Text: Jeremiah 26:1-11
" 1 In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim
the son of Josiah king of Judah came this word from the LORD, saying,
2 Thus saith the LORD; Stand in the court
of the LORD'S house, and speak unto all the cities of Judah, which come
to worship in the LORD'S house, all the words that I command thee to speak
unto them; diminish not a word:
3 If so be they will hearken, and turn
every man from his evil way, that I may repent me of the evil, which I
purpose to do unto them because of the evil of their doings.
4 And thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith
the LORD; If ye will not hearken to me, to walk in my law, which I have
set before you,
5 To hearken to the words of my servants
the prophets, whom I sent unto you, both rising up early, and sending them,
but ye have not hearkened;
6 Then will I make this house like Shiloh,
and will make this city a curse to all the nations of the earth.
7 So the priests and the prophets and all
the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the LORD.
8 Now it came to pass, when Jeremiah had
made an end of speaking all that the LORD had commanded him to speak unto
all the people, that the priests and the prophets and all the people took
him, saying, Thou shalt surely die.
9 Why hast thou prophesied in the name
of the LORD, saying, This house shall be like Shiloh, and this city shall
be desolate without an inhabitant? And all the people were gathered against
Jeremiah in the house of the LORD.
10 When the princes of Judah heard these
things, then they came up from the king's house unto the house of the LORD,
and sat down in the entry of the new gate of the LORD'S house.
11 Then spake the priests and the prophets
unto the princes and to all the people, saying, This man is worthy to die;
for he hath prophesied against this city, as ye have heard with your ears."
Today, I'd like to give a message with the title "Jeremiah and the Lord's house." Jeremiah was a prophet of Israel. He gave many prophecies for God's people. But, this time, when he prophetised about the judgment on the Lord's house and the city of Jerusalem, he was almost killed.
"8 Now it came to pass, when Jeremiah had made
an end of speaking all that the LORD had commanded him to speak unto all
the people, that the priests and the prophets and all the people took him,
saying, Thou shalt surely die.
9 Why hast thou prophesied in the name
of the LORD, saying, This house shall be like Shiloh, and this city shall
be desolate without an inhabitant? And all the people were gathered against
Jeremiah in the house of the LORD."
From these verses, we can understand that if any person would prophesy the destruction of the Lord's house or Jerusalem, it might cause a big stir among God's people. Similarly, there was another man who told about the destruction of the Lord's house in the new testament. And he was condemned to death.
Matthew 26:59-61
"59 Now the chief priests, and elders,
and all the council, sought false witness against Jesus, to put him to
death;
60 But found none: yea, though many false
witnesses came, yet found they none. At the last came two false witnesses,
61 And said, This fellow said, I am able
to destroy the temple of God, and to build it in three days. "
We can see that the same thing happened to Jesus which happened to Jeremiah. Both suffered rejected as prophets.
Many false witnesses appeared to have Jesus killed. However, they could not specify any sins. At last, two false witnesses appeared and testified that Jesus said he would be able to destroy the temple of God. Then Jesus was condemned to death. This story talks about that.
There were many things Jesus said and did which the Pharisees and priests could not tolerate. But, among them, the words of Jesus about "the destruction of the temple" caused the greatest stir and a special reaction. It says, "At the last came two false witnesses." So, this is something special when compared to the others. And this is similar compared to the time of Jeremiah. Jesus was accused to death as he foretold the destruction of the temple.
Along this line, this destruction of the temple is also described in the time of Solomon when he first built it.
2 Chronicles 7:19-22
19 But if ye turn away, and forsake my
statutes and my commandments, which I have set before you, and shall go
and serve other gods, and worship them;
20 Then will I pluck them up by the roots
out of my land which I have given them; and this house, which I have sanctified
for my name, will I cast out of my sight, and will make it to be a proverb
and a byword among all nations.
21 And this house, which is high, shall
be an astonishment to every one that passeth by it; so that he shall say,
Why hath the LORD done thus unto this land, and unto this house?
22 And it shall be answered, Because they
forsook the LORD God of their fathers, which brought them forth out of
the land of Egypt, and laid hold on other gods, and worshipped them, and
served them: therefore hath he brought all this evil upon them."
Verse nineteen says, "But if ye turn away, and forsake my statutes and my commandments, which I have set before you, and shall go and serve other gods, and worship them." Even if they are God's people, if they forsake God's statutes and commandments, and serve other gods, then, God says they will be found "cast out of my sight." This was fulfilled back in that day when they served the gods of this world, and it will be fulfilled in the present with God's temple - the church today.
So, the destruction of the temple does not happen only in the time periods of Jeremiah and Jesus. The Lord says it will also happen in the end time.
Matthew 24:1-2
"1 And Jesus went out, and departed
from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings
of the temple.
2 And Jesus said unto them, See ye not
all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one
stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down."
The temple's destruction, as foretold by Jeremiah and Jesus, is a prophecy that will be fulfilled completely in the end time. There will be a destruction and judgment of God's temple in the end time. This is what the Bible is saying and is warning us about so seriously. And this destruction of the temple points to the judgment upon the church in the end time.
The text says, "Stand in the court of the LORD'S house, and speak unto all the cities of Judah, which come to worship in the LORD'S house, all the words that I command thee to speak unto them; diminish not a word."
The Lord says, "speak unto all the cities of Judah, which come to worship in the LORD'S house." If we apply this word to the present time, it talks about every believer who comes to worship in the church. Why does it do that? The reason is written below.
" 3 If so be they will hearken, and turn every man from his evil way, that I may repent me of the evil, which I purpose to do unto them because of the evil of their doings."
God hopes every man will return back to him from his evil. That's why this prophecy of destruction was given through a prophet. But, how about the people's reaction toward this prophet's words?
"Then spake the priests and the prophets unto the princes and to all the people, saying, This man is worthy to die; for he hath prophesied against this city, as ye have heard with your ears."
Let's imagine how Jeremiah's message must have sounded toward the priests, prophets, princes and all the people. He said God loved the city Jerusalem but it would become desolate and be like Shiloh. This message of Jeremiah was never accepted by them. Jeremiah's words went beyond their common sense and was really of the minority opinion. So, his words were not accepted by the priests and the prophets, who had never considered his words as prophecy from God. Today the same thing is taking place again.
If the temple's destruction dealt with only the events in Jerusalem, this would have no direct relationship with Christians. But, these words talk about the destruction of the temple, that is, the church. However, who would be willing to accept words like this? We would not think this kind of words was accepted by the present church very readily. If we say things like this, we should never expect a good reputation. Being called "a heretic" is inevitable. But, please note something here. The descriptions of Jeremiah and Jesus, who were persecuted because of their prophecy about the destruction of the temple, are described as prophets for the present day. They are described as models of the prophets who will prophetise the destruction of the church in this end time. If anyone talks about this end time havoc on the church, it is inevitable for him to receive a bad reputation and he must bear his cross. Just like Jeremiah. He will be attacked and criticized by all the other people including God's people and their leaders. In the end time, he may even have to face the risk of martyrdom because of this prophecy. During this time, no one will persecute the man who prophetises the destruction of the temple to be built in Jerusalem, the capital of Israel. But, if he prophetises about the destruction of church, he has to consider facing persecution. But, let's understand what God prophetised in the Holy Spirit. Both Jeremiah and Jesus were sentenced to death because they talked about the destruction of the temple. This was not merely accidental. It was the prophecy about the church, "Stand in the court of the LORD'S house, and speak unto all the cities of Judah, which come to worship in the LORD'S house, all the words that I command thee to speak unto them; diminish not a word." This is God's commandment. Because God's will is "turn every man from his evil way, that I may repent me of the evil."
Let's do the will of God.
end.
。