Jeremiah 16 FSI - HEAR, O EARTH

> [!title|noicon] **Jeremiah 16 Notes** > [[Jeremiah 15 FSI|<Prev]]   [[Jeremiah 17 FSI|Next>]] > [[Jeremiah 16|Verse list view]] > [Jeremiah 16:1](Jeremiah%2016.md#^1), [2](Jeremiah%2016.md#^2), [3](Jeremiah%2016.md#^3), [4](Jeremiah%2016.md#^4) note > > Now we find some more trouble for Jeremiah. God is going to use him as an example of what the believers are going through during our time of great tribulation as represented by those who lived in Jeremiah's day. In order to understand this, we need to contrast this with what happens to the true believers who have obeyed God's command to come out from among Judah (the churches and congregations in our day) in [Jeremiah 29:4](Jeremiah%2029.md#^4), [5](Jeremiah%2029.md#^5), [6](Jeremiah%2029.md#^6), [7](Jeremiah%2029.md#^7). This is to those who were carried away captive into Babylon. We find this is the opposite from what God is saying here in Jeremiah 16 concerning those who *remain* in Judah (within the congregation) that is under God's judgment. > > God uses His prophets as walking signposts to teach the people in their day. For example, Isaiah was commanded to walk naked and barefoot for 3 years in [Isaiah 20:2](Isaiah%2020.md#^2), [3](Isaiah%2020.md#^3) and [4](Isaiah%2020.md#^4) to illustrate the shame and nakedness of Egypt and Ethiopia. God commanded Hosea to marry a woman of whoredoms in [Hosea 1:2](Hosea%201.md#^2) to illustrate the spiritual unfaithfulness of Israel. And so with Jeremiah here in Jeremiah 16. And in this case Jeremiah represents God Himself who cannot be married to this people nor have sons or daughters in this place. And this is a terrible indictment against them, they are under judgment and there is no salvation, no eternal life -- only miserable, grievous death. Whenever someone becomes saved they become part of the *Bride of Christ*, and they become *sons and daughters, children of God*. And as the believers sow the seed of the Gospel there is normally more seed that comes forth. But here this is no longer happening, God is saying here that no one will become saved because the Holy Spirit has withdrawn from them ([2 Thes 2:7](2%20Thessalonians%202.md#^7)). So what is left is death, there is no hope left at all, they are subject to the wrath of God. And this is what happens when God departs from the local churches and congregations as well, as we read in the warnings of Revelation 1 and 2. We'll see more of this analogy of no more marriage to Christ when we look at [verses 8](Jeremiah%2016.md#^8) and [9](Jeremiah%2016.md#^9). > > As we contemplate these verses we realize just how ominous and terrible this is. There is no more mercy, God will no longer find a bride for Himself within the churches and congregations as they have departed from His Word. It has become a scene of disaster. And yet they continue to believe that all is well -- they enjoy a wonderful sermon and they sing these beautiful hymns and Psalms and so on. But they are under the wrath of God entirely. It's as ugly of a reality as anything can be. This underscores the reality that you never develop theology or doctrine based on what you can see or on what or how you feel over against what the Bible teaches. And God indicates there is *no exception* here because the time for judgment has come ([Jer 14:19](Jeremiah%2014.md#^19)), as we'll see further in verse 5. ^jer16-1-4 > [Jeremiah 16:5](Jeremiah%2016.md#^5) note > > This is a very awesome and yet terrible verse. God uses 3 common words found throughout the Old Testament: peace, lovingkindness and mercies. This is the very essence of the love of God and of the Gospel message ([Ps 103:4](Psalm%20103.md#^4), [136:1](Psalm%20136.md#^1), [2](Psalm%20136.md#^2)). It's the very reason God raised up the local congregations -- in order to send forth the Gospel that people might know the peace of God, that they might come under the mercy of God and to be safe and secure forevermore through the work of Christ. And this is what God has *taken away* from them. This is a horror story to end all horror stories. There is no more mercy, no grace of God, no peace, no lovingkindness -- everything that has to do with the application of the Word of God to our hearts by the Holy Spirit. Christ has abandoned them so that He is not Present amongst them any more so that they remain under the wrath of God. And as Christ Himself is Life ([Jn 14:6](John%2014.md#^6)), it means the only thing that is left there is death ([v4](Jeremiah%2016.md#^4)). > > "For thus saith the LORD, Enter not into the house of mourning, neither go to lament nor bemoan them:" -- As God states in [verse 4](Jeremiah%2016.md#^4), they shall die grievous deaths, and it's so bad that there isn't even anyone there to mourn and lament for them, no one to bemoan them. This will be seen again in [verses 6](Jeremiah%2016.md#^6) and [7](Jeremiah%2016.md#^7). ^jer16-5 > [Jeremiah 16:6](Jeremiah%2016.md#^6) - [7](Jeremiah%2016.md#^7) note > > It is a situation where everyone is dead so nobody even recognizes they are dead. > > "neither shall *men* lament for them, nor cut themselves, nor make themselves bald for them:" -- In [Deuteronomy 14:1](Deuteronomy%2014.md#^1) God uses similar language in commanding the Israelites not to follow the practices of the heathen in the land they were about to conquer. And even in death they had certain pagan rituals they went through when someone died. It was their way of showing respect and mourning for the dead. Then, of course, there is a legitimate way to mourn the dead as the Israelites mourned the death of Moses for 30 days, for example. But here in Jeremiah 16 God is saying there's not even anyone left to offer *illegitimate* mourning for them. The spiritual situation has become so dire that they cannot and do not recognize that they themselves are dead, they do not understand that they have become like a morgue. They think they're going along just fine, but they are in utter spiritual darkness that has blinded them totally ([2 Thes 2:11](2%20Thessalonians%202.md#^11)). The bodies are spiritually lying in the streets and the birds of prey are feeding on them and there is none to mourn. And even if you were to tell them they would simply laugh it off and tell you not to weep for them based on all of the earthly things that are going on. > > "Neither shall *men* tear *themselves* for them in mourning, to comfort them for the dead; neither shall *men* give them the cup of consolation to drink for their father or for their mother." -- To *tear* is a reference to rending or tearing their clothes in mourning. In [Lamentations 2:11](Lamentations%202.md#^11), [12](Lamentations%202.md#^12) we see that God is indeed lamenting the spiritual state of His people. But when it comes to them personally, they don't see the situation that they are in because they are completely blinded with strong delusion, so there is no mourning for them. So this situation is especially horrendous. We know from [verse 5](Jeremiah%2016.md#^5) that God's lovingkindness, mercy and grace are gone, gone, gone. There are no brides taken for Christ, there are no children of God being born within the congregations (see [note to v2](Jeremiah%2016%20FSI.md#^jer16-1-4)). Yet the congregations themselves think things are so wonderful and everything is going well so that there's no mourning for the dead. This is why we need the Word of God to give us Truth, even if that Truth is terrible. > > And such is the permanent nature of eternal death. In the new heavens and new earth, it will be as though this world and the unsaved never existed, the old things have passed away and the former things will not come into mind, they will not even be remembered for all of eternity ([Is 65:17](Isaiah%2065.md#^17)). ^jer16-6-7 > [Jeremiah 16:8](Jeremiah%2016.md#^8) note > > This feasting in verse 8, as we'll see in verse 9, has to do with the feast of marriage, with the bride and groom. So there is no longer any celestial marriage taking place within the congregations, there is no more bride being taken, there is *no one* becoming saved. There is no one to eat and drink of the Gospel, to partake of Christ ([Jn 6:54](John%206.md#^54), [56](John%206.md#^56)). It has become a place of death with no one to mourn. ^jer16-8 > [Jeremiah 16:9](Jeremiah%2016.md#^9) note > > "For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel;" -- We MUST remember that this is GOD speaking, here. These aren't just the words of Jeremiah. These aren't just our words that we're speculating about that this or that might happen. This is what GOD is declaring to us. And God insists that we listen to Him. And, of course, we will only listen and hear if God gives us the understanding and the spiritual ears to hear. > > "I will cause to cease out of this place in your eyes, and in your days, the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride." -- All of this that God is causing to cease relates to the Gospel -- it is the voice, the Word, of mirth and gladness, of the bridegroom and the bride. There is no more joy and happiness of those who come into the celestial marriage relationship with Christ Who is the Bridegroom. And it is in "your days." This is no longer just some event way off into the future that is to come, it has come in our days, right before our eyes. This is the stark reality because the peace of God is gone ([v5](Jeremiah%2016.md#^5)), the Bridegroom has left and it is a place of sadness and terrible judgment that God has brought. ^jer16-9 > [Jeremiah 16:10](Jeremiah%2016.md#^10) note > > Sadly, this is the language of those who do not really believe that God would leave them or bring them under judgment. They are essentially saying, "Really? Come on now. All this dismal language can't really be true -- you can't really believe that Jesus would depart from His church. He has promised that it will continue to the end." And they don't understand that Christ will never leave His *eternal* church made up of all the true believers, but that it is indeed His plan to abandon the visible churches when they have strayed so far from His Word over many years, as we read about in the warnings to the 7 churches of Revelation 1 and 2. They cannot see this because they have falsely comforted themselves that all is well as long as they remain faithful to their doctrines and creeds and so on. The fear of God's judgment has long gone. > > So they want to know what their sin is that's so bad to warrant this as they ask this in unbelief. Then in the next 2 verses God divides the answer into 2 parts. ^jer16-10 > [Jeremiah 16:11](Jeremiah%2016.md#^11) note > > In this verse and the next, God gives a 2-part response to those who are questioning (in unbelief) why they are under the wrath of God. And in this verse God addresses their *fathers* who have forsaken Him and have walked, served and worshiped other gods. In fact, God doubles up and says in this verse twice that they have forsaken Him, and that they have not kept His Law. The problem didn't just begin with the people today, it began much earlier on, really even from the beginning as they set forth their doctrines that would define their denominations and congregations. Even then they were not that faithful to the Word of God. True, some congregations and denominations have been much worse than others as we think of the free-will gospels and such that have been put forth over the centuries. And later on there has been a world-wide proliferation of signs and wonders charismatic gospels with dreams, visions and tongues -- which are entirely under a different authority altogether than the Bible alone. And all of this occurred even after the Reformation when some churches really began to understand the nature of salvation from the Bible to a high degree. But nearly immediately came the opposing free-will gospels flooding the churches until they became prevalent. So the seeds of ruin were there. > > This is not to say that the Reformed churches left today are immune to this as they, too, have highly substituted the Word of God with their own confessions, doctrinal distinctives and methods of Bible interpretation. In these they have fallen far from God's Word, particularly in areas such as divorce and remarriage and how the Bible interprets itself on a spiritual level, not according to the historico-grammatical method of interpretation devised by their church fathers that severely curtails the proper understanding of Scripture. So the seeds of unbelief were sown even from the beginning by their fathers. And again, God insists twice in this verse that their fathers have forsaken Him, and they have gone after other gods to worship them. And, as we've discussed previously, God has His own timetable when He is finished with the churches and congregations just prior to the end of time, just as there was a timetable for the nation of Israel when He was finished with them. ^jer16-11 > [Jeremiah 16:12](Jeremiah%2016.md#^12) note > > If we stopped at verse 11, some might argue, "Well, maybe our fathers were guilty. But the Bible says that the sins of the fathers will not be visited upon the children, we all must stand before God for our own sins. That's a Biblical principle." So God responds in this verse with the grim reality that they have done *worse* than their fathers. So their posture should really be, "If our fathers had already departed from the Truth in many ways, what should we have been doing?" There should have been a turning away from the wrong doctrines of the past and continual corrections made in accordance with the Word of God, to live more faithfully instead of just resting in what the fathers put forth. And this dynamic has caused them to go astray even farther from the Truth as they have trusted in the churches as their authority over the Bible. Remember, this is *God* speaking here in verse 12. We aren't just coming up with a doctrine that they have done even worse than their fathers out of the blue, this is God's Word. And God does not pull His punches in order not to offend people, He speaks absolute Truth as the Judge to Whom we must answer. So He speaks right to our heart and says it plainly the way it is, so we had better listen. ^jer16-12 > [Jeremiah 16:13](Jeremiah%2016.md#^13) note > > Here God makes another pronouncement. In [verse 5](Jeremiah%2016.md#^5) God has said that He has taken away His peace, loving-kindness and mercies from them. And here He is saying He will cast them out and show them no favor as they worship other gods day and night in a strange land. And this is readily seen in our day as we see churches that worship their free-will gods and their charismatic gods and whatever other gods they are worshiping that are not from the Bible alone. Sadly, they are deluded into thinking that they are at peace with God as they worship their false gods, but instead they are under delusion under the wrath of God. > > Historically, the nation of Judah and their temple was destroyed as they were carried away captive, slaves into Babylon. But spiritually this represents what happens when the world and worldliness, under the rulership of Satan, takes over the congregations through false minsters of righteousness, through false christs and false prophets that lead them astray. The kingdom of Babylon of that day spiritually represents the kingdom of Satan as it wars against the kingdom of God and gains victory over the *visible* kingdom of God once they have gone astray. They have now become a strange land, *strangers to the kingdom of God* in the sense of [Ephesians 2:19](Ephesians%202.md#^19) before someone has become saved. They now have their own theology in which they are serving other gods day and night so that there is no salvation rest, as we read in [Revelation 14:11](Revelation%2014.md#^11). The beast in Revelation 14:11 that they worship, which provides them no rest day nor night, is the same as their worshiping other gods day and night and they find no peace and no favor, as we read in [verse 5](Jeremiah%2016.md#^5) and here in [verse 13](Jeremiah%2016.md#^13). ^jer16-13 > [Jeremiah 16:14](Jeremiah%2016.md#^14) - [15](Jeremiah%2016.md#^15) note > > These next 2 verses are a shaft of sunlight shining in the dark, dismal context of Jeremiah as he is speaking of God's wrath against His people who are the visible representation of the kingdom of God -- Judah and Jerusalem which point to the churches and congregations of our day. These are verses of hope and salvation. Parallel language is found in [Jeremiah 23:5](Jeremiah%2023.md#^5), [6](Jeremiah%2023.md#^6), [7](Jeremiah%2023.md#^7), [8](Jeremiah%2023.md#^8) where God speaks of the coming of Christ as the Savior. And just as there came a time when God was finished with the nation of Israel when Christ came so that the Gospel would go out into the world to save people from every nation, there has come a second time when God is finished with the churches and congregations as the Gospel continues to go into the world outside of that context to save those in the highways and hedges to bring them into the kingdom of God ([Luke 14:16-24](Luke%2014.md)). > > So the essential teaching in these 2 verses of Jeremiah 16:14-15 is that He is finished with the *visible* representation of the kingdom of God in the form of national Israel and Judah during the Old Testament, and the churches and congregations of the New Testament, but that He continues to bring people into the *eternal* kingdom of God as the Gospel goes forth until the end -- yet outside or apart from the visible kingdom of God that has come under His wrath. > > This is why verse 14 begins with "Therefore." God has just declared that His visible people are under the wrath of God. There is no more peace ([v5](Jeremiah%2016.md#^5)), there is no more voice of the Bridegroom ([v9](Jeremiah%2016.md#^9)), there is no more favor ([v13](Jeremiah%2016.md#^13)), *therefore* "The LORD lives, that brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the lands whither he had driven them:" That is, God will continue to save His elect, both from (out of) the churches and congregations which have been overrun by the world (typified by the land of the north that eventually conquered Judah) and from the ends of the earth, despite the casting off of those who claim to be the people of God. His Gospel program will not be deterred because of this situation. > > Being brought out of the land of Egypt still applies on a spiritual level when it comes to salvation. When we become saved, we are spiritually brought out of the kingdom of Satan, from the house of bondage, and translated into the kingdom of Christ, which is what the exodus ultimately represented through the nation of Israel. God brought out Israel with a high hand and with great might, pointing to Christ's work in saving us. > > But now God will bring them out of the land of the north and out of all the nations where the elect continue to be scattered. "...and I will bring them again into their land that I gave unto their fathers." -- Notice it says *again*. God is once *again* bringing His people, now from the highways and hedges, into the eternal kingdom of God ([Jer 12:15](Jeremiah%2012.md#^15) - [16](Jeremiah%2012.md#^16); [Jer 24:6](Jeremiah%2024.md#^6) - [7](Jeremiah%2024.md#^7)). ^jer16-14-15 > [Jeremiah 16:16](Jeremiah%2016.md#^16) note > > The next 3 verses, at first blush, appear to be a return to the judgment of God upon His people who have gone after other gods. But it may be more accurate to read these verses as a continuation of verses 14 and 15 instead where He speaks about bringing His chosen people from the land of the north and from all the lands where He had driven them, and He will place them again into their land that He gave to their fathers. > > The first phrase in verse 16 seems to readily fit this scenario: "Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith the LORD, and they shall fish them;" -- In [Matthew 4:19](Matthew%204.md#^19) Christ said that He will make those who follow Him fishers of men to bring them into the kingdom of God. > > Then we come to the next part of verse 16 which could be properly understood two ways, in the context of salvation and of judgment: "and after will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks." -- We wouldn't normally think of God using hunters or hunting in connection with salvation, but rather with those who hunt souls to bring them under their false gospels and such. But in [Psalm 45:3](Psalm%2045.md#^3), [4](Psalm%2045.md#^4), [5](Psalm%2045.md#^5), [6](Psalm%2045.md#^6) God uses the idea of Christ riding with His weapons (arrows) of warfare, for hunting, Who is out to *conquer*. This is parallel to [Revelation 6:2](Revelation%206.md#^2) where Christ is riding with a *bow* and is going forth conquering and to conquer. So this hunting is in the context of warfare, going forth to conquer. And the sword and the arrows that Christ carries in Psalm 45 and Revelation 6 are used to bring His elect under subjection to Him as they become saved, as they become His people as part of the kingdom of God, just as well as these weapons brings death to the unsaved. The Gospel itself goes both ways, it is a double-edge Sword that bring life to the elect and death to the unsaved - [Eph 6:17](Ephesians%206.md#^17); [Heb 4:12](Hebrews%204.md#^12); [2 Cor 2:16](2%20Corinthians%202.md#^16); [Rev 19:15](Revelation%2019.md#^15). > > The context of [Psalm 45:5](Psalm%2045.md#^5) also applies biblically both ways. Before we are saved we are enemies to Christ, we are under the wrath of God. And when we become saved we are effectively conquered, we fall under Him, just as those who remain under judgment are conquered and fall under Him. Either way He has conquered His enemies. But for those who are saved He brings them under subjection to Him, whereas the unsaved will come under the sentence of eternal death. > > ". . .and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks." -- Mountains in the Bible refer spiritually to the kingdoms of the world ([Rev 17:9](Revelation%2017.md#^9) - [10](Revelation%2017.md#^10)). The hills can be used in parallel fashion to the mountains, but they are also used in connection with the worship of false gods where they worship on every hill and under every tree. And that's where God finds us when He saves us. We are in the nations or kingdoms of the world. We are sinners under the wrath of God who are effectively worshiping other gods before we come to know Christ (whether we are worshiping ourselves, the god of money, the god of popularity, the god of pleasure, the god of sensual desire, the god of a false religion or even an image of some kind -- there are all kinds of false gods that people serve). And we are found hiding in the holes of the rocks, spiritually speaking, where we are deep in our sins. > > Remember what we read in [Jeremiah 13:4](Jeremiah%2013.md#^4), [7](Jeremiah%2013.md#^7), where God commanded Jeremiah to hide the girdle in the hole of a rock by the river Euphrates, and it became marred and good for nothing. And that girdle signified that Judah had become good for nothing ([Jer 13:10](Jeremiah%2013.md#^10)) in their sins. And this is where God finds us when we become saved, even as He was casting out Judah for their sins through this figure. > > So God sends out hunters to bring us out from those places. And He is driving home the point that when He saves sinners, we aren't just nice people living out there in a beautiful meadow somewhere, spiritually speaking, where everything is clean and tidy. Rather, we are marred, we are good for nothing, we are deep in our sins until Christ rescues us and brings us into His kingdom. > > Now, as we consider fishing and hunting, we realize that when we go fishing it is essentially the same as hunting. We put a hook on the line with some bait or cast in the net to catch fish in order to eat them, which is the same reason we might hunt animals (cp [Lev 17:13](Leviticus%2017.md#^13)). And so it is not really a surprise that we see God's use of both examples together in this verse. ^jer16-16 > [Jeremiah 16:17](Jeremiah%2016.md#^17) note > > This verse is speaking of the sinful ways of those God hunts from the mountains, hills and holes of the rocks. And it comports with the theme in verses 14-16 that God is focusing on salvation here because this is how God finds us -- deep in our sins. And, as such, it required that Christ become our substitute to pay for our sins, as our Atonement, in order for us to become saved. That is, God is not ignorant of our sins, He is well aware of them and there must be accountability for them. And that's where Christ has stepped in our behalf to pay for our sins that we might be saved and brought into the kingdom of God as we are fished and hunted from the mountains and hills and out of the holes in the rocks ([v16](Jeremiah%2016.md#^16)). ^jer16-17 > [Jeremiah 16:18](Jeremiah%2016.md#^18) note > > "And first I will recompense their iniquity and their sin double" -- The *first* thing God must do is to deal with our sins, and He has done so through the Lord Jesus Christ. Only then can we be fished and hunted out of the world and brought us into His kingdom. And God Himself must make this payment, He must recompense our iniquity and our sin double. See [Isaiah 40:1](Isaiah%2040.md#^1) - [2](Isaiah%2040.md#^2) where God emphasizes that "she has received of the LORD's hand double for all her sins" in the context of salvation for the heavenly Jerusalem. > > The word *double* focuses on the *firstborn*. For example, in [Deuteronomy 21:16](Deuteronomy%2021.md#^16) - [17](Deuteronomy%2021.md#^17). This is a fundamental principle that God establishes that focuses on the Lord Jesus Christ Who is the Firstborn ([Ro 8:29](Romans%208.md#^29); [Col 1:14](Colossians%201.md#^14) - [15](Colossians%201.md#^15), [18](Colossians%201.md#^18)). Remember during that first Passover night when Israel was in Egypt and they were commanded to put the blood of the Lamb on their doorposts. God destroyed all of the firstborn of Egypt except for the Israelites who had the blood on the doorposts, which points to Christ as our Passover Lamb, as the Firstborn who paid the penalty for our sins on our behalf. That blood represented those who, in principle, already had their firstborn killed in Christ. And then this firstborn has to do with the double inheritance that we saw before -- and with what we rightly deserve because of our sins. > > In [Numbers 20:11](Numbers%2020.md#^11) we see where Moses smote the rock twice and water came out abundantly for the congregation to drink. And again this represents the double inheritance as this water points to the Gospel that we drink of when we become saved ([Jn 4:14](John%204.md#^14)). Christ, Who is our Rock ([Mt 7:24](Matthew%207.md#^24), [21:44](Matthew%2021.md#^44); [Ro 9:33](Romans%209.md#^33); [1 Co 10:4](1%20Corinthians%2010.md#^4)), had to be double-struck in order for us to become saved, in order for us to be able to drink of the Water of Life. This is what God had to do *first* before He could save us, as we read in this verse, "And first..." > > "because they have defiled my land, they have filled mine inheritance with the carcasses of their detestable and abominable things." -- This reiterates what we read in [verse 17](Jeremiah%2016.md#^17) that it is because of our sins that God must *first* recompense our iniquity. Our sins must be paid for, they cannot simply be swept aside before we can come into the eternal kingdom of God. ^jer16-18 > [Jeremiah 16:19](Jeremiah%2016.md#^19) note > > "O LORD, my strength, and my fortress, and my refuge in the day of affliction," -- God is underscoring that this is what His salvation plan is all about. The *day of affliction* has to do with salvation. In [Jeremiah 14:8](Jeremiah%2014.md#^8) we see where God is the Savior in time of *trouble* -- and that word trouble is the same Hebrew word translated affliction here. It is a time of distress when God's wrath is upon us. In [Psalm 20:1](Psalm%2020.md#^1), [2](Psalm%2020.md#^2), [3](Psalm%2020.md#^3), [4](Psalm%2020.md#^4), [5](Psalm%2020.md#^5) we see the same word again in the context of salvation. This is where Christ must be our Strength, our Fortress and our Refuge, He is the Only One we can turn to, there is no other Way to escape the wrath of God. The human race tries to find some other way whereby they can become right with God but it won't make it. It must be God Himself in the Person of the Lord Jesus because He is the only Savior Who pays for our sins if we become saved ([Is 43:11](Isaiah%2043.md#^11)). > > "the Gentiles shall come unto thee from the ends of the earth," -- Many have come into the body of believers from all over the world. They experience the mercy of God during the final period of the Latter Rain, during this final period of time that the true Gospel goes forth into the world into the highways and hedges ([Lk 14:16-24](Luke%2014.md)) outside of the local ongregations. > > "and shall say, Surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and *things* wherein *there is* no profit." -- Who are their fathers? Abram, Isaac and Jacob could be considered the fathers. The early church leaders could be considered their fathers. But as we look at our *immediate* fathers we find that they have largely turned away from God in favor of their own kind of a gospel. Their trust isn't in the Bible but in their own doctrines. And these things are "lies, vanity and things wherein there is no profit." So those coming into the kingdom of God today recognize that this is the situation. ^jer16-19 > [Jeremiah 16:20](Jeremiah%2016.md#^20) note > > Don't the local congregations all say that the Bible is the inerrant, infallible Word of God and that Jesus is their Savior? How can they be creating gods that are no gods? > > The problem is that they don't actually have the Jesus of the Bible but a Jesus that they have designed. Many of them even have false images, pictures of whom they claim is Jesus. Or they have a Jesus that they believe has paid for the sins of every human being in the world and not just for those He has come to save, so that now it is up to them to choose Him of their free will. Or they have a Jesus like in the movie "The Passion" where they emphasize Jesus being beaten to a bloody pulp as the payment for sin. There are as many Jesuses as there are denominations and congregations. They are making their own god created from their own minds that are acceptable to them rather than the God of the Bible, they have a god that they can control. It's no different than creating a Buddha and setting it up in the temple where they can design and worship their own kind of a god. But when we go to the Bible we have NO control, we can only trust in what the Bible says and wait upon the Lord. God is in complete charge. ^jer16-20 > [Jeremiah 16:21](Jeremiah%2016.md#^21) note > > "Therefore, behold, I will this once cause them to know, I will cause them to know mine hand and my might; and they shall know that my name *is* The LORD." -- "This once" would be better translated "in this time." As the final multitude of Gentiles are coming into the kingdom of God ([v19](Jeremiah%2016.md#^19)) during the Latter Rain period and recognize that the churches and congregations have fallen away from God ([also v19](Jeremiah%2016.md#^19)), God will *in this time* cause them to know His Hand and His Might and that His Name is Jehovah. And to know His Name is Jehovah means that they come to know Him as their Savior ([Is 43:11](Isaiah%2043.md#^11)), even as judgment has fallen upon the house of God as we've seen throughout Jeremiah. And God returns to this theme as we go to chapter 17. ^jer16-21 Tags: #Old_Testament #Jeremiah #Gods_judgment_on_His_people #FSI