Jeremiah 24-25:14 | The Lord Showed Me | 1.29.1997

We're going to be looking today in chapter 24 and then we're going to move into chapter 25. So we'll be chapter 24 and into chapter 25. Now the only reason that's possible is because chapter 24 only has 10 verses. And what we find in chapter 24 is an 11th sermon that Jeremiah has preached. And it's a sermon that relates to two baskets. Let's begin reading together here in verse one. I'll read verses 1-10. And we'll get into our study as we continue through the book of Jeremiah. Beginning at verse one, Jeremiah chapter 24. The Lord showed me, and there were two baskets of figs, the temple of the Lord, after Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, had carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoakim, king of Judah, and the princes of Judah with the craftsmen and smiths from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon. One basket figs like the figs that are first ripe, and the other basket had very bad figs, which could not be eaten. They were so bad. Then the Lord said to me, "What do you see, Jeremiah?" And I said, "Figs, the good figs, very good, and the bad very bad, which cannot be eaten. They are so bad." Again, the word of the Lord came to me, saying, "Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, like these good pigs, acknowledge those who are carried away captive from Judah, whom I have sent out of this place for their own good into the land of the Calaldanss. For I will set my eyes on them for good, and I will bring them back to this land. I will build them and and I will plant them and not pluck them up. Then I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord, and they shall be my people, and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart. And as for the bad figs, which they're so bad, surely, thus says the Lord, so will I give up Zedekiah, the king of Judah, his princes, the residue of Jerusalem, who remain in this land, and those who dwell in the land of Egypt. I will deliver them to trouble into all the kingdoms of the earth, for their harm. and a by word, a taunt, and a curse in all places where I shall drive them. And I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence among them, till they are consumed from the land that I gave to them and their fathers. 1-3 when he says, "The Lord showed me," then the Lord showed me, that word showed there in the original language speaks about of revelation. And so what he's speaking about here is a supernatural revelation words. He's not referring to something that he physically sees, but rather something that the Lord was showing to him. He's not speaking about an offering that had been placed in the temple as an offering to the Lord. But rather he's getting a revelation. Now he gives us the time here. It says after was taken into exile by Nebuchadnezzar. So that tells us when this took place. If you're interested and take notes, it tells us that this is taking place in 597 BC. That's the date of this particular chapter here because the Bible tells us in 2 Kings or verse 12 in the 8th year of the reign of the king of Babylon, he took Jehoachin prisoner. So we know the date of that that was 597 before Christ. Now he's speaking about a vision. He says, "The Lord showed me that there were two baskets of before the temple." Now this is going to reveal that those in exile with Jeaniah will be better off than those who remain in the city of Jerusalem. Now usually those who escape deportation to a foreign land would think the opposite. They would think it was bene remain in the land and not to be deported. But this is something that's different. He's saying it's actually going to be a blessing for them to be taken out of this land. And he's going to explain why in just a moment. It's because the Lord is going to bring judgment on the city of Jerusalem. When he speaks and says to What do you see, Jeremiah? This is a question that's intended for him to focus on the vision and to hear the explanation. And so, the Lord is beginning to communicate to him something. And so, he uses a revelation, uses two kinds of of of fruit, fruit. Now, in verses 4-7, he says, "Again, the word of the Lord came to me, saying, "Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel." And as he begins to speak to him at this point, he gives to him some promises. He gives them promises of f he's going to bring on them. And the future blessings are going to be uh on those who are represented by what are called the good figs here, the good fruit. And he's making a promise to them that they're going to be blessed. Notice what he says in verse 5. Thus says the Israel like these good figs. So will I acknowledge those who are carried away captive from Judah whom I have sent out of this place for their own good into the land of the Calaldanss. When he speaks about acknowledging whom I have acknowledged that word to regard it means to observe or pay attention to notice or to recognize. It speaks about uh recognizing them once again. He's speaking about people who are going to commit themselves to the Lord during this time. People who are going to come back to him, are touched by God, and as they see the judgment that's coming and all that the Lord has said beginning to be fulfilled, they're going to be people who are moved by the Lord to return to him. Now, when he speaks to these Jews as speaks of these Jews as being good figs, he's not saying that they're that's a very important point to make because the Bible nowhere teaches that we are by nature good. Now, this is something that we all basically know. But the Bible says there's none good, know not one. That David when he in one of his psalms said that he was conceived in sin. And in Ephesians chapter 2:3, we are by nature children of wrath. And so the Bible nowhere declares us to have a good nature in a natural sense. We aren't, in other words, born good. Children were not born good. I was not born good. When I was born, I was born with a sin nature. And the things that I do that are wrong are things that are natural to me. I I could lie very easily when I was young. I only learned to refine it as Small children are not very good liars. It takes a while till you get pretty good at it. Then you can become an expert liar. You will lie by nature because you think it's expedient. Children will lie because they think it's better. They're violent, but they're normally violent to smaller children because only an idiot would pick on a bigger kid. And so children are violent by nature. Children lie. children are evil because by nature that's what we are. He would never say in any way, shape or form that Israel was simply good, but he's rather speaking about the good that he's going to do to them and on their behalf. The Lord is going to do something for them. So, it's going to be an explanation of an act of mercy and grace on the part of the particular people. And so, as he's going to minister to them, he's making several several promises. He's speaking about their circumstances and that their circumstances will be good because they're going to be spared and the destruction that's going to eventually hit and does hit in 586 is going to be spared from. And so he begins to make several promises to these captives. Notice verse six. He says in verse 6, I will set my eyes on them for good and I will bring them back to this land. I will build them and not pluck them down. I will plant them and not pluck them up. I will give them a heart to know me that I am the Lord and they shall be my people and I will be their God for they shall return to me with their whole heart. First verse six God makes several promises to these captives. First he promises that they will be brought back to their land. Secondly, he promises to build. They will be built up. The words built up means they will be established by God himself. Thirdly, he says that they will not be removed. That's what he's referring to when he says that they will not be plucked up when return to the land. God, in other words, promising is promising them that he's going to bless them. And so he's saying to them, I'll bring you back to the land. He's saying to them, I will establish you. He's saying to them, moved. And then in verse 7, he's saying that they are going to spiritually return to the Lord in a genuine conversion. In a genuine conversion. And I want to talk to you a little bit about that tonight. Conversion. was speaking to one of my fellow Calvary pastors today on the phone and he was sharing with me concerning a survey that was done last year that a number of pastors participated in. I'm familiar with the survey because I was one of the pastors who participated in it. So, I did the survey And the survey was one of those anonymous surveys. And so the one who was giving the survey asking the questions asked those of us who were involved in it to answer in an honest fashion knowing that our identity was safeguarded. And so there were quite a number of questions that were asked, very personal kinds of qu and uh I answered them and I sent it back in. Well, I was speaking to one of my friends who had taken the same survey and he said he had heard recently of the results and out of all of the pastors returned, some 25% admitted to having extrammarital affairs while being pastors. One pastor in particular admitted to for the last five years out of 15 years of ministry admitted to five years and stealing money out of the tithes to support himself in this. Another pastor confessed that he had been having a marital affair for the last 15 years. The pulpit So I want to talk to you tonight about genuine conversion because quite a number of people I think mental belief that they really are converted people. There are quite a number of people if you were to survey them in the United States who would say to you that they are Christian people. And we'll he's going to be expressing this more than once through the chapter and the next chapter that we enter into. I just thought I'd speak about it sooner than later. But we're talking about a genuine conversion. You know it's possible. You know it's true. A lot of Bible studies and to agree mentally with much of what you hear and yet never put any of that into practice. I wonder how many messages I've heard over the years that I have asented to intellectually that I have not practiced. Things that I would say yes that's true. We ought to love and we ought to give and we ought to serve and we ought not to fight. We ought not to get so angry and we ought not to be bitter and we ought to be forgiving. And I might be able to say, but it's still true. The police still get called to Christians homes because of anger and violence. The police still arrest who are driving drunk. There's still a testimony like this out there. There's still quite a number of people who who will make excuses for remaining in sin. Now, I want to be very quick to say that many people have gotten themselves into some pretty terrible situations and circumstances through a life of obedience to the flesh. And and sometimes it took a lifetime to get some some way. It's going to take a while to be changed. Bottom line is, am I converted? The bottom line is, has my heart really been turned to the Lord? Because in the United States, every Sunday, sometimes this churches have people who would be absolutely certain that they know the Lord who are there in church who really haven't come to know Jesus Christ. The Lord has of reaching people. And sometimes he has to reach those who think that they already have been reached. I can't tell you the amount of letters I get from the radio ministry where people will say that they the Bible until they began to listen to the radio and the only in their fellowship that they go to. They're not they're not hot. I was speaking to a lady just tonight, a sweet lady doesn't go to our church. Uh I had to do some business. We were talking and it came out that I was a pastor as we were speaking and she knows of our fellowship here. She asked me a question. She said, "Can I ask you something?" And I said, "Of course." And she said, "How do you get people to your church on Wednesday nights?" Well, I pay them a lot. how you know she said because in our fellowship the pastor wants to have a midweek but she said 20 people wouldn't show up for a Bible study she said I was just wondering what it's the word it's the word of God people want the word of God don't come for the word of God but you see guys there are a lot of people who can agree especially with a conservative Christian message who some somehow in their heart believe that these things are true and they're right and they're proper and America ought to be this way who really aren't converted people. They just agree with certain basic things that they think are decent and right and would make America a better place to live. Conversion in terms of of applying what the word has to say to themselves. Now, that's another case. That's something a little bit different. And even if if pastors are able to stand up and say thus sayeth the Lord and yet know off with some lady on the side then then then I would say that if it's in in the uh in the pulpit it's going to be in the pew. It's going to be there in the church. It's going to be there. And we need to examine our hearts because that's exactly the the theme of Jeremiah. And Jeremiah is saying that God will bring these people back because he's going to show them good favor. And God is saying to them, and I'll bless you in the land. And God is saying, "And I'm going to give to you." And that's what the Lord wants to give to us tonight. A new heart, a brand new heart in him. A heart that's righteous. A heart that is is desiring to do the things of God, to love the Lord with all of our heart, to know it's it's possible to know the message and not to know the one who gave it. It's possible to hear so many Bible studies that you can give them now yourself and still not have a ride-on relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. Absolutely possible. And so the Lord is saying that I want you to return and you will return to me and you will have a genuine conversion. You will be truly new people. Now if he's saying that to the Old Testament that also to us in the New because the Lord wants us to have a genuine relationship with him, an absolute certain relationship with him. I believe with all of my heart in these very last days that we're that the Lord is calling out for himself a church. And the reality of the fact is the church is going to be called out from amongst people who are attending church because one of the signs of the last days is going to be the popularity of but the church is going to be filled with evil. And that's basically what is taking place today because there is such a low priority of godly living in a lot of people's lives and is at a new low in a lot of people's minds that it's not too hard to profess to be a Christian when in reality you're still partying you're still blowing it constantly that's your way of life and there's no regret about that at all because we have learned to say of the grace of God and we take the grace of God and we use it as an excuse to continue in sin. Now, this message that Jeremiah is giving is echoed by Ezekiel. Let's turn our Bibles to Ezekiel chapter 11. Recently, as you're turning there, recently the Lord has, I believe, placed on my heart a sincere desire to with him. It's like I shared with you before when my father, it's my dad's birthday today. My dad's 70 years old. 70 years old. So, he's in New Mexico. And I said, "Dad, it's your birthday. You remember? Can you hear me? Dad, can you hear me?" He goes, "I had forgotten. Why do you have to remind me?" My dad got saved along with my mother about two weeks after I did. So, my dad was about 44 years old when he committed his heart to Christ. And I have shared with spoke to my dad and I had gotten saved and I came home and I began to read the Bible and I was reading all the New Testament and I was reading something called man which was a basic paraphrase of the New Testament. One of my friends had given me an King James version Bible and for somebody who basically read only comic books, King James is a little tough. So they got me a um good news for modern man. And I was reading it and they told me you need to read the whole thing and it was the New Testament. So I had started with Matthew. I'd gotten to Revelation and I've shared with you before how I had gotten to chapter nine. believe it's chapter nine where the Lord begins to speak about these wild tales and horses bodies and men's head with iron teeth and women's hair and I'm reading this and I'm thinking what in the world is this? This sounds pretty scary though. And then I had closed the Bible and I had gone into the kitchen where my mom and dad were there at the kitchen table and I said, "Mom, dad, you need to hear this. This is the word of God." And listen to what God is saying. And I read this passage to them. It's fantastic passage about people desiring to die for 5 months and not being able to die. And it to them and I and I closed it and I said to him, I don't know what this I don't know what this means, but I do know this. It's not talking about me. It's talking about you. And I and I said because I'm right with God. And I said and and and dad. Dad. I said, "Dad, you're a good man. you are the best man that I will ever know, but you will be the best man in hell if you don't give your heart to Jesus Christ. And and I said to him, "Dad," I said, "I love you, and I don't want to go to heaven without you." Now, in my family, something that the Lord uses is my father's tremendous love for his family. My dad's dad loves his kids. And so he told me, he said, "I was going to get up and hit you." He was so angry because you got this wildeyed 20-year-old hippie with, you know, this long hair, brown glasses, and pushy sideburns and barefoot sitting there with a Bible. And my dad's this decent man looking at this punk. And he really didn't like what this punk was saying. But you know what my dad told me? And I want you to know a part of the heart of the man who speaks to you. He said the thing that ministered to him was when I said, "I don't want to be in heaven without you." May I say to you, that's how I feel about my church. and I say that to you, that's how I feel about you. And so sometimes when I come up and I share with such emotion, it's because I love and I don't want to be there at all. That's why I prolong the invitation. That's why I say if there's anybody else if there's anybody else that may not you may be of sort where you say get it over with man I've got to leave or I've got a real life but you don't know what's waiting for you in eternity and the waiting for you when you don't have Jesus. And so it's the passion, the desire to see people right with Jesus that causes me to speak to you the way that I do. It's because I love and I don't know how else to tell you. So I tell you truth. That's the best thing. And that's the emotion that I feel and that's the passion because I don't want to go to heaven without you. I want you there. I want you there with the Lord. I want you there with us. I want you there for eternity. And there is nothing on earth worth missing heaven for. Nothing. Ezekiel in 11 17- 21. This is what the sovereign Lord says. I will gather you from the nations and bring you back from the countries where you have been scattered. And I will give land of Israel again. They will return to it and remove all its vile images and detestable idols. I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them. I will remove from them their heart of stone. Give them a heart of flesh. then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. They will be my people. I will be their God. But as for those whose hearts are devoted to their vile images and detestable, I will bring down on their own heads what they have done, declares the sovereign law. So he says, the way that you'll demonstrate that you have this new heart and new spirit is you're going to repent. You're going to break away from these things. Answer an invitation. In other words, to speed it up to church age. You're not going to answer an invitation where all along you know you're going to remain in sin the moment you leave the place. You're not going to do that. You're going to say, "Lord, it's all of you. I want you with all of my heart. I don't want to mess around and I don't want to play any games anymore. I just want Jesus Christ and I want to know him and love him and serve him. And yes, it's true. I will fail and yes, I will blow it. But God, I just want you. That's all I hunger for because I've tried the world and it doesn't work. And I want you. That's conversion. That's that's conversion. That's Christianity. That's just loving God all of your heart. And so the Lord made a promise. He said, "This is exactly what I'll do." The same promise that he was speaking of in Jeremiah, he repeats again in Ezekiel. And in as much as they were contemporaries, God would continue to speak that message to the nation. Back in Jeremiah, he moves on into verse 8. And it says, "As for the bad figs, which cannot be eaten, they're so bad. Surely thus says the Lord, so will I give up Pedekiah, the king of Judah, his princes, who remain in this land, and those who dwell in the land of Egypt. I will deliver them to trouble into all the kingdoms of the earth for their harm to be a reproach and a byword, a taunt and a curse in all places where I shall drive them. I will send the pestilence among them till they are consumed from the land that I gave to them and their fathers. So he speaks in verse 8 for of the the bad figs he says which cannot be eaten because they're so bad and these are the ones who will remain in the land and these will terribly and they're going to be scattered in disgrace. In verses 9 and 10 when he says I will deliver them to trouble into all the kingdoms of the earth for their harm. They had turned away from the Lord. They had no heart for him and as a result of that they would be judged. In the history of Israel, in the book of Deuteronomy, it's found in chapter 28. The Lord had given before given to the nation of Israel blessings and cursings. He said, "If you keep my law, then I will bless you. But if you fail to keep my law, then these are the things that will come upon." And in Deuteronomy 28:2, he said, "The Lord will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You will come at them from one direction, but flee from them in seven. You will become a thing of horror to all the kingdoms on earth." And in Deuteronomy 28:37, he said, "You will become object of scorn and ridicule to all the nations where the Lord will drive you." This did happen. Not only did it happen though through Nebuchadnezzar when he through a series of three campaigns 605, 597, and 586 came in and obliterated the nation of Israel. But it also is something that occurred and I think was more particularly fulfilled uh in AD70 when Titus of Rome came into the city of Jerusalem. And even in Matthew, Jesus speaks of this in chapter 24 of the Gospel of Matthew:es 1 and 2 when Jesus was leaving the temple and he was walking away. The scripture says his disciples came up to him uh to call his attention to its buildings and and he do you see all these things? tell you the truth. Not one stone here will be left on another. Every one will be thrown down. And so that's exactly what took place. And so this was fulfilled initially through Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, but in particular Israel in AD70 when Titus of Rome came in and decimated. And if you were to be interested in Jewish history, you might want to pick up a book uh by Josephus. It's a history of the Jewish wars. And Josephus gives a description of what took place. This was destroyed and how that many Jews had hidden inside of the temple and that the Roman soldiers were outside of the temple there and they were growing impatient because the Jews would not come out and surrender. And so one of the Roman soldiers according to impatient got a I forget what you call him. Um just something that was a flame, a torch. He got a torch and he threw it into the temple and the doors were were locked and secured. And when it ignited some of the of of the curtains and when the curtains began to burn, the entire interior of the temple was consumed. And there was gold in the temple that was melted. of the intensity of the flame and all the people who were inside the temple seeking sanctuary were incinerated. And then finally when everything had cooled down, the soldiers came in and began to take apart in order that they might be able to take the gold that had melted and seeped into the crevices of the rocks there. And this prophecy that Jesus gave in Matthew 24:es 1 and two was literally fulfilled in AD.70. Israel were scattered throughout the entire world. And even to this day, you'll find Jewish people everywhere that people are. There's a tribe of Jews that live in Japan, Japanese Jewish people. They're in Argentina, South America, all through the world. And that's why I think it's humorous these stereotypes that people have with Jewish people. They say, "Oh, Jewish people look and such." That's just absolutely ridiculous because you have Ethiopian Jews and Jack and Russian Jews and Mexican Jews. You have Jews of every persuasion throughout the world, Spanish Jews, Italian Jews, you know, you have Swedish Jewish people, Germanic, I mean every every all of us. I go to Israel, they don't know that I'm a Mexican. They think I'm Jewish. They speak to my wife Marie in in in in Spanish, but there are a lot of Spanish Jews. And so the Jewish people were all through the world today, still are. And yet, right now, we see the Lord beginning to bring them back to their land. And they're filling up the land. And even you know to not get too far a field I mean since 1948 to see what the Lord has done is a miracle in our day. It's a that the Lord has preserved these people. And so he did indeed scatter them through not only during the time of Nebuchadnezzar and yes they became a byword but also in the time of Titus even to this day. Now in chapter 25 in verse one he gives the 12 it's a it's a message concerning the 70-year captivity. the word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoakim the son of Josiah king of Judah which was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. So we have 5 BC which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the people of Judah and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem saying from the 13th year of Josiah the son of Ammon king of Judah even to this day this is the 23rd year the Lord has come to me and I have spoken to you rising early and speaking but you have not listened and the Lord has sent to you all his servants the prophets rising early and sending them but you have not listened nor inclined your ear to hear. Now everyone of his evil way and his evil doings and dwell in the land that the Lord has given to you and your fathers forever and ever. Do not go after other gods to serve them and worship them and do not provoke me to anger with the works of your hands and I will not harm you. Have not listened to me, says the Lord, that you might provoke me to anger with the works of your hands. Notice to your own hurt. To your own hurt. And so what we have here is 23 years of no success. 23 years. And nobody's listening. Can you imagine? years ago, I started a Bible study on Sunday nights when we first started our Sunday night Bible studies. And I started by teaching a 26- week series on the Holy Spirit. And the church at that time had maybe 200 members and about 120 Sunday night Bible study for 26 weeks. And I thought this is wonderful. And we moved into the book of Genesis. And you know, people began to kind of fall away at that time, no longer attending. And when we got to Exodus, they made an Exodus. And by that time from about 120 it went down to 12. 12 people on a Sunday night. And just before it dwindled to 12. I was talking to somebody and as I was speaking to them, they had no Sunday evening services. And this is when we had about 60 or so coming. And he said, "We have no Sunday night services." And I said to him, as long as there's a few people who will come to a Bible study, I'll teach them. And the Lord I think was conversation because shortly thereafter it began to dwindle and dwindle and dwindle and then finally I gave a real strong exhortation to the people and the next week there were 12 people in attendance in that and I remember coming out and I used to sit down on a stool when I taught. I came out and I remember just looking out there at at 108 empty chairs. Even Marie didn't come that night. I mean, it was it was and I I heard my own words returning to me. As long as there are a few people here, I will teach them. And the Lord spoke to my heart and he had said, "Is that true?" Will you teach those who will you teach those? That isn't the first time that it happened. When our church first began, we used to meet on Wednesday nights in the home of David and Connie Signs in the city of Pomona. And I had man who used to come who was my helper. I his girlfriend used to come because he was there. Um we had David and Connie. We had a young man who led music and his girlfriend and another young lady. And then we had other people who were coming to this Bible studies when we first began. And then I remember I was preparing a study and as I was preparing the study, I get a phone call from this young man named Steve. And Steve said, "I'm sorry, I can't make it tonight." And Darlene won't be making it either. He said, "All right." Then I got a phone call from Doug who led music. And Doug said, "I'm sorry, I can't make it tonight." Then Stacy calls and says, "I'm sorry, I can't make it tonight." And I'm thinking, "Well, we still have Stephanie." And then Stephanie, the other musician, said calls up, says, "Sorry, I can't make it tonight." I thought, "Well, I still got" and said, "I'm not coming tonight." Before you know it, I'm waiting for David and Carne to say, "Don't come over tonight." And I remember just looking at, you know, I'd been pouring over my notes. have been working for the day getting prepared for a study that I thought we'd have 10, 12, 15 people at. And then it turns out it was going to be me and David and Connie. And I remember very seriously just looking at the notes saying to myself, it's really not even that David and Connie aren't worth it. They obviously are, but what's going on, Lord? And that was when I really heard the voice of the Lord. And the voice of the Lord said to me again, "Does it matter how many people show up?" That's your problem. That's your problem. Teach the ones who show up. A year before that, I had been teaching at my brother's apartment or two years before that. I used to have up to 30 people up in the Bible studying house. This one night there I am, my brother and Rose, Marie and a man named David. That was it. Nobody. And David was one of Marie and my brother Frank's co-workers who came that night. And I opened the word and I taught these four people as much as I could with as much intensity as God gives me to teach. I'm thinking, I wonder where everybody else is tonight. Let's not go. And I closed with a word of prayer and closed the Bible. And I looked at Dave. It was his first time there. And I said, you know, normally we have a few more people. I'm surprised that nobody else showed up. And Dave said this to me and I'll never said, I think it was for me that nobody else showed up. I said, "Is that right? Why?" He said, "Because I'm a homosexual and I've never openly confessed that before and I would never have confessed that before people." And so whoever shows up, whoever shows up and so faithfulness is what God calls for. The results come from him. The results come from him. It's faithful. And for 23 years, he's been preaching. for 23 years. And yet, what is he saying? He says, "No one will listen. No one will obey." And he's saying, "I'm giving you the word." Now, we know from our studies up to this point that the false prophet and prosperity, God isn't going to bring judgment. And his message was the opposite. No, God is going to bring judgment. And so, naturally, the people are not listening. And yet, he was a faithful preacher. The scripture tells us that he was faithful rising early and speak said they will not listen. And he'd been crying for them to repent from their evil ways and their evil actions. When he speaks concerning repenting from your evil ways, by the way, the word ways there speaks about their habits or their course of action life. And when he speaks obviously of their actions, it speaks about the works of their life. And he's been calling them and he's been saying to them, you need to change. Now notice as he goes through this and he begins to cry out to them and he says you need to repent in verse five says to them in verse six not go after other gods to serve them and worship them. Notice verse 7 yet you have not listened to me says the Lord that you might provoke me to anger with the works of your hands to your own. I underscore to your own hurt. I understand that. Do you? I'm sure you do. You're a kid and your father says to you, "Get home on time." But you don't want to get home on time because your dad wants you to come home at 12:00 and you want to come home at 1:00. But your father says, "No, you come home at 12." Ah, Dad, I'm able to see all my friends. I'm the only one who has a curfew. Everybody else can stay out late. Why do you make me come on? Why are you treating me like a baby? And you get angry. Now, if you rebel against your father's word, if he's a man of his word to your own hurt because you're the only one who gets hurt, it hurts you because he's going to have to lay down the law. He's going to have to deal with you if he's a good father. He can't ignore it. He can't let it go by. that I was hurting my parents when I do things. I've shared with you before that when my mom got me mad, my brother and I would go into our bedroom and we'd hit our heads against the wall and really teach her a lesson. We would we'd bang our head and my brother would tell me, "Let's let's get mom." And I would sit on the bed next to my big brother and we'd hit our heads on the wall. Boom. Boom. And it would reverberate and we knew mom was in the kitchen, but she could surely hear how much we were hurting her in the other room. And she opened the door. I never forget she opened the door and she say, "Make sure you don't put a hole in that wall and close the door." I I used to be a person who believed in environment only. I didn't really believe in heredity, but I didn't have children then. And then my son David was we sent him to his room and then you hear the bang bang bang. Two years old and I opened the door and he was standing on the bunk bed hitting his head on the ceiling and I said, "Don't put a hole in the ceiling." And I closed the door and to your own hurt. to your own hurt. Sometimes as a pastor, I will say that sin that you're involved in that you think is so enjoyable, it's still hurt. And the person says, "It's not hurting me." You know, if you keep going to those bars on Friday, even though you say that's just where you meet, just kind of hanging out, dancing a little bit, drinking a little bit to get hurt. Oh, come on, man. It's no big deal. And then you meet the guy who gives you that STD hurt. Meet the girl who gives you AIDS to your hurt. I heard of that young man who slept with that girl. didn't even know her name. Brought her home, slept with her. Next morning, went into his bathroom. True story. But on the mirror in red lipstick, it said, "Welcome to the world of AIDS." Didn't even know who she was. Picked her up at a bar rest of his life. Got AIDS. To your own hurt. So mom and dad say, "Don't do this because it can hurt you." And you say, "I'm big enough to I can to your own hurt." And when the Lord says, "Do not be unequally yolked together with an unbeliever." And yet the young lady says, "But he's good to me and he likes me and he's nice to me and he provides for me and I there's no Christian guys asking me out and we're just what's the big deal?" It's to your own hurt. It's to your own hurt. when you you hurt. When you sin, not only do you hurt, but you grieve your father. And a lot of earthly fathers know what it's like to see their children blow it and it breaks their heart. Hey, I'm But there's been times when my kids have done something that has hurt me so bad that I've sobbed over the dinner table and it hurts. Yes, it hurts me, but it hurts them words because it's to their own. And when you the word of the Lord, it harms your mind. And so he's saying to us, I rose up early. I warned you. I told you the truth. You rejected it. And now you're going to be judged. Therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts in verse 8, because my word, behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, says the Lord, and Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, against its inhabitants, and against these nations all around, and will utterly destroy them, make them a hissing, that when he says a hissing, it's people walking by just, you know, whistling. I look at that. So that's what he means when he says hissing him perpetual desolations. Moreover, I will take from them the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones and the light of the lamb. This whole land shall be a desolation and an astonishment. And these nations shall serve the king of Babylon 70 years. Then it will come to pass when 70 years that I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Calaldians, for their iniquity, says the Lord, and I will make it a perpetual desolation. So I will bring on that land all my words which I have pronounced against it written in this book which Jeremiah has prophesied concerning all the nations. For many nations and great kings shall be served by them also, and I will repay them according to their deeds and according to the works of their own hands. Briefly, I'll close here, but we'll pick 70 years of desolation. 605 before Christ, king of Babylon begins his invasion of Israel and continues to bring invasion, invasion forces. In his first invasion in 605, he took all the nobles, took the elite of the brought him back to Babylon. And we know through the book of Daniel that Daniel was one of those young men probably somewhere around the age of 14. And he was taken off to live in the land of Babylon. And Daniel from the age of 14 until he as a very old man remained there in Babylon. He became very great in the sight of the king. Ultimately was placed in a high position of authority there. Kneadzar died and was succeeded and ultimately his grandson Belshazar took control of the nation. Chazar was a pagan's pagan and he remembered on one occasion while he was partying that his grandfather Nebuchadnezzar had taken some utensils from the Jewish temple. They had gold. Beautiful. And though the Mes and Persian army was outside because he had gates that were 87 ft thick, walls 87 ft thick, double lay. And because he believed that Babylon was impregnable, there's no way that this invading army sieging or otherwise could get in. He decided to party. And as he was there, he says, "Let's get the goblets, the temple, and let's toast to the gods of gold, silver, and and the and the earth, and and and wood, and and let's just praise them for taking care of us." And you know the story, it's done in Daniel 5. As a hand appears and begins to write on the wall many many and he the Bible says he be his legs began to shake all freaked out. Oh, I would too if I saw the handwriting little Chewy de Chino or whatever, you know, many many lupi all the wise men and he says, "What does this mean?" And they're looking at it and they have we don't have any idea, but the queen mother says, "There's a man in your kingdom who is an adviser of your grandfather. He's Daniel and he has true God's in him and he has the ability to discern these kinds of things bring him. So they bring Daniel, this old man who's been living faithfully for God in the midst of Babylon for all of these years and walks in. Thou sh make you the third ruler of the nation if you but tell me what this means. Daniel looks at him and says keep it to yourself. I don't need your rulership anyway. He says what it means is this. many many faculty persons. Your kingdom, you have been weighed in the balance and you have been found wanting and your kingdom shall be given to the needs of the Persian. And he said to him, you lose. Now while they were partying partying outside inside outside the river Euphrates and the various tributaries would be uh there was uh the river was being diverted and they were actually able to divert water to the come in the where the water normally would flow in and the me and Persian army marched in unmolested and were able to break into this impregnable fortress and they destroyed it for and while they were partying the invaders were laboring and they were able to come on in and that was how Babylon fell. Secular history records. Now Babylon was a tool in the hands of the Lord and Nebuchadnezzar was used by God to chastise chastise Israel because God will use even the pagans to get his ways done. Lord said I'm not going to let them get away with their evil ways. 70 years later I will deal with them. And 70 years later, Daras the me and Cyrus the Persian working together combined and defeated mighty nation of a nation that fell because it was rotten inside. And God said, "I'll deal with this sin." And he did.