All right, so in Jeremiah chapter 14, and really this whole book, I'll just mention again, we've mentioned it as we've been studying through the book of Jeremiah. It's not a positive book, it's a very negative book because This is the time frame just prior to and including the time when the children of Israel specifically children of Judah are taken captive by the Babylonian Empire and they're taken over and they're brought into captivity and ultimately it's a result of God's judgment upon them. So as the day gets closer and as we get further into this book, as Jeremiah continues to receive word from the Lord, there's a lot of warning, there's a lot of judgment, there's a lot of prophecy of what's going to happen from the Lord delivering that word to Jeremiah. And of course, Jeremiah's job is to preach that unto the people. We've covered this in the past, and essentially, God's kind of already just sealed the deal with the children of Judah at this point in Jerusalem, because they've done so wickedly. And this comes up periodically, and we're gonna see this again tonight, and we'll look at the verses real closely and specifically, but it should come as a warning where there gets a point with God where you push things too far. And we really ought to take heed to that warning seriously. As believers, this is, symbolically, these are his people, like God's own people here. They still ended up pushing things so far that they've brought a very serious judgment on themselves to be brought into slavery, into bondage, and completely removed from their land. There's something I mean, if you think about it, it makes a lot of sense. Even with children of your own, you can show a lot of mercy and longsuffering and they could do things and they could kind of continue to act up and misbehave and do this and do this. But then there gets to a point where it's like, OK, no, it's too late now. There's no, you know, not taking it easy. You've gone too far. and now you're going to receive the punishment. You're going to get that discipline, right? And obviously, with God, we don't want to push things too far with the Lord. With God Almighty, who can do anything, you know, our breath is in His hand, right? God is capable of all things. So, hey, that's a good thing and a scary thing. God's capable of all things, amen, right? Like, hey, that's good. He can do a lot of great things in our life. He can help us to overcome all the biggest obstacles in our life, but at the same time, don't think that God can't cause negative things to happen in your life either, especially when we get involved in a lot of just really rebellion and disobedience. So let's dig into this. I just kind of, I wanted to preface that just a little bit. We've seen that already in multiple chapters in previous weeks, and we're kind of gonna see the same thing again. Look at verse number one. The Bible says, So the dearth is like a famine. What's happening here is that there's no rain, so there's this famine, there's a drought is what's going on, and they're starting to feel the effects of this drought. Verse two says, and the gates thereof languish. They are black unto the ground, and the cry of Jerusalem is gone up." So the people are in despair, right? They're miserable from this dearth. Verse three, and their nobles have sent their little ones to the waters. They came to the pits and found no water. They returned with their vessels empty. They were ashamed and confounded and covered their heads. They're being sent to go fetch some water, go to the river, whatever, and it's all dried up. There's just no water anywhere. So they're coming back with nothing. Verse four says, because the ground is chapped. I mean, you think about like chapped lips, when your lips are real dry, that's what happens. Well, hey, the ground is all chapped, it's dried up. For there was no rain in the earth. The plowmen were ashamed. They covered their heads. And you know, I just want to make a real quick point here. Words that, you know, we read the King James Bible, it's written in English, it's still considered modern English, but it's a language that, you know, it uses some words that are older words, and it uses some words that might be a little bit difficult to understand, but I'll tell you this, don't, because you might seem like, well, it's a little bit difficult, Don't be deceived by the modern versions and them trying to tell you that, oh, this is just easier to read. Because the modern versions are actually, there's many places where there's a lot of significant differences, where verses are completely removed from the Bible altogether. And definitely a lot of changes and things taken away, things added to, and the Bible's really clear that you're not supposed to take anything away from God's word. You're not supposed to add anything to it. There's really severe consequences for that. But my point with this is, and again, I preach entire sermons on this, and if you're interested about that, if you've never heard that before, you know, why we use this Bible, why we believe this is preserved word of God, I can give you more information about that. But all of that said to say this, When you read, and if you're not quite understanding something, when you continue just to read and get the whole context, you generally tend to get a good understanding of what is going on anyways, right? Obviously, if you don't understand a word, you can always look it up in the dictionary. But here, let's just say, for example, you didn't know what the word dearth meant. Well, as you continue to read this chapter, it's completely describing what the dearth is. Like literally just the definition of that word, you see it over and over and over again. There's no water, the ground is chapped, there's no rain, right? This is the dearth. That's exactly what it's describing. So don't get too concerned or overwhelmed even with reading your Bible and maybe not understanding some things. Just continue to read and you'll still get the sense of what's going on, right? So let's keep reading here, though, because this is very devastating for the land. Verse 5, yea, the hind also calved in the field and forsook it because there was no grass. And this happens. I've seen documentaries on this. You know, animals in the desert can give birth to young. And if it's a really bad year, if there's a bad drought, they'll just abandon the young because they can't care for it and there's no way to feed it or provide for it. So they'll give birth and then just move on. So obviously, it's a really, really bad condition here. that this is happening, even the animals are being impacted by this. Verse number six, and the wild asses did stand in the high places. They snuffed up the wind like dragons. Their eyes did fail because there was no grass. Oh Lord. So this is all, these first six verses are just describing kind of the situation, how bad things are, right? Now, verse seven, oh Lord, though our iniquities testify against us, Do thou it for thy name's sake. And do thou it is provide us relief, right? Help us from this dearth for your name's sake. For our backslidings are many. We have sinned against thee. Now, right off the bat, this is, and this ought to be the right, this is the right response. This is what we all ought to do. You know, when, if you're finding yourself in a really horrible situation, you know, recognize and acknowledge your sin. Because oftentimes you may be brought low because the Lord is just putting you through the wringer because you have some sin in your life that you have not forsaken, you haven't confessed it, you're kind of holding on to it, and you just want to keep on in that iniquity. And you know what? As a loving father, especially if you're a child of God, he's going to want you to shape up. He's going to want you to get that stuff out of your life. So he may be putting you through some real difficult times, and you know how you get out of that? Confess it. You confess that sin, you say, God, I've sinned, right? Confess it and forsake it. And you know what, the Lord is merciful and he does look to extend that mercy to people. It's not like God just enjoys, you know, making people suffer or something. But again, if you think about it, you know, the Lord our Father is a great way for us, one aspect of God to be able to understand him and how he deals with us. If you had a child that was doing some things that were seriously wrong, really bad, You'd be willing to do a lot and allow them to go through a lot if it's going to help them ultimately to get out of and recover from whatever sin it might be. I think of things like addiction, drugs, things like that, whatever. People get really bad in that stuff, but it's oftentimes good for people to hit rock bottom to then realize how kind of, Whoa, I need a wake up call. I need to see what's going on here so I can really change the course of things, really identify and just acknowledge and say, yeah, I've done wrong. Like this isn't right. I shouldn't be doing this stuff. And then just get right with God and just confess it to God and then be able to move forward. And then God could be a blessing in your life. So here, The acknowledgement is, hey, our, and this is Jeremiah confessing like for the whole nation, right? Our iniquities. I don't think Jeremiah specifically was like some real wicked person that had all these sins. He's just kind of speaking on behalf of the nation because he sees what's going on. He's recognizing the condition of the nation as a whole and saying, Lord, our iniquities testify against us. Like we can't hide our sin. It's already out there. You know what they are. They testify against us. We've done wrong. So do thou it for thy name's sake, basically to magnify his name, to show how merciful and gracious he is to forgive them. And then he says, for our backslidings are many, we have sinned against thee. Continuing on, verse eight says, oh the hope of Israel, the savior thereof in time of trouble. Why shouldst thou be as a stranger in the land and as a wayfaring man that turneth aside to tarry for a night? He's like, why are you gonna be to us just like someone who's just kind of passing through and not someone who's here and among us and with us? Don't be like someone who's just kind of passing through. You're the savior. You're the hope of Israel. Don't leave us. Don't abandon us. Don't be as someone who's just passing through. Stay with us. Why shouldst thou be as a man astonied? That's kind of like astonish, like just, you know, as a mighty man that cannot save. Yet thou, O Lord, art in the midst of us, and we are called by thy name. Leave us not. So Jeremiah is acknowledging, saying, look, you are in the midst of us because God has been with them. And he's entreating the Lord and pleading with him, like, please don't leave. We're called by your name. We're your people, God, don't leave us. So this is the prayer of Jeremiah, but let's see how the Lord responds. Thus saith the Lord unto this people. And again, it's unto the people. This isn't just like you, Jeremiah, right? This is for all the people. Thus saith the Lord unto this people. Thus have they loved to wander. They have not refrained their feet. Therefore the Lord doth not accept them. He will now remember their iniquity and visit their sins. He's saying, look, I know this people has been bad. We're talking about them wandering and haven't refrained their feet. These are illustrative of them going around and cheating on God by setting up these other idols and false gods and stuff like that, because that's one of the biggest problems that God had with them, is their idolatry, going after strange gods and everything else, and just kind of forsaking the Lord. So he's saying, look, they've been doing this, and they love to do it, too. They had no problem with this. They didn't refrain their feet. So I'm not going to accept them. And he says, and now I'm going to remember their iniquity, basically implying I have been gracious with them. I have given them space. I haven't come down on them yet. But now, no, now I'm remembering their iniquity, and now it's time to visit their sins. And keep this in mind too, as a warning, just in general, this is, of course, in the context, we're trying to keep it in context, but we still can make applications to our lives. Look, don't be deceived, the Bible says, be not deceived, God is not mocked for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. And there comes a time where God will visit you for your sins. And it may be sometime in the future. It may not be right away. And this is oftentimes how we could deceive ourselves into thinking that either one, my sin must not be that bad because nothing bad's happening to me right now. or somehow just another self-justification, right? Like, oh, maybe it's not even a sin, or, you know, I'm just getting away with this, so it's just not a big deal. We have all these reasons we could just kind of trick ourselves into thinking and just continuing along a certain way, but you know what? There's going to come that day where God says, okay, now I'm visiting you for your sin, and then it's going to be really bad, right? And the longer you go, especially when you know you're doing wrong, Right? More than just sinning through ignorance. The Bible talks about sinning through ignorance, where you just don't really know something's a sin, but you're doing it, versus willfully sinning against the Lord. They're not exactly the same. Now, sin is sin. I mean, you're guilty, you're responsible for your actions, but the stuff that you know is wrong and you continue to do it anyways is a lot worse. And when you're doing stuff like that and continuing down that path, you know what? God is not mocked and he will visit for your sins. And we could all expect that in our own lives, which is why we had a good conversation on Sunday just about salvation, because salvation is a free gift. Salvation is something you just received. Hey, God saves you. He did all the work for you. He pays for that all at once, all at one time. You saved, you get eternal life when you put your trust in Jesus Christ and you're saved forever and nothing could ever change that. You say, well what happens if I do something really bad? What if I backslide? What if I willfully sin against the Lord? You're still saved. Because Jesus did all the work for that. But here's the thing, you still have to fear God, because as a child of God, as someone who is saved, as someone who God has expectations now, hey, you're my son, I want you to live a good way, I want you to live a righteous life, and a God that loves you, you know, the Bible says men as he loves, he rebukes and chastens, so he's gonna look at his son, And he chastens every son whom he receives. And if he sees you being rebellious, being stubborn, disobeying, he's going to bring the smack down, so to speak, and give you a little bit of discipline in your life. Because he loves you and he wants you to change. But don't think that you just get away with everything. Verse number 11, and this is, look, this is important, and this is the Bible, folks, because I know there's other teachings out there that sound really good, but are not necessarily true. Okay, and we gotta get what we believe from the scripture, from the word. Verse number 11 says, then said the Lord unto me, pray not for this people for their good. And many Christian churches today will tell you to just pray. Essentially, it's like this, pray for everyone, for their good, for everything, all the time, just always be praying for good. And you know what? That sounds really good. It sounds great. It sounds uplifting. It sounds pleasing. It's good to the ears. But is that exactly what the Bible teaches? Clearly not. Look, he's literally telling Jeremiah, don't pray for this people for their good. Because there comes time, and if you think about this, it makes sense. And when you consider the situation, there's specifics in people's lives where this makes a lot of sense. The best way for me to kind of explain this is you think of someone who is in the bondage of addiction, right? Sometimes you'll have people who are enablers in that person's life. And if you have people who are just always willing to just, I'm going to keep giving them money, and I'm just going to keep giving them food, I'm just going to keep on giving this stuff. But then they keep on using it, and they keep on doing the drugs, or doing whatever. You're just enabling that person. You're not really helping them, are you? You're not really helping. Sometimes you need to have to have the tough love and be able to just step back and be like, no, like this is for your own good. You need to go through this now. You need to suffer these consequences because you need to realize how bad this is. And sometimes people can't be reasoned with, you just have to go through it. And what we should be getting when we get to the Bible is softening our hearts, opening our ears, and being able to receive the word of God, so anywhere we need correction, we can do so without having to go through it. Not having to do everything by experience. I wish I could have been doing this from a much younger age, because I had to do things the hard way, unfortunately, for many years of my own life, and it's not fun. It's not something I encourage. take heed to the word of God so we cannot have to go through these types of things. And clearly here, you know, there's a condition that these people are in where God's just telling Jeremiah, don't pray for their good. They have to go through this. This is something that has to happen now. They push things too far and now they're going to get their punishment. So don't pray for their good. Because at this point in this condition, If you were to be praying for their good, that's contrary to God's will. Cause he's already planning on doing, you know, this evil against them. And he's literally telling them, okay, don't pray for this people for their good. And then he says this in verse 12, when they fast, I will not hear their cry. And when they offer burnt offering and an oblation, I will not accept them, but I will consume them by the sword and by the famine and by the pestilence. Now keep your place here in Jeremiah 14. We're coming back to it and turn if you would to Proverbs chapter one. Proverbs chapter one, go back in your Bibles. just after the book of Psalms is a book of Proverbs. And I've referenced this in the past. We've gone through this a little bit where we talk about from the book of Jeremiah, where the people have pushed things too far. And in Proverbs chapter one, we see another truth. In the very first chapter of Proverbs is a book of wisdom. It's something that's, you know, all these great words of wisdom designed to help you understand and to know, get good knowledge and to avoid a lot of the pitfalls in this life. Look at verse number 22 of Proverbs chapter one. The Bible reads, how long ye simple ones will you love simplicity? And the scorners delight in their scorner and fools hate knowledge. Turn you at my reproof. So what's a reproof? It's when God's telling you you're wrong. And he's saying, turn at my reproof. Hey, when I'm telling you you're wrong, change, right? Do something about it. Turn, receive my correction. Turn you at my reproof. Behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you. I will make known my words unto you. He's like, just listen to me. When I'm telling you you're doing wrong, change, and I'll do these good things to you. I'll pour out my spirit unto you. I'll make known my words unto you. But then it says this in verse 24. Because I have called and ye refused, I have stretched out my hand and no man regarded. So look, God, it's not that God's not trying. And for everyone in this world. God has tried to reach out, to extend a hand, to call out to those people, to everybody. No one alive can say, well, God didn't try. He did. You might not, you might not realize it. You might not have recognized it, but God is the God of everybody. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. Look, God's not willing that anyone, that any man should perish, but that all should come to repentance. That's the heart of God. So he's there, he's reaching out. But we have to be ready to listen. We have to be ready to receive. We have to be ready to turn at his rebuff, reproof, excuse me, rebuke and reproof in one word is rebuff. It's a new word I just made up. But look at the dire consequences though, because look, God is good and God wants to do good things and God wants to bless you. But at the same time, It's not like there's zero consequence though to not responding to the Lord's goodness, right? Hey, I called and you refused. You didn't want to answer. I stretch out my hand and it's like nothing to you, right? You didn't regard. But you have set at naught all my counsel. He's like, everything I've been telling you to do, all my wisdom, it's like nothing to you. You're just treating it like it's no big deal. You've said it not on my counsel and would none of my reproof. You didn't want to hear that you're doing wrong. And so many people don't want to hear it. Oh, don't tell me I'm doing, I don't want to hear that. But look, this is what the Bible says. Yeah, I don't want to hear it. Don't tell me about that. I don't care. Okay, but you know, be careful about that because look at the next verse here in 26. I also will laugh at your calamity. I will mock when your fear cometh. When your fear cometh as desolation and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind, when distress and anguish cometh upon you, then shall they call upon me. Look at this, but I will not answer. They shall seek me early, but they shall not find me. There is a time that there's a point you can get to where even then when you finally decide you wanna come around and you wanna then try to find God, that he might not be found. That is a scary place to be. So we need to keep our hearts soft and ready and ready to hear and ready to receive because what a bad place to be in. And you think, yeah, but God will hear anyone. No, not always. Not always, okay? So let's not just think, and you know, people have this foolish mindset of thinking, well, I'm just gonna go off and I'm gonna do anything I wanna do, and then on my deathbed, I'm gonna call on the Lord, and then I'm, you know, like, man, first of all, you have no idea what a day is gonna bring. You don't know the day you're gonna die, first of all. Second of all, how do you know you're not gonna just push things too far with God? He's just gonna be like, no. Like, I see your plan, I know your heart, no. Now, does that mean no one can get saved on their deathbed? Of course not. Of course people can put their trust in Christ and get saved. I'm not saying that that's not possible. What I'm saying is don't try to play games and don't try to mess around and don't try to think that you can game the system or something with God. That's not how it works. Because first, you have to have a sincere heart. So they shall not be found of me, verse 28, verse 29, for that they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord. They would none of my counsel, they despised all my reproof. Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way and be filled with their own devices. For the turning away of the simple shall slay them and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them. But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely and shall be quiet from fear of evil. Let's go back to Jeremiah chapter 14. It's just so relevant that Proverbs 1, I've brought it up in sermons in the past and it'll probably come up again because this is the condition of the people of Judah and Jerusalem that Jeremiah is preaching to that, hey, look, this is, and this is why Jeremiah needs to understand and why I'm covering this is that, you know, God said, hey, don't pray for this people for their good. Why? Because they're in this condition because they push things so far. That's why. because they're at a point where even though Jeremiah's there trying to confess their sins and trying to seek God the right way, mind you, they've already gone too far. Now we have another, this is Jeremiah's response here in verse 13. Then said I, ah, Lord God, behold, The prophets say unto them, Ye shall not see the sword, neither shall ye have famine, but I will give you assured peace in this place. So now, Jeremiah first, he brings up, hey, I'm confessing our sins. And God says, hey, don't pray for those people for their good. Then Jeremiah is saying, okay, but look, These prophets, there's these false prophets out here that are telling all of the people that there's no trouble, there's no famine, there's no problems coming, I'm giving you peace, everything's good. This is what he's trying to tell the Lord because if you think about it, he's essentially trying to say, well, God, this people have been deceived by these other guys who are telling them everything's just fine. This is exactly what we have going on today. This has been going on all throughout history. You just have some people that you'll get some preachers that will never preach anything bad. It's all positive. They just want to tell everyone how great everything is and how wonderful everything is. And it's a big social club. And everyone pats each other on the back. No one changes anything in their life. And everything just sounds really good, right? And it's really good on the ears. And it's real good on the preacher's pocketbook because everyone wants to come. And we could fill up a whole stadium full of people. And everyone will pay. you know, pass the offering plate around 10 times and, you know, give all this money and stuff. Yeah, you're telling people what they want to hear and people will pay to hear that stuff. They'll pay to hear it from someone who supposedly has this great connection with God, right? But look, that's not preaching the Bible. Now, does that mean there's no good things in Bible? Of course not. There's great things in Bible. There's lots of great, great positive things of God working in people's lives. Absolutely. Absolutely. And if someone's preaching the whole counsel of God, they should cover all of those things. But this is a lie. Literally what's happening here. This is a lie. Jeremiah is bringing us up. Hey, these prophets have said there's no sword. There's no famine. I'm going to give you peace. Verse 14, then the Lord said unto me, the prophets prophesy lies in my name. I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake unto them. They prophesy unto you a false vision and divination and a thing of naught and the deceit of their heart. So God said, look, they're not for me. And are there people out there that do this? Absolutely. They're going to claim the name of Jesus. They're going to claim the name of God. They're going to claim to be Christian. They're going to claim all these things. But they're not getting it from the word of God. They're false prophets. It's out there. But just as it was in Jeremiah, and God just literally saying, OK, but you know what? I didn't send them. They're not for me. So this isn't an argument now that is gonna hold water, and I'll get to that in just a minute. Let's keep reading here, verse number 15. The Bible says, therefore, thus saith the Lord concerning the prophets that prophesy in my name, and I sent them not, yet they say, sword and famine shall not be in this land. Which, by the way, is in total contradiction to what God is saying, right? God is actually saying, no, there is gonna be sword and famine. They're saying sword and famine are not gonna be in the land. So because they did this, That last portion of verse 15 says, by sword and famine shall those profits be consumed. Oh yeah, those guys are saying this isn't gonna happen. They literally are gonna die by the sword and by the famine. So he's bringing that on their own head. These guys that are lying about it, they're gonna be the ones that are gonna have to deal with this for sure. And again, be not deceived, God is not mocked. Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. and these false prophets that are claiming things in the name of the Lord. And look, anytime someone claims they have a message from God, anytime someone claims that God says this or God says that, say, where does the Bible say that? Because if the Bible, you can't point to a verse in the Bible that says that, then don't believe them. Because this is the word of God. This is it. We have the truth right here. God is no longer using the prophets as he did in the old time to deliver his word, because his word's been delivered. Over time, over the years, he's used different people to give us the word of God. And now we have the word of God. Revelation closed it all up. It's done. We got the whole book. We got all the books. So it's complete. It's here. So when someone's trying to teach you what God has for you in your life or whatever, Better be out of this book. And later in the book of Jeremiah, we're gonna see other ways too, by which you can discern false prophets, but that'll be for future weeks in future Bible studies. So first he says, cause this is what Jeremiah was saying, hey, these prophets are telling the people this stuff, right? So he's still trying to seek mercy from the Lord because of what the false prophets are saying. And he says, okay, well, you know what? I'm gonna deal with those guys. They're gonna get exactly what they're saying isn't gonna happen. But now look at verse 16. And the people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword. And they shall have none to bury them, them, their wives, nor their sons, nor their daughters, for I will pour their wickedness upon them. What's God saying there? He's still holding them responsible. You can't point to, but this guy deceived me. You're still responsible for your own beliefs, for your own actions, for your own wickedness. Now, God's gonna punish the false prophets, for sure, absolutely. But you're not guiltless and you can't just pawn off, you know, not, oh, I didn't know, this guy lied to me. No, you're responsible for that. You're responsible for that. Because, man, it would be really easy to just let someone else do the thinking for you, wouldn't it? And that's what a lot of people like to do. But you won't hear that here. And watch out for the churches that tell you, just believe me and listen to what I have to say, and don't do your own research, and don't do your own study, and don't figure it out. No, you better be knowing this book for yourself. How else are you gonna know what's true and what's false? How could you sit under anybody's teaching if you don't know this for yourself? You have to know this for yourself. Bible says, study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed. You need to study to show yourself approved and not approved unto man, approved unto God. God wants you to have wisdom. God wants you to know his word. God actually expects it. And if you just want to say, well, I just didn't know because I'm following so-and-so, shame on you. You're still responsible for that. And they'll get punished. It's like in the Garden of Eden. It's like the most basic truth, right? You got the serpent deceives Eve into eating of the forbidden fruit, right? And then Eve brings the fruit to Adam and then Adam eats. So God confronts Adam, hey, did you eat of this fruit? And he's like, yeah, but the woman that you gave to me, you gave me this woman. Remember when you gave me this woman, God? She gave me this fruit to eat and I ate it. And then he's like, okay, what do you have to say for yourself, Eve, right? Like, well, the serpent, the serpent beguiled me, right? The serpent, he's the one that tricked me, right? So then God goes to the serpent, and then of course, serpent's cursed, and then there's judgment on Eve, and then there's judgment on Adam. They all sin, and they're all responsible for their own sin. all the more reason to be careful in our life about our own walk with God, about what's right, about having integrity in your heart, about knowing the word of God and having to choose what's right regardless of what anybody else says, no matter how much clout they have, no matter how much respect they have. I don't care who it is. You have to do what's right in the eyes of God that you see from the word of God. And you're responsible for that, doing that yourself. Verse 17, therefore thou shalt say this word unto them. Let mine eyes run down with tears, night and day, and let them not cease. For the virgin daughter of my people is broken with a great breach, with a very grievous blow. And this is a sad event. And when there's major problems and major judgment coming down for sin, that's not a reason to rejoice ever. It's sad. It's sad. Let the tears flow like this. It shouldn't have gotten to this point, but it did. It's grievous. Verse 18. If I go forth into the field, then behold the slain with the sword. And if I enter into the city, then behold them that are sick with famine. Yea, both the prophet and the priest go about into a land that they know not. Hast thou utterly rejected Judah? Hath thy soul loathed Zion? Loathed means hated. Why hast thou smitten us and there is no healing for us? We looked for peace, and there is no good, and for the time of healing, and behold, trouble. We acknowledge, O Lord, our wickedness and the iniquity of our fathers, for we have sinned against thee. And what I want to point out here, right before we read the last couple of verses, is Jeremiah has the right attitude here. to just continue to entreat the Lord, and seek his mercy, and confess, and just admit you've done wrong, and have that repentant heart, and just continue to just still seek the Lord. Because even if you do push things too far, and if God does still have to judge, you wanna maintain that right attitude, even though you know, okay, I'm gonna have to deal with this now. I have some repercut, you know, I have to deal with this ramification, I have to deal with this problem, we have to go through this. but I'm going to maintain a humble heart and I'm going to maintain still a sincere repentance towards the Lord, because what happens with some people is that, oh, well, if I have to deal with this anyways, then forget it and just kind of have a bitter, bad attitude that, well, I have to go through all this junk and, you know, kind of get real down, right? As opposed to still staying, no, I'm gonna just ride this out, God, whatever, if this is what has to happen, it is, but I'm gonna continue to stay humble and humble. acknowledge our wickedness and say, this may be deserved, but God, just know, here we are. Because you never know, you never know when God still can extend mercy. You never know. And God is merciful. So you want to maintain that right heart and that right attitude, because it also can potentially shorten the time that he has for you to have to be going through judgment or punishment or whatever, and then bring you out. And then you're going to be starting off on the right foot after the fact there. Verse number 21, do not abhor us for thy name's sake. Do not disgrace the throne of thy glory. Remember, break not thy covenant with us. Are there any among the vanities of the Gentiles that can cause rain?" So now, the vanities of the Gentiles, he's referring to the fake gods, the other gods that the heathen would worship. He's like, can any of those gods cause rain? No, of course not, right? They're not even gods. The vanities of the Gentiles. Or can the heavens give showers? Art not thou he, O Lord, our God? Therefore we will wait upon thee, for thou hast made all these things. So it's the ultimate, just acknowledgment, God. You are God. We know that these idols are nothing. He's trying to speak for everyone, for the whole nation, because they've gone after this idolatry and these false gods and stuff. And he's saying, look, no. He's trying to settle the score and be like, God, we know you're the only God. You're the true God. You've made everything. You're the one who's able to bring rain. So God, please, we acknowledge our sins. We acknowledge our iniquity. Essentially, just show mercy on us. And as we continue, we're going to see even in the next week, it still doesn't really improve for the children of Israel. Unfortunately, it just is what it is. This is what happened. And again, big lessons for us to learn out of this book. Each chapter we go through it because Let's never let ourself get to that condition. I mean, as a nation, I feel like we've already gone past that. I don't know. God knows how he chooses the judge. I feel like he's been very long suffering and merciful on our nation as it is to this point with all the wickedness and the things that are going on and being promoted and just get worse and worse. But we can't control what everyone else does, but we can control what we do. And God's able to save the faithful out of and allow his people to be safe, even through judgment, even through difficult times for a larger amount of people. God kept Jeremiah safe. Now, he had to deal with a lot. He got cast in a dungeon. We'll read through all of that. But at the end of the day, he was still kept really good overall. He suffered through some of the worst of it, but then came out like, hey, you could do whatever you want. He wasn't being taken captive and stuff and was put in a decent position at the end of it all. And God's able to keep his people through all these difficult times if you just stay faithful to him. And our job is to go out and to reach as many people as possible and convince people to, hey, follow the word. hey, get saved, let Jesus save you, and now let's start changing our life because the more that can spread, the less wickedness is gonna be in our area. Maybe the whole United States is gonna go down, but like Norcross, Georgia doesn't necessarily have to, right? We could have a little pocket here and try to reach, extend that as far as possible, I don't know. Right? Either way, no matter what's going to happen, it doesn't change what's right and what's wrong. We do what we do. God said so. We're going to do it. Let's bow right