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The Bible Breakdown
Jeremiah 22: What Matters to God
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The More We Dig. The More We Find.
Hello everybody, welcome back to the Bible Breakdown podcast with your host, pastor Brandon, today. Jeremiah, chapter 22, and today's title is what Matters to God? What matters to God? This reminds me of a friend of mine who he had gone through a divorce. He'd been married for a long time and when he was getting ready to kind of get back out there again, he was realizing he wanted to start dating and all of that. I remember having a conversation with him and he said you know, I've been married for so long I don't know what really matters anymore in the dating scene. I was like dude, I'm pretty sure still integrity and all that stuff's kind of important. And he looked at me like I had two heads and he's like dude. No, I mean like style and stuff like that, what matters? I said. I think actually we're finding out what matters to you more than what matters to anybody else. It was just an interesting conversation to really think about what matters. What matters to people, what matters to spouses, what matters to prospective employers and jobs, most importantly, what matters to prospective employers and jobs and, most importantly, what matters to God. Does it matter what we wear? Does it matter what we say? Does it matter what we do, what we achieve in life, what matters to God. We're going to find out today in God's Word. And before we do that, if you like what we're doing around here, make sure you like, share and subscribe to YouTube channel and the podcast. Make sure you leave us a five-star review on the podcast and make sure you're going to the Bible Breakdown discussion on Facebook where we post devotions every day. It's an amazing team doing an amazing job and the more we dig, the more we find.
Speaker 1:Well, if you have your Bible, want to open up with me to Jeremiah, chapter 22. This is funny. This one is so funny because they ask Jeremiah to come in and to tell them what's going on. They ask Jeremiah to come in and to tell them what's going on, and Jeremiah comes in and he just starts with first of all, everything you're doing is bad. Okay, everything is wrong, and I love that. He's just going to tell it like it is. He's just going to tear everybody up, and what we're going to see over the course of this chapter is God is going to speak to a bunch of different people and just tell them like it is, and at one point, he is going to talk about what truly matters to him, and we're just going to enjoy this together today. And so, if you have your Bibles and you're ready, jeremiah, chapter 22, verse 1, says this this is what the Lord said to me.
Speaker 1:Go over and speak directly to the king of Judah. Say to him listen to this message from the Lord. You, king of Judah, sitting on David's throne, let your attendants and your people listen too. This is what the Lord says. Be fair-minded and just Do what is right. Help those who have been robbed, rescue their oppressors, quit your evil deeds, oh, and stop murdering the innocent. If you obey me, there will always be a descendant of David sitting on the throne here in Jerusalem.
Speaker 1:The king will ride about the palace Verse 6. This is what the Lord said concerning Judah's royal palace. I love you as much as fruitful Gilead and the green forest of Lebanon, but I will turn you into a desert, no one living within your walls. I will call for wreckers who will bring out their tools and dismantle you. They will tear out all your fine cedar beams and throw them on the fire. People from many nations will pass by the ruins of this city and say to one another why did the Lord destroy such a great city? And the answer will be because they violated their covenant with the Lord, their God, by worshiping other gods.
Speaker 1:Then he has a message for Jehoahaz and he says do not weep for the dead king or mourn his loss. Instead, weep for the dead king or mourn his loss. Instead, weep for the captive king being led away, for he will never return to see his native land again. For this is what the Lord says about Jehoahaz, who succeeded his father, king Josiah, and was taken away as a captive. He will never return, he will die in a distant land and will never again see his own country.
Speaker 1:Now here's a message for Jehoiakim. The Lord says what sorrow awaits Jehoiakim, who builds his palace with forced labor, but he builds injustice into its walls, for he makes his neighbors work for nothing and he does not pay them for their labor. He says I will build a magnificent palace with huge rooms and many windows. I will panel it throughout with fragrant cedar and paint it in lovely red. But a beautiful cedar palace does not make a great king.
Speaker 1:Your father, josiah also had plenty to eat and drink, but he was just and right in all his dealings. That is why God blessed him. He gave justice and helped the poor and the needy, and everything went well for him. Isn't that what it means to know me, says the Lord. But you, you have eyes only for greed and dishonesty. You murder the innocent, oppress the poor. But you, you have eyes only for greed and dishonesty. You murder the innocent, oppress the poor and reign ruthlessly.
Speaker 1:Therefore, this is what the Lord says about Jehoiakim, son of King Josiah. The people will not mourn for him crying to one another Alas, my brother, alas, my sister, his subjects will not mourn for him crying. Alas, our master is dead. Alas, wow and Bashan, search for them in the regions east of the river. See that they are all destroyed. Not one is left to help you.
Speaker 1:I warned you when you were prosperous, but you replied don't bother me. You have been that way since childhood. You simply will not obey me. And now the wind will blow away. Your allies, all your friends will be taken away as captives. Surely, then you will see wickedness and be ashamed. It may be nice to live in a beautiful palace paneled with wood from cedars of Lebanon, but soon you will groan with pains of anguish like a woman in labor. And then a message for Jehoiakim, as surely, as I live, says the Lord, I will abandon you.
Speaker 1:Jehoiakim, son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah. Even if you were the signet ring of my right hand, I would pull you off. I will hand you over to those who seek to kill you, those who desperately fear the king Nebuchadnezzar of the Babylon and the mighty Babylonian army. I will expel you and your mother from this land and you will die in a foreign country, not in your native land. You will never again return to the land you yearn for. This is why, or this is the man Jehoiakim like. Wait a minute, try this. Let me try this again. Why is this man, jehoiakim, like a discarded, broken jar? Why are he and his children to be exiled to a foreign land? Oh, earth, earth, earth. Listen to this message from the Lord. This is what the Lord says. Let the record show that this man, jehoiakim, was childless. He's a failure. None of his children will succeed him on the throne of David to rule over Judah.
Speaker 1:Wow, so what we see is Jeremiah is just saying everything everybody's doing here is bad and it's almost over. It's almost like the idea of. You know, they always say like when the cat's away, the mice will play right, and so it's almost like Jeremiah is saying listen, the cat's been away a while. All you mice have been playing, but the king's coming back and he's bringing his justice with him. And he's saying all these things y'all been doing is all bad and none of this is what God wanted you to do. And he talks about how all these different because most of these people he's talking about are kings and he's saying all of these things this is not what mattered to God. And I love how, in verse 15, it says this is not what matters. And this is what does he says.
Speaker 1:In verse 15, he's talking to one of the kings and he says he's talking to hoakim and he says but a beautiful cedar palace does not make a great king. Other words, things do not make you great. He said your father, josiah, had plenty to eat and drink. Other words, he had great things. But you know what made him different? He was just and he was right in all of his dealings. That's why God blessed him. He gave justice and help to the poor and the needy and everything went well for him. So, in other words, what Jeremiah is saying is he says I know you're looking around and you see how some people are blessed and some people are not blessed. You know the things they have. That's not what's important. What's important is the character that they had.
Speaker 1:Can I tell you God is more interested in our character than he is in our comfort. God is more interested that you are a man or a woman of God than you are a man or a woman of means. You have things. God doesn't mind if you have things. He just doesn't want things to have you. That's why, for many of us, I wonder if one of the reasons why we are not more prosperous in our life is because God knows that our character cannot keep up with those things and they'll destroy us. And so he keeps us in this place where he says your character can only work like in this area. And so, honestly, one of the things that I've heard for years is that if you want to get better, if you want to do better, get better.
Speaker 1:I heard someone say stop praying for promotion and start praying to be promotable. In other words, if you become the right kind of person, then God can trust you with more, because what matters to God is not the things, but it's you. It's your character, it's your integrity. But I've got to warn you, though. I have seen people that as they grew in character and grew in integrity and grew in wisdom, they began to realize they don't want all of those things, because with all those things come 99 problems. And they realize I'm most blessed when I have less, because I have less I have to keep up with and I can just enjoy life.
Speaker 1:But all of that comes secondary to what matters the most to God. And, as God was telling to Jehoiakim, it's not your palace, it's not all your stuff that matters to me. What matters is what's on the inside, that you are just and you are right with others. So can I tell you, if you're in a season in life right now where you don't have a lot of things, can I tell you that that doesn't impress God either way, god does not look at your value based on how you can perform. God has his value based on the fact that you're his and what's going on in the inside of you. And if you will work on growing the inside of you, god will take care of the outside and then you can trust and be content with wherever you are. That's what God knows you can handle, because he's with you in everything you do.
Speaker 1:Let's pray together, god. Thank you so much for today. Thank you, God, that you're with us and you know us. Lord, it is so very hard to focus on the inside when the outside calls to us so much Be more, make more, have more, achieve more. And God, I know that in and of themselves, these things are not bad at all. The problem becomes when we use those things to define who we are. I pray you'll help us to only be defined by who you say we are and then go from there. Thank you, god, for all you're doing in our lives. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen, in the name of God's word says in Jeremiah 29, verse 13,. If you look for me, wholeheartedly, say it with me, you will find me. My prayer is that you find God more every day of your life. I love you. I'll see you tomorrow. For Jeremiah, chapter 23.
