Take Fast Hold of Instruction

God gave believers instructions for the day of his wrath, and then he made a way to show them why it is important to follow his instructions: Judah's captivity is a pattern for our edification. Judah was approaching the time of her captivity, and it was a time of great confusion. She received instructions, and those who obeyed them, benefited. God's people were warned that captivity would come upon them when they had corrupted themselves, and when they had forsaken God's word (Deuteronomy 28:41; Isaiah 22:17). Bringing the captivity upon Judah was not only a way for God to cleanse the temple, but it was God's way of generating end time understanding. Like Judah, believers today have perverted their ways and they have forsaken God's word. According to prophecy, during end times God will cause the world to experience his mighty hand of correction. God required Judah's captivity, because God required believers to have pattens to study. Judah's captivity will cause believers to understand end times, and it will especially help them to understand the importance of following God's instructions (Ecclesiastes 3:15).

Jeremiah was hand picked by God to prepare Judah for the captivity, but his message fell on deaf ears. “Will ye not receive instruction to hearken to my words? Saith the Lord (Jeremiah 35:13).” God could have delivered his instructions through many prophets, however he chose to use Jeremiah and raise up a single voice of instruction in Jerusalem. This was confusing for the people. Judah didn’t know whether or not God was operating through Jeremiah. Jeremiah was insulting the temple and the people of God, when he prophesied unto them saying that they should turn from their evil ways, or else God would bring curses upon them, and punish them. Yet they were the people of God, and they were more godly than the people around them (Jeremiah 26:2-8).

“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. Then the Lord said unto me, The prophets prophesy lies in my name: I sent them not, neither have I commanded them (Jeremiah 14:13-14).” Human nature had assessed Jeremiah to be the one that was mistaken, and out of step with the Lord. All of Judah's priests and prophets sided together against Jeremiah. “Prophesy not in the name of the Lord, that thou die not by our hand (Jeremiah 11:21).” “The kings of earth, and all the inhabitants of the world, would not have believed that the adversary and the enemy should have entered into the gates of Jerusalem (Lamentations 4:12).”

Jeremiah sat alone. “Behold, I have made thee this day a defenced city, and an iron pillar, and brasen walls against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against the princes thereof, against the priests thereof, and against the people of the land. And they shall fight against thee; but they shall not prevail against thee; for I am with thee (Jeremiah 1:18).”

Jeremiah’s principal instruction for priests and prophets was to study the words of the ancient prophets. “Hear, O earth: behold, I will bring evil upon this people… because they have not hearkened unto my words, nor my law, but rejected it (Jeremiah 6:19).” Obviously there were priests that did study the scriptures, however no man as able master Jeremiah’s instructions. God was calling on priests to prayerfully and faithfully study the scriptures and review his word, however they were refusing to obey God's voice of instruction, because it was coming unto them through the voice of a single messenger. They ignored Jeremiah, and continued to remain deceived by their own teachings. “I spake unto thee in thy prosperity; but thou saidst, I will not hear (Jeremiah 22:21).”

In order for the Lord to cause righteous priests to investigate the problem, Jeremiah was told to call the Rechabites into the house of the Lord, and set pots of wine before them. The Rechabites refused to drink the wine, for they explained that their father, Jonadab, had commanded them that they should never drink wine, and they kept his command. The Lord heard their speeches, then responded: “The words of Jonadab… are preformed… notwithstanding I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking; but ye hearkened not unto me. I have sent also unto you all my servants the prophets… but you have not inclined your ear, nor hearkened… Therefore, I will bring upon Judah and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the evil that I have pronounced against them: because I have spoken unto them, but they have not heard; and I have called unto them, but they have not answered (Jeremiah 35:14-17).” The upright attitudes of these priests, had exposed a problem: they were righteous in their own eyes, and they had quit listening to God. When God rises up to do a new thing, the priesthood will need to listen unto God's voice through his messengers, and through his prophets, and in addition they will need to spend time reviewing and studying the scriptures. The laws of religion will not deliver them in the day of the curse.

Everything about Judah’s experience is relevant to our times: We are situate in Judah’s shoes. No one is exempt from listening to, and following God's end time instructions. “Hear ye the word of the Lord… I am against thee… which say, Who shall come down against us? Or who shall enter into our habitations? But I will punish you according to the fruit of your doings (Jeremiah 21:13-14).” The priests of Judah were not interested in Jeremiah's words. “This is a nation that obeyeth not the voice of the Lord their God, nor receiveth correction (Jeremiah 7:28).” Their rejection of Jeremiah's message traces back to their own lack of spending time in the scriptures (Jeremiah 5:31). God was instructing priests to review the scriptures for two reasons: the first was because priests needed to increase their understanding of the captivity, for they had no understanding of it, except that which they had learned from the mistaken teachings of their forefathers. And the second reason why priests were instructed to review the scriptures was because doing so would have allowed them to recognize the voice of the Lord through Jeremiah; for if they had reviewed the scriptures, then they would have known that Jeremiah's words were in perfect agreement with the ancient prophets.

“They hearkened not unto me, nor inclined their ear… therefore thou shalt speak all these words unto them; but they will not hearken to thee (Jeremiah 7:26-27).” It pleases God to use ordinary men as his voice, but if our ways are perverted, then instructions that come unto us from ordinary men, are offensive (Jeremiah 6:10). Don’t stumble over that stumbling block. “Obey my voice, and I will be your God… that it may be well unto you (Jeremiah 7:23).” God patiently waited for Judah to obey his voice: Jeremiah sounded his warnings throughout the city of Jerusalem for twenty three years before God made it official and declared that the captivity would come upon that generation (Jeremiah 25:3). If Judah's priests had listened unto God's voice through Jeremiah, and if they had studied the scriptures, then their captivity might have been delayed, and it might not have come upon their generation. Nevertheless Judah's captivity was a requirement, because not only did it fulfill scripture, but it was purposed to be a pattern for end time edification (Jeremiah 18:8).

“Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know… if ye can find a man, if there be any that… seeketh truth; and I will pardon it (Jeremiah 5:1).” Because no priest heeded Jeremiah's warning to search the scriptures, and because no priest had discovered the truth concerning the captivity, therefore Jeremiah's instructions took on a warning (Jeremiah 6:19). Jeremiah warned God's people that Babylon would rule over all nations, and that they would be required to serve the king of Babylon, or be punished (Jeremiah 27:8). He also informed Judah that if she obeyed the word of the Lord and served Babylon for seventy years, then she could stay in her own land while she was serving him. Jeremiah pled with the priests, and with the people, warning them that they should not be deceived by the lies which were being prophesied in the name of the Lord. Jeremiah boldly professed these instructions before all the people, wielding the righteous words, “Saith the Lord” (Jeremiah chapters 25-27). Judah served Babylon for three years, and then she turned and disobeyed God (2Kings 24:1).

Judah’s rebellion against Babylon caused believing priests to reexamine the words of the ancient prophets, where it is written: “It shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God… The Lord shall bring thee, and thy king which thou shalt set over thee, unto a nation which neither thou nor thy fathers have known (Deuteronomy 28:15, 28:36).” The priests which had reexamined the scriptures, humbled themselves, and they conformed their prayers to agree with the will of the Lord. “O Lord, though our iniquities testify against us, do thou it for thy name’s sake: for our backslidings are many, we have sinned against thee (Jeremiah 14:7).” But until the captivity actually materialized, these confused priests remained uncertain of what to believe, and they kept their thoughts quiet as they stood before the congregation (Isaiah 30:28).

This period of silence was a time of preparation. “He that believeth shall not make haste (Isaiah 28:16).” Priests were given a chance to draw near, and they had time to reason with the Lord. They were given time to study the scriptures, and time prepare their congregations for the captivity (Isaiah 41:1). “Ye shall not go out with haste, nor by flight: for the Lord will go before you; and the God of Israel will be your rereward (Isaiah 52:12).” This is the pattern for our edification: today's priests are incrementally being fed the truths of newly revealed prophesy, which is how God is giving them time to study the scriptures. Keeping the major controversy silent is allowing time for priests to perfect their understandings of end times, and time for them to prepare their congregations to do God's will.

Seven years after Judah stopped serving Babylon, Babylon besieged Judah and carried her king away captive, and bound in fretters. This was the prophesied event which caused believing priests that had been preparing themselves and their congregations, to confess their newly acquired understandings of God's word to the congregation (Deuteronomy 28:36). These priests instructed their congregations to obey the voice of the Lord through Jeremiah. “Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, and live (Jeremiah 27:12).” Three months later, ten thousand Jewish believers went along with their newly appointed young king, out of the city and allowed themselves to be carried into captivity by the king of Babylon (2Kings 24:11-16). Their compliance to Jeremiah’s instructions had separated the obedient from the transgressors, in other words, the sheep from the goats.

Those that obeyed the instructions, were justified (James 2:24). “I have sent them out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans for their good. I will set mine eyes upon them for good… and I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord: and they shall be my people (Jeremiah 24:5-7).” “Of your brethren that are not gone forth with you into captivity; Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Behold, I will send upon them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence (Jeremiah 29:16-17).” The faith and obedience of the people that went forth, are patterns which suggest the righteousness of leaving the safe confines of religious understanding, in order to do God's will.

Instructions are for the purpose of causing believers to go in the direction of the Lord’s will. Everyone that ignores instruction is at risk of suffering the punishments of correction (Jeremiah 21:14). In Jeremiah's day, God turned his back upon every rebellious believer that did not follow his instructions, and he shut out their prayers (Jeremiah 7:14-15; Lamentations 3:8; 3:44). Their woes are recorded in the book of Lamentations. “He hath led me, and brought me into darkness, but not into light. Surely against me is he turned… He hath turned aside my ways, and pulled me in pieces (from Lamentations 3:2-11).” “The Lord hath done that which he had devised; he hath fulfilled his word that he had commanded in the days of old: he hath thrown down, and hath not pitied (Lamentations 2:17).”

If priests will rise early and seek to verify the truths of the covenant message, then God will allow their places of worship to remain forever (Jeremiah 7:7). Study is a requirement: How else will they recognize the voice of the Lord? “Trust ye not in lying words (Jeremiah 7:4).” “Gird thee with sackcloth… make thee… most bitter lamentation: for the spoiler shall suddenly come upon us (Jeremiah 6:26).” The Lord will turn his back upon every priest that disregards this instructions (Jeremiah 7:15; 7:20). “A voice of the cry of the shepherds, and a howling of the principal of the flock, shall be heard: for the Lord hath spoiled their pasture, and the peaceable habitations are cut down because of the fierce anger of the Lord (Jeremiah 25:36-37).”

When Judah's captivity did materialize, Jeremiah stayed in Jerusalem to do whatever he could. There were others there that tried to help Jeremiah spread God's truths, but they were disrespected, and their words were disregarded. “Reprobate silver shall men call them, because the Lord hath rejected them (Jeremiah 6:30).” Their troubles were according to their err. “I have set thee for a tower and a fortress among my people, that thou mayest know and try their way (Jeremiah 6:27).” It was a hostile environment. “I called upon thy name, O Lord, out of the low dungeon… Thou saidst, Fear not… Thou hast seen all their vengeance and all their imaginations against me… Render unto them a recompense, O Lord, according to the work of their hands. Give them sorrow of heart, thy curse unto them (Lamentations 3:55-66).” God will not forsake the righteous forever; when they return unto him, and repent, then he will be found of them. “I will punish all that oppress them (Jeremiah 30:20).” (for evidence of this read Jeremiah 30:15-17)

“The anger of the Lord hath divided them; he will no more regard them: they respected not the persons of the priests, they favored not the elders (Lamentations 4:16).” “They mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against his people, till there was no remedy (2Chronicles 36:16).”

During end times, destruction is appointed against everyone that despises God's instructions. “If you will not hear these words, I swear by myself, saith the Lord, that this house shall become a desolation (Jeremiah 22:5).” “Destruction unto them! Because they have transgressed against me: though I have redeemed them, yet they have spoken lies against me (Hosea 7:13).” “Hew ye down trees, and cast a mount against Jerusalem: this is the city to be visited; she is wholly oppression in the midst of her. As a fountain casteth out her waters, so she casteth out her wickedness… before me continually is grief and wounds. Be thou instructed, O Jerusalem, lest my soul depart from thee (Jeremiah 6:6-8).”

“Set up the standard toward Zion: retire, stay not: for I will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction (Jeremiah 4:6).” The riveting prophesies of the north are prophesies about the backslidden. “Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the Lord; and I will not cause my anger to fall upon you: for I am merciful (Jeremiah 3:12).” The backslidden are the God's weapons of indignation which he will bring forth to destroy whatever remains of religion. When the backslidden hear the message of the covenants, they will come against the places of worship that haven’t adopted God's truths. “As keepers of a field, are they against her round about; because she hath been rebellious against me, saith the Lord (Jeremiah 4:17).” “Thou art my battle axe and weapons of war; for with thee will I break in pieces the nations, and with thee will I destroy kingdoms (Jeremiah 51:20).”

The backslidden will be very receptive to the message of the covenants (Jeremiah 31:8). “In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north (Jeremiah 3:18).” The parable name of, Judah, represents God's lawgivers, or, in other words, God's priests. Therefore this verse is signifying that there will be backslidden priests which will be learning the ways of the Lord, right along side of their backslidden congregations. “They shall no more say, The Lord liveth, which brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; But, the Lord liveth, which brought up and which led the seed of Israel out of the north (Jeremiah 23:7-8).”

“Evil appeareth out of the north, and great destruction. I have likened the daughter of Zion to a comely and delicate woman. The shepherds with their flocks shall come unto her; they shall pitch their tents against her round about (Jeremiah 6:1-3).” Backslidden believers are going to make mistakes, and one of these mistakes is that they will be hostile towards religion's lies, therefore God has likened them unto a destroying mountain. “Behold, I am against thee, O destroying mountain, saith the Lord, which destroyest all the earth: and I will stretch out mine hand upon thee (Jeremiah 51:25).” Instructions for the backslidden are very explicit: Acknowledge your iniquities, and that you too have transgressed against the Lord, and that you have not obeyed his word (Jeremiah 3:13). Every infuriated backslidden believers that doesn’t, or won’t do this, will suffer correction. “Lo, I begin to bring evil on the city which is called by my name, and should ye be utterly unpunished? Ye shall not be unpunished: for I will call for a sword upon all inhabitants of the earth, saith the Lord of hosts (Jeremiah 25:29).”

“Shall iron break the northern iron and steel (Jeremiah 15:12)?” Religion is God’s rod of iron, therefore, this verse is asking, Do you think that religion, with all of its strength and with all its might, can stop the northern prophesies from occurring? If Billy Graham himself were to stand up and appeal to the highest against the resurrection of the dead, God will not alter his plan: God’s word must be fulfilled. No one, and nothing, can stop end time prophesy from being fulfilled. There were priests in Jeremiah’s days who wanted to kill Jeremiah, because they wanted to silence his instructions. In essence, they were trying to silence God's voice, therefore God pronounced swift judgments against them (Jeremiah 11:22; 14:15; 20:6; 29:21; 28:16).

“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 (Jeremiah 14:17).” This instruction is informing believers that they should pray for the things which are going to come upon God’s people. “Make thee bald… for they are gone into captivity from thee (Micah 1:16).” God’s people have adopted religion's rules, and they are trusting in laws of salvation which are not working: Religion's laws are responsible for causing believers to be offended at one another simply because of religious technicalities. It’s time for all of God's people to ask forgiveness for their own spiritual blindness, and it is time for them to forgive those persons that trespassed against them because of their religion. As messengers take the newly revealed truths of prophesy unto the people, some of the people will refuse to believe, and they will fight against God's word: Rebuke them in love, and forgive them. “We acknowledge, O Lord, our wickedness, and the iniquity of our fathers: for we have sinned against thee (Jeremiah 14:20).”

“A wise son heareth his father’s instruction (Proverbs 13:1).” Christians need to pay diligent attention to the voice of the ancient prophets: “They have forsaken my law which I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice (Jeremiah 9:13).” Christianity had forsaken the old testament, and therefore God is calling her priests back to review the old testament scriptures, for in them Christianity will perfect its understanding of the Father. “How shall I put thee among the children… Thou shalt call me, My Father; and shalt not turn away from me (Jeremiah 3:19).” Be diligent: we are preparing for the Lord’s kingdom upon earth, which is the everlasting kingdom that cannot be removed (Hebrews 12:28). “The work of righteousness shall be peace (Isaiah 32:17).”

Why did God allow religion to stand in our pulpits, knowing that his people were being exposed to lies. Man created religion when he didn’t believe God, but religion benefited God by spreading the knowledge of him. Having a variety of faiths prompted certain situations which caused his people to study the scriptures. But religion corrupted herself when her priests and prophets started learning truths from one another, and they stopped spending time in God's word. “Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord (Jeremiah 17:5).”

The prophet Jeremiah understood that God was prophesying evil against temple, and it grieved him: “Ah, Lord God! Surely thou hast greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall have peace; whereas the sword reacheth unto the soul (Jeremiah 4:10).” A paraphrased version of God’s response, might read like this: In the day of the Lord, there will be dry wind coming across pulpits towards the people of my congregation. I am watching the priests and prophets which have received my instructions, and I am considering their ways. Many of them aren’t cleansing my congregation, nor are they scattering the wicked. Now I will give my sentence against them (Jeremiah 4:9-12). “I will fan them with a fan in the gates of the land; I will bereave them of children, I will destroy my people, since they return not from their ways (Jeremiah 15:7).”

God has two fundamental objectives for end times. The first one is to correct religion, and bring peace unto his people, and the second, is to awaken the world with a loud understanding that he exists. God will achieve his objectives by humbling priests which have spoiled his flocks, and he won’t forget about those priests which have lightly esteemed his messengers. “The Lord hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob, Surely I will never forget their works (Amos 8:7).” “The day of vengeance is in my heart (Isaiah 63:4).” “Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord (Romans 12:19).”

“I will this once cause them to know, I will cause them to know mine hand and my might; and they shall know that my name is the Lord (Jeremiah 16:21).” God prophesied a conclusion to religion which will expose every misunderstanding of every religion. His amazing end time plan will cause all the believers that love his ways, to flow together and sing in the height of Zion, for they will witness God’s unstoppable ability to fulfill his word. “Hear, ye that are far off, what I have done; and, ye that are near, acknowledge my might. The sinners of Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites (Isaiah 33:13-14).”