Jer 21:1-14  I Myself Will Fight Against You

[Study Aired October 17, 2021]

Jer 21:1  The word which came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, when king Zedekiah sent unto him Pashur the son of Melchiah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, saying,
Jer 21:2  Enquire, I pray thee, of the LORD for us; for Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon maketh war against us; if so be that the LORD will deal with us according to all his wondrous works, that he may go up from us.
Jer 21:3  Then said Jeremiah unto them, Thus shall ye say to Zedekiah:
Jer 21:4  Thus saith the LORD God of Israel; Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands, wherewith ye fight against the king of Babylon, and against  the Chaldeans, which besiege you without the walls, and I will assemble them into the midst of this city.
Jer 21:5  And I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm, even in anger, and in fury, and in great wrath.
Jer 21:6  And I will smite the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast: they shall die of a great pestilence.
Jer 21:7  And afterward, saith the LORD, I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah, and his servants, and the people, and such as are left in this city from the pestilence, from the sword, and from the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those that seek their life: and he shall smite them with the edge of the sword; he shall not spare them, neither have pity, nor have mercy.
Jer 21:8  And unto this people thou shalt say, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I set before you the way of life, and the way of death.
Jer 21:9  He that abideth in this city shall die by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence: but he that goeth out, and falleth to the Chaldeans that besiege you, he shall live, and his life shall be unto him for a prey.
Jer 21:10  For I have set my face against this city for evil, and not for good, saith the LORD: it shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire.
Jer 21:11  And touching the house of the king of Judah, say, Hear ye the word of the LORD;
Jer 21:12  O house of David, thus saith the LORD; Execute judgment in the morning, and deliver him that is spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor, lest my fury go out like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.
Jer 21:13  Behold, I am against thee, O inhabitant of the valley, and rock of the plain, saith the LORD; which say, Who shall come down against us? or who shall enter into our habitations?
Jer 21:14  But I will punish you according to the fruit of your doings, saith the LORD: and I will kindle a fire in the forest thereof, and it shall devour all things round about it.

At first, I thought King Zedekiah was simply being spiteful by sending the very same person who smote Jeremiah and put him in the stocks to now enquire of him concerning what the Lord had in store for Judah and Jerusalem. As it turns out, this is another ‘Pashur’ whom the King is sending to discover what lies ahead for himself and his people. The ‘Pashur’ who smote and imprisoned Jeremiah was “the son of Immer the priest.” This ‘’Pashur” who is sent to enquire of the Lord is “the son of Melchiah. Both were priests, being the descendants of Aaron.

The king wanted to know if the Lord will deliver His people as He always has in the past:

Jer 21:1  The word which came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, when king Zedekiah sent unto him Pashur the son of Melchiah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, saying,
Jer 21:2  Enquire, I pray thee, of the LORD for us; for Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon maketh war against us; if so be that the LORD will deal with us according to all his wondrous works, that he may go up from us.

In sending such esteemed men as these priests to enquire of Jeremiah, King Zedekiah reveals to us that Jeremiah was recognized by all as a divinely appointed prophet of God whose words were the words of God Himself.

Here are the words of God in answer to Zedekiah’s inquiry of what lay in store for carnal-minded Judah and Jerusalem, and their carnal-minded king, Zedekiah:

Jer 21:3  Then said Jeremiah unto them, Thus shall ye say to Zedekiah:

Before we look at the Lord’s words to our self-righteous old man, let’s first consider who God is. God is a loving heavenly Father, and as such He chastens and scourges those He loves. This principle of being “chastened to deny ungodliness” is integral to the very character of our heavenly Father.

Tit 2:11  For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
Tit 2:12  Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;

It is first demonstrated by how the Lord punished our original parents for their disobedience when they ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. However, this marred, dying body of “corruptible… flesh and blood” (1Co 15:50) is also as integral to what the Lord is doing with us through His loving, chastening grace. Dying, corruptible flesh is the essential first step to becoming an immortal, incorruptible king and priest with Christ:

Gen 2:7  And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

Gen 2:17 Yet from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you are not to be eating from it, for in the day you eat from it, to die shall you be dying. (CLV)

Job 5:17  Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty:
Job 5:18  For he maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hands make whole.

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.

The holy spirit has seen fit to quote these very words and repeat them in the New Testament in:

Heb 12:5  And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:
Heb 12:6  For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth [G3811: paideuo], 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?

It is those whom the Lord loves who are the first and most certain in “this present time” (Rom 8:18) to receive of His chastening wrath upon their rebellious ways. It is a great trial of our faith when we, as His sons whom He is chastening, must at the same time watch the Lord physically bless the wicked while they continue in their self-righteous, self-centered ways in rebellion to His Words.

King David experienced this trial and said it almost made him lose faith in the Lord:

Psa 73:1  A Psalm of Asaph. Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart.
Psa 73:2  But as for me, my feet were almost gone; my steps had well nigh slipped.
Psa 73:3  For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
Psa 73:4  For there are no bands in their death: but their strength is firm.
Psa 73:5  They are not in trouble as other men; neither are they plagued like other men.
Psa 73:6  Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain; violence covereth them as a garment.
Psa 73:7  Their eyes stand out with fatness: they have more than heart could wish.
Psa 73:8  They are corrupt, and speak wickedly concerning oppression: they speak loftily.
Psa 73:9  They set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue walketh through the earth.
Psa 73:10  Therefore his people return hither: and waters of a full cup are wrung out to them.
Psa 73:11  And they say, How doth God know? and is there knowledge in the most High? [“Love thine enemy” (Mat 5:44) is a very poor foreign policy” gets uproarious applause from all sides]
Psa 73:12  Behold, these are the ungodly, who prosper in the world; they increase in riches.
Psa 73:13  Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency.
Psa 73:14  For all the day long have I been plagued, and chastened every morning.
Psa 73:15  If I say, I will speak thus; behold, I should offend against  the generation of thy children. [This is what Jeremiah is commissioned to do and this is our commission. We are called to “offend the generation of thy people”.]
Psa 73:16  When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me;
Psa 73:17  Until I went into the sanctuary of God;  then understood I their end.
Psa 73:18  Surely thou didst set them in slippery places: thou castedst them down into destruction.
Psa 73:19  How are they brought into desolation, as in a moment! they are utterly consumed with terrors.
Psa 73:20  As a dream when one awaketh; so, O Lord, when thou awakest, thou shalt despise their image.
Psa 73:21  Thus my heart was grieved, and I was pricked in my reins.
Psa 73:22  So foolish was I, and ignorant: I was as a beast before thee.
Psa 73:23  Nevertheless I am continually with thee: thou hast holden me by my right hand.
Psa 73:24  Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory.

“The sanctuary of God” (vs 17) is His temple, His people (1Co 3:16). It is there among His people that we will be “guided with [His] counsel” by “the multitude of counselors”, all of whom know Him and His voice and His doctrine:

Pro 11:14  Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety.

Pro 15:22  Without counsel purposes are disappointed:  but in the multitude of counsellors they are established.

Pro 24:6  For by wise counsel thou shalt make thy war: and in multitude of counsellors there is safety.

We avoid ‘falling’, we ‘establish purposes’ and ‘make war’ only with “a multitude of counselors”.

Psa 73:25  Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee.
Psa 73:26  My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.
Psa 73:27  For, lo, they that are far from thee shall perish: thou hast destroyed all them that go a whoring from thee.
Psa 73:28  But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord GOD, that I may declare all thy works.

What a blessing to be given eyes to see and ears to hear the meaning of:

Psa 73:24  Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory.

The Lord’s ‘counsel’ which guides us and keeps our feet from slipping is His wrath being poured out upon the kingdom of our self-righteous old man. The Lord’s “counsel” is that we must be the first to endure His ‘fiery, chastening’ words of grace.

1Pe 4:17  For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?
1Pe 4:18  And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall [the later judgment of] the ungodly and the sinner appear?
1Pe 4:19  Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.

Judgment means chastening. Not one nominal Christian in a thousand realizes that the word for ‘teaching’ in the following verse is the same Greek word (G3811) ‘paideuo’, which is translated as ‘chastens’ in Hebrews 12:6:

Tit 2:11  For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
Tit 2:12  Teaching [Greek G3811: ‘paideuo’, chastening] us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;

As “the iniquity of the Amorites” had an appointed, pre-ordained time to be fulfilled, so do the iniquities of self-righteous Judah and Jerusalem within us:

Gen 15:16  But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.

Just as the Lord worked against the Amorites and Canaanites to defeat them, He does the same to His own people at the appointed time:

Jer 21:4  Thus saith the LORD God of Israel; Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands, wherewith ye fight against the king of Babylon, and against the Chaldeans, which besiege you without the walls, and I will assemble them into the midst of this city.
Jer 21:5  And I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm, even in anger, and in fury, and in great wrath.

This fifth verse is repeated in the New Testament in Revelation 15 in these words:

Rev 15:7  And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever.
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.

This pouring out of the wrath of God upon us, which the ministers of Babylon paint as something to be avoided, is clearly stated here to be something which is unavoidable… “and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues [“of the wrath of God”] of the seven angels were fulfilled.”

Here in the United States, we used to have a national hero, who by today’s woke, cancel culture standards would no longer be a ‘hero’. Our national hero is famous for the words he spoke when speaking at the Second Virginia Convention. The words that have made this man famous were, “Give me liberty or give me death.” When we are willing to say those words in defense of the doctrine of Christ, then they are indeed noble words. That was not what Patrick Henry meant when he made that statement. Patrick Henry was more aligned with the spirit of Zedekiah when he said, “Give me liberty or give me death.” Here is this same statement when it is made by the spirit of our Lord Himself:

Joh 12:25  He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.

King Zedekiah typifies that ‘Patrick Henry’ spirit within us. He was placed by the Lord under the domination of Nebuchadnezzar, and he self-righteously thought he could rebel against the man the Lord had placed over him and still expect the Lord to bless his rebellion. However, our self-righteousness does not change the mind of our Lord when it is time for us to be judged. Judah’s judgment had been taking place for decades. Even the righteous King Josiah had been killed by Pharaoh Necho. When Josiah was killed, the people made his son Jehoahaz king. Jehoahaz’ reign lasted only 3 months before he was carried away to Egypt by Pharaohnechoh [a second spelling of that name] who replaced him with his brother Eliakim whom he renamed Jehoiakim.

2Ki 23:34  And Pharaohnechoh made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the room of Josiah his father, and turned his name to Jehoiakim, and took Jehoahaz away: and he came to Egypt, and died there.
2Ki 23:35  And Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh; but he taxed the land to give the money according to the commandment of Pharaoh: he exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land, of every one according to his taxation, to give it unto Pharaohnechoh.

The very next chapter of 2^nd  Kings begins by telling us this same Jehoiakim is subdued by Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon:

2Ki 24:1  In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant three years: then he turned and rebelled against him.

Nebuchadnezzar is the Lord’s servant, and the Lord’s prophets keep telling us that the Lord puts the basest of men into positions of power, and that when we resist them, we are resisting Him.

Dan 4:17  This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.

Rom 13:1  Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.
Rom 13:2  Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.

We read these words, and we keep doing the same rebellious things, and the Lord continues to judge us:

2Ki 24:11  And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came against the city, and his servants did besiege it.
2Ki 24:12  And Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he, and his mother, and his servants, and his princes, and his officers: and the king of Babylon took him in the eighth year of his reign.
2Ki 24:13  And he carried out thence all the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king’s house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of the LORD, as the LORD had said.
2Ki 24:14  And he carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valour, even ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths: none remained, save the poorest sort of the people of the land.
2Ki 24:15  And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon, and the king’s mother, and the king’s wives, and his officers, and the mighty of the land, those carried he into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon.
2Ki 24:16  And all the men of might, even seven thousand, and craftsmen and smiths a thousand, all that were strong and apt for war, even them the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon.
2Ki 24:17  And the king of Babylon made Mattaniah his [Jehoiachin’s] father’s brother king in his stead, and changed his name to Zedekiah.

This is the man to whom Jeremiah is prophesying about his impending doom:

Jer 21:6  And I will smite the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast: they shall die of a great pestilence.
Jer 21:7  And afterward, saith the LORD, I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah, and his servants, and the people, and such as are left in this city from the pestilence, from the sword, and from the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those that seek their life: and he shall smite them with the edge of the sword; he shall not spare them, neither have pity, nor have mercy.

Zedekiah typifies the very heart and mind of our self-righteous old man. He was as pagan as Nebuchadnezzar, and that is why the Lord put Israel under Babylonian domination. Zedekiah was given his position by Nebuchadnezzar himself. The Lord called Nebuchadnezzar “My servant” (Jer 27:6). When Zedekiah rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, he was rebelling against God and His Word:

Jer 27:6  And now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant; and the beasts of the field have I given him also to serve him.

All the Lord’s people must go into Babylon before they can be called out of Babylon:

Rev 18:4  And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.

Zedekiah was like the Pharisees who could not acknowledge their own blindness. Zedekiah wanted to use the Lord’s name even while serving other gods and rebelling against the Lord’s commandments. We all, at first, do not acknowledge that we are in Babylon even while we are a manifested part of the great harlot:

Joh 9:39  And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which [think they] see might be made blind.
Joh 9:40  And some of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words, and said unto him, Are we blind also?
Joh 9:41  Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth.

Try to get any modern-day Pharisee to admit he is spiritually blind, and see where such a tact will get you. It will get you crucified!

The apostle John was raised as a Jew. Even the apostle John had to “look behind” himself to see that he, too, had to “come out of [Babylon]”, the organized church of his day:

Rev 1:10  I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,
Rev 1:11  Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.
Rev 1:12  And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks;

King Zedekiah was installed as king by Nebuchadnezzar. He was expected to submit to that higher power which the Lord called “My servant Nebuchadnezzar”. Zedekiah had sworn to this submission, and he broke his own word:

2Ch 36:13  And he also rebelled against king Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God: but he stiffened his neck, and hardened his heart from turning unto the LORD God of Israel.

Jer 27:6  And now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant; and the beasts of the field have I given him also to serve him.

When Zedekiah rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar, he was rebelling against God, who gave Israel to Nebuchadnezzar. Jeremiah was commissioned to tell the Lord’s people to go into Babylon and after 70 years ‘come out of her’. This happened to the Lord’s people, and it was written for our admonition (1Co 10:11):

Jer 21:8  And unto this people thou shalt say, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I set before you the way of life, and the way of death.
Jer 21:9  He that abideth in this city shall die by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence: but he that goeth out, and falleth to the Chaldeans that besiege you, he shall live, and his life shall be unto him for a prey.
Jer 21:10  For I have set my face against this city for evil, and not for good, saith the LORD: it shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire.

It is important to note that “the way of life” was by going into and then coming out of Babylon:

Rev 18:4  And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her [Babylon], my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.

The lesson for us is that when we try to save ourselves, we will always fail. When we attempt to do anything in our own might, it comes to naught. After we give up because we come to see that “of my own self I can do nothing” then the Lord will give us our heart’s desire.

Joh 5:30  I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.

“Abiding in this city” is ‘abiding in self-righteousness’ and telling yourself that you can overcome your sins without God’s help. “Abiding in this city” is living in disobedience to the commandments of God while telling yourself you are fighting against the enemies of God. I have done this and so have every one of you because:

1Co 10:11  Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.
1Co 10:12  Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.

Our ‘king’ is our desperately wicked heart (Jer 17:9) which claims the name of Christ while it leads us into disobedience as a ‘king’ leads his people.

Jer 17:5  Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD.
Jer 17:6  For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited.
Jer 17:7  Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.
Jer 17:8  For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.
Jer 17:9  The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

This is what we are told will happen to that carnal-minded ‘king’ within us:

Jer 21:11  And touching the house of the king of Judah, say,  Hear ye the word of the LORD;
Jer 21:12  O house of David, thus saith the LORD; Execute judgment in the morning, and deliver him that is spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor, lest my fury go out like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.

This verse brings to mind these words of our Lord to our old man:

Luk 12:49  I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will I, if it be already kindled?
Luk 12:50  But I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished!

John the Baptist knew that the doctrine of Christ would be a fiery baptism:

Mat 3:11  I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:

John was speaking of Christ’s doctrine because he knew how the word ‘fire’ was used in scripture. Here is an example:

Isa 5:24  Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust: because they have cast away the law of the LORD of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.

Here is another way of saying the same thing:

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 [Isa 5:24].

Jer 23:29  Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?

The message in all the judgments of all the prophets is that the Lord comes into our lives to burn out every vestige of the kingdom of our old man. The Canaanites and the Amorites and the giants that were in the promised land all typify various attributes of our old man who must be destroyed. It is a humbling, humiliating thing to come to realize that our salvation comes only through the death and destruction of our carnal mind and any part of our carnal mind that draws breath:

Deu 20:16  But of the cities of these people, which the LORD thy God doth give thee for an inheritance, thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth:

1Co 15:50  Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

Col 1:22  In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:

Heb 2:14  Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;

The road to the death of our old man goes right through Babylon, and when we deny that fact, we are resisting our own Maker. Zedekiah was as much a part of the Babylonian empire as any of the other nations conquered by Nebuchadnezzar, which included Egypt and Israel. Pharaoh Necho conquered Judah and Jerusalem just before Nebuchadnezzar conquered Egypt along with Israel, which was a vassal kingdom of Egypt at that time.

2Ch 35:20  After all this, when Josiah had prepared the temple, Necho king of Egypt came up to fight against Carchemish by Euphrates: and Josiah went out against him.
2Ch 35:21  But he [Pharaoh] sent ambassadors to him [Josiah], saying, What have I to do with thee, thou king of Judah? I come not against thee this day, but against the house wherewith I have war: for God commanded me to make haste: forbear thee from meddling with God, who is with me, that he destroy thee not.
2Ch 35:22  Nevertheless Josiah would not turn his face from him, but disguised himself, that he might fight with him, and hearkened not unto the words of Necho from the mouth of God, and came to fight in the valley of Megiddo. [King Josiah had obviously failed to inquire of the Lord before going to battle against Pharaoh.]
2Ch 35:23  And the archers shot at king Josiah; and the king said to his servants, Have me away; for I am sore wounded.
2Ch 35:24  His servants therefore took him out of that chariot, and put him in the second chariot that he had; and they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died, and was buried in one of the sepulchres of his fathers. And all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah.
2Ch 35:25  And Jeremiah lamented for Josiah: and all the singing men and the singing women spake of Josiah in their lamentations to this day, and made them an ordinance in Israel: and, behold, they are written in the lamentations.
2Ch 35:26  Now the rest of the acts of Josiah, and his goodness, according to that which was written in the law of the LORD,
2Ch 35:27  And his deeds, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah.

Jeremiah’s prophecies began in the reign of King Josiah, the best king of Judah since King Hezekiah, who was Josiah’s great-grandfather.

King Hezekiah was Judah’s best king since King David. His son Manasseh is considered by many to be Judah’s worst king, who put an idol in the very temple of God. Though Manasseh later repented of his idolatry and cleansed the temple, Manasseh was followed by his son Amon, who was also an evil king. He was so evil his own servants conspired and assassinated him after ruling only two years (2Ki 21:23). The people then killed King Amon’s murderers and made Josiah, his son, king:

Jer 1:1  The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests that were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin:
Jer 1:2  To whom the word of the LORD came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his [Josiah’s] reign.
Jer 1:3  It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, unto the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son of Josiah king of Judah, unto the carrying away of Jerusalem captive in the fifth month.

This is part of that prophecy in the reign of Zedekiah:

Jer 21:13  Behold, I am against thee, O inhabitant of the valley, and rock of the plain, saith the LORD; which say, Who shall come down against us? or who shall enter into our habitations?
Jer 21:14  But I will punish you according to the fruit of your doings, saith the LORD: and I will kindle a fire in the forest thereof, and it shall devour all things round about it.

That is the last verse of our study today. It sounds so negative, and for our old man it is indeed his doom. Nevertheless, the doom of our old man is the very best news any man will ever be given. If the doom of our old man is accomplished in “this present time”, then we are blessed to be the few who are numbered to partake of his death first. That means we will not be in the second group “which no man can number”, who will also “come up through great tribulation and wash their robes and make them white in the blood of the Lamb”:

Rev 7:2  And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea,
Rev 7:3  Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.
Rev 7:4  And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty  and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.

In Revelation 14, this same numbered group is called “the firstfruits unto God and the Lamb”:

Rev 14:1  And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads.
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.

At the end of chapter seven there is a second group “which no man could  number”:

Rev 7:9  After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;

Rev 7:13  And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they?
Rev 7:14  And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation [the “lake of fire [which] is the second death”], and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

Rev 20:14  And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

The “great multitude which no man can number” is the workers in the vineyard who were the first to be hired and the last to be paid. Their salvation is their “penny a day”, their day’s wages which is promised to all men:

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, but also for the sins of the whole world.

This “great multitude which no man could number” is “the rest of the dead” of this verse which is revealed earlier in this same 20^th chapter of Revelation:

Rev 20:4  And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, strong and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
Rev 20:5  But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.

“Until the thousand years are finished” is the same as saying “give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first”:

Mat 20:8  So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the labourers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first.

The few thousand “firstfruits unto God and the Lamb” are contrasted with the “great multitude which no man could number (Rev 7:9). This “great multitude which no man [could] number” is “the rest of the dead” of Revelation 20:5. The “one hundred and forty and four thousand…  firstfruits unto God and the Lamb” are those who are given their “penny a day”, their day’s wages, first of whom we are specifically given this qualifying statement:

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

The “first resurrection” is contrasted with “the second death” because those in the first resurrection gave up their life in this present time and were the first to “present their bodies a living sacrifice” (Rom 12:1), “die daily” (1Co 15:310), and the first to be “crucified with Christ” (Gal 2:20).

They are the “blessed and holy [who will] have part in the… first resurrection [and] shall reign with Christ a thousand years… and … judge angels… [in] the lake of fire” (1Co 6:3).

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

Jer 22:1  Thus saith the LORD; Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and speak there this word,
Jer 22:2  And say, Hear the word of the LORD, O king of Judah, that sittest upon the throne of David, thou, and thy servants, and thy people that enter in by these gates:
Jer 22:3  Thus saith the LORD; Execute ye judgment and righteousness, and deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor: and do no wrong, do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, nor the widow, neither shed innocent blood in this place.
Jer 22:4  For if ye do this thing indeed, then shall there enter in by the gates of this house kings sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, he, and his servants, and his people.
Jer 22:5  But if ye will not hear these words, I swear by myself, saith the LORD, that this house shall become a desolation.
Jer 22:6  For thus saith the LORD unto the king’s house of Judah; Thou art Gilead unto me, and the head of Lebanon: yet surely I will make thee a wilderness, and cities which are not inhabited.
Jer 22:7  And I will prepare destroyers against thee, every one with his weapons: and they shall cut down thy choice cedars, and cast them into the fire.
Jer 22:8  And many nations shall pass by this city, and they shall say every man to his neighbour, Wherefore hath the LORD done thus unto this great city?
Jer 22:9  Then they shall answer, Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD their God, and worshipped other gods, and served them.
Jer 22:10  Weep ye not for the dead, neither bemoan him: but weep sore for him that goeth away: for he shall return no more, nor see his native country.
Jer 22:11  For thus saith the LORD touching Shallum the son of Josiah king of Judah, which reigned instead of Josiah his father, which went forth out of this place; He shall not return thither any more:
Jer 22:12  But he shall die in the place whither they have led him captive, and shall see this land no more.
Jer 22:13  Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by wrong; that useth his neighbour’s service without wages, and giveth him not for his work;
Jer 22:14  That saith, I will build me a wide house and large chambers, and cutteth him out windows; and it is cieled with cedar, and painted with vermilion.
Jer 22:15  Shalt thou reign, because thou closest thyself in cedar? did not thy father eat and drink, and do judgment and justice, and then it was well with him?
Jer 22:16  He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well with him: was not this to know me? saith the LORD.