Wrath of God Generation

RETURN TO SYLLABUS

JEREMIAH 7
Lesson #08
THE GENERATION OF THE WRATH OF GOD

• Memory Verse: Jer 7:28
• Chapters 7-10 de Jeremiah are prophecies that Jeremiah gave to his people after the discovery of the book of Law.
  • Remember that there were only 2 copies of the Word of God, one for the High Priest and one for the King.
  • The people had neglected their complete obedience to the Word of God for many decades.
  • After the reign of several evil kings, the Word of God disappeared.
  • King Josiah, seeking a closer relationship with God, had all the idols removed and pagan temples destroyed. However, it is possible to destroy the physical aspects of pagan religion in society without changing the heart of the people.
  • King Josiah ordered that the temple be cleaned. That is when the high priest, Jeremiah’s father, found the copy of the Word of God (the Law).
  • Read 2Chr 34:8-18 The historical background of Jer 7.
• Read Jer 7:1-15
  • Jeremiah is told to stand at the gate of the temple to give a message to the people.
    • He is calling the people back to the worship of the one true God.
    • “…Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place.” (3)
    • There is a call to repentance. What is true Biblical repentance?
      • Repentance is not just feeling sorry for your sins.
      • Repentance is not feeling ashamed because you were caught in your sins.
      • Repentance begins with a Godly perspective…seeing your sin as God sees sin.
        • This is accomplished only as a person reads the Word of God.
        • When you see your sin from God’s perspective of holiness, it is a humbling experience.
        • In an attitude of humility the repentant person seeks God’s mercy knowing he does not deserve it.
      • Repentance is a change of mind, a change of heart, and a change of life’s direction.
        • In other words, it is a 180 degree turn in your life to go in the opposite direction.
        • It is a determination to walk in obedience to God.
      • Repentance requires faith, a trust in God to accomplish what you have made a determined decision to do.
        • Man cannot accomplish repentance on his own for that is empty works, turning over a new leaf, or a new resolution. That is reformation.
        • Man needs the help of the Holy Spirit to accomplish repentance. Without faith in the Sprit to help change you on the inside, your repentance will not last. Change on the inside by the Holy Spirit is revival.
        • Repentance is followed by works as evidence of a changed heart.
  • The lying words that prove there was no repentance in the heart of the people. (4)
    • After having given a lot of money, the temple was remodeled, repaired, and cleaned It must have been beautiful! Remember that Solomon’s temple had a lot of gold decoration.
    • The attention of the people was drawn to the beauty of the temple and not to the beauty of God. That is why Jeremiah says these people used lying words.
  • In contrast to the people, we see the repentance in the heart of King Josiah.
    • Read 2Chr 34:19-21, 26-33
      • Notice that repentance comes by means of the Word of God in conjunction with the conviction of the Holy Spirit.
      • Notice the humility and the determination to get right with God.
    • Read 2Chr 35:1-8, 18
      • Notice the keeping of the Passover was the evidence of a changed heart.
      • This is the outward works of the evidence of an internal repentance in the heart of the king.
        • Notice that the Israelites did not keep the Passover by faith since the days of Samuel the prophet.
        • Those were the days of King David.
  • How do we know there was no repentance in the hearts of the common people?
    • Jeremiah tells us in Jer 7:5-10 that they did not change their ways.
    • In other words, they did the Passover and returned to performing the temple sacrifices and said they were committed to God, but it was just an outward exercise in futility. Their “repentance” had no good works to prove their faith.
      • They oppressed the foreigners in the land….robbery, false witness in court, and murder.
      • They oppressed the orphans and the widows….robbery and false witness in court.
      • They killed innocent blood…murder and sacrifice of babies to the god Molech.
      • They still held on to the false idols in their hearts and burned incense to false gods in their homes.
  • A modern-day example in the United States:
    • In the United States there was a small revival after World War II. We had several evangelists that experienced very large crowds of people, including Billy Graham. Church attendance grew rapidly. New churches were established throughout the country, some churches and congregations were very large. Everyone was looking at the phenomenal numbers of people that said they were Christians.
    • However, there was no change in the lives of the people spiritually. People did not grow spiritually in their knowledge of the Word of God, in their love for God, in their morality, or in the practice of daily life.
    • There was no change in the moral standards of society. With the age of Rock and Roll music, moral permissiveness increased along with divorce rates, the increase in the use of drugs, and the beginning of the homosexual movement.
    • This was the time that prayer was taken out of school and abortion became legal.
  • A historical example of a true spiritual revival:
    • The Wesleyan movement in England changed lives.
    • It closed bars and almost totally destroyed the liquor business. It changed working conditions in factories and put into place child labor laws. It resulted in laws that outlawed the slave traffic.
  • “In this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, even I have seen it saith the Lord.” (11)
    • This verse reminds us of the time when Jesus walked into the temple and turned over the tables of the moneychangers.
    • In fact Matthew quotes Jer 7:11 and Isa 56:7 when he called them a den of thieves. (Mat 21:13)
  • Shiloh (12, 14)
    • God points to the city of Shiloh as a warning to His people not to mix the worship of God with pagan idolatry.
    • Shiloh was the capital of the Canaanites before Joshua led the Israelites to conquer the land. It was located in the territory given to the tribe of Ephraim. The tabernacle was located there for a short period of time. (Jos 18:1) but even with the tabernacle’s presence there, it was a center of idolatry. (Jdg 18:31) God pronounced judgment and destruction on the Philistines that captured the Ark of the Covenant from Shiloh. (1Sam 4)
• Read Jer 7:16-28
  • “Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to me; for I will not hear thee.” (16)
    • Why does God tell Jeremiah not to pray for the people?
    • There are times when what a person needs in prayer is not what he thinks he needs.
      • Sometimes people ask you to pray for healing, finances, or some particular blessing when what they really need is salvation.
      • God will not hear Jeremiah’s prayers on behalf of his people if he prays for deliverance from the coming destruction.
        • What the people really need is to repent and turn to God. They need salvation.
        • When a person or a nation belongs to God, God has a responsibility to care for them.
    • The unobservable line that must not be crossed:
      • Spiritually speaking there is a line that individuals and nations must not cross, otherwise, if that line is crossed, God will not respond.
      • Unfortunately we do not know where that spiritual line is. However, every time a person or a nation rejects God’s prompting to change their ways, the heart becomes more hardened. At one point in time, that hardened heart has rejected God one too many times. The person or nation has crossed that spiritual line. Then God hardens His heart against that person or that nation.
        • The Biblical example is Pharaoh of Egypt during the time of Moses.
        • With each plague, Pharaoh hardened his own heart a little more against God. (Exo 8:32) Then in Exo 9:12 it says that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart. Where is the line between Pharaoh hardening his own heart and God hardening Pharaoh’s heart? That is the spiritual line that we cannot discern, but God knows.
      • What we see in the book of Jeremiah is that the Southern Kingdom of Judah crosses that spiritual line and it is too late to stop the coming judgment.
  • The worship of the Queen of Heaven (18)
    • God knew their hearts were not repentant toward Him because even the children were gathering wood for the fires that cooked little cakes for an offering to the pagan god they called the Queen of Heaven.
    • This is a specific title for the goddess Semiramis of Egypt and the goddess Ashtoreth of Assyria. It is the same pagan goddess but different cultures that have given her this unifying title, Queen of Heaven.
    • Today in the Roman Catholic Church, this title, Queen of Heaven, is given to Mary, the mother of Jesus. She is worshipped as a goddess.
• Read Jer 7:29-34
  • “Cut off thine hair, O Jerusalem, and cast it away, and take up a lamentation on high places; for the Lord hath rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath.” (29)
  • The generation of God’s wrath for the ultimate abomination:
    • What is the ultimate abomination in God’s sight?
    • The killing of innocent children. (31)
      • The offering of babies as a human sacrifice to idols is beyond comprehension.
      • The god Moloch had a temple on the highest spot in this valley. The god Moloch had a huge metal bowl in his arms. It was heated to red hot. Then in the heated bowl they placed an innocent baby. This was done in the Valley of Hinnom.
        • This was a valley just south of the city of Jerusalem.
        • In Jesus’ day this same valley was the garbage dump for the city Jerusalem.
        • Jesus likened this awful place to the place of Torment in Hades because of the evil done there and because of the fires that burned garbage continually. The smell was atrocious. All kinds of rats, vermin, and wild dogs lived there foraging for food.
        • At the edge of this valley was Potters Field, the burial place for the poor and specifically the place where Judas Iscariot was buried.
    • Why is this crime such a heinous crime from God’s perspective?
      • Children represent the future. For Israel, the hope of the future was in the promise of the coming Messiah.
        • What would have happened if Mary had offered her child, Jesus, as a sacrifice to this pagan god?
        • Every Jewish mother prayed her baby would be the promised Messiah.
      • To sacrifice their children was to give up hope for a coming Messiah.
  • We are a generation that has the same abomination against innocent blood in our society today. It is called abortion.
    • God sent judgment on his people for this abomination.
    • Will God send judgment on nations that permit abortion today? Only God knows that answer.
      • But you say, “We are not offering babies as human sacrifice to pagan gods.”
      • The god of convenience and pleasure is no less a modern-day form of idolatry.
• Summary:
  • God tells Jeremiah that the people will not listen to his message (24-28).
    • They will not repent and turn to God.
    • They will continue going backward in their evil ways instead of going forward with God. (24)
  • God says his people have hardened their neck worse than their forefathers. (26)
  • Therefore God will remove them from the Promised Land to leave the land empty and desolate. (34)

HOMEWORK

Jeremiah 8

• Application of Jer 7
  • As you consider our own culture and nation and see the parallels with Jeremiah’s day, what is it that a committed believer can do to in today’s society to bring about change for God? (be specific)
  • What is it you can do?
• Preparation for Jer 8
  • Read Jer 8:1-22
    • In what two things did the people trust? (19)
    • What do you think is the balm of Gilead?
    • In what should the people have trusted?
• Memory Verse: Jer 8:11