The Belt, the Bush, and the Bowl
Jeremiah 13, 17, 18
CHCC – October 2, 2011
Props: white linen / dirty torn linen -- dead plant / living plant --clay bowl
INTRODUCTION:
I’ve heard people say that the God of the Old Testament is different from the God of the New Testament. They say that because the Old Testament includes actual History of the Middle East. And Middle Eastern history … like any history … is full of violence and war. The difference here is that we actually get God’s perspective on the rise and fall of nations … particularly the rise and fall of the nation God created and chose to be His people – the nation of Israel.
By the time of Jeremiah, 10 of the 12 tribes of Israel have already been conquered and taken into exile. Only 2 tribes remain, Judah and Benjamin.
When you read the book of Jeremiah, you read about the Judgment God sent on His people. You also learn about the nature of God Himself … and you see that He is the same God of love and mercy as the God of the New Testament. Today we’re going to look at what we can learn about God’s nature in Jeremiah 7 -20. In those 14 chapters we see 3 interesting word pictures that show how God wants to relate to His people.
Sometimes when Susan tells me about something long and complicated … I find my eyes starting to glaze over. I don’t know why, but if I hear too many words, my mind begins to get fuzzy. Susan usually notices this and says something like, “Are you listening to me?” That’s when I often say, “Could you just draw me a chart or something?”
That’s what God did for Jeremiah – He “drew him a chart.” God gave Jeremiah simple visual aids to show us what He wants us to know. If you’re like me --- and you need someone to draw you a chart --- then this is the sermon for you!
1. The Belt – Jeremiah 13 – the linen belt
PURITY requires CONNECTION
The first non-verbal picture is found in Jeremiah 13. God instructed Jeremiah to purchase a pure white linen sash and tie it around his waist. Linen was a costly fabric, usually reserved for kings, priests, and brides. The wearing of white linen represented purity.
For Levites and priests this linen belt would be worn as an undergarment right next to their skin. But this time Jeremiah wore his linen outside his robe where all could see it. That would be something like me coming to church wearing a suit and also wearing a pair of boxer shorts over my dress pants. You would wonder if I had a screw loose somewhere, or was having a wardrobe malfunction.
After Jeremiah wore that sash where everyone could see it for a while, he was told to bury it under a rock near Parah. (There was a place by that name near Jeremiah’s home town of Anathoth.) At Parah he buried the linen belt in a hole under a rock … and then he went back a few days later to dig it up. Of course the pure white linen had been ruined completely.
Here’s the lesson God was illustrating: Then the word of the LORD came to me: “This is what the LORD says: ‘In the same way I will ruin the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem. These wicked people, who refuse to listen to my words, who follow the stubbornness of their hearts and go after other gods to serve and worship them, will be like this belt—completely useless! For as a belt is bound around the waist, so I bound all the people of Israel and all the people of Judah to me,’ declares the LORD, ‘to be my people for my renown and praise and honor. But they have not listened.’” Jeremiah 13:8-11
Judah was to have a Purity above the other nations because of her connection to God … but Judah had destroyed that Purity by walking after other gods to worship senseless idols. Like the sash, Judah’s Purity was soiled and ruined.
What we learn here about GOD is that God requires PURITY. What we learn about US is that the only way we can stay PURE is if we stay tightly and constantly connected with God. The New Testament gives the same lesson. Look at James 4:8 --- Draw near to God, and God will draw near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world.
Have you ever thought you could separate from God … just for a little while … and then later on turn back to God? Unfortunately we all do this … in big ways or small ways. Any time we decide to live a life INDEPENDENT of God, we run a big risk.
I remember a friend of ours years ago who was working on her English Doctoral degree. She came to visit us toward the end of the degree because she was on the verge of an affair and a divorce. She’d fallen out of love with her husband. She’d quit going to church. She’d even lost interest in music, which was one of her greatest talents.
In talking to her she explained that her Dissertation required her to write about a godless world-view. She had made an intentional decision to set her faith aside for a year or so and see what it was like to dive into a faithless way of thinking. Her Dissertation was accepted... Her Life was in shambles.
Don’t make the mistake of thinking you can set your faith aside just for a while. Any time you disconnect from God, you quickly go from this … to this. (hold up white and dirty linen pieces)
2. The Bush –Jeremiah 17 -- the dead bush or living tree
LIFE requires DEPENDENCE
In Jeremiah 17 we see the next word picture: This is what the LORD says: “Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns away from the LORD. That person will be like a bush in the wastelands; they will not see prosperity when it comes. They will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives. Jeremiah 17:5-6
The Hebrew for “bush” is “arar.” It’s a species of juniper that is called by the same name in Arabic: 'arar. This bush was familiar to people who lived in the desert.
Listen to this description: "Its gloomy, stunted appearance, with its scale-like leaves pressed close to its gnarled stem, and cropped close by the wild goats, as it clings to the rocks about Petra, gives great force to the contrast suggested by the prophet … " (Tristram, Natural History of the Bible)—Easton's Illustrated Dictionary
Historically, the Jews often made treaties with Egypt. The trusted Egypt to come to join with them if they were under attack. But when they were threatened by Babylonian aggression, Egypt would conveniently ignore the treaty. Throughout history, Israel prospered when she put trust in God to defend her … but Israel fell when she trusted in neighboring nations.
The one who trusts in human allies will be like a bush hanging out in the parched dryness of the desert. Here’s the stark contrast between a man who trusts in humanity and a man who puts His trust in God:
“But blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.” Jeremiah 17:7-8
We know what drought means this year in Texas! Imagine having no worries even in years of drought. That’s what it’s like to put your whole trust in God. It’s actually a matter of life and death. Do you want your life to be like a dry desert bush, just barely hanging on to the parched soil without any real life? Or do you want your life to be blessed, enriched, beautiful, unshakable, and fruitful? That is the choice God puts before us.
My nephew who lives in San Angelo has been purchasing houses, fixing them up and selling or renting. He chose Jeremiah 17:8 as inspiration for his company logo. This is the logo he chose because it will remind him to keep his full trust in God, even in his career. That’s a reminder all of us need.
Susan told me about a face book post from on of our members. (Susan has to tell me these things … I tweet – I can’t handle face book) The post she showed me was from a man who knows his job is about to run out and he’s actively looking for his next job. He commented about how well his current job is going and said, If I am going out, I am gonna go out doing the very best job I can.
That’s a sign of faith. A Christian can have that attitude because we don’t just work for our boss … and we don’t just work for money … we do our work as “unto the Lord.” That’s how we show faith in God in our work. That’s what it means to be “like a tree.” Psalm 1:3 says, That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither— whatever they do prospers.
Do you want to have the kind of life that won’t be shaken … no matter what comes your way? If you keep your full trust in God, then in rain or in drought you can thrive and your leaf will not wither. You can continue to yield fruit in season and whatever you do will prosper.
3. The Bowl – the potter’s bowl – Jeremiah 18
SURVIVAL requires SUBMISSION
Jeremiah 18:1-3: This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: “Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.” So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel.
Jeremiah was sent on a field trip to the potter’s house. He watched the potter throw a piece of clay on the pottery wheel. He saw the project taking shape, then all of a sudden the potter changed his mind and reshaped the clay lump into something else entirely. Here are some things we learn about God from the potter and the clay:
• God is a work. Pottery wasn’t just a hobby in Jeremiah’s time. It was serious business with a very necessary purpose. We see from this that God is at work in shaping your life. He’s not playing around for his own amusement. God has a plan for you. He’s intimately involved with your life.
• God will bring good out of bad. Jeremiah 18: 4 says, But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.
The potter hadn’t made a mistake here. The fault was in the clay itself. But the weakness in the clay didn’t stop the potter from finding a use for it. The Potter was able to Adjust His plan and Re-Create the clay in a new way.
Our God is the God of 2nd chances – and 3rd and 4th chances - and on an on. Our failings never stop God from being able to adjust and restore us … as long as we stay in His hands! And that brings us to the next lesson we can take from the potter’s wheel…
• The vessel has a responsibility
Look at Jeremiah 18: 5–8: Then the word of the LORD came to me. He said, “Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?” declares the LORD. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, Israel. If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned
God is continually at work in your life … always ready to re-create you and adjust to your failings … but as the vessel, you have been given a choice. You can put yourself in God’s hands and let Him work in your life, OR you can turn away from God. God won’t force His will on you.
C. S. Lewis summed this up when he said, “There are two kinds of people: those who say to God, "Thy will be done," and those to whom God says, "All right, then, have it your way”
All of us have times in life when we don’t like what the Potter is doing. We feel like God is pushing and pressing … and we don’t understand why. That’s when we need to believe that God knows what he is doing.
G. Campbell Morgan observed, “The potter was not fooling with the clay, he was not playing with it, he was not amusing himself! It was work, it was serious; there was a purpose in it. I do not know how that appeals to you, but as God is my witness, it has problems, and pressure, with it’s oft times agonies; God is not playing with me.”
The worst thing we can do is jump off the Potter’s Wheel and try to go our own way. Unfortunately, that’s what Judah did. In chapter 19, God told Jeremiah to give one more word picture. He told Jeremiah to purchase a clay bowl and hold it up in front of the people… “Then break the jar while those who go with you are watching, and say to them, ‘This is what the LORD Almighty says: I will smash this nation and this city just as this potter’s jar is smashed and cannot be repaired.” Jeremiah 19:10-11
* The opportunity to turn back to God won’t last forever. This is a warning of how things will end for those who turn their backs on God.
CONCLUSION:
This is a harsh reality, but it’s not the way things have to be. In the book of Jeremiah, we see a God who loves. A God of mercy and patience who wants to bless His people. The book of Jeremiah is a warning of what will happen to God’s people if they continue to turn away from God. But even when God punishes His people, He plans to turn it to their good by using the painful experience to “refine and test” them rather than to permanently destroy them.
Jeremiah 9:7 reveals God’s heart. This is what the LORD Almighty says: “See, I will refine and test them, for what else can I do because of the sin of my people?
You can feel the heartbreak of God when he says, “what else can I do?” God wants to bless his people, but he can’t bless if they refuse to turn to him.
Even back then in the days of Jeremiah, God knew what else He would do. When the time was right, God planned to send His own Son …
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. John 3:16-18
This is the choice God sets before us today. Will you choose HIM?
