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"The heart of the king shall perish"

Text: Jeremiah 4:9

EXPECTED RESPONSE

The Lord knew how Judah would respond when the Babylonians mounted their offensive against Judah! The leaders would be unable to rise to fulfil their roles!

“‘And it shall come to pass in that day,’ says the LORD,
‘That the heart of the king shall perish,
And the heart of the princes;
The priests shall be astonished,
And the prophets shall wonder.'”
Jeremiah 4:9

1. “‘And it shall come to pass in that day,’ says the LORD”

a) This was predictive.

b) This was bound to happen given what the leaders have shown themselves to be.

c) What the Lord has declared will come to pass!

2. The king and the princes

a) The king’s heart will perish.

i) He will lose heart completely.

ii) He would not know how to lead the country in this crisis.

b) He would show his true colours.

i) He would show that he is a weak and indecisive king.

ii) His heart’s courage will perish.

c) The princes

i) They would be like the king.

ii) Many had grown up in luxury.

iii) They had not been given a good and solid upbringing in faith in God.

3. The priests

a) They would be astonished indeed.

b) Their training had not prepared them to handle a crisis.

c) They lacked wisdom and faith too.

d) They knew religious rituals, but they did not know the Scriptures well.

e) They would be too astonished to offer any sound advice to the king.

4. The prophets

a) Many wore the title “prophets”.

b) But they were not seers.

c) They will wonder at what would happen to Judah and Jerusalem.

d) They would not be able to discern the Lord’s hand in the matter of a Babylonian invasion!

e) God had not revealed His plans to these foolish prophets.