Book of Jeremiah: (Continues) Prayerlessness - Like A Canary In A Coal Mine In the old days, coal miners carried a canary in a cage with them, down into the mines. The canary was a sign to them. If the canary died, it was a signal that toxic gases might be present, and they needed to quickly escape. Prayerlessness is like that. Any time you notice that nobody around you is praying, you should find another place, because death is in the midst. Jeremiah 23:22 - But if they had stood in my counsel, ...then they should have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings. I Have Heard What The Prophets Said You do not have to be praying for God to be listening. He hears EVERYTHING you say. God condemned the false prophets. I have not sent these prophets, ...I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. I have heard what the prophets said, that prophesy lies in my name, saying, I have dreamed. Using your tongue to prophesy without divine unction can land you in BIG trouble with God. Jeremiah 23:26,31 - They are prophets of the deceit of their own heart;...I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that use their tongues, and say, He saith. The Burden Of The LORD God demands that His burden (His strong desire) should never be misrepresented. If a prophet has a dream or a word from the LORD, he should accurately represent it. But God is adamantly opposed to anyone who presumes to declare the burden of the LORD inaccurately. This is a real indictment against many of the so-called prophetic ministries that are illegitimate. Jeremiah 23:38-40 - Because ye say this word, The burden of the LORD, and I have sent unto you, saying, Ye shall not say, The burden of the LORD; ...I will ...cast you out of my presence. Two Baskets Of Figs The LORD showed Jeremiah a vision of two baskets of figs sitting in front of the Temple, after Nebuchadnezzar began taking Judah away to Babylon. One basket contained good figs, and it represented the Jews who cooperated with their captors. God promised to bring them again to Jerusalem after the captivity was over. The other basket contained naughty figs - evil, because they resisted Gods punishments. Jeremiah 24:10 - And I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, among them, till they be consumed from off the land that I gave unto them and to their fathers. Seventy Years Of Captivity Prophesied The captivity of the Jews under Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon is one of the most significant prophecies in the Bible. Daniel 4-5 documents its fulfillment. Jeremiah 25:11-13 - And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the LORD, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations, ...all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah hath prophesied. Jeremiah Prophesies Global Calamity At Armageddon The LORD showed Jeremiah a time far beyond the Babylonian captivity when He would finally bring every evil nation to judgment. He foresaw Jesus Christ destroying the grapes of wrath at the Battle of Armageddon. Jeremiah 25:29-30,33 - I will call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth, saith the LORD of hosts. ...The LORD shall roar from on high, ...as they that tread the grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth. ...And the slain of the LORD shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth. They Should Have Prayed, And Not Threatened Murder When Jeremiah prophesied the destruction of Jerusalem, the priests and the prophets and all the people took him, saying, Thou shalt surely die. But the princes of the city argued that King Hezekiah did not kill the prophet Micah when he prophesied similarly. Instead, Hezekiah besought the LORD. Resisting God is always futile. Prayer is always a better solution. Jeremiah 26:19 - Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him at all to death? did he not fear the LORD, and besought the LORD, and the LORD repented him of the evil which he had pronounced against them? Some Live, Some Die For The Cause There was another prophet, named Urijah, saying the same things that Jeremiah was saying. King Jehoiakim wanted him killed, so Urijah fled to Egypt. Unfortunately, the king sent men to Egypt to bring him back. Jehoiakim personally killed the prophet with a sword, and had his body cast into a commoners grave. God oversees a unique plan for every man. Urijah had to die. Jeremiah had to live. Jeremiah 26:24 - Nevertheless the hand of Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah, that they should not give him into the hand of the people to put him to death. God Made The Earth, And Gives It To Whom He Pleases God instructed Jeremiah to send messengers to all the neighboring kings to deliver a word from the LORD. He informed them that changes were coming. To this very day, kings and nations fail to recognize (to their own hurt) that the destiny of all men is carefully in the hand of God. Jeremiah 27:5 - Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; ...I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are upon the ground, by my great power and by my outstretched arm, and have given it unto whom it seemed meet unto me. The Yoke Of Babylon God often instructed Jeremiah to use pantomime. This time, He told him to make several yokes, and send them by messengers to the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, Zidon, and Zedekiah of Judah. The messengers conveyed a message from the LORD. Every nation is under His control. Jeremiah 27:6-8 - I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, ...and all nations shall serve him, and his son, and his sons son, ...that the nation and kingdom which will not serve the same Nebuchadnezzar ...will I punish, ...until I have consumed them. Cooperate With Your Captors Jeremiah instructed every king in the region to cooperate with Nebuchadnezzar, for in doing so, God would guarantee their safety. But if they resisted Nebuchadnezzar, they would surely die. He also gave this word to his own king, Zedekiah. Jesus taught a similar principle in His day: Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest [he] deliver thee to the judge, ...and thou be cast into prison, Matthew 5:25. Jeremiah 27:9 - Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, and live. False Prophets Should Pass A Prayer Test False prophets told the people that the vessels of the temple would quickly be brought back from Babylon, although Jeremiah had prophesied seventy years. They shall be carried to Babylon, and there shall they be until the day that I visit them, saith the LORD. Jeremiah challenged them to a prayer test to prove they actually had power with God. Jeremiah 27:18 - If they be prophets, and if the word of the LORD be with them, let them now make intercession to the LORD of hosts, that the vessels which are left ...at Jerusalem, go not to Babylon. Amen
Posted on: Thu, 21 Nov 2013 19:26:33 +0000
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