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JEREMIAH: STAYING UPRIGHT AMIDST EVIL PRESSURES
Part IV: Prophecies Concerning Judah
E. Our Need To Adjust To The CERTAINTY Of God's Word To Us
(Jeremiah 6:1-30)
  1. Introduction
    1. God expects us to trust, heed, hope and follow what He sets forth in His Word unto us.
    2. However, circumstances can arise to tempt us to shift our focus away from looking to God's Word to heed false views of what is reality, and that can only lead to our loss of God's blessing as we disobey Him.
    3. Jeremiah 6:1-30 is a startling call for us to view the certainty of God's statements to us that we not follow even our own evaluations of reality, but heed God's Word alone for that (as follows):
  2. Our Need To Adjust To The CERTAINTY Of God's Word To Us, Jeremiah 6:1-30.
    1. Jeremiah 6:1-30 exposes the certainty of God's coming judgment upon Judah, Bible Know. Com., O. T., p. 1138; Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, ftn. to Jeremiah 6:1 and chapter title heading, "Certainty of judgment".
    2. That judgment is described in sharp, horrific form as follows:
      1. Jeremiah prophetically called the people of his own tribe, Benjamin (Jer. 1:1) located just north of Jerusalem to flee south from the invaders without hiding in Jerusalem; they were to keep going 12 miles further south to Tekoa and to set up a signal fire in Beth-Hakkerim between Jerusalem and Bethlehem to warn the land's inhabitants to flee, Ibid., Bible Know. Com., O. T.; Ibid., Ryrie, Jer. 6:1.
      2. This invasion would so devastate Jerusalem that shepherds would come lead their flocks to the city ruins to feed on its wild grasses and to pitch their tents there, Jeremiah 6:3; this prediction came to pass as certified by the record of Nehemiah 1:3; 2:3, 11-17, Ibid., Bible Know. Com., O. T.
      3. Jeremiah predicted that though the Babylonians usually waited until noon to attack, they would be so eager to destroy and to take Jerusalem's spoil that they would begin the attack by night, Jeremiah 6:4-5.
      4. Their eagerness for destroying Jerusalem would be fueled by God's permissive will to use them to punish Jerusalem for the eagerness with which her people had rebelled against God, Jeremiah 6:6-9.
      5. God had noted the people of Jerusalem were so rebellious that He had no choice but to mete out such judgment on all the city's population: children, young men, husbands, wives and the elderly would all face Babylon's wrath, and the invading soldiers would take the fields, houses and wives of the greatest to the least of men, from the prophet to the priest for all of their errant teachings and sins, Jer. 6:10-16.
      6. God revealed He had given godly prophets, or watchmen to Judah, but the nation had refused to heed their warnings, Jeremiah 6:17. He had no choice but to judge as the people had sought to appease God by way of empty ritualistic worship rather than truly repenting in the heart, Jeremiah 6:18-21.
      7. Thus, in chilling detail, Jeremiah described the cruelty that would be done by the invading soldiers:
        1. The Babylonian army would arrive in Judah with overpowering military might, Jeremiah 6:22.
        2. Armed with bow and spear, having no mercy for their foes and screaming loudly, the invaders would ride on horses with great speed, causing the people of Judah to be terrified, Jeremiah 6:23-24.
        3. Jeremiah prophetically warned his readers not to venture into the field or road, for the invaders would meet them there with swords to terrify and to slay them, Jeremiah 6:25.
        4. Indeed, all that the people of Judah who survived the invasion would then be able to do would be to put on sackcloth and wallow in ashes in grief for the sudden destruction that would come, Jer. 6:26.
      8. In a figurative way, Jeremiah tested the spiritual tenor of Judah as a smelter might test metal as though he looked for some level of righteousness that would qualify them to avoid God's judgment; however, the people of Judah were all dross and not even any metal, Jer. 6:27-30, Ibid., Ryrie Study Bible, ftn.!
Lesson: Jeremiah's chilling description of Babylon's terrifying invasion was given as SHOCK TREATMENT that Jeremiah's Judaean audience might REALIZE God's promised judgment WOULD INDEED OCCUR: His WORD was to be taken SERIOUSLY so that Judah might TRULY REPENT!

Application: From the horrific battle scenes depicting the Babylonian invasion in Jeremiah 6:1-30, we TODAY must realize that GOD expects US to HEED His Word when it teaches, reproves, corrects or instructs US, 2 Tim. 3:16-17. We need to heed IT above ALL OTHER VIEWS of reality as GOD has a MONOPOLY on what WILL ACTUALLY OCCUR in history, for He is SOVEREIGN over all!