Jeremiah 3:11

The Bible says in Jeremiah 3:11-15, “And the LORD said unto me, The backsliding Israel hath justified herself more than treacherous Judah. Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the LORD; and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you: for I am merciful, saith the LORD, and I will not keep anger for ever. Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the LORD thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the LORD. Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion: And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.” Notice the phrase in Jeremiah 3:11 that says, “Israel hath justified herself.” Everyone sins. Everyone is a sinner. What a person does about their own sins is the primary factor in regards to their spiritual life and their eternal destiny. The correct way and the honest way to respond to one’s sins is to admit them, and to repent from them. Jesus will always forgive you, when you confess to Him.

What do people do in order to avoid confessing their sins? Some people try to hide from their sins. That is similar to what Adam and Eve did when they hid from God after eating of the forbidden fruit. Some people try to forget their sins by drowning themselves in alcohol or drugs. What the Israelites did in justifying themselves is still very common. They simply deny their own conscience, and come up with rational explanations for what they did in order to excuse themselves. You can justify anything if you try hard enough. But of course, it is much better to have the Lord’s justification. The Lord will justify everyone who simply trusts in Jesus. It says in Galatians 3:8-13, “And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith. And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them. Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree.”

It is interesting that the Lord said in Jeremiah 3:14, “I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion.” This is a statement that reveals how perhaps only a few will be saved. An unfortunate reality is that more will be lost than saved. In an entire city, perhaps only one person will be saved out of it. In speaking of two taken out of a family, it is not taking about the modern family of two parents and two children; but is speaking of a much larger family and probably an extended family, and so two people taken out of a family would be a small percentage. This sad truth that only a small percentage will be saved. Jesus taught this truth. Jesus said 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.”

Jeremiah 3:15 tells us the primary purpose of a pastor. It says, “And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.” This was true in the times of the Old Testament, and it is also true in the times of the New Testament. The purpose of a pastor is to “feed” God’s people. Jesus said this very thing to Peter after the resurrection. It says in John 21:15-17, “So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs. He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep. He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.” God’s Word is spiritual. Be careful about telling too many jokes, giving too many illustrations, or giving out your own wisdom. The Word of God is the spiritual food. That is one of the reasons that going through a passage of scripture verse by verse can be so spiritually nourishing whether preaching or teaching.

When God promised the Israelites in Jeremiah 3:15, “And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding,” notice that God would give the pastors. That means that God would raise up a pastor, train him, and bring him into contact with a congregation, so that the congregation can be fed spiritual food from the pastor. God must give the pastor for that to happen. Are there any congregations who have pastors who were not given them from God, or that have pastors who do not feed them spiritual food? How sad that would be. All leaders are chosen by God. If your country or your church does not have a leader who is strong and wise and who leads you in the direction that you really need to go, then that means that you did not get a leader who was given to you from God. The question becomes: why is that? The purpose of a bad leader might be to punish a bad people. The Bible says in Proverbs 21:1, “The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.”

It says in Jeremiah 3:16-18, “And it shall come to pass, when ye be multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, saith the LORD, they shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of the LORD: neither shall it come to mind: neither shall they remember it; neither shall they visit it; neither shall that be done any more. At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the LORD; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the LORD, to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart. In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers.” If we look at Jeremiah 3:16 by itself without considering the whole context, we might easily come up with a different explanation of this verse than we should. The book of Jeremiah up to this point has been talking a lot about the failures of the Israelites in turning away from the Lord. When the Lord said, “they shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of the LORD: neither shall it come to mind: neither shall they remember it; neither shall they visit it; neither shall that be done any more,” we might think that this means that one of the failures of the Israelites was that they forgot the ark of the covenant and that this was a bad thing, because we all know that we should always remember whatever teachings the Lord has given to us. Remember that the contents of the ark of the covenant included the Ten Commandments. But if we look at the verses that follow Jeremiah 3:16, and if we fit Jeremiah 3:16 properly into the same context and emphasis as those other verses, we find a very different meaning to Jeremiah 3:16. Notice that Jeremiah 3:17 and 3:18 are talking about the future when everything is going to be wonderful, and everything is going to be set up just right by the Lord. If that is the case in the future, why does the Lord say that “they shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of the LORD: neither shall it come to mind: neither shall they remember it; neither shall they visit it; neither shall that be done any more?” That is because the “covenant of the Lord” that is being talked about here is the Old Testament covenant: the covenant of the law of Moses. The old covenant was never meant to be permanent. We know that because we already live in the age of the new covenant, the New Testament. The old covenant was set aside and the new covenant was put into place. Jesus said in Matthew 26:28, “For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” It also says in Second Corinthians 3:6, “Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.” And it says in Hebrews 9:15, “And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.”

Jeremiah 3:16-18 tells us several facts about the future state on this earth after God establishes His kingdom on earth. Remember that Jesus did promise that the “meek shall inherit the earth.” Notice that Jeremiah 3:17 tells us that Israel shall be the dominant country on the earth, and Jerusalem shall be the dominant city. It says in Jeremiah 3:17, “At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the LORD; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the LORD, to Jerusalem.” When it speaks of the “throne of the Lord,” it is talking about the throne of Christ. This is one more verse in the vast number of verses that equate Jesus to Jehovah. The word translated “LORD” is from the Hebrew word for “Jehovah.” “The name” of the Lord mentioned in verse 17 is Jesus.

What is the real problem in the world in which we live? The problem is the sin problem. The way to have a better community, or a better country, or a better world is to have better people. The problem is not liberals versus conservatives; the problem is the sin problem. Why will the future kingdom of Christ be so much better than the current kingdoms of the world? It says in Jeremiah 3:17, “neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart.” Because the heart of man is so evil in its natural state, there needs to be a change of heart, and there needs to be a spiritual birth. Concerning the change of heart, Jesus spoke of the importance of repentance. Jesus said in Luke 13:3 and Luke 13:5, “I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.” Concerning the need for a spiritual birth, it says in John 3:3, “Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” The question that every person needs to ask himself or herself, “Have I been born-again through faith in Jesus?” That is not only how to preserve your eternity, but it is how to become the best person that you can become on this earth. If only more people were born-again, the world would be a much better place. The reason that it will be so wonderful in the millennial kingdom of Christ is because “neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart.”

One more reason that the future kingdom will be such a great place is the unity among people. One of the great problems that we have is the divisions among us. United we stand, and divided we fall. It says in Jeremiah 3:18, “and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers.” The two kingdoms of Israel and Judah were divided for years, and even fought wars against each other. Until all people are able to unite with a common vision and a common purpose, much less will be accomplished than otherwise could be. A nation divided against itself cannot stand. How sweet and how pleasant it is to dwell together in unity. The greatest unity ever known will exist in the kingdom of Christ.

$Description: C:\BibleGemsDoc\Image37.gif$

___________________________________________________