JEREMIAH LESSON 18


     We will begin this lesson in Jeremiah 17:1 "The sin of Judah [is]
written with a pen of iron, [and] with the point of a diamond: [it is]
graven upon the table of their heart, and upon the horns of your
altars;"

     Iron denotes it is unbendable. Something engraved with a pin of
iron with a point of diamond, would be deeply set. In this case, it is
set into their hearts. Instead of God's laws engraved into their
hearts, they have engraved their sins. The horns of the altar showed
power through God. It appears these were not the same horns.  They
were connected to the sin. It could be saying, they were putting their
faith in a false god. The heart is the center of man. To have your
heart full of sin, would mean you were totally absorbed with sin.  We
are what our heart is.

     Jeremiah 17:2 "Whilst their children remember their altars and
their groves by the green trees upon the high hills."

     The groves and the high places were both places to worship false
gods. It was the obligation of the parents to tell their children of
God. In this case, the parents have led them to the worship of false
gods.

     Jeremiah 17:3 "O my mountain in the field, I will give thy
substance [and] all thy treasures to the spoil, [and] thy high places
for sin, throughout all thy borders."

     This is a further explanation of why God is willing to allow the
enemy to take His hill, and the possessions of His people. It is as if
this is a sacrifice for the sin committed.

     Jeremiah 17:4 "And thou, even thyself, shalt discontinue from
thine heritage that I gave thee; and I will cause thee to serve thine
enemies in the land which thou knowest not: for ye have kindled a fire
in mine anger, [which] shall burn for ever."

     God will allow Babylon to take them back to their land to serve
as slaves of war. The land of their heritage will be no more. They
have treated their heritage from God as if it were nothing, so God
takes it away from them. These people, whom God had called His own,
have sinned so greatly, that God does not claim them. His anger is so
hot against them, He allows them to be taken captive into a strange
land.

     Jeremiah 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."

     The arm is connected with something happening. The arm of man is
not strong enough to do the things that the arm of God can do. When we
trust in man's power to save us, it is a denial of our need for the
LORD. To trust in man in the place of God, would bring the curse. We
would have broken the very first commandment. Thou shalt have no other
gods before me. God must have our loyalty, if His Arm will protect us.
To place our heart on any other than God, would be sin all the way to
the center of our being. Psalms 18:2 "The LORD [is] my rock, and my
fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust;
my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, [and] my high tower."

     Jeremiah 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."

     This is speaking of the cursed, who put their trust in man, and
not in God. "Heath", in the verse above, is speaking of a juniper.
Cactus live in the desert. They are not compatible with other plants.
Their place is in the hot parched desert. The cursed man is like this
also, nothing grows for him. He lives in total desolation.

     Jeremiah 17:7 "Blessed [is] the man that trusteth in the LORD,
and whose hope the LORD is."

     This reminds me so much of the following Scriptures. Psalms 1:1
"Blessed [is] the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly,
nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the
scornful." Psalms 1:2 "But his delight [is] in the law of the LORD;
and in his law doth he meditate day and night."  Psalms 1:3 "And he
shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth
forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and
whatsoever he doeth shall prosper."  We read in verses 5 and 6 in this
lesson about the cursed. We know that there is a curse for those who
are not obedient to God. The beautiful thing is, there is a blessing
for those who do keep God's commandments. Trust is just faith to the
utmost. Abraham believed, and it was counted unto him for
righteousness. Faith in God brings salvation, and hope of a better
life.

     Jeremiah 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."

     What a beautiful promise to those blessed of God! They do not
have to fear the drougth. The tree mentioned, here, shows the
beautiful results of worshipping God. This tree will never die. The
heat, or problems of this earth, do not harm it. This tree is grounded
in the Lord.  It is fed water that the world knows not of. This tree
draws strength from God.

     Jeremiah 17:9  "The heart [is] deceitful above all [things], and
desperately wicked: who can know it?"

     The heart of man, before he turns his heart over to God, is
deceitful, and wicked. The heart, after God has written His laws on
it, is a totally different thing. Only God knows the heart of man.

     Jeremiah 17:10 "I the LORD search the heart, [I] try the reins,
even to give every man according to his ways, [and] according to the
fruit of his doings."

     I personally believe it is our heart that is judged on judgement
day. We are what our heart is.  The Lord knows the intentions of our
hearts. Jesus said it so plainly, when He said that someone who looked
on a woman to lust had committed adultery already in his heart. You
see, the intentions of our hearts are the same as if we had committed
the sin. A heart that has been washed in the blood of the Lamb {Jesus}
is clean and pure. In this Scripture in Jeremiah, above, God is
looking for a pure, clean heart. The following Scripture is a
description of the pure, clean, heart. Psalms 24:4 "He that hath clean
hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity,
nor sworn deceitfully." This kind of heart produces good things.

     Jeremiah 17:11 "[As] the partridge sitteth [on eggs], and
hatcheth [them] not; [so] he that getteth riches, and not by right,
shall leave them in the midst of his days, and at his end shall be a
fool."

     It would be a great disappointment to sit on eggs, and not have
them hatch out. The riches a man accumulates from dishonesty, has a
way of disappearing. Someone who gains great wealth on this earth from
immoral practices, may get away with it for the time being, but we
know God will repay. When he dies, he must stand before God, and give
an account.

     Jeremiah 17:12  "A glorious high throne from the beginning [is]
the place of our sanctuary."

     God's throne is in the highest place. The throne of God is in
heaven. The eventual sanctuary for all who believe, is in that high
place in heaven near the throne of God.

     Jeremiah 17:13 "O LORD, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee
shall be ashamed, [and] they that depart from me shall be written in
the earth, because they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living
waters."

     Jesus told the woman at the well, if she drank of the water He
gave her, she would never thirst again. The fountain of living waters
is the same thing. It is man's choice to choose the LORD and heaven or
to choose Satan and the earth. The earthy will not receive heaven. In
first Corinthians the 15th chapter, we read about the earthy must put
off the things of the earth and become a celestial being, to go to
heaven. Read the whole chapter, beginning with verse 35.

     Jeremiah 17:14 "Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; save me,
and I shall be saved: for thou [art] my praise."

     Jeremiah has discovered something beautiful about God. God is all
powerful. If we are to be healed, God will do it. If we are to be
saved, God will have to do it. Man cannot heal himself, neither can he
save himself. This points ahead to the coming of the Messiah {Jesus}.

     Jeremiah 17:15  "Behold, they say unto me, Where [is] the word of
the LORD? let it come now."

     We know that the Word of God took on the form of flesh, and dwelt
among us. To me, this is asking, when will the Saviour come?

     Jeremiah 17:16 "As for me, I have not hastened from [being] a
pastor to follow thee: neither have I desired the woeful day; thou
knowest: that which came out of my lips was [right] before thee."

     Jeremiah brings to God's attention, the fact that he was chosen
of God to do this job. Jeremiah could have gone on as any other
shepherd. Jeremiah did not wish for the woeful day, that God caused
him to speak of. The words Jeremiah spoke were God's words in
Jeremiah's mouth.

     Jeremiah 17:17 "Be not a terror unto me: thou [art] my hope in
the day of evil."

     Jeremiah knows the only hope he has, is in God. He does not want
to be terrified of God.

     Jeremiah 17:18 "Let them be confounded that persecute me, but let
not me be confounded: let them be dismayed, but let not me be
dismayed: bring upon them the day of evil, and destroy them with
double destruction."

     Jeremiah had brought God's message to these people, and they had
persecuted him for it. He asks God to see what they had done to him,
and for God to take vengeance for him. Jeremiah is saying, As you have
spoken let it be, but do not let it come on me.

     Jeremiah 17:19  "Thus said the LORD unto me; Go and stand in the
gate of the children of the people, whereby the kings of Judah come
in, and by the which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem;"
Jeremiah 17:20 "And say unto them, Hear ye the word of the LORD, ye
kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
that enter in by these gates:"

     Not only did God give Jeremiah the message for the people, but he
told Jeremiah where to stand and proclaim the message, so all would
hear. God wanted everyone to hear, so they would be without excuse.
They all came through these gates.

     Jeremiah 17:21 "Thus saith the LORD; Take heed to yourselves, and
bear no burden on the sabbath day, nor bring [it] in by the gates of
Jerusalem;"

     We see God had set the sabbath aside, and made it holy unto
Himself. There was to be no labor on the sabbath.

     Jeremiah 17:22 "Neither carry forth a burden out of your houses
on the sabbath day, neither do ye any work, but hallow ye the sabbath
day, as I commanded your fathers."

     When God gave Moses the 10 commandments, they were instructed to
keep the sabbath day holy. God had set the pattern for man, when He
made all of His creation in 6 days, and rested the seventh.

     Jeremiah 17:23 "But they obeyed not, neither inclined their ear,
but made their neck stiff, that they might not hear, nor receive
instruction."

     The children of Israel had been rebellious from the beginning.
They did not honor God's commandments. They were too proud
{stiffnecked} to receive instruction from God. They did not listen to
the prophets God sent to instruct them.

     Jeremiah 17:24 "And it shall come to pass, if ye diligently
hearken unto me, saith the LORD, to bring in no burden through the
gates of this city on the sabbath day, but hallow the sabbath day, to
do no work therein;"  Jeremiah 17:25 "Then shall there enter into the
gates of this city kings and princes sitting upon the throne of David,
riding in chariots and on horses, they, and their princes, the men of
Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: and this city shall remain
for ever."

     Obedience to God's commandments brought blessings. God promised,
here, to always bless them in Jerusalem, and have kings descended from
David on the throne continually. All they had to do, was obey God.

     Jeremiah 17:26 "And they shall come from the cities of Judah, and
from the places about Jerusalem, and from the land of Benjamin, and
from the plain, and from the mountains, and from the south, bringing
burnt offerings, and sacrifices, and meat offerings, and incense, and
bringing sacrifices of praise, unto the house of the LORD."

     God's temple was to be the central place of worship for the whole
land. 3 times a year, they were to come for the special feast days
unto the Lord. The sacrifices and offerings were to be made in the
temple in Jerusalem. The house of the LORD was the temple in
Jerusalem.

     Jeremiah 17:27 "But if ye will not hearken unto me to hallow the
sabbath day, and not to bear a burden, even entering in at the gates
of Jerusalem on the sabbath day; then will I kindle a fire in the
gates thereof, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it
shall not be quenched."

     If they fail to keep God's commandments, God will destroy
Jerusalem and all of them with it.



                         Jeremiah 18 Questions


1.  The sin of Judah is written with a pen of _________.
2.  It is graven upon the table of their ________.
3.  What is verse 1 describing?
4.  What were the groves and the high places?
5.  In verse 3, it as if this is a ______ sacrifice.
6.  How long will God's anger burn?
7.  They have treated their heritage as if it were _________.
8.  __________ be the man that trusteth in man.
9.  When we trust in man's power to save us, it is a denial of our
    ______ for the _______.
10. Quote Psalms chapter 18 verse 2.
11. What is heath in verse 6?
12. Quote Jeremiah chapter 17 verse 7.
13. What Scriptures does this remind the author of?
14. Trust is just faith to the ________.
15. Describe the tree in verse 8.
16. The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately _______.
17. Who knows the heart of man?
18. What does the author believe will be judged on judgement day?
19. Quote Psalms chapter 24 verse 4.
20. What is a man, who gets riches dishonestly, compared to in verse
    11?
21. What throne is verse 12 speaking of?
22. Who is the fountain of living waters?
23. Where do we read about the final place of the earthy and the
    celestial?
24. What is Jeremiah trying to convey in verse 14?
25. What does the author believe verse 15 is asking?
26. The words Jeremiah spoke were _______ words in Jeremiah's mouth.
27. Jeremiah knows the only hope he has is _______.
28. Where was Jeremiah to speak to the people?
29. What was the main statement God wanted him to make?
30. What did God promise them, if they were obedient to His
    commandments?