The Prophet Jeremiah Part 38

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Ezekiel Part 39

Ezekiel Part 39

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But we should pray and then we'll talk about what we're going to do because I know you guys are looking forward to the last bits of judgment in the book of Jeremiah.
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Let's pray. The Lord Jesus, again, as we open up your word, we ask that your Holy Spirit humbly please help us to understand what you have revealed there.
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Without your spirit we cannot properly understand your word and so we pray that you would mortify our sinful flesh and our ambitious passions and our hubris and our arrogance and instead humble us to rightly believe what you have revealed there so that we may have comfort through the forgiveness of our sins because of what
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Christ has done for us and also that, having been humbled, that the Holy Spirit would bear fruit in keeping with repentance within us.
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We ask in Jesus' name. Amen. Alright, so I'm going to try this, okay?
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So we've got an hour -ish, maybe a little less than an hour, but the goal here is to see if we can't finish
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Jeremiah. I know that's a little bit of a stretch, but you're going to note that this particular portion of Jeremiah is a little bit of a tough road to hoe.
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It is God speaking judgment to different tribes and I would note here, this is a sampling of the judgment that God will speak to every tribe, nation, language.
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We do not have the entire roster of the day of judgment and so these are types and shadows of what
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God is going to do when everybody is gathered before Christ on the day when he returns in glory to judge the living and the dead.
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The impenitent, they will be handed over to the devil, they will be tossed into the lake of fire, and whereas those who trust in Christ, who have been pardoned and reconciled through what
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Christ has done for them on the cross and their trust is in him, they will not experience these judgments.
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So this is clear passages dealing with God's wrath and the minutiae is not easy to read, but we must keep in mind that God acting in wrath, this is not how
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God normally behaves. This is kind of his alien work as opposed to his natural work.
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So Jeremiah chapter 49, God's judgment against Ammon, thus says
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Yahweh, those who dispossessed him, says
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Yahweh. And I would note here, Rabbah's destruction by fire and then
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Israel taking possession of Rabbah after it's been dispossessed, that again, clear language pointing to the day of judgment because the earth itself will be destroyed with fire and those who are part of true
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Israel, not genetic Israel, true Israel, the same who have the same faith as Abraham, they will possess the earth forever.
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So you kind of get the idea. Again, this is all types and shadows. Well, O Heshbon, for Ai is laid waste.
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Cry out, O daughters of Rabbah, put on sackcloth, lament, run to and fro among the hedges. For Milcom shall go into exile with his priests and his officials.
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Why do you boast of your valleys, O faithless daughter, who trusted in her treasure, saying,
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Who will come against me? Behold, I will bring terror upon you, declares Yahweh, Elohim of armies, from all who are around you, and you shall be driven out, every man straight before him, with none to gather the fugitives.
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So you'll note that one of the things that God does, when people act arrogantly, and rather than putting their trust in Him, they put their trust in their strength, they put their trust in their wealth, they put their trust in whatever, and they say, who's going to come against me?
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God says, challenge accepted, and guess who always wins? God.
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But afterwards, I will restore the fortunes of the Ammonites, declares Yahweh, concerning Edom. Thus says
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Yahweh of armies, is wisdom no more in Temah? Has counsel perished from the prudent?
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Has their wisdom vanished? Yeah, I think so. Flee, turn back, dwell in the depths,
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O inhabitants of Dedan, for I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him, the time when
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I punish him. If great gatherers came to you, would they not leave gleanings? If thieves came by night, would they not destroy only enough for themselves?
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But I have stripped Esau bare, I have uncovered his hiding places. He's not able to conceal himself.
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His children are destroyed, his brothers and his neighbors, and he is no more. Leave your fatherless children,
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I will keep them alive, and let your widows trust in me. For thus says Yahweh, if those who did not deserve to drink the cup must drink it, will you go unpunished?
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You shall not go unpunished. So God here is going to give retribution for the injustices and the war crimes of Esau.
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They have caused people to drink a drink that they didn't deserve, their wrath or whatever.
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So God's going to pay them back for that. Remember, God, when it comes to the day of judgment, his exacting is in his accounting, is a good way to put it.
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I have sworn by myself, declares Yahweh, that Basra shall become a horror, a taunt, a waste, a curse, and all our cities shall be perpetual wastes.
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Wastes, that's a word, wastes, right? Love it when I do that.
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All right. I have heard a message from Yahweh, and an envoy has been sent among the nations. Gather yourselves together and come against her and rise up for battle.
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For behold, I will make you small among the nations, despised among mankind. The horror you inspire has deceived you and the pride of your heart.
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You who live in the clefts of the rock, who hold the height of the hill, though you make your nest as high as the eagles,
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I will bring you down from there, declares Yahweh. And see, this is where the Jedi got the idea that if you had the high ground, you know, that you, never mind.
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Sorry. Little nerd joke in there. Edom shall become a horror. Everyone who passes by it will be horrified and will hiss because of all its disasters.
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As when Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighboring cities were overthrown, says Yahweh, no man shall dwell there, no man shall sojourn in her.
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Behold, like a lion coming up from the jungle of the Jordan against a perennial pasture, I will suddenly make him run away from her.
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I will appoint over her whomever I choose. For who is like me? Nobody is like Yahweh.
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Nobody. Who will summon me? I seem to think there's like, you know,
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Pentecostal and NAR churches who try summoning God through their actions.
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Right. What shepherd can stand before me? Therefore, hear the plan that Yahweh has made against Edom, the purposes that he has formed against the inhabitants of Timan.
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Even the little ones of the flock shall be dragged away. Surely their folds shall be appalled at their fate.
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At the sound of their fall, the earth shall tremble. The sound of their cry shall be heard at the
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Red Sea. Behold, one shall mount up and fly swiftly like an eagle and spread his wings against Basra.
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And the heart of the warriors of Edom shall be in that day like the heart of a woman in her birth pains.
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Concerning Damascus. Hamath and Arpad are confounded, for they have heard bad news.
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They melt in fear. They are troubled like the sea that cannot be quiet. Damascus has become feeble.
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She turned to flee. Panic seized her. Anguish and sorrows have taken hold of her as of a woman in labor.
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How is the famous city not forsaken, the city of my joy? Therefore, her young men shall fall in her squares, and all her soldiers shall be destroyed in that day, declares
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Yahweh of armies. And I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus, and it shall devour the strongholds of Ben -Hadad.
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Concerning Qadar and the kingdoms of Hazor that Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, struck down.
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Thus says Yahweh, rise up, advance against Qadar, destroy the people of the east. Their tents and their flocks shall be taken, their curtains and all their goods, their camels shall be led away from them.
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The men shall cry to them, terror on every side. Flee, wander far away, dwell in the depths,
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O inhabitants of Hazor, declares Yahweh. For Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, has made a plan against you and formed a purpose against you.
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Rise up, advance against a nation at ease that dwells securely, declares Yahweh. That has no gates or bars, that dwells alone, their camels shall become plunder, their herds of livestock a spoil.
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I will scatter to every wind those who cut the corners of their hair, and I will bring their calamity from every side of them, declares
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Yahweh. Hazor shall become a haunt of jackals, an everlasting waste.
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No man shall dwell there, no man shall sojourn there. Judgment of Elam.
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The word of Yahweh that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah, the king of Judah.
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Thus says Yahweh of armies, behold, I will break the bow of Elam, the mainstay of their might, and I will bring upon Elam the four winds from the four quarters of heaven.
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I will scatter them to all those winds, and there shall be no nation to which those driven out of Elam shall not come.
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I will terrify Elam before their enemies and before those who seek their life. I will bring disaster upon them, and my fierce anger, declares
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Yahweh. I will send the sword after them until I have consumed them, and I will set my throne in Elam to destroy their king and officials, declares
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Yahweh. But in the latter days, I will restore the fortunes of Elam, declares Yahweh.
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Now, several commentators that I've read note that this total destruction, but in the latter days,
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I will restore the fortunes of Elam. These are little gospel promises. We saw that regarding the
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Ammonites, we see this regarding Elam. And a good way to think about them is that anybody who's a descendant of Elam today, who is a believer in Jesus Christ, their fortunes have been restored.
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And so this is a hint at the fact that the gospel goes out to all nations, tribes, languages, and peoples, and that God is calling people from all of those tribes to himself.
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And salvation is oftentimes referred to in Scripture as God restoring fortunes.
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If you were to think of it in kind of using that metaphor, the vast wealth of the earth that Adam and Eve were to govern was taken from them when they sinned, and we lost our inheritance, we lost our fortune.
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The family lost the farm, right? But in the great day of Jubilee, the farm, the inheritance, the land, everything is restored.
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And so these little, I will restore the fortunes of Elam, declares the Lord in the latter days, is not saying that Yahweh is going to reestablish the nation of Elam, or this tribe or people, but that people who are descendants of Elam will be blessed along with those who trust in Christ.
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It's a little gospel promise. So you know, God in the midst of speaking all of this judgment, you get these little hints of, but wait a second,
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God's also promising not just wrath, but also to restore fortunes. Think of those as little, little gospel things that you can hang on to.
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Chapter 50. Now, you think Babylon's going to get out of being judged? No way,
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Jose. All right, despite the fact that God has chosen to judge Judah by means of Nebuchadnezzar and the
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Babylonian Empire, they're going to be judged also. And the Babylonians, they are rank pagan idolaters.
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I was reading a commentary this week, yeah, I was reading commentary this week about the
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Babylonian Empire. That was interesting. I was reading a commentary about the
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Babylonian Empire, and what a sick historical fact. The Babylonians required all women for one time in their life to actually commit one act of prostitution.
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It was a requirement for female citizens of the Babylonian Empire that once during their lifetime they would have to actually commit one act of prostitution.
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And it was part of their religious practices. It's called taxation. Wrong. No. You're mixing metaphors.
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It's not taxation. But, yeah, you get the idea. So, I mean, that's just one example of just how far off the rails
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Babylon was. And, of course, you read the book of Daniel, which is what we're going to take a look at. Not right after this.
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We're going to take a look at Ezra. No, we will go into Daniel next. Daniel, then Ezra, then Nehemiah. We'll take a look at those prophecies next.
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But the word Yahweh spoke concerning Babylon, concerning the land of the Chaldeans by Jeremiah the prophet.
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Idols never really put up much of a fight when Yahweh shows up, by the way. It never really goes well for them.
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It's a lopsided battle because they can't even see or hear, right? Out of the north, a nation has come up against her.
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This is a stunning prophecy. God here is telling, through the prophet
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Jeremiah, that Babylon and, well, what would become the, and he mentions the
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Chaldeans because after Nebuchadnezzar dies, and Nebuchadnezzar's son, Belshazzar, is assassinated, the
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Babylonian Empire then becomes the Medo -Persian Empire, which is run by the
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Medes and the Persians as well as the Chaldeans. And who do they fall to? Alexander the
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Great. Alexander the Great conquers them decisively. And so here, this is a prophecy regarding Alexander the
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Great. And you're going to note here, okay, Jeremiah is a true prophet.
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He does not give these blue -sky prophecies, which is what the false prophets of his day would give.
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The blue -sky prophecies are, you all remember how that song, you know, blue skies, smiling at me, nothing but blue skies do
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I see, right? Anyway, I can't sing this very well, but blue -sky prophecies are the kind of stuff that all these NAR wackadoodle prophets are giving.
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Oh, the Lord has told me that you're going to have a fantastic breakthrough in this coming season where there's going to be sudden leaves that, and there's a great wealth transfer.
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God's going to transfer the wealth of the nations to the Christians, and it's all going to be fantastic and glorious, and blue skies, smiling at me, right?
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These blue, nothing, Jeremiah don't do that, okay? He don't do that, and you'll note that today's so -called prophets, they are vague and vapid in the prophecies that they give.
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I recently covered a fellow who's pastoring now one of the flagship
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NAR churches, and that's Morningstar Ministries, which used to be run by Rick Joyner.
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And the, sorry, not Rick Joyner, but the apostle Rick Joyner, right?
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The apostle, right? Wink, wink, nudge, nudge, you know what I mean? The apostle Rick Joyner. And so the fellow who succeeded him is a fellow by the name of Chris Reed.
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And I kid you not, this man, he has a prophecy school that he does.
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And kind of like I do Sunday school here at Kongsvinger and people join online, he does this prophecy school there at Morningstar.
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And he was teaching people how to prophesy using the same techniques that mentalists use.
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And so he says, you know, the Lord is impressed upon my heart that there's somebody in our class tonight, it could be somebody online who, does the word, does the name
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Mary Elizabeth have any significance to anybody? What he did, no prophet ever did, okay?
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Isaiah named Cyrus hundreds of years before Cyrus was ever born.
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Jeremiah here is prophesying of Alexander the Great and the northern kingdom from Greece conquering the
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Chaldeans, the Medes, and the Babylonians, and the Persians. And this was before Alexander the
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Great was even a glint in his grandfather's eyes. The angel asked the way to Zion with faces turned toward it, saying, come let us join ourselves to Yahweh in an everlasting covenant that will never be forgotten.
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Uh oh, new covenant here. That's a prophecy of the new covenant, not the Mosaic covenant. My people have been lost sheep.
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Their shepherds have led them astray, turning them away on the mountains. And here, shepherds, this is a, think of like pastors.
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They're false teachers, they're false prophets, they're priests who haven't taught rightly. They've turned them astray. From mountain to hill they've all gone.
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They've forgotten their fold. All who found them have devoured them and their enemies have said, we are not guilty for they have sinned against Yahweh, their habitation of righteousness.
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Yahweh, the hope of the fathers. Flee from the midst of Babylon. Go out of the land of the
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Chaldeans. And be as male goats before the flock. For behold, I am stirring up and bringing against Babylon a gathering of great nations from the north country.
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They shall array themselves against her. From there she shall be taken. Their arrows are like a skilled warrior who does not return empty -handed.
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Chaldea shall be plundered. All who plunder her shall be sated, declares Yahweh. And here's where I should remind everybody.
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That when we talk about the Babylonian exile, that is a type and shadow of the life that all
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Christians are presently living. I've got to remind you of this. Peter writes thus in his first epistle.
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To those who are exiles of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, Bithynia, according to the foreknowledge of the
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Father and the sanctification of the Spirit for obedience to Jesus and for the sprinkling with his blood, may grace and peace be multiplied to you.
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We are all exiles. Now, in my particular case,
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I have been exiled to American Siberia. And I feel bad for Sheldon Waite.
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He's been exiled to Barbados. Clearly, he has done something wrong. That God is punishing him with such beautiful weather.
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I'm still trying to convince the Kungsvinger Church Council that one of these years we have to do our annual meeting in Barbados rather than here.
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Because we always do it at the dead of winter, like late January, early February. And when we schedule, we have to schedule a snow day.
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Because it's a real possibility there will be a big, bad blizzard. And then afterwards, it will be 40 below.
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But each and every one of us, wherever you are, you are currently in exile.
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That's a big theme of Scripture. You are in exile.
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How long are you here for? Until the King says you can come back. Go back where?
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To the Promised Land. The real one. The New Earth. Have any of you seen the
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New Earth yet? Can you name a single street in the New Jerusalem?
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No, I can't either. And so, we have never been home.
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That's the point. And so this theme is coming through then in this text.
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Flee from the midst of Babylon. Go out from the land of the Chaldeans. The arrows are like skilled warriors.
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Chaldea shall be plundered. All who plunder her shall be sated, declares the Lord. Though you rejoice, though you exult,
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O plunderers of my heritage. Though you frolic like a heifer in the pasture, and neigh like stallions, your mother shall be utterly shamed, and she who bore you shall be disgraced.
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Yeah, even God does this trash talking on people's moms, right? Behold, she shall be the last of the nations.
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A wilderness, a dry land, a desert. Because of the wrath of Yahweh, she shall not be inhabited, but shall be an utter desolation.
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Everyone who passes by Babylon shall be appalled and hiss because of all of her wounds.
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By the way, not much left of the Babylonian Empire. Not much left of it at all.
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You can travel to Iraq today, and you can see some of its ruins, but not much. It's not very impressive, right?
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So set yourselves in array against Babylon all around. All you who bend the bow, shoot at her.
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Spare no arrows. She has sinned against Yahweh. Raise a shout against her all around. She has surrendered.
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Her bulwarks have fallen. Her walls are thrown down. For this is the vengeance of Yahweh. Take vengeance on her.
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Do to her as she has done. And so when you see the ruins, if you ever travel to Iraq, or you do it virtually online.
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I've traveled to many archaeological sites online because it's a lot cheaper to do so. And you were to examine what's left of the
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Babylonian Empire and the walls that have fallen. Note here, the fallen walls of Babylon is a tangible sign of God's vengeance.
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That's what it's meant to be. Cut off from Babylon's sower and the one who handles the sickle in time of harvest because of the sword of the oppressor.
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Everyone shall turn to his own people. Everyone shall flee to his own land. Israel is a hunted sheep driven away by lions.
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That's a beautiful picture. First the king of Assyria devoured him. Now at last Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, has gnawed his bones.
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Therefore, thus says Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel, hold on, I'm bringing punishment on the king of Babylon and his land as I punish the king of Assyria.
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I will restore Israel to his pasture. And he shall feed on Carmel and in Bashan.
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And his desire shall be satisfied on the hills of Ephraim and Gilead. And in those days, and at that time, declares
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Yahweh, iniquity shall be sought in Israel and there shall be none.
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And sin in Judah and none shall be found for I will pardon those whom
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I leave as a remnant. Is there any sin in Israel right now? I'm not allowed to say that, but yes.
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Yeah, there is. Apparently you're not supposed to say that. But Israel is just as wicked as America.
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And believe me, America is wicked. You all know this. So when is
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God going to restore Israel? In a day when iniquity will be sought in Israel but will never be found.
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When sin will be sought but never be found. New Earth. Again, note these themes of judgment have these huge eschatological hooks in them.
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And that's really the point. Go up against the land of Merithaim and against the inhabitants of Picard.
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Kill and devote to destruction, declares Yahweh, and do all that I have commanded you. The noise of battle is in the land and great destruction.
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How the hammer of the whole earth is cut down and broken. How Babylon has become a horror among the nations.
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I set a snare for you and you were taken, O Babylon, and you did not know it.
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You were found and caught because you opposed Yahweh. Yahweh has opened his armory and brought out the weapons of his wrath.
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Wait, God has wrath? Yes. For Yahweh, the God of armies, has a work to do in the land of the
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Chaldeans. Come against her from every quarter. Open her granaries. Pile her up like heaps of grain.
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Devote her to destruction. Let nothing be left of her. Kill all her bulls. Let them go down to the slaughter.
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Woe to them for their day has come, the time of their punishment. A voice.
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They flee and escape from the land of Babylon to declare in Zion the vengeance of Yahweh our
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God. Vengeance for his temple. Summon archers against Babylon and all those who bend the bow and camp around her.
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Let no one escape. Repay her according to her deeds. Do to her according to all that she has done.
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For she has proudly defied Yahweh, the Holy One of Israel. Therefore, her young men shall fall in her squares and all of her soldiers shall be destroyed on that day, declares
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Yahweh. Behold, I am against you, O proud one, declares Yahweh, the God of armies.
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For your day has come, the time when I will punish you. The proud one shall stumble and fall with no one to raise him up.
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And I will kindle a fire in his cities and it will devour all that is around him. Thus says
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Yahweh of armies, the people of Israel are oppressed and the people of Judah with them. All who took them captive have held them fast.
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They refuse to let them go. Their redeemer is strong. Yahweh of armies is his name.
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Yahweh sabaoth. He will surely plead their cause that he may give rest to the earth but unrest to the inhabitants of Babylon.
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Another huge eschatological theme here. God is going to plead their cause.
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This is a prophecy regarding Christ and his priestly function who acts as our mediator between us and the
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Father. Christ pleading our cause so that he might give us rest but unrest to the inhabitants of Babylon.
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And now you begin to see that Babylon here is not merely talking about the Babylonians but now it starts to have this bigger theme.
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Everybody who hates God, everyone who persists in sin and unbelief is declared to be part of Babylon.
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Pull that into your reading of the book of Revelation when you hear about mystery
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Babylon and fallen is Babylon the great. That's talking about the whole world of unbelievers.
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A sword against the Chaldeans declares Yahweh, against the inhabitants of Babylon, against her officials and her wise men.
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A sword against the diviners that they may become fools. They're talking about people who practice sorcery and divination and all kinds of fortune -telling and things like this.
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A sword against her warriors that they may be destroyed. A sword against her horses, against her chariots, against all the foreign troops in her midst that they may become women.
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Yeah, you'll note here God made women to be not as strong as men.
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Have you noticed that? There's a reason why trans athletes dominate women's sports, because they're not women.
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So God here is turning all the strength of Babylon and basically giving the strength of women.
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A sword against all of her treasures that they may be plundered. A drought against her waters that they may be dried up.
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For it is a land of images and they are mad over idols. Therefore wild beasts shall dwell with hyenas in Babylon, and ostriches shall dwell in her.
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She shall never again have people nor be inhabited for all generations. And the true
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Babylonian cities that lie in ruins, they're just archaeological sites.
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No one lives there. As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighboring cities, declares Yahweh, so no man shall dwell there.
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No son of man shall sojourn in her. Behold, a people comes from the north, a mighty nation.
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Many kings are stirring from the farthest parts of the earth. They lay hold of bow and spear.
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They are cruel. They have no mercy. The sound of them is like the roaring of the sea. They ride on horses arrayed as a man for battle.
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Against you, O daughter of Babylon. The king of Babylon heard the report of them, and his hands fell helpless.
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Anguished seized him, pain as a woman in labor. Here we go again. Same imagery talking about the end of the world.
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Calamity comes on them suddenly like a woman going into labor. Act of God's judgment. Behold, a lion coming up from the thicket of the
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Jordan against a perennial pasture. I will suddenly make them run away from her. I will appoint over her whomever
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I choose. For who is like me? Who will summon me? What shepherd can stand before me?
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Therefore, hear the plan that Yahweh has made against Babylon and the purposes that he has formed against the land of the
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Chaldeans. Surely the little ones of their flock shall be dragged away. Surely their fold shall be appalled at their fate.
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At the sound of the capture of Babylon, the earth shall tremble, and her cry shall be heard among the nations.
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Chapter 51. Thus says Yahweh, Behold, I will stir up the spirit of a destroyer against Babylon, against the inhabitants of Lebkamai.
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And I will send to Babylon winnowers, and they shall winnow her. They shall empty her land when they come against her from every side on the day of trouble.
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Let not the archer bend his bow, and let him not stand up in his armor. Spare not her young men. Devote to destruction all her army.
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They shall fall down, slain in the land of the Chaldeans and wounded in her streets. For Israel and Judah have not been forsaken by their
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God, Yahweh of armies, but the land of the Chaldeans is full of guilt against the Holy One of Israel.
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Flee from the midst of Babylon. Let everyone save his life. Be not cut off in her punishment for dust, for this is the time of the
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Lord's vengeance, the repayment he is rendering her. Babylon was a golden cup in the Lord's hand, making all the earth drunken.
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The nations drank of her wine, therefore the nations went mad. Suddenly Babylon has fallen and been broken.
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Wail for her. Take balm for her pain. Perhaps she may be healed. We would have healed
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Babylon, but she was not healed. Forsake her. Let us go each to his own country, for her judgment has reached up to heaven and has been lifted up even to the skies.
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Yahweh has brought about our vindication. Come, let us declare in Zion the work of Yahweh our
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God. Sharpen the arrows. Take up the shield. Yahweh has stirred up the spirit of the kings of the
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Medes because his purpose concerning Babylon is to destroy it. For that is the vengeance of Yahweh, the vengeance for his temple.
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Set up a standard against the walls of Babylon. Make the watch strong. Set up watchmen. Prepare the ambushes.
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For Yahweh has both planned and done what he spoke concerning the inhabitants of Babylon. Oh, you who dwell by many waters, rich in treasures, your end has come.
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The threat of your life is cut. Now, have you ever heard that phrase before in a pagan context?
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The fates. The fates within Greek mythology. I would note, the threat of your life is cut.
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Sounds like whoever wrote the Greek mythology stole this from the Bible. The idea of the fates taking your life and snipping it.
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This predates the writing of the fates. So we'll note, the threat of your life is cut.
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That comes from the Bible, not Greek mythology. Greek mythology stole it from God. Yahweh of hosts is sworn by himself.
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Surely I will fill you with men as many as locusts. They shall raise a shout of victory over you.
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It is he who made the earth by his power, who established the world by his wisdom. Now I'm going to note something here.
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When you read the entirety of the Bible, every single biblical author, whether they are prophet or apostle, all affirm that God created the universe.
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They all affirm the historicity of the early chapters of Genesis. This is another one of those texts.
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He who made the earth by his power, who established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding stretched out the heavens.
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That is a reference all the way back to Genesis 1. Stretched it out.
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Talking about the rakia of God here. That's what we're talking about. So here you have a clear example.
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And you'll note that every single biblical author affirms the sixth day creation and the seventh day rest of God.
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And that is affirmed in Old and New Testament. It is not merely spoken in the opening chapters of Genesis.
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It is affirmed throughout all of the writings of Scripture. Here's an example of it. When he utters his voice, there is a tumult of water in the heavens.
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He makes the mist rise from the ends of the earth. He makes lightning for the rain and he brings forth the wind from his storehouses.
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We know all about that here in Minnesota. Okay, especially in the winter, right? Every man is stupid and is without knowledge.
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Every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols for his images are false.
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There is no breath in them. They are worthless. They are a work of delusion. At the time of their punishment, they shall perish.
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Not like these is he who is the portion of Jacob for he is the one who formed all things. And Israel is the tribe of his inheritance.
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Yahweh of armies is his name. You are my hammer and weapon of war.
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With you, I break nations in pieces. With you, I destroy kingdoms. With you, I break in pieces the horse and the rider.
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With you, I break in pieces the chariot and the charioteer. With you, I break in pieces man and woman.
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With you, I break in pieces the old man and the youth. With you, I break in pieces the young man and the young woman.
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With you, I break in pieces the shepherd and his flock. With you, I break in pieces the farmer and his team.
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With you, I break in pieces governors and commanders. You'll note, God is very clear when he acts in judgment.
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Everybody is getting it. I will repay Babylon and all the inhabitants of Chaldea before your very eyes for all the evil that they have done in Zion, declares
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Yahweh. And you're going to note something here. Despite the fact that Nebuchadnezzar was the means by which
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God judged Judah, God will not hold them guiltless for their sin.
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Behold, I am against you, O destroying mountain, declares Yahweh, which destroys the whole earth. I will stretch out my hand against you and roll you down from the crags and make you a burnt mountain.
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No stone shall be taken from you for a corner. No stone for a foundation.
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But you shall be a perpetual waste, declares Yahweh. So set up a standard on the earth.
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Blow the trumpet among the nations. Prepare the nations for war against her. Summon against her the kingdoms,
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Erat, Meni, Ashkenaz. Appoint a marshal against her. Bring up horses like bristling locusts.
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Prepare the nations for war against her. The kings of the Medes with their governors and deputies and every land under their dominion, and the land trembles and writhes in pain for the
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Lord's purpose against Babylon, stand to make the land of Babylon a desolation without inhabitants.
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The warriors of Babylon have ceased fighting. They remain in their strongholds. Their strength has failed.
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They've become women. Their dwellings are on fire. Her bars are broken. One runner runs to meet another, one messenger to meet another, to tell the king of Babylon that his city is taken on every side.
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The fords have been seized. The marshes are burned with fire. The soldiers are in panic. For thus says
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Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel, the daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor. The time when it is trodden, and yet a little while, and the time of her harvest will come.
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Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, has devoured me. He has crushed me. He has made me an empty vessel.
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He has swallowed me like a monster. He has filled his stomach with my delicacies. He has rinsed me out, the violence done to me and to my kinsmen.
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Be upon Babylon, let the inhabitants of Zion say, my blood be upon the inhabitants of Chaldea. Let Jerusalem say, therefore thus says
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Yahweh, behold, I will plead your cause, take vengeance for you. I will dry up her sea, make her fountain dry, and Babylon shall become a heap of ruins, the haunt of jackals, a horror and a hissing without inhabitants.
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They shall roar together like lions. They shall growl like lion's cubs. While they are inflamed,
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I will prepare them a feast and make them drunk, that they may become merry, then sleep a perpetual sleep and not wake, declares
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Yahweh. I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams and male goats.
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How Babylon is taken, the praise of the whole earth is seized. How Babylon has become a horror among the nations.
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The sea has come up to Babylon. She is covered with its tumultuous waves.
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Her cities have become a horror, a land of drought, a desert, a land in which no one dwells and through which no son of man passes.
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And I will punish Baal in Babylon and take out of his mouth what he has swallowed. The nations no longer flow to him.
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The wall of Babylon has fallen. Go out of the midst of her, my people. Let everyone save his life from the fierce anger of Yahweh.
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Let not your heart faint and be not fearful at the report heard in the land. When a report comes in one year and afterward a report in another year, and violence is in the land against a ruler, therefore behold, the days are coming when
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I will punish the images of Babylon and her whole land shall be put to shame and all her slain shall fall in the midst of her.
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Then the heavens and the earth and all that is in them, they shall sing for joy over Babylon.
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For the destroyer shall come against them out of the north, declares Yahweh. Babylon must fall for the slain of Israel, just as for Babylon have fallen the slain of all the earth.
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You who have escaped from the sword, go, do not stand still. Remember Yahweh from far away and let
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Jerusalem come into your mind. We are put to shame for we have heard reproach, dishonor has covered our face, for foreigners have come into the holy places of Yahweh's house.
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Therefore behold, the days are coming, declares Yahweh, when I will execute judgment upon her images and through all her land the wounded shall groan.
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Through Babylon, though Babylon should mount up to heaven and though she should fortify her strong height, yet destroyers would come from me against her, declares
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Yahweh. A voice, a cry from Babylon, the noise of great destruction from the land of the
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Chaldeans. For Yahweh is laying in Babylon waste and stilling her mighty voice.
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Their waves roar like many waters, the noise of their voice is raised, for a destroyer has come upon her.
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Upon Babylon her warriors are taken, their bows are broken in pieces. For Yahweh is a God of recompense, he will surely repay.
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I will make drunk her officials and her wise men, her governors and her commanders and her warriors. They shall sleep a perpetual sleep and not wake, declares the king, whose name is
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Yahweh of armies. Thus says Yahweh of hosts, of armies.
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The broad wall of Babylon shall be leveled to the ground and her gates shall be burned with fire. The peoples labor for nothing, the nations weary themselves only for fire.
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Here we go again. The peoples labor for nothing. The earth, the current creation under the curse, has been subjected to futility.
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People do not like it when I say this. The reality is that we live in a cursed creation.
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And you and I are all under this curse. There's a reason why I'm getting older by the day and death is not that far off for any of us.
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And the things that we build and we labor for, who gets to take them after us, right? Well, the state gets a pretty big chunk of it, especially if you live in Minnesota.
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Thank God I live in North Dakota. It's a little bit more bearable there. But regardless, the state's going to get its chunk and then your kids are going to divide up your stuff.
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They're going to have an estate sale after they've taken the knickknacks and mementos and the things that they want to keep for themselves.
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And then everything will be sold. It's gone. That's how it goes, right?
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We all labor for nothing. Can't take any of it with you.
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Nations weary themselves. For what? All of the nations are stored up for fire when
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Jesus returns. You've heard the phrase, there's no point in polishing the brass on the
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Titanic. I think there's some wisdom to that. I'm not really interested in setting up an earthly kingdom for myself.
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I'm only in the pastoral office temporarily. Everybody in the pastoral office is in the pastoral office temporarily.
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All of us are here temporarily. We're just sojourning and boy does this life go quick. Now that was fun reading all of that about Babylon.
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And you'll note that God kind of stretched it out there at the end. I was reading going, how many more verses are we going to go on here?
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God has a tendency to be verbose when he's going to speak in judgment. So let's see if we can race to the finish of Jeremiah now.
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The word that Jeremiah the prophet commanded Sariah the son of Neriah, the son of Mahasiah, when he went to Zedekiah the king of Judah to Babylon in the fourth year of his reign.
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Sariah was the quartermaster. Jeremiah wrote in a book all the disaster that should come upon Babylon.
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All these words that are written concerning Babylon. And Jeremiah said to Sariah, when you come to Babylon, see that you read all these words and say, oh
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Yahweh, you have said concerning this place that you will cut it off so that nothing shall dwell in it, neither man nor beast, and it shall be desolate forever.
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When you finish reading this book, tie a stone to it and cast it into the midst of the
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Euphrates and say, thus shall Babylon sink to rise no more because of the disaster that I am bringing upon her and they shall become exhausted.
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Thus far are the words of Jeremiah. So Jeremiah's prophecy makes it to Babylon.
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And his prophecy against Babylon is read out to the exiles there to let them know that the evil that Babylon did against Judah, that God will pay it back.
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But still, the exiles have to stay there for 70 years. Zedekiah was 21 years old when he became king.
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He reigned 11 years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libna, and he did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh according to all that Jehoiakim had done.
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For because of the anger of Yahweh, it came to the point in Jerusalem and Judah that he cast them out from his presence.
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Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. He was a puppet king by this point. And in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month,
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Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, came with his army against Jerusalem and he laid siege to it. They built siege works all around it.
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So the city was besieged till the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. On the ninth day of the fourth month, the famine was so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land.
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Then a breach was made in the city and all the men of war fled and went out from the city by night by way of a gate between the two walls by the king's garden.
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And the Chaldeans were around the city. And they went in the direction of the Arabah. And the army of the
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Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho. And all of his army was scattered from him.
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Then they captured the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath.
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And he passed sentence on him. The king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes and also slaughtered all the officials of Judah at Riblah.
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He put out the eyes of Zedekiah and bound him in chains. And the king of Babylon took him to Babylon and put him in prison until the day of his death.
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So Zedekiah, the last thing his eyes saw were his sons being slaughtered before him and then his eyes were put out.
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In the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month, that was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, the captain of the bodyguard who served the king of Babylon, entered
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Jerusalem. He burned the house of Yahweh and the king's house and all the houses of Jerusalem.
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And every great house he burned down. And all the armies of the
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Chaldeans who were with the captain of the guard broke down the walls around Jerusalem. And Nebuchadnezzar, the captain of the guard, carried away captive some of the poorest of the people and of the rest of the people who were left in the city and of the deserters who had deserted to the king of Babylon, together with the rest of the artisans.
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Now note here, the ones who were the deserters, they deserted because they listened to the word of God in the mouth of Jeremiah.
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Jeremiah, constantly as we read through this book, was telling them, if you surrender to the king of Babylon, you will live rather than die.
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You will have your life as a prize of war. Right? How many of them do you think made it?
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We'll see in a minute here. Nebuchadnezzar, the captain of the guard, left some of the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and plowmen.
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The pillars of bronze that were in the house of Yahweh, Boaz and Jachin, right?
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And the stand and the bronze sea that were in the house of Yahweh, the
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Chaldeans broke in pieces, and they carried all the bronze to Babylon. They took away the pots and the shovels and the snuffers and the basins and the dishes for incense, and all the vessels of bronze used in the temple service, also the small bowls and the firepans and the basins and the pots and the lampstands and the dishes for incense, and the bowls for drink offerings.
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What was of gold the captain of the guard took away as gold, and what was of silver as silver?
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As for the two pillars, the one sea, the twelve bronze bowls that were under the sea, and the stands which
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Solomon the king had made for the house of Yahweh. The bronze of all of these things was beyond weight.
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As for the pillars, the height of the one pillar was eighteen cubits, its circumference was twelve cubits, and its thickness was four fingers, and it was hollow.
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On it was a capital of bronze, and the height of the one capital was five cubits, and network, and pomegranates, all of bronze, were around the capital, and the second pillar had the same with pomegranates.
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There were ninety -six pomegranates on the sides, and the pomegranates were a hundred upon the network all around.
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And the captain of the guard took Sariah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the threshold, and from the city he took an officer who had been in command of the men of war, and seven men of the king's council, who were found in the city, and the secretary of the commander of the army, who mustered the people of the land, and sixty men of the people of the land, who were found in the midst of the city.
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And Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took them, and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. And the king of Babylon struck them down, and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath.
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So Judah was taken into exile out of its land. So all their leaders, the ones who resisted to the end, who put up the fight, and were telling people to fight, they were all killed.
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So this is the number of the people whom Nebuchadnezzar carried away captive. In the seventh year, three thousand twenty -three
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Judeans. That's it. In the 18th year of Nebuchadnezzar, he carried away captive from Jerusalem 832.
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In the 23rd year of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive of the
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Judeans 745 persons. All of the persons were 4 ,600.
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That's it. What did
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God do? I was reading the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah prophesied about this too, by the way.
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Let me find the text. Isaiah chapter 1. Listen to how
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Isaiah talks about this. Now Isaiah, he is the prophet of the decline.
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Jeremiah is the prophet of the apostasy. So when Isaiah prophesied, you can't really understand
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Isaiah unless you pay real close attention to the history of King Uzziah, of King Jotham, of King Ahaz, and King Hezekiah.
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If you pay attention and you read 1 and 2, if you read 2 Kings and 2
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Chronicles and get that history kind of embedded in your head as to what's going on, you'll have a good idea. But all the way back,
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Isaiah long before before Jeremiah was alive, he prophesied the very thing that we're going to hear here.
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Listen to God's threatening to the prophet Isaiah during the decline. Hear, O heavens, and give ear,
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O earth. For Yahweh has spoken. Children I have reared and brought up, but they've rebelled against me.
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The ox knows its owner. The donkey, its master's crib. Israel does not. No, my people do not understand.
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Ah, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, offspring of evildoers. Children who deal corruptly.
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They've forsaken Yahweh. They despise the Holy One of Israel. They are utterly estranged. Why will you be struck down?
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Why will you continue to rebel? The whole head is sick. The whole heart faint.
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From the sole of the foot even to the head, there is no soundness in it. But bruises and sores and raw wounds, they are not pressed out, nor are they bound up or softened with oil.
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Your country lies desolate. Your cities are burned with fire. In your very presence, foreigners devour your land.
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It is desolate, as overthrown by foreigners. And the daughter of Zion is left like a booth in a vineyard, like a lodge in a cucumber field, like a besieged city.
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If Yahweh of armies had not left us a few survivors, we should have become like Sodom and become like Gomorrah.
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This is Isaiah prophesying hundreds of years before this goes down. So hear the word of Yahweh, you rulers of Sodom.
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Give ear to the teaching of our God, you people of Gomorrah. What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices, says
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Yahweh? I've had enough of your burnt offerings of rams and of the fat of well -fed beasts. I do not delight in the blood of bulls or of lambs or of goats.
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When you come to appear before me, who is required of you this trampling of my courts? Bring no more vain offerings, incenses and abomination to me, new moons and Sabbath and the calling of convocations.
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I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly. And there's your problem.
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They have solemn assemblies. They obey the outward form of worship commanded by God in the time of the
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Mosaic Covenant, but they are all idolaters and adulterers and thieves and everything else.
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Your new moons and your appointed feasts, my soul hates them. They've become a burden to me. I'm weary of bearing them.
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When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you. Even though you make many prayers, I'm not going to listen.
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Your hands are full of blood. Wash yourselves. Make yourselves clean. Remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes.
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Cease to do evil. Learn to do good. Seek justice. Correct oppression.
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Bring justice to the fatherless. Plead the widow's cause. Come now. Let us reason together, says
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Yahweh. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow. Note again, God speaking in judgment, calling them to repentance, promising them
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He will forgive. Even though your sins are scarlet, they will be white as snow. Ah, reference to the blood of the lamb, maybe, right?
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Though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land.
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But if you refuse and rebel, you shall be eaten by the sword, for the mouth of Yahweh has spoken.
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How the faithful city has become a whore. She who was full of justice, righteousness, lodged in her, but now murderers.
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Your silver has become dross. Your best wine is mixed with water. That sounds like an abomination right there.
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Don't mix good wine with water, right? Okay, your princes, they are rebels and companions of thieves.
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Everyone loves a bride, runs after gifts. They don't bring justice to the fatherless. The widow's cause does not come to them.
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Therefore, declares the Lord, Yahweh of armies, the mighty one of Israel. Ah, I will get relief from my enemies.
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I will avenge myself on my foes. I will turn my hand against you and I will smelt away your dross as with lye and remove all your alloy.
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And that's what God has done. When you look at the remnant that remains, okay, four thousand six hundred
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Jews. God killed the rest.
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What was he doing? He uses a metallurgy concept. He's getting rid of the dross.
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He's smelting them and getting rid of all of the other stuff so that all that's left is what is good.
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That's really what he's up to in this text. I will turn my I will smelt away your dross as with lye, remove your alloy.
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I will restore your judges as at the first and your counselors as at the beginning and afterwards you shall be called the city of righteousness, the faithful city.
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And I would note coming out of the exile then you have such wise leaders as Nehemiah and Ezra.
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Absolutely just stunning men of God who are the leaders of Israel coming out of the exile.
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And that's in fulfillment to this. But what did God do? He got rid of their dross.
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The only thing left was 4 ,600 people.
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In the 37th year of the exile Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, in the 12th month, on the 25th day of the month, evil
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Merodot, king of Babylon, in the year that he began to reign graciously freed Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, brought him out of prison.
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He spoke kindly to him, gave him a seat above the seats of the kings who were with him in Babylon. So Jehoiakim put off his prison garments and every day of his life he dined regularly at the king's table.
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And for his allowance, a regular allowance was given him by the king according to his daily needs until the day of his death as long as he lived.
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The end of Jeremiah. Ian. Yes. Okay.
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So. Alright. So. Yeah. I think that's where I have to leave off because I have to go.
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But you'll note then that we have next week the beginning of Daniel to look forward to.
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So a little bit of a change of pace. But I thought we'd go ahead and rip that band -aid off and get through God's judgment in Jeremiah.
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But y 'all, I don't need to make any more of the points. I think you get it. Alright. Peace to you brothers and sisters.