Christ.  Verse three continues, Judah is gone into captivity because of affliction, and because of great servitude: she dwelleth among the heathen, she findeth no rest: all her persecutors overtook her between the straits.  Jeremiah was troubled because Judah had been taken away captive and now was in great servitude to the heathen.  The people of Judah had begun to worship the false gods of the heathen, those who were not God's people, and now they were enslaved by them.  As Christians, if we allow some false gods to come into our lives, we should not be surprised if we are soon imprisoned by them.  Verse four states, The ways of Zion do mourn, because none come to the solemn feasts: all her gates are desolate: her priests sigh, her virgins are afflicted, and she is in bitterness.  Jeremiah said that no one in Judah was coming to worship God.  They had already abandoned worshipping God even before they were taken away captive, and now there was no one left to worship Him.  Verse five adds, Her adversaries are the chief, her enemies prosper; for the LORD hath afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions: her children are gone into captivity before the enemy.  Jeremiah then acknowledged that this happened because of the multitude of transgressions by the people of Judah.   If we suffer the punishment of God, it will be because of our sins and not simply because God has arbitrarily chosen to punish us.  Verse six continues, And from the daughter of Zion all her beauty is departed: her princes are become like harts that find no pasture, and they are gone without strength before the pursuer.  The beauty of the daughter of Zion had been her relationship with God, and once that was gone, so was her beauty.  As Christians, it is our relationship to Christ that gives us beauty in the world, and if we abandon His calling and do not follow His guidance, then we lose the beauty of that relationship.  Verse seven declares, Jerusalem remembered in the days of her affliction and of her miseries all her pleasant things that she had in the days of old, when her people fell into the hand of the enemy, and none did help her: the adversaries saw her, and did mock at her sabbaths.  Jeremiah said the people of Judah remembered the days when they enjoyed the pleasant things of life before God allowed them to be defeated and enslaved.  If we are followers of Christ and find ourselves imprisoned by the things of this world, we need to remember that God is the One Who brings us joy.  Verse eight adds, Jerusalem hath grievously sinned; therefore she is removed: all that honoured her despise her, because they have seen her nakedness: yea, she sigheth, and turneth backward.  Again Jeremiah said it was because of the sins of the people of Judah that she was suffering.  Sin will always ultimately bring suffering.  Verse nine continues, Her filthiness is in her skirts; she remembereth not her last end; therefore she came down wonderfully: she had no comforter. O LORD, behold my affliction: for the enemy hath magnified himself.  Jeremiah said that because of the sins of Judah, she had no Comforter, which was God Himself I believe.  We need to look to the Comforter, Jesus Christ, today to find forgiveness for sins and restoration with God.  Verse ten states, The adversary hath spread out his hand upon all her pleasant things: for she hath seen that the heathen entered into her sanctuary, whom thou didst command that they should not enter into thy congregation.  The places of worship, which should have been set aside for God and His people, were desecrated by the people of the world, those who did not believe in God.  We need to be careful that we do not allow the things of this world to desecrate the places of God today, and that means more than the church buildings.  We must keep every aspect of our life set aside for God.   Verse eleven adds, All her people sigh, they seek bread; they have given their pleasant things for meat to relieve the soul: see, O LORD, and consider; for I am become vile.  Jeremiah said that the people of Judah were willing to give up everything simply for bread to eat.  We can never afford to turn away from God simply to meet material or physical needs.

Jeremiah Lessons Continued

 We also see that Jeremiah was often called on by God that to do some things that seemed strange,  but he did them because he had faith in God.  Today,  God calls on us to do some things that seem strange to the people of the world, such as loving our enemies for example.  This may not be as graphic as the things that Jeremiah was called on to do, but like him, we must do them out of faith.  The people who defeated Judah believed that they had defeated the God of Judah as well and destroyed all the things associated with Him.  In some countries today, the leaders attempt to remove all references to God, and they really think that they have defeated Him.  Leaders in America likewise attempt to remove references to God, but God will always be just as real as He always has, even if no one believes in Him.  Some of the people of Judah, a very few, continued to have faith in God or returned to faith in Him, and they were eventually restored to the promised land.  We may suffer at the hands of the people of the world today, but if we remain faithful to God,  we will one day be restored to a perfect relationship with Him in our promised land, which is Heaven.  One more thing, Jeremiah also teaches us that God will not allow idols in the lives of His people without their being consequences, so if we have allowed anything to become more important to us than our relationship with God is, then we need to repent and put our total faith in Him again.  Since we have been studying Jeremiah,  we will now look at his book of Lamentations. 

Easter

Today we celebrate Easter. We have likely recalled His triumphant entry into Jerusalem just a few days before, and many people today would worship Him if He were the triumphant leader that they thought He would be, but He wasn't in earthly terms. That is why many people refuse to follow Him. They cannot see anything material in it for them. We may have remembered His last supper, when Jesus said one of those there with Him, His closest disciples, would betray Him. We may think of the disciples looking around wondering who it was but knowing that it wasn't him, though Judas knew. Still, when things got really bad, they all betrayed Jesus by their disbelief. We may question the faith of others while we fail to follow Jesus in complete faith, thereby betraying Him. We may remember the time in the garden when the disciples could not stay awake for an hour, in spite of their professed undying loyalty to Him, and we may ask how often we have failed in the simplest things that God calls us to do. When we say we will pray for someone, do we basically sleepwalk through it. We may remember Jesus's arrest and the same people who welcomed now crying crucify Him as they chose to free Barabbas. We may likewise choose to stand with others as they take actions that in effect crucify Christ once more. If any person, good or bad, becomes more important to us than Jesus Christ, we have become guilty of sin, and death is the penalty and Jesus Christ is the only One Who is qualified to pay that price and redeem us. We may remember Peter standing defiantly against the mob, and then slipping away after Jesus was arrested and denying Him. There may be times when our faith is very strong, and then if things don't go as we desire, we wallow in doubt, at which time we are denying Christ. We may remember the beating and the crucifixion when Jesus was mocked. We also must realize that even though the crucifixion happened centuries ago, we are just as responsible as the people in that day were. Jesus Christ died for us all.  We may remember the burial in a borrowed tomb that was sealed and guarded, seemingly ending all hope. If we only see Christ crucified and buried and defeated, then we have no hope, but what we must see and what we celebrate at Easter is the fact that the tomb was unsealed and empty. Our hope is in the resurrected Jesus Christ alone. Had Jesus Christ simply died and been buried, even if it was done for us, then He would not be able to bring us salvation. In the resurrection, He defeated sin and death for all time. So, this Easter, if you have not, I pray that you will accept Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and Lord so that you may know the real joy of Easter. For those who have already done so, I pray that we will put our faith in Him at all times. HE HAS RISEN.

Jeremiah Lessons

 We will review some things learned from Jeremiah.  First,  just because people are called God's people by the world or themselves doesn't mean that they are.  The people of Judah were God's chosen people in name, but they were worshipping false gods.  Being God's people means being a a covenant relationship with Him and being obedient to that relationship by obeying His word.  We also need to realize that God will not allow sin, even the sins committed by those who profess to be His people, to go unpunished forever.  The people of Judah felt secure in their status as God's people even as they worshipped idols.  We cannot claim the security of Christ while at the same time worshipping other gods or idols, whether it be a real man-made idol or simply the material things of the world.  God sent Jeremiah to warn the people of Judah and Jerusalem that He was about to allow them to be deflated because of their idolatry.   I don't believe that we will ever be able to allow sin and idolatry back into our lives as Christians and not be warned by God that this will bring consequences.  We also see that the leaders of Judah, both religious and governmental, claimed that Jeremiah was wrong, and even imprisoned him at times.  We need to realize that if we call ourselves a Christian nation, we must always listen to God,  and this begins by being in a covenant relationship with Him individually.   Salvation does not come by a national declaration, but a personal relationship with God on the part of each individual in that nation.  If religious or governmental leaders declare anything different, then we should never listen to them but to God.  As Jeremiah found out, declaring God's word can sometimes lead us into dangerous situations, but we must never waver in proclaiming His word.  God always told Jeremiah what to say and do, just as He will us today if we are truly one of His people through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, and there is no other way to be one of His people. 

Jeremiah 52:24

 Jeremiah 52:24 says, And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the door:  These were five men from the temple.  Verse twenty-five adds, He took also out of the city an eunuch, which had the charge of the men of war; and seven men of them that were near the king’s person, which were found in the city; and the principal scribe of the host, who mustered the people of the land; and threescore men of the people of the land, that were found in the midst of the city.  Matthew Henry points out this was two men from the city, five from the court, and sixty out of the country, that with the five already mentioned was a total of seventy, which was the number of the elders of Israel.  He says the fact that there seem to be two more is because Jeremiah and Ebed-melech were two of those taken, and they were discharged.  Verse twenty-six states, So Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took them, and brought them to the king of Babylon to Riblah.  Nebuzaradan,  captain of the guard,  brought these men to Nebuchadrezzar,  king of Babylon.   Verse twenty-seven adds, And the king of Babylon smote them, and put them to death in Riblah in the land of Hamath. Thus Judah was carried away captive out of his own land.  Nebuchadrezzar had all these men killed, and the rest of the people of Judah taken away captive.  God's people, who by now were His in name only, were killed or taken captive because they had turned away from God.   If we turn away from God today as a people who are known as a Christian nation, we should not be surprised if God allows us to be defeated.  Verse twenty-eight says, This is the people whom Nebuchadrezzar carried away captive: in the seventh year three thousand Jews and three and twenty:  In the seventh year of his reign, Nebuchadrezzar carried three thousand and twenty-three people of Judah into captivity.   Verse twenty-nine adds, In the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar he carried away captive from Jerusalem eight hundred thirty and two persons:  Eleven years later,  when Jerusalem fell, he carried another eight hundred and twenty-two people.   Verse thirty continues, In the three and twentieth year of Nebuchadrezzar Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive of the Jews seven hundred forty and five persons: all the persons were four thousand and six hundred.  Two years later, Nebuchadrezzar carried another seven hundred forty-five away captive.   The total of those carried away captive was four thousand six hundred, which was not a great number to represent all the people of Judah.   Verse thirty-one declares, And it came to pass in the seven and thirtieth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, in the five and twentieth day of the month, that Evilmerodach king of Babylon in the first year of his reign lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah, and brought him forth out of prison,  When a new ruler came to power in Babylon,  he had Jehoiachin brought out of prison.  Verse thirty-two adds, And spake kindly unto him, and set his throne above.the throne of the kings that were with him in Babylon,   The new king was kind to Jehoiachin and placed him above the other kings that were with him in Babylon.  Verse thirty-three continues, And changed his prison garments: and he did continually eat bread before him all the days of his life.  Verse thirty-four concludes,  And for his diet, there was a continual diet given him of the king of Babylon, every day a portion until the day of his death, all the days of his life.  Though no longer in power, Jehoiachin lived the rest of his life in relative ease.  God had warned the people of Judah that they would fall, and they did, because of their corruption.   We can warn the people of the world today that they will fall into everlasting punishment if they do not accept Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord. 

Jeremiah 52:12

 Jeremiah 52;12 says, Now in the fifth month, in the tenth day of the month, which was the nineteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, came Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, which served the king of Babylon, into Jerusalem,  Verse thirteen adds, And burned the house of the LORD, and the king’s house; and all the houses of Jerusalem, and all the houses of the great men, burned he with fire:   Nebuchadrezzar's troops had entered Isreal and burned the house of the LORD, the king’s house, and all the other houses.   Jerusalem was completely destroyed, as Jeremiah had told the people that God said it would be.  Verse fourteen continues, And all the army of the Chaldeans, that were with the captain of the guard, brake down all the walls of Jerusalem round about,  The walls around Jerusalem were also torn down.  The walls had not really been what protected Jerusalem anyway, but God had until the people of Jerusalem turned their back on Him.  Nothing in the world today can protect us, even as Christians, if we turn away from following God's will.  Verse fifteen states, Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive certain of the poor of the people, and the residue of the people that remained in the city, and those that fell away, that fell to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the multitude.  Nebuzaradan carried the poor people of Jerusalem and certain others away captive.   The priests and prophets of Judah had said Jeremiah was wrong when he told them that God had said this would happen, but they were either killed or carried away captive as well.  Not everyone who professes to speak for God actually does, and we as followers of Christ must be able to know who is speaking the truth of God.  Verse sixteen adds, But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left certain of the poor of the land for vinedressers and for husbandmen.  Some of the poor were left in the land to serve as caretakers of the crops.  They were not free as they had been when living in a covenant relationship with God, and neither can we be totally free if we are not living in a covenant relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord.   Verse seventeen says, Also the pillars of brass that were in the house of the LORD, and the bases, and the brasen sea that was in the house of the LORD, the Chaldeans brake, and carried all the brass of them to Babylon.  The Babylonians also broke up and carried away the things of the house of the LORD.  Nebuchadrezzar must have felt that he had defeated not only the people of Judah but their God as well.  Some countries today may believe that they have defeated God and attempt to remove all things that are associated with Him from their country,  but one day they will find out how wrong they are, just as the people of Babylon did.  Verse eighteen adds, The caldrons also, and the shovels, and the snuffers, and the bowls, and the spoons, and all the vessels of brass wherewith they ministered, took they away.  The Babylonians took away everything out of the temple, they killed or enslaved God's people, but they did not defeat God.  No matter what happens in this world,  God is the everlasting Victor.  Verse nineteen continues  And the basons, and the firepans, and the bowls, and the caldrons, and the candlesticks, and the spoons, and the cups; that which was of gold in gold, and that which was of silver in silver, took the captain of the guard away.  This continues to list what the Babylonians carried out of the house of the LORD.   Verse twenty says, The two pillars, one sea, and twelve brasen bulls that were under the bases, which king Solomon had made in the house of the LORD: the brass of all these vessels was without weight.  Verse twenty-one adds, And concerning the pillars, the height of one pillar was eighteen cubits; and a fillet of twelve cubits did compass it; and the thickness thereof was four fingers: it was hollow.  Verse twenty-two continues, And a chapiter of brass was upon it; and the height of one chapiter was five cubits, with network and pomegranates upon the chapiters round about, all of brass. The second pillar also and the pomegranates were like unto these.  Verse twenty-three concludes, And there were ninety and six pomegranates on a side; and all the pomegranates upon the network were an hundred round about.  These verses simply describe some of the things that the Babylonians took out of the temple.  They totally destroyed or plundered the house of the LORD, except for some people who were called His people.  No matter what is destroyed or taken from us as followers of Christ today,  as long as we remain faithful to God, we will always be victorious.