Gods faithful call to unfaithful people
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Handout
Setting the stage
Setting the stage
Aim: To look at God’s call for repentance and reconciliation, for us to recognize any area that we may spiritually drift away.
God’s unwavering love, His persistent love and desire for His people is portrayed in this chapter.
You will see God’s heartfelt plea to His wayward people, Israel, and Judah.
You will see that hope of restoration and reconciliation is possible even after spiritual failure.
No matter how far you have strayed, no matter where you are, what you have done, as long as it is called today you have the opportunity to repent and turn to Him. His arms are open to the repentant heart.
Let’s read the passage together.
Let’s read the passage together.
I know as we get further into this study of Jeremiah you are picking up that it is more reading scripture then looking for key points, questions, applications than just a verse by verse study.
1 God says, “If a husband divorces his wife And she goes from him And belongs to another man, Will he still return to her? Will not that land be completely polluted? But you are a harlot with many lovers; Yet you turn to Me,” declares the Lord. 2 “Lift up your eyes to the bare heights and see; Where have you not been violated? By the roads you have sat for them Like an Arab in the desert, And you have polluted a land With your harlotry and with your wickedness.
3 “Therefore the showers have been withheld, And there has been no spring rain. Yet you had a harlot’s forehead; You refused to be ashamed. 4 “Have you not just now called to Me, ‘My Father, You are the friend of my youth?
5 ‘Will He be angry forever? Will He be indignant to the end?’ Behold, you have spoken And have done evil things, And you have had your way.” 6 Then the Lord said to me in the days of Josiah the king, “Have you seen what faithless Israel did? She went up on every high hill and under every green tree, and she was a harlot there.
7 “I thought, ‘After she has done all these things she will return to Me’; but she did not return, and her treacherous sister Judah saw it. 8 “And I saw that for all the adulteries of faithless Israel, I had sent her away and given her a writ of divorce, yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear; but she went and was a harlot also.
9 “Because of the lightness of her harlotry, she polluted the land and committed adultery with stones and trees. 10 “Yet in spite of all this her treacherous sister Judah did not return to Me with all her heart, but rather in deception,” declares the Lord.
11 And the Lord said to me, “Faithless Israel has proved herself more righteous than treacherous Judah. 12 “Go and proclaim these words toward the north and say, ‘Return, faithless Israel,’ declares the Lord; ‘I will not look upon you in anger. For I am gracious,’ declares the Lord; ‘I will not be angry forever.
13 ‘Only acknowledge your iniquity, That you have transgressed against the Lord your God And have scattered your favors to the strangers under every green tree, And you have not obeyed My voice,’ declares the Lord. 14 ‘Return, O faithless sons,’ declares the Lord; ‘For I am a master to you, And I will take you one from a city and two from a family, And I will bring you to Zion.’
15 “Then I will give you shepherds after My own heart, who will feed you on knowledge and understanding. 16 “It shall be in those days when you are multiplied and increased in the land,” declares the Lord, “they will no longer say, ‘The ark of the covenant of the Lord.’ And it will not come to mind, nor will they remember it, nor will they miss it, nor will it be made again.
17 “At that time they will call Jerusalem ‘The Throne of the Lord,’ and all the nations will be gathered to it, to Jerusalem, for the name of the Lord; nor will they walk anymore after the stubbornness of their evil heart. 18 “In those days the house of Judah will walk with the house of Israel, and they will come together from the land of the north to the land that I gave your fathers as an inheritance.
19 “Then I said, ‘How I would set you among My sons And give you a pleasant land, The most beautiful inheritance of the nations!’ And I said, ‘You shall call Me, My Father, And not turn away from following Me.’ 20 “Surely, as a woman treacherously departs from her lover, So you have dealt treacherously with Me, O house of Israel,” declares the Lord.
21 A voice is heard on the bare heights, The weeping and the supplications of the sons of Israel; Because they have perverted their way, They have forgotten the Lord their God. 22 “Return, O faithless sons, I will heal your faithlessness.” “Behold, we come to You; For You are the Lord our God.
23 “Surely, the hills are a deception, A tumult on the mountains. Surely in the Lord our God Is the salvation of Israel. 24 “But the shameful thing has consumed the labor of our fathers since our youth, their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters.
25 “Let us lie down in our shame, and let our humiliation cover us; for we have sinned against the Lord our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even to this day. And we have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God.”
Any general observations, or things stick out to you in this chapter?
God is calling for them to “return to Me,” what does that mean? What does it mean to people today too?
To come back to previous relationship. Today the wayward brother or sister and repent and return into His loving arms. He longs for them, He welcomes them.
Did Judah learn from Israel’s example? Can we today have good or bad examples and not heed them?
The saw, yet they did not repent and return themselves, they continued in their sin, even after Israel was in captivity in Assyria.
We see God’s call to repent (vv.11-14) but what more can you see in this?
You can see His relentless love, His mercy, His grace, His forgiveness to a repentant heart.
Using (vv.15-18) as a reference, what can we do to assure having godly leaders?
Pray that the Lord gives us godly leaders (shepherds) and pray that when we do for them to lead in godly, God pleasing way.
Continuing on, look at (vv.15-25) can you see there is a difference between genuine repentance and superficial remorse? Can you think anywhere else you may see this subject come up?
Consider (2Cor7:10)
10 For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death.
Does repentance play a part of our salvation? Does it, should it be a part of our everyday walk with the Lord?
Overview of Jeremiah 3
Overview of Jeremiah 3
Confrontation with compassion (Jer3:1-5)
Call for true change (Jer3:6-10)
Contrasts of grace (Jer3:11-14)
Covenant of hope (Jer3:15-18)
Cry for reconciliation (Jer3:19-25)
Confrontation with compassion (Jer3:1-5)
Key theme is God’s indictment of Israel’s unfaithfulness.
God’s heart is broken by Israel and their continual sin, but he lovingly confronts them .
God is calling them back to Him, just as He calls believers today to come back to Him.
Call for true change (Jer3:6-10)
In these verses you see a comparison of Judah and Israel’s sins
Judah has greater responsibility since they saw God’s judgment on Isreal.
May we consider are there areas that we have seen the warnings, ignored them and still need to have godly sorrow and repent?
Contrasts of grace (Jer3:11-14)
You are told of God’s enduring love and His willingness to forgive.
How can you trust in God’s willingness, no matter how far we’ve strayed?
Are you willing to share of a restoration in your life with someone to help encourage faith?
Covenant of hope (Jer3:15-18)
God promises a hope for a restored future. God promises godly shepherd (Jesus) who promises restoration to all who repent and return, even amid judgment.
Do we have a responsibility for godly leaders today, why?
Cry for reconciliation (Jer3:19-25)
What is needed is a heartfelt confession, acknowledgment of sin; taking responsibility.
Can you think of a passage that speaks of confessing sin and receiving forgiveness?
8 If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.
Remember this is more than being sorry for sin, this is confessing and repenting (turning from sin)
God longs for His people who sin to repent and return to Him, no matter how far they have gone, no matter what they have done, are doing.
God is patient waiting, looking, longing, like the father in the parable of prodigal son.
Jesus is waiting, for Jesus is the way, the way of salvation, the way of restoration and reconciliation.
Concluding Jeremiah 3
Concluding Jeremiah 3
God is patient, longsuffering, has everlasting love despite human unfaithfulness.
This chapter displays repentance, restoration and hope.
It calls for us to reflect on any potential idolatry we may have in our lives that we need to repent of.
(Prayer) (Exit)
