Preface: The following is a short synopsis that I posted on the prophet Jeremiah in 2023. Jeremiah was preaching to....and warning....God's people in Judah and Jerusalem....which means that he is also preaching....and warning....God's people today. We are so similar. We had Billy Graham and many others warning us for the past forty years at least. We ignored all the warnings....and because we ignored the warnings....we are what we are today. We have our own false prophets....like Hananiah....who promise us that the yoke of 'Babylon' will be broken....and everything will return as it was. That is not going to happen. The people of Judah and Jerusalem would not have benefitted by just returning to their rebellious days before Nebuchadnezzar came....nor would we benefit just by going back to when America was 'great' again!
"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.'
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."
