Hopeless Hope - Jeremiah 14:1-15:14
Posted by Calvary Chapel Fremont at 2/9/2011 11:38 PM 
Categories: uncategorized
Tags: Pastor Tim Brown Calvary Chapel Fremont Hopeless Hope Jeremiah
Categories: uncategorized
Tags: Pastor Tim Brown Calvary Chapel Fremont Hopeless Hope Jeremiah
Pastor Tim Brown, Calvary Chapel Fremont, Wednesday February 9, 2011
Hopeless Hope
Jeremiah 14:1 – 15:14
C14
1 Droughts were prophesied to occur in response to the disobedience of the people. A drought was more than a lack of rain. A drought was a physical fact as well as a spiritual mirror. The dryness of the ground reflected the dryness of their hearts. It’s almost like the Lord is saying, “What you give to Me, I will give to you.” They brought to the Lord a barren heart and received from the Lord a barren land. Reap what you sow…
It’s true – so often when joy/peace are dried up in your life it’s because you haven’t been to the fountain/neglecting the Lord. You want to blame other people/trace the problem to a difficult circumstance/if only your parents had done this or that. The key to a joyful heart is a surrendered heart. The key is in you, not others. Israel is discovering that they are reaping what they have sown.
In the drought, J receives a message of hopelessness. C14-15 are difficult to read for those of us who are in Christ/look at life through the lens of the gospel/the security of our salvation. Hopeless means that something can’t be fixed – that’s a hard word.
I say, “Hopeless, what do you mean hopeless? Is anything too hard for God? What do you mean that it can’t be fixed? You don’t know God.” Apply to marriage/ finances/children/emotions – hopeless/can’t be fixed? That’s a message I can’t deliver. And as we will see, J has the same struggle w/ the message he is given to deliver.
2 No hope in politics - gates –place of counsel/wisdom. This is where the town fathers made decisions that would influence the life of the town. Message: no hope in politics. J says to the people: “Don’t depend on the wisdom of the elders or their political ability to do something about the problem you’re facing. Your problem doesn’t have a political solution.”
Maybe they said what is so often heard today, “If we can just get the right elders in the gates, things would turn around.” Apply to Washington D.C.
3 No hope in next generation – “Our children will get something for us.” They come back empty – bring nothing to relieve the drought/famine. J says that if you are looking to your children to find a solution to the problems you have created – it’s not going to happen. They won’t deliver you, but you will burden them. The Babylonians are coming and you’re children can’t deliver you from the discipline of the Lord.
From another perspective - No hope in the previous generation - cisterns were holding tanks dug out of the rocks to hold the water from previous rains. Even as they captured the rain that had fallen, we have captured the wisdom of the past. We have 1,000s of books that record the wisdom of the past. But the problem can’t be fixed by the stored wisdom of the past. It is not a philosophical problem and doesn’t have a philosophical solution.
4 No hope in self-effort - your problem doesn’t have a practical solution. No matter how hard they work/how much seed they plant – no relief. Even as a farmer working the cracked ground will be frustrated, it is vain to look to sin for satisfaction.
5-6 Animals have given up hope
7-9 They have a saying in Vienna, Austria: “The situation is hopeless, but not serious.” J must be from Vienna – he has hope in the midst of hopelessness.
J outlines the situation:
7 our sins testify against us | 8 God is a stranger in the land |
9 God is like a man who cannot save
Even though he is in the midst of a drought/surrounded by the sins of the people/confronted w/ an indifferent God, J confesses his hope. Even when God says it is hopeless, J hopes, it’s in his DNA.
10-12 The Lord is trying to talk J out of having hope
The Lord says, “I won’t listen to them/you.”
13-16 False hope – that there is a tomorrow
The problem w/ the false prophets isn’t just that they are saying the opposite of J, their real mistake is that they are contradicting the word of the Lord. Cf. Lev. 26/Dt. 28.
17-18 Lament of hopelessness
This is the proper response to the judgment of God. The judgment of God should be accompanied by the sorrow of God. God takes no delight in the death of the wicked. Those goofy Christians that picket the funerals of homosexuals w/ signs that say God hates fags/burn in hell would have a much different impact if they were to weep over the deaths of those destroyed by their own behavior.
19-21 J’s prayer
God had told J in v11 not to pray for the people, but J is praying. He can’t help it. The situation is hopeless, but not serious – because of God. J just can’t give up hope. Hope is in his DNA.
C15
1 No hope in prayer - Both Moses/Samuel known as intercessors.
Maybe J thought, “If I can just get some real prayer power standing w/ me, that would really help.” The Lord was showing J how far down the path of rebellion the people were. It’s not that they had crossed a line where God would not pursue them, but that they had crossed a line where they could no longer respond to God.
“J, don’t feel bad that your prayers aren’t working, even if Moses/Samuel were here, I wouldn’t be moved by their prayers, either.” It’s easy to think that if only we prayed more/stormed the gates of heaven/pressed in to the throne of God, that then so-and-so/such-and-such a situation would improve. Sometimes, even the heaviest hitters strike out.
2-4 No hope in prophecy - the church has no message of hope for those who will not follow Christ. Apart from the presence of the Lord there is no hope – only doom.
The one principle of hell is “I am my own!” George MacDonald, Leadership, Vol. 9, no. 1.
4 Manasseh was the wicked king who had led Judah into idolatry. And though he repented at the end of his life and God forgave him, he set the nation on a course from which it did not turn back. The nation turned its back on God, and though individuals would turn from their sin, the nation as a whole was headed for destruction due to the influence of Manasseh.
5-9 No hope in your neighbors
6 Backwards – a word of direction. It’s like approaching someone and they keep backing up. The more you draw near, the more they back up. God is approaching them in J and they will have none of it. God sees the direction of your heart. He knows if you have a backward or a forward heart. What would it look like to go forward? Jer. 9:23-24.
10-11 purpose in the midst of hopelessness
Zedekiah, Judah’s last king hated J, yet he asked J to seek God for him – 21:2; 37:3; 38:14.
12-14 Judah’s defeat is sure
There’s no way you will be able to defend against Babylon and prevent your deportation into exile – the situation is hopeless.
I am so glad that I am on this side of Calvary.
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Hopeless Hope
Jeremiah 14:1 – 15:14
C14
1 Droughts were prophesied to occur in response to the disobedience of the people. A drought was more than a lack of rain. A drought was a physical fact as well as a spiritual mirror. The dryness of the ground reflected the dryness of their hearts. It’s almost like the Lord is saying, “What you give to Me, I will give to you.” They brought to the Lord a barren heart and received from the Lord a barren land. Reap what you sow…
It’s true – so often when joy/peace are dried up in your life it’s because you haven’t been to the fountain/neglecting the Lord. You want to blame other people/trace the problem to a difficult circumstance/if only your parents had done this or that. The key to a joyful heart is a surrendered heart. The key is in you, not others. Israel is discovering that they are reaping what they have sown.
In the drought, J receives a message of hopelessness. C14-15 are difficult to read for those of us who are in Christ/look at life through the lens of the gospel/the security of our salvation. Hopeless means that something can’t be fixed – that’s a hard word.
I say, “Hopeless, what do you mean hopeless? Is anything too hard for God? What do you mean that it can’t be fixed? You don’t know God.” Apply to marriage/ finances/children/emotions – hopeless/can’t be fixed? That’s a message I can’t deliver. And as we will see, J has the same struggle w/ the message he is given to deliver.
2 No hope in politics - gates –place of counsel/wisdom. This is where the town fathers made decisions that would influence the life of the town. Message: no hope in politics. J says to the people: “Don’t depend on the wisdom of the elders or their political ability to do something about the problem you’re facing. Your problem doesn’t have a political solution.”
Maybe they said what is so often heard today, “If we can just get the right elders in the gates, things would turn around.” Apply to Washington D.C.
3 No hope in next generation – “Our children will get something for us.” They come back empty – bring nothing to relieve the drought/famine. J says that if you are looking to your children to find a solution to the problems you have created – it’s not going to happen. They won’t deliver you, but you will burden them. The Babylonians are coming and you’re children can’t deliver you from the discipline of the Lord.
From another perspective - No hope in the previous generation - cisterns were holding tanks dug out of the rocks to hold the water from previous rains. Even as they captured the rain that had fallen, we have captured the wisdom of the past. We have 1,000s of books that record the wisdom of the past. But the problem can’t be fixed by the stored wisdom of the past. It is not a philosophical problem and doesn’t have a philosophical solution.
4 No hope in self-effort - your problem doesn’t have a practical solution. No matter how hard they work/how much seed they plant – no relief. Even as a farmer working the cracked ground will be frustrated, it is vain to look to sin for satisfaction.
5-6 Animals have given up hope
7-9 They have a saying in Vienna, Austria: “The situation is hopeless, but not serious.” J must be from Vienna – he has hope in the midst of hopelessness.
J outlines the situation:
7 our sins testify against us | 8 God is a stranger in the land |
9 God is like a man who cannot save
Even though he is in the midst of a drought/surrounded by the sins of the people/confronted w/ an indifferent God, J confesses his hope. Even when God says it is hopeless, J hopes, it’s in his DNA.
10-12 The Lord is trying to talk J out of having hope
The Lord says, “I won’t listen to them/you.”
13-16 False hope – that there is a tomorrow
The problem w/ the false prophets isn’t just that they are saying the opposite of J, their real mistake is that they are contradicting the word of the Lord. Cf. Lev. 26/Dt. 28.
17-18 Lament of hopelessness
This is the proper response to the judgment of God. The judgment of God should be accompanied by the sorrow of God. God takes no delight in the death of the wicked. Those goofy Christians that picket the funerals of homosexuals w/ signs that say God hates fags/burn in hell would have a much different impact if they were to weep over the deaths of those destroyed by their own behavior.
19-21 J’s prayer
God had told J in v11 not to pray for the people, but J is praying. He can’t help it. The situation is hopeless, but not serious – because of God. J just can’t give up hope. Hope is in his DNA.
C15
1 No hope in prayer - Both Moses/Samuel known as intercessors.
Maybe J thought, “If I can just get some real prayer power standing w/ me, that would really help.” The Lord was showing J how far down the path of rebellion the people were. It’s not that they had crossed a line where God would not pursue them, but that they had crossed a line where they could no longer respond to God.
“J, don’t feel bad that your prayers aren’t working, even if Moses/Samuel were here, I wouldn’t be moved by their prayers, either.” It’s easy to think that if only we prayed more/stormed the gates of heaven/pressed in to the throne of God, that then so-and-so/such-and-such a situation would improve. Sometimes, even the heaviest hitters strike out.
2-4 No hope in prophecy - the church has no message of hope for those who will not follow Christ. Apart from the presence of the Lord there is no hope – only doom.
The one principle of hell is “I am my own!” George MacDonald, Leadership, Vol. 9, no. 1.
4 Manasseh was the wicked king who had led Judah into idolatry. And though he repented at the end of his life and God forgave him, he set the nation on a course from which it did not turn back. The nation turned its back on God, and though individuals would turn from their sin, the nation as a whole was headed for destruction due to the influence of Manasseh.
5-9 No hope in your neighbors
6 Backwards – a word of direction. It’s like approaching someone and they keep backing up. The more you draw near, the more they back up. God is approaching them in J and they will have none of it. God sees the direction of your heart. He knows if you have a backward or a forward heart. What would it look like to go forward? Jer. 9:23-24.
10-11 purpose in the midst of hopelessness
Zedekiah, Judah’s last king hated J, yet he asked J to seek God for him – 21:2; 37:3; 38:14.
12-14 Judah’s defeat is sure
There’s no way you will be able to defend against Babylon and prevent your deportation into exile – the situation is hopeless.
I am so glad that I am on this side of Calvary.
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