Let's turn in our Bibles to Jeremiah
chapter 37. Jeremiah chapter 37. The title of the message this
evening is simply this. God will punish sin. God will punish sin. Now, somebody may say, well,
that's an obvious statement. Well, not to our generation today. Really, not to our generation
today. The God of this generation, the
false God of this generation, is too loving, too compassionate,
too kind, really, really in the end, to punish all sin. I'll
never forget one time one of my brethren down in Albany, Georgia,
talking to a friend of his who went to a local Methodist church,
And the man told him, he said, you know, in the end, I really
think God's even going to save the devil. Because he just could not imagine
in his mind a God of wrath, a God of justice. That's the mean God
of the Old Testament. You've heard that argument, haven't
you? Not the loving God of the New
Testament. And you can see that kind of attitude reflected in
our society today. You think about the arguments
that men give against capital punishment. It has nothing to
do with justice. I mean, that doesn't even come
into the argument. It's simply, it's too mean, it's
too cruel, it's too unkind. Our generation, like every generation,
does not know God. And that's the point of this
passage here, this prophecy here. I'm going to deal mainly with
the first 10 verses. I'll say a few words about the
last part of this chapter, but in the first 10 verses, we really
learn once again what we know by God's revelation. And that's this, God will punish
sin. God must punish sin. Somebody asked why? Because he
is God. And he judges according to truth.
He is holy. Remember the vision he gave Isaiah,
holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty. He saw him high and lifted up
his train and filled the temple. And the first thing Isaiah determined
from that revelation is, woe is me, I'm undone, I'm cut off. I'm a man of unclean lips. I'm
a sinner. And all sin deserves death. God
will punish sin. So that's what the first ten
verses here state out in a graphic way, the absolute certainty of
God's judgment against sin. Let's begin reading verse one.
It says, and King Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, reigned instead
of Coniah, the son of Jehoiakim, whom Nebuchadnezzar, king of
Babylon, made king in the land of Judah. Now right away, you
see, this is Jeremiah. I made a comment on this last
time that it's not in chronological order. In fact, this is 18 years
later from the events in chapter 36. Zedekiah. He was the last king of Judah.
He was the one who reigned in Judah when Nebuchadnezzar's army
came to Jerusalem to destroy the city and the temple. And
Zedekiah, he was Jehoiachin's uncle. You can read about him
in 2 Kings chapter 24. He was made a vassal king by
Nebuchadnezzar. He really wasn't the next in
line to be king after Jehoiachin. But he was put there by Nebuchadnezzar. He was from the tribe of Judah.
He was of the royal line, but he wasn't the actual next in
line. But Nebuchadnezzar put him in
as king. But now look at verse two. It
says, but neither he, that is Zedekiah the king, nor his servants,
nor the people of the land did hearken unto the words of the
Lord, which he spake by the prophet Jeremiah. They would not hear
and obey the word of the Lord. Same as all of us by nature. That's our problem. That's man's
problem by nature. That was Adam's problem when
he fell. That's what caused Adam to fall. He would not hearken
under the words of the Lord. God told him, you can eat of
every tree of the garden except the tree of the knowledge of
good and evil. You stay away. In the day that you eat thereof,
you shall surely die. God will punish sin. And we'll
talk about that in a minute. But they wouldn't hearken. Man
doesn't have ears to hear and eyes to see. He doesn't have
a heart and a mind to understand and desire to do the will of
God by nature. Now that's right. If you have
any desire, if you have any saving understanding of the Word of
God, of God's way of salvation through Christ by His grace,
if you have any desire to follow and submit and do the will of
God, that's a gift. And I tell you, we really don't,
we sometimes take that for granted, don't we? That's a gift. Not
everybody has that gift now. That's a sovereign gift from
a sovereign God. Ears to hear. Blessed are your
ears, Christ said to the disciples. Blessed are your eyes. That's
something, see, and we ought never take that for granted.
Verse three, he says, and Zedekiah the king sent Jehukah, the son
of Shalemiah, and Zephaniah, the son of Maaseah, the priest
to the prophet Jeremiah, saying, pray now unto the Lord our God
for us. Now, Zedekiah sent these men
to Jeremiah, wanting Jeremiah to intercede on their behalf
to God. Pray for me. And Zedekiah was
asking for protection and deliverance from the onslaught of the Babylonian
army. They were at the gates. They
were ready to come in. Now that seems like a noble thing
to do. For Zedekiah the king, go ask the prophet of God. It
seems like he was recognizing that Jeremiah was a prophet from
God. And so he asked Jeremiah to pray for him. But his desire
and his His petition for intercession here, let me tell you something,
it was totally disobedient to God's word. Back over in chapter
21, you don't have to turn there, read it again sometime. God had
already proclaimed by Jeremiah the prophet of Judah's defeat. You're going to be defeated.
And he commanded them to submit to God's judgment against their
sins. You remember he told them that.
He told them, he said, those who stay in the city and fight
and try to protect themselves in the city, you're going to
die by the sword, by pestilence. That's death to stay there because
God's judgment was upon the city. God's judgment was upon the land
for their sin. They were simply getting what
they deserved. So what did God tell them to
do through Jeremiah? He said, submit. submit to the
instrument of God's wrath and God's judgment. Nebuchadnezzar,
the king of Babylon, he was God's instrument. That evil, wicked
king was God's instrument of wrath and judgment. And he said,
submit. And remember, I've told you,
that's sort of like a picture of a sinner coming to repentance.
Because one of the things we do when we come to repentance,
when God shows us our sin, like Isaiah, woe is me, I'm undone. taking sides with God against
ourselves, realizing and recognizing that if God were to ever give
me what I deserve and what I've earned, it would be His wrath. And that's what submission to
God is all about. And of course, in salvation,
He brings us to Christ, who's the only hope, who's the only
way to avoid God's wrath. So Zedekiah, it seems like a
noble thing. Go ask the prophet to pray. But
he was in disobedience to God's word. And here's what I'm saying.
What you learn here is it is not a noble thing to pray for
things that God has explicitly said in his word that he will
not or will do. God says He'll do this, He'll
do that. You pray against that? That's
not noble. That's not honorable to God. No matter how hard you
pray, no matter how sincere. This is God's Word. Disobedience
is not made up by prayer. It's not filled in by prayer.
Look at verse 4. He said, Now Jeremiah came in
and went out among the people. He was free. For they had not
put him into prison. The prophet is still free. Now
this is 18 years later, as I said, from chapter 36, but I did, I
need to clear up something that I misspoke when I was preaching
here in chapter 36, and it's a historical matter, not a doctrinal
matter, so don't lose sleep over this, okay? What happens is,
when I read these passages, and I read ahead, you know, and I
sometimes get a little overconfident. And I say, I don't have to write
that down in my notes. I'll remember that. And I'm finding
that the Lord is putting me in my place. I should have put this
in my notes. But I made a statement back in chapter 36. You remember,
that's when Jeremiah received the word of the Lord. And he
got his secretary, his scribe, Baruch, to go out and present
that to the people in the temple. And I said it was because he
was in prison. He wasn't in prison then. He was banned from the
temple. That's why he didn't go. He sent
Baruch. And it says that over there in chapter 36 as we read
it. But I was wrong. He was not in
prison at that time, but he was banned from the temple. Well,
here in chapter 37, he wasn't yet in prison, but he was going
to be. And he was going to be in prison
because of his message. Man by nature does not like the
truth. Man by nature does not like to
hear about God's wrath against sin. Man by nature loves darkness
and hates light. Christ is the light. When we
preach Christ the way that he ought to be preached from the
Word, it exposes the wickedness and the evil of man's best attempts
to save himself by his works and man doesn't like that. You
tell the most religious people of our day that if God were to
judge them right now based on their best efforts, in any area,
prayer, worship, charity, whatever, that they would deserve hell,
how do you think people receive that? How did I receive it when
I first heard it? Well, I hated it. I didn't want
to hear any more of it. And if it weren't for the power
and providence of God, I would have left it and never returned.
And if it weren't for the power of the Holy Spirit to give me
a new heart, I would have never received it and loved it and
believed it like I do now. I would have never turned to
Christ. So that's the issue. Now back over here in chapter
37, look at verse five. It says, then Pharaoh's army
was come forth out of Egypt, and when the Chaldeans, that's
the Babylonians, that besieged Jerusalem heard tidings of them,
they departed from Jerusalem. Now there's a little respite
here, there's a little reprieve. What happens, Babylonian army,
they're at the gates of Jerusalem, they're ready to come in, but
then the Egyptian army comes along, and Nebuchadnezzar and
his army, they hear about him, so they have to leave a little
bit and go fight the Egyptians. And what happens here, here's
Egypt that was on the attack against Babylon, so Nebuchadnezzar's
army leave Jerusalem, they go and fight him, leaving Jerusalem
alone for a while. Now, you can imagine when that
happened, the joy of the people that were left in Jerusalem when
that happened. And you could imagine how they
thought in their minds. I'm believers now. Well, God's
blessing us. It's all over now. We're not
going to be destroyed. Now let me tell you what I believe
the Bible calls that. If you'll turn to 2 Thessalonians
with me. Turn to 2 Thessalonians. I want
to show you something. I believe that's what the Bible
calls strong delusion. That's sent by God as a judgment
against the unbelief of the people. Now here's what I'm saying. Keep
it in the context. What had God already said? Jerusalem
and Judah is going to be destroyed. God had already said that. He's
not going to take it back. Now I know there's all kinds
of people all over this country who believe you can change God's
mind. But believe me, if you read the Bible and learn about
the God of the Bible, you cannot change His mind. There's no reason
to change His mind. He's an infinite, all-knowing,
wise God. He's holy and perfect in all
His ways. And never forget, if you change,
you either got to change for the good or you got to change
for the bad. Right? You can't stay the same. Well,
God doesn't need... He can't change for the good.
He is good. He's the very definition of goodness. And he's certainly
not going to get worse. But you see, you don't change
his mind. God had already told him, this city deserves judgment,
this people deserve judgment, and you're going to get it. Now
if you want to live, you submit and go to Babylon. Take your punishment. The punishment fits the crime. But they didn't believe God.
And they wouldn't listen to God. Zedekiah wouldn't. Well, listen
to what it says here. He's talking about the coming
of Antichrist and the great deception, the great deceiver in the last
days here in 2 Thessalonians 2. And he says that this deceiver,
verse 9, look at verse 9, he's coming with, whose coming is
after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying
wonders. Wonderful things that will promote
a lie. That's what lying wonders means.
It'll be impressive. It'll be impressive to people.
People will make judgments like, well, that's got to be of God,
or that's got to be of the Holy Spirit. But it will be in promoting
a lie, lying wonders, deceptive wonders. Verse 10, now look at
it. And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that
perish. And what does the Bible tell
us about those who are perishing? The preaching of the cross is
foolishness to them. Preaching of Christ crucified is foolishness.
And he says, because they receive not the love of the truth that
they might be saved. What is the truth? That's God's
word. They don't love the truth. They don't love Christ. They
don't love his truth that convicts them and drives them to him.
And he says in verse 11, and for this cause God shall send
them strong delusion that they should believe a lie. Now people
say that seems mean and unkind. No, my friend, that's judgment,
that's justice. Why? Because they love not the
truth. Verse 12, that they all might
be damned who believe not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
Now that's the same thing that's going on back here in Jeremiah
37. They think everything is fine
now. You know, you think about that. God had told Israel on
many occasions to not look back to or depend upon or make alliances
with Egypt. What does Egypt stand for in
the Old Testament? Bondage. Bondage. Like the bondage of the law.
And He told them over and over again, don't look to Egypt. Well,
here comes Egypt. Nebuchadnezzar's armies leave,
and they think, wow, everything's okay now. Strong delusion that
they would believe a lie. And that's exactly what it is.
Well, look over here at verse 6 now of Jeremiah 37. It says, Then came the word of
the Lord unto the prophet Jeremiah, saying, Thus saith the Lord the
God of Israel. Thus shall you say to the king
of Judah that sent you unto me to inquire of me, Behold, Pharaoh's
army, which has come forth to help you, shall return to Egypt
into their own land. They're going to be sent back
home. And the Chaldeans shall come again. They're going to
come back to Jerusalem. And they're going to fight against
the city and take it and burn it with fire. Verse 9, now that's
what God says. Thus saith the Lord, deceive
not yourselves, saying, The Chaldeans shall surely depart from us,
for they shall not depart. Now I want you to look at verse
10. This is an interesting verse. Listen to what he says here.
For though ye had smitten the whole army of the Chaldeans that
fight against you, and there remained but wounded men. And that literally means men
thrust through like with a sword or with a spear. In other words,
though they, you fight against them and all there was left of
the Chaldeans was just men who were thrust through. Yet should
they rise up every man in his tent and burn this city with
fire. Now if you take an army and you
take them out there and get all the men and thrust them through
with the sword of spirit, you'd think you'd won, hadn't you?
You'd proclaim victory, wouldn't you? God says, oh no. My word
stands sure. I will punish sin. They'll rise
up and they'll burn this city down. The judgments of God are
according to truth. They're sure and certain. God
will punish sin. That's the certainty of God's
justice against the sins of Judah. What he's telling them is, folks,
nothing can stop it. Nothing can stop God's judgment
against sin. Nothing can stop it. Nothing. Are there any proofs of that?
Well, there's a lot of proofs of it. We can go all the way
back to the Garden of Eden. I mentioned it before. What happened
when Adam sinned against God? You know what happened? He died. In the day that you eat thereof,
dying thou shalt die. He didn't die physically, but
that process of physical death started. But let me tell you
something, he did die spiritually. He became alienated from God.
He ran from God. He lost any desire to be near
to God. He was spiritually dead in trespasses
and sins. And he was expelled from the
Garden of Eden. Romans chapter 5 and verse 12
says that that's what happened to us in Adam. Wherefore, as
by one man sin entered into the world and death by sin, nothing
could stop it. Sin demands and deserves death,
the wages of sin. And so death passed upon all
men for that all sinned. What do we deserve? What do we
earn? Death. Nothing can stop it. What's the proof of it? Look
at Adam and Eve. And we could go all the way up
through the Old Testament. I'm not going to do that tonight.
But I'll tell you this one. Think about this one. God's testimony
of himself through the blood of animals. You remember what
Adam and Eve did to try to cover their nakedness. Nakedness in
the Bible symbolizes no righteousness. I have nothing to recommend.
It symbolizes shame. Because I have nothing to cover
my nakedness. I'm exposed to the wrath of God
by nature and by practice. I don't have anything to hide.
I can sow fig leaf aprons like Adam and Eve, that means I can
get religion, I can do this, don't do that, turn over a new
leaf, get reformed or whatever, get baptized, join the church,
but it will not do. What did God do? He took the
fig leaf aprons off and He slew an animal. He killed an animal. Why? Because He must punish sin. Without the shedding of blood,
there is no forgiveness, no remission, no pardon. Justice must be satisfied. And how many times do we see
that emphasized in the Old Testament? We can think about Cain and Abel.
Cain brought the best of his hard work, his hard labor. No
good. Abel brought the blood of a lamb.
Something had to die. Someone had to die. Christ is
set up to be the lamb slain from the foundation of the Lord. Why?
Because God will punish sin. Think about the Passover in Exodus
chapter 12. What did God say to him? He said,
when I see the blood, that's the punishment of sin, I will
pass over you. The atonement in the Old Covenant,
the mercy seat had to be sprinkled with what? The blood of the Lamb
from off the altar, the burning altar. God's continual dealings
with Israel for their sins. They could keep that land based
on obedience. They sin continually. Which my
covenant they break. You remember he said that in
the prophecy of the new covenant? And they lost it. Man by nature
under a conditional works covenant. Why? God must punish sin. We can think about the flood.
The flood that covered the world in Noah's day. The world deserved
to be punished. God will punish sin. The only
reason Noah wasn't punished with them is told in verse 8 of Genesis
chapter 6 because there it says Noah found grace in the eyes
of the Lord. Noah got something he didn't
deserve, something he didn't earn. That's the way it is with
God's people. We can think about the Sodom
and Gomorrah, God raining his wrath down and firing brimstone
upon that city. And Abraham, before it happened,
he asked this question, will not the judge of all the earth
do right? And the answer is yes, he will. He'll do right. We can
think about God's word in the law of sowing and reaping. Once
you sow, so shall you reap. Those who reap sin will sow wrath. And I tell you, you know that's
not teaching salvation by works. Those who sow grace reap grace. But as you know, and as I know,
the greatest proof of all, of the certainty of divine judgment
against sin is the death of God's Son on the cross of Calvary for
the sins of his people. You see, Christ is no testimony
or proof that God will not punish sin. He's the greatest testimony
and proof that God will punish sin. And I'll tell you why that's
so significant. First of all, you know that's
the glory of God and the salvation of His people. How God can be
just and justify the ungodly. That's the heart of the Gospel.
And I'll tell you where I first learned that sitting right back
here in the preacher school. That's where I first learned
that. When Brother Mahan gave us several messages. And one
of them was entitled, The Heart of the Gospel. And that's what
it was, how God can be just and justify the ungodly. And the
thing about it is, Christ today, Jesus today, is presented to
people as if God doesn't have to punish sin. God just thinks
so much of you and loves you so much and it just breaks his
heart so much that you're like you are that he's just willing
to forego punishment and accept you anyway. I see all these signs
on church marquees now that says, come just as you are. That's
the way God receives you. And I think what they mean is
you can come in pajamas if you want. I don't know today. you
know, and worship or whatever. But think about that. Let me
tell you something, when God brings a sinner into his fellowship,
accepting that sinner, he changes that sinner. He doesn't accept
us just as we are. Now I know what that Him just
as I am means. That means don't come bringing
my works or my efforts. Come as a sinner seeking mercy.
And God does accept us, but He does so in Christ. And when He brings us in, He
changes us. He gives us a new heart, a new
mind, a new spirit. To love Him and to believe in
Him. But you think about this, when Christ, when Jesus Christ,
the Lord of Glory was made sin, what happened? He died. And this
was the only way of redemption for God's elect because we're
sinners. And there was no other way, there
was no other possibility because God will punish sin, God must
punish sin, no other way. When the Lord was agonizing in
the infirmities of His humanity in the garden of Gethsemane,
in Matthew chapter 26 and verse 39, listen, it says, He went
a little further, He fell on His face and He prayed saying,
O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me. The
cup of God's wrath against Him for the sins of His people charged
to Him. But He said, nevertheless, not
as I will, but as thou will. God must punish sin. Look at
Hebrews chapter 2 with me. Over in the book of Hebrews chapter
2. Verse 10. Talking about Christ tasting
death for every man. That's not every one without
exception, that's every son. That's who he's talking about. And he says in verse 10, for
it became him. It was becoming to God. In other words, when God punishes
sin, it's not something that's unbecoming to Him. When God passes
judgment against sin, it's not something that's unbecoming of
Him. It's honoring to Him. It's glorifying to Him. It became
Him for whom are all things and by whom are all things in bringing
many sons unto glory. Now that's honoring to God to
bring many sons, His elect, the redeemed ones, unto glory. How
did He do it? Did He just say, forget about
it? I'm not a mean God anymore. I used to be, but I'm not anymore.
And I'll just pass over your sins, no matter. No, here's how
He did it. To make the captain of their
salvation perfect through what? Sufferings. And that was suffering
unto death. The captain of our salvation
is Christ Jesus. The perfection there is not the
perfection of Christ Himself, it's the completion of the work
that He was sent to do. He perfected the work. By one
offering, He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. That's
the work He had to do. And how did He do it? By suffering
unto death. God punished our sins in Christ. So don't ever think that God
did not punish our sins. when he saved us? No, he saved
us by punishing our sins in the person of his son, the Lord Jesus
Christ. And that's what he's talking
about. Look at verse 17 of this same, or verse 14. For as much
then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself,
likewise, in the same way, took part of the same, that through
death, the soul that sinneth it shall surely die. Jesus Christ
didn't sin, but his people did. And the debt of their sins was
charged to him. That's how he was made sin. He
was made a curse. That he might destroy him that
had the power of death, that is the devil, and deliver them
who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to
bondage. For verily, he took not on him the nature of angels,
but he took on him the seed of Abraham. Now look at verse 17.
Wherefore, for this reason, in all things it behooved him. Remember
I've told you that word behooved there is the Greek word for debt.
He became indebted, when it says it behooved him. Christ became
indebted, how? By sin imputed, that to be made
like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful
high priest in all things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation,
that's propitiation, satisfaction to the justice of God through
the death of a suitable, willing sacrifice for the sins of the
people. For in that he himself hath suffered
being tempted or tested, he is able to succor or to comfort
them that are tempted." God will punish sin. Christ is the end
of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth. The
God of salvation is both a just God and a Savior. And any God
who's less is no God at all. No God at all. God will punish
sin. Now in the last part, go back
to Jeremiah 37, in the last part of this chapter, we have an incident
in history, in the history of the prophet Jeremiah, that I
believe sets forth the mighty providence of God. What this
begins in verse 11, it talks about how the Chaldeans were,
they broke up from Jerusalem, they went and to Pharaoh's army,
and while that was happening, verse 12, Jeremiah went forth
out of Jerusalem to go into the land of Benjamin to separate
himself thence in the midst of the people. What he's doing there,
he's going back to his hometown, Anathot. He's going away from
Jerusalem back to his hometown. Many of them did at this time.
Well, verse 13, when he was in the gate of Benjamin, in other
words, he was going out of the city through the gate of Benjamin
toward his hometown, A captain of the ward was there whose name
was Irijah, the son of Shalamiah, the son of Hananiah. And he took
Jeremiah the prophet saying, Thou fallest away to the Chaldeans. What he's telling, what he's
saying there, and this is probably because Jeremiah had told the
people to submit to their punishment by God through the Chaldeans
and submit to Nebuchadnezzar. What this man is accusing Jeremiah
of is being a traitor. Say, you're going to the Babylonians. You're a traitor. Well, it says
in verse 14, then said Jeremiah, it is false. That's not true.
I fall not away to the Chaldeans, but he hearkeneth not unto him.
This Erijah didn't listen. Erijah took Jeremiah and brought
him to the princes. He brought him to the judges. And wherefore the princes were
angry with Jeremiah. They smote him, they whipped
him. and put him in prison in the house of Jonathan the scribe,
for they had made that the prison. And this was probably a pretty
rough prison. It says, when Jeremiah was entered
into the dungeon and into the cabins, that is, into the rooms
that they had, the cells that they had there, Jeremiah had
remained there many days. Then Zedekiah the king sent and
took him out. And the king asked him, now listen
to what happens here. The king asked him secretly in
his house, and he said, is there any word from the Lord? And Jeremiah
said, yes, there is. Now, I want you to think about
this. The king had already heard the
word from the Lord, but he wanted to know, has God changed his
mind? Is there any change in that message? Can you tell me what I want to
hear? Well, Jeremiah said, yeah, there's a word from the Lord.
Listen to what he says. For, said he, thou shalt be delivered
into the hand of the king of Babylon. Same word as before.
Message hasn't changed. God will punish sin. That message
hasn't changed and it never will change. And when we preach the
gospel, the good news of salvation by the grace of God, understand
that message still hasn't changed. God will punish sin. How then
can I, a sinner, Be saved from the wrath of God. There's not
but one way. And that's through the blood
and the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. There's no
other way. And that hasn't changed and it
will not change. If you come before God pleading,
begging, crying for salvation, for mercy without Christ, here
it is. You're going to be delivered
into the hand of the King of Babylon. You're going to be punished.
You are going to suffer under the wrath of God. He that hath
the Son hath life. He that hath not the Son hath
not life. But the wrath of God abides on
him. You see, in order for me to escape
the wrath of God, I must have righteousness. I don't have it
in myself. I can't get it from you. We can't
work it out together. It's only in Christ. And how
did Christ work it out? God punished my sins. in Christ. That's how he worked
it out. So Jeremiah tells the king the
same message. Verse 18, Moreover Jeremiah said
unto king Zedekiah, What have I offended against thee, or against
thy servants, or against this people, that you put me in prison?
I'm just telling you the truth, Jeremiah said. It may not be
what you want to hear. Remember back in Jeremiah 5,
it talked about how the people, they lie to the people, and my
people love to hear it. Well, verse 19, he says, where
are now your prophets which prophesied unto you saying the king of Babylon
shall not come against you nor against the land? Where are those
prophets that cried peace when there's no peace? They fled.
So verse 20, therefore here now I pray thee, O my Lord the king,
let my supplication, I pray thee, be accepted before thee. that
thou call'st me not to return to the house of jonathan the
scribe lest I die there jeremiah really thought it must have been
a rough prison where he was at he thought he was going to die
well look what happens god intervenes i believe this is the intervention
of god verse twenty one then zedekiah the king commanded that
they should commit jeremiah into the court of the prison and that
they should give him daily a piece of bread out of the baker street
until all the bread in the city were spent. Thus Jeremiah remained
in the court of the prison. So that was a little bit better
prison. And I believe that Zedekiah showed
kindness to Jeremiah because of God's providential blessings
and protection of his prophet. He remained even after that for
a little while to prophesy in Jerusalem before it was destroyed.
All right.