Jeremiah

Jeremiah Chapter 21

• Jeremiah 21:1 The word which came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, when king Zedekiah sent unto him Pashur the son of Melchiah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, saying,
• 2 Enquire, I pray thee, of the LORD for us; for Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon maketh war against us; if so be that the LORD will deal with us according to all his wondrous works, that he may go up from us.

Here believe or not, they are asking Jeremiah to go and ask God to help them because they see that the king of Babylon is coming to make war with them. Although they are starting to have a little reverence for Jeremiah, I believe it is because of the fear of Nebuchadnezzar, not because of fear of God or respect to God.

• Jeremiah 21:3 Then said Jeremiah unto them, Thus shall ye say to Zedekiah:
• 4 Thus saith the LORD God of Israel; Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands, wherewith ye fight against the king of Babylon, and against the Chaldeans, which besiege you without the walls, and I will assemble them into the midst of this city.
• 5 And I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm, even in anger, and in fury, and in great wrath.

Had the whole city come to God with a change of heart and repentance, God probably would have changed His mind and stopped the siege of Babylon.

There is a difference between repenting because one fears the evil that is about to happen and repenting because one is genuinely regretful of his or her sins and wants to change. God knows the difference and can see our hearts. True repentance is not ignored by God. If we try to repent only to keep evil from happening to us, it doesn't fool God. The evil was coming anyway because their hearts still was the same.

In fact we see here that they did indeed recognize that Jeremiah was telling the truth. If they thought he was a false prophet they would not have even bothered to ask him to inquire of the Lord. These are not ignorant people here. They are people that knew better but preferred to stay in their sins instead of repenting. This is the situation we see today. The book of Romans describes this state of mind:

• Romans 1:21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
• 28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;

This is what happens when people continually know about God and know of His commandments but choose to ignore them and do what is right in their own eyes. Sooner or later down through the generations, they become reprobate. The society deteriorates and what was once considered very evil is accepted as normal. Our forefathers would be appalled to see what was considered normal in today's world. Abortion especially when the mom is near birth is one of the most grievious sins this nation has allowed that I can think of. They even harvest and sell body parts for transplants or medical research. This is how sick our society has become and it is murder no matter what justification they try to put on it.

I even notice today that things my grandmother considered sin, are accepted now and are not considered a sin. I remember as a child that even people that were not considered, "born again" or "Christian" would be appalled at what is going on today. We dismiss it as, "Times has changed," but we need to examine it and see if we have changed instead of God doing the changing.

• Jeremiah 21:6 And I will smite the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast: they shall die of a great pestilence.
• 7 And afterward, saith the LORD, I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah, and his servants, and the people, and such as are left in this city from the pestilence, from the sword, and from the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those that seek their life: and he shall smite them with the edge of the sword; he shall not spare them, neither have pity, nor have mercy.
• 8 And unto this people thou shalt say, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I set before you the way of life, and the way of death.
• 9 He that abideth in this city shall die by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence: but he that goeth out, and falleth to the Chaldeans that besiege you, he shall live, and his life shall be unto him for a prey.

God was still giving them a chance to save their own lives even though judgment and captivity was still going to happen. If they would only recognize that this was the hand of God and accept that, they could go out and surrender to the Chaldeans and be spared death. That would show that they believed in the word of God through Jeremiah.

This would not mean that they were cowards but only that they believed God's word. In other words these could have been saved by believing Jeremiah. A picture here of being saved by faith. To abide in unbelief and try to find their own way to be saved would result in their deaths.

I actually can see the faith message all through the bible, not just the New Testament. Faith has so much to do with everything. Faith is powerful. We are justified or condemned by faith. To just believe the word of God can save not only on individual but it will result in others being saved. Noah was actually saved by faith. Had he not believed God, he would not have prepared the ark and saved the human race from complete annihilation.

• Jeremiah 21:10 For I have set my face against this city for evil, and not for good, saith the LORD: it shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire.
• 11 And touching the house of the king of Judah, say, Hear ye the word of the LORD;
• 12 O house of David, thus saith the LORD; Execute judgment in the morning, and deliver him that is spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor, lest my fury go out like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.
• 13 Behold, I am against thee, O inhabitant of the valley, and rock of the plain, saith the LORD; which say, Who shall come down against us? or who shall enter into our habitations?
• 14 But I will punish you according to the fruit of your doings, saith the LORD: and I will kindle a fire in the forest thereof, and it shall devour all things round about it.

Because of the fruit they were producing. Because of the sin that they refused to turn from, because they rejected God and chose to serve false gods and because they chose to do according to the ways of the heathen, this has come upon them. They could have returned and gone back to God at any point and He would have accepted them.

Now they recognize Jeremiah was right but their hearts are only fearful of losing what they had. Their hearts are still not after the Lord.

God is so good and has such good things for those that believe and trust in Him. Why do we choose rather to go our own way? You can escape the pollutions and sins of this world and inherit eternal life. God provided a way. Judgment is coming again but this time upon the whole world. Now is the day to choose. Now is the day of salvation. It is not too late. Repent of sin and turn to Jesus Christ today.

God Spirit comes to reside in your life and the old sin passes away and you become a new creature in Christ Jesus. The way of life is offered to all who believe. God has commanded all to repent. All have sinned. The only way to escape eternal death and have eternal life is to believe in the one God sent. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. To believe means to receive Him, believe His word, and give your life to Him. He is good. You will never regret coming to Christ. Never. DC

Jeremiah 22