Shalom. Thank you, Pastor David and Pastor Mark, for this privilege to address Cross Points Church this morning on a very significant day in the church calendar.
Today I want to give each of you, as Brother Ernie used to say, some machine gun Bible texts in a rapid-fire manner that together tell a story, the story of God’s heart for the peoples of the earth. A story that began in the beginning and ends, in a world that doesn’t end. His story is our commission, that is, we are part of his story that is told this year in 2024 and each day of our lives. We are actors; we are participants in the Great Story of God’s love and redemption of all mankind.
Let’s listen to these, and I hope you will stay with me.
1) Genesis 12.1-3, Abraham receives the call of God to leave his family and go to a place he doesn’t know, and God promises him a three-fold blessing of seed, bounty and a land and what did he do as a result? Gen 12.5 He took his wife and possessions which would have included slaves and all his household goods, and the Bible says he took “the souls” he gathered. The rabbis teach that those ‘souls’ were converts to the Abrahamic religion. Abraham heard from God and immediately gathered others to follow this God. Being a disciple includes gathering souls.
2) Exodus 19.5-6 The scene is at Mt Sinai, 3 million Jewish people have just left slavery in Egypt. We are about to receive the Ten Commandments. God tells Moses that the people of Israel are special. Called to be a Kingdom of priests. Great. Wait a minute; Whom do priests serve? Themselves? Not at all. Priests serve others. If Israel is to be priests, the nations must be in God’s view.
3) Lev. 19:9-10 ‘aNow when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very corners of your field, nor shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest. Nor shall you glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather the fallen fruit of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the needy and for the stranger. I am the LORD your God.” Corners of the field are for others. Don’t be selfish; let others gain from your prosperity. Lev. 19.27 You shall not round off the side-growth of your heads nor harm the edges of your beard.
4) Numbers 15.37-40 Wear tassels, fringes on the Corners of your garments. God is reminding the Jewish people saying Don’t forget the four corners of the earth. It’s not a private religion I’m creating; the garments you wear are to remind you to extend. The beard you grow is to remind you. Extend. Look beyond your borders. Four is the biblical number of universalism in contrast to particularism. Particular is about Israel; universal is about the world. It’s not about you, Israel, it’s for everyone. Abraham understood that and gathered folks.
For time’s sake, let’s jump ahead…
5) Jonah… You might remember him. A prophet, but a failure, dismal failure. He goes to Ninevah, the capital of the Assyrian empire, to tell the pagans of God’s love and it works. Jonah 3.7-9 The mayor (Bible says, “King”) of Ninevah repents, and demands the entire country to join him in proclaiming Yahweh their king. Jonah is a successful missionary, at least for Ninevah, but Jonah is not happy. But, backup in the story, Jonah 1.3 Jonah left a little seaside village named Joppa, skipped town, tried to avoid the whole God thing, and that didn’t work out so well for him. He ended up being successful in his preaching to “those people’, the dreaded enemies of the Jewish people, so that they repented and became followers of the God of Israel, but his end is dismal. Jonah 4.1 He was angry. Can you imagine the And Jonah 4.3, Jonah 4.8, Jonah 4.9 three times in the final chapter he said he would rather be dead than to live if that’s the way God was going to treat those evil and foreign Gentiles.
6) If I may, two more scenes, and for many of you, the more comfortable side of the Bible. Look at the Newer Testament, in the book of Acts chapter 10, the scene with Cornelius, the Roman centurion who was a good guy, and we will see the apostle Peter. Cornelius is a military leader and had donated to the Jewish people under his charge. (Acts 10.5) In a dream God told Cornelius to dispatch men to Joppa, to find Peter, and to invite him back to his place. OK, no problem. At about the same time, Peter is down in Joppa (which, by the way, is wrapped around by modern-day Tel Aviv) and has a noon-time dream. Acts 10.11 A vision with a four-cornered sheet filled with unclean foods for Jewish people. Four-footed animals, and things we can find on Metcalf, like Red Lobster shrimp and bacon double cheeseburgers and such. Acts 10.13 A voice tells Peter to “Rise, kill and eat” Peter reminds God that he’s Jewish and so doesn’t eat such things. God answers him Acts 10.15 saying “What God has cleansed, no longer consider unclean.”
This dream came to Peter three times and you would think that Peter got it. After all, he had walked with Yeshua, with Jesus, for years. He had preached for 9 chapters and probably about 10 years by this time. Acts 10.17 “Peter was greatly perplexed in mind as to what the vision which he had seen might be” That means, even though he understood so much of God, the Bible says he didn’t get it. But overnight, God answered his query, and Peter answered the invitation, really a subpoena by the military Roman, and went to Caesarea. He travels the 54 kilometres north to tell Cornelius about the Lord, and Cornelius has gathered many in his home to hear God’s word. Some of the missionaries here in church today will tell you that in some Latino or Asian villages where they travel, a person will do just that, invite neighbours and others to hear the missionary speak about God. Those are awesome moments for each of us. Acts 10.28 may be a Bible verse you want to memorise if you are not Jewish, as it’s a significant reminder of who got you into this. There in his sermon, Peter tells the gathered, “God has shown me that I should not call any man unholy or unclean.” The four-cornered sheet vision was not about lunch for Peter, about those unclean foods. It was about people like folks in Rome or in Shawnee who eat those foods. The vision was about Gentiles being made clean in the same way Jews can be made clean. Titus 3.5-6 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Spirit. 1 John 1.7 It’s the blood of Jesus that cleanses us and makes us right with God. God has done it all for each of us. Every Jew in this sanctuary ought to praise him; every Gentile in the sanctuary ought to shout Hallelujah! Amen!
7) Revelation 5.9-10 In the final book of the Bible, and we could find many of these themes in so many of the books, but again, for time’s sake, we narrow our focus. We read, “Worthy are You to take the 1book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation .(Four again) You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God, and they will reign upon the earth.” God is saying that the redeemed are to be a kingdom and priests. A repeat of the call to Israel in Exodus. A reminder that the four corners of our robes or even of the facial hair, of the fields we harvest, everything about God is the extension of his rule over the planet. He wants us, as participants in this drama, to be kings and priests, to take his message, his love, his care to Lackman Road, to the 30,000 folks in our radius, to the ends of the earth. And to be happy about doing so.
Remember Jonah, although he was a success he was a racist, and didn’t want those undeserving Gentiles to hear about God. Oh, did you notice that Jonah and Peter were both in the village named Joppa. Both received the call to take the message of God to others. And the others were the dreaded enemies of the Jewish people? For Jonah is was Assyria. For Peter it was Rome. Both were military occupiers of the land of Israel. Both were enemies of the Jews. To each God wanted to share his love and care. And God chose a person to go to them. Jonah was reluctant but eventually went, and won them over, but failed due to his hatred of the Assyrians. Peter won the folks at Cornelius’ house, and won Romans 5.5 because the love of Jesus has been poured out into his life, and we can say, into our lives.
Abraham gathered foreigners and went to the Promised Land. Each missionary in this sanctuary and the others whom you will support today, and all year by your donations, gather souls to the Lord. That includes my work among the Jewish people of Australia and in Middle Tennessee, or Curtis and Mei Lin of Hong Kong and around Asia, or Bill and so many in Latin America, and each of the teams of YWAM around the globe, and all the unnamed but powerful emissaries you send.
I’m thinking of Adam in Western Australia, of another Andy in Sydney, both about 40 years old, both Jews, now both followers of Yeshua because we were there when God called them. We had the funds. We had the spiritual energy. God opened their eyes to the Gospel. I’m thinking of Michael, a very observant Jew in Sydney who found us on LiveChat and gave his life to the Lord with me a couple of years ago. He is now married, has a new baby, and loves his new life in the Lord. And Philip, my former dentist, now retired, for whom I was there at his time of spiritual hunger, so that now he’s following our Messiah. The list goes on and on. And we’re not done. The work is ever-expanding and ever-replicating, as God’s mission is our mission.
Dear saints at Cross Points, we missionaries thank you. We owe you. We honour you for the lavish grace you pour out on us. May I mention specifically the teams that care for us on the field, the prayer nets like the one that Wolfgang and Betty Jo lead in their home and on Zoom? Those nets are deep and powerful and keep us on the field and in the Spirit.
I’ve tried to show you that this drama, this story of God and the people of the earth began in the beginning and won’t end until Jesus returns and puts his foot down in Jerusalem, establishing his kingdom and rulership. Revelation 11.15 The kingdoms of this world will become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His messiah. Until that day we missionaries work. Until that day, each of us watching online or here in the sanctuary, who are disciples, want three things. We want 1) to be with Jesus, 2) to become like him, and 3) to do what he did.
God’s mission is our mission.
The people of Shawnee, of Johnson County, of Missouri and Kansas, of the US, and the people of the world await God’s mission.
Will you join him?
If you are not yet a believer in and follower of the Lord, I invite you to hear these words and to receive them. I’m speaking to you, perhaps a visitor for the first time to this building today, or even watching much later on the internet. God wants you to know him and to follow him, to bring others along with you to him, to be with him and to do what he does. He is reaching out among the peoples of the earth to share his care and peace in a turbulent and troubled world. Even your world.
I implore you to say ‘yes’ to Yeshua, to Jesus, and to become his disciple and follower. Learn of him. He is gentle and lowly and loves each of us. Thank God his arms are open to you, today, just now. Be forgiven of your sins, repent, and turn from them, be baptised and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and yours and all who are far off. Thanks be to God for his immeasurable gift.
Thanks to the pastors, the staff, the elders, the musicians, all the volunteers, and each of you, members of Cross Points, who make this place a City on a Hill, a light, a beacon of hope for the area. Let’s keep being about God’s business until Jesus returns. From me personally, after receiving 45 years of continued care and love, please hear my sincerest gratitude.
Shalom.
This painting from the 16th century and is held in the Museum of Fine Art in Budapest, Hungary.
To listen to this on my podcast, click this link: link to Spotify
Last week in Australia we commemorated National Reconciliation Week with parades and seminars, with public speeches and quiet resolution. And today we continue to process those lessons and seminars by reading this lesson from John chapter 4. It’s a lesson which includes racism, and I don’t think we should shy away from it this week. Racism is a horrible disease and it’s malignant in almost all countries and societies. Even here in Sydney and certainly in the bush.
Listen, I read the Bible so that I can be a better person. A better husband and father. A better neighbour. A better human. I don’t read the Bible to teach it. I don’t read the Bible to win a contest on a television game show. I read and listen to what the book has to say so that the principles of the Scriptures can have their way in my life, and as a result, the world is a better place.
In this story today we see a weary, tired, thirsty Jesus approach a woman of questionable status and parentage. She’s called a Samaritan. Technically, she’s not what we title a “Jew.” Today we don’t have any of those by name, but they existed well in the days of Yeshua. A bit of geography if I might. Jerusalem is in the southern part of the land. Galilee up north. 750 years before this episode, back in 722 BCE the northern 10 tribes of Israel were conquered and taken back to Assyria, further up north. After a generation or two, the Assyrian government did what many conquering peoples did to widen their territory and widen their influence. They forced the Israelites to intermarry with the Assyrians and Babylonians and other peoples, (2 Kings 17.24ff) and put them along with their children back in their original land. The settling of mixed-race people, these half-breeds, would widen the influence and tax base of Assyria, moving them that much closer to regional political and military dominance. That area south of the Galilee and north of Jerusalem came to be known as Samaria.
The peoples who settled in that region are called Samaritans.
Today we call this area the West Bank, but Israelis today label it ‘Shomron’ or simply Samaria.
Judeans, the ‘proper’ Jews who lived in the South, in the area of the tribe of Judah, were ‘city dwellers.’ Galileans were country bumpkins. The folks who lived along the Mediterranean were seafarers and merchants, but no one respected Samaritans. They were none of the above. They were living in no-man’s land, really simply no-Judean’s land.
In the light of last week’s reconciliation conversations, in light of racial tensions even concerning the government’s desire for The Voice in parliament, we need to stop and think about this hostility between half-brothers, if you will, between Jews and Samaritans. Look at verse 9,
“The Samaritan woman said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask me for a drink since I am a Samaritan woman?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)” (John 9.9)
Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. No relationships. I continue to be amazed at families that are split into pieces because for instance that uncle won’t speak with that sister-in-law, or if he attends the wedding of my cousin then the other side of the family won’t attend. Family splits are painful at times, and I believe we can learn some serious life lessons in this one chapter of the Bible. Are you still listening?
Jews, that is, pure bred Jewish people who lived near Jerusalem saw Samaritans as stained, impure, not kosher. If you as a Jew would hang out with a Samaritan, the tainted nature of the half-breeds might well taint YOU! That’s dangerous on a civil level and on a religious one. It also might impact your economy.
This is not only an ancient problem. There are Polish Jews in Melbourne with whom Hungarian Jews in Sydney won’t deal. There are South African Jews who immigrated here 20 years ago with whom the established Australian Jews won’t give the time of day. The Israeli Jews who migrate here don’t always find the welcome among our Jewish countrymen, but often do find such a welcome in the church! There are people who don’t trust each other or don’t regard one another well simply by their birthplace or their race. How outrageous is that! Russian Jews and Ukrainian Jews have historical antagonism instead of the love of God to share.
Mind you, this is not only a Jewish problem. You might hear of someone who attends that church, or is from an island you don’t trust, who wears certain clothing or eats for dinner what you consider ridiculous animals, and suddenly they are not ‘your type of people.’ Racism is not limited to religion, and the Jewish people are not alone in this serious problem we are addressing today.
“Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John (although Jesus Himself was not baptizing, but His disciples were)” (John 4.1-2)
Verses one and two highlight something about our responsibility as believers. Let me explain. Yeshua was getting credit for baptising people, even though he himself wasn’t doing much of that, but his disciples were doing this. My takeaway from that is that what we do directly correlates to the credit OR THE DEBIT that Yeshua receives from those around us. When we do things well, and represent him well, then he gets the credit. That’s what I want! When I do wrong and am known as a representative of the King of Kings, he now receives the blame. The liability is his due to my bad behaviour.
Most unbelievers will have several objections to our religion, but the #1 objection I hear is that the church has done much wrong in the name of Jesus and thus the unbeliever sees himself as correct in blaming the one they represent, that is, they blame Yeshua. Especially we Jewish people today look at the history of the church who stood with the Hitlers and the Jew-haters of the Crusades and the pogroms, and say ‘Why would I ever want to believe in that guy Jesus who did such things to us?’ God help us to live well in these days.
Yeshua travels one of the roads to the north, and by intention, goes through the wrong territory. He came to a city named Sychar. Most interpreters mention the Hebrew variants of this, Sheker or Shicker which would mean falsehood, lies, or drunkenness. And you have to wonder whether the towns were named by outsiders. The name of the town adds to the weight of problems in this episode. It’s not only the road less travelled, it’s the town of Samaritan half-breeds who don’t represent God very well. No right-thinking Jew would ever travel through there, if he didn’t have to do so. Yeshua made a decision to go right through the midst of it.
He's tired, and thus sits by the well. When you see John put in the tiredness of Yeshua, you can see that Yeshua is utterly human. He’s a man and he gets hungry and tired and weary at times. He’s not superman. He’s not a comic book hero. He’s the human Son of Man whom John has previously introduced to us as Son of God and Creator of the universes. (John 1)
The time is midday. (.6) That’s not a conducive time to fetch water in the heat of the day. Obviously the woman is avoiding social contacts. And John is juxtaposing the previous chapter’s encounter between Nicodemus (Nick at Night) with this unnamed woman by day.
You might remember that a couple of times in the past, men meeting women at wells eventuated in marriage (Genesis 29.10-20, Exodus 2.16-21)
“Give me a drink.” (.7) Wow, what chutzpah. Not a ‘please.’ Not an ‘excuse me, ma’am.’ This was startling. An obviously Jewish man interacting with a woman obviously from the neighbourhood, a Samaritan. Remember later in the Gospel (19.28) Yeshua again indicates his thirst, and again it’s midday, He is on the cross, and after his drink he gives up the ghost and dies.
The woman is shocked and asks him why he is intersecting with her. (.9)
Jesus doesn’t really answer her question, but raises the bar. “If you knew the gift of God and who is asking you for a drink, you would ask him, that is me, for living water.” (.10)
Like Nicodemus last week and so many in the Gospel of John, the unnamed woman takes Jesus literally and senses an opportunity to get out of this awful situation in which she finds herself. She might not have to come to this well and get water. It’s a scene of embarrassment and an admission that she is a social outcast.
She replies “you have no bucket” so please, get away from me, you and your lunatic ideas of supplying water for me and anyone else for that matter. Where are you going to get that water…the well is too deep and honestly, I don’t even know why I’m talking with you.
Listen, she says, our father Jacob was pretty great, and he gave us this well, and you can’t honestly think you can make water happen without a bucket.
Verse 13, Yeshua said that the water from this well is at best temporary. It’s a portion and a good one at that, but it’s not a permanent solution to people’s real needs. He’s continuing to speak metaphorically and she continues to listen literally.
Yeshua says I will give people the rivers of life, springs of life that never end.
The woman said, “Sir, give me this water.” (Sounds like Yeshua’s first request of her!) And then she says, “so that I may never be thirsty OR HAVE TO keep coming here to draw water.” OK, I’ll take you up on this no need for water thing. I’m all in. Let me see what you’ve got, Mr Wiseguy, Mr Jew-who-shouldn’t-be-talking-with a Samaritan. Put up or shut up. She’s really hoping for an escape from the pain of the social cost her life with men has caused.
Jesus brings it home. Go call your husband and come back.
She says I’m not married. Which is correct. And she hopes the end of the matter.
Jesus commends her (what you say is true) and catches her out at the same time. The five husbands. He’s not from here, doesn’t know our rules, doesn’t know our customs, yet he knows I’ve been married 5 times. He must be a Prophet.
The man you have now is not your husband. She’s in adultery with another, and that’s not kosher behaviour. She’s caught out.
She says, you are a prophet. And anyway, you have your religion, we have ours here on Mt Gerizim. (2 Macc. 6.2) Why don’t you just stay out of my life.
Jesus says, ‘not a mountain’ but in a relationship with God, one on one. God is spirit and we have to worship him in Spirit and truth. He’s painting her into the proverbial corner. There is no escape.
She has one last attempt. When Messiah comes he will tell us everything. That simply means, ‘shut up, mate’ I don’t need to listen to you.
Yeshua answers her with ‘I am Messiah.”
And just then, the disciples who had gone to town to buy supplies return. They are interrupting this Gospel encounter. She leaves. He does not chase her. He has accomplished his intention. She has heard the Word. What she does with it…well that’s up to God and her.
She who was a social pariah, an outcast, now runs to town, probably a mile or two away, and runs to the men. To the men! Come see a man who told me everything I ever did. (.29)
Isn’t that what the woman said Messiah would do. He would tell us everything?
The men of Samaria go and listen and they hear for themselves and take the message of Jesus personally. Verse 39 and following says this,
“From that city many of the Samaritans believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, “He told me all the things that I have done.” So when the Samaritans came to Jesus, they were asking Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days. Many more believed because of His word; and they were saying to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this One is indeed the Saviour of the world.” (9.39-42)
God sent his son to the world, to a people in Israel, to testify to himself and to die for our sins and to redeem us back to himself. And that was not limited to Judeans, to proper Jews, but also to the Jewish people of Galilee, to the Egyptians, to the Roman occupiers of the land of Israel, to barbarians, Scythians, slaves and free, to you and to me, to folks in Castle Hill, in Vaucluse and Liverpool. To Jews and Gentiles. And even the half-breeds of Samaria.
Is there room for racism in our days? Not a chance.
Is there room for you to hear and understand the Gospel of Jesus, and to take on board the reality of God’s love for you? I trust it is so.
If you are Jewish and have every excuse in the world why you shouldn’t believe in Jesus, let me tell you, there is One who can answer every objection. He died on the cross to show his love for you and to forgive you of your sins and to bring you into relationship with God. Don’t miss this chance. You could be going along with your normal everyday life attending a well, staying your life’s course. He wants to find you. He wants to give you eternal life and living water. And that your life will flow to others and give them hope.
Like the unnamed woman at the well, you can go and find your towns people and bring them to Messiah. You can help them find eternal life. I hope you do so even today.
Truth and Consequences:
INTRODUCTION
Last week we began this full-year study of the book of Jeremiah. And the YouTube activity is already in gear; thanks to those of you who are joining our class after we record and post the lecture part of it. And thanks to each of you who is here live in the Zoom room and will participate in the Q and A when we are halfway finished. This is lively and I appreciate each of you.
For those watching this study on YouTube, please pause your playback of this class, read chapter one of Jeremiah and rejoin us, thanks.
Today’s lesson: A lousy exchange or two
In today’s lesson, the prophet uses more imagery than an ambrosia salad to help Israel see her sins and the resultant problems. These 10 images are as follows: an unfaithful wife, broken cisterns, a lost slave, a mule-like stubborn animal, a corrupt vine, a defiled body, an animal in heat, a captured criminal, children who refuse discipline, and an unbroken prisoner of war. That is an enormous amount of imagery, and if you cannot find yourself in any of those, buckle your seatbelt, there’s much more to come in the book. Live in truth or else there will be consequences. Let’s jump right into it.
Verse one to 3: God says, I looked back over your history and you were my delight. The nations which warred with you lost and lost badly. Think of Og and Sihon from the lands east of the Jordan. Think of the people of Jericho, or any number of battle locations. They all lost and their losses are perpetual. Anyone who messes with the Almighty loses. That’s the fact, Jack.
Friends, as I give you this lecture today, I’m in Nashville Tennessee. All around the state, in fact, all over the South are noted locations with history from either the Civil War (the War between the States) in the mid-19th century or the Revolutionary War against Mother England in the 18th century. You can hardly go 30 minutes from one site until you happen on another. And each of those roadside monuments is there for a few reasons, but one of those is like the words in our text. Look back and see when a victory happened and learn the lesson. Or look back and see when a defeat happened and learn the lesson. History is not only a sore subject for some of you who are sitting your HSC or who just finished it, but also a teacher itself. History informs us. History is one of our best teachers. If we are good students.
Historical failings (.4-8)
The next section, verse 4-8. God asks a good question. What did I ever do to you? That is, to your fathers, your priests, your teachers, your prophets… those who led the religion after Moses and Joshua. Why did they defile my land? Why didn’t they seek God? Twice God asks, “Why didn’t they say ‘Where is the Lord?’” this idea of the lost God is tangible in our history at various times. The old bumper sticker asked a similar question, “If you are far from God, who moved?” In other words, God is available and reachable. He longs to be in relationship with us; if we will only seek him. Listen to others who have highlighted this longing.
Deut. 4:29 “But from there you will seek the LORD your God, and you will find Him if you search for Him with all your heart and all your soul.
And again
2Chr. 15:2 and he went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: the LORD is with you when you are with Him. And if you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you.
And the prophets made this clear as well:
Isaiah 55:6 Seek the LORD while He may be found; Call upon Him while He is near.
And again
Hosea 10:12 Sow with a view to righteousness, reap in accordance with kindness; Break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the LORD until He comes to rain righteousness on you.
King David led the singers with these two citations from the Psalms:
Psa. 27:4 One thing I have asked from the LORD, that I shall seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD and to meditate in His temple.
Psa. 34:4 I sought the LORD, and He answered me,
And delivered me from all my fears.
The testimony of Moses, David and the prophets is the same… seek the Lord while he may be found. And your life will be better. Don’t seek God and you will be lost. How simple can God make it for us.
I’m not sure how you get around in the city where you live. Perhaps your family has lived there for generations, and you don’t need any assistance in finding the library or the route to the farmer’s market. But if you are like most people in the 21st Century, you have either recently moved or they are building new roads and tunnels and bringing in new shops and restaurants that were not extant 5 years ago. And if you are like most of us, you are now learning how to ask your Google assistant or Siri or the map app on your phone how to find your way to a certain location.
This is tough for some ‘on their own’ people. Some make jokes about the Children of Israel being lost in the wilderness for 40 years because, being led by Moses, an 80-year-old man, they wouldn’t stop and ask directions. I get that. I remember in 2003, when my family was on holiday in Europe, and dismissing my son’s clear directions from the back seat as I was driving the family in Austria, and he was reading the map. I knew better even though I’d never visited Vienna, and thus made us backtrack a long way out of our way by my disregard. The worst was not listening to my son. I’m still sorry about that episode in my life.
So here we have the righteous of the ages trying to get through to the people of Judah and Israel and to help us get it right, and we say, “No thanks… I’ve got this… I know where I’m going” And we don’t know! And God shakes his head.
The unfaithful wife in verse 2 goes the wrong direction. That’s image #1. Craigie says this in his commentary:
“The later expansions of the theme of love, both in this chapter and elsewhere in Jeremiah, will make it clear that love and marriage are more than metaphors in v 2. The essence of the Sinai covenant had been a relationship of love between God and Israel, but that relationship had implications for both religion and politics. With respect to religion, a nation that loved God could not practice love for other gods, for example, the fertility cults whose worship was permeated with sexual activity. And with respect to politics, a nation bound in contract to the Lord could not also join itself by treaty to other nations as its lord and master. The divine memory was of pure love, before the religious and political perversions of love had arisen in later times to spoil the continuing relationship.”
Verses 9-13: Two Great Evils
God declares his intention. He’s upset. He wants us to learn, and for our children and grandchildren to learn. Look around and see if there is any testimony in public which agrees with the disregarding Israelites. Nope... no one. Then God calls the heavens to testify. They must observe the goings-on and the heavens are now shaking their head, too.
Verse 13 is the one to underline in your study today. The Two Great Evils committed by the Jewish people in this section. One—turning away from God. Dismissing God. Considering God to be unworthy of our attention. Firing God from our work force. Declaring to God he is ‘the weakest link’ and kicking him off the Survivor Island. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out. You are unnecessary.
Do any of these statements to the Almighty bother you? If you are a believer, they should sound as bad as the scratch of fingernails on a chalkboard. They are the sound of a dentist’s instrument warming up right next to your ear, before the novocaine has worked its magic on your awaiting gums. An awful sound. The screech screams against everything we have learned and known about the Living God.
But wait, like the late-night infomercial, there’s more. The second evil God declares is that the cisterns we have stocked up in the place of Deity are broken and won’t sustain us at all. We exchanged the good stuff of the fountain of living water for a parched desert supply that is out-of-supply. Yikes, this is really dumb. D-u-m dumb.
The Apostle Paul wrote of this in the book of Romans in a similar shake-my-head evaluation:
21 For even though they knew God, they did not honour Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. 24 Therefore, God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonoured among them. 25 For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.” (Romans 1)
Paul goes on to say more about what their exchange will give them, but for our purposes, the observation here is that once you abandon, or using Jeremiah’s word Forsake, God, you are destined for loss and impurity, to death in every form.
Verses 14-19: Smell the coffee!
Wake up and smell the coffee oh Israel! You aren’t designed to be shaved. You aren’t supposed to seek for support from Egypt or Assyria. Your foreign alliances will not help you. You aren’t a slave people any longer—you are supposed to be the head and not the tail. (Deut. 28:13) “The LORD will make you the head and not the tail, and you only will be above, and you will not be underneath, if you listen to the commandments of the LORD your God, which I charge you today, to observe them carefully.”
Let your own wickedness and your apostasies correct you. Learn from your mistakes. There is still time to turn around and look at me. I’ll save you. That’s my history. That’s my love for you, Israel.
Verses 20-28: Like an animal in heat
God again asks, pleads, begs Israel to reconsider. He says, “I helped you out of the biggest jam you had ever experienced. You begged me to help and I helped. Now look what you have done in reply. You lay down like a prostitute at a Kings Cross brothel. You took what you could get and you thought that was love. It was not love. It was emptiness. You turned to idols and vain things. Things that built you up, but they were lies and vanity.
You thought it good to clean up at times, and although you took massive long showers with the best soap from Johnson and Johnson, you are still filthy and outside the camp. Then you excuse yourself and say, ‘oh well, I’m actually a good catch.’ We are so used to hearing the advertising about how good we are that we start believing our own publicity. But look, then you exchange again. You say, “I am not defiled, I have not gone after the Baals” when you really have done so. You are defiled. You are broken. You are deluded. You think the world owes you. You are entitled. You are privileged and yet, you are at the bottom of the ladder’s lowest rung.
The animal first shown is the stubborn unruly one who won’t wear a yoke. Then Jeremiah calls us a vine that is out-of-whack. It’s not operational. A vine that is all leaf and no fruit—what a waste! Then again in verse 22, we are the shmutzik religionist who is trying to clean up but cannot, no matter what ritual we attempt.
Jeremiah goes on, saying, you will be abused and misused like an animal in heat. You are unable to stay away from the affections and lures of the enemy. The idols you worship will fail you, but you are stuck.
He uses the image of a captured criminal who alleges his innocence, insisting on it, even though he’s caught red-handed.
In verse 27 we will try prayer as a last resort, but what’s the point of that? You turned your back to God and then you want God to welcome you back. What relationship do you have with others that informs you in this regard? This is presumption and not faith. This is outrageous selfishness and smug pride. Where are your real gods, you know, the ones you really believe in? Go to them, if you think they will help.
Verse 29 and following: You are not innocent
God begs the answer. Please, tell me, why are you fighting me? Verse 29. I think of a high school group of kids whose first football practice is this week, and they are going up against the Tennessee Titans or the premiers and Grand Final champions in League or AFL. It’s a useless proposition. You aren’t going to win. Why are you fighting?
He says that we have all sinned. No one has escaped this judgment. In the US just now are three criminal cases that seem to have captured national attention. (https://www.npr.org/2021/11/03/1052079375/racism-is-a-common-thread-in-3-high-profile-trials-in-different-parts-of-the-u-s) One in Kenosha Wisconsin with a then-17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse arming himself with a gun, a major weapon, the AR-15 and attending a rally, no doubt intent on harming some others. Kyle killed two men and wounded another badly. He declared his innocence based on a self-defense plea.
Similarly another murder case against father and son Gregory and Travis McMichael along with William "Roddie" Byron. The white men are accused of murdering Ahmaud Arbery, a black man jogging in their neighbourhood. The third concerns the ‘Unite the Right’ rally in 2017 which ended in violence with the killing of Heather Heyer. In opening statements in the civil case last week against the organizers, one defendant dropped racial slurs and referenced Adolf Hitler's "Mein Kampf" in a federal courtroom.
Judgment is coming. No one is innocent says the Lord. But Israel replies of her innocence. Even though there is a stack of evidence (verse 35) on her skirt and in the testimony of others. It’s a continual ‘shake-my-head’ moment and God regrets trying to get our attention. He has disciplined us and our children. He has sent warnings, but our refusal to listen has caused him to give up.
We are like children who refuse discipline, even if we need it. Another shake-my-head situation, you know?
Verse 35, you claim innocence, but reality bites. Egypt won’t help. Assyrian will not be available to you.
Even verse 36 we have our hands on our heads like prisoners of war, marching in an attempt to gain international recognition and security, but in the end, we are walking contrary to the plans of God.
What is God saying through all this? There are 10 consequences today that are listed. We are a long way from done, too. So live in truth. Live in harmony with the Almighty. Live righteous lives. When you are wrong, quickly admit wrong. When God brings things to the light in your life which are out-of-bounds, agree with God. Don’t turn your face from or your back towards him. Agree with the Almighty. One, that’s smart. Two, that’s his advice. Three--- it works!
What will you do with this information today?
CONCLUSION
God is calling each of us to know him and to walk with him, today and throughout our days. Have you received Yeshua as your messiah and Lord? Have you renounced your sin, your idolatry, your forsaking God and given him First Place in your life? If not, please, do so now, just now, as we pray together. Use your own words, if you want, but yield, surrender, to the Lord of life.
PRAYER
Then please write us (admin@jewsforjesus.org.au) to tell us what you have just done, and we will send you literature and encourage you. You are part of our family; we love and appreciate you. And we want you to enjoy the presence of the Lord who calls, who knows, who blesses and builds us up.
We hope to see you again next week as we study chapter 3, and until then Shabbat shalom!
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Craigie, Peter; Kelley, Page; Drinkard, Joel. Word Biblical Commentary. Book of Jeremiah. 1991.
Weirsbe, Warren. Be Decisive. David Cook Publishers, Colorado Springs 1991.
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ACTUAL TEXT
Chapter 2: Now the word of the LORD came to me saying,2 “Go and proclaim in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD, “I remember concerning you the devotion of your youth, the love of your betrothals, your following after Me in the wilderness, through a land not sown. 3 Israel was holy to the LORD, the first of His harvest. all who ate of it became guilty; evil came upon them,” declares the LORD.’”
4 Hear the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel. 5 Thus says the LORD, “What injustice did your fathers find in Me, that they went far from Me and walked after emptiness and became empty? 6 They did not say, ‘Where is the LORD
who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, who led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and of pits, through a land of drought and of deep darkness, through a land that no one crossed and where no man dwelt?’ 7 I brought you into the fruitful land to eat its fruit and its good things. but you came and defiled My land, and My inheritance you made an abomination. 8 The priests did not say, ‘Where is the LORD?’ and those who handle the law did not know Me; the rulers also transgressed against Me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal and walked after things that did not profit.
.9 “Therefore I will yet contend with you,” declares the LORD, “and with your sons’ sons I will contend. 10 For cross to the coastlands of Kittim and see and send to Kedar and observe closely and see if there has been such a thing as this! 11 Has a nation changed gods
when they were not gods? But My people have changed their glory for that which does not profit. 12 Be appalled, O heavens, at this, and shudder, be very desolate,” declares the LORD. 13 “For My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, to hew for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water.
.14 “Is Israel a slave? Or is he a homeborn servant? Why has he become a prey? 15 The young lions have roared at him; they have roared loudly. and they have made his land a waste; his cities have been destroyed, without inhabitant. 16 Also the men of Memphis and Tahpanhes have shaved the crown of your head. 17 Have you not done this to yourself by your forsaking the LORD your God when He led you in the way? 18 But now what are you doing on the road to Egypt, to drink the waters of the Nile? Or what are you doing on the road to Assyria, to drink the waters of the Euphrates? 19 Your own wickedness will correct you, and your apostasies will reprove you; Know therefore and see that it is evil and bitter
for you to forsake the LORD your God, and the dread of Me is not in you,” declares the Lord GOD of hosts.
20 For long ago I broke your yoke and tore off your bonds; but you said, ‘I will not serve!’ For on every high hill and under every green tree you have lain down as a harlot.
21 Yet I planted you a choice vine, a completely faithful seed. How then have you turned yourself before Me into the degenerate shoots of a foreign vine? 22 Although you wash yourself with lye and use much soap, the stain of your iniquity is before Me,” declares the Lord GOD. 23 How can you say, ‘I am not defiled, I have not gone after the Baals’? Look at your way in the valley! Know what you have done! You are a swift young camel entangling her ways, 24 a wild donkey accustomed to the wilderness, that sniffs the wind in her passion. In the time of her heat who can turn her away? All who seek her will not become weary; in her month they will find her. 25 Keep your feet from being unshod and your throat from thirst; but you said, ‘It is hopeless! No! For I have loved strangers, and after them I will walk.’ 26 As the thief is shamed when he is discovered, so the house of Israel is shamed; they, their kings, their princes and their priests and their prophets, 27 who say to a tree, ‘You are my father,’ and to a stone, ‘You gave me birth.’ For they have turned their back to Me, and not their face; but in the time of their trouble they will say, ‘Arise and save us.’ 28 “But where are your gods which you made for yourself? Let them arise, if they can save you in the time of your trouble; for according to the number of your cities are your gods, O Judah.
29 “Why do you contend with Me? You have all transgressed against Me,” declares the LORD. 30 In vain I have struck your sons; they accepted no chastening. Your sword has devoured your prophets like a destroying lion. 31 O generation, heed the word of the LORD. Have I been a wilderness to Israel, or a land of thick darkness? Why do My people say, ‘We are free to roam; we will no longer come to You’? 32 “Can a virgin forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? Yet My people have forgotten Me days without number. 33 How well you prepare your way to seek love! Therefore, even the wicked women you have taught your ways. 34 Also on your skirts is found the lifeblood of the innocent poor; you did not find them breaking in. but in spite of all these things, 35 yet you said, ‘I am innocent; surely His anger is turned away from me.’ Behold, I will enter into judgment with you because you say, ‘I have not sinned.’ 36 “Why do you go around so much changing your way? Also, you will be put to shame by Egypt as you were put to shame by Assyria. 37 From this place also you will go out with your hands on your head; for the LORD has rejected those in whom you trust, and you will not prosper with them.”
