Good day Beloved of God in Christ Jesus. You are all welcome to another new day. Glory to God for the gift of life.
This is Part 495 of our series of studying and understanding the Bible, titled:
A Call To Repentance
Jeremiah Chapter 4 is our focus today.
This chapter is simply a continuation of Jeremiah’s message in Chapter 3 calling on both Israel and Judah, who backslided to repent. Remember he had previously rebuked them of not being sincere with their love for God. Jeremiah warned them to repent and told them God has promised He would give them Pastors (Shepherds) according to His heart, who will be feeding them with the knowledge and understanding of God’s Word (Jer 3:14-15).
The same message has been reiterated also in Chapter 4, still focussing on both Israel and Judah. In fact, he got to verse 2 where Jeremiah asked them to swear an oath.
This reminds me of those days growing up when we did anything wrong to our parents and they would ask us to make a statement that we would not do that again. Sometimes, we were asked to repeat it several times. The purpose was to get it registered in our mind so that any time we’re confronted with the temptation to disobey our parents again, what we repeated severally would automatically pop up in our mind reminding us not to do anything stupid, lest we get punished for it.
The same thing is what Jeremiah did here in verse 2.
And if you swear [your oaths], ‘As the Lord lives,’ In truth, in justice, and in righteousness,
Then the nations will bless themselves in Him, And in Him they will glory.”
The word ‘swear’ in Hebrew transliteration is called (Shâba’), which is pronounced as /shaw-bah’/ and it means to repeat a declaration seven times. The purpose is to get it registered in their subconscious so that they won’t keep disobeying God again and again.
However, in New Covenant dispensation, believers don’t swear an oath. Rather, believers confess Christ. This is completely different from the legal oath you swear in the court either for affidavit or during court sessions. Here, we are talking spiritually.
Spiritually speaking, believers confess Christ for Salvation and we keep on confessing Christ through God’s Word for spiritual growth.
Romans 10:9 (NKJV) says:
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
Furthermore, Jeremiah also exhorted them to break up their fallow ground and circumcise their hearts in verses 3 and 4. The reason Jeremiah was repeating this message was because of the revelation he saw of an impending dreadful visitation (invasion of the enemies). You will see all these in verses 5 to 17.
He loved Israel and Judah so much that he did not want any calamities to befall them. It got to a point he was labelled a weeping prophet – crying for his people.
Therefore, he kept sounding the alarm of warning to wake them up spiritually (look at verse 5 again).
Again, he reminded them that if they refuse to listen and what he saw about them comes to pass, God is not to blame, because they brought the calamities on themselves.
Let’s read verse 18.
18 Judah, you have brought this on yourself by the way you have lived and by the things you have done. Your sin has caused this suffering; it has stabbed you through the heart.
The remaining verses describes Jeremiah’s sorrow for his people (because he loves them so much).
19 The pain! I can’t bear the pain! My heart! My heart is beating wildly! I can’t keep quiet.
I hear the trumpets and the shouts of battle.
In a nutshell, it is the duty of Prophets of God to keep watch and sound the alarm when they notice the church of God is slumbering and about to be devoured.
Many Christians are now sleeping. Many Pastors are no longer preaching the truth of God’s Word. Souls are perishing each new day due to satanic invasion on humanity.
Let’s wake up just like Jeremiah exhorted Israel and Judah. Let’s break our fallow grounds, renew our minds for spiritual growth, through constant study of the Word of God and let’s do the work of evangelism.
To be continued…stay blessed in Christ now and always.
Let us pray:
- To all of you reading this message, I declare you are saved forever. You are perfected forever. You are sanctified forever. You are seated with Christ in the place of authority far above principalities and powers. You reign with Christ eternally, in Jesus name.
- I want to pray with some people on this platform, who are sick in their body. Remember, Christ was wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities and the chastisement that brought us peace was upon Him and with His stripe, we are healed. Therefore, by the authority in the name of Jesus, I declare you healed in spirit, soul, and body. Every hold of sickness upon you is broken. Sickness, infirmities, and even untimely death are not your portion, in Jesus name.
- I declare you hale and hearty. Your body will not malfunction. Your body will not collapse, and your body will continue to obey God’s instructions for healthy living, in Jesus name.
Bible Readings For Today: 2 Chronicles Chapters 8, 9, 10 & 11 with Psalm 104:1-23.
I call you blessed now and always.
Wednesday August 5, 2020 (DDMI)