God"s Justice ~ Kay Arthur

Jeremiah, Part 1 (Return To Me)

Program 36 – God‟s Justice

When you’re called into court, and you’re in that courtroom, and all of a sudden everyone stands as the judge enters into the courtroom. When the judge takes their seat, and calls the court to order, and you sit down. What do you expect from that court? What do you expect from that judge? Don’t you expect them to deal with you with justice? Not corruption, but justice? We’ll talk about it today. How do you feel when you find out that justice was not executed? That justice did not prevail? That the judge and the jury were persuaded to believe a lie. How do you feel when someone goes there and they’re saying, “You owe me this, and it’s not paid?” How do you feel? Doesn’t it grieve your heart? Doesn’t it hurt your heart? This week we are going to look at Jeremiah chapter 19, 20, 21 and 22. Next week we are going to finish part 1 of Jeremiah, but we have only begun.

As we look at this week’s lesson of Jeremiah 19 through 22, the word “justice” is going to show up in chapter 21 and chapter 22. And yet, what we see in Jeremiah chapter 19 is the justice of God. Although, the word is not mentioned, we see the justice of God in action.

You see when men are not righteous, when they will not listen, when they take the truth and they twist it and they distort it, when they don’t treat other people the way that they should treat them, when they oppress the alien, when they oppress the widow, when they don’t give honest wages it grieves God’s heart. And we’re going to see why. We are going to see later, it’s because the foundation of the throne of God is righteousness and it is justice. And so, as we began Jeremiah chapter 19, God is taking Jeremiah to the potsherd gate.

Let’s look at it, Jeremiah chapter 19, “Thus says the LORD, „Go and buy a potter‟s earthenware jar, and take some of the elders…and some of the…priests.” (Jeremiah 19:1) And, “Then go out to the valley of Ben-hinnom, which is by the entrance of the potsherd gate, and proclaim there the words that I [say to] you.‟” (Jeremiah 19: 2) So Jeremiah gets up, he gathers the elders, he gathers the senior priests and he takes a pot, he’s going out to the potsherd gate, which is in the valley or near the valley of Ben-hinnom.

Now the valley of Ben-hinnom is where they have been worshiping Baal. This is where they have been sacrificing their children. The valley of Ben-hinnom is also a place where they throw out their trash. It’s called the potsherd gate because, what do you do? I mean, how do you recycle? Well, you take your broken pots, and all your stuff, and then you go down to the potsherd gate, and there you dump it in this place of refuse. And so he takes this and he goes down. And listen to what He says.

God says, “„…Say, “Hear the word of the LORD, O kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: thus says the LORD [God the]…God of Israel, „Behold I am about to bring a calamity upon this place…[with] which the ears of everyone that hears…it will tingle. (Jeremiah 19:3) Because they have forsaken Me….‟”‟” (Jeremiah 19:4) Now remember calamity shows up for the first time in Jeremiah chapter 16. And Amos chapter 3, verse 8 says that [calamity does not occur in a city, but what the Lord has done it.] (PARAPHRASE, Amos 3:6) So what he’s going to show us is how the Lord is going to bring calamity upon Jerusalem. Why is He going to do it?

Verse 4, “„“„Because they have forsaken Me…[they have turned away from Me they] have made this an alien place and [they] have burned sacrifices…to other gods….‟‟‟” (Jeremiah 19:4) They were taking their children and throwing them in the mouth of this giant god by the name of Baal, and where the fire was and where they were consuming the children, the children that God had given to the people of Israel, the wombs that He had opened, the seed that He had planted as Psalm 139 says, “…You formed…me in my mother‟s womb.” (Psalms 139:13) And they were taking what God had created and they were offering it to a false god. It says, “„…[They] burned sacrifices…to other gods, that neither they nor their forefathers nor the kings of Judah had ever known….‟” (Jeremiah 19:4)

These are gods that they got when they didn’t drive out the inhabitants of the land, when they went in and took possession of Canaan in the days of Joshua. They were told to get rid of all the inhabitants of the land lest the inhabitants would cause them to come and to worship their god. (See Exodus 34:11-17) He says, “„…because they have filled this place with the blood of the innocent.‟” (Jeremiah 19:4)

Now when you stop and look at America and you look at our culture, we are sacrificing our children. We are not bringing them up the way God said bring them up. We are not teaching them when they sit down and when they rise up and when they walk by the way. They are supposed to be talking to their child. They’re supposed to be teaching their child about God. “„Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one….‟” (Deuteronomy 6:4, KJV) And they are to be teaching them that they are to [worship the Lord their God with all their heart, with all their soul, with all their mind, and with all their strength.] (PARAPHRASE, Luke 10:27)

And instead, what have they done? They have put away the Word of God, and they have taken that child, and they have led that child to Ben-hinnom, outside the potsherd gate. And it is like, in a sense, that that child has no more value than a piece of broken potsherd.

Apply it to America today. What are we doing to our children? Who is raising our children? Who is teaching our children? Who is training our children? Who is home when the children get home? What are they being taught? And how are they being disciplined? And why are so many kids on drugs and taking their parents’ prescription drugs? And why are so many turning to alcohol? And why are so many turning to pornography and immorality?

It’s because we have sacrificed our children to the gods of this age, to the gods of this world. Not only that, but their blood fills our land because we have aborted so many babies. We have said they are an inconvenience for us. We have said, “I can’t handle this,” or, “This is not the one I chose. I wanted a girl, and I’m getting a boy. I wanted a boy, and I’m getting a girl.” Oh, my goodness. “They found out that the child that I’m getting is down-syndrome. Cast it away, it’s just nothing, but a piece of potsherd, that’s all.”

And so God takes that pot through Jeremiah and He says, “„And [they] have built the high places of Baal to burn their sons in…fire as burnt offerings to Baal, a thing which I never commanded…nor did it ever enter My mind; therefore, behold days are coming,‟ declares the LORD, „when this place will no longer be called Topheth or the valley of Ben-hinnom, but rather the valley of Slaughter. I will make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place…I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies and by the hand of those who seek their life; and I will give over their carcasses as food for the birds of the sky….” (Jeremiah 19:5-7) “…Because of all [their] disasters….‟” (Jeremiah 19:8)

And then listen to this, “„I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and…their daughters, and they will eat one another‟s flesh in the siege and in the distress with which their enemies and those who seek their life will distress them.‟” (Jeremiah 19:9)

Now you want to mark “siege.” I just take a pencil, and I draw like a wall around siege. Because a siege is when they would come around the city walls, and then they would cut the people off so that they could not go outside the city, and they could not get water, or they could not get food, or they could not get relief. And then they would began to bombard the walls in an attempt to get the walls down, or to come over the walls, or to get through the gates so that they could capture the city. The walls around a city were its protection.

And so this is what He’s saying. “„I will make them eat the flesh…one another‟s flesh in the siege and [then] the distress with which their enemies and those who seek their life will distress them. Then you are to break the jar in the sight [of the people]….‟” (Jeremiah 19:9-10) Bring that jar right crashing down. Let them see that jar. Let them see it smash into smithereens; let them see all the parts that cannot be put together again. Let them see it because I am going to do this.

You say, “That’s not right. No, God would never do that.” Yes, He would. You know why? Because the throne of God as Psalm 97 says, [The throne of God is a throne with a foundation of righteousness and justice.] (PARAPHRASE, Psalms 97:2) And God cannot, listen carefully, let iniquity go unpunished. So thus this trip to the potter’s house again, thus this crashing of the jar. “„…You are to break the jar in the sight of [all] the men [that] accompany you and say to them, “Thus says the LORD of hosts, „Just so…,‟”‟” (Jeremiah 19:10-11) Just so, what? I’ll tell you in just a moment. When Jeremiah breaks that pot he is to say to the people, “„“…„Just so will I break this people and this city….‟”‟” (Jeremiah 19:11) Not just conquer the city, but the people will be broken in the midst of it. They will be like these pieces of this potsherd. All of life is going to change, and they don’t know it. They don’t know it because they’re hearing the false prophets. And the false prophets are saying, “„“…Peace, peace,” but there is no peace.‟” (Jeremiah 6:14)

The enemy is coming. The enemy is on the way. Is the enemy there yet? Oh no, not yet. He is still pointing to the future, but in the next chapter he is going to tell them. He’s going to name the enemy from the north. But let’s go and read on. He says, “„“„…Even as one breaks a potter‟s vessel, which cannot…be repaired….”‟‟” (Jeremiah 19:11)

If I said to you, “Here take this and repair it.” Some of the pieces are gone, some of the pieces have shattered into such small, small pieces that it can never be repaired. And that’s what He’s saying. “It won’t be repaired.” And he says, “„“„…And they will bury in Topheth because there is no other place for burial.‟‟‟” (Jeremiah 19:11) There is going to be so many bodies lying around on the ground that there will be no place except Topheth to bury them. “„“„This is how I will treat this place and its inhabitants,‟ declares the LORD, „so…to make this city like Topheth. The houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah will be defiled like the place of Topheth, because of all the houses…,”‟‟” now listen, “„“„…on whose rooftops they burned sacrifices to all the heavenly host….‟”‟” (Jeremiah 19:12-13)

In other words, they went up on their flat roofs of their houses, and there they worshiped the sun and the moon and the stars. They weren’t worshiping the Creator; they were worshiping the creation. And so what does He say?

Well, let’s look at it. “Then Jeremiah came from Topheth, where the LORD had sent him to prophesy; and he stood in the court of the LORD‟S house and said to…the people: „Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, “Behold, I am about to bring on this city and all its towns the entire calamity that I have declared against it….”‟” Why? “„“…Because they have stiffened their necks so as [to not] heed My words.”‟” (Jeremiah 19:15)

In other words, God is speaking and they stiffen their neck and they simply walk away from God. Justice? Yes. It is just of God to judge their sin because, “…Righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne.” (Psalms 97:2) His righteousness demands and commands His judgment of sin. Now we come to chapter 20, “When Pashhur the priest, the son of Immer….” (Jeremiah 20:1) Now you want to remember this because you’re going to meet another Pashhur, but you can tell the difference because of their genealogy. He says, “…Who was [a] chief officer in the house of the LORD, [when he] heard Jeremiah prophesying these things, Pashhur had Jeremiah the prophet beaten and [he] put him in the stocks….” (Jeremiah 20:1-2)

Now when he put him in the stocks, we, we think okay, “What were those stocks like?” Well, we believe from everything that we can learn from history and from that time, that it wasn’t just the head and the hands in the stocks, but it was the feet in the stock. So you have the feet in stocks, and then you have the head and the hands in the stocks in a very uncomfortable position, so that you’re almost in the position of a seat. It is a distortion of the body. So what they do is they get Jeremiah. They beat Jeremiah, now this is Pashhur; and he beats Jeremiah, he puts him in the stocks. And where does he put him? He puts him in the stocks in a public place. Listen to what it says, he “…put him in the stocks that were at the upper Benjamin Gate, which was by the house of the LORD.” (Jeremiah 20:2)

Now I want you to get this. I mean, the people are going in and out of the house of the Lord, and they are going to pass; this is a public place, and they’re going to pass Jeremiah in these stocks, in this horrible position. Why? Because he’s prophesied truth, because the people do not want to hear the truth. They don’t want to hear the truth. They have stopped up their ears; they don’t want any part of it. Well, that sure should tame Jeremiah, shouldn’t it? That should shut his mouth. But what he did was unjust, it was wrong for him to do that, but does Jeremiah bow? Oh, no. Oh, no. Yeah, Jeremiah! It says, “On the next day, when Pashhur released Jeremiah from the stocks, Jeremiah said to him, „Pashhur is not the name [which] the LORD has called you, but rather Magor- missabib.‟” (Jeremiah 20:3) Magor-missabib means, “terror on every side.” He says, “That’s what God has called you; not Pashhur.” He says, “„For thus says the LORD, “Behold…,”‟” and this is justice, “„“…I am going to make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends; and while your eyes look on, they will fall by the sword of their enemies….”‟” (Jeremiah 20:4) I’m going to make you a terror. Your eyes are going to see the people fall into the hands of their enemies. “„“…So I...,”‟” God is speaking through Jeremiah, “„“…will give over all Judah [into] the hand of the king of Babylon….”‟” (Jeremiah 20:4)

This is the first mention of Babylon. Finally, that evil that is coming form the north is mentioned by name, and it is the king of Babylon. Now listen, Babylon is just coming into its own. Babylon is just coming into power. Babylon is taking over the rest of the Assyrian empire which they conquered. And, and they are setting up their territory, and they’re going to come south to Jerusalem. And this is what he says, “„“…I will give over all [of] Judah to the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will carry them away as exiles to Babylon and will slay them with [a] sword. I will also give over all the wealth of this city, all [of] its produce…all…,”‟” catch all, “„“…[all of] its costly…even all the treasures of the kings of Judah I will give [them into] the hand of their enemies, and they will plunder them, [and] take them away…to Babylon.”‟” (Jeremiah 20:4-5) They are going into captivity because of their sin.

Beloved, listen to me very carefully: Sin always leads to captivity. Sin always leads to bondage. Yes, you can break the law. You can go against God. You can bribe people to lie for you. You can win the case in court, but know this, God says in Numbers, “„…Be [ye] sure your sin will find you out.‟” (Numbers 32:23) There is a just Judge. His throne has been from the beginning. You need to listen to Him and order your life accordingly.