The Prophecy of Isaiah - Part 13 Discussion

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Isa 3:6-10 They Declare Their Sin As Sodom,  They Hide It Not

Isa 3:6  When a man shall take hold of his brother of the house of his father, saying, Thou hast clothing, be thou our ruler, and let this ruin be under thy hand:
Isa 3:7  In that day shall he swear, saying, I will not be an healer; for in my house is neither bread nor clothing: make me not a ruler of the people.
Isa 3:8  For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen: because their tongue and their doings are against the LORD, to provoke the eyes of his glory.
Isa 3:9  The shew of their countenance doth witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. Woe unto their soul! for they have rewarded evil unto themselves.
Isa 3:10  Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings.

Throughout these studies we will be reminding you that Isaiah, as much as any Old Testament prophet, affirms the total sovereignty of God to the extent that the holy spirit inspired Isaiah to reveal that even our sins are the work of His hand and His foreknowledge, and even our sins and errors were written in God's book of our life before we were born, while we are in our mother's womb, having done neither good nor evil.

Isaiah knew what King David had been shown about the extent of the work of the hand of God in all things. This is what King David reveals to us:

Psa 139:15  My frame was not hidden from thee, When I was made in secret, And curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. 
Psa 139:16  Thine eyes did see mine unformed substance; And in thy book they were all written, Even the days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was none of them.(ASV)

Isaiah was also familiar with what King Solomon had added to His father's revelation:

Pro 16:1  The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD.

Pro 16:4  The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.

So Isaiah had no reservations penning these words when he was inspired by the holy spirit to do so:

Isa 63:17  O LORD, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways, and hardened our heart from thy fear? Return for thy servants' sake, the tribes of thine inheritance.

What all of this reveals for those who understand it is that everything being done is being worked by our God "to do whatsoever [His] hand and [His] foreknowledge determined before to be done" (Act 4:26-28), "after the counsel of His own will" (Eph 1:18).

Act 4:26  The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ.
Act 4:27  For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together,
Act 4:28  For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.

Eph 1:8  Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence;
Eph 1:9  Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:
Eph 1:10  That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:
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:

God is "working all things after the counsel of His own will" in the life of every man who has or who will ever live. Mankind, we are told by Christ, must live by every word which has proceeded out of the mouth of God (Mat 4:4). Therefore we must live these words from last week's study, as His judgment against the kingdom of our proud, rebellious, old man:

Isa 3:5  And the people shall be oppressed, every one by another, and every one by his neighbour: the child shall behave himself proudly against the ancient, and the base against the honourable.

Mankind feels the need to cover up and deny what God is in the process of doing to the sons of men, but God is not the least bit shy about taking credit for the work He is doing to the sons of men (Psa 107:8, 15, 21, and 31). Our God clearly states all of his works in no uncertain terms with no fear at all of what men think of Him for "doing all things after the counsel of His own will" and doing all things only in line with what His hand and His counsel "determined before to be done" (Pro 16:4; Isa 45:7, Isa 63:17, Act 4:26-28).

His advice to each of us, as well as the rulers of the kingdoms of the world, is:

Psa 2:10  Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth.
Psa 2:11  Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. 
Psa 2:12  Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.

The reason we are instructed to "Kiss the Son", is that we do not just naturally do so. What we naturally do is rebel against and hate the Son and attempt to steal His inheritance:

Mat 21:38  But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance.

"His inheritance" is in the hearts and minds of His saints:

Eph 1:18  The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,

We "seize... His inheritance" when we rebel against His words and His doctrine, and when we refuse to be of the same mind with Christ and His Father.

As we all know, however, there is no honor among thieves, and God causes our own wicked ways to correct us as individuals and as nations:

Jer 2:19 Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord GOD of hosts.

That "evil thing and bitter" will begin within our own homes and our own families. God is not mocked, we will reap what we sow (Gal 6:7-8). Verse 5 from last week's study tells us how we will reap what we have sown:

Isa 3:5  And the people shall be oppressed, every one by another, and every one by his neighbour: the child shall behave himself proudly against the ancient, and the base against the honourable.

Do you think that verse refers to someone you know, but not to you? These prophecies are all fulfilled both inwardly and outwardly in every life in every generation.  Here are a couple of repetitions of this principle of God's judgment being administered "every one by his neighbor":

Hag 2:22  And I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms, and I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the heathen; and I will overthrow the chariots, and those that ride in them; and the horses and their riders shall come down, every one by the sword of his brother. 

Zec 11:9  Then said I, I will not feed you: that that dieth, let it die; and that that is to be cut off, let it be cut off; and let the rest eat every one the flesh of another.

When God's judgments begin to do their work in our lives, we just never consider repentance toward God as a first option. Rather, we look to the flesh and seek a carnal hero, who will always disappoint us:

Isa 3:6  When a man shall take hold of his brother of the house of his father, saying, Thou hast clothing, be thou our ruler, and let this ruin be under thy hand:

When Israel's sins and rebellion against their own God were met by the judgments of God and they sought an ally against the nation or nations God sent to administer His justice for their sins, Israel, as a type of each of us, always sought help from Egypt and from the nations around her instead of trusting in their own God. Israel is also a type of our nation wherever we live in this world. All nations always seek to this world for help before later being forced to cry out to the Creator for His mercy and His supernatural deliverance.

Trusting in the flesh is what we just naturally do first. These are the words of an Assyrian captain to God's people in Jerusalem, but they proved to be true then just as they are today:

Isa 36:6  Lo, thou trustest in the staff of this broken reed, on Egypt [our own flesh, and our own strength]; whereon if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that trust in him.

Later this prophecy was fulfilled in Israel under the prophet Jeremiah after Nebuchadnezzar had conquered Judah. We of ourselves just cannot trust in God's salvation and deliverance. The Biblical account of Israel, as a type of our natural tendency to trust our own strength and our own wisdom, will serve to demonstrate how this next verse is fulfilled in our lives:

Isa 3:7  In that day shall he swear, saying, I will not be an healer; for in my house is neither bread nor clothing: make me not a ruler of the people.

"In that day" is the day in which we are being judged, and we are being shown just how little our faith is in Christ and His ways. We are offered rulership, but we cannot accept that blessing simply because we are first commanded to learn to trust in Christ, and we simply don't have the faith to do so. We have "neither bread nor clothing".

Pro 3:5  Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

The history of ancient Israel is the story of our experience, and it is our experience that at the first part of our walk we just do not have the faith to "trust in the Lord" more than we "trust in [our] own understanding" and our own strength. That is the very reason Proverbs 3:5 appears in scripture.  The story of ancient Israel's history is in God's word for our instruction at this time.

One part of that history which demonstrates how we always depend upon our own strength and our own wisdom over the Word of God is the story of God's prophet Jeremiah at the time of Judah's Babylonian captivity. Jeremiah is a type and shadow of God's elect who are always placed in the position of representing Christ and His Father in a world that has no use for Christ or His Father. That is where we all sit at that moment.

At our own appointed time we do not want to "be an healer" because we know we are not yet qualified to heal anyone, and we certainly do not want to "let this ruin to be under [our] hand". The story of ancient Israel is our own story. The story of Jeremiah is a story of how the Lord supernaturally protects his elect even as he destroys the kingdom of our Babylonian old man within each of us:

Jer 40:1  The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, after that Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had let him go from Ramah, when he had taken him being bound in chains among all that were carried away captive of Jerusalem and Judah, which were carried away captive unto Babylon.
Jer 40:2  And the captain of the guard took Jeremiah, and said unto him, The LORD thy God hath pronounced this evil upon this place.
Jer 40:3  Now the LORD hath brought it, and done according as he hath said: because ye have sinned against the LORD, and have not obeyed his voice, therefore this thing is come upon you.
Jer 40:4  And now, behold, I loose thee this day from the chains which were upon thine hand. If it seem good unto thee to come with me into Babylon, come; and I will look well unto thee: but if it seem ill unto thee to come with me into Babylon, forbear: behold, all the land is before thee: whither it seemeth good and convenient for thee to go, thither go.
Jer 40:5  Now while he was not yet gone back, he said, Go back also to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon hath made governor over the cities of Judah, and dwell with him among the people: or go wheresoever it seemeth convenient unto thee to go. So the captain of the guard gave him victuals and a reward, and let him go.
Jer 40:6  Then went Jeremiah unto Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah; and dwelt with him among the people that were left in the land.
Jer 40:7  Now when all the captains of the forces which were in the fields, even they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam governor in the land, and had committed unto him men, and women, and children, and of the poor of the land, of them that were not carried away captive to Babylon;
Jer 40:8  Then they came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, even Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan and Jonathan the sons of Kareah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth, and the sons of Ephai the Netophathite, and Jezaniah the son of a Maachathite, they and their men.
Jer 40:9  And Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan sware unto them and to their men, saying, Fear not to serve the Chaldeans: dwell in the land, and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you.

The kingdom of our old man has been plundered. It is clear that we have not been pleasing our God, our heavenly Father. We are broken, but we are still defiant and proud because we have not yet been crushed to powder by our own wickedness. "All the captains of the forces which were in the fields" have escaped being carried away into Babylon, and they are very proud of that fact. Jerusalem may have fallen, but these men within us are not the least subdued by God's judgment upon Israel and Judah. This, too, is our own old man.

Isa 3:8  For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen: because their tongue and their doings are against the LORD, to provoke the eyes of his glory.

We actually demonstrate by our own actions that we are these "captains of the forces which were in the fields". We actually think we can get by with sticking our finger in "the eyes of [God's] glory" and get by without being punished for our presumptuous, rebellious ways. This takes place within us, and it is taking place outwardly as we continue to demand our constitutional right to take pride in our nakedness and in our perversions of every imaginable sort. It will continue only for a short time simply because God is not mocked, and we do reap what we sow (Gal 6:7-8).

These "captains of the forces which were in the fields", as the proud men they are, cannot live in peace with each other, and one of them with ten men wanted to slay the man who Nebuchadnezzar had made king to represent him with God's rebellious people.

Jer 40:13  Moreover Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that were in the fields, came to Gedaliah to Mizpah,
Jer 40:14  And said unto him, Dost thou certainly know that Baalis the king of the Ammonites hath sent Ishmael the son of Nethaniah to slay thee? But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam believed them not.
Jer 40:15  Then Johanan the son of Kareah spake to Gedaliah in Mizpah secretly, saying, Let me go, I pray thee, and I will slay Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and no man shall know it: wherefore should he slay thee, that all the Jews which are gathered unto thee should be scattered, and the remnant in Judah perish?
Jer 40:16  But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said unto Johanan the son of Kareah, Thou shalt not do this thing: for thou speakest falsely of Ishmael.

The name 'Babel' means confusion, after the confusion of the tongues of mankind at the tower of Babel. It aptly describes the confusion with which we live in rebellion to our God. Even our "captains of the forces which were in the field" are in constant conflict with each other:

Jer 41:1  Now it came to pass in the seventh month, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah the son of Elishama, of the seed royal, and the princes of the king, even ten men with him, came unto Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah; and there they did eat bread together in Mizpah.
Jer 41:2  Then arose Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and the ten men that were with him, and smote Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan with the sword, and slew him, whom the king of Babylon had made governor over the land.
Jer 41:3  Ishmael also slew all the Jews that were with him, even with Gedaliah, at Mizpah, and the Chaldeans that were found there, and the men of war.

These murderers are "of the seed royal... princes of the king". These, as Judas was, typify God's rejected elect. These are "the first man Adam... the figure of Him that was to come" (Rom 5:14), and they cannot accept the punishment placed upon them for their rebellion against their God and Creator, even as we cannot.

Ishmael and the ten princes with him carried all the people who had been with King Gedaliah away with them to take them to the Ammonites.

Jer 41:10  Then Ishmael carried away captive all the residue of the people that were in Mizpah, even the king's daughters, and all the people that remained in Mizpah, whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had committed to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam: and Ishmael the son of Nethaniah carried them away captive, and departed to go over to the Ammonites.

But Johanan and the other captains of the forces which were in the field heard what Ishmael had done, and went and rescued the people Ishmael had captured.

Jer 41:11  But when Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that were with him, heard of all the evil that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had done,
Jer 41:12  Then they took all the men, and went to fight with Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and found him by the great waters that are in Gibeon.
Jer 41:13  Now it came to pass, that when all the people which were with Ishmael saw Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that were with him, then they were glad.
Jer 41:14  So all the people that Ishmael had carried away captive from Mizpah cast about and returned, and went unto Johanan the son of Kareah.
Jer 41:15  But Ishmael the son of Nethaniah escaped from Johanan with eight men, and went to the Ammonites.
Jer 41:16  Then took Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that were with him, all the remnant of the people whom he had recovered from Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, from Mizpah, after that he had slain Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, even mighty men of war, and the women, and the children, and the eunuchs, whom he had brought again from Gibeon:
Jer 41:17  And they departed, and dwelt in the habitation of Chimham, which is by Bethlehem, to go to enter into Egypt,
Jer 41:18  Because of the Chaldeans: for they were afraid of them, because Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had slain Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon made governor in the land.

Johanan and all the captains of forces that were with him are not all that different than Ishmael as it turns out. And this brings us back to the first verses in today's study:

Isa 3:6  When a man shall take hold of his brother of the house of his father, saying, Thou hast clothing, be thou our ruler, and let this ruin be under thy hand:
Isa 3:7  In that day shall he swear, saying, I will not be an healer; for in my house is neither bread nor clothing: make me not a ruler of the people.

Johanan was offered the peace and stability that comes with being obedient to God, and he refused to be obedient because he feared the Babylonians more than God. Johanan and all the captains of the forces with him, and all the people he had rescued from Ishmael, now come to Jeremiah seeking to know what the Lord would have them to do now that the man whom Nebuchadnezzar had made king has been killed by Ishmael. This is what happened after the people came to Jeremiah, the Lord's true prophet, the prophet who had prophesied that Judah would be carried away into Babylon against incredible circumstances which threatened his life. They had enough respect to consult Him, but they could not abide in the Lord's words coming to them through Jeremiah the Lord's proven prophet:

Jer 42:1 Then all the captains of the forces, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least even unto the greatest, came near,
Jer 42:2 And said unto Jeremiah the prophet, Let, we beseech thee, our supplication be accepted before thee, and pray for us unto the LORD thy God, even for all this remnant; (for we are left but a few of many, as thine eyes do behold us:) 
Jer 42:3 That the LORD thy God may shew us the way wherein we may walk, and the thing that we may do. 
Jer 42:4 Then Jeremiah the prophet said unto them, I have heard you; behold, I will pray unto the LORD your God according to your words; and it shall come to pass, that whatsoever thing the LORD shall answer you, I will declare it unto you; I will keep nothing back from you.

These "captains of the forces" are the force and power of the flesh of our rebellious old man over us. This is what we tell our Lord as we are totally unaware of how incapable we are of keeping our own words to Him:

Jer 42:5 Then they said to Jeremiah, The LORD be a true and faithful witness between us, if we do not even according to all things for the which the LORD thy God shall send thee to us.
Jer 42:6  Whether it be good, or whether it be evil, we will obey the voice of the LORD our God, to whom we send thee; that it may be well with us, when we obey the voice of the LORD our God.
Jer 42:7  And it came to pass after ten days, that the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah.
Jer 42:8  Then called he Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces which were with him, and all the people from the least even to the greatest,
Jer 42:9  And said unto them, Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, unto whom ye sent me to present your supplication before him;
Jer 42:10  If ye will still abide in this land, then will I build you, and not pull you down, and I will plant you, and not pluck you up: for I repent me of the evil that I have done unto you.
Jer 42:11  Be not afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom ye are afraid; be not afraid of him, saith the LORD: for I am with you to save you, and to deliver you from his hand.
Jer 42:12  And I will shew mercies unto you, that he may have mercy upon you, and cause you to return to your own land.
Jer 42:13  But if ye say, We will not dwell in this land, neither obey the voice of the LORD your God,
Jer 42:14  Saying, No; but we will go into the land of Egypt, where we shall see no war, nor hear the sound of the trumpet, nor have hunger of bread; and there will we dwell:
Jer 42:15  And now therefore hear the word of the LORD, ye remnant of Judah; Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; If ye wholly set your faces to enter into Egypt, and go to sojourn there;
Jer 42:16  Then it shall come to pass, that the sword, which ye feared, shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine, whereof ye were afraid, shall follow close after you there in Egypt; and there ye shall die.
Jer 42:17  So shall it be with all the men that set their faces to go into Egypt to sojourn there; they shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence: and none of them shall remain or escape from the evil that I will bring upon them.
Jer 42:18  For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; As mine anger and my fury hath been poured forth upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem; so shall my fury be poured forth upon you, when ye shall enter into Egypt: and ye shall be an execration, and an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach; and ye shall see this place no more.
Jer 42:19  The LORD hath said concerning you, O ye remnant of Judah; Go ye not into Egypt: know certainly that I have admonished you this day.
Jer 42:20  For ye dissembled in your hearts, when ye sent me unto the LORD your God, saying, Pray for us unto the LORD our God; and according unto all that the LORD our God shall say, so declare unto us, and we will do it.
Jer 42:21  And now I have this day declared it to you; but ye have not obeyed the voice of the LORD your God, nor any thing for the which he hath sent me unto you.
Jer 42:22  Now therefore know certainly that ye shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, in the place whither ye desire to go and to sojourn.

We are not even aware that we are coming to God with our minds already made up. We have no intention of relying on Him for our safety, but we hope He will tell us to depend upon our own strength and upon our own wisdom. The scriptural term for this state of mind is "idols of the heart":

Eze 14:1  Then came certain of the elders of Israel unto me, and sat before me.
Eze 14:2  And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Eze 14:3  Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: should I be enquired of at all by them?
Eze 14:4  Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet; I the LORD will answer him that cometh according to the multitude of his idols; 
Eze 14:5  That I may take the house of Israel in their own heart, because they are all estranged from me through their idols.

That is exactly what happened when these people came to Jeremiah, the Lord's true prophet, the prophet who had prophesied that Judah would be carried away into Babylon against incredible circumstances which threatened his life. They had enough respect to consult Him, but they could not abide his words. They had "come to the prophet" to "enquire of [God]", but they came with their minds already made up, and they were quick to tell Jeremiah what they thought of what the Lord had told them by the words of His prophet:

Jer 43:1  And it came to pass, that when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking unto all the people all the words of the LORD their God, for which the LORD their God had sent him to them, even all these words,
Jer 43:2  Then spake Azariah the son of Hoshaiah, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the proud men, saying unto Jeremiah, Thou speakest falsely: the LORD our God hath not sent thee to say, Go not into Egypt to sojourn there: 
Jer 43:3  But Baruch the son of Neriah setteth thee on against us, for to deliver us into the hand of the Chaldeans, that they might put us to death, and carry us away captives into Babylon.
Jer 43:4  So Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces, and all the people, obeyed not the voice of the LORD, to dwell in the land of Judah.
Jer 43:5  But Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces, took all the remnant of Judah, that were returned from all nations, whither they had been driven, to dwell in the land of Judah;
Jer 43:6  Even men, and women, and children, and the king's daughters, and every person that Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had left with Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Jeremiah the prophet, and Baruch the son of Neriah.
Jer 43:7  So they came into the land of Egypt: for they obeyed not the voice of the LORD: thus came they even to Tahpanhes.

These are great prominent men whose pride will not let them submit to the Lord's chastening as servants of the king of Babylon. They think they have escaped having to go away into Babylon, and they are proud of that fact. We do well to acknowledge that our time in Babylon is an essential part of God's judgment upon the pride of the kingdom of our old man. But they, as types of us, are proud, and consequently they/we cannot bring themselves/ourselves to be obedient to the words of God. These men are each of us, and we are all predestined to go away into Babylon after we come to the Lord. It has proceeded out of the mouth of God, and we will live by every word. All we need to do is acknowledge that we must all serve Babylon, but the scriptures reveal that our old man just cannot accept such total humiliation. Our old man's boldness in his rebellion is the worst just before his destruction. That destruction is prophesied, and it is sure to come at the appointed time. The longer we refuse to submit to our judgment, the more severe that judgment becomes.

Jeremiah was forced to go into Egypt with Johanan and the captains of the forces, but even in Egypt Jeremiah was faithful to His Lord, and he prophesied of the severity of God's judgment upon His people as a type of us for seeking to Egypt and this world for her strength and her safety:

Jer 43:8  Then came the word of the LORD unto Jeremiah in Tahpanhes, saying,
Jer 43:9  Take great stones in thine hand, and hide them in the clay in the brickkiln, which is at the entry of Pharaoh's house in Tahpanhes, in the sight of the men of Judah;
Jer 43:10  And say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will send and take Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will set his throne upon these stones that I have hid; and he shall spread his royal pavilion over them.
Jer 43:11  And when he cometh, he shall smite the land of Egypt, and deliver such as are for death to death; and such as are for captivity to captivity; and such as are for the sword to the sword.
Jer 43:12  And I will kindle a fire in the houses of the gods of Egypt; and he shall burn them, and carry them away captives: and he shall array himself with the land of Egypt, as a shepherd putteth on his garment; and he shall go forth from thence in peace.
Jer 43:13  He shall break also the images of Bethshemesh, that is in the land of Egypt; and the houses of the gods of the Egyptians shall he burn with fire.

But we cannot  hear the Lord's words, and our pride is now out in the open, and we no longer make any pretense of seeking to please our Lord:

Isa 3:9  The shew of their countenance doth witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. Woe unto their soul! for they have rewarded evil unto themselves.

True to our nature, this is what we say when told of the Lord's promised judgments:

Jer 44:15  Then all the men which knew that their wives had burned incense unto other gods, and all the women that stood by, a great multitude, even all the people that dwelt in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying,
Jer 44:16  As for the word that thou hast spoken unto us in the name of the LORD, we will not hearken unto thee.
Jer 44:17 But we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth, to burn incense unto the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, as we have done, we, and our fathers, our kings, and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem: for then had we plenty of victuals, and were well, and saw no evil.
Jer 44:18 But since we left off to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, we have wanted all things, and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine. 
Jer 44:19 And when we burned incense to the queen of heaven, and poured out drink offerings unto her, did we make her cakes to worship her, and pour out drink offerings unto her, without our men?
Jer 44:20 Then Jeremiah said unto all the people, to the men, and to the women, and to all the people which had given him that answer, saying,
Jer 44:21 The incense that ye burned in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, ye, and your fathers, your kings, and your princes, and the people of the land, did not the LORD remember them, and came it not into his mind? 
Jer 44:22 So that the LORD could no longer bear, because of the evil of your doings, and because of the abominations which ye have committed; therefore is your land a desolation, and an astonishment, and a curse, without an inhabitant, as at this day. 
Jer 44:23 Because ye have burned incense, and because ye have sinned against the LORD, and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD, nor walked in his law, nor in his statutes, nor in his testimonies; therefore this evil is happened unto you, as at this day.
Jer 44:24 Moreover Jeremiah said unto all the people, and to all the women, Hear the word of the LORD, all Judah that are in the land of Egypt:
Jer 44:25 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saying; Ye and your wives have both spoken with your mouths, and fulfilled with your hand, saying, We will surely perform our vows that we have vowed, to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her: ye will surely accomplish your vows, and surely perform your vows. [You will continue to keep the days, months, times and years which make you fit in with the people around you]
Jer 44:26 Therefore hear ye the word of the LORD, all Judah that dwell in the land of Egypt; Behold, I have sworn by my great name, saith the LORD, that my name shall no more be named in the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, The Lord GOD liveth.
Jer 44:27 Behold, I will watch over them for evil, and not for good: and all the men of Judah that are in the land of Egypt shall be consumed by the sword and by the famine, until there be an end of them.
Jer 44:28 Yet a small number that escape the sword shall return out of the land of Egypt into the land of Judah, and all the remnant of Judah, that are gone into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, shall know whose words shall stand, mine, or theirs. 
Jer 44:29 And this shall be a sign unto you, saith the LORD, that I will punish you in this place, that ye may know that my words shall surely stand against you for evil: 
Jer 44:30 Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will give Pharaohhophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies, and into the hand of them that seek his life; as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, his enemy, and that sought his life.

These are all the judgments that must come upon the kingdom of our old man. Pray that he does all His wonderful work of bringing us to our wits' end, and judging us all in this age because:

Isa 26:9  With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.

Psa 107:31  Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

If we are given to be judged first in this age, then we will hear these words:

Isa 3:10  Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings.

This is what we are told of those who are given to be "the righteous", and this is the promised "fruit of their doings":

Mat 25:34  Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

Rev 20:6  Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.