THE CRISIS CONTINUESLesson 7

Key Text:

“ ‘But let him who glories glory in this, that he

understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord,

exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and

righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight,’ says

the Lord”

Jeremiah 9:24

The travails and trials of God’s servant continue. In fact, pretty much all of the book of Jeremiah deals with the challenges and struggles the prophet had in trying to get the people to listen to the words that the Lord was seeking to convey to them out of love and concern.

Imagine what would have happened if the people had listened to Jeremiah and had accepted the prophet’s warning. If they had listened—if the people, the kings, and the leaders had humbled themselves before God—the terrible crisis would not have come. The chance for repentance was before them.

Even after they had done so much wrong, so much evil, the door to redemp-tion and salvation had not closed.

The door stood open; they simply refused to walk through it.

Again, it’s so easy for us today to shake our heads at the hardness of their hearts. “Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come” (1 Cor. 10:11, NKJV). We have these examples before us; what will we learn from them?

Causes for the fall of Judah:• Lie and pride (Jeremiah 9)• Idolatry

(Jeremiah 10:1-15)

How to avoid the fall:• A call to repentance (Jeremiah 26:1-6)

Judah’s response:• A death threat (Jeremiah 26:7-15)• Jeremiah is absolved (Jeremiah 26:16-24)

LIE AND PRIDE“Oh, that my head were waters, and my eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!” (Jeremiah 9:1)

Why was Jeremiah so sad?Jeremiah cried because Judah was going to be condemned. The people could avoid that condemnation if they repented from their sins. But Jerusalem didn’t want to listen to his message (Luke 19:41-44).

Which were Judah’s sins?

•“Everyone will deceive his neighbor, and will not speak the truth; they have taught their tongue to speak lies; they weary themselves to commit iniquity.” (Jeremiah 9:5).Lie•“Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, let not the mighty man glory in his might, nor let the rich man glory in his riches.” (Jeremiah 9:23).

Pride

“God is the source of all wisdom. He is infinitely wise and just and good. Apart from Christ, the wisest men that ever lived cannot comprehend Him. They may profess to be wise; they may glory in their attainments; but mere intellectual knowledge, aside from the great truths that center in Christ, is as nothingness. ‘Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom: ... but let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth Me, that I am the Lord which exercise loving-kindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth.’ Jeremiah 9:23, 24”

E.G.W. (Counsels to Parents, Teachers, and Students; section 2; cp. 9; pg. 66)

I D O L AT R Y“Thus says the Lord: ‘Do not learn the way of the Gentiles; do not be dismayed at the signs of heaven, for the Gentiles are dismayed at them. For the customs of the peoples are futile; for one cuts a tree from the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the ax.’” (Jeremiah 10:2-3)GOD

• Great in might (v.6)

• Fearsome (v. 7)

• True (v. 10)

• The living God (v. 10)

• At His wrath the earth will tremble (v. 10)

• He has made the earth by His power (v. 12)

• He rules the Creation with His voice (v. 13)

IDOLS

• Futile (v. 8, 15)

• They must not be feared (v. 5)

• Liars (v. 14)

• They shall perish (v. 15)

• They cannot do good or evil (v. 5)

• They have not made the heavens (v. 11)

• They cannot speak (v. 5)

God’s people copied everything the pagan nations did (maybe they’re still doing the same).Is it worth following customs and beliefs that have no purpose instead of trusting and obeying the only true and powerful God?

Read Jeremiah 10:1–15. What is the Lord telling His people here? If this same warning were given today, in our time and culture and context, how might it be written?

Jeremiah is telling the people what they should have already known: these pagan gods are nothing but human creations, figments of people’s own demonically warped imaginations. This is a prime example of what Paul, writing centuries later, meant when he wrote about those who “changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen” (Rom. 1:25).

Notice in this verse how Paul contrasts the creation and the Creator. This same contrast is presented in these verses in Jeremiah, which talk about the impotence and weakness of these “gods” in contrast to the true One. All through these texts Jeremiah is trying to show the people how foolish and silly it is to put their trust in these things, which are incapable of doing anything. All this in contrast to the Creator God, who not only created the world but sustains it by His power (see Heb. 1:3).

A CALL TO REPENTANCE“Perhaps everyone will listen and turn from his evil way, that I may relent concerning the calamity which I purpose to bring on them because of the evil of their doings.” (Jeremiah 26:3)

There is a clear message throughout the Bible: repent sincerely; God will forgive you and deliver you (2Chr. 6:37-39; Ez. 14:6; Mt. 3:2; Lk. 24:47; Acts 17:30).We all have sinned and deserve death. Nevertheless, God has provided a way for us to be saved through the Cross.God is still patient and merciful to us today.

“In mercy to the world, Jesus delays His coming, that sinners may have an opportunity to hear the warning and find in Him a shelter before the wrath of God shall be poured out.”

E.G.W. (The Great Controversy, cp. 26, pg. 458)

A DEATH THREAT“Now it happened, when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking all that the Lord had commanded him to speak to all the people, that the priests and the prophets and all the people seized him, saying, ‘You will surely die!’” (Jeremiah 26:8)

Jeremiah reaffirmed his prophecy and called the people to repentance again (v. 12-13).He waited for the judges’ decision with a clear conscience. If they killed him, they would be spilling innocent blood (v. 14-15).We should show the same courage when people accuse us because of our faith.

Jeremiah prophesied the destruction of the temple and Jerusalem, thus he was death threatened. A judgement against the prophet took place (v. 10).

JEREMIAH IS ABSOLVED“So the princes and all the people said to the priests and the prophets, ‘This man does not deserve to die. For he has spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God.’” (Jeremiah 26:16)

Some people still had a healthy conscience.They understood that Jeremiah was not responsible for his threatening message, but God was. So he asked the judges to free the prophet.They argued that other prophets prophesied similar things in the past.

Gamaliel defended the apostles like that some centuries later. He concluded this way: “lest you even be found to fight against God.” (Acts 5:39).

The acquittal em-phasized that Jeremiah was not guilty of those things he was accused of. Howe-ver, the priests’ and prophets’ hatred became stronger.

Anger and the de-sire for revenge rose in them so that at a later time they would pounce on Jeremiah with their full fury. His release meant only a moment of ease for the prophet. He was not completely out of danger.

What we can see here is an example of how some people learned lessons from history while others, knowing the same history, refused to learn the same lessons. We can see something similar centuries later, with the Pharisee Gama-liel and his caution to other leaders concerning how to handle the followers of Jesus.

SAUL

GAMALIEL

“What is the duty of the messenger of truth? Shall he conclude that the truth ought not to be presented, since often its only effect is to arouse men to evade or resist its claims? No; he has no more reason for withholding the testimony of God’s word, because it excites opposition, than had earlier Reformers. The confession of faith made by saints and martyrs was recorded for the benefit of succeeding generations. Those living examples of holiness and steadfast integrity have come down to inspire courage in those who are now called to stand as witnesses for God. They received grace and truth, not for themselves alone, but that, through them, the knowledge of God might enlighten the earth. Has God given light to His servants in this generation? Then they should let it shine forth to the world.”

E.G.W. (The Great Controversy, cp. 26, pg. 459)

The sundering of the divine powers?

So great was God’s love for us that the Godhead, whose members loved each other from eternity, en-dured this “sundering” in order to redeem us. “ ‘My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?’ ” (Matt. 27:46) is the clearest and most powerful expression of that “sundering,” of what it cost to save us. Here, we can again see the pain and suffering the Lord has endured because of our sin.

No wonder, then, that “we love be-cause he first loved us” (1 John 4:19, NIV). Of course, as fallen humans we only imitate that love, and even that imitation is often warped by our own selfishness and sinful de- sires. God’s love transcends ours; we reflect God’s love the way an oily mud puddle reflects the sky.

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