495
T HE K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S Outline: (1) Jeremiah Delivers God’s Mes sage, vs. 1-7. To Princes, Prophets and People. (2) Jeremiah’s Death Demanded, . vs. 8 -1 1 By Priests, Prophets and People. (3) Jeremiah’s Defence, vs. 12-15 To the Princes and People. (4) Egypt was opposing Assyria. Josiah, king of Judah, espoused Assyria and met defeat. (2 Chron. 20-27.) After his death the people made Jehoahaz, his son, king. But Jehoahaz had a short reign, only three months, when he was deposed by Pharaoh Necho, king of Egypt, and his brother, Eliakim, was made king in his stead, Pharaoh having changed his name to Jehoiakim. Dnring the. closing years of Josiah’s reign a worldly, political party grew up, and during the reign of Jehoiakim it came into power. Jeremiah was a native of Anathoth, northeast of Jerusalem. His father was a priest. Jeremiah, himself, was a man of retiring nature, yet of great spiritual courage. His call is given in Jer. 1:1-2. He was prepared before birth (1 :5 ). God foresaw every event of his life. His work ( 1 : 1 0 ) was to “root out, to pull down, to destroy, to throw down, -to build, to plant.” In character, Jeremiah was child like, humble, tender, yet strong. He shrank from public life (9 :2 ). He prophesied against all classes, unmoved by criticism or persecution, in palace or street. He was hated and feared. He had a passionate love for his people. LESSON ed and Delivered, EXPOSITION T. O. Horton Introduction: The Setting: v. 16 By the Princes and People.
like Moses and like Paul. He lived a life of suffering, and he lived it alone (16:2). Notice the character of the times in which he lived and prophesied. The princes, priests and prophets opposed him and would not listen to his message. The princes were corrupt and immoral, the priests debased and idolatrous; the people blind and opposed to the truth. The whole nation was demoralized. (1) JEREMIAH DELIVERS GOD’S MESSAGE, vs. 1-7. Jeremiah had been commanded to deliver a message (vs. 1 - 2 ) and he obeys orders. Judah was God’s people, sub ject to _His commands. He had chosen them; He had overshadowed them; He had blessed them; He had honored them. He desired to bring them to a conscious knowledge of their sin and to bring them to repentance (v. 3) so He sends His messenger to give the message over and over again. As the people came to the temple to worship, Jeremiah stood in the court, (as a street preacher would stand in the street today), and uttered again the familiar words of warning, now so well known to them— a prophecy of coming destruction (Ch. 7). So God com manded Peter in Acts 5:20, 21: “ Go, stand and sp eak in the tem ple to ■the p eople all the w ord s o f th is life .” God demands that the whole Word of God shall be given— no trimming per mitted (Deut. 4:2) “ Y e sh all n ot add un to the w ord w h ich I comm and you , neither sh all y e dim inish ou g h t from it, that y e m ay keep the com m andm ents o f the L ord y ou r G od w h ich I comm and y ou .” God cannot violate His Word, He will spare them if they will repent. But He will not, if they will not. The promise of a curse from God is as ce r tain of fulfillment as the promise of a blessing. (Dan. 9:11). “ Y ea, a ll Israel have tra n sgressed th y law , even by d epa rtin g, th at th ey m igh t n ot o b e y th y v o ice ; th erefore the curse is p ou red upon us, and the oath that is w ritten in the la w o f M oses, the servant o f God, becau se w e have sinned again st him .”
Jeremiah Defend-
Made with FlippingBook - Online catalogs