JEREMIAH 3
Israel is committing adultery verse 1- 5
They say
If a man put away his wife – and she go from him
and become another man’s
shall he return unto her again?
Shall not the land be greatly polluted?
BUT you have played the harlot
with many lovers
yet returned to ME
says the LORD
Lift up your eyes unto the high places
and see where you have not been lain with
in the ways thou sat for them
as the Arabian in the wilderness
and you have polluted the land with
your whoredoms and with your wickedness
THEREFORE the showers have been withheld
and there has been no latter rain
and you had a whore’s forehead
you refused to be ashamed
Wilt you not from this time cry unto ME
My FATHER – YOU are the guide of my youth?
Will HE reserve HIS anger forever?
Will HE keep it to the end?
BEHOLD – you have spoken
and done evil things as you could
Judah has committed adultery verse 6- 10
The LORD said also unto me in the days of Josiah the king
Have you seen that which backsliding Israel hath done?
she is gone up upon every high mountain and under
every green tree – and there hath played the harlot
And I said after she had done all these things
Turn you to ME – BUT she returned not
AND her treacherous sister Judah saw it
And I saw when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel
committed adultery I had put her away
and given her a bill of divorce
YET her treacherous sister Judah feared not
BUT went and played the harlot also
AND it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredoms
that she defiled the land
and committed adultery with stones
and with stocks
AND yet for all her treacherous sister Judah
has not turned unto ME
with her whole heart
BUT feignedly – says the LORD
Jeremiah to Israel: I am merciful verse 11- 13
AND the LORD said to me
The backsliding Israel has justified herself
more than treacherous Judah
Go and proclaim these words toward the north
and say
Return – you backsliding Israel – says the LORD
AND I will not cause MINE anger to fall upon you
for I am merciful – says the LORD
and I will not keep anger for ever
Only acknowledge your iniquity
that you have transgressed against the LORD your God
and have scattered your ways to the strangers under
every green tree and you have
not obeyed MY voice
says the LORD
Jeremiah to Israel: True shepherds provided verse 14- 15
TURN – O backsliding children –says the LORD
for I am MARRIED unto you – and I will take you one of a city
and two of a family – and I will bring you to Zion
And I will give you PASTORS according to MINE heart
WHICH shall feed you with knowledge and understanding
Jeremiah to Israel: All nations will worship verse 16- 18
AND it shall come to pass – when you be multiplied and increased in the land
in those days – says the LORD – they shall say no more
The ark of the covenant of the LORD
neither shall it come to mind
neither shall they remember it
neither shall they visit it
neither shall that be done any more
At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the LORD
and all nations shall be gathered unto it
to the name of the LORD
to Jerusalem neither shall they walk any more
after the imagination of their evil heart
In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel
and they shall come together
out of the land of the north to the land
that I have given for an inheritance
to your fathers
Jeremiah to Israel: Faithless wife verse 19- 20
BUT I said – How shall I put you among the children
and give you a pleasant land
a goodly heritage of the host of nations?
AND I said – You shall call ME – My father
AND shall not turn away from ME
Surely as a wife treacherously departs from her husband
SO have you dealt treacherously with ME
O house of Israel says the LORD
Jeremiah to Israel: Forgotten God verse 21
A voice was heard upon the high places
weeping and supplications of the children of Israel
for they have perverted their way
and they have forgotten
the LORD their God
Jeremiah gives an example of repentance verse 22- 25
RETURN – you backsliding children
and I will heal your backslidings
BEHOLD – we come unto YOU
for YOU are the LORD our God
Truly in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills
and from the multitude of mountains
truly in the LORD our God
is the salvation of Israel
For shame hath devoured the labor of our fathers f
rom our youth – their flocks – their herds
their sons – their daughters
We lie down in shame and our confusion covers us
for we have sinned against the LORD our God
We and our fathers from our youth even to this day
and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God
COMMENTARY:
DAILY SPIRITUAL BREAKFAST: Young Believers
: 8 And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce: yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also. (4878 “backsliding” [mashuwbah] means turning away, apostasy, faithlessness, falling away, a person who is disloyal to a relationship or authority, or defection)
DEVOTION: In the Christian life we are supposed to be moving closer to the LORD each moment. There is supposed to be growth toward being more Christlike but here we find that Israel was moving further away from the LORD instead of closer.
The LORD is watching HIS people Israel and doesn’t like what HE is seeing. They were moving away from HIM to worship the false gods of those people they had just defeated. They had forgotten where they received their strength to win the battle. They thought the life of those who didn’t love the LORD was better than obedience to the LORD and HIS commands.
This is what happened to the children of Israel and it is happening today with those who say they have made a commitment to the LORD and yet are moving away from HIM to serve the gods of this world.
Each day believers have to make a choice regarding to either serve the LORD or serve the world, the flesh or the devil. It is not hard to wander from the LORD but it takes strength to stay faithful to the LORD and that strength can come from the Holy Spirit and our personal times with the LORD.
Judah looked at what was going on in Israel and thought they could do the same without the judgment of God but they were wrong. Sometimes today’s believers think they can do what other people who claim to be believers are doing but find themselves moving further and further away from the LORD and going into a lifestyle of the world, the flesh and the devil.
Each day we make choices. Our choices are either good in the eyes of the LORD or they are not. Our goal each day should be to make choices that are pleasing to the LORD. If we fail to do that we need to confess our sin and move back into a position and actions that are pleasing to HIM.
CHALLENGE: Our choices affect our relationship to the LORD. IF we make wrong choices, we need to confess them and realize that there are consequences for not following HIM correctly, but not give up but turn back in the right direction.
DAILY SPIRITUAL LUNCH: Transitional Believers
: 12 Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say: ‘Return, backsliding Israel,’ says the LORD; ‘I will not cause My anger to fall on you. For I am merciful,’ says the LORD; ‘I will not remain angry forever. The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982).
DEVOTION: Israel had revealed her true self but the Lord was still willing to put aside His anger and be merciful to this adulterous and wicked nation. He stated that Israel is more righteous than Judah as she had seen what God did with her sister and yet still went into the same path!
How often we think that the judgments that God gives to others will not come to us! We believe that we are safe from the trials and sufferings because God has a love for us and has stated it unequivocally. God stated his love for the nation of Israel and Judah but still held them accountable and disciplined them when needed. Should the church expect anything differently?
God’s children will be held to the standard that He has raised for his people. He will hold us to a level of holiness and purity that exceeds those around us.
Hebrews reminds believers that the Lord is just and a righteous judge. “For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which shall devour the adversaries…. For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. And again, “The Lord will judge His people.” Hebrews 10:26,27;30-31
Do not take for granted the mercy of the Lord! He loves with a gracious, longsuffering love, but He also treats sin with a gravity and impunity that shocks people. Return today to the Lord of your salvation before you feel the discipline of a loving Father.
CHALLENGE: You know if you are being disobedient or not to the Lord’s commands in your life. As He speaks to you, take a moment to evaluate the standard God has raised for you. Are you meeting it? If not go to Him in prayer. (Brian Miller – board member)
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: 15 And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding. (7462 “feed” [ra‘ah] means shepherd, pastor, herdsmen, keep, companion, pasture, graze, teacher, or tend.)
DEVOTION: The LORD valued leaders who shepherd HIS flock correctly. At present the Israelites were not being given the right nourishment. They were being led astray by their leaders. They were teaching them the ways of the world and not the ways of the LORD.
They were like a wife that was divorced and had another husband but came back to their first husband. This was unacceptable. It caused the world to be polluted. Yet Israel had gone after many lovers and thought the LORD would not care.
God had sent warnings of HIS displeasure. One of the warnings was that they didn’t receive rain for their crops to flourish. They were having a famine in the land but the people didn’t seem to get the message.
The LORD sent HIS prophet Jeremiah to remind them of their backsliding from following HIM. The problem was that Judah followed right along with Israel in her relationship to the LORD. She was as guilty as Israel.
God had even given Israel a bill of divorce but Judah didn’t take the warning that she could be next. She showed no fear of the LORD’s judgment. There seemed to be a half-hearted return to the LORD by Judah but the LORD didn’t count that as repentance.
So both Israel and Judah didn’t seem to care that the LORD wanted to give them better leaders. They were content in the way things were at present.
Our problem is that we seem to be in the same train of thought. The LORD has sent warnings to us regarding our relationship to HIM as a nation and we don’t seem to see what is going on around us. It has not only affected our nation but all the nations of the world. Some nations are experiencing many coming to the LORD but even these nations are not taking the warnings of the LORD seriously.
Those who are truly believers need to return to the LORD for instructions in what it means to be a true follower of the LORD. Part of the learning process means that we have to accept suffering for HIS name sake. God wants to know if we are willing to give our whole heart to HIM.
Only then can we revival come to the people of God and then to the families of God and finally to a nation that honors God. Is this impossible today as it seemed to be in the days of Jeremiah? It seems that way but the LORD can work miracles even today.
CHALLENGE: God is still sovereign and will still treat HIS people the same if they repent and return with a whole heart in service to HIM. It only takes a few to turn the world upside down for HIM.
DAILY SPIRITUAL SUPPER: Mature Believers
: 22 Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings. Behold, we come unto thee; for thou art the LORD our God. (7726 “backsliding” [showbab] means apostate, faithless, rebellious, idolatrous, forwardly, recusant, back turning or turn away.)
DEVOTION: The LORD starts with an illustration regarding someone getting divorce and then accepting their divorced spouse back after they married someone else.
The children of Israel had gone after many false gods. God is trying to talk to HIS wife, Israel. HE wants her to return to HIS service. The LORD makes a comparison between the tribes of Israel and the tribe of Judah. Judah was just like her sister nation, Israel, but they honored the LORD with their mouth but their actions were far from serving the LORD. HE wants Israel and Judah to acknowledge their sin and return to him.
There is hope in the future for both Israel and Judah. There is a promise of new shepherds. These shepherds would have a heart for God. They would feed HIS people with knowledge and understanding regarding their God. That day has not arrived yet.
In the Old Testament the Holy Spirit could leave the person never to return. In the New Testament we are told that the Holy Spirit indwells us at salvation and never leaves us.
Does that mean we don’t sin anymore? NO! It means that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit and if we grieve or quench HIM too much HE will cause weakness, sickness and premature death. Some are going to be saved “yet so as by fire” or all their works after salvation will be burned but they will be in heaven.
Some people, however, that think they are a follower of Christ but their works show that they are not – might never have entered into a proper relationship with the LORD. Just walking forward and saying a prayer doesn’t “save” anyone if there isn’t a lifestyle change that goes along with it. We don’t base our salvation on just going forward in church and saying a prayer. There is a life change that is necessary.
Have we all experienced this life change of direction? Did we mean business with the LORD when we committed our life to HIM? We are not going to be sinless but we should be sinning less. This only happens by taking the time to meditate on the Word of God, attend a Bible believing church and using our gift or gifts to serve the LORD until HE takes us home to HIMSELF in glory or the LORD returns. People can see that there is something different in us and some will even come to us and ask what it is.
CHALLENGE: Backsliding is real for those who are believers. Israel and Judah as nations were far away from the LORD. HE was calling them back. HE is calling us back to faithful service to HIM.
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DISCIPLINES OF THE FAITH:
BODY
Chastity (Purity in living)
Fasting (Time alone with LORD without eating or drinking)
Sacrifice (Giving up something we want to serve the LORD)
Submission (Willing to listen to others and LORD)
Solitude (Going to a quiet place without anyone)
SOUL
Fellowship (Gathering together around the Word of God)
Frugality (wise use of resources)
Journalizing (Writing down what you have learned from the LORD)
Study and Meditation (Thinking through your study in the Word)
Secrecy (Doing your good deeds without others knowing but God)
SPIRIT
Celebration (Gathering around a special occasion to worship LORD)
Confession (Tell the LORD we are sorry for our sins on a daily basis)
Prayer (Conversation with God on a personal level)
Cry out to LORD verse 4, 19
Silence (Letting the LORD deal with some problems and needs)
Worship (Time to praise the LORD alone or in a group)
Pastors according to heart of LORD verse 15
Ark of the covenant verse 16
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DOCTRINES OF THE FAITH:
Scripture (66 inerrant books of the Bible)
Proclaim the Word of the LORD verse 12
God the Father (First person of the Godhead)
LORD – Jehovah (Covenant keeping, Personal) verse 1, 6, 10- 14, 16, 17, 20- 23, 25
Control of weather verse 3
God – Elohim (Creator, Sovereign) verse 13, 21- 23, 25
LORD your God verse 13
Married to Israel verse 14
LORD their God verse 21
LORD our God verse 22, 23, 25
God the Son (Second person of the Godhead –God/man, Messiah)
God the Holy Spirit (Third person of the Godhead – our comforter)
Trinity (Three persons of the Godhead who are co-equal = ONE God)
Angels (Created before the foundation of the world – Good and Evil)
Man (Created on the sixth twenty-four hour period of creation)
Man put away his wife verse 1
Arabian verse 2
Strangers verse 13
Nations verse 17, 19
Sin (Missing the mark set by God on man and angels)
Harlot verse 1, 6, 8
Many lovers verse 1
Worshiping false gods in the high places verse 2, 6
Whoredoms verse 2, 3, 9
Wickedness verse 2
Not ashamed of sin verse 3
Evil verse 5
Backsliding verse 6, 8, 11, 12, 14, 22
Worship false gods under every green tree verse 6
Refuse to repent verse 7, 10
Treacherous verse 7, 8, 10, 11, 20
Adultery verse 8, 9
No fear of the LORD verse 8
Defile the land verse 9
Justified sin verse 11
Iniquity verse 13
Transgressed verse 13
Not obeyed verse 13, 25
Evil heart verse 17
Evil imaginations verse 17
Turn away from the LORD verse 19
Perverted verse 21
Forgotten God verse 21
Vain hope verse 23
Shame verse 24, 25
Confusion verse 25
Sinned verse 25
Salvation (Provided by Christ’s death on the cross for our sins)
Guide verse 4
Turn – repent verse 7, 14, 19, 22
Fear of the LORD verse 8
Whole heart given to God verse 10
Proclaim word of the LORD verse 12
Merciful verse 12
Acknowledge sin verse 13
Obey voice of the LORD verse 13, 25
Pastors verse 15
Feed with knowledge and understanding verse 15
Inheritance verse 18
Goodly heritage verse 19
Not turn away from the LORD verse 19
Healing verse 22
Salvation verse 23
Israel (Old Testament people of God)
Days of Josiah the king verse 6,
Israel verse 6, 8, 11, 12, 18, 20, 21, 23
Judah verse 7, 8, 10, 11, 18
Bill of divorcement verse 8
Zion verse 14
Jerusalem – throne of the LORD verse 17
Children of Israel verse 21
Church (New Testament people of God)
Last Things (Future Events)
In those days verse 18
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QUOTES regarding passage
3:16–17 God looked beyond Jeremiah’s day to a time after the people returned, great in number and prosperity. They would no longer mention or even remember the ark of the covenant. The ark and the temple symbolized God’s presence with his people (Exod 25:22; Lev 16:2; 1 Sam 4:4; 2 Kgs 19:15; 1 Chr 28:2; Pss 80:1; 99:5). The venerated symbols of God’s presence will no longer be needed because God himself will be present in their midst (Rev 21:22–23). At that time the people will no longer follow the “stubbornness” of their hearts. Jerusalem itself, God’s dwelling place, will be called “the Throne of the Lord.”48 True faith does not depend on symbols or external forms in order to worship God (John 4:23). (Huey, F. B. (1993). Jeremiah, Lamentations (Vol. 16, pp. 75–76). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.)
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17. Jerusalem—the whole city, not merely the temple. As it has been the center of the Hebrew theocracy, so it shall be the point of attraction to the whole earth (Is 2:2–4; Zec 2:10, 11; 14:16–21).
throne of … Lord—The Shekinah, the symbol of God’s peculiar nearness to Israel (De 4:7) shall be surpassed by the antitype, God’s own throne in Jerusalem (Ps 2:6, 8; Ps 2:6, 8, Ez 34:23, 24; Zec 2:5). (Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., & Brown, D. (1997). Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (Vol. 1, p. 510). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.)
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The ark of the covenant, which was lost after Babylon destroyed Judah in 586 b.c., would not be missed, and another ark would not be made. In place of the ark will be The Throne of the Lord, a title by which the city of Jerusalem will be known. It is significant that Ezekiel (cf. Ezek. 43:7) also pictured the millennial temple as a place where God’s throne will be. Evidently Christ will rule from the temple during the millennial period. God’s rule from Jerusalem will extend over all nations who will go to Jerusalem to worship Him (cf. Zech. 14:16–19). (Dyer, C. H. (1985). Jeremiah. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 1, p. 1134). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.)
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The people must have been shocked when they heard Jeremiah say that the day would come when the ark of the covenant would be gone, forgotten, and never missed (v. 16). They trusted in the ark, the temple, the religious rituals, the covenant, and yet these things were but temporary signs that pointed to something spiritual and eternal. (Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). Be Decisive (p. 33). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books)
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3:15–18 It shall be in those days. When Israel repents (vv. 13, 14, 22), which has not happened, but will in the millennial era of God’s restoration that the prophets often describe (Jer 23:5, 6; 30–33; Eze 36), God will bring these blessings: 1) shepherds to teach them the truth; 2) His own immediate presence on the throne in Jerusalem, not just the ark of His covenant; 3) allegiance even of Gentile nations; 4) righteousness; 5) genuineness in worship; 6) unity of Israel (north) and Judah (south) into one kingdom; and 7) reestablishment in their own Promised Land. (MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (2006). The MacArthur study Bible: New American Standard Bible. (Je 3:15–18). Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers.)
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Ver. 17. At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord, &c.] That is, the Gospel church, the heavenly Jerusalem, the Jerusalem above, that is free, and the mother of us all; which is Christ’s kingdom, where he has his throne and subjects, and where be sits and reigns as King of saints; and where they yield a cheerful and ready subjection to him, signified by calling the church his throne: and all the nations shall be gathered unto it; which shews that Jerusalem, literally understood, cannot be meant, but the church of Christ; to which the Gentiles, being converted, should join themselves in great numbers in all nations, as they have done; and which will be more largely accomplished and verified in the latter day, Isa. 2:2, 3 and 60:3, 4, 5, &c.: to the name of the Lord, to Jerusalem; to name his name, to trust in his name, to call upon it, and to worship him in Jerusalem, in his church, and among his people; and so the Targum, “and all nations shall give themselves to worship in it the name of the Lord, in Jerusalem:” neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart; for the Gospel being preached to all nations, according to Christ’s commission, by the pastors he promises, and that being blessed to the turning of the Gentiles from their idols to serve the living God, they shall no more worship the gods they chose for themselves, and their evil hearts devised. (Gill, J. (1810). An Exposition of the Old Testament (Vol. 5, p. 418). London: Mathews and Leigh.)
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FROM MY READING:
(Remember the only author that I totally agree with is the HOLY SPIRIT in the inerrant WORD OF GOD called THE BIBLE! All other I try to gleam what I can to help me grow in the LORD!!)
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After His baptism by His forerunner, John, Jesus’ ministry is validated by God the Father.
INSIGHT
No matter when, no matter where, repentance is necessary when meeting God for the first time. To repent means to change your mind.
If you have been living your life without God, you must change your mind about Him. You must stop thinking of Him as something less than Sovereign Lord of the universe. You must acknowledge His right to define what is right — and wrong — for you. And you must trust Him to reconcile you to Himself through His only begotten Son.
If you were transported back to John’s time and heard his message, would you repent?
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WHAT OUR LORD PRAYS FOR
I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. John 17:15
The primary object of Christ’s prayer is not so much that His followers may be one with one another as that they may be kept in true unity with Him, with God the Father, and therefore with each other. That is the nature of communion. Obviously this has to be worked out in greater detail, and never perhaps was this more necessary than today.
The next thing He prays for them is that they may be kept from the evil one—the devil, the god of this world, the prince of the power of the air—and the evil that is in the world as the result of his activities and efforts. Our Lord does not pray that they may be taken out of the world. We sometimes wish we could pray that; the idea of monasticism is somewhere down in the depths of all of us. We want to retire out of the world and arrive in some magic circle where nothing can disturb us. There is a longing in the suffering, persecuted Christian to get out of the world. But our Lord does not pray that they may be taken out of the world in any sense, nor that they may be taken out of it by death, but rather that in it they may be kept from the evil.
Your business and mine as Christian people is to be in the midst of this world and its affairs and still remain true and loyal to God and be kept from the evil. “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this,” says James, not to retire out of every vocation in life, but rather “to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world” (James1:27). The task of the Christian is to be in the midst of this world and its affairs in order that he or she may do this work of evangelism.
A Thought to Ponder: Our Lord does not pray that they may be taken out of the world but rather that in it they may be kept from the evil. (From Safe in the World, pp. 14, by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones)
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Messages from the Messiah’s Life: The Virgin Birth
“The LORD hath created a new thing in the earth, A woman shall compass a man.” (Jeremiah 31:22)
The entire gospel authority rests on the fact of the sinless life of the Lord Jesus—beginning with His conception.
“Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14). An ‘owth (the Hebrew word for “the token” or “the miracle”) would prove that the child born, the son given, would be none other than the “Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6).
When Matthew and Luke speak of the virgin birth (Matthew 1:23; Luke 1:27), they use the Greek word parthenos, which is only used of an actual virgin. Yet, even as clear as the words may be, the reason for the virgin birth is more important still.
The Lamb of God (John 1:29) must be “a lamb without blemish and without spot” (1 Peter 1:19). Resting on the centuries of the example of the perfect sacrifice with the Passover lamb (Exodus 12:5), “even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us” (1 Corinthains 5:7).
This “last Adam,” created to be the “quickening spirit” (1 Corinthians 15:45), was “holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens” (Hebrews 7:26). This virgin-born Immanuel was “made flesh” (John 1:14) “to take away our sins” (1 John 3:5) “that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
This all began (in real time) with the sinless, virgin-born conception of the Messiah “which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began” (Titus 1:2). (HMM III, The Institute for Creation Research)
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