Jeremiah 21:8

Jeremiah 21:8

The Bible says in Jeremiah 21:8-9, “And unto this people thou shalt say, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I set before you the way of life, and the way of death. He that abideth in this city shall die by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence: but he that goeth out, and falleth to the Chaldeans that besiege you, he shall live, and his life shall be unto him for a prey.” Notice that there are only two paths that you can take in this world: “the way of life, and the way of death”. There are not many ways to God. There is only one way. Jesus said in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man comes to the Father, but by me.” Jesus also taught the truth of the two ways in Matthew 7:13-14, “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.”

The Bible says in Jeremiah 21:10-14, “For I have set my face against this city for evil, and not for good, saith the LORD: it shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire. And touching the house of the king of Judah, say, Hear ye the word of the LORD; O house of David, thus saith the LORD; Execute judgment in the morning, and deliver him that is spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor, lest my fury go out like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings. Behold, I am against thee, O inhabitant of the valley, and rock of the plain, saith the LORD; which say, Who shall come down against us? or who shall enter into our habitations? But I will punish you according to the fruit of your doings, saith the LORD: and I will kindle a fire in the forest thereof, and it shall devour all things round about it.” One more time God mentions that judgments that were coming against Israel because of their sins. Notice the use of the word “fire” in describing these judgments. The ultimate judgments will involve fire that cannot be quenched. Jesus told us about a rich man who went to hell. Jesus said in Luke 16:19-24, “There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.”

The Bible says in Jeremiah 22:1-5, “Thus saith the LORD; Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and speak there this word, And say, Hear the word of the LORD, O king of Judah, that sittest upon the throne of David, thou, and thy servants, and thy people that enter in by these gates: Thus saith the LORD; Execute ye judgment and righteousness, and deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor: and do no wrong, do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, nor the widow, neither shed innocent blood in this place. For if ye do this thing indeed, then shall there enter in by the gates of this house kings sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, he, and his servants, and his people. But if ye will not hear these words, I swear by myself, saith the LORD, that this house shall become a desolation.” The Word of God has pointed out to us over and over in the book of Jeremiah that the people of Israel needed to repent of their sins. This passage is saying the same thing, but in a little bit of a different way. This passage is saying that the people need to change their ways. The word “repent” means “to change one’s mind.” A person who repents changes his or her mind about his or her sins. Instead of accepting his sinful condition, a repenting person changes his mind about his sinful condition and decides to turn to Jesus for forgiveness. This is entirely a spiritual experience that involves the thought process and the heart. It involves faith in Christ, but it involves no actions or deeds at the time of repentance. That is why it says in Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”

But because true repentance involves a change of mind and a change of heart, it will result in a change of behavior too. If someone’s behavior did not improve, then they did not repent. If your mind and your heart truly changed in regards to your sins, then your actions will change also. That is why it says in Second Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” Concerning the Israelites in the time of Jeremiah, God told them exactly what behaviors needed to be manifest in their lives. In Jeremiah 22:3 they were told to do three things: 1. “Execute ye judgment and righteousness.” 2. “deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor.” 3. “do no wrong, do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, nor the widow, neither shed innocent blood.” The word “judgment” refers to discernment and the making of evaluations. Every day we make evaluations about the situations we come across that affect the lives of other people. Whose side are we going to take in a dispute? Are we going to help someone who is in trouble, or who is being harmed by someone more powerful than they are? In order to please God we must make sure that our judgment is associated with righteousness. It comes down to a matter of right and wrong. Always do the right thing. That is what will please God.

‘The spoiled” mentioned in Jeremiah 22:3 refers to those who are spoiled by others. There are people in this world who are easy targets, and then there are other people who will gladly target them. These “oppressors” are looking for someone to cheat, or to take advantage of, or to use. We are not just talking about murderers, child-molesters, rapists, and thieves. We are talking about anyone who will take advantage of others for their own profit. Some people need a little help in order to be protected. There are three types of people listed here who do need help because they are especially vulnerable: the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow. Strangers are vulnerable because they have no family or friends in the community, and they are unfamiliar with the community. That is one reason to stay where you are instead of moving. Every time you move you make yourself that much more vulnerable. “The fatherless” refers to children, and it refers to the most vulnerable of children: those who do not have a father. Even thousands of years ago, being a single family parent was not a good idea. There are many single parents today who do the best job that they can under the circumstances, but in a perfect world, it is best to have both a mother and father for any child. It is a lot of hard work to raise a child, and with both a loving mother and a loving father to watch after them, there is less of a chance of a child being left in some situation where they are not protected. You can be sure of one sad truth: there are people in this world who will take advantage of a child whenever they can.

Sometimes it is hard to believe, but there are people who will more than willingly do violence to children. It says in Jeremiah 22:3, “do no wrong, do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, nor the widow, neither shed innocent blood.” Jesus knew that there would be people who would harm children, and Jesus pronounced the harshest of all judgments against them. Jesus said in Matthew 18:5-7, “And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me. But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!”

God wants widows to be protected because they also are a group who are vulnerable for several reasons: advanced age, being without a husband, and having little or no income. There are cruel people in this world who have no reservations in taking whatever they can from widows, and even harming them if they must. The New Testament has a reference to such people who oppress widows. Jesus said that religious leaders were doing the oppressing of widows. Jesus said in Matthew 23:14, “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation.” Churches are told to make sure that they take care of widows. It says in First Timothy 5:3, “Honour widows that are widows indeed.” It is also written in James 1:27, “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.”

The Bible says in Jeremiah 22:6-10, “For thus saith the LORD unto the king's house of Judah; Thou art Gilead unto me, and the head of Lebanon: yet surely I will make thee a wilderness, and cities which are not inhabited. And I will prepare destroyers against thee, every one with his weapons: and they shall cut down thy choice cedars, and cast them into the fire. And many nations shall pass by this city, and they shall say every man to his neighbour, Wherefore hath the LORD done thus unto this great city? Then they shall answer, Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD their God, and worshipped other gods, and served them. Weep ye not for the dead, neither bemoan him: but weep sore for him that goeth away: for he shall return no more, nor see his native country.” Let’s look at the statement in Jeremiah 22:8. It says, “And many nations shall pass by this city, and they shall say every man to his neighbour, Wherefore hath the LORD done thus unto this great city?” From a human standpoint, we would have said that the Babylonian army had destroyed the city of Jerusalem. Everything that happens is permitted of God: everything. Nothing takes God by surprise. Nothing goes against God’s plan. God is so great that even the wicked deeds of wicked people are used by God to further His great plan. This truth can be seen in the death of Jesus on the cross of Calvary. From a human standpoint we would say that wicked men sent Jesus to a cruel and unjust death. But it was the Father who sent Jesus to die on the cross of Calvary for the sins of the world. Judas should not have betrayed Jesus. The religious leaders should not have plotted against Jesus. The Roman government should not have agreed to nail Jesus to the cross. And the disciples should not have forsaken Jesus once Jesus was condemned. Yet, God used the failures and wickedness of man to accomplish God’s great plan of salvation. In order to live by faith and to be consistent with all the teachings of God’s Word, we must have a strong belief in the Providence of God. There is a purpose to all things. God is at work. His truth is marching on. As it says in Romans 8:28, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”

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