The Prophet Jeremiah Part 22

Kongsvinger Lutheran Church

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August 24, 2022

The Prophet Jeremiah Part 23

00:00: And we are going to pray and we're going to get rolling. Lord Jesus, again, as we open up your word and we consider what it says, we ask that just like the exiles who came out of Babylon were devoted to your word and amended their lives accordingly, that your word would be implanted within our hearts and our minds and that your word would transform us, that what comes from our lips may be what your word says and speaks so that we may speak peace to those who trust in you and call others to faith in you so that they can share in our joy.
00:34: We ask in Jesus' name, amen. All right, give me a second here.
00:40: I'm gonna do one more thing. I'm going to mute everybody. I still haven't gotten an official report from anybody on how
00:49: Sheldon and Carlos did while I was gone. So I'll have to start making some phone calls or something just to find out, to get some feedback.
00:59: All right, we are going to be continuing through Jeremiah and we are up to that famous chapter, one of the most twisted chapters of all of Jeremiah.
01:08: Have you ever heard somebody say these words? And I have to do this in a
01:13: Joel Osteen kind of voice. I know the plans I have for you, declares the
01:18: Lord. Plans for a future and a hope. And so that means that the
01:25: Lord's gonna make you rich. So send in your seed offering right now to Pastor Chris Rose, bro.
01:30: Care of Congs of Inger Lutheran Church, Oslo, Minnesota, don't you know? This is how this works, right?
01:36: Well, Jeremiah 29, 11 cannot be used in this manner. This is not the purpose of Jeremiah 29, 11.
01:44: You'll note that they take it out of context. We're gonna put it back into context. And here's where we're gonna make an important distinction.
01:52: And the distinction goes something like this. In the English language, when we say you, we can be referring to a single person, like, hey,
02:05: Stephen Elliott, I see you there, right? Or you can be talking about a group.
02:12: Listen, you, folks here at Congs of Inger here, and you'll note that you is either singular or plural in the
02:20: English language, and it doesn't change. In both Hebrew and in Greek, there is a second person plural form of the word you.
02:31: And when I teach Greek, I always make my Greek students translate the second person plural you in Greek as y 'all.
02:40: Okay? And if you're really getting good at it, and you know you have a little
02:47: Southern roots, you can say all y 'all, right? That's the way my aunts would say it down in Georgia.
02:53: Yeah, all y 'all, okay? Of course, they were also the ones who, whenever I would say something stupid, they would say, oh, bless your heart, right?
03:00: And apparently, that's not a compliment. So, yeah, that's right.
03:09: And usually, oh, bless your heart comes right after hold my beer. It's just, the two go together. It's just a weird thing.
03:15: But all that being said, when we get to the relevant verse, Jeremiah 29, 11, I know the plans
03:21: I have for you. It's y 'all, it's y 'all.
03:27: And the question then comes up, who's the y 'all? Who is this written to?
03:34: So, you'll note that within the scriptures, that there is a phenomenon, and that is that the
03:40: Old Testament has some epistles. But those epistles, those are letters, are often rolled up into a bigger book.
03:50: So, for instance, in the book of Daniel, there is an actual epistle written by Nebuchadnezzar, and if you read the address line, it's actually written to you.
03:59: It's written to all peoples, nations, and languages throughout the earth. So, you're actually addressed.
04:05: There's a similar letter, also, it was King Darius. King Darius also, there's an epistle written by King Darius that's in the book of Daniel.
04:14: Here in Jeremiah 29, 11, there's an epistle, there's a letter, and I hate to say this, but I'm gonna just lay it out there, it's not written to you.
04:25: You're reading somebody else's mail. But the theological implications of it are clear, so we're gonna kinda work our way through this.
04:34: Jeremiah 29, 11, these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders of the exiles, and to the priests, and the prophets, and all the people whom
04:49: Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. Now, if you're part of this group,
04:55: I have only one thing to say about you. Dang, you're old. But that's, you'll note, this wasn't written to you.
05:09: This was written to somebody else. So the all y 'all, the y 'all there, it ain't you.
05:16: And so we need to pay attention. So what has happened up to this point is that you'll note that the exile takes place in three different events.
05:26: Nebuchadnezzar is the one who is responsible for the first and the second group of Jews to leave
05:33: Jerusalem to go into exile in Babylon, and then the third group, that's not led by Nebuchadnezzar, it's one of his generals.
05:40: But that being the case, all said and done, all told, only about 5 ,000 people leave
05:49: Judah alive and go into exile. When they come back over 70 years, they multiply to about 50 ,000.
05:58: But you'll note that only 5 ,000 of them make it out alive, and in the first group, in the first group, there were some false prophets among them, which is quite annoying if you think about it.
06:13: So, and what were these false prophets saying? These false prophets were saying, oh, it's just a matter of time,
06:20: God has informed me that we're gonna, don't even unpack your luggage, we're all going back to Jerusalem very shortly, thus saith the
06:28: Lord. Having a return season. Yeah, so there was going to be a suddenly, and the suddenly was going to result in a restoration, and they were all gonna go back.
06:39: But the prophet Jeremiah, who was a true prophet, God had made it clear, they weren't coming back, they were going to spend 70 years in exile.
06:51: 70, which means if you left when you were 20, you'd be 90 when you came back, and that's if you were still breathing.
06:58: And this is the days before aspirin, Tylenol, antibiotics, and things like this.
07:03: So you get the idea. So this is not written to you. We get to read what's written, and you'll note that just taking one small bit out of context and missing the point that God is trying to give comfort to these exiles, and also exhortation, that if you miss, if you insert yourself into this text, you do it violence.
07:26: So this was after King Jeconiah and the Queen Mother, the eunuchs, the officials of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen and the metal workers had departed from Jerusalem.
07:35: The letter was sent by the hand of Elasa, the son of Shaphan, and Gemariah, the son of Hilkiah, whom
07:41: Zedekiah, the king of Judah, sent to Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. It said, thus says
07:49: Yahweh Sabaoth, God of armies, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom
07:57: I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon, build houses, live in them, plant gardens, eat their produce.
08:09: Now remember, the false prophets are saying, don't even unpack your bags, we're going back. God's saying, uh -uh, build a house, build houses, live in them, plant gardens, eat their produce.
08:21: Take wives, have sons and daughters. Take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage.
08:30: That they may bear sons and daughters. Multiply there and do not decrease.
08:36: And you can see them as they're reading this letter going, well, how long are we going to be here? Didn't I just hear from that prophet over there that we shouldn't even unpack?
08:47: And then he says this, seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to Yahweh on its behalf.
08:58: For in its welfare, you will find your welfare. Say what?
09:06: Pray for Babylon? These pagans, what? And you'll note, during the prayers of the church,
09:15: I always, every week, pray for our governmental leaders. You'll note,
09:21: I've prayed for Biden, I've prayed for Trump. When I was installed as the pastor here, I prayed for Obama, right?
09:28: So you'll note that we pray for our leaders, and they were told to do the same.
09:36: And then this comes back to kind of the major idea. Where there is a parallel is the fact that the exiles here are a type and shadow of the church now.
09:46: We are in exile. Where is Babylon? Take a look around you. There it is, okay? All right?
09:52: Just right outside your window, wherever you live, that's Babylon. And we don't get to go home until our exile is over, and that's when
10:00: Christ returns. That's the new heavens and the new earth. So you can thematically work it out that way. Now, Mike, I see that hand.
10:16: Yeah, so the question has to do with the eunuchs.
10:21: Was that a volunteer position? Man, I hope so. Because that would be a bummer if it wasn't.
10:30: But all of that being said, scripture actually forbids people who have mutilated testicles from participating in the worship of Israel.
10:41: So this was a practice that was brought into Judah and in the royal court that they learned from the pagan nations.
10:51: And so, which by the way, on a similar topic then, when you read in the book of Acts, I think it's chapter eight, the story of the account of the
11:00: Ethiopian eunuch. All right? That is quite, when you understand your
11:05: Torah, that is a very interesting passage due to the fact that this is a fellow who had traveled from Ethiopia.
11:14: He was part of the court of Candace, the queen of the Ethiopians. And Ethiopia has historically had queens, not kings, which is interesting.
11:24: And he was there in Jerusalem. He had purchased a scroll of the book of Isaiah and was reading it, but we know from the
11:36: Mosaic covenant prohibitions, he would not have been able to have been in attendance in the main part of the main courtyard of the temple due to the fact that he was a eunuch.
11:51: So the fact that he was chosen by Christ to be converted by the preaching of Philip and then baptized, and there was no distinction.
12:02: He was considered to be a full -fledged member of Christianity after his baptism without any restraints due to the fact that his testicles were mutilated.
12:12: That's a big thing. Theologically, that's a huge undoing of things.
12:17: And so, that's an interesting question. But you're right, this was a practice that was learned by the pagan world.
12:27: And the idea then was is that you didn't want a queen to be sleeping with a courtier and for that genetic line to be corrupted.
12:40: And so, that was their way of guaranteeing things and quite effective, but good question.
12:47: So, all right, so we continue. Seek the welfare of the city that you have been sent into exile.
12:54: Pray to Yahweh on its behalf for its welfare. You'll find your welfare. For thus says Yahweh of Sabaoth, the
13:03: Lord of armies, the God of Israel. Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are among you deceive you.
13:09: Do not listen to the dreams that they dream. It's a lie that they are prophesying to you in my name.
13:16: I did not send them, declares Yahweh. So, there's your context.
13:21: God is clarifying some things here. And the prophet Jeremiah is the one writing the letter, practically a dictation.
13:31: God says, say these words, then write this and send this. For thus says Yahweh, when 70 years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you.
13:43: I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. And then here's the text.
13:50: For I know the plans I have for y 'all, declares Yahweh. Plans for welfare, not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.
13:59: And so you'll note then that hearing that God is gonna leave them there for 70 years, the immediate emotional response would have been,
14:09: God's abandoning us here in this pagan land. What are we gonna do? And God's all, no, no, no, no, no.
14:15: I have plans for you. I have a plan for you guys, not for evil. And what is
14:21: God doing? This was absolutely a necessary step in order to discredit and show the false prophets to be what they are.
14:33: There was only one prophet who was speaking the truth to them, and that was Jeremiah. And if you haven't noticed, he's not that popular.
14:39: Okay, and the false prophets were scratching itching ears. They were on YouTube, giving prophetic words when they shouldn't have been.
14:47: You know, all of these things being lies that they were spewing. And the idea then is that the 70 years, by about your five or 10, we're going back, it's happening this year.
15:00: You could just see them going, shut up. Okay, and maybe even executing them as the
15:06: Mosaic Covenant commands, right? We're not gonna listen to you. And the one thing that you can say is that when you read both
15:13: Ezra and Nehemiah, fantastic books, by the way, is that you see that in the 70 years of exile, there is a renewed interest in studying
15:24: God's word and rightly understanding it. Ezra was stellar in that regard, absolutely stellar.
15:32: This was a priest who absolutely devoted himself to reading and studying the word of God and rightly understanding it.
15:39: And in Nehemiah chapter eight, Ezra stands up before the whole assembly of Israel, of the exiles who had come back.
15:46: And in a really long church service that began early in the morning and continued to about three in the afternoon, you think our church service is so long.
15:55: Dude, it's like y 'all looking at your watches going, Pastor Roseborough went like 10 minutes over today. Ezra like read the entire
16:04: Torah in like nine hours. In the hearing of the people, and there were other people standing by to help people understand the sense of what it is that they were hearing so that they can understand it.
16:16: And so coming out of the exile, you hear nothing about false prophets, nothing. They have completely died out.
16:24: What God did by putting them in exile, he removed the cancer of the false prophets. He absolutely discredited them beyond belief.
16:32: They all died in exile anyway. Any moment now, we're going to go back.
16:38: Dead. And nobody was listening to him. So the whole point of this letter is to give them a very realistic understanding of what it is that God is doing, what his plans are.
16:53: This is for their good. He's removing the cancer of these false prophets. He's refuting them.
17:00: And they got 70 years to consider their idolatrous choices. And of course, the book that really, two books that really stand out as far as teaching us what did they do while they were in exile, read
17:14: Esther, read Daniel. Those books show the great wonders of God in protecting them and him fulfilling the promises that he has given them through the prophet
17:24: Jeremiah. In fact, in the middle portion of the book of Daniel, you can see that Daniel himself, having read this passage, knew exactly why they were there.
17:37: And he gives a very, very compelling prayer of repentance for himself and his people, having read this section of Jeremiah.
17:45: I know the plans I have for y 'all, that's the exiles, declares Yahweh, plans for your welfare, not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.
17:55: Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and then I will hear you.
18:00: You will seek me and you will find me when you seek me with all of your heart. I will be found by you, declares
18:06: Yahweh, and I will restore your fortunes. I will gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares
18:14: Yahweh, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile. And you'll note that this has
18:20: New Testament overtones too, because again, this is type and shadow. So you'll note that we live in exile right now.
18:28: The world we live in is just, well, we live by faith, not by sight, and it's tenuous at best for us here.
18:37: And then he goes on. Because you have said Yahweh has raised up prophets for us in Babylon, thus says
18:42: Yahweh concerning the king who sits on the throne of David, and concerning all the people who dwell in the city, your kinsmen who did not go out with you into exile, thus says
18:54: Yahweh of armies. Behold, I am sending on them sword and famine and pestilence, and I will make them like vile figs that are so rotten they cannot be eaten.
19:05: I will pursue them with sword, famine, and pestilence, and I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth to be a curse and a terror, a hissing and a reproach among all the nations where I have driven them, because they did not pay attention to my words, declares
19:20: Yahweh, that I persistently sent to you by my servants the prophets, but you would not listen, declares
19:27: Yahweh. So note that phase one, the first exiles that went,
19:33: God is speaking kindness to them. Those who basically somehow survived the ordeal and stayed in Jerusalem, contrary to the words of God to the prophet
19:42: Jeremiah, God has now threatened them, well, with death, and that their fortunes, that their attempt to save their lives will actually result in them losing it.
19:54: That's the point that he's making here. So hear the word of Yahweh, all you exiles whom I sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon.
20:01: Notice, who sent them? God sent them. Well, God doesn't send sickness and calamity and disease and stuff like that.
20:08: Well, he does, you just need to read your Bible, right? Thus says Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel, concerning Ahab, the son of Koliah, and Zedekiah, the son of Messiah, who are prophesying a lie to you in my name.
20:22: Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, and he shall strike them down before your eyes.
20:29: So those two false prophets who are saying, oh, Nebuchadnezzar's never going to conquer, and he's not gonna come back, and all this kind of stuff,
20:36: God has singled out two of these false prophets by name and said, guess what, guys?
20:42: The king who you say is not coming back, he's gonna kill you with his own hand. God is dealing harshly with these false prophets because of his love for his people.
20:56: These people are lying in his name. Because of them, this curse shall be used by all the exiles from Judah to Babylon.
21:03: The Lord will make you like Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire, okay?
21:10: So the exiles are gonna have a very different view on things in the days ahead. Because they have done an outrageous thing in Israel, they have committed adultery with their neighbors, wives.
21:20: They have spoken in my name, lying words that I did not command them. We turn it into prophecy, bingo.
21:27: And I am the one who knows, I am witness, declares Yahweh.
21:34: Now let me check, all right, Naya says, when are you gonna teach us Greek? Okay, so funny that you ask, okay?
21:43: So I will be starting a brand new Greek course in the fall, and it will be open to anybody.
21:51: So if you've ever wanted to study Greek, if you can be young like James, you can be old like Dwayne.
22:02: Thanks, Ashley. But the details will be sent out about that in the fall.
22:13: So I will be teaching a class. Now I will say this, I'm gonna warn everybody ahead of time.
22:18: The lectures themselves will be recordings by Bill Mounts. The class is going to focus,
22:25: I'm gonna focus in on application. So you're going to need to read your Greek grammar, you're gonna need to listen to the lecture by Dr.
22:33: Mounts, and then when you come to class, you're going to have to be prepared to walk through the workbook, and we're gonna be looking at your answers, and we're going to be discussing your translations, and then
22:44: I will be explaining to you why they're bad. Okay, that's generally how this goes.
22:50: We always set the expectations. Yeah, I'm telling you, having taught a few courses of Greek, this is how this goes, until you get about two -thirds of the way through the grammar, and all of a sudden, all the gears come into alignment, and things make sense, and then you guys look and sound like Greek scholars, okay?
23:07: Have you ever heard my Spanish? Have you ever heard my Spanish? So, and it will be open to anybody, and of course,
23:16: I don't charge for teaching this, so if you've ever wanted to take Greek, yeah, this will be your opportunity, so.
23:23: All right, so Naya, that's the answer to your question. All right, let's see here. We were not expecting that. All right.
23:31: All right, let's see here. When are you gonna teach? So I try to remember to cut out that specific part and make it available on the
23:37: Discord flock. Okay, something's going on here with Josh, and part of the, so Jeremiah 29, 14,
23:43: Karen says, can it be a type and shadow of dispersed Jews today? I promise to bring them all back to Israel before the end.
23:50: Karen, that's a great question, and this is where we have to, we have to interpret
23:56: Israel as the New Testament teaches us. So you'll note that in dispensational,
24:02: American dispensational theology, they look at today's genetic
24:07: Jews as if somehow there's some future fulfillment for them, and that's actually not what the
24:13: Bible teaches. So let me explain here. So the question would specifically be about Jeremiah 29, 14.
24:22: Here's where it says, I will restore your fortunes, gather you from all the nations, all the places where I've driven you, declares
24:27: Yahweh, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile. Now, I noted that this has type and shadow overtones as it relates to the church today, but here's an important bit.
24:39: And so if you're fresh out of American evangelicalism or the NAR, one of the things you're going to have to come to grips with is how the
24:49: Bible defines Israel, okay? Especially the New Testament, and it has nothing to do with genetics.
24:57: It has to do with having the same faith as Abraham. So this is a little side topic that we're gonna go down right now.
25:04: So here's where I would start. So Romans 4 is where we'll begin. And here's what it says.
25:11: So what should we say that Abraham, our forefather, discovered in this matter? This is talking about salvation by grace through faith apart from works.
25:19: Let me change to the ESV, because the NIV drives me nuts. So if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God.
25:30: For what does the scripture say? Abraham believed God and it was counted. Logitimae here can also be credited to.
25:37: So have you ever had the IRS directly deposit your tax return into your account?
25:45: That's always a glorious day when that happens, by the way. So that's where the logitimae is.
25:52: Your tax return is credited to your account. It actually shows up and you can spend it. So the idea here,
25:58: Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness. Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift, but as is due.
26:07: So the one who does not work, but believes in him who justifies the ungodly. By the way, that's you.
26:13: Christ only died for ungodly people. If that's not you, you don't need Jesus. So just want to make that clear.
26:20: So the one who does not work, but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness.
26:29: Just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteous apart from works. Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, whose sins are covered.
26:38: Blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin. So is this blessing then only for the circumcised or also for the uncircumcised?
26:50: So back in the day, how do you distinguish Jews from non -Jews? Circumcision is your general sign, right?
26:58: Not so much today. Circumcision is very widely used even among people who don't believe in Jesus or Jews or anything like that.
27:06: For we say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness. How then was it counted to him?
27:12: Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, it was before he was circumcised. He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still circumcised.
27:23: So the purpose was to make him, and watch these words, was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, okay?
27:35: Keep in mind, being a genetic Jew is of no advantage. What is the advantage is having the same faith as Abraham.
27:44: And you'll note then, he's your father because you have the same faith as Abraham.
27:52: And I remember years ago when Mikey first started coming to Kongsvinger, I did a sermon on this where I basically let everybody know at Kongsvinger that this scripture makes it clear that we are all
28:02: Jews. And I said, congratulations, and Mikey shouted out in the middle of the church service, mazel tov, right?
28:09: You know, hav da nuggie la hav da. Anyway, you get the idea, all right?
28:15: So note, we Christians, Abraham is our father. And now this will get more cleared up as we get a little farther into Romans.
28:25: So the purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised so that righteousness would be counted to them as well.
28:31: To make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised, but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father
28:38: Abraham had before he was circumcised. So note, there's a distinction here. So somebody who's genetically
28:44: Jewish, if he's a male, he's circumcised. But if he is following Orthodox Judaism, which is the religion of the
28:51: Pharisees, is he truly a child of Abraham? No, he's not.
28:59: He's not a true child of Abraham because he doesn't have the same faith as Abraham. And if you are a, you know, let's say
29:07: Northern European Gentile and you're not circumcised and you believe in Jesus, are you a child of Abraham?
29:16: Yes, absolutely. So note that the New Testament distinction here, and this is then, if you missed it and you're thinking, well,
29:25: I can't mean that, then there's Romans 9 to help us out here. So I'm speaking the truth in Christ.
29:33: I am not lying. My conscience bears me witness, Paul writes in the Holy Spirit. I have great sorrow and I have unceasing anguish in my heart for I wish that I myself were accursed and were cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh.
29:52: They are Israelites and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, the promises.
30:01: To them belong the patriarchs and from their race according to the flesh is the Christ who is
30:07: God over all, blessed forever, amen. Look at that, Paul says that Jesus is
30:13: God, right? But it's not as though the word of God has failed for not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel.
30:22: Not all are children of Abraham. And listen to what the scripture says here.
30:28: Not all are children of Abraham who are genetically of the same flesh as Abraham, right?
30:39: So not all are his children because they are his offspring, but listen to what he quotes.
30:45: He quotes a passage from Genesis. Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.
30:53: And Isaac was the son of promise, okay? So this means it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise, they are counted as offspring.
31:08: So you'll note that the dispensational theology by somehow kind of hanging on to genetically
31:16: Jewish people as if somehow there's some kind of a greater fulfillment, they miss the fact that the fulfillment is due to the fact that we
31:24: Gentiles by faith are counted as children of Abraham.
31:32: That's the part they miss. And by missing that, you'll note there's a lot of really ridiculous ideas.
31:40: So you look at the Hebrew Roots Movement, or you look at guys like Larry Hook, and I always have to put on like one final syllable for his name,
31:50: Larry Hook, stir, okay? And his wife who always makes the yummy sound, right?
31:58: And all these things that they're doing, it is absolutely based upon a false understanding of the role that people who are genetically
32:08: Jewish but have no faith in Christ play. They don't play a role. We have been grafted into Israel, each and every one of us.
32:18: So note then, Paul continues, for this is what the promise said, about this time next year
32:23: I will return, Sarah will have a son, and not only so, but also when
32:30: Rebecca has conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, though they were not yet born, had done nothing either good or bad in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works, but because of him who calls, she was told the older will serve the younger, as it is written,
32:44: Jacob I love, Esau I hate. So what shall we say then? Is there injustice on God's part? No, by no means, for he says to Moses, I will have mercy on whom
32:53: I will have mercy. I will have compassion on whom I have compassion. So it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who has mercy.
33:01: Scripture says to Pharaoh, for this purpose I have raised you up that I might show my power in you, that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth, so that he has mercy on whom he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.
33:12: And so you'll note the point that Paul goes on to make is that among those who are genetically
33:17: Jewish, God has reserved out a remnant. There's always a remnant of those who are genetically
33:23: Jewish who trust in Christ and believe that he is the Messiah and their savior. In every generation there's a small portion of them, but the larger portion of them actually, actively, hostily speak against and work against the gospel.
33:38: Like I would challenge you, if you don't believe me, just try doing street evangelism on the streets of Jerusalem and watch how long it takes for the
33:45: Hasidic Jews to shut you down, okay? They will shut you down quicker than you can say lickety split, all right?
33:53: So this then comes to then the next portion of this in Romans 11, where Paul asks this question, has
34:01: God rejected his people? By no means. I myself am an Israelite, Paul says. I'm a descendant of Abraham.
34:08: I'm a member of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew, talking about those who believe.
34:15: So do you not know what the scripture says of Elijah, how he appeals to God against Israel? Lord, they have killed your prophets.
34:23: Who killed the prophets? Jews, right? They have demolished your altars. I alone am left, they seek my life.
34:30: But what is God's reply to him? I have kept for myself 7 ,000 men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.
34:37: So too at the present time. There is a remnant, remnant of people who are descended from Abraham who are chosen by grace.
34:48: But if it is by grace, it's no longer on the basis of works. Otherwise, grace would no longer be grace. So what then?
34:53: Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect then obtained it.
34:59: The rest then were hardened. As it is written, God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear, down to this very day.
35:07: David says, let their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution for them. Let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see and bend their backs forever.
35:15: So I ask then, did they stumble in order that they might fall? By no means. Rather, through their trespass now, salvation has come to the
35:22: Gentiles. And if you're not sure what he means by this, by their trespass, salvation has come to the Gentiles, I would remind you of that parable where Jesus sends out, where a king sends out invitations to a wedding feast to the
35:35: A -list people, right? Come, everything's ready, the feast is prepared, come.
35:41: And one guy's all, ah, you know, I just bought some ox and I need to go check them out. I just got married and the wife and I are still on the honeymoon, yeah, you can't make it.
35:51: So all the A -listers say no and so he says, fine, invite everybody else, right? And that's talking about the
35:58: Jews and the Gentiles, right? Now if their trespass means riches for the world and if their failure means riches for the
36:05: Gentiles, how much more would their inclusion mean? Now I'm speaking to you Gentiles inasmuch as I am the apostle to the
36:11: Gentiles and I'm magnifying my ministry in order that somehow to make my fellow Jews jealous and thus save some of them.
36:22: For if the rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what would their acceptance mean but life from the dead?
36:27: So if the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, so is the whole lump and if the root is holy, so are the branches. Now some of the branches then were broken off.
36:37: So note what he's saying here. People who are genetically Jewish, these are branches within Israel and by the way,
36:43: Jesus is the vine, we're the branches, you got it? Branches were broken off and although you were a wild olive shoot, you were grafted in among the others and you now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree.
36:59: So the church doesn't replace Israel. Let's just kind of get that out there.
37:04: One of the big charges. Pastor Roseborough teaches replacement theology. No, I don't, okay?
37:12: What I do preach is grafted in theology, okay? Every branch that doesn't bear fruit is broken off and thrown into the fire and that person's place then is taken by a
37:25: Gentile. That's the picture here. So we have been grafted into Israel and Mazel Tov, congratulations, you're now part of Israel and I still haven't figured out,
37:39: I don't know if they're gonna use a sorting hat or something like that, which tribe I'm a part of. I don't know.
37:45: Is Gryffindor a tribe? Anyway. Probably not. But you get the idea.
37:51: So I don't know if I'm part of Benjamin or Judah or Naphtali, I legitimately don't know and neither do you.
37:57: I think we'll figure that out on the last day. But we've been grafted into Israel, okay?
38:03: And we now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree. So don't be arrogant towards the branches. If you are, remember, it's not you who supports the root but the root that supports you.
38:13: Then you will say, well, branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in. That's true. They were broken off because of their unbelief and you stand fast then through faith.
38:23: So do not become proud but fear. For if God did not spare natural branches, neither will he spare you.
38:31: Note the kindness and the severity of God. Severity towards those who have fallen but kindness to you provided that you continue in his kindness, otherwise you too will be cut off.
38:41: And how do we continue in God's kindness? That's the gospel, right? Yes, Mike.
38:53: Uh huh. Okay, so here's the question.
39:04: He's confused. In the new Jerusalem, isn't Jesus returning for Christians? Yes, but you've been made a
39:10: Jew. You've been grafted into Israel. Christ, so here's the thing.
39:17: The term Israel and Christianity are synonymous according to the
39:23: New Testament, okay? Christians are
39:28: Israel. They've been grafted in. And so you'll note that David, he believed in the same
39:34: Messiah that we believe in. He was just still coming, right? So that's kind of the idea then.
39:42: Israel, all of Israel is saved. You've been grafted into Israel. So when
39:48: Christ comes back and on the day of the resurrection are only people who were
39:53: Christians raised from the dead for eternal life? No.
40:00: Was Abraham a Christian? Was David a Christian? Was Daniel a
40:06: Christian? Right, they didn't know the name of the
40:15: Messiah. They knew the prophecies regarding him, but those prophecies were yet to be fulfilled in the future.
40:27: That's correct. Correct, so Jews today who are
40:34: Hasidic, who are Orthodox, or who are Karaite, they all reject
40:40: Jesus as the Messiah. They do not trust in him for the forgiveness of their sins. And they are, according to this passage, not true children of Abraham because to be a true child of Abraham you have to have the same faith as Abraham.
40:54: Does that make sense? Yeah? So that's kind of the long answer there.
41:00: But so Karen, you asked a great question. So hopefully you can kind of see this.
41:06: And let me show you then where the type and shadow work exists for we
41:12: Christians who are grafted into Israel by faith. Watch what
41:17: Peter says in the opening of 1 Peter. Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who are elect, exiles of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, Bithynia, and according to the foreknowledge of God the
41:32: Father in the sanctification of the spirit for obedience to Jesus Christ and for the sprinkling with blood. So Peter's addressing
41:38: Christians as elect exiles. So the exiles of the
41:45: Old Testament, in the time of Jeremiah and Daniel and Esther, that's a type and shadow of the church.
41:52: This is the life that we're living in, our chapter, if you would. We are in exile.
41:58: We are in Babylon, which is a big theme of the book of Revelation. And it's out there right now, and you'll note the pagan world is raging against Christians.
42:07: Have you noticed the response of the pagan world against Christians, the narrative that they're spinning because of the toppling of Roe v.
42:15: Wade? We apparently are imposing a theocracy on them, and they are going to militantly oppose being turned into the handmaid's tale.
42:28: This is how it's... Christofascist. Yeah, so we're Christofascist. Christian Taliban.
42:34: Yeah, so we better get all of our women wearing burkas and stuff. But anyway, that's the narrative that's being spun.
42:42: And notice how violently people are reacting against Christianity. That's their focus target with the fall of Roe v.
42:51: Wade. And if you read the book of Daniel, you sit there and go, I recognize these themes.
42:56: You should, because we are elect exiles here now. Have you been to the
43:01: New Jerusalem? Have you been to Jerusalem yet? Isn't Christ going to lead us exiles into the
43:06: New Jerusalem? Right, and we finally get to go home. I was born in exile.
43:12: You were born in exile. We haven't seen Jerusalem. We have no memory of her streets or anything like this.
43:20: I'm not talking about the one presently. I'm talking about the one coming. So, and so you'll note then, we have been put into Israel.
43:27: We are part of Israel. And that's the way the church talks about it. And this is the way scriptures make it clear. So, okay.
43:35: All right, how are we doing on time? Not too bad. I'm gonna keep going for just a little bit more. Let's see here.
43:42: All right. What about a course in apologetics? I can teach you how to apologize. Just say you're sorry.
43:48: Sorry. Sorry, Marlena. Couldn't help it.
43:55: Yeah, that's in the future. That's in the future. A kind of formal course on Christian apologetics.
44:00: I'm actually waiting for my mentors to die because I would take apologetics into a different direction.
44:09: And I don't want to bring their heads down and shame to the grave.
44:15: So, I've become what's called a presuppositionalist in my approach to apologetics, which means
44:20: I believe that evidence have to be kept in check and only used sparingly. So, but that's a whole other topic.
44:28: So, after Dr. Rosenblatt dies, then we'll talk. So, I'll be teaching at that point.
44:34: All right. Let's see here. Jeremiah, coming back to Jeremiah 29. All right.
44:44: Next fellow. So, God has, by the way, having read that epistle, do any of you think that that's, that God is promising you prosperity and health and wealth and stuff like that in this lifetime after reading 29 and 11?
44:55: No. To put it back in its context, all those who twist that passage look really quite foolish.
45:01: Now, here's the fate of one of the false prophets, Shemaiah, okay?
45:08: Another one of these guys called out by name by the real prophet, Jeremiah, and God is the one calling him out.
45:15: To Shemaiah of Nehalam, you shall say, thus says
45:21: Yahweh of Arme, is the God of Israel, you have sent letters in your name to all the people who are in Jerusalem and to Zephaniah, the son of Maasaiah, the priest, and to all the priests saying,
45:35: Yahweh has made you priest instead of Jehoiada the priest to have charge in the house of Yahweh over every madman who prophesies.
45:43: By the way, what does Yahweh think about all these false prophets? He says that they're madmen.
45:50: I mean, that's the only word I can describe when it comes to Chuck Pierce and the people that we expose on Prophecy Bingo.
45:59: These people are out of their minds. And that's exactly what God says about them. They're madmen who prophesy to put him in the stocks and neck irons.
46:07: Now, why have you not rebuked Jeremiah of Anathoth who has prophesied to you? For he has sent to us in Babylon saying, your exile will be long.
46:15: Build houses and live in them and plant gardens and eat their produce. So God's highlighting the contradiction between what
46:21: Jeremiah is rightly prophesying and what this false prophet Shammaiah is prophesying. Zephaniah, the priest, read this letter in the hearing of Jeremiah the prophet.
46:31: And then the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah. Send to all the exiles saying, thus says Yahweh concerning Shammaiah of Nehalem.
46:38: Because Shammaiah has prophesied to you when I did not send him and has made you trust in a lie.
46:45: Therefore, thus says Yahweh, behold, I will punish Shammaiah, the son of Nehalem and his descendants.
46:50: He shall not have anyone living among this people and he shall not see the good that I will do to my people, declares
46:56: Yahweh, for he has spoken rebellion against Yahweh. So what does
47:03: God think of the madmen who set up YouTube prophecy channels and speak nonsense?
47:10: God interprets their behavior and their words as rebellion against him and that they are madmen.
47:17: And Shammaiah, he's not only gonna perish, he's gonna perish childless and his clan, his line will be cut off from all of Israel.
47:26: So no, God takes these things seriously, which over and again, I'm shocked when
47:31: I put together a prophecy bingo segment, I'm shocked at how none of these so -called prophets today have any fear of God whatsoever.
47:41: If they had just read the prophet Jeremiah, they would hold their tongue and not dare to speak this nonsense, but they haven't.
47:50: They really are deluded into thinking that they're hearing from God when they're not and they're causing people to trust in lies and they are indeed madmen whom
48:00: God will punish quite severely if they do not repent. All right, all of that being said,
48:08: I would note this last bit and that is that I just spent a few days in Ohio near Cleveland recording for a few days for the upcoming
48:24: American Gospel docuseries. There are two installments of the American Gospel out,
48:29: American Gospel 1 and 2, and I'm in both of those. And 3 is coming out in the fall and it's gonna be a docuseries rather than just a two and a half hour long documentary.
48:41: And one of the fellows that we got the privilege of meeting was a fellow by the name of Jesse Westwood. Jesse Westwood is a graduate of the
48:50: Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry. And we lovingly refer to it as Hogwarts.
48:57: They don't really teach prophecy, they teach witchcraft there. And what's interesting is as a graduate of that place, he graduated and went to work as a worship leader at an
49:09: NAR congregation and it was the exposure to the American Gospel documentary that kind of began to undo him.
49:17: And what I would point out here is that this is a fellow who when
49:22: I sat down with him, he readily confesses he was a false prophet.
49:28: He would prophesy and give words of knowledge and do all this nonsense.
49:34: And he has been brought to true repentance and faith in Christ and he has a beautiful faith.
49:40: And it was just an absolute pleasure to get to know him, to interview him and to be filmed for the upcoming docuseries.
49:47: In fact, Brandon Kimber just put out teaser trailer number two and that has footage from what we just filmed a couple of days ago and it's so spectacular.
50:00: But this is a guy who has a beautiful penitent faith. And so I would note that here is that anybody who is legitimately caught up in the
50:10: NAR or the charismatic movement and is guilty of blaspheming God's name and giving false prophecies, there is hope and there is forgiveness and mercy for you in Christ.
50:22: And you need not perish eternally for these sins but you can be readily forgiven. And I think
50:28: Jesse Westwood stands out as a stellar example of a man who was a rank apostate, blasphemer of the true
50:36: God and now speaks the truth and has not only repented but tells his story in the hopes that others would repent as well.
50:44: So, all right, this is where we're gonna end off and Lord willing, we will see you next time. Peace.