Ninth Sunday after Pentecost (OTA)

Jeremiah 27:8-22

⁸ “ ‘ “But if any nation or kingdom will not serve this Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, I will punish that nation with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence, declares the LORD, until I have consumed it by his hand. ⁹ So do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your dreamers, your fortune-tellers, or your sorcerers, who are saying to you, ‘You shall not serve the king of Babylon.’ ¹⁰ For it is a lie that they are prophesying to you, with the result that you will be removed far from your land, and I will drive you out, and you will perish. ¹¹ But any nation that will bring its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, I will leave on its own land, to work it and dwell there, declares the LORD.” ’ ” 

¹² To Zedekiah king of Judah I spoke in like manner: “Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people and live. ¹³ Why will you and your people die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence, as the Lord has spoken concerning any nation that will not serve the king of Babylon? ¹⁴ Do not listen to the words of the prophets who are saying to you, ‘You shall not serve the king of Babylon,’ for it is a lie that they are prophesying to you. ¹⁵ I have not sent them, declares the LORD, but they are prophesying falsely in my name, with the result that I will drive you out and you will perish, you and the prophets who are prophesying to you.” 

¹⁶ Then I spoke to the priests and to all this people, saying, “Thus says the LORD: Do not listen to the words of your prophets who are prophesying to you, saying, ‘Behold, the vessels of the LORD’s house will now shortly be brought back from Babylon,’ for it is a lie that they are prophesying to you. ¹⁷ Do not listen to them; serve the king of Babylon and live. Why should this city become a desolation? ¹⁸ If they are prophets, and if the word of the LORD is with them, then let them intercede with the LORD of hosts, that the vessels that are left in the house of the LORD, in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem may not go to Babylon. ¹⁹ For thus says the LORD of hosts concerning the pillars, the sea, the stands, and the rest of the vessels that are left in this city, ²⁰ which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take away, when he took into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem— ²¹ thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning the vessels that are left in the house of the LORD, in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem: ²² They shall be carried to Babylon and remain there until the day when I visit them, declares the LORD. Then I will bring them back and restore them to this place.” 

How many people are asking for people to deny religion? Are there not people who are seeking other forms of spirituality? Jeremiah reminds the people how, prophets, diviners, dreamers, fortune-tellers, and sorcerers have told them their life is going to get better. Often times today people are looking for someone to tell them, "it is going to get better." People say this, about a great many things, and often times it is just a lie. Things do not get better, sometimes things fade into the past and new things replace them, but that does not mean things are better.

You can thinking about how accepting our culture is, and then look at all the divisions and stereo types that we develop. Immigration has always been a problem in the United States, it has generally just depended on who is the most recent group to come to our country. These people work harder then we do. They are more ambitious than we are, and often times this is simply because they gave up everything they had to get here.

But Jeremiah is not talking about imigration he is talking about punishment. God is going to punish his people. One because they are looking for answers everywhere except where he told them to look. Second, they have become a corrupt nation that mistreats its own people, and enjoys its wickedness. Therefore, God is going to send the Babylonians to lead his people into excile.

The LORD recalls for the people to know how their kings have brought destruction upon their own heads. He even illustrates how the temple of the LORD is going to be plundered. This is parrelelled to the idea that the LORD is going to abandon his people, because of their wickedness. He is then going to visit his people as an enemy. 

We are enemies of God. We make ourselves enemies as we praise his enemies, and the various lies they produce. We seek after God in all the wrong places. While Jesus Christ has pointed us to a very simple place in which we can find him. He is there in our text. He is there in the word of God. Jesus Christ is found on all those pages. Yes, he is found expressed here in condemnation of your wicked behavior. He is not going to tell you thinks are going to get better. he is telling you he is going to make you into something better.

God sent his Son to die for your sins. In the blood of Christ the temple of God was abandoned on the cross. The Temple of God was destroyed and buried. It was also rebuilt as the first fruits of your resurrection. The Temple now makes you to be temples. So that you can be place where God can dwell among his people. In your hearts, through His word.