Like Moses, and other prophets, the Lord gave to Jeremiah messages for kings, and for those under them. God gave the messages. He delivered them.
The prophetic ministry begins with God. God gives the wind of His Holy Spirit to empower the flow of communication.
PRAY! In 1 Timothy 2:1-2, Paul wrote, “I exhort first that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence.”
Exhortation is a prompting from the Holy Spirit. Isaiah 30:21 says, “Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it,’ whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the left.”
Receiving messages from God requires being in His Word and being led by the Holy Spirit.
A lack of response from a listener does not necessarily mean a failure on the part of the speaker of God’s Word.
God gave to Jeremiah messages for Kings Jehoiakim and Zedekiah. King Zedekiah listened but did not act. King Jehoiakim threw Jeremiah’s written words into a fire. Both kings suffered great losses. People have free will.
God offered guidance to pagan kings through his prophets. Moses spoke to Pharoah King of Egypt! Daniel spoke to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon! Jeremiah gave God’s Word to several kings. Paul spoke to kings.
In Acts 26:16-18, Jesus told Paul. “I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen and will see of me. I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.”
In John 18:37, Jesus told Pilate, “The reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to Me.” Leaders need to hear truth from God.
Matthew 10:19-20 says, “When they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak. For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.”
The Lord had a purpose for Jeremiah before he was born. He did not have to earn or initiate it, but he did have to believe it.
My impossibilities are God’s possibilities. His grace fills the gap.
God is greater than kings. He is the King of kings and the Lord of lords.
The Kingdom of God! “Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.” (Matthew 13:32)
Isaiah 55:10-11 says, “For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, and do not return there, but water the earth, and make it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall My Word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.”
The Lord gave Jeremiah a vision of a blossoming almond tree to say that just as surely as the almond tree blossoms during a particular season of the year His prophetic words would be fulfilled in due season.
This is the confidence we have! God fulfills His promises in due season! Our role is to believe and to declare them with boldness and conviction.
Our Lord Jesus Christ revealed to us a worse death and a better resurrection than that of the Prophet Jeremiah.
School of the Prophets: The 21st Century Jeremiah vision is to unite people with prophetic callings as did Samuel, Elijah and Elisha for solidarity purposes. Not a nonprophet organization! Kindred hearts!
Revelation 19:10 says, “The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. True prophets testify for Jesus.
In Revelation 1:9-10, John wrote, “I, John, both your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos for the Word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.”
Some may think of prophets as fortune tellers to serve the self-interests of individuals.
God’s prophets serve Him by glorifying Him and accurately proclaiming His Word and His ways to people.
The Holy Spirit gave prophets predictions of events relating to the Kingdom of God. God’s Kingdom is eternal.
In 2 Chronicles 18:13, Micaiah said, “As the Lord lives, whatever my God says, that I will speak.” In 2 Peter 1:20-21, Peter wrote, “No prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.”
“Any text without a context is a pretext.”
One homiletics professor said, “There are three points to every sermon, the text, the text, the text,” and “preach the text, the whole text, and nothing but the text, so help you God.”
Eisegesis is to allow one’s understanding to inform the Bible.
The danger of this method is that the interpreter would assume the position of God to inform God what He meant instead of vice versa. One example of eisegesis would be to interpret Revelation 8:13 as being about the USA because the passage speaks of a flying eagle. An American might interpret it this way, but America did not exist when John wrote his letter to the seven churches in Asia Minor. That’s reading one own’s context into the text.
Hermeneutics means to interpret. Hermeneutics is the art or science of interpretation.
The historical contextual hermeneutic method involves asking two questions about the text: 1. What would this have meant to the author? 2. What would this have meant to the original reader it was meant for?
For example, Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” To explain this passage correctly, I need to understand what it meant to the original reader. Jeremiah 29:1 tells us that the original reader was the surviving elders, priests and prophets among the exiles in Babylon. Jeremiah 29:10 explains what the text meant to the original readers. “This is what the Lord says, ‘When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place [Jerusalem].”
Prosperity for the readers of Jeremiah’s letter was to return to Jerusalem after 70 years.
Jesus Messiah is the One who makes Scripture understandably clear. John 1:18 says, No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.” Jesus is the embodiment of the text that is there.
Luke 24:45 says that Jesus opened the minds of His disciples to the Scriptures.
When I was with Youth For Christ in Hong Kong, the Executive Director David Chu, taught me to put on my Bible SPECS when reading the Bible. SPECS is an acronym.
S - Sin: Is there a sin to avoid or confess?
P - Promise: Is there a promise from God to claim?
E - Example: Is there a good or bad example to learn from?
C - Command: Is there a command that you should obey?
S - Stumbling Block: Is there a stumbling block to avoid?
In the past, when church leaders were not held accountable to God’s Word, they became corrupt and devilish.
One vital truth to remember is stated in Romans 3:23, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” The main problem with humanity is sin.
I John 1:8-9 says, “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
Billy Graham said, “The cross shows us the seriousness of our sin – but it also shows us the immeasurable love of God.”
The prophetic calling is to love God and love people. Jeremiah warned people because God loved them.
The Church like an Old Testament prophet, calls people to a close relationship with God.
The collective role of the Church on earth is prophetic in nature. Martin Luther King Jr. said, “If the Church does not recapture its prophetic zeal, it will become an irrelevant social club without moral or spiritual authority.”
1 Thessalonians 2:2 says, “We had the boldness in our God to speak to you the Gospel of God amid much opposition.” Acts 20:20 says, “I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable and teaching you publicly and from house to house.”
Acts 14:22 is a call to strengthen the souls of the disciples, exhort them to continue in the faith. Acknowledge that we must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.
A character trait that is common to all God’s prophets is an effort to bring people close to God.
The attached link is to a video version of this article.
https://youtu.be/oXC_FDtXY1Q?si=jB8LssazExCgRdsS
No comments:
Post a Comment