God calls all people to live in obedience to Him.

During the last 22 years of the kingdom of Judah, the kings, princes, priests, and people persisted in becoming increasingly more evil and rebellious against God. During this time, Jeremiah, ministering mainly in the city of Jerusalem, prayed and labored tirelessly to persuade the people of Judah to repent and return to faith in the God of Abraham. This they stubbornly refused to do, the result being that Jeremiah had no success in turning the kingdom of Judah away from sin and destruction. This lesson, as the title reveals, is about Jeremiah warning of sin and it’s punishment, and prophesying of promised restoration to faith in God, by means of a new covenant with God.

GOD’S WORD REJECTED

A. Sinning Is Irrational

People say, when discussing something they do not understand, “That doesn’t make sense.” It seems to be illogical or irrational. Because of the consequences that come from sinning, it is always illogical or irrational to stubbornly persist in sinning. In these verses, the Lord, speaking to the people of Judah through Jeremiah, made statements and posed questions that revealed how irrational it is to keep on sinning.

Jer 8:4  Moreover thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD; Shall they fall, and not arise? shall he turn away, and not return?

Jer 8:5  Why then is this people of Jerusalem slidden back by a perpetual backsliding? they hold fast deceit, they refuse to return.

…….Can you imagine the Lord pleading, and his children never turn away from the sin. His questions here, are you going to fall away from me and never return? I’m calling your name but you refuse to turn and answer me.

Jer 8:6  I hearkened and heard, but they spake not aright: no man repented him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? every one turned to his course, as the horse rusheth into the battle.

…….When we as sinners turn to the Lord for forgiveness, we must not ask the Lord to understand our reasons for sinning. When we pray, the Lord is listening to hear a humble plea for help, not an excuse of why the sin continues. The Lord said that the people of Judah ran straight into their backslidden state like a trained battle horse that knows no better.

Jer 8:7  Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times; and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming; but my people know not the judgment of the LORD.

…….Just as the creatures mentioned in the scripture, God’s intention for His children are beneficial. We can’t submit ourselves to an authority that desires to drive us headfirst into a battle.

B. God’s Word Rejected

Jer 8:8  How do ye say, We are wise, and the law of the LORD is with us? Lo, certainly in vain made he it; the pen of the scribes is in vain.

Jer 8:9  The wise men are ashamed, they are dismayed and taken: lo, they have rejected the word of the LORD; and what wisdom is in them?

…….Just as this scripture tells us the example of the priests, scribes and religious leaders, knowledge of the Word does nothing for us if our heart is not right. These priests of Judah would be “taken”(punished) by Judah’s enemy for not translating the truth of God’s Word. Knowledge and wisdom can only go hand in hand if the knowledge is used in wisdom.

CONSEQUENCES OF REJECTING GOD’S WORD

A. Warning of Severe Judgement

Jer 8:10  Therefore will I give their wives unto others, and their fields to them that shall inherit them: for every one from the least even unto the greatest is given to covetousness, from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely.

Jer 8:11  For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.

…….The Lord said in verse 10 that his judgement would fall onto everyone from the least (false prophet) to the greatest (high priest) for misinforming his people. The church is the messenger of Christ. We can not mask the condition and sinful state the world is in. If and when God gives us a word, because He will, we must tell the people around us what thus saith the Lord!

Jer 8:12  Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore shall they fall among them that fall: in the time of their visitation they shall be cast down, saith the LORD.

…….Not only did the priests and prophets stop telling the righteous judgements of God, but they made the abominable sins a normal way of life. The embarrassment that should have led to speaking up simply faded.

Jer 8:13  I will surely consume them, saith the LORD: there shall be no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the fig tree, and the leaf shall fade; and the things that I have given them shall pass away from them.

…….The Lord said He would take away all the freely given blessings that continue seasonally. Rather than the land flourishing with fruits and vegetation, it would soon be left in drought and famine.

B. No Escape From God’s Judgement

Jer 8:14  Why do we sit still? assemble yourselves, and let us enter into the defenced cities, and let us be silent there: for the LORD our God hath put us to silence, and given us water of gall to drink, because we have sinned against the LORD.

…….Rather than doing something to save themselves, their response should have been repentance! They have now come to the realization that the Lords warnings of judgement are present, and instead of asking for forgiveness and repenting, their solution is to give up. That is exactly what the enemy wants us to do.

Jer 8:15  We looked for peace, but no good came; and for a time of health, and behold trouble!

Jer 8:16  The snorting of his horses was heard from Dan: the whole land trembled at the sound of the neighing of his strong ones; for they are come, and have devoured the land, and all that is in it; the city, and those that dwell therein.

Jer 8:17  For, behold, I will send serpents, cockatrices (dreaded poisonous reptiles), among you, which will not be charmed, and they shall bite you, saith the LORD.

…….The saddest part of this story is the continuation of the chapter and those to follow that describe the stubbornness of Judah in the time of judgement. We must take heed to the warnings of God!

NEW COVENANT PROMISED

A. The Old Covenant

Jer 31:31  Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:

Jer 31:32  Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD:

…….God said this “new covenant” that was broken will not be as the old. He said, even though I was an husband, (though he never left their side) they still desired to sin against Him. This new covenant will give them a “desire” to stay close to Him.

B. The New Covenant

Jer 31:33  But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.

…….The external law, the knowing of sin, only had minimal affect. This new law would go straight to the heart with conviction that caused an inward desire to stay connected to our Lord!

Jer 31:34  And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

…….He said, they won’t need to go to a priest or rely on another human being to interpret His Word. He would now be the communication, through His Holy Spirit, to every person individually, from the least of them to the “greatest”!

We don’t have to worry about another man standing in our place failing us in speaking the Word, and having a relationship with Him! Because of the Spirit and Christ’s work on the cross, we can hear and understand warning and correction, and keep it up to us to have a right relationship with the Lord!

“I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more”.