Jeremiah

Jeremiah Index

Jeremiah Chapter 26

Jeremiah 26:1 In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah came this word from the LORD, saying,
2 Thus saith the LORD; Stand in the court of the LORD'S house, and speak unto all the cities of Judah, which come to worship in the LORD'S house, all the words that I command thee to speak unto them; diminish not a word:
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 because of the evil of their doings.

We see here the continual message of repentance given to turn from evil and serve God. God is saying to them, that all the evil that is to come upon them will not happen if they just repent of evil and serve God. All they had to do was listen to God's warnings and heed them.

Repent means to:

To feel pain, sorrow or regret for something done or spoken; as, to repent that we have lost much time in idleness or sensual pleasure; to repent that we have injured or wounded the feelings of a friend. A person repents only of what he himself has done or said.
To change one's mind.
To be sorry for sin as a violation of God's holy law.
True repentance is to be sorry for sins to the point of being willing to change.

Repenting accompanied by receiving Jesus Christ as savior brings change and God even adds to this by giving us the Holy Spirit which begins to abide with us constantly to:

Comfort
Teach
Convict of sin
Change us
Give us power to witness
Give us understanding
Be ever present with us.
Much more than these

God doesn't give commandments without giving us the way to keep the commandments. He is not an unjust God. He doesn't ever say, Thou shalt not, without showing us how to do and keep the Thou shalt nots. He doesn't command us to love one another without giving us something to empower us to love one another.

All we have to do is first believe what He says, repent of sin and turn to Him for help. His help comes by way of Jesus Christ who came as a sacrifice for sins. His further help is the Holy Ghost who comes to us after we receive God's way of salvation which comes through faith in Jesus Christ. If we never recognize our need to turn from sin or if we never see our need to receive God into our lives then we can't receive this salvation.

We have to first:

Believe, "I have sinned."
Believe that, "Sin kills and destroys.
Believe that sin will be punished and judged."
Believe that, "Sin separates us from God."
Realize: "I don't want sin in my life."
Realize: "I want to be free of sin."
Ask and seek: Repent of sin and ask God's forgiveness.
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as God's plan to take that sin away and give you a new life.
Receive Jesus Christ into your life and you will become born again by the spirit of God.
Keep on seeking God and yielding to the Holy Spirit.
Study the word to grow in grace and knowledge of God.

God is good and has for us good things. He is not out to give us stones and serpents.

Jeremiah 26:4 And thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD; If ye will not hearken to me, to walk in my law, which I have set before you,
5 To hearken to the words of my servants the prophets, whom I sent unto you, both rising up early, and sending them, but ye have not hearkened;

The word of God is everywhere today. The Internet is full of online bibles and bible studies. There are places where you can download the bible free of charge. We do not have to be devoid of the word of God.

If we truly desire to have God in our lives and walk with Him, we will be willing to turn away from sin. If we say that we want God in our lives but do not want to give up sin, then the desire to sin is greater than the desire for God, so we really do not want God in our lives, what we are wanting is insurance. Just in case there is a hell, just in case there is judgment, they may want God.

Some allow God in their lives because they think that it will help their finances. That is why we are having no victory. If we are seeking God to get, to escape or to please someone, our conversion is lacking substance. Sometimes people may seek God this way at first but sooner or later, they encounter the real God and begin to seek Him for who He is. If we really desire to walk with God, we will flee from sin at the same time. The presence of the Holy Spirit will convict us of sin.

Jeremiah 26:6 Then will I make this house like Shiloh, and will make this city a curse to all the nations of the earth.
7 So the priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the LORD.
8 Now it came to pass, when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking all that the LORD had commanded him to speak unto all the people, that the priests and the prophets and all the people took him, saying, Thou shalt surely die.
9 Why hast thou prophesied in the name of the LORD, saying, This house shall be like Shiloh, and this city shall be desolate without an inhabitant? And all the people were gathered against Jeremiah in the house of the LORD.
10 When the princes of Judah heard these things, then they came up from the king's house unto the house of the LORD, and sat down in the entry of the new gate of the LORD'S house.
11 Then spake the priests and the prophets unto the princes and to all the people, saying, This man is worthy to die; for he hath prophesied against this city, as ye have heard with your ears.

Some desired Jeremiah's death because of the words he prophesied. They did not want the words of truth and repentance. They wanted to continue in their own ways and deceive themselves into thinking they were okay and in no need to change. They refused to think God could possibly be displeased with them.

I see this attitude in today's world. How many times do we hear: "God loves everyone just the way they are. God created us like that. We are only human. God understands and knows all about it. God loves. God is love. God is not going to punish us for being human. God wants us to be ourselves. God accepts me the way I am. That is not wrong. That is not a sin. God doesn't care about things like that."

God did not change. He just made a way for us to get rid of the old stuff called sin. That is the only thing that changed. God made a way so that we could be free from sin and have the power to not want to sin ever again.

All sin can be forgiven, if truly they are forsaken and we come to Jesus Christ.

I want to make it clear that when I speak against a certain sin, I'm not saying that it is so bad that the blood of Jesus can't cleanse it away. Forgiveness is always available to one who truly turns back to God. If God forgives them, then we must forgive also and not bring that sin up to them.

Even in the days of Jeremiah. Israel could have repented and turned back to God to avoid Babylonian captivity.

Jeremiah 26:12 Then spake Jeremiah unto all the princes and to all the people, saying, The LORD sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city all the words that ye have heard.
13 Therefore now amend your ways and your doings, and obey the voice of the LORD your God; and the LORD will repent him of the evil that he hath pronounced against you.

Amend, change, repent is still the same message today only we have access to the power of God to help us to change and get rid of the desire to do evil.

Jeremiah 26:14 As for me, behold, I am in your hand: do with me as seemeth good and meet unto you.

Jeremiah risked his life to tell the truth and warn of coming judgment. He knew that he could have been killed for his word to them but he had to obey God rather than please men.

15 But know ye for certain, that if ye put me to death, ye shall surely bring innocent blood upon yourselves, and upon this city, and upon the inhabitants thereof: for of a truth the LORD hath sent me unto you to speak all these words in your ears.

He did warn them that if they killed him even more guilt would be upon them and more judgment would come because they would be guilty of a further sin of killing one who brought them the truth.

The same thing is true today. Even if a government does not protect one that harms a servant of the Lord especially one that brings the word of God, God will avenge His servants and will bring judgment upon those that harm any believer or bearer of the word of God. He will not allow those that harm His prophets and do not repent to go unpunished.

1Chronicles 16:22 Saying, Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm.

This is talking of true bearers of the truth of the word, not charlatans and false teachers. If a preacher or prophet sins, we are not to physically harm them but we are allowed to reprove false doctrine and examine their teaching by the word of God. If they commit the same sins they preach against we are to observe their fruits because by their fruits we know who is true and who is false. We are allowed to examine and ask questions and make sure they bring truth. This verse does not mean that we are to accept everything without question but prove all things by the word of God. We are not to slander or hurt those who claim to represent God but we do have a responsibility to judge whether they speak truth or live by what they preach.

How could those in Jeremiah's day judge whether Jeremiah spoke the truth?

By reading the law of God given by Moses. By talking with those who were familiar with the laws of God. By comparing how the people lived by that word of God and by searching deep into their hearts and letting God reveal to them the truth that Jeremiah spoke. By seeking God themselves and asking God to reveal to them the truth. By searching their own hearts and examining themselves to see if they were guilty of these same sins Jeremiah preached against. God would not have left them without witnesses.

Jeremiah 26:16 Then said the princes and all the people unto the priests and to the prophets; This man is not worthy to die: for he hath spoken to us in the name of the LORD our God.

God usually will give us some that believe in what we are trying to do. We see here that some feared doing harm to Jeremiah because they feared he might be telling the truth.

Jeremiah 26:17 Then rose up certain of the elders of the land, and spake to all the assembly of the people, saying,
18 Micah the Morasthite 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, and the mountain of the house as the high places of a forest.
19 Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him at all to death? did he not fear the LORD, and besought the LORD, and the LORD repented him of the evil which he had pronounced against them? Thus might we procure great evil against our souls.

This is recorded in the book of Micah in the Old Testament.

Jeremiah 26:20 And there was also a man that prophesied in the name of the LORD, Urijah the son of Shemaiah of Kirjathjearim, who prophesied against this city and against this land according to all the words of Jeremiah:
21 And when Jehoiakim the king, with all his mighty men, and all the princes, heard his words, the king sought to put him to death: but when Urijah heard it, he was afraid, and fled, and went into Egypt;
22 And Jehoiakim the king sent men into Egypt, namely, Elnathan the son of Achbor, and certain men with him into Egypt.
23 And they fetched forth Urijah out of Egypt, and brought him unto Jehoiakim the king; who slew him with the sword, and cast his dead body into the graves of the common people.
24 Nevertheless the hand of Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah, that they should not give him into the hand of the people to put him to death.

God would not allow Jeremiah to be put to death and had some people stand up for him and not allow this deed to happen.

There are times we see that God delivers his servants from death and there are times when men of God are killed for their faith and obedience to God.

We do not understand everything and we do not understand why God allows deliverance, heals some but yet some suffer persecution and even die for their faith. But one thing I know God stands by everyone of His believers and there is a great reward awaiting each one that endures to the end faithful. Stephen was stoned for his testimony and his faith:

Acts 6:8 And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people.
9 Then there arose certain of the synagogue, which is called the synagogue of the Libertines, and Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and of them of Cilicia and of Asia, disputing with Stephen.
10 And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake.
11 Then they suborned men, which said, We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses, and against God.
12 And they stirred up the people, and the elders, and the scribes, and came upon him, and caught him, and brought him to the council,
13 And set up false witnesses, which said, This man ceaseth not to speak blasphemous words against this holy place, and the law:
14 For we have heard him say, that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change the customs which Moses delivered us.
15 And all that sat in the council, looking stedfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel.

This continues in Chapter 7.

Acts 7:1 Then said the high priest, Are these things so?
2 And he said, Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken; The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran,
3 And said unto him, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall shew thee.
4 Then came he out of the land of the Chaldaeans, and dwelt in Charran: and from thence, when his father was dead, he removed him into this land, wherein ye now dwell.
5 And he gave him none inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on: yet he promised that he would give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him, when as yet he had no child.
6 And God spake on this wise, That his seed should sojourn in a strange land; and that they should bring them into bondage, and entreat them evil four hundred years.
7 And the nation to whom they shall be in bondage will I judge, said God: and after that shall they come forth, and serve me in this place.
8 And he gave him the covenant of circumcision: and so Abraham begat Isaac, and circumcised him the eighth day; and Isaac begatJacob; and Jacob begat the twelve patriarchs.
9 And the patriarchs, moved with envy, sold Joseph into Egypt: but God was with him,
10 And delivered him out of all his afflictions, and gave him favour and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house.
11 Now there came a dearth over all the land of Egypt and Chanaan, and great affliction: and our fathers found no sustenance.
12 But when Jacob heard that there was corn in Egypt, he sent out our fathers first.
13 And at the second time Joseph was made known to his brethren; and Joseph's kindred was made known unto Pharaoh.
14 Then sent Joseph, and called his father Jacob to him, and all his kindred, threescore and fifteen souls.
15 So Jacob went down into Egypt, and died, he, and our fathers,
16 And were carried over into Sychem, and laid in the sepulchre that Abraham bought for a sum of money of the sons of Emmor the father of Sychem.
17 But when the time of the promise drew nigh, which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt,
18 Till another king arose, which knew not Joseph.
19 The same dealt subtilly with our kindred, and evil entreated our fathers, so that they cast out their young children, to the end they might not live.
20 In which time Moses was born, and was exceeding fair, and nourished up in his father's house three months:
21 And when he was cast out, Pharaoh's daughter took him up, and nourished him for her own son.
22 And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds.
23 And when he was full forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren the children of Israel.
24 And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended him, and avenged him that was oppressed, and smote the Egyptian:
25 For he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them: but they understood not.
26 And the next day he shewed himself unto them as they strove, and would have set them at one again, saying, Sirs, ye are brethren; why do ye wrong one to another?
27 But he that did his neighbour wrong thrust him away, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge over us?
:28 Wilt thou kill me, as thou diddest the Egyptian yesterday?
29 Then fled Moses at this saying, and was a stranger in the land of Madian, where he begat two sons.
30 And when forty years were expired, there appeared to him in the wilderness of mount Sina an angel of the Lord in a flame of fire in a bush.
:31 When Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight: and as he drew near to behold it, the voice of the Lord came unto him,
32 Saying, I am the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Then Moses trembled, and durst not behold.
33 Then said the Lord to him, Put off thy shoes from thy feet: for the place where thou standest is holy ground.
34 I have seen, I have seen the affliction of my people which is in Egypt, and I have heard their groaning, and am come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send thee into Egypt.
35 This Moses whom they refused, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge? the same did God send to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the angel which appeared to him in the bush.
36 He brought them out, after that he had shewed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red sea, and in the wilderness forty years.
37 This is that Moses, which said unto the children of Israel, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear.
38 This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us:
39 To whom our fathers would not obey, but thrust him from them, and in their hearts turned back again into Egypt,
40 Saying unto Aaron, Make us gods to go before us: for as for this Moses, which brought us out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.
41 And they made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice unto the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands.
42 Then God turned, and gave them up to worship the host of heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets, O ye house of Israel, have ye offered to me slain beasts and sacrifices by the space of forty years in the wilderness?
43 Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan, figures which ye made to worship them: and I will carry you away beyond Babylon.
44 Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as he had appointed, speaking unto Moses, that he should make it according to the fashion that he had seen.
45 Which also our fathers that came after brought in with Jesus into the possession of the Gentiles, whom God drave out before the face of our fathers, unto the days of David;
46 Who found favour before God, and desired to find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob.
47 But Solomon built him an house.
48 Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet,
49 Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool: what house will ye build me? saith the Lord: or what is the place of my rest?
50 Hath not my hand made all these things?
51 Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.
52 Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers:
53 Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it.
54 When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth.
55 But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God,
56 And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.
57 Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord,
58 And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul.
59 And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.
60 And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

We see from this story of Stephen that men have not changed much since the days of Jeremiah and they were quick to silence one who spoke in the name of Jesus. Stephen was killed for his faith here but we see that before his death he saw the glory of God and Jesus standing on the right hand with God.

He died by the hand of his persecutors instead of being delivered but we see here how glorious that death was. Stephen even asked God to forgive those who were killing him. What an attitude. We see ultimate love here revealed. This is the heart and spirit of one who was truly converted and filled with God's Holy Spirit. Wow. How wonderful to be full of such love that we pray for forgiveness for our enemies. This truly is the love of God that can be ours. This type of love is not limited to Stephen, the Jews or any race. Through faith in Jesus Christ it can be ours for the asking. Who knows but when Stephen cried out to God to not charge his persecutors for this sin with Saul standing there agreeing to it, that Stephen's prayer was answered when Saul became a believer and his name was changed to Paul. DC

Luke 11:9 And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
10 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
11 If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent?
12 Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?
13 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?

Jeremiah 27