[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’-os

From 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.

Jer 18:13-23 Let Us Not Give Heed to Any of His Words

[Study Aired September 26, 2021]

Jer 18:13  Therefore thus saith the LORD; Ask ye now among the heathen, who hath heard such things: the virgin of Israel hath done a very horrible thing.
Jer 18:14  Will a man leave the snow of Lebanon which cometh from the rock of the field? Or shall the cold flowing waters that come from another place be forsaken?
Jer 18:15  Because my people hath forgotten me, they have burned incense to vanity, and they have caused them to stumble in their ways from the ancient paths, to walk in paths, in a way not cast up;
Jer 18:16  To make their land desolate, and a perpetual hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished, and wag his head.
Jer 18:17  I will scatter them as with an east wind before the enemy; I will shew them the back, and not the face, in the day of their calamity.
Jer 18:18  Then said they, Come, and let us devise devices against Jeremiah; for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, and let us smite him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words.
Jer 18:19  Give heed to me, O LORD, and hearken to the voice of them that contend with me.
Jer 18:20  Shall evil be recompensed for good? For they have digged a pit for my soul. Remember that I stood before thee to speak good for them, and to turn away thy wrath from them.
Jer 18:21  Therefore deliver up their children to the famine, and pour out their blood by the force of the sword; and let their wives be bereaved of their children, and be widows; and let their men be put to death; let their young men be slain by the sword in battle.
Jer 18:22  Let a cry be heard from their houses, when thou shalt bring a troop suddenly upon them: for they have digged a pit to take me, and hid snares for my feet.
Jer 18:23  Yet, LORD, thou knowest all their counsel against me to slay me: forgive not their iniquity, neither blot out their sin from thy sight, but let them be overthrown before thee; deal thus with them in the time of thine anger.

Whenever our study begins with the word ‘therefore’ we must review the last verses of our last study:

Jer 18:11  Now therefore go to, speak to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device against you: return ye now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good.
Jer 18:12  And they said, There is no hope: but we will walk after our own devices, and we will every one do the imagination of his evil heart.

That is the ‘therefore’ that provokes the Lord to ask:

Jer 18:13  Therefore thus saith the LORD; Ask ye now among the heathen, who hath heard such things: the virgin of Israel hath done a very horrible thing.

The Lord catches us in our open adultery and tells us of our adulterous ways. Then He admonishes us with great patience to “return” to Him, but we refuse to do so. “Ask ye now among the heathen, who hath heard such things” is the same message the holy spirit is dealing with in the church at Corinth, when the apostle Paul admonishes us:

1Co 5:1  It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father’s wife.

Leaving the Lord, our spiritually legal husband, to worship our flesh and the great red dragon, is the equivalent of leaving pure life-giving waters to drink from a sewer. The fact that we do this provokes the Lord to ask:

Jer 18:14  Will a man leave the snow of Lebanon which cometh from the rock of the field? or shall the cold flowing waters that come from another place be forsaken?

These words are addressed to each of us because we just naturally take our spiritual husband’s love for granted, and we just naturally use the knowledge of His sovereignty to turn His grace into lasciviousness so we can continue to please our flesh and continue in our sins and our false doctrines. These actions place us in the spiritual position of ‘worshiping the dragon who empowers the beast’ which we all are by nature (Ecc 3:18, Rev 13:4).

The waters from the melting snow in Lebanon flow down and refresh the Lord’s people. Just as the Lord’s wife “spoils the Egyptians” (Exo 3:22), and inherits ‘cities they did not build, and vineyards they did not plant’ (Jos 24:13). Lebanon is not Israel, but Lebanon also belongs to the Lord, and He uses the snow of the mountains of Lebanon as He sees fit, to refresh His people, and yet they turn from Him to other gods.

The message here is the same as in the previous chapters:

Jer 2:7  And I brought you into a plentiful country, to eat the fruit thereof and the goodness thereof; but when ye entered, ye defiled my land, and made mine heritage an abomination.
Jer 2:8  The priests said not, Where is the LORD? and they that handle the law knew me not: the pastors also transgressed against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit.
Jer 2:9  Wherefore I will yet plead with you, saith the LORD, and with your children’s children will I plead.
Jer 2:10  For pass over the isles of Chittim, and see; and send unto Kedar, and consider diligently, and see if there be such a thing.
Jer 2:11  Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? but my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit.
Jer 2:12  Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, saith the LORD.
Jer 2:13  For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.
Jer 2:14  Is Israel a servant? is he a homeborn slave? why is he spoiled?

The question the Lord is asking us is why are we forsaking pure, clean, cool, refreshing waters to drink from the muddy waters of “Sihor”, the Nile, in Egypt or the Euphrates in Babylon? Why do we change the Truth in His Word, for the lies of Egypt and Babylon?

Psa 137:1  By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.
Psa 137:2  We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof.
Psa 137:3  For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion.

Jer 2:18  And now what hast thou to do in the way of Egypt, to drink the waters of Sihor? or what hast thou to do in the way of Assyria [Babylon], to drink the waters of the river?

Jer 17:13  O LORD, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth [as opposed to “in heaven” (Luk 10:20)], because they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living waters.

Christ tells us that “fountains of living waters” is speaking of Him, and He tells us just how precious His ‘waters’ are:

Joh 4:13  Jesus answered and said unto her,  Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:
Joh 4:14  But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

Like Esau we place no value on things that are in the distant future. Rather we live for the moment to please our flesh, and we forget the promise of “water springing up into everlasting life”.

It is much easier to do all the things that cause us to be accepted by family, friends, and the society we live in, than it is to be faithful to the Lord and be divided from that comfortable position in this world. We find it easy to forget what our calling entails:

Mat 10:21  And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death.
Mat 10:22  And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.
Mat 10:23  But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come.
Mat 10:24  The disciple is not above his  master, nor the servant above his lord.
Mat 10:25  It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household?

Mat 10:34  Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.
Mat 10:35  For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.
Mat 10:36  And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.
Mat 10:37  He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
Mat 10:38  And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.
Mat 10:39  He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.
Mat 10:40 He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.

Notice just how redundant the holy spirit is in repeating over and over again how we, the Lord’s own people, have turned away from Him in our desire to do what we want to do. Our flesh just naturally hates being told what to do. That is especially true because those commandments are contrary to our natural mind and our natural inclinations:

Rom 8:7  Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
Rom 8:8  So then they that are in the flesh cannot  please God.

Gal 5:17  For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

If you think that because you have been aware of the Truth for some time that your flesh is now subject to the law of God, then you are in for a rude awakening. It is true that if we “walk in the spirit we will not fulfill the lust of the flesh”:

Gal 5:16  This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.

It is also true that “the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death” is in the King James Version of the scriptures:

Rom 8:2  For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.

What tense do you suppose that statement is? Yes, of course, it just happens to be in the aorist tense and should read “the law of the spirit frees me from the law of sin and death”. Both the John Mitchell Version and the CLV correctly put this statement in the continuing aorist tense:

Rom 8:2   For the law of the spirit of The Life within Christ Jesus [or: For the Law of Life’s spirit, within Christ Jesus; or: For the Spirit’s law of life within Christ Jesus] frees you [sets you free] away from the Law of the Sin [the Failure; the Miss] and of the Death. (JMV)

Rom 8:2 for the spirit’s law of life in Christ Jesus frees you from the law of sin and death. (CLV)

We are being supported by the spirit to overcome our flesh, but we must never ever think that we need not be diligent, vigilant, sober, and alert to the pulls of our flesh, and the power the Lord has given the adversary to try our faith, and make us forget who we are in Christ:

Jer 18:15  Because my people hath forgotten me, they have burned incense to vanity, and they have caused them to stumble in their ways from the ancient paths, to walk in paths, in a way not cast up;

After listing all His accomplishments and all of his degrees bestowed upon him by men, Paul counts it all “loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ”:

Php 3:7  But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.
Php 3:8  Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them  but dung, that I may win Christ,
Php 3:9  And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:
Php 3:10  That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;
Php 3:11  If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.

Then He gives us the mindset which will never forget the Lord and who we are in the Lord. Here is the mind of Christ concerning how we are to think in order to “endure to the end”:

Php 3:12  Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.
Php 3:13  Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
Php 3:14  I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
Php 3:15  Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.

‘Attained… apprehend and apprehended’ are all in the aorist tense and ‘being perfect [and] thus minded’ are in the present tense within the understanding that ‘perfection’ is a process that is taking place within the aorist tense. Perfection in the flesh was beyond even Christ’s abilities:

Luk 13:32  And he said unto them, Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and to morrow, and the third day [being resurrected] I shall be perfected.

When we “stumble in [our] ways” we are being disobedient to His established Truth. To “cast up” a ‘way’ and a ‘path’ is to properly prepare that ‘path’ and that ‘way’ by building up what is right and proper and by removing every rebellious stumbling block which is not right or proper:

Isa 57:13  When thou criest, let thy companies deliver thee; but the wind shall carry them all away; vanity shall take them: but he that putteth his trust in me shall possess the land, and shall inherit my holy mountain;
Isa 57:14  And shall say, Cast ye up, cast ye up, prepare the way, take up the stumblingblock out of the way of my people.
Isa 57:15  For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity [‘inhabits the future’ (CLV)], whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.

‘Putting our trust in the Lord’ means that we love Him, and we fear to disobey or disappoint Him. Love is obedience:

1Jn 5:2  By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.
1Jn 5:3  For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.

“Know[ing] that we love the children of God” comes only through being obedient to Him and His doctrines. We should not claim we know Christ if we will not be obedient to His commandments.

This is how Christ wants us to show that we love Him:

Luk 6:46  And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?
Luk 6:47  Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like:
Luk 6:48  He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock.
Luk 6:49  But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.

“The high and holy place where the Lord dwells” (Isa 57:15) is in the heavens of our minds, which are at this very moment being purified and prepared for His habitation:

Heb 9:22  And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.
Heb 9:23  It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.
Heb 9:24  For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:

The “purify[ing] of [our] heavens” is the “daily… dying” (1Co 15:31) of our old man who is the subject of our next verses in the form of plural pronouns:

Jer 18:16  To make their land desolate, and a perpetual hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished, and wag his head.
Jer 18:17  I will scatter them as with an east wind before the enemy; I will shew them the back, and not the face, in the day of their calamity.

‘Their’ and ‘them’ is the rebellious, ignorant, carnal mind we are all born with, and which must be made “desolate… in the day of [our] calamity”, which is really the best day of our  lives.

Until that day arrives we are all just unrepentant, self-righteous, Job (Job 26:5-7 and the entire 29^th chapter), and this is what we do to those who attempt to expose our self-righteousness:

Jer 18:18  Then said they, Come, and let us devise devices against Jeremiah; for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, and let us smite him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words.

Once again, the plural ‘they’ is hiding from the world the fact that this verse is addressed individually to every person who reads it. This is what we all say of those who bring Him and His Truth to us. Those who bring The Truth to us are simply those who came before us and who, like Job, came to realize just how “vile” they are:

Job 40:1  Moreover the LORD answered Job, and said,
Job 40:2  Shall he that contendeth with the Almighty instruct him? he that reproveth God, let him answer it.
Job 40:3  Then Job answered the LORD, and said,
Job 40:4  Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth.
Job 40:5  Once have I spoken; but I will not answer: yea, twice; but I will proceed no further.
Job 40:6  Then answered the LORD unto Job out of the whirlwind, and said,
Job 40:7  Gird up thy loins now like a man: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me.
Job 40:8  Wilt thou also disannul my judgment? wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayest be righteous?

The answer to the Lord’s rhetorical question… “Wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayest be righteous?” is, “Yes, that is exactly what we all do” before we come to see just how ‘vile’ we really are as verse 18 reveals when we maintain: “for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, and let us smite [Jeremiah, as a type of “the Lord and His Christ”] with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words.”

We are “the souls under the altar” of the fifth seal:

Rev 6:9  And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they  held:

“The altar” signifies the cross upon which we all present our bodies as a “daily dying… living sacrifice” (1Co 15:31 and Rom 12:1).

As verse 18 demonstrates, it was Jeremiah’s ‘words’ “…the words of God and…  the testimony [he] held” which ‘they’ (you and I… our old man] hated so much.

Rev 6:10  And they [our new man] cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?

Let’s look at verse 18 once more:

Jer 18:18  Then said they, Come, and let us devise devices against Jeremiah; for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, and let us smite him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words.

These words reflect the self-righteous spirit of Job before the Lord Himself came and confronted this most heinous self-righteous spirit, which is manifested in these words of Job:

Job 27:1  Moreover Job continued his parable, and said,
Job 27:2  As God liveth, who hath taken away my judgment; and the Almighty, who hath vexed my soul;
Job 27:3  All the while my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils;
Job 27:4  My lips shall not speak wickedness, nor my tongue utter deceit.
Job 27:5  God forbid that I should justify you: till I die I will not remove mine integrity from me.
Job 27:6  My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go: my heart shall not reproach me so long as I live.
Job 27:7  Let mine enemy be as the wicked, and he that riseth up against me as the unrighteous.

Job had not yet learned the wisdom of these inspired words:

Pro 27:2  Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth; a stranger, and not thine own lips.

As we saw earlier in Job 40, Job was granted to see that his “enemy” was the Lord Himself, as the Lord ‘judged him out of his own mouth’ (Luk 19:22) for referring the Lord, who had “risen up against” Job “as the wicked… as the unrighteous”. That is no way to speak of the Lord, not even in ignorance.

We all at first think just that way of the Lord and His Christ, and the whole world agrees with us at that time, which causes our new man to cry out to the Lord:

Jer 18:19  Give heed to me, O LORD, and hearken to the voice of them that contend with me.
Jer 18:20  Shall evil be recompensed for good? for they have digged a pit for my soul. Remember that I stood before thee to speak good for them, and to turn away thy wrath from them.

We all long for the day when we are given revenge over our old man and his vengeful ways. Again, it is always my own old man who is referred to with a plural pronoun:

Jer 18:21  Therefore deliver up their children to the famine, and pour out their blood by the force of the sword; and let their wives be bereaved of their children, and be widows; and let their men be put to death; let their young men be slain by the sword in battle.
Jer 18:22  Let a cry be heard from their houses, when thou shalt bring a troop suddenly upon them: for they have digged a pit to take me, and hid snares for my feet.
Jer 18:23  Yet, LORD, thou knowest all their counsel against me to slay me: forgive not their iniquity, neither blot out their sin from thy sight, but let them be overthrown before thee; deal thus with them in the time of thine anger.

“The force of the sword” is the power of the Word of God:

Heb 4:12  For the Word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of both soul and spirit, and of both the joints and the marrow, and is able to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart.

It is the Lord Himself who referred to “their men” as evil, lying ‘men’ when He said:

Mat 4:19  And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.
Mat 10:17  But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues;

The apostle Paul admonishes us:

Rom 3:4  God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.

Unless the name ‘Adam’ is qualified by the words “second man Adam” or “the last Adam”, Adam is always to be understood as “the natural man… the first man Adam… the man of sin” in all of us. So it is with the word ‘man’ or ‘men’. Unless otherwise qualified by phrases like “good man… (Mat 12:35) wise man… (Mat 7:24) new man… (Eph 2:15 and 4:24) or last man… (1Co 15:45)”, the word ‘man’ is always to be understood as “the first man, Adam… the man of sin… the beast… made to be taken and destroyed.”

It was the Lord Himself who told us that ‘men’ and ‘children’ both signify false doctrines:

Mat 13:18  Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower.
Mat 13:19  When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.
Mat 13:20  But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it;

“Receiving seed” is “hearing the Word”. However, ‘the Word’ is also called “the children of the kingdom”:

Mat 13:36  Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field.
Mat 13:37  He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man;
Mat 13:38  The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one;
Mat 13:39  The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.

The ‘good seed’ are the children of the kingdom and the ‘tares’ are the children of the wicked one. When we read in Jeremiah:

Jer 18:21  Therefore deliver up their children to the famine, and pour out their blood by the force of the sword; and let their wives be bereaved of their children, and be widows; and let their men be put to death; let their young men be slain by the sword in battle.

That is the desire of “the souls under the altar”. Those ‘souls’ are not intent upon seeing their physical enemies suffer excruciating revenge. Such a spirit will not be given to rule over others. What ‘the souls under the altar’ want to see is the death and destruction of the kingdom of their own old man as well as that same destruction of the “old man” in all men. “Their young men… their children… their wives (false churches), and their blood” are one and all the lies of the adversary within all men. I want my own “old man” to suffer the vengeance of God upon him and his kingdom. I want him and anything about him… everything that breaths (Deu 20:16)… to be completely destroyed “by the sword… of the Word… in battle”.

Jer 18:22  Let a cry be heard from their houses, when thou shalt bring a troop suddenly upon them: for they have digged a pit to take me, and hid snares for my feet.
Jer 18:23  Yet, LORD, thou knowest all their counsel against me to slay me: forgive not their iniquity, neither blot out their sin from thy sight, but let them be overthrown before thee; deal thus with them in the time of thine anger.

‘The troop which comes suddenly upon them’ signifies all the truths which expose the lies by which we have been snared and which we have been living under for so long. These two verses are the fulfilment of what the Lord said He would do in the first part of this same chapter. He does all this because of our stubbornness and our rebellion against Him:

Jer 18:11  Now therefore go to, speak to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device against you: return ye now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good.
Jer 18:12  And they said, There is no hope: but we will walk after our own devices, and we will every one do the imagination of his evil heart.

‘Their… them… and they’ are plural pronouns which are designed to hide from the eyes of those who are not being judged at this time, the fact that all those pronouns refer to the kingdom and the economy of our old man who is the first to be judged in “this present time”:

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.

1Pe 4:17  For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God [“this present time” (Rom 8:18)]: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

We are “the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem” who have insisted on ‘walking after our own devices and doing the imagination of our own evil heart’. The Lord is mercifully judging us in “this present time” however.

We have nothing to fear because nothing depends upon us. Everything depends only upon Him who is “working all things after the counsel 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:
Eph 1:12  That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.

And “all things [are being] worked together for good to them that love God and who are the called according to His purpose”:

Rom 8:28  And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

So, we need not worry about the ship going down. If Christ is in the ship, it will not go down.

Here is that story. It is a story about each of us and the trying of our faith:

Mar 4:35  And the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side.
Mar 4:36  And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with him other little ships.
Mar 4:37  And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full.
Mar 4:38  And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish?
Mar 4:39  And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.
Mar 4:40  And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?
Mar 4:41  And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?

Both “the wind and the sea”, the spirit and the flesh “obey Him”, so we need not fear. It is He who is working in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure:

Php 2:12  Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
Php 2:13  For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

Which “good pleasure” is:

Luk 12:32  Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

That is our study for today and these are the verses for our next study:

Jer 19:1  Thus saith the LORD, Go and get a potter’s earthen bottle, and take of the ancients of the people, and of the ancients of the priests;
Jer 19:2  And go forth unto the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is by the entry of the east gate, and proclaim there the words that I shall tell thee,
Jer 19:3  And say, Hear ye the word of the LORD, O kings of Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem; Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, the which whosoever heareth, his ears shall tingle.
Jer 19:4  Because they have forsaken me, and have estranged this place, and have burned incense in it unto other gods, whom neither they nor their fathers have known, nor the kings of Judah, and have filled this place with the blood of innocents;
Jer 19:5  They have built also the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings unto Baal, which I commanded not, nor spake it, neither came it into my mind:
Jer 19:6  Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that this place shall no more be called Tophet, nor The valley of the son of Hinnom, but The valley of slaughter.
Jer 19:7  And I will make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place; and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hands of them that seek their lives: and their carcases will I give to be meat for the fowls of the heaven, and for the beasts of the earth.
Jer 19:8  And I will make this city desolate, and an hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished and hiss because of all the plagues thereof.
Jer 19:9  And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and they shall eat every one the flesh of his friend in the siege and straitness, wherewith their enemies, and they that seek their lives, shall straiten them.
Jer 19:10  Then shalt thou break the bottle in the sight of the men that go with thee,
Jer 19:11  And shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Even so will I break this people and this city, as one breaketh a potter’s vessel, that cannot be made whole again: and they shall bury them in Tophet, till there be no place to bury.
Jer 19:12  Thus will I do unto this place, saith the LORD, and to the inhabitants thereof, and even make this city as Tophet:
Jer 19:13  And the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses of the kings of Judah, shall be defiled as the place of Tophet, because of all the houses upon whose roofs they have burned incense unto all the host of heaven, and have poured out drink offerings unto other gods.
Jer 19:14  Then came Jeremiah from Tophet, whither the LORD had sent him to prophesy; and he stood in the court of the LORD’S house; and said to all the people,
Jer 19:15  Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring upon this city and upon all her towns all the evil that I have pronounced against it, because they have hardened their necks, that they might not hear my words.

Psa 119:65 TETH. Thou hast dealt well with thy servant, O LORD, according unto thy word.
Psa 119:66 Teach me good judgment and knowledge: for I have believed thy commandments.
Psa 119:67 Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy word.
Psa 119:68 Thou art good, and doest good; teach me thy statutes.
Psa 119:69 The proud have forged a lie against me: but I will keep thy precepts with my whole heart.
Psa 119:70 Their heart is as fat as grease; but I delight in thy law.
Psa 119:71 It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.
Psa 119:72 The law of thy mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver.

Psa 119:73 JOD. Thy hands have made me and fashioned me: give me understanding, that I may learn thy commandments.
Psa 119:74 They that fear thee will be glad when they see me; because I have hoped in thy word.
Psa 119:75 I know, O LORD, that thy judgments are right, and that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me.
Psa 119:76 Let, I pray thee, thy merciful kindness be for my comfort, according to thy word unto thy servant.
Psa 119:77 Let thy tender mercies come unto me, that I may live: for thy law is my delight.
Psa 119:78 Let the proud be ashamed; for they dealt perversely with me without a cause: but I will meditate in thy precepts.
Psa 119:79 Let those that fear thee turn unto me, and those that have known thy testimonies.
Psa 119:80 Let my heart be sound in thy statutes; that I be not ashamed.

The last two letters we looked at were “zain” and “cheth” which, along with their accompanying verses, demonstrated how God causes His sanctuary where He abides (cheth – Joh 14:20) to be afflicted (Heb 12:6) and then quickened by His word which He sends to heal us (Act 14:22, Psa 107:20). The eighth is of the seven, and the new man cannot be formed without the complete experience of putting off our flesh, which is impossible without the word of God abiding richly within us.

Rev 17:11  And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.

Rev 15:8  And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.

Col 3:16  Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. 

Col 3:17  And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him. 

Joh 14:20  At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you. 

The idea of breaking and mending the church so we can have a closer relationship with our Father and Christ is an ongoing theme in the bible reminding us that His strength is made perfect through our weak flesh which learns obedience by the things we suffer (2Co 12:9-10). The intention of these inspired words of Paul “Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me ” have the same intent in Psalm 107:31 which reads “Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!”. This verse is centered around a great tempest described at sea where God makes a way where there seems to be none (Isa 43:16) by bringing us to our wits’ end, causing us to trust in Him (by faith and through faith Heb_11:1-40) Who is our desired haven and Who identifies with our suffering in the flesh (8) (Rom 10:17, Mat 13:16, Eph 1:12, Psa 107:30, Heb 5:7-8).

The physical communion that occurred during Christ’s ministry in these verses (Mat 14:19-21, Mat 15:32-38) is a living parable that represents the breaking of bread which must occur in our lives (Heb 10:25) in order to be nourished or quickened by grace through faith (1Co 10:16, Eph 2:8, Joh 6:35, Joh 6:63). God’s power abides in us because we have been granted to sit at the feet of our Lord and break bread, and that thought was only symbolically being fulfilled in these verses: (“about five thousand men” Mat 14:19-21; “four thousand men, beside women and children” Mat 15:32-38). 

In today’s study we will look at the ninth and tenth letters of the Hebrew alphabet “teth” and “jod” and see how they correlate with their verses which explain for us how God uses His judgments in our earth to learn righteousness (Isa 26:9). That righteousness God gives us through Christ (Rev 19:8) is manifested through the church who are being judged today and learning to trust God in our flesh which is being given dominion over sin in this age so we can be one with our Father and Christ. The “jod” in the positive sense of the number 10 represents a right relationship with Christ in the flesh that cannot be obtained unless we go through the symbolic pillars in the temple which are comprised of four and five pillars that lead us to our one high priest, Jesus Christ, who is in the holiest place where we “come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (2Ch 3:1, Exo 26:30, Exo 26:34-37, Rev 3:12, Heb 4:16). Coming to God through Christ is an ongoing event in the life of God’s children (Joh 6:44, Eph 3:10, Eph 2:18) as we learn how to “behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth” (1Ti 3:15), and it is through every joint God supplies that we can be one bread and one spirit that make up “the pillar and ground of truth” (Eph 4:16, 1Co 10:17, Rom 12:5). The four and five pillars spoken of that are in the temple of God parallel and correlate with the approximate four and five thousand people that Christ fed in these verses – Mat 14:19-21, Mat 15:32-38.

The masses in Christ’s day were not being judged, just like today, because there was no spiritual stay of bread or water being given (Isa 3:1). They were being physically fed and physically healed, demonstrating what God’s elect will do for the rest of humanity during the time we reign with Christ on earth, and then, when the greater works than these are accomplished through Christ’s body, we will bring life to all of humanity through the death of the old man in the lake of fire by spiritually feeding (Joh 14:12) all those who will then be dragged to Christ in us (Joh 6:44). Those greater works Christ talked about in John 14:12 are not just appointed for those to whom we will minister in the lake of fire by sending His word to heal them, but especially unto the household of faith today who are being saved by the breaking of bread, the communion we share together in Christ today (Gal 6:10, 1Co 10:16).

Knowing who we are (1Co 3:16) and understanding that a shared judgment (9) is upon the body of Christ today in the flesh (1Pe 4:17, 1Pe 4:12, 1Co 12:26), which is feeding us spiritual bread (Num 14:9) is only part of the story. We are also being given to lay up store for the ages to come and to witness the strength of Christ, the power of God, who makes it possible for us to be more than conquerors through Christ, symbolized by the clusters of grapes Joshua and Caleb brought back from the land they spied out and declared that “we are well able to overcome it“.

Num 14:9  Only rebel not ye against the LORD, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and the LORD is with us: fear them not. 

Num 13:23  And they came unto the brook of Eshcol, and cut down from thence a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they bare it between two upon a staff; and they brought of the pomegranates, and of the figs.

Num 13:30  And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it. 

Psa 119:65 TETH. Thou hast dealt well with thy servant, O LORD, according unto thy word.

Everything is “according unto thy word” seeing “All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made” (Joh 1:1-3), and God deals “well with thy servant” when we are given to believe that He has the words of eternal life. We become convinced that nothing can separate us from His love because of God’s spirit within us (Rom 8:38-39, Rom 8:9), and soon we realize there is nowhere else to go when God takes away our blinded eyes, where initially “the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not” (Joh 6:68, Joh 6:29, Joh 8:31, Psa 119:160, Joh 1:5). John the baptist typifies our flesh which bears witness of Christ when we know Him in the flesh. However, John was pointing to Christ and His Christ in the wilderness, those who have Christ abiding in them in the flesh (Col 1:27). “The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe”. Like John we must ‘lose our first head’ in order to be a true witness, and the least of us who have Christ as our head is greater than John because of our new head, Jesus Christ, who is being witnessed to the world today as our hope of glory within (Col 1:27). We are pointing to Christ within and John was pointing to Christ without (Luk 7:28, Col 1:18, Rom 8:9).

When God deals with us (“Thou hast dealt well with thy servant“) it is another way of saying He sanctifies us with His word (Joh 17:17), and it is through the sanctification process that we come to know God and His Son Jesus Christ, which knowledge is eternal life (Joh 17:3).

Joh 17:17  Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. 

Joh 17:3  And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. 

Psa 119:66 Teach me good judgment and knowledge: for I have believed thy commandments.

The context in these verses in James which talk about the symbolic twelve tribes of Israel, who represent God’s elect, gives us some foundational (12) ideas as to what must occur in our lives in order to be that solid foundation God is building, and of whom He says it is His good pleasure to give us the kingdom (Luk 12:32). We are brought to our wits’ end through much tribulation (Act 14:22) for the express purpose of learning “good judgment and knowledge” which is expounded upon in James 1:1-6. Without the “divers temptations”, without the “trying of your faith” that “worketh patience”, we would not be able to come to the point “that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing”. However, if we’re granted to believe and continue in that belief, which will be tried (1Pe 1:7), it will, in time, after you have suffered for a while “make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you“.

Jas 1:1  James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting. [Deu 4:27, Mat 26:31, Luk 12:32]
Jas 1:2  My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; 
Jas 1:3  Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. 
Jas 1:4  But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. 
Jas 1:5  If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. 
Jas 1:6  But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. 

1Ti 6:6  But godliness with contentment is great gain.[wanting nothing]

Jas 1:12  Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. [Rev 3:11]

1Pe 5:10  But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you. 
1Pe 5:11 To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.