Ancient Paths Rejected and Impending Judgment

Jeremiah 4: The Ancient Paths Rejected and Impending Judgment from the North.

Jeremiah 4:1-4: "'If you return, O Israel,' says the Lord, 'return to Me; and if you will put away your abominations out of My sight, then you shall not be moved. And you shall swear, "The Lord lives" in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness. The nations shall bless themselves in Him, and in Him they shall glory. For thus says the Lord to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem: "Break up your fallow ground, and do not sow among thorns. Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, and take away the foreskin of your hearts, you men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, lest My fury come forth like fire and burn so that no one can quench it, because of the evil of your doings."'"

Jeremiah 4:5-10: "'Declare in Judah and proclaim in Jerusalem, and say, "Blow the trumpet in the land; cry, gather together, and say, 'Assemble yourselves, and let us go into the fortified cities.' Set up the standard toward Zion. Take refuge! Do not delay! For I will bring disaster from the north, and great destruction." The lion has come up from the thicket, and the destroyer of nations is on his way; he has gone forth from his place to make your land desolate, your cities to be laid waste without inhabitant. For this, clothe yourselves with sackcloth, lament and wail, for the fierce anger of the Lord has not turned back from us. 'And it shall come to pass in that day,' says the Lord, 'that the heart of the king shall perish, and the heart of the princes; the priests shall be astonished, and the prophets shall wonder.' Then I said, 'Oh, Lord God! Surely You have greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, "You shall have peace," whereas the sword reaches to the heart.'"

Jeremiah 4:11-14: "'At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, "A dry wind of the desolate heights blows in the wilderness toward the daughter of My people, not to fan or to cleanse— a wind too strong for these will come for Me; now I will also speak judgment against them. Behold, he [Nebuchadnezzar] shall come up like clouds, and his chariots like a whirlwind, his horses swifter than eagles. Woe to us, for we are plundered! O Jerusalem, wash your heart from wickedness, that you may be saved. How long shall your evil thoughts lodge within you? For a voice declares from Dan and proclaims affliction from Mount Ephraim. Make mention to the nations, yes, proclaim against Jerusalem, that watchers come from a far country and raise their voice against the cities of Judah, against the cities of Jerusalem, Judah. Like keepers of a field, they are against her all around because she has been rebellious against Me,' says the Lord."

Jeremiah 4:19-22: "'Oh, my soul, my soul! I am pained in my very heart; my heart makes a noise in me. I cannot hold my peace, because you have heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war. Destruction upon destruction is cried, for the whole land is plundered. Suddenly my tents are plundered, and my curtains in a moment. How long will I see the standard and hear the sound of the trumpet? For My people are foolish, for they have not known Me. They are silly children, and they have no understanding; they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.'"

Jeremiah 4:23-28: "'I beheld the earth, and indeed it was without form and void; and the heavens, they had no light. I beheld the mountains, and indeed they trembled, and all the hills moved back and forth. I beheld, and indeed there were no men, and all the birds of the heavens had fled. I beheld, and indeed the fruitful land was a wilderness, and all its cities were broken down at the presence of the Lord, by His fierce anger. For thus says the Lord: "The whole land shall be desolate; you yet I will not make a full end. For this the earth shall mourn, and the heavens above be black, because I have spoken, I have purposed, and I will not relent, nor will I turn back from it. The whole city shall flee from the noise of the horsemen and bowmen. They shall go into thickets and climb up on the rocks. Every city shall be forsaken, and not a man shall dwell in it. And when you are plundered, what will you do? Though you clothe yourself with crimson, though you adorn yourself with ornaments of gold, though you enlarge your eyes with paint, in vain you will make yourself fair; your lovers will despise you; they will seek your life.'"

Jeremiah 4:30-31: "'And when you are plundered, what will you do? Though you clothe yourself with crimson, though you adorn yourself with ornaments of gold, though you enlarge your eyes with paint, in vain you will make yourself fair; your lovers will despise you; they will seek your life. For I have heard a voice as of a woman in labor, of anguish as of her who brings forth her first child, the voice of the daughter of Zion bewailing herself, she spreads her hands, saying, "Woe is me now, for my soul is weary because of murderers!"'"

This is very serious stuff, just like the first three chapters. This is why people don't like to read the prophet. God wants them to return to Him only, not foreign nations. Call upon Him only. He is Adonai Tzvaot, the Commander of the Lord's armies. Revelation 19 speaks of the Commander of the Lord's armies coming down. He's the only one who can do this. He wants them to be cleansed. Once they repent, He will come. Matthew 23:39: "You will see Me no more till you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.'" Until they repent, they will not see Yeshua. Until they repent, they will not get the victories they want against the enemies.

Summary of Jeremiah 4: Repent now because judgment is suddenly approaching. God says, "Break up your fallow ground and do not sow among thorns." Major points: Judah must repent at the heart level. Circumcise the heart. The enemy from the north is coming. Jeremiah sees devastation so intense that it sounds like creation being undone. He was talking about creation being void, and the destruction Nebuchadnezzar would bring to the Middle East, including Judah. The problem is not Judah lacking religion; the problem is uncircumcised hearts. My Jewish friends, Israeli friends, and Jewish friends across the world, we must circumcise our hearts. Gentiles and Christians need to do it too. Jeremiah is about Israel first, then the nations of the Middle East. Christians need to understand this because He is the one way, the ancient way, the old path, the Torah. That is it. Jews and Christians must get back to it because that's why we're not getting victories. No one can show a victory for America in a major war in the last 80 years. Show me a victory for Israel in the last 25 years. You can't. There are no victories because it's not victory time; it's repentance time, "Teshuvah" time. Then you will see your victories, and your enemies will be destroyed forever once we repent. Until then, fight your hearts out; you won't win. We won't win anything until we repent and come back to the Lord our God, Jews and Christians.