Jeremiah Chapter 12 "The Beloved People Threatened (Division)." This Bible
Study is written by Roger Christopherson, and it's
transcription/ location is provided by http://www.theseason.org Just as in Jeremiah's day, the preachers today the seem to be advancing, the preachers out at Anathoth that get the big bucks in their ministries, plus they get the group part that the church system is offering. They're not teaching God's Word, but they are living high on the hog, being treated like kings. They have everything. Jeremiah naturally being human, considers all this and and responds in this chapter. Jeremiah 12:1 "Righteous art thou, O LORD, when I plead with thee: yet let me talk with thee of thy judgments: Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? wherefore are all they happy that deal very treacherously?" Jeremiah is saying to God, If I may, I would like to complain just a little bit, O Lord. I know your right and I know you are fair, but I have this little bitty complaint to bring before you. Why is it that the wicked are prospering a lot more then I am? Why is it that the wicked always seem to get ahead? Psalm 37 has an acrostic in it that answers this. It is hidden in the Hebrew manuscripts, and you have to be a Hebrew scholar to understand it, unless you have a "Companion Bible", for it is explained in the margin of Psalm 37. Of three specific verses marked by the number of lines in the song. The Companion Bible will give you that acrostic. It covers the fact of why God's answer was this way. In the first part: When you begin to think that the wicked are getting ahead, then you needn't worry about it, because they are in actuality going to be as the fat of a lamb that drips from the spit, down under the fire, being roasted. In the second part: They will be as the vapor that goes up for ever and ever. The third part is this, that you personally shall be present to see their fall, and see their smoke going up for an eternity. They shall be devoured into nothingness. (Notes from the Companion
Bible) Jeremiah 12:2 "Thou hast planted them, yea, they have taken root: they grow, yea, they bring forth fruit: thou art near in their mouth, and far from their reins." Jeremiah is telling God, You planted them there and they have taken root and have grown, and their lips just keep rambling on all these things that God said to them, which are all lies. Though they say God is with them, by their words it doesn't seem that God is in them at all [far from their reins]. They talk a lot about God, but there is no part of God or His Word in them. Jeremiah 12:3 "But thou, O LORD, knowest me: thou hast seen me, and tried mine heart toward thee: pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and prepare them for the day of slaughter." Jeremiah is reminding God that He knows Jeremiah's heart, because he was tried and tested. Then Jeremiah considers that God is getting them ready, in using their own words, to seperate them and get them ready for the slaughter. God is getting them ready to be burned over the open spit, where the fat shall drip, and the vapor shall rise, and the smoke shall go up forever. That time is not too far away, and God will not be very long about it. Even today you don't have to put up with all their vanities, when you have eyes to see and ears to hear and understand the true Word of God. God will protect you even today. You are not standing under some thorn bush that chokes out the Word of God. The "thorn bush" or bramble bush is a ministry that does not teach God's Word, but the traditions of men. The thorn bush will choke out the real Word of God. The very place that is supposed to bring out the seed that is broadcast, is the church of today, that is finding comfort under the thorn bush, and is choking out the Word of God, so everyone from the deacon board to head elder, to the revolving reverend, can have their two bits put in, and that is all you get; their words, not the Word of God. But you will never hear the Word of God, but you will hear how God told them to do all kinds of things, but from their fruit their lying tongues convict them. God is the judge, and He is fair. In this day we must watch our words and what we say and attribute to Him, when God did not say it. We will get deeper into this in the next chapter of Jeremiah. Just like in Jeremiah's observation, today it seems common to see so-called Christians harming other Christians. But let me say this, God's two edged sword of Revelation 1:16, which is Christ's tongue: and all those that fall by that sword is not of us, so we are not hurting one of our own, so don't worry about it. Those that cannot stand shall fall, and should, and it will happen by God. God's Word needs to be taught to help starving people, starving for the hearing of the Word of God. Pictures of pitiful starving babies and children from Africa have been shown on many television programs, crying out for money to feed the less fortunate of the world. but if we could see the spiritual condition of the souls that sit in the churches in America today, in this famine for truth, and if you could really see their souls in their starved condition that they are, as God's eyes see it, it would frightened you to death. It would be a shock to you. The starving condition of the children is nothing as compared to the starving souls of those spiritual skeletons in America, Canada and the Christian nations. Today God is calling out His elect and sealing their minds to make ready for the great Apostacy that will come when the "instead of Christ" arrives to draw all the others to himself in ignorance. Jeremiah 12:4 "How long shall the land mourn, and the herbs of every field wither, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein? the beasts are consumed, and the birds; because they said, He shall not see our last end." Jeremiah is out telling the people that the end is coming to the House of Judah, and Jerusalem, and they will be taken captive, and all the other prophets are saying that Jeremiah just doesn't know what he is talking about, God isn't going to destroy Jerusalem. It is unfortunate for them that Jeremiah does know. Just as Jeremiah saw the full end to the House of Judah and their going into captivity, this is exactly as it is promised in Psalm 37. Where it says that those that do hear the truth of God's Word, and follow it, will see the end of the fat lambs roasting over that spit. Jeremiah 12:5 "If thou hast run with the footmen, and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses? and if in the land of peace, wherein thou trustedst, they wearied thee, then how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan?" This is God speaking now to Jeremiah. If you are out there fighting with the infantry and the fighting is getting a little tough, then what are you going to do when they bring in the horses, and the real fighting starts. The cavalry moves swift and hits hard. The "swelling of Jordan" is where the thickets grew and there you have to contend with the lions and wild animals, besides the battle that is going on. The lions lay in the thicket waiting in ambush for those coming for water. God expects us to know the times that we are in, whether it is a time of peace, when the battle is with the infantry, or whether you are in a major spiritual battle with all of Satan's realm. We must keep in mind that the stronger the attack, the more He is with you. To simplify this, use common sense, God will take care of those enemy forces for you, for whatever the enemy has, God's forces are greater. God is the judge, and He knows exactly what is in the minds of those planning harm against you, so He is telling Jeremiah don't worry about them, just do what I tell you to do. The ill-gotten gains of anyone are a dangerous commodity to be in possession of. There are no unsolved crimes as far as God is concerned. He knows, He doesn't forget, and there will be a time for correction. You can count on it. When the outlook looks impossible, then that is the time to just turn it over to Him, and step back and let the Master tend to the problem. He promised it to you, and He keeps His word. Jeremiah 12:6 "For even thy brethren, and the house of thy father, even they have dealt treacherously with thee; yea, they have called a multitude after thee: believe them not, though they speak fair words unto thee." In the Hebrew it's; "their brethren have called you with a loud voice, they have called you." Though what they say may sound very enticing, and it sounds like it is to good to be true, don't believe them, believe me, God says. When the going gets tough, and the times get troubled, you have to make your own mind up. God has just told you that your own kind are going to call loudly to you, with sooth-sayings saying such as; Don't worry about the great deception you are not going to be here anyhow; don't worry about the swelling of the Jordan, the lions won't get you; Don't worry about the Revelation or the Old Testament because it isn't meant for you. Are you starting to get the picture, friend? What they say may sound good, but God is warning you to learn for yourself the truth. Listen to the Word of God, because you are the one that will answer to Him for what you do and say. That minister will not be there when it comes time for your judgment, because that false prophet will be judged and roasted before you come to trial before the great white throne judgment. You will answer for every unrepented thing that you have done, for yourself. Jeremiah 12:7 "I have forsaken mine house, I have left mine heritage; I have given the dearly beloved of my soul into the hand of her enemies." For what reason was God's dearly beloved delivered into the hands of the enemies? For chastisement. God is looking at His heritage as His wife, and He loves her, but she is whoring after another. If she wants to play the role of the harlot, then let her go, and suffer the consequences, if that is what they want. If they want to turn on me, their protector, then I am just going to let the enemy have his way with her. Until you, as part of the many that call themselves God's people [Christians], can stop for a moment and think. Then when they drift off into false teachings, stop and remember your heritage, and your Heavenly Father and His Words. Then turn loose of that crowd and their sayings, and come back into the fold, and His Word, and think for yourself. Don't let some other man do your thinking, that is what a cult is, come out of cults and back to God's Word and a living relationship with the Living God. He will take you back at any moment. God hasn't forsaken all churches, only those that have forsaken God's Word, and the heritage of that Word. What is taught in that church is what determines if God has forsaken that church. Jeremiah 12:8 "Mine heritage is unto me as a lion in the forest; it crieth out against me: therefore have I hated it." God's heritage is His children. Those that say, God doesn't hate anyone, needs to read this verse. He hates what you do, when you go against Him. When you go against any of His natural order of things, then He hates it. When the lion in the forest makes a kill, it is the most vicious kill in the forest. A member of the canine family will just cut of the flow of the vascular system to kill its prey, but the lion will rip and tare and shake its prey to pieces. It violantly goes after those that it seeks to devour. God is saying here that His own heritage, His children treat Him that way. How do we do this to Him? We do it by saying that God said something that God did not say, and lie about God's Word. When you play church and mock Him in your religious forms. God hates what they are doing with a passion, because it hurts Him. When God created man for His pleasure, and man hurts Him like a lion taring at His leg, it becomes obvious why He would say, let them get out of here, and be gone with them. Let the enemy work them over for a while. Jeremiah 12:9 "Mine heritage is unto me as a speckled bird, the birds round about are against her; come ye, assemble all the beasts of the field, come to devour." God is going to make this heritage or children of His, that have turned their back on Him, and He is going to shove them out of the nest and let them fight for themselves for protection. They are going to be like that speckled bird that none of the other birds get along with, nor the beasts of the field. God is using something natural like the bird kingdom, to teach us a lesson. The speckled bird is a bird of prey. It is the bird that all the other birds chase, and peck her to peices. They will all try to take her like a bunch of vultures. If the flesh takes enough of a beating that it finally wakes up to the soul that dwells within it, then it can find salvation through the correcting ways of the Father. Remember from verse seven that it was God that caused the correction. He said; "I have given the dearly beloved of My soul into the hand of her enemies." The Father does it so you can come to your senses and return to Him. Jeremiah 12:10 "Many pastors have destroyed my vineyard, they have trodden my portion under foot, they have made my pleasant portion a desolate wilderness." This is part of the reason. The "vineyard" is where the grapes are grown and picked for the wine. Remember what Christ's first miracle was? It was to take that of the vineyard, the wine, and when it was gone He produced more of the wine. "Wine" in this generation is our passover, that is to say Christ is our passover; it is our Holy Communion. Christ did away with the daily sacrifice because He died only once to pay the full price for sin. So what this is saying is that the pastors have destroyed the Holy Communion. How could they have done this? We read of this being done in Daniel 9:27; "And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifices and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate." This identifies which pastors it is that destroy the fruit of the vineyard. This is the last of the seventieth week of Daniels seventy weeks of prophecy. It takes place during that time in the last generation when there is a great apostacy, a great falling away from God's Word. During that time, the pastors will cause "Sacrifices and the oblation to cease," and that is the "Holy Communion" which will stop. That is the spoiling of the vinyard and doing away with [trodding under foot] with this daily sacrifice, because they will think that Christ has returned. In the Hebrew manuscripts it is not "desolation, a condition", but "desolator", the one who causes the desolation that is the abomination. It is a person, the son of perdition, the Antichrist, who is Satan posing as the true Christ. Many will be deceived because the pastors have not taught the truth. The "consummation" means that this earth age of the flesh has ended. This verse is the very verse that Jesus Christ was speaking of in Matthew 24:15; when He said; "When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)" The pastors will spoil the fruit of the vine, the Holy Communion, then know that the abominable one that comes on the wings of the desolatior [being supernatural, being the dirty bird, also called the speckled bird] will come in to take the cup unto himself, rather than taking the cup to the living God. That is the abomination. In short, the pastors will lead their flocks to end the taking of commion to Jesus Christ, and they will be drinking their toasts to this "instead of Christ" Antichrist [Satan], the dirty speckled bird, and in complete ignorance will worship the false Christ. That is the lowest for that they can go in their whoredoms, and it will happen very soon. Who causes it? Many pastors. If you want to run to this false Christ in whoredoms, then listen to the false teachings from pastors that are preparing the way for the Antichrist. Jeremiah 12:11 "They have made it desolate, and being desolate it mourneth unto me; the whole land is made desolate, because no man layeth it to heart." The pastors have made it desolate, they have made the truths of God's Word confusing and deceiving; Why? Because no man seems to care about studying God's Word, and placing that Word in their minds [heart]. Jeremiah 12:12 "The spoilers are come upon all high places through the wilderness: for the sword of the LORD shall devour from the one end of the land even to the other end of the land: no flesh shall have peace." The spoilers are in all high offices today, not only in our nation, but also around the world. Not only in the religious community, but in the political, social, and other areas where God has been removed and replaced by man's wisdom and tradition. When you consider what our so-called "commander in chief" has forced the military into doing, it is easy to see the abomination that is taking place even within our nation. God is saying that when you allow these abominations to enter and take you over, then the deception will run wild through your land. It will enter the minds of all flesh in the land, and there shall be no peace. That is until the return of Jesus Christ the King of kings and Lord of lords. The sword of the Lord is the tongue of Jesus Christ, as it is written in Revelation 1:16; "And He had in His right hand seven stars: and out of His mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and His countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength." It is time to get out of those houses of vanity [Beth-even] and into the Word of God. Jeremiah says that they talk about God, but by their fruit you can tell that they do not teach the Word of God. They talk about peace, but God promises that there will be no peace until Christ returns, except in the heart of the elect. Jeremiah 12:13 "They have sown wheat, but shall reap thorns: they have put themselves to pain, but shall not profit: and they shall be ashamed of your revenues because of the fierce anger of the LORD." They have worked real hard in their ministeries, but all they seem to have in the end is a harvest of thorns. Without teaching the true Word of God, God will destroy all the work and efforts that you put into the harvest of souls, because there will be no harvest. The only harvest that will be successful with be those souls that have come under His grace, and have sealed God's Word in their minds. All other will be deceived at the coming of the Antichrist. Though the entire world is in an uproar, God can reach down and touch an individual, or a family that seeks to do it God's Way. What is being taught in your church house? What is being taught in your home? Jeremiah 12:14 "Thus saith the LORD against all mine evil neighbours, that touch the inheritance which I have caused my people Israel to inherit; Behold, I will pluck them out of their land, and pluck out the house of Judah from among them." Though this speaks of the House of Judah [the Jews], it will speak also of the House of Israel, which is the ten tribes that went north, and migrated around the world and who are known as Christians today. Those ten tribes call themselves "Caucasians" today after the recorded event of passing through Caucasus mountains, that has stuck with them to this time. God is saying that wherever they are, He is going to seperate the sheep from the goats, the believers from the non-believers in both houses. Jeremiah 12:15 "And it shall come to pass, after that I have plucked them out I will return, and have compassion on them, and will bring them again, every man to his heritage, and every man to his land." This is refering to the time that the Lord will return, and that is only one time listed; the sounding of the seventh and last trumpet. At Christ's return, He will collect all believers of all races and nations, because this heritage is in reference to "ish" man, and not "adam" man, in the Hebrew tongue. At that time all people will be in their own lands, with their own kings and queens ruling over them, and this happens even in the here-after. God loves all of His children of every race and nation that He has created. Jeremiah 12:16 "And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name, The LORD liveth; as they taught my people to swear by Baal; then shall they be built in the midst of my people." "If" makes a condition that must be meet before the promise can be carried out, and makes you have to qualify. We are talking about the pastors here. If they are teaching you and leading you to the first messiah that appears soon; not the true Messiah, then you are being taught to swear by Baal, who is Satan. However, if you or any person of any race will diligently learn the ways of My People, and swear by Our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, then all of them will be "built" [rebuilt] in the midst of My People. Jeremiah 12:17 "But if they will not obey, I will utterly pluck up and destroy that nation, saith the LORD." Here is another "if". This is an absolute promise to you. If you will not obey God's Word, His voice, God has promised to absolutely destroy those people whomever they are. Now we can see how important that His Word has become, for it is the only condition for the survival of your soul. Remember in the early part of this chapter, where God explained why it seemed that the wicked would get ahead, because when God punishes His people, those around him appear to be blessed when we are not. God allows the wicked to get around the promised ones, who through their ignorance and stupidity refuse to claim their inheritance. All they have to do is to claim thieir inheritance. All you have to do is turn to Him and repent, for He is here now in His Spirit in our hearts and minds. He will give comfort to you and your family, if you will but call on His name and turn to His Ways. If you obey His voice. No one is perfect, but if you try, and if you care to live your life as His voice has spoken, there is forgiveness, and a great inheritance for you. Friend, God has promised it to you. As long as you care, and repent in Jesus name, you will not be judged for that sin, and God has said that if I have forgiven you, then it is forgiven, and there is no need to bring it up again.
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