.JPG)
The Bible Breakdown
Bible reading plan and SOAP guide: www.experiencerlc.com/the-bible
Subscribe to my weekly newsletter: www.brandoncannon.com
The Bible Breakdown
Jeremiah 23: Pray for Your Pastor
Ask a Question
Send Encouragement
|||| Take a Next Step ||||
SOAP Bible Study Method.
Bible Reading Plan.
Free Weekly Newsletter.
|||| Social ||||
Facebook.
Instagram.
X.
YouTube.
The More We Dig. The More We Find.
Well, hello everybody. Welcome back to the Bible Breakdown Podcast with your host, pastor Brandon, today. Jeremiah, chapter 23,. And today's title is Pray for your Pastor. Man, praise the Lord, pray for your pastor. Here's the thing we need it. Okay, I need it.
Speaker 1:If you don't go to RLC, we literally have people listening and watching from all over the place. If you have a pastor, please pray for them, because this chapter is going to help you understand why. I mean, it's going to get crazy. Just trust me, pray for your pastor. We'll get into all that in just a moment. But if you like what we're doing here, make sure, as you're opening up your Bible to Jeremiah 23, take a moment and like, share and subscribe to the YouTube channel and the podcast. My podcast listeners will always be my favorites. I love you. You guys are the OGs. Make sure, if you haven't done so, you leave us a five-star review and, as always, make sure you're going to the Bible Breakdown Discussion on Facebook. The more we dig, the more we find, and we are meant to do this thing called life in community. There's a great team of people that are helping us do that every single day by writing devotions. Okay, all right. Well, if you have your Bibles once again when turned with me to Jeremiah, chapter 23,.
Speaker 1:Remember, the overall theme of Jeremiah is a future and a hope, god's light in the darkness. If you remember, jeremiah lives in Jerusalem and he is going up to the temple all the time and he sees these false prophets, these false leaders, or, we would say today, false pastors, who are leading the people in the wrong direction. And not only does it break Jeremiah's heart and frustrate him, it's making God frustrated because the people are following blindly these false prophets and the false prophets are leading them in the wrong direction. And can I tell you, as a pastor, no one dislikes a bad pastor more than someone trying to be a good pastor. You know what I mean, because it gives all of us a bad name. And I think you would probably agree, in whatever vocation you have, that if you care about what you do, then it makes you frustrated when you see people go in the opposite direction. And that's what Jeremiah sees and that's what God puts in his heart to say man, you guys are doing this the exact wrong way. You know, I heard someone say one time that everybody has value, even if it's only to be an example of what not to do. You know what I mean. That's what a lot of these people are, and so what God, through the prophecy of Jeremiah, is going to do is he's going to talk about just condemning these corrupt leaders and how they are scattering the flock and just confusing people. So we're going to read this as God just pulls no punches, and then, at the end, we're going to talk about how to properly and how to effectively pray for the spiritual leaders in our life. I'm going to tell you something. We need it. Here we go.
Speaker 1:Jeremiah 23, verse 1, says this what sorrow awaits the leaders of my people, the shepherds of my sheep, what sorrow awaits the leaders of my people, the shepherds of my sheep, for they have destroyed and scattered the very ones they were expected to care for, says the Lord. Therefore, this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says to these shepherds Instead of caring for my flock and leading them to safety, you have deserted them and have driven them to destruction. Now I will pour out judgment on you for the evil you have done to them, but I will gather together the remnant of my flock from the countries where I have driven them. I will bring them back to their own sheepfold and they will be fruitful and increase in number. Then I will appoint responsible shepherds who will care for them and they will never be afraid again. Not a single one will be lost or missing. I, the Lord, have spoken. And then he says for a time is coming, says the Lord, when I will raise up a righteous descendant from King David's line. He will be a king who rules with wisdom and he will do what is just and right throughout the land, and this will be his name. The Lord is our righteousness. And in that day Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. Pause Now.
Speaker 1:If you can't tell what Jeremiah just did, is he just gave a messianic prophecy one day, saying that a true king will come, a true leader will come and will shepherd the people. Of course we now know that was Jesus. He was talking about All right, verse 7. In that day, says the Lord, when the people are taking an oath, they will no longer say as surely as the Lord lives, who rescues the people of Israel from the land of Egypt. Instead, they will say as surely as the Lord lives, who brought the people of Israel back to their own land from the land of the north and Pause. So what he's saying is is the number one thing that the nation of Israel looked at to show God's faithfulness was them coming out of Egyptian bondage. And what God is saying there will be a time one day when God will say well, that was great. I'll tell you what else was great is what I'm about to do right now. So he's saying they're going to be scattered, but I'm going to bring them back together and you will see yet again how great I truly am. That's an awesome, awesome prophecy.
Speaker 1:All right, verse 9. My heart is broken because of the false prophets. My heart is broken because of the false prophets and my bones tremble. I stagger like a drunkard, like someone overcome by wine, because of the holy words the Lord has spoken against them, for the land is full of adultery and it lies under a curse. The land itself is in mourning. Its wilderness pastures are dried up, for they all do evil and abuse what power they have. Even the priests and prophets are ungodly, wicked men. I have seen their despicable acts right here in my own temple, says the Lord. Therefore, the path they take will become slippery and they will be chased through the dark, and there they will fall, for I will bring disaster upon them at the time fixed for their punishment.
Speaker 1:I, the Lord, have spoken. I saw that the prophets of Samaria were terribly evil, for they prophesied in the name of Baal and they led my people of Israel to sin. But now I see that the prophets of Jerusalem are even worse. They commit adultery and love dishonesty. They encourage those who are doing evil so that no one turns away from their sins. These prophets are as wicked as the people of Sodom and Gomorrah once were. Therefore, this is what the Lord of heaven's army says concerning the prophets I will feed them with bitterness, I will give them poison to drink, for it is because of Jerusalem's prophets that wickedness has filled this land. This is what the Lord of Heaven's army says to his people.
Speaker 1:Do not listen to these prophets as they prophesy to you, filling you with futile hopes. They are making up everything they say and they do not speak for the Lord. They keep saying to those who despise my word don't worry. The Lord says, you will have peace, and those who stubbornly follow their own desires will say no harm will come your way. Listen to this verse 18. Have any of these prophets been in the Lord's presence to hear what he is really saying? Has even one of them cared enough to listen? Look, the Lord's anger bursts out like a storm, a whirlwind that swirls down on the heads of the wicked. The anger of the Lord will not diminish until it has finished all he has planned, and in the days to come you will understand all of this very clearly.
Speaker 1:I have not sent these prophets yet. They run around claiming to speak for me. I have given them no message yet they go on prophesying. If they had stood before me and listened to me, they would have spoken my words and they would have turned my people from their evil ways and deeds. Am I a God who is only close at hand, says the Lord? No, I am far away. At the same time, can anyone hide from me in a secret place? Am I not everywhere, in all the heavens and the earth, says the Lord? I have heard these people say listen to the dream I had from God last night. Then they proceed to tell lies in my name. How long will this go on?
Speaker 1:If they are prophets, they are prophets of deceit, inventing everything they say. By telling these false dreams, they are trying to get my people to forget me, just as their ancestors did by worshiping the idols of the El. Let these false prophets tell their dreams, but let my messengers faithfully proclaim my every word. There is a difference between straw and grain. Does not my word burn like fire, says the Lord? Is it not like a mighty hammer that smashes a rock to pieces? Therefore, says the Lord, I am against these prophets who steal messages from each other and claim they are from me. I am against these smooth-tongued prophets who say this prophecy is from the Lord. I am against these false prophets. Their imaginary dreams are flagrant lies that lead my people into sin. I did not send them or appoint them. They have no message at all for my people. I, the Lord, have spoken.
Speaker 1:Then verse 33 says Suppose one of the people or one of the prophets or one of the priests were to ask you what prophecy has the Lord burdened you with? Now you must reply you are the burden. The Lord says he will abandon you. If any prophet, priest or anyone else says I have a prophecy from the Lord, I will punish that person along with his entire family. You should keep asking each other what is the Lord's answer or what is the Lord saying, but stop using this phrase prophecy from the Lord, for people are using it to give authority to their own ideas, turning upside down the words of our God, the living God, the Lord of heaven's armies. This is what you should say to the prophets. What is the Lord's answer? Or what is the Lord saying? But suppose they respond this is the prophecy from the Lord. Then you will say this is what the Lord says. Because you have used this phrase prophecy from the Lord, even though I warned you not to use it, I will forget you completely. I will expel you from my presence, along with this city that I gave you and your ancestors, and I will make you an object of ridicule and your name will be infamous throughout the ages.
Speaker 1:Wow, so I'm going to tell you something that was just a whole lot of bad. What he was really saying is kind of, to sum that up, there's a lot of words there, right? What he's saying is is Jeremiah is going into the temple where people are going to hear the word of the Lord. They want to know what God is saying. Nowadays, what we can do is we can read God's word and we can understand God's word for ourself, and we have the Holy Spirit to help us understand how to interpret the word of God correctly, right?
Speaker 1:Well, back then, so many of these people, they didn't know God's Word. They didn't have access to God's Word the way we do nowadays, and so they had to trust that what they were hearing was from the Lord. And what was happening is is these people were kind of what we would say. Now they're reading their own press, in other words, they are believing what they want to believe about themselves. They're hearing well, I'm a prophet, so I must be right, and so they're just saying stuff knowing it's not true or being deceptive, whether they realize it or not.
Speaker 1:And what Jeremiah is saying is he's saying how terrible is this? That you are using the name of God to push forward your agendas or your opinions, rather than just letting God's word speak, and there's just all of this negativity that's going on. And if it sounds complicated, it is and it's not at the same time. So let me explain that to you. So, as a pastor, one of the things that is difficult is we have God's Word right, and so what some people say is well, pastor, just read God's Word to me and that's enough. Well, that's true. But what you also want me to do is you want me to explain God's Word to you and to teach you how to understand God's word. And with that comes having to teach God's word to people, right? So you have that aspect of it. But then you have people who want to say, well, can you give me a word from the Lord? Well, what we should say is, absolutely, do you want Matthew, mark, luke, I can give you 66 words from the Lord.
Speaker 1:But what people want to do is they want to shortchange, a lot of times, their personal relationship with God, and they want you to have a relationship with God and to tell them what God says. And it's really hard, can I be honest with you. It's really hard not to fall into that, because you want to serve people, you want to be there for people, you want to appear spiritual, to say, of course, I'm close to God, I can tell you exactly what God is saying. But the problem is that's not what we're called to do as pastors. We're called to lead you to know God, and so that's number one issue. The second issue is you have bad actors out there who want to appear spiritual. So they say thus says the Lord all the time.
Speaker 1:God is saying this, god is saying that, and what God is actually saying in Jeremiah is there's a curse that comes along with that if you're not careful. Can I tell you that God has convicted my heart of that so much that nowadays, if God spoke to me directly about something, I still will say I'm not sure, but I think God may be telling us to do this, because I have learned the hard way to have ultimate respect for that phrase. This is what the Lord says and so, cause you can tell there's a lot going on here, and can we just say this there's also a lot of great things about being a pastor, watching people take next steps in their walk with God, and all of this. And in your vocation there's good things and bad things and all that. So I'm not trying to say that any kind of poor pitiful to your pastor. I'm not saying that at all. What I am saying is is by reading this chapter, you understand a little bit more that the complexity of being a pastor. There's a lot to it, just like in your vocation, and there's also a greater weight of responsibility than maybe sometimes we think about when someone wants to receive a word from God, and then also there is a greater judgment that comes to your pastor.
Speaker 1:So all of this to say today, what would it look like if you prayed for your pastor? What would it look like if you prayed for your pastor? I know that your pastor, whoever they are, wherever they are, wherever you are, they're probably not going to get it right. Can I tell you, with all the love and respect I have, they want to really badly. I can't speak specifically to your pastor, but if your pastor is like most pastors, they started ministry, started pursuing ministry, because they wanted to love God and love and serve his people. Somewhere along the line. That can be difficult to keep up with, but it's still true, and so they're going to get it wrong, but they don't want to. So today I want to encourage you to take a moment and pray for your pastor, because they want to serve God and they want to serve you. And I guarantee you, if you start praying for your pastor because they want to serve God and they want to serve you, and I guarantee you, if you start praying for your pastor, not only will it help them get better, but it'll also help you to understand that world and maybe God will use it to speak to you as well.
Speaker 1:Let's pray together right now, god, thank you so much for today. Thank you, god, for words like this, because not only does it give us eyes to see the lives of others, but also helps us understand how other people may or may not be able to see us. I pray that this chapter and chapters like this will give us a grace for one another, help us learn how to pray for one another and help us, lord, to be somebody else's miracle because we go first in interceding for them. We thank you in advance for all things. In Jesus' name, we pray Amen, amen. What God's word says in Jeremiah 29, 13, if you look for me, wholeheartedly, say it with me, you will find me. That's my prayer is that every day you will see God fresh and new. I love you. I'll see you tomorrow for Jeremiah, chapter 24.
