Where is the LORD?
Text: Jeremiah 2
11 October 2009
(I) BEGINNING OF ISRAEL’S FAITH-RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD NOTED
Jeremiah 2:1-3
1. Israel’s Part
a) Kindness of your youth ( Jeremiah 2:2b )
b) Love of your bethrothal ( Jeremiah 2:2c )
c) Following the Lord (even in the wilderness) ( Jeremiah 2:2d )
2. God’s Part
a) Israel was holiness to the Lord ( Jeremiah 2:3 )
b) The firstfruits of His increase ( Jeremiah 2:3b )
c) Special protection ( Jeremiah 2:3c )
(II) BACKSLIDING OF ISRAEL NOTED
1. Gone far from the Lord (Jeremiah 2:5c)
2. Became idolatrous (Jeremiah 2:5d)
3. Defiled the land (Jeremiah 2:7c)
4. Forsaking the Lord (Jeremiah 2:13b, 17, 19)
5. Wickedness prevailed (Jeremiah 2:19)
6. Backsliding (Jeremiah 2:19)
7. Degeneration (Jeremiah 2:21)
8. Refused correction (Jeremiah 2:30)
9. Arrogant claim of lordship (Jeremiah 2:31)
10. No inquiry about the Lord (Jeremiah 2:6, 8)
(III) WHERE IS THE LORD?
1. People
“Neither did they say, ‘Where is the LORD, who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, who led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and pits, through a land of drought and the shadow of death, through a land that no one ever crossed, and where no one dwelt?” Jeremiah 2:6
a) The wilderness journey recalled
b) The wilderness remembered
i) A land of deserts and pits
ii) A land of drought
iii) A land of the shadow of death
iv) A land no one ever crossed
v) A land where no one dwelt
c) Inquiry of the Lord should have been
i) Most natural
ii) Most logical
iii) Most necessary
d) There was no practice of Lordship at all!
2. Priests (prophets/princes)
“The priests did not say, ‘Where is the LORD?’ And those who handle the law did not know Me; The rulers also transgressed against Me; The prophets prophesied by Baal and walked after things that do not profit.” Jeremiah 2:8
a) The people who governed and guided Israel
i) Priests
ii) Princes (rulers)
iii) Prophets
b) They did not practise Lordship either
i) They did not seek the Lord
ii) They did not know His laws
iii) They transgressed instead
They prophesied by Baal
iv) They walked after things that brought not benefit!
THE PRACTICE OF LORDSHIP IS A WATERSHED ISSUE!