The Persecuted Prohpet

INTRO

Scripture dissects us as we study God’s Word. We study God’s Word because it is useful to us, and it can work in our lives. We can expect the Holy Spirit to be present with us as we study His Word, and we can expect the Holy Spirit to speak to us. According to 2 Timothy 3:16-17, “All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” Many things are useful in our life. If we are in God’s Word, it is because it has proven to be useful.

TEACHING

Jeremiah 12:1-4: Jeremiah was threatened because he was delivering God’s message. In Jeremiah 11:21, the people had threatened Jeremiah and told him not to prophesy any more. In Jeremiah 12, we see that Jeremiah has preached God’s word but seemed to feel depressed about it. He prayed to God, “You will be righteous, Lord, even if I bring a case against You. Yet, I wish to contend with You: Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all the treacherous live at ease?” (v. 1). The question Jeremiah raised was the question of why the wicked prospered. Life does not seem to be fair. As Jeremiah demonstrated, it is always our best option to go directly to God with our questions and concerns about His will.

The people of Judah were going through a drought as part of their punishment. But Jeremiah had to live in the same land and suffer with the people. Jeremiah asked God what was fair about that situation.

In verse 3, Jeremiah reminded God that he had always been faithful to Him, but things did not seem to be fair. Every generation had asked the same question. But redemption was never fair. If all of life were fair, then we would eliminate the cross. The crucifixion was not fair. Generosity was not fair, but it was love; it was the gospel. Jeremiah understood that God would not be fair, but God would always be good.

There was a typical pattern that was seen with the prophets: first, there was sin; next, punishment; and finally, restoration. God dealt with human beings in different ways at each of these points. When the people were blessed, the pattern was that people turned away from God and not toward God. When people would forget God, God would have to turn them around. That turn around was the redemption piece of the equation. There was pride on the part of the people at the beginning of this pattern.

James 4:6 states, “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” When the people were in pride, God was trying to turn them around. It appeared God was against them.

Jeremiah 12:5–17: God then spoke to Jeremiah. God said that if Jeremiah believed things were difficult now, there were worse situations to come.

Jeremiah 13: In verse 1, there is a statement of what the Lord said to Jeremiah. God was speaking specifically to Jeremiah. Hearing the voice of God was key for Jeremiah. Then came the following of God’s directions. Hearing God correctly was the challenge. God instructed Jeremiah to buy a linen belt and to put it around his waist. God then told Jeremiah, who was wearing the belt, to take the belt to Perath (Euphrates) and hide the belt in a crevice in the rocks.

The location of Perath has been debated, but generally, it is believed to have been a few miles away from Anathoth. Many days after the belt was hidden, Jeremiah was told to go back and get the belt. The belt was ruined by this time. The action was to prove to Jeremiah how God would ruin the pride of the people of Jerusalem.

This passage was written as a visual—an obedience parable—that was acted out by Jeremiah. God used the analogy to communicate to the people. When the people were in pride, they were dirty or rotten. But when the people turned toward God, they became precious and close. God would ruin the pride of Judah.

In the book of Jeremiah, the people were in the punishment phase of that pattern that many of the prophets followed. The people had sinned, and Jeremiah was declaring the punishment to come. Eventually, Jeremiah would get to the restoration phase. The restoration words came in chapters 30—34.

Another analogy was introduced that used wine and wineskins. All the people, including the kings, would be filled with drunkenness. God would have no compassion, and the people would be destroyed. The frustrated Jeremiah would have had to keep making the same point over and over again. God’s hope was that somehow the people would be turned around and would come back to Him.

Jeremiah 14: Chapter 14 refers to the drought. There was no rain. By verse 7, the people had a sense that they had sinned against God, but they called on the goodness of God for their sake and for the sake of the name of the Lord. The people desperately needed rain, but God would not hear their prayers or accept their offerings.

Jeremiah had a difficult life. The circumstances with the people and the pride of Judah at this time were difficult to deal with, and difficult for Jeremiah to address, even with God’s help.

CLOSING

When God restores us and answers our prayers, we “dance in the rain” in the joy of God’s blessing. When we offer up our prayers to God and ask Him if there are areas of pride in our personal lives, it allows us the opportunity to experience God’s restoration. When God restores us and answers our prayers, we can live in a place of tremendous blessing.