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CHURCH LETTER
'To whom can I speak and give warning? Who will listen to me?'
The title words come from chapter 6 and verse 10 of the Book of Jeremiah and record Jeremiah's cry to the LORD `Who is going to listen to me, and furthermore where can I find someone to speak to?', and from the opening chapter of Jeremiah we know that he understood the impossibility of his calling, and that his abilities were not equal to that calling. Nevertheless the Word of the LORD came to him: (verse 5)
" Before I formed you in the womb I knew you. Before you were born
I set you apart. I appointed you as a prophet to the nations. "
Jeremiah then received the assurance he needed for the words he would have to speak for the LORD: `I have put My words in your mouth . . . I am watching to see that My word is fulfilled'. However his continuous anguish and fear, together with his desire to be faithful to his anointed calling, stands out stark and clear in such chapters as chapter 20: (v 7-9)
" O LORD, You deceived me . . . . You are stronger than me and you have
prevailed. I am ridiculed all day long, everyone mocks me. For since I
spoke, I cried out violence and spoil, so the Word of the LORD has brought
me insult and reproach all day long. But if I say, `I will not mention Him or
speak any more in His Name', His Word is in my heart like a burning fire. "
In the same chapter Jeremiah's anguish breaks out again: (v 14-18 in part)
" Cursed be the day I was born! May the day my mother bore me not be
blessed! Cursed be the man who brought my father the news. Why did I ever
come out of the womb to see trouble and sorrow and to end my days in shame? "
Although it is beyond the intent of this Letter we would do well to read through Lamentations for it opens with words full of meaning which the English language cannot easily express. It is a deep heart-cry of pain and anguish as Jeremiah lamented his lament from the depth of his soul at seeing the Word of the LORD spoken through his mouth coming to pass in all its terrible fullness - a timely thought for any of the self-appointed `Jeremiahs' of today who speak words of judgement without anguish of soul.
However we need to return to our earlier chapters, remembering that the Book of Jeremiah follows no chronological order. It is `cut up' as a reminder that King Jehoiakin cut up and burnt the words of Jeremiah which his scribe Baruch had written down and which Jehudi was reading to the king. But nothing would stop the Word of the LORD coming to pass! In reading chapter 6 however it should be noted that the preceeding chapter 5 seems to be joined to it as one `whole cut' and becomes a two-way conversation between the LORD and Jeremiah with the title words of this Letter showing Jeremiah's willingness but also his knowledge that no-one would listen, let alone act on his words - `to whom shall I speak, who will listen to me?' The facing picture to this Letter attempts to convey this, the people in it are listening and enjoying a `theatre show' with the Word of God superimposed on the `show'. No-one is listening and yet the curtain is coming down - the blessings will stop for the Word of the Lord has been spoken through His prophet Jeremiah!
These two chapters, a `whole cut' within the complete cutting up of the Book of Jeremiah, begin in chapter 5 with an `investigation' of Jerusalem's conduct concerning the Covenanted promises given to its forefather by the LORD God Who had chosen them and called them to Himself, to which they had earlier responded: (verse 1)
" Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem. Look around and consider,
search through her squares. If you can find but one person who deals honestly
and seeks the truth, I will forgive this city. Although they say, `As surely
as the LORD lives', still they are swearing falsely. "
As the `investigation' continues, its conclusion becomes clear. As for the people, Jeremiah leaves the way open for their excuses: (v 4-5)
" I thought, `These are only the poor; they are foolish, for they do not know
the way of the LORD, the requirements of their God. So I will go to the
leaders and speak to them. Surely they know the way of the LORD, the
requirements of their God'. But with one accord they too had broken off
the yoke and torn off the bonds. "
And so the `investigation' is brought to a close: (v 20-21)
" Announce this to the House of Jacob and proclaim it to Judah: `Hear this,
you foolish and senseless people, who have eyes but do not see, who have
ears but do not hear'. "
And so we move into chapter 6, which has a Court Room setting. The LORD as Judge and with the `investigation' before Him sums up what the investigation has found and gives His verdict. But this is no capricious, vengeful Judge! He is the LORD God of Israel, Holy and Righteous in all His ways, Who alone has the right to judge His people through Instruments and people of His choice. The Righteous Judgement has one purpose - which is to bring about the full restoration of His people to fulfil their calling as a Chosen People to be a witness in word and deed of the Mighty Elyon, revealing Him as `the LORD Most High over all the earth' Who wishes that none be lost from His full blessing, His salvation!
And so Israel stands at the Bar of the Court Room to hear the verdict. Verse 2 likens `the Daughter of Zion (to) a comely, beautiful and delicate woman', that is, the inhabitants of Jerusalem. They will be totally helpless, for other shepherds, the Chaldeans, will tend their fields. Nothing will stop the verdict being outworked! The Judge, the LORD God of Israel, reminds them of the warnings given to their forefathers as they stood ready to cross over into the Land of Promise, and of their forefathers' acceptance of those warnings - seen in the blessings and curses of chapter 28 of the Book of Deuteronomy. We read in verse 1 of chapter 29:
" These are the words of the Covenant which the LORD commanded Moses
to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, besides the Covenant
which He made with them in Horeb. "
Jerusalem had broken the solemn Covenant their forefathers had entered into, of which they were the inheritors, and the investigation had revealed this. The verdict was Righteous and Holy and Jerusalem, `a comely, beautiful and delicate woman' would now suffer the consequences as a Law Breaker! Verses 16-17 speak of this:
" This is what the LORD says: `Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for
the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you
will find rest for your souls'. "
The Judge gives a gracious reminder of earlier warnings, trusting that Jerusalem would listen and turn. The opening words of chapter 2 speak of this:
" Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem: `I remember the devotion of your
youth, the love, as a bride loves, you had for Me when you followed
Me in the desert, a land that was barren. Israel was holy to the LORD,
the First Fruits of His harvest. All who sought to destroy them were held
guilty and disaster overtook them', declares the LORD. But (continuing
in chapter 6) they said, `we will not walk in it'. "
And so in the following verses we return to the verdict of a Gracious, Holy and Righteous God who could do nothing more to avert the consequences for the rebellious Law Breakers. Verses 22-26 reveal the fulness of that verdict:
" Behold, an army is coming from the north . . . they are cruel and have
no mercy . . . . our hands are weary . . . . Do not go into the field . . .
the sword of the enemy is on every side. "
Jeremiah is then called `as a tower and fortress amongst the LORD's people' to be a faithful witness to the truth of His Word that will happen, and in the other `cut up' section of this Book we read of the full unfolding of that verdict. Kings and people were taken into captivity to Babylon. Death and the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem were indeed a witness to the `verdict' of a Righteous and Holy God!
But before we leave these Scriptures we need to remember the words of verse 18 of the 5th chapter which you will recall are part of the `whole cut' of chapters 5 and 6:
" `Yet even in these days', declares the LORD, `I will not destroy you
completely. And when the people ask, `Why has the LORD our God
done all this to us?' you will tell them . . . . . "
The LORD called out a faithful remnant, but never-the-less they too would go through the destruction and endure captivity for Israel are a Covenant people. They may forsake `the ancient paths' but the LORD always saves a remnant to declare His Righteousness. Could this remnant and their descendants be within the 42,320 who returned to the Land under Zerubabbel - who is always seen as a type of the Lord Jesus? The LORD of the Covenant requires a remnant in the Land, a Covenant reminder of His faithfulness to His Word. Clearly these words spoken to Jeremiah were for the people of Jerusalem and Judah for the people of the northern kingdom were already scattered among the nations. As such these people were living under the Law given through Moses, although the New Covenant had been promised: `The time is coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a New Covenant
with the House of Israel and with the House of Judah'. But this New Covenant, although promised, would not be `released' until some 500 years later and as such Jerusalem and Judah, disobedient though they were, were not yet cut off, broken-off branches through the unbelief Paul the Apostle writes about in his `Roman Letter'.
And so we need to understand to whom do these Scriptures apply in this Age, and we find that they still apply to Israel for there is only one Israel to whom the LORD has made a Covenant Promise. The Israel of God has continued through the events of that first Pentecost when Peter stood up in the Temple compound in Jerusalem and through his words the New Covenant promised through Jeremiah was released `to the House of Israel and the House of Judah', extended now to both Jew and Gentile who accept Jesus as the Messiah of Israel. However the Covenant Promise of the LORD still stands for those who did not and will not accept Him as Messiah, for Paul writes in his Roman Letter:
" I am talking to you Gentiles . . . . For if their rejection is the reconcilliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? . . . . If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the Olive Root, do not boast over those branches . . . . And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again . . . . I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited. Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved . . . . For God's gifts and His calling are irrevocable. "
But that re-grafting of those `broken-off branches' awaits the Day of Jacob's Trouble and is not to be seen in these chapters from Jeremiah, for they are for the Israel of today, the re-grafted and grafted in branches of the Olive Tree. Both Paul and the writer to the Hebrews tell us that Scriptures such as we have recorded here `happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings to us on whom the fulfillment of the Ages has come'. Clearly these Scriptures should not be used to warn a secular nation of judgement because of its negation of its `Judaic/Christian heritage' for secular nations are not a Covenant people. It has been said that the Protestant religion easily joins with secular Nationalism. This is all too often seen in today's Christian Ministries with their dire warnings to their respective nations. In doing so they turn the warnings away from those to whom they were intended, that is, the Spiritual Israel of God, the Body of Christ, who are continuing in the ways of the `Israel' of Jeremiah's time. There is little point in reciting a litany of the shameful acts of `the Church' as it increasingly becomes the `moral arm' of the State with the continual dilution of the Gospel of God - which is not love alone, but first repentance leading to restoration with God so as to know His love for all eternity.
These two chapters of Jeremiah speak very clearly of the consequences of these shameful acts for His people. They stand as an example to Spiritual Israel, the Church, today and not as a warning to a secular nation in which `Israel', the Church, lives. Because Spiritual Israel is naturally embedded within a nation, but not of it, as this nation slides into great economic, political and social disorder in the coming years it will become as the `Chaldeans' used by the LORD for the chastising of His people. But this coming disorder is not directly a judgement on the nation but the instrument by which God refines His people. It is well known that the whole world is in a ferment, with wars and threats of war and with earthquakes and diseases increasing. In this country Brexit will not become a status quo ante, but it will lead to great strife and uncertainty as `disaster looms out of the north, even terrible destruction . . . . shepherds with their flocks will come against her' for the same reason as in Jeremiah's time. The Spiritual Israel of God, the Church, deeply embedded in the nation, refuses to `stand at the crossroad and ask for the ancient ways'. Today's `Jeremiahs' need to cry out again to the LORD for His people: `To whom can I speak and give warning, who will listen to me. Their ears are closed so that they cannot hear. The Word of the LORD is offensive to them, they have no pleasure in it'.
The `delicate daughter of Zion', the Body of Christ, is facing times of great distress, but we need to remember that a Gracious, Righteous and Faithful God is in the midst of her working out His Purpose in what will happen:
" `Yet even in those days', declares the LORD, `I will not destroy you
completely and when the people ask, why has the LORD our God done
all this to us, you will tell them . . . .' "
Selah
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