Jeremiah 11-17 - Listen and Obey

Today I gave the second talk in a relatively short series in Jeremiah. Initially, this was a talk just on Chapter 14, but then it grew to expand over the section of chapters 11-17. There was much in these chapters, but the main goal was to talk about the broken covenant, and I also tried to talk about the third use of the law, as I think that is quite useful when talking about how to now live as God's people, while also not falling into earning our salvation.

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Threats

I learnt this thing with parenting is that you shouldn’t make a threat that you can’t deliver on. Like if you are on the way to a holiday and the kids are mucking around in the back, you don’t say something like “one more time, and I’ll turn this car around, and we won’t go on holiday”, unless you mean it. Because what happens if they do it one more time? Are you really going to turn around and not do the holiday you have already booked?

If you tell your kid you are going to do something by the time you count to three, when you get to three, are you going to do the thing you said you would do? If you don’t, after a while your kid will learn that counting to three doesn’t do anything.

As we look at Jeremiah, we are getting to the point where God has threatened, and His patience for them has run out. God is slow to anger and abounding in love, but that doesn’t mean He is void of anger. At this point in history, the nation of Israel has turned away from God. Already they have split; those in the North have been judged and taken away, and those left in the South are still not following God. It has been hundreds of years, with many warnings from God, and still their behaviour hasn’t changed. They do not listen; they do not obey.

The Covenant

Our God is one who makes covenants, which are like promises with people. In the Bible we are told about a few. Some were conditional, some weren’t. Some involved just God; others are between God and others. God made a promise to Noah that he would not flood the earth again. This was unconditional and didn’t involve anyone. Likewise, God promised to bless Abraham with a great name, many people and land, and that wasn’t dependent on anything Abraham did. It was something God simply promised.

But when entering the Promised Land, God made a covenant via Moses to the whole people of Israel. This was to be a two-way covenant; it was a relational one. God was to be their God. They were to obey all that God had commanded, and He would bless them. If they were to break this relational contract, then God would break off His care of them.

These were like the terms and conditions for entering the Promised Land. The people were free from slavery and were now free to live under God, if they agreed to. They could use their freedom to listen and obey. Instead, once they were in this covenant, they used their freedom to walk away from God.

There is much in the covenant, but in one point in the terms and conditions we hear from Moses:

Be careful, or you will be enticed to turn away and worship other gods and bow down to them. Then the Lord’s anger will burn against you, and he will shut up the heavens so that it will not rain and the ground will yield no produce, and you will soon perish from the good land the Lord is giving you. (Deuteronomy 11:16–17 NIV)

This was part of the covenant curses. Later, when the temple was built, Solomon also prayed something similar. That when the people sinned and God responded with drought, or femine of plauge, or defeat in war, that the people would see these things, and return to God and He would hear them (1 Kings 8:33,35,37).

They broke the covenant

And now, hundreds of years after that, in our section of Jeremiah we see pretty clearly why judgment is coming to the people of God.

Chapter 11 starts off with:

This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: “Listen to the terms of this covenant and tell them to the people of Judah and to those who live in Jerusalem. Tell them that this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Cursed is the one who does not obey the terms of this covenant—the terms I commanded your ancestors when I brought them out of Egypt, out of the iron-smelting furnace.’ I said, ‘Obey me and do everything I command you, and you will be my people, and I will be your God. Then I will fulfill the oath I swore to your ancestors, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey’—the land you possess today.” (Jeremiah 11:1–5 NIV)

Jeremiah, as the mouthpiece of God, tells the people that they have broken the covenant. God asked them to obey and to do what He has commanded, but instead they followed the stubbornness of their evil hearts and did their own thing.

And if we are to jump to the end of our section in chapter 17, we see that Jeremiah is reminding the people to keep the Sabbath Day holy, which was part of how they were to live in the covenant.

But if you are careful to obey me, declares the Lord, and bring no load through the gates of this city on the Sabbath, but keep the Sabbath day holy by not doing any work on it, then kings who sit on David’s throne will come through the gates of this city with their officials. They and their officials will come riding in chariots and on horses, accompanied by the men of Judah and those living in Jerusalem, and this city will be inhabited forever. (Jeremiah 17:24–25 NIV)

However, it goes on, and the people did not listen. They did not obey God and the rules for the Sabbath; they broke the covenant.

The issue in this whole section is that the people have broken God’s covenant. They have not obeyed, they have not listened to God. So, as covenant breakers, they will get what was in the terms and conditions.

Chapters 11-17

Between this bookend of Israel breaking God’s covenant, from chapters 11 to 17 we learn a bit about Jeremiah, and how the covenant curses are going to happen. So here is a quick speed run over these chapters:

At the end of Chapter 11, the people from his home town threatened to kill Jeremiah, as they want to stop him from prophesying. However, God says He will punish them.

In Chapter 12, Jeremiah asks God, “How long will it be before the wicked are stopped?” God responds by saying a time will come when the ones He loves will be put in to the hands of the enemies. The whole land will become a wasteland; the people whom God planted will be uprooted. However, God also says

But after I uproot them, I will again have compassion and will bring each of them back to their own inheritance and their own country. (Jeremiah 12:15 NIV)

So even in judgment we see there is a hint of restoration here.

In chapter 13, Jeremiah does a little bit of performance art with a belt. He keeps it dry and hides it in a rock. Sometime later he goes and gets it, to discover that it is completely useless. This belt is a symbol of Israel.

For as a belt is bound around the waist, so I bound all the people of Israel and all the people of Judah to me,’ declares the Lord, ‘to be my people for my renown and praise and honor. But they have not listened.’ (Jeremiah 13:11 NIV)

The chapter goes on to say the people will stumble as darkness is coming. The punishment for breaking the covenant is that an army from the north is going to take them away. As the leopard can’t change his spots, neither can the people change and be good. So they will be shamed because of their sin.

In the middle of our section, in chapter 14, there is a drought. This is not the final judgment, as they are told the sword, famine and plague are also going to come. And there are false prophets saying, “Everything will be ok. There is no issue here. Judgment isn’t coming”. But God says the things they say that won’t happen will exactly happen to them.

In Chapter 15, disaster is spelt out more clearly. The curses of sword, starvation and captivity are going to come. They will lose their wealth and be ensavled because of their disobedience to God.

In Chapter 16, Jeremiah’s life is another performance art piece. He is told not to marry, mourn or go to dinner parties. Jeremiah is to be a walking message, saying that a time will come when there will be no one to mourn, there will be no one to bury others, and there will be an end to joy and gladness. God is doing this to teach them of His power and might, so that they might know Him again. However, there is a hint of restoration, and also in chapter 17.

Even though judgment is coming, because of their sins they will lose the land, as they have angered God,

“But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord,
whose confidence is in him.
They will be like a tree planted by the water
that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
and never fails to bear fruit.” (Jeremiah 17:7–8 NIV

While the nation will be judged, like those described in Psalm 1, those who still trust in the Lord will not have to fear. They will be like a strong tree even in times of hardship; they will not be moved. Those who delight in the law of the Law look to God for their confidence, and will bear fruit.

Turning off the water

Do you ever wonder how long you can break the terms and conditions for things? Like if there are no consequences, does it really matter? If you are late on your water bill, surely they don’t turn your water off the very next day. Water is like a basic human right. But I wonder how long you can go without paying for it before intervention comes in? A month? Three months? Six? There has to be a threshold; otherwise no one would pay their bills. Does anyone want to try it and see what happens? (I was told after 5 years the council will try to repossess your house).  In Jeremiah’s day, the people who were meant to be God’s were doing this with God. At what point would God stop caring for a rebellious nation? 10 years? 50 years? 200 years?

God had rescued His people in the past. God is loving and kind, and yet, we see in chapter 14, God does turn off the water.

There was a drought. And this was severe and affected everyone. The nobles in the city sent out their servants to find water, but they couldn’t. The farmers in the country also couldn’t find water, which would affect the next crop. The animals, the doe and wild donkey, also suffered from this drought. Everyone, including the animals and the land, felt the effects of this judgment. And Jeremiah cries out to God, asking where is He. Why does He feel like a stranger and far away? What does it feel like to be forsaken?

But the issue we are told is

This is what the Lord says about this people:
“They greatly love to wander;
they do not restrain their feet.
So the Lord does not accept them;
he will now remember their wickedness
and punish them for their sins.” (Jeremiah 14:10 NIV)

God feels far away because they have wandered and walked away from the relationship. The Lord isn’t absent or distracted. He knows His people and they have sinned.

They have been warned. God has been patient, but like a parent who threatened to take the iPad away, after enough warnings, with no change of behaviour, that kid will lose their screen time.

God’s mind is made up. Enough is enough. He will not listen to their cry. He will not accept their sacrifices. And as we continue in Jeremiah, we will see that is what happened.


Now, all of this can make us feel uncomfortable. God’s anger and judgment can worry us. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God (Heb 10:31), but in reality it is unavoidable. We are all destined to die and after that face judgment (Heb 9:27). Like it or not, that is where we find ourselves.

But Jesus came and became a sacrifice for us to take away the sins of many, and He will come again to bring about salvation for those who are waiting for Him (Heb 9:28).

The New Covenant

The good news is that Jesus came and made a new covenant with us. God has made a new set of promises for us. He did this not because we were better than others, but because He wanted to make a way for us to be in relationship to Him. Whenever we celebrate the Lord's Supper, we remember Jesus’ blood that was shed for the new covenant (Luke 22:20, 1 Corinthians 11:25), so that we can all be part of it today.

Later in Jeremiah we will hear more about this new covenant, but in one regard it is similar to the old one. Both covenants were there so that God can be our God and we can be His people. But in this new one, God is going to help us to obey. He is going to help us live out the terms and conditions.

Like the Old Covenant, salvation isn’t the end of the story. Israel received the covenant after they had been rescued from Egypt. Once saved, they could then live as God's people. It was an ongoing continual relational thing. Likewise for us. The Christian life isn’t simply about getting our sins forgiven. Once we are saved, we can then live as God’s people. We are saved to be part of God’s mission, to live a certain way and to give glory to Him.

Listen and Obey

So if this talk about judgment worries you, if you are unsure of what God thinks of you, listen to Jesus and obey Him. Jesus welcomes sinners. Cast your sins on Him. Seek His forgiveness, and trust in Him. Trust that He is now your representative, that He now has you safe, that He shed His blood for you.

But don’t stop there. As some people might. They might think, now that our sins are forgiven, I can live how I want. That Christianity is a religion of grace and not works, so it doesn’t matter what we do. But if you think that, you still need to listen to Jesus and obey Him. The law might have been fulfilled in Jesus, but the law still shows us how to live; the law gives us a guide in how we can live a free life under God. And if we love God, we will do what He asks. Not to earn God’s love, but to show that we love Him and are His people.

All Christians still need to do what the Father told Peter, James and John to do when Jesus transfigured on the mountaintop. Jesus’ appearance changed, His glory was shown, and He became very bright, but the voice from Heaven didn’t say “look at Him”, instead, God said, “Listen to Him”. Once we are saved, we are to love God by listening to Him. And God will help us to do this.

James reminded us a few weeks back about another time Jesus went up a mountain and gave a sermon. In that sermon on the mount, Jesus told us how we can live for God. We are to be holy on the inside, to worship God with a pure heart and to not be hypocrites, we are to care for others. These are all the ways God wants us to obey Him. For when we obey God, it shows that we love Him.

Jesus said:

“If you love me, keep my commands. (John 14:15 NIV)

and again

Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me. (John 14:23–24 NIV)

If this obedience sounds restrictive and oppressive, it's not; it actually gives you. 

I can’t play piano. Hannah and my kids can. When we sit in front of the keys, we are free to press any ones we want. But when I do it, I can only make noise, or play like 3 bars from Star Wars. When Hannah or my kids sit at the piano, they can make music. That is because they have had teachers. They have listened to them and obey their instructions, so they can be truly free with the piano and use it how it was meant to be. God, in His law and covenants, has shown us how we can be truly free in living for Him, but in order for us to live it out, we need to listen and to obey Him. To not just seek Him as a means for salvation, but to be in a relationship with Him. As the old Hymn goes, “Trust and obey, for there is no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey”.

Israel was living in a way that ignored the covenant. They weren’t listening or obeying what God has said. Today, we no longer are under that covenant, with its religious rituals and civic laws, but we are under a new covenant with God, brought in by the blood of Jesus on the cross.

Sin is serious. Don’t keep testing God’s patience, as judgment is coming. God means what He says. So let’s go to Jesus and do what Israel was meant to do, which was to listen and to obey. We are now to live by the law of Christ, and in the listening and the obeying, we will be showing that we love Him, and will live how we are meant to.



Let's pray.

Our Lord and Heavenly Father,

We are sorry for our sins and for living our own way,

Help us to hear your Son’s voice and obey.

Thank you for making a new covenant with your people,

so that we can be enabled to live for you.

We thank you for being a gracious God,

and ask that you would continually help us to seek you first

We ask this through Jesus’s name. Amen