Jer 7:1-17 Part 2 – Pray Not For This People

[Study Aired April 18, 2021]

We ended our last study with the message found in Ezekiel 14 and Hebrews 6 where we are essentially told we cannot “make straight that which the Lord has made crooked:

Ecc 1:15  That which is crooked cannot be made straight: and that which is wanting cannot be numbered.

Ecc 7:13  Consider the work of God: for who can make that straight, which he hath made crooked?

Another way of expressing the fact that “That which… the work of God… has made crooked… cannot be made straight” is:

Heb 6:4  For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,

I will read the verses in Ezekiel 14 and in Hebrews 6, along with the admonitions in Proverbs and 1 John 4, which admonish us on how to know “that which the Lord has made crooked”:

Eze 14:1  Then came certain of the elders of Israel unto me, and sat before me.
Eze 14:2  And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Eze 14:3  Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: should I be enquired of at all by them?
Eze 14:4  Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet; I the LORD will answer him that cometh according to the multitude of his idols;
Eze 14:5  That I may take the house of Israel in their own heart, because they are all estranged from me through their idols.
Eze 14:6  Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Repent, and turn yourselves from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your abominations.
Eze 14:7  For every one of the house of Israel, or of the stranger that sojourneth in Israel, which separateth himself from me, and setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to a prophet to enquire of him concerning me; I the LORD will answer him by myself:
Eze 14:8  And I will set my face against that man, and will make him a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from the midst of my people; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
Eze 14:9  And if the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the LORD have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand upon him, and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel.
Eze 14:10  And they shall bear the punishment of their iniquity: the punishment of the prophet shall be even as the punishment of him that seeketh unto him;

We have all had idols of our hearts, but that was before we were “enlightened and had tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and had tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come.” If the Lord deceives us after experiencing all those blessings, then these are His words concerning all such men:

Heb 6:4  For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,
Heb 6:5  And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,
Heb 6:6  If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; [They “find no place of repentance” (Heb 12:17)] seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.
Heb 6:7  For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God:
Heb 6:8  But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned [in the lake of fire].

We will stop here for now, and next week we will pick up our study of this commandment, “Pray not for this people”. In our next study we will discuss the spiritual significance of why this commandment is repeated three times in this prophecy of Jeremiah.

Here are those three scriptures for your consideration:

Jer 7:16  Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to me: for I will not hear thee.

Jer 11:14  Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up a cry or prayer for them: for I will not hear them in the time that they cry unto me for their trouble.

Jer 14:11  Then said the LORD unto me, Pray not for this people for their good.

I repeat, we have all had idols of our own hearts before we were blessed with the enlightenment of the holy spirit. When we “were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If [we then] fall away… it is impossible to renew them again unto repentance; [They “find no place of repentance” (Heb 12:17)]

We witness this rejection of the Lord’s own anointed in the stories of Esau and King Saul in the Old Testament and in the story of Judas in the New Testament. We have also witnessed the spiritual reality of those whom the Lord Himself has deceived with the idols of their hearts repeatedly over the years when our own present-day spiritual brothers have rejected the counsel of the Lord’s leaders and stubbornly refused to be obedient to these verses of scripture given to you and me for our edification and for our salvation. Notice closely this admonition, just like the Lord’s commandment ”Pray not for this people” is repeated three times:

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.

What is the spiritual significance of repeating the same commandment three times?

What exactly is “wise counsel”? Which counselors can we trust? This is the answer of God through His own Word concerning that question:

Heb 13:17 Be persuaded by your leaders, and be deferring to them, for they are vigilant for the sake of your souls, as having to render an account, that they may be doing this with joy, and not with groaning, for this is disadvantageous for you. (CLV)

If you are a Baptist, you will not go to a Methodist for ‘wise counsel’. You will go to your Baptist leaders. If you are a Catholic, you will not go to a Protestant for ‘wise counsel’. You will go to your Catholic leaders. If you are a Muslim, then you will seek to your Muslim leaders. If you profess to be a part of the body of Christ, then you will seek the counsel of your leaders, and you will defer to that counsel.

However, if you have once [been] enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and [have been] made [to] partake of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come”, if you have then “fallen away” you will come before your leaders and shout at them “I do not care about consensus, this is the Truth… you must believe us”, which is exactly what was said to the “wise counselors” who wanted only to know what “the multitude of counselors” had to say. ‘Wise counselors’ wait to see what the counsel is before declaring, “You must believe us, or you will go to the lake of fire.” ‘Wise counselors’ are ‘persuaded of their leaders’ and defer to those leaders.

And finally, there is this very clear statement in 1 John 4:

1Jn 4:1  Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
1Jn 4:2  Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh [our flesh] is of God:
1Jn 4:3  And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh [our flesh] is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.
1Jn 4:4  Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. [Christ will always dominate “he that is in the world”]
1Jn 4:5  They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them.

How can we possibly know truth from error? Can you receive the Lord’s answer?

1Jn 4:6  We [who “try the spirits by seeking a multitude of counselors, and then defer to our leaders] are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.

“Being persuaded by your leaders” is the exact opposite of clinging to an idol of our heart while coming before our brothers and sisters and before our leaders and elders and acting as if we had respect for the Word of God while we refuse the counsel of our elders. “Deferring to [your leaders]” is the exact opposite of ignoring their admonitions on the matter of which an inquiry is being made.

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

In Acts 15 there were many apostles and elders who disagreed with a few apostles and elders, and the few deferred to the many. Peter, Paul, and Barnabas did not say “You must believe us, we have the Truth” before the elders had even arrived at a consensus. Peter, Paul, and Barnabas all deferred to “a multitude of counselors”, and it was all “good to the holy spirit”:

Act 15:28  For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things;

Christ was then and is now in the process of reforming His church and bringing us out from under the law of Moses which is “the law for the lawless” (1Ti 1:9-11) with its “weak and beggarly elements” (Gal 4:9, Col 2:8).

Heb 9:10  Which [rituals (vs 9)] stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation.

Gal 3:1  O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?
Gal 3:2  This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
Gal 3:3  Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?
Gal 3:4  Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it be yet in vain.

Gal 4:1  Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all;
Gal 4:2  But is under tutors and governors [under the law, vs 4-5] until the time appointed of the father.
Gal 4:3  Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements [G4747: stoicheion, law] of the world:
Gal 4:4  But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
Gal 4:5  To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
Gal 4:9  But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements [G4747: stoicheion, the law], whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?
Gal 4:10  Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years [of the law].
Gal 4:11  I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.

Col 2:8  Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments [G4747: stoicheion] of the world, and not after Christ.

This is exactly what happens to every heretic who comes along. They all are “returning to the weak and beggarly elements” from which they were delivered. They may very well reason, “Why, I am a spiritual son of Abraham, I am spiritually circumcised, and I have not gone back to keeping days, months, times, and years.” That is the very meaning of:

Heb 6:4 “[having] once [been] enlightened, and hav[ing] tasted of the heavenly gift, and [being] made partakers of the Holy Ghost,
Heb 6:5  And hav[ing] tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come”.

A heretic wants to appear to be the one being obedient to God even as he is disobeying the commandments of the Lord, and this principle is at work today as it always has been:

Jas 2:10  For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.
Jas 2:11  For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law.

King Saul kept part of what the Lord told him to do:

1Sa 15:13  And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of the LORD: I have performed the commandment of the LORD.
1Sa 15:14  And Samuel said, What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?

Saul believed that partial obedience was as good as being completely obedient. Here is what the Lord had commanded King Saul to do:

1Sa 15:3  Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.

King Saul had the mind of a heretic who does not see the need to be such a stickler about being obedient to Christ. No heretic is willing to wait to see what the multitude of counselors say. Every heretic believes that he has the truth, and patiently waiting for the consensus of the leaders whom the Lord has placed over His flock is just too risky. After all, they just might not agree with the heretic or his heresies. King Saul, like any heretic, had been partly obedient. Every heretic quotes the scriptures as if they were the final word on any subject. By that I mean they quote almost any verse of scripture in an attempt to support their heresy, but they will never quote, or even mention, the admonition to seek “a multitude of counselors” and “be persuaded of your leaders and be deferring to them” (Heb 13:17 LV). King Saul had destroyed all the men, women, and children, except for King Agag, and that, he figured, should be enough to please God. After all, his disobedience to the Lord was for the purpose of making a sacrifice to the Lord:

1Sa 15:20  And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the LORD, and have gone the way which the LORD sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.
1Sa 15:21  But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God in Gilgal.

At this point the Lord had determined to reform the rulership of Israel and install a new king who would be obedient to Himself.

Act 13:22  And when he had removed [King Saul], he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he gave testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will.

The transition from King Saul to King David typified Christ’s reformation of Judaism and the birth of the New Testament church. It also typifies our being dragged out of the Babylonish church system and into the body of Christ as a new man who is intent upon keeping the Lord’s words. The disobedience King Saul displayed in failing to carry out the campaign against Amalek according to the commandment of the Lord, was not the first time he had disobeyed the Lord’s commandments. He had earlier failed to wait on Samuel to arrive before he offered an offering to the Lord. King Saul was not a priest, and Samuel had replaced Eli as the Lord’s priest.

The Lord set Saul up for failure by having Samuel arrive late while King Saul watched the people scatter from him for fear of the Philistines. This is how the Lord tries our faith until this very day. Here is the story of King Saul’s first rebellion. It is an admonition to us to honor the Lord’s prophets and never rationalize away our own disobedience:

1Sa 13:1  Saul reigned one year; and when he had reigned two years over Israel,
1Sa 13:2  Saul chose him three thousand men of Israel; whereof two thousand were with Saul in Michmash and in mount Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin: and the rest of the people he sent every man to his tent.
1Sa 13:3  And Jonathan smote the garrison of the Philistines that was in Geba, and the Philistines heard of it. And Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, Let the Hebrews hear.
1Sa 13:4  And all Israel heard say that Saul had smitten a garrison of the Philistines, and that Israel also was had in abomination with the Philistines. And the people were called together after Saul to Gilgal.
1Sa 13:5  And the Philistines gathered themselves together to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots, and six thousand horsemen, and people as the sand which is on the sea shore in multitude: and they came up, and pitched in Michmash, eastward from Bethaven.
1Sa 13:6  When the men of Israel saw that they were in a strait, (for the people were distressed,) then the people did hide themselves in caves, and in thickets, and in rocks, and in high places, and in pits.
1Sa 13:7  And some of the Hebrews went over Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. As for Saul, he was yet in Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling.
1Sa 13:8  And he tarried seven days, according to the set time that Samuel had appointed: but Samuel came not to Gilgal; and the people were scattered from him.

King Saul waited the appointed time “according to the set time that Samuel had appointed… and the people were scattered from him.” The Lord had Samuel arrive late for the sacrifice to try King Saul and to show us that we are to “wait on the Lord”:

Isa 8:17  And I will wait upon the LORD, that hideth his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him.

Isa 40:31  But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their  strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

Zep 3:8  Therefore wait ye upon me, saith the LORD, until the day that I rise up to the prey: for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger: for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy.

A reformation takes time. David spent years waiting on the Lord to remove His anointed, King Saul. He passed up two opportunities to kill him, first in the cave and later while King Saul was asleep. It is Christ, through His Father’s spirit, who sets the schedule for each of us to be reformed and to come out from under “the weak and beggarly elements [of] the law… for the lawless”:

1Ti 1:9  Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers,
1Ti 1:10  For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine;
1Ti 1:11  According to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust.

The law of Moses was as much a “carnal commandment” as was the law of the Gentiles, and like the laws of the Gentiles it was designed only to keep a carnal order among carnally minded men by administering the immediate merciless wrath of God upon the lawless:

Rom 4:15  Because the law worketh wrath: for where no law is, there is no transgression.

Rom 2:14  For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves:

Heb 7:16  Who is made [Christ], not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life.

Rom 13:1  Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers [including Gentile 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 [the “carnal commandment” of God, (Heb 7:16)]: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation [Greek: ‘krisis’, judgment].
Rom 13:3  For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same:
Rom 13:4  For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.
Rom 13:5  Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake.

If all of that is true in the carnal, physical realm, how much sorer punishment awaits those who will not seek a multitude of counselors and when given that counsel will ignore it and lean to their own idolatrous understanding. When we do so we are demeaning the commandment of God to:

Heb 13:17 Be persuaded by your leaders, and be deferring to them, for they are vigilant for the sake of your souls, as having to render an account, that they may be doing this with joy, and not with groaning, for this is disadvantageous for you.
Heb 13:18 Pray concerning us, for we are persuaded that we have an ideal conscience, in all wanting to behave ideally.

That verse and all the others which admonish us to seek a multitude of counselors are the antidote for idols of our hearts. Whenever the multitude of counselors is ignored, even in the time of reformation (Heb 9:10), this is the effect of that arrogant disobedience:

Jer 7:8  Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit.
Jer 7:9  Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not;

The “stealing” in this verse is when we take the Lord’s gold and silver, His Words, and wrap them around the idols of our hearts (Eze 16:17). The “murder” is the hatred we show to those who oppose our idolatry (1Jn 3:15). The “adultery” is the desire to please men, family, friends, and society more than God (1Sa 15:24). “Swearing falsely” is to stubbornly cling to our heart’s idols because the Lord Himself has deceived us and closed our eyes to His Truth (Eze 14:9). “Gods whom you know not” are the same “idols of the heart… lying words that cannot profit” (Jer 7:8).

Eze 16:17  Thou hast also taken thy fair jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given thee, and madest to thyself images of men, and didst commit whoredom with them,

1Jn 3:15  Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.

1Sa 15:24  And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD, and thy words:  because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice.

Eze 14:9  And if the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the LORD have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand upon him, and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel.

Jer 7:8  Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit.

A literal ‘idol’ is a physical image before which many ‘Christians’ prostrate themselves because they trust in that idol to profit them. The truth is that a physical idol has no life in it, and it can profit no one. An ‘idol of the heart’ in like manner is a false doctrine, a false God, which we believe will profit us spiritually. The truth is that an idol of the heart is a lie, and it will not profit us, and if we do not repent it will “rend the kingdom from us”:

1Sa 15:27  And as Samuel turned about to go away, he [King Saul] laid hold upon the skirt of his mantle, and it rent.
1Sa 15:28  And Samuel said unto him, The LORD hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath given it to a neighbour of thine, that is better than thou.

We simply cannot partially obey the Lord and expect His blessing on our life. He is having no part in that:

Jer 7:10  And come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations?

To be “delivered” is to be saved from our sins. This verse could correctly be translated, “We are saved to do all these abominations” to “continue in sin that grace may abound”, and to lean to our own understanding and despise the counsel of our leaders.

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

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?

The Lord asks us:

Jer 7:11  Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, even I have seen it, saith the LORD.

“This house which is called by my name” is you and me:

1Co 3:16  Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

Taking upon ourselves the Lord’s name does not in and of itself mean we have become spiritually mature. If there are no good works, and if we are not obedient to the point of ‘trembling at His word’ (Isa 66:2), the Lord will “destroy [us] as He destroyed Shiloh where the ark was for many years before Israel’s sins gave the Lord the occasion He sought to destroy Shiloh:

Jer 7:12  But go ye now unto my place which was in Shiloh, where I set my name at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel.

Paul also repeats this warning in the very next verse of 1Corinthians 3:

1Co 3:17  If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

The ‘destruction’ alluded to in this verse is not the ‘daily dying’ of our old man. Rather, this destruction refers to the rejection of the Lord’s anointed which Esau and King Saul and Judas symbolize.

Esau was the twin brother of the Lord’s anointed, typified by Jacob. It was all ‘written in their books’ (Psa 139:16 ASV) “before the world began”:

Psa 139:16  Thine eyes did see mine unformed substance; And in thy book they were all written, Even the days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was none of them.

2Ti 1:9  Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,

Tit 1:2  In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;

Rom 9:7  Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called.
Rom 9:8  That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.
Rom 9:9  For this is the word of promise, At this time will I come, and Sara shall have a son.
Rom 9:10  And not only this; but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac;
Rom 9:11  (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;)
Rom 9:12  It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger.
Rom 9:13  As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.

Yes, it is true that Esau symbolizes our old man in Babylon, but being Jacob’s twin brother born of the same anointed “freewoman” (Gal 4:28) as well as having the same anointed father, Esau symbolizes much more than just being in Babylon. Esau symbolizes a much closer relationship to Christ than Ishmael, who as the son of the bondwoman, typifies our flesh which, though in a relationship with Abraham, was also the seed of Abraham, but Ishmael was never as close to Abraham as Esau was to Isaac and Rebekah. Esau, being the rejected firstborn son of the freewoman, as well as the rejected son of  Abraham, becomes the type of the Lord’s rejected anointed because he had no appreciation and placed no special value on his own birthright. To Esau, his birthright was common to all men and was worth no more than a bowl of soup:

Gen 25:31  And Jacob said, Sell me this day thy birthright.
Gen 25:32  And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point to die: and what profit shall this birthright do to me?
Gen 25:33  And Jacob said, Swear to me this day; and he sware unto him: and he sold his birthright unto Jacob.
Gen 25:34  Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentiles; and he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way: thus Esau despised his birthright.

Contrast this ungrateful spirit with the spirit the Lord gave to Moses:

Heb 11:26  Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward.

Neither Jacob nor Esau could physically see the birthright. It was a promise from God to become a great nation. It was by faith in something that could not be seen that Jacob valued very highly – the birthright. Esau’s “despised birthright” typifies the promise you and I are given to become “kings and priests” who will reign with Christ here on this earth:

Rev 5:8  And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.
Rev 5:9  And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;
Rev 5:10  And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

Jeremiah is now about to deal with this same special group of people who are the Lord’s rejected anointed, “the son of perdition”, who is typified in the Old Testament by Esau and King Saul, and in the New Testament, he is typified by Judas. The work given to be performed by the “son of perdition” is the death and destruction of the Lord and His Christ. His work in the Lord’s plan and purpose is to betray Christ and His Christ and to be “given no place of repentance” in this age:

Heb 12:15  Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you,  and thereby many be defiled;
Heb 12:16  Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.
Heb 12:17  For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.

If our apostate brothers had placed any value upon their birthright, they would been persuaded of the leaders, and they would not have proclaimed that our birthright is common to all men. If the Lord had given them to “have respect unto the recompense of the reward” then they would have been incentivized to “strive for the mark of the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” and not for something that is common to all men.

Heb 11:24  By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter;
Heb 11:25  Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;
Heb 11:26  Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward.

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.

Every apostate is given many opportunities to repent before they are no longer given such an opportunity:

Jer 29:19  Because they have not hearkened to my words, saith the LORD, which I sent unto them by my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them;  but ye would not hear, saith the LORD.

It is of the Lord, but nevertheless He always warns us even as He is giving Himself an occasion against our old man within us. It is He who hardens our hearts (Rom 9:16-18) causing us to continue in our rebellion until we provoke Him to anger:

Jer 7:13  And now, because ye have done all these works, saith the LORD, and I spake unto you, rising up early and speaking, but ye heard not; and I called you, but ye answered not;
Jer 7:14  Therefore will I do unto this house, which is called by my name, wherein ye trust, and unto the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I have done to Shiloh.
Jer 7:15  And I will cast you out of my sight, as I have cast out all your brethren, even the whole seed of Ephraim.

Here is a shorter version of what is being said to us in these three verses:

Pro 29:1  He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.

“…And that without remedy” means that “it is impossible… to renew them again to repentance” in this age.

Heb 6:4  For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,
Heb 6:5  And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,
Heb 6:6  If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.

Heb 10:24  And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:
Heb 10:25  Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
Heb 10:26  For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,
Heb 10:27  But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.
Heb 10:28  He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses:
Heb 10:29  Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?
Heb 10:30  For we know him that hath said, Vengeance  belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people.
Heb 10:31  It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Heb 12:14  Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:
Heb 12:15  Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;
Heb 12:16  Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.
Heb 12:17  For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.

“Follow peace with all men” does not mean that we should deny our birthright because we fear others might think we are placing ourselves above them. If we fall for that lie, we, too, will find no place for repentance.

We come now to the verse from which I took the title of this study:

Jer 7:16  Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to me: for I will not hear thee.
Jer 7:17  Seest thou not what they do in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?

The Lord is in the process of showing us what is taking place within ourselves and within His body right here “in the streets of Jerusalem”.

The sins of those who want the name of Christ but insist on wearing their own clothes and eating their own bread, here within the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem, are urgently and critically evil and insidiously defiling the whole camp as the sin of Achan, who had secretly taken the Babylonian robe and the silver and gold which the Lord had forbidden. The expulsion of this sin from the body of Christ must be done immediately upon its discovery.

“See you not what they do in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?” is the Lord asking us, “Do you not see that these men are in the process of leavening the whole lump?” Their stubbornness and rebellion are so egregious that the Lord will no longer listen to the supplications on their behalf, and we are now commanded, “Pray not for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to me: for I will not hear you.”

This is now a commandment which is so important a spiritual point that, just as the commandment to “seek a multitude of counselors” is repeated three times in the book of Proverbs, this commandment to “Pray not for them” is also repeated three times in this prophecy of Jeremiah. It is first found here in this seventh chapter, and then it is repeated in chapters 11 and 14. I will read all three together so we get the full impact of how serious the Lord is about these people who “were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, [and have now] fallen away” (Heb 6:4-6):

Here are these three repeated commandments against praying for those who the Lord has rejected:

Jer 7:15  And I will cast you out of my sight, as I have cast out all your brethren, even the whole seed of Ephraim.
Jer 7:16  Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to me: for I will not hear thee.

Jer 11:9  And the LORD said unto me, A conspiracy is found among the men of Judah, and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
Jer 11:10  They are turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers, which refused to hear my words; and they went after other gods to serve them: the house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant which I made with their fathers.
Jer 11:11  Therefore thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will bring evil upon them, which they shall not be able to escape; and though they shall cry unto me, I will not hearken unto them.

Jer 11:14  Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up a cry or prayer for them: for I will not hear them in the time that they cry unto me for their trouble.

Jer 14:11  Then said the LORD unto me, Pray not for this people for their good.
Jer 14:12  When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and an oblation, I will not accept them: but I will consume them by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence.

“I will not hear you… I will not hear them… don’t ask me to do them good.” These are the Lord’s words concerning our own old man, the many called who are not chosen to endure to the end, and these are also His words concerning those who apostatize after having known Him so closely.

“Do not bother to come to the Lord as if you love Him and then turn your back on His commandment to seek a multitude of counselors [Pro 11:14; 15:22 and 24:6] and be persuaded of your leaders [Heb 13:17 CLV].

“Pray not… for their good… I will cast you out of my sight, as I have cast out all of your brothers, even the whole house of Ephraim.” Here is this same message in the New Testament:

1Jn 5:16  If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it.

This “sin unto death” is what we discussed earlier in Hebrews 6 and 10:

Heb 6:4  For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,
Heb 6:5  And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,
Heb 6:6  If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.

Heb 10:24  And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:
Heb 10:25  Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
Heb 10:26  For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,
Heb 10:27  But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.

Let us take heed how the Lord dealt differently with those who had been chosen by Him to intimately know Him and then turned against Him as contrasted with how He dealt with those whose sin was not unto death. Peter, typifying all of us, denied his Lord, but that was not a sin unto death, and this is how the Lord dealt with Peter:

Luk 22:31  And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:
Luk 22:32  But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.

On the other hand, Judas will forever typify those who apostatize after having intimately known our Lord and then selling Him for personal gain and for an idol of his heart. The Lord does not pray for Judas. This is how He deals with the apostate apostle:

Joh 13:21  When Jesus had thus said, he was troubled in spirit, and testified, and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me.
Joh 13:22  Then the disciples looked one on another, doubting of whom he spake.
Joh 13:23  Now there was leaning on Jesus’ bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved.
Joh 13:24  Simon Peter therefore beckoned to him, that he should ask who it should be of whom he spake.
Joh 13:25  He then lying on Jesus’ breast saith unto him, Lord, who is it?
Joh 13:26  Jesus answered, He it is, to whom I shall give a sop, when I have dipped it. And when he had dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon.
Joh 13:27  And after the sop Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do quickly.

Judas, and all apostates, do what they do because it is written in their book, “even the days ordained for [them] which as yet there was none of them” (Psa 139:16). Apostates are not given to seek a multitude of counselors or to be persuaded of their leaders. Like Korah they fancy themselves as leaders, and “all the congregation” agrees with them and follows them in their apostasy even after the Lord has destroyed many of them out of the camp of Israel:

Num 16:35  And there came out a fire from the LORD, and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that offered incense.
Num 16:36  And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
Num 16:37  Speak unto Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, that he take up the censers out of the burning, and scatter thou the fire yonder; for they are hallowed.
Num 16:38  The censers of these sinners against their own souls, let them make them broad plates for a covering of the altar: for they offered them before the LORD, therefore they are hallowed: and they shall be a sign unto the children of Israel.
Num 16:39  And Eleazar the priest took the brasen censers, wherewith they that were burnt had offered; and they were made broad plates for a covering of the altar:
Num 16:40  To be a memorial unto the children of Israel, that no stranger, which is not of the seed of Aaron, come near to offer incense before the LORD; that he be not as Korah, and as his company: as the LORD said to him by the hand of Moses.
Num 16:41  But on the morrow all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, saying, Ye have killed the people of the LORD.

The Lord is no longer speaking audibly as He did to Moses and to the prophets of old. Today He speaks through “that which is written”, and when there is confusion about “that which is written” we are to seek the counsel of our leaders, and it is their judgment which “seems good to the holy spirit and to us”:

Joh 17:19  And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.
Joh 17:20  Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also  which shall believe on me through their word;

Act 15:28  For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things;

Any of us who think we individually have been commissioned of the Lord to overrule and to challenge those whom the Lord has placed in His church as His leaders, is just another Korah who has already been swallowed up by the ‘earth’ which thinks in that very same way. Korah’s sin was that he wanted the priesthood, and he did not think that Moses and Aaron were any different than “the whole congregation”:

Num 16:3  And they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them, Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them: wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the LORD?

Korah and company and each of us will do well to listen to and receive these words so we will know how to conduct ourselves in the house of God:

Ecc 5:1  Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that they do evil.
Ecc 5:2  Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few.
Ecc 5:3  For a dream cometh through the multitude of business; and a fool’s voice is known by multitude of words.

1Ti 3:15  But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.

It is the church, not Korah and company, which is “the pillar and ground of the Truth, and ‘the church’ trembles at these words:

Heb 13:17 Be persuaded by your leaders, and be deferring to them, for they are vigilant for the sake of your souls, as having to render an account, that they may be doing this with joy, and not with groaning, for this is disadvantageous for you. (CLV)

“The spirit of antichrist [was] already… in the world” in the days of the original apostles.

1Jn 4:3  And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.

Many such spirits have come and gone from “the church of the living God” in this present time also. In every case, that spirit could not follow the example of the apostles Peter, Paul, and Barnabas and submit to the consensus of the elders of the church of the living God.

“Pray not… for their good… I will take two from a family and one from a city…” informs us that just as “it pleased the Lord to bruise Christ… [to] put Him to grief [so He could] see His seed” (Isa 53:10), even so it pleases the Lord that “few are chosen [in] this present time” to endure the same rejection of those who were so close to Him. If we are graced to follow in His footsteps, then we will be given a crown of life, and we will be given part in the blessed and holy first resurrection to rule and reign with Christ a thousand years, and then we will be the judges of the great white throne judgment. The “many” will be given life only through the great white throne judgment, and not even the prayer of Christ Himself to “take away this cup from me” will change God’s plan and purpose:

Mar 14:36  And he said, Abba, Father, all things are  possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt.

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

Jer 7:18  The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me to anger.
Jer 7:19  Do they provoke me to anger? saith the LORD: do they not provoke themselves to the confusion of their own faces?
Jer 7:20  Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, mine anger and my fury shall be poured out upon this place, upon man, and upon beast, and upon the trees of the field, and upon the fruit of the ground; and it shall burn, and shall not be quenched.
Jer 7:21  Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Put your burnt offerings unto your sacrifices, and eat flesh.
Jer 7:22  For I spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices:
Jer 7:23  But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you.
Jer 7:24  But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward.
Jer 7:25  Since the day that your fathers came forth out of the land of Egypt unto this day I have even sent unto you all my servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them:
Jer 7:26  Yet they hearkened not unto me, nor inclined their ear, but hardened their neck: they did worse than their fathers.
Jer 7:27  Therefore thou shalt speak all these words unto them; but they will not hearken to thee: thou shalt also call unto them; but they will not answer thee.
Jer 7:28  But thou shalt say unto them, This is a nation that obeyeth not the voice of the LORD their God, nor receiveth correction: truth is perished, and is cut off from their mouth.
Jer 7:29  Cut off thine hair, O Jerusalem, and cast it away, and take up a lamentation on high places; for the LORD hath rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath.
Jer 7:30  For the children of Judah have done evil in my sight, saith the LORD: they have set their abominations in the house which is called by my name, to pollute it.
Jer 7:31  And they have built the high places of Tophet, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my heart.
Jer 7:32  Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that it shall no more be called Tophet, nor the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of slaughter: for they shall bury in Tophet, till there be no place.
Jer 7:33  And the carcases of this people shall be meat for the fowls of the heaven, and for the beasts of the earth; and none shall fray them away.
Jer 7:34  Then will I cause to cease from the cities of Judah, and from the streets of Jerusalem, the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride: for the land shall be desolate.