Jeremiah preached....prophesied....for over forty years. He started when Josiah was king....and was only a few years older than Josiah. No one wanted to hear his warnings. Just like no one was really interested in Billy Graham's warnings. He wasn't a shepherd or anything like that.....he was a priest....he would have offered temple sacrifices had not God called him to warn of judgment.
The chronology of the last four kings of Judah after Josiah is a little hard to follow. A younger son of Josiah was named king first for some reason. A couple of them went by more than one name. Two were hauled off to other countries....one to Egypt and one to Babylon....and their successors were appointed....first by Pharaoh Necho and then by Nebuchadnezzar. It was a real Peyton Place of intrigue.
Zedekiah wound up as the last king of Judah. He sued for peace with the Babylonian king....letting him take some of the temple vessels and a lot of the most capable people back to Babylon.....Daniel among then....then under bad advice he thought Nebuchadnezzar was weakening so he tried to ally with Egypt against Babylon....big big mistake! So Nebuchadnezzar came back to Jerusalem with a vengeance!
Jeremiah's message from the LORD was....look....you rebelled against God....and Babylon is going to rule over you. It's a done deal....that is the punishment. If you
do not accept this then Nebby is going to come again and destroy the city.....and the temple. He told them to accept the punishment and they would live and keep the temple and be able to worship....but there were all kinds of false prophets who told Zedekiah that God was....going to make Judah great again.
One of the many false prophets....Hananiah....prophesied to Zedekiah that in two years Babylon's yoke would be broken....and the vessels and everyone that was taken to Babylon would return. Jeremiah in as much as said....'Hey....that would be nice but it ain't gonna happen'.....and then he told Hananiah that he himself would be dead within a year....which of course happened.
Meanwhile....the Jews in Babylon had their own false prophets. Jeremiah sent a letter to them....telling them to live in Babylon and prosper under Babylonian rule.....that God would eventually bring them back home. Jeremiah even gave them a time frame for this to happen....seventy years....although it wasn't for many years until Daniel's eyes were opened to this.
Jeremiah was telling the people....and the king.....Zedekiah....not to resist Nebuchadnezzar....because God was going to use Babylon to punish Judah! By the time that Nebuchadnezzar's army finally breached the walls of Jerusalem the people were starving. They were eating their own children! It's like we are eating our own children today. Jeremiah watched all of this and wept over it as he wrote Lamentations.
As a people....the American people....this book could be written to us. In fact....I believe that it was written to us....us and anyone who once acknowledged God but has thrown that faith and trust and obedience aside. We have our false prophets and we have those who truly have spoken for God. We still have our worship but it is mixed in with many and various idolatries. We had a time of revival....just as with Josiah....but now we are going from one despicable 'king' to another.
So how far will this similarity go? Jeremiah didn't convince anyone right up to when Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the temple and the city and carried everything and just about everyone away to Babylon. That doesn't bode well for us. The pandemic....an obvious judgment from God....didn't humble us one bit.
It was my seventieth birthday....February 4, 2020....(I watched this speech again last evening!).....when Donald Trump strode up to in front of the Speaker of the House....Vice President Pence right beside her....and the Joint Session of Congress facing him....he had just shook hands with a couple of the Supreme Court Justices as he walked by them....and the Joint Chiefs of Staff....and started.....and then finished.....these words....
"Tonight I stand before you to share the incredible results....(of the past three years)....Jobs are booming....Incomes are soaring....Poverty is plummeting....Crime is falling....Confidence is surging....and our country is thriving....America's fortunes are on the rise.....America's future is blazing bright....our pride is restored....("Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall" Proverbs)....we are moving forward at a pace that was unimaginable just a short time ago....and we are never going back....we are advancing with unbridled optimism"....and the address ended with this...."This nation is our canvas, and this country is our masterpiece. We look at tomorrow and see unlimited frontiers just waiting to be explored. Our brightest discoveries are not yet known. Our most thrilling stories are not yet told. Our grandest journeys are not yet made. The American Age, the American epic, The American adventure has only just begun. Our spirit is still young. The sun is still rising, God's grace is still shining, and my fellow Americans, the best is yet to come."
Pastors who may have been watching this should have wept at the arrogance....but from what I saw....most of them embraced the prophecy. Rush Limbaugh was honored that night. Nancy Pelosi famously ripped up the copy of Trump's speech at the end....but Trump had ignored her outstretched hand at the beginning. You've read the words above from that speech....but do you remember that right at that time the coronavirus was set loose upon America and the world. In our case....God was responding to our arrogance. Almost a year later....on a cold January 6th....Trump was sealing his fate. I posted these words....as he spoke on the Ellipse....
"Wednesday morning at 11:30....The melody is beautiful.....there's no denying that....and it gives me chills....but the wrong kind of chills. I'm talking about Leonard Cohen's....Hallelujah. The word 'hallelujah' is special......for in essence it means....'praise Yahweh'.....or....'praise Yah.' I cringe when I hear in used other than where it should be used....and that includes Neil Diamond's.....Brother Love's Traveling Salvation Show. So I booted up the computer a few minutes ago to hear what President Trump was going to say in his appearance at the Washington protest/rally.....and Cohen's song was playing. The chills were there.....and I didn't like it....but to make matters worse.....as the video feed showed from the rear of the first twenty or so rows of people....I saw a few raised hands....swaying back and forth to the song.....as if in a charismatic church. What were they praising...for it's hopefully not the object of the Cohen song? Trump eventually came on.....he is speaking now....and I had to turn him off....because folks it is unnerving....the sway he has....as this very large crowd chanted.....fight for Trump....fight for Trump....fight for Trump!"
I posted this in April of 2020....a couple months after the State of the Union Address
"Jeremiah was given a vision that we read about in chapter 24. In it he sees two baskets of figs....one was of 'bad figs' while the other 'good figs.' Nebuchadnezzar had taken captives back to Babylon....a humbling experience....but these were the 'good' figs....for God would use this to their good and His glory. Those that stayed in Jerusalem and Judah were as us today who will not humble ourselves....but will continue to build that which took us far from God to begin with. Not only have we not separated ourselves from a decaying culture and dreams of worldly greatness....having only fashioned an evangelical niche within it....but now....having a glimpse of the virus subsiding....are determined to build again....greater than ever....apparently having learned nothing."
