Bible Study - Person God Uses - Let Your Heart Bebroken - Jeremiah 8 - August 12, 2012

Bible Study – Person God Uses – Let Your Heart Be Broken – August 12, 2012

This is lesson two (2) in our series entitled “The Person God Uses.”

Our scripture is Jeremiah 8:4-13, 18-9:1.

As I write this, we received a phone call yesterday, August 1, 2012, that our eldest son, Ted, age 52, had died suddenly in California where he lived. Our Teddy was a GOD fearing man and he walked faithfully with CHRIST. Our hearts are broken with grief but comforted with the joy and assurance of knowing that he is with the LORD JESUS and his Father in heaven right now.

Why are we broken hearted? It is because we loved our son so much and we are separated from him until we meet him again in heaven. Our grief is but a smathering of the grief that our LORD has for every person that rejects HIS Only Son JESUS. Those who reject HIM are separated from HIM because of sin and HE yearns for them to come to HIM through CHRIST. HE loves them beyond human comprehension. GOD’S desire is for Christians to have the heart of JESUS and to be broken hearted over all who reject a personal relationship with HIM through CHRIST.

GOD called Jeremiah to deliver a tough message to the people of Judah. GOD calls and uses those who will obediently deliver HIS message.  GOD was telling Jeremiah what to tell HIS chosen people of Judah.

It is hard to distinguish between GOD speaking and Jeremiah speaking in this scripture. When Christians obediently serve GOD that is the way it should be; our words need to be GOD’S words. HIS desire is for Christians to have such an intimate relationship with HIM that they are in lockstep with HIM. As we studied a few weeks ago, our lives, Spiritual and physical, need to become so fused that we live in the Spirit. That is what Spiritual growth and maturity through sanctification is all about. Father, here I am as I am, make me and mold me into the person YOU would have me to be.

The book of Jeremiah is difficult because it is not written in chronological order. Jeremiah lived and served during the reign of several different kings mentioned in Jeremiah 1:3. In some instances the scripture reveals the name of the king. In other instances, some of the events that took place after the reign of a certain king are mentioned before his reign. Does this mean the book is flawed? No, because GOD’S message is clear.

In our scripture for this lesson, time had passed from the call of Jeremiah in chapter one to these verses. Jeremiah had been preaching but the people had not been responding to GOD’S message. Their refusal to repent of their sins against GOD doomed them to GOD’S judgment. We must keep in mind the love of GOD and CHRIST as reflected in John 3:16-17 in mind - 16 “For God lovedh Jn 12:43; 1Co 13:1; Gl 2:20; Col 1:13; 3:12; 1Th 1:4; 2Th 2:13,16; 1Jn 4:7-12; Jd 1 the world •in this way:i The Gk word houtos, commonly translated in Jn 3:16 as “so” or “so much” occurs over 200 times in the NT. Almost without exception it is an adverb of manner, not degree (for example, see Mt 1:18). It only means “so much” when modifying an adjective (see Gl 3:3; Rv 16:18). Manner seems primarily in view in Jn 3:16, which explains the HCSB‘s rendering. He gave His •One and Onlyj 1Jn 4:9 Son,k Jn 5:19; Heb 1:2 so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.l Jn 12:25; Rm 5:8; 1Jn 3:16; 4:9-10
17 For God did not send His Son into the world that He might condemnm Jn 8:11 the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.

GOD is not looking to zap you but to love you and build a relationship with you because HE loves you. But as any loving father there are times when punishment is necessary. Notice that GOD did all HE could through Jeremiah to try to get the people to come back to HIM. This is the Old Testament and CHRIST, the promised Messiah, had not come into the world. CHRIST is the fulfillment and embodiment of GOD’S ultimate love for all the people of the world. CHRIST died for all who will accept HIM as their Savior because through HIS death, HE conquered death and as proof GOD, raised HIM from the dead. Just as CHRIST lives, so will all who believe in HIM live eternally. It takes a step of faith to ask CHRIST to forgive you for your sins and to come into your heart. If you have never asked CHRIST into your life, please do it right now because eternity is but a heartbeat away.

In the Old Testament, we see the love of GOD but we also see the wrath of GOD. In the New Testament, the love of GOD is fulfilled in the promised Messiah, JESUS, coming to earth. CHRIST was born as a human subject to all the attributes of a human. HE was capable of sinning and was tempted in all ways as humans are tempted, yet HE remained sinless. Because HE remained sinless, HE became the perfect acceptable sacrifice that GOD required to pay the debt for sin in full. Our part is to accept the fact that CHRIST gave HIS life for us. When we accept HIM as our Savior, GOD’S Spirit unites with our spirit and we experience the miracle of rebirth and become HIS child and receive the gift of eternal life. Once a person becomes a Christian nothing will ever change that relationship and his/her eternal home is with GOD and CHRIST in heaven.

As we study this scripture, notice the extent that GOD went to urge HIS Chosen people to choose HIM to avoid bad things from taking place. GOD gives every person the right to choose and we see in our scripture that the people of Judah also had a choice. They could repent, that is stop doing the things which were against GOD and avoid GOD’S punishment. Or they could keep doing what they were doing, worshipping idols, and have to suffer the consequences. Their rejection of GOD’S offer for them to repent resulted in ending up in exile. The love of GOD is reflected in the fact that HE had a plan to restore them, if they stopped worshiping other gods. When Christians sin, HE is eager to forgive and restore them but they need to confess their wrong doing and stop doing it. GOD is all about forgiveness and restoration. This is reflected in 1 John 1:9 - If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Sin places a barrier between GOD and HIS child. A Christian is still 100% GOD’S child even when he/she is not living for HIM. When a Christian lives according to the dictates of the flesh, it robs him/her of the rewards of obedient service but it never results in him/her loosing his/her status as GOD’S Son or Daughter. Your salvation is secure through CHRIST. For more on this go back to the lessons on the Holy Spirit which began July 1, 2012. (actsclass.bogspot.com)

Let’s read Jeremiah 8:4-7: (GOD was speaking to the prophet Jeremiah)

4 “You are to say to them: This is what the Lord says: Do people fall and not get up again? If they turn away, do they not return? 5 Why have these people turned away? Why is Jerusalem always turning away? They take hold of deceit; they refuse to return. 6 I have paid careful attention. They do not speak what is right. No one regrets his evil, asking, ‘What have I done?’Everyone has stayed his course like a horse rushing into battle. 7 Even the stork in the sky knows her seasons. The turtledove, swallow, and crane are aware of their migration, but MY people do not know the requirements of the Lord.

GOD prompted Jeremiah to use examples of human behavior – falling and getting up, turning away but returning and a comparison to a horse galloping full speed into the battle to highlight the determination of the people to continue in their sin. If various birds use their instinct to migrate, why do humans reject their instinct to return to GOD? When a person falls it is natural for them to get up and move on.

HE used these examples to relate to the spiritual nature of the people. When a person stumbles Spiritually, he/she realizes it and has a desire to restore his/her Spiritual relationship with GOD. But these people had fallen Spiritually and refused to get up (repent). They remained in their fallen state but GOD loved them so much that HIS desire was for them to see the error of their way confess their sins, repent and return to HIM.

GOD’S love is limitless. A person may say, “But I keep sinning” how can GOD continue to love me. That is Satan’s lie to keep the fallen person from returning to HIM and obediently serving HIM. Don’t fall for that lie. GOD says, “I love you with an everlasting love that exceeds anything you can imagine.” Confess your sins, repent and continue to obediently follow CHRIST. Remember 1 John 1:9-10:

9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgives Ps 103:3; Jr 31:34; Mt 9:6; 26:28; Col 1:14; Jms 5:15 us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
10 If we say, “We don’t have any sin,” we make Him a liar, and His wordt Lk 8:21; Heb 4:12 is not in us.u Jn 8:37

GOD was brimming with love for HIS people but they were rejecting HIM, why? There was a presumption of the people in Judah that GOD would not let Judah fall. It was like, we are in GOD’S country, HE is the King and HE is not going to let anything happen to it or us. They assumed that since they were residences of Judah, they were safe and could do as they pleased. Some people today could get that same false sense of security because they have joined a church or their parents were Christians. Remember it is CHRIST in you that makes you a Christian and not the church you may join. Attending a church is important but being a member of a church will not get you to heaven.  They had a relationship with where they resided but not with GOD. Some people depend upon good luck charms to protect them. Hope placed in the wrong things. Because they had this attitude, they had no intension of repenting because they believed that GOD would do nothing to them.

When you take the Bible as a whole, the wrath of GOD in the Old Testament communicates to all people that GOD is serious about sin and people refusing to repent. The beauty of the New Testament is the love of GOD through CHRIST for all people who are willing to repent and accept CHRIST as their Savior. But do not be lulled into thinking that those who refuse CHRIST will not be punished.

Don’t be stubborn like a horse that runs head long into battle. Animals have a natural instinct to migrate but MY people do not know MY requirements. GOD requires people to be righteous. Righteousness cannot be earned by doing good deeds. That is why CHRIST had to give HIS life to pay the penalty for sin so that all who ask HIM to forgive them for their sins and ask HIM to come into their lives, receive forgiveness for their sins – past, present and future. They receive the gift of rebirth, citizenship in heaven, eternal life, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and are made righteous plus much more.

Second Corinthians 5:21:

21 He (GOD) made the One (JESUS) who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Our sins were placed on CHRIST and HIS righteousness was placed in those who receive CHRIST as their Savior. Christians stand before GOD pure and righteous. They can come into HIS presence 24/7. Some may think this is impossible. All things are possible with GOD and this is HIS plan to redeem all who will accept CHRIST as their Savior. Once saved, always saved. Read John 5:24, John 14:6 and John 10:28-30. Then read the lessons published beginning July 1, 2012.

GOD was giving the people of Judah time to ponder what GOD had told them to do to avoid certain disaster. HE used some simple examples of life. When you fall physically in life, you get up. When you know you are going in the wrong direction, you turn around. Then HE raised the question, why don’t you do the same when you fall Spiritually/morally. But the people of Judah would not repent because they did not believe GOD would allow harm to come to them. They were secure in where they were physically and had no intension of embracing GOD Spiritually.

Lament over Judah 

Let’s read Jeremiah 8:8-13:

8 “How can you claim, ‘We are wise; the law of the Lord is with us’? In fact, the lying pen of scribes has produced falsehood. 9 The wise will be put to shame; they will be dismayed and snared. They have rejected the word of the Lord, so what wisdom do they really have? 10 Therefore, I will give their wives to other men, their fields to new occupants, for from the least to the greatest, everyone is making profit dishonestly. From prophet to priest, everyone deals falsely. 11 They have treated superficially the brokenness of My dear people, claiming, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace. 12 Were they ashamed when they acted so abhorrently? They weren’t at all ashamed. They can no longer feel humiliation. Therefore, they will fall among the fallen. When I punish them, they will collapse,” says the Lord. 13 I will gather them and bring them to an end. This is the Lord’s declaration. There will be no grapes on the vine, no figs on the fig tree, and even the leaf will wither. Whatever I have given them will be lost to them. God’s People Unrepentant 

GOD knows the hearts of people. HE knew the hearts of the religious leaders of Judah. In verse 8, GOD raises, in essence, the question of “How can you claim that you are wise, when your foundation of wisdom is a lie?” GOD is the very foundation and embodiment of wisdom. GOD told the people of Judah that they were relying on the scribes to reveal truth and only GOD reveals truth. The problem was that the scribes were lying to them. The trouble was that the people did not want to see the truth and were delighted when the scribes told them a lie. They may have thought that GOD would hold them accountable and not the people. People have the responsibility to discern truth and respond accordingly. It was the feel good notions people get today but base their faith on false hope. Oh, a loving GOD would not do so-and-so. After all we are such good people in our own sight but the Spiritually blind fall into a ditch. When the blind lead the blind, they both fall into a ditch Luke 6:39 – He (JESUS) also told them a parable: “Can the blind guide the blind? Won’t they both fall into a pit? Beware of who presents truth. Only those who know truth can present truth. Yes, they are accountable but so are you.

The people thought they knew truth but GOD told them that their concept of truth was wrong and judgment was coming because they refused to repent. The fact that they refused to repent revealed that they did not know truth. The sad thing is that the scribes, who were supposed to know truth, lied and told the people what they wanted to hear. People today want a feel good religion. Religion will provide whatever they want to hear but you must keep in mind that true Christianity is not a religion but CHRIST in you. Once we become a Christian, we attend a church where we can grow and mature Spiritually. The Holy Spirit guides and reveals truth to all Christians.

GOD told the people of Judah that they would be invaded and devastated unless they repented and stopped worshipping idols.

Let’s read Jeremiah 8:14-17:

Punishment for Judah’s Leaders

14 Why are we just sitting here? Gather together; let us enter the fortified cities and perish there, for the Lord our God has destroyed us. He has given us poisoned water to drink, because we have sinned against the Lord. 15 We hoped for peace, but there was nothing good; for a time of healing, but there was only terror. 16 From Dan the snorting of horses is heard. At the sound of the neighing of mighty steeds, the whole land quakes. They come to devour the land and everything in it, the city and all its residents. 17 Indeed, I am about to send snakes among you, poisonous vipers that cannot be charmed. They will bite you. This is the Lord’s declaration.

The people were talking together. They were pondering their plight. They had hoped GOD would not do what HE had told them HE was going to do but reality set in when it began to happen. They realized that they were doomed. GOD says what HE means and means what HE says. The people were speaking in verses 14-16 and GOD was speaking in verse 17.  It seems that some had already been captured and led into exile, the takeover and destruction had already begun.

GOD told them that HE was sending poisonous snakes that cannot be charmed. In other words, they would not be able to talk their way out of the coming devastation from their enemy. They had refused to repent and the rest was history. GOD goes to every extent to get people to change but the choice is left to them. GOD places many obstacles in the path of people but when they ignore them or refuse to change, the course of events will not be altered. GOD is sovereign and HE is in control of events. Some events to us seem tragic but GOD has a plan to use it for HIS glory. Remember 1 Corinthians 2:8-9:

8 None of the rulers of this age knew this wisdom, for if they had known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9 But as it is written: What eye did not see and ear did not hear, and what never entered the human mind—God prepared this for those who love Him.

A crucified CHRIST seems tragic but a resurrected CHRIST conquered sin and death. Because HE lives so will all who believe in HIM.

Let’s read Jeremiah 8:18-9:1:

18 My joy has flown away; grief has settled on me. My heart is sick. 19 Listen—the cry of my dear people from a far away land, “Is the Lord no longer in •Zion, her King not within her?”Why have they provoked me to anger with their carved images, with their worthless foreign idols? 20 Harvest has passed, summer has ended, but we have not been saved. 21 I am broken by the brokenness of my dear people. I mourn; horror has taken hold of me. 22 Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? So why has the healing of my dear people not come about?

The prophet Jeremiah was broken hearted and his joy was gone over the people not repenting and ending up in exile. HE was known as the crying prophet. This is a good example of loving people but hating the sin that leads them into trouble. The people in exile were perplexed why they ended up in exile. Did this happen because the King, GOD, was no longer in the land? Again, it seems that they had not put 2 and 2 together to acknowledge that they had been the problem, instead they thought GOD had abandoned them. This is so sad when people blame GOD for the things that happen to them, when they are the problem.

Then GOD revealed the problem, it was that they worshipped idols and graven images. Carved images are manmade images. They should be smart enough to know that a dumb carved idol is worthless. But often people place their faith in worthless things – rabbit’s foot, favorite hat or various items of clothing, horoscopes, numbers and the list goes on. GOD had pointed this out to them but they refused to repent. No different from people today. America wake up and pay attention. Christians, the time is upon us to take a stand and throw away the things that keep you from worshipping GOD in Spirit and truth.

As you recall, Jeremiah saw an almond tree, which represented the beginning of spring. Now the harvest was over and summer had past without the people repenting. Their fate was sealed. It seems that some of the people had already been taken into exile. It would be a matter of time until Judah would be devastated. GOD was broken hearted over their plight. You have heard a parent say, “This is going to hurt me more than it does you.” Their refusal to repent broke GOD’S heart and what HE had told them would go to completion. People must know that GOD is serious about sin. Is there nothing that will turn them around? Was there balm or a physician? The answer is yes, so why weren’t they healed. In other words, they had the means to repent and avoid their plight. But they refused.

Jeremiah 9:1:

1 If my head were a spring of water, my eyes a fountain of tears, I would weep day and night over the slain of my dear people.

The people’s rejection of GOD’S offer for them to repent broke HIS heart. If HIS broken heart and crying would have resulted in them repenting, HE would have wept day and night. How much does GOD love you? John 3:16 - “For God lovedh Jn 12:43; 1Co 13:1; Gl 2:20; Col 1:13; 3:12; 1Th 1:4; 2Th 2:13,16; 1Jn 4:7-12; Jd 1 the world •in this way:i The Gk word houtos, commonly translated in Jn 3:16 as “so” or “so much” occurs over 200 times in the NT. Almost without exception it is an adverb of manner, not degree (for example, see Mt 1:18). It only means “so much” when modifying an adjective (see Gl 3:3; Rv 16:18). Manner seems primarily in view in Jn 3:16, which explains the HCSB‘s rendering. He gave His •One and Onlyj 1Jn 4:9 Son,k Jn 5:19; Heb 1:2 so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.l Jn 12:25; Rm 5:8; 1Jn 3:16; 4:9-10 Please accept HIS love by asking CHRIST to forgive you for your sins and to come into your life.

Our hearts are heavy in the sudden physical death of our eldest son, but our anchor holds and we rejoice in the assurance that we will be united with him at the instant we exit our earth suits. Blessings!!!