Andrew Bramhill - Class 2: The Days of Jehoiakim

Automatically transcribed. Accuracy is good but not perfect, and words are sometimes wrong. Trust the audio over the text.

1. 0:00

   Thank you. Good morning, brothers and sisters. We're continuing our little story of Jeremiah this morning. And you remember, we're just trying to piece our way through his life, and we're trying to look at the different sections of Scripture which inform us about what's going on, just trying to build a picture of what was happening in this man's life.

2. 0:21

   We got to the end yesterday where the book of the law, the covenant, had been discovered. Josiah had gathered everybody together. There had been a great reading. Jeremiah was commissioned to go and speak throughout the cities of Judah and, indeed, in the streets of Jerusalem. And you remember, we finished, I think, in chapter 5 where we just saw that the response of the people was so disappointing.

3. 0:45

   He got to the people on the streets, and they wouldn't listen, and he said, Ah, that's because they're poor and they're lowly people. I'll speak to the great men. It will be better. And the response, of course, was just as disappointing. Come in here to chapter 8, please, would you? Because we get a sense of how things deteriorated.

4. 1:06

   We tried to capture something of the excitement in Josiah's day where that law is found, and men are gathered, and the word of God is going to be carried forward. In chapter 8, at verse 4, we read this. Moreover, thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord, Shall they fall and not arise?

5. 1:29

   Shall he turn away and not return? Why then is this people of Jerusalem slidden back by a perpetual backsliding? They hold fast deceit. They refuse to return. I hearkened and heard, but they spake not aright. No man repented him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? Everyone turned to his course. And you get this idea that the word's gone out, they've heard it, but they've just not listened.

6. 1:57

   Or if they listen, they listen for a while, and then they return to the kind of life that they had before. They turned again to their course. And verse 8 might just give us a little clue as to why this was happening. Verse 8 says, How do ye say, We are wise, and the law of the Lord is with us?

7. 2:19

   But behold, lo, certainly in vain he made it. The pen of the scribes is in vain. The King James Version just doesn't quite get it there for us. As the revised version says, But behold, the false pen of the scribes hath wrought falsely. And you can pick that up in other translations and just get the idea here that what was happening now is that this law has been found, and these scribes, just as we know throughout Jewish history, they would say, Ah, let me just expand on that for you.

8. 2:53

   Let me just write down what that means. Let me just try and elaborate on what God is trying to say here. And they started to write things, and they started to expand things, and they started to explain things and build on the law of God. And of course they were doing it falsely.

9. 3:07

   They were turning the law of truth, the word of truth, into something that it was not. They were changing things. And you can see how over time this would happen. It was in Josiah's 18th year that the law was found. And here we are. You know, it's going to reign for a further 13 years.

10. 3:25

    And that 13-year period was plenty of time for scribes to say, Ah, we'll just take control here. We'll just elaborate. We'll just put a little gloss on this for you. And plenty of time for the people to lose their enthusiasm. You will know what it's like when you return to work after a week at Manitoulin.

11. 3:44

    All that excitement and enthusiasm you feel, it seems, by Monday lunchtime almost. It's lost as you return back to your ordinary lifestyle. Well, over a 13-year period, it seemed that these people lost their enthusiasm for the word of God, and it was having no impact. So that's where we leave Jeremiah, where we left Jeremiah yesterday.

12. 4:08

    In the days of Josiah, this word had been found. He had done all he could to communicate it, but not successfully. We alluded yesterday to a temple address. I think I said that there were three of them. And we considered the first of these yesterday in chapter 7. So we won't go to it particularly.

13. 4:34

    But in chapter 7, you will remember, this was at the time when Josiah was restoring the temple, and Jeremiah would go and stand in the gate of the Lord's house and would speak about it. And his message was, don't put your trust in these bricks that are being established behind me. This isn't going to happen.

14. 4:53

    This isn't going to be a place that you can trust in unless you change your ways. And you remember how the men didn't respond, partly because the Scythian horde that swept down through Canaan at the time didn't affect them. So they thought, well, that's it. That's finished. And also partly because they'd got their hopes a little bit on the time of Isaiah.

15. 5:21

    You remember when he was prophesying, he was saying to Hezekiah, don't worry, the Assyrians will come, they'll camp at the door, but this city will not be taken. And we have an attraction to that kind of message from the Lord, don't we? And the people of their day did. They would think that they were going to be all right.

16. 5:40

    They didn't need to worry. Just as in Hezekiah's day where all that great host came, and the angel of the Lord intervened, and they awoke the following day, and they were all dead men. So too, perhaps, people thought that this would be the case here. Come with me into chapter 11, please, where we get the second temple address that Jeremiah gives.

17. 6:08

    And I'll read from verse 14. Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up a cry or prayer for them, for I will not hear them in the time that they cry unto me for their trouble. For what hath my beloved to do in mine house, seeing she hath wrought lewdness with many, and the holy flesh is passed from thee?

18. 6:35

    When thou doest evil, then thou rejoicest. The Lord called thy name a green olive tree, fair and goodly fruit. With the noise of a great tumult, he has kindled fire upon it, and the branches of it are broken. For the Lord of hosts that planted thee hath pronounced evil against thee, for the evil of the house of Israel and of the house of Judah, which they have done against themselves, to provoke me to anger in offering incense unto Baal.

19. 7:06

    So here is the same kind of message that we're expecting Jeremiah to be giving. We see it time and time again. This is possibly only part of a temple address that Jeremiah is giving, and it's coming at a time when Josiah's reign is ending. The religion that was available and being followed at the time was a religion of outward show.

20. 7:29

    It was done to be seen of men and had no change on men's heart. And here is the prophet saying it's like a green olive tree, but this green olive tree is going to be burned and destroyed. Keep a bookmark in chapter 11, but come back with me to Psalm 52, please, if you would.

21. 7:54

    Here is a psalm about the righteous being under threat, and the Lord intervening to remove the wicked and to establish the righteous as a green olive tree. You can read it. This is a psalm of David, and interestingly, it's at the time of Doeg the Edomite, according to the heading. Verse 8, But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God.

22. 8:21

    I trust in the mercy of God forever and ever. I will praise thee forever because thou hast done it, and I will wait on thy name, for it is good before thy saints. So here are the sentiments and the words of David, who feels that having trusted in the Almighty, having put his trust in the mercy of God, he has been blessed because the Almighty has responded.

23. 8:46

    This is because he was a man after God's own hearts. The people of Jeremiah's time, of course, were completely different. They were trusting in outward things. They were trusting in other nations. They were trusting in their own strength. They had nothing to do with the true God of heaven. And as a consequence, the green olive tree, as they are described by Jeremiah, isn't going to be planted and certain and sure and well-watered like this particular olive tree in Psalm 52.

24. 9:14

    It's going to be plucked up and burnt and destroyed. And that was the message that Jeremiah was giving. It would be lovely to think, wouldn't it, that he maybe chose this particular psalm because it might have been sung by the temple choirs behind him as he was giving this particular address. That's speculation, of course.

25. 9:34

    I've got no evidence for that. So this is Jeremiah's message that he is giving to the people. Before we get to the third temple address, which we've just had read for us in chapter 26, let's just reflect a little bit on the background that's going on here. Because as we get to the end of the reign of Josiah and we move into the days of Jehoiakim, dramatic changes are occurring.

26. 10:00

    In 612 BC, Babylon took Nineveh. It besieged Nineveh and it took it. And this time there was no Scythian horde sweeping through to distract the invaders. So Assyria is now being defeated. Babylon in the north are in the ascendancy. And Egypt is going to take this as a moment to move in on Assyrian territory.

27. 10:28

    And Egypt is going to move north to try and capture some of the territory that Assyria would have to give up. And of course, it's as Egypt moves north that Josiah confronts him at Megiddo. Egypt was going all the way up to the territories of Assyria. And Josiah intervenes. Come with me to 2 Chronicles 35, please.

28. 10:52

    Let's just look at the history here. 2 Chronicles 35, we have this account of Pharaoh Necho going north and his fight with Josiah. In verse 20, chapter 35. After all this, when Josiah had prepared the temple, Necho, king of Egypt, came up to fight against Carchemish by Euphrates. And Josiah went out against him.

29. 11:25

    But he sent ambassadors to him, saying, What have I to do with thee, thou king of Judah? I come not against thee this day, but against the house wherewith I have war. For God commanded me to make haste. Forbear thee from meddling with God, who is with me, that he destroy thee not.

30. 11:44

    And Josiah didn't listen to this message. He's still going to intervene and interfere, indeed, with this particular activity. And as a consequence, Josiah is killed. And you know it well. But verse 25 has got the lamentation of Jeremiah for this king. And we ought to just appreciate how Jeremiah is going to feel at this point.

31. 12:10

    Up to this particular stage, the first early years of his ministry, Josiah has been on the throne. Josiah, a man who was moved by God's word. But Josiah, a king who wanted to reform and wanted to do the right things. He was struggling to get the nation to do the same. But he was a man who was moved by God's word.

32. 12:31

    So when he goes, verse 25, Jeremiah lamented for Josiah. And all the singing men and the singing women spake of Josiah in their lamentations to this day. And made them an ordinance in Israel. And behold, they are written in the lamentations. That's not been done for any other king. And Jeremiah here is making these ordinances and lamentations for this particular king now who has gone.

33. 12:58

    Some wonder whether lamentations for verse 20, you could have a look at that later, might be such a lamentation. And of course they lament King Josiah because of his good deeds. The rest of his act, verse 25, And his goodness according to that which was written in the law of the Lord. That's how they describe him.

34. 13:21

    And the word goodness there, which is translated as good deeds or loving kindness elsewhere, is usually reserved for the work of the Almighty. It's not used of men very often. And here it's ascribed to this king Josiah as if he has embraced the work of God and he has wanted to do these things in order that he could show God's ways to these people.

35. 13:48

    Come back with me to Jeremiah 22 then, please, where we read of this little lamentation of Jeremiah for the loss of this great king. Jeremiah 22.

36. 14:09

    This is actually in a conversation he's having about Jehoiakim, but he refers to Jehoiakim's father. Verse 15. Shalt thou reign because thou closest thyself in cedar? That's to Jehoiakim. Did not thy father, Josiah, eat and drink and do judgment and justice? And then it was well with him. He judged the cause of the poor and needy.

37. 14:38

    Then it was well with him. Was not this to know me, saith the Lord? Now we read that and it looks very straightforward, doesn't it? This is what Josiah did. Judging the cause of the poor and the needy. Then it was well with him. But we miss that last little phrase, which was, was not this to know me?

38. 14:59

    And just reflect on that, brothers and sisters. And if ever you want to do a little bit of research, just follow that principle through Scripture. Finding men and women and teachings where we are instructed to do the will of God in order that we may get to know him. It's nice to do good things to other people.

39. 15:21

    It's nice to be a Christ-like person to other people. But it's only when we start to do this do we get to know the Lord Jesus Christ and his Heavenly Father. And that was the motive. He was doing it. Josiah was doing these things in order that he could get to know his God better.

40. 15:42

    And that's how we will make progress. When the Lord Jesus Christ tells us to love our enemies, well, you can get your concordances out. You can study that phrase and you can follow all the cross-references and you can look at it in all different languages and all different translations. But until you begin to put that into practice, to love your enemy, then you'll never really know what it means.

41. 16:07

    And we do the commandments of the Lord Jesus Christ because we want to know him and his Father. And that's how Josiah was motivated. And we do well to remember that. So here is Jeremiah lamenting this particular passing of this king. And after this, Jehoahaz very briefly is going to reign just for three months.

42. 16:35

    He wasn't the eldest son of Josiah. So he was removed by Necho. You can read of that in 2 Chronicles 36. We're not going there. But Jeremiah in this same chapter has a comment on it actually in verse 10. Weep not for the dead, neither bemoan him, but weep sore for him that goeth away.

43. 16:56

    And that was Jehoahaz who was only on the throne for three months. For he shall return no more, nor see his native country. For thus saith the Lord, touching Shalom, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, which reigned instead of Josiah his father, which went forth out of his place. He shall not return thither anymore, but he shall die in the place whither they have led him captive.

44. 17:17

    He shall see this land no more. So Jeremiah knows that this very brief reign of Jehoahaz, who we don't need to concentrate on in these classes, he just appears on the scene and is taken away by Necho. And the eldest son, Jehoiakim, is put on the throne. And you can read from verse 13 then onwards about this man.

45. 17:44

    And the introduction to him is not good. He is an individual who will satisfy himself, who will accumulate wealth, who will do all he can to pleasure and to seek his own desires. He will do nothing to serve the almighty God. And when he comes to the throne, Jeremiah's life is suddenly going to become very different.

46. 18:13

    Up to this stage, he's been operating under the period of a king who loved the word of God and wanted to make change. Now Jeremiah is speaking his message in the time of a king who is decidedly ungodly. And this is where we get the third temple address. So perhaps you just go to chapter 26 please, which we've already considered briefly together.

47. 18:37

    And it's not very different to the first two temple addresses. It's all about change and repentance and becoming different people. But now it's in a very different world. So verse 1, in the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, came this word from the Lord. So Jeremiah now has to really steel himself to deliver this because this is not going to be well received.

48. 19:11

    And the Lord tells him in verse 2, to stand in the court of the Lord's house, speak unto all the cities of Judah which come to worship in the Lord's house, all the words that I command thee. Verse 3, If so be they will hearken and turn every man from his evil way that I may repent me of the evil which I purpose to do unto them.

49. 19:32

    So here is the Lord who still wants to save. Here is the Lord who is outlining a plan of destruction, but he still wants to save his people. And he's sending his prophet, not just because he wants to make it difficult for Jeremiah, not just because he wants to make life uncomfortable for this godly individual, but because he wants to save his people.

50. 19:55

    There's still time, there's still chance for them to turn and change their ways. But if not, if they will not, then verse 6, I will make this house like Shiloh. Remember the destruction we talked about yesterday and the priesthood of Eli coming to an end? Well, that's what will happen to this nation.

51. 20:17

    It will come to an end. So he delivers this message with some courage. And it might have been done at a feast day. Verse 2 indicates that there were plenty there. All the cities of Judah had come up to worship. So maybe on some public feast day, I don't know which one, Jeremiah stands in the temple court amidst all these crowds and delivers this message.

52. 20:43

    And of course, it's not well received. Verse 7 tells us that priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the Lord. Now it came to pass when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking, all that the Lord had commanded him to speak unto the people, that the priests and the prophets and all the people took him, saying, thou shalt surely die.

53. 21:07

    We've not seen this before. Jeremiah has been able to witness, albeit an unpalatable message, but he's not suffered any abuse at all. And now he delivers his message. And it's different in the days of Jehoiachin. And the crowds, the priests, the people, the prophets, they all take him and they say, we're going to kill you for this.

54. 21:29

    So Jeremiah's life is really very different, isn't it? Now on this occasion, in verse 10, we've read on this far, the princes of Judah, and there must have been some individuals who were godly, or at least these individuals, perhaps still under the influence of Josiah. These princes, they say, no, no, no, we're not going to kill him.

55. 21:54

    We're going to have a proper hearing to see what's gone on and see whether or not he is worthy of death. So the princes intervened, and then there's going to be some kind of ordered discussion about Jeremiah and what he's saying. So in verse 10, these princes come and a proper hearing is set out.

56. 22:16

    Verse 11, the priests and the prophets lay the charges. So this man is worthy to die. Why? Because he has prophesied against this city as you have heard. So the charges are now laid out before all the people and before all the princes. And Jeremiah is able to give his own defense from verses 12 to about 15.

57. 22:43

    More a defiance than a defense, actually. He's absolutely determined to deliver this message. And he's not going to change anything just because he's placed under arrest and just because he's under threat of death. That's wonderful, isn't it? He's going to say the same things. So verse 13, there it is. Therefore now amend your ways and your doings and obey the voice of the Lord.

58. 23:05

    That's the message he's got. So this is a man of great courage as he delivers this message to the people. And at this stage, the princes are on his side. They're listening to this. They think it's unreasonable that men want to kill him. So they look back in their laws of precedence and they find an example of the past where a prophet had said something which the king didn't particularly like, but the king listened and changed.

59. 23:40

    And they quote the example of Micah in verse 18 in the days of Hezekiah. So, verse 18, Micah the Morishite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah, king of Judah, and spake to all the people of Judah, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Zion shall be plowed like a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps.

60. 24:01

    Verse 19, Did Hezekiah, king of Judah, and all Judah, put him at all to death? Did he not fear for the Lord and besought the Lord and the Lord repented him of the evil? So the princes here are building a legal case. They're saying, well, do you remember that occasion where Micah spoke out and said what was going to happen?

61. 24:22

    And Hezekiah listened, repented, changed, and as a consequence, Jerusalem was saved. So they're presenting a precedent, case law, from the past where there's evidence here that Jeremiah ought not to be killed. The priests, however, who are bent on destroying Jeremiah, they have their own precedent. Verse 20, There was also a man that prophesied in the name of the Lord, Uriah, Uriah, the son of Shemaiah of Kiriath-Jerim, who prophesied against this city and against this land according to all the words of Jeremiah.

62. 25:00

    And when Jehoiakim, the king, and all his mighty men and all the princes heard his words, the king sought to put him to death. And if you read on, you'll find that Uriah fled to Egypt when he was under threat of death, and Jehoiakim sent to Egypt and brought him back and had him killed.

63. 25:17

    So the priests have got their own precedent here, their own example. Why don't we do like was done to this particular prophet, say, the priests. So two sides, two arguments, both got precedents, but of course this is in the reign of Jehoiakim. And it's the king Jehoiakim here who had called out of Egypt and slain this prophet for the words that he had spoken.

64. 25:45

    So that's carrying weight in this debate now that's going on. And as a consequence, Jeremiah is under great danger. And in fact, the crowd would probably have taken him and killed him there and then, verse 24, had it not been for the hand of Ahicham, the son of Shaphan, that they should not give him into the hand of the people to put him to death.

65. 26:09

    So someone intervenes here, Ahicham, and takes Jeremiah and gets him out of the way so that he is saved from death. So chapter 26 is painting for us a very different climate in which Jeremiah is having to operate and his life hangs in the balance and he's rescued by the hand of Ahicham under the Lord's divine guidance, no doubt.

66. 26:35

    So Jeremiah is safe for now, but it's far better that he's out of Jerusalem. He ought to get out of the way because people are looking to kill him. So I suggest, as I'm trying to piece together this little life of Jeremiah, having had a reasonably comfortable period where he could preach under Josiah's time, things have changed and his first temple address that he gives in the days of Jehoiakim is a very different world and he now has to leave Jerusalem and get out of the way.

67. 27:04

    And I just wonder whether these three signs that we know quite well are taking place initially whilst Jeremiah is out of Jerusalem. So let's have a look at chapter 13, shall we?

68. 27:24

    Beyond Jerusalem and outside Judea, Babylon is continuing to expand. Egypt is still strong in the south. The battle of Carchemish takes place in 605 BC and that was won by Nebuchadnezzar who was a general at the time but he was quickly to become king. And Jehoiakim is quickly going to become a vassal state of Babylon rather than a vassal state of Egypt.

69. 27:58

    So Jeremiah has fled north, I suggest, and we read of him taking this linen girdle in 13 verse 1 and you'll remember how he has to wear it and then he's told to bury it in the banks of the Euphrates and he leaves it there for a while and then he's told by the Lord after many days to go and recover it and of course it's good for nothing.

70. 28:24

    The thing has rotted away and it's a disappointing garment which cannot be used. And of course there's a number of things going on here. The Lord is saying Israel were like this to me. I held them close. They were as close as one could be to me. I wanted them to be something special and now they're spoiled and soiled and rotten and good for nothing.

71. 28:49

    That's how this people of Judah were in his eyes. God wanted them to be close and verse 11 just gives us a little insight into his thinking. For as for the girdle cleaveth to the loins of a man so have I caused to cleave unto me the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah that they might be unto me for a people and for a name and for a praise and for a glory.

72. 29:19

    Isn't that just so lovely that the Almighty is wanting that with his people. I've called you because I want you to be these things but they would not. And he's calling you and me brothers and sisters and wanting that same kind of relationship with you and me. Let's make sure that we're embracing that so that we can be in this lovely relationship with the Almighty and not find ourselves resisting as the people of Israel do.

73. 29:49

    So there's a little sense of the Almighty's disappointment here. And there's also probably a little message here for Jeremiah who's fled north possibly all the way up to Euphrates. He might even at this point be in contact with others who have been taken into captivity. He might be in contact with them. But it was when this girdle was at a distance and planted in the Euphrates riverbank that it becomes dirty and soiled and good for nothing.

74. 30:15

    And maybe the Lord is saying to Jeremiah you are no good at a distance. Your message might be unpalatable. Your message might not be good but I want you back in Jerusalem where you can witness to these people. There's no good running away here. So Jeremiah goes back to Jerusalem. And in verse 12 we read about his second sign and this time it's a sign directly for the people.

75. 30:41

    And you get a sense here how impatient the people are with the word of God. Verse 12 Therefore thou shalt speak unto them this word thus saith the Lord God of Israel every bottle shall be filled with wine and they shall say unto them do we not certainly know that every bottle shall be filled with wine?

76. 31:01

    Then shalt thou say unto them thus saith the Lord God behold I will fill all the inhabitants of this land even the kings that sit upon David's throne and the priests and all the prophets and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with drunkenness and then destruction. But you'll notice the way that little verse is set out there in verse 12 the people just won't let him finish.

77. 31:23

    Jeremiah begins every bottle will be filled with wine and then they won't let him finish they just intervene and say tell us something new bottles are filled with wine all the time we're not going to listen to any more they wouldn't listen to the message they're interrupting him even in that first sentence such is their impatience in listening to the word of God.

78. 31:46

    Come with me then to chapter 18 and 19 where we get the sign of the potter and the clay and this of course is a lovely theme isn't it that we find through scriptures and I'm not going to elaborate on it here in this class except to point out in 18 and verse 4 as far as I can see this is the only occasion where the Lord is just offering some willingness to take the pots take the clay and reform it and reshape it I will still work with you verse 4 of chapter 18 the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter so he made it again another vessel has seemed good to the potter to make it we don't get that in Isaiah we don't get that in Romans where this theme also comes out but here is God saying I will take this ball of clay I will try again I will reform it and reshape it so that it can be something else but the real sign is coming in chapter 19 isn't it where this earthen pot is taken and we just ought to look where this is taking place because verse 2 of chapter 19 tells us that this is happening in the valley of the son of Hinnom now this is where children were sacrificed in the time of Manasseh was anything ever so horrid done in the nation of Israel and the nation of Judah was anything so wicked ever done the Lord never even thought of that so he says and yet here in this place child sacrifice had occurred

79. 33:35

    and there's just a hint here that it might have restarted in the days of Jehoiakim so low was this king so despicable was this man verse 4 for example because they have forsaken me and have estranged this place and burned incense in it unto other gods which neither they nor their fathers have known nor the kings of Judah and have filled this place with the blood of innocence so maybe Jeremiah has gone to this place and he's prophesying and preaching against them because they have resumed this despicable sacrifice of children and listen to this prophecy he says because at the end of verse 3 this is a prophecy that will make his ears tingle and we mentioned that didn't we three times we get that in scripture so there's a strong prophecy that then follows that if the people do not change I will come and I will destroy this city of Jerusalem verse 9 and I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters and they shall eat everyone the flesh of his friend in the siege and straightness where with their enemies and they shall seek their lives and they that seek their lives shall straighten them and then at that point Jeremiah take this earthen pot and smash it as a real visual aid to the smashing of Jerusalem that would have a very dramatic effect you can imagine him speaking this prophecy in a very dramatic way over the valley of Hinnom and then smashing the pot and saying that's what's going to happen to Jerusalem and of course he has to go and

80. 35:23

    repeat this in Jerusalem so verse 14 he goes with another pot and he goes and says the same kind of prophecy in just the same way smashing the pot here in the middle of Jerusalem a very dramatic reintroduction back to the scene in Jerusalem where he's prophesying and explaining what will come on this place and of course the people don't like it and as we get into chapter 20 we're introduced to Pasha the son of Imah the priest who is going to take Jeremiah and he's going to beat him and he's going to place him in the stocks and you probably know that word for stocks here has another meaning which is to turn over we can't be sure whether that means it was some kind of torture that Jeremiah was going through or whether he was placed in stocks until his mind was turned in other words this would be a way of persuading him to change his mind and his message whatever brothers and sisters this was not going to be a pleasant occasion for Jeremiah you can see now how his life has changed very dramatically he's been true to the word he's been faithful in his witness he is suffering personally now he's already escaped threat of death once he's now under arrest he's now in the marketplace being humiliated all those who would pass by would laugh and say so much for your prophecies now Jeremiah is unchanging this is just such an example isn't it Pasha whose name means prosperity round about Jeremiah says well you're now going to be called Magor Misabib terror on every side terror will be

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    coming and in verse 4 of chapter 20 thus saith the Lord behold I will make a terror to thee and to all thy friends and they shall fall by the sword of their enemies and thine eye shall behold it and I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon and that's the first time Jeremiah has said by whom this destruction would come he's now introducing the idea that the invading army from the north is going to be Babylon and he's setting out in greater detail the destruction that will come upon Jerusalem Jerusalem as far as I can see as you read through chapter 20 this is the only time that Jeremiah allows himself to complain if that's the right word to God for his position he's just offloading to God and saying do I really have to do this are you really wanting me to do this can you not see how difficult it is that I'm having to give this message do you not know how unpleasant my life is and we get a real insight there don't we into the mind of the prophet as he continues with his work interestingly of course he doesn't move to the right or to the left from his work he just sticks with it and continues to deliver the message let's move over to chapter 36 then please where we're told this is now taking place in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah and this is the well-known account of Baruch and the role and all the things being written out first time we're introduced to Baruch the son

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    of Neriah and it seems that the writing is being done we've not come across Jeremiah writing this out before but the writing is now being done because he's not allowed to speak in the temple courtyard he's given three great addresses he's gone there and he's smashed this earthen vessel saying this is what's going to happen to Jerusalem and he's been arrested and punished as a consequence and now he's no longer able to do this verse 5 suggests that doesn't it Jeremiah commanded Baruch saying I am shut up I cannot go into the house of the Lord or I am shut out but he is now prevented from going into the house of the Lord and there would be many a man of God who would say at that point well we've tried and that door's closed so we'll go and do something else now we'll go and try somewhere else or we'll just stop well not Jeremiah he's compelled to make sure this message goes forward so just because he can't go into the temple and speak it he says to Baruch I'm going to write this out for you you'll have to go and you'll have to speak it so let me write it out and here's this lovely picture of inspiration that we get in the text don't we of the message being given and Jeremiah writing it and passing it to another and he's going to read it and pass on the message faithfully to the people and just as we just as we touched on the motives of almighty God who wanted to change his people and save his people interestingly

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    in this chapter we see that these are still the motives of Jeremiah look at verse 7 of chapter 36 it may be they will present their supplication before the Lord and will return everyone from his evil way it might be that they'll change so if you get the impression that Jeremiah is just going through the motions he's trying time and time again and repeating the message because that's what the Lord's employing him to do it's not that at all he's got a real desire to try and change these people it might be there will be someone in the crowd who will just listen and change his ways says Jeremiah and that as a motive for our preaching is unequaled isn't it I don't know what your motives might be I don't know how it might work in your ecclesia often these things are done because we think it's an ecclesial responsibility and we have our preaching programs and off we go and off we do it and hey someone might respond they might not well this is the much better motive isn't it let's do it there might be someone out there and wouldn't it be lovely if there was so that was still Jeremiah's position and Baruch who's being very brave here he knows what happened to Jeremiah when he went and spoke in the temple court he has to be very brave here so he goes and in verse 10 he's about to read the book but he positions himself by the chamber of Gemariah the son of Shephan the scribe that was a friend a friend of Jeremiah so he's going to

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    a safe part of this particular section of the city and the princes were there who'd saved Jeremiah before in verse 12 so Baruch is positioning himself in as safe a corner of the city as he can and he's going to read and when the word of God is read these words are powerful you remember in verse 16 that when they heard this they were afraid both one and the other it was quite a powerful thing and of course the word of God is still a powerful thing let's not forget that these days we're becoming ever more inventive in our preaching and I applaud that brothers and sisters I've got no difficulty with that but let's not forget that it's only the word of God that will change people it's only the word of God that has the power to bring about salvation to individuals and this word has a real impact on them the audience turned with fear and they must tell the king but this little group realized that they needed to get Jeremiah to a place of safety before the king heard of it so Jeremiah was put to a place of safety where he would not be found the roll goes to the king as you know and it was read out to the king

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    that was the response of this particular man but it indicates how low he was Jeremiah was an arrest warrant was issued against Jeremiah but they couldn't find him because he had been taken away to a place of safety we contrast Jehoiakim's response with that of Josiah he found the law of the Lord and he was so excited Jehoiakim has been presented with the law of the Lord and he puts it on the fire and burns it that's a real indictment isn't it now the other neat little piece of history which I'm sure you've appreciated before is that just as this is happening in the fourth year of Jehoiakim in the second year of King Nebuchadnezzar which is just the same period through Daniel interpretation is being given and the message is being given to a Gentile king here we have a Jewish king who's refusing to listen to the word of the law and destroying it and over in Babylon Daniel is explaining the ways of Almighty God by interpreting the dream in Daniel chapter 2 to King Nebuchadnezzar which of course is going to bring about the conversion of that man so just as Israel were turning their back on the law of the Lord the Lord was making sure that the word was continuing this time in Gentile lands we'll just finish by considering very quickly Jehoiakim's demise it's an 11 year reign but it's a very different reign to that of Josiah he surrounded himself with false prophets he liked it that way Jeremiah complained against them we may have looked a little bit at chapter 14 yesterday let's look at chapter

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    23 because these false prophets who were in the court of Jehoiakim had a lifestyle to match their wicked words chapter 23 verse 9 for example mine heart within me is broken because of the prophets all my bones shake I am like a drunken man and I am like a man whom wine hath overcome because of the Lord and because of the words of his holiness for the land is full of adulterers and because of swearing the land mourneth the pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up and their course is evil and their force is not right for both prophet and priest are profane yea in my house I have found their wickedness saith the Lord so these people who were not only speaking ill were behaving in an awful way as well they prophesy falsely they say things that people want to hear they do not speak truth as Jeremiah was speaking truth they were saying words which the people loved and we'll just close by looking at chapter 5 verse 31 verse 30 of chapter 5 a wonderful and horrible thing is omitted in the land the prophets prophesy falsely and the priests bear rule by their means and my people love to have it so and what will ye do in the end thereof and that's very much the position we're in isn't it people are listening only to messages that they want to hear politicians change their message to say what people wants to hear and we see that throughout scripture and Jeremiah who is in possession of words of truth is going to stand by that the temptation is to

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    adjust the truth slightly I'll just remove that little bit I'll not emphasize that bit quite as much and I'll just over emphasize this bit and I'll try and make it a little more palatable for today's audience and we'll give them something they want to hear and you must have come across that kind of debate or felt that kind of argument the word of truth is the word of truth and it needs to be presented in its fullness and its entirety with courage and conviction brothers and sisters because that's the only thing that will bring about man's salvation even in these wicked times let us have the same confidence and conviction of Jeremiah to do these things in these last days is