BELIEVER IN A DARK TUNNEL The Confessions of Jeremiah

1. BELIEVER IN A DARK TUNNEL The Confessions of Jeremiah

2. Lesson 3 Depression Lashes Out Jeremiah 17:12-18

3. INTRODUCTION 1. We have traced Jeremiah’s trek through two dark tunnels; and now we come to the third personal crisis. 2. We wonder why God exercised patience with this prophet. 3. Now we see Jeremiah walk into another tunnel of depression—one in which he lashes out against those who were making life miserable for him.

4. Acknowledgement 17:12-13 12 A glorious throne, exalted from the beginning, is the place of our sanctuary. 1. He calls God a glorious throne (17:12). a. This title suggests that God from the beginning of time was the exalted ruler over all the earth. b. God is called the place of our sanctuary because true worship is grounded in him. c. Hope can also mean “pool,” i.e., source of living water.

5. d. The throne, sanctuary and hope of Israel is Yahweh himself, not the temple, not Jerusalem or anything else. 13 O LORD, the hope of Israel, all who forsake you will be put to shame. Those who turn away from you will be written in the dust because they have forsaken the LORD, the spring of living water. 2. Jeremiah was confident that anyone who turned from God will be put to shame. a. Jeremiah was confident that he was Yahweh’s true spokesman. b. He equated turning from God with turning from himself.

6. c. Such as refused to hear the word of God will be written in the land or ground. 1) A name scratched in the dust of the ground is soon obliterated. 2) So it is with the unbeliever. For awhile he may hold the limelight; but in short order he fades from the scene. 3) The unbeliever dries up and blows away because he has abandoned the source of living water. 4) The prophet who called God a deceitful stream in 15:18 now referred to him as the fountain of living waters.

7. Petition 17:14 14a Heal me, O LORD, and I will be healed; 1. First, Jeremiah cried out for healing, but not the healing of the body; he yearned for the spiritual and mental healing. a. Jeremiah referred to the human heart—his included—as incurable (15:18; 17:9). b. Only the Great Physician can provide the healing for the heart of man. c. Jeremiah’s heart was broken because the people he loved reject the message.

8. 14b save me and I will be saved, for you are the one I praise. 2. Second, Jeremiah cried out for deliverance from the sneers of the apostates. Recall God’s promise in 15:20 to deliver his prophet. 3. The second person pronoun is emphatic in v 14 as it is also in vv 16-17. a. Jeremiah knew that God will heal and deliver him. b. For this reason he made God the object of his praise. Yahweh was his only hope! c. This statement of praise was a motivation for Yahweh to respond positively to Jeremiah’s petition.

9. Narrative 17:15-16 15 They keep saying to me, "Where is the word of the LORD? Let it now be fulfilled!" 1. He described to God his situation. In prayer narrative we tell God our situation. a. The people were mocking Jeremiah (v 15). They were demanding that his prophecies be fulfilled. b. One whose prediction did not come true was to be treated as a false prophet (Dt 18:22).

10. 16a I have not run away from being your shepherd; 2. He called attention to his loyalty to God. a. The first person pronoun is emphatic. b. Jeremiah faced opposition almost from the outset of his ministry; but he did not abandoned his post. c. He continued in his position as an under-shepherd following after Yahweh. d. Jeremiah walked in the footsteps of his God. e. He sought to lead the flock of God in the old paths that the Lord had identified clearly in his word.

11. 16b you know I have not desired the day of despair. 3. Jeremiahwas faithful in what he preached. a. Day of despair is literally incurable day--same word used in v 9. b. The day of Judah’s punishment is metaphorically called sick or incurable because from it there will be no recovery. c. Jeremiah took no malicious delight in announcing the doom that was to befall Judah. 1) He preached judgment because that message was laid upon him by Yahweh. 2) In spite of the fact that the message was personally distasteful Jeremiah kept preaching.

12. 16c What passes my lips is open before you. 3) Every word that the prophet uttered was known to Yahweh. He had not altered in any way the word that was laid upon his heart.

13. Final Petition 17:17-18 17 Do not be a terror to me; you are my refuge in the day of disaster. 1. Following the narrative portion of his prayer Jeremiah added further petition. a. Many years earlier God had commanded Jeremiah not to be dismayed or terrified before his enemies (1:17). b. The delay in executing the sentence against the antagonists brought foreboding to the prophet.

14. c. Jeremiah prayed that he will not be embarrassed, dismayed or terrified because of his loyalty to God. d. The evil day or day of distress is probably not referring to Judah’s day of judgment, but to Jeremiah’s day of personal peril. e. This statement of needful trust was the second motivation for Yahweh’s positive response to Jeremiah’s petition.

15. 18 Let my persecutors be put to shame, but keep me from shame; let them be terrified, but keep me from terror. Bring on them the day of disaster; destroy them with double destruction. 2. Jeremiah called upon God utterly to silence the sneering enemies by sending the threatened judgment. a. He asked that his enemies be confused. b. Jeremiah believed that God’s judgment was sure. He wanted that judgment administered soon. c. He asked that his enemies receive double shattering, i.e., total destruction.

16. 3. In verse 16 Jeremiah said that he did not desire the evil day; but in verse 18 he called on God to send it. a. The solution to this apparent contradiction is simple. Jeremiah prayed for the salvation of Judah as a nation. b. Within the nation, however, were certain hardcore, utterly perverse antagonists. c. They were the enemies of God as well as God’s prophet. d. Evil day is doom’s day for the persecutors, especially the false prophets.

17. e. When the prophet asked God to pour out his wrath upon these hardened sinners there was no personal vindictiveness. f. Here, as in similar prayers, Jeremiah was jealous for Yahweh his God.

18. Conclusion 1. Spiritual depression is a terrible thing. In that state we say and do things which are contrary to our better nature. 2. Jesus taught us to pray for our enemies. Jeremiah fell short of this high expectation. 3. It is easy for us to cast stones at Jeremiah—to condemn him for his outspoken request that God zap his enemies. But we have not walked in Jeremiah’s sandals. 4. Jeremiah recorded his experiences in the dark tunnels so as to help us avoid the pitfall of spiritual depression.