1989 Issue 1 - Jeremiah: Judgment and Restoration, Part XII - Counsel of Chalcedon

8/12/2019 1989 Issue 1 - Jeremiah: Judgment and Restoration, Part XII - Counsel of Chalcedon

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ible tudy

I (12:7-13) The

Hatred

of God

for

Judah

A. Because of Judah's roaring defi

ance at her covenant Lord, He, in righ

teousjudgment. forsakes, abandons,

and delivers her

up

to her enemies to

be ravaged by them.

B. Although Jehovah had treated

Judah as his dearly beloved and prized

possession, He, as the Holy God,

would not tolerate her impenitent apos

tasy. Any love He had for Judah, was

an

holy

love, which could not tolerate

unholiness and disloyalty.

C. Therefore, Jeremiah says that

Jehovah hates Judah Hate in

Hebrew is sina

It

is the opposite

of

love. It means to oppose, detest and

despise those persons or things with

which one desires no contact

or

relation

ship. Love draws and unites, hate sepa

rates and keeps distant. The hated and

hating persons are considered foes

or

enemies and are considered odious, utter

ly unappealing.

-Van

Gronigen

God's hatred for idolatry is also

directed against his idolatrous people,

Mal. 1:3; Psa. 5:5; 11:5. In .each case

the character and/or activitieS of the

hated ones re expressed; thus Goo

is

opposed to, separates himself from, and

brings the consequences

of

his hatred

upon people not as mere people but

as

sinful people. -Van Gronigen

D (12:9) . Grey speckled bird. A

brightly colored bird

of

prey is attacked,

displumed and mutilated by other bitds

of

prey. Once-beautiful Judah will now

be plucked to death. God himself will

call and gather the beastly nations of

the world to join in the kill

n. (12:14-17) The Judgment

of

God on the Nations

A. This section

is a revelation o

the total sovereignty

o

God and the

total accountability

o

man Compare

Isaiah 10. Here God promises to punish

the nations that have

ruined

Judah, al-

though they were but tools in his hand

accomplishing his will. These nations

include the Egyptians, Assyrians, Edom

ites, Moabites, Amorites, Arameans;

and Babylonians.

B. t

is

also

a revelation

o

the pro

mise

o

a future restoration

of

Judah and

the nations.

1. It is a promise

of

restoration

for Judah, 12:14c. God

will

uproot

the pagan nations in judgment; but

he

will uproot Judah from captivity in

the pagan nations in merey. This up

rooting

of

Judah spe ks

of

restoration.

God's ultimate purpose for his people is

to display lovingkindness to them and

to restore them in Christ, as the New

Israel, to' their central place in history.

This promise of restoration of God's

People (the Church)

in

Christ occurs

numerous times in the

Old

Testament

(Deut. 30:1-6; Jer. 16:15; 23:3; 24:6;

27:22; 29:10; 29:14; 30:3; 32:37;

P ~ e 2

33:10-11, 26).

2. It is a promise

of

restoration

for repentant nations, 12:15-16. These

verses hold out hope for the worst of

God's enemies, who repents and accepts

his sovereignty. Any nation which

learns the religion of Jehovah-Jesus,

and enters into his covenant through a

profound reversal

of

religious alle

giance, will grow and develop as God's

OWn

people.

3. Jehovah's universal compas

sion for the nations he punishes

is

the

O.T. basis for a vigorous world-wide

evangelization program. God's ultimate

putpose for the nations of the world is

redemption notjudgment, John 3:16ff.

C. (12:17) The alternative to re

demption

was

complete uprooting and

destruction. Rejection

of

Yahweh's

sovereignty whether by Israel

or

by

ilny

other nation could

only

end in disaster. -

Thompson

i l l (13:1-11)

The

Parable of

the Linen

W

aistcloth: The

spoiling of Judah's pride

(The linen waistband wa8 an

im

portant part of a well-dressed person in

Judah. Jeremiah bought one and

januned it into a crevice in the rocks for

several

days .

He later dug it up and it

was ruined and totally worthless. By

this God was telling Judah that he

will

destroy the arrogance andconceit

of

Judah and her capital city.)

IV. (13:12-14)

The

Parable

of

the

Wine

Jars: The

wine

of

God's wrath ;

A. Judah had not fulfilled the

u t ~

pose for which she was intended--to be,

as God's people, a source

of

praise and

glory for

him,

vs. 11. Now she

is

fit

for nothing but holding the wine of

God's destructive anger.

B.

God says he will fill the nation

with the wine of his anger and then

smash them, as one would clay wine

jars.

on e

the entire nation is filled

with God's anger, they will be

drunk,

i.e., rendered powerless

to

act in their

own defense in the critical hour.

C. It

is

a tragic picture

of

destruc-

The Counsel of Chalcedon, January,

1989


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tion coming upon Judah mercilessly,

relentlessly, and pitilessly. -1bomps0il

V. (13:15-17) The Final Warn

ing

A

This is a final warning to a self

willed nation, which has continually

treated prophetic preaching

of

the word

of God with contempt.

B. Only sincere repentance and

submission to God's word will save

Judah from the corning dark calamity

and allow light to shine over the land.

This moment

of

twilight in Judah's

history was her opportunity to repent.

She refused, so God himself would lead

her into deep darkness.

VI. (13:18-19) The lament over

the

King and Queen

Mother

A

This refers to Jehoiakin and his

mother

in

597 B.C., 22:26; 29:2. See

n Kings 24:8-17 and 25:27-30.

B. The crown had fallen from their .

heads and their reign was over.

VIT. (13:20-27)

The

incurable

plight of

Judah

A. This poem on the approaching

judgment of Jerusalem is the theme of

earlier poems: vv. 15-17, 18-19, and

with the parables

of

vv. 1-11 and 12-

14.

B.

In

verse 22 Jeremiah uses a most

vivid metaphor for the national destruc

tion of Judah

by

Babylon. It will be the

brutal and violent rape of Judah. he

expression, lift up the skirt is a eu

phemism for sexual assault, Lev. 18:6-

19; 20:17;

Deut

22:30; 27:20; Isa.

47:3; Nah. 3:5. Your heels have

suffered violence is also a euphemism

for violence on the genitals.

C. Judah's apostasy is deep-seated

caused by centuries

of

schooling and

repeated excursions into idolatry. -

1bompson . Her apostasy had become a

fixed feature of her life

and

behavior.

Her state

of

rebellion and breach

of

covenant were set in concrete. She

could

no

more transform herself into

something good, than a leopard could

change its spots or an Ethiopian the

color

of

his black skin.

D. God will drive her out

as chaff

into

the

desert.

Vlll. (14:1 - 15:9)

The

grief

over drought famine

and

defeat

A. (14:1-16)

TilE

GRIEF

OVER

A

TIME OF

DROUGHT

1. The picture

is

a graphic one.

God set a drought to Judah in judgment.

It produced empty pools, dried up pas

ture lands, and Hvestock starving and

dying

of

thirst.

2. (14:1-6) Judah mourns, not

over her sins, but over the unpleasant

consequences of her sin.

3. (14:7-9) Jeremiah mourns in

behalf

of

Judah.

He

identifies himself

with them and acts as their spokesman,

pleading with God for deliverance as

he

confesses the nation's sins.

In

verse 7

he confesses the nation's iniquities,

apostasies, and sins. He asks God

to

be their Hope

and

Savior and to deliver

them for the sake

of

his reputation and

honor, which were at stake. He reminds

God that Judah is His own personal

possession ( Your name is called upon

us. )

4. (14:10-12)Jehovah's response

to Jeremiah's pleas is that he will not

hear his petitions in Judah's behalf.

Because they love to

wander from

Him

and because they have

not

kept

their

feet in check, He does not accept them

and

He

will call their sins to account.

He commands Jeremiah again

to

make

no further pleas in their behalf. God

declares that he will not hear Judah's

prayers for relief. Instead

he

will send

them the sword, famine and pesti

lences, all covenant curses found in

Deuteronomy 28.

5. (14:13-16) Jeremiah makes

another plea. This time he reminds God

of the culpability of the false prophets

who had misled the people. The dif

ference between a true prophet and a

false prophet had never been

so

clear,

23:9-40.

And

yet. God refused to accept

his plea, because, though the prophets

were guilty, the people were guilty in

listening to them.

B.

(14:17 - 15:4) THE GRIEF

OVER DEFEAT AND FAMINE

1.

Again Jeremiah identifies

him-

self with Judah and confesses their guilt

to Jehovah on their behalf.

2. Sin is confessed in verse 20;

God's holy character

is

acknowledged in

verses 21-22;

and the

people wait for a

word

of

forgiveness.

But

what they

heard was God's rejection

of

their

hollow confessions and empty pleas.

3.

(15:1f) Judah had

so

far de

clined from the covenant that not even

the prayers of the two great intercessors

of

the O.T., Moses, Exod. 32:11-14,

30-32; Num. 14:13-19; Deut. 9:13-29,

and Samuel, I Sam. 7:8-9; 12:19-25,

nor of Jeremiah could avail to turn

God's heart from punishing his apostate

people--so deep was their sin and so

irrevocable was God's

judgment

4. The plague, sword, starva

tion, war, and captivity were the evi

dences

of

God's judgment. King

Manasseh's primary guilt is brought

out,

II

Kings 21:10-15; 23:26; 24:3.

He was the

most

compromising

of

all

the Davidic kings.

He

synthesized the

religion of Jehovah with idolatrous

religions. Because of this idolatry the

devastated Judah would be a horrifying

sight to all the nations of the world.

C. (15:5-9) THE DESTRUCTION

OF JERUSALEM

(BecauseJudah desertedJehovah,

He

has become tired

of

relenting, so he

is pouring his terrible judgment

out

on

them. Jerusalem's future will be

so

deso

late, that there will be no one

to

con

sole or to pity, or even to ask about

Jerusalem's welfare.)

IV

.

(15:10-21)

The

inner strug-

gle of

Jeremiah

A. (15:15-18) 1HE PETITION

FOR VINDICATION

1. Jeremiah constantly comes

boldly before God's throne of grace in

prayer because he is confident that God

knows him perfectly.

2.

l11e

enemies against whom

Jeremiah is praying are not his enemies

ultimately, they are God's enemies.

The persecutors who would seek to

harm Jeremiah were really seeking to

harm God's spokesman

and

therefore to

harm God. The hour calledfor a display

The Counsel of Chalcedon, January,

1989

Pag e 1


3/3

of Yahweh's sovereignty over those

who persecuted his servant. It

is not

a

case of a

petty

vendetta waged against

Jeremiah's persecutors, but rather a

display of Yahweh's positive action to

restrain the evildoers and to enable his

servant to continue the task

to

which

Yahweh

had

called

him."

-Thompson

3.

God's

"words" (vs. 16) were

"fmmd" in Jeremiah's mouth, .having

been sovereignly placed there by God

himself. Jeremiah did

not

question

them. He digested and proclaimed them,

and in his suffering, they became the

joy and delight of his heart.

B . (15:19-21) THE ANSWER OF

JEHOVAH

1 (15:19)

God

calls upon Jere

miah to repent, after Jeremiah

had

been

calling

Judah

to repent.

The

bitterness

of

Jeremiah's experience

had almost

closed

his

mouth and brought him close

to abandoning his divine mission. God

calls upon him to "turn back" to God

and to

renew

his trust

in him

. God

says: i you utter

what

is precious

withouJ uttering what is worthless, you

will e my spokesman. This is a re

buke fOI questioning God's character.

2.

(15:20-21) God reaff:ums

his

promise to Jeremiah that he would be

invincible in his divine calling.

a.

This

renewed promise moti

vated Jeremiah to persevere

in

his mis-

sion for years with renewed vigor.

b. This promise contains three

significant O.T. verbs of deliverance:

(1)."save" hosia), which word

stresses bringing

out

of those under op-

pression in to freedom.

(2). "deliver" hissil), which

word pictures the activity of someone

who snatches

his

prey from he grasp

of

a powerful captor.

(3) ."redeem" pada), which word

is used

in

reference to liberation from

he possession of anolher by the giving

up

of

a ransom.

D

Biblical Counseling

Continued from page 19

selors whose message and me hods re

consistent with the teachings

of

the

Bible. Above all let us who believe the

Bible continue to counsel from the

STUDIES IN BIBLICAL DOCTRINE

What

is

Calvinism

or

the Confession

of

Faith

in

Harmony

with the Bible and Common Sense

In a series of dialogues between a Presbyterian

minister and a young

convert

by William

D.

Smith,

D.D

.

DIALOGUE XXll

Presbyterianism of the Reformers

Convert.-In our former conversa-

tions I have

not

noticed, that

among

the

officers of the Presbyterian church, you

said anything respecting Deacons, yet

they are frequently mentioned in the

New Testament; and I find, also, men

tion made of them

in

the Confession of

the

Waldenses. They are also, I believe,

in

most

Presbyterian churches that I am

acquainted with.

MinistLr.--The office of Deacon is a

very important one, and should be

found

in

every

church,

where

circum

stances require and admit of it; still,

however, it is not an essential part of

Presbyterianism, that is, a church may

exist, nd act upon Presbyterian princi-

ples, in which they are not

found

The

want

of

this office does

not

descroy its

Presbyterianism; whereas, a Presbyter

ian church cannot exist without Elders.

Deacons existed

in

the synagogues,

and

were afterwards introduced

by

the apos

tles into the primitive church, as soon

as circumstances

seemed

to require it.

We find the church had existed for some

time, and when the number of disci

ples was multiplied,'' circumstances

seemed to call for

the

appoinunent of

some,

whose

special business it should

be

to attend to the temporal concerns of

the church, especially

to

superintend

her

benevolent operations.--Acts 6. So in

every church in which this part of its

business requires much of the attention

Word

of God.

t

is our duty, and

God

will bless us and

our

courtselees

i f

we

are faithful in performing that duty to

His glory.

of. the minister and elders, i f the circum

stances at all admit of it, they should

have "Deacons set over the work," who

should be solemnly ordained by prayer

and the laying

on of

hands, in the same

way that the other officers a re ordained.

The importance of the office to the

church you can easily perceive, and it

shows in a very clear light he wisdom

of the Great Head of the church,

in

arranging all things necessary to her

peace, comfort nd prosperity. Hence,

we

find, hat though the office of

Deacon has not been unifonnly found

in all Presbyterian churches, yet it has

been generally contended for by those,

who seek entire conformity to the order

of the primitive church.

Con.-Was Calvin the fust of the

Reformers who sought to establish

P r ~ b y t e r i a n i s m

according to the order

of the primitive church? I have thought,

that perhaps this gave rise to . he idea,

that

he

originated

t

f

he

was the first

of the Reformers .who adopted it, the

more ignorant

might

conclude .that it

originated wilh him.

Min.--The allegation that Presbyter

ianism originated with Calvin, has not

even that foundation. Ulric Zuingle, the

leader of the Reformation in Switzer

land, who lived long before Calvm, and

died before eve r Calvin saw Geneva, or

had appeared

among

the

prominent

Re

formers, thus speaks on the subject of

Ruling Elders: "The title of Presbyter,

or Elder, as used

in

Scripture, is not

[This article is reprinted, by permis-

sion, from the

November

, 1988 issue

of

T

he

Presbyterian Witness.]

D

P ~ e 2 2 ~

The Counsel of Otalcedon, January, 1989

Documents

1989 Issue 1 - Jeremiah: Judgment and Restoration, Part XII - Counsel of Chalcedon