All right, Jeremiah chapter 12. Get this going. Uh-oh. Uh-oh, no backup tonight. No timer. You know what that means. No, we got a clock. All right, well this isn't that big of a deal anyways. Who cares how long I preach for? Till the storm passes, yes. Till the hurricane blows through, we're gonna be here for a little while, or the power goes out, right? We'll see. All right, let's dig in to Jeremiah 12, I'm not too worried about that. Verse number one of the Bible reads, righteous art thou, O Lord, when I plead with thee, Yet let me talk with thee of thy judgments. Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? Wherefore are all they happy that deal very treacherously? Thou hast planted them, yea, they have taken root, they grow, yea, they bring forth fruit. Thou art near in their mouth and far from their reins. And you know, this chapter starts off here, it's like a conversation between Jeremiah and the Lord that's going on here, where he's saying, you know, You're always righteous, God, when I plead with you, if there's anything, you know, God's righteous in all of his judgment, which is what he's bringing up. He's entreating the Lord for his judgment, for his righteous judgment, which is why then he just brings up, he says, hey, you know, I have a question for you, essentially. He's saying, you know, let me ask you about your judgments. And when he says wherefore, it's like, why does the way of the wicked prosper? Like, why do I look at these wicked people And they're just prospering. Everything seems to be going really well. Why is that, Lord? And some people might struggle with this too. And as human beings in general, we can look at things and be like, man, that's not just. You look at some of the horrible things that might happen and people who have a lot of power and influence and have a lot of wealth that just kind of get away with treating people terribly. You look at the Clintons, it's like, how is that possible? Right? This is, this is, you know, obviously it's not just that. There's so many examples. I mean, there's so many examples like that we could look to and just be like, well, where's the judgment? Right? I thought she was going to, I thought Hillary was going to get locked up. What happened to that? But seriously, though, this is a real question where he's saying, you know, why does the way of the wicked prosper? And wherefore are all they happy that deal very treacherously? Like, why is it that they get to seem to live in happiness? And turn if you would to Psalm 73, because this is probably, I think, one of the most famous psalms regarding this subject. It's, it really goes into Psalm 73. Detail on this. I know we've covered this I think a couple times recently But I want to just hit this again because it's coming up here in Jeremiah It's and it's an important subject to cover in general just so we have a proper view on Life in general we look at people who who have things who's asking this question in verse number two I'm gonna keep reading for you what we just read Jeremiah 12 you're turning to Psalm 73 in verse 2 It says thou has planted them. Yeah, they have taken root. I They grow, yay, they bring forth fruit, like everything, they just seem to be really prosperous. And then it says, thou art near in their mouth and far from their reins. And that word reins, it's an old word, R-E-I-N-S. So it's not reigning like a king, that would be R-E-I-G-N. And it's not even necessarily, it's not like the reigns on a horse. This is your innards is what it means when we're talking about your reigns. This is an old word meaning like your inside. So basically what this is saying, hey, they're in their mouth or God's in their mouth, but not on the inside. It's all just a facade. It's all just facetious. They're claiming the name of God. They're saying things that are might sound like, oh, wow, these people really love God, but not on the inside. On the inside, they're full of dead men's bones, like the way that Jesus was describing the Pharisees in Matthew 23. On the outside, you look real pretty. You're like these graves and these tombs, that everything looks real nice and fancy and shined and polished on the outside, but on the inside, there's nothing there. And that's essentially what he's bringing up here. And he's just asking God, why does it seem to go so well for them? And this thought comes up in Psalm 73. So we're gonna read through this pretty briefly, but I just wanna read through most of this Psalm here. Verse number one, truly God is a good, excuse me, let me start over. Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart. But as for me, my feet were almost gone, my steps had well nigh slipped. For I was envious at the foolish when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. For there are no bands in their death, but their strength is firm. They are not in trouble as other men, neither are they plagued like other men. Therefore pride compass them about as a chain. Violence covereth them as a garment. Their eyes stand out with fatness. They have more than heart could wish. This is just describing these wicked people. It's like they have everything. And he's saying here that When I saw their prosperity, I was becoming envious at that, going like, man, I want to live like that. I want to be like that. I want to have all the money and have everything working out for me and have my family and everyone's living to be real old and everything else, and everything just seems to be real comfortable for them, right? Their eyes stand out with fatness. They got more than they could even want at all, more than their heart could wish for. They are corrupt. and speak wickedly concerning oppression, they speak loftily, because they think they're better than everyone else. They set their mouth, verse nine, against the heavens, and their tongue walketh through the earth. Therefore, as people return hither, and waters of a full cup are wrung out to them. And they say, how doth God know, and is their knowledge in the most high? So, and you're going to see this in Jeremiah 12, exactly the same thing here, where they just think that like God doesn't see what they do. Like they're so full of themselves. They just, they just kind of think that they could do anything. And what is God going to do? What's God going to care? God doesn't even see him. He doesn't know what they're doing. It's like Pharaoh's attitude. Who is the Lord? Who is the Lord that you should go serve him? Who is that? Who is this God that you're talking about? Right? They say, verse 11, how does God know and is their knowledge in the most high? Behold, these are the ungodly who prosper in the world. They increase in riches. Verily, I have cleansed my heart in vain and washed my hands in innocency. For all the day long have I been plagued and chastened every morning. He's like, man, I'm not having anything like this. Like I'm getting plagued, I'm being chastened. It's like I have all these problems, man. And I'm trying to do what's right. And these guys are living just super wickedly. They're living like the devil and they're just prospering and everything's going their way. So maybe I should just start getting wicked and living like they do. And maybe I could enjoy some of their prosperity and just live at ease for a while, right? This is kind of the thought. This is the thought process. Verse 15, if I say I will speak thus, behold, I should offend against a generation of thy children. When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me, until I went into the sanctuary of God, then understood I their end. So of course, yes, you have to see things spiritually. You can't use just man's wisdom and just... and intuition and just kind of the way of the world and just looking at things and being like, yep, this is success. This is prosperous, you know, because that's how the world looks at, you know, just, just humankind in general is going to say, yeah, these people who are really rich and powerful and famous, like they're successful. These are the, the, the ideals. These are the people that you look up to. These are, you know, this is what it's all about. But no, it's so far from the truth, right? And they'll look at the examples and be like, well, look, see, I mean, they have everything made. They have everything they could ever want. And for people who live where succeeding in life is all only about, like, satisfying any want or desire you could ever have. I mean, if you really just think about that per se, it's pretty messed up. And that leads to extremely miserable life. And honestly, you know, the Bible says that the full soul loatheth a honeycomb. And you know, honey's real sweet. We really like that. And it's funny because I think even in our society, people are becoming numb to even things like honey because of the high fructose corn syrup and all these other sugar, like things are just hyper sugarized to the point where it's like, You just have to have more and more genetically engineering sugar to just make it more sweet so that you could continue to enjoy it. Why? Because when you have too much of something, it's not very special. And it just becomes routine and habit. And it's like, whatever, right? You give someone something, someone who's starving, Like any type of food, you haven't eaten for a really long time, man, everything starts to smell good, right? So the hungry soul, every bitter thing is sweet. That's what the Bible says too. And in conjunction with the other portion of the verse I quoted, it's, you know, man, everything's, I don't care what you give me, man, I'm just hungry. Give me something to eat, right? But the person who has everything, it just all becomes a bore. It all is just kind of like, yeah, whatever. And if you think about it, imagine if you just had everything, that's just how you would end up becoming about all of it. Because it's vanity. You read through Ecclesiastes, vanity of vanities. All is vanity. So all the works of man, and all the things that you could accomplish, and all the, you know, Solomon's talking about how he built these great works, and what is it but the beholding of the eyes? Like, I could make these big projects, and build this fancy structures, and do whatever you want with all of this wealth, and all this money, and I could have all these strange creatures, and animals, and gold, and silver, and just all the things that you could ever possibly even dream up and want. And he's like, yeah, I mean, I had all that stuff, It's kind of like, it's all just empty. None of it's fulfilling. None of it's going to really just make you feel satisfied. It's just, you're just going to be looking for, well, what else is there new? What else can I have? What else is, you know? And even the best stuff becomes, yeah, I don't really like that. I mean, imagine the first time the children of Israel ate manna. that angel's food. And it even says it tasted like honey and a wafer. To me, it sounds like really good. I'm really interested to know what it literally just tastes like. I hope one day we'll get a chance to eat angel's food. I don't know if that's in the cards for us or not. I have no idea. But it just sounds really interesting. It sounds like it'd be something that'd be really good. You don't have to work too hard for it. But then what happens? Well, they get really bored of that after they have that all the time. And that's just kind of the way that we are as human beings. Unfortunately, our sinful flesh just wants to always have more and more and more, which is why we have to temper that with being able to restrain ourselves and withhold things from ourselves and be temperate in all things. But let's go back to Jeremiah chapter 12. I just wanted to read through that real quickly on Psalm 73, because he goes so much more in depth on this concept of these wicked people. And this is how Jeremiah's, you know, kind of having this conversation with God about, you know, these people are just, where's your judgment, God? Like all these wicked people, nothing seems to be happening to them. Verse three. But thou, O Lord, knowest me, thou hast seen me and tried mine heart toward thee. Pull them out like sheep for the slaughter. And prepare them for the day of slaughter. So he's saying, God, look at all these wicked people. There's no judgment coming to them. But you know me. You know my righteousness. You know how I am. You've tried my heart towards you. You've tested me. I'm with you. I love you, God. So what he's asking is, take out these wicked people now. Just like you would take a sheep out ready to slaughter, right? Like take these people out from among me and go destroy them, is what he's asking the Lord to do. How long shall the land mourn and the herbs of every field wither for the wickedness of them that dwell therein? He's like, you know, these wicked people, Why does the land have to be punished for this? Why do the herbs of every field have to wither? Because these guys, let's just get rid of these guys and then we can go back to having the land blessed. The beasts are consumed and the birds because they said, he shall not see our last end. And notice that same mindset coming up of God not being able to see. Right, it's exactly the same mindset in Psalm 73. So this is Jeremiah, you know, speaking to the Lord, but now let's look at God's response here in verse number five. If thou hast run with the footmen and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses? And if in the land of peace wherein thou trustest they wearied thee, then how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan? For even thy brethren in the house of thy father, even they have dealt treacherously with thee. Yea, they have called a multitude after thee. Believe them not, though they speak fair words unto thee. So notice, God doesn't even really answer his question about the judgment, like just about judging these people, but he kind of does, right? It's not a direct answer, but He ultimately ends up answering him. We're starting off in these few verses. I don't want to make it sound like God didn't answer him. God does answer him. But his first response to Jeremiah is this statement, which is a really poetic statement. If thou hast run with the footmen and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses. So what are you saying? If you think about like a battle, right? You've got foot soldiers, you've got footmen, and then you might have a cavalry or, you know, people who are mounted troops that can go out and The people who are on the horseback, whether it be knights, cavalry, whatever they are, are always going to be more effective and more powerful on the battlefield, right? They've got an advantage being on that animal as opposed to just your regular foot soldiers. So what he's saying is, hey, you've run with the footmen and they've wearied thee like just your common soldier. What's going to happen when now you have to face the people who are on the horses? How can you contend? How are you gonna battle against the whore? If you're already getting tired and worn out in this battle just against the common foot soldiers, then what's gonna happen when greater things happen, when more is happening? And he's talking to Jeremiah here about like, well, hey, if you're already being wearied by what's happening now, by what's going on right now, and this is already a big weary to you, How are you gonna last? Because guess what? There's a lot more coming. And that's what he gets into. He starts explaining this, but he says, even your brethren, and this is all in context, if you remember from previous chapters as well. Everything works together as we go through this. Obviously we're starting in chapter 12, but you remember, just prior to the end of chapter 11, he was talking about Anathoth. And remember, Anathoth was where Jeremiah was from. So it was the people of Anathoth that were receiving that judgment that God was just referring to in the previous chapter, which this is like a continuation of that same thought in chapter 12. And he brings up verse six, even thy brethren, the house of thy father, even they have dealt treacherously with thee. I mean, even his own family. is being very treacherous against Jeremiah. They have called a multitude. And it's not even just a family, they're just getting other people involved to go after Jeremiah. And then he says this, believe them not, though they speak fair words unto thee. God is telling Jeremiah the truth, is saying, look, they're after you, so don't believe them, even if they start to say fair things unto you, right? And this is how deceitful people will often work, is they lie to gain your confidence, and they'll just tell you what you want to hear. Jeremiah, I'm sure from his family, if you're at strife with your family, you're gonna want to hear than pleasant words. to let your guard down, okay, cool, this is all over, right, whatever, God's saying, you know what, don't believe them. Don't fall for their trap, okay? And also, this is just in general, and I could, this wording here made me think of, and if you wanna keep your place in Jeremiah 12, turn to Romans 16. It's almost the same type of wording used here as he's describing the house of his brethren and his father, which says, believe them not though they speak fair words unto thee. Verse 17 in Romans 16, the Bible says, now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned. And with Jeremiah, why are they so against Jeremiah? It's because he's preaching the word of the Lord. Right? It's going to come down to the doctrine. It comes down to what he's preaching about God. He's preaching the truth and they're against that. And in Romans 16, it says, hey, I beseech you, brother, mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which you have learned and avoid them. just have nothing to do with them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ. Just like these people don't serve the Lord, even though he may be in their lips or in their mouth, he's not in their heart. He's not in on the inside. So it's just a surface, believe the same way that in Romans, the people are being instructed to you know, mark those that are causing divisions, and even though they may even say or claim Jesus in their mouth, but they are causing divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which you have learned. It says, for they that are such serve not the Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly. Look at this, and by good words and fair speeches, deceive the hearts of the simple. The simple is just someone who's just kind of ignorant. They don't really know a lot, right? They don't have a lot of wisdom. They don't have a lot of understanding. So these people that are causing division, offenses, they use these really good words and these really fair speeches to deceive people, to deceive the hearts of the simple. The simple ones are just like, oh yeah, that sounds really good and just go along with it. as opposed to going, wait, no, that's not what we've been taught. That's not how, that's not what Jesus said. That's not how his disciples and the apostles taught. This is just something else that's coming out of these other people, you know, that the simple just go along with it. Oh, wow, that sounds great. is what's happening here. And the warning is against the people who are just have these fair words, good words, fair speeches, and specifically to Jeremiah also regarding this type of speech. Even though this is specifically kind of referring to the people of Anathoth, in general, we read also that The prophets were teaching the people that everything was going to be okay. It was a very positive message prior to the captivity of Jerusalem, by the captivity of Judah, right? Before the destruction actually came, they're saying, no, no, God's with us. and they were preaching peace and everything's good when it was the exact opposite of what they're saying. But you know what? That sounds good. And they had these fair speeches to try to convince people of why everything's just so great and why these people like Jeremiah, these naysayers over here, these guys, you know, these hellfire damnation preachers, these people that are talking all of this judgment and everything. God doesn't want you judging. God's happy with us. We're doing great. God's for us, right? God bless Jerusalem. Probably what they were saying, you know, and not caring about teaching the law, teaching how they really need to be right with God, right? It's just these fair speeches. Oh, everything's fine. You're doing great. Come back in a week or a month or whatever. Let's go back to Jeremiah 12. So the Lord is warning Jeremiah not to believe them even though they speak fair words unto thee. Verse seven, I have forsaken mine house. So he's getting into now still continuing to answer. Remember, Jeremiah was asking him, hey, where's your judgment? Can you just take these people away like sheep ready for the slaughter? And he warns them first, like, hey, if you're getting already tired and worn out from this, there's a lot more to come. And now he's letting him know, no, there is definitely judgment coming too. So don't think that like, that just because you don't see this happening right now, that judgment isn't coming against wicked people. Verse seven, I have forsaken mine house. I have left mine heritage. I have given the dearly beloved of my soul into the hand of her enemies. And this is why he made that statement, because things are gonna get so much worse here. Verse eight, my heritage is unto me as a lion in the forest. It crieth out against me, therefore have I hated it. So the heritage, what's the heritage? What do you think of it? It's a similar root word for like inheritance. And his heritage would be, he's talking about his people. and the land and future generations everything it's his heritage right he he brought them forth and that's his heritage this is god speaking of his people but he says basically now because his heritage they're they're unto me like a lion like they're they're just out there devouring remember we just i preached on sunday about satan and you know he he walketh around as a roaring lion seeking who may devour and this is how God's own people now are essentially unto him. There is a lion in the forest, they cry out against him. And as a result, he says, therefore have I hated it. He's hated what? His heritage. He hates it. And you know what hate means? Hate. It's complicated. But he hated it, right? He's done with it. He doesn't want anything to do with it. I mean, he hates some food. I don't want that. I'm gonna spit it out of my mouth. I hate it. Verse eight, my inheritance is unto me, excuse me, verse number nine. My inheritance is unto me as a speckled bird. The birds round about are against her. Come ye, assemble all the beasts of the field. Come to devour. So he's calling, basically it's gonna be the nations coming and devouring. They're gonna be taken captive. We know that that's what's coming. We know that's what's being prophesied towards because this hasn't happened just yet. Verse 10, many pastors have destroyed my vineyard. They have trodden my portion underfoot. They have made my pleasant portion a desolate wilderness. This is just a kind of a fun fact, I guess. I'm not going to go real deep into this or deep study on this tonight. But just the usage of the word pastor in general is primarily almost exclusively found in Jeremiah. So of the nine times pastor, singular or plural, doesn't matter, right? Eight times it's found just in Jeremiah, and only once it's found in Ephesians. So we use that word real commonly in our culture. You know, we call everyone a pastor. I'm Pastor Berzins. You've got pastors in all these different churches. We use that word. And I don't have a problem with using that word at all. I really don't, because it's still a biblical word. It's still found in the Bible. And the one place in the New Testament is in Ephesians chapter 4, talking about he gave some apostles, some teachers, some pastors, right? That's in there specifically talking about the church. So I don't have an issue with the word in general, but it is interesting just to point out, right, of the various terms that are used for people holding offices in the New Testament church. You know, this is only found one time. in the New Testament, but a bunch of times in Jeremiah. So just something to think on. Like I said, I don't want to go real, real deep on that. But the word pastor kind of derives from pasture, and you have people who would watch over the land, watch over the pasture, watch over flocks, right? So that's the role of a pastor. We think of it in a spiritual sense, is the man who's watching over the church, watching over the people, looking out for, to protect, to cultivate, to maintain, to take care of, right? That would be a pastor's job, even if it's not. And spiritually, they'd be looking over whatever their, you know, a vineyard here where he says, many pastors have destroyed my vineyard. Well, they're supposed to be cultivating and looking after the vineyard, right? Instead, they turned around and destroyed it. Or if you're watching a bunch of sheep or something, you just let the wolves in and everything else, you're not being a good pastor or shepherd of those sheep. You see what I'm saying? So here he's saying, many pastors have destroyed my vineyard. It's not even just that they're a derelict, but they destroyed the vineyard. They have trodden my portion underfoot. They have made my pleasant portion a desolate wilderness. I believe he's talking about the land there, like just the land of Israel, saying, hey, I've given them this great land. This is my heritage. This is their inheritance. I've given them this great land. I've given them these great laws. I've given all of this to them. And what have they done? They've destroyed it. The leaders, those in charge, the pastors, those are responsible for making sure and maintaining and upkeeping, whether that be the priests or the governors or whoever, like all the people that were in charge, all the pastors that were supposed to be looking over this great heritage of the Lord, they've destroyed it. They've destroyed it. Why? Because the people are all going after into idolatry and everything else, which is ultimately why they end up getting taken away and taken into captivity. Let's keep reading here. Verse number 11, they have made it desolate and being desolate, it mourneth unto me. The whole land is made desolate because no man layeth it to heart. And man, I just thought about this now, but just the word desolate and you think about The desolation, you think about the abomination of desolation. The desolation is making it empty, it's clearing it out. But they're not desolate yet, but spiritually they are desolate. And what made them spiritually desolate ultimately is all the idolatry. And you think about the abomination of desolation, what is that? That's an idol being put up in the house of God. It's the abomination that makes desolate, that empties everything out. So there's a cool little connection there. Again, that wasn't even in my notes, but I'm just seeing that right now, how those tie together so perfectly here. Verse 12, the spoilers are come upon all high places through the wilderness for the sword of the Lord shall devour from one end of the land, even to the other end of the land. No flesh shall have peace." And of course, as we read this, I'm just going to mention this, but I'm not really going to go into much more like end times prophecy type of stuff. But we see so much overlap between this captivity, and the destruction, and Babylon coming in, and end times prophecy, just because, I mean, for one, you kind of have this cycle, you have all this wickedness, you have God's judgment coming, you know, there's so many things that just overlap anyways. because the situations are very similar. You've got a really corrupt spirituality going on in a nation that's supposed to be God's people, and even in the end times, throughout the world just in general, to be like the days of Lot and the days of Noah. and what happens every time God brings judgment. So a lot of times we see overlap just because of that fact, right, between God's, right before God brings his judgment. But let's keep, let's see here. So he says, the spoilers are come upon all high places through the wilderness. Spoilers are the people he's sending to come and take down the stuff, take it away. And we know that Babylon's going to come and they're going to take all the things out of the temple. They're going to take all the treasures and all the riches and all this stuff that they had, whether it be up in high places or in a temple, they're taking all of those things. But look at, he calls the spoilers the sword of the Lord. Right? God's bringing the judgment. He uses another nation to do it, but that's the sword of the Lord that he's bringing to do the devouring, to do the destruction of the land from one end to the other end. He says, no flesh is gonna have peace. It is another country doing this, but God's the one who's basically bringing them in. Verse 13, they have sown wheat, but shall reap thorns. They have put themselves to pain, but shall not profit. and they shall be ashamed of your revenues because of the fierce anger of the Lord. So what he's saying here is that no matter how hard they try to do good things, he's cursing what they're doing. So no matter how good the weed is that they're trying to sow and fertilize and use the roundup and everything else, he's just making sure that no, thorns are just gonna come up. It's not blessed at all that they are gonna receive just evil from no matter how hard they try to do stuff for themselves, right? To receive good. because God's basically cursed the land. Verse 14, Thus saith the Lord against all mine evil neighbors that touch the inheritance which I have caused my people Israel to inherit. Behold, I will pluck them out of their land and pluck out the house of Judah from among them. And it shall come to pass after that I have plucked them out, I will return and have compassion on them, and will bring them again, every man to his heritage and every man to his land. And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name, the Lord liveth, as they taught my people to swear by Baal, then shall they be built in the midst of my people. But if they will not obey, I will utterly pluck up and destroy that nation, saith the Lord." And this is really interesting here, this latter portion the chapter here, because he's talking about the evil neighbors, right? The ones that God brings in to bring judgment on the people of Jerusalem, on his land. And then he says that he's, I'm going to pluck them out of their land and pluck out the house of Judah from among them. So after Judah's already been taken captive, they go out into their land, then they're going to be taken back out of that land. Remember, God used Babylon to bring the judgment, but that doesn't mean that Babylon then didn't also get judged, because Babylon wasn't righteous. They weren't like this great godly people. They in turn, then they received judgment. But then what happens, he says, and it shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people to swear by my name, The Lord liveth, as they taught my people to swear by Baal, then shall they be built in the midst of my people. And this is just a great example of how God is truly not some respecter of persons. God wants people to join themselves to be his people. And he's saying, you know, they were teaching my people to serve Baal and to, you know, but now if they choose to now just become children of the Lord and to believe on the Lord, then God will see that and raise them up. If they're able to now turn, you know, stop their teaching to swear by Baal and now call on the name of the Lord, then shall they be built in the midst of my people. They're going to be welcome then and I'll build them and establish them right in the middle of my people. And we see God's interest in using a nation, regardless of their genealogy, to serve him. And to bless that nation that calls on the name of the Lord, that makes the Lord their God, that serves him and teaches to follow the Lord, that's the nation that gets blessed. And that's what's in verse 17. But if they will not obey, Verse 17, I will utterly pluck up and destroy that nation, saith the Lord. So he's saying, look, you got a choice. You could serve me. I'll bless you. I'll build you up right in the midst of my people. You can just be like everyone else. You could join to that nation. Or you could end up being destroyed, right? And isn't that just the truth anyways, just individually? Like this is talking about nations, You can call on the name of the Lord and be saved, right, and then have God's blessing on your life, have God's favor because you're born again and you're going to receive an inheritance by virtue of what Jesus Christ did and you putting your trust in that, your faith in him. Or if you don't do that, if you don't call on the name, if you don't make the Lord your God, then it's destruction, then it's hell. Those are your choices. These are the choices for the nation, but that's the same choice individually for every person is, hey, call on the name of the Lord. I'll plant you. You could be among my people. I'll build you up. Or you could just choose destruction. And he's offering both. Like, here you go. I'd be happy to do this for you, but otherwise, yeah, there's your only other option. And this reminded me of Matthew 21. You could turn to Matthew 21. And this is taught in the Old Testament. And this is taught in the Old Testament in multiple places, by the way. I've preached an entire sermon on this, probably more than once. But if you look at the book of Esther, for example. The book of Esther. You remember Mordecai and Haman? Remember that story? All the stories throughout those chapters? Haman is kind of symbolic of Satan and Haman hated the Jews. He hated Mordecai, but he hated all the Jews. He didn't like that they wouldn't bow down. He didn't like that they had this religion that they just refused to bow down to some man because they're only gonna bow down to the Lord. And he hated them for that. He hated their religion. He hated what they believed in and he wanted to destroy them all. But what happened is God brought deliverance. Right? God miraculously saved them. He brought, you know, Esther was brought in. She was just in this power. No one even knew that she was a Jew. She was just in this great position to speak to the king. She became the king's wife and was able to talk to him and expose this wicked plan of Haman. At the same time, you know, the king found out that Mordecai had like done good by him and all this other stuff, right? You know the story, but it ends up, when they finally turned the tables on the days when they were supposed to have been destroyed by decree, by the proclamation that went forth to destroy all the Jews, because Haman just made it like, hey, anyone that wants to kill these people, like he has money, it's going to be put out there, and it's going to go, you know, spoils going to go in the treasury, he's going to give of the treasury, excuse me, to the people that want to go and just kill all these Jews. So the new decree went out that, hey, anyone that was going to do those things, anyone that was signed up to go and destroy the Jews, now the Jews have the right to basically kill them, to destroy their enemies on these days for those people that wanted to come against them. And what the Bible says after all of that, is that many of the people join themselves unto the house of Israel. In fact, I'm gonna, I'm talking all about this. Are you guys in Matthew 21? Let's read Matthew 21 first, and I'll turn there while I'm, well, no, I'm here now. Was it eight? I thought it was way even later than that, like 10. And in every province and in every city, whithersoever the king's commandment and his decree came, the Jews had joy and gladness, a feast and a good day. And many of the people of the land became Jews, for the fear of the Jews fell upon them. So, you know, and that's just one place. Obviously, there's other places in the law, like just because that happened, you could say, well, that's not, that wasn't right. But yeah, it was right because even in the law, God allows for people to become part of that nation. They could come in and join themselves to be one of the people, just like Ruth, right? Ruth married someone who was a Jew, but she was a Moabitess, right? She was of Moab. And her husband then was already dead. He passed away and there's no one else for her to even marry. But what did she say? She was going to go with Naomi and she said, you know, your God is my God and your people is my people. So she joined herself unto the nation of Israel. And that was great. And that was fine. And that was acceptable. It was something that was allowed. Anyways. I say all of that because people just have this tendency to get racist when it comes to dealing with the Jews, right? And it's not about the race. It's not about the physical descendancy that mattered so much. There's a promise made to Abraham and to his seed. Of course, the promises need to be fulfilled. But what God always cares about is the spiritual nature and you know, people who are going to choose the Lord and make Him their God. And whatever nation is going to do that. Now, he did specifically intentionally only use like the nation of Israel as that nation for a long period of time until it got to the point where he just says, okay, now I'm finally done. And it makes sense that there's an end of saying, okay, I'm gonna use this nation, they're gonna kind of be this, the Bible doesn't specifically say this, but this lighthouse to the world, he's gonna use this one nation where he's gonna have all of his prophets preaching the word and his house is gonna be there, right? He established the Ark of the Tabernacle. excuse me, the tabernacle and the ark and everything else was located in this one place, but because of ultimately sending the sun and them killing the sun, that was the last straw to say, okay, now I'm done using you as my people, as this nation to serve me here. And he's gonna seek out something else. That's what Matthew 21 is talking about. He gives this parable in verse 33, here another parable, there was a certain householder which planted a vineyard and hedged it roundabout and digged a wine press in it and built a tower and let it out to husbandmen. So he rented it out and went into a far country. And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandman that they might receive the fruits of it. So he's like, okay, you're gonna work the land, he hires his people. And then when it's time to, they've done all this work, they've harvested, he's gonna go get his share of the profits, right? Like, hey, that's my field, that's my land, I hired you, but you gotta give me now the money, like the profit. Verse 35 and the husband and took his servants and beat one and killed another and stone another so these people he's sending They're just like basically saying no and not just no I mean, they're they're really evil in treating the people being sent by the owner of this vineyard verse 36 again He sent other servants more than the first and they did unto them likewise but last of all he sent unto them his son saying they will reverence my son and Like, okay, these people I'm sending, they're not respecting them at all, and they're treating them ill, but you know what? If I send my son, they're gonna respect my son, right? Like of all the people I could possibly send, they'll respect my son, they'll give reverence unto him, they'll hear him, they'll listen to him, and be in obedience to him. But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, this is the heir. So all this land, this is gonna go to him, but if he's not here anymore, well, guess what? That land's gonna go to us, right? That's what they're thinking. They're gonna seize on this inheritance is what they said. This is the heir, come, let us kill him and let us seize on his inheritance. Let's just take it. And they caught him and cast him out of the vineyard and slew him. When the Lord, therefore, of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen? Now that's a pretty simple parable to understand, and it's a pretty easy answer to get right. What is he gonna do when he sends all his servants, and they kill him, and stone him, and do all this stuff, and then he sends his son, and then they kill him? Well, yeah, anyone can judge this matter that has a sane brain, I think, and come to an appropriate conclusion. Although these days, who knows? Verse 41. I shouldn't even say things like that anymore. It's just so backwards. Verse 41, they say unto him, he will miserably destroy those wicked men and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits Their seasons they were able to see right they had enough sense to say like yeah, of course is what's gonna happen He's just gonna destroy those wicked people, but then other people will he'll hire more people to come in to do the work for him who are actually gonna pay him who are actually gonna do the work and This is what's happening here is And he relates as we'll get to this in just a second. We'll keep reading You know, he's got this heritage It even says in Jeremiah this vineyard that the pastor's destroyed, right? He has this vineyard, he has this heritage, he has this place, and the people aren't doing the work they're supposed to do. See, God brought that nation out and he's given them instruction, he's given them a law, and he's given them commands on how to live and what to do. They're supposed to be doing the good work of the Lord. Just like every believer isn't just saved to just live a life of, like, doing nothing, right, or whatever, wasting your life, wasting your time. We're all supposed to be servants of the Lord. And this people, this nation was supposed to be servants to the Lord. They were supposed to be bringing forth fruit unto the Lord. And he shows up and it's like, where's the fruit? You haven't done anything. You haven't done anything I've commanded you to do. And not just that, of course, in this parable, he's illustrating his son being sent to them and they kill him. Verse 42, let's keep reading. Jesus saith unto them, did ye never read the scriptures? So now he's relating the story, the parable, back to the Bible. Did you never read the scriptures? The stone which the builders rejected, the same has become the head of the corner. This is the Lord's doing and it is marvelous in our eyes. So he's asking, haven't you ever read that scripture? Now, we know clearly, I don't think any Christian would disagree with, this is talking about Jesus Christ, the stone which the builders rejected, right? I'm not gonna take the time to even prove that because I think it's pretty obvious. He's the stone that the builders rejected, same as becoming the head of the corner. Therefore I say I unto you, verse 43, so because of this, because you've rejected Christ, because you're rejecting, you're the stone that the builders rejected, he is the head of the corner, This is God's doing. Therefore I say unto you, the kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a nation, bringing forth the fruits thereof. So because you, Jews, because you, Israel, have rejected, and you know, obviously it's still, they haven't completed that yet because Jesus is still alive when he's saying this in the gospel, right, this is that recording of his words, but he's saying, It shall be taken from you and given to a nation, bringing forth the fruits thereof. When is it taken? After they kill him. Right? It's taken away from you. Now it's done. And, you know, the death of the testator brings in that new testament. It's under force after Jesus died. But And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken by whomsoever It shall fall it will grind him to powder and when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables They perceived that he spake of them This didn't go over their heads this whole parable in the story They knew they understood he's talking about us. He's talking about the Pharisees talking about these rulers, right? He's talking about the pastors They're supposed to be doing all this work and watching over the heritage. And what have they done? They want to kill the son to seize on the inheritance and just have it all for themselves. They hated the son. But when they sought to lay hands on him, they feared the multitude because they took him for a prophet. And this is the root of the doctrine of why I believe in what's commonly called or known as replacement theology in the sense that, hey, When God is done with this nation, the nation of Israel, He's gonna use a different nation to do the same work that He wants done by a nation to serve Him. Now, that's open to any nation that wants to serve the Lord, that's gonna do that. And then at any point, if a nation says, hey, we're gonna serve the Lord, we're gonna do the work, and then that nation also transgresses and becomes, for lack of a better word, a reprobate, just becomes completely just against God and falls into idolatry and everything else and just stops doing their job, then guess what? God's gonna take it away from them and give it to another nation that's willing to do the work, that's going to be the husbandman for the Lord. I mean, we are the Lord's servants. That's what the Bible teaches that over and over again. We're supposed to do his bidding. He's our Lord. He's our master. We're supposed to serve him. And it's kind of like, if you're not, what does he need you for? which is also found in scriptures, a truth that people just need to understand, you know, hey, look, what are you doing to serve the Lord? Just like the fig tree, when Jesus came to the fig tree, it was a fig tree, it was the actual type of tree, but it had no fruit on it. And he's like, well, where's the fruit? I actually, I come to this tree, I'm looking for something, there's no fruit, there's no fruit on it. Well, cursed and dead then, you're good for nothing. It became a castaway. I mean, what's the point? Why cumbereth it the ground, as the Bible says in another parable about the trees that aren't bringing forth fruit. Hey, let's dung it, let's give it some more time, let's invest in it, let's try to work with it. But if it's still not gonna bring forth fruit, then let's make room for other trees that are gonna actually bring forth fruit. And how does that relate to salvation? Well, I mean, if you're saved, you're the right tree. Right? Because a tree could only bring after its own kind. You're not going to bring forth bad. If you're a good tree, you can't bring forth bad fruit. So you can be the good tree, but if you're just not bearing any fruit at all, well, then you got to, you got to worry about, you know, hey, the God's, the Lord's long suffering. He's going to be working and looking and say, hey, how could, how can we improve? How can we get this tree to become fruitful? What, what is it that we can invest in here? And we'll do the investment. It'll put forth the work and it'll give the help. But at some point, there's just going to be like, OK, you know what? We tried. And there's just nothing coming off of this tree. So let's just root it out and plant another tree here that's going to work. And look, I mean, we see the parables. We see the stories. We see the truth on that. So let's just take it to heart and choose to say, you know what? I'm going to be a fruitful tree. I'm gonna bring forth fruit. I'm gonna work on my life to bring forth something so that God, even if it's not a whole lot, you can still be like, but look, God, I've got some fruit here for you. I'm doing something, right? I've got something for you. I'm not completely worthless. The last thing I wanna be is a worthless Christian. Well, I guess the last thing would be a worthless non-Christian or someone who's not saved. That's the last thing. But hey, I'm assuming everyone here is already saved. So you're past that, right? Now you don't wanna be a worthless believer. You wanna do the work of the Lord so he could come and see the fruit on you. And then, you know what? As you draw nigh to God, he'll draw nigh to you and he'll continue to work in your life so you can become more fruitful. God wants you to be fruitful and he'll help you to that end. But you have to want it. So let's borrow.