Book of Jeremiah – Jer 32:23-44 They Shall be My People and I Will be Their God
Jer 32:23-44 They Shall be My People and I Will be Their God
[Study Aired March 6, 2022]
Jer 32:23 And they came in, and possessed it; but they obeyed not thy voice, neither walked in thy law; they have done nothing of all that thou commandedst them to do: therefore thou hast caused all this evil to come upon them:
Jer 32:24 Behold the mounts, they are come unto the city to take it; and the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans, that fight against it, because of the sword, and of the famine, and of the pestilence: and what thou hast spoken is come to pass; and, behold, thou seest it.
Jer 32:25 And thou hast said unto me, O Lord GOD, Buy thee the field for money, and take witnesses; for the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans
Jer 32:26 Then came the word of the LORD unto Jeremiah, saying,
Jer 32:27 Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?
Jer 32:28 Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans, and into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and he shall take it:
Jer 32:29 And the Chaldeans, that fight against this city, shall come and set fire on this city, and burn it with the houses, upon whose roofs they have offered incense unto Baal, and poured out drink offerings unto other gods, to provoke me to anger.
Jer 32:30 For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have only done evil before me from their youth: for the children of Israel have only provoked me to anger with the work of their hands, saith the LORD.
Jer 32:31 For this city hath been to me as a provocation of mine anger and of my fury from the day that they built it even unto this day; that I should remove it from before my face,
Jer 32:32 Because of all the evil of the children of Israel and of the children of Judah, which they have done to provoke me to anger, they, their kings, their princes, their priests, and their prophets, and the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
Jer 32:33 And they have turned unto me the back, and not the face: though I taught them, rising up early and teaching them, yet they have not hearkened to receive instruction.
Jer 32:34 But they set their abominations in the house, which is called by my name, to defile it.
Jer 32:35 And they built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.
Jer 32:36 And now therefore thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning this city, whereof ye say, It shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence;
Jer 32:37 Behold, I will gather them out of all countries, whither I have driven them in mine anger, and in my fury, and in great wrath; and I will bring them again unto this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely:
Jer 32:38 And they shall be my people, and I will be their God:
Jer 32:39 And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them:
Jer 32:40 And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me.
Jer 32:41 Yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul.
Jer 32:42 For thus saith the LORD; Like as I have brought all this great evil upon this people, so will I bring upon them all the good that I have promised them.
Jer 32:43 And fields shall be bought in this land, whereof ye say, It is desolate without man or beast; it is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.
Jer 32:44 Men shall buy fields for money, and subscribe evidences, and seal them, and take witnesses in the land of Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, and in the cities of the mountains, and in the cities of the valley, and in the cities of the south: for I will cause their captivity to return, saith the LORD.
Our last study ended with Jeremiah buying his cousin’s field which was in the hands of the Babylonian army. The sale was legally witnessed and sealed as a type of how the Lord has promised to give His elect the preeminent position in His kingdom as “the firstfruits unto God and the Lamb”:
Rom 8:20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,
Rom 8:21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
Rom 8:22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
Rom 8:23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.Jas 1:18 Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
Rev 14:4 These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.
‘Firstfruits’ are just that. They are not the only fruits. They are merely the first of many. They are the pillars at the door of the Lord’s temple through which all in Adam will eventually be brought back to their God:
1Co 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
1Ti 2:4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
1Jn 2:2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only [not just the firstfruits], but also for the sins of the whole world.
1Ki 7:21 And he set up the pillars in the porch of the temple: and he set up the right pillar, and called the name thereof Jachin: and he set up the left pillar, and called the name thereof Boaz.
Rev 3:12 Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.
Jeremiah’s purchase of his cousin’s field while in prison, typifies how the Lord is aware of our election even while we are in the chains of the sins of a Babylonian harlot who has never lived up to her marriage covenant:
Jer 32:23 And they came in, and possessed it; but they obeyed not thy voice, neither walked in thy law; they have done nothing of all that thou commandedst them to do: therefore thou hast caused all this evil to come upon them:
“They have done nothing of all that you commanded them” brings these words of Isaiah to mind:
Isa 3:1 For, behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water,
The seven women of the next chapter of Isaiah are ‘seven’ in number because they typify the complete apostasy of this harlot, Jerusalem, and the complete nation of Israel:
Isa 1:21 How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers.
Isa 1:22 Thy silver is become dross, thy wine mixed with water:
Isa 1:23 Thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves: every one loveth gifts, and followeth after rewards: they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them.
Isa 1:24 Therefore saith the Lord, the LORD of hosts, the mighty One of Israel, Ah, I will ease me of mine adversaries, and avenge me of mine enemies:
Isa 1:25 And I will turn my hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy dross, and take away all thy tin:
Isa 1:26 And I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counsellors as at the beginning: afterward thou shalt be called, The city of righteousness, the faithful city.
Right there is the formula for the work the Lord is working in His people. He has ordained that the vessel He made of clay first be marred in His hand, and then His hand will make it anew as He sees fit to make it by turning His hand upon us and purely purging away our dross and taking away all our corruptible tin. He will then restore our judges and counselors and only after He has done all of this, He will call us “the city of righteousness, the faithful city.
Jer 18:1 The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
Jer 18:2 Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words.
Jer 18:3 Then I went down to the potter’s house, and, behold, he [the Lord] wrought a work on the wheels.
Jer 18:4 And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.
Jer 18:5 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
Jer 18:6 O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.
So much for the damnable false doctrine of God giving mankind a will that is free of “His own will”:
Eph 1:11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
Heb 2:4 God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will.
Jas 1:18 Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
Php 2:13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
It is the Lord, not us, who is working all things after the counsel of His own will, not ours, and according to His good pleasure, not ours. That “good pleasure includes being first made a marred vessel… made to be taken and destroyed:
2Pe 2:12 But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption;
Unless otherwise qualified with a phrase such as “the rest of the dead” or “when the thousand years are expired”, the plural pronouns ‘these, they, them and those’ always include you and me. Keep that in mind as we continue to see how the Lord is purging us of our dross in “this present time” (Rom 8:18):
Jer 32:24 Behold the mounts, they are come unto the city to take it; and the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans, that fight against it, because of the sword, and of the famine, and of the pestilence: and what thou hast spoken is come to pass; and, behold, thou seest it.
The Hebrew word for ‘mounts’ is:
H5550
סוֹלְלָה סֹלְלָה
sôlelâh sôlelâh
so-lel-aw’, so-lel-aw’
Active participle feminine of H5549, but used passively; a military mound, that is, rampart of besiegers: – bank, mount.
Jer 32:25 And thou hast said unto me, O Lord GOD, Buy thee the field for money, and take witnesses; for the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.
During the middle of the siege the Lord tells Jeremiah to buy his cousin’s field, to demonstrate his faith that the Lord will bring Israel back out of Babylon. It all happened to them, and it is written to show us how we are to keep the faith amid our severest trials and when the darkness seems so impenetrable. As is usual with how God works, He requires a witness to how His temple is built:
1Ki 7:15 For he cast two pillars [2Ch 3:17] of brass, of eighteen cubits high apiece: and a line of twelve cubits did compass either of them about.
These two pillars are the same as the two olive trees mentioned in Revelation 11.
Rev 11:3 And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.
Rev 11:4 These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.
Jer 32:26 Then came the word of the LORD unto Jeremiah, saying,
Jer 32:27 Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?
Jer 32:28 Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans, and into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and he shall take it:
Jer 32:29 And the Chaldeans, that fight against this city, shall come and set fire on this city, and burn it with the houses, upon whose roofs they have offered incense unto Baal, and poured out drink offerings unto other gods, to provoke me to anger.
Jer 32:30 For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have only done evil before me from their youth: for the children of Israel have only provoked me to anger with the work of their hands, saith the LORD.
Jer 32:31 For this city hath been to me as a provocation of mine anger and of my fury from the day that they built it even unto this day; that I should remove it from before my face,
Jer 32:32 Because of all the evil of the children of Israel and of the children of Judah, which they have done to provoke me to anger, they, their kings, their princes, their priests, and their prophets, and the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
Jer 32:33 And they have turned unto me the back, and not the face: though I taught them, rising up early and teaching them, yet they have not hearkened to receive instruction.
Jer 32:34 But they set their abominations in the house, which is called by my name, to defile it.
Jer 32:35 And they built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.
Someone once asked me, “If God is working all things (Eph 1:11) and if He ‘makes us to err’ (Isa 63:17), how then can He say, “It never came into my mind that they should do this abomination.” The answer is that the Lord is not denying He sent an evil spirit to put it in the mind of His people to commit this abomination:
1Sa 16:14 But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him.
1Ki 22:21 And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the LORD, and said, I will persuade him.
1Ki 22:22 And the LORD said unto him, Wherewith? And he said, I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Thou shalt persuade him, and prevail also: go forth, and do so.
1Ki 22:23 Now therefore, behold, the LORD hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets, and the LORD hath spoken evil concerning thee.
When the Lord says, “Neither came it into My mind that they should do this abomination [burn their children alive]” He is contrasting what is in His heart with what is in the heart of the flesh of our self-righteous, rebellious old man who condemns his fellow man to eternal hell fire.
Jer 32:36 And now therefore thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning this city, whereof ye say, It shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence;
Notice how the Lord had just said…
Jer 32:28 Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans, and into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and he shall take it:
…and then put those same words in Jeremiah’s mouth and said, ‘whereof ye say, It shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence’. This is a demonstration of the Truth of what the Lord had earlier told Jeremiah:
Jer 5:14 Wherefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.
That is how the Lord speaks through all who are faithful to the words of the Lord. The Lord’s true prophets, like the Lord Himself, never say anything of themselves. The Lord’s true prophets speak only “that which has been written” and already spoken by the Lord “in the heavens”:
Mat 18:18 Verily I say to you, Whatever things ye may bind upon the earth shall be having been bound in the heavens, and whatever things ye may loose on the earth shall be having been loosed in the heavens. (YLT)
Joh 8:28 Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things.
‘Lifting up the Son of Man’ refers to His crucifixion on the cross. It is only after we confess to being guilty of His death that we will know who Christ is:
Joh 12:32 And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.
Joh 12:33 This he said, signifying what death he should die.
Realizing this fact will help us understand the message of Jeremiah to his people and the message of Paul to his people when he made this statement:
1Co 3:20 And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.
1Co 3:21 Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours;
1Co 3:22 Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours;
1Co 3:23 And ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s.
It is ours to acknowledge that we have ‘lifted up’ the Son of Man, and we have placed Him on the cross for our sins and that we must live out our part in “the world” which must endure His wrath upon the kingdom of our rebellious, unfaithful and self-righteous old man. These are the “things having been bound and loosed in the heavens” and written down for our admonition:
1Co 4:6 And these things, brethren, I did transfer to myself and to Apollos because of you, that in us ye may learn not to think above that which hath been written, that ye may not be puffed up one for one against the other, (YLT)
All of mankind, in and of themselves, are guilty before God, requiring His chastening. When His “chastening and scourging” had done their purifying work then:
Jer 32:37 Behold, I will gather them out of all countries, whither I have driven them in mine anger, and in my fury, and in great wrath; and I will bring them again unto this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely:
Jer 32:38 And they shall be my people, and I will be their God:
Just as the promised land typifies dwelling in peace with and being of one mind with the Lord, so “all countries whither I have driven them in Mine anger” typifies in contrast all the false doctrines which separate us from the mind of the Lord. ‘Gathering us’ to Himself means He is making us of one mind with Himself by destroying and burning up all those false doctrines with His Truth as this next verse makes clear:
Jer 32:39 And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them:
“One heart and one way” is the exact opposite of “all countries, whither I have driven them in mine anger.” There are a few who are given this “one heart, and one way, that… fear me… [and are] the first to trust in Christ”:
1Co 1:10 Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
Eph 1:11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
Eph 1:12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
“I will give them one heart… that they may fear me… for the good of them” is just another way of saying, “being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will.” While we do not know whether we have been given that ‘heart’, if the Lord has given us a heart to “fear [Him] forever” then there is no chance that we will do otherwise simply because He is the One who is working all things after the counsel of His own will, and our fate in not in our own hands. It is He who is “working all things after the counsel of His own will.”
Jer 32:40 And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me.
This is not a promise that we will never act self-righteously nor ever again transgress against our Lord and His ways. Rather, here is the meaning of this promise:
Psa 89:27 Also I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth.
Psa 89:28 My mercy will I keep for him for evermore, and my covenant shall stand fast with him.
Psa 89:29 His seed also will I make to endure for ever, and his throne as the days of heaven.
Psa 89:30 If his children forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments;
Psa 89:31 If they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments;
Psa 89:32 Then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes.
Psa 89:33 Nevertheless my lovingkindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail.
Psa 89:34 My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.
These words are repeated by King Solomon:
Pro 3:11 My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction:
Pro 3:12 For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.
These same words are repeated in:
Heb 12:6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
Heb 12:7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?
Jer 32:41 Yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul.
Jer 32:42 For thus saith the LORD; Like as I have brought all this great evil upon this people, so will I bring upon them all the good that I have promised them.
“I will… do them good… I will bring upon them all the good that I have promised them” come to us only through “chastening… scourging [and being brought] to [our] wits’ end”.
This is how the Lord displays His goodness in this age:
Psa 107:18 Their soul abhorreth all manner of meat; and they draw near unto the gates of death.
Psa 107:19 Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he saveth them out of their distresses.
Psa 107:20 He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.
Psa 107:21 Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!
Psa 107:22 And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing.
Psa 107:23 They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters;
Psa 107:24 These see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in the deep.
Psa 107:25 For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof.
Psa 107:26 They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble.
Psa 107:27 They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end.
Psa 107:28 Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses.
Psa 107:29 He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.
Psa 107:30 Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.
Psa 107:31 Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!
It is you and I who first “abhor all manner of meat” and want only the ‘milk and honey’ of the promised land. It is we who after time in the Lord’s service “do business in great waters” and come to see that our storms of this life were all a work of the Lord to drag us to Himself. Only “then” do we appreciate all those devastating trials that had brought us to our wits’ end. If we do not see the order in which the Lord operates, then we can and we will miss the spiritual message the Lord is imparting to us.
These verses in Psalms 107 clarify the meaning of the phrase “His goodness” in:
Rom 2:4 Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?.
Another New Testament doctrine which teaches us that the Lord’s ‘goodness’ is expressed through His chastening hand is:
Tit 2:11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
Tit 2:12 Teaching [G3811: ‘paideuo’, chastening] us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;
That Greek word, ‘paideuo’ (G3811) is the exact same word translated as ‘chasten’ in Hebrews 12:
Heb 12:6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth [G3811: verb, paideuo], and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
Heb 12:7 If ye endure chastening [G3809: noun, paideia], God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth [paideuo, G33811] not?
Does grace “teach” us to forsake ungodliness and worldly lusts? Of course, it does, but the fact is that ‘teaching’ comes through a spiritual spanking and scourging which is completely hidden when you translate ‘paideuo’ with the English word ‘teach’ here in Titus:
Tit 2:12 Teaching [G3811: ‘paideuo’, chastens] us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;
What a huge difference it would make if the translators had consistently used the English word ‘chastening’ instead of ‘teaching’. A consistent translation using the word ‘chastening’ would go a long way toward giving this next verse an entirely different connotation than the ‘greasy grace’ inflection it has been given by many who believe in the damnable doctrine of ‘substitutionary atonement’. Read this verse now with the knowledge that ‘the grace of God chastens us to forsake ungodliness and worldly lusts…’:
Rom 5:20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:
With this new understanding of the function of the grace of God in our lives Romans 5:20 now accords with the message of “Whom the Lord loveth He chastens [paideuo], and scourgeth every son He receiveth”, instead of the “let us sin that grace may abound” message that was already circulating even as early as the epistles of the apostle Paul who poses that very question:
Rom 6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
Rom 6:2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
Rom 6:3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
Paul asks this question in anticipation of what he was already hearing as the naturally permissive response to his doctrine of “the free… gift by grace… is of many offences unto justification” and “where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.”
Rom 5:15 But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.
Rom 5:16 And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification.
“The free gift… of many offences unto justification” is not the freedom to sin without severe consequences. Rather, ‘the free gift’ is the gift of God’s chastening, scourging grace:
Rom 11:22 Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.
Heb 12:6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
Heb 12:7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?
Heb 12:8 But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.
We have all lived many years of our lives as spiritual ‘bastards’ while thinking we were sons. We all self-righteously tithed and kept days, months, times and years, with no earth-shaking chastening taking place in our lives.
Even at that time the Lord already knew all those who were and who were not His elect. He already knew who He “first loved” and who would later be the beneficiaries of His chastening grace:
Eph 2:1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
Eph 2:2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
Eph 2:3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
Eph 2:4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
Eph 2:5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved);
Eph 2:6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
Eph 2:7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Fields and lands, cities and mountains and valleys one and all typify the powers and principalities of the kingdom of our old man, all of which are destroyed and then replaced by the doctrinal Truths of the kingdom of our New Man, Christ, and His kingdom within us:
Luk 17:20 And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:
Luk 17:21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.
The Lord has “returned [our] captivity” here and now in “earnest” and in the down payment of His spirit within us. As “sons of God” we are at this very moment ‘kings and priests’ but awaiting “the manifestation of the sons of God”:
Rom 8:10 And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
Rom 8:11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.
If Christ is within us, then we are “heirs with Him”:
Rom 8:12 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.
Rom 8:13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
Rom 8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
Rom 8:15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba [G5 is the equivalent of H2: ‘Father], Father [G3962: ‘Pater’, Father].
Rom 8:16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
Rom 8:17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
Rom 8:18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
Rom 8:19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.
That is the encouraging hope with which this chapter closes:
Jer 32:43 And fields shall be bought in this land, whereof ye say, It is desolate without man or beast; it is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.
Jer 32:44 Men shall buy fields for money, and subscribe evidences, and seal them, and take witnesses in the land of Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, and in the cities of the mountains, and in the cities of the valley, and in the cities of the south: for I will cause their captivity to return, saith the LORD.
Knowing that He was about to die, our Lord told Pilate:
Joh 18:36 Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.
The two times the word ‘world’ appears in this verse are both G2889, the Greek word ‘kosmos’. Christ tells Pilate, “My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.”
“But now is my kingdom not from hence” will not always be the case because we are assured:
Rev 11:15 And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world [G2889] are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.
If we are granted, through the Lord’s chastening grace, to “cast down every imagination and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bring [them] into captivity… to the obedience of Christ” in “this present time”, then we will be given power over the nations of “this world”, this ‘kosmos’. Then we will fight for our Lord, and we will rule the nations of this world with a rod of iron for a thousand years just prior to the great white throne judgment through which is the chastening grace by which we will bring all men of all time to our Lord and to His Father:
Rev 2:26 And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations:
Rev 2:27 And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.
Rev 2:28 And I will give him the morning star.
That “Morning Star” is Christ, and He is “the Day Star” of:
2Pe 1:19 We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:
It is through the brightness of this ‘Day Star’ that His servants are now fighting the good fight of faith within and burning out all that offends in His kingdom within us.
Look at the Greek word translated as ‘Day star’:
G5459
φωσφόρος
phōsphoros
foce-for’-osFrom G5457 and G5342; light bearing (“phosphorus”), that is, (specifically) the morning star (figuratively): – day star.
‘Phosphorus’ burns very hot, and it is with this ‘fire’ “in [our] hearts” that we will also then fight against and be given dominion over the kingdoms of this kosmos.
Rev 22:16 I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.
Remember how Christ appeared at His transfiguration in the mount:
Mat 17:2 And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.
It is with the light of “the Sun of Righteousness” that we will be given the dominion over the kingdoms of this world, both within first and then outwardly in this ‘kosmos’.
Mal 4:2 But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness [the Day Star] arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.
That concludes this study, and here are our verses for next week’s study:
Jer 33:1 Moreover the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah the second time, while he was yet shut up in the court of the prison, saying,
Jer 33:2 Thus saith the LORD the maker thereof, the LORD that formed it, to establish it; the LORD is his name;
Jer 33:3 Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.
Jer 33:4 For thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the houses of this city, and concerning the houses of the kings of Judah, which are thrown down by the mounts, and by the sword;
Jer 33:5 They come to fight with the Chaldeans, but it is to fill them with the dead bodies of men, whom I have slain in mine anger and in my fury, and for all whose wickedness I have hid my face from this city.
Jer 33:6 Behold, I will bring it health and cure, and I will cure them, and will reveal unto them the abundance of peace and truth.
Jer 33:7 And I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return, and will build them, as at the first.
Jer 33:8 And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against me; and I will pardon all their iniquities, whereby they have sinned, and whereby they have transgressed against me.
Jer 33:9 And it shall be to me a name of joy, a praise and an honour before all the nations of the earth, which shall hear all the good that I do unto them: and they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and for all the prosperity that I procure unto it.
Jer 33:10 Thus saith the LORD; Again there shall be heard in this place, which ye say shall be desolate without man and without beast, even in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, that are desolate, without man, and without inhabitant, and without beast,
Jer 33:11 The voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the voice of them that shall say, Praise the LORD of hosts: for the LORD is good; for his mercy endureth for ever: and of them that shall bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the LORD. For I will cause to return the captivity of the land, as at the first, saith the LORD.
Jer 33:12 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Again in this place, which is desolate without man and without beast, and in all the cities thereof, shall be an habitation of shepherds causing their flocks to lie down.
Jer 33:13 In the cities of the mountains, in the cities of the vale, and in the cities of the south, and in the land of Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, shall the flocks pass again under the hands of him that telleth them, saith the LORD.
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