JEREMIAH 44 DO NOT BECOME WASTED AND DESOLATE2016 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Jeremiah 44 Do Not Become Wasted And Desolate

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 2016.

This morning, as we get into Jeremiah chapter 44, I have a message for you, and it's a little bit unique for me. It's a message that I pray you do not need to hear. It's a message that I pray that you don't need to receive, and yet I will share it in the same way that Jeremiah shared it, because I know that there are those who need it.

to hear it. And there is a definite need for us to proclaim and to bring forth this message. And so I've titled the message, Do Not Become Wasted and Desolate. Do not become wasted and desolate. And as you look at this house, and I would just encourage you to kind of take it in for a moment. Obviously, I mean, I don't know what kind of home you live in and where you might be. This isn't an exact picture of my house, but it's pretty close. No, I'm just kidding. No,

Clearly, nobody lives here, right? This is wasted and desolate. It's been abandoned for many years. It's falling apart. But even as you look at it, you can kind of see, man, that house used to be glorious. I mean, that was like spectacular. In its day, it was the best of the best. I mean, imagine some of the parties, perhaps, or, you know, the things that, the life that was lived and the things that took place in that home. And yet now it is there, wasted and desolate.

And as we talk about Jeremiah chapter 44 this morning, the unfortunate thing is that that is an accurate picture many times of many people's lives. That there was life, there was glory, there was beauty, but then...

There is this wasted and desolate state that comes as a result of disregarding God and his word. And so this morning's exhortation is to not become that way, not become wasted and desolate. And this is the call that is given to the people of God here by Jeremiah. Now, chapter 44 of Jeremiah is the last message of Jeremiah to the Jewish people. The last message of Jeremiah is the last message of Jeremiah to the Jewish people.

The rest of the chapter is he's going to be talking about the surrounding nations and God dealing with those nations. But this is the final message. And it comes in the place where his people, God's people, are now in Egypt because there was only a few left.

after the last attack of Babylon, and instead of staying in Judah and Jerusalem like God instructed them, they have fled to Egypt, and now God's going to track them down and deliver one final message, one final chance for them to turn because they've become wasted and desolate. And there's a chance for redemption from there, or there's a chance for it to get worse from there. And it's really kind of their last opportunity, Thessalonians,

through the prophet Jeremiah that God delivers to that. And so there's four points that we will look at as we work our way through chapter 44 this morning. The first point is from the verses we read already, verses one through six. Point number one is you have seen the results of sin.

As God speaks to his people that are there in Egypt, he says, I want you to think back and consider what you have already seen. This isn't new information. This isn't something that you've never heard of, but you've seen the devastation of sin. Check out verse one again. It says,

who dwell at Migdal, Tapanis, Nof, and the country of Pathros, saying, and he'll go on to deliver the message. But first we see the Jewish people are now in Egypt. As Jeremiah delivers this last message, he's talking to those who were left behind. Now, just a little bit of context here. Jeremiah, throughout his ministry, has been prophesying in Jerusalem about the destruction of Jerusalem that would come by Babylon.

And that was a prophecy that he brought forth throughout his years of ministry that happened in his lifetime. In fact, it happened three times. Babylon conquered Jerusalem the first time.

And instead of wiping out the city entirely, it just took away a bunch of captives. A bunch of people died. And then they set up a new king, but left the people in the land and said, okay, new king, you know, you serve Babylon and be faithful. But he didn't. And so Babylon had to come back several years later and conquer Jerusalem again. Same process. A bunch of people died. Some people taken captive. But they set up a new king and left the people of Israel in the land. And then

And then the third time they rebelled and Babylon said, okay, that's it. And that was under King Zedekiah. And now Babylon came back, conquered Jerusalem, destroyed the city, took all the people captive except for a tiny minority, a tiny remnant that they left in the land.

But those people also rebelled against God. The leader that Babylon had left in charge was assassinated. And so they fled to Egypt, even though God had instructed them to stay in Jerusalem. And so that's why they're in Egypt. They're there because of their rebellions. They're there because of their disobedience to God. There's very small remnants that are left in Israel that go to Egypt. But now some time has passed.

Perhaps 10 years, perhaps 15 years or so. We don't know exactly for sure, but some time has passed. They've been staying in Egypt, and now God delivers this last message through the prophet Jeremiah. It begins in verse 2. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel.

Verse 3. Verse 4.

And so what God begins to speak to them about is what they have seen. He says, you have seen all the calamity. He wants them to think about, he's kind of taking them back and saying, hey, remember some of the things that you have seen, the calamity that you have watched unfold and seen take place. Now, again, they saw Jerusalem destroyed several times, but

And just to give a little bit of insight into what kind of calamity that was, when Babylon would come and conquer Jerusalem, basically what they would do is they would lay siege to the city. And if you are not familiar with those kinds of conditions that happen within a siege, you need to understand, you need to know those are horrendous conditions to be in.

Because basically what they would do is Babylon would camp around the city of Jerusalem and trap everybody inside and then just wait them out. They would wait for them to be famished and starving because no supplies were coming in. They would wait for them to be weak and divided and attacking themselves. And the Bible several times talks about siege conditions. And one of the things that happens, if you want to just a little glimpse of how terrible they are,

is you get so hungry, people are so hungry that their children die of starvation, and then the parents roast their children and eat. You got to understand, that's pretty horrendous conditions. That's pretty atrocious things to go through. That's, I mean, talk about calamity. It really doesn't capture the fullness of that thought, right? And that kind of like, oh man, how terrible those conditions are. That's

Just a glimpse of what those conditions might have been like. Then there was the captivity. Once the siege was over, then Babylon would come in. And Babylonian soldiers, they were not nice and gentle and polite. And okay, yes, please come this way. They were rough. They were brutal. They were known for their brutality. And many people would die in the siege. Many people would die in the attack. Many people would die in the battle. And then those who survived were taken captive. And that was not a pleasant thing.

They were stripped down naked many times as they were led away captive because Babylon wanted them to be humiliated and wanted everybody else to know, hey, if you rebel against us, this is what's going to happen to you. It was a statement to all the people, don't rebel or we will humiliate you. We will destroy you.

Many times when they were led away in captivity, they were linked together. They were chained together, not necessarily like with shackles like we might think, but pierced through their ears or their nose or different parts of their body. And so it would be a very painful journey, a long painful journey to Babylon where they were taken captive. And as they're bound to one another in this way, incredibly horrifying conditions to go through.

And as Jeremiah is bringing forth this message, he's talking to people who survived these things, who endured these things, who went through these things. And God says, you have seen all the calamity. And you can imagine having gone through those kinds of things, how they would want to like push them out of their minds. I don't want to think about those atrocious things that we endured and went through, but God needs to remind them in this message. He says, you have seen all the calamity.

And at this time, Jerusalem is now destroyed. Not just conquered, but the walls are broken down. And that was a huge thing for a city. That was the defense. That was, you know, what made the city. That was the strength of the city.

I was thinking about it this way. If we were to kind of like put it in our terms or things that we could understand. If Riverside, you know, wanted to conquer Corona, they could come in. And if they destroyed all the roads of Corona, if there was just rubble, there was no streets left, there was no freeways left, it was just rubble where the roads were. That's kind of, I think, kind of an equivalent of what it was like for them to have the walls of Jerusalem broken down. The streets are deserted.

The temple is destroyed. That magnificent temple built by King Solomon, it's destroyed, not standing at all, not part of it remaining. It's just complete rubble now. Zedekiah, the king, who was the king in that final time when Jerusalem was conquered, what Babylon did to him was, well, they captured him. They brought his sons in front of him and they executed his sons right in front of him. And then they gouged out his eyes and took him captive to Babylon so that for the rest of his life,

He had to live with that image. The last thing he ever saw was his own children being killed in front of him. Calamity. He says, you have seen all the calamity. And he makes sure it's very clear in verse 3. He says, it's because of their wickedness. All these atrocities that are being described, all these atrocities that they went through, the calamity that they endured was because of their wickedness. It was because of their sin that

that they went through these things. And this is not the result that God wanted. God was not interested in bringing calamity upon them. And that's why in verse four, it tells us, however, I sent to you all my servants, the prophets, rising early and sending them saying, oh, do not do this abominable thing that I hate.

God didn't want calamity for his people. And so when they were in sin, when they were involved in wickedness, he sent his prophets to say, hey, don't do that. Prophets like Jeremiah, prophets like Isaiah, and many others were sent to God's people to say, turn back from sin. Turn back from worshiping these false gods. Turn back from your rebellion. Don't do these abominable things.

And this morning, perhaps the Lord has brought you or sent me to you to bring forth this similar message. You have seen the results of sin. And I would encourage you not to respond.

Like the people of Judah responded. In verse 5 it says, God says,

but they would not listen. And they insisted on continuing in their sin. And so now the results of that sin have come. And Jerusalem is wasted and desolate. That's the end result of sin. That's the end result of wickedness. And that's not what God wants for his people. That's not what God wanted for the nation of Israel. And so when they're on that road, when they're headed that way, he warned them. He called them to repentance.

And he showed great patience, putting up with their rebellion for a really long time before this final calamity has taken place. But they insisted all throughout on continuing in sin. And so now God wants them to look back because now they're in Egypt after all this calamity has unfolded and they're still continuing to rebel against God.

And God's still not giving up on them. He's still calling them back. He's still giving them opportunity to turn back and get right with him. And so he calls them to look back and remember. Again, some time has passed, maybe 10 or 15 years. Maybe they've kind of pushed out those awful images. We had, of course, that famous attack, September 11th. We just kind of celebrated a big anniversary of it. Celebrated isn't the right word, but you know what I mean.

We remember. And the declaration at the time was we will never forget, right? But I think it was my sister-in-law who was saying the other day to me that this year is the first year where I think it's high schoolers will be taught history, taught about 9-11, who never were alive to experience it, which is kind of weird for us who are older, right? It's like it's part of who we are as a nation, but it's

It's weird to think that there's people who didn't experience that. But you understand, even for you and I, so we have, you know, the annual event. We have the reminder annually, and that helps us to remember. But we've kind of forgotten. The images are pushed back, and those things, we don't think about them too much. That's how God's people were in Egypt. They've pushed those things out of their minds. They haven't been really thinking about it too much because who would want to?

But God says, you've seen all the calamities. Let me remind you, you need to be aware of the devastation and be conscious of it and recognize and understand you were eyewitnesses. Don't put it out of your mind. God says, I want you to stop and consider and remember the calamity. You, Judah, you've seen the results of sin. And bringing that to you and I today, we can also say the same thing. You, you have seen the results of sin.

I would encourage you to stop and think about that. Even if there's some perhaps uncomfortable reminders or images that come back along with that. But think about your own life. You have seen in your life some of the results of sin. You've seen some of the waste and the desolation that it can bring.

For those of you who have been believers for a time, I would encourage you to kind of consider your testimony. And sometimes we forget about that. But remember what life was like and the misery that was there before Christ. I mean, one of the main reasons you came to Christ was because your life was a miserable mess. That's where sin gets us. It's that waste and desolation, that calamity that comes as a result of sin in our lives that comes

that prompts us, that spurs us on to call out to the Lord for salvation. And so you could look back to your own life and see and recognize there's calamity as the result of sin. But I would also ask you to consider the lives of other people around you. And we don't have to look real far back. We don't have to look at ancient history. Just considering the lives of people that you know or have known, I would say you have seen the results of sin.

in the lives of others. You've watched it happen. You've watched it unfold. Stop and consider what you've seen. Have you ever seen a family torn apart by sin? Have you ever seen that? I think we all have. Have you ever seen a family destroyed by adultery, by infidelity, unfaithfulness in the marriage?

And there's calamity that unfolds. And the whole family is impacted. The whole family is messed up and destroyed. There is waste and desolation as a result. Dad's over here. Mom's over there. Kids are self-destructing. Have you ever seen a family destroyed by sin? Have you ever seen a family destroyed by addictions, drugs, or alcohol, or whatever substance might be the case that erects havoc?

within the family. It destroys, it separates, it messes up generations. Have you ever seen a family torn apart by ambition? The parents caught up in things that are not good, that are not of God, consumed by other things, neglecting the rest of the family, that there's this separation, there's this destruction that unfolds as a result of sin. Have you ever seen individuals who've experienced the calamity of sin?

Again, similar things. Those addictions, those being caught up in fornication or pornography, adultery. Have you ever seen a life destroyed by anger and bitterness? Have you ever seen a career ruined by sin? You probably have. Careers are ruined. Families are destroyed. Lives are just left in devastation. Have you ever seen great destruction because of sin?

The Apostle Paul in Galatians chapter 5 describes the works of the flesh. He says they're evident, and he lists a bunch and then says there's more, but here's a few that he listed. Adultery, fornication, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, envy, drunkenness, and revelries or partying.

He says, these are the works of the flesh. They're destructive. And I would say you could walk through that list and you could think about probably people in your life, people that you've known, families that have been destroyed by each of these things. You have seen the results of sin. You've seen the effects of sin on individuals, on their families, on their careers, on their life, and the devastation that it brings.

It's not what God desires for people, but it is the result of sin. Now, because God doesn't desire that, he gives warnings. And so he sent the prophets to call his people to repentance. And this morning, as I shared earlier, it's a message I pray that you don't need to hear. But I know some of you need to hear this. And some of you need to consider the results of sin. But you know, maybe you're here and you're not in a place of rebellion against God. And you're not in a place of rebellion against God.

And in that case, I would encourage you to pay attention as we go through this passage because maybe God wants to use you like one of the messengers of the prophets to bring forth this message to someone else. And I don't mean, you know, give them a CD of the message. I mean, you share this message. You be the agent that calls people because God does not want people to experience calamity. And so he gives us opportunity to repent.

You've seen the results of sin. You know where that road leads. And sometimes the things that God has delivered us from, we miss.

engage in again later on. It's like we're going down the road, you know, and it's a dead-end road, but we go down the road. We totally wipe out. We crash at the end of it. We call out to God. He gets the tow truck. He, you know, pulls us out. He gets us out. He rebuilds our car, whatever, and then we get back on the road. We go down that same road to the dead end and crash and wipe out again. That happens in our lives. Again, you've seen the results of sin. Let's stop and just take a moment to consider that.

The devastation that sin brings. And it should kind of stir up the question within us then, well, why then, seeing the devastation of sin, seeing the results of sin, why are you continuing to practice sin? Because you know where that leads. You know where that goes. Why are you continuing to practice sin?

And that's what the Lord asked them in the following verses, verses 7 through 14. It gives us point number two, and that is the question, why do you continue to practice sin? Verse 7 says this,

Notice he begins in verse 7. Now, therefore...

You've seen the calamity. You've seen Jerusalem wasted and desolate. Now, therefore, why do you commit this great evil against yourselves? Why do you continue to practice sin when you've seen the results? You've seen the calamity that is brought. He says, this is a great evil against yourselves. This calamity that he's talking about, it's

It's yourself that you're hurting. It's yourself as you continue in. It's a great calamity against yourself that you are bringing as you insist on disregarding God and his word. He asked the question in verse nine, have you forgotten? Verse nine, have you forgotten the wickedness of your fathers, the wickedness of the kings of Judah, the wickedness of their wives, your own wickedness and the wickedness of your wives, which they committed in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?

Why do you continue to practice sin? Is it because you've forgotten all the things that went on there and then the calamity that resulted? In other words, you would think that what you have seen is sufficient to keep you from forgetting. But so often we forget. It's out of our mind. We're not really thinking about the end results of our current actions. We're not really thinking about the consequences for the lifestyle that we're living. We forget. We forget.

what those things bring. And God this morning wants to call it to remembrance and ask the question, why do you continue to practice sin? You really know where that leads. You already know how that ends. Verse 10, they have not been humbled to this day, nor have they feared. They have not walked in my law or in my statutes that I set before you and your fathers.

Have you forgotten? He says, you must have forgotten because you've not humbled yourselves. Even to this day, you've not been humble before me. And you have not feared the Lord. You haven't recognized the Lord as your judge. And he says, and you have not walked in my law, been obedient to the word of God. And again, you would think that what you have seen is enough to

to bring you to humility and to fear the Lord and to obey him. You would think that you've seen enough to be humble and fear and obey, but the people of Judah still had not come to that place. Verse 11, therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, behold, I will set my face against you for catastrophe and for cutting off all Judah. By this point, they've already experienced much catastrophe.

But God says, you're going to experience more because you've not been humbled and you haven't feared me and you haven't walked in obedience to me. It's an important question. Why do you continue to practice sin? Verse 10, I think is really key for us. It gives us the way out. Sin can be a very binding trap that we get stuck in, we get caught in. But he gives us the way out here in verse 10.

He says what he was looking for in them was that they would be humbled, that they would fear, and that they would walk in his law. And it gives us then that insight into how to escape the calamity that comes from sin, how to break that cycle of sin. And that begins by humbling yourself. Now, you could talk about humbling yourself in a lot of ways, and I'm not going to try to get into all of them. But essentially, I would say it this way. Get help now.

Humble yourself. You're caught in sin. You're trapped in sin. You're continuing in sin, even though you know better, even though you know the destruction that it brings, and you continue down that path of sin. Listen, that's a clear indication you need to get help. Humble yourself. Don't try to handle this on your own. And first of all, that means that you get help by crying out to God.

Because God has provided for us salvation in Jesus Christ. He's provided the freedom in Jesus Christ. He sets us free and who the son sets free is free indeed. There's great promises that we have in Christ. And so you need to cry out to God and ask God for help with the bondage that you're in. But I would also go beyond that to say, you need to ask for help from people around you.

Don't try to handle this on your own. You've been doing that for long enough. You've seen the calamity that it results. You've seen you're not able to break out of it. You've seen there's a lot of pride that comes from us not wanting others to know or others to be involved or we can handle this ourselves, just me and the Lord. We got this and you can't. What God is looking for is humility. Humble yourself. Get help. Break the cycle. Break the bonds of sin and fear God.

Fearing God really comes from the understanding that he is the judge. You know, ultimately, it doesn't matter what other people think. It doesn't matter if you think you're okay. It doesn't matter if your mom thinks you're okay. It doesn't matter if your grandma thinks you're okay. It doesn't matter. What really matters is you're going to stand before God and give account for your life. And what he says is what matters. What he thinks is what matters. And what he thinks is what matters.

And so we need to fear God to recognize he is the judge. He's the ultimate judge. And we will stand before him to give an account. And then thirdly, we need to obey God's word to give the word of God the highest priority in our lives. The word of God is the standard in which we build our lives upon. It's a standard by which we make our decisions. It's the standard. It needs to be the standard in our lives that we live by and not just read and not are just fascinated by and not just have lots of trivia questions from it.

but that we live our lives in obedience to the word of God. That's a quick glimpse at how to escape the calamity that comes from sin, how to break that cycle when you continue to practice. And even though you know better, you need to humble yourself. You need to fear God and you need to obey his word. Well, the people respond in the next verses, verses 15 through 23. We kind of see some exchange that happens between the people in Jeremiah and

And here it gives us point number three. There is no good reason to practice sin. The people respond to Jeremiah thinking, we've got some good reasons why we're doing what we're doing. Verse 15. Then all the men who knew that their wives had burned incense to the other gods, with all the women who stood by, a great multitude, and all the people who dwell in the land of Egypt and Pathros, answered Jeremiah saying,

As for the word of the Lord that you have spoken to us in the name of the Lord, we will not listen to you. So Jeremiah comes on behalf of the Lord saying, you've seen the calamity that comes from sin. You've seen the results. You've seen the consequences. Now, why are you continuing to practice sin? And the people come back and say, we will not listen to you.

We do not want to hear what you have to say. Here God is calling them to repentance, reminding them of the effects of sin so they don't have to continue to experience the effects of sin, but they're flat out refusing. We might wonder why. Let me say it this way. Sin messes with your head. You need to know this about sin. Sin messes with your head and it hardens your heart. It confuses your understanding.

And when we are involved in sin, when we continue to practice sin, you got to know your perspective is going to be wrong. Your mindset is going to be wrong. Your understanding of the situation and the things that unfold is going to be wrong. And you can see that demonstrated in the next couple of verses where the guys kind of explain their position on why they're continuing to practice sin. Verse 17.

But we will certainly do whatever has gone out of our own mouth to burn incense to the queen of heaven and to pour out drink offerings to her as we have done, we and our fathers, our kings and our princes, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. For then we had plenty of food, were well off, and saw no trouble."

You see what they say? Then, when we were worshiping these false gods, then we had plenty of food, and then, at that time, we were well off, and then we saw no trouble when we worshiped those other gods, verse 18. But since we stopped burning incense to the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked everything and have been consumed by the sword and the famine. So here they explain the reason why they're continuing in sin. Well, here's why, Jeremiah.

Because we used to worship these false gods and everything was great. I mean, we had everything we wanted. We had plenty of food. There was no troubles. It was a great life. But then we stopped. And then life has just been terrible ever since. And we've lacked and there's been swords and there's been famine. Man, things used to be so awesome when we worship those false gods. But they're not awesome anymore. Now, here's what you got to understand. First of all,

They're really confused about their facts. It's kind of like, remember when the children of Israel were brought out of Egypt, right? They were in bondage in Egypt, forced labor for several hundred years. They're delivered by Moses. They're in the wilderness. They get a little bit hungry, and they think back to Egypt and think, oh man, if only we could go back there. Remember, we had some great onions and really good onions and leeks and stuff. It's just like amazing, amazing produce. It was just like awesome.

Like never mind the whips, never mind the forced labor for many years, never mind the execution of our babies, never mind all that stuff. We had good leeks and onions, man. I mean, it was the best. That's what happens with sin. We get so distorted in our perspective. So here they are, they're looking back and their perception on what took place was, well, when we worshiped the false gods, then everything was great. And when we stopped worshiping the false gods, then everything was bad. And when we stopped worshiping the false gods,

Well, they're confused on many levels. For one, they never stopped worshiping those false gods. They never stopped, although they claim to here. They never stopped. You can read through the history. Go back, look at 2 Kings. Look, the history. They continued to worship false gods all the way until that final destruction when King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon conquered Jerusalem for the third time. They continued to rebel against God and worship false gods. They never stopped.

Even when there was revivals earlier in the nation's history, there was revivals, but there was still as a whole, the nation never stopped worshiping those false gods. So they're confused about the facts. They're confused. Their perception of the situation is distorted. Another thing that people in sin get confused by is the patience of God. You may have noticed God does not take you out the moment you sin.

You know, it's not like Pinocchio. You're telling a lie and it's like, you know, immediately. Everybody knows. God doesn't just like smack you down the moment you're in sin. He's patient. And he describes that throughout his words very clearly. Hey, I'm patient with you because I want you to come to repentance. I'm giving you space and opportunity and time to repent. But sin messes with your mind. And when you're in sin, you see that patience and you begin to think, well, that means it's okay. Nothing bad is happening.

We have food. We have clothing. Things are going well. Seems like we're on a good track here. And you mistake. You misunderstand the patience of God for the acceptance or the approval of God. And it's not the case. Another thing that we get confused about when we're in sin is that, well, the Bible is very clear. Sin is fun for a season. There is highlights, if you could call it that, to sin. Sure, there is pleasure there.

But what we do is we look back at the high. We don't consider the crash. We just look right at the high and go, oh yeah, that was good. Those good times. But the crash that results is part of that also. Now we blame the crash on God and blame the highs or give credit to the highs to the sin. It's distorted. It's perverted. It's backwards. And that's what sin does. It messes with your mind. It hardens with your heart. And that's why as we look at these things this morning, I would say, look, if you have a moment of clarity,

So that you look back, you look on the situations of your life and you realize, wow, that's calamity. That's really, I can't believe I was involved in that. And look what was going on and look how it resulted. If you have that kind of clarity, I would encourage you. Now is an opportunity that God has given you to repent and turn and make a change and make a difference. And you may not have that same clarity five minutes from now because sin hardens our heart.

And five minutes from now, 10 minutes from now, you might be like these guys and saying, oh, no, no, no. When I was in sin, when I was in that affair, man, things were great. Everything was wonderful. And it was only since I've been trying to be obedient and faithful to my wife, now things are bad. Hey, you've got things messed up and your head is wrong. You can always tell too when we're really impressed, you know, hey, it's been almost two weeks and, you know, I haven't been involved in that addiction or haven't done that thing. And we're really impressed, you know, with a very short amount of time.

That's a good indication too. Listen, you need to understand sin brings calamity. Don't continue to practice it. There's no good reason. And whatever good reason you think of, it's a distorted perspective. It's not a good reason. Well, the ladies now chime in and give their perspective in verse 19. It says, the women also said...

So here is the lady's response. Hey, it's okay for us to continue in sin because our husbands are okay with it. As long as our husbands are okay with it, Jeremiah, why do you care what we do? We're fine. So mind your own business. That was their perspective. That was their thought.

hey, it's okay for us to practice sin because our husbands approve of it. The men say, hey, things were always better when we worship false God. The ladies say, our husbands know what we're doing, so it's okay. Their perception is so distorted. They're so deceived. They're really messed up because of sin. This is what sin does to us. Permission from people does not replace permission from God. I want to say this pretty clearly. Just because your spouse is okay with your sin doesn't

does not make your sin okay. Husbands, wives, would you listen to that? Just because your spouse has come to terms with your sin or is okay or even approves of your sin, that does not make your sin okay. God still has authority in your relationship and in your marriage to say, no, that's wrong. That is sinful and you must repent. Or calamity results. That is, it doesn't fly. It doesn't work just because your spouse says it's okay.

Or anyone else? Well, I know it's not a really good business practice, but you know, my boss says it's okay for me to do this. It's not okay. God has a higher authority. His word stands over all. And so we need to understand. We need to be very clear. I think it's interesting that it's the husbands and the wives who are talking here. And husbands and wives, we need to be a good influence in each other's lives. When we're dealing with sin, we're dealing with serious stuff. There's calamity that results. It affects both of you.

you need to be serious and understand there's no good reason to practice sin. I like what Matthew Henry says in this regard. He says, Husbands, wives, you have a serious responsibility to

In regards to sin, in regards to your relationship with your spouse, we're supposed to quicken each other towards what is good, to help each other overcome sin and turn from sin. How sad it is, he says, when we harden each other in sin. He describes it as ripening one another for hell. That's pretty serious terms. There's calamity that comes from sin. And we have a responsibility to one another to deal with sin.

Because there's no good reason. There's no good reason. Not one good reason. We come up with all kinds of reasons in our minds, don't we? Well, it's okay for me to do this, even though it says that. It's okay for me to do this because of this and this and this and this and this. I have these reasons. It's okay. I'm okay. I've got it under control. All these reasons that we come up with in our minds. But here's what you need to know. There's no good reason to continue to practice sin, no matter what you come up with.

And that's what Jeremiah responds and lets them know. In verse 20, it says, Jeremiah says,

It's exactly because of this behavior that you've experienced the calamity that you're in. It's exactly because of what you're going through. It's exactly because of the sin that you're engaged in and the things that you're practicing. That's why you're experiencing the calamity that you're experiencing. Your sin is the cause. It's not the solution. And this is why sin can be a very deadly cycle because sin

Many times we see sin as the solution, but it's the cause. And what happens with sin is it, well, it brings calamity. And so because we're experiencing calamity, we're trying to resolve it. We're trying to fix it. And when we go further into sin, trying to fix the problem, well, it brings more calamity. And so then, well, we go further into sin, trying to fix the problem, and it brings more calamity. And it's this cycle that needs to be broken.

You need to break that cycle. There's no good reason to practice sin. There's lots of lies about why it's okay to practice sin, but they're all lies. There's no good reason. Even if your spouse says it's okay, it's not a good enough reason. You need to break that cycle. And how do you break it? How do you break that cycle of sin? Well, again, going back to verse 10, you humble yourself, ask for help, ask God for help, ask people for help, fear God and obey his word.

Break the cycle. Don't continue. There's no good reason. Now is the time to engage in repentance, in turning from sin so that you experience no more of the calamity that is to come. Well, God finishes up in verses 24 through 30 with the final warning. God will punish those who practice sin. Verse 24. Moreover, Jeremiah said to all the people and to all the women, hear the word of the Lord, all Judah who are in the land of Egypt.

Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel saying, you and your wives have spoken with your mouths and fulfilled your hands saying, we will surely keep our vows that we have made to burn incense to the queen of heaven and pour out drink offerings to her. You will surely keep your vows and perform your vows, God says. So the Lord hears the response of the people. We've made vows and we're going to keep them is what the people said. And God says, right, you've made vows and you're going to keep them.

Now, listen to my vow, God says, verse 26. Therefore, hear the word of the Lord, all Judah who dwell in the land of Egypt. Behold, I have sworn by my great name, says the Lord, that my name shall no more be named in the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, the Lord God lives.

God says, you've made your vows and you're committed to worshiping these false gods. You're committed to living in sin. Now hear my vow. You're going to be wiped out. He says, I've sworn by my great name. There's not going to be anybody left in Egypt to say the Lord lives. But notice in verse 26 at the beginning, it's a really important word. Therefore, therefore hear the word of the Lord. Notice that word because it's based upon their response.

Here's what we need to understand. If the people had responded differently, this section of the chapter would have been completely different. God would have a different word for them if they had responded with repentance. They responded with, we're committed, we're going to continue in sin. And God says, therefore, hear my vow. But if they said, you're right, we repent, we're turning from our sin, God would have had a different message for them.

Because God is always looking for opportunity to show grace and mercy to people. And we've talked about it before. That's why he announces judgment, to give people opportunity to repent. And so these last few verses are based on the people's response. If they would respond with the things that God is looking for, humility and fearing God and obedience to the word, well, then it would have been dramatically different, radically different.

that broken down house that they've become, that calamity that they've experienced, God would begin to do restoration and healing if they would turn to him. Listen, if you weren't here last week, Pastor Dylan shared a great message from Ezekiel chapter 37. Dealing with that subject, there's Ezekiel seeing the valley of bones. And God said, can there be anything good out of this valley of death? And he walked Ezekiel through this process of seeing, yes,

God could take a valley of bones and breathe life and bring life to a situation of great death, of great catastrophe and calamity. When you turn from sin and seek God, he will restore and rebuild. And that house that once was glorious and hosted parties and just was brilliant, it lays in calamity now, but it can be restored again. And God can do that.

a new work. He can do a revival. He can do a restoration. And that's what God desires to do. And that's why he has you here this morning. He has me here sharing these things. You need to know God will punish those who practice sin, but that's not his preference. His preference is for you to turn to him, to break the cycle, to turn to him in humility, fearing God and obeying his word. But if you refuse, here's the warning. Verse 27 says,

The last few verses just go along with that theme. God's going to destroy Egypt. He's going to destroy Pharaoh, the one that they trusted in, the one they thought would save him. He says, I'm going to punish you and you're all going to be wiped out. There's going to be a small remnant who leave from Egypt and go back to Judah, but it's going to be very tiny people.

minority. There's going to be punishment. There's going to be adversity. God will deal with that lifestyle of sin. He will punish those who practice sin. And so again, the exhortation this morning is do not become wasted and desolate. You don't have to end up there. That doesn't have to be your story. That was their story. They refused. They continued. And all the things that God said he was going to do, he did. And they were destroyed in the land of Egypt and a very tiny remnant escaped.

It was great tragedy, great calamity that they brought upon themselves because of their choice to live in sin. This morning, I would ask you to consider, you have seen the results of sin. You've watched it unfold in your life. You've watched it unfold in the lives of people around you. You've seen it. So why do you continue to practice sin? No matter what reason you come up with, there is no good reason to continue in sin. And you need to know, God will punish those who practice sin.

That famous verse, Romans chapter 6 verse 23 is still true today. The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. The wages of sin is death. That is, what you earn when you practice sin is death, calamity. That's still true today. There's no escaping it. There's no running from it.

Doesn't matter how fast your car is. Doesn't matter how fast your technology is or how big your savings account is. There is no escaping. The wages of sin is death. There will be calamity for a lifestyle of sin. But the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Jesus died upon the cross to set us free from the trap of sin and gave us great promises. He who the Son sets free is free indeed. Great promises, right?

Great help, great hope that we can hold on to because of his sacrifice upon the cross. We don't have to end up wasted and desolate. And to escape that end, again, going back to verse 10, we start by humbling ourselves. You need to get help. First of all, you need to cry out to God for help and ask God to deliver you from the sins that bind you. Even the sins that you think you're just choosing, they're sins that bind you.

We're enslaved to sin when we're involved in sin. And you need to ask God for help. You can't get out of that on your own. You can't break those habits. You can't change without God's help. You need to ask God for help. But also I would encourage you to ask people around you. God's placed people in your life. People you know who love God and walk with God. He's placed them in your life. Ask for help. Don't try to deal with this on your own. Humble yourself. Don't let pride get in the way of your deliverance. Humble yourself.

and ask for help, and then fear God. Recognize you're going to stand before God one day, and his word is the final word. What he says is what really matters. And so if your spouse is okay with you living the life that you're living, well, that's fine if you want calamity. But if you want the blessings of God and the life of God, the abundant life that God promises, you need to fear God and recognize, I'm going to stand before God, and all of eternity is going to be based upon that encounter with him.

Fear God, recognize he is your judge, he is your creator, and then that will lead you to obey God's word. That you take in the word of God and not just get some head knowledge or get some information, but that you put it into practice and live out the instruction that he has for us there. Do not become wasted and desolate. Receive the gift of life that God offers to you by humbling yourself, fearing God, and obeying his word. Let's pray.

Heavenly Father, I pray for each of our hearts. Lord, I pray for any who are caught up in sin. Lord, deceived by it. Lord, twisted in their perspective and their understanding. And I pray, God, that you would provide a great moment of clarity here. Lord, that there would be a recognition of the damage that is being done. Lord, it's really a self-destruction. We bring it on ourselves when we disregard your word. Help God bring clarity to our hearts.

Lord, that people might have the opportunity to call out to you and receive the life, the deliverance, the freedom, the grace, and the mercy that you're so anxious to deliver. I pray, God, that you would set people free, that you would bring deliverance, that you would turn lives around, that you would work miraculously on behalf of your people who call out to you. And Lord, the wonderful thing about your grace is that we don't earn it

And so, Lord, even though we're in the mess because we brought it upon ourselves, you're anxious for us to call out to you. And you look forward to blessing us in ways that we could never deserve or earn, but simply because we call out to you and trust in you. And so, Lord, I pray that that would be happening. I pray for the hearts here, Lord. Speak to your people. Call back those who are in sin. And I pray that you would begin that rebuilding and that restoration process, Lord, that lives would be restored.

turned around and changed. And Lord, I pray that you would send us all forth with this message for the people in our lives who are on the path of calamity. I pray that you'd give us opportunity to share these things, these truths, Lord, that they might have their moments of clarity to have the opportunity to turn back to you. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.

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.