Princeton Presbyterian Church (EPC) Sermon # 1599
August 6, 2023
Jeremiah 5.10-31 Click here for audio worship.
Dr. Ed Pettus
“Hope! Always Hope!”
10“Go up through her vine rows and destroy, but make not a full end; strip away her branches, for they are not the Lord's. 11For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have been utterly treacherous to me, declares the Lord. 12They have spoken falsely of the Lord and have said, ‘He will do nothing; no disaster will come upon us, nor shall we see sword or famine. 13The prophets will become wind; the word is not in them. Thus shall it be done to them!’” 14Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of hosts: “Because you have spoken this word, behold, I am making my words in your mouth a fire, and this people wood, and the fire shall consume them. 15Behold, I am bringing against you a nation from afar, O house of Israel, declares the Lord. It is an enduring nation; it is an ancient nation, a nation whose language you do not know, nor can you understand what they say. Their quiver is like an open tomb; they are all mighty warriors. 17They shall eat up your harvest and your food; they shall eat up your sons and your daughters;
they shall eat up your flocks and your herds; they shall eat up your vines and your fig trees; your fortified cities in which you trust they shall beat down with the sword.” 18“But even in those days, declares the Lord, I will not make a full end of you. 19And when your people say, ‘Why has the Lord our God done all these things to us?’ you shall say to them, ‘As you have forsaken me and served foreign gods in your land, so you shall serve foreigners in a land that is not yours.’” 20Declare this in the house of Jacob; proclaim it in Judah: 21“Hear this, O foolish and senseless people, who have eyes, but see not, who have ears, but hear not. 22Do you not fear me? declares the Lord. Do you not tremble before me? I placed the sand as the boundary for the sea, a perpetual barrier that it cannot pass; though the waves toss, they cannot prevail; though they roar, they cannot pass over it. 23But this people has a stubborn and rebellious heart; they have turned aside and gone away. 24They do not say in their hearts, ‘Let us fear the Lord our God, who gives the rain in its season, the autumn rain and the spring rain, and keeps for us the weeks appointed for the harvest.’ 25Your iniquities have turned these away, and your sins have kept good from you. 26For wicked men are found among my people; they lurk like fowlers lying in wait. They set a trap; they catch men. 27Like a cage full of birds, their houses are full of deceit; therefore they have become great and rich; 28they have grown fat and sleek. They know no bounds in deeds of evil; they judge not with justice the cause of the fatherless, to make it prosper, and they do not defend the rights of the needy. 29Shall I not punish them for these things? declares the Lord, and shall I not avenge myself on a nation such as this?” 30An appalling and horrible thing has happened in the land: 31the prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule at their direction; my people love to have it so, but what will you do when the end comes?
-
Through the Streets and Through the Vineyards
Jeremiah chapter 5 begins with the directions to go through the streets and take notes:
Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, look and take note! Search her squares to see if you can find a man, one who does justice and seeks truth, that I may pardon her.
The next nine verses reveal that none could be found who were just or truthful. They refused correction. They had forsaken God in order to follow others gods, blatantly breaking the first commandment. So the first move is through the streets of the city.
The second movement is running through the vineyards, let’s call it running through the country. Run to and fro through the city and then run through the country, the farmland. God is not at all pleased with Israel. The charge given to Jeremiah at the beginning, to pluck up and break down, to uproot and destroy, is coming to fruition as we move on in the book of Jeremiah. The judgment comes because none righteous can be found in the city and therefore, nothing will survive the plucking up and uprooting in the vineyards. God is cleaning house! He is not using a flood this time, but mighty close. If we consider what is going to happen in Jeremiah, exile could be worse than a flood. The judgment is hard:
15Behold, I am bringing against you a nation from afar, O house of Israel, declares the Lord. It is an enduring nation; it is an ancient nation, a nation whose language you do not know, nor can you understand what they say. Their quiver is like an open tomb; they are all mighty warriors. 17They shall eat up your harvest and your food; they shall eat up your sons and your daughters; they shall eat up your flocks and your herds; they shall eat up your vines and your fig trees; your fortified cities in which you trust they shall beat down with the sword.”
What would be worse, death, or seeing everything you have worked for destroyed and then your being taken over by a conquering army where you lose farms, children, and your city? Jerusalem destroyed was one of the greatest hardships for Israel. It is why Jeremiah is sometimes referred to as the weeping prophet. But Israel had sinned, not minor infractions, but major breaking of commandment, rebelling against God, and doing evil even among the religious leaders.
But, and I emphasis, but, a remnant will remain. We will get to that in the last bullet of today’s outline.
-
The Fear of the Lord, The Beginning of Wisdom
God pleads with Israel, His people, in verses 22-24. 22Do you not fear me? declares the Lord. Do you not tremble before me? We see throughout Scripture the teaching to fear the Lord. Fear in this sense is to revere, to stand in awe of the Lord, and with that is the fear of the One who can destroy us in a moment. Jesus reminds us – “...do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Matthew 10.28
To have this awe and reverence and fear is to begin to understand who God is and who we are in relationship to God. Fear of the Lord begins our journey into the wisdom of God. If these two verses are true, and they are, then fear of the Lord is the first step into wisdom and knowledge.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight. Proverbs 9.10
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever! Psalm 111.10
I would suggest that coming to Jesus is an act of fear of the Lord, because we are coming for the wisdom and the knowledge that He gives. The most quoted of Matthew 11 is “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” But the context of that verse is in the revelation of God’s wisdom given to “little children”, that is, those willing to receive it…
25At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; 26yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. 27All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. 28Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Matthew 11.25-30
Come to Jesus to have hidden insight, hidden wisdom, revealed. In that wisdom is rest. In that knowledge a rest for the soul. That is precisely what is needed in uncertain times like ours. We wonder about our world and our society and where things are headed, and while that concern may be warranted, there is rest in Jesus. We can live without fear in Jesus, except for the fear of the Lord. There is nothing that this world can do that we should fear, because our only fear is fear of the Lord. The more we get to know Jesus, the greater our fear – in the sense of awe and reverence and the respect due to the God who could wipe us out if so desired. But that is not God’s character. God’s character is love, grace, and mercy to those who fear Him. God’s character is Exodus 34.6-7a, 6The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, 7keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin…
But to those who do not fear the Lord, to those who transgress His law… “but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation” Exodus 34.7b.
The verse just before the question of fear is verse 21, “Hear this, O foolish and senseless people, who have eyes, but see not, who have ears, but hear not.” This is a very telling verse because it confirms that you are what you worship. We often hear that you are what you eat. Maybe the spiritual version is you are what you worship. Eyes but do not see, ears but do not hear. This is idol worship in a nutshell.
Check this out, Psalm 135.15-18
15The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of human hands. 16They have mouths, but do not speak; they have eyes, but do not see; 17they have ears, but do not hear, nor is there any breath in their mouths. 18Those who make them become like them, so do all who trust in them.
The Word of the Lord through Jeremiah is an indictment of idolatry. They had no fear of God, and instead went after gods, little “g”, and therefore they became just like the idols they made by their own hands and worshiped them.
Jeremiah reveals why this is the God to be feared. This is the God who created all things. Jeremiah 5.22,” Do you not fear me? declares the Lord. Do you not tremble before me? I placed the sand as the boundary for the sea, a perpetual barrier that it cannot pass; though the waves toss, they cannot prevail; though they roar, they cannot pass over it.”
But Israel had no fear of the Lord, 23But this people has a stubborn and rebellious heart; they have turned aside and gone away. 24They do not say in their hearts, ‘Let us fear the Lord our God, who gives the rain in its season, the autumn rain and the spring rain, and keeps for us the weeks appointed for the harvest.’
-
Multiple Indictments
Jeremiah points out the indictments against Israel. It is a heavy list, more than some politicians have!
utterly treacherous to me - 11
spoken falsely of the Lord - 12
forsaken me and served foreign gods - 19
this people has a stubborn and rebellious heart; they have turned aside and gone away. - 23
do not say in their hearts, ‘Let us fear the Lord - 24
wicked men are found among my people - 26
appalling and horrible thing has happened in the land: - 30
It is no wonder that God would send them into exile. No wonder that judgment would come upon them when they utterly forsake God who is the One who created them and delivered them and loved them. What a betrayal by His people! We look out into the world today and wonder how in the world God could not just come down and pronounce judgment again, displacing those who do not fear the Lord. We are glad He has not and we know that there is a plan in place to judge the world and those who refuse to fear the Lord. The same list is true today that we see in Jeremiah, speaking against God, idolatry, stubborn, no fear of the Lord whatsoever, wicked people, appalling things in the land.
-
Hope! Always Hope!
It is a dim picture as we start off in Jeremiah. But there is light here as well. There is love and there is hope. Always hope! There are at least two reasons for hope:
1) God cares through His judgment. The warning itself gives hope because God gives the warning out of love and His desire for His people to repent and return to Him. True and genuine love is willing to risk telling people what is right and what is wrong. True love is not willing to accept anything and everything with tolerance. That is not love, it is actually cruelty.
2) The second is this little phrase we see two times in Jeremiah 5, the phrase is “not made a full end.” 10“Go up through her vine rows and destroy, but make not a full end & 18“But even in those days, declares the Lord, I will not make a full end of you. God plucks up and breaks down. God uproots and destroys, but not totally. There is a remnant. There is enough left over for a hopeful future. There is hope, always hope!
I got to thinking about why we have hope as Christians even when the world loses hope. Here is a brief list:
The gates of hell will not prevail over the church. Matthew 16.18
Greater is He who is in me than he who is in the world. 1 John 4.4
The mercies of the Lord are new every day. Lamentations 3.22-23
God is steadfast in His love and it endures forever. Psalm 136
Jesus promised to be with us to the end. Matthew 28.20
He’s got the whole world in His hands! Psalm 24.1-2, 7-9 Lift up your heads – hope!
Today we have come before the Word of the Lord through the prophet Jeremiah. Words of judgment and yet, Words of hope. We need those Words of hope today just as Israel needed them then. The Psalmist gives us encouragement in hope,
“But I will hope continually and will praise you yet more and more” Psalm 71.14.
Let us hope continually! Always hope! Amen.
