September, 1935
T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
343
OCTOBER 20, 1935 THE MESSAGE OF JEREMIAH J e r e m ia h 7 :l-26
Lesson Text: Jer. 7:1-11, 21-23. Golden Text: “Obey mv voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my peo ple” (Jer. 7:23). Outline and Exposition I. T h e C h a r a c t e r o f J e r e m ia h ’ s M e ssa g e (1-3). J e r e m ia h ’ s message was authoritative because it came from God (v. 1). The prophet was merely a man under or ders, one bearing a message not his own. His message was directed to those who professed to hold the true religion (v. 2). It was not addressed to those who made no profession of worshiping the Lord, but, rather, to those who entered the temple, presumably to offer worship to the true God. The error of such pretenders was that their worship was mere form (cf. 2 Tim. 3:5). Jeremiah’s message was easily under stood (v. 3). “Amend your ways,” he com manded. The One whom the prophet rep? resented was “the Lord of hosts”—God’s warrior name, the title He adopts when j udgment is to be meted out. He was also “the God of Israel”—the name which speaks of His mercy and grace and His ceaseless care for His people. The impli cation is that if the people would have the gracious God on their side, they must amend their ways and their doings; other wise God, the Warrior, would appear against them. II. T h e C a u s e o f J e r e m ia h ’ s M e ssa g e (4-11). 1. The self-deception of the people (v.4). The “lying words” to which the prophet referred were perhaps the teachings of false prophets to whom the people gave heed. Trusting in mere forms, and glory ing in the temple rather than in the God of the temple, the hearers were self-deceived. It is the living God alone who gives char acter and life to forms, ceremonies, and religious exercises. 2. The manner of life of the people (vs. 5,6). Socially, they had forgotten that great truth that was later amplified in the New Testament, that the Lord’s people were members One of another and that if one member suffered, all the others suffered with him. Hence, they preyed one upon the other and refused to deal justly with their neighbors. Politically, they had for gotten that the individual in the nation cannot advance at the expense of others in the nation. Injustice weakened their national life. Religiously,' they had for gotten that God is preeminently a God of righteousness as well as of mercy and BLACKBOARD LESSON
grace. He must deal righteously with all injustice. Oppressing the poor and weak, the people were in reality sinning against God. 3. The danger of the people (v. 7). If they would amend their ways, the promise of this verse would be fulfilled; but if they refused, it would be withdrawn. The possibility that God would deliver them to their enemies could be seen in the history of their neighboring nation, Israel, which already had been in captivity nearly one hundred years. Jeremiah’s message was one of the Lord’s last efforts to spare Judah a similar judgment. God’s ways are not hard and arbitrary; it is human selfishness that makes them ap pear to be unjust. Selfishness is the arch enemy of righteousness. It is selfishness in an individual that causes him to complain against God’s justice, equity, and truth. 4. The folly of the people (vs. 8-11). There were false prophets among the people, and they were speaking lying words. These false prophets—like all of their kind, ancient or modern—gratified their hearers, but their words could not “profit” (v. 8). The folly of the people in listening to these prevaricators was for cibly presented by Jeremiah in the ques tions which he raised (vs. 9-11). But the prophet seemed to the people to be merely a pessimist whose warnings had no weight. Nevertheless, he maintained that God was holy, just, and true, and that He would bring judgment upon all who acted-con trary to His will. He implied that God would not permit those who professed to represent Him to go on undisturbed, when their behavior gave the lie, to His own character. Jeremiah reminded them that God was familiar with all their activity: “I have seen it, saith the Lord” (v. 11). III. T h e C a l l i n J e r e m ia h ’ s M e ssa g e (21-23). The call was to obedience to God’s com mands. Where such obedience is wanting, all religious rites and ceremonies become vanity and an insult to God, however an cient and sacred those rites and ceremonies may be. The sacrifices had been prescribed in order that through them the people might draw near to the holy and just God; but this purpose was defeated by the peo ple’s disobedience. Obedience to God is es sential to humanity’s well-being, as the story of Adam’s disobedience and its con tinuing consequences reveals.- We who are Christians must be guarded against pre suming upon grace. We are made God’s people by simple faith in Christ; but if we are God’s people, this relationship will be revealed by obedience to Him. "Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of the Lord, The temple of the Lord, The temple of the Lord, are these” (v. 4). We have here one of the most ancient of human fallacies—man’s trust in outward forms and ceremonial rites for the salvation of his soul. The Jews were stealing, killing, committing adultery, and lying. They had even been “walking after other gods.” Then they supposed that by coming into God’s temple and performing the rites He had ordained, they could be “delivered to do all these abominations” (v. 10). The heart of the Points and Problems 1.
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