Sermon Cloud

Jeremiah 44
Jeremiah’s Farewell

Honestly, it just seems fitting to end our study of Jeremiah where we ended last week, doesn’t it?  God is happy.  We are happy.  Everything is back to how it was before the fall with the ultimate restoration of mankind, the earth, the heavens, all to the glory of God.  Oh Glory.  But, as I’m sure many have noticed, Jeremiah doesn’t end there.  Today we are going to take a look at the last written words (chronologically) that Jeremiah wrote and how his last oracle gives us a dose of the other reality; although even many today would reject his reality. 

Today we will be covering an extremely heavy topic.  God’s judgment and the idea of Hell are extremely unpopular and many cringe at the very idea of it.  Here are a couple of quotes from an article that was run in the San Francisco chronicle entitled, “Hell losing its fire in American sermons – “too negative” for today’s worshipers.” 

Quote 1 – “There has been a shift in religion from focusing on what happens in the next life to asking, ‘what is the quality of this life we’re leading now?’ You can go to a whole lot of churches week after week, and you’d be startled even to hear a mention of hell.”

Quote 2 – “It’s just too negative.  Churches are under enormous pressure to be consumer oriented.  Churches today feel the need to be appealing rather than demanding.”

There is no need to talk bad about any churches.  That’s not the point.  The point is that I think there is a tendency in all of us to skirt around the truth of the judgment of God.  It’s uncomfortable and unpopular and no one likes that.  However, if we are to be gospel-centered then we do not have the privilege to pick and choose how we describe God and his actions.  So as tempted as I was to avoid this heavy message that Jeremiah delivers I believe it would be trifling with God’s revealed word to do so.

Before we begin looking into the text there are a few presuppositions or starting places I’d like to cover. 

1. God owns all, knows all, created all, and is never indebted to us
2. God does everything for his own glory and his own name’s sake
3. We have been created to worship
4. Our worship was meant for God, but we have perverted it by worshipping other things and God’s response to our belittling of his name, glory, and praise is severe

Now we are ready for what Jeremiah has to say

44:1 “The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Judeans who lived in the land of Egypt, at Migdol, at Tahpanhes, at Memphis, and in the land of Pathros, 2 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: You have seen all the disaster that I brought upon Jerusalem and upon all the cities of Judah. Behold, this day they are a desolation, and no one dwells in them, 3 because of the evil that they committed, provoking me to anger, in that they went to make offerings and serve other gods that they knew not, neither they, nor you, nor your fathers. 4 Yet I persistently sent to you all my servants the prophets, saying, ‘Oh, do not do this abomination that I hate!’ 5 But they did not listen or incline their ear, to turn from their evil and make no offerings to other gods. 6 Therefore my wrath and my anger were poured out and kindled in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, and they became a waste and a desolation, as at this day.”

Historical Context - Since Jeremiah’s prophecy about restoration another one of his prophecies has come to pass: the desolation of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple. All through Jeremiah we’ve heard the accusations and warnings that God has spoken to Judah through Jeremiah.  Just as God had warned Jeremiah, the people did not listen to him.  So now we enter into one of the most bleak and dark moments in the history of Israel.    Jeremiah’s ministry had been one of rejection and his warnings of the fall of the mighty city were not different.  The Babylonians take the city and most of the people they take captive back to Babylon.  Yet, they allow some Judeans to stay; Jeremiah being one of them.  They are to live in Judah under the rule of a governor named Gedaliah.  He is murdered by the Chaldeans.  The Judeans are advised to flee to Egypt to escape more war and famine.  They ask Jeremiah to inquire of the Lord about this decision.  Jeremiah promises peace and safety if they would just remain in Judah in obedience to God, but destruction in they go to Egypt, but they didn’t like the message to stay.  So they left anyway.   They even forced the ones who were willing to stay to go with them to Egypt; including Jeremiah.  This brings us up to date to where we are this morning.  Many Judeans have fled to Egypt for the safety promised there joining others who had probably fled previously.  Jerusalem has fallen; the temple has been destroyed and it seems as if all of God’s previous promises were nothing more than wishful thinking.  Now, while in the foreign land of Egypt, Jeremiah receives the last word from the Lord that he will receive that is written for us to read in the book of Jeremiah.  His last message is to the Judeans who have fled to Egypt and it is a final plea of repentance to avoid judgment from God due to their idolatrous hearts.

God here is saying, “You’ve seen it for yourself.  The holy city is dust because of your evil and wickedness.  You have done what I hate even though I have sent to you prophet after prophet pleading with you to repent and return to me.  But because of Israel’s hard heart and because they would not listen to my word, my wrath was poured out.”  We see that God used the Babylonians to destroy Jerusalem and the temple according to Jeremiah’s words.

7 “And now thus says the Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel: Why do you commit this great evil against yourselves, to cut off from you man and woman, infant and child, from the midst of Judah, leaving you no remnant? 8 Why do you provoke me to anger with the works of your hands, making offerings to other gods in the land of Egypt where you have come to live, so that you may be cut off and become a curse and a taunt among all the nations of the earth? 9 Have you forgotten the evil of your fathers, the evil of the kings of Judah, the evil of their wives, your own evil, and the evil of your wives, which they committed in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? 10 They have not humbled themselves even to this day, nor have they feared, nor walked in my law and my statutes that I set before you and before your fathers.”  11 “Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will set my face against you for harm, to cut off all Judah. 12 I will take the remnant of Judah who have set their faces to come to the land of Egypt to live, and they shall all be consumed. In the land of Egypt they shall fall; by the sword and by famine they shall be consumed. From the least to the greatest, they shall die by the sword and by famine, and they shall become an oath, a horror, a curse, and a taunt. 13 I will punish those who dwell in the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem, with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence, 14 so that none of the remnant of Judah who have come to live in the land of Egypt shall escape or survive or return to the land of Judah, to which they desire to return to dwell there. For they shall not return, except some fugitives.”

Here we see part of God’s motivation in judging Jerusalem.  There is a chorus of questions beginning with ‘why.’  God asks, “Why, why, why?  You have seen my response to the evil in Jerusalem, why do you continue in it?  Did you forget?  Are you doing it on purpose?  This should bring you to your senses!” Judgment is real! God shows through these questions that the desired result from this judgment, and threat of future judgment as well, is to stir people to humble themselves and to fear him.  It is to jostle them out of their slumber and return to Him. 

After bringing these past judgments back to the forefront of their minds, Jeremiah now delivers a message of judgment to these fugitives living in Egypt.  He basically says that you can expect the exact same thing.  What happened in Jerusalem will happen also in Egypt.  Safety and security is not to be found in anything else except God.  Once again, this was meant to bring them back to reality. 

The Refugees’ Response

15 Then all the men who knew that their wives had made offerings to other gods, and all the women who stood by, a great assembly, all the people who lived in Pathros in the land of Egypt, answered Jeremiah: 16 “As for the word that you have spoken to us in the name of the Lord, we will not listen to you. 17 But we will do everything that we have vowed, make offerings to the queen of heaven and pour out drink offerings to her, as we did, both we and our fathers, our kings and our officials, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. For then we had plenty of food, and prospered, and saw no disaster. 18 But since we left off making offerings to the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked everything and have been consumed by the sword and by famine.” 19 And the women said, “When we made offerings to the queen of heaven and poured out drink offerings to her, was it without our husbands' approval that we made cakes for her bearing her image and poured out drink offerings to her?”

Response 1 – God will pass eternal judgment

Their response is telling, isn’t it?  They have been witness, or at least heard about, the most catastrophic event in Israel’s history and there is still no fear of God.  Implied in this response is their attitude, and honestly the attitude of our culture today, concerning eternal judgment and even Hell.  Read verse 16 again.  They respond by saying that they will not listen to what Jeremiah has to say concerning the coming judgment of God.  They are going to continue on doing whatever it is they please and ignore his warning.  They don’t fear him at all.  There is little difference between these Jews’ response to God’s judgment and many responses to God’s judgment today.  Instead of saying, “God’s not going to judge us” what is being said is “How can a loving God create and send anyone to Hell?  The crime doesn’t fit the punishment pal.  What?  I take extra long lunches and cheat on my timesheet, I tell someone on facebook I’m coming to their event and then don’t show up, and I kick puppies so I’m going to Hell?  Eternal judgment is the wrong punishment for that and a loving God wouldn’t do it.  God’s not going to judge me.”  So we come back full circle. 

But would a just God do that?  Would a just God allow his name, his glory, his praise be twisted, perverted, and belittled by his creation and stand by and do nothing?  Would God be just to allow his creation that he made to worship him commit treason against the King of the universe and politely say, ‘no biggie, everyone else is doing it and they don’t expect to be judged for their treason and I don’t want to disappoint them.’  No!  That is not justice.  Hell is God’s first and just response to all who belittle and rob his glory.  You can be sure that it is severe, it is harsh, and it is terrifying.  God is not made according to our opinions, but according to his revelation and he has revealed himself as a God who judges like this.  “Well my god wouldn’t do that.”  Perhaps not, you just better know for sure that it is your god that is ruling the universe.

Then how are we supposed to respond to God being this holy Judge of the universe?  Our proper response is humility and fear: it would be to stand in awe of God knowing that he is bigger, more glorious, more holy, and greater than we could have ever imagined.  The point of these OT texts that show God being so wrathful was never to make us think that he isn’t loving, doesn’t care, or make us fit him into our own box of what is right and what is wrong.  These texts point us to the extreme weight and seriousness of sin and show that it must be paid for.  God will not simply overlook it.  ²³It is because you made offerings and because you sinned against the LORD and did not obey the voice of the LORD or walk in his law and in his statutes and in his testimonies that this disaster has happened to you, as at this day."  God’s glory is a big deal.

Here is where most ‘hellfire and brimstone’ preaching has fallen short.  They would stop here and ask people to repent and believe in Jesus because God’s judgment is going to be Hell.  Now, the problem with that is the threat of Hell never creates worshipers of God.  You don’t get scared into heaven.  That’s because fear of punishment never produces love, it may produce respect and fear, but it does not produce love.  Think about it, especially you parents.  If all you were ever to do was to threaten your kids with punishment would you really expect them to begin to love you?  No, kids love their parents because they have been shown love and have received mercy from them.  In the same way, if all God were to do is threaten us with punishment would you expect to yourself or anyone else to begin to love him?

Response 2 – God shows love and mercy through Jesus Christ

So God provides a second response to our treason and belittlement of his name.  He shows us mercy. 

Some of you may be saying, “Hold up, if all of this was leading to God’s mercy why spend so much time or even talk about judgment?”  My answer to that would be that I think it is extremely important for everyone to know exactly what it is that God is saving you from.  He is saving you not from Satan, not from yourself, and definitely not from a hard life;  He is saving you from his own divine wrath that would justly be poured out on us all if God were not loving and merciful. 

Furthermore, how are we to rightly understand the fullness of God’s mercy if we never think about his glory and the severity of our sin.  We are to taste and see that God has saved us from his eternal wrath into eternal joy and feel that weight upon our souls and allow it to push us to worship the One who is worthy of worship.  To the extent that we see the depravity of our sin is to the extent we see the gloriousness of God’s mercy.

And this begs another question, “How can God show mercy, yet remain just?”  The answer is through the cross of Jesus Christ.  So what is God’s response to us treasonous rebels who belittle his glory?  He was moved by love to slaughter his Son on the Cross.  Christ was moved by love to come as a man, live a perfect life, be obedient to death on a cross, and rise from the dead that whosoever believes in Him will receive mercy and pardon.  What does John 3:16 say?  That’s the G-rated version of what really happened.  Instead think that Jesus bore the entire wrath of God being beaten, whipped, shamed, spat on, hung on a cross, and murdered which must have felt like only a hangnail compared to the mental and spiritual torment he received from the Father’s wrath.  That is what Jesus has done and that is what mercy has cost.

Application:

There are really only two places to end up with this.  To those of you who have put your trust in Jesus and have received his mercy: don’t think you have the day off.  First, remember back in verse 16 where these Jews respond by saying that they wouldn’t listen?  I’m sure some of you thought, “Wow, I cannot believe that after all that stuff happened in Jerusalem and to the temple that they would still not believe Jeremiah.  I mean, he predicted all that stuff and it happened!”  But I say to you, do you not believe that the judgment that is rightfully yours has fallen on Jesus Christ, and yet say “Lord, I am not going to listen.”  This is not completely discounting God’s judgment, but it is taking it lightly and cheapening God’s grace.  We cheapen grace when we begin to think and act like we can repay God or we can fix what is broken.  We can add nothing to grace.  In order for us to truly see Hell as a pure expression of God’s love (what I mean by that is God the Son went through Hell to prove His love) for us we must never think that we can do anything to please God more; whether that is giving up the American dream, being consistent on Sundays, or whatever.  Our only boast is that Jesus Christ took the fullness of God’s wrath onto himself for us. 

Secondly, and flowing from this, we need to keep Jesus central in everything.  I, and many others, have a firm belief in God’s sovereignty over all things and that we are chosen and changed by His grace.  However, something has gone terribly wrong when we begin to try to convert people to our pet issues instead of proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ just.  For you it may be charismatic gifts, some sort of view on the end times, or maybe even a specific way of doing ministry.  Let us keep the main thing the main thing.  We can’t do this alone.

Now there are others here who may or may not believe in a final judgment from God and who do not believe God sent Jesus, delivered him to the cross, that we may receive mercy.  To you I only want to plead with you based on a few of the last words written here by Jeremiah.

24 Jeremiah said to all the people and all the women, “Hear the word of the Lord, all you of Judah who are in the land of Egypt. 25 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: You and your wives have declared with your mouths, and have fulfilled it with your hands, saying, ‘We will surely perform our vows that we have made, to make offerings to the queen of heaven and to pour out drink offerings to her.’ Then confirm your vows and perform your vows! 26 Therefore hear the word of the Lord, all you of Judah who dwell in the land of Egypt: Behold, I have sworn by my great name, says the Lord, that my name shall no more be invoked by the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, ‘As the Lord God lives.’ 27 Behold, I am watching over them for disaster and not for good. All the men of Judah who are in the land of Egypt shall be consumed by the sword and by famine, until there is an end of them. 28 And those who escape the sword shall return from the land of Egypt to the land of Judah, few in number; and all the remnant of Judah, who came to the land of Egypt to live, shall know whose word will stand, mine or theirs. 29 This shall be the sign to you, declares the Lord, that I will punish you in this place, in order that you may know that my words will surely stand against you for harm: 30 Thus says the Lord, Behold, I will give Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies and into the hand of those who seek his life, as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who was his enemy and sought his life.”

I know I didn’t answer every question or address every argument, but I plead with you to consider Jeremiah’s words here (v. 25-28).  God has revealed himself.  He has revealed himself as holy, just, and judge of the world.  The reality that Jeremiah speaks of is that judgment will come regardless of who you believe God is or what you believe about his judgments.  God tells you who he is and what he does, we don’t get to make that up ourselves.  I plead with you to consider the severity and the kindness of God.  Turn to Jesus and ask for the mercy he offers by his dying on the cross by which he took God’s wrath.  God’s warning is simple.  We will see who’s word will stand, yours or his.