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The Bible Breakdown
Jeremiah 26: Jeremiah Almost Dies Again
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Back to the Bible Breakdown Podcast with your host, pastor Brandon, today. Jeremiah chapter 26, and today's title is Jeremiah Almost Dies. Again, they're trying to kill my man again and it's going to be kind of a crazy chapter. A man's doing what God's called him to do and he almost dies over it. So we're going to get to all that in just a moment. But if you have your Bibles, I want to open it with me to Jeremiah, chapter 26. And while you're doing that, if you're new around here, make sure you like, share and subscribe to the YouTube channel and the podcast. Make sure you leave us a five-star review on the podcast it really does help us to kind of get the word out on what we are doing here together. And make sure you're going to the Bible Breakdown Discussion on Facebook. There's an amazing group of people there who are doing a wonderful job. I love reading their devotions and the questions they're asking. Make sure you engage with us. The whole goal of that is to learn more about God in the context of community, and so we want to be able to do that together. And someone told me recently or they asked recently if I am not a Facebook user, can I still access this and the answer is yes, what we have. If you text RLCBible to 94000, you will get a link that will send you to the group discussion and you can still read those even without a Facebook account. So go there and read those. They're really wonderful. But if you want to comment and respond to questions, you do have to have a Facebook account for that. Okay, all right, if you have your Bible, one up with me to Jeremiah 26. Remember, the overall theme is God gives us a future and a hope. He gives us light and darkness. And Jeremiah lives in Jerusalem. He goes up to the temple all the time and he is grappling back and forth, debating with these false prophets who are saying everything's fine, it's fine if we serve other gods and Yahweh it's fine, god doesn't care what we do and how we do it, which, of course, is all wrong. And Jeremiah seems like he's like the long voice saying no, actually we've done too much, we're not turning back to God, and so judgment's coming, so we need to get ready for it. Right, get ready for judgment. It won't be forever when you turn back to God. And they don't like it, shockingly. I mean, who likes bad news, right? Well, we're going to watch and see what happens today when they finally had enough of Jeremiah and we don't know exactly how long into Jeremiah's ministry this is, but we can dare to say that it was probably several years, like maybe even 15, 20 years of him doing this, until they finally had enough of this guy right. And so we're going to read this and see what happens, and I've got a question for you at the end of this that I hope is challenging and I hope it's encouraging to really help us get to what God wants to do in our life. You ready, here we go.
Speaker 1:Jeremiah, chapter 26, verse 1, says this this message came to Jeremiah from the Lord early in the reign of Jehoiakim, son of Josiah, king of Judah. This is what the Lord says. Stand in the courtyard in front of the temple of the Lord and make an announcement to the people who have come there to worship from all over Judah. Give them my entire message, including every word. Perhaps they will listen and turn from their evil ways. Then I will change my mind about the disaster I am ready to pour out on them because of their sins. Pause Now.
Speaker 1:This leads into the question of does God change his mind Now changing his mind. I know that's what that says, but you have to understand the context of the overall thing. He is saying if they will repent, I will not send this, okay. And so, even though it says the phrase change his mind, it's not saying that God is finicky and he's not really sure what he's gonna do. It's saying if they repent, this will not happen. In other words, I will not send the bad things that are on the way, right? But what obviously God already knows is they're not gonna do that, right. Let's continue.
Speaker 1:Verse four Say to them this is what the Lord says If you will not listen to me and obey my word that I have given you, and if you will not listen to my servants, the prophets for I sent them again and again to warn you but you will not listen to them then I will destroy this temple as I destroyed Shiloh, the place where the tabernacle was located, and I will make Jerusalem an object of cursing in every nation on earth. The priests, the prophets and all the people listened to Jeremiah as he spoke in front of the Lord's temple, but always a but. Jeremiah had finished his message saying everything the Lord told him to say the priests and prophets and all the people at the temple mobbed him, kill him, they shouted. What right do you have to prophesy in the Lord's name that this temple will be destroyed like Shiloh? What do you mean saying that Jerusalem will be destroyed and left with no inhabitants? And all the people threatened him as he stood in front of the temple.
Speaker 1:When the officials of Judah heard what was happening, they rushed over from the palace and sat down at the new gate of the temple to hold court. The priest and the prophets presented their accusations to the officials and the people. This man should die, they said. You have heard with your own ears what a traitor he is, for he has prophesied against this city. Then Jeremiah spoke to the officials and the people in his own defense. The Lord has sent me to prophesy against this temple and this city. He said. The Lord gave me every word I have spoken. But if you stop your sinning and begin to obey the Lord, your God, he will change his mind about this disaster that he has announced against you. But as for me, I'm in your hands. Do with me what you think is best, but if you kill me, rest assured you will be killing an innocent man. The responsibility for such a deed will lie on you, on this city and on every person living in it, for it is absolutely true that the Lord has sent me to speak every word that you have heard. Then the officials and the people said to the priests and prophets this man does not deserve the death sentence, for he has spoken to us in the name of the Lord, our God.
Speaker 1:Then some of the wise old men stood and spoke to all the people assembled there. They said remember when Micah of Moresheth prophesied during the reign of King Hezekiah of Judah? And he told the people this is what the Lord of heaven's army says Mount Zion will be plowed like an open garden. Jerusalem will be reduced to ruins. A thicket will grow on the heights where the temple now stands. But did Hezekiah and the people kill him for saying this? No, they turned from their sins and they worshiped the Lord. They begged him for mercy. Then the Lord changed his mind about the terrible disaster he had pronounced against them. So what are we going to do? And are we ourselves going to do great harm? And at that time, uriah, son of Shemiah from Kiriath-Jerom, was also prophesying for the Lord, and he predicted the same terrible disaster against the city of the nation as Jeremiah did. When King Jehoiakim and the army officers and officials heard what he was saying, the king sent someone to kill him. But Uriah heard about the plan and escaped in fear to Egypt. Then King Jehoiakim sent Aletheon, son of Achbor, to Egypt, along with several other men, to capture Uriah. They took him prisoner and brought him back to King Jehoiakim. Wow.
Speaker 1:So what we have here is we have Jeremiah saying hey guys, this is all bad and if you turn away from your bad, god still might have mercy on us, but you're going to turn away from the bad right you got. You got to turn away from it. And they're mad, they want to kill him. But while all this is going on, you've got other people saying now wait a minute. What if he is speaking for God? And if he is, our job isn't to kill the fool, our job is to repent.
Speaker 1:Well, while this is going on, somebody else prophesies the same thing Jeremiah does, but they don't let him get away with it. They go find him and kill him. That's not a good idea. I can just go ahead and just get this out of the way. If you want to receive God's mercy, don't kill his prophets. I mean, that's a great idea, right?
Speaker 1:So here's the question of the day what do you do when you receive God's word and you don't like it? What do you do? Well, here's the thing. First of all, God has given us his divinely inspired word we call the Bible. It's a collection of 66 books that reveal to us God's word, god's will and God's ways. And so whenever you hear a word from God, can I tell you it doesn't matter if somebody who claims to be a prophet, if they say thus says the Lord, you're going to win the lottery? Well, first of all, let's just hope that one's true, right, okay, thank you. Someone comes and says thus says the Lord, you're going to win the lottery? Well, first of all, let's just hope that one's true, right, okay, thank you. Someone comes and says thus says the Lord, you's are going to die. Okay, thank you. Either way, don't put any stock in it at all. Give it the opportunity, or give yourself the opportunity to take it to God's word. Does God's word say anything about the lottery? Does God's word say anything about me dying?
Speaker 1:Find the truth in God's word and let God's word judge whether or not that word is the case. Here's the thing what do you do if it's obscure? What if it's vague? For instance, god says you're going to win the lottery. There's no verse in here about the lottery. There's nothing in there. And honestly, you could find a verse that says God wants you to prosper and succeed, and so you'd be like hey, that's my message, right there.
Speaker 1:If it's obscure, then wait, pause. Don't destroy the prophet, but also don't give them any accolades they haven't earned. Wait, if God's word is true, then nothing can stop God's word from being true. But if it's direct just as Jeremiah's word was direct you are sinning. You need to repent of your sinning and turn back to God. That's pretty direct, right?
Speaker 1:Then you look at God's word, and if God's word is true, now you have a question you have to decide. And if God's word is true, now you have a question, you have to decide. What are you going to do when you are confronted with God's word and you don't like it? Are you going to A realize that God's in charge and I'm not? And so, no matter how much I don't like it, my job is to not try to convince God he's wrong. My job is to say yes, sir, I am so sorry. I repent of that. I turn from that. I you say it the other way you go. You know that's true and all, but I just don't want to believe that. And you know what? We tend to think that only bad people do that. But that's not true.
Speaker 1:I've known people who have read God's Word, knew what God's Word says, but it was hard and that hardness brought pain to those they love. Let me give you an example, and this is going to be very controversial. I don't mean it that way, but it's just true. I knew somebody who read in God's Word where it said that in the beginning God created Adam and Eve. The two became one flesh and they got married.
Speaker 1:They read where Romans 1 says that when we turn away from God, we also have the capacity to turn away from natural affections. In other words, god's word says extremely clearly that the LGBTQ, all that lifestyle, is a sexual brokenness. It's a sin against God's word. God's word wants to provide healing and freedom and forgiveness for that sin. Now, is it a special sin? No, it's a sin, just like adultery, fornication, all those things. It is a sexual brokenness that God wants to heal. And they read that and they were like, okay, I get that. But then it became different when a loved one of theirs said that they are same-sex attracted. Now they hear the same thing from God's word, but they choose to not listen because of the pain it brings to other people. Jeremiah is speaking God's word, but they choose to not listen because of the pain it brings to other people. Jeremiah is speaking God's word.
Speaker 1:Imagine how hard that must have been to get up in front of all those people and say, hey, listen, I don't want to tell you bad news is coming, I just got to tell you the truth. And then he has to pay the price for that, because the people have to decide do I only want to believe God's word when it's easy, or do I want to believe God's word because it's true? And that's the decision we all have to make today. If someone claims to be speaking for God and they can't back it up with God's word because it's so obscure and so whatever, then give it that amount of weight and that is okay. Well, if it's God's word, it's going to happen. I'm going to live as close to God's word as I possibly can. I can't prove or disprove this word you've given me. So then, unfortunately for you, I don't mean this bad, but I can't live according to it. I've got to live according to God's word and if it's true, it's going to happen, Praise the Lord.
Speaker 1:If it's not, make today, are you going to choose to trust that God knows what he's doing and say, yes, sir, we're going to choose to go your own way. What's obvious? What will happen If you choose to go your own way? That's you saying God, you don't know what you're talking about. That's allowing yourself to walk into judgment. But if you say, god, that's hard, that's difficult, but yes, sir, there's freedom there. It's a hard road, but there's freedom there, there's salvation there. Imagine if these people repented before the Lord. Do you think that would have been over with? Absolutely not. It would have begun a very difficult, very hard journey, but it would have been a very difficult, very hard journey in the right direction.
Speaker 1:If you see, god's word says something and you have a hard time with it. Accepting the truth of God's word is step one, and we need to make sure that we give space for people to mourn the fact that God's word is true. God's word is good, but God's word is hard when you've grown accustomed to sin. So there needs to be space and room for people to walk toward freedom at a rate they can handle in their life. Our job is to be there with them and to walk with them. So, once again, here's the question when God's word hurts your feelings, you have a choice to make. How are you going to respond when God's word challenges you? Let me beg you always say yes, sir, because God is not out to hurt you, he's out to free you, he's out to heal you, he's out to forgive you, and when we walk closer to him, it's amazing the goodness of God that we can experience.
Speaker 1:Let's pray together, god. Thank you so much for today. Thank you, god, that your word is true and that your word is no respecter of persons. Your word wants to heal all of us, and for some of us it's small things, for some of us it's big things, but for all things it's about freedom. I pray today, holy Spirit, that you will reveal to us an area that you want us to walk in more freedom. We celebrate that today. In Jesus' name. We pray Amen. Now what God's word says in Jeremiah, chapter 29, verse 13,. If you look for me, wholeheartedly, say it with me, you will find me. My prayer is that you will see God more every day in your life. I love you. I'll see you tomorrow for Jeremiah, chapter 27.
