The Prophet Jeremiah Part 31

Kongsvinger Lutheran Church

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September 25, 2022

The Prophet Jeremiah Part 32

00:00: All right, let's pray Lord Jesus again as we open up your word We pray through your Holy Spirit that you would help us to rightly understand what you have revealed there
00:08: So that we may rightly believe confess and do we ask in Jesus name. Amen Okay.
00:14: So last week we were working our way through Jeremiah 36 and we noted just how wicked
00:23: Jehoiachin is and God had sent God had sent Jeremiah For the purpose of having him
00:32: Hang on a second here Of having him deliver a message from God and it was written on a scroll and as the words were being read to the king
00:41: He burned the scroll Just showing absolute contempt
00:49: Contempt for God and his word and so God then basically
00:56: Will pick up at 27 just to kind of re -pick up our Context after the king had burned the scroll the words that Baruch wrote at Jeremiah's dictation
01:06: The word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah take another scroll right on it All the former words that were on the first scroll, by the way
01:13: You'll note that this this this idea of right God writing things down through a prophet
01:18: This has implications as it relates to the doctrine of the inspiration of Scripture So everyone
01:27: Every every part of Scripture is truly inspired by God and in some of the cases as it relates to like Jeremiah Some of the words that are given were like literally by dictation.
01:39: God said write these Specific words, but you'll note that even if God didn't give direct
01:46: Dictation that God then in the Holy Spirit Inspired the actual words that are written for us throughout the remainder of the
01:54: Bible. So whether dictated or Inspired not dictated. They're all inspired.
02:00: These are very words of God so this you'll note this has an impact then regarding our understanding of the Bible and Concerning Jehoiakim the king of Judah you shall say thus says
02:09: Yahweh you burn the scroll saying why? Have you written in it that the king of Babylon will certainly come and destroy this land and will cut off from it man and beast
02:18: Therefore thus is Yahweh Concerning Jehoiakim the king of Judah He shall have none to sit on the throne of David and his dead body shall be cast out to the heat
02:29: By day and the frost by night and I will punish him and his offspring for his servants for their iniquity
02:35: I will bring upon them and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem and upon the people of Judah all the disaster
02:42: That I have pronounced against them But they would not hear so God's speaking they refuse to hear and as a result of it again we know
02:51: Jehoiakim that not one of his genetic descendants will ever be on the throne of David and Christ although he is the legal heir of the throne of David.
03:01: He is not the genetic descendant of Jehoiakim This is why we have two genealogies
03:07: Pertaining to Christ in the New Testament one in Matthew one in Luke and one of them goes through Jehoiakim and the other goes directly through a different a different one of David's sons
03:18: And so because of Leverite marriage Jesus is not the genetic descendant of Jehoiakim instead
03:24: He is the legal heir of the throne without being the direct descendant. It's a very fascinating thing how it all worked
03:31: It's like God knew what he was doing, you know So, all right Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to Baruch the scribe the son of Neriah Who wrote on it at the dictation of Jeremiah all the words of the scroll that Jehoiakim the king of Judah had burned in?
03:47: the fire and Many similar words were added to them chapters 37
03:55: Zedekiah the son of Josiah whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon made king in the land of Judah Reigned instead of Kaniah the son of Jehoiakim So Jehoiakim is now off.
04:06: He's no longer on the scene and his son Kaniah should be the should be the The king but remember what
04:14: God said, uh -uh. None of your descendants are on the throat So Kaniah it was is not permitted to rule and reign instead
04:21: Zedekiah the son of Josiah is made the king And he's a puppet Established by Nebuchadnezzar But neither he nor his servants nor the people of the land listened to the words of Yahweh that he spoke through Jeremiah the prophet
04:37: Sounds like a fun gig right? You know You're on a mission from God. You're speaking words from God and people are going la la la la la can't hear you
04:46: Can't hear you right? It's just annoying right? They will not listen. So King Zedekiah sent
04:53: Jehuchal the son of Shemaliah and Zephaniah the priest the son of Messiah To Jeremiah the prophet saying please pray for us to Yahweh our
05:05: God now Jeremiah was still going in and out among the people for he had not yet been put in prison
05:11: The army of Pharaoh had come out of Egypt and when the Chaldeans who were besieging
05:16: Jerusalem heard about them They withdrew from Jerusalem So you'll note that the armies of the
05:23: Chaldeans are there in Jerusalem, but they don't want to get stuck and so when the you know, when the when the armies of Egypt come out because they're allies of Judah at this point
05:35: They have to withdraw in order to kind of protect themselves So then the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah the prophet thus says
05:41: Yahweh the God of Israel Thus shall you say to the king of Judah who sent you to me to inquire of me behold?
05:49: Pharaoh's army that came to help you is about to return to Egypt To its own land and the
05:56: Chaldeans shall come back and they will fight against the city. They shall capture it They will burn it with fire
06:02: Thus is Yahweh do not deceive yourself saying the Chaldeans will surely go away from us for they will not go away
06:09: For even if you should defeat the whole army of the Chaldeans who are fighting against you and there remained of them only wounded men
06:17: Every man in his tent they would rise up and burn the city with fire God said
06:24: Even if you could win the battle right the wounded would come up and burn and burn the city. All right.
06:30: Well for this then Jeremiah remember no good deed goes unpunished So when the
06:35: Chaldean army have withdrawn from Jerusalem at the approach of Pharaoh's army Jeremiah set out from Jerusalem to go to the land of Benjamin to receive his portion there among the people
06:44: When he was at the Benjamin Gate a century there named Erisja the son of Shemaliah of Hananiah seized
06:52: Jeremiah the prophet saying you are deserting to the Chaldeans and Jeremiah said it's a lie
06:59: I'm not deserting to the Chaldeans But Erisja would not listen to him and seized
07:04: Jeremiah and brought him to the officials and the officials were enraged at Jeremiah and they beat him and Imprisoned him in the house of Jonathan the secretary for it had been made a prison
07:16: When Jeremiah had come to the dungeon cells and remained there many days Kings at Achaia sent for him and received him
07:25: The King questioned him secretly in his house and said is there any word from Yahweh?
07:33: Yeah, let me go Is there any word from Yahweh Jeremiah said there is
07:39: They said you shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon Jeremiah also said the kings at Achaia what wrong have
07:46: I done to you or your servants of this people that you've put me in prison Where are your prophets who prophesied to you saying the king of Babylon will not come against you and against this land hmm
08:03: Now, of course Michael Brown would come to their defense and say listen just giving a false prophecy doesn't make them false prophet so, you know just Those hyper critics, you know, so Jeremiah is a hyper critic here because he's
08:16: So here's what Yahweh says. Oh, man, you go into Babylon, dude, and then oh by the way, what have
08:23: I done wrong? And hey, where are those prophets of yours? By the way, where'd they all go now here, please?
08:29: Oh my lord king Let my humble plea come before you and do not send me back to the house of Jonathan the secretary lest I die there
08:35: So kings said Achaia gave orders and they committed Jeremiah to the court of the guard
08:41: And a loaf of bread was given to him daily from the baker's Street until all the bread of the city was gone
08:46: So Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard now chef at IA the son of Mattan Get a liar the son of pash or Jew called the son of shell shell of Maya and pash or the son of Malkia Heard the words that Jeremiah was saying to the people
09:05: Thus says Yahweh he who stays in the city Shall die by the sword by famine and by pestilence
09:14: But he who goes out to the Chaldeans shall live He shall have his life as a prize of war and live
09:23: Thus says Yahweh This city shall surely be given into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon and be taken
09:31: Then the official said to the king Let this man be put to death For he is weakening the hands of the soldiers who are left in this city and the hands of all the people by speaking such
09:42: Words to them for this man is not seeking the welfare of this people, but their harm
09:49: Nope Jeremiah he's telling the truth and you know
09:55: Jeremiah has long long long since been vindicated You know, so the idea then is is that listen to those who actually speak the words of God to us and Tune out those who are lying to us and so you'll note that people who listen to false prophets
10:14: The ultimate their ultimate end is their destruction because they are trusting in words that are lies
10:21: You'll note that God is not indifferent in the second in this case and when he acts in judgment
10:27: Then you know, it's it's it's gonna go down exactly the way Way, he said it would so we got people nowadays who say things like, you know
10:35: You know It really doesn't matter which God you believe in You know If you want to believe in Jesus you can believe in Jesus if you want to believe in you know
10:44: Allah and you know And or a Buddhist or whatever. Oh It doesn't really matter and it doesn't really matter if you attend a church where it where they blaspheme
10:54: God with false prophecies no, no, no, this is you know, every Christianity is this wide swath of all kinds of Opinions and things like this and you can believe pretty much whatever you want to believe and you're not bad
11:05: You're basically good and it like if you listen to the words of like Bethel Bethel they they absolutely
11:13: Embrace something what's called that's called the Pelagian heresy the denial of that. We are by nature sinners and so, you know when you listen to People from Bethel from the
11:23: Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry also known as Hogwarts when they do evangelism in in the streets of Redding, California They they'll they do these cold readings and said the
11:33: Holy Spirit just led me to tell you They've they've accosted some lady in the grocery store. The Holy Spirit just wanted me to tell you that Oh, he loves you so much and when they'd say well, well, thank you.
11:44: I I'm a practicing witch I had no idea that God like, you know loved me so much, you know This is the stuff that's going on in Redding by the way, so, you know, it's crazy, right?
11:53: But when God finally acts then those who are speaking the truth There's there they're the ones who get slandered and they get it being accused of being doing evil when in fact
12:06: Jeremiah's doing good. He's he's speaking so that they would not have harm come to them the words that he's speaking
12:15: Surrender yourselves to the Chaldeans is so that they would live and not die
12:21: Yet you'll note here. He's being accused of not being at not caring at all for the welfare of the people of Jerusalem Yet it's the exact opposite.
12:31: You'll note that lies Have you believe things? falsely in an inverted way
12:39: It's it's really fascinating. So kings that Kings that Achaia said behold, he's in your hands for the king can do nothing against you.
12:48: So they took Jeremiah Cast him into the cistern of Machia the king's son
12:53: Which was in the court of the guard letting Jeremiah down by ropes and there was no water in the cistern
12:59: But only mud and Jeremiah sank in the mud. Oh Lovely, okay.
13:07: Oh lovely All right So when a bed Malek the
13:12: Ethiopian a eunuch who was in the king's house Heard that they had put Jeremiah into the cistern.
13:18: The king was sitting in the Benjamin Gate a bed Malek went from the king's house and said to the king my lord the king these men have done evil and all that they did to Jeremiah the prophet by casting him into the cistern and He will die there of hunger for there is no bread left in the city
13:35: Then the king commanded a bed Malek the Ethiopian take 30 men with you from here and Lift Jeremiah the prophet out of the cistern before he dies
13:45: So a bed Malek took the men with him and went into the house of the king to a wardrobe
13:51: In the storehouse and took from their old rags and worn -out clothes Which he let down to Jeremiah in the cistern by ropes
14:00: Then a bed Malek the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah put the rags and the clothes between your armpits
14:05: And the ropes and Jeremiah did so then they drew Jeremiah up with ropes lifted him out of the cistern
14:12: And then Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard Hang on a second here check
14:22: Questions because there's always Interesting things that come up here All right.
14:28: Let's see here Karen says no one wait.
14:38: No one listened to Jeremiah But they they wanted him to pray for them did I get that right nuts yes
14:45: Karen you're right Here's the thing I always like to point this out to people and this is the strange bit about humanity if we were to take a look at Romans chapter 1
14:56: Okay Romans chapter 1 always keep this bit of information kind of locked away because it'll help you and also save you some time and So Paul here in Romans 1 18, it says the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all in godliness and unrighteousness of men
15:15: Who by their unrighteousness? suppress the truth For what can be known about God is plain to them
15:24: Because God has shown it to them his invisible attributes namely his eternal power and divine nature
15:29: They've been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world and the things that have been made So that men are without excuse although they knew
15:36: God. No, they know God Pagans know God they do not honor him as God or give thanks to him
15:42: But they became futile in their thinking and their foolish hearts were darkened claiming to be wise they became fools and they exchanged the glory of the immortal
15:51: God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things so Romans 1 makes it clear that everybody knows that God exists and then
16:00: Romans 2 tells us Every human being has the law of God written on their hearts So the best way
16:07: I can put it is is that number one? You don't have to convince anybody that God exists and you don't even have to convince them about what's right and what's wrong
16:15: Everybody already knows this But we sinners what do we do?
16:20: We suppress the truth in unrighteousness So you're so Karen points out that no one was listening to Jeremiah But then people wanted
16:30: Jeremiah to pray for them What is what is going on here? So on the one hand they refuse to repent and they hate
16:40: Jeremiah because he's speaking the true words of God and ironically, they know what he's saying is true
16:46: And so they both hate him and at the same time We do you have any word from God for us?
16:54: Okay You'll note that sin blinds us
17:03: You are not sane when you are manifesting sin in your life, you are at your craziest
17:11: Yet in you'll know that this is this is not that this is not the behavior of people who are thinking and acting
17:16: Irrationally and consistently. Okay, the sanity that comes by the Holy Spirit and through the penitent life that the
17:24: Holy Spirit Then produces the fruit of the Spirit in us. That is that God has set us free from that insanity and the
17:33: Holy Spirit continues to work that out in us You'll note that those who truly grow in their
17:38: Christian faith. They do not become crazy They become sane they're like they are no longer out of their mind
17:46: They're actually in their right mind if you were to think of the demoniac of the garrison's that fellow was was
17:53: Absolutely, just a complete horror for himself and for others he lived among the tombs
17:59: They couldn't bind him with chains and you know, the guy's a complete mess he sees
18:05: Jesus and He knows immediately who Jesus is and what does
18:10: Christ do cast the demon out of him? And then he's described as being clothed and in his right mind
18:17: Sin makes you stupid Sin destroys your life sin makes oh my goodness it there is no redeeming quality to sin
18:29: The whole thing is just a mess. Yes. Yes Right.
18:49: So what do you say to somebody who says you don't believe that they don't believe that children consciously sin?
18:56: Normally, I don't hear people who have kids talk this way You know
19:03: Cuz you just just bring a baby home from the hospital and you know, that'll cure things right up but But there are some that even if they've done that they they kind of they have this delusional idea
19:16: That that kids are are good. They're not if they were good. We wouldn't have to teach them how to be good
19:23: I have never had to sit down with my kids when I was raising them and say alright Here's how you talk back to your mother
19:31: Okay, and here's how you disobey Let me let me explain to you when she says you do this you stand your ground and put your arms out like this and You say no.
19:40: Okay. I never had to do that with my kids All right, they all came that way and so and then you'll note then that the person who says that kids are not born
19:50: Sinful they have a real problem and that is the wages of sin is death scripture says children die You know why
20:03: We won't baptize them, but we believe they'll go to heaven right? Yeah. No. Yeah. No the note again the inconsistency here
20:10: And so the idea then is is that recognize that when somebody is talking this way They're giving their opinions and my opinions in your opinions
20:20: Don't count with a hill of beans All right, they they just don't you know
20:26: And so the the church itself is just running amok with people expressing their opinions and you know and It depends on the person sometimes
20:38: Kind of a snarky response is is called for other times a more patient and loving one It kind of depends but when the snarky responses is called for you know, you just look at the person and go
20:50: Well, then how do you explain all the evil in the world? Okay, how do you explain how
20:55: I mean and have you noticed that the public schools are not bastions of virtue?
21:02: How kids treat each other? Have you noticed how cruelly? Children treat each other you got the bullying problem and stuff like this and then of course in our day and age you have the rampant rise of pornography and you have school aged boys that are legitimately like this close if not beyond the line like sexually assaulting their classmates and sexualizing them
21:32: You know, this this is this is children are not born innocent Scripture is very clear.
21:38: It says that in sin did my mother conceived me sought Psalm 51 you got
21:44: Ephesians? Chapter 2 which says that we were dead in trespasses and sins in which we once walked
21:50: We're under the dominion of darkness that prints the power of the air Christ has to set us free from all of this.
21:55: We're all in Adam. We all sin then you take you know, like 1st Corinthians The text as it relates the
22:03: Christ being the first the second Adam you know the the last Adam and it's clear that in Adam we all fell we all became sinners and Death has come to all of us and you'd basically look at the person and go your belief that children are born innocent is
22:20: Actually a symptom of the fall itself and your opinion doesn't matter the scriptures contradict you
22:28: I've gotten to the point where you know, and this has been like a Problem not really a problem
22:34: It's just like it just goes with the territory that when I speak biblical truth people get really mad at me
22:39: Alright, so there was a woman on Twitter Yesterday who she had made a point.
22:46: She had like put a screenshot of somebody who was come who was basically attacking the
22:52: ESV Bible the English Standard Version and the attack went something like this of the 96 contributors to the
23:00: English Standard Version of the Bible not one of them not one of them had ovaries
23:07: Okay, and that was her attack Okay, and it's like and I basically said using that logic
23:14: We should stop reading the church father could church fathers because none of them had ovaries either To which she responded.
23:21: Well, then how do you explain that? You know the fact that no women were involved in the
23:26: ESV translation. I said, it's real simple the scriptures are clear only men are called to the pastoral office and It is men then who apply themselves to studying the biblical text in the original languages in their sermon prep
23:41: Who are become really become proficient in the original languages and then they have the skills necessary to actually contribute to the
23:49: ESV And and she was really mad at that She says don't even bother me with the biblical verses that you claim are so clear about you know about you know
23:59: Only men being pastors It's like I'm not gonna bother you with him because you don't want to be bothered with him, but they say what they say
24:07: Right, and so you'll note that over and over again. Our job as Christians is to stand on the word your opinions mean nothing we
24:16: Put your opinions away Altogether. In fact, let me do this real quick. So I find this
24:23: Diagram that I do from time to time to be helpful Give me a second here while I open up my keynote because this is this is going to help me along these lines and I'm going to All right.
24:35: Yeah, there's my modern Hebrew thing from 5783 I like to explain it this way.
24:41: So one of the things I am I Love about the
24:47: Lutheran Reformation as opposed to the Protestant Reformation Lutherans, by the way, do not consider themselves
24:53: Protestants, which I a lot of people find that to be kind of a fascinating truth, but When it comes to the
25:03: Lutheran Reformation Lutherans bent over backwards to not have
25:08: Lutheran doctrines Okay so I always like to demonstrate this using two circles and So one circle we're going to paint red and the other one we're gonna paint blue, oh, that's too harsh.
25:21: Hey, let me there We go complementary colors. Okay So if we were to say that the red circle this represents true
25:34: Biblical doctrines. Okay, how God meant us to understand what the biblical text says the green circle represents
25:44: How we what we think the Bible says are the doctrines we've created as Christians we should seek to not have any green pop out
25:53: But unfortunately, we live in a time when there's a lot of green popping out and those would be people's opinions
26:00: Well, I'm a Christian, but I don't believe that children are born sinful That's a lot of green popping out right there.
26:07: Okay, that's your opinion, but your opinion doesn't it doesn't matter You know, I always like to remind people of that Latin phrase quad non s biblical non s theological if it's not in the
26:17: Bible it's not theology and if what you believe contradicts the scriptures the problem lies with you and We are not we are not permitted by Scripture itself to have our own opinions
26:32: We are to submit and bend the knee to God and what is truth
26:37: No lie is of the truth scripture says and so when your opinions contradict the scriptures you are wrong
26:45: You know, I in Jesus's day, you'll note that there were a lot of people running around Claiming to be
26:52: Jews who had very unique doctrines So the Sadducees that's a group that kind of stands out in our mind and they denied the resurrection
27:02: That's Recorded for us in the Gospels that the Sadducees. This would be the the heirs of Zadok the high priest so the
27:12: Hebrew word for Sadducees is actually the Zadok him that particular religious body, which was in charge of running and maintaining and everything that going on inside of the temple they denied the resurrection and Christ rebukes them and says it says in Scripture that God is the
27:32: God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob He's not the God of the dead. He's the God of the living he rebuked them to their face from Scripture and Then you'll note the
27:42: Pharisees who added to the scriptures their own traditions Jesus wouldn't permit his disciples to participate in any of their man -made traditions and Rebuked them for it and said that they had made the
27:53: Word of God void by their own traditions So when you come along and you say well,
27:59: I don't believe that Noah was really you know that there was really an ark or I don't really believe that that That the children of Israel crossed the
28:11: Red Sea as on dry ground I don't really believe that Jonah was really in the belly of a great fish for three days and things like this
28:19: Those are just stories and I don't really believe that the earth was created in six days and on the seventh day
28:25: God rested I don't really believe okay. You know what you're doing. You're showing me That you haven't bent the knee to God at all
28:36: You're you're basically saying I'll believe you God on my terms. I Refuse to be embarrassed at this year's
28:46: University Christmas gala By you know and by not being invited because I I come out of the closet as saying
28:53: I believe in Jesus and I also believe in a Six -day creation that my colleagues would would would heap scorn on me and revile me and no longer invite me to important events
29:03: It would it would it would hamper my ability to climb the ladder And so I'm embarrassed by such things and so I'm gonna maintain my doctrines
29:14: Do you know the truth? already God has made all of this plain.
29:21: So you'll note that sin makes you really stupid and completely inconsistent and Fighting against God's Word is just straight -out rebellion
29:32: It just literally is and so that what they'll say, well, you know, you're just a hypercritic and do you really think you're
29:40: You're so arrogant to think that you have somehow figured out the the correct
29:46: Interpretation of the Bible the Bible has to be interpreted and who's to say your interpretation is right
29:51: All right So this is that that's that complex thing that they push back on with on you with to which
29:58: I say I'm not entitled to an interpretation scripture interprets scripture in Scripture will tell you how to interpret it and If I have erred in my understanding of it,
30:13: I don't have a problem owning that I used to believe all kinds of stupid things I claim to be a
30:18: Christian and I've had to repent over that over the decades And so if anyone can show me from a clear passage of scripture that I'm wrong,
30:25: I'll be happy to repent you know because I want to embrace the truth and So again, one of the things
30:33: I love about the integrity of the Lutheran Reformation is the great pains that they took to not have any unique Lutheran doctrines
30:43: You cannot point to a Lutheran doctor or to anything that Lutherans believe and say there it is that's the
30:49: Lutheran one Okay, read the Book of Concord read the Augsburg Confession and read the apology of the
30:56: Augsburg Confession that the Lutherans took great pains to say we are not teaching anything unique here and We can find what we believe not only in the scriptures, but we can clearly see it in the writings of the church fathers
31:12: Alright, so they they took really great pains to only kind of get to knock off the barnacles that had
31:20: Grown on the whole of the ship, but not to dig into the wood itself Whereas the
31:26: Protestant Reformation was quite radical and there are unique doctrines that come up through the
31:32: Protestant branch of the Reformation I Recently what you know back in Juneite when
31:38: I was speaking at the issues, etc Conference had a really long conversation with Albert Muller of the
31:43: Southern Baptist Church and Southern Seminary and One of my friends Brian Wolfmuller had asked him a question as it relates to secondary doctrines and Albert Muller said something
31:55: That was really interesting. He said listen the entire Southern Baptist Convention is organized around secondary doctrines
32:04: I Thought was an interesting thing. It is he's absolutely right. So anyway, did
32:10: I answer your question? I kind of said I should have got my soapbox out but you know, cuz I ended up stepping on that for a little bit
32:18: Yeah, that's right. It's standing desk is no longer enough. I need a soapbox too. So talk to the
32:23: Church Council. So Okay, yeah Somebody somebody noted that Jeremiah had probably had a spirit of a religious spirit, right?
32:37: Right, that's what they would have said about him today, right? He has a religious ability. Yeah calling evil good and good evil
32:43: That's what people do. All right. Yeah, you got to be careful not to let your spirit into your life You might become a
32:48: Lutheran. Yeah. All right. Let's see here Rachel says my kid is a sinner We know
32:56: Rachel we we've had to deal with her in Sunday school, so I'm joking I'm joking
33:03: I just just playing along. All right Lily says I need to spend a day in a primary school.
33:09: I know I know it's just so funny to be fair I haven't seen Bella sin, so I I can come
33:14: I can confirm that. Okay. All right One of my sons would ban it would band his head again bang his head against the floor.
33:21: Okay It's a perfect with everyone. All right, let's see here
33:28: Rachel says I didn't realize that over ovaries were a necessary requirement to translate the Bible. Yeah.
33:34: Well, I would know So funny that you I kind of left out one part of the quote and but I'll add it at this point the guy who was it was basically lamenting that there that There was only men who translated the
33:49: Bible and none of them had ovaries he legitimately said that the problem with that is but he said look how many testicles were involved and I was so tempted to respond by saying if you're using your testicles to translate the
34:02: Bible you're doing it wrong. So Yeah, all the all the books of the
34:14: Bible were written by a man yeah Yeah, I so one of my one of my mentors was the late dr.
34:22: Ken Corby of the Missouri Synod and If I haven't really talked about him that much but the
34:28: Ken Corby was a force of nature I don't know how else to describe him He was a very high intellectual, but he was a fellow who understood that we had to fight against the false doctrines that were that that are continually coming into the church and I was at a conference that he was speaking at and And Ken Corby just kind of give you a little bit of his background.
34:52: I mean, he was a pastor's pastor and This was when I was I was still a layman and was
34:58: It was it was at that time that I was first beginning to think I may be called into the pastoral office But I was in a place called,
35:05: Milwaukee, Wisconsin. We were at a Denny's restaurant and All the pastors at that attended the conference they were all together at one table and the
35:15: Denny's and all the lay people were sitting in booths around them and when it came time when their food was when their food was put on the table by the waitress not a single one of the pastors began to eat and then in and Then I kid you not he's as soon as everybody had their food in front of them
35:32: Ken Corby said gentlemen I think it's time for us to invoke our God and ask for his blessing upon this meal
35:37: And so all of the pastors stood up they stood up and there at Denny's they sang
35:43: Feed your children God most holy it was the most amazing thing. I've ever seen in my life
35:51: Okay, you have all these pastors going feed your children
35:57: God most holy Comfort sinners poor and lowly
36:05: Right, it was just and you could heard a pin drop like the whole waiting staff stopped to listen to this and Nobody dare clap when it was over because it was too it was too holy of a thing
36:17: But that that's the kind of guy that Ken Corby was so Ken Corby yeah,
36:22: I invited him out to Concordia University to be a special speaker when I was in at college and I went to pick him.
36:29: I went to pick him up at the the airport He comes off the airplane and he's got a 10 -gallon cowboy hat and some rattlesnake boots on and he's you know, and as soon as he gets off the plane, he's smoking a cigarette and And I think oh my gosh, what have
36:45: I done in this guy out here? But from then on he kept calling me with regularity. He called me at work one week and He and it was right after Easter and I'm I'm at I'm at a medical device manufacturing company
37:00: I'm I'm their their graphic artist and desktop publisher and I get a phone call
37:06: It says there's a pastor Ken Corby on the phone for you Chris and I pick up the phone and I kid you not it goes he is risen and he's like yelling this
37:14: I go And I go he's risen indeed. He's a say it louder He is risen indeed.
37:20: Hallelujah. Yeah Okay, so he's in he ended up having a heart attack
37:28: So he's uh, he's in the hospital He's had a heart attack and in he's not doing well
37:34: And so they had they had moved him from the ICU after they got everything stabilized, you know
37:39: He had open -heart surgery and he was he was in the the main part of the hospital and this female
37:46: ELCA pastor X comes by to offer him the Lord's Supper okay, and she made the mistake of walking into his room and He Took one look at her and he said
38:00: None of Jesus's disciples who became the Apostles were women Get out of my hospital room and don't you dare come in here again?
38:10: Yeah Just let her have it Anyway, so if this explains some of my eccentricities he again he was a mentor of mine
38:21: But yeah, he's he's the one who taught me that if you are ever in a church setting and somebody actually speaks something
38:28: That's heretical He says you are required by God to cough three times once for each member of the
38:33: Holy Spirit over the Holy Trinity. So If you ever hear, you know, it's just a crazy guy.
38:40: But anyway, all right All right, let's see here Soapbox.
38:47: All right. Let's come back to our texts. Shall we I Digressed enough back to Jeremiah and no, he wasn't a bullfrog.
38:56: Okay Yeah, that's right I write my own stuff guys I write my own stuff hang on a second there
39:03: All right chapter 38 verse 14 kings at a kaya sent for Jeremiah the prophet received him at The third entrance of the temple and remember this is kind of that's kind of an interesting thing
39:14: Jeremiah had a restraining order against him. He was not out in the temple So this is kind of a big deal that King Zedekiah has called for him and he's gonna meet him at the third entrance of The temple and so the king said to Jeremiah, I will ask you a question hide nothing from me
39:28: Jeremiah said to Zedekiah if I tell you Will you not surely put me to death and if I give you counsel you will not listen to me
39:39: So King Zedekiah swore secretly to Jeremiah as Yahweh lives who made our souls
39:45: I will not put you to death or deliver you into the hands hand of these men who seek your life
39:50: So then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah Thus says Yahweh the God of hosts the God of armies the
39:56: God of Israel if you will surrender to the officials of the king of Babylon then your life shall be spared and the city shall not be burned with fire and You and your house shall live
40:09: So no God is like totally being patient with this guy I'm gonna give you a complete way out.
40:16: The city won't be burned you and your family will live God is being so gracious here
40:22: But if you do not surrender to the officials of the king of Babylon then this city shall be given into the hand of the
40:30: Chaldeans and they shall burn it with fire and You shall not escape from their hand
40:35: King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah I'm afraid of the Judeans who have deserted to the
40:42: Chaldeans lest I be handed over to them and they deal Cruelly with me you you fear them more than God Really so note here
40:57: He's he's more afraid of human beings and their opinions and what they would do to him if he did what
41:04: God told him to Then he's then he's worried about what God would do to him. This is a completely misplaced fear
41:13: And you know we Christians we often go we we are tempted along these lines Well, you know being a confessional
41:20: Lutheran my family's totally disowned me that happens by the way You know, they think that we're in a cult.
41:27: I get accused of being a cult leader all the time and yet I'm the most Inactive cult leader on planet
41:35: Earth, you know, it's like, you know, yes low energy, right? Yeah, you'll note that and people they feel this pressure
41:43: Because things are taken from them. They're threatened in one way or another you believe the truth you speak the truth now on Social media you're likely to have your account
41:54: Shut down You're gonna be you're gonna be deep platformed Okay So Jeremiah said you shall not be given to them
42:06: Obey now the voice of Yahweh in what I say to you It shall be well with you and your life shall be spared but if you refuse to surrender to Surrender this is the vision which
42:20: Yahweh has shown to me behold all the women left in the house of the king of Judah were being led out to the officials of the king of Babylon and We're saying your trusted friends have deceived you and prevailed against you now that your feet are sunk in the mud
42:35: They turn away from you So note that even when the king voices his concern
42:41: That the Judeans are going to treat him poorly. God promises. Okay, I'll deliver you from them to Obey the voice of Yahweh.
42:58: It's never that simple. Is it? It is But we don't all your wives your sons
43:10: Shall be led to the Chaldeans And you yourself shall not escape from their hand
43:15: But shall be seized by the king of Babylon and the city shall be burned with fire This guy has the ability by himself to simply obey
43:26: God and overt a Complete disaster So Zedekiah said to Jeremiah let no one know of these words and you shall not die if the officials hear that I have spoken with you and come to you and say to you tell us what you said to the
43:45: King and what the king said to you hide nothing from us and we will not put you to death Then you shall say to them
43:51: I made a humble plea to the king that he would not send me back to the house of Jonathan to die there Then all the officials came to Jeremiah which by the way is true
43:59: He did ask that But it's not the complete truth Then all the officials came to Jeremiah and asked him and he answered them as the king had instructed him so they stopped speaking with him for the conversation that had not been overheard and Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard until the day that Jerusalem was taken in the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah in the tenth month
44:26: Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all of his army came against Jerusalem and they besieged it in the 11th year of Zedekiah in the fourth month on the ninth day of the month a breach was made in the city
44:39: Then all the officials of the king of Babylon came and sat in the middle gate Nergal sar
44:45: Azar of Sam Sam gar nebu sar Sakhim and Rob Saras Nagar sar
44:53: Azar and Rob mog You got to love this. This sounds like orc, right? Yeah, just yeah, the the old
45:03: Babylonian tongue is a little it's like it's like the the language of Mordor Yeah Didn't Klingon used to sound like this.
45:12: Anyway, just yeah It was a time back in the 80s that my wife got me for Either my birthday or for Christmas a
45:21: Klingon dictionary and we had a lot of fun Speaking Klingon to each other when we were younger, you know, but alas
45:29: I've forgotten how to speak my love poetry to my wife in Klingon, so Alas okay, this sounds a lot like it, okay
45:42: All right With all the rest of the officers of the king of Babylon when Zedekiah the king of Judah and all the soldiers saw them
45:48: They fled going out of the city at night by way of the king's garden Through the gate between the two walls and they went toward the
45:56: Arab. Ah Did he surrender? Nope Is Jerusalem gonna be burned?
46:03: Yep Is he gonna make it out? No God doesn't lie but the army the
46:12: Chaldeans pursued them overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho and When they had taken him they brought him to Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath and he passed sentence on him the king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah at Riblah before his eyes and The king of Babylon slaughtered all the nobles of Judah He put out the eyes of Zedekiah and bound him in chains to take him to Babylon So basically he slaughtered his sons in front of him and all the nobles
46:41: That's the last thing his eyes will ever see on this earth, and then he gouged out his eyes
46:47: So that that's the last thing as I saw Chaldeans burned the king's house and the house of the people and broke down the walls of Jerusalem Then Nebuchadnezzar the captain the guard carried into exile to Babylon the rest of the people who were left in the city
47:04: Those who had deserted to him and the people who remained Nebuchadnezzar the captain the guard left in the land of Judah some of the poor people who owned
47:13: Nothing and gave them vineyards and fields at the same time. It's utterly foolish
47:21: It is utterly utterly foolish and you'll note people in our day
47:31: Claiming to be pastors say things like God doesn't have any wrath love wins remember
47:38: Rob Bell right and Then you know if God is loved and nobody's going to be in hell.
47:44: No disaster will befall us We're all gonna be just fine This is the same message of the false prophets of Jeremiah's day and Jeremiah spoke the truth
47:56: Obey the voice of God and you will avert disaster and now we have that same message
48:03: We must obey the voice of God and what does God tell us today?
48:09: repent repent in Christ there is forgiveness of your sins repent of your wickedness and Turn to God and be forgiven and saved and By doing this you overt the disaster that awaits all of us when
48:26: God not only comes and sends an army to destroy Jerusalem, but he sends the armies of the angel host to destroy the world that will happen on the day that Christ returns and Yet people say
48:39: God doesn't have any wrath none of the above he does He absolutely does you want to avert the disaster then you need to Obey the voice of God confess your sin confess your wickedness and confess your need for forgiveness
49:01: Zephaniah who also Hang on a second here who prophesied at the same time as Jeremiah Zephaniah He writes of God's judgment so Zephaniah, you'll note
49:17: Zephaniah one the word of Yahweh that came to Zephaniah the son of cushy the son of Gedaliah the son of Amariah the son of Hezekiah in the days of Josiah the son of Ammon the king of Judah He was alive at the same time
49:27: Jeremiah was prophesied at the same time Here's what God says. I will utterly sweep away everything from the face of the earth declares
49:37: Yahweh. I Will sweep away the birds of the heavens the fish of the sea and the rubble with the wicked
49:47: I will cut off mankind from the face of the earth declares Yahweh I will stretch out my hand against Judah and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem I will cut off from this place the remnant of Baal the name of the idolatrous priest along with the priest
50:02: Those who bow down on the roofs to the host of the heavens those who bow down and swear to Yahweh and yet swear by Milcom which is
50:10: Molech those who have turned back from following Yahweh who do not seek Yahweh and inquire of him and It's the
50:17: Prophet Zephaniah that really helps us to see that God's judgment against Judah is a type and shadow of God's ultimate judgment against the whole earth the same plea that Jeremiah made with Zedekiah obey the voice of Yahweh and you will live is the same voice that speaks to us now obey
50:40: God's voice Today is the day of salvation Surrender yourself to King Jesus Because when he shows up with his army host he's going to burn the whole world and none will escape and Anyone who surrenders who repents will have their life as a as a prize of war
51:02: That's really how the themes work here. I always like to point out what you know and Zephaniah here
51:08: Zephaniah just does not Does not warm up. He goes right to flamethrower, you know
51:14: I always thought it'd be fun if like, you know See if I can convince somebody at Hillsong to write a praise song with these lyrics
51:22: I will utterly sweep away everything from the face of the earth declares Yahweh. You can Could you imagine this as a happy clappy praise song?
51:30: I Will utterly sweep away everything from the face of the earth, right? It just doesn't work
51:45: Yeah, I you gotta admit it'd be more biblical than this is the air I breathe but anyway Yeah, yeah
51:52: So, you know, he he does not pull any punches and Zephaniah this minor prophet which few people have read makes it so clear that this judgment of God is
52:05: Pointing us to Christ's return. So Zephaniah says be silent before Yahweh Elohim for the day of Yahweh is near Yahweh has prepared a sacrifice.
52:15: He's consecrated his guests. Listen to this. I mean, this is Zephaniah Be silent before the
52:22: Lord God the day of Yahweh is near the Lord has prepared a sacrifice. Who would that be? Right and he
52:29: God has consecrated his guests that's an allusion to baptism Right and on the day of the
52:36: Lord's sacrifice I will punish the officials the king's sons and all who array themselves in foreign attire on that day
52:42: I will punish everyone who leaps over the threshold and those who fill their master's house with violence and fraud now if you're wondering what this leaping over the threshold is remember when the the
52:54: Philistines captured the Ark of God and they brought it into the temple of Dagon who if Dagon looks like like King Triton, you know, he's like a merman
53:03: Okay and so they left the Ark of the Lord in the right next to Dagon in his own temple and when they came in the next
53:09: Morning, there was poor Dagon on his face. You know, God just went just knocked him over, right?
53:15: And so they lifted poor Dagon up and put him back up and then the next morning They found Dagon again face down and his head was off and his arms were off okay, and Part of him had you know stopped on the threshold of Dagon's temple
53:29: And so they would that from that day forward they refused to step on the threshold because poor Dagon had gone from being
53:34: Dagon to being stumpy so Again, God does not play nice with other gods because they don't exist right so on that day
53:43: I will punish everyone who leaps over the threshold this is then a practice that was brought in as a tradition within the worship of Baal and So, you know, there are
53:51: Jews in the time of Zephaniah and Jeremiah who would not step on the threshold
53:58: Because of what because of this pagan idea they were totally pagan in their thinking
54:04: All right, who filled their master's house with violence and fraud on that day declares Yahweh I would a cry will be heard from the fish gate a whale from the second quarter a loud crash
54:13: From the hills well Oh inhabitants of the mortar for all the traitors are no more all who weigh out silver are cut off at that time
54:21: I will search Jerusalem with lamps and I will punish the men who are complacent and those who say in their hearts
54:28: Yahweh will not do good or nor will he do ill their goods shall be plundered their houses laid waste though They build houses.
54:36: They shall not inhabit him though. They plant vineyards. They shall not drink wine from them The great day of Yahweh is near near and hastening fast the sound of the day of Yahweh is bitter the mighty man cries aloud a day of wrath is that day a day of distress and anguish a day of ruin and Devastation a day of darkness and gloom a day of clouds and thick darkness a day of trumpet blast and battle cry
55:03: Against the fortified cities and against the lofty Battlements I will bring distress on Mankind so that they shall walk like the blind because they have sinned against Yahweh their blood shall be poured out like dust their flesh like dung
55:19: Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them on the day of the wrath of Yahweh in the fire of his
55:25: Jealousy, all the earth shall be consumed for a full and sudden end. He will make all of the inhabitants of the earth
55:35: So clearly takes the destruction of Judah and connects it right to the return of Christ I'll skip the middle part
55:46: But there is you'll note that the most of this then is is pretty it's pretty strong tonic
55:53: But Zephaniah leaves off on a gospel note a note of promise for those who trust
56:00: At that time I will change the speech of the people's to a pure speech That all of them may call upon the name of Yahweh and serve him with one accord
56:09: From beyond the rivers of Cush my worshipers the daughter of my dispersed ones shall bring my offering on That day you shall not be put to shame
56:18: Because the deeds by which you have rebelled against me for then I will move from your midst your proudly
56:24: Exultant ones and you shall no longer be haughty in my holy mountain But I will leave in your midst of people humble and lowly
56:32: They shall seek refuge in the name of Yahweh those who are left in Israel. They shall do no injustice and Speak no lies
56:40: Nor shall there be found in their mouth a deceitful tongue for they shall graze and lie down and none shall make them afraid
56:48: Sing aloud Oh daughter of Zion shout Oh Israel rejoice and exult with all your heart
56:54: Oh daughter of Jerusalem Yahweh has taken away the judgments against you He has cleared away your enemies the king of Israel Yahweh is in your midst.
57:03: You shall never again fear evil On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem fear not
57:09: Oh Zion Let not your hands grow weak Yahweh your God is in your midst a mighty one who will save He will rejoice over you with gladness.
57:18: He will quiet you by his love He will exult over you with loud singing
57:23: I will gather those of you who mourn for the festival so that you will no longer suffer reproach
57:29: Behold at that time I will deal with all of your oppressors and I will save the lame and gather the outcast
57:36: I will change their shame to into praise and Renown in all of the earth at that time
57:42: I will bring you in at that time when I gather you together For I will make you renowned and praised among all the peoples of the earth when
57:49: I restore your fortunes before your eyes says Yahweh So, you know here it's great law and gospel man but we have to hear both and For all who obey the voice of God and repent and trust in Christ They will no longer suffer reproach when
58:09: Christ returns. They have nothing to fear But those who refuse to repent to hear the voice of God and obey
58:18: There is no hope The disease is incurable. All right.
58:28: Let's see here Dwayne we can make a soapbox for you.
58:36: Please don't My wife we would not wish you wouldn't put up with that. Okay All right.
58:42: Let's see here All right. I don't see any other questions that I need to get to at this point. So, all right
58:48: That's our Sunday school lesson for today Lord willing we'll see you in a couple of weeks.