Jeremiah 11 Acts 17: 11 These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so. 3 Selected Messages 338 Each of the ancient prophets spoke less for their own time than for ours, so that their prophesying is in force for us. Jeremiah 11 1-8 – curses for disobedience; Lev 26 2520 4 Lev 26:3; Deut 4:20; 9:29; 1 Kings 8:51; Neh 1:10 9 conspiracy – leadership against 2520 10 – turned back – Israel and Judah; broken the covenant; Deut 31:16 11 the Lord brings evil upon them – curses; Prov 1:28; Isaiah 1:15; Ezek 8:18, 17 12 Deut 32:37 13 narrow road/broad road; 2 Kings 23:13 14 Jer 7:16 16 olive tree Psalm 52:8 17 Isaiah 5:2; Jer 2:21; 12:2 18 the Lord shows Jeremiah their Baal worship 1 Sam 23:11, 12 19 plot to kill Jeremiah Psalm 83:4 vs 2-4 The writings of Moses were taught by Joshua to all Israel. There was not a word of all that Moses commanded, which Joshua read not before all the congregation of Israel, with the women, and the little ones, and the strangers that were conversant among them. Joshua 8:35. This was in harmony with the express command of Jehovah providing for a public rehearsal of the words of the book of the law every seven years, during the Feast of Tabernacles. Gather the people together, men, and women, and children, and thy stranger that is within thy gates, the spiritual leaders of Israel had been instructed, that they may hear, and that they may learn, and fear the Lord your God, and observe to do all the words of this law: and that their children, which have not known anything, may hear, and learn to fear the Lord your God, as long as ye live in the land whither ye go over Jordan to possess it. Deuteronomy 31:12, 13. {PK 465.1} Had this counsel been heeded through the centuries that followed, how different would have been Israels history! Only as a reverence for Gods Holy Word was cherished in the hearts of the people, could they hope to fulfill the divine purpose. It was regard for the law of God that gave Israel strength during the reign of David and the earlier years of Solomons rule; it was through faith in the living word that reformation was wrought in the days of Elijah and of Josiah. And it was to these same Scriptures of truth, Israels richest heritage, that Jeremiah appealed in his efforts toward reform. Wherever he ministered he met the people with the earnest plea, Hear ye the words of this covenant, words which would bring them a full understanding of Gods purpose to extend to all nations a knowledge of saving truth. Jeremiah 11:2. {PK 465.2} vs 4 I fully believe that the end of all things is at hand, and every power that God has given us should be employed in the very wisest and highest service to God. The Lord has brought out a people from the world to fit them not only for a pure and holy heaven, but to prepare them through the wisdom He shall give them to be co-laborers with God in preparing a people to stand in the day of God. {3SM 283.1} Iron furnace: He (Moses) was to present before them the wonderful manifestations of Gods power in bringing them forth from the iron furnace, which figure well illustrated their cruel and degrading bondage in Egypt. They would never have been delivered from their oppressors but for the interposition of the God of Heaven. {ST, March 10, 1881 par. 1} vs 6 The unwillingness of the Lord to chastise is here vividly shown. He stays His judgments that He may plead with the impenitent. He who exercises loving-kindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth yearns over His erring children; in every way possible He seeks to teach them the way of life everlasting. Jeremiah 9:24. He had brought the Israelites out of bondage that they might serve Him, the only true and living God. Though they had wandered long in idolatry and had slighted His warnings, yet He now declares His willingness to defer chastisement and grant yet another opportunity for repentance. He makes plain the fact that only by the most thorough heart reformation could the impending doom be averted. In vain would be the trust they might place in the temple and its services. Rites and ceremonies could not atone for sin. Notwithstanding their claim to be the chosen people of God, reformation of heart and of the life practice alone could save them from the inevitable result of continued transgression. {PK 413.3} Thus it was that in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem the message of Jeremiah to Judah was, Hear ye the words of this covenant,--the plain precepts of Jehovah as recorded in the Sacred Scriptures,--and do them. Jeremiah 11:6. And this is the message he proclaimed as he stood in the temple courts in the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim. {PK 414.1} Israels experience from the days of the Exodus was briefly reviewed. Gods covenant with them had been, Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be My people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you. Shamelessly and repeatedly had this covenant been broken. The chosen nation had walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward. Jeremiah 7:23, 24. {PK 414.2} Why, the Lord inquired, is this people of Jerusalem slidden back by a perpetual backsliding? Jeremiah 8:5. In the language of the prophet it was because they had obeyed not the voice of the Lord their God and had refused to be corrected. See Jeremiah 5:3. Truth is perished, he mourned, and is cut off from their mouth. The stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times; and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming; but My people know not the judgment of the Lord. Shall I not visit them for these things? saith the Lord: shall not My soul be avenged on such a nation as this? Jeremiah 7:28; 8:7; Jeremiah 9:9. {PK 414.3} vs 12, 13 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. Matthew 7:13, 14. {TMK 303.1} These roads are distinct, separate, extending in opposite directions. One leads to eternal death, the other to eternal life. One is broad and smooth, the other narrow and rugged. So the parties that travel them are opposite in character, in life, in dress, and in conversation. Those who travel in the narrow way are talking of the happiness they will have at the end of the journey. . . . They do not dress like the company in the broad road, nor talk like them, nor act like them. A pattern has been given them. A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief opened that road for them and traveled it Himself. His followers see His footprints and are comforted and cheered. He went through safely; so can they, if they follow in His steps. {TMK 303.2} In the broad road all are occupied with their persons, their dress, and the pleasures in the way. They indulge freely in mirth and revelry, and think not of their journeys end, of the certain ruin at the termination of the path. Every day they approach nearer their destruction, yet they madly rush on faster and faster. . . . When it is too late they see that they have gained nothing substantial. They have grasped at shadows and lost eternal life. . . . {TMK 303.3} A form of godliness will not save any. All must have a deep and living experience. This alone will save them in the time of trouble before us. Then their work will be tried, of what sort it is. If it is gold, silver, and precious stones, they will be hid as in the secret of the Lords pavilion. But if their work is wood, hay, stubble, nothing can shield them from the fierceness of Jehovahs wrath. . . . {TMK 303.4} Those who are willing to make any and every sacrifice for eternal life will have it, and it will be worth suffering for, worth crucifying self for, and sacrificing every idol for. The far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory outweighs every earthly treasure and eclipses every earthly attraction. {TMK 303.5} vs 16, 17 He causes the grass to grow for the cattle, and vegetation for the service of man, that he may bring forth food from the earth. Psalm 104:14, NKJV. {BLJ 240.1} In a certain place, preparations were being made to clear the land for the erection of a sanitarium. Light was given that there is health in the fragrance of the pine, the cedar, and the fir. And there are several other kinds of trees that have medicinal properties that are health-promoting. {BLJ 240.2} Let not such trees be ruthlessly cut down. Better change the site of the [sanitarium] building than cut down these evergreen trees. There are lessons for us in these trees. God’s Word declares, “The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree; he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.” David says, “I am like a green olive tree in the house of God: I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever.” {BLJ 240.3} The Christian is likened to the cedar of Lebanon. I have read that this tree does more than send down a few short roots into the yielding loam. It sends strong roots deep down into the earth, and strikes down further and still further in search of a still stronger hold. And in the fierce blast of the tempest, it stands firm, held by its network of cables beneath. {BLJ 240.4} So Christians strike roots deep into Christ. They have faith in their Redeemer. They know in whom they believe. They are fully persuaded that Jesus is the Son of God and the Savior of sinners. The goodly sound of the gospel is received without conflicting doubts. The roots of faith strike deep down. Genuine Christians, like the cedar of Lebanon, do not grow in the soft surface soil, but are rooted in God, riveted in the clefts of the mountain rocks. {BLJ 240.5} Study these lessons from the trees. I could dwell long on this subject, but I must not just now. I ask you not to cut away your pine trees. They will be a blessing to many. Let them live. {BLJ 240.6} I want to say to you, my brethren and sisters, that you have my prayers and my sympathy in your work. Remember that you are trees in the garden of the Lord, and that the divine protection is round about you. The more visible the line of demarcation between the flowers of God and the briar and thorn of Satan’s planting, the more the Lord is glorified.—Spalding and Magan Collection, pp. 228, 229. {BLJ 240.7} Mount Zion was just before us, and on the mount was a glorious temple, and about it were seven other mountains, on which grew roses and lilies. And I saw the little ones climb, or, if they chose, use their little wings and fly to the top of the mountains, and pluck the never-fading flowers. There were all kinds of trees around the temple to beautify the place; the box, the pine, the fir, the oil, the myrtle, the pomegranate, and the fig-tree bowed down with the weight of its timely figs,--these made the place all over glorious. And as we were about to enter the holy temple, Jesus raised His lovely voice and said, Only the 144,000 enter this place, and we shouted, Alleluia. {CET 63.2} Seven trees: Isaiah 41:19 I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the fir tree, [and] the pine, and the box tree together:
Posted on: Fri, 07 Mar 2014 14:53:11 +0000
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