The Christian Family: Children, Fatherhood, and Generational Faithfulness: The World And Times Of Jesse James

How Did We Get There

Transcript: AI Transcript

Professor: John Weaver

Subject: Family Government

Genre: Sermon

Dictation Name:

Date: 2024-04-27

Synopsis: Pastor John Weaver examines Jeremiah 19 to explain how Judah and Jerusalem reached a point of national destruction, drawing parallels to modern America. He argues that the root cause was hardening their necks against God's words, and that this principle applies to any nation. Using illustrations of rescued puppies and a young couple's love for their baby, he develops an argument from the lesser to the greater: if God requires respect for animal families, how much more for human families. The sermon warns that America's rejection of God's truth, evidenced by abortion and secular education, mirrors ancient Baal and Moloch worship, and calls for repentance.

[John Weaver] Jeremiah chapter 19 and Since there are 15 verses there. I want to read all 15 verses Jeremiah chapter 19 And look if you would please beginning there with verse 1 the title of the message is how did we get here and How did we get here? Look at Jeremiah 19 verse 1. Thus saith the Lord, Go and get a potter's earthen bottle, and take of the ancients of the people and of the ancients of the priests, and go forth into the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is by the entry of the east gate, and proclaim there the words that I shall tell thee. And say, Hear ye the word of the Lord, O kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, which whosoever heareth his ears shall tingle. Because they have forsaken me and have estranged this place, they have burned incense in it unto other gods, whom neither they nor their fathers have known, nor the kings of Judah, and have filled this place with the blood of innocents.

[John Weaver] They have built also the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings unto Baal, which I commanded not, nor spake it, neither came it into my mind. Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that this place shall no more be called Tophet, nor the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of slaughter. And I will make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place, and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hands of them that seek their lives, and their carcasses will I give to be meat for the fowls of heaven and for the beasts of the earth.

[John Weaver] And I will make this city desolate, and in hissing, everyone that passeth thereby shall be astonished and hiss because of the plagues thereof. And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons, and the flesh of their daughters, and they shall eat every one the flesh of his friend in the siege, and straighteneth wherewith their enemies, and they that seek their lives shall straighten them. Then shalt thou break the bottle in the sight of the men that go with thee. And shall say to them, thus saith the Lord of hosts, even so will I break this people and this city as one breaks the potter's vessel that cannot be made whole again.

[John Weaver] And they shall bury them in Tophet till there be no place to bury. Thus will I do unto this place, saith the Lord, and to the inhabitants thereof, and even make this city as Tophet. And the houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah shall be defiled as the place of Tophet. And because of all the houses upon whose roofs they have burned incense unto the host of heaven and have poured out drink offerings unto other gods. Then came Jeremiah from Tophet, whither the Lord had sent him, to prophesy. And he stood in the court of the Lord's house and said unto all the people, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Behold, I will bring upon this city and upon all her towns and all the evil that are pronounced against it, because they have hardened their necks that they

[John Weaver] might not hear my words. Have you ever wondered how we arrived at the place in which we find ourselves today in this nation? In one sense, the word, it's much like traveling with children. I know a lot of parents in times past have taken rather lengthy trips, but they would always plan to take those trips when the younger children would be sleeping most of the time. And once the children went to sleep, the next thing they know they were at their destination. The first thing the children would ask is, how did we get here? They did not know about the stops. They did not know about the traffic. They did not know about any problems. They just went to sleep.

[John Weaver] And when they woke up, they were there. How in the world did Jerusalem get to the place where God said, I am going to destroy this place? How did they get to the place of national destruction? A good question to be asked is how did we get to the place that we're in? And are we next in national destruction? We're no longer living in Mayberry. Things are not black and white the way they used to.

[John Weaver] We have to agree that times have certainly changed. Society has changed. Culture has changed. We're no longer living in a time where life is precious and protected. We're no longer living in a time when personal privacy and profit are valued. We're no longer living in a time when God is honored. We're no longer living in a time where the Word of God is respected. We're no longer living in a time where families work together and help each other. We're certainly no longer living in a time when people value each other and friendship.

[John Weaver] It seems as if we went to sleep in one nation and awoke the next morning in a completely, totally different nation. Now, I want to very quickly give you two illustrations. You may not see the value or the importance of these illustrations right now. You may not even see the connections. But before I finish today, I hope that you will, because these two illustrations are vitally connected.

[John Weaver] Some months back or a month or so back, Alice was coming down the road toward our house. And she looked in the ditch. And there were four starving puppies someone had thrown out. They were not only starving, they were warming and they were so malnourished. Two of them could not even walk or at least not walk correctly. Instead of walking on their hind feet, they had to lay down on their haunches and their whole back leg basically was holding them up. So Alice picked the puppies up, brought them home, and she washed them. And she fed them. She warmed them.

[John Weaver] She took care of them. And today those puppies are fine. They're healthy. And we're looking for homes for them. And they're beautiful pups, but someone just simply threw them out. So why in the world would people do something like that? That's a good question. The second illustration is this. Just recently, I had a defensive handgun class. And there was a young couple. named gauge and rose in that class. Rose is the daughter of Alan Barber Stoffer, who have been friends for a long time. They were married about a year or so ago, and they just had their first baby. And the baby was only a month or two couple months old. And they came from my class and roses sister came to take care of the baby while she was in class. And so when we came back in for the new meal, there's only about a few hours over the range. I looked over and I saw Rose and I saw gauge her husband, pick up that baby. Hold the baby in their laps.

[John Weaver] And they begin to kiss the baby and cuddle the baby and the mother and the father. I mean, of course it was I had some baby. That is for sure. But I just sat there and I just kind of marveled because you have to remember how old I am. And I hadn't been around a young couple with a first child in a long, long time. And it reminded me of Alice, when we had our first daughter, And then I got to thinking about our daughters and their first child. And I just simply marveled at the fact that, you know, I hadn't seen a young couple with their first child in ages and ages and ages. And it just astonished me at the attention and the love that they were relishing upon that child.

[John Weaver] Now, you may not see the connection between these two stories yet. But before I get through, I hope that you will.

[John Weaver] Now, let me tell you about Jeremiah, chapter 18 and 19. These two chapters actually go together, because in Jeremiah, chapter 18, Jeremiah is commanded to go down to the potter's house. And there God was going to demonstrate a truth to him, which he was to proclaim. So this Truth was not only in relationship to the nation of Israel. It was also truth in relationship to any nation.

[John Weaver] And I might say any individual as well, because nations are made up of individuals. So if you look in Jeremiah, chapter 18, let's begin reading with verse two and read through verse 11, just so you can see this. In verse two, God tells Jeremiah, arise and go down to the potter's house. and there I will cause you to hear my words. Then I went down to the potter's house, and behold, he brought a work on the wheels. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter, so I made it again another vessel. I seemed good to the potter to make it. Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter, saith the Lord. Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.

[John Weaver] At one instant I shall speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom to pluck up and to pull down and to destroy it. Now look at this. If that nation, not just Israel, if that nation against whom I pronounce turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them. And in one instant I shall speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom to build and to plant it. If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good wherewith I said I would benefit them.

[John Weaver] Now therefore go and speak to the men of Judah unto the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device against you. Return you now, everyone, from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good.

[John Weaver] Now, in this passage, God is the potter and we are the clay. That is true. And this passage, God was the potter. Israel happened to be the clay. But like he pointed out in verse 18, any nation or any individual. So in Jeremiah 18, the potter is working with the clay. He has it on the wheel. He may have been intending to make something extremely beautiful, like a vase.

[John Weaver] Well, you probably know this. You know the difference between a vase and a vase? About 200 bucks. But he may be intended to make this beautiful vase. But the Bible says that the clay was marred in the hand of the potter. Something went wrong with the clay. And so the potter then made the vessel into a different kind of vessel in which he intended originally. In other words, that would be the potter's prerogative. So, instead of making this beautiful vase, he made it into a spittoon.

[John Weaver] or what you and I would call a honeypot or slop jar or bedchamber. In other words, it's his prerogative. He is the one in control of the clay, and he can do with that clay exactly what he wants to do. And that is exactly what he's saying with these nations. He may do exactly what he wanted to do.

[John Weaver] Now, in the context, we're talking particularly about Israel. Do you realize that in the Bible, in the Old Testament, God specifically chose Israel to be his peculiar treasure. In fact, I'll give you several verses where the Bible explicitly states that. For instance, in Exodus chapter 19 and verse 5, God says, now therefore if, notice that word if, now therefore if you will obey my voice indeed and keep my covenant, then you shall be a peculiar treasure to me above all people For all the earth is mine. So God said, if you will obey me, you will be a peculiar treasure. Then in Deuteronomy chapter 14 and verse two, God says, For thou art a holy people unto the Lord thy God. And the Lord has chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself above all the nations that are upon the face of the earth. Here's a number three, Deuteronomy chapter 26 and verse 18. And the Lord hath avouched thee this day to be his peculiar people, as he hath promised thee, and that thou shouldest keep all his commandments.

[John Weaver] And then one more, in Psalm 133 in verse 4, for the Lord hath chosen Jacob for himself, and Israel for his peculiar treasure. So God had chosen Israel, but what in the world did Israel do? And she rebelled against God. She revolted against God. She turned her back upon God. She became idolatrous, worshiping all kind of gods. The queen of heaven, Baal, Moloch, whatsoever. In light of this, God rejected those people.

[John Weaver] And here is what he said. If you want to write it down. Wonderful. Jeremiah, chapter 12. If you want to look there. at verses 7 and 8, since you're close. Look at Jeremiah chapter 12, beginning there with verse 7. God says, I have forsaken mine house. That would be his temple. I have left my heritage. That would be his people. Notice, I have forsaken my house. I've left my heritage. I've given the dearly beloved of my soul into the hand of her enemies. My heritage is unto me as a speckled bird. That's verse 9. Let's go back to verse 8. My heritage is unto me as a lion in the forest.

[John Weaver] It cries out against me. That's their rebellion. Therefore have I hated it. And then he said, My heritage is unto me as a speckled bird. The birds round about are all against her. Come, you, assemble all the beasts in the field. Come to devour. And then if you look in your Bibles very quickly to the book of Hosea, Daniel, Hosea, and look in chapter nine and verse 15, here's another statement, Hosea, chapter nine and verse 15, where God is repudiating them because of their sin. Hosea 9 verse 15 God says, all their wickedness is in Gilgal. For there I hated them for the wickedness of their doing.

[John Weaver] I will drive them out of mine house. I will love them no more. All their princes are revolters.

[John Weaver] Now, when you get back to Jeremiah chapter 19, there is a difference between Jeremiah chapter 18 and Jeremiah chapter 19. In Jeremiah chapter 18, God has a work on the wheels and he can make it into any kind of vessel that he wants to make it into. When you get to Jeremiah chapter 19, the vessel is already made. It has already been cooked in the fire, cooked in the oven. It's already been hardened. And so once it has been made, It can either be usable.

[John Weaver] Or it can be destroyed. And so the truth of Jeremiah, chapter 19, is that God is going to destroy them to the extent that they're not going to be usable and they're not going to be salvageable. So if you look in Jeremiah, 19, look in verse 10. Let's read this again. Jeremiah, Jeremiah, 19, verse 10. Then shalt thou break the bottle in the sight of the men that go with thee. In other words, the bottle is to be burst into pieces. And shalt say to them, thus saith the Lord of hosts, even so will I break this people and this city as one breaketh a potter's vessel that cannot be made whole again.

[John Weaver] And they shall bury them in Tophet till there be no place to bury. Thus will I do unto this place, saith the Lord, and to the inhabitants thereof, even make this city as Tophet. And the houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah shall be defiled as the place of Tophet, because all of the houses upon whose roofs they have burned incense and all those of heaven and have poured out drink offerings unto other gods."

[John Weaver] Now, God basically destroyed the nation of Israel in 70 AD. So let me put it to you very plainly. You may disagree, but that's fine. The nation that was formed in 1948 is not Israel. It is a Zionist state. I don't care what they call themselves. They still hate God. They still hate his word. They still hate his son. And of course, the Bible teaches that only those who are in Jesus Christ are the true sons of Abraham. So let me show you that in the Bible.

[John Weaver] If you would turn in your Bibles to the book of Galatians chapter three to begin with. There's so many other verses, but I want to just show you several that are very, very plain. Look in Galatians chapter three and notice if you would please. Verse 16, Galatians three and verse 16, the Bible says, Now to Abraham and his seed, notice that is singular. Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not into seeds as of many, but as of one, and to thy seed which is Christ. So how many seeds does Abraham have?

[John Weaver] Well, he had Isaac, he had Ishmael, and then he married again and married Keturah and had a whole host of others. So Abraham had plenty of physical seed, but that is not the true seed. Now, it is true when you get to Romans chapter nine, that Isaac is a type of Christ. That is for sure. But the Bible says in verse 16 and Abraham and his seed were the promises made. So all the promises that God gave to Abraham were actually given to the true seed of Abraham, which is Jesus Christ. That is why The Bible in the New Testament begins with Matthew 1 in verse 1, the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Now, if you look in your Bibles to the book of Galatians chapter 3 and verse 29, Galatians 3 and verse 29, look what the scripture says. And if you be Christ's, then are you Abraham's seed and heirs according to promise. So what then makes us the seed of Abraham? It is the Lord Jesus Christ.

[John Weaver] If we belong to him, we are Abraham's seed and we are heirs according the promise. So everything that God promised Abraham was in Jesus Christ. And when we're in Jesus Christ, we're heirs of all those promises.

[John Weaver] Now, if you look in Galatians six and verse 16, watch this carefully. Galatians six and verse 16.

[John Weaver] Now the apostle says, and as many as walk according to this rule, peace be with them and mercy upon the Israel of God. Well, who in the world are the Israel of God? It's those who walk according to this rule. The word rule in the Greek is the word kynan. It's where we get our English word canon, C-A-N-O-N, not C-A-N-N-O-N, that's the kind that shoots. But we talk about the canon of scripture. We're talking about the Old Testament canon, the New Testament canon. The word kynan actually means a measuring rod or a measuring stick. So how do we measure who in the world the true Israel of God is? Well, we use his measuring stick.

[John Weaver] And he said this in verse 16. And as many as walk according to this rule, that is the word of God. That's the canon of scripture. Peace be upon them and mercy upon the Israel of God. So the Israel of God are those who walk according to the rule of God. They're the ones in Jesus Christ. That's why in the book of Philippians, he said, we are the circumcision who serve the Lord Jesus Christ and have no confidence whatsoever in the flesh.

[John Weaver] Now, there are two passages in the New Testament that show now that we who are in Christ are his peculiar treasure. For instance, if you will turn in your Bibles to the book of Titus, chapter two, Titus chapter 2 and look if you would please at verse 14 first and second Timothy and then Titus Titus chapter 2 in fact we'll read verses 13 and 14 look at this Titus 2 verse 13 the scripture says looking for that blessed hope and glorious appearing of the great God our Savior Jesus Christ who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purifying to himself a peculiar people zealous of good works now I want you to know a peculiar people now if you would turn right over to first Peter chapter 2 and look if you would please at verse 9 first Peter 2 in verse 9 he says it again he says but you were a chosen generation a royal priesthood a holy nation a a peculiar people, that you should show forth the praises of him who has

[John Weaver] called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Now the interesting thing is the Greek word in both texts happens to be periopeisis, which means a possession, a private possession, belonging to oneself. I could say that Alice is my private possession. She could say that I am her private possession. That's what the word actually means. And of course, the word layoffs are peculiar people. The Greek word is layoffs, which means a people, a group of people, a tribe, a stock, a nation that are of the same stock and language. Well, we're definitely of the same stock in language, if God is our father, for the Bible says in James 1 in verse 18, of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits. So he begat us, we are of the same stock.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to go back to Jeremiah chapter 19, because Jeremiah was to go down to the valley of the son of Hinnom, And he was to take this vessel and break this vessel to pieces in front of the ancients, the elders and the priests as well. Now, the Valley of the Son of Hinnom is known by several names. One is sometimes it's called Tophet. It's also in this passage called the Valley of Slaughter. I'll show you. It's also called the Valley of the Sewer. and I'll explain why. This was the valley where Baal and Moloch were worshipped. I want you to look in Jeremiah chapter 32. Jeremiah chapter 32.

[John Weaver] And let's begin reading there with verse 28. I want to read through verse 36. I want you to watch this. Watch this carefully. Jeremiah chapter 32 verse 28 God says therefore thus saith the Lord behold I will give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans and in the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and he shall take it And the Chaldeans that fight against this city shall come and set fire on this city and

[John Weaver] burn it with the houses upon whose roofs they have offered incense unto Baal and poured out drink offerings unto other gods to provoke me to anger. For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have only done evil before me from their youth. For the children of Israel have only provoked me to anger with the work of their hands, saith the Lord. For this city hath been to me as a provocation of mine anger, and of my fury from the day that they built it even unto this day, that I should remove it from before my face. Because of all the evil of the children of Israel, and of the children of Judah, which they have done to provoke me to anger, they, their kings, their princes, their priests, and their prophets, and the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, they have turned unto me the back and not the

[John Weaver] face though I taught them rising up early and teaching them yet they have not hearkened to receive instruction but they set their abominations in the house that is in the temple but they set their abominations the house which is called by my name to defile it and And they built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech, which I commanded them not. Neither came it into my mind that they should do this abomination to cause Judah to sin.

[John Weaver] And now therefore thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning this city, for if you say, it shall be delivered in the hand of the king of Babylon by the sword and by the famine, by the pestilence." Wow.

[John Weaver] Now Jerusalem's Hinnom Valley marked the western and southern edges of Jerusalem. This is where they worshiped Baal and Moloch and a lot of other false gods as well. This is where King Manasseh sacrificed his own children under Baal and Moloch. Manasseh is also the one who had prostitutes. both female and male in the temple. It's where they wove hangings for the grove there in the temple and polluted it and defiled it, as God says, over and over.

[John Weaver] So this was a horrendous place. So the word Tophet actually means to roll as a drum. If you go online and you look up just say type in like pictures of Moloch. You will find a huge image. There is usually made of brass and he's like this with his hands stretched up. And the bottom of course is empty. And in the bottom, they build a roaring fire. And of course, then those who are going to sacrifice their children to Moloch, they come and place them in his hands. And as they place them in the hands, the drums begin to roll. And the child then rolls down out of the hands of arms into the belly of Moloch where he is consumed. And the roll of the drums, of course, drowned out the screams of agony of the child. So this is how they they worship Moloch in giving them the child sacrifice as well. This valley also became a huge garbage dump.

[John Weaver] It's where the sewer is, so to speak. And with the garbage, there was a perpetual fire going all the time. So it's called the Valley of the Sewer, and it's also called the Valley of the Pagans because of all the pagan activity that went on there. In the time of our Lord, the Valley of the Son of Hinnom became a byword for hell. In fact, you will find it translated as Gehenna in the New Testament. And the word Gehenna, of course, refers to hell. It would be a picture then of all the burning and all the stench and all the paganism and all the filth that went on.

[John Weaver] Let me give you a quick quote. Here's what Calvin said concerning the valley of the son of Hinnom. He said, enter into the valley of the son of Hinnom. This valley was in the suburbs and was called Tophet. It is thought that this name is derived from the drums, because they did beat drums when infants were killed, lest their cries should excite any feelings of humanity. But here there was a double crime.

[John Weaver] They left the temple and sought to obtrude on God's sacrifices against his expressed will. And then there was another crime, still more atrocious, for they devoted their children to Balaam, or to Baal, and not only and not only to the true God. This, then, was the reason why the prophet was commanded to go to this place. How detestable that service was to God appears, clear from this, that the prophets give the name of hell to the Valley of Hinnom, in the Hebrew, Gehinnom. And we know that at the time of Christ, it was a common name for hell. And when Christ speaks of Gehinnom, he uses the word according to its common acceptation at the time.

[John Weaver] The word has been corrupted by the Greeks, for it is properly given in on, but what does the word mean in the gospel? Hell itself, and whence was its origin? We indeed know how great and how incurable was the madness of those who gave themselves up to their own superstitions. For though the prophets strongly condemned the place, Yet the people proceeded in their usual idolatry. It was therefore necessary to give the place a disgraceful name in order to render it more abominable."

[John Weaver] Now, when you think about Baal and Moloch worship, the average Christian today would say, how atrocious. Who would be so stupid as to do something like that? Who would be so unthinking as to do something like that. But the truth of the matter is we still have Baal worship and we still have Moloch worship in America today. All you have to do is consider the countless numbers of babies that have been murdered through aborticide. I'm going to tell you something just for a moment. But a lot of these babies have been sacrificed to the God of convenience. It's just not convenient for me to have a baby at this time. It's not convenient, it might interfere with my career. It's not convenient, it's going to interfere with my lifestyle. And so they just simply murder their baby abortion is murder.

[John Weaver] I don't care how you cut it. It is murder, because life begins at conception. If it didn't, there would not be any growth. It hasn't been a conception. You say, well, how in the world is this Baal worship and Moloch worship? Well, let me tell you, the word Baal means Lord. The word Moloch means king. And Moloch worship was an aspect of Baal worship. It was indeed a power religion. It was the religion of the state. Let me say it another way. It was religion of the government. And so the state or the government in America states that it is correct and it is all right to murder your own baby. So it is a veiled worship. It is a Moloch worship because we are not worshiping the one true and the living God. We're going by the power and the authority of the state or the government rather than the authority of God and his word.

[John Weaver] Now, let me point something else out. A lot of times these babies were not consumed by the fire. What some of the people would do is they would take their baby and pass it over the hands of Moloch. You'll find a spell Moloch, Molech, Milcom and Malcolm in the Bible. It's all the same. But sometimes they would just simply pass the child over the fire as an act of purification, as an act of dedication. In other words, that baby then became the ownership and property of Moloch or Baal. It was just that simple because it was that dedication.

[John Weaver] What we have done is this. Those who have not sacrificed their children physically in aborticide, have dedicated and purified their children to humanism and secularism through public and governmental education. Vladimir Lenin said it like this. Give me a child for the first five years of his life and he will be mine forever. Another quote of Vladimir Lenin is this, give me four years to teach the children and the seed that I have sown will never be uprooted. So if you give your children then to humanism and secularism, if you give your children then to public or governmental education, do not be surprised if they're unable to think biblically, if they're unable to use common sense, if they're unable to have a biblical work ethic.

[John Weaver] And when you stop and think of the problems in this country, when we're talking about BLM, when we're talking about Antifa, and all these progressive revolutionaries, they've all been educated by the state. They've all been educated by the government. And when you look at the communistic dupes that we have in Washington, DC, they've all had governmental education. It's a totally different mindset, a completely different mindset. I'm going to be honest with you, I read regularly. And it upsets me. When I see parents that are upset because their kindergartners and their first grade students are being taught perverted sex education in kindergarten in first grade. My thought is why in the world would you subject your child to that to begin with, you know, it's there. Take them out. That's common sense. If I don't want my child taught sodomy and transgenderism, and 57 different genders, take them out, teach them yourself.

[John Weaver] I've got news for you. Every parent is capable of teaching a child he may not be able to capable of teaching calculus or trigonometry, but he's capable of teaching that child to read, write and know what's true and what is not true. I'm just simply pointing out that God requires, I'm going to say it another way, God commands Christian education. All you've got to do is read Deuteronomy chapter 6, read Ephesians chapter 6. Read over and over how God commands us to teach our children and our grandchildren and our great-grandchildren as well. Now, I'm just pointing out the fact, Moloch worship Baal worship is still with us today.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to turn back in your Bibles to Jeremiah chapter 19. I want to show you what brought this to my attention. I'm going to tie some things together for you, Lord willing, just momentarily. But may I ask you, why in the world did God destroy Judah and Jerusalem? Why did he destroy Israel? Why did he send the Babylonians? Why did he send the Assyrians? And why did he finally send the Romans in 70 AD to wipe them off the face of the earth? Why? Well, here's the answer. Jeremiah, chapter 19, look at verse 15. Here's what God says. Thus said the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, behold, I will bring evil upon this city and upon all her towns.

[John Weaver] All the evil that I have pronounced against it because they have hardened their necks that they might not hear my words. Now let that truth sink in. God said they've hardened their necks that they might not hear my words. They didn't want the word of God. They did not desire to listen. They did not desire to change. They did not desire to repent. They did not want God.

[John Weaver] They wanted what they had. And that was it. And so they stiffened their neck and hardened their neck so they would not hear. Wow. Now. Let me give you a principle, and I'm going to show it to you from the scripture before I close, I'll give you the quote. But here's a principle. If you and I are not going to hear the least truth and obey it, we're not going to hear the greatest truth and obey it. If we cannot be faithful in that which is least, we're certainly not going to be faithful in that which is greatest.

[John Weaver] Our Lord said that himself. Now, Let me show you the significance of the two illustrations I gave you. I told you about the four puppies that Alice found by the roadside. In fact, let's see. With the exception of two of our dogs. All the rest of them in rescues. Those are people thrown away. Didn't want them left them to starve. Now, she found four, she brought them home. She nursed them. She washed them. She fed them. She doctored them. They're fine now.

[John Weaver] And then the second one was me marveling and being astonished at the love and affection that Rose and Gage were showering upon their first child. You say what in the world is the connection between these two things? Well, let me show you. I want you to turn in your Bibles, first of all, to the book of Leviticus, chapter 22. And let's go to verse 28. And there is a reason for this, which you will find out momentarily.

[John Weaver] But God is talking about his sacrifices. And look what he says in Leviticus, chapter 22 and verse 28. Look at this. And whether it be cow or you, you shall not kill it and are young both in one day. And then he goes on about offering a sacrifice of Thanksgiving. So God says, if you're going to offer a cow and a calf. The offspring of the cow. You may not kill it on the same day, don't offer it to me on the same day. He said, if you have a you, a female sheep and a lamb, You're not to kill them both on the same day. I don't want them offered to me on the same day. You cannot kill them both on the same day. Why? Well, let's go in our Bibles to the book of Deuteronomy chapter 4. Deuteronomy chapter 4. Hang on with me. Deuteronomy chapter 4 and let's begin reading there with verse 39. Deuteronomy 4. and verse 39 look at what God says and I want you to underline something here it is God says know therefore this day and consider it in thine heart that the Lord he is God in heaven above and upon the earth beneath as verse 39 there's none else thou shalt keep therefore his

[John Weaver] statutes and his commandments which I command thee this day Now look, why? That it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days upon the earth, which the Lord thy God giveth thee forever. God says, now you need to keep my commandments, that it may go well with you, may go well with your children, and that you may prolong your days upon the face of the earth.

[John Weaver] I want you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Deuteronomy chapter 22. Deuteronomy 22. And look, if you would please, at verses six and seven. Deuteronomy 22, verses six and seven. God says. If a bird's nest chance to be before thee in the way in any tree or on the ground, whether they be young ones or eggs and the dam sitting upon the young or upon the eggs thou shalt not take the dam with the young that is the mother with the young but thou shalt in any wise let the dam go and take the young to thee that it may be well with thee and that thou may prolong thy days." Isn't that astounding? God says now you see this mother bird sitting on her young our own eggs. You can take the young or you can take the eggs, but you've got to let the mother go. Because the eggs wouldn't match without the mother anyhow. The young couldn't survive without the mother. So it's the same thing as Leviticus 22, not killing the mother and the young on the same day.

[John Weaver] But I want you to note particularly the promise that he gives When he says that it may go well with thee and that thou mayest prolong thy days Now I want you to go back to the book of exodus chapter 20 I know you know this but I'm going to show it to you because I want to tie it together for you Look in exodus chapter 20 and let's look at verse 12 Then we're going to turn back to deuteronomy deuteronomy 5 but look in exodus chapter 20 and verse 12 where god says Honor thy father and thy mother that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee." Wow. There's the promise of long life. Now if you go back to Deuteronomy chapter 5, look if you would at verse 16. Deuteronomy 5 verse 16. Hang on. Here it is. Honor thy father and thy mother, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee, that thy days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with thee in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.

[John Weaver] Wow, that's a wonderful promise. Now here's the passage that you know about. Ephesians chapter six, verses one through three. Children, obey your parents and the Lord, for this is right. Honor thy father and thy mother which is the first commandment with promise Why that it may both go well with thee and thou mayest live long on the face of the earth. I Don't know if you notice this or not But first of all God says you need to keep my commandments number one that may go well with thee and number two That thou mayest live long upon the face of the earth He gives you the same promise in relationship to the animals. He gives you the same promise in relationship to mankind.

[John Weaver] So let me try to spell this out for you so you can see the connection between the two illustrations that I gave you. This whole thing is an argument from the lesser to the greater. So if God then requires you to respect the families of animals, How much more does He require you to respect the families of mankind? Now, if you do not regard the families of animals, you're not going to have any regard for the families of mankind either.

[John Weaver] Our Lord said it like this in Luke chapter 16 in verse 10. He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful in that which is much. He that is unfaithful in that which is least is unfaithful in that which is much. Hang on. People then that are unfaithful in their care of animals and unfaithful in regarding the families of animals will not regard the families of mankind.

[John Weaver] Inevitably, if they will mistreat an animal, they will mistreat a human. You know what the Bible says in the book of Proverbs chapter 12 and verse 19? The Bible says, a righteous man regarded the life of his beast, but the tender mercies of the wicked were cruel. A righteous man regarded the life of his beast, but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel. So let me try to tie this together for you.

[John Weaver] How did we get here? When Alice picked up those animals, it was out of respect for the animals and for the love of life. And when I saw Gage and Rose, who went over that baby and kissing that baby, it was not only thankfulness, but respect of life on a demonstration of love. How did Judah and Jerusalem get to the position where God destroyed them as a nation?

[John Weaver] You remember Jeremiah 19 verse 15? They stiffened their neck that they would not hear. If you will not hear that which is the least you're not going to hear that which is the greatest. If we continue to stiffen our necks as a nation, may I remind you of Proverbs 29 verse 1? He that being often reproved and hard to this neck shall certainly be destroyed and that without remedy.

[John Weaver] That's exactly what happened to Judah and Jerusalem. That's exactly what happened to Israel. God sent the Assyrians against the northern kingdom. He sent the Babylonians against the southern kingdom. Then he sent the Romans against all of them. Why? Simply because they would not hear. And we have a nation full of supposed leaders who will not hear. We have a nation full of people who will not hear.

[John Weaver] Now, let me make another application. I want you to think about this. You may not necessarily be an animal lover like I am. That's fine. But if you have no special love for animals and the fact that, you know, you don't want a bunch of them, that's up to you. But the fact is, you may not necessarily have a special love for them, but that does not mean that you mistreat them. That does not mean that you abuse them. That does not mean that you hate them. I want to show you something from the Bible. This may surprise you. But God demands that we go out of our way to help animals and not to go out of our way to harm animals.

[John Weaver] One of the things that I despise is to see animals needlessly slaughtered. We have these big old We call them gopher turtles or land tortoises is what they are. When I was a boy, I used to stand on their backs and they'd walk away with me on them. I weigh 200 pounds a day and I can still stand on one they'll walk away with me standing on them.

[John Weaver] I don't do anything except eat grass, dig holes, eat grass. They don't hurt anybody or anything. And yet I have seen car tracks on the road where they purposely left the road go over just to run over an old tortoise. Just to kill him. Why? I want to tell you something. There are reasons in the Bible why we may lawfully take the lives of animals. You understand that number one is for food. Number two would be for protection.

[John Weaver] I mean, you know, if a If a snake is striking at me, I'm going to shoot him if I can. If a lion was coming at me, I'd shoot that lion. Because my life is worth more than the lion. It's worth more than the snake. I may defend myself. And the third reason is that the animal is hindering dominion. When I say that, I don't eat rabbits. But if rabbits was eating up my garden, I would shoot the rabbits. Now I try to give them to someone who would eat them. You understand what I'm saying.

[John Weaver] But there's three reasons why God gives us in the Bible that we can lawfully, legitimately take the lives of animals. But the point I'm trying to make right now is you must go out of your way to help and not to hurt. There's a principle, there's a reason. Look in your Bibles, Deuteronomy chapter 22. And if you don't mind, go ahead and find the book of Exodus chapter 23 and hold that passage because we'll be going there next. OK, so look in your Bibles, if you would, please. First of all, to the book of Deuteronomy chapter 22.

[John Weaver] And let's begin reading there with verse one. Deuteronomy chapter 22 and look if you would please in verse 1 look what God says Thou shalt not see thy brother's ox or a sheep go astray Are you looking now and hide thyself from them? Thou shalt in any case bring them again to thy brother You can't hide yourself And if thy brother be not nigh unto thee, or if thou know him not, then thou shalt bring it into thine own house, and it shall be with thee until thy brother seek after it, and thou shalt restore it unto him again. In like manner shalt thou do with his ass, and so shalt thou do with his raiment, with all lost things of thy brother, which he hath lost, and thou hast found. Shalt thou do likewise, thou mayest not hide thyself. Thou shalt not see thy brother's ass or his ox fall down by the way and hide thyself from them. Thou shalt surely help him lift them up again. So God says, if you see your brother's horse stuck in a mud hole, he can't get out.

[John Weaver] God said you can't hide yourself from that animal. You have to help get him out. If you see the cow out on the road, You don't just say, well it's not my cow, I'm sorry. No, God says you stop and help save that cow's life. You get that cow back in. You say, but I'm willing to do that. Well, you're talking about my brother. I'd help my brother, I'd do that for my brother. Really? Well, I'm thankful. Why don't you look in your Bible section, chapter 23, and let's begin reading there with verse four. Exodus chapter 23 and verse four. God says if thou meet thine enemy's ox, or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again. If thou see the ass of him that hated thee lying under his burden, and it was forbear to help him, thou shalt surely help with him. Would you see a cow having trouble delivering a calf? God says you're to help. Even if it's a cow belongs to your enemy. Why in the world is God telling us this?

[John Weaver] Once again, it's an argument from the lesser to the greater. If we have the responsibility to help the families of animals, how much more do we have the responsibility to help the families of mankind? If we have the responsibility to go out of our way to help an animal, even an animal of our enemy, how much more do we have a responsibility to help our enemy when he's in trouble?

[John Weaver] So you have to ask yourself this question, how do we get here? And the answer is, we won't even hear that which is least. I saw a short video for which I'm really thankful. Because one man in a nice, very nice station wagon stopped beside the road. Went to the back, opened the door, let a beautiful, grown German Shepherd out. Then he went around, got in the car, and drove off. And the German Shepherd was chasing him.

[John Weaver] No, he was just throwing him out. Thankfully, it was on camera. The tag was on camera, and the man was arrested. How you treat animals. will inevitably demonstrate how you treat mankind. Those who love life, even the lives of animals, will love the lives of mankind. Alice loved the puppies and saved them. And Rose and Gage loved their baby, which they should. But I'm just simply saying, folks, Judah and Jerusalem got to where God destroyed them because they would not hear. And we're at that place where people just will not hear.

[John Weaver] They do not want truth. They do not want what God demands. They do not want one word from God. But the truth is, They will hear, and if you read through the book of Ezekiel, it's a book on judgment. And 73 times in the book of Ezekiel, God says, and they shall know that I am the Lord. And each time it deals in judgment. That's one way that men will find out who God really is when he judges them, when he destroys them. Now would be the time to turn back to him.

[John Weaver] Obey in the least, and we'll obey in the greatest. If we disobey in the least, we'll disobey in the greatest. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to thee. We thank you for your word. We thank you for your truth. We ask, Lord, that you would indeed speak to our hearts. O Lord, and bring this nation back to thee. Grant us repentance, O Lord. May we, Father, once again act as thy people. In the name of Jesus Christ, we ask and pray. Amen.

[John Weaver] so

How Did We Get There

John Weaver | YouTube

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	YouTube
Media ID	AmtwrWxFoYA
Subject	Family Government
Course	The Christian Family: Children, Fatherhood, and Generational Faithfulness: The World And Times Of Jesse James
Genre	Sermon
Date	2024-04-27
Dictation Name
Book	Book 028: The Christian Family: Children, Fatherhood, and Generational Faithfulness — Chapter 31
Source Timed Segments	82

Formatted Transcript

Introduction and Scripture Reading

Weaver reads Jeremiah 19:1-15, which pronounces judgment on Judah and Jerusalem for idolatry and child sacrifice, and introduces the question 'How did we get here?'

Jeremiah chapter 19, and since there are 15 verses there, I want to read all 15 verses. Jeremiah chapter 19. And look, if you would please, beginning there with verse 1. The title of the message is "How Did We Get Here?" And how did we get here? Look at Jeremiah 19, verse 1:

Scripture Reading — Jeremiah 19:1-15

"Thus saith the Lord, Go and get a potter's earthen bottle, and take of the ancients of the people and of the ancients of the priests, and go forth into the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is by the entry of the east gate, and proclaim there the words that I shall tell thee. And say, Hear ye the word of the Lord, O kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, which whosoever heareth his ears shall tingle. Because they have forsaken me and have estranged this place, they have burned incense in it unto other gods, whom neither they nor their fathers have known, nor the kings of Judah, and have filled this place with the blood of innocents." "They have built also the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings unto Baal, which I commanded not, nor spake it, neither came it into my mind. Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that this place shall no more be called Tophet, nor the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of slaughter. And I will make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place, and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hands of them that seek their lives, and their carcasses will I give to be meat for the fowls of heaven and for the beasts of the earth." "And I will make this city desolate, and an hissing, everyone that passeth thereby shall be astonished and hiss because of the plagues thereof. And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons, and the flesh of their daughters, and they shall eat every one the flesh of his friend in the siege, and straitness wherewith their enemies, and they that seek their lives shall straiten them. Then shalt thou break the bottle in the sight of the men that go with thee. And shalt say to them, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Even so will I break this people and this city as one breaketh a potter's vessel that cannot be made whole again." "And they shall bury them in Tophet till there be no place to bury. Thus will I do unto this place, saith the Lord, and to the inhabitants thereof, and even make this city as Tophet. And the houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah shall be defiled as the place of Tophet, because of all the houses upon whose roofs they have burned incense unto the host of heaven and have poured out drink offerings unto other gods. Then came Jeremiah from Tophet, whither the Lord had sent him, to prophesy. And he stood in the court of the Lord's house and said unto all the people, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Behold, I will bring upon this city and upon all her towns all the evil that are pronounced against it, because they have hardened their necks that they" "might not hear my words."

Have you ever wondered how we arrived at the place in which we find ourselves today in this nation? In one sense, it's much like traveling with children. I know a lot of parents in times past have taken rather lengthy trips, but they would always plan to take those trips when the younger children would be sleeping most of the time. And once the children went to sleep, the next thing they know they were at their destination. The first thing the children would ask is, "How did we get here?" They did not know about the stops. They did not know about the traffic. They did not know about any problems. They just went to sleep.

The Question of National Decline

Weaver compares the sudden realization of national moral decline to children waking up on a trip and asking how they arrived, noting that America has changed drastically.

And when they woke up, they were there. How in the world did Jerusalem get to the place where God said, "I am going to destroy this place"? How did they get to the place of national destruction? A good question to be asked is, how did we get to the place that we're in? And are we next in national destruction? We're no longer living in Mayberry. Things are not black and white the way they used to.

We have to agree that times have certainly changed. Society has changed. Culture has changed. We're no longer living in a time where life is precious and protected. We're no longer living in a time when personal privacy and profit are valued. We're no longer living in a time when God is honored. We're no longer living in a time where the Word of God is respected. We're no longer living in a time where families work together and help each other. We're certainly no longer living in a time when people value each other and friendship.

It seems as if we went to sleep in one nation and awoke the next morning in a completely, totally different nation. Now, I want to very quickly give you two illustrations. You may not see the value or the importance of these illustrations right now. You may not even see the connections. But before I finish today, I hope that you will, because these two illustrations are vitally connected.

Two Illustrations: Puppies and a Baby

Weaver shares two personal stories: his wife rescuing four starving puppies, and observing a young couple's tender love for their first child, hinting at a later connection.

Some months back, or a month or so back, Alice was coming down the road toward our house. And she looked in the ditch, and there were four starving puppies someone had thrown out. They were not only starving, they were wormy and they were so malnourished. Two of them could not even walk, or at least not walk correctly. Instead of walking on their hind feet, they had to lay down on their haunches and their whole back leg basically was holding them up. So Alice picked the puppies up, brought them home, and she washed them. And she fed them. She warmed them.

She took care of them. And today those puppies are fine. They're healthy. And we're looking for homes for them. And they're beautiful pups, but someone just simply threw them out. So why in the world would people do something like that? That's a good question. The second illustration is this. Just recently, I had a defensive handgun class. And there was a young couple named Gage and Rose in that class. Rose is the daughter of Alan Barber Stoffer, who have been friends for a long time. They were married about a year or so ago, and they just had their first baby. And the baby was only a month or two, couple months old. And they came to my class and Rose's sister came to take care of the baby while she was in class. And so when we came back in for the noon meal, there's only about a few hours over the range. I looked over and I saw Rose and I saw Gage, her husband, pick up that baby. Hold the baby in their laps.

And they begin to kiss the baby and cuddle the baby, and the mother and the father. I mean, of course it was, I had some baby. That is for sure. But I just sat there and I just kind of marveled because you have to remember how old I am. And I hadn't been around a young couple with a first child in a long, long time. And it reminded me of Alice, when we had our first daughter. And then I got to thinking about our daughters and their first child. And I just simply marveled at the fact that, you know, I hadn't seen a young couple with their first child in ages and ages and ages. And it just astonished me at the attention and the love that they were relishing upon that child.

Now, you may not see the connection between these two stories yet. But before I get through, I hope that you will.

The Potter and the Clay (Jeremiah 18-19)

Weaver explains that Jeremiah 18 shows God as the potter who can reshape marred clay, while Jeremiah 19 depicts a hardened vessel that must be destroyed, symbolizing irreversible judgment.

Now, let me tell you about Jeremiah chapter 18 and 19. These two chapters actually go together, because in Jeremiah chapter 18, Jeremiah is commanded to go down to the potter's house. And there God was going to demonstrate a truth to him, which he was to proclaim. So this truth was not only in relationship to the nation of Israel. It was also truth in relationship to any nation. And I might say any individual as well, because nations are made up of individuals. So if you look in Jeremiah chapter 18, let's begin reading with verse 2 and read through verse 11, just so you can see this. In verse 2, God tells Jeremiah,

Scripture Reading — Jeremiah 18:2-11

"Arise and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause you to hear my words. Then I went down to the potter's house, and behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter, so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it. Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter, saith the Lord. Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel."

"At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up and to pull down and to destroy it. Now look at this. If that nation, not just Israel, if that nation against whom I pronounce turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them. And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it. If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good wherewith I said I would benefit them." "Now therefore go and speak to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device against you. Return ye now everyone from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good."

Now, in this passage, God is the potter and we are the clay. That is true. And in this passage, God was the potter. Israel happened to be the clay. But like he pointed out in verse 18, any nation or any individual. So in Jeremiah 18, the potter is working with the clay. He has it on the wheel. He may have been intending to make something extremely beautiful, like a vase.

Well, you probably know this. You know the difference between a vase and a vase? About 200 bucks. But he may have intended to make this beautiful vase. But the Bible says that the clay was marred in the hand of the potter. Something went wrong with the clay. And so the potter then made the vessel into a different kind of vessel than he intended originally. In other words, that would be the potter's prerogative. So, instead of making this beautiful vase, he made it into a spittoon.

or what you and I would call a honeypot or slop jar or bedchamber. In other words, it's his prerogative. He is the one in control of the clay, and he can do with that clay exactly what he wants to do. And that is exactly what he's saying with these nations. He may do exactly what he wanted to do.

Now, in the context, we're talking particularly about Israel. Do you realize that in the Bible, in the Old Testament, God specifically chose Israel to be his peculiar treasure? In fact, I'll give you several verses where the Bible explicitly states that. For instance, in Exodus chapter 19 and verse 5, God says,

Scripture Reading — Exodus 19:5

"Now therefore, if—notice that word if—now therefore if you will obey my voice indeed and keep my covenant, then you shall be a peculiar treasure to me above all people, for all the earth is mine."

So God said, if you will obey me, you will be a peculiar treasure. Then in Deuteronomy chapter 14 and verse 2, God says, "For thou art a holy people unto the Lord thy God. And the Lord has chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself above all the nations that are upon the face of the earth." Here's a number three, Deuteronomy chapter 26 and verse 18: "And the Lord hath avouched thee this day to be his peculiar people, as he hath promised thee, and that thou shouldest keep all his commandments."

And then one more, in Psalm 135 and verse 4, "For the Lord hath chosen Jacob for himself, and Israel for his peculiar treasure." So God had chosen Israel, but what in the world did Israel do? She rebelled against God. She revolted against God. She turned her back upon God. She became idolatrous, worshiping all kind of gods—the queen of heaven, Baal, Moloch, whatsoever. In light of this, God rejected those people. And here is what he said. If you want to write it down, wonderful. Jeremiah chapter 12. If you want to look there at verses 7 and 8, since you're close. Look at Jeremiah chapter 12, beginning there with verse 7. God says,

Scripture Reading — Jeremiah 12:7-9

"I have forsaken mine house"

—that would be his temple—"I have left my heritage"—that would be his people. Notice,

Scripture Reading — Jeremiah 12:7-9

"I have forsaken my house. I've left my heritage. I've given the dearly beloved of my soul into the hand of her enemies. My heritage is unto me as a speckled bird."

That's verse 9. Let's go back to verse 8:

Scripture Reading — Jeremiah 12:7-9

"My heritage is unto me as a lion in the forest."

"It cries out against me"—that's their rebellion—"therefore have I hated it." And then he said, "My heritage is unto me as a speckled bird. The birds round about are all against her. Come ye, assemble all the beasts in the field. Come to devour." And then if you look in your Bibles very quickly to the book of Hosea—Daniel, Hosea—and look in chapter 9 and verse 15, here's another statement. Hosea chapter 9 and verse 15, where God is repudiating them because of their sin. Hosea 9, verse 15, God says, "All their wickedness is in Gilgal. For there I hated them for the wickedness of their doing."

"I will drive them out of mine house. I will love them no more. All their princes are revolters." Now, when you get back to Jeremiah chapter 19, there is a difference between Jeremiah chapter 18 and Jeremiah chapter 19. In Jeremiah chapter 18, God has a work on the wheels and he can make it into any kind of vessel that he wants to make it into. When you get to Jeremiah chapter 19, the vessel is already made. It has already been cooked in the fire, cooked in the oven. It's already been hardened. And so once it has been made, it can either be usable

or it can be destroyed. And so the truth of Jeremiah chapter 19 is that God is going to destroy them to the extent that they're not going to be usable and they're not going to be salvageable. So if you look in Jeremiah 19, look in verse 10. Let's read this again. Jeremiah 19, verse 10: "Then shalt thou break the bottle in the sight of the men that go with thee." In other words, the bottle is to be burst into pieces. "And shalt say to them, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Even so will I break this people and this city as one breaketh a potter's vessel that cannot be made whole again."

True Israel and the Seed of Abraham

Weaver argues that the modern state of Israel is not the true Israel; rather, believers in Christ are Abraham's seed and heirs of the promises, citing Galatians 3 and 6.

"And they shall bury them in Tophet till there be no place to bury. Thus will I do unto this place, saith the Lord, and to the inhabitants thereof, even make this city as Tophet. And the houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah shall be defiled as the place of Tophet, because of all the houses upon whose roofs they have burned incense unto the host of heaven and have poured out drink offerings unto other gods." Now, God basically destroyed the nation of Israel in 70 AD. So let me put it to you very plainly. You may disagree, but that's fine. The nation that was formed in 1948 is not Israel. It is a Zionist state. I don't care what they call themselves. They still hate God. They still hate his word. They still hate his son. And of course, the Bible teaches that only those who are in Jesus Christ are the true sons of Abraham. So let me show you that in the Bible.

If you would turn in your Bibles to the book of Galatians chapter 3 to begin with. There's so many other verses, but I want to just show you several that are very, very plain. Look in Galatians chapter 3 and notice, if you would please, verse 16. Galatians 3 and verse 16, the Bible says,

Scripture Reading — Galatians 3:16

"Now to Abraham and his seed"

—notice that is singular—

Scripture Reading — Galatians 3:16

"Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many, but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ."

So how many seeds does Abraham have? Well, he had Isaac, he had Ishmael, and then he married again and married Keturah and had a whole host of others. So Abraham had plenty of physical seed, but that is not the true seed. Now, it is true when you get to Romans chapter 9, that Isaac is a type of Christ. That is for sure. But the Bible says in verse 16,

Scripture Reading — Galatians 3:16

"And to Abraham and his seed were the promises made."

So all the promises that God gave to Abraham were actually given to the true seed of Abraham, which is Jesus Christ. That is why the Bible in the New Testament begins with Matthew 1, verse 1: "The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham." Now, if you look in your Bibles to the book of Galatians chapter 3 and verse 29, Galatians 3 and verse 29, look what the scripture says: "And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." So what then makes us the seed of Abraham? It is the Lord Jesus Christ.

If we belong to him, we are Abraham's seed and we are heirs according to the promise. So everything that God promised Abraham was in Jesus Christ. And when we're in Jesus Christ, we're heirs of all those promises. Now, if you look in Galatians 6 and verse 16, watch this carefully. Galatians 6 and verse 16.

Now the apostle says, "And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be with them, and mercy upon the Israel of God." Well, who in the world are the Israel of God? It's those who walk according to this rule. The word "rule" in the Greek is the word kanon. It's where we get our English word "canon," C-A-N-O-N, not C-A-N-N-O-N, that's the kind that shoots. But we talk about the canon of scripture. We're talking about the Old Testament canon, the New Testament canon. The word kanon actually means a measuring rod or a measuring stick. So how do we measure who in the world the true Israel of God is? Well, we use his measuring stick.

And he said this in verse 16: "And as many as walk according to this rule"—that is the word of God, that's the canon of scripture—"peace be upon them, and mercy upon the Israel of God." So the Israel of God are those who walk according to the rule of God. They're the ones in Jesus Christ. That's why in the book of Philippians, he said, "We are the circumcision who serve the Lord Jesus Christ and have no confidence whatsoever in the flesh." Now, there are two passages in the New Testament that show now that we who are in Christ are his peculiar treasure. For instance, if you will turn in your Bibles to the book of Titus chapter 2. Titus chapter 2, and look if you would please at verse 14. First and Second Timothy and then Titus. Titus chapter 2, in fact we'll read verses 13 and 14. Look at this. Titus 2, verse 13, the scripture says,

Scripture Reading — Titus 2:13-14

"Looking for that blessed hope and glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works."

Now I want you to note, "a peculiar people." Now if you would turn right over to 1 Peter chapter 2 and look if you would please at verse 9. 1 Peter 2 and verse 9, he says it again. He says, "But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people, that ye should show forth the praises of him who has

The Valley of Hinnom and Its Abominations

Weaver describes the Valley of Hinnom as a place of Baal and Moloch worship, child sacrifice, and later a garbage dump, becoming a byword for hell (Gehenna).

Now, I want you to go back to Jeremiah chapter 19, because Jeremiah was to go down to the valley of the son of Hinnom. And he was to take this vessel and break this vessel to pieces in front of the ancients, the elders and the priests as well. Now, the Valley of the Son of Hinnom is known by several names. One is sometimes it's called Tophet. It's also in this passage called the Valley of Slaughter. I'll show you. It's also called the Valley of the Sewer, and I'll explain why. This was the valley where Baal and Moloch were worshipped. I want you to look in Jeremiah chapter 32. Jeremiah chapter 32.

And let's begin reading there with verse 28. I want to read through verse 36. I want you to watch this. Watch this carefully. Jeremiah chapter 32, verse 28, God says,

Scripture Reading — Jeremiah 32:28-36

"Therefore thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans, and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he shall take it. And the Chaldeans that fight against this city shall come and set fire on this city and burn it with the houses upon whose roofs they have offered incense unto Baal and poured out drink offerings unto other gods, to provoke me to anger. For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have only done evil before me from their youth. For the children of Israel have only provoked me to anger with the work of their hands, saith the Lord. For this city hath been to me as a provocation of mine anger and of my fury from the day that they built it even unto this day, that I should remove it from before my face. Because of all the evil of the children of Israel and of the children of Judah, which they have done to provoke me to anger, they, their kings, their princes, their priests, and their prophets, and the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, they have turned unto me the back and not the

face, though I taught them, rising up early and teaching them, yet they have not hearkened to receive instruction. But they set their abominations in the house"—that is in the temple—"but they set their abominations in the house which is called by my name, to defile it. And they built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech, which I commanded them not. Neither came it into my mind that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin." "And now therefore thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning this city, whereof ye say, It shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon by the sword and by the famine and by the pestilence." Wow.

Now Jerusalem's Hinnom Valley marked the western and southern edges of Jerusalem. This is where they worshiped Baal and Moloch and a lot of other false gods as well. This is where King Manasseh sacrificed his own children unto Baal and Moloch. Manasseh is also the one who had prostitutes, both female and male, in the temple. It's where they wove hangings for the grove there in the temple and polluted it and defiled it, as God says, over and over.

So this was a horrendous place. So the word Tophet actually means to roll as a drum. If you go online and you look up, just say, type in like pictures of Moloch. You will find a huge image. It is usually made of brass and he's like this with his hands stretched up. And the bottom, of course, is empty. And in the bottom, they build a roaring fire. And of course, then those who are going to sacrifice their children to Moloch, they come and place them in his hands. And as they place them in the hands, the drums begin to roll. And the child then rolls down out of the hands or arms into the belly of Moloch where he is consumed. And the roll of the drums, of course, drowned out the screams of agony of the child. So this is how they worship Moloch in giving them the child sacrifice as well. This valley also became a huge garbage dump.

It's where the sewer is, so to speak. And with the garbage, there was a perpetual fire going all the time. So it's called the Valley of the Sewer, and it's also called the Valley of the Pagans because of all the pagan activity that went on there. In the time of our Lord, the Valley of the Son of Hinnom became a byword for hell. In fact, you will find it translated as Gehenna in the New Testament. And the word Gehenna, of course, refers to hell. It would be a picture then of all the burning and all the stench and all the paganism and all the filth that went on.

Let me give you a quick quote. Here's what Calvin said concerning the valley of the son of Hinnom. He said, "Enter into the valley of the son of Hinnom. This valley was in the suburbs and was called Tophet. It is thought that this name is derived from the drums, because they did beat drums when infants were killed, lest their cries should excite any feelings of humanity. But here there was a double crime. They left the temple and sought to obtrude on God's sacrifices against his expressed will. And then there was another crime, still more atrocious, for they devoted their children to Balaam, or to Baal, and not only to the true God. This, then, was the reason why the prophet was commanded to go to this place. How detestable that service was to God appears clear from this, that the prophets give the name of hell to the Valley of Hinnom, in the Hebrew, Gehinnom. And we know that at the time of Christ, it was a common name for hell. And when Christ speaks of Gehinnom, he uses the word according to its common acceptation at the time.

The word has been corrupted by the Greeks, for it is properly Gehinnom, but what does the word mean in the gospel? Hell itself, and whence was its origin? We indeed know how great and how incurable was the madness of those who gave themselves up to their own superstitions. For though the prophets strongly condemned the place, yet the people proceeded in their usual idolatry. It was therefore necessary to give the place a disgraceful name in order to render it more abominable."

Modern Baal and Moloch Worship

Weaver equates abortion with child sacrifice to Moloch and secular public education with dedicating children to humanism, arguing that America is guilty of the same sins.

Now, when you think about Baal and Moloch worship, the average Christian today would say, "How atrocious. Who would be so stupid as to do something like that? Who would be so unthinking as to do something like that?" But the truth of the matter is we still have Baal worship and we still have Moloch worship in America today. All you have to do is consider the countless numbers of babies that have been murdered through aborticide. I'm going to tell you something just for a moment. But a lot of these babies have been sacrificed to the god of convenience. It's just not convenient for me to have a baby at this time. It's not convenient, it might interfere with my career. It's not convenient, it's going to interfere with my lifestyle. And so they just simply murder their baby. Abortion is murder.

I don't care how you cut it. It is murder, because life begins at conception. If it didn't, there would not be any growth. It hasn't been a conception. You say, "Well, how in the world is this Baal worship and Moloch worship?" Well, let me tell you, the word Baal means "lord." The word Moloch means "king." And Moloch worship was an aspect of Baal worship. It was indeed a power religion. It was the religion of the state. Let me say it another way. It was religion of the government. And so the state or the government in America states that it is correct and it is all right to murder your own baby. So it is a veiled worship. It is a Moloch worship because we are not worshiping the one true and the living God. We're going by the power and the authority of the state or the government rather than the authority of God and his word.

Now, let me point something else out. A lot of times these babies were not consumed by the fire. What some of the people would do is they would take their baby and pass it over the hands of Moloch. You'll find it spelled Moloch, Molech, Milcom, and Malcham in the Bible. It's all the same. But sometimes they would just simply pass the child over the fire as an act of purification, as an act of dedication. In other words, that baby then became the ownership and property of Moloch or Baal. It was just that simple because it was that dedication.

What we have done is this. Those who have not sacrificed their children physically in aborticide, have dedicated and purified their children to humanism and secularism through public and governmental education. Vladimir Lenin said it like this: "Give me a child for the first five years of his life and he will be mine forever." Another quote of Vladimir Lenin is this: "Give me four years to teach the children and the seed that I have sown will never be uprooted." So if you give your children then to humanism and secularism, if you give your children then to public or governmental education, do not be surprised if they're unable to think biblically, if they're unable to use common sense, if they're unable to have a biblical work ethic. And when you stop and think of the problems in this country, when we're talking about BLM, when we're talking about Antifa, and all these progressive revolutionaries, they've all been educated by the state. They've all been educated by the government. And when you look at the communistic dupes that we have in Washington, DC, they've all had governmental education. It's a totally different mindset, a completely different mindset. I'm going to be honest with you, I read regularly. And it upsets me when I see parents that are upset because their kindergartners and their first grade students are being taught perverted sex education in kindergarten and first grade. My thought is, why in the world would you subject your child to that to begin with? You know, it's there. Take them out. That's common sense. If I don't want my child taught sodomy and transgenderism, and 57 different genders, take them out, teach them yourself.

I've got news for you. Every parent is capable of teaching a child. He may not be capable of teaching calculus or trigonometry, but he's capable of teaching that child to read, write, and know what's true and what is not true. I'm just simply pointing out that God requires—I'm going to say it another way—God commands Christian education. All you've got to do is read Deuteronomy chapter 6, read Ephesians chapter 6. Read over and over how God commands us to teach our children and our grandchildren and our great-grandchildren as well. Now, I'm just pointing out the fact, Moloch worship, Baal worship is still with us today.

Now, I want you to turn back in your Bibles to Jeremiah chapter 19. I want to show you what brought this to my attention. I'm going to tie some things together for you, Lord willing, just momentarily. But may I ask you, why in the world did God destroy Judah and Jerusalem? Why did he destroy Israel? Why did he send the Babylonians? Why did he send the Assyrians? And why did he finally send the Romans in 70 AD to wipe them off the face of the earth? Why? Well, here's the answer. Jeremiah chapter 19, look at verse 15. Here's what God says: "Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Behold, I will bring evil upon this city and upon all her towns,

The Root Cause: Hardening the Neck

Weaver identifies the cause of Jerusalem's destruction as hardening their necks against God's words (Jeremiah 19:15), and applies this principle to America's refusal to hear truth.

all the evil that I have pronounced against it, because they have hardened their necks that they might not hear my words." Now let that truth sink in. God said they've hardened their necks that they might not hear my words. They didn't want the word of God. They did not desire to listen. They did not desire to change. They did not desire to repent. They did not want God.

They wanted what they had. And that was it. And so they stiffened their neck and hardened their neck so they would not hear. Wow. Now, let me give you a principle, and I'm going to show it to you from the scripture before I close, I'll give you the quote. But here's a principle. If you and I are not going to hear the least truth and obey it, we're not going to hear the greatest truth and obey it. If we cannot be faithful in that which is least, we're certainly not going to be faithful in that which is greatest.

The Lesser-to-Greater Argument from Animal Care

Weaver connects the two illustrations by showing that God's commands to respect animal families (Deuteronomy 22, Exodus 23) imply a greater responsibility to respect human families, and that mistreating animals leads to mistreating humans.

Our Lord said that himself. Now, let me show you the significance of the two illustrations I gave you. I told you about the four puppies that Alice found by the roadside. In fact, let's see. With the exception of two of our dogs, all the rest of them are rescues. Those are people thrown away. Didn't want them, left them to starve. Now, she found four, she brought them home. She nursed them. She washed them. She fed them. She doctored them. They're fine now.

And then the second one was me marveling and being astonished at the love and affection that Rose and Gage were showering upon their first child. You say, what in the world is the connection between these two things? Well, let me show you. I want you to turn in your Bibles, first of all, to the book of Leviticus chapter 22. And let's go to verse 28. And there is a reason for this, which you will find out momentarily.

But God is talking about his sacrifices. And look what he says in Leviticus chapter 22 and verse 28. Look at this:

Scripture Reading — Leviticus 22:28

"And whether it be cow or ewe, ye shall not kill it and her young both in one day."

And then he goes on about offering a sacrifice of thanksgiving. So God says, if you're going to offer a cow and a calf, the offspring of the cow, you may not kill it on the same day, don't offer it to me on the same day. He said, if you have a ewe, a female sheep, and a lamb, you're not to kill them both on the same day. I don't want them offered to me on the same day. You cannot kill them both on the same day. Why? Well, let's go in our Bibles to the book of Deuteronomy chapter 4. Deuteronomy chapter 4. Hang on with me. Deuteronomy chapter 4 and let's begin reading there with verse 39. Deuteronomy 4 and verse 39, look at what God says, and I want you to underline something here. It is, God says, "Know therefore this day, and consider it in thine heart, that the Lord he is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath"—that's verse 39—"there is none else. Thou shalt keep therefore his

statutes and his commandments which I command thee this day." Now look, why?

Scripture Reading — Deuteronomy 22:6-7

"That it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days upon the earth, which the Lord thy God giveth thee forever."

God says, now you need to keep my commandments, that it may go well with you, may go well with your children, and that you may prolong your days upon the face of the earth. I want you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Deuteronomy chapter 22. Deuteronomy 22. And look, if you would please, at verses 6 and 7. Deuteronomy 22, verses 6 and 7. God says:

Scripture Reading — Deuteronomy 22:6-7

"If a bird's nest chance to be before thee in the way in any tree, or on the ground, whether they be young ones or eggs, and the dam sitting upon the young or upon the eggs, thou shalt not take the dam with the young"

—that is the mother with the young—

Scripture Reading — Deuteronomy 22:6-7

"but thou shalt in any wise let the dam go, and take the young to thee; that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days."

Isn't that astounding? God says, now you see this mother bird sitting on her young or on eggs. You can take the young or you can take the eggs, but you've got to let the mother go. Because the eggs wouldn't hatch without the mother anyhow. The young couldn't survive without the mother. So it's the same thing as Leviticus 22, not killing the mother and the young on the same day.

But I want you to note particularly the promise that he gives when he says, "that it may go well with thee and that thou mayest prolong thy days." Now I want you to go back to the book of Exodus chapter 20. I know you know this, but I'm going to show it to you because I want to tie it together for you. Look in Exodus chapter 20 and let's look at verse 12. Then we're going to turn back to Deuteronomy 5, but look in Exodus chapter 20 and verse 12 where God says,

Scripture Reading — Exodus 20:12

"Honour thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee."

Wow. There's the promise of long life. Now if you go back to Deuteronomy chapter 5, look if you would at verse 16. Deuteronomy 5, verse 16. Hang on. Here it is:

Scripture Reading — Exodus 20:12

"Honour thy father and thy mother, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee; that thy days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with thee in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee."

Wow, that's a wonderful promise. Now here's the passage that you know about. Ephesians chapter 6, verses 1 through 3: "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honour thy father and thy mother; which is the first commandment with promise; that it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth." I don't know if you notice this or not, but first of all God says you need to keep my commandments, number one, that it may go well with thee, and number two, that thou mayest live long upon the face of the earth. He gives you the same promise in relationship to the animals. He gives you the same promise in relationship to mankind.

So let me try to spell this out for you so you can see the connection between the two illustrations that I gave you. This whole thing is an argument from the lesser to the greater. So if God then requires you to respect the families of animals, how much more does He require you to respect the families of mankind? Now, if you do not regard the families of animals, you're not going to have any regard for the families of mankind either. Our Lord said it like this in Luke chapter 16 and verse 10: "He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much." Hang on. People then that are unfaithful in their care of animals and unfaithful in regarding the families of animals will not regard the families of mankind.

Inevitably, if they will mistreat an animal, they will mistreat a human. You know what the Bible says in the book of Proverbs chapter 12 and verse 10? The Bible says, "A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast: but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel." A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast, but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel. So let me try to tie this together for you. How did we get here? When Alice picked up those animals, it was out of respect for the animals and for the love of life. And when I saw Gage and Rose, who went over that baby and kissing that baby, it was not only thankfulness, but respect of life and a demonstration of love. How did Judah and Jerusalem get to the position where God destroyed them as a nation?

Call to Repentance and Warning of Judgment

Weaver warns that continued hardening of the neck will lead to sudden destruction without remedy (Proverbs 29:1), and urges repentance before God brings judgment, as He did on Israel.

You remember Jeremiah 19, verse 15? They stiffened their neck that they would not hear. If you will not hear that which is the least, you're not going to hear that which is the greatest. If we continue to stiffen our necks as a nation, may I remind you of Proverbs 29, verse 1: "He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy." That's exactly what happened to Judah and Jerusalem. That's exactly what happened to Israel. God sent the Assyrians against the northern kingdom. He sent the Babylonians against the southern kingdom. Then he sent the Romans against all of them. Why? Simply because they would not hear. And we have a nation full of supposed leaders who will not hear. We have a nation full of people who will not hear.

Now, let me make another application. I want you to think about this. You may not necessarily be an animal lover like I am. That's fine. But if you have no special love for animals and the fact that, you know, you don't want a bunch of them, that's up to you. But the fact is, you may not necessarily have a special love for them, but that does not mean that you mistreat them. That does not mean that you abuse them. That does not mean that you hate them. I want to show you something from the Bible. This may surprise you. But God demands that we go out of our way to help animals and not to go out of our way to harm animals.

One of the things that I despise is to see animals needlessly slaughtered. We have these big old—we call them gopher tortoises or land tortoises is what they are. When I was a boy, I used to stand on their backs and they'd walk away with me on them. I weigh 200 pounds today and I can still stand on one, they'll walk away with me standing on them. They don't do anything except eat grass, dig holes, eat grass. They don't hurt anybody or anything. And yet I have seen car tracks on the road where they purposely left the road, go over just to run over an old tortoise. Just to kill him. Why? I want to tell you something. There are reasons in the Bible why we may lawfully take the lives of animals. You understand that number one is for food. Number two would be for protection.

I mean, you know, if a snake is striking at me, I'm going to shoot him if I can. If a lion was coming at me, I'd shoot that lion. Because my life is worth more than the lion. It's worth more than the snake. I may defend myself. And the third reason is that the animal is hindering dominion. When I say that, I don't eat rabbits. But if rabbits was eating up my garden, I would shoot the rabbits. Now I try to give them to someone who would eat them. You understand what I'm saying.

But there's three reasons why God gives us in the Bible that we can lawfully, legitimately take the lives of animals. But the point I'm trying to make right now is you must go out of your way to help and not to hurt. There's a principle, there's a reason. Look in your Bibles, Deuteronomy chapter 22. And if you don't mind, go ahead and find the book of Exodus chapter 23 and hold that passage because we'll be going there next. OK, so look in your Bibles, if you would, please, first of all to the book of Deuteronomy chapter 22. And let's begin reading there with verse 1. Deuteronomy chapter 22 and look if you would please in verse 1, look what God says: "Thou shalt not see thy brother's ox or his sheep go astray, and hide thyself from them: thou shalt in any case bring them again unto thy brother." You can't hide yourself. "And if thy brother be not nigh unto thee, or if thou know him not, then thou shalt bring it into thine own house, and it shall be with thee until thy brother seek after it, and thou shalt restore it to him again. In like manner shalt thou do with his ass; and so shalt thou do with his raiment; and with all lost things of thy brother, which he hath lost, and thou hast found, shalt thou do likewise: thou mayest not hide thyself. Thou shalt not see thy brother's ass or his ox fall down by the way, and hide thyself from them: thou shalt surely help him to lift them up again." So God says, if you see your brother's horse stuck in a mud hole, he can't get out.

God said you can't hide yourself from that animal. You have to help get him out. If you see the cow out on the road, you don't just say, "Well it's not my cow, I'm sorry." No, God says you stop and help save that cow's life. You get that cow back in. You say, "But I'm willing to do that." Well, you're talking about my brother. I'd help my brother, I'd do that for my brother. Really? Well, I'm thankful. Why don't you look in your Bible, Exodus chapter 23, and let's begin reading there with verse 4. Exodus chapter 23 and verse 4. God says, "If thou meet thine enemy's ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again. If thou see the ass of him that hateth thee lying under his burden, and wouldest forbear to help him, thou shalt surely help with him." Would you see a cow having trouble delivering a calf? God says you're to help. Even if it's a cow belongs to your enemy. Why in the world is God telling us this?

Once again, it's an argument from the lesser to the greater. If we have the responsibility to help the families of animals, how much more do we have the responsibility to help the families of mankind? If we have the responsibility to go out of our way to help an animal, even an animal of our enemy, how much more do we have a responsibility to help our enemy when he's in trouble? So you have to ask yourself this question, how do we get here? And the answer is, we won't even hear that which is least. I saw a short video for which I'm really thankful. Because one man in a nice, very nice station wagon stopped beside the road. Went to the back, opened the door, let a beautiful, grown German Shepherd out. Then he went around, got in the car, and drove off. And the German Shepherd was chasing him.

No, he was just throwing him out. Thankfully, it was on camera. The tag was on camera, and the man was arrested. How you treat animals will inevitably demonstrate how you treat mankind. Those who love life, even the lives of animals, will love the lives of mankind. Alice loved the puppies and saved them. And Rose and Gage loved their baby, which they should. But I'm just simply saying, folks, Judah and Jerusalem got to where God destroyed them because they would not hear. And we're at that place where people just will not hear.

They do not want truth. They do not want what God demands. They do not want one word from God. But the truth is, they will hear, and if you read through the book of Ezekiel, it's a book on judgment. And 73 times in the book of Ezekiel, God says, "And they shall know that I am the Lord." And each time it deals in judgment. That's one way that men will find out who God really is when he judges them, when he destroys them. Now would be the time to turn back to him.

Obey in the least, and we'll obey in the greatest. If we disobey in the least, we'll disobey in the greatest. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to thee. We thank you for your word. We thank you for your truth. We ask, Lord, that you would indeed speak to our hearts. O Lord, and bring this nation back to thee. Grant us repentance, O Lord. May we, Father, once again act as thy people. In the name of Jesus Christ, we ask and pray. Amen.

Study Guide

Major Themes

National Judgment for Rejecting God's Word

Summary: God destroys nations that harden their necks and refuse to hear His words, as seen in Judah and Jerusalem.

Evidence: Jeremiah 19:15: 'because they have hardened their necks that they might not hear my words.'

The Principle of Lesser to Greater

Summary: Faithfulness in small things (like caring for animals) indicates faithfulness in greater things (like respecting human life); disobedience in the least leads to disobedience in the greatest.

Evidence: Luke 16:10: 'He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much.'

Modern Idolatry as Baal and Moloch Worship

Summary: Abortion is equated with child sacrifice to Moloch, and secular public education is seen as dedicating children to humanism, paralleling ancient idolatry.

Evidence: Weaver states: 'we still have Baal worship and we still have Moloch worship in America today... through aborticide.'

True Israel Defined by Faith in Christ

Summary: The physical nation of Israel is not the true Israel; believers in Jesus Christ are Abraham's seed and the Israel of God.

Evidence: Galatians 3:29: 'And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.'

The Irreversibility of Hardened Judgment

Summary: Once a nation's heart is hardened like a fired clay vessel, it cannot be remade but only destroyed, as illustrated by the broken bottle in Jeremiah 19.

Evidence: Jeremiah 19:10-11: 'Even so will I break this people and this city, as one breaketh a potter's vessel, that cannot be made whole again.'

Respect for Life as a Measure of Righteousness

Summary: A righteous person regards the life of animals, and how one treats animals reflects how one will treat humans; cruelty to animals indicates wickedness.

Evidence: Proverbs 12:10: 'A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast: but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.'

Key Arguments

Jerusalem's destruction was caused by refusing to hear God's words.

Summary: God explicitly states in Jeremiah 19:15 that He brought evil because they hardened their necks to avoid hearing His words.

Evidence: Jeremiah 19:15: 'because they have hardened their necks that they might not hear my words.'

America is following the same path as ancient Judah.

Summary: Weaver argues that America's moral decline, abortion, and secular education mirror the idolatry and child sacrifice that led to Judah's destruction.

Evidence: Weaver says: 'we still have Baal worship and we still have Moloch worship in America today.'

The principle of lesser to greater applies to animal and human life.

Summary: God's commands to care for animals (even enemies' animals) demonstrate that if we neglect the lesser (animals), we will neglect the greater (humans).

Evidence: Exodus 23:4-5 commands helping an enemy's ox or ass; Weaver argues this implies a greater duty to help humans.

Hardening the neck leads to sudden, irremediable destruction.

Summary: Proverbs 29:1 warns that those who harden their necks despite reproof will be suddenly destroyed without remedy, just as happened to Jerusalem.

Evidence: Proverbs 29:1: 'He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.'

True Israel is spiritual, not physical.

Summary: The promises to Abraham are fulfilled in Christ, and those who belong to Christ are the true seed and heirs, not the modern Zionist state.

Evidence: Galatians 3:16, 29; Galatians 6:16.

God's judgment is a means to make Himself known.

Summary: In Ezekiel, God repeatedly says 'they shall know that I am the Lord' in the context of judgment, indicating that judgment reveals God's sovereignty.

Evidence: Weaver references Ezekiel: '73 times... God says, And they shall know that I am the Lord... each time it deals in judgment.'

Scripture References

Jeremiah 19:1-15

Context: The entire chapter is read as the foundation for the sermon, describing the judgment on Judah symbolized by breaking a potter's vessel.

Jeremiah 18:2-11

Context: The potter and clay illustration, showing God's sovereignty to reshape or destroy nations based on their response.

Exodus 19:5

Context: God's promise to make Israel a peculiar treasure if they obey His voice and keep His covenant.

Deuteronomy 14:2

Context: Israel chosen as a peculiar people above all nations.

Deuteronomy 26:18

Context: God avouches Israel as His peculiar people, conditional on keeping His commandments.

Psalm 135:4

Context: The Lord chose Jacob and Israel for His peculiar treasure.

Jeremiah 12:7-9

Context: God forsakes His house and heritage, giving His beloved into enemy hands because of their rebellion.

Hosea 9:15

Context: God hates Israel for their wickedness and will drive them out, loving them no more.

Galatians 3:16

Context: The promises were made to Abraham and his seed, which is Christ, not to multiple physical seeds.

Galatians 3:29

Context: If you belong to Christ, you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise.

Galatians 6:16

Context: The Israel of God are those who walk according to the rule (canon) of Scripture.

Titus 2:13-14

Context: Christ gave Himself to redeem us and purify a peculiar people zealous of good works.

1 Peter 2:9

Context: Believers are a chosen generation, royal priesthood, holy nation, peculiar people.

Jeremiah 32:28-36

Context: God details the sins of Judah, including child sacrifice in the Valley of Hinnom, and pronounces judgment by Babylon.

Leviticus 22:28

Context: Command not to kill a cow or ewe and its young on the same day, showing respect for animal families.

Deuteronomy 4:39-40

Context: Keep God's commandments that it may go well with you and your children, and prolong your days.

Deuteronomy 22:6-7

Context: When taking young birds or eggs, let the mother go, that it may be well with you and prolong your days.

Exodus 20:12

Context: Honor your father and mother, that your days may be long upon the land.

Deuteronomy 5:16

Context: Honor father and mother, that your days may be prolonged and it may go well with you.

Ephesians 6:1-3

Context: Children obey parents; honor father and mother (first commandment with promise) that it may be well and you live long.

Historical References

Valley of the Son of Hinnom (Gehenna)

Context: A valley outside Jerusalem used for Baal and Moloch worship, child sacrifice, and later a garbage dump with perpetual fire; became a byword for hell.

King Manasseh

Context: King of Judah who sacrificed his own children to Baal and Moloch and placed prostitutes in the temple.

Destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD

Context: Weaver states God destroyed the nation of Israel in 70 AD through the Romans, and the modern state is not true Israel.

Vladimir Lenin

Context: Quoted to illustrate the power of early education: 'Give me a child for the first five years of his life and he will be mine forever.'

John Calvin

Context: Quoted regarding the Valley of Hinnom: the name Tophet derived from drums used to drown out children's cries during sacrifice.

Important Quotes

He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.

Significance: This principle undergirds Weaver's argument that how we treat animals (the least) reflects how we treat humans (the greater).

A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast: but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.

Significance: Used to show that care for animals is a mark of righteousness, and cruelty to animals indicates wickedness.

He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.

Significance: A warning that persistent rejection of reproof leads to sudden, irreversible judgment, applied to America.

If we continue to stiffen our necks as a nation, may I remind you of Proverbs 29, verse 1: He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.

Significance: Weaver directly applies the proverb to America, warning of impending judgment if the nation does not repent.

How you treat animals will inevitably demonstrate how you treat mankind.

Significance: Summarizes the lesser-to-greater argument that treatment of animals is a predictor of treatment of humans.

Discussion Questions

In what ways do you see modern America mirroring the sins of ancient Judah described in Jeremiah 19?

Context: Weaver draws parallels between ancient idolatry/child sacrifice and modern abortion/secular education.

How does the principle of 'faithful in least, faithful in much' apply to our daily lives beyond animal care?

Context: Weaver uses Luke 16:10 to argue that small acts of obedience or disobedience indicate our character in larger matters.

What does it mean to 'harden your neck' against God's words, and how can we guard against it personally and as a church?

Context: The sermon identifies hardening the neck as the root cause of Jerusalem's destruction and warns against it.

How should Christians respond to the prevalence of abortion and secular education in light of the Moloch worship analogy?

Context: Weaver equates abortion with child sacrifice and public education with dedication to humanism, calling for Christian education.

What is the biblical basis for the idea that the church is the true Israel, and how does this affect our view of modern geopolitical Israel?

Context: Weaver argues from Galatians 3 and 6 that believers in Christ are Abraham's seed and the Israel of God.

How can we cultivate a righteous regard for animal life as described in Proverbs 12:10, and why does it matter?

Context: Weaver emphasizes that a righteous person cares for animals, and this reflects a broader respect for life.

Applications

Repent from hardening your neck against God's Word.

Summary: Weaver calls for personal and national repentance, turning back to God before judgment comes, as Judah failed to do.

Evidence: Weaver prays: 'Grant us repentance, O Lord. May we, Father, once again act as thy people.'

Provide Christian education for your children.

Summary: Parents are commanded to teach their children God's ways and should remove them from secular, humanistic public education.

Evidence: Weaver says: 'God commands Christian education... take them out, teach them yourself.'

Regard the life of animals as a reflection of righteousness.

Summary: A righteous person cares for animals; mistreating animals is a sign of wickedness and leads to mistreating humans.

Evidence: Proverbs 12:10 and the lesser-to-greater argument.

Go out of your way to help animals, even those of your enemies.

Summary: God commands helping lost or fallen animals, even belonging to enemies, as a demonstration of obedience in small things.

Evidence: Exodus 23:4-5; Deuteronomy 22:1-4.

Value and protect human life from conception.

Summary: Abortion is murder and a form of modern Moloch worship; Christians must oppose it and uphold the sanctity of life.

Evidence: Weaver states: 'Abortion is murder... life begins at conception.'

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-06T00:10:09Z

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | weaver_study | 2026-06-06T14:50:07Z

Clean Transcript

How Did We Get There

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

Jeremiah chapter 19, and since there are 15 verses there, I want to read all 15 verses. Jeremiah chapter 19. And look, if you would please, beginning there with verse 1. The title of the message is "How Did We Get Here?" And how did we get here? Look at Jeremiah 19, verse 1: "Thus saith the Lord, Go and get a potter's earthen bottle, and take of the ancients of the people and of the ancients of the priests, and go forth into the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is by the entry of the east gate, and proclaim there the words that I shall tell thee. And say, Hear ye the word of the Lord, O kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, which whosoever heareth his ears shall tingle. Because they have forsaken me and have estranged this place, they have burned incense in it unto other gods, whom neither they nor their fathers have known, nor the kings of Judah, and have filled this place with the blood of innocents."
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"They have built also the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings unto Baal, which I commanded not, nor spake it, neither came it into my mind. Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that this place shall no more be called Tophet, nor the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of slaughter. And I will make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place, and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hands of them that seek their lives, and their carcasses will I give to be meat for the fowls of heaven and for the beasts of the earth."
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"And I will make this city desolate, and an hissing, everyone that passeth thereby shall be astonished and hiss because of the plagues thereof. And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons, and the flesh of their daughters, and they shall eat every one the flesh of his friend in the siege, and straitness wherewith their enemies, and they that seek their lives shall straiten them. Then shalt thou break the bottle in the sight of the men that go with thee. And shalt say to them, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Even so will I break this people and this city as one breaketh a potter's vessel that cannot be made whole again."
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"And they shall bury them in Tophet till there be no place to bury. Thus will I do unto this place, saith the Lord, and to the inhabitants thereof, and even make this city as Tophet. And the houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah shall be defiled as the place of Tophet, because of all the houses upon whose roofs they have burned incense unto the host of heaven and have poured out drink offerings unto other gods. Then came Jeremiah from Tophet, whither the Lord had sent him, to prophesy. And he stood in the court of the Lord's house and said unto all the people, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Behold, I will bring upon this city and upon all her towns all the evil that are pronounced against it, because they have hardened their necks that they"
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"might not hear my words." Have you ever wondered how we arrived at the place in which we find ourselves today in this nation? In one sense, it's much like traveling with children. I know a lot of parents in times past have taken rather lengthy trips, but they would always plan to take those trips when the younger children would be sleeping most of the time. And once the children went to sleep, the next thing they know they were at their destination. The first thing the children would ask is, "How did we get here?" They did not know about the stops. They did not know about the traffic. They did not know about any problems. They just went to sleep.
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And when they woke up, they were there. How in the world did Jerusalem get to the place where God said, "I am going to destroy this place"? How did they get to the place of national destruction? A good question to be asked is, how did we get to the place that we're in? And are we next in national destruction? We're no longer living in Mayberry. Things are not black and white the way they used to.
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We have to agree that times have certainly changed. Society has changed. Culture has changed. We're no longer living in a time where life is precious and protected. We're no longer living in a time when personal privacy and profit are valued. We're no longer living in a time when God is honored. We're no longer living in a time where the Word of God is respected. We're no longer living in a time where families work together and help each other. We're certainly no longer living in a time when people value each other and friendship.
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It seems as if we went to sleep in one nation and awoke the next morning in a completely, totally different nation. Now, I want to very quickly give you two illustrations. You may not see the value or the importance of these illustrations right now. You may not even see the connections. But before I finish today, I hope that you will, because these two illustrations are vitally connected.
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Some months back, or a month or so back, Alice was coming down the road toward our house. And she looked in the ditch, and there were four starving puppies someone had thrown out. They were not only starving, they were wormy and they were so malnourished. Two of them could not even walk, or at least not walk correctly. Instead of walking on their hind feet, they had to lay down on their haunches and their whole back leg basically was holding them up. So Alice picked the puppies up, brought them home, and she washed them. And she fed them. She warmed them.
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She took care of them. And today those puppies are fine. They're healthy. And we're looking for homes for them. And they're beautiful pups, but someone just simply threw them out. So why in the world would people do something like that? That's a good question. The second illustration is this. Just recently, I had a defensive handgun class. And there was a young couple named Gage and Rose in that class. Rose is the daughter of Alan Barber Stoffer, who have been friends for a long time. They were married about a year or so ago, and they just had their first baby. And the baby was only a month or two, couple months old. And they came to my class and Rose's sister came to take care of the baby while she was in class. And so when we came back in for the noon meal, there's only about a few hours over the range. I looked over and I saw Rose and I saw Gage, her husband, pick up that baby. Hold the baby in their laps.
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And they begin to kiss the baby and cuddle the baby, and the mother and the father. I mean, of course it was, I had some baby. That is for sure. But I just sat there and I just kind of marveled because you have to remember how old I am. And I hadn't been around a young couple with a first child in a long, long time. And it reminded me of Alice, when we had our first daughter. And then I got to thinking about our daughters and their first child. And I just simply marveled at the fact that, you know, I hadn't seen a young couple with their first child in ages and ages and ages. And it just astonished me at the attention and the love that they were relishing upon that child.
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Now, you may not see the connection between these two stories yet. But before I get through, I hope that you will.
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Now, let me tell you about Jeremiah chapter 18 and 19. These two chapters actually go together, because in Jeremiah chapter 18, Jeremiah is commanded to go down to the potter's house. And there God was going to demonstrate a truth to him, which he was to proclaim. So this truth was not only in relationship to the nation of Israel. It was also truth in relationship to any nation.
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And I might say any individual as well, because nations are made up of individuals. So if you look in Jeremiah chapter 18, let's begin reading with verse 2 and read through verse 11, just so you can see this. In verse 2, God tells Jeremiah, "Arise and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause you to hear my words. Then I went down to the potter's house, and behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter, so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it. Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter, saith the Lord. Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel."
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"At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up and to pull down and to destroy it. Now look at this. If that nation, not just Israel, if that nation against whom I pronounce turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them. And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it. If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good wherewith I said I would benefit them."
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"Now therefore go and speak to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device against you. Return ye now everyone from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good."
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Now, in this passage, God is the potter and we are the clay. That is true. And in this passage, God was the potter. Israel happened to be the clay. But like he pointed out in verse 18, any nation or any individual. So in Jeremiah 18, the potter is working with the clay. He has it on the wheel. He may have been intending to make something extremely beautiful, like a vase.
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Well, you probably know this. You know the difference between a vase and a vase? About 200 bucks. But he may have intended to make this beautiful vase. But the Bible says that the clay was marred in the hand of the potter. Something went wrong with the clay. And so the potter then made the vessel into a different kind of vessel than he intended originally. In other words, that would be the potter's prerogative. So, instead of making this beautiful vase, he made it into a spittoon.
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or what you and I would call a honeypot or slop jar or bedchamber. In other words, it's his prerogative. He is the one in control of the clay, and he can do with that clay exactly what he wants to do. And that is exactly what he's saying with these nations. He may do exactly what he wanted to do.
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Now, in the context, we're talking particularly about Israel. Do you realize that in the Bible, in the Old Testament, God specifically chose Israel to be his peculiar treasure? In fact, I'll give you several verses where the Bible explicitly states that. For instance, in Exodus chapter 19 and verse 5, God says, "Now therefore, if—notice that word if—now therefore if you will obey my voice indeed and keep my covenant, then you shall be a peculiar treasure to me above all people, for all the earth is mine." So God said, if you will obey me, you will be a peculiar treasure. Then in Deuteronomy chapter 14 and verse 2, God says, "For thou art a holy people unto the Lord thy God. And the Lord has chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself above all the nations that are upon the face of the earth." Here's a number three, Deuteronomy chapter 26 and verse 18: "And the Lord hath avouched thee this day to be his peculiar people, as he hath promised thee, and that thou shouldest keep all his commandments."
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And then one more, in Psalm 135 and verse 4, "For the Lord hath chosen Jacob for himself, and Israel for his peculiar treasure." So God had chosen Israel, but what in the world did Israel do? She rebelled against God. She revolted against God. She turned her back upon God. She became idolatrous, worshiping all kind of gods—the queen of heaven, Baal, Moloch, whatsoever. In light of this, God rejected those people.
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And here is what he said. If you want to write it down, wonderful. Jeremiah chapter 12. If you want to look there at verses 7 and 8, since you're close. Look at Jeremiah chapter 12, beginning there with verse 7. God says, "I have forsaken mine house"—that would be his temple—"I have left my heritage"—that would be his people. Notice, "I have forsaken my house. I've left my heritage. I've given the dearly beloved of my soul into the hand of her enemies. My heritage is unto me as a speckled bird." That's verse 9. Let's go back to verse 8: "My heritage is unto me as a lion in the forest."
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"It cries out against me"—that's their rebellion—"therefore have I hated it." And then he said, "My heritage is unto me as a speckled bird. The birds round about are all against her. Come ye, assemble all the beasts in the field. Come to devour." And then if you look in your Bibles very quickly to the book of Hosea—Daniel, Hosea—and look in chapter 9 and verse 15, here's another statement. Hosea chapter 9 and verse 15, where God is repudiating them because of their sin. Hosea 9, verse 15, God says, "All their wickedness is in Gilgal. For there I hated them for the wickedness of their doing."
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"I will drive them out of mine house. I will love them no more. All their princes are revolters."
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Now, when you get back to Jeremiah chapter 19, there is a difference between Jeremiah chapter 18 and Jeremiah chapter 19. In Jeremiah chapter 18, God has a work on the wheels and he can make it into any kind of vessel that he wants to make it into. When you get to Jeremiah chapter 19, the vessel is already made. It has already been cooked in the fire, cooked in the oven. It's already been hardened. And so once it has been made, it can either be usable
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or it can be destroyed. And so the truth of Jeremiah chapter 19 is that God is going to destroy them to the extent that they're not going to be usable and they're not going to be salvageable. So if you look in Jeremiah 19, look in verse 10. Let's read this again. Jeremiah 19, verse 10: "Then shalt thou break the bottle in the sight of the men that go with thee." In other words, the bottle is to be burst into pieces. "And shalt say to them, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Even so will I break this people and this city as one breaketh a potter's vessel that cannot be made whole again."
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"And they shall bury them in Tophet till there be no place to bury. Thus will I do unto this place, saith the Lord, and to the inhabitants thereof, even make this city as Tophet. And the houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah shall be defiled as the place of Tophet, because of all the houses upon whose roofs they have burned incense unto the host of heaven and have poured out drink offerings unto other gods."
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Now, God basically destroyed the nation of Israel in 70 AD. So let me put it to you very plainly. You may disagree, but that's fine. The nation that was formed in 1948 is not Israel. It is a Zionist state. I don't care what they call themselves. They still hate God. They still hate his word. They still hate his son. And of course, the Bible teaches that only those who are in Jesus Christ are the true sons of Abraham. So let me show you that in the Bible.
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If you would turn in your Bibles to the book of Galatians chapter 3 to begin with. There's so many other verses, but I want to just show you several that are very, very plain. Look in Galatians chapter 3 and notice, if you would please, verse 16. Galatians 3 and verse 16, the Bible says, "Now to Abraham and his seed"—notice that is singular—"Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many, but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ." So how many seeds does Abraham have?
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Well, he had Isaac, he had Ishmael, and then he married again and married Keturah and had a whole host of others. So Abraham had plenty of physical seed, but that is not the true seed. Now, it is true when you get to Romans chapter 9, that Isaac is a type of Christ. That is for sure. But the Bible says in verse 16, "And to Abraham and his seed were the promises made." So all the promises that God gave to Abraham were actually given to the true seed of Abraham, which is Jesus Christ. That is why the Bible in the New Testament begins with Matthew 1, verse 1: "The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham." Now, if you look in your Bibles to the book of Galatians chapter 3 and verse 29, Galatians 3 and verse 29, look what the scripture says: "And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." So what then makes us the seed of Abraham? It is the Lord Jesus Christ.
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If we belong to him, we are Abraham's seed and we are heirs according to the promise. So everything that God promised Abraham was in Jesus Christ. And when we're in Jesus Christ, we're heirs of all those promises.
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Now, if you look in Galatians 6 and verse 16, watch this carefully. Galatians 6 and verse 16.
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Now the apostle says, "And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be with them, and mercy upon the Israel of God." Well, who in the world are the Israel of God? It's those who walk according to this rule. The word "rule" in the Greek is the word kanon. It's where we get our English word "canon," C-A-N-O-N, not C-A-N-N-O-N, that's the kind that shoots. But we talk about the canon of scripture. We're talking about the Old Testament canon, the New Testament canon. The word kanon actually means a measuring rod or a measuring stick. So how do we measure who in the world the true Israel of God is? Well, we use his measuring stick.
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And he said this in verse 16: "And as many as walk according to this rule"—that is the word of God, that's the canon of scripture—"peace be upon them, and mercy upon the Israel of God." So the Israel of God are those who walk according to the rule of God. They're the ones in Jesus Christ. That's why in the book of Philippians, he said, "We are the circumcision who serve the Lord Jesus Christ and have no confidence whatsoever in the flesh."
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Now, there are two passages in the New Testament that show now that we who are in Christ are his peculiar treasure. For instance, if you will turn in your Bibles to the book of Titus chapter 2. Titus chapter 2, and look if you would please at verse 14. First and Second Timothy and then Titus. Titus chapter 2, in fact we'll read verses 13 and 14. Look at this. Titus 2, verse 13, the scripture says, "Looking for that blessed hope and glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." Now I want you to note, "a peculiar people." Now if you would turn right over to 1 Peter chapter 2 and look if you would please at verse 9. 1 Peter 2 and verse 9, he says it again. He says, "But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people, that ye should show forth the praises of him who has
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called you out of darkness into his marvelous light." Now the interesting thing is the Greek word in both texts happens to be peripoiesis, which means a possession, a private possession, belonging to oneself. I could say that Alice is my private possession. She could say that I am her private possession. That's what the word actually means. And of course, the word "laos" for "peculiar people"—the Greek word is laos, which means a people, a group of people, a tribe, a stock, a nation that are of the same stock and language. Well, we're definitely of the same stock and language, if God is our father, for the Bible says in James 1, verse 18, "Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits." So he begat us, we are of the same stock.
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Now, I want you to go back to Jeremiah chapter 19, because Jeremiah was to go down to the valley of the son of Hinnom. And he was to take this vessel and break this vessel to pieces in front of the ancients, the elders and the priests as well. Now, the Valley of the Son of Hinnom is known by several names. One is sometimes it's called Tophet. It's also in this passage called the Valley of Slaughter. I'll show you. It's also called the Valley of the Sewer, and I'll explain why. This was the valley where Baal and Moloch were worshipped. I want you to look in Jeremiah chapter 32. Jeremiah chapter 32.
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And let's begin reading there with verse 28. I want to read through verse 36. I want you to watch this. Watch this carefully. Jeremiah chapter 32, verse 28, God says, "Therefore thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans, and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he shall take it. And the Chaldeans that fight against this city shall come and set fire on this city and
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burn it with the houses upon whose roofs they have offered incense unto Baal and poured out drink offerings unto other gods, to provoke me to anger. For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have only done evil before me from their youth. For the children of Israel have only provoked me to anger with the work of their hands, saith the Lord. For this city hath been to me as a provocation of mine anger and of my fury from the day that they built it even unto this day, that I should remove it from before my face. Because of all the evil of the children of Israel and of the children of Judah, which they have done to provoke me to anger, they, their kings, their princes, their priests, and their prophets, and the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, they have turned unto me the back and not the
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face, though I taught them, rising up early and teaching them, yet they have not hearkened to receive instruction. But they set their abominations in the house"—that is in the temple—"but they set their abominations in the house which is called by my name, to defile it. And they built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech, which I commanded them not. Neither came it into my mind that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin."
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"And now therefore thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning this city, whereof ye say, It shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon by the sword and by the famine and by the pestilence." Wow.
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Now Jerusalem's Hinnom Valley marked the western and southern edges of Jerusalem. This is where they worshiped Baal and Moloch and a lot of other false gods as well. This is where King Manasseh sacrificed his own children unto Baal and Moloch. Manasseh is also the one who had prostitutes, both female and male, in the temple. It's where they wove hangings for the grove there in the temple and polluted it and defiled it, as God says, over and over.
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So this was a horrendous place. So the word Tophet actually means to roll as a drum. If you go online and you look up, just say, type in like pictures of Moloch. You will find a huge image. It is usually made of brass and he's like this with his hands stretched up. And the bottom, of course, is empty. And in the bottom, they build a roaring fire. And of course, then those who are going to sacrifice their children to Moloch, they come and place them in his hands. And as they place them in the hands, the drums begin to roll. And the child then rolls down out of the hands or arms into the belly of Moloch where he is consumed. And the roll of the drums, of course, drowned out the screams of agony of the child. So this is how they worship Moloch in giving them the child sacrifice as well. This valley also became a huge garbage dump.
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It's where the sewer is, so to speak. And with the garbage, there was a perpetual fire going all the time. So it's called the Valley of the Sewer, and it's also called the Valley of the Pagans because of all the pagan activity that went on there. In the time of our Lord, the Valley of the Son of Hinnom became a byword for hell. In fact, you will find it translated as Gehenna in the New Testament. And the word Gehenna, of course, refers to hell. It would be a picture then of all the burning and all the stench and all the paganism and all the filth that went on.
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Let me give you a quick quote. Here's what Calvin said concerning the valley of the son of Hinnom. He said, "Enter into the valley of the son of Hinnom. This valley was in the suburbs and was called Tophet. It is thought that this name is derived from the drums, because they did beat drums when infants were killed, lest their cries should excite any feelings of humanity. But here there was a double crime.
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They left the temple and sought to obtrude on God's sacrifices against his expressed will. And then there was another crime, still more atrocious, for they devoted their children to Balaam, or to Baal, and not only to the true God. This, then, was the reason why the prophet was commanded to go to this place. How detestable that service was to God appears clear from this, that the prophets give the name of hell to the Valley of Hinnom, in the Hebrew, Gehinnom. And we know that at the time of Christ, it was a common name for hell. And when Christ speaks of Gehinnom, he uses the word according to its common acceptation at the time.
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The word has been corrupted by the Greeks, for it is properly Gehinnom, but what does the word mean in the gospel? Hell itself, and whence was its origin? We indeed know how great and how incurable was the madness of those who gave themselves up to their own superstitions. For though the prophets strongly condemned the place, yet the people proceeded in their usual idolatry. It was therefore necessary to give the place a disgraceful name in order to render it more abominable."
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Now, when you think about Baal and Moloch worship, the average Christian today would say, "How atrocious. Who would be so stupid as to do something like that? Who would be so unthinking as to do something like that?" But the truth of the matter is we still have Baal worship and we still have Moloch worship in America today. All you have to do is consider the countless numbers of babies that have been murdered through aborticide. I'm going to tell you something just for a moment. But a lot of these babies have been sacrificed to the god of convenience. It's just not convenient for me to have a baby at this time. It's not convenient, it might interfere with my career. It's not convenient, it's going to interfere with my lifestyle. And so they just simply murder their baby. Abortion is murder.
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I don't care how you cut it. It is murder, because life begins at conception. If it didn't, there would not be any growth. It hasn't been a conception. You say, "Well, how in the world is this Baal worship and Moloch worship?" Well, let me tell you, the word Baal means "lord." The word Moloch means "king." And Moloch worship was an aspect of Baal worship. It was indeed a power religion. It was the religion of the state. Let me say it another way. It was religion of the government. And so the state or the government in America states that it is correct and it is all right to murder your own baby. So it is a veiled worship. It is a Moloch worship because we are not worshiping the one true and the living God. We're going by the power and the authority of the state or the government rather than the authority of God and his word.
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Now, let me point something else out. A lot of times these babies were not consumed by the fire. What some of the people would do is they would take their baby and pass it over the hands of Moloch. You'll find it spelled Moloch, Molech, Milcom, and Malcham in the Bible. It's all the same. But sometimes they would just simply pass the child over the fire as an act of purification, as an act of dedication. In other words, that baby then became the ownership and property of Moloch or Baal. It was just that simple because it was that dedication.
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What we have done is this. Those who have not sacrificed their children physically in aborticide, have dedicated and purified their children to humanism and secularism through public and governmental education. Vladimir Lenin said it like this: "Give me a child for the first five years of his life and he will be mine forever." Another quote of Vladimir Lenin is this: "Give me four years to teach the children and the seed that I have sown will never be uprooted." So if you give your children then to humanism and secularism, if you give your children then to public or governmental education, do not be surprised if they're unable to think biblically, if they're unable to use common sense, if they're unable to have a biblical work ethic.
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And when you stop and think of the problems in this country, when we're talking about BLM, when we're talking about Antifa, and all these progressive revolutionaries, they've all been educated by the state. They've all been educated by the government. And when you look at the communistic dupes that we have in Washington, DC, they've all had governmental education. It's a totally different mindset, a completely different mindset. I'm going to be honest with you, I read regularly. And it upsets me when I see parents that are upset because their kindergartners and their first grade students are being taught perverted sex education in kindergarten and first grade. My thought is, why in the world would you subject your child to that to begin with? You know, it's there. Take them out. That's common sense. If I don't want my child taught sodomy and transgenderism, and 57 different genders, take them out, teach them yourself.
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I've got news for you. Every parent is capable of teaching a child. He may not be capable of teaching calculus or trigonometry, but he's capable of teaching that child to read, write, and know what's true and what is not true. I'm just simply pointing out that God requires—I'm going to say it another way—God commands Christian education. All you've got to do is read Deuteronomy chapter 6, read Ephesians chapter 6. Read over and over how God commands us to teach our children and our grandchildren and our great-grandchildren as well. Now, I'm just pointing out the fact, Moloch worship, Baal worship is still with us today.
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Now, I want you to turn back in your Bibles to Jeremiah chapter 19. I want to show you what brought this to my attention. I'm going to tie some things together for you, Lord willing, just momentarily. But may I ask you, why in the world did God destroy Judah and Jerusalem? Why did he destroy Israel? Why did he send the Babylonians? Why did he send the Assyrians? And why did he finally send the Romans in 70 AD to wipe them off the face of the earth? Why? Well, here's the answer. Jeremiah chapter 19, look at verse 15. Here's what God says: "Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Behold, I will bring evil upon this city and upon all her towns,
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all the evil that I have pronounced against it, because they have hardened their necks that they might not hear my words." Now let that truth sink in. God said they've hardened their necks that they might not hear my words. They didn't want the word of God. They did not desire to listen. They did not desire to change. They did not desire to repent. They did not want God.
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They wanted what they had. And that was it. And so they stiffened their neck and hardened their neck so they would not hear. Wow. Now, let me give you a principle, and I'm going to show it to you from the scripture before I close, I'll give you the quote. But here's a principle. If you and I are not going to hear the least truth and obey it, we're not going to hear the greatest truth and obey it. If we cannot be faithful in that which is least, we're certainly not going to be faithful in that which is greatest.
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Our Lord said that himself. Now, let me show you the significance of the two illustrations I gave you. I told you about the four puppies that Alice found by the roadside. In fact, let's see. With the exception of two of our dogs, all the rest of them are rescues. Those are people thrown away. Didn't want them, left them to starve. Now, she found four, she brought them home. She nursed them. She washed them. She fed them. She doctored them. They're fine now.
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And then the second one was me marveling and being astonished at the love and affection that Rose and Gage were showering upon their first child. You say, what in the world is the connection between these two things? Well, let me show you. I want you to turn in your Bibles, first of all, to the book of Leviticus chapter 22. And let's go to verse 28. And there is a reason for this, which you will find out momentarily.
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But God is talking about his sacrifices. And look what he says in Leviticus chapter 22 and verse 28. Look at this: "And whether it be cow or ewe, ye shall not kill it and her young both in one day." And then he goes on about offering a sacrifice of thanksgiving. So God says, if you're going to offer a cow and a calf, the offspring of the cow, you may not kill it on the same day, don't offer it to me on the same day. He said, if you have a ewe, a female sheep, and a lamb, you're not to kill them both on the same day. I don't want them offered to me on the same day. You cannot kill them both on the same day. Why? Well, let's go in our Bibles to the book of Deuteronomy chapter 4. Deuteronomy chapter 4. Hang on with me. Deuteronomy chapter 4 and let's begin reading there with verse 39. Deuteronomy 4 and verse 39, look at what God says, and I want you to underline something here. It is, God says, "Know therefore this day, and consider it in thine heart, that the Lord he is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath"—that's verse 39—"there is none else. Thou shalt keep therefore his
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statutes and his commandments which I command thee this day." Now look, why? "That it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days upon the earth, which the Lord thy God giveth thee forever." God says, now you need to keep my commandments, that it may go well with you, may go well with your children, and that you may prolong your days upon the face of the earth.
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I want you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Deuteronomy chapter 22. Deuteronomy 22. And look, if you would please, at verses 6 and 7. Deuteronomy 22, verses 6 and 7. God says: "If a bird's nest chance to be before thee in the way in any tree, or on the ground, whether they be young ones or eggs, and the dam sitting upon the young or upon the eggs, thou shalt not take the dam with the young"—that is the mother with the young—"but thou shalt in any wise let the dam go, and take the young to thee; that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days." Isn't that astounding? God says, now you see this mother bird sitting on her young or on eggs. You can take the young or you can take the eggs, but you've got to let the mother go. Because the eggs wouldn't hatch without the mother anyhow. The young couldn't survive without the mother. So it's the same thing as Leviticus 22, not killing the mother and the young on the same day.
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But I want you to note particularly the promise that he gives when he says, "that it may go well with thee and that thou mayest prolong thy days." Now I want you to go back to the book of Exodus chapter 20. I know you know this, but I'm going to show it to you because I want to tie it together for you. Look in Exodus chapter 20 and let's look at verse 12. Then we're going to turn back to Deuteronomy 5, but look in Exodus chapter 20 and verse 12 where God says, "Honour thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee." Wow. There's the promise of long life. Now if you go back to Deuteronomy chapter 5, look if you would at verse 16. Deuteronomy 5, verse 16. Hang on. Here it is: "Honour thy father and thy mother, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee; that thy days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with thee in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee."
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Wow, that's a wonderful promise. Now here's the passage that you know about. Ephesians chapter 6, verses 1 through 3: "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honour thy father and thy mother; which is the first commandment with promise; that it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth." I don't know if you notice this or not, but first of all God says you need to keep my commandments, number one, that it may go well with thee, and number two, that thou mayest live long upon the face of the earth. He gives you the same promise in relationship to the animals. He gives you the same promise in relationship to mankind.
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So let me try to spell this out for you so you can see the connection between the two illustrations that I gave you. This whole thing is an argument from the lesser to the greater. So if God then requires you to respect the families of animals, how much more does He require you to respect the families of mankind? Now, if you do not regard the families of animals, you're not going to have any regard for the families of mankind either.
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Our Lord said it like this in Luke chapter 16 and verse 10: "He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much." Hang on. People then that are unfaithful in their care of animals and unfaithful in regarding the families of animals will not regard the families of mankind.
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Inevitably, if they will mistreat an animal, they will mistreat a human. You know what the Bible says in the book of Proverbs chapter 12 and verse 10? The Bible says, "A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast: but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel." A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast, but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel. So let me try to tie this together for you.
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How did we get here? When Alice picked up those animals, it was out of respect for the animals and for the love of life. And when I saw Gage and Rose, who went over that baby and kissing that baby, it was not only thankfulness, but respect of life and a demonstration of love. How did Judah and Jerusalem get to the position where God destroyed them as a nation?
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You remember Jeremiah 19, verse 15? They stiffened their neck that they would not hear. If you will not hear that which is the least, you're not going to hear that which is the greatest. If we continue to stiffen our necks as a nation, may I remind you of Proverbs 29, verse 1: "He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy."
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That's exactly what happened to Judah and Jerusalem. That's exactly what happened to Israel. God sent the Assyrians against the northern kingdom. He sent the Babylonians against the southern kingdom. Then he sent the Romans against all of them. Why? Simply because they would not hear. And we have a nation full of supposed leaders who will not hear. We have a nation full of people who will not hear.
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Now, let me make another application. I want you to think about this. You may not necessarily be an animal lover like I am. That's fine. But if you have no special love for animals and the fact that, you know, you don't want a bunch of them, that's up to you. But the fact is, you may not necessarily have a special love for them, but that does not mean that you mistreat them. That does not mean that you abuse them. That does not mean that you hate them. I want to show you something from the Bible. This may surprise you. But God demands that we go out of our way to help animals and not to go out of our way to harm animals.
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One of the things that I despise is to see animals needlessly slaughtered. We have these big old—we call them gopher tortoises or land tortoises is what they are. When I was a boy, I used to stand on their backs and they'd walk away with me on them. I weigh 200 pounds today and I can still stand on one, they'll walk away with me standing on them.
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They don't do anything except eat grass, dig holes, eat grass. They don't hurt anybody or anything. And yet I have seen car tracks on the road where they purposely left the road, go over just to run over an old tortoise. Just to kill him. Why? I want to tell you something. There are reasons in the Bible why we may lawfully take the lives of animals. You understand that number one is for food. Number two would be for protection.
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I mean, you know, if a snake is striking at me, I'm going to shoot him if I can. If a lion was coming at me, I'd shoot that lion. Because my life is worth more than the lion. It's worth more than the snake. I may defend myself. And the third reason is that the animal is hindering dominion. When I say that, I don't eat rabbits. But if rabbits was eating up my garden, I would shoot the rabbits. Now I try to give them to someone who would eat them. You understand what I'm saying.
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But there's three reasons why God gives us in the Bible that we can lawfully, legitimately take the lives of animals. But the point I'm trying to make right now is you must go out of your way to help and not to hurt. There's a principle, there's a reason. Look in your Bibles, Deuteronomy chapter 22. And if you don't mind, go ahead and find the book of Exodus chapter 23 and hold that passage because we'll be going there next. OK, so look in your Bibles, if you would, please, first of all to the book of Deuteronomy chapter 22.
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And let's begin reading there with verse 1. Deuteronomy chapter 22 and look if you would please in verse 1, look what God says: "Thou shalt not see thy brother's ox or his sheep go astray, and hide thyself from them: thou shalt in any case bring them again unto thy brother." You can't hide yourself. "And if thy brother be not nigh unto thee, or if thou know him not, then thou shalt bring it into thine own house, and it shall be with thee until thy brother seek after it, and thou shalt restore it to him again. In like manner shalt thou do with his ass; and so shalt thou do with his raiment; and with all lost things of thy brother, which he hath lost, and thou hast found, shalt thou do likewise: thou mayest not hide thyself. Thou shalt not see thy brother's ass or his ox fall down by the way, and hide thyself from them: thou shalt surely help him to lift them up again." So God says, if you see your brother's horse stuck in a mud hole, he can't get out.
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God said you can't hide yourself from that animal. You have to help get him out. If you see the cow out on the road, you don't just say, "Well it's not my cow, I'm sorry." No, God says you stop and help save that cow's life. You get that cow back in. You say, "But I'm willing to do that." Well, you're talking about my brother. I'd help my brother, I'd do that for my brother. Really? Well, I'm thankful. Why don't you look in your Bible, Exodus chapter 23, and let's begin reading there with verse 4. Exodus chapter 23 and verse 4. God says, "If thou meet thine enemy's ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again. If thou see the ass of him that hateth thee lying under his burden, and wouldest forbear to help him, thou shalt surely help with him." Would you see a cow having trouble delivering a calf? God says you're to help. Even if it's a cow belongs to your enemy. Why in the world is God telling us this?
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Once again, it's an argument from the lesser to the greater. If we have the responsibility to help the families of animals, how much more do we have the responsibility to help the families of mankind? If we have the responsibility to go out of our way to help an animal, even an animal of our enemy, how much more do we have a responsibility to help our enemy when he's in trouble?
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So you have to ask yourself this question, how do we get here? And the answer is, we won't even hear that which is least. I saw a short video for which I'm really thankful. Because one man in a nice, very nice station wagon stopped beside the road. Went to the back, opened the door, let a beautiful, grown German Shepherd out. Then he went around, got in the car, and drove off. And the German Shepherd was chasing him.
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No, he was just throwing him out. Thankfully, it was on camera. The tag was on camera, and the man was arrested. How you treat animals will inevitably demonstrate how you treat mankind. Those who love life, even the lives of animals, will love the lives of mankind. Alice loved the puppies and saved them. And Rose and Gage loved their baby, which they should. But I'm just simply saying, folks, Judah and Jerusalem got to where God destroyed them because they would not hear. And we're at that place where people just will not hear.
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They do not want truth. They do not want what God demands. They do not want one word from God. But the truth is, they will hear, and if you read through the book of Ezekiel, it's a book on judgment. And 73 times in the book of Ezekiel, God says, "And they shall know that I am the Lord." And each time it deals in judgment. That's one way that men will find out who God really is when he judges them, when he destroys them. Now would be the time to turn back to him.
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Obey in the least, and we'll obey in the greatest. If we disobey in the least, we'll disobey in the greatest. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to thee. We thank you for your word. We thank you for your truth. We ask, Lord, that you would indeed speak to our hearts. O Lord, and bring this nation back to thee. Grant us repentance, O Lord. May we, Father, once again act as thy people. In the name of Jesus Christ, we ask and pray. Amen.
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so
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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-06T00:10:09Z

How Did We Get There

John Weaver | Freedom Ministries

Pastor John Weaver examines Jeremiah 19 to explain how Judah and Jerusalem reached a point of national destruction, drawing parallels to modern America. He argues that the root cause was hardening their necks against God's words, and that this principle applies to any nation. Using illustrations of rescued puppies and a young couple's love for their baby, he develops an argument from the lesser to the greater: if God requires respect for animal families, how much more for human families. The sermon warns that America's rejection of God's truth, evidenced by abortion and secular education, mirrors ancient Baal and Moloch worship, and calls for repentance.

Introduction and Scripture Reading

Weaver reads Jeremiah 19:1-15, which pronounces judgment on Judah and Jerusalem for idolatry and child sacrifice, and introduces the question 'How did we get here?'

Scripture Reading — Jeremiah 19:1-15

"Thus saith the Lord, Go and get a potter's earthen bottle, and take of the ancients of the people and of the ancients of the priests, and go forth into the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is by the entry of the east gate, and proclaim there the words that I shall tell thee. And say, Hear ye the word of the Lord, O kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, which whosoever heareth his ears shall tingle. Because they have forsaken me and have estranged this place, they have burned incense in it unto other gods, whom neither they nor their fathers have known, nor the kings of Judah, and have filled this place with the blood of innocents." "They have built also the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings unto Baal, which I commanded not, nor spake it, neither came it into my mind. Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that this place shall no more be called Tophet, nor the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of slaughter. And I will make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place, and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hands of them that seek their lives, and their carcasses will I give to be meat for the fowls of heaven and for the beasts of the earth." "And I will make this city desolate, and an hissing, everyone that passeth thereby shall be astonished and hiss because of the plagues thereof. And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons, and the flesh of their daughters, and they shall eat every one the flesh of his friend in the siege, and straitness wherewith their enemies, and they that seek their lives shall straiten them. Then shalt thou break the bottle in the sight of the men that go with thee. And shalt say to them, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Even so will I break this people and this city as one breaketh a potter's vessel that cannot be made whole again." "And they shall bury them in Tophet till there be no place to bury. Thus will I do unto this place, saith the Lord, and to the inhabitants thereof, and even make this city as Tophet. And the houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah shall be defiled as the place of Tophet, because of all the houses upon whose roofs they have burned incense unto the host of heaven and have poured out drink offerings unto other gods. Then came Jeremiah from Tophet, whither the Lord had sent him, to prophesy. And he stood in the court of the Lord's house and said unto all the people, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Behold, I will bring upon this city and upon all her towns all the evil that are pronounced against it, because they have hardened their necks that they" "might not hear my words."

The Question of National Decline

Weaver compares the sudden realization of national moral decline to children waking up on a trip and asking how they arrived, noting that America has changed drastically.

Two Illustrations: Puppies and a Baby

Weaver shares two personal stories: his wife rescuing four starving puppies, and observing a young couple's tender love for their first child, hinting at a later connection.

Now, you may not see the connection between these two stories yet. But before I get through, I hope that you will.

The Potter and the Clay (Jeremiah 18-19)

Weaver explains that Jeremiah 18 shows God as the potter who can reshape marred clay, while Jeremiah 19 depicts a hardened vessel that must be destroyed, symbolizing irreversible judgment.

Scripture Reading — Jeremiah 18:2-11

"Arise and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause you to hear my words. Then I went down to the potter's house, and behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter, so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it. Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter, saith the Lord. Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel."

Scripture Reading — Exodus 19:5

"Now therefore, if—notice that word if—now therefore if you will obey my voice indeed and keep my covenant, then you shall be a peculiar treasure to me above all people, for all the earth is mine."

Scripture Reading — Jeremiah 12:7-9

"I have forsaken mine house"

—that would be his temple—"I have left my heritage"—that would be his people. Notice,

Scripture Reading — Jeremiah 12:7-9

"I have forsaken my house. I've left my heritage. I've given the dearly beloved of my soul into the hand of her enemies. My heritage is unto me as a speckled bird."

That's verse 9. Let's go back to verse 8:

Scripture Reading — Jeremiah 12:7-9

"My heritage is unto me as a lion in the forest."

True Israel and the Seed of Abraham

Weaver argues that the modern state of Israel is not the true Israel; rather, believers in Christ are Abraham's seed and heirs of the promises, citing Galatians 3 and 6.

Scripture Reading — Galatians 3:16

"Now to Abraham and his seed"

—notice that is singular—

Scripture Reading — Galatians 3:16

"Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many, but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ."

Scripture Reading — Galatians 3:16

"And to Abraham and his seed were the promises made."

Scripture Reading — Titus 2:13-14

"Looking for that blessed hope and glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works."

The Valley of Hinnom and Its Abominations

Weaver describes the Valley of Hinnom as a place of Baal and Moloch worship, child sacrifice, and later a garbage dump, becoming a byword for hell (Gehenna).

And let's begin reading there with verse 28. I want to read through verse 36. I want you to watch this. Watch this carefully. Jeremiah chapter 32, verse 28, God says,

Scripture Reading — Jeremiah 32:28-36

"Therefore thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans, and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he shall take it. And the Chaldeans that fight against this city shall come and set fire on this city and burn it with the houses upon whose roofs they have offered incense unto Baal and poured out drink offerings unto other gods, to provoke me to anger. For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have only done evil before me from their youth. For the children of Israel have only provoked me to anger with the work of their hands, saith the Lord. For this city hath been to me as a provocation of mine anger and of my fury from the day that they built it even unto this day, that I should remove it from before my face. Because of all the evil of the children of Israel and of the children of Judah, which they have done to provoke me to anger, they, their kings, their princes, their priests, and their prophets, and the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, they have turned unto me the back and not the

Modern Baal and Moloch Worship

Weaver equates abortion with child sacrifice to Moloch and secular public education with dedicating children to humanism, arguing that America is guilty of the same sins.

The Root Cause: Hardening the Neck

Weaver identifies the cause of Jerusalem's destruction as hardening their necks against God's words (Jeremiah 19:15), and applies this principle to America's refusal to hear truth.

The Lesser-to-Greater Argument from Animal Care

But God is talking about his sacrifices. And look what he says in Leviticus chapter 22 and verse 28. Look at this:

Scripture Reading — Leviticus 22:28

"And whether it be cow or ewe, ye shall not kill it and her young both in one day."

statutes and his commandments which I command thee this day." Now look, why?

Scripture Reading — Deuteronomy 22:6-7

"That it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days upon the earth, which the Lord thy God giveth thee forever."

Scripture Reading — Deuteronomy 22:6-7

"If a bird's nest chance to be before thee in the way in any tree, or on the ground, whether they be young ones or eggs, and the dam sitting upon the young or upon the eggs, thou shalt not take the dam with the young"

—that is the mother with the young—

Scripture Reading — Deuteronomy 22:6-7

"but thou shalt in any wise let the dam go, and take the young to thee; that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days."

Scripture Reading — Exodus 20:12

"Honour thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee."

Wow. There's the promise of long life. Now if you go back to Deuteronomy chapter 5, look if you would at verse 16. Deuteronomy 5, verse 16. Hang on. Here it is:

Scripture Reading — Exodus 20:12

"Honour thy father and thy mother, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee; that thy days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with thee in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee."

Call to Repentance and Warning of Judgment

Weaver warns that continued hardening of the neck will lead to sudden destruction without remedy (Proverbs 29:1), and urges repentance before God brings judgment, as He did on Israel.

How Did We Get There

John Weaver | YouTube

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	YouTube
Media ID	AmtwrWxFoYA
Subject	Family Government
Course	The Christian Family: Children, Fatherhood, and Generational Faithfulness: The World And Times Of Jesse James
Genre	Sermon
Date	2024-04-27
Dictation Name
Book	Book 028: The Christian Family: Children, Fatherhood, and Generational Faithfulness — Chapter 31
Source Timed Segments	82

Lecture Guide

Outline

Introduction and Scripture Reading: Weaver reads Jeremiah 19:1-15, which pronounces judgment on Judah and Jerusalem for idolatry and child sacrifice, and introduces the question 'How did we get here?'
The Question of National Decline: Weaver compares the sudden realization of national moral decline to children waking up on a trip and asking how they arrived, noting that America has changed drastically.
Two Illustrations: Puppies and a Baby: Weaver shares two personal stories: his wife rescuing four starving puppies, and observing a young couple's tender love for their first child, hinting at a later connection.
The Potter and the Clay (Jeremiah 18-19): Weaver explains that Jeremiah 18 shows God as the potter who can reshape marred clay, while Jeremiah 19 depicts a hardened vessel that must be destroyed, symbolizing irreversible judgment.
True Israel and the Seed of Abraham: Weaver argues that the modern state of Israel is not the true Israel; rather, believers in Christ are Abraham's seed and heirs of the promises, citing Galatians 3 and 6.
The Valley of Hinnom and Its Abominations: Weaver describes the Valley of Hinnom as a place of Baal and Moloch worship, child sacrifice, and later a garbage dump, becoming a byword for hell (Gehenna).
Modern Baal and Moloch Worship: Weaver equates abortion with child sacrifice to Moloch and secular public education with dedicating children to humanism, arguing that America is guilty of the same sins.
The Root Cause: Hardening the Neck: Weaver identifies the cause of Jerusalem's destruction as hardening their necks against God's words (Jeremiah 19:15), and applies this principle to America's refusal to hear truth.
The Lesser-to-Greater Argument from Animal Care: Weaver connects the two illustrations by showing that God's commands to respect animal families (Deuteronomy 22, Exodus 23) imply a greater responsibility to respect human families, and that mistreating animals leads to mistreating humans.
Call to Repentance and Warning of Judgment: Weaver warns that continued hardening of the neck will lead to sudden destruction without remedy (Proverbs 29:1), and urges repentance before God brings judgment, as He did on Israel.

Major Themes

Key Arguments

Jerusalem's destruction was caused by refusing to hear God's words.

God explicitly states in Jeremiah 19:15 that He brought evil because they hardened their necks to avoid hearing His words.

Jeremiah 19:15: 'because they have hardened their necks that they might not hear my words.'

America is following the same path as ancient Judah.

Weaver argues that America's moral decline, abortion, and secular education mirror the idolatry and child sacrifice that led to Judah's destruction.

Weaver says: 'we still have Baal worship and we still have Moloch worship in America today.'

The principle of lesser to greater applies to animal and human life.

God's commands to care for animals (even enemies' animals) demonstrate that if we neglect the lesser (animals), we will neglect the greater (humans).

Exodus 23:4-5 commands helping an enemy's ox or ass; Weaver argues this implies a greater duty to help humans.

Hardening the neck leads to sudden, irremediable destruction.

Proverbs 29:1 warns that those who harden their necks despite reproof will be suddenly destroyed without remedy, just as happened to Jerusalem.

Proverbs 29:1: 'He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.'

True Israel is spiritual, not physical.

The promises to Abraham are fulfilled in Christ, and those who belong to Christ are the true seed and heirs, not the modern Zionist state.

Galatians 3:16, 29; Galatians 6:16.

God's judgment is a means to make Himself known.

In Ezekiel, God repeatedly says 'they shall know that I am the Lord' in the context of judgment, indicating that judgment reveals God's sovereignty.

Weaver references Ezekiel: '73 times... God says, And they shall know that I am the Lord... each time it deals in judgment.'

Scripture References

Jeremiah 19:1-15: The entire chapter is read as the foundation for the sermon, describing the judgment on Judah symbolized by breaking a potter's vessel.
Jeremiah 18:2-11: The potter and clay illustration, showing God's sovereignty to reshape or destroy nations based on their response.
Exodus 19:5: God's promise to make Israel a peculiar treasure if they obey His voice and keep His covenant.
Deuteronomy 14:2: Israel chosen as a peculiar people above all nations.
Deuteronomy 26:18: God avouches Israel as His peculiar people, conditional on keeping His commandments.
Psalm 135:4: The Lord chose Jacob and Israel for His peculiar treasure.
Jeremiah 12:7-9: God forsakes His house and heritage, giving His beloved into enemy hands because of their rebellion.
Hosea 9:15: God hates Israel for their wickedness and will drive them out, loving them no more.
Galatians 3:16: The promises were made to Abraham and his seed, which is Christ, not to multiple physical seeds.
Galatians 3:29: If you belong to Christ, you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise.
Galatians 6:16: The Israel of God are those who walk according to the rule (canon) of Scripture.
Titus 2:13-14: Christ gave Himself to redeem us and purify a peculiar people zealous of good works.
1 Peter 2:9: Believers are a chosen generation, royal priesthood, holy nation, peculiar people.
Jeremiah 32:28-36: God details the sins of Judah, including child sacrifice in the Valley of Hinnom, and pronounces judgment by Babylon.
Leviticus 22:28: Command not to kill a cow or ewe and its young on the same day, showing respect for animal families.
Deuteronomy 4:39-40: Keep God's commandments that it may go well with you and your children, and prolong your days.
Deuteronomy 22:6-7: When taking young birds or eggs, let the mother go, that it may be well with you and prolong your days.
Exodus 20:12: Honor your father and mother, that your days may be long upon the land.
Deuteronomy 5:16: Honor father and mother, that your days may be prolonged and it may go well with you.
Ephesians 6:1-3: Children obey parents; honor father and mother (first commandment with promise) that it may be well and you live long.

Historical References

Valley of the Son of Hinnom (Gehenna): A valley outside Jerusalem used for Baal and Moloch worship, child sacrifice, and later a garbage dump with perpetual fire; became a byword for hell.
King Manasseh: King of Judah who sacrificed his own children to Baal and Moloch and placed prostitutes in the temple.
Destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD: Weaver states God destroyed the nation of Israel in 70 AD through the Romans, and the modern state is not true Israel.
Vladimir Lenin: Quoted to illustrate the power of early education: 'Give me a child for the first five years of his life and he will be mine forever.'
John Calvin: Quoted regarding the Valley of Hinnom: the name Tophet derived from drums used to drown out children's cries during sacrifice.

Important Quotes

He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.

This principle undergirds Weaver's argument that how we treat animals (the least) reflects how we treat humans (the greater).

A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast: but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.

Used to show that care for animals is a mark of righteousness, and cruelty to animals indicates wickedness.

He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.

A warning that persistent rejection of reproof leads to sudden, irreversible judgment, applied to America.

If we continue to stiffen our necks as a nation, may I remind you of Proverbs 29, verse 1: He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.

Weaver directly applies the proverb to America, warning of impending judgment if the nation does not repent.

How you treat animals will inevitably demonstrate how you treat mankind.

Summarizes the lesser-to-greater argument that treatment of animals is a predictor of treatment of humans.

Discussion Questions

[Question]

In what ways do you see modern America mirroring the sins of ancient Judah described in Jeremiah 19?

[Context]

Weaver draws parallels between ancient idolatry/child sacrifice and modern abortion/secular education.

[Question]

How does the principle of 'faithful in least, faithful in much' apply to our daily lives beyond animal care?

[Context]

Weaver uses Luke 16:10 to argue that small acts of obedience or disobedience indicate our character in larger matters.

[Question]

What does it mean to 'harden your neck' against God's words, and how can we guard against it personally and as a church?

[Context]

The sermon identifies hardening the neck as the root cause of Jerusalem's destruction and warns against it.

[Question]

How should Christians respond to the prevalence of abortion and secular education in light of the Moloch worship analogy?

[Context]

Weaver equates abortion with child sacrifice and public education with dedication to humanism, calling for Christian education.

[Question]

What is the biblical basis for the idea that the church is the true Israel, and how does this affect our view of modern geopolitical Israel?

[Context]

Weaver argues from Galatians 3 and 6 that believers in Christ are Abraham's seed and the Israel of God.

[Question]

How can we cultivate a righteous regard for animal life as described in Proverbs 12:10, and why does it matter?

[Context]

Weaver emphasizes that a righteous person cares for animals, and this reflects a broader respect for life.

Applications

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