JEREMIAH 332009 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Jeremiah 33

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2009. Here as we begin chapter 33 of Jeremiah.

Jeremiah the prophet is in prison. This takes place not too long after what we studied last week in chapter 32. You remember in chapter 32, Jeremiah was struggling with some confusion because he was there in prison and God told him to buy a field and the field that God told him to buy was already been conquered by the nation of Babylon. And he was there in prison and God told him to buy a field and the field that God told him to buy was already been conquered by the nation of Babylon.

And yet God used it as a sign that he was going to restore the people back into the land and that property would be purchased, property would be sold once again for the nation of Israel when God brought them back into the land.

And so chapter 33 continues on with a similar subject, a similar mindset. It's really talking about the idea of restoration. And it's interesting as God is repeating to Jeremiah as well as through Jeremiah some of the same things.

Because as you know and as I know, many times we need to hear over and over again the same things from the Lord before we actually believe them or get them through our heads. Here they are in this terrible situation. The nation of Judah is now just...

The city of Jerusalem.

And at this time, as Jeremiah is writing chapter 33, as this event is going on, the nation of Babylon has laid siege to the city of Jerusalem. And that means that Babylon is camped all around the city. They don't let anyone in or out. They're basically waiting for them to starve to death, to run out of resources, and then finally give up and surrender out of desperation because they have nothing else to do.

And so Babylon is camped outside the walls. They're building siege ramps up to the city so that they can eventually get into the city to conquer it. And things are not looking good. People are getting hungry. Resources are running out. As I asked you to

figure out or to think about for a moment last week, you know, if someone camped around your house, they set up camp, you couldn't go, you couldn't order in, you know, some pizza or you couldn't have Albertsons deliver your groceries, how long could you last? Would you be able to survive a year or two being, being,

laid siege to in your home there. And that's really the idea of what was happening in the city of Jerusalem. And so they were running out of resources. Things were looking difficult. And so God, in this bleak situation, is reminding them again that this is not the end. And he's letting them know, I'm going to be restoring you back into the land one day.

And so Jeremiah tells us that the word of the Lord came to him while he was still there in the prison. So again, not very long after chapter 32, God says, look, I am the Lord who made it. I'm the Lord who has formed it and established it. The Lord or Yahweh is his name. God is letting him know, Jeremiah, I'm the one. I'm doing this. I'm in control. I am the creator. I am God, God tells him.

And then he tells them something incredible. He says, call to me and I will answer you. To think that God would give an invitation like this really is phenomenal. To really consider that God, the creator of the universe, the king of kings and lord of lords, infinite beyond our imagination, all powerful, all knowing, with all wisdom. To think that God would give this kind of invitation should be mind-blowing to us.

God says, call to me and I will answer you. Think about that for just a second. Who do you call to with the guarantee that they will answer you? Who do you make a phone call to with a guarantee that they're going to pick up? Now, I have people...

in my life who call me with the expectation that I'm going to pick up. And if I don't pick up, well, I'm going to have to answer for that later. You guys might know who I'm talking about.

But there's a lot of people that I make phone calls to that I have no expectation. I could try to give you a call later on this week, and you may pick up, you may not pick up, but you're not obligated to. And there's not an expectation that you have to, every time I call, you better pick up. Right? You wouldn't expect that. Now, if I was calling someone, well, let's say like the President of the United States,

what kind of expectation should I have that he's going to answer the phone when I call? Probably a pretty low expectation, right? He's not going to take a call from some guy in Corona. That's just, I'm not important enough to fit on his radar to really for him to pay attention to. But here we have the creator of the universe and he says, hey, give me a call and I will answer.

I'm paying attention to you, God is telling to Jeremiah. There he is in prison. Now, it's kind of like a double death trap, right? He's in prison in a city that's being attacked and being laid siege to. He's in a difficult situation. He is heartbroken over the city, over the state of the nation. But God says, Jeremiah, call to me.

Give me a call. Cry out to me and I will answer you. But not only will he answer Jeremiah, he goes on to say, and I'll show you great and mighty things which you do not know. So not only is God promising to answer when Jeremiah calls, but he says, I'm going to show you some great and mighty things. I'm going to show you some good things that you do not know.

This word mighty is an interesting word. When God says, I'm going to show you great and mighty things, what do you think he's talking about? Is he just talking about, I'm going to show you pictures of some strong guys or some really powerful tools or instruments? The word mighty really isn't about strength. It literally means something that is fortified, but with the idea of it being inaccessible.

And so here's the picture here, that God is saying, I'm going to show you things that are fortified, that are inaccessible. It's also a word that's used to describe something that is secret, because it's

It's inaccessible. There was a house not too far from the house where I grew up, and it was an interesting house for me because every time I rode by it on my bike, it always made me really curious what the house was like because all around the perimeter of the house...

Some of you might know it's a house on Indiana. And as you go down Indiana, you see this house. And all around the perimeter, well, they have this high fence. But right immediately behind the fence, they have these, what are those tall green trees? I think juniper trees or something. And they're just like connecting. What's that? I'm sorry.

Yeah, those ones. Italian Cypress, I think. But they're like wall to wall, you know, connecting to each other. And so it's like a fortress. You can't see in. And I always wondered, what are they doing in that house? I figured it had to be something illegal. But that's kind of the idea here is it was inaccessible to me. It's a secret what's happening in there. And that's what this word mighty is all about. God is telling Jeremiah, Jeremiah, call to me. I'm going to answer you. But I'm going to show you things that

that are inaccessible to you, they're secrets to you, they're fortified. You're not smart enough to know them. You don't have enough wisdom to learn these things. You can't access that information or to know what's going to happen or what I'm going to say, but I'm going to reveal it to you. How amazing this is, that God is telling to Jeremiah, give me a call. He's giving him this invitation to call him and he gives him...

The exhortation that when he calls, God is going to show him things that he does not have access to. God says, I'm going to show you my plan. Nobody else knows my plan, Jeremiah. It's not accessible to human imagination or human innovation. But Jeremiah, I'm going to reveal it to you.

And this evening I want to encourage you to call to God, to cry out to Him. Whatever situation you might be in, maybe you feel like you're in a similar situation to Jeremiah, where you're in prison inside of a city that's being laid siege to. You know, you're struggling with some issues, some difficulty, and it's doubly difficult, it's extra intense, it's extra hard, the outcome looks bleak,

God says, call to me. And you know, you will be surprised at how much God wants to show you. You would be surprised if you would just call to him how much God desires to speak to you and to reveal himself to you and to reveal to you things that are fortified, that are secret, that cannot be known any other way except for that God would reveal them to you.

And so this evening, I really want to encourage you to ask, to call to Him. You know, sometimes when we talk about coming to God, when we talk about praying, we talk about calling out to God, we immediately in our minds begin to think that it's a works-type relationship with God. And we often disqualify ourselves. At least we do if you are anything like me. And we think, well...

I can't call to God because, well, I've got this going on.

I haven't had that much faith lately. I've struggled in this area. I haven't been that faithful in reading the Bible. I can't call to God. He doesn't want to show me things because I really have been blowing it or I haven't been as faithful as I should be. And we have this idea that it's about how good we are or how much we deserve for God to reveal to us great and mighty things which we do not know.

But the wonderful thing about our relationship with God is that it's a relationship that's based upon grace and not words. And so it's not about how good you've been, how faithful you've been, or how bad you've been or not been. It's about God's grace. I believe God would share the same message to us this evening. Call to me and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things which you do not know.

In saying that, in sharing about grace, it's also important that we understand the issue of sin. It doesn't mean that, well, we'll just continue to sin and call out to God and He's going to show us. No, sin impedes our ability to hear. It's not that God doesn't speak to us because, well, we've been involved in sin. But picture it this way. Have you ever had a hard time hearing?

Hearing somebody because they don't look at you when they're talking to you? That happens to me and Kim all the time in the grocery store. Because I'm usually pushing the shopping cart. She's walking in front of me and she talks. I don't have any idea what she's saying. Sometimes I pretend I do. Sometimes I ask her to repeat. But I can't hear her. It's hard to hear. It's hard to listen to someone when your back is to them.

And that's what sin really is all about. When we are involving ourselves in sin, we're turning away from God. And so it's not that God's not speaking. It's not that God's wanting to reveal to us great and mighty things that we do not know. But sometimes, because we're choosing to live in sin, we've turned our back to God and it makes it more difficult for us to hear Him. But here we are this evening and God's giving us an invitation.

And it's not about earning God's favor in order to hear. All we need to do is to turn to Him, to call to Him. That is to direct our attention to Him and to call out to Him. And God says, I will answer and I'll show you great and mighty things which you do not know. Let's go on to verse 4. He says, For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the houses of this city.

And the houses of the kings of Judah, which have been pulled down to fortify against the siege mounds and the sword. They come to fight with the Chaldeans, but only to fill their places with the dead bodies of men whom I will slay in my anger and my fury. For all whose wickedness I have hidden my face from this city. God now begins to share with Jeremiah what is about to happen.

He basically tells Jeremiah, resistance is futile. It's not going to work. All these people are tearing down their houses. Now, to get an idea of the state of the nation of Judah...

Can you just try to put yourself in their shoes? Can you try to imagine what it would be like to go home, to tear apart your house in order to fortify the walls to protect yourself from a attacking army? I mean, that's a very intense and difficult situation. Probably we would have a hard time really imagining and putting ourselves in that place.

of having to go to such a length in order to protect ourselves from invasion. Here they are, they're tearing apart their homes, trying to strengthen the walls. They're really trying desperately to do it their own way.

Now, God's been very clear to them all up to this point. He's been letting them know what is going to take place. He's been letting them know why it's taking place. Because of their sin and their rebellion, because they refuse to turn back, to turn away from sin and to follow Him. Because of their refusal, they've brought themselves to this point.

God has warned them and let them know, listen, Babylon is coming. It's to the point now they're going to conquer you regardless of what you do. And so he actually encouraged the people, the inhabitants of Jerusalem. God said, the best thing for you to do is to surrender. Just throw up the white flag, walk out beat. You're going to go into captivity for 70 years, but then I'm going to bring you back.

But here's the people inside the city saying, no, we're not going to listen to God. Still after all this, after God's word has been proven true time and time again, they say, no, we're not going to listen. We're going to try to do it our way. I know, I've got an idea. If we tear apart our houses and strengthen the walls, then we'll be able to resist. Then we'll be successful.

Then what God has said, what Jeremiah has said, will not come to pass, but we will successfully resist Babylon and not go into captivity. They were trying desperately to do it their own way. In that situation, God told Jeremiah, it's not going to work. They're trying, they're doing their best, but they're trying to do it their own way, and it's not going to succeed. He says, they're going to come out to fight with the Chaldeans, but only to...

To fill their places, to fill their homes with the dead bodies of men whom I will slay in my anger. As a result of their sin and rebellion against God, God says they can try to resist, but they will not escape the consequences for their rebellion against me. Verse 6. He says,

I will heal them and reveal to them the abundance of peace and truth. So, first of all, in verse 4 and 5, God says, look, here's the situation, Jeremiah. They're trying really hard, but it's not going to work. Destruction is coming. But that's not the main point of what God is speaking to Jeremiah. He's telling Jeremiah, yes, there's going to be the consequences. They're going to have to face the result of their rebellion against me.

But that's not the end. I'm going to bring them back. I'm going to restore them to the land. I'm going to bless them once again. And so we see that in verse 6. He says, I'm going to bring it. That's the city. I'm going to bring it health and healing. I'm going to heal them and reveal to them the abundance of peace and truth. God says, it's not over. Even though to the very end they're desperately trying to do it on their own and refusing to do it my way.

I'm still going to bring them back and I'm going to heal them and give them an abundance of peace and truth. Verse 7, And I will cause the captives of Judah and the captives of Israel to return and rebuild those places as at the first. Verse 8,

I will cleanse them from all their iniquity by which they have sinned against me. And I will pardon all their iniquities by which they have sinned and by which they have transgressed against me. Then it shall be to me a name of joy, a praise, and an honor before all nations of the earth who shall hear all the good that I do to them. They shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and all the prosperity that I provide for it.

Here God continues on sharing with Jeremiah the things that he's going to do. Incredible, the grace and mercy of God. As he's been dealing with this stubborn and rebellious nation, they've resisted and resisted and resisted. God says, okay, I'm going to discipline, I'm going to chastise, but it's because I love them and it's because I'm going to bring them back. I'm going to restore them. So God says, I'm going to heal them.

The captives are going to return. Now, remember the nation of Israel splits into two nations. The northern part called Israel, the southern part called Judah. We're dealing here in Jeremiah chapter 33 with that southern part called Judah. The northern kingdom, Israel, was conquered about 150 years earlier before Jeremiah was ministering to the people. The nation of Israel was conquered by the kingdom of Assyria.

But God says here, I'm going to bring back the captives from Israel as well as the captives from Judah. They're going to be brought back into the land. I'm going to restore them. They're going to be set free. They're going to rebuild the places just as they were built at one time. Not only that, but God says there in verse 8, I'm going to cleanse them from all iniquity. Their sin is going to be taken care of. It's going to be purged.

They're going to be forgiven of all of their iniquity, of all of their transgressions, their sin against God, their rebellion. It's all going to be wiped away. And he says, and then it's going to be a name of joy. The nation of Israel, the city of Jerusalem. Instead of being a nation of provoking as they have been,

constantly provoking God to anger, flaunting their sin before God, refusing to hear Him. It's going to be a city of joy to Him, a nation of joy to Him, a praise and an honor, He says, before all the nations of the earth. He says, look, what I'm going to do, it's going to be a testimony to the world around them who will hear about the good that I do to them. And they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and the prosperity that I provide for it.

And so you can see here God saying, look, I'm going to do this incredible work. And they're going to be blessed. And Judah is going to be brought back. And Israel is going to be brought back. And the cities and the towns and the nations are going to be rebuilt. And their iniquity is going to be taken care of. And it's going to be such an incredible work that the rest of the world will hear of it. The rest of the world will wonder. They will tremble.

How good God is. Incredible testimony this nation is going to be to the world around them. Verse 10, Thus says the Lord, Again there shall be heard in this place, of which you say, It is desolate without man and without beast. In the cities of Judah, in the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate, without man and without inhabitant and without beast. Verse 10,

the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of those who will say, Praise the Lord of hosts, for the Lord is good, for his mercy endures forever. And of those who will bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the Lord, for I will cause the captives of the land to return as at the first, says the Lord. So here again, God promises the captives are going to be brought back.

But he says, as he's talking about restoration, he deals with it from several different angles to make his point, to share with Jeremiah, to share with the nation. Look, you're going through a rough time. Yes, things are more difficult than you could have possibly imagined ahead of time. I'm not finished with you. I am going to bring you back into this land. I'm going to restore you and heal you. And once again, there's going to be joy here.

He says, look, right now you say it's desolate without man and without beast. They're looking around at the nation. They're realizing all that's left of us is this city. From the city walls, they can look around to the surrounding villages and towns that were once there and they just...

Cry out and say, it's desolate. It's empty. There's nothing there. There's no inhabitants. There's no animals. It's just wasteland now. He says, in the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem, they're desolate. And God says, here in this place, where you say, oh, it's just desolate. It's empty. It's wilderness. It's worthless. God says, the voice of joy and the voice of gladness will return.

There will one day again be here in these streets the voices of joy and of gladness. The voice of the bridegroom and of the bride. Now, in a situation where they're tearing down their houses to fortify the walls, trying to save themselves from the attack that is happening, I think we can understand them looking around and thinking, how could there ever be joy in this place again? How could we ever...

Give away the bride. How could we ever hear the voice of the bridegroom as well as the bride? How could we ever hear the sound of rejoicing and the voice of celebration? He goes on to say, The voice of those who will say, Praise the Lord of hosts, for the Lord is good, for His mercy endures forever. They could be looking around and thinking, How on earth could that happen? But God says, Jeremiah, hey, call to me, Jeremiah.

I know it's tough. I know you're in this difficult situation. I know the outlook. Well, you can't envision anything good coming out of it. But Jeremiah called to me because there's some great and mighty things that I want to show you. Things that you can't see. You can't understand how this is going to happen. You don't have any idea what I'm going to do. But Jeremiah called to me because I'm going to do such an incredible work that the world around me

is going to tremble in fear at the testimony of the work that I've done in your life. And I know right now you can't imagine there ever being a time of rejoicing again, a time of celebration again. And you can't ever imagine the opportunity to, well, to hear the voice of the bridegroom or to be the bride. But God says to Jeremiah, call to me. I want to show you some great and mighty things that you do not know.

You know, whatever situation that you face, even if you're down in the depths of the prison in a city that's being laid siege to you, that is starving and dying of thirst and is certainly going to be conquered. I mean, that's about as low as you can get. God would say to you, call to me. I'm not done with you. This isn't the end of the story. I have a work that I want to accomplish. I want to show you great and mighty things which you do not know.

Have you ever been in a situation, been in a place in your life where you could not imagine ever having joy again? I know I've been there. Have you been there? Maybe you're there this evening. Again, God would say, call to me. The story's not over. I'm not done. Perhaps, yes, for this season, we have to endure these trials and difficulties that we face. We're tearing apart our houses.

To try to save what is left. We're doing the best we can, thinking there can never be joy again. There can never be healing. There can never be restoration. It's hard in those situations to imagine a good life. To think that God could restore. But God says, call to me.

I want to show you. It's walled up. You can't see it. It's fortified. You can't see my plan. You can't see the things that I want to accomplish, but I want to reveal them to you. Call to me. God is calling us to look to him, to turn to him, to cry out to him. And he says, I will show you these great and mighty things. Verse 12. Thus says the Lord of hosts, in this place which is desolate...

So here God deals with

and flocks. And he says, look, the flocks and the shepherds are going to be restored. Now the nation of Judah, again, had been reduced to the inhabitants of the city of Jerusalem. That was all that was left. But here God lists all these places surrounding Jerusalem, all these places around them that right now are occupied by Babylon. And God says, I'm going to restore shepherds and flocks to those lands.

There were no shepherds and flocks at that time because the army was there. In war, you know, you don't just continue shepherding the flock and say, oh, hey, Nebuchadnezzar, how you doing? I'm just crossing over here to get the sheep to graze in this field. No, they were all gone, taken captive or holed up in the city of Jerusalem, starving to death. But what God is saying is, I'm going to restore. That means, well, there's going to be...

God is saying more than just, you know, you're going to survive the siege. God is saying the war is going to be done. It's going to be over. And the sheep will be free to graze. The shepherds will be able to lead the flocks in the fields. Not fearing the attack of an enemy. There's going to be peace. Have you ever been in a situation, in a place in your life, where you could not imagine ever having peace again?

God tells Jeremiah, call to me. You can't imagine peace. You don't remember what it's like. You don't see how that could ever take place again, Jeremiah. Call to me and I will show you great and mighty things which you do not know. Verse 14. Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord.

that I will perform that good thing which I have promised to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah. In those days and at that time I will cause to grow up to David a branch of righteousness. He shall execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will dwell safely. And this is the name by which she will be called the Lord our righteousness."

How is God going to do this work? What is God going to accomplish in them? Well, He says, look, I'm going to do the things that I've promised. God says, I'm going to be faithful to my word. Again, in times where we face difficulty like the nation of Judah did, it can be hard to imagine God's word coming to pass. You know those faithful promises that we hold on to, like all things work together for good.

And we quote those and we know those and those are important to us. But very often in the midst of tragedy, in the midst of difficulty, where there is turmoil and starvation and we're tearing down our houses trying to make ends meet, it's hard to see how is this going to work together for good? How is God's word going to be accomplished? But God says, look, the days are coming. I'm going to perform that good thing which I promised.

I'm going to make come to pass the words that I have said, the promises that I have made. He says, I'm going to cause to grow up to David a branch of righteousness. How is his word going to be fulfilled? How is this going to come to pass? Well, it's going to start with the branch of righteousness. The branch is a reference to Jesus Christ. It's a reference to the Messiah. You can see

Check into the book of Isaiah with some more references to the branch pointing to the Messiah, the Savior of the nation, the Savior of the world. But God says, I'm going to cause this to happen. Here's what's going to take place. I'm going to grow up a branch of righteousness. The Messiah is going to come on the scene. He's going to execute judgment and righteousness.

And he says, in those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will dwell safely. And the name which Jerusalem will be called is the Lord our righteousness. God says, I'm going to be faithful to my word and my promises are going to come to pass. These things are going to be accomplished, but probably not in the way that you think they're going to be accomplished. God's plan does not always line up with ours. We think that we need a financial savior and God says, no, you need a righteous savior.

They were thinking, we need a Savior from Babylon. And God says, no, you need the branch of righteousness. When Jesus was ministering to His disciples, as they are figuring out and learning that He's the Messiah, they were expecting Him, like the rest of the Jewish world in that day, they were expecting the Messiah to overthrow the nation of Rome and set up a kingdom right then and there. They were not expecting the Messiah to...

be put to death. They were not expecting the Messiah to deal with the sin issue. They were expecting the Messiah to set up an earthly kingdom. God does not always work in the way that we think or expect Him to work. And when we call to Him, expecting Him to show us great and mighty things which we do not know, sometimes, most of the time, almost all the time, God shows us not what we expect, but what is best for us.

His will and His plan is, well, it's what's best for us. And God in speaking to the nation says, look, I'm going to perform my word and here's how it's going to work. First of all, the most important thing is there's going to be this branch. The Messiah is going to come. And your iniquity is going to be dealt with. He's going to execute judgment and righteousness. And the city is going to be called the Lord, our righteousness. God says the most important thing

is that you have right standing with me. And that's what needs to change. That's the real issue. That's what needs to be addressed. And so I'm going to be good. I'm going to be faithful to the promises that I've made. And here's how I'm going to do that. I'm going to fulfill those promises by raising up for you a Savior who can give you right standing before God and access to the throne room of God so that you can have relationship with God.

And you know that's what we need as well. Remember what Jesus said in Matthew chapter 6? Seek first the kingdom of God. And all these things will be added unto you. When you turn on the news, you hear about devastation and destruction. You hear about financial crisis. You hear about recession. You hear about all the worries, all the speculation, the what-ifs. It can be easy to find ourselves in a situation where we feel that

Well, like the nation of Judah, there's no escape. We're bound up. We're caught up here. We're in prison in a city that's being attacked. We're starving. Destruction is imminent. It's going to happen any day now. We're just waiting for the rest of the cards to come apart, to fall down. And we can cry out to God. But understand God's primary concern. And understand that what God wants, first of all,

The way that God's going to work in you first and foremost, if He's going to deal with our standing before Him. Are you seeking first the kingdom of God? Are you seeking first His glory, His kingdom, His righteousness? Like we talked about on Sunday. Are you diligently, giving all diligence to grow in your relationship with Him? Is that the purpose, the passion, the focus of your life?

Because God says, that's the beginning of what I want to do. And we think, no, I just need a couple thousand dollars to take care of this situation. And God says, no, what you need is righteousness that comes by faith in Jesus Christ. What you need is a relationship with God. What you need is to draw close to Him. And it's in that relationship, in right standing before God, that He will begin righteousness.

To fulfill those promises that have been given to us. Verse 17. God says to his people,

David will never lack a man to sit on the throne. David will never not have a descendant who is a rightful heir to the throne of Judah, to the throne of Israel. That's God's promise. God is not promising here that there will never be a time where there's not someone who is a king of Israel. He's promising that there will never be the lack of a descendant

who has the right to the throne of Israel. And so, Jerusalem was conquered. There wasn't a king. Even when they were restored, when they were under the reign of the Roman Empire, the monarchy was extinct. It was gone. There was a descendant who had the rightful claim to the throne. And of course, that's ultimately fulfilled in Jesus Christ. And because...

He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords because He resurrected, because He is the Son of God. Well, He is the final King for the nation of Israel. And so the nation of Israel, even to this day, has never lacked a man. God is letting them know the nation is not going to be completely annihilated. There's going to be a descendant of David.

The nation is never going to be completely wiped out. There's going to be descendants, he even says, of the priests and the Levites. Not that there will always be priests and Levites in service, but that there will always be descendants of the priests and descendants of the Levites who would be available if services to the temple should be restored.

And at this time, I want to show you a short video clip. Hopefully we can get it on here. But it's about the preparations that are taking place right now for the third temple. And so they're involved in training priests and Levites, even as we speak, to be prepared for the time when the temple is built. And so you can go ahead and hit play on that. Hi.

Today is really a historical event for the Jewish people. It is the beginning of the work of the Third Temple, construction for the Third Temple. Here in Mitzpe Yiriko...

We are building a field school for Kohanim and Levites in order to teach them the work that they have to do in Yerushalayim when the Temple will be rebuilt. We are starting to build the replica of the Temple here in Mizpeh Yerichol that will serve as a school to educate the Kohanim, the priests, how to serve in the Temple.

will be an exact replica of the Temple. And they were drilling the holes for the libations, the water and wine libations in the altar. And they will learn exactly what they have to do. When the time comes and the Temple is rebuilt in Jerusalem, they will know exactly how to perform the service.

In the time when the Arabs are writing in Jerusalem and the spokesman is saying that the temple wasn't built in the Temple Mount, never the Jews had the Beit HaBikdash there. If they would have there, they would never let the Arabs go up there. In this time that the Arabs are trying to throw us out of Har Habayit, out of the Temple Mount,

saying you don't have anything to do, we have to strengthen our connection in trying to show that we have what to say. We're going to teach the Kohanim how to work in Beit HaBikdash. And with God's help, faster than we have the students,

we will have the people going to work and sacrifice a korbanot in Beit HaBikdash. During the Sukkot holiday, of course, the priest would do a water libation for the purpose of

bringing a blessing to the water that we desperately need, especially now that there's been a drought for several years. And the water would drip down through what we call the sheetim, these holes underneath the altar, down into the bedrock, and would bring a blessing to the waters of the world. So this is what's happening today, is that we're digging the...

these holes in the ground as the beginning of the first step in building this replica of the temple. We've been waiting for the last 2,000 years for the rebuilding of the Third Temple. And here it is for the first time. We're actually taking concrete measures in order to fulfill that dream and start the process of the Third Temple. So, there in the video, they're sharing that they're building, they're working on, not the Third Temple itself, but they're preparing and training

and the Levites so that when the temple is built, they'll know how to do what they need to do. And so they're building a replica of the temple, a model of the temple. They're building a model of the altar and that's what he was talking about there, drilling the holes and stuff so that they can practice. And it's a school for the priests and the Levites. And so,

And so the point of that and the thing I wanted to point out, first of all, we see prophetically things are coming to pass and God is, his plan is taking place and Jesus will be returning very soon and we can look forward to that as they make preparations for the temple. We know that makes us closer and closer to the return of Jesus Christ for his church. But it also proves the point here of verse 18.

that they do not lack a priest. They do not lack Levites. They have the descendants that they are training and preparing for the day that the temple is rebuilt so that they can begin the service when it takes place. And so God is saying, look, there's never going to lack. The nation is not going to be destroyed.

Again, when we're in those situations, similar to the nation of Judah, it's easy to think, this is it, my life is over, nothing will ever come of me, and it's just ruined, I'll never have a good life, this is going to be the end of me. And yet, God is promising to the nation, as He, I believe, would promise to us, that

Look, this is not the end of my plan for you. This is not the end of what I want to accomplish in your life. The nation is not going to be annihilated. I'm not just wiping you off the face of the earth and that's it. No, you're going through difficulty. You have hardship. Maybe you are reaping the consequences of the actions that you have sown. Yet, I still have a plan for you. And you are not going to lack. When the time is...

when the time is necessary, when the time is right. God says, you will have what I need. He's going to be faithful to his promise. Verse 19.

And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah saying, Thus says the Lord, if you can break my covenant with the day and my covenant with the night, so that there will not be day and night in their season, then my covenant may also be broken with David my servant, so that he shall not have a son to reign on his throne and with the Levites, the priests, my ministers.

as the hosts of heaven cannot be numbered nor the sand of the sea measured so will I multiply the descendants of David my servants and the Levites who minister to me God says look here is my covenant it will not be undone it will not be broken his covenant is unbreakable if you can break the covenant with day and night so if you can mess up

Day and night, so that day doesn't come or night doesn't come. If you can stop day and night from happening, well then God's covenant with the nation of Israel can be broken. God's saying, look, it's not going to happen. It's not going to happen. My covenant is sure. He says, as the host of heaven cannot be numbered, or the sand of the sea can't be measured, so I will multiply the nation.

God is saying, look, my covenant will be fulfilled. My promises will be accomplished. You haven't destroyed the opportunity for me to do this work, God is telling them. Again, here they are in this bleak and difficult situation and God is giving them hope. He's saying, look, there is going to be restoration. Yeah, right now, if you try to fight it right now, guys, He says, look, it's futile, it's not going to work because this situation

is the result of your rebellion against me. You're going to face the consequences, but it's not going to be the end. As long as the sun rises, when night time happens, you can remember, you can be assured, my covenant has not been broken. I'm not done with you.

It's not the end. Verse 23. Moreover, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah saying, Have you not considered what these people have spoken, saying, The two families which the Lord has chosen, he has also cast them off. Thus they have despised my people as if they should no more be a nation before them.

Thus says the Lord, if my covenant is not with the day and night, and if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth, then I will cast away the descendants of Jacob and David my servant, so that I will not take any of his descendants to be rulers over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For I will cause their captives to return, and I will have mercy on them. Here God references the surrounding nations, what the other people are saying. Oh look, God's abandoned them.

He's cast them off. They're despised before him. They're hopeless. There's no chance for them anymore. And God says again, as long as I have this covenant with the day and night, as long as there's day and night, I have not cast you off. When day and night ceases, okay, fine, I'll cast you off. But until then, I've not cast you off. You will not lack descendants. It doesn't matter what people say around you. It doesn't matter what those other nations think.

I'm not done with you. I'm not finished with you. And I will cause you to return. I will restore you. I will do the work that I promised to do. At this time, the worship team is going to come up and lead us in some worship. And as they do, I want to invite you this evening. I want to extend to you the invitation that God extended to Jeremiah. And that is to call to the Lord. You know, whatever situation you're in, whatever you're facing,

It's not so difficult. It's not so bleak. It's not beyond the reach of God. It's not beyond the work of God. It hasn't taken you past the point where God can't reveal Himself to you. He desires to. He says, call to Me. You feel like you're in the dungeon in a city that's being attacked and is starving and is certainly going to be conquered. Call to Him.

Things are stacked up against you. Things are stacked up around you. Call to Him. And He says, I will show you great and mighty things. God wants to reveal to you. It starts with the Lord our righteousness. It starts with seeking first the kingdom of God. That's where the work that He wants to do in blessing us and providing for us and meeting our needs. He says, don't worry about those things. You don't have to tear down your house to fortify the walls. Seek first the kingdom of God.

And all these other things will be added unto you. And so as they lead us in worship, let's take this time to call to the Lord, to bring ourselves to the place where we will seek first the kingdom of God, to seek Him first, to cry out for Him, to look for His answer, fully assured that He's not done with us, with the hope that He can heal and restore and forgive and cleanse from all iniquity, just as He promised to the nation of Israel.

We have those same promises for our own selves. God is able to work in your life. He's not done with you, no matter what your situation is. So let's take this time to call out to Him. He's faithful to His Word, and we can look forward to Him fulfilling the promises that He's given to us. Let's worship the Lord together.

We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.