Matthew C. Mitchell's Blog, page 19

“Like a Scarecrow in a Melon Patch” [Matt's Messages]

“Like a Scarecrow in a Melon Patch”Uprooted - The Words of JeremiahLanse Evangelical Free ChurchJune 26, 2022 :: Jeremiah 9:25-10:25 
Last week, we just looked at two verses, verses 23 and 24, which taught us to not boast about ourselves–our smarts, or our strength, or our stuff, but instead, to boast about this–that we know the LORD and know His heart–how He delights in kindness, justice, and righteousness.
Well, sadly, the nation of Judah was not very interested in following that teaching. No, they were tempted, instead, to talk up and trust in everything but the LORD Himself including the temple of the LORD, the Law of the LORD, and even the Circumcision given by the LORD.
Everything but the LORD Himself!
And they were also enamored with the gods of the surrounding nations and tempted to put their faith and their fear in them.
And so, therefore, judgment was coming upon Judah, and the Prophet Jeremiah had been sent to tell them. To warn them. These words in Jeremiah 9 and 10 are meant to be a warning to Judah, warning them about what not to do and showing them the better way that they ought to take.
And you and I can learn from these words for our lives today.
[VIDEO WILL BE EMBEDDED HERE.]
So here’s the question I want to start with this morning. It’s not a trick question, but it might be a little tricky. Here it is:
How powerful are idols?
I-D-O-L-S. How powerful are they? How powerful were the other gods that the nation of Judah was so tempted to worship? What do you think?
They were certainly tempted to worship them, weren’t they? In this section, Jeremiah has only one major command for the people of Judah. I just read it in chapter 10, verse 2, “Do not learn the ways of the nations or be terrified by signs in the sky, though the nations are terrified by them.”
And he’s talking, again, about idolatry. The ways of the nations were the ways that they worshiped other gods than Yahweh. The ways that the nations bowed down to Baal and Ashtoreth and Molech and the Queen of the Heavens. The other nations lived in terror of the gods of the Sun, the Moon, and the Stars. The nations lived in fear of astral deities. They read their horoscopes daily and studied astrology. And they made idols and worshiped them.
And the people of Judah were sorely tempted to be jealous of the nations and want those gods for themselves.  And then, they gave in, time and time again.
So, how powerful are idols?
In chapter 10, Jeremiah uses incredibly funny satire to answer that question. Jeremiah pulls out some sarcasm with an image that will really stick in your mind. He says in verse 5, “Like a scarecrow in a melon patch, their idols cannot speak; they must be carried because they cannot walk. Do not fear them; they can do no harm nor can they do any good.’” Does that answer the question?
You might put it this way: Idols are powerful to birdbrains.
(No offense to birds, of course, and their brains. They are supposed to be that way.)
If this translation is correct, and there is ambiguity in the Hebrew, Jeremiah likens idols to scarecrows in a melon patch. Or some of your translations might say “a cucumber field.” Same difference.
Idols are scarecrows at a fruit farm. 
How powerful is a scarecrow? Well, if you think it’s powerful, it’s kind of powerful. In that sense, it has the power you give it. Scarecrows are powerful to crows. They have the power to scare them.
But it’s all just appearances. When you actually study a scarecrow, you find out that they don’t do anything. Because they don’t have a brain, right?  If they only did.
They don’t have anything. They aren’t alive–unlike the one in the Wizard of Oz or the one in Batman, scarecrows in the real world aren’t very scary if you know the truth about them. V.5 again.
“Like a scarecrow in a melon patch, their idols cannot speak; they must be carried because they cannot walk. Do not fear them; they can do no harm nor can they do any good.’”
I’ve got two simple points of application this morning, and this is number one:
#1. DO NOT FEAR IDOLS.
Do not fear others gods than Yahweh. Do not fear idols instead of the LORD.
Now, of course, that is just so basic, so rule number one, right?
In fact, it’s rule number one and rule number two from the Ten Commandments. "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments” (Exod. 20:2-6 NIV84).
This is basic stuff. Do not fear idols.
And by "fear" we mainly mean "worship." Do not trust in them, do not bow down to them, do not build your life around them, do not do what they tell you to do.
Do not fear them. This is basic stuff. 
And, yet, the nation of Judah had been continually tempted to do this and repeatedly succumbed to the temptation.
And so Jeremiah and many other Old Testament writers repeatedly took them to task. This disdain for and satire about idols is a regular feature of the Old Testament (see Isaiah 40:19-20, 41:7, Psalm 115 and 135 for some examples).
Idols are something that it is right and good to poke fun at. Because an idol is like a scarecrow in a melon patch.
Let’s back and up and see just how Jeremiah gets to that scathing simile. Back up to chapter 9, verse 25 and 26. The point of these two verses is to lump Judah in with the other nations that they so desperately wanted to be like. But it’s not going to turn out good for them. V.25
“The days are coming,’ declares the LORD, ‘when I will punish all who are circumcised only in the flesh–Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab and all who live in the desert in distant places."
Did you know that some other nations practiced some kind of circumcision? They did. Their circumcision didn’t mean what Israel’s meant. Israel’s meant that they belonged to Yahweh. They were His people.
But they had begun to trust in the outward sign of circumcision just like they had trusted in the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD. And Jeremiah says that outward circumcision without inward circumcision is worthless. Did you see how Judah just got lumped in with Egypt? And Edom and Ammon, and Moab?!
You want to be like those guys? Well, I guess you are. V.26, “For all these nations [including Judah!] are really uncircumcised, and even the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart.’”
Why? Because they were worshiping idols from their hearts.
Jeremiah says, “No!” Chapter 10, verse 1 again.
“Hear what the LORD says to you, O house of Israel. This is what the LORD says: ‘Do not learn the ways of the nations or be terrified by signs in the sky, though the nations are terrified by them. [Why?] For the customs of the peoples are worthless...”  
I think that Jeremiah has a least 3 reasons here why Judah should immediately stop and repent of fearing idols.
First off, they are worthless. The Hebrew word there is the word that Ecclesiastes uses to describe the vanity and emptiness of life without God (“hebel”). And it basically means “nothing” or “empty” or “hollow” or even a “vapor.” 
Here’s what Jeremiah thinks of the worth of idols. They are worth about as much as a belch.
And then he gets really satiric and begins to show just how silly idols are. Verse 3.
“...the customs of the peoples are worthless; they cut a tree out of the forest, and a craftsman shapes it with his chisel. They adorn it with silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails so it will not totter.”
You get the picture? To get an idol, you have to do a lot of work. You take your saw out into Blackie and pick out a tree you like and cut it down. Then you get out chisel and take off the bark and shape it into the form of whatever so it looks more human or at least more “godlike.” And then you take your hard earned cash and buy silver and gold to deck it out. And then you have to nail it in place so that the wind doesn’t knock over your idol.
You see just how worthy they are? It’s the worth you give it! If you pour out your sweat and your cash, they are receiving worth from you, but they don’t give any true worth to you.
Because they are not just worthless, they are powerless. V.5 “Like a scarecrow in a melon patch, their idols cannot speak; they must be carried because they cannot walk. Do not fear them; they can do no harm nor can they do any good.’”
That’s double powerlessness. Do not fear idols because they are completely and utterly powerless on their own.
You have to carry them from place to place! You have to pull up the nails and then move that scarecrow to another field if you want it to do anything about the crows.
But don’t, for a minute, be scared of them yourselves. Do not be afraid of the scarecrows in the melon patch. They can’t do a blessed thing. Against you or for you.
Do you believe that?
We all say we do when it’s other gods like Baal and Ashtoreth and Molech.
And I don’t think that any of us here are building physical idols like these in our backyards. If you are, the elders of the church need to have a word with you!
But idolatry is sneaky, isn’t it?
The New Testament says that God’s people are still tempted to fear idols, but they have different names.
Names like “Money.”
You cannot worship both God and Mammon. Covetousness is idolatry.
Or “Pleasure.” Our culture has made an idol out of all kinds of pleasure, especially sexual pleasure. Or “Autonomy.” You can’t tell me what to do!
Or here’s one that really tempts me. I’ve said it before. “Approval.”
I like to be liked.I love to be loved.I crave approval.
And I can make it my god. It becomes an idol for me. I find myself fearing it.
What is it for you? What idols are you tempted to fear?
You can tell by how they make you act. When you fear something, it changes how you behave. It shapes your choices. If you find yourself sinning, you are probably trying to serve some idol erected in your heart.
If you find yourself obeying and practicing wisdom, you are probably fearing the LORD. Because the fear of Yahweh is the beginning of wisdom.
When I am worshiping the god of “People’s Approval,” I find myself tempted to not say and do the things I should say or do because I might not get Approval’s blessing.
I fear it. It controls me.
But Jeremiah would say to me. “Do not fear “People’s Approval”, Matt, it can do no harm nor can it do any good.” That’s not where the power lies.
Remember: False gods never fail to fail.
False gods never deliver on their promises. They are powerless like scarecrows in a melon patch.
Let me give you the third reason that Jeremiah gives Judah to not fear idols before we get to the last point this morning. Jump down to verse 8.
“They [the nations] are all senseless and foolish; they are taught by worthless wooden idols.”
Idols are not just worthless (same word there) and powerless. They are senseless.
And that doesn’t just mean that they don’t have senses, like they can’t see or hear, but they are stupid. They are dumb. Like the scarecrow, they don’t have a brain.
In fact, they are blockheads. They are made of wood, so why would you want to be taught by them?/!
If you are taught by a block of wood, you become a blockhead yourself.
The nations were blockheads. And Judah wanted to be a blockhead, too.
Which is just so foolish when they have a God like Yahweh!
And that’s point number two and last this morning:
#2. FEAR THE LORD ALONE.
Look back up at verse 6. “No one is like you, O LORD; you are great, and your name is mighty in power. Who should not revere you, O King of the nations? This is your due. Among all the wise men of the nations and in all their kingdoms, there is no one like you.”
“How great is our God! ... And will see how great, how great is our God”
The LORD alone should be feared because He is all alone in a class by Himself. The LORD is incomparable! “No one is like you.” 
There is a reason we call idols “false gods.”  It’s because they lie, but also because they are nothing like the real God!
Jeremiah has to pray this to God. He can’t help but break out into praise.
“No one is like you, O LORD; you are great, and your name is mighty in power. Who should not [FEAR] you, O King of the nations? [Everybody ought to.] This is your due. Among all the wise men of the nations and in all their kingdoms, there is no one like you.”
Search the whole world over, and you will not find a god like Yahweh.
He is incomparable. The idols are worthless. He is incomparably valuable. In a class by Himself. 
Secondly, He is powerful.
The idols are powerless. But God is powerful. “Your name is mighty in power.”
Idols have to be made, but the true God is un-made and makes everything else. Look at verse 8 again.
“They are all senseless and foolish; they are taught by worthless wooden idols. Hammered silver is brought from Tarshish and gold from Uphaz. What the craftsman and goldsmith have made is then dressed in blue and purple–all made by skilled workers. [Very impressive, but you have to do all of the work. V.10]
But the LORD is the true God; he is the living God, the eternal King. When he is angry, the earth trembles; the nations cannot endure his wrath.”
“Who made God?”
Sometimes a little kid will ask that question. “Well, if God made everything, then who made God?” And some philosophers think that it’s stumper of a question, too.
But the answer is very simple and mind-blowing–nobody did. Nobody made God. He is the true God, the living God, the eternal King. He always was and always will be. 
Yahweh is everything these idols are not. Judah was taken with them because they were tangible and right there in front of them, and they were jealous of the other nations, and because they believed the lies that came with them.
I mean, who doesn’t want a bright and shiny thing? Silver and gold and blue and purple. Regal! No doubt. Idols are impressive in the moment.
Did ever shop for something and be totally swayed by how shiny it is? “Ooo. Shiny.” The internet is great at this. It makes everything looks awesome. But then you get the product home, and it’s nothing like what you hoped for? That’s what idols are like.
But not the LORD. 
He is not worthless. He is true.He is not powerless. He is mighty. 
In fact, He made everything that there is. V.11. This verse is in Aramaic in the original. V.11
“‘Tell them this [Judah!]: 'These gods, who did not make the heavens and the earth, will perish from the earth and from under the heavens.' [They are so temporary because they are a part of the creation. But God is the Creator! V.12] 
But God made the earth by his power; he founded the world by his wisdom and stretched out the heavens by his understanding. When he thunders, the waters in the heavens roar; he makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth. He sends lightning with the rain and brings out the wind from his storehouses.”
He is not just powerful. He is ALL powerful! Everything you see came from Him.
And not from Baal. Baal was the supposed storm god. Jeremiah says that Baal doesn’t control the weather. And neither does weather.com. The LORD controls the weather.
Don’t be “terrified by signs in the sky” (v.2) 
Fear the One who made the sky!
And did you notice how He made it? With wisdom and understanding.
The idols are senseless and foolish, but the LORD is wise. He is no blockhead!
Do you see the contrasts?
Idols are worthless. The LORD is incomparably valuable.Idols are powerless. The LORD is the powerful Creator of all.Idols are senseless. The LORD is unimaginably wise.
Idols are scarecrows in a melon patch. The LORD is the Portion of Jacob. Look at verse 14.
“Everyone is senseless and without knowledge; every goldsmith is shamed by his idols. His images are a fraud; they have no breath in them. They are worthless, the objects of mockery; when their judgment comes, they will perish.
He who is the Portion of Jacob is not like these, for he is the Maker of all things, including Israel, the tribe of his inheritance–the LORD Almighty is his name.” Fear the LORD alone. Mock your idols if that helps you repudiate them, and fear the LORD alone.
I love that title, “The Portion of Jacob.”
[I almost entitled this sermon, “The Portion of Jacob,” but I couldn’t pass up the melon patch.]
The Hebrew word for “portion” (“chelek”) is the idea of an allocation of territory parceled out to someone, often as their precious inheritance.
We saw it used again and again in the book of Joshua as they came to possess the Promised Land.
But Jeremiah says that the LORD did not just give them land. He gave them Himself. He is the “Portion of Jacob,” of Israel. He belongs to them.
That’s amazing language, isn’t it? We tend to think about the second part of the verse, that God’s people belong to Him. Israel is “the tribe of his inheritance.”
And that’s right, too. But the LORD says that He gave Himself, in a special way to His people.
He was their Portion. He was to be their Precious Possession. That’s what it means to fear Him. It means that He is yours, your precious possession. “I am my Beloved’s and He is mine.”
We own Him, so to speak. He is the most valuable thing in our hearts. Our treasure.
Is the LORD your treasure?
Idols cannot be that for you. They cannot give themselves to you in any satisfying way because they, really they aren’t real! They can’t do anything. If they are valuable to you, it’s all in your mind.
But “He who is the Portion of Jacob is not like these, for he is the Maker of all things, including Israel, the tribe of his inheritance–the LORD Almighty is his name.”
Fear the LORD alone. And you will be satisfied forever.
But sadly, Judah would not.
Judah refused to fear the LORD alone and instead continued to fear the gods of nations. They chose to worship the scarecrow in the melon patch. They refused to heed this warning, so the LORD would bring His judgment. V.17
“Gather up your belongings to leave the land, you who live under siege. For this is what the LORD says: ‘At this time I will hurl out those who live in this land; I will bring distress on them so that they may be captured.’”
The LORD was supposed to be their most precious possession, but now they will have to gather up all of their possessions because they are going to be uprooted. They are going to be be “hurled” or “slung” like from a slingshot into exile out of this land. They are going into captivity.
And, boy, is it going to hurt. V.19
“Woe to me because of my injury! My wound is incurable! Yet I said to myself, ‘This is my sickness, and I must endure it.’ [I think that Jeremiah is speaking for Judah and Jerusalem. He is lamenting the pain that is going to come. V.20] My tent is destroyed; all its ropes are snapped. My sons are gone from me and are no more; no one is left now to pitch my tent or to set up my shelter. [Judgment has come because of our failure to fear the LORD alone.] 
The shepherds are senseless and do not inquire of the LORD; so they do not prosper and all their flock is scattered.  Listen! The report is coming–a great commotion from the land of the north [Babylon]! It will make the towns of Judah desolate, a haunt of jackals.” 
It could have all been avoided. But now there is nothing more than lamentations and supplications to be made. V.23
“I know, O LORD, that a man's life is not his own; it is not for man to direct his steps. Correct me, LORD, but only with justice–not in your anger, lest you reduce me to nothing. [I think he’s still speaking for the whole nation and lumping himself in with them. He’s asking for wisdom still and for God’s justice and not full anger. Because He knows that the LORD delights in justice. But he is asking for God’s anger to be poured out on those who are coming to destroy them. V.25.] Pour out your wrath on the nations that do not acknowledge you, on the peoples who do not call on your name. For they have devoured Jacob; they have devoured him completely and destroyed his homeland.”
We will see this theme again and again, as well, as time goes on. Yes, Judah will be judged, and the LORD will use the sinful nations around Judah to do it. But those nations are not safe from God’s judgment either. In time, the LORD will judge them for how they treated Judah–even though He used them to bring justice. That’s another amazing part of His wisdom. And another reason to fear Him.
But did you notice those familiar words in verse 23 that Jeremiah says about what he knows? What does it sound like to you? 
To me, it sounds a lot like Question #1 of the Heidelberg Catechism. I’ll bet those German Christians had been reading Jeremiah 10:23.
“I know, O LORD, that a man's life is not his own; it is not for man to direct his steps.” 
You are not your own.
I do not belong to me.
The life I live is borrowed. I’m just a steward of it.
My life belongs to the Lord.
And if you are a Christian, yours does, too.
We might make some decisions along the way, but the Lord directs our steps.
So back to our original question: How powerful are idols?
They are powerful to birdbrains and blockheads. They have just as much power in our lives as we give them. They were powerful enough to take down the entire nation of Judah and catapult them into exile. But the idols didn’t do that themselves. They are just like scarecrows in a melon patch. Worthless, powerless, and senseless.
Do not fear them! As the apostle John says, “Little children, keep yourselves from idols” (1 John 5:21).
The LORD, on the other hand, is incomparably valuable, incomprehensibly powerful, and incredibly wise. Fear Him alone.
Make the Lord your portion. Trust in Him with your whole heart.
Give Him your whole life. It doesn’t belong to you anyway.
And fear Him alone.

***
Previous Messages in This Series:

01. "The Word of the LORD Came to Me" - Jeremiah 1:1-19
02. "I Bring Charges Against You" - Jeremiah 2:1-3:5
03. "Return to Me" - Jeremiah 3:6-4:4
04. “Oh My Anguish, My Anguish!” - Jeremiah 4:6-5:31
05. "Ask for the Ancient Paths" - Jeremiah 6:1-30
06. “This Is the Temple of the LORD, the Temple of the LORD, the Temple of the LORD!” - Jeremiah 7:1-8:3
07. "Is There No Balm in Gilead?" - Jeremiah 8:4-9:22
08. "Boast About This" - Jeremiah 9:23-24

“Boast About This” [Matt's Messages]

“Boast About This”Uprooted - The Words of JeremiahLanse Evangelical Free ChurchJune 19, 2022 :: Jeremiah 9:23-24 
We’re looking today at verses 23 and 24.
They follow a pretty gloomy section of Jeremiah, if you remember last week. Gloomy even for Jeremiah! The patient, Judah, was terminal, and their chart said that it was because they had refused to take the right treatment from the Great Physician. The nation of Judah had refused to repent. They had listened to “quack doctors” that told them that everything was going to be okay and there was “peace, peace” when there was no peace. Their wounds were superficial, nothing to worry about.
But there was something to worry about. Their wounds were deadly. Because Judah refused to repent, they were going to be uprooted and sent into exile. 
Judgment was coming, and it was going to be awful. The verses right before these say that death was going to “climb into their windows” and take out their young people. And the bodies of all were going to pile up behind the Grim Reaper. All because they refused to wise up and repent.
So the two verses for today are not so gloomy. They are a lot like a little burst of light into the darkness. But they still do constitute a warning. There is a warning here of how not to live and solid counsel of how to live instead.
And I think they are perfect for Father’s Day. When I saw how the Lord had landed these two verses for Dad Day, I was like, “That’s awesome!”  Because this is a message that most guys need to hear over and over again. I know that I do. And also because this church family is full of men who live out these words faithfully. And so it’s another chance to encourage the guys to keep on going.
And, of course, this words are true for all of us, men or women, boys and girls.
[VIDEO WILL BE EMBEDDED HERE.]
What do you “talk up” all day long?
What do you talk up, all the live the long day?
I don’t mean just, what do you talk about all day. Some of you have jobs where you talk all day long because it’s your job to do that. You talk about your work and the things of your work, and rightly so.
What I mean is what do you talk about when you aren’t talking about what you HAVE to talk about? What do you talk about when you GET to talk about something?
And more than that, not what do you talk down, but what do you talk up?
What do you boast about?
What do you take pride in? What do you praise when you get a moment to praise? What do you brag on? What are you always “selling,” so to speak?
We all have things that we talk up. We’re wired that way. We all have things that we talk up. They are the things we are the most excited about. The things we exult in. And the things we trust in.
We tend to talk up that which we trust in. Right?
Dads, what do your kids talk up? What are their mouths full of, all day long?
Kids, what do your dads talk up? What are their mouths full of, all day long?
Our mouths give us away. We tend to talk up that which we most trust in.
In these two verses, the LORD, through Jeremiah, tells us what to talk up as much as we possibly can. And also what not to.
I lifted the title for this message from three words in verse 24, “Boast About This.” You’re going to boast about something. We all do. We all have things we are trusting in and excited to talk up.
Sometimes literally. What our mouths are constantly filled with. And sometimes our actions speak even louder than our words. We boast with our deeds and our choices and our whole lives. The question is not whether or not we are going to boast, but what we are going to boast about.
One of the great things about this passage is that Jeremiah had done all of my work for me in providing an outline. Verse 23 is point number one. “Don’t boast about these...” And verse 24 is point number two. “Boast about this....” 
And he’s gone to all of the trouble of having three things under each point. There are 3 in verse 23, and there are 3 in verse 24. Thank you, Jeremiah, for that outline! Or actually, thank you, LORD. Because he says twice–at the beginning and then at the end–that this is a message directly from the LORD.
Verse 23, “This is what the LORD says....”Verse 24, “...declares the LORD.”
If you were wondering if this was important, now you know. The bookends tell us that this is a message directly from the LORD. You and I better listen up.
So we know what to talk up...and what not to.
#1. DON’T BOAST ABOUT YOU.
Listen again to verse 23. “This is what the LORD says: "Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches...”
Pretty straightforward, isn’t it? Don’t boast about you.
Ok. So, let me ask you a question about verse 23: Are wisdom, strength, and riches bad things? No, of course not. They can become bad things. And they are awful things to ultimately trust in or boast about. But they are not bad things. They are good things.
Wisdom, or skill in living is a great thing. I don’t think this is 100% talking about the exact same thing as Proverbs is often talking about, the kind of spiritual wisdom that begins with the fear the LORD.
But it is talking about some kind of skill at living. Or we might say, “smartness.” Having smarts is a good thing! It’s a gift from God.
And having strength is a good thing. It, too, is a gift from God. Whatever strength we have, and dads are often known for their strength, if a gift from God, and should be a reason for thanksgiving.
Same thing with riches. Money. Is money the root of all evil? No. The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. But money itself is good. And it’s great when a dad has some money to loan to his kids or to give to them or to use for their good.
Smarts, strength, and riches are good gifts from a good God. God the Father!
But they make terrible gods themselves.
And we’ve all seen that, right? Have you seen the person that worships their own smarts? “I’m so smart. Did you see what I did there? Did you see what deal I cooked up? Did you see how I outsmarted those other people? Did you catch how great my plan was? I am so wise!” They don’t always say it so crassly, but it’s there.
Or the guy who says, “Check out my strength!” Not just “Look at how much I can bench press,” but “Look at how much clout I have!” “Look what I can do!” “Look how powerful I am.” “I say, ‘Jump,’ and all these people ask, ‘How high?’” People have to say to me, “Yessir.”
And it’s often because of that last category, money. “Money talks!” We say. And if it’s not the size of our bank account, it’s the size of our truck or our house or our book collection or whatever we possess.
Guys are especially prone to this. We feel the need to boast about our savvy, our strength, and our stuff.
And it’s not because we’re so grateful, but because we’re so proud.
As if these things were not gifts of His grace! Don’t boast about you. That’s the point here.
The key word in verse 23 is “HIS.” "Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches...” You’re not supposed to ignore those things or pretend they don’t exist.  But you certainly aren’t supposed to trust in them and then boast in them.
How are you doing at that? If those things were stripped away from you, how would you fare? If you no longer were so smart, so strong, or so rich? How would you be doing?
You see, on the outside, Judah might have looked good. Things might have seemed to be going swimmingly. Plenty of men walking around with skills, strength, and money. But they were headed for disaster because they were trusting in those things which all ultimately let you down.
The LORD, through Jeremiah, says, “Don’t boast in those. They are here today and gone tomorrow. And you didn’t earn them in the first place. They are yours by grace but not by desert. So don’t take credit for them! And don’t trust in them. And so don’t talk them up.”
Instead, “If you feel the need to boast–boast about this...”
#2. BOAST ABOUT HIM.
Don’t boast about yourself. Boast about the LORD. Look at verse 24.
“‘...but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,’ declares the LORD.”
Boast about Him. Fill up your mind and your heart with Who God really is and that will come out of your mouth.
This “understanding” and “knowing” in verse 24 is not something that you can become prideful about if you’re doing it right. If you are doing it wrong, it can be like the wisdom of verse 23. People can get proud that they know all about God. I’ve been to Bible School and Seminary (twice!). I know that people can get sinfully proud of their knowledge about God. I have done it myself many times.
But this kind of understanding humbles you. 
And this kind of “knowing” isn’t just “knowing about’” it’s knowing personally. This is relationship language. Remember last week that Jeremiah said that the people of Judah had consistently refused to KNOW THE LORD. They knew lots about Him. They had the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD! And they had the Bible. They had the Law of LORD, the law of the LORD, the law of the LORD!
But they weren’t trusting the LORD or truly knowing Him in personal relationship.
They didn’t “get Him.” 
This kind of understanding and knowledge is a deep heart-level “getting” the LORD. “I get Him. I know what He loves and I love it, too. I know Him, and I know His heart.”
Do you know the LORD and know His heart?
That’s something to trust in and talk up! Not how great you are for “getting Him,” but how great He is for being “got.”
“[L]et him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD...” “I am Yahweh.”
Those words take us back to Exodus 34, don’t they? When Moses said, “Show me your glory!” And the LORD said, “Whoa, buddy. You don’t know what you’re asking, but here’s a glimpse.” And He put Moses in the cleft of the rock and He passed by, and He said His name. “[Yahweh, Yahweh,] the LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation” (Exod. 34:6-7).
That’s Who Yahweh is!
And if you know Him?! If you know His heart?!
Dads, this is your number one job as a Christian father. Teach your sons and your daughters who the LORD is and what He loves. 
Jeremiah lists three things: “I am the LORD who exercises: kindness, justice, and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight...”
We don’t have to wonder what the LORD loves! We don’t have wonder what the LORD delights in. He tells us right here.
Judah had been willfully ignoring these three things. They weren’t practicing any of those three things. They weren’t walking in the knowledge of the LORD they supposedly belonged to. They were not doing what the LORD delighted in. Read the first 9 chapters we’ve seen so far.
But it’s no secret! Here is His heart: “...I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight, declares the LORD.”
That word “kindness” is the Hebrew word “hesed.” We’ve studied it a lot the last few years, especially in the Psalms. It’s very difficult to translate because it’s so good! “Hesed” means more than just kindness but not less. Sometimes we have “lovingkindness.” Or “loyal love.” 
The idea is more like “grace.” God being loyal and devoted and super generous to those with whom He is in covenant, even when they don’t deserve it.
Remember Psalm 136, “His steadfast love endures forever.” That’s the word. “Hesed.” “Steadfast love.” “Divine Kindness.”
But at very the same time, the LORD is no pushover! Verse 24 says that He exercises “justice.” “Mishpat.”
He never does what is wrong. 
And more than that, He always does what is right. He exercises “righteousness.” “Tsedaqah.”
Right judgment and right authority. And right behavior. Covenant keeping faithfulness. God always keeps His promises.
Aren’t you glad that the LORD is like this? “Kindness, justice, and righteousness.”
Aren’t you glad that LORD delights in these things? “Kindness, justice, and righteousness.”
Aren’t you glad that this is what the LORD does every single day? Every single hour? Every single moment? “Kindness, justice, and righteousness.”
Imagine a world where the LORD is unkind, unjust, unrighteous on earth.
I’m so glad we don’t live in that world! This world is hard enough.
But God is good. 
Dads, teach this to your children diligently. Bring them up to know this LORD, with this heart. And, of course, that means you need to have a heart like this yourself. If this is what the LORD delights in and is doing, then you and I should be delighting in it and doing it, as well.
Dads who are kind.Dads who are just.Dads who are righteous.
That’s what we need!
Of those three, I think I have needed to learn the most about justice in the last few years, and I have a long way to go.
“Justice” has just been a word out there, and I haven’t given it enough thought. What does it mean for God to be just? What is biblical justice?
What would a just society look like? Where things were made right.
One day, we will know for certain.
Because we know that this is the LORD’s heart! This is the LORD’s character. He exercises justice, and it is His delight!
I love that word “delight!” Don’t you?
These three things are not just things that God is, but that God is passionate about.
God is not just perfect in these three ways, but He is passionate about them.
He loves kindness.He loves justice.He loves righteousness.
By the way, do you see what I’m doing here? I’m talking Him up. I’m boasting about the LORD about His heart. Instead of trying to make you impressed by my intellect, my powers of rhetoric, or my  my vast library of commentaries, I’m trying to point you to the LORD and His very heart. I’m trying to do what this passage tells us to do.
And dads out there, this is your number one job, and I know that you’re doing it.
You are trying to live as an example of kindness, justice, and righteousness and to point your kids to the One Who does it perfectly. Keep it up! 
Boast about Him to your kids. No matter how old they are. Or how old you are.
What a potent mixture of virtues, isn’t it? “Kindness, justice, and righteousness.”
I can imagine being really good at some of those but not all of them all at the same time, right? I mean, we who are dads often err on one end of that or the other. Like being kind and forgiving and gracious and generous on the one side. Or being just and righteous and firm and focused on doing what is right and expecting rightness on the other side. Which end do you gravitate towards?
The people of Judah were counting on the LORD being kind, but they were plugging their ears and hoping that He didn’t really care about justice and righteousness.
But Jeremiah was here to tell them that He is all of that!
He is not a doddering Father whom you can take advantage of. He is a consuming fire!
But He is not just a consuming fire. He is also a fountain of grace. He is a generous Father who delights to forgive.
And we who are Christians know this better than Judah ever could. Than even Jeremiah could!
Because we know about Jesus. We know about Yahweh taking on humanity and living out kindness, justice, and righteousness on earth as one of us.
And we know about the Cross! We know how “hesed, mishpat, and tsedaqah” came together at the Cross to bring us to the LORD Himself.
“Judgment and wrath He poured [out Jesus]Mercy and grace He gave us at the Cross.I hope that we have not too easily forgottenThat our God is an Awesome God.” [Rich Mullins, modified]
Boast about Him! Boast about this! Talk this up. That you understand and know Jesus.
The Apostle Paul said, “May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ...” (Galatians 6:14a, NIV84).
He also quoted Jeremiah 9:24 two times to the Corinthians.  1 Corinthians 1:31 and 2 Corinthians 10:13. 
He said to them, “[Y]ou are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God–that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: ‘Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.’” (1 Corinthians 1:31, NIV84).
Boast about Him! Talk that up. That you understand and know Jesus.
Assuming, of course, that you do. If you don’t know Jesus yet, don’t let anything stop you.
He invites you to trust Him and what He did on the Cross–that place where “love [hesed] and faithfulness meet together; righteousness [tsadek] and peace kiss each other.” (In the words of Psalm 85:10, NIV84). Jesus invites you to enter into a life-changing relationship with Him and learn His ways and His heart so that you know Him. So that you “get” Him. So that you trust Him.
And so that you then boast about Him all the live the long day.

***
Previous Messages in This Series:

01. "The Word of the LORD Came to Me" - Jeremiah 1:1-19
02. "I Bring Charges Against You" - Jeremiah 2:1-3:5
03. "Return to Me" - Jeremiah 3:6-4:4
04. “Oh My Anguish, My Anguish!” - Jeremiah 4:6-5:31
05. "Ask for the Ancient Paths" - Jeremiah 6:1-30
06. “This Is the Temple of the LORD, the Temple of the LORD, the Temple of the LORD!” - Jeremiah 7:1-8:3
07. "Is There No Balm in Gilead?" - Jeremiah 8:4-9:22

Happy Husband - 28 Years

For 28 years now, Heather Joy has crowned my head with joy.
"A wife of noble character is her husband's crown, but a disgraceful wife is like decay in his bones" (Prov. 12:4 NIV84).
(Good thing she crowns my head with joy because there isn't much hair up there!)
Resurrection Sunday 2022 - Photo by Dalton Kristofits

Gentle humor. We're always finding something to chuckle about.


June 18, 1994




Engagement Photos circa 1993




Photo by Donnie Rosie


Photo by Isaac Mitchell.
October 2017
Photo by: Nate Weatherly Photography, Used by Permission

June 2020



October 2020

February 2020

The Happy Husband

Oft, oft, methinks, the while with thee
I breathe, as from the heart, thy dear
And dedicated name, I hear
A promise and a mystery,
A pledge of more than passing life,
Yea, in that very name of wife!

A pulse of love that ne'er can sleep!
A feeling that upbraids the heart
With happiness beyond desert,
That gladness half requests to weep!
Nor bless I not the keener sense
And unalarming turbulence.

Of transient joys, that ask no sting
From jealous fears, or coy denying;
But born beneath Love's brooding wing,
And into tenderness soon dying.
Wheel out their giddy moment, then
Resign the soul to love again;

A more precipitated vein
Of notes that eddy in the flow
Of smoothest song, they come, they go,
And leave their sweeter understrain
Its own sweet self-a love of thee
That seems, yet cannot greater be!

Samuel Taylor Coleridge [poemhunter.com]

“Is There No Balm In Gilead?” [Matt's Messages]

“Is There No Balm In Gilead?”Uprooted - The Words of JeremiahLanse Evangelical Free ChurchJune 12, 2022 :: Jeremiah 8:4-9:22
As we turn to Jeremiah 8, let me tell you what we’re going to find there.
We’re going to find more tears.
Jeremiah is often called the Weeping Prophet. We saw that, especially, a few weeks ago as he described his belly-busting and heart-pounding anguish over his people’s sins and sufferings.
Well, there are more tears here. And there is more truth. 
Jeremiah doesn’t just mourn. He prophetically speaks the convicting truth about Jerusalem and Judah’s covenant breaking sins.
Last week, we read about just how far down Judah had slidden. They had broken all of the ten commandments, worshiped foreign gods and astral deities–getting their kids into the act with baking cakes for the Queen of Heaven and even sacrificing their kids to appease these false gods.
And at the same time, they had fooled themselves into thinking that they had an ace in the whole, a get-out-of-exile card to keep them from experiencing the LORD’s judgment for their sins. Remember what it was?
They had the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD!
But Jeremiah said that the temple would not save them. In fact, the LORD will not save the temple! Judgment is coming if they will not repent.
And they would not repent.
So Jeremiah laments.
Jeremiah mourns.
More truth, more tears.
Even more truth. Even more tears.
[VIDEO WILL BE EMBEDDED HERE.]
“Is there no balm in Gilead?”
What is the answer to that plaintive question?
Of course, to answer that question, you have to understand it first.
The word there is “balm” B-A-L-M. Not bomb, but balm meaning a soothing medicinal ointment. I think it’s short for “balsam.” It means a salve. 
A soothing medicinal ointment. An effective treatment for a bad wound.
The land of Gilead was famous for their healing balms. And it had been famous for them for a long, long time.  Remember a thousand years before Jeremiah was born when young Joseph was sold into slavery to that traveling caravan of Ishmaelites? Genesis chapter 37? 
Do you know where they had just come from? Across the Jordan River in a little place called “Gilead,” and guess what was loaded up on their camels? You got it! Genesis says that they were piled high with “spices, balm, and myrrh.”
Gilead was famous for its healing balms.
So, this is actually a rhetorical question that anticipates a positive answer.
What is the answer? “Is there no balm in Gilead?”
Yes, there is a balm in Gilead! Of course there is. There is always is. There always has been.
We would say, “Is the Pope Catholic?”“Is water wet?”“Do birds fly?”“Is the sky blue?”
“Is there no balm in Gilead?” Of course, there is! That’s where balms come from–the best ones!
So that leads to the next rhetorical question in verse 22.
“Is there no physician there?” That also expects a positive answer.
Yes, there is a physician there. Of course. It’s well known. Yes, there’s a doctor in the house!
So last searching question of verse 22, “Why then is there no healing for the wound of my people?”
Do you see what Jeremiah is going for? What he’s getting at?
There’s a metaphor here. Jeremiah is saying that the people of Judah are in a world of pain. Their national sin and suffering are likened to a painful wound.
And Jeremiah feels it deeply himself. Verse 21 says, “Since my people are crushed, I am crushed; I mourn and horror grips me.”
Jeremiah feels complete solidarity with his beloved Judah. Their pain is his pain. Their wound is his wound. The CSB translates it “I am broken by the brokenness of my dear people.”
We are in trouble! We are wounded.
So, is there no remedy?Is there no effective treatment?Is there nothing that can be done?Is there no doctor who knows what He is doing?
Has God not provided a way out of this pain?!
I think that’s what Jeremiah means when says, “Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? [I think there is!] Why then is there no healing for the wound of my people?”
That’s the bigger question.
And Jeremiah has been answering it all along in this book.
I thought it might be good to envision this message as kind of like a patient’s chart at the hospital. And think about what it might say in answer to that last question. “Why is there no healing for this wound?”
We’re at the LORD’s wound clinic, and Judah is the patient in the bed. What does the patient’s chart say about why they are not getting better?
What’s the truth about that? And why so many tears?
I’ve got three basic answers for that chart. Here’s the first one:
#1. THE PATIENT REFUSES THE RIGHT TREATMENT.
It’s not that there isn’t the right medicine.It’s not that there isn’t the right doctor.
The patient is refusing to take the right treatment.
Let’s back up and see how we got to this point. Look at verse 4. That’s where we left off last week. Jeremiah chapter 8, verse 4.
The LORD is putting more words in Jeremiah’s mouth about why judgment is coming on the nation of Judah. Verse 4.
“‘Say to them, 'This is what the LORD says: 'When men fall down, do they not get up? When a man turns away, does he not return?’”
What’s the answer to those questions? Most of the time, right?
That’s the normal thing to happen. You fall, you pick yourself up. When you go on a trip, you come back from the trip. V.5
“Why then have these people turned away? Why does Jerusalem always turn away? They cling to deceit; they refuse to return.”
We’re not just talking about falling down, are we? We’re talking “falling down!”
Can anybody guess what Hebrew word is being used here again and again? Six times in verses 4 through 6?
It’s “shuv.” Remember, “shuv?” Turn or return? 
Jerusalem always turns away and doesn’t turn back.
The LORD wants them to return to Him. He’s been listening to see if they would. V.6
“I have listened attentively, but they do not say what is right. No one repents of his wickedness, saying, ‘What have I done?’ Each pursues his own course like a horse charging into battle.”
Do you get a sense of what the treatment is for what ails them?
It’s repentance! It’s turning from their sin, from their idols, and to the LORD.
But these patients are not interested in that treatment. Not in the slightest.
“No one repents of his wickedness.”
“Nobody stops and says, ‘What have I done?’”
It’s like the crossroads message a couple of weeks ago. Nobody stops at the crossroads and looks. Nobody wonders if they are off track. They just barrel along!
Now, is that dumb or is that dumb?
Jeremiah says that even the birds know better. Verse 7.
“Even the stork in the sky knows her appointed seasons, and the dove, the swift and the thrush observe the time of their migration. But my people do not know the requirements of the LORD.”
It’s unnatural.It’s illogical.It’s irrational.It’s un-sensible.
And it is not at all unusual.
The patient refuses the right treatment.
Judah stubbornly refused to repent.
How about you and me?
We talked about this last week. Are we really willing to really change? It’s easy to see it when Judah does it, ad it’s fairly easy to see it in other people. But it’s harder to recognize sometimes in ourselves.
What is the Lord speaking to you about these days? What changes does He desire for your heart and life? Last week, I suggested that we all pray and ask the Holy Spirit to put His finger on something in our heart and life that needs to change and then to offer it up to Him. Did you do that? What did you discover?
If you can’t think of anything in your heart and life that needs to change, I suggest that you start there. I seriously doubt that you have arrived and that your heart perfectly maps onto Jesus’ heart.
What needs to change?
And are you really willing to do it?
The good news is that there is good medicine for what ails us.
The question is, will we take it?
There is an effective balm in Gilead, but you have take it.
It’s called repentance.
Of course, it doesn’t help in the slightest if you are surrounded by bad doctors who are giving you bad advice.
That’s point number two on this patient’s chart.
#2. BAD DOCTORS HAVE LIED ABOUT THE DIAGNOSIS.
Quack doctors have lied to the patient about their condition. Look at verse 8.
“'How can you say, ‘We are wise, for we have the law of the LORD,’ when actually the lying pen of the scribes has handled it falsely?’”
We’ve seen this a time or two already. Judah’s spiritual leaders had been leading them astray. They had been telling the people that they were actually wise when they were actually being foolish.
They were bad theologians. They were bad doctors of the soul.
They were twisting the Scriptures to make them say what they certainly did not mean and did not say.
But what they wanted them to say.
“We are wise, for we have the law of the LORD.”
We have our Bibles!We have the Torah.Just like we have the Temple of the LORD, the Temple of the LORD, the Temple of the LORD! And the sacrifices in it.
We have the Torah!
Never mind that we ignore it.Never mind that we disobey it.Never mind that we twist it to say what it does not say.
You see how these are bad doctors for your soul?
This is a major problem in our day, as well. People who claim to believe the Bible but actually twist its message to say what our itching ears want to hear.
And it comes from all directions. Don’t just think today about how those people over there twist the Bible to say what they want it to say, think today about how you are tempted to do it.
Their sins might seems like bright shining lights to you in the text and stand out in 50 point font, but your temptations are just shades of grey and in 10 point font.
We are all tempted circle around us voices that tell us that we’re okay.
That’s one of the biggest problems with social media. They call it the echo chamber. If you like a certain kind of thing over and over again, the algorithms out there will feed you more of the same. They’ll feed you more examples of those people doing it wrong, and more examples of other people telling you that you’re doing it right. 
Even if the Bible says you are not. There’s always a smiling preacher out there to tell you that it’s not so bad.
Go ahead and give into your sinful desire.Or go ahead and give in to your hate.It’s okay. “For we have the law of the LORD!”
The LORD of the Law will not let this go on forever. Verse 9.
“The wise will be put to shame; they will be dismayed and trapped. Since they have rejected the word of the LORD, what kind of wisdom do they have? [So judgment is coming.] Therefore I will give their wives to other men and their fields to new owners. [They will be uprooted.] From the least to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; prophets and priests alike, all practice deceit. They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. ‘Peace, peace,’ they say, when there is no peace.”
They bad doctors, aren’t they? Jeremiah sees it every day. The patient has come into the wound clinic, and there are signs of gangrene. But the patient doesn’t want to hear that. And the doctors want to get to paid. They are “prophets for profits!”
“Oh, that doesn’t look too bad. You’ll be fine. Everything will be okay. Everything will be okay.”
But everything will not be okay.
Maybe the best application of this whole passage today is to just say to the Lord, “Give it to me straight, doctor. I can take it. Tell me the truth about my condition. Because I know there is a balm in Gilead. I know that there is a physician there.”
But these quack doctors are shameless. V.12
“Are they ashamed of their loathsome conduct? No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush [They’re on television hawking their false diagnosis and false prognosis! “Peace, peace!”]. So they [the leaders] will fall among the fallen; they will be brought down when they are punished, says the LORD. 'I will take away their harvest, declares the LORD. There will be no grapes on the vine. There will be no figs on the tree, and their leaves will wither. What I have given them will be taken from them.' [The revocation of God’s good gifts. V.14 ]
‘Why are we sitting here? Gather together! Let us flee to the fortified cities and perish there! For the LORD our God has doomed us to perish and given us poisoned water to drink, because we have sinned against him.”
Now, what’s going on here? I think that this is Jerusalem speaking here. Judah speaking.
And I think I detect another twist in the plot. Another note for the patient’s chart.
I think the patient has begun to blame the good doctor. Do you see that? Do you hear that, too? Look at verse 15.
“We hoped for peace but no good has come, for a time of healing but there was only terror. The snorting of the enemy's horses is heard from Dan; at the neighing of their stallions the whole land trembles. They have come to devour the land and everything in it, the city and all who live there.’”
It kind of seems to me that they are blaming God for their predicament.
“We had hoped for peace. Some of our doctors had told us that it would be fine. And this doctor who is in charge, well, he got angry at us and took away our harvest and set our enemies on us. How are we supposed to heal when that’s going on? We are not healed. And whose fault is that, I mean, really?”
Well, the LORD knows whose fault it is, and He’s doing something about it. V.17
“See, I will send venomous snakes among you, vipers that cannot be charmed, and they will bite you,’ declares the LORD.”
Judgment is on the way. And it will not be the LORD’s fault.
He never stops confronting them in their sin.
And at the same time, He never stops caring for them either! Look at verse 18.
“O my Comforter in sorrow, my heart is faint within me. [I think that’s Jeremiah speaking. He’s really feeling all of the heaviness of this situation. V.19] Listen to the cry of my people from a land far away: ‘Is the LORD not in Zion? Is her King no longer there?’”
Now, that could very well be Jeremiah prophetically hearing the cries of the exiled people of Judah down the line. They are in “a land far away” and in pain.
But I tend to hear them almost blaming God for their predicament now. “Is the LORD not in Zion? Is her King no longer there?”
How come this is happening to us? Has the LORD abdicated His throne? He said that He would save us. Why isn’t He showing up?
Here’s how I put number three on the patient’s chart:
#3. THE PATIENT BLAMES THE GREAT PHYSICIAN.
He has listened to the bad doctors (who told him what he wanted to hear), and refused to listen to the best doctor (who told him what he didn’t want to hear).
And now he’s saying, “I wish that doctor would have done more. I kind of feel like he dropped us.”
And at the very same time (save verse!), the LORD is exasperated with them. Verse 19.
“Why have they provoked me to anger with their images, with their worthless foreign idols?”
Why don’t they take their medicine?
And then back to the patients. Verse 20.
“The harvest is past, the summer has ended, and we are not saved.”
Looks like it’s too late. Looks like Yahweh has failed. Looks like He’s not coming. All is lost.
Have you ever done this one? Blamed God for your own problems? Like Adam in the Garden, “It’s the woman you gave me, Lord!”
“How could you let this happen to me?” That, right there, is the height of arrogance. Blaming the doctor when you didn’t take His medicine.
But, oh, the consequences! 
Jeremiah feels this all the way down to the bottom of his soul. V.21 again.
“Since my people are crushed, I am crushed; I mourn, and horror grips me. [That’s the only right response to something like this. Horror and mourning and lament. Because all of resources are there just waiting to be used.] Is there no balm in Gilead? [Yes, there is!] Is there no physician there? [Yes, the Great Physician!] Why then is there no healing for the wound of my people? [It’s not the Physician’s fault. And it’s not prophet’s fault either. And yet he weeps over it. Chapter 9.] Oh, that my head were a spring of water and my eyes a fountain of tears! I would weep day and night for the slain of my people.”
What a picture that is?!
He wishes his head was a spring of water and his eyes were a water fountain. His eye sockets were spouts and water just pouring out of them.
He’s saying that there isn’t enough water in his head for all of the appropriate tears for this tragedy! If they won’t repent, then the only right thing to do is to cry and to cry some more.
Note that. That’s important. We’ve see that before and we’ll see it again. We are tempted to either stop caring or stop confronting. But Jeremiah will not do either. He will not stop caring. He will continue to cry. He will wish he had more water in his head so he could cry more tears!
He will not harden his heart against his beloved people and become callous and uncaring. And say, “Well, they made their bed. They can lie it.”
And at the very same time, he will not fall into the ditch on the other side and say, “I guess it’s not all that bad.” He continues to confront. 
In fact, it’s more complex than that. Sometimes he cares so much, he wishes that he could get away because it hurts too much. Look at verse 2.
“Oh, that I had in the desert a lodging place for travelers, so that I might leave my people and go away from them; for they are all adulterers, a crowd of unfaithful people. [Sometimes it feels like too much. Have you ever felt like that? Judah has fallen so far. They have become a society of liars. Verse 3.] They make ready their tongue like a bow, to shoot lies; it is not by truth that they triumph in the land. They go from one sin to another; they do not acknowledge me,’ declares the LORD. [That’s important. He’ll say it again in verse 6. But first more about how deceptive they have become. Verse 4.] Beware of your friends; do not trust your brothers. For every brother is a deceiver, and every friend a slanderer. Friend deceives friend, and no one speaks the truth. They have taught their tongues to lie; they weary themselves with sinning. You live in the midst of deception; in their deceit they refuse to acknowledge me,’ declares the LORD.” Doesn’t that sound like our society today? So much spin, so much disinformation, so much fraud, so many lies. It’s hard to know whom to trust. 
And you and I should be different from that. We should stand out as people of truth in a day of lies. How are you doing at that? Did you tell the truth this week? Is there anyone you need to talk to about your lies?
Dishonesty is, apparently, contagious. 
But there is an antidote! It’s called, “knowing the LORD.”
We’re going to talk more about that, Lord-willing, next week. To know the LORD (or here in verse 3 and verse 6 to “acknowledge” Him) is more than just to know about the LORD.
It’s to know Him personally. To trust Him fully. To be in relationship with Him. It’s what our church is all about–a life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ.
It’s what Jesus died on the cross for us to enjoy. Jesus said, “Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent” (John 17:3).
Do you know Him? Are you walking with Him?
Judah refused to know the LORD. They were too tied up with their lies. And so the LORD was going to bring judgment. Verse 7.
“Therefore this is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘See, I will refine and test them, for what else can I do because of the sin of my people? Their tongue is a deadly arrow; it speaks with deceit. With his mouth each speaks cordially to his neighbor, but in his heart he sets a trap for him. 
Should I not punish them for this?’ declares the LORD. ‘Should I not avenge myself on such a nation as this?’ [Yes, of course, you should. It is only just! But doesn’t mean that it feels good. In fact, it feels terrible. It makes Jeremiah like weeping. Verse 10.]
I will weep and wail for the mountains and take up a lament concerning the desert pastures. They are desolate and untraveled, and the lowing of cattle is not heard. The birds of the air have fled and the animals are gone. ‘I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins, a haunt of jackals; and I will lay waste the towns of Judah so no one can live there.’ 
What man is wise enough to understand this? Who has been instructed by the LORD and can explain it? Why has the land been ruined and laid waste like a desert that no one can cross? [If there is a balm in Gilead, if there is a physician in the land, why then is there no healing for the wound of my people? Here’s why. The patient has rejected the treatment and the Great Physician himself. V.13]
The LORD said, ‘It is because they have forsaken my law, which I set before them; they have not obeyed me or followed my law. Instead, they have followed the stubbornness of their hearts; they have followed the Baals, as their fathers taught them.’
Therefore, this is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘See, I will make this people eat bitter food and drink poisoned water. I will scatter them among nations that neither they nor their fathers have known, and I will pursue them with the sword until I have destroyed them.’ [They will be uprooted.]
This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘Consider now! Call for the wailing women to come; send for the most skillful of them. [You’re going to need professional mourners ther ewillbe so much to lament.] Let them come quickly and wail over us till our eyes overflow with tears and water streams from our eyelids. The sound of wailing is heard from Zion: 'How ruined we are! How great is our shame! We must leave our land because our houses are in ruins.' 
Now, O women, hear the word of the LORD; open your ears to the words of his mouth. Teach your daughters how to wail; teach one another a lament. Death has climbed in through our windows and has entered our fortresses; it has cut off the children from the streets and the young men from the public squares. Say, ‘This is what the LORD declares: 'The dead bodies of men will lie like refuse on the open field, like cut grain behind the reaper, with no one to gather them” (Jeremiah 9:7-22).
"I’m sorry, but this patient is terminal. They listened to the wrong doctors, the ones that told them what they wanted to hear. They did not listen to the right doctor who prescribed repentance and truly knowing Him. And they refused to take their medicine. 
And so the only right thing to now is weep.And weep some more.And weep some more."
But you and I can still learn from Judah’s errors.
We don’t have to be bad patients in the care of the Great Physician. We can listen when He says that we have a serious wound that needs to be treated right away. And we can take the effective medicine that He offers. We can live lives of repentance and truth and knowing Him.
Because there is a balm in Gilead.
The old African-American spiritual has it right. I listened to Mahalia Jackson sing this song over and over again this week as I prepared this message. In the song, it’s not a question.
It’s an answer:
“There is a balm in GileadTo make the wounded whole;There is a balm in GileadTo heal the sin-sick soul.”
It’s Jesus!
“You can tell the love of Jesus, and say, ‘He died for all.’”

***
Previous Messages in This Series:

01. "The Word of the LORD Came to Me" - Jeremiah 1:1-19
02. "I Bring Charges Against You" - Jeremiah 2:1-3:5
03. "Return to Me" - Jeremiah 3:6-4:4
04. “Oh My Anguish, My Anguish!” - Jeremiah 4:6-5:31
05. "Ask for the Ancient Paths" - Jeremiah 6:1-30
06. “This Is the Temple of the LORD, the Temple of the LORD, the Temple of the LORD!” - Jeremiah 7:1-8:3

“This Is the Temple of the LORD, the Temple of the LORD, the Temple of the LORD!” [Matt's Messages]

“This Is the Temple of the LORD, the Temple of the LORD, the Temple of the LORD!”Uprooted - The Words of JeremiahLanse Evangelical Free ChurchJune 5, 2022 :: Jeremiah 7:1-8:3 
Last week, we looked at chapter 6 in which the LORD, through Jeremiah, told His people to stop and ask for directions. To take stock of the wrong ways in which they were traveling and ask, instead, for the ancient paths, the everlasting paths, to ask what was the good way and then to walk in it and “find rest for their souls.”
But He also sadly said that they refused to listen. They said, “We will not.”
And so judgment is coming on Judah.
By now you have might have sensed a theme in Words of Jeremiah.
Judgment is coming.
Jeremiah was told to say it again and again for 40 years.
Judgment is coming.
If Judah will not repent, then judgment is coming.
If Judah will reject the LORD, the LORD will reject them.
Judgment is coming. They are going to be “Uprooted.”
Believe it or not, chapter 7 has the exact same message.
Judgment is coming. The LORD is warning them and inviting them to repent.
And lamenting the fact that they will not repent.
And along the way, He not only explains more fully than ever why the judgment is coming but also how Judah could escape it.
And from those instructions, we can learn much about how to live for the Lord Jesus Christ today in 2022.
[VIDEO WILL BE EMBEDDED HERE.]
I’m pretty sure that this is the longest title that I have ever slapped onto a Sunday sermon in the last 24 years.
It’s 17 words. It’s a direct quote from verse 4, “This Is the Temple of the Lord, the Temple of the Lord, the Temple of the Lord!” 
Man, that sounds good, doesn’t it? It sounds so confident. So strong. So declarative. And it builds. “This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD!”
There is only one problem. The LORD, through Jeremiah, says that these are “deceptive words.”
Listen the whole of verse 4: “Do not trust in deceptive words and say, ‘This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD!’
Don’t say that. Don’t believe that. Don’t chant that. Don’t make this your slogan. And whatever you do, do not trust these words: “This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD!”
This is going going to take some thinking, isn’t it?
What do you think might be deceptive about these words? Why are they deceitful? Why are they are, in words of the King James, “lying words?” “Trust ye not in lying words saying ‘the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD are these.”
What’s so bad about these words? Was the temple bad? Was Solomon’s temple bad?
No! It was wonderful, and the LORD had blessed it with His own presence. He had put His own Name on it. He said, “This is MY house!” Remember when we read about its construction in 1 Kings? Glorious! Gold everywhere. And God’s holy presence filled it at its dedication (see 1 Kings 6-8). 
The LORD loved that thing. He called it His own house. His earthly headquarters.
So maybe it’s the repetition? Is it bad to repeat something three times? Does that make it deceptive?
What about, “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD God Almighty.” No, it can’t be just the repetition. What do you think it might be?
It must not be the words themselves all by themselves but how they were using the words. Let’s back up and see how Jeremiah gets to verse 4. Look up at verse 1.
“This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: ‘Stand at the gate of the LORD's house and there proclaim this message: ‘'Hear the word of the LORD, all you people of Judah who come through these gates to worship the LORD. This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Reform your ways and your actions, and I will let you live in this place. Do not trust in deceptive words and say, ‘This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD!’”
It helps to get some of the context, doesn’t it?
The LORD has sent Jeremiah out with another message in his mouth, and this time he’s supposed to deliver it at the gate of the temple itself.
We’re not sure when this was. Remember, Jeremiah is not presented in chronological order. He jumps around between the reigns of Josiah, Jehoiakim, and Zedekiah (1:1-3).
It’s likely that this one came during the reign of Jehoiakim. We think that because of what we’re eventually going to read in chapter 26. You might want to look at it this afternoon. It’s a time when Jeremiah was supposed to prophesy in the temple during the reign of Jehoiakim, and he gets in a boatload of trouble for it! 
It’s quite possible that this is exactly was what he said that day!
But even if we don’t know for sure when this was, we know for sure where this was. He was at the doors of the temple itself, and prophesying to the people who were streaming in for worship.
These folks were very religious. There were lots of people “coming to church,” so to speak. Big crowds. 
And Jeremiah is at the door, and he’s saying, “Repent!” 
“This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Reform your ways and your actions, and I will let you live in this place.”
Here’s the deal. It’s been the deal for Israel ever since Deuteronomy. If they love the LORD and keep the covenant, they get to stay in the land of blessing. If they forsake the LORD and break the covenant, they go into the curse of exile. That’s the deal.
They don’t deserve the blessings either way. It’s all of grace, but they don’t get the blessings if they forsake the LORD. 
And they have forsaken the LORD.
But, catch this, they aren’t worried about it!
Because they think they have an ace in the hole.
They think they have a “get out of exile card.” 
They’ve got the temple.
They think that Jeremiah is out to lunch. He’s going on and on about all of this “repentance stuff,” but it’s really no big deal. Because they’ve got the temple.
Yahweh is not going to let anything bad happen to His temple. He loves this place. Look at it. “This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD!”
“Don’t worry about holiness. We have the temple. And more than that, we have what goes on inside of the temple–the sacrifices. Don’t worry your pretty little head. We’re good. We’re safe. We’ll be fine. We’ll be okay. ‘Peace, peace!’ All is well.”
“This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD!”
Do you see how those words can be deceptive? How those words have lulled them into a false sense of security? 
Yes, this is the temple of the LORD, but it doesn’t work that way.
It’s not a good luck charm. It’s not a magic talisman or totem.It’s not a inviolable object that the LORD is sure to protect at all costs.
So you might want to retire that mantra.You might want to find yourself another slogan.You might want to reconsider your superstitions and re-check what exactly you are trusting in.
Because these are deceptive words: “This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD!”
This morning, I have two questions for us to ask ourselves to apply this passage to our lives. Two questions to pray about all day long and ask the LORD to help us to answer truthfully for ours lives today. Here’s the first one:
#1. WHAT ARE WE TEMPTED TO TRUST IN THAT IS ACTUALLY DECEPTIVE?
What are you and I tempted to put our trust in that is actually deceiving us?
It probably sounds good.
This phrase sounds good. It’s very reassuring. We love to be reassured.
And it’s a slogan based on something good and true. But something can be good and true and misused so that it becomes a dangerous thing to trust in.
What might you and I be tempted to misplace our trust in?
Well, how about going to church? That would actually be a pretty close parallel.
“I go to church. I go to church. I go to church! I’m good.”
Or maybe it’s a certain church, “I go to Lanse Free Church, I go to Lanse Free Church, I go to Lanse Free Church! We’re EFCA. We’re safe.”
“I do my devotions. I do my devotions. I do my devotions! I’m fine.”
“I’m baptized. I’m baptized. I’m baptized!”
“I have the right theology. I have the right theology. I have the right theology!”
Or this thing down here, “This is the Table of the Lord. The Table of the Lord. The Table of the Lord!”
Yours might not be any of those. It might be something completely different.
Whatever your temptation might be, it’ll be something good that the Lord has given us, but we begin to put our trust in it instead of in Him.
It could even be our conversion experience. “Well, I prayed a prayer when I was younger. I prayed a prayer when I was younger. I prayed a sinner’s prayer when I was younger! So I don’t have repent now. I don’t have to live for Jesus now."
Do you see how deceptive those words can be?
What are you tempted to put your trust in that is actually deceiving you?
What do you want to be true so that you’re hiding behind it?
What are the conmen false teachers selling you these days, and you’re tempted to buy it?
What is for you, “the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD!”?
Jeremiah says that the LORD will have none of that. He cuts right through it. Verse 5.
“If you really change your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly, if you do not oppress the alien [that is the resident foreigner], the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not follow other gods to your own harm, then I will let you live in this place, in the land I gave your forefathers for ever and ever.”
But it’s gotta be real! Judah needed to get real. They needed to enact justice. They needed to enact compassion. They needed to care for the most vulnerable people in the land.  And they needed to put away their idols. Or they were going to be sent away. 
Yes, the LORD had given them this land for ever and ever, but He had also told them that they were going to be exiled from it if they weren’t faithful to Him.
And look! They weren’t faithful to Him. Verse 8. “But look, you are trusting in deceptive words that are worthless [“The temple of the LORD!”]. 'Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to Baal and follow other gods you have not known [that’s like breaking half of the Ten Commandments], and then come and stand before me in this house, which bears my Name, and say, ‘We are safe’–safe to do all these detestable things? Has this house, which bears my Name, become a den of robbers to you? But I have been watching! declares the LORD.”
He sees what’s going on, and He is rightly indignant about it.
Yes, this is the temple of the LORD. And they ought to be shaking in their boots that they have acted this way in it!
It’s a lot like that question that the Apostle Paul asks in Romans chapter 6. When he has explained how amazing grace is and then brings up the common but nonsensical question, “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means!” (Rom. 6:1-2a NIVO).
We have grace! Lots of grace. Every time we sin, we experience more grace. So let’s sin some more so that we get even more grace!
We have the temple of the LORD and the sacrifices inside of it, so we’re safe to do all of these detestable things.
No. That’s not how it works.
Does verse 11 sound familiar to you? “Den of robbers?" Who used that phrase in the New Testament?
Yep. The Lord Jesus Himself quoted Jeremiah 7:11. And He meant there that they were literally stealing in the temple! Here, the point is that they were using the temple as a kind of hideout. 
“We’ll do what we want, and then we’ll hide in the temple and nobody will be able to get to us. Not even God. We’re safe in here. He would never do anything against His earthly home.”
Well, I wouldn’t count on that if I were you. Look at verse 12.
“Go now to the place in Shiloh where I first made a dwelling for my Name, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of my people Israel. While you were doing all these things, declares the LORD, I spoke to you again and again, but you did not listen; I called you, but you did not answer. Therefore, what I did to Shiloh I will now do to the house that bears my Name, the temple you trust in, the place I gave to you and your fathers.”
What did He do in Shiloh? What was that all about? Shiloh was the first place where the tabernacle was located. It was actually in the North. That’s where the LORD’s first house was! But now the LORD’s house was no longer there (read Psalm 78:60-64).
Now Shiloh is a ghost-town. 
You think that LORD won’t abandon the Temple? He’s done it before. Don’t hide behind “the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD!” When the LORD of the Temple is calling you, and you refuse to pick up. You keep swiping left. And so this is what’s going to happen. V.15
“I will thrust you from my presence, just as I did all your brothers, the people of Ephraim.'”
They are going to be uprooted. They are going to go into exile. 
And Jeremiah isn’t allowed to ask for anything different. Listen to these shocking words. Verse 16.
“So do not pray [He’s talking to Jeremiah] for this people nor offer any plea or petition for them; do not plead with me, for I will not listen to you.”
That’s scary, isn’t it? The prophet is not allowed to pray for his people?
I’m thankful that the Lord never says that to us in the New Testament!
At this moment, the LORD is saying that it’s too late, the verdict is in, there will not be any more clemency. They have passed the point of no return.
I wonder if He actually means that Jeremiah can’t pray that the LORD will go easy on them–not that he can’t pray that they repent and get restored, just that he can’t pray for more time, more patience, more leniency without their repentance.
Because it would be absolutely unjust if He did that. Just look! Verse 17.
“Do you not see what they are doing in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? The children gather wood, the fathers light the fire, and the women knead the dough and make cakes of bread for the Queen of Heaven. They pour out drink offerings to other gods to provoke me to anger.”
Do you get the picture? This is where Judah has gotten to. The whole Israelite family is involved in false worship. They are doing family ministry, but it doesn’t look at all like faithfulness to Yahweh.
The whole family is making little worship cakes in the kitchen for the goddess Ishtar of Babylon, also known as Anet or Ashtoreth or Astarte. Probably the planet Venus being worshiped as the goddess of war, of love, and of fertility.
“And, boy, are these little Queenie cakes good!”
They are either in the form of a woman or a star. And it’s something “the whole family does together!”
"And you want to pray that I go easy on them? I don’t think so. They are provoking me to wrath, and it’s hurting them, too." Verse 19.
“But am I the one they are provoking? declares the LORD. Are they not rather harming themselves, to their own shame? 'Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: My anger and my wrath will be poured out on this place, on man and beast, on the trees of the field and on the fruit of the ground, and it will burn and not be quenched.”
“And you all want to say, ‘This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD!' ? I don’t think so.”
“You want to keep bringing your sacrifices and pretending that that makes everything okay. Well, go ahead. Be my guest. In fact, tuck in. Eat the sacrifices yourself for as much good as it will do you!” Look at verse 21.
“'This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Go ahead, add your burnt offerings to your other sacrifices and eat the meat yourselves! [You might as well–even though that was totally against the Law of Moses!] For when I brought your forefathers out of Egypt and spoke to them, I did not just give them commands about burnt offerings and sacrifices, but I gave them this command: Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in all the ways I command you, that it may go well with you.”
Ask for the ancient paths. Ask what the good way is and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. “A life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ.”
Don’t just trust in the temple and the sacrifices in the temple. Repent of your sins and walk with the LORD. If you don’t, you are making a mockery of the temple and the sacrifices in the temple.
Here’s the second and last application question for you and me today. Number two.
#2. ARE WE REALLY WILLING TO CHANGE?
It’s not good enough to just mouth a religious slogan.
The LORD wants our hearts.
Are we really willing to change?
Remember what He said back in verse 5. “If you really change your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly, if you do not oppress the [immigrant], the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not follow other gods to your own harm, then I will let you live in this place, in the land I gave your forefathers for ever and ever” (vv.5-7).
But it’s gotta be real! Not just going through the motions. Or trusting in the slogans.
I love our slogan here, “The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing. And the main thing is the gospel.” 
“The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.”
But woe to us if that is just words!
If we don’t actually keep the main thing the main thing.
If we say, “Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit!”
And go around living un-holy spiritual lives?
It’s gotta be real. Not perfect. Far from perfect! But genuine. Authentic. From the heart.
Are we really willing to change?
Judah was not willing to change. Verse 24.
“But they did not listen or pay attention; instead, they followed the stubborn inclinations of their evil hearts. They went backward and not forward. From the time your forefathers left Egypt until now, day after day, again and again I sent you my servants the prophets. [From the Exodus to the end of 2 Kings! You can’t say I didn’t warn you!] But they did not listen to me or pay attention. They were stiff-necked and did more evil than their forefathers.'
[These are religious people! These are people streaming into church. They are headed into the Temple. But as they do, they have their hands over their ears. V.27] ‘When you tell them all this, they will not listen to you; when you call to them, they will not answer. Therefore say to them, 'This is the nation that has not obeyed the LORD its God or responded to correction. Truth has perished; it has vanished from their lips. [Mourn for them.] Cut off your hair and throw it away; take up a lament on the barren heights, for the LORD has rejected and abandoned this generation that is under his wrath."
Here’s how bad they’ve gotten. V.30
'The people of Judah have done evil in my eyes, declares the LORD. They have set up their detestable idols in the house that bears my Name and have defiled it. [In ‘the Temple of the LORD, the Temple of the LORD, the Temple of the LORD!–they have set up idols to gods that are not the LORD! Of course, He’s going clean that temple out and have it torn down! Worse even than that, verse 31.] 
They have built the high places of Topheth in the Valley of Ben Hinnom to burn their sons and daughters in the fire–something I did not command, nor did it enter my mind. [This is unthinkable. To incinerate your own children in the name of worship? To sacrifice them to Molech?! Manasseh did this child sacrifice. And Josiah stopped it. But apparently it was back in the time of Jehoiakim. And it was an abomination to the LORD and bringing His hot anger. Verse 32.] 
“So beware, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when people will no longer call it Topheth [Shameful Fireplace] or the Valley of Ben Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter, for they will bury the dead in Topheth until there is no more room. [A cemetery for the guilty. The whole city will die and the bodies will pile up.] Then the carcasses of this people will become food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and there will be no one to frighten them away. I will bring an end to the sounds of joy and gladness and to the voices of bride and bridegroom in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem, for the land will become desolate. [There will be no more weddings. Just funerals. And more funerals. Until there is no one left to conduct the funerals. And then the enemy will dig up the graves! Chapter 8.] At that time, declares the LORD, the bones of the kings and officials of Judah, the bones of the priests and prophets, and the bones of the people of Jerusalem will be removed from their graves. They will be exposed to the sun and the moon and all the stars of the heavens, which they have loved and served and which they have followed and consulted and worshiped. [Laying there under the Queen of Heaven, the useless, powerless, helpless Queen of Heaven. What good is she now?!] They will not be gathered up or buried, but will be like refuse lying on the ground. Wherever I banish them, all the survivors of this evil nation will prefer death to life, declares the LORD Almighty.'”
No more joy. Just gloom.
No more dignity. Just insult. Just shame.
And the people who survive the sacking of Jerusalem and the tearing down of their temple will wish they were dead.
So don’t say to yourselves, “Don’t worry! This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD!”
Not for long.Not for long.Get real.Not for long.
Judah was not willing to really change.
What about you and me?
Are we just pretending?Are we just going through the motions?Do we talk a good fight, but there is no reality underneath?
I don’t mean, “Do you have your act together?” Because I’m sure you don’t. I know I don’t.
But I do mean, “Are you hiding behind a religious veneer? Are you trusting in a good thing that cannot save you? Are you acting like you have a “get out of exile card” that excuses your unrepentant sin?
Or are you real before the Lord and really willing to change?
To allow Him by His grace and for His glory to make you like His Son?
Those are not deceptive words. 

***
Previous Messages in This Series:

01. "The Word of the LORD Came to Me" - Jeremiah 1:1-19
02. "I Bring Charges Against You" - Jeremiah 2:1-3:5
03. "Return to Me" - Jeremiah 3:6-4:4
04. “Oh My Anguish, My Anguish!” - Jeremiah 4:6-5:3105. "Ask for the Ancient Paths" - Jeremiah 6:1-30

"He Will Be Enough" by Katie Faris

Our friend, Katie Faris, has just published a new book with the Good Book Company entitled, He Will Be Enough: How God Takes You By The Hand Through Your Hardest Days. I got to read an advanced copy, and it's really good. Knowing Katie and her writing, I figured it would be, but I was not only un-surprised by its quality but very encouraged by her words. It was a joyful privilege to offer my endorsement:

Our friend Katie has a unique way of writing both from a place of frailty and weakness and also with a clear heart of joyful confidence in the Lord. She calls it ‘write in the middle,’ and her distinctive voice comes through once again in He Will Be Enough as she ministers God’s sufficient grace to her readers. I will be handing out copious copies, especially to those finding themselves caught in the middle of uncertainty and pain.

In the video below, Katie talks about the central idea behind the 20 meditations. I encourage you to watch it, download all of the free resources (Bible worksheets and reflection questions), and definitely read the book. It's compelling and heartening.

“Ask for the Ancient Paths” [Matt's Messages]

“Ask for the Ancient Paths”Uprooted - The Words of JeremiahLanse Evangelical Free ChurchMay 29, 2022 :: Jeremiah 6:1-30 
We said last Sunday that chapters 4, 5, and 6 hang together as a unit about the terrible judgment that Jeremiah says is set to be poured out on the southern kingdom of Judah.
Chapter 1 predicted it in first place. Chapter 2 told us the reason why it was coming–which was Judah’s spiritual adultery, that is idolatry. Chapter 3 was a passionate plea from the LORD Himself for Judah to repent and escape that judgment. And then last week, we looked at chapters 4 and 5 which poignantly and painfully expressed the belly-busting and heart-pounding anguish that Jeremiah felt himself as he contemplated the right and righteous judgment to come upon his people.
Chapter 6 just continues this theme of impending judgment and doom.
And it continues the theme of lament. The sadness of the prophet at the awful message that he has to deliver. Has to. You can hear this in his voice as he continues, even now, to implore his people repent.
And yet they don’t.
I want to read just one verse to you this as we get started. It will be the key verse for this message, and it will sound encouraging at first, but there is a sting in the tail.
Jeremiah chapter 6, verse16, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But you said, 'We will not walk in it.'”
[VIDEO WILL BE EMBEDDED HERE.]
Jeremiah 6:16 is a great verse for Graduation Sunday!
When I realized last week that we might land on it on Grad Sunday, I thought, “That’s great! Thank you, Lord! Jeremiah 6:16 is a great verse for the graduates we are celebrating this morning.”
Because you guys are at a crossroads in your own life.
Khandyce, Josh, Katlyn, Jeremiah, and Gretchen, you have not only reached a significant milestone in your life, but this is one of those key moments when it’s really wise to step back and take stock of your life and consider which directions you want to move in. Which “roads” you want to travel down.
Especially because this might be the first time in your life where you really begin to get to choose for yourselves. The options aren’t limited by your parents or your school district. You are launching on your own.
And Jeremiah the prophet (not Jeremiah the graduate! Jeremiah Michaels is going to be really confused today because sometimes I will be talking about him! Jeremiah the prophet) has a great metaphor for taking stock of your life and choosing your life’s direction. It’s the metaphor of the crossroads.
How many churches and ministries have been called “Crossroads” after this verse?!
Listen to it again. We will return to it over and over this morning. Jeremiah 6:16.
“This is what the LORD says [God’s word to us]: ‘Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But you said, 'We will not walk in it.'”
I have three points of application for us to consider today, and they are all one word each, and each word begins with the same letter, the letter “L.” 
The first one is right there in verse 16. It is:
#1. LOOK.
Jeremiah says, “Stand at the crossroads and look...”
Jeremiah is giving Judah yet another chance. He’s telling them that they ought stop and take stock of what direction they are headed in.
Judah was not headed in a good and godly direction and had not been for many decades. And the LORD sent Jeremiah to say, “Stop. Look around. Think about what you’re doing here. Think about where you are going.”
And, of course, that’s good counsel for our graduates and for all of us, as well.
Stop. Look around. Think about where you are going.
Obviously, our grads all have some good plans for their futured. Misty has summarized what they all said in the bulletin for us. But the directions that Jeremiah is talking about here are deeper than just education and vocation. This is talking about a total way of life.
The LORD is inviting Judah to take a good hard look at themselves and see what they are doing with their whole lives.
“Stand at the crossroads and look...”
Really look.
And don’t just try to figure it out on your own. Ask for help. Listen to verse 16 again. Twice he says to ask for roadside assistance.
“Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is...”
Do you get the picture in your mind’s eye?
The metaphor is somebody who might be lost. They might have lost their way. They are not sure which way is the right or the best way to go.
And they are now at a crossroads. And they are examining the different directions.
“Hmm. This one looks interesting. Kind of goes off thataway. Okay. Then there’s this one. It goes over there, I can’t see that far. I wonder if that’s the way home? Hmm.” What do you do then?
Some of you guys are like, “I don’t know. I don’t ask for directions.”
Many of us are instinctively reaching for our phones right now. GPS! That’s a way of asking for help.
Judah didn’t have GPS in this metaphor. In this metaphor, they had to stop and ask for some help from another person. And they needed a wise person to offer that help.
Khandyce, Josh, Katlyn, Jeremiah, and Gretchen, do you have wise and godly people in your lives that you can ask for help when you are looking for direction?
Church family, do you? Do you have wise and goldy people in your lives that you can ask for help when you are looking for direction?
“Ask for the ancient paths.”
Now, that does not mean that if it’s “older it’s better.” Sometimes we get to be traditionalists who think that if it’s the way we used to do it that would be the best way. “They don’t do it the way they used to.” Sometimes the old way is better. Often! Sometimes the new way is better.
This word “ancient” her could be translated “everlasting.” It’s the word “olam.”
So it’s the “everlasting paths.” That means “God’s paths.” The way of “wisdom.” Not just the old ones, but the wise ones. The ancient roadway that God set up for us to walk in the first place.
“Ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is...”
It’s not always obvious. Which way is the safe way? Which way is the reliable way? Which way is the straight way?
Does this remind you of anything? My mind immediately goes to the most quoted verse for graduates every May–Proverbs 3:5-6, and with good reason. Say it with me if you know it!
“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways [same word as here] acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight” (Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV84).
So that’s asking the LORD which path to take and then trusting Him when He gives you the answer.
And that’s point number two. Second “L” word:
#2. LISTEN.
Don’t just look. Don’t just ask for that wisdom.
But listen to the wisdom and then follow it.
Actually choose to walk the good path.
“[A]sk for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it...”
Listen. 
This also makes me think about Psalm 1.
“Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night” (Ps. 1:1-2 NIV84).
He listens. And then he listens some more.
He rejects the path of folly and sin. And he chooses the ancient path of wisdom.
Khandyce, Josh, Katlyn, Jeremiah, and Gretchen, today we gave each of you a Bible. I hope we’ve been giving you the wisdom of the Bible for many years! 
My counsel for you today is “Listen” to it. Walk in it.
Sadly, Judah did not. Did you hear the sting in the tail of verse 16?
When I was a young man I loved Jeremiah 16:6, and I memorized it. But I always stopped short of quoting to myself that last fatal part where Jeremiah says to Judah, “But you said, ‘We will not walk in it.’”
They refused! They refused to listen.
Sadly, that’s the theme of chapter 6! They did not listen.
Let’s jump back up to the top of the chapter and see how they refused. Look at verse 1. It starts out a lot like chapter 4 did with a call to run away. Verse 1.
“‘Flee for safety, people of Benjamin! Flee from Jerusalem! Sound the trumpet in Tekoa! Raise the signal over Beth Hakkerem! For disaster looms out of the north, even terrible destruction. [Run away! There is disaster coming. From the north. Just like we saw before. That’s going to turn out to be Babylon. But’s not just Babylon; it’s the LORD Himself. V.2] I will destroy the Daughter of Zion, so beautiful and delicate. [So beloved and yet so wicked.] Shepherds with their flocks will come against her; they will pitch their tents around her, each tending his own portion.’ [She’s surrounded. They speak:] ‘Prepare for battle against her! Arise, let us attack at noon! But, alas, the daylight is fading, and the shadows of evening grow long. So arise, let us attack at night and destroy her fortresses!’ [Either they are so anxious to attack that they will do it whenever they can or they are so ruthless that they are not going to stop–morning, noon, or night. Either way, it’s terrible for Judah. V.6] This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘Cut down the trees and build siege ramps against Jerusalem. This city must be punished; it is filled with oppression. As a well pours out its water, so she pours out her wickedness. Violence and destruction resound in her; her sickness and wounds are ever before me.
Take warning, O Jerusalem, or I will turn away from you and make your land desolate so no one can live in it.’”
Listen! The LORD is saying that this city is so wicked that He must bring judgment on them or He would be unjust. Their wickedness is like a fresh fountain with fresh evil every day–like school shootings and grocery store shootings every day!
“Violence and destruction resound in her; her sickness and wounds are ever before me.”
But it doesn’t have to be that way. “Take warning, O Jerusalem.”
Even now, the LORD pleads with them to repent. “Return to me.” v.9
“This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘Let them glean the remnant of Israel as thoroughly as a vine; pass your hand over the branches again, like one gathering grapes.’ [Jeremiah, try to find someone out there who will listen. Try every single one. V.10] To whom can I speak and give warning? Who will listen to me? Their ears are closed so they cannot hear. The word of the LORD is offensive to them; they find no pleasure in it.”
He says, “They’re going ‘Na na na na na. I can’t hear you!’”
They’ve got their fingers in their ears.
It’s worse than that. Jeremiah says that they literally have “uncircumsised” ears. Their ears are disobedient and refuse to belong to the LORD.
And that rightly and righteously fills the LORD with wrath. And so that fills Jeremiah with wrath. V.11
“But I am full of the wrath of the LORD, and I cannot hold it in. ‘Pour it out on the children in the street and on the young men gathered together; both husband and wife will be caught in it, and the old, those weighed down with years.”
Do you hear the justice and the anger and the anguish of the LORD all mixed together?
Jeremiah is full to the brim with the hot anger of the LORD against their wickedness, and he can’t hold it in any longer, so the prophet prophecies and, the wrath pours out.
And the judgment will reach all.
Some of the commentators I read this week quoted Julia Ward Howe at this point in their comments on this passage. That song that Misty played at the end of the prelude.
“Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord;He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword:His truth is marching on.”
The American Civil War was just a foretaste of that wrath, poured out on the sin of American-style slavery.
As was the terrible sacking of Jerusalem in 586 BC. Just a foretaste of the great wrath to come at the end of the age.
But that foretaste was awful enough. Verse 12 says that Judah will be uprooted.  “Their houses will be turned over to others, together with their fields and their wives, when I stretch out my hand against those who live in the land,’ declares the LORD.”
Why? Why the exile? 
Because they refused to listen. V.13
‘From the least to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; prophets and priests alike, all practice deceit. They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. 'Peace, peace,' they say, when there is no peace.”
“Shalom, shalom!” when there is no shalom.
“All is well. All is well.” when all is not well.
But that’s what people want to hear.
It sounds so good.
Khandyce, Josh, Katlyn, Jeremiah, and Gretchen, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is–unless it’s a true promise from God. And then it’s too good not to be true. Because He’s too good to not be true.
But if He says that there is no peace, there is no peace.
If He says that we need to repent, then we need to repent.
Don’t listen to the false preachers of peace. Don’t listen to the prosperity preachers. Don’t listen to the fakers and the liars and the pretenders and the hucksters and the con artists who just tell you what you want to hear.
That road leads to danger!
And folks like that almost never admit it. V.15
“Are they ashamed of their loathsome conduct? [Peace, peace!] No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush. So they will fall among the fallen; they will be brought down when I punish them,’ says the LORD.”
Listen! Here’s our key verse again.
“This is what the LORD says: ‘Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But you said, 'We will not walk in it.' I appointed watchmen over you and said, 'Listen to the sound of the trumpet!' But you said, 'We will not listen.'
Therefore hear, O nations; observe, O witnesses, what will happen to them. Hear, O earth: I am bringing disaster on this people, the fruit of their schemes, because they have not listened to my words and have rejected my law. [Do you hear it? Do you hear what happens when you refuse to listen? The people of Judah thought they could get away with it not by repenting but by being really religious. Going to church a lot. Giving a lot. And doing the religious rituals. Like a game. But the LORD will have none of it. V.20] What do I care about incense from Sheba or sweet calamus from a distant land? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable; your sacrifices do not please me.’ Therefore this is what the LORD says: ‘I will put obstacles before this people. Fathers and sons alike will stumble over them; neighbors and friends will perish.’
This is what the LORD says: ‘Look, an army is coming from the land of the north; a great nation is being stirred up from the ends of the earth. [Babylon.] They are armed with bow and spear; they are cruel and show no mercy. They sound like the roaring sea as they ride on their horses; they come like men in battle formation to attack you, O Daughter of Zion.’  We have heard reports about them, and our hands hang limp. Anguish has gripped us, pain like that of a woman in labor. Do not go out to the fields or walk on the roads, for the enemy has a sword, and there is terror on every side.”
That is one of Jeremiah’s famous phrases and signature lines, “terror on every side.”
That’s what comes when you refuse to listen. Terror on every side.
You can hear his anguish even as you know it’s right. V.26
“O my people, put on sackcloth and roll in ashes; mourn with bitter wailing as for an only son, for suddenly the destroyer will come upon us.”
It’s over. It’s over because you didn’t stand at the crossroads and look. You didn’t ask for the ancient paths. You did not ask for the good way.
And when you heard about the right way to go, you didn’t listen.
So the LORD makes Jeremiah a “tester of metals.” Sometimes we call it an “assayer” like they have up at Miracle Mountain Ranch if you go up there tomorrow for the Open House.
The assayer tests the quality of the metal. In the case of the gold rush, it was to see if it was genuine gold. In this case, the metaphor is silver.
The LORD says in this metaphor that the prophet was an assayer of the genuineness of Judah’s repentance. Was it silver quality repentance? Look at verse 27.
“‘I have made you [Jeremiah] a tester of metals and my people the ore, that you may observe and test their ways. [And here’s the report from the assayer’s office:] They are all hardened rebels, going about to slander. They are bronze and iron; they all act corruptly. The bellows blow fiercely to burn away the lead with fire, but the refining goes on in vain; the wicked are not purged out. They are called rejected silver, because the LORD has rejected them.’”
They refused to listen, so the LORD has refused them.
There is no true silver there. There is no true repentance.
They have refused to take the ancient paths.
But you and I still can.
The invitation of verse 16 is still open to you and me today.
So here’s point number three of three:
#3. LIVE.
Stop and look.Ask and then listen.And then live it.
Truly live it with the life worth living.
Look one more time at verse 16 and stop this time before the sting at the end:
“This is what the LORD says: ‘Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.”
Doesn’t that sound good?
And doesn’t it sound like something you’ve heard Someone else say somewhere else?
I believe that Jesus was intentionally hypertexting back to these words when He said in Matthew 11, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (v.28).
He will give us peace.He will give us harmony.He will give us the life that is truly life.
If we follow Him.
Because He Himself is the ancient path!
He Himself is the good way.
Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (Jn. 14:6).  So that everyone who comes through Him, comes to the Father!
And gets true life.
Isn’t that good news?
Here’s where true life is.
Following Jesus.
Khandyce, Josh, Katlyn, Jeremiah, and Gretchen, follow Jesus!
Lanse Free Church, follow Jesus!
Ask where the ancient paths are.Ask where the good way ways is.And walk in it.
And you will find rest for your souls.

***
Previous Messages in This Series:

01. "The Word of the LORD Came to Me" - Jeremiah 1:1-19
02. "I Bring Charges Against You" - Jeremiah 2:1-3:5
03. "Return to Me" - Jeremiah 3:6-4:4
04. "“Oh My Anguish, My Anguish!” - Jeremiah 4:6-5:31

“Oh My Anguish, My Anguish!” [Matt's Messages]

“Oh My Anguish, My Anguish!”Uprooted - The Words of JeremiahLanse Evangelical Free ChurchMay 22, 2022 :: Jeremiah 4:5-5:31 
Jeremiah chapters 4 through 6 really hang together as one unit of this book, but three chapters seemed like too much for us to bite off and chew in one message, so I thought we’d do chapters 4 and 5 this Sunday and then look at chapter 6 on its own next Sunday with the graduates.
Jeremiah chapters 4, 5, and 6 are all about the judgment that is coming on Judah. 
We saw that judgment was predicted already in chapter 1. In chapter 2, the LORD explained why that judgment was coming as He brought charges of infidelity against His people. And in chapter 3, the LORD invited His people to escape that judgment by repenting. He invited them to repent and return to Him.
Remember that? “Shuv.” He said, “Return to me.”
Well, they did not repent, and they continued to not repent, and so Jeremiah continued to warn them about the judgment that was going to be poured out upon them. The boiling pot tilted from the north ready to scorch the rebellious people of Jerusalem and all of Judah.
And that’s what chapters 4, 5, and 6 are all about. 
[VIDEO WILL BE EMBEDDED HERE.]
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a true prophet of God?
What it would feel like to be the mouthpiece of the living God?The spokesman of the living God.A true prophet.
Someone being given fresh revelation from God to deliver to His people.
I am, thankfully, not a prophet. And I am not the son of a prophet.And I work for a non-profit organization. (Thank you, Walt Kaiser!)
But I do get to regularly represent God and try to faithfully present His words.
I’m trying to do so right here, right now.
I hope you do, as well, in your spheres of influence.
But I wonder what it would be like–not just to teach and preach and share what God has already said in His written Word to the current generation, but–to have God actually put His words fresh and hot right into your mouth?
To be able to see and know the future and be tasked with telling others what it will be. What would that be like?
Well, if the words of Jeremiah are any indication, it could apparently be pretty miserable.
It could apparently be pretty miserable to be a true prophet of the LORD at least in a time of great national decline such as the last 40 years before the exile of the southern kingdom of Judah.
Jeremiah is not called the “Weeping Prophet” for nothing.
It was no fun to be a true prophet in the time of Jeremiah. In fact, it could be downright excruciating.
The title for this message is drawn from the words of Jeremiah in chapter 4, verse 19, “Oh, my anguish, my anguish!”
The Hebrew is literally, “my innards, my innards.”  It’s what you cry out when you have a massive pain in your gut. “My belly, my belly!”
Seven years ago this last week I had my first bout with diverticulitis. I was working on a sermon on Romans 12 one Saturday, and I had this growing pain in my gut. I thought it was a stomach bug because I got a fever to go with it. And I got up on Sunday morning and preached with a fever of 102, and then I was too weak to drive home after church! That was pre-covid, wasn’t it? Imagine coming to church with a fever!
But I thought I was getting over it, and I’d just sleep it off, and then the pain got worse and worse, until I was saying to Heather, “My belly, my belly!” And so we went to the ER, and then I got my first ride in an ambulance, and then started the odyssey of diverticulitis. 
Apparently, sometimes it hurts like that to be a true prophet like Jeremiah.
And I think that teaches us something important about how to live for Jesus in 2022.
Jeremiah, in his anguish, is a model for us for how to live as faithful followers of Jesus Christ in this day and age.
It’s not always easy to live for Christ in America in 2022. It’s not always obvious how to act, what to say, what to say out on social media, what to do in various situations. Especially when you think about what other Christians are saying and doing out in  the world. Out on social media. Out in the public square. Out in the churches. I am often bewildered when I learn what supposed Christians are saying and doing. How do we respond?
Well, one of key ways we can respond is with tears. With lament. With sadness. With agony. With personal pain over the choices that our fellow Christians are making. With tears.
We’re going to read a lot of words today, but I only have two simple points to make from these two chapters. Two things I want to point out over which we should rightly and righteously agonize. And here’s number one.
My anguish:
#1. OVER MY PEOPLE’S PAIN.
Jeremiah knows that Judah is in for a world of hurt.
That was clear from the first four verses I read to you, right? V.5 again. ‘Announce in Judah and proclaim in Jerusalem and say: 'Sound the trumpet throughout the land!' Cry aloud and say: 'Gather together! Let us flee to the fortified cities!' Raise the signal to go to Zion! Flee for safety without delay! For I am bringing disaster from the north, even terrible destruction.’”
It’s going to hurt.
Jeremiah says that Judah is going to be attacked and destroyed.
Now, we don’t know when Jeremiah said this. It could have been forty years before it actually occurred. Like if someone predicted an attack on us in Lanse in 1982, and it’s just happening now. But Jeremiah could see it coming very clearly, and he was warning them, not to get ready to fight, but to get ready to flee.
The alarm was going off. This is not a test. Run!
Whom are they supposed to run from?
Well, from Him. The LORD is the One bringing this disaster. And He’s doing it through an invader from the north, whom we will eventually discover is Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. V.7
“A lion has come out of his lair; a destroyer of nations has set out. He has left his place to lay waste your land. Your towns will lie in ruins without inhabitant.”
How does Jeremiah feel about that? How does he feel about his message? Well, he tells them to cry. V.8
“So put on sackcloth, lament and wail, for the fierce anger of the LORD has not turned away from us. ‘In that day,’ declares the LORD, ‘the king and the officials will lose heart, the priests will be horrified, and the prophets will be appalled.’”
It’s going to be terrible! The wrath of God is coming. And everyone is going to agonize over it.
You know, Jeremiah could just sit back and laugh. I mean, these guys have brought this on themselves, right? Jeremiah could be like, “Hey, pass the popcorn. Let’s watch these guys get what they deserve.”
But that’s not what Jeremiah does. He actually talks back to God about the whole thing. Verse 10.
“Then I said, ‘Ah, Sovereign LORD, how completely you have deceived this people and Jerusalem by saying, 'You will have peace,' when the sword is at our throats.’”
Now, that there is a confusing verse. It’s one of the hardest to interpret. Jeremiah might actually be wrong here. The Bible isn’t wrong. It perfectly captures what Jeremiah said, but Jeremiah might have thought at the time that the prophets of peace were from the Lord. But we know from the rest of his book that the prophets of peace were not true prophets of the LORD. They were false prophets.
And we also know that the LORD does not deceive us, though He does allows us at times to be deceived.
I think it’s more likely that Jeremiah is saying something like that [and the NET Bible actually translates it that way, see the translation notes here]. He is agonizing over the fact that the LORD in his wisdom and justice has allowed false prophets to proliferate in Judah spreading the lie that everything was going to be okay.
Everything was not going to be okay.
I’ll bet that Jeremiah wished that the LORD would just zap those false prophets right then and there!
“You will have peace.”
We’re going to see this again and again in Jeremiah. People saying, “It’s okay. You can live however you want, and it will be okay.”
Which prophets do you think were more popular for 40 years? The prophets of peace and prosperity or sad old Jeremiah, the prophet of doom?
But Jeremiah knows, “the sword is at our throats.”
And not just a sword, but a storm. Verse 11.
“At that time this people and Jerusalem will be told, ‘A scorching wind from the barren heights in the desert blows toward my people, but not to winnow or cleanse; a wind too strong for that comes from me. Now I pronounce my judgments against them.’”
The desert storm of judgment is coming, a sirocco destroying everything in its path.
In verse 13, Jeremiah sees it. He has a vision of the attack. V.13
“Look! He advances like the clouds, his chariots come like a whirlwind, his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe to us! We are ruined! O Jerusalem, wash the evil from your heart and be saved. How long will you harbor wicked thoughts? [Even now, he’s calling them to repent. V.15] A voice is announcing from Dan, proclaiming disaster from the hills of Ephraim. ‘Tell this to the nations, proclaim it to Jerusalem: 'A besieging army is coming from a distant land, raising a war cry against the cities of Judah. They surround her like men guarding a field, because she has rebelled against me,'’ declares the LORD.”
Ephraim and Dan are in the north. The picture in Jeremiah’s mind is an attack that descends and swarms in from the north and decimates Judah in the south so that they say, “Woe to us! We are ruined!”
Why? Why all of this pain? V.18
“‘Your own conduct and actions have brought this upon you. This is your punishment. How bitter it is! How it pierces to the heart!’”
All of this pain is self-inflicted. They deserve this. They have brought this on themselves by their ways and their deeds.
So how does Jeremiah respond to that? With anguish.
No smug satisfaction. No prideful laughing at these people getting their comeuppance. 
But with tears.
Just thinking about what is going to happen to his people makes Jeremiah feel completely awful. V.19
“Oh, my anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain. Oh, the agony of my heart! My heart pounds within me, I cannot keep silent. For I have heard the sound of the trumpet; I have heard the battle cry. Disaster follows disaster; the whole land lies in ruins. In an instant my tents are destroyed, my shelter in a moment. How long must I see the battle standard and hear the sound of the trumpet?”
Do you hear his pain over his people’s pain?
You know, he could just quit caring. That’s a real temptation today when you see your people make foolish choices. When you log on to social media and you see fellow Christians saying foolish things. When you read the news reports and you hear the latest scandals happening in churches. When your friends and family members make foolish choices and the painful consequences start coming down on them.
It’s tempting to say, “Well, they made their bed. They can lie in it. I don’t care any more.”
It’s true. They made their bed.It’s true. They can lie in it.
But Jeremiah wasn’t able to stop caring.
And I think you and I should be like that, too.
Because I think that Jeremiah’s heart reveals the heart of His God.
“Oh, my anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain. Oh, the agony of my heart! My heart pounds within me, I cannot keep silent.”
This is the first of several passages in this book that are often called “Jeremiah’s Laments” or “Jeremiah’s Confessions.” Jeremiah just bares his heart to the LORD and pours it out on the page for us to see ourselves.
Not only does his belly hurt, but he’s having a heart attack. The one phrase there in the Hebrew is literally, “O the walls of my heart!” He thinks his heart is going to burst just thinking about what is going to happen to his people. He’s almost in shock, and he wonders long he will have to feel this way.
Then answer is, a long time. He talked this way for 40 years.
And as far as we know he died, after seeing it all actually happen, with these same feelings in his heart.
Anguish at his people’s self-inflicted pain.
Do you think that is pitiful? Are you tempted to shake your head at Jeremiah’s words? Maybe you think he’s being a little over the top? I mean, these people definitely deserve this.
Who does Jeremiah remind you of?
I can’t read this without thinking about Jesus. Remember how He wept over Jerusalem?
Remember how He felt when he went through the towns and villages preaching the gospel?
The Gospel of Matthew chapter 9 says, “When [Jesus] saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” (V.35).
What are sheep like without a shepherd? Well, they are out of control, for one thing. They go in all kinds of directions and get into all kinds of trouble. Self-inflicted pain.
And what did Jesus feel when He saw that? Did He say to the disciples, “Get a load of this one!” Share that outrageous thing. “I can’t believe they are doing that. Stupid dummies!”
No. Matthew says that Jesus had compassion on them and the Greek word there means...a pain in the gut.
“Oh my anguish, my anguish.”
I have a rule for myself on social media: “No outrage and no shaming.” I don’t always do it perfectly, but that’s my general rule. “No outrage. No shaming.”
Not because people don’t do outrageous things, even fellow Christians.Not because people don’t do shameful things, even fellow Christians.But because there is plenty of outrage and shame out there to go around.
There aren’t enough tears.
That doesn’t mean we don’t need truth. If there is one thing that Jeremiah has to share it is the truth. He has to call it like it is. Look at verse 22.
“‘My people are fools; they do not know me. They are senseless children; they have no understanding. They are skilled in doing evil; they know not how to do good.’”
That’s the truth. And it is shameful. 
I’m not saying there isn’t a place for shame. But he does not gloat. He does not look down his nose at them. He laments their willful ignorance and their skill at sinning. And he laments what is surely going to happen to them because of it. V.23 He has  another vision.
“I looked at the earth, and it was formless and empty; and at the heavens, and their light was gone. [It’s like creation was being undone. Creation was being uncreated. v.24] I looked at the mountains, and they were quaking; all the hills were swaying. I looked, and there were no people; every bird in the sky had flown away. I looked, and the fruitful land was a desert; all its towns lay in ruins before the LORD, before his fierce anger. This is what the LORD says: ‘The whole land will be ruined, though I will not destroy it completely.  Therefore the earth will mourn and the heavens above grow dark, because I have spoken and will not relent, I have decided and will not turn back.’  At the sound of horsemen and archers every town takes to flight. Some go into the thickets; some climb up among the rocks. All the towns are deserted; no one lives in them.”
It’s a picture of utter destruction.
Though notice in verse 27 how even this terrible judgment is tempered with God’s mercy. “...though I will not destroy it completely.” He says that 3 times in today’s passage. He always has a remnant. Until the final judgment–of which this is a foretaste–He always stirs in some mercy just because of Who He is.
But He makes no excuses for them. And He does not pretend that everything is okay.
Instead, He calls it like it is, just with anguish. Verse 30.
“What are you doing, O devastated one? Why dress yourself in scarlet and put on jewels of gold? Why shade your eyes with paint? You adorn yourself in vain. Your lovers despise you; they seek your life.”
Do you hear his anguish here? This is the second and last point for this morning.
Jeremiah doesn’t just have anguish over His people’s pain. His anguish is also over their sin, as well.
My anguish:
#2. OVER MY PEOPLE’S SIN.
You can hear it in his voice: “What are you doing, O devastated one?”
This is shocking. This is senseless. This stubborn. This shameful.
What is Judah doing? The invaders are attacking, and what is she doing? 
She’s dolling herself up for false gods and foreign nations!
“Ooh, Babylon is coming over? I better get ready.
Instead of repenting and returning to the LORD, she is thinking that if she just does more of what she has been doing, she’ll get out of the consequences once again.
But Jeremiah sees through all of that. He says that the seduction act will not work this time around. Her lovers have used her up and are going to kill her this time. V.31
“I hear a cry as of a woman in labor, a groan as of one bearing her first child–the cry of the Daughter of Zion gasping for breath, stretching out her hands and saying, ‘Alas! I am fainting; my life is given over to murderers.’”
Do you know someone who is caught in self-destructive sin?
How do you respond to that?
Do you just shake your head and turn away?Do you just wash your hands of it and thank God that you’re not like that?
Or do you make excuses for them?  “Oh well, maybe it’s not so bad.”Or even celebrate their sin with them?
Jeremiah sees it, calls a spade a spade, a sin a sin.
And he weeps.
“Oh my anguish, my anguish.”
The emphasis in chapter 5 is on the rightness and righteousness of God’s coming judgment. 
The LORD keeps asking these indicting questions, these damning questions, that bring home just how just the LORD’s justice is. But there is no smugness in it at all. No schadenfreude.
If anything, the LORD almost wants to be wrong about His justice. He almost seems to want to find a way out of bringing this justice on them.
There’s no wimpyness here. He is not going to wimp out.
But He isn’t gleeful in His judgment, either. He is in anguish.
Listen. Chapter 5, verse 1. Yahweh gives Jeremiah a challenge.
“‘Go up and down the streets of Jerusalem, look around and consider, search through her squares. If you can find but one person who deals honestly and seeks the truth, I will forgive this city. [This might be poetic hyperbole, but the standard here is 10X lower than was for the city of Sodom in Genesis 18. “If you can find one righteous man, I’ll forgive the whole city!” But you know how that’s going to end. V.2] Although they say, 'As surely as the LORD lives,' still they are swearing falsely.’
[Jeremiah agrees.] O LORD, do not your eyes look for truth? You struck them, but they felt no pain; you crushed them, but they refused correction. They made their faces harder than stone and refused to repent. [They refused to “shuv.” That’s who we’ve got here in Jerusalem today.]
[But maybe shouldn’t just look among the people. We should look to their leaders. V.4] I thought, ‘These are only the poor; they are foolish, for they do not know the way of the LORD, the requirements of their God. So I will go to the leaders and speak to them; surely they know the way of the LORD, the requirements of their God.’ But with one accord they too had broken off the yoke and torn off the bonds.”
Or, in other words, “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. They have all have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one....all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God...” (Romans 3:10-12, 23).
And so the justice of God is coming. V.6
“Therefore a lion from the forest will attack them, a wolf from the desert will ravage them, a leopard will lie in wait near their towns to tear to pieces any who venture out, for their rebellion is great and their backslidings many [their many “shuvs” in the wrong directions]. 
‘Why should I forgive you? Your children have forsaken me and sworn by gods that are not gods. [I was a good husband.] I supplied all their needs, yet they committed adultery and thronged to the houses of prostitutes. They are well-fed, lusty stallions, each neighing for another man's wife.
Should I not punish them for this?’ declares the LORD. ‘Should I not avenge myself on such a nation as this? 
‘Go through her vineyards and ravage them, but do not destroy them completely. Strip off her branches, for these people do not belong to the LORD. The house of Israel and the house of Judah have been utterly unfaithful to me,’ declares the LORD.
They have lied about the LORD; they said, ‘He will do nothing! No harm will come to us; we will never see sword or famine. The prophets are but wind and the word is not in them; so let what they say be done to them.’”
You hear the play on words there? The don’t have the breath of the LORD. They don’t have the Spirit. They just have the wind. These false prophets are windbags.
But Jeremiah is a true prophet. Verse 14.
“Therefore this is what the LORD God Almighty says: ‘Because the people have spoken these words, I will make my words in your mouth a fire and these people the wood it consumes.”
Apparently, this what it feels like to be a true prophet of God!
You have a fire burning in your mouth.
That doesn’t sound pleasant to me. It sounds urgent! But it sounds painful.
Jeremiah’s mouth was full of fire, and the words that came from it were judgment words that uprooted and tore down and destroyed and overthrew the nation (1:10).
The people were the firewood that the fire burned up. Verse 15. 
“O house of Israel,’ declares the LORD, ‘I am bringing a distant nation against you–an ancient and enduring nation, a people whose language you do not know, whose speech you do not understand. Their quivers are like an open grave; all of them are mighty warriors. They will devour your harvests and food, devour your sons and daughters; they will devour your flocks and herds, devour your vines and fig trees. With the sword they will destroy the fortified cities in which you trust. [And you deserve it.]
‘Yet even in those days,’ declares the LORD, ‘I will not destroy you completely. 
And when the people ask, 'Why has the LORD our God done all this to us?' you will tell them, 'As you have forsaken me and served foreign gods in your own land, so now you will serve foreigners in a land not your own.' [Exile.]
‘Announce this to the house of Jacob and proclaim it in Judah: Hear this, you foolish and senseless people, who have eyes but do not see, who have ears but do not hear: Should you not fear me?’ declares the LORD. ‘Should you not tremble in my presence? [Do you  hear His anguish?  What’s the answer to those questions? Should they not fear the Creator? Of course, they should! V.22] I made the sand a boundary for the sea, an everlasting barrier it cannot cross. The waves may roll, but they cannot prevail; they may roar, but they cannot cross it. 
But these people have stubborn and rebellious hearts; they have turned aside and gone away. They do not say to themselves, 'Let us fear the LORD our God, who gives autumn and spring rains in season, who assures us of the regular weeks of harvest.' Your wrongdoings have kept these away; your sins have deprived you of good. ‘Among my people are wicked men who lie in wait like men who snare birds and like those who set traps to catch men. Like cages full of birds, their houses are full of deceit; they have become rich and powerful and have grown fat and sleek. Their evil deeds have no limit; they do not plead the case of the fatherless to win it, they do not defend the rights of the poor.
Should I not punish them for this?’ declares the LORD. ‘Should I not avenge myself on such a nation as this?
‘A horrible and shocking thing has happened in the land: The prophets prophesy lies, the priests rule by their own authority, and my people love it this way. But what will you do in the end?”
Do you hear the anguish in his voice?
Jeremiah’s voice. And behind and above that, the voice of the LORD?
Anguish over His people’s sin.
Notice again that He calls the sin what it is, but He does not relish doing it.
Many (most?) of the people I see out there that seem to regard themselves as “prophetic” seem to me to relish the downfall of those they are preaching against. And their followers are like, “Yeah! Stick it to them!”
That’s not prophetic. Prophetic is calling sin “sin” but with anguish in your heart. Hoping and willing and praying for genuine repentance on the part of your opponents. Holding out the invitation to return to the LORD. And be forgiven!
A fire in the mouth but agony in the heart.
No, “I told you so.” No, “You heard it here first. Like and share. Tell your friends.”
Instead it is belly-busting anguish over their pain and heart-pounding anguish over their sin. And a heartfelt desire for them to be forgiven.
Jeremiah asks, “What will you do in the end?”
Sadly, we know the answer for Judah.  They did not repent, and in the end, they got all that was coming to them (tempered with mercy). But we also know that the LORD extends forgiveness to all who will repent and come to Him. 
And we know that there was another search for a righteous person that was successful. Remember Revelation chapter 5?
Where they searched high and low for someone who was worthy to open the seals and bring about the forgiveness of sins and make all of the promises come true?
They searched, not just Jerusalem, but heaven and earth and under the earth.
And John the Revelator wept because nobody was found that was worthy.
Then John was told, you don’t have to anguish over this!
“See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.” (V.5).  And John looked and there was...the Lamb that was slain now standing at the center of the throne.
God has made a way to forgive sinners.
“Why should I forgive you?” the LORD asks?
Because of the anguish of Jesus.
He was forsaken by God because we had forsaken God.
And in His death, He has made it right again.
“The Lord is my salvation!” 

***
Previous Messages in This Series:

01. "The Word of the LORD Came to Me" - Jeremiah 1:1-19
02. "I Bring Charges Against You" - Jeremiah 2:1-3:5 03. "Return to Me" - Jeremiah 3:6-4:4

“Return to Me” [Matt's Messages]

“Return to Me”Uprooted - The Words of JeremiahLanse Evangelical Free ChurchMay 15, 2022 :: Jeremiah 3:6-4:4
I’ve taken the title for this message from the first verse of chapter 4 where the LORD says through Jeremiah to the people of God, “Return to Me.”
 “Return to Me.”
It’s an invitation and a glorious one, and it’s the theme of this passage of Jeremiah.
In fact, at least four times, the LORD (Yahweh) invites His people to return to Him in this passage.
Which is quite remarkable because of what we heard last time in chapter 2 and the first part of chapter 3. Last time, the LORD was bringing a charge against His people. Remember this? 
They had sinned. They had fallen into idolatry which was spiritual adultery. He went so far as to call it spiritual harlotry, spiritual whoredom. They had forsaken the LORD and turned to other gods! Remember that?
We saw that it was shocking, stupid, and shameful. And it was the reason that the boiling pot of judgment was going to be poured out upon Judah.
So, here is the LORD’s next word on that: After He charges them with covenant breaking sin, He invites them to return to Him. “Return to Me.”
That gives us a glimpse of His heart, does it not?
The Hebrew word for “return” is “shuv.” It means to “turn” or “return” or “repent” or “come back.”
Jeremiah actually uses a form of “shuv” at least 15 times in this short section of the Scriptures. The most times it shows up in concentration in the whole Bible. So, if we’re going to learn about repentance, this is probably a really good place to do it!
[VIDEO WILL BE EMBEDDED HERE.]
What comes to your mind when I say the word, “Repentance?” If you are like me, you probably don’t say, “Yippee! That sounds like fun!” “I just love to repent! It’s like a party word! Whoo! ‘Repent!’”
No, we tend to think of the word as a “downer.” Maybe a harsh word. A finger-pointing word. “Repent!”
A painful word. And there’s a good reason for that. Repentance can be painful. We will see that it requires painful honesty and real change.
But here, repentance is a sweet invitation. 
It’s not a downer.It’s not annoying. It’s not stifling.It’s life-giving!
Because of the last part of our title, right? “Return...to Me.”
It’s an invitation, not just to turn back from sin, but to turn to fellowship with the Lord. And there is nothing greater!  
So let’s back up to chapter 3, verse 6 and see how we get there.
Before we jump in, I’m going to ask you a tricky question. Are you ready? It’s kind of a tricky question! So maybe think about it a little bit before you answer.
In the Old Testament, which of the two kingdoms (North and South, Israel and Judah, which of the two kingdoms) was more wicked?
To answer that, think back once again to the Books of Kings (which we studied together in 2016 and 2017). In 1 Kings, there used to be one kingdom under David and then Solomon.
But then in 1 Kings chapter 12, it was split into two. North and South. Israel and Judah. And we did the thumbs up and the thumbs down for their kings.
How many “thumbs up” kings did the Northern Kingdom of Israel have? Big fat zero!
Did the Southern Kingdom have any “thumbs up” kings? Yes, it did! Kings like Hezekiah and this one right here in verse 6, Josiah. 
We learned in chapter 1 that Jeremiah prophesied during the reigns of Josiah, Jehoiakim, and Zedekiah.
And this prophecy that we’re going to look at today was originally given during the reign of thumbs-up King Josiah somewhere between 627BC and 609BC, so it comes early in Jeremiah’s ministry.
Here’s the tricky question again: Which of the two kingdoms (North or South, Israel or Judah, which of the two kingdoms) was more wicked in the Old Testament?
The answer may surprise you.
Now, one more thing to note before we read: Remember that the Northern Kingdom had been sent into exile in 721BC. And Jeremiah chapter 3 comes somewhere between 627BC and 609BC. How much later is that? Around a hundred years, right? Between 94 and 112 years. About 100. Now, listen to the question that Yahweh asks Jeremiah. Chapter 3, verse 6.
“During the reign of King Josiah, the LORD said to me, ‘Have you seen what faithless Israel has done? She has gone up on every high hill and under every spreading tree and has committed adultery there.” 
Do you get the picture? The LORD starts a conversation–it’s really more of a monologue–with Jeremiah. Jeremiah doesn’t really get to answer.
But the LORD asks him a question, “Have you seen what faithless Israel has done?” 
That word translated “faithless” is a form of “shuv.”  It’s like, “Have you seen what that “turned-away” people of Israel has done?” The Old King James has “backsliding Israel.”
“Jeremiah, have you seen what that treacherous shuved Northern Kingdom has done?” What’s the answer to that one? “Well, no, not directly.” There hasn’t been a Northern Kingdom for a hundred years! It’s like saying, "Have you seen what President Warren Harding did?” Harding was president in 1922, one hundred years ago. None of us in this room were born then.
But Jeremiah certainly knew the story. He knew that the people of the Northern Kingdom were unfaithful to the LORD. They had prostituted themselves with other gods. They had shuved away. Now, listen to verse 7. It’s a doozey!
“I thought that after she had done all this she [Israel] would return to me [shuv to me] but she did not, and her unfaithful sister Judah saw it.”
Two things there. First, it almost sounds like the LORD thought He had made a mistake. “I thought this would happen, but then it didn’t! What a miscalculation on my part.” 
It’s shocking language to get across His point. Remember, the LORD is picturing Himself like a jealous jilted husband. In the metaphor, the husband is married two wives, two sisters. (Which is not something that the LORD recommends, but it happened in this story when the Kingdom split into two.)
And in the metaphor, one of the wives, one of the sisters goes rogue and starts sleeping around.
And second thing, the other sister saw it. Who is that in this story? That’s Judah. That’s the southern kingdom that Josiah is king over and Jeremiah is prophesying to.
Judah saw how Israel acted...and did not learn anything from it. V.8
“I gave faithless Israel her certificate of divorce and sent her away because of all her adulteries [off into exile at the hands of the Assyrians]. Yet I saw that her unfaithful sister Judah had no fear; she also went out and committed adultery. Because Israel's immorality mattered so little to her, she defiled the land and committed adultery with stone and wood. In spite of all this, her unfaithful sister Judah did not return to me with all her heart, but only in pretense,’ declares the LORD.”
So you see what happened? The prophet Ezekiel has as similar prophecy (though more graphic) in Ezekiel chapter 16.
The second sister, saw what happened to the first sister, and she didn’t think much of it. “In spite of all this, her unfaithful sister Judah did not return to me [shuv] with all her heart, but only in pretense,’ declares the LORD.”
Only in falsehood. Only a fake repentance. Only a pretend return.
I have four points of application this morning that all relate to repentance; that all describe what it means to truly return to the LORD, and here’s the first one:
#1. GET REAL.
Judah faked some repentance, but you can’t fool the LORD.
He knows our hearts. He knows that Judah saw how Israel had run around behind His back and had been severely punished for it. And how Judah just didn’t really seem to care.
“Oh, that? No biggie.”
Perhaps she was frightened temporarily by what she saw Israel get, and so she cleaned up her act a little bit, but it sure didn’t stick.
Perhaps He’s describing the reforms under Josiah! Josiah went through the nation taking down altars to foreign gods. Josiah read the Book of the Law that had been found in the temple, and started to make changes across the southern kingdom. But it was apparently only “skin deep.” Because look what Judah has gotten herself into!
Can you guess the answer now to the tricky question? V.11
“The LORD said to me, ‘Faithless Israel is more righteous than unfaithful Judah.”
In the end, the southern kingdom was more wicked than the northern one. Why? Because they had the example of the northern one and ignored it! And just pretended to change.
How about you? Is your repentance real? Repentance is not just something we do at the beginning of the Christian life. It is also something we do (or should do!) every time we are freshly confronted with our sinfulness.
Martin Luther famously said that the Christian life is “a race of repentance.”
Have you learned from how anyone else is running? Do you look at the negative examples of the people around you, and take a clue? “Oh, when they fell into that sin, this was the consequence. I should take note of that.” Or do we just say, “Look at those dummies! They got caught!” “I’m glad I don’t do that.”
Get real. He knows. He can see. You can’t fool Him.
Now, this next verse is amazing. It’s the first of the four invitations, and look whom He is inviting! V.12. He says to Jeremiah, “Go, proclaim this message toward the north: ‘'Return, faithless Israel,' declares the LORD, 'I will frown on you no longer, for I am merciful,' declares the LORD, 'I will not be angry forever.”
Isn’t that something?! In verse 12, the LORD invites the northern kingdom which is scattered in exile to return to Him! “Return, faithless Israel.” 
Remember, “faithless” comes from “shuv” as well. In Hebrew this is, “Shuva, Meshuva!” "Turn back, O Turned Away!” “I know I sent you away, but you are still invited to return.”
Doesn’t this just reveal His heart?!
“'I will frown on you no longer, for I am merciful,' declares the LORD, 'I will not be angry forever.”
The word for “merciful” is “hasid” from “hesed” that word that means loving-kindness or loyal-love.
They have been faithless, but He is faithful. And if they repent, He will not be angry forever.
“Return to me.”
If you are listening to this message, then it is not too late for you to repent. It’s not too late. Some people think that they are too far gone. I talked to somebody this week who was afraid that he might be too far gone for God’s mercy.
But listen to His heart! “'I will frown on you no longer, for I am merciful,' declares the LORD, 'I will not be angry forever.” And how much more is that true on this side of the Cross? Where the just wrath of God was satisfied by the sacrifice of His Son?!
“Return to Me. It’s not too late. I will not be angry forever. Return to Me.”
But here’s the condition. V.13
“Only acknowledge your guilt–you have rebelled against the LORD your God, you have scattered your favors to foreign gods under every spreading tree, and have not obeyed me,'’ declares the LORD.”
You’ve got to get real. You must acknowledge your guilt. You must take a good honest look at your heart and confess what is really there.
And, yes, sometimes, that’s hard to do. Israel hated to admit to their pervasive idolatry. And we hate to admit when we have been chasing counterfeit gods, as well.
But you can’t truly come to Him unless you get real about what is keeping you away.
What is keeping you away? 
Get real. The Lord knows anyway. You can’t fool Him.
In verse 14, the LORD issues the second invitation, and He tells them why they ought to take Him on it. Look at this! Verse 14.
“‘Return, faithless people,’ declares the LORD, ‘for I am your husband. I will choose you–  one from a town and two from a clan–and bring you to Zion. Then I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will lead you with knowledge and understanding.”
Wait a second! I thought that He divorced her? 
Remember how the chapter started by asking if a husband should take a back a wife who married another man? That was against the Law of Moses. But Israel didn’t marry another man. She had just played the field. She had just “scattered her favors” which is worse, right...?
But Yahweh says that they are not divorced. Not really. Not ultimately. Not, at least, for those who repent and return.
Remember Hosea and his faithless wife Gomer?
Same picture. Same deal.
And the LORD says that He is going to bring them back as a remnant, one or two at time, all the way to Zion, and He’s going to give them better kings this time.
Shepherds after His own heart (like David at his best) who will lead them with knowledge and understanding.  
He says that this going to happen. When? Well, I’ve got bad news, and I’ve got good news. 
The bad news is that it won’t be for a long long time. Remember, Jeremiah is a prophecy of a tragedy. 40 years in the making. Israel has been in exile 100 years by now, and they are only come back in little tiny scattered amounts. Hardly enough to speak of in the whole rest of the Bible
But the good news is that when the Messiah comes in all of His fullness, all of these promises will be fully fulfilled, will truly come true. 
And you can tell that He’s talking about the Messiah’s Kingdom because He starts to use phrases like, “In those days.” Look at verse 16.
“In those days, when your numbers have increased greatly in the land,’ declares the LORD, ‘men will no longer say, 'The ark of the covenant of the LORD.' It will never enter their minds or be remembered; it will not be missed, nor will another one be made. At that time they will call Jerusalem The Throne of the LORD, and all nations will gather in Jerusalem to honor the name of the LORD. No longer will they follow the stubbornness of their evil hearts. In those days the house of Judah will join the house of Israel, and together they will come from a northern land to the land I gave your forefathers as an inheritance.”
Do you hear how He kicked it into another register?
You can tell that He’s looking down the corridor of time and prophesying what it will be like when the Kingdom truly comes.
It will be, in word, blessed!
#2. GET BLESSED.
To return to the LORD, you have to first get real, but then, get ready to be really blessed. When God’s people truly repent, they find that they get truly blessed. At least, when the Kingdom comes.
Then there will be (v.15), a shepherd after [God’s] own heart.
And His name will be Jesus! Jesus is the Best Shepherd, and He will lead us with knowledge and understanding (read John 10).
In those days, God’s people will have grown and grown and grown. Blessing!
And they will no longer say, “The ark of the covenant of the LORD.”
That’s a little strange, isn’t it? Why is that a good thing? Why would it be good for them to forget the Ark of the Covenant? 
I said to my family last night that I should have named this sermon, “Forgetters of the Lost Ark.”  
Why won’t there be Ark of the Covenant in the Kingdom? Because it won’t be necessary! It would be irrelevant. 
What did the Ark stand for? What was in it? The Law was in it, right? Where will the Law be in Kingdom? It will be in our hearts, right? That’s the New Covenant fulfilled! We won’t need the golden chest. The Law will be in our chests!
And the Ark served as the symbolic footstool of the Yahweh. It stood for His presence. Well, verse 17 says that they will call Jerusalem, “The Throne of Yahweh.” The whole city will be the throne! Not just right there in the Holy of Holies.
And we know that the New Jerusalem will be even greater and grander than this language has room for! It will overflow this language!
We cannot fathom the blessing that Jeremiah is writing about here, the blessing of repentance.
Imagine the unity! V.18 says that the nation will be reunited. Israel and Judah together again in the Land.
And verse 17 says it’s even better than that. Gentiles are going to come. “All nations will gather in Jerusalem.” The New Testament says that Gentiles get grafted into the people of God. Not just Israel and Judah, but Israel, and Judah and people from “every tribe and language and people and nation” (Rev. 5:9)–even Pennsylvanians!
And here’s how good it gets...there will be no more sin. Verse 17 again. “No longer will they follow the stubbornness of their evil hearts.” I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait to be sinless. I am so tired of living with my own sinful desires.
This is a picture of the total blessedness that is promised to all who will truly repent.
To all who will truly answer the invitation of the LORD to “Return to Me.”
The LORD wants to bless them, but, sadly, they do not yet really want that blessing. V.19
“‘I myself said, ‘'How gladly would I treat you like sons and give you a desirable land, the most beautiful inheritance of any nation.' I thought you would call me 'Father' and not turn [shuv] away from following me. But like a woman unfaithful to her husband, so you have been unfaithful to me, O house of Israel,’ declares the LORD.”
Again, the LORD is pictured as shaking His head at a miscalculation He made. “I thought you (Israel) would be like sons to me, and I would give you the Promised Land. All of that Abrahamic Promised Land. You could call me, ‘Dad.’”
But (switching figures of speech again), “You have been unfaithful to me.” Causing me grief.  
And so you have experienced grief. Verse 21.
“A cry is heard on the barren heights, the weeping and pleading of the people of Israel, because they have perverted their ways and have forgotten the LORD their God.”
Now, some scholars think that right here is a moment of repentance by the people of Israel. And that might be right. I think the Israel here is probably standing for all of Israel (Northern and Southern kingdom), probably more Judah at this point. 
Perhaps they are weeping and wailing because Josiah has torn down their sacred altars to foreign gods at all of the high places around the nation. And this is a little taste of repentance. That’s possible.
My read, however, is that they are probably crying their eyes out because they are mad that their gods gotten taken away. They are protesting the reforms of Josiah.
And the LORD is trying show them the way back. Verse 22. Third invitation. V.22
“‘Return, faithless people; I will cure you of backsliding.’”
That’s “‘Return [shuv], faithless [shuv] people; I will cure you of [shuv] backsliding.’”
He’s really giving them the “shuv,” isn’t He? 
I think He’s telling them that they need to take this seriously.
#3. GET SERIOUS.
I think that Yahweh is putting the words out there that they need to say if they are going to truly repent. It’s like a script. So far, they haven’t been willing to say all of this.
This is what they should say. Verse 22.
‘Yes, we will come to you, for you are the LORD our God. Surely the idolatrous commotion on the hills and mountains is a deception; surely in the LORD our God is the salvation of Israel [and no one else!]. From our youth shameful gods have consumed the fruits of our fathers' labor–their flocks and herds, their sons and daughters. Let us lie down in our shame, and let our disgrace cover us. We have sinned against the LORD our God, both we and our fathers; from our youth till this day we have not obeyed the LORD our God.’”
That’s what they ought to say!
Notice the repetition of His name.
Yahweh Our God.The LORD Our God.The LORD Our God.The LORD Our God.
We have been sinning against the LORD Our God!What a terrible deal we have struck.What a price we have paid.
These shameful gods have consumed the fruits of our father’s labor–their flocks and herds, their sons and daughters.
I think that hints at the unthinkable reality of child sacrifice.
Sin is shocking, and stupid, and shameful. And we must take it seriously. 
But we don’t have to stay stuck in it! The LORD invites us to repent. Chapter 4, verse 1.
“‘If you will return, O Israel, return to me,’ declares the LORD. ‘If you put your detestable idols out of my sight and no longer go astray, and if in a truthful, just and righteous way you swear, 'As surely as the LORD lives,' then the nations will be blessed by him and in him they will glory.’”
Do you see how seriously the LORD says that we must take this?
Repentance is not a slight thing.
It requires us to make real change. Israel had to put away their detestable idols and chart a new and straight course.
And look at those 3 words, “truthful, just, and righteous.” Those are not playing around. Those are not just playacting. They are not fake or skin deep. This goes down into the heart. Repentance is a heart issue. V.3
“This is what the LORD says to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem: ‘Break up your unplowed ground and do not sow among thorns.”
Get down deep. Repentance has to go below the surface. And break up the hard ground of our stony hearts.
Did everybody see the roto-tilling job that Jon and his dad did out on the Ark Park yesterday? It looks really nice. There will be a lot more soft landings now that they have tilled up that hard ground. Thank you, Jon and Shane! The LORD wants us to do that to our hearts.
In verse 4, He uses another cutting word than plow. He uses the word “circumcise” which emphasized the cutting away of flesh to symbolize the cutting away of sin and the marking of someone as belonging the LORD. V.4
“Circumcise yourselves to the LORD [not physically, that was already true fo the Jewish men], circumcise your hearts, you men of Judah and people of Jerusalem, or my wrath will break out and burn like fire because of the evil you have done–burn with no one to quench it.”
His message is: get serious or get seriously burnt. At the heart level. Consecrate yourselves. Dedicate yourselves. Turn away from the idols or else.
Sadly, we know how this story ends. We know what they did with these words. They did not heed them.
Remember, Jeremiah a prophecy of a tragedy. We got that the first three verses. 
Next time, we’ll see what is coming to Judah because they will not answer this invitation.
And yet He holds it out to them, because it reveals His heart. And it reveals His heart to us today.
He is saying to you and me, “Return to me.”
“Return to me.”
“Shuv.” “Come.”
Remember, the emphasis is on Him here.
“Return to me.”
#4. GET GOD.
If you and I repent, we don’t just get blessing. We get the Fount of every blessing!
“‘If you will return, O Israel, return to me,’ declares the LORD.” 
And verse 2, “Then the nations (not just Israel, not just Judah, but you me and me, as well, the nations) will be blessed BY HIM and IN HIM they will glory.
If we repent, we get God.
And there is nothing greater.

***
Previous Messages in This Series:

01. "The Word of the LORD Came to Me" - Jeremiah 1:1-19
02. "I Bring Charges Against You" - Jeremiah 2:1-3:5 

“Do Not Forsake Your Mother’s Teaching” [Matt's Messages]

“Do Not Forsake Your Mother’s Teaching”Lanse Evangelical Free ChurchMay 8, 2022 :: Proverbs 1:8-9
The title of this messages comes right out of the last phrase of verse 8 where Solomon says to his royal son, “...do not forsake your mother's teaching.”
That’s the whole message for today. It’s in the Proverbs, so it’s short and sweet and to the point, and it’s meant to be meditated upon, chewed on, mulled over.
“...do not forsake your mother's teaching.”
And there was, all of a sudden, a whole lot of elbows in the ribs and knowing looks passed around this room!
“Are you listening to this? I hope so, son. I sure hope so, daughter.”
[VIDEO WILL BE EMBEDDED HERE.]
Verses 8 and 9 are the opening salvo of the opening appeal in the first major section of the Book of Proverbs. The book began with a short explanation of its purpose. Look at verse 2:
This book is “...for attaining wisdom and discipline; for understanding words of insight; for acquiring a disciplined and prudent life, doing what is right and just and fair; for giving prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the young–let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance–for understanding proverbs and parables, the sayings and riddles of the wise.”
The point of this book of Proverbs to its original readers was to help young people especially (and anybody else who wants to be wise) to gain and grow in true wisdom. 
And after that opening section, there are like 10 different appeals in the next 9 chapters from all of the authors (the main one of whom was King Solomon) for the reader (who is pictured as a royal prince) to choose wisdom over foolishness.
The path of wisdom is the right path, and it is the path of blessing.
And here’s where it all begins. The starting line of that path. Verse 7. 
“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.”
And so in our verse 8, the King appeals to his son to choose that wisdom and to stay with it. And he pictures that wisdom as coming through Dad and Mom.
Yes, Dad is in this passage, too. And he will show up again and again in the Proverbs talking to his son this way. Proverbs was written primarily by men for young men, and then it was given to all of us.
But we are not going to focus this morning on “Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction...” [Maybe I’ll preach this same message again in a month on Father’s Day.] No, instead, we going to focus on the parallel idea, “...do not forsake your mother’s teaching.”
That is God’s word to all children who want to be wise.
“...do not forsake your mother’s teaching.”
And that’s regardless of your age.
If your mother 70 years ago taught you the Lord’s wisdom, this is God’s Word to you today: “Do not forsake your mother’s teaching.”
I have just two points of application for this morning’s message. One from verse 8 and one from verse 9, and they are both very simple. 
#1. WALK IN THE WISDOM OF YOUR MOM.
And don’t stop walking!
“Do not forsake your mother’s teaching.”
Now, yes, this assumes that your mother taught you or is teaching you wisdom.
So, we could address the Moms today and encourage all of the Moms to be teachers of your children. Teach them the fear of the LORD.
But we just did that in March with the message, “Impress Them On Your Children.” Do you remember that? In Deuteronomy 6? How parents are to be the resident theologians in their homes and pass on the faith to the next generation.
Moms, you might want to go back and review that message if you are looking for some teaching on being a disciple-making Mom this weekend. You can do it! 
But this passage is not addressed to the Moms. This passage is addressed to the kids–especially the sons, though the son stands for all of us who are the children of a wise mom who has taught us the fear of the LORD.
Notice that verse 8 begins with the word, “Listen.” It’s the same word as Deuteronomy 6, “Shema!” “Listen up!” “Hear this, my son!”  He’s flicking the lights on and off. He’s pulled the power cord on the wireless router. I have a friend who when he wants his family’s attention, he turns off the wireless router, and his kids all come of out their rooms. 
Solomon is getting his young son’s attention, and once he does, he is telling him to take to heart his parents’ instruction. Their homeschooling in the fear of the LORD.
And he wants his son to stick with it.
“Do not forsake your mother’s teaching.”
Don’t just let it go in one ear and out the other.Don’t just nod your head and then turn away.
Don’t walk away from the wisdom of your Mom. Walk in it. And don’t stop.
Now, some of you do not or did not have a wise mom. It is very possible that a number of you in this room did not have that particular blessing. Perhaps your Mom was not a believer or died when you were young. Or she had some wisdom, but her life was marked more by folly.
Don’t worry; this passage is for you, as well.
Because the wisdom that this Mom is sharing here is in this book. You don’t have to have a Mom to teach it to you, though she should, and it is a blessing if she has.
But it’s not like this teaching can only come through your biological Mom.
If you didn’t have a wise Mom or don’t have a wise Mom, I encourage you to find one and adopt her. This church is full of women who can serve as a spiritual Mom to you. Go after their wisdom. Even if you have one already, it doesn’t hurt to have more. The family of God has plenty of spiritual aunts and grandmas to teach the next generation the fear of the LORD.
The point is to get that wisdom and then to not lose it.
“Do not forsake your mother’s teaching.”
I don’t think there is a greater heartache for a Christian mother than for her children to walk away from the faith. All of those years of a Christian Mom not just feeding and clothing their kids and nursing them when they’re sick and driving them to all of their things and helping them with their schoolwork and paying their bills and cleaning them and cleaning after and cleaning after them and cleaning after them, not just doing all of that but all of the time those Moms have put into teaching–by both word and example–the Christian faith to their kids.
And then the kids turn their back on it? That is top-level painful for Christians Moms.
But that’s not why Solomon says we ought to stick with it.
This verse does not say, “Please do not disappoint your Mom” even though it would.
This is not about pleasing your Mom, but about what is right and good and (perhaps surprisingly) what is good for you. Look at verse 9.
“They [Mom’s teachings] will be a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck.”
Here’s point two of two:
#2. WEAR THE WISDOM OF YOUR MOM.
Walk in the wisdom of your mom and keep walking in the wisdom of your mom, and you will be wearing the wisdom of your Mom.
Her wisdom will be a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck.
Who wouldn’t want that?
Maybe that doesn’t sound so awesome to guys at first. But think about it.
A garland on your head would be like some kind of a wreath or a headdress of honor.
So, guys in our culture may not know what a garland is, but we do like hats.
And we like hats that show that we have status.
Crowns, for example, everybody still likes a crown.
Or the white hardhat that says that you are the boss.
And this chain around your neck? That is a status symbol, too. That is not like a prison chain. Some translations have “pendants,” that sounds too much like Pandora jewelry to me.
It is bling, though. Many guys today wear chains. Think like Mr. T!
Or the jersey of your favorite team. The jersey at the signing ceremony. Showing off what team they have just joined.
The wrestler that puts on that big belt. Holds it above his head.
10 years ago this month, I graduated with my doctorate from Westminster Theological Seminary. When you get one of those, you have to step in front of the faculty and kind of kneel and they put this stole or “hood” over you head ,and then it hangs around your neck, and it says, “Your are Dr. Mitchell now.” It is an honor.
Like the at Olympics when they place that gold medal around their necks. And they take a bite out of it show that it’s real. It’s a real honor.
I think this in verse 9 is an honor. A garland, a chain.
If you walk in the wisdom your Mom is trying to teach you, you will be blessed!
You will be rewarded. You will be recognized as wise. You will experience favor.
Your Mom’s teaching will become swag for you. Doesn’t that sound good?!
Now, why does he have to tell you that? 
It’s because it’s not obvious, right? Is everybody who walks in wisdom honored for walking in wisdom? Not right away.
Look at the Lord Jesus Christ! He was Wisdom itself. Wisdom incarnate, and not only was He not recognized for it, but He was crucified for it. The garland on his head was twisted together with thorns.
So, this blessing is not a prosperity gospel blessing. This honor is not always immediate or obvious. But it is nevertheless quite real.
If you keep walking in the wisdom of your Mom, you will wear the wisdom of your Mom. Her wisdom will be a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck.
It will be a prize all by itself. Obvious to all who have eyes to see it and forever.
Jesus is now crowned with many crowns.
Turn with me to chapter 6? Verse 20?
This phrase, “Do not forsake your mother’s teaching” appears a second time there in the book of Proverbs. I want you to look at it and see how it takes this one step further. Look at verse 20.
“My son, keep your father's commands and do not forsake your mother's teaching [same exact words in Hebrew]. Bind them upon your heart forever; fasten them around your neck.”
See how that’s similar?
But the emphasis here is not the honor of that decorative chain. That’s there, but it’s more than that.
Here it’s keep that teaching close to your heart. Not letting it go.
Like if you have a key that you want to keep safe, you wear it on a chain around your neck inside your shirt.
That word “bind” is the word we saw in Deuteronomy 6 for what the Israelite parents were told to do with God’s Word and their children. “Tie them as symbols on [their] hands and bind them on [their] foreheads.” Don’t let it go!
Why? What will it do? V.22
“When you walk, they will guide you; when you sleep, they will watch over you; when you awake, they will speak to you. For these commands are a lamp, this teaching is a light, and the corrections of discipline are the way to life...”
Doesn’t that sound good? And doesn’t that sound familiar? It’s like what the parents were taught in Deuteronomy 6. “Impress [God’s words] on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.”
This is saying that if you and I take Mom’s wise teachings to heart, they will guide you through all of life!
Doesn’t that sound good? Why would we walk away from that?
Why would we turn off the lamp, the light, and get off the path to life?
Well, fools do despise wisdom and discipline.
That’s why we need to be reminded, “Do not forsake your mother’s teaching.”
Do not step off the wise path.
So, I want to do something a little different at this point in the message. I’d like your help. I’d like to hear from you.
Would you share with us something that your Christian Mom either taught you about the Lord or is teaching you about the Lord?
We have two microphones. There is one right here and one going around.
Either put up your hand or go to the mic. I’d love it if we heard from 10 or 15 you today.
This is for any disciple here, no matter how old or how young.
Last time, I said that I might put the kids on the spot and ask them what their Mom has been teaching them.
Well, today, we’re all on the spot. Would love to especially hear from some guys. What has your Mom taught you about the Lord?
[HEARING FROM CHURCH FAMILY.]
I could say a lot of things, but the one that came to mind yesterday was how my Mom taught me in many different ways about the value and valor of strong Christian women.
Christianity is not just a masculine thing. It’s not boys’ club. It’s not just about dudes.
One little way she did that was by emphasizing all of the Bible stories about women. Where women are the heroes, the heroines.
Mom was the only female in our family. We had Dad and my brother and me and then Mom. And when we went on long trips in the car, we would fill the time with lots of things, but one of them was a Bible trivia game, where we were supposed to guess what each other was thinking. “I am thinking of a Bible character whose name begins with...” And if it was J it could be Jesus or Joseph or John or whatever.
And Mom was a little predictable. She often started with “D.” I’m thinking of a Bible character whose name began with “D.” And it wasn’t David. It was Deborah or it was Dorcas. And she did R for Ruth and E for Esther and M for Mary. 
And so from a young age, I knew that the Bible was a book for strong females of faith.
And look at this amazing thing in this book that a woman is called to do!
She is called to teach the faith to the next generation!
If she is called “Mom,” she is called to raise up royalty in wisdom!
Think about that. If this is Solomon’s son, that means that he is a prince who may one day be a king whose job it will be to rule with wisdom and justice and faithfulness.
Where will he learn that? At his mother’s knee.
Moms, I can’t help but point it out, you are called to raise up royalty in wisdom, justice, and faithfulness–sons and daughters, not just of Israel’s monarch, but sons and daughters of the Living God!
That’s how important it is for you to teach your children the fear of the LORD.
But again, this passage is not written to Moms. It’s written to us kids.
And it tells us to walk in that wisdom and to not forsake it.
By the way, what is the warning of wisdom that is emphasized in Proverbs 1 and Proverbs 6?
After both of the initial calls to “not forsake your mother’s teaching,” and a description of the beauty and benefits of that teaching, there are two examples of that teaching in action.
In Proverbs 1, the parents warn their son to not take up with a gang. And in Proverbs 6, the parents warn their son to not take up with a loose woman.
One commentator I read this week pointed out that these were common temptations of young men: easy money and easy sex.
Money gained not by hard work and prudence but by violence and theft.
Sex gained not by marriage and faithful commitment, but by stolen pleasure.
The wise mother warns her son against those things and warns about the inevitable consequences of those foolish choices.
This afternoon, read chapter 1 all the way through. And read chapter 6 from verse 20 to verse 35. There is only trouble for those who take those paths. Death is at the end of those paths!
“Fools despise wisdom and discipline.”
Moms, thank you for teaching us the fear of the LORD. Keep it up!
We need it! We are, by nature, foolish, and we need your wisdom to speak into our lives–to show us the way to go and to warn us against the other way.
And all of us, let’s walk in the wisdom of our moms and keep walking in that wisdom. So that we begin to be marked by it. Visibly! People can see it in our lives.
All our Moms are fallen and fallible. None of them are perfect. 
So their teaching will not be perfect either.
Where their teaching was wrong, we need to discard and depart from it.
This is not saying that we need to unthinkingly follow Mom wherever she leads even into error or foolishness. No.
But it saying that God has given us wise Moms for a reason.
They have been given to us to teach us the fear of the LORD.
And to the degree that they do that, we need to hold on for dear life to their instruction.
Because that’s where life is!
“Bind them upon your heart forever; fasten them around your neck [for safe keeping]. When you walk, they will guide you; when you sleep, they will watch over you; when you awake, they will speak to you. For these commands are a lamp, this teaching is a light, and the corrections of discipline are the way to life..."
Walk in the wisdom of your Mom.And wear the wisdom of your Mom.
“Do not forsake your mother’s teaching.”