Pastor Tim Brown, Calvary Chapel Fremont, Wednesday January 19, 2011

Download | Duration: 00:47:35

The Desolate Land

Jeremiah 12:7-17

At the end of C11/1st part of C12 we find J in a personal crisis.  He was upset by some of the things happening in his life/disappointed that the Lord would allow them to happen.  But then the Lord spoke to Him and he is back to doing what the Lord has called him to do.  He was upset by what the Lord was doing in his life and this threw him off.  Once he got this settled, he got back to ministry.   

Each one of you has ministry nu.  If you allow the disappointments of life to choke it out, you will be robbing others/self.

The 3-fold message of the Lord is seen in vv7-9

7 I have forsaken My people.

8 For they have forsaken Me.  Whenever the Lord comes near, the people roar at Him.

9 I have given them into the hands of their enemies to be devoured.

Some tr.: a bird with talons - continually pulling/pecking at one another. Or as a speckled bird, sprinkled with the blood of her prey. The shedding of innocent blood was Jerusalem’s over-the-top sin.  MH

This 3-fold message can be seen at work today.  Many who name Christ are in the hands of their enemies: addiction/indifference/ hatred/lust/confusion… These enemies may be holding you tight/ squeezing the life out of you.  And instead of being conformed into the image of Jesus Christ, many are deformed by sin.  What the Spirit seeks to form, sin seeks to deform.  Our testimony is that what sin has deformed, Christ has transformed.

J gets specific on how the people have forsaken the Lord -

10-11  It has been made a desolate land…

4 times in 2 verses it is noted that the land is desolate.  Desolate – barren/fruitless.  Often, this is the result of the judgment of God.  But here, it’s the shepherds of Israel – its kings/priests – that make her desolate.  They were bring to blessing to the people (Lev. 6:24ff.), instead, they brought a curse.  They weren’t relating to others the fullness of the Lord.  They deprived them of the power of the Lord.  Cf. Mt. 24.   

There is an interplay here between a desolate land/desolate people.  First, the people were desolate/then the land became desolate.  The barrenness of the land followed the barrenness of their hearts and is a picture of that.  This was due, in large part, to the shepherds. The l’ship has not led the people to the Lord nor exampled godliness.  Paul said that he wanted to present to the Lord a pure bride.  This is what l’ship is to do – shepherd the people of God/to God.   

“What does that have to do w/ me?”  We are a kingdom of priests and one of our responsibilities is to represent God to man.  You can relate to others in a way that will help to bring fruitfulness to their lives or help to make them desolate.

    * Husbands …sanctify by washing of water w/ Word.  Sanctify – beautify.
    * Fathers …don’t exasperate your children…  Don’t bring out their anger.
    * Deuteronomy 6:4-9; Psalm 1; Proverbs 12:18; 15:4; 18:21

God designed us in such a way that we need flesh/blood examples.  We need to see righteousness/integrity/mercy.  Just hearing about them/having them described isn’t enough.  The l’ship was to embody/ incarnate the heart of God.  They were not 2b God, but be like God, to the people.  We need 2c what God is like.  Jesus Christ was God incarnate/Holy Spirit is God in you/me.

The fruit of the Spirit is the manifestation of what God is like.  God is love/joy/peace/patience…  The fruit of the Spirit in your life isn’t 4u, fruit is for others.  The apples on an apple tree are not for the tree.  Others are to eat of your life and experience something of what God is like.  But the l’ship was desolate themselves and this is what they passed on.  You pass on who/what you are.

Greek Orthodox Church - Epiphany 2010 was marred by the news that Theofilos is keeping his predecessor, Irineos I, prisoner in Jerusalem.  The AP reported that Irineos has been confined to his personal quarters in Jerusalem’s Old City for the past 3 years. AP reporters had to hide a microphone in Irineos’  daily grocery delivery in order to receive his remarks.  “They allow nobody out and nobody in to visit me,” said Irineos. “They are afraid of the people because I’m loved by the people, and I love the people.”  Irineos was deposed following accusations that he had sold some of the Greek Orthodox Church’s extensive property holdings in the Holy Land to the Israeli government. Irineos later insisted he had been framed, but Theofilos had set himself up as the new patriarch by that time.

Theofilos = friend of God/Irineos = peace.  The friend of God threw peace into jail!

The l’ship of Judah sought 2b like the surrounding nations.  Cf. v16.  Much of church l’ship today is enamored w/ the secular values of the surrounding culture.  If you don’t endorse homosexuality/ evolution science/egalitarianism/political liberalism/religious toleration/moral relativism – the l’ship of many churches/ denominations will condemn you.  The spiritual l’ship of much of the church is intent on breeding w/in you secular values and not the Word of God.   

3 times in 2 verses it tells us that the shepherds, not the enemy, made the land desolate.  God’s vineyard/field/pleasant field was made into a wilderness by its leadership.   

12-13  Were the harvests stolen by the Babylonians?  This is what a curse looks like – you work harder/harder and get less/less for it.  The harder you work the emptier you become.  Twilight Zone – food critic in Chinese restaurant – more he ate, hungrier he became.   

14-17  Syria/ Moab/Ammon were also defeated by Babylon.  The nations that afflict Israel will be punished along w/ her, but will be restored if they turn to Him.  J had been called not just to prophesy to Judah, but also to the surrounding nations.    J prophecies restoration if they will turn to the Lord.