Personal Study And Teaching In Jeremiah – Part 15 – Swifter Than Eagles The Land Will Be Scorched By Babylon Series

PERSONAL STUDY AND TEACHING IN JEREMIAH – PART 15 – SWIFTER THAN EAGLES THE LAND WILL BE SCORCHED BY BABYLON

PART 15 - Jeremiah 4:10-

CHAPTER 4

[A]. GOD’S WILL ALLOWS ODD THINGS TO HAPPEN

{{Jeremiah 4:10 Then I said, “Ah, Lord GOD, SURELY YOU HAVE UTTERLY DECEIVED THIS PEOPLE and Jerusalem, saying, ‘You will have peace’, whereas a sword touches the throat.”}}

At face value this verse looks concerning, as if Jeremiah is chastising God for deceiving the nation. His own message of truth was not being received, but the people believed they would have peace. The verse begins with a lament with “Ah” for Jeremiah is grieved at what is going to happen to Judah, and because the Lord is allowing the deception to happen and not combatting it. It is as if God, Himself is deceiving the people.

Jeremiah had great concern, for a sword was in place already at Judah’s throat, but all the people believed that nothing would happen and they were safe. Have things changed over the last 2 500 years? I think not. We are so close to the Rapture and then the Great Tribulation, but do people in the world care? It is almost like some of the people who go to churches don’t care either. The Lord speaks of these very days, just like the time of Jeremiah. Paul explains that the Day of the LORD (it begins after the Rapture) will come this way – {{1Thessalonians 5:2-4 for you yourselves know full well that THE DAY OF THE LORD will come just like a thief in the night. While they are saying, “PEACE AND SAFETY!” then destruction will come upon them suddenly like birth pangs upon a woman with child and they shall not escape, but you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day should overtake you like a thief.”}}

Peace and safety today means people reject the bible’s message about the Rapture and terrible tribulation that is going to come. They are just like Judah was, and then suddenly destruction was on them. That happens to the world after the Church has gone home.

They believed their future was peace, not destruction. The problem was that the people were listening to the false teachers, believing them, but rejecting God’s word through Jeremiah. Why did God allow it? He allowed it because the nation wanted it. God would not force onto them a belief that was not life changing. God’s message would be preached, and the people had the choice to accept that, or turn to another message, one of delusion, and they willingly accepted the latter. The false prophets were telling the people that no enemy would come and they’d continue in peace, and they loved that because they had all that extra time to enjoy the pleasures of sin.

I heard a comment from David Jeremiah on his television program recounting a question he was asked by one in an audience, “My father lived his life and was a good man and now you want to tell me a God of love has put him in hell?” The answer was good. David answered, “I can not tell you if he is in heaven or hell, or if he made a deathbed acceptance of Christ. I do know God will not force a person into a place he did not want to be. If, in his life, a man did not seek heaven or want to live for that, then God won’t compel him to go to heaven.”

As recorded in 2 Chronicles 18, Jehoshaphat made the mistake of forming a marriage alliance with Ahab, and then having contact with him when he went to visit him, and wicked Ahab asked if Jehoshaphat would go to war with him against the Arameans. This unsettled Jehoshaphat and he asked for a prophet so he could enquire from the prophet. Ahab trotted out 400 of them who all said he should go to war because God would give the victory. Jehoshaphat was still not certain about that and asked for another prophet, and Ahab reluctantly brought Micaiah out of prison where he was, because he never prophesied good for Ahab, and this true prophet forecast the doom of Ahab and loss of the battle.

Now what was happening here? Ahab believed the rosy picture of the 400 because he wanted to, and rejected the true prophecy of the true servant of the true God. People will reject the true message because they want to believe the lie. The bible said that, “When they shall say, ‘Peace, peace’, then destruction comes on them rapidly.” They prophesy peace when there is no peace.

Jeremiah had A LOT OF TROUBLE FROM THESE FALSE PROPHETS soothing the ears of the wicked with falsehood, and the theme occurs through his book with these examples showing that –