The Solemn Binding Agreement ~ Kay Arthur

Jeremiah, Part 1 , Return To Me

The Solemn Binding Agreement

Covenant: Do you understand what a covenant is? It is a solemn binding agreement. Do you realize that if you’re a Christian you’re in covenant with God? Do you realize that covenant carries an obligation with it? We’re going to look at a covenant that was broken by Israel and the consequences of breaking that covenant. And I pray that God will use it mightily to keep you faithful to God.

Covenant becomes a key repeated word in Jeremiah chapter 11. And this week, we are looking at Jeremiah chapter 10, 11 and 12. We’ve covered idols. And I’m sure that you were touched, and blessed, and enlightened by what we heard Nita Tin share with us yesterday about coming out of idolatry.

Now, God’s going to take us into the subject of covenant because, you see, covenant tells us why we cannot live in idolatry. Covenant tells us what happens if we break that covenant and have other gods because He’s going to talk about the covenant of the law. And what’s the first of the commandments? “„Thou [shall] have no other gods before Me..” (Exodus 20:3, KJV)

But before we get to Jeremiah chapter 10, because it’s my determination to go through the Word of God, a book of the Bible, verse-by-verse with you, we have to go back to Jeremiah chapter 10, verse 17, where I stopped reading. He has talked about their idolatry. He has talked about who He is. And then this is what he says, verse 17, “Pick up your bundle from the ground, you who dwell under siege!” (Jeremiah 10:17) Remember that word “siege.”

He says, “Get your bundle.” Remember we talked to Nita Tin? And remember when she came out of Burma, what the government did to her? I mean, she didn’t even have a bundle. She couldn’t take her jewelry. She couldn’t take clothes. She couldn’t take a suitcase. At least God lets them take their little bundle of possessions as they began that long march north and then over to the east to Babylon. 10,000 of them are going to go into captivity in 597 B.C, 10,000 of them! He says, “Pick up your bundle…you who dwell under siege! For thus says the LORD, „Behold, I am slinging [you] out of…[this] land.….” (Jeremiah 10:17)

And you can just imagine the catapulting of these people out of the land. “„…I am slinging you out of the land at this time, and will cause them distress, that they may be found..” (Jeremiah 10:18) Listen very carefully, distress puts us on our knees. Distress shows us who is real, who is God.

Because you cry out to all these things, or you depend on your 401K to take care of you, or you depend on those bonds, you depend on all these things, and all of a sudden they’re gone. But it’s when they are gone sometimes that we find God. You say, “But Kay mines gone, and I already knew God.” Nita’s husband, Patton, knew God also, and yet he humbled himself under this, and it gave him a sense of empathy, not sympathy. Empathy means you can put yourself in the same place. And then, He cries out, “Woe is me, because of my injury! My wound is incurable. But I said, „Truly this is a sickness, and I must bear it.. My tent is destroyed...all [the] ropes are broken….” (Jeremiah 10:19-20)

Now ropes are very important in a tent because they hold the tent up. They stretch the tent out. “...My sons have gone from me, and [they] are no more….” (Jeremiah 10:20) It was the sons that helped put up the tent. You couldn’t put it up by yourself. “…There [was] no one to stretch out my tent again or to set up [its] curtains.” (Jeremiah 10:20) Why has this happened?

Listen, because it is very key to what happening in the United States of America. “For the shepherds have become stupid….” (Jeremiah 10:21) Now remember, we’ve seen this word. This is the third time you’ve seen “stupid”—you don’t want to be stupid, mark it! He says, “…The shepherds have become stupid and [they] have not sought the LORD….” (Jeremiah 10:21)

When we got ready for this rescue bill that’s going to take us out of all of our financial trouble and is going to rescue our economy and because it’s collapsing and “We’ve got to vote right away. We’ve got to pass this.” Do you realize that that bill was not even read all the way through? Do you realize where those billions, billions of dollars, trillions are taking our future generations into a debt that they will not be able to pay unless a miracle happens? And I will tell you, no miracle will happen in America to get us out of that debt if America doesn’t repent and return to God, if America does not put away her idols. And who has done this?

It’s the shepherds. The shepherds are the leaders. The shepherds are the ones that decide where the flock is going to go and where they are going to pasture. And it says they “…have not sought the LORD….” (Jeremiah 10:21) What would have happened if President Obama or Bush before him had called the nation to their knees and said, “We are in dire trouble? We have disobeyed the Word of God. We have flaunted our sin before Him. We have filled the land with innocent blood. Now we’ve got to repent. We’ve got to get on our knees. We’ve got to cry out to God.”

What if it would have been days of Jonah? When the King Nineveh heard the word of Jonah, and then hearing the word of Jonah, the king of Nineveh called them to fast, even had the animals fasting, and God heard and God spared wicked Nineveh. (See Jonah 3:5-10) What would have happened?

He says, verse 21, “…Therefore they have not prospered…all their flock is scattered. The sound of a report! Behold, it comes— a great commotion out of the land of the north….” (Jeremiah 10:21-22) The Babylonians are not going to walk there. They are going to ride. They are going to ride on their horse. And it says, “…To make the cities of Judah a desolation, a haunt of jackals.” (Jeremiah 10:22) The jackals are going to come into the city, and they’re going to find it empty. And they are going to stand there. And they are going to howl. This is the city of God. This is the city where God’s temple is, where His name is. This is Holy Jerusalem. He says, “I know… LORD….” (Jeremiah 10:23) And Jeremiah is speaking.

And so I’ve colored every reference, every pronoun in orange because that’s the way I mark “Jeremiah” throughout this study because I want to learn about this prophet ’cause you and I are called to be a spokesman too. You and I are sent to a disobedient and rebellious people with a message. He says, “I know, O LORD, that a man.s way is not in himself; nor is it in a man who walks to direct his steps.” (Jeremiah 10:23)

God, I know, God that I need You. I know that I need You. He says, “Correct me…LORD, but with justice….” (Jeremiah 10:24) How would He do it any other way? He’s just. He says, “…Not with Your anger, or You will bring me to nothing.” (Jeremiah 10:24) Now this is a righteous man speaking to Him. “Correct me.” He says, “Pour out Your wrath on the nations that do not know You, and on [all] the families that do not call [on] Your name; for they have devoured Jacob; they have devoured him and consumed him and…laid waste his habitation.” (Jeremiah 10:25)
God, I’m asking you for vengeance on these nations that have come against us.

What did you cry on 9-11? When all of sudden, we were attacked from across the ocean, other nations were rejoicing that America got it. I mean, it was bad. The Palestinians were celebrating that America got it. What did you pray about the nations from those enemies? And Jeremiah is saying, “God, you get those nations for what they are doing.” Now watch what God says, “The word [of the Lord] which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, „Hear the words of this covenant…..” (Jeremiah 11:1-2)

You want to mark “covenant.” I mark covenant by coloring it red and boxing it in with yellow. But wherever you see “covenant” in the Bible you want to mark it because it’s a solemn, binding agreement. He says, “„…Speak to the [inhabitants] of Judah and…the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and say to them, “Thus says the LORD…God of Israel, „Cursed is the man who does not heed the words of this covenant which I commanded your forefathers in the day that I brought them…from the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, “Listen to My voice, and do according to all [that] I command you; so you shall be My people, and I will be your God,” in order to confirm the oath which I [spoke] to your forefathers….”.”.” (Jeremiah 10:2-5) Now you want to mark “oath,” the same way you mark covenant. “„“„“….To give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as it is [to] this day.”... [And] then I…said…,” Jeremiah said, “…„Amen, O LORD..” (Jeremiah 11:5) Amen. It says, “Go and speak to them.” “And the LORD said to me, „Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem…..” (Jeremiah 11:6)

Now he’s proclaimed His message by the temple as they’ve come and gone. Now, he’s to take the message to the streets of Jerusalem, and say “…„Hear the words of this covenant and do them..” (Jeremiah 11:6) We’ll be right back, but you need to take the message of the new covenant to the streets of your city.

God is so gracious, Beloved, that He does not bring judgment, but what He forewarns you, He forewarns you in the Word of God. And He’s telling us upon whom the end of the ages is coming, judgment is coming. He’s laid it on my heart, in this time in history, and in this place in the United States of America to teach this book of Jeremiah because “…[the] things [that] were written [beforehand were written for our encouragement] for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages [has] come.” (1 Corinthians 10:11) So although you are not an Israelite, listen. Because as Israel was under a covenant, and we’re going to study this in Jeremiah part 2, in Jeremiah 31, “„…Days are coming…when I will make a new covenant…..” (Jeremiah 31:31)

If you’re a child of God, you’re under the new covenant and that covenant is to be honored, and that covenant is to be respected. And when it’s not, that’s when God disciplines His people. And so, listen to what He says, “„“…Hear the words of [the] covenant and do them….”.” (Jeremiah 11:6) It is not just hear. It is not just know. It is obey, Beloved. He says, “„“…I solemnly warned your fathers in the day that I brought them up from the land of Egypt, even…this day, warning persistently saying, „Listen, [listen, listen] to My voice..”.” (Jeremiah 11:7) I’ve been warning you, and warning you, and warning you, ever since I brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Ever since you crossed that Red Sea on dry ground, ever since you sat at the foot of Mt. Sinai, and saw Moses go up on that mountain and heard My voice. No idol can speak, but I have spoken, and I have spoken very clearly, and I have warned you over, and over, and over again saying, “Listen to Me. Listen to Me.”

Let me take you for just a minute to Exodus chapter 19 because I do not want you to miss this. And this is Exodus chapter 19, and put on your notes verses 1 through 9. Genesis, Exodus, the second book of the Bible. They have come out of the land of Egypt. They are at Mt. Sinai.

And in Exodus chapter 19, and I want you to remember this, it’s very key to understanding what is happening in Israel. “In the third month after the sons of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that very day they came into the wilderness of Sinai.” (Exodus 19:1) Sinai and Mt. Horeb are the same thing, “When they sent out from Rephidim, they came to the wilderness of Sinai…[they] camped in the wilderness; and…Israel camped in front of the mountain.” (Exodus 19:2)

This is called the mountain of God, “[Then] Moses went up to [the Lord] and the LORD called to him from the mountain…,” that’s why it’s called the Mountain of God, “…Saying, „Thus you shall say…..” (Exodus 19:3) And remember Moses is His spokesman because that’s going to help next week. “„…Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob and tell the sons of Israel: “You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles. wings, and brought you to Myself. Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant….”.” (Exodus 19:3-5) You want to mark “covenant” there in your Bible. “„“…Then…,”.” now listen carefully, “„“…you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, [of the earth] for all the earth is Mine; and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation”…..” (Exodus 19:5-6) You’re mine. You are going to be a holy nation. You are going to be a kingdom of priests. And later on, He’s going to show them how they are going to be the light to the gentiles. How they are going to be the light to the rest of the world. And they are to be the light by the way that they walk.

This is why disobedience to God is so desecrating. It desecrates the image of God in us when we suppress the righteousness of God in our ungodly living, when we turn to idols, when we put things before God. So He’s telling them this and, and they are saying that they will obey God.

Watch what it says, “So Moses came and called the elders of the people…set before them all [the] words which the LORD had commanded [them. And] the people answered together and said, „All that the LORD has spoken we will do…!.” (Exodus 19:7-8) He’s telling them what the covenant is about, and they are saying, “We’ll keep the covenant.” “…And Moses brought back the words of the people to the LORD.” (Exodus 19:8) So here they are saying, “We’re going to keep this covenant. All that God commands us.” You can see this again in Exodus chapter 24, we don’t have time to go there, but you can see it again.

So now, let’s go back to Jeremiah chapter 11. And he says, “Then the Lord said to me.” He says, verse 8. “„„Yet they did not obey [Me] or incline their ear, but [they] walked, each one, in the stubbornness of [their] evil heart; therefore…,”.” therefore is a term of conclusion, „“…[Therefore] I brought on them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, but they did not.””. Then the LORD said to me, „A conspiracy has been found among the men of Judah and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem..” now watch, “„…[They] have turned back to [their iniquities]…..” (Jeremiah 11:8-10) Instead of obeying Me, instead of following Me, instead of doing what I’m saying, they’ve turned their back on Me, and they’re going back to their iniquities, “„…the iniquities of their ancestors who refused to hear My words…they have gone after other gods to serve them…..” (Jeremiah 11:10) Put an “i” there for “idols.” “„…The house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken My covenant which I made with their fathers..” (Jeremiah 11:10)

Now He’s pointing all the way back to Exodus chapter 19, all the way through 24 where that covenant is ratified with the shedding of blood and written on the scroll so they know how to live. “Therefore thus says the LORD, „Behold I am bringing…..” (Jeremiah 11:11) You want to watch this, we are going to talk about it in tomorrow’s program, “„…I am bringing disaster on them which they will not be able to escape; though they…cry to Me…I will not listen to them..” (Jeremiah 11:11) He says, “„Then the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem will go and cry to the gods [the idols] to whom they burn incense, but they surely will not save them in the time of their disaster..” (Jeremiah 11:12)

Why? They have hands, but they can’t work. [They have ears, but they can’t hear. They have eyes, but they can’t see.] (PARAPHRASE, Jeremiah 5:21) “„For your gods are as many as your cities, O Judah; and as many as the streets of Jerusalem as the altars that you have set up…..” (Jeremiah 11:13) Go thru those streets where all those altars are and remind them of the covenant. He says, “„…Are [all] the altars [that] have set up to the shameful thing…to burn incense to Baal. Therefore [you are] not [to] pray for this people…..” (Jeremiah 11:13-14) He says, “Don’t pray for them because they’ve broken the covenant. And because I’m a covenant keeping God, I have to judge them."