Bible Survey - Jeremiah, Lamentations

I've got, I think, really exciting things to show you on the slides here. Really neat stuff. Some of it's been fairly recently discovered. And it was actually something I was looking for and just ran out of time. So I'll tell you about it. Baruch, son of Neriah, is found 10 times in Jeremiah, beginning with chapter 32, verse 12. What you see right there is a seal impression. from his personal seal, the guy. And we have two of them, two of them, and they're from the same seal. They have exactly the same marks. These two seals, And then, so there's Baruch.

He was the personal scribe of Jeremiah. And in fact, because he was the personal scribe of Jeremiah, he got in trouble like Jeremiah did. Jeremiah had things to say that people didn't like hearing. And so, when they found out that he was connected with these things, he got in trouble too.

Now, keep track of that. There's Baruch, son of Neriah. His brother, Saria was the quartermaster for King Zedekiah. That's his seal, just to the left. So his brother's seal impression has been found. Here's Zedekiah, who's shown there in the king line and family tree.

Seal of Gedaliah, also of Zedekiah's court. and recorded in Jeremiah 38.1 and following, his seal impression has been found. That's it there. We're not done.

Jeremiah 37.3 records the name Yehukal, whose seal impression was found only a few feet away from that of Gedaliah. Just a few feet away. And I'm not done, but I just ran out of time. There are more. And so, Jeremiah is not cooked up, made up, you know, hey, just make up some names. These are real people, real times, real events that are being recorded there.

What I didn't have time to look up is I had recently read, since the beginning of the year, that an archaeologist thinks that he has found the pit that Jeremiah was thrown into. As recorded in the book of Jeremiah. So there are lots of very tight archaeological connections with the book of Jeremiah.

Here is an artist's rendering of the attack of the Assyrians, which actually occurred three times. 605. 597 and 586. Those three times. And then the exile of Jews from Jerusalem. So I think these last two I showed you are from James Tissot, a Swiss artist.

Here you have, and it's also in your handout, the map of Jeremiah's journey to Egypt. He was taken there against his will. He warned them, do not go there and don't take me there. They ignored him and it was bad for them. Because Nebuchadnezzar, the same guy who took Jerusalem a few times... Good morning! Go ahead and grab a handout here and take a seat and join us. Jeremiah's trip down to Egypt was against his will, and a bunch went there. Nebuchadnezzar came in and wiped most of them out. So Jeremiah spent his last days in Egypt, which is not where he wanted to be.

Now, this map here, you notice this has a line going down to Elephantine. Here is Elephantine Island on the Nile. And here is a picture of the island in the middle of the Nile. A group of Jews went down there and built another temple. And that temple was in place and intact until 1822 when the Ottoman Empire took it apart deliberately.

But at any rate, we have a number of documents on papyrus from during this time. So again, another connection, a historical connection that works really well as supporting the authenticity of the book of Jeremiah. And this is, speaking of Baruch the scribe, this is a scribe's kit found in Elephantine from around the year 400. Okay, let's, I think that, oh wait a minute, I'm not done.

It says in Jeremiah 43, 13, He, Nebuchadnezzar, that's in the context, will also shatter the obelisks of Heliopolis, previously known as On. On is the earlier Egyptian name of the city. Heliopolis is a Greek name, okay. On is the earlier name, and you might recognize that because Joseph married the daughter of the priest of On.

So that's the connection there. So here are the obelisks of On. This is the last one. There are no others. There's one other that was taken to Paris. But as far as on site, this is it. But apparently there were a number of them and Nebuchadnezzar smashed them. This particular one dates from the time of around Abraham. So just after 2000 BC. Okay, let's switch to the handout here. So hopefully you've got that. Did you get a copy of the handout? Yeah, good. All right.

So here's the Prophet Jeremiah, often called the Weeping Prophet, credited with having written both Jeremiah and Lamentations. The first 10 verses of Jeremiah give us a really good introduction to here's what he's about and here's the Lord's assignment So let's go through it the words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah of the priests who were at Anathoth in the land of Benjamin just a couple of miles away from Jerusalem So what does that tell you if his father was a priest? What would Jeremiah be qualified as?

He would be qualified to be at what? A priest, right? So as his father was qualified, he's also qualified. Was he a priest? Though he's qualified, he wasn't because God called him. God called him when he was young. God called him when he was young, as we'll soon see here.

To whom the word of the Lord, and this is Yahweh, came in the days of Josiah the son of Ammon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign. It came also in the days of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the exile of Jerusalem in the fifth month. Now the word of the Lord, this is Yahweh, came to me saying, Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you.

I have appointed you a prophet to the nations. Then I said, Alas, Lord, this is Adonai, God, Yahweh, behold, I do not know how to speak because I am a youth. But the Lord Yahweh said to me, Do not say, I am a youth, because everywhere I send you, you shall go. And all that I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord Yahweh.

Then the Lord Yahweh stretched out his hand and touched my mouth, and the Lord Yahweh said to me, Behold, I have put my words in your mouth. See, I have appointed you this day over the nations and over the kingdoms to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant." Wow!

That's pretty intense. Now, is this guy young or old? He's young. Does he feel qualified for this task? Not at all. Okay? So, this is a very important point for us. If we feel like we're not qualified, if we feel like we don't have the adequacy for something, does that mean we shouldn't take it on? Not necessarily, yeah, right? Because if the Lord appoints us to something, He will be our adequacy, right? Okay.

The thing that happens so often God has a wonderful plan for you and other people will tell you about it. It is easy to take the world's criteria and follow it. I was a young Christian. I was a person of many words and unfortunately I still am. Some of the older ladies in the church thought I should prepare to be a pastor because I was good with words. That's looking at the outside. God looks at the heart.

I am not a people person. I am not a shepherd type of person. God had a different career for me. The ability to speak doesn't necessarily qualify a person as a shepherd. A person can be a very good teacher and still not be a shepherd. It's a different giftedness and it comes from God. Paul spoke to the elders from Ephesus in Acts chapter 20 and he told them the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. This is something that God does through the Holy Spirit, not something that simply comes from human skill and aptitude.

I'll shut up after this, but I have found in some of the churches, like Holly Hills, for example, if people notice a need, music ministry, youth work, child evangelism, whatever, God is often the one who puts it on your heart and mind, and will say, well, we ought to have someone doing this. How about you, right? Yeah. Yeah, this is something that a church body should not be explainable through pure sociology. A church body ought to be inexplicable from sociology, but rather instead explained only by work of the Holy Spirit.

The bottom here, you have Baruch son of Nariah, Jeremiah's personal scribe. That's the one we referred to in the slides here. I put that seal in the printout, but the others are just... I was running to get it as far as I did. So let's take a look at page 2 here. Some interesting things. I mean, this is really fascinating.

Twice, God tells Jeremiah explicitly, do not pray for these people. Isn't that something? Would you think that that would be something God would tell Jeremiah? I mean, you would think, you know, be sure you're praying for these. No. Don't pray for these people. Why would God say don't pray for these people?

He had a different message for Jeremiah to deliver. And this message was one of, you've done wrong and there is judgment. So his message was not a mercy and grace and pardon message. Let's ask this question. Why would God assign Jeremiah to speak and to write? And he also did other signs and things of that sort. Not necessarily miraculous things, but different things that he did at different points.

Why would God appoint a person like him? to talk to people who will not listen one bit. Why would he do that? Why would God bother to have a messenger, a spokesman, that tells people things and they do not listen to it? Absolutely don't listen to it.

Same reason as Isaiah. Yeah, okay. Are you saying Noah? No, he's saying Isaiah as well. God tells the truth. And that truth is a straight, hard line. It's a plumbob that says, this is my standard. This is my way. Walk in it. This is my law. This is my commandment. And throughout the generations, there's always been a voice saying, this is the way. Walk in it. You think about that.

I mean, why doesn't God just say, you know, these people aren't going to listen, so I'm not going to tell them anything. Why doesn't God just do that? His character was to relationship. He would know that the nation of Israel was not going to respond. That didn't change his character. And with hindsight, we can look back to that and say that even at times in our own lives when our minds are shut towards the Lord's direction, that He still speaks to us. We're still there to speak to us even if we don't want to listen to Him.

There are some people that will listen. Yeah. And it's real interesting that the Lord oftentimes has someone like this, like Jeremiah, speak So that I mean they could never come back and say well you didn't tell me Right they can never come back and say well you didn't tell me and in fact what we find is repeatedly as we go through the rest of the prophets Repeatedly that's the case that that God's spokesman God's mouthpiece That he has selected Tells the truth and the people don't listen again and again That's the case. You mentioned Isaiah, you know, here after being a court prophet for decades, at the end Manasseh, Hezekiah's son, sent guys out for him and they sought him in two. So this is an interesting thing. Being a prophet was not, you know, hey, I'll do that. That's a really cushy job. No. It wasn't prestige. It wasn't cushy.

Often times had people not wanting to listen to what they had to say. and penalizing them for doing so. We'll look at it here in a bit. Multiple times Jeremiah got thrown in prison. So here's Jeremiah 7.16 and 11.14. Do not pray for this people. Do not pray for this people.

Another term that comes out uniquely in Jeremiah is the term Queen of Heaven. The Queen of Heaven in Jeremiah, and I give the references there in chapter 7 and then in chapter 44, was a term for the Ashtoreth or Astarte. Ishtar is another variation on that, and Esther actually is another variation on that. The figure shown to the left is the wife of Baal, the King of Heaven from the Canaanite pantheon.

The entire family Kids, you know, father, mother, the entire family was engaged in these Canaanite religious practices. So it polluted the whole family. We have Jeremiah at a glance here in the middle of page 2 and it shows his prophetic commission here in the first chapter that we've taken a look at.

He goes and condemns Judah there in numerous chapters. the conflicts of Jeremiah, he gives an historical description, the future restoration of Jerusalem. Why have Jeremiah prophesy about the future restoration of Jerusalem? Why not just say, hey look, these guys aren't going to listen, this place is toast. Why should Jeremiah tell the Jews about the future restoration of Jerusalem?

Yes, planting hope. So here's a prophet, he's telling them things they don't want to hear, but he's also saying there is hope for the future. This is not the end. This is not the end. It also indicates the fulfillment of God's promises to Abraham and to David and so forth.

Then we get the present fall of Jerusalem. That was in his time, the fall of Jerusalem. Nebuchadnezzar came in in 605, 597, and 586 BC. The date was about the middle of July, and the exact date is debated a little bit, but probably July 18th. the fall of Jerusalem. He's there for the fall of Jerusalem, the final fall of Jerusalem under King Nebuchadnezzar's attacks.

And that's when he writes the book of Lamentations, which we'll get to if we have time here. Condemnation of nine other nations, other neighbor nations surrounding Israel and then his historic inclusion there. You have at the bottom some record of the sequence. You have King Josiah, king over Judah, and he's kind of the last mostly good king. Had some reforms, but then things fell apart under his descendants there. And Zedekiah is the one whose various court officials, including the brother of Baruch, we have the seal impressions from. Jeremiah is finally taken to Egypt in 582 and that's where he spent the rest of his days.

Alright, let's take a look at page 3. What's interesting is that the dating of Jeremiah's prophecies is not exactly just linear. So what we have is kind of an alternating back and forth dating. Jeremiah apparently gathered together prophecies of certain times, not necessarily putting things in exact sequence. But there's enough information in there that we can get the sequence that he did prophesy in. You have underneath that an outline that continues on into the next page.

And just to go over it briefly, his call we just read through, Jeremiah 1, 1-10. Jeremiah did some signs at God's Signs were given to him by God. And then Jeremiah's assurance. God is assuring him, this is going to be bad, but you'll come through. Then finally, the condemnation of Judah comes in 12 sermons. Ending with the prophesying of a 70 year captivity. Telling him in advance there would be a 70 year captivity.

Then we have the conflicts of Jeremiah, starting in chapter 26, and then conflict with this one, conflict with that one, and he goes down the list. Let's take a look there at page 4. The future restoration of Jerusalem we talked about, the restoration to the land, it's going to go back to the land, the restoration of the nation, the rebuilding of Jerusalem, and the reconfirming the covenant. Now, was Jeremiah going to be around for this rebuilding of Jerusalem?

No, this was a prophecy outside his time, outside of his lifetime. Then the fall, messages before the fall, events before the fall, events during the fall, messages after the fall, and then the message to Baruch. Then, in part three, you have prophecies against various Gentile nations surrounding them. He tells the future of Egypt, the Philistines, Moab and Ammon, the descendants of the daughters of Lot. And then you have Edom. The Edomites were the descendants of Esau. Prophecies against Damascus up in Syria. Kedar and Hazor, northern, north of Israel there, against Elam and against Babylon. So here's Babylon, greatly in power, and he says, they're not going to stay there. They're not going to stay there. Babylon will fall. And then finally you get to the end there, the fall of Jerusalem there, in the last chapter. Let's look at Jeremiah's sufferings. Few men ever suffered for doing good as much as Jeremiah. Others have, but he certainly.

He was imprisoned again and again. Chapter 20 verse 2 tells us he was put in stocks. Chapter 38 records he was lowered by ropes into a miry dungeon, probably a cistern. That's the one I mentioned earlier that archaeologists believe they have actually found the cistern he was lowered into. accused of treason, opposed by false prophets, surrounded by his countrymen who were clamoring for his life, he was then carried away into Egypt and not permitted to die in his beloved Judah." This is rough. When they lowered him down into the cistern, there was mud but no water to drink. So imagine sitting in mud but dying of thirst, suffering from dehydration.

And then Jeremiah's prophecies. Jeremiah made a number of near-term prophecies. As a matter of fact, statistically, 60% of the book of Jeremiah is prophetic. Some of it's near-term. This is going to happen next week, tomorrow. Real near-term. Some of it was going to happen 70 years out. Some of it was things that happened in the time of Christ's first coming. Some of it was things yet to happen. even the tribulation and the reign of Christ here. So, his contemporaries loathed what he had to tell them and Jeremiah suffered greatly. His contemporaries also suffered greatly because they did not listen to him. Death and deportation was the outcome for the vast majority of them.

Then you see on page 5, the top part is the map of his journey to Egypt, like you saw on the screen. We also have kind of a sequence of different events. The one thing I'll comment on is that third siege, 586 BC, this says July 16th, I've more recently seen July 18th, but in other words, the day is nailed down pretty close. What happened is a lot of the Jews had already, by the third siege in 586, a lot of the Jews had already been taken away, so there weren't that many Jews left to fight, and then they ran out of food. So with that, their fight was pretty feeble.

So then, we find at the bottom of the page there, Jeremiah also prophesied the future of Israel's neighboring nations, including the downfall of the then-powerful empire of Babylon. Such prophecies as these are discounted by skeptics, who attribute the writings of Jeremiah to later authors. I think one of the things that goes against the claims of the skeptics are finds just like we saw there. You know, here's the exact name of the person who's in this court, and we find a seal impression, you know, multiple ones, and basically all the different things that Jeremiah claims, we've got some archaeological find that confirms these things and nails them down. Jeremiah is included among the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Some of these are in very good condition, dating from around 200 to 300 BC. So that's the earliest copies that we have. On page 6, you have Nebuchadnezzar's three sieges of Judah, and let's step our way through that. The one in 605, that's recorded in 2 Kings 24, and also in Daniel 1. the dating on that Judah's King Jehoiakim Daniel and some you know princes are among those taken and Including the ones named Shadrach Meshach and Abednego their Babylonian names Taken with him, so they basically took royal family initially in that 605 attack by Nebuchadnezzar he comes back in 597 and second Kings 24 and Ezekiel and record that.

Ezekiel is a contemporary of Jeremiah, and whereas Jeremiah ends up in Egypt, Ezekiel ends up where? In Babylon. So they're contemporaries, but the Lord has them go different directions, opposite directions. The third one in 586, and like I say, it's mid-July, about the 18th, of July is the final attack. 2 Kings 25 and Ezekiel 33 record that. Zedekiah is Judah's king there.

The remnant is captured and the Jerusalem wall and temple are destroyed. The Babylonians took Jerusalem apart. The wall was not just knocked down here and there. but completely taken apart. The wall was completely disassembled. There wasn't any of it left. The temple, which was Solomon's temple, was completely destroyed. There were some interior parts that remained, but otherwise complete destruction of the wall and the temple and some other things. Nebuchadnezzar, when he went in, was quite intense and thorough. So anyway, that was his pattern.

He ended up taking the Jews, in vast majority, the Jews to Babylon. Now, one of the things that we have noted elsewhere is the Assyrians liked to scramble populations. The Babylonians, and you see the pattern here with Nebuchadnezzar, bring them all to be right under your watch. Bring them all to Babylon. So whenever Nebuchadnezzar went in, he just stripped out the population of whatever country it was. Bring them to Babylon. Situate them there. That's it. You're going to stay under our nose. We're going to watch you. That was his strategy.

Now, here's a prophecy in Matthew chapter 2 of Jeremiah. Matthew 2, 16-18, but when Herod saw that he had been tricked by the Magi, he became very enraged and sent and slew all the male children. Did he do it personally? No, he sent soldiers and the soldiers could have come from Jerusalem or he could have sent a message to have soldiers be sent from Herodium, which was a kind of a mountaintop fortress that was just a few miles away from Bethlehem. And so either place, but he sent soldiers from there. So two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the Magi, then what had been spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled.

A voice was heard in Ramah weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children. Where is Rachel's tomb? Bethlehem. Rachel's tomb is in Bethlehem. Rachel weeping for her children and she refused to be comforted because they were no more. Then, regarding the tribulation period, a time yet to begin. You and I won't be there. And Christ's second coming and His reign in the Millennial Kingdom, and we will be there. Jeremiah recorded a great deal, including this out of Jeremiah chapter 30, beginning with verse 5. For thus says the Lord, I have heard a sound of terror, of dread, and there is no peace.

Ask now and see if a male can give birth. Birth pangs. Why do I see every man with his hands on his loins as a woman in childbirth? And why have all faces turned pale? Alas, for that day is great, there is none like it, and it is the time of Jacob's distress." Even the Orthodox Jews recognize that this is a description of the seven-year tribulation period.

But he will be saved from it. He will be saved from it. It shall come about on that day, declares the Lord of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off their neck, and will tear off their bonds, and strangers will no longer make them their slaves. This is one last and final time.

But they shall serve the Lord their God and David their King, the Messiah, whom I will raise up for them. Fear not, O Jacob, my servant, declares the Lord, and do not be dismayed, O Israel, for behold, I will save you from afar and your offspring from the land of their captivity. And Jacob will return and be quiet and at ease, and no one will make him afraid. For I am with you, declares the Lord, to save you, for I will destroy completely all the nations where I have scattered you. only I will not destroy you completely, but I will chasten you justly and by no means leave you unpunished."

So, is Israel going to be wiped out? No. How long ago was this prophecy made approximately? 2,600 years ago. Approximately 2,600 years ago, is Israel still around? Israel has in fact been restored as a nation. Is this a complete fulfillment of this prophecy? It is not. They're not at peace, right? They're not at peace at all. They've got all kinds of threats. Serious threats.

And let's ask this question. Will anyone be successful in wiping Israel off the map? They won't. They won't. they will threaten most certainly and at times it'll be scary and during the end of the tribulation period the Jews will be at a place where they realize you know we're not going to save ourselves only God can save us only God can save us and that is where there will be a great turning to the Lord among the Jews a great turning to the Lord the fact that Israel is a people Millions, somewhere between 13 and 15 million Jews. That Israel is a people, that they have a nation after not being a nation for 19 centuries.

And the fact that you have these promises, it's just astounding. Now, that's Jacob's descendants. Let's pick Esau's descendants. Can you point to them? Nope. The last significant record we have is in 70 AD when Esau's descendants came in in great numbers into Jerusalem and volunteered to fight with the Jews. Did they succeed? Nope. So that's it. That was the end of them by any great number of identification.

Okay, and then let's turn to page 7. Jeremiah 31, 31 is kind of the classical passage on the New Covenant. And we'll read verses 31 through 36. Behold, days are coming, declares the Lord. I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. Okay, so which covenant is that? Which one which what was the covenant when they came out of land of Egypt? If that that was a fulfillment of the Abrahamic Covenant or an extension of it But ultimately it when he brought him out of Egypt that was the covenant the law covenant with Moses, right? and one of the things we point out out of first Corinthians 10 verse 2 is that the Jews were baptized and into Moses in the sea and under the cloud. They were baptized into Moses. We, Romans chapter 6, have been baptized into Christ. So a distinction there, a key distinction. So, let's take a look here.

Not like the covenant which I made with their fathers the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant which they broke. Did all the Jews keep the law? Nope, they didn't. My covenant was still broke, although I was a husband to them. And by the way, was. What does that tell you? Past tense. Was a husband to them. Israel had walked away and God actually divorced them. Yes, right.

Declares the Lord in verse 33, but this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel After those days declares the Lord. I will put my law within them and On their heart I will write it and I will be their God and they shall be my people Okay, when's that going to happen? Has it happened yet, okay, is that true of us? Why do we say this isn't true of us? Huh? We're not under the law.

Christ died to separate us from the law. To be joined to Christ means to die to the law. Romans 7, 4-6. Galatians 2.19. We've been joined to Christ in order to be separated from the law. This is for the Jews under the reign of Christ during the Millennial Kingdom.

They will all be blessed in Israel. Why? They will be blessed because they will know the law by heart as a work of the Holy Spirit and they will carry out the law by the empowerment of the indwelling Holy Spirit. You and I have the Holy Spirit indwelling us constantly in order to live life apart from the law. They will have the Holy Spirit indwelling them constantly in order to live out the law. So is it the same Holy Spirit indwelling?

Yes. Does it work the same way? Not at all. Not at all. We are not empowered to live out the law. Galatians 2.20, we are empowered to live by the very life of Christ living through us.

So now, here's what he tells them about the new covenant. I will put my law within them, and on their heart I will write it. I will be their God, and they shall be my people. They will not teach again each man his neighbor, and each man his brother, saying, Know the Lord. For they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest of them." No rabbis. No need for a rabbi. Okay? Because they will, all of them, know the law from the heart and be empowered to live it out. Okay?

Declares the Lord for I will forgive their iniquity and their sin I will remember no more verse 35 thus says the Lord who gives the Sun for light by day and the fixed order of the moon and stars for light by night who stirs up the sea so that it waves roar the Lord of hosts is his name if This fixed order departs before me declares the Lord then the offspring of Israel also will cease from being a nation before me forever Okay What he's saying is?

Absolutely, this isn't God's best guess. Absolutely, the nation of Israel will continue to be a nation and a people to the very end. And by the way, when is it going to end? With the new heavens. Right. This present earth will be terminated and there will be a new heavens and a new earth as recorded in Revelation chapters 20 and 22. The last two chapters of the Bible.

Interesting that the fixity of the natural order is even recognized by great minds outside of Christianity. If they didn't believe in the God of the Bible, Einstein's comet doesn't play dice with the universe. No, things are set in place. The God of order and rationality and purpose.

Yeah, this is now this this is the New Covenant. It's recorded in about a half dozen excuse me a dozen passages in Isaiah Jeremiah this right here in Ezekiel those three books all three of them talk about the New Covenant Okay, and they they reveal different things But anyway, this this is what it's about be to be fulfilled among the Jews During the coming Millennial Kingdom So the coming millennial kingdom can be as soon as how many years? Seven years, because that's the length of the tribulation period.

So the coming millennial kingdom could start as soon as seven years from now. So 2014, add seven, what do you get? 2021 is as soon as it could be. And then a thousand year millennial kingdom, so then You have, if 2021 is the beginning, 3021 is the end of this present heavens and earth.

Possibly that soon, or could be later. The Lord could wait. Alright, so now let's look at Limitations. This was a song written based on Limitations by John Fisher. And just like you would expect, here is Jeremiah knowing beforehand what was going to take place.

But seeing it, he was present right there when Jerusalem is being taken apart at the seams. The walls ripped up. the temple torn down, the people being carried off, the last ones, Nebuchadnezzar hauled off. And so he says, how solitary sits the lonely city, once, once full of people. How like a widow she has now become, once, once a great nation. She weeps bitterly in the night. Tears are constantly on her cheeks. Among her loves there is no one to comfort. All of her friends have become her enemies.

So here is Lamentations at a glance, a much smaller book. Here is Jeremiah with about 52 chapters and here is Lamentations with about five. And the first part that you hear is from chapter one. Then you have chapter two then is the broken people. And I think the topic underneath there summarizes it well.

Grief. He's expressing his own grief. Then the cause. But hope. Prayer for mercy. And hope. And then at the siege of Jerusalem, repentance. And then finally a penitent nation. Why would there be any reason for hope for Jeremiah? Why would there be any reason for hope? I mean, here he's saying it's people carried off, many have been killed, the city is taken apart. This is horrible. This is horrible. Why would there be any cause for hope?

Difference between short-term vision and long-term Same thing with us. When we look at how our culture has gone downhill, you can despair. But when you say God is sovereign, God has a plan, He is not caught by surprise, He does not change, He is faithful, He has promised. When you start listing all the things that the Bible tells us about God's nature and about history, then you look at things not with secular mind, but with that spiritual vision.

Right. A long-term perspective, that's part one, and ultimately an eternal perspective, right? That offers hope. The other thing is having not a, I hope so, but having a certainty about what God says he's going to do. That ultimately offers hope no matter what happens.

God's going to spell out what He's going to do. Even horrible things can happen in our lives. Is God going to make good of it? If horrible things happen? All things work together for good. And let's ask the question, what is the good that all things work together for? What is the good? Yes, that's true, but Romans 8, you know, 28 and 29 have the answer there. What's the good? That we get to be conformed to the image of His Son. Everything that happens, that's where it's headed, okay?

Horrible things may happen. They could. Horrible things could happen. And you can go ahead and call them horrible. You know, people who try to say, well, everything's good. No, it isn't. Some things are just really awful. But the ultimate good and the good that is predestined, it's going to happen, is that we're conformed to the image of the Son. And that we can count on. A woman's son who says, I lost the debate about God is good, as though the debate about God is good. changes reality. Because if you take the world's view of what we mean by good...

Sure, yeah. It has a different definition. Things that make me feel fulfilled, things that are pleasant in my life. Right. It's the wrong definition of good, right? But to be able to look at different things, I mean, I've seen these kind of debates before, and the bottom line is, I'm not puzzled by what's God doing. I know what he's doing. He tells me. He has in those things, even if they're horrible, he has in those things good eternal purpose.

When a thousand years has gone by, we will have been long gone. No matter how it happens, a thousand years from now we'll be long gone from here. Will there be a memory that's going to bring sorrow to our heart? No. No. No more mourning, sorrow, crying or pain. Gone. Done. But what will be is our predestined conformity to the image of the sun. That's going to hang around forever. When you think of the weeping prophet and lamentations, the verse pops into mind of tears in the night and joy comes in the morning. This is not the end of the story. Nope. It is not. It is not the end of the story. And I think, as believers, that just gives us a tremendous insight. These debates, the claim that God isn't good and whatnot, God will make good on everything. God will make good on everything.

As Paul, who went through all sorts of horrific things, said, it's not worthy to be compared. Not worthy to be compared. All these sufferings and he went through unimaginable things. To what is to come. To what is yet to be revealed. Just way, way, way out of proportion. Not to be compared. Alright. Either at the second buzzer, I'm getting tinnitus. So, let's pray. Okay? All right.

Thank you, Lord, for the time together as we look at this amazing book of Jeremiah and coupled with it, Lamentations. Really astounding, the assignment that you gave Jeremiah, that he told things in the near term and things yet to come even now. And yet we see that everywhere he spoke, he spoke the truth. And we just also see in it immense hope. We know where this is headed, Lord, and it's with you. And we thank you for that. Thank you for our time together. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.