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4. Jeremiah Our Goal T o read the book of Jeremiah, is to take a journey, a spiritual journey that goes back and forth from the lowest depths of human depravity to the heights and grandeur and majesty of the Lord— the Lord who, from those heights, cries out to all of us: Mi-yittan that such a heart would be in you!

5. Jeremiah Contents 1 The Prophetic Calling of Jeremiah 2 The Crisis Within and Without 3 The Last Five Kings of Judah 4 Rebuke and Retribution 5 More Woes for the Prophet 6 Symbolic Acts 7 The Crisis Continues 8 Josiah’s Reform 9 Jeremiah’s Yoke 10 The Destruction of Jerusalem 11 The Covenant 12 Back to Egypt 13 Lessons From Jeremiah

6. Jeremiah Lesson 4, October 24 Jeremiah Lesson 4, October 24 Rebuke and Retribution

7. Key Text Jeremiah 17:14 NKJV “ ‘ H eal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved, for You are my praise.’ ”

8. Rebuke and Retribution Quick Look 1. Warning to Judah (Jeremiah 17:5-9) 2. Warning to Jeremiah (Jeremiah 11:18, 19) 3. Ignored Warning Brings Drought (Jeremiah 14:1-4)

9. Rebuke and Retribution Initial Words T hough seeking to be faithful to their calling, the prophets for the most part faced fervent opposition from those who should have been the first to listen to them. We’ll look at Jeremiah, whose ministry seemed to consist of rebuke and retribution: he giving the rebuke, the leaders giving him retribution.

10. Rebuke and Retribution 1. Warning to Judah Jeremiah 17:5-9 NKJV “ ‘ C ursed is the man who trusts in man...whose heart departs from the Lord.... Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is the Lord.... The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?’ ”

11. 1. Warning to Judah The Two Ways T he Bible presents to us only two options on how to live: we either follow the Lord with all our heart and soul, or we don’t. The horrific physical effects of sin aren’t as bad as the moral and spiritual effects. Because our hearts are already so deceitful, we can’t fully know just how bad they really are.

12. 1. Warning to Judah The Sin of Judah “The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron; With the point of diamond it is engraved On the tablet of their heart, And on the horns of your altars” (Jeremiah 17:1).

13. 1. Warning to Judah The Sin of Judah The imagery of the sin engraved on the heart is especially powerful. It shows the depth of the corruption. The idea isn’t just that the sin is written there, as with a pen, but that it is engraved there, etched in with a tool. This all becomes even more powerful when one remembers the words of the Lord to Judah’s ancestors:

14. 1. Warning to Judah The Sin of Judah “If you obey the Lord your God and keep his commands...that are written in this Book of the Law and turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul” (Deut. 30:10, NIV). It was out of their hearts that they were to love God and obey His law; now, instead, their sin—the violation of that law—is etched in their hearts.

15. Rebuke and Retribution 2. Warning to Jeremiah Jeremiah 11:18, 19 NKJV “ N ow the Lord...showed me their dealings. But...I did not know that they had devised schemes against me, saying, ‘Let us destroy the tree with its fruit, and let us cut him off from the land of the living, that his name may be remembered no more.’ ”

16. 2. Warning to Jeremiah A Lament T hough in ancient Israel those who falsely prophesied in the name of the Lord could face death, in this case there was no indication that the men of Anathoth thought Jeremiah was speaking falsely. Instead, it seemed that they just wanted him silenced. They didn’t want to hear what he had to say.

17. 2. Warning to Jeremiah A Lament In the earliest chapters of Jeremiah, the Lord had warned his servant that his work as a prophet was not going to be easy. At the time of his calling, Jeremiah was told that Judah’s princes, kings, priests, and people would “fight against [him]” (Jer. 1:19).

18. 2. Warning to Jeremiah A Lament “ ‘Why does the way of the wicked prosper?’ ” (Jeremiah 12:1). The prophet, so upset over what he has been facing, is bringing a “lawsuit” (see Deut. 25:1) against the Lord. His complaint, of course, is a common one: why do evil people always seem to prosper?

19. 2. Warning to Jeremiah A Lament We can see, too, Jeremiah’s humanity exhibited. He wants those who have done evil to him to be punished. Why should Jeremiah, God’s servant, be subjected to the treacherous plots of his own village? Jeremiah trusted in the Lord, but he surely didn’t understand why things were happening as they were.

20. Rebuke and Retribution 3. Ignored Warning Brings Drought Jeremiah 14:1-4 NKJV “ T he word of the Lord came to Jeremiah concerning the drought. ‘Judah mourns...for the land.... Their nobles have sent their lads for water.... They returned with thier vessels empty.... Because the ground is parched, for there was no rain in the land....’ ”

21. 3. Ignored Warning Brings Drought A Desperate Situation T he people put on mourning clothes, and walked with their eyes downcast. Then they would suddenly kneel and cry out in desperate prayer. At the time of such a natural catastrophe, it was the custom to visit the temple of Jerusalem (Joel 1:13, 14; 2:15–17) to fast and to make special offerings to God.

22. 3. Ignored Warning Brings Drought A Desperate Situation Jeremiah saw the eagerness of the people, but he knew well that they didn’t seek the Lord, only the water. Jeremiah understood, too, that this was only the beginning of the trials to come. God saw the hearts of the people and knew that if He were to remove the drought, then the repentance would also disappear.

23. 3. Ignored Warning Brings Drought A Desperate Situation The people did everything to try to change their situation, praying, fasting, putting on sackcloth, and making offerings, but they forgot one thing: true conversion, true repentance. They were looking only to remove the results of the problem, not the problem itself, which was their sin and disobedience.

24. Rebuke and Retribution Final Words “ I t is impossible to explain the origin of sin so as to give a reason for its existence.... Sin is an intruder, for whose presence no reason can be given. It is mysterious, unaccount- able; to excuse it is to defend it. Could excuse for it be found, or cause be shown for its existence, it would cease to be sin.” —The Great Controversy 492, 493.