BELIEVER IN A DARK TUNNEL

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BELIEVER IN A DARK TUNNEL The Confessions of
Jeremiah
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Lesson 3 Depression Lashes Out Jeremiah
1712-18
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INTRODUCTION 1. We have traced Jeremiahs trek
through two dark tunnels and now we come to the
third personal crisis. 2. We wonder why God
exercised patience with this prophet. 3. Now we
see Jeremiah walk into another tunnel of
depressionone in which he lashes out against
those who were making life miserable for him.
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Acknowledgement 1712-13
12 A glorious throne, exalted from the
beginning, is the place of our sanctuary.
1. He calls God a glorious throne
(1712). a. This title suggests that God from
the beginning of time was the exalted ruler over
all the earth. b. God is called the place of
our sanctuary because true worship is grounded in
him. c. Hope can also mean pool, i.e.,
source of living water.
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d. The throne, sanctuary and hope of Israel is
Yahweh himself, not the temple, not Jerusalem or
anything else.
13 O LORD, the hope of Israel, all who forsake
you will be put to shame. Those who turn away
from you will be written in the dust because they
have forsaken the LORD, the spring of living
water.
2. Jeremiah was confident that anyone who turned
from God will be put to shame. a. Jeremiah was
confident that he was Yahwehs true spokesman.
b. He equated turning from God with turning
from himself.
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c. Such as refused to hear the word of God will
be written in the land or ground. 1) A name
scratched in the dust of the ground is soon
obliterated. 2) So it is with the unbeliever.
For awhile he may hold the limelight but in
short order he fades from the scene. 3) The
unbeliever dries up and blows away because he has
abandoned the source of living water. 4) The
prophet who called God a deceitful stream in
1518 now referred to him as the fountain of
living waters.
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Petition 1714
14a Heal me, O LORD, and I will be healed
1. First, Jeremiah cried out for healing, but
not the healing of the body he yearned for the
spiritual and mental healing. a. Jeremiah
referred to the human hearthis includedas
incurable (1518 179). b. Only the Great
Physician can provide the healing for the heart
of man. c. Jeremiahs heart was broken because
the people he loved reject the message.
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14b save me and I will be saved, for you are the
one I praise.
2. Second, Jeremiah cried out for deliverance
from the sneers of the apostates. Recall Gods
promise in 1520 to deliver his prophet. 3. The
second person pronoun is emphatic in v 14 as it
is also in vv 16-17. a. Jeremiah knew that God
will heal and deliver him. b. For this reason
he made God the object of his praise. Yahweh was
his only hope! c. This statement of praise was
a motivation for Yahweh to respond positively to
Jeremiahs petition.
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Narrative 1715-16
15 They keep saying to me, "Where is the word of
the LORD? Let it now be fulfilled!"
1. He described to God his situation. In prayer
narrative we tell God our situation. a. The
people were mocking Jeremiah (v 15). They
were demanding that his prophecies be fulfilled.
b. One whose prediction did not come true was
to be treated as a false prophet (Dt 1822).
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16a I have not run away from being your
shepherd
2. He called attention to his loyalty to God.
a. The first person pronoun is emphatic.
b. Jeremiah faced opposition almost from the
outset of his ministry but he did not abandoned
his post. c. He continued in his position as
an under-shepherd following after Yahweh.
d. Jeremiah walked in the footsteps of his
God. e. He sought to lead the flock of God in
the old paths that the Lord had identified
clearly in his word.
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16b you know I have not desired the day of
despair.
3. Jeremiah was faithful in what he preached.
a. Day of despair is literally incurable
day--same word used in v 9. b. The day of
Judahs punishment is metaphorically called sick
or incurable because from it there will be no
recovery. c. Jeremiah took no malicious
delight in announcing the doom that was to befall
Judah. 1) He preached judgment because that
message was laid upon him by Yahweh. 2) In
spite of the fact that the message was personally
distasteful Jeremiah kept preaching.
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16c What passes my lips is open before you.
3) Every word that the prophet uttered was
known to Yahweh. He had not altered in any
way the word that was laid upon his heart.
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Final Petition 1717-18
17 Do not be a terror to me you are my refuge
in the day of disaster.
1. Following the narrative portion of his prayer
Jeremiah added further petition. a. Many years
earlier God had commanded Jeremiah not to be
dismayed or terrified before his enemies (117).
b. The delay in executing the sentence against
the antagonists brought foreboding to the
prophet.
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c. Jeremiah prayed that he will not be
embarrassed, dismayed or terrified because of his
loyalty to God. d. The evil day or day of
distress is probably not referring to Judahs day
of judgment, but to Jeremiahs day of personal
peril. e. This statement of needful trust was
the second motivation for Yahwehs positive
response to Jeremiahs petition.
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18 Let my persecutors be put to shame, but keep
me from shame let them be terrified, but keep me
from terror. Bring on them the day of disaster
destroy them with double destruction.
2. Jeremiah called upon God utterly to silence
the sneering enemies by sending the threatened
judgment. a. He asked that his enemies be
confused. b. Jeremiah believed that Gods
judgment was sure. He wanted that judgment
administered soon. c. He asked that his
enemies receive double shattering, i.e., total
destruction.
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3. In verse 16 Jeremiah said that he did not
desire the evil day but in verse 18 he called on
God to send it. a. The solution to this
apparent contradiction is simple. Jeremiah prayed
for the salvation of Judah as a nation.
b. Within the nation, however, were certain
hardcore, utterly perverse antagonists.
c. They were the enemies of God as well as
Gods prophet. d. Evil day is dooms day for
the persecutors, especially the false prophets.
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e. When the prophet asked God to pour out his
wrath upon these hardened sinners there was no
personal vindictiveness. f. Here, as in
similar prayers, Jeremiah was jealous for Yahweh
his God.
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Conclusion
1. Spiritual depression is a terrible thing.
In that state we say and do things which are
contrary to our better nature. 2. Jesus taught
us to pray for our enemies. Jeremiah fell short
of this high expectation. 3. It is easy for us
to cast stones at Jeremiahto condemn him for his
outspoken request that God zap his enemies.
But we have not walked in Jeremiahs sandals.
4. Jeremiah recorded his experiences in the
dark tunnels so as to help us avoid the pitfall
of spiritual depression.