The Ambassador Group

Jeremiah

00. Jeremiah: Introduction

01. Jeremiah: The Prophetic Calling of Jeremiah

02. Jeremiah: The Crisis Within and Without

03. Jeremiah: The Last Five Kings of Judah

04. Jeremiah: Rebuke and Retribution

05. Jeremiah: More Woes for the Prophet

06. Jeremiah: Symbolic Acts

07. Jeremiah: The Crisis Continues

08. Jeremiah: Josiah’s Reforms

09. Jeremiah: Jeremiah’s Yoke

10. Jeremiah: The Destruction of Jerusalem

11. Jeremiah: The Covenant

12. Jeremiah: Back to Egypt

13. Jeremiah: Lessons from Jeremiah

Welcome to another in-depth exploration of the book of Jeremiah written by Imre Tokic, Ph.D., LLD.

Edited for audio and produced by the Ambassador group.

Exploration 9 Jeremiah's Yoke Then Jesus said to the crowd, If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily and follow me.

Luke 9, verse 23, New Living Translation.

As we have already seen, God's prophets preached not only through words, but also through object lessons.

At times, the prophets had to live out the message.

At times, the prophets had to live out the messages.

It was another way to get the point across.

Thus, Jeremiah again was called to live out the words he was to deliver.

This is what the Lord said to me, ìMake a yoke and fasten it on your neck with leather straps.î Jeremiah chapter 27 and verse 2.

That had to have been a burdensome task, even under the best of circumstances.

In this case, it became harder because a false prophet challenged what Jeremiah said.

In this exploration, we can get a powerful look at truth and error contending for the hearts and minds of the people.

We will discover, too, how a message of grace can also be a false message.

Jeremiah also was forbidden to enter into mourning when others mourned and rejoicing when others rejoiced.

The point was to help the people realize what was coming because of their sins, and so to repent and obey, lessening the dismal consequence of their sinful actions.

A Solitary Life A Solitary Life No question, Jeremiah's Latin life wasn't an easy 1.

Things, though, were even harder than we might have imagined.

Listen to Jeremiah chapter 16, verses 1 through 13, from the New Living Translation.

However harsh, in what ways would it have been a blessing to the prophet?

He said, do not get married or have children in this place, for this is what the Lord says about the children born here in this city and about their mothers and fathers.

No 1 will mourn for them or bury them, and they will lie scattered on the ground like manure.

They will die from war and famine, and their bodies will be food for the vultures and wild animals." Judah's Coming Punishment This is what the Lord says, Do not go to funerals to mourn and show sympathy for these people.

For I have removed my protection and peace from them.

I have taken away my unfailing love and my mercy.

Both the Great and the lowly will die in this land.

Their friends will not cut themselves in sorrow or shave their heads in sadness.

No 1 will offer a meal to comfort those who mourn for the dead, not even at the death of a mother or father.

No 1 will send a cup of wine to console them.

Do not eat and drink with them at all, for this is what the Lord of Heaven's armies, the God of Israel, says, in your own lifetime, before your very eyes, I will put an end to the happy singing and laughter in this land.

The joyful voices of bridegrooms and brides will no longer be heard.

When you tell the people all these things, They will ask, Why has the Lord decreed such terrible things against us?

What have we done to deserve such treatment?

What is our sin against the Lord our God?

Then you will give them the Lord's reply.

It is because your ancestors were unfaithful to me.

They worshipped other gods and served them.

They abandoned me and did not obey my word.

And you are even worse than your ancestors.

You stubbornly follow your own evil desires and refuse to listen to me.

So I will throw you out of this land and send you into a foreign land where you and your ancestors have never been.

There, you can worship idols day and night, and I will grant you no favors." Now let's compare those words with Hosea chapter 1 verses 1 through 3.

The Lord gave this message to Hosea son of Beeri during the years when Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah were kings of Judah, and Jeroboam son of Jehoash was king of Israel.

Hosea's Wife and Children When the Lord first began speaking to Israel through Hosea, He said to him, go and marry a prostitute, so that some of her children will be conceived in prostitution.

This will illustrate how Israel has acted like a prostitute by turning against the Lord and worshipping other gods.

So Hosea married Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim, and she became pregnant and gave Hosea a son.

In contrast to Hosea, who was to marry a harlot in order to show just how corrupt the relationship had become between the Lord and Israel due to the nation's spiritual harlotry, Jeremiah was to refrain from marriage and from having children altogether.

This was something rather rare and extreme for that time and culture.

In Israel, starting a family was very important for every young man.

Besides the love and companionship between spouses, it was also important to carry on the family name.

Why did God forbid Jeremiah from starting a family?

So that Jeremiah's own life would be an object lesson on how terrible that time would be when families broke up and when the pain of separation became a heavy burden on the survivors.

Jeremiah's lack of family life was a constant warning and lesson for his contemporaries.

Jeremiah's solitary lot extended into other areas as well.

He was forbidden to enter a house where there was mourning.

This would symbolize the people's unwillingness to respond to God's calls for repentance and revival.

Along with times of mourning, he was not to join their festivals of joy and celebration.

This was to symbolize the coming time when the Babylonians would bring an end to all of their joy and rejoicing.

In these ways, The human bonds that are forged, whether in mourning or joy, would be denied Jeremiah.

His life and the sorrows of his life were to be object lessons, if only the nation would learn from them.

Jeremiah's Yoke Let's listen to Jeremiah chapter 27 verses 1 through 18 and answer these questions.

What is the message of the Lord to the people?

Why would this seem treasonous to many who heard it?

This is what the Lord said to me, Make a yoke and fasten it on your neck with leather straps.

Then send messages to the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, and Sidon through their ambassadors who have come to see King Zedekiah in Jerusalem.

Give them this message for their masters.

This is what the Lord of Heaven's armies, the God of Israel, says, With my great strength and powerful arm I made the earth and all its people and every animal.

I can give these things of mine to anyone I choose.

Now I will give your countries to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, who is my servant.

I have put everything, even the wild animals, under his control.

All the nations will serve him, his son, and his grandson until his time is up.

Then many nations and great kings will conquer and rule over Babylon.

So you must submit to Babylon's king and serve him.

I will punish any nation that refuses to be his slave, says the Lord.

I will send war, famine, and disease upon that nation until Babylon has conquered it.

Do not listen to your false prophets, fortune tellers, interpreters of dreams, mediums, and sorcerers who say, The King of Babylon will not conquer you.

They are all liars, and their lies will lead to your being driven out of your land.

I will drive you out and send you far away to die.

But the people of any nation that submits to the king of Babylon will be allowed to stay in their own country to farm the land as usual.

I the Lord have spoken." Then I repeated this same message to King Zedekiah of Judah.

If you want to live, submit to the yoke of the King of Babylon and his people.

Why do you insist on dying, you and your people?

Why should you choose war, famine, and disease, which the Lord will bring against every nation that refuses to submit to Babylon's king.

Do not listen to the false prophets who keep telling you the king of Babylon will not conquer you.

This is what the Lord says, I have not sent these prophets.

They are telling you lies in my name, so I will drive you from this land.

You will all die, you and all these prophets too.

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Jeremiah

09. Jeremiah: Jeremiah’s Yoke

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