Proverbs: Kingship, Household Wisdom, and Warning

Fear, Manipulation, and Vain Thoughts

Transcript: AI Transcript

Professor: John Weaver

Subject: Old Testament Studies

Genre: Sermon

Dictation Name:

Date: 2024-04-27

Synopsis: Pastor John Weaver examines Jeremiah 4:14, warning that vain thoughts—such as believing America will escape God's judgment—lead to fear and manipulation. He contrasts the fear-mongering of politicians with the biblical command to trust God and not be afraid, urging believers to prepare responsibly while resting in God's sovereignty.

[John Weaver] Jeremiah chapter 4 and we're going to read just verse 14. Jeremiah chapter 4 verse 14. We'll be looking at a lot of passages in Jeremiah 4 and around. So look in Jeremiah chapter 4 verse 14. The title of the message is Fear, Manipulation, and vain thoughts, and I think you can see how that title fits. So Jeremiah four and verse 14, God says, Oh, Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. And then this question, how long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee? Years ago, I preached a message from the book of Jeremiah, which I entitled, I feel just like Jeremiah. Jeremiah had a very unique ministry. He preached to people who would not listen. He preached to people who would not hear. He preached to individuals who really and truly did not even want the Word of God because they had turned away from God. They had turned away from his law. They had turned away from his worship. And at the same time, they were professing to be his people.

[John Weaver] And yet they were involved in gross idolatry. So if you look in Jeremiah, chapter seven and verses nine and 10, the question that God asked.

[John Weaver] Now, remember, these are supposed to be his people and they're supposed to be worshiping him. And so he says this in Jeremiah seven, verse nine, he asks, Will you steal, murder and commit adultery? and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom you know not, and come and stand before me in this house, that is the temple, which is called by my name, and say, we're delivered into all these abominations." So they were, in essence, sinning against God in every way possible, and yet at the same time they were claiming to be his people.

[John Weaver] I think over the last several years, I've given numerous warnings, as well as a lot of different counsel and advice concerning what is happening. I've asked people just simply to look around. I've asked people to examine their own lives and examine their own hearts. And yet a lot of times people just simply do not listen. And if you look in Jeremiah chapter six, You can just about come to the same conclusion that Jeremiah did, because look at it in verse 10 and what he said, To whom shall I speak and give warning that they may hear?

[John Weaver] Behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken. Behold, the word of the Lord is unto them a reproach, and they have no delight in it. So there are people who just simply do not want the Word of God. They could care less about the Word of God. And so seemingly a lot of the truth falls on deaf ears. It falls on eyes that will not see as well as ears that will not hear. And oftentimes I've preached and spoken about the immutability of God. That word immutability just refers to God's unchangeableness. God does not change. But also we talk about the immutability of his judgments. So just like God is unchangeable in his person, God is also unchangeable in his judgments.

[John Weaver] In other words, exactly what he judged Judah and Jerusalem for, exactly what he judged Samaria and the other nations for, he will continue to judge nations today in the same exact manner. So notice if you would, as I read through the scripture today, that the sins that were prevalent in Judah and Jerusalem are the same sins that are prevalent today. And so God, then, is the sovereign. He is sovereign over every nation. He not only judged Israel, he also judged heathen nations because he is the sovereign and he is the judge.

[John Weaver] In fact, if you would hold Jeremiah 4 and turn back in your Bibles to 2 Chronicles chapter 20, So you have 1st and 2nd Samuel, 1st and 2nd Kings, then 1st and 2nd Chronicles. So look in 2nd Chronicles chapter 20, and I want you to see the confession of Jehoshaphat the king. And here's what he said. 2nd Chronicles 20 verse 5. And Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem in the house of the Lord before the new court and said, Lord God of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven, and rulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen?

[John Weaver] And in thine hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee? So God is not just simply king and sovereign over his people. He's not only king and sovereign over his church, he's king and sovereign over every individual, over every nation, even the heathen as well. And so just like there are individuals that think that they can sin against God and escape his judgment. So likewise, there are families, there are churches, and there are nations that somehow think that they can sin against God, despise his law, travel his son the Lord Jesus Christ under their feet, and somehow escape the judgment of God.

[John Weaver] Anyone who thinks that is only deceived and deluded, but according to Jeremiah 4 and verse 14, they have a lot of foolish and vain thoughts in their mind. Now, usually when we talk about sins, we think about individual sins. We think about family sins. Sometimes we think about church or ecclesiastical sins, but very seldom do we think about national sins. And yet the truth of the matter is governments and nations can sin equally as individuals, families, and churches. In fact, you're going to find out in Scripture that God condemns nations as well as individuals. So I want you to hold Jeremiah 4.

[John Weaver] I'm trying to set you up for something that I brought to read to you, okay? So look in your Bibles, if you would, to Psalm 9 to begin with. Psalm 9. Look, if you would, please, at verse 17. Psalm 9, verse 17. We'll look at several passages. Look, if you would, here's a verse that most people can quote, or at least I'm sure that have heard of it. Psalm 9 verse 17, the Bible says the wicked shall be turned into hell and all the nations that forget God. Note if you would please, he's talking about nations. Then if you look in verse 20 of the same psalm, Psalm 9, he says, put them in fear, O Lord, that the nations may know themselves to be but men. In other words, Men make up nations and God judges nations because he judges men if you look in Psalm 22 Psalm 22 and verse 28 Psalm 22 in verse 28 The Bible says for the kingdom is the Lord's and He is the governor among the nations He is a governor among the nations

[John Weaver] Let me just quote Isaiah 2 in verse 4, because there the Bible says, and he shall judge among the nations and rebuke many people. So God is going to judge not only individuals, not only families, but he's going to judge nations as well. So here's a question that I want to ask you. And I'm going to read some scripture just for a moment. But here's my question. Is America being judged? Well, that would bring me to another question. How would we know that America is being judged if we answer yes? And the truth of the matter is, there are plenty of answers to that last question. But what I want to do is this. I want you to look at Jeremiah 4 and let me read verses 5 through 21.

[John Weaver] And I want you to think, if you would, of the sins that are being mentioned, the judgment that is being brought forth upon Judah and Jerusalem, and then think about what is happening in our land. So look in Jeremiah chapter four, beginning there with verse five. God says, declare you in Judah and publish in Jerusalem and say, blow the trumpet in the land. That is, you better give warning. gather together and say, assemble yourselves.

[John Weaver] Let us get into the defense cities. Now, he says, set up the standard towards Zion. Retire. Stay not. Look what God says. Well, I will bring evil from the north. That is the Babylonians and a great destruction. The lion has come up from his thicket. The destroyer of the Gentiles is on the way. That would be Babylon again. He has gone for from his place. to make thy land desolate, and thy cities shall be laid waste without an inhabitant.

[John Weaver] For this, gird you with sackcloth, lament and howl, for the fierce anger of the Lord is not turned back from us. And it shall come to pass that that day, saith the Lord, that the heart of the king shall perish, and the heart of the princes, and the priests shall be astonished, and the prophets shall wonder. Lord, there's not going to be any leadership. Everyone is going to melt. No one's going to know what to do. Skip in verse 10. Then said I, Oh, Lord God, surely thou has greatly deceived this people.

[John Weaver] And Jerusalem saying you shall have peace, whereas the sword reaches under the soul. Well, it was not God who was saying that it was the false prophets who were preaching peace, peace when there was no peace. And verse 11. At that time, shall it be said to this people and to Jerusalem, A dry wind of the high places in the wilderness toward the door of my people, not to fan nor to cleanse. Even a full wind from from those places shall come unto me.

[John Weaver] Now also will I give sentence against them. Behold, he shall come up as clouds and his chariot shall be as a whirlwind. Still talking about Babylon. His horses are swifter than eagles. Warn to us or we are spoiled. Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. How long shall vain thoughts lodge within thee?

[John Weaver] Now, let me just stop right there just for a moment. One of the main vain thoughts that is being spoken about here is that Judah and Jerusalem would not be judged. Judah and Jerusalem would not be destroyed. So everybody's heard of America's exceptionalism. We think that God's going to judge every country but us. So, look at it in verse 15. He says, for a voice declareth from Dan, and publisheth affliction from Mount Ephraim.

[John Weaver] Wow, that's from the north all the way down. He says, make you mention to the nations, behold, publish against Jerusalem, that watchers come from a far country, and give out their voice against the cities of Judah. As keepers of a field are they against her round about, because she hath been rebellious against me, saith the Lord, Thy way and thy doings have procured these things unto thee. This is thy wickedness, because it is bitter, because it reacheth unto thine heart. My bowels, my bowels, I am pained at my very heart. My heart maketh a noise in me.

[John Weaver] I cannot hold my peace, because thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war. And he says, Destruction upon destruction is cried, and the whole land is spoiled. Suddenly are my tents spoiled and my curtains in a moment. How long shall I see the standard and hear the sound of the trumpet? So he's proclaiming then war on every side, invasion on every side.

[John Weaver] Now, here's the interesting thing. If you'll skip down to verse 22, look at what he says. For my people are foolish. They have not known me. They're soddish children. They have no understanding. They're wise to do evil, but to do good, they have no knowledge. Isn't that amazing? That's basically where we are in this land today. The average individual is indeed wise to do evil, but to do good, they have absolutely no knowledge.

[John Weaver] And so what is happening is this trumpets are sounding on every hand, and we do not hear warnings are blaring from every place and We still do not listen. And all you have to do is basically look around. And we can see what is happening if we have our eyes open. Let me tell you, I try to keep up with things I really do. And when I say I try to keep up with things I I'm talking about I try to keep up with things that are happening with the news and understand the difference between true news and propaganda. I understand that. I don't listen to a lot, because I'd much rather spend my time in the scripture. But I still want to have enough that I know what is going on. And I want to be able to listen to what people were saying.

[John Weaver] And so actually, I brought several articles with me, that may end up shocking you, some of you may have read them, you may not have. This is one article, it happens to be three pages long, or at least two and a half. I'm not going to read this entire article. And I have it on my notes so that I can send out. And here's here's the here's the headline.

[John Weaver] Top Republicans warn border crisis is getting worse. This was written by Jason Walsh, February the 23rd, which was last week, 2024. I want you to listen just for a little bit. I'm gonna come back to this. Republican lawmakers have sounded the alarm about a new security threat at the United States-Mexico border. Representative Mark Green, Republican, Tennessee, Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, gave a stark warning during a discussion at the Conservative Political Action Conference this week. Here's what he said. Listen, I think Every American should be scared to death. Not only is it the terrorist threat, we've had almost 400 suspected terrorists in this presidency, where there were only 11 last time. But it is the 24,000 Chinese nationals who came in last year, 20,000 since October the 1st, The highest year before that was 1800, he said.

[John Weaver] You don't leave China with a social credit score system unless the Chinese Communist Party knows about it. They're flying to South America and Central America, and they're coming up here. They're paying $60,000 to the cartels, which is enriching the cartels. Terrible organizations. They're subhuman, he added. And we're basically feeding them money and letting those individuals come into the United States.

[John Weaver] Now I'm going to return to some of his comments in just a moment. I'm not reading this whole thing, but let me just point out the fact. He says this, it is also more than a 7000% increase from 2021. Then he says, I'm not suggesting that China is going to be attacking the United States. But if we defend Taiwan, I can imagine there are people in there who are going to be tracking our railroads, and railways, and looking at our ports, he said. And of course, the Chinese already have control of most of the ports in California. He said, and who knows what else we had mass waves of Chinese terrorists storming military installations with cameras.

[John Weaver] So he said it's a desperate threat. And then he talks about all the dope that's coming across. And then he makes another statement right here. He said, concerning the illegal aliens, he said, since Biden's been in office, there's been 1700 dead migrants crossing the border, a historic record, and 112,000 dead Americans from Fentanyl poisoning. And then he talks about a 600% increase in sex trafficking under Biden. Well, that's just one article. Here's another one.

[John Weaver] And I'm not going to necessarily read all of this. But this was written by Keith Griffin. And it was dated February the 22nd. It's very short. He says number of Chinese migrants crossing the border at San Diego now exceeds Mexicans, and is second only to Colombians. with 21,000 entering there in the past five months. Chinese nationals are now reportedly the second largest group near San Diego. There's been 21,000 Chinese nationals encountered since October. The number of Chinese nationals crossing the southern U.S. border near San Diego has eclipsed the number of Mexicans in recent months, according to a new report. And then he goes on, and he points out the fact that these Mexicans are not only not Mexican, but these Chinese are now coming in across the Canadian border.

[John Weaver] Now, here's the interesting thing. He said, 24,000. I've heard 25,000. I've heard 30,000. And just this morning, I looked at one article said 40,000. The truth of the matter is, I have no idea how many are already in this country. Okay, let's listen to this. General Mike Flynn made this statement. Hang on. He said, and I quote, the equivalent of seven United States Army divisions of Chinese nationals have invaded America during the Biden presidency. Did you hear that? The equivalent of seven United States Army divisions that are already here. Wow.

[John Weaver] So I want to tell you what's happening. And we're going to come back to this. But I want you to listen to this. Do you realize that since all of these illegal immigrants have been coming into this country, church attacks have increased 800% in the last six years. This was article February the 20th. So listen carefully. If you believe anti Christian attacks have skyrocketed over the last decade, you're right. Attacks on churches have increased 800% in less than six years, and more than doubled over the last year, according to a new report released today by the Family Research Council. They documented acts of anti-church hostility, including attempted bombings, shootings, satanic vandalism, and numerous attacks based on anti-Christian bias due to support for abortion or extreme transgender, transgender ideology.

[John Weaver] Some constituted unpunished election interference. He says the report identified 915 acts of hostility against churches between January 2018 and November 2023. including 709 acts of vandalism, 135 completed or attempted arsons, 32 bomb threats, 22 gun-related incidents, 61 other incidents, including assault threats and interruption of worship service. These acts of religious intimidation send the message that churches are not wanted in the community or respected in general. And the man who authored this report said, regardless of the motivation of these crimes, everyone should treat churches and all the house of worship with respect and affirm the importance of religious freedom in America. Now, the report goes on.

[John Weaver] It brings it up today. The report shows that church attacks and acts of violence continue to explode in 2023. During the first 11 months of last year, researchers verified at least 436 acts of hostility toward United States churches, more than double the number of attacks in all of 2022. So that included just this past year, 315 acts of vandalism, 75 completed or attempted arsons, 20 bomb threats, 10 gun related incidents, 12 incidents of satanic graffiti, and 59 churches faced repeated acts of hostility. Now, he goes on. Listen to these two last paragraphs. These statistics likely understate the extent of the problem because in many acts of hostility against churches, they're not likely reported to authorities and are not featured in the news or other online sources from which we collect data. The number of acts of hostility is undoubtedly much higher acts of anti church hostility blanketed the country in 2023 taking place in 48 states and Washington DC. California experienced the largest number of incidents with 91 Texas churches endured 62 incidents and New York 58 and Florida at 47.

[John Weaver] Wow. So the point I'm trying to make is, everything seems to be falling apart. Why is everything seemingly falling apart? What is happening in our cities? What is happening in our towns? What is happening in our churches? What is happening in the homes? I want you to turn back in your Bibles, if you would, just to the book of Isaiah, chapter one. And I want you to look at this and I want you to think with me, I read these two verses Isaiah chapter 1 and verses 7 and 8 and by the way If you'll go to verse 1 first of all We're still talking about Judah and Jerusalem just like Jeremiah was in Jeremiah 4 So if you look in verse 1 the vision of Isaiah the son of Amon Amos which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem So we're talking about Judah and Jerusalem. Skip down to verse seven. Look what God says to Judah and Jerusalem.

[John Weaver] Because of the invasion of all these people, he said this, your country is desolate. Your cities are burned with fire. Think BLM. Think Antifa. Your land, strangers devoured in your presence. And it is desolate as overthrown by strangers. And the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city. So he says everything's being destroyed. And those few who are here are like a besieged city. They're like a cottage in a vineyard, a lodge in a garden of cucumbers. In other words, it's, there's just a few things that are left is what it amounts to.

[John Weaver] Now, I want to go back. tell you what motivated this message. And this is the thing that really frosted my cake. When I read this, from one of our representatives, Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee. And he said, I think every American should be scared to death. When I read that, I thought, really? Hmm. I can think of other things that Representative Mark Green could have said.

[John Weaver] When he was exposing all these Chinese nationals coming across the border. I think one of the things he could have said was this. I think every American should be incensed, enraged, and angry at such a treacherous and traitorous government. I think he could have said that. I believe he'd have been far better and far more right had he said that. I think he could have said something else. I think he said, I could have said, I think that every American should repent and turn to the Lord Jesus Christ and ask him and seek him for forgiveness And protection, why?

[John Weaver] Well, remember Psalm 127 verse 1, except the Lord build the house, thy labor in vain it buildeth, except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. Hmm. I think he could have said something else instead of, I think every American should be scared to death. I think he could have said, I think every American should be armed to the hilt and trained so they could defend themselves and their families and their land. I think he could have said, I think every American should understand the need for a citizen militia, so we could fight together and help each other and protect our freedom and our rights. I think he could have said a lot of those things, but he didn't. What he said was, I think every American should be scared to death. Well, let me ask you a question. Why in the world would he say, I think every American should be scared to death? Well, now there's a biblical answer. And there's a practical answer. I'll show you the biblical answer.

[John Weaver] I want you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Proverbs chapter 29, Proverbs chapter 29. And look, if you would please, at verse 25. Proverbs 29 and verse 25. Here it is. Look what God says. The fear of man bringeth a snare. But who so putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe. The fear of man bringeth a snare. Now the Hebrew word for snare is the word mokash. And it refers to a trap, a snare, a bait, and a lure that causes one to be ensnared or trapped.

[John Weaver] Now listen to what he said. The fear of man bringeth a snare. Hmm. Do you understand that when one is fearful and afraid, he's easily manipulated and controlled. It's just that simple. Because someone who is scared to death is willing to do anything and give up anything just to be safe. So whenever you have fear, you always have manipulation, you always have control. It was Ben Franklin who said it like this. Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty or safety. That's a fact. H.L.

[John Weaver] Mencken was a humorist, a satirist, an author, journalist. And he has given many, many quotes. And I've got five of them I want to read to you. And you talk about fitting. They are fitting. Here's the first one. HL Minkin said this. The one permanent emotion of the inferior man is fear, fear of the unknown, the complex, the inexplicable. What he wants above everything else is safety. So once you have been scared to death and put in fear, you will clamor to be made safe by whatever means necessary. Here's the second quote. The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out for himself without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. almost inevitably.

[John Weaver] He comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane, and intolerable. I would say that one was dead on. Here's number three. He said the whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed and his clamorous to be led to safety by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins. All of them imaginary COVID disease eggs, whatever. Do something save us. We're helpless. We need governmental interference.

[John Weaver] That's what he's talking about. Fortunately, I love this one. to show you the absolute corruption of most politicians. And by the way, there is a difference between a politician and a statesman. We have very few statesmen today, we have plenty of politicians. But I think men cheated on the head when he said this, showing you not only their disposition, but their attitude as well. And their corruption. And then he said, if a politician found or discovered that he had cannibals among his constituents, he would promise the missionaries for dinner. Well, I don't doubt that at all. And then listen to this one.

[John Weaver] He says, people do not expect to find chastity in a whorehouse. Why then do they expect to find honesty and humanity in government? A conglomeration of institutions, which modus operandi consists of lying, cheating, stealing, and if need be, murdering those who resist. I don't know about you, but I think you hit the nail on the head on all five quotes.

[John Weaver] Now, I want to come back to what Representative Mark Green said when he said I think every American should be scared to death. I want to tell you something. I refuse to be scared. I refuse to be afraid. I refuse to be a victim. I refuse to believe that the government will help me or protect me. I refuse to believe that the Democrats and Republicans have my best interests at heart and in mind. I refuse to believe that all these people coming across the border illegally are refugees seeking for a better life. I believe they're coming to invade our country. When you hear, and when you understand, and when you see the facts, how that most of these illegal immigrants are coming into this country under the authority of the United Nations, the Red Cross, and of course other NGOs, non-governmental organizations, and please remember that the United Nations main supporter is our own government. If these people were refugees, they could not afford to fly and they could not afford to be driven in.

[John Weaver] I saw one photograph. And it showed a woman I know, she almost weighed 300 pounds. And in the photograph, it had her circle And the man said under the photograph, I refuse to believe that she's walked all the way from South America. If she had walked all the way, she would not have been weighing what she weighed, I can assure you. No, no, she hasn't. No, no.

[John Weaver] The point of the matter is, I'm not afraid. And I'm not going to be afraid. And neither should you, and I'm going to show you why. Consequently, let me say in light of that, I refuse to abdicate my personal responsibility to protect my life and my family and my neighbors. I refuse to sit idly by and do nothing. No, I will prepare. I will train. I will do whatever is necessary to protect my family and the freedoms that God has given me. I'm going to do that.

[John Weaver] I want to know exactly what I can do and what I cannot do. I may be old, but I am not helpless, I can assure you. And at the same time, I'm going to be trusting in the sovereign providence of the Lord Jesus Christ. And in Christ, there is no need for fear. I want to show you, I want you to follow me, I want you to turn in your Bibles, if you would, to Psalm 3 to begin with. I want to read all of that Psalm. It's a very short Psalm. Only three only eight verses Psalm 3 There's a couple of other passages. I want you to see but follow me if you would look in Psalm 3 beginning with verse 1 David says Lord, how do they increase that trouble me?

[John Weaver] Many are they that rise up against me? Many there be which say of my soul there is no help for him in God. I But thou, O Lord, art a shield for me, my glory, and the lifter up of mine head. I cried unto the Lord with my voice, and he heard me out of his holy hill. I laid me down and slept. I awoke, for the Lord sustained me. Watch this.

[John Weaver] I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people that have set themselves against me round about. Arise, O Lord, save me, O my God. For Thou hast smitten all mine enemies upon the cheekbone. Thou hast broken the teeth of the ungodly. Salvation belongeth in the Lord, Thy passing upon Thy people. I want you to turn right over to Psalm 27, if you would, please. Psalm 27.

[John Weaver] And look, if you would, at this passage. Psalm 27. David said in verse three, Draw me not away with the wicked. That's verse 28. I'm sorry. Psalm 27. In fact, let's let's read verse one. The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life. Whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked, even my enemies and my foes came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell. Watch verse three. The one host that is a whole army should encamp against me. My heart shall not fear the war.

[John Weaver] Should rise against me in this will I be confident? One thing of a desire to the Lord and that will I seek after Then I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life to behold the beauty of the Lord and to acquire at his temple Turn right over to Psalm 56 if you would please and look at verse 4 Psalm 56 and verse 4 Look at this Psalm 56 verse 4 David said in God, I will put I will praise his word and God if I put my trust I will not fear Look at this. I will not fear What can flesh do unto me? I? Will not fear what flesh can do unto me What can men do to you they can arrest you? I?

[John Weaver] Guess they can confiscate your property They could kill you Well, that's it And our Lord said, don't fear him who's able to heal the body. So I'll tell you, you shall fear him who is able after the body is dead to cast you into the hellfire. That's who you fear. Not bad. I'm not going to fear what man can do to me. Turn, if you would, to Psalm 91. Most of you know Psalm 91. It's known as the soldier Psalm, obviously.

[John Weaver] But I want you to look, if you would, please, at a passage a number of these verses in this passage. Look in verse one, Psalm 91. He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, he is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in him will I trust. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler and from the anoints and pestilence. He shall cover thee with his feathers, And under his wings shalt thou trust, his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night, nor for the arrow that flyeth by day, nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness, nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand, but it shall not come nigh thee. Only with thine eye shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked. Because thou hast made the Lord which is my refuge even the most high thy habitation.

[John Weaver] There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall by any plague come nigh thy dwelling. For he shall give his angels charge over thee to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up against their hand, and they shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against the stone. Thou shalt tread upon the lion and the adder, and the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under thy feet.

[John Weaver] then if you would turn right on over to Psalm 118. Psalm 118, look if you would please at verse six. Psalm 118 in verse six. David says this just a little differently than he said before. Psalm 118 in verse six, look at this. The Lord is on my side. Now look at this statement, I will not fear. And then there's a colon. What can man do unto me? What can man do unto me? Man can take what you have, but everything you have, God gave you, and God can do you just like Job.

[John Weaver] He can give you twice as much once they steal it. They can take your life, but that would just put you in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ, which is not a bad thing. But David said I'm not going to fear. What can man do unto me? Man cannot really do anything apart from God's sovereign direction and providence. It's just that simple. Look, if you would, to Proverbs 3 and verse 25. Proverbs 3, verse 25.

[John Weaver] God says it like this. Proverbs 3, verse 25. Be not afraid of sudden fear. Neither the desolation of the wicked when it cometh. Be not afraid of sudden fear. Neither the desolation of the wicked when it cometh. God says don't be afraid.

[John Weaver] Now, I do want you to turn over, if you would, to Isaiah 41. I could quote this, but look at Isaiah 41 and verse 10. Look what God says. Isaiah 41, verse 10. And I still would encourage you to go through the Bible and just underline the fear thou nots or fear nots. He said in verse 10, fear thy not, fear thou not, for I am with thee. Be not dismayed, for I am thy God. I will strengthen thee, yea, I will help thee, yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. What did God say? Fear thou not, for I am with thee. Be not dismayed, for I am thy God. Wow. Now, if you can quote this verse, that's wonderful. If not, I would encourage you to learn it.

[John Weaver] Second Timothy, chapter one and verse seven. Second Timothy, chapter one and verse seven. Here it is, look at this. For God hath not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. So when you're afraid, your fear is not coming from God. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but a power and love out of a sound mind.

[John Weaver] So, when Mr. Mark Green said, I think every American should be scared to death, that is humanistic, wicked, hellish counseling advice. We should not be scared to death. We should be angry, yes, at our own stupid government, We should be upset with the politicians, yes. But we should prepare the best we can, because the Bible says in Proverbs 22, the prudent man foreseeth evil and hideth himself. Proverbs 22, verse four, the prudent man foreseeth evil and hideth himself, but the simple pass on and are punished. The prudent man foreseeth evil, he sees what's coming and he makes preparation. But the simple is the one who pass on and are punished.

[John Weaver] No, we should not be afraid. We should not fear. And the truth of the matter is, we deserve far more than what's coming to this country, I can assure you.

[John Weaver] Now, let me just say some things. I've already said, I'm not going to be afraid. I'm not going to be scared to death. I'm not going to be afraid of my own shadow. I'm just not going to do that. But on the other hand, I am not going to live with doom and gloom either. Will not fear. I will not be afraid. I will not be manipulated.

[John Weaver] I will prepare I will be self-reliant I will train I will plan and I will do my best by the grace of God to prepare Myself and my family and what did God sell us? He tells us not to be afraid fear not so therefore What's that old adage if you want peace prepare for war? so we may Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst, that is for sure.

[John Weaver] So in light of all this, let me tell you something. I'm not going to sit back and twiddle my thumbs and say, woe is me, woe is me, oh my, oh my, no, no, no, no. I'm going to enjoy my life. I'm going to enjoy my family. I'm going to relax. I'm going to enjoy my ministry. I'm going to enjoy God's creation. I'm going to enjoy God's wonderful providence. I'm going to live with a spirit of praise and thanksgiving. I will teach until I'm unable to teach. I will not quit.

[John Weaver] I will not give in. I will not give up. I will not give out. And when God calls me home, I hope by his grace, I will die by my boots on. I'd rather be preaching and teaching than anything else. It's just that simple. So I'm just saying I am not going to be afraid. I'm going to trust in his sovereign grace and mercy.

[John Weaver] Now, here's one quick quote from Joseph P. Martino. Resistance to tyranny, a primer, he said this. If you are unwilling to fight for a particular right, you will sooner or later lose it. And probably sooner than later, even in a free country, each generation must be prepared to fight for its rights all over again if they hope to pass them on to their children. And that is true.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to go back one last time to Jeremiah, chapter four, and look, if you would please, at verse 14. Because I want to point something out. I hope that will be helpful. Jeremiah 4 and verse 14. Here it is, God says, O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from thy wickedness, that thou mayst be saved. How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee? The Hebrew word for vain is the word aven, which means vain, evil, false, and idolatrous. Think about this. A vain thought, a thought that is unbiblical, that's unscriptural, isn't only wicked and vile and wrong, it's idolatry. What does the Bible say in Philippians 2 in verse 5?

[John Weaver] Let this mind be in you which also is in Christ Jesus. What do you say in 2nd Corinthians 10 verse 5 that we're to bring every thought into captivity to the Lord Jesus Christ? And so when you and I begin to think thoughts that are unbiblical, unscriptural and ungodly, they're not only vain and foolish and wicked, they are idolatrous. Look in Jeremiah chapter 7. Look at verses 27 and 28. Jeremiah. Chapter 7, verse 27. God says to Jeremiah, therefore thou shalt speak all these words unto them, watch carefully, for they will not hearken to thee. Thou shalt also call unto them, for they will not answer thee. But thou shalt say to them, this is a nation that obeyeth not the voice of the Lord thy God, their God, nor receiveth correction. Truth is perished.

[John Weaver] and is cut off from their mouth. Here's a good question. When's the last time you heard truth from the White House? When's the last time you heard truth from Washington, D.C.? When's the last time you heard truth from Tallahassee or from Atlanta? Truth is perished and is cut off from their mouth. God said you can preach it, but they're not going to hear. You can call them, but they're not going to answer.

[John Weaver] Because this is a nation that obeyeth not the voice of the Lord. Now I want to tell you, there are some who listen. There are some who hear. There are some who see. Those are the few. They are the chosen. They are the remnant. May I tell you what happened to Judah and Jerusalem? Those who heard and those who obeyed lived. Those who did not hear and did not obey died. I can assure you Those who hear the Word of God and obey the Word of God will be delivered in one way or the other. Those who hate and despise the Word, they shall fall.

[John Weaver] He asked, how long shall vain thoughts lodge within thee? Anyone who thinks they can sin against God, violate his law, Trap of the Lord Jesus Christ under their feet and escape his righteous judgment Aren't only deceived and deluded. They've loaded their brains with vain filthy vile and idolatrous thoughts It's impossible What did God say be not deceived God is not mocked Whatsoever man soweth that shall he also reap Do not allow vain thoughts to lodge within you. Do not be afraid.

[John Weaver] Do not be scared to death. Just say, Lord, I look to thee for protection. I'll fulfill my responsibility. I'll do what I can to prepare. But, Lord, my trust is in thee. I know I probably told you this. I want you to look one more. Turn back to Isaiah chapter 12, Isaiah chapter 12. I want you to look at verse 2. Isaiah 12 in verse 2. Look at this.

[John Weaver] Years ago, multitude of years ago, my oldest daughter was about three years old, two to three. Unlike a lot of children, she was afraid of the dark. So I told her I wanted her to memorize a verse. And I went to Isaiah 12 in verse 2. This is behold, God is my salvation. I will trust and not be afraid. For the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song. He also has become my salvation. Well, she could not memorize the entire verse at her age, but she got this first part. Behold, God is my salvation. I will trust and not be afraid. And many times Alice and I but either be awake or wake up and she'd get out of her little bed in the dark. And you could hear her as she walked to the light switch saying, I will trust and not be afraid. I will trust and not be afraid over and over.

[John Weaver] So that's what we have to do. We have to trust and refuse to be afraid. We will not be scared to death. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow before thee. We thank you for your truth. And Lord, I ask that you would prepare our hearts and prepare our minds, prepare our bodies, and help us, Lord, to fulfill our responsibilities to the best of our ability while at the same time, Lord, trusting in thee. And we ask it in the name of Jesus Christ. In his name we pray. Amen. Amen.

[John Weaver] so

Fear, Manipulation, and Vain Thoughts

John Weaver | YouTube

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	YouTube
Media ID	ZgljJkSiLqU
Subject	Old Testament Studies
Course	Proverbs: Kingship, Household Wisdom, and Warning
Genre	Sermon
Date	2024-04-27
Dictation Name
Book	Book 084: Proverbs: Kingship, Household Wisdom, and Warning — Chapter 15
Source Timed Segments	74

Formatted Transcript

Introduction: Jeremiah's Ministry and the Sins of Judah

Weaver introduces Jeremiah's context, where people professed faith but practiced idolatry, and connects it to modern unresponsiveness to God's Word.

Jeremiah chapter 4, and we're going to read just verse 14. Jeremiah chapter 4, verse 14. We'll be looking at a lot of passages in Jeremiah 4 and around. So look in Jeremiah chapter 4, verse 14. The title of the message is "Fear, Manipulation, and Vain Thoughts," and I think you can see how that title fits. So Jeremiah 4 and verse 14, God says,

Scripture Reading — Jeremiah 4:14

"O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved."

And then this question:

Scripture Reading — Jeremiah 4:14

"How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?"

Years ago, I preached a message from the book of Jeremiah which I entitled, "I Feel Just Like Jeremiah." Jeremiah had a very unique ministry. He preached to people who would not listen. He preached to people who would not hear. He preached to individuals who really and truly did not even want the Word of God because they had turned away from God. They had turned away from His law. They had turned away from His worship. And at the same time, they were professing to be His people.

And yet they were involved in gross idolatry. So if you look in Jeremiah chapter 7 and verses 9 and 10, the question that God asked. Now, remember, these are supposed to be His people and they're supposed to be worshiping Him. And so He says this in Jeremiah 7, verse 9, He asks,

Scripture Reading — Jeremiah 7:9-10

"Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not, and come and stand before Me in this house,"

that is the temple,

Scripture Reading — Jeremiah 7:9-10

"which is called by My name, and say, 'We are delivered to do all these abominations'?"

So they were, in essence, sinning against God in every way possible, and yet at the same time they were claiming to be His people. I think over the last several years, I've given numerous warnings, as well as a lot of different counsel and advice concerning what is happening. I've asked people just simply to look around. I've asked people to examine their own lives and examine their own hearts. And yet a lot of times people just simply do not listen. And if you look in Jeremiah chapter 6, you can just about come to the same conclusion that Jeremiah did, because look at it in verse 10 and what he said: "To whom shall I speak and give warning that they may hear?"

God's Unchanging Judgment on Nations

God's immutability means He judges nations today as He did Judah; America is not exempt from His righteous standards.

In other words, exactly what He judged Judah and Jerusalem for, exactly what He judged Samaria and the other nations for, He will continue to judge nations today in the same exact manner. So notice if you would, as I read through the Scripture today, that the sins that were prevalent in Judah and Jerusalem are the same sins that are prevalent today. And so God, then, is the sovereign. He is sovereign over every nation. He not only judged Israel, He also judged heathen nations because He is the sovereign and He is the judge. In fact, if you would hold Jeremiah 4 and turn back in your Bibles to 2 Chronicles chapter 20. So you have 1st and 2nd Samuel, 1st and 2nd Kings, then 1st and 2nd Chronicles. So look in 2nd Chronicles chapter 20, and I want you to see the confession of Jehoshaphat the king. And here's what he said. 2nd Chronicles 20, verse 5: "And Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem in the house of the Lord before the new court and said, 'Lord God of our fathers, art not Thou God in heaven, and rulest not Thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen?'"

"And in Thine hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand Thee?" So God is not just simply king and sovereign over His people. He's not only king and sovereign over His church, He's king and sovereign over every individual, over every nation, even the heathen as well. And so just like there are individuals that think that they can sin against God and escape His judgment, so likewise, there are families, there are churches, and there are nations that somehow think that they can sin against God, despise His law, trample His Son the Lord Jesus Christ under their feet, and somehow escape the judgment of God. Anyone who thinks that is only deceived and deluded, but according to Jeremiah 4 and verse 14, they have a lot of foolish and vain thoughts in their mind. Now, usually when we talk about sins, we think about individual sins. We think about family sins. Sometimes we think about church or ecclesiastical sins, but very seldom do we think about national sins. And yet the truth of the matter is governments and nations can sin equally as individuals, families, and churches. In fact, you're going to find out in Scripture that God condemns nations as well as individuals. So I want you to hold Jeremiah 4.

I'm trying to set you up for something that I brought to read to you, okay? So look in your Bibles, if you would, to Psalm 9 to begin with. Psalm 9. Look, if you would, please, at verse 17. Psalm 9, verse 17. We'll look at several passages. Look, if you would, here's a verse that most people can quote, or at least I'm sure that have heard of it. Psalm 9, verse 17, the Bible says,

Scripture Reading — Psalm 9:17

"The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God."

Note if you would please, he's talking about nations. Then if you look in verse 20 of the same psalm, Psalm 9, he says, "Put them in fear, O Lord, that the nations may know themselves to be but men." In other words, men make up nations and God judges nations because He judges men. If you look in Psalm 22, Psalm 22 and verse 28, Psalm 22 in verse 28, the Bible says, "For the kingdom is the Lord's, and He is the governor among the nations." He is a governor among the nations.

Biblical Evidence of National Judgment

Scripture shows God governs and judges all nations, including heathen ones, and America faces similar judgment for its sins.

Anyone who thinks that is only deceived and deluded, but according to Jeremiah 4 and verse 14, they have a lot of foolish and vain thoughts in their mind. Now, usually when we talk about sins, we think about individual sins. We think about family sins. Sometimes we think about church or ecclesiastical sins, but very seldom do we think about national sins. And yet the truth of the matter is governments and nations can sin equally as individuals, families, and churches. In fact, you're going to find out in Scripture that God condemns nations as well as individuals. So I want you to hold Jeremiah 4.

Scripture Reading — Psalm 9:17

"The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God."

Let me just quote Isaiah 2 in verse 4, because there the Bible says, "And He shall judge among the nations and rebuke many people." So God is going to judge not only individuals, not only families, but He's going to judge nations as well. So here's a question that I want to ask you. And I'm going to read some Scripture just for a moment. But here's my question: Is America being judged? Well, that would bring me to another question. How would we know that America is being judged if we answer yes? And the truth of the matter is, there are plenty of answers to that last question. But what I want to do is this. I want you to look at Jeremiah 4 and let me read verses 5 through 21.

And I want you to think, if you would, of the sins that are being mentioned, the judgment that is being brought forth upon Judah and Jerusalem, and then think about what is happening in our land. So look in Jeremiah chapter 4, beginning there with verse 5. God says, "Declare ye in Judah and publish in Jerusalem and say, 'Blow the trumpet in the land.'" That is, you better give warning. "Cry, gather together, and say, 'Assemble yourselves.'"

Jeremiah 4:5-21: Warning of Invasion and Destruction

Weaver reads Jeremiah's prophecy of Babylonian invasion, paralleling it with modern threats like border insecurity and church attacks.

"Let us get into the defenced cities." Now, he says, "Set up the standard toward Zion. Retire, stay not." Look what God says: "For I will bring evil from the north," that is the Babylonians, "and a great destruction. The lion has come up from his thicket. The destroyer of the Gentiles is on the way." That would be Babylon again. "He has gone forth from his place to make thy land desolate, and thy cities shall be laid waste without an inhabitant." "For this, gird you with sackcloth, lament and howl, for the fierce anger of the Lord is not turned back from us. And it shall come to pass at that day, saith the Lord, that the heart of the king shall perish, and the heart of the princes, and the priests shall be astonished, and the prophets shall wonder." Lord, there's not going to be any leadership. Everyone is going to melt. No one's going to know what to do. Skip in verse 10: "Then said I, 'Ah, Lord God, surely Thou hast greatly deceived this people.'"

"And Jerusalem saying, 'Ye shall have peace,' whereas the sword reacheth unto the soul." Well, it was not God who was saying that; it was the false prophets who were preaching peace, peace when there was no peace. And verse 11: "At that time, shall it be said to this people and to Jerusalem, 'A dry wind of the high places in the wilderness toward the daughter of My people, not to fan nor to cleanse. Even a full wind from those places shall come unto Me.'" "Now also will I give sentence against them. Behold, he shall come up as clouds and his chariot shall be as a whirlwind." Still talking about Babylon. "His horses are swifter than eagles. Woe unto us, for we are spoiled. O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?"

Now, let me just stop right there just for a moment. One of the main vain thoughts that is being spoken about here is that Judah and Jerusalem would not be judged. Judah and Jerusalem would not be destroyed. So everybody's heard of America's exceptionalism. We think that God's going to judge every country but us. So, look at it in verse 15. He says, "For a voice declareth from Dan, and publisheth affliction from Mount Ephraim."

Wow, that's from the north all the way down. He says, "Make ye mention to the nations, behold, publish against Jerusalem, that watchers come from a far country, and give out their voice against the cities of Judah. As keepers of a field are they against her round about, because she hath been rebellious against Me, saith the Lord. Thy way and thy doings have procured these things unto thee. This is thy wickedness, because it is bitter, because it reacheth unto thine heart. My bowels, my bowels, I am pained at my very heart. My heart maketh a noise in me."

"I cannot hold my peace, because thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war." And he says, "Destruction upon destruction is cried, and the whole land is spoiled. Suddenly are my tents spoiled and my curtains in a moment. How long shall I see the standard and hear the sound of the trumpet?" So he's proclaiming then war on every side, invasion on every side. Now, here's the interesting thing. If you'll skip down to verse 22, look at what he says. "For My people are foolish. They have not known Me. They are sottish children. They have no understanding. They are wise to do evil, but to do good, they have no knowledge." Isn't that amazing? That's basically where we are in this land today. The average individual is indeed wise to do evil, but to do good, they have absolutely no knowledge.

Current Events as Signs of Judgment

Articles on border crisis, Chinese nationals, and church attacks illustrate national decay, echoing Jeremiah's warnings.

And so actually, I brought several articles with me, that may end up shocking you. Some of you may have read them, you may not have. This is one article, it happens to be three pages long, or at least two and a half. I'm not going to read this entire article. And I have it on my notes so that I can send out. And here's the headline. "Top Republicans Warn Border Crisis Is Getting Worse." This was written by Jason Walsh, February the 23rd, which was last week, 2024. I want you to listen just for a little bit. I'm going to come back to this. Republican lawmakers have sounded the alarm about a new security threat at the United States-Mexico border. Representative Mark Green, Republican, Tennessee, Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, gave a stark warning during a discussion at the Conservative Political Action Conference this week. Here's what he said. Listen, "I think every American should be scared to death. Not only is it the terrorist threat, we've had almost 400 suspected terrorists in this presidency, where there were only 11 last time. But it is the 24,000 Chinese nationals who came in last year, 20,000 since October the 1st. The highest year before that was 1,800," he said.

"You don't leave China with a social credit score system unless the Chinese Communist Party knows about it. They're flying to South America and Central America, and they're coming up here. They're paying $60,000 to the cartels, which is enriching the cartels. Terrible organizations. They're subhuman," he added. And we're basically feeding them money and letting those individuals come into the United States.

Now I'm going to return to some of his comments in just a moment. I'm not reading this whole thing, but let me just point out the fact. He says this, "It is also more than a 7,000% increase from 2021." Then he says, "I'm not suggesting that China is going to be attacking the United States. But if we defend Taiwan, I can imagine there are people in there who are going to be tracking our railroads, and railways, and looking at our ports," he said. And of course, the Chinese already have control of most of the ports in California. He said, "And who knows what else? We had mass waves of Chinese terrorists storming military installations with cameras."

So he said it's a desperate threat. And then he talks about all the dope that's coming across. And then he makes another statement right here. He said, concerning the illegal aliens, he said, "Since Biden's been in office, there's been 1,700 dead migrants crossing the border, a historic record, and 112,000 dead Americans from fentanyl poisoning." And then he talks about a 600% increase in sex trafficking under Biden. Well, that's just one article. Here's another one. And I'm not going to necessarily read all of this. But this was written by Keith Griffin. And it was dated February the 22nd. It's very short. He says, "Number of Chinese migrants crossing the border at San Diego now exceeds Mexicans, and is second only to Colombians, with 21,000 entering there in the past five months. Chinese nationals are now reportedly the second largest group near San Diego. There's been 21,000 Chinese nationals encountered since October. The number of Chinese nationals crossing the southern U.S. border near San Diego has eclipsed the number of Mexicans in recent months, according to a new report." And then he goes on, and he points out the fact that these are not only not Mexican, but these Chinese are now coming in across the Canadian border.

Now, here's the interesting thing. He said, 24,000. I've heard 25,000. I've heard 30,000. And just this morning, I looked at one article said 40,000. The truth of the matter is, I have no idea how many are already in this country. Okay, let's listen to this. General Mike Flynn made this statement. Hang on. He said, and I quote, "The equivalent of seven United States Army divisions of Chinese nationals have invaded America during the Biden presidency." Did you hear that? The equivalent of seven United States Army divisions that are already here. Wow.

So I want to tell you what's happening. And we're going to come back to this. But I want you to listen to this. Do you realize that since all of these illegal immigrants have been coming into this country, church attacks have increased 800% in the last six years? This was article February the 20th. So listen carefully. If you believe anti-Christian attacks have skyrocketed over the last decade, you're right. Attacks on churches have increased 800% in less than six years, and more than doubled over the last year, according to a new report released today by the Family Research Council. They documented acts of anti-church hostility, including attempted bombings, shootings, satanic vandalism, and numerous attacks based on anti-Christian bias due to support for abortion or extreme transgender ideology.

Some constituted unpunished election interference. He says the report identified 915 acts of hostility against churches between January 2018 and November 2023, including 709 acts of vandalism, 135 completed or attempted arsons, 32 bomb threats, 22 gun-related incidents, 61 other incidents, including assault threats and interruption of worship service. These acts of religious intimidation send the message that churches are not wanted in the community or respected in general. And the man who authored this report said, "Regardless of the motivation of these crimes, everyone should treat churches and all the houses of worship with respect and affirm the importance of religious freedom in America." Now, the report goes on. It brings it up today. The report shows that church attacks and acts of violence continue to explode in 2023. During the first 11 months of last year, researchers verified at least 436 acts of hostility toward United States churches, more than double the number of attacks in all of 2022. So that included just this past year, 315 acts of vandalism, 75 completed or attempted arsons, 20 bomb threats, 10 gun-related incidents, 12 incidents of satanic graffiti, and 59 churches faced repeated acts of hostility. Now, he goes on. Listen to these two last paragraphs. "These statistics likely understate the extent of the problem because in many acts of hostility against churches, they're not likely reported to authorities and are not featured in the news or other online sources from which we collect data. The number of acts of hostility is undoubtedly much higher. Acts of anti-church hostility blanketed the country in 2023, taking place in 48 states and Washington, D.C. California experienced the largest number of incidents with 91. Texas churches endured 62 incidents, and New York 58, and Florida at 47."

Wow. So the point I'm trying to make is, everything seems to be falling apart. Why is everything seemingly falling apart? What is happening in our cities? What is happening in our towns? What is happening in our churches? What is happening in the homes? I want you to turn back in your Bibles, if you would, just to the book of Isaiah, chapter 1. And I want you to look at this and I want you to think with me. I read these two verses, Isaiah chapter 1 and verses 7 and 8. And by the way, if you'll go to verse 1 first of all, we're still talking about Judah and Jerusalem just like Jeremiah was in Jeremiah 4. So if you look in verse 1, "The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem." So we're talking about Judah and Jerusalem. Skip down to verse 7. Look what God says to Judah and Jerusalem.

The Snare of Fear and Political Manipulation

Politicians use fear to control; Proverbs 29:25 warns that fear of man is a snare, leading to loss of liberty.

When he was exposing all these Chinese nationals coming across the border, I think one of the things he could have said was this: "I think every American should be incensed, enraged, and angry at such a treacherous and traitorous government." I think he could have said that. I believe he'd have been far better and far more right had he said that. I think he could have said something else. I think he could have said, "I think that every American should repent and turn to the Lord Jesus Christ and ask Him and seek Him for forgiveness and protection." Why? Well, remember Psalm 127, verse 1:

Scripture Reading — Psalm 127:1

"Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain."

Hmm. I think he could have said something else instead of, "I think every American should be scared to death." I think he could have said, "I think every American should be armed to the hilt and trained so they could defend themselves and their families and their land." I think he could have said, "I think every American should understand the need for a citizen militia, so we could fight together and help each other and protect our freedom and our rights." I think he could have said a lot of those things, but he didn't. What he said was, "I think every American should be scared to death." Well, let me ask you a question. Why in the world would he say, "I think every American should be scared to death"? Well, now there's a biblical answer. And there's a practical answer. I'll show you the biblical answer.

I want you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Proverbs chapter 29. Proverbs chapter 29. And look, if you would please, at verse 25. Proverbs 29 and verse 25. Here it is. Look what God says.

Scripture Reading — Proverbs 29:25

"The fear of man bringeth a snare. But whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe."

The fear of man bringeth a snare. Now the Hebrew word for snare is the word mokesh. And it refers to a trap, a snare, a bait, and a lure that causes one to be ensnared or trapped.

Now listen to what he said. "The fear of man bringeth a snare." Hmm. Do you understand that when one is fearful and afraid, he's easily manipulated and controlled? It's just that simple. Because someone who is scared to death is willing to do anything and give up anything just to be safe. So whenever you have fear, you always have manipulation, you always have control. It was Ben Franklin who said it like this: "Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." That's a fact. H.L.

Mencken was a humorist, a satirist, an author, journalist. And he has given many, many quotes. And I've got five of them I want to read to you. And you talk about fitting. They are fitting. Here's the first one. H.L. Mencken said this: "The one permanent emotion of the inferior man is fear—fear of the unknown, the complex, the inexplicable. What he wants above everything else is safety." So once you have been scared to death and put in fear, you will clamor to be made safe by whatever means necessary. Here's the second quote: "The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out for himself without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably,

he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane, and intolerable." I would say that one was dead on. Here's number three. He said, "The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed and hence clamorous to be led to safety by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary." COVID, disease X, whatever. "Do something, save us. We're helpless. We need governmental interference." That's what he's talking about. Fortunately, I love this one. To show you the absolute corruption of most politicians. And by the way, there is a difference between a politician and a statesman. We have very few statesmen today, we have plenty of politicians. But I think Mencken hit the nail on the head when he said this, showing you not only their disposition, but their attitude as well. And their corruption. And then he said, "If a politician found or discovered that he had cannibals among his constituents, he would promise them missionaries for dinner." Well, I don't doubt that at all. And then listen to this one.

He says, "People do not expect to find chastity in a whorehouse. Why then do they expect to find honesty and humanity in government? A conglomeration of institutions, whose modus operandi consists of lying, cheating, stealing, and if need be, murdering those who resist." I don't know about you, but I think he hit the nail on the head on all five quotes.

Biblical Refusal to Fear

Weaver cites Psalms and other passages to show believers should not fear man but trust God, who is their shield and salvation.

Now, I want to come back to what Representative Mark Green said when he said, "I think every American should be scared to death." I want to tell you something. I refuse to be scared. I refuse to be afraid. I refuse to be a victim. I refuse to believe that the government will help me or protect me. I refuse to believe that the Democrats and Republicans have my best interests at heart and in mind. I refuse to believe that all these people coming across the border illegally are refugees seeking for a better life. I believe they're coming to invade our country. When you hear, and when you understand, and when you see the facts, how that most of these illegal immigrants are coming into this country under the authority of the United Nations, the Red Cross, and of course other NGOs, non-governmental organizations, and please remember that the United Nations' main supporter is our own government. If these people were refugees, they could not afford to fly and they could not afford to be driven in.

I saw one photograph. And it showed a woman, I know, she almost weighed 300 pounds. And in the photograph, it had her circled. And the man said under the photograph, "I refuse to believe that she's walked all the way from South America." If she had walked all the way, she would not have been weighing what she weighed, I can assure you. No, no, she hasn't. No, no. The point of the matter is, I'm not afraid. And I'm not going to be afraid. And neither should you, and I'm going to show you why. Consequently, let me say in light of that, I refuse to abdicate my personal responsibility to protect my life and my family and my neighbors. I refuse to sit idly by and do nothing. No, I will prepare. I will train. I will do whatever is necessary to protect my family and the freedoms that God has given me. I'm going to do that.

I want to know exactly what I can do and what I cannot do. I may be old, but I am not helpless, I can assure you. And at the same time, I'm going to be trusting in the sovereign providence of the Lord Jesus Christ. And in Christ, there is no need for fear. I want to show you, I want you to follow me, I want you to turn in your Bibles, if you would, to Psalm 3 to begin with. I want to read all of that Psalm. It's a very short Psalm. Only eight verses. Psalm 3. There's a couple of other passages I want you to see, but follow me if you would. Look in Psalm 3 beginning with verse 1. David says, "Lord, how are they increased that trouble me?"

"Many are they that rise up against me. Many there be which say of my soul, 'There is no help for him in God.' But Thou, O Lord, art a shield for me, my glory, and the lifter up of mine head. I cried unto the Lord with my voice, and He heard me out of His holy hill. I laid me down and slept. I awoke, for the Lord sustained me." Watch this. "I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people that have set themselves against me round about. Arise, O Lord, save me, O my God. For Thou hast smitten all mine enemies upon the cheekbone. Thou hast broken the teeth of the ungodly. Salvation belongeth unto the Lord. Thy blessing upon Thy people." I want you to turn right over to Psalm 27, if you would, please. Psalm 27.

And look, if you would, at this passage. Psalm 27. David said in verse 3—I'm sorry, let's read verse 1.

Scripture Reading — Psalm 27:1-3

"The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked, even my enemies and my foes came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell."

Watch verse 3. "Though an host," that is a whole army, "should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear. Though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident. One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire at His temple." Turn right over to Psalm 56 if you would please, and look at verse 4. Psalm 56 and verse 4. Look at this. Psalm 56, verse 4. David said, "In God, I will praise His word. In God, I have put my trust. I will not fear." Look at this. "I will not fear. What can flesh do unto me?" I will not fear what flesh can do unto me. What can men do to you? They can arrest you.

I guess they can confiscate your property. They could kill you. Well, that's it. And our Lord said, "Don't fear him who's able to kill the body. So I'll tell you, you shall fear Him who is able after the body is dead to cast you into the hellfire." That's who you fear. Not man. I'm not going to fear what man can do to me. Turn, if you would, to Psalm 91. Most of you know Psalm 91. It's known as the soldier's Psalm, obviously.

But I want you to look, if you would, please, at a passage, a number of these verses in this passage. Look in verse 1, Psalm 91.

Scripture Reading — Psalm 91:1-13

"He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, 'He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in Him will I trust.' Surely He shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with His feathers, and under His wings shalt thou trust. His truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night, nor for the arrow that flyeth by day, nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness, nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand, but it shall not come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked. Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the Most High, thy habitation.

There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. For He shall give His angels charge over thee to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. Thou shalt tread upon the lion and the adder, and the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under thy feet."

Then if you would turn right on over to Psalm 118. Psalm 118, look if you would please at verse 6. Psalm 118 in verse 6. David says this just a little differently than he said before. Psalm 118 in verse 6, look at this.

Scripture Reading — Psalm 118:6

"The Lord is on my side."

Now look at this statement: "I will not fear." And then there's a colon. "What can man do unto me?

Scripture Reading — Psalm 118:6

" What can man do unto me? Man can take what you have, but everything you have, God gave you, and God can do you just like Job.

He can give you twice as much once they steal it. They can take your life, but that would just put you in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ, which is not a bad thing. But David said, "I'm not going to fear. What can man do unto me?" Man cannot really do anything apart from God's sovereign direction and providence. It's just that simple. Look, if you would, to Proverbs 3 and verse 25. Proverbs 3, verse 25.

God says it like this. Proverbs 3, verse 25: "Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked when it cometh." Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked when it cometh. God says don't be afraid. Now, I do want you to turn over, if you would, to Isaiah 41. I could quote this, but look at Isaiah 41 and verse 10. Look what God says. Isaiah 41, verse 10. And I still would encourage you to go through the Bible and just underline the "fear thou nots" or "fear nots." He said in verse 10, "Fear thou not, for I am with thee. Be not dismayed, for I am thy God. I will strengthen thee, yea, I will help thee, yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of My righteousness." What did God say?

Scripture Reading — Isaiah 41:10

"Fear thou not, for I am with thee. Be not dismayed, for I am thy God."

Wow. Now, if you can quote this verse, that's wonderful. If not, I would encourage you to learn it.

2 Timothy, chapter 1 and verse 7. 2 Timothy, chapter 1 and verse 7. Here it is, look at this.

Scripture Reading — 2 Timothy 1:7

"For God hath not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind."

So when you're afraid, your fear is not coming from God. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

Practical Response: Prepare, Trust, and Reject Vain Thoughts

Instead of fear, believers should prepare wisely, enjoy life, and reject vain thoughts that deny God's judgment.

So, when Mr. Mark Green said, "I think every American should be scared to death," that is humanistic, wicked, hellish counseling advice. We should not be scared to death. We should be angry, yes, at our own stupid government. We should be upset with the politicians, yes. But we should prepare the best we can, because the Bible says in Proverbs 22, "The prudent man foreseeth evil and hideth himself." Proverbs 22, verse 4—actually, it's verse 3: "The prudent man foreseeth evil and hideth himself, but the simple pass on and are punished." The prudent man foreseeth evil, he sees what's coming and he makes preparation. But the simple is the one who pass on and are punished.

No, we should not be afraid. We should not fear. And the truth of the matter is, we deserve far more than what's coming to this country, I can assure you. Now, let me just say some things. I've already said, I'm not going to be afraid. I'm not going to be scared to death. I'm not going to be afraid of my own shadow. I'm just not going to do that. But on the other hand, I am not going to live with doom and gloom either. Will not fear. I will not be afraid. I will not be manipulated.

I will prepare. I will be self-reliant. I will train. I will plan. And I will do my best by the grace of God to prepare myself and my family. And what did God tell us? He tells us not to be afraid. Fear not. So therefore, what's that old adage? If you want peace, prepare for war. So we may hope for the best, but prepare for the worst, that is for sure.

So in light of all this, let me tell you something. I'm not going to sit back and twiddle my thumbs and say, "Woe is me, woe is me, oh my, oh my." No, no, no, no. I'm going to enjoy my life. I'm going to enjoy my family. I'm going to relax. I'm going to enjoy my ministry. I'm going to enjoy God's creation. I'm going to enjoy God's wonderful providence. I'm going to live with a spirit of praise and thanksgiving. I will teach until I'm unable to teach. I will not quit.

I will not give in. I will not give up. I will not give out. And when God calls me home, I hope by His grace, I will die with my boots on. I'd rather be preaching and teaching than anything else. It's just that simple. So I'm just saying I am not going to be afraid. I'm going to trust in His sovereign grace and mercy.

Now, here's one quick quote from Joseph P. Martino, "Resistance to Tyranny: A Primer." He said this: "If you are unwilling to fight for a particular right, you will sooner or later lose it. And probably sooner than later, even in a free country, each generation must be prepared to fight for its rights all over again if they hope to pass them on to their children." And that is true. Now, I want you to go back one last time to Jeremiah chapter 4, and look, if you would please, at verse 14. Because I want to point something out. I hope that will be helpful. Jeremiah 4 and verse 14. Here it is, God says, "O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from thy wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?" The Hebrew word for vain is the word aven, which means vain, evil, false, and idolatrous. Think about this. A vain thought, a thought that is unbiblical, that's unscriptural, isn't only wicked and vile and wrong, it's idolatry. What does the Bible say in Philippians 2 in verse 5?

"Let this mind be in you which also is in Christ Jesus." What do you say in 2 Corinthians 10, verse 5, that we're to bring every thought into captivity to the Lord Jesus Christ? And so when you and I begin to think thoughts that are unbiblical, unscriptural, and ungodly, they're not only vain and foolish and wicked, they are idolatrous. Look in Jeremiah chapter 7. Look at verses 27 and 28. Jeremiah chapter 7, verse 27. God says to Jeremiah, "Therefore thou shalt speak all these words unto them," watch carefully, "for they will not hearken to thee. Thou shalt also call unto them, for they will not answer thee. But thou shalt say to them, 'This is a nation that obeyeth not the voice of the Lord their God, nor receiveth correction. Truth is perished

and is cut off from their mouth.'" Here's a good question. When's the last time you heard truth from the White House? When's the last time you heard truth from Washington, D.C.? When's the last time you heard truth from Tallahassee or from Atlanta? Truth is perished and is cut off from their mouth. God said you can preach it, but they're not going to hear. You can call them, but they're not going to answer.

Because this is a nation that obeyeth not the voice of the Lord. Now I want to tell you, there are some who listen. There are some who hear. There are some who see. Those are the few. They are the chosen. They are the remnant. May I tell you what happened to Judah and Jerusalem? Those who heard and those who obeyed lived. Those who did not hear and did not obey died. I can assure you. Those who hear the Word of God and obey the Word of God will be delivered in one way or the other. Those who hate and despise the Word, they shall fall.

He asked, "How long shall vain thoughts lodge within thee?" Anyone who thinks they can sin against God, violate His law, trample the Lord Jesus Christ under their feet and escape His righteous judgment aren't only deceived and deluded. They've loaded their brains with vain, filthy, vile, and idolatrous thoughts. It's impossible. What did God say? "Be not deceived. God is not mocked. Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." Do not allow vain thoughts to lodge within you. Do not be afraid.

Conclusion: Trust and Not Be Afraid

Weaver shares a personal story of his daughter memorizing Isaiah 12:2, emphasizing trust in God over fear.

Years ago, multitude of years ago, my oldest daughter was about three years old, two to three. Unlike a lot of children, she was afraid of the dark. So I told her I wanted her to memorize a verse. And I went to Isaiah 12 in verse 2. This is, "Behold, God is my salvation. I will trust and not be afraid. For the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song. He also has become my salvation." Well, she could not memorize the entire verse at her age, but she got this first part. "Behold, God is my salvation. I will trust and not be afraid." And many times Alice and I would either be awake or wake up and she'd get out of her little bed in the dark. And you could hear her as she walked to the light switch saying, "I will trust and not be afraid. I will trust and not be afraid," over and over.

So that's what we have to do. We have to trust and refuse to be afraid. We will not be scared to death. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow before Thee. We thank You for Your truth. And Lord, I ask that You would prepare our hearts and prepare our minds, prepare our bodies, and help us, Lord, to fulfill our responsibilities to the best of our ability while at the same time, Lord, trusting in Thee. And we ask it in the name of Jesus Christ. In His name we pray. Amen. Amen.

Study Guide

Major Themes

National Judgment and God's Sovereignty

Summary: God judges nations just as He judged Judah; America's sins mirror those of ancient Israel and invite similar consequences.

Evidence: Weaver states, 'exactly what He judged Judah and Jerusalem for... He will continue to judge nations today in the same exact manner' and cites Psalm 9:17.

The Danger of Vain Thoughts

Summary: Vain thoughts, such as believing one can sin without judgment, are idolatrous and lead to spiritual deception.

Evidence: Weaver explains, 'A vain thought, a thought that is unbiblical... isn't only wicked and vile and wrong, it's idolatry.'

Fear as a Tool of Manipulation

Summary: Fear makes people controllable; politicians exploit fear to erode liberty, but Scripture commands trust in God instead.

Evidence: Weaver quotes Proverbs 29:25 and H.L. Mencken: 'The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed...'

Biblical Fearlessness

Summary: Believers are called to reject fear, trusting in God's protection and sovereignty regardless of circumstances.

Evidence: Weaver reads Psalm 3:6, 'I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people,' and 2 Timothy 1:7.

Personal Responsibility and Preparation

Summary: While trusting God, believers must prudently prepare for danger, as Proverbs 22:3 advises.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'I will prepare. I will train. I will do whatever is necessary to protect my family' and cites Proverbs 22:3.

Key Arguments

America is under God's judgment for national sins.

Summary: The same sins that brought judgment on Judah—idolatry, rebellion, and rejection of God's law—are rampant in America today.

Evidence: Weaver reads Jeremiah 4:5-21 and compares it to current events like border crises and church attacks.

Fear is a snare that leads to manipulation and loss of freedom.

Summary: Politicians use fear to control the populace, but Proverbs 29:25 warns that fearing man traps individuals.

Evidence: Weaver quotes Proverbs 29:25 and Ben Franklin: 'Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.'

Believers must not fear man but trust in God.

Summary: Scripture repeatedly commands 'fear not,' emphasizing God's presence and protection over human threats.

Evidence: Weaver cites Psalm 3:6, Psalm 27:1-3, Psalm 56:4, Psalm 91, and Isaiah 41:10.

Vain thoughts are idolatrous and lead to destruction.

Summary: Thinking one can sin without consequence is a vain thought that rejects God's truth and invites judgment.

Evidence: Weaver explains Jeremiah 4:14 and Philippians 2:5, stating such thoughts are 'idolatrous.'

Prudent preparation is biblical, not fearful.

Summary: Proverbs 22:3 teaches foresight and preparation, which Weaver advocates alongside trust in God.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'The prudent man foreseeth evil and hideth himself' and applies it to self-defense and family protection.

Scripture References

Jeremiah 4:14

Context: The central text: God calls Jerusalem to wash its heart from wickedness and asks how long vain thoughts will lodge within.

Jeremiah 7:9-10

Context: Illustrates the hypocrisy of Judah: committing gross sins while claiming to be delivered.

Jeremiah 6:10

Context: Shows the people's refusal to hear God's word, calling it a reproach.

2 Chronicles 20:5-6

Context: Jehoshaphat's confession that God rules over all kingdoms, including heathen nations.

Psalm 9:17

Context: The wicked and nations that forget God will be turned into hell.

Psalm 22:28

Context: The kingdom is the Lord's, and He is governor among the nations.

Isaiah 2:4

Context: God will judge among the nations and rebuke many people.

Jeremiah 4:5-21

Context: Prophecy of invasion and destruction on Judah for its rebellion.

Isaiah 1:7-8

Context: Desolation of Judah's land, compared to modern destruction by BLM and Antifa.

Psalm 127:1

Context: Unless the Lord builds and keeps the city, human efforts are vain.

Proverbs 29:25

Context: The fear of man brings a snare, but trust in the Lord brings safety.

Psalm 3:1-8

Context: David's confidence in God despite many enemies; he will not be afraid of ten thousands.

Psalm 27:1-3

Context: The Lord is light and salvation; though an army encamps, the heart will not fear.

Psalm 56:4

Context: In God I trust; I will not fear what flesh can do.

Psalm 91:1-13

Context: God as refuge and fortress; no terror or plague will come near those who dwell in Him.

Psalm 118:6

Context: The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do?

Proverbs 3:25

Context: Be not afraid of sudden fear or the desolation of the wicked.

Isaiah 41:10

Context: Fear not, for I am with you; I will strengthen and help you.

2 Timothy 1:7

Context: God has not given a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind.

Proverbs 22:3

Context: The prudent man foresees evil and hides himself, but the simple pass on and are punished.

Historical References

Babylonian invasion of Judah

Context: Weaver references the historical judgment on Judah through Babylon as a pattern for God's judgment on nations.

Ben Franklin quote on liberty and safety

Context: Weaver quotes Franklin to illustrate the danger of trading liberty for temporary safety.

H.L. Mencken quotes on fear and politics

Context: Weaver uses Mencken's satirical observations to critique political manipulation through fear.

Joseph P. Martino, 'Resistance to Tyranny: A Primer'

Context: Weaver quotes Martino on the necessity of fighting for rights each generation.

Important Quotes

I think every American should be scared to death.

Significance: Weaver critiques this statement by Representative Mark Green as fear-mongering that contradicts biblical commands not to fear.

The fear of man bringeth a snare. But whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe.

Significance: Key verse used to argue that fear leads to manipulation and control, while trust in God brings safety.

Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.

Significance: Weaver uses this Franklin quote to reinforce the danger of sacrificing freedom out of fear.

The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed and hence clamorous to be led to safety by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.

Significance: Mencken's quote illustrates how fear is used to manipulate the public, aligning with Weaver's theme.

I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people that have set themselves against me round about.

Significance: David's declaration of fearlessness in Psalm 3, used to encourage believers to trust God over man.

For God hath not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

Significance: 2 Timothy 1:7 is cited as the biblical basis for rejecting fear as not from God.

Behold, God is my salvation. I will trust and not be afraid.

Significance: Isaiah 12:2, memorized by Weaver's daughter, serves as a personal and congregational call to trust over fear.

Discussion Questions

In what ways do we see parallels between the sins of Judah in Jeremiah's time and the sins of America today?

Context: Weaver draws direct comparisons between ancient idolatry and modern national sins.

How does the fear of man become a snare in our personal lives and in society?

Context: Based on Proverbs 29:25, Weaver explains how fear leads to manipulation and loss of freedom.

What does it mean to have 'vain thoughts' according to Jeremiah 4:14, and how can we identify them in our own thinking?

Context: Weaver defines vain thoughts as unbiblical, idolatrous ideas that deny God's judgment.

How can we balance biblical trust in God with the call to prudent preparation for danger?

Context: Weaver advocates both trusting God and preparing responsibly, citing Proverbs 22:3.

Why is it important to reject fear while still acknowledging the reality of national judgment?

Context: Weaver emphasizes that fear is not from God, but judgment is real; believers must respond with faith and action.

Applications

Reject fear and trust in God's sovereignty.

Summary: Believers should refuse to be scared by political rhetoric and instead place their confidence in God's protection.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'I refuse to be scared. I refuse to be afraid... I'm going to be trusting in the sovereign providence of the Lord Jesus Christ.'

Prepare prudently for potential crises.

Summary: While trusting God, take practical steps to protect family and freedoms, as Proverbs 22:3 instructs.

Evidence: Weaver states, 'I will prepare. I will train. I will do whatever is necessary to protect my family and the freedoms that God has given me.'

Guard your mind against vain, unbiblical thoughts.

Summary: Replace idolatrous thinking with the mind of Christ, bringing every thought captive to Him.

Evidence: Weaver warns, 'Do not allow vain thoughts to lodge within you' and cites Philippians 2:5 and 2 Corinthians 10:5.

Respond to national sin with repentance and proclamation.

Summary: Rather than fear, believers should call the nation to repentance and trust in God's deliverance.

Evidence: Weaver suggests, 'I think every American should repent and turn to the Lord Jesus Christ and ask Him and seek Him for forgiveness and protection.'

Maintain joy and purpose despite cultural decay.

Summary: Weaver models enjoying life, family, and ministry while facing judgment, refusing to live in doom and gloom.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'I'm going to enjoy my life. I'm going to enjoy my family. I'm going to relax. I'm going to enjoy my ministry.'

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T14:32:45Z

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | weaver_study | 2026-06-06T03:09:33Z

Clean Transcript

Fear, Manipulation, and Vain Thoughts

Clean readable transcript. This view follows the Commentary.net cleaned segment text while preserving timestamps for audio follow-along.

Jeremiah chapter 4, and we're going to read just verse 14. Jeremiah chapter 4, verse 14. We'll be looking at a lot of passages in Jeremiah 4 and around. So look in Jeremiah chapter 4, verse 14. The title of the message is "Fear, Manipulation, and Vain Thoughts," and I think you can see how that title fits. So Jeremiah 4 and verse 14, God says, "O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved." And then this question: "How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?" Years ago, I preached a message from the book of Jeremiah which I entitled, "I Feel Just Like Jeremiah." Jeremiah had a very unique ministry. He preached to people who would not listen. He preached to people who would not hear. He preached to individuals who really and truly did not even want the Word of God because they had turned away from God. They had turned away from His law. They had turned away from His worship. And at the same time, they were professing to be His people.
#1 | 0:11 to 1:24 | cleaned
And yet they were involved in gross idolatry. So if you look in Jeremiah chapter 7 and verses 9 and 10, the question that God asked.
#2 | 1:24 to 1:36 | cleaned
Now, remember, these are supposed to be His people and they're supposed to be worshiping Him. And so He says this in Jeremiah 7, verse 9, He asks, "Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not, and come and stand before Me in this house," that is the temple, "which is called by My name, and say, 'We are delivered to do all these abominations'?" So they were, in essence, sinning against God in every way possible, and yet at the same time they were claiming to be His people.
#3 | 1:36 to 2:16 | cleaned
I think over the last several years, I've given numerous warnings, as well as a lot of different counsel and advice concerning what is happening. I've asked people just simply to look around. I've asked people to examine their own lives and examine their own hearts. And yet a lot of times people just simply do not listen. And if you look in Jeremiah chapter 6, you can just about come to the same conclusion that Jeremiah did, because look at it in verse 10 and what he said: "To whom shall I speak and give warning that they may hear?"
#4 | 2:17 to 2:54 | cleaned
"Behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken. Behold, the word of the Lord is unto them a reproach, and they have no delight in it." So there are people who just simply do not want the Word of God. They could care less about the Word of God. And so seemingly a lot of the truth falls on deaf ears. It falls on eyes that will not see as well as ears that will not hear. And oftentimes I've preached and spoken about the immutability of God. That word immutability just refers to God's unchangeableness. God does not change. But also we talk about the immutability of His judgments. So just like God is unchangeable in His person, God is also unchangeable in His judgments.
#5 | 2:55 to 3:42 | cleaned
In other words, exactly what He judged Judah and Jerusalem for, exactly what He judged Samaria and the other nations for, He will continue to judge nations today in the same exact manner. So notice if you would, as I read through the Scripture today, that the sins that were prevalent in Judah and Jerusalem are the same sins that are prevalent today. And so God, then, is the sovereign. He is sovereign over every nation. He not only judged Israel, He also judged heathen nations because He is the sovereign and He is the judge.
#6 | 3:42 to 4:19 | cleaned
In fact, if you would hold Jeremiah 4 and turn back in your Bibles to 2 Chronicles chapter 20. So you have 1st and 2nd Samuel, 1st and 2nd Kings, then 1st and 2nd Chronicles. So look in 2nd Chronicles chapter 20, and I want you to see the confession of Jehoshaphat the king. And here's what he said. 2nd Chronicles 20, verse 5: "And Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem in the house of the Lord before the new court and said, 'Lord God of our fathers, art not Thou God in heaven, and rulest not Thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen?'"
#7 | 4:20 to 5:05 | cleaned
"And in Thine hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand Thee?" So God is not just simply king and sovereign over His people. He's not only king and sovereign over His church, He's king and sovereign over every individual, over every nation, even the heathen as well. And so just like there are individuals that think that they can sin against God and escape His judgment, so likewise, there are families, there are churches, and there are nations that somehow think that they can sin against God, despise His law, trample His Son the Lord Jesus Christ under their feet, and somehow escape the judgment of God.
#8 | 5:06 to 5:55 | cleaned
Anyone who thinks that is only deceived and deluded, but according to Jeremiah 4 and verse 14, they have a lot of foolish and vain thoughts in their mind. Now, usually when we talk about sins, we think about individual sins. We think about family sins. Sometimes we think about church or ecclesiastical sins, but very seldom do we think about national sins. And yet the truth of the matter is governments and nations can sin equally as individuals, families, and churches. In fact, you're going to find out in Scripture that God condemns nations as well as individuals. So I want you to hold Jeremiah 4.
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I'm trying to set you up for something that I brought to read to you, okay? So look in your Bibles, if you would, to Psalm 9 to begin with. Psalm 9. Look, if you would, please, at verse 17. Psalm 9, verse 17. We'll look at several passages. Look, if you would, here's a verse that most people can quote, or at least I'm sure that have heard of it. Psalm 9, verse 17, the Bible says, "The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God." Note if you would please, he's talking about nations. Then if you look in verse 20 of the same psalm, Psalm 9, he says, "Put them in fear, O Lord, that the nations may know themselves to be but men." In other words, men make up nations and God judges nations because He judges men. If you look in Psalm 22, Psalm 22 and verse 28, Psalm 22 in verse 28, the Bible says, "For the kingdom is the Lord's, and He is the governor among the nations." He is a governor among the nations.
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Let me just quote Isaiah 2 in verse 4, because there the Bible says, "And He shall judge among the nations and rebuke many people." So God is going to judge not only individuals, not only families, but He's going to judge nations as well. So here's a question that I want to ask you. And I'm going to read some Scripture just for a moment. But here's my question: Is America being judged? Well, that would bring me to another question. How would we know that America is being judged if we answer yes? And the truth of the matter is, there are plenty of answers to that last question. But what I want to do is this. I want you to look at Jeremiah 4 and let me read verses 5 through 21.
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And I want you to think, if you would, of the sins that are being mentioned, the judgment that is being brought forth upon Judah and Jerusalem, and then think about what is happening in our land. So look in Jeremiah chapter 4, beginning there with verse 5. God says, "Declare ye in Judah and publish in Jerusalem and say, 'Blow the trumpet in the land.'" That is, you better give warning. "Cry, gather together, and say, 'Assemble yourselves.'"
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"Let us get into the defenced cities." Now, he says, "Set up the standard toward Zion. Retire, stay not." Look what God says: "For I will bring evil from the north," that is the Babylonians, "and a great destruction. The lion has come up from his thicket. The destroyer of the Gentiles is on the way." That would be Babylon again. "He has gone forth from his place to make thy land desolate, and thy cities shall be laid waste without an inhabitant."
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"For this, gird you with sackcloth, lament and howl, for the fierce anger of the Lord is not turned back from us. And it shall come to pass at that day, saith the Lord, that the heart of the king shall perish, and the heart of the princes, and the priests shall be astonished, and the prophets shall wonder." Lord, there's not going to be any leadership. Everyone is going to melt. No one's going to know what to do. Skip in verse 10: "Then said I, 'Ah, Lord God, surely Thou hast greatly deceived this people.'"
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"And Jerusalem saying, 'Ye shall have peace,' whereas the sword reacheth unto the soul." Well, it was not God who was saying that; it was the false prophets who were preaching peace, peace when there was no peace. And verse 11: "At that time, shall it be said to this people and to Jerusalem, 'A dry wind of the high places in the wilderness toward the daughter of My people, not to fan nor to cleanse. Even a full wind from those places shall come unto Me.'"
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"Now also will I give sentence against them. Behold, he shall come up as clouds and his chariot shall be as a whirlwind." Still talking about Babylon. "His horses are swifter than eagles. Woe unto us, for we are spoiled. O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?"
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Now, let me just stop right there just for a moment. One of the main vain thoughts that is being spoken about here is that Judah and Jerusalem would not be judged. Judah and Jerusalem would not be destroyed. So everybody's heard of America's exceptionalism. We think that God's going to judge every country but us. So, look at it in verse 15. He says, "For a voice declareth from Dan, and publisheth affliction from Mount Ephraim."
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Wow, that's from the north all the way down. He says, "Make ye mention to the nations, behold, publish against Jerusalem, that watchers come from a far country, and give out their voice against the cities of Judah. As keepers of a field are they against her round about, because she hath been rebellious against Me, saith the Lord. Thy way and thy doings have procured these things unto thee. This is thy wickedness, because it is bitter, because it reacheth unto thine heart. My bowels, my bowels, I am pained at my very heart. My heart maketh a noise in me."
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"I cannot hold my peace, because thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war." And he says, "Destruction upon destruction is cried, and the whole land is spoiled. Suddenly are my tents spoiled and my curtains in a moment. How long shall I see the standard and hear the sound of the trumpet?" So he's proclaiming then war on every side, invasion on every side.
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Now, here's the interesting thing. If you'll skip down to verse 22, look at what he says. "For My people are foolish. They have not known Me. They are sottish children. They have no understanding. They are wise to do evil, but to do good, they have no knowledge." Isn't that amazing? That's basically where we are in this land today. The average individual is indeed wise to do evil, but to do good, they have absolutely no knowledge.
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And so what is happening is this: trumpets are sounding on every hand, and we do not hear. Warnings are blaring from every place, and we still do not listen. And all you have to do is basically look around. And we can see what is happening if we have our eyes open. Let me tell you, I try to keep up with things, I really do. And when I say I try to keep up with things, I'm talking about I try to keep up with things that are happening with the news and understand the difference between true news and propaganda. I understand that. I don't listen to a lot, because I'd much rather spend my time in the Scripture. But I still want to have enough that I know what is going on. And I want to be able to listen to what people were saying.
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And so actually, I brought several articles with me, that may end up shocking you. Some of you may have read them, you may not have. This is one article, it happens to be three pages long, or at least two and a half. I'm not going to read this entire article. And I have it on my notes so that I can send out. And here's the headline.
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"Top Republicans Warn Border Crisis Is Getting Worse." This was written by Jason Walsh, February the 23rd, which was last week, 2024. I want you to listen just for a little bit. I'm going to come back to this. Republican lawmakers have sounded the alarm about a new security threat at the United States-Mexico border. Representative Mark Green, Republican, Tennessee, Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, gave a stark warning during a discussion at the Conservative Political Action Conference this week. Here's what he said. Listen, "I think every American should be scared to death. Not only is it the terrorist threat, we've had almost 400 suspected terrorists in this presidency, where there were only 11 last time. But it is the 24,000 Chinese nationals who came in last year, 20,000 since October the 1st. The highest year before that was 1,800," he said.
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"You don't leave China with a social credit score system unless the Chinese Communist Party knows about it. They're flying to South America and Central America, and they're coming up here. They're paying $60,000 to the cartels, which is enriching the cartels. Terrible organizations. They're subhuman," he added. And we're basically feeding them money and letting those individuals come into the United States.
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Now I'm going to return to some of his comments in just a moment. I'm not reading this whole thing, but let me just point out the fact. He says this, "It is also more than a 7,000% increase from 2021." Then he says, "I'm not suggesting that China is going to be attacking the United States. But if we defend Taiwan, I can imagine there are people in there who are going to be tracking our railroads, and railways, and looking at our ports," he said. And of course, the Chinese already have control of most of the ports in California. He said, "And who knows what else? We had mass waves of Chinese terrorists storming military installations with cameras."
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So he said it's a desperate threat. And then he talks about all the dope that's coming across. And then he makes another statement right here. He said, concerning the illegal aliens, he said, "Since Biden's been in office, there's been 1,700 dead migrants crossing the border, a historic record, and 112,000 dead Americans from fentanyl poisoning." And then he talks about a 600% increase in sex trafficking under Biden. Well, that's just one article. Here's another one.
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And I'm not going to necessarily read all of this. But this was written by Keith Griffin. And it was dated February the 22nd. It's very short. He says, "Number of Chinese migrants crossing the border at San Diego now exceeds Mexicans, and is second only to Colombians, with 21,000 entering there in the past five months. Chinese nationals are now reportedly the second largest group near San Diego. There's been 21,000 Chinese nationals encountered since October. The number of Chinese nationals crossing the southern U.S. border near San Diego has eclipsed the number of Mexicans in recent months, according to a new report." And then he goes on, and he points out the fact that these are not only not Mexican, but these Chinese are now coming in across the Canadian border.
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Now, here's the interesting thing. He said, 24,000. I've heard 25,000. I've heard 30,000. And just this morning, I looked at one article said 40,000. The truth of the matter is, I have no idea how many are already in this country. Okay, let's listen to this. General Mike Flynn made this statement. Hang on. He said, and I quote, "The equivalent of seven United States Army divisions of Chinese nationals have invaded America during the Biden presidency." Did you hear that? The equivalent of seven United States Army divisions that are already here. Wow.
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So I want to tell you what's happening. And we're going to come back to this. But I want you to listen to this. Do you realize that since all of these illegal immigrants have been coming into this country, church attacks have increased 800% in the last six years? This was article February the 20th. So listen carefully. If you believe anti-Christian attacks have skyrocketed over the last decade, you're right. Attacks on churches have increased 800% in less than six years, and more than doubled over the last year, according to a new report released today by the Family Research Council. They documented acts of anti-church hostility, including attempted bombings, shootings, satanic vandalism, and numerous attacks based on anti-Christian bias due to support for abortion or extreme transgender ideology.
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Some constituted unpunished election interference. He says the report identified 915 acts of hostility against churches between January 2018 and November 2023, including 709 acts of vandalism, 135 completed or attempted arsons, 32 bomb threats, 22 gun-related incidents, 61 other incidents, including assault threats and interruption of worship service. These acts of religious intimidation send the message that churches are not wanted in the community or respected in general. And the man who authored this report said, "Regardless of the motivation of these crimes, everyone should treat churches and all the houses of worship with respect and affirm the importance of religious freedom in America." Now, the report goes on.
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It brings it up today. The report shows that church attacks and acts of violence continue to explode in 2023. During the first 11 months of last year, researchers verified at least 436 acts of hostility toward United States churches, more than double the number of attacks in all of 2022. So that included just this past year, 315 acts of vandalism, 75 completed or attempted arsons, 20 bomb threats, 10 gun-related incidents, 12 incidents of satanic graffiti, and 59 churches faced repeated acts of hostility. Now, he goes on. Listen to these two last paragraphs. "These statistics likely understate the extent of the problem because in many acts of hostility against churches, they're not likely reported to authorities and are not featured in the news or other online sources from which we collect data. The number of acts of hostility is undoubtedly much higher. Acts of anti-church hostility blanketed the country in 2023, taking place in 48 states and Washington, D.C. California experienced the largest number of incidents with 91. Texas churches endured 62 incidents, and New York 58, and Florida at 47."
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Wow. So the point I'm trying to make is, everything seems to be falling apart. Why is everything seemingly falling apart? What is happening in our cities? What is happening in our towns? What is happening in our churches? What is happening in the homes? I want you to turn back in your Bibles, if you would, just to the book of Isaiah, chapter 1. And I want you to look at this and I want you to think with me. I read these two verses, Isaiah chapter 1 and verses 7 and 8. And by the way, if you'll go to verse 1 first of all, we're still talking about Judah and Jerusalem just like Jeremiah was in Jeremiah 4. So if you look in verse 1, "The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem." So we're talking about Judah and Jerusalem. Skip down to verse 7. Look what God says to Judah and Jerusalem.
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Because of the invasion of all these people, he said this: "Your country is desolate. Your cities are burned with fire." Think BLM. Think Antifa. "Your land, strangers devour it in your presence. And it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers. And the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city." So he says everything's being destroyed. And those few who are here are like a besieged city. They're like a cottage in a vineyard, a lodge in a garden of cucumbers. In other words, there's just a few things that are left is what it amounts to.
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Now, I want to go back. Tell you what motivated this message. And this is the thing that really frosted my cake. When I read this, from one of our representatives, Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee. And he said, "I think every American should be scared to death." When I read that, I thought, really? Hmm. I can think of other things that Representative Mark Green could have said.
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When he was exposing all these Chinese nationals coming across the border, I think one of the things he could have said was this: "I think every American should be incensed, enraged, and angry at such a treacherous and traitorous government." I think he could have said that. I believe he'd have been far better and far more right had he said that. I think he could have said something else. I think he could have said, "I think that every American should repent and turn to the Lord Jesus Christ and ask Him and seek Him for forgiveness and protection." Why?
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Well, remember Psalm 127, verse 1: "Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain." Hmm. I think he could have said something else instead of, "I think every American should be scared to death." I think he could have said, "I think every American should be armed to the hilt and trained so they could defend themselves and their families and their land." I think he could have said, "I think every American should understand the need for a citizen militia, so we could fight together and help each other and protect our freedom and our rights." I think he could have said a lot of those things, but he didn't. What he said was, "I think every American should be scared to death." Well, let me ask you a question. Why in the world would he say, "I think every American should be scared to death"? Well, now there's a biblical answer. And there's a practical answer. I'll show you the biblical answer.
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I want you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Proverbs chapter 29. Proverbs chapter 29. And look, if you would please, at verse 25. Proverbs 29 and verse 25. Here it is. Look what God says. "The fear of man bringeth a snare. But whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe." The fear of man bringeth a snare. Now the Hebrew word for snare is the word mokesh. And it refers to a trap, a snare, a bait, and a lure that causes one to be ensnared or trapped.
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Now listen to what he said. "The fear of man bringeth a snare." Hmm. Do you understand that when one is fearful and afraid, he's easily manipulated and controlled? It's just that simple. Because someone who is scared to death is willing to do anything and give up anything just to be safe. So whenever you have fear, you always have manipulation, you always have control. It was Ben Franklin who said it like this: "Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." That's a fact. H.L.
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Mencken was a humorist, a satirist, an author, journalist. And he has given many, many quotes. And I've got five of them I want to read to you. And you talk about fitting. They are fitting. Here's the first one. H.L. Mencken said this: "The one permanent emotion of the inferior man is fear—fear of the unknown, the complex, the inexplicable. What he wants above everything else is safety." So once you have been scared to death and put in fear, you will clamor to be made safe by whatever means necessary. Here's the second quote: "The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out for himself without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably,
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he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane, and intolerable." I would say that one was dead on. Here's number three. He said, "The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed and hence clamorous to be led to safety by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary." COVID, disease X, whatever. "Do something, save us. We're helpless. We need governmental interference."
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That's what he's talking about. Fortunately, I love this one. To show you the absolute corruption of most politicians. And by the way, there is a difference between a politician and a statesman. We have very few statesmen today, we have plenty of politicians. But I think Mencken hit the nail on the head when he said this, showing you not only their disposition, but their attitude as well. And their corruption. And then he said, "If a politician found or discovered that he had cannibals among his constituents, he would promise them missionaries for dinner." Well, I don't doubt that at all. And then listen to this one.
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He says, "People do not expect to find chastity in a whorehouse. Why then do they expect to find honesty and humanity in government? A conglomeration of institutions, whose modus operandi consists of lying, cheating, stealing, and if need be, murdering those who resist." I don't know about you, but I think he hit the nail on the head on all five quotes.
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Now, I want to come back to what Representative Mark Green said when he said, "I think every American should be scared to death." I want to tell you something. I refuse to be scared. I refuse to be afraid. I refuse to be a victim. I refuse to believe that the government will help me or protect me. I refuse to believe that the Democrats and Republicans have my best interests at heart and in mind. I refuse to believe that all these people coming across the border illegally are refugees seeking for a better life. I believe they're coming to invade our country. When you hear, and when you understand, and when you see the facts, how that most of these illegal immigrants are coming into this country under the authority of the United Nations, the Red Cross, and of course other NGOs, non-governmental organizations, and please remember that the United Nations' main supporter is our own government. If these people were refugees, they could not afford to fly and they could not afford to be driven in.
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I saw one photograph. And it showed a woman, I know, she almost weighed 300 pounds. And in the photograph, it had her circled. And the man said under the photograph, "I refuse to believe that she's walked all the way from South America." If she had walked all the way, she would not have been weighing what she weighed, I can assure you. No, no, she hasn't. No, no.
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The point of the matter is, I'm not afraid. And I'm not going to be afraid. And neither should you, and I'm going to show you why. Consequently, let me say in light of that, I refuse to abdicate my personal responsibility to protect my life and my family and my neighbors. I refuse to sit idly by and do nothing. No, I will prepare. I will train. I will do whatever is necessary to protect my family and the freedoms that God has given me. I'm going to do that.
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I want to know exactly what I can do and what I cannot do. I may be old, but I am not helpless, I can assure you. And at the same time, I'm going to be trusting in the sovereign providence of the Lord Jesus Christ. And in Christ, there is no need for fear. I want to show you, I want you to follow me, I want you to turn in your Bibles, if you would, to Psalm 3 to begin with. I want to read all of that Psalm. It's a very short Psalm. Only eight verses. Psalm 3. There's a couple of other passages I want you to see, but follow me if you would. Look in Psalm 3 beginning with verse 1. David says, "Lord, how are they increased that trouble me?"
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"Many are they that rise up against me. Many there be which say of my soul, 'There is no help for him in God.' But Thou, O Lord, art a shield for me, my glory, and the lifter up of mine head. I cried unto the Lord with my voice, and He heard me out of His holy hill. I laid me down and slept. I awoke, for the Lord sustained me." Watch this.
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"I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people that have set themselves against me round about. Arise, O Lord, save me, O my God. For Thou hast smitten all mine enemies upon the cheekbone. Thou hast broken the teeth of the ungodly. Salvation belongeth unto the Lord. Thy blessing upon Thy people." I want you to turn right over to Psalm 27, if you would, please. Psalm 27.
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And look, if you would, at this passage. Psalm 27. David said in verse 3—I'm sorry, let's read verse 1. "The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked, even my enemies and my foes came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell." Watch verse 3. "Though an host," that is a whole army, "should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear. Though war
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should rise against me, in this will I be confident. One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire at His temple." Turn right over to Psalm 56 if you would please, and look at verse 4. Psalm 56 and verse 4. Look at this. Psalm 56, verse 4. David said, "In God, I will praise His word. In God, I have put my trust. I will not fear." Look at this. "I will not fear. What can flesh do unto me?" I will not fear what flesh can do unto me. What can men do to you? They can arrest you.
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I guess they can confiscate your property. They could kill you. Well, that's it. And our Lord said, "Don't fear him who's able to kill the body. So I'll tell you, you shall fear Him who is able after the body is dead to cast you into the hellfire." That's who you fear. Not man. I'm not going to fear what man can do to me. Turn, if you would, to Psalm 91. Most of you know Psalm 91. It's known as the soldier's Psalm, obviously.
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But I want you to look, if you would, please, at a passage, a number of these verses in this passage. Look in verse 1, Psalm 91. "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, 'He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in Him will I trust.' Surely He shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with His feathers, and under His wings shalt thou trust. His truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night, nor for the arrow that flyeth by day, nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness, nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand, but it shall not come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked. Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the Most High, thy habitation.
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There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. For He shall give His angels charge over thee to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. Thou shalt tread upon the lion and the adder, and the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under thy feet."
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Then if you would turn right on over to Psalm 118. Psalm 118, look if you would please at verse 6. Psalm 118 in verse 6. David says this just a little differently than he said before. Psalm 118 in verse 6, look at this. "The Lord is on my side." Now look at this statement: "I will not fear." And then there's a colon. "What can man do unto me?" What can man do unto me? Man can take what you have, but everything you have, God gave you, and God can do you just like Job.
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He can give you twice as much once they steal it. They can take your life, but that would just put you in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ, which is not a bad thing. But David said, "I'm not going to fear. What can man do unto me?" Man cannot really do anything apart from God's sovereign direction and providence. It's just that simple. Look, if you would, to Proverbs 3 and verse 25. Proverbs 3, verse 25.
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God says it like this. Proverbs 3, verse 25: "Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked when it cometh." Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked when it cometh. God says don't be afraid.
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Now, I do want you to turn over, if you would, to Isaiah 41. I could quote this, but look at Isaiah 41 and verse 10. Look what God says. Isaiah 41, verse 10. And I still would encourage you to go through the Bible and just underline the "fear thou nots" or "fear nots." He said in verse 10, "Fear thou not, for I am with thee. Be not dismayed, for I am thy God. I will strengthen thee, yea, I will help thee, yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of My righteousness." What did God say? "Fear thou not, for I am with thee. Be not dismayed, for I am thy God." Wow. Now, if you can quote this verse, that's wonderful. If not, I would encourage you to learn it.
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2 Timothy, chapter 1 and verse 7. 2 Timothy, chapter 1 and verse 7. Here it is, look at this. "For God hath not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind." So when you're afraid, your fear is not coming from God. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
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So, when Mr. Mark Green said, "I think every American should be scared to death," that is humanistic, wicked, hellish counseling advice. We should not be scared to death. We should be angry, yes, at our own stupid government. We should be upset with the politicians, yes. But we should prepare the best we can, because the Bible says in Proverbs 22, "The prudent man foreseeth evil and hideth himself." Proverbs 22, verse 4—actually, it's verse 3: "The prudent man foreseeth evil and hideth himself, but the simple pass on and are punished." The prudent man foreseeth evil, he sees what's coming and he makes preparation. But the simple is the one who pass on and are punished.
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No, we should not be afraid. We should not fear. And the truth of the matter is, we deserve far more than what's coming to this country, I can assure you.
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Now, let me just say some things. I've already said, I'm not going to be afraid. I'm not going to be scared to death. I'm not going to be afraid of my own shadow. I'm just not going to do that. But on the other hand, I am not going to live with doom and gloom either. Will not fear. I will not be afraid. I will not be manipulated.
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I will prepare. I will be self-reliant. I will train. I will plan. And I will do my best by the grace of God to prepare myself and my family. And what did God tell us? He tells us not to be afraid. Fear not. So therefore, what's that old adage? If you want peace, prepare for war. So we may hope for the best, but prepare for the worst, that is for sure.
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So in light of all this, let me tell you something. I'm not going to sit back and twiddle my thumbs and say, "Woe is me, woe is me, oh my, oh my." No, no, no, no. I'm going to enjoy my life. I'm going to enjoy my family. I'm going to relax. I'm going to enjoy my ministry. I'm going to enjoy God's creation. I'm going to enjoy God's wonderful providence. I'm going to live with a spirit of praise and thanksgiving. I will teach until I'm unable to teach. I will not quit.
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I will not give in. I will not give up. I will not give out. And when God calls me home, I hope by His grace, I will die with my boots on. I'd rather be preaching and teaching than anything else. It's just that simple. So I'm just saying I am not going to be afraid. I'm going to trust in His sovereign grace and mercy.
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Now, here's one quick quote from Joseph P. Martino, "Resistance to Tyranny: A Primer." He said this: "If you are unwilling to fight for a particular right, you will sooner or later lose it. And probably sooner than later, even in a free country, each generation must be prepared to fight for its rights all over again if they hope to pass them on to their children." And that is true.
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Now, I want you to go back one last time to Jeremiah chapter 4, and look, if you would please, at verse 14. Because I want to point something out. I hope that will be helpful. Jeremiah 4 and verse 14. Here it is, God says, "O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from thy wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?" The Hebrew word for vain is the word aven, which means vain, evil, false, and idolatrous. Think about this. A vain thought, a thought that is unbiblical, that's unscriptural, isn't only wicked and vile and wrong, it's idolatry. What does the Bible say in Philippians 2 in verse 5?
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"Let this mind be in you which also is in Christ Jesus." What do you say in 2 Corinthians 10, verse 5, that we're to bring every thought into captivity to the Lord Jesus Christ? And so when you and I begin to think thoughts that are unbiblical, unscriptural, and ungodly, they're not only vain and foolish and wicked, they are idolatrous. Look in Jeremiah chapter 7. Look at verses 27 and 28. Jeremiah chapter 7, verse 27. God says to Jeremiah, "Therefore thou shalt speak all these words unto them," watch carefully, "for they will not hearken to thee. Thou shalt also call unto them, for they will not answer thee. But thou shalt say to them, 'This is a nation that obeyeth not the voice of the Lord their God, nor receiveth correction. Truth is perished
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and is cut off from their mouth.'" Here's a good question. When's the last time you heard truth from the White House? When's the last time you heard truth from Washington, D.C.? When's the last time you heard truth from Tallahassee or from Atlanta? Truth is perished and is cut off from their mouth. God said you can preach it, but they're not going to hear. You can call them, but they're not going to answer.
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Because this is a nation that obeyeth not the voice of the Lord. Now I want to tell you, there are some who listen. There are some who hear. There are some who see. Those are the few. They are the chosen. They are the remnant. May I tell you what happened to Judah and Jerusalem? Those who heard and those who obeyed lived. Those who did not hear and did not obey died. I can assure you. Those who hear the Word of God and obey the Word of God will be delivered in one way or the other. Those who hate and despise the Word, they shall fall.
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He asked, "How long shall vain thoughts lodge within thee?" Anyone who thinks they can sin against God, violate His law, trample the Lord Jesus Christ under their feet and escape His righteous judgment aren't only deceived and deluded. They've loaded their brains with vain, filthy, vile, and idolatrous thoughts. It's impossible. What did God say? "Be not deceived. God is not mocked. Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." Do not allow vain thoughts to lodge within you. Do not be afraid.
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Do not be scared to death. Just say, "Lord, I look to Thee for protection. I'll fulfill my responsibility. I'll do what I can to prepare. But, Lord, my trust is in Thee." I know I probably told you this. I want you to look one more. Turn back to Isaiah chapter 12. Isaiah chapter 12. I want you to look at verse 2. Isaiah 12 in verse 2. Look at this.
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Years ago, multitude of years ago, my oldest daughter was about three years old, two to three. Unlike a lot of children, she was afraid of the dark. So I told her I wanted her to memorize a verse. And I went to Isaiah 12 in verse 2. This is, "Behold, God is my salvation. I will trust and not be afraid. For the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song. He also has become my salvation." Well, she could not memorize the entire verse at her age, but she got this first part. "Behold, God is my salvation. I will trust and not be afraid." And many times Alice and I would either be awake or wake up and she'd get out of her little bed in the dark. And you could hear her as she walked to the light switch saying, "I will trust and not be afraid. I will trust and not be afraid," over and over.
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So that's what we have to do. We have to trust and refuse to be afraid. We will not be scared to death. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow before Thee. We thank You for Your truth. And Lord, I ask that You would prepare our hearts and prepare our minds, prepare our bodies, and help us, Lord, to fulfill our responsibilities to the best of our ability while at the same time, Lord, trusting in Thee. And we ask it in the name of Jesus Christ. In His name we pray. Amen. Amen.
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so
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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T14:32:45Z

Fear, Manipulation, and Vain Thoughts

John Weaver | Freedom Ministries

Pastor John Weaver examines Jeremiah 4:14, warning that vain thoughts—such as believing America will escape God's judgment—lead to fear and manipulation. He contrasts the fear-mongering of politicians with the biblical command to trust God and not be afraid, urging believers to prepare responsibly while resting in God's sovereignty.

Introduction: Jeremiah's Ministry and the Sins of Judah

Weaver introduces Jeremiah's context, where people professed faith but practiced idolatry, and connects it to modern unresponsiveness to God's Word.

Scripture Reading — Jeremiah 4:14

"O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved."

And then this question:

Scripture Reading — Jeremiah 4:14

"How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?"

Scripture Reading — Jeremiah 7:9-10

"Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not, and come and stand before Me in this house,"

that is the temple,

Scripture Reading — Jeremiah 7:9-10

"which is called by My name, and say, 'We are delivered to do all these abominations'?"

God's Unchanging Judgment on Nations

God's immutability means He judges nations today as He did Judah; America is not exempt from His righteous standards.

Scripture Reading — Psalm 9:17

"The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God."

Biblical Evidence of National Judgment

Scripture shows God governs and judges all nations, including heathen ones, and America faces similar judgment for its sins.

Scripture Reading — Psalm 9:17

"The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God."

Jeremiah 4:5-21: Warning of Invasion and Destruction

Weaver reads Jeremiah's prophecy of Babylonian invasion, paralleling it with modern threats like border insecurity and church attacks.

Current Events as Signs of Judgment

Articles on border crisis, Chinese nationals, and church attacks illustrate national decay, echoing Jeremiah's warnings.

The Snare of Fear and Political Manipulation

Politicians use fear to control; Proverbs 29:25 warns that fear of man is a snare, leading to loss of liberty.

Scripture Reading — Psalm 127:1

"Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain."

I want you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Proverbs chapter 29. Proverbs chapter 29. And look, if you would please, at verse 25. Proverbs 29 and verse 25. Here it is. Look what God says.

Scripture Reading — Proverbs 29:25

"The fear of man bringeth a snare. But whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe."

The fear of man bringeth a snare. Now the Hebrew word for snare is the word mokesh. And it refers to a trap, a snare, a bait, and a lure that causes one to be ensnared or trapped.

Biblical Refusal to Fear

Weaver cites Psalms and other passages to show believers should not fear man but trust God, who is their shield and salvation.

And look, if you would, at this passage. Psalm 27. David said in verse 3—I'm sorry, let's read verse 1.

Scripture Reading — Psalm 27:1-3

"The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked, even my enemies and my foes came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell."

But I want you to look, if you would, please, at a passage, a number of these verses in this passage. Look in verse 1, Psalm 91.

Scripture Reading — Psalm 91:1-13

"He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, 'He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in Him will I trust.' Surely He shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with His feathers, and under His wings shalt thou trust. His truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night, nor for the arrow that flyeth by day, nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness, nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand, but it shall not come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked. Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the Most High, thy habitation.

Scripture Reading — Psalm 118:6

"The Lord is on my side."

Now look at this statement: "I will not fear." And then there's a colon. "What can man do unto me?

Scripture Reading — Psalm 118:6

" What can man do unto me? Man can take what you have, but everything you have, God gave you, and God can do you just like Job.

Scripture Reading — Isaiah 41:10

"Fear thou not, for I am with thee. Be not dismayed, for I am thy God."

Wow. Now, if you can quote this verse, that's wonderful. If not, I would encourage you to learn it.

2 Timothy, chapter 1 and verse 7. 2 Timothy, chapter 1 and verse 7. Here it is, look at this.

Scripture Reading — 2 Timothy 1:7

"For God hath not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind."

So when you're afraid, your fear is not coming from God. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

Practical Response: Prepare, Trust, and Reject Vain Thoughts

Instead of fear, believers should prepare wisely, enjoy life, and reject vain thoughts that deny God's judgment.

Conclusion: Trust and Not Be Afraid

Weaver shares a personal story of his daughter memorizing Isaiah 12:2, emphasizing trust in God over fear.

Fear, Manipulation, and Vain Thoughts

John Weaver | YouTube

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	YouTube
Media ID	ZgljJkSiLqU
Subject	Old Testament Studies
Course	Proverbs: Kingship, Household Wisdom, and Warning
Genre	Sermon
Date	2024-04-27
Dictation Name
Book	Book 084: Proverbs: Kingship, Household Wisdom, and Warning — Chapter 15
Source Timed Segments	74

Lecture Guide

Outline

Introduction: Jeremiah's Ministry and the Sins of Judah: Weaver introduces Jeremiah's context, where people professed faith but practiced idolatry, and connects it to modern unresponsiveness to God's Word.
God's Unchanging Judgment on Nations: God's immutability means He judges nations today as He did Judah; America is not exempt from His righteous standards.
Biblical Evidence of National Judgment: Scripture shows God governs and judges all nations, including heathen ones, and America faces similar judgment for its sins.
Jeremiah 4:5-21: Warning of Invasion and Destruction: Weaver reads Jeremiah's prophecy of Babylonian invasion, paralleling it with modern threats like border insecurity and church attacks.
Current Events as Signs of Judgment: Articles on border crisis, Chinese nationals, and church attacks illustrate national decay, echoing Jeremiah's warnings.
The Snare of Fear and Political Manipulation: Politicians use fear to control; Proverbs 29:25 warns that fear of man is a snare, leading to loss of liberty.
Biblical Refusal to Fear: Weaver cites Psalms and other passages to show believers should not fear man but trust God, who is their shield and salvation.
Practical Response: Prepare, Trust, and Reject Vain Thoughts: Instead of fear, believers should prepare wisely, enjoy life, and reject vain thoughts that deny God's judgment.
Conclusion: Trust and Not Be Afraid: Weaver shares a personal story of his daughter memorizing Isaiah 12:2, emphasizing trust in God over fear.

Major Themes

Key Arguments

America is under God's judgment for national sins.

The same sins that brought judgment on Judah—idolatry, rebellion, and rejection of God's law—are rampant in America today.

Weaver reads Jeremiah 4:5-21 and compares it to current events like border crises and church attacks.

Fear is a snare that leads to manipulation and loss of freedom.

Politicians use fear to control the populace, but Proverbs 29:25 warns that fearing man traps individuals.

Weaver quotes Proverbs 29:25 and Ben Franklin: 'Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.'

Believers must not fear man but trust in God.

Scripture repeatedly commands 'fear not,' emphasizing God's presence and protection over human threats.

Weaver cites Psalm 3:6, Psalm 27:1-3, Psalm 56:4, Psalm 91, and Isaiah 41:10.

Vain thoughts are idolatrous and lead to destruction.

Thinking one can sin without consequence is a vain thought that rejects God's truth and invites judgment.

Weaver explains Jeremiah 4:14 and Philippians 2:5, stating such thoughts are 'idolatrous.'

Prudent preparation is biblical, not fearful.

Proverbs 22:3 teaches foresight and preparation, which Weaver advocates alongside trust in God.

Weaver says, 'The prudent man foreseeth evil and hideth himself' and applies it to self-defense and family protection.

Scripture References

Jeremiah 4:14: The central text: God calls Jerusalem to wash its heart from wickedness and asks how long vain thoughts will lodge within.
Jeremiah 7:9-10: Illustrates the hypocrisy of Judah: committing gross sins while claiming to be delivered.
Jeremiah 6:10: Shows the people's refusal to hear God's word, calling it a reproach.
2 Chronicles 20:5-6: Jehoshaphat's confession that God rules over all kingdoms, including heathen nations.
Psalm 9:17: The wicked and nations that forget God will be turned into hell.
Psalm 22:28: The kingdom is the Lord's, and He is governor among the nations.
Isaiah 2:4: God will judge among the nations and rebuke many people.
Jeremiah 4:5-21: Prophecy of invasion and destruction on Judah for its rebellion.
Isaiah 1:7-8: Desolation of Judah's land, compared to modern destruction by BLM and Antifa.
Psalm 127:1: Unless the Lord builds and keeps the city, human efforts are vain.
Proverbs 29:25: The fear of man brings a snare, but trust in the Lord brings safety.
Psalm 3:1-8: David's confidence in God despite many enemies; he will not be afraid of ten thousands.
Psalm 27:1-3: The Lord is light and salvation; though an army encamps, the heart will not fear.
Psalm 56:4: In God I trust; I will not fear what flesh can do.
Psalm 91:1-13: God as refuge and fortress; no terror or plague will come near those who dwell in Him.
Psalm 118:6: The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do?
Proverbs 3:25: Be not afraid of sudden fear or the desolation of the wicked.
Isaiah 41:10: Fear not, for I am with you; I will strengthen and help you.
2 Timothy 1:7: God has not given a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind.
Proverbs 22:3: The prudent man foresees evil and hides himself, but the simple pass on and are punished.

Historical References

Babylonian invasion of Judah: Weaver references the historical judgment on Judah through Babylon as a pattern for God's judgment on nations.
Ben Franklin quote on liberty and safety: Weaver quotes Franklin to illustrate the danger of trading liberty for temporary safety.
H.L. Mencken quotes on fear and politics: Weaver uses Mencken's satirical observations to critique political manipulation through fear.
Joseph P. Martino, 'Resistance to Tyranny: A Primer': Weaver quotes Martino on the necessity of fighting for rights each generation.

Important Quotes

I think every American should be scared to death.

Weaver critiques this statement by Representative Mark Green as fear-mongering that contradicts biblical commands not to fear.

The fear of man bringeth a snare. But whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe.

Key verse used to argue that fear leads to manipulation and control, while trust in God brings safety.

Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.

Weaver uses this Franklin quote to reinforce the danger of sacrificing freedom out of fear.

The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed and hence clamorous to be led to safety by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.

Mencken's quote illustrates how fear is used to manipulate the public, aligning with Weaver's theme.

I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people that have set themselves against me round about.

David's declaration of fearlessness in Psalm 3, used to encourage believers to trust God over man.

For God hath not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

2 Timothy 1:7 is cited as the biblical basis for rejecting fear as not from God.

Behold, God is my salvation. I will trust and not be afraid.

Isaiah 12:2, memorized by Weaver's daughter, serves as a personal and congregational call to trust over fear.

Discussion Questions

[Question]

In what ways do we see parallels between the sins of Judah in Jeremiah's time and the sins of America today?

[Context]

Weaver draws direct comparisons between ancient idolatry and modern national sins.

[Question]

How does the fear of man become a snare in our personal lives and in society?

[Context]

Based on Proverbs 29:25, Weaver explains how fear leads to manipulation and loss of freedom.

[Question]

What does it mean to have 'vain thoughts' according to Jeremiah 4:14, and how can we identify them in our own thinking?

[Context]

Weaver defines vain thoughts as unbiblical, idolatrous ideas that deny God's judgment.

[Question]

How can we balance biblical trust in God with the call to prudent preparation for danger?

[Context]

Weaver advocates both trusting God and preparing responsibly, citing Proverbs 22:3.

[Question]

Why is it important to reject fear while still acknowledging the reality of national judgment?

[Context]

Weaver emphasizes that fear is not from God, but judgment is real; believers must respond with faith and action.

Applications

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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | weaver_study | 2026-06-06T03:09:33Z